War Of The Gods – Deleted Scene

There is a deleted scene which can be found on Youtube [search for: Deleted Scene War Of The Gods] which shows Apollo, Sheba and Starbuck arriving back aboard the Galactica. This is a very short plot bunny that wouldn't go away as I thought there would have to be some reaction when they discovered that Apollo was alive aboard the shuttle. It goes from the moment in the Ship of Lights when they are about to be returned.

I make no claim on the original Battlestar Galactica and make no money from this (very) short story. I merely took the characters out of my shoe box to play with for a while.

"...And now it is time for you to be returned..."

Sheba lifted her head, What had happened? Her brain felt as though it was full of ovine fleece. She looked around trying to get her bearings. Next to her an unconscious Starbuck lolled unpleasantly in his restraints and as she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, the memory of Count Iblis returned in a rush and she had to swallow hard against threatening tears.

Unclipping herself from her seat she stood up and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand walked to the back of the shuttle to look again at Apollo's supine form. He lay still and silent beneath the blanket and suddenly overwhelmed, she sank to her knees and stroked a lock of dark hair away from his forehead.

Apollo stirred and opened his eyes, Sheba stared down at him, joy and shock fighting for dominance. "Apollo!" she whispered, not daring to believe the evidence of her eyes.

"Sheba?" Apollo frowned, "what happened?"

She squeezed his shoulder, "Stay here. I'll be back in a moment." Rising to her feet she fought back her tears and walked through to the bow of the shuttle. Starbuck was conscious and blinking dazedly out of the window. Sheba laid a hand on his shoulder and Starbuck looked up at her, seeing the evidence of tears he lifted his left hand to cover hers. She swallowed again and finally finding her voice, managed to croak, "He's alive, Starbuck! Apollo's alive!"

A range of emotions flashed across her friend's face: disbelief, outrage, joy. Then he was releasing his seatbelt; rising to his feet he pushed Sheba's hand away and began walking down to the back of the shuttle. She stood watching him for a long time as he dropped to his knees next to his commanding officer. Sheba saw his expression change from disbelief to joy, and then he was helping Apollo to stand up. As they approached, she could see the shine of tears in Starbuck's eyes.

Putting her arms around both men she drew them into an embrace. How long they stood like that, foreheads pressed together,Sheba never remembered, but it was as if she could feel the broken parts of her soul knitting back together. By unspoken consent all three broke the embrace at the same time; Apollo and Starbuck gripped forearms and Sheba frowned, a faint memory stirring, like a piscia at the bottom of a pond.

"We ought to get back to the Fleet," Apollo said, a wry smile touching his strong lips, "see if there's any news about our missing pilots."

Sheba nodded and then sat down, clipping herself into the co-pilot's seat, Starbuck settling himself down next to her. He flashed her a quick smile and for a moment Sheba caught an instant of pure, unadultered joy on his face and then he'd turned back to his console and was plotting their course back to the Galactica.