Title: Wish Come True – Prologue
Author:
Elise/Ringred
Date: 2/24/07
Rating: M or R
Category:
Extremely AU, Drama, Humor, slight Angst, plenty of the
ridiculous.
Warnings: slight Angst, some language?
Spoilers:
Anything that's been aired in the US. I don't think there's any
future speculation.
Pairing: Most likely Kara/Lee, Cally/Chief, I
don't know about the rest.
Word Count: Microsoft Word
says…2099
Disclaimers: Alas, I own nothing...but we all have our
dreams.
Summary: It all started with half the Chief's secret
stash of brew and a wish…
Then why am I starting this fic? With all the dark angsty spoilers and speculation about the rest of this season and the way my real life is kicking my butt at the moment, I needed to write something lighter and less angsty. If I didn't write something to ease the angst then I would've just ended up saying 'screw it' and dropped 'Half Life' and BSG in general until I knew once and for all if Starbuck was going to die. I was at the end of my rope. This story is my way of exorcising my angst demons.
Speaking of this story: Don't expect it to be like 'Half Life'. This story is going to be lighter and filled with a big dose of the ridiculous. I want to have fun with it. A lot of my characters are crazy. I would love for you to read it, but take it all with a grain of salt.
This story is AU. It is actually an edited version of something my sister and I started to write back before S3 started. It's also a bit of a Buffy crossover, but this is a BSG fic and there are no Buffy characters or anything like that.
Oh, and in this fic Cally never married Chief and she didn't get pregnant. She will probably end up with Chief, but it was more convenient for me if that didn't happen yet.
Please let me know if you enjoy the story!
Here goes…
Prologue
It all started with half the Chief's secret stash of brew and a wish...
- - - - - - - - - -
Location:
Abandoned Storeroom
Battlestar Galactica
"Our lives suck!"
Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace threw her best friend Olivia 'Cally' Calvin a blurry smile and reached out to grab the half-empty bottle of brew. She tipped the bottle back and took a deep swig. She toasted the air. "Here, here!"
Macey 'Fluffy' Anderson, a nugget that had graduated from Kara's latest class, reached out and carefully took the bottle out of her flight instructor's hand. "Ah, it's not that bad."
Kara and Cally stared at Fluffy in disbelief. The cute blond nugget shrugged and daintily put the bottle to her mouth and took a tiny sip. She wasn't about to start arguing with Kara and Cally. Besides, they had a point. It was pretty bad.
Almost a year had passed since the Fleet's escape from New Caprica and life was not looking up. Fluffy couldn't help but understand where the two women were coming from.
Take Starbuck: Kara Thrace had survived the hell that was New Caprica. She'd returned to the Fleet and resumed her status as a viper pilot, but nothing had been the same. She'd been traumatized by her treatment at the hands of a Leoben model during the occupation. That trauma had led to the destruction of her marriage, her reputation, and her father/daughter relationship with Admiral Adama.
Kara finally managed to pull herself together and try to start again. Then began the rollercoaster of drama that was her almost/sorta/kinda affair with Major Lee 'Apollo' Adama. In the end Kara laid her heart on the line and asked Apollo if he would leave his wife for her. Apollo chose the easy option and stayed with Dee. Kara, in turn, tried to pick up the pieces of her marriage to Sam Anders. That hadn't worked out too well. The two had still been living in a sort of limbo between friends and frak-buddies two months before when a freak accident led to Samuel Anders' death.
Now Lee and Dee were rededicated to each other and looking forward to their bright shiny future and Kara was alone and miserable. Most people thought it couldn't happen to a more deserving person. Fluffy thought most people could go frak themselves.
Then there was Cally: Cally and Chief Galen Tyrol had become involved shortly after they found New Caprica. For a while things were wonderful and Cally couldn't have been happier. She'd been in love with Chief for years and she finally had her man.
But the reality of life on New Caprica, then the occupation, being rescued and going back on the run, it was just too much. The relationship started to crack and there was nothing Cally could do to stop it. Cally and Chief did nothing but fight these days. Lately Janelle Seelix, another crew spec, had begun to show a marked interest in Chief, and Cally often caught him smiling and spending time with the other woman. Cally thought it was the beginning of the end…or possibly the end of the end. It was only a matter of time now.
"Don't hog the bottle, Fluff."
Fluffy shook herself from her thoughts and passed the bottle of brew to Rona 'Pitch' Jordan. The beautiful dark-skinned viper pilot nodded to Kara and Cally. "You've got a point. Life ain't grand. But at least it can't get much worse."
Fluffy glared at her best friend. "Tell me you did not just say that, missy! That isn't CUTE!"
Rona rolled her eyes and took another swig from the bottle. "Please! What else can go wrong? We don't even have a frakkin' planet, Fluff. What could happen? We could die? Go us!"
Fluffy gaped at her. "Rona!"
"She's not right." That statement would have been much more encouraging coming from anyone other than Macey's other best friend Trischelle 'Honest' Evans. Trischelle was a pathological liar. She always said the opposite of what she meant. The only time Trischelle didn't lie was when she was flying a viper. It was one of the reasons the woman joined the Fleet. Trischelle didn't want to lie, she just did. "We are not five sad pathetic women sitting around getting drunk because we have no lives and nothing else to do."
"Make that six," Jackie 'Echo' Davis smiled at the group from her seat directly across from Fluffy.
Cally looked to her right and eyed the young brunette pilot. "Echo? When did you come in?" She looked at Kara. "Did you see her come in?"
Macey eyed the other pilot suspiciously. "Nope and this isn't looking good because I'm not that drunk yet."
Echo shrugged still wearing that creepy smile. She took the bottle of brew from Trischelle and drank a gulp. She grimaced and coughed. "This stuff really isn't that great once you get to the bottom of the bottle."
"I know…probably has something to do with the motor oil," Cally replied as she took the bottle from Echo and downed the last of it.
"Motor oil? It has motor oil in it?" Fluffy squeaked.
Kara, Cally, Rona, and Trischelle all laughed as Macey started spitting frantically and trying to clean out her mouth.
Echo, however, was still focused on Kara and Cally. She watched the two women with barely hidden delight. "Both of you just seem so miserable."
Cally frowned at Echo. What was the new pilot doing here? Neither Cally, nor Kara, had ever been very fond of the girl. Echo had no personality. She was like a Cylon…but Cylons showed more emotion. Cally couldn't imagine asking the girl to drink with them.
Echo tilted her head to the side. "You ever wish you could change it?"
"Does the word 'duh' mean anything to you?" Starbuck snorted.
Echo nodded. "Don't you wish that none of this had ever happened?"
"Uh oh," Fluffy finally recovered from her spitting fit and looked from Cally and Kara to Echo's unusually expressive face. "Um…wish…where have I heard this before? Um…"
"What?" Kara frowned at Macey.
"I mean, don't you wish you'd never been on New Caprica? Don't you wish Baltar had never won the election?" Echo asked before Fluffy could answer.
Cally gave a bitter laugh. "New Caprica and Baltar? Hell, I got better than that. Apollo thinks he's so much better off with Evil Dee-vil? Galen wants to run around and play footsy with Seelix? I wish Kara and I had never even joined the frakkin' military. See how the frakkers like that!"
Fluffy whimpered. "Uh oh."
Cally and Kara both glared at the cute blonde. "WHAT?"
Macey's expression was almost resigned as she watched Echo's face morph from that of an attractive human girl to the veiny disfigured face of a demon.
Echo smiled. "Wish granted."
Rona's mouth dropped open. "Oh frak!"
"We are SO not screwed!" Trischelle gasped horrified.
Kara and Cally still hadn't noticed Echo's face. They were staring at the other women confused.
Macey just shrugged. They'd figure it out soon enough. "Uh oh."
And then everything went black…
-
- - - - - - - - -
Location:
Who the hell knows?
Cally slowly looked around at the room that was fading into view. She was sitting in the middle of an unfamiliar bed. She frowned. Where the frak was she? The last thing she remembered was…
"Shit!" Cally exclaimed as she leapt from the bed. "Echo! That motherfrakker!"
The door to her room burst open and Cally's heart plunged to her feet. She looked at the man in front of her with wide eyes. He looked the same as he had the last time she saw him. He had the same messy dirty blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, far too much facial hair, and a lopsided grin. It had been four long years and yet the ache still hadn't passed. "James?"
James Pendleton and Lucas Randle had been Cally's best friends growing up. The three had met and lived together in foster care. James and Cally had a huge falling out when she decided to join the military, but she and Lucas had stayed in touch through letters and phone calls right up until the attacks. She'd always asked Lucas about James, but had never been brave enough to face him again. Then they were both gone, both dead, and it was too late.
But now James was standing right in front of her. He was here…wherever here was. Hell, Cally didn't even care where here was. James was alive!
Memories that weren't hers began to flood through Cally's mind. James and Lucas hadn't died. This time when she and James had that terrible fight Cally caved. She decided she couldn't leave them. James convinced her they would find another way to pay for her education.
"Yo, Liv, you okay?" James asked as he stepped forward.
Cally started at the old nickname. She'd almost forgotten that James and Lucas called her Liv. Chief had been the one to nickname her Cally. Pushing thoughts of Chief aside, Cally ran and threw her arms around James' neck. Burying her face in his shoulder she took a deep breath, taking in his once familiar scent. She knew that no matter where she was or what was going on, she didn't care because he was alive. Him and…
"Whoa…okay, leaving now."
Cally finally noticed her other best friend was standing behind James in the open doorway. "Lucas." Cally murmured, getting the man's attention.
The tall lanky blonde turned back around to face her. "Yeah?"
Cally moved so that she was hugging James with one arm and then reached for Lucas.
He frowned and shrugged as he stepped into her embrace. "You okay, Liv?"
"She may be now but she won't be after I'm through with her," a new voice sounded from the hallway.
Cally immediately let both men go and turned to face a furious Kara Thrace, standing side-by-side with Samuel Anders and some gorgeous man that her false memory told her was James Harrison. Kara, Sam, and James had all played Pyramid together for the C-Bucks. Cally had been working as an assistant for the teams' sports medicine doctor before the attacks. Wasn't that convenient?
"Cally? Rising Star to Cally?" Starbuck growled.
Cally's eyes shot back to Kara. She laughed uncomfortably. "Oops?"
End of Prologue