A Little Bit of Fear

By AshtakRa

Disclaimer: I do not have any claim on any characters from Battlestar Galactica but I'll use them anyway - for absolutely no profit, just the thrill and pleasure.

Warning: This will contain slash, if you don't like it - I don't really care.

Author's Note: I have been too kind with characters before, this time I want them to be just a little unlikeable, at least to begin with.

Reviews: Yes please, feed me seymour!

Fandom: Battlestar Galactica 21st century style, season 2 set after Resurrection Ship.

Characters: Most of them at some point but mostly the pilots and of course Apollo, also a creation of my own.

Chapter One

As a viper pilot I expected death to be quick, violent but quick – or at the very least a few seconds of agony before the vacuum of space tore the life from me. It seems my death would not be that way.

Transferred to special operations I expected to die just as quickly but most likely at the hands of a cylon. Once again I avoided that particular scenario.

When I refused to kill innocent civilians I expected a bullet in the head but instead it was re-assignment, again.

When I refused to partake in the rape of a prisoner I thought they would at least thrust me out an airlock. Instead I was put in a cell and in there I had the time to think about just when it was that I stopped feared the cylons – and started fearing humans.

Fear is a funny thing, it can stop you from doing something you should or push you to do something you really shouldn't. It is our body's way of telling us it wants to live.

When I was first in the cell and they didn't feed me for a week I was afraid of starving to death – the exact opposite of the quick death I had long accepted as a pilot. Someone decided I was worth keeping however and so food was put back on my visitor's list.

I found out why they were keeping me alive when they started visiting me, first in twos and threes but then in groups of five or more. The beatings were not so bad since pain keeps the anger fresh and that kept me alive, if only for the opportunity of revenge.

Then they used me for other things, there was still pain but mixed with that was… loss: loss of control and a loss of my humanity. I stopped getting angry and then I stopped even feeling it most of the time.

I stopped caring and I gave up hope.

I have not felt fear for a long time; does that mean I don't want to live anymore?

That is why I can't care now that they come into the room and put a black bag over my head. I can feel the barrel of the pistol pressing against my temple, so get it over with – I'm ready.

Shouting, new voices but I can't hear them properly and it doesn't matter, the bag is cutting off my air and blackness comes in. I cannot even feel my body hitting the floor but I can still form a thought – suffocation: that one I had not considered.

XOXOXO

Admiral Adama sighed as he looked down at the figure on the bed, he glared up at the Pegasus marine commander, "I thought you only had one cylon prisoner – why didn't Admiral Cain tell me about this one."

The Lieutenant looked confused and reticent but at a prodding from one of the guards he finally managed an answer, "He is not a cylon sir, he was being kept for… disciplinary action."

A cough from the Doctor Cottle brought Adama's attention and a raised eyebrow let the doctor elaborate, "four fractured ribs, lacerations across the back and legs, dislocated shoulder, multiple internal injuries-," he threw down the folder he had been holding and stalked up to the Lieutenant and growled right in his face, "Hardly the injuries from 'disciplinary action' – more likely the result of sustained abuse."

"I've heard enough," said Adama and motioned to the guard, "Take this filth to the brig and tell our marines job well done."

As the Pegasus marine was taken out the Admiral moved over to the bed and looked down at the injured man. He was still unconscious and even after being cleaned up his face was a miss-match of bruises and cuts, his hair unkempt and thick stubble covered his cheeks and jaw. An old scar ran from above his left eye down to the corner of his mouth, but far from being disfiguring it was the only injury that seemed to belong.

"What can you do for him?" he asked Cottle.

"Assuming he hasn't suffered from the oxygen depravation he really just needs rest and time to heal."

Adama smoothed back the young man's hair and muttered a small prayer to the gods, part of him hoped this would be the last atrocity perpetrated by the Pegasus but he somehow knew there would be more. The Galactica marines had done an excellent job of searching the Pegasus from bow to stern and that is how they had come across the 'cell' this man had been in. Although cell was a relative term – according to the report it was a bare room with nothing but a waste dispenser. No bed, no furniture, no light and not even a basin, and by the looks of it this man had been kept there for at least the last six weeks.

The doctor lit another cigarette and rubbed his thumb across his jaw, "Do we even have a name or just I just call him patient X?"

"No record of him can be found in the Pegasus logs," Adama answered, "But he's military."

"How can you tell?" grunted Cottle.

Adama smiled, perhaps for the first time that day, "After this long in the service believe me, I can tell."

"His name is Lucian," interrupted Starbuck from the doorway, "Lucian Kravell." She moved up to the bed and grimaced when she saw the injuries up close, "Someone mentioned the scar and I thought just maybe?" Starbuck traced the scar with a finger and with her other hand wiped away the tear that had escaped her eye.

"Kara?" prompted Adama, knowing that she must have not only known him but cared for Lucian a great deal. To some Kara Thrace was an enigma but to the Admiral she was an open book, her emotions always so close to the surface – especially where her friends were concerned. Doctor Cottle looked at them both and left the room, allowing for a more private discussion.

Starbuck looked up, not bothering to stop another tear from falling, "We were at the academy together, you know how it is – colleagues, team-mates, competitors, friends then…"

"More than friends," prompted Adama.

"No," laughed Starbuck and leaned on the bed with both hands so she could look directly down into Lucian's face, "Luc always danced to a different tune," she shook her head and said almost to herself, "And it wasn't one I could play."

"Lee will be happy to know Kara Thrace doesn't always get what she wants," said Adama and he grinned at the reaction that got from Starbuck. It seemed to knock her out of whatever shock she was in at seeing an old friend in such condition. He could see the difference as her body language changed to the attitude everyone was used to seeing, one that spoke of arrogance and insubordination. Adama had served on battlestars where just such body language could get you written up, luckily for Starbuck his was not one of them.

"Point me towards the fracken arseholes who did this sir, and I promise you it will never happen again."

Everything he knew about the ace pilot told him she was not kidding, and part of him was tempted to give her the go-ahead – but at some point they had to take a step back. The fleet could not afford a cycle of violence and revenge to be perpetuated and if that meant some crimes went unpunished then it was a necesary evil.

"I'm sorry Kara, this has to stay off the grid – there's enough bad blood between the Pegasus and Galactica crews, this would only fuel the fire." He could tell that she was going to argue the point so continued over the top, "And besides that we don't even know what Lucian did, for all we know he could be a cylon."

Starbuck laughed incredulously, "No, not him – he is one hundred percent human sir, you can trust me on that," she grabbed one of Lucian's hands, "All human and look what they did to you."

"Starbuck," said the admiral, using her call-sign to get her full attention, "I need to know you will take this no further – I need you to do this for me."

She nodded as her eyes brimmed with tears again, "Okay," she whispered, "But sir – when Luc wakes up, he will want revenge and believe me when I say that he will get it. He was my best friend but at times he was the scariest son of a bitch I've ever known."

This surprised Adama, looking at Lucian he saw a young man – obviously strong to have survived but his features did not seem like that of someone Starbuck would be afraid of. His jaw line was straight but soft and his nose also straight with the lips below quite thin; there was a delicateness to him that apart from his darker complexion reminded Adama of Lee. Of course Lee could be pretty scary too when focused on a mission so the admiral was willing to take Kara's word on it, but he had to wonder what else was there.

"What else should I know about this man Captain?" he demanded of the young woman, "You were best friends with him but you've never mentioned him, why?"

Starbuck hesitated and pondered the question carefully before answering, "Lucian had a certain aspect to his personality and a knack for acquiring skills that brought him to the attention of," she licked her lips and croaked out the next, "The Fates."

Adama was speechless himself for a moment, "He's a Fury?"

She nodded, "As such all records of him were expunged and I had to forget he existed – he became a ghost."

"He must've been on assignment to the Pegasus when the war started," pondered Adama, "Fake name, unremarkable position and an unremarkable record, that's how they operate – but if Cain found out… why did she let him live, she killed others for lesser reason."

"Maybe she never found out," said Starbuck, "No matter his original mission Lucian would have done his bit to fight back at the cylons – but he had pretty high principles."

Adama saw where she was going, "He would not have gone along with Cain's methods would he?"

"No."

"You think he'd try to stop her – kill her?"

"We were going to," said Starbuck as if to excuse Lucian, then she shook her head, "But he would have been more subtle, I think he probably tried convincing others to protest – maybe that's what got him caught."

"Nothing excuses doing this to one of your own people," put in Cottle who had just re-entered the room and immediately started checking Lucian's vitals, "Better to put a bullet in his head than torture a man for weeks and subject him to such abuse."

The way he said abuse caught Starbuck's attention, "What other kinds of abuse?" she grabbed his arm roughly when he wouldn't answer, "What abuse?"

"Every kind Starbuck, every kind."

XOXOXO

Lucian awoke and immediately his instincts kicked in:

Observe

Evaluate

Formulate

Act

Observation: He was in a room, not the cell on the Pegasus. This room was... it was some kind of luxury suite! Lucian controlled his shock and remained motionless, only moving his eyes. The ceiling was decorative, a style somewhat out of date but still pleasing to the eye – grey on white panels continually jutting over one another and creatively covering the air and light fixtures. The walls that were visible were fake wood panelling with a dark grain running through and two pictures, one of an ocean yacht in full sail and another a field of flowers under an orange sky. There was an odd smell of citrus, the kind that is immediately noticeable but forgotten in minutes – so obviously fake. He could not see it but the bed he was on was luxuriously soft and what seemed to be satin sheets covered his almost naked body. The lighting was dim but not enough that he had to squint to see anything. He could not see the entire room without moving but he knew he was alone, enough years of shadow ops had taught him that particular sixth sense.

Evaluate: Logically he was on a ship, the colonies were destroyed and the decor screamed pleasure cruiser. The lack of pain meant his injuries had been treated but the tightness in his chest and shoulder meant they were not yet healed. This gave Lucian a relative time-line of days and not weeks since he had blacked out. It was possible that this was another cruel trick but he dismissed that as unlikely, he knew his captors and they were not this creative. This left the conclusion that he had been removed from the Pegasus by persons unknown, treated and placed here. For a moment he considered a cylon trick, and this he did not discount; the cylons were definitely capable of such action and their knowledge of human psychology could create such a scenario as an interrogation technique. He filed that away as a possibility but not the most likely.

The probability of this being the action of humans was most likely, and they were military. Civilians would have patched him up and kept him in hospital, probably even try to revive him with drugs. Even though they could not have known that it would have been disastrous; Lucian would have reacted without thought if woken in a drug induced state, especially after what he had been through – and as a trained killer no-one in the room would have survived. The military would know to provide a setting where Lucian would have time to absorb the situation and react calmly; even if they were not aware of his Fury status they would know from his prior injuries and tattoos that he was special ops at the very least. Whoever was in charge was playing it very carefully and knew people. That left two scenarios for this particular situation, one was they were lulling him into a false sense of security before interrogation and two, they wanted him quiet and therefore his former captivity would be under wraps. That meant his captors were probably still alive and that meant revenge was possible.

Lucian's heartbeat quickened at the very thought of it. He had memorised faces, voices and when they had revealed neither he memorized their smell and body language. Not one of those frackers would be able to get within arms reach of Lucian without him knowing, and if they were that close they were dead. The number of them did not bother him, whether killing one or dozens it was still vengeance that he could not ignore; a part of him saw such revenge as self-destructive but he compartmentalized that for later examination. Fury training was very good at putting agents in the frame of mind where they could act regardless of emotional factors; the flip side was that he could act purely on emotion without considering the cold reality. This is what had brought him to the notice of the Fates in his final year of training. An ability to swap, change and even put aside emotions in a split second when the occasion demanded was essential for any good soldier and Lucian could do this better than most, but he could also focus his emotions into a single point, acting purely on emotion while still utilizing skills the military had taught him. There was more than one reason people like him were known as furies.

Formulate: In order to exact revenge Lucian needed freedom of movement and needed to remain in the military. He had to assume Pegasus was under new command and that there was now more than one ship – whether or not it was a Battlestar remained to be seen. If they had truly freed him from captivity and placed him here out of compassion then he did owe them his loyalty – but loyalty was not mutually exclusive with revenge. The plan was simple, if the people who put him here were not a threat he would join them and mean it, but he would have revenge if the possibility arose – and Lucian would make sure that the situation would be in his favour. Of course, his new captors might not be benevolent so that too must be dealt with, if they were monitoring him then they would know he was awake – even passive sensors can detect a change in breathing and heartbeat. That meant he had to act.

A soft knock on the door brought a small smile to Lucian's face, by that small action they had revealed that he was indeed being watched – if they thought him still unconscious a knock would not have been needed. He relaxed his arms and legs and put on his best blissfully innocent expression, but the moment they entered it would be time to act. He breathed and played out the scene in his mind, even with his damaged ribs and shoulder disabling several opponents should be easy.

"Come in," he spoke evenly.

The door opened and the person entering barely had time to register that Lucian was no longer on the bed before an arm wrapped around their neck and started squeezing. Lee Adama could not even rasp out a call for help before the darkness started flooding in.

To Be Continued...