Thank you for the reviews :) My first reviews! ^^ Super excited.
Btw, I thought I should mention it in case of any confusions, timeline in this story is different than the series.
Anyway, the story continues...
"What did you do to my bird?" Galen demanded answers when Kara came into the deck with her heavily damaged bird.
"Gee, thanks Chief, I'm fine" she replied while sliding down the ladder. She soon realized how much damage her viper took and felt the tingle down her spine when she realized how close she was to the blast, a little too close for comfort.
"You can fix her, Chief" she gave her flip chart back to him after completing it, then her eyes darted across the deck frantically.
"Apollo checked in three minutes ago" Galen told her. Kara nodded in response before even realizing that she was doing it. She felt her heart clenched that Lee didn't wait for her like he'd normally do, especially after she was hit. Still angry about the other day, she thought, typical Lee.
She shook her head and left the hangar, away from the chaos, she'd come back to her viper later, at that moment she just wanted a drink.
Drinking her anger and sorrow away was something Karl hated to see. He'd sit across the table, eyes looking for hers. Good thing no one as in the bunk room, it was quiet, and quiet was good. The two sat silently, staring at each other without saying a word. It seemed like their eyes did the talking.
Kara lifted the bottle of Chief's brew, offering him some. Taking the cue, Karl found himself a glass and let Kara poured for him.
The metal clanking sound from the hatch broke the silence, but no one moved, until a small voice made Kara tensed.
"I'm… I'm looking for Apollo" Dee spoke from the entrance.
Kara locked her gaze on Karl, not wanting to lay eyes on the other woman. Karl understood and turned to face the visitor.
"Not here" he simply said before turning back to Kara. It was obvious Dee wanted to say something else, but the eerie stillness of the two of them had made her think twice, and decided to get away while she still could, closing the hatch behind her.
The two sat still for a moment before Kara's lips curled into a smile, then broke into laughter, followed by Karl's.
"Didn't know you could be so cold" Kara said between laughs.
"I learned from the best" he lifted his cup and toasted with her.
Karl's heart lifted as he saw the genuine smile behind Kara's eyes. He felt a sudden relief as his bestfriend even just momentarily had gone back to her usual self. Kara noticed the sudden ease and tilted her head sideways while lifting her glass again.
"Thanks for worrying, but I'll be okay"
"I hope so" he drank to that.
There was a pang of guilt to know that she had taken much of his time worrying about her, while he had other things to worry about and things to deal with.
"How about you, Helo? How are you holding up?"
Karl gave out a smile, even facing all her problems, she too, sensed Karl's baggage with Sharon being pregnant while in holding, he constantly worried about her and the baby's safety, then there was that other problem where everyone else turned their back on him. His carbon composite suggestion on the blackbird had given him a second chance in the ship, but there were still minorities who didn't like him. The label Cylon lover stayed intact.
"I've been better, but can't complain" he fixed his eyes on the glass in his hand, his thumb stroked the handle, while his thoughts flew to Sharon. He missed her terribly.
"She's tough, you know. She could break free if she wanted to" Kara cringed at the memories of Leoben's interrogation. Kara disliked Sharon for her nature, but she cared for Karl, and Karl loved this woman.
"She chose not to"
The two drank quietly again, this time Kara's mind wandered to Zak's funeral, then to her promise to Sam. She sighed, she'd go back to rescue him, she couldn't let another die… but she questioned the possibility of being with Sam, her heart wasn't in it anymore, courtesy of one Lee Adama.
"The President spoke to me" she broke the silence.
"Oh?" Karl moved forward and propped his elbow on the table.
"About rescue mission to Caprica. She gave the green light"
"And the Commander?"
"He authorized the mission"
Karl studied his friend's face as she poured another serving of the Chief's brew into each of their glasses.
"We'll get them" Karl placed his hand on Kara's, assuring her.
Lee closed the hatch behind him, leaving the Commander's quarter. The news brought mixed feelings in him. The Old Man had appointed him to lead the rescue mission to Caprica with Kara as his second in command.
Rescue mission… Ander's rescue…
Without realizing, his fist had clenched so hard that it hurt. It wasn't the rescue mission itself that pissed him off, but it was the effect Anders had in him.
"Ah there you are!" Dee ran towards him and gave him a hug.
Not now. He mentally told her to go away, but his actions betrayed him, instead, he smiled and scooped her into a kiss.
"I've been looking everywhere for you" she said again, looping her arms around Lee's as they walked the hall.
Dee was good for him, he thought, Dee loved him, but no matter how hard he tried, his heart didn't belong to her. Again, his action betrayed his heart as he whispered loving words to the other woman's ear.
"So what was it?" Karl asked, Kara was in the middle of telling him the prank her pilot pulled earlier that morning, as they walked to the ready room for rescue mission meeting. Lee had requested Kara and Karl's presence to prepare for the the briefing later on that day.
"Sorry" she heard someone muttered as her shoulder bumped with another pilot's. She nodded towards the man before she frowned, his face was familiar, but he wasn't part of Galactica's squad. She recognized him from somewhere… Where?
"Starbuck?" Karl called her, still waiting for the rest of the story.
"Hey…" she turned to call the pilot, but didn't finish her sentence, instead she pushed Karl aside, and automatically reached for her sidearm. The other pilot had his gun in his hand already, his eyes were burning with rage as he squeezed the trigger. Split seconds later, a loud bang filled the hallway.
Only moments before the pilot fired, both of them swore they heard him cursing Karl for being a traitor.
"Kara!" Karl scrambled towards her as she fell to the ground. One hand had gone for his sidearm, pointed to the shooter, who had fallen as well.
"Drop your weapon!" Karl shouted at him while he was still holding Kara. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her blood in his hand. The other man started to picked himself back up, Karl noticed blood on the side of his stomach, but it didn't stop him. He raised his gun again and pointed it to Karl.
"You deserve to die with them" there was so much hatred that Karl swore the hallway was dense with it. A minute movement of his hand gave Karl enough time to know that he'd have to fire, or he'd be dead. He brought his other hand to his gun and another bang filled the hallway.
Karl waited for the shot of pain or darkness to overcome him as he knew for sure his bullet never had the chance to leave the chamber. The pain or darkness never came, instead, the other pilot dropped to the floor. Karl looked down to see Kara's hand on her trigger, and she soon shook as she brought her hand back down.
Racetrack who had heard the shots ran towards them, hand on her gun, only to find two fallen soldiers and bloodied mess.
"What the frak..." she stopped on her track as soon as she saw Kara and the other pilot on the floor.
"Get medic!" Karl told her, he took the gun off Kara's hand. After securing the unknown pilot's weapon, Racetrack sprinted towards the nearest comm. station and patched through to life station.
"No, no, no, Kara! Stay with me!" Karl kept his hand on her wound, keeping pressure.
"Racetrack? What happened?" Lee ran towards her, having heard the shots from the ready room not too far away from where it happened. Lee liked being there at least ten minutes before his pilots turned up, it helped him to compose himself. He found Racetrack with sidearm still in her arm while she asked for medic dispatch. A few other pilots who were in the area and heard the shot had started to gather.
"Starbuck was shot, Sir" Racetrack informed him as she put the handset down. Lee bolted without further question.
His heard pounded when he saw Karl cradling Kara's head while his other hand was pressing on her wound. Then he saw the pool of blood and his world almost stopped moving. Kara's body shook as her hand clutched at Karl's, eyes searching for his.
"Helo…" she struggled, Karl nodded, "I'm here… I'm here" while keeping pressure on her wound.
Kara suddenly remembered where she had seen the shooter, he had always been on Karl's tail since his return from Caprica. He had given her the stare and glare for siding with him. Karl's suggestion on the blackbird didn't make him budge, instead he became angrier. Why, he asked then, not understanding why Karl was forgiven for loving such terrible being.
"S.. Spikey…" she whispered the pilot's callsign, and his name came to her mind soon after, Darius Harmon. She had read his name somewhere in her pile of reports. The pilot had come from Triton along with Crashdown. Harmon was an inexperienced pilot, Kara was meant to train him after the world ended, but his two failed tests in a row had got him dismissed as incapable in Kara's eyes. The only reason why he made it that far was because of his connection with the Commanding officer of Battlestar Triton, perhaps that was why she disliked him. How could she forget?
"Don't talk, you got him" Karl assured her, trying not to panic.
"Kara!" Lee skidded on the floor and in a second was on her side. His ands met Karl's in keeping pressure on the wound.
"Help is coming. Hang in there" he almost whispered. He pressed his forehead to hers, his heart was still pounding as he feared for her life, body trembling, losing blood, she managed a gasp before she closed her eyes and everything went black.
At that very moment it was like his whole world went dark with her. Lee knew for sure, he would not survive without her. The woman held his heart and lifeline in her strong hands, and if she died, he'd follow her.
"Kara, no!" he shouted. Karl squeezed the man's shoulder, the medic had arrived. Both men reluctantly let go as the medic tended to her and took her away. Another team of medic was on the offender's side, but he had died the moment Kara's bullet went through his head.
Lee noticed Karl's bloodied hands shook terribly as they stood, it was something he had never seen of the man before, he was always solid, he was Kara's rock to lean on when even Lee himself shut her out. This time it was Lee who steadied him, gave him assurance and comfort as their friend fought for her life.
"My fault… this is my frakking fault" Kara mumbled, his back pressed to the wall, eyes locked on the crimson stain on his hands.
"Helo… it's not your fault" Lee stood next to him, back pressed to the wall as well. Deep down he was on the edge of breaking, but with Karl in that state, Lee knew one of them would need to be the solid ground.
"The bullet was meant for me! That bastard wanted me dead… for loving Sharon!" he shouted this time, eyes filled with rage. He started to walk back and forth, before finally making his way to life station. Lee followed him, but stopped at a comm. station.
"This is Apollo, get me Actual" he kept his gaze on Karl until he disappeared around the corner towards life station.
"This is Actual" his father's voice answered.
Lee took a deep breath, his fingers massaged the bridge of his nose while his brain quickly scrambled a way to the Commander.
"We have a situation…" he paused, "Dad… Kara has been shot" he had no idea how else he was going to say it. There was a brief sharp breath intake from the Commander, before he told Lee that he'd meet him in life station.
Karl was already sitting in the waiting area, he had tried to get to Kara, but was denied access until she was out of crisis.
"They won't tell me anything" Karl was calmer now, but Lee could still see the shock. He took a seat next to him, his head was full of what if scenarios, he couldn't hear anything else but his own thoughts.
Only moments later, the Commander entered the facility, he too, was denied access to her. Looking at the shock stricken Helo and his son, he walked towards them.
"What happened?" he asked the two men. Lee looked up briefly before shifting gaze to Karl.
"She took a bullet for me, Sir" Karl's voice was shaky, but he tried his best to maintain his steadiness.
"And the shooter?"
"He died on site. Kara shot him"
Bill nodded, taking his glasses off and wiped them as he took a seat next to Lee.
Hours went past before Cottle exited the theatre and walked straight to the three men waiting for news. Each of them had taken turns in waiting during those hours. Both Lee and Karl still had to attend the rescue mission briefing. Much to their hearts' objections, their duties must go on.
"She's stable. The bullet narrowly missed the heart. She'll live" the Doctor assured them.
Lee involuntarily pulled his father into a hug, which was welcomed by the Old Man. Karl's knee gave way and he sat back down as relief took over.
"When can we see her?" Karl asked.
"Come back in the morning. She's still under at the moment" Cottle lit a cigarette, he knew one or all three of them would have rushed to her as soon as possible. Cottle made sure there was a few hours window just to give Kara the extra rest she needed.
"Helo? Are you okay?" Sharon saw the look on his face as he lifted the handset, it was a look that Sharon would never want to see. She put her fingers through the mesh of the partition, touching the glass, where she met Karl's from the other side of the glass.
"Something happened…" he locked his gaze on Sharon's. He loved this woman so dearly that it hurt when people just couldn't see that.
"Kara was shot" he didn't look away from her. Sharon gasped, her face showed genuine concern for Kara.
"How is she doing?"
"Stable…" he paused, "The bullet was meant for me" he added.
"Because of me?" she asked, her eyes filled with regret, she knew how much Kara meant to him, and how much she meant to the fleet.
"No… not because of you… because people don't understand" a drop of tear fell down his cheek.
"I love you, Sharon" he whispered, wishing he could hold her, could be by her side as the little bundle of joy formed in her womb. A comforting smile formed in her face,
"I love you too" she whispered back.
The two spent their precious minutes together in silence, just staring at each other, wishing they were in each other's arms.
"We're going back to Caprica" he mentioned before his time was up.
"For the rescue mission?"
"Yeah" he broke eye contact with her. Studying his expression, she understood.
"I will be fine, Helo"
"I can't have you go into a war zone. The baby…"
"Baby and I will be fine, trust me" her hand cradled her tummy again. She had started to clearly show her pregnant state a few weeks back, but it didn't stop her from being agile.
Karl sighed as he looked into the woman's eyes, there he found home, a place where he belonged, and without a doubt, he trusted her.
"How is she?" Dee asked, but Lee knew it was more for courtesy instead of concern. There was a tone in her voice that said she was obliged to ask.
"She's stable"
Dee's hands went to his shoulder, kneading the knots, trying to comfort him. But the only thing he felt was disgust to himself. He stood abruptly from his bunk, luckily no one else was in the quarter.
"I'm sorry… I need to be alone" he broke the silence.
Her brown eyes flickered, she knew he had this "connection" with the almighty Starbuck, but she had hoped that he would be content just being with her.
"Look, I need to get myself ready for the mission" his voice softened. Dee nodded and quietly made her way out of the quarter, she knew it was a battle she'd lose.
Lee laid quietly in his bunk, his mind kept playing Cottle's words over and over like a broken record. "She'll live" he convinced himself.
I need you, Kara. He mentally said the word.
To be continued...
I hope you enjoy it ^^