Landing on Niobe, Lee quickly took charge

The Light of Apollo

By Carolina Blue

A/N: Takes place in S2, between "Home Part 2" and "Final Cut."

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is property of the show "Battlestar Galactica," all rights reserved, etc. etc.

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CHAPTER THREE

A few hours of distributing supplies later, and Starbuck was ready to call it a day. She was tired and just a little bit (a lot) cranky. The only reason she had taken this assignment in the first place was so she could spend some time talking to Lee, and she hadn't even seen him since they landed on Niobe hours earlier. The frakker had been avoiding her for days now, and she had had enough.

"It's bad enough he won't talk to us on Galactica, but on assignment…" she grumbled to an imaginary Bill Adama. She knew him and Lee hadn't been comfortable with each other since returning from Kobol. She stalked through the hallways of the civilian ship. The rest of the team was already heading to the Raptor, and Lee was late in meeting them.

After asking around and being directed to the sick bay, she made her way past dozens of makeshift hospital beds. The sight and sound of burn victims, not to mention the smell, threatened to overwhelm her initially until she shoved it out of her mind. Mind over matter.

"Hey, Doc," she grabbed the arm of the first official-looking person she could see. "I'm looking for a Captain Adama?"

The doctor nodded towards a bed in the far corner, where she could see Lee sitting with a patient. She started towards him when the doctor stopped her. "Lieutenant? I may be out of line here, but I'd get him out of here if I were you." At her questioning look, "The guy's obviously exhausted, and sitting with that kid isn't going to help."

"What are you talking about?" she looked over to Lee. The patient he was with was a boy, no more than eight years old, severely burned everywhere that Kara could see. She turned back to the doctor.

"The boy doesn't have much time left," he said quietly. "And your Captain, he's… he's been here for awhile. He's going to collapse soon if he's not careful."

Kara nodded her thanks and went quickly over to Lee, making enough noise to not startle him with her approach. "Hey, the team's ready to go," she spoke softly.

He nodded, not taking his eyes off the boy in front of him. The kid was obviously unconscious and fading fast.

She tried again. "Come on Lee, you need to get out of here," she laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it when he looked up at her. Gods, he did look ready to collapse. When had he last slept? "We're going to have to make our report to CIC soon."

He became Apollo then. "You got out all our rations and supplies?"

"Yeah. The team's waiting at the Raptor. Let's go," she gently pulled his arm until he stood up, and kept it there while he got his bearings.

"I promised him I'd stay until he fell asleep," and then he was Lee again, looking back to the boy.

Kara felt her stomach drop a little. "You talked to him?"

"I wanted to get some accounts from witnesses, maybe see if someone in the galley was a target…"

"So you interviewed the eight year old?" She tried to lighten her voice but was pretty sure it didn't work.

"He's seven," Lee corrected. "No one was sitting with him," he cleared his throat. "His parents died in the explosion."

"Lee," she said his name again. The doc was right; Lee needed to get the hell out of here. But his next words stopped her cold.

"His name is Zachary." Lee's usually vivid blue eyes were dull and somber. "Zak. His dad called him Zak." He couldn't look at her.

"Okay, that's it," she grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the bed and out of the sick bay. Once they were in an empty hallway, she grabbed his shoulders and lightly shoved him against the wall, half shaking and half supporting him.

"What-?" he was completely confused, and still not totally aware of what was going on.

"Lee. Look at me." Her voice was commanding and steady. Out of instinct, he went still and obeyed the order. His eyes were still disturbingly dull, and Kara couldn't remember the last time she had seen some real life in them. Probably when they were on Kobol, she guessed. "Lee. You need to get some sleep, okay?" She spoke slowly and firmly. "We're going to get back to Galactica, and you're going straight to your rack, got it?"

"I can't," he fumbled, pushing her hands away. "I have too much to do…"

"And you won't be able to do any of it if you're sick!" she got in front of him again, stopping him. "If any of your pilots were acting this way, what would you do?"

"Acting what way?" he challenged.

"Like you haven't slept in days and you're focusing on work instead of dealing with everything that's happened since we got back!" she felt like screaming at him, but this one time she held back, knew it wouldn't do any good.

He flinched as though she had struck him, but didn't deny anything for once. That alone proved Kara's point. She took a step back when he deflated a bit, running a hand over his eyes for a second. "I'm tired, Kara." His voice was lost, small. "But I can't… Everything's just- I… he's seven," he looked up at her, willing her to understand. She did, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to win this argument.

They heard footsteps approaching. Kara turned to see a group of civilians, all dressed in greens and browns, enter the hallway. When she looked back to Lee, his posture was straight and his face was masked again. She never could figure out how he always managed to do that.

"Okay, Starbuck. Back to the Raptor, back to Galactica, report to CIC, and then-"

"Shut up, Apollo. I'll report to CIC, you report to your bunk." She made sure he looked her in the eyes. "I mean it." He looked at her for a few seconds, no reaction. "Got it?"

Finally, mercifully, he nodded. "Got it." They turned as one to make their way down the corridor past the intrigued civilians, and she took a chance, throwing an arm casually around his waist. It was the next best thing to a hug, and the best she could do right now. The quick smile that lit up his face- and he unsuccessfully tried to hide- told her it was worth it.

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The smile lasted until right about the time they landed on Galactica. "Apollo!" Hot Dog called out not a second after Lee's feet hit the flight deck. Two pilots, obviously just off a CAP rotation, stood next to him.

"What is it, Costanza?" To the untrained ear, Lee's voice sounded as cool as normal, but Kara knew better. He was exhausted and in no mood to deal with anyone right now.

"A, uh, small problem with the upcoming CAP sir." When Lee turned his sharp eyes to him, Hot Dog stammered slightly. "Tiny, tiny problem."

Lee sighed, began moving over to him, even as Kara tried to pull him away. "I'll deal with it Lee, go hit your bunk."

He shook his head. "You're supposed to report to CIC, remember? Wasn't that the deal?"

"Yeah, so you could go hit your bunk!" She said just loud enough for him and no one else to hear.

"I will," he promised. "It's probably just Costanza complaining about whoever his wingman is. I'll listen for exactly thirty seconds and then send him out anyway. Go to CIC."

Reluctantly, seeing the logic of that, Kara nodded and left him to the flight deck.

Lee continued his journey over to the younger pilot. "What's up Hot Dog?"

"It's Crow, sir." Hot Dot had been paired with the nugget for today's CAP. "He's supposed to fly with me today, but he hasn't shown up. I've been waiting for twenty minutes."

Lee swallowed back a sigh, resisting the urge to run a hand through his hair. "No one's out there right now?" In light of recent events, the Vipers' CAPs were extremely important to patrol for Cylons.

"No, sir." Hot Dog actually looked a little frightened of him. Inwardly, Lee wondered how bad his appearance must look if the happy-go-lucky pilot in front of him was freaked. Lee quickly calculated how much time they would waste trying to find Crow, how much time they had already wasted. Who could he get in the next thirty seconds to fly the CAP?

We can't have our CAG getting sloppy on the job again. His father's voice rang so clearly in his head that for a second Lee was sure if he turned he'd see Bill Adama standing there next to him. Gods damn it. His father was right. He was responsible for his pilots; he was responsible for fixing this.

"Alright, are the Vipers prepped?" he turned to Tyrol who was standing nearby. At his nod, Lee couldn't help the small sigh that escaped him this time. "I'll fly the CAP, Hot Dog." Turning to the other pilots, his face grew stern. "The second I land, I want Crow waiting in the ready room. Someone better put him there, understood?"

"Yes sir," the two pilots threw out quick salutes and hurried off the deck.

Lee nodded for Hot Dog to get in his Viper and began the weary walk over to the other bird. "Frak me," he muttered. Gods, there were times he wished he could just put a bullet in his brain if it meant he would get some peace.

And so Lee grudgingly flew the CAP with Hot Dog, grateful beyond words that it ended up being an uneventful one. Still, a few hours of nothingness was probably just as dangerous right now. He had to force himself to concentrate, and more than one he fought against his eyes closing. He had never been more thankful in his life for Hot Dog's incessant and usually annoying chatter; at least it distracted his mind from his own misery.

The end of the CAP couldn't have come any sooner. Lee's hands were beginning to shake, and he wouldn't be surprised if his eyes had started crossing at some point. The combination of staring at the DRADIS screen and staring out at an endless array of stars had become disorientating, and a migraine of epic proportions was pressing in.

Making sure his comm was off, he groaned in frustration at his own body. He wanted so badly to rest, but he still had way too much crap to do. Why did it have to fail him now?

He barely remembered landing. He sat in the cockpit, trying to control his breathing, eyes closed, while the deck crew began the post-flight check and opened his canopy. He felt hands unhook his O2 line and pull his helmet off, but he couldn't work up the energy to acknowledge them.

"Captain?"

But then he realized it was Cally, and knew he had to. He forced his exhaustion back, smiling at her, pretending to be embarrassed. "Sorry, lost in my thoughts for a second."

She nodded, disbelieving, but didn't question him. "Starbuck's here waiting for you, sir. She doesn't… look… happy," she mentioned.

He stared at her, dead serious. "Cally, I'll give you one million cubits if you help me fly back out of here right now."

She laughed, her concern forgotten. "Sorry sir, your money's no good here. And I don't think I want Chief and Starbuck joining forces to kill me."

He gave a low chuckle at that, nodding his thanks when she pulled his collar off and stepped away. By the time he got his body to stand up and climb out to the ladder, Cally was already on the other side of the deck, working on something else. He slowly made his way down the ladder, noticing that Starbuck was talking to Hot Dog at the moment and hadn't yet seen him exit the Viper, thank the gods.

The second his feet hit the ground, Lee knew this wasn't going to end well. The deck was supposed to be solid under him, but everything was tilting like crazy. The sights and sounds of activity around him suddenly dulled, and Lee had to grab the railing of the ladder to keep from falling over. He closed his eyes tightly, willing his body to hold out just a little bit longer. 'Not now, not now, not now-'

"Apollo?" a voice, sharper than everything else, cut through the fog. Lee opened his eyes to see Chief next to him, eyeing him worriedly. He seemed to be taking in Lee's entire appearance, and wasn't happy with what he saw. "You alright?" he kept his voice quiet, not alerting anyone else. Lee was supremely grateful for that. He didn't even try to school his features, just nodded. Chief took a step closer. "You sure?"

Lee cleared his throat. "Yeah," he answered, and even he was surprised at how faint his voice sounded. He pulled himself up as straight as he could, took one step, and nearly fell again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Chief's voice was still quiet, but definitely nervous. He gripped Lee's upper arms and pushed him back so the pilot was forced to sit on the bottom step of the ladder. While Lee closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing yet again, Chief glanced around the mostly empty hangar deck, wondering who he should send to alert sick bay.

"Just get Starbuck," Lee's voice was quiet and drained.

Chief understood- but didn't necessarily agree with- Lee's need to keep this quiet. He gripped Lee's shoulder for a second, saying softly, "Don't go anywhere," and then hurried over to Starbuck.

Lee wasn't planning on moving anytime soon. He focused on taking slow, deep breaths, stared at his hands, and fought against the tunnel vision that kept threatening to close in.

"Lee?" suddenly they were standing in front of him. He couldn't lift his head right away so Kara did it for him, hands on either side of his face. She stared at him intently, eyes locked with his. He tried to think of something funny to say, but nothing came to mind. "You stupid motherfrakker," she hissed at him. "You're supposed to be in your rack!" As she spoke, she laid the back of her hand on his forehead as if checking for a fever. Now that he thought about it, he was feeling unusually warm.

"Someone had to fly the CAP," his throat felt like gravel. He tried to swallow and get more moisture into his mouth. It was too dry.

"It doesn't always have to be you!" her voice rose a little but not a lot, and Lee was thankful for that. The migraine was kicking his ass right now.

"Yell at me later?" he asked, hating the note of pleading in his voice, even if it was just Kara and Chief. "Just… just get me out of here."

Kara's face softened, and for a second one of her thumbs rubbed against his cheek. "Come on, I'll walk you to sick bay." She reached down to take hold of his arm.

He shook his head, wincing at the motion. "No. Pilots' quarters."

She frowned. "Lee…" Next to her, Chief's eyes were narrowed in concern, head shaking a little.

"Just let me sleep it off. I promise I'll sleep, okay? I don't-" he paused to catch his breath. Why was he out of breath? "I don't want it on a report that…"

That his father might read. Kara wanted to scream and curse his stubborn pride- his stupid pride- but he looked so damn miserable she couldn't do it. Plus, if the situation were reversed, she'd probably want the same thing.

"Okay, okay," she sighed. Placing one hand on his shoulder and the other grasping his elbow, she helped him to stand.

Bad idea. The second he was up on his feet, all color drained from his face. He shook his head just once, croaked out a confused "Kara?", and then his eyes rolled back and he dropped. Only her and Chief's quick reflexes prevented him from further hurting himself.

"Frak!" Kara yelled at the same time that Tyrol shouted for Cally to get a medic. Then they were left staring at each other and the unconscious man between them. Kara cradled his upper body against her. "Frak," she repeated quieter, placing her hand on Lee's pale, overheated face.

"Well," Chief unzipped the front of Lee's flight suit, and Kara helped pull down the top half, hoping to cool him off a little. "I guess he'll get some sleep now."

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TO BE CONTINUED…