Current Time - Galactica

Chief Petty Officer Cally Agathon climbed up the ladder to the Viper. She leaned over as the cowling slid back, and helped Apollo off with his helmet. "Welcome aboard the Galactica, sir."

Lee smiled, glad to see her. "Hey, Chief. Seen Starbuck lately?" He waited as she removed the helmet collar, and then began his post-flight checklist.

Cally gave him a look filled with amusement and pity. "Well, now that you mention it, there was a demon that rampaged through my flight-deck about three hours ago had a marked resemblance to Starbuck."

Lee grimaced. "That bad?" He placed both arms on the sides of Viper and lifted himself clear of the seat. He grabbed the bag from the storage area and went to get out of the cockpit. He paused as he noticed the hand waiting to assist him. He gave her a small smile.

Cally laughed, taking his pack from him and preceded him down the ladder. "Well she seemed a little upset, sir. Which I'm sure you had 'nothing' to do with." She tossed him a speaking look, a sly smile flirting with her gaze.

Lee sighed. So, Kara had already terrorized the deck crew. Now he had to make sure there were no ruffled feathers on top of finding his wife, and maybe shake some sense into her. If that was even humanly possible. He may have the call sign of a God, but he 'was' married to Kara.

Cally moved so he could get clear of the Viper. After seeing Kara when she got back and Lee's face now, Cally wasn't sure if she wanted to know what was going on. Although, odds are it had something to do with Lya, which meant Helo and her son were involved.

"Commander?"

Lee turned and looked at her. He was still checking things off on the clipboard she had given him. Cally had filled out most of the information of the form, reminding him of a time when she had been his deck assistance. He waited for a moment for her to speak.

"Before you ask, no there are no hurt feelings in my crew. Everyone is used to Starbuck... and sometimes it does the new crew good to experience her in all her glory." Cally gave him an evil smile. She ran an extremely tight crew on board the Galatica, a trait that had been inherited from Galen Tyrol. With Tyrol being on Pegasus, and Cally here, both flight decks were handled with identical and unmatched excellence.

Lee smirked, and handed her the clipboard. One of the things he had missed the most about having Cally as his deck crew was her ability to anticipate his every question. He also never had to make excuses for attitude or scenes of extreme emotion. Cally had grown up around Viper pilots. She understood them as if she was one of them.

Cally looked around the deck for a moment, and stepped closer to him. "I have to ask, Apollo, is everything okay with the Kobol mission?" Her voice was calm, quiet, but Lee could hear a trace of worry in her voice.

Lee gave her a quizzical look. Granted, the knuckle-draggers were the lifeblood of the fleet's rumour mill, but even he was impressed that she knew about that.

Cally snorted at the look on his face. Sometimes the great Apollo could be really dense. "My husband and son are part of the mission, sir."

He still just looked her, a slight confused expression starting to filter through his eyes. She gave him an exasperated look. "Karl and Cameron." She mentally counted, getting to 6 before everything clicked for him.

"Oh!" Lee shook his head for a second. He should have known that. This fight with Kara had him more distracted then he thought. "As far as I know, it's fine." He looked at her shrewdly, a thought occurring to him. "When did you find out about the mission?"

"Yesterday. Karl told me about it."

Lee snorted. Of course Helo did. "And yet no one told me. And it is 'my' daughter involved in it."

Cally looked at him and raised an eyebrow. There was that Apollo pride she didn't miss. Kara's temper earlier was beginning to make a lot more sense. "Maybe, Apollo, it has to do with you being an over-protective ass. Sir."

Lee pinned her with a look. She might be the Chief, but he was still the Commander of a Battlestar, and that was border-line insubordinate. She let out a trilling laugh that had a few deck hands looking at their Chief.

"Don't try that look with me, Commander. I work for your father, and to be frank his glare is much better than yours." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Look everyone is going to tip-toe around you and not say a word. And you pissed off the one person who routinely pulls your head from your ass. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, knows that your objective judgment goes out the airlock when it involves Lieutenant Adama. Weren't you the one who taught me sometimes it is better to seek forgiveness rather then ask permission?" At his stunned nod, she continued. "Well it's a sense of self-preservation. We don't tell you ahead of time, get on with our jobs, and then we go sit at Joe's while you freak out later."

Lee had a look on his face like he had just been pole-axed. Cally felt a little guilty for the tirade. "It's not like that all the time, Lee. Just every now and then."

He was silent for a moment, trying to reconcile himself to a few things. He looked at her. "It doesn't bother you that your son is out there?"

Cally chuckled. "All the damn time. Come on, you remember the first time he took a flight. Karl took him out while I was on Pegasus in a meeting with Galen. I found out after the fact."

Remembering that afternoon, Lee chuckled. "Didn't you hit Karl for that?"

She gave him a cheeky grin. "I tried to. Your wife stopped me, and told me to relax and not spoil the moment for my son. Once I looked at Cam's face after his first flight, I knew me freaking out was only going to make him miserable. He loved flying."

"Reminds me of Lya's first flight." Lee had been in the observation lounge trying not to hyperventilate with his father as Kara took Lya on her first flight. "How do you handle it calmly?" He slung his bag over his shoulder, unconsciously mimicking the exact movement Kara had done earlier.

Cally gave him a small smile, noticing the small habit that both pilots had. "Lots of mantras and extra busy work. There always seems to be a broken plane when one of my kids goes flying." She chuckled. "Seriously though, it's basically comes down to this. Starbuck trained him, and she is the most amazing pilot I have ever seen. So I know here," she touched her heart, "that he knows what he is doing."

She tilted her head to side, looking at him. "Plus, Lya is his best friend. And she takes care of her friends like her parents take care of their friends." She waited until he gave her a rueful grin. "She'd never let anything near enough to my son to hurt him."

Taking Lee's shoulders in her hands, she turned him towards the hatch leading to the main corridor. "I also trust my husband. He would give his life for Cameron... or Lya. Much like Kara would. With all those guarantees..."

She gave him a pointed look, holding his eyes for a moment. Realizing he got the message, she gestured to the hall. "The Admiral is in CIC. Waiting for you, I would imagine." She snapped a jaunty salute and walked back into her domain.

Lee stood and watched her for a moment, absorbing what had just happened. He had just been put firmly in his place by CALLY. Sweet, kind, quiet Cally. He looked after her for minute, a respectful grin breaking across his face. She had made several points, some of them a little too close to home.

He started walking to CIC. His father no doubt had a few choice words of his own for the situation. And perhaps, he might have some suggestions for his son regarding Kara. Lee was now willing to admit that he needed all the help he could get extracting his foot from his mouth.

Lee stepped into CIC and looked around fondly. As much as he liked 'his' Battlestar, Galactica would always have a place in his heart. He stood at the back for a second, absorbing the easy-going atmosphere. He moved into the light, and a glint was created off of his rank insignia.

Anastasia Dualla noticed him in the back of the room and took a breath. Even after all these years, the man made her heart go pitter-pat. The man was gorgeous. Never mind that 19 years had passed and she was happily married elsewhere, there would always be a part of her that yearned for that perfection.

At least in her own mind anyway. She smirked to herself. The least she could do was make him feel just the tiniest bit uncomfortable. "Commander on deck."

Lee shot her a look. She waggled her finger at him and grinned.

William Adama turned and gestured to his son. He looked back at the Dradis console and the discussion he was having with Colonel Tigh. "I have to agree. The Rising Star is better put towards the center of the fleet, especially now that it is home to the school system. Which ship is next on the list?"

Tigh shuffled his paperwork. "Cloud Nine is disgruntled now that they are on the peripheral. They seem to think that they need to be next to Colonial One."

Adama snorted. "They are a resort ship. And they refuse to house families. Because of that, they do not get priority."

Lee stepped up to the console and gazed at the fleet spread out. He nodded to Tigh. "Colonel."

Tigh gave him a mock salute. "Commander. How is the Beast?"

Lee smirked. "As well as ever. Gaeta hasn't had a mental breakdown, so everything is running smoothly." He leaned on the edge of the console. "I see you two are playing a game of musical ships."

Adama snorted. "More like Dominos."

Tigh chuckled. "Ain't that the truth? Every time we get something figured out, someone has to knock it over."

Bill looked at his son. Lee was giving a good impression of being completely relaxed, but he could see the tension in his shoulders. "Was there something you needed?"

Lee glanced at his father. "If you have a minute...?"

Bill handed his paperwork to Tigh. "I have all the time in the galaxy. You have CIC, Colonel." He returned Tigh's salute and led Lee out of CIC.