A/N: You know... you guys could review more... :-(


Rory woke first the following morning. He extracted himself from Amy's grip and checked on the Doctor. His breathing was as steady as it could be, although his hearts were being to strain already – perhaps Rory had overshot his guess a little bit. He then checked the time and discovered it to only be an hour away from six o'clock.

Still yawning, he woke Amy. The ginger grumbled at it, complaining it was early, but then he told they needed to get down to the hangar bay. At that she got up and checked on the Doctor herself. Rory watched as she spoke to him in a hushed time, stroked his ridiculous mop of brown hair, and straightened his red bowtie.

Rory signed the Doctor out of the sickbay with the consent of Doctor Cottle, also signed out a stretcher and a medical kit, and then began the long trek to the hangar bay. Rory was in charge of wheeling the Doctor. Amy was the person who consulted with their guide – a small, dark skinned woman. She was genuinely friendly towards the both of them. She introduced herself as D, and then Anastasia.

It didn't take them long to reach the hangar bay. They had to carry the Doctor down on the stretcher the last bit of way, as there was no way to get him down there on a gurney. Amy fretted that they could drop him, but Rory assured her he had plenty of practice and the Doctor would be fine.

The hangar bay staff stared at them as they walked towards a Raptor in the middle of the room. Waiting there was Apollo and one man dressed in black – a marine. There was also a blonde woman who didn't a wee bit impressed about being here. He greeted both Amy and Rory with a wave and a smile. They cramped themselves into the small ship and were soon on their way.

"We'll have to jump back to Kobol." Apollo explained as they left the ship and emerged into space. "It is a little sickening if you're not used to it." he said. He flicked a couple of switches and the other woman did the same.

"FTL drive ready." she announced. "Commencing jump in five... four, three, two. One."

The ship lurched. Amy almost collided with Rory, but he caught her in his arms before she could. The marine who was standing didn't move as he steadied himself on the overhead.

"Jump completed." the woman announced. "Kobol in sight."

The ship veered to the right as they turned into the planet. They continued at a steady pace for three or four minutes as the planet's surface began to obscure the view in the front window.

Apollo then veered the ship violently the other way. "Raiders!" he announced loudly. The woman hissed. "Oh shut up, Starbuck." he said. "We'll get down to the surface." he assured her.

Amy and Rory exchanged nervous glances. Apollo and newly-named Starbuck continued to pilot the ship erratically, almost sending everyone in the back flying across the small cabin. Soon they neared the planet as Apollo had planned originally and the ship began to descend.

"We're in the atmosphere." announced Apollo. "But we need to land... and quick." he said. He veered the ship again sharply to the right and then the left, and then down again.

Rory could see the tops of the trees through the window in the front. He found himself gripping both Amy and the Doctor's limp hand tightly, praying silently. It was very possible that none of them were going to survive this landing. Amy seemed to share his thoughts as she squeezed his hand back and offered him a weak smile.

He returned it, but it was lost as the ship lurched violently forward. Something zoomed overhead and Apollo reacted immediately, descending towards an open part of the planet.

"Blue." Starbuck said, pointing, as Apollo continued to tug the ship around sharply, throwing all the passengers around. "Land there, Lee!" she exclaimed, pointing again.

Apollo – Lee – obeyed and descended there. The Raiders that had been announced earlier came into sight. They were shaped like a moon, the front of them curving in towards the head. The head had a red light and it was in the centre of the head, as if looking straight out them.

"Son of a bitch!" Starbuck cried. "Lee!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" he replied, equally loud. "Frakking hell Starbuck, you really think I'm trying to get us all killed?" he continued to descend and steer fiercely, apparently attempting to lose the ships which were tailing them.

Rory closed his eyes, again in a silent prayer, and was surprised when he was suddenly thrown across the room. He let out a surprised yelp. He opened his eyes and looked out the window. They were on the ground.

"Everyone alright?" called Apollo.

Rory checked on Amy and the Doctor. Amy hadn't moved from where she'd been sitting – she seemed traumatized. The Doctor had barely been disturbed from his place on the cabin floor. The marine was rubbing his head.

"Fine," they all chorused, including the feisty Starbuck.

"What happened?" asked Rory.

"We crashed, stupid." Starbuck replied. She had already begun to extract herself from the pilot's seat and force open the door. "The Cylons disabled us... we didn't have much of a choice of whether we got to crash or not." the door groaned under her push. Apollo joined in, as did the marine. Amy moved out of the way. "They're gone now. They probably suspect we're dead and injured, so it's no use wasting the big ammo on us now." she shoved the door again, and it moved on its hinges. "They'll pick us off with ground troops soon, so we need to get out of here. Now." the door finally gave way.

Rory shielded his eyes from the light outside – it was bright and the back of the Raptor was dark. Apollo took Amy's hand to help her out. Rory climbed out himself. It took all five of them to get the Doctor out. Rory checked on him briefly, a little less than satisfied, and then they began to trek up the hill and into the trees nearby the crashed Raptor.

Apollo and Starbuck began a hushed, frantic conversation as they walked. Rory couldn't help but listen in.

"Why didn't they kill us when we were in space?" Starbuck asked.

Apollo didn't even hesitate in his answer. "They wanted us alive, and so they have us alive." he looked behind him to the rapidly-disappearing wrecked Raptor. "No one's coming after us." he said.

"You could have killed us both with that landing." she then went on to complain. "I know you like being daddy's boy, but we all could have died back then. There's no way we're getting that Raptor flying again, thanks to you. We're frakking lucky the fuel tank didn't explode on us with the friction."

Apollo turned to face her, stopping. "Well I'm sorry for saving your life!" he exclaimed. "Next time I'll land nose first and have us crushed to death with the back of the Raptor." he began to storm off again, but then stopped himself. "This is about Anders, isn't it?" he asked.

"Don't you dare." she warned.

"You're frakking with me because we could be rescuing Anders right now and not the person who can lead us to Earth." Apollo claimed.

Starbuck scoffed. "I was there when the old man said no." she said. "This is all Roslin's fault, you know." she then blamed the President. "If she hadn't sent me to Caprica to get the arrow I'd never have met Anders, recruited a frakking pregnant Cylon and love-blind Helo." she said.

"And we'd have never have met the Doctor." Apollo added innocently. "You think I'm okay with the old man denying more guns in the fight, too?" he then continued. "But he has a point – it's way too dangerous and way too demanding. When we're ready, Starbuck. Not now. Can we just focus on getting these people to their ship now?" he asked.

Starbuck fell silent. "Okay," she agreed. "Captain."