They were in the middle of a card game when it happened. If they had been doing it with money, Helo would have had empty pockets by now.
"Full colors, Lieutenant. I'm sorry. Helo."
Karl Agathon smiled. Since both of their best bud had been out of commission, they had become somewhat the odd couple; or at least what some would call the most unlikely of friends. Lee Adama hated the Cylons, and Helo…well, he was practically married to one. It had taken his superior officer more than a few months to stop addressing him as Lieutenant when neither of them was on duty. They had gotten rather used to addressing each other with their call signs.
"That's alright Apollo. I need to make a break for the head, anyway. Who's winning?"
Apollo laughed.
"I am. Too bad Kara's not awake to see it."
Helo looked down uncomfortably at his shoes. Even after all this time, she was a touchy subject.
"Can I get you anything while I'm out?"
Lee shook his head as he shuffled the cards.
"No thanks. Anders will be back in about an hour or so. I'll just get something then."
Helo wiped his hands on his pants.
"Okay then. I'll be back in a minute."
He sighed, running his fingers through the top of his hair. For two weeks now, Lee had been coming to sit with Kara on Thursdays and Saturdays. The former was being used as practice night, and the latter was when Galactica's team went out to play Pyramid with the Colonists. If nothing else, a little competition seemed to be going a long way in taking their minds off the monotony of military life. Lee had managed to harangue Agathon into playing with him as his leg injury from Caprica didn't allow him to actually play.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed what he thought was movement. Nah. Can't be. He saw it again.
"Helo, stop screwing around."
But the other man was no where near the med bay. In fact, he had just run into Sam on his way to the showers. They'd come back a little earlier than usual.
Lee looked at Kara. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully…but this time, it was a little different. There was a smile forming on her lips.
"Now, I don't know better, but I think that would be called a positive synaptic response?"
He waited, and watched it happen again. Frak. He reached for the call button. Very quickly, Apollo was joined by the medtech, looking nothing if a little sleepy.
"Henderson, right? Go get Doc Cottle. On the double. I don't care if he's sleeping; you get him down here now. Do you understand?"
The tech nodded and hurried off in the direction from which he'd come. Lee reached down and held one of Kara's hands, slowly stroking it with his other.
"Kara? Come on Kara, wake up. Come on. It's time to wake up already. Kara? Starbuck? Starbuck!"
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Kara Thrace heard a voice echoing inside her mind. She was walking down a tunnel. It was the way that the man who called himself Leo had told her to go. The voice she heard became more insistent. So insistent that she responded.
"I'm coming! Keep your pants on, for gods' sake."
As she continued to walk toward the door, her feet began to feel like lead. It was becoming harder and harder for her to pick them up. But she was stubborn. Boy, I must have been hell for my parents. Do I have parents? Concentrating on the desire she had to know the answer to that question, she found the strength to move forward, albeit a little slower. She heard the voice again. Right before she felt the tug in her center.
"Starbuck?"
Slowly she opened her eyes. There was a man in front of her, crying. Hysterically crying, but obviously a very happy man. As her eyes began to adjust to a light she had not seen in what felt like ages, she was able to pinpoint where she'd seen this man before. On the screen. He's the one that hit me.
As Lee reached down to hug her, he felt her cringe beneath him. Never had he gotten that reaction from her.
"Kara, are you okay?"
He's speaking again! Okay, move. Move! She was willing her legs and arms to move, to push him out of the way, or at the very least to allow her to get away from him. But no matter how hard she tried to move, the muscle response just wasn't there. So she did the only thing she was sure of, and opened her mouth wide and screamed.
"Kara. Kara, calm down! Lords, what is wrong with you, Kara! It's me! It's me, Lee Adama! Kara, don't you recognize me!"
Helo heard the screams as he was coming down the hall. Obviously female. That means…. He started running, fast. He nearly knocked over Ensign Henderson as he rounded the corner.
"What the…Lee! Kara! Lee, move out of the way!"
He grabbed Kara by the shoulders and shook her once to get her attention. It did the trick; the screaming stopped. He then spoke to her in his calm, soothing voice.
"Kara, look at me. Do you know me?"
Great no recognition whatsoever.
"Kara, my name is Karl. Karl Agathon. I am your friend. That guy over my shoulder is Lee. Lee Adama. He's your friend, too."
She shook her head furiously at the thought of Lee Adama being her friend. She mouthed the word no, and then looked away. Apollo just couldn't stand it.
"What do you mean no? Kara, don't you remember anything?"
"I remember you hit me. More than once. You hit me."
She looked away again.
"Hey everybody. What's all the commotion?"
As soon as he said it, he stopped in his tracks. Thrace was awake, and she was staring straight at him.
"Sam? Sam! Sam!"
She was crying and screaming his name. Lee looked away as Anders bent down to hold her, to stroke her hair; he was just trying to calm her down. He wanted to let her know everything was all right. Lee understood that. But he also hated that Kara couldn't remember anything past him hitting her.
Helo put a hand on Apollo's shoulder.
"Doc's on his way. You know what? Maybe it's a better idea if you go ahead and I'll wait. I'm sorry, but she just doesn't seem comfortable around you right now. I wonder why?"
Lee bowed his head, thinking of the argument they'd had the day she went over to Cloud Nine. Maybe from the bombing, the only thing she can remember well is the last person she was with, which was Anders? Whatever the reason, he didn't want to sit there and watch this little reunion any more than he had to.
"Sure Helo. I'll…I'll go let my dad know she's awake. He'll want to talk to her, too. If there's anything else, come find me."
Agathon nodded in return.
"Sure thing Apollo."
And he turned and walked out of the med bay, an ache starting to form in his broken heart.
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