They didn't have much time left in their little stolen oasis, but they made good use of the time, snuggling and talking over various strategies for stealing the battlecruiser, and what conditions the engines were in. As Adama and Apollo had suspected, the cruiser was spent by the time it had reached Dilmun. They were limping on only two of their four engines and those were threatening to overload any micron. Since reaching Dilmun, Dante had made the choice to not repair the cruiser, that its functionality might encourage his warriors to want to continue on to another system. Instead, he had made the commitment to Dilmun and forced the commitment of his warriors to his world building plan by cannibalizing the cruiser piece by piece. Or at least he had appeared to, but Rene claimed that last she was on the cruiser, she was more functional than Dante had let on to his own people.
Her friend Jake claimed it wouldn't take much to bring the systems on line, and that Dante had not canabalized any parts from the engines, at least nothing that was vital. While none of them were expert mechanics, they did figure it would only take time and parts to get the cruiser up to full power.
Starbuck figured that even if she were just limping, the mechanics on the Galactica had performed miracles in the last three yahrens for many ships in the fleet. They could work wonders with a battlecruiser at their command.
Starbuck was curious if Rene was concerned about leaving Dilmun behind unprotected, but decided to take it as a good sign that Rene wasn't planning on leaving anyone important behind. Starbuck knew that meant he might have to deal with Dante in the future, but he was hoping that Commander Adama and the Council of Twelve could deal with that problem better than he could. His solution might be a bit more fiery and final than theirs, and could land him in front of another tribunal for murder. He was a bit more sure of how that would turn out once all the evidence was in. Dante deserved to die. Hades, they might even pin another medal on Starbuck for his service.
When Starbuck checked his chrono again, they had very little time to dress and head off to meet the others for the shuttle back. Rene didn't fight him this time, taking his kisses and his hand up out of the bed. She sighed, and kept looking wistfully back at the big bed, but she dressed without complaint.
Starbuck didn't put back on his cape, instead wrapping it around her shoulders as he whispered, "I like the view. I want it to be all mine."
Rene smiled and nodded, letting him clasp it around her neck.
Starbuck held out the ring that Rene had yet to take from him. He reached for her left hand, and slid the ring upon her finger. Rene started to protest, but Starbuck cut her off. "Just take it. It's yours. I don't want it back. I only ask that you just wear it tonight, okay? Tonight I want you to be mine. Tomorrow, you can do with it what you want."
Rene smiled, reaching up to stroke his face, pulling him down for a soft kiss. "Thank you. I want to be yours."
"Good. Come on, we don't want to be late. I need to play by the rules if I want to command a battlecruiser."
"Oh Starbuck, once it's yours, you can break all the rules you want, and I'll still let you be the commander."
Starbuck guided her from the room down to the waiting lounge for the shuttles. It was packed with people queuing up for the last shuttles home. They waded through the crowd to rejoin those they had started the evening with.
Boomer asked rather pointedly, "Where did you two go off to?" Starbuck's resulting grin was more of an answer than he really wanted.
Athena and Cassie shared a knowing look as the young Zakar pilot had not only seemed to have gotten Starbuck's gold insignia, but also his gold clusters and his cape. Athena knew she'd be maneuvering to get a seat by Cassie to see what the two should do about the situation.
Rene was content to let Starbuck guide her through the crowd onto the shuttle and to deal with his friends. He seemed to ignore their looks and comments, however Starbuck's arm that wrapped protectively around her told her otherwise. Not that it really mattered. She didn't care what anyone thought right now. Only Starbuck's thoughts were of any concern, and she wanted him in full warrior protective mode. She needed him watching her back for now, her own personal bodyguard. She might need a little protecting later.
Starbuck wasted no time in finding them seats and got them settled as the crowd jostled around them. Rene let him pull her into his protective embrace. She was comfortable there, her head resting on his chest, the buzz of voices around her and the hum of the shuttle engines. She remembered Gage's advice in training, "when your back is covered, it's time to cover your eyes and sleep." It had been a long day, and she hadn't caught any shut eye the night before other than her nap in the dome with Starbuck. Tonight, she would be catching even less. She should sleep while she could, so she closed her eyes and drifted off to Starbuck's gentle caresses.
Starbuck felt her relax in his arms, only making him pull her in tighter. It was these kind of moments when she looked so young that he began to have his doubts. He looked down and saw the ring, the one he had meant to give to Cassie not that long ago, on Rene's hand resting against his chest. It looked perfect there, where it belonged, but as usual, he had kind of blasted ahead without worrying about the details.
He looked away from the sight of that small young hand. It was too late in a cycle to be working out any details. It was time to get back and get some sleep. He'd solve everything tomorrow.
That's when he caught sight of Cassie and Athena side by side. They were deep in conversation and looking over his way from across the shuttle. Neither looked pleased. Athena looked down right mad at him. It was Cassie that locked on his gaze. She seemed to sigh and shake her head, as if she was deeply concerned about him for some mistake he had made. It made him angry and he looked away. Neither of them had wanted him and that is all he had wanted, to belong, to be able to say someone, anyone was with him, belonged to him. Were they now going to begrudge him finding someone else, someone who was willing to accept his arms around them, someone who trusted him so much they would lay their head on his chest and fall asleep on a crowded shuttle? Rene was young, he knew that, but not that young. Hades, Cassie could have been Cain's daughter, but no one had said Cassie was too young. No, everyone was all for that relationship.
Starbuck looked back down to the girl sleeping in his arms, the girl no one wanted him to be with, and suddenly he was scared. He couldn't go into this alone. He didn't know a rodent's astrum about being sealed or having kids, and Rene was just a kid herself. He'd need his friends to help him out. He wasn't stupid enough to think he could go this alone when he hadn't even grown up in a regular home. What were husbands supposed to do? Could he handle being a father? What if they grew up like him, in trouble half the time? What if they grew up like Apollo, straight laced and academic. He wasn't sure he could handle that either.
The thought made him scan the shuttle for where Apollo and Sheba had wound up within the crush of people. He found them across the shuttle a few rows back. Sheba also seemed to be looking for the others, and acknowledged Starbuck with a nod and a smile. She made a motion as if to ask if Rene was asleep. Starbuck nodded in affirmation. Starbuck could read her lips as she smiled and said to Apollo, "Ahh, isn't that sweet." Starbuck was anxious for Apollo's reaction. If he was going to blast into this unknown territory, he would need his best friend for backup. Apollo looked over and met Starbuck's eye. It wasn't the reassuring support that Starbuck had hoped for as Apollo shook his head in dismay. Starbuck didn't catch what Apollo said to Sheba as he turned out of Starbuck's view, but Starbuck did see that Apollo's comment earned him a sneer from Sheba and light slap.
"Fine," Starbuck thought to himself. "I guess I'm on this mission alone."
Rene shifted lightly on his chest, and Starbuck mused, "Well, not completely alone."
He decided to close his eyes and take the advice of his old drill sergeant who often reminded Starbuck, "Get some sleep. It's the only place you don't make mistakes." If this was a mistake, well, he could wait until tomorrow to fix it.