Starbuck noted the first time he woke that Rene was no longer in the blood stained uniform. Cassie had taken the time to strip the filthy garment from her. Other than a few streaks of blood in her hair, she was clean and resting easy in clean sheets.
Starbuck woke nearly every centaur as Cassie logged his vitals and checked his bandages. She apologized each time, encouraging him to go back to sleep so the rejuvenation therapy could do its work on his body. Rejuvenating proved to be harder work than he imagined, and Starbuck could only stay awake long enough to watch Cassie check Rene's vitals before heavy eyelids betrayed him time and again. Rene never stirred. Cassie must have seen the concern on his face about the fifth or sixth time as he strained to sit up and get a better look at her.
"She's just asleep, Starbuck."
Starbuck kept to himself that he'd never seen Rene sleep so hard. Cassie didn't need to know yet that he'd slept with Rene. His life, or more likely his dignity, just might truly be in jeopardy if she knew that information.
When the new cycle began, Apollo and Boomer made a point of stopping by.
"They told me you'd been hurt. You look fine to me." Apollo ribbed him. "Slacking off again. The things you'll do to get out of duty."
"All internal, buddy. The Cylons wouldn't dare harm my pretty face," Starbuck joked, propping himself up and wincing a little at the newly healed ribs that were still tender from bruising.
"So what happened down there?" Boomer asked.
Starbuck shook his head, "Insanity. Even by my standards. Wherever we went, it was a fully operational Cylon base. It was crawling with Centurions. Rene and her friends just sauntered in and stole a couple of tankers. Like it was no big deal, only it was."
"How did they pull that off?" Boomer asked, noting that Apollo was too angry to speak.
"Luck. Betting on the fact that the Cylons didn't want to blow up their own base. They took them by surprise and moved fast before they could react."
"They surprised the Cylons?" Apollo asked. "So in a quadrant where they have had open conflict on a regular basis, they took the Cylons by surprise?"
"I don't think we were in this quadrant," Starbuck answered.
"Come again?" Boomer said.
"Really. Wherever we were, we weren't here."
"How's that possible?" Apollo asked.
"Hey, I'm just a lieutenant. I report the facts and let you captains work out those details," Starbuck returned. "That's why you make the big cubits."
"You really don't know where?" Apollo asked.
"Nope."
"And you didn't think to ask her?" Apollo nodded over to Rene.
"While I was returning fire?" Starbuck asked sarcastically. "Was a little busy at the time, Captain."
"Yeah, catching falling Centurions from what I heard." Boomer laughed.
"So how did that happen? You just didn't notice the weather pattern called for rain followed by Cylon showers? Or were you a bit distracted?" Apollo said, only half joking.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny. We were surrounded and pinned from above. I thought I took it out and he took me out instead. Those things are fracking heavy."
"Well, you're not supposed to be under them," Apollo quipped back. "We're concerned that she may have led the Cylons right back to us, but so far…"
"Nothing, right?" Starbuck asked.
"Not yet."
"She knows what's at stake, Apollo. She's not dumb."
"She's not smart either, Starbuck. If she was she would be showing us what that is and where it goes."
"Give her time. She's coming around."
"Yeah, I heard from my father how she's warming up to us," Apollo's words dripped with sarcasm.
Starbuck sighed, and winced at the pain from the deep breath.
"Relax Starbuck, I'm just giving you a hard time so you know you're going to live." Apollo instinctively reached out a hand to his friend as if he could do something to ease the pain.
"She didn't mean what she said. She wouldn't be here if she did."
"Did you think that maybe she doesn't have any other options?" Boomer suggested.
"Well, if I had some magic wand that I could wave and take me almost anywhere I wanted to go, and find full tankers of fuel just waiting for me to pick up, I would think I would have some options, don't you?"
Apollo nodded considering Starbuck's reasoning and also considering his proximity to the situation which was obviously now dangerously too close. "You relax and get better. We'll be by later, when she's awake."
