Any Crash You Can Walk Away From

By Adalanta

Disclaimer: I'm not making any profit from this story, just exorcising the images that came into my head and refuse to let me sleep at night.

Author's Note: I just saw Battlestar Galactica the miniseries for the first time a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with it. This story takes place near the end of the miniseries, just after Starbuck and Apollo crash land and before the funeral scene. If you have any comments or question, feel free to email me at . Thanks!

Part One

It took a full minute from the time the Galactica completed its FTL jump until the deck crew reached the damaged Vipers lying in a crumpled heap at the back of the landing bay.

Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace sat frozen for several of those seconds, too stunned to move or even think. Looking through the cracked visor of her helmet, she stared at the wrecked cockpit of her Mark II. Shattered glass crunched when she shifted a bit in her seat as the acrid stench of burning electrical systems began to seep through the crack into her helmet.

As much as she hated the smell, just this once she actually liked it…for it meant that she had survived.

I'm alive. I'm alive. She repeated the simple phrase several times before it finally sank into her stunned mind. "It worked," she whispered in disbelief, then spoke again louder, filled with excitement. "Lee, it worked! We made it! We – " She choked on her words when she finally raised her head and looked over at her best friend's ship.

Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama's Viper was a smoldering mass of twisted metal, one wing jagged and scorched from enemy fire and the other broken nearly in two from their last minute landing. All this she processed in a matter of seconds. But what her eyes were drawn to was the cockpit – what was left of it. The clear canopy was almost impossible to see through, the shattered fiberglass covered with cracks, but through a small section missing in the front she could make out the top of his silver helmet.

He wasn't moving.

"Lee?" Kara spoke calmly although the icy fingers of fear began to wrap themselves about her thumping heart. Static came back through her intercom. "Lee, can you hear me? Please respond." Nothing but static. His communication system must be down. She immediately began to pull off her helmet, her shaking hands fumbling awkwardly at the latch on the back.

Suddenly the canopy to her Viper was gone, and another pair of hands was helping to remove her helmet. Her hands stilled, momentarily shocked at the abrupt arrival of the deck crew. Now that she saw them, she could hear their muffled shouts as they swarmed over her ship and Lee's, working quickly and efficiently to secure the damaged ships and their pilots.

Despite their appearance, Kara was not reassured. The only thing she wanted to do was get to Lee and make sure he was okay. "Get this frakking thing off me!" she howled, watching helplessly as Apollo's shattered canopy was worked on. "GET IT OFF! NOW!" She could no longer see Lee. And that terrified her.

"Just a second, Lieutenant!" Callie's soft voice sounded strained. "The latch is partially smashed. Hold on…almost…There!" One quick tug and the helmet disappeared.

In ten seconds flat she scrambled out of her ship, slid recklessly down the side, and shoved her way up the ladder to her friend's side. Tyrol stood at the top of the ladder, having just managed to pry the shattered remains of the cockpit out of the way and was bent over, reaching inside to check on the man within.

"Lee?" she called again, her voice quivering with fear as she saw the figure curled up in the seat, unmoving. For a split second she feared the worst – that she had lost her closest friend forever, this time without the remotest chance of reprieve – but then saw his chest move. The immense tide of relief that flooded her body nearly sent her to her knees. Thank the Lords, she silently whispered, closing her stinging eyes for a moment to gather her composure. I've already lost him once. I couldn't stand to do it again!

"Lee? Can you hear me? C'mon, Lee, wake up," she coaxed, trying to project a light-hearted tone despite the fact that her words were unsteady to say the least. "I know you're in there. You always did like to sleep in longer than you should. Wake up, Lee." She paused to look over at the Chief Petty Officer, absently noticing his disheveled appearance. "Chief, we've got to get his helmet off, but we have to be careful. He could have injured his neck when we landed."

"I know, Lieutenant," he nodded, his eyes dark with concern, as he returned his gaze to the silent figure before them. "Here, you lift up his head, slowly, and I'll work on getting his helmet off." They cautiously raised the Captain's head, both wincing as they got a good look at his battered and scarred helmet.

She nervously chewed her lower lip as the other man worked on the helmet's latches which were surprisingly undamaged and easy to release. It'll be a miracle if he walks away from this one, she decided. Aw, frak, it's a miracle that he's still alive, forget about walking away! Just as they managed to remove the helmet, a low moan broke the tense silence. Dark eyelashes fluttered against pale, bruised cheeks as the young Captain fought to regain consciousness.

Kara found herself looking into a pair of confused and unfocused blue eyes. For a long moment – too long in her opinion – a deafening silence reigned. For nearly the first time in her life, Kara Thrace was speechless.

Lee's gaze roamed absently about the inside of his ruined Viper before he looked up at her. He blinked once, swallowed, and then slowly opened his mouth. "Look what you did to my ship," came out softly.

Kara didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his unexpected comment. She tried going for a laugh but it came out more like a strangled sob. Sniffling, she glared at him through watery eyes. "You're welcome," she managed. "At least its still in one piece…mostly. Are you all right?"

"I don't know," he mumbled absently, closing his eyes and leaning back against his headrest. "I think so," he added with a weary sigh. "You?"

"A few more bumps and bruises to add to the collection but okay otherwise." She smiled mischievously. "At least until Tyrol here sees what all we did to his ships."

Tyrol let out a short laugh and shook his head. "Sirs, I'm not that crazy. The Old Man would have my head if I tried anything. Still," he let out a soft whistle, "you sure did a number on these two. I don't know whether it'd be better to try to repair them or cannibalize them for spare parts."

Nodding in silent agreement, Kara turned back around and was shocked to see Lee struggling to his feet. "And where do you think you're going?" she sputtered in disbelief.

"I'm getting out of here."

"Oh, no. No, no, no. You're staying right there until you get cleared by one of the medical staff."

"Kara, I'm fine."

Her arm shot out as he momentarily lost his balance, leaning heavily against the side of his cockpit. "You were saying?"

He grimaced at the heavy sarcasm that laced her voice. "Okay, so I'm a bit wobbly. That doesn't mean I need to stay here to – "

She interrupted before he could protest any further. "Lee, I pulled off your helmet – or what was left of it! No one could have that smashed a helmet and not have a concussion!"

Although he winced at her raised voice, he refused to back down. "Look, Starbuck, I'm fine! It's not like I haven't had a concussion before! I can make it to Life Station on my own. There's no need to make them come down here." He paused to take a deep breath and met her green eyes with his intent blue gaze. "The medical staff is being run ragged with all of our wounded. I don't want to waste their time or take them away from someone worse off just to take a quick look at the Commander's son. We've lost enough people today, Kara. I don't want to add anymore," he added softly, holding her gaze.

Saying no to Lee Adama had never been a problem for Kara Thrace in all the years she'd known him. However, there were a few times when she just couldn't refuse him. And this was one of them. Those shadowed blue eyes met hers and remained firm despite the pain that floated in their depths. She had to agree that what he said made perfect sense. There were hundreds of wounded and not enough medical staff to see to them, much less make a "house call."

But that didn't mean she would let him go to Life Station on his own. Not while she was still standing.

"Alright. Fine," she conceded, barely maintaining a stern expression as a hint of a smile crossed her best friend's face. "But you're not going anywhere without me. And we're going straight to Life Station. No stops."

"Not even to use the Head?" he asked innocently, unable to hide a smirk.

"Not a chance, mister. I fell for that once, so I'm wise to that trick. Straight there. You're not getting out of this." She grinned. "If you don't like my suggestion, I'm sure the Chief here can call…" her allowed her threat to trail off as she glanced down at Tyrol, who'd wisely decided to head down the ladder and stay out of the discussion/argument. She was pleased to see the Chief smile, if only for a second.

Lee sighed in defeat. "Okay. You win. But I don't have to like it."

Shrugging, Kara grasped his hand tightly with hers, steadying him as he climbed slowly out of the mangled remains of his cockpit. "Like usual, Apollo, I don't care whether you do or not." Just don't make me regret it, Lee, she silently added.

TBC…