Any Crash You Can Walk Away From

By Adalanta

Disclaimer: see Part One.

Author's Note: Sorry this one was so late in coming, but I had a terrible time finding the right voice. Anyway, thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm truly humbled. I hope you all like this chapter as much as the previous ones. Please, take a second and let me know what you think. Thanks! Enjoy!

Part Four

Nearly ten hours had passed since the final assault on the Galactica, but the fight for survival had not stopped, only passed from the outside of the ship to the inside. Trauma teams had been set up, along with triage, to handle the massive amount of casualties. Almost all of the wounded were from the ship's internal personnel: members of the gun crews, deck crews, and specialists from various departments. So far, there had been only one pilot admitted. Only one out of over three hundred wounded. The odds of a pilot surviving a direct shot from a Cylon ship were long, but being able to land that same damaged aircraft successfully afterwards made the odds even worse.

The frantic pace of Life Station had finally slowed down, and an uneasy silence had fallen over the ward. Kara Thrace straightened up in the uncomfortable chair, her back popping loudly in the unnatural quiet of the long room, glancing over at the pale face of her friend, Lee Adama. The young Captain was growing restless, hands twitching on the white sheets, eyes moving rapidly under closed lids. This time will be different, she reassured herself firmly, scooting her chair even closer to the bed. He'll be ready.

The next few minutes seemed to last forever as she waited for Lee to regain consciousness, but at last her forced patience was rewarded when he opened his eyes with a faint, painful groan.

"Kara?" he whispered, blinking up at her, a dazed expression flickering across his face.

"Hey." Just the simple act of looking into his open eyes made her smile widely with relief. There'd been several times in the last ten hours when she'd wondered if she'd ever see those familiar blues again. "How're you doing?"

He shifted his head to the side to see her better and then moaned, "Don't ask," as his face contorted in pain from the small movement. Kara grabbed his hand in silent support, and he squeezed it tightly as he worked through the pain. "Kara?" he asked quietly, voice slightly breathless from the pain, eyes remaining closed. "I feel…strange."

She couldn't stop the snicker that bubbled out, though she did manage to muffle it somewhat. "Yeah, I bet you do. The doctor's got you on some pretty strong meds right now," she added softly.

"For what?"

He sounded so lost and confused that she hesitated briefly, running her free hand through her short blond hair in an unconscious gesture of unease. Glancing around the large room, she searched in vain for the Commander or even one of the medical staff, hoping that someone else could tell him what had happened. Oh, grow up, Kara, she ordered silently. There's no one else here – you'll have to tell him yourself. Besides, with all the tension between Lee and the Commander, it's probably best that you're here and not him. So…what do I say? She thought rapidly. Well, knowing Lee, he'd want me to get right to the point and not screw around, she finally decided. All right. Here goes. "You have a skull fracture, Lee. You almost died."

His breathing stopped for a split second as the blunt words sank into his pain-fogged mind, but other than that, his only reaction was to tighten his grip on her hand. To be honest, though, she wasn't surprised. Lee had never been one to show his emotions in public, a personality trait that she'd found difficult to understand until she'd gotten to know him better. As she'd grown closer to Lee and met his family, she'd realized that it was a trait that all of the Adama men shared – even Zak, although his was to a lesser extent than the other two, something she attributed to his mother's gentle influence. Lee was the epitome of the old saying "cool under fire," whether he was debating a subject at the Academy or facing the Cylons in a crippled Viper. And while it was a tremendous help during battle as she'd seen just a few hours earlier, it also led others to the mistaken belief that Lee Adama was cold and unfeeling. He was anything but unfeeling, however – far from it. He just kept his feelings to himself.

"What happened?" The words, despite being spoken softly, came out of nowhere and startled her from her thoughts.

Kara paused, recalling how Dr. Reynolds had mentioned the possibility of short term memory loss, that Lee might not remember what had happened immediately before his collapse. "Do you remember our crash landing?" She wanted to see how far back he could remember before she explained anything.

"How could I forget?"

Even seriously wounded, he still managed to sound sarcastic. Lords, I love that about him. Shaking her head, she continued with a small smile. "You were banged up pretty badly, but you insisted – against my advice, by the way – on going to Life Station by yourself. Only…we never made it." She stopped and dropped her gaze to the white sheets of the infirmary bed, her smile disappearing as a vision of Lee convulsing on the floor flashed through her mind.

Lee opened his eyes slowly when she didn't go on, squinting slightly as the bright lights of Life Station increased the pounding in his head. As his eyes reluctantly adjusted, he looked around the large room as far as he could without moving his head. "Then how did we get here? This is Life Station, right?" Closing his eyes once more with a groan, he declared, "No matter where you go, Life Station always looks the same."

His comment coaxed a tiny smile out of her, especially since she had, in fact, been thinking along those same lines just in the last few hours and couldn't agree more. "I wouldn't have thought that the Great 'Captain Apollo' would have spent enough time in Life Station to know," she said wryly, her smile turning into a full blown, teasing grin.

"Listen, I've put in more than my share," he countered, "and some of that, I might add, was because of you."

"And if you'd gone straight to Life Station to get checked out like I wanted you to, you'd only have been there a couple hours tops. Instead, you snuck off and led me on a merry chase all over War College for five hours. Now, how long were you stuck there that time? Three days, wasn't it?" Her spirits rose, elated at being able to spar with him after such a long time. She'd missed Lee the last two years, but it wasn't until that moment that she realized how much. Simple things – his teasing words, his mischievous grin, his twinkling eyes – they all came back to her in a rush. For just a moment, she was able to forget the horror of the last day and a half.

Lee appeared distinctly uncomfortable, but it wasn't solely from his wounds. "You should know, Starbuck. You stayed with me the whole time I was there. So," he opened his eyes and met her gaze, his expression suddenly serious. "How long have you been waiting this time?"

Her grin vanished. "Ten hours." Seeing his stunned look, she explained as simply as she could. "They rushed you into surgery as soon as you got here. I wasn't allowed in for over four hours, but I've been here ever since." There was more to the story – much more, really – but she was reluctant to go into it.

She should have known better.

Narrowing his gaze, Lee eyed her suspiciously. "And I just now woke up?"

Keeping a neutral expression, she nodded. What does he want me to say? That he woke up five hours ago, screaming so loudly from the pain that the doctor was forced to sedate him? Or how helpless I felt when the medical staff shoved me aside to get to him?

There had been no warning. One moment, he'd been sleeping quietly, and the next, he'd rolled onto his side, clutching his head, and started screaming. The staff had swarmed his bed, pushing her roughly aside as they battled to hold him still until the sedative could take affect. The incident had left her shaken and scared. She was so thankful that the Commander had not been there to witness it, having arrived from his meeting with the President only a few minutes later. It was hard enough for him to leave two hours ago. If he'd seen that, I doubt he would've left at all. "The doctor thought it best that you were sedated a little while longer," she finally admitted, compromising by telling only part of the truth and trying to ignore her cringing insides. She'd always been honest with Lee, just as he had been with her, and hiding something this important from him hurt, even if it was for the best. You only keptbackwhat really mattered, a small voice whispered in her mind. Setting her jaw stubbornly, she pushed aside the agonizing, traitorous thought. Lee was all that mattered right now. She could feel guilty about Zak later.

Looking into Lee's ashen face, she could see that he remained unconvinced by her answer but apparently decided not to push any further – a decision she was immensely grateful for. Kara nervously cleared her throat. "Well, you'll be happy to know that you're expected to make a full recovery. Dr. Reynolds was able to close the fracture and drain the excess blood."

"Ahhh, so that's why my head feels like it had a spike shoved through it."

"Yeah."

Silence settled over their small corner of the ward, and as the minutes passed, Kara found herself wondering why Lee hadn't asked her for more specifics about his condition. He didn't even ask how he got the fracture, she mused, glancing over at the young man lying silently in the bed. That's weird. He always wants to know what's going on, all the details of what happened. Then she froze. The only reason Lee wouldn't ask…was if he already knew.

Fury coursed through her veins, and for a split second, she literally saw red. Her long fingers unconsciously curled into fists, and she just barely managed to restrain herself from punching him. She shook her head, and through clenched teeth, she hissed, "You bastard."

Lee's eyes fluttered open as he was abruptly startled out of a light doze. "What?"

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Knew what?" He looked even more confused.

"You stupid, selfish, son of a –" she broke off mid-curse and jumped to her feet, unable to sit still any longer. "You knew something was wrong all along, didn't you? Didn't you!" Her raised voice drew an irritated look from a nearby nurse but she couldn't have cared less.

Wincing at the pain her shouted words brought about, he tried to interrupt her angry rant. "Kara, I –"

"What? You what, Lee?" Adrenaline pumping, she paced around his bed, looking like a lion sizing up its prey, ready to pounce at any moment. "Do you know how close you came to dying? You started having seizures, Lee. You waited so long that so much frakking blood was pressing against your brain that the pressure nearly killed you! Do you know what that would have done to your father? To me?" Ignoring the sudden burning in her eyes, she leaned over his bed and lowered her voice until it was a little louder than a whisper. "We just got you back. We couldn't stand to lose you again." Anger burnt out like a supernova, she felt completely drained, her slender body shaking from the massive flood of energy. Stepping back, she turned to leave Life Station, wanting nothing more than to get knockdown drunk and forget that any of this mess ever happened.

"Kara, wait."

She paused four steps from the bed but refused to turn around to face him, struggling to maintain her fragile composure.

"You're right." He spoke in a voice soft but firm. "I did know something was wrong. And I was pretty sure that it was serious." He paused for a moment. "But I don't regret what I did."

Whirling around, she stared at him in sheer disbelief. "How can you say that?"

"You have no idea what things were like out there, Kara." His penetrating gaze bore into hers, sending a chill up her spine at its intensity. "From the moment I got up off the cargo hold floor, I was busy helping the President with the rescue operation – coordinating the growing fleet of ships, assessing their condition, just…keeping things moving. There wasn't enough time, Kara. Every second counted and even though we tried our best, there just wasn't enough time." The last few words were spoken with such immense sadness that Kara moved over to his side and sat down in the chair she'd vacated only minutes before. Lee stared sightlessly at the wall behind her and, for a few seconds, appeared haunted. She wondered what could possibly have happened to him to cause such a heartbroken look. Coming back from wherever he'd been, Lee focused on her once again. "Even if I had said something, there was nothing anyone could have done. There wasn't even a doctor onboard Colonial One."

Kara could understand his reasoning so far. She didn't like it…but she could understand it. Still… "What about when you came back aboard Galactica? You could have said something then."

"Honestly? By the time I got back, I'd convinced myself that it was just a headache…maybe, just maybe, a concussion." He shrugged slightly, careful to keep his head still. "I guess I'd gotten used to the pain after so many hours. And then things moved so fast that I didn't have time to think about it." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, sighed, and then looked over at her, his face white with exhaustion. Continuing on, his voice was noticeably weaker. "I don't know what you want to hear, Kara. I'm sorry for what I put you through…but I don't regret what I did. There was nothing else I could have done under those circumstances. If you want to stay angry at me, then that's your right. But before you leave, I want you to think about what I've told you and ask yourself if you wouldn't have handled it the same way."

Now that her initial, overwhelming rush of anger had diminished, she was able to think clearly, and much to her frustration, she found herself agreeing with him. "You're right," she admitted reluctantly after several minutes of thought. "You handled it the only way you could."

Lee smiled faintly, then held out a trembling hand. "Truce?" he offered softly.

"Truce," she nodded, taking his hand and grasping it carefully, and then settled their joined hands on the side of his bed.

"Kara?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know about what happened on Colonial One?"

"The President dropped by," she said simply, watching with amusement at his mortified look. He looked so pitiful that she had to add, "Actually, she stopped by to see the Commander on another matter and badgered Tigh into telling her that he was here."

"My father was here?" he interrupted, his expression doubtful.

"Of course, he was," she replied, exasperated by his visible disbelief. "Twice, in fact. He didn't want to leave, especially that first time but, well, you know how it is, Lee."

"'An officer's first responsibility is to his ship,'" he quoted, resigned but not angry. "Yeah, I know, Kara."

"Anyway, she told us what'd happened, how you'd been thrown back by the pulse and knocked unconscious." She hesitated a bit. "She feels responsible for what happened."

"It wasn't her fault," he protested quickly.

"I know that and so does the Commander. He's already reassured her that she's not to blame."

"Good."

"But that doesn't mean that you're going to get off so easily." She couldn't resist teasing him. "Your father's still going to give you hell for what you did."

"I thought you already were," he moaned, wincing at the thought of facing his father flat on his back with an excruciating headache.

"You wish," she grinned, laughing quietly at his miserable expression, but then took pity on him. "Don't worry, Lee. You still have a few days. I heard the doctor tell your father to wait until you were released to your own quarters before he brings it up. Probably doesn't want an angry Viper pilot trapped in Life Station if he can help it. You know what terrible patients Viper pilots are,"she said, awink following her last words. She was pleased to see another faint smile cross his face. "You want my advice?"

"No."

"Well, too bad, you're getting it anyway," she retorted, shaking her head. "Get lots of rest, listen to what the Doc says…and tell your father exactly what you just told me."

TBC…