Hey everyone. Thanks to all the readers who sent me reviews! I love you all so very much! This chapter is a bit on the long side but I'm hoping you won't complain ;) I'm going to say right from the get go that I know nothing about mechanics or engineering and espeically not mechanics and engineering of space ships so if some of hat I'm writing about that whole aspect of the sotry is completely not-realistic or accurate - please forgive me! I hope it doesn't ruin the story too much.

Oh, and for those of you who were worried, don't be! Our favorite guy is going to make a more significant apperance very soon...

Enjoy! and please keep sending me reviews! the more reviews I get the faster I write the next chapters...

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

"What do you mean they're gone?" Apollo made his way to CIC in a hurry along with Lt. Gaeta

"The Raptor's FTL drive started working all on its own, they went into a spiral and then they jumped!" the Lt. explained "we haven't been able to reach them over the com ever since"

Just as they were about to enter CIC, Chief Tyrol rushed over and joined them "I just heard…"

"What the hell happened with that Raptor?" Apollo asked angrily as they went inside CIC and joined his father and Colonel Tigh

"I have no idea what happened! "The Chief replied "That Raptor was cleared for launch, I ran the pre-flight checkup myself - there was nothing wrong with it"

SOMEWHERE IN SPCAE - RAPTOR 7

"Well" Starbuck rose from her seat and made her way to the cabin "The good news is that life support system seems to be working so we're not going to suffocate due to lack of oxygen any time soon. I managed to put us into a hovering mode, I would have landed us on one of those asteroids out there, but with the controls being so frakked up I figured it might not be such a good idea to make any sudden movements. Any luck with the com system?"

Dee looked up from the piece of equipment she was working on "I'm still trying. How's your head?"

Starbuck took off the piece of cloth she was currently holding to her forehead and winced as she saw the blood that stained it "I'll live… I've had worst injuries then this…"

"I bet you had…" Dee mumbled and went back to trying to fix the com system. Starbuck looked at her with irritation, she had an urge to get in Dee's face and ask her what the hell did she mean by that comment but she thought better of it - the sooner Dee fixes the com system the sooner they can get back to Galactica and out of this small space that seemed just TOO small for the both of them.

She turned to go back to her seat in the cockpit when nausea and dizziness suddenly hit her and she had to brace herself against the wall to keep herself from falling.

"Are you ok?" Dee rushed over to her side and took her arm, trying to steady her

"Yeah, I'm ok… just a little dizzy all of the sudden, I'll be fine" Starbuck said through clenched teeth, trying hard to pull away from Dee and avoid hurling at the same time.

"Raptor 7, Raptor 7, this is Galactica actual, can you hear me?" The voice that suddenly came over the radio was like music to her ears.

Dee quickly left her side and rushed over to the radio "Galactica actual, this is Raptor 7! I'm hearing you loud and clear!"

Starbuck took a seat and breathed deeply as she watched Dee give their status report to Galactica along with the coordinates to their location that she got off the FTL drive. Suddenly she heard Apollo's voice coming over the radio "Ok Ladies, just sit tight, don't do anything stupid" she smiled for a moment, knowing that this comment was meant for her "help is on the way!"

Dee pushed on a button to kill the feed and then hesitantly made her way over to where Starbuck was sitting, planting herself in the seat next to her. For a while neither of them said anything and the silence became tense again, the uncomfortable atmosphere back at full force now that the crisis was over and all they had to do was wait.

Starbuck sighed and closed her eyes. this is going to be a long day…

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - HANGER DECK

"So Dee and Starbuck are stuck in a Raptor together, somewhere out there in space huh?" Kat smiled at Helo as they made their way to their Raptor, on their way out to go find their 2 missing shipmates "This should be interesting…"

"Yeah" Helo couldn't help but hide a small smile, the irony of the whole situation not escaping him. "Wanna take a bet on what they're talking about?" he made a small gesture with his head in the direction where Apollo stood, overseeing the launch of the rescue party.

"I'm not taking that bet!" Kat laughed at him "But I hear the nuggets are starting a pool. They say it's a 5 to 1 shot that one of them ends up being beaten to death by the other one! Of course, my money is on Starbuck any day…"

"I'm with you there" Helo smiled as they stepped into their Raptor "Although, I have to say that as far as I can tell, Dee can hold her own pretty well… for a com specialist that is…"

RAPTOR 7 - SOMEWHERE IN SPACE

"Starbuck! Starbuck! Kara!" the constant calling of her name shook her awake as she started dozing off.

"What? What?" she opened her eyes angrily and stared at Dee who's face were a little too close to hers for her comfort.

"You shouldn't fall asleep… you hit your head pretty hard, you might have a concussion, you're not supposed to fall asleep after a major blow like that" Dee stepped back and took a seat, this time choosing to sit directly across from her.

"Since when are you a doctor?" She knew Dee was right, that she shouldn't sleep after a head injury, but everything about the situation was starting to piss her off and she just couldn't help but take it out on Dee, after all, there was no one else around…

Dee just shrugged her shoulders and leaned back in her chair, apparently not wanting to get further into the argument.

"Fine! I'll stay awake…" Starbuck relented with a grumble, even though her head was starting to feel heavy and all she really wanted was to go to sleep until this whole mess was over. A few moments of silence ensued until Starbuck finally let out a big sigh "This quietness is going to be the death of me…"

Dee gave her a strange look and a small smile "You'd prefer conversation?"

Starbuck looked at her closely. For the first time it occurred to her that as much as she dreaded the idea of where a conversation between the two of them might lead to, the girl in front of her was just scared as she was. For some reason that realization gave her some comfort and she managed to stir up a small smile. "Maybe not such a good idea…"

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and them chuckled softly until it caused Starbuck's head to throb and she had to stop and wince in pain.

"How about we agree not to mention the L word… " Dee suggested with a small smile "there's bound to be something we can talk about that doesn't involve you know who…"

"Ok, sounds fair enough" Kara stretched out and tried to make herself more comfortable in her chair, even though each movement caused her head to spin faster and the constant nausea to intensify.

"Did you love Zack… the Admiral's youngest son… Did you love him?"

Dee's blurted out the question so fast, as if she had been holding it inside for a long time, and for a moment Kara was left speechless.

"Well that's a great way to start a friendly and calm conversation…" she said sarcastically when she regained the power to speak.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be…" Kara replied after a long while and turned her head so she could stare out of the small window into the vast space around them. "Yeah, I loved him. I loved him very much…"

"Did you know that Billy asked me to marry him? Just before he died? He took out a ring and just… asked me to marry him…" Dee's voice sounded flat and distant, and for a brief moment Kara could forget how much she resented her and just feel sorry for the girl. "I told him no…I told him I couldn't marry him… and then he died…"

"Back in flight school I passed Zack, even though I knew he wasn't ready…It was so important to him, and I wanted to make him happy, so I passed him, and then he died because of it…"

She had no idea why she said it. She hadn't told anyone about it except for the old man and Lee. There was no logical reason why she would divulge one of her most deepest and darkest secrets to this woman in front of her, whom she didn't even like… but the words just came out of her mouth before she could stop them I guess I must have hit my head harder then I thought was all she could think of to explain it to herself.

She looked at Dee, expecting to see that same look she got any time she told someone that secret - the look of anger and disappointment she got from Admiral Adama and Lee when she told them, the same look she gave herself in the mirror every time she thought about it. Instead, Dee just looked at her and gave her a small nod, her eyes conveying nothing but understanding.

"Here we go…" Helo announced to the team on board the Raptor "Starting FTL jump in 3,2,1…"

There was a flash of blue light and a familiar lurch forward as the Raptor preformed the jump and appeared again in an unfamiliar surrounding. Both Helo and Kat Scanned the skies in front of them, seeing first nothing but a few asteroids and a distant planet. A few seconds later though, they located the missing Raptor floating aimlessly next to a large asteroid and made their approach.

"Come in slowly" Chief Tyrol said as he came up front to peer in the window next to Helo "I want to have a look at the damage to the haul as we come closer…"

"Raptor 7, Raptor 7, this is Galactica rescue mission can you hear me?" Helo spoke into the com as he carefully maneuvered his raptor along the side of the damaged Raptor in order to allow the Chief an overall look.

Inside Raptor 7, Kara gingerly got to her feet and made her way to the radio, happy to hear a friendly voice "We hear you Galactica rescue. Helo, is that you?"

"Who else would come all the way out here to save your sorry ass?" She had to laugh at his reply but it made her head throb again and her breath to catch in her throat.

"Are you two ok in there?" the hesitation was evident in his voice and Starbuck rolled her eyes way to be frakking subtle Helo!>

"We're fine, nothing damaged except this frakking piece of junk you call a raptor" she replied, sending a threatening glare at Dee when she moved to protest. She didn't feel the need to tell them about hitting her head - especially since they had nothing to do about it anyway.

Abord Helo's raptor the chief suddenly let out a curse and sent a hand to cover the radio Helo was speaking into so that his words wouldn't be heard over the com. When Helo and Kat gave him confused looks he simply said "We have a problem. You need to patch me through to Galactica. Now!"

Helo quickly told Starbuck to wait and got on the radio with CIC. A few seconds later they could hear Admiral Adama's voice clearly over the radio.

"Sir, from what I can see, something blew up half the starboard engine, there's a whole chunk of the Raptor's tail missing." Chief Tyrol reported.

"Can you get them to jump back here?" Was all the Admiral wanted to know.

"I can do that Sir, but that's not the problem" The Chief explained gravely "The Raptor is leaking gas, it looks like it's coming from the Inner Climate control system. This gas is highly combustible, one spark and the whole this including everything around in is going to blow up. Even if we get this Raptor back, there's no way we can safely land it on board the Galactica without blowing it up and half the hanger deck with it."