CH 35

Lauren reached the flight deck to find the crew was listening to the transmissions from the battle frequency. She asked one of them what was going on and she was horrified to find that Admiral Cain had ordered the alert fighters to meet Galactica's forces. The pilots voices echoed through the deck and Lauren scanned the room, watching the shock register on everyone's faces.

If Admiral Cain was willing to pull the trigger on this then they could end up at war with their own forces. All over the lives of two men. Lauren tensed as the fighters began to engage the Galactica's ships and several times she heard the request for weapons free. She prayed, along with several of the deck crew, that the Admiral would not give the authorization for that. Apparently Commander Adama was also not willing to load the gun as none of the Galactica's flighters were firing either.

Lauren imagined the furball that was happening out there and was glad that she was not a part of it. There was no way in hell she could attack a fellow fleet pilot in a situation like this one. The voices of the pilots rolled through the deck and Lauren felt her heart skip a beat as she remembered that somewhere out there Lee was in a Raptor with Cole, possibly watching this whole situation unfold.

She knew that Lee would never do anything to provoke Cole but Cole was such a blind follower of orders, if the Admiral ordered him to take Lee into custody, he would without a second's hesitation. That wouldn't sit well with Lee any more than any of this was sitting with Kara.

Suddenly the CIC reported a Dradis contact of an unidentified ship. Lauren heard the reports fly back and forth and the ship was determined to be a Cylon. She braced herself for the announcement of a basestar and the order for all units to launch. Then, miraculously, she heard Kara's voice crackle over the speaker.

"Starbuck to all Vipers-- do not fire... repeat, do not fire! I am a friendly, okay? We're all friendlies. So, let's just...be friendly."

Lauren missed the rest of the broadcast because the shouting in the deck was too loud. Maybe after all this time the Gods really were starting to care about them and not trying to kill them all. Someone turned the speaker off and everyone returned to their duities, preparing the deck for the returning Vipers.

Lauren made her way over to the port side deck where Cole would land his Raptor and she put herself to work, helping the deck crew. When the Raptor finally docked and was being rolled up to it's berth, she edged herself over behind it and waited to see if Lee was all right. When the hatch opened, Lee was the first off the ship, his head lowered and he looked grim when he pulled his helmet off. Cole was right behind him and he grabbed Lee by the arm and pulled him towards his office.

Something wasn't sitting right with this and Lauren was desperate to find out what. She racked her mind thinking of some excuse to get herself into Cole's office but couldn't find one so she waited. Almost an hour passed and another Viper was wheeled onto the deck and Lauren was relieved to see Kara get out of it. Lauren ran to her friend's side and asked what was going on.

"Well I flew the recon mission, got some great pictures too. I transmitted them to Cain and she ordered me over here. That's about all I know. What about you?"

"Well Lee was out with Cole, then they came back and Cole dragged Lee into his office and they haven't come out since."

Kara could see the worry on Lauren's face but she assured her that Lee could indeed take care of himself and that it probably wasn't that bad. Lauren sighed and agreed, then let the other woman go meet with the Admiral.

Finally, Cole's office door opened and Lee walked out. He saw her and headed for her. The look on his face was resigned but angry all at the same time. Lauren had never seen that particular look on him before and she was desperate to find out what was happening. She knew he couldn't talk freely on the deck so she motioned for him to follow her to her office on the other side of the ship. When they got there, she locked the door behind them and waited for him to speak.

"Thank you. Whatever you and Kara pulled off back there, thank you."

"I didn't do anything, she flew the blackbird out and got those pictures. I just sat here and worried."

"Well, someone or something made them call off the attack on each other. If they'd started firing, we'd be in the middle of another war right now." He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't take much more of these tests. I need the frakking prize now," he growled as he stared up at the ceiling.

"What? I'm not following you."

"Ah, something I was talking about with Roslin on Kobol. Don't worry about it." He rose from his chair and wlked to her, slipping his arms around her waist and staring at her. Then a grin pulled up the corners of his lips and he leaned over to kiss her tenderly. "I got demoted you know. I was going to end up in the brig but once again Kara Thrace saved my ass."

"And what a fine ass it is," she purred as she slid her hands down behind him to cup that specific ass in them. "Definitely worth saving."

As he looked down at the woman he loved so much, he realized with sudden clarity that he was looking at the prize. All along, the prize had been right there and he hadn't realized it until just now. He smiled at her as she lay her head on his shoulder, delighting in the simple joy of just being near him. Then he looked back up at the ceiling and whispered to whatever God was listening, "Thank you."

Fin