Jake waited with Rene until Starbuck showed up, making sure he was in a chair half a room away from her. She didn't need to be dealing with Starbuck's jealousy tonight, not when he was already in a fighting mood. Jake had been shocked to hear about the fight, even more so when Rene played it out for him blow by blow after the meeting in the Commander's office. Starbuck had tried to come to their rescue, a few yahrens late, but it was something more than anyone else had ever done. All Gage had done back then was make sure they got medical care and a few days off details so they could heal. It was Crius who had gotten them the ambrosia and the pills so they could forget. Back then, well with that righteous indignation issue, it would have gotten Starbuck killed. Maybe if security hadn't shown up, the same would have happened here.
Things weren't so different here than on Dilmun. Pilots got drunk and then the fists came out. He'd already found the triad was a bit rough here, just like on the Zakar. The fight he'd had hadn't been with Pallus or Brody, but another one of their tormenters, one who hadn't been lucky enough to be able to get to Rene on the Zakar, but tried more than a few times on Dilmun. It seemed the guy figured that with Dante out of the picture, he might have a shot. Jake put that idea down when he knocked the guy out. Jake had taken to carrying his gloves with him, the ones soaked in the knockout chemicals. So far no one else had bothered him, and Rene was doing a good job of staying close to him, Starbuck or Crius so she was probably safe. But he'd learned the hard way, you couldn't let your guard down, even here on the Galactica. None of the Galacticans had helped him in that fight. The Rats were still on their own.
Jake hadn't made it to the Rising Star yet. Didn't think he'd be bothering with it in the future after this fight. Besides he'd already learned his kind of fun was found on other ships less populated by Warriors. He'd see about dragging Rene to those as well, and maybe for a few stolen hours they could shed their uniforms and go back to being themselves.
Life on the Battlestar was chafing at him, surprisingly more so than how the four walls were crushing Rene. It was having to fake that being a Colonial Warrior had been his life-long dream and all the oorah that went with it that was killing him. Frack that felgercarb. Even Dante didn't expect that out of the Rats. They just had to do what was expected of them, snap a salute and show him some respect, after that it didn't matter. Plus, Dante really didn't care what they did in their off hours or what they ingested, as long as they were on duty on time. Some tasks went a little better with some chemical help, and Dante encouraged that.
Here he was expected to be a Stick-up-the-Astrum Academy Colonial, eternally grateful for all the boring trainings and extra education. He was expected to smile while sweating over a test designed by the son of Sagan. He hated school with a white hot passion. He never had planned to go to a class ever again once he graduated secondary and then, well, he didn't exactly make it to graduation. He didn't need it back then. He'd wanted to be in a band. His future had been in his ability to play music. He was good at it too, and before the destruction he was being looked at by a studio or two, at least for backup for a few bands, or a session player in the studio. It hadn't paid yet, but that would have happened eventually if things had gone right. But then they hadn't gone right. He'd been nabbed delivering drugs to one of the clubs, and if he couldn't get it plead down on a technicality, he might have been looking at a penal colony for a few yahrens. Thank the lord for the Cylons. His record had been wiped clean. He was thankful to Dante for that.
But now he had to pretend he fit the records filed on him. He was good in a viper, better as a medic, and sucked at everything else. The only reason he hadn't been put on report for the failed tests in the trainings was because Rene made sure he didn't fail, flashing him answers. They'd had to make up a whole new code for that, a tap of the foot for A, a shift of an arm for B, a cough for C, deep sigh for D. They changed it up each test so they wouldn't get caught. He made sure to miss a few, so his answers weren't exactly the same as Rene's, but so far, they hadn't been caught.
He wasn't stupid, just hated studying, and was smart enough to know they could only get away with it for so long. She promised they'd be done with the classes soon, but he didn't see how she was going to keep that promise. Starbuck had some pull, but not that much. Starbuck was going to have even less influence after being put on report and receiving a personal dressing down by the Commander. This was bad news for all of them, and the fact that Pallus was involved took it from bad to disastrous.
So, they waited to see if Starbuck would show up, and they could find out just how bad this was going to be. Rene kept reassuring him that Pallus would cave to the threat of being reported, that as long as they didn't push it, made Pallus feel like he wasn't too threatened, it should work and on more than just Pallus. Jake wasn't totally sure about that, but if they needed they could pull in some others and convince them to make reports.
They didn't have to wait too long for Starbuck. He was still in a fighting mood when he showed up to their quarters, but Jake figured that might just be because he found them alone there. On top of the righteous indignation, Starbuck had a jealous streak and well, Jake had to admit he had a little too much fun seeing how far he could push that. It broke up the monotony of the Battlestar.
Starbuck didn't ask for an explanation. In true Colonial Academy Astrum fashion, he started lecturing. "You should have told the Commander the truth! You should have told him about Pallus and what went happened on the Zakar. He saw right through that story of yours and we can't get Pallus charged unless you file a report!"
Jake flashed Rene an "I told you so" look. Not that they should put Pallus on report, it was that Starbuck couldn't be counted on to follow the plan.
Rene nodded and sighed before she got up to go to Starbuck. Jake had to look away. He could take when they were sweet together. He liked it when it was real and they were being honest with each other. Hades, if they were in that kind of mood he could take them fracking right in front of him and he'd be all for it.
But he hated watching how Rene sometimes had to play him, just like she had to with Dante. There were times she had to placate his temper and manipulate him into seeing things the way the Rats did. Jake had already told Rene that Starbuck could have one hit on her, only because she could be a brat and usually hit first, but Starbuck would be dead after the second.
She went up to him, took his hands in hers. Jake knew that was to trap them so they couldn't be used on you, or at least you'd know if it was a slap or punch coming. She lowered her voice to that soft purr, "Starbuck, you play pyramid, you know how this goes, right? We don't have to go for the capstone if we can take it with a half pyramid. But you don't load up the pot for that kind of hand."
"But you have the capstone!" Starbuck said, but Jake noted that his voice had lowered an octave.
"Doesn't mean I have to play it. I can save it for later, and besides, he's not done anything here, handsome. Not to me and not to Jake."
"What? But the fight Jake had, and Nik?" Jake couldn't help but grin when Starbuck looked his way. The guy had his heart in the right place, but he assumed too much sometimes. It was fun to watch Starbuck fall into the traps he set for himself.
"Wasn't with Pallus," Jake said knowing he needed to throw some cards on the table.
"What, then who? What about Nik?"
Jake shook his head. "That's between me and the guy I fought. I won, so I'm not anxious to tell you since you react to everything we share and think you have to charge off and be Warrior of the Centaur. You want to know about Nik, you ask Nik. It's in the report that was made on him."
Starbuck looked away grumbling under his breath and Rene caught his face with her hand, "We appreciate it, we do. But we also know what we're doing. We've dealt with these guys for a while now."
Jake winced as those words struck too close to that righteous indignation problem.
"You shouldn't have to deal with it! It shouldn't have happened then and no fracking way I'm letting it happen now! What he did to you two is …is wrong and he should have to pay for it."
Jake found he was on his feet and headed for the door before he knew what he was doing. "I'll leave you to it," he said to Rene as he keyed the door. She had stepped away from Starbuck to reach for him, and he knew that it was those kinds of moves that upset her lover.
"Thank you," she said, but he knew it meant "We'll talk later."
He mumbled, "No problem," as he left. Rene had enough problems for one night, and Jake had enough ambrosia stashed in his bunk, plus the plant vapors he'd been growing in the hydroponics had matured, to make the memories go away for a night.
Rene waited for the door to close before she sighed and shifted her attention to Starbuck. Jake was right, Starbuck wasn't going to be able to follow this course, so she shifted her trajectory. "Pretty boy, I know you want to fix all this, but don't you see? You're just ripping off scabs and opening wounds. We just want to go forward, to leave the scars alone."
Starbuck sighed and she knew he saw the destination she was plotting. He nodded and didn't quite look her in the eye. "He did make a very crude comment about you. And, I don't like thinking about what you had to do to survive," he met her eyes, the anger burning deep within, "who you had to do. I just couldn't let him say those things about you. Not here. Not ever."
His words made her heart melt and for some reason her eyes teared up. Her voice choked on the words, "I know, thank you."
"Ahh, I didn't mean to make you cry," he pulled her into his arms and she let him wrap them around her and be her protection. "I really messed this night up, didn't I?"
"The meal was good," she mumbled into his chest trying to ignore that his medals were digging into her cheek.
He sighed. "I'll make it up to you. I promise. But will you do me a favor? Seems I'm going to be relegated to the barracks for a while. I was wondering, could you tell me what happened, back on the Zakar with Pallus? I know what Crius told me, but could you tell me? Would you trust me with that at least?" He pulled her back so he could see her eyes.
She nodded and laid out her conditions. "Lights off, and don't touch me until I'm done."
"I can't do that." He surprised her by starting to take off his cape, belt, and medals, just tossing them on the floor, stripping off his tunic, then his boots, but he stopped there with his pants still on.
He reached for her and pulled her towards the bed, shut off the lights and pulled her into his arms, her back to him as he held her protectively. She liked the feel of the dress against his skin, focused on that as he softly asked, "How long had you been on the Zakar when it happened?"
She took a breath, tried not to close her eyes as the visions were worse there, and tried to answer his questions. "A few sectons. Was training for vipers and Pallus was the instructor."
She was able to get through the story without crying, but she wasn't so sure Starbuck did. In the morning, she wasn't exactly sure what she had told Starbuck, only that he was moving slowly and speaking softly, with a pained look in his eyes. She wasn't sure she had done the right thing. She sleep walked through her days, and the nights were worse. She knew she wouldn't dream if she didn't sleep, so she gave sleeping up for a while.