Apollo checked his chronometer again. 0559. He leaned against his Viper, eyes locked on the turbo lift, wondering if Starbuck would make it on time. If he had been a betting man, it would be too close to call. Then again, the lieutenant seemed to be regressing to behavior that was more reminiscent of earlier days.

He shook his head, wondering how long Starbuck and Luana would last. After all, that whole fraternization topic wouldn't really be an issue, if the romance burned out in a matter of sectons, as he was almost expecting. Hades, it sounded like most of the billet agreed with him, if the spread on their latest bet was any indication.

The lift came to life, this time Starbuck coming into sight. 0600 precisely. He should have guessed. Starbuck usually liked to live on the edge, and why should showing up on time for early patrol be any exception? The lieutenant likely thought he would have taken the time to do his pre-flight checks for him. Only this time, he hadn't.

Starbuck agilely leapt off the lift before it settled, striding towards the captain with a spring in his step. His hair was damp and one boot not quite done up, but it didn't seem to matter to him while he cheerfully greeted the crew as he made his way over.

"Mornin'." Starbuck grinned at the captain.

"Morning." Apollo replied, straightening from his pose.

"Uh, did you happen to . . .?" He motioned to his ship, hoping Apollo had started his checks. He had cut it a little close, squeezing in a turbo wash and a change of uniform after his dalliance with Lu.

"No." Apollo replied briskly.

"Oh. Any word on the meeting outcome from last night?" The lieutenant asked, starting to routinely look his ship over.

"No. No doubt they're all still sleeping." Apollo returned. "I'm surprised you didn't pry it all out of Luana."

"Well, she pointed out that it was all in the hands of the Council of Twelve, so the Lords of Kobol only know how they will twist it to suit their purpose." Starbuck shrugged, running a hand down the smooth line of his fighter.

"It didn't take her long to understand the intricacies of Fleet bureaucracy, did it?"

"No. She's a quick study." A sly smile crossed his features as he thought about his wakeup call.

"And your betrothal?" Apollo asked. He wondered how Starbuck would get himself out of that one.

"Still betrothed in the eyes of the Quorum."

"What about Luana's eyes?" The captain asked with some concern. Hades, she was so young, and a nice kid at that. He would hate to see her get hurt again. She had taken it hard when Starbuck had gone back to Cassiopeia after their tryst on Alrin.

"Wide open." The lieutenant returned after a micron.

"How's that?"

Starbuck looked back at his friend before returning to his checks. "She's not ready to get married either. We'll just take it as it comes and figure it out as we go along."

"Quite the plan." Apollo muttered after a moment.

Starbuck paused from what he was doing and turned towards the captain. "Do you have something to say to me? Or did something bite you on the astrum when you got up this morning and you're in the mood to share the afterburn?"

Apollo studied him for the moment, weighing the benefit of getting it off his chest with the reality of the zero impact it would have on Starbuck. The lieutenant truly didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was doing, because he'd been doing it all of his life. Only this time there was a naïve Empyrean girl involved. Well, the truth of the matter was that Luana was one of Apollo's pilots, and as such, his responsibility. Also, a haunting image of his sister lurked in the back of his mind. He should have said something then too, and didn't.

"Starbuck, she's been following you around like a baby daggit since she became a cadet, and you really believe that she's not interested in a long term commitment? I think you're just hearing what you want to hear, and you're not considering Luana's feelings."

For a moment, Starbuck simply stared at him, as if he was astounded that the words came out of his friend's mouth. He sniffed in incredulity as he recalled all that he done to help Luana and Lia make the tough transition from green cadets to ensigns. Hades, he only had Luana's best interests at heart. They hadn't talked about long-term plans per se, but there was certainly an understanding that they were in a relationship and were going to make a go of it.

"I hope that's lack of sleep talking, because you're way out of line." Starbuck took a step closer until they were almost nose-to-nose. "I care about Luana, and amazingly enough, despite everything that happened since Alrin, she feels the same about me. She no more wants to rush into marriage than I do. She said so."

"Did it ever occur to you that she said it because she thought you wanted to hear it?" Apollo retorted, not ceding ground.

"Did it ever occur to you that she just might mean it?" Starbuck fired back.

"You really believe that, don't you?" Apollo asked, his voice even. "Now the way I see it, she's been infatuated with you for a very long time, and now she's finally got her prize. The fleet's most notorious bachelor, Lieutenant Starbuck. So what's she going to do to keep you? Anything. She'll say what you want to hear, and she'll make you believe it, because she's learned a few of your tricks of persuasion along the way. But underneath that façade she's been carefully putting together while she's been studying with the Great Starbuck, there's still a naïve, inexperienced girl who is going to get her heart broken when you decide it's time to move on. You see, that's one area where you're always consistent, Starbuck."

It cut deep coming from Apollo, but his saving grace was the captain was wrong. Dead wrong. With Luana it was different. They had found this new and different level that they had connected on. Well, besides the sexual one. And he knew that Luana was being honest with him, just as he was with her. No misconceptions, no unrealistic expectations. Just take their own sweet time to make the big decisions and in the meantime be happy. What the frack was wrong with finding a little happiness?

"You've had your say, Apollo. I happen to think you're full of mong. You're also wrong. But then you'd never consider that, would you? Speaking of consistencies." Starbuck snapped back.

The tension hung heavily in the air between them, as they reflected on one another's words. Two men, both determined that they were right. Nothing really odd about that, except the fact that they were usually on the same side.

"Captain Apollo, Colonel Tigh is on the comm wondering what happened to the early patrol." A crewmember interjected with a glance at his chronometer. "What should I tell him, Sir?"

Apollo turned sharply. "Tell him we're on our way." He looked back at Starbuck. "Right?"

"Oh, yeah. Should be a blast." Starbuck replied with a roll of his eyes.

----------

"Excuse me? Are you Kaleo?"

The sanitation technician supervisor put down his mug of java to contemplate the young warrior before him. She smiled at him shyly as she pushed back stray locks of hair that had escaped their tether. The escaping tendrils framed her lovely face and her wide brown eyes looked curiously around the small space that was his office.

"Yes, I am. Can I help you Ensign . . .?" He looked at her searchingly. He knew that face.

"Luana." She smiled at him tentatively again. "I'm not sure if you can help me, but I'm trying to track down one of my old friends from the Malocchio. I know you don't know me from Sagan, but . . . " she shrugged helplessly.

"Actually, I know exactly who you are. News gets around." Kaleo replied with a grin. He had seen little else lately on the IFB than Princess Luana and Lieutenant Starbuck. In fact, it was getting a little stale, and was hardly what he would call newsworthy. Still, it was refreshing that the young woman wasn't self-centered after all the attention.

"Oh. I suppose." She mumbled, as she ducked her head in acute embarrassment.

"Who is it you're looking for, Ensign Luana?" Kaleo asked to put the young woman out of her misery.

"Oriana." Luana looked up hopefully.

"Of course." Kaleo nodded, aware that the woman was recently from the Malocchio. "She's off duty today." It was a real shame to see that smile slip away from those pretty features. "How about I get you the number for her quarters, and maybe you can hook up face to face?"

"Really?" Luana smiled radiantly at him. "That would be brilliant! Thank you so much."

"No problem." Kaleo replied, turning to check the personnel files.

Luana bit back the triumphant smile that threatened to spread across her face. She was off to a good start.