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The Wild, Wild West – Down the RiverNot only did he take her mouth, he possessed it. That was the only coherent thought that Starbuck could manage as she allowed herself to completely relinquish herself to the onslaught that was Apollo.
He rolled her into the dirt. He grabbed her chaps, pulling her to him so closely that she was pretty sure that they were sharing DNA. And yet somehow, he managed to be gentle…not gentle as if she were fragile, but gentle as if she were a horse he was training or a baby he was holding. There was strength in his gentleness, the kind of strength she hadn't experienced before.
It was fascinating. It was consuming, taking her breath away and replacing it with his as he breathed with her. It was also scary as hell and once again, Apollo had crossed the lines…taken her in front of her nuggets where she absolutely couldn't rely on his strength if she wanted their respect.
They would talk later, that is if they could get past frakking. Because she was utterly going to frak his brains out later God willing – there was always Chief's brew to consider and she knew it could take down even the most virile of men.
She allowed herself a few more seconds of bliss and then she threw him off of her as if she'd been burned…which she had, only it was the kind of burn that she knew would simmer under her skin much too long.
Lee didn't have time to register that their mouths had disengaged. He was too busy hoping that he hadn't bruised a few ribs or worse and that his ass wasn't on fire. She'd thrown him awfully close to the fire and since she'd already branded him with her taste tonight, he didn't need a repeat that was sure not to be nearly as pleasant.
So he sputtered and he picked himself up gingerly, rubbing a hip and waiting for her to say whatever it was she needed to. He was quickly understanding that groping her in public was not the smartest thing to do but he was worried that she might not let him in private…that she might pull a Starbuck and pull away, leaving him to wonder when she might be back. And he wondered why this all felt so familiar and how he could possibly know these things about her after only a few hours.
"Well damn Apollo! You are a man of your word after all - a cheat, but a man of your word. I can appreciate that. It's too bad for you that I'm such a sore loser. I think it's time for you to tell us your campfire story…and well, it better be just about frakking perfect or my men here might just decide that you just aren't worth keeping around. And that would be a damn shame, seeing as I'm not quite done with you. Yet."
Starbuck winked at him when she finished, picked up her glass and drained the contents; she then promptly threw her cards into the fire in front her.
Her nuggets let out audible gasps – they only had a few decks left and they weren't that easy to come by.
"Never keep unlucky cards around. Consider that lesson number 2014. Now I believe that Apollo has a story to tell us."
Lee smothered the desire to drag her off somewhere private. Somehow she had managed to get the upper hand again when he desperately wanted them to be equals. No matter, he'd give her what she wanted and then some.
He moved over between the Chief and his mate, Cally, holding out his cup. Chief promptly filled it, one eyebrow cocked, just waiting to see what happened next. It was one thing to see Starbuck dallying and quite another to see her flustered a bit, which she definitely was.
Starbuck didn't waste much and cards were high up there on the list of things you didn't just throw away.
Apollo took a large swig from his cup, looked around, pausing at each and every face and began.
"It started when I was about 7, the dream that is. I'm out in space, on a large battleship and she's called Galactica – it's where I got the name for my horse."
He pauses to see if they are shocked, but the faces greeting him are leaning in and intrigued…all except for Starbuck, who leans back and pretends to yawn, like she's already bored.
Just wait Starbuck…just wait…he thinks.
"They've been attacking us for forever it seems…lately it's been every 33 minutes. And I'm flying my Viper, that's my fighter ship…she's a beauty of a thing, all sleek lines and mechanical genius, almost like the perfect woman that you've got beneath…"
With almost a scowl on her face, Starbuck glares at him and Lee cuts that sentence off. He's frustrated but not stupid.
"And well, you get my point. We just can't seem to get ahead of them. Each FTL jump they find us and sleep is impossible and I've had to resort to demanding that my pilots take Stims to stay awake. How are they following us? Is there a traitor on board? How many more fighters do we have to lose? These are the thoughts going through my head…"
He trails off.
Iguana speaks up. "Who Apollo? Who is attacking you?"
He's rewarded by another glaring look from Starbuck, however, instead of allowing it to shut him up, he shoots her a smile and takes another sip of the brew that is scalding his throat but also making him feel slightly invincible.
"Well, I'll tell you…they are about the scariest thing you could imagine. Cylons, we call them and they are scary because we built them…out of machines…to make our life easier. But they got smart and now they've destroyed our world and we're on the run with only ships in space and a small colony of people looking for us to save them from extinction from an enemy built with our own hands. They even look like us now, so you don't really know who is your enemy and who is your friend. There are nights I wake up and I find myself praying to Gods that I don't even believe in…"
Starbuck snorts loudly, ignoring the sudden insane beating of her heart, finding a way to somehow mutter under her breath. "Right. Cylons. Good one Apollo."
But suddenly the men are responding, whether testosterone-induced bravery has kicked in or just sheer interest, they want more.
TL – "It reminds me of the Indians."
Racetrak – "What did you do next?"
Hotdog – "What's a Viper Apollo?"
Kat - "Stims? What's that?"
"Hold on, hold on. I promise I'll tell you the whole story, just give me time. I'm still having the dreams…almost as if this is all happening in another universe somewhere so you'll have to bear with me."
The nuggets nod their agreement and settle back in for the long haul, as an amazed Starbuck takes in the scene.
He had them, HER crew…and quietly, simply, he had taken them all in within a few hours. She loved him and hated him for it but she couldn't even process that thought right now. The only thing going through her mind was well, madness.
Madness because she'd been having the same dreams almost her entire life but up until now she'd believed them just that, dreams. And she couldn't help but wonder if maybe they weren't more…because she'd seen the Cylons and she knew every nook and cranny of Galactica and she knew exactly how to rebuild a Viper that had been shot out of the sky. But she'd never breathed a word of it to anyone.
She liked living. Things less crazy than that could get you strung up behind a horse out here.
But more importantly had been his naming. Oh sure, she'd named him Apollo, but it hadn't been by accident.
She'd named him after her soul mate from those dreams…the one she'd flown with and ran with and frakked with…and now, suddenly, he was right in front of her and she had absolutely no idea what to do.
