BSG: BUMP IN THE NIGHT
DISCLAIMER: No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: Here's the second chapter. All of part one is already written, so I'm not taking time away from my other work. At the end of Part One you guys can let me know if you want me to continue. Mind you, I've deliberately done a cliffhanger so...
And koryandrs, you're awesome.
The debriefing had been strained. Difficult. Somehow their feelings regarding the sounds of beta channel had sounded foolish in the bright lights and comforts of the briefing room. Now the two men sat at the back of the officer's lounge, silently nursing their drinks. Neither spoke, not to each other, not to the other warriors who cycled in and out of the low, wide room. They just sat, their eyes tracking across the faces in the crowd, drifting to the dark corners, watching the doorways. The darkness between strange green stars seemed to have settled on their shoulders.
Neither was taken by surprise when a slender young woman in bridge officer blue stepped into the room, but neither were they happy when she strode to their table. Her coloring was dark, like Apollo's; olive skin, ebony hair, chocolate irises. She looked angry.
"So are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Athena pulled a chair out and sat without ceremony.
"What what is all about?" Apollo looked away, unable to hold her eyes.
"You two have been acting strangely since you got back from patrol," Athena replied. Her eyes tracked to Starbuck as he rose and wrestled a cubit from his wallet. It hadn't hit the table before he started walking. "Hey, Starbuck..?"
"Leave him alone," Apollo said. His tone was flat, as if he were giving an order. He caught her widening eyes and repeated in a somewhat softer tone, "let him go."
"What is going on here?" The young woman's voice waffled between anger and concern. "Apollo, this isn't like you. Did Starbuck tell you something?" She started to rise, but her brother's hand caught her forearm. "This is about Cassiopeia, isn't it?"
"It's not Cassiopeia." He held her arm tightly until she regained her seat. When she was back down he took a long pull from his drink.
Her brow furrowed as she rubbed the sensation of her brother's urgent grip from her arm. "Apollo, are you alright? You're starting to scare me.
The man's sudden bark of laughter made Athena jump and summoned the eyes of a few nearby warriors. Apollo quickly covered his mouth with his free fist, but his body kept shaking as if something fought to escape. His eyes flicked up to his sister's. Confused. Frightened.
"My lord, Apollo," the young woman glanced quickly around to see if anyone else was seeing her brother come undone. She slid quickly over to his side, shielding him from any eyes that might still be turned their way. "What's going on?" When her hand fell on his shoulder, she felt him shiver.
The laughter faded, suffocated, only to be replaced with an uncertain panting. He lifted his mug with a shaking hand and downed the rest of his drink in for large gulps. "We need to leave, Athena. Now." He threw a coin on the table and strode hurriedly for the door without looking back.
"Apollo..?" The young woman had to rush to catch up.
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Starbuck stepped into the medical bay as if it was the last place he wanted to be, which on any other day was pretty normal. Cassiopeia glanced up when he entered, shook her head and went back to her reports. Annoyance simmered up from her skin in an invisible wave. He had some nerve to come looking for her so soon after standing her up. Again. She didn't even look up when he strode over and stood in front of her.
"Whatever you've got to say, Starbuck, I'm not interested."
"I... I need to talk to you. Now."
His tone sounded off. Tight. Curiosity pulled her eyes away from her paperwork and she discovered that it wasn't just his tone that was off. The warrior she'd known was gone, replaced by someone pale and hunched. Anxious. The sight of him made her rise and reach out. She gasped when he seized her hand in a hard grip. His skin was clammy and cold.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
As he looked around the bay, his tongue flicked nervously over his lips. "Listen. There's something I need you to do. It's going to sound crazy..." He let her go quickly, as if her flesh had burned him.
Cass' blonde eyebrows rose. At any other time she would have thought this was some kind of goofy pick-up line, but all his boyish charm was gone.
"...Can we go somewhere?" His eyes darted unsteadily over her face. "...And talk. Just talk. I swear."
"Starbuck, are you alright?" She stepped around the desk and felt his brow. He trembled beneath her touch. "You're so pale and cold."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised. Listen, I'll tell you anything you want to know, but not here." He grabbed her hand anxiously, squeezing tightly. "And you can't tell anyone about this. Okay?" He gave her a weird, almost pasted on grin. "I told you it was weird."
"Listen, Starbuck, you're starting to worry me. Are you feeling okay?" She felt his gleaming face with her free hand. Her touch ended with a thumb over the large vein in his throat. "Your heart is hammering."
"Look, can we go? Now?" He looked around again to see if anyone else was in the bay. "I just... need... to be with you for a little while. You know?"
"No. We're not going to..."
"It's not about sex," he interrupted loudly. He damped his voice again instantly "I... I just don't want to be alone right now. I need to go somewhere..." He looked down, somehow ashamed. "...Safe."
Cassiopeia blinked, surprised. In the two yarens she'd known him, she'd seen Starbuck drunk, angry, horny times without number, happy, in pain and even apprehensive, but until today she'd never seen him afraid. Being able to read people, empathizing and understanding their wants and needs had once made her a good socialator. Now it made her a good nurse. In an instant she knew exactly what he needed. She wrapped her arms around him and drew him close. His own arms flew around her, not hugging, but clinging, as if he were afraid of being swept away.
"Starbuck?" Cassie kept her voice soft and warm. "I want you to listen to me, okay?"
He nodded hard, shuddering like a frightened daggit.
"I can't leave until my shift is over, which is in about two centares," she felt him begin to push away, but she held on. "But, but we're going to cheat." She smoothed at his hair as she felt him relax into her again. "I don't want to leave you alone right now, so we're going to pretend that you're not feeling well. That way, if someone comes in, I can tell them I'm examining you. Okay?"
His silent nod worried her even more. The Starbuck she knew would have protested. He hated being in the medical bay and made excuses to stay out even when he was ordered to come. Having him just agree so easily was as strange as having him propose life-union.
"Cass, I don't know what's happening to me," his whisper was tight, tremulous and half an octave too high.
Was he crying? Cassiopeia squeezed him hard and kissed his neck. "Baby, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere. We're going to figure this out."
Starbuck nodded hard again.
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It was past midnight before Cassiopeia had finally gotten away to search for her greatest rival. Athena hadn't been on the main deck, nor had she been in the O-club, though one of the other pilots said they'd had seen her a few centars ago, chasing out after Apollo. Now the blonde med-tech was heading through the heavily constructed corridor that led towards the pilots' quarters. If she didn't find either Athena or her brother within the next few centons, she'd head up to the observation dome above the engine. After that, who knew where they could be?
"Cassiopeia," an unexpected feminine voice called out from behind. "Hey. Wait."
Cass turned to see the slender deck officer striding purposefully towards her. "I need to talk to you," the blonde said.
"I need to talk to you too," Athena nodded. "I don't want to be overheard."
"Me either. Where can we go?"
"I was hoping your quarters," Athena glanced around, looking for passersby.
"No good. Starbuck's there now." The sudden coldness in Athena's eyes was not pleasant. "He's sleeping. I had to give him a sedative. I wanted to..." she looked around. "I wanted to ask you about Apollo."
"He's what I wanted to talk to you about," Athena took the other woman's arm and began to guide her up the corridor. "I left him with Sheba in the observation dome. He's a wreck. Is Starbuck..?"
"The same..." the blonde shook her head at the other woman's darkening expression. "I've never seen him like this. He's acting like he's terrified."
"Apollo too. He's been like this since they got back from their long range reconnaissance patrol. I've never seen him this way. Ever."
Both women quieted as a group of warriors sauntered by, on their way back from the simulator room. Both looked back as they heard the voices fade.
"What happened out there?" Cassiopeia asked. "Starbuck didn't tell me much. Something about voices and dead ships."
"I'm not sure. I mean, I got a lot of the story from Apollo, but nothing that should have affected either of them like this."
"Did they land anywhere? Some alien organism might have infected them somehow..." Cassiopeia began.
"No. They never left their Vipers. They just found a wrecked ship and came back."
"That's all?"
"That's all I'm willing to say here," Athena returned pointedly.
"I know where we need to talk, then" Cass stopped, turned Athena around and began walking the other way.
"Where?"
"Your father's office."
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The enunciator chimed just as Commander Adama was finishing his dinner. A glance at his desk chrono glowed twenty-three-hundred. Late. Very late for anything not an emergency. A quick swipe from his napkin crossed his lips and he dropped the cloth over his ravaged plate. He rose and keyed the door open, revealing two of his favorite women. Unfortunately, seeing them together like this usually boded ill for a certain young lieutenant.
Cassiopeia spoke first.
"May we speak to you, commander?"
"Certainly." He stood aside and gestured. "Come in, come in."
As the pair entered, the old man could hardly help but notice their barely contained agitation. Things were definitely not looking good for Lieutenant Starbuck.
"It's about Apollo and Starbuck," Athena said, half confirming his suspicion. "Something happened to them on their last patrol. It's making them act strangely."
"I noticed the same thing." Adama nodded. He gestured for them to draw up seats before the desk. "They both seemed rather agitated during their debriefing. I attributed it to the stress of what they saw through the void..."
"What I saw from Starbuck wasn't stress," Cass interrupted.
"I don't understand," Adama said. "Has he told you something?"
"No, but from what Athena says, they're both acting the same way; as though they were terrified," Cassiopeia replied. "Not apprehensive, or even frightened, but literally terrified." She gave Athena a sidelong glance. "As little as I want to say this out loud, Starbuck came to me in the medical bay and..."
"...And?" the old man prompted.
"Well... He burst into tears. He's in my quarters now, sleeping with all the lights on. I had to sedate him to get him to relax at all." The blonde wring her hands, unsure how to proceed. "He didn't want to be left alone. He kept saying that he wanted to feel safe."
"Apollo acted the same way with me," Athena nodded. Some reflex made her lay a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "His reaction wasn't as extreme, but he kept telling me over and over that he was afraid. He was also angry because he didn't understand why."
"Where is Apollo now?" Adama asked.
"I left him in the old stellar observation dome with Sheba. He didn't want to be left alone either, but I wanted to find Cassiopeia to talk about this. Something's very wrong here. We need to try and figure out what could have happened."
"I see." He moved behind his desk and sat heavily. He didn't see, not really, but part of his job was to seem all-knowing. He sighed in a way that suggested he was weighing something thoughtfully. "Did either of them mention hearing voices?"
Athena shook her head as Cassiopeia's eyes widened. "Starbuck did," the blonde said. "He said that they lost contact with each other for a little while and started cycling through communications channels." She looked over at Athena. "He told me that when they switched to the beta channel there were these voices, screaming."
"He said the same thing in his debriefing," Adama nodded. "It's preposterous, I know, but Apollo confirmed it..."
"You've got the support crews examining their flight recorders, don't you?" Athena asked.
"Yes, yes, of course," the old man's gesture was off-handed, automatic. "Apollo also said he received some garbled signals on the lambda channel..." Adama pursed his lips and looked intently to the two women across the desk. "Cassiopeia, Athena, do you think it would be possible to get them to the medical bay?"
"Apollo, definitely. He wants to understand what's wrong as much as we do," the dark haired woman nodded. "This sudden emotional binge has him as worried as he is afraid."
"I can well imagine it would," Adama nodded. "As you know, Apollo requested that I be present at their debriefing, but there was nothing in their report to account for this sort of behavior. I can only imagine that he's concerned that they've finally reached some sort of stress plateau."
"But their stress levels should be decreasing. Apollo and Starbuck haven't been under any more stress than any other pilot," Cass observed. "We haven't seen any Cylons in over six sectares."
"I understand that too," Adama nodded, "but battle stress doesn't necessarily work that way. I've known the bravest of warriors to collapse as soon as they had the time to do so." His old, dark eyes traveled from one woman to another. "I'll need to have Apollo and Starbuck thoroughly examined so that we can determine the cause of this malady." He rested his elbows on his seat and his mouth on his joined fingers for a moment. "Did either of them reveal anything else about the nature of their last patrol?"
Athena's eyes darted to the blonde beside her. "Apollo told me everything. I didn't want to..."
"To tell secrets?" Cassiopeia rolled her eyes, before answering the Commander. "No. Starbuck just kept repeating that he wanted to feel safe." She sighed unhappily.
"You and Doctor Salik are to examine them thoroughly and let me know what you find out. For some reason, I have a feeling that their symptoms are part of a much larger puzzle." He rose, giving the pair a wordless signal that their meeting was over. "How long will it take you to do a comprehensive examination?"
"Two centares for the exam," Cassiopeia said as she rose and stepped towards the hatchway. "Four to interpret the data."
"Do your best, as swiftly as you can," Adama escorted the pair back to his chamber door. He laid a heavy, but supporting hand on his daughter's shoulder. "If Apollo and Starbuck are the fore-runners of some sort of stress related collapse, then the sooner we heed their warning, the better off we are."
"I'll get to the medical bay and start getting the diagnostic equipment ready," Cass said as she preceded Athena out into the corridor. "It's going to be difficult to get a good reading on Starbuck. The drugs in his system will have to be accounted for."
"I'll go find Apollo," Athena nodded.
"Do. Please get started as quickly as possible." He waited until the hatch had cycled closed before letting his frown escape.
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"Athena, wait." The dark haired warrior-woman had taken three paces before her sometime rival caught her elbow and gently pulled her to a stop.
Athena turned and looked uncertainly into Cass' oddly imploring blue eyes.
"Listen Athena, I don't want you to be angry about Starbuck coming to see me," the blonde began uncertainly. "He was just looking for help..."
"Cassiopeia, I'm not angry," she offered a slight smile, "not anymore than normal anyway. This isn't about what's going on between us, this is about two warriors we both care about and whatever it was that they found."
"Truce?" Cassie held her hand out like a peace token.
"Truce," Athena's smile broadened as she shook.
The pair made ten more strides together before the blonde spoke again. "So what did they find out there?"
"I'm not sure I should tell you." Athena sighed. Cassiopeia peered over intently, more sincerely, when she saw the dark brow knit in concern. "Not because of Starbuck, but because of Cain."
"Cain? I don't..."
"As strange as this might sound coming from me, I don't want to upset you," Athena shook her head ironically. "Oddly enough, the military secret was my second consideration."
"Just tell me, please," Cass took a grip on the other woman's forearm, stopping her again. "Did you find the Pegasus? Does Sheba know?"
"I don't know. There were massive instrument failures on both Vipers, and from what I can gather, the battlestar they found is literally a burned out wreck. There was no way they could visually establish its identity." The dark woman put her hand supportively over Cass' pale one. She looked into the other woman's blue eyes sincerely. "There's no reason for anyone to begin supposing one way or the other. I can't begin to tell you how many capitol ships we've lost in the millennial war and from what little I've heard from the techs, this one has been drifting for a long, long time. It could be any ship at all."
"I see what you mean," Cass nodded. She smirked slightly at Athena's supportive gesture. "You know, when we resume hostilities, I think we should avoid firing at each other..."
"And direct them at the one person who has them coming?" Athena's lingering grin faded quickly. "If he can take them."
"Yeah. If he can take them." Cass nodded and they began walking again. "I'll start getting the equipment ready."
"I'll get Apollo down to you at once."
A/N: My biggest worry is how long it takes to set a stage. Like Fritz Lang, I see this and hear the dialogue, so for me it's not a thing to read, it's happening visually. The shots are really quite short when you see them, it just takes a lot of space to write...
Again, review please. Energize me.