"You're killing me Helo. I mean, you've got to be joking." Kara laughed reflexively.

"No joke, come on Kara I need you."

"Where've I heard that one before?" She scoffed. "I mean isn't there someone better qualified for this job?"

"You're my oldest friend; I'd even dare to call you my best friend."

"But I'm not a man; it's called best man, not best friend."

"Kara, it's only one afternoon, and I promise it'll be painless. I won't be doing this ever again, so this is a one time mission."

"Like a suicide bomber?"

"More like a good friend. Hell, I wasn't even invited to your wedding."

"Don't you have any guy friends? What about Hot Dog? Or, I don't know, Chief?"

"It's you, or I'm not getting married, ever."

"Gee, Helo, no frakking pressure or anything." She took a moment to think about what he was asking. She was flattered as hell, although slightly uncomfortable with the idea. "Do I have to wear a dress?"

"That would be traditional civilian dress for a wedding, so I'm gonna say yes." She could imagine the tilt of his head when he said yes. It surprised her how fast time had gone by, she hadn't seen Helo in months, and she missed him.

"Where do you think I'm going to find a dress down here? Honestly, my clothes haven't been washed in at least 2 weeks, my body in days, and you expect me to find a dress?"

"You never were one for personal hygiene." He laughed. "Ellen found one for Sharon down there, I'm sure she could come up with something for you."

"Great, cos whore is so the look I would be going for." She laughed at the idea of what Ellen Tigh would find to be an appropriate dress for a wedding.

"Stop being so frakking dramatic, and suck it up Starbuck."

"Whatever, I'll be there, you can count on me. So when is this shindig?"

"Tomorrow, 15:00 hours."

"No, no, no, no, that's not fair. That's not even 24 hours!" It was one thing for her to agree to this with some time to plan, it was wholly another to have it sprung on her.

"Kara, it's the only time I can get leave for Sharon. I've got custody of her for 24 hours, and nothing can go wrong. I had to pull all my strings to get her that. Her pass starts tomorrow at noon."

"Nice, thanks for the notice."

"You could come up tonight, get a hot shower, sleep in a lumpy bunk, and eat the same old crappy food." He was tempting her, using Helo's persuasive voice. He knew she could rarely resist him like this.

"You have no idea how nice that sounds. Down here might not be hell, but you can definitely see it from here."

"When do you want me to send down transport?"

"How about an hour? I gotta talk to Sam, and see a lady about a dress."

"I can do that."

"See you soon asshole. I can't believe you've talked me into this."

"Thanks Kara," Helo spoke sarcasm fluently, "You know this means a lot to me right?"

"I know, I'm just regretting not making you a bridesmaid in my wedding."

"You would have had to plan ahead then." He laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, see you later. Over and out."

"Over and out."

Kara shut down the line and sat back in the chair. What had she just gotten herself into? She turned the station over to Marcus and headed back to her tent. It was a long shot, but maybe Sam was there. She needed to grab a few things anyways. He wasn't there, but her pack was, she threw in a clean change of underwear, her toiletries and anything else she thought she might need.

On her way to the school she saw him, on the pyramid court, "tutoring" Seelix, when he wasn't coughing his guts out.

"Sam!" She yelled across the court at him. "Sam!" He finally turned around; as he did the smile fell off his face. He walked over to her though.

"What do you need Kara?" He acted like he had something more important to do. She remembered just a few months ago when there was nothing more important to him than her.

"I've got to go up to Galactica for a few days. Think you can handle yourself down here for a while?"

"You're not my caretaker."

"Clearly. I'm going to try to get you more meds from Cottle while I'm up there."

"Great."

"You really should be in bed you know. You aren't ever going to get any better like this." She reached out and touched his forehead; it was slick with cold sweat. "You're soaking wet, its cold and this is only going to make you worse, and you know it."

"I'm fine Kara, since when do you care anyways? Isn't there a triad game out there somewhere?"

"Suit yourself, just keep it up if you've got a death wish, hell, if you want to die so bad I am sure I can find you a gun."

"Thanks Kara, that'd be the most you've given me in months."

"Frak off." She turned and left him. Sadly it was the most civilized conversation they had had in weeks.

The school was a few tents down. It was the only thing that actually functioned down here. Somehow Roslin had pulled together enough supplies to get it off the ground. When she walked in, she saw Roslin at a make-shift table, drawing with some children, she seemed in her element. Kids just made Kara uncomfortable. Tory approached her silently.

"I can get her if you need her." She said.

"Actually I was looking for you." Kara responded as she turned to face her.

"What can I do for you?" Tory seemed uncomfortable with the idea that Kara needed something from her.

"I need a dress. There's a thing I have to go to on Galactica tomorrow, and I need a dress. I have no idea where to get one."

"Ellen has a pretty good stockpile. I don't know how she did it. I think she's trading for them, but she's the one you need to see."

"I am really trying to avoid her." The Tigh's tent was the last place she wanted to end up. She had been avoiding Saul since the morning she got married.

"Well, I think I've got something that might work, I'll run back to my tent."

Kara had always appreciated how succinct Tory was. Even as the assistant to the president she was a no bullshit kind of woman. There was no pussyfooting around, either it was done immediately or it was not done at all.

While she waited she thought about the next two days. If she was lucky she could drag it out that long. Turning in her wings and settling down here was one of the worst plans she ever had. The absolute worst idea was marrying Samuel T. Anders. Hindsight is always 20-20.

Tory returned quickly with a garment bag. The bag was beaten up and dirty, but she could still see the logo of one of the top department stores on Caprica. It made her wonder what kind of job Tory had before the end of the worlds. Kara would have had to sack away 2 months wages as a pilot to afford even the cheapest dress there.

Tory laid the bag on a table and opened it up. She pulled the dress out so Kara could hold it up to her.

"I think that'll work nicely." Tory said. "The shoes are in the bottom of the bag. I wear a size 35, I don't know if they'll fit you, but they were made for the dress."

Kara was speechless, the dress was stunning. "Tory, gods, this is beautiful."

"It makes your eyes look amazing, even in this light."

"The shoes should fit too." Kara felt a little like Tory was her fairy godmother, if she had to dress up this would at least make it worthwhile. If her blue dress made her look like a knock out this one would make a glance kill a man. "I'll bring it back in one piece. I promise."

"It's not like I have any reason to wear it anymore. I bought it for the Colonial Day celebration on the day of the attacks. I never got a chance to wear it. Once the Cloud Nine blew up I figured it would just become a relic of a by-gone era. At least someone will get some wear out of it."

If Kara were the kind of person who did that sort of thing she would have hugged Tory. Instead she shook her hand, thanked her again and apologized because she had a transport to board.

She got to the launch pad just as the raptor came down. It was a not a standard transport, so she was alone on board. It was good to see the faces of Racetrack and Skulls. It was even better to be getting up into the air, she missed flying. She missed not being tied to the ground.

A/N: I bet you wonder what that dress looks like! You'll find out soon enough, through someone else's eyes. I promise the next chapter gets into the Kara/Helo backstory, and a handsome young Commander will show up shortly. You know what really makes me write? REVIEWS!!!