THE LOST YEARS

by Soledad

INTERLUDE: THE LOST WARRIOR

Author's notes:

For disclaimer, rating, etc. see Chapter 01.

This story is nearing its end. It won't be a real closure, as various plotlines will be continued in future parts of the "Lost Years" series. I'm just following it to a temporary end, because the events that lead any further won't be happening for years within the timeline of this particular AU. If you want to get the bigger picture, you should read "Crossroads" and "The Joy Machine", as this story takes place roughly between those two. More about the conspiracy will be told later in "Crisis on Aquarius" and in the "Lost Years"-episode "The Dark Side".

Chapter 15 – Epilogue

Omega had lunch with his family, after which Aurora, Damon and the children – sans Aggie, of course – returned to New Caprica with the regular shuttle. Omega stayed on the base for one more day… not the least because he had a dinner invitation from Athena. Who, surprisingly enough, had made the effort to prepare the dinner in question with her own hands. Not that she wouldn't have a perfectly good, working food synthesizer – diplomatic quarters were equipped with the newest Nutritech models by default – but cooking for a friend was something she liked to do from time to time. Whenever her tight working schedule allowed it.

She couldn't shake off the strange feeling of déja vu, though. For some reason, she had to think of the infamous betrothal dinner of Apollo and Serina. How their father had set up the whole thing, to force Apollo's hand… well, in a matter of speaking anyway. Adama would never force any of his children to do what they didn't want to do, but he was known to grow impatient with their reluctance to bind themselves sometimes. And at those times, he could be a bit heavy-handed, although driven by the best intentions.

Athena had fought her father's well-meant matchmaking all her life. Just as she'd been removed from the Viper's cockpit and assigned to the bridge because Adama had thought that she'd be of better use there (not to mention safer), her father always thought to know who'd be the best-suited partner for life for her. Unfortunately, their opinions went widely apart in that particular matter, and after a while Athena ceased to date entirely. It just wasn't worth the grief. She knew she'd always remain a little girl in her father's eyes – a little girl who had to be protected and guided, for her own good.

Quitting the fleet and entering diplomatic service had been the best decision of her life. She could travel all across the Federation (and be only a welcome guest at home), she had her own staff, and responsibilities, and the respect of her colleagues… and she had results that had finally earned the respect of her father as well. Not to mention that on a different planet, or in her diplomatic suite on Semiramis, she also had the personal freedom she could never have at home. Here, she was a person of her own, not just the cute little daughter of the legendary Commander Adama.

As much as she loved her father – and she truly, honestly did – it was a relief.

She'd been looking forward to this particular evening ever since she'd learned that Omega would be coming to Semiramis again. Despite the age difference, Omega had always been a good friend – not to mention that he was an attractive and intelligent man, and she'd missed suitable male company for a long time. Their similar tastes in food and music promised a peaceful evening, the main goal of which was to relax and enjoy themselves… without Adama's worried eyes in their backs. Even aboard the Galactica, her father would never object her keeping company with the elegant and cultivated bridge officer. Their Houses had been friends for generations, and Omega's manners had always been excellent.

She intended to put those manners to good use tonight. She wanted to have a pleasant evening of the sort she hadn't had since leaving home for the Flight Academy. An evening that was hers alone, without the intervention of family, duty, politics or any other outside factor.

She just wanted to have a little harmless fun.

This being an informal event, Omega came in his civilian clothes: in jet black and icy blue, the only civilian garment he'd taken with him aboard the Galactica, just in case he needed to represent his House on some official event where uniforms wouldn't be welcome. It even had the coat-of-arms of his House, now long gone, embroidered in gold on his jacket, right above his heart. It was – well, once had been – a son of a noble House was visiting someone of the same status. Like now.

Athena rose to the challenge. She was wearing blue, too: a flowing silk gown, shoulder-free and shimmering when the light fell over the fabric in the right angle, and her dark hair was pinned up on one side with an ancient silver brooch (that she'd inherited from her paternal great-grandmother) and let down on the other side.

"Orpheus," she said with a warm smile, calling Omega on his true name to emphasize the private nature of the evening. "It's been too long since we last met – not as two officers, not as a Colonial colonel and a Colonial diplomat… just you and me. It's a shame, really."

"It is," Omega agreed, kissing her hand gallantly. "What was the last time again? The graduation ceremony of Zack, I believe… almost four yahrens ago. It seems a lifetime, doesn't it?"

"So much has changed," Athena said, a little sadly. "So much has been lost."

"But we've also gained a great deal," Omega reminded her gently. "We need to look into the future. At least we have a future again… we, as a people, and also we as individuals."

"Unless we allow those vile old vulpines to tear it away from us again, "Athena replied.

Omega took her deceivingly small, slender hand into his bigger one.

"Please, Athena," he said, "let us not talk about politics tonight. Let us have some peace and quiet… we both deserve it."

"How right you are," Athena smiled and handed him the bottle of precious, twenty-yahren-old ambrosa that she had found in a shop aboard the Rising Star and had hurriedly bought, before anyone else could snatch it from before her nose. "Make yourself useful, then, while I look after the food."

Omega laughed and uncorked the bottle. The ambrosa was smooth like oil and had quite the kick, and the food was excellent, and they didn't talk about politics on that evening at all. They recalled shared memories of they childhood – they both grew up on Natacapra, the most exclusive and expensive area of Caprica – discussed their career changes in the recent yahrens… and the not always pleasant turns of their private lives during the same period. It seemed that while their careers were improving steadily, their romantic encounters had all run off into the sand, as Sagittarians liked to put it.

"I really thought you'd found your true match in Jana Haines," Athena said in honest compassion. "She's a classy lady; and she could have kept up with your style and your status in Caprican society. She's a patrician herself, after all."

"Her blood is so blue that she could use it in one of those old-fashioned fountain pens instead of ink," Omega agreed with a melancholy smile. "We had a good time – it was great while it lasted. But she's a restless one, and she has a bright future before her. I would've only clipped her wings. She'd never give up all that: the stars, her research, her… her life, to settle down on New Caprica and raise a bunch of children with me… and I'd never ask her. She'd have become very unhappy, in a very short time. Not that I ever stood a chance to persuade her," he added.

"Too bad," Athena commented. "Sir Andrew Haines would have gladly accepted you as his son-in-law."

"Perhaps," Omega allowed, "but I was interested in his daughter, not in him or in his lands and position. And his daughter didn't want to burden herself with me and my ragtag family."

"Do you miss her?" Athena asked.

Omega shrugged and considered her question for a while.

"I miss her presence," he finally said. "I miss to have someone in my life. But I don't feel the same profound loss I used to feel every time a furlough was over and I had to leave Clementia and our children behind on Caprica. They were part of my life in a way Jana could never be. When they died, that part of me has died with them. The rest of me has come back to life after a while, but…" he shrugged again. Then he turned the question back at her. "Do you miss Starbuck?"

Athena shook her head ruefully.

"No," she said. "I miss the feeling that went with him: the feeling of brightness of adventure, the memories of that first, childhood crush, the fun we used to have. But I always knew, deep within, that we weren't meant to be together. That's why I said no when he asked me to Seal with him."

"He actually asked you to Seal with him?" Omega repeated in amazement. "Starbuck?"

"Hard to believe, I know," Athena smiled. "I think it happened out of despair… it was right after the Destruction, and he was shaken badly. He just wanted to belong somewhere… to someone. Of course, had I known that that calculating little…" she added a Libran expression that was considered not acceptable in noble Houses, "was going to hook her claws right into him, I might have changed my mind."

"Why, if you didn't want him?" Omega asked.

"Oh, I did want him, all right," Athena replied, laughing, "I just didn't want to Seal with him. Not at that time, at least. Not when I had just lost my mother, my baby brother, my home… almost everything. I mean, I loved Father and Apollo, I always have, but Zack was something special, and Mother… well, she was Mother. The last thing I wished was to start a new family, from the scratch, in the middle of the Destruction. I don't believe that Starbuck understood my reasons, though."

"Have you ever regretted it?" Omega asked. Athena shook her head.

"No. I'm not like Serina, whose first instinct was to snatch Apollo in his most vulnerable moment. I don't use people… well," she corrected herself, "not the ones who are important for me anyway."

"I wonder," Omega said in tolerant amusement, "Whether I belong to that category."

"Of course you do!" Athena exclaimed, clearly upset. "You're a dear old friend and have always been. Of course," she added with a blinding smile, "it's a mystery how I could overlook in all these yahrens how gorgeous you are."

"Well, for starters, I was married," Omega pointed out. Athena nodded in agreement.

"There's that. And after the Destruction, we were both grieving, for a long time."

"And when we were done with grieving, you had already been under my command for a while," Omega added. "It would have been against regulations."

They stared at each other for a moment, and then laughed in unison. This whole discussion was certainly beyond ridiculous.

"Tell me the truth," Omega demanded, still chuckling. "Have you ever thought of it… thought of me that way?"

"Honestly?" Athena laughed. "Not for a micron. You were older and even more grave than my grave older brother. And you were married. And my commanding officer. Those were all serious arguments against any unbecoming interests towards your person."

"I can see how they might be," Omega's dark eyes twinkled in amusement. "But things have taken a urn to the better, haven't they? I'm not your commanding officer any longer, I'm not married," all his ingrained discipline couldn't cover the deep pain in his voice, "although old and grave… yeah, I guess that's gotten even worse."

Athena stopped laughing. An expression akin to wary uncertainty appeared on her beautiful face.

"Orpheus," she said, calling him on his true name again to show that she was being very serious, "what's your game? Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"And what if I am?" Omega asked. "Would it be so… outlandish?"

"Not outlandish, no," she replied, "but don't you see the pattern? I'm no more the good little homemaker than Jana was. I won't sit at home and raise children, either; not for a while yet, in any case. I'm a career diplomat, and I'm needed, especially with this… this conspiracy going on behind the scenes. I can't just quit, so that you might repopulate the House of Lares."

"I know," Omega said, "but there's a difference. You're one of us. You carry the same wounds, the same memories. You've been part of my life, one way or another, since our childhood. You knew my family. I don't want to lose that. You not only mean yourself to me, bright and brave and beautiful though you are. You mean Natacapra, and the sea at Naiacap, and concerts in Caprica City, and the pyramids of the capital… all those things we've lost and hat live on in our memories. No outsiders could ever share that, not even those from the other colonies or of different upbringing."

Athena thought about that. She had to admit that Omega – no, Orpheus from the House of Lares – was right. For other people, Siress Ila was just a name, a fading memory. But the members of the House of Lares had often visited Adama's family. Athena had practically grown up with Omega's youngest sister. She could still vividly remember the huge mansion in Natacapra where several generations lived together under the same roof, ruled by the family matriarch (who, at that time, happened to be Siress Hestia, Omega's grandmother), the stables with the wondrous equines of Sire Laertes, Omega's father, the music and laughter (and frequent squabbling) between brothers and sisters and cousins that filled the house. Gone, all gone… living on but in their shared memories.

Was she willing to lose that?

"Well, at least Father would be content with my choice, for a change," she murmured with a self-mocking smile. "That I'd be finally considering someone whose line of ancestors is at least as long as his."

"Is his possible approval enough for you to reject the whole thought out of hand?" Omega deadpanned. Athena rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous! It's just… I've fought his expectations all my life, and that still colours a bit my judgement. If it's not easy to be the son of the House of Adama – and Apollo could tell you stories about that – imagine what it means to be a daughter of it."

"I think I have a fairly good idea," Omega replied gently. "I used to have sisters, remember? And Grandfather Lares was a lot worse than your father could ever be. But what does that matter now? It's all in the past."

"Hopefully," Athena murmured. Omega raised a truly patrician eyebrow.

"Well, it's up to us, isn't it? Aside from the burden of our origins, though… do you think you might at least consider the idea?"

For a while, Athena remained silent, weighing the pros and contras of eventually Sealing with him… somewhen in the future. It was true, they had a lot in common, and what they ad shared in their childhood, and also later, on the bridge of the Galactica, could be a solid foundation to build a life together upon it. And besides, she was slowly growing out of the age in which one still expected the great, all-consuming love to come one's way.

Been there, done that – and it was hardly worth the heart-ache, she thought, darkly amused.

Then she realized that Omega was still waiting for an answer, with that customary patience of his.

"Look, Orpheus," she said. "This is all a bit sudden for my comfort. Give me time to think about it, will you?"

"Of course," Omega said. "It's only proper and reasonable when one has to make a decision for a lifetime. I'll leave you to your pondering, then," he added, raising from his seat. "You know how to contact me when you've made your choice."

"No," she said, laying a hand upon his forearm, "don't go. I've been alone for way too long. I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Would that be wise?" Omega asked, but pulled her to him nonetheless. He was tired of being alone, too.

"I don't care," she said, kissing his throat. "I'm done with being wise – at least for tonight. I want this… I want you. Just stay for the night… everything else we'll see later. There's no need to hurry things. Not anymore."

"I don't know," Omega murmured, removing the brooch from her hair and letting the lush, dark tresses cascade down her bare shoulder. "Right now, I do feel a certain... urgency that won't tolerate to be ignored."

"Don't ignore it, then," she replied, kissing his throat again and delighting in the sudden quickening of his pulse. "We have all night to play – and a lot to make up for."

That was certainly true, and so Omega followed her to the bedroom, well aware of the value of the unexpected gift he was given. They spent the night learning each other and sharing passion they had both missed for too long. And while Omega still had no promise extracted from her when he left for the Galactica in the next morning, he had something that was almost better than a promise.

He had something to look forward to.

And he had hope.

For the first time since the Destruction, he had hope again.

The End