"Do you remember the time we went to fix part of Galactica?" Cally asked mirth still in her eyes.
A full blown grin spread across the Lieutenant's face.
How could I not? I acted totally, out of character. Again.
Lee had asked Kara to assist him with his controls on his viper. He knew she would help, she loved working on them. And she would work until all hours to fix any problems.
They had been talking about the possible solutions when they overheard the Chief giving orders to his crew. This was nothing unusual so Lee had continued to ramble on. Kara however had stopped listening to him. Her entire focus was on the situation in front of her.
Now there were times where fixing Galactica was part of a specialist's job. And this particular day the Chief had asked Cally to fix the problem. He knew she could fix whatever needed to be done, she was as good as he was, and he was the best.
"I'm not entirely sure what the problem is but Colonel Tigh wants it to be fixed ASAP" the Chief informed her.
Other members of his crew wouldn't normally take a job like this. A job where the Colonel would be watching her every move, in case he thought her to be uneducated. But Cally would, she would because it meant she didn't have to be there anymore.
The Chief had inquired about Cally's friendship with Kara only days before when he saw the Lieutenant hit her own viper. Something so unheard of that he had to think about it twice just to be sure it happened. And with working in close corner's he had only been curious about things. Thankfully, their friendship was strong, and Cally had informed him about her crush. Not that he would have told anyone otherwise, but their friendship was something that both cherished.
With Lee and Kara in the bay; talking, laughing and working on a viper, it made Cally hurt. That was something she shared with the Lieutenant, no other specialist done that with her. Kara never let anyone bit her and the Chief help her with her viper. It was known fact. But apparently she did that with Lee, even if this wasn't her viper it still counted for something.
Grabbing her gear, Cally started to think of all the possible problems she may encounter. The Colonel had a way of pushing people the wrong way. However her thoughts were broken when she heard the Chief mumble in her ear; "heads up"
Spinning around on her heal, her brow furrowed.
Kara was walking towards her, whipping her hands on a rag. Lee only just realising that the Lieutenant was no longer with him as she reached the brunette.
"Hey" Kara greeted, throwing the rag on a table top next to the Chief. "Will you need a hand?"
Cally's mind briefly stopped. No pilot would stop working on a viper to fix another problem, and defiantly not this one. They weren't allowed to work on anything else.
"Kara," the Chief warned in a friendly matter, "you know you're not allowed to work on anything but the vipers"
"Unless there's an emergency" Kara quipped, smiling as she took some of the Specialist tools from her hands.
"And what exactly is the emergency here. In case the Colonel wonders?" he inquired, still keeping his tone friendly. He was curious about her answer, and more than a little amused with her antics.
Others had started to take notice of the trio. Lee had even emerged from his viper and was starting to make his way over.
"Protection detail" Kara stated matter-of-factly.
This caused Cally to giggle at the Lieutenant. "And who are you protecting me from?" she had to know, it wasn't like Kara to do something like this without orders.
"The Colonel" Kara replied, causing everyone to laugh. Most of the onlookers had returned to their tasks, some just continued to look on in case they missed something.
At that moment Lee had gotten close. Close enough to make Cally force out a smile at his presence. It wasn't that she didn't like him. He was just too close to the blonde for her liking. For the Chief's liking either. He too had wanted the specialist to get the girl, and he wasn't alone.
Commander Adama had spoken to him about the duo's friendly nature. Even Boomer had made a couple of passing remarks to him a few times.
"Where are you going?" Lee asked, turning to the Lieutenant. "I thought you were giving me a hand"
"She needs to go with Cally," the Chief injected before Kara had the chance to open her mouth. It wasn't that he thought she would mouth off, well for the most part he didn't think that. He just thought that Lee would be less likely to say no this way.
"You know she can't assist with any problems that don't relate to the vipers" came the curt reply.
He wanted to spend time with his friend, and now she was going off somewhere and he was sure he would not be invited. He wasn't the jealous type, but this was his long-time friend. She was family, practically a sister to him. And now someone was taking her away. Sure Cally had often taken away the blonde's focus, that wasn't her fault. But she held that focus for longer than anyone ever did and he wasn't sure he like that.
"Lee!" Kara scolded. She didn't want to do this in front of everyone, especially since everyone had decided to back to looking at the group. She simply thought that this was a good gesture. She didn't want the specialist alone with the Colonel. Not that her presence would help but she would still be there in case something went wrong.
"Off you go," the Chief joked, pushing the girls towards the exit with his boot. Arms folded across his chest, he knew that if they didn't go now there would be problems.
As they walked through the corridors, they remained silent. Not because they didn't have anything to talk about. They always seemed to have something to talk about. It was because people were staring at them, and it made the specialist nervous.
Few were aware of the pair's friendship, if they didn't go near the vipers. They didn't sit down and eat together. They didn't have many friends in common either. So having the blonde lug her equipment all the way from the bay to the other end of Galactica was sure to raise a few eyebrows. She was just shocked at how many were raised.
Turing down the last hallway, Cally let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't you think that's a little too soon?" Kara asked, "We still have to go in there"
Chuckling, the specialist followed behind.
At least people had stopped looking at her. Judging her for walking next to the blond, who carried most of the equipment. She briefly wondered what it would be like if she were dating her companion. Would people still look at them the same?
Walking into the room, Cally could see the problem. It wouldn't take them too long, unfortunately.
The Colonel stood waiting for them. As he recognised the pair frown came across his features. "You can't be down here" he barked at the Lieutenant.
Rolling her eyes, Kara was well and truly over people telling her this.
"Just came to carry the equipment, sir"
Was that all she came here to do? Didn't she say she was here for me? Not that I need her protection from the Colonel, but still.
With a curt nod and some orders of how to fix it he had gone, not wanting to be around the bond any longer than absolutely necessary. And Cally had totally missed what he had said. She had been too wrapped up in her head to pay attention.
"Let's do this, shall we?" the blond asked, bending down to grab some tools that she knew would be needed at this stage of the repairs.
"He told you top leave," Cally informed, too deflated to care how she sounded.
"He says a lot of things to me," Kara shot back before tugging on the brunette's pant leg so she would be joined on the floor with the all equipment she lugged down.
Cally couldn't help but laugh. A full blown, happy as a kid with ice-cream type of laugh. Shaking her head, she bumped shoulders with the Lieutenant before starting to get to work.
Kara had defined orders. She had walked away from working on a viper. She wasn't acting like a protector like she did a few days before. But she was acting different, and everyone could see that. She was being considerate. Helpful. Kind. Something's that was very rarely associated with the blonde. And they were all done for her. And the icing on the cake; everyone saw it.