A Different Beginning------Chapter 3
A.N.----AU and it starts at the mini-series. I am writing this solo so I am sorry for any mistakes.---- Also I thought I should mention that while this story may follow canon somewhat I have no intention of rewriting the series verbatim. There will be changes to the storyline as I intend on keeping Starbuck and Apollo as a team in most things.
Chapter-- 3
When they entered the hangar bay Kara walked Apollo over to the viper he would be flying " Here you go Apollo, what do you think?" Kara asked as she ran her hands over the nose of the viper.
Lee looked at the viper then turned and looked at the others ready to go " Who will be flying the other Mark II?" he asked avoiding answering her. He noticed when he asked her about the other viper that a huge smile appeared on her face.
" That would be mine " she said proudly
" Why don't you have a Mark VII like everyone else?" he asked
She looked at him like he should know the answer, but when he kept waiting for her to answer she realized he did not. " I could have one, but I like the Mark II."
" Why?" he asked
Kara looked at him funny and said " I do not like to rely on electronics, I prefer to fly my on bird "
Lee decided to let it go when he realized it was another thing she had in common with his father. Which made him wonder more about their relationship. His musings were cut short when she turned to walk away, and he decided to say something " See you out there Starbuck."
She looked back over her shoulder and gave him what he could only interpet as a shit eating grin " That you will Apollo " she said
He grabbed his checklist and started going over everything when he heard someone call out to her and he turned to see the chief of the deck approaching her. Lee could not hear what they were saying but he could tell that they got along well. It seemed to him that she got along fairly well with a lot of people. In his experience he found that most times people tended to not like the lead pilot too much, so this woman was fast becoming a mystery to him. As the chief started walking away he heard him say " Try to bring it back in one piece this time Starbuck. " Lee saw her give the chief a huge grin as she responded " You know I'll do my best chief. "
He finished his checklist and handed it to a young woman who was standing by waiting on him to finish. Lee then climbed into his viper after watching the other four pilots get into theirs.
After they launched Lee ordered a wide trip around the Galactica while waiting on his fathers speech to began. He did this so he could get used to the Mark II, cause he had only flown the Mark VII for the last two years.
They had not needed to practice because it would be a simple five man fly-over after the speech ended. He would lead with Starbuck flying on his right and Pincher to his left, with the last two pilots bringing up the rear.
Everything went well as they completed their circuit of the Galactica so he ordered them into a holding formation while they listened to his fathers speech. Lee knew that his father had deviated from his prepared speech when he brought up the fact that everyone should be held accountable for their own actions. He wondered if he was referring to Zak and how Lee had blamed him for it. Lee knew now that even his father would not have been able to talk Zak out of flying raptors.
Kara had decided she would play nice during the circuit run, but that did not mean she would during the fly-over. She had something planned for her last time above the Galactica and she knew her commander would understand, she just hoped Apollo would not get his flight suit in a bunch.
She heard Apollo tell them to get ready and watched his viper for the start of the run to began. They made their first pass and turned to run it again and as soon as she saw the beginning of the Galactica she flipped her viper upside down so she could see the people gathered below. She could hear the crowd get louder and she looked to her right and saw that her wing-man " Pincher " had done the same. Kara looked ahead of her and saw Apollo's viper stutter for just a second, yeah she thought he is going to be pissed. Kara could not help but smile, she thought she might have just gotten under his calm exterior.
Kara righted her viper and prepared for landing. As soon as she popped the canopy she could hear the deck crew applauding and whistling. As she was descending the stairs she saw Apollo headed her way and he did not look happy. Oh well she thought, it was worth whatever he had to say, besides she had not done anything wrong it was just a fly-over.
As soon as the speech was ending Lee signaled the other vipers to start their run. He was pleased after the first run of the fly-over, everything had went well and then they turned to start their last run so he relaxed thinking it would soon be over. As soon as he saw the Galactica ahead he started in for the last leg and then all of a sudden he heard through his helmet the crowd getting louder and turned to look behind him. When he saw Starbuck had flipped her viper upside down and then Pincher had done the same he became livid. Why would she pull something that he had not given the order for, he thought to himself.
Ordinarily he would have said something to the pilots before landing but he was so mad he kept his mouth shut and prepared to land. He held back while the others landed and watched as Starbuck and Pincher landed in tandem, while the other two pilots landed separately. What the frak did she think she was doing, he was the lead pilot on this, not her.
As soon as he landed and popped his canopy he could hear the applause and for some reason this just made him madder. Well he thought, he would just go over there and confront her and maybe take her down a peg or two.
As soon as he got within three feet of her he started yelling " What the frak did you think you were doing out there?"
Kara stepped down off the ladder and stood with her shoulders straight not giving an inch " Relax Apollo, it was not that big of a deal " she said a little loud
Lee stepped a foot closer and pointed his finger at her " It was not planned and you know it " he said with a raised voice
Kara noticed that the deck had gotten quite but she would not let him get the upper hand, after all it was her last day here. " First get your finger out of my face and second get over it already for fraks sake " she yelled and tried to walk past him
Lee didn't know what come over him, but before he knew it he had grabbed her by the arm as she tried to walk off and he ended up with her fist planted on his jawbone. And again Lee did not know how it happened but before he knew it he had hit her back, that is when he felt someone grab him from behind and saw someone grab her.
As they stood there pulled apart the CAG walked up " What is going on here?" he asked
Helo was holding Kara back so he spoke " I think it was just a small misunderstanding, Sir "
The CAG looked around and saw people gathered around watching " Everybody get back to work " he yelled and then he looked at Helo and Pincher " And you two let them go and get back to work also "
The CAG looked at both of them after Helo and Pincher had left " I am not sure I want to know what happened here so I will just let this go if you two are through " he said
" I am sir " Kara said and Lee just nodded his assent
" The commander is waiting to see you both after you finish your checklists and by the way Starbuck that was a nice move out there, I am sure the commander enjoyed it " the CAG said
Lee could not believe what he was hearing, the CAG was okay with what she had pulled " Captain I believe I was the lead pilot out there today and I did not give her permission to pull that stunt "
The CAG looked at him finally understanding what was going on " I'm sure that was just Starbucks way of saying good-bye to the crew and Galactica, Apollo "
Lee looked over at Starbuck and saw her with that shit eating grin again and it mad him even madder, but he decided not to get into it with the CAG " If that is all I need to finish up " he said as he walked away. As he was walking away he heard Starbuck say " Thank you Captain " which made him grit his teeth.
Kara finished her checklist first and instead of waiting on Apollo she headed to the old mans office. She knew the commander had probably already heard what happened between her and Apollo so she wanted to get there first.
Kara still could not believe how mad Apollo had gotten, it really was not that big of a deal. She did not mean to hit him it was just a reflex from him grabbing her arm, and she still could not believe he had hit her back, but kudos to him she thought with a smile. Kara also knew the commander would see her swelling jaw and hoped he would not say anything to Apollo because after all she had hit him first.
As Lee was going over his checklist he thought back to what had happened. How could he have ever thought she was a by the book pilot . It seemed that everyone except him had expected something from her out there today, even the CAG. Not only that but the CAG seemed to think that his father would approve. Now that he had time to cool down he supposed it was not that big of a deal, and hitting her back was not something he could believe he had done.
Lee finished what he was doing and was looking around for her to apologize, when the same small woman from before took his checklist and said " Starbuck left five minutes ago Apollo, and if you don't mind my saying so if you are thinking of apologizing, don't "
Lee looked down at her wondering how she knew what he was thinking " Why not ?" he asked wondering what her name was.
" My name is Cally and respect is why not " She said, leaving Lee once again wondering how she knew his thoughts.
" Respect ? " he asked dumbfounded
Cally answered with a smile " Yeah, there is not many people who stand up to Starbuck, so apologizing would be the wrong thing to do if you want her to respect you. "
Lee did not know how to respond to that so he just said " Thank you Cally " and headed to his fathers office with a lot to think about.
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