A Different Beginning----Chapter 8
AU and it starts with the mini-series. Also I am writing this solo and I am sorry for any mistakes.
Chapter-----8
Kara stood there looking at the photo of the cylon who had said he would have her. She did not know why it wanted her, because as far as she knew the cylons should not even know who she was.
As Kara was distracted looking at the picture, Adama folded the piece of paper he had been looking at and put it in his jacket pocket. He knew that for the time being he would have to keep this information to himself. He wondered who had been in his office in the short time he had been away.
Kara placed the photo back in the folder and handed it to Adama " Sir, can we keep this between us for now?"
Adama did not see any reason that anyone had to know " For now Kara, but if something happens in the future we will have to re-visit this"
" Thank you sir , I need to go and get ready " Kara turned to leave
" Starbuck " Adama called out " Good hunting "
Kara gave a nod and took off.
Adama made sure to put the folder up and then headed to the CIC.
Lee had just finished his first briefing as the new CAG. It had gone as well as could be expected considering they did not have a full squadron. There seemed to be as many raptor pilots as there were viper jocks and by the time this little skirmish was over there would be even fewer viper pilots. Lee could tell that no one was in good spirits, it had been a hard day already.
As the last of the pilots left the briefing room Lee took the time to look around. When he had been here this morning there was a full roster on the board, now they would all have to go out there and fight. Lee was no fool, he had placed Starbuck on his wing, considering he already knew what she was capable of.
He wondered if she was still with his father or on the deck so he headed to the deck. She should have been at the briefing, but she already knew as much as he did. Whatever she needed to see the commander about must have been important, otherwise his father would not have taken the time. Lee knew it must have something to do with the cylon his father had killed.
When he made it to the flight deck she was already going over her viper, so whatever it was, she seemed to have got her answer. Lee walked over to her " You ready for this Starbuck?"
Kara looked over her shoulder at him " As ready as I am ever going to be, I suppose " she turned " What about you Apollo?"
" The same, I put you on the roster as my wing man " Lee told her
" Good to know " she remarked " How are the other pilots?"
" Okay I guess, I don't know any of them so it's kinda hard to tell " Lee told her honestly
Kara looked around her at the other pilots getting ready " They will be okay, it's not like any of us have ever done this before "
Lee offered Kara his hand and she shook it " Good luck out there Starbuck "
" Good hunting Apollo " she replied
Then they both got ready for the battle that was to come.
As the Galactica made it's move to go up through Ragnar all of the vipers were lined up for take off. As soon as they made it to the top they got the signal and started shooting out of the tubes and within a matter of moments they were engaged by the cylon fighters. The battle was fast and hard and while they were taking out the cylons the Galactica was firing on the larger ships. One by one the civilians started slipping by and jumping to the pre-arranged coordinates.
Adama stood in the CIC as the battle waged on, he hoped this plan worked and they lived through this day. He also kept an eye on the vipers hoping they all came back safely, especially Starbuck and Apollo. He knew that Gaeta was keeping an eye on the civilian ships and would let him know when they had all jumped.
Kara could not believe the amount of cylon ships that they were having to fight off. Every time she shot one down there was another to take its place. She watched as fellow pilots were shot down and then she saw a missile heading straight for Apollo, and she knew his viper was already damaged. Before she could think about what she was doing she flew between his viper and the missile. Luckily she got off a perfect shot and turned to fly back towards him to access the damage. " Looks like you broke your viper Apollo "
" It could have been worse, thanks " Lee thought he was dead for sure when he saw that missile coming towards him. Then out of no where Starbuck swept in and took it out. He knew there was no way he would be able to get back to Galactica, but even though he could not maneuver he still took out what flew into his path. Lee heard the recall of all vipers and knew he would not be going back.
He also soon realized that Starbuck had no intention of listening to the recall. She kept flying around him taking out the cylons he could not get. "Starbuck, head back now "
Kara knew there was no way she was leaving Apollo out here to die " Forget it Apollo " she said while still shooting cylons.
" That is an order Starbuck, get your ass back to the Galactica " Lee yelled at her. About that time he heard his father over the com " What do you hear Starbuck?"
At first Kara did not hear him and then she knew what he wanted " Nothing but the rain sir " she said as blown up cylon parts rained down on her canopy.
Lee heard his dad again " Then grab your gun and bring in the cat " What the hell did he mean by that, Lee thought.
" Wilco Commander, you may want to clear a path " Kara replied as she turned her viper towards Apollo at a great rate of speed. She knew what she had planned, she just hoped the frak it worked " Hold on Apollo, I am coming in"
Lee looked up to see her heading straight for him and knew she had something crazy planned. And then she rammed her viper into his, connecting their wings pushing him back to the Galactica with her.
" You are beyond insane Starbuck " he yelled when he realized her intent. He turned to look behind him and saw the outer pods to the flight deck closing " We are going in a little hot, don't you think " he screamed
" Maybe " was all she said and the next thing he knew they were sliding into the Galactica's bay. After screeching all the way down the flight deck they came to a crushing stop against the outer doors that had been closed.
As soon as he caught his breath he jumped out of his viper and headed towards hers. She was still trapped because the canopy had jammed shut with the impact " Starbuck, are you all right, can you hear me? " Lee was frantic
Finally she started moving around and looked up at him with a shit eating grin " Wow, that was a rush "
Lee smiled and felt relief that she was able to joke. He slid the canopy back after a lot of tugging and reached in to pull her out. " You are crazy, you know that, right?"
Kara grabbed his hand and thought again how he always seemed to be pulling her up. As soon as she got out she pulled her hand away to release her helmet " Thanks "
" I think I am supposed to be thanking you " Lee told her and started to say something else, but then he saw his father rushing towards them.
Since they were standing together Adama grabbed them both and hugged them " Thank you Starbuck "
" Just following your orders sir " she mumbled into his shoulder
Adama still had not let them go " You can let go now dad " Lee told him
At this point the chief had walked over " Not that I am not glad to see you both alive, but Starbuck do you think you can stop destroying the vipers, it's not like we have a lot of them left "
Kara smirked " I am pretty sure you can salvage at least one of them chief "
Adama had ordered Lee and Kara to sickbay to be checked out, before he went back to CIC to check out the damage. There was not time to rest so he ordered all pilots and the deck crew to have the vipers and raptors ready to go out again if necessary. Adama really hoped that was all they had to do for the rest of this day, but he knew they had to be prepared for anything. He thought back to the note and wondered how many cylons were walking around the fleet. There had to be some way to tell them apart.
As soon as things were back in order in the CIC Adama had Gaeta call President Roslin to set up a meeting. He left Tigh in charge while he went to his cabin to wait on Roslin.
Kara and Lee were walking side by side to the sickbay. Lee felt he should say something about what had happened out there. " You know you disobeyed my order to return to the Galactica "
Kara who had been silent thanking the gods that they had survived was surprised when she heard Apollo speak. " And your point would be what?" she asked
" That as your superior I gave you an order that you ignored " Lee told her as they kept walking
Kara grabbed his arm to pull him to a stop " Well, my Commander gave me a different order, and under the circumstances I would think that you would be grateful"
Lee looked at her "Was that what that whole grab your gun and bring in the cat meant?"
" Yeah Lee that is what it meant " Kara said a bit snarky
" Thanks Kara, but you could have got us both killed " Lee decided if she was going to call him by his name that he would use hers because at the rate things were going they would never be off duty.
" No way " she said with a smirk " I knew what I was doing " she let go of his arm and started to walk on
This time Lee grabbed her arm and stopped her " Really, and how many times have you pulled that type of maneuver?"
Kara thought a minute "Twice, if you want to count me getting your ass back onto Colonial One "
" That was different and you know it " Lee told her while realizing he still had his hand on her arm.
" Slow, fast, what does it matter Lee, your still alive, are you not? " Kara said as she pulled her arm away from him, damn he was making her mad.
Lee knew he had better let this go before it escalated any further " You're right, let's just get to sickbay "
Thank the gods Kara thought as they started towards sickbay. She would never admit to him how scared she really was about pulling that kind of move. At least he had called her Kara, she supposed that was a step in the right direction.
Lee had to admit that she was the best pilot he had ever seen. He knew no one else, him included could have pulled that off, her natural ability in a viper was uncanny. Lee hoped in the future that she would obey his orders, maybe he should speak to his dad because she seemed to follow his orders no matter what. He glanced at her and thought that he was glad she was on their side, cause Lee had a feeling that the cylons were not going to be letting up any time soon.
Adama heard a knock on his hatch and got up to answer it. " Come in " Adama said as he stepped to the side to let the president enter. Once she was in he offered her a seat on the sofa.
Laura Roslin was still trying to get used to being the president, so she was at a loss at how to start this conservation. After a brief thought she spoke " I wanted to thank you for taking us with you, I understand that it was not an easy decision "
Adama coughed clearing his throat " Well, we are all that is left, I could not just leave everyone " he stood up and walked over to his desk to get the photo of Leobon " I needed to address this problem we have with the human looking cylons "
As he sat back down he passed her the photo " This is a picture of the one I killed on Ragnar "
After looking at it closely Roslin laid it on the table by them "So what do you suggest we do?"
" We need to find out if there is a way to tell them apart from us, and I was hoping you might have some ideas" he told her
Roslin reached up and rubbed her forehead in thought " We did pick up a scientist on board the Colonial One, a Gaius Baltar I believe, maybe he would know of something "
Adama took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes before responding, damn he was tired " That would mean telling another person what we know"
" It seems we do not have a choice " she replied
" All right " Adama said " Why don't I let you handle that "
Roslin stood up " I will see to it as soon as I get back to my ship "
" Thank you Madame President " Adama said as he escorted her to the hatch
While Kara and Lee were sitting in chairs in the waiting room to see Doc Cottle she asked him " Are you planning on bunking in your office? "
Lee who had fallen into a light sleep jumped when she spoke, causing her to laugh " I really don't know, I have not given it any thought "
Kara who had stopped laughing at startling him said " Either way, there is a small room in there with a bed or there are plenty of empty bunks in the senior pilots room "
Lee thought about it then " A private bunk sounds good, I just hope I get the chance to use it soon "
Kara who had begun looking around for a nurse replied without thinking " You and me both " and realizing the way that sounded she corrected herself " I just meant that I could use some sleep myself "
Lee saw her blush slightly " I knew what you meant " and to change the subject he asked " Did my dad let you know that he was assigning you to help me with the pilots roster and other things?"
Kara who was getting tired of sitting, stood up " No, I guess it slipped his mind, but hey whatever " then she walked over and cornered a nurse "Hey, how the frak long do we have to wait to be seen?"
The nurse who was used to her by now apparently, Lee noticed, said "I don't have any idea, but feel free to leave if you want " then the nurse walked off leaving an irate Starbuck.
Kara walked back over to Lee who had been smiling because of the exchange " What the frak are you smiling about?" and without waiting for him to answer she continued " I am out of here, you can stay if you want to "
Lee watched Kara walk away, damn he was tired of waiting also, so he got up and left heading to his office hoping to catch at least a nap. When he reached his office he took off his flight suit and fell into bed.
Meanwhile Kara was entering the officer's bunk room and she noticed several curtains already pulled close. She really needed a shower, instead she pulled off her flight suit, promising herself a shower when she woke up, and climbed into her bunk. Kara fell asleep thinking about the events of the last fifteen or so hours.
Lee woke up and realized he had slept for five hours and got up. He grabbed the bag with the few things he had brought with him from the Atlantia and headed to the showers. After he had showered and dressed he knew he needed to find Starbuck to help him with the pilot roster. Lee then went to the bunk room and found several curtains closed, he did not have any idea which one was hers and knew he could not start opening curtains. He turned to leave and ran into a pilot outside of the hatchway to the bunk room. " Hey, do you know which bunk is Starbuck's?"
Duck who recognized Apollo as their new CAG answered " Yeah, but she is not in it, she is down in the hangar bay working on her viper "
" Thanks " Lee knew he had better start getting to know the pilots so he stuck out his hand " I am Apollo, and you are who?"
Duck reached out and shook his hand " I'm Duck "
" Have you had any sleep Duck?" Apollo asked
" Just got off CAP, that's where I'm headed now" he then walked into the bunk room in search of some much needed sleep.
As Lee walked to the hangar deck he wondered if Kara had gotten any sleep, she did not seem like someone that stayed still for very long. When he reached the deck the chief cornered him " Captain, we are going to need the pilots help on some of the maintenance of these planes, as you know we lost people in the attack"
Another problem Lee thought " " I will send any available ones I can round up Chief " he turned to look around at the mess on the deck " Do you know where I can find Starbuck?"
" She is working on her viper, over there " the Chief pointed in her direction before heading off to take care of another disaster.
Lee could hear her banging and cussing as he drew closer to her viper. He saw that her canopy had already been replaced. When he reached her viper he knelt down and looked under it at her " Having problems Starbuck?"
Kara was not in the mood for chit chat so she answered sharply" No, everything is just peachy "
" Wow " Lee said " Did you get any sleep?"
Kara stopped what she was doing and looked at him " Is there something I can help you with Apollo?"
Lee stared back " Yeah, when you get time I need some help with the roster "
Kara sighed, of course he did " I will be finished in about an hour "
Lee stood up " Then I'll let you get back to it and I will see you in my office when you finish "
As Lee walked away Kara stuck her tongue out at him and went back to work.
It took Kara a little longer than an hour, plus she took the time to change out of her orange coveralls and shower before putting on pants and a tank. She also left her hair down, so it could dry. She was now headed to do paperwork it seemed. Kara knocked once on the hatch to the CAG'S office then let herself in.
Lee kept looking at his watch, he thought for a minute he was going to have to pull Starbuck away from her viper. He had just got up when he heard a knock and before he could say enter she strolled in. She caught him off guard and all he could do was stand there staring at her. He knew she was nice to look at, but for the first time he saw how beautiful she really was. Lee did not remember her hair looking like that or her for that matter. It was the first time he had seen her out of a flight suit or coveralls.
Kara stood there with her hand still on the hatch wondering what the frak Apollo was looking at her like that for. When he kept staring she cleared her throat " Something wrong Apollo?"
Lee shook his head and put his eyes back in their sockets " Um... no, it's just you look different " then he sat back down
Oh, so that was it Kara thought as she looked down at herself, he thought I was just another one of the guys, she could not help but tease him "What, you did not notice that I was a woman before now?"
Lee blushed two shades of pink " No....I mean yeah I knew, I just didn't really think about it too much until now " he knew he was stumbling for words
Kara decided to let him off the hook " That's alright, it's not like you had time, now what do you need help with exactly?"
Whew, Lee finally had his breath back " I need to know which pilots to put together for CAP, you know which ones work better together "
Kara took the seat across from him and reached for the list and started reading over it.
As she looked it over Lee took the time to look her over again. Her hair was a little past her shoulders and blond, her eyes were a shade of green Lee had not seen before. The paper was keeping him from seeing her breasts, not that he had not noticed them in her flight suit. He looked back up to her face and watched her full lush lips as she mumbled over the names.
It had not taken Kara long before she already knew where to put who where, but she noticed that Lee was looking her over so she pretended to keep looking it over. She wondered what he was thinking about while he was looking at her. Kara had given him enough time so she decided to speak up and put an end to his perusal of her. "I think " she saw him jerk and had to fight the urge to bust out laughing " we should put Duck, Ripper and Keeper on the next CAP "
Lee was so lost in his thoughts of her that he jerked when she spoke, he hoped she had not noticed. " Why them?" he decided to try and get back to business.
Kara spoke slowly " Because they are off shift right now and you have Racetrack, Topper and Slider on CAP now "
Lee took the list back from her and looked it over " Okay, so I guess that means Boomer, you and me will have the one after that "
Kara nodded " So that leaves Flat Top, Pike and Crashdown left over from raptors to fill in when we switch it around "
Lee nodded his assent " What about the rest of the bunch?"
Kara took the list back and went over it again " They are really just rooks, so you can place them with any of the senior pilots if you choose or put them on maintenance "
That's right, Lee remembered the Chief needing help " We will put them with the Chief, he brought up the fact that he needed help in the hangar bay "
Kara nodded and they went to work making out the weeks schedule. Just when they finished the sirens went off " Action Stations, Action Stations all pilots report to the flight deck "
Lee grabbed his flight suit and they took off for the flight deck running side by side. Kara started pulling her hair up into a ponytail as they ran.
Starbuck and Apollo were suited up and in their vipers ready to head into battle. Little did they know that they would be going out every thirty-three minutes for the next fourteen hours. There seemed to be no way of getting away from the cylons. Every time the pilots landed they only had time for a ten minute break before they had to get ready to go out again. It was a soul wearing fight, the only thing they had going for them was the hope that the next jump would be their last. Starbuck and Apollo's flying skills were tested to the limits each time they engaged the cylons.
The deck crew was not faring much better, they too were on their last leg. It seemed to be all they could do just to keep the vipers fueled and held together with whatever they could find.
Up in the CIC they were working frantically to figure out how the cylons kept finding them. The best they could do was to keep jumping and hope they caught a break soon. Adama was worried about how the pilots and deck crew were holding up. He had spoken to President Roslin several times and even though the civilians were holding up it seemed all the jumps were taking a toll on them.
Kara and Lee tended to take their breaks together. Lee found out you can learn a lot about a person when they were under pressure. Kara seemed to be doing better than most at holding up. There had been one small episode when he had to order her to take the stems that Doc Cottle had ordered all pilots to take. She did not want to take them and had put up a fight, claiming that they would only bunch her reflexes. She had finally gave in and took them.
Kara had to give kudos to Apollo, he was able to keep the pilots motivated enough to keep going out jump after jump. She also saw that he was holding up great. Not only did he have to be the CAG, but he also had to fight right along with everyone else. He more than pulled his weight, she was impressed. They had even held each other up on occasion by propping themselves up against each other as they sat or stood during their breaks. She also noticed that he had been calling her Kara more often.
Finally around jump two hundred and forty they caught a break. The clock had finally moved past the dreaded thirty-three minute mark. Kara looked around and you could literally hear everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Kara should have known it was to good to be true. During the following Cap with Apollo, Boomer and herself a colonial ship showed up and they got the order to destroy it. Kara did not want to fire even though it had been an order from Commander Adama. When she saw that Apollo had every intention of carrying out the order she fired a split second after he did.
Lee had not wanted to fire, but he had been given an order so he carried it out. He noticed that even though Starbuck had not wanted to fire she fired when he did. When it was over they landed and looked at each other a few seconds before going different ways.
Kara felt as guilty as Lee, but it seemed to be eating at him more than her. The good news was that after they blew up the Olympic Carrier and jumped there was no sign of the cylons. She looked around and saw that except for a skeleton crew everyone else had hit their racks, which is where she was headed.
After blowing up the civilian ship Lee knew he needed to be alone somewhere. He knew that all of the pilots not on duty would be in their racks so he headed to the pilots briefing room. Thankfully they had only lost five pilots during the whole course of the battle. Lee was trying to rework the flight board around the lost pilots to take his mind off of the Olympic Carrier. Lee felt someone enter the room and looked over to find his dad standing there.
Adama approached Lee and stood next to him " I made the order son, you were only following it."
Lee turned his head towards his father " And I pulled the trigger, that's something I am going to have to live with."
Adama simply nodded his head " If we had not done that we would still be trying to get away from the cylons."
"So, we did what had to be done " Lee stated and turned back to the flight board, still not feeling better about it.
Adama stood a moment longer watching Lee then he turned and left the room.
Adama hoped that things would return to normal, or at least as normal as they were ever going to be.
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