Chapter 77 Flak

Anger seething with each stride, Lee stalked after the gurney carrying Starbuck's agitated form as his thoughts circled back to the cause of her latest injury. A bomb. Someone had planted a bomb on her Raptor.

When I find the frakker, I'm going to…

His thought trailed off as he stepped into sickbay and moved to stand beside Kara as Cottle did a quick inventory of her condition.

"What've you done to yourself this time, Thrace," the Doc asked with a shake of the head even as expert fingers inspected the wound in her side. Despite the morph the medic had given her, Lee saw her flinch beneath the cautious probing. "Hold still, Captain," Cottle absently said. Then, with a grunt, turned to Ishay, "Prep her for surgery," he ordered and moved away to inspect his second patient as she was wheel in.

Athena lay face down, the protruding shard of metal embedded in her shoulder now surrounded by red-stained bandaging. She moaned softly as Cottle lifted the gauze to survey the underlying wound. With her head turned sideways on the gurney, Sharon could see a short distance away where a nurse was working over another patient. As Ishay stepped to the side, Sharon saw blonde hair and realized that it was Kara.

Blinking confusion and pain from her eyes, "What happened," Sharon mumbled. A large shape bent over her, blocking her view. With a relieved sigh, she recognized Karl's worried frown and managed a slight smile of reassurance for him.

"You and Starbuck almost bought it," Karl answered, reaching a hand to stroke a wisp of dark hair from her eyes. "Someone planted a bomb on the Raptor," he added, seeing the confusion in her brown eyes. "But, you're both going to be just fine, right Doc?" he stated without shifting his gaze from hers.

"Yeah, you'll both survive. We'll get you into surgery and remove this little souvenir and treat the frostbite," Cottle said as he waved an orderly over, "Couple weeks of restricted duty and you'll be ready to go again."

As Cottle turned away, Helo caught his arm. "She is going to be Ok?"

"That's what I said, Captain. Her wounds are relatively minor, so I'm taking Starbuck in first," At Helo's lifted eyebrow, "Her lung collapsed. The medic got her stabilized, but it could go again." The younger man's gaze shifted guiltily to Kara as he realized that, in his concern for his wife, he'd completely forgotten that his friend had also been injured.

Reading the tall man's expression, Cottle added, "Like I said, both are going to be just fine. You keep Athena here quiet and we'll get her in as quickly as we can. Let the orderly know if she needs more pain meds." With that, the white-haired physician ambled away to see to the last details of the surgery prep.

As Lee impatiently watched Cottle coming their way again, he couldn't help resenting anything that delayed getting Kara treated even though he knew the doctor had to triage both women. He looked down at the smaller hand clasped in his. He had earlier gripped her hand as the nurse bustled around them and now gave it a quick squeeze. A spark of gratitude lit the green eyes, pushing some of the pain aside as Kara locked her gaze to Lee's. Though she had acknowledged Lee with her eyes when he had stepped into the space the doctor had vacated, she hadn't yet spoken, probably because breathing was obviously so painful.

Now, with the return of the doctor, Lee reluctantly released his grip. "See you when you get out," he said as the nurse pushed Kara's gurney towards the surgical unit. He received a blonde nod in answer before she was wheeled out of sight.

After another moment of staring at the closed door, Lee turned and advanced on Helo where he stood beside Athena's gurney. The taller man looked up when he felt Lee at his shoulder.

"How's Kara?" asked Helo.

"How do you think? She's got a hole in her side and going into surgery," answered Lee, the anger he'd been holding in check leaking into his voice.

"Right…sorry, Do we know what happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Lee said, taking a step closer to Athena so he was in her line of sight. "What the hell happened out there, Lieutenant?" he demanded.

"Hey! It wasn't her fault, so back off, Major," Helo said, his voice going low as he put a hand on Lee's elbow. Lee glared pointedly down at the restraining hand until Helo removed it.

"I know that, Captain," he said through gritted teeth. Forcing himself to take a breath, Lee worked his jaw to release the tension before turning his attention back to the injured woman. "Sorry, Athena. It's just…" he trailed off.

"Lee, I get it. You almost lost her again," Sharon said softly in response. Drawing in a careful breath, she related what she remembered of their 'adventure' in the Raptor before adding, "So, I don't know when the bomb was slipped into place. I'd just completed several runs and was with my bird the entire time on Galactica, and only there long enough to pickup Starbuck. Had to be sometime before that," she explained.

"Ok…Ok. I'll get a team to backtrack your course before Galactica," Lee said. Running a hand through his hair, he wondered who exactly the bomb had been intended for. The likely target was the President, but he couldn't rule out an attempt on the Cylon pilot, or even someone with a grudge against Starbuck.

"Do we know how you two got hurt?" Helo asked her.

"Last thing I remember is bailing out of the Raptor."

Nearby, a man repacking his medkit overheard her and hesitantly stepped closer to the three.

"I think I know what happened, Sirs," the lean man volunteered as their eyes shifted to him. "Specialist Jacobs. I was on the medvac team," he introduced himself. "When we found them, the Captain had the Lieutenant pressed against her, blocking the hole in the Lieutenant's suit with her own body." Seeing the confusion in the three sets of eyes, he pointed at the dagger of sharp metal jutting from Athena's back. "When the Captain saw you get hit, she probably knew you'd never survive with your suit torn. So…I think she pulled you into her…you know…to block the tear with her body," the medic mimed the action. "That's the how she got the hole in her side." As he finished, understanding flashed across each of their faces.

"Guess I owe her one," Sharon said into the sudden silence.

[ I I I I I ]

Approaching Kara's bed in recovery some two hours later, Lee tried to calm his racing pulse. Cottle had assured him that she'd be fine, but seeing her lying so still reminded him of coming here after her collapse. And now, nearly losing her to a bomb! His hands flexed at his side.

He'd been covering a CAP shift with Jouster when Athena's mayday came over the pilots' comm channel. A panicked tightening had twisted his gut when he'd heard Starbuck's voice and realized that she was on the Raptor, too. Then, at the report that their ship had just exploded, Lee's world had grayed out around him—until the SARs team reported that they'd recovered both Athena and Starbuck and were returning them to Galactica for medical attention.

That had penetrated his dazed mind, and he'd immediately ordered an alert fighter to be launched to finish his remaining CAP so he could go confirm with his own eyes that Kara had survived. It might not have been proper military procedure, but Lee hadn't cared. Now he stood beside her trying to convince himself that the immense relief he felt was just that of a concerned friend…and nothing more.

Lee sank into a nearby chair he drew up and gazed at Kara as she slept, refusing to examine his current feelings for her closer. He contented himself instead with watching her slow breaths rise and fall in a reassuring rhythm. After a length of time at her bedside, he glanced at his watch and abruptly shot to is feet.

Oh, frak! Dee.

He'd forgotten his dinner date with her; they were suppose to meet over an hour ago, right after his CAP rotation.

Hurrying from sickbay, Lee cast a glance over his shoulder at Kara before resolutely focusing on what he'd say this time to appease his wife.