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somedaybitchso...it's not done...and i hope to finish it tonight, but for some reason i feel the need to post it. so uhm, yeah. here.
Zero-Dark-Thirty - Part 1 (1251 words)
rating: the letter after Q, for language
spoilers: Helo/Boomer.....post episode 13
disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica, NBC/Universal, not mine, blah blah blah
summary: zero-dark-thirty....the shadows between midnight and dawn.
crossposted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
bsg_creative
If he punched the bag hard enough, fast enough, for long enough, he could wipe the sound of her voice from his head. He could focus on the pain in his hands and not the pain in his heart, the confusion in his mind. At least that's what he kept telling himself, hit after hit after hit. His eyes were unfocused, feet moving with a dancer's grace, gloved hands finding their target by instinct again and again. The dull thudding tried its best to form a rhythm in his head.
"You're alive because I've kept you alive."
He shook it off like a hard right cross to the chin, forced to take several deep breaths before he resumed his abuse of the bag. Part of his mind knew that his hands would be a pulpy mess, that he risked getting grounded by the CAG if they swelled too much and he lost dexterity. He couldn't get grounded. He'd only been back on Galactica a couple days but the doc left him feeling pretty good about his flight status this afternoon. All he wanted to do was get back in the air, get back to the fight. He had catching up to do.
"I'm pregnant."
A cry of anguished rage preceded an especially vicious body punch, sending the heavy bag spinning.
"Helo?"
Karl Agathon spun on reflex still in the thrall of his pain, striking out to silence the voice that sounded like Sharon in his mind.
"Frak me!" Kara's hands came up instinctively as she dodged his punch, backing up as fast as her injured ribs allowed, to get clear of his arm's range. "Whoa, Helo! Easy."
He blinked several times, struggling to get his rage under control, now as ragged as his breathing, and inwardly swore at aggravating her injuries more. He rubbed the back of a gloved hand across his face and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. Helo took in the sounds of Galactica, reminding himself, pushing himself away from the nightmare in his mind. After another moment he opened his eyes to find Kara's own on him. The tension in his shoulders eased a bit at the look of worry on her face.
"Sorry. I...," he faltered. Unable to explain, he stuck with silence and distracted himself by removing the boxing gloves.
Starbuck said nothing, took the time to study her friend as he moved across the gym slowly.
Helo could feel her watching him. He wanted to be alone and yet couldn't stand it. The six days he'd been alone on Caprica, dodging the Cylons....he thought he'd never see another human being again. Not alive anyway. And then he got caught. And then he saw Boomer. And then his world shattered all over again.
He threw his gloves violently across the gym then slumped down on a bench. He felt rather than saw Kara sit gingerly next to him. She sat close. He could feel the warmth of her body next to his. It made him relax just a little.
"Talk to me, " she said quietly.
Helo leaned gently against her, resting his head on her shoulder, but he said nothing. He couldn't get the words around the lump in his throat.
Kara took one of his hands in hers, gently touching the bruises already formed on his knuckles. "Nice."
He looked up at that and gave a weak sort of chuckle. They sat like that for several long moments, neither feeling the need to speak. When he finally did, Helo had to clear his throat twice. "You really go back just for the arrow?"
"Yup." Her voice was low and she seemed totally absorbed in the condition of his hands.
"Frak, Starbuck. Why?" He couldn't keep the insanity he still thought it was, the risk she'd taken, out of his voice.
There hadn't been time to talk about what happened on Caprica, any of it. The second they landed it was chaos. Marines crawling all over them. Everyone freaked at seeing another Boomer. Everyone freaked at seeing him. Him torn between his rage at Sharon's betrayal and his rage at her rough treatment at the hands of the marine guards. Tigh struggling not to take his grief over Adama out on Kara's hide. The CAG indifferent to the fact that he was under arrest because he was too busy being devastated by his father's possibly still fatal gunshot wound. The look of naked relief on Apollo's face that Starbuck was alive and back on Galactica. The look under the look. The President in the frakkin' brig. And the knowledge that Boomer, the other Boomer, had tried to assassinate the Commander. He couldn't process any of it, and tied through it all were Sharon's words to him on Caprica..."It's the home of the Arrow of Apollo...It's supposed to be the only clue as to the location of Earth." He closed his eyes again, the world in his head starting to spin.
"If you believe in the Gods, then you believe in the cycle of time." Kara spoke almost absentmindedly, her eyes focused on the ground.
"What?" She was trying to make his head explode.
"That's what the President told me, when she asked me to jump home." She paused, then resumed more softly. "She said we're all playing our parts in a story that's been told over and over."
"All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again." Helo said it softly, shaking off a chill.
"The Cylon said that too."
"What Cylon?" Helo stiffened, growling out the question, unsure if she meant Boomer.
"Leoben. Roslin had him blown out an airlock."
He sat up at that and turned. "The frak?"
She smiled by way of apology but it faded quickly. "The day of the...attack...the old man jumped us to the Ragnar anchorage for weapons restock. They found this guy inside the station. Leoben. He said he was a gunrunner. He was a Cylon." She paused to meet his eyes. "He bled, Helo...he had tissue, and cells, and organs."
"How...?" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. The more she said, the more he didn't want to hear, the more terrified he became that the Sharon he fell in love with never really existed. Gods help him, he was in love with a frakkin' toaster.
"He tried to kill the Commander." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Bad choice on his part."
They shared a long look. Simple, feral, satisfying. And then it passed.
"Baltar did tests on the body. Found the proof -"
He put a hand out, interrupted her. "Wait. Baltar?"
"Yeah," she drew the word out slowly. "Saved our asses a couple times. Even got elected Vice President."
Helo nodded, almost to himself. Maybe hell was worth it if the choice had kept them all alive.
"Don't pull that shit again, Karl," she said roughly.
"Kara..." He stopped there, didn't know what else to say. "Tell me the rest."
--
Zero-Dark-Thirty - Part 1 (1251 words)
rating: the letter after Q, for language
spoilers: Helo/Boomer.....post episode 13
disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica, NBC/Universal, not mine, blah blah blah
summary: zero-dark-thirty....the shadows between midnight and dawn.
crossposted to
bsg_creativeIf he punched the bag hard enough, fast enough, for long enough, he could wipe the sound of her voice from his head. He could focus on the pain in his hands and not the pain in his heart, the confusion in his mind. At least that's what he kept telling himself, hit after hit after hit. His eyes were unfocused, feet moving with a dancer's grace, gloved hands finding their target by instinct again and again. The dull thudding tried its best to form a rhythm in his head.
"You're alive because I've kept you alive."
He shook it off like a hard right cross to the chin, forced to take several deep breaths before he resumed his abuse of the bag. Part of his mind knew that his hands would be a pulpy mess, that he risked getting grounded by the CAG if they swelled too much and he lost dexterity. He couldn't get grounded. He'd only been back on Galactica a couple days but the doc left him feeling pretty good about his flight status this afternoon. All he wanted to do was get back in the air, get back to the fight. He had catching up to do.
"I'm pregnant."
A cry of anguished rage preceded an especially vicious body punch, sending the heavy bag spinning.
"Helo?"
Karl Agathon spun on reflex still in the thrall of his pain, striking out to silence the voice that sounded like Sharon in his mind.
"Frak me!" Kara's hands came up instinctively as she dodged his punch, backing up as fast as her injured ribs allowed, to get clear of his arm's range. "Whoa, Helo! Easy."
He blinked several times, struggling to get his rage under control, now as ragged as his breathing, and inwardly swore at aggravating her injuries more. He rubbed the back of a gloved hand across his face and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. Helo took in the sounds of Galactica, reminding himself, pushing himself away from the nightmare in his mind. After another moment he opened his eyes to find Kara's own on him. The tension in his shoulders eased a bit at the look of worry on her face.
"Sorry. I...," he faltered. Unable to explain, he stuck with silence and distracted himself by removing the boxing gloves.
Starbuck said nothing, took the time to study her friend as he moved across the gym slowly.
Helo could feel her watching him. He wanted to be alone and yet couldn't stand it. The six days he'd been alone on Caprica, dodging the Cylons....he thought he'd never see another human being again. Not alive anyway. And then he got caught. And then he saw Boomer. And then his world shattered all over again.
He threw his gloves violently across the gym then slumped down on a bench. He felt rather than saw Kara sit gingerly next to him. She sat close. He could feel the warmth of her body next to his. It made him relax just a little.
"Talk to me, " she said quietly.
Helo leaned gently against her, resting his head on her shoulder, but he said nothing. He couldn't get the words around the lump in his throat.
Kara took one of his hands in hers, gently touching the bruises already formed on his knuckles. "Nice."
He looked up at that and gave a weak sort of chuckle. They sat like that for several long moments, neither feeling the need to speak. When he finally did, Helo had to clear his throat twice. "You really go back just for the arrow?"
"Yup." Her voice was low and she seemed totally absorbed in the condition of his hands.
"Frak, Starbuck. Why?" He couldn't keep the insanity he still thought it was, the risk she'd taken, out of his voice.
There hadn't been time to talk about what happened on Caprica, any of it. The second they landed it was chaos. Marines crawling all over them. Everyone freaked at seeing another Boomer. Everyone freaked at seeing him. Him torn between his rage at Sharon's betrayal and his rage at her rough treatment at the hands of the marine guards. Tigh struggling not to take his grief over Adama out on Kara's hide. The CAG indifferent to the fact that he was under arrest because he was too busy being devastated by his father's possibly still fatal gunshot wound. The look of naked relief on Apollo's face that Starbuck was alive and back on Galactica. The look under the look. The President in the frakkin' brig. And the knowledge that Boomer, the other Boomer, had tried to assassinate the Commander. He couldn't process any of it, and tied through it all were Sharon's words to him on Caprica..."It's the home of the Arrow of Apollo...It's supposed to be the only clue as to the location of Earth." He closed his eyes again, the world in his head starting to spin.
"If you believe in the Gods, then you believe in the cycle of time." Kara spoke almost absentmindedly, her eyes focused on the ground.
"What?" She was trying to make his head explode.
"That's what the President told me, when she asked me to jump home." She paused, then resumed more softly. "She said we're all playing our parts in a story that's been told over and over."
"All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again." Helo said it softly, shaking off a chill.
"The Cylon said that too."
"What Cylon?" Helo stiffened, growling out the question, unsure if she meant Boomer.
"Leoben. Roslin had him blown out an airlock."
He sat up at that and turned. "The frak?"
She smiled by way of apology but it faded quickly. "The day of the...attack...the old man jumped us to the Ragnar anchorage for weapons restock. They found this guy inside the station. Leoben. He said he was a gunrunner. He was a Cylon." She paused to meet his eyes. "He bled, Helo...he had tissue, and cells, and organs."
"How...?" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. The more she said, the more he didn't want to hear, the more terrified he became that the Sharon he fell in love with never really existed. Gods help him, he was in love with a frakkin' toaster.
"He tried to kill the Commander." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Bad choice on his part."
They shared a long look. Simple, feral, satisfying. And then it passed.
"Baltar did tests on the body. Found the proof -"
He put a hand out, interrupted her. "Wait. Baltar?"
"Yeah," she drew the word out slowly. "Saved our asses a couple times. Even got elected Vice President."
Helo nodded, almost to himself. Maybe hell was worth it if the choice had kept them all alive.
"Don't pull that shit again, Karl," she said roughly.
"Kara..." He stopped there, didn't know what else to say. "Tell me the rest."
--
