Drabble - for Maddie (II)
Another one for sunshine_queen.
(not written on napkins this time. Just straight on LJ.)
This one's post-finale.
It was rough at first.
Lee had stayed in that field since the day Kara disappeared, alternating between lying on the grass staring at the sky and staring at the ground and wandering around the area, looking for all the world as if he'd lost something.
Finally, after almost three months of this, Karl grabbed him by the arm and gently led him towards the river....and threw him in.
As pissed off as he had been about it, Lee knew that he really did need to be snapped out of it. He set up a tent, not too far from the Agathons, helping out in the small settlement wherever he could. He kept himself busy, doing his best not to have too much time to think, to not remember just how much of his life was gone. Mostly, it worked.
One day, he was walking along the river bank when he saw her. One of the Sixes, but not Baltar's Caprica. She was blond, bright, just like the rest. He watched her as she stood up to her waist in the water, her hands seemingly skimming the top of it as it bubbled by. Her face held a fascination that intrigued him.
Eventually, she caught sight of him, raising her eyes to where he stood on the riverbank. Their eyes met and then he knew that she was...familiar. All the Sixes looked the same, but...he knew this one, there was a recognition in him that he wasn't sure how to feel about. They stayed like that for a minute before he turned around and walked away.
His feet led him back the next day, but there was nothing but the water. He pulled off his shoes and rolled up his pants, carefully placing his feet in the cool water. It made him calm.
By the fifth day, he'd waded in as far as his waist, standing against the pull of the current.
"Can you feel it?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice beside him. But there she was, the same Six as before. Recognized her. She was looking at him intently, waiting for him to answer.
"Feel what?" he asked.
She stared at him curiously, seeming to come to a decision. "Did you ever make it on-board the baseship?"
"I was at the hub," he told her, and watched as that sunk in for her. He was responsible for loss of their way of life, he realized then. In a way, he'd had a hand in bringing about the cylons' slow extinction. He wasn't sure how to feel about that just yet.
"We have streams there," she was explaining, "Data streams that we could connect and read and learn from."
She moved her hands in and out of the water around them, her fingers seeming want to follow the flow. "It's not the same," she concluded. "But there's something...else here."
Lee spread his hands over the stream, closing his eyes for a beat and focusing on the pull of the stream. "It's alive," he said quietly.
"But...it's not...saying anything," she responded, a hint of confusion and wonder in her voice.
Lee's eyes were still closed. "It's because you're not really listening."
"Are you?" she asked him.
"No," he answered. "I never really have, I suppose."
"Why?"
He opened his eyes and got caught in her stare again. "I don't know."
***
Her name was Sonja, he eventually remembered. She was the Quorum representative aboard Colonial One. She liked to observe, taking in things around her and making calculated answers.
He would sit by the river most evenings, doing his best to try to listen to it, instead of everything that was running through his own mind. Most days, she would silently sit with him. He'd always let her.
Eventually, he dragged his eyes towards the horizon, towards the mountains that he'd said he'd wanted to explore. He told Kara that he would. It was about time that kept his word on it.
He said goodbye to the Agathons and Doc Cottle had roughly handed him an emergency kit ("Kept you alive this long, kid. Don't screw it up."). He then lobbed his travel pack over his shoulder and walked off towards those mountains.
A click away from the camp, he stopped, turning to see her standing a few feet behind him, blonde hair hidden beneath a handkerchief, her own pack slung over her shoulder. He stared at her for a moment before slowly raising his hand towards her. She walked forward, coming to stand directly in front of him. She placed her hand carefully in his, and he wrapped his fingers around hers, silently moving both of them forward.
He didn't let go until he had to.
END.
(not written on napkins this time. Just straight on LJ.)
This one's post-finale.
It was rough at first.
Lee had stayed in that field since the day Kara disappeared, alternating between lying on the grass staring at the sky and staring at the ground and wandering around the area, looking for all the world as if he'd lost something.
Finally, after almost three months of this, Karl grabbed him by the arm and gently led him towards the river....and threw him in.
As pissed off as he had been about it, Lee knew that he really did need to be snapped out of it. He set up a tent, not too far from the Agathons, helping out in the small settlement wherever he could. He kept himself busy, doing his best not to have too much time to think, to not remember just how much of his life was gone. Mostly, it worked.
One day, he was walking along the river bank when he saw her. One of the Sixes, but not Baltar's Caprica. She was blond, bright, just like the rest. He watched her as she stood up to her waist in the water, her hands seemingly skimming the top of it as it bubbled by. Her face held a fascination that intrigued him.
Eventually, she caught sight of him, raising her eyes to where he stood on the riverbank. Their eyes met and then he knew that she was...familiar. All the Sixes looked the same, but...he knew this one, there was a recognition in him that he wasn't sure how to feel about. They stayed like that for a minute before he turned around and walked away.
His feet led him back the next day, but there was nothing but the water. He pulled off his shoes and rolled up his pants, carefully placing his feet in the cool water. It made him calm.
By the fifth day, he'd waded in as far as his waist, standing against the pull of the current.
"Can you feel it?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice beside him. But there she was, the same Six as before. Recognized her. She was looking at him intently, waiting for him to answer.
"Feel what?" he asked.
She stared at him curiously, seeming to come to a decision. "Did you ever make it on-board the baseship?"
"I was at the hub," he told her, and watched as that sunk in for her. He was responsible for loss of their way of life, he realized then. In a way, he'd had a hand in bringing about the cylons' slow extinction. He wasn't sure how to feel about that just yet.
"We have streams there," she was explaining, "Data streams that we could connect and read and learn from."
She moved her hands in and out of the water around them, her fingers seeming want to follow the flow. "It's not the same," she concluded. "But there's something...else here."
Lee spread his hands over the stream, closing his eyes for a beat and focusing on the pull of the stream. "It's alive," he said quietly.
"But...it's not...saying anything," she responded, a hint of confusion and wonder in her voice.
Lee's eyes were still closed. "It's because you're not really listening."
"Are you?" she asked him.
"No," he answered. "I never really have, I suppose."
"Why?"
He opened his eyes and got caught in her stare again. "I don't know."
***
Her name was Sonja, he eventually remembered. She was the Quorum representative aboard Colonial One. She liked to observe, taking in things around her and making calculated answers.
He would sit by the river most evenings, doing his best to try to listen to it, instead of everything that was running through his own mind. Most days, she would silently sit with him. He'd always let her.
Eventually, he dragged his eyes towards the horizon, towards the mountains that he'd said he'd wanted to explore. He told Kara that he would. It was about time that kept his word on it.
He said goodbye to the Agathons and Doc Cottle had roughly handed him an emergency kit ("Kept you alive this long, kid. Don't screw it up."). He then lobbed his travel pack over his shoulder and walked off towards those mountains.
A click away from the camp, he stopped, turning to see her standing a few feet behind him, blonde hair hidden beneath a handkerchief, her own pack slung over her shoulder. He stared at her for a moment before slowly raising his hand towards her. She walked forward, coming to stand directly in front of him. She placed her hand carefully in his, and he wrapped his fingers around hers, silently moving both of them forward.
He didn't let go until he had to.
END.