“When There Were No More Graveyards” (Challenge Fic, Prompt by brennanspeaks)
Title: "When There Were No More Graveyards"
Author: kappamaki33
Rating: PG
Characters: Dee, Boomer
Notes: Based on brennanspeaks's prompt: "Dee friendship with anyone *but* Gaeta. Bonus points if it's a woman."
Spoilers: Season 1
Disclaimer: I do not own BSG or any of the characters described herein. These works are for fan appreciation and entertainment only, and I do not benefit financially from them.
Dee waited until 0300 to go down to the corridor where everyone had hung up their photos of the dead-people were already becoming accustomed to calling it by a proper name, the Hall of Remembrance-on the slim chance that she might be alone there at that ungodsly hour. Dee remembered how her mother had taken her and her sisters to visit Grandma Viv’s grave sometimes, especially when times were tough, like when Dad lost his job and when Iris had the bad lung infection. Mom probably went there when Dee enlisted, too, Dee thought. Dee, back then called Ana, Iris, and Sophia would say a prayer with Mom and lay flowers on Grandma’s grave, and then Mom would tell them to go clean off some less well-kept graves a little ways off. Dee knew that Mom sent them away so she could talk to Grandma in private. She’d never understood why Mom needed to go to a particular place to feel like she could talk to her mother’s soul, until now.
After the night Dee had collapsed into her rack and slept for twelve hours, which was right after the initial escape and having been on her feet for six days straight, Dee hadn’t been able to sleep at all. The past couple nights, she’d passed her time by removing the names of the people on the Olympic Carrier from the computer file she and Gaeta had created from the Fleet passenger manifests. Each time she deleted a name, she wrote it on her heart.
There was no way of ever knowing if her mistake had saved the Fleet or doomed 1,345 people to death or worse at the hands of the Cylons, and the uncertainty was driving Dee mad. It was such a stupid error, something so stupid she’d never done it before. Then again, none of them had ever been under that kind of pressure before, since a situation this dire had literally never occurred in recorded history.
Dee was adrift, and she knew it. She needed something solid to cling to. The Cylons had destroyed any hope of lasting stability, not only obliterating the possibility of reconciling with her family someday but even robbing her of the simple consolation of being able to lay her parents’ bones to rest in good, firm earth. Dee would have to settle for Galactica’s sturdy decks beneath her feet and a photo pinned to a wall.
Dee’s face fell when she saw Boomer curled up on the floor in the Hall of Remembrance just a few feet from where Dee had placed the photo of her family. Dee’s footfalls startled Boomer out of sleep. She sat up and quickly rubbed drying tears off her cheeks. “Sorry. I came down here and...must’ve drifted off.”
Dee was puzzled. Boomer was the last person she expected to meet down here, since Boomer had lost her whole family in the disaster on Triton several years ago. Galactica was Sharon’s family, more literally than it had been even for Dee, so Sharon really shouldn’t have had anyone new to mourn.
Then Dee took a better look at the wall above where Boomer had been lying. Helo grinned out from a photo, Triad cards in hand and a lollipop stick poking out of his mouth like a super-thin cigarette.
“I’ll get out of your way,” Sharon mumbled as she started to pick herself up off the floor.
“No, you’re not in the way,” Dee said softly, sitting down beside Boomer. Boomer looked surprised, but she settled back in and drew her knees up to her chin.
They sat in silence for a long while before Boomer finally spoke up. “I could’ve made him get on that frakking Raptor, you know.”
Dee sighed. “No you couldn’t. Helo was being Helo: brave and noble and a little bit foolish. He wasn’t going to change his mind if he thought he was doing what was best for everybody.”
“No, I could’ve changed his mind. Everybody knew how Helo felt about me. I could’ve convinced him. That Dr. Baltar better turn out to be frakking worth it,” Boomer said in something between a sigh and a sob.
Dee put her hand on Boomer’s back. “It’s probably best if you don’t think about it like that, Sharon. Nobody could replace Helo. We all know that. Just know that you’ve done what Helo would’ve wanted and trust that it’ll turn out all right in the end.”
Tears were flowing freely down Sharon’s cheeks now. “I didn’t know you believed in the gods, Dee.”
“That has nothing to do with the gods,” Dee answered. “We need to believe that whatever happens will turn out all right because we have to believe that. We have no other choice. Otherwise we’re never going to make it.” Dee laid her head on Sharon’s shoulder and closed her eyes; she finally felt ready to drift off to sleep. “Helo would want us to make it.”
That’s what her mother would want, too, Dee realized.
Author: kappamaki33
Rating: PG
Characters: Dee, Boomer
Notes: Based on brennanspeaks's prompt: "Dee friendship with anyone *but* Gaeta. Bonus points if it's a woman."
Spoilers: Season 1
Disclaimer: I do not own BSG or any of the characters described herein. These works are for fan appreciation and entertainment only, and I do not benefit financially from them.
Dee waited until 0300 to go down to the corridor where everyone had hung up their photos of the dead-people were already becoming accustomed to calling it by a proper name, the Hall of Remembrance-on the slim chance that she might be alone there at that ungodsly hour. Dee remembered how her mother had taken her and her sisters to visit Grandma Viv’s grave sometimes, especially when times were tough, like when Dad lost his job and when Iris had the bad lung infection. Mom probably went there when Dee enlisted, too, Dee thought. Dee, back then called Ana, Iris, and Sophia would say a prayer with Mom and lay flowers on Grandma’s grave, and then Mom would tell them to go clean off some less well-kept graves a little ways off. Dee knew that Mom sent them away so she could talk to Grandma in private. She’d never understood why Mom needed to go to a particular place to feel like she could talk to her mother’s soul, until now.
After the night Dee had collapsed into her rack and slept for twelve hours, which was right after the initial escape and having been on her feet for six days straight, Dee hadn’t been able to sleep at all. The past couple nights, she’d passed her time by removing the names of the people on the Olympic Carrier from the computer file she and Gaeta had created from the Fleet passenger manifests. Each time she deleted a name, she wrote it on her heart.
There was no way of ever knowing if her mistake had saved the Fleet or doomed 1,345 people to death or worse at the hands of the Cylons, and the uncertainty was driving Dee mad. It was such a stupid error, something so stupid she’d never done it before. Then again, none of them had ever been under that kind of pressure before, since a situation this dire had literally never occurred in recorded history.
Dee was adrift, and she knew it. She needed something solid to cling to. The Cylons had destroyed any hope of lasting stability, not only obliterating the possibility of reconciling with her family someday but even robbing her of the simple consolation of being able to lay her parents’ bones to rest in good, firm earth. Dee would have to settle for Galactica’s sturdy decks beneath her feet and a photo pinned to a wall.
Dee’s face fell when she saw Boomer curled up on the floor in the Hall of Remembrance just a few feet from where Dee had placed the photo of her family. Dee’s footfalls startled Boomer out of sleep. She sat up and quickly rubbed drying tears off her cheeks. “Sorry. I came down here and...must’ve drifted off.”
Dee was puzzled. Boomer was the last person she expected to meet down here, since Boomer had lost her whole family in the disaster on Triton several years ago. Galactica was Sharon’s family, more literally than it had been even for Dee, so Sharon really shouldn’t have had anyone new to mourn.
Then Dee took a better look at the wall above where Boomer had been lying. Helo grinned out from a photo, Triad cards in hand and a lollipop stick poking out of his mouth like a super-thin cigarette.
“I’ll get out of your way,” Sharon mumbled as she started to pick herself up off the floor.
“No, you’re not in the way,” Dee said softly, sitting down beside Boomer. Boomer looked surprised, but she settled back in and drew her knees up to her chin.
They sat in silence for a long while before Boomer finally spoke up. “I could’ve made him get on that frakking Raptor, you know.”
Dee sighed. “No you couldn’t. Helo was being Helo: brave and noble and a little bit foolish. He wasn’t going to change his mind if he thought he was doing what was best for everybody.”
“No, I could’ve changed his mind. Everybody knew how Helo felt about me. I could’ve convinced him. That Dr. Baltar better turn out to be frakking worth it,” Boomer said in something between a sigh and a sob.
Dee put her hand on Boomer’s back. “It’s probably best if you don’t think about it like that, Sharon. Nobody could replace Helo. We all know that. Just know that you’ve done what Helo would’ve wanted and trust that it’ll turn out all right in the end.”
Tears were flowing freely down Sharon’s cheeks now. “I didn’t know you believed in the gods, Dee.”
“That has nothing to do with the gods,” Dee answered. “We need to believe that whatever happens will turn out all right because we have to believe that. We have no other choice. Otherwise we’re never going to make it.” Dee laid her head on Sharon’s shoulder and closed her eyes; she finally felt ready to drift off to sleep. “Helo would want us to make it.”
That’s what her mother would want, too, Dee realized.