[Fic] Two Below Zero (1/2)
Title: Two Below Zero
Fandom(s): Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 8,000+
Artist(s): lastingdreams8 & susanmarier
Characters/Pairings(if any): Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace and Lt. Karl “Helo” Agathon, other assorted Galactica crew supporting. (Boomer/Chief implied, one-sided Helo/Boomer, and pre-story Kara/Zak and Kara/Karl)
Warnings/Spoilers: Mild spoilers for the non-canon Dynamite Comic Origins: Starbuck and Helo. No real show spoilers to speak of-set pre-series.
Summary: When Starbuck joins the crew of Galactica following the death of her fiancé, Helo sees it as his responsibility to help her get through this okay, whether she thinks she needs his help or not. But when their recon mission on Aquaria goes horribly wrong, they find themselves stranded on the ice and running out of time, and Helo is forced to face some unresolved grief of his own.
Author’s Notes: Written for the 2012 bromancestory Multi-Fandom Big Bang, which was a really awesome idea! :) Thank you thank you thank you a million times over to my two lovely betas, newnumbertwo and wicked_sassy (who’s responsible for, among other things, Mr. Agathon, and is literally a "Dee" to my "Sam." BSG name friends ftw!). And thanks for all of my wonderful friends at bsg_checkin for their support and encouragement and not throwing stuff at me when I said for the billionth time “no, really, guys, I’m totally finishing my bromance today!”
Check out the AWESOME cover art from susanmarier HERE
And this AMAZING songmix/graphic from lastingdreams8 HERE
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
---L,
GETTIN’ MARRIED BITCH -STOP- YOU’RE MY BRIDESMAN WON’T ACCEPT NO -STOP- YOUR CMDR IS ZAK’S DAD DON’T TELL YET -STOP- MISS YOU ALL MY LOVE -STOP-
---A
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
---A,
CONGRATULATIONS -STOP- TELL ME WHEN AND I’M THERE -STOP- GET READY FOR BEST TOAST EVER WILL EMBARRASS YOU SO MUCH -STOP- CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU -STOP-
---L
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
---L,
TOO LATE TO CHANGE MY MIND? -STOP-
---A
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
---A,
ABOUT ME OR ZAK? -STOP-
---L
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
ABOUT YOU -STOP- FRAKKER -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
DEFINITELY TOO LATE -STOP- ALREADY PLANNING VERY SLOPPY HEN PARTY -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
STRIPPERS? -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
OBVIOUSLY -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
BEST FRIEND EVER -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
LOVE YOU TOO -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
This wasn’t how Helo had imagined his Raptor ride to Caprica with Commander Adama would be. They should have been sharing stories about the happy couple, the Commander prying for whatever good dirt Helo had on the bride (and he had a lot of it). He’d been expecting laughter, and holding out hope for some high-priced liquor.
But this ride was quiet and somber. The Old Man ashen. Children buried their parents, that was a natural order to the world that Karl had learned when his mother died a few years back, but parents did not bury their children. Shouldn’t have to, in a world of mercy.
Yet, here they were.
“Did you ever meet Zak, Lieutenant?” Adama asked, breaking the silence.
“I did, Sir,” Helo replied. He’d taken a week’s leave in Delphi last year, and found Zak Adama easy to like, and not just for his calming influence on Starbuck. “He was a good man.”
“He was practically still a boy,” the Old Man said.
They were silent the rest of the ride.
***
Helo didn’t go to the funeral itself. Starbuck needed someone to stay at her apartment, to open the door for any early arrivals for the reception.
He’d been looking forward to polishing the brass buttons on her finest dress uniform, sneaking her a shot of top-shelf Picon Rum as the first notes of the wedding march began to play, stringing cans to the bumper of her truck with Zak’s brother, and giving the dirty, dirty toast he’d had just a few jokes left to polish.
But instead, he opened the door.
***
After the final guest left, Kara sat down on her bed, her gaze distant, unfocused. He put his arms around her, and she cried against his chest. Anyone who called Starbuck emotionless was wrong-she was, in fact, the most passionate person he’d ever met, a soul burning beneath the surface, but he’d never seen her like this, so lost.
She cried herself to sleep in his arms, uniform and all, brass buttons dull. He drifted in and out, and her sleep was restless, too. In the grey hours of dawn, she whispered It was my fault, but he didn’t question or judge, just let her know he was there by drawing her closer, and she didn’t supply any more.
In the morning, he made breakfast. Threw away the trash from the day before, sorted the leftover casseroles (really? They were old enough to have friends who made casseroles?) into “keep” and “oops, should have refrigerated,” and made a list of who had sent flowers.
“What do I do now?” she asked, wandering into the kitchen. The uniform was gone, in its place panties and a man’s shirt. He was well-acquainted with this look-but even though Zak’s shirt was much tighter on her than any of Helo’s had ever been, she looked somehow smaller.
“I don’t know,” he replied, honestly. Wasn’t his father still not completely all right? Still a topic of concerned conversation when he called his older sisters back on Aquaria?
“I’m turning in my resignation to the Academy,” she said. “I can’t…I can’t teach anymore.”
“Will you still fly?” he asked.
She sat down at the counter and put her head in her hands.
***
Helo was deep in thought, his eyes on his cards. He had the table right where he wanted them.
“Check his eyebrows. He’s bluffing.”
Helo looked up to see her standing in the doorway of the pilots’ rec room. Leaning casually against the frame, arms crossed like she owned the whole godsdamn ship. His mouth dropped open, lollipop falling out of it.
“Starbuck?”
Game forgotten, he threw his cards down on the table and ran to her. He scooped her into a hug so enthusiastic her feet came off the ground.
“Good to see you, too, Helo.”
“What are you doing on Galactica?” he asked as he set her back to the ground.
“Commander offered me spot in the wing.”
“How are-”
“I’m fine,” she said, cutting him off.
“Kara-” he started.
“Karl.” She shot him a look and pulled away. “Introduce me to your friends!”
“Right,” he said, leading her over to the table. “Everyone, this is Lieutenant Thrace. Kara. She and I have been friends since the Academy. Kara, this is Dwight, Tucker, and Sharon, my raptor jock.”
Boomer stood, offering an eager hand. “Starbuck, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” Starbuck replied.
Boomer glanced at Helo with a smile, then back to Starbuck. “Oh, I’m sure-”
“Callsign Boomer? Bane of landing decks everywhere, right?” Boomer scowled at Helo, and, frak, he was going to pay for that. But Starbuck didn’t notice, cocking her head at Boomer. “Where have we met?”
“You taught at the Academy while I was there,” Boomer offered.
Starbuck sat down in one of the chairs and rocked back in it, pondering this. She snapped her fingers. “Yes! You found me that night in the nuggets’ head praying to the porcelain gods.” Boomer shrugged in modest acknowledgement.
“Enough alcohol to make you throw up?” Karl asked. “Must have been a good night.”
“Gods, I wish. Frakkin’ Academy oysters. Anyway, Karl, you got yourself a sweetheart. Held my hair back and everything!” She grinned. “So, you frakked him yet, Boomer?”
Helo’s head snapped up, but Boomer was cool, taking a sip of her drink. “Have you?”
“Oh, don’t try to out-embarrass Starbuck. You’ll lose every time,” Helo warned.
“You’ve got spark,” Starbuck said to Boomer, and maybe they were going to get along after all. She then turned to Helo. “And of course I have. But I wasn’t enough woman.” Her finger, running lightly down his jaw. Her voice, breathy: “He has such a big, massive-”
“Starbuck!” Helo chided, pushing at her hand.
“Karl Cyrus Agathon!” she said, eyes wide, clutching at imaginary pearls. “I was going to say heart, you dirty boy.”
“Oh, she is going to be fun to have around,” Duck said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Helo replied.
Starbuck pounded her hands on the table. “Okay, boys and girl. I’m going to go get something to drink and then deal me in.”
***
Three weeks into Starbuck’s posting, and everything about the well-ordered, regimented, clean life Helo had established for himself on Galactica was in a bit of an upheaval. He loved Starbuck with all her manic tendencies, but, truth be told, she’d been going pretty hard, even for her.
It was only by the grace of the gods-sometimes Helo wondered if she was favored by Dionysus-that Starbuck wasn’t in the brig tonight, so they were celebrating. The ambrosia maybe wasn’t the best idea.
He was hoping, though, to keep her quiet, isolated, away. Triton was always safe topic. Even if the Commander’d hated her, they’d had friends at all levels and a lot of good times. Galactica could be like that for her if she wanted it, Helo knew, and it seemed like she was starting to get that, waving her hands and even smiling as she recounted the time they had refilled the CAG’s shampoo allotment with lubricant. She was smiling. Drunk, but smiling, which he considered a job well done.
“Can’t believe that was three years ago,” he said, laughing.
She set down her glass, suddenly thoughtful. “No, it seems like a long time. I was on land for a long time. A long time.” She ran her hands through her hair, blinked for a moment to regain her train of thought. “It’s amazing how fast the space bleeds right out of you! It’s different sharing quarters again. Not bad, though.”
“It’s weirdly comforting,” he said. “At this point, I think I’d go crazy in a single.”
“Don’t our XO prove that’s the truth,” Starbuck said.
“Starbuck-” he warned.
“What?” she asked. “Say it.”
“You know what, let’s not worry about that tonight. How about that dog. Remember the Commander’s wife’s dog?”
“That’s not what you want to say.” A wide, taunting grin, tongue between her teeth. “Come on, Helo. I dare you.”
He sighed. He hadn’t planned on going there, not tonight, but she did need to hear it. “You gotta stop picking fights with Colonel Tigh,” he said.
“Maybe when that frakker stops pissing me off,” she replied. “Maybe I will think about it!”
“Kara, this isn’t like Triton, where we didn’t give a frak what the Commander thought. And you’re not a hotshot instructor at the Academy anymore, either.”
“No,” she said, standing up, waving her glass for emphasis. “I’m not teaching at the Academy anymore. Do you know why, Helo?! Do you remember?”
He was going to have to backpedal hard. “I know it’s been-”
“But you know what? Right. Fine. I’m not a teacher anymore. That means I don’t have lesson plans or department meetings or appointments! My off-time is mine!” She cocked her head across the rec room, and Helo followed her gaze to a table of pilots playing strip triad. Which one, only the gods knew. Maybe all of them. “And no frakking strict rules about who I can’t fraternize with!”
Dragon turned around, and she winked. He started to stand up, to join their table, but Helo guided her down, waving Dragon off. “Some people forget, but we got frat regs here, too,” he said.
“It’s not like I cared about them, anyway,” she said, shrugging it off. “Zak can attest to that!”
“Maybe you’ve had enough for tonight,” he said, trying to guide the glass from her hand. “But you know if you ever just need to talk about him…”
But she snatched the glass from him, ambrosia spilling everywhere in the process. She looked down at it, then back up at him, her eyes blazing. “You used to be my wingman, you know!” she shouted. She drank the last of what remained in the glass defiantly.
“Starbuck-” he started, but she ignored him, stomping over to Dragon’s table. She bent to his ear, her mouth so close Karl was pretty sure she was just tonguing it. Dragon stood up, his hand on her waist.
“Kara!” he tried again, and this time she did look back. “This isn’t how you’re supposed to grieve.”
“Frak you,” she said, and then she and Dragon were gone.
Helo leaned back, head in his hands. Just another night in the bar with Starbuck.
***
Helo and Boomer reached the Commander’s door just as Starbuck approached from the other direction. She was clearly still hungover, a slight wobble to her step, hair mussed, eyes trying desperately not to be bleary.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he replied.
She pressed her hand to her temple. “I think I owe you…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Helo replied. Wasn’t the first time she’d told him to frak off. Wouldn’t be the last. She lightly, affectionately punched his shoulder. She looked down at the summons in his hand.
“You, too?” she asked.
“Us, too,” Boomer replied.
“That’s a surprise,” Starbuck said. “Thought I was getting in trouble.”
The Marine opened the door. They saluted Commander Adama, and he saluted back. “Come in,” he said. He had land surveys spread out across his desk. The navigator in Helo took interest in them immediately, and he leaned over Kara’s shoulder for a closer look. “Do you recognize it?” the Commander asked.
He could tell neither of the women knew what they were looking at. Hells, most ECOs in the Fleet wouldn’t know what they were looking at, the land survey largely featureless, almost entirely blanketed with white.
But Karl knew it. Not because of any inherent skill, but because of the sinking feeling in his stomach. “It’s Aquaria,” he said, his voice sounding flat in his ears. “The Sadalmelik Glacier.” Kara’s head snapped up, and she met his eyes in recognition, soft.
His mother had died on the Sadalmelik.
“What do you see here?” the Commander asked, indicating to a dark spot on the map.
Helo picked up a magnifying glass and bent over to examine it. For a terrible moment, he thought that Adama was asking him to identify the wreckage of the Earnest. But as he peered at the map, he relaxed. He stood. “It appears to be a building, Sir. Some sort of outpost.”
“That’s what the Aquarian Geological Institute thinks, as well,” the Commander replied. “Only they’ve authorized no such building. They don’t have the vehicle capability to investigate it themselves, so they’ve requested that the Fleet send a Raptor team to gather intelligence on who built the building and what their purpose is.”
“Just a flyover?” Boomer asked. “Or will we be expected to land?”
“You’ll land and investigate, with Lieutenant Thrace for tactical support,” Adama said. He put the file down, glanced up at Helo. “The need for investigation is why I picked your Raptor in particular. I wanted someone who’s used to the local climate, and you’re the only Aquarian currently serving under my command.” That wasn’t surprising-not that his people were pacifists or anti-Fleet to any degree, but with literally fewer than one Aquarian per every million Colonials, it was rare to find them in large numbers anywhere outside of the Helios Delta system. “But I’ve read your file, Lieutenant Agathon, and if you’d rather not-”
“It won’t be a problem, Sir,” Karl replied.
“Very good,” Commander Adama said. “You’ll leave tomorrow at oh-five-forty. Junior Lieutenant Valerii, please report to Chief Tyrol with orders to outfit your Raptor for extreme cold conditions. You two are dismissed. Lieutenant Thrace, a word.”
Guess she was getting in trouble after all.
“Pre-mission logistical meeting at nineteen hundred hours, Lieutenant Agathon?” she asked.
Bullshit. She just wanted a drink.
“Affirmative, Lieutenant Thrace,” Helo responded. “We’ll meet you.” He’d keep her on something softer than ambrosia tonight.
He and Boomer saluted the Commander, and they left.
“I could speak to the Chief for you,” Karl offered after the hatch closed.
“I’ve got it,” Boomer replied. “See you in the rec room at nineteen.”
***
“He calls me Starbuck when it’s just us,” she said absently as she played with the label on her bottle, and Helo wasn’t sure if it was a thought he was meant to hear.
“But you’re not in trouble, then?” he asked, and she looked up.
“Nah,” she replied. “Just a few other details about the mission, wanted to make sure I knew what he meant by tactical support.”
Helo didn’t have any doubts. Starbuck was a damn good shot. “He thinks it’s gonna come to that?”
“Never know what we might find out there,” she said, a non-committal reply if he’d ever heard one. “How about you? You sure you want to go, Helo?”
“It’s my homeworld,” he replied, downing a gulp of his own beer. “It makes sense that I go show you girls how to stay warm.” And gods knew Starbuck needed to go on this mission, needed to get off the ship. Maybe when they were done with the mission they could swing over to Heim, distract Dad from the lab work he’d buried himself in. He’d always liked Kara: “that firecracker of yours.” It might do them both good.
“Karl-”
“I’m fine, Kara,” he said-and she’d said the exact same thing to him, in the exact same tone, enough times that she should respect his request to back off. But he wasn’t sure she actually would until Boomer joined them, easy smile on her face, all but bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Starbuck smiled, took a sip. “Someone just got laid,” she quipped.
Helo knew for a fact who it’d be, and for a dark moment he almost wished they could go back to talking about his comfort level with the Sadalmelik. He took a deep drink, but over the glass he could see that Boomer’s expression had changed from easy to nervous.
“Just excited for the mission,” Boomer said quickly, eyes surveying the room as if to see if anyone had heard. “This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this. Special orders and all.”
“Frak,” Starbuck said. “Relax, I was just kidding. Lords, you two are going to be a blast tomorrow.”
PART TWO
Fandom(s): Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 8,000+
Artist(s): lastingdreams8 & susanmarier
Characters/Pairings(if any): Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace and Lt. Karl “Helo” Agathon, other assorted Galactica crew supporting. (Boomer/Chief implied, one-sided Helo/Boomer, and pre-story Kara/Zak and Kara/Karl)
Warnings/Spoilers: Mild spoilers for the non-canon Dynamite Comic Origins: Starbuck and Helo. No real show spoilers to speak of-set pre-series.
Summary: When Starbuck joins the crew of Galactica following the death of her fiancé, Helo sees it as his responsibility to help her get through this okay, whether she thinks she needs his help or not. But when their recon mission on Aquaria goes horribly wrong, they find themselves stranded on the ice and running out of time, and Helo is forced to face some unresolved grief of his own.
Author’s Notes: Written for the 2012 bromancestory Multi-Fandom Big Bang, which was a really awesome idea! :) Thank you thank you thank you a million times over to my two lovely betas, newnumbertwo and wicked_sassy (who’s responsible for, among other things, Mr. Agathon, and is literally a "Dee" to my "Sam." BSG name friends ftw!). And thanks for all of my wonderful friends at bsg_checkin for their support and encouragement and not throwing stuff at me when I said for the billionth time “no, really, guys, I’m totally finishing my bromance today!”
Check out the AWESOME cover art from susanmarier HERE
And this AMAZING songmix/graphic from lastingdreams8 HERE
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
---L,
GETTIN’ MARRIED BITCH -STOP- YOU’RE MY BRIDESMAN WON’T ACCEPT NO -STOP- YOUR CMDR IS ZAK’S DAD DON’T TELL YET -STOP- MISS YOU ALL MY LOVE -STOP-
---A
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
---A,
CONGRATULATIONS -STOP- TELL ME WHEN AND I’M THERE -STOP- GET READY FOR BEST TOAST EVER WILL EMBARRASS YOU SO MUCH -STOP- CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU -STOP-
---L
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
---L,
TOO LATE TO CHANGE MY MIND? -STOP-
---A
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
---A,
ABOUT ME OR ZAK? -STOP-
---L
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
ABOUT YOU -STOP- FRAKKER -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
DEFINITELY TOO LATE -STOP- ALREADY PLANNING VERY SLOPPY HEN PARTY -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
STRIPPERS? -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
OBVIOUSLY -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
FRM: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
BEST FRIEND EVER -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
BEGIN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:
TO: LT. KARA THRACE, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, FLEET ACADEMY-CAPRICA
FRM: LT. KARL AGATHON, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
LOVE YOU TOO -STOP-
END PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE
***
This wasn’t how Helo had imagined his Raptor ride to Caprica with Commander Adama would be. They should have been sharing stories about the happy couple, the Commander prying for whatever good dirt Helo had on the bride (and he had a lot of it). He’d been expecting laughter, and holding out hope for some high-priced liquor.
But this ride was quiet and somber. The Old Man ashen. Children buried their parents, that was a natural order to the world that Karl had learned when his mother died a few years back, but parents did not bury their children. Shouldn’t have to, in a world of mercy.
Yet, here they were.
“Did you ever meet Zak, Lieutenant?” Adama asked, breaking the silence.
“I did, Sir,” Helo replied. He’d taken a week’s leave in Delphi last year, and found Zak Adama easy to like, and not just for his calming influence on Starbuck. “He was a good man.”
“He was practically still a boy,” the Old Man said.
They were silent the rest of the ride.
***
Helo didn’t go to the funeral itself. Starbuck needed someone to stay at her apartment, to open the door for any early arrivals for the reception.
He’d been looking forward to polishing the brass buttons on her finest dress uniform, sneaking her a shot of top-shelf Picon Rum as the first notes of the wedding march began to play, stringing cans to the bumper of her truck with Zak’s brother, and giving the dirty, dirty toast he’d had just a few jokes left to polish.
But instead, he opened the door.
***
After the final guest left, Kara sat down on her bed, her gaze distant, unfocused. He put his arms around her, and she cried against his chest. Anyone who called Starbuck emotionless was wrong-she was, in fact, the most passionate person he’d ever met, a soul burning beneath the surface, but he’d never seen her like this, so lost.
She cried herself to sleep in his arms, uniform and all, brass buttons dull. He drifted in and out, and her sleep was restless, too. In the grey hours of dawn, she whispered It was my fault, but he didn’t question or judge, just let her know he was there by drawing her closer, and she didn’t supply any more.
In the morning, he made breakfast. Threw away the trash from the day before, sorted the leftover casseroles (really? They were old enough to have friends who made casseroles?) into “keep” and “oops, should have refrigerated,” and made a list of who had sent flowers.
“What do I do now?” she asked, wandering into the kitchen. The uniform was gone, in its place panties and a man’s shirt. He was well-acquainted with this look-but even though Zak’s shirt was much tighter on her than any of Helo’s had ever been, she looked somehow smaller.
“I don’t know,” he replied, honestly. Wasn’t his father still not completely all right? Still a topic of concerned conversation when he called his older sisters back on Aquaria?
“I’m turning in my resignation to the Academy,” she said. “I can’t…I can’t teach anymore.”
“Will you still fly?” he asked.
She sat down at the counter and put her head in her hands.
***
Helo was deep in thought, his eyes on his cards. He had the table right where he wanted them.
“Check his eyebrows. He’s bluffing.”
Helo looked up to see her standing in the doorway of the pilots’ rec room. Leaning casually against the frame, arms crossed like she owned the whole godsdamn ship. His mouth dropped open, lollipop falling out of it.
“Starbuck?”
Game forgotten, he threw his cards down on the table and ran to her. He scooped her into a hug so enthusiastic her feet came off the ground.
“Good to see you, too, Helo.”
“What are you doing on Galactica?” he asked as he set her back to the ground.
“Commander offered me spot in the wing.”
“How are-”
“I’m fine,” she said, cutting him off.
“Kara-” he started.
“Karl.” She shot him a look and pulled away. “Introduce me to your friends!”
“Right,” he said, leading her over to the table. “Everyone, this is Lieutenant Thrace. Kara. She and I have been friends since the Academy. Kara, this is Dwight, Tucker, and Sharon, my raptor jock.”
Boomer stood, offering an eager hand. “Starbuck, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” Starbuck replied.
Boomer glanced at Helo with a smile, then back to Starbuck. “Oh, I’m sure-”
“Callsign Boomer? Bane of landing decks everywhere, right?” Boomer scowled at Helo, and, frak, he was going to pay for that. But Starbuck didn’t notice, cocking her head at Boomer. “Where have we met?”
“You taught at the Academy while I was there,” Boomer offered.
Starbuck sat down in one of the chairs and rocked back in it, pondering this. She snapped her fingers. “Yes! You found me that night in the nuggets’ head praying to the porcelain gods.” Boomer shrugged in modest acknowledgement.
“Enough alcohol to make you throw up?” Karl asked. “Must have been a good night.”
“Gods, I wish. Frakkin’ Academy oysters. Anyway, Karl, you got yourself a sweetheart. Held my hair back and everything!” She grinned. “So, you frakked him yet, Boomer?”
Helo’s head snapped up, but Boomer was cool, taking a sip of her drink. “Have you?”
“Oh, don’t try to out-embarrass Starbuck. You’ll lose every time,” Helo warned.
“You’ve got spark,” Starbuck said to Boomer, and maybe they were going to get along after all. She then turned to Helo. “And of course I have. But I wasn’t enough woman.” Her finger, running lightly down his jaw. Her voice, breathy: “He has such a big, massive-”
“Starbuck!” Helo chided, pushing at her hand.
“Karl Cyrus Agathon!” she said, eyes wide, clutching at imaginary pearls. “I was going to say heart, you dirty boy.”
“Oh, she is going to be fun to have around,” Duck said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Helo replied.
Starbuck pounded her hands on the table. “Okay, boys and girl. I’m going to go get something to drink and then deal me in.”
***
Three weeks into Starbuck’s posting, and everything about the well-ordered, regimented, clean life Helo had established for himself on Galactica was in a bit of an upheaval. He loved Starbuck with all her manic tendencies, but, truth be told, she’d been going pretty hard, even for her.
It was only by the grace of the gods-sometimes Helo wondered if she was favored by Dionysus-that Starbuck wasn’t in the brig tonight, so they were celebrating. The ambrosia maybe wasn’t the best idea.
He was hoping, though, to keep her quiet, isolated, away. Triton was always safe topic. Even if the Commander’d hated her, they’d had friends at all levels and a lot of good times. Galactica could be like that for her if she wanted it, Helo knew, and it seemed like she was starting to get that, waving her hands and even smiling as she recounted the time they had refilled the CAG’s shampoo allotment with lubricant. She was smiling. Drunk, but smiling, which he considered a job well done.
“Can’t believe that was three years ago,” he said, laughing.
She set down her glass, suddenly thoughtful. “No, it seems like a long time. I was on land for a long time. A long time.” She ran her hands through her hair, blinked for a moment to regain her train of thought. “It’s amazing how fast the space bleeds right out of you! It’s different sharing quarters again. Not bad, though.”
“It’s weirdly comforting,” he said. “At this point, I think I’d go crazy in a single.”
“Don’t our XO prove that’s the truth,” Starbuck said.
“Starbuck-” he warned.
“What?” she asked. “Say it.”
“You know what, let’s not worry about that tonight. How about that dog. Remember the Commander’s wife’s dog?”
“That’s not what you want to say.” A wide, taunting grin, tongue between her teeth. “Come on, Helo. I dare you.”
He sighed. He hadn’t planned on going there, not tonight, but she did need to hear it. “You gotta stop picking fights with Colonel Tigh,” he said.
“Maybe when that frakker stops pissing me off,” she replied. “Maybe I will think about it!”
“Kara, this isn’t like Triton, where we didn’t give a frak what the Commander thought. And you’re not a hotshot instructor at the Academy anymore, either.”
“No,” she said, standing up, waving her glass for emphasis. “I’m not teaching at the Academy anymore. Do you know why, Helo?! Do you remember?”
He was going to have to backpedal hard. “I know it’s been-”
“But you know what? Right. Fine. I’m not a teacher anymore. That means I don’t have lesson plans or department meetings or appointments! My off-time is mine!” She cocked her head across the rec room, and Helo followed her gaze to a table of pilots playing strip triad. Which one, only the gods knew. Maybe all of them. “And no frakking strict rules about who I can’t fraternize with!”
Dragon turned around, and she winked. He started to stand up, to join their table, but Helo guided her down, waving Dragon off. “Some people forget, but we got frat regs here, too,” he said.
“It’s not like I cared about them, anyway,” she said, shrugging it off. “Zak can attest to that!”
“Maybe you’ve had enough for tonight,” he said, trying to guide the glass from her hand. “But you know if you ever just need to talk about him…”
But she snatched the glass from him, ambrosia spilling everywhere in the process. She looked down at it, then back up at him, her eyes blazing. “You used to be my wingman, you know!” she shouted. She drank the last of what remained in the glass defiantly.
“Starbuck-” he started, but she ignored him, stomping over to Dragon’s table. She bent to his ear, her mouth so close Karl was pretty sure she was just tonguing it. Dragon stood up, his hand on her waist.
“Kara!” he tried again, and this time she did look back. “This isn’t how you’re supposed to grieve.”
“Frak you,” she said, and then she and Dragon were gone.
Helo leaned back, head in his hands. Just another night in the bar with Starbuck.
***
Helo and Boomer reached the Commander’s door just as Starbuck approached from the other direction. She was clearly still hungover, a slight wobble to her step, hair mussed, eyes trying desperately not to be bleary.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he replied.
She pressed her hand to her temple. “I think I owe you…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Helo replied. Wasn’t the first time she’d told him to frak off. Wouldn’t be the last. She lightly, affectionately punched his shoulder. She looked down at the summons in his hand.
“You, too?” she asked.
“Us, too,” Boomer replied.
“That’s a surprise,” Starbuck said. “Thought I was getting in trouble.”
The Marine opened the door. They saluted Commander Adama, and he saluted back. “Come in,” he said. He had land surveys spread out across his desk. The navigator in Helo took interest in them immediately, and he leaned over Kara’s shoulder for a closer look. “Do you recognize it?” the Commander asked.
He could tell neither of the women knew what they were looking at. Hells, most ECOs in the Fleet wouldn’t know what they were looking at, the land survey largely featureless, almost entirely blanketed with white.
But Karl knew it. Not because of any inherent skill, but because of the sinking feeling in his stomach. “It’s Aquaria,” he said, his voice sounding flat in his ears. “The Sadalmelik Glacier.” Kara’s head snapped up, and she met his eyes in recognition, soft.
His mother had died on the Sadalmelik.
“What do you see here?” the Commander asked, indicating to a dark spot on the map.
Helo picked up a magnifying glass and bent over to examine it. For a terrible moment, he thought that Adama was asking him to identify the wreckage of the Earnest. But as he peered at the map, he relaxed. He stood. “It appears to be a building, Sir. Some sort of outpost.”
“That’s what the Aquarian Geological Institute thinks, as well,” the Commander replied. “Only they’ve authorized no such building. They don’t have the vehicle capability to investigate it themselves, so they’ve requested that the Fleet send a Raptor team to gather intelligence on who built the building and what their purpose is.”
“Just a flyover?” Boomer asked. “Or will we be expected to land?”
“You’ll land and investigate, with Lieutenant Thrace for tactical support,” Adama said. He put the file down, glanced up at Helo. “The need for investigation is why I picked your Raptor in particular. I wanted someone who’s used to the local climate, and you’re the only Aquarian currently serving under my command.” That wasn’t surprising-not that his people were pacifists or anti-Fleet to any degree, but with literally fewer than one Aquarian per every million Colonials, it was rare to find them in large numbers anywhere outside of the Helios Delta system. “But I’ve read your file, Lieutenant Agathon, and if you’d rather not-”
“It won’t be a problem, Sir,” Karl replied.
“Very good,” Commander Adama said. “You’ll leave tomorrow at oh-five-forty. Junior Lieutenant Valerii, please report to Chief Tyrol with orders to outfit your Raptor for extreme cold conditions. You two are dismissed. Lieutenant Thrace, a word.”
Guess she was getting in trouble after all.
“Pre-mission logistical meeting at nineteen hundred hours, Lieutenant Agathon?” she asked.
Bullshit. She just wanted a drink.
“Affirmative, Lieutenant Thrace,” Helo responded. “We’ll meet you.” He’d keep her on something softer than ambrosia tonight.
He and Boomer saluted the Commander, and they left.
“I could speak to the Chief for you,” Karl offered after the hatch closed.
“I’ve got it,” Boomer replied. “See you in the rec room at nineteen.”
***
“He calls me Starbuck when it’s just us,” she said absently as she played with the label on her bottle, and Helo wasn’t sure if it was a thought he was meant to hear.
“But you’re not in trouble, then?” he asked, and she looked up.
“Nah,” she replied. “Just a few other details about the mission, wanted to make sure I knew what he meant by tactical support.”
Helo didn’t have any doubts. Starbuck was a damn good shot. “He thinks it’s gonna come to that?”
“Never know what we might find out there,” she said, a non-committal reply if he’d ever heard one. “How about you? You sure you want to go, Helo?”
“It’s my homeworld,” he replied, downing a gulp of his own beer. “It makes sense that I go show you girls how to stay warm.” And gods knew Starbuck needed to go on this mission, needed to get off the ship. Maybe when they were done with the mission they could swing over to Heim, distract Dad from the lab work he’d buried himself in. He’d always liked Kara: “that firecracker of yours.” It might do them both good.
“Karl-”
“I’m fine, Kara,” he said-and she’d said the exact same thing to him, in the exact same tone, enough times that she should respect his request to back off. But he wasn’t sure she actually would until Boomer joined them, easy smile on her face, all but bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Starbuck smiled, took a sip. “Someone just got laid,” she quipped.
Helo knew for a fact who it’d be, and for a dark moment he almost wished they could go back to talking about his comfort level with the Sadalmelik. He took a deep drink, but over the glass he could see that Boomer’s expression had changed from easy to nervous.
“Just excited for the mission,” Boomer said quickly, eyes surveying the room as if to see if anyone had heard. “This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this. Special orders and all.”
“Frak,” Starbuck said. “Relax, I was just kidding. Lords, you two are going to be a blast tomorrow.”
PART TWO