TM 245 - What's the first thing you remember?

[arrow_of_apollo]

245 - What's the first thing you remember?

I remember Dee. I remember her making a promise.

"It's okay. I'll be here when you wake up. I'll be right here."

Really, I only half-remember that. It was like the very last thing that happens in your dream, just before you start to actually wake up, an echo of whatever it was that was on your mind when your conscious thoughts aren't around to filter and rationalize and compensate. I remember her promising to be there when I woke up.


It took me a second or two of semi-conscious thought before I remembered why it was I was sleeping in the first place. I'd been shot. I was laying in the infirmary, with a couple of holes in my chest, and I'd come very, very close to dying. After that realization, the rest of the memories flooded back: the bar on Cloud Nine, the terrorists, led by that woman... Sesha Abinell. I remembered sabotaging the CO₂ sensors, and trying to negotiate.

I remembered Starbuck coming into the bar, trying to stage a rescue. It was a bad plan, with all those hostages and some very well-positioned hostiles. Friendly fire was just about unavoidable, and I was the one who ended up not avoiding it. I guess it was better me than a civilian.

And so, when I finally opened my eyes, it was no surprise to be in the infirmary. The big surprise was that Dualla was sitting beside the bed, one of my hands in both of hers. She was dozing off, and looked tired.

I gave her hands a squeeze, and her eyes-- those eyes, the ones I noticed the second she stepped onto the mat for the first hand-to-hand class I taught on Galactica-- flew open.

"You're here," I whispered.

She smiled, and even the smile looked tired. "Told you so."

"Hell of a vacation."

Dee shook her head. "You said that already."

I nodded, even if I didn't remember saying it. "Still true. You know, you really should get back to your rack."

"Can't get rid of me that easy," she said back.

"Not what I meant." My head was starting to ache, so I took a few breaths, as deep as the bandages would let me. "Captain Adama says you need to be okay for duty. Lee Adama says he doesn't want you dozing off when you come back to visit."

Smiling still, Dee stood. "This is for the Captain," she said, saluting. Dee then leaned over the bed and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "This is for Lee. I'll be back soon."

And she was. I was ready for her to not be there when I woke up, because that would've been just my luck. But she stuck around. And she came back after her shift, and kept coming back until I was up and back to duty. I remember Dee.


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Comments

[burnandrave.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'm very good at subtle rescue scenarios.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

Subtle anything, really.

[burnandrave.livejournal.com]

Point.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

There was one civilian who didn't avoid the firefight.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

Point taken. An unfortunate tragedy.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

What do you suppose Billy was doing there?

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

He, er, was there with friends having a drink, if I recall correctly.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

I sent him to Cloud 9. I thought he needed some time to himself.

Why do you think he picked up that gun?

OOC: I like Cobra!Laura, hehehe.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what he might've been thinking, only, it seems, that he would be able to help. I was indisposed at the time.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

Well, I won't pretend to know for sure, but I have a pretty good idea of why he got himself shot.

How did you find yourself over there, Captain?

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I was also enjoying some needed off-duty time.

Is there something you'd like to ask or tell me directly, Madam President?

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

I want you to understand where I'm coming from. Billy doesn't have a mother to ask these questions. But he came to mean as much to me as if he were my own son. I would like to know why that boy felt so compelled to pick up a gun like some kind of frakking hero.

Whose hero was he trying to be?

All he had to do was stay out of the way. Why didn't he stay out of the way?

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean.

He seemed to want to do the right thing, even if it was the difficult or dangerous thing. I remember when he refused to leave with you when we escaped Galactica.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

It wasn't the right thing to do.

When he stayed on Galactica, it was because he believed he was doing the right thing.

When he picked up that gun, he was heartbroken and obviously not in his right mind. I don't think he even knew how to fire a gun. He wasn't holding a weapon when he and your father and the others caught up with us on Kobol.

Anything that ends up with a good young man like him dead was not the right thing to do.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to Billy's frame of mind, but I would have to assume that he thought it was the right thing to do at the time. It was a mistake, there's no doubt, and if things had been different, he might have chosen differently.

But he didn't. And while that was not right, I have to disagree. You and I both have sent too many people young and old to die to deny it's not sometimes necessary.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

I can assure you that he most likely was not prepared to see you there with her. Not when they had just split up earlier in the day.

Since he's not here to get the answer he deserved, how long was it going on before Billy asked her to marry him?

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I would imagine that's correct.

A month or two, maybe more? I didn't keep close tabs on my wife's previous relationships until we had one of our own.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

Don't fence with me, Apollo. You'll lose.

How long were you and she, I'll say, interested before she cut Billy loose?

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I'm not interested in fencing, Madam President.

And if you've got grievances regarding the way my wife conducted her relationship, I invite you to take it up with her. I'm not going to presume she needs me to defend her when she can do so very well herself.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

I have no grievances with your relationship. She's very good for you.

I have a grievance with when and how your relationship started and how Billy was slapped in the face with it. A little warning would have been nice for him.

I'm very happy for your father's sake that you survived. And you just make sure to love her as well as Billy did.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

No arguments on that count.

I didn't think their relationship was that serious. Hell, I don't think Dee did.

And I do my best, for whatever that's worth.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Sesha Abinell.

I'm sorry that the plan didn't go the way it was supposed to with her.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

Can't predict what a desperate, lost person like that is capable of.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Still, if I had been given up to her, none of that might have happened.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of other things that would never have happened, either-- things that ended up saving lives.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sir... er, sorry. Still not used to that.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

It's all right, neither am I.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Well, that's good to hear, I guess.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

Just wait until you get promoted, it's just as strange to hear the new rank in front of your name.

[starjedi21.livejournal.com]

hi this is a great entry i like this