Mourning ((RP for number_eight))

[arrow_of_apollo]

Four months ago (Gods, he thought, has it only been four months?), when Lee had moved into this cabin aboard Colonial One, he had looked at the small space and decided that while it wasn't the familiar locker he'd shared onboard the Galactica with Dee, it was a hell of a lot roomier than a even an officer's rack, so things couldn't be that bad. And although he had come to feel comfortable with the space, it had never become a home. It felt even less like one now.

Lee felt a hot, wet tear roll down his face and he wiped at it angrily. He couldn't count the number he'd shed in the last twelve hours, every one of them searing, every one of them painful. Part of him wondered if he was mourning more than just a person, he was mourning everything she had meant to him-- more importantly, the things she had given him.

Even when they weren't together, even when Lee knew she was furious with him, Dee had always been a kind of beacon of hope. Not just for him, but for everyone aboard the battlestar, his father especially. Her faith in Admiral Adama had been unwavering, and her belief that Lee was a good man meant for great things just as firm. She had believed when they had not.

And now she was dead, because she had lost that faith, and had those beliefs shattered. The wasted, blasted Earth had broken all of them, but Anastasia Dualla had had the furthest to fall.

Lee reached again for the bottle of ambrosia-- a gift from Colonel Tigh, of all people, who had handed it over without comment-- just as a knock sounded on the hatch of his quarters. He was confused for a moment until he remembered that someone from Galactica would be arriving with Dee's personal effects. Still gripping the half-empty bottle, knowing he would need its help, Lee rose and opened the hatch.

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[number-eight.livejournal.com]

"Lee. I'm so sorry."

It was all Sharon could think of to say when he opened the hatch and she saw the broken man before her. Had Dee killed herself because she'd finally discovered the truth about them? Oh, God, she hoped not. Dee had actually been a friend to both Helo and to her, had been Hera's babysitter so many times when both she and Helo had the same CAP rotations.

And now she was gone.

Her family had mourned for Dee privately as she'd tried her best to explain to Hera that Dee was gone, but she knew it couldn't compare to what Lee must have been going through. So, Sharon had been the one to volunteer to take her personal effects to Lee, hoping that maybe she could cheer him up somehow. Sharon saw the Old Man and how hard he'd taken it; she was pretty sure that Lee had no one to talk to about it all.

As she handed one of the five boxes to Lee, she clasped her hands behind her back. The last time they had seen each other, they had kissed and promised to speak again.

That was before Earth, though.

"Is... is there anything I can do?"