ficlet - end times
So I start writing this a few days ago, and for some reason I pictured Kara in her black Razor gear. And then I watched the preview for next week, and there she was!! Therefore I am throwing this out there, because who knows? It could happen. :P\
Unbetaed, because I am impatient. But love to wisteria_ for all her encouragement!
* * *
Kara is a good soldier. She doesn’t leave her post until she’s sure the ship is secured. Chief gives her the all-clear from across the room and she waits for Tigh’s confirmation that the escape Raptors are operational.
And then Kara runs. Runs, even though the cut above her eye is interfering with her sight. She knows where that explosion was. At last she bursts into CIC, despite the wreckage that blocks part of the entrance.
Sparks and wires everywhere. Where the frak is - there . She thanks the gods that he’s still in his presidential monkey suit, because the blue of his shirt stands out amidst the uniforms. She heaves a control panel off him and props him up.
“Did we break through?” he croaks, as soon as he recognizes her.
She nods. “All set.” She looks around. “What happened?”
“Booby trap.” He coughs, and she’s alarmed at the wet red pulsing against her hand, which is still supporting him under his arm.
“Are you going to be - ”
“Yeah. We gotta get -” he struggles to lean forward, wincing. “Get me to the FTL console.”
She helps him up and they stagger the ten feet to the console. He pats his pocket, pulls out the key, watches it light up. “Okay.” He leans on her heavily.
“That’s it?”
“Now we wait.” He nods at the feed from the hangar deck. “Want as many of these toasters to go with us as possible.” When her eyes dart to his, he backs up, “Sorry, didn’t mean to insult your cousins.”
Kara laughs despite herself. Only Lee. “I wish - “
“Shh. Shh.”
“It’s okay, you know? I’m stupid, I never say these things to the ones I have when they’re alive. So maybe I’ll sneak this in before you actually cross the Styx.”
“Oh, what? Are you going to tell me I was always - ” he breaks off as a spasm of pain seizes him. She helps him down to the floor. He waves for her to move him back so he can still see the closed-circuit screen.
“Tell me what I need to press,” she says.
“S’okay, the self-destruct button is on the underside, actually. So this is better.”
“You know, I always thought it was a myth. Who’da thunk?”
Lee actually smirks. “I found out when I was commander on the Beast. My dad never let on until then.”
She rolls her eyes. “So close, you two. Did you ever -”
“We said our goodbyes.” Lee leans back and closes his eyes. Kara watches him and then levers herself beside him, pulling him against her.
“So before I read you a bedtime story, do you want to tell me what I have to do? Is there a trick?”
Lee cracks an eye. “No trick. FTL is online, you hold those two buttons down at the same time. Two. There are two, not one.”
Kara touches the buttons to make sure they’re there, then pulls Lee up higher. She keeps an eye on the screen. “I’ll holler when I see Cavil.”
“Okay, but don’t press ‘em right away. We’ll do it together.”
“Why, to make sure he doesn’t get away?”
“No. Because I don’t want the last thing I see to be a vicious old toaster.” He holds her gaze for a long moment, till Kara’s afraid the Cylons will burst in on them. She clears her throat.
“Did you know I made Sam promise, if the Cylons were ever going to capture us, that he - that we would shoot each other before that happened?”
“I know. He told me.”
“Gods, you guys were just tight while I was gone, weren’t you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know, you distracted me. I was telling you I love you, Lee Adama.”
He laughs, a genuine chuckle. “I know. No takebacks this time though.”
She hits him on the shoulder - causing him to hiss - and swipes her brimming eyes. “Shut up.”
“I love you too.”
“I wish we’d had more time. I wish we hadn’t frakked up so many chances.” She sniffles, always making sure she faces the hangar deck cam.
“Maybe if all this will happen again, we get another chance,” he whispers. She shakes him gently.
“Lee, don’t fall asleep. Lee,” she says, and just then a flicker of movement catches her eye.
“Showtime,” she says under her breath, and Lee rallies. Together they crouch by the console, each with a hand on a button. “Ready to do this?” she asks.
He leans forward and kisses her, a gentle, slow valediction. Runs his tongue over her lip before he moves back to look at her one last time. “Now I am. Come away with me, my love,” he says, and touches her face.
* * *
In space, there are no sounds.
~ ~