Prompt Fic: The Patron Saint of Lost Causes (prompt by lls_mutant)

[kappamaki33]

Title: The Patron Saint of Lost Causes
Characters: Hoshi, Narcho, Adama, Tigh, Lee, Racetrack, Helo, and though Gaeta isn't present, he's still a major part of the story
Rating: PG-13, for one gruesome line
Summary: What happens when even hope is gone? Reflections on Raptor 718's disappearance.
Notes: Thank you to my betas, puszysty and

Comments

[lls_mutant]

I absolutely love this. This hits so many of my fic kinks- desperate love that you know isn't going to end well, understated expressions of affection, the feeling that Hoshi would do it all again.... ::hugs this::

I love that Narcho threw out his back. The equipment's been going for four years without a pit stop, and so have the pilots. That detail just... it worked so well for me. And I love that Narcho and Racetrack keep reminding people (including Hoshi) that there are other people on the Raptor besides Gaeta.

I miss loving the Tigh-Bill bromance, and this line:

He’d always loved Bill like a brother, but for the first time, Saul was realizing just how good a friend to him Bill had been for putting up with Saul’s never-ending cycle of this kind of crap.

just made me love them again for a bit. I love this realization, and it's so 4.5 Tigh. And Hoshi waiting outside (and Saul knowing it) cracks me up, because it just fits with what we know of Hoshi. And that it bothers Bill that he knew and forgot about Gaeta/Hoshi... ::sigh:: Bill, I really, really miss you.

Like I said on the beta, I find it fascinating that Lee assumes that Gaeta and Hoshi split up after an argument. It says SO much about Lee, and how he tends to run when the going gets tough, and has to be prodded to do the right thing. It's a neat little touch. And I LOVE Racetrack in this, calling Lee on a lot of his bullshit.

And that last section just totally breaks my heart. It always hurt that Adama wouldn't be more sympathetic to Helo in the series. I mean, I actually can understand him not wanting Helo and Athena going on a suicide mission when they're needed, but he could have handled it MUCH better. But that reference to Mathematics, and then the fact that Hoshi would do it again just for that one moment...

LOVE this- THANK YOU :)

[kappamaki33]

I'm so glad you liked it! And thanks again for the beta--I keep forgetting that Baltar's trial was a "TV trial" rather than a mini-Nuremberg, which is how I keep thinking of it for some reason.

Narcho throwing out his back is one of my favorite bits, especially because of the weird way it came about. Mostly, I needed some reason for Narcho to be around to give Hoshi advice but not to be able to pilot the Raptor. I thought about putting him on the baseship and having him injured at the Hub or when the Centurions rounded up folks during the hostage crisis, but having it just be something as prosaic as throwing out his back just worked so well.

I found that I really liked writing Saul, especially with the role-reversal that he and Adama did at this point. I wonder if I'd like writing Saul as much during his Season 1 and 2 not-so-sober phases. What's weirdest, though is the only way I feel like I can get into Adama's head is via Saul. And even though I'm not sure much of anything would've turned Adama around at this point, I did like being able to slip just a sliver of hope that maybe he could bounce back--that that sliver happened to come from him chastising himself for forgetting to be a Gaeta/Hoshi shipper was fortuitous...

Oh, Lee. I felt like I was being a little hard on him, but I guess if it's a legitimate criticism of the character's flaws and blind spots, then it's not really mean-spirited or bashing. But yeah, I do think Lee isn't very good at handling what happens after fights, whereas I get the feeling that, with as much crap as they have to deal with, Louis and Felix would *have to* get good at that if they wanted to make it.

Anyway, that's a really long-winded response that really just means, I'm so happy you liked it! ;)

[lls_mutant]

Quick question for you:

is this line:

Cavil will dissect her like a science project. He’ll cut her up into little pieces to try to figure out how she works. There will be nothing but pieces for us to find.

From canon, or yours? I don't have the 4.5 DVDs yet, and I just wanted to check.

Thanks!

[kappamaki33]

Nope, that's my own. Canon has her saying something similar *after* Adama OK's the rescue mission, so I couldn't use it for that last scene because that in my head comes before Helo even begs for a Raptor, but I used something similar because it felt to me like the scene in canon was an argument that Helo and Athena had been through a few times before.

Here's the actual dialogue from the "Daybreak":

Helo: It's really happening. We're going after her.

Athena: Or what's left of her. Cavil's probably had her sliced and diced and cut into a thousand specimens.

Helo: Stop it! Just...stop it, okay? She's still alive, and she's still out there. And we're gonna get her, and everything's gonna be all right.

Athena: It's not gonna be all right, Karl.

Helo: No. You're wrong. You're wrong.

Hope that helps!