Alpha and Omega part 82 - "Some Tools"
Woo! Part 82 of the big damn table fic! Alpha and Omega! Kara and Felix as a couple! SO SUPER AWESOME! Here is the table if you need it -I recommend reading in order! This is clearly a BSG AU, AU after second season episode "Epiphanies".
http://rapfic.livejournal.com/8449.html#cutid1
Title: Some Tools
Prompt: If -082
Word count: 1468
Summary: Felix goes to find out who has kidnapped Kara and what he will need to do to fix things
Once the hatch door closed, he stopped and waited a long moment, letting his eyes adjust to the dimmer light. The unused flight pod wasn't kept powered up. There were plans to get the flight pod reopened for actual flights, he had seen them and with the Pegasus's resources available, they were now more realistic but for now, the area was basically a quiet void on the ship except for the rare visitor.
I found Kara here, Felix thought suddenly as he stepped through the ruins of one of the muesuem displays. After Cain's funeral, and she had been playing music on a recorder and it had sounded like the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.
Stop it, he told himself. Get focused. There was a mission. Whoever had left the note, whether it was Kat or some other psychotic with a vendetta, had planned for him to be in the empty flight pod. It was a trap of some sort, and even if Lee Adama was following him, there was a very good chance that he was going to take a bullet in the head from an unseen sniper.
If he was running the mission, that's exactly what he would have done. Lure the target to a quiet spot and then simply put them down. He was taking a risk, but while he wasn't underestimating Kat's intelligence, he didn't think she had the ego that would allow the smart choice. Kat, and Kara for that matter, had the pilot tendency to strut and brag. Felix rather doubted that Kat was going to do the smart thing and simply kill him. She wanted to taunt him. The way a well fed cat likes to play with a mouse before it kills the mouse.
A bright light suddenly flared into his face. "Gods you're stupid," Kat called out. She was above him, to the left. On the catwalk. She laughed. "I could kill you right now. So much for your training, Gaeta."
"You could kill me," he said easily. " But instead you're playing some sort of game. Why are you doing that, Kat?" He had to assume Lee was listening somewhere, and the more Kat talked, the more likely she was to make a mistake and reveal where Kara was, and whether Kara was still alive. She thought she was in control of the game which would make her sloppy. As easy as it would be for him to get her captured and in a cell, she would see the trap then, and shut up. And if Kara was alive but tied up or injured, it could be a long wait until a search team found her.
"You're a fraud, Gaeta." Kat's words were almost hissing with anger. "You're a liar and a fake. You act like you're above it all, like you don't care what people think or say about you, but you make damn sure to worm your way into everyone's good graces and when the truth comes out that you're nothing but a crazy who lost his nerve, everyone goes running to defend you."
"I didn't lose my nerve," Gaeta corrected easily. "That’s a common misconception, one that I usually go along with, but for your own sake, Kat, you need to stop believing it. I lost my taste for killing people for no other reason than because I was told to. That does not mean I lost my nerve, or my abilities. It means I don't like killing people. But let's be very clear, Kat. You do not want me to put aside my distaste for killing. Because I can... and you're the one in my line of sight right now." Saying it, out loud, he felt it all coming back. Killing Kat would as simple as crushing a bug. Don't make it necessary, he pleaded in his head. Out loud he added, " Right now, you can step back from this. There won't be any trouble. I'm sure Kara's mad as hell, but what happens between pilots...." He waved his hand. "You can still walk away from this, Kat."
"I knew you were after her before anyone else. Even before you knew." Kat said it conversationally. "No one believed me. Everyone acted like you were somehow worthy... You're not even a pilot, you're just a deck officer and Kara threw herself away on you. And you're nothing. You won't even fight. What does she see in you?"
Present tense, he thought, she's speaking of Kara in the present tense. "I don't know," he admitted. "I never thought I had a chance... I'm not her type..." And he made a guess. " You're not her type either, you know."
"Shut up!"
That was a direct hit, he thought as he smiled coldly. "So what am I doing here, Kat? You haven't taken a shot despite having plenty of opportunity so I assume we're going for a walk."
"Shut your frakking mouth! I control this! Not you!" That was screamed, and almost hysterical. More calmly she said, "If you love her... you'd die for her. Do you love her, Felix? Enough to trade places? One of you is going to die....The clock is ticking."
"I would trade places. I love her." It felt odd and yet somehow right to say it.
"Aren't you sweet. Go down to level G, by the water tanks. You'll get more instructions there." The light flicked off. As he blinked, he heard the sound of boots on metal, running away. I'm playing games with a crazy woman, he thought as he went to the exit. Kat had completely slipped a gear and now he had to chase her. And kill her, but first he was going to have to hurt her. Because he had no doubt that Kara was alive but only for so long. Kat was crazy, but she was smart enough to plan her revenge carefully.
"Lee?" he called under his breath as he touched the hatch door. He wasn't surprised to see Lee come out from behind some of the museum wreckage.
"You saw me," Lee said quietly, chagrinned.
"Kat didn't. You need to tell the admiral to focus the search..."
~*~
"On the hull." Lee finished. He smiled slightly at Felix's look. "She's smarter than I thought... but not that smart. She's leading you down there so she can yank your chain. Kara is somewhere very far away from the tanks." And Kat had revealed that Kara was alive, which was a relief. His expression grew less amused. "She's insane, Felix."
Gaeta nodded coldly. "This is some sort of mental illness. She may be using stim again. She's not rational. Wherever she has Kara, she meant it when she said the clock was ticking. If I were searching, I'd focus on the fuel storage bins, and this flight pod. Maybe even the old navigation rooms. Anyplace that is isolated and unused. She's banking on killing me, and no one finding Kara in time but she's also too confident. So it's someplace dangerous to be in for any length of time. I have to go. I'll get it out of her but it may not be of any value. The search needs to move forward.”
He said it, Lee realized, like he was going for a walk, or reading details of a DRADIS scan. "How do you plan to get it out of her?" he asked, suddenly afraid, despite himself. He had never really considered Felix Gaeta a threatening person at all, even with the SRT background. He had assumed Kara was right, that Gaeta had been a bad fit. It happened. Zak had been a bad fit as a Viper pilot and it had killed him, and if the rumors were true, Gaeta had at least considered suicide over the job. It made sense. Gaeta was too nice of a guy to last in that kind of work. The man he was looking at however, looked completely capable of killing someone.
Gaeta patted his pockets. "I have some tools." He smiled thinly. "Everyone breaks, sir. It was a Cylon who said that to me most recently. Everyone breaks, and it's just a matter of how much pressure needs to be applied to get the correct outcome. It's almost like math. I assure you, Lee, that I will make Kat tell me where Kara is. I don't like the methods I know, but if I have to use them, I will. You can count on that." With that, he opened the hatch door and seemed to leap out, leaving Lee standing alone.
Kat, Lee thought suddenly, you had better pray we find Kara and arrest you. Because Gaeta is going to tear you limb from limb if you keep this game going for much longer.
http://rapfic.livejournal.com/8449.html#cutid1
Title: Some Tools
Prompt: If -082
Word count: 1468
Summary: Felix goes to find out who has kidnapped Kara and what he will need to do to fix things
Once the hatch door closed, he stopped and waited a long moment, letting his eyes adjust to the dimmer light. The unused flight pod wasn't kept powered up. There were plans to get the flight pod reopened for actual flights, he had seen them and with the Pegasus's resources available, they were now more realistic but for now, the area was basically a quiet void on the ship except for the rare visitor.
I found Kara here, Felix thought suddenly as he stepped through the ruins of one of the muesuem displays. After Cain's funeral, and she had been playing music on a recorder and it had sounded like the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.
Stop it, he told himself. Get focused. There was a mission. Whoever had left the note, whether it was Kat or some other psychotic with a vendetta, had planned for him to be in the empty flight pod. It was a trap of some sort, and even if Lee Adama was following him, there was a very good chance that he was going to take a bullet in the head from an unseen sniper.
If he was running the mission, that's exactly what he would have done. Lure the target to a quiet spot and then simply put them down. He was taking a risk, but while he wasn't underestimating Kat's intelligence, he didn't think she had the ego that would allow the smart choice. Kat, and Kara for that matter, had the pilot tendency to strut and brag. Felix rather doubted that Kat was going to do the smart thing and simply kill him. She wanted to taunt him. The way a well fed cat likes to play with a mouse before it kills the mouse.
A bright light suddenly flared into his face. "Gods you're stupid," Kat called out. She was above him, to the left. On the catwalk. She laughed. "I could kill you right now. So much for your training, Gaeta."
"You could kill me," he said easily. " But instead you're playing some sort of game. Why are you doing that, Kat?" He had to assume Lee was listening somewhere, and the more Kat talked, the more likely she was to make a mistake and reveal where Kara was, and whether Kara was still alive. She thought she was in control of the game which would make her sloppy. As easy as it would be for him to get her captured and in a cell, she would see the trap then, and shut up. And if Kara was alive but tied up or injured, it could be a long wait until a search team found her.
"You're a fraud, Gaeta." Kat's words were almost hissing with anger. "You're a liar and a fake. You act like you're above it all, like you don't care what people think or say about you, but you make damn sure to worm your way into everyone's good graces and when the truth comes out that you're nothing but a crazy who lost his nerve, everyone goes running to defend you."
"I didn't lose my nerve," Gaeta corrected easily. "That’s a common misconception, one that I usually go along with, but for your own sake, Kat, you need to stop believing it. I lost my taste for killing people for no other reason than because I was told to. That does not mean I lost my nerve, or my abilities. It means I don't like killing people. But let's be very clear, Kat. You do not want me to put aside my distaste for killing. Because I can... and you're the one in my line of sight right now." Saying it, out loud, he felt it all coming back. Killing Kat would as simple as crushing a bug. Don't make it necessary, he pleaded in his head. Out loud he added, " Right now, you can step back from this. There won't be any trouble. I'm sure Kara's mad as hell, but what happens between pilots...." He waved his hand. "You can still walk away from this, Kat."
"I knew you were after her before anyone else. Even before you knew." Kat said it conversationally. "No one believed me. Everyone acted like you were somehow worthy... You're not even a pilot, you're just a deck officer and Kara threw herself away on you. And you're nothing. You won't even fight. What does she see in you?"
Present tense, he thought, she's speaking of Kara in the present tense. "I don't know," he admitted. "I never thought I had a chance... I'm not her type..." And he made a guess. " You're not her type either, you know."
"Shut up!"
That was a direct hit, he thought as he smiled coldly. "So what am I doing here, Kat? You haven't taken a shot despite having plenty of opportunity so I assume we're going for a walk."
"Shut your frakking mouth! I control this! Not you!" That was screamed, and almost hysterical. More calmly she said, "If you love her... you'd die for her. Do you love her, Felix? Enough to trade places? One of you is going to die....The clock is ticking."
"I would trade places. I love her." It felt odd and yet somehow right to say it.
"Aren't you sweet. Go down to level G, by the water tanks. You'll get more instructions there." The light flicked off. As he blinked, he heard the sound of boots on metal, running away. I'm playing games with a crazy woman, he thought as he went to the exit. Kat had completely slipped a gear and now he had to chase her. And kill her, but first he was going to have to hurt her. Because he had no doubt that Kara was alive but only for so long. Kat was crazy, but she was smart enough to plan her revenge carefully.
"Lee?" he called under his breath as he touched the hatch door. He wasn't surprised to see Lee come out from behind some of the museum wreckage.
"You saw me," Lee said quietly, chagrinned.
"Kat didn't. You need to tell the admiral to focus the search..."
~*~
"On the hull." Lee finished. He smiled slightly at Felix's look. "She's smarter than I thought... but not that smart. She's leading you down there so she can yank your chain. Kara is somewhere very far away from the tanks." And Kat had revealed that Kara was alive, which was a relief. His expression grew less amused. "She's insane, Felix."
Gaeta nodded coldly. "This is some sort of mental illness. She may be using stim again. She's not rational. Wherever she has Kara, she meant it when she said the clock was ticking. If I were searching, I'd focus on the fuel storage bins, and this flight pod. Maybe even the old navigation rooms. Anyplace that is isolated and unused. She's banking on killing me, and no one finding Kara in time but she's also too confident. So it's someplace dangerous to be in for any length of time. I have to go. I'll get it out of her but it may not be of any value. The search needs to move forward.”
He said it, Lee realized, like he was going for a walk, or reading details of a DRADIS scan. "How do you plan to get it out of her?" he asked, suddenly afraid, despite himself. He had never really considered Felix Gaeta a threatening person at all, even with the SRT background. He had assumed Kara was right, that Gaeta had been a bad fit. It happened. Zak had been a bad fit as a Viper pilot and it had killed him, and if the rumors were true, Gaeta had at least considered suicide over the job. It made sense. Gaeta was too nice of a guy to last in that kind of work. The man he was looking at however, looked completely capable of killing someone.
Gaeta patted his pockets. "I have some tools." He smiled thinly. "Everyone breaks, sir. It was a Cylon who said that to me most recently. Everyone breaks, and it's just a matter of how much pressure needs to be applied to get the correct outcome. It's almost like math. I assure you, Lee, that I will make Kat tell me where Kara is. I don't like the methods I know, but if I have to use them, I will. You can count on that." With that, he opened the hatch door and seemed to leap out, leaving Lee standing alone.
Kat, Lee thought suddenly, you had better pray we find Kara and arrest you. Because Gaeta is going to tear you limb from limb if you keep this game going for much longer.