Alpha and Omega part 86 - "You've Picked Worse"
Ah... part frakking 86 of Alpha and Omega, the giant table fic devoted to an AU presentation of Galactica, AU after Epiphanies. Focused on Kara/Felix, and do note my kicky new icon by Ingrid. Read in order! Here is a link to the table.
http://rapfic.livejournal.com/8449.html#cutid1
Title -"You've Picked Worse"
Prompt - 086 - Choices
Word Count - 1256
Summary - Lee is a good friend
“I don’t need to stay here,” Felix protested as Cottle checked him over. “I’m fine.”
Kara grinned as Cottle scowled at Felix. The older man eyed his patient lying on the bed. “You were stabbed in the back yesterday. You were damned lucky it skidded through your body armor. You nearly bled out, regardless, and you’re staying here for the next seventy two hours. Longer if you whine.” The doctor’s expression grew more kind. “If you think I am enjoying this, guess again. I’m tired of you being here, and by the way, you aren’t fine. You can barely sit up without exhausting yourself, you were not fully recovered from your Cylon torture session and you needed three pints of other peoples blood. So suck it up.” Cottle then turned his attention to her. “And you, young lady. You get ten more minutes. Then you’re out. And no, you aren’t cleared for flying. You’re lucky I am not making you stay here as well.”
She nodded quickly. She had been forced to spend the last twenty hours in Cottle’s care, the sunburns and rope burns still prickled. Getting into a flight suit was possible, but she hadn’t put up a huge fight. She didn’t like admitting it, but she felt drained. And thirsty, even though Cottle’s assistants had been forcing water on her. At least the damn drugs had worn off, but she suspected that was adding to her tiredness. Still, at least she could leave. She playfully patted Felix’s head. “You know, we should frak right here. That’ll make Cottle let you leave.”
He smiled a little, but she could see the sour mood he was in. Gods, I hate Kat, she thought darkly. Felix had been getting out of his guilt ridden funk, and now he was back to hiding and worrying. Which meant she was going to need to jolly him out of it again, when she was already ready to be past it. Time for tough love, she decided. “Listen,” she said, “What you did…. What happened with Kat…”
“Kara, I don’t want to talk about it,” Felix said quickly. He turned away, letting his head rest on the pillow.
“Of course you don’t. You’re just going to lie here and beat yourself up over things you can’t change and weren’t wrong about to begin with.” Sometimes people needed to hear it.
“Kara…” His voice took on a hard edge. “That’s so not what’s bothering me right now.”
“Then what is bothering you?” His natural tendency was to hide behind a mask, she reminded herself.
For an instant he looked hurt. Then his expression grew unreadable. “I don’t want to talk about it, Kara. Look, I took a knife in the back yesterday, can I sleep in peace?”
“Fine.” Hand holding Felix through his angst was starting to get old, she thought as she stomped out of the sickbay.
~*~
“And so I said ‘frakking get over it’” Kara drawled as she sipped her ambrosia. Cottle has said to stay hydrated so she had decided to spend some time in the pilot rec room. Ambrosia was a liquid after all. “I don’t get his issues, Lee.”
Lee sipped his own drink. “I don’t know. I remember reading books about the SRT when I was a kid. I almost went for it when I had to pick.”
“Really?” Kara said. “Your dad would have flipped.” She suspected that Bill Adama hadn’t been all that approving of the Special Reaction Teams.
“That was a huge part of the appeal,” Lee said, smiling. “That and the whole being the best thing they had going on. I went to one of the recruitment pitches. You know, where they take you all around and show you the training and….” He shrugged. “I’m not going to lie. It just looked like too much pain with too much likelihood that I’d fail and then my dad would really have chewed my ass. I am still amazed that Gaeta made it through the training… No… I’m not. He’s the kind that if he commits to doing something, he does it…But it does seem like he made a bad choice.” Lee hesitated. “We all make choices. He doesn’t have to pay for it for the rest of his life. At least he shouldn’t.” He raised up his glass and clinked it with hers. “You’ve picked worse, Kara.”
“Yeah…”And she suddenly didn’t feel like talking about Felix any more. She was nicely buzzed and Lee was looking especially fine. “Listen,” she said easily as she poured another drink, “I’ve got the bed to myself tonight, and you’re not scheduled back on the Pegasus for another eight hours. Wanna frak?”
Lee looked at her. “Kara…are you serious?”
“Why not?” Lee was delightful in bed. “What, are you worried Felix will find out and kill you in some sort of jealous rage? He’s really not like that.”
“First,” Lee said, sipping his drink, “you can say that all you want, but I am the one who was tracking him while he was running after Kat. If Gaeta decided to kill me, I think he’d do it, and be as cold as the ice fields of Libra. And yes, I think he’d pretty pissed. But second….what is wrong with you? Do you *want* to drive Gaeta off? Is that it?”
“No….” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know why he’s mad and that is frustrating and when I get frustrated…. I do things.”
“You do things to sabotage your relationships. When you get close to someone, you get scared and you do things to shove them away.” He grinned wryly. “And I think I know why your boyfriend is acting all weird. Do you love him, Kara?”
“What? Lee, come on…I was just kidding…” She started to get up but his suddenly intent look made her stop and sit down. “What?”
“He loves you,” Lee said simply. “I heard him say it. He said he would die for you. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he’s afraid that you don’t love him? That you’re not going to commit to him? Kara, have you stopped and considered that he’s got hang ups about his old job to where he let everyone think he was a coward rather than discuss his past, and he threw that all away to rescue you? There’s no way this quietly disappears now… and you’re here trying to get me into his rack for a frak.” Lee hesitated. “You have to make some choices, Kara. Do you want to love him? Do you want to be with him? Or do you want to just keep frakking guys at random? Because you have to pick and its not fair for you to just cheat and cheat until Felix figures it out and drops you first.” He stood up. “I’m not helping you sabotage the first good relationship you’ve had since Zak. I’m not helping because you’re my friend, and if you don’t want to be with Felix, he deserves to hear that from you, and not have to find you and some other guy in his bed.”
“Why would I want to break it off with him?” she asked, feeling suddenly defensive.
“I don’t think you want to break it off at all, but I think you’re trying to wreck it before you get hurt.” Lee returned. “And if you don’t want to break it off, then you should let Felix know that. You have picked worse, you know.”
http://rapfic.livejournal.com/8449.html#cutid1
Title -"You've Picked Worse"
Prompt - 086 - Choices
Word Count - 1256
Summary - Lee is a good friend
“I don’t need to stay here,” Felix protested as Cottle checked him over. “I’m fine.”
Kara grinned as Cottle scowled at Felix. The older man eyed his patient lying on the bed. “You were stabbed in the back yesterday. You were damned lucky it skidded through your body armor. You nearly bled out, regardless, and you’re staying here for the next seventy two hours. Longer if you whine.” The doctor’s expression grew more kind. “If you think I am enjoying this, guess again. I’m tired of you being here, and by the way, you aren’t fine. You can barely sit up without exhausting yourself, you were not fully recovered from your Cylon torture session and you needed three pints of other peoples blood. So suck it up.” Cottle then turned his attention to her. “And you, young lady. You get ten more minutes. Then you’re out. And no, you aren’t cleared for flying. You’re lucky I am not making you stay here as well.”
She nodded quickly. She had been forced to spend the last twenty hours in Cottle’s care, the sunburns and rope burns still prickled. Getting into a flight suit was possible, but she hadn’t put up a huge fight. She didn’t like admitting it, but she felt drained. And thirsty, even though Cottle’s assistants had been forcing water on her. At least the damn drugs had worn off, but she suspected that was adding to her tiredness. Still, at least she could leave. She playfully patted Felix’s head. “You know, we should frak right here. That’ll make Cottle let you leave.”
He smiled a little, but she could see the sour mood he was in. Gods, I hate Kat, she thought darkly. Felix had been getting out of his guilt ridden funk, and now he was back to hiding and worrying. Which meant she was going to need to jolly him out of it again, when she was already ready to be past it. Time for tough love, she decided. “Listen,” she said, “What you did…. What happened with Kat…”
“Kara, I don’t want to talk about it,” Felix said quickly. He turned away, letting his head rest on the pillow.
“Of course you don’t. You’re just going to lie here and beat yourself up over things you can’t change and weren’t wrong about to begin with.” Sometimes people needed to hear it.
“Kara…” His voice took on a hard edge. “That’s so not what’s bothering me right now.”
“Then what is bothering you?” His natural tendency was to hide behind a mask, she reminded herself.
For an instant he looked hurt. Then his expression grew unreadable. “I don’t want to talk about it, Kara. Look, I took a knife in the back yesterday, can I sleep in peace?”
“Fine.” Hand holding Felix through his angst was starting to get old, she thought as she stomped out of the sickbay.
~*~
“And so I said ‘frakking get over it’” Kara drawled as she sipped her ambrosia. Cottle has said to stay hydrated so she had decided to spend some time in the pilot rec room. Ambrosia was a liquid after all. “I don’t get his issues, Lee.”
Lee sipped his own drink. “I don’t know. I remember reading books about the SRT when I was a kid. I almost went for it when I had to pick.”
“Really?” Kara said. “Your dad would have flipped.” She suspected that Bill Adama hadn’t been all that approving of the Special Reaction Teams.
“That was a huge part of the appeal,” Lee said, smiling. “That and the whole being the best thing they had going on. I went to one of the recruitment pitches. You know, where they take you all around and show you the training and….” He shrugged. “I’m not going to lie. It just looked like too much pain with too much likelihood that I’d fail and then my dad would really have chewed my ass. I am still amazed that Gaeta made it through the training… No… I’m not. He’s the kind that if he commits to doing something, he does it…But it does seem like he made a bad choice.” Lee hesitated. “We all make choices. He doesn’t have to pay for it for the rest of his life. At least he shouldn’t.” He raised up his glass and clinked it with hers. “You’ve picked worse, Kara.”
“Yeah…”And she suddenly didn’t feel like talking about Felix any more. She was nicely buzzed and Lee was looking especially fine. “Listen,” she said easily as she poured another drink, “I’ve got the bed to myself tonight, and you’re not scheduled back on the Pegasus for another eight hours. Wanna frak?”
Lee looked at her. “Kara…are you serious?”
“Why not?” Lee was delightful in bed. “What, are you worried Felix will find out and kill you in some sort of jealous rage? He’s really not like that.”
“First,” Lee said, sipping his drink, “you can say that all you want, but I am the one who was tracking him while he was running after Kat. If Gaeta decided to kill me, I think he’d do it, and be as cold as the ice fields of Libra. And yes, I think he’d pretty pissed. But second….what is wrong with you? Do you *want* to drive Gaeta off? Is that it?”
“No….” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know why he’s mad and that is frustrating and when I get frustrated…. I do things.”
“You do things to sabotage your relationships. When you get close to someone, you get scared and you do things to shove them away.” He grinned wryly. “And I think I know why your boyfriend is acting all weird. Do you love him, Kara?”
“What? Lee, come on…I was just kidding…” She started to get up but his suddenly intent look made her stop and sit down. “What?”
“He loves you,” Lee said simply. “I heard him say it. He said he would die for you. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he’s afraid that you don’t love him? That you’re not going to commit to him? Kara, have you stopped and considered that he’s got hang ups about his old job to where he let everyone think he was a coward rather than discuss his past, and he threw that all away to rescue you? There’s no way this quietly disappears now… and you’re here trying to get me into his rack for a frak.” Lee hesitated. “You have to make some choices, Kara. Do you want to love him? Do you want to be with him? Or do you want to just keep frakking guys at random? Because you have to pick and its not fair for you to just cheat and cheat until Felix figures it out and drops you first.” He stood up. “I’m not helping you sabotage the first good relationship you’ve had since Zak. I’m not helping because you’re my friend, and if you don’t want to be with Felix, he deserves to hear that from you, and not have to find you and some other guy in his bed.”
“Why would I want to break it off with him?” she asked, feeling suddenly defensive.
“I don’t think you want to break it off at all, but I think you’re trying to wreck it before you get hurt.” Lee returned. “And if you don’t want to break it off, then you should let Felix know that. You have picked worse, you know.”