Injuries
Title: Injuries
Arc: Loyalties
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Rating: PG13
P/C: Athena, Boomer/Chief, mentions of Chief/Cally
Spoilers: 3x22(Crossroads 2), 3x11(The Eye of Jupiter), 3x12 (Rapture), 2x22 (Lay Down Your Burdens 2), 2x4 (Resistance)
Summary: Set just after the third season finale, Chief tries to reconcile the past and the present.
He stumbled down the hall towards the deck.
A cylon? Of all the people in the universe, of all the people in the fleet, I’m a cylon? he thought desperately. Maybe the gods had it wrong. He wasn’t really a cylon. He was just Galen Tyrol, a mechanic, a family man.
Oh gods, Cally!
She would stop loving him if she found out, would probably kill him out right. He thought of her, pregnant and glowing. Of her lying in his bed, sleeping, their child at her side. He thought of how much she hated Boomer, even now, no matter how much time had passed. He could see that hatred turned on him.
Tyrol looked up, suddenly realizing where he’d come to.
He heard the shot ring out. She crumpled, clutching the newly made hole in her stomach.
In that moment, everything had seemed to drift away and all he could see was someone he loved dying. Only a few seconds before he had hated her. She’d turned all the things he’d thought were important into ones and zeroes. She’d never loved him. How could she, when she was a machine?
But I was a machine too. I am a machine, he thought miserably. Reality seemed completely arbitrary, shifting from Tyrol to the Cylon and back again. He could lose everything. He could hurt someone. What if he already had? Frantically he racked his brains to remember everything he’d done for days. It seemed like he could remember everything. But how did you know if you’d forgotten something if you couldn’t remember it?
He thought back to Sharon again. Had she felt this way? Terrified that she could hurt or kill the people she loved? That she would do it to him, unwilling, unknowing? He thought of the way she had looked at him, the sadness in her voice when she’d told him that she loved him before she disappeared into whatever place it was that Cylons went when they died. And then came back.
He found himself aching for her. It had been months since he’d thought of her, keeping the memories at bay with Cally and work and the baby. And whiskey. Nothing worked better then whiskey. He hated himself for caring about her, still, even after having a new family and a wife who loved him. He wished that he could see her and apologize for the last two years, for forgetting her and letting himself hate her. He knew that she would forgive him. She always forgave him. He wondered where she was now. On some Cylon Basestar somewhere? Or maybe she had winked out of existence, like the diseased Cylon prisoners and he would really never see her again.
He stared at the floor, picturing her dying in his arms all over again. He realized that the last thing he’d said to her was that he hated her. He should have told her that he still loved her when he had the chance. He should have told her that he could never stop loving her. And now she'd never know that. She'd just go on thinking that he had forgotten her, that he hated her.
“Chief?”
He started. There she was! It was as if he’d called her back, just by wishing it. She cocked her head at him. “Are you alright?”
Then he remembered. “Fine, Athena. I’m fine. You’d better get to the deck. They’ll need you there right now.”
“But not you?” she asked. “You are kind of the lynch pin of a lot of this.” He stared at her. “Head mechanic? Sort of saves lives and keeps things moving?” She looked at him curiously and then around at the corridor. “What are you doing here any way?”
“Sharon?”
“Yes?”
“You still have Boomer’s memories installed in you, right?”
She still had that curious look on her face. “Yes. Why?”
“Did she really love me? Or was it part of her programming? You know, part of her mission?”
The curious look was gone, replaced by a hard one, a look that was almost angry.
“It isn’t my place to share any of that with you. She told me about what happened. How you rejected her. I’ve kept it separate from any relationship I might have with you or judgment I might pass on you, but her memories are hers to share, especially if they are as intimate as that.”
“What do you mean, she told you?”
“She was here. During the negotiations. We spoke then.”
Tyrol’s face lit up. “She’s alive? Can you give her a message for me?”
Athena’s look did not change. “I’m not exactly in close contact with the Cylons. Maybe if I saw her again, but that would be highly unlikely. Unless…” she stopped.
“Unless what?”
“The Cylons aren’t exactly trying to track us right now. “ She indicated the alarm resonating throughout the ship. “I could probably establish contact without it having any adverse effects. Is it very important?”
“Yes. Yes it is. But you can’t tell anyone else.”
Sharon sighed. “Alright then. Give me the message and I’ll make sure she gets it.”
He cupped her ear and whispered into it. Tyrol was immediately reminded of being on a playground in his childhood, whispering into the ear of a little girl. He’d forgotten her name, but he’d been sure that she was going to marry him and they would live together until they got old. Then they'd just move the living together to Heaven. He tried to remember what had happened to her. But neither her face or her name would come to him.
Then he realized that she probably wasn't real at all. Just some Cylon fabrication to place him among the enemy.
When he was finished, Athena looked at him oddly again. “Alright then. We might want to get to the deck.” She strode off.
“Wait!” She turned to look back at him. “Why are you doing this for me?”
“Because you didn’t see her. On the basestar, she was raving, furious. She was surrounded by her own and yet she was completely alone. She almost killed my child. And I understood why. She wished that Hera was hers. And yours. Instead you have Nicholas and Cally. She’s been replaced, but not just by me. You think about that, when I give her this message.”
“Why do you want to help her then?”
Sharon smiled and shook her head.
“Oh Chief,” she said sadly, “you really don’t understand anything about us do you?”
She turned and left.
*****
“Racetrack, I need you to do something for me.” The other pilot looked at Athena suspiciously. “I need to you to establish direct contact with the Basestar.”
“What?! Why?”
“It’s for Tyrol. He needs me to do him a favor.”
“A favor? By contacting the frakking enemy right in the middle of-“
“It’s about Boomer.”
Racetrack looked at her. “What do you mean ‘Boomer’?”
A raider flew by firing rapidly across the bow of their Raptor.
“Please just frakking do it!”
“Alright, alright! The connection’s up now.”
Sharon left the pilots chair, turning to the small screen. “Take over for me!”
She sat down to see a 6 looking up at her haughtily.
“Well hello little sister. What do the humans have you doing now? Trying to negotiate peace are we?”
Sharon glared at the blonde machine. “No. I need to speak with another 8. Galactica 8.”
“Why should I-“
There was a disturbance on the screen as the 6 was pushed out of the way.
“What is it?” Her hair was wet and she was naked. She had just been resurrected, all the pain of death and remembrance etched into her face.
“It’s the Chief. He gave me a message to give to you.”
The anger seemed to fade from her face. “Tyrol? How is he? Is he happy?” She looked almost desperately soft and fragile.
“He seems…” Sharon held back her first answer that he was fine. The truth was that when she had seen him, he had seemed lost. Lost and thinking of her sister. The Cylon within her longed to tell Boomer that the Chief was lost without her, but Sharon knew that it would only make things better for a moment. Later, it would gnaw at Boomer, knowing that it was impossible to go to him, to help him, to return to the life that she had been thrown out of. That she, Sharon Agathon had usurped.
“He needed me to tell you something.”
Boomer looked at her expectantly.
“He says that he’s sorry. He says that he wishes that he could have protected you. And that he had told you…” she paused, unsure of how to go on. “He told you that he hated you before you died. But he wants you to know that he’s never stopped loving you. That he never will stop.” Sharon looked down at her uniform when she said this. She reminded herself that she hadn’t forcibly taken this away from Boomer. That had been…well it had been God, hadn’t it?
She looked up at the small screen again. Boomer looked up, away from her. She was smiling, but tears were welling up in her eyes and beginning to run down her cheeks. She looked back at her copy. She put her hand to the screen. Athena placed her hand over hers. Boomer smiled, radiant.
Then the transmission winked out.
*****
In the CIC, Gaeta called out to the admiral.
“Admiral Adama! I’ve just picked up a communication line between a Raptor and the lead Cylon Basestar!”
The admiral turned sharply to face him. “Which Raptor?”
He paused for a moment. “Sir…it’s Athena and Racetrack."
“Cut it, immediately. And prepare to arrest Lieutenant Agathon as soon as she lands.”
Arc: Loyalties
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Rating: PG13
P/C: Athena, Boomer/Chief, mentions of Chief/Cally
Spoilers: 3x22(Crossroads 2), 3x11(The Eye of Jupiter), 3x12 (Rapture), 2x22 (Lay Down Your Burdens 2), 2x4 (Resistance)
Summary: Set just after the third season finale, Chief tries to reconcile the past and the present.
He stumbled down the hall towards the deck.
A cylon? Of all the people in the universe, of all the people in the fleet, I’m a cylon? he thought desperately. Maybe the gods had it wrong. He wasn’t really a cylon. He was just Galen Tyrol, a mechanic, a family man.
Oh gods, Cally!
She would stop loving him if she found out, would probably kill him out right. He thought of her, pregnant and glowing. Of her lying in his bed, sleeping, their child at her side. He thought of how much she hated Boomer, even now, no matter how much time had passed. He could see that hatred turned on him.
Tyrol looked up, suddenly realizing where he’d come to.
He heard the shot ring out. She crumpled, clutching the newly made hole in her stomach.
In that moment, everything had seemed to drift away and all he could see was someone he loved dying. Only a few seconds before he had hated her. She’d turned all the things he’d thought were important into ones and zeroes. She’d never loved him. How could she, when she was a machine?
But I was a machine too. I am a machine, he thought miserably. Reality seemed completely arbitrary, shifting from Tyrol to the Cylon and back again. He could lose everything. He could hurt someone. What if he already had? Frantically he racked his brains to remember everything he’d done for days. It seemed like he could remember everything. But how did you know if you’d forgotten something if you couldn’t remember it?
He thought back to Sharon again. Had she felt this way? Terrified that she could hurt or kill the people she loved? That she would do it to him, unwilling, unknowing? He thought of the way she had looked at him, the sadness in her voice when she’d told him that she loved him before she disappeared into whatever place it was that Cylons went when they died. And then came back.
He found himself aching for her. It had been months since he’d thought of her, keeping the memories at bay with Cally and work and the baby. And whiskey. Nothing worked better then whiskey. He hated himself for caring about her, still, even after having a new family and a wife who loved him. He wished that he could see her and apologize for the last two years, for forgetting her and letting himself hate her. He knew that she would forgive him. She always forgave him. He wondered where she was now. On some Cylon Basestar somewhere? Or maybe she had winked out of existence, like the diseased Cylon prisoners and he would really never see her again.
He stared at the floor, picturing her dying in his arms all over again. He realized that the last thing he’d said to her was that he hated her. He should have told her that he still loved her when he had the chance. He should have told her that he could never stop loving her. And now she'd never know that. She'd just go on thinking that he had forgotten her, that he hated her.
“Chief?”
He started. There she was! It was as if he’d called her back, just by wishing it. She cocked her head at him. “Are you alright?”
Then he remembered. “Fine, Athena. I’m fine. You’d better get to the deck. They’ll need you there right now.”
“But not you?” she asked. “You are kind of the lynch pin of a lot of this.” He stared at her. “Head mechanic? Sort of saves lives and keeps things moving?” She looked at him curiously and then around at the corridor. “What are you doing here any way?”
“Sharon?”
“Yes?”
“You still have Boomer’s memories installed in you, right?”
She still had that curious look on her face. “Yes. Why?”
“Did she really love me? Or was it part of her programming? You know, part of her mission?”
The curious look was gone, replaced by a hard one, a look that was almost angry.
“It isn’t my place to share any of that with you. She told me about what happened. How you rejected her. I’ve kept it separate from any relationship I might have with you or judgment I might pass on you, but her memories are hers to share, especially if they are as intimate as that.”
“What do you mean, she told you?”
“She was here. During the negotiations. We spoke then.”
Tyrol’s face lit up. “She’s alive? Can you give her a message for me?”
Athena’s look did not change. “I’m not exactly in close contact with the Cylons. Maybe if I saw her again, but that would be highly unlikely. Unless…” she stopped.
“Unless what?”
“The Cylons aren’t exactly trying to track us right now. “ She indicated the alarm resonating throughout the ship. “I could probably establish contact without it having any adverse effects. Is it very important?”
“Yes. Yes it is. But you can’t tell anyone else.”
Sharon sighed. “Alright then. Give me the message and I’ll make sure she gets it.”
He cupped her ear and whispered into it. Tyrol was immediately reminded of being on a playground in his childhood, whispering into the ear of a little girl. He’d forgotten her name, but he’d been sure that she was going to marry him and they would live together until they got old. Then they'd just move the living together to Heaven. He tried to remember what had happened to her. But neither her face or her name would come to him.
Then he realized that she probably wasn't real at all. Just some Cylon fabrication to place him among the enemy.
When he was finished, Athena looked at him oddly again. “Alright then. We might want to get to the deck.” She strode off.
“Wait!” She turned to look back at him. “Why are you doing this for me?”
“Because you didn’t see her. On the basestar, she was raving, furious. She was surrounded by her own and yet she was completely alone. She almost killed my child. And I understood why. She wished that Hera was hers. And yours. Instead you have Nicholas and Cally. She’s been replaced, but not just by me. You think about that, when I give her this message.”
“Why do you want to help her then?”
Sharon smiled and shook her head.
“Oh Chief,” she said sadly, “you really don’t understand anything about us do you?”
She turned and left.
*****
“Racetrack, I need you to do something for me.” The other pilot looked at Athena suspiciously. “I need to you to establish direct contact with the Basestar.”
“What?! Why?”
“It’s for Tyrol. He needs me to do him a favor.”
“A favor? By contacting the frakking enemy right in the middle of-“
“It’s about Boomer.”
Racetrack looked at her. “What do you mean ‘Boomer’?”
A raider flew by firing rapidly across the bow of their Raptor.
“Please just frakking do it!”
“Alright, alright! The connection’s up now.”
Sharon left the pilots chair, turning to the small screen. “Take over for me!”
She sat down to see a 6 looking up at her haughtily.
“Well hello little sister. What do the humans have you doing now? Trying to negotiate peace are we?”
Sharon glared at the blonde machine. “No. I need to speak with another 8. Galactica 8.”
“Why should I-“
There was a disturbance on the screen as the 6 was pushed out of the way.
“What is it?” Her hair was wet and she was naked. She had just been resurrected, all the pain of death and remembrance etched into her face.
“It’s the Chief. He gave me a message to give to you.”
The anger seemed to fade from her face. “Tyrol? How is he? Is he happy?” She looked almost desperately soft and fragile.
“He seems…” Sharon held back her first answer that he was fine. The truth was that when she had seen him, he had seemed lost. Lost and thinking of her sister. The Cylon within her longed to tell Boomer that the Chief was lost without her, but Sharon knew that it would only make things better for a moment. Later, it would gnaw at Boomer, knowing that it was impossible to go to him, to help him, to return to the life that she had been thrown out of. That she, Sharon Agathon had usurped.
“He needed me to tell you something.”
Boomer looked at her expectantly.
“He says that he’s sorry. He says that he wishes that he could have protected you. And that he had told you…” she paused, unsure of how to go on. “He told you that he hated you before you died. But he wants you to know that he’s never stopped loving you. That he never will stop.” Sharon looked down at her uniform when she said this. She reminded herself that she hadn’t forcibly taken this away from Boomer. That had been…well it had been God, hadn’t it?
She looked up at the small screen again. Boomer looked up, away from her. She was smiling, but tears were welling up in her eyes and beginning to run down her cheeks. She looked back at her copy. She put her hand to the screen. Athena placed her hand over hers. Boomer smiled, radiant.
Then the transmission winked out.
*****
In the CIC, Gaeta called out to the admiral.
“Admiral Adama! I’ve just picked up a communication line between a Raptor and the lead Cylon Basestar!”
The admiral turned sharply to face him. “Which Raptor?”
He paused for a moment. “Sir…it’s Athena and Racetrack."
“Cut it, immediately. And prepare to arrest Lieutenant Agathon as soon as she lands.”