Title: At The World's End Part 3
Author: Athena13
Copyright © 1998-99
Rating: See individual chapters

Disclaimer: This is a fiction story based on the series Battlestar 
Galactica and its characters created and owned by Glen A. Larson.  This 
story is not being sold for profit and no infringement of any copyright 
rights are intended.  All unrecognized characters and plot lines are 
mine and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely 
coincidental.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2 - Encounters
Rated PG

Athena stood by herself for a few centons trying to absorb what her 
brother had just told her. 'At least Dietra and I can be roommates 
again, now that we're both on Blue,' she tried to instill positive 
thoughts by imagining living with her Academy roommate again.  

'This isn't working!' she thought a micron later. 'He's going to hate 
this! He must hate this!' The thought brought a brief smile to her face 
as she imagined the expression on Starbuck's face when he had found 
out.   

"Thinking about me?" Bojay came from behind and whispered in her ear.

"Actually, I wasn't," Athena quipped back and turned to face the 
beaming warrior. "You're looking mighty pleased with yourself."

"Just enjoying the sights in here. You are by far the most pleasant, 
but my wingmate is providing a bit of entertainment herself," Bojay 
motioned to where Sheba was holding court with Apollo.

Athena followed his finger and found Apollo again talking earnestly 
with Sheba. She looked closely and tried to gauge the situation between 
those two. Sheba had told her, briefly, of her conversation and 
subsequent kiss with her brother before his mission to the baseship. 

Bojay leaned in closer and whispered, "what is going on between those 
two? Sheba always said they were just friends and Apollo wouldn't even 
answer. Things look pretty interesting from here."  

Just then, Sheba and Apollo turned and saw Bojay whispering in Athena's 
ear. Apollo turned back to Sheba and unknowingly echoed Bojay's 
question of just a few microns ago. "What is going on with your 
wingmate and my sister. She always insists they're just friends, but 
things look a little more advanced than that right now."  

Sheba just smiled and shrugged. 'It's not my place to rat out his 
sister!'

Apollo looked at Sheba and suddenly felt awkward. He had done some 
thinking in the Celestial Dome since landing on the Galactica and had 
decided it was time to clear up what was hanging between them the best 
he could. Apollo grabbed Sheba's arm and asked her if they could go 
somewhere to speak privately. Sheba boldly looked him in the eye and 
nodded. 

The two warriors proceeded to the O Club's private room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they were alone Sheba remained silent, afraid of voicing what she 
was feeling and making a fool of herself.  

Apollo merely stood there and stared at her, obviously hoping she would 
start.  

After a brief contest of wills Apollo caved. 'She's not going to make 
this easy, guess I'll have to fumble my way through this.'  

"Sheba, we've been, well, friends for most of our lives, but until you 
came to the Galactica we'd never been close. We probably haven't been 
as close as we could be because of everything that's happened over the 
past sectars. I admit that a lot of it probably has to do with my 
feelings about Serina," Apollo said, still avoiding direct eye contact.

"Thank you for saying that Apollo. I never meant to imply that you 
should forget Serina, or not love her, just...I don't really know what 
I mean to say," Sheba broke off confused. 'Do I want him to love me? Is 
that what this is about?' Sheba wondered, still afraid of her own 
confused feelings.  

She knew that Apollo's absorption with Serina's memory drove her crazy.  
She knew his need to take on every one-way mission scared her to her 
bones. She knew that she found him attractive and cared about him a 
great deal. But love? She felt her heart start pounding at the thought.

Apollo caught the question in Sheba's eyes, and inexplicably felt 
comfortable with her again. 'She's just as confused as I am!'  

More than anything Apollo had been afraid that Sheba was trying to push 
him to a place he wasn't ready to go, but if she was just as confused 
they could wade through it together. 

"Would you do me the honor of being my date for this evening's 
celebration?" he impulsively asked.

Sheba looked at him, both bemused and speechless. 

"Is that a yes? Because I think that's a yes," Apollo stated with 
feigned certainty as he took her arm and linked it with his.  

Sheba looked down at their linked arms and back up to Apollo's face, 
obviously uncertain about what had just occurred. Apollo placed his 
hand on her cheek. "I couldn't stand you when we were kids, but I 
always thought you were the most beautiful girl I knew. And now?  
You're the most beautiful woman I know and I'm learning to appreciate 
your other qualities. I can't promise where this will lead, but I 
promise that I will try and if I seem about to turn tail and run, 
remind me that I'm not Starbuck," Apollo explained his intentions.

"I don't think Starbuck is Starbuck anymore either from what I saw in 
the landing bay," Sheba responded with a smile before her mien turned 
serious. "I don't need promises Apollo, I just really want to go on 
this mission with you."  Sheba was stunned by the quick turn of events.  
She had never imagined this would happen so suddenly.  

'Apollo and I are going on a date, a romantic date!' her mind screamed 
like an adolescent being asked out by their first crush. It was only 
fitting, she did have a crush on him since she was an adolescent. "Now 
let's go enjoy the celebration, hero."

Apollo smiled and led her back to the party.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Athena stood alone at the bar sipping her Baharii trying to process the 
fact that she would be flying with Starbuck. She knew she had 
progressed a long way since the Destruction and she was long over their 
ill-fated romance. They had even started to forge a tentative 
friendship in the last yahren, but wingmates would force an intimacy 
she wasn't sure they were ready for. 

She trusted his skills as a warrior, she had no doubts in that area. 
She knew she would be in good company and he would teach her a lot, but 
she knew he was going to be angry about losing Apollo as a wingmate and 
being forced to "watch" her. Again. An angry Starbuck was never 
something she liked to deal with, it happened rarely but when it did 
she stayed out of his way. She shivered at her own thoughts.

Athena suddenly felt a body pushed up against her, interrupting the 
downward spiral of her thoughts. She was startled when she turned and 
saw Starbuck grinning sheepishly at her.

"Sorry, about that. Quite a crush here to celebrate my heroism," he 
whispered in her ear.

Athena felt another shiver make its way down her spine as she felt his 
breath in her ear. "No problem," she looked up at him, trying to gauge 
his reaction to the new assignment. From the content look on his face 
she surmised that her brother must have "neglected" to tell him.

"You usually do draw a crowd," Athena commented weakly. No way was she 
going to tell him. As Tigh had told her, it wasn't her place either.
     
Starbuck shrugged. "Actually, I'd rather be playing a peaceful game of 
pyramid somewhere."

"A peaceful game of pyramid? Since when is a game with you peaceful?" 
Athena raised her eyebrows.  

Starbuck just grinned. "A guy can dream."

"You would hate a peaceful game Starbuck, that would mean you had 
nothing to gloat about. How about I just compliment you on your 
precision flying and we leave your fantasies alone?" she teased.
     
Starbuck put his hand on her arm, once again glad that they had settled 
into an easy friendship in the recent past. "I think that would be 
allowable," Starbuck preened comically. "Apollo mentioned something to 
me about your flying, by the way."

Athena stiffened, suddenly sure that Apollo had told him. "What did my 
brother tell you about my flying?"

"He just mentioned that he was impressed with your viper simulation 
scores and your performance on your patrols, of course it was under my 
superior tutelage," Starbuck shrugged.

Athena wasn't sure whether she was relieved that Starbuck hadn't been 
told yet.

"You two have been standing here and talking civilly for centons and I 
haven't heard a single claim that you're getting sealed," Boomer came 
up behind Starbuck.

"Well, it's been nice talking to you Starbuck, Boomer. I got things to 
do, people to see," Athena waved and walked off.

Starbuck looked at her with squinted eyes as she walked off.

"What's up?" Boomer asked his friend with raised eyebrows.

Starbuck shook his head. "She seemed uncomfortable about something. Is 
something going on I should know about?"

"Not thinking of pursuing her again? That might have scared her?"  
Boomer shrugged.

"Ha, ha. Seriously," Starbuck became suspicious about his friend's 
evasiveness.

Boomer knew about the impending assignment, no way he was going to be 
the one to tell him. "Ask Apollo," he waved in the direction of their 
Captain and slipped off when Starbuck turned to look for Apollo.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Celestial Dome

"So, do you think Earth is in this solar system" Bojay asked Athena who 
was sitting in front of him, clasped in his embrace.

"No, I don't buy into that theory, but only time will tell," Athena 
shrugged.

"What about that signal Apollo and the others recorded?"  

"I've seen the signal and I agree with Apollo's opinion that it was an 
ancient Colonial vehicle, but it could just be an ancient Colonial 
signal. For that matter it could even be an ancient Earth signal. I 
just don't think it's in this system. For on thing, by the weakness of 
the signal it appears to have traveled far. There is also no reason to 
think that Earth's technology has lagged so far behind ours that we are 
seeing a contemporary signal. For that matter, it still hasn't been 
officially ruled out that it wasn't a Cylon ruse to lure us into this 
system or this direction. We just happened to destroy their baseship, 
but there are probably more," Athena lay her head back onto Bojay's 
shoulder.

"Well, Tigh and Adama think it's a Cylon lure, but Sheba says Apollo 
thinks it's a coincidence that the Cylons were here," Bojay pointed 
out.

"I do trust my brothers instincts. It may well be too understated to be 
a Cylon strategy, to play on our emotions with a signal that we were 
not likely to have even to picked up considering its frequency. I just 
still don't think it's from Earth, or at least a nearby or contemporary 
Earth."  

Bojay nodded. He was still impressed with Athena's ability to disagree 
with her father and brother. His wingmate Sheba still had problems 
disagreeing with the great Commander Cain, her father. Also unlike 
Sheba, Athena always seemed uncomfortable with strangers pointing out 
her relationship with the Commander. Where Sheba would be proud of her 
relation, Athena would brush the conversation on to another route. 

"Actually, I agree with you. Though it's hard not to hope that this 
journey was at an end. I would kill to enjoy a sunny cycle planetside!  
Or watch a sunset or a moonrise...or any number of natural wonders we 
live without. I am glad we pulverized that baseship, thanks to your 
brother and his wingmate," Bojay said, remembering all the things they 
had lost because of those "tin cans."

"It's better not to dwell on what we can't control. It's the things we 
can control that we should concentrate on," Athena winced at the 
reference to Starbuck as Apollo's wingmate. She didn't want to ruin 
their evening.

Bojay squeezed Athena in his arms. "Sounds like good advice to me."

~~~~~~~~

"Well Apollo. Is there anything you should tell me?" Starbuck asked his 
friend.

"Just that I stopped off at the Life Center before to check on the 
wounded and Cassi said she'd meet you here in a few centons," Apollo 
looked around and spotted Sheba. A smile spread across his face as he 
watched her talking to some other pilots.

Starbuck looked over at what held Apollo's gaze and grinned. "About 
time," he told his friend.

"What?" Apollo looked back at Starbuck.

"Sheba. Somehow I don't think that development is what had your sister 
nervous," Starbuck told him. "Boomer said you had some news for me."

Apollo sighed. He couldn't avoid it forever. Starbuck was going to be 
angry enough that he hadn't been consulted, or warned. "Yeah, not here. 
Let me tell Sheba we're stepping out for a few centons," Apollo waved 
Starbuck towards the door of the Club. "I'll meet you outside."

"That man knows how to kill a party," Starbuck finished his drink, put 
the cup on the bar and headed for the door. He had a strong feeling he 
wasn't going to like this.

~~~~~~~

Apollo met Starbuck outside and asked him to go for a walk. Starbuck 
looked at him curiously but agreed. 

After a few centons Starbuck stopped walking. "What is going on 
Apollo?" he demanded.

"Tomorrow Colonel Tigh is going to announce my promotion to Major," 
Apollo informed his friend.

"Congratulations," Starbuck pounded his friend of the back.

"Boomer is going to become Captain, leader of the Blue," Apollo looked 
over at his friend, searching for a reaction.

"He deserves it. He is the better military man. I don't want that 
responsibility, if that's what you're concerned about. It's going to be 
strange having a major and a captain in the Squadron," Starbuck 
began to say when he suddenly stopped talking.

"I won't be flying with Blue anymore. Not regularly anyway. You'll be 
getting a new wingmate," Apollo informed him.

"I knew it! I knew when you asked me to fly with her! She knew and she 
didn't tell me, this is just great!" Starbuck lifted his arms in the 
air and ranted.

"I just told her tonight. She probably didn't want to be the one to 
break it to you. That or she still doesn't believe me. She thought it 
was a joke," Apollo said calmly.

"Cassi is going to love this, after everything that happened with those 
damn rumors," Starbuck said in frustration.

Apollo looked away and made a face. Cassi's attempts to manipulate his 
friend were starting to get on his nerves in a big way. Not that he 
would ever tell Starbuck that, yet anyway. "You weren't exactly a big 
help sneaking around to spend time with Athena," Apollo pointed out.

Starbuck visibly calmed down. "She's my friend Apollo. We couldn't 
exactly allow ourselves to be seen in public with all those rumors and 
Cassi's...it's not like anything was going on."

"You just made it look that way. I swear, I don't know why my sister 
goes along with your dumb ideas," Apollo smirked.

"It's my irresistible charm," Starbuck grinned. "It was only a couple 
of times, we didn't think it was any big deal. Then _you_ 'volunteered' 
me to fly with her. Oh Lords, and now I'm going to be her wingmate. 
Damn it Apollo! I don't want to be a guardian out there. Why can't you 
continue to fly!" Now Starbuck was angry.

"I'm not going to have the time," Apollo shook his head. "If we hadn't 
been in this situation I probably wouldn't get to fly at all. There was 
other pilots waiting their turn, we need to give them all the chances 
we can to practice.  Maybe when we start making new vipers in the fleet 
I'll get to fly regularly again," Apollo tried to be conciliatory.

Starbuck couldn't argue against that logic, but he wasn't quite done 
being angry. "So why me as her wingmate? You could have easily assigned 
her to someone else, put Boomer and I together. Why me? Heck, you could 
have assigned her to Boomer!"

"You refuse to see it, but you two fly well together. Yeah, she's still 
a little rough around the edges compared to your skill level, but you 
two are in tune. She can anticipate some of your more crazy stunts. She 
doesn't have that with Boomer or anyone else. And I trust you to fly 
with her," Apollo reminded him.

Starbuck looked away with a frown. He wasn't sure what was making him 
angrier - losing his wingmate, having to fly with a novice or 
anticipating Cassi's reaction.

Apollo placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It will all work out," 
he told him. "Besides, I thought you two were friends?" 

Starbuck glared at his friend for a few microns before turning and 
going back to the party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside the O Club

Starbuck and Cassi were holding hands as they snuck out of the 
Officer's Club celebration. "Starbuck, you're not supposed to leave a 
celebration when you're the guest of honor," Cassi laughed as Starbuck 
dragged her down the hall.

Starbuck stopped suddenly and Cassi plowed into him unable to stop.  
"If you really mean that Cassi I could point out how often 'Captain' 
Apollo sneaks away from his own parties. But I know you don't really 
mean it," Starbuck grabbed Cassi's hand again and started to pull her 
down the corridor again, not waiting for an answer. Cassi's laughter 
giving him all the answer he needed.

"So where are we going Starbuck? My quarters are the other way?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise."

"Please tell me you're not taking me to be alone in a launch tube 
again?"
 
Starbuck stopped again and again Cassi plowed into his back.

"That's not even funny Cassi, not funny at all," Starbuck said with an 
obviously phony expression of seriousness.

"Why, you didn't appreciate my treatment for your steam burns?" Cassi 
asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

Starbuck swung around and pulled the unsuspecting Med Tech into his 
arms. "If you want to play patient-Med Tech then maybe we should head 
to the Life Center," he whispered seductively in her ear. Cassi 
burrowed herself further into his arms and he tightened his hold.  

"I was scared Starbuck," she said quietly from the depths of his arms.

"I know, so was I," he admitted touching his lips to her hair. "Cass," 
Starbuck began and broke off uncertainly. She pulled back and looked at 
his face, silently encouraging him to continue. "Remember when I told 
you that I couldn't think of committing myself to a woman until we find 
Earth?" he asked, pushing away a flash of memory of a scene in a locker 
room and another woman. "If I could, if I did, when we do," Starbuck 
said awkwardly, "it would be you Cassiopeia. I care about you a great 
deal."

Cassi blinked back the tears that came to her eyes at his words. She 
knew it was the best he could do, that he was giving all that he could.  
She appreciated his effort. It had to be enough, especially since she 
still didn't know if she could commit herself to a life of waiting for 
him to die. She leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. 

"I know what you are trying to say Lieutenant. Me too. So where are we 
going anyway?" Cassi veered the conversation back to its earlier 
frivolity.

"Come on, this way woman," Starbuck pulled Cassi's hand and continued 
barreling down the corridor. His news could wait.

END CHAPTER 2