The Pilots

By The Twin Goddess
BSG-XF Crossover
Rating: NC-17 (hopefully)
Classification:  Mulder/Athena Starbuck/Cassi  
Scully/Apollo; Eventual MSR, SB/Athena Apollo/Sheba
Disclaimer: This is a fiction story based on the series 
Battlestar Galactica and its characters created and owned 
by Glen A. Larson and The X-Files and its characters 
created by Chris Carter and owned by CC and Fox Networks. 
This story is not being sold for profit and no infringement 
of any copyright rights are intended.  All unrecognized 
characters and plot lines are ours and any resemblance to 
any person living or dead is purely coincidental.
Notes: This is to be an ongoing story worked on and posted 
over a series of months or more, depending upon the muse 
and the fans (if we get any!).

Part I 

Chapter 1 - The Set Up (Day 1)

	F.B.I. Special Agent Fox Mulder walked into the 
darkness of his apartment.  He hadn't seen much that day as 
it was and he didn't see any reason to break his week-long 
losing streak.  He tossed down his overnight bag, trying to 
forget he had just bothered to leave town in the first 
place.  This was a trip he'd prefer to forget.  Not that 
his partner would let him forget.  Oh, she wouldn't say 
anything, she would just look at him in that way she had 
that told him he'd better not drag her on a useless trip 
for at least another month.  This trip, Mulder thought with 
a wince, was dumber than most.  Someone in North Dakota had 
reported seeing lights in the sky every new moon for the 
last six months.  So, Mulder had dragged his partner, Dr. 
Dana Scully, off to the wilderness to check it out.  

	'Mental note: trips to the forest never work out!'  
Mulder sighed to himself as he walked into his underused 
bedroom and began changing.  Tossing his now useless parka 
onto the floor, not thinking about how it had gotten those 
tears, he began to change into sweats and a T-shirt.  

	After he was done he wandered from the bedroom into 
the still dark apartment to the kitchen where he looked 
vainly for something to eat.  He closed the refrigerator 
with a bang, out-dated milk and moldy pizza not tempting 
his palate.  He grabbed the phone to call in an order to 
the local chinese take-out, his photographic memory not 
requiring him to look at the menu he kept around solely for 
Scully's use. 

        "An hour," he muttered to himself as he headed into 
the living room.  He flopped down on his black leather 
couch and grabbed the remote off the coffee table cluttered 
with psychology, science and the "Lone Gunman" magazines.  

	He switched on the television and rewound the tape in the 
VCR.  He had set it to tape his favorite science fiction 
program from the Sci-Fi channel while he was out of town.  
Contrary to Scully's beliefs, he did own videotapes where 
the actors kept their clothes on.  "Battlestar Galactica" 
was his secret passion.  'Although Maren Jensen could have 
starred in some of my other favorite viewing genre,' he 
laughed to himself, 'and she probably did in some of my 
college fantasies!'

        Mulder sighed happily as he saw it was one of his 
favorite two-parters "The War of the Gods".  He sometimes 
fancied he was a bit like Apollo, a know-it-all seeking the 
truth behind Count Iblis and getting his butt kicked trying 
to save the heroine, who didn't really need saving anyway.  
"Of course Scully would probably think I was more like 
Starbuck," he grimaced until he realized that would mean a 
clear field for Athena since she was Apollo's sister.  
Incest was probably the one sister issue he never had, he 
admitted to himself with a bitter twist of his lips.

	Mulder lay back on the couch as the opening credits 
rolled by and began to concentrate on the program.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The glowing lights. The noise. That high pitched sound that 
he swore would break his eardrums. The figures in white.  

"Who are you?" he would ask repeatedly. 

The response was always the same. Silence. 

"Are you the Lords of Kobol? Are you members of the 
Thirteenth Tribe? Can you tell us where Earth is?" he 
implored of his host or hosts. 

Again, silence. 

"They cannot help you. They will not help you." The speaker 
moved forward into the light, attired in an enveloping 
white robe. A sinister smile on his face and the ever-
present Morley cigarette in his hand.  Iblis.
 
"Why are you here? What do you have to do with all of 
this?" He railed against the powerlessness he felt in 
Iblis' presence. "Why can't you just leave us alone?!" he 
cried again. 

"Because I am your true leader," Iblis hissed. "There is no 
Thirteenth Tribe. There are no Lords of Kobol. Only I can 
lead you to find what you seek.  I like you Mulder, I like 
her too. That's why she will be returned to you." 

"My sister, you have my sister?" Mulder could feel his 
heart racing.  "What happened to my sister? How do you know 
what we seek? You want to destroy my people!  You can't be 
trusted."

"I am your people. I am you.  Your sister is mine.  She 
will be mine too."

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

	Lt. Mulder awoke abruptly, bolted upright and narrowly 
missed hitting his head on the bunk above him. He was 
covered in a cold sweat and chills ran through him as he 
heard those last words still ringing in his head.  He 
dragged his hand down his face as his heartbeat returned to 
some semblance of normalcy.  It was the same dream he had 
been having for as long as he could remember.  Although 
they had increased in frequency.  He had never been able to 
figure out why he had the dream or what it meant.  But ever 
since Count Iblis, the embodiment of his dream, had 
appeared, the dreams had increased in frequency - from 
every few sectars to every night!

	Some lectures he had recently attended on the science 
ship had given him the idea that maybe it was related to 
actual events and not just the trauma of his sister's death 
when they were kids. For a while he had been considering 
undergoing hypno-regression to help him recover any 
memories which might underlie the nightmare.  After this 
last nightmare he decided he had nothing to lose.  He 
checked his chronometer and decided he had better make an 
appointment now, he had half a centar to get showered and 
to the launch bay.  He approached the com-unit and 
requested that the system connect him with Doctor Werber's 
assistant, Reidel, to make an appointment.

	"Hello Lt. Mulder," said the smiling brunette on the 
com-screen. "What can we do for you?"

	"Reidel you are looking lovely, as always," he 
returned her smile.

	"Now if I could believe that the only reason you were 
calling me was to shower me with compliments," she sighed.

	"Only one of the reasons," he flirted unconsciously, 
"I need to make an appointment with Dr. Werber."

	"And the reason for this visit?" she inquired.

	"I need him to perform a hypno-regression on me. I 
haven't been sleeping well and it is really affecting my 
daily routine," he confessed.

	"Nothing serious I hope?" she asked as she checked her 
scheduling screen.

	"I'm sure it's nothing," he replied, not believing his 
own words.

	"I have an opening during the third centar of light 
cycle tomorrow. Will that do?" she asked.

	"That will do just fine. I look forward to your 
beautiful face being the first thing I see," he teased.

	"Oh Mulder," she laughed and shook her head. "I'll see 
you tomorrow." The com-unit went dark.

	"Well that's done," he thought as walked to get 
cleaned and dressed for patrol.  He was relieved that he 
might get some answers and yet felt a sense of 
apprehension.  Maybe he didn't want the answers that he 
would find, why else would it have lain dormant for so long 
in his subconscious?

~~~~~~~~~~

	As he approached the launch bay, Lt. Mulder 
contemplated whether or not to share the newest facet of 
his dream with his wingmate. His lack of sleep had caused 
him to doze off a couple of times during patrols outside 
scheduled sleep periods in the last few sectons.  His 
wingmate had asked him about it numerous times, but despite 
their close friendship he had been hesitant to tell her of 
his "weakness."  Until she had touched his face and 
expressed her tender concern, that is.  As always, he 
couldn't deny her when she turned those baby blues on him, 
and well, touched him.

	Athena, however, hadn't been the only one to question 
him about his obvious fatigue. Captain Apollo, their 
squadron Commander and Athena's brother, had expressed his 
concern and warned that he better resolve his problems, 
yesterday.  

	The most notable and unexpected interest, however, had come 
from Lt. Starbuck.  Apollo's wingmate and Athena's ex.  Starbuck 
had warned him, after the last mid-patrol nap, that he had 
better not make it habit.

	**"Look Mulder," he threatened, "If you are going to 
be her wingmate, I would appreciate it if you would stay 
awake. I can only tell you how upset I would be if she got 
dusted by the cylons because you were catching up on your 
beauty sleep."**

	Mulder had thought about telling the brash Lieutenant 
to mind his own business, but deep down he knew that 
Starbuck was right. He was jeopardizing both their lives by 
not being alert.  All the more reason to inform Athena that 
he had taken steps to remedy the problem.  And perhaps find 
out if she had given tacit approval to Starbuck's apparent 
renewed interest in her well-being.  Since their discussion 
of a few sectons ago about whether to investigate a deeper 
relationship, Mulder fervently hoped Athena wasn't 
flattered by Starbuck's recent hovering.  Mulder had given 
Athena time to get comfortable with their feelings and, 
despite his recent sleeping problems, he still hoped she 
was ready for them to act and he hadn't lost his 
opportunity due to Starbuck trying to worm his way back 
into her life.

	Mulder shook the cobwebs out of his head and hurried 
to meet Athena in the launch bay.

~~~~~~~~~~~

	 "Hey gorgeous!" he greeted her cheerfully. If he 
pretended he was awake, maybe it would become a reality. 

	"Hey yourself," she replied, eyebrow raised in 
curiosity. "You're awfully chipper today.  Are you trying 
to pretend that there aren't dark circles under your eyes?" 
she asked quietly.

	"Maybe," he evaded, quickly turning his face away to 
check his viper.

	"Oh, don't give me that," Athena berated gently, 
coming up closer behind him.

	"Athena, my dear, you are the only love of my life, I 
would never try to mislead you," he joked, a sweeping 
gesture of his hand to his heart.

	"Oh sure, love of your life," she laughed, "that's why 
you've been falling asleep on me during patrol."

	"Ah, but I'm always dreaming of you," he teased.

	"Whatever," she blushed, knowing from prior 
discussions that what he said might actually be true. "As 
long as you do your dreaming during rest period or sleep 
periods I'll be satisfied.  I'm worried about you Mulder," 
she said gently as she put her hand on his arm.  "I hate to 
see you like this.  Not to mention the fact that it's 
dangerous out there to be off guard. I've given up my sleep 
period on patrol, but I can't keep up this pace forever. We 
need to get some answers."

	"Yea, I know," he grumbled, "I've a.... already been 
warned."

	"By Apollo, I know," Athena nodded.
 
	He laughed. "Oh, not just by our squadron commander.  
Lt. Starbuck also had something to say about it," Mulder 
watched Athena intently for a reaction.

	Athena put her hands on her hips, obviously annoyed. 
"What do you mean Starbuck? What did he say to you?"

	Mulder smiled, she didn't look flattered.

	"Well!" she demanded.

	"You're so cute when you're angry," he commented. He 
started climbing into the cockpit of his viper. 

	"Mulder!" she cried, "I'm serious! What did he say?"

	"Oh, you know... the usual," he alluded, still 
grinning. He knew he was really pushing her buttons, but he 
was too relieved that she was angry instead of blushing and 
pleased. 

	Since Mulder had started to power up his viper and 
turn it towards the launch tube Athena realized she needed 
to get to her own. As she turned, she shouted, "This 
conversation isn't finished Mulder!"

	Mulder just laughed and whispered, "Of that, I have no 
doubt." He couldn't help but pride himself on the fact that 
he had successfully dodged the topic of his dreams.  For 
once he wanted him and Athena to enjoy each other's company 
as they had before "Count Iblis" and those lights had 
appeared.

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

	As they launched into the first centons of their 
patrol, neither spoke.

	Even though he knew that possible answers were 
imminent, Mulder couldn't help but play amateur 
psychologist on himself. Why was Count Iblis inhabiting his 
dreams and why did they all seem so real? And, even more 
puzzling, why was he the only one having dreams like these?

	He had spoken to a few of those who had been aboard 
the Ship of Lights hoping they might have seen or heard 
something that might explain or corroborate the dreams that 
seemed to have been triggered by the abductions of his 
squadron mates.  But the returned pilots claimed to have 
little or no memory of what had happened to them when they 
were missing and most didn't want to know.  

	Of all his interviewees, Lt. Sheba had been the most 
receptive to his questions. He had confided to her his 
dreams, or rather nightmares, which disturbed his rest 
cycles and had hoped she might be able to share some 
insight. Alas, her memories of the ship and the events on 
the Red Planet had faded to vague images, but she had 
suggested that he join her and attend Dr. Werber's lecture 
on sleep disturbance and dream interpretation.  

	Mulder suddenly realized that he hadn't been paying 
attention and quickly turned to his scanner, hoping that it 
would only show his wingmate beside him. Noticing the 
silence, he called out, "Hey partner, you still with me 
over there?"

	No response.

	'The viper isn't flying itself,' he thought. "Lieutenant?"

	"Huh... yeah Mulder... I'm here," she responded, 
clearly distracted.

	She had been pondering the previous discussion of 
Starbuck's words of warning to Mulder.  She thought about 
having a little talk with "Lt. Butt-in-ski" when she 
returned from patrol.  If Mulder was to be reprimanded for 
his performance, it should be by Apollo or Colonel Tigh.  
Starbuck had no business talking to her wingmate that way. 
'And since when does he care what happens to me anyway?' 
she thought.  She was getting tired of his recent behavior 
which consisted of following her around the Galactica and 
now, apparently, talking with her friends.

	"I did say I wanted to continue our conversation," she 
added.

	Mulder started to feel a bit guilty that he had left 
her hanging. "I'm sorry Athena... I didn't mean to get you 
all worked up," he apologized. "All Starbuck said was that 
he'd be angry if anything happened to you because I had 
fallen asleep. I actually thought it was rather, uh, 
sweet."

	"Uh huh... real sweet," she replied in a blunt 
sarcastic tone.  She had good reason to be suspicious of 
Starbuck's attention after all.

	Mulder heard her let out a deep breath and smiled.  
'She's not falling for his pursuit,' he thought relieved.  
Mulder thought that Starbuck had been a fool to give her up 
in the first place. 'Cassi's cute,' he thought.  "But 
there's just no comparison.  His loss just might be my 
gain," he muttered.

	"What did you say?" Athena broke into his train of 
thought.

	"Huh... oh... nothing," he mumbled incoherently, 
realizing that he had been thinking aloud. "Actually, I did 
have something I wanted to talk to you about."

	"Shoot," she invited, smiling as she glanced down at 
her laser button.  'Hope he didn't take that literally,' 
she joked to herself.

	"I made an appointment for hypno-regression tomorrow," 
Mulder said. "Hopefully that will help put a stop to these 
dreams and I can finally get some sleep."

	"So Dr. Scully didn't find anything after examining 
you?"

	"Since she examined me shortly after the ship of 
lights and Iblis had gone we both thought that the dreams 
were a normal reaction and that they would pass. She can't 
really examine my head the way hypno-regression can," he 
explained.

	"I don't know, I have a feeling she managed to see 
into Apollo's head pretty well,"  Athena observed.  
"Considering how beautiful she is, I imagine he rather 
enjoyed his examinations."  A knowing smile passed over 
Apollo's sister's lips.  She knew what her brother liked.

	"Yeah, well, um," Mulder didn't know how to respond.  
He knew he was in love with Athena and since admitting it 
to her he wasn't sure if he should admit that he had found 
the Doctor pretty attractive himself.

	Athena suppressed her laughter, feeling some remorse 
for taking such a pot-shot at her wingmate who was clearly 
afraid to agree with her. But he deserved it for fishing 
around for her feelings about Starbuck.  If the man didn't 
realized she was long over Starbuck and in love with him, 
well, he deserved to be teased for his insecurity.

	"I don't think anything lasting will come of it, 
though" she admitted. "It's only a matter of time before he 
realizes that he truly loves Sheba.  Or lets himself feel 
it."

	"The question is whether Sheba is willing to wait that 
long," Mulder welcomed the change in subject.

	"Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, but if he 
makes her wait too long then he doesn't deserve her," 
Athena said frankly.  "I know he needs time to recover from 
losing Serina, but flaunting an affair with another woman 
may be too much for Sheba's pride to take, no matter how 
much she loves him."

	"Sounds like someone speaking from experience," Mulder 
observed.

	Athena quickly changed the subject, not wanting to 
discuss ancient history.  "You looked kind of upset before, 
have your dreams changed again?"

	"A little.  They involve the same images, the same 
sounds, and yet...," he paused, "they have become more 
intense. I wake up feeling more and more helpless, like I 
have the power to do something but, I don't know what it 
is."  Mulder hated to admit his helplessness, even to 
Athena.  'But she deserves to know what she's dealing 
with,' he admitted.

	"Damn Mulder," she exclaimed, "I wish I could be of 
more help to you."

	"Well, maybe if you were there to hold me at night...," 
Mulder tried to make light of her self-flagellation.

	Athena smiled at Mulder's selfless turning of the 
conversation.  It's what she loved about him, he always 
tried to make light of his distress and not worry her.  Of 
course it was also frustrating when one was trying to have 
a serious conversation.  "I'll drop it if you want, but 
would you let me to come with you to Dr. Werber's?"

	"No, that's not necessary.  I'm sure I'll be fine.  
You have school anyway at that time."

	"I can find a substitute for one cycle.  If you need 
me I'm there."

	"What would I do without you Athena?" Mulder asked 
rhetorically, touched by the concern this woman always 
showed him.

	"You'd have another wingmate that didn't harass you so 
much," she replied self-deprecatingly.

	"Athena, you don't harass me," he said. "You keep me 
in check."

	"Mulder," she slowly warned, unused to Mulder 
expressing his sentiments so openly.  She thought it must 
be exhaustion. "Stop flattering me. I'll get used to it."

	"You should get used to it," he proclaimed. "You're a 
beautiful, smart, sexy woman and you deserve to be 
complimented everyday."

	"Mulder!" she felt her face flush.

	Then she heard Mulder start to laugh.

	Accepting that she had been had, she said, "Very funny 
Mulder... very funny."

	"Okay, okay," he conceded, his laughter subsiding. 
"I'm sorry...I do mean what I said, but well it's not 
really _us_ to be so mushy.  I'll stop, for now.  So how 
about dinner tonight?"

	"What kind of dinner did you have in mind?" a demure 
grin revealing curiosity over his intentions.  He had been 
more than patient while they, she, considered whether to 
take the next step in their relationship and possibly 
jeopardize their partnership.

	"Oh the kind where you eat, drink, enjoy each other's 
company, engage in some fascinating conversation, get lost 
in each other's eyes... that kind of dinner," he replied, 
his voice now a bit softer.  "I think we can do it Athena, 
if anyone can it's us.  You know that."

	Athena closed her eyes as she internalized Mulder's 
confidence.  He had said those words sectons ago and had 
clearly not had a change of heart.  Maybe it was time for 
her to take a risk.  They had known each other for yahrens 
and nothing had ever interfered with their friendship.  Not 
even romantic relationships with jealous lovers.  "I would 
love to have dinner with you Mulder." 

	Mulder wisely refrained from replying, but her 
passion-roughened voice had filled him with a renewed 
energy as he turned his attention back to work.  He was 
sure he wasn't going to fall asleep now, but thought he 
might not be able to get his voice to work properly right 
then.  He couldn't wait to take her in his arms back on the 
Galactica and seal their tacit agreement to move forward.  
Maybe even share another kiss?

	"I'd like that too," Athena's whisper came over his 
com.  Mulder smiled.  Once again she had effortlessly 
followed his train of thought.  Their first and only kiss 
had happened accidentally, well unexpectedly, sectons ago 
and both were clearly looking forward to a repeat.  Mulder 
gave himself a mental slap, although his smile didn't 
disappear, and began calibrating his scans.