The Best Man
----------------

Lieutenant Starbuck stumbled in to his quarters. He wasn't drunk; he was
still recovering from his time on the Cylon base star. He still couldn't
believe he'd survived. Cylons didn't normally take prisoners. They just
shot pilots out of the sky. But they'd captured him, and, even more
astonishing, they'd released him. Yes, it had been one of Baltar's plots,
but still ... oh well, best not to think on that too much. He preferred to
think about his reception when he'd arrived on Kobol.  Apollo had run to
him and hugged him so hard he'd barely been able to breathe. There had
been tears in his friend's eyes when he'd said, "I thought you were dead." 
That didn't explain, however, why he'd rushed into his sealing ceremony
with Serena without the presence of his best man. 

Serena. He'd tried to like her, for Apollo's sake.  But he'd been jealous,
and he'd told Apollo as much when the Captain confronted him in the
fighter bay. Not that Apollo had understood what he'd *really* been trying
to say; then again, even if he had, what did he expect Apollo to do? 
Cancel his wedding to Serena because his best friend was in love with him?
Hardly. 

And now Serena was dead, murdered by the Cylons. Kind of ironic in a way.
Apollo hadn't wanted her to become a flight cadet because of the danger.
After all, she had Boxey to think of. And in the end she hadn't died on a
mission, she'd been killed planetside, exploring one of the tombs of
Kobol. Something she'd have been doing whether she'd been a cadet or not.
He'd been very surprised to find Serena in flight training. And he'd been
extremely annoyed when she'd suddenly interrupted Apollo in the middle of
training and said, "Captain, I love you."  Apollo hadn't been particularly
pleased, either. He'd been so embarrassed he'd left before the class
was over. 

He changed out of his pressure suit and pulled on a clean uniform. He'd go
and find Athena. She'd been fond of Serena and maybe she'd want some
company while she grieved.  He'd offer to take her to dinner. 

When he arrived at Athena's quarters, however, he was surprised to find
she wasn't alone. Boxey was there, asleep. Starbuck felt so sorry for the
boy. He didn't know what had happened to Boxey's birth father, but to lose
both of his parents so young couldn't be easy. He knew that from
unfortunate experience. At least he'd have Apollo. That wasn't going to be
easy, though; Apollo had only become a parent a few days ago, and now he
was a single parent. But speaking of Apollo, why wasn't Boxey with him? He
asked that question of Athena. 

"Apollo wanted to be alone. He asked me to look after Boxey for awhile. I
guess he's not thinking too clearly right now. But he's already made it
clear that he is adopting Boxey. Not that he needs to formalize it or
anything, but he wanted to do it right. Nobody knows if Boxey's real
father was killed on Caprica or not, or even who he is. Apollo doesn't
want to be surprised by some stranger trying to take Boxey away from him
someday." 

Starbuck gave Athena a friendly peck on the cheek and headed back to his
quarters. Halfway there, he changed direction and headed toward Apollo's.
The Captain shouldn't be alone right now, no matter what he told his
sister. 

He rang the door chime, but there was no answer. But the door to Apollo's
quarters wasn't locked, so he walked right in. Apollo was sitting on his
bed, staring through the window at nothing in particular. "Apollo?" said
Starbuck softly. Apollo smiled sadly. 

"Hi, Starbuck. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"I came to see how you were doing, and to tell you that I'm sorry about
Serena." 

"At least she was happy," Apollo said for no particular reason. "Before
she died, I mean." 

"Yeees," replied Starbuck uncertainly. "And so were you. You'll always
have those memories." 

"Not really," the Captain stated.

"Not really what?" asked his confused friend.

"I wasn't really all that happy...actually, I felt kind of trapped." 

Okay, when had they suddenly crossed into another dimension? Starbuck
looked at Apollo.  "Okay, I give up. I have no idea what you are talking
about." 

"You've probably been wondering why we went ahead and got married so soon
after you - "  Apollo swallowed hard, " - went missing." 

"Well yes, sort of," answered the Lieutenant. "But we've lost people
before, and until this war ends we'll keep losing people. We can't stop
living because of it." 

"Remember that conversation we had in the viper bay the night I announced
my engagement?  When I accused you of being jealous?" 

"Yes."

"I'd never realized before then how you really feel about me," Apollo
said. 

"How I really feel about you? You mean you know? Frac," swore the blonde
man. He started to get up. Apollo placed a restraining hand on his arm. 

"Starbuck ... I feel the same way. I just didn't know that you wanted me.
And then when you went after me and pulled me out of that void - I was
ready to go to Serena and call the whole thing off.  Would have, too, if
you hadn't insisted on dragging me to that unfortunate party." 

"So then, why didn't you?" Starbuck asked, a trace of bitterness in his
voice. 

Apollo sighed. "Everything happened so fast. The pilots got sick, we had
to train the shuttle cadets to fly vipers...you saw how I reacted when
Serena told me she loved me in front of all the other trainees. And then
when it looked like you were - gone," Apollo tried to suppress a shudder,
"there didn't seem to be any reason to cancel the wedding. The person I
truly loved was - was - dead, and Serena expected me to marry her, and she
kept pushing ... at that point my brain wasn't functioning at all, and I
would've gone along with anything she suggested. It was easier that way,
to let someone else make the decisions." 

Starbuck tried to surreptitiously brush a tear from his eye. He hadn't
known what Apollo had gone through when he'd been captured. Now he did,
and he hardly dared to believe what he was hearing. "And now?" he asked. 

Apollo put an arm around him. "And now ... Serena is gone, and you're
here. I hate to sound so callous, but if I'd had to choose between the two
of you, I would have chosen you.  And if you still want me - do you,
Starbuck?" The Captain held his breath. 

"Do you even have to ask?"

Apollo breathed again. "I didn't know if you would, after I got married
when you were supposedly dead, and everything." 

"Apollo, I love you. Nothing could ever change that."

Apollo pulled his friend into an embrace. "I love you, too, Starbuck, and
I thank the Lords of Kobol that you are alive and we have a second
chance."  He kissed him. "Will you stay with me tonight?" 

"Aren't you supposed to be in mourning?"

"I prefer to think of it as celebrating life," replied the Captain. "I did
care very much for Serena, just not as a lover, more as a friend. I think
- I hope - that she would want me to move on with my life." He paused a
moment, then added, "And if anyone wants to know why you spent the night
with me, we can always tell them that we were getting quite thoroughly
drunk together. That's what I would have done if you hadn't come by
tonight. Will you stay?" 

"Yes, Apollo, I will. Tonight and every night. Do you really thank the
Lords of Kobol for me?" 

"I do." Then he added, "You know, you really are my best man."

"I guess that term just took on a new meaning."

Then Apollo pulled him down on to the bed and they stopped talking. And as
they moved away from the planet Kobol, Starbuck said a silent prayer to
the gods, thanking them for the man that he loved. 

END