"NOOOOOO!" screamed Apollo as he saw Starbuck's body fly through the air.
He ran to his friend's lifeless form and held it in his arms. There was no
breathing, no pulse. 

"You can't be dead, Starbuck! You can't be!"

But he was.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Earlier that day ....

"Starbuck, Apollo," Commander Adama approached them. "I have a mission for
the two of you." 

Adama explained that a Cylon munitions depot had been detected on a nearby
asteroid. He wanted the two warriors to go to the munitions depot, plant
charges and blow it up. 

"I won't deny that it's a highly dangerous job," Adama told them. "I won't
order you to do it." 

"Hey, what's a silly old munitions depot to your two best warriors?" joked
Starbuck. "I'm up for the job if you are, Apollo." 

Apollo shrugged. "I'm game," he said.

"Thank you," said Adama. "I knew I could count on you two."

Adama and Colonel Tigh showed the two warriors the images that their
long-range scans had picked up from the asteroid.  Fortunately, the scans
had not picked up any signs of Cylon centurions on the surface, so it was
apparently not closely guarded. They assumed that the Cylons took
transports in every few sectons to fill up, then left again. 

Apollo leaned over the table to study the star charts for this section of
space. Starbuck leaned on the table next to him to study the same section
of chart, and their arms touched. Apollo immediately felt the contact and
had to stop himself from leaping back at the almost electrical charge that
ran up his arm. This was happening more and more lately, every time
Starbuck touched him. If only there was some sign that Starbuck felt the
same way, that the touches affected him the way they affected Apollo. But
Starbuck had only ever shown interest in women. 

Being in love with Starbuck could be nerve-wracking. The Lieutenant was a
flirt. Every female that crossed his path was fair game. Apollo wondered
how Cassiopia put up with it, but Starbuck had told him that he and
Cassiopia had no commitment to each other. There was no expectation that
either of them would be exclusive. 

/If he was my lover/ thought Apollo, /I would want him to be exclusive. 
But he isn't my lover./

He forced his attention back to the charts. 

The two warriors loaded the explosive charges onto their vipers and took
off down to the asteroid. It seemed deserted. Starbuck started setting the
timers on his charges. 

"How close can we safely get?" Apollo asked.

"We have to lay the charges right on the building, Apollo. If we set the
timers for long enough, we'll be back on the Galactica before they go off.
The tin cans will never know what hit them." 

They approached the munitions warehouse with caution. The scanners hadn't
picked up any signs of Cylons on the asteroid, but they couldn't be too
careful. Once they were certain that they were alone, they started laying
the charges. 

Apollo finished first and headed back to his viper. After a few centons,
he wondered why Starbuck wasn't following him. He turned to look for him.
"Star ...?" 

Then the explosion hit.

The force of the blast set off more blasts from inside the warehouse. It
also threw Starbuck's body several meters. "NOOOOO!" screamed Apollo in
terror. He ran to where his friend had hit the ground and gathered the
lifeless body in his arms. There was no respiration, no pulse, no sign of
life. Apollo carried his friend, the man that he loved, back to their
vipers and lay him down in the sheltered spot between the two ships. 

"You can't be dead, Starbuck! You can't be!" Apollo sobbed. But he was.
Whether from the blast, or from the impact with the ground, Apollo didn't
know. 

"Please don't die, Starbuck," Apollo begged. "I love you. I never told
you. Why didn't I tell you?  Why didn't I tell you when I still had the
chance?" He berated himself for his cowardice. He hadn't told Starbuck of
his love, and now Starbuck was dead. He bent his head and kissed his
friend's cold, lifeless lips. "Come back to me, Starbuck! Please?" 

Starbuck was floating. He didn't know where he was floating, but it was
peaceful, and it felt nice. Those stupid charges. The timer had been
messed up on one of them, and he'd been fiddling with it, trying to reset
it, and had finally given it up, thrown it down and started to run for his
life. Then there was an explosion, and somehow he'd ended up here. 

Wherever here was.

He started to wonder about Apollo. Had he escaped the blast? Starbuck
hoped so. He'd die if anything happened to Apollo. He loved his friend
dearly. He'd never actually told him so, of course. Apollo was still
trying to get over the loss of his wife, Serina. So Starbuck contented
himself with flirting with whatever available women came his way, but
refrained from committing himself to anyone. Perhaps one day Apollo would
be sufficiently recovered from losing Serina for Starbuck to declare
himself. Until then, Starbuck wouldn't commit himself to anyone else. 

Where was Apollo, anyway? For that matter, where was he?

There was a light in the distance. Light was good. He started to move
towards it. 

Just then he heard a voice. Apollo? The voice was asking him to come back.
Come back to where? Wherever Apollo was, he supposed. "All right, Apollo,"
he said. He didn't know if Apollo could hear him, but if he could hear
Apollo, his friend must surely be able to hear him.  "I'm coming, Apollo!"
Goodness, Apollo sounded upset about something. Had he been hurt? He
turned to where he could hear the voice coming from. He thought he felt
something touching his lips... 

"Apollo?" What was happening? He seemed to be lying on the ground, and
Apollo was - kissing him? "Apollo, what the frack are you doing?" He tried
to get up, but every move he made hurt like Hades. His body felt like one
big bruise. 

Apollo saw Starbuck's eyes open. The Lieutenant started to sit up and
asked, "What the frack are you doing?" Starbuck was alive? Starbuck was
alive! He grabbed his friend and hugged him hard. 

"Ouch! Frack, Apollo, that hurts!"

At Starbuck's exclamation of pain, Apollo almost dropped him, but realized
that would probably hurt him more, so he carefully lay him back down on
the ground. "Starbuck ... you're alive!" 

"Well of course I'm alive, for Sagan's sake! Why wouldn't I be?" Starbuck
demanded. "And did you just kiss me?" 

"Star, you were dead. The charges must have gone off prematurely, and the
force of the blast threw you in the air. When you hit the ground, I ran to
you, but there was no pulse, you weren't breathing ... and yes, I did kiss
you." There were tears in Apollo's eyes as he told the story. 

Starbuck raised himself on one elbow, reached over and brushed the tears
from Apollo's cheek.  "Why did you kiss me?" he asked. 

"Because I love you," Apollo sobbed. "I never told you, and then you were
dead, and I realized I'd missed my chance to ever tell you. I'm sorry,
Star," he added. 

"What are you sorry for?"

"I know you aren't interested in men. You like women. Everyone knows
that." 

Starbuck struggled into a sitting position. "No, I'm not interested in
men," he said. "I am interested in one man. You. No one else. I love you,
Apollo." 

Apollo gaped in astonishment. "But all your women ..."

"Oh, Pol," Starbuck sighed. "The women were there to fill time until I was
ready to tell you how I feel. I figured you were still grieving for
Serina, since I never saw you with anyone after she died." 

Apollo shook his head. "You never saw me with anyone because there is no
one for me but you, Star. I've loved you for what feels like forever, but
I never thought you would want me." 

Starbuck carefully wrapped his arms around his love. "We're both idiots,"
he stated. Then he kissed Apollo gently. Apollo returned the kiss, also
gently, mindful of Starbuck's injuries. 

Finally, Starbuck released him. "We should get back to the Galactica," he
said, and started to stand up. Almost immediately he collapsed, and Apollo
caught him. "You'll ride in my viper," he said, and carried him to it. 

When they were back on the Galactica and Starbuck was admitted to Life
Center for his injuries - bumps and bruises, a mild concussion and a few
broken bones from being thrown to the ground so violently - Apollo had a
question for his lover. 

"What brought you back?" he wanted to know.

"Brought me back? I don't get what you mean."

"You were gone. You were *dead*. But you came back. Why?"

Starbuck smiled at him. "You called me," he said. "I could hear you
calling to me. You asked me to come back to you. I couldn't leave you,
Pol." 

Apollo carefully embraced the man he loved. "Don't ever leave me," he
begged. 

"I won't."

END