Work Text:
Title – Coping Mechanisms
Author – 
returnofpiper
Date – 1/15/06
Rating – PG
Paring – L/K
Word Count – 906
Category – romance, vignette
Archiving – BSG 2003, others just ask!
Disclaimer – Well, they’re not mine.
Warnings – This is probably set sometime before the middle of the second season. Any spoilers come in the form of “This character exists.”
Notes – This is my first fanfic in about three years. It’s good to be back. Thanks to carynsilver for the read through and the title.
She attributed it to her size. Cally never thought of herself as a person who just blended into the background, but sometimes, she just didn’t stand out on the deck. Not like the Chief, that was for sure, though Cally didn’t know if that was due to his size or his personality. Either way, it would never do for the Chief to blend in. A chief had to stand out if he was going to get his job done.
But Cally blended in. And so she saw things that she was sure many of the other deckhands missed. She especially enjoyed watching the pilots, noting the excitement and the glimpses of fear as they headed out when the Cylons appeared, and the cheers and relief when all vipers were safely back onboard.
Cally liked watching the changing relationships. Hotdog and Kat were obviously dancing around something. It was cute, really. Cally hoped they figured it out before something happened to either of them. War wasn’t the time to put things off.
But Cally didn’t just catch innocent flirtation. She also saw the rougher edges of life. She saw the faces of the pilots when they came back after a particularly rough battle. The horror of having lost a shipmate, or the terror of having almost lost a friend. Or just the stress of what they were doing, day in and day out.
It was interesting to watch how everyone dealt with the stress. She had seen a fair number of pilots burst into tears, tears of exhaustion and relief. Men and women both. Sometimes there were bursts of anger. Cally often wondered just how many walls had been punched since the war began. Cally’s favorite was the laughter though.
Laughter seemed to be Starbuck’s default reaction to a battle that had gone well. Sure, sometimes she came back a little shell shocked, a little quiet, but most of the time, she leapt out of her viper with a look of joy on her face. Starbuck certainly loved flying.
And of course, it never took long for Starbuck and Apollo to find each other after a battle. Cally loved to watch as Apollo fought the smile that would inevitably spread across his face. Sure, there were exceptions, like the times Starbuck had taken what Apollo considered an unacceptable risk, but even when the CAG stormed off, the typical Starbuck reaction was to shrug it off. And inevitably, Cally would discover them later, playing cards or sharing a meal and laughing like nothing had happened.
As Cally helped one of the newer pilots out of his helmet, she glanced around the deck, watching the pilots. There was Hotdog, smiling at Kat as she waved her arms around while telling him about the raiders she took out. The Chief was talking to Apollo, probably angry about the scorch marks on Apollo’s viper. The Chief babied those planes more than anyone. Cally’s eyes stopped on Starbuck’s viper as she watched the pilot slowly make her way down the stairs. Apparently, Kat had also spotted Starbuck and rushed over to her, immediately beginning her story, arms still flailing wildly.
Starbuck smiled at Kat and even laughed slightly, though from weeks and months of watching the pilots, Cally could see right through the smile. When Starbuck got like this, Apollo pulled her to the side and was usually able to garner a real smile, ward off any other reaction. But he was still tied up with the Chief. Cally handed the helmet to a passing specialist and walked over to Starbuck’s viper, clipboard in hand.
Starbuck’s composure was starting to break. Cally wasn’t sure if she was going to lash out in anger or burst into tears, and she didn’t know which would be worse. “Excuse me, Lieutenant?” she said, waiving her clipboard slightly. Cally hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by interrupting.
“Yeah, Cally,” Starbuck responded. “Gotta do this now, Kat.”
Kat nodded with a grin, rushing back to Hotdog, where she either started her story over or continued the story from before. That girl sure was animated.
Starbuck rubbed her eyes as she and Cally walked to the far side of the viper. “We can do this later, sir,” Cally said. “You just looked like you needed an escape,” she said, tilting her head in Kat’s direction. Cally mentally crossed her fingers.
Starbuck looked sharply at Cally, and then relief settled over her features. “Thanks, Cally,” she said with relief, closing her eyes. “I owe you one.”
Cally shook her head with a smile. “It’s just part of my job, sir.” Starbuck nodded and turned to her viper, running her hand slowly over the side, her eyes not really focusing on anything in particular. As Cally turned to go, Apollo approached, finally finished with the Chief.
“Kara?” he asked softly, walking up behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Cally was still close enough to hear Starbuck’s whispered “Lee.” Still hidden behind the viper, Starbuck turned and melted into Apollo’s waiting arms, burying her face in his neck.
Cally wasn’t about to make too much of Starbuck’s reaction. Everyone had their breaking point. Exhaustion, stress, adrenaline, they did strange things to your body. Everyone had their own method of dealing with it. Cally had always thought Starbuck’s coping mechanism was laughter. With a side of alcohol. She was wrong. Starbuck’s coping mechanism was Apollo. And she was his.