one last spammity thing. BSG fic, what is not Daybreakverse, except it sort of is.

[lyssie]

disclaimer: not mine.
rating: PG
genre: AU, gen
characters: Kara, Tyrol, Boomer
set: post-Revelations
notes: this is... not-Daybreakverse, but sort of, because there are Cylon Pilots and stuff. It's a bit I had sitting around that I thought I'd dust off and finish off, as it could. I am not titling it, at the moment, as it might end up a chapter of something longer.

As always, I blame palmetto

"Chief." Kara repeated the title two or three times as she poked around the pile of scrap slowly turning into a metal framework, "Whatcha doin', Chief?"

Galen ignored her. Most of those left on Galactica had learned to stop calling him that--most had done it out of reflex, anyway. But Starbuck liked that it annoyed him. In her own special way, it was probably a sign of affection.

"C'mon, Chief. You can tell me." Starbuck dropped down next to him and leaned over to stare at the cables he was zip-tying into place. She gave every indication of staying in his way if he didn't answer.

"It's a Blackbird." He didn't add the 'sir'.

"You're building me a new one?" Grinning, she reached up to caress the frame, "Hey, baby. I know you don't know me yet, but you're gonna love me."

"We're not building it for you."

The voice pulled Starbuck to her feet as Sharon Valerii emerged from behind the pile of scrap, carrying components they were going to use in the navigation system.

"What the frak are you doing here?"

Boomer rolled her eyes. Escaping with Helo and D'Anna had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now, she wasn't so sure. "What's it look like, Starbuck? Look, Kara--"

"Gonna try and tell me how you're not all the same, and you're an individual, and you're sorry, Boomer?" Kara sneered. Athena hadn't tried it, not really. Even now, Kara wasn't sure how she felt about that. Anger and mockery was an easier refuge than feeling betrayal, though.

"Starbuck--"

"Well, you lost that right when you shot the old man."

"I didn't know!" Boomer sounded like she was tired of having to explain herself. She paused and repeated, sounding almost surprised to be defending herself. "I didn't know."

Some of Kara's anger dulled and she looked away, almost ashamed with herself. Kara Thrace, noticing her treatment of others was new. Like knowing the way to Earth was new and coming back with her viper shiny and clean and un-scarred was new. "How many times have we had this conversation?"

"With me? None. I'm not her--"

"Yeah. Guess you aren't." Starbuck shoved her hands in her pockets, not willing to tell Boomer that they'd only had this conversation in Kara's head, and looked down at Tyrol, who'd remained silent during the exchange. "This is new for you, isn't it."

Galen gave her a strange look and laughed softly, "It's new for all of us, Starbuck."

"Why the frak are you here, Boomer?"

"Punchline's doing a long recon with Hotdog." Setting her parts down, Boomer began sorting them out. "You can either help or go the frak away."

"You know how to build a blackbird, just from being an Eight?" Starbuck scoffed. she wasn't pissed anymore, just curious. In a way, finding Cylons to be more human than the humans she knew was disconcerting. The more she was around the Cylon pilots, the more they differentiated, the more she saw it, though. They were as human as the humans, and that felt wrong. Though it was sort of comforting.

"Nope. But I know how to use this," the diagnostic tool beeped, "to tell me which of these have burnt-out capacitors."

Starbuck snorted, but shrugged, "Chief, next time you want to start building something, please warn your CAG. The rumors were flying thick that you were making some doomsday shit down here."

"Rumors say you're still shagging the quorum delegate from Caprica, Starbuck," Galen retorted.

"And not the president?" Eyebrows raised, Kara shook her head mournfully, "You're behind the times, Chief. I've been shacking up with President Roslin on my off-time--where this off-time comes from, I don't know. I'd like some so I can shack up with my husband the toaster, and yet--"

"Gods, Starbuck, you are such an ass," Boomer rolled her eyes. "You kiss your husband with that mouth? You sure he wants anything to do with you?"

Starbuck looked shocked by the idea that he wouldn't. Then she shrugged, "Hell no. But then again, he hasn't had a chance to say no since we started this search for a new planet. Again."

The sarcasm thick, Tyrol asked, "How's that search going, sir?"

"It's going, Chief," Starbuck shot back, emphasis on the title again. It wasn't that Laird sucked at the job or anything. Just that she sort of missed seeing him on the deck, even if she sort of agreed that it wouldn't really work for him to still be there. Not with the still-delicate rivalries between Cylon and human, though the pilots were running rough-shod all over the negotiations Roslin was trying to sucker the rest of the fleet into.

She eyed the frame of the blackbird, remembering that it had been a better recon machine than a raptor. Maybe that was why Chief was building it, maybe not.

"Any day now, right?"

She looked down at him, then over at Boomer, and shrugged, "You could say that. Some days, I feel like we're... there. Some days, not so much. But one thing I do know?" She smacked the frame, wincing as the metal clanged and her hand stung, "I'm taking this out as soon as it's built."

A strange grin crossed Tyrol's lips, "You think you'll find something with her, sir?"

There were a lot of answers to that question. Most would be pithy, sarcastic and rude. Kara settled for the truth, her hand back on the frame. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I will."

"Bullshit," Boomer muttered, but she ducked underneath, worming her way towards the back and didn't elaborate when Kara shot her a glare.

Tyrol bent his head and got back to his work, leaving Kara to wander around the tiny section off the starboard flight pod that he'd taken over as his own workshop. He didn't have everything he'd need for the machine, and Kara started tallying off the debts she knew were owed her and the pilots, along with what she could finagle out of Lee if she sweet-talked him.

"We're going to need engines."

"I know, sir."

She almost told him to stop calling her that, then shrugged. It was a habit he hadn't broken on New Caprica, either. "I know Tigh got 'em for you last time, but is he even talking to you?"

"Not much."

Kara moved back to the Chief and dropped into a crouch, trying to read his face. "He doesn't like me much these days, either."

A glint of amusement appeared in his eyes, "Never liked you much at all, Starbuck."

"Yeah. There was sort of a time in the middle there..." She shrugged and stood up, "I'll leave you to it. What do you want me to tell Dee to pass on to the rumor mill?"

The amusement stayed in his eyes while he finished whatever he was doing, then shrugged, "Tell her we're building a fleet of Cylon raiders down here. I don't care, Captain."

"I think I'll tell her you're building the next generation of sex toy," Kara decided as she headed for the door. "You should have a nice long line within a week."

"Evil, Captain!"

"I'll let you know how the haggling goes, Chief!"

-f-