DISCLAIMER: Battlestar Galactica is the property of Glen A. Larson, Sci-Fi Channel, R & D TV, Sky and NBC Universal.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
The Price
By trancer
Let her die, Sharon
The voice spoke in a symphony of chaos and order. It was their mission, HER mission. Destroy them. Destroy them all. Humans were fallible, destructive, imperfect. Aberrations. As an instrument of God, it was her duty, her purpose to do what it took to erase this blight of imperfection from the universe.
But, this wasn't a, an, or any human. This was Starbuck. Starbuck! Her best friend. The one who taught her how to kiss, drink, fight, fly, frak. Even if Starbuck didn't know that many of those had been Sharon's firsts. The first kiss shared sloppily over a bottle of Ambrosia. Her first frak, a clumsy, hot, crazy tangle of skin, sweat and exploring fingers.
The one who, when the entire Fleet wanted nothing more than to put a bullet in Sharon's head, stood in front of their barrels and said 'no'.
She'd been her first taste of real human emotion. When she discovered how fragile humans really were. Held Starbuck in her arms until the tears stained Sharon's sweatshirt, the shudders subsided and she fell asleep in Sharon's arms.
Starbuck. Who now lay on the stony ground battered, broken and bleeding. Ragged coughs with sprays of blood sputtered from her lips. It made her question everything she knew, felt, believed.
Let her die, Sharon
She's human, Sharon
"No!" She pressed her palms to her ears, screaming back at the voice. "Not her. Not Starbuck."
She pulled out a pocketknife. Jabbed it deep into the side of her neck. Ignored the pain, the blood, the fear. Severed the connection between herself and the collective. And, just like that, the voices were gone.
She knelt down next to Starbuck, gently shaking the woman. "Starbuck, come on, baby. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!" She gripped Starbuck by the lapels, jerking the woman up. "Captain Thrace!"
Starbuck's eyes fluttered open. Sharon swallowed her cry of joy.
"Move it, soldier!"
The words jarred Starbuck from her unconsciousness. Not much, but enough. Sharon pulled Starbuck's arm over her shoulders. She didn't know what kind of Hell awaited her for disobeying her God. But, she'd betrayed so many, sinned so much, paid so high a price. She would not pay anymore. Not with Starbuck.
The Gods be damned.
The End