Author's note: I have used the symbols << >> to
signify a memory of a past conversation. I hope that
it isn't too confusing.


Chapter 5

	“Paxton, you’re amazing,” Athena said, leaning back
in her chair with a clearly dumbfounded expression. “I
feel so stupid. I can’t believe I had the sequence all
wrong.”

	“Don’t feel stupid, my dear,” Paxton consoled. “I
know many people, including myself, who could’ve
easily made the same mistake.”

	Athena smiled at the older man and leaned forward to
run the program once more. It boggled her mind how she
could’ve worked on this thing for sectars, spent
countless sleepless nights trying to work out the
bugs, and then have Paxton come and fix everything in
a matter of centons, simply by rearranging a few
number sequences.

	“Well, one thing is for certain,” she declared as her
fingers ran over the keyboard. “I definitely have a
whole lot more to learn.”

	“And once you’ve learned all there is, you should try
to learn some more,” Paxton exclaimed, a more serious
expression on his face than Athena was used to seeing.
“You should never stop learning.

	“That is what I admire so much about your father,” he
continued. “Adama is a wise man but he has never
claimed to be omniscient. He surrounds himself with
intelligent people and constantly opens his mind to
learn. It is that quality which will help lead us to
Earth.”

	Athena’s eyes widened and a proud smile beamed across
her face. Her past conversations with Paxton had been
on more lighthearted topics, but recently he had shown
a side of himself that she found she truly liked and
hoped to see more of.  It still amazed her how much
she didn’t know about this man.  It was only a few
centars ago that she had learned of his past as a
research scientist. She now wondered what other tricks
he had up his sleeve.

	“Thank you, Paxton,” she gently  placed her hand over
his. “Thank you for everything.”

	Paxton blushed slightly. “No, Athena, it is _I_ who
should be thanking you.”

	“Oh really?” she chuckled, squinting her eyes in
confusion. “How do you figure?”

	“With all this peace and quiet lately, it is obvious
that some have let their guard down,” he explained.
“It’s nice to know that someone is taking the time to
explore new ways of thwarting our foes. And I’m glad I
could help.”

	“You’ve done far more than that,” she insisted.
“You’ve been a real friend and confidant. I have to
admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve really
been able to talk to anyone about... things,” she
shrugged, her cheeks flushing.

	“As I said, I’m glad I could help,” he smiled warmly.
“And uh... have we heard any apologies or anything
else from a certain Captain?”

	“No,” Athena shook her head. “And I can’t say as I
will hear anything from him. Personally, I think he
has some issues with his recently defunct relationship
that he needs to resolve. I would really prefer to
stay away from him until he does that.”

	“Mmmmm...” Paxton eyed her quizzically as she turned
her attention back to the console. While he had heard
the rumors of Starbuck and Cassiopeia’s breakup, he
hadn’t heard Athena mention it until now.

	“Oh, and from what Lt. Commander Tigh told me
earlier, the Captain will be a Major shortly,” she
added.

	“Oh really? They promote you for being an equine’s
astrum now?” Paxton teased.

	Athena burst out laughing. “If that were the case,
Starbuck would be Commander by now!”

	“Or President of the Council at least,” Paxton added.

	“He and Captain Boomer are being promoted tomorrow,”
Athena explained, still giggling a bit. “They’re both
due, as is my brother. I must say that I’ve enjoyed
sharing the same rank with Apollo, but I knew the fun
couldn’t last forever,” she sighed.

	“So does this mean I should prepare for a celebration
of sorts?” he asked, recalling promotions past.

	“Who knows,” Athena replied, a yawn suddenly bursting
forth. “Oh! Excuse me!”

	Paxton gave her an endearing smile. “It’s alright, my
dear. These blasted defense theories really do steal
your sleep periods.”

	“And now that this one is solved, I wish I could
celebrate by going to my quarters and sleeping for the
next twelve centars,” she mused. “But alas...”

	“The big date with Reese?” Paxton chimed in, an
undeniable tension in his voice.

	Athena laughed, albeit nervously. “I guess Reese
hasn’t made a good impression on you either huh?”

	Paxton kicked himself for revealing even the
slightest of his opinion for the Security Chief. “I’m
sorry, Athena. It’s none of my business.”

	Athena let out a heavy sigh. “Paxton, it’s just like
I was trying to tell Starbuck. I’m not getting sealed
to Reese. I’m not his girlfriend. We are simply going
out to dinner. It’s not a big deal. Believe me, sleep
sounds ten times better right now.”

	“Then why don’t you call Reese and schedule for
another night?” Paxton asked, hoping that a temporary
postponement might turn permanent.

	“Well, I hate to admit this,” she began sheepishly.
“But if I do that now and Starbuck finds out, he’ll
think I did it because of him and I don’t want to give
him the satisfaction.”

	“Athena,” Paxton eyed her in both disbelief and
disappointment. “That’s the dumbest reason I’ve ever
heard.”

	Athena cringed. “I know! But if you knew only half of
what has happened in the past with Starbuck and I,
you’d understand. Believe me, it’s well worth it for
me to go out with Reese tonight.”

	Paxton’s demeanor was turning almost parental. “So
now you’re going out with him to prove a point?
Athena...”

	“Paxton, please don’t disparage me,” she pleaded.
“It’s hard enough as it is...”

	“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he grabbed her hand. “It’s
just that you deserve so much more happiness and I
hate to see you having to play these games. But I
promise I won’t say another word.”

	“Thank you,” Athena sighed in relief.

	“However,” Paxton interjected with a cunning grin. “I
do expect to hear all the details tomorrow morning.
You make sure this guy treats you right and spends
every last cubit on you tonight.”

	“Hey, you never know,” she gently nudged him. “I
might actually enjoy myself.”

	‘If I don’t fall asleep on him,’ she thought as she
stifled yet another yawn. 

************************

	While the two wingmates had passed the centars away
with idle small talk, it was pretty obvious that their
minds were elsewhere. Apollo knew Starbuck well enough
to know that he wasn’t truly listening to the detailed
description of the minor viper modifications, but was
just as confident that the veteran warrior would make
the adjustments as if they’d been a part of his viper
for yahrens.

	Apollo knew that his best friend was still troubled
by the latest revelations of Cassie’s new, or not so
new, boyfriend, but he also knew when Starbuck didn’t
want to talk about it. Starbuck had opened up a bit
but had quickly shut the conversation down almost as
soon as it had started. While Apollo wished that he
could help Starbuck further, he knew that Starbuck
needed to work things out on his own.

	‘Besides, I don’t know how I _could_ help him,’
Apollo thought. ‘Other than taking him to the Rising
Star for some bachelor fun.’

	Apollo quickly shook the amusing thought from his
head. While he was sure that Sheba would understand
that a wild night out with the boys would be solely
for Starbuck’s benefit,  there was certainly a
possibility that he would wind up sleeping on the
couch for a few nights following. Yes, Starbuck would
have to enjoy his new bachelorhood alone.

	“Galactica patrol,” came Rigel’s familiar voice. “You
are cleared to land.”

	“So, what big plans do you have for tonight?” Apollo
asked.

	“None really,” Starbuck replied. “I was going to go
for a run after we land. I hadn’t thought much further
than that.”

	“Then I’ll probably see you in the Officer’s Club
later?” Apollo assumed.

	“Er... uh... possibly,” Starbuck hesitated. He hadn’t
gotten the details of where Athena and Reese would be
having dinner and he definitely didn’t want to run
into them if they happened to choose the O Club to
dine at.

	“Please don’t tell me that you’re going to become a
hermit,” Apollo teased. “Seclusion is not your style.”

	“Now Apollo, do you really think that I would deny
the female population my stunning good looks and
charming disposition?” Starbuck retorted. “I’m back on
the market buddy.”

	Apollo rolled his eyes but couldn’t resist a smile.
“I’ll alert the IFB.”

	“Gosh, would you?” Starbuck replied sarcastically.
“They don’t nearly get enough of me.”

	Starbuck winced as he was fairly certain that Zara
was already salivating at the thought of a new
breaking story. He could hear it now... “The
soon-to-be-promoted Captain Starbuck is available
again. And, since it appears that his two lady loves
have moved on to bigger and better things, the
handsome warrior is out on the prowl.”

	Starbuck groaned as his imagination spun nauseating
pictures of Athena with Reese and Cassie with her new
man... that he hadn’t even seen yet! With little word
to his wingman, Starbuck quickly left the landing bay
as soon as they had returned from patrol. He
desperately needed to vent some frustration and a good
workout was the only way.

	‘Unless I  run into Reese first, in which case I
could beat him to mushie pulp,’ he mused with delight.
‘That would definitely make me feel better.’

	Starbuck hadn’t taken into account Apollo’s previous
threat to have a word or two with the Security Chief.
Apollo had barely noticed Starbuck’s hasty exit as he
was too busy thinking of how to tactfully warn Reese
against messing with Athena in any way, shape or form.
He realized that his sister was old enough to take
care of herself and that she would probably give him
an earful for meddling, but he admitted that he would
always think of her as his “baby” sister and he would
gladly accept any anger she would throw at him.

	As he looked at his chronometer, Apollo noted that he
had about thirty centons before he was to meet Sheba
and Boxey in his father’s quarters for dinner. Not
much time to find Reese, but he had a good idea of
where to look. Reese and his security team had taken
to frequenting the O Club at this time of day,
directly after their shift ended. Since the
Destruction, the Council had proclaimed that the
Officer’s Club was open to Council Security as well as
Colonial Warriors. This edict had not gone over well
at first, but over time the two groups had come to
respect each other’s space and had generally gotten
along.

	‘Hopefully that will continue,’ Apollo pondered as he
entered the O Club. Sure enough, his hunch was correct
and there was Reese at the bar.

	Reese turned as if he’d known that “big brother” was
coming. While he had always despised the dark-haired
warrior, well... all warriors, he threw on a big
smile.

	“Apollo,” he boomed. “Come join us!”

	There weren’t many in the club at the time, but the
hush that went throughout the room was obvious. Apollo
had made no secret of his feelings for Reese and Reese
was certainly no Mr. Congeniality. The other security
members simply stared at one another in shock that
Reese would make such a gesture.

	Apollo wasn’t buying one bit of it. If anything,
Reese’s ploy at pleasantries only annoyed him further.

	“Not tonight Reese,” Apollo said flatly as he
approached. “However, I do want to talk to you.”

***********************

	Athena laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
‘It would be so easy to close my eyes right now,’ she
pondered. ‘A hot shower, a bite to eat, crawl into my
bed and sleep ‘til morning...’

	She knew that she had less than a centar before she
was to meet Reese in the O Club, but that was hardly
motivating her to rise and embark on the usual
pre-date rituals. Not that she really needed to. As
far as she was concerned, this wasn’t a real date. Of
course, nobody else seemed to believe her. Not that
that mattered. As long as Reese knew it, and she
assumed that he did. It was he that suggested that
they “meet” in the O Club. A “real” date would be
gentleman enough to escort her from her quarters.
That’s what all the others had done. Even Starbuck.

	Starbuck.

	Athena clenched her eyes shut and waggled her head,
as if the gesture would shake the handsome warrior
from her mind.

	“Don’t you dare get back into my head, Starbuck,” she
said aloud. “It took me too long to get you out of
there.”

	Athena knew that it wouldn’t be that easy though. It
never had been. No matter where she had been in her
life, no matter how old, no matter who else was
involved... Starbuck had always been there, either
giving his approval or disapproval of whatever was
going on. Whether Athena wanted it or not, Starbuck
could always be counted on to give his opinion. More
often than not, she wanted it.

	While growing up, it had been difficult to talk to
her older brothers about the more personal aspects of
her life. One might have thought that Athena would’ve
gone to great lengths to keep her private life from
Apollo and Zac, but Athena had her father’s instincts
to do as much “research” as possible before making an
important decision and this included getting a male
perspective. Unfortunately, when it came to her love
life, both her brothers had a tendency to squirm away
from the issue. Even Zac, who Athena had been closer
to, hadn’t offered much help. Oddly enough, it had
been Starbuck who had become her confidant.

	<<“If you tell them that I told you this, I’ll
completely deny it,” Athena recalled Starbuck telling
her one day. “But if Apollo and Zac had had their way,
you’d have been locked in your room with a purity belt
when you turned sixteen.”>>

	Athena laughed as she remembered the day that
Starbuck had found her sitting by the lake behind the
house. She had been dating Orion for some time and it
had gotten serious. He hadn’t asked her to be sealed
yet, but the speculation was that a proposal was
imminent. Everyone in the family was excited, except
Starbuck.

	<<“I just think that you’re too young to be thinking
about that right now,” he explained. “You haven’t even
graduated from the Academy yet.”

	“Mother and Father got married when she was my age,”
Athena had pointed out.

	“That’s different,” he continued. “Your mother never
wanted to command her own battlestar.”

	“Oh please, Starbuck,” she had laughed off his
argument. “Do you really think _that’s_ ever going to
happen?!”

	“Yes, I do! But I doubt you’ll get the chance if you
marry Orion,” Starbuck shrugged.

	“And why is that?” Athena raised her eyebrow.

	“Because you don’t really love him,” Starbuck replied
flatly.>>

	Athena opened her eyes, once again staring at the
ceiling. She remembered, and again felt, the stabbing
pain in her heart at his words, not because they were
hurtful, but because they were true.

	<<“How dare you say that! Of course I love him!” She
bit back defensively.

	“Oh really? Then why are you down here alone and
crying?”

	“I don’t know! Why are you giving me such a hard
time?! If you see that I’m upset, why are you trying
to make me feel worse?!” Athena growled.

	“Oh, well I’m so sorry,” Starbuck retorted
sarcastically. “Poor little Athena. Great home, loving
family, making top marks at the Academy... yeah, you
have it rough. I feel so sorry for you.”

	“Starbuck, what is with you?! What is your problem?!
If you’re going to be mean to me, you can just leave!”

	“I think I will, but not because you want me to,”
Starbuck replied and rose to his feet. “I really don’t
want to stick around and watch you throw your life
away.”

	“And how am I throwing my life away?!” Athena
demanded.

	“Well, you haven’t yet, but you will if you marry
Orion,” he answered. “All you’ve ever wanted was to
become a Colonial Warrior, get out of the shadows of
Apollo and Zac. What do you think will happen if you
marry Orion now? He’s already proving himself as a
warrior, you haven’t even graduated yet! You won’t
ever get your chance to prove yourself. You’ll just be
his wife.”

	“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” Athena said
softly, hanging her head.

	“Oh please! I know you don’t believe that!” Starbuck
replied angrily. “I think you’ve been listening to
Apollo and Zac too much. Sure, they support you
becoming a warrior, but don’t think for a micron that
they wouldn’t be happier seeing you married and living
planetside with a husband and children.”>

	Athena continued staring at the ceiling in her
quarters as she remembered the end of the
conversation. Her memories were so thick that she
didn’t notice the chime at the door.

	<<“Look, Athena, I’m sorry,” Starbuck calmed himself.
“But you’ve worked too hard to throw it all away. I
don’t know. Maybe you really do love Orion. And, I’m
obviously jumping the gun here. He hasn’t proposed
yet, has he?”

	Athena shook her head.

	“Well, he will,” Starbuck assumed. “I just think you
should wait. There’s nothing wrong with a long
engagement. At least until you’ve graduated, maybe
after you’ve been assigned. At least until _you_ are
comfortable and ready. If he really loves you, he’ll
wait.”>>

	“If he really loves you, he’ll wait,” Athena repeated
aloud as a second door chime eluded her. “That’s funny
coming from you, Starbuck.”

	<<“And if he doesn’t and he breaks your heart, I
promise that I will personally kick his astrum,” he
concluded with a warm smile.

	Athena looked up and couldn’t help but return a smile
of her own. “That won’t be necessary. However, I do
appreciate you kicking mine every now and again.”

	“My pleasure,” he joked. “You know that anytime you
don’t want my opinion, I’ll give it to you.”>>

	“Heh, that’s one thing that hasn’t changed,” Athena
noted in her quarters, referring to the most recent
opinion he’d given her in the commissary that morning.
Suddenly, she realized that the door chime had rung
for a third time.

	Disoriented, Athena jumped from the bed and ran
towards the door. “By the Lords! What time is it?!
I’ll bet that’s Reese wondering where I am!” 

	As she reached the door, Athena glanced over at the
wall chronometer and noted that she still had another
half-centar to get ready. With a sigh of relief, she
opened the door to an unsmiling Sheba... eyebrow
raised, arms folded.

	“Hi Sheba,” Athena greeted her friend hesitantly,
unsure of her perturbed demeanor. “What’s up?”

	“I’m going to come right out and say it,” Sheba began
slowly. “What in Hades are you thinking?!”

	Athena rolled her eyes and sighed. She didn’t have
time for this. While she wasn’t going to put a lot of
effort into getting ready, she at least wanted to look
decent and she didn’t have a whole lot of time.

	Exasperated, Athena turned and started walking back
towards her living area, gesturing her friend inside.
“Come on in, Sheba. It’s Lecture Athena Day and you’re
next.”

********************************

	“What can I do for you, Major?” Reese politely asked
as Apollo led him away to a private corner of the
O-Club. “Or is it Lieutenant Colonel now?
Congratulations, by the way.”

	“Save it, Reese,” Apollo hissed as he stopped and
turned to face the security chief. “This little act
might go over on _your_ friends, but I know you better
than that.”

	“Now, Apollo, you know as well as I that people can
change,” Reese replied in the most stepford of tones.
“Certainly you and I have grown enough to put our old
rivalry to rest, especially in light of my
relationship with your sister.”

	Apollo felt his blood start to rise. “Reese, you
don’t have any kind of relationship with my sister,
and you never will.”

	“She’s a grown woman, Apollo. She’s very capable of
making her own decisions. She obviously agreed to go
out with me without any help from you or your warrior
friends,” Reese declared sternly. Fleet gossip through
the yahrens had made it clear how Athena felt about
her big brother’s meddling and Reese was fairly
certain that his defense of her would score him points
if she ever heard about the exchange.

	“I’m not sure why she agreed to go out with you
tonight, except that she’s always been a very
_charitable_ person,” Apollo responded, making a great
effort to control his temper. “However, I’m not as
interested in why she agreed to the date as much as
why you asked her out.”

	“Apollo, if you’re that blind, you really shouldn’t
be flying a viper,” Reese chuckled.

	“Don’t test me, Reese,” Apollo growled. “I’m fully
aware that Athena is a smart and beautiful woman, but
she will always be my baby sister and, as her older
brother, I demand to know what your intentions are
towards her.”

	Reese decided he had had enough. He did have definite
intentions towards Athena, but he would be damned if
he was going to discuss them with Apollo, or anyone
else for that matter.

	“Apollo, I respect your concern for your younger
sister,” he placed a hand on Apollo’s shoulder. “I
even admire it. But what she and I do is absolutely
none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me...”

	Apollo firmly grabbed Reese’s wrist. “I’m warning
you, Reese. Don’t even think about what you’re
thinking about. I have no qualms about spending a few
nights in the brig for kicking you squarely in the
astrum.”

	Apollo threw Reese’s arm back to him and quickly left
the security chief, knowing full well that he would’ve
made good on his threat right then and there had he
stayed another micron.

	“Have a nice evening, Apollo,” Reese exclaimed
graciously, knowing that all eyes in the room had been
upon them. More often than not, Reese knew that he had
been perceived as “the bad guy” in past confrontations
with Apollo. He also knew that, if his plan was going
to work, he would need to distinguish himself as a
changed man who was nothing more than misunderstood.
While he wanted to shout out every nasty epithet in
the book at the dark-haired hero, Reese put on his
best wily grin and returned to the bar.

	“What’s up with Apollo?” was the collective question
as Reese approached.

	“Beats me,” Reese shrugged as he picked up his glass
and proceeded to chug the last of his grog. “He’s got
some bug up his astrum about my date with Athena
tonight.”

	It was thought for a moment that they might need to
call a med-tech as those that had been mid-guzzle
promptly spit out there grog and appeared to be
choking.

	“You what?!” Lieutenant Riley finally spat out.

	“I have a date with Athena tonight,” Reese replied
nonchalantly. “In another half centar to be exact.”

	“You’ve got to be kidding?” Riley stared at his
superior in awe. “How in Hades did you manage that?!”

	“We’ve, uh, been spending quite a bit of time
together lately,” Reese began spinning his tale. “A
dinner date is just a natural progression.”

	“To what?” Lieutenant Kegan chuckled.

	“Oh c’mon you guys,” Reese replied. “I might seem to
be the consummate bachelor, but I might be persuaded
to settle down, have a couple of kids.”

	“With Athena?!” Riley exclaimed, barely able to
control his laughter. “You’re dreaming, Reese!”

	“Am I?” Reese responded confidantly. “You might be
very surprised, Lieutenant.”

	“I will _definitely_ be surprised,” Riley rolled his
eyes. “No offense, Reese, but Athena is way out of
your league. I can’t believe that she actually agreed
to go out with you.”

	“I will admit, Riley, that I’m a lucky man,” Reese
nodded, digging himself deeper into his charade. “But
we’ll find out exactly how lucky later on,” he
concluded with a wink to his cohorts.

	“Those are details that I’d rather not hear about,”
Kegan waved up his hand.

	“What’s the matter, Kegan?” Reese chuckled. “A little
squeemish when it comes to matters of love?”

	“Hardly,” Kegan replied. “I just don’t care to be
around when you start bragging about your escapades
with the Commander’s daughter. You think Apollo was
perturbed now? He’ll do nothing short of blow you out
an airlock if he hears you talking about his sister
that way.”

	“Don’t you worry, son, I’ll take care of Apollo,”
Reese boasted as he took another guzzle off his grog,
unaware of the muffled groans and the shaking of
heads.

*******************************************

	“Whoa, buddy, did the klaxon sound?” Boomer exclaimed
as Apollo nearly ran over him “What’s your hurry?”

	“Sorry, Boomer,” Apollo stopped and took a deep
breath in an effort to calm himself.

	“What’s going on? What’s gotten you so bent out of
shape?” Boomer asked.

	“Oh, nothing,” Apollo replied, somewhat embarrassed
that Reese could get his dander up so easily. “Reese
still has a way of getting under my skin. I just can’t
believe that Athena’s going out with him tonight.”

	“Ah, that,” Boomer nodded. “I’d heard about that.”

	“Oh really? From whom?” Apollo asked defensively. It
always amazed him how quickly the gossip went around,
especially when it concerned his own family.

	“I ran into Starbuck in the gym,” Boomer explained.
“He’s as happy about this as you are. He said that
Athena told him that it wasn’t a big date or anything,
but that apparantly doesn’t make any difference to
him, or you.”

	Apollo ran his fingers through his hair. “I know that
I’m being ridiculous. I mean, it’s not like Athena is
a kid anymore. I just don’t understand why she would
waste her time with someone like Reese.”

	“Give her some credit, Apollo,” Boomer counseled as
he led Apollo to a nearby table. “She’s only going to
dinner with the guy. If you hear the word ‘sealed’,
that’s when I would worry.”

	“Oh, Boomer, don’t even say that,” Apollo groaned.
“Of all the men in the fleet...” he trailed off.

	“Would you rather she dated Baltar?” Boomer teased.

	Apollo quickly shot a look at his friend. “You have a
point there.”

	As the two warriors sat down and ordered a round of
ambrosa, Apollo did his best to keep his cool. It
wasn’t especially easy with Reese within eye and ear
shot. But Apollo was confidant that he had done his
part as the big brother to warn Reese against any ill
intentions. He had also subtly informed Sheba about
the date, knowing full well that Sheba would
immediately try to talk Athena out of it. Apollo
chuckled to himself at how well he knew his
girlfriend. His self-amusement was short lived,
however, as both Sheba and Starbuck walked into the
O-Club, neither one of them wearing smiles.

	“I take it that you went to see Athena?” Apollo
immediately asked.

	“Like you knew that I would,” Sheba retorted. “Of
course she wouldn’t listen to a word that I said. But
she does claim that this is not really a ‘date’.
According to her, it’s more like two friends having
dinner.”

	“She might want to tell that to Reese,” Apollo
gestured to the security chief across the way.

	“Apollo, you didn’t,” Starbuck broke in. He was
beginning to regret more and more that he had ever
told Apollo about any of this.

	“We had a little talk,” Apollo admitted. “Although I
don’t think it was very productive.”

	“Terrific,” Starbuck said sarcastically as he plopped
himself down into a chair. “I should’ve never opened
my big mouth. Oh well. She’s already ticked off at me.
She might as well be _really_ ticked off at me.”

	“Starbuck, we’re only trying to keep her from making
a huge mistake,” Sheba defended. “That’s what friends
are for, right?”

	“As I was just telling Apollo,” Boomer interjected,
“it really sounds like you are all making a big deal
out of nothing. This is only dinner. Athena herself
has said that she doesn’t consider it be a date. Why
don’t you all just relax?”

	At that moment, Athena walked into the club. While
she wasn’t dressed to kill, she was certainly looking
as gorgeous as ever, and in a new dress.
 
	“Easier said than done, Boom,” Starbuck sighed.
“Easier said than done.”

******************************************