Three Little Cylons. 

{Time line: A bit stretched-bear with me here. Apollo and Starbuck are
at their senior year, aged 19. Athena is at her first year of upper
primary school, aged 15, and Zac at the first year of lower primary
school, at age 11.} 

"Aw, Apollo, that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard! No way am I
doing this!" 

"Oh, please, Starbuck, it'd be fun!" 

"No, it won't! We'd be the laughing stock of the whole school!" 

"Please? I'll owe you one!" 

"No! There's nothing big enough on the 12 worlds to make me go through
with this! Come on, Zackie, help me out here..." 

Zac glanced at his older sibling and shrugged helplessly. "Sorry! If I
don't do as he says, I'll live to regret it! He knows stuff...." 

"Oh, great!" Starbuck groaned. "No!" he firmly told Apollo. "No way, no
how!" 

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

The annual costume ball was already in swing when the three arrived. The
upper and lower sections of the school had joined their resources this
yahren, making the ball a grand occasion indeed. 

"I feel stupid," Zac announced. 

"Well, you look stupid!" Starbuck told him. "We all do!" he glared at
Apollo. "I can't believe I let you drag me into this!" 

"Oh, come on, you two," Apollo refused to be subdued. "It's a costume
ball. We're _supposed_ to be silly." 

"Uh, Appy, we're supposed to be _silly_, not _Cylon_!!" Starbuck fought
an urge to stomp on Apollo's foot. 

"Yeah," Zac piped, "this was a bad idea! I won't have my primary school
popularity die before it even started!" 

"Are you guys about done?" Athena showed up behind them, grinning.
Apollo greeted her, while Starbuck and Zac just glared. Viciously.
Starbuck had that manic gleam to his eyes, which made Athena wonder if
it was safe around him. There were just so many breakables around -
decorations, dishes, chairs, Apollo...

"Well, I think you all look really nice in your Cylon costumes," Ila
announced, appearing at Athena's elbow. She was appointed the designated
chaperon for the evening, having 3 kids in attendance. Well, three kids
and one Starbuck, to be exact. He was almost an integral part of the
family. She looked at the four of them with a motherly smile. Athena was
glowing, and the boys-Three little Cylons. Adama would just die if he
knew.

Starbuck and Zac had surprisingly managed to look even more miserable. 

"Come on, guys!" Apollo urged, and went inside determinedly. Ila
followed him, smiling fondly at the other three. Athena lingered behind,
though, with the reluctant Starbuck and Zac. 

Staring at her brother's back, she leaned towards Starbuck and asked,
"What's with him?" 

"Oh, he's got a crush on this girl, Dierna. The one with the long blonde
hair over there-" Starbuck pointed one gloved hand at a pretty little
blonde, dressed in a flowing white gown which glowed in the lights of
the hall, chatting amiably with a cheerful group of friends. 

"Really? She's been asking me all those questions about him lately, but
I didn't-" A knowing grin spread on Athena's face, making both Starbuck
and Zac wonder exactly what she knew. "And he thinks he's gonna impress
her by dressing up as a Cylon Centurion?" 

Starbuck and Zac nodded solemnly. "Pathetic, huh?" Zac added. 

"Oh?? And what do you know, squirt?" Athena smiled at her baby brother. 

"I know pathetic when I see one. And Apollo is it!" the squirt declared. 

"Kid's got a point," Starbuck told Athena over Zac's head, and she
shrugged her consent. 

"Okay, you two, let's get in there. I can see mom waving at us, " she
told them and straightened some invisible fold on her dress. "How do I
look?" 

Starbuck whistled in appreciation. Zac gave her a thumbs up and asked,
"And us?" 

"Stupid!" she giggled. 

"Yeah. Maybe if we keep those masks on they won't know who we are."
There was a note of desperate hope in Starbuck's voice. "Okay, squirt,
let's go embarrass ourselves." 

The trio was barely a metron past the door when Starbuck announced,
"Okay, I'm embarrassed enough!" Not even slowing down, he turned on his
heels and marched out the door, Zac quickly following. Athena didn't
even try to fight the fit of giggles as she went to greet her friends. 

Once safely out the door, Starbuck and Zac stopped to look at each
other. 

"Plan B?" 

"Oooh, yeah." 

"What do we have?" 

"What's the difference? Anything would be better than being the three
little Cylons! Come on, squirt, the other costumes are stashed in my
locker. Let's go change." 

The two grinned at each other and hurried down the hall. 

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

Meanwhile, Apollo was standing by the punch bowl, tapping his foot and
waiting for his best friend and his kid brother. He spotted Athena in
the crowd and waved her over. She did look nice tonight, he couldn't
help noticing. If she weren't his sister, he'd might be tempted to make
a move on her. With a frown, he made a mental note to watch out for any
suitors who might try to get * too* close to his baby sister. 

"Where the frak are Starbuck and Zac?" he asked when she stood beside
him. 

"Uh, I think your two victims got a bad case of cold feet. They, uh,
bolted." She couldn't help the laughter which escaped her throat.
Apollo's expression was simply comical. 

"I'll kill 'em. I'll kill 'em both," he noted flatly. 

"You'll be fine, Appy." She patted his cheek, smirked at him, and
vanished. 

Apollo was left standing alone, plotting revenge and feeling more stupid
by the centon. Maybe he should have listened to Starbuck after all. 

"Uh, excuse me, are you going to drink that?" he heard a soft voice next
to him. He looked up and nearly choked as he saw the pretty blonde
gesturing at the glass of punch he was still holding. 

"Uh, um, I-oh, yeah." He grinned sheepishly. 

"Oh, cause you've been just holding this glass for, like, forever. I was
beginning to wonder. Maybe you know something the rest of us don't. I'm
Dierna, by the way. We take Astronomy together." 

"Uh, yeah, I know," he mumbled, nearly dropping the glass. "I mean,
I..." *Oh, good going, Appy, real good. Maybe you'd just hang a big
"Stupid!" sign on your chest.*

"You're Apollo, right?" Dierna didn't seem troubled by his clumsiness.
"Starbuck's friend? Cause I'd be really embarrassed if I just went up to
the wrong person," she smiled at him. The prettiest smile Apollo had
ever seen. 

"No, it's me, all right." *Yeah, who else could be as dumb? Just another
one wanting to know if Starbuck's available.*  "Um, Starbuck should be
here any minute, if you're looking for him..." 

She giggled. Like delicate silver bells, Apollo thought. "Oh, no, no,
no. Actually, I was hoping I'd find you alone..." 

*Me?!?!?* 

"...I mean, Starbuck's real cute and all, but I like the tall, dark and
mysterious type better." 

"Me? I'm mysterious?" *Oh, God, I'm talking to her! In Caprican.
Coherent Caprican. And she's answering me. Ohmigod!!*

"Well, yeah. I mean, you never talk to us girls. Starbuck's an awful
flirt, but you never even look at us." 

*She noticed me! Me!! I was standing next to Starbuck, and she noticed
_me_!!!* Apollo felt like he'd just taken on the entire Cylon empire and
won.  

"I guess I'm a bit shy," he grinned. His next words surprised him more
than anyone else. "Um, you want to maybe go get some air or something?
It's real crowded in here."  *Oh, lords, what did I just say?* 

She smiled in genuine delight. "Oh, that'd be just lovely!" 

*Yes!!! She said yes! To me! Oh, okay, better start walking. Put your
right foot first, then your left- that's the way we walk. I think.*

Apollo didn't really know how, but suddenly, he was outside, and Dierna
was walking beside him, chatting merrily about this and that. He forced
himself to look up from his boots, and gazed at her longingly. She was
the prettiest human being Apollo had ever seen, and a sweet scent
hovered about her, completely erasing any coherent thought that may have
still been on Apollo's mind. 

"What do you think, Apollo?" 

*Frak!*  "Huh?" *Ooh, good move, Apollo. Pay attention to her, you
sniderat!*

She didn't seem bothered. "My, you _are_ shy. Never mind, I like a
challenge. I asked, don't you think that Sire Averbaum is just soooo
uptight?" 

*Sire Averbaum?? Who the frak was he? Oh, right. He taught Mathematics.
Starbuck hated him with a passion. Which didn't keep him from
maintaining a perfect average.* 

"Yeah, I guess so. Starbuck hates him, I just ignore him most of the
time. The book explains things much better." *Oh, yeah, sound like a
complete geek, why don't ya, Appy.* 

In the meanwhile, they reached the old oak tree that grew in the school
yard. The old stump was covered with lovers' initials, some of them
carved there yahrens ago. Apollo often wondered which dated which- the
tree or Caprica City. 

"Starbuck says that-" Dierna's smooth motion as she leaned against the
tree cut him off, his mouth drying and his eyes threatening to leave
their sockets. 

"Enough about Starbuck. I know all about him from your little sister." 

"Athena? How do you know her?" 

"I had to ask _someone_ about you," she grinned. "She has a bit of an
infatuation with him, I noticed..." 

Apollo raised his eyebrows in question, and she giggled. 

"But enough about him. Let's talk about us," she said. 

Apollo's mind reeled. *Us? There's an 'us'? Oh. My. God.* 

"Okay," he heard someone who sounded a lot like himself say. "What about
us shall we talk about?" He even felt his muscles move to form a smile. 

"Hmmm," she moved to lean close against him. "How about...are you going
to kiss me or not?" 

Apollo's mind froze. *Did she just say kiss? Me? Her!?!?* He frantically
scrambled for something, anything, to say. 

"I, uh, I never kissed a girl before..." 

"Oh, that's okay," Dierna grinned, pulling him even closer.  "I never
kissed a Cylon before." 

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

Starbuck and Zac walked back into the hall where the ball took place.
Both were now decked out in the Colonial Warrior's dress uniform. 

"Where'd you get uniforms this size?" Zac asked. 

"Oh, I know people," Starbuck said as he returned an admiring girl's
inviting smile. 

"Oh. Starbuck," Zac tugged at his sleeve, "why did you get the higher
rank?"

"I'm older," Starbuck answered distractedly, searching the crowd for his
date. He could see Athena and Ila, but neither Apollo nor his date were
anywhere to be seen. Suddenly, he saw Athena gasp and followed her gaze.
What he saw caused his jaw to drop. 

Dierna walked through the door, looking like the cat who stole the
cream. Apollo trudged behind her, a dazed smile on his face. To
Starbuck's amazement, she was holding his hand, pulling him to the dance
floor. 

As they neared the shocked Starbuck, Apollo surveyed his friend's
outfit, still wearing that dazed grin. 

"At ease, Lieutenant," he said, as Dierna pulled him past Starbuck. "At
ease. " 

--The End

Written August 1998.