Apollo was unable to get away from classes for several days after the circus. But even the Academy believed in a day of rest, so he was at last able to elude the ever-watchful eyes of his teachers and fellow students and return to the streets. He made his way off the grounds, then stood outside the gate, completely at a loss. How did one go about locating someone in this city, anyway? He certainly couldn't go to the peacekeepers- those were the last people Starbuck would want aware of his whereabouts. Hmm...

Apollo spotted a familiar face. It was one of the bullies who had been beating on Starbuck before. On a whim, he started trailing the boy, keeping a goodly distance between them. He snickered a bit at the thought of what his instructors would say if they knew what use he was putting his surveillance training to. Oh well, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

He followed his guide into a really bad neighborhood. In fact, it was so bad that he was surprised it was only two blocks away from the Academy. No wonder his father didn't want him out on the streets. He kept his head up and tried not to look like a victim. Wouldn't it be ironic if he got into trouble here- his father would have a fit. The son of a great Commander, in a brawl like a commoner- oh yeah, Dad would love that one.

Apollo swore with frustration when the lad he'd been following ducked into a building. Now what? He really didn't want to go in there. Frack.

He looked around. He was surrounded by buildings which screamed "fire hazard" at the tops of their lungs- run down, easily over a century old, with pieces hanging off at random. There were assorted beings on the street- some of them he wasn't sure if they were human or not.

"Boy!"

Apollo jumped and turned around. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. What are you doing here?"

The speaker was a ratty old man, who clutched a bag-wrapped bottle as though it were the most important thing in the world.

"I'm looking for a friend," Apollo said, staying well away from the stranger.

"You've found one," the old man leered.

"No! I mean, a friend I met a while ago- I can't find him, don't know where he went-" Apollo backed up a step.

"And who's this friend of yours?" The man had a drink from his bottle.

"His name's Starbuck, and-"

He was interrupted by rude laughter. "Starbuck, you say? Didn't know the little shit had any friends, much less a pretty boy like you." He advanced a few steps.

Apollo backed up rapidly. He was aware of people watching, and could feel fear growing inside him, clutching at his throat. "You know him, then?" His voice quavered.

"Everyone knows Starbuck, boy." The man came closer and closer, backing Apollo up against the steps for a large dwelling.

"Where can I find him?" Apollo's voice squeaked. Damn, he was up against a wall- how could he get out of this one? The old man reeked, of alcohol and stale sweat.

"You'll not find him at all, boy- not until I'm done with you!" He made a lunge at Apollo.

Apollo ducked the clumsy grab and ran like hell. In his panic, he ran deeper into the seedy district, at last taking shelter in a blind alley. He panted and shook. What had that disgusting man been going to do to him? He neither knew nor cared. And this was where Starbuck lived, this disgusting stinkhole? There had to be something he could do about that- no one should have to live under these conditions, especially not any of his friends.

Slowly, Apollo's breathing quieted down, and he returned to the main street. He was walking quickly, ignoring all the jeers and catcalls, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Psst! Apollo! Over here."

Starbuck was beckoning frantically to him from an open doorway. Apollo ducked inside without a backward glance.

"Starbuck! Thank the lords, I thought I'd never find you..."

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you insane?" Starbuck hissed, looking furtively out a window.

"Trying to find you- I thought-"

"You could have been killed! If I hadn't heard about your run-in with Joeseph, how the hell were you planning on getting out of here alive? You just can't walk in here and piss people off! And you really screwed yourself by claiming to be my friend!"

Apollo found a battered couch to sit on. "I just wanted to come see you again..."

"Well, it was a damnfool move. And why the hell would you want to do that, anyway?" Starbuck grumbled, but Apollo thought he looked pleased.

"Because, you're my friend. Isn't that good enough?"

"Well, hell." Starbuck sat on the other side of the couch. "I still can't believe you want to be my friend, but I guess I'll have to take your word on it, since you were dumb enough to come looking for me. How'd you find this place, anyway?"

"Followed one of those assholes," Apollo grinned. "I figured he'd lead me right to you, and he did- kind of."

"You're nuts, man." Starbuck shook his head in disbelief. "Absolutely nuts."

"You've made that abundantly clear," Apollo said, in imitation of his father. "Is this where you live?" He looked around the decaying room with thinly veiled horror.

"Nah, this is just a hidey-hole. No one knows where I live- it's safer that way." Starbuck grinned at him. "So, now that you found me, what did you want to do?"

"Um... you know, I have no idea." Apollo said, then laughed. "I'm beginning to think you were right- maybe I was stupid to come here. Oh well, too late to change my mind now..."

"Oh, come on, now- you can always go back out on the street, and see if you can make it back to the Academy faster than anyone can jump you..." Starbuck grinned wickedly.

"No thanks, somehow that doesn't seem too fun." Apollo grinned back at his friend, then had an idea. "Hey, want to go see a vid at the theater? There's a new one playing, the Great Cylon Attack."

"Does it have lots of Cylons getting blown to bits?" Starbuck leaned forward eagerly.

"Yeah- the previews were awesome, showed warriors in Vipers blasting Cylons right and left."

"You're on!" Starbuck bounced to his feet. "Just follow me, I'll get us out of here safely."

Starbuck's idea of safe turned out to involve a route across the rooftops. Apollo gritted his teeth and refused to look down, after his first dizzying glimpse of the pavement far below. At least the buildings were close together- he didn't want to think what would happen if he had to jump across a wide gap.

Starbuck finally decided it was safe to descend when they reached the Academy grounds. From up here, the place looked incredibly peaceful, and Apollo sat and looked at it for a moment before sliding down a drainpipe. He landed beside Starbuck with a thoughtful look in his face.

"What took you so long? I thought you wanted down so badly?"

"Just looking at the Academy," Apollo replied.

"Oh. I do that a lot. It looks so peaceful from up there, like a bit of heaven..."

"Yeah."

Starbuck looked surprised that Apollo didn't laugh at him. "So, where's this vid showing?"

"My turn to lead," Apollo grinned. He put aside his abstract thoughts about how to improve Starbuck's life and set off for the theater.

The vid was everything the preview promised. Apollo and Starbuck destroyed a giant size popcorn and several chocolaty items as they watched Colonial Warriors soundly defeat the Cylons. They emerged from the theater afterwards with Starbuck bouncing excitedly and reenacting favorite scenes from the vid.

"Didja see how they blew those Cylons away? Blam! Nothing left."

"Yeah, I saw. My dad wants me to be a pilot someday." Without asking Starbuck, Apollo headed for a fast food joint.

"Don't you want to?" The disbelief in Starbuck's voice made Apollo laugh.

"Yeah, sure- it beats the hell out of being stuck at some stupid desk job."

"What do you want to do, then?"

"I want to be an explorer," Apollo confessed. "I want to go new places, see new things- explore places where no one's ever gone before..."

"Sounds fun, but I'd give anything to be a warrior and blow Cylons out of the sky." Starbuck's head spun around and he stopped, attention riveted on an eatery. "What is that smell?"

Apollo chuckled. "Probably your lunch."

Apollo spent the rest of the afternoon trying to learn about his friend, without being too nosy. He didn't like much of what he heard about Starbuck's life. The glimmer of a plan began to form in his head, a plan which might just prove very beneficial to both himself and Starbuck...

 

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