Starbuck squinted against the early morning sun. Was that smoke? He shaded his eyes, cursing the foul headache which had become a part of him over the last few days, since the Destruction. That was smoke! A thin stream of it, barely noticeable, it rose like a beacon from a distant hillside. It could mean someone had survived. It was no wonder he had missed it- until the high winds of last night, everything had been obscured by clouds of drifting smoke from the burned city. He set out towards the thin column, stumbling a bit. His leg had taken some damage when the wall fell on him, but in all, he was grateful to the wall. It had, after all, sheltered him from the worst of the firestrike. Not so poor Ellie. She had died instantly, crushed by the same stone which had saved her betrothed. Starbuck didn't want to think of her right now, didn't want to feel the shame lurking beneath the surface of his thoughts. For when he had realized she was dead, his first feeling had been one of relief. Now he wouldn't have to get married, now Apollo wouldn't be mad at him any more... if he was still alive. Starbuck paused, panting for breath, after scrambling over the remains of a fence. He wasn't in any shape to go off chasing wild hares... and that hill seemed to be receding. Shaking his head at his own folly, he continued on.

There was movement out there. Apollo paused in his efforts at contrapting a communicator to stare with disbelief at the distant moving spot. It wasn't a wild animal. It was a human, staggering across the wasted land, clearly heading towards Apollo's cave. With a surge of excitement, he leapt to his feet. He dashed into the cave and picked up an emergency medkit, in case whoever that was needed it, then he rushed outside and down the hill.

When he reached the bottom of the hill, the traveler spotted him. He waved broadly, reassured to see the other wave back. Sunlight, the first to shine unhindered in at least a week, highlighted blond hair. Apollo's breath caught. No, it wasn't possible... but he increased his efforts to reach the other survivor.

Before he had gone a hundred paces, he was sure. The other was Starbuck. With a whoop of joy, Apollo set off at a dead run to greet his friend.

"Starbuck! You're alive!" Apollo hugged him tightly, although with care for the other's obvious injuries.

"Don't squash me, Pol," Starbuck laughed. It was a pale shadow of his usual hearty laugh, but it was there all the same.

"Sorry." Apollo loosened his tight hold a bit, but didn't let go. Starbuck sighed and laid his head on Apollo's shoulder.

"Gods, it's good to see you..." His arms tightened briefly. "Pol, I thought you were dead, along with everyone else..."

"I wished I was." Apollo couldn't bring himself to let go yet, and fortunately Starbuck seemed content to remain where he was. "I couldn't bear the thought of going on... alone."

"Are you the only one, then?"

"You're the first survivor I've seen. Ah, frack- I'm sorry! You're hurt, aren't you. I can help, I brought a medkit-" He reluctantly released Starbuck, who promptly found a rock to sit on.

"It's nothing too bad, but if you can get rid of this godsawful headache I'll love you forever..."

"Tease," Apollo said lightly, to cover the jolt that had given him. He rummaged through the medkit, producing a strong painkiller. "Think this'll do you?"

"Ah..." Starbuck sighed as the hypospray entered his system, bringing nearly instantaneous relief.

Apollo caught himself staring helplessly into those familiar blue eyes and looked away. In the first rush of happiness at finding Starbuck alive, he had nearly forgotten the need to hide his feelings. "Can you walk?"

"Think so..." Starbuck struggled back up off the rock, with Apolo's help. "That spray helped a lot."

"Good."

Slowly, they returned to the safety of the cave- no longer just Apollo's.

"How did you survive?"

"Later, Starbuck- save your breath for the walk." Apollo was concerned- his friend was having a great deal of difficulty walking. He hoped the injuries weren't too severe for the limited medkit, then dismissed his worries with irritation. If the problems were too severe for his medkit, Starbuck wouldn't be up and around.

They reached they cave safely, and Starbuck collapsed gratefully onto Apollo's cot. "Nice setup," he commented, wiping the sweat from his face. The climb had really taken a lot out of him.

"Thanks- I suppose." Apollo finally got a good look at Starbuck's leg. It wasn't too bad, just severely bruised and with some impressive lacerations. Apollo bullied Starbuck out of his pants and cleaned the scrapes.

"Frack, Pol!" Starbuck gasped. "Have a care for the skin, it's supposed to stay attached!"

"Sorry, Bucko." Apollo continued to scrub at the scabbed over wounds with a soft brush. Bits of gravel were embedded fairly deep into the flesh, and Apollo didn't intend to let his friend carry any souvenirs.

"I hadn't gotten a look at that, not really," Starbuck said, craning his neck to see what Apollo was doing. "That wall did quite a number on me."

"Wall?" Apollo dusted antibiotic sealant over the now-clean scrapes, then smeared analgesic cream into the deep bruises. Starbuck sighed with relief.

"Yeah, a wall fell on me." His eyes grew distant for a moment, then refocused on Apollo. "Saved me, but killed Ellie."

"I'm sorry," Apollo said awkwardly. He winced, remembering his anger of before. He rose and rummaged through the supplies until he turned up a jumpsuit Starbuck's size. He tossed it towards the cot. "Here, get dressed and then you can tell me what happened. I looked through the ruins- several times, in fact- but I saw no sign of survivors."

While Starbuck dressed, Apollo returned to his forgotten project. The pile of assorted parts rested in the sunlight near the cave mouth. Apollo was amazed by how much more cheerful life seemed all of a sudden. What a difference it made to have Starbuck back!

"What is all this?" Starbuck asked as he lowered himself to the cave floor.

"I was trying to make a communicator out of all the bits and pieces laying around this place, see if I can rouse someone out there. I just can't believe no one else survived."

"Well, I made it," and Starbuck smiled. "It was the same wall that messed up my leg which saved my life. It crushed poor Ellie, which is good I suppose- she wouldn't have wanted to see the world this way."

Apollo tried to hide his relief.

"But it protected me from the blasts, and saved a pocket of air which was enough to keep me alive until the fire died down a bit. There was no warning, none at all- Ellie and I were standing beside the terrace- you know, the one outside the Temple? We were standing there, mad as hell at each other-"

"What?" Apolo interrupted, startled. "Why?"

"She... said something I didn't like." Starbuck gazed at his best friend levelly, expression carefully blank. You don't love me half as much as you do Major Apollo, she'd yelled, glaring at him furiously. You should seal to him- he's all you can think of, an hour before our own ceremony! She wasn't too far off- he was deeply grateful it was Apollo sitting here in the sunlight with him, rather than Ellie.

"Oh." Apollo swallowed his curiosity and returned to his efforts.

"But anyway, there was no warning at all- just Cylon ships, blasting everything in sight. The entire Temple came down on our heads- I'm sure, had your father been here to see that, he would have appreciated the irony-"

"Ah yes, Starbuck the Unbeliever, at last saved by the Lords of Kobol."

"Yeah. But whoever was responsible, I survived."

"For which I am eternally grateful. My story isn't half so exciting- I was pissed, I went off to sulk, I was far enough away from any population centers to survive."

"You have a true flair for storytelling," Starbuck observed dryly.

"Thank you." Apollo hesitated, then laid his tools down and looked his friend in the eyes. "I owe you an apology, Starbuck."

"No, not-"

Apollo cut him off firmly. "I've had a lot of time to think about it these last few days, and I know I was a jerk. I have no right to interfere with your personal happiness, and I'm sorry. I was acting like a spoiled brat."

"It's okay, Apollo." Starbuck dropped his eyes uncomfortably. "You were right, I think- I don't know what had gotten into me, I would have been miserable married and you know it. Sure, Ellie was wonderful, but I'm altogether glad that it's you here with me. You know how it is- if I could pick one person to survive the destruction of the world with..."

"You'd be it." Apollo smiled, glad to have that off his conscience. It had really hurt to think Starbuck had died without giving him a chance to apologize. "So, do you think there's other survivors?"

"There must be." Starbuck was relieved the conversation was turning away from the personal. He'd never dealt well with emotions and such.

"I hope so. I hate to think of the Cylons winning after all."

"Yeah." Starbuck paused, looked around him with renewed interest. "Hey, how'd you find this palce, anyway?"

"I knew it was here all along. So would you have, if you ever paid attention. There- let's see if that works." He made a final adjustment to the device, then attached it to a battery and flipped the switch. He was rewarded by a burst of static and an impressive squeal of feedback.

"Good job, Pol. Now we can give ourselves headaches any time we want 'em."

"Would you knock it off?" Apollo said absently, his attention on the tuning knob. There was nothing but static on any wavelength.

"Never happen."

Apollo sighed. "If you ever behaved yourself, I'd know the world had truly ended."

"You've got- hey, what's that? No, back a bit- yeah, right there!"

The two men listened, completely enraptured, as a commercial for Stellar Cola rolled out of the communicator's single speaker.

On to Part III