Oh Captain! My Captain!

9/6/04

OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

Warning: strong R rating


Lee stood in the shower simply letting the water pound down on his sore, abused muscles. He was going to be incredibly stiff tomorrow, he already knew. Of course, he’d take the bruises over being splattered across the flight deck anytime. He still couldn’t believe that insane landing of Kara’s had actually worked, let alone that both of them had managed to walk away from it bruised, but relatively unscathed. What was that old saying? ‘You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good’. And Kara Thrace’s luck was legendary.

He had the water adjusted as hot as he could stand it and his skin was now bright red and tender, but he didn’t turn the water down or leave the shower. It was as if he needed to have the water at a near-scalding temperature in order to feel anything at all. His mind, his body and his emotions, everything was in shock. He felt as if he was wrapped in thick, insulating padding, both inside and out.

He didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but he knew it had been too long. On some level he was aware that this was a waste of water. While the Galactica had her own water purifiers, there was no telling how long it would be before the water supplies could be... No, he couldn’t think about that, not yet. Not while he was still in this pleasant emotional stasis, temporarily shielded from the trauma of reality.

Hearing a noise from the bathroom, Lee turned in that direction just in time to see the door to the shower open. A young woman, or girl, to be more accurate, stood staring into the shower stall. Lee returned her stare impassively, still too numb to feel angry or embarrassed. He did have enough presence of mind to be surprised and to wonder what she was doing in his room. As the newly promoted CAG, he had inherited the old CAG’s private room, which included a small, private bathroom. The girl couldn’t have simply wandered in here by mistake. She had to have come here deliberately. Had she expected to find Ripper? Surely she knew that he had died in the initial confrontation with the Cylons?

As they stood, staring at each other, he realized that she looked vaguely familiar. She had shoulder-length dark hair, pulled back in a ponytail and was dressed in the green work uniform of the enlisted. Her rank insignia indicated that she was a crewman specialist. Her pale, round face was pretty, but very, very young. She was watching him with a disquietingly hungry look in her eyes.

“Can I help you?” he asked calmly, aware of the absurdity of the situation, him standing there naked and the girl still fully clothed. She was standing close enough that droplets of spray spattering off his body were striking the front of her uniform, darkening the green fabric to black.

“Socinus is always teasing me about being a virgin,” she said softly, almost speaking to herself. “He always says that I’ll probably die a virgin... But we’re all going to die soon. I don’t want to die a virgin, sir.”

“Who’s Socinus?” Lee asked, hoping to distract her from what he was beginning to suspect was her reason for being in his room.

“We work together on the same ground crew team. He and Prosna were my best friends.”

Ah, that’s why she looked familiar. He had seen her on the hangar deck. “Were?” he asked gently, suspecting the answer.

“Well, Prosna died in the fire.”

Lee nodded, his suspicion confirmed.

“I really liked Prosna. I had kind of hoped that my first time would be with him, but that can’t happen now... Captain, I don’t want to die a virgin. I don’t want to die without ever having really lived...”

Without warning, she lunged at him, pressing him back against the wall of the shower, heedless of the hot water soaking her uniform. She forced her mouth to his and it was as if he could almost taste the desperation on her lips. Inexperienced, but eager, hands explored his body, gliding easily over his heat-sensitized skin. Without any real conscious thought, he reached up to pull the elastic from her hair and combed his fingers through the wet tendrils.

As her hands continued their downward journey, toward the lower front of his body, he caught her hands and gently disengaged from the kiss. “Wait, wait,” he said, somewhat out of breath. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Don’t you want your first time to be with someone special, someone you care about?”

“You mean so I can watch them die, too?” she asked bitterly. “No, thank you. Considering the survival rate around here, I think I’d prefer my first time to be with someone I hardly know, like you. Besides, you are someone special, sir. You’re the commander’s son and since he’s basically the ultimate authority now, doesn’t that kind of make you sort of like the Charming Prince character from all the old folk tales? ... When you first arrived on board, Socinus saw me staring at you. He told me not to even think about it. That you were completely out of my league.”

“You did say this Socinus is a friend of yours, right?” Lee asked.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling weakly. “He just likes to give me flak. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“You still shouldn’t let him talk to you that way... I’m not a prince. I’m not particularly charming and I’m definitely not out of your league.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Please, don’t call me sir... not here, not now and not when I’m... out of uniform.”

The girl grinned lewdly at that. “Yes, you are... Lee.”

He found that he rather liked the way she seemed to savor the feel of his name on her lips.

“You have me at a disadvantage,” he said softly. “I don’t know your name.”

“Gwen Cally.”

“So, how old are you, Gwen Cally?”

“Nineteen.”

He nodded slightly. “Your clothes are soaked.”

She glanced down at her heavy, sodden uniform and said, “Yeah, they are, aren’t they? I guess I should take them off, shouldn’t I?”

She reached up and began fumbling with the buttons on her shirt but, despite the heat of the water, her hands were shaking so much, she was having trouble with them. Lee gently pushed her hands away and unbuttoned the shirt for her, although his eyes never left hers the entire time. She peeled the soaked garment off and let it fall to the shower floor with a wet slap. It was a bit more of a struggle for her to wiggle out of the inconvenient sports bra.

Her exposed breasts were pale and small, two pert, little hemispheres of flesh. He cupped them gently in his hands and lightly ran the pads of his thumbs over the hardening nubs of her nipples. She gave a slight gasp and almost jumped at the new sensations. Eager to return the gesture and give him pleasure, she pressed close again, kissing him and running her own hands over the muscles of his chest and his smaller nipples. She was delighted and encouraged by his soft sigh against her lips.

Abandoning all caution, she moved quickly and surely now, to shed her water logged boots and trousers. Within minutes she was as naked as he was and Lee noted that her cheeks were flushed a bright pink. But whether this was due to modesty, arousal, or simply the temperature of the water, he wasn’t sure. He knew which he preferred it to be and, in truth, she didn’t appear terribly self-conscious, meeting his gaze quite steadily. Nor had she any reason to be self-conscious. Her body was slim and nicely toned. Resting his hands on the slight swell of her boyish hips, he drew her to him, pressing his body fully against hers.

Cally felt her entire body tingling with her desire as Lee pulled her tightly to him, kissing her forcefully. She could feel the promising hardness of him pressing against her lower abdomen, hinting at pleasures yet to be discovered.

Feeling a renewed sense of urgency, she pulled away from him enough to be able to focus on his face. She whispered, “Can we get out of this shower? There’s not enough room.”

Smiling, Lee switched off the water. They stepped out of the tiny stall. The small bathroom was warm and steamy. Every surface was coated with a light sheen of condensed water. He grabbed a towel, intending to dry them both off before heading for the bed, but evidently Gwen had other ideas. She took the towel from his hands and spread it out on the damp floor. Taking his hands, she placed them on her hot skin and started to lead him towards the floor.

“Wait, don’t you think this will be more comfortable in the bed?” he asked, with a slight laugh.

“I don’t care,” the girl whispered urgently. “The bed’s too far away. I want you now.”

“Right, floor it is,” Lee breathed, allowing himself to be drawn down.

Settling themselves on the towel, there was barely enough room for both of them to stretch out. He pulled her over so that her lighter weight was half draped across him. Since neither had bothered to dry off, their skin was still wet and slick. He had to wrap an arm around her hips to keep her from sliding off. Giggling, she clung to him as they began kissing again.

With all the curiosity and enthusiasm of a child with a new toy, Cally set about exploring every inch of Lee’s body. As her questing hands drifted lower, he caught one hand in his and guided it, showing her exactly what to do. She caught on quickly and soon had him writhing beneath her. She took great enjoyment from the delightful, quiet, little noises she was coaxing from deep in his throat.

Definitely feeling his own sense of urgency, Lee carefully maneuvered her over onto her back. She opened her legs accommodatingly and he leaned over her, propped on his elbows, trying not to crush her into the unyielding floor. Still breathing heavily, he gazed down into her eyes, wanting to give her one last chance to back out. She smiled impishly at him, reached up around his hips to latch onto his ass and drew him down into the warmth of her embrace.

He fought for the self-control needed, not to simply plunge ahead. He reminded himself that she was a virgin and would require a little more restraint. With a gentleness that surprised even him, he entered her. He still felt her body stiffen slightly and she gave a brief squeak of discomfort, but that was all.

For Cally, the pain was sharp, but fleeting, fading rapidly into the more urgent need. And gazing up into the beautiful blue eyes hovering above hers, she knew that, to see those eyes glaze over with pleasure, she would have willingly endured much more.

Lee began to move his hips carefully, keeping hirustrusts shallow. But, as he had been earlier in the shower, the girl was craving more extreme sensations, even a little pain, to remind herself that she was, indeed, still alive. She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest, digging her fingers into his back, trying to spur him on. When this failed to get the desired results, she whispered, “Harder.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he breathed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

When he only marginally increased the force of his movements, she decided to take matters into her own hands, or legs in this case. Wrapping her strong thighs around his hips, she pressed down on his back side with her heels, drawing him deeper inside her. He gave a long, soft, throaty groan which sent shivers along her spine and instantly made her forget what little pain that action had induced.

Gradually feeling a new urgency grow within her, she dug her heels harder into his rump and arched her hips up to meet his. Needing to feel as much of his body as possible pressed against her, she leaned up and pressed her mouth to his neck, lightly sucking and biting. That got her more gratifying results. Lee grunted softly, his hips bucking reflexively. As the feeling of urgency continued to build within she she pulled him even tighter against her, hugging him with both her arms and her legs, seeking to draw as much of him insider her as she could.

Abruptly, he began thrusting deeper and harder. She felt his body stiffen and heard him release a long, shuddering sigh. At that incredible sound, she felt something within her own body tighten and a series of delightfully pleasant shivers made her body tremble. When her thoughts seemed to gradually clear, she found that both she and Lee were lying in a boneless, wet heap on the floor. They were both breathing heavily.

“Wow...” she breathed, completely at a loss for anything more articulate to say.

He raised his head slightly to look down at her. “Should I take that as a compliment?” he asked with a smile.

“Oh, definitely.”

Still smiling, he raised himself carefully off her. She still gave a slight gasp as he slid out of her and he quickly asked, “Are you alright? Did I hurt you?”

“No, it’s okay,” she said, although she was beginning to feel some decided soreness.

Lightly caressing her cheek, he bent his head to nuzzle his face against her neck and she decided that it had definitely been worth it. She reached up and ran a hand over the back of his head, enjoying the velvety feel of his close-cropped hair. After a few minutes of this quiet cuddling, they broke apart and sat up. Both suddenly discovering that the moist air in the bathroom had cooled considerably during their love-making and they were both stiff from lying on the floor.

As Lee helped Cally to her feet and offered her a towel to dry off, a thought occurred to him. “Your uniform is soaked. How are you going to get back to your barracks? Do you want to borrow something of mine?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I can probably come up with an excuse for why my uniform is all wet, but I don’t think I could come up with an explanation for why I’m suddenly wearing an officer’s uniform.”

“Good point.”

They wrung the excess water out of her uniform as best they could, but there was very little they could do about the water-logged boots. Throwing on a tank shirt and a pair of boxers, Lee walked with the girl over to the door of his quarters. They both stood for a moment looking at each other awkwardly for a moment before a sudden, disturbing thought drifted through Cally’s mind.

Seeing her expression darken, Lee asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It just occurred to me... I’m not on birth control or anything...”

“Don’t worry about it. I am.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Guys can do that?”

“Yeah, we can,” he said with a slight smile.

“Wow, cool...”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Listen, um, when I first came in here,” she began hesitantly. “I wasn’t really thinking about anything beyond... you know, tonight. But well, I thought... oh, never mind,” she finished quickly, turning and reaching for the handle of the hatch.

Lee stopped her with a hand on her arm. “No, wait. What were you going to say?”

“Well, I just thought... Could we do this again sometime?” she blurted out.

He smiled warmly and, despite her soreness, she felt her body begin to respond again. “I think we might be able to work something out,” he said softly.

“Okay,” she breathed, afraid of speaking too loud, for fear of breaking whatever spell had blinded this beautiful, desirable man to all of her shortcomings. With a quick, impulsive thought, she lunged forward and kissed him briefly, but deeply, before turning and heading out the door.

She almost felt as if she floated all the way back to her barracks. She had been oblivious to the openly curious stares she had received from all the people she passed as she walked through the corridors, her wet boots squelching loudly. Arriving back at her assigned barracks, she went to her locker quickly, hoping to change into some dry clothes before anybody noticed. Gathering up the sweatpants and tank shirt that she slept in and her small bag of toiletries, she was about to head to the community bathroom to change and brush her teeth, when she ran into Socinus.

The other mechanic gave her an obvious once-over and said, “What the hell happened to you? Did you take a shower with your clothes on?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did,” she answered, deciding not to offer any further explanation. After all, it wasn’t as if she owed him one. Flashing him a smug smile, she continued on her way.

~*~*~*~

The next afternoon, as Lee was heading down to the hangar deck, he could feel his stomach clench and his palms beginning to sweat. Good Lords, he thought to himself, I haven’t reacted this way to a woman since I lost my virginity. But, the truth was, he really didn’t know how she was going to react to seeing him again. Would she be upset now that she’d had a full night to reconsider her impulsive actions? Would she make a scene? She was very young...

Descending the steep flight of stairs to the main hangar deck, he looked around for Chief Tyrol. The crew chief was going to give him a report about the state of all the functioning Vipers before Lee headed out to begin his inspections of the civilian ships. Glancing around, he noticed Cally and another young, male mechanic working on a nearby Viper. They seemed to be arguing good-naturedly. I wonder if that’s the infamous Socinus, Lee thought, with an irrational flash of irritation.

“Ah, Captain, are you ready for my report?” Tyrol asked, approaching Lee.

“Yes, Chief, ready when you are.” The Chief was still understandably frosty to Lee after their, less than stellar, first meeting and the captain knew that he was going to have to do something about that now that he was going to be living here permanently. As CAG, he was going to need all the crew chiefs on his side.

As they started their quick tour of the Vipers, Tyrol led Lee over to the one that Cally and the young man were working on. As the two older men approached, unnoticed by the younger mechanics, they picked up the thread of the argument.

“I’m telling you, Cally, it’s not the gimbal this time,” the young man was saying. “I’ve already checked it.”

“Well, I think is,” the girl insisted stubbornly. “It has to be adjusted just right, or it doesn’t work. Check it again.”

“Oh, quit being such a bitch, Cally. If you think it’s the gimbal, you check again.”

Although Lee could tell from the younger man’s tone that he hadn’t really meant the remark to be hurtful, it still struck some protective chord within him and, before he even realized what he was doing, he had taken two long strides forward to confront the younger man.

“Crewman, what’s your name?” he barked, in his best Indignant Officer tone.

“Uh, S-Socinus, sir,” the young man stammered, jumping to attention and offering a quick salute.

“This young woman is a member of your team,” Lee said, gesturing to Cally, who had also come to attention. “She’s your equal. Don’t talk to her that way and show a little more respect.”

“Y-yes sir.”

“Good... carry on.” Turning back to face Tyrol, Lee noted that there was a little more respect in the other man’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Chief, what were you saying?”

As the two men continued on with their inspection, Lee glanced back for a moment and just caught sight of Cally sticking her tongue out at a very red-faced Socinus. Perhaps sensing Lee’s gaze, she turned to look at him and as their eyes met, she gave him a quick wink then returned to her work. Hmm, he thought impressed, maybe she’s not so terribly young after all...


O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

~Walt Whitman (1819-1892)