No Takebacks

Torn, Lee squeezed down on his desire to march right back in there and kiss her again. To press her against him and feel the length of her body as it fitted perfectly against his. They each had their own paths; he knew that now as well as she. But knowing it did not make the agony of their parting any easier to deal with.

That night he lay in a new bed, covered by the blanket he’d taken from his old bunk. The one he’d stolen from hers the night she died. It still smelled faintly of her skin.

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Kara's half in her bunk, face drawn and pale, her eyes a stark contrast--ringed by darkness like bruises. Lee had rushed to the head when they landed, washing off the layer of grime that had been accumulating for days. He felt refreshed.

She's staring blankly at the bottle of Picon whiskey resting on her knee.

"You thinking of drinking that?" he pokes. She snaps out of her daze.

"No. I'm saving it. For when this is over."

He raises an eyebrow, pulling on his pants.

"This might be the last bottle in the universe, Lee. It deserves some respect."

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rachelindeed.livejournal.com

DRADIS ghosts were a mind-game. First-year cadets got messed around about Raiders that wouldn’t die or vaporized comrades who’d linger on their six. They’d laugh, too cool to be rattled, until they ran their first sims and climbed out of their cockpits, shaken.

It was a trick of biology. Watching explosions in the dark printed scars of light deep in the retina. Afterimages drew phantom blips across the monitor. When you watched a friend burn, their spark followed you home.

It was an illusion, every pilot knew that.

Lee sat in his bird, eyes burning, and thought: she’s still here.

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He'd been called to CIC the minute he landed, but it had taken him an hour to get there. The DRADIS whir was deafening in his ears, even as he could barely hear everyone talking around him. His father was asking him questions but he couldn't hear. It was like there was cotton stuffed in his ears. He tried to answer. Failed.

But always that whir, whir, whir.

He closed his eyes. Swallowed. The rise and fall of it in time with the cry of his soul: Kara, Kara, Kara.

And his heartbeat answering: she's gone, she's gone, she's gone.

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*cries*

Beautifuul and achey.

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rachelindeed.livejournal.com

By 22:15 Kara’d already written her mission report, its emphatic punctuation visible at twenty paces. She wasn’t pulling her punches on Garner.

Lee thought about the body they’d pulled from the engine room, smudges of soot on its eyelids where they’d been eased shut by someone’s dirty hands. He thought about those Raptor crews they’d left behind, forever open-eyed in space.

People didn’t run on gears or gimbals; there was nothing simple about working with them, fixing them or judging them.

Garner had run on more than the ticks of his ego. Lee decided to make sure that wasn’t forgotten.

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hee. Makes me wonder when she'll break down and drink her precious whiskey. ;) Nice work.

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rachelindeed.livejournal.com

Wow, great minds think alike! I love how our last lines bookend each other :) Lovely drabble!

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Nice! I like fics that show what happens in the 33 minutes before the next attack.

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Lol I saw that when I posted mine and I was like "ooooh they are both awesome!" Haha, I actually put mine through a randomizer so that's a huge coincidence ;-)

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That final image is so sad. :( Lovely.

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I love the repeating words. So haunting. :(

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The image of the blip remaining on Lee's DRADIS is Lee's way of hold on, but especially nice in light of Kara following the phantom heavy raider.

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Breaks my heart. I love the use of rhythm. *sigh*

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Oh my good gracious, I love the beautiful phrases you have in here! Especially "the dark printed scars of light deep in the retina" and "their sparks follow you home."

Drabbles are the greatest because they make you be really economical with language. Sigh. *runs off to write more* (And yes, good lord, yours and mine could be two in the same series, ha!)

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I have a soft spot for Garner and I love that you captured Lee's respect for him. Thank you.

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I love the idea of Lee taking something of Kara's after she dies and holding onto it. Lovely. :)

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It’s the sand in her boots that stops her first. Then it’s Lee’s sock although for the life of her Kara can’t figure out why. Finally it’s his hair unkempt in the fresh air.

Next thing Kara knows she can hardly move. She sits behind a clump of reeds, forcing herself to breathe. This is why she has to go. Lee is too much, too fast, too… too… With a long shudder, she wipes the tears off her face, the sand off her pants.

But when she stands, Lee is too watching and dressed, his hand held out for her.

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Kara looked at her boots, then at the tiny strappy flats she was going to wear instead. She slung the boots outside. Minutes later and someone banged on the hatch.

“Kara, open up. I need to get my stuff before the party!”

“Lee, the boots are outside the door for a reason!”

There was a silence. It seemed to be saying something. Kara’s eyes narrowed as she contemplated the door and the usual meaning of boots being outside.

“I’m changing, Lee.”

“Oh. So open up.”

“No. Just frak off for five.”

She heard his boots march off with a curse.

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Great conversation and use of the item :)

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Oh that's haunting and beautifully sad.

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The word use in this is perfect; like a terrible mantra he cannot bear to be true.

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This is super cute! Kara being secret. :D

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This is great, showing their reactions to him.

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