This was written in response to the cod liver oil punishment delivered by Bsgadult Listmum Becky, because of the evil twins Jen and Betty, and the stubborn Jade. It might be considered a "missing epilogue" to the episode with Siress Belloby (the Sheriff of somewhere-or-other, I think). The Goldfish Bowl by Rita (mommacita1@juno.com) Rating: NC-17 Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, I just like to play with them. "If I were only younger," Siress Belloby sighed. She patted Starbuck on the cheek - not the cheek she wanted to be patting, but there were proprieties to be observed in public after all. *** Sectons later: Adama thought he would never be rid of the predatory Siress. Finally though she looked at him over a glass of ambrosa and said, "Tell you what, Adama." "Hmm?" "You want to be rid of me, don't you?" "Now, Belloby dear, I wouldn't put it precisely that way..." Adama was nothing if not a gentleman. "No, but I would," she said dryly. "Anyway, I'll make a deal with you." "What kind of deal?" Adama asked warily, remembering the last deal he'd made with her. "You give me Starbuck and you'll be rid of me." "I beg your pardon?" "You heard me. Starbuck for you, in effect." "Well, Belloby, even if I wanted to..." "Which you do." "Yes. Well. As I was saying, even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I don't own Starbuck." Belloby pouted. "You're his Commander." "That's not the same thing and you know it." "Well, yes. Ah for the good old days when slavery was in fashion..." "Siress Belloby!" Adama was outraged. It wasn't so much that he hadn't considered the beauty of having Starbuck *fully* under his command, for he had. But the idea that, if he did own him, he would give him away, that fully outraged him. "There, there." Adama just glared at her. "Umm, what if I were being ... harassed and needed protection?" Adama had trouble picturing Siress Belloby *ever* needing protection; perhaps her harasser might. "Adama?" "Oh. Sorry, Belloby. You were saying?" "I was saying," she decided to be blunt and plainspoken. "What if I needed protection? Couldn't you then send Starbuck to guard me?" "Well, I suppose..." *** "I've been assigned *where*?" "Easy Starbuck. It wasn't my idea." "Well then, *Captain*, whose idea was it?" "Umm, my father's." "He's found out about us?" "No. No, no. I'm sure he'd do something much worse if he found out we were lovers." "Uh huh. What could be worse than guarding Siress Belloby full time?" "Permanent rotation to the science ship as test pilot?" "At least I could be sure of a quick death then." "Maybe you're right. But ... nah, I don't think so. He didn't have that evil gleam in his eye." "All right, if you say so." *** "Siress Belloby?" "Captain Apollo! What an unexpected pleasure!" "Umm, yes, thank you. I was wondering if I might have a word with Lieutenant Starbuck? 'Now this could have intriguing possibilities,' the Siress thought. "I'm sure you could. I was just about to feed my fish, Captain. Would you care to join me?" Apollo started to decline, then remembered the complex dance his father had to do to get the part to sell when they needed seed. "Uh, sure, I've got a little time to spare. But I do need to see the Lieutenant." "Oh you will, my dear, you will." *** "What do you think of my little darlings? That one's Jen - the one with the plastic little circlet caught by those two horns growing out of her head. And the one that's swimming around erratically is Jade." "What do you call the one with all the little fish nipping at her - oh! there's one big one, too - my he's a big bruiser, isn't he?" "That's Betty. The 'big bruiser' as you call him, I've named Bob." "What did you name the one floating above it all?" "Becky. They all kind of look up to her." "Well, they're really lovely, Siress, but..." "You haven't seen my latest acquisition. He's a bit shy, so I put in a two-way mirror. Wait here." Apollo waited politely while Belloby disappeared through a door in the far wall. Suddenly the lights went on. And there, in what had to be a zero G tank, was Starbuck, floating naked, with his hands tied behind his back, his eyes closed - asleep or unconscious. Apollo stood watching, his mouth hanging open, as Siress Belloby came into view. She stood just outside the tank, if that's what it was, fully dressed and with a bottle in her hand. Apparently, the tank was wired for sound, too, because Apollo could hear Belloby's voice clearly. "Come get your medicine, Starbuck." Apollo watched as Starbuck's eyes sprung open and he shook his head violently. "Yes, yes, don't make me punish you," Belloby responded. "Come take this nice cod liver oil." Starbuck kicked his way over to a small seal near where the Siress was standing. Apollo realized it was an interface between the zero G environment in which Starbuck was held and the normal gravity of the rest of the apartment. Apollo expected Starbuck to put his face to the seal to drink the hideous concoction he remembered his grandmother dosing them with, but instead Starbuck maneuvered so that his buttocks were against the seal. As Apollo watched in rising horror, Belloby coated her hand with the thick oil and plunged the entire thing, rings and all, into Starbuck in one smooth motion. Apollo heard his lover's cry as he was forcefully opened, heard it turn from pain to pleading as the older woman thrust her hand in and out. "Now, now, you know you like it," Belloby chided. "Why just look at this!" She pushed her other hand through the seal and reached around to grasp Starbuck's growing erection. Starbuck's please turned to sobs. Belloby released his cock to slap him hard on one buttock. "Stop that sniveling!" she ordered. "You were brought up with this. We both know you like it - you were trained to enjoy it." Starbuck turned increasingly red as Belloby spoke, but he stopped sobbing. With a resigned nod he began thrusting onto her hand, his own hands clenching in frustration above hers. Belloby slapped his buttocks alternately in time to his thrusts. Suddenly all Starbuck's movements stilled. He turned towards his tormentor and said in a voice broken with need, "Please?" "Speak up," Belloby replied. "What is it you want?" She had resumed thrusting the hand inside Starbuck as soon as he stopped. Starbuck moaned and bit his lip, obviously trying to control himself. "Please," he repeated. "Please may I cum?" Belloby laughed. "No, not yet," she said cheerfully. She removed her hand with an audible pop. The motion sent Starbuck gliding away from the seal, a thin stream of oil and blood following him like an exhaust trail. His eyes were squeezed shut and his mouth clamped in a thin line, concentration written clearly across his face. Apollo knew he was fighting for control over his body. Apollo was so busy tracking Starbuck, he didn't notice Belloby leaving the tank area. He jumped when her voice sounded behind him. "So what do you think of my latest acquisition?" she asked, entering the room wiping her hands on a dainty towel. "What have you done to him?" Apollo yelled. "I?" the Siress asked in surprise, arching her eyebrows. "I've done nothing. He was brought up to be a sex slave. You know that. I've merely returned him to his true calling." "Slavery was outlawed yahrens ago." "Yes, a really pity, too. Especially now, when there's so little entertainment available." Siress Belloby watched as Apollo turned back to the two-way mirror. "But that isn't really what's bothering you is it?" she said slowly. "What are you talking about?" Apollo demanded, turning back to her. "Of course it is! You can't keep Starbuck captive; it's illegal to hold someone against his will for any reason." She gave him a calculating gaze. 'I wonder how far I can take this?' she thought. "How do you know it's against his will?" she asked. "Because he's tied. Starbuck doesn't like to be restrained..." he trailed off, realizing he had betrayed their secret relationship. "No, he doesn't," Belloby agreed. "But how would you know that? Unless you've tried it?" Apollo was silent. "Does dear Commander Adama know about your ... little hobby?" Apollo went white. "I thought not. Why don't we talk over some tea, Captain? I think we have a lot to discuss." "You can't leave him like that?" Apollo gestured at Starbuck, still struggling to obey his Mistress's command. "Oh, very well." She pressed a switch in the wall. "Starbuck? You may cum now." The response was instantaneous. Semen shot out of Starbuck's pulsing rod and floated slowly away from him. He was pushed back to a wall by the force of his ejaculation. "Now, make sure you clean it all up," Belloby directed cheerfully. Starbuck began following his cum, sucking it into his mouth and swallowing it as he obeyed Belloby's orders. Apollo watched, his bile rising in his throat until he had to swallow continuously to keep from vomiting. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight. Starbuck looked very much like one of the Siress's fish, eating the food and debris in its tank. Belloby turned the lights in the tank off and the wall returned to its opaque condition. She took Apollo's arm and pulled him out of the room. "Oh yes," she cooed. "We have a great deal to talk about." *** Starbuck woke from his doze as the lights came up. He turned towards the seal and a cry of dismay escaped his lips. Apollo, naked and bound as he was, pushed through into the tank. Starbuck looked past him at the smug face of Siress Belloby. "No!" he cried out. "Let him go! You can't keep him captive!" "Why that's just what he said about you," Belloby smirked. "But he's no sex slave!" Starbuck protested. "Well, then, you'll just have to teach him the ropes - so to speak!" Laughing at her own pun, she left the tank area without turning off the lights. "How did she get you?" Starbuck asked, moving expertly to where Apollo's momentum had taken him. Apollo smiled wryly. "I came to rescue you." Starbuck looked pointedly at Apollo's nude body and the hands bound behind him. "And you came prepared, I see." Apollo shrugged and the motion set him moving. Starbuck caught him with his shoulder and held them both in place. "I made a deal," Apollo told him. "Deals with the Siress only benefit the Siress," Starbuck noted. "Your father could have told you that." "He knew what she wanted?" "I don't think he *let* himself understand consciously," Starbuck said. "But from what Belloby told me - and she doesn't lie, she just gloats - the Commander gave me to her so she'd stop bothering him." "You think she told him what she was going to do with you?" "Not in so many words, no." Starbuck hastened to reassure Apollo. "Look, deals with Belloby are always twisted. She probably cornered the Commander, just like ... just like she did me." "What kind of deal did she make with you?" To Apollo's surprise, Starbuck reddened and looked away. "You remember the borays on the planet?" "Of course." "Well, when I went to negotiate with them, she was there." "I know." Starbuck sighed. "Well, what you don't know, what nobody but the Siress knows, is what went on *before* they agreed to my terms." "Starbuck?" Starbuck shook his head, but wouldn't look at his lover. "Your father knew in general what I was going to propose. He just never asked me if I had to go through with it. He was satisfied that I wasn't ... damaged ... and I had sealed the agreement." "What happened? You *were* in there a long time. They didn't..." "Use me sexually? No. Although I was prepared to let them. Better me than her. I just ... entertained them to prove that my intentions were genuine." He shrugged. "It worked. Then they were willing to listen to ... the rest of my proposal." He sighed. "At the time, Belloby was so grateful she told me not to worry, nothing she'd seen would ever reach anyone else's ears. And I was so glad to get off that planet, I didn't even care what I'd had to do." "But once she had you here, she changed her mind." Starbuck glanced at Apollo and gave him a bitter grin. "She said that "ever" was a very long time and she was old and forgetful. She might forget not to tell anyone. So I agreed to entertain her the same way while I was guarding her. Then she came up with this idea that I could become one of her pet fish. The woman is really twisted, Apollo, but she's not stupid. She made sure she had vids of ... everything. What choice did I have?" He turned abruptly and kicked off to the far side of the tank. Apollo followed him, clumsy in the zero gravity. When he was within hearing distance, he said. "I knew what you were trained for. So does father. Why did you let her blackmail you." "Knowing and seeing are two different things." Starbuck caught Apollo's guilty nod. "Ah, you saw. Frak." He started to turn away again, but changed his mind. "So now you know just what I am. Okay. And you decided to be my white knight anyway?" It was Apollo's turn to look away. "More or less," he murmured. "What's she got on you?" Starbuck asked incredulously. "You're the most squeaky clean person I know - even Boomer has more secrets than you do!" "I *did* demand she let you go," Apollo began defensively. "But when I tried to insist, to threaten to expose her, she ... uh..." "Go on." "She figured out I knew too much about you. Things just a friend, even a best friend wouldn't know." "And she threatened to expose you - us. She said she'd go to your father, didn't she?" Apollo nodded miserably. "What kind of deal did you make? What do we have to do?" "We have to ... you have to show me how to..." Apollo had to turn away now or he couldn't tell Starbuck what he had agreed to. "If we have sex together, in here, the way she tells us to, she'll let us go." "Then we will." "But she's going to insist..." "That you use me as a pet. I know. She'll also want you to perform, because she knows what a private person you are." "What if I can't?" Apollo whispered. "Then you'll be stuck in here raping and brutalizing me until you can," Starbuck said baldly. Apollo winced. "And it *will* be much worse for you than for me. My body's trained to like it. *I* don't like it, not in my head," he assured Apollo when the man looked up in absolute horror. "But my body does. It remembered right away when she started." Starbuck smiled and tried to calm his naive lover. "Who knows? Maybe it'll turn you on and we'll get out of here faster." *** "And you?" He cocked an eyebrow at Apollo. "She said if we 'entertained her' sufficiently, she'd let you go." "Did she define 'sufficiently'?" *** Siress Belloby watched contentedly as her two "goldfish" - the ones with the smooth skins - spun slowly in a beautiful 69. Noting the dark-haired one tense, she quickly leaned forward and pressed the button on the wall. "Now release each other, boys." She waited until they did, watching them drift slowly away from each other, hunger in their eyes, need in their cocks. "Now, release yourselves!" Starbuck, of course, responded immediately, as he had been trained from childhood to do. A creamy stream jetted him away from his lover. Apollo stared after him, the sight of his lover's performance sending him over the edge microns later. "A good pas de deux is executed simultaneously, Captain," came the gravelly voice. "Starbuck, prepare for punishment." Starbuck smiled reassuringly at him as he approached the seal where Belloby was already waiting with her bag of toys. "It's okay, 'Pol," he murmured. "You know parts of me will love it anyway. Enjoy the show." Apollo looked at the bruised body that moved gracefully past him: nipples rimmed in scabs from too-tight clamps, scrotum black and blue from pinches and weights. He knew the blond wasn't speaking bitterly or sarcastically, which only made it worse. The sad truth was Starbuck's body responded to pain as much as to pleasure, maybe more, and then Apollo's body responded to that. Apollo pushed Starbuck out of the way; he was getting better at moving in zero G, and approached the seal first. "This is totally out of line, Belloby," he said in his best command voice. "How so, Captain?" she inquired languidly. "You punish the one who performs well instead of the one who fails to keep up," he said, stating the obvious. She laughed. "My dear, dear Captain. You are *so* innocent, isn't he Starbuck?" Apollo reddened and refused to look around to see if Starbuck agreed. "Starbuck enjoys his punishment and you know it. No, no, I'm punishing the right person. You're the one who is hurt by it, aren't you?" She laughed again as he threw a punch at the wall next to the seal in frustration and the violence shoved him past Starbuck to the opposite end of the tank. Belloby looked appraisingly at the pair. "But perhaps you're right. Maybe I'll try something a little different this time." She looked regretfully at the rectal stretcher in her hand. "Maybe next time, Betty." "You *name* your ... implements?" Apollo sputtered in disgust, while Starbuck chuckled despite himself. "Well, yes. Actually, I only name my favorites. The clamps all look the same to me; I don't name them. Now the weighted cock ring, that's Val. It's a tribute really, to a friend of mine whose specialty was applying weights in ... unusual places. Betty was another Siress who liked to keep her slaves, well, let's say opened wide." By this time Starbuck was doubled over in laughter - Belloby was right: Apollo was an innocent in many ways. How many times had he been told to "fetch Fingers, darling"? His buttocks clenched in memory of the caress of "Fingers", the cat o' nine tails one of his Mistresses had trained him with. She knew how to use it both as punishment and reward, as the need arose. He laughed harder feeling his need rise in response to the memories. Apollo didn't know which annoyed him more, Belloby's explanations or Starbuck's amusement. Starbuck found humor in the most perverse things. But Belloby was all business now. "Very well," she said briskly pulling out to carved rods, one a miniature of the other. "I'll help you out, Captain. After all, I wouldn't want the two best Warriors of the fleet to be missing should there be an emergency." She fitted the larger of the rods, into a harness. "To the seal please, Captain." When Apollo hesitated, Starbuck gave him a push with his shoulder. "Go on, Apollo. All she's going to do is strap it on you. It's a stone dildo." Approaching, Apollo saw that Starbuck was right. It was a piece of marble carved into an oversized erect penis. The biggest penis he'd ever seen, but perfectly proportioned. Belloby placed the sculpture just above Apollo's flaccid member and secured the harness around his thighs and waist. "There now," she said, pushing him away from the seal so she could admire her handiwork. "Much better. Now you, Starbuck." Starbuck swallowed hard as he looked at the crystal rod she held up. It, too was a sculpted penis, perfectly proportional and about the diameter of his little finger. But there was no strap for this and Starbuck knew where it was going. His erect member oozed at the thought of the unnatural invasion, but the rest of his body shuddered in anticipation of the pain. His mind recoiled and started to shut down. "Starbuck." Belloby's voice was harsh. She brandished the small wand. "It's you or Apollo. Your choice." She knew exactly what to say to snap him back to awareness. Starbuck moved to the seal and hooked his feet into the holds below it. Behind him, his hands clenched each other so tightly the nails drew blood. Despite his preparation, mental and physical, he howled in agony as she inserted the tip; then it got worse. His vision reddened, but the pain wouldn't let him lose consciousness. His scream - one single long sound - rose in pitch until no more sound would come out. His throat bled from the force of it. Belloby spoke over his shoulder at Apollo. "Hold him until he calms down. He needs to get used to it, adjust to the fullness. He hasn't been opened this way in many yahrens, I suspect." Starbuck knew there was no "getting used to" this, no "adjusting to the fullness". The initial tearing and gouging had given way to numbness as the abused nerve endings became overloaded. But that would soon change to an unending aching pain. And if he was aroused - the very thought, combined with the knowledge of what Apollo wore between his legs, made him tremble uncontrollably. Apollo held his lover carefully using his legs, avoiding contact with the dildo and Starbuck's tortured member as best he could. Only then did he fully understand what had been done. He pressed his lips together to stop himself from hurting Starbuck more with his thoughts. He pressed his face into Starbuck's hair so the blond wouldn't know he was crying. He felt the shivering man nuzzle into him, face against his neck. To Apollo's surprise, Starbuck whispered urgently into his ear. "Do it now! Fuck me now while I'm still numb." Apollo shook his head against Starbuck's. Starbuck became even more insistent. "Please! It's better that way." He paused and chuckled. This time the laughter was bitter. "Besides, it'll surprise her; maybe even please her that you do it without being forced. I'm sure she thinks she'll have to threaten you." Apollo leaned back and searched the tearstained face. Blood trickled out of his lover's mouth; his short, impassioned plea had been costly. Apollo could see the truth of Starbuck's words in his blue eyes. He nodded once, moved behind him, and held him around the knees with one leg while he nudged the marble dildo to Starbuck's entrance with the other. Starbuck gasped as Apollo slowly pushed the unyielding stone into him. Too slowly. Having no voice to state his needs, Starbuck took control and pushed himself fully onto the cold, wide rod. He retched even as he rocked himself on it, needing to convey the need for speed and force to his reluctant tormentor. Apollo got the message and began thrusting in and out in a brutal rhythm, pounding his lover. His own member became hard from the friction as much as the act itself. Soon he was moaning, lost in pleasure almost to the point of forgetting what he was actually doing. Then he did forget, as his climax hit him with an intensity that took him out of his body with ecstasy. Siress Belloby watched enraptured. Apollo was performing beyond her wildest expectations. Clearly so absorbed he had forgotten his partner, Apollo thrust savagely. Belloby licked her lips, watching Starbuck's eyes and mouth widen as the pain built - pain multiplied by the knowledge there could be no release. Starbuck's inflamed penis was as red as the bloody vomit that came from his mouth. By the time Apollo's cum drifted out between Starbuck's legs, his eyes had rolled back in his head, giving him relief from the pain through unconsciousness. Belloby felt wetness between her own legs and sighed in satiation. Some centons later she realized Apollo was still thrusting, had orgasmed at least once more and was still in the grip of uncaring pleasure. Suddenly she noticed Starbuck. His body bounced limply in front of Apollo. "That's enough!" she ordered. Apollo stopped thrusting and pulled the bloody piece of marble out of the unresponsive body in front of him. His howl as his surroundings snapped back into focus almost matched Starbuck's initial response to the invasion of his penis. "No-o-o! Starbuck, Starbuck!! NO!!" His anguish gave him superhuman strength and he snapped the bonds holding his hands. Desperately, he shook Starbuck by the shoulders, seeking a response, any response. Belloby was thinking furiously. How could she explain Starbuck's death in her apartment? Could she simply get rid of the body? Hardly likely, Apollo would fall apart immediately. To both Apollo's and Belloby's immense relief, a harsh gasp came from Starbuck as Apollo shook him. His eyes, wide and blank microns before, blinked rapidly, and met Apollo's terrified green ones. For microns the tableau held, spinning slowly in the zero G. Belloby took in the scene for a micron, and then knew what she had to do. Leaving the men absorbed in each other, she hurried from the tank room, stuffed cubits, jewelry, and clothes into an overnight bag, and was in her private shuttle centons later. Racing away from the freighter and the disaster she had created as quickly as she could, she headed back to that godforsaken planet where this whole mess had started. No one would ever look for her there. *** "Starbuck?" The blond lay curled on his side facing the wall, the only pain-free position he could achieve, no matter how heavily he was dosed with painkillers. At the sound of that voice, longed for during the many sectons he'd laid in Life Center, he unthinkingly rolled over. He grimaced in pain, but ignored it as he stretched a hand out towards the hesitant figure in the doorway. Apollo entered, head down. "I know I shouldn't be here. I wanted to wait until you sent for me, or until you could tell someone you didn't mind seeing me, but I ... I need you to do something for me." Starbuck nodded and patted the edge of the bed. Apollo perched gingerly and continued the speech he'd practices for cycles. "They won't take me into custody. Won't let me surrender. Won't punish me for what I did to you." "You didn't do anything. It was her doing." The voice was a harsh rasp. His throat was so damaged from screaming and then vomiting into the open wounds that he still couldn't speak or eat. "No. I could have refused. Should have." Starbuck shook his head no. "Then *I* was the one to blame. I told you to," he whispered. Involuntarily, his hand came up to massage his throat. He could taste blood in the back of his mouth. "Maybe," Apollo conceded. "But then I ... I lost control. If *she*..." Neither man would voluntarily speak her name ever again. "If she hadn't told me to stop..." He voice stopped abruptly as racking sobs shook him. He crumbled, hands to his face. Disregarding the shooting pains that went from his rectum up his spine to his head and circled around to his mutilated genitals, Starbuck sat up and pulled Apollo into a hug. "No, no, no. That's her doing, too. She got you trained. It's not your fault." Starbuck's whispers trailed off and he swallowed blood, rocking his lover to comfort him. Apollo straightened and pulled away. "You have to press charges," he said, his firm voice and calm eyes belying the tearstained face. "It's the only way they'll do anything." Starbuck shook his head no. He couldn't speak any more; there was too much pain. His whole body was charged with it. He pulled the bedside table over, grabbed the pad that was lying on it and began to write instead: 'Not your fault. I was trained the same way. I won't blame you.' He paused and looked up at Apollo. The dark-haired warrior shook his head, unconvinced. Starbuck sighed and started writing again. 'All right, then, if you want to be punished, I'll be your punisher.' That at least got Apollo's attention. "What do you mean?" 'You want to be punished?' Apollo nodded. 'Fine. I can't take care of myself.' Starbuck's hand trembled on the stylus. This was hard to admit, but he needed to be blunt or Apollo wouldn't believe him. 'I hear them talk. I read my chart. I'm hurt bad. May not heal completely. May never be...' He swallowed hard. 'May never be whole again.' "Oh gods!" 'Not the point. I'm going to need help when I get out of here. I don't know for how long. Maybe always. You can ask Salik. Don't ask Cass - all she does is cry. Real good for my morale.' Apollo wondered how Starbuck could joke, but he knew where this was going. "I'll take care of you. Forever." Starbuck looked skeptical. 'You know what that will be admitting,' he wrote. "I've already told them everything. I don't care. Do you know what Father said?" Starbuck shook his head. Adama was unpredictable. "He called me a frakking fool. Not for loving you, for keeping it a secret! If only I had known." Apollo started crying again. Starbuck dropped the pad and pulled him down onto the bed, where he could lay on his side and hold him and make the pain go away, for both of them. *** Apollo woke feeling something he hadn't in over a yahren. "I must be dreaming," he murmured. "Not bloody likely," came the soft response from atop him. "Shut up and lie still." The voice had no force behind it, probably never would, and the body holding him down was frail and could easily be tossed off, but Apollo obeyed anyway. He felt himself harden against the bedclothes and willed it away. Starbuck felt Apollo stiffen in an attempt to control his body and ordered as harshly as he could, "Don't you dare hold back!" Again, Apollo obeyed. They climaxed simultaneously. Starbuck with a gasp that was half pleasure, half pain; Apollo with a moan that was all pleasure and relief. Then they were lying spooned together, recovering. Starbuck felt Apollo's tears against his cheek and whispered, "Still need to be punished?" Apollo nodded. "Then you get to clean us both up." Apollo's laugh brushed his cheek as he rose to obey once more. The next sleep cycle, they made love together, gently, in deference to Starbuck's scar tissue. As they lay drowsing in the aftermath, Apollo murmured, "You lied to me." "Hmm?" Starbuck was too sleepy to be concerned. "You said you'd never..." "I said 'I may never'. I distinctly remember it." Starbuck's voice was teasing, but then it took on a different, uncertain tone. "Do you mean ... now that I *can*, you're going to leave?" Apollo hurried to reassure him. "No, love, no. Don't you remember what *I* said? I said 'Forever'. And that's what I meant." "Good. I'm going to hold you to that. That's your punishment. Forever."