The Reason

oooooooooooooooo

"Dradis contact," Gaeta called out suddenly, breaking the calm atmosphere in the CIC.

"Identify," Adama said tersely.

"Not sure yet ..."

"Galactica, Kat. We've got an unknown vessel approaching the fleet. Moving to intercept."

"Mr. Gaeta?" Adama questioned.

He shrugged. "Dradis is having trouble identifying it, sir."

"Dee, put out a message on all channels. See if we get a response."

"Yes sir."

"It's a cylon ship!" Gaeta interrupted. "Not a raider - larger."

Adama shot a look at Dee. She nodded - no words needed to be spoken.

"Kat, Galactica. Cylon ship approaching. Commence attack."

Just then the speakers cracked to life. "Hello? Is anyone getting this? My name is Samuel Anders, and I'm from Caprica. I know we're in a cylon ship, but me and my crew are human. Please don't shoot us down."

"What the hell ...?" Tigh exclaimed.

"Put me through," Adama demanded. "Unknown vessel, this is the Battlestar Galactica. We have ships moving to intercept. Please hold your position or we will commence shooting."

"Please don't shoot!" Anders voice was panicky. "I told you, we're human! We stole the ship and came to find you."

"How do I know you are who you say you are?"

"Let me talk to Kara ... I mean ... what the hell does she call herself again?" Adama could hear mumbling in the background. "Right, Starbuck. Can I talk to Starbuck please?" he begged.

"Hold your position till further notice." He put the phone down. "Tell the CAP to hold off firing till we check this out.' He picked up the phone again, punching the correct buttons. "Lieutenant Thrace, report to CIC immediately!"

It was barely two minutes before Kara came trotting into CIC, Lee in tow, both sweaty and flushed, having obviously been interrupted mid-run.

"Yes Admiral?" she asked breathlessly.

He turned a stern eye on her. "We've got a cylon heavy raider out there with a man claiming to be Samuel Anders piloting it." Her look of shock was noted - by both Adamas. "He wants to speak with you."

Kara took the phone, face paling. "Sam?" she asked hesitantly.

"Kara, is that you? Gods! It's so good to hear your voice again - please tell them not to shoot us!"

"How do I know you really are Anders?" A trace of suspicion laced her voice. But Lee was an observant man - he could hear the trace of hope as well. A pain shot through his chest like a needle. She cares for him.

"When we played pyramid together, I beat you 9 - 7 but you kept arguing one of my goals should have been kept back because I fouled you. The next morning was the most amazing se ..."

"Okay, I believe you," she interrupted, face radiating happiness. She covered the mouthpiece. "It's him," she said to Adama.

"So we should trust him?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll take care of the landing, you two go dress properly and meet me in the hangar bay in ten. I want you both as part of the welcoming party."

"Yes sir," the chorused in unison, and took off out of CIC at a run.

Exactly ten minutes later, Adama, Tigh, Lee and Kara were waiting, along with some of Tyrol's deck crew, as the ship's hatch opened and Anders descended first. A smile blazed across his face suddenly as he caught sight of Kara, and Lee gave her a sideways glance, only to discover a matching smile on her face.

"Kara!" The name tore from his lips like a dying man who just spotted water. He ignored everyone and strode straight to her, embracing her fiercely - even lifting her a little ways off the ground.

"Kara, I've missed you so," he murmured, and then their lips met. The kiss went on and on, like two people who'd been separated forever.

"Ahem," Adama cleared his throat, breaking up the lengthy kiss.

Anders let go of Kara, rather reluctantly Lee noticed, and stood facing Adama.

"Sorry sir," Kara muttered, wiping her mouth and smoothing out the front of her dress uniform.

"I see why you were so anxious to go back," he said dryly, giving her a look that spoke of conversations yet to come. Kara flushed a deep red, knowing exactly what was on his mind.

"I'm Admiral Adama, commander of this ship. Colonel Tigh, Captain Adama," he paused a moment. "And obviously you've met Lieutenant Thrace." Anders smiled at her and Adama could see why she was attracted to him. he was open, friendly, and unafraid to show his feelings. Unlike Lee, whom she's half in love with, he thought. He wasn't as unobservant as people often gave him credit for - he'd known for months that Lee and Kara had been hovering at the edge of taking their relationship out of it's comfort zone and moving it forward. In fact, he'd often wondered why they hadn't yet. Now he knew - she had feelings for someone else.

"Happy to meet you people. Kara talked about you a lot and couldn't wait to come back here."

"We're happy to have her back," Adama said proudly.

"Is everyone with you?" Kara asked him. Anders just threw her a look and walked back to the ship, motioning those on board to come off.

"Twelve? That's all?" she said disbelievingly after counting them.

Anders turned sad eyes towards her. "It's been tough since you left," he said gently, sorrow evident in his voice. Many of his teammates - his closest friends - had perished in the weeks since she'd left them.

Lee stole a glance at Kara. Outwardly the news hadn't seemed to affect her much - a raised eyebrow and stiffened spine - but her eyes spoke differently. He could see Anders' sorrow mirrored there, and something else - guilt.

"I should never have left you," she whispered, voice barely audible, but Anders heard her, and clasped her hand in his.

"You did what you had to do, and so did we. It's nobody's fault." She smiled weakly but Lee wasn't fooled. He'd been reading Kara long enough to know how guilt affected her - and how she tried to hide it from everyone. Idly he wondered if this man Anders knew her as well. Well how could he? he asked himself. They only knew each other a few days. I've known Kara intimately for half a year already.

"I can imagine you're all weary and needing rest, so I'll let you get settled in some temporary quarters and have the chef prepare a meal for you." Adama smiled at the small crowd of refugees in front of him. Then he turned towards Anders. "I'm going to need to meet with you after that, at say, 1800hrs. Colonel, would you take care of our guests please?"

Tigh nodded. "Follow me please."

Kara turned and began to walk beside Anders, bodies touching comfortably as they moved.

"Lieutenant, a moment please?"

Kara stopped. "Of course sir." She turned and placed a hand on Anders' arm. "I'll catch up with you later."

"You sure you'll find me? This ship is huge."

"I'll find you," she said firmly, smiling widely. "I know this ship like the back of my hand."

"Good." Anders smiled warmly then followed everyone else out of the hangar bay.

"So ... Kara ... I think there's something you neglected to put in your report on your visit to Caprica." Adama's words weren't exactly accusatory but they weren't the friendly, fatherly type she was used to either.

Kara flushed again. "I didn't think my personal life was relevant to the report sir."

"Everything is relevant Kara - and it explains why you've been so determined to send a rescue party back to Caprica."

Kara glanced at Lee then flinched. His eyes were cold, glittering sapphires and his expression was angry. So, he too was angry with her for neglecting to mention Anders. Too bad, she thought. It's no one's business what I do in my own time. Her jaw hardened and the 'Starbuck' mask dropped over her features again. Adama recognized it and knew she was digging her heels in for a fight. He sighed.

"We'll continue this conversation later. You're both dismissed."

Kara nodded brusquely and stalked off. Lee lingered a moment, and Adama had the feeling he had something he wanted to say. "Something on your mind Lee?"

"Did you have any idea ...?" He shook his head, not quite knowing how to say what was running through his mind.

Adama shook his head as well. "Not a clue. But then again, this is Kara. She's good at hiding things she doesn't want people to know."

"The question is, why doesn't she want people to know?" Lee fiddled with the wings on his uniform, something he was often wont to do when pondering something.

"Maybe a better question is, what is she going to do now that we do know?"

Lee nodded in silent agreement. While this new turn of events had shocked him somewhat, it did explain some of her behaviour since she'd come back. It was definitely going to be interesting to see how things played out.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

It didn't take Kara long to find out where the Caprica survivors had been placed. There weren't that many spare bunkrooms, despite all the losses they'd taken, so she'd found it quite easily. All twelve of them could have been placed in one room, but twelve was capacity and Kara knew, from hard experience, how unpleasantly crowded that was. Tigh, it seemed had been compassionate for once, and had split them into two neigbouring quarters.

"Anders?" she called out quietly, sliding the hatch open almost noiselessly - years of practicing sneaking around coming in handy.

"Hey," he said, smiling as he got up off his bunk and followed her out.

After a rather long reacquaintance kiss, they broke apart again and stood just looking into one another's eyes.

"You guys really live like sardines here huh?" he teased, trying to break the ice. The tension between them was almost tangible and it seemed neither was able to cut through it to say the things they really wanted to say.

"Didn't I mention your place was like a palace at some point?" she returned, smiling a thank you for easing the tension somewhat.

"Listen, didn't your Admiral say these were 'temporary' quarters? What exactly did he mean by that?"

"That you won't be staying here long I imagine."

"Where are we going to go then? He's not going to send us back is he?"

"Of course not." She ran a hand down his chest slowly, watching the muscles tense through his T-shirt as it descended. "But Galactica is a battlestar. We're a warship and there's no place for civilians here. There are over two hundred civilian ships traveling with us. I imagine he'll try to find you a home on one of them."

"But I came here to be with you," he objected, running a gentle hand along her cheek.

"You came here to avoid being killed. My being here is just an added bonus," she teased, a mischevious grin forming.

"No, I came here to be with you," he repeated, totally serious. "I don't know what you did to me back on Caprica, but after you left I realized that I wasn't really living without you. I was surviving sure, trying to hold it all together and keep my people alive, but I wasn't living. You gave me a reason to be alive - a reason to wake up in the morning - a reason to continue the fight though the odds were horribly against us." Anders stroked her cheek tenderly. "All I've thought about since you left was you, and how I shouldn't have let you go."

"Let me go? You made me go!"

"I know. I couldn't be selfish and ask you to stay - you belong here. You wanted so desperately to get home, I ... I just couldn't let you stay. You'd have regretted it."

"I've regretted leaving every single day since then," she whispered, putting her other hand up to join the first one on his chest. "I know I had to complete my mission, but I wanted so much to stay and fight ... with you."

"Kara," he said softly, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "We're together now. I didn't come all this way just for us to be apart again. We'll find a way to make it work." He leaned forward and kissed her softly.

"The eternal optimist aren't you?" she chuckled. " 'Lighten up, it's only the end of the world ' " she quoted him. "How can you always seem to make the best of things?"

"When I'm with you, nothing else seems to matter."

"Smooth talker too. Tell me again why I went and left you behind?" she teased.

"Some frakked up notion - I think they call it duty."

She snorted. "Remind me to ignore it the next time it calls."

"My pleasure." He pulled her fully into his arms and held her tightly, hoping his actions would be able to tell her everything he hadn't been able to say. Hopefully soon the time would come when he could bare his soul to her, but for now, a hug was enough.

TBC