"You think you would have ended up like Cain?" He looked up and met the green eyes assessing him as she stood quietly, just inside the hatch.

"I see your military advisor has been busy." He countered with a wry smile. Hoping against hope that he could distract her from this tack, he really didn't want to discuss this.

"Your son was concerned. And that won't get you out of answering my question." Slight emphasis on the 'your', a subtle reminder of a similar conversation, and a hint of steel as she refused to allow his deflection.

With a sigh, he gave in to the inevitable.

"Alone, one ship, a lone battle for survival, who knows what kind of choices a person could end up having to make. So yes, I think it is a possibility."

"Possibly." Her definite tone was something of a surprise, he had expected a little more of an argument. She allowed the moment to lengthen a while longer before continuing in a more thoughtful tone.

"We have had to make desperate decisions, based on the information we had at the time. Yes. And we have had to do things we never believed we were capable of. But I don't believe you would have taken the same path as Admiral Cain."

"Because I had you, challenging me." His reply was definitive, absolute certainty colouring his words, they were each others counterbalance.

"No." The short reply was equally certain.

"No?" This conversation was taking unexpected turns.

"Even on your own, I don't believe it." Again with the certainty.

"How can you possibly be sure?"

"Helena Cain reacted to the loss and to betrayal from someone she trusted. Her response to the loss was to fight back, to expend everything she had, any resources at her disposal on attack. Her response to betrayal was hatred and revenge." She paused for a moment, allowing him to digest the character study and then continued. "You have lost so many in this fight, and you have been betrayed by some you considered family."

"And I reacted badly."

"You were hurt and you hit back, a human reaction."

"Like throwing you in the brig."

She smiled just fractionally.

"Wasn't the example I was going to go with, but OK. You threw me in the brig. Would you have executed me for treason?"

"No!" His response was short and sharp.

"Would you have allowed your soldiers to mistreat me?"

"Hell, no!" There was no doubt in the denial. Even at the thought, his fists clenched and he fought the urge to pace off his nervous energy.

"Would you have witheld necessary ... never mind, you get the point." Her eyes darkened midway through the question and she seemed to lose focus, before switching tacks.

"Necessary ... ?" He was curious as to what had caused the reaction. She ignored him however, and continued.

"Would you have allowed Boomer to be treated the way the Cylon prisoner on the Pegasus was treated? To be brutalized, tortured and raped repeatedly. There is no way you would have stood for that kind of treatment on your ship. You would never turn your weapons on your own pilots, you fight hard to ensure that as many of them as possible get come back safe every time. You would never have lost your humanity. That is the difference between you and Cain, that is why I know you would never, whatever the situation, have become like her."

He was honoured by the trust she showed him, the confidence in his character and intended to live up to it.

And he was going to do some investigating.