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Kara walks into the president's curtained off area in sickbay and sits down on a nearby chair. The president is asleep, but Kara needs to talk to her, so she waits. She listens to the heart monitor beeping and thinks about how she is going to apologize.
Laura gasps for breath as she wakes up. As soon as she notices Kara sitting by her side she does her best to control herself.
"Hello. Where's Bill?" Laura asks, as her voice cracks from illness. It is hard to understand her because she is losing her voice.
"Taking five. I was in the neighborhood; I offered to keep on eye on you while he was gone."
Laura takes a deep breath, looks into Kara's eyes and says, "I was hoping you would come by. You're upset."
"I'm fine," Kara says, hesitating on talking to Laura.
"Captain…" Laura says and shakes her head.
"Alright, I'm not fine. I came here because… because I wanted to apologize."
"Kara, you don't need to."
"Yes, I do. When I came back, I know I caused a lot of problems between you and the admiral. And I know I ruined the relationship between me and you. I'm sorry for everything that I did and that I caused you…"
Kara stands up suddenly and walks to the foot of the bed.
Laura turns her head as she follows Kara's movement with her eyes, too tired to lift her head. She audibly swallows, as if to try and make her voice stronger before she speaks, but instead Kara speaks.
"I was just so mad," Kara says quietly, "because you didn't believe me. I had trusted your visions, but when I saw something, you didn't trust me. After everything we went through, that made me so upset, but now I understand why you did it." She walks to the side of the bed and says, "I'm so sorry."
Laura moves her hand toward Kara's and gently rubs her hand with her finger.
Kara looks up at her for the first time and then grasps Laura's hand, being careful not to touch the IV line.
Laura smiles at her and says in a gravelly voice, "I forgive you, Kara."
Kara sits down on the edge of the bed and lies back against the pillow. Laura wraps her arm around Kara and she snuggles into Laura's side. She rests her head lightly on Laura's shoulder and listens to her labored breathing.
Laura slowly turns her head to the side and presses her lips to Kara's brow.
A tear slips from Kara's eye and she whispers, "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Kara. It's okay," Laura says, her voice coming out rough. She allows Kara to cry into her shoulder and then she says so quietly it is almost a whisper, "What's wrong? You are the toughest pilot I've ever known, nothing makes you cry. What's wrong, Starbuck?"
Kara gives a watery chuckle at Laura's feeble attempt at humor and then takes a shaky breath. She looks up and wipes the tears off her face. Her chin quivers as she says, "I'm going to miss you, Laura. You're like a mother to me."
Laura's face drops and she sighs, weakly coughing from her sudden exhalation of breath. Taking a lot of effort, she lifts her hand and caresses Kara's cheek. "You're like a daughter to me too, and always will be."
Kara buries her face back into Laura's shoulder and says, "I hurt one of the few people who care about me. I'm sorry."
"Kara, it's okay."
"I love you, Laura."
"I love you too, Kara," she says, as she rubs Kara's back. Her hand trembles, but still does its job in calming her.
A few minutes later, Cottle peeks around the curtain to check on the president and is surprised to see Starbuck snuggled up against her. They both are asleep.
"Well, I'll be damned," Cottle says with a smile, and walks off to check his other patients.
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