Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Chapter 2
Lee Adama was on the flight deck of the Galactica about to return to the Pegasus after a meeting with his father when he heard the broadcast from a Raptor with a medical emergency requesting to land. Fearing it might be someone he knew, he stayed where he could see what was going on but not be in the way.
He was as shocked as everyone else was on the flight deck when he saw Samuel Anders being taken out of the Raptor on a stretcher hooked to a portable ventilator. Lee had only seen the man once, but the memories of him passionately kissing Kara had been seared into his mind. He hurried towards the medics who were already wheeling the stretcher towards the medical station.
"What happened to him?" Lee demanded.
"Don't know for sure, Commander," said the medic guiding the stretcher down the corridor. "They found him stabbed on top of a woman that he apparently killed."
"What!" was all Lee could say.
"Neither one of them was breathing when they were found. Mouth to mouth resuscitation revived him, but she wasn't so lucky. We do know he had alcohol on his breath; in fact, they both reeked of alcohol. He also has a nasty bite mark on his shoulder. It appears she may have bitten him."
"Do you know who she was?" Lee asked, suddenly very afraid of what the answer might be.
"I think you may have known her, sir. She was pretty famous in the fleet. She was blond, really pretty. Her name was D'Anna Biers. She was the reporter that did that nice story about the people working on the Galactia awhile back. Are you okay, sir?" the medic asked in alarm as he watched the Commander's face go white.
"Yes, I'm fine," he said as color returned to his face. "How did she die?"
"Well sir, I've seen a lot of pretty gruesome things in this job, but this was one of the worst. Her head and face were beaten to a bloody pulp. The only way we were even able to identify her was by the press id she was wearing."
They had arrived at the medical station. "Sorry sir, I need to fill in Dr. Cottle about his condition," as he motioned towards Anders.
"Yes, of course," Lee said as he was left alone outside of the medical station.
How could Kara have gotten mixed up with a man like that? He had been so afraid that it was her that had been murdered by this monster from the way the medic had begun describing the woman. And it well could have been. Something in Anders must have snapped after all the stress of being on Caprica after the holocaust. Thank the gods she wasn't with him when it happened. The thought 'It could have been Kara,' kept repeating in his head.
He put in a call to the Celestra and asked to speak to the investigators of the crime scene. They confirmed what the medics had told him. Additionally they mentioned that Anders had been in the room alone when D'Anna Biers had entered, and no one else had been seen coming or going.
"I'm no expert, Commander, but it appears that she died from blunt trauma to the head. Her only other injury seems to be one of her hands; several bones appear to have been broken."
"Thank you for your time. If you learn anything else please keep me informed," Lee said formally.
"Yes sir."
Immediately after hanging up Lee picked up the phone again and requested two armed guards be posted outside of the medical station. Anders certainly hadn't looked like he would be getting up any time soon, but Lee was not going to take any chances. It could have been Kara - was all he seemed able to think.
Kara knew something was wrong as soon as the top of her viper opened. Several members of the flight deck were standing at the bottom of her ladder with looks of sorrow on their faces.
"What's wrong?" she asked as she hurried out of the viper and down the ladder.
"Why am I having to repeat myself? What the frak is wrong?" she said loudly, looking around for someone to answer her question.
Chief Tyrol finally found his voice. "It's Sam," was all he could say at first. "A Raptor brought him in on a stretcher. They took him to Dr. Cottle." He looked down at the ground.
Kara didn't say anything else. The post flight debriefing was forgotten as she set off running for the medical station. The chief didn't have to say anything else; she knew from the way he was acting that it must be very serious.
She racked her brain trying to think of what Sam had had planned for the day. He and his former teammates had been scheduled to hold the first pyramid exhibition match on the Celestra today. Sam had been so happy! After a week or so of sitting around after first arriving on the Galactica he had come up with this idea, and there had been no stopping him. She had been glad he had found something to focus on besides her. She loved spending every minute she could with him, but she was afraid things were happening too fast. He had told her that he loved her for the first time two days ago. She had tried the same tactic she had used on Lee Adama when he had told her he loved her. She had teased him and made fun of him and treated him like it was all just a silly crush. With Lee it had worked; her mocking had sent him scurrying away looking like he regretted ever opening his mouth. Sam, however, had reacted completely differently. He had laughed at her teasing, held her in his arms, and told her she could believe whatever she wanted, but he knew he was in love with her. She had let him kiss her then. It was a deep and passionate kiss that also spoke of love. She knew in her heart that he really did love her and, despite the fact that she wasn't entirely sure exactly what her feelings for him were yet, her heart soared at the thought.
As she rounded the last corner she ran straight into Lee Adama.
"Sam's hurt, Lee," she said with a wild look in her eyes. She tried to push past him to go to Sam, but Lee stopped her.
"No, Kara!" Lee said loudly to get her attention.
Kara stopped and looked at Lee in bewilderment. Why was he stopping her?
"You can't see him right now," he said with sorrow in his voice. "He's in surgery."
"What happened to him? Do you know?" He didn't answer her. "Tell me!" she hissed.
Lee wanted to shout at her to run away from that monster, but he knew she would have to know why. He didn't want to be the one to tell her, though. He also didn't want to watch her heart break right in front of him.
He tried to choose his words carefully. "He was stabbed in the chest during a brawl."
"A brawl? Who would want to attack Sam?"
Lee didn't respond right away, and Kara started to lose her patience.
"Lee, what the frak is going on? Tell me right now. I have a right to know." She said with a fire in her eyes that he knew only too well.
Lee took a deep breath and said, "We don't know everything. He was found not breathing lying on top of a woman. They both smelled of Ambrosia. She was already dead, but they were able to revive him. The bones in one of her hands had been crushed, and she had been beaten to death. The murder weapon was in his hand."
She took a step away from him and shook her head. "No," she utterly quietly. "It can't be."
Lee couldn't believe she could be in such denial. "Kara, something must have snapped inside of him. He was drunk and he attacked a woman – hell – he beat her to a pulp and crushed her fingers. Don't you understand, that could have been you Kara!."
Her head snapped up as he said those last words and the look of terror in her eyes made him cringe in anguish. He had wanted to stick to just the facts, but that phrase that kept repeating in his head had slipped out of his mouth and he could never take it back.
Kara turned around and started running.
She ran all the way to her rack, got in, pulled the curtain closed, and curled up in the fetal position facing the wall. She kept hearing Lee's voice saying, 'That could have been you Kara.'
She didn't want to believe it, but she knew that he was right. She had somehow found the one man left in the universe that was the most like her mother.Her mother had been fine while sober, but if she had had too much to drink she became a different person – a mean, ugly person. Kara sobbed into her pillow. Not only had she found that one man, she had also managed to fall for him. How frakked up was that! She kept replaying in her mind so many memories of Sam and her together and she couldn't reconcile them with what Lee had told her. How could she have been so deceived? What an idiot she was!
She fell asleep exhausted from crying but awoke when she heard someone whispering her name. At first she feared it was Sam, but she realized he had to still be in the medical station. She peaked out of her curtain and saw Lee sitting on the opposite bunk. She wiped her eyes and opened the curtain.
Lee's heart broke to see her like that. He knew he would do anything within his power to help heal her.
"Kara," at first that was all he could say. Then he added, "I want you to come back to the Pegasus with me. You need to get away from here for a few days. You can stay in my quarters; you won't have to see anyone or talk to anyone. I'll make sure you're taken out of the flight rotation." It was all he could think to offer her – himself.
When Lee had told her about Sam and she had taken off running, it had reminded her of how she used to run outside and up the hill behind the house to get away from her mother's abuse. She would lie down and look up at the night sky and wish she could fly away to the farthest star she could see. Now she was up among those very stars and found it still wasn't far enough. The Pegasus was better than nothing; she would accept Lee's offer to get away from Galactica.
