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"Commander?" Karl knocked on the hatch to the Commander's office.

"Come in, Helo"

Karl stepped in and quickly snapped into position.

"At ease, Lieutenant. Have a seat" Bill motioned towards the seat across from his desk.

The Commander sighed at the sight of the tensed Helo, he didn't blame him, someone just attempted to take his life, but instead, his bestfriend took the bullet, and had to endure a long fight for her life, a bad day would be an understatement.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Yes, about this search and rescue mission to Caprica"

"Yes Sir, I've relayed all information to Apollo…"

"That's not why I called you here, Helo" Bill stopped him.

"Sir?"

"I want to make sure you are up for it after what happened yesterday. I need to know that I am not sending my men on a highly dangerous mission without a fighting chance" he rested his hands on the table, waiting for his response.

"Sir, the survival chance for the people on Caprica is getting smaller and smaller the longer we wait. Starbuck's plan is solid. She would want us to go with or without her. I'm ready to go and so is Sharon"

The Commander kept his gaze on Karl as he kept quiet for a moment.

"Very well. Apollo will update you with the latest mission details. Good hunting, Lieutenant"

"Thank you, Sir"

"And Helo?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"I want your report on the incident on my desk before you leave"


"You look like shit" she greeted Lee as he came in to see her. Kara had woken up briefly at some ungodly hour that morning, feeling like she had been hit by a truck, disoriented, and terrified as she couldn't register where she was until the nurse came and gave her some drugs to calm her. When she woke again, fragments of memories started to come back. She remembered the shooting, she remembered pushing Karl aside, and she remembered that angry look on the young pilot's eyes as he fired. It was something Kara could never forget even if she tried. She learned from the nurse that Karl, Lee and the Commander had visited her religiously while she was out, and she also learned that she had lost over a day while she was asleep. The Starbuck persona, although very weak, was welcomed warmly by Lee with a smile. It broke his heart seeing her like that, she looked so fragile, it was almost like she had her life sucked out of her.

"Look who's talking" he chuckled as he sat lightly on the edge of the bed, one foot on the ground. He couldn't sleep well since the day she got shot, thinking about her, worrying about her, and thinking about the mission. He didn't think Karl slept well either. He came running as soon as Karl gave him the news that she had woken up.

Kara smiled weakly as he took her hand in his. She dreamt about him earlier, and wished that she was still dreaming, because in that dream they were together.

"I'm glad you're okay" Kara noticed the relief surge his voice carried. He brought her knuckles to his lips and laid a gentle kiss before pressing her palm to the side of his cheek. Her heart fluttered at his touch, sending warm feeling through her. It was something only Lee could achieve. No number of kisses and loving words from any other man would have this effect on Kara Thrace, but at a touch from Lee Adama, she'd melt.

"It would take more than that to send me knocking down on Hades' door" she assured him, she remembered the horror in his eyes when he came to her side as she laid in Helo's arms, bleeding... it was a look that terrified her.

The two laughed lightly, despite the circumstances, it was one of the good days, when the world belonged to the two of them. It all happened so fast, Kara was lucky that the bullet missed her heart. Cottle said that she gods must've had plans for her, because despite the long and complicated surgery, everything went text book perfect.

"Cap… Caprica rescue mission?" Kara asked, her coarse voice was as weak as she looked. Lee tensed when she mentioned it, but he nodded.

"We're leaving at 1200 hours. Sorry Starbuck, looks like you're sitting this one out" he squeezed her hand as he said it.

"I'm not complaining" her eyes darted towards her wound.

"Helo will take your position…"

"Just… come back safely… please" she cut him off, gently tugging on his hand, her mind was in chaos, thinking of Lee, thinking of Sam, and thinking of Helo, but the same time, whatever Cottle had given her was starting to work, her eyes felt heavy.

Lee raised an eyebrow and his lips curled into a smile at her request.

"Will you miss me?" he teased.

"Always" she managed to answer before she drifted off to sleep. Lee sighed, his heart beat a little faster. He bent down to kiss her forehead and gently let go of her hand.

Inside, he was battling his own mental war. Once Anders was there, she'd be with him, once he was rescued, he'd be there for her. His fist clenched involuntarily. He marched to his office, if he couldn't bring himself to rescue Sam Anders out of the goodness of his heart, at least he could do it for her.


"Are you okay?" Lee asked as he saw Karl standing by the raptor, they were preparing to leave for the rescue mission. He took a deep breath as he saw Sharon walked into the deck with guards. He still flinched at the sight of his pregnant wife, and at the thought of her being on the rescue mission, but Sharon's face showed no worry, she knew her limit, Karl assured himself. He trusted her judgement.

"I'm fine... are you?" he turned to face Lee.

"I'm good and ready to go"

Lee gave him a small smile of assurance, he trusted him, he knew he could count on the man. With a solid nod, he tapped the other man's shoulder.

"Let's do this"


"How is she, Doc?" Bill was the last one to pay a visit, he decided to wait and let the boys catch up with her first. Cottle took a puff from his cigarette as he opened a folder with Kara's name on it.

"Peaceful… for now… not sure about it after she finds out that she'd be grounded for about three weeks though"

"So she'll fully recover?"

"You'll have your pilot back, Commander"

Bill walked towards Kara's bed, the curtain drew open as a nurse walked out with bloodied bandages on her tray.

"Hey Boss" Kara nodded when she saw Bill reaching the end of her bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot" she added a smile that brought relief to the Commander's face. She was still weak and sleepy, but the feisty woman underneath was definitely present.

"So when can I get back into the cockpit, Doc?" she rolled her head to her side and faced Cottle.

"Kara… let's concentrate on getting you better first" Bill put his hand on her wrist.

"Nuh… " she cleared her throat, "I'd like to know how long I'd be stuck with paperwork" she started to slur, another effect of that nice stuff the nurse just gave for her pain.

"Three weeks" Cottle answered. Kara looked at him, pissed off, but had not much energy left to express that anger. She managed a snort.

"Get some rest, Starbuck, that's an order"

"Rescue mission…" Kara fought the drowsiness that had kicked in, squeezing her eyes before opening it again.

"Any words?" she managed to ask, she realized it had only been a few hours after they left, but she just needed to ask, she needed to know.

"Not yet" Bill answered briefly. He gave her a kiss on her forehead before moving away from the bed.

"Get some sleep" he told her gently as he drew her curtain close.


CAPRICA

"Samuel T Anders?" Lee approached the taller man. Karl stood behind Lee, eyes alert for any enemies around while the rest of the crew greeted the other survivors.

"Call me Sam" he extended his hand. Lee gave him a firm handshake.

"Good to see you again, Helo" he added and gave Karl a quick nod.

"I'm Captain Lee Adama from Battlestar Galactica. We have marines and raptors, we're taking you back to Galactica with us"

Lee caught a glimpse of something shiny around his neck, and soon realized what it was... there, around Sam's neck, was Kara's dogtag... Lee involuntarily tensed at the sight of it.

"We don't have much time, Apollo" Karl reminded him before his gaze shifted to Sam,

"Where are the rest of your men?" he asked, knowing that there were more of them.

"They're all with us. Our base got hit this morning, we lost a lot of people" Sam tried to hide his sadness and regret for the lost souls, but Karl knew that he cared deeply for them, and losing them had been a huge impact on the man. Sam's eyes scanned the Galactica team, looking for the blonde feisty woman he knew before he turned to face Lee,

"Is Kara Thrace with you?"

"Unfortunately no, she's unable to take part in this mission due to recent attack. You will get to see her once abroad Galactica"

"Incoming!" Sharon shouted, warning them, before explosions sent some of the resistance fighters forward.


To be continued


Sorry for the lack of action, but I feel that it needed it in order to progress. Thank you for reading ^^ I hope you enjoy it.