Uncomfortably Lee looked at the people sitting across from him. All three of them, his father, Roslin and Tigh, were looking at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, uhm …" He began. He still had no idea how to explain all this. "Like I said, I know her from … my dreams." He cleared his throat and looked hesitantly at his father.

"You really expect us to believe that?" Adama said doubtfully.

"Not really …" Lee chuckled nervously. "But, well, it's the truth. I couldn't make that up, could I? How else would I know about the Stargate?"

"Captain Apollo, I've had my fair share of experience with visions and dreams … So, let's say I believe you. Why did you never tell us about her before?"

"I didn't know she was real. I mean, I was just dreaming."

"When did this begin?" Roslin inquired.

"When I was a child. I was about five, I think. One night she just appeared on my meadow and …"

XXXXXXX

"Your meadow? What do you mean, your meadow?" Jack looked at Sam confused.

"Well, I have been dreaming of playing on this meadow since I can remember. And one night … he was just there and, well, we became friends. And from that day on we've been there every night in our dreams. It's like we grew up together. I just never thought it was real until I saw that note in my hand."

"And you're saying those people are on the run from a superior enemy?" General Hammond inquired.

"Yes. Their home planets got destroyed and now they're looking for earth. They're looking for us."

"This sounds a lot like science-fiction to me." Jack threw in sarcastically. "You sure you didn't just see this on TV somewhere?"

"Lee said almost the same thing when I told him about the Stargate." Sam replied grinning. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's all true. Somehow we are connected through our dreams …"

XXXXXXX

"… and you can deny it as often as you want, it's still the truth." Lee ended. He didn't think he had convinced his father, much less Tigh, but Roslin looked like she might believe him.

"Will you see her again tonight?" She asked him.

"I guess so, yes." Lee replied hesitantly.

"Good. There is something I want you to do."

XXXXXXX

"So, how was your day?" Sam asked grinning.

"Lots of questions to answer." Lee sighed.

"Same here. And I have a long list with even more questions they want you to answer."

"We really must have the same ancestors. Roslin and my Dad had the same idea. I hope I can even remember all the things they want to know from you."

"So, do we get this behind us right now or …" Her voice trailed off and she looked playfully at Lee.

"Work first and fun later?" He grinned.

"Mhmm … or we just tell them we didn't meet here tonight for whatever reason and forget about the questions." She let her finger trace along his chest. Ever since their first kiss in that tomb on Kobol she couldn't stop thinking about touching him and kissing him … she just wanted to be close to him.

Lee took a deep breath. "Sounds tempting."

He took her hand in his and their fingers entwined. He wished he could stay with her like this forever. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy. "I don't think they'll believe us though. So we better get this behind us as quickly as possible. Then we can enjoy the rest of the night." He gave her a long kiss before he pulled away.

"Frakking duty." Sam mumbled.

"Did you just say frakking?" Lee laughed.

"Well, I kinda got used to it over the years." Sam admitted laughing. "So, back to the questions. You wanna start?"

"Just go ahead and ask." Lee sighed. Now his duty even followed him into his dreams. It was just getting better and better.

They spend most of the night asking their leader's questions to each other, both hoping they would still remember all the answers when they woke up.

Once they were done, they let themselves fall back on the grass.

"Can we get back to the fun part now?" Lee said grinning.

"I doubt we have much time left." Sam stated. "I don't want you to disappear right in the middle of … kissing."

"Right." Lee sighed.

"At least this night wasn't all for nothing. You're a lot closer to finding earth now. From now on, things can only get better, right?"

"Right." Lee replied smiling.

XXXXXXX

Desperately Lee waited for Sam to show up on the meadow. She hadn't been there last night and Lee was longing to talk to her. Ever since Pegasus had shown up, things have turned for the worse. First there was the transfer away from Galactica and now he had learned about his father's and the president's plan to assassinate Cain … and he was supposed to be a part of that. This wasn't why he had fought so hard all these last months. All day he had asked himself if it was worth it to even keep going. He remembered his father's words the day of the decommissioning ceremony. Was humanity still worth saving? From what he had experienced today, he wasn't so sure anymore.

Tomorrow they would fight the Cylons and right after that they would murder one of their own. Killing Cain couldn't be the only way to stop her from doing any harm. If they had stooped so low, they were no better than the Cylons.

Frustrated he threw a stone in the lake next to which he and Sam had often sat. Where was she? She hadn't told him of any upcoming mission that would keep her up all night.

He let himself fall on the grass and closed his eyes. He felt so tired …

XXXXXXX

Relieved Sam stood on the meadow. For a while she didn't think she'd ever come here again. When she had fallen asleep and hadn't been on the meadow, she had feared the Goa'uld in her hadn't only taken control of her body, but had also taken away her most precious thing – the time she got to spend here with Lee.

She didn't expect him to show up any time soon. It was still the middle of the day. She shouldn't even be sleeping herself. But having a Goa'uld inside of her was a lot more exhausting than she had expected. She was just glad it was over and she was back here.

Being a host for a Goa'uld, even a friendly one, had been more traumatic than she had been willing to admit. To not have any control over her body ... She was longing to talk to Lee about it. He could always understand her better than anyone else. If only he were here right now …

Suddenly her eyes fell on something floating in the lake. Surprised she went closer. There had never been any changes to this dreamworld. Everything still looked the same as the first time she got here as a child. When she stood right before the lake, she suddenly recognized what had caught her attention.

"Lee." She called out. She was surprised to see him here. Especially like this … she hadn't seen him swimming in the lake since they were children. When she didn't get a response, she called for him again. That's when she noticed that he wasn't moving. "Lee!"

Quickly she run into the water … it was ice cold. She didn't remember it to be so cold. She was still far away from Lee when she saw him drowning. "No! Lee!"

She tried to quicken her steps. Suddenly a white light appeared above her. She shielded her eyes with her hands. Once the light was gone, she searched the water for Lee. He wasn't there anymore.

"No…" She whispered. Frantically she dived into the water, searching for him. She couldn't find him.

XXXXXXX

Silently Sam sat next to Lee, still shaken about what she had seen a few hours ago. When she had found him sitting at the lake, alive and staring at the water in front of him, her first impulse had been to run to him and hug him tightly. But he had seemed so distant when she had reached him that she had only taken a seat next to him, taking his hand in hers.

Neither of them had spoken a word since then.

"Are you okay?" Sam eventually asked quietly.

"I don't know." Lee whispered.

Sam swallowed. "Did something happen?"

"Where have you been?"

Sam immediately felt guilty. Of course there was no reason to, it hadn't been her fault that she hadn't been able to come here. But Lee didn't know that. "I wanted to come, but … it's one of these sci-fi stories you're always laughing about." She had hoped to get Lee to at least smile at her comment, but he just kept staring at the water.

"There was this Goa'uld in me. Uhm, it turned out to be one of the good ones and it left , but … while it was in me, I couldn't come here. I was sleeping, but … " She stopped and looked at him, scared of what she was seeing. "I saw you. A few hours ago you were in the lake … you were drowning and there was this light and then you were gone. It scared the hell out of me."

Lee closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. "I let go." He whispered.

"What do you mean?" Sam had no idea what he was talking about. She was getting more and more worried about him. He looked so ... lost.

"Lee, what are you talking about?" She urged him to continue when he didn't go on by himself.

His eyes were open again, but he didn't look at her. Instead he stared at the water in front of them, but Sam doubted he was really seeing it. "I had to eject .. during the battle. There was a hole in my flight suit and … I just let go."

"Why did you do it?" She asked quietly, trying to hide her shock.

Lee hesitated a moment before he replied in a hoarse voice. "I didn't want to come back."

His words struck her to the core. They reminded her of this one night when they had still been in high school. The way Lee was acting ... it was just like then. And she had nearly lost him then.

She shook her head in despair. Everything had been so perfect a few days ago. They had been happy. Lee had been thrilled that they had found another battlestar. What could have happened in such a short time to put him in a state like this?

"Lee, what happened?"

He closed his eyes again and shook his head slightly. "They wanted to kill her. Cain ... I already had a hard time believing that my father would go through with something like this. But Roslin? She promised … she promised us a bright, shiny future. How can we have that when we start killing our own?"

Sam stayed silent for a moment. She didn't really know what to say. Finally she took a deep breath. "You promised you would talk to me if you ever felt that way again."

"You weren't there."

"Right. But I'm here now."

Lee nodded slightly, but stayed silent. He felt too tired to talk. He leaned his head against her shoulder and she put her arm around him, holding him tightly to her.

"Are you going to be okay?" Sam asked quietly after a moment.

"I don't know."

"But I can't lose you." She swallowed down the lump in her throat. She could feel the tears brimming in her eyes. "I need you."

"I need you too." He mumbled after a moment.

"Good. So try to hold on next time, okay?" She turned to him and forced him to look at her. "Never let go again. Because even when I'm not here, I'm always with you in my thoughts. And we'll always be back together here. And no matter how hopeless everything might seem at the moment, we always have each other. So don't let go. Ever."

She looked at him intently. Finally a small smile appeared on his face. It made her heart burst with joy.

"I love you. You know that, right?" He said quietly.

"I suspected something like that when you gave me that kiss the other day." She smiled at him. "I love you too."

They sat quietly for some time until Lee suddenly turned to her again, his eyes wide open. "You had a Goa'uld inside of you?"


TBC

A.N.: Thanks to Laurie for beta reading. :-)