Title: Captive, Chapter 7

Pairing: Lee/Kara

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Lee is desperate to reach Kara now that she's given birth, but the mission to save the colonists must take precedence. Now that Aurora is born, what exactly does Leoben want with Starbuck?

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. I checked and everything.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter is pretty short (for me anyway), so I thought I would post it tonight and then post a longer one tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for the great comments and feedback, it means a lot!

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10 Months After the Groundbreaking Ceremony – Week 15 of Cylon Occupation

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Lee was glad that only the Chief had come on this meet with him. He didn't want to have to worry about a big group of them traipsing through the woods waiting for Galactica's contact to make his or her presence known.

Plus, the Chief was notorious for sitting for hours and not saying a word. As Lee stared into the sky, watching the stars and the moon above his head as he counted down the hours until dawn, he was eternally grateful for that fact.

He'd known he wouldn't sleep out here—he barely slept at all anymore. He couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Kara … and now, he saw her face scrunched in pain, crying out for him, reaching for his hand.

And he wasn't there.

Then he'd see her holding a small pink bundle and know she was holding their daughter.

And he still wasn't there.

It was random chance that allowed one of their contacts to get word to Apollo that Kara Thrace had been spotted approximately three weeks ago in the hospital. Even more random that they'd been able to tell him she'd given birth to a beautiful baby girl after sixteen hours of labor. Mother and baby were both fine.

His heart had nearly ripped from his chest at the words. Mother and baby—Kara was a mother and she'd had his baby. And he had missed it. Rationally, he'd known he would, known that the chances of getting to Kara before she gave birth were slim, but it was still a blow. Could she forgive him? Could she forgive him for leaving her there, for not finding her, for not freeing her after nearly three months of captivity?

He prayed for her and their daughter now every night, every morning, before he ate, before he tried to sleep. He had begged their informant for the baby's name, but she'd shrugged sadly and informed him she'd been unable to see a birth certificate before she'd left. Swallowing down his disappointment, Lee had thanked her all the same and then retreated to his and Kara's tent and cried.

He felt the familiar sting of tears again and this time bit the inside of his cheek to keep them at bay. He was getting them back, both of them. His father was here now, and they'd be mounting an actual rescue very soon, within the month at least.

Still staring at the sky, Lee counted the stars and named each one after Kara.

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"The child is a complication I didn't expect."

Six and Eight both looked at him with narrowed eyes. "A child is not a complication, brother," the blonde admonished. "It is a blessing from God."

Leoben bit back a retort he knew would not be welcome here. Turning to other man in the room, he pleaded. "There must be something I can do."

Brother Cavil looked blithely unconcerned. Rolling a half-smoked cigar between his thumb and forefinger, he shrugged. "Take the child away. Kill it. What do I care?"

"You cannot kill an innocent child." Eight stepped into his line of sight, her five-foot nine-inch frame straightened to its full height. "That is an unacceptable solution."

"If the child is the obstacle, then remove the child." Cavil explained this as though he were speaking to children, as though a pat on the head and a hard candy would mollify them. Leoben thought he hated the man most for his condescension.

"No," he said with finality, watching Six and Eight visibly breath sighs of relief. "Kara would never forgive me if I let anything happen to the baby."

"How is the mother?"

He noticed how Six never used her name; he found that curious. "Fine, healthy, stubborn as ever. She refuses to let me hold the baby, bathe her, change her diaper." The weeks of dismissal burned his cheeks and he slammed a hard fist on the console before him, startling Cavil, but not the women. "Frak, she won't even tell me the child's name."

The four stood in silence for a moment and Leoben seethed. He had thought once Kara gave birth, she would begin to open to the possibility of starting a life, a real life with him. Of realizing that she had a destiny to fulfill and he was the one to guide her. He didn't understand how a woman with so much faith could be so blind to the fated path laid before her.

The baby had ruined everything. Kara was supposed to have been found unencumbered by any attachments. Her one and only serious relationship, with the youngest Adama, had ended and ended badly, per the Cylons' plan. It was a set-up, made to ensure that when the time came, Kara Thrace would be ready to embrace Leoben as her guide, her lover, her confidant. To ensure that they would both meet her destiny head on.

It wasn't happening. Kara had opened herself to another, formed an attachment. It was more than sex, more than physical intimacy. It was love, Leoben saw it in her eyes every time she gazed at the little girl. While she refused to speak or coo or even tease the child in his presence, there was an unmistakable softness to her features now. The baby was a connection to her life before; a connection they had worked hard to prevent.

Why had God chosen such a difficult task for him and then decided to make it harder?

"It seems that for such a small creature, that baby has quite a bit of power."

Cavil's voice drew his concentration back to the present. Leoben squinted at the man as he added, "The baby is only four weeks old, Brother. Surely, you're not afraid of it."

No, just of it's mother, he thought, fighting back a smirk. Yes, Starbuck was at her finest when she was fighting to survive. The difference was she was now fighting for two people, herself and her child, and she knew that her determination was the only thing that would protect her child. The baby was the only reason she hadn't tried to escape, hadn't tried to kill him, hadn't—

Straightening quickly, Leoben smiled, a full-fledged grin. He knew what to do now.

Turning to Cavil, Leoben leaned across the console and plucked the cigar from his hands. Taking a puff, he let out slowly. "I think you're right, Brother. If the child is the obstacle, it must be removed."

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You are so perfect. My Gods, how did you get to be so perfect? It must be your father's genes, he's pretty frakkin' perfect.

Oh Gods, you're going to be swearing like a marine before you're two. That's okay, I'll just blame your father … or maybe the Old Man.

He's going to love you … I mean, get-away-with-murder love you. We'll have to keep the spoiling to a minimum, okay, baby girl? I don't want you growing up thinking you're entitled to things just because your last name is Adama.

But I promise you won't grow up the way I did. You're never going to know pain like that, I swear. You're never going to think for a second that I don't love you, that your father doesn't love you. I guarantee he already does. He hasn't even seen you yet and I know that your daddy loves you more than anything else.

But not more than I do. I love you, Aurora. I love you so much it hurts. I never understood that expression before, not really. Not until you. You are my reason for living, nugget. I never really understood that before either. I always thought it was pretty stupid to live for someone else, but right now, in this moment, I want to do everything for you. I want to show you everything I can, every planet, every plane, every color of the rainbow, every piece of music, every work of art. I want you to see everything and I want to be with you when you do.

Gods, Aurora, I wish you hadn't been born like this. I'm grateful you're here with me, grateful that I have you to focus on, to care for, but you shouldn't have to worry about keeping your mom sane. You're only a month old. You shouldn't have to worry about anything.

But know this, I will protect you, no matter what. I will love you and care for you and make sure that you are never hungry or hurt or cold or alone, ever.

The baby yawned and Kara smiled through her tears and continued her silent monologue.

Lee, I wish you could see her. She's beautiful and perfect. She yawns like you and I think she even has your nose, thank the Lords, because I don't wish mine on anybody. I think she might have my chin though and my cheeks. Not sure about the eyes yet. The doc told me once, before all of this, that all babies have blue eyes when they're born. We won't know for like eight more months. But that's good, because you'll be with us by then.

I know you will, Lee. I know you're looking for me. And as soon as I can walk a few steps without feeling like my legs are going to give out, I'm coming to find you. Aurora and I aren't staying here a minute longer than we have to. We're going to be a family. I'm promising her and I'm promising you.

Love you, Lee.

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His father had sent Sharon of all people. He wasn't sure if it was a tribute to his father's ridiculously inappropriate sense of humor or just really good strategy, but Lee had to admit he was more than surprised when he'd met her in the woods, in full pilot uniform, dogtags and all.

But she'd done her duty. She'd brought the intel and she was their ticket into Cylon HQ. That's where the launch keys were, that's where she'd go.

It was where Kara was too, he knew it. All through planning Lee had to physically restrain himself from adjusting the mission objective. Had to bite his tongue from screaming, "Frak the keys, we're getting Kara and my daughter out!"

The Chief seemed to know or at least he had a frakkin' good guess, because more than once he felt the other man's strong hand clasping his shoulder. He knew it was meant as a sign of solidarity, but Lee thought it only showed the others how weak he was.

He had to be better than this, he couldn't let personal feelings color his judgment or his tactics. Otherwise, not only would he lose Kara and his daughter, they'd lose all of humanity.

"Apollo, you with us?"

Even with one eye, Tigh could still be frakkin' intimidating. Blushing like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he straightened and said brusquely, "Yes, Colonel, of course."

"Good." The other man eyed him for a minute more and then nodded at Sharon to continue.

Sharon outlined the rest of the plan and they all nodded in agreement before turning back to Lee.

"All right. Sharon's going in tomorrow at oh-seven hundred. Duck and Tyrol will be standing by for the exchange."

The meeting broke and Lee made his way across the room to Sharon. She was already dressed in the clothes of her skin job counterpart and Lee fought the urge to shudder.

"Sharon, look."

She turned to him and Lee took a deep breath before continuing. "I think they're holding Kara in that building. She had the baby about a month ago and—"

"I'll keep an eye out, Apollo. But we only get one shot at this." Taking a step closer, she lowered her voice and asked, "Do you want me to go after Starbuck instead?"

Wide eyed, Lee stared at her, his traitorous heart screaming for him to say yes, while his dutiful brain spoke the right words. "No. Get the keys. We've got to get everybody out of here."

Sharon eyed him for a second longer and then nodded. "Helo, uh …" She glanced to her feet and Lee could swear she was blushing, if machines could at any rate. "Well, Helo told me to tell you, he's glad you didn't wuss out."

With a small snort of laughter, Lee nodded, vividly remembering Helo's thinly veiled advice that day so many months ago on the Pegasus.

"I'm glad I didn't either."

Lee turned from Sharon before she could see the pure despair in his gaze. He had to get Kara back. He had to.

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