Summary - This story is very dark and will contain violence and scenes that may be difficult reading.

Set after Kara returns from Caprica – oh and she never met Sam (yay!)

A/N: This chapter has quite a lot in it. Leoben has some more "fun", Helo et al storm the building and Lee and Kara have a sweet moment...

Chapter 10

It was several hours before they were disturbed again but they were ready for them when the door opened. This time it was Six that entered the room. Lee placed himself between her and Kara, sheltering her from the Cylon; determined that what had happened to her wouldn't happen again.

"Oh, how sweet, the Captain protecting his pilot…" She smirked at the pair of them. "Of course, she isn't just your pilot is she, Apollo?" He refused to answer her, but held her stare.

Two Centurions moved into the room and crossed towards the two. Kara, uncharacteristically, cowered behind Lee; but it wasn't her they wanted this time. They pulled Lee from in front of her and dragged him from the room, leaving the two women alone. Kara drew herself upright and faced the woman in front of her. She'd faced her before and while the model was a worthy opponent, she didn't scare Kara in the way Leoben did. The Cylon moved gracefully towards her. Kara stood defiant. They were playing a battle of wills; waiting to see who'd break first. Kara was adamant it wouldn't be her; she wasn't wrong.

Six sighed and finally spoke to the pilot. "You need to come with me, Starbuck."

The Cylon's statement lit the rage within Kara. She wanted answers; although she had little chance of getting any. She also, realistically, had little choice but to do as the woman requested. "Where and what for?" She was determined she wouldn't go without a fight though.

"Because if you don't, they'll kill him. You're going to be the one that keeps him alive." Kara's stomach fell and her legs weakened. The fight that'd been growing within her was instantly gone; replaced by concern for Lee. The Cylon turned and walked out of the room, pausing momentarily for Kara to follow her; which of course, she did. Her heart was heavy; she was fairly sure she knew what was going to happen. And she didn't like it. She was led to the same room Lee had been taken to the previous day. Again Six flicked the switches enabling them to see and hear what was happening in the room next door. What Kara saw intensified the dread that had been building ever since the Cylons had interrupted the two of them, possibly even since they'd been captured.

Lee was standing in the middle of the room the other side of the wall she was looking through. His hands were attached by chains to the ceiling and they'd been pulled above his head. Standing around him were three Leoben's that were all looking at him with disgust. Lee seemed to be staring right at her; she realized he'd guessed that she'd be brought to watch this. She hoped knowing that would be able to give him some strength; strength she had a feeling he was going to need.

It's the Leoben leaning against the far wall that breaks the silence and speaks to Lee first. "Apollo. That's quite a name to live up to isn't it? Think you're something special do you, Captain?" The disdain in his voice was evident. Lee said nothing, his gaze remaining on Kara's face, even though he couldn't see her.

One of the other's now joins in. This one sounds angry. "I watched you with her the other day. That was quite a performance the two of you put on. You're hardly Apollo though." He was taunting him, trying to get a response from him. But Lee knows better than to react to them; the only reaction that occurs from that comment is the flushing of Kara's cheeks with embarrassment. She knew the one that'd just spoke was the one that raped her.

The final one now speaks. "Oh, I'm sure she's only interested in him because he's here. If they were back on Galactica, he knows he wouldn't get a look in. She doesn't seem the kind of girl to stick to one man." The words he spoke only reinforced all of Lee's insecurities; all doubts he felt about his relationship with Kara; about the strength of her feelings for him.

Kara shook her head as she watched the scene unfold. "That's not true." She whispered. She looked at Lee, for the first time in days unable to read his face; wondering what he's thinking. She sees a muscle twitching at his temple. Did he believe what had just been said? Fear gripped at her heart as the realization he may just do so hit her.

The second one continued, "Did you enjoy the show we put on yesterday? Did you like watching her with me?" She saw Lee clench his jaw. "How did you feel when I had my fingers in her? Did it turn you on?" The final question managed to score a direct hit.

Lee spun his head to face the thing talking to him. "It was my name she called out over and over again. How'd that make you feel? Did you like the fact it was me she was thinking about while you touched her?" The first punch he received wasn't a shock. Lee'd been expecting it after the comment he'd just made; he was almost looking forward to it. He'd however forgotten to factor in there were three of them – so there were three first punches; received to his torso, his face and his groin.

Kara now understood how Lee had felt when he'd been watching what was being done to her. She felt helpless and she just hoped this would be over quickly so the damage would be minimized. The truth was she knew that wouldn't be the case. There was no way the Leobens would stop their assault on him, she knew that in her head; but her heart was hopeful for a swift resolution.

Lee hung from the chains, reeling from the pain that'd been inflicted on him. He'd had a few seconds respite before they came in again raining more blows on him. Over and over they hit, leaving him a bloody mess. Bruises were already beginning to appear on his pale skin. One of his eyes was swollen shut again. Somewhere in the midst of all the punches his right shoulder made an ominous sound and pain radiated throughout his body as it once again dislocated.

One of them noticed this and removed the chain from his left arm. He was now suspended by his already brutally damaged arm, leaving him grimacing in pain. Kara was unable to move; completely focused on the man in so much pain in the next room.

Still the Cylons continued hitting him. Seemingly taking pleasure in causing their victim so much hurt. At the same time all three of them were slightly disappointed they didn't appear to have broken him. Despite everything they'd done to him. They would just have to try harder.

A knife appeared in one of their hands; Kara had long lost track of which one was which. The blade was run over his body, not quite nicking the skin, but threatening to do so with each stroke. Kara focused on Lee's face. He's raised his head and is staring at her once more. She's able to see his eyes for the first time in over ten minutes and what she sees makes her draw in a quick breath. His eyes scare her; they show her he's given up; he doesn't expect to make it out of the room alive.

The knife is again drawn across his body. This time small cuts are made as it's moved along its path. Small rivulets of blood begin to descend, marking his skin still further. Kara's hands grip the chair she's sitting on. Each cut causing a wince of pain from the man who means everything to her. "Can't you stop this… please?" she turns to face Six, pleading with her to end this torture. "Please, get them to stop."

The Cylon inwardly smiles and flicks the switches abruptly, removing the other room from sight. She presses a button near the switches and then grabs Kara, moving her back out of the room and back to their cell. As with when Lee was returned to the room the day earlier as soon as the door's opened, Kara's shoved in and the door is slammed shut behind her. She stands there, unsure how long she'd have to wait before he's returned to her.

Patience had never been a strength for her but she fortunately doesn't have to wait long before Lee's also brought back to the room. He's unceremoniously dropped on the floor by the toasters and she rushes straight to his side, not even waiting for them to leave. She draws him gently into her arms and rains kisses over his face, hoping each one will somehow wipe away the pain inflicted by each blow he's received. In the background she hears the door to the cell close, but she continues to concentrate on the man she's finally holding irreverently in her arms.

After a while she breaks the silence. "Lee, can you hear me?" she whispers in his ear. He groans in reply. "Are you able to walk?" He doesn't reply. "I need to get you to the bed and I can't lift you." He lifts himself a little from the heap on the floor he'd collapsed into and she half-lifts, half-drags him over to the bed lowering him on to it carefully. He rolls away from her and her heart clenches, initially hurt he's pulling away from her. After everything they've been through already she can't believe he's pulling away from her. Then she sees his back. There's a large patch of blood on his lower back that's seeped through the tanks he's still wearing. She lifts the shirts looking at the skin beneath. Tears flow down her face as she sees what's been done to him; what they've done to him. There's a large deep cut that's about six inches long across his back. It's definitely going to need stitches, but fortunately appears to have stopped bleeding for the time being. However it's obviously causing Lee a lot of pain; pain she can do nothing about. She now understands why he rolled away from her minutes before.

There's also nothing she can do about the cuts that mar his body; she can't even clean them as they've no water. She speaks to him soothingly as she makes a quick inventory of his body to ensure there's nothing else that needs her attention; and also to reassure herself there are no greater injuries; instinctively knowing he wouldn't tell her if there was. Each new bruise or sore point receives a tender kiss. He seems unable to respond to anything and while she's concerned, she also takes the opportunity to re-set his shoulder. He barely flinches as she does so and she knows he's in a bad way.

There's nothing more she can physically do for him so she climbs onto the bed and spoons up behind him, wrapping her arms gently around him, being careful to not press herself against him too much. She feels his body start to silently shake as he finally starts to release the pent up emotions he's had to keep hidden. She presses kisses to the back of his neck and shoulders, running her hands tenderly through his hair; her own tears mixing with the blood that's now smeared over both of their bodies.

It takes a long time but the shaking eventually stops. "I love you, Kara." He mumbles as he finally drifts off to sleep. She kisses him again and then follows him as exhaustion eventually overcomes her as well.

****

They're able to slip into the building unseen. A tactical decision had been made to leave both the President and Commander outside the building, although Adama is left with a sidearm to cover the entrance and shoot any Cylons that appear at the door. It's too much of a risk that the two most senior Colonials would be captured by the Cylons to allow them to be further involved in the rescue.

The marines, Karl and Sharon all make their way down the corridor. They come to an intersection and split into two groups to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. As they carry on further into the building, they eventually come across some opposition. Both teams meet the Centurions first and are able to neutralize them with a few shots to the head. The sound of gunfire brings the other Cylons into the corridors and battle quickly ensues. Finally the sound of gunfire abates and all Cylons that appeared have been destroyed. Helo uses the wireless radio and contacts the other team. "Corporal Webb, come in."

"Corporal Webb here, sir."

"Have you managed to neutralize all of the Cylons? How many were with you?" Helo does a quick tally of the bodies lying on the ground before him.

"We have two toasters, a Six, two Leoben's and the black Cylon."

"Then I think we've got all of them we knew about. We have one Centurion, another Leoben and Six and the Boomer and Doral we followed here. Did you sustain any casualties?"

"One flesh wound on Corporal Davies, but other than that we're all fine."

"Ok, secure the area. Start checking the rooms off the corridor and see if you can locate the Captain and Lieutenant. Keep an eye out for any more Cylons, just in case there were any we didn't know about."

It doesn't take long for them to check all of the rooms that are down the corridor. The building seems to go in a large square and as the two teams meet up again there's only one room left to check. They're yet to find any sign of either Lee or Kara. The Lords do seem to have shown mercy on them as there also aren't any other Cylons either.

Helo silently gestures for the marines to remain on guard and then moves towards the last door, trying to open it. It's unlocked. He draws his gun and walks through the door. There are two doorways leading off from the room he'd entered. He chooses the first door and walks through it. It's a small room but it's dark so he's unable to see anything. There are a couple of switches on the wall so he flicks them both. The wall in front of him seems to disappear; revealing another room to him; a room containing the two missing pilots. Before him are Kara and Lee laying in each others arms asleep. Karl can see they're in a bad way.

He walks back out into the main corridor where everyone else is expectantly waiting for him. "It's them. They're in there. Corporal Webb, can you pass me those two bags?" The bags contain fresh clothes for both of them and some medical supplies. "I'm going to go in there and make sure they're okay. Can you go back outside and let the Commander and the President know what's going on?" He turns to face the woman with them and looks her directly in the eyes. "You should probably go with them; I'm not sure how Lee will react when he sees you. We'll be out as soon as we can."

She nods her head, and gives him the smallest of smiles, which falls from her face when she asks, "Are they injured, Karl? Commander Adama will ask and he'll want an answer." She understands why he's asked her to go with the marines. Now is about Lee and Kara and ensuring they're okay.

"They've both been beaten but I'm not sure just how severe the injuries are." Everybody follows Karl's orders and after holstering his sidearm he takes both of the bags in his hands and turns back towards the room.

****

The marines and Sharon make their way back out of the building to the two people waiting outside. As soon as Adama sees them he makes his way over to them. "Did you find them?" Concerned father and Commander, all rolled into one.

Corporal Davies steps forward to answer his question, drawing himself to attention in front of his senior officer. "Yes sir, Lieutenant Agathon is with them now. He'll be bringing them out shortly. We were able to neutralize all of the Cylons that were in the building."

"What condition are they in?" While the concern for the pilots was evident, it was the father in him that was now making his presence felt, not the commanding officer.

"I haven't personally seen them, sir, but the Lieutenant did say they looked to have both been beaten by their captors. He was unsure of the extent of their injuries so was unable to report any further. He took the medical supplies in with him in case."

"Then I guess we should wait for them to come out." Adama wanted badly to go and see his children and check for himself that they're okay, but he knows the officer currently looking after them is more than capable of taking care of them so he'll have to be content to wait for them to come out just a little while longer.

****

Karl went back through the doorway. Instead of taking the door he'd initially gone through he tries the other door. This handle also moves with ease, so he opens the door and walks quietly through it. Spotting there's no handle on the inside of the door he's careful to not let it shut behind him.

He stands looking at the two pilots across the room from him. They're wrapped around each other and Kara has her head on Lee's chest. He walks over to the bed and crouches down beside it; unsure how he should proceed. He reaches out for her shoulder and is momentarily stunned when she pulls away from his touch, moving even closer to the man she's lying with. Lee's arms instinctively come up around her comforting her as she flinches. "Kara… Lee…" he says, keeping his voice gentle so he doesn't startle either of them too much. They both shift slightly so he says their names again. Kara's eyes open. "Kara, are you okay?" he asks quietly.

She mumbles something and turns her face further into Lee's chest. Lee's hand comes up to the back of her neck and caresses it tenderly. "Can you give us a few minutes, Karl?" he asks, still not opening his eyes.

Karl looks at him and questions whether he'd actually be able to open them as both of them seem to be swollen shut but refrains from asking anything else. There'll be plenty of time for questions later. Now there were people waiting to see the two of them outside. "Sure, I'll wait in the corridor. There are a couple of bags here; some clothes and medical provisions. Take your time." He moves outside of the room, leaving the door ajar.

Even though his eyes are closed Lee expertly reaches for Kara's face, taking it in his hands and lifting her mouth to his. He kisses her softly, exploring her mouth with his tongue. He breaks the kiss. "We need to talk; about what we're going to tell everyone. I'm not ready to tell them what happened to us yet. I need some time to sort my head out and process everything and I think you do to."

"I don't want them to know what happened. I don't think I can tell them." She agrees with him.

"That's fine with me, for now anyway, but we're eventually going to have to tell them what they did." He pauses, feeling her relax in his arms slightly. "Can you help me get dressed? Karl left a bag of clothes over there. They can't see what else they did to me. It'll just be too many questions. Seeing my face will give rise to more than enough questions as it is." He knew they should be reporting what they'd been through but the last thing he wanted was to have to relive it in great detail, not just yet anyway. He also wanted to try and protect Kara from the pain she'd justifiably go through in her re-telling of it. A short delay in the de-brief could surely be gained.

While he's thinking this, she sits up and reaches for the bags on the floor. She opens the first one; it's the one containing the clothes. She reaches inside and pulls them out; sorting through the pile to separate those for him from ones for her. She grabs the other bag, rifling through this one as well. She pulls out a med-kit and opens it, peering at its contents with some familiarity. "Take your clothes off." He raises an eyebrow at her, looking at her face as best he can through his swollen eyes. She scowls at him briefly, but it soon turns into a smirk. "I'm going to treat your wounds before you get dressed. And you'll need to take those off before you put these on anyway." He complies with what she says. "Gods Lee. It looks even worse today than it did last night. Aren't you in pain?" She looks at him, concerned with his appearance once more. His body is a mass of bruises and cuts.

"Again with the compliments." He refuses to look her in the eyes. Eventually he speaks again. "It hurts a little."

"I so don't believe you. You're a lousy liar, Captain Adama." She gives him a small grin.

"And you're not much of a nurse, Lieutenant Thrace." He smiles back at her. She runs her fingers over his chest, inspecting all the cuts and bruises to see if there's anything that needs to be cleaned up. She dabs some of the smaller cuts with some antiseptic she found in the bag. Some of his ribs are a little tender so she mentally notes she'll need to wrap a bandage around his body to hold them in place before he dresses.

"Turn around, Lee. I need to see that wound on your back." He again does as she asks. She looks at the cut a bit and then rummages back in the kit. She finds what she's looking for. "Do you trust me?"

"You know I do."

"If you say yes, I'm going to stitch this up. There are things in the kit for me to do it. Are you okay with that?"

He turns his head and looks her in the eyes. After a few seconds thought, he nods, "okay." She can see the trust that's reflected in the deep blue of those in front of her.

She leans forward and kisses him on the lips. "Lie on your side." He complies with her wishes again. "There isn't any anesthetic in the kit so this is going to hurt." She cleans the wound and closes it neatly with several stitches. She knows he's in pain, she'd seen his fist clench as she'd worked, but he hadn't murmured a sound. She covers the wound so it's kept clean and won't get infected. "I'm done. Are there any other wounds I should look at?"

"Just my face I think." He sits up and turns to face her again. She wraps the bandage around his body to hold his ribs in place and then she climbs onto his lap, straddling his legs. Although he's completely naked, there's nothing overtly sexual about their actions. She studies his face intently. He's right, it's a mess. She briefly wonders if it'll affect the way he looks when the bruises have all gone. She realizes with a start that she doesn't care. While she's more than aware he's exceedingly good looking; she isn't that oblivious, she obviously appreciated it but that wasn't why she fell in love with him. There are so many more reasons why she loves him than that. She's able to rinse some of the blood off his face, having found some water in one of the bags. His right eye is almost completely swollen shut. The left eye isn't as bad but it isn't great either. She places a gentle kiss on each eyelid. "What was that for?" he asks, confusion written on his face.

"Just giving you my own kind of medicine; there's not much else I can do for your eyes."

His lips rise into a small smile. "Thanks. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Get dressed."

"Well that wasn't exactly what I was expecting you to say…"

"Yeah well, you're quite distracting and the last thing we need is Karl to come back in here wondering why we're taking so long. I think we've performed enough for people over the last few days, don't you?"

He knows she's trying to lighten the mood, but he's more than aware he needs to bring up a difficult subject with her, so he takes her hand in his. "Talking about Helo; did you realize you pulled away from him earlier? Stupid question but are you going to be okay? He's going to try and hug you when we get out of here, you know that don't you?"

"I know. I can't help it." She shrugs and lowers her gaze from his face; embarrassment catching her once more.

"You don't react like that with me."

"I've told you, I feel safe with you. I just don't feel that way with anyone else at the moment… maybe it's too soon, maybe it will always be like that. I just know you'd never hurt me. Just like I'd never hurt you." She raises her eyes to his face again and smiles. "Let's get out of here."

They separate and quickly dress in the fresh clothes. Lee throws their old clothes back in the now empty bag. In an ideal world they'd throw them away; but this was anything but an ideal world and with resources as they were in the fleet, they needed to keep everything they could. He wonders briefly if they'd be able to find their flight suits before they left but knows they're probably long gone. They pick up the bags and slowly walk out of the room; finally free.

TBC

A/N2: Hope you enjoyed it! Please review. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow. Updates after that chapter will be a little slower... I will try for 2 a week (maybe 3 depending on reviews).