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Author: JPBryant
Characters: Sharon/Helo
Rating: Mature, for descriptions of violence, language and sexual situations.
Spoilers: Through 'A Measure of Salvation", everything after that is AU.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: After rescuing Hera from the Cylons, Helo and Sharon try to start a new life. Set after "A Measure of Salvation", it goes completely AU after that.
A/N: The tenth of seventeen chapters to the story, I'll be posting them as I finish them. Thanks to wintergreen126, Lightn, and Jazmin22 - I can't thank them enough for all the time they put into helping me with this.

Chapter 10

His sidearm was in his hand before his feet hit the floor.

The sound had awoken Sharon as well, and across the room Hera was stirring in her bed. Sharon moved to the edge of the bed to stand up, but he stopped her.

"Stay here," he said, grabbing the flashlight off the top of the night stand.

"I'm coming with you," she insisted as another series of knocks echoed through the house.

"No," he said. "Stay here with Hera."

He saw the look in Sharon's eyes, and for a moment he thought she would argue. But then she glanced across the room at Hera, and nodded.

"Okay," she agreed. "Helo, be-"

"If I'm not back in five minutes, you know what do," he said, cutting her off. "Don't wait for me."

"Helo-"

"Don't wait, Sharon," he repeated, forcefully interrupting her again. "Okay?"

She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head at the thought. More than a month ago they had made plans for a moment like this, but now he doubted she could follow through.

"Sharon, listen to me," he said, his voice calm, though he was anything but. "You need to-"

"I know," she replied before he could finish. Her voice lowered to a whisper as she opened her eyes and looked at Hera once more. "I know."

He watched her for a moment, just long enough to know that she would do what needed to be done. Looking into her eyes, he saw the conflict there, but also the resolve he searched for.

"Stay here," he said whispered. "I'll be right back."

She looked up at him, but then turned quickly away as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Walking over to Hera's bed, she didn't look back.

"Hera, wake up," she said.

His eyes stayed on Sharon as she lifted their daughter out of bed and into her arms. The moon light coming through the window silhouetted their bodies, painting the edges of them in shades of blue. He looked at Sharon, at the child she carried in her arms, at the child she carried in her body, and hoped it wouldn't be the last time he did. Turning away, he headed towards the stairs.

The ground floor was dark, hiding his movement completely. He leveled his gun at the front door as he made his way down the steps, and another loud knock reverberated through the house. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he thought about emptying the rounds in his sidearm straight through the door.

Sliding quietly through the front room, he made his way towards the kitchen, maneuvering through the darkened house on memory alone. When he reached the back door, he waited, trying to calm his racing heart. Another series of knocks filled the air and he pushed the door open, the squeak of the hinges drowned out by the raps at the front of the house.

Dressed in only his boxers, the cold air of the night assaulted him, but his focus didn't waver. He rested his finger on the trigger as he stepped onto the freezing turf and crept towards the front of the house. Reaching the side of the porch, he waited again for another knock before taking the final step. He held his breath as he waited, swallowing hard as an eternity passed without a sound.

The door rattled once more, and Helo stepped out.

He aimed his weapon directly at the man's head, though the stranger had yet to see him in the darkness. Green fatigues appeared grey in the moon light, but even through the thick clothing Helo could tell the man matched him in height and was close in build.

"Stop," Helo commanded.

The sound startled the man, who turned quickly; too quickly for Helo's liking. Turning on his flashlight, he shined it straight into the bearded man's eyes, quickly checking to make sure his hands were empty. As he did, the man lifted his arms to shield himself from the bright light, and the motion nearly cost him his life. Helo's finger twitched on the trigger at the sudden movement, but his training kept him from squeezing it.

"Stop!" Helo shouted again. "Don't move!"

The man seemed to realize the danger he was in, and held his hands above his head, squinting into the light as he stood still. With a moment to examine the man, he saw that the stranger barely qualified, being no more than twenty years of age.

"Don't shoot," the man pleaded, pushing his hands further into the air. "Please, don't shoot."

With his flashlight and weapon locked tightly on the man, he scanned the darkness. He looked to the trees and out into the clearing, but saw no sign of anyone else.

"Are you alone?" Helo demanded, looking back to the man.

"Alone?" the man said, stuttering over the word. The question seemed to take him aback. "Of...of course I'm alone."

Helo stepped to his left, his aim never wavering. "What do you mean 'of course'?"

The man shook his head slightly, and let out a nervous laugh. "You're...you're the first living person I've seen in more than a year," he said, and then managed another small laugh. "Gods, I thought I was the last person alive on Caprica."

A good ten meters separated Helo and the stranger, and Helo kept the distance as he circled to the front of the porch. The man appeared as harmless as he was frightened, truly surprised to find another living soul.

Who are you?

The question demanded to be asked, but Helo didn't. He didn't want to know.

"How did you survive?" Helo asked, lowering the light from the man's eyes, though he kept his weapon trained on him.

The man lowered his hands slightly, and shrugged. "I was...I was up in these hills, you know, camping with some friends," he said. "The Cylons attacked and I hid. The same way you did, I guess."

It was a flawed assumption, but Helo felt no need to correct it, or give this stranger any more information than he already had. He already knew where they lived, and that was too much. But looking at the young man, he couldn't help but feel for him, left alone on a dead world.

"Where are your friends?" Helo asked quietly, lowering his weapon. "What happened to them?"

"The Cylons happened," the stranger replied. He shook his head and looked at the ground, then back to Helo. "They thought it was safe in town, you know? I told them not to go but...but they didn't listen."

He could hear the loss in the man's voice, but as the man spoke, Helo tried to figure out what to do next. Aware of the passing seconds, and his family waiting for him, Helo put the question plainly.

"What do you want?" Helo asked.

"What...what do I want?" the man asked, confused by the question. "I don't want anything, man. I just wanted to see if you were real, you know? I mean, I've been up here for two frakking years. I haven't spoken to anyone in so long I almost forgot how to do it."

Helo nodded his understanding, but curiosity or a need for company wasn't enough for him to let the man stay.

"The Cylons," the stranger said, speaking before Helo could. "They've left Caprica?"

"Yeah," Helo replied. "They've left."

The man shook his head slowly as he thought about Helo's answer. "So it's just you and me, huh?"

Helo didn't reply, the clock in his head moving slowly toward the five minute mark. Sharon would be making her way towards their stolen Raider in less than two minutes, and he needed this man to leave before that happened. There was no time for this conversation, no time to explain the presence of a Cylon, and no place for this man in the life he and Sharon had made for themselves.

"I need you to leave," Helo said flatly.

"Huh?" the man replied, confused by the request. "What are you talking about?"

"I want you to go," Helo continued. "I want you to leave, and not come back. Not ever. Do you understand?"

"Wait...wait a second," the man said, "I didn't walk all this way just-"

"I understand why you came up here, and I'm sorry," Helo cut him off, pointing at the town below. "But I don't want you here. I want you to leave now, and not..."

Helo never finished the sentence.

He had looked out into the dark valley for the briefest of moments, and when his eyes returned to stranger at his door, he was greeted by the silver glint of a gun barrel. Helo didn't know where it had come from, but it was aimed squarely at him.

"I'm not going anywhere," the stranger said calmly as he stepped down the porch, keeping the weapon aimed at Helo. "Not until I get what I came for. Now, drop the gun."

Helo hesitated as the words echoed in his head, and the man thrust his sidearm menacingly at Helo's head.

"Do it, right, frakking now!" the man shouted, his tone shifting in a heartbeat from calm to enraged.

Sixty seconds.

He started counting down silently in his head as he set the sidearm into the grass. Sharon would be gone in less than sixty seconds and that was all that mattered; in sixty seconds he would figure out how to save himself, but that was a secondary goal.

"The flashlight too," the man ordered. "Leave it there."

Helo did as the man said, then stood slowly, taking as much time as he could He watched the man carefully, looking for any sign of weakness or fear, but seeing how the man held his weapon, Helo had little doubt that the stranger had killed before.

"What now?" Helo asked calmly, displaying his empty palms.

"Inside," the man said, gesturing towards the door with his free hand.

Helo didn't move, letting the seconds tick by. He wasn't sure how far he could push this man, but he would push him as far as he had to, as far as he could to keep him away from Sharon and Hera.

"What do you want?" Helo asked, holding his ground.

A flash from the muzzle of the weapon bathed everything in light for a single moment, as a round buried itself in the ground in front of Helo. The sound of the shot echoed off the trees, and the man aimed his weapon back at Helo's head.

"I want you to go inside," the man said, his voice teetering between patience and rage.

There was a trace of madness in the man's tone, where animal instinct had replaced humanity. Helo knew that the man was the worst kind of survivor, the kind who lived off the weakness of the universe and those who occupied it.

"Okay," Helo agreed, moving slowly towards the porch.

Thirty seconds.

The man stepped back as Helo approached, keeping distance between the two of them. Reaching for the door, Helo pulled it open and stepped inside the pitch black house.

"Turn on the light," the man said. "I saw it earlier. Turn it on."

Helo walked into the living room, listening carefully for sounds from upstairs, but heard none.

Twenty Seconds.

"Is this what happened to your friends?" Helo asked when he reached the lantern. Flicking the switch, the room was filled with white light and shadows.

"It was them or me," the man chuckled, still standing in the doorway, still keeping his sidearm aimed at Helo. "An easy choice, don't you think?"

"And the rest of what you said?" Helo continued. "About being the only survivor?"

"Oh, that's true, I'm afraid," the man said, nodding his head and arching his eyebrows.

Ten seconds.

"Did you kill the rest of them?" Helo asked, unconcerned with the answer. Time was all he wanted.

He smiled knowingly at Helo. "It's been a lonely two years for me," he said, his wicked smile growing. "But you have something that I'm hoping will change that."

Helo felt the muscles in his body tense at the man's words. His hands balled into fists, his nails digging into the soft flesh of his palms as he reached the end of his countdown.

Zero.

A second light came from up the stairs, and his heart stopped.

She hadn't left.

"Sharon, run!" he yelled, but it was too late. He watched as the man's aim shifted off of him and onto Sharon who had appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Now this," the man started, pausing as he admired Sharon dressed in her cotton night clothes. "This is why I'm here."

Helo took a step towards the stranger, stopping when the man fired a round into wall beside Sharon. She flinched as the round landed close, but she didn't move from her spot. The man kept his aim on her as he looked back to Helo.

"I'll kill her," the man said, still smiling. "It would break my heart, but I'll do it if you make me."

Helo looked up at Sharon, but her eyes were locked on the stranger in their house.

Run, Sharon! Run, Gods dammit!

Despite his silent pleas, she didn't move. The seconds that had seemed to move by so quickly before, now stretched to impossible lengths as time slowed to nothing.

"This is really simple," the man said, looking between Sharon and Helo. "You can let me take what I want, or I can kill you both."

Anger surged through Helo as he stared at the man.

They had come so far, and now this man, this thing, in front of him threatened to end it all. There was no humanity left inside this man, yet Helo hated him in a way he had never hated a person before.

An image came to his mind, and Helo knew he would make it real.

"Leave," Helo said, his voice trembling with fury. Flexing the muscles in his hands, he prepared to move. "Leave now."

The man laughed loudly, then shook his head. "No, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Don't you know what she is?" Helo said calmly, readying the muscles in his legs as he reached back for the lantern. "She's a Cylon."

Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he waited for the man to look at Sharon, and he knew in seconds it would all be over. One of them would die, and one of them would live. But he wasn't going to wait for this man to decide who.

"A Cylon?" the man repeated, incredulous. He turned to look at Sharon.

The lantern was out of Helo's hand, sailing through the air towards the man's head. Rotating in the air, the shadows it created spun with the light, twisting the room. Helo charged after it, feinting to his left before moving back to the right, leg muscles taught as he prepared to leap at the man; but he never did.

He watched in slow motion as the man turned the gun on him, and in that moment, he knew he wouldn't reach him.

He didn't stop.

There was a flash from the barrel of the gun, but he heard no sound. He felt a tug on his chest, as if the safety restraints from a Raptor had held him in place. Stopped short, he watched in silence as the lantern flew over the man's shoulder, missing its mark by half a meter. The lantern rotated through space, leaving them in darkness for a fraction of a second.

The next flash of light came from the top of the stairs, and when the lantern completed its rotation, he saw Sharon's first round catch the man in the throat, tearing it out. The lantern turned over once more, and another flash of light appeared from Sharon's weapon, removing the back of the stranger's skull from his head.

The lantern sailed on, flying into the next room as Helo collapsed to the floor, unable to breathe.

His chest was wet. He tried to reach up and find the wound, but his left arm wouldn't respond. His right arm came up, and could find nothing through the blood that soaked his chest and neck. Dropping his arm to his side, he found the effort too much for him and stared up at the ceiling.

"Helo!" Sharon cried, though the sound was far away. He felt her hands pressing firmly down on his chest. "Oh god..."

His back was wet now too, though the wetness provided a warmth that the rest of his body seemed to lack. He tried to look up at Sharon, lifting his head from the floor. A stream of warmth traveled down the back of his neck as he did so.

He saw Hera standing at the foot of the stairs watching as Sharon pulled off her shirt and pressed it to his chest. Resting his head in the warm pool of blood, he stared back up into the ceiling . Sharon shouted something, but he couldn't make out the words.

Vaguely, it registered in his mind that he was dying, and he thought about his life. Finding no regrets, he closed his eyes.

--- End Chapter 10 ---