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: I used some of the dialog from Home part II for this chapter - just needed to change it a little to fit the storyline.

Chapter 12

The climb had leveled off; the pathway finally reaching the top of the mountains. It didn't look like there was much further to go. Everyone was relieved by this. The previous few days had been tense and tiring and everybody was looking forward to being able to leave Kobol and return to the fleet. Helo and Sharon were at the front of the small group. Sharon stopped, taking in the surroundings. She turned to the Commander and the President. "We're here."

"So, where's the tomb?" the Commander asked, distrust edging into his voice.

"I believe the entrance is behind those rocks over there." She pointed to a wall of rock a small distance away.

"Then I guess we need to move that rock out of the way." Lee said. He still didn't trust her and thought this may be a way to show her for what she was. A traitor. He strode towards the wall face and pressed his hands against it. Helo and a couple of the marines joined him.

Momentarily forgetting about the injury to his shoulder which was still tender, the wound on his back and the broken ribs, he shoved the wall with his whole weight. The rock shifted slightly as shooting pain made its way through the whole of his body. He gasped in pain. Kara was by his side in an instant. "Lee…" Concern was in her voice and it touched him deep inside. She brought her hand to his good shoulder and ran it down his arm to find his hand, weaving her fingers with his. He stepped away from the wall, reluctantly admitting defeat; leaving the marines and Helo to force the weight of the rock to one side. The cave was open finally.

The group stood there pensively, staring at the entrance to the cave; wary of what lay ahead. Commander Adama cleared his throat and all eyes turned from the cave to him. "Lieutenant Agathon, I'll be going into the cave with the President, Lee and Kara. Please can you and the marines remain on guard out here?" He still thought there may be Cylons present; they needed to be prepared for any situation that arose. He still wasn't able to let either Lee or Kara out of his sight either, so they were going with him.

"Aye sir." Helo and the marines moved into position as ordered.

Lee and Kara moved towards the entrance of the cave, closely followed by the elder couple. They all entered the cave. As they moved in, Lee moved his body protectively in front of Kara; their hands still joined. She ran her other hand up his side, sending sparks of electricity through both their bodies. Would things be alright between them again; neither of them was sure. They continued up the tunnel and moved into a cavern at the end of it. The four of them moved to stand side by side, gazing in wonder at what was awaiting them. It definitely had the look and feel of a tomb but was it Athena's or was this a trap of some sort?

"These broken statues… I recognize them," Kara said in a hushed tone. She turned to face her companions; a sparkle in her eyes showing the emotions bubbling within her. They spread out around the tomb, looking at the statues that were strewn all over the place. Kara ran her hands over what was left of one of them in front of her. "The ram… Aerelon; Gemenon… the twins." She spun round to face Lee, wonder on her face. "These are icons of the twelve tribes, the twelve colonies. This is really where it all began, Lee. We all came from this place." He moved to stand beside her, slipping his hand once again into hers.

"This could be Picon… the fish." Laura said, from where she was standing a small distance away from the two pilots.

A small smile appeared on Lee's face as he spotted another statue. "I guess this little lady could be Virgon." He turned his eyes to Kara's, the smile grew on his face and he winked at her. She rolled her eyes, but there was a smirk on her face that matched his.

"The goat… Caprica." Bill added as he moved further around the tomb.

Kara suddenly saw something that drew her attention. She moved towards it, pulling Lee behind her. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Sagittaron… the archer." Bill and Laura both moved towards them, also looking at the statue before them.

"It's missing something," Lee said. He squeezed Kara's hand as he turned to face his father. Bill reached over his shoulder and pulled the tube he'd taken from a Marine before they'd entered the cave. He opened it and took out the arrow, passing it to his son. Lee turned towards the woman beside him and they both inched forward, both now holding the arrow. They moved the arrow towards where it was obviously supposed to sit. As they neared it, the arrow seemed to be pulled from their hands. It flew into place and changes began to occur within the cave. The doorway to the tomb slammed shut, trapping the four of them within it. The room fell to complete darkness. Lee stepped up behind Kara and wrapped his arms around her waist. She placed her hands on top of his; taking the comfort he was offering her.

Suddenly lights flashed over their heads a couple of times. They were no longer in the room they'd just been in; they had no idea where they were. They were surrounded by grass and big slabs of rock. In the sky that had appeared above them were constellations of stars. The two of them spun around a couple of times, taking in their surroundings. It was only then they realized they were alone. The Commander and the President were no longer with them; it was just the two of them once more. "Where are we, Lee? Where are the President and your dad?"

He was still looking at the rocks around them. "I've no idea where they are but I think this is the tomb of Athena. Although I thought we were already in the tomb."

"Maybe that was the lobby." She moved forward studying the rocks in earnest, there were designs marked on each rock; made with jewels of some sort. "I've seen these patterns before. I'm sure they were on the original flags of the twelve colonies back in the days when the colonies were called by their ancient names." The excitement was evident once more in her voice. "Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Virgo." She looked at the sky and saw the patterns were also within the constellations in the night sky overhead.

"This is the map. This is the map to Earth." His voice was filled with the same wonder that Kara's was. He stood in front of the rock bearing the symbol for Caprica. "Home." Again Kara felt drawn to move towards the man she loved. "So is Earth one of these constellations?" he asked.

Tears welled in her eyes as realization struck her. "We're standing on it. We're standing on Earth." She turned to face him, now more interested in looking into his eyes than at the stars overhead. She saw the emotion within them and knew her eyes were reflecting the same feelings. "The Scriptures say that when the Thirteenth Tribe landed on Earth they looked up to the heavens and they saw their twelve brothers."

"So Earth is the place where you can look up in the sky and see the constellations of the Twelve Colonies."

"What good is it going to do us though? I mean what are we supposed to do? Search the entire galaxy for one particular star pattern?" She sounded dejected, thinking they were once again facing an impossible challenge.

They both looked up at the stars above their heads. Lee spotted something. He pointed towards one of the constellations. "There. There in Scorpio, I've seen that before. It's the Lagoon Nebula." He smiled at her. "So now we have a map and a direction. What more could we want?"

She knew it was now or never. It was time to finally open up to Lee and say all the things she needed him to hear. Kara's face became serious as she edged towards him. "I want you to know I'm sorry; for not telling you about her." She couldn't bring herself to mention her name. "I never meant to hurt you, Lee." A tear fell from her eyes falling down her face. His hand automatically rose to her cheek and wiped it away. "There was just never a time to tell you that seemed right. Then the last few days have been so difficult, it got to the point where I couldn't tell you. The main reason I brought her back with us was because I didn't think anyone would believe me if I suddenly accused her of being a Cylon. I didn't know she'd shot your dad by then, so they'd have believed me all too easily. I'm so sorry, Lee. I need you to know I love you and I'll never do anything to hurt you. I need you to believe I love you, more than anything in the world."

A hint of desperation was in her voice. A desperation that in any other circumstance would make her want to curl up and die. Now though she just hoped it helped Lee believe the words she was saying. She stepped forward again and moved into his open arms; into his embrace. He moved his arms around her back, being forced to realize, once again, just how small she really was. She always made this show of being the almighty Starbuck. But in truth, Kara was more vulnerable than she'd ever let most people realize. "I believe you, Kara. I feel the same way. I'm just sorry we had to go through all of this to finally admit to each other how we felt." He placed his lips gently on hers again and tried to prove to her just how he really felt. They broke apart after a few minutes, staring into each other eyes. Lee's hand had made its way to caress her face again.

"So how do you think we're going to get back to the cave? Back to Galactica and the Fleet?"

"I've no idea. But we'll work it out the way we usually do. Together." He offered her a tender smile.

She could see the light from the constellations above them reflecting in his eyes. The look on his face took her breath away. Even now, after all they'd been through; he managed to overwhelm her with his feelings towards her; the feelings she could quite clearly see now in the depths of his eyes. She couldn't understand how she'd doubted how he'd felt about her when looking at him, when now it was so blatantly obvious. It was written all over his face; in the way he was standing; the way he was holding her. And she felt the same way about him. She knew that, but she didn't know if he knew it. He'd said what he'd said just moments earlier but did he really mean it? How could he understand how she felt, she barely understood it herself. She could feel panic rising up within her. She tensed as she stood there looking into his eyes. She hated herself as she stood there, feeling herself withdrawing from him, doubt and fear instilling itself within her mind; knowing it wasn't warranted but at the same time being completely unable to do anything about it. She couldn't stop it.

He sensed her mentally edging away from him. Could see the fear creeping into her eyes; onto her face; felt her body tensing as she stood there in his arms. He didn't know what it was that caused it to happen; or even if it was something he'd done. He did the one thing he could that he hoped would help her. He kissed her; putting everything he felt for her into that one kiss.

As his lips pressed against hers, she felt the panic slowly ebb away. She closed her eyes and relaxed slightly against him; moving towards his warmth. She felt his hands slip into hers; she felt comforted further. There was nothing threatening about the man who was holding her so tenderly now. She knew he wouldn't hurt her; and yet she couldn't completely relax. She willed herself to do so, but it just wouldn't happen.

The kiss ended and they pulled apart looking again into each others eyes. As they did, the light around them began to fade and it went dark again. They were then back in the cave and Bill and Laura were back with them. They both stepped towards the pilots; concern etched on both of their faces. As they reached the two of them Bill saw Kara's face over the shoulder of his son; he saw her eyes roll back into her head and then she crumpled to the floor. Bill was stunned to see his son do the same thing.

TBC

A/N2: Duh duh duh... Please review.