Kacey wasn't sure what had just happened; all she knew was that the Cylon that had been trying to kill her was now in a heap on the floor, and her brother was frozen in place, eyes glazed over and un-seeing.

"Are you okay?" Sharon asked her.

Kacey wiped the blood from her face. "I think so…Mom!" she cried, limping over to Kara's fallen form. She wasn't conscious, and looked like hell. "We have to get her home."

"We've gotta find Hera first."

"Already taken care of," a voice said, and Sharon turned to see two copies of herself escorting her daughter.

"You'd really just let us go?" Kacey asked them.

"This is bigger than you. The two of you may be the future of the Cylon race, but not the answer that some were hoping for. The alliance between the seven models is failing – has been for quite some time – and you would have been at the center of the fight for Caprica"

"Fight between who?" Hera asked.

"The Threes and Sevens, mainly. The Threes have long distanced themselves from the rest of us with their religious zeal. Your father, Kacey, is not the most radical of the Sevens, though he is one of the most resourceful. They have each pulled other models to their side of the battle for who has the right to exist, to continue to evolve – a hybrid race or the bio-Cylons."

"But why can't everyone exist?" Kacey asked. "Humans, Cylons, and hybrids? Why does someone always have to be the winner?"

The two women smiled. "That's something we have wondered as well," one answered. "The possibility that we will all destroy each other becomes a greater concern every day. The Eights and the Sixes are pulling away from all of the others. We want no part in their fight."

"You did this?" Kacey asked, indicating Uri. She received a nod in return. "What will happen to him now?"

"He will likely remain this way. Leoben has known the truth about him for quite some time. Perhaps we have spared him the fate the rest of us face."

The floor rocked, a shudder moving through the entire Basestar. "What was that?" Hera asked.

The two Eights shared a look. "Come with us; we don't have a lot of time."

The trip down to the hangar had everyone on edge; it all seemed too fast, too good to be true. Kara was slightly more lucid, but still needed Sharon's help to walk. It was a complete surprise when a centurion suddenly stepped out from another corridor, one gun blazing. Both of the Eights were quickly taken down. Hera flinched backwards, but Kacey didn't even seem to notice, continuing past the now-quiet centurion and down the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Hera called to her, but didn't get a response. Almost like she was in a trance, Kacey continued forward until she found herself standing in front of her father.

"Did you think I would let you go that easily?" Leoben asked. The floor shuddered again.

"You'll get us killed if we stay."

"I would never let anything happen to you."

"Like Uri?"

He almost seemed fragile, as though the weight he'd placed upon his own shoulders was finally growing large enough to crush him. "We need you here…I need you."

"I used to blame you, Daddy, for why I was different, why we were at war. I know it wasn't your intention, but I think you changed the course of humanity for the better. The fleet will survive. Can you say the same for yourself?" He didn't answer. "I told Hera that she had to go through what she has to be the person she's meant to be. I guess I should listen to my own advice. I don't blame you anymore, but my future isn't with you."

"You are our future."

"I know, but not the one that you wanted to make happen…I don't expect to change you anymore, or change what you believe in, but you have to let me go, Daddy. Let us go live our own lives."

Leoben knelt to be at her level. There'd been so many years of plans and work and it was all unraveling before him. He could have forced her to stay, forced everything he wanted upon her, but then it wouldn't be fate. He was wise enough to understand that, even if he didn't like it. "I did it all for you," he quietly told her. "For you and your mother. For your destiny."

Kacey smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I know. And I'll be okay." He slowly nodded. "Bye, Daddy," she whispered. And then she turned and walked away.

No one else tried to stop them. A Heavy Raider was in the hangar, just waiting for them. After helping Kara into a seat in the back, Sharon moved up to the cockpit and started powering up the ship's systems. "Kacey," she called back to the younger girl. "Come here; I need a co-pilot."

Her eyes widened. "Me??"

Sharon nodded. "You don't need a hard wire to access a Raider's systems. Come on, get up here!" Kacey hurried to oblige.

A crash course in piloting didn't take long; Kacey was in charge of getting the FTL drive up while Sharon took them out of the Basestar – and into the middle of a battle with another ship. The war had started, and the outcome was currently difficult to foresee. After all these years, though, the Cylons finally had bigger problems than chasing down the last of humanity.

As Kacey left them behind, she knew she'd made the right choice. 'Belonging' was a relative thing, but she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Both of the Adama men were in Galactica's CIC when one of the officers called out, "Contact!" Lee headed for the nearest console. "Dradis contact…Cylon Heavy Raider headed directly for the fleet."

Adama muttered a curse. "Is it alone?"

"As far as we can tell."

"Set Condition Two throughout the fleet. Send the CAP to intercept."

"Wait!" a voice called out, and everyone turned to look at the communications officer.

Ten minutes later, the Raider was being lowered down to the hangar deck with a large crowd standing around to watch. Adama – accompanied by several marines – was waiting by the hatch when it opened. "We need a med team," Sharon called out, trying to help Kara to her feet.

Kacey and Hera hung back, not sure what would come next. Both girls looked up nervously as Adama approached them. He held Kacey's look for a long moment. "I ought to throw you in the brig until you're old enough to enlist," he told her.

She swallowed hard. "Yes, Sir."

Instead, however, he pulled his granddaughter into his arms. "You're going to give me more gray hairs than your mother did, aren't you?" he whispered.

"Yes, Sir."

The med team was having an interesting time trying to get Kara to cooperate and get on a stretcher, but she stopped fighting them as much as she saw Lee approach. "I'm never putting you on one of my ops again," he told her with a smile as he kissed her. "Frakked the whole thing up."

"Sorry 'bout that, Sir," she sarcastically replied.

Kacey watched as the Agathons were reunited as well, and members of the deck crew began better securing the ship that they'd just brought back. She was suddenly aware that Zak was standing directly in front of her, looking up with an ear-to-ear grin. For an instant, she thought of her other brother, and hoped he could somehow now find peace. He shouldn't have had to be the one to pay for Leoben's overzealous plans.

"Hi," Zak said, his smile brightening even further. His surprise was evident, however, when she bent over and hugged him tight.

"I love you, Zak," Kacey told him. "Even if you do annoy me sometimes."

He recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around his sister. "Love you."

TBC...