Chapter Twenty-Five

Zak opened his eyes slowly. It seemed to require a lot of effort, as if his eyelids were weighted down.

"Doctor, I think he's waking up," said a woman's voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Good. It's about damn time."

Zak recognised that voice all too well. He smiled as his eyes opened fully. "Hello there, Doc."

Cottle's familiar face scowled down at him. "Hello there yourself, young man."

Zak blinked as his eyes focused on his surroundings. Something wasn't quite right. His surroundings didn't match with Cottle's presence. This room had white walls, not the dull grey of Galactica's sick bay.

"This isn't Galactica."

"Ten out of ten for observation," Cottle muttered.

"No, Zak, you're on the Caprican Star," said the woman, stepping forward. It was Emma, and he smiled in recognition.

"I hope you're honoured," Cottle said gruffly, checking Zak's IV. "I don't do house calls for just anybody."

Zak barely heard him. Memory was flooding back. Kobol, the explosion…

"But…if you're here," he said, looking at Cottle, "then Galactica must be here too."

Cottle nodded briefly, still running his checks.

Zak's whole body tensed. "Then – is Dad here? Is he okay?"

Cottle's busy hands stilled. He looked at Zak, eyes softening slightly. "He's fine. Back on his feet and as stubborn as ever."

Zak closed his eyes, sighing with relief. He had been so afraid he might never see his father again. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off him.

"Can I see him?"

"Not at the moment. I packed him off to the planet with your brother and Starbuck."

Zak stared at him in awe. "How the hell did you manage that?"

Cottle's mouth curved slightly. "Told them I was keeping you under sedation for forty-eight hours so they might as well get out of my hair." He chuckled. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't blow my cover."

"Why did you do that?"

"They were driving me mad, in here constantly under my feet." Zak smiled at the mental picture that conjured up. "Besides, I thought it would be better if you waited to see them until you were a little stronger. None of them has what I would call a restful personality."

Zak opened his mouth to protest, but a yawn came out instead.

Cottle nodded. "See what I mean? Get some sleep. They'll probably be back by the time you wake up. Assuming they haven't got lost looking for that damn tomb."

Zak didn't have the energy to reply. A wave of lassitude swept over him and his eyes slipped closed.

----

When he woke again, Emma was sitting by his bed, flicking through a book. When she saw his eyes were open, she put it down and smiled.

"Hey there."

Zak tried to reply, but his dry throat struggled to form the words.

"Need some water?" He nodded gratefully, and Emma got up and poured him a glass. Much to his annoyance, his hand shook so much when he took it that she had to hold it to his lips while he swallowed.

"What's wrong with me?" he grumbled, sinking back onto the pillow. Even the brief exertion of sitting up to drink had tired him.

"Well, let's see." Emma's eyes twinkled. "You got blown up by a land mine, and had major surgery. Other than that, nothing at all."

"Very funny." But Zak found himself smiling reluctantly.

"You'll just have to be patient, I'm afraid. It's going to be a while before you heal enough to get out of bed."

She said it lightly enough, but the expression in her eyes told Zak just how worried she had been. "That bad, was it?"

She nodded, lips tight. "If Cottle hadn't got here when he did…"

"Of if you hadn't been there on Kobol. I don't remember much, but I remember you were taking care of me. Thank you."

Emma shrugged slightly, looking away. "You don't need to thank me. I'm just sorry you had to rely on my rusty medical skills."

"Obviously they're not that rusty. I'm still here."

At that she looked back at him and smiled. "So you are."

Zak braced himself for the next question. "What about Elosha? I tried to push her out of the way…" He fell silent, seeing the answer in her face.

"I'm sorry. The explosion killed her outright. There was nothing I could do."

They fell silent for a moment. It was broken by Cottle entering the sick bay.

"Awake again? That's good," he said to Zak. "I've just been told the shuttle is on its way back from Kobol, so I hope you're feeling up to visitors."

Zak nodded, although he felt nervous at the prospect of seeing his father. "Did they find the tomb?"

"Apparently so."

"Did it show the way to Earth?" Emma asked eagerly.

"Gave a clue at least. I didn't ask for details. I've got more important things to deal with." Cottle turned to Zak. "Like changing your dressings before your family gets here."

Zak grimaced. Somehow he didn't think this was going to be pleasant.

----

It wasn't. It was more painful than he had expected, and seemed to take an incredibly long time. He didn't pass out, but he was sweating and shaking afterwards. Cottle cleared up, and then left him alone to recover for a while.

Zak wasn't sure how long it was before he reappeared. "Your father's outside. You feel up to seeing him?"

Zak nodded.

"Good." Cottle almost grinned. "I'd keep him out if necessary, but I'm glad I don't have to make the attempt."

He went outside, and Zak took a deep breath. He'd spent so much time since he left Galactica running over this conversation in his head, coming up with careful explanations for his actions, and now that the moment was here they had all flown out of his head.

The hatch opened again, and his father entered.

He was looking pale and tired, but he crossed the room with his usual firm stride. If Zak hadn't seen it himself, he'd never have realised he'd been shot.

"Zak," said Bill, stopping beside the bed.

"Hi Dad." Zak tried to smile. "How are you?"

Bill's eyes softened slightly. "In better shape than you, by the look of it. How are you feeling?"

"Fine as long as I don't move," Zak said ruefully.

"You gave me quite a scare."

"So did you," said Zak, remembering those days of agonising uncertainty.

Some of it must have shown in his face, because his father's hand suddenly reached out to take his. "Well, we're Adamas, son. We don't give up easily."

Zak smiled. Maybe his father wasn't quite as angry as he had expected. He took the opening.

"Dad…I'm so sorry for going. For leaving you to wake up alone."

"Zak-"

He pushed on. He knew his father didn't like to talk about things like this, but he needed to say it. "I know how angry you must be – I know it was mutiny – but I had to do it. I couldn't see any other choice, any other way to try to stop what was happening to the fleet." He took a deep breath. "And I don't regret it."

"You don't?" His father was watching him with a strange expression on his face, as if he'd never seen him before.

"No." Zak remembered what Emma had said, that all that mattered was that he thought what he'd done was right, and hung on to that. "I'm sorry for leaving you, and I'm sorry if what I did hurt you, but I don't regret the act itself."

Silence. He looked up, but couldn't decipher the expression on his father's face.

"Apology accepted," said his father finally. He paused for a moment, clearing his throat. "Saul told me what happened while I was unconscious. It…was a tough situation all round."

Their eyes met, and Zak realised Bill was trying to let him know that he understood. He'd never come out and criticise Tigh's actions openly – that would be disloyal – but he was tacitly saying he wasn't totally in agreement with them.

Zak took a long breath of relief. "So…am I under arrest?"

"No." Bill sighed. "I can't afford to lose two of my senior officers. If I court-martial you for mutiny, I'd have to do the same for Kara and Lee too, so…you're all off the hook."

"Thanks, Dad."

Bill ignored that. "So, do you want to know what we found on Kobol?"

"You found something?" Zak tried to sit up, winced, and fell back. "At the tomb?"

Bill smiled. "We found a map to Earth." Zak listened with amazement as he described their experience in the tomb, the illusion they had seen and the stars that had given them the clues. "Looks like we have a map and a direction."

"Then she was right," Zak breathed, closing his eyes. "Roslin was right." I didn't do it all for nothing.

"Yes. Looks like we may all have to reconsider our position on the prophecies."

Another thought struck Zak. "So, are you and the President…"

"We've called a truce," said Bill briefly. "I think we understand each other."

"I'm glad."

"And now I think I'd better let Kara in to see you." Bill put a hand on Zak's shoulder. "I know you won't sleep till you do, and Cottle says you need your rest."

----

"He'll have to stay here for a while," said Cottle the following day. "I don't want to risk moving him back to Galactica just yet." He turned to Emma. "Don't worry, young lady, I'm not expecting you to look after him alone. I'll send one of my nursing staff over, and I'll check in on him regularly."

Emma smiled. "That's a relief."

"I'm sorry to put you to such trouble," said Adama quietly.

"No trouble at all," said Emma briskly. "I'm happy to help out Lee's family."

Kara listened with mixed feelings. She understood why Zak couldn't be moved, but she wished she didn't have to let him out of her sight just yet. She knew it was stupid and irrational, but she couldn't help feeling that something might happen to him if she didn't keep an eye on him.

There was no chance she could stay here with him, though. She'd left Galactica without a CAG for far too long already, and she needed to show the Old Man he'd made the right choice in deciding to forgive her and overlook the mutiny charges.

Adama went in to take leave of Zak, while Cottle ran through some medical instructions with Emma. Kara sat down next to Lee, noticing that he looked as exhausted as she felt.

"What a homecoming," she said. "Almost made Caprica look like a holiday."

Lee smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. "It'll be odd to go back to Galactica. Get back in the routine."

Kara sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Sounds good to me. Who knew I'd actually miss flying CAP and writing rosters?"

They sat there in a comfortable silence until the door opened and Adama came out of sick bay.

Lee nudged Kara with his elbow. "Your turn."

Kara turned to look at him. "What about you?"

Lee looked down at the floor. "I don't think Zak wants to see me."

"How do you know if you don't even try?" Kara felt a surge of irritation at his defeatist manner.

Lee looked up at that, eyes burning. "I did try," he snapped. "I went in last night."

"Did you?" Kara's irritation subsided slightly. "What happened?"

"He – he pretended to be asleep so he didn't have to talk to me." Lee's voice was even, but he couldn't keep the hurt out of his eyes.

"How do you know he was pretending?"

"I could tell by his breathing."

"Maybe if you tried again-"

"No," said Lee flatly. "I won't force myself on him, Kara. If he doesn't want to see me, I have to respect that."

"Lee-"

"Kara, just leave it. Please." His voice wavered slightly. "Go and see Zak."

----

Zak didn't seem too upset at the prospect of staying on the Caprican Star. "I have a room all to myself here. And a little of Cottle's bedside manner goes a long way."

"I'll visit as often as I can," Kara assured him.

"I know." Zak smiled at her. "Don't worry too much if you can't get away – I know how busy the CAG gets. I'll just be pleased to see you whenever you can make it."

"Thanks." Kara leaned in to kiss him. "You take care of yourself. If I hear from Emma you've been overdoing things, I'll be straight over here to kick your ass."

Zak chuckled. "I'll be good, I promise."

"I'll have to go soon," said Kara reluctantly. "Your father needs to get back." She looked at him thoughtfully, screwing up her resolve. "Shall I ask Lee to come in and see you before we go?"

A shutter dropped immediately over Zak's face. "I'd rather you didn't. I'm too tired for more visitors."

Kara's temper sparked. "Very convenient."

"Kara-"

"Lee said you pretended to be asleep when he visited earlier. Is it true?" Zak stared down at the bedclothes. "Is it true?"

"Yes," he said grudgingly.

"Why?" Kara felt genuinely bewildered. It wasn't like Zak to be so petty.

"I didn't want to talk to him."

"For the gods' sake!" Kara wanted to shake him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you realise how much that upset him?"

Zak looked up, mouth set hard. "Didn't realise he had feelings to upset."

"Of course he does! You nearly died, Zak. He was desperately worried about you-"

Zak laughed bitterly. "That makes a change."

"What the frak does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"I can't believe you're still brooding over some stupid argument! What was it about anyway?"

"Why don't you ask Lee?" Zak snapped. "After all, you're such good friends."

The venom in his tone took Kara aback. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm your boyfriend, Kara. So why is it that my brother is always the person you seem to confide in?"

"Is this about us going to Caprica again? Zak, I explained why-"

"I don't care about that! The bottom line is that you trusted him over me." The hurt in his voice had Kara flinching guiltily. The trouble was that what he said was absolutely true. She had trusted Lee over him, and she didn't really know why. She hadn't meant to hurt Zak. It was just that Lee was so much easier to talk to about some things. He seemed to understand her without her having to explain herself.

"Zak, I'm sorry. I do trust you, I promise."

Do you? A voice mocked at the back of her head. Then why haven't you ever told him about your mother? Why haven't you told him about the farm? You haven't, and you know you're not going to. Because you're afraid of how he'll react. Afraid he'll turn away from you.

She needed to change the subject. "Zak, this isn't about us. It's about you and Lee. Won't you just talk to him?"

"No," Zak said harshly. "Stay out of this, Kara. Please."

----

Kara might be fed up to the back teeth with stubborn Adama men, but she wasn't ready to give up on them quite yet. And there was more than one way to trap a raider.

She managed to find a moment alone with Emma before the raptor left for Galactica.

"Have you noticed what's going on between Lee and Zak?"

Emma nodded immediately. Kara was glad that she didn't pretend not to know what she was talking about. "That they're not speaking? It was fairly obvious that first day on Kobol."

"Has Lee told you what it was about?"

"No. He refused to talk about it, although I got the impression that Zak is the one holding the grudge." Emma looked at her questioningly, and Kara nodded.

"He is, but he won't tell me what it's about. It's to do with Lee going to Caprica, and Lee said something about letting Zak down, but neither of them will tell me the full story." Kara clenched her fists. "It just makes me-"

"Feel like banging their heads together?" Emma finished.

Kara looked up in surprise. Emma's face was full of wry humour, and Kara found herself grinning. "That pretty much covers it."

"Do you want me to see if I can get anything out of Zak?"

Kara nodded gratefully. "And I'll work on Lee." She sighed. "I hate seeing them like this."

"We'll sort them out," said Emma reassuringly. She grinned. "With the two of us working together, they don't stand a chance."

Kara laughed.

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Author's Note: So...I couldn't bring myself to kill Zak, I've got too fond of him. Thanks for all your reviews, they are keeping me going as I battle my way on with this story!