When Starbuck woke up, the room was dark. She could hear the water in the shower, which explained Lee's absence from the bunk. During the whole night, they barely managed to keep their hands away from each other for more than ten minutes. The alarm clock by her side indicated that she had slept for 15 minutes. That was a record.

Kara had never frakked all night long. She didn't believe it was physically possible. Nevertheless, last night had pretty much proved her wrong. It was possible, just not wise. Her muscles protested when she sat in the rack. She had been working out every day since Zak became two weeks old in order to get back in her usual shape. Still, last night had completely blown her.

As she literally had to crawl out of her bunk, she thanked the gods for the fact that Lee was busy showering. He would surely make fun of her because of that…and then he'd jump on her again. As much as she was willing to do that again, another round would kill her. They were lucky to have survived last night. She quickly dressed a tank top and one pair of Lee's old boxers so the sight of her naked body would not give him any ideas when he left the shower.

She fell back on the rack only to be awake by Lee's kisses minutes later.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," he greeted her, smiling widely.

"Is it morning? Cause usually mornings happen after a night of sleep," she mumbled sleepilly. He kissed her neck. "Don't even think of it, you horny bastard! I'm going to the shower…alone." She got up and walked to the bathroom.

"At least give me a goodbye kiss before I leave to the Hangar Deck," he pleaded.

She opened the bathroom door and gave him a quick peck on the lips, closing the door again. He stood there looking at the door. "Just that?"

"I don't trust myself to keep control if I give you a better kiss," she stated from inside the bathroom.

He was pleased with himself for having such an effect in her. "Okay. Don't forget your appointment in the life station. Love you."

"Love you too," she replied.

--

Half an hour later, Kara was entering the sickbay. The shower had done its work by waking her up a bit more. At least she could walk in straight line…

Jane was sitting in one of the chairs in the sickbay, waiting for Cottle to wake her up.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kara asked her.

"Sonogram," Jane said. "What about you?"

"I'm trying to get my wings back," she replied. "How are you dealing with this whole thing? Did you change your mind about not telling Mr. Genius about his offspring?"

"I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do but of one thing I'm sure. I don't want Gaius close to the baby. I'm done with him. He's selfish, egocentric and I don't trust him. He'd only hurt us over and over again. Apart from the president and the Admiral, only you, Sharon and Sam know who the real father is. Let's keep it that way."

"If you want my opinion, I'd do the right thing in your situation," Kara stated. "Now, where's that jackass who calls himself a doctor?"

"According to Ishay, he's checking on the recovery patients," she said. "Forget it, there he is."

The doctor was walking in their direction with his usual cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "Captain Thrace, come with me. You can go inside and get ready for the sonogram, Miss Natasi."

Kara followed the doctor to his office.

"So, am I cleared?" she asked him.

"Sit," he told her.

She did as he commanded, too tired to complain.

"The kid's been keeping you awake?" he asked her.

"No, Doc," she answered.

"Then why the frak do you look like you didn't sleep for the whole night?"

"Because I didn't. By choice," she replied. "Can I please have my wings back?"

He grumbled something about an irresponsible frak-head. "Yeah, you can. Just make sure you hit the rack every night to sleep. You're needed alert, not acting like a walking Zombie. Now, go get some hours of sleep. I'll let the CAG know you're back in service in 4 hours. Get lost."

"Yes, sir," she said, turning around and gladly leaving the sickbay.

Before going back to her quarters, she went to Lee's office in order to get Zak. Her husband was looking after him after she went to get him from the Admiral earlier.

"Well, don't you look like crap, Starbuck?" Helo teased her when he and Sharon crossed paths with her.

"Frak me, Helo," Kara said, cranky.

"Oh, I bet the CAG already took care of that last night," Sharon said. "What's with the face? Shouldn't you be exhibiting a silly smile right now?"

"Why don't you two go make Hera a little brother instead of tormenting me?" she asked them.

"Okay… I see you're not in a playing mood today," Helo murmured. "We'll leave you alone. You're not a good victim when you're cranky."

They entered another room and she resumed walking to meet Lee.

She found him filling paperwork in his desk with Zak's baby carrier right on top of it.

"Hey, did Cottle clear you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed, approaching him to give him a quick kiss. She turned to her son, entertaining himself by chewing his hands. "Hi, Baby, did you miss Mommy?"

"According to Dad, this one did not want to sleep. He cried and cried. Laura even decided to stay for the night," Lee told her.

"Oh, so you decided to be loud last night, didn't you, Little Guy?" she asked the baby. "I'm going back to our quarters in order to sleep a few hours. Cottle's orders," Kara told her husband.

"Leave the baby here, Kara," Lee told her. "You won't be able to sleep much if he's there."

"But you have work to do, Lee," she replied.

"I'm stuck with paperwork this morning. I can watch him while I do it," he assured her. "Plus when I'm done with him, I'll take a break and sleep as well. I'll book us for CAP in about 5 hours, okay?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, I'll be your wingman," Lee told her.

"Okay," she agreed and returned to her quarters.

--

Hours later, Kara was in the Hangar Deck wearing her flight suit. Finally she was going to fly again. With Lee. Starbuck and Apollo would fly together again.

They had just left the baby in the daycare's nursery. It had broken her heart leaving him there crying, but it was either that or taking him to the cockpit.

She missed flying so much. As she walked to her viper, her adored viper, the Chief and Cally intercepted her.

"Er…Captain. I'm afraid you won't be able to fly your viper today," he informed her.

"Why the frak not?" she asked.

"We noticed a fuel leak. We're working on it, don't worry. The thing is, you'll have to borrow another one. I think the one that used to belong to Seelix is available," Tyrol told her.

"Great," she said sarcastically and distractedly fixed her hair in a ponytail.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked her, coming from behind her.

"The chief says I have to fly Seelix's viper. Mine is having problems," she grumbled.

"Don't complain. At least you'll be able to fly," the CAG told her.

Minutes later, she was settled in the viper, finally flying.

"Starbuck, Apollo. How does it feel to be flying again?" Lee asked through the communications.

"Fan-frakking-tastic," she replied.

The Fleet was orbiting a cloudy gas giant planet as they refueled various ships. Things were quiet out there, except for the long line of ships waiting to be refueled. They were not flying in the dark space, there was light, loads of it. They were surrounded by blue sky and white clouds.

They made a few spins and races together like in the old times. It was nice to be out there again.

Suddenly, Kara started to lose control of her viper. It seemed like it was being pushed to the clouds. She tried to pull back but nothing would work. The frakking thing was alive and flying by itself.

"Starbuck, where the frak are you going?!" Lee asked.

"Apollo, something's wrong with my viper. I can't control it!" she said.

As she was pushed to the clouds, Kara saw something she was not ready for. There was a storm system. But not just any storm system. It looked just like that pattern she has been drawing since she was a kid. Circular, yellow outside, then red and finally blue in the center. The Mandala.

She was being pushed for inside the storm.

"Starbuck? Do you copy?" Apollo shouted through the wireless.

"Yes, Apollo. I am being pushed to a storm system," she informed him. "I can't control the frakking thing."

Things were getting dangerous. She already inside the storm, getting too close to the planet. She knew the viper would not handle the pressure of such a gigantic planet. If that viper didn't start obeying in the next minute, she would die. Then, something hit her. The Mandala. The destiny. What if that was her destiny? There was no explanation for the way the stupid bird was acting. What if it was a higher force playing her like she was a pawn in a chess table?

She was terrified. Kara Thrace usually managed to deal things well in extreme situations, but this time she was panicking. The viper would not work. Either it was her destiny or not, she couldn't die like that. Lee, Kacey, Zak. She could not leave them. The viper was almost in the bottom of the storm system. Closer and closer to the planet.

"Starbuck, eject the damn bird. I'll ask for a raptor to get you," Lee's voice sounded through the wireless.

"Okay," she agreed.

Kara tried to reach for the ejection lever but it was stuck. The viper is trying to kill me, she thought. She could the thunders. Everything around her was dark now. It was a frakking horror movie!

"It's stuck!" she yelled through the comms. Her heart was beating so fast that her throat hurt.

In his own viper, Lee was trying to reach the storm she had mentioned. He had alerted the CIC about the situation and they were also trying to figure out what was going on. "What's wrong with the damn viper?!" Lee asked himself. He could not lose her. He'd die inside. And the kids. How could he tell them their mommy was gone? Kacey would be heartbroken and Zak…he would not even remember how his mother looked like.

"Kara, hold in there!" he told her. "Don't you die on me."

"I'm trying, Lee!" she replied.

He finally arrived to the storm system. It was massive but at the same time beautiful. It reminded of The Eye of Jupiter. He couldn't see Kara in there or spot her on DRADIS. With all the radiation from the planet, it looked like a soup.

Kara prayed the gods for mercy. She rarely prayed for herself but it seemed a good idea right now.

From outside the storm, Lee tried to locate his wife inside. "Starbuck, do you copy?" No answer. "Kara!"

A/N: For those who are wondering, the end is inspired in the episode Maelstrom, however with some changes. This is very important to the what will happen in the future. This is a two-part chapter so if you are really, really nice and I reach the 260 reviews 'till tomorrow, I may post part 2 then. Review!