The viper he was in was old and slow to respond to his commands, the stick jammed all the way only elicited a slight turn after he cursed it, beseeched the Lord Almighty and finally called on the Goddess of Luck to intervene on his behalf. Fickle as usual, she answered his plea as the craft laboriously altered course an entire tenth of a degree. He tried to blame it on the pull of gravity from the planet below him. It was sucking him down. Before him was Caprica city, not as he remembered it in his academy days and the dreams he still had of the best and worst days of his life. No, this time it was a ruined landscape: buildings burning and raiders swooping down to fire on the city again and again. Beside him was Rene in another viper, hers just as old and rusty as his. She kicked in her turbos, zooming off ahead of him, but his only sputtered refusing to fire. Unable to catch up to Rene, he watched as the raiders formed up on her, a deadly pinwheel attack. He pressed the firing button, but after a short burst his guns jammed. He called instructions and advice over the commline, screaming to Rene, cursing his viper as he watched her wings burst into flames and her viper begin to plummet. She slammed nose first into the ground, the front of her craft crumpling into the cockpit just before it burst into flames. Then the raiders formed up on him and he took his hands from the useless controls. It didn't matter, it just didn't matter anymore without Rene and the baby. He watched the salvo come at him, felt the heat of the blast before…

He woke up gasping, trying to sit upright in his bed, but it wasn't his bed, or even the bunk in the billet. His head exploded at the effort and he groaned at the throbbing in his head, laying back down as he reached for Rene. His eyes flew open in alarm. She was not in his arms, nor could he find her near him. He bolted upright, his head exploding as hands pushed him back down. "Easy there, Bucko." It was Boomer's voice, his low tones soothing, a comfortable reminder of home as he and Boomer had always bunked near each other. He cracked an eye, tested the dim light of the fire.

"You're up?" Starbuck mumbled, surprised at seeing his friend who just a short cycle ago was incoherent and ringing the chime on death's quarters.

"Yeah, I'm up, just barely, but I seem to be doing better than you two right now."

The cavern was dim, the fire having burned low; the other fires about the cavern were out. He breathed heavily and trying to get his bearings, as he looked about the cave. The blankets around the fire were empty.

"Where's Rene?" His head felt like it was full of bees buzzing. He shook it, trying to chase out the swarm and almost crying out. The pain ignited an alarm in him. "Where's Rene?" In the last four sectars, other than when he was on report, he had woken each sleep cycle with her in his arms. It didn't matter the size of the bed, be it a landram back seat, a suite in the Rising Star, or the floor of the cavern, she snuggled close to him and he'd found he couldn't sleep without her. After the vivid dream he'd been having, he needed the reassurance that she was there beside him. But it seemed to just be him and Boomer. His friend handed him a water bottle and Starbuck drank greedily, trying to ignore the metallic taste with the tang of sulfur and the fearful pounding of his heart.

"Easy there, Starbuck." Boomer reached and took the bottle from him.

"Where is everyone?" He fixed his gaze on Boomer, pleased to see that his friend was looking almost like his old self, but not understanding why it was only he and Boomer in the cavern.

Even in the dim light, Starbuck could read the sympathy on his friend's face. Boomer kept his hand on Starbuck's shoulder. The soft touch, coupled with the sad look, it sounded a full on red alert in Starbuck's skull. He struggled to get up. "Where is everyone? Where is she?"

"She was having a hard time breathing and was running a high fever."

The words punched through the cloud of bees in his brain pan. The pain moved from his temples to his heart, as his breath caught. He began struggling against Boomer's hands to get to his feet as the reality of the situation stung him. "Was? Was? No. NO! Where is she?!"

"Hey, easy…easy…Starbuck!" Boomer held on to his shoulder as Starbuck struggled against the blankets that were wrapped tight around him. "Calm down, she's just outside. Jake thought the fresh air and the cool of the morning would help. She's outside."

It took a micron for the words to make sense, his vivid dream of the viper going down in flames seeming far more real at the moment than Boomer holding onto him. "Outside? Why? The Cylons and the…the air isn't any better and…"

Boomer's brought his face inches before his own. "She can't keep anything down, and Jake can't keep her fever down, but she's alive. We're all alive." Boomer's hand was to his forehead, testing Starbuck's temperature the old fashioned way. "You're not so bad. How are you feeling?"

"I'll be fine." He shrugged off his friend's concern, far more worried about Rene than himself. "I need to see her."

"Alright, go slow." Boomer reached out a hand to help him get untangled from the survival blankets and get to his feet. His head felt like it had slammed into the planet a few times and he wondered if the dream he had wasn't real. He took a step, and felt his legs almost buckle. He felt weaker than a newborn feline, and the hammer slamming into the side of his temples sure wasn't helping. As he focused on the next step out of this dark cave, he felt his friend's shoulder coming under his arm.

"Yeah, I see how fine you are. About as fine as I am, so let's do this together, alright?" Boomer guided him out of the cave and Starbuck groaned in agony at the brighter light of day at the tunnel's entrance. He knew he couldn't quite call it sunlight as he peeked a look at a dark gray sky with heavy clouds threatening to bring a downpour of toxicity any micron.

"She shouldn't be in the rain," he mumbled to his friend as he tried to look ahead to find his wife. He couldn't seem to get his eyes to focus farther than a few feet.

"It's alright. Max fixed them up some cover." Boomer pointed to a survival blanket that was draped over some low branches of a tree, providing a bit of cover from the elements. Below the makeshift shelter he finally was able to focus on Jake who was sitting against the trunk of a tree with Rene leaning against him. From this distance and his blurred eyesight, it looked like a lover's embrace and Starbuck nearly stumbled as the thought buzzed around his head. It had been only four sectars and he was already finding it hard to sleep without Rene by his side. How many yahrens had it been just Rene and Jake? He tried to shake the thought from his mind, but it buzzed in and stung him. Jake was a bit too comfortable in their quarters and seeing them now, Jake stroking Rene's forehead as he spoke softly too her, Starbuck suddenly felt like he was the interloper.

Boomer stepped forward, but Starbuck dug in for a moment until his friend looked at him, asking if he was alright. He just nodded and tried to swallow the irrational jealousy past the knives in his throat that were now filling his chest. Starbuck let his friend help him across the bottom of the gulley, until they were under the makeshift shelter. Boomer set him down beside Rene and Starbuck tried to ignore the intimacy of Jake's arms around his wife. Jake didn't seem to notice that he was doing anything wrong.

"Thank the lords, you look better," Jake said scanning Starbuck's features. "Boomer, can you do me a favor and bring out that medkit. I'm going to try another dose on her. Starbuck could use one too."

Starbuck reached out a hand to Rene's forehead and almost pulled it back as if he had been burnt. "How high is it?"

Rene startled at the touch mumbling at him, "Don't' fracking touch me!"

He looked at Jake in surprise.

"High enough she doesn't know what she's saying." Jake met his eyes. "Don't take it personal." Rene started to struggle in Jake's hold. The young man had her hands pinned between himself and Rene, as he dropped his hand from her forehead to wrap tight around her. He cooed to her to try to calm her, "Shh baby, no one's gonna hurt you."

Her eyes flew open wide as she struggled harder. "I'm not going to his mother fracking parties. I'm not a chit to be passed around. He can fracking flog me, I don't care!"

Starbuck didn't know what to do as he watched Jake hold on tight while he reassured Rene in her fevered ramblings, "You're not going. No one's going to frack with you. It's okay, baby. It's okay, shhh."

Starbuck looked away, suddenly embarrassed at his own jealous thoughts. He didn't know why he did that, when he had the least right to any form of jealousy. He took in the landscape, his eyes able to focus a bit better. He was surprised to find that they were alone in the bottom of the ravine. "Where is everyone?" He looked back to Boomer and didn't like the guarded expression. "Wait, where's Apollo? And Max?"

Boomer handed Starbuck the medkit and a blanket. "Apollo decided you were right and we needed off Caprica. He's headed to see someone he says his father knew in the hills outside of town. Claims he had a collection of classic vipers. He took Max with him."

"Oh great, so since we're laid up he thinks he can just go on a hike without me?" Starbuck opened up the medkit, pulling out vials and loading up a hypo, "How much?" he asked Jake, who told him to use half a vial, and save the rest for later. Starbuck pulled Rene's hair away from her neck, placing the hypo as she looked up at him, eyes red and unfocused.

"Keenan? You're dead. He killed you. Why are you here? You can't have this baby." Jake put a hand to her head, turning her back into his chest as he began to hum a Fabulon Four song that seemed to soothe her ramblings. Starbuck felt a pang in his chest. It was obvious that Rene was feeling miserable, and her ramblings had her scared and unsettled.

"Food," Jake whispered when she seemed to drift back into sleep. "Go through all their stuff and find some.

Boomer said he was on it, and shook out a blanket to wrap around Starbuck's shoulders before he headed back into the cavern, limping but otherwise steady.

It was awkward for Starbuck to watch Jake singing softly to Rene while he sat there useless and weak. He tried to cover up his discomfort, asking about what had been decided while he'd been sleeping. "So Apollo headed off to find a viper? How close did he think one was? And Avery and his men?"

Jake stared hard at him over Rene's head, stroking her sweat soaked hair. "Apollo said it was probably a two day hike. We…we were worried that if she gets any worse she won't be able to get us out of here so he decided he couldn't wait for you. Avery's men were pissed to find Apollo and Max gone, then Avery took off with his people, said something about rescuing some people. They took our lasers and I couldn't do anything about it."

The words jolted Starbuck and he reached instinctually for what he just now realized wasn't there. "Oh frack. So we're alone and unarmed?"

"It was the least of my concerns at the moment, Starbuck. I've used up the breathers trying to keep her from crashing on me. Her oxygen levels are low, her temperature is high and I don't know what to do other than overdose her. I learned how to treat broken bones and bleeding. She's doing better but, you both were down, Boomer's barely moving and if she dies on us we're stuck here!"

Starbuck registered the panic in the young man's voice, as did Rene who began to stir, mumbling again about not wanting to go to some party.

"It's alright." Starbuck shut his eyes and tried to think of some way out of their predicament. "You did the right thing. They could use them more than us right now. It's not like the Cylon's know where we are, right? You said she's doing better, right?"

Jake sighed and turned his head so that his cheek was touching Rene's forehead. "Yeah, but not as good as I'd like. Her temp has only gone down a little. She's breathing better but, if it gets worse there's not much I can do. We can't lose her."

"I thought we got the right antibiotic?" he asked, perhaps a little accusingly. He winced at his tone. "Didn't we?"

"I thought so too," Jake replied, obviously frustrated. "I'm NOT a doctor, Starbuck. I'm doing my best."

"I know you are," Starbuck conceded. It was more than just Rene's ability to warp space that Jake cared about. "Have you had any sleep the last few days?"

Jake just shook his head. "I couldn't sleep if I wanted to."

Starbuck leaned back against the tree, feeling the chill of the air seeping into his bones and the heat radiating off of Rene beside him. He wanted to reach for her, but he also didn't want to wake her and she seemed more comfortable with Jake for now. "I'll keep watch. You can't take care of her if you're exhausted."

Jake snorted in derision. "And what are you going to do, oh great Colonial Warrior, unarmed and barely able to stand?"

"Probably wake you up again, if I need to." He shrugged. "But at least you could catch a little shut eye, and you need it as much as the rest of us."

Jake shrugged noncommittally in reply. "Boomer is in the best shape of all of us right now and he's limping. We are truly fracked."

Starbuck sucked in a deep breath of what he knew had to be tainted air as he took in Jake's assessment of the situation. A crack of thunder interrupted his reply that they were going to be okay, as the sky opened up, pouring down rain. Rene woke, saying something about how she knew the pieces fit because she had pulled them apart. Jake cooed to her, singing Fabulon Four ballads. Yeah, he was right, they were fracked. Each roll of thunder felt like it was going to crack his skull open like an egg. He knew they should head back into the cave, but he wasn't sure he could face the darkness. He understood why Jake wanted to be outside.

They sat and listened to the rain and Rene's mumbling. It was all they could do, sit and wait for things to get better. Starbuck tried to take Rene from Jake at one point, as her ramblings became loud and she was frightened, but his touch only disturbed her more. She fled for the comfort of Jake's arms, adding to Starbuck's misery. He tried not to take it personally, tried to remember he was running a fever too, his thoughts weren't anywhere near coherent, but he found himself instead asking, "When did you two stop fracking? How long ago?"

Jake shook his head cursing. "Really, Starbuck? This day doesn't suck enough? Why don't you go find Boomer, okay?"

"Why don't you answer the question? Or is the answer never? You have a code to our quarters and half your stuff is there. Makes it easier to cover what you two are up to, don't you think?"

Jake shot back. "We stopped about the same time as you and Cassiopeia, or did you just forget that maybe Cassie might have talked about that? What was it, a day before you met Rene that you were asking Cassie to seal with you?"

"So that why you're not seeing Cassie anymore? Didn't like the competition or is it because you're still fracking with Rene?"

Jake looked away and sighed heavily. "You take that dose of antibiotic yet, Starbuck? Because you're either delirious or just being an equine's astrum, and as much as I'm leaning towards the latter, I'm going to cut you some slack."

"Why don't you just answer the question?"

There was a long pause before he finally looked back to Starbuck. "You fracking Colonials are all the same. You don't understand that fracking and love aren't the same things." Jake glared at him over Rene's head, pulling her in closer to him. "I'm not fracking her, Starbuck. And so what if I was? Would it change how you felt about her?"

The thoughts collided in his head, and he suddenly realized he wasn't thinking right, wasn't feeling right and had no idea why he was attacking the one person who could probably help them the most right now. "Sorry, no, no it probably wouldn't change anything with our baby on the way. But maybe you don't understand that for us … fracking Colonials, love and fracking have a lot to do with each other. And when you make a commitment, monogamy is a way of expressing that love, at least the way I was raised. And if the rats see it differently, then maybe my question isn't quite as crazy as you think." He paused. "Especially since Rene's unconscious and doesn't ever need to know about it."

Jake looked at him across Rene in disbelief then broke out laughing. Starbuck joined him, dragging a hand through his hair as he considered the absurdity of the conversation. Jake shook his head, still chuckling as he reached for the biomonitor, Rene's condition never far from his mind.

"I…I don't think you're fracking. Actually, come to think of it, you're not fracking anyone. So why aren't you seeing Cassie anymore? Is it because of the kids?"

Jake sighed and looked away. "Yeah sort of. Look I get that we need to kill some time here while we wait for everyone to get back. Could we talk about something else?"

"Sure." They sat in companionable silence. For about one centon. "Cassie told me she didn't want kids." Starbuck wasn't sure why he was sharing. He just couldn't seem to stop his mouth.

"Really? Well that's not what she told me. I mean, she told me she was worried about having to help raise the kids and me at the same time." Jake laughed sardonically. "I told her she didn't have to worry about that. They were Rene's kids and never would be hers. I didn't say it any nicer than that, and well, I guess she thought the same things you do, that Rene and I are still fracking."

"Oh," Starbuck said in reply remembering back to his botched proposal, how his own way of wording things had come off crude and crass once the words left his mouth.

"Oh? That's all you have to say, oh?" Jake turned back to look at him for a long time. Starbuck realized he'd lost any ground he had ever gained with Rene's closest friend. Jake finally looked away towards the entrance to the cavern. "Since you're feeling so chatty, I have a question for you. You were there in Dante's office that day, maybe you know. What happened to Agenor? Rene won't tell me other than to say he won't be a problem anymore."

It was not anywhere close to what he thought Jake would ask him, and his mind went back to the scene, somewhat the same as Rene with her brother Ari, and yet soul shatteringly different. Starbuck found himself looking in any direction but Jake and Rene's. "She shot him. Adama had knocked him out with a punch and she…she shot him in the face."

"Good." The acid in Jake's tone was more venomous than the toxic rain falling around them. "He was one of the worst because…" He took a long pause and Starbuck wasn't sure if he wanted him to go on. He was reminded once again that all the men Starbuck might be jealous about weren't men Rene had wanted. Maybe even Jake was more about protection and practicality than about love.

Jake turned back to him, a fire burning in his eyes that said more about Jake and Rene's relationship than Starbuck might have wanted to know. "The boray thought she liked it. She didn't fight him off. I mean frack, he was four times the size of her, literally. She knew if she even tried, he'd hurt her bad without meaning to. One of the few she didn't fight off because she's not stupid, and he somehow got in his puny brain that meant she liked it. He actually thought they were like dating or something. We all knew the baby she was carrying was probably his too, but…" Jake looked down at Rene, stroking her face lightly. "When she cleared up the confusion, let him know she didn't want to be with him, he beat the mong out of her. We thought that would be the end of it especially because she lost the baby, but no. He kept at her, even on Dilmun, mostly out of spite I think. We…we think he killed Keenan on a patrol, but we couldn't prove it, and," Jake shrugged, "it wouldn't have mattered. He's one of Dante's lackeys, or he was. He could do no wrong. Right in the face you say?"

"Yeah, right in the face. She shot the other guy too, not sure who he was, can't remember his name." Starbuck felt a chill climb up his spine, and his shoulders shook as he tried to shake off the memory. He had not spoken to anyone about that moment in Dante's office, not even with Rene. He tried to tell himself that he understood why she did what she did, but the truth was far different. She'd killed in cold blood two men who could not defend themselves. It was a brutal way to go out, and yes, he knew, they had been brutal to Rene and probably deserved what she dished out. But in that moment Starbuck had been frightened by the look in her eye, and then mere microns later to be face to face with Count Iblis, and Rene seeming to take his side. He'd always wondered how much hold Iblis had had over her then. Did he still have a hold? Is that what this little honeymoon to Caprica was all about?

The thoughts collided in his mind and he just wanted to close his eyes and go back to sleep. Another shiver shook his shoulders and his teeth began to chatter. Jake's voice got his attention. "Load up a hypo with some antibiotics, Starbuck. Dose yourself and then go find Boomer will ya? We need some food and water."

Starbuck reached for the med kit and found the hypo and injected himself. He was getting to his feet when Boomer came out of the cavern with a bundle of blankets in one hand, a torch in the other. He dumped the blankets on the ground, with what remained of the food and water that was bundled in them, handed the torch to Starbuck and began gathering wood for a fire.

"That such a good idea?" Jake asked casting an eye to the sky indicating the chance of the Cylons spotting them.

"Let me get some of the blankets up to block the heat in. Down in this ravine, with the trees covering us, it's worth the risk." Boomer appraised Starbuck, Jake and Rene. "Cylon capture might actually be good for us right now."

"Don't. I'm not in the mood for jokes," Jake said leaning his head back against the tree closing his eyes.

Starbuck got up to help Boomer gather some wood and stones to keep the fire contained. They decided to keep the fire small. Boomer found some long straight branches to use as supports to drape the blankets around the fire, funnelling the heat towards them. Starbuck sat back down beside Jake, tapping the kid on the shoulder.

"I've got watch. You need some sleep," Starbuck said to him reaching gently for Rene. She was a bit cooler than before, and didn't fight him as he pulled her into his arms, instead sighing in contentment in her dreams. Starbuck watched as Jake gave in to exhaustion. The young man's features softened in sleep, and Starbuck was reminded once again of just how young the gutter snipes were. The worry lines already etched in the young man's face also told the story of how much they had gone through. They had all aged a yahren in just a few short days.

Boomer handed him a water bottle and a colonial protein bar. He drank more than half of it before he realized he should try to get some of it into Rene. He shook her gently, and her eyes snapped open, looking around in confusion before settling on his face. "You need to drink," he said softly and she complied. He had her take a few slow sips and then she settled her head back to his chest, mumbling something about a party. "Shhh, we're not going anywhere," he cooed like Jake, "go back to sleep, sweet lady."

Starbuck dozed as the warmth from the fire and the rhythm of the rain lulled him into a sense of security. In a way Boomer was right. If the Cylons came, there wasn't much they could do so there was no point in worrying about it. They'd deal with that crisis if it happened, but for now, they were alone. It wasn't until near dusk that Avery and his men returned, trudging wearily into the canyon. Starbuck was somewhat comforted that the walls of the ravine channelled the sound down to them and he heard Avery's men long before they saw them.

The man was gruff as ever as he poked his head over their makeshift fire shield. "What the frack you doing out here? Trying to give away our location? They teach you viper jocks any survival skills, or just assume you're going to die in the sky?"

Starbuck started to curse back, but Boomer held up a hand to stop him. "The cavern was too smoky. She needed some air to breathe. You able to get your people?"

"No. Told you, we need your help for that, but we got some dinner." Avery held up three scrawny hares. "We found some roots so stew is on the menu. You going to sleep out here or you coming back in?"

"We'd like our weapons back," Starbuck answered him.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to be the King of the Cylon Empire, but we don't always get what we want. When you have a need for them, I'll give them back. So you coming to dinner, or going to stew out here?" Avery chuckled at his own pun.

Jake had pulled out the biomonitor and was checking Rene's vitals as Boomer and Starbuck waited for his decision as to whether they were staying out or going in. If it weren't so damn chilly and he could get his teeth to stop chattering, Starbuck was all for sleeping under the stars, but the thick cloud cover probably meant they wouldn't be seeing any this night.

"Yeah, we should go in. Her temps not where it should be, but it's down some."

Starbuck wanted to just pick Rene up in his arms, but his shaking shoulders and the weakness in his legs as he tried to stand let him know it might be best to wake her and have her walk on her own. She was hard to wake, and it was Jake's voice that finally got her up on her feet. They took up their place by the fire that had died near the door of the cavern. Boomer got it going again, and Starbuck arranged the blankets around as Jake took stock of what was left of their supplies. It wasn't much and he hoped that the day of rest had gotten them all a lot farther from death's doorstep. Rene actually sat up by the fire leaning against Starbuck. Her eyes were still distant and her words confused, but she responded to commands, drinking some water and taking small bites of their last protein bar. Jake dosed her again and it wasn't long after that she laid her head on Starbuck's shoulder, mumbled something about how good the music was and that she knew the pieces fit because she watched them tumble down, before she fell asleep again. Starbuck wrapped his arms around her, felt that she was still warm, but at least not burning up.

Avery came over with a pot of stew for them, speaking to the Jake and ignoring Boomer and Starbuck. "They going to be up for a hike tomorrow? We can't wait anymore."

Jake focused on the biomonitor before giving Starbuck a wary glance as he tapped out a code with his fingers on the monitor, "traitor".

Starbuck spoke before Boomer could. "You want our help or you using us for a trade?"

Avery didn't answer, keeping his focus on Jake. "So they going to be able to move tomorrow?"

Boomer called the man's name. "Avery, the cylons don't deal. You know that right? We are willing to help, but we'd like to wait for the rest of our team to get back."

"Yeah, that's all we've done since you got here, wait. We've waited long enough. You got our women and children out of here and I'm hoping like hades to safety, but we ain't got time to waste waiting anymore. And what kind of help can you be, huh? Your lasers are all the help we need. And don't worry your pretty Colonial insignias, we ain't trading you for captives. We don't' want a few of them for your sorry astrums, which is all we would get. We are taking them all. No, we ain't trading you. We're using you as bait in the trap, so don't you worry. You'll get a chance to show us how good you are. Consider it a demonstration of the mighty Colonial service since you all think you're so much better than us."

"We never thought we were better than you," Boomer said low and even.

"At least not till now," Starbuck amended in disgust.

"Well you better hope you are better than us because you either work the impossible and get our people free, or you're going to be joining them." Avery dropped the pot of stew on the ground almost spilling the contents before Jake could reach out and right the pan.

They all sighed. "Well eat up, boys and girl, or tomorrow we'll be the hares in the pot," Boomer said as he reached for a cup to dip in the pan.

Starbuck wanted to pass on the poisonous concoction, but his stomach grumbled and he knew he needed some fuel if they were going to get out of this snare.