Lee was Kestra's only regular visitor. He would come almost every other day. Most of their conversations were about the various alien species Kestra had encountered or learned about. Lee was fascinated by all of them, and began making more frequent trips to the brig just to hear about life beyond his galaxy. Lee's visits became the highlight of Kestra's day. He was the only person on this ship who had shown her any kindness, and he seemed genuinely interested in talking to her. It was, after all, his decision to continue to visit her in her cell.

"So tell me about yourself," she said one afternoon. Lee's eyes went wide.

"What?"

"Don't act so surprised. I've told you loads about myself. I think I've earned an answer or two about your life," she said with a smirk. Lee fidgeted nervously.

"Depends on what you wanna know," he said warily.

"How old are you?" she asked. Lee's eyebrows shot up.

"What?"

"You weren't expecting that?" she asked conspiratorially.

"Well… I kinda thought you'd ask about the fleet or Galactica or… something like that…'' he trailed off. Kestra's eyes narrowed.

"You still think I'm a cylon?"

"No! No," Lee said quickly, "I just thought, maybe, cause we've been talking so much about the world you come from… I didn't think your question would be so personal." Kestra smiled.

"Well, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," she replied.

"No. It's fine. I'm thirty," he said quickly. Kestra smiled.

"Ok," she replied, "what about your family? Do you have siblings? A wife?"

"Oh no, no wife," he assured her. Then his face fell. "I had a brother. Zach. He was… uh, he died."

"I'm sorry, Lee," she said quietly, "how did it happen?" Lee looked up at her. He wasn't comfortable talking about his brother's death to the people close to him. However, he also blamed a lot of the people close to him for his brother's death. Maybe it would be nice to talk about it with an objective listener.

"He was a pilot, and he died flying in what was supposed to be a routine mission," Lee admitted. Kestra sighed.

"Then, what happened?"

"He shouldn't have been flying. He didn't have what it took, but she passed him anyway," Lee muttered, "they made him feel like he had to do it." Kestra moved to put her hand on Lee's shoulder.

"Who are these people you blame for his death?" she asked gently. Lee shook his head and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"It doesn't matter. It wasn't her fault, not really," he said angrily. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Kestra moved to kneel in front of him so that she could see his face.

"Whose fault is it then?" she asked.

"No one's. It's no one's fault. He just," Lee said.

"Was it his fault?" Kestra asked even softer than before. Lee met her eyes angrily.

"No," he spat, "Zak didn't know what he was doing when he got in that plane. Kara passed him. He thought he was ready."

"So it's Kara's fault," Kestra said.

"No, she only passed him, because she loved him," Lee insisted, "she didn't know what would happen. She would do anything for him." Kestra smiled weakly.

"So it's not Zak's fault even though he knew she loved him and would do anything for him, and it's not Kara's fault even though she knew he wasn't ready and passed him anyway," Kestra said. Lee looked at her with furrowed brows. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he could not find the words to say. Kestra looked into his eyes and waited for him to collect his thoughts.

"Does it have to be someone's fault? It was an accident. Why are you trying to make me blame someone?" he asked bitterly.

"It doesn't have to be anyone's fault," Kestra said, "not even yours." Lee's eyes opened wide as he looked at her. He blinked furiously as tears began to well up in his eyes. Kestra grasped his hand. Lee squeezed her hand back but remained silent. After a stretch of silence, Kestra spoke up again. "I had an older brother, Thad," she said slowly, "and he died when I was a kid, and I always thought there was something more I could have done to save him." Lee watched her intently as she spoke. "There was… there was nothing I, or anyone else, could have done." The last sentence she spoke finally brought tears to her eyes. "It was just the world we lived in, and it took me a long time to realize that." Lee stared at her for a moment longer and nodded his head in understanding.

"But there was something I could have done," he replied, "I could have stopped him from getting in the cockpit. I could have told him he didn't have to be a pilot."

"Would he have listened to you?" she asked. Lee thought about it for a moment.

"No," he admitted.

"Then if he's not responsible, neither are you," she said, "trust me. No matter how much you think you could have stopped it or done something different to prevent it, it's still not your fault. Things happen in life, and we have to accept them and move on. I can't imagine Zak would want you to be miserable on his account." Lee shook his head at the ground, then smiled at her.

"Thank you," he said weakly. Kestra smiled.

"You're welcome," she replied politely. Lee watched her smile fall as she got up from the floor and returned to her seat on her cot.

"How did your brother die?" he asked.

"Mendaxic neurosclerosis," she said. When Lee furrowed his brow, she continued. "It's a brain disease that… uh… it was fatal." Kestra turned away from Lee.

"I'm sorry," he said gently, "that must have been hard to watch." Kestra nodded, but did move from her position facing the opposite wall. "You know for an alien, you have a lot of human experiences," he commented. Kestra laughed at that and turned to look at him.

"I think all sentient life experiences loss. It's something we can all relate to," she said. Lee nodded thoughtfully.

"Well I've appreciated your… cooperation in my efforts to learn about life outside this galaxy," he said carefully as he stood up, "so if you ever need to talk to someone about your loss or anything else you may… well, I'm here." Kestra looked up at him calmly.

Thank you.

Lee shrugged and grimaced lightly as he turned to the exit of the cell.

I hate that.

Kestra's brows furrowed.

"I heard you," she said softly. Lee spun back toward her in confusion.

"I… I didn't say anything," he stuttered.

"I hate that," she said. Lee took a step back toward her with an obvious question written on his face. "You thought 'I hate that'. I heard you." Lee shook his head.

"I thought you couldn't hear people's thoughts," he accused. Kestra dropped her eyes to the floor.

"I can't… or I haven't been able to in the past," she said slowly.

"Well, what does that mean?" he asked with obvious irritation.

"It means that something about you, or maybe the conditions of my captivity, or the conversation, or perhaps a combination of all those things, made it possible for me to hear that thought," she said thoughtfully. Lee shook his head in confusion.

"What does that mean? Something about me?" he asked. Kestra blushed but refused to answer. Lee narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"I don't want to embarrass you Lee, and I don't want to make you angry," she said, "so can we just drop it?"

"No, we can't just drop it. If you can hear my thoughts, then we need to find a way to prevent that from happening," he said.

"I can't hear all your thoughts, Lee. It was just a fluke. It probably won't happen again."

"I can't take the chance that it will. I can't have you reading my thoughts even by accident," he said. He watched her intently, but she just gave him a withering look. "Unless you've been lying to me, and you could read my thoughts all this time," he said defensively. Kestra rolled her eyes now and huffed in indignation.

"Don't you think that if I could read all your thoughts I would have used it to my advantage by now?" she asked, "listen, I could have lied and not told you anything about my telepathy, but I didn't. I trusted you, Lee. So now you're gonna have to trust me."

"Then just tell me why? Why could you hear that thought?" he asked again. Kestra ducked her head.

"I don't know." When Lee opened his mouth to reply angrily, Kestra continued. "But… I know of a few instances in which my mother was able to sense thoughts that she normally wouldn't be able to hear. One is with her mother, because she is a powerful telepath. You obviously don't fit that description." Lee nodded sternly, refusing to let her lighten the mood. "The only other instance I know of, and with someone with no telepathy, is with my father." Kestra finally looked at Lee, but he was still obviously confused. Kestra sighed when she realized he would need more explanation. "My people have a word, imzadi, that signifies a deep personal and spiritual connection between two people. A rough translation in English is 'beloved'. My mother had that bond with my father, and he was the only non-telepath she could consistently share thoughts with." Lee still stared at her in puzzlement as he considered the significance of her mother's relationship with her father. His eyes went wide when he realized the implications that had on Kestra's ability to hear his previous thought.

"You think that…" he trailed off.

"Like I said, it could also be because you were being very open and emotional at the time, or because I've been imprisoned with only thoughts and feelings to focus on. It's just never happened before," she said nervously. Lee nodded slowly.

"Ok, well, I guess I'm gonna leave now so you can… figure it out," he said before quickly slipping out of the cell. Kestra was left alone to contemplate the implications of her telepathic experience with Lee.