Without Lee, Kestra was left to her own devices. She had taken to working out on the hard concrete floor, since she rarely moved from her cot most days. She would also sing songs from her father's collection of old Earth music. It had been over a week since Lee's last visit, and she was beginning to fear something was wrong on the ship. The guards had seemed more tense the last couple of days. She tried reading more of the crew's emotions, but it had never been her strong suit. Tensions were running high on the ship, but it was hard to get anything specific from anyone. Her musings were interrupted by a gruff looking officer flanked by two guards. He ordered the door open and stoically watched her as he entered. Kestra didn't know why but she was immediately terrified of this man. His gaze and demeanor instilled a fear in her she had rarely felt. She backed toward the corner of the cell. She saw the guards behind him look fearful for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by confusion and maybe anger. She tried to take deep breaths and calm her terror, but the man's continued silence only struck more fear in her. He laid a picture on her cot. She looked at it warily. It was a fuzzy image of what looked like some sort of ship.

"What is the function of this ship?" he asked, "Why is it so important?" She shook her head in confusion. The Admiral and the President already knew she wasn't a cylon. Why would they ask her questions about ships in their galaxy?

"I don't know. I've never seen it," she replied.

"Really?" he asked calmly. He stepped toward her and she slipped around to the other side of the cot. He nodded at the guards who stood at the end of the bed making it impossible for her to continue backing away. The man in charge only continued calmly walking around the bed. He slid the picture so that it faced her again. "How about now?" he asked. Before she could respond he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the cot. Her forehead made contact with the metal bar on the side of the bed. Her arms shot up to free her hair, but the man wrenched her hair back bringing her to her knees. In her panic she did the only thing she could think of.

Lee! Help me, please!

There was no response, and the man was now thrusting her head forward again to look at the picture.

"Do you recognize it now?" he asked harshly. She shook her head, and he threw it backwards so she slid across the floor into the wall.

Lee, please. LEE!

She begged for Lee, but he did not come. The man began kicking her. He kicked her stomach, her chest, her head. She curled up in a ball as she continued to beg for Lee. The man picked her up and threw her at the cot. She thrust her arms out and barely caught herself as she fell beside the frame. She scrambled under the cot and rolled to the other side. The man smirked at her from across the bed. The guard grabbed her from behind, but she immediately fell to the ground. Their grip slipped just enough for her to crawl behind them and run to the other side of the cell. The man's smile disappeared as he nodded to the guards again. Lee wasn't coming. She was cornered in the cell with the guards closing in on her. She called and called to him, but Lee wasn't coming. He would have been here by now. Did he know about this? The guards grabbed her arms, and she thrashed in their grasp as they pulled her back to the bed. They held her down to the bed as the other man came to stand over her. Her eyes went wide.

LEE!

He unbuckled his belt. Kestra panicked.

Commander! Commander, please. The brig. Help me!

Kestra twisted and turned in the guards' grasp as the man's pants came down. She knew she couldn't count on Lee's father to hear her or even care enough to save her, but she was out of options. He was the only other person on the ship besides Starbuck that she knew enough to ask for. Kestra could only continue to resist and hope that the Commander was at least curious enough to come see what was happening. She threw her weight back and flipped over the other side of the bed. She landed on her head and was dazed. Her eyes finally focused on the man standing above her. His pants had been pulled back up roughly and his eyes were livid. He stomped on her face, and blood gushed from her broken nose. Then he yanked her up by the hair again. She screamed in pain as her legs scrambled to support her body. Before she could manage that he threw her back on the bed and slashed her across the back with his belt. He quickly moved so he was standing right over her and leaned down so she could feel his breath on her neck. He grabbed the back of her jumpsuit and ripped it away, his nails taking some of her skin with them. A rush of cool air flew across her back as the clothes were torn away. She jerked away as his hands touched her bare back. The belt came down hard again on her back, but this time there was no fabric to protect her from its sting. The man reached for his pants again when the door to the brig creaked open. Commander Adama stood on the other side of the bars. His eyes scanned the scene before him until they came to rest on the man with his hands on his waist band.

"Lieutenant," he barked harshly. The man straightened up and turned to face him.

"Yes, Commander?"

"You were given permission to interrogate our cylon prisoner," he said.

"Yes, Commander," the Lieutenant replied fimly, "those are my orders."

"Then what are you doing here?" the Commander asked harshly. The Lieutenant's brow furrowed for a moment, and Commander Adama continued. "She's not a cylon, Thorne." The briefest condescending smile crossed Thorne's face before he sobered and addressed his superior officer.

"You don't know what she is, which makes her dangerous," he said calmly, "she is a cylon until we can prove that she's not." Adama's eyes narrowed.

"Leave," he said. Thorne's eyes widened for a moment as he turned to glance back at Kestra. "That's an order, Lieutenant," Adama barked. Thorne glared at Adama but obeyed and motioned for the marines to follow him. Once the door closed behind them, Adama focused his attention on Kestra. She had scrambled to the back corner of the cell and curled up in the fetal position against the wall. Adama entered the cell and glared at her. As he approached, she tried to back up more, but instead fell forward and vomited.

"What are you?" he asked harshly, ignoring her reaction. Kestra recovered and pressed herself as far back into the wall as she could without aggravating the wounds on her back more.

Adama took a step closer, but he was flooded with terror. His eyes widened for a moment, then he realized it wasn't his terror. It was hers. He looked down at the girl in front of him. Blood was still flowing from her nose and covered the front of her clothes. Her eye had been blackened and her scalp was bleeding at the hairline. The back of her clothes had been ripped and hung limply behind her. He couldn't see her back but assumed Thorne had not left it untouched. There were bruises up her arms and he could see marks on the floor where her nails had dug in for an escape. He looked last at her eyes. They held him unflinchingly, but they were filled with terror. He realized she expected him to do the same things Thorne had done. He took a step back. She didn't move. He then walked out of the cell and locked himself out. He held up the keys and threw them toward the door so she could see. Then, he crouched down and tried to meet her eyes.

"What are you?" he asked again. This time his tone held more curiosity than accusation. Kestra remained motionless and silent in the corner. Bill was stuck. He needed to know what he had heard, but he couldn't show weakness in front of an enemy. He stood and watched her, but it did him little good. She betrayed nothing he hadn't already seen. She was broken and scared. Perhaps she was a more powerful being of some sort, but right now all he saw was a scared little girl. He needed her trust back before he could get anything from her. Not that he had ever really had her trust. Lee had her trust, but he was off on the Pegasus. Bill looked at the girl before him. He knew she wasn't a cylon. He could count on that certainty. He couldn't trust the cylons, but perhaps he could trust her just enough to get some trust back. "I heard a voice," he said evenly, "was it you?" There was silence for a moment. Then, she looked up. Kestra examined the bars between herself and the Commander and slowly scooted across the floor until she made her way to the cot. She faltered as she pulled herself up on the frame, but eventually she made it on the bed. She wrapped a blanket over her exposed body and sat in a ball. Adama's gaze softened. "You're hurt," he said, "I can bring the Doc here." He stepped away to the phone on the wall and punched something in. "This is the Commander. Get me Doc Cottle to the brig," he ordered. He stepped back to the bars and found that Kestra's eyes hadn't left him. "The Doc's on his way."

"Where's Lee?" she finally asked softly. Bills brows furrowed. She obviously trusted Lee a great deal, but he didn't know why.

"He's not on the ship. He's been reassigned," Bill answered. Kestra's eyes widened and tears pooled in them quickly. Bill was shocked at the girl's reaction to Lee's absence. He watched Kestra cry with curiosity. They were interrupted by the comms going off. Adama picked up the communicator.

"Commander," Saul Tigh's voice came over the line, "you've got a direct call from Pegasus. It's Lee."

"Patch it through," the Commander ordered. He listened as the line went fuzzy, and then he heard his son's voice.

"Commander?" Lee asked in a panic.

"What is it, Son?" Adama asked, worried that Cain had done something.

"Kestra, I, I mean, the prisoner, is she okay? Did something happen to the alien prisoner? You need to check on her," Lee insisted. Bill's eyes darted across the room to the girl who was still staring at him from on the bed. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. How had Lee known that the girl was in trouble? Had he heard the same voice in his head? Had Lee heard the voice before? All these questions raced through the Commander's head as he stared at the alien in his brig. He was interrupted simultaneously by Lee's voice and the entrance of Doc Cottle. "Dad? What happened?" Lee asked frantically. The Commander snapped out of it and motioned for the doctor to go into the cell. Doc Cottle's eyes landed on the girl and returned immediately to the Commander. They held accusations. Adama waved him off as he returned his focus to his son.

"She's fine, Son. Doc Cottle is with her now," Bill informed him. He turned to watch Cottle enter the cell. Kestra leapt back toward the edge of the cell, obviously causing herself more pain. Cottle spoke softly as he tried to approach her.

"What happened?" Lee insisted, regaining his father's attention.

"She was interrogated by one of Cain's officers," Bill replied, "they knocked her around a bit, but it looks like she's gonna be okay." Lee let out a shaky breath over the other end of the receiver.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Bill thought about it as he watched Cottle was able to pass some gauze across the cell so she could stop her bleeding nose.

"The doc is still looking at her. If there's anything wrong when he's done, I'll let you know," Bill promised. They were both silent for a moment, and Bill finally worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been nagging at him.

"Son, how did you know she was in trouble?" Bill asked. Lee was silent on the other end. "Son?

"I just knew, Dad," Lee answered, avoiding the question. Bill tried another tactic.

"What is she?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lee answered more quickly this time. Bill realized he would get nowhere with Lee. His son didn't trust him when it came to this prisoner, not after he'd tried to send her out the airlock. And Bill refused to tell his son that he was hearing voices.

"I've got to go now, Son. Adama out," Bill said. He heard Lee's muffled protests as he put the receiver back on the wall. Bill strode back over to the cell. When Kestra saw him reenter, she scrambled back. Bill backed away slowly and closed the cell door. "Anything yet Doc?" he asked from outside the cell.

"It's barbaric," Cottle grumbled angrily, "they beat the poor girl. It's no wonder she doesn't trust any of us." Bill raised an eyebrow.

"She trusts Lee," he said. Kestra raised her head and looked up at him. Cottle followed her gaze back to the Commander with curiosity. "That was him on the comm," Bill said, "He asked about you." She almost smiled at that. He was finally getting somewhere. "How did he know you were hurt?" he asked. She shrunk back at that question. Bill kicked himself in his head. He had pushed too far. He needed to know about the voice in his head, but she was too frightened and mistrusting for him to get that yet. He tried a different tactic. "Would you like to talk to him?" She was interested again. She looked at him skeptically for a while. When he made no further offer, she nodded slowly. Bill nodded back and returned to the comm.

"Saul, get me Lee back on the comm," he ordered. He waited until he heard his son's voice again.

"Dad?" Lee asked cautiously.

"She wanted to speak with you," Bill informed him. He held out the comm to Kestra. She stood up with trepidation and made her way around the cell as far from Cottle as she could. She took one step out of the cell and stopped facing Adama. He understood that she wouldn't take the comm out of his hand so he set it down and moved slowly to the other side of the room. The door was closed, so if she tried to make a run for it he was confident he could stop her in time. She moved across the room without ever taking her eyes off Adama. She bent down slowly and winced as she picked up the comm. She stumbled, and rather than try to stay standing, she let herself collapse onto the floor. However, she kept the receiver firmly grasped in her hand.

"Lee?" she asked softly, "yeah." Adama listened to her side of their conversation intently, hoping he could find some clue as to what was going on here. "Um, it's not bad. I promise." Bill might have laughed at the blatant lie if she had been anyone else. He glanced at Cottle who was shaking his head in irritation. "No, I, uh…fine. I will." Lee was clearly doing most of the talking in this conversation. She was silent for a moment, probably listening to Lee, but then her eyes snapped up to meet Adama's. "Come back," she begged. He knew she was asking both of them. He would have liked the same thing: for Lee to come back to Galactica. Sadly, there was nothing either of them could do about it. Clearly, Lee was telling her the same thing, because her face fell. "Okay," she said in resignation. "Okay." She put the receiver back on the wall and stared at the Commander with watery eyes. Adama felt a rush of pity for the girl. She was alone, imprisoned, attacked, and the one person she could trust was unreachable. It was no wonder she was terrified. She shuffled back into the cell and stopped just short of Doc Cottle. "Lee… wanted me to let you examine me," she said shakily to him.

"I think that's some very good advice," Cottle said kindly. He turned to the Commander. "I can treat her better in sickbay," he informed him. Adama nodded. Kestra shook her head. Cottle reached out a gentle hand to touch her shoulder. She flinched but did not pull away. "It'll be alright. The Commander and I will protect you the whole way," he promised. He looked to Adama for confirmation and received it. Kestra moved slowly toward the door. Bill opened it once she and Cottle had reached him. As soon as the door opened revealing all the soldiers walking by, Kestra latched onto Cottle's arm. The doctor flinched at the sudden movement, but softened when he realized what she was doing. He laid a gentle hand over hers as it clung to his arm and led her out into the hall. Bill stood on her other side keeping an eye out for any of the Pegasus officers. The three of them received questioning looks from many of the personnel walking by. It seemed that Kestra's grip on Cottle's arm not only provided her protection from the people around them but also kept her upright as they made their way down the corridor. Bill kept a rigid demeanor to try to ward off any questions or comments from the people passing. One of the good things about being the commander was that he didn't have to explain anything to his subordinates. They made it to sickbay with no incidents. Adama would have left Kestra in the doctor's care by now if he wasn't so determined to get an answer from her. Doc Cottle was incredibly helpful in calming Kestra down and regaining some of the trust they had lost during her attack. He was very gentle as he examined her injuries and spoke to her through the whole exam to ease her fears.

"Let's clean some of this up first. Then I'll set that nose for you," Cottle said as he gently wiped the blood off her face, "we'll have to find you something to wear." He nodded to a nurse who went off to find Kestra something to wear. Kestra pulled her arms tighter over her chest at the mention of her torn clothes. Adama noticed her wince as she did this. "I'm going to set your nose, and it's going to hurt," Cottle said apologetically to her.

"I know," Kestra replied softly. Cottle quickly set her nose back in place and put a bandage over it. Adama was surprised by how silent Kestra was even as her nose was broken back into place.

"Can you tell me what they did to you?" Cottle asked gently. Kestra nodded slowly, though any cooperation at all was a surprise to both Adama and Cottle.

"Um, he kicked me, um, my ribs," she said, "and my head." Cottle nodded.

"I'll want to check for a concussion, but if you'll let me I can assess the ribs right now," the doctor said and waited for her permission. Kestra uncrossed her arms and nodded. Adama wasn't surprised when Cottle found three broken ribs. His view was blocked by a curtain the doctor pulled across while he wrapped her ribs. The nurse also came back with clothes for her. It was a while before the curtain was removed, but when it was Kestra was clothed in an extra set of the pilots off duty clothes. Doc Cottle continued his examination as he checked her eyes.

"Well, I'm confident that you do have a concussion, not that I'm surprised," he grumbled, "thank you for letting me examine you. These injuries could have been a lot more dangerous if you hadn't."

"I didn't have much of a choice," she said softly. Cottle looked sadly at her, then at the Commander.

"Well, I appreciate it all the same," he said, "it's the least I could do after what those barbarians did." Kestra smiled a little.

"You remind me of someone," she said. Cottle raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Who's that?"

"A friend of my mother's. He acts tough too, but deep down I know he cares." Cottle shrugged.

"I wouldn't be a good doctor if I didn't care," he replied, returning to his gruff demeanor.

"You didn't have to care about me," she said. Cottle ducked his head and shook it lightly.

"Somebody had to," he said gruffly. Kestra smiled. It was the first truly genuine smile Bill had ever seen from her.

"You're very kind. Thank you, Doctor," she said. The moment was interrupted when the CO burst into the room. Kestra jumped and hid behind Cottle's shoulder. Bill turned to face Tigh as he spoke.

"Commander, we've got a problem. Cain's men were interrogating the cylon and Helo and the Chief barged in. They killed Lieutenant Thorne," Saul said briskly.

"What?" Bill barked angrily, "where are they now?"

"That's just it. Cain's officers took them back to the Pegasus for a court martial. She'll kill 'em, Bill," Tigh said.

"Frak," Bill cursed under his breath. He glanced at Cottle and Kestra. His answers would have to wait. "Keep her here," he ordered Cottle as he left the room.