Z-minus 0: Part Two

When Sharon opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the silence. Not in the room around her – the Life Station was bustling with activity – but in her head. For the first time in months, her mind was quiet. There wasn't anyone else competing for control over it. She was alone.

"Do you know where you are?" a voice asked, and she looked to see that Major Cottle was standing by her, checking the machines she was hooked up to. It was also at this point that she realized she was shackled to the bed.

"Yes…It's actually me, Sir." He studied her for a moment, seemingly accepting that.

"Has it gotten easier to gain control?"

"No – I mean…I didn't have to fight for it. I just…woke up. I can't feel it in my head anymore." That threw the doctor for a loop.

"You're certain?"

"Yeah…do you think it's gone dormant again?"

"That's one possibility."

Sharon sighed. "Wouldn't that be a laugh?" she sarcastically asked. "Even a diffused bomb still has to be dismantled."

"I want to do one more test," Cottle told her.

"For what?"

"The Cylon scan."

Sharon frowned. "Why?"

"I did a few neural scans when we first brought you in. I have a hypothesis that I'd like to test."


Sharon had a lonely and boring wait for the test to be completed. She didn't know where Tyrol or their baby were, and since no one came to check on her, there was no one to ask. When Cottle finally returned, her heart sank when she saw that Commander Adama was with him.

"I understand what you have to do, Sir, but…could I be allowed to see my family first?"

"They should be here soon," Adama replied. To her great shock, Cottle began to remove the restraints on her wrists.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought you might be more comfortable without these, Lieutenant."

"I haven't been called by my rank in eight months."

"Hopefully it won't be that long before you're back in uniform," Adama told her.

"I don't think I understand, Sir." He smiled.

"We're still putting the pieces together as well."

"Your scan was negative, Sharon," Cottle explained.

"It's been negative before when it shouldn't have been."

"Yes, but that was operator error, rather than a malfunction with the test. I ran the scan twice; there's no doubt you are human."

"How is that possible?"

"My best guess would be that you were born that way. Born, not made. From the scans that I have, it's most likely that whatever it is the Cylons did to you was done at a very early age, probably no older than two."

"No, that's not possible I – " And then it hit her. "I can't remember when I was little."

"Most of your memories prior to your time within the fleet never actually happened."

"But I could remember things before. Why can't I now?"

"The reason why your scans are coming up negative now is that you seem to have managed to 'upload' the Cylon information in your head without dying in the process. I'm still not sure myself how you managed it. But anything that was part of that Cylon program is now gone."

"There's no way to reconstruct it?"

"The human mind is a complicated thing, Lieutenant. You should be grateful yours hasn't been scrambled."

"I am, I just…I want to know why they did this to me. What purpose did I serve?"

"We already know that they have multiple copies of the same biocylon model," Adama said. "Perhaps you were a template."

"That's a very scary thought, Sir…Commander, I know there's no making up for it, but I wanted to apologize for the things I've done – "

Adama waved a hand, silencing her. "We all have pasts," he told her. "They are what they are. We can't be faulted for things that were not of our own choosing. Get some rest, Lieutenant. Your family's going to need your back in top shape."

"Yes, Sir."


She should have gotten a nap while she had the chance, but her mind was too busy. The world had gone into a tailspin on her again. Cottle was definitely concerned with how dehydrated, malnourished, and underweight she was, so he wasn't letting her out of the Life Station until he was satisfied with her test results, but the fact that she was going to be released was something she found utterly amazing.

"Feel up to some company?" she heard a voice ask, and turned to see one of the nurses. "Your husband and children are here."

"Yeah, absolutely." Tyrol was holding the baby, whom she assumed was still nameless, and quickly came to give her a kiss.

"I've been waiting a long time for that," he told her.

"I never thought it would happen." Sharon then noticed that Boxey was still standing off to the side by himself, staring at her. "Can I get a hug out of you?" she asked him. "My Lords, you've grown up so much."

He carefully approached her. "Galen said you're just you again."

"Yeah."

"Does that mean you can come home?"

"Once the doctors are done with me, yeah." That didn't seem to help his concern any. Sharon knew how different she must have looked from the last time he'd seen her.

"She's been through a lot, kiddo," Tyrol reminded him. "But she's going to be okay. Promise." He finally accepted that and gave her a hug.

"I missed you," Boxey whispered in Sharon's ear.

"I missed you more."

"While you're doling out hugs…" Tyrol said, and handed his daughter to his wife.

"She's so small," was the first thing Sharon noticed.

"The Doc said she was doing okay, though."

"Have you named her?"

Tyrol smiled. "I've been a bit preoccupied. Trying to keep from getting shot, making sure you were still alive – little things." Sharon looked away.

"Gay, I – "

"Don't. It's all over. You already apologized, and it wasn't really your fault. I'm just glad that you were able to stop yourself in time."

"So am I. The Doc thinks that's how I forced the Cylon to upload – trying to hurt you two was the last straw." He laughed.

"Well, that's good to know."

"In any case she still needs a name. You have any ideas?" she asked Boxey. He shrugged.

"Something happy. I mean, she's why we're back together now, right?"

"He has a point," Tyrol agreed. "We've got another chance at a future."

"Hope," Sharon suggested. The guys smiled.

"I like that," Boxey said. "How about you?" he asked his sister. "You want that to be your name?"

"Is she talking back?" Tyrol teased him. The boy smiled.

"Yeah, she said that it's fine."

Major Cottle happened to catch a glimpse of the scene from across the room, and shook his head with a smile. If anyone had told him the previous day that this was going to happen, he would have had them committed, but life had a way of surprising them, and he'd take a good surprise any day.


Going into premature labor had not been an experience Kara wanted to repeat. Apparently, the Lords hadn't been listening to her, though, because the same thing had happened only a month after the first time. She'd been good about her medications and trying to avoid stress, and had finally made it to the 36 week mark…and the 37, and the 38, 39, and 40. Now, week 41 was looming on the horizon, and she had decided that she wasn't a fan of the universe's sense of humor.

"Do you want the good news first or the bad news?" Cottle asked her when she came in for an examination.

"Good," Kara replied.

"Your little guy's healthy."

"That's it?"

"I'm afraid so. And even that's part of the bad news. He is healthy, but the fact that you haven't delivered and he's still growing means that he more than likely weighs nearly nine pounds right now. Believe me when I say that the prospect of you remaining pregnant doesn't excite me any more than it excites you." Kara snorted. "Furthermore, your blood pressure has dropped low enough that I'm getting concerned for your health. It wouldn't be advisable to keep waiting for this to happen the natural way."

Kara sighed. "So more needles and more medications. I think I'm actually getting used to them."

"Well, we can't have that. I'd like to start inducing your labor now. If your blood pressure is still a problem after the delivery, we'll have a lot more options for medicating you than we do now."

"Fine."

"Would you like me to put a call out for Captain Adama to join you?" Kara shook her head.

"He's on patrol. And they're too short-handed enough to pull him off it without a dire emergency. I'll be okay for a few hours."

"Are you sure?"

"No," Kara replied with a smile, "But I don't have a lot of choice in the matter."


When Lee got back from his patrol, he expected to find Kara resting, as she'd been for the past few days, in their quarters. Discovering that the room was empty was a bit of a surprise. He knew that she'd had an appointment with Major Cottle, but if she was still there, that could only mean that something was wrong.

"Can I help you?" one of the nurses asked as she saw him come into the Life Station. She then realized who she was talking to. "Oh, Captain Adama. Your wife has been waiting for you."

"Is she all right?"

"She's fine," Cottle told him as he approached as well. "This way." He led Lee back to where Kara was lying on a bed. The IV attached to her arm and other assorted monitors on her did nothing to lower his anxiety.

"Relax, Lee," Kara told him.

"What's going on?"

"Apparently the little guy isn't so little anymore, so the doc wants him born ASAP and who am I to argue with that?"

"They're giving you medications to start your labor?"

"Yeah. I'm seriously beginning to feel like a pin cushion."

"Why didn't you have anyone tell me?"

"What good would it have done?"

"I would have known what was going on!"

"Yeah, and you would have been stuck out on CAP freaking out while I'm sitting here wondering whether or not your freaking out is going to get you killed. This way was easier for both of us."

Lee sighed. She had a point, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "How are you doing?"

"Really looking forward to this being over with."

He sat next to her, smiling. "I hear that."


It took another twenty hours, though, before it was over. Zakary William Adama weighed in at eight pounds, ten ounces, which didn't surprise his mother at all. Kara's blood pressure was still acting crazy, and so between the exhaustion that the past day had brought and the medications they were giving her, she was out cold pretty quickly.

Lee took Zak from his mother once she'd fallen asleep for the second time after Adama had stopped by for a visit. There was one chair set up in the corner of the room, and he sat in it, cradling his surprisingly wide-awake son. "Hey, big guy," he whispered to the baby. "Happy Birthday. Things were kinda crazy before; I don't know if we ever got properly introduced. I'm your dad. You know: the guy your mom kept cursing at whenever you decided that it was playtime in the middle of the night. She takes sleep very seriously, so I already know we're going to have a fun time with 0300 feedings. Your mom's one of the most amazing people I know, though. We're lucky to have her; you and me both. You'll learn courage from her, and determination. And she'll probably teach you how to play pyramid before you learn to read.

"Hmm, what else do you need to know…You already met your grandfather. He's going to spoil you rotten; I can see that coming already. You'll pick up a lot of things from him, too. I did. He's why I'm a pilot, and who knows? Maybe you'll be one too. But I promise you don't have to be, okay?" Zak yawned in response. "All right, that's settled. One last piece of business, because I think your mom had the right idea – a nap sounds awfully good. Galactica's a good ship, but she's a Battlestar. And your mom and I are pilots, so that means…it means we can't promise that we'll always be here. But we'll do our best, and no matter what, we'll always love you."

The baby's blue eyes had closed, and weren't reopening. Lee put him down in the little basinet that was by Kara's bed, and then retook his spot beside her. Sleep came easy; they'd had a long few days.


They both slept the rest of the afternoon and all night, only waking up when Zak needed to be fed. By the next afternoon, though, Lee could no longer ignore the work that was waiting for him up in his office, so he left his wife and son alone for a few hours in the Life Station. Not that Kara minded. She still didn't handle hovering well.

"You up for some visitors?" At the sound of Sharon's voice, Kara looked away from Zak, who was sleeping in her arms. Her friend was in the opening of the curtain that surrounded Kara's bed, holding Hope and with Boxey at her side. The boy gave Kara a wave.

"Yeah, sure," she replied with a grin. "How are you doing?"

"It's been a hell of a week," Sharon truthfully said.

"Yeah, I hear that."

"How about you?"

"Still sore. At least they've gotten my blood pressure back to normal; supposedly I'm getting out of here tonight." Sharon smiled.

"Then the real fun begins."

"Yeah. So is something going on with Hope, or did you just come down to visit?"

"Just came to visit. Boxey thought she and Zak should be properly introduced." Kara smiled as she noticed her son's eyes opening.

"Well, you're in luck," she said, "Because bright eyes over here just decided to wake up." She was sitting cross-legged at the head of her bed, and carefully laid Zak down in front of her. Sharon put Hope next to him and playfully made the newborn wave.

"You guys have got a built-in best friend," she told the babies. "You probably don't know how lucky you are." Kara offered her own friend a smile as Boxey started playing with Zak and Hope.

"I…wanted to apologize," she told her.

"For what?"

"Some of the stuff I said…was pretty harsh."

"And the stuff I said wasn't?"

"But it wasn't really you."

"From your point of view, I don't really see how that matters. I probably would have done the same thing, if I was in your position. Honestly, don't feel bad about anything. According to Galen, I'm being hard enough on myself to cover about ten people."

"How are things with you two?"

"It's like we're doing an Aerean hot coal walk," Sharon admitted. "He's being so careful around me, and I'm being so careful around him. We've lost so much time already; neither of us wants to screw anything else up."

"I can understand that."

"I mean, don't get me wrong – I'm so happy to have Hope and to be back with Boxey and Galen, I just…we have so much to work out, I don't even know how we're going to do it. I don't even know who I am, Kara; I think that's the scariest thing."

"What do you mean?"

"All of my memories were fabrications. I have no idea where I'm from. I don't even know what my real name was, or who my parents were, or what they were like. And now, I'm never going to know. That's the worst part. Every link to my real identity died on the Colonies."

"I know who you are," Kara told her. "You're a Lieutenant in the Colonial military. You're a Raptor pilot, and a damn good one at that. You're CPO Galen Tyrol's wife, and you're Hope and Boxman Tyrol's mother. Out here, now, does anything other than that really matter?"

Boxey had heard his name mentioned often enough to be paying attention to them. Sharon gave him a smile, ruffling his shaggy hair. "No," she told Kara. "Nothing."


TBC...

I'm still working on the next few chapters; hopefully my muse will allow me to get something done soon. The next several chapters will be more focussed on Kara/Lee than the previous few. I just felt like if I was going to do a future fic, I needed to come up with some sort of explaination for what happens to Sharon. Please let me know what you think so far.