This will be a series of stand-alone stories which deal with the choices that the characters on Battlestar Galactica have made throughout the mini-series and first season (I'll be posted in as much of the order of the season as I can). I want to explore what would have happened/changed if things had gone differently. Some of the stories will be angst, some will be shippy, some will be funny. There will be different pairings throughout. Don't feel like you have to check out each one to understand the others. All I ask is that if it intrigues you, then give it a try. Hope you enjoy reading the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

There are pivotal moments in one's life where if you take the wrong path everything may change. Those changes may be for the good or for the bad. The possibilties are endless.

"Hello, Gaius."

Baltar opened his eyes a tiny bit to look at the blonde woman standing on the other side of the cell bars. She was really there. He wasn't just imagining it. "Why are you here?"

"It's a little past dinnertime. Don't I come to see you every day at this time? Like clockwork, no?"

He shrugged slightly. "What do you want?"

"Come on. I'm just here to have a little fun with you."

Her smile grated on his nerves. "Isn't it enough that you're the reason I'm in here? Because of you everyone knows!"

"Knows what?" she said, feigning innocence. When he glared at her, she let out a light laugh. "Knows you're crazy?"

"I'm not crazy."

"No, you're just the one that chose to talk to an imaginary person in plain sight of everyone because you're completely sane, and I'm just the one who forced you to act that way because I'm a manipulative bitch. At least that's what the guards say you call me after I've left you alone to suffer." Again her smile made him want to scream. "I hate to tell you this, dear Dr. Baltar, but I was just along for the ride. You did this to yourself."

"Along for the ride?" He opened his eyes the rest of the way and sat up on the bed. "You were just along for the ride. Oh, that is rich!"

"I don't know why I keep coming here to talk with you."

"What we do is talking?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What would you call it?"

"Torture. Slow, agonizing torture. Torture I can't get away, no matter how hard I try."

"I think you love the pain," she said simply, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I think you get off on it, Gaius."

"You're one to talk. You like the pain as much as I do."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I have somewhere more important to be."

"Cylon business?" he asked. "Any new developments?"

"None you're privy to. But it's not like I would tell you. I mean, we were never really close, were we, Gaius? Not that close. Anyway, my business has nothing to do with the Cylons. It's of a more personal nature." She shrugged and shook her head. "Wow. Looks like I'm feeling generous with the information today. Interesting."

"Fine, I believe you. You still have pressing business even if it has nothing to do with the favorite artificially manufactured race of the moment. Have someone else you're dying to haunt? Maybe you should move on to Captain Apollo. He seems like the type who would go for someone like you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "A lot more than you would?"

"Oh, I doubt that, but maybe he'd be up for it. Besides, you know for a fact that I would go for you right now. Some might call me insatiable. Speaking of, why don't you open this cell and give it a try?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel special? Because the compliment is slightly deluded by the fact that you would go for anything that breathes."

He gave her one of his sickeningly crazy smiles. "Pot, black. Kettle, black."

She sneered at him before leaning in close to the bar. "Listen to me, Gaius. I'm only going to say this once. Back when the world existed, I considered you a rather nice catch. Now that the world is over, I've realized the error of my ways."

He raised his eyebrows at her in a motion to tell her to continue. Her words demanded more explanation in his mind, and, like always, she had made him curious.

"You're not that special." Her eyes lit up with amusement. "On the other hand, Lee Adama is worth twice as much as you on his worst day." She winked at him. "So maybe I will go haunt him now. Thanks for the suggestion."

Gaius waited for her to disappear out of the door to the brig before groaning and lying back down. That woman was going to be the death of him. Funny he would have thought it would be another blonde.

"Hello, Gaius."

He shivered at the sudden voice in his ear. Now this was the blonde he had been yearning for. "I was wondering when you were going to get here."

"I'm always here. I have never left you," Six said, spreading herself out on the bed next to him.

Again, like clockwork, she came to see him at dinnertime the next day. "How did your date go with Captain Apollo, Lieutenant?"

"Surprisingly well. It was a good thing you suggested it to me."

"Well, I'm behind bars. I couldn't let you go without being…" He looked her up and down. "…serviced for such a long period of time."

"You act as if you know firsthand what it takes."

"You act as if I wouldn't have eventually found out if circumstances were different."

"If you were sane?"

"I hate how you keep implying that I'm insane, Kara," he said, smiling at her.

"Do not use that name," she barked, unconsciously tightening her hands into fists.

"Touchy much? I'm used to your screaming at me about many things, resulting in much taunting and verbal abuse, but I never thought your first name would get you so riled up. Fascinating."

Choosing to ignore him, she decided to kill her own curiosity instead. "Can I ask you a question, Doctor?"

"Anything you want. The only thing I'll expect in return for my cooperative answer is maybe an answer to a question of my own."

"This is not a negotiation."

"And I do not give up information easily."

"Obviously not. Otherwise I wouldn't be having to come here every damn day to insult you."

"If I answer your question, will you stop insulting me at least for today?"

She nodded and began to pace, thinking of how she was going to phrase this. When it occurred to her that there was no other way than to let her temper take hold, she turned back to face Baltar and frowned. "Here's what I don't understand. Why did you give in and talk to this imaginary Cylon you say exists? You knew it would make you look crazy. You're supposedly one of the smartest minds of our time, and you just let it slip that you're going slowly insane. And you couldn't even admit it in private to a commanding officer. I mean, for frak's sake! We were in the middle of the mess hall!"

"She was telling me something particularly interesting," he said with a shrug. "Usually I can contain my outbursts or at least smooth them over so it doesn't look that weird."

"Not really. You were always acting strange. Everyone just used to think it was the normal eccentric genius thing. That was the theory at least before you went with the Cylon in your head option."

"She is there," he said sitting up and making a move to stand before deciding against it.

She narrowed her eyes at him, studying him in silence for a moment before speaking. "Are you scared of me?"

"Terrified, actually. I'm probably the only man to beat you at Triad. I figured there's a death warrant out there somewhere for my head."

"Cute joke. Much appreciated, you keeping our conversation light and all, but that was not what I was referring to."

"And what were you referring to, Lieutenant Thrace?" He put extra emphasis on the last few words to point out that he hadn't used her first name. He actually was slightly afraid of her, truth be told. He wasn't sure if he wanted to cross her right now.

"Every single night for the past week, you've kept yourself stuck to that bed as if moving would end your life. You don't even try to engage me in any way. You practically beg me to leave you alone."

"You expect me to fling myself at you even though there are bars between us?"

"I just thought that maybe you would follow the general rules of politeness and look me in the eye when I'm talking with you."

"If you had given me any sort of respect, I might have. But you haven't." He sighed and lay back down. "So there's your answer."

She took a seat down on the floor in front of the bars and pulled her legs up to her chin. "You know, you could have been Vice President with the way you give run-around answers."

"Me as Vice-President instead of that fool Zarek? That would have been nice."

She let out a loud laugh. "Delusions of grandeur. That fits, I guess. I was just joking about that VP thing, Dr. Baltar. Who the frak would vote for an insane scientist? Even a convicted criminal sounds like a better option."

"Again, I am not insane."

"That's right. You tried to tell me when I was shoving your face into the metal floor because you struggled when I needed to cuff you."

"We were in the middle of a mess hall full of people, Lieutenant Thrace."

"And then you tried to tell me when I dragged your sorry ass all the way across Galactica to the brig."

"You kept pushing me into things. It hurt quite a bit."

"And then you tried once more when the Commander asked you whether you were a toaster." She did her best impression of him. "That blonde woman inside my head actually exists. She's there. I swear I'm not making this up to get my guilty ass out of hack." She gave him a wicked smile.

"You are cruel."

"Come on! Your explanation is ridiculous. This knock-out supermodel of a toaster who is in love with you even though she is a machine and has no feelings is out there somewhere causing havoc while she's also in your head causing more havoc? Sounds like a frakin' talk radio piece."

"I don't lie."

"And I don't listen to bullshit." Sighing, she stood up. "Which just about concludes our little session today. Sleep well, Gaius. Hope your bombshell visits you tonight. Something tells me it must be awful lonely in that cell."

Standing up, she walked over to the one wall of the cell and banged on it loudly. "Consider this my little present to you on your one week anniversary with the brig."

A low level hum rang through the ear, and Gaius suddenly felt a deep pain in his head. It spread out from his temples, down the bridge of his noise, into his teeth, down through his spine and back up to the head, finally resting at the top of his neck. He felt a wetness underneath his nose, and lifted his hand up to his face to discover it had begun to bleed ever so slightly.

He could just barely make out the words Starbuck said before she left.

"Let's see your Cylon try to get to you through that racket."

Gaius's head pounded from the pressure created by the device Lieutenant Thrace had somehow cooked up during her free time out of the cockpit. He would never have guessed that the woman had a little bit of scientific genius wrapped up inside her somewhere. It had only been five days of having it turned on, and he was already about ready to tell whoever was listening anything they wanted to know.

As footsteps clicked down the hall, he heard the machine kick off.

"Must be dinnertime," he said, picking himself up off where he had previously been laying in a ball on the floor. He wiped the sweat off his face and grimaced as light poured in from the open door.

"Good evening, doctor," Starbuck said as she walked as far as she could and then sat down on the floor near the bars. "How's your head treating you?"

"Oh, just dandy, Lieutenant."

"Any sightings of your evil Cylon? I really want to meet that bitch someday."

"She says you will meet her someday," he growled, rubbing his temples. The only time the machine turned of was the precious few minutes that Lieutenant Thrace could deal with his brutal jabs and teasing. He hated having to prove himself to her every single day he was stuck in this hellhole they called an adequate prison cell, but in the long run, he would give anything to keep her there. As long as she kept goading him and insulting him, the machine stayed off. That was the only thing important right now.

"So, is there anything new you want to share with me today?"

"I have a couple questions for you," he said, ignoring hers.

She stared at him matter-of-factly. "I shot down over ten Cylon Raiders today so I'm in a good mood. That makes you a very lucky man."

"So, you'll answer?"

"I'll think about it."

"Good of an answer as any." Gaius walked over and stood right in front of where she was sitting. "First question is why don't you believe I'm telling you the truth. I am not insane. I only look that way because of what the Cylons have done to me. You give sympathy to all other victims of the Cylons. Why do you refuse me that same consideration?"

"You don't look like a man who the Cylons have fraked with. They are not merciful creations. If they needed you, they would not send a beautiful blonde woman to coax you into helping them by offering you her body. It makes no sense. They would just torture you to the point of death until you did what they wanted you to do."

"Maybe they have an alternate plan for me. One that doesn't involve imminent death. Did you ever think of that?"

She nodded and shrugged her shoulders slightly. "We thought about that option. I mean, why do you think you're in here? Personally, I don't think you're worth all the effort, but that doesn't matter. I have a job to do."

"Pumping me for information. I see."

"That's all the pumping you'll get from me," she said, giving him another evil grin.

"Why are you the one that is sent down here day after day? I don't see why the Commander would waste such talent on interrogating a crazy person."

"He thinks you're important, and I volunteered. There's not that many people to insult now that the world is over. You just happen to be my favorite target these days."

"If I'm so important to Commander Adama, why doesn't he send his beloved son down here? I have to admit that he's a mite bit more intimidating than you."

She stiffened. "Leave Captain Apollo out of this conversation."

Gaius smiled as he realized that he finally hit a nerve. It had been a long time coming, this negative reaction of hers, but boy was it sweet now that it was here. He pressed on. "Now why is the dear Captain always an off-limits subject when you and I are talking? That's what I really want to know."

Six suddenly appeared at his side and whispered information softly into his ear. He was proud of himself for not jumping and betraying her presence. Sometimes she came when the machine was turned off, and sometimes he found himself still alone when the buzzing stopped. His life was uncertainty these days. He kept his gaze locked on Starbuck as they had an informal stare-down.

Finally, the Lieutenant stood up, breaking the contact. "I'm tired of you. I think this is a record. You've made me want to leave in under five minutes."

He waited until she made it to the doorway before yelling, "What is it about Lee Adama that makes you love him?"

She stopped in her tracks but did not turn around. Obviously he was going to have to bait her a little more if he wanted a reaction. Fine. He could do that.

"Is it because he reminds you of his brother?" Her posture stiffened, and he could tell she was fighting an urge to turn back. She was also probably fighting an urge to wrench open the cell door and beat the frak out of him. "You thought I didn't know about your beloved Zak? I did. The whole ship does. They are constantly talking about the man who managed to melt such a frigid ice-bitch like you."

Gaius froze as he realized what he had said. He wasn't sure where the words were coming from. It seemed like he just opened his mouth, and they poured out. He didn't mean to be so harsh. He knew that harshness would not get the results he wanted. He also knew that this particular pilot did not deserve such harsh words considering what she had gone through in her relatively short life.

She turned to face him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Keep going," she urged him, tongue-in-cheek. "You have my attention now."

Yeah, she was definitely itching to kill him.

He watched Six work her way out of the cell and slink over to stand next to Starbuck. She was nodding at him slowly, urging him to continue with the job he needed to do. He found himself wondering why he was listening to her once again. She was the real reason he was here in the brig, wasn't she?

"The Fleet always jokes about how you spend so much time with your CAG because you're dying to know if he's like his brother in bed. Me personally? I just think you're dying to frak the new person on board. The fact that he's your dead lover's brother just makes it that much more of a challenge. And Starbuck loves a challenge, doesn't she?" When she didn't respond, just stood there glaring at him, he went on, "Captain Apollo is off limits to you. You think that I don't see the way you subtly throw yourself at him at every turn you make? He doesn't notice because he doesn't want you. He's the one person on board who knows you for the person that you really are. The murderer of his brother. And he doesn't want to know you anymore. He finally figured out that the rumors about you are true. You are a good for nothing piece of trash."

"Insulting me is not going to accomplish whatever you're trying to get at here, Gaius. I have been insulted my whole life."

"Appeal to her guilt, Gaius," Six suggested. "The girl is practically spilling over with it. Such a pity. She would be so strong if she didn't have these silly human emotions."

"Well, then, let's try another approach," he suggested to Starbuck without hinting towards the guidance given to him by the Cylon. "You wanted information from me? Fine. There is one Cylon model infiltrating your precious Fleet. He was put there the easiest way the Cylons could think of. They kidnapped him, studied him, tortured him, and finally killed him. All without anyone noticing a thing. There is only one copy of this model circulating the Fleet presently. He's too high profile for a massive replication."

"You're trying to tell me that Commander Adama is a Cylon?" She turned to leave again, obviously frustrated with what she thought was lies.

"No. Not that Adama. The other one. Your precious Lee."

"Lee is not a Cylon," she said, turning back to glare at him.

"That hit a nerve," Six said with a laugh. She reached out and touched Starbuck's jaw lightly with her hand. "Look at how tight she's clenching her teeth. This girl has it bad. Silly human."

Again, he did his best to pretend like Six wasn't a distraction. If he wanted to live, he had to keep Starbuck talking so that Six could tell him what the Cylons were planning. That machine had to stay off. "No, not originally. Like I said, the Cylons abducted the source of this new model. They studied him and eventually killed him when his usefulness ran out. Then they made one copy and sent him to this lovely little ship in time to celebrate the retirement of the ancient hunk of junk."

Walking back over to stand in front of the bars, she narrowed her eyes at him in anger. "You are a waste of oxygen," she spit at him.

"I want to see her hurt," Six hissed, taking a step back to stand against the wall, completely out of the way. "Make her cry, Gaius. I want to see her cry."

"Wait. I haven't gotten to the good part yet. I think you'll enjoy it." He gave her a smile. "You're the reason that they chose Lee Adama. They knew that infiltrating the human race would be difficult. Some of the models had to be better than the best humanity had to offer. They studied the top strategists in the Fleet, knowing that they had to find a way to create a model who could out think them. They figured out the answer and created an intelligence beyond compare in the models resembling humans. Except there was one problem."

"Isn't there always?" She waited for him to continue. When he gave her a smug look, she groaned. "Fine. I'll bite. What was the one problem?"

"You. The Cylons couldn't out think the best pilot the Fleet had. Every time they sent an agent up against the legendary Starbuck, you found some way to defeat them. So they realized they had to hit you where you wouldn't ever guess. Your heart. Which was why the twelfth model had to be someone close to you. Do you remember that night you spent in prison on Caprica after Zak Adama's funeral? You had gotten into a fist fight with his brother. Seems Lee Adama got under your skin with something he said. You were thrown into a cell with him for most of the night. When you woke up in the morning, however, he was gone."

She eyed him suspiciously. "How the hell do you know all this?"

"I told him," Six answered even though Gaius was the only one who could hear her.

"My imaginary friend told me," he said with a laugh. "She knew the information would screw with your head so she told me to use it when I deemed it most advantageous. Let me ask you a question, Lieutenant. After that night in prison, when did you next talk with Captain Apollo?" He paused, but she didn't answer. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. "That's right. You didn't hear neither hide nor hair from him for two years until he was commissioned to fly his father's old Viper on the Galactica."

Again, he waited for her to respond. He groaned when she didn't. This was a lot harder than he would have imagined. "Don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you? You are responsible for the deaths of both the Adama brothers. You killed Zak by your own hands, and you killed Lee by your stupid drive to be the best. You ripped their hearts out and then sentenced them to death. They were morons to ever get mixed up with you." He could see her eyes welling up with rare tears as his words hit home. But she still stayed quiet. "Why the frak won't you say something?" he screamed, finally too frustrated to remain calm.

He saw her face shift and the tears that had not fallen disappear. "You are going to pay for lying to me," she said slowly and with much effort. "This frigid ice-bitch does not take lightly to you fraking with the people she loves."

He watched her turn on heel and leave the brig, rapping on the wall to start the machine up again.

Six gave him a small smile of satisfaction before the machine ripped her from existence.

Starbuck watched Gaius Baltar sleep. This man creeped her out like no other. But she also knew he was the key to their beating the Cylons. So she did what the Commander asked her to. She spent a few of her sparse moments of free time talking with him every day. She tried to engage him in as much conversation as possible. She poked and prodded in order to get information out of him. She took his insults and the guilt that surfaced in stride. It was all part of the job.

The verbal abuse she subjected him to?

That was just her idea of a good time.

"Kara?"

Baltar's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. She was about to bark at him for using the familiar term of her first name when she noticed the way he was looking at her. "Gaius," she said hesitantly.

"You look beautiful," he whispered as he stood up and walked over to where she stood. He hesitantly stuck a hand through the bars and caressed her cheek. "Like an angel of mercy."

She wanted to shrink away, but for some reason, she didn't. "How did you sleep?"

He laughed lightly. "I'm still sleeping. I might be halfway to insane, but I know for a fact that you only dress like that in my dreams."

She looked down at the turquoise dress she had dug out of deep storage earlier that day. It was starting to make sense what he was going on about. And again, he was creeping her out. But she wasn't about to let that show. "You like?"

"I would like it if it was in a pile on the floor."

She did her best not to laugh at his ridiculous pick-up line or vomit at the grossness of his blatant come-on. Maybe she would finally get the answers from him, and then she could stop having to come back here. She had better things to be doing like taking the whole ship's stash of cigars in Triad.

"It just might be your lucky day," she said, smiling at him as realistically as she could manage. "But first you need to tell me what your Cylon friend has been saying to you during my visits."

"She has only been taunting you lately. You can't see her, you know."

"I know. I've tried to." Starbuck reached through the bars and grasped his hand. "Tell me what she whispers to you when I'm not around."

"Jealous?"

"Very," she said, licking her lips. This was going to take all her concentration and will power to pull off.

"She taunts me for the weakness I have for her just as often as she taunts me for my weakness for you, Kara. And then she won't stop bringing up the mistakes I made that caused this destruction. She keeps reminding me the part I played in the holocaust."

She brought his fingers up to his lips and started kissing them lightly. "What mistakes, Gaius?" she purred.

"She used me to get inside the defense systems of Caprica and the other colonies." Her heart froze at his words, but she did her best not to show it. He really was fraking insane. She was going to have to step her charade up a notch to get him to stay on task. "I let them in through the back door, and they used the opening to destroy civilization."

He started to chuckle at the absurdity of what he had done, but the sound swiftly changed into a gasp as she slid one of his fingers inside her mouth, sucking lightly. "She told me I couldn't get you, you know."

"But you proved her wrong."

"Only in my dreams. I might be crazy, but I still understand the workings of reality."

"Come on. You could get me in real life."

"I would be putting you in jeopardy. The Cylons will kill you if they know how much I've grown to care for you, Kara."

"Don't they already plan to kill me?"

"They want the human race to suffer. They want to see you come so close and then fall short. They want to break you specifically. You're a little bit of a legend with the Cylons. Pain, though. That's their master plan."

She nipped the tip of his finger as she drew it out of her mouth, soft and slow. "Is that all you know?"

"That's all she will tell me. She's afraid that my humanity has made me weak."

The disgust finally rose up to engulf her, and she shoved him away. "Thank you so much, Doctor. I have a celebratory banquet to get to in honor of our new Vice-President."

She saw him stiffen as he realized what she was trying to tell him. "You're… you're…"

"I'm as real as they come. This blonde is not in your imagination. Nor will I ever be." She winked at him. "It was fun screwing with you." She walked over to the wall and raised her hand, intending to signal the reviving of the machine that caused him so much pain. However, she pulled back at the last second and turned to face him. "Actually, I don't think we'll be needing that tonight." She smiled at him. "I warned you to not bring the Adama men into our little fights. Now you're just going to have to pay the consequence. Enjoy your last night with your artificial lover. Consider it like a last meal."

He just stared at her confused. The man really didn't know the hell he had gotten himself into. He just kept staring at her instead of calling for help. Instead of pleading to see any other person besides her like a rational, sane person might do. "You really like my dress, don't you?" She smirked and did a little twirl. "Fancy, isn't it?"

"I didn't know they still had dresses like that in this world."

"It took me a long time to find it," she whispered as she sauntered over to the bars. She placed her lips between the bars by the left side of his face. "I did it for Lee. I hope he appreciates it as much as you do."

She pulled back and gave him one last smile before leaving the brig. She refused to waste another thought on this pathetic excuse for a man.

She was surprised to find Apollo waiting outside the brig for her. He handed her a clipboard before stepping back to trail his gaze up and down the length of her body. "You look fantastic." He gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "And you smell fantastic, too."

"Well, your mother sure knew how to pick out feminine things."

"My mother?"

"She sent me this dress and the perfume on my last birthday. I had them in deep storage on Galactica in case I had need to look girly for once." Kara smiled at him as she began to write on the clipboard. "As much as I complained, I really loved her desperate attempts to make me into a woman in time for my wedding."

She could see him stiffen up slightly. Without looking up from what she was writing, she tried to reassure him. "It was a part of my life, Lee. I'm not going to keep it locked away, especially from someone like you who actually understands what Zak meant to me."

"I'm sorry. Your comment caught me off guard."

She leaned in to him and whispered, "Actually, I think it was more the dress than what I said. Your mother warned me that people might notice me when I wore it."

"Well, she was right," he said, smirking. "And her attempts worked beyond a doubt. You are definitely a woman."

"Dr. Baltar thought so," she said with a laugh, having returned to writing on the clipboard once more.

"What did the kind doctor have to say that was so pressing? Last I heard, my father had pardoned you from your daily duty because of the ceremony."

"I just had a gut feeling that I shouldn't miss today. So I stopped by on my way to catch my shuttle to Cloud Nine." She handed him the clipboard and pointed to a sentence at the end.

He leaned up against the wall and began to read. She could see his mind trying to understand what her statement was saying. His eyes lit up as it finally dawned on him. "He's the reason the world was destroyed?"

"Yes. Consider him royally fraked." She moved so that she leaned up against the wall next to him. "It's a nice feeling to know that he really is insane."

"And that your job is done."

"The Commander always said I was the only one who could get that man to crack."

"That's because he was half in love with you," Lee kidded, knocking her shoulder lightly with his own.

"I used that to my advantage," she admitted.

"So that's how you got him to talk."

"That and his jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Lee said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "What does he have to be jealous of?"

"You actually," she replied with a laugh. "He wanted me in his bed, and he was convinced that I'm on a one woman mission to get into yours."

"I thought you were." He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Didn't you worm your way into my bunk last night?"

"I was cold," she explained shortly.

"Right," he said with a laugh. He stood up off where he was leaning and offered her an arm. "We should go put in an appearance."

"Can we not and say that we did?"

"No. If we did that, it would mean you got all dressed up for nothing."

"I got dressed up for you," she teased. "So my mission is done."

He shrugged. "All right then. Let's go back to the bunkroom, and I'll help you get right out of that wonderful dress." He reached around her back and started to untie one of the straps.

"Frak you, Lee" she said, punching him hard.

He smiled at her and returned to their previous arm-in-arm position. "I've missed talking with you, Kara."

"Well, I'm back now. So you finally have someone to belittle you on a daily basis again."

"That's a relief," he said with a laugh. "So how do you feel about a run after dinner tomorrow, seeing as how your schedule is wide open now?"

She gave him the trademark grin she saved for the ones she loved. "Sounds good. Sounds really good, Lee."

They walked a few paces before she paused. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Anything you want. And there's no need to get so serious, Kara."

"Do you remember that drunken brawl we had on the night of Zak's funeral?"

"We ended up in a cell together on Caprica."

"I passed out and when I woke up, you weren't there with," she said softly. "Don't make me explain why, but I have to know why you weren't there."

He grasped her right hand with his and used his left to pull her chin up until she was looking him in the eyes. "My father pulled rank and got me released. I was ashamed of what he had done when I found out, which was why I didn't demand that you be released, too. I spent the next few hours trying to figure out my own way to form a 'Free Starbuck' protest."

"Very funny," she said, scowling at him.

"Seriously, though," he said as he started to move down the corridor, dragging her behind him by the hand. "My father didn't have enough pull to get you out because you weren't a blood relative. So I had to come up with a more creative means."

"Like?" she said, slipping her hand back into his arm.

"Like a few falsified documents, the best vintage of ambrosia that I could get my hands-on, and the promise to take the warden's daughter on a date when I had my next leave."

She smiled at him and pulled herself in closer to his body in a makeshift hug. "Oh, Lee Adama. You really do care about me!"

He laughed. "I know, I know. Sometimes it even surprises me." He punched in the code to the side doors to the hanger bay and motioned for her to enter before him. "So, what's with all the questions about that night?"

"Baltar told me you were a Cylon. I just had to do some checking up to make sure that I was right in assuming you weren't."

"You didn't think I was a Cylon? Why, Kara Thrace! You really do care about me."

"Frak off," she said with a laugh as she made her way onto the last shuttle leaving for Cloud Nine. "So, how short a time do you think we have to stay at this part?"

"Not short enough, that's for sure. I heard a rumor that in addition to the usual festivities, there might be dancing. I haven't danced since I graduated the war college. All I can remember is being mobbed by young cadets who seemed to have some sort of plan to lure me back to their bunkrooms."

Starbuck chuckled. "Well, save a dance for me, lover boy. In fact, save the last dance for me. Then I can amuse myself all night by figuring out a way to lure you back to my bunkroom."

"All you have to do is ask," he pointed out. He motioned for her to take the empty seat at the back of the transport. "I'm going up to the cockpit to check out who's been assigned to fly us there."

She nodded and watched him make his way past the rest of the stragglers hesitant to go to this stupid reception. When he had just made it to the door, she called out his name. "Don't forget, Lee."

He looked at her confused. "Do I have to spell everything out for you a million times? Last dance. Kara Thrace."

"Got it," he said with a laugh before disappearing from sight.

"This should be good," she muttered. She felt someone's eyes on her and turned to gaze at the young girl sitting next to her. She couldn't be more than sixteen. "Hi."

"Was that Captain Apollo you were talking to?" the girl asked.

"Yeah."

"He's dreamy."

Kara smiled and shook her head. "Looks like Lee's in for another typical night of dancing," she muttered to herself.

Staring out the window, she watched as the metal of the ship bleed into the starry, expansiveness of space. It was good to be in the air.