Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; I'm only borrowing them for a while

This story starts about 4 months after the end of my last one (Returning to work). It will be Kara/Lee but I'm going to expand out into some of the other characters as well and there will of course be a good dollop of action. Likely to be darker than the previous stories with possibly one or two character deaths (you have been warned!).

As season 2 has now started this could now be considered AU. I will try to avoid obvious spoilers (in consideration of my brethren back across the pond in good old Blighty!) but may include little facts and references that are not too spoilerish.

For those of you who haven't read the previous stories (please do) or who need a refresher, we're now almost 2 years on from the end of season one. Kara and Lee are married, their baby Alex is cute, Adama is thoughtful, the president is still alive and Baltar is as mad as ever! I think that about covers it.

Please let me know what you think of this one – I love all the reviews.

No place like home

Chapter 1

Doctor Cottle turned away from the scans he had been examining closely and regarded his patient with an exasperated expression.

"Would you mind telling me why the frak you didn't come to me the moment that you found the lump?"

She stared at him, her eyebrows raised in surprise at this form of address.

"If you'll pardon my bluntness, Madame President," he added, somewhat sardonically.

Relenting, she said, "This appointment was only two weeks away and in case you haven't noticed, we've been rather busy."

"I'm well aware of how busy everyone is, but two weeks could make all the difference at this stage. I have no idea whether the drug from Kobol will work a second time around. It may have put you in remission for eighteen months, but it obviously isn't the complete cure we had hoped for. I'm going to start you on it again right away."

He looked at her with that dour expression of his. She smiled, despite the overwhelming tension gripping her gut.

"What, no cigarette smoke in my face this time?"

"No. I've finally run out," he grumbled. Then, still looking at her, he rather sheepishly raised the sleeve of his coat to reveal a small patch stuck to his skin.

"I always keep a supply for emergencies, although I'm even getting low on these now. Can't replace the feeling of a drag on a cigarette though," he admitted grudgingly.

"Well at least I won't die of secondary lung cancer now."

"You won't die of breast cancer either if I can help it."

She laid a hand on his arm. "We both know that's going to happen sometime. It's just a question of when."

"We'll know more in a couple of weeks after the first cycles of treatment."

−

Admiral William Adama looked out at the blue-green planet around which Galactica and the rest of the fleet were orbiting. He didn't come to Galactica's view deck very often, but occasionally, late at night, when he wanted to think through a problem and knew he wouldn't sleep until he had the answer, he came here. He found it a good place to achieve a clarity of thought that sometimes eluded him in the ever-busy CIC. It was generally pretty quiet down here nowadays. It had always been a haven for couples trying to find a private spot, with the added benefit of a spectacular view, but that had gotten a bit out of hand and now it was prohibited to come here without express approval of a crew member's CO. The only time that he was aware of it being used recently for that purpose was when Kara had persuaded Lee that he could approve her using it as her CO; just because he would be using it with her without approval hadn't seemed to bother her. Unfortunately for them, he had chosen that evening to come down and he had spotted them, giggling like children, sneaking away. It still made him chuckle to think of the mortified expression on Lee's face when he had hinted to him that he knew about it.

Gazing out at space had always calmed his mind and reminded him of his very insignificance in comparison with the vastness of the universe. Right now, however, as his gaze contemplated the planet below, his mind was anything but calm. Something just didn't feel right about this planet that the remainder of the people of the twelve colonies had decided to turn into their new home. He had no idea why he felt this way. Part of the reason why he was sitting here gazing at the planet, when he should have been grabbing a few precious hours of sleep, was to try and think through rationally why he wasn't comfortable about their choice. Part of him whispered that it was because if they settled safely here he would no longer be needed in command of Galactica. He would finally have to retire like he was supposed to have done two years ago. What was he supposed to do then? Wait for people to visit him with news of his ship and long for the days when he got to baby-sit his grandson? He'd rather kiss a Cylon! He admitted to himself that there may be an element of this in his concern, but that wasn't entirely it.

A more fundamental reason was that vice president Baltar had been so keen that they choose this planet to settle on. Adama just didn't trust the man at all. Anything that he suggested need to be viewed with a great deal of sceptical caution. Adama had never quite trusted him since his much vaunted cylon detector had failed to identify lieutenant Valerii as a cylon. He scratched at the long scar on his chest absentmindedly as he thought of all the elaborate excuses the not so good doctor had tried to give at the time. However, in the recommendation of this planet Baltar's reasons had been pretty sound. He had certainly supported Adama when the admiral had vetoed the other two planets with oxygen-based atmospheres which they had seriously considered settling on since they had jumped across the storm field to the co-ordinates provided by Kara's gallant efforts. This planet had the advantage over the others of being half surrounded by a protective asteroid belt and the ace in the hole, a rich source of tyllium ore on one of its moons. There was also no resident sentient species which also made colonisation easier. It seemed this planet was fairly young and still at an early stage of development in its evolutionary cycle; they had found insects, birds and water creatures, but no higher species. And yet he had a sense that there was something else behind Baltar's recommendation and that's what he bothered him.

When it came to the final decision on colonisation, he had been voted down by the council of representatives. The only person who had voted against settling on this planet, tentatively named New Kobol, had been Tom Zarek and the Lords only knew what deep game that man was playing. So without a military coup, not an option he would consider again, he had no way of stopping the move.

They were now in the process of beginning the colonisation. The people were desperate to get out of their ships and onto the planet, but they needed to keep it organised and at least the president had allowed a joint civilian-military task force for that operation. Up until recently only the most essential personnel needed to set up initial camp sites and research the planet and its resources had been allowed on to the surface. Two weeks ago they had finally started up a rotation of civilian visits. Each person got to go for a day, bathe in a fresh water lake, have their clothes cleaned, walk or just lie in the sun and get a fresh cooked, hot meal. The Galactica's medical staff had set up a medical tent where they could get a physical and address their various ailments. It wasn't much, but it was more than some of these people had had in almost two years. Some of them were belligerent when it came time to return to space at the end of the day, but most were pathetically grateful. The only problem was that it was putting a stretch on his already thinly spread resources. In his capacity as military advisor to the government, Tigh was working with the president's office to organise the rota for visits and the transport of the people to and from the planet, and so was spending much of his time on Colonial One. He had put Lee in charge of things on the planet itself. It would have been much better if they could have swapped jobs as Lee's natural diplomacy was much needed when trying to work with the civvies, but Adama wasn't going to let him return to working so closely with the president. Despite some of the issues caused by Saul's somewhat abrasive personality, this arrangement was at least giving Adama a great deal of amusement from seeing Ellen trying to act like the regal party hostess for each group leaving for the planet! With Lee down on the planet, Kara was covering his CAG duties on Galactica, which she didn't seem particularly happy about. His biggest concern was that if any of his fears came to pass, and they were attacked, then his team was scattered.

Whilst he was contemplating these many problems there was a scrapping of the hatch behind him and Laura Roslin appeared through the door.

"I thought I was pretty safe from interruption here. How did you find me?" He asked, a slight smile telling her he wasn't really annoyed by her interruption.

"I have my sources!" She smiled slightly.

He knew exactly who her source had been, but he couldn't be annoyed. Dee had been keeping a close eye on him ever since he had been shot. It had been Lee who had told him how she had held his hand and stayed with him until the medics arrived. Now that she was married to Billy and spending more time on Colonial One, no doubt little nuggets of information like where to find him late at night would get dropped to the president.

"Anyway, what are you doing on Galactica so late at night?"

"I had an appointment with Major Cottle which had to wait until he had returned from New Kobol."

He just stared at her for a moment, noticing the strain around her eyes which was nothing to do with the stress of being president.

"The cancer's back isn't it?" He asked quietly.

"Yes it is and Cottle is unsure whether the Kobol drug will work a second time around. I can't wait to find out. I have to make plans in case it doesn't. I know how you hate politics, but I do need to discuss the political situation that this causes with you. It has become obvious to me over the last few months that Dr Baltar's mental stability has deteriorated further to the point where we cannot allow him to become president in the event of my death."

"Why don't you just say that he's a certifiable nut job like the rest of us?"

"We're talking about the vice president of the colonies. This has to be managed very carefully."

"I'll leave managing Dr Baltar's resignation on health grounds up to you: I'd just lock the nutcase in the brig. Who are the alternatives?"

"Zarek, obviously. He's been pretty quiet since he lost the election, but I still don't trust him enough to offer him a sure fire route to the presidency."

"If he finds out you're sick again….."

"We have to make sure that he doesn't find out. Can you step up the surveillance on him?"

"Really Madame President, I don't know what you're talking about. It would be highly inappropriate for the military to engage in covert surveillance of a member of the council! We've never done any sort of monitoring of Tom Zarek's activities," he said with a wink.

"Of course, Admiral!" She replied in kind. "I have some other ideas but no immediate candidate stands out. I just need to know what that man is doing so that I can be prepared to act if necessary." One of her ideas included a political career for his son, but she wasn't about to float that with him before she'd even spoken with Lee; she suspected that he'd always been jealous of her easy relationship with his son. "If I can just hang on until we can get the people off the ships and settled on to the planet it will make things much easier."

"That could be months away, but hopefully that won't be a problem. You know that I don't want there to be significant colonisation until we can assess the security of the whole planet thoroughly, and set up some sort of early warning surveillance operation around this star system. I'm not going to change that position because there is a political need."

"Noted, admiral. You're still concerned that we're not far enough out of the Cylons' reach?"

"Yes. We have to remember that they disappeared for forty years. Who knows how much deep space exploration they could have done in that time. No one knows where they went. Their home planet could be in the next system for all we know."

"Is this what you're sitting here in the dark thinking about?"

"Somebody has to and as admiral of the fleet I thought it was probably my job." He smiled that slightly lop-sided smile of his that told her he was just gently teasing.

"Yes it is. While it's my job to look after the civilians and right now, unless there is overwhelming evidence of an immediate Cylon threat, what they need is to get back on solid ground."

"I'll abide by the rule of the council Madame President. I just won't be letting down my guard, nor will I be letting my crew let theirs down either."

"We're all incredibly grateful that you're not. I for one will sleep better at night knowing that you're still up here!"

"Why thank you Madame President." He regarded her for a moment then said, "Aren't you disappointed?"

"About what?"

"Well the scriptures didn't come true. May be you're not a prophet after all. You didn't die before the people made it to their promised land."

"I've not been angling for canonisation, Bill. I'll take the promised land any way and any time it comes."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Eventually he reached over and took her hand.

"For what it's worth, Laura, I hope the drugs work again. We may not always have seen eye to eye, but you've done one hell of a job in difficult times."

Laura didn't know what affected her more; the feeling of his thumb rubbing comfortingly up and down her palm or the fact that he'd used her name for what must be the first time. Both got under the tight wall she had put up around her emotions. For the first time since Cottle's confirmation that her cancer had returned she felt the tears well up in her eyes. He didn't do anything, just kept hold of her hand and continued the gentle movements of his thumb while she cried quietly.