Lee walked over to stand above Boomer's body and, after a moment's hesitation, fired two more rounds into her. Obviously satisfied that the machine was dead, he holstered his gun and grabbed Kara's hand, pulling her into motion. "We need to get the that Heavy Raider now before more Cylons come."

Kara finally found her voice after he had dragged her down half the corridor. "I know you told me that you would much rather have had me with you during this whole ordeal, and I'm really glad that I'm here to do that for you currently. But did you have to shoot her now that she's not necessary? She could have still been useful."

Lee turned back to roll his eyes at her. "I'm not stupid, Kara. That wasn't the Boomer that saved me."

"Oh really? And you knew that because?"

He pulled her up against a wall as they came to the end of the corridor and peeked around the corner. "Would you believe my hand told me it wasn't her?"

"No fraking way," Kara said, following him as he started running again. "No fraking way your hand could tell you that. I'm not that gullible."

"Okay. Maybe it didn't exactly come out and tell me, but the thing's a part of their network. If I concentrate hard enough, I can poke around a little. Can't really pull up intel that I don't already know, but at times it has its uses."

"Such as now?"

"Usually when I start poking around in the network, Boomer scolds me for taking unnecessary risks. This time it wasn't annoyance I felt radiating from her. It was fear. She was perceiving an unidentified threat trying to access her.

"Which meant she had no clue that it was you or that you could do that kind of thing," Kara exclaimed as she started to realize what Lee was trying to tell her. "Which means she wasn't the Boomer who gave you that hand."

"Exactly."

"Okay," Kara said hesitantly. She was still trying to process everything that was going on. There was just too much information coming at her way too quickly. "I get why you shot her. But why the frak are we doing what she said and heading to the Heavy Raider."

"Because she was right about one thing. We have to get off Galactica now."

"I need a little more explanation than that, Lee. I'm new to this whole game."

"That was the first humano-Cylon model we've encounter since they attacked us ten days ago. It's only been Centurians before. That means Boomer was a reinforcement. The Cylons have sent in the heavy hitters because they know you're here, Kara. You and that baby Sharon's caring are both extremely important to the toasters. I don't know why or how, but you are. They're not going to stop until they get you back. Now I think--"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sudden outbreak of gunfire. Lee reacted instantaneously and pushed Kara down to the ground behind some massive piece of metal that had been ripped from the sides of Galactica. Reverting back to the battle tactics ingrained in them years earlier, Kara checked that her gun was ready to fire as Lee peeked over their temporary cover.

"Two Centurians at about one hundred feet," he yelled as the gunfire continued to press them down. "I hope you packed plenty of rounds. These sons of bitches are hard to kill."

"Is that a challenge?" Kara yelled back.

Lee drew two guns out of the holster strapped around his waist. "Are you up for it?"

As an answer, Kara stood up into the open air and fired two rounds. The first Centurian exploded immediately. "One down," she said, giving him a wink. "That wasn't so hard."

"Did I mention how much I missed you?" Lee said with a laugh. "I've never known anyone to be so competitive when it comes to staying alive."

"Funny," she said, reloading her gun as he took his turn to shoot at the remaining toaster. She wasn't surprised when there was a massive flare and blast of heat as Lee hit his mark. "So how much farther to the hangar bay?"

"We're almost there," Lee said, offering her a hand up.

"Do you think that we'll come across more toasters?"

"Probably. Which is why we need to move."

Kara did as he asked, and they started running through the corridors at a breakneck pace. "You really think the rest of the group will know it's time to leave?"

"They should already be there by now. I told Hot Dog to lead them back to your Raider when they were done getting the supplies from the portside hangar."

"Think they made it?"

Lee's eyes locked with hers for a brief moment before he quickened their pace. The unanswered question hung in the air between them as they raced to take the next step in leaving their last home behind. It went unsaid that they were both pushing themselves to the breaking point. This was it, the moment where you either fought your hardest to live or you fell back and were sucked in by the tide. Neither Lee nor Kara would the kind of people who were fine with just rolling over and waiting for wait to take them.

They were a few turns away from reaching their destination when Kara felt her knee give out. She hit the ground, having no time to brace herself, and was about to cry out for Lee to stop when she realized he already had.

"Frak," he hissed, helping her lean up against the wall. "I forgot about your knee."

"Didn't think it would do this," she said with a laugh. "I've pushed it before."

"You hurt it pretty fraking bad about five weeks ago, Kara," Lee said as he set down his gun and used his hands to carefully feel her knee. "If the world was different, you would be permanently grounded."

"Well, it's not different, and I'm not about to let myself be grounded. Help me up and let's get moving."

"We can wait a moment," Lee insisted, earning himself a pissed-off look from the woman beside him.

"Frak off and help me up, Lee."

Lee was about to protest again when a small thump made both pilots turn to look at the opposite end of the corridor. He watched helplessly as a hatchway was blown away and three identical blond women slowly sauntered through the newly made hole. It didn't even take him a second to realize that he was witnessing yet another human model of Cylon.

Grabbing Kara by the waist, Lee hauled her to her feet and together they hobbled to hide in a half-destroyed locker doorway. He grabbed her chin roughly, forcing Kara to look into his eyes. "Promise me that you will stay right here. Do not follow me."

"What are you planning, Lee?"

"I'm saving your broken ass, Starbuck," he said with a wink, pulling his gun out.

Kara held his eyes for a moment before reaching into her holster and holding her gun out to him. "Take two."

"I only need one to make this work." He pushed the barrel of the gun down to her side. "Keep yours. You might need it if I fall short."

"Lee," Kara said, reaching out to grab his hand. There were a million things she wanted to say to him, but she was pretty sure now was not the time. It seemed like there was never a right time with the kind of life they both led.

"Just promise me you'll stay out of the way," he said as he brushed his lips softly against her hand before letting it go.

Kara watched Lee jog towards the Cylons, making no move to hide his presence. He even went as far as to start screaming at them that if they moved an inch, he was going to shoot. She decided if drawing attention to their exact location was part of his brilliant plan to get them out of this one alive, then they were doomed.

"Stay out of the fraking way, huh?" Kara muttered to herself as she watched the three blond women turn to walk towards Lee. She pushed herself off the wall just enough so that she could get the sights of her gun trained on the toasters. "Brilliant move, you stupid fraking idiot. Thanks gods I insisted that we check this place for survivors, Lee Adama, because I don't think you would last another day with me watching your back."

Through the sight of her gun, Kara watched as Lee pulled himself to a stop right in front of the three Cylons. Even though she could barely hear what he was saying now, it was clear he was trying to reason with the machines. She desperately wished her knee hadn't given out so that she could be right beside him. That way she was within arm's reach to smack some sense into him.

Whatever Lee was saying seemed to be working, though, because the Cylons weren't shooting him yet. In fact, they looked like they were agreeing with him. Kara was about to relax when she saw Lee drop his gun, bend down to his knees, and carefully move his hands up behind his head in surrender. One of the blond Cylons smirked and reached down to pick up the gun he had dropped.

"Right about now would be a good time, Kara," Lee screamed over his shoulder.

She let out a small laugh before shaking her head and letting out a whisper, "Fraking genius." Lee would know better than any other person that she wouldn't listen to him. In fact, he had counted on it. The Cylons were now so focused on Lee that they didn't see her shots coming until it was too late. The gunfire caught the Cylon that was reaching for the gun in the head, stomach, and leg, effectively destroying its life. That was all the clear shots Kara could take before the other two realized what was happening and began to move.

Kara took a tentative step forward and hissed in pain at the way her knee screamed. Her head was just beginning to wrap itself around the fact that she was going to be forced to sit back and watch as Lee tried to protect them both. He took a massive backhand from one of the toasters, sending him flying down the corridor. Kara tried to rationalize, tried to tell herself there was no way she could make it to him in time to do any sort of good.

Who the frak was she kidding, though? Even if she couldn't make it to Lee's side, that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. This was Lee after all. She couldn't do that to him. Pushing back the pain, Kara started hobbling down the corridor as she helplessly watched the scene unfold before her eyes.

The Cylon that had hit Lee reached down and lifted him into the air by his neck. Kara was close enough to hear the Cylon mockingly ask him, "What did you think you would accomplish with your little suicidal act of heroism?"

Lee smiled and licked away the blood of his split lip. "Just wanted to get close enough to do this."

Kara faltered in her hobbling as Lee reached his right hand back and the hand morphed into the long, sharp claws she had seen earlier. He slashed at the Cylon's abdomen and the results were immediate. The machine's blood splattered against the wall as the woman lost her grip on him and crumbled to the ground.

The world seemed to revolve in slow motion as they all took in what had happened. The violence of his action had left the last remaining Cylon staring at Lee, eyes open wide. The toaster took a few instinctive steps away from Lee, and Kara was surprised to realize the machine might actually be afraid of him.

Aware that the fight was not quite over, Kara bit her lip and tried to pull herself along the wall the last few yards to where Lee stood. The pain immediately flared up in her knee as it was pushed past its breaking point. She gripped the sides of the wall tightly in her hand and forced herself to walk just a few steps more. She looked up to see that neither Lee nor the Cylon had moved forward to attack. They were just staring at one another. She still had time.

And then, just as quickly as it had come, the shock at what Lee had done to the other Cylon passed, and the last remaining blond toaster stepped forward to ram the heel of her foot into Lee's stomach. He doubled over from the blow, and a feeling of helplessness suddenly washed over Kara. She wasn't going to make it in time so why was she even trying? It was suddenly so clear how easy it would be to just give into the pain and let herself go.

The sound of Lee crying out in pain as the Cylon rained punches down onto his broken body snapped her back into reality. She couldn't just sit back, wallowing in pain, as the Cylon robbed her of the one person who had never failed her. She grabbed a piece of metal railing off the ground and, pushing the pain away, forced herself to hobble the last few yards.

The metal connected with the Cylon's head with a satisfying thump just as Kara felt something snap in her leg and went crashing to the ground. Lee's eyes moved briefly to look at her concerned before he pushed it away in order to take advantage of the window of opportunity she had given him. He kicked the Cylon in the stomach to push her away from where Kara lay, gasping in pain. He didn't want to chance that Kara might get tangled up in what he had to do.

Lee grabbed a fistful of platinum blond hair and dragged the machine to her feet. "Your god has abandoned you," he hissed into her ear before punching his right hand into her stomach. "How does that feel?" He pulled his hand away, and the Cylon slipped to the ground, devoid of life.

As she finally got the pain in her knee under control, Kara looked up to stare at the back of Lee, watching his shoulders rise and fall as he struggled to catch his breath. Her mind was trying desperately to find some way to understand the bloody scene that lay before her. Her friend had just brutally attacked three Cylons with the intent to literally rip their hearts out, and for some reason, she found no real problem with that. Life had scarred her from feeling empathy or sympathy a long time ago.

"I told you to stay back, Kara," Lee whispered after a full minute of silence, still refusing to turn and look at her. "I didn't want you to see that."

Kara inched her body over the few feet to where he stood and grabbed his hand, pulling in him down onto the ground with her. "Lee, it doesn't matter. You did what had to be done."

"Don't try to give me a way out of this."

"I'm not. I'm just saying that it doesn't matter to me."

"Gods. When did I turn into a monster?" he whispered, finally tearing his eyes away from the blood on the walls as he dipped his head.

"Killing a few household appliances doesn't make you a monster," Kara insisted. "Now would you stop wallowing and put the claws away?"

Lee followed her gaze and was stunned to realize that he hadn't morphed his hand back to its normal facade. "Sorry," he mumbled as the hand returned to normal.

Kara reached out and lightly pulled the cool metal close to her heart. As long as they were touching, she seemed to be able to get through to him. "You need to forget about what just happened for now, Lee. We need to get to that Heavy raider and get out of here. There are things we still have to do."

She could see something in his head shift as the distant look melted off his face and he turned to look at her. "Your knee?"

"Is well and truly fraked."

"Okay," he said, standing up. Lee reached under Kara's arms and pulled her up to her feet. She leaned on him considerably and made her first tentative step. Her hand tightened around his as the pain shot through her knee, causing her to cry out for him to stop.

"Lee, I can't do this," she whispered. "I can't do this."

"No," he said, pushing her to take another step. "You're not giving up."

"I said I couldn't fraking do this," she screamed, pushing him away. Without his support, she immediately crumbled to the ground. She turned to look up at him and shook her head. "I can't, Lee. It hurts to much."

"I swear to the gods if the next words out of your mouth are to tell me I have to leave you behind, I will kill you myself."

She glared at him. "Don't be a fraking moron. I said I can't do it, so get your ass over here and pick me up."

Lee's eyes went wide. Kara Thrace had never been the type of girl to admit that she needed a anyone's help, especially a man's. He had seen her injure herself in too many ways to count, and not once did she ever let anyone carry her. He found it odd that within these dire circumstances, she could still surprise him. Smiling he slid one arm around her back and the other underneath her knees.

Kara tensed at first and fought him, mostly out of habit. When his grip on her body tightened, she seemed to give in and relaxed against him as he scooped her up to fit snuggly in his arms. "My hero," she grumbled.

"And don't you ever forget it," he said with a laugh.

Lee hadn't lied to her. They were only a corridor and a half away from the hangar bay below which she had landed the Heavy Raider. Kara figured that was a good thing considering she didn't know how much longer she could suck in her pride and let herself rely on him completely.

He set her gently down on the ground next to the ladder and stared down into the hole leading to the launch tube. "How are you going to get down there?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Kara said, briefly looking down the hole before leaning against the hangar wall for support. She watched Lee subtly begin to look around the hangar. "They're not here, Lee."

"They'll be here," he said firmly, still scanning the hangar bay for signs of movement.

Kara reached out to grab his hand and pulled his attention to her. "You have to accept the fact that they might not be coming. Look how hard it was for you and I to get here and we're pretty much the best the Fleet had."

"They're a lot tougher than you give them credit for, Kara. The four of us survived ten days on a ship infested with Centurians before you showed up. They'll be here."

Almost as if on cue, the hangar bay door slid open and familiar faces began to filter in led by Boomer. Kara could feel a little twinge of relief come flooding over her before her whole body filled up with concern. The little ragtag group was not looking good.

"What happened?" Lee yelled as he rushed over to put his arm around the physically battered Boomer.

"Cylons. What happened to you?"

"Cylons," he said with a smile. He took a quick glance at the group as they all stumbled towards their ride. "Status?"

"Helo and the pregnant copy of me are just fine. We protected them just like I knew you would want us to. However, we took a bad hit. Hot Dog's probably got at least five broken ribs, maybe a broken wrist, and some third-degree burns on his left leg. I managed to get out of there with only a few cuts and bruises to add to my collection, but that could have just been because of my resilient nature."

"Interesting way to say you're a machine," Lee said with a laugh. He waited for her to continue in her report. When she didn't, a knot formed in his gut. He turned to look at the last member of their group. "What about Billy?"

Sharon followed his gaze. The young presidential aide was holding a piece of cloth to his side. The cloth was already soaked through with blood. "Billy's not going to make it, Lee," she whispered. "He's hurt too bad."

"No. I won't believe that."

"A Centurian cut his side." Boomer's eyes lingered on his hand for a second. The action didn't slip past Lee. "Under normal circumstances we could stitch him right up. But we don't have the supplies or the time. The Cylons are only steps behind us. We need to take off now. Billy knows what he has to do, Lee. Let him be the hero."

Lee nodded and let go of his hold on Boomer as they made it to the ladder. In the past ten days, they had all spoken about what it would take to get off the Galactica. They all knew that one of them would have to stay behind to keep the Cylons occupied. Lee had always assumed it would be him.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked. She had watched Hot Dog, Helo, Sharon, and then the other Boomer all force their half-broken bodies to go down the ladder. Not one person had said a word or even looked in her direction.

Lee slipped his hand behind Kara's back and moved her the few steps to the ladder hole. "You're going to have to bear the pain and help me get you down there now, Kara."

She gave him a nod and grabbed the first rung before pausing to look at him. "Tell me what's going on, Lee. Why is Billy not getting on the ship?"

Lee turned to see Billy standing resolutely a few feet away from the hangar doors. He gave the young man a small nod of respect in goodbye and indicated Kara should start climbing. "He's giving us the chance to get out of here. Don't make him waste it."

Kara looked over her shoulder to see Billy already moving back through the open hangar bay door. "I don't understand."

"Someone has to keep the Cylons occupied so that we have time to launch." Lee stepped onto the ladder and put his arm around Kara's waist.

Slowly they lowered themselves down each step together, words forgotten as they focused on what they were doing. Lee could see the pain written on Kara's face as she did her best to keep the weight off of her knee. When they were four rungs from the end, Lee jumped down. "Let go and I'll catch you."

Kara didn't argue. She was tired of being in pain and at least letting go would end it in one way or another. She wasn't surprised though when Lee caught her just like promised. Her feet touched the floor, and she hesitantly tried a step.

The next thing she knew, Lee had scooped her up into his arms again and was walking towards the open ramp of the Heavy Raider.

"Why him, Lee?" Kara asked, tightening her hold around his neck. "Billy is hurt just as bad as I am. Why don't you let me do it?"

"Two reasons. Number one, Billy's wound isn't treatable right now. The Cylons cut into him. He's going to bleed to death within the hour if we don't get the wound stitched. Not a big deal normally, but we don't have the supplies or the time to do that right now. It's just another loss to blame the toasters for."

"Just something else to carry around on your shoulders?" Kara asked with a sarcastic hint in her voice. She let out a grunt as Lee lowered her down onto the ground inside the Raider.

"Someone has to carry the pain."

Kara saw his eyes dart away from her to look into the cockpit where Boomer was currently powering up the ship's systems. "Go. You know you personally want to make sure we get out of this place."

He held her gaze a second before nodding and walking towards the controls. Kara watched him pause to say a few words to Hot Dog. She saw the young pilot wince in pain as he tried to communicate with the man who had once been his CAG. Her mind registered there was something she could do to make herself useful, and using the sides of the ship, she pulled herself to her feet.

"Move over, Hot Dog," she said once she had reached where he sat alone.

Hot Dog cleared a space for her, and she used the wall to sit herself down beside him. "Shirt. Off," she demanded.

"I've been waiting months to hear you say that," he joked.

"Glad to see you still have that impeccable talent for inappropriate humor, Constanza."

Hot Dog smiled at her. "Wow, Starbuck. I didn't think you actually knew my name."

"It was on the paperwork from when you washed out, kid," she said with a laugh as she tore pieces off his discarded shirt and wrapped them around his abdomen. The ship rumbled to life. Kara could feel it slowly pick up off the ground but tried not to dwell on it. She also tried not to think of the brave young man they were leaving behind. "This is going to be a little tight and a lot painful, but it should lessen the pain you feel when breathing and talking. I figure that's all you really need to do for the next few hours."

"Sounds like fun."

Once Hot Dog's ribs were securely wrapped, Kara began to look around the ship for something to start the next part of her nurse routine. "Helo," she said, pointing at the piece of metal scrap near his feet. "Throw that here."

Helo did as she asked with only a slightly questioning look in his eye. "Are you all right, Kara?"

"I'm alive," she said with a shrug. "How are you two doing?"

"We're fine," Helo said, tightening where his arm lay on Sharon's shoulders. "You should have seen the way they protected her, Kara."

"She's important," Hot Dog said.

"I think we all realize that," Kara added as her eyes met Sharon's. She gave the Cylon a small nod before turning back to Hot Dog. "Wrist." Trying her best not to jerk the area too bad, she used the remaining pieces of cloth and the scrap metal to fashion a make-shift splint. "I can't do anything about the burns. I'm sorry."

"You're doing more than enough considering you're probably hurting just as much as me."

"I've learned to live with pain a hell of a lot worse than this," she said. Using the ship's wall, she pulled herself back up to her feet.

"Thanks, Starbuck," Hot Dog said.

Her heart instantly recognized the smile he gave her for what it was. He was trying to be brave. Even through all the pain he had been put through, he was trying to lessen the weight on her shoulders. "I want you to know that I'm proud of you, Hot Dog. It takes a hell of a person to survive what you did down there." She gave him a genuine smile. "And you can call me Kara. I think you've earned that."

"Nah," he said with a laugh. "I always thought God had a much better ring to it."

She chuckled and hobbled her way back to the end of the Raider. Sliding to a seat on the floor, she let her eyes shut and tried to push the pain of what had happened to her in the past week and a half far from her mind. For now, she just wanted to focus on the fact that she was alive.

"Kara?"

She forced her eyes to open and look at Lee. He was kneeling beside her with a normal look of concern plastered across his face. "What do you want?" she said with a groan.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "It's just we're in the air and on our way to Kobol. Boomer can handle the flying by herself, and I'm rather tired."

"I think you woke me up," she said abruptly, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Well, yeah. I did."

"Was there a reason for that? Besides to tell me that you're tired, too?"

Lee rolled his eyes and took a seat next to her. "I thought you might want some company back here. That's all."

She turned her head to look at him and realized that the haze of being pulled from sleep was making her oblivious to what he was really saying. Sometimes it was hard to interpret the riddles the two of them seemed to talk in. She always seemed to get the point eventually, though. Some times it came quicker than others.

Without a word, she nudged his arm out of the way and snuggled into his side. She could feel him move to accommodate her.

"How's your knee feeling?" Lee asked.

"I'm used to the pain by now," Kara whispered before her mouth pulled itself into a yawn.

"Go to sleep," he said, kissing the top of her head lightly. "Boomer will make sure we're up as soon as we reach Kobol."

Kara nodded and shut her eyes. Sleep eluded her, though, as her thoughts kept drifting back to a conversation never finished. "Lee?" She looked up to see that he had shut his eyes, too, in an attempt to catch some sleep.

"Hmmm?"

"What was the second reason why Billy had to be the one to stay behind?"

"I was being selfish," Lee said, his voice taking on a serious tone.

"How so?"

"Like you said, the only other person wounded enough to qualify for the job was you. I wasn't about to let you go now that you've come back to me."

"Is that because of your early profession of love?" she teased.

He glared at her before shutting his eyes. "You're dreaming it, Kara."

"No, I'm not. You said you loved me and nothing I can do would change that."

"I lied."

"No, you didn't. You love me," she taunted.

"Shut up, brat. I'm trying to sleep here."

"You can't take it back, Captain. You love me."

"Every second I think I love you less and less," he said, pulling her in a little tighter.

"Yeah. I feel the same way," she said with a smile as she shut her eyes.

They fell into silence as both of them just enjoyed the physical comfort of having the other person near. The second end of the world had come and gone just as quickly as the first. This one was easier to cope with now that they finally understood what they had in each other. They had someone they could trust, someone they could rely on, and together they had a plan as to where they were heading. Things could be a lot worse.

Kara felt herself begin to drift off to sleep as her mind focused on one last thing. She was stuck with the task of starting over now that her second world had ended, and she couldn't stop thinking all that meant was this was just another beginning. It was time to build a third world. For some strange reason, that gave her hope and a strong feeling of determination.

Because one thing was for certain. The Cylons may have taken Caprica and they may have taken Galactica. But Kara was currently lying in the arms of the third place she had ever called home, knowing only one thing.

She sure as frak wasn't going to let the Cylons take this home away from her.