"How's it flying, Isabel?" Brody asked.

Isabel waggled the wings of the Raider-Viper hybrid in response. "It's nice to be in the air."

"When was the last time you flew?"

"I stole a Raider when I was sixteen. Took out a Cylon ship all by my lonesome before I ran out of fuel."

"Wow. That's impressive."

"If you two would stop flirting for a moment, we're almost there," Mason said, cutting into their conversation.

"You sound jealous, Mas," Brody told her and laughed at Mason's answering snort.

"She can have you for all I care. I just don't want you two to screw up my chance of getting into Caprica City."

"How far are we?"

"Closer than the last time."

"Mason? Promise me that we won't risk being blown up this time."

"I can't promise you anything, Brody."

"You two almost got blown up?" Isabel asked, fear clear in her voice.

"Twice," Mason said proudly. "Now buckle down people. We have incoming."

The Raider-Viper hybrid, Galactica's Child, and Brody's Viper fell into line as a squadron of Raiders began to bear down on them from the west.

"Good hunting, Mason," Brody whispered.

"Be careful, Brody."

The three ships split apart and began to dog fight. It was hard to keep track of where everyone was between the loud explosions and twisting metal, but Mason did her best. It seemed as if Isabel was finally getting the hang of flying again and she began to make kills left and right. There was some damage to the right wing of her ship, but it didn't seem to be anything that could ground her.

Brody, on the other hand, was in definite trouble. "Adama! What the frak did you do to your ship?" Mason yelled as she pulled in close to him.

"I was protecting your ass, Thrace. A Cylon almost shot you down back there." She could hear the strain in Brody's voice, and it made her whole body clench in fear. "How bad is it?"

"Your left thruster is out, and that's a mighty bad gash you have down your port side. I think you might lose the tail of your plane."

"Take Isabel and go, Mason."

Even though she knew that was what he was going to say, Mason couldn't believe it. She locked eyes with him through their canopies, and she wanted to cry. "No! I am not leaving you!"

"You need to get this done. We've never gotten this close before."

"No." Mason pulled her ship into a steep dive to follow Brody's broken ship.

"There are people out there depending on you, Mason. Do your job!"

"Shut the frak up, Brody. I am not leaving you no matter what you say. I need you with me. Just land your ship in one piece and we'll go from there." She wasn't surprised to hear the comm channel completely silent. She knew he was pissed. "Isabel? How you fairing?"

"There's a handful of Raiders left, but I think I can handle them on my own."

"I'm landing with Brody. When you have a spare moment, tune in to my comm signal and find us."

"Can my ship do that?"

Mason didn't have time to answer her as Brody's ship was about to hit the ground. She needed to focus. Moreover, she didn't want to tell Isabel that she had no idea if the hybrid could do that or not. Isabel's ship was completely new ground for them all, and Mason hadn't had enough time to go through all of its capabilities.

Pushing all thoughts away, she focused on the landing procedures necessary to get her ship on the ground even as she glanced over at Brody's ship to make sure he was doing the same. She watched in awe as his Viper did a half barrel roll to the right, then the left, and finally back to the right in an effort to use wind resistance to slow down the thrust of his ship. Twice, she thought he was going to slam right into a tree but both times he pulled back just in time. Brody's skill in the cockpit was unparallel as his Viper touched down with barely any noise.

Mason had gotten one thing right in all this. The tail of Brody's Viper fell off as soon as it made contact with the ground. Luckily there were no tell-tale sparks that might be a precursor to fire. She could handle a little smoke. Popping the canopy of her ship up, Mason hopped down to the ground, not caring that she was too high up to make a comfortable landing.

Brody was already pulling himself from the wreckage of his ship as she got closer. She waited until he had both feet planted on the ground before she threw her arms around him as tight as she could manage. He cringed at her strength but tightened his own arms around her as well.

Mason didn't know what shifted, but something changed because all of the sudden, she tilted her head and Brody leaned down and they were kissing. She wasn't sure which one of them had actually initiated it, but it was obvious that neither of them were fighting it.

In the back of Mason's mind, an annoying little voice kept screaming that this was her best friend. This was the only person in the whole world she cared about. She shouldn't be doing this. More importantly, she shouldn't want to be doing this.

Then Brody pulled her in tighter and Mason lost all ability to decipher right from wrong. She had waited nineteen years to find out if her suspicions about her best friend were true. The way he gently nibbled on her bottom lip as the space between them grew smaller, combined with the current path his hands were taking all over her body, were all the evidence she needed.

Brody Adama was a fraking great kisser.

The kiss ended almost as quickly as it began, leaving only one thought beyond in Mason's head.

Friends don't kiss friends like that if they were just friends. Right?

"You're insane, Thrace," Brody whispered, resting his forehead against hers.

"Beyond insane," she corrected, looking up at the sky. "Look at that girl go."

Brody glanced up at the sky for a moment before he frowned. "There's something she's not telling us," he said. He held his friend's gaze for a second and she could see all of his fears in his eyes.

"I know."

"We can't trust her," he said as he grabbed Mason's arm and started to pull her towards the cover of the trees.

"She's gotten us this far. And she hasn't betrayed us yet."

"You're too trusting," Brody said and then gave her a smile. "It's kind of cute."

She was about to throw a snarky comment his way when she suddenly found herself hauled against him and they were kissing again. This time, it was definitely Brody who initiated it. Not that she minded but things were spiraling out of control quickly for a few moments.

A moment later, Brody pulled away and pain radiated across his face. His hands slid from where they held Mason close, and one reached up to clutch his shoulder. She didn't even realize what was happening until blood completely coated his hand and Cylons surrounded them. Brody's legs gave out, and Mason barely had time to wrap her arms around him and ease him down to the ground before the sound of clicking barrels filled her ears.

As Mason moved her hands to put pressure on his wound, she softly whispered for Brody to hang on. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew that she had to keep Brody calm.

A soft noise forced Mason to tear her eyes away from her fallen friend, and she found herself staring into the eyes of the woman who had killed so many of the people she had loved. "Boomer."

"You know me?" the woman who had once been Sharon Valerii said.

"You killed my father," Mason said, narrowing her eyes.

"I've killed a lot of people's fathers."

"You'd remember mine." Mason glared at the Cylon for a moment before turning her attention to Brody. She noticed his eyes starting to drop shut as consciousness slipped away. She turned back to the Cylon and the squad of Centurians that surrounded them. "Are you going to shoot us or just stare us to death?"

"You look familiar," Boomer said. "Did I kill your mother, too?"

Mason was about to respond when the Cylon traitor rammed the butt of a gun into the base of her skull. She was far too busy holding on to Brody, and her temper, to see it coming. As the pain overtook her senses, Mason gripped her best friend as tight as she could and thought that maybe the harsh life they'd been living would end now.