Lee's eye went wide as the Marines shoved Kara into the brig. She gave him a small grin before turning to thrust her wrists through the metal bars. "Uncuff me, please," she insisted.

"Kara…" Lee started.

"Not now," she hissed. The cuffs fell off, and her hands came up to unconsciously rub the raw skin on her wrists. She kept her eyes locked with the Marines until the hatch door banged shut. Then she turned to face Lee and held up her hands. "Okay. Ask away."

"What the frak happened to you?" Lee shouted. He ran over to her side just as her knee gave out.

Kara relaxed into Lee's arms, letting him support her. "Cain's people gave me a little talking to."

Lee looked her over, taking a quick inventory. Her face and hands had some fresh bruises on them. Obviously her knee was feeling weak. The bastards probably took a couple cheap shots at the old pyramid injury. Her lip was split. All in all, though, the injuries were pretty superficial. Still, that didn't mean he was not absolutely livid about Kara being hurt. "Are you all right?"

"Right as rain," she smirked before tightening her arms around him. "Could you help me to the cot?"

Lee gave her a small nod, and together they limped across the cell. Kara felt him looking her over some more, and a wave of discomfort washed over her. Even after weeks of this, she still couldn't get used to Lee wanting to protect her. Things had been very unsettling between the two of them as they settled into a familiarity Kara had never known.

Lee was watching her and knew there was something on her mind. He had a hunch he knew what it was, too. The level of intimacy that had been forced upon them by Admiral Cain and her men wasn't the type of thing Kara was used to. Lee had a feeling he only had a few more days of this until Kara started pulling away.

There were more important things right now than brainstorming ways to keep her close. She was hurting even if she would never admit it. His gaze rested on where her body lay on the cot. Like always, the sight of her made him smile. However, when he had deemed her comfortably resting, he put on his serious face. "What did you do, Kara?"

"I didn't do anything," Kara insisted.

"Kara, of course you did. You can save me a lot of grief if you would just tell me."

"Cain wanted to make me the CAG. I said no. She obviously took it hard."

Lee threw her a skeptical look. "I'm sure it was more complicated than that."

"It was," Kara admitted. "She made me an offer, and it wasn't good enough. I don't trust her farther than I can shoot her."

"I think the expression is 'farther than I can throw her'."

A childlike smile spread across her face. "No, I said it right."

Lee rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed next to her. "So she made you an offer and you turned it down in such a way that she had the Marines beat you?"

"I was my usual charming self, and I guess she took offense to that."

"That's what I was afraid of." Lee let out a soft sigh. "So, should I expect her to take it out on me, too?"

Kara's eyes popped open in horror. "Oh gods. I didn't think about that."

Lee hesitated a moment before lying down beside her. Every time he did this, he expected her to push him away. He leaned his shoulder against hers and began to stare at the ceiling. "What did Cain offer?"

"Something important." She hoped her short, crisp tone told him this was not a matter she was going to be discussing. He would be furious to know she had been negotiating a way to have him abandon her after she had given him that speech about it was either both or none. There was no way to get him to understand her reasoning. Kara knew she could survive this ship without him. After all, she had lived through a lot worse.

"Maybe you should take the deal, Kara." Lee reached over to cover her mouth before she could protest. He hated having to do this, but convincing her to take Cain's deal would mean she was safe. As the CAG, most people on Pegasus couldn't touch her. "The position of CAG could give you a certain amount of protection. It might help keep you safe."

Kara nibbled his hand lightly through the bandages, and he gave her a smile as he pulled away. "I wish I could just accept what Cain was offering, but there's a lot more to it. She was hiding something from me, Lee. There's something going down that she doesn't want us to know about."

"Did you have any idea what that could be?"

Kara shook her head and turned to lean on him. "She's a hard person to read."

"But you're the best at seeing through the bullshit," Lee insisted. "Tell me what you know, Kara."

She let out a small sigh before beginning. "There was data up on the screens in her office. It looked like schematic comparisons of Galactica to Pegasus. My guess is she's trying to determine the differences in security and location. Plus, Cain danced away from discussing relations between the two Battlestars. It really sounds like tensions are getting high."

"That's good to know."

"There's more," Kara insisted. Her head was already shaking so Lee knew things were about to get even more confusing. "There were printouts on her desk. She was trying to keep them covered while we negotiated, but I managed to soak up a bit of what they said. The rumors about a Cylon onboard are true, Lee. She was a member of the crew here until she slipped up somehow. However, even though she probably hasn't fared as well as our Sharon, I don't think Cain intends her any real harm. She wants that Cylon alive. Whatever her endgame is, it involves the prisoner."

A little voice of reason in the back of Lee's head tried to argue with the obnoxious voice in his heart. All he wanted to do was keep Kara safe, and yet it might cause the safety of the whole Fleet to do that. When it came to Kara, it always seemed like his body was at war with itself. "I think you need to take what she offered you," Lee whispered after a few seconds of silence. "If what you said is true, we need to find out more information."

"I don't like it, Lee."

"You don't like a lot of my plans. That doesn't mean they're bad." Lee leaned over to kiss just above her left eye where a small bruise was beginning to form. "You are an extremely perceptive person, Kara. Add that to the position of CAG? Cain can't hide anything from you."

"I'm too tired to say no to your stupid plan," Kara mumbled. They both knew that wasn't true. She could argue with him for hours and had done just that many times in the past. Kara was accepting his idea because she knew there was no better option. They had been effectively backed into a corner.

The sound of the hatch opening made Lee tighten his arms around Kara on instinct. "Just the daily meal," grumbled the Marine. Kara couldn't help but smile. These guys hated having to watch over the prisoners as much as Kara and Lee hated being watched.

She propped herself up and smiled at the Marine. "Hey soldier! Tell Cain I'm ready to hear her second offer."

The Marine gave her a confused look but nodded his understanding. Kara smiled again and rested her cheek on Lee's chest. "You better be right, flyboy," she mumbled.

Lee's hand came up to lightly stroke her hair. "I hope I am, too," he whispered. "I hope I am, too."

Kara tried not to wince in pain as the handcuffs cut into her wrists. There would probably be permanent scarring. "Are you going to have these taken off me, Admiral?"

Cain turned from staring at the monitors to shake her head. "I think it would be best if you stayed restrained during this encounter. I've learned the hard way that you like to do the unexpected." Kara realized with a start that Cain didn't look surprised by her appearance. That meant the Admiral knew what her Marines were going to do when they delivered Kara back to the brig.

Cain stepped away from the work station. "You wanted to speak to me, Lieutenant."

Kara had to forced herself not to glare. She had a certain amount of respect for a woman in power like Cain, but even that was wearing thin. Right now she just wanted to get this over with so she could go back to sleep. "I was unwise to turn your offer down so quickly before. I want to take the job. There are just a few things I need first."

"Oh really?"

Kara nodded and took a deep breath. She had to be strong. Cain might do something drastic if she thinks she's being made a fool of again. "You want me to be a dutiful little soldier for you. I'll agree to that, but you need to drop the charges on both Captain Adama and myself. We'll forget the past few weeks and what was done to us. Put us on active status, and I'll step right in as CAG."

Cain held her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "I can't do that." She glanced down at something on the table before looking back up at Kara. "I can get the charges dropped for you, but it would be impossible to do anything for Captain Adama. He put five of my men in sickbay. One of them was near death."

Kara's eyes went wide. She had never thought to ask Lee what happened to the pilots who attacked her. "I didn't realize the damage was so… extensive."

Cain let out a small laugh. "And here I thought you had such faith in him."

Her wrists strained against the handcuffs as Kara fought to stay in control. "Never doubt my faith in those I love." Her words had come straight from her heart, but Kara regretted them instantly. Cain was determined to prove that Kara's feelings for Lee influenced the decision to have him transferred, and the last thing Kara wanted to do was play into that. "I've seen you forgive greater offenses than Apollo's, sir."

"In the past, I have. Those were different days with different circumstances."

"All right. Let's work with the circumstances we have then." Kara cleared her throat and did her best to stay focused. "I want to have full authority over those pilots. If I throw one of them in the brig for an offense, I will back up my decision to do so with solid fact. I don't want my authority compromised. The pilots on this ship have their dysfunctions, but I'm a girl who's learned to deal with quite a few problems in my day. I can lead them if you don't get in the way."

"Understood, Lieutenant. You will have the full power of the position just like any previous CAG." Cain's eyes shot down to her desk. "Now if you'll excuse yourself, I have a lot of work to do."

"That was only the easy part, Admiral," Kara informed her. She thought over her position and knew she had to be sure there was no other option. "You refuse to let Apollo out of the brig in any form?"

"You heard me correctly," Cain confirmed.

"Then I am going to stay in the brig. I will fly my shifts and do my turns at maintenance. Any time I am not on active duty, I will report to the brig. I will be given free reign to enter and exit Captain Adama's cell whenever I chose. All paperwork and other menial tasks will be completed there."

"You're asking me to keep you confined to the brig?"

"I'm telling you that I am going to keep myself confined to the brig." Kara let out a deep breath and stepped back from the table. "That's all."

Cain looked her over for a moment before nodded. "Then we have a deal, Lieutenant. You may report back to the brig. I'll have one of your pilots bring down the flight schedules for you. You can get to work scheduling yourself in."

Kara gave a small nod before biting her lip. "I hope it's not too much to ask to have these cuffs disappear. I don't think my crew would appreciate seeing their new authority figure in chains."

"I'll have one of the Marines set you free when they've deposited you back in your preferred living quarters," Cain said shortly before riffling through the papers in front of her.

Kara took it as the Admiral's way of dismissing her. She backed away from the table, taking a quick glance around the office, and turned to step out into the corridor. "You better be right about this, Lee," she growled as two Marines came up on her sides. Still slightly confused as to how she got talked into being the CAG, she limped her way back to her new home.

Cain looked down at the papers in front of her. She had really expected Thrace to pick up on the fact that she was so preoccupied with them, but for some reason, the Viper pilot stayed quiet. Cain knew it was risky to keep such important documents out in the open, but she had been so enthralled with them. It was hard to put them away.

The transcripts of the initial Cylon interrogations were priceless to her. The woman who had posed as Petty Officer Gina Williams mentioned the human prophet whose actions will herald the final elimination of humanity. Cain had shrugged it off as the normal pagan bullshit these toasters spouted at every turn. But then she had transferred Starbuck to her ship, and Gina started talking again.

Who would have thought the Cylons' prophet would be a Viper pilot on Galactica?

Cain needed Thrace on her side if she was going to defeat the Cylons and kick their asses out of her home. Not to mention the massive amount of promise this young woman showed. She just had to convince Thrace that she was on the right side before Adama made his move. She had gone too far to turn back now.