Ghosts - chapter 6

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'I was the first one to really know your name ...'

She woke up suddenly.

"Kara, are you okay?" Lee's voice sounded worried and concern was written all over his face. He was stroking the hair back from her face; it was wet with her tears. She buried her face in his broad chest and his arms encircled her.

"Bad dream," she whispered. Lee held her close and whispered comforting words.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked a little while later. She shook her head. Lee didn't push. He'd learned that pushing Kara was the fastest way to lose her, so he'd developed a store of patience he'd never had before, learning that if he waited her out, she'd give and let him in eventually. I wonder if she was the same way with Zack, he wondered, then wondered why the thought popped into his head now. He didn't think of Zack very often, and usually when he did, it wasn't in relation to Kara - usually memories of when they were kids growing up.

Her soft, even breathing told him she'd fallen asleep again, but he was now too wound up to sleep. He wondered what was upsetting so much that she was having nightmares. Probably about her childhood. It's too bad hers was so lousy. It's no wonder she's scared to death of having a baby - I would be too if I were her.

Lee's experience growing up hadn't exactly been stellar, and if he could go back and change things, he would. But having an always absent, yet demanding father was still much better than the abuse Kara had suffered. She'd never really told him what had happened, but she'd insinuated that her father had been a drunk, like Colonel Tigh, no wonder she hates him, and her mother had been physically abusive. It was no wonder she was terrified at the thought of being a parent. All the studies Lee had ever read in his psychology courses had shown that most people parent the same way they were parented, and Kara was no doubt worried that she'd follow in her mother's footsteps. Especially since she had a temper that she often had trouble restraining. I swear I will never be like my father, Lee vowed silently. I will never put my career ahead of my family, no matter what the consequences are. And he fell asleep finally, Kara cuddled up beside him, his hand thrown protectively over her stomach.

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"It has begun," he said simply.

"It's about time," she chided. "God's plan is sacred, and has been waiting to be put into action for too many years."

"You know as well as I do that to everything there is a time and a season. God is patient - He knows that everything will come to pass when the season is right." He stood up and began to pace the small room. "Though I have to confess, I will be happy to see her again."

She walked over to him and gave him a knowing look. "You weren't supposed to become attached to her, she's merely the host. You know she'll be destroyed once her purpose has been fulfilled."

"I ... I never intended to care for her, but she has a way about her ..." He trailed off.

"You're not really him - keep that in mind. He loved her, but he was human. We are superior," she added proudly.

"There's no question about that," he answered coldly. "But some humans have a ... spark somehow. Something that makes them different from all the rest. She is one of them. That's why she's called 'Starbuck'."

"The child may be yours biologically, but it belongs to God. Once it is taken from her, it will become all of ours."

"I'm aware of God's plan - I was one of the first, remember?" he said sarcastically.

"Yes Two, I know you were one of the first. Ten more were made because you first ones were flawed."

"It's a flaw to be too much like the humans? I thought that was the whole point - we were to be indistinguishable from them."

"And we are," she answered. It's just that you first few seem to feel too close a kinship with them. They are the enemy, remember? That's why we destroyed them. They're the scourge of the galaxy."

"Harsh words."

"But true nonetheless. We are now the masters, we use them to serve our purposes."

"Indeed," he said dryly. "Anyway, only a few more months before we can reveal ourselves and seize control of our destiny."

As she walked away, he pulled a worn snapshot out of his pants pocket - a carbon copy of the one Kara had hanging in her locker. He touched Kara's face gently. "I want her back," he murmured to himself. "She was mine first."

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"How many more months do I have to do this? Kara lamented, throwing down her pen. "I hate paperwork! And now I have to do all of yours too. It sucks!"

Lee smiled at her impatience. She'd been getting more annoying as the weeks went by, but Lee was patient with her, trying to put himself in her place and knowing he'd be just as upset at not being able to fly as she was.

"Only five more. Of course, you're not going to be able to jump in the cockpit the moment our baby is born you know."

"Wanna bet?" she countered.

"You will not!" he laughed, coming over to perch on the desk beside her.

"Just watch me." She smirked. "If I have to carry it around for nine months and then kill myself pushing it out, the least you can do is hold it and feed it while I end my forced withdrawal."

Lee leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I'll be happy to - once the doc says you're allowed."

She growled and made a face.

"Nope, I'm firm on that. You do what the doc says - that's an order."

"Considering I do your job and you do mine now, it only seems fair that I should get to be CAG and outrank you for a change."

"Sorry Starbuck - you'll have to take that up with the Commander, and I'd be willing to bet he'll side with me on this one."

"Having a family advantage is so unfair."

Lee laughed. "What? And you don't? I swear the old man loves you more than me anyway!"

"What's not to love?" She put on a smile and posed.

Lee laughed even harder. "Absolutely nothing."

"Ooh ..." Kara put a hand on her stomach.

"Are you okay?" He went from laughter to concern in a split second.

"Fine. I think ... I think the baby just kicked." She looked up at him, nonplussed.

"That's supposed to happen, isn't it?"

"Well ... yeah ... it's just ... there it is again!"

Lee knelt down beside her and put his hand on her stomach beside hers. "Yes, I think he or she is getting busy in there." He smiled proudly. "Speaking of which, don't we have an appointment to see the doc later?"

Kara nodded. "In a couple of hours. In the meanwhile, you'd better scram so I can get the rest of this paperwork done."

Lee kissed her briefly. "Well, you enjoy it then."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "Get lost."

"Love you too," he said sweetly, shutting the hatch quickly as she threw her pen at him.

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"Ah, Lieutenant Thrace. How nice to see you again - and right on time as usual."

She threw him a dirty look. If it weren't for the fact that he was the only doctor left in the colonies ... "Yeah, well, Captain Adama is even later than I am, so why don't you save the sarcasm for him?" she shot back.

"Nice. Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humour along with your waistline." He wandered over with a syringe and began prepping her arm.

Kara wasn't offended in the slightest, though most women would have been at a comment like that. She and the doc had a 'rappor' - a special relationship that allowed each other to be as nasty and sarcastic to each other as possible. They each had to really work at holding their tongues with everyone else, so it was refreshing for both of them to revert back to their normal sarcastic selves. She winced at the needle as it entered her arm.

"What? A hardened soldier like yourself can't handle a pinprick?"

She couldn't think of a response to that one, so she just stuck out her tongue at him.

"He got you there Starbuck," Lee said, having walked in just in time to hear the doc's jibe.

"What took you so long?" Kara asked, as Cottle put a bandaid on her arm and took the vial of blood away for analysis.

"Had to wait for Matchbox to arrive at the bay. He seemed to think CAP was optional today."

"Stupid frakking nuggets," she muttered.

"Yeah, well, they're all we've got, now that you aren't able to pull your weight around here," he teased.

"Speaking of your weight, step on over to the scale," Cottle invited. "Hmmm ..." He wrote something down in his file.

"What? What is it?" Kara demanded.

"You've gained a few extra pounds. Been indulging in the mess hall lately?"

"Maybe I will ... the day they actually start serving food there," she shot back nastily.

"Lie back on the bed and let's take a look." He felt her stomach, measured it and did a scan, all the while writing notes in her file.

"So, everything okay?" Lee asked when he was done.

"Need to check all the info." He looked up and saw their worried faces. "Just need a while to complete the blood tests. I'll let you know if there's anything unusual."

Lee reached out a hand to Kara and helped her off the bed. She'd never been the most graceful of women, and pregnancy wasn't helping her any. "Let's go. It's dinnertime."

"Oh goody - off to the mess hall for some 'almost-food'."

"Oh come on Kara, it's not that bad ..."

Cottle heard a few more words before they passed out of earshot. He looked at the results he'd written down and his brow furrowed. Something wasn't right. He decided to forgo food and finish up the tests immediately, now that his medical curiosity was piqued.

By the time he was done, the furrow had turned into a crease, and a frown had settled itself on his face. Something was definitely wrong.

'I was just the last to know ...'

(The Last To Know - Asia)