Chapter Thirty-One:

They made their way through the corridors of the Astral Queen until they reached a door that led to a small room. It had belonged to one of the officers on the Astral Queen before Zarek's men took it over. Zarek allowed the President to use one of them, and Lee to use the other as a gesture of "hospitality" to his "honored guests." Lee didn't buy Zarek's new role as host, but at the moment, Lee was grateful for somewhere private where he could talk to Kara.

Kara filled Lee in on Helo's relationship with the other Sharon, and the claim that Sharon was pregnant with Helo's child. Kara also told the story about how she found the Arrow of Apollo, and how she ran into Helo and Sharon.

"So, I manage to come home with the Cylon that shot my husband and my father-in-law," said Kara, in a self-deprecating tone. "Kara Thrace fraks up again."

Lee immediately pulled Kara to him. "It's not your fault," said Lee. "None of it. I don't blame you."

"You should," said Kara. "You were facing the biggest crises of your life, and your wife was the cause of a lot of them. And she was off chasing after some frakking arrow, as you were being shot…"

"Kara, I'm not going to pretend to be pleased about your field trip to Caprica," said Lee. "But none of what happened while you were away was your fault. I will NOT let you take the weight of the world on your shoulders. Save some of the burden for the rest of us."

"Is the other Sharon dead?" asked Kara

"Yes," said Lee. "Good riddance."

"This one helped to save my life," said Kara. "But knowing what the other one did…"

"Wait, back up," said Lee. "Saved your life? What happened? What do you mean saved your life?"

Kara looked away from Lee for a moment. She didn't know how to tell him what happened to her. Lee could tell that Kara was apprehensive about something, but he also knew that he couldn't press Kara to tell him what it was. She would have to come to the decision to tell him on her own. Instead, Lee waited while Kara gathered her thoughts.

"Lee, while I was on Caprica, I was captured by the Cylons," said Kara, her voice quiet and guarded as she began recounting her story to Lee. "I didn't know I was at first. They shot me with some kind of dart that knocked me out. I woke up in a hospital…clinic, whatever you want to call it. There was a Doctor there who told me I was wounded, and that they were treating me. They said the Resistance brought me there."

"Resistance?" interrupted Lee. "There's a resistance movement?"

"Yes," said Kara, thinking about Sam Anders. She was still ashamed of herself for almost sleeping with him, but Kara decided to save that confession for later. "They helped us escape from Caprica."

"You can tell me about that later. You were saying."

"Yeah," said Kara. "Well, I was drugged most of the time, but I figured out that something wasn't right when he called me by my call sign. I never told him that. So, I pinched the IV they had hooked up to me, and managed to keep awake long enough to get out of bed and leave the room. I saw a woman talking to the Doctor about me, about whether my tests were good or something. I recognized the woman as a Cylon model I had encountered before. The same one I fought for the arrow. That's when I realized the Doctor must be a Cylon, too."

"What did they mean by 'test'?" asked Lee.

Kara looked down. "I don't know," she said. "All I know is that they did something to me." She lifted up her shirt and revealed the bandaged wound. She looked up at Lee. "I do think I have an idea what they had in store for me though if I hadn't gotten out of there. While I was still in that room, the Doctor gave me a pelvic exam."

"What the frak for!" asked Lee, his concern over where this was leading growing with each passing moment.

"I didn't know at the time," said Kara. "But the Doctor kept talking about healthy women being able to have healthy children, and that I was healthy in that regard. The exam and the remarks didn't become significant to me until I escaped. Before I got out of there, I found a room in that hospital." Kara became quiet for a moment. Her control was starting to break. Lee moved to put his arms around her, but Kara pushed him away. "No," she said. "If you do that, I won't get through this without breaking down. The room. The Cylons had all of these captured women, hooked up to machines there. They were…breeding them with Cylons. Those women were raped and used as incubators for Cylon children."

"What?" asked Lee, in disbelief.

"Sharon called those places Farms," said Kara. "The Cylons have set them up all over the Colonies."

"You mean they were going to do that to you?" asked Lee, the anger boiling in his voice.

"Probably," said Kara. "Gods only know. Luckily, the Resistance helped me get out of there. With Sharon's support and assistance."

Kara sat down on the nearby cot, emotionally exhausted from the ordeal of reliving her experience. Lee sat down beside her, and took her hand in his.

"Kara, I don't know what to say," said Lee. "I mean, I thought I had been through a lot these past couple of weeks, but…what happened to you, I mean. I thought I couldn't hate the Cylons more for what they did to our people, but…what they did to you…or were going to do."

Kara hung her head down, exhausted both from the strain she had been under on Caprica and the emotional toll it took for her to recount her story.

"Kara, are you sure you're okay?" asked Lee.

"No," said Kara. "I'm sure of almost anything anymore. But there is something you can do for me."

"What?" asked Lee.

Kara looked at Lee, as tears began to fall from her eyes. Then, quietly, she said two words. "Hold me."

Lee instantly pulled Kara into his arms. She sobbed against Lee's chest, as his strong and loving embrace engulfed her.

"I'm just spent, Lee," Kara said, through the sobs. "I'm so tired."

"Shh," said Lee. "It's over for now. Just let it out. I'm here. I love you, Kara."

"I love you, too. Just make it all go away for a little while," said Kara. "The war, the death, the Cylons. Just make it stop for a while."

After a while, Lee gently stroked Kara's cheek, and kissed the top of her head. "Kara, I promise you," he began with a voice of determined fury, "no one will EVER harm you AGAIN! I'll see to that!"

Kara looked up into Lee's eyes. She saw the determination and protectiveness in his features, and loved him for it, but knew he wasn't being realistic. "Lee, you can't make that promise. We live dangerous lives, both of us. I mean, we always did, even before the war. Being a fighter pilot is a dangerous job. Now, with the war….Lee, you can't protect me from everything. I can take care of myself. Well, most of the time. I love you for wanting to protect me, but someday a situation might come along where I will be harmed. You can't prevent that, no matter how much you want to."

"It's just that you have been through so much in your life," said Lee. "I want to make it stop."

"But you can't," said Kara. "Just like I would love to protect you, but I can't. You were shot, and all I can think was that I wasn't here for you."

"You couldn't have prevented that," said Lee. "And you do a pretty good job of watching my back. You always have."

"And I know you'll do your best to watch my back," said Kara. "But you can't promise me I'll never be hurt again."

Lee sighed in frustration, and pulled her tighter against him. "When did you become so wise?"

Kara chuckled, despite her exhaustion. "Kara Thrace, wise" she said. "Who would've thought?"

"I would've," said Lee. "You're as smart as they come."

"Not all the time," said Kara, remembering a time not so long ago when she almost made a huge mistake. She was reluctant to tell Lee about it, relishing the warmth of his arms around her. Kara feared the confession would cause him to reject her, just as her nightmare predicted. But Lee deserved her honesty.

"Lee, I almost did something I'm not very proud of," said Kara. "And since we're having this emotional heart-to-heart, I'd better go ahead and get it out in the open."

"Okay," said Lee, apprehensively.

"Lee, I met a guy on Caprica," said Kara. "His name is Sam. He's with the resistance."

"Okay," said Lee, loosening his arms around Kara, and obviously not liking where this is going.

"He was…attractive, and I…"

Lee bolted up from the bed, and turned to stare at Kara with a look of anger. "Oh, FRAK, Kara, you didn't!"

"I almost did, yes," said Kara.

"Gods, DAMMIT," said Lee, bringing his hands to his forehead, and letting out a huge grunt of frustration. "Why the frak is it that every time we are having problems, you run straight to the next good looking smart-ass you run into?"

"Last time, you broke it off with me, remember," said Kara.

"Fine," said Lee. "But THIS time! What did I do, Kara? Huh? What did I do this time to cause you to jump into bed with another guy?"

"Almost," said Kara.

"Oh, great, almost," said Lee. "The fact that you ALMOST frakked another guy, despite all we have been through to be together, just boggles my mind!"

Kara got up and walked over to Lee, trying to put her arms around his waist. Lee let her do it, but his arms remained by his side. "Lee, it was my fault. My own insecurities are my worst enemy sometimes. I was so sure you would hate me after taking off to Caprica. Most people in my life have thought of me as some kind of screw up, especially in the personal department. I have always felt that I would do something someday that would make you turn away from me, and I thought that had happened. Sam was attractive and available and…I just…there was this part of me that said 'Lee will never want you again, so look for pleasure where you can find it.' But as I started to…as we started to…well, let's just say before we got our clothes off, I realized how stupid I was being. If I had screwed things up with you, then I'd have to face it. I had to know for sure before I wrote off what we had. And even if you did reject me, there was always a chance I could somehow win you back."

Lee didn't say anything, but he looked like he was calming down. "Lee," said Kara. "I hate talking about my feelings, you know that, and I've done more of it in the past little while than I have most of my life. So, if you are going to…"

Lee interrupted Kara by kissing her gently on the lips. She was startled at first, but finally returned the kiss. They exchanged gentle, soft kisses for a few moments, before Lee finally spoke.

"Kara, I forgive you," said Lee. "At least your not pregnant with his love child or anything."

Kara smiled. "If I'm ever going to be pregnant with anyone's child, it will be yours. At least you can joke about my latest screw up. That's a good sign, I suppose."

Lee pulled Kara back into his arms, and kissed her once again. "Kara, I know why you have the insecurities you do, but you can't feel like I'm going to throw you away every rough patch we hit. Truth is, I was never angry with you when you left for Caprica. I was angry with the President, my father, the whole world, but not you. Then, the whole world went mad, and…"

"Shh," said Kara, putting her finger gently to Lee's lips. She kissed him this time, once on the cheek and once on the lips. "We'll put things right again. Together. We always do better together anyway."

"Yeah," said Lee. "We do. Look, we are probably going to be leaving for Kobol soon, so why don't you get some rest."

"Lee, I'm exhausted, but I don't think I can sleep," said Kara. "Unless you stay with me."

A knock at the door, turned their attention away from one another for a few moments. "Yes," said Lee, loud enough to be heard from outside.

"Captain, the President would like to see you as soon as you are available," said a man's voice from the other side of the door.

Lee looked at Kara, who hung her head slightly with disappointment. Lee only smiled at Kara, then spoke to the man on the other side of the door. "Tell the President I'm going to be a while. I have other duties to attend to."

Kara looked up and smiled, then kissed Lee gently on the lips.

"But Captain…" began the man.

"You heard him!" yelled Kara. "Now get the frak out of here before I come out there and bust your jaw!"

"Two hours," said Lee. "I'll be there in two hours." Then, he kissed Kara, and smiled at her. "That's my Kara."

Lee then led Kara towards the nearby bunk. He lay down on the bunk, and Kara joined him. She laid half on top of Lee, resting her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Sleep now, Kara," said Lee. "I'll watch over you."

"I love you, Lee."

"I love you, too."

End of Chapter Thirty-One. Chapter Thirty-Two coming soon. As always, feedback/reviews are welcomed and appreciated.