Note: Sincerest apologies. The realities of life have kept me away--- my family emergency created a snowball effect at work… sorry. I'm almost (but not completely) there. Thanks to Karie--- who reminded me (nicely) on the Skiffy board that I really needed to get back to it...!

Here's a quick recap:

We are now past the Season Two finale.

Kara had to leave Anders to get backup to try to save him.

Lee and Adama have begrudgingly decided to take up Sharon on her offer of safe passage back to New Caprica.

Chapter Thirteen

Kara peeked her head up above the wall and peered through the sights of her rifle down at the dim lights of New Caprica City. It was eerily silent. At any given time, there were always at least a few dozen people walking the paths... but tonight, not a soul was in sight.

Even the centurions seemed to be gone. Which immediately put her on edge.

Where did they go? she thought.

She sat back down behind the wall and looked at Tyrol and the other four colonists she'd brought back with her from the mountains. With the exception of Tyrol, they appeared nervous. So nervous that she decided she shouldn't bring them down into the city with her immediately.

"I'm going to do some recon," she said as she loaded her rifle. The colonists looked at her quizzically. She sighed and said slowly and deliberately, "I'm going first. Once I get down there, I'll radio you with the all-clear and you---" she pointed at the colonists, "you will come down and help me get Sam out of the tent." She shot an exasperated look at Tyrol, who slightly shrugged. She motioned for him to follow her… and led him away from the others.

"Chief, what the hell...," Starbuck said slowly.

He held up his hand. "This is the best I could do. I rounded up 167 people, which is pretty good given the short amount of time we had to get out of there."

Starbuck threw her hand up into the air. "You couldn't find ANY other pilots, Marines... anyone who might know what the frak a rifle is, much less how to use it?"

He looked at her. "C'mon Captain. Most of the time, you guys were riding my ass to get your planes back up in the air. The crew and the pilots didn't exactly have the best relationship on Galactica, and you expect me to keep up with them on New Caprica?"

Starbuck still held onto the rifle with one hand and ran her hand through her hair with the other. "Frak," she whispered. "Okay. Fair enough."

She looked over at the colonists, who were all looking nervously in their direction, and turned back to Tyrol.

"I want you to be honest with me. You think they can handle this? This is not going to be easy."

"Look, Captain. These are good people. Hard workers. If you need us to be there--- we'll be there."

Starbuck realized she didn't really have a choice.

"Okay," she said reluctantly. "Then let's do this." She and the Chief walked back over to the others.

"Here's what's going to happen," she said slowly. "I'm going to leave you here with Tyrol. You wait for my signal, then come down to help me with Sam." She looked at all of them squarely in the eyes. "Got it?"

They nodded. Starbuck sighed, turned to the Chief and held up her radio. "No contact until you hear from me. If you don't hear from me in an hour, go back."

Tyrol didn't look thrilled about that plan, but nodded. "You got it, captain."

Kara headed toward the lights.

Onboard Pegasus

Lee stood in the pilot's briefing room and looked over at Dee. She looked as though she was trying to concentrate on what Helo was saying to all of the senior officers and pilots in the room, but couldn't. She glanced over at Lee. He held her gaze for a moment before looking away.

What the frak am I going to do now? he thought.

"...Pegasus will jump to these coordinates... just out of dradis range of the Basestars...," Helo was saying.

Lee already knew the plan Sharon had presented to them, and found his mind wandering as well. He and Dee had just started to become close again after four months of not talking. He had appreciated her company, given the fact that he'd lost his best friend.

Kara, he thought. Gods, why can't I get her out of my system?

Over the past six months, it had been painfully clear to him that he still had feelings for her. He'd neglected his own health because he'd decided that he just didn't care about anything anymore.

He was temporarily brought back into the present by Helo's presentation. "We'll take four Vipers and a Raider to the planet. Sharon and I will be on the Raider--- she'll connect with the Cylons and block our signatures until we land somewhere safely outside the city. The remaining---"

"Excuse me, sir," one of the pilots interrupted. "If she can block Viper signatures, why can't we ALL head back to New Caprica?"

Helo gave a small smile. "Because even though she can block us on dradis, she can't make us invisible. If we all go back, the Raiders that are patrolling the planet will undoubtedly make visual contact. They're less likely to see five of us." He paused. "Besides, this is just a recon mission. We're going back to see what we can find out, then we'll come back and put together a plan."

He pointed back at the map and continued. "A dozen Vipers will run regular CAP runs around Pegasus during..."

Lee lost Helo's voice again as his thoughts turned back to Dee. He'd been so lonely without Kara that in recent weeks, a tiny part of him had hoped that he and Dee might be able to get back together. And things had been on that track--- until the Cylon attack.

Helo's voice broke his concentration yet again. "... and once we get the information we need, we'll head back to Pegasus--- which will be ready to jump just in case we're discovered..."

Lee's mind wandered again. He knew he was still angry with Kara. How could he not be? But it wasn't until the attack that he realized--- with some surprise--- his feelings of anger were completely overshadowed by the fact that he needed her in his life. A fact that hit home when he thought he'd lost her. Even if she chose to stay with Sam, he needed her in his life in SOME way. It was just too painful without her.

Helo's presentation was over. As the pilots started to head out the door, Dee walked over to Lee.

"So," she said quietly. "I assume you will be in one of those Vipers."

He felt his jaw tighten before he said, "You assume correctly."

"Is it because you're one of the best pilots in the Fleet… or because you want to see if you can find her?"

He looked down and gave a heavy sigh. "Dee---"

"Look Lee," she interrupted. "I won't be hurt a second time. If you want to be with Kara, you need to let me know… now."

Lee didn't like ultimatums. And right now, he didn't feel like explaining himself. He just stared at her for a couple of seconds before replying.

"See you later, Dee." He walked out the door and headed to the hangar bay.