Kara was sucked back to consciousness, and her first instinct was to scream. It was odd. She had never been a screamer. Every time her mother hurt her, she didn't let one sound leak out. Yet here she was screaming like it was the end of the world again.

A man rushed into the room almost immediately. "Settle down. You're okay. You're in an aid hospital. They brought you in yesterday morning with a gunshot to the abdomen. I'm Simon. I've been looking after you. Can you tell me your name?"

"Kara Thrace," she choked out. She wasn't sure why she just said that.

"It was a close call for awhile there, Kara. You got yourself shot real good." Kara moved to get out of the bed, but the pain made her vision go white. "Take it easy. It's going to hurt for some time still."

"Who brought me in?" Kara asked. The room was empty. It was hard to believe that she was alone. She couldn't be alone.

"Some guy named Adama. He actually said he was a Viper pilot. Can you believe that?"

Kara felt relief rush over her. "Yeah, I can believe it. Where is he now?"

Simon's smile faded. "He died… on the table. I thought he was only slightly wounded. He carried you into this hospital in his arms. He told me he could wait until you were fixed up. It turned out a piece of shrapnel nicked his aorta. There was massive internal bleeding, but by the time we got to him… I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

Kara wasn't sure she heard him right. "Lee?"

The doctor's eyes shifted to the ground, and it hit home. Lee had died because he carried her to this place. He had been pushed to the side because she had been hurt. He let the doctor focus on her when it should have been him going into surgery. She had killed him. It had taken an extra week, but it had happened.

She was glad to hear the door click shut as this Simon guy left the room. She hated crying in front of other people, and the tears just weren't staying put this time. The pain and the guilt and the grief helped pull her back to sleep.

The next morning, when Simon came to check on her, there were no tears in sight. Instead, there was only suspicion in her eyes. It didn't seem to surprise Doctor Simon when she asked him point blank if he was a toaster. It also didn't surprise her when he evaded the question. Lee had told her these things like to talk in circles.

She wanted to leave, but there was no way she could move an inch let alone walk to wherever the resistance was currently bunked up. "Where the frak am I?" she asked. If she couldn't escape, the least she could do was gather some information.

"We're in an abandoned mental institution about twenty clicks north of Delphi. It's not much, but the Cylons haven't found it yet. That gives me a little sense of security as I'm cutting into you crazy resistance people."

"You do it often?"

Simon walked over to her bedside and pulled out a needle. Smiling, he pushed the contents into her IV. "Whenever Anders needs me."

Kara stiffened. "You know Anders?"

Simon nodded. "I used to watch him play pyramid before the attacks."

Kara immediately wondered why this man wouldn't know her name if he had watched Anders play pyramid all the time. They had been on the same team for six years. If he watched Anders play, he watched her play. Her mind was too fuzzy to figure out how to ask him to explain, and she drifted into the haze again.

Kara woke up this time to find out the impossible had happened. She was in even more pain. She touched the bandage on her abdomen and felt the sting radiating from two places this time. The gauze was pulled back to reveal a new scar that matched the one made by the Cylon's bullet.

"Good morning, Kara," Simon said as he stepped into the room.

"What the frak is this?" she said, gesturing down at her stomach.

"I had to go back in while you were out. There was some internal bleeding to tied up. It's nothing to worry about." Simon waved the folder in his hand at her. "This, on the other hand, could be worrisome."

"What is it?"

"Your test results came back. It looks like there may be a cyst on one of your ovaries."

"Is it serious?"

"It could be, but I honestly don't think so. We'll just hope the third operation is the charm."

Kara tried to remember the course in basic biology she had received in school. Something wasn't adding up. "Is it really necessary to cut me open? I thought these types of things usually just went away over a few months."

"We don't want to chance it. We have to keep that reproduction system of yours in great shape. It's your most valuable asset these days." Simon smiled at the complete look of disgust that flashed across Kara's face. "I'm serious. Bearing children should be the top priority right now. Most of the women left on Caprica have been affected by the radiation or the anti-radiation meds they're taking. Someone like you is a very precious commodity to us."

"I'm not a commodity. I'm a Viper pilot."

"Do you see any Vipers around here? Viper pilots are not what humanity needs right now."

"Well, a child isn't what I need right now so just drop it."

Simon walked over to her side and laid a hand gently on top of her stomach. "No one's forcing you, Kara. Just take a moment to think about where you are and what's happening. The human race is on the verge of extinction. Potential mothers are more valuable than a whole squadron of Viper pilots." Simon moved his hand away, and Kara felt herself tense at the sad smile that crossed his face. "I should never have mentioned it to you. I knew you'd be sensitive what with your history."

Kara could feel the eerie feeling take hold. This Simon was starting to majorly creep her out. "My history?"

"A lot of women like you forgo child bearing of their own."

"Women like me?"

"I took a look at your X-rays. There was a lot of old fractures on there. I figured you had a rough childhood." Simon smiled at her again. "It's interesting how you managed to not only break every finger on both your hands, but you broke them in the exact same place between the first and second knuckles." Kara pulled her hands together by instinct, but it only made Simon smile wider. "Did someone break your fingers, Kara?"

"Get out," she whispered.

"It might do you good to talk to someone about it."

Kara almost screamed that she had told someone about it, but she really didn't want to think about Lee right now. She would only lose herself in the grief again.

"Children of abusive parents often fear passing that abuse onto their own children. Are you afraid of what you might do, Starbuck?"

This time, Kara refused to let the feeling that something was wrong slip away. She screamed and hoped it was enough to get her message home. "Get out!"

Simon gave here one last smile before setting down her chart and leaving the room. Kara counted backwards from ten before pulling herself up off the bed. It hurt more than she could describe, but she didn't have time to worry about that.

She was taking her first tentative step when there was a loud bang in the hallway and the door to her room flew open. Kara's eyes went wide as she watched Simon's body collapse to the floor just inside the doorway. He was dead.

Her eyes jumped up to the man leaning against the door frame, panting to get his breath back. She didn't even realize what this meant until Lee looked up at her. His smile at seeing her lit up his face.

"They told me you were dead," Kara whispered, holding her hands out to him.

He crossed the room in time to catch her as her legs gave out. "They told me you were dead, too," Lee whispered.

"Kara!" Anders yelled, running into the room. He took her from Apollo's arms. "Frak me, you were right."

Lee watched the way Kara seemed to fit just right into Anders' arms. He didn't want to have this conversation right now. "You can pat me on the back later. Let's get her back to the base."

Anders took the first step, and Lee was quick to draw his gun and follow. They had Kara. The hard part was over. Now they just had to pray the Cylons hadn't heard Lee beating the crap out of that toaster doctor, and they'd be home free.

"We can do this," Lee whispered to himself. His eyes drifted back to where Kara rested in Anders' arms. He hadn't known a heart could hurt this much. "I can do this," he amended. He just had to keep his focus off the blond woman currently tearing him in two.