SUMMARY: What did Leoben want, when he came to Kara's tent?… Set after Season Two finale.
DISCLAIMER: The character's and the universe of the Battlestar Galactica do not belong to me.
NOTE: This story is not trying to explore what may happen in Season 3, that's why I'm going to ignore some of the most influencing matters from LDYB2 here. This is the premise: yes this is a year later, yes the cylons returned, and scared off the battlestars, but maybe their attack at the settlements wasn't that devastating after all. No centurions at this moment, guess they will come down in a few days…
NOTE 2: To the new readers. Please DON'T READ REVIEWS! There are some mysteries in this story, and the reviews give away most of the secrets. It might spoil the pleasure that this story - I hope - is, when you don't know what to expect. So read it with a fresh mind, and enjoy!
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HYBRID by -yannik-
Chapter One - THE OFFER
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"Is Kara Thrace here?"
"No, she's… I don't know where she is" Sam hesitated. He couldn't answer the man who was asking whereabouts of his wife! Kara left this morning, returned an hour later, really upset, and then vanished for the rest of the day. She should be here, he wasn't feeling well, but maybe he pissed her more than he thought, playing pyramid yesterday. Sometimes he felt like he didn't know her at all.
"Alright then. Just tell her I was searching for her" the man smiled courteously. "I want to make her an offer, and if she wants to hear what I have to say, tell her to meet me in the evening at the bazaar. Will you remember? My name is Leoben. She knows me."
Sam frowned. An offer? What in the name of Hades was Kara involving herself in. Was she crazy or something?
"Will you tell her?" Leoben insisted.
"I will" Sam agreed.
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"Leoben?" Kara's question came out barely audible. Sam could swear she paled too.
"He sad you'd know him. Who is that?" he inquired.
"What did he want?"
"Didn't say." Sam couldn't not notice how she avoided answering him. He grew more suspicious. But when she didn't do anything, he decided to tell her all that he heard from the guy. "He only said that… he has an offer, and wants you to meet him at the bazaar in the evening. It is evening already…" he looked at the darkening window, and it hit him. There weren't going to be any answers from her right now.
"I'd better go" she whispered, and before he had a chance to make a move, she was out.
"Kara!" he shouted helplessly. She was slipping away from him. The closer they got, the farther she was. He had a feeling now – and from what he heard from other people, mostly Helo, during this year – that she was his the most, when he was back on Caprica.
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Kara recognized this figure immediately. He was standing with his back to her, but was imprinted in her memory too deeply to mistake him for anything else.
"What do you want?" she barked approaching him. She was hoping her sudden question would startle him, but he only turned around, and smiled, showing his ugly big teeth. He probably thought he was being nice.
"You know what we want" he said politely. "We want to have children."
Kara froze. Her heart started beating in her chest like crazy, she got scared it might break her ribs. Children. No…
"Oh… No!" she breathed, stepping back involuntary. "Oh no! No way, you're going to get me…" She didn't want to show him her weakness. She couldn't show them her weakness! They couldn't know how easy it was to reach to her, to upset her, to break her even… She couldn't be broken.
But he just kept smiling. She hated that!
"I have an offer. I want to give you a medication for your husband."
She knew that. She knew they would force her to make a choice like that. She knew that. Despair started showing it's nasty head, biting right into her heart with sharp fangs. Samuel's life, over… the worst nightmare of her life. Worsened yet by the way cylons worked their way with human women.
Leoben was staring at her, analyzing emotions swirling through her face with his politely smiling eyes. Politely and curiously. Finally he clarified: "In exchange we want a human-cylon hybrid."
"You bastards!" was all she could stammer.
"Oh, please, Kara" Leoben smiled wider, and bent to her lightly. She moved back sharply again. "I know what you fear" he whispered confidentially. "But think – maybe this won't be necessary. The hybrid already exists."
Kara stared at him astounded. If he meant what she thought he meant, that meant that cylons were seriously misinformed.
"The kid you're talking about is dead" she hissed, not even trying to hide her satisfaction. She was aware that this news wasn't good for her at all, but still she wanted to wipe this impudent smile off his face. "She died in labor."
"What makes you think there aren't more?" Leoben asked not faltering. "What makes you think you aren't wrong?" Now she had no answer to that. "Unfortunately we don't know whereabouts of Sharon's daughter. You might find her for us. Or you might help us access the other hybrid, when we're ready. Would you do that?"
"You frakked up assholes" Kara whispered in response. It was a child for frak's sake! And she wouldn't dare imagine what they wanted this child for.
"For the medication for your husband" Leoben whispered. "Isn't it worth it?"
"I don't know."
"Well, then…" he stopped smiling. He spread his arms. He really looked sad, but not really for himself. Really for her.
As he started turning away, she couldn't stop her impulses. "Wait!" she called and regretted it this very second. But all she could do now was to keep going. "I don't even know… I don't even know that Boomer's kid lives. You say she does but I know she doesn't. So what's the story?…"
Leoben returned to stand before her, his hands in his pockets, head bent. He started explaining straightforwardly, what was really shocking now, after all concealed, fragmentary truths he sheared before.
"She lives" he said not smiling anymore. Kara thought he knew he won. But he didn't, not yet! "She was hidden before us, and we have problems locating her. She's here somewhere, but… That's why it would probably be easier for you to deliver us the second hybrid. Or the first, since he was born earlier. I'll give you the tips, but we can't reach him now either, he's protected."
"By what?"
"Whom. His parent – the cylon, who rebelled against us, like the Sharon model almost did at some point. And we need you to help us neutralize this protection. Or find Sharon's child." He finally lifted his head to remind her what this conversation was really about. "For extending your husband's life." He smiled again.
But Kara had one more concern. The most important concern, the one that would really have the biggest influence on her decision.
"What will you do with the hybrid?" she asked, and Leoben's smile disappeared.
"That's none of your concern."
"If I'm going to give you the child, I must know what's going to happen to her!"
"This child is a machine" he reminded, trying to cover it up with yet another smile. But this one was not as confident as earlier.
"Half machine" she reminded.
"Half machine" he agreed, genuinely surprised by her stubbornness. "Oh, Kara. Are you really going to value half-machine's mere safety over the life of your husband? Think again."
He was good. He was really frakking good! She started thinking, started considering the odds, and caught herself on it. No! There were values that she couldn't… there were lines that she couldn't cross!
"You're… you're just confusing me" she whispered through clenched teeth. "I know your game, and I'm not going to play it!"
They eyed each other carefully. Long. Intently. And finally Leoben was the first to consent. He bowed to her.
"Whenever you change your mind, Kara" he said. "You know where to find me."
He turned around and walked away, disappearing amongst the crowd of people of which anyone could be a cylon…
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Frakking Lee! If he gave her medication… if he wasn't attacked by the cylon fleet… if he didn't FTL away, abandoning her and the rest of the civilization on this wretched planet…
She didn't want to worry about nearly deserted starships with their skeleton crews. She didn't want to wonder if the few people she cared about, who stayed up there, were still safe. It was much easier to be pissed off with Lee. At least he gave her a good reason to hate him. So she hated him! Hated and despised, and blamed for her scary dilemma.
Samuel vomited all day. Now he lay in bed, exhausted, feverish. Dieing. If Lee gave her the medication, Sam would be fine now. That wasn't true. Even if Lee wanted to, he couldn't help her – that was when the cylons attacked. But she choose not to deliberate on that. Lee didn't grant her request. Friends don't do that. She hated Lee.
If Lee gave her medication, and Sam was fine, she wouldn't have to face this dreadful decision. She wouldn't have to give the cylons a child for the life of the man she loved. She had no idea, what they wanted the kid for, but she could imagine. They were responsible for holocaust of the human race. They were raping women, impregnating them, and treating like living incubators. Like breeding machines. They were machines.
She could only imagine what they would do to a half-human child.
It would make her a good mother when compared to.
Damn! It would make her mother a good mother too.
Kara cried silently, watching her husband's life slipping away, and cursing Lee. Because it was all his fault after all. If he admitted to being jealous of Doctor Baltar back then, so long ago… in another life… None of this would happen.
Or would it? Was this her destiny?
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t.b.c.
And of course I need you to tell me if you like any of this… Thanks.
-Y-