The pounding in his head exploded as Lee finally found the courage to pull himself to consciousness. The room was pitch black, and yet he still found himself wincing. Memories of the last time Leoben had come in to speak with him started assaulting his senses. The Cylon had been a little hard on Lee. Then again, Lee had been rather obstinate during the last round of torture. He should never have mocked their religion if he wanted to keep the pain away.

Groaning, Lee tried to push himself to his feet. He only got to his knees before the agony of the motion became too great. It didn't really matter if he was lying on the ground, on his knees, or standing up. He was chained to the wall. He wasn't going anywhere.

Lee glanced down at his wrists. The metal shackles had cut at his skin again, and there was a small river of red gliding over his fingertips. He knew the cuts should hurt more than they did.

Moving his right wrist caused him to wince. He had forgotten it had broken a few days earlier. At least he thought it was a few days. Between the pain and the tiny, dark cell, he really didn't know how much of his life he had lost.

Lee stared down at the bruising on his wrist until the memory of how it happened finally came to him. Leoben didn't like what he had to say about how easily he could persuade one of the female toasters to let him go if only the Cylons would send someone else in to harass him. It seemed the Cylons hadn't quite gotten control of their attempts at human sexuality. Leoben's anger was evidence of that.

"This isn't how it happens in the movies."

Lee raised his head from where it rested on the wall. His eyes opened as much as they could with all the swelling. Kara was sitting on the small cot that was two feet too far away for Lee to make use of, smiling at him sadly. He waited for her to continue.

"All the good tortures look nothing like this. The man always has superficial scratches all over his body. He barely acknowledges the pain." Kara's eyes drifted over the tattered remains of his CIC uniform. "And he would definitely be wearing a lot less clothing than you are."

"Where have you been, Kara?" Lee asked, ignoring the usual playful tone and digging right into the meaty stuff.

All signs of joking left Kara's face. "I've been right here, Lee."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I haven't seen you for so long. Where did you go?"

"Lee, I've been right here," she insisted. "I have been sitting on this stupid cot for three days, watching you fall in and out of consciousness. I've been making sure you stay with us. It's not your time." A comforting smile spread across her face. "It still amazes me that I can be here when you're sleeping. You let me watch you when you're so vulnerable, even though you could easily send me away. You miss me that much."

"More," Lee whispered. He shut his eyes again as the task of holding them open became too difficult.

The cell filled up with silence for a few precious moments before Kara's voice broke through the quiet. "Why haven't you asked me yet?"

"Because I don't need to," Lee said, barely even flinching at the question. They had been tiptoeing around it for long enough.

"I have been this constant voice of annoyance in your head for months now. Did you ever think that maybe it's a sign that I'm a Cy-"

Lee's eyes flew open. "Do not finish that sentence."

"But, Lee-"

"Shut the frak up," Lee screamed, his voice bouncing off the metal walls. He hadn't known he had the energy to feel this much anger until now. "I do not want to hear you say that phrase ever. Do you understand?"

Kara glared at him before nodding.

"If there's one thing I can count on, it's you being who you say you are," Lee insisted. "You are the only thing keeping me going right now. I can't have that taken away from me."

"Every time I hear you talking to her, it amazes me, Apollo."

Lee winced at the cold, smooth voice of his Cylon captor. It never surprised him when, without any sort of warning, Leoben appeared inside his cell. Nothing about this situation surprised him. If he was a stronger man, he would admit that he almost felt like he deserved this.

"How did you sleep?"

"I didn't," Lee growled. "The pain was too much."

Kara smiled. "Let him think you're hurting more than you are. That's fraking smart, Lee."

"I'm not lying," he hissed.

"I never said you were," Leoben insisted. He took a seat on the cot next to Kara and began the daily staredown with his captive. Lee could remember Kara mentioning something about this particular model of Cylon and his need to make you uncomfortable.

Leoben was searching for something in Lee's eyes, something he hadn't been able to find yet. Lee knew this because he was looking for something, too. Gathering information from this particular model was proving more difficult than he had imagined. In fact, up until a few days earlier, Lee hadn't even known they were holding him on New Caprica. It had taken a small slip-up by the Cylon when he mentioned that he had to oversee the sweep of the city for humans in order for Lee to put it together.

Lee couldn't get himself to focus on the discovery for more than a few seconds. The pain of having his back repeatedly lacerated tended to take away the joy of knowing he was only minutes away from freedom. Still, being on New Caprica meant he had a chance of making it out of this one with his sanity still in tact. He just had to keep believing in the one thing he had always depended on.

Lee pulled his head up to glare at Leoben. "Whatever it is you want from me, I don't have it. Just kill me and be done with it."

"How brave of you," Leoben smirked. "You know you say that every time and yet I still think there's something worthwhile in you, Apollo." Leoben walked over to Lee's kneeling figure and chuckled. "I'm curious. How can you talk with her and still maintain the idea that you haven't completely lost it?"

"You were always a little bit crazy," Kara said, pushing off the bed and walking over to stand by Leoben's side. "Make sure you tell him that, Lee. It'll make him think you're going to snap and go berserk on him, and that's got to be worth something."

Lee knew he couldn't take her advice. There wasn't time. These things happened like clockwork. Before he could react, Leoben's hand was lashing out to punch his face. Lee was thrown back by the violence of the assault, and the back of his head slammed into the wall. He could feel the cuts from the previous day opening up. This one was going to hurt.

That didn't mean he was going to lay down and take it, though. "I am going to ki-" Another blow cut off his sentence, and Lee could taste the blood this time. It didn't deter him. "I will kill you. The second I'm free, I will kill you."

"No, you won't," Leoben said with a creepy smile.

"Oh yes he will," Kara said. She was doing her best to get in the Cylon's face, and Lee had to fight back a laugh. Even his imaginary Kara was a hothead.

Leoben loosened his hold on the collar of Lee's jacket as he realized Lee's attention was elsewhere. "She's still here, isn't she? Even when you're being tortured, you still don't send her away."

Lee didn't respond. He had no clue how Leoben knew that Kara was a permanent fixture in his head these days, but he was not going to satisfy the toaster's curiosity. As always, Kara was a subject he wasn't willing to breach. Even when she was a burden, she was his burden, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He could feel his strength coming back a little. It always did when Leoben started speaking about Kara. The Cylon had some sort of sick fascination with his girl, and Lee found his protective side coming out every time.

"Where is she?" Leoben asked, looking around the cell. When it was apparent that Lee was going to stay silent, Leoben struck out with the back of a fist, sending a spray of blood shooting from Lee's mouth. "You bleed so easily."

"Sorry," Lee mumbled, wiping the blood off his chin.

"No, it intrigues me." Leoben looked down at the floor where a fresh puddle of blood was forming on the already stained floor. "Now, Apollo. I asked you where she is."

Lee still didn't respond and earned himself another backhanded punch. Leoben waited a few seconds before pulling Lee back up to his knees. His eyes drifted down to his hand which was now spotted with Lee's blood. "You know Six would absolutely love the way you bleed if only she was here."

"Bring her in. Lee will kick her ass, too!" Kara yelled from behind Leoben's shoulder.

"Bring her in," Lee hissed. "I'll kill her, too."

Leoben laughed. "I have never understood you humans and your silly need for violence."

"Says the man who's torturing you," Kara pointed out. Shaking her head, she moved to sit back on the small cot.

Leoben continued, not knowing Kara was still taunting him. "But you, Apollo, you are one of the most fascinating humans I've come across. You're right up there with that wonderful woman you labeled a whore in those first few months humanity ran for its life."

Lee froze up. That was a day he had worked a very long time to forget. He had made her run away to Caprica. Everything that had happened to her, the farm, leaving Anders behind… it was all because of him. Lee had no idea how Leoben would know what happened to make him and Kara part so badly and why he was bringing it up now.

"Boomer was still on Galactica," Kara pointed out in answer to the question he had never asked out loud. "Everyone knew about what you said to me. Gods damn deck crew couldn't keep their mouth shuts even if they tried."

"You would be smart to leave Kara Thrace out of this," Lee hissed. Even though Kara was speaking to him, his attention was still focused on the Cylon torturer. Only a fool would let himself be distracted. Lee was still kneeling on the cold floor, trying to hold on tightly to the little bit of bearings he had left. He was no fool when it came to the toasters.

Each one of these sessions, consisting of Leoben taunting him with his philosophy and religion, seemed to hurt him a little more. The pain just built up until he felt his mind slip away. Then he would wake up and go through it all over again.

When the subject of Kara was breached, Lee always knew it was going to be one of the more painful sessions. He couldn't control his temper when that toaster started talking in his slimy voice. The calm, even paced words made Lee want to ground Leoben's face into the metal floor until he stopped moving.

"You don't appear scared," Leoben says, his eyes wide with wonder as he looked down at Lee. "That's what I have never been able to understand. You're on the brink of dying, and you're still not scared enough to beg for your life."

"My life is not important," Lee whispered.

"I beg to differ."

"I agree with the hunk of tin," Kara called from her position, lying on the cot.

"If you were unimportant, I would have killed you instead of taking the time to extract you from the Pegasus," Leoben explained before tightening his fist around Lee's shirt. He laid into Lee with a series of quick punches to the abdomen. "I did not go to such lengths just to punch you around so you can die, Lee Adama."

Lee stayed on his knees, refusing to lay on the ground when the torture was still far from over. He wouldn't be left alone until he passed out from the pain. He felt Leoben's hand affectionately wipe the blood out of his eyes, and a shiver traveled down his spine. The toaster shifted from heartless to concerned without any warning.

Leoben leaned in to whisper, "Why aren't you afraid, Apollo? What do you still have that's giving you

hope?"

Lee was too tired to try to hide the sole reason he was still hanging on to life by a thread. Besides, it wasn't as if the Cylon didn't already know. "She's coming for me."

Leoben's eyes held Lee's for just a fraction of a second too long before he shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, but she's not coming for you. I'm not going to lie to you, Lee. She tried, but it just wasn't good enough."

Lee lifted his chin in defiance. "She's coming for me.'

"We caught her a few days ago. I thought we could use her to further God's plan, but that wasn't his will. We were forced to kill her when she tried to escape. It was a last resort. She would be the last person I'd want to cause harm to, but that's what happens when you do something as silly as listening to your heart. I was too busy trying to figure you out to understand how critical her situation was, and I just can't be everywhere at once. We tried to save her, but it was pointless. She lost too much blood. She died with guilty words on her lips. You were right about one thing. She was going to try to save you."

"She'll still come for me."

"She's dead."

"She'll come." Lee's unwavering words of hope seemed to send Leoben over the edge, and he braced himself for the inevitable impact of fists to flesh.

The punches turned to kicks as Leoben settled in to do as much damage as possible. Lee could only hope this was the moment where he would surrender to the pain. Either losing consciousness or dying from the pain seemed like fine options at the moment. His muscles were already tightening under the constant pressure and agony of the blows. He wasn't going to be able to take much more of this. Kara needed to hurry.

When his foot stopped meeting resistance, Leoben paused. He had broken the prisoner physically for the eighth time since Lee was brought to the facility. Each took a little longer than the previous time. For some reason, the young Adama was gaining strength and momentum instead of losing it. Leoben watched his prisoner begin to cough roughly and wondered if he had possibly pushed it a little too far this time with the kicks. There would be bruises. Three hated when he left bruises.

Lee tried to push himself back up to his feet, but every time he got both hands and knees on the floor, grip solid and firm, something would falter. First it was his elbows. Then it was his back. Now it was his knees. Lee tried to push the pain to the side and keep fighting to stand, but it wasn't working. His mind was stronger than his body.

"I have never understood where your faith comes from."

"The gods, dumbass."

Lee's lips turned up in a small smile, despite the blood he knew was coating them. He had forgotten Kara was still in the room as he was fighting to stay conscious. It was worth the pain of moving his lips just to smile at her.

"You still hold on to the hope that a dead woman, one who hated you in life, is going to be your salvation.'

"Death isn't going to stop her from kicking your ass," Lee hissed.

"Damn right!" Kara yelled, kicking the bed. "Damn fraking right."

"She is going to kill you slowly and with great care when she finally finds you," Lee warned.

"I'll be fine."

"She's going to eat you alive."

"She's dead," Leoben said, raising his eyebrow. "She is gone, never to return again."

"She will come for me."

"See? There's that optimistic faith again. Why do you trust in her so much?"

"Because she has never given me a reason not to," Lee answered honestly. He finally made it up to his knees with only a small amount of fresh blood dripping onto the stained floor.

"But where does it come from?"

"It comes from knowing there are things in life that don't change no matter how much the world does."

"But what is the reason why? Why do you do this? Why do you have this irrational belief that she can save you?"

"It's the same reason she never would have given up the belief that I would come for her." Lee glanced at the cot. It was empty. "I would have come for her."

Leoben reached down to grab a handful of Lee's tattered clothing. Lee had no clue where the strength to pull away came from, but it was there. It was just enough for him to set the Cylon off-balance. There was a loud rip as the clothes finally gave in to the stress. Leoben flung them to the floor in disgust and moved to get a better hold on Lee. "She's not coming for-" His voice cut off as his eyes rested on the tattoo painted across Lee's right bicep. "Is that…"

Lee looked defiantly at the Cylon but did not finish the sentence for him. He had vowed to not talk about the mark on his body unless it was absolutely necessary to buy Kara a little more time. All that mattered was buying Kara more time. Because she was coming for him. She wouldn't let him down, not when he needed her so bad.

"A marriage tattoo," Leoben said, still staring with an intensity that made Lee cringe. "I was not expecting that."

"So there are some things that you toasters aren't privy to?" That comment earned Lee another punch, and he found himself stuck on the floor again. His wrist was killing him from all the up and down motion. He could already feel bruises beginning to form on the bruises.

Leoben smiled down at Lee. "This makes her betrayal all the more interesting. She marked you and tossed to the side, and yet you fight for her? Humanity is unbelievably ignorant."

Lee could feel his hands moving into fists despite the pain. The toaster had no clue what he was talking about.

"I will be back," Leoben said, taking a step back. "I am going to keep coming back until I figure out what about you fascinates me so much. I can't decide if it's your foolish hope that humanity is going to win or your insignificant pride that won't let you see the truth." Leoben smiled at his prisoner. "Let yourself rest. God will take away your pain until we meet again."

"I won't be here."

The Cylon let out a loud laugh. "You say that every time, dear Apollo, and every time you are still here. When will you believe me? She is not coming for you."

"When will you learn you can't break me?"

"I don't know about that," Leoben said. "The way I figure that tattoo is the only thing you have of her now that she's dead. It has great value to you, which is why every day you refuse to give me what I want, I will personally take a knife and cut away a strip of that tattoo. I will keep cutting at you until there is nothing left. When that happens, I still won't stop. I will not pause until every last memory, every last thought of her is gone from your mind. I will erase her, make it so that she never existed. All you will know is the pain."

Lee wanted to argue even though the throbbing was keeping him from being able to move his lips. He looked up from the floor, and his eyes burned red. By the time his vision cleared, Leoben was gone.

Slumping to the floor, he tried to figure out just how badly he was hurt this time. There was a new pain in his side, one that felt strangely familiar but eerily new. It only hurt slightly to breathe, which meant the Cylon went easy on him for some reason. Pushing everything he could to the side, Lee felt his eyelids grow heavy and surrendered himself to the dark.

Just before he gave up his hold on reality, he heard Kara humming a Caprican lullaby, one that her father had written when she was too little to remember. He could practically feel the tips of her fingers as they performed a light dance through his hair.

"You are coming for me," Lee insisted one last time before letting go.