Lee had been trying to get his eyes to open for over an hour when he heard a soft gasp. He felt himself begin to stir as a hand came out to support his head. The touch was gentle, something he wasn't used to. Lee wondered if maybe Leoben had gotten tired of torturing him and another Cylon model had been sent in. He hoped to the gods it wasn't Sharon. He bit his bottom lip and forced his eyes open.

Kara was smiling down at him.

"You're back," he whispered.

"I'm sorry it took me so long."

Lee smiled even though it hurt like nothing he had fraking known. "It's only been a few days, and the way you made me laugh in Leoben's face was worth it."

Kara's brow furrowed, and Lee realized she had no idea what he was talking about. He shook his head to clear out the last few bits of haze, and that was when he started realizing something was off.

Kara didn't look like Kara.

Her hair was short, too short. It looked like she had stood in front of a mirror and hacked it off herself. Her hands were shaky as they gripped the shirt he had been given by Leoben the day before. Lee had never seen her hands shake like this. They were covered in blood. Her skin was smudged with dirt and grim, something he hadn't seen in months. Her eyes were roaming his body as she held him up against the wall. There was a haunted quality reflecting back at him that he had never seen before, not even in those tension filled days when they were hunting Scar. All of that added up to something that shouldn't be possible.

This time, she was really there.

"Kara?" he asked softly.

Her lips turned up in a smile. "Hey, Lee."

"You're here."

"You thought I wouldn't be?"

Lee shook his head. "Not for one second." He groaned as Kara pulled him to his feet. "Frak me."

'I'm sorry," she apologized. "I wish I could be more gentle, but we have to move."

Lee looked down at his hands. They were still shacked to the wall. "Um… Kara?"

"Frak," she growled. "I forgot." Kara looked down at his bound hands before quickly punching in a code. The shackles fell to the ground, and Lee did his best to keep from wincing at the pain of having his arms free for the first time in weeks. She bit back a gasp as she saw the raw, bruised skin underneath.

"How… how did you…"

Kara's hands came out to cradle his. 'I spent some time with a Cylon after the occupation. I picked up a few tricks." She held her fingers up to his lips before he could ask her what she was talking about. "Later. I'll explain later when we're safe."

Lee looked her over and seeing that familiar fire behind her eyes, smiled. "Lead the way, Captain."

"I always do." Putting as much of his weight on her shoulders, Kara led them out into the corridor. It was deserted just like Lee had hoped.

"Not many people venture down here," Lee informed her. "I think the screams put them off."

Kara's body tensed against him, but she kept pulling them on. "We have to go, Lee. We can do this later."

Lee nodded. She wanted to do this part in silence. He could understand that. Besides, he stood a better chance of not passing out if he concentrated.

They made it through the winding corridors in under five minutes, only having to change routes a few times at the sound of metal clacking and Cylon voices. Kara seemed to know exactly where she was going, but Lee didn't let himself dwell on why that might be. He could ask later. When it was safe. When his head was no longer buzzing.

The cold air bit into his wounded skin, and he suddenly wished there had been more time to prepare himself for this. The shirt and tanks the toasters had given him were fine for being tortured in a cell, but outside they only served to make him feel completely underdressed.

"Don't worry," Kara whispered. She was still supporting him quite a bit even though he had tried to shrug away several times already. "We don't have that much farther to go."

Lee didn't argue. Her body heat was helping him in more ways than one.

Kara steered them towards a large group of trees. As they got closer, Lee was surprised to see the front end of a military transport peaking out of the brush. "Picked up a new toy while I've been away?"

"The Chief found it for me," Kara said. She paused to help Lee slide into the front seat and then ran around to get into the driver's side. Revving the engine, she purposefully kept her eyes on the road ahead. "It was a wedding present."

Lee nodded. There it was. The first acknowledgement of what she had done.

"So what exactly was that place?" Lee said, turning around to watch the structure in which he had been held captive disappear. It didn't look so intimidating from the outside.

"No one's really sure," Kara said, steering the car over a series of bumps. "The tin cans started building it the day the occupation began. Not many people have seen the inside of it."

"But you have," Lee said, picking up on one of the many things she wasn't saying.

"I'm special that way."

"Are you going to tell me what that's about?"

"You weren't the first captive the Cylons took," Kara said curtly.

Even after months of separation, Lee could still remember the signs she gave that meant end of discussion. It was either a brisk tone or a fist to the face. At the moment, his body was glad she had picked the former.

The car filled with silence as Kara took the back roads through the wilderness of New Caprica. This planet still looked unfinished to Lee even after all these months. Sighing, he turned to look at the woman who had just sprung him from hell. She had changed a lot since he had last seen her, and yet she seemed exactly the same. He couldn't help but smile at that thought. "I like your hair," he whispered, reaching out to touch one of the small pieces.

"No, you don't," Kara smirked. "You've always been partial to long hair, Lee Adama, and don't you try to deny it."

Lee let out a laugh. "I missed having someone around who knows me better than I know myself."

"Get used to it. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good."

Kara was about to say something else when she saw Lee wince. "Are you all right?"

"The car seat is digging into my back," Lee said, shrugging off the pain. "It's not a big deal."

"Which is Lee Adama code for I'm hurting pretty fraking bad right now."

"I'll heal." Lee stared out the window a moment, but when Kara didn't tease him about trying to be indestructible and perfect, he turned to look at her. She was staring straight ahead, and if Lee was in just a little more pain, he wouldn't have been able to see the tears shining in her eyes. Knowing they were because of him made something ache deep inside. "Thank you."

Kara sniffled before turning to look at him. "For what?"

"For being you." Lee could hear the conversation dying down again and realized the silence was making him more uncomfortable than the pain. He had spent too much time being silent when he was the Cylons' prisoner. He needed the noise. "I do like your hair, Kara, regardless of my personal preference. When you're not busting me out of a Cylon holding facility, maybe you can tell me about what transition made you chop it all off this time."

The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile as she pulled the car out of the forest. They were driving through the abandoned New Caprica City. "You remembered about that."

Lee nodded, and letting out another sigh, let some of the tension leave his body. He watched empty tent after empty tent pass by and wondered why this city had gone to waste. The Cylons should have encouraged the settlement to stay active for nothing better than to have the ability to study humanity in its natural surroundings. There should be some sort of sign of life here.

Kara's voice finally tore him away from the maddening thoughts that had been consuming him for the last ten minutes or so. They were on the other side of the city. "So what were you saying before about me being gone only a few days and why did laughing in Leoben's face make it all worth it?"

Lee shook his head. Typical Kara. She wasn't going to talk about anything that happened to her, but she could still question him about what had happened on his side of the story. "You're going to think I'm crazy."

Kara shot him a skeptical look. "After everything we've been through?"

Lee took a deep breath and started in on his story. "From the moment the Pegasus and Galactica left New Caprica behind, you've been with me, Kara, and not just in the metaphorical sense. From my point of view, you have been by my side in every way imaginable. You were physically and emotionally there for me every night when my work was done. I would have full conversations with you about all the stupid mistakes I was making, and it wasn't just in my head. You were the voice of reason that told me I wasn't stupid to keep fighting to save those we left behind. I thought that you might fade away once the rescue mission was over, but I never got a chance to find out if I was right. Leoben took me and brought me here." Lee shook his head. "And damned if your annoying face wasn't there to great me when I woke up. So you see, this morning when you came to free me, I didn't know you were real until I saw how much you had changed, Kara."

The car filled with silence. Lee saw Kara's mind thinking over what he said before she rolled her eyes. "Oh, that is just too fraking ironic."

"What?" Lee asked.

Kara looked like she was going to answer him, but then she caught herself. Her face hardened. "I killed him, you know."

"Who?"

Kara's eyes rested on her blood-stained hands where they were clutching the steering wheel. "Leoben. He… he was on his way to your cell."

Lee nodded and looked down at his own hands. They had blood on them, too, but he was pretty sure it was his own.

The car filled with silence. Lee honestly didn't know what to say. He was glad? He wished he had been the one to kill that fraking Cylon? He didn't want to even imagine it?

None of those things really said what he was feeling. Above everything else, the immense flood of relief, the disappointment that he hadn't been the one, the curiosity as to how she did it. Above all of that, the one thing he hated the most was not having the chance to prevent it. He would have given his life to keep her from having to do something like that.

"We're here, Lee," Kara whispered, snapping him out of his haze.

Lee looked out the window. There was either a rudimentary foundation or a dilapidated building in front of them. Kara pulled the car to a stop and jumped out. Lee took a moment to look over the perimeter. No one was out in the open, and there weren't that many places to hide. There weren't many trees in this area, just large rolling mounds of gravel and stone. A few metal posts stuck out of the foundation in front of him, but they weren't big enough to properly conceal a person. "Where are we?" Lee asked as Kara came around the car and slid her arm under his shoulder.

"It was the start of a military headquarters. A few of us… myself, the Chief, Stinger… we thought it would be wise. Construction wasn't that far along when the Cylons showed up. We abandoned it for the first few months, but then we've been slowly working our way back in as the Cylons' interest in New Caprica City waned."

Kara walked them into the half-built building and leaned Lee up against a wall as they reached a hatch embedded in the floor. "Welcome home," she said with a smile before knocking loudly. "It's Thrace. I brought you guys a new friend to play with."

The hatch opened to reveal a rather young-looking boy. He couldn't have been more than fifteen. "Sir?"

"This is Commander Lee Adama," Kara said, already guiding Lee into the building. "He's to be given the same respect and freedom that you boys give me and the Chief, do you hear me?"

The young boy nodded and scurried off to pass on the order. It seemed like Kara hadn't lost one ounce of that intimidating air. Lee was glad. He had been afraid that he would come to New Caprica to find Starbuck had disappeared.

"How many are there?" Lee asked, pulling away from Kara's hold. He made his way to a nearby crate and, sitting down gently, waited for her answer.

"About three hundred. The Cylons hit us hard after the first few weeks of resistance, and most of the survivors were picked up during your rescue attempt."

Lee gritted his teeth. "We missed three hundred of you?"

Kara laughed and patted Lee's cheek with her hand. "That's the Lee I know, always thinking everything's about him. You didn't miss three hundred of us. Three hundred of us chose to stay behind."

"That makes no sense."

"Most of these people were instrumental in setting up and executing diversions while the rest of the colony boarded your transport ships. Their efforts kept the Cylons occupied while everyone escaped."

"Their efforts?" Lee asked, picking up on her deliberate use of the third person possessive. "Where were you?"

"I was busy."

Lee waited for her to elaborate, but she just stared at him. "That's all you're going to say? You were busy?"

"Cottle had chained me to a bed for the rest of the week. He said I was pushing myself too hard, that I still had to recover from what the Cylons-" Kara cut herself off as she realized she had already said too much. Her eyes fell to the ground.

"From what the Cylons…" Lee prodded.

"From what they did to me," Kara said, looking up to stare at him defiantly. "I was stuck in a bed when we got word of what was happening. Others did what they could to help, and I did my best to come up with a plan to get them saved."

"It obviously didn't work."

"Plan hasn't ended yet," Kara smirked.

"Frak me!"

Lee's eyes went wide as he turned to see Galen Tyrol barreling across the room towards them.

"Perfect timing, Chief," Kara said. She smiled at Tyrol as he pulled a very surprised Lee into a hug. "I was just explaining to Lee what a fraking brilliant tactician I am."

"She's the best," Tyrol said. He stepped back to look at Lee and shook his head. "You know I didn't believe it at first when they said you actually came back with him, Kara. I had to come up here and see it with my own eyes." Tyrol smiled at Lee. "No one thought she could do it, you see."

"Do what?"

"Save your sorry ass," Kara replied. "We got word during the battle that the Cylons knew the Fleet was returning beforehand, and for some reason, they chose to let it happen. They had bigger plans to fulfill, I guess. Those plans obviously included the abduction of the Commander of Pegasus."

"You should have seen the Captain," Tyrol interjected. "I thought she was going to grab her gun and kill every single Cylon herself when she found out they had you."

"Luckily, my rationality won out." Kara moved her hand over to grasp Lee's. "I came up with the best plan I could in the little window of time we had. The Chief and I chose to stay behind on New Caprica. We figured if anyone had a chance of forcing Pegasus and Galactica to do a second round of rescuing, it would be him and I."

"How could you be so sure? I mean, all my father probably knows right now is that the rescue mission was a relative success and his son had disappeared sometime during the battle. He's not going to make the connection that I'm down here, that there are still survivors down here. He doesn't know to come back for us."

A proud grin spread across the Chief's face. "Kara thought of that. She put Cally and my son on the last transport herself with specific instructions as to when and where the last three hundred survivors were to be picked up. Trust me. The Old Man knows we're down here."

Lee shook his head in disbelief. "You weren't lying when you said you thought of everything."

Kara shrugged. "I had help."

Lee looked over at Tyrol who held his hands up. "Don't look at me. The Captain keeps saying she had help, but I'm telling you there was no one in that sickbay with her. We were all doing our best to lend a hand to the rescue attempt. Honestly, I don't know when Starbuck became so modest as to not take credit for her own successes."

"Don't you have something to be working on?" Kara said. She jerked her head in a clear message for Tyrol to go the frak away before he said yet another thing she didn't want Lee to hear.

"I can take a hint," Tyrol laughed. "It was nice to see you again, Commander. I'll try to keep you briefed on the situation."

"What was that about?" Lee asked as soon as he and Kara were alone again.

"I never noticed the Chief had such a big mouth before," Kara said, still glaring at where Tyrol had been standing.

"He was right to wonder when you became so modest. The Kara I know wouldn't let anyone else take credit for her plan."

"It wasn't my plan," Kara insisted.

"Then whose was it?"

"Yours." Kara turned in time to see the confusion wash over him. "That's why I didn't call you crazy before. Because while I was being the voice of determination in your head, you were being the voice of reason in mine."

"I don't understand."

"Every single plan I came up with for the resistance was from you. You were by my side, whispering the mistakes I made in my ear, urging me to keep thinking until I came up with the right solution. That sending Cally up to Galactica thing? It was your suggestion." Kara smiled at Lee. "Like I said, ironic, isn't it? You and me both hallucinating each other at the same time."

Lee was about to agree with her when he heard someone call her name. Turning, he saw Samuel Anders walking across the room. He felt Kara's eyes shift back and forth between the two of them, and a sigh fell off his lips. "Why don't you go and tell your husband what happened? I'll catch up with you later."

Kara looked like she was about to say something, but then Anders was picking her up off the ground and swinging her in the air. It was the storybook reunion scene, a wife coming home to her husband after a dangerous mission. Lee couldn't tear his eyes away from the painful scene in front of him.

"Commander Adama?"

Lee turned to see the young boy who had let them through the hatch was now standing beside him. "Yes?"

"I'm Bauer. Captain Thrace told me before she left a week ago that I was supposed to make sure you found a room when she came back. I swear to the gods, I never thought she could do it. Going back into that place must have been awfully hard on her. It took her weeks to break out the first time. She said she was going to do it, though, no matter what. I probably should have believed her." The boy shrugged. "Anyway, she said you'd be tired so follow me. The beds here are pretty soft considering this is the base of an underground resistance movement. I know this is a big adjustment, but you're going to like it here."

Lee let the young boy lead him away from Kara and Anders. He was going to have to get used to the idea that having Kara back in his life also meant having Anders. She was right to think he'd need some down time to adjust.