Kara looked down to Laura's bed and grabbed a blanket, placing it over her daughter's tiny body as she took her nap.

"Hey, Starbuck." A voice spoke from behind her.

She looked over her shoulder at him and grinned. "Hey, Helo."

He walked up beside her and gazed down at the sleeping child. "She really is beautiful."

"Yeah." Kara whispered. "I feel bad that you never got to see her. I mean, at least Sharon got to hold her once."

Helo reached down and moved a stray lock of brown hair from over Laura's eyes. "I see her everyday." He then looked straight at Kara. "You've done a good job with her."

"Really?" She questioned in surprise. "You don't think I'm turning her into a total brat?"

"No, I do." Helo laughed softly. "She's turning into you." He added, grinning widely. "But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing."

She smiled back at him softly and then closed her eyes in sadness. "I miss you."

"I know." He replied sincerely, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I miss you too. But I really haven't gone very far, and I'll watch over you for as long as you need."

She opened her eyes again and turned her head to look anywhere but at him. "Helo?"

"Yeah?"

She began reluctantly. "Is he…….is he all right?"

"Yeah, he's okay." Helo assured her, instinctively knowing who she was asking about. "You know, I had never met him, but I can see why everybody liked him so much."

"I know it must be hard for him." Kara added with slight guilt. "Seeing his brother and his fiancée—."

Helo stopped her, reaching out to turn her face back to him. "Jealousy, betrayal, resentment—those things don't really echo where we are." He smiled peacefully. "But even if they did, he would still be okay. He loves you guys; he wants you to be happy."

"Yeah." Kara replied firmly. "Yeah, he does."

"Are you happy, Kara?"

She let her gleaming eyes tell him everything that she felt, but answered quite simply with her words. "Yeah."

She then bit her lip and her eyes narrowed as she scanned over his face in examination.

"What are you looking at?" He teased.

"Nothing." She answered unconvincingly. "It's just…….I was looking at your eyes. I thought they were blue, but they're not really, they're more hazel than anything else." She then turned back to look at Laura. "But I guess hazel can look like blue."

"My eyes are hazel, and Sharon's are brown." He paused, staring down at Laura as well. "It's not unheard of for two people with those colors to have a child with blue eyes."

"Guess not." Kara shrugged.

"But not that blue." He quickly corrected, noticing how Kara's face snapped back up at his statement. "Laura's eyes are very blue. She has Apollo's eyes, Starbuck…… and she has your smile."

Kara sucked in a harsh breath. "She couldn't possibly, Helo." She whispered in disbelief. "That makes no sense."

He chuckled softly, his voice and image fading away. "Gods, Kara, when has any of this ever made sense?"

Kara came awake to the feel of an insistent finger poking against her shoulder. "Mama. Mama. Mama."

Kara groaned as she draped an arm over her face. "What, Laura?"

"I'm up from my nap now." Laura said simply as she stood next to the couch that Kara had been sleeping on.

"I can see that." Kara peeked over and laughed sleepily at the child. "Go back to sleep for another hour."

"Not tired." Laura shrugged as she began playing with the dogtags hanging off the side of Kara's neck. "Mama, only kids are supposed to take naps." She told her.

"Yeah?" Kara questioned as she grinned at her daughter. "Get your father to stop assigning double shifts and I'll never fall asleep on the couch in the middle of the day again."


"Starbuck/Galactica." The com crackled as Kara flew the last quadrant of her CAP and Gaeta's voice came flooding into her cockpit. "Come in, Starbuck."

"Galactica/Starbuck." Kara responded quickly. "Go ahead, Mr. Gaeta."

"You need to return to Galactica immediately."

Kara jerked at the urgency in Gaeta's voice. "Lt., what's going—?"

"It's Laura." He answered, knowing that those two words would be all she would need to hear.

Kara flipped her Viper toward Galactica and was on the flight deck in three minutes. Tyrol only had to say the word "sickbay" and she sprinted out of the hanger at a frantic speed, not even taking off the metal collar of her flight suit.

She entered sickbay in total disarray, breath heavy and uneven, sweat dripping on her face and making her hair cling to her head. She saw two medics that only seemed vaguely familiar standing over a med-cart. "Where's my daughter? What's going on with her?" Kara asked in a trembling voice.

One of the medics absently looked up at her from her clipboard. "Oh, Captain Thrace, Dr. Cottle's in the other room, he'll want to talk to you in a moment." She then went back to cataloging the drugs.

Kara slammed her hand down on the cart, causing the pills to bounce up into the air. "I didn't ask you where Cottle was or if he wanted to talk to me! I asked you were my daughter was and what was happening! And you better frakking give me a straight answer or I swear I'll—."

"Captain Thrace?" A gentle voice called in slight admonishment. "I thought we had an agreement that you wouldn't threaten sickbay personnel anymore."

Kara turned around and saw Nurse Coaker staring at her, her arms crossed in front of her; a friendly, but disapproving look on her face.

"They wouldn't tell me what—."

"They don't know what." Nurse Coaker responded calmly. "They're just cataloging the medicine." She gestured for Kara to follow her into a curtained off area. "Laura's stable now. She's in here."

Coaker held back the curtain so that Kara could walk through. Kara gasped when she saw her daughter lying asleep on the bed with sensors taped to her temple and two men standing over her. "What the frak is he doing here?" She hissed to Cottle as she pointed at the other man.

Cottle looked at Baltar where he stood on the other side of the bed. "He's here because I needed him to be." Cottle answered unapologetically as he held Laura's wrist to time her pulse rate. "Laura was very sick and I had no idea how to treat her, or even what medicines would be effective in her situation. Doctor Baltar is the resident Cylon expert; I thought he would know better than I would."

Kara clamped down her agitation at having Baltar in the room, because she knew that Cottle was right, Baltar did know more about Cylons than anyone else. She would push aside all other feelings she might have towards him if he would help her daughter. "Fine." She uttered through clenched teeth as she took over Baltar's place beside Laura's bed and gently caressed her head. "What's wrong with her?" She asked in a child-like whisper.

Cottle looked at Kara, his eyes reluctant and concerned. "She had a seizure."

Kara numbly shook her head in denial. "She doesn't have seizures. She's perfectly healthy." Kara looked up at him and bit her lip in pain. "She's a perfectly normal child."

Cottle also shook his head, but this time to refute what she just said. "You and I both know that's not true." He said softly, remorseful that he had to correct her. "She's not normal."

Baltar finally spoke up in a methodical tone. "She is developing at an astronomical rate, not giving her neurons and motor functions time to adjust to the irregular growth. I'm astonished she made it this long without experiencing any ramifications from her abnormality."

Kara shot him a simmering glare at the cold, technical way in which he spoke.

"How can you talk about her like that, Gaius?" Six asked sorrowfully as she stood beside Cottle, gazing reverently at Laura's sleeping face. "Our daughter is sick. Aren't you humans supposed to be compassionate? Don't you feel anything at all?"

Baltar closed his eyes and his voice dropped to gentle and considerate. "Her poor body and mind are both growing faster than she can keep up with, and the seizure is just their way of crying out."

Kara nodded at Baltar in hesitant gratitude. At the same time, Six looked at him desperately. "Will she be okay?" The women asked simultaneously.

"I think your daughter will be just fine." He answered both of them.

Cottle spoke up. "We did a scan on her, and so far we can't see that there will be any permanent damage, but that might change if—." Cottle stopped when he heard a commotion outside in the main area.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Lee's voice shouted from the other side of the curtain.

"In here, Lee!" Kara called out to him; stroking her daughter's hair.

Lee pulled back the curtain and quickly came to stand next to Kara, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Gods." He whispered to himself, his other hand reaching out to touch Laura, but pulling back, fearful that she might break. "The message said she had a seizure. Is she okay?" He looked up at Cottle pleadingly.

Cottle nodded. "We think she'll be okay…… for now." He paused as he tried to find a way to say this gently. "But as I was just trying to tell your wife, if the seizures continue, we'll have to reevaluate that prognosis."

"Why is she unconscious?" Lee asked Cottle as he finally took Laura's little hand in his own.

"Seizures are very traumatic experiences." Baltar answered instead. "Her body needs time to recuperate."

Lee finally noticed Baltar standing in the room with them. "What the frak is he doing here?"

Cottle snorted and shook his head. "Do the two of you share a damn brain?" He gestured at Kara and Lee. He then sobered. "Laura's also unconscious because of the medicine we gave her to stop her tremors. She should be awake in a few hours." Cottle then looked to the monitor that recorded her brain activity. "We'll keep her overnight to see if there is a recurrence, but if there isn't……she can go home."

"What will you do to stop them from coming back?" Lee asked.

Cottle looked regretful. "There isn't anything to do. If it were simple epilepsy, we would have some recourse to prevent the seizures—but it's not simple epilepsy." He took a noticeable breath. "You've been lucky so far, but I think you might have to adjust to the fact that this may be a permanent fixture in your lives now."

"Dr. Baltar?" Nurse Coaker said as she pulled back the curtain. "I have those lab results that you asked for."

"Thank you." Baltar responded, and then walked away from the area to examine the folder that she held out for him.

"And Captain Adama?" Coaker added, looking at Lee. "The Admiral is on the line for you."

Lee looked to Kara for permission, and she nodded. "Go. Tell him what's going on. I know that he's frakking terrified."

Lee tucked a sweat-dampened strand of hair behind her ear and then left to get the call. When he pulled back the curtain and walked out, Kara saw someone sitting in the opposite corner of sickbay that she hadn't noticed when she walked in, oblivious in her frantic state. She stared for several seconds.

Cottle noticed her line of sight and looked to the person as well. "She was amazing, Captain." He told Kara. "When they brought Laura in, even the marine was crazed, but the Petty Officer just told us what had happened in as controlled a voice as I've ever seen. It helped tremendously in your daughter's diagnosis and treatment."

Kara left Laura's side and walked to the corner. Dualla stood up from her chair and without preamble, Kara hugged her tightly.

Dee froze, at first startled by the open display of emotion, but she then relaxed into the embrace and patted Kara's back. "Everything's gonna be alright, Starbuck."

"Thank you." Kara whispered and then stood back. "I'm so glad you were with her. Cottle said that you handled it really well."

Dee snorted. "Maybe on the outside, but don't worry, the nervous breakdown will come tonight when I get back to my bunk."

Kara nodded in understanding. "What exactly—?"

"She was sitting on the floor of your quarters, putting together a puzzle." Dee began, her hands trembling slightly. "We were laughing and I got up to get a glass of water, but then I heard the laughing stop and when I turned back around, she was……" She took an unsteady breath. "I saw her shaking like that and something else kinda took over. I know I shouted for Corporal Venner, but then the next thing I really remember is being here in sickbay."

"Did anything happen, anything to bring it on?" Kara asked softly.

"No." Dee answered regretfully. "One second she was fine, the next she wasn't."

Kara felt an intense desire to sink down to the floor and curl up in a fetal position, but then realized that she was the mother; she was the one that had to be strong. So she locked her knees and stood firm. "Yeah, it really is amazing how things can change in an instant." She whispered in an agonized voice.

Dee almost felt like crying, seeing the Almighty Starbuck so broken over something that even she couldn't fix. "I'm gonna…….go." Dee said gently. "I have a feeling sickbay is gonna be overrun in a few minutes." She nodded to herself and moved to the door. "I just felt I needed to stay until you got here. But now that you are here, I know she'll be okay."

"I'm sorry, Dee." Kara said apologetically, causing Dee to look back. "I'm sorry that you had to go through this right along with her."

"I didn't really have a choice, did I?" Dee smiled genuinely, true affection radiating out. "It's my duty. I am her godsmother, after all."

Kara watched Dee leave and then walked back to Laura's bed. Cottle was still there and he saw how Kara's internal guilt distorted her usually confident demeanor.

"Captain?"

"I should have been with her." She uttered in repentance. "What the frak was I doing flying CAP while my daughter was getting sick?"

"No one knew she was getting sick, it was instantaneous." Cottle assured. "And you were flying because it's your job, and you're very good at it."

"Hooray for me." She rolled her eyes disgustedly. "I'm a good pilot."

"Its part of who you are. And Laura loves you; she wouldn't want you to give up being Starbuck just so you could be her mother." Cottle's voice was confident as he spoke. "Even stay-at-home mothers can't be with their children 24 hours a day."

Kara shook her head in self-pity as she held Laura's hand. "She deserves better."

"She's got better." Cottle replied firmly. "You're a good mother."

"Yeah." She said, the cynicism dripping in her tone. "Sure."

"I'm serious." He corrected. "Do you remember that first week you had her, when you were bringing her to sickbay every five minutes?"

"Yeah."

"You were shouting and agitated and…… well, I was frustrated and irritated and I remember that I said something—."

"Yeah, that sure is one lucky kid." She cut him off, quoting his past words verbatim.

He grimaced. "I know that you think I was being sarcastic and grumpy, because I usually am—but I was being honest." He gave her a small smile as she looked at him in surprise. "You should've seen the way you were making yourself crazy, Captain. You were completely frazzled; and it wasn't because of lack of sleep or because of being constantly assailed by a baby's crying." He paused to let it sink in. "You were frazzled because you thought your child was in pain, and you wanted to help her, but you didn't know how."

Kara nodded in confirmation of his assessment.

"Only parents feel that, Captain." He told her softly. "And only good parents feel that as strongly as you did."

Kara felt a single tear slide down her cheek. "She just—my whole life, I've only ever taken care of myself……and I didn't even particularly do a very good job with that." She chuckled sadly. "I never thought I would ever feel this way about someone—like I'd walk a thousand miles on broken glass just to save her from one second of pain."

Cottle chuckled too. "I was terrified for this child at first, because you're…….well, because you're you," He paused when he heard Kara snort. "And because I used to think that Captain Adama had never met an emotion that he couldn't stifle or keep hidden." He paused again as he heard Kara outright laugh this time. "But you're both different than I thought you would be. You should see your husband when he brings her in for her tests. He holds her hand the whole time—except for when she's in the machine and he can't. Then he just sits in a chair, chewing his nails until the scan is over." Cottle smirked as he looked down to Laura. "He wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to this little girl, and he doesn't care who knows it."

"We're doing the best we can." She whispered softly, looking to him for approval.

"Your best is very good." He told her as he walked to the exit, before turning to face her again. "And just so that there can be no doubt, I mean it when I say—that sure is one lucky kid."

She stood for several seconds after he left, then grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it to the bed. She sat, still holding Laura's hand and then put her head down next to her daughter's sleeping body. "Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer..."


"LAURA! What did I ask you to do not five minutes ago?" Kara shouted at her daughter from where she was lying underneath a Viper.

"Stop running around the flight deck." Laura answered simply as she skipped around the hangar.

"Well, could you, ya know…… obey me?" Kara called back as she poked her head out.

"I'm bored, Mama." Laura said as she ran back to stand beside the plane that Kara and Tyrol were working on.

"I'm almost done here." Kara told her apologetically.

"How much longer?"

"It wouldn't be that much longer if you'd stay close by so that I wouldn't have to look around to check on you every two seconds."

"Fine." Laura pouted. "But I'm really boooorrrreeddd."

"Chief, do you have that wire for the—?" Kara asked as he instinctively handed her the item before she finished her thought.

Tyrol lowered his voice. "If she's bored, why don't you let her go somewhere else? I could get Cally to take her—."

"I'm not letting her out of my sight." Kara told him determinedly, cutting off his suggestion.

"If you plan on doing your job, you're gonna have to let her out of your sight eventually." He pointed out as he squatted down and looked at the undercarriage.

"I realize that." She said defensively as she turned the wrench in her hand. "And I'm sure I'll get over this frantic feeling soon, but she just got out of sickbay four days ago, so you'll excuse me if I'm feeling a little over-protective."

"No need to get up in arms, I'm just saying that—." He was cut off as they both heard a crash from across the deck. They looked over to see Laura sprawled out on the floor.

"Frak." Kara shouted as she flew out from underneath the plane and ran toward her. Tyrol and Cally were close behind.

Corporal Wilkes was already at Laura's side when Kara got to them and knelt down. She knew that she hadn't had a seizure when she saw that Laura was conscious and whimpering. "I told you to stop running around." Kara admonished Laura. "What happened?"

"She tripped." Wilkes responded.

"I fell." Laura cried as she sat up. "Stupid floor!"

"Oh yeah, it was the floor's fault that you fell down." Kara scoffed. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you were running across it like a crazed person, would it?"

"No." Laura pouted, the tears forming in her eyes. "It was the floor's fault."

"Is she okay?" Tyrol asked as he stood leaning over her.

"She's fine." Kara confirmed as she looked at the abrasion on Laura's elbow. "It's just a scrape."

"It hurts, Mama." Laura whined as she looked down at her wound.

"I know it does, but you're just gonna have to shake it off." Kara responded, looking back up at her and smiling sympathetically. "Okay?"

Laura nodded. "But it hurts, Mama."

"You said that already." Kara winked at her.

"And I'm bleeding. So, I must be human, right?" Laura asked simply, looking into her mother's eyes. "If I'm feeling pain, I must be human. Because humans feel pain; they have no choice."

Kara shut her eyes at the familiar words and then pulled her hand away from Laura's arm as if she had just been scorched. Leoben's bloody and bruised face flashed in her brain and she had to shake away the image. She opened her eyes again and saw Laura wiping the tears off her cheek.

Laura looked at her and touched her own scrape, a small smear of blood getting on her finger. "Will I be okay?"

Kara nodded and forced a smile, her heart still beating rapidly. "Yeah, nothing's broken."

Cally spoke up. "Should I get her a bandage from the first aid kit?"

Laura's face perked up at the question. "I want one of the purple ones from sickbay that they put on me when they take my blood."

"We don't have any of those." Tyrol smiled. "All we have are regular bandages."

"Will you go get me one?" Laura grinned at Kara. "Please, Mama?"

"I'm not going all the way to sickbay when we have perfectly suitable bandages right here." Kara told her.

"But, look Mama, I'm hurt." Laura gave her a puppy-dog face as she held up her elbow to show off her injury. "See the big ol' scrape on my poor little elbow?" She pouted playfully.

Kara laughed out loud, now smiling genuinely. Cally also chuckled and the Chief shook his head in amusement. "Oh, she's good." Tyrol smirked, looking at Kara.

"Fine." Kara conceded as she patted Laura's knee and then stood up. "I'll go get you one. Stay here……and behave this time."

Kara left and Tyrol walked over to the other side of the deck when he saw that a Raptor from the Pegasus had docked and several of its pilots were filing out. Cally sat down next to Laura and they began telling each other jokes, both laughing out loud at the punch lines.

For several minutes, Captain Taylor, the Pegasus CAG, stayed next to Tyrol, going over an equipment manifest. But when the Chief walked away from him to retrieve something, Taylor looked over at Laura and Cally, and then slowly made his way over to where he was about fifteen feet from them.

The look on his face was cold and unforgiving as he spoke. "Are you Laura?"

Laura was pulled away from her conversation with Cally when she heard her name. She stayed on the floor as she looked up at him. "Uh-huh." She smiled in response. "What's your name?"

The laugh Taylor let out was filled with revulsion. "So it asks questions, I see." He hissed as he looked to Corporal Wilkes. "Man, they did a pretty good job with it. I can almost see why you people think that it's a little girl."

"I am a little girl." Laura answered innocently.

"Sure." Taylor mocked.

"Chief!" Cally shouted to Tyrol, who came striding toward them when he saw Taylor's close proximity.

Corporal Wilkes tightened the grip on her rifle and took a step forward. Cally pulled Laura up from the floor and stepped away slightly, shielding Laura from Taylor's view.

Taylor moved a little closer and Wilkes blocked his way, her gun held up across her chest. "I'm gonna have to respectfully ask you to step back, Captain."

Taylor looked the Corporal up and down with derision. "Get out of my way."

"Sure." Wilkes mocked back at him in the exact tone he had just seconds before. "That's gonna happen."

Tyrol stepped to where he was standing beside the marine. "Everything alright?"

"No. Everything is not alright." Taylor seethed in response, pointing at Laura. "Nothing will ever be alright as long as that thing is still around."

Tyrol shook his head. "Hey, man, you're gonna wanna stop." He put a strong hand on Taylor's chest. "Right now."

"Breathing our air, eating our food, running around this ship like she belongs here." Taylor shouted.

From several feet away, Laura put her hands over her ears. Cally just lifted her chin in defiance of what Taylor was saying.

"You're going back to your ship." Tyrol told him through clenched teeth as he shoved his shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere." Taylor took another step forward, but instantly found the barrel of Wilkes's gun pressed against his chest.

Taylor then got a distressed look on his face and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He started to try to speak, but he could only manage to move his lips; no sound coming out. His hand reached up to roughly clasp his upper arm. Right before he collapsed to the floor.


Admiral Adama was in sickbay less than twenty-five minutes after the call had come in to Colonial One. He entered and quickly caught the attention of Doc Cottle, who pulled himself from his conference with the nearby nurse and walked to the Old Man.

"Message said that there was an altercation on the flight deck between Laura and the Pegasus CAG." Adama said in lieu of a greeting. "And that both of them were hurt."

Cottle shook his head. "That message was misleading." Cottle verified. "Laura was hurt beforehand, she was playing and she scraped her elbow. Taylor didn't hurt her."

"So, there was no altercation?" Adama questioned, totally confused.

"There was almost an altercation. But Taylor never got a chance to do anything." Cottle then pointed to a curtained section. "He's now in one of our beds."

"The guard physically subdued him?" Adama asked in disgust.

"Didn't have to." Cottle answered, his eyes almost twinkling. "Taylor had a heart attack."

Adama swallowed loudly. "A heart attack?"

Cottle snorted in amusement and nodded. "Lately, it seems like the people that try to hurt your granddaughter have been mysteriously falling ill."

"Where's my family?" Adama looked around. "I thought they'd still be here."

"Laura was barely injured. We put a bandage on her scrape and she was fine." Cottle calmed him. "And for safety reasons, I thought it was best that your son and daughter-in-law not be in sickbay anymore."

"Why?" Adama asked, suddenly concerned. "IfTaylor's confined to a bed—."

"For Taylor's safety." Cottle smirked. "I didn't personally hear what Captain Adama said, but I believe the gist of it was 'Son of a bitch ever tries to come near my daughter again, I'll tear his tongue out with a pair of pliers'."

Adama also smirked, and then turned to catch a glimpse of Taylor as the nurse pulled back his curtain to enter. "Doctor Cottle, do heart attacks hurt?"

"Yes." Cottle chuckled. "They hurt very much, Admiral."

Adama nodded to himself. "Good."


Taylor opened his eyes as he heard the curtain slide back. The nurse strode in, then pulled the curtain shut again and moved to stand beside his bed. "Nurse Coaker." He greeted her. "Good to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same, Captain Taylor." She responded coldly, not looking at him as she opened up a medical kit. "I have to insert this catheter in your arm."

"Fine." He told her, presenting his arm to her. "Insert away."

She got an alcohol pad and began rubbing his skin with it. "You know, there's another pilot here on Galactica with the callsign Stinger. He was a civilian, but then he was recruited about eight months ago." She threw the pad into a bin. "He hasn't been flying for very long, so he's not half the pilot you are." She then pulled out a syringe and uncapped it. "But he's twice the officer………….and ten times the human being. Although, really, how impressive is it to be ten times the human being you are?"

"Is this gonna hurt?" He asked inattentively, ignoring her words.

"No." She said just as she roughly jabbed the needle into his arm.

"Frak!" He hissed in pain at her. "I thought you said it wasn't gonna hurt!"

"I'm sorry." She smirked icily. "I meant that it wouldn't hurt unless I wanted it to."

"What exactly is your problem?" He seethed as he grimaced in agony.

"My problem is you. You've never had an ounce of humanity, have you?" She shook her head in disgust. "No wonder people call that ship 'The Beast'. What else would they think with someone like you representing it? There are hundreds of good people on that ship, but people like you make them ashamed to be from the Pegasus." She shoved the tubing in and listened to him wince again. "People like you are why I hide the fact that I'm a transfer."

"You feel more at home here on Galactica with the toaster-lovers?" He ridiculed.

"I feel it's my duty as a healer to warn you……………" Her voice was low, but firm. "You should stay away from that child; otherwise, a heart attack is gonna be the least of your worries." She winked hatefully. "Hold your arm straight for a half hour, I'll be back to check on you then."

She threw the used medical supplies in the bin and slid out of the area. Walking back to her station, she came face-to-face with Admiral Adama.

"You're a transfer from Pegasus?"Adama asked her without emotion.

"You overheard?" She questioned, already knowing the answer. He nodded. "Yes. I asked to be transferred to Galactica, right after our first combined battle with the Cylon fleet."

"Why would you want to come here?" His eyes were soft as he spoke.

"I was in the Pegasus sickbay the day that they refused to let Lt. Agathon in." She responded, the exact same softness in her eyes. "I made an oath to heal patients, not turn them away when I didn't like something that they'd done."

"I see." He whispered.

"The few people you've come into contact with are not indicative of everyone on that ship, Admiral." She told him seriously. "I was disgusted with a lot of the things we did after the attack—a lot of the crew was. Not everybody from Pegasus is evil, or heartless."

"You're Laura's favorite nurse." He mentioned. "She's told me so."

Nurse Coaker smiled. "Laura's a very sweet child. She brightens the entire sickbay whenever she comes in here for her tests."

Adama's facial features had not changed throughout the entire conversation, and he cast a cautious gaze back to where Taylor was resting. "You were the one that handed her to Kara, that very first day."

"Admiral?" Nurse Coaker spoke up. "You don't have to worry about me, just because I had once been on that—."

"I know." Adama stopped her from finishing. "I know you won't do anything, I have faith in you." He finally smiled gently at her. "And what you've just told me has allowed me to have faith in many more."

"I'm glad, sir." She smiled back.

He pointed to the exit. "I'm gonna go check on my granddaughter." He said as he started to walk away.

As he got to the door, Coaker called out. "Tell her I said hello."

Adama turned around and nodded. "I will."

TBC