"What happened?" Lee almost shouted as he ran into sickbay, frantically breathing and still in his flightsuit. "Is she okay?"
Kara saw him come in and her heart leapt that he was finally there with her. "Yeah, she's okay." She stood up from her chair outside the curtained area that Laura was in and walked over to him, burying her face in his neck, her fingers feeling the sweat-dampened tips of his hair. "She's asleep now."
"I'm sorry it took so long to get here." He exhaled loudly as he wrapped his arms around her. "CAP was on the other side of the fleet, two Raiders popped up out of nowhere, and we couldn't come in until they'd been taken care of."
"It's okay." Kara sighed. "At least she was in sickbay when it happened."
"It was a seizure?"
"Yeah, a bad one." Kara finally pulled back from him. "She was in the machine, getting her weekly scan when it happened." She let out an unsteady breath. "She didn't stop shaking for close to ten minutes, but it was different than any other seizure she's ever had, nothing was working, she kept shaking and shaking and they kept giving her shot, after shot, after shot—."
"Kara." He stopped her nervous rambling by touching her cheek. "Just breathe."
She took a deep breath and looked to the ground. "She'll be asleep for hours and hours, because they had to give her so much medicine."
"But they finally gave her enough?"
"That's what Cottle says." She whispered, looking back up at him with uncertain eyes. "But I'm not so sure."
"Why?" He asked with fear dripping in his voice. "What do you think it was?"
"I tried to stay back, and just let the nurses and medics work on her. But you know how I can't seem to stay out of the way." She snorted deprecatingly. "Anyway, her hand kept jerking up, and so I came over to the table and I took her hand in mine. And when I did………..she finally stopped shaking."
He shook his head. "Kara, I don't know. I mean, no one knows more than me that you're the type of person that can stop almost anything with sheer force of will." He chuckled, rubbing her shoulder. "But it was probably just the medicine kicking in."
She chuckled back and closed her eyes. "Yeah, I probably am just giving myself too much credit."
"So, did they finish the scan?"
"No, she was only halfway through it." Kara answered. "But because she started shaking while she was in the machine, they were able to record something." She opened her eyes again. "Something interesting."
Lee's stomach turned over in fear and his entire body tensed up. "Something got activated?"
"No." She whispered. "Something shut down. Something's shutting down in her brain."
"Shutting down?" He almost screamed, his grip tightening on her shoulder. "Why the hell didn't you tell me that before? If she's gonna have brain damage—."
"But that's the thing, Lee." She attempted to soothe him, attempted to bring him over to her way of thinking. "Cottle told me the section of the brain that's shutting down is an un-used section, or it's un-used by humans anyway. Cottle says that there should be no side effects we would be able to see. He can't think of anything that could be caused by this that would change Laura as we know her."
"Kara, are you telling me—?"
"We always feared that the Cylons had some sort of connection to her. Well, what if they did?" She paused and bit her lip as hope started to rise in her chest. "But what if they won't anymore?"
Lee walked into the pilot's briefing already in progress and noticed that while the room was packed with people, it was totally silent. Not only devoid of talk, but devoid of any noise whatsoever. No sound of footfalls echoing on the floor, no rustling of papers, and no whispers of fabric as it brushed against the chairs. He could see the other pilot's lips move, but no sound came out. No exhales, no shouts, no laughter.
Lee walked in a detached trance to the front of the room. There was a grayish tint to everything, and he saw that everyone else was moving about, completely ignoring his presence.
He came to his podium and when he turned around, he looked up into the chairs. There was an out of place, but familiar pilot looking back at him from the fourth seat in the third row. Everything narrowed to just her as she spoke.
"You don't seem all that surprised to see me." Sharon declared, dressed in a flight suit.
"I'm not." Lee replied frankly. "I know that I should be, seeing as how you're dead and all."
"Yes." Sharon nodded. "The rules of life and death can be bent if the message needing to be conveyed is important enough."
"So convey away." Lee told her, his face remaining cold.
"You know, you were wrong." Sharon informed him. "The afterlife did take me. I see Helo everyday. President Roslin too." She smiled slightly. "She's actually a very lovely woman when she's not ordering someone to toss me out an airlock."
Lee stayed still. "Why did you come here, Sharon?"
"You've never liked me, have you?" She closed her eyes. "That's fine. I came to terms with that a long time ago. Because after all, this isn't about me."
"It's about her." Lee stated.
"And you." Sharon corrected. "And Starbuck." She opened her eyes again. "I need you to know, this was always the plan. You were always supposed to become Laura's parents; such was God's will. And even though he didn't reveal it to me at the time, I was just playing my part. And none of us thought that anything could thwart the outcome." She took a deep breath and smiled. "But I threw a kink in the plan, because the day you and Starbuck came to tell me that Helo had died, I saw something in the two of you that was stronger than God. And I doubt God would've chosen you if he had realized how strong."
Lee involuntarily leaned forward. "Strong enough to defeat him?" He questioned softly.
"That's up to you." She shrugged. "I fulfilled my part, as was prophesized. But I did it for the wrong reasons. I did it for my reasons, instead of God's."
"What were your reasons?" He again questioned softly.
"God prophesized that you would love her and take her as your own. But he also said that eventually you would reject her, and your unrighteousness would drive her to the Cylons." She looked at Lee in wonder. "But that day in my cell………I had a revelation. And I knew that God had prophesized wrong, because I saw no unrighteousness. I knew that if you and Kara chose to share your love with my child, you would never turn away from her. So that's why I allowed it to happen. To give you all a fighting chance. Those were my reasons." She nodded resolutely. "Laura will give you a gift, but you were my gift to Laura. And you can change the story, Apollo."
"Tell me how the story ends, Sharon." He pleaded quietly, watching as his fellow pilots rapidly moved and blurred across his line of sight.
"I can't." She replied. "I can only tell you how the struggle ends." A light in her eyes sparkled as she leaned forward in her chair. "It won't end with a computer virus or a nuclear bomb. It will end with a kiss on the forehead."
A white light flashed and Lee heard a distant, small voice call out to him. "Dad? Dad?"
Lee's eyes came open slowly as he felt a hand brush through his hair. He lifted his head from the sickbay bed and sat back in his chair that was beside where his daughter was lying, looking at him intently. "I'm up from my nap now."
"Hey, sweetheart." He rasped, his voice still gravelly with sleep. He gripped her hand that had been resting in his a little tighter.
"Where's Mom?" She croaked out, her mouth and throat dry.
"She went to go get a cup of coffee." He answered, smoothing her hair back and bringing a glass of water to her lips. "We didn't know you'd be awake so soon."
She took the straw in her mouth and sipped. "I had to wake up." She smiled weakly, letting the straw go. "I missed you guys too much."
He grinned and then placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"Why are you just sitting here?" Six hissed to Baltar as he sat at his desk.
He didn't even look up from his computer. "This is my lab, where else would I be?"
She moved around to where she was standing beside his chair. "You don't seem to be concerned that our daughter is not with us."
"Laura is not with us because she just had a severe seizure and she is recuperating in sickbay with her—."
"With her PARENTS?" Six seethed. "How can you allow that, Gaius?"
He finally looked up at her, the confusion etched on his face. "Well, what am I supposed to do?"
"Go get her." Six pointed to the door. "Make her come to us."
Baltar rose from his chair. "She's not ready. Even I can see that, so surely you must see that."
"It is up to God to decide when she is ready!" She screamed, walking away from him and pacing the small area around his desk. "Not us. And not her."
"You are just reversing everything that you've ever told me in regards to our child." He pointed out.
"That was then." She faced him, her expression desperate. "This is now. Things have changed."
He looked back at her uncertainly. "So……….it's time for her to join the Cylons?"
"It's going to have to be." Six replied fearfully.
He walked to her and cupped her face. "What is going on, darling?"
"It's starting to happen, Gaius." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "That which we have always feared………..but never voiced because it would have been blasphemy, because it goes against God's plan."
"What's happening?" He whispered.
Her lip quivered and her eyes brimmed with tears. "She is starting to fade from us."
"That makes no sense. Unless the Cylons broke the dormant link, then how could she—?"
"Stop thinking like a scientist and think like a father!" She sneered. "This isn't about her synaptic relays, this is about free will. And God has given it to all of us, including her." She began to scream. "But she has a more important destiny. God has chosen her, Gaius. He has chosen her!"
Baltar stepped back from her, panicking at her agitation. "I know he has."
"And by exercising the free will that he gave to her, she has been corrupted from his divine will." Six held her head in her hands.
"And she is turning away from you." He stated in a hesitant whisper.
"US, Gaius! Our child is turning away from us." She seethed through clenched teeth. She then got a determined glint in her eyes and bridged the small distance between them, stroking her hand against his chest as her voice softened. "All children at one time turn away from their families. But sometimes, you can get them back; if the parents fight hard enough to show them the way out of the dark and back into the light."
"And how would we do that?" He asked, closing his eyes.
"By showing her unwavering love, tempered by discipline…………..and control." She smiled forebodingly. "It may take some unscrupulous measures, but we will force her to see that we know what's best for her."
"You're afraid." He whispered, opening his eyes again to glimpse at the fear in hers. He shook his head gently. "And I don't think this is the—."
"She's not gone from us yet, darling." Six pleaded, gently kissing his bottom lip. "Fight for her."
"And is she having any headaches?" Baltar asked as he looked down at Laura's chart.
"No." Nurse Coaker replied. "But she is having some side effects."
"A seizure of that size, she's bound to have something." Baltar added, feigning innocence and offhandedness. "What exactly are the side effects she's experiencing?"
"She's bouncing off the walls." Coaker chuckled. "But she also seems out of sorts, kind of like her mind is racing and she can't shut it off."
"Well, we can't allow that to go on for much longer." Baltar nodded. "Too much of that can be very unhealthy. Has she been sleeping?"
Coaker shook her head. "No."
"Hmm, that's disconcerting. That was the worst seizure she's ever had, she'll need her rest if she's going to recuperate." Baltar closed the file. "Perhaps we should give her a push in that direction."
Coaker took the file and placed it back on Doc Cottle's desk. "Doctor Cottle said something like that, he even left a standing order for a sedative in her chart." She sighed heavily. "But I've been reluctant……….I don't really like to drug people unless it's absolutely necessary."
"She's been in sickbay for going on fifty-six hours now." Baltar smiled condescendingly. "Think of it this way; the sooner she sleeps, the sooner she can go home."
Coaker nodded and started to walk away. "I'll prepare the Yestradin for her."
"Actually." Baltar interrupted, stopping her movements. "She'd probably do better with Mynolin. It not only induces sleep, but it's also quite effective in quelling some of the restlessness and racing thoughts that you say she seems to be having."
"Okay," Coaker nodded again. "Doc Cottle said to do whatever you suggested, so I'll get that ready."
"Have you ever dealt with that medication before?" He asked non-chalantly, placing the seed of doubt.
"A few times." She replied, slightly taken aback.
"The only reason I ask is that Mynolin is a tricky drug, if you're off by even the slightest microgram; it either doesn't work at all, or she's unconscious for two days." He chuckled and raised his eyebrows. "And each dose has to be prepared according to the patient. Now, with Laura's rapid growth, her body is constantly changing. Sometimes faster than medical personnel can keep up with."
"Yes, keeping the dosage adjusted has been a difficulty." Coaker shook her head and exhaled. "Not only with the drugs we keep in sickbay, but with the syringes that her family keeps."
"I'm starting to think that's why it took so long for her medication to take effect during this last episode." He paused, letting it all sink in. "Not only was it the worst one she's ever had, but I don't think the dosage had been adequately adjusted to her new size."
"I see." The nurse whispered to herself.
"I'd like to prepare the dosage. With this drug, especially in Laura's case, it's very complex mathematics." He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's not that I don't believe in your skills as a nurse, it's just that I prefer to do things myself." He chuckled with self-deprecation. "Why do you think I've never had a lab assistant?"
"If you feel that's best." Coaker replied.
"I do." He assured, finishing off his plan to make her insecure. He looked square in her eyes. "And we want what's best for her, don't we?"
Coaker stood up a little straighter and smiled. "Of course we do."
"Hello, Laura." Baltar grinned as he pulled back the curtain. "How are you feeling today?"
"Alright." She smiled back as he came to stand beside her bed. "Just kinda—I don't know, different, I guess." She let out a loud breath and nervously adjusted the blanket over her lower half. "I feel like something's happened to me, like I've changed somehow. Everything seems brighter, more real; like I'm seeing things in a whole new way." She laughed lightly. "I just want to touch everything, experience everything. And I can't seem to calm down."
"You're probably just bored." He chuckled, checking her IV bag. "Sitting in this bed for two days can't be very intellectually stimulating."
"I'll say. Doc Cottle won't even let me get out of bed to watch any of the procedures he does on the other patients." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Some nonsense about doctor/patient confidentiality."
"Well, I have good news." He told her. "Cottle and I have agreed that as soon as you get some sleep, you can go home."
She shook her head and smirked. "I don't think I can."
He presented a syringe. "We've spoken to your parents, and both Doctor Cottle and I agreed that if you want, we can give you a mild sedative."
"If it'll help me get out of here faster.…….then sure." She agreed. "What is it you're giving me?"
"Just a slight dose of Yestradin." He lied to her as he injected the syringe into her IV. "We've given that to you before. It'll just take the edge off, make it easier for you to sleep." He finished pushing the unfamiliar medication into her IV. "Then you'll nod off for a few hours and when you wake up—you can go home."
"Thanks." She said, touching the IV site in her hand. "It's burning. It never burned going in before."
"Perhaps your IV site has become infiltrated." He shrugged, covering his tracks. "I'll have one of the nurses check it once you've gone to sleep."
"So, how long till it knocks me out?" She winked at him.
"It's not enough to knock you out." He laughed, tossing the syringe in the waste basket. "So, it'll take about fifteen minutes for you to go to sleep."
"Okay."
"While we wait, would you like a lesson?" He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. "I was sitting in my lab today, and I realized that we've missed our last two classes. I thought you might be thirsting for knowledge."
"You don't happen to have an electron microscope with you, do you?" She rubbed her hands together. "I'd like to continue our lesson on genetic splicing. I loved the idea of how—if you did it right—even the disorders that were inherently built into the body could be averted if you reattached that section of the DNA to an unaffected strand."
"Two different genes coming together to try and overcome that which is physically pre-ordained?" He nodded to himself. "Yes, I imagine you would like that." He looked right at her and smiled dishonestly, patting his chest. "But I'm afraid an electron microscope won't fit in this jacket."
She laughed. "Yeah, I figured that would probably be pushing it."
"It's funny you should bring up genetic splicing, though." He told her. "Do you know that some people believe that it is wrong?"
"Why wrong?" She responded. "I mean, if it will help the person to not be what they shouldn't have to be—."
"But who says that they shouldn't have to be it? If it's who they are?" He interrupted. "Aren't the scientists just going against nature? Aren't they just telling these people that it's not okay to be what they are supposed to be?" He hesitated for a moment. "There are some who believe that nothing is done by accident, nothing is done without a plan. And trying to fight that plan will just bring forth a slew of evils that no one had anticipated." He smiled gently and laid a hand on her blanketed knee. "They may have been trying to help at first, but what does it really accomplish to go against one's true nature?"
Her eyes began to get wide. "But if the person is aware of the problem, and there is something that they can do to fix it, and they want to fix it, isn't that in one's true nature as well?"
Baltar smiled. "That's a very good point. And it's brings us to our lesson." He reached into his jacket. "No microscope today, but a book fits nicely into these pockets." He pulled it out and presented it to her.
She took it from him and read the cover. "The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex."
"Given what we were just discussing, it's quite a coincidence that this was the book I chose from your grandfather's collection."
"This is Grandpa's?" She smiled, tracing the octagonal edges.
"Yes." He informed her, laughing slightly. "He told me I could borrow anything from his library if it meant that you weren't bouncing off the walls in here."
"What's it about?"
"It's about people trying to change the way of the world, trying to change an outcome that has already been written." He touched the book reverently as it rested in her hands. "It's about trying to fight destiny."
"It's a pretty big book to just be about that." Laura grinned.
"Well, that's just a general overview." Baltar grinned back. "More specifically, it's about a man named Oedipus, whose life was planned out before he was even born." He paused for a moment when he saw her blink her eyes to adjust to her new drugged state. "You alright, Laura?"
"Yeah, but it might be taking effect faster than you thought." She smiled, shaking off the feeling. "Please continue."
"A prophecy was foretold about him, and it wasn't a particularly pleasant one. Very many people didn't want the prophecy to play out, so they made plans to kill him right after he was born." Baltar took a deep breath. "But somehow, when the time came, they couldn't go through with it. They gave him to another to raise, and everyone thought they had outwitted the fates, escaped pre-ordination.Oedipus became another person, immersed himself in that life; never knowing, or caring to know, that he was supposed to be someone else. He was set on a different path than the one he belonged on, and great lengths were taken to ensure that he would never fulfill his destiny. But he ended up fulfilling it anyway."
She lifted her hand to touch her forehead, but the heavy weight of it made her quickly drop it back down to the bed. "What was his destiny?" She whispered.
"He was destined to destroy his family."
Her eyes glazed over. "And he did?" She asked in horrified awe.
"And then some." Baltar nodded. "Many more suffered than was prophesized, including Oedipus himself. Innocent people languished in pain, whole kingdoms fell to ruin."
"This is an analogy, isn't it?" She asked, her voice slurring. "Something that points out the similarities between two situations: Oedipus's and mine."
"You're close." He confirmed. "But I was actually going for another 'A' word. Allegory: a story that is told to convey a deeper truth."
She closed her eyes and let her head fall back to the pillow behind her. "And what is the deeper truth?"
"That you cannot fight destiny." He informed her. "The story will unfold the way it was written at the beginning. And trying to change the middle will do nothing more than cause the foretold end to come in a more catastrophic way." He saw that she was wavering in and out of lucidity, so he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out another syringe. "Many believed at the end of Oedipus's story that not as many people would have met such a tragic fate if the prophecy had been allowed to unfold the way it was supposed to." He flicked the syringe and stood up, pulling back the sleeve of her sickbay nightgown. "Fighting destiny, fighting divine providence, will inevitably cause more harm than if you had just accepted your path………and found peace in it along the way."
She winced when she felt the needle pierce the skin of her arm, but she made no movement. "I don't want anyone to die because of me."
"Trust me when I tell you there are far worse things than death in this world." He told her when he finished administering the drug. "Listen to your heart, embrace that which you know to be the right decision."
"I don't want to harm anyone." She whispered in fear, her sleepy face twitching.
"Of course you don't. No one wants to see anyone suffer………any more than they need to." He creepily leaned down and kissed her forehead. "But, Laura? Whatever your path is, how can it be evil? If you are just being what you are supposed to be?"
With effort, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "I'm very tired, Doctor. I think I'd like to sleep now."
He put the used syringe back into his pocket. "Of course." He nodded, motioning to the book where it laid in her limp hand. "Would you like to keep the book?"
"No, that won't be necessary." She said softly, resignedly. "I know the deeper truth that you are trying to convey. I've always known." She looked up at him numbly as he took the book and put it back in his pocket. "I understand the lesson, Doctor."
"She understands the lesson, Gaius." Six said reverently as she came to stand beside him. When she saw that Laura had finally fallen into a heavy, drugged sleep, Six took his hand in hers. "She is utterly amazing." She turned to face him, her eyes shining. "You should be so proud."
"It's who you are and you're never gonna change, so why don't you just accept it?"
Lee laughed loudly, looking around the table at the two women. "Do you have to insult me at my own dinner table in front of my daughter?"
"She's my daughter too." Kara laughed in return, dropping her fork down. "And do you think she doesn't already know that about you?" She leaned over and touched his arm. "Besides, I love that about you now, so it wasn't an insult."
He took a bite of food. "So, you're saying that you love me in spite of the fact that I'm a repressed, tight-assed bastard!"
She nodded, grinning widely. "Yes."
"How am I not supposed to take that as an insult?" He grinned back.
She bit her lip. "I said it in a sweet voice."
It's who you are and you're never gonna change, so why don't you just accept it?
"Are we done?" Laura asked softly, looking up from her plate.
The gentle, back and forth teasing between Lee and Kara was broken by the words.
"We can be done……..if you want." Lee nodded, his eyes examining Laura with concern.
"You barely touched your food." Kara pointed to Laura's untouched dinner.
"Not hungry."
"And you barely spoke all night." Kara continued, sighing slightly.
"Just tired, I guess."
Kara rose from her chair and went over to Laura, placing her palm on Laura's forehead. "Do you feel okay?"
Laura shooed her hand away. "Mom, I'm fine."
"If you still don't feel well, we can take you back to sickbay." Kara said, her hand now stroking Laura's hair.
"Kara, leave her be." Lee warned, smiling at Laura. "She just needs some space. If something were wrong, she'd tell us. Wouldn't you, sweetheart?"
What if her destiny is not to do something noble and righteous and pure to serve humanity?
"Sure I would." Laura smiled back weakly. She then got up from her chair. "I still feel unclean from being in sickbay, I'm gonna take a shower and then go to bed."
"It's only 2100." Kara told her.
"We'll clear out and go to our room." Lee interjected, getting up from his chair and gathering up the plates. "We'll give you the opportunity to catch up on your sleep."
Laura pointed at the table. "I'll clean up out here when I get out of the shower." She replied. She then started toward the bathroom.
"It's okay, sweetheart. We'll—." Lee was cut off by the shutting of the bathroom door. "—clean up."
Kara took the plates from Lee's hand and took them to the sink. "Does she seem odd to you?"
"A little bit, yeah." Lee admitted, coming to stand beside her. "But she hasn't been sleeping, and that was the worst seizure she's ever had, and she just got released from sickbay three hours ago."
"And she didn't ask to go anywhere." Kara pointed out as she poured soap on the dishes. "She usually wants to go to the flight deck or the rec room when she gets released from sickbay." She turned on the water and rinsed the plates. "She was in there for close to three days. I thought for sure she'd want to go somewhere, but all she wanted was to come home."
Lee took the washed dishes and began drying them with a towel. "The fact that she was in sickbay for three days shows that this was not just any other seizure."
Kara stopped what she was doing and let out a loud sigh."What if the thing that they saw on the scan………….what if the thing that shut down, was something that will hurt her?"
Lee pulled her to him and touched her face. "When did we switch places, huh?" He laughed softly, kissing her lips. "When did you start worrying about everything, and I start taking stuff on faith?"
Kara chuckled ruefully. "You're right. I should just give her time to recuperate."
"You heard what Cottle and Baltar said." Lee added. "They said that the activity she used to have in that portion of the brain could never be explained. They said that it didn't do anything."
"But she's half-Cylon, Lee." Kara whispered, her voice pleading. "We don't know everything about her brain, we hardly know anything about her brain—."
"We know enough." He interrupted by leaning in to kiss her neck. "This is a good thing that happened. She's just been sick, but when she gets over it, she'll be fine." He pulled back and smiled. "You'll see."
Kara's eyes came open when she heard the noise. Her head was lying on Lee's chest and she looked across it to the clock on his bedside table: 00:13.
She rubbed her eyes and then heard the noise again. She prodded Lee awake. "Lee?"
He groaned sleepily. "What, Kara?"
"Did you hear that?"
"No." He groaned again. "I was asleep."
A loud bang came from outside the door. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah." He shot up in bed and looked to the door, a sliver of light poking through the bottom. "The light is on."
They both jumped out of bed and came out into the living area to find Laura frantically wiping off the table.
Lee and Kara carefully walked over to her. "You should be in bed." Lee said softly. "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning up." Laura answered simply, scrubbing the tabletop furiously.
"We already cleaned up." Kara informed her, fear quivering in her voice.
Laura moved away from the table and went to the counter near the sink, cleaning there as well. "It wasn't enough, it has to be totally clean." She looked up at Kara and Lee with glassy, vacant eyes. "When the twelve brothers and sisters come, everything has to be clean."
"Laura?" Lee walked to her, his hands held up in a soothing gesture, belying the terror that he felt. "What are you doing?"
"I told you." She said in a trance. "When the twelve brothers and sisters come to find the thirteenth sibling, everything has to be clean."
"Corporal!" Kara shouted in worry through the door, tears forming in her eyes.
The guard was inside in less than three seconds, but they all stayed away from Laura as she cleaned maniacally while continuing to speak. "The thirteenth sibling that turned away from them will be found, and if everything isn't spotlessly clean? They'll know that she was a bastard child: unworthy and un-pure. And they will be disappointed." Her eyes had a fanatical, terrified sheen to them. "It's not good when they're disappointed."
Lee's face fell, his hope fell, his heart fell. "Little Laura?" He whispered. "You're sick, you need to come with me to sickbay."
"I don't have time!" She screamed at him. "I have to wipe down every surface, remove every fingerprint, erase every imprint!" Tears streamed down Laura's face. "So that I was never here. It will be better if I was never here. Because I was here, they will find the thirteen sibling. I've led them to the thirteenth sibling!"
Lee walked to her, but Corporal Wilkes spoke up. "You need to stay away, Major."
Lee ignored her and grabbed his daughter by the arms, stopping her hysterical ministrations. "Laura you need to listen to me." He rubbed a thumb over her cheek, feeling her tears.
"No! It's my fault, my fault, my fault." She cried, her eyes searching his. "I will cleanse, let me cleanse. So that they will never find you, so that they will never find the thirteenth sibling."
"Laura!" Lee screamed at her, taking her face in his hands. "You need to stop. This is your father. And I'm begging you, don't do this."
The tears continued to fall from her eyes and she looked at him for a moment like she recognized him. "Daddy?" But then her face crumpled and she let out an agonized sob, burying her head against his chest. "Please……..make it stop."
They both fell in a grief-stricken heap down to the floor and Laura continued to weep uncontrollably. Corporal Wilkes got on the phone and called for a medic, and when Lee looked up, he saw Kara kneeling on the floor less than five feet away, holding Laura's cat, sobbing just as fiercely as their daughter was.
Lee could do nothing but stroke Laura's hair and force himself to breathe as he watched his family disintegrate around him.
TBC
