Chapter Three

Lee was at the rendezvous point in good time, and found a hiding place in the bushes. Best to be cautious.

After an hour he finally heard what he'd been waiting for – the faint buzz of a raptor overhead. Looking up, he saw a flicker of light and then a flash of white as a parachute descended.

The pilot had judged the release time well; the parachute landed accurately in the clearing. Lee crawled out from his hiding place and headed over to help the parachutist out of the harness.

He wondered who his father had sent. Not Kat, he hoped; she'd always got on his nerves. Or Helo – after all the resistance people had suffered at the hands of the Cylons sending him in was just asking for trouble.

By the time he reached the far side of the clearing the parachutist had got free of the harness on their own. The moonlight was bright enough for Lee to see the dark figure bundling up the chute. At Lee's approach the figure stiffened and turned, pointing a gun towards him.

Good hearing, thought Lee admiringly. He'd been making very little noise and hadn't expected the parachutist to be aware of him.

"Don't shoot," he said quietly. "Roslin sent me."

He expected to have to say more to prove his identity, but to his surprise he saw the gun drop immediately. The figure took a step towards him and said: "Lee?"

Oh gods. He knew that voice.

Why did it have to be her, of all people?

Lee closed his eyes.

The grass rustled as she moved towards him. "Lee? It is you, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Thank the gods." The grass rustled again and suddenly she was there in front of him. She reached out and pulled him into a hug, her arms wrapping tightly round his neck.

For a moment he was too stunned to react. The warmth, the comfort of her embrace nearly overwhelmed him.

"Thank the lords you're all right," she murmured in his ear. Her voice was trembling. "I've been so worried about you, Lee."

His throat was too tight to reply. He stood rigidly in her arms, fighting for composure. For the first time in five months his wall faltered slightly.

She drew back a little, seeming to notice for the first time that he was making no attempt to return her embrace. He felt her body tense slightly.

"Lee? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, and pulled out of her arms. "I didn't expect to see you, that's all."

He took a small but necessary step backwards, distancing himself from her.

"Didn't Laura tell you?" Kara sounded surprised. "She asked for me specifically."

Did she? Lee clenched his fists as anger surged through him. Of course she had. Just as she'd deliberately sent him out to meet Kara. To meet the one person who threatened his defences as much as his father did. More so, in fact – Kara knew him far better than Dad ever had.

Damn Laura and her interference. Why the hell couldn't she just leave him alone?

"Lee?" Kara definitely sounded worried now. "Lee, what's going on?"

Every muscle in his body tensed at the concern in her tone. For a moment he was tempted to just run, to lose himself in the forest and leave them all behind, to never have to deal with any of them again. Never have to feel anything again.

But he couldn't. Couldn't just abandon Kara here. Couldn't abandon the rest of the resistance.

He'd promised.

So he took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down.

"Nothing's going on, Kara," he said briskly, moving past her towards her chute. "Look, we'll have to save the reunion chat for later. We need to get this gathered up and get back to camp before the sun comes up."

"Always business with you, isn't it Lee?" she muttered, bending down to help him with the chute.

He could tell from her tone that she wasn't convinced, but also that she wasn't going to press it now. Good. It would give him time to get his balance back.

"How far do we have to go?" she asked, as they headed out of the clearing.

"Five or six miles. It's not hard going."

"I don't mind. Makes a change after being cooped up in the ship all this time."

They walked in silence for a while. Lee couldn't quite believe she was here, striding along next to him. It had been so long since he'd thought about her – since he'd let himself think about her. He hadn't thought he'd ever see her again.

"Lee," said Kara after a while. She sounded irritated.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to ask about your dad?"

"Oh." Lee supposed he should have. It was just – he hadn't seen Dad in so long, just like Kara. After all that had happened on New Caprica, everything from his life before that seemed remote and not quite real, like pictures in a story book.

A story that had happened to someone else. He felt light years removed from that Lee Adama, and he couldn't go back, however much everyone wanted him to.

"How is he?" he said finally.

"Very well, especially now he's not worrying about you," said Kara sharply. "He's even managing to cope with me acting as his XO."

"You're the XO?"

"Well, someone had to do it, with everyone disappearing off to the planet." Another sharp edge; she hadn't been at all happy about him leaving the fleet. They'd had a bitter argument about it – was that the last time he'd seen her? It must have been.

She'd accused him of shirking his duty, deserting his father. He'd been furious – partly because it was true, but mainly because she was the main reason he was leaving the fleet, although he couldn't tell her that. He'd needed to get as far away from her – and Anders – as possible.

Odd how pointless it all seemed now. All those fierce emotions, now as dry and withered as dead leaves. Yet another reminder of why it was better not to feel anything.

"Lee." Kara's tone had changed; it was softer now, more hesitant. He turned his head to look at her, but it was too dark in the shadows of the trees to see much.

"What?"

"Are you still angry with me?"

Obviously her thoughts had been running on similar lines. "No. Why would you think that?"

"Well, we didn't part on the best of terms."

"That was all a long time ago. Things change."

"Yes, they do." She sounded sad now. "Sam and I aren't together any more."

"Oh." Lee didn't know how to feel about that.

"It didn't work out. Pressures of military life and all that." Her tone was light, but he knew her well enough to hear the hurt underneath it. "Guess a week in Caprica wasn't enough to build a lasting relationship on."

"I'm sorry," said Lee awkwardly. He didn't know what else to say. What did she expect him to do? Pull her into his arms? Declare his love?

He might have done, once. Not any more. Now he didn't feel anything more than a mild curiosity, and sympathy for her that it hadn't worked out.

He couldn't feel anything more.

"Don't be." Kara was back to her usual brisk self. "I'm over it. So, who's going to be at the camp? Anyone I know?"

"Yes," said Lee, seizing the change of subject with relief. "Most of the fleet people ended up joining the resistance."

"Sounds like it'll be quite the reunion," said Kara. He could tell she was smiling.

"Certainly will. Let's see – there's Tigh, Cottle, Tyrol, Cally, Hot Dog, Racetrack-"

"And Dee, of course," said Kara, the slightest touch of strain in her voice. "How is she?"

There it was. The question he'd been dreading.

He felt Kara turn to look at him. "Lee?"

He took a deep breath. This shouldn't be hard. It was just – he'd never actually said the words aloud before.

"Ana's dead."

He heard Kara sigh. "Lee, I'm so sorry."

She reached out for his hand. For one moment he let her fingers twine with his, accepted the comfort. Then he realised what he was doing and jerked his hand away.

"Lee!"

"Don't pretend you're sorry," he snapped, ignoring the hurt in her voice. "You never liked her anyway."

"Lee-"

"We need to keep quiet, Kara. There could be Cylons around." He didn't want to talk to her about this. He couldn't.

"Bullshit." She sounded angry now. "Lee, I'm just trying to help-"

"Well, I don't want your help," he shot back. The wall was faltering again, and it terrified him. "I just want you to leave me alone."

"Fine," she snapped. "Gods, Lee! Less than an hour and you're already acting like an asshole. I don't know why I thought I missed you."

They finished the trek back to the caves in hostile silence.