Chapter Six

When Lee woke he was warm.

The sensation was so foreign it didn't register at first. It was never warm in the cave. No matter how many blankets he wrapped himself in, he always woke cold and clammy.

Not today though. His back was still a little chilly, but his front was snuggled against something soft and warm.

He opened his eyes and blinked in surprise to see a camo jacket with fair hair tumbling over the collar.

Kara.

Somehow he'd rolled up against her in his sleep. His face was pressed into her back, and he realised suddenly that his hand was resting on her hip.

Horrified, he pulled his hand away and swiftly retreated to a safe distance. How the hell had that happened?

Thank the gods she was still asleep. He'd embarrassed himself enough in front of her last night with that damned nightmare. He scrubbed his hands wearily over his face at the memory. He wished she hadn't seen that. She must think he was pathetic, shaking and crying out in the dark like a child.

He pulled himself slowly to his feet and picked up the bucket by the cave entrance. He might as well get the water as he was awake. But he couldn't help pausing as he left and casting one last look back at Kara, still peacefully asleep. Her hair had fallen across her face and Lee had an almost uncontrollable urge to go over and brush it back behind her ear.

Of course he did nothing of the kind. He had no right to think about Kara like that and never had done.

But some of her warmth still lingered about him as he went outside to get water.

----

When he returned, muscles straining under the weight of the full bucket, everyone was awake except Cally. The other three were talking in low voices so as not to wake her.

Lee put the bucket down in the curtained corner of the cave they used as a washroom, carefully not looking at Kara. He still felt embarrassed about last night.

"Who's first in the head?" asked Hot Dog. He sounded more subdued than usual, but then he was probably embarrassed too.

Lee finally made himself look at Kara and gestured towards the curtain. "Visitors first."

"I can wait," said Kara. Her face and voice were calm and neutral. Well, at least she wasn't looking at him with pity. "You did the hard work getting the water; it's only fair you go first."

Lee couldn't help feeling surprised. It must have shown on his face, because she visibly bristled.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just-"

"Out with it, Adama."

"You never used to care about being fair. Time was, you've have claimed first wash as your right and smirked while you did it."

"That was a long time ago," she said sharply, though her eyes were amused. "Things have changed, Lee."

"Oh that's right, you're a Major now, aren't you?" he retorted without thinking. "You have to set a good example. You must find it a real strain."

She was definitely trying not to laugh now; he could see her mouth twitching. She picked up his towel and hurled it at him.

"Just go and wash Lee, before I change my mind."

He caught the towel and retreated behind the curtain. To his surprise, he found himself smiling, and even more to his surprise, it felt good. He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

He washed quickly; the water was too cold to linger. He put his trousers back on, but left his t-shirt off. The left side was stiff with blood from where his stitches had torn last night; he'd get a clean one from his pack.

He pushed the curtain aside and nodded at Kara. "It's all yours."

"Great. Now I just need a towel."

"I think I've got a spare one." Lee walked past her and bent over to open his pack. "Yes, thought so." He pulled it out along with his clean t-shirt.

He turned round to hand it to her and stopped in surprise at the look on her face. She was staring at him with wide eyes and her mouth was trembling.

"Kara? What's wrong?" She was upset; he knew the signs.

She took a deep breath. "Lee – your back-"

Oh. He took a step back from her, feeling embarrassed. He'd had the scars so long now he forgot they were there most of the time, but the way she was looking at him made him feel acutely self-conscious.

"What happened to you?"

"Cylons," he said shortly. He really didn't want to talk about this.

"When they captured you?"

Damn. Someone had been talking to her – Laura, probably, as part of her grand plan to get him acting normally again. Whatever 'normal' was.

Perhaps he could distract her. He forced a smile and spoke as carelessly as he could. "If you think my scars are impressive, you should see Hot Dog's." He grinned at the younger man, knowing he wouldn't mind; they'd joked about this before.

Sure enough Hot Dog grinned back. "Well, they should be, Apollo. I had weeks to perfect them, after all. You only had days."

"I think I did pretty well with the time I was given."

Tyrol groaned. "Do you have to turn everything into a bragging session, Costanza?"

Hot Dog laughed. "Cool it, Chief. You're just jealous cause you don't have any. I guess you just didn't have any information valuable enough."

Tyrol adopted a long-suffering expression. "Yes, Costanza, I'm really jealous. A little flogging would have really brightened up the routine of prison life."

"For frak's sake!" That was Kara. She was glaring at all of them, her cheeks flushed and angry. "You three are unbelievable!"

With that she grabbed the towel from Lee's hand and stalked behind the curtain.

Lee smiled to himself. Distraction successfully accomplished.

He didn't want her sympathy or her pity, not about this. Didn't think he could bear it.

Whatever had happened to him, he was still alive. It was more than Ana was.

----

Lee waited until Kara was safely busy in her meeting with Laura and Tigh before he slipped out of the caves. He didn't want her asking where he was going or insisting on coming with him.

He nodded to the sentries on duty. "Just going out hunting," he said in explanation, although they were hardly going to question him; they all remembered he'd run this place once.

Sometimes he felt bad about the way he had let it slide, had let Laura and Tigh take over. But they were doing a good job, and he just didn't have the energy any more to run things the way he used to. Besides, he had other priorities to see to now.

He headed out into the woods in the direction of New Caprica town, managing to pot a couple of rabbits along the way to maintain his cover. He stopped when he reached the river and settled down in the undergrowth to wait. This was the only fordable part of the river for miles; if the man he was waiting for appeared, he'd come this way.

He might not appear, but Lee was fairly sure he would. Laura would almost certainly have summoned him to the caves as soon as she knew the fleet was back. She wouldn't be making any evacuation plans without his advice.

And if he was wrong – well, he'd only wasted a few hours of his time, and he'd head down to the town after dark and contact him that way.

----

His time wasn't wasted. After an hour or so he heard someone approaching through the trees, and Felix Gaeta's familiar figure appeared on the other side of the ford.

Lee emerged from his hiding place. "Felix!"

Gaeta stiffened and lifted his gun instinctively, ready to fire. He relaxed when Lee stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello Lee." He splashed quickly across the ford and took Lee's outstretched hand. "How are you?"

"All right," Lee replied. Somehow he didn't resent the question when Gaeta asked it. "How about you?"

"I'm fine," said Gaeta. Looking at his strained face, Lee knew it was as much of a lie as his own reply had been, but he didn't challenge it any more than Gaeta had him. They had an unspoken agreement about such things.

Lee was always amazed that Gaeta hadn't had a breakdown long ago. Spying on Baltar and the Cylons while working so closely with them, under constant threat of exposure, would play havoc with anyone's nerves, especially after what had happened to Dee. Lee wasn't sure he could have coped with it himself. There were obviously hidden strengths in Gaeta that he had never suspected were there back on Galactica.

Not that he'd really known Gaeta that well until he married Dee and moved down to the planet. Dee and Gaeta had been close friends and the three of them had spent a lot of time together before the Cylons invaded.

"So, why has Roslin summoned me?" Gaeta asked, falling into step beside Lee as they headed into the woods. "I hope it's important. I don't like coming up here in daylight unless it's absolutely necessary."

"It's definitely important," said Lee. "The fleet's back."

Gaeta stopped dead in mid-stride. "What?"

Lee turned slowly to look at him. "I said the fleet's back."

"Really?" Gaeta's eyes were wide and desperate.

"Really," said Lee firmly, suddenly understanding. "It's true."

Utter relief spread across Gaeta's face. He closed his eyes.

Lee stayed silent for a moment, letting the other man absorb the news. Looking at his face now, he realised that Gaeta had been closer to breaking than he'd thought.

Finally Gaeta took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He smiled awkwardly at Lee.

"I'm sorry. It's just – it's been so long. I was beginning to be afraid they weren't coming back."

Lee shrugged. "I was sure they weren't."

Gaeta looked slightly shocked. "Lee, surely you know your father would never leave us behind!"

There was utter conviction in his tone. How did his father manage to inspire such faith in people? Lee had never understood it.

"Looks like you were right," he said appeasingly.

A memory suddenly swam to the surface of his mind.

If it was you we'd never leave.

He hadn't believed his father at the time. Maybe he should have.

The thought made him feel a little warmer inside.

"Things must be fairly chaotic up at the caves," Gaeta commented, starting forward again.

"They will be now," agreed Lee, following. "Kara's here, and there's a big meeting this afternoon to outline my father's rescue plan."

"So that's why they wanted me here." Gaeta cast a sideways look at Lee. "I imagine they won't waste too much time putting this plan into action. The fleet aren't going to be able to hover up there for too long without the Cylons spotting them."

"No."

A smile spread across Gaeta's face. "Now I understand why you came to meet me. We're going to have to move up the timing of our plans, aren't we? One in particular."

Lee nodded. Gaeta had always been quick. "Otherwise we're going to lose our opportunity for good. Can it be done?"

"Oh, yes. I've had the lure in place for weeks. It's just a question of using it."

Lee took a deep breath. "Felix-"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you still want to do this?"

Gaeta stopped and turned to face him. His voice was suddenly hard. "Why? Are you having second thoughts?"

"Of course not!"

"Well, neither am I. Ana was my friend for a lot longer than she was your wife, Lee."

Lee had never heard the usually mild-mannered Gaeta speak so harshly. He flushed, feeling slightly ashamed of himself.

"I know. I'm sorry, Felix."

----

They arrived back at the caves just in time for the meeting. Tigh drew Gaeta away, presumably for a quick consultation with Laura.

Lee headed for the main cavern. He could tell immediately that the news of the fleet's return was now common knowledge. The cavern throbbed with noise. People were laughing, crying, hugging wherever he looked. Lee found a corner at the back of the cavern and settled down to watch the show.

Laura opened the meeting, officially announcing the fleet's return and assuring everyone that plans were in hand to evacuate all the colonists as soon as possible. Then Kara and Tigh stood up to explain the plan.

Kara looked rather bewildered at the roar of applause that greeted her. But then she'd never really understood just how popular she'd been in the fleet, or how celebrated her exploits had become. Seeing her again gave them all faith that they'd get out of this – if anyone could pull it off it was Starbuck, the pilot whose crazy gambles somehow always succeeded.

Lee couldn't help smiling a little himself. It was good to see her again.

He wasn't too surprised at the content of the plan Kara outlined. It was fairly obvious – distract the Cylons with a few resistance attacks on their bases around the town, while the agents operating in the town got the civilians out to rendezvous points with raptors. He was more interested in the parts Kara left out, such as how exactly the fleet were going to deal with the two Cylon basestars guarding the planet. It would have to be something fairly spectacular, though he was sure his dad wouldn't disappoint him.

Then there was the fact that the Cylons on the planet wouldn't just let the colonists go without a fight. There were going to be casualties, and probably heavy ones. He wondered how many of the people celebrating in this cavern would actually make it back to the fleet.

Tigh started assigning duties and missions, but Lee's attention drifted. He had plans of his own to make, and he needed to make them fast. He wanted to see the back of this planet as much as anyone, and he would do whatever was required of him to make the rescue mission a success.

But he wasn't ready to leave New Caprica just yet.

He had some scores to settle first.