"I hope there are no hard feelings between us." Zarek said quietly. He and Lee had been sitting for over an hour in the cave, neither of them saying a word.

"No, of course not. You just tried to kill me. Why would I have hard feelings about that?" Lee replied sarcastically.

"I think I made it clear that I did not try to kill you. In fact, the morpha injections made you a lot more comfortable. You didn't feel any pain those first few days, did you?"

Lee let out a small chuckle which resulted in another coughing fit. After the pain in his chest had subsided and he was able to breathe again without too much pain, he looked up at Zarek. "Don't think I believed a word you said about your reasons for giving me those injections. Whatever you do, Zarek, is for your own advantage. And about making me more comfortable … I'd rather be in pain and aware of the situation than lying around unconscious all day, especially with people like you around me." The talking made him cough more again a few times and he decided that talking to Zarek really wasn't worth the pain it caused. He was just about to lay back down, when he heard a sound from outside the cave.

"I wasn't lying. And your death certainly wouldn't have …"

"Shut up." Lee suddenly hissed.

Zarek was about to reply offended when he saw the alerted look on Lee's face.

"Did you hear that?" Lee whispered.

XXXXXXX

Impatiently Sharon stood in front of Tyrol's tent. She had called for someone inside twice already, but no one had answered. She was just about to turn around, when the door opened and Cally stood before her.

Surprised Sharon took a deep breath. She had expected Galen to open for her, not his wife. "Uhm, hi, I … I need to talk to Ga … the Chief. It's important."

Cally looked coldly at the other woman. "He's not here."

With that she turned around to get back inside the tent, but Sharon stopped her from closing the door. "Cally, I know you hate me. You made that more than clear when you shot me on Galactica." Sharon bit her lip. She hadn't meant to bring that up, the words had escaped her mouth before she could stop them.

"Too bad it wasn't for good. You're still alive."

"Believe me, I'd rather be dead than … this." Sharon said bitterly.

Cally was surprised at the disgust in Sharon's eyes, but she refused to feel sorry for this woman. No, for the Cylon.

"It's really important that I speak to him. Please, I'm only trying to help."

"If you have anything to say to him, you can tell me. I'll give him the message." Cally said coldly. She would do anything in her power to keep Sharon away from her husband. She had done enough harm already.

Sharon hesitated a moment but before she could come to a decision, she heard Tyrol's voice behind her.

"What do you want?"

Relieved Sharon turned around to him. "Can we talk privately?" There was no really a reason why she couldn't tell him her information with Cally present. But there were so many more things she wanted to say to him and she needed to do that in private.

Tyrol threw an uncomfortable glance at his wife. Then he shrugged apologetically and turned back to Sharon. "This better be important." Then he walked a few meters away from the tent to a place where they could talk undisturbed. Sharon followed him quickly.

"So, what is this about?" Tyrol asked impatiently.

"Galen, I … I have some important information, but before I tell you, I …" She hesitated, not sure how to describe the way she felt. "I wanted to apologize. I … I know you must feel that our whole … relationship was a lie. But it wasn't. I really …"

"Sharon, I don't want to hear this. If this is all you wanted to talk about …"

"Please, let me finish, Galen. Please." Sharon looked at him pleadingly. "I really loved you. That wasn't a lie. And I didn't know I was a Cylon. After the explosion of the water tanks and everything else that happened, I asked Dr. Baltar to test me. He told me I was human, so … I believed him. And I saw no reason to tell you about my fears, because I thought they were just that … fears. If I … if I had known that I would be capable of the things I did … shooting the Commander … gods, Galen, I would have pulled that trigger until I was really dead. I didn't know. I'm so sorry." A few tears were running down Sharon's face and she couldn't continue anymore. She had said what she had wanted to say and now she could only hope that Galen would believe her. She knew he could never forgive her for what she did, but he needed to know that her feelings for him hadn't been a lie.

Galen swallowed a few times. He didn't know what to say. He really hadn't expected her to tell him all this. And what was he supposed to do now? Seeing her cry, it reminded him of the old Sharon. His Sharon, before the whole world went upside down and the woman he loved turned into a Cylon. She was his enemy, but she was also the woman he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with. She had shot the commander, but she had also given them the radio. He had seen her copy on Galactica, pregnant with Helo's baby, but this Sharon was in love with him. "Okay." He whispered after a while.

Sharon looked at him surprised. This was not exactly the answer she had expected. But he wasn't yelling at her or calling her a liar, so that was progress. And when she looked in his eyes, she wasn't sure what she saw in them. He didn't look at her anymore with hate as he had in Galactica's brig. And there was no mistrust in his eyes like there had been when she had brought him the radio. He looked at her almost … friendly. And this was more than she had ever hoped for.

"So, anything else I need to know?" Tyrol asked after a moment of silence.

Sharon had almost forgotten the main reason why she had wanted to speak to him. "Yes, there is. The Cylons know about Starbuck and the others."

"What?" Shocked Tyrol stared at her.

"And they're already on their way to them."

XXXXXXX

It was almost night when Kara and Sam returned to the cave. Kara felt ecstatic. She had finally been able to contact Galactica. It had felt so good hearing the Old Man's voice again. She could hardly wait to tell Lee his father was still alive. She had heard the joy and relief in Adama's voice when she had told him that his son hadn't died in the crash. She had filled him in on Lee's injuries, though she didn't have the heart to tell him how bad it really was. She still wasn't sure if Lee was strong enough to hold on long enough for her to get him back to Galactica, not with the cold he had developed. But Galactica was on its way back and it wouldn't be much longer before they all would be able to leave this cursed planet.

Smiling, she stepped into the cave. Lee could probably read the good news in her face. Her smile faded quickly though when she found the cave empty. The fire was out and the few things they had were scattered on the floor. Frozen she stood in the entrance.

"What the frak?" Sam muttered. He stepped into the cave and took a closer look around. There were a few footsteps visible on the ground. "Cylons." He hissed.

"What?" Shocked Kara stared at him.

"Those footsteps ... the Cylons were here. How did they find us? Frak!" He kicked at an empty can lying nearby. Then he quickly packed all their things in the rucksacks. "We have to go. They might come back."

"What about Lee? We can't leave. We ..."

"Kara, neither Lee nor Tom are here. They either managed to get away, in which case they're hiding somewhere else and they won't come back ... Or the Cylons have them. In that case there is nothing we can do for them now. Either way, we have to get away from here."

"Sharon ..." Kara whispered.

"What?" Confused Sam looked at his wife.

"She must have told them. I knew we shouldn't have trusted her. Frak! Frakking Cylon, I'll kill that bitch!" Angrily Kara punched her fist on the wall.

"You don't know if it was her. Now let's go. We need a place to stay the night and tomorrow we'll look for Lee and Tom, okay?"

Kara only nodded. She didn't think she was capable of talking right now. Her anger at Sharon and her fear for Lee was all she could think of right now.

"Come on." Determinedly Sam grabbed Kara's arm and pulled her out of the cave.

TBC

A.N.: Thanks to Laurie for beta reading. :)