The next morning, it was back to business as usual. Why had Rene thought it would be any different after the IFB sealing circus? Maybe because she so wanted it to be different, just a little, because then she might be able to actually hang on and maybe keep the promise she'd made to the crusty old doc about the things she shouldn't be consuming.

But Starbuck's chrono had gone off early, and he stumbled out of their bed, ignoring her like he had the cycle before when launching. Sighing she shook her head. He was loyal to a fault. She liked that about him even if it meant that often duty would come before her. That's what she tried to tell herself as she thought back to the honeymoon suite where she had the most popular guy in the fleet all to herself.

Now she was back to competing with the Cylons for his attention. It was another reason to want to kill as many as she could and why she'd be asking for a duty change. That would not be a fun fight today as the Galactica was not Dante's Zakar. The colonials here were prudish, almost ancient Kobolian in their beliefs about women. If they had their way, she'd be in the mess hall cooking. They'd probably take her boots away too, I mean, she was pregnant after all. That was not what she had in mind for the next few sectars until she could get back to the cockpit.

If she couldn't fly, she could at least play with some explosives and help get the mines built and deployed. Asking for the transfer outright wasn't a bright idea, so she plotted out the closest she could get and then would just naturally shift over. If she used the rules and regulations against them, plus the Galactica's chain of command, just as long as this didn't get shot up too high, she could pull it off. She'd already had Alex go into the Galactica database and alter some of her service record. It wasn't too hard as Dante hadn't really kept track of their trainings and duties. Despite his favoritism towards those who graduated from the Academy, Dante didn't care about filling out forms. The man cared about results and if someone wanted to juggle explosives, he didn't check to see what body parts they had in their pants. He let them play with explosives and pretty much anything they wanted as long as they were working the fourteen centaurs or more. The man only got particular if they wounded an academy trained colonial in the process of their self-instruction.

But the Galactica, and more specifically Adama, was so much different. It would be a battle if she approached the matter head on. She was beginning to understand her husband a bit better and why he had learned to be suave and sneaky. If only she could ask him for help with this, but she suspected he'd hold to the Commander's opinions about women and weapons, that the two shouldn't mix. He'd proven he'd followed the Commander's decisions the day before when he didn't object to Adama's demands that she detail the abuse that had happened to her. If she was going to get her hands on some explosives and chemicals to do some damage to those who had attacked Jake and were threatening her family, she'd have to Starbuck everyone, including Starbuck.

Rolling over into the warm spot left by his body, she debated laying there and waiting until the last possible moment that she could, but suddenly she needed to remind Starbuck that they were still newly wed. So far sex had worked to divert her husband's attention from looking too closely at what she might be up to, plus she got something out of it too. The things he could do to her body helped to keep the voices quiet and silenced the need for something else, something chemical in nature, to help her through her days. The doc had gotten her sober and Starbuck's baby deserved to be born under better conditions.

She tossed aside the covers, and as she padded past Jake, she jostled him awake. "Shut your ears and don't come in."

"You needed to wake me up to tell me that?" he'd groused before rolling over and dragging the pillow over his head.

"No, but I thought you should know you're right. I do love him." She didn't think he heard her, but it didn't matter.

She didn't knock as she opened the door and Starbuck called out from the turbo, "Hey, we had a deal! Oh, it's you. You want in?"

Her answer had been to drop the shirt of his she wore to bed on the floor and to open the door of the turbo to join him. He didn't hesitate to take her in his arms, gasping as her hands found their way around him and gave his astrum a squeeze.

"Good morning to me," he said before his mouth locked onto hers and his hands began to roam, lingering longingly over the curve of her belly before moving on. The differences in their height made things a little awkward, but Starbuck was known for creative solutions as he lifted her in his arms and braced her against the wall of the turbo. Rene lost herself in the passion, drinking it up like a strong glass of nectar. She didn't even try to be quiet, letting the whole Galactica know that the honeymooners were home.

Afterwards, he was smiling as he shaved, and brushed his hair into place, chattering away, mostly to himself about how he was going to set up the squadrons on the Zakar and create a rotation so that he could see how the old Zakar pilots interacted with the Galactica pilots. His ideas for bringing over Silver Spar were interesting, until you factored in Bojay. She just couldn't get over her initial dislike for the man, mainly because she couldn't help wondering how he might have fit into Dante's crew. He would have joined in on the fun and games, no doubt about it.

But Starbuck trusted him and she had to admit, her husband was a good judge of character, probably better than her. Starbuck had disliked Dante from the moment the man set foot on the Galactica. She could try to give Bojay a second chance for Sheba's sake. She was looking forward to having her as a neighbor on the Zakar.

Interrupting her thoughts, Starbuck asked, "Cain starts training in a few days. I thought we could have a party in the Officers Club for him and you guys could play something. I think he and Jason might like that. Maybe even fit in some triad before and then dinner with the family, then off to the OC. What do you think?"

Nodding, she tried not to cry. How did she get so lucky?

It wasn't until they were both dressed and leaving the turbo that Starbuck remembered that Jake was there. Starbuck blushed all the way down to the neck of his tunic when Jake commented, "Good turbo or do you just really like hot water?"

"Don't make me kick you out," her husband had quipped back, but she could tell he wasn't serious. He got busy making the java and scraping together something to eat. Coming out of the prep area he cocked his head asking, "When do you have to report for duty? Are you on the flight deck or the landing bay?"

"Well frak, he's going to be checking up on me today," she thought looking away so he wouldn't read her intentions as she answered. "The flight deck. Starting a training on laser repair, just as soon as I find someone else to keep an eye on Jake. Can you wait for me?"

"I need to report in. It's just a turn of a corridor to get to the Council chambers. No one is going to attack you here," he'd huffed in annoyance.

"I'm getting up," Jake said from the sofa, swinging his legs over and making it to his feet. He was a bit wobbly, but he made it to the turbo and sealed the door.

Starbuck watched his progress before he turned back to her. "I can go get someone. Who's tapped for babysitting the big baby?"

She shook her head. She had no idea as schedules and duties had all been scrambled after the disaster of a drill. "Nik or Dara I think, but it might be Max or Alex."

"I'll track someone down, or he can come with me and lounge in my new office. Don't think I'll be leaving it for a while."

As Starbuck groused, she couldn't help reminding him, "Well since I can't fly, it seems only fair you don't either."

"I'm going to take a recon as soon as I can, just to remind them I'm going to be a different kind of Captain."

She nodded her head cutting back the words she wanted to snap at him. Of course he was going out soon. The enemy was out there and he was chomping at the bit to get back into a viper because the Cylons were a problem he could deal with. Humans wanting to do harm to other humans wasn't something he wanted to face. Plus, there was the whole issue of wanting to get revenge for the torture they went through on Caprica.

She jolted at the memory that burst into her vision, the white room, the wires, the pain.

She must have gasped as Starbuck was suddenly there, his arms around her, a concerned look on his face.

"I'm okay," she said before he could speak, but she'd broken out into a cold sweat. Desperately she wanted to push him away, to go to the kitchen and dig the pills out from where she had taped them to the bottom of a drawer.

"Or, I could stay in. I have paperwork to do. You could help me with that. You're better at rosters than I am and…"

Frak he was adorable when he was concerned about her, but it also didn't solve anything having him worry, especially since he couldn't do anything to make what happened to them just go away.

"I'm okay," she stated gruffly, pushing at his arms. "You're right. It's just a turn of a corridor and you have to report in. We'll be fine."

It was the wrong words to use and her strategy to push him away and change his focus didn't work. His eyes clouded with worry right before going steely blue. "That's it. Both of you are coming with me today. I'll just order it. My promotion was made official yesterday just in time for me to take credit for the drill as my luck would have it. So I'll just requisition the two of you to help me. Problem solved."

Taking a deep breath, she calmed the tremors in her hands, and tried to take a confident step turning away from him.

"No, I mean it. We're fine. You said they caught someone. Who?"

He shook his head, "I didn't recognize the name, neither did Crius. A Zenon or something. Maybe Zeus, I'm not sure, but he's not a warrior so as long as everyone sticks to the Galactica, I really don't think you're going to have any problems.

Wincing as she nodded, she swallowed what she wanted to say to her new man about his lack of brains. Civilians poured onto the Galactica all the time. Due to his popularity, Starbuck thought he knew everyone and everybody was his friend. She didn't think that had been completely true before she'd come along. It certainly wasn't the case since their rescue from Dilmun. His brawl with Pallus on the Rising Star had earned him some respect maybe, but while you might regard your enemy as worthy opponent, that was not admiration.

"It wasn't just one guy Starbuck, it was six or more according to Nik."

"I know that!" He said defensively, "They're working on it and I haven't forgotten. I'm checking in with security as soon as I get to my office."

Rene shook her head, "So fleet security not Colonial is on it? They're fraking idiots!

"I KNOW!"

She flinched as he shouted, but it didn't stop her from shooting him a glare.

He lowered his voice, stepping closer so he was nose to nose with her. "I have not forgotten what they did to him. I am not letting them get away with it. I'll be doing my own interrogation of the guy later, and having another chat with Pallus. You should have told me about his and Brody's threats. I could have done something then, but now, it's more complicated."

Nodding, she accepted the guilt he was laying on her. She should have done something about this sooner too, when Adama felt he owed her for saving them from the Cylons and everyone was a little scared about what she could do. She wouldn't have had to be sneaky. But it was too late for that.

Starbuck sighed in frustration as he watched her eyes carefully. "I know what you're thinking, that we are just going to brush this under a rug somewhere, but I promise you," he reached for her chin, lifting it so she would meet his eyes, "I promise you, I will find out who did this and they will pay. You understand? If this was random, that kind of evil needs to be dealt with. If it was targeted, well they're going to find out how ruthless I can be, you got that?"

She nodded, not sure what he might do, but she knew he kept his word because for yahrens, it's all he'd had.

He turned his hold of her chin into a softer caress of her jawline. "You should have told me, about the threats, about everything. You haven't had any problems here, right? Nothing physical anyway, just taunting, not that you would tell me."

She winced again. Of course Crius had told him. Like she always reminded the rest of the Rats, Colonials stuck together. You couldn't tell one without telling all the others.

"Why didn't you tell me? I'm on your side, you know that right?" Starbuck was getting better at reading her and she cursed to herself. She'd have to work harder on cloaking her thoughts.

Shrugging, she tried to think of an answer that he might accept, but the cold gray flint in his eyes told her he was in Strike Wing Captainy mode and any excuse she gave probably wouldn't satisfy him. She settled for the truth as the easiest diversion for the moment.

"Then you would have known all we had been up to and I wasn't getting death threats until I cut the supply. You weren't thinking that would earn me a salute from them did you?"

"Dammit Rene," he swore in frustration as he moved away from her, looking like he wanted to strike her himself. "I could have done something about it! I could have kept Jake and you safe!"

It was her turn to swear, "How the frak were you going to do that, huh Starbuck? By getting in another fight with Pallus and kicked out of the service?"

Her aim had been far too accurate with her words. She wanted him to understand why she'd kept supplying Pallus and the others with her and Jake's illicit goods, not blame him for the transaction.

"If I had to, yes! Don't you get it? I love you!"

The words were hurled at her and she took the punch to the gut he meant them to be. The force of it knocked the wind out of her with the reality that he would do something stupid and bold just to prove he loved her. She couldn't take the weight of that.

"Okay," she said a little breathless before getting control of herself. She so wanted to tell him he didn't have to do a thing, that he should stay out of it and she would clean up this whole mess, but he would have far too many questions about what she was up to. She took another deep breath, "Okay, I'll let you handle it. You trust the system, and I trust you. Fine, we'll do it your way."

The lie flowed liked sweet nectar across her lips.

"I didn't say I trusted the system. I said I know people," he replied letting her know he wasn't completely accepting her lie. "I will find out what is going on, who did this to Jake, and they will pay when I get my hands on them. They will never see another day and I…

"They're expecting me on the flight deck," she cut him off. She didn't want to deal with the thought of Starbuck getting caught and tossed out of the service. That was more guilt than she could shoulder today. She couldn't tell him how much she appreciated his vengeance, because she might say too much about her own and what she had planned. Rule number one she'd learned from Dante, silence is the best diversion of all. She needed him to let her take care of this.

"Look, Can we talk about this later? I need to get Jake somewhere so he won't pass out and die on me and I can't show up late or call out sick the first day. We can talk about this later."

"You can count on that pretty lady. This is not over," he said his eyes hardening. "He can't just stay here?"

She shrugged again, "Jake might be better off just reporting back to the Life Center. They can find something he can do even with a headache. They would watch his back and I guess I'll have to watch my own, because like you, I have a duty to do. "

Using the concern about who attacked Jake with a dash of the Colonial creed and piggy backing on his declaration of love seemed to work to throw him off the trail of what she might be up to, even if he still looked dubious. She added the final piece to her argument, "The enemy you really need to deal with today is out there, closer than we thought before yesterday. I put us back on our path and in their way. I have to do something about it or I won't be able to live with myself."

That worked to keep him off the scent of her true distress. Guilt was something her husband understood. He carried enough of it himself for deaths that weren't his fault, like Ari. The thought cascaded through her like a short in a circuit of a faulty control panel. Did he kill Ari? Not on purpose, no he wouldn't do that, but by accident or…

She turned away, shutting down her own mind's attempt at recalling the memory. What the frak was wrong with her today?

Breathing as slowly as she could, she did everything the opposite of what Dixon would want her to do. She didn't focus on the moment and try to let the image resolve itself in her mind because she didn't want to know. "Remain unseen," she willed the vision. It was best that image stayed locked in a crypt deep in the recesses of her stone heart. She sealed it up, shifting her thoughts to the mistake she had made not having Ari stay on the Galactica. She used her own guilt that came in like a wave to wash away the scene of blood and bone.

"It's not your fault," Starbuck said reaching for her, turning her back to him. "You did what you had to do and there are worse places you could have sent us. We've been safe for over four sectars. You have no idea what a blessing that was for the fleet, plus the extra warships you brought with us. You have nothing to blame yourself for."

His words were sweet, but they were sugar coated zeroes, sweet nothings and nowhere near the truth.

He looked down at her, his face earnest as he spoke with conviction. "It's not your fault. You didn't create the Cylons. They would have found us sooner or later. They were about to do a brain scan on me too, remember? This time we spotted them first. We got lucky. We will again. Besides, Luck is my real name. My own father told me so."

His attempt at humor worked as the words made her laugh. Chameleon had said no such thing. He had finally told Starbuck his real name at the sealing reception, a moniker that did not fit her husband at all. They had both agreed that someone named Gabriel wouldn't be blonde, or good looking. Maybe greasy haired mousy brown and a bit more feminine. Gabriel's were guys who read too much and never drank ambrosia, but sipped at vino and commented on theater reviews with their nose in the air at the mention of triad and pyramid. Definitely not Starbuck.

She shook her head at him. "Okay, but you can't have me just sitting around your office. I have a job to do too. Besides, I'll just distract you and I don't care who barges in." She winked at him, letting it help her chase away the visions she didn't want to have, and calling forth the memories she craved of the two of them together in a golden suite.

Starbuck nodded and sighed. "I'll go get someone, Jolly maybe or Boomer. Be right back."

She didn't stop him as he headed out the door. The sooner he got back to work, the sooner she could set her plans in motion. First things first, she had her own threat to deliver to Pallus and Brody. She couldn't get to Pallus today, unless Apollo really could make transfers happen with the snap of his fingers, but Brody was within reach. So were his friends. Salik was running contraband testing on everyone. She'd make sure the old doc wasn't wasting his time. Today he'd find something.

Knowing Starbuck wouldn't take long to find someone, she headed for the food prep area, digging out the can of beets in the back of the cupboard. Starbuck couldn't stand the things, so the can, emptied of its original contents and resealed, made a great hiding place. She pulled out the pills she had stashed there, uppers, downers, mood lifters of all kinds, choosing the most potent. She'd be stopping by the mess hall, but it wouldn't be to report for duty.

It was amazing how easy it was to make friends on the Galactica when you had a huge stash of jewelry taken from one of the best stores on Caprica. She had loaded up her pockets one trip just with earrings, well over a hundred pairs or more. Those tiny bits of colored gems had been more valuable than she ever imagined, opening up doors and gaining her favors all over the ship. Many of those in the Life Center wore them, and the extra glint of gold could be found in the lobes of all the child minders, and even Jason's teacher after Rene had to deal with the kid mouthing off in class one more time about how that amount of math wasn't really needed. He had a point, not much math went into the physics of flying.

Yup, half of the Galactica was sporting her gems, and today that would be including the mess hall. Hestia would pay her back with some warm java containing a little extra jolt, delivered to just the right guy. Jake could bribe Giselle in the Life Center about which names should be moved up on the list of those being tested for unauthorized substance, and Rene would sit back and watch as the chips fell. She would win the game this time. The mother frakers deserved what they had coming.