As Starbuck flashed the sign for the band to finish their set, Jake nodded, and for once the Rats listened to him. "Only because I used their language," Starbuck mumbled sarcastically as his head began to pound with the sound of the applause.

Leaning over, Starbuck spoke to Apollo, "Wait here for me. I need to talk to Rene."

"Starbuck, let it go," Apollo said reaching for him, but Starbuck was brushed him off, instead turning to Crius. Dragging his confused wing mate a few feet away, Starbuck leaned in close as he hissed, "What do you know about what Rene is up to?"

Crius plastered on his face a goofy grin of an innocent country bumpkin as he shrugged. "Just living life to its fullest while fleeing the enemy. Nothing you don't know about."

Starbuck rolled his eyes so hard he thought maybe they would actually get stuck there like one of the orphanage matrons said could happen. "Stow it! Pallus cornered me at the bar and I need to know before this gets out of hand, so spill it."

Dropping the grin, Crius looked towards the band and Starbuck's eyes followed, noting that now with the performance over, Jake's features had gone back to wary with a hint of surly. Rene however looked pleased with herself, laughing as she began to coil up the cords. Starbuck looked away and tugged at Crius's jacket to get his attention.

"It's me, remember? Friend of the Rats? I can't keep the felixes away if you don't throw this daggit a bone. What is going on?"

A cloud of concern passed across Crius's features as he replied, "Not sure myself. She's not letting anyone in on this one. Said she'd bury the bodies herself. Something about not messing with your promotion." He paused before adding, "Which raises the question: who's dead?"

Shaking his head and grinding his teeth, Starbuck felt his back spasm. "Rene will be according to Pallus if she keeps it up. I need to know so I can fix this."

"So why are you asking me? She's left me out of it just like she did when the Galactica showed up."

Crius's words awakened alarms within Starbuck's brain. He knew why Rene hadn't included Crius then, and probably why she hadn't now. What she was up to was dangerous, probably illegal and could get someone killed. Most likely Rene.

Starbuck sighed as he remembered back to those early days and the few times he talked to her friends as she wove her lies to try to get them all off Dilmun. She'd flat out refused help, even his. Her motto was: I'm the only one that goes down for this.

He respected the sentiment. After experiencing Dante's form of reprimand, he could understand why she wanted to protect her friends. Dante was evil and she had nowhere to turn. Involving others was condemning them to a fate worse than death. Like himself and most of his friends, Rene had a strong sense of duty and responsibility towards her friends and family. It was one of the qualities he loved about her, especially when it came to how she dealt with the kids, her own and those she'd adopted. There were a hundred things she did without help, like the uniforms that went from a dirty pile on the floor to neatly pressed in the lockers, and the extra food that was appearing in their larders, not to mention the gifts she had been handing out to anyone beyond the family that lent a hand. She took care of the Rats and anyone associated with them and she did it on her own.

But often times her protective nature was misdirected. She'd obtained all those gifts she was handing out by stealing a viper and sneaking into enemy territory. The extra food was no doubt misappropriated from somewhere it was supposed to be assigned, with forged documents to prove it. Whatever was going on with Pallus was just another example of Rene's twisted sense of commitment that crossed the lines of legality. Crius's ignorance was the result of Rene trying to protect her friend.

Starbuck nodded to his wingman. "Okay. I get it. Look, why don't you get everyone back while I have a chat with my wife?"

"Chat or shouting match?" Crius asked with an unspoken offer of back up.

"That depends on her," he answered honestly before turning away and heading for the stage.

Jake didn't miss his approach nor Starbuck's mood, raising an eyebrow. Before Jake could ask what was wrong, Starbuck waved him off with a sign to keep his course as Starbuck stepped closer to his wife. Rene was focused on packing up a guitar when he tugged at her sleeve.

She flashed him a genuine grin that made Rene look yahren's younger, or more accurately, made her appear her age for once, and Starbuck reconsidered even speaking with her. It could wait until the morning, couldn't it?

For a brief moment his head swam with a sense of deja' vu. He knew that type of grin, remembered it from yahrens before and the various clubs of Caprica. Maybe it was the longer hair and the type of clothing she wore more often now than the uniform that was creating the illusion, but he found himself thinking back to the many nights he'd spent in the off limits clubs on Caprica and the other young people around him. He hadn't seen Rene, after all, there were too many yahrens between them, but he'd seen many girls like her, young and rebellious looking for a place to fit in. He'd been looking for a place to fit in too, feeling out of his element at the Academy. He'd needed those nights where he would get drunk on not just the alcohol but the music and the thrill of just being young and free, especially before he wasn't anymore.

Life had been so much easier when he was in his twenties. His biggest concerns had been about not getting caught as he snuck out of the Academy dorms each night, trying to prevent his various girlfriends from meeting each other, all while keeping his teachers fed with enough assignments that they wouldn't believe he was cheating on every exam. His real battles were between squeezing in as much fun as he could and his need to at least sleep some time. He was convinced his life was so rough then, and he was determined not to waste a single moment of his youth knowing it passed by way too soon. Where had he gotten all that energy? He could sure use some now.

He hesitated to speak as she looked up at him. He hadn't seen her look this happy since their sealing, the first one, the real one with the background of stars in the council chambers. Maybe Apollo was right, he should just let it go. Let her have her fun for one night.

Rene's smile slipped when she met his gaze and he almost turned away with the realization that Rene had been cheated out of her youth. Instead it had been wasted on outrunning the enemy and trying to evade one sadistic abuser after another. The images that came to his mind tamped down the fire of his anger. What he had gone through at the enemy's metal hands made him angry, but their little stay on Caprica had not been Rene's first time.

Whatever she was up to, she had earned the right to a little revenge. She deserved to be vindictive and more than a little angry when one factored in the added experience of being rescued by Dante and having to pay for that rescue with your flesh. Who wouldn't want to take a bit of vengeance out on someone? The problem was that it was the true enemy she should be venting that violence upon. They were so close he could almost hear the drone of the thousands of centurions on those ships. He knew he needed every pilot he had to come close to evening the odds, even those Rene was plotting against.

He sighed again as he felt the weight of the Captain's insignia on his collar. He couldn't ignore the problem with Pallus. Starbuck had abused his power enough for one yahren when he'd taken justice in his own hands less than a secton ago. He couldn't let her do this, whatever this was. Plus, Pallus had friends and was fully capable of his own retaliation. Then again, didn't that make the boray even more worthy of some payback?

The conflicting emotions crested on a wave of fatigue that almost made him decide to stay ignorant of whatever Rene was scheming. Then the wave crashed down upon him as Rene's features changed, just for a moment there was a flash of a face that was not her own, a face he'd seen once before as Apollo shot a creature that had come into their midst cloaked in a human form, but was anything but a man. Then it was gone, but in its wake was the knowledge that Rene's mysterious power to move space had a dubious origin. She was capable of much more than simple retribution.

Swallowing down bile, he struggled to find the words. Rene opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off, mainly because he knew she would ask once again if he was alright. He was not alright, not since Caprica, not since Iblis, not since the battle of Cimtar. Then again "alright" was merely a state of mind in the Colonial Service, attained mostly through showing up and doing your duty.

"We need to talk. Now. Corridor," he issued the clipped command, not trusting himself to say more before turning to leave the club, assuming she would follow, but in all honesty he didn't care. He just needed out of that room, away from the noise and the voices. His shoulders relaxed a little as she caught up to him before he was halfway across the club. She asked twice before they were even in the corridor what was wrong. He waited until they were around the corner before he reached for her halting her steps.

"Starbuck? What's wrong?"

Fixing his face with his best drill sergeant impression, choking down the conflicting emotions, he kept his words simple and on the immediate problem. "I had an interesting chat with Pallus. He told me to deliver a message. Knock it off before someone winds up dead. Want to tell me what he's talking about?"

She took a step back but he held on as she tensed. Her eyes narrowed, before she looked away. Normally she could lie with a straight face, but not this time as she mumbled, "I don't know what you are talking about."

He gripped her arm even harder. "Lie to me one more time and I am going to…" he hesitated, not sure what he could threaten that he would actually follow through with, and instead mumbled, "The one person I want to order around, and she won't let me. I thought being sealed would grant me at least the perk of some honesty"

Rene turned back to him, eyes widening at his words before she shook her head. "I am being honest. It's nothing you need to worry about. It's between me and Pallus and…"

"Oh is that so? I would think threats made to my wife might be something I should be concerned about, don't you think?" He held her tight while his other hand clenched in a fist. He resisted the temptation to shake her as a sarcastic grin bloomed on her face.

"No, not really, especially since it doesn't involve you. Besides, I handled it so you don't need to worry, Captain."

The overemphasis of the word was a deliberate reminder of the barriers that should be between them, but those had never bothered either of them before, so why now?

"You just don't get it do you?" His voice rose and echoed in the empty corridor. He winced as she twisted her arm to get away, but he held on and lowered his voice in an effort to gain some control. "Worrying comes with the promotion to husband, and death threats of any kind get top priority." He raised his other hand, unclenching to point a finger in her face. "This is about Jake isn't it? Look, I don't blame you for wanting to even the score. Did it ever cross your mind I want to do that too? He's family!"

The emotion he let out with his words got her attention as she lifted her head and appraised him with different eyes. He could see the debate she was having with herself as she opened her mouth, shut it, looked away then back to him, before nodding.

She kept her voice low as her eyes narrowed. "So it's okay for you but not for me? What the frak were you thinking, Starbuck? You could have been busted, or kicked out of your beloved Colonial Service, and that's if they took mercy on you!"

He felt himself grip her even tighter as he cursed, "Fraking Max. Knew I should have gone with someone else. What did he tell you?"

"Starbuck! I thought he was joking, but, what the actual frak? What about your Colonial Code? You are always telling us to trust the system and things are different, but then you…"

"It was a mistake," he cut her off as he felt the sting not only of her rebuke, but his own self recriminations. He let go of her like his hand was burning, taking a step back. He ran a hand through his hair trying to think as Rene turned this back on him like a viper using reverse thrusters. Lords, he was too tired for this. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to clear his mind, but her voice was there as he remembered sectar's before when she had explained the Rat's code, "Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof, distract and deflect the accusation, blame someone else. Works every time."

No, not this time, he thought, even though he knew he deserved the condemnation. But this wasn't about what he had done. That was over and done with, cooling in a cell on the prison barge.

He nodded slowly a few times. "I didn't want revenge, I wanted the guy to tell me who else was involved, but you're right. I could have wound up on the prison barge myself and.." he paused taking a shuddering breath. He held out a hand, reaching for her, but she took a step away.

Wincing, he continued, "Look, I made a mistake and it sure as hades didn't get me what I wanted. I'm thinking that Pallus hurting you isn't what I want either, so just tell me what's going on so I can put a stop to it before we are all in a lot of trouble. Neither of us want that, do we?"

He took a step towards her, but she took a step back, putting her hands out to forestall his touch. "I already did stop it. I swear, but, well, it just…got out of control. If they weren't such equine's astrums it might have just been one or two of them, but… it just kind of got away from me."

"What got out of control? What are we talking about here?" He tried to remain calm and found himself taking a step and leaning down, like he might with Kiff or Daniel when they were upset. "Just tell me, okay?"

Rene looked down the corridor again before she lowered her voice even softer. "I made sure Doc Salik didn't waste his time on those tox screens."

Closing his eyes, he tried to count to ten, but all he could hear was the last pilot he had to discipline protesting the claims against him were false. Disciplining pilots was his least favorite part of the promotion. It made him wish he could go all the way back to ensign, especially when the warrior denied he was guilty.

Opening his eyes, he reminded himself that he wasn't a paragon of virtue himself, not lately, but his mouth took over. "Frak, all those guys were right! They were innocent. Do you know how many I've had to put on report while they stood there telling me they didn't do it? What the frak, Rene? You've been poisoning pilots? With the enemy lurking out there ready to attack at any moment? Are you insane?"

"It was just supposed to be a couple, but those guys have made more enemies here than friends and it just…" She closed her mouth and shook her head.

"It just what, Rene? You just couldn't help yourself, is that it? One of my pilots is in the Life Center with an overdose, he could have died! Did you know that? What if we had a real red alert and half my pilots were high on something? What the frak were you thinking?"

Her voice rose to meet his own volume. "I wouldn't do that! And you're blowing this all out of proportion. It was one or two pilots at a time. And it wasn't enough for an overdose unless they were already on something. How dare you ask what I was thinking? It was the same thing you were thinking, revenge. So it's alright for you but not for me?"

He recoiled as his high ground in this fight collapsed beneath him. Then he crawled his way back up again. "One guy in the prison barge wouldn't make much difference if the Cylons attacked. Colonial warriors are a whole other matter!" He changed his tactics when her eyes flashed in anger. "Please tell me it can't be traced back to you?"

"Not exactly."

"Frak," he mumbled as his back spasmed again. He stepped back and leaned against the corridor wall. looking up to the ceiling imploring the Lords. "This isn't just pranks. This is serious and needs to stop before someone gets killed."

"No great loss if they died," she said.

Reaching a hand up, he rubbed at the grit stinging his eyes before he spoke. "And who is going to protect the fleet, the kids, your kids, the family, everyone? I can't do everything on my own! We're Warriors. We stand together and if we can't trust each other…" He hesitated, realizing he'd blundered into the heart of the issue for Rene, she trusted no one, not the fleet's legal system, not the Colonial Command, and probably not even him. There was no reasoning with her on that point. He'd been trying to argue it since the moment he met her. Six sectars and she still hadn't figured it out. But this wasn't just about her, not anymore. He tried again, "Rene, you're taking out Warriors. my warriors. It's not just a couple of pilots, if those guys fly drugged up and they make a mistake, you are endangering the whole squadron. You're endangering me and all your friends."

"No I'm not," she interrupted. "I didn't target anyone who wasn't already using, and," she held up a hand to halt him, but he had nothing to say. "And I swear to you, it was just two or three and then I stopped. But the people I had helping me," she shook her head again. "It's not me anymore. I swear."

"How many are we talking? I need those pilots Rene, frak," he swore. The commander had wanted the fleet to remain unaware of the battle that was possibly coming. He'd argued that everyone had a right to know, to join in the fight to save all their lives, but no one had listened to him. Even his own wife wasn't listening. And why should she? He was no saint, not lately. "They follow your lead," he reminded himself, but what were the right actions when everyone had let you down?

He sighed heavily, before mumbling, "With what may be coming for us, I need as many pilots as I can get. Do you have any idea how bad things are?"

"It's not as bad as you think," she scoffed. "You didn't find anything out there on your patrol and you have pilots, good pilots that you aren't even using. You don't need the lousy borays."

He was too tired right now to come up with any answers, plus what more was there to say than what he said far too often.

"Dammit, Rene. I know Jake is your…he's family, but…dammit!"

The words slipped out as he shook his head, but the curse wasn't aimed at her but at himself. He should have known she'd do something. It wasn't like her to just rant about the tribunals judgment. No, she was a person of action, but she often acted before thinking, like when she flew off to Caprica and arranged a whole rescue mission before even talking to him about it.

He flinched as he felt her hand on his arm. He opened his eyes to find her scanning him, taking a reading on how he felt before she spoke. A raging fire of defiance was burning in her eyes.

"This isn't about Jake. It's about Ari."

He winced as the scene of carnage exploded in his mind. His gorge rose at the memory of gaining consciousness in a nightmare of blood and bone splattered across his chest. He was once again crawling to Rene, trying to hold her but there was so much blood. The only thing he could hear was Ari's attempts to draw air into shattered lungs. Rene's anguish had ripped his own heart from him as he reached for her. They were of one mind when she pulled her blaster and ended the young man's suffering.

He flinched now as he had then when the trigger was pulled. That moment had changed everything in his world. He could never walk away from her now, not after what he had done. Those involved deserved to die, all of them. He owed her that. He owed Ari.

His voice was hushed as he asked, "What do you remember?"

"That I didn't make him stay on the Galactica and because of that, he's dead."

"No," he barked shaking his head. "You couldn't control that. No one could. You didn't make Dante choose him as a pawn in his sick game. I'm the one who should have thought before I just stormed the brig and…I should have…"

Shutting his eyes, he ducked down to avoid the wave of regret and guilt that loomed over him threatening to crush him against the hard stones of should have and could have. It's not how he lived his life. There was no going back. They had to live in the here and now. Ari was dead.

He flinched again as he felt her hand cupping his cheek. Their eyes met as they had in that moment, both knowing without a word what had to be done. It felt like a lifetime passed before he spoke.

"You can do a lot of things, Rene, but you can't bring him back. No matter how much you hurt them, it doesn't change the fact that Ari is dead."

Nodding, she looked away swallowing hard before she turned back and spoke, her voice soft and low.

"I only gave them something that would enhance what they were already taking. If they were clean, it just increased their focus. If they were using, well," she shrugged. "I am not the one who slipped it to them. That's where it got out of control. These guys have made more enemies than friends."

Nodding, he assessed the threat. "Who else knows?" Mentally Starbuck shoved everything off his duty desk wiping out his previous to do list. This would take days to repair the damage and bury it away.

"Just me, Jake and a few of the staff in the mess hall. That's it, I swear."

Nodding again, he tried to form a strategy for retreating from the situation, but this wasn't a skirmish he could map out on a star chart. "I need the pilots," he mumbled as he looked away, not willing to stare directly at the fact that he was condoning her actions. Lords help him. Had he suggested suspending punishments for Dante's followers because he thought they deserved a fate worse than what was dictated by the Colonial Code? Is that who he had become that day on Dilmun?

His nose filled with the smell of blood and burnt flesh as his knees grew weak. Rene reached out a hand to his shoulder, holding him up. He nodded to her trying to read her eyes. Was this woman truly capable of murder? He knew that answer already. The real question remained, was he capable of it as well? His friends had thought so with Ortega and that had simply been an argument over Triad. This, this was so much more.

"I know," she whispered to him, once again reading his thoughts. "They're not dead, yet."

"Dammit, Rene." The words came out in a heavy sigh as he tried to put his emotions into words. "We can't. We have to…"

"Starbuck?" Apollo's voice from down the corridor made both their heads turn as the Colonel came around the corner. "Everyone's wondering where you went. Am I interrupting something?"

"No, not at all," Starbuck said quickly wiping his face blank, looking to Rene to ask her to do the same, but she was already feigning innocence as she moved away from him. In that moment of shared instinctive response, he felt the sudden urge to tell Apollo everything, from the beginning to the end of it. Then he might be able to sleep with a clear conscience. Rene's hand gripping his made him swallow down the impulse. In a few sectons, when he and the family were firmly ensconced on the Zakar, then over an ambrosia he might unburden his soul. But for now, he looked to Rene as she squeezed his hand twice.

"It's Cain's night," she whispered to him, "And you need some sleep. Why don't you head back to our quarters? The rest of us will be in the council chambers for the night. Jason's idea."

"Am I not wanted?"

She winced at the words, letting him know he hadn't been successful in hiding the hurt he felt at the exclusion.

"Cain wants you there, but I," she hesitated holding up a hand before he could ask again, "I thought you'd rather sleep in your own bed rather than on the floor of the council chambers. We're sleeping all together."

"Of course you are," he mumbled without thinking, before moderating his emotions and his tone. "I'm so tired, I can sleep anywhere, and I would sleep better with you there."

Squeezing his hand twice, she nodded by way of apology. "We can talk about this in the morning, don't you think?"

Wearily he nodded and let her and Apollo lead him back to the noise of the Officers Club, where his nerves jangled with the laughter and jollity of the room. He tried to join in, knowing that too soon reality would come blasting into everyone's lives and nights like this would become rarer than a good night's sleep.