Kestra ran through the streets of New Caprica. The bombs had already been set off and the evacuation plans were in effect. She wrapped an arm around Maya as she ushered her toward her evacuation ship. The two marines that had been assigned to Maya were on either side of them.

"Wait," Maya said as she caught sight of Tory.

"Maya we can't stop," Kestra insisted but she was already making a beeline for Tory.

"Tory, will you tell Laura I can't thank her enough," she said to Roslin's aide.

"Tell her yourself when this is all over," Tory said pointedly. She made eye contact with Kestra and nodded.

"Come on Maya, we have to get to the ship," Kestra insisted. She ushered Maya along, and the marines followed right behind them. Suddenly, the detention center gates flew open, and squadrons of centurions opened fire on the fleeing population. "Maya, get down," Kestra yelled as a spray of bullets nearly missed them. Maya ducked and held Iris tightly to her chest. The marines came alongside them and pulled them away from the firefight.

"This way ma'am," one of them said. He pulled Kestra away from the route they were supposed to take to the ship. The path had been overrun with centurions and insurgents firing at each other. They ran around the crowd to find their evac ship. They stopped at the edge of a tent and one of the marines poked his head out.

"There's too many centurions, we're going to have to make a run for it," he said to his comrade. The other marine nodded. The first one pulled Kestra forward.

"No, take Maya first. Guard her with your life," she said to the pair. "I'll follow." They looked at each other warily but nodded. They both positioned themselves in front of Maya and took off. Kestra ran behind them but was knocked to the ground quickly by a pain in her leg. She cried out as she fell to the ground. She looked down and saw blood seeping from her thigh. She immediately looked up to see that Maya had made it with the marines and was disappearing in the direction of the ship. She was temporarily relieved. Laura would be pleased. It was the one thing she had asked: to make sure Maya and Isis got out safely. Kestra drug herself out of the middle of the street and tried to stand. She braced herself against the leg of a tent. She hobbled along the back alleys between tents, using them for support all along the way, until she reached the front gates to the shipyard. Her vision had become blurry as she walked through the pain. She inched forward and saw Galen standing behind some crates.

"Incoming!" he shouted. Kestra couldn't focus on anything but reaching him. She had to find somebody she could rely on, or she'd never leave this planet. She stopped to lean on a crate and looked up. Galen had looked up and seen her, and his eyes went wide. He yelled something, but she didn't hear it. A blast knocked her off her feet and to the ground, unconscious.

Galen braced himself as the viper shot open the gate to the shipyard. As soon as the blast was over, he looked back up to where he'd seen Kestra a moment ago. She wasn't there. He looked down and found her body lying prone on the ground.

"Move! Move!" he shouted at the people surrounding him. He darted over to Kestra and felt her neck for a pulse. Thankfully, it was there, and she was still breathing. He leant down and picked her up before running into the shipyard. "Move!" he continued to shout as he barreled toward the ships. He got aboard his ship and set Kestra down on the ground against the wall. He looked around and found a woman standing behind the cockpit. "Hey, watch her. Don't let her die," he ordered as he blew past her to find the pilot. The woman opened her mouth to question the order, but Galen was already gone.

Kestra woke with a start. The ground was shaking beneath her, and the noise of the crowd was deafening. She opened her eyes and waited for her vision to adjust. She was on a ship. That meant she'd made it off New Caprica. She looked beside her and found a middle-aged woman staring back at her.

"Oh good, you're alive," she said with obvious relief, "He would not have been happy if you died."

"Who? Where am I?" Kestra asked groggily. She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her leg causing her to cry out.

"Be careful," the woman said, "you probably shouldn't move too much. We just jumped away." Kestra nodded as she leaned back against the side of the ship and closed her eyes. Her head was pounding, and the clamoring of passengers aboard the ship was not helping it.

"Kestra," a familiar voice called, "thank the gods you're alright." Kestra opened her eyes to see Galen sitting beside her.

"Yeah," she said weakly, "I suppose I have you to thank." Her eyes closed again as she winced in pain. Galen put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just glad I found you," he said.

"Me too," she said with a breathy laugh. Galen smiled briefly, but it disappeared when Kestra winced and her head lolled to the side.

"You gonna be alright?" he asked with concern. She nodded softly.

"Yeah, just my leg… and my head," she said haltingly. Galen nodded in understanding.

"Okay, well just stay with me until we get back to Galactica. We'll get you some help." Kestra nodded as she leaned into his side. Galen put his arm around her to hold her up. The ship docked on Galactica, and Galen pulled Kestra to her feet.

"Can you walk?" he asked. She nodded.

"With help," she said. Galen tightened his grasp on her as he headed for the hatch. It opened and Kestra recognized the hangar bay of Galactica. Galen helped her down off the ship and started barking orders to the civilians.

"Alright people let's go. This way," he shouted, "stay on the starboard hangar deck til we can get you to new ships." Kestra winced as he shouted. "Come on people, all the way down." Galen stopped suddenly, and Kestra opened her eyes to see Kara Thrace getting off a raptor. "Oh my gods, Captain? I thought you were dead," Galen marveled. Kara was giggling as she lifted a little blonde girl in her arms.

"Yeah, so did I," Kara said as she smiled widely at the chief. Her eyes landed on Kestra, and her face fell for a moment.

"Hey, who is this?" Galen asked of the child. Kara's smile returned in full force as she returned her attention to the girl.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask that myself," Sam said as he came up behind Kara, his brow furrowed deeply.

"This is-"

"Kacey?" a young woman interrupted, "Kacey. Oh, my little girl." the child jumped into her mother's arms giggling. Kestra watched as Kara's face fell. She looked at the woman like she was a ghost. "Thank you. Thank you," the woman repeated to Kara. A smile forced its way onto Kara's face, but Kestra could see she was clearly uncomfortable as the woman took her daughter away. Kestra looked to Sam, who seemed satisfied with this as an explanation for the little girl's presence. His eyes met Kestra's and his brow furrowed again. He made his way past Starbuck to speak to her.

"You okay?" he asked with a frown.

"Yeah," she said with a forced smile that turned into a wince, "just had a little trouble getting to my ship." She looked down at her leg which hadn't been dressed at all and was bleeding as heavily as ever. When she looked down, Kestra became lightheaded and fell back into Galen's arms. Galen jumped as the shift in weight reminded him that Kestra was with him. He quickly realized that she was falling and picked her up in his arms.

"Sorry, I should get you to a doctor," he said. Kestra nodded weakly. He bid goodbye to Sam and Kara and continued down the hangar deck. Kestra closed her eyes as she let the chief carry her away, but a familiar voice caught her attention.

"Lieutenant Agathon, good work," the voice said. Kestra's eyes shot open.

"Galen, stop," she said, looking around wildly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Galen asked as he stopped walking. Kestra's eyes continued to dart around the hangar until they landed on Lee Adama. He was shaking Sharon's hand with his back to her.

"Put me down," she said weakly.

"Kestra, I don't think you can stand. You need a doctor," Galen insisted. He followed her line of sight and suddenly understood what she wanted. "Hold on," he said as he walked over to Lee.

Helo looked beyond Lee's shoulder and his brow furrowed as he indicated to something behind the commander. Lee turned with a frown until he set his eyes on Kestra. He closed the gap between them in an instant and kissed her. She kissed him back with the same passion, though her arms remained around Galen's neck to stop her from falling. Galen coughed loudly, breaking the two apart.

"Sorry Chief," Lee said distractedly, his eyes never leaving Kestra's face. His hands travelled over her face, his fingers tracing every contour. They travelled back through her hair as he drank in her features. Her dark eyes. Her curly hair. Her beautiful smile. He'd been without them for so long, but time had not tarnished his memory. She looked exactly as she had the last time he saw her. It was as if no time had passed. Galen smiled.

"It's alright Commander," he said, "it's good to see you." Lee finally looked up at him.

"You too," he said with a little laugh, "here." He reached out his arms and gently took Kestra from the chief.

"She needs a doctor," Galen told Lee before he continued to make his way down the hangar. Lee nodded absently but was too distracted by the woman in his arms to pay much attention to the chief's words.

"I thought you were dead," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

"I thought you were dead," she replied pointedly. Lee pressed his forehead to hers and breathed in her scent. They stayed in that position, and for a moment it was like they were the only two people in the world. All the noise faded away. The other inhabitants of the ship just passed by as they stood there, frozen in time. Kestra took a deep breath as her arms wrapped tighter around Lee's body. She could feel the muscles in his back. He was tense. Of course, he had good reason to be. They all did, but none of that mattered because right here and right now they were both alive. They were together. They were interrupted by the crowd in the hangar deck joyously chanting Adama's name. Lee looked up to see the old man being carried above the heads of the passengers. He smiled, happy that his father was recognized for his successful rescue and the risk he took to achieve it. He shifted Kestra in his arms, and she cried out in pain. Black dots flashed before her eyes, and she could hear Lee's voice indistinctly through the pain.

"Kestra?" She finally heard his voice clearly. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with fear written clearly across his face.

"I'm okay," she said, "just... sickbay." Lee nodded and weaved his way through the crowd as they continued to cheer. He no longer had the time or disposition to join their celebration. All he could focus on was the woman in his arms and the fear that after all they'd been through he would lose her again. Lee rushed through the halls of Galactica until he reached sickbay. He entered the doorway and found sickbay was overrun with injured refugees.

"Doc! Hey! Somebody, help me!" Lee called out over all the people gathered.

"Lee," Kestra said weakly, "just stop the bleeding." He looked at her leg that was still steadily bleeding. His arm was covered in red. He looked around and found a seat along the wall where he could set Kestra down.

"I'll be right back," he said. Kestra nodded as her eyes fluttered closed. Lee was back a moment later with a length of bandage. He ripped the fabric around the wound away and proceeded to wrap it tightly. "Alright, I'm going to find Cottle," he said. Kestra reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Everybody's hurt, Lee. I can wait," she said.

"Kestra, I don't know how long you've been bleeding, but that bullet needs to come out of your leg," Lee insisted. Kestra shook her head.

"I know, I just… there are other people with worse injuries," she said deliberately, trying very hard to think clearly through the pain, "I can wait until the doctor is free." Lee shook his head. Kestra put a hand over his mouth to stop him from arguing. "I'll make you a deal. If I lose consciousness then you can demand a doctor."

"That is not a fair deal," he said, "I won't lose you. Not now. I just got you back."

"You won't," she said, "I promise." Lee stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, we'll wait until people with the most serious injuries have been treated," he said reluctantly. He sat down against the wall next to her.

"Thank you," she said. There was silence for a moment and the tension between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Finally, Lee spoke up.

"Why weren't you on the raptor?" Kestra looked into his eyes. He held her gaze with a desperate intensity until she had to look away.

"I didn't know," she said, "if I had known I would have…" She trailed off.

"But why?" he asked more insistently. Kestra released a breathy, humorless laugh.

"The students were having an art show," she said as tears filled her eyes, "I thought, 'what's one more day?' I only thought it would be a day." Lee wiped the tears from her eyes.

"That was a really long day," he said. She laughed, and then silence fell between them again.

"I talked to Starbuck," he said softly, "the day it happened. I was on the radio with her when they came. We'd… patched things up… a bit. I thought I'd be able to see her next time I went to… to get you." Tears fell from both their eyes now.

"Some timing we've got," she said sarcastically. Lee laughed.

"The worst," he said. Kestra nodded, and her eyes dropped shut. "Kestra?" Lee asked.

"I'm still here," she said softly, "I'm just getting… a little tired." Lee looked around, but he still didn't see any sign of Cottle.

"Stay with me, Kestra," he said, "we've still got a lot to catch up on."

"We do," she said lazily, her eyes still drooping closed, "a lot happened this year."

"Yeah, it did," he said, "so why don't you tell me about it. What happened while I was gone?"

"My friends found out I'm an alien," she said, "but… most of them are okay with it now… I think. I think Tigh's still suspicious, but… he was always grumpy." Lee frowned.

"What did they do?" he asked curiously.

"They got mad, but… Anders was very helpful. He's been a good friend," she said, trying hard to focus. Lee stiffened at the mention of Sam Anders.

"Anders?" he asked. Kestra laughed lightly.

"Don't be jealous, Lee. He's just a friend. He was too busy worrying about Kara to try anything. He really loves her," she said. Lee looked down at her tenderly.

"I'm sure he does. What happened to Starbuck?" he asked.

"The cylons took her. We didn't see her during the whole occupation. We thought she was dead," she replied.

"Thought?"

"I just saw her on the hangar deck," Kestra said, "she looks fine, but we can't know what happened to her in there." Lee nodded.

"Who else did they take?" he asked.

"Colonel Tigh," she said, "they took his eye."

"I saw it. But… they didn't take you?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, not me. I don't think they knew I existed… except," she trailed off, and Lee sat up straighter.

"Except?" he asked. She didn't know how much she could tell Lee about her conversations with the six. She was also quite sure that her participation in the evacuation of New Caprica had effectively ruined all hope of her creating a bridge between humans and cylons. She decided that no one needed to find out about what she'd talked about with the six. Now all she had to do was figure out what to say to Lee.

"I think Baltar knows about me," she said, "I think he might have told them."

"What does he know?" Lee asked. Kestra's head dropped onto his shoulder, and her eyes drooped closed. "Kestra? Kestra, stay awake."

"I'm so tired."

"Kestra, hey, look at me," he said, getting her to focus on him for a moment, "I'm going to get a doctor. Can you stay awake until I get back?" Her brows furrowed slightly.

"I don't," she started to say, but her head dropped mid sentence.

"Kestra?" Lee asked, but she was unresponsive. "Doc Cottle!"