Why did she ever think this was a good idea? Why couldn't she have just left it all alone? She could tune out almost anyone and had no problem ignoring half the people in command, so why couldn't she have ignored the voices that kept whispering "go back to Caprica." If only she had tuned it out, Boomer wouldn't be knocking on death's door and she wouldn't be reliving the nightmare of running from Centurions. She should have just stuck to blasting them out of the sky. Why did she have to listen?

This was the thought racing through her mind as she wove through the hallways of the clinic, searching frantically for the back door. A place like this had to have one. No way those old prissy siresses would want someone seeing them after having work done. They would have died of embarrassment, which was bad for business. Where the frack was it? It was hidden at the back of the clinic looking like another storage closet except for the small exit sign above. She was in the lead when she burst out into a covered driveway. The area was clear and she tried to meld into the wall beside the door. As Starbuck dashed through, she reached for him pulling him there beside her out of instinct. Apollo came through and took up a position on the other side of the door. Avery didn't have warrior training, he came crashing through the door ahead of Max and kept running straight across the back alley before he realized no one was following him. Max went after him, dragging the man back to the building beside Apollo.

Starbuck shared a look with Apollo that told Rene more than she would ever need to know about their friendship. They didn't need words or even hand signs. They knew what the other was thinking, what move they would make and when. At the sound of the Centurion, the two turned back into the doorway, lasers firing. The Centurion went down in a heap, clogging the doorway. Starbuck pulled back out of the way of the door. Rene reached for his jacket to get his attention.

"We need to split up. Give the pack to Apollo and send him off to help Boomer. You and I, we create a diversion and lead them away."

Starbuck nodded at the clever ploy, but then seemed to think about it. "No, you go with Apollo. The rest of us will take care of a diversion."

"No, Apollo can just run for the hills. He's in better shape than you and me. He doesn't need me. You do. We can disappear and reappear if we take the underground route. Boomer's dying, Starbuck."

He narrowed his eyes at her, but the logic of the plan overrode his emotions for her. She was right; there was a more immediate crisis at hand. He unslung the pack tossing it across the doorway to Apollo. "Go. Save Boomer. We'll keep them off your tracks. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Apollo nodded, started to say something, but the sound of another centurion interrupted him. Starbuck leapt in to the doorway again, firing to bring the centurion down before leaping back out of the way. "Go!"

Apollo communicated to Starbuck with a look and then began to creep to the edge of the alleyway, taking the time to peer around the corner of the building before crossing the street to continue running down the alley, keeping close to the buildings before he disappeared into the residential streets. The sounds of another Centurion had Starbuck shooting into the building blindly to provide some cover. In the chaos Rene watched Avery take off in the direction of Apollo. She took the risk and yelled for Max, hoping he didn't follow the two. She pointed in the opposite direction down the covered driveway to the street beyond.

"Let's go!" She tugged at Starbuck's jacket as she turned to run. Starbuck provided cover for Max to leap across the doorway to head after Rene. She stopped at the edge of the building, taking a quick peek down the street. So far it was clear, but as she pulled back into the cover of the building, a raider swooped low. Starbuck reached her and she pushed at him. "We need to go now before they come around. Head for the bay."

"Lead the way, Pretty Lady, I've got you covered." He motioned for her to go, but she shook her head.

"Start running, don't stop. I'll catch up." She didn't wait for his answer as she headed back towards the clinic.

"What the frack?" She heard Max shout behind her, but she was intent on her objective. She uttered her own curse as Starbuck caught up to her, reaching for her arm.

"What are you doing? Come on!"

"Diversion," she shouted as if that explained everything. She went to dash across the covered driveway, but Starbuck's hand on her arm pulled her back nearly yanking her from her feet.

"What are you doing?! We need to run!" Starbuck tried to pull her back down the alley, but she dug her boots in.

"How much Gaseous Tylium do you think is still in the lines after three yahrens?" She pointed to the meter and the pipe leading into the clinic. "See those bottles?" She pointed to a fenced in area across the driveway with numerous Compressed Tylium bottles. "Liquid Nitrogen, for the old siress's warts." She could see the confusion on his face and sound of the marching centurions told her she didn't have time to explain. "Just cover me!"

She dashed across the driveway, aimed directly at the lock on the fence, flung it open and reached in for a bottle, dragging it out and back across the driveway. Starbuck was right beside her. He didn't know the plan, but she had to admit the man was loyal to a fault even when confused. He helped her to drag the tank over to the gas meter at the back of the building. It was heavy, so it was full. She yanked hard at the valve to the tank, but it wouldn't budge at first. She beat at it with the butt of her laser, reached for the valve again and was relieved when it twisted.

"Stand back and get ready to run." She heard Max's shout to duck as he fired over their heads at the centurions coming around the other side of the building. The cold liquid spilled out and she was able to get it directed at the gas line, the metal turning bright silver at the contact with the nitrogen.

"We need to go now!" Starbuck shouted firing at the enemy that had found them. She let him get a couple of shots off before she reached for his arm.

"No more! Run!" She turned to aim at the gas line with the butt of her laser. She hit it once and heard the crack, hoping it was the pipe and not her weapon. She hit it again and had to hammer at it a third time before the pipe separated. Starbuck had waited on her, and she grabbed for him dragging him with her as she ran down the alley, praying, "Please, let there be enough."

She didn't stop at the edge of the building to check where the enemy might be. She just bet on the element of surprise and speed and kept running out across the intersection. They made it across the street, a wide thoroughfare lined with trees, such a pretty residential shopping area, she thought absently. It was blessedly free of centurions, but she could hear the sound of a raider in the sky. She made sure Starbuck and Max had fallen back into the cover of the other buildings down the alleyway before she stopped and turned back to fire at the gas meter. She didn't have time to turn away or duck. The blast was instantaneous, blowing her down the alley onto her back. Her head bounced off the asphalt and she saw stars. Then she felt the asphalt under her back ripple as she watched the fireball shoot into the sky. She laughed at the sight of it as she lay there admiring her handiwork.

The roar of the blast caught up to her as she felt Starbuck's hands on her jacket hauling her up. He didn't even try to get her on her feet, just tossed her over his shoulder as he took off running.

Another blast shook the pavement beneath their feet pitching them forward. She felt the air leave her lungs in a whump as Starbuck landed on her. There was a moment of panic as she tried to draw air, her eyes filled with the beautiful flames of another blast. It dawned on her that maybe there was no air to breathe even if she could, all of it having been sucked up to feed that roiling fire shooting into the sky and spewing pitch black smoke. The sight was glorious. "My favorite color," she thought absently as she watched the ball grow larger.

Starbuck was over her, blocking out the dancing orange ribbons of fire, his eyes filled with worry. "What have you done?" he mumbled, before he was throwing himself over her, debris from the explosion raining down around them.

She could feel the heat wash over them and briefly thought it was a good way to go. Quick and warm, in the arms of the one you loved. She could live with this death. Then the heat was gone and she took a breath in air that felt gloriously cooler before the heat blasted them again. Starbuck instinctually began to crawl away from the heat trying to drag her with him. Her hand reached for his on her jacket.

"You okay?" she asked. He was dragging her up again, determination on his face as he struggled to his feet while trying to throw her over his shoulder. She shouted at him, "I can run. I'm okay!" He didn't listen, or couldn't hear her as he easily tossed her over his back and took off running, shouting at Max. She held on until they reached the next block before she twisted in his arms to shout in his ear. "I'm okay! I can run. Put me down."

He headed behind a dumpster before he even acknowledged her words, gently setting her on her feet as he panted for breath. "What the frack were you thinking?!"

Max was step behind him. His bulk had always made him a slow runner. She'd have to remember that next time and give him a head start.

"What is it with you and fire?" Max shouted as the air resounded with another explosion, probably from the oxygen tanks near the building.

She couldn't help grinning. "Nothing better than when a plan comes together. We need to head away from the hills. Start a few more fires. Thermals. They look for our thermal signatures so let's really throw them off."

"A little warning next time, alright? We got a little singed back there. Frankly, I like my hair longer and generally appreciate you having eyebrows, thank you very much!" Starbuck griped. "Where to now? We're residential here, not much cover." As if to punctuate his point, a raider flew low, another following, and then a third.

She surveyed their area. He was right, the cover was minimal to none, and as much as she hated it, going underground was probably the best solution.

"A diversion from our diversion?" She pointed to a small cargo land ram that was parked just down the alleyway, surprisingly undamaged. "How good are you at hotlinking hovermobiles?"

"I wouldn't suggest it. We'd be a huge target and one shot from a raider and we're done for. Besides, that's Boomer's specialty."

Max added, "He taught it to me. I can get it going. But Starbuck's right."

"I'm not planning for us to be in it. We just get it going down the street. That thing should have cruise control, right? Get it moving and it will keep going on its own. Light her on fire and then we disappear. Max, go hotlink it while we get the sewer open."

Starbuck groaned. "I was hoping to stay above ground today." The flames leaped higher from the clinic as another explosion echoed, smaller than the others. The flames were spreading to other buildings. "Then again, it's a bit hot up here."

"Come on, you're hot enough as is, pretty boy." She headed down the alley, scanning the ground for an opening to the sewer, spotting it in the middle of the intersection. "Ah frack. We'll be exposed."

"No, I will be. You cover me." He held a finger up in her face. "No arguments! You owe me for the barbecue back there."

She held her unarmed hand up in submission. "Only if you work fast. I've been in the gym with you remember, you can't lift that on your own. Like it or not, you're like a viper: handsome, built for speed, but not for heavy lifting."

"Wow, I think that's the nicest insult you've ever given me. I can still lift more than you. It's all in the desire. Cover me and don't you dare come help me."

She gritted her teeth, but nodded in agreement. "You just have to get it up a fraction or two and then slide it. Don't break a finger doing it." She saw him scan the alley for something, anything that could be used as a prybar. There was nothing. This part of Caprica was surprisingly free of random trash. Better litter enforcement went along with better families, she mused. Starbuck crept down the alleyway, using what cover he could find until making a quick run for the sewer cover. She watched as he bent down, trying to put his fingers through the holes, hauling up at it, able to get it up before he let go. She had to look away. She couldn't stand the thought of how he was going to break a hand trying this. She dashed over to the land ram where Max had found the door unlocked and already had the steering column apart and was working on the wires.

"Tire rod? Is there a jack handle or something we can use?" she asked him.

"Probably in the back. Be quick. I hear them coming."

She looked down the alley and he was right. Coming out of the black smoke and flames were three centurions. She aimed and fired, taking down one, but the other two began firing, undeterred by her laser fire. The sound of the land ram starting up drew their attention. Max climbed up in the seat, and reached for Rene. "Let's go." She held onto the open door, her boots on the foot rail outside the door as Max got the land ram moving down the alley, turning left onto the street Starbuck was in the middle of. Max barely missed him as the vehicle picked up speed.

"Jump!" he shouted at her and she leapt, rolling with the impact. She knew she should be running down the street to begin helping Starbuck but she stood watching the land ram, chanting to herself, "jump, come on, Max, jump, jump." Finally she saw him rolling from the vehicle that was rumbling down the street. He was running for her and she turned towards Starbuck, firing at the Cylons that had come from the alley. She reached Starbuck who had finally managed to get the lid off the sewer opening.

She let Starbuck be the gentleman and motion her down first. She slid down the ladder most of the way. She pulled out the illuminator from her jacket pocket, turning it on and cursed. The tunnels were smaller. They'd have to crouch and almost crawl. Max came down and cursed as well when he saw how narrow the tunnels were. She would have to give Starbuck a medal for how well he hid his own panic at surveying the size of their escape route.

"Which way?"

She pointed to the left, "Towards the bay. Since we're armed, I suggest you crawl backwards, that way you can fire on any Cylons. I'll lead the way."

A silver centurion's head blocked out the light from above as the red eye swept across them. Rene launched herself into the tunnel, reaching a hand forward with the illuminator, keeping her laser ready as she crawled as fast as she could. It was not far to the next juncture and she took a left, leading away from her original route and farther from the hills. She didn't slow until she reached the next juncture to make sure that Starbuck and Max were following. She shook her head at the looks on both their faces.

She whispered to them, "It will open up soon. I swear. You're okay." She tried not to laugh as the two men, Colonial trained Warriors, big and brave and strong, both looked like they wanted to wet themselves at the idea of a dark tunnel. The ground under their feet jumped and she wondered what else had gone up with the fire she had started. She wanted to see it, wanted it almost as much as she wanted a stim or five or ten. She clenched the illuminator in her left and the laser in her right hard as she fought off the longing. "Just two more, okay? Just two more blocks and we'll go back up, alright? Remember, small means they can't fit."

"It's not them I'm worried about right now," Starbuck returned as squeaks of large rodents filled the pipes ahead and behind them. "Just a little fussy about who I share my sewer with."

"I thought you'd grown fond of rats," Max replied.

"Only the two-legged version," Starbuck said.

Their banter eased the mood. Rene turned back to the tunnel, cursing inwardly. "Why, oh why couldn't I have just ignored those voices. Fracking Avery. Why couldn't he have just taken the ride." She kept up the self-censure session in her head as she took a right at the next juncture, and kept going with Max hot on her heels. She tried not to chuckle as Starbuck swore at having found this tunnel filled with more water than the last. At least she hoped it was water.

She wanted to go a few more blocks, but before she hit the next juncture, halfway down a tunnel, she couldn't hold back the coughing any longer. The tickle had become insistent, and she hacked until she felt like she was choking on whatever it was she was trying to cough up. She felt her chest tighten in fear, cutting off what little air she had. Suddenly, it wasn't three yahrens later, it was only three sectons. She flashed back to the three sectons they had been down there in the dark, trying to hide, trying to get out and away from the fires and the explosions. It had been three sectons before the Cylons began the final extermination, rooting out the few who had made it. The fog filled the tunnels, the coughing, the eyes rolling up into their heads as their bodies shook. Then, worse than that, they fell still. The strings of their life were cut like a puppet's. They couldn't draw a breath because their nerves wouldn't let them, and the only thing that seemed to still work was their eyes. They stared at her until the light went out of them and their body went cold. She had heard their coughs knowing somewhere inside her it was the end. All of it had been pointless, the running, the hiding, all for nothing. She had scrambled to find Lara. Wondered where the frack Lara and her brother, Kiff, were. Lords, he had been so small. Caught up in the memories, she pushed at them, but they weren't there. "Lara, RUN!" she shouted before the coughing took over again.

She tried to hold her breath as she shook, coughing wracking her as her heart pounded. She spared a breath to shout at her brother, "Ari, get Kalea and Jason. We have to…." She held her breath again as she felt her hands go numb. Then her instincts overrode her panic as she crawled as fast as she could, heading for the light and away from the vision of Kalea in Ari's arms, limp, her eyes open, begging for help, her lips blue. Ari trying to breathe the life into her, and Rene having to pull at him, afraid it would get him too. "NO!"

She heard her named called by a voice she didn't recognize. She reached the juncture, but couldn't get to her feet despite the area opening up wide enough for her to do so. She stayed there in the muck on her hands and knees. She'd retch if she'd had anything left to throw up. She couldn't decide what was better: eyes open, or eyes closed? It didn't matter. All she could see was Kalea's face as her eyes begged for help. Rene held her breath for as long as she could before she felt someone pulling her up to her feet.

"Rene?" The voice was familiar but she couldn't place it. "Take a breath, Rene. We need to know where to go. Come on, sweet lady." She stiffened as the hands pulled her close and she tried to fight the arms that held her. "Shhh, it's okay. You're okay."

She couldn't help chuckling. It was far from okay. No one was coming to help them. They were all going to die. The panic made her lungs hitch and scream for air. She found herself panting hard despite wanting to not breathe at all. Just one more centon of life, that's all she wanted, just one more, but she wasn't sure why.

"Rene? Stay with me. Come on, talk to me." She felt the lips brush her ear, but the voice wasn't Jake, and it wasn't Ari. Nik or Jonas? No. "Just breathe. You're okay. Stay with me, pretty lady."

She flinched as the reality hit her like a slap to the face. She briefly wondered if Starbuck had hit her, but no, his arms were around her, his lips against her ear whispering to her. "Shhh sweet lady. We're going to be okay. Just breathe."

She was suddenly embarrassed. She was the one with the experience. She was just as well trained as he was, and yet she had cracked. She tried to push him away, but he held on. "Stay with me Rene. Just breathe. It's okay."

Just as abruptly she was hanging on tightly, shaking as he rubbed her back, his breath in her ear, warm and comforting as he whispered platitudes that she knew weren't true, but sounded so wonderful in the soothing voice of the gold clusters hero.

"I'm okay," she mumbled softly. "I just got lost. We need to get out of here."

"Totally agree with you on that, but we need a plan." He pulled back surveying her face before nodding. "Where are we headed? Back into the hills?"

She sucked in more air, half afraid it would be her last as she braced herself and forced back the rest of the visions. The one that haunted more than a few of her nights was little Lara being dragged from the tunnel by a Cylon centurion, her small arm disappearing into the grip of the black robotic hand. Rene blinked hard and shook her head. Big mistake as the stab of pain from the headache she'd been fighting lanced through her temple.

Starbuck let go of her and reached in his pocket for a hypo. "I think you and I could use another dose." He placed it on her neck and she hoped he knew what he was doing. "Better?" She nodded even though she didn't feel any better.

"Okay, let's start a few more fires, throw them off our trail, and then we'll head back. Sound good?" Starbuck asked and she nodded.

Max chimed in. "She likes fires, don't ya? So let's watch this place burn."

Starbuck still looked at her in concern. "You with us?"

She nodded as she tried to take a normal breath, but she was too afraid of what the air might contain. She could feel it rattle in her chest like something solid and hard.

"Should we go farther or try our luck?" He kept hold of her arm steadying her.

"Luck," she managed to squeak out.

It was all the encouragement that Max needed as he climbed the ladder and eased up the cover of the opening before motioning for the two of them to follow. He slid the cover off and climbed out. Starbuck sent Rene up next and he followed. She crawled out and stayed there on her hands and knees, coughing again. Max was down beside her trying to muffle the sounds of her hacking with a hand over her mouth. Starbuck hauled her up, slinging her arm around his back as he headed down the street towards a home, half standing, half in a burnt ruin. He took them around the back of the home, and he eased Rene down on the covered back porch, its roof sitting slanted between the house and the ground. It afforded them some cover as she sat down on an old broken bench and tried to draw air into her lungs.

Starbuck's hand brushed the hair off her forehead and then he placed his palm to her brow. She sighed at the feel of it, so wonderfully cool. "Whatever you picked up, it's not letting go."

She tried to answer him but found herself coughing hard, feeling it rattle and break something loose inside her chest. She thought she heard something crack as the coughing got harder and she wondered if she broke a rib. Was that possible? She heard Starbuck say something to Max, but she didn't know what, only that he left her side and Max was there sitting beside her, his hands cupping her mouth trying to block the noise. She had to shove his hands away to get more air. The coughing fit finally subsided, but she felt like something was sitting on her chest as she tried to take in air. She settled for shallow breaths.

"Where did he go? He needs back up," she said to Max.

"He climbed the roof to get a lay of the land. Thinks he's a damn primate or something."

She looked around her and saw the old grill underneath the collapsed roof of the porch. "Max, is there a tank of tylium gas with that?" She pointed and he lifted the roof off the grill. Not only was there a small tank, but two of them. "Sweet. Okay, go in the house. Get some cloth, anything, a table cloth or a dish towel, whatever you can find." He had to break the glass on the back door and to shove hard against it. Starbuck was dropping down from the roof just as Max came back, a couple of dishtowels in his hands.

"Better?" Starbuck asked, putting his hand back to her brow. "Need more time or think you can run?"

She nodded. "I'm better. What's up?"

"Well, we at least got them to split up. Half look like they are still searching near the clinic, half are headed our way. None headed for the hills, but the skies are a bit busier than before." He reached to pull the hood up on her hunting sweater. "Which way, darlin'?"

"Towards the bay and then we'll loop around to the hills if we can. Not sure if we'll make it back before dark, but that might work to our advantage."

"Or not, it gets chilly after dark and, be honest, you're getting weaker. You need some food and some water."

She nodded reluctantly. "When we get farther away from the city, things will be less tainted. I'm okay. I volunteered for this mission, remember?"

"Not for the swim you didn't. I'm not feeling so great either. I think we could use some rest here soon and let those antibiotics do their work."

She thought about it, thought about it hard as she felt like she could lay down right there and sleep for twelve centaurs. She also thought about going into the house behind her and raiding the medicine cabinet for anything they might have resembling a stimulant, but the children's toys half burnt in the yard told her she'd probably find the place squeaky clean. She raised a shaky hand and pointed at the tanks. "Max, shove one of those towels in the valve of a tank. Put it in the kitchen there, open the valve and then light the towel on fire. Starbuck, do the same, and then light it and chuck it over the fence there as close as you can get it to that other house. I'll get a head start. Don't loiter. We'll head a few blocks and do the same, start a fire or two, and then we'll get the frack out of here, maybe hole up somewhere until dark, sound like a plan?"

Starbuck nodded, reaching out a hand to help her up. She started loping towards the street, heading west. Starbuck and Max caught up to her before she reached the wall that surrounded the neighborhood. The whoosh and boom of the tanks was satisfying, but it also brought the raiders swooping down. They used the brick wall of the residential neighborhood for cover. Gates and walls, they'd been her nemesis when she lived here in Caprica City. They were a visual reminder of where she wasn't allowed to be. Now they were her allies.

They made it out of the neighborhood and into another one. They tried the same trick at three or four more houses before they decided to head back towards the hills, weaving through cul-de-sacs and backyards. The Cylons were searching hard for them, but behind them, away from their objective. As they headed deeper into the neighborhoods, they came across a large secondary school complex. Starbuck pointed it out.

"They will have a shelter. We might be able to find food and water in there, maybe some blankets. We can hunker down for a while, wait until dark." He started to head off towards the school, skirting the wall that surrounded the grounds. Max was at his side, but she hesitated. She wasn't sure what they would find here. She knew the schools closer to the heart of the city had been scenes of death. She and Ari had the same thought yahrens ago, heading for Jake and Rene's school that next morning after the attack. Maybe it was out of a desire to find something familiar, or a hope for a rescue, the misguided belief that help would arrive. They had entered their old gymnasium to find it full of dead bodies, none of them in one piece. Blood had stained the wood floor and splattered the walls. They headed back to the sewers and didn't think of climbing out again until they got too hungry to last any longer. Even then they found food, and went back underground.

It wasn't worth the risk to see if there was something worth finding here. She shuddered to think what three yahrens had done to the bodies. She dashed forward and yanked at Starbuck's jacket.

"No." She couldn't find the words to say anything else. There were no words to describe what they might find, that there were some things you just couldn't scrub from your sight. She suddenly let go and turned away to head back into the neighborhood.

"Rene?" She heard him call to her from behind but she had no words. He caught up to her, Max close on his heels. "What's up? We might find what we need there."

She just shook her head and pointed towards the houses. "Everyone else had the same idea. Trust me."

"Rene, we need a break." She just pointed at the houses, some of them completely destroyed, some still standing. "Alright, I hear ya. I would have preferred all that concrete to block our thermals," he groused, but she just shook her head. She was too tired to explain.

They walked a few more blocks before they found a home that seemed untouched by the destruction around it. The locked back door was a good sign. They entered into a beautiful kitchen, all the appliances top of the line. She hoped they'd find the cabinets well stocked. Max reached for the chiller before she could stop him, opening the door and then slamming it, but it was too late, the smell of rotting meat filled the room. Rene's weak stomach had her gagging as she headed back outside. Max and Starbuck joined her.

"Oh man, my fault. I had no idea after all these yahrens," he said between his own gagging.

"Okay, next house, and this time, don't open the chiller," Starbuck said pointing to a house a block away.

The door on the house was locked as well, but the windows had been smashed on one side. The house beside it had been levelled, and she thought that it might have suffered a gas explosion as it went up in flames. "I don't know," she said to Starbuck.

"Actually, I like that a bit better. Easy to get out fast if we need to. I don't liking the idea of being trapped in anything right now." He crouched down as another raider flew over, but higher in the sky, swooping down over their previous locations that were burning. "Come on, just for a centaur or two. I think we could both use another round of antibiotics and some rest."

She followed him in the backdoor to find the kitchen mostly in one piece. She went to the faucet to try her luck. It was bone dry. Max began opening cupboards while Starbuck began to search the rest of the home to make sure they were alone. Despite his efforts to keep quiet, she heard his boots on the stairs and in the eerie silence she heard his gasp.

"Starbuck?!" She headed out of the kitchen, looked up the stairway to find him paused outside an open door, frozen in his horror. She took the stairs two at a time, leaping up to him. The sounds of her steps had him turning to her, holding up a hand to stop her.

"Stay back!" He reached for her.

"Starbuck, what is it?" She beheld beyond him that the room was a nursery, twin cribs across the room. "Oh…" She looked up to read the despair in his eyes. "Oh handsome, it's okay." She reached to wrap her arms around him. She felt him shiver as he pulled her into his chest, holding tight. The laser in his hand dug into her back. She whispered into his chest. "It happened a long time ago."

"They're still there. They…they starved to death." The timber of his voice told the story of yahrens of never having enough. Was that his greatest fear? He could face the Cylons, but not a child without enough to eat.

"No, they didn't last long. They died in their own beds. There are worse ways to go." But she read from how tight he held her that wasn't what had him spooked. She spoke the truth to him, a vow stronger than any she had made before. "It will never happen to our kids. Our baby will be born back on the Galactica and if anything ever happens to us, we'll have the list. Apollo, or Adama, or Crius will take care of our kids. It won't happen to your son."

"Son?" He pulled back in surprise.

"Or daughter." She teased him, a smile tugging at her lips.

He shook his head sighing. "I don't care as long as the baby's healthy and born on the Galactica…with eyebrows." He turned to look behind him at the sad scene, a nursery so lovingly constructed, painted bright blue with a mural of fluffy clouds. Toys lined the shelves, tiny clothes were laid out for the next morning, a morning that should have held promise for a better future, a peace so long desired. The future had been bright until that night.

She reached up softly to turn his face back to her. "We'll get back to the Galactica and your son or daughter will be born in the safety of the fleet. They will have a family and everything they need. I promise. So how about I go with you and we finish checking the house?"

"Alright." He pulled away and started to head down the hallway. Rene stepped into the nursery, looking down into the cribs at the two little babies. Their corpses were near skeletal, the skin dried and flaked off. She took the little blanket draped over the rail of the crib, shook out the dust, and laid it over one of the babies, and did the same for the other baby. She left the room and shut the door behind her to find Starbuck waiting on her, gratitude on his features.