Covering the bodies of the babies had been a simple gesture and one he was sure Rene wouldn't have made if not for him. She had dealt with a lot of death and until today, he didn't think she let it affect her, at least not while awake. She kept her emotions locked up tight when it came to death. He figured she'd become desensitized to it after the front row seat to the destruction, but today in the sewer he'd seen what she really felt. She'd shoved it down as far as it would go, but it was there threatening to attack her like a Cylon pinwheel attack. She wasn't heartless; he knew that, he figured she just understood pain better than most people. The way she gently shut the door, as if to not wake the babies, told him she still understood the loss and she might understand his pain. He hadn't seen much death up close, at least not that he could remember. He was pretty sure the attack on Umbra was there inside him, shoved down maybe even lower and locked up even tighter than Rene's emotions. He knew he was hypocrite because he had no intention of cracking that vault.

But other than Umbra, the deaths in his life had been distant, fiery balls of what had been a viper and a friend. Of all those pilots, Zac, Bow and Shields were the hardest because he'd felt responsible for their deaths, but it still was distant. He didn't see their faces as they went. Before Rene's brother Ari, and the few others Rene took out that day, Serina and Apollo were the closest he had come to seeing death up close that he could remember. Those deaths had been too close. He hadn't been able to keep his composure no matter how hard he tried, and maybe that is what had bothered him the most about that fateful day on Dilmun. Rene had held her cool with each death she delivered. She had made it seem like it was an easy thing to do that day. She was tough and strong, maybe even immune, or so it seemed. He wanted to think he knew better, but until recently he hadn't been sure himself if she actually felt it.

At the moment of Ari's death, he had read it on her features and he knew from the fabric of her nightmares the deaths bothered her, but to others she showed a stone-cold heart. Today he'd heard that stone crack as she cried out her brother's name in the sewer. She wasn't heartless and empty; she was filled with too many broken pieces.

He spoke softly, his voice echoing in the emptiness. "The house is clear. There are blankets in the parents'…in the bedroom. Let's look and see if there is some food or water."

They headed down the stairs and back into the kitchen. Max was nowhere to be found, and he was tempted to call his name. He became more alert, listening for the drone or marching boots of centurions. He crossed the room in a few strides heading for the back door before pausing. Another door was open, stairs leading down to the basement. They could hear rummaging down below. Rene headed for the doorway, waiting until she was through it before lighting the illuminator and whispering, "Max?"

"There's cans of food and bottled water. Want to scan it?"

"No. I'm afraid of what we would find, and it doesn't matter. I'm eating it anyway."

"The frack you are." Starbuck bound down the stairs gently pushing Rene out of the way as he pulled out his scanner and waving it over the cans and bottles on the shelf near Max. "Well, it's not too bad. Not great, but," he held up the can of a childhood treat of pasta and sauce in the shape of triangles. "Food fit for a future viper pilot," Starbuck sung out the slogan from the televid advertisements.

"Ever eaten them cold?" Rene asked, pulling out her utility knife. They all knew they couldn't risk a fire or anything resembling heat or it would draw the Cylons back to them.

"Many a time. Tonight's dinner will be a blast from the past." He took in their surroundings. As far as basements went it was a bit rough, but not too bad. One corner had a rug and a couch, worn and dusty, but better than a concrete floor. "Why don't you two get some dinner together while I go get some of those blankets? It's going to be a bit dusty, but considering we slept in a cave last night, I'd rate it five stars."

When he headed back upstairs, he tried to not look back at the door, decorated with the babies' names, but he couldn't help but to give it a wistful glance at seeing the blue letters, Aiden and Adama. He'd thought of naming their own child Adama if it was a boy. He wasn't sure he could do that after today. He sighed and pulled up his walls as he went down the hall to the bedroom, taking the blankets off the bed and wondering briefly what had happened to the parents. Had they been home when the attack occurred? If they had, where were their bodies? He wasn't planning on searching for them. He thought for a moment of suggesting they keep moving and get away from this little narrative of tragedy. But he knew that whatever had taken up residence in Rene, was wreaking havoc on his own system as well. The medications were helping, his throat didn't feel as raw, but he hadn't been this tired in a while, and his head still ached.

A flash of light lit up the room, and he crouched down waiting for the blast of broken glass, but the roll of thunder just let him know they weren't in danger from an attack. It was just a change of the weather. The light had shown him the pictures on the wall: the happy family posing with the two new babies. He suddenly couldn't swallow around the lump in his throat. He turned back to his task. He piled all the blankets in his arms, grabbed a couple of pillows too and headed down the stairs, pausing with the sound of raindrops on the roof.

Now this was a sound a guy didn't hear every day on a battlestar: the plip-plopping of rain. At one time he would have been comforted by that sound, because it usually meant he was warm and dry while the elements went wild outside. It was man overcoming nature, shelter from a downpour. Today, however, it leant to the sadness that pervaded this place. It accented the loss of life, hope and a future for the young family that had resided here.

He headed down to the basement with his arms full, and thought about searching the closets upstairs for more blankets. The temperature seemed to be dropping as the rainclouds had blocked out what little warmth the sun had to offer. Rene had pulled over a box to the couch and had opened up at least six of the pasta meals. She was scooping up the food in her fingers, licking them clean while Max just tipped the can into his mouth.

"I believe I have a reservation for a table for three." He dumped the blankets and pillows on the floor. "I'm going to check the perimeter, make sure we're safe here."

Max got up from the couch. "I got it Starbuck. You need to eat and you are looking about as pale as a Gemonese who slept through the sun storm, and about used up as a Virgon prophylactic after the spring solstice."

Starbuck couldn't help but to chuckle at Max's idiom. "That's true, but I'm coming with you. Sit tight, Rene."

She nodded, started to speak before launching into another coughing fit that sounded worse than before. He wondered briefly if it was the moisture in the air. She'd started hacking in the sewers, seemed better when they were above ground, but now in this dank basement she'd started up again. He came over to crouch down in front of her, a hand to her shoulder as she tried to still the coughing that shook her body. Through her jacket he could feel she was warm.

"I'm okay," she finally rasped. "But don't be long."

"Alright, we check the perimeter and then I'm checking on their medicine cabinet. They've got to have something that will help."

He didn't like leaving her down there alone, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to rest until he verified that they had shaken the centurions off their trail. He and Max crept around the basement, checking through the broken windows to look out on the streets around them. The sun was setting early and Starbuck did a quick calculation. It was late fall and the days were shorter. The rain drowned out their ability to hear if anything was around. It pounded the roof and the wind had picked up lashing it against the house. They'd picked a good time to stop. He debated going out and seeing if he could climb up to the roof and get a better look around them, but he wasn't in the mood to get soaked. Instead he headed up the stairs once again, looking for the turbowash. He found the medicine cabinet well stocked with analgesics and painkillers. He even found some cough syrup while Max found more blankets and pillows, dragging them into the kitchen where he began to set up himself a little nest between the basement door and the back door.

"I've got point. You two get some sleep. I'm serious, you don't look good, and she looks worse. I don't know if I should make us head for the hills now or…" Max sighed as he looked out at the driving rain. "Think he made it back to save Boomer?"

Starbuck patted Max on the back. "Apollo made it back. Boomer is like a brother to us. He made it back in time, I would bet my gold clusters on it. We'll wait until the rain stops and then we'll find out for ourselves. Just need a few centaurs sleep, that's all."

Max didn't look like he believed him, but Starbuck was too tired, hungry and thirsty to try to convince him, and the sound of Rene's coughing could be heard down below.

Starbuck dumped all the medications he had found on the box Rene was using for a table. He cracked open the cough syrup and handed it to her.

"Uh uh, that stuff will put me out!"

Starbuck set it on the box before he reached for all the blankets, tossing the pillows on the sofa and then draping the blankets around Rene, before he sat down next to her pulling the blankets around himself as well. He reached back for the cough syrup. "I'll carry you if I have to, but that coughing is giving away our location. I know you can't help it, but this you can do. At least see if it helps and we have a few centaurs to sleep. And when we need to be moving again…" He held up the stims he had found in the back of the cabinet. It was the light stuff you could find at a public infirmary, essentially the equivalent of a couple cups of java, but it would do the trick. Rene's eyes lit up and her hand came up for them, but he pulled them back. "Uh uh. Not until we need to move again. Then we'll discuss it. But for now, analgesics, cough syrup and some sleep."

She nodded and took the bottle taking a big gulp and grimacing. "Not a combination I would recommend," she said indicating the empty cans of pasta, shoving three cans that she had opened towards him.

"You made dinner. Thanks." He downed them and chased them with water and about four big analgesic pills hoping it would dull the pain in his head, his legs, his back, his throat…pretty much his whole body hurt. The food didn't give him the energy he thought it would, instead it made him more tired and he could barely keep his eyes open as he went to lay down on the couch, pulling Rene down with him, wrapping them both up in the blankets. He found despite his fatigue, sleep was elusive. He was just too keyed up and every sound that was unfamiliar had him jumping. He noticed that Rene too was having trouble giving in to sleep.

"I think we're fine here," he said more to himself than to her. "You should sleep."

"I can't. It's been too long since I've heard the rain and I don't know when I will hear it again." She sighed snuggling deeper into the crook of his arm and the back of the couch. Rene might be enjoying the rhythm of the drops; he knew was making it hard to hear if a raider flew overhead, or if there would be a drone of a cylon, especially in the basement. Maybe in another time and place, the sound of the rain drumming on the roof far over their heads would have been romantic; at least that's what the old holovids would have you believe. However, Starbuck didn't have those kinds of experiences in his memories. Rain for him had just been an inconvenience. It led to soggy uniforms and muddy boots. Now he knew it could lead to them becoming sicker, or hiding the sounds of an enemy.

He felt Rene shiver a little and he couldn't help but to think back on the events of the day, the sheer panic he'd seen on Rene's face as she screamed in between coughs in the sewer. She had trembled in his arms for several centons, not knowing where she was or who he was. She had screamed several names at the top of her lungs as he'd tried to muffle the sounds pulling her in close to him. She'd fought him and he thought he'd pulled a muscle in his shoulder hanging on to her, scared she might bolt down a tunnel and he wouldn't be able to follow fast enough. And then suddenly it had stopped, the screaming, the shaking ceasing, and she was saying she was okay. The transition from screaming to talking had been so swift, it had left both he and Max startled. He had heard that flashbacks could be sudden and come with no warning, but he'd not been told they could end just as inexplicably.

As she trembled in his arms now, he asked if she was okay to have her mumble, "Just cold."

He wished they could have started a fire, but then again, they had started plenty of those this day. He settled for pulling the blankets up higher and Rene even closer.

"So who's Kalea, I mean other than your youngest?" he asked. "You called out her name today."

Rene didn't answer for a few microns and he wondered if she would or if she even remembered the moment in the sewer. Her voice was soft and slow when she did.

"A friend we hung out with. Ari had a crush on her. She was with us the night of the attack. She shouldn't have been, she had decent parents and…" She sighed deeply. "After a secton, they used nerve gas to flush us from underground and she…she died first. Just kept trying to ask 'why' while she was choking and then…" Her voice trailed off.

Starbuck thought for a moment before he asked, "Is that why you named your daughter after her? To remember her?"

"I told you, Starbuck, we don't pick the names. Ari picked my daughter's name. It's actually really hard to say her name and remember back. I begged him to pick a different name, but he insisted."

"We really don't get the choice?" Starbuck wasn't sure he liked the idea of that. It was their child after all.

"We do, but, I never could say no to Ari. He never asked for much and he sacrificed so much for me. He wanted it, so I…" she sighed heavily. "I don't want to talk about him. Not here."

"If not here, then when? Where?"

"Never and nowhere," she answered very softly. She was quiet for a few centons, and he let her be, kissing the top of her head, feeling for himself with his lips how warm she might be. While she may be shivering, she was warming him up a little too well.

"Do you have names picked out?" she asked reaching up a hand to play with the fuzz of the beard he was beginning to grow from their two days away from anything resembling a decent turbowash.

"No, not really, I thought maybe after your brother if it's a boy, but hadn't thought of one for a girl. I'm just not sure I trust Apollo to pick out a decent name we can live with. Believe it or not, he has a sense of humor. We might wind up with a Jehoshaphat."

Rene laughed, and he liked the sound until the laugh turned into a cough. He debated giving her the last dose of antibiotics he had on him, and wished he'd grabbed more for his pockets rather than dumping it all in the pack. But he also didn't know how strong the doses were and how much was too much. They needed to get back to Jake to find that out. Plus, her coughing was sounding a bit better, at least this fit didn't last long.

He waited until her breathing was back to normal before he shifted to get up and grabbed the cough syrup, handing it to her. She took another swig before reading the label on the bottle. "Uh, we might not want me to take much more of this. May not be good for the baby."

"Nothing on this planet is good for the baby. You dying on me is not good for the baby either. We'll have to take the risk right now. But when we get back, no more risks. I think…" he hesitated as he crawled back under the covers pulling her to him and wrapping them both back up again.

"So, who told you to think, pretty boy?"

"I'm not some pretty boy anymore, I'm your husband, and I think when we get back, you should resign from the service."

He was surprised when she didn't instantly disagree. She looked up at him, her eyes wide in the dim light. She gazed into his eyes and he wanted to look away. He knew it wasn't fair what he was asking. She was a damn good pilot, but he just couldn't stand the thought of losing her.

She nodded slightly. "We get back, I'll do it if you want me to."

He nodded feeling like a complete equine's astrum for bringing it up, but then again, the odds of them returning to the Galactica were pretty low. It was uncertain if any of them would ever be flying again. His voice was gruffer than he meant it to be when he said, "We should get some sleep," but he pulled her in tighter. Pressing his lips to her forehead he found himself uttering a prayer to the lords. He desperately wanted to go home.

He felt Rene relax in his arms and he tried listening a little longer to the rain upstairs.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep as well until Max was whispering his name and touching his arm. He woke with a start, confused as to his surroundings. He was having his own flashback to the various friends' couches he had crashed on all throughout secondary school, right down to the whispered voice waking him to tell him it was time to get moving.

"The rain stopped and it's been about four centaurs. We have a hike ahead of us."

He gently shook Rene awake mumbling to Max, "You shouldn't have let us sleep so long."

"It was still raining, and there's been no movement in the area. Figured we should lay low as part of our grand scheme for throwing off the enemy. And you needed the sleep. You didn't get much last night."

"Yeah, about that," he drawled like Crius.

Rene was slow waking and more than a little groggy. It alarmed him until she pointed out that it was just the cough syrup he had given her. "Has more alcohol than a bottle of ambrosia. So how about a stim? You promised."

He sighed, knew none of this was a good idea for the baby, but neither was getting caught by a Cylon patrol, nor the hike they had before them, so he gave in, tossed her one. "Just one. We take the others later."

She grumbled that one wasn't even going to wake her up, but he noticed she didn't grumble until after she had quickly swallowed it.

They ate a quick meal cleaning out all of the pasta, and packed what they could of the water in the pockets of the hunting sweaters, before they climbed the stairs. Starbuck looked back at the basement, so like the many he'd tried to take up residence in all through his life. He wondered if there would ever be a time in their future when he'd have a basement for the kids to hang out in. He'd let his own kid bring home as many friends as he wanted, and they could all stay the night. He wouldn't complain once about the noise. At least he'd know that they were safe.

He shut the door and turned to find Rene's eyes on him. He may not always know what was going on inside her head, but she read him like a viper schematic. As they left the home and started heading for the hills, she started talking soft and low. "Nik had a ton of friends. If couch surfing was a real sport, he'd be the king of it. His friends fought over whose basement Nik was going to live in for the secton."

Starbuck gave her an incredulous look, trying to reconcile the dark haired young man who rarely spoke, a worried look etched permanently into his features with the Nik she was describing. Rene read his thoughts. "I know, hard to believe it, right? He's so quiet now, but he used to be like you, funny and friendly. Everybody liked Nik. He was invited to all the parties, and he had this way of getting us the invites to stay the night. We stayed dry and warm because of Nik's connection of friends."

"What happened? I actually thought he was mute at first." It was why Starbuck had put Nik with Jolly. If anyone could get the kid to open up it would be Jolly. Everyone liked Jolly.

"This," she waved her hand to indicate Caprica and all the destruction. "He has not been the same since that night. We don't even see hints of the old Nik. I thought once we got to Dilmun, but," she shrugged, "he just doesn't have anything to say anymore. He livens up a bit playing guitar. Sometimes over games or cards but, he still isn't talkative. Before, he talked a lot, told stories and jokes, but he was always a good listener too. Girls liked him. I even thought once about him and me becoming a thing. He's handsome and funny, but he never dated one girl at a time. "

"Oh, so he was like me," he teased trying to shift the conversation away from who Rene might or might not have been with.

"Yeah, he was. I would lay cubits he may have slept in that basement once. He would have liked it in that one. He could rate a couch just by looking at it. That one was probably a 6 out of 10. Not quite long enough for him. But I guess the days of couch surfing are done, for everyone."

They slunk between the homes and overgrown gardens, making their way in the dark for the outskirts of town. Starbuck hated to admit he was a little lost, but Rene pointed the way. The Cylon activity had died down, only an occasional raider appeared from the clouds and they crouched down each time, using what cover they could to mask their thermals. The rain was still falling, but it was light and seemed to be helping their situation. He wasn't sure about the acidity of it. It didn't feel any different than regular rain, but he wasn't planning on drinking any either. As the sun set, the clouds above looked like oily slicks in the sky. An occasional streak of white lit them up, but they didn't hear the sound of thunder. They reached the hills without any further sign of the enemy. They began the hike already tired, another seven kilometrons, maybe more as they were farther on the outskirts of town than the shopping complex. Once they crested the first ridge, they had a beautiful view of their handiwork.

The clinic was still ablaze, the fires having spread to several buildings nearby. The enemy did not appear to be anywhere near the fire, nor making any attempt to squelch it. Unchecked, he wondered how much of the rest of the city would be on fire by morning? As they watched, there was a small explosion, a hover mobile probably, or some other gas tank of some kind. They could see the homes they had set on fire in the distance, but those paled in comparison to the clinic, plus the rain seemed to have extinguished one of the ones they had started. He had to pull Rene away from the sight, her eyes lit up with a strange gleam.

The rest of the hike was blissfully uneventful except for a few times sliding in the mud and several cough fits that would have Rene leaning over on her knees as her lungs seized up. Before reaching the second ridge she had vomited up most of what they had eaten. Starbuck realized that was more concerning than the coughing. By his accounts, she hadn't kept anything down since getting to Caprica and he was concerned about her strength level. She kept telling him she was fine, but he knew otherwise. It didn't take long before their boots were caked with mud and their pants soaked. The hunting sweaters had been a true gift from the lords as the moisture just ran off them and the insulation kept them warm. The hike seemed to take longer than the day before. He wasn't carrying Boomer's weight, but the mud made the climb slow and all of them clumsy. It had taken some time in the dark ravine to find the burnt-out land ram that hid the entrance. By his chrono it was only three centaurs before dawn. He tried not to think about what the next day would bring. He knew they needed to find a raider and get the frack home.

They all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when they saw the burnt land ram, but as he headed for the entrance to the cavern, Rene halted in her steps.

"What is it?" Starbuck perked up his own senses wondering if she noticed something amiss.

"This is my fault and I…I can't go in there. What if he's…I can't. I…I'm just going to be out here, okay?"

Max didn't say a word, just pushed past the two of them and headed for the cavern.

"Come on, Pretty Lady, it's going to be okay. We need some shelter and I need to know you're okay and he's okay." He pulled at her arm, but she dug her boots into the mud.

"I can't go in there. Not tonight. I need to see the sky. I don't want to be in the dark." She took a step back pulling away from him. He held tight, but she pulled hard, leaning away from him. He wasn't going to let go.

"Rene! It's raining, and dark and cold out here. IFB flash: you're sick! You need some sleep and I need Jake to check you out. Don't make me haul you in there." He wondered if she was losing it like she did in the sewer. He was fully prepared to toss her over his shoulder and wrestle her in there if he had to. He took a step towards her to ease up on the pull he had on her as he spoke softer. "It's going to be okay, come on."

"NO! I can't. I…" She stopped speaking and Starbuck turned to see Apollo coming towards them, a small illuminator in his hand lighting up the way.

"By the Lords," Starbuck had never been so happy to see someone in his whole life. "Is he…?"

Apollo looked at Rene, a critical appraisal in the dark, but he answered. "We made it back in time. He's doing better. He may be on his feet by tomorrow."

Starbuck wrapped his arms around his friend, hugging him in relief. "Best news ever. It's been one hades of a day."

"Yes it has, buddy, and we need to talk. When were you planning on telling us the rest of it, Rene?"

Even in the dim light of the illuminator Starbuck could see the confused look in Rene's eyes. It was Starbuck that asked, "What do you mean?"

Before Apollo could answer, Jake was pushing through Apollo and Starbuck on a straight line for Rene. He reached for her pulling her to him, one hand around her neck as he leaned in, forehead to forehead. Starbuck watched his wife shiver in the Jake's arms, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, the kind of breath one took when they were finally safe and sound. He heard Jake's voice softly chastising Rene, "Don't scare me like that. You took too long getting back."

"Sorry," she mumbled, her voice thick with emotion as the two stood there for a micron too long, an embrace far beyond just being friends in Starbuck's way of thinking, but if he couldn't get her to some shelter, well maybe Jake could.

"Can we talk about this around a fire? I'm tired of freezing my pogees out here." He reached for his wife's hand, trying to gently pull her away from Jake, but her friend had a firm hold of her. Jake's hand came up to her brow.

"You're not okay." Jake kept his arm around her neck as he turned to lead her inside the cavern. She let go of Starbuck's hand and let herself be guided to shelter and safety. Starbuck made to follow, but Apollo stopped him.

"That was genius, the explosion and the smoke for cover. The other fires worked well, the centurions were on your trail not ours."

"That was Rene's idea actually. Damn near blew us up in the process. But yeah, worked really well, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. Have you been running this whole time?" Apollo was placing his own hand to Starbuck's brow. "You're hot and you look like mong."

"Well which is it? Am I hot or am I daggit droppings? Rene seems to like me as I am, thank you. And no, we didn't run the whole time. We holed up for a while, but yeah, I don't feel so great, and Rene is worse so I would sure like to hear what Jake has to say. He really fixed up Boomer?"

"Yes, he did. He knows a thing or two. Claims he learned it on Dilmun as Dante denied some of his Warriors decent medical care, but he didn't deny them access to the data files. He's self-taught and I'm thinking we need to get him into some training with Salik. But I need to talk to you away from Avery and his men before I get you looked at."

"He still being a complete boray?"

"Yes and No. There are more survivors than Rene indicated, and they are in Cylon captivity. He says Rene knew about that and she lied to us about the extent of help Avery needed. What do you know about that?"

Starbuck heaved a sigh. Rene had been fabricating her own facts for a while now, but he didn't think she would have waited all this time to work out a rescue if she thought humans were in danger. She had her own agenda for luxury items, but she wasn't that cold and callous, or was she? No, he couldn't think like that, not after seeing her in the sewer screaming out the names of those who had died. She was his wife now, he knew her better than that.

"Nothing and no, Apollo, I don't think she knew. Trust me, based on her own reactions today if she knew there were humans in a Cylon slave camp, I think she would have arranged for a whole squadron to come with us to save them. She might have tricked us to do it, but I honestly believe she would run that con in the favor of the captive's liberation. Plus, Boomer is involved in this too. He arranged a lot of this. Do you think he would keep that kind of information to himself?" Starbuck cast his friend a critical look. "Avery got in your head. I knew I shouldn't have let him come along. The guy is some kind of military wannabe who's looking for anyone to blame for how he screwed up his own rescue!"

Apollo sighed, "Maybe, I just…I just don't know how we are going to get out of this one, buddy. I'm afraid we may be stuck with him for a while."

"Not if I have anything to say about it. Look, Rene just needs to get in the air, and then she can get us help. That's what we need to stay focused on. Tomorrow, I get us a raider." He started to head into the cavern but Apollo reached out a hand to stop him.

"I think I might know where we can find a viper. I need a look at a map, but I think it's only a two-day hike away."

Starbuck groaned and swiped at the rain that was dripping into his face. "I've had enough hiking. We can just go downhill and get what we want."

"And fight a hundred cylons for it? I'd rather take the hike and know we will be alive at the end of it. Besides, have you ever flown a Starhound?" Apollo smiled at his friend, knowing the mention of the famed prototype craft would pique his curiosity.

"No one has. They didn't make it to production. The whole armistice meant we wouldn't need them, remember?"

"What if I told you I know where we can find one?"

"I'd consider it a mighty nice sealing gift, which by the way, you owe me one. Alright, let's get a map up on a data pad and look into taking that hike, but not tomorrow. I think we are going to need a bit of rest if we can get it."

"Agreed. We'll talk tomorrow. Let's get you looked at."

Starbuck followed his friend into the cavern. Finding Boomer awake and coherent almost made it worth losing his eyebrows in Rene's fiery diversion.

"How you feeling, buddy?" he asked, reaching for his friend's shoulder. He needed to touch him, just to make sure the dream was real.

"Better, thanks to you guys. I think tomorrow I can be up and ready to go."

"Good, because I'll be sleeping in and we'll need someone to gather firewood. We're in no hurry. It's been a while since I got to go on a camp out. I thought we might do some fishing tomorrow."

"Speckled Sludge is probably in season," Boomer replied.

"Yeah, but Mountain Suckers are more abundant," Starbuck returned with a pointed look around.

"You okay?" Boomer asked. "You look awful."

"Yeah, so everyone keeps telling me. Just need some sleep and a clean uniform and I'll be good as new."

While he spoke to Boomer, his eyes were on his wife sitting before the fire looking even worse than he felt. Currently, she was hacking up something from her lungs that Jake was analysing. Her friend had her already changed out her wet and muddy pants that were tossed aside. Her hunting sweater and boots were drying by the fire. He had no idea where Jake had found the clean uniform she was now wearing, but he knew it would go a long way to making Rene feel better. She had a mug of something steaming in her hands as Jake analzyed the specimen.

Starbuck picked up one of the blankets and wrapped it around her shoulders as she looked up to him dully. He wanted to take a seat beside her, but his own pants we soaked and muddy. Apollo was one step ahead of him, handing him a set of clean clothes, the hunting gear that most of Avery's group was wearing. Starbuck couldn't even muster up the energy to say thanks. He didn't worry about modesty, as he stripped off the hunting sweater, his tunic, boots and pants. He didn't worry about where it all landed, except for his laser and his boots. It was Apollo that was placing a blanket around his shoulders and guiding him down to sit beside Rene. A hypo was to his neck before he noticed.

"So how bad is it?" he asked Jake.

"You're both running fevers, but Rene has a chest infection. Her chest is filling up with felgercarb. She must have aspirated some of the water in that lake. I've given you both strong doses of antibiotics and antivirals. But you're going to feel worse before you feel better." Jake's focus was on the biomonitor, the worry lines of his face accentuated by the dim light of the fire. He looked up and met Starbuck's eyes for just a moment, but it told him all he needed to know.

"You fixed up Boomer, we should be good right? She'll be okay, right? And the baby?" Rene leaned her head against his shoulder, and he shifted to wrap his arm around her, letting her rest her head on his chest as he pulled her in. Jake reached forward and took the mug from her before she spilled it.

"Get some sleep. We'll see in the morning." Jake reached out a hand to brush Rene's hair from her face. "Have you felt the baby moving?"

She nodded, and Starbuck looked at her wondering why she hadn't told him, but then he had to realize while this was his first child, it wasn't her first. She already had two with Jake.

"When did you last feel it?" Jake asked, and he felt Rene tense in his arms.

"Not since I blew up the clinic. I landed hard."

"Landed?" He looked to Starbuck in alarm.

"We were a little too close."

Jake shifted his gaze to Rene. "Baby, how many times do I have to tell you, you're going to get burned one of these times."

"It's just so pretty," she mumbled. "You should have seen it."

"You can dream on it. Get some sleep." Jake got up to spread a blanket on the ground for them. Starbuck stretched out pulling Rene down into his arms. He was asleep as soon as he pulled the blanket over the two of them.