The path Jake wove between bright flames and dark shadows played havoc with Starbuck's vision. It was a mad dash with the enemy close behind as they fled into the hills yet at some point Starbuck's hand had found Rene's. He wasn't sure when or how it happened, but he wasn't going to let go. Rene ran faster than he could, and she pulled at him to keep going. Zion held tight to Starbuck's other hand, the boy almost outpacing Rene. Starbuck's legs just weren't following the commands his brain was sending them to go faster. Rene and Zion tugged at him to keep going and helped him to keep on his feet when he stumbled in the dark. After a metron, or maybe two, Jake had taken the boy from Rene's hand, swinging the child up to his shoulders like he often did with Kiff. The other boy was on his feet, his hand in Jake's hand. The boy was moving slower than Jake wanted as he nearly dragged the child across the muddy terrain. Apollo followed watching their back, but he was weighed down with both of the girls clinging to him, one on his back and the other on his side, both of their bare arms wrapped tightly around his neck. They couldn't run like this the whole way, but Jake didn't seem to understand that fact and Starbuck couldn't catch up to him to explain.

The wind whipped at Starbuck's bare chest, sometimes a warm blast from the fires raging around them, sometimes a cold turbowash from the rain that was falling intermittently. "The rain is a good thing," he thought trying not to curse the freezing droplets streaming into his eyes as the storm increased in intensity. "It will wash away our tracks." He shivered as he debated taking the hunting sweater back from the small child it was now sheltering. As he shivered, he wished he had not been so cavalier about ditching his tunic for just the hunting garb. Even torn and filthy, the tunic would have offered some protection from perishing from hypothermia. If he didn't survive, would the kids make it? Feeling a sudden stinging on his skin, he brushed at the small embers that the wind had tossed at him. They clung to him stubbornly as if they were alive.

"You asked for warmth, you got it." The voice in his head still sounded like Apollo even though his friend was there running from the enemy right behind him. "Which one is more real?" he wondered. "Guess I'll find out soon enough." If they made it to that fairy tale Apollo was promising, then maybe he wouldn't care which was reality and which was fantasy. Right now, it was just a nightmare complete with the enemy bearing down on them. A raider dipped down from the black clouds, turning in their direction and flying low. He dragged Rene and Zion down to the ground hoping the mud there would help hide their heat. He thanked the lords when the raider turned without firing.

As the raider faded in the horizon headed for Caprica, Jake swung the boy down from his shoulders setting him down so he could set more brush on fire before picking the boy back up and changing direction. They were fleeing farther to the north again, a direction Starbuck suspected was a few more metrons away from safety. He tried to just focus on his steps and hanging on to Rene and Zion, but a thought burrowed its way into his mind like the cold wind that was trying to work its way past the heat he was radiating, "We aren't going to make it. We are going to lose someone." Apollo must have caught the same thought as his friend caught up to him, placing a hand on his back.

"Just a little farther," he offered in encouragement, but Starbuck wasn't so addled that he didn't remember how far that mountain oasis was from their position, especially since they had looped even farther into the hills to avoid the enemy.

"You have any water?" he asked, hoping that just a small break might give them a chance to assess their odds of making it or at least give them a chance to rest and assess their injuries. Apollo shook his head, and Starbuck looked away. He'd have to be content with licking the rain from his lips. He supposed he could just tip his head back and find enough fluid to keep him going, then wondered about what might be in that rain as the drops stung his bare skin.

He looked to Rene, but her head was buried in the tattered hood of the hunting gear and she was focused on the ground in front of her. She had only spoken two words since their cell where she had been disoriented and confused as to who he was. He squeezed her hand twice to get her attention, to see how she was doing, but she just tightened her grip to his message and kept her gaze ahead of them trying to keep running. He called to her and she looked up, but her eyes were glazed and she simply nodded to his question of how she was doing. He wanted to stop to check on her, but Apollo nudged him to keep going.

He tried to ignore the burning in his chest and the ache in his legs. Apollo took Zion from his hand and began to speak, detailing their destination. He described the construction of the home, the fire that was waiting for them with a steady warm tylium flame, and the promise of a hot meal, a warm turbowash, a bed with soft blankets, even some ambrosia and a fumarello. When Starbuck growled at him that he didn't need a fairy tale to keep him going, Apollo shifted to talking about the vipers the man had in his hangar. Starbuck started to realize the talking wasn't for his benefit. Apollo's steps weren't nearly as steady as they should be. He rudely interrupted his buddy's description of the old Mark I that this mythical man had asking, "When did you last sleep?" He knew his wing mate only got chatty when he was exhausted. Starbuck was the conversationalist of their squadron.

"What did our last Drill Sergeant used to say at the Academy?" Apollo answered cryptically, "We can sleep when we're dead."

Starbuck laughed out loud at the old memory. The man was pure muscle and despite his size, he was fast. Their drill sergeant could outrun any cadet in the academy and still best them at weight lifting afterwards. The man didn't know how to quit. He could run hard and still yell at them when they were tired and ready to quit. He would never forget how the burly man would get right up in his face, grinning maniacally as he'd bellow, "Don't let the enemy win. You can do this!" Despite being a zealot, his taunts were encouraging words, and when you really couldn't make it, he had someone carry you. No one failed his obstacle courses. The first to complete the course was expected to run back in and help those who were struggling. Starbuck learned teamwork from that man. He cursed the cylons as their drill sergeant had to have perished along with the academy.

"Who nicknamed him Sagan's Son?" Starbuck wondered aloud. "No living man could keep up with him, that's for sure. Where did he find the energy?"

"Failure is not an option." Apollo answered with a phrase their drill sergeant often shouted. "And I think it was you who named him. You just blamed it on someone else when he caught wind of it."

Starbuck licked at the water on his lips. "Yeah, sounds like me. How much farther? I think we lost them. We need to rest. They're kids for frack's sake Apollo."

Apollo dropped Zion's hand as he reached for his datapad, examining the map and lining up their coordinates with the landmarks. "A ways," he answered vaguely reaching back for the boy. "I'm afraid if we stop I won't be able to get going again. We are not armed well and there is no shelter from this weather. We just need to keep going, so we can stay warm and outrun the cold."

Starbuck nodded, realizing that Apollo couldn't see the gesture in the dark. "Alright, but," he didn't put into words his disbelief in their destination.

"But what buddy?"

"Could we at least go downhill for a while? With your position and all, the least you could do is change the topography."

"Ask and you shall receive." Apollo shifted Zion back to Starbuck's grip, then picked up his speed to catch up to Jake, the two conferring for a moment before turning to head south. Starbuck followed, pulling Rene and Zion along. He tried to get Rene's attention again, but this time she just shook her head at him. He wanted to yank at her arm, to shout at her "Dammit Rene, talk to me!" but he didn't have the strength. He just had to be content that she was on her feet and had a firm hold of his hand.

The metrons became a blur as they moved farther away from the fires into the darkness of a ravine. The ground became slippery under their feet as the rain increased. It slowed them down and Starbuck was about to try to catch up to Jake and Apollo to ask again how much farther they had to go when a cold blast of rain in his face triggered something more than a shiver to shake his body. Without thinking about it, he dropped Rene and Zion's hands to pull his arms protectively around his body, hoping to add some warmth. He leaned down to pick up Zion, hoping that together they could keep each other warm. He trudged on hoping like hades they were getting closer. The shivering of his body was burning up more of his energy than the walking. He was about to drop and he tried to focus on something else, anything else, a new strategy for the chancery or the new club he wanted to open on the Galactica, but all he could think about was how he hadn't even felt this cold on that ice planet.

Zion pulling at his arm broke him from his misery. The boy didn't speak, just pointed back behind them. Starbuck expected to see the enemy emerging from the mist, but there was nothing.

"It's okay kid. We lost them." He tried to reassure the boy, but Zion pulled at Starbuck again, pointing behind them. He looked to Rene, hoping she could help him understand the kid, but she wasn't there. He whipped his head around, not finding her or Jake and Apollo.

"Frack! Rene!" He shouted, setting Zion down but gripping his hand hard. He tried to retrace his steps, but the rain had done an excellent job of washing them away. He had no idea when he had lost everyone, or how far he had gone without Rene beside him.

"Rene!" He began running back the way they had come, sweeping his gaze back and forth on the ground before him. He was about to really panic, when he found her crumpled on the ground.

"Rene!" He rushed to her, leaning down as his hands reached for her neck to feel her warmth and a reassuring beat. He sighed in relief as he rolled her over so her face wasn't in the mud. Her eyes were closed but she wasn't completely out as she mumbled something he couldn't quite catch.

"Not much farther Pretty Lady," he tried to reassure her. He reached for her arm to haul her up, but his boots slipped on the wet ground and he found himself sprawled in the mud beside her. He groaned as he tried to get back to his feet, but he couldn't find traction and slid again, landing hard on his back.

He lay there in the cold mud, his body trembling. He reached for Rene hoping to pull some of her warmth to him, or at least to know she was still alive. He was able to pull her arm around him, but that was all. "Well frack, this isn't such a bad idea," he grumbled to himself. "I'll just rest for a micron, that's all."

It was only a few moments before he heard Apollo's voice, ringing in his empty mind, "Don't let the mud win. You can do this," as his ears registered something else, "Come on! Get up Bucko." Hands hauled him to his feet, but the grumbling wasn't Apollo's voice, it was Jake's as he complained, "Like we weren't dirty enough, you had to go and lay in the mud?"

The hands reached up and wiped the hair out of his eyes before he felt them on his arm, brushing at the device embedded there. "I'm thinking we don't want dirt in that. Do you know what it is?"

Starbuck was distracted, watching Apollo set down the child he was carrying and gently pick up his wife in his arms. Her mumbling became louder but the words strengthened the beat of his own heart, "I didn't quit!"

Apollo answered her, "No one said you did. I've got you." She settled into his arms at his response, reaching to hold onto him. His friend met his eyes, "It's not much farther. Jake has got you. Jake, can you get the girl?"

Jake didn't answer, instead picking up the boy and positioning him again on his shoulders before scooping up the girl in his arms. Then he reached for Starbuck's arm, tossing it over his other shoulder. Starbuck felt Zion's hand take his own and he looked down to see how the kid was doing, but all he saw in the darkness were bright wide frightened eyes of Zion and the other small boy looking up to him.

"Some hero I turned out to be," he said to himself, but it was Jake that answered him.

"Well sometimes you have to share the heroic moments Sire Gold Clusters. I'll carry you if I have to so I don't have to hear about those damn medals anymore."

"Deal," Starbuck agreed as he watched Apollo head off down the ravine carrying his wife, a child riding on his back. "Besides, I think Apollo has earned them this time."

"I don't get any? I am the one who convinced the Colonel to come back for your sorry astrum."

Starbuck knew the young man was goading him to keep him going a few more steps. Well it was working as he shot back, "Sneaky doesn't get you medals. Besides, you just came back for Rene."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but I got you too, so you owe me one." Jake smirked at him.

"You can have all my gold clusters if we make it to this paradise Apollo keeps promising. So, truth, is it that nice? Food and fumarellos?"

Starbuck was able to pull away from Jake, to carry his own weight as the ground became more solid under his feet, allowing Jake to pick up one of the boys in his arms. Zion still had a firm grip on Starbuck's hand.

"We didn't make it that far when I made him turn back, but despite how I feel about you Galacticans, you don't usually lie."

Starbuck chuckled and he let the warmth of the mirth radiate in him. "Is that a compliment? Have we won you over to our side?"

"No, I think you guys are too stupid to craft a good lie." Jake's voice was light despite his caustic words. "And have you seen your gold clusters lately?"

Starbuck laughed again, "Did you steal them? I still earned them. I've got the service record to prove it."

"I've seen your service record, liberally edited if you ask me. How many times did they nearly kick you out? Was it eight or ten?"

Jake kept him talking for the rest of the hike, but his eyes didn't stray from his wife in his friend's arms. His gaze focused on her and the fact that she was still alive. He tried not to envy the ride she was getting instead of him and he tried not feel the sting that he couldn't be the one to save her.

As the sky had turned from the pitch black of night to a lighter gray, he lost track of any thoughts but the one that told him to keep walking. They climbed up another hill and Apollo waited at the top for them to catch up. Starbuck was back to thinking this was all just an unending fevered dream and they would be walking forever when Apollo pointed to something resembling a structure in the side of the next hill. Despite the approaching dawn, it was hard to see through the dark rain exactly what it was before him, until he made out the faint blue that sparked and flashed like a fabled sign from the Lords.

"What the frack?"

Apollo answered his question, "He has an electric grid of sorts to fry the cylons. I am assuming it works well since he's been here the whole time. Let me do the talking, the man is a bit off."

"Off? What do you mean by off?"

Apollo didn't answer, his eyes focused desperately on their objective. The place looked like something out of vid, like a lair of an evil villain. As they got closer, Starbuck felt the thump through his boots as the electric grid was shut down, and a gate opened in the fence. He was suddenly hesitant to enter under those wires, but Apollo didn't falter, carrying Rene through a door. He followed not knowing what to expect next.

He walked into a mirage. It was his friend's fairy tale come true. His head swam as the heat of the room bathed him. It was almost as Apollo described, a steady tylium flame in the hearth, the smell of something good coming from the food prep area, soft chairs spread all around, and Boomer reaching to throw a blanket over his shoulders.

Zion was taken from his hands and led over towards the fire where Jake was lifting the child from his shoulders to join the one that had been in his arms already sitting on the floor. Jake turned to lead the other two to join the group, before he reached for Zion. Max was suddenly there helping Jake. He wrapped blankets around the children while wiping at their faces to get a better look at them.

"Don't get my furniture all muddy!" a gruff voice called out. It's not like CCAU is still in business!"

"CCAU?" someone asked.

"Colonial Carpet and Upholstery."

Boomer guided Starbuck over to a covered sofa. As he sat down on the soft cushions in front of the fire and was handed a mug of something that felt warm and smelled meaty, his first thought was that he was dead. They'd all learned in their survival training at the academy that hypothermia could make you hallucinate just before you expired. He had always wondered who was the guy who came back from the grave to tell them that information? He'd have to find out on the other side as he must be dying himself. "I'm still lying in the mud next to Rene, that's it, or probably just sitting in my cell."

"You're okay Bucko." He felt the hand on his shoulder. Boomer's voice was something solid that he could hang on to as he looked around the room, heaving a sigh of relief that they had made it.

"Rene?" He looked up to ask Boomer, who nodded down at him and pointed towards a chair by the fire where she was sitting. Jake was there, helping her out of the soaked hunting sweater, wiping the mud from her face. Like a good medic should, he had out the biomonitor, running it over Rene as Max handed Jake a blanket. She looked around in confusion, her eyes finally meeting Starbuck's, but they held no recognition, just exhaustion. Starbuck wanted to get up and go to her, but he couldn't find the strength. His wife was conscious and in good hands, or as good as they could manage at the moment. He knew that Jake and Max could help her more than he could right now.

"Apollo?" He heard his friend speaking to someone with a gruff voice. Starbuck followed the sounds to find Apollo in a chair, a blanket wrapped around his own shoulders. An older man, small in stature was speaking softly to his friend, patting him on the shoulder.

"Who's that?" he asked Boomer.

"Peryton, the man whose home we have invaded. He's been pretty accommodating considering the circumstances."

"What are the circumstances? The kids?" He blew across the mug, cooling it down enough so he could take a sip of the meaty broth. He nearly groaned in ecstasy at the taste of it. Boomer's hand patted him on the shoulder again as if he needed to verify for himself that Starbuck was real.

"Relax, everyone we rescued made it. We've got them cleaned up, fed and bunked down in the hangar. We have taken care of what medical issues we could. We will have to wait to get back to the fleet to handle some of the bigger issues. We were just waiting for daylight to come after you. You okay?"

He tried to nod, but Boomer's hand on his forehead stopped the motion. "Still warm and looking a bit ragged around the edges. You can't seem to keep a uniform on, can you, poster boy? What did they do to you?"

Starbuck didn't have words at the moment to explain other than to gesture to his wife. "She's not talking. They put her in a brain scan and implanted something in us. Not sure what it is other than painful." Starbuck pushed aside the blanket to expose the port in his arm.

Boomer was reaching out to touch it when Jake barked, "Leave it alone! In fact, find me some plastic wrap or tape. I want to cover it once I clean it out. Don't pull the wires!" Boomer removed his hand as if he'd been burned and turned to Peryton. The old man was trying to have a conversation with Apollo, but their Colonel wasn't answering. Their friend's eyes had closed and he was slumped in the chair, drifting off in his exhaustion.

"He's been looking for us for a while, hasn't he?" Starbuck mumbled to himself.

It was Jake that answered him, "I think he's been on the move for a couple of cycles I'm guessing we're safe here if he's falling asleep?"

Starbuck nodded numbly not knowing if it was the truth but there was a warm mug of broth in his hands that was the best meal he'd had in days. "How is she?" Max was suddenly there, his hands full of steaming mugs as he handed one to Jake before he helped out the kids. Zion was looking to Starbuck, his eyes still wide and frightened. Starbuck took a sip from his own mug nodding to the boy to do the same. Zion drank first before the other boys followed his lead. Jake helped Rene to wrap her hands around the mug but she didn't need any more assistance once she got a taste, downing the soup.

Jake didn't answer him right away, looking to Max. "Who's the geezer and does he have a working turbo wash?"

The gruff voice responded, "The geezer has a name, Peryton and it's my home. Yeah, I have a working turbo wash. Ask nicely and I might let you use it. You're all making a mess of my place. Show some respect would ya?"

Jake opened his mouth, but Boomer cut him off. "Sir, they've been on the run for a while in the cold. I think a hot turbo wash might be what they need to warm up."

"Yeah, yeah," the old man grumbled. "I'll get some towels and see what I can do about clothes." The old man shuffled down the hallway and Starbuck looked to Boomer.

"We're safe here? Apollo said he's a bit off."

"He's fine. Just use some manners with him. He's…he's been alone for a while."

Starbuck nodded, suddenly feeling a thousand times better with the warm soup in him. He asked again, "How is Rene?"

Like a good medic, Jake evaded a direct answer. "I want to get you two cleaned up, and a look at you in some better light. The kids don't have that thing in their arm like you do. Think you can help me with her?"

Starbuck set down his empty mug as he got up to go to his wife. Like in the cell, she flinched at first when he reached for her.

"Rene, it's okay," Jake reassured her as he helped her up. "He's friendly." She looked to Starbuck, her eyes unreadable in the light of the fire.

The old man had entered the room, thick towels in his arms. He looked angry and seemed to have a rebuke on his lips, but Starbuck cut him off. "Thank you, sir. My wife is pregnant and it's been a hades of a couple of days. We appreciate the hospitality."

The old man's face morphed quickly from anger to sympathy, that changed just as fast back to anger. "Pregnant? Why the frack was she in a viper? Wait, she's the one, isn't she? The one that Max said can travel in hyperspace?"

Starbuck sighed heavily. He had no idea how to explain what Rene could do, and if she still could if she was as disoriented as she seemed to be. He settled for a simple answer, "Yes sir, she's the one."

Starbuck wondered as Boomer's eyebrows went up in surprise as the old man unexpectedly went from grumbling at their intrusion, to a warm and welcoming host. "The turbo wash is this way. Plenty of hot water and I'll get you that plastic wrap you wanted. I'll look for some clean clothes for you. Not sure what will fit, but I have some in the closet from my wife." The old man turned for the food prep area, nearly tripping on a chair that was in his way before he roughly shoved it aside to rummage in a drawer, then turned to hand Starbuck the plastic wrap and the towels. "This way." The man led them down a short hallway to a bedroom, running his hand along the wall.

"He's going blind," Boomer filled in for Starbuck before speaking to Jake. "Need some help?"

It was Starbuck that answered, "We'll be fine. I don't think I need all of you helping my wife take a turbo."

"It's nothing I haven't seen before." Jake responded.

"Yeah, well she didn't seal with you, so it's nothing you need to see again." Starbuck retorted and instantly regretted it as Jake recoiled from the sharp words as if he'd been cut by them. Starbuck sucked in a breath before he apologized. "Sorry, I'm just…just really tired."

Jake nodded and gave the gutter snipe shrug as acceptance. "I'm still joining you in there to check you both out and tend to those things in your arms. You can be as tired and as much as an astrum to me as you want, I don't care. I'm still going to do my job. Come on Rene." He guided her down the hallway.

Boomer patted Starbuck on the shoulder again, "He's the one who insisted we go back to get you when they did. Knocked Avery out cold and said something about you being family."

"What?" Starbuck assumed in his fatigue he had misunderstood. "But Apollo…and…Jake…he punched Avery?"

"Apollo tried to stop him, but Jake knocked Avery out cold, took his weapon, and took off alone. Apollo followed. My word as a Warrior."

"Huh.." was all he could think to respond as he looked to Jake, reappraising the young warrior. "Huh…"