The fact that the complex was practically coming down on their heads didn't make Kara's job of keeping Kacey calm any easier. She was relatively positive that Sam was about to explode with questions, but this wasn't the time or place.

"The transports are on the south side of the city," Sharon told them as they finally made it outside to the hellish firefight that was shaping up in New Caprica City. "If we can make it there, I've got a Raptor with my name on the pilot's seat."

She and Sam already had guns out, and he reached to hand one to Kara as well, ignoring the fact that her arms were currently full with a crying blonde toddler. Kara gave him a Look.

"Take it, or you sign both of your death certificates." There was a certain amount logic to that that she couldn't deny. Shifting Kacey to her left hip, she took the gun with her right hand, and they began trying to make their way past the Centurions that had been let loose on the city.

They rounded a corner between two tents, and Kara didn't even have time to shout a warning as she noticed the Centurion up ahead. The metal monster fired its weapons at almost exactly the same time that Kara fired hers. One bullet just barely missed her shoulder – but it and two others solidly found their mark in a target standing just behind her. Sharon kept firing until the Centurion went down for good, while Kara turned to her fallen husband.

"That thing's a crappy shot," he choked out. "Didn't even scratch you." She set Kacey down on her feet and started checking the ex-C-Buck's wounds.

"It's not that bad," she told him as she tried putting pressure on the holes in his torso and arm. "Frakking crybaby." He cracked a smile.

"Gods, you're a horrible liar."

"I'll work on that," Kara shot back. "Come on, we're getting you to a ship and back to Galactica, and Cottle can fix you up good as new. He really likes it when he pulls stuff like this off. He'll be frakking insufferable for weeks."

Sharon finished a quick check of their surroundings to make sure they were clear, and then returned to help Kara stand Sam up. The bio-Cylon was more than capable of supporting his weight by herself once they got him on her feet.

Kara turned to get Kacey, and realized that little girl wasn't where she'd left her. She was several steps away, staring down a small aisle between the tents that surrounded them. "Kacey!" she called, hurriedly moving forward to pick her up; the little girl was completely out in the open. Her heart stopped as she realized what her daughter was looking at: a Centurion. The metal monster just stared at the child for a horribly long moment, then flipped its gun back and turned and walked away. Kacey smiled.

Kara scooped her up in her arms and turned back to where Sharon and Sam were standing, having seen the whole episode. "What the frak just happened?" Sam asked.

"Just move," Kara ordered. She and Sharon shared a look before the other woman actually obeyed – she understood what Kacey was. And both Colonial pilots were hoping that the little girl would increase the odds of all of them still being alive when they got to a transport.

Racetrack was antsy as hell by the time they finally arrived at the Raptor. "We were this frakking close to leaving without you," she told Sharon as the Cylon slid into the pilot's seat.

Kara had been left to deal with both Anders and Kacey, and was quickly realizing she couldn't. "I see you found yourself another fine mess, huh?" a voice asked Sam, and Kara was surprised to see a one-eyed Saul Tigh take Anders' arm and help him down to the floor of the Raptor.

Sam coughed, and Kara pretended that she didn't see the blood that was now spattered on his lips. "Damn right," he replied with a little bit of a grin.

Tigh looked up at Kara, retaking his seat at the ECO console. "I thought he'd lost his mind when he started talking about running off to find you. Never thought…It's good to see you're in one piece."

She nodded. "Likewise, Sir."

Ellen Tigh was beside her husband, and offered a little smile to the whimpering toddler in Kara's arms. "Did you pick her up along the way?" she quietly asked.

Kara and Anders shared a look as she sat down on the floor as well, Kacey cuddled in her arms. "Yeah, something like that," she replied, looking toward the floor. "Her father told me that I should do whatever I thought she needed, and…she needed to get out of there."

Sharon and Racetrack were good at their jobs; they managed to successfully plot a jump from only a few feet off of the surface up into the cloud that surrounded the planet. Adjusting the ship's scanners revealed the location of a large object hiding in the mist, and then Kara found herself forced to blink back tears as she realized the spots of gold in front of them were the lights on the Galactica's port-side landing pod.

She was home.

TBC...