Chapter 22

Throughout the entire day Kara kept replaying Zak's words, over and over in her head. According to him, Lee's feelings for her were deeper than friendship. Initially the information had shocked her, but the more she thought about it, the more she saw the truth in it. There was something between them; something tangible, and she didn't want to miss out on it.

One of them had to make a move, and according to Zak it wasn't going to be Lee. That left the ball in her court.

Kara was more nervous than she could ever remember. She was going to tell Lee—her best friend—that she was in love with him. Knowing that she was about to do something that would change her life scared the shit out of her, but at the same time she was excited. So long as Zak hadn't lied to her, and Lee really did feel the same way, it would be for the best.

She'd spent a lot of time trying to figure out what she was going to say, but now it was time to act. Kara had just come off shift. After quickly showering and changing into BDUs she left the bunkroom in search of Lee. She did her best to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach, and the unexpected chill down her spine.

As she rounded the last corner on her way to his office, she saw him walking only a few paces ahead of her, scanning over reports as he went. "Lee," she called out as she jogged the last few steps to catch up with him.

He paused, and when he turned around he looked surprised, but pleased to see her. "Hey," he said as he closed the files and tucked them under his arm.

"Hey," she replied as she stopped beside him. "Can I, um, talk to you for a second?"

Lee nodded. "Sure. What's up?"

Kara took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Actually, can we talk somewhere private?"

Concern lined Lee's face. "Yeah, is everything…?"

Kara nodded quickly. "Everything's good. I just… it's personal."

Lee still seemed a little worried, but he didn't press it. "Is my office okay?"

Kara nodded. When they got there, Lee punched in his pass code and swung open the hatch, gesturing for Kara to go in first. She gave him a shy smile and stepped in. Lee entered directly behind her, closing the hatch and dogging it.

After tossing the papers on his desk, he turned around so that he was leaning against the front of it, facing her. "So…"

Kara inhaled deeply. This was her last chance to back out, but she wouldn't. It was all or nothing, and the odds were in her favor.

"There's something I want to tell you." Her voice seemed almost unsteady, but she hoped Lee wouldn't notice. She was doing everything she could to not seem nervous, even though she was, more than anything.

"Okay, shoot." Lee was looking directly into her eyes, probably trying to reassure her, but his intensity was only making her insides churn more.

"I…" Kara bit her bottom lip between her teeth, hard enough that she almost drew blood. She couldn't believe she was freezing up. "I…"

Lee pushed himself off the desk and stepped towards her, gently grabbing a hold of her arms just above the elbow. "Kara, are you sure everything's okay?" Gods, he cared so much. She felt her heart speed up, and she was sure that Lee would be able to hear it pounding against her ribcage.

She nodded, taking another deep breath. "Yeah. It's just really important."

"Kara, you know you can tell me anything, right?" He was completely earnest.

For some reason that helped to calm her. "Yeah, I know."

Lee smiled, making her feel better. "Good."

"Listen, Lee, I'm just going to say it. Okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

She took another deep breath. "I love you."

Lee had never been more shocked in his entire life. Everything seemed to stop as he tried to wrap his mind around what Kara had just said.

"What?" He asked, needing to hear it again to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"I love you," Kara stated, her voice trembling slightly. "I have for a long time."

She loved him. Just like he loved her, she loved him. Happiness flooded through him, and he tried to get his mouth to work so he could say it back, but it wasn't cooperating.

"Lee?" She prompted, sounding unsure for the first time since stepping into his office.

Looking into her eyes he could see how nervous and hopeful she was, and suddenly his tongue was working again. "Kara, I l—"

He was cut off by the blaring of the alarm klaxons and a page over the intercom. "Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill."

Kara swore vehemently and gave Lee an apologetic look before wheeling around to undog the hatch. He understood. No matter what, their jobs had to come first. But it didn't stop him from hating the cylons more than ever. Even as he followed Kara out of his office at a sprint, he couldn't believe the bad timing they had. Kara had told him she loved him, and before he could say it back the cylons had arrived. She loved him. Lee grinned in spite of the situation.

They were halfway to the hangar deck, running at full speed, when the entire ship lurched and shuttered, throwing them to the deck. Lee's knees crashed into the unyielding surface of the deck hard enough to make him see stars. Before he could even think about getting up the lights had gone off, leaving the hallway illuminated only by emergency power.

"Kara," he called out as he pushed himself upright.

"I'm fine," she said, gritting her teeth as she stood up.

He could see her, only a few feet ahead of him, and he knew that she couldn't be fine. His knees were screaming in pain from the fall, and he couldn't imagine how much hers hurt. Despite that she didn't complain, and only favored her one leg slightly.

"What the hell's going on?" She asked as he stepped up beside her.

Lee felt fear begin to gnaw at his gut as the familiarity of the situation sunk in. "I think the cylons just boarded."

"What?!" Kara whipped her head around to look at Lee. He looked sure of himself, and suddenly Kara remembered Kat bragging about how she and some of the other pilots had taken down two centurions heading for aft damage control. She'd been on Caprica at the time, and Lee hadn't. While Kara had been busy retrieving the arrow of Apollo, Lee had been stuck on Galactica, dealing with a multitude of things including a cylon boarding party. He would know. "Frak."

"Kara, we need to get to…"

"Aft damage control," she said, finishing his sentence as she took off towards the nearest arms locker. Her knee throbbed, but she shoved it to the back of her mind, focusing everything she had on getting to the arms locker.

When they got to there, Lee told her to grab as many explosive rounds as she could. Kara raided the storage units while Lee used the phone to call up to CIC. It took only a few seconds for them to confirm that his guess had been right. She vaguely heard Lee telling whomever it was on the other end of the line that he was heading for aft damage control.

Kara pressed a gun into his hand, along with half of the rounds she'd found. As she was loading her gun, she saw that Lee wasn't moving. Looking up, she met his gaze; he looked terrified.

"You should stay here," he said, his voice thick with worry.

Kara shook her head vehemently. "Like hell."

"Kara—"

"—No!" She said firmly, cutting him off. "I don't want to lose you either Lee, but we both know that our chances are better together. When it's the two of us, we always get through. No matter what."

She gave him what she hoped was a convincing look, and he nodded sharply, before breaking out of his reverie and loading his gun as well. As he turned to leave, Lee stepped close to her. He cupped her face with one hand and leaned down, kissing her fully on the lips.

Kara's heart soared and for a second she forgot about everything that was going on, and kissed him back. Her fingers twined in the short hairs on the back of his neck, increasing the pressure between them. Lee's mouth slid open and Kara's tongue darted out to taste him. The sensation made her knees go weak.

A second later they broke apart. The reality of their situation came crashing back down. They shared one glance before rushing out of the arms locker.

They moved as quickly and as quietly as they could, Lee in front and Kara bringing up the rear. The ship was eerily dark, and Kara felt unnerved, although she'd never show it. The path had so far been clear, and to see the hallways so empty was even more unsettling. It didn't surprise her though. Due to the time of day everyone was likely to either be on shift, in the rec room or sleeping. For all they knew they could be the only two people between the cylons and their destination.

It didn't take very long for their breathing to become labored. In addition, the pain in Kara's knee had risen to a nearly excruciating level, but she didn't let it affect her pace.

Suddenly Lee slowed to a walk, forcing her to as well. Then she heard it, the grating sound of metal on metal. The centurions were ahead of them. They hadn't been able to cut them off. Just as Kara's mind started brainstorming for other plans she noticed that the noise was getting louder. The centurions were coming towards them.

Then she heard the same noise, but from behind her. It was also getting louder. "What the frak," she muttered under her breath. Her adrenaline immediately kicked into overdrive.

Lee had heard it too because he was frantically glancing back and forth between both directions of the hallway. He looked just as confused as she felt, though it wasn't any consolation. It almost seemed like they were being hunted. A chill ran down Kara's spine and she shuddered.

The noises were growing louder still. The cylons were close. They needed to do something, and fast. Kara met Lee's eyes for only a fraction of a second. He nodded and at the same time they both raised their weapons and ran towards aft damage control. If there weren't too many cylons they might have a chance at breaking through.

Kara sent a quick and silent prayer to the gods. Her life couldn't end now, not after she was finally getting what she wanted. The kiss that she'd shared with Lee in the arms locker was not going to be their last, not if she had anything to say about it.

They'd barely made six feet before they caught a glimpse of metal toaster around the corner. They came to a halt and crouched down against the wall, in a more easily defendable position.

"Headshots," Lee whispered, and Kara nodded.

It was the last thing Kara heard before sounds of gunfire filled the air as they both took aim and fired. Kara didn't let herself think about anything past shooting toasters and reloading her gun. She took down four centurions, and Lee got three before their ammo ran out.

She began to panic as she realized that there were still at least a dozen more coming, plus whatever cylons were closing in behind them. They only had seconds.

"Hello, Kara," a chilling voice said from behind her.

Both Kara and Lee shot up onto their feet. Bile rose in her throat as she recognized the human model leading the cylons that had come from the other direction. Leoben. Her entire body stiffened immediately.

The centurions had surrounded them, but they weren't firing. In fact, they hadn't fired a single shot yet. Kara shuddered as she realized that they had never been heading for aft damage control, they were after her.

Lee stepped closer to her. His arm was brushing against hers. He was silently encouraging her, and giving her strength.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice strong and defiant.

Leoben smiled, as if he'd been anticipating the question. "You've taken something of ours."

He didn't have to elaborate, Kara knew exactly what he was referring to: the humans that the cylons had cloned.

"And now you want them back?" She tried to keep her voice strong and free of fear. She wasn't going to let him see her squirm.

Leoben shook his head and laughed. "No. It would be pointless. The secret has already been revealed."

"Then what do you want?" Lee demanded, speaking up for the first time.

The cylon sneered, but didn't look at Lee, he kept his gaze firmly set on Kara. "Retribution. Such an act cannot be taken lightly." He stepped closer, and Kara had to use all of her willpower to remain where she was and not take a step back.

"Do you remember what I told you, Kara? You have a destiny." His voice was calm and sure, sending chills down her spine.

She shook her head viciously. "There's no such thing as destiny." She hadn't believed him when he'd told her during the interrogation, and she didn't believe him now.

"Ah, but there's where you're wrong." He took another step towards her and she could feel the tension radiating from Lee, but neither of them moved. "I've seen your destiny, Kara. But you've angered God, and now his plans for you have changed." He advanced another step. "You're coming with us."

In a flash of movement Lee stepped between her and Leoben. "No, she isn't." Kara had never before heard such staunch determination in his voice.

A sinister grin covered the cylon's face. "Ah, but she is." When Lee didn't move, Leoben raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Fine." He looked over his shoulder at a centurion. "Shoot him."

Before the metal cylon's arm was fully raised, Kara had pushed past so that she was in front of Lee. "No." She was not going to let Lee die. They didn't want him; they wanted her.

The centurion paused, awaiting Leoben's order.

"Kara," Lee whispered behind her, but she ignored him.

Her heart was racing, every muscle in her body was tense, and she felt nauseous, yet she knew she was about to do the right thing. "I'll go with you if you let him live."

"Kara, no!" Lee pleaded. He gripped her waist and tried to push her out of the way, but she stayed rooted to the spot.

"Promise me that he'll be fine, and I'll leave willingly." Tears were building up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. It was the only option. At least this way Lee would be safe.

Leoben smiled. "Have it your way." He nodded his head slightly, and before Kara had a chance to register what was going on, she heard a loud thump from behind her. Suddenly Lee's hands were no longer holding onto her, and he had fallen to the ground. A blow to the head from a centurion had left him unconscious.

Kara felt her heart plunge into her stomach at seeing him like that. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears, and a protest was rising to her lips, but she bit it back. At least he was still alive.

Turning back around she saw that Leoben had closed the final distance between them and was standing directly in front of her. He reached out to run a cold finger down her cheek, but Kara flinched away.

The look on his face turned to one of disappointment. Without any warning his fist came up and hit her upper arm, bringing with it the familiar sting of a needle.

The drug's effect was near immediate. Her vision started to blur and she felt dizziness kicking in.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Kara, but I can't risk you trying to escape."

Leoben's gloating voice was the last thing she remembered before slipping into a black oblivion.

TBC

A/N: I'd just like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story. Your feedback means a lot to me. I do reply to the majority of signed reviews, but for those of you that I missed, and for the people leaving anonymous reviews: Thank you. It really does motivate me to write more.