Chapter 23

When Maggie heard the alarm claxons go off she dropped her gym bag and bolted out the hatch. After so long on the run, the reaction was instinctive. Alarms meant cylons, which meant every available pilot to the hangar deck ASAP. She hadn't made it very far, maybe a third of the way, when Galactica's deck rolled and spasmed beneath her. Caught completely unaware, only her good balance and sudden grip on a nearby hatch stopped her from crashing to her knees. Before she could even venture to guess what that meant the overhead lights shut off as if someone had flicked a switch. Her body tensed as she realized she had seen this before. The cylons had boarded.

"Frak!" She swore before taking off down the hallway again, but she was no longer headed for the hangar deck, not if there were cylons on board. What she needed were weapons, explosive rounds to be exact.

She found that the nearest arms locker had already been raided, but there was still some ammo left. Grabbing what she could carry, she headed for aft damage control. The hallways were eerily silent, though it made sense since everyone had probably made it to their posts by now. She would have too had she not been practically on the other side of the ship when the cylons attacked.

Maggie was two turns away from aft damage control when she heard a single voice talking. Her heart stammered in fear the second she recognized it as Zak's. Forgetting caution she rushed around the corner. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw him kneeling on the deck, unharmed. Zak glanced up at her with an almost panicked look in his eyes.

A second, more thorough look told her the person he was leaning over wasn't fine. After quickly scanning the surrounding area, Maggie dropped to her knees on the other side of Apollo.

"What happened?" She demanded as she scanned over Zak's brother for signs of injury.

"I have no idea," Zak replied. His voice was steady, not even hinting at the worry he must be feeling for his brother. "I was on my way to the hangar deck, to see if I could help, and I found him like this."

Zak reached around to the back of Lee's head, touching it gently. When he pulled his fingers away they were covered in blood.

Maggie gulped. "Maybe he tripped and hit his head when the cylons boarded."

Zak's eyes widened it outright fear. "What?!"

Maggie cursed under her breath. Of course he wouldn't know. "The cylons boarded Galactica. I'll explain later, but first we need to get him to sickbay."

Zak gritted his teeth and nodded. "But we can't move him Maggie, he has a head injury. We both know how serious that could be."

He was right. Neither of them knew how bad this really was, and they could be risking more damage if they acted in haste. "Fine," Maggie stated. As she stood up she passed her gun to Zak along with the spare rounds she'd gathered. "There's a phone in the arms locker I just came from. I'll call to sickbay and tell them we need a med team down here. You stay and defend this position."

Maggie left before he had a chance to protest. She knew Zak, and the next thing out of his mouth would have been an objection to the plan. He would have insisted on her keeping the gun or something stupid like that.

She had just relayed the message to the acting medical officer in charge when she felt the familiar tug of an FTL jump. It wasn't as disorienting as the jolting motion of the battlestar had been, but she still staggered. They had jumped, which meant the cylon threat had been eliminated. She breathed a sigh of relief but still opted to take a spare weapon back with her just in case.

Just as she made it back to Zak and Apollo the lights flickered back on.

"What's happening?" Zak asked. To anyone else he would appear calm and collected, but she knew him well enough to read the subtle signs, and although he was hiding it better now he was still just as worried as he had been.

Maggie knelt down on the other side of Apollo. "A med team will be here as soon as they can. We've jumped which means the cylon threat must have been eliminated. And it looks like we have power back." She gave him a small smile. "It's going to be okay."

Zak nodded at the same time a quiet moan filled the air. Simultaneously they glanced down at Apollo. He hadn't moved, but the sound had definitely come from him.

"Lee," Zak said quietly. "Lee, you need to wake up."

Another moan, this one a little louder, filled the air.

Zak glanced over at her once before refocusing his attention on his brother. "Lee, the medics will be here soon, just hang in there." Zak squeezed Apollo's shoulder lightly.

A second later Maggie noticed the CAG's eyelids flutter open. He squinted at the harsh light, but didn't close his eyes. "What happened?"

Lee's head was throbbing, creating a sharp increase of pain at the base of his skull with every heartbeat. It hurt so much. His body wanted nothing more than to slide back into the comforting black oblivion, but he wouldn't let it. He didn't know why, but he couldn't allow that to happen. He needed to stay awake.

"What happened?" He found himself asking as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position. His muscles didn't want to cooperate, so it was a good thing that Zak wrapped an arm around his shoulder and helped him.

"You must have fallen and hit your head," Zak explained. "Don't worry, the medics are on their way."

Lee struggled to remember the muddled details. The last thing he remembered clearly was Kara saying she loved him. His entire body turned rigid as all the memories flooded back. "Kara," he choked on her name.

Before he knew it he had staggered to his feet. He needed to find her. An unyielding pressure on his shoulders held him back.

"What the hell are you doing? You're injured and bleeding!" Zak demanded. His hands were grasping Lee's shoulders tightly.

Lee tried to pull himself free, but the sudden movement caused everything around him to lurch and he stumbled. Zak's hold on him was the only thing that kept him upright.

"I need to find her!" There was no room for argument in his voice.

It was Maggie who replied. "Sir, I'm sure she's fine. She's probably in the hangar—"

"No! The cylons…" He gulped as the exact details resurfaced in his mind. "The cylons took her." No, he thought, she let them take her so he could live.

Lee continued. "We need to stop them before they leave the ship." They just had to move fast, but they could do it.

"Lee…" Zak's voice was hesitant. "We've already jumped."

Lee froze. Suddenly he couldn't breathe. "No!" It couldn't be true. She wasn't gone. "No!" He repeated, his voice raw with emotion.

"Lee, I'm sorry."

Something broke inside of him as the reality of the situation hit him full force. Harsh, angry sobs caught in his throat in a race to escape. His legs crumpled beneath him, and he fell to the ground.

Tears burned his eyes and he couldn't see, but it didn't matter. She was gone.

Gone. Lee shuddered, but continued to stare blankly ahead at the curtain around the sickbay cubicle. He couldn't believe she was gone. For a few minutes he'd been the happiest man in the entire fleet, and now… Tears burned in his eyes but didn't fall. Now he had nothing.

Cottle had said he was in shock, or at least that's what Lee thought. He didn't know for sure because he couldn't concentrate on anything past the harsh ache that filled his chest, threatening to consume him from the inside out.

Everything, all the details on what was going on around him just seemed to float by, utterly unimportant. He thought he might have heard both his father and his brother talking in the waiting area. He probably had, but he didn't care, nothing mattered anymore.

"Promise me that he'll be fine, and I'll leave willingly." Those were the last words he'd heard her say. She'd sacrificed herself for him. But it wasn't fair, because he couldn't get through this without her. He needed her, his other half.

Lee shivered, suddenly feeling cold. Just like when he'd ejected from the blackbird. The cold had seeped into him, settling itself against his bones, contaminating him. For so long he thought he would never rid himself of the horrible feeling, he'd given up hope. Then Kara had helped him, made everything right again. She'd saved him.

Another shiver came, causing him to tremble so hard that his teeth clattered together. A nurse walked in with a warm blanket, telling him that it would help. She placed it around his shoulders, and when he didn't move, she pulled it tightly around him.

It didn't help. This wasn't the kind of cold that could be fought with thermal heat. What he needed was Kara. He bit back a sob. But she couldn't save him again. She was gone.

Tears began to slide down his cheeks. He hadn't even been able to tell her that he loved her.

Maggie entered sickbay and immediately found Zak. He was standing off to the side of the waiting area. Stepping up beside him she slipped her hand into his. "How's he doing?" She asked quietly.

Zak seemed to be lost deep in thought, and it took him a few seconds to answer. "He has a bad concussion. Cottle's keeping him for observation."

Zak didn't look at her. His gaze was firmly fixed on a cubicle a few feet away. His voice sounded hollow, almost dead. Maggie squeezed his hand reassuringly and stepped closer, so that she was just leaning against his side. "He's going to be fine, Zak."

"Medically speaking." Was the terse response she received.

Maggie sighed. Zak was right, medically speaking Apollo would be fine. Otherwise… She'd been there to witness his breakdown after he'd realized Starbuck was gone. It was a reaction Maggie never would have expected. He was Apollo, Galactica's CAG, someone who was always completely in control. Except he hadn't been, not when he'd found out the cylons had left with Kara.

Maggie knew that other pilots gossiped about the two of them, but she'd never been one to get involved in that. She knew the two were friends, close friends, but as far as she knew there was no proof that they'd been anything more. But perhaps this was proof enough.

"He loves her," Zak said, his voice was quiet enough that only she could hear. "And now he's lost her. I know exactly what that feels like."

Maggie felt her throat tighten and tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She pulled Zak into a hug. He wrapped her up in his arms tightly. She sent a silent prayer to the Gods. They had brought her and Zak back together, and with any luck they could do it for Starbuck and Apollo too.

Kara struggled to overcome the last remnants of the drug's effect. When she finally forced her eyes open, she reeled at the sight before her. She was on Caprica. A quick glance around her barren and antiseptic smelling prison revealed a shattered mirror. She shuddered. It was even the same room.

Her limbs felt unnaturally heavy; no doubt an after effect of the drug Leoben had injected her with. Despite that she still tried to push herself upright in bed. She met resistance as previously unnoticed restraints pulled tight against her wrists and ankles. Kara swore and tried harder, but they wouldn't budge.

Adrenaline surged through her veins as she began to panic. She had to escape. She needed to get back to Galactica, back to Lee.

Her eyes fell shut as she remembered the urgency and fear in his voice as he'd pleaded with her not to go with Leoben. Tears burned in her eyes. She'd had to do it; it was the only way to ensure his safety.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that the sound of the door creaking open and closed didn't register until the cylon was already at the foot of her bed.

"Hello, Kara."

Her eyes flew open and her jaw dropped in shock as she recognized the cylon. "Zak?"

He smiled at her as he took a seat in a nearby chair. It wasn't sinister, in fact it almost seemed as if he was genuinely pleased to see her. "Yes, it's me."

He had been the one who tricked her. He'd used her. Anger filled her as she renewed her struggle against her bonds. "Get out," she said through gritted teeth. "Get the frak out."

"I came to talk," he explained in an irritatingly calm manner. "I owe you an explanation, Kara. Please, hear me out."

"I guess I don't really have a choice," she spat out as she fixed him with a hate filled glare.

Cylon Zak shrugged. "Everyone always has a choice, including cylons. I made my choice Kara. I saved you from your supposed destiny. Whether you choose to believe me or not, or to even hear the story, well that's up to you."

A chill ran down her spine. "What the frak are you talking about?"

Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees. "Do you know what my mission was, Kara?" He waited until she shook her head before continuing. "My mission was to make you fall in love me."

She opened her mouth to make an angry retort, but he kept on speaking.

"Or at least that was the first part. They told me it was for the best and I believed them. When they told me the next part of the mission, I began to question whether or not we were doing the right thing."

"What was it?" She asked. The anger she'd been feeling was slowly replaced by fear. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

The cylon shook his head. "What difference does it make? All that matters is that I stopped it from happening. I sabotaged the mission by crashing that viper. There was no way they could send me back in a new body, because as far as everyone knew I was dead."

He sighed. "I never wanted to hurt you, Kara, but I know that I did. I was never in love with you. I respected you, admired you even, and that was why I realized what we were doing was so wrong. I didn't agree with the cylon plan, I still don't. More importantly, I couldn't sacrifice you so that the rest of the cylons could reach their goal."

Kara wasn't sure what to think. Her mind was reeling with an overload of information, but somewhere in the back of her mind she believed him. She had no concrete reason to trust him, yet her gut was telling her she should, and her instincts were rarely, if ever, wrong.

"And what now?" She asked bitterly. Maybe he was sorry, but that didn't change her current situation.

He stood up and made his way over to her side. Reaching across the bed he undid the restraint on her arm, before quickly doing the same to the other. By the time she'd pulled her wrists free of the loosened leather, he'd released her ankles as well.

"Now I'm going to help you escape."

TBC