A/N: Well it sure has been a long time. This chapter has given nothing but fits, and I apologize for the very long delay. I am also not very good a writing battle scenes, so please forgive my attempts, but it was necessary. This chapter is a little long, but we are definitely heading into the final stretch, maybe just a few more chapters left.
I hope you'll take a moment to leave a review, especially if there are any points you would like clarification on. I know that I have put a lot of info out there, and I may not have tied up all my loose ends. Plus I love getting the feedback from you guys.
Chapter 18: The Wrath of God
The knock on the door interrupted the tension and sorrow that had crept into the room, surrounding the three occupants in a blanket of untold pain. All three jumped at the small intrusion, and then giggled nervously at their foolishness. Artemis rose from the couch, and then carefully schooled her features back to that of Kara. She was just beginning to realize that although they shared the same body, they were definitely 2 different beings.
She taps the panel by the door and it slides soundlessly open to reveal three more people standing on the other side. Two she recognizes immediately, but the third is a stranger to her, even though he wore the same face as her twin.
"Can we come in?" Sam asks, watching her intently. He's still trying to comprehend what happened earlier on the observation deck. He knows that he's lost her, but what he doesn't understand is why. He's willing to let that sit on the back burner for now; afterall if the rumors are true, then there are more pressing issues for them all to deal with know.
Kara's gaze never waivers from the young man dressed in a light blue linen outfit, his feet encased in brown leather sandals. He's tall, not quite as tall as Devon, but taller than her. His hair is a darker shade of blond than Devon's, and the eyes are such a crystal clear blue, that they almost rival Apollo's; almost, not quite. His expression is caught somewhere between nervous anticipation, and determined confidence. She doesn't want to, but Kara likes this younger version of her twin standing before her.
"Yeah you guys can come in, but you're not staying long," she says moving to let them in.
Hermes jumps from the chair he had been sitting in upon hearing his best friend's voice. Seeing him walk through the door, is almost more than he can manage right at this moment. The two men cross the distance between, grabbing each other roughly in an embrace Kara was sure would leave bruises. Devon and Sam had always been close, and it was a relationship that had not bothered Kara; in fact it was because they were so close that Kara sought comfort in Sam's arms when she believed her brother gone from her forever.
The two men lingered in their embrace, neither embarrassed by their obvious affection for the other. They understood what they meant to each other, and could care less how other people perceived their relationship. Having thought that they had lost each other forever, also has a tendency to put life in perspective.
"You need a haircut," Devon says to Sam.
"Only because you know the ladies love my hair long, and that makes them want me more than you," Sam quips smiling broadly at him.
"You understand that it's over, and that you should harbor no ill feelings towards Apollo?" Devon asks lightly. He didn't try to quiet his voice so that only the two of the could hear what he was saying, but he did try to be gentle.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it, or him," Sam replies back, his expression darkening. He glances behind Devon, to where Lee is still sitting on the couch. Karl is sitting next to him, and Sam doesn't like how it feels as if the two have been friends for years.
"No it doesn't, and I can't make you, but it would be easier if you did," Devon says dropping back into his chair. "Ares and Artemis, are you guys going to speak, or just size each other all day?"
"Ares?" Artemis asks, raising one blond eyebrow.
"Hey, it was his idea," Ares says with a shrug, pointing to Devon. "Plus I am what I am."
"So war and destruction follow wherever you go?" She asks with a smirk.
"No, more like trouble and mayhem," he responds with a smile.
"And you should be use to that," Hermes says to her with a smile. "Trouble is your middle name."
"You always did think you were funny," Artemis replies as she drops onto the couch between Lee and Karl.
"Hey I'll catch up with you guys later," Sam says to Devon and Karl, storming out of Kara's quarters. He couldn't stand by and watch as his fiancee decided to take up with another man; he didn't care if he was the much lauded Apollo.
"Well that could have been worse," Karl says glancing around the room.
"He'll adjust," Hermes replies. "None of us really have much of a choice." Ares and Hermes exchange a look, and then glance at the trio sitting on the couch.
"Spill it Hermes," Artemis says reading the expression on his face. She knew him well, and she realizes that her little brother was just as easy for her to read. The two of them knew something, and they were reluctant to share. No, they were scared.
"Something has the two of you wound up; it would be better for you to share with the rest of us," Apollo says.
"We're stronger together than we were ever meant to be apart," Ares says, remembering what Isadora had said earlier.
"If you need me to go, I can catch up with you guys later," Karl tells them standing up and heading for the door.
"Actually Karl this concerns you," Devon says also standing. Karl sinks back onto the couch with a look of bewilderment on his face. Everyone watches as Devon paced around the room, trying to figure out the best way to approach this sensitive subject.
"Sharon is on the Libra," Devon says unable to think of a delicate way to broach the topic. The brothers were both watching Helo intently, looking for his reaction to the news that he had just received.
Karl was sure he had not heard Devon correctly. He shook his head to clear the image away of the last time he had seen Sharon. He had been on leave before the Capricorn was to make her final departure. Sharon had been assigned to the Ares, and they knew their time was limited. They spent the last week of his leave in London, saying goodbye as only lovers could do. When he left for the shuttle to take him back to the Capricorn, Sharon was nowhere around. She had told him the night before that she couldn't say goodbye; they both knew it would be forever, and maybe the next lifetime before they saw each other again.
Helo had mourned her death along with that of his sisters' and father's. He knew that his mother was out in space somewhere, but there was no telling what had befallen the Libra. So he'd mourned Isadora as well. He knew that life would continue, as it inevitably did, but he also knew that he wouldn't love anyone with the same depth that he had loved Sharon. And now one his best friends in the universe just told him she was alive, and on his mother's ship.
He jumped up, prepared to race out of Kara's quarters and straight to the hangar deck, where he could snag a jet and fly to the Libra. The need to see Sharon was more overpowering than the desire to see his own mother. But he couldn't deny himself the possibility of holding her in his arms again. He felt the restraining hand on his arm, and looked up into the stormy blue eyes of Ares. Karl also noticed that Devon was also on his feet, blocking the way to the exit.
"Let me go; I need to see her," he says to the young boy. Helo didn't like to use violence ever, even when backed into a corner, but if he had to he'd hurt this young man blocking his way.
"Karl, I'm not done yet," Devon says to him, imploring his with his eyes to sit back down and hear him out.
"I need to see her," he replies. His brain wants him to obey, and sit back down to hear what his friend has to say, but his heart was ready to disregard all common sense and bulldoze his way through these two.
"You also need to hear what Hermes has to say," Ares replies in a tight voice. There is barely suppressed anger simmering in his voice, and something else that Karl couldn't place.
"I don't know how Sharon made it to Venice Beach from London, but she arrived piloting a shuttle with about 10 other survivors from the academy in London," Devon says resuming his pacing.
"What surprised me more when she got off the shuttle, was the fact that she was pregnant; very pregnant," he says to his friend. Karl had finally sat back down, and it was a good thing, because the words that Hermes just spoke shocked the hell out of him.
"Pregnant?" Karl asks in a whisper. Devon watches as all the blood drains from the man's face, and if he had not been sitting, he'd have hit the floor.
"Yes," he answers. "She hid with us in the fallout shelter that had been built in the lower levels of the academy. That's how Isadora found us only a few days later. She welcomed Sharon with open arms, after all she was her last link to her only son, and no one knew if you guys were still alive."
"Sharon told me that the baby was your's, but I already suspected as much," Hermes says to Karl. "But what was to rock us more was when we found out that Sharon was not quite what she appeared to be."
'Wait a minute," Apollo says, having a feeling that he knew what was coming. "Maybe we should give Helo here some time to process that the woman he loves is not only alive, but he is also a father."
"I want to know everything," Karl replies glancing at Lee. He knew that his friend was just looking out for him, but he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He wasn't going to like whatever Hermes had to say.
It was Ares that broke the silence. "Athena..Sharon is a cylon. Your daughter is half cylon." It was brutal, but quick, like some one ripping off a band-aid. Both Kara and Karl sat in absolute shock; neither being able to get their brains around what they had just heard.
"Sharon is a cylon?" Kara asks stupidly. She had known Sharon almost as long as Karl had. They both met her at the academy when she entered into the flight program. She was a few years younger than most of their friends, but she had fit right in. It wasn't long before Helo had fallen hard for the dark haired girl, and they started a very heavy relationship.
"Yes Artemis, she's a cylon," Hermes confirms. Karl had still not said anything and was looking decidedly sick. "We don't know how she was able to infiltrate our ranks; hell she doesn't even know how it happened. She didn't know she was a cylon, until she tried to take control of the Libra. Helo your mother has managed to get pass that and love both Athena and Hera."
"Actually Athena has been a significant help to us in not only fighting the cylons, but in tracking you guys across the universe," Ares says looking deep in Helo's eyes. "If we can get over the fact that she is a machine and accept her as she is, so can you. She still loves you, and I'm sure your feelings didn't just turn off when you heard she was a cylon."
"I'm...not sure..what to say," Karl replies looking at his friends.
"Don't say anything," Hermes says putting his hand on Helo's shoulder. "Your mother is going to need your support when all this comes out; and you need to meet your daughter before you do anything rash."
The look of wonder on Helo's face alerted them all to the fact that he was processing the fact that he was a father, and there was a little girl on the Libra that was part his. He could deal with the fallout later, and he was sure there was going to be some serious fallout, not only for his mother, but for his daughter and Sharon.
"What are we going to do?" He asks Hermes. "We all know how the Admiral feels, and she won't settle for anything less than the total annihilation of everything cylon"
"We're going to have to do something about that real soon," Hermes says pacing. "I know that if we continue on this present course of action, we'll destroy each other. There won't be anything left of either side for anyone to claim victory. We can't live with the cylons, but if we don't come to some sort of agreement, we'll end up destroying each other."
"Hermes and I have also noted a very interesting trend," Ares states to the group. He looks at Hermes, and his brother gives a shake of his head.
"I guess no better time than the present," Devon says with a shrug of his shoulders.
"What are you 2 babbling about," Kara says in exasperation.
"It seems that another group of 12 is slowly forming," he says with a sly grin.
"Another group of 12?" Kara asks stupidly.
"Let's see, we have Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Hermes and little Hera," Andreas responds looking at Devon for confirmation.
"And we think that we may have identified Aphrodite as the blond haired cylon commonly referred to as Number Six," Devon replies sitting back down.
"Are you saying that there is an incarnation of each of the 12 Lords of Kobol?" Apollo asks following their line of reasoning.
"It would seem that way," Devon says with a shrug. "After all we already have 6 confirmed, possibly another bringing us to 7. So it seems only reasonable that the other 5 would be among us somewhere."
"Oh Gods, I'd love to meet Zeus," Kara says with a laugh.
"I'm sure you will, and you'll be more than a little surprised," Ares says with a chuckle. Kara looks at him with a quizzical expression, but all Ares does is grin at her. She realizes that he is either just being funny or he has no intention of telling her what he is referring to.
"So would we be in direct contention with the Council of Twelve?" Apollo asks the two brothers. He doesn't like the idea of going up against a group of people who had spent over two thousand years adhering to a strict religious agenda. Especially if some of their help would be coming from a group of machines that he not only hated, but feared as well.
"I think it will be up to us to convince all sides that we need to leave each other alone," Hermes replies to Lee's question. "There is NO WAY for us to live together; we've done too much to each other for that to ever be an option. You can't tell me that the universe isn't big enough for us to each find our own little section, and leave each other the hell alone.
"But didn't we already try that option?" Apollo asks thinking about the 40 years of silent truce that had existed between the colonies and the cylons.
"I think that we blew that to hell and back," Hermes says shaking his head. "Look guys, I don't have all the answers. Mostly what I have is a jumble of visions that I can barely understand, much less alone make sense out of. I hear voices, as if someone is trying to give me directions, but most of the time they are speaking in a language I don't understand. I'm not sure what we really need to do, and so far we've just been flying by the seat of our pants."
Before he could say any thing else, loud claxons burst the cozy little gathering and lights began to flash.
"ALL PERSONNEL TO BATTLE STATIONS!! WE ARE AT CODE RED!! REPEAT WE ARE AT CODE RED!!"
Years of training made all of them scramble from Kara's quarters and go racing towards the hangar bay. All of the pilots from the Capricorn were scrambling for their flight suits, while the deck crew was prepping ships for launch. There were a handful of pilots from each of her sister ships, and those pilots were assisting to allow the Capricorn to clear her decks before the other pilots could be ready to launch.
"I've missed flying with you little sister," Devon says pulling Kara into a loose hug. "I'll see you in a few minutes, and don't do anything stupid until I get there." Kara hugs him back and ruffles his hair playfully.
"I can't make any promises," she yells over her shoulders as she races after Apollo towards their fighters.
Once Artemis had entered the space around the Capricorn, she stopped in shock. There were UAG fighter jets, and vipers everywhere, but across from them was a large force of raiders, heavy raiders and base stars. They weren't firing, nor making any moves to close the distant. It was as if the cylons were waiting for something.
"Capricorn this is Artemis; what is the sitrep?"
"They say they want to talk," the comm officer answers her.
"Um, exactly who would they like to talk to?" Apollo asks into the ensuing silence.
"Well their message was a little cryptic," the comm officer replies. "They say they are willing to talk to the messenger and the traitor."
"Well I'm not one much for talking," Artemis replies. She slowly makes her way to the front of the squadron if fighters, Apollo on her wing. The tension on both sides was so palatable, she could taste it on her tongue. Only a mere hundred yards separated the two sides from each other, and for some reason it was a space that neither was willing to cross. The only thing that was holding her back was the words that her brother had spoken in her quarters only moments before. Something had to change, or they'd destroy each other.
"Artemis, Fleet Admiral Thrace has denied their request to talk," the comm officer says hurriedly. "They have closed off communications and are firing up their weapons."
"Alright boys and girls, you heard the man," she says over the open frequency. "Don't hold back, FIRE AT WILL!"
There was a large surge of fighters as squadrons broke off and began to attack the raiders and heavy raiders in front of them. Artemis could see the Capricorn turning her big guns and taking aim at one of the base stars that littered the space before her. She knew that the Sagittarius was flanked on the Capricorn's left, and that she too was preparing to fire. The other 2 UAG ships would have to close the distance before they would be in position to take aim, and she wasn't sure exactly where the Galactica was.
It wasn't long before all out pandemonium reined through the stars as the fire fight was joined by every available UAG fighter and viper in the combined fleet. Raiders had stopped pouring out of the base stars, and soon debris was littered every where. Artemis and Apollo had pushed into the vanguard and were soon knee deep in enemy territory. Artemis looked over and saw Hermes flying off to her right, Apollo was on her left, and she felt like the charge of the Valkyerie was in order.
She thrust ahead of them, barreling after a raider, guns blazing in the silence of space. The raider didn't stand a chance, blowing into a thousand tiny pieces all around her. Artemis cleared the debris field and sighted up another of the enemy ships. She knew instinctively that both Apollo and Hermes were hanging close to her, there need to try and protect her making her all warm inside. She didn't need their protection, she could out fly and out fight both of them, but she stuck close to them, because she knew they needed her.
Alpha squadron was splayed out around her, trying to push the enemy force further away from the civilian vessels. Artemis heard over the comm that the fleet was going to jump due to the large number of cylons, and it would be safer while the fighting was raging all around. There was way to contain the fighting, and many times it came directly into the field where the civilian ships sat.
Artemis saw Hermes trying to shake of 3 raiders that had targeted him, and she turned abruptly to go to the aid of her brother. Apollo couldn't lend assistance as he was engaged with his own raider. She knew that her brother was in the more immediate danger trying to take on 3 ships by himself.
"Why is it that I'm always bailing your ass out of trouble?" She asks playfully over the comm as she takes out the raider closes to his tail.
"I really think your confused little sister," Hermes replies firing at another raider that had swung in front of his firing solution. "I seem to recall several times when it was I bailing YOUR happy ass out of trouble."
"Hey to the victor goes the right to tell the story however SHE sees fit," Artemis replies taking out the second raider on her brother's six. She saw her brother take that moment to pull up his throttle, and the third raider fire off a shot before it thundered under his fighter. The shot hit and Hermes plane spiraled end over end.
"HERMES!" Artemis shouts over the comm as she watches her brother's jet spiral out of control. She swear violently and takes aim at the offending raider, screaming obscenities as she shoots it from the sky. She had just been reunited with her brother, she wasn't ready to loose him.
"Artemis," came his shaken voice. "I'm hit pretty bad. I've got to land this thing; why don't we say you won this round, and I'll see you when you're done playing with your toys." She could hear the stress and pain in his voice, and she had to smile at the brave front he was trying to present.
"Ok hot shot," she replies trying to keep her tone even and not let the fear creep into her. Her brother was an excellent pilot, he could land a damage ship. She just wanted to land with him to make sure he was alright, but she needed to continue to help take care of the cylons while the civilian ships continued to jump.
"Um Artemis," he rasp over the comm one more time. "Apollo needs you, NOW!"
Hearing the rising panic in his voice, Artemis turns back to the main fighting and sees that a group of vipers, along with the Alpha squadron had been blocked off from the main body of fighting by a base star and several raiders. She streaked towards them, guns blazing and a war cry tearing from her lips. She was so not having a good day, and all she wanted was for this to be over, so she could soak in a very hot tub of water.
She had cleared enough of a path to slip into the fray. What she saw chilled the marrow in her bones. Her people were seriously out numbered and taking heavy damage. The same was holding true for Apollo and his vipers. She didn't care what it took, but she wanted to get to Apollo and clear him of the mess he had gotten himself into.
"Apollo you have to get out of there," she says calmly over the comm. She didn't want to distract or frighten him, but his situation was tenuous at best. They were surrounding him and cutting him off even further. One thing was for certain, he wasn't going easily. He was giving them hell shooting them out of the sky as fast as they were surrounding him.
Artemis managed to create a hole just big enough for her to fly through. She shot two raiders from in front of her, and flipped over in time to see a heavy raider break away from the group and Apollo's viper burst into a spectacular explosion. She felt as if a large force slams against her and all the air rushes out of her body. She wants to deny what she just saw, but there is no denying the debris scattering through the void.
"APOLLO!!" The scream is torn from her lungs, and her heart is literally slammed into her rib cage. A white hot fury descends upon her, blinding her and sending her into the welcoming arms of madness. She becomes an avenging angel, shooting everything that gets in her way, wether they be friend or foe. She is screaming obscenities, and cursing the Gods. She longer cares if she lives or die, because without Apollo, it doesn't matter.
She feels her jet shudder, and she doesn't even spare the moment to find out if she has been hit. It matters little to her; the only thing occupying her higher brain function is the human need for vengeance. She will kill as many of these fuckers as she can, and be damned the consequences. Her jet gives another shudder, and she sees smoke pouring out all around her. Numbness settle all around her, and Artemis realizes that her death is close at hand. She doesn't want to die in a flaming wreckage; she'd rather take the cold confines of space. With little thought left in her synapsis, she pulls her eject lever, and is catapulted into space.
She never sees the Valkyerie explode, it just casually list off on it's own. She can't really bring herself to care. Her world has already lost what color it had, with the knowledge that Apollo was gone. His name tears through her body, and she feels panic seize her. There is no way that she can continue without him beside her; she never thought SHE would love this deeply, or passionately. The Gods, at time were cruel.
Artemis didn't feel the hands that touched her, or the sensation of no longer floating casually through space. Her mind didn't register the feel of something odd against her back, or the removal of her helmet. She didn't feel herself being gathered into loving arms, and a soft voice soothing her shattered soul.
"My God," he whispers right next to her ear. "I am more than sorry for what you have lost Artemis. It wasn't suppose to happen; it was never our intention." She barely felt the hands that brushed her hair from her face, or the gentle fingers that wiped away her tears. The same arms held her tenderly as large wracking sobs caused her whole body to shake violently, and when she retched onto the floor, the same hands held her hair back, and then gently cleaned her mouth.
She didn't feel him stand up, hoisting her into his arms; cradling her against his chest. None of that mattered to her. Apollo was gone, and she was still alive. It wasn't fair, she needed to die so she could be with him.
"I'll do everything I can to help you through this," the voice says trying to pull her back to the present. He wasn't going to let her close herself off, he was determined to make her hold on. She barely heard him snarl at some one that he would take care of her. They had done enough, she was his responsibility. She let his voice wrap around her, let it buffer her from the outside world.
"I'm sorry Artemis that I can't allow you to sink it your grief," he whispers. "You're going to have to pull through this. Maybe not right now, or even tomorrow, but you are needed by too many people. I'll try not to count myself as one of them. Just let me help you through this; I promise to do anything you need or want me to do."
His voice feel silent and Artemis almost missed the soothing quality it had brought to her shattered soul. He was still walking and she heard the heavy tread of footfalls behind them. She didn't care where they were going so she buried her head into his shoulder, and let silent tears run down her cheeks. She barely felt him lowering her to a soft mattress and as his hands released her to pull up a blanket, she panicked. He was going to leave her by herself, and she was not ready to face the silence. She grabbed his hand to keep him from going, forcing herself to look at her savior. She should have been shocked, but she wasn't as she looked into the serious blue gaze of Leoben.
"Rest Artemis," he says sitting by her, watching as the events of the day take their toll on her beleaguered mind, forcing it to succumb to a much needed sleep. "I'll fight the rest of your demons myself."
&&&&
Hermes was pulled from the wreckage of his jet by the strong hands of his father. His was carefully carried down the ladder to the hangar deck, where another set of strong hands helped to keep him on his feet. He wanted to brush the hands off and stand on his own, but his battered body was grateful for the hands that were keeping him upright. He looked into the face of a the man he knew instinctively to be Apollo's father. The grief he saw there tore at his soul.
He heard more people approach, and looked up to see his mother, Helena, Isadora and a woman he only recognized from his dreams rushing towards him. His mother caresses his cheek and looks deeply into his eyes. He manages a weak grin for her, and she clasps his shoulder gently.
"It is good to look upon your face my son," she says to him.
"The same holds true for me as well mother."
"We need to know Hermes; is your sister and Apollo gone from this world?" She asks him gently. She knows that he had not been able to see the rest of the battle as it raged on. That he was unaware that Apollo's viper had been blown from the sky, or that no one had seen his sister after she had ejected from the Valkyerie.
"Apollo, I don't know," he says glancing at the man holding him up on his left. Hermes looks inside himself and knows that it is more than possible that Apollo has accomplished that which he needed to, but he can't tell if that is then end of the road for the young sun God. He can't offer the man holding him any reassurances that his son was still alive.
"Through the son, the father shall be born," Hermes says in a voice that shakes the hangar deck, and rattles the equilibrium of the people standing around him. He opens his eyes and looks at his mother again; he senses the darkness clawing at him. "As for Artemis; since her child has yet to be born, I would take that to mean that she is still very much alive." And with that his body goes completely slack, and his eyes rolls into the back of his head.
So that's chapter 18! Please hit that review button and let me know what you think!