A/N: I finally got this chapter down and over with. it just seemed like every time I sat down to write this, something came up, but it's done and I am rushing to get it posted tonight. So please excuse any errors. I hope that you all are still enjoying this and the end is still not that far off. I appreciate all reviews, the are greatly anticipated, and I value your opinions, so please keep them coming!!!
Chapter 22: The Garden of Good And Evil
Vanilla cupcakes and ocean air, it represented home to Lee Adama and the woman he'd fallen hopelessly in love with. He snuggled closer to the warmth of the body he was wrapped around, breathing in deeply, the last remnants of sleeping slowly fading away. He felt warm skin on skin, his body tightening in recognition of the woman he held in his arms.
He rested a hand along the silky smoothness of her belly, draping one leg over hips, bringing he butt up against his straining erection. His other hand drew lazy circles along her thigh while he sleepily nuzzled her neck, breathing the smell of her into himself. His woman, his goddess, she belonged to him and no other.
"Are you sure about that Apollo?" An insidious voice asked in the deep recesses of his mind. Flashes of something he didn't want to see, didn't want to remember race across his eyes. Fear clutches at his belly, claws it's way into his chest, only to be dispelled when a sleepy moan breaks the silence.
"Lee," the voice was husky with arousal, desire snaking through to lend it a sense of urgency.
Lee felt the small, warm hands as they drifted lazily across his chest, stroking him, spurning his own desire to a higher, feverish pitch. The voice in his head evaporated like smoke, forgotten in his desperate need. He shifted so that Kara rolled easily onto her back, and he could prop himself on his side next to her.
He trailed a solitary finger down her cheek, neck, across her collarbone, over the mound of one creamy breast to settle on the tip of a hardened nipple. He played with it, with her for a few moments, until she growled deep in her throat, opening her green eyes to spear him with a look.
"How long are you going to play with me Adama?" Kara asked him, her tone hard with the desire to have him inside her already.
She knew he was alive, she had half dragged half carried him out of her fighter, across the hard packed earth until she had reached the forest line where she had pitched the tent. She had stripped him of his clothes, tucked him into the two person sleeping bag and coaxed a little bit of water into him. Then she started the fire with the wood she had gathered while he was still in the plane, ate a pack of rations washing it down with a canteen of water. Then Kara stripped herself, and crawled into the warm sleeping bag, cuddling up next to the man she had thought she'd lost forever. She knew he was alive, but she needed to feel him driving into her to reaffirm it not only in her mind, but her body as well.
"I missed you so much," she whisper leaning up to capture his mouth in a heated kiss.
Her arms snaked around his neck brining him down onto her, his weight a comfort as he settled in between her legs. Kara lightly raked her nails across his shoulders, down his back and around his firm ass, marking him, reclaiming her territory. Her breath caught in her chest as he kissed along her jaw to her ear, whispering words against her heated flesh. He nibbled on her earlobe causing tiny shivers to race down her spine, and heat to pool low in her stomach. His hands skim up and down her rib cage, his thumbs drawing along the sensitive skin underneath her breast. Kara's back arches as he takes one turgid nipple into the heat of his mouth, sucking hard and deep. She taste like ambrosia to him, sweet with a kick that reminds you not to trifle with her.
He lavishes attention on her other breast, little bites and licks, then abandons both to trail kisses down to her belly button. One hand makes it way up her thigh to settle intimately against her damp curls. He strokes her a little, drawing sweet moans from her that turn to growls as he denies her what she wants.
"Tell me what you want Kara," he says as he pushes one finger into her warmth.
"That's good," she replies, her hips moving in time with his gentle thrust.
"Just this Kara?" He asks, knowing that he's teasing her, that eventually she'll demand more.
"Lee," she keens as the tiny pulses begin to turn into sharp waves of pleasure. She reaches for him, drawing him up her body, needing him inside her before she plunges over the edge. She wants him with her, needs him in a way she doesn't understand.
"Take me Kara," he says as he pushes into her with agonizing slowness.
He gathers her in his arms as they find their rhythm, one that is unique unto them. Kara luxuriates in the glide of him within her as he strokes her to a pulsing awareness. His thrust become more urgent and she matches him, need driving her to the same place. Kara's world explodes into a brilliance of color when he reaches between their entwined bodies, touching her clitoris to send her over the edge. Lee can't hold back any longer as she clenches hard around his shaft and with one more power thrust he empties himself into her.
Lee barely manages to drop to Kara's side before he collapses, his breath thundering out of him like he had just run a marathon. He felt Kara curl into him, and he gathers her against his chest, stroking his hands down her back.
"Hey there gorgeous," he says when she looks up into his eyes.
"Hey there yourself mister," she replies, feeling everything in her world has finally been put to right.
"We have a lot to talk about, don't we?" He asks as his eyes drift closed.
"Yeah, but we can certainly do that later," she replies kissing him lightly on his cheek.
"One thing though," he says drawing her closer still. "Where in the hell are we?"
"Who in the hell knows," she tells him nipping his shoulder. His laughter rumbles through her as they both drift off to sleep.
&&&&
"Where in the hell are we now?" Ares asked trying to look out of the shuttle that he'd been cooped up in for the last six hours.
"Who the hell knows," Athena replied throwing him a smirk over her shoulder.
"Well I hope you do," he replied throwing himself back into a seat to check the sensors. His brother shook his head, use to the constant banter between these two.
"Are you two going to keep snipping at each other?" Helo asked throwing them both a dirty look.
"It makes us feel better," Athena replied.
"We could always turn our combined attention on you if you're feeling left out Helo," Ares said as he began to scan the area for information. It seemed as if they had managed to come upon another system that held no hospitable planet, or signs of the Valkyerie. It had been the same story all day long.
"Do you have the next set of co-ordinates ready?" Ares asked his brother.
"Let's not be so hasty," Athena said.
"What, would you like to take a couple of snapshots for your scrapbook?" Ares asked in his most smart-aleck voice.
"That's enough," Helo said before Athena could reply. "Out of both of you. God, the two of you are worse than children."
"Actually Helo, they are children," Hermes said smiling at his brother.
"Both of you can kiss my..." Ares started to retort before his brother jumped out of his seat.
"KARA!" The name was ripped out of Hermes as his body was violently jerked from the chair he had been sitting on.
"What the fuck!" Ares yelled catching his brother before he could hit the deck hard.
"Devon," Helo said scrambling to where the two brothers were sprawled out on the floor. The younger man was propped up against a wall, struggling to hold on to his violently thrashing sibling as Devon was screaming out incoherent words.
"You've got to calm down Devon," Karl said taking a firm grip onto his friend's shoulders. They were about the same height, size, but for Karl it felt like wrestling with some one twice his build. He knew that poor Ares was getting pummeled , and taking the brunt of the beating.
"She's in danger!" Devon screamed, trying to rip the hands that were holding him down off of him. "We've got to get to her!"
"Damn it Hermes," Ares swore jerking his head back as his brother's slammed forcibly into his, causing a small fountain of blood to erupt from his nose.
Helo couldn't loosen his grip on Devon to get something to staunch the blood flowing down Ares face. It was all either of them could do to keep the man from bucking them off, and doing God only knew what.
"He's going to kill her if we don't stop him!" Devon bellowed giving Helo a massive shove that sent him crashing into the chair that Athena was sitting in. They both went tumbling to the floor amid a tangle of arms and legs.
"I'm going to kill him when I get off this floor," Athena mumbled as the two of the struggled to separate.
"Not if I get to him first," Helo said finally getting free.
"Where is she Hermes?" Ares yelled into his brother's face. He had some how managed to reverse their position, and now had his brother pinned against the wall. Hermes was still thrashing and fighting like a man possessed.
"We need to get out of here," Athena says scrambling back into her seat. "We have to get him back to the Capricorn."
Just as she's looking over the instrument panels, one of the sensors gives out a small beep. At first everyone ignores it, struggling to accomplish tasks so that they can spool the FTL drive, and get the hell back to the fleet. Athena wants to curse succinctly as the three men continue to wrestle, while she is left with getting them ready to jump.
"One of you, get your ass up here, and I don't care which one," she yells over her shoulder. Ares gives Helo a look, and the larger man jerks his head to the front. Karl is the bigger of the two of them, he can handle Devon more easily.
"What do you need?" Ares asks Athena as he slides into the chair next to her's.
They had been jumping all day, and everyone's nerves were pretty much stretched to the limit. This last system was a dud, giving them nothing unlike most of the others. None of them had offered up a sign of Kara, but they had found some planets that they could get things that the colonial fleet needed that the UAG didn't have.
"Check the co-ordinates and make sure I've imputed them in correctly," she replied as she busily wrote down some notes. She glanced back at Helo, noticing that the yelling had quieted some. The two of them were still against the wall, but it looked like the fight was slowly ebbing out of the fighter pilot. Helo caught her eye and gave a small shake of his head.
"Every thing looks good," Ares said handing a small clipboard back to Athena.
"We are good to go," she said. "On my mark. One, two..."
"Wait," Devon said in a voice so calm that all three turned to look at him.
"What is it now Devon?" Ares asked with a little more irritation than he had planned. He wasn't ready to go round 2, or hell 10 with his brother; his nose still hurt like hell, and he was sure he was going to have a black eye.
"Hey did either of you check the last sensor reading?" Helo asked looking at the screen in front of him.
"We were all a little busy wrestling with Gigantor there a few minutes ago," Ares snapped, but he too looked at a sensor read out that was to his left.
What he saw stunned him into immediate silence. Medium sized planet, carbon based, oxygen rich, 60 percent water, large land masses. Two moons, electromagnetic field, temperate climate, rich vegetation, high ability to sustain human life.
"Where?" Helo and Ares asked simultaneously, both trying to look out the shuttle windows for any sign of this mysterious planet. All they saw was were the two suns, and a handful of planets marching outward in a straight line.
"Where what?" Athena asked, her hand still hovering over the FTL sensor.
"A human friendly planet," Ares answered.
"Damn it, I don't see it," Helo exclaims, all but trying to climb onto the instrument panel to get a better look at the space out in front of them.
"There," Hermes says with a smile and holds Karl's head still to look out the window right in front of the shuttle.
Helo feels something like cold water running down his spine, then he spies two moons, and peaking from between them is a hint of a blue ball. A large blue planet with white fluffy clouds lazily moving across the surface, and large tracts of land, a place to call home.
"It's beautiful," Ares says reverently into the silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
"I think you've all lost your minds," Athena replies looking at the three awe struck men around her. She turns back to look out of the window in front of her, and all she sees is what she saw when they got here. Two medium sized suns, a few moons, and a handful of planets lined up like soldiers at attention.
"We can't all live anywhere we want," Ares said still riveted by the sight in front of them.
"But there isn't anything out there that you can live on," she said. Three pair of eyes turned to look at her.
"You don't see the blue planet right out front the window?" Karl asked a little alarmed.
"No, but let me guess, ALL three of you do," she said some what snidely.
All three of them nodded, and Athena began to feel as if the joke was on her. She glanced back out the window, but there was still no blue planet, at least not that she could see. She looked at the sensor readings, conforming that there was indeed a planet out there that could support human life, but for the life of her she couldn't see it.
"Kara's down there," Hermes said sliding into a chair at the instrument panel.
"You know this?" Helo asked sliding in next to him.
"Yes, and we have to hurry," he replied, rapidly tapping a few buttons. After a few moments a soft pinging was heard through out the cabin. "She's in danger, and she has no clue. He'll kill her."
"Who?" Karl asked fear racing through him that his best friend was alive, but that could end while they were up here fumbling around to find her. "Who is trying to kill her?"
"That's a distress signal," Ares said, racing to try and pinpoint the location. Hermes had already started their descent towards the planet's atmosphere, and they were all bracing from the shock that came from leaving space.
"Maybe she realizes that she's in trouble," Athena says.
"Or maybe not. It's standard procedure to send up a signal if you've crashed, or are stranded," Ares replied.
"A location signal," Karl emphasizes. "That's clearly a distress signal. You still haven't answered me Devon. Are there cylons down there with her? Who's trying to kill Kara?"
"No cylons," Devon replied as he flew them calmly through the turbulence. "Right now she's in the loving embrace of Lee Adama, any second that could change and Apollo will kill her."
&&&&
Lee allowed himself to drift in the languid arms of sleep, enjoying the memories that washed through him. He was with Kara, nothing else mattered. He burrowed deeper into the mattress, letting sleep begin to take him back under.
But something wasn't right, there was something wrong with his being on a mattress. His mind told him he should be in a sleeping bag, in tent on some unknown planet, the woman he loved warm in his arms. Yet his body was telling him that he was ensconced on a nice soft mattress, his head cradled on a nice soft pillow, his body wrapped in a nice fluffy blanket.
Lee opened his eyes slowly, part of him more than a little afraid of what he would find. The room was darkened, but he could see clearly and his mind began to scream. The walls were white, the bed was white, the sheets were white. It had been a lie, he was still in the blasted white room; Kara had never come for him, she never would.
"No!" He screamed jumping from the bed and tearing the white clothes off his body. He hated them, he hated what they were suppose to mean. A cold hand gripped his heart, and against his will he turned to look a the window. It was dark beyond the window, no one was there, there was nothing to see.
"Are you sure about that Apollo?" The sickeningly sweet voice asked him.
Lee jerked unconsciously in surprise and fear, a little whimper escaping from his throat. He hunkered down on the floor, burying his face in his arms. He didn't want to see, he didn't want to know.
"Do you want to know how she betrayed you?" The voice demanded. "How she betrays you still?"
Lee shook a little and desperately tried to block the voice out. She was mad, he could tell by the tone she used, and when she got angry, she got vicious. But he hadn't done anything wrong, he'd been a good boy like she told him. He hadn't tried bothering the door, he done what she told him to do. Why did she want to punish him?
A soft light flashed on behind the window, and they came through the door, arms entwined around one another. They looked happy, they looked like they hadn't a care in the world. He hated it, he hated them, he hated her. He wouldn't watch, he didn't care what she said, what she promised him, he wouldn't watch them again.
"I'll let you out," she said easily reading his mind. "But you're going to have to watch, if you want me to let you out Apollo."
"No," he cried. He couldn't watch, not when the dream of being with her only moments ago was still fresh in his mind. When the feel of her was still on his skin, when he could smell vanilla cupcakes and ocean air all around him.
"Open you eyes Apollo," she whispered to him.
He wanted to fight it, to fight the rage, the impotence that would come if he opened his eyes and watched, but he knew he couldn't. He always gave in. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked into the room beyond the window.
They were already on the bed, their clothes scattered over the floor. Their naked flesh danced in the candle light that flickered through out the room, and he could hear the soft moans and sighs that spilled from them both. He could feel the glide of her hands on his own body as she caressed Leoben. He heard the words of love that she whispered against his ear, the gentle kisses that she rained all over the cylons body.
He could smell her scent as she opened her legs, inviting the cylon into a place that was his, and just as it always happened before, the connection was snapped when Leoben sinks into her warmth. The rage consumes Lee and he screams, lunging for the window. He beats on the glass, the crooning voice spurning him on. He kicks and rains blows down onto the glass, imaging that it is one or both of them that he beats on. His body heaves, he bellows out his anger, hits the glass with all his might, and it shatters under his fury.
Lee stumbles into the room, the red haze of anger clouding his vision. He can still hear the sounds of rapture coming from the bed. He can still hear the voice crooning in his ear, urging him on, telling him his revenge is at hand. Nothing can stop him as he rushes the bed, ripping the covers from the lovers and raining the full fury of Apollo upon them both.
&&&&
The first blow crashes against her cheek, startling her awake in a blaze of pain. The second blow is low to her belly and lifts her almost to he knees, the breath fleeing from her body. The third blow sends her careening to the other side of the tent, landing an ungraceful heap.
Kara's mind wants to shy away from the thoughts that were trying to battle through the pain that was engulfing her. She didn't want to believe that she was in danger from the man she adored, the man she had just made love to, but the fact was, they were the only ones here. She tried to move, but the pain had her in it's grip and she was to slow.
"WHY?!!" The one word question was screamed in a voice that was full of pain. She tried desperately to scramble away when he came tearing across the tent at her.
Apollo grabbed her by the arms, hoisting her up of the ground, shaking her as if she was no more than a rag doll. Kara tried to kick him, but he easily managed to dodge all of her attempts, yelling and demanding answers from her. He threw her to the ground, once again causing the air to rush from her lungs, and black spots to appear before her eyes.
She was going to die, she knew that, but the part that upset her the most was that once he realized what he had done, Lee would be inconsolable. She tries to raise her arms, not to shield herself from the blows, but to try and touch him, to reach him somehow. The last thing she remembers is the cessation of being hit, the weight of him straddling her body being gone, strong arms coming around her, lifting her and words that everything was going to be alright. She slipped into unconsciousness clinging to those words.