Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I just play with them a while before giving them back.
"Captain Thrace report to CIC. Captain Thrace to the CIC." Comes over the intercom on Galactica. Kara moans as she moves out from under her viper. She gets up and grabs her dress jacket and heads towards the CIC. She approaches the command central and stands at attention next to Colonel Tigh.
"Sir." She salutes.
"The admiral and president have something to discuss with you in the wardroom." He dismisses her with a wave of his hand. She sighs as she leaves the CIC. What a wild goose chase, couldn't they have just called me to tell me to meet them in the wardroom? She thinks to herself. She waits at the wardroom door, until one of the marines is signaled to open the door.
"Ah, Captain." The president greets Kara warmly. Kara returns the smiles, if not the enthusiasm since she has no idea why she is standing in front of the admiral and the president. "We have some good news and some bad news."
"I'll take the bad news first, sir." She says.
"Good, because the story doesn't make sense with the good news first." The president states.
"Kara." The admiral's serious attitude is a stark contrast to the president's attitude. "We've found another cylon from the pictures Leoben had you draw." Kara's eyes widen. "Needless to say we are having issues keeping the model in check. He calls himself Doral, seems he's been in the press corp. from before the attacks."
"And the good news sir?" She asks puzzled.
"Since Leoben has been so cooperative we have decided to place him under house arrest, instead of in the holding cell." Kara looks between the two, completely shocked. "And I have given permission for you to share his quarters if you so choose." The admiral almost spits out.
"Sir?" She asks aware of the admiral's feelings. He sighs.
"It is very apparent to everyone that you're coming to terms with still being in love with a person who just so happens to be a cylon. I'm not saying I trust him completely, but I trust you enough to allow you to be alone with him." Kara smirks.
"So, Captain. The choice is yours." The president says smiling. They both already know how Kara will decide, even if she doesn't know yet.
"I would like to share the quarters with him." She finally admits. She knows that there will be a lot of discontent, but there already is, plus she's Starbuck, she'll just punch the poor sap that tries to say anything.
"We figured you'd say that. He was transferred down to C deck three hours ago. If we need either of your help with the Doral model, we know where to find you." The president smiles. She seems much more accepting that Kara is willing to love her husband still, than the admiral is.
"C deck, Hatch 207." The admiral says dismissively. Kara salutes and turns to leave.
"Thank-you sirs." She says, and then exits. She heads off to CAP and for the next three tortuous hours is forced to sit in her viper while she thinks about Leoben. Finally she is done with her rotation and her day, she heads to the showers. She barely notices anyone in the head, although it's packed after shift change. She grabs some food from the mess and heads to C deck, almost nervous. Nope, completely nervous she admits to herself.
There are two marines standing outside of hatch 207. They nod to her as she enters with her tray of food. She smiles as he sits up on the bed; she'd obviously woken him when she opened the hatch. He looks confused for a moment before he beams at her. She sets her tray down and moves quickly across the room as he rises to meet her halfway.
"Hi." She says not touching him yet, knowing once she starts she's not going to stop for a very long time.
"Hi." He says back just as tentative to touch her as she is him.
"Did they tell you the news?" She asks with a twinkle in her eye.
"That they caught Doral?" He asks confused.
"Well, yeah that too. I meant about me being allowed to live here with you." She smiles a very small and shy smile. His eyes widen at the realization of what she has just said and then he is on her. His arms wrap around her tightly and he is laughing and crying all in the same moment. She returns the embrace laughing with him.
"I can't believe they'd let you." He breathes against her ear. He pulls back and his lips descend on hers, demanding. It's been almost a year since he'd been turned over to the colonial fleet, and placed under observation the entire time. His body screams out its need as he presses himself against her. She returns the fervor and presses herself into him. His fingers move to the buttons on her coat, and she is surprised he doesn't just rip them off. Slowly he undoes each button then slides his arms inside her jacket, feeling the warmth from her body soak into his neglected skin.
She lets out a sigh and his tongue attacks hers. He moves a hand up to remove the coat as he pulls her towards the bed. Her hands tease along the waistband of his pants and she runs her hands up under his shirt then pulls the material off over his head. She pushes him down on the bed and removes her tanks and her bra. He sits up and runs his hands up from her hips to rest on her ribs right below her breast. She sighs as he takes one breast into his mouth and teases the nipple until she cries out before moving to the other breast. Her fingers move to his hair and tug at it as he plays with her nipples. When he feels satisfied that he has worshipped that part of her enough, both his arms move around her and drag her down on top of him. They both gasp at the feeling of their naked chests touching.
She pulls back and moves to undo his pants as he does the same to her, and before long they're both naked. Kara moves to straddle his hips, knowing they're not going to last long touching each other like that. She slides her slick flesh over his shaft and watches his eyes roll back in his head and his hands search for her skin. He places his hands on her hips and moves her up and down his shaft, but not in her yet.
"Kara." His warning comes out strained. She positions him to enter her and slowly moves her warmth around him. He bucks under her and shutters as he is buried to the hilt inside of her. And then they are both moving frantically, desperately against one another. Kara's moans fill the room as do his. Kara's walls begin to move slightly as the pleasure builds and Leoben looses it, pumping into her, draining himself into her. He pants, knowing she didn't fall with him. She looks down at him and smiles.
"I knew that was going to happen." She says extracting herself from him. He pulls her next to him and graces a hand down her body and back up before he kisses her. She returns the passion, aching with need still. He feels her body respond to him and moves his hand down the front of her body again and brings his fingers to gently part her intimate flesh. She gasps at the unexpected touch. His fingers continue their path down to her opening and he thrusts his fingers inside of her as his tongue thrusts against hers. She makes a noise and moves against his hand as he positions his thumb to move in circles around her bundle of nerves.
Her body arches away from his breaking their kiss as she rolls over onto her back. He follows her movement with his body, pressing himself against the length of her, watching her face intently as his hand continues to move in and out of her. He sits up and moves between her thighs so he can use both hands on her sensitive areas. She thrashes and pants beneath him as the orgasm begins slowly. He moves between her thighs and thrusts into her once again. It's too soon for his body, and he doesn't care. She gasps arching off of the bed once again. His arms wrap around her waist and press her flush against him as he sits back on his heels. He moves her up and down his throbbing shaft as her breath comes out in moans. He moves his hand between them to rub her while he pumps in and out of her. She closes her eyes as the orgasm starts and she is lost in the sensation.
She twitches as he continues to move inside of her. He moves both hands to her hips and thrusts into her, feeling her second wave of ecstasy start. She goes limp after the second time and he moves to lay her on the bed, all the while not breaking contact. He slows the rhythm and tries to make every inch of his skin touch hers as he moves. She smiles and shivers as his body covers hers intimately.
He stops moving at some point and slips out of her warmth to lie down besides her. She snuggles against him, relishing the feeling of his skin against hers. They both lie on their sides looking into one another's eyes. She sighs.
"I missed you." He brushes a hand down her cheek. His eye lids get heavy as they lie entwined. His breathing evens out as she leans up to kiss his cheek.
"I missed you too." She whispers right before the dark envelops her.
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The days become mundane, blurring together in CAP rotations, new nuggets to train and the endless paperwork. The only thing that distinguishes the days for Kara is the conversations she usually ends up having with Leoben late at night.
One particular night three weeks after he has been moved to his new location Kara comes home to find Leoben pacing the very small space. She moves to the closet and takes off her boots before going to sit on the bed.
"What's wrong?" She finally asks after feeling worn out watching him fret. One arm is crossed across his stomach and he is biting his finger nails on the other hand. It's a stance he picked up from her. She smiles a little when she realizes that's what he is doing. He looks at her, puzzled by the question and then the immediate change in Kara's demeanor.
"What?" He asks stopping his pacing. She grins wider.
"We're starting to mimic one another." She gestures towards his stance. He looks down at himself and huffs dropping his arms to his side. Her face goes serious as she gets up to stand in front of him. He looks down but won't look at her. She places her hands on his cheeks and moves his head until she can look into his eyes, as she frequently has to do when he is so upset he cannot even articulate what is bothering him. "Tell me what's wrong." She states, not allowing for questioning.
"I'm afraid." He whispers.
"Of what?" She asks shocked. He can tear a centurion in half and he's afraid.
"Of them coming to take you away from me." He is still whispering. Her eyes are wide as he looks into her eyes. "I think they're going to try." His breath comes quicker. "Soon."
"Why now?" She asks.
"I'm not sure. They don't like how we are playing out your destiny, so the rest of my model has been trying to plot a way to lure you to them."
"How the frak do they think they'll be able to do that?"
"They don't understand love; they figure that you will love all of them simply because you love me." She makes a face at that comment and moves away from him.
"Would it make you feel better if I go armed everywhere?" She asks. A pained look crosses his face. He tries to speak three times before he gets the words out.
"I want you to kill me." He states plainly. She looks at him shocked for handful of heartbeats before her face locks into a steady glare.
"Abso-fraking-lutely not." She almost screams.
"Kara…" He begins trying to calm her down by putting his hands on her upper arms. She flings him off.
"I just got you back. Now you want to leave me because you're afraid they'll come take me from you? Nun-uh. No way. Frak you."
"It's the only way to convince them that you don't need to be forced to stay with them for you to fulfill your destiny." She moves around him, so she can now pace the room.
"That is the most idiotic idea I've ever heard. If you can't convince them from here, you're not going to convince them when you're standing in front of them."
"I can. I know I can." He stands in front of her, blocking her path. "Please Kara. I need you to do this for me." He pleads, placing his hands on her shoulders. His thumbs move under her chin and tilt her head up towards his. "Please?" He whispers. He presses his lips against her brow. She shakes her head over and over again. He tries to pull her against him and she pushes him off.
"How can you ask me this?" She whispers, knowing he can hear her from any corner of their small quarters. She stares at him across their quarters. His eyes plead with her. "No, and that's my final stance. And don't you dare try anything, or I will have you put back into the holding cell with Doral so they can watch you under the microscope again." He just stares at her. "I think its time you go see the shrink I've been seeing." She says, knowing the comment will hurt him. Sometimes people say things in relationships just to hurt the other one. His eyes harden.
"I can see what you're doing."
"Oh yeah, and what is that?"
"Piss me off so I stop asking you to do this." He uncrosses his arms and just stands there. "I'm asking you to do this for me, for us. Months ago you would have on sight. Why not do it when I ask it of you?"
"Because I need you. Because I want you here, with me. Like this. Fighting, frakking, talking. I don't want to lose you again. I'm not sure I can handle it."
"You never lost me."
"Yes I did. Even you said your body felt alien to you. Imagine how it felt for me? Have you ever imagined what that would be like?"
"Yes. I imagined how it would be to be out in the fleet killing cylons everyday, wondering if it was me you were killing, or something that looked like me. Or the taunts you've received or the loneliness in being the only person experiencing this. I imagined how hard it would be to actually be human and find out I was married to a toaster. Even now I hate the cylons, and I'm one of them!" He screamed out that last part. Her glare never wavered.
"You are not the only one this is hurting. You are not the only one who was lonely. You also weren't being beaten to a pulp for information you didn't posses. You chose not to see me; I didn't have a choice to see you. I wasn't allowed to try to speak to you, or write to you. So frak you, Kara in all your self-righteous indignation." He was yelling at her and he didn't care.
The silence they had been building between the two of them was becoming blaringly obvious to him over the past few months and all at once was tumbling out of his mouth. He knew he needed to tell her that she'd hurt him. The fear of losing her to the cylons made him lose it a little bit, to the point he couldn't stop himself from saying hateful things to her. But they were true, they were all true. She smiled viciously at him, realizing what he was trying to do.
"I. Am. Not. Going. To. Kill. You." She enunciates each word very carefully as she moved across the room towards him. "Yes, I abandoned you. Yes I am a mother frakker for letting you rot. I already know that. But I will not intentionally kill you so that you can appease your own guilt."
"That's not…" He began as he stared down into her hazel eyes as she moved into his personal space. She poked a finger into his chest, pushing him backwards towards the bed.
"Oh yes it is." She pushes him onto the bed. "You want to prove to me, to you, to the whole fleet that you're not just a machine. That you're not just a cylon sleeper agent waiting to kill every last one of us." She strips her jacket off and straddles him. "You want to prove to me that you love me." She says fiercely as her mouth possesses his. She pushes him onto his back while her mouth possesses his. He barely responds until she moves her arms to capture his and raise them above his head.
"Stop trying to prove it, and prove it." She hisses, pulling her mouth off of his. He looks at her for a moment before struggling to wrap his arms around her. Mostly he is feigning it, and she knows it. "I said stop trying, you frakking toaster."
Her words pierce him, she watches as it flashes through his eyes. He moves his body suddenly against hers, sitting upright and taking both of her wrists in one hand and forcing them behind her back. His other hand jerks at the material covering her torso. The fabric of her tanks gives a sick ripping sound as it shreds.
He smiles up at her cruelly as he notices a little O of surprise on her lips. He releases her arms and uses both hands to pull apart the stretchy bra. The movement sends her breasts bumping against his hands and then his face is upon her. He grabs her by her upper arms and rolls her over so that he is on top.
The button off her pants flies off in some direction, as he continues to use his strength on her. She finally responds by clawing at his shirt. He pulls the material off, not caring or noticing how the material rips. She tries to lean up and bite his neck, but his hands, having finished removing their clothes, have now moved to trap her beneath him once again. She gasps as he takes her, roughly pulling her hips into his. She makes a strangled moan as she thrashes, trying to make her body contact his in any way.
His rhythm is short and hard. Kara begins making loud noises as the pleasure and the pain melt into one another.
"Leoben." She rasps as she tries to arch against him. His hands hold her down as he feels her orgasm, with his coming right behind hers. He puts his brow to hers and says between gasps.
"Don't call me a toaster." He looks into her eyes, releasing her hips. She bucks underneath him and a pained look crosses his face.
"Then don't ask me to kill the man I love." She hisses and bucks again, feeling the pleasure build again.
"Stop that." He says breathlessly. She does it again.
"Why?"
"I'm too sensitive." He gasps as he grabs her hips and slips out of her. He collapses besides her on the bed. He gathers her into his arms, pressing his face into her neck. She sighs, sated.
"Feel better?" She asks pulling his head back by his hair to look him in the eyes. He doesn't look like he feels better.
"Slightly." He admits. She looks at him suspiciously. He sighs, "I'm still worried." He confesses. "I don't think that is going to go away just because we yell at one another."
"Or have mind blowing sex, where you rip my clothes off." He actually blushes when she mentions that. "Awe, how cute, my toaster is blushing." She mocks him. He looks very unhappy at her new nick name for him.
"First you say you can't kill the man you love and then you start calling me a toaster, which is it babe? You're indecision is giving me whiplash."
"I think of you as a man. My man, in fact. But it is nice to play with the other side." She says lazily pulling her tanks towards them. "Wouldn't you agree?"
"Maybe." He admits getting up to put clothes on. "But next time it won't be because you piss me off." He snaps.
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"Galactica, Starbuck. We have raiders in bound." Kara reports while leading CAP several months later. They don't come as frequently but when they do, the cylons seem bound and determined to board Galactica. Strange that they never board any other ship, Kara thinks as she moves out of the fleet and directly towards the threat.
"Copy that Starbuck. Launching alert fighters." Dee's voice comes over the comm.
"Let's make sure there's nothing left." Starbuck signals Minus and Girly, her newest rook. They break off into a semblance of a formation, keeping the cylons away from the fleet. The alert fighters catch up as the rest of the fleet begins to jump. Several heavy raiders have been launched and are making a break for Galactica. Kara swears and follows one that's broken through the line. She manages to tag its left side before it ducks and skids onto the flight pod.
"Galactica, Starbuck. You've got a heavy raider in the starboard flight pod."
"Starbuck, Galactica. We're deploying marines." Kara does an about face and returns to the fight. She could try to pick off the cylons as they exit the raider but she'd likely hit the deck and making the flight pod into Swiss cheese didn't sound very productive.
"All fighters, Galactica. Return to the barn. I repeat, come on home. Combat landings authorized." Dee's voice crackles over the comm.. The pilots make their landings moments before Galactica jumps. Kara is one of the last fighters to be moved down to the hangar bay. She sighs as she waits in her viper. If the flying wasn't so fun, she defiantly couldn't handle all of the sitting around. And the paperwork, endless stacks of paperwork.
By the time she is doing her post flight shutdown the deck is almost deserted, everyone going off to hit the showers or catch some rack time. Kara moves to file her after action report before she hits the head, trying to avoid the lines. She is sitting in the mess writing her report when over the comm. commander Gaeta's voice booms.
"Set condition one throughout the ship, decompression of deck z. We're being boarded." Kara stands up and grabs her paperwork. She stops at the CAGs office on her way to her locker for her side arm. Lee is stumbling out of his office, obviously just waking up.
"Sitrep?" He asks her. She shrugs as she begins to run towards her locker. She clears three decks before she reaches hers and Leoben's quarters.
"What is going on?" He asks, setting down his book as she enters. She looks at him suspiciously as she raises the gun level with his head.
"Who am I?" She asks.
"Kara." He says simply.
"Who was I at the masked party?" She growls. He smiles, viciously and she knows before he answers that he is not Leoben.
"Aphrodite." The cylon grins, knowing she's aware that he is not her husband. She squeezes the trigger and watches the blood flow down his neck as he smiles, the whole time. Creepy, Kara thinks to convulses and slowly moves to the phone.
"Combat." Dee's voice is clear if not a little higher pitched than usual.
"Combat, Starbuck. They've taken Leoben and tried to replace him with an imposter."
"Aye, Starbuck. Clear the decks as you go, we will alert the others." She hangs up the comm. and wonders if anyone will just shoot him on site. She takes off down the hall running. The metal cylons are so easy to hear coming down the hall, even over her heated footsteps that she is well hidden by the time they turn the corner. She turns after they've past her and moves further up the deck. She gets up another deck before running into another number two model leading two chrome jobs. She almost runs right into him as he is just standing there.
"Kara?" He questions.
"Ah Hades." She whispers. She knows its not her husband when his hand locks on her upper arm like a vice, nor does he return the knowledge of the night at Helo's party. He reaches for her gun and she hands it over, knowing she'll never make it away from him and the two centurions with him. They walk down deck by deck. Kara feels a sense of dread wash over her as she realizes no one even knows they're there.
As they open the hatch to where the heavy raider has a soft seal on the underbelly of Galactica, there are two more two models waiting for them. She recognizes her husband's shirt on one of them but stares straight ahead, too lost to hope that it really is him. The other two not wearing her husband's shirt speaks.
"You found her."
"It wasn't hard. She came to us."
"As we knew she would." The other one said. The two holding onto her arm leaned into her and breathed her in. As he passed by her ear he whispered, "Persephone." Kara kept her eyes trained straight ahead, making her body very still. She rethought that and struggled against her husband, to make it look like he'd said something inappropriate. He raised the gun and shot both the other models before the centurions could respond.
As Leoben turned and ripped the head off of the closest centurion, he passed the gun to Kara. She shot the other one in the head, making both their ears ring.
"We have to get out of this hall way." She screams at him. He nods through the ringing in his ears and grabs her hand. As they turn the corner, two more centurions appear. Kara takes aim at the first and it collapses to the ground. The other cylon has managed to get a few shots off before Kara takes aim at it. The red light goes black as it falls to the ground.
"Kara?" Leoben rasps, surprised as he touches his chest and falls into her. She gasps as she loops an arm around her husband's waist. She looks down at the blood that's beginning to flow from him. She can hear the air whistling through the punctured lung as she begins to move towards sick bay.
Half way to sick bay Leoben sags completely in Kara's arms and she stumbles at the additional weight. No one will stop to help her. "Kara, stop please." He manages to get out. She tries a few more steps before she moves to slide him down against the nearest wall. There is blood every where as she tries to stop the bleeding. His hands move over hers and he tries to smile.
"I love you." He chokes out. She leans into him.
"And I love you. Don't leave me." She whispers against his cheek as she holds him. She pulls back to look into his eyes but the light is already gone. She smoothes a hand across his cheek as the tears begin to fall.
The hallway is filled with the mechanical clicking and weight of several centurions. Kara moves towards the hatch near Leoben's body, crouching down. She only has a few more rounds and the closest small arms locker is a deck away. She glances down the hall around the hatch recess. There are 4 centurions walking back to where the ship is docked. They stop briefly and take note of one of their fallen comrades on the floor then continue to move on. Kara sighs and moves down the hall the opposite way, going for more ammunition. She picks up the phone and calls combat.
"Combat." Dee's voice calls out.
"Combat, Starbuck. They've killed my husband. All other copies of the cylon model two can be destroyed."
"Aye sir. We've got two down in the detention cell with Doral."
"Thank-you petty officer." Kara knows she shouldn't go interact with them, but goes down anyways. One of them picks up the phone on the inside of the holding cell, Kara picks up the phone on the outside. "Is there a hub near by?" She chokes out. The model looks confused for a moment and then smiles broadly.
"No. There isn't." Her stomach flips and she sinks to the floor, dropping the phone. The number two keeps talking into the receiver but Kara can't hear anything. The marines find her like that hours later.
TBC...