Disclaimer: The charcters are not mine, I just play with them for a while.

A week passes before the admiral and president convene again to discuss the fleets' findings of Leoben's star chart interpretations. They call him alone into the wardroom to debrief.

"Mr. Conoy." The president begins.

"Leoben." He insists with a small smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. The president takes a deep breath before beginning again.

"Leoben." She starts, having difficulty calling the cylon by his given name. "We've reviewed your findings and our theologians found sound reason within your path. Unfortunately our scientists did not agree. Currently they are bickering amongst themselves about who is right. Neither group knows that the information came from you." The president pauses, thinking about her next phrase carefully. "We would like you to tell them that it is your pathway that you discovered by studying the ancient texts." She watches his response carefully. His face doesn't change overly but the lines around the edges tighten as if he is expecting a fight already.

"Why, if I may ask Madame President, would you do that? Surely that would lead to both sides finding this path unworthy."

"No, I don't think they would. The scientists feel a little guilty since it was their concepts that led to the possibility of cylons while the theologians believe that everything happens for a reason."

"You're hoping to unite them?" He asks.

"Of course." She says.

"What if this deepens the divide? What then?"

"Time for plan B." She says with a slight smile.

"And I'm sure I don't get to know plan B."

"Mr. Conoy, Leoben. You are a deadly machine in love with one of our best pilots but you are still a machine. You are still hooked up to the mother board as it were so no you don't get to know plan B."

Leoben inclines his head towards Admiral Adama. "And what do you think of this plan?"

"It doesn't matter what I think; it matters that I back the president." He says tightly. Leoben knew he'd hit a nerve. "Will you do what is asked?" The Admiral asks directly.

"Yes."

"Good." The president says. "You will be transported to the Prometheus tomorrow."

"Will Kara be coming?"

"Captain Thrace has responsibilities here." The Admiral states with a frown of puzzlement.

"Understood, sir." He looks at the Admiral gravely, which illicit a deeper frown.

"Mr. Conoy, do you have something else to add?" The Admiral asks.

"Sir, it's just that my wife has had some difficulty being away from me since we returned from when she was kidnapped and taken to the basestar."

"I understand your concern, but she is a colonial officer. She will come to terms with leaving you alone." The Admiral says with finality.

As predicted Kara does not take the news that her husband will be moved off of Galactica without her. She immediately goes to the admiral and finds herself waiting outside his private quarters for almost an hour. She realizes he is punishing her for wanting to speak to him about the decision not to include her in Leoben's military detail.

"Captain Thrace, security duty is well below your pay grade. You are a viper jock so start acting like one. Pass your psyche eval and get your lazy ass back in a cockpit." The Admiral sets his jaw after Kara explained her unease at having Leoben off ship without her. "We need you elsewhere anyways." When Kara looks at him puzzled he continues. "We've made contact with the cylons. They've agreed to meet with you."

"What if they try to hold me hostage again, sir?" She asks bluntly.

"They are sending one of each of their models to Galactica, while you are sent to a base star with a security detail. If you aren't returned in time, the cylons will be tortured."

"This plan just sounds better and better, sir. Are you sure I'm the person for the job?"

"I am positive about that one. Do I trust them? No. But I do trust that they don't want to harm you and that they don't want to start the war again when they're so close to having peace for the first time years."

"Can I at least request someone for my security sir?" Kara asks as her brow furrows even further as she thinks about whom doesn't hate her on Galactica for being with a cylon. The admiral gives Kara a hard stare. "I'd like Helo to come with me."

"Capt Agathon has duty protecting your husband. But I will put Lee with you." He says watching her reaction. Kara relaxes only fractionally at the news.

"Alright sir. I'll go." She turns to leave. "Could I ask the brilliant military minds to come up with a backup plan should torturing the cylons not make the basestar give me back?"

"We have other plans Kara. Don't worry." The admiral looks up at Kara from his ledger. "You're dismissed. And I meant what I said about passing your eval." He says waving his hand at her.

Kara exits the admiral's quarters and heads out on her CIC duty. Its hours before she can tell Leoben what she'd discussed with the admiral and it makes her short tempered. The crew stays clear of Starbuck on her way to the mess and then finally onto her quarters.

Leoben sits on the bed reviewing the star charts when Kara enters as he has every night since they'd given him his assignment to settle the disputed between the scientist and the theologians. He looks up briefly as Kara enters before returning to his charts.

"Something bothering you?" Kara asks as she sits in the only chair in their small quarters.

"Always, but look at this." He shows her the scrolls of Pythia. Kara reads the words to herself before looking at the star chart. "This is our trajectory." He says tracing his fingers along the bright plots of stars. "But this was the pathway according to Pythia." He traces a darker pathway towards a singular bright spot. "I think that is the nebula described in Pythia."

"What about the dying leader?" She asks leaning forward in her chair.

"It could be any of us. Technically everyone is dying if you really think about it." He says absentmindedly.

"Do you have a plan?" She asks.

"Do you?"

"Not getting me killed is right up there." She says looking away from him.

"Me too." He grins back at her.

"Seriously?" She asks looking back at him, he nods. "My plan is to stay as far away from Cavil as possible and hope the rest are willing to follow you and I. But first I have to pass the psych eval." She says kicking her toe against the bed frame.

"I know you can. You just have to talk to him. Pretend it's me." He says encouraging the most stubborn woman he'd ever met. She looks him in the eye and smiles at that comment. It'd taken so long for him to get her to open up to him. But Tantum wasn't nearly as distracting as Leoben, which made it difficult for Kara to pretend he was anything but what he was: a psychologist. Kara sighs and nods morosely.

"I know I can. It's just difficult. And I don't want him knowing all this stuff about me even if there is that doctor patient thing you always harped on me about."

"I know but won't you feel better when you can get back in a viper?" He asks leaning forward as well, reading her face closely. Hope flashes briefly before fear. His hands cover hers and he squeezes her fingers briefly before turning to fold up his charts.

"Alright fine. I'll tell "Pops" all about how I feel." Kara says with as much venom as she can. Leoben snakes a hand around Kara's waist and draws her down to join him on the bed. He tickles her for her comment causing Kara to twist and flail about trying to maneuver herself so Leoben is on the receiving end of the tickling.

Two days later…

"Come on Kara, you just have one more session to go before you can get back in the cockpit." Tantum encourages her. She scowls at him as the tears continue to fall down her face. Frak I hate crying! Kara's brain screams. "But you have to continue with what you were just saying. You can't retreat now."

"Fine." She spits out. "I wanted to die back on the base star and it scares me to go back there, even if it will save humanity." She huffs out crossing her arms and sitting back in the chair waiting for Tantum's next barrage of questions.

"Why wouldn't you want to help save humanity?" He asks evenly. That was one of the largest problems Kara had with psychologist is that there wasn't any emotion in any of their questioning which made Kara feel like a specimen rather than a human relating to another human.

"What are you afraid of?" She asks angrily. Tantum looks taken aback by the question.

"We're not here to talk about me."

"Well until you answer that question, we're not going any further." She says tightly.

Four hours later, they're still having a show down of wills as Tantum has asked the same "Why wouldn't you want to help save humanity?" bit and Kara repeating her question. Finally Tantum gets up to leave.

"You're not leaving until you answer my question major." She says.

"Captain Thrace," Tantum says with a lot of venom for a man trained not to let his emotions get the best of him. "I will leave when I am damn well ready to leave."

"Fine." She says. "But until you admit that there are things that scare you and that you can be human, I'm not answering any more questions. How do you think Admiral Adama and the President will take the news that we can't communicate with the cylons because you're unwilling to answer a few similar questions about yourself?"

After a few minutes of silence Tantum broke the silence. "Fine, captain. I am afraid we will never find a home, which is why your particular threat was so effective on getting me to talk about anything I personally feel. Happy now?"

"Absolutely." Kara said nodding. "More than just the base star that scares me, the cylons scare me in general. The fact that I'm married to one doesn't diminish how I feel towards them. How, in the name of the gods, do you talk to someone you're afraid of and hate as much as I do?"

"Practice, captain. Lots of practice."

"That's your recommendation? Practice?"

"Yes Starbuck it is and the sooner the better." He picks up a piece of paper and signs it. "You're cleared for flight; now get out of here before I change my mind."

Kara didn't have to be asked twice before she was out the door and heading to Lee's office. She thought better of that and headed to the admirals quarters first. The marine showed her in.

"What'd ya hear Starbuck?" The admiral asked with a slightly amused smirk on his face.

"I've been cleared for flight sir."

"So I heard." He motioned for her to join him on the couch. "What is your plan with dealing with the cylons?" He asked directly.

"Sir, I have no idea. I would like to discuss the terms that you and the president would like me to review before heading over."

"Of course. I will call Madam President as soon as you leave to schedule a meeting. Any other concerns?" The admiral took his glass off and rubbed his face while Kara pondered the question.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?" Kara asked turning her body towards the admiral.

"Granted"

"Do you believe I am the right person to be doing this? Don't you think Athena, with her history, would be better?" Kara asked in almost a pleading tone. The admiral smiled at the question.

"I send my best people to where they are needed. We need you to do this. Athena has rejected her own culture, her own people to remain here with Helo and Hera. No, Kara, I think we have exactly the correct person for the job. Especially since they have an obsession with their hybrids decrying that you will lead all of us to earth." Kara opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by the look Admiral Adama issued her. "You are the one Kara. Whether it is truly prophecy or merely coincidence, you are the best for the job. Now, Leoben I think leaves at 1600 hours for the Prometheus. He might want to see you before he leaves." He tilted his head slightly, dismissing his best pilot in the best way possible; distraction.

Kara moved through the corridors slowly, thinking about what she would say to the demands the cylons no doubted had for their negotiations. She moved through the hall ways not paying attention to where she was going and ended up finally getting back to her quarters just as Leoben was being escorted to the hangar bay.

"Hey." She said falling in step with her husband. "Sorry, had to crack Tantum." She said shrugging her shoulders. Leoben smiled sidelong at his wife.

"Good."

"Excited?" She asked as they moved through the corridors. The more people they encountered the more nervous Kara got. She unbuttoned her holster as they walked.

"More worried." He said motioning with his head towards her twitchy gun hand. Kara smiled at the expression. It was the one he always had when Starbuck came out to play.

"Helo will take good care of you."

"Or she'll leave my wife a widow." Helo called from behind them joining the parade of people down to the hangar. "Won't you?"

"Naw, I'll just make sure you can never father any more children."

"Wow, you're harsher than I thought." Helo said adjusting his bullet proof vest before moving to take Leoben's restraints off. "The admiral extends his graces and allows you to move without these." Helo said holding up the shackles. "Provided there aren't any incidence and you keep your hands to yourself." Leoben and Kara both raised their eyebrows at the last part of the comment. "Ok, well except with Kara." Helo said stepping away from the couple so they could say goodbye.

Kara launched herself at Leoben and hugged him as though it might be the last time ever; and for all they both knew it might be. The cylons might decide the treaty wasn't worth it and hold Kara hostage once again and the theologians and scientists may very well riot when they see who is to determine the path.

"I'll see you soon." He whispered into her hair.

"Absolutely." Kara said pulling away and watching Leoben and Helo disappear into the raptor.

TBC...