~ Bright, Shiny Futures - Chapter Forty-Three ~

Kara watched as the missiles came into view, a zen-like peace filling her. It surprised her - after so long out of battle she thought she'd be nervous but the part of her that knew how to deal with these situations and frankly reveled in them, seemed to have been resurrected after it's eight year burial.

"I've got one of them," Hotdog said. "The starboard side of Colonial One."

"I've got the other," another voice chimed in. Kara didn't recognize the voice but a Viper broke away from the pack and zoomed towards the Caprican Dreams confidently.

"We'll be here in case there's trouble," Lee said, voicing the thought in her head as if he'd put it there himself. She looked over and saw his Viper slide into an easy glide beside her and the 'Lee "Apollo" Adama' written on the side filled her with a warmth and nostalgia she'd never felt before. Reminiscing about 'the good old days' was something Kara had never been able to do with her friends on Earth, not even in private as she'd remembered her childhood days. Her life had been filled mostly with regrets and since coming here she'd resolved to leave them all behind and start fresh.

Remembering how she and Lee had flown together and complemented each other in every way allowed the regretful part of their relationship to fall away. It was time to remember the good and forget the rest. Maybe if they survived this they had a chance at a bright shiny future together after all.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Sir, we're getting a transmission from the ground," the comms officer informed Adama.

He growled in response. "I guess they figured out what frequency we're using." He picked up the phone. "Adama here."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He held the phone away from his ear, sure he'd lost all ability to hear through it. "Saving your asses from getting nuked?" he replied gruffly.

"Why are you shooting down our missiles? You're helping the enemy!"

Adama held the phone against his chest. "Speaker" he mouthed, and then put the headset down as the comms crackled aloud.

"You're on our side for God's sake! Don't help the enemy."

The Vice President stepped up. "Respectfully sir, we're trying to prevent a world war by making sure no one's missiles hit their targets."

There was an angry silence. "If you're not with us, you're against us. Either you let our missiles through or we fire on you too."

"Please ... " The Vice President begged.

"You know I don't want to do this Tom. I value you both as a second-in-command and as a friend." The President paused. "Talk to Adama and get him to fall in line. You've got five minutes."

The room fell silent as the transmission ended.

The Vice President turned to Adama, eyes full of anguish. They held each other's gaze for a full minute.

"What do you want us to do?" Adama asked softly.

Tears began to trickle down the other man's cheeks. "Can your ship withstand our attacks?" he whispered. Adama nodded. "Then continue," he said unevenly. "No one deserves to die just because they're afraid."

Adama nodded silently as he made eye contact with Helo.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Jumper, come on back," Sharon said. "Starbuck and Apollo can help Hotdog. We need you here to help cover Galactica."

"Will do Athena," Jumper responded, turning his Viper around and heading back to the group.

Kara throttled up her Viper and changed her heading, noting that Lee matched her so they flew as if joined.

"You'd better hurry," Hotdog said, "I've got a bunch more dots entering my screen. I don't think I can hold them all off single-handedly."

"Come on Hotdog, why do you think I gave you that callsign?" Kara chided.

"Frak!" Lee swore when they were close enough that their Dradis screens were filled with enemy dots. He pushed his bird faster, wringing every last ounce of speed he could out of it, noting that Kara was doing the same.

"This is going to be a real frakking fireworks show," Kara said, raising her eyebrows. "Come on, we are not letting our people die."

"So say we all," Lee said quietly, words coming out of his mouth before he was even aware of saying them. For the first time he thought he understood how his father had felt at the beginning of their fantastic journey. How he'd been willing to do anything, say anything in order to protect his people and keep them alive.

Hotdog began shooting skillfully, showing how much he'd grown as a pilot since Kara's disappearance. Grave as the situation was, she couldn't help smiling in admiration at his technique.

Lee began shooting at the barrage of missiles and it startled her out of her momentary reverie. She backed off and followed in his wake, catching the ones he'd missed. They made short work of the first volley and were heaving a collective sigh of relief when the next round appeared on Dradis.

"Someone's really intent on killing us, aren't they?" Hotdog said, attempting a bit of humour though his tight, strained voice gave a truer picture of how he was really feeling.

"Yeah, and to think I've called them friends for the last eight years ... " Kara trailed off.

"It's okay Kara. We all make mistakes," Lee said quietly.

"Even God," Hotdog added, smirk audible. "Uh oh, here we go again."

* * * * * * * * * *

The huge ship rocked and swayed as Earth's missiles hit it. Many were stopped by the Viper defense but the sheer volume was too much for them to handle and quite a few made it through.

"Good lord!" the Vice President exclaimed as the lurch of the ship threw him to his knees. "We're not going to make it!"

"Yes we are," Adama snapped, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "This ship may be old and rusted out but she can get us through anything."

"Sir," Helo interrupted, "more missiles are headed this way ... from all over the planet."

Adama swallowed hard. "I guess Kara's prediction was right. Let's get our people back and get the hell out of here as fast as we can."

"What about me?" the Vice President asked. "What about Jackson? Our families?"

"I'm not risking more of my people to drop you back down there and the only other way out is through the airlock. I think you're stuck here with us."

"But ... I don't want to leave my family behind."

"I don't think Kara did either when she first came here," Adama said gently. "But circumstances aren't always what we might choose. Do like she did and make the best of it."

The other man nodded sadly then bowed his head, as if praying. Adama put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You'd best find something to hang onto. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

* * * * * * * * * *

The sweat trickled down her back freely. This would have been a huge workout even if she had been at the top of her form but her lack of practice was telling and she was finding it much harder to concentrate than ever before.

"You okay Kara?" Lee asked, as if sensing her discomfort.

"Fine." She struggled not to pant too loudly. "I've had just about enough though. Aren't they done yet?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Hotdog added. "Bluebird, Snowstorm, let's get moving a little faster. I want to get home."

"Yes sir," they chorused and the two ships built up speed.

Kara felt herself dragging as she took up the rear defensive position. It was surprisingly quiet for a few minutes and she spent the time taking in everything around her. This would be the last time she saw Earth. She was going to miss the blazing hot sun, the green grass and the puffy white clouds that they were flying just below. Galactica was home - that was where her heart beat truest, but this place was beautiful and she was going to remember it fondly once she was stuck back in the the old rust bucket's starkness.

They changed course ever-so-slightly to meet Galactica and the sun shone full in her face, blinding her. She squinted and shielded her eyes with her left hand.

"Frak!" Hotdog swore as the sun blinded him. "Why didn't I think to bring sunglasses?"

"Good question," Lee concurred. "I could use a pair too. I can't see a thing."

Another volley of missiles was nearly upon them before they were aware of it. Lee and Hotdog flew around the convoy in circles, taking out everything that came their way. Kara hung back, trying to catch her breath and mentally readying herself for more. Fight 'em till we can't, her mind whispered, reminding her of her old motto. A sudden memory of New Caprica came unbidden - of the day the Cylons had come and occupied it and made her life a living hell. I'm not sure I have that much fight left in me, she thought sadly.

She cruised behind the two ships, brain on autopilot. It wasn't till the warning klaxxon of the Dradis alerted her to another threat that she found herself back in the present. Something was right behind her - not a missile, but a ship. A fighter jet like the one they'd flown with only a week earlier was right behind her, practically touching her tail.

"Holy frak! There's a ship directly behind me!" she screamed.

Time seemed to stand still as two realizations hit her hard. The first - Lee and Hotdog were busy defending the passenger ships and were barely managing without her. She couldn't expect their help. The second - she was flying so close to Colonial One's rear that she had no room to maneuver ... she was a sitting duck.

"Kara!" Lee yelled. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

"No," she said calmly. "Don't come. They need you."

"I need you," he choked out, voice filled with anguish. "You can't die again ... "

"Don't worry, she won't," a calm voice interrupted.

"Michael?" she whispered, awestruck. "How ... "

"Never mind how. Just know this Kara - I love you. I've always loved you. I had no idea I was a Cylon nor that I was supposed to be with you. I fell in love with you because of who you are." He stopped and she heard him draw in a long, slow breath. "We won't see each other again but I wanted you to know that before I died. Goodbye Kara. Good luck."

Her eyes overflowed with tears as she craned her neck around to try to see what was happening. At the very last second she saw the Raptor come barreling out of the sunshine, straight towards the ship tailing her. Her heart literally stopped as she caught a glimpse of Sam and Michael through the Raptor's front window. Their faces were set grimly, prepared for death.

She placed a hand on her canopy. "Nooooo," she whispered softly, the word drawing out as both ships exploded into a giant fireball.

* * * * * * * * * *

Tyrol gestured impatiently at the oncoming Viper. "Come on, get her over here faster." The Viper slid into place and within ten seconds he was under it, ripping off the panel and grabbing for his tools.

"Hand me that spanner will you?" he yelled out to the orange-jumped clad person just in his view. "And give me a hand here."

"Here," the person said shortly, whacking his hand hard with it.

His heart began to race. "Cally," he began.

"No time for talk," she interrupted, "we've got work to do."

She found another dolly and slid in beside him, and the two worked in silence for a long while.

He glanced over at her a number of times, noticing how drawn and haggard she looked, the bags under her eyes making her look as if she'd been punched.

"Listen, I'm sorry," he said softly, wondering if the past days' events had caused the change in her or if she'd gradually been changing and he'd just been too preoccupied with work and his son to notice. "I never meant to deceive you. I just needed a little time to process it myself ... you know? It was a huge shock."

"I'll bet." Her voice was vitriolic.

He turned to look at her. "Cally please, I'm trying to apologize. I never meant to screw things up between us. I can be a better husband, I know I can, if you just give me a chance. Please give us a chance and I'll ... "

"I'm sure you can," she said coldly. "But the fact is, no matter how much you change and how caring and loving you seem to be, you can't change the fact that you're a machine. And I can't live with a machine."

He flinched at the look of absolute abhorrence on her face.

"I'll do what I have to do to get us through this crisis because the Admiral asked me to, but after it's over I'm getting off this ship and I never want to see you again. Understand?"

Tyrol turned his head back to his work. "I understand," he said dully, picking up the wrench and focusing on the injured Viper above him.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Holy frak, what the hell was that?" Helo yelled as the sound of the explosion rocked CIC. The sound was familiar enough to most of the crew that they all shuddered, able to picture what happened, if not whom it had happened to.

"Starbuck, Athena, report," Adama demanded, tight-lipped, hardening his face into a mask of anger in response to the fear that was threatening to overtake him.

"We lost a Raptor," Kara responded, voice shaky.

"Who?"

"Sam."

"You mean Flirt?"

"What?"

"Sam Anders - his callsign is Flirt."

"Was," Kara laughed, though there was more than a trace of hysteria in her voice. When she was able to stop herself she breathed audibly and answered properly. "He's gone. Michael was with him," she added quietly.

"Michael? As in your missing husband? I couldn't quite make out what you said earlier."

"Yes," she whispered. "It's a long story."

"One you're going to enlighten me on once you're back. What's your ETA?"

"You should be able to see us on Dradis right away," Lee cut in. " 'Bout a minute and a half I'd guess."

"Hurry son."

There was a moment of silence as the room mourned Sam's loss. "He was a good man," Adama murmured. There were many nods of assent. He stepped forward and gripped the table hard, eyes glued to the Dradis as the Caprican Dreams, Colonial One, and their escorts came into view.

* * * * * * * * *

The children huddled around her as Laura struggled to remain calm. The ship's rocking and obvious explosions dotting the hull had her more worried than she'd cared to admit, even to herself. Only to herself really, since she had to appear calm and cool in order to keep order. That was the first lesson of teaching - you had to keep order or your students wouldn't learn.

"It's alright everyone. Shush, it'll be okay," she said, attempting to quell the noisy crowd. Their voices clamoured one over the other, asking what was happening and for reassurance that they weren't going to die.

She spoke the words they needed to hear over and over, reassuring them that even though they were in battle, Galactica was the toughest ship this side of eternity and there was no way anything was going to happen to them. Her words managed to quiet them enough to get them to sit still. She began to tell an old tale to amuse them, a myth she remembered from her youth, noting that they were all paying rapt attention, save the five sitting a little ways apart from the others.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hers was the last ship to dock. Uncharacteristically, she hung back, allowing the others to lead the way. The cheering in her ears was deafening as CIC exploded with joy at the return of their family.

Kara should have scrambled out of her Viper as she had when she'd last come home but instead sat in her cockpit, loathe to leave it. She had no idea why, as the people she loved most were here, safe, and they were together again.

Eventually she forced herself to pop the canopy open and climb out, coming down the stairs slowly and erratically. Her hands shook on the rails and her knuckles grew white. She felt strangely disconnected from herself, as if she were somewhere above, watching herself act but not controlling her actions.

An acrid smell filled her nostrils, making her cringe. The world began to grey.

"Kara." Lee's worried face stared up at her. "Are you okay?"

She tried to nod but her head felt too heavy. Had someone drilled a hole in it and filled it with lead or some other exceedingly heavy substance? The world began to spin and a defeaning roar filled her ears as she fell forward and passed out.

~ TBC ~