A Different Beginning----Chapter 7

A.N.-----AU and it starts with the mini-series. Also, I am writing this solo, so I am sorry for any mistakes.

A.N.----- I am not very happy with this chapter, but here it is anyway. ( It is hard bringing Lee and Kara together gradually)

Chapter----7

Lee had finally managed to help President Roslin with her request for supplies. It was just his luck that he had to deal with Colonel Tigh, but at least he was now free to go in search of his father. Lee still could not get over the fact that his father had left the ship to deal with things personally on Ragnar Station. He was now headed to his father's office.

As he waited in his father's office he started looking around. Lee was looking at a picture of him and Zak when his father entered. As he turned toward him he got a look at all the cuts on his face and arms. Upon closer inspection he saw blood on his father.

" Dad, what happened to you?" Lee asked concerned

Adama who had paused upon seeing Lee in his office responded " It's not my blood Lee" Adama then walked toward Lee and hugged him "How did you make it out alive, we thought the missiles had taken you out?" he asked

Lee hugged his dad back before pulling away " It is a long story, whose blood is that on you? "

Adama walked over to his desk and poured a drink before sitting down " That's a long story too, but one I will tell you about, in the meeting that is about to take place "

Lee sat down in the chair in front of the desk and helped himself to a drink " Who are we waiting on?"

Adama sighed " The new president and Colonel Tigh " he paused, then asked " I take it Starbuck came back with you? "

" Yeah, she went to the flight deck to help the chief " Lee told him after taking a drink

" How is she doing Lee?" Adama asked as he finished his drink

It was Lee's turn to sigh, he should have expected the question " As well as can be expected, she is upset over losing Helo and the rest of the squadron"

Adama replied " Well, I suspect she is going to be upset some more when she talks to Chief Tyrol "

Lee did not really want to know why, but he asked anyway " Why?"

Adama poured another drink before answering " Between the missile impacts and the fire we lost around eighty souls from the deck and maintenance crews "

Lee gasped " Aw frak, what are we going to do?"

Adama gripped his glass tightly " Have a large memorial service, then try to survive day to day " Adama paused to take a sip of his drink "Before the others get here I wanted to let you know that you are the new CAG."

Lee looked at his father " Why me, surely there is someone else better qualified?"

Adama stood up and walked around the desk to face Lee " I am afraid you are the only choice, but I will assign Starbuck to help you since she knows the deck crew, pilots and the way this ship works."

Lee looked up at his father " Then why not put her in charge?"

Adama sighed " She knows nothing about all the paperwork it involves and she does not play well with others " he said smiling

Before anything else could be said there was a knock on the hatch.

President Roslin and Colonel Tigh entered. Adama moved to a chair by the sofa and offered everyone a seat. Once seated he began. " I have called this meeting to let you all know that the cylons look human now."

All three of them gasped and Colonel Tigh asked " How do you know that?"

Adama leaned back in the chair he had taken " I was locked in with one of them on Ragnar." and added before they could ask "He is now in the morgue"

Lee asked " Do you know how many there are?"

" No, but I am going to assume that some of them could be among us now, posing as humans " Adama told them as he sat forward

Roslin finally spoke " Until we know more I suggest we keep this between the four of us "

Lee and Colonel Tigh nodded in agreement and after a second Adama nodded his consent.

" I need to get to the CIC, I will let you know if I find out more" Adama said as he rose

After Tigh and Roslin left Adama looked at Lee, who had also gotten up " Could you have Starbuck report to the CIC, I need to speak with her?"

" You are going to tell her, aren't you?" Lee asked harshly

Adama had turned to leave, but turned back to face Lee " Yes, I am Lee, because what happened with the cylon involves her "

" Are you going to tell the rest of us about it? " Lee asked, already knowing that he would not

Adama looked at Lee sternly " Not right now, and until then, I do not want you to speak of it with anyone " Adama started to leave but paused "I also have a mission for her "

Lee crossed his arms " I assume you are going to let me in on the mission, I mean I am the CAG after all "

Adama closed his eyes and took a deep breath " I want to send her out to scout before we try to leave "

Lee unfolded his arms " Well, can't I just relay your orders?"

" You could, but like I said, I need to speak with her " Adama paused and then thought he should at least try to explain a little " Look Lee, Kara's life could be in danger and she has the right to know it " Adama then left Lee standing there as he headed to the CIC.

Lee stood there for a few minutes trying to take in all that he was just told. Not only had their world been destroyed, but now the cylons looked like humans and his dad had already had an encounter with one. Lee wondered what could possibly tie Starbuck to the cylons. He also knew by his fathers stern look not to mention it, but couldn't help but wonder why his dad would want to keep it from them. Now on top of all that he was now the CAG and would be working with Starbuck who was steadily becoming more of a mystery to him.

Lee decided he did not have anymore time for his varied thoughts and headed off to find the CAG'S office. As he was headed down the corridor he saw Starbuck coming towards him, so he stopped and waited on her.

Kara stopped as soon as she reached him " What are you doing Apollo?"

Lee tried for cordial " Looking for the CAG'S office and you "

Kara smirked " Well, you found me and the CAG'S office is down by the flight deck "

When he did not say anything Kara asked " Okay, so what did you want with me?"

" To let you know that I am the new CAG and you have a mission coming up " Lee waited on her to say something sarcastic

Kara laughed instead " Better you than me, personally I think being the CAG sucks "

Lee found himself smiling at that and started to walk off before he remembered " The Commander wants to see you in the CIC first "

" Wilco Apollo, do you need help finding your way?" she asked playfully

" No Starbuck, I think I can manage " he said as he walked off

Kara stayed where she was, watching him walk away until he turned around and saw her watching, then he smiled at her knowingly, so she just smirked and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say why shouldn't I look.

As Lee walked away he kept the smile on his face, thinking it was nice to have something to smile about after everything that had happened today.

Kara headed to the CIC to see what the old man wanted. She hoped it was not more bad news because quite frankly she had all she could handle today. The flight deck had been chaos and the chief was mad enough to spit bolts. Kara wished she had been on the Galactica when it was attacked, maybe she could have helped, on second thought if she had not been with Apollo she would have been with the squadron. It seems she was where she was supposed to be after all. Kara could see the CIC up ahead so she slowed her step until she spotted the commander. As soon as she entered he motioned her to the adjoining situation room.

Adama followed her in and told her to have a seat. He explained what happened on Ragnar and about the cylons looking like humans. " Kara you can't tell anyone about this, only Lee, Colonel Tigh and the President know about it. "

Kara nodded " Why tell me sir?"

Adama took a deep breath " What I am going to tell you now, no one other than myself knows it " after a pause he continued " The cylon model I was with goes by the name Leobon and right before I killed it he mentioned you, Kara "

Kara shuttered as a feeling of dread washed over her "What did it say?"

" Word for word he said 'Kara Thrace belongs with me and I will not stop until I have her' " Adama stood then " Kara, it died before I could ask him what it meant "

Kara stood also "But, if it is dead, then how?"

Adama walked to where she stood and put a hand on her shoulder " From what I could understand it was not worried about dying, so I think that means there are more models of him "

Kara looked at him then " Are you sure and what would he want with me? "

Adama removed his hand " I don't know Kara, I just thought you should know and I have a photo of him so we can at least keep an eye out "

Kara had been thinking this day could not get any worse, but she was wrong, she decided to change the subject " I hear I have a mission "

Adama sat back down and picked up a piece of paper " I need you to take your viper and scout ahead before we jump out of here "

Kara sat down and looked over at the paper he was holding " Where are we jumping to? '

Adama pointed at the paper " Beyond the Red Line "

Kara looked at him surprised. Adama only nodded, there was not anything to say.

Kara stood to leave " I guess I better get prepped "

Adama simply told her " Be careful out there Starbuck, just look and return "

They both left the room headed in different directions.

Kara left and headed back to the flight deck because she still had her flight suit on. She made it there without even remembering walking, she was so deep in thought about what Adama had just told her. As she was walking by a viper she tripped over a pair of legs and tumbled to the deck " Frak " she screamed.

Lee had been working on some of the vipers and was also deep in thought, so when someone tripped over his legs he scrambled out from under the viper to find Starbuck hunched over on the deck. He started to yell at her about fraking watching where she walked until he saw her face. Lee might not have known her long, but he knew a scared look when he saw it. Lee reached down to help her up " Are you okay?"

Kara could not believe she had been so lost in thought that she would trip over someone, and especially Apollo. She had thought he would yell or something, but instead he offered her a hand, which she took " It seems like this is becoming a habit, for you to help me up off the decks " she said in what she hoped sounded like a joke. " Yes, I'm fine, I just was lost in thought " that was when she looked down to realize she was still holding his hand. Wow, she thought this seems to have become a habit also, so she pulled her hand back " Sorry "

Lee could tell something had her spooked, " So, did you talk to the commander?"

Kara looked at him, he did not know about her and the cylon she thought " Yeah, he wanted to tell me about the mission "

Lee knew it was more than that, but he let it go " So, are you ready? " he asked as they walked to her viper

" Yeah " she said as she climbed in and started going over her checklist. She looked down and he was still there. " Something else you needed Apollo?"

"No.....Yeah, this is just recon so look and return, no heroics Starbuck " Lee told her, still worried that she was not as okay as she claimed.

She reached for her helmet that he was holding " I know, the old man already told me " she paused with the helmet still being held by both of them " You know if we make it out of this alive you can call me Kara "

Lee smirked at her then " And you can call me Lee, at least when we are not on duty "

" Gee thanks Apollo " she said as she fastened her helmet and slid the canopy shut.

As soon as she launched Lee headed to the CIC. That is when he found his father and Colonel Tigh arguing about whether they should leave the civilians behind. In Lee's opinion they had not saved everyone just to leave them. Before anything else could be said they started listening to Starbuck over the coms.

Kara knew the further she went the less likely she could remain in contact. She had been talking when she lost all communications, she headed further up anyway. As soon as she made her way to the top she stopped, and what she saw was three huge ships and hundreds of the cylon ships like the one she had gone up against. Kara stayed a second longer then started making her way back down. She did not want to blare all over the coms what she saw " Galactica, Starbuck making my way back now "

" Starbuck, Galactica Actual, what did you see" Adama asked wondering why she had not already said

Kara thought a minute about what to say " Actual, Starbuck, I will report to the CIC as soon as I land "

Adama knew Starbuck had her reasons " See you in the CIC, Actual out "

Even though Kara's intentions had been not to alarm everyone, she had done so just the same. " What do you think that is about " Tigh asked, clearly frustrated.

Adama turned to find Lee and Tigh looking at him " I'm sure she has her reasons, so we will just have to wait " Adama then headed to the situation room he had been in earlier with Starbuck "Come on, we will wait for her in here, and Gaeta send her in when she gets here "

Lee and Tigh had no choice but to follow him. As soon as they were inside Adama said " Our earlier conservation would be better if we finished it in here, besides I have a feeling that whatever Starbuck saw will impact this decision "

Kara landed and went straight to the CIC and then to the situation room. Upon entering the three people inside stopped talking.

Adama motioned for her to sit " Report Starbuck "

Kara sat down, gods she wished she had a drink " There are three very large ships and hundreds if not thousands of smaller cylon fighters up there, and they seem to be waiting on us to come to them "

Tigh spoke up " Which proves what I have been saying, we are going to have to leave the civilians here while we fight our way out "

Kara said what no one else did " Are you fraking crazy, we can not leave those people here "

Although Lee agreed with her he could not believe she had spoke to Tigh like that.

Tigh spoke back just as irate " How would you like another visit to the brig Starbuck?"

Adama barked out " Enough you two, Tigh we can't put her in the brig because we don't have enough fighters as it is, besides I agree with her "

" You would " Tigh said back

Lee did not have a clue what was going on between them, but he agreed with Starbuck and his dad " So, since we are not leaving them we need to come up with a plan "

Adama thought a minute " Starbuck, is there enough room for us to get between them and the civilian ships, giving them enough time to jump while we hold them off?"

" Just " Kara answered, then added " We will have to put all of our vipers out there fighting too "

Adama stood up " Then it's settled, Tigh tell Gaeta to inform all the civilan ships of our plan and Lee get all the pilots informed and ready, we do this in the next hour, dismissed everyone "

As they started leaving Kara stopped Adama " Do you think you have time to show me what you have in your office?"

Adama looked at her a minute not understanding, then it dawned on him, the photo " Yes, we can go by there before you head to the flight deck"

Adama saw Lee still standing there " Apollo head on down there, Starbuck will meet you there "

Lee wanted to know what was going on, but he nodded and went on his way, determined to find out later.

Kara did not know if she would live thru this next battle and she needed to see what the cylon looked like. She followed Adama to his quarters well aware that Apollo wanted to know what was going on. They entered and Adama pulled a folder out of his desk drawer and gave it to Kara. As Kara looked at the picture she shivered looking at the cylon.

While Kara was looking at the photo, Adama looked down at a piece of paper that had not been on his desk earlier. He picked it up to read it 'There are twelve cylon models ' and then it was Adama's turn to shiver.

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