A Different Beginning-Chapter 28

THIS IS AN A.U. STORY THAT BEGINS WHEN THE CYLONS DESTROY THE TWELVE COLONIES AND KARA AND LEE FIRST MEET.

A.N.-I apologize for any mistakes I make during the course of this story.

[BREAK]*****************************************************************************************************************

CHAPTER-28

After two hours of paperwork Lee had caught up with mostly everything except a few minor notes he needed to jot down for himself. He picked the picture up looking at Kara one more time before another long day began " Good morning Kara, I'll see you soon. " Lee knew he should feel silly speaking to a picture of Kara except he didn't. They were jumping to Kobol today and he felt optimist that he would see her soon. He placed the photo back on his desk and decided to get in a quick run before his shift started.

Lee had gotten in the habit of running with Kara in the mornings shortly after their home worlds were destroyed, as they both knew very few people would be up and about this early they chose to run then. As always Lee was thinking about her as he ran and not paying attention to anyone he happened to pass until he heard someone calling out to him " Lee " he stumbled to a stop thinking for a split second that it was Kara until he turned around to find Dee standing there. Frak he thought, now she had ruined the run for him " What do you need Petty Officer?" he asked her, hoping she understood he would only speak to her professionally. He had been lucky that he had not had to see her other than a few quick moments in the CIC since Kara put her in her place at the dance.

Dee was unsure for a moment if she should say anything, but with Starbuck gone now and probably not coming back she went ahead with her reason for stopping him " I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner and maybe talk about Starbuck, I thought you might need someone to talk to?"

Lee knew the way that she had phrased the blatant attempt to once again see if there could be something between them meant that he couldn't be rude as he had intended to be " No thanks Petty Officer I plan on having dinner with Kara, if not today then tomorrow "

Dee was shocked for a moment " You do know that the odds of Captain Thrace returning are not good, right Lee?"

Lee looked at her like he did when one of his pilots knew better than to speak another word and spoke very slowly to make sure she understood that it was time to give up " First of all Petty Officer, Captain Thrace will be coming home and you are a fool if you believe otherwise and secondly you are to refer to me as Captain Adama in the future unless I say otherwise, now I am going to finish my run " Lee turned and started back running hoping she understood now.

Dee stood there with a mean glare on her face, thinking if he did not want her and Starbuck did make it back, she would make sure she caused them to start having problems between them and hopefully turn them against each other, so Starbuck could not have him either. Dee continued her way to the CIC angry at the way Lee had spoken to her, nobody did that and got away with it.

Lee cut his run short after running into Dee, gods he wished she could be transferred to a different ship, but he knew that was not going to happen just because she caused him personal problems.

After a quick shower and getting dressed he went to grab breakfast and saw Racetrack and went to join her at the table she was sitting at.

Racetrack looked up when she heard the chair being pulled back across from her " Morning Apollo "

Lee sat down " I hope you don't mind me sitting here, I just didn't feel like eating alone?"

She shook her head " No that's okay I wanted to talk to you anyway, I am going over to see Mark before we jump to Kobol and wanted to see if you needed me to tell him anything?" Racetrack knew that Apollo and Starbuck were close to Mark and she knew Mark was as worried about Starbuck as Apollo was.

Lee thought a minute " Just let him know that I have hope that Kara will be home soon "

Racetrack let a minute go by before she asked " You miss her a lot don't you?"

Lee smiled " Yeah I do, I feel like I lost a part of myself when she left, but I know she will come back "

Racetrack smiled " I think that's called love Apollo and I think most of the people on Galactica feel like they lost something also, as weird as that probably sounds "

Lee thought about that " I understand it, I feel a personal loss, but as Galactica's lead pilot I also understand the professional loss the deck crew and the pilots probably feel, except I think Dee hopes she never comes back "

Racetrack smirked " Is she still giving you problems?"

Lee sighed and leaned back " Yeah I ran into her during my run and after what I said to her she would be crazy to ever attempt anything else?"

Racetrack felt she should warn him " Apollo you might want to watch out for her especially when Starbuck gets back, I got the impression from just being around her that what she feels for you may be a tad obsessive and that could mean she is capable of doing something bad or worse "

Lee sat forward " Was she like this before I came on board or after?"

She simply answered " After and that's why I am warning you, she is not the same person she used to be, you could almost say she is unstable "

Lee swore " That's fraking great, Kara is going to have a lot of shit to deal with and the last thing she needs is Dee to deal with, I am going to speak to my dad about this, because now that I think about it she seemed different this morning "

Racetrack cocked her head to the side " How do you mean?"

Lee shrugged " I can't really explain it, I guess I thought she would back off after what Kara said to her at the dance, but I don't think she will whether Kara comes back or not "

Racetrack thought she would offer her opinion " I would wait until Starbuck gets back before involving the commander, maybe seeing Starbuck will make her realise she needs to get over you "

Lee sighed " You're probably right, so I guess by you going to see Mark that means you two like each other "

She smiled " Yeah I think we do, but we agreed to take things slowly and get to know each other, he is a really nice guy "

Lee smiled at that " Yeah he is, I guess Kara's matchmaking worked out "

They talked a little more as they finished eating before going their separate ways.

[BREAK]***************************************************************************************************************

Ever since leaving the base star Caprica had been flying around making it look like she was doing a grid search. She really was just trying to figure out if she should go after Leobon and the eight by herself or attempt going to the school for help, but she had no idea where everyone was at the moment.

Caprica was also trying to figure out what would be best for Willow. She knew she would be safer if she went with Starbuck back to the fleet, but with Athena and Boomer both returning to the fleet she knew that Willow going also might be more cylons than even Starbuck could protect. Plus that meant she would be alone with the cylons with no one to help her.

Caprica looked at the portable scan and saw that Leobon was back in flight, but headed away from the base star, she wondered what he was up to. Then she remembered Leobon had only been in the control center for a brief period of time and that is when she figured out he had been waiting for something, a message perhaps, but from who she wondered

As she continued to try and figure out who Leobon would contact she remembered a conservation between him and a Simon model about the farms where they were holding female survivors in the hope of getting them pregnant.

Caprica gasped as the idea came to her. Leobon was so obsessed with Starbuck and her destiny that he would try and get Starbuck pregnant so he would hold more power over her. That was one thing she could not let him do no matter the cost, with that thought in mind her decision was easy, she had to go after Leobon now.

[BREAK]***************************************************************************************************************

As they were headed back to the Temple Boomer looked up and knew that it would be dark soon, they had missed leaving at dawn with Starbuck being taken by Leobon.

Athena walked to the front where Boomer had taken lead leaving Anders and his men taking up rear positions. After catching up to her she waited before voicing her doubt. " Boomer, what if we can't get to Starbuck before Leobon disappears with her or worse?"

Even though she had those same thoughts she had held onto the one fact that gave her hope " Athena that is not going to happen, Aurora did not show herself to us without already knowing that Starbuck would make it back to the fleet, we just have to get a step ahead of Leobon "

Athena nodded " You're right, what will happen to Willow when we leave, Caprica can't cover for her much longer?"

Boomer sighed " I know, I am hoping Starbuck will know what to do about Willow "

After Athena fell back to walk with Helo, Boomer looked beside her and saw that Anders was now walking with her.

Sam Anders was still not comfortable working with the cylons, but he had came to the conclusion that what they were doing was somehow more important than who was a cylon or a human " I guess with Starbuck missing that puts you in charge right now, huh?"

Boomer glanced at him " No not really, if Athena or Helo have an idea about what to do they will speak up, we all know what has to be done"

Sam didn't have to ask, he knew by now what it was " Find Starbuck at any cost " he stated

Boomer nodded " Did your team make a decision about leaving with us or not?"

Anders smirked " We are all ready to get out of here, just let me know if there is something we need to do "

Boomer finally relaxed she had been worried about the resistance ever since Starbuck had been taken " After we get Willow we will decide what to do next and thanks for helping Anders "

Sam nodded and fell back to the rear leaving Boomer alone.

Boomer held up her hand letting everyone know to stop " We are getting close to the Temple so from here on out we need to approach the Temple silently "

[BREAK]***************************************************************************************************************

After Lee finished eating he went to the flight deck to make sure he wasn't needed for anything before heading to the CIC for his shift.

When he entered he didn't even glance at Dee he headed straight to his dad " Morning commander, is the jump to Kobol still on?"

Adama looked at him, he could see the hope all over his son's face " Yes it is Captain, Roslin will be joining us and I just received a request from your friend Mark wanting to join us on the Galactica for the jump also "

Lee turned away from the dradis screen quickly upon hearing that " Really, I didn't know he was going to do that?"

Adama chuckled, he knew Lee didn't know " Yes it seems one of our raptor pilots is there and has offered him a lift, do you think I should allow him to join us even though it is not standard protocol?"

Lee smiled " That would be Racetrack sir and I know it's not usually done, but I wouldn't mind him coming with us if it's okay with you "

Adama decided to allow it the moment Lee had smiled " I suppose we can make an exception this one time, go ahead and give him a call and let him know "

Lee smiled again before placing the call and whispered " Thanks dad " so only Adama could hear him and added " Please don't bring up Aurora to anyone"

Adama spoke softly " I haven't and I won't Lee "

After placing the call Lee took it as a sign that Kara would come home soon and smiled. During his shift an hour later he heard Racetrack ask for clearance to land and turned to look at his dad.

Adama knew what Lee wanted to do, so he found a way to give it to him " Captain I need you to meet Racetracks raptor to greet our guest "

Lee stood at attention " Yes sir " Lee knew his dad had been extra accommodating to him since Kara jumped away, but he wasn't going to complain about it.

What no one noticed was the extra attention Dee had been paying to everything since the call came in for a civilian that Lee knew was being allowed onto the Galactica. Dee was going to make sure she met this person.

[BREAK]*************************************************************************************************************

Mark and Maggie had been in his office talking when the phone rang, after ending the call he smiled at Maggie " That was Lee, the commander is allowing me on the Galactica for the jump to Kobol "

Maggie smiled " It looks like I am going to get to show off my flying skills for you " she added a little more serious " I'm glad you will be there for Apollo in case something goes wrong "

Mark stood up " I am going to change and don't worry I know Kara will be back "

Racetrack hoped so, but she wondered why he seemed so sure " How can you be sure she will make it back?"

He smiled " It is fated and you can't change fate " he leaned down to give her a quick kiss before going.

Racetrack did not have a response to that so she watched him leave the office to change before they left, leaving her to wonder what he meant.

As she sat there waiting on Mark the office door opened with someone already speaking " Mark I am leaving now to " and he stopped talking when he saw someone other than Mark " I'm sorry I thought Mark was in here "

Racetrack had never seen this man " He was here, but he left to change clothes before going with me to Galactica " she paused " I'm Maggie I went to the dance with Mark "

Adam who had paused mid-step relaxed " He told me about you, I am Adam we are partners in the restaurant, did you say he was going to the Galactica?"

Maggie smiled " Yes, usually the commander would not allow it, but it seems he is making an exception "

Adam returned her smile " Good, I am glad he will be there for Lee "

Maggie started to ask something except Mark returned before she could.

Mark almost walked into Adam as he was standing in the door way " What's up Adam?" he asked as he moved past him to stand by Maggie who had stood up when Mark entered.

Adam glanced at Maggie " I was just going to let you know I am leaving and I just found out you are going to be on the Galactica "

Mark nodded, he knew not to mention the Aurora " Yes, it seems the commander is making an exception " he said smiling down at Maggie

Adam turned to leave " I am glad you will be there with Lee, he needs someone who understands what's going on " then he walked away leaving Maggie to wonder what his cryptic last sentence meant.

Mark spoke drawing her out of her thoughts " Are you ready to go?"

Racetrack nodded " Yeah, my shift starts soon "

[BREAK]**************************************************************************************************************

Kara sat silently in the back of the raider listening to Leobon and the eight hoping to hear something that might help her, as her hands were once again tied there wasn't much she could do.

She was trying to think of a plan when she heard eight ask Leobon " Are we taking her to Simon?"

Kara wished now that she had asked Boomer about the other cylons so she would have a clue to who Simon was.

Leobon glanced back at Kara before answering eight " Yes, but we are meeting him somewhere else for the procedure, I only trust this Simon"

Eight thought back to what Starbuck had told her about Leobon having very few cylons that would help him anymore, she was starting to think maybe she should return to her sisters. " Aren't you worried about what Cavil will do when he finds out about your plans?"

Leobon sneered " There is not much he can do after it is already done "

Kara was starting to panic wondering what kind of procedure they were talking about. As she started to ask the gods for help she suddenly thought of something and hoped it would work. She didn't really have much of a plan other than stalling for time and hoping that Boomer remembered projecting the Temple for her. The downside was her having to be nice to Leobon for it to work.

Kara really hated to do this " Leobon " she said softly causing him to look back at her " Can you do me a favor before we get to where we are going?"

Kara asking him for a favor made him curious " Eight take control and put us in a holding pattern "

After eight took control Leobon went to kneel next to Kara " What kind of favor Kara, I won't let you go if that's what you are thinking?"

Kara shook her head " I know you won't, it's just I used to go to the Temple in Delphi when I was young and since we are so close and I am going to be with you now I wanted to see it one last time, please " Kara hoped he bought it otherwise she was fraked.

She could see that he was considering it so she added " If you let me see it I promise not to fight you anymore, I just really need this one last thing from my life before "

Eight spoke before Leobon said anything " You know Leobon it couldn't hurt and it would be worth it not to have to force her anymore "

Kara was shocked, but she chose not to respond especially since she didn't know why the eight would suddenly be willing to help her or she might just have her own agenda.

Leobon reached out to touch her cheek and it took everything Kara had not to jerk away from his touch " We will stop by there Kara, but only for a few minutes and if you have lied to me I will do worse than what I did to you before, understand?"

Kara closed her eyes trying to forget the image of her hand being slammed in the door, then she opened them to see him waiting for her to respond to what he had said " I understand " she paused for effect " Thank you, Leobon " gods she felt like throwing up now, then she remembered the saying, the gods help those who help themselves.

After Leobon moved back to the front Kara took a deep breath and silently prayed that someone would be at the Temple, as she thought that she remembered Willow, oh gods Kara hoped she had not just sealed Willow's fate. Kara could only hope that Willow would know to hide if she was there.

Kara looked up and saw the eight looking back at her like she was searching for something from her, Kara looked away from her trying to look outside to see if there were any markings that she might recognize. Kara knew it would be dark soon and if all else failed at least she would have the darkness if she tried to run.

[BREAK]**************************************************************************************************************

Cavil entered the main chamber on the base star after being gone for almost a full day to find no one monitoring the searches. He put out a call all over the base star for Caprica and Leobon. He waited a full ten minutes before he began cursing and putting out a call for Natalie, Simon and Boomer. As he waited he had a feeling that someone was going against his orders and when he found out who he would threaten to box them if they didn't start doing as he ordered.

Simon entered first " What do you want Cavil I am busy with the breeding process?"

Cavil scowled " I know that, what I don't know is where in the frak are Caprica and Leobon for starters?"

Simon scowled right back " Why don't you ask the sixes and the two's they should know, now I need to get back to my lab, I was in the middle of something "

Cavil knew Simon was right " Fine go back to your lab and send any of the twos, sixes or eights this way if you see them "

Natalie had walked in while Cavil was questioning Simon and she didn't have many answers either. After Simon passed by her she went to meet Cavil at the console " You wanted to see me about something Cavil?"

Cavil turned toward her yelling " Where in the frak is your sister Caprica?"

Natalie shrugged " I heard she was in here earlier monitoring the searches, I guess she went to check something out " she had heard about Caprica being here earlier the rest she made up to cover for her sister, even though she didn't know what Caprica was up to. Natlie knew that Caprica and another six had been acting strange lately, but she wasn't going to tell Cavil about it.

Cavil simmered down at least Caprica seemed to be following orders " Have you seen or heard from Boomer?"

Now that Natalie had no clue about " No "

Cavil was just about to start ranting again then an eight walked in " Simon told me you were looking for me Cavil "

Cavil decided to ask something else " Are all the eights accounted for?"

Eight went to place her hand in the network goo after a minute she pulled it out " There are three missing Boomer, the rouge eight and another eight "

Cavil was getting frustrated " That is just fraking great, the eights and now Leobon are unaccounted for, you two monitor the searches and keep in contact with me "

Natalie had to ask in case she needed to help her sisters " Where are you going Cavil?"

Cavil answered her before storming out " I am going to find out what the frak is going on, somebody is not playing by the rules and it will be consequences "

Natalie looked at the eight " I have a feeling things are going to become bad, fast "

Cavil had landed on the main street in Caprica when he remembered he had a way to track Leobon back on the ship, frak he thought. Cavil knew it would be suspicious if he went back and ordered Natalie out of the control room, for now he would have to look on his own at least for a while.

[BREAK]************************************************************************************************************

Lee had made his way to the hangar bay only to find that several people needed to ask him something or he had to sign something. When he finally finished the paperwork for parts that Cally had handed him Racetrack and Mark were already out of the raptor and on the deck where Racetrack was signing off on her own paperwork.

Lee finally made it to them " Welcome aboard the Galactica Mark " Lee reached out and shook his hand.

Mark ended the handshake " Thanks Lee " Mark glanced at Maggie and whispered to Lee " I'm not too sure I like flying in a raptor though "

Lee laughed " You had better not let Racetrack here you say that "

Mark nodded " I know, are you still working?"

Lee shrugged " Officially I am, but the commander sent me down here to greet you as we do all civilians who board which isn't very often, so technically you could say I am still working "

Racetrack walked up " Hey Captain I am handing Mark off to you, as you know I have a two hour CAP before we jump "

Lee felt bad " Sorry Racetrack it's to late for me to change the roster "

Racetrack laughed " I know that Apollo, besides I will be off shift after we jump "

Skulls walked by " Come on Track we gotta go "

Racetrack turned to go " Keep him out of harms way Apollo and by that I mean Dee "

Lee laughed " Since I plan on doing the same it should be easy, hopefully "

After Maggie lifted off Mark asked " Who is Dee?"

Lee wasn't sure how to explain it " Someone that hates Kara "

Mark thought a minute " Is she the one from the dance?"

Lee nodded " Yeah that was her, let's go to my office "

After they were settled in Lee's office, Lee took the bottle of ambrosia he tried to keep hidden and poured them each a shot.

Mark saw the picture and picked it up " I didn't know you two had this taken at the dance "

Lee smiled " I had forgotten about it until it showed up in my office, the photographer seemed to know I needed it "

Mark put it down " Do you think she will be back today?"

Lee sighed " If not today then tomorrow " Lee wondered if he should tell Mark about his dream.

Mark could tell Lee was thinking about something " A cubit for your thoughts?"

Lee took another shot " I was asleep I guess, because I jerked and woke up and I had this bad feeling that Kara was being hurt and after wards I couldn't get back to sleep, it felt so real "

Mark had been worried about Kara a lot himself, but he wasn't going to tell Lee that he was " It was probably just your subconscious "

Lee nodded " Yeah that is what I keep telling myself, anyway is Adam on the Aurora?"

Mark poured himself another shot " Yes and he met Maggie, are you supposed to be drinking on duty?"

Lee chuckled " No, that is usually Starbucks thing, so I am making an exception this one time, in honor of her "

Mark smiled " I agree " Mark paused before adding " She will be back Lee, we just have to wait "

Lee simply nodded as he was looking at Kara in the photo again.

[BREAK ]

Willow had been pacing ever since Boomer and the others had left to go rescue Kara. She had a bad feeling and she wasn't sure if she should try to go after them or stay like Athena had told her.

After more pacing and worrying she went and sat on the prayer rug wondering how one prayed to the gods. She wasn't sure of the rules about how often she could project hoping to talk to Aurora. She knew she shouldn't do it just to make herself feel better, but what if Kara needed something. After a while she felt a presence that she had come to learn was Aurora.

Willow sat very still and projected the Temple as it had been before the worlds were nuked. As she sat there Aurora appeared " Little one, it is now time for you to hide, all things will becoming together soon, and this is not your time to be seen " Willow let the projection go.

As soon as she let go she jumped up looking for the best place to hide worried about what was going to happen. She spotted the broken pew, it had landed almost against the back wall upright creating a space she could stand up in, but remain out of view. After getting in place she started praying silently to the gods in the only way she knew how by asking for what she wanted " Gods please keep Kara and her protectors safe from evil " Willow hoped that was okay because she kept silently repeating it over and over, while waiting.

[BREAK]*************************************************************************************************************

A.N.-I hope I got everything in the right order for the next chapter, which I am unofficially naming as " Showdown At The Temple "

( Leave a comment )