A Different Beginning

by remake

What if Kara and Lee had never met prior to the start of the mini-series?

37. Chapter 37

A DIFFERENT BEGINNING-CHAPTER- 37

THIS IS AN A.U. STORY THAT STARTS WHEN THE COLONIES ARE DESTROYED.

IT IS ALSO THE FIRST TIME KARA AND LEE MEET.

IT WILL HAVE SPOTS OF CANON IN IT, BUT NOT VERY OFTEN.

AS ALWAYS ALL MISTAKES ARE MINE.

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO STATE THAT KARA AND LEE ARE DIFFERENT BECAUSE THERE IS NO BAGGAGE BETWEEN THEM.

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CHAPTER-37-A Different Beginning

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Kara woke up several hours later with her back as close to Lee as possible and he held onto her tightly. Kara knew she had just enough time to go to her locker and pick up a change of clothes before heading to the shower area.

She slowly slid forward trying not to wake him, Lee looked like he had not slept very much at all. Kara had almost made it out of his arms when he woke up and pulled her back into his arms " You were going to leave without saying good-bye, weren't you Kara?"

Kara turned her head to look at him " Only because I know you need to sleep Lee and I have to shower and go over to Cloud Nine to have a private dinner with Willow, Mark said she wants to see me "

While they continued to look at each other Lee spoke " Boomer cut her hair and Athena dyed it black, she definitely doesn't look like any six I have ever seen "

Kara started to get out of the bunk, but stopped " Lee I need you to promise me you will never think about giving up again, you can't leave me here alone without you, because I won't care if we ever find a home, I can be that selfish." she paused " I know a lot of people are counting on me and the only way I can do this, is with you by my side "

Lee lifted a hand and touched the side of her face " I want more Kara, I want us to find a place the fleet can call home and I want to spend every day with you for the rest of our lives starting now "

Kara turned away for a moment " I want the same thing Lee, but right now I can't stop seeing you with that woman, I know you were drugged, but you seemed so consumed with her that you hollered at me to shut the frakking door without even looking to see who it was, so I guess what I need to know, is it really me that you want?"

Lee wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back " You will always be the only woman I want, frak I thought I was with you Kara, and you understand me in a way that no one ever has and you push me to be the best at whatever I do and I am a better man because of you Kara." Lee knew he didn't have long, so he put his mouth to her ear and whispered " I pray that you will come back to me when you are ready, and I hope you can find a way to be with me after what you saw, but please don't take to long deciding, now you had better go get ready, you know how Willow can get sometimes "

Kara stood up and Lee had laid back down, so Kara leaned down to kiss him deeply " I will see you around Lee " and she walked out.

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Caprica had secretly been trying to find the right materials she needed to make a couple of filters in case she found out she could trust Natalie and the eight.

One group of the three cylon raiders had found the fleet and jumped back to tell Cavil. Caprica knew he had a plan, except he wasn't telling anybody what it was.

She had finished the filters now she needed to talk to Natalie, she found her in her room projecting, " I am sorry to interrupt Natalie, but I need to talk to you "

Natalie motioned for her to come in before she got up and shut and locked the door. " I was wondering when you would come talk to me "

Caprica sat down next to her " Do you think that what we did to the colonies was wrong?"

Natalie thought about it before answering " As my sister will you keep what I say to yourself?"

Caprica nodded " You know I will Natalie "

Natalie took her hand " Yes it was wrong, I even tried to convince Cavil it was wrong, but as you can see he didn't listen to me "

Caprica stood up " What if I told you we could help the humans that survived and ourselves?"

Natalie stood up and faced Caprica " Why do you think the humans would trust us to help them and how could we help ourselves?"

Caprica sighed " Boomer and Athena are helping them and they are working alongside the humans and have already earned their passage to the new world and Aurora has them helping the chosen one, Aurora trusts them "

Natalie gasped " Are you telling me that the gods and goddess really exist?"

Caprica grinned " Yes, and the missing six is with Starbuck who has named her Willow and she is her contact to Aurora "

Natalie took a minute to process it all " If we download all that we know will spread throughout the cylons, Caprica "

Caprica smiled " Not if you have a filter like I do, I am able to hide anything I don't want Cavil to know "

Natalie shut her eyes a moment " So, if I agree to help, you will give me a filter? "

Caprica knew the hard part was yet to come " If you agree to help the chosen one you will be protected and earn your passage to a place now being called New Earth, but if you try to cross Aurora you will die and you will not resurrect "

Caprica continued after a moment " Natalie have you ever seen proof that we even have a god, I mean the humans created us then we evolved, and Cavil has been the only one that always told us about god, so he is either lying or setting himself up as our god "

Natalie had to admit something herself " I know Cavil is keeping things from us, but I don't know what they are "

Caprica had one more thing that had to be said " You cannot tell anybody about Aurora or her connection to Willow or Starbuck "

Natalie considered everything Caprica said, but she needed to be sure about Aurora " Are you sure about Aurora?"

Caprica smiled " Yes Natalie, I saw and talked to her myself "

Natalie had made up her mind " I promise, just let me know what I need to do "

Caprica sighed " After putting the filter into you we need to try and figure out what Cavil is up to "

Natalie thought she should say something else " I think the eight that was with Leobon will help us, she misses Boomer and Athena "

Caprica nodded also " I have been thinking about asking her, but I am not sure we can trust her "

Natalie disagreed " I think she can be trusted, now let's get that filter in me before something happens to me unexpectedly "

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Kara took a shuttle that had been docked on the Galactica. Most people were getting off on Cloud Nine, Kara had dressed in her black jeans and a short sleeve black t-shirt that she had borrowed from Lee one day. As the people got off the shuttle Kara could see that they were heading to different places. She headed to Mark's restaurant.

It didn't take long for Mark to notice her and he pointed to the back yelling" I'll be by soon to take your orders "

Kara looked around the restaurant making sure there were no threats visible then headed to the back room. She was just about to go to Adam's old room when she heard Willow coming up behind her " Kara I am glad you came, I had to see for myself that you were okay "

Willow stood there watching her causing Kara to break the silence " How do you like your new job?"

Willow shrugged " It's okay, for right now Mark has me washing dishes, he said I could do something else after a while "

Kara looked past her " Are we eating in Mark's room?"

Willow bobbed her head " Mine is too small, plus he set it up nice, come on and I will show you "

Kara followed Willow into Mark's room " See, it looks good "

Willow sat down " Have you talked to Lee yet, he seems so lost and used, I am worried about him?"

Kara closed her eyes knowing how close she came to losing him " He is okay and yes I went to see him, it might take a while before I can move past what I saw " Kara was no fool she knew the ones closest to her would already know what happened.

Mark walked in and poured them a glass of water " I hope you two don't mind, I prepared something special for the both of you ?"

Kara smiled " Thanks Mark, I can use something special right now "

Mark turned to leave, but walked back to the table " Kara is Lee going to be okay?"

Kara looked dead at him " I think so, but his friends need to keep an eye on him for a few days "

Mark moved to go " I will be right back "

Willow was suspicious " You are not going back to the Galactica and Lee, are you?"

Kara took a drink of water " I like your new look Willow "

Willow was suddenly upset with Kara " You might as well answer me Kara or I will keep asking until you do, and I think you are running away when you know Lee needs you right now "

Kara gave her a hard look " Willow just because you are my contact to Aurora doesn't give you the right to my private business, besides Lee can take care of himself "

Willow stood up so fast the chair fell backwards " Lee almost killed himself because of you, and you and I both know he will try it again if you go to the Aurora, frak that is almost telling him to go ahead and try it again "

Kara stood up and leaned on the table giving Willow a look that should have scared her " Willow it is none of your frakking business, now shut up about Lee "

Willow reached down and put the chair back at the table " You know what, frak you Kara, I think the prostitute cares more about Lee then you do!" Willow paused before leaving " Tell Mark I lost my appetite "

Mark had passed a pissed off Willow as he was heading to his room where he found Kara sitting very still at the table.

He walked around and pulled out the chair Willow had been sitting in and saw Kara struggling not to cry, so he talked knowing that if she did she would not be able to stop the tears " I guess Willow wasn't hungry after all, how about me eating with you?"

Kara nodded without looking directly at him.

Mark got up " Let me grab our plates and I'll be right back "

Kara sat there thinking about what Willow had said, she thought Lee was going to be okay, but what if Willow was right. Maybe the best thing for Lee was for her to let him out of her frakked up life. How could Willow think Kara didn't love Lee and why would she throw Shevon the prostitute in her face like that. Kara didn't like loving someone that much, because it always made the pain unbearable. Kara had never loved anyone before Lee, but she had read books about people loving each other like they were connected or one part of a whole. For once Kara wished someone would tell her what to do and she would do it.

When Mark put her plate in front of her she jumped, she had been so caught up in thinking " I'm sorry my mind was somewhere else " Kara looked at her plate " Oh my gods I love grilled cheese sandwiches and chips, where in the galaxy did you find chips?"

Mark laughed " I tend to hoard a few things and chips happens to be one of those things, and everybody loves grilled cheese sandwiches "

Kara silently agreed as she took a bite " That tastes so good, I can't remember the last time I ate one of these "

Mark figured she had calmed down " Kara, why was Willow mad, I passed her on my way in here before?"

Kara glanced at him " She thinks I should stay on the Galactica and stay close to Lee, she is worried about him "

Mark nodded " We are all worried about him, if you are not going to the Galactica where are you going?"

Kara finished chewing before answering " The Aurora " Kara put her sandwich down " Mark do you think Lee would be better off if I kept him away from this Aurora stuff?"

Mark shook his head " No Kara, Lee loves you, he doesn't care about Aurora unless it directly involves you, which I guess is almost all the time. " He waited a beat " Kara, Lee's greatest fear is losing you, Willow knows that and it is the reason she is upset with you, we all saw his pain Kara, but I and your dad are the only ones that saw yours "

Kara stood up " Thanks for the meal Mark and I hope Lee will be okay, because I will be staying on the Aurora until I am cleared for flight "

Mark got up " Kara for your sake I hope you are right, because Lee starts back flying tomorrow and you and I both know he will be thinking of you and not the battle if we happen to end up in one, with that said I think if you really love Lee you will go to him and not the Aurora, but it is your call I just hope you make the right one " Mark started clearing the table as Kara walked out.

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Kara left and headed to the bar upstairs, she didn't know what to do after listening to Willow then Mark. She figured she might as well get drunk and hopefully she could drown out the voices and forget she ever heard of Aurora or destiny or even the frakking cylons at least for a night if nothing else.

After Kara looked at the people at the bar she swung her stool around scanning the room for what she didn't know, except out of habit and something seemed off. Kara scanned the room once more and saw Keeper and Duck sitting at one of the back booths. After getting one more drink she walked over to join them and sat down. " You guys mind if I sit with you?" a silly question since she had already sat down.

Keeper chuckled " It looks like you already have Starbuck "

Duck grinned " How much longer before Cottle lets you fly?"

Kara shrugged " A week to ten days at the most " Kara sat forward and spoke low " Do you guys have a feeling that something is not right?"

Keeper and Duck both said no " Are you packing tonight?"

That got Keepers attention " No, but something tells me you are, why?"

Kara chuckled " I am always packing, maybe you two are right and nothing is going on, I am going to get another drink "

Duck looked at Keeper " If Starbuck thinks something is up, then it probably is "

Keeper looked around " What do we do?"

Duck looked at him once again " We keep our eyes on Starbuck, if somethings happens she will let us know, we also need to watch the crowd and any new comers"

Keeper laughed " Speaking of that, Racetrack just walked in and I see one marine who must be on R&R "

Duck called out to her " Come join us for a minute "

Racetrack walked over " Hey have you two seen Mark?"

Keeper grinned " No, but Starbuck is here and she thinks something is not right, but we haven't seen anything "

Racetrack cursed " Frakking Starbuck, she won't stay where she is supposed to "

Duck frowned " What are you talking about Racetrack, she can go anywhere she wants to, just like she did when she stole the raider and jumped to Caprica against Commander Adama's orders "

Before anything else was said Mark walked in and caught sight of Maggie " Hey, you look nice with the jeans and tank top "

Maggie smiled " Thanks Mark, but right now we have a bit of a situation "

Mark frowned " What is it this time?"

Racetrack nodded toward the bar and had to grab his arm to stop him " It's not just her, Starbuck thinks something is going down in the bar tonight "

Mark stepped away " I am going to take care of Kara first and you guys keep looking for something or someone out of place "

Racetrack sat down and Keeper chuckled " Do you think your boyfriend can handle her Racetrack?"

She smiled " Other than Lee or Helo, Mark is the next best choice "

They watched when he reached Kara and took the drink from her hand " She is cut off tonight " he said to the bartender, then he spun her stool around until she was facing him, and he spoke in a low voice " What in the frak are you doing in a bar Kara?"

Starbuck stood up and looked up at him " I am trying to get drunk enough to forget everything and everybody, so leave me the frak alone!"

Duck and Keeper couldn't stop laughing at Mark " Does he know that she will knock him on his ass?"

Before Racetrack could respond, Mark had grabbed Kara by the arm and drug her into the bathroom, which only made them laugh harder.

They looked to the entrance to see somebody they thought would never enter a bar come in, President Roslin and when she spotted them she walked over and took the only seat left in the booth " Racetrack, I was told I could find Mark here, is he around?"

Keeper who always talks before thinking blurted out " He is in the restroom with Starbuck "

Roslin looked at each of them before asking " Why?"

Before anyone could speak the doors had dropped and locked everyone from getting out or in. There was three guys now holding guns on all of them and a woman who seemed to be their leader." Stay still and where you are and no one will be hurt."

Mark and Kara had been arguing when they heard the doors close, which was strange.

Kara looked at Mark " I told Keeper and Duck something was going on, but no one listened to me "

Mark went to peek out the door they came in " There are three heavily armed men and a woman with a hand gun out there, what do you think they want Starbuck?"

Kara snorted " Something they are not getting, Athena and Boomer "

Mark dropped his head " Do you have a gun?"

Kara chuckled " You mean am I packing, I always do "

Mark asked " Is it to much to hope you have a plan?"

Kara just shook her head " Go and see if anyone came in after you did "

Kara was trying to figure out how to break the cooling system when Mark came back, he looked at Kara " The President is here "

Kara whooped " Now we get to kill two birds at the same time "

Mark looked at her closely " You are drunk Kara, so how in the frak are you supposed to do anything?"

Kara put her hands on her hips and faced him " First of all I am not drunk just tipsy, and second we are going to save the hostages, but not before you rescue Roslin"

Mark stalked off then came back " I can't believe you are going to try two major things at the same time?"

Kara shrugged " Do you have a better idea, cause if you do I'd like to hear it?"

Mark shook his head no " Can I help with whatever you are doing?"

Kara poked her head back out " I am trying to sabotage the cooling system for the bar "

Mark grunted " Let me try, you should know that the restaurant has a cooling system also and I have tinkered around with it a little bit "

Kara backed out so Mark could get in and look at it " I found it and stripped the wires it needs, and it shouldn't take long before the hostage takers realise something is wrong "

Kara walked over and looked out then walked back to Mark " Good, they will have to send someone in to fix it and that will give the commander a chance to do something "

Mark grinned " I was wondering why you did that?"

Kara looked at Mark " We are going to have to act like we were in here doing things we shouldn't and hope Racetracks sees it for what it is, but I am glad Lee is not here "

Mark laughed " She will, I think we might have a harder time of convincing the other people we are together "

So they walked out holding on to each other acting like they had no idea what was happening. Kara wrapped her arms around his shoulders acting like she was trying to get her balance " You head to the president while I distract them "

Mark walked off and Kara put herself between Mark and Roslin and one of the three gunmen asking him " Would you mind getting me a drink I have been cut off?"

He sneered " Not right now, in case you haven't noticed all of you are being held hostage "

Kara stepped closer with one hand behind her back so she could reach her gun if necessary " Why are civilians holding other civilians hostage?"

Mark had made it to the President " If you must know we don't like cylons running free on the Galactica "

Kara chuckled " Would you rather them be put on your ship?"

The man gasped " Frak no "

Kara frowned " I don't see the problem then, besides from what I have heard they have already been protecting the fleet and Galactica "

The man practically screamed " That doesn't make up for what they did "

Kara nodded " I agree, but I have also had time to know that nothing we do will change what happened, it is time to move on and put our anger towards other things besides hating all of the cylons, some of them have realised their mistake and is now helping us. " Kara paused " I hope you are ready to kill other human beings because Commander Adama will never negotiate with anyone no matter the cost "

Kara walked away, then the man told her she couldn't leave

Kara heard Adama taking to the woman then she stopped " Is there a Captain Kara Thrace here?"

Kara stepped forward " That would be me "

Commander Adama wants to speak to you, she held out the phone and Kara grabbed it.

" Commander is Lee okay?" Kara asked rushing

" Lee is doing okay, how are you doing?"

" Don't tell him what is happening, please sir?" Kara practically begged

Adama coughed " I need a sit rep Captain "

Kara told him everything that she could with the woman standing next to her " That's all that I remember right now, sorry sir "

" It will have to do, we will be blasting through the door in five to ten minutes have our people move out of the way of the falling debris, I am not going to listen to another minute of her demands, I am ending this now "

Kara glanced at the woman " Yes sir, I understand " then she handed the phone back to the waiting woman.

Before Kara walked away she looked at the woman " I hope whatever your reason is for doing this, that it is worth the possibility that humans may die because of it "

Kara and Duck along with Keeper and Racetrack had suddenly started moving customers to the bar behind anything to shield the blast.

One of them stopped Starbuck " What are you doing?"

Kara stood up " If your boss is stupid enough to go against the military and Commander Adama, then I am going to try and cut the number of human causalities, now get the frak out of my way "

Kara saw his hand move to his gun getting ready to shoot her and in a split second she had drawn her gun and shot him between the eyes.

Before Kara had time to put her gun back the doors blasted open throwing metal shrapnel everywhere. Racetrack grabbed Starbuck and yanked her down.

Mark had thrown his body over the presidents to protect her and felt something hit him in his back " Are you okay Madame President?"

She saw his back when he moved off of her " I am, but you are not " then she shouted " We need a medic now "

When the blast was over they found the woman and two of her crew dead and the last one with a bullet between his eyes, no civilians had been hurt bad except Mark.

Adama turned to look at Kara " Are you okay Kara?"

Kara stood looking over the destruction to the bar " Yeah I'm fine, but Mark is hurt pretty bad " Kara paused " I think the bar area can be fixed, I'm just happy no innocent person was killed today "

Kara walked over to see Mark after they had put him on a stretcher, Cottle said he needed surgery to remove a medium size piece of shrapnel out of his back. Racetrack had been in tears the whole time he was being prepped for transport.

Kara reached for one of his hands " I will stay and run the restaurant until you are able to run it yourself, and I am sorry my plan got you hurt " Kara winked " I think you made a lot of points with Roslin though "

Mark looked at her and smiled " Thank you for the offer, but I believe there are other things you need to do like talk to Lee tonight Kara and I mean it " Mark made them stop the stretcher " Kara you can help me by getting Adam over here, he usually does most of the work anyway "

Kara nodded " I will call Adam now, and I promise to try and talk to Lee, but that is all I am promising to do right now "

Mark left so Kara laid down on his couch and pulled herself into a ball letting the silence envelope her as she fell asleep only to wake up shaking after dreaming that the cylons had taken Lee away from her.

Willow was still angry with Kara, but she needed to know about Mark so she walked in and sat on the coffee table and looked at Kara " I only want to know about Mark, is he okay?"

Kara sat up " He looked okay when I saw him, but Cottle said he needed surgery to remove shrapnel that flew into his back as he protected the president "

Willow stood up " That's not good enough, tell me how to find out more "

Kara got up pulling on her clothes " Ask Adam he will know or he can find out for you "

Willow hated to ask again " Are you going to the Galactica to check on him?"

Kara finished dressing and was putting her hair in a pony tail " No, I am going to the Aurora, by the way has she contacted you lately?"

Willow snorted as she was walking out " No and I don't really see why she would want to with the way you have been acting "

Kara had not made her mind up, that was why she was going to the Aurora, thinking that if she went to Temple her questions might be answered.

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On the base star Caprica was putting the filter into Natalie when eight walked in " What are the two of you doing?"

Natalie spoke first " How much do you know about the cylon god?"

Eight shrugged " Not very much, only what Cavil tells us "

Caprica spoke next " What if I told you that the colonials gods do exist, because I have seen proof of it and I think Cavil is trying to set himself up as the cylon god?"

Eight asked " What proof have you seen?"

Caprica smiled " I saw and talked to Aurora myself and she told me her chosen one needed to be protected or we would never find a home "

Natalie felt eight needed to know " Boomer and Athena are both helping and protecting the chosen one "

The eight had to know " Did Athena and Boomer swear to protect the chosen one before they talked to Aurora?"

Caprica frowned " They had already decided to side with the humans before anyone knew about the chosen one, and now that they do they swore to Aurora to help and protect the chosen one and in return they could live among the humans as humans when the chosen one finds them a place to call home "

Natalie had enough " Why don't you just tell us what you want eight?"

Eight sat down " I miss Athena and Boomer, the other eights here seem empty somehow, so I will help you if it means I can one day see them again "

Caprica was still hesitant to trust her " Let me think about it eight, I need to know I can trust you, but something doesn't feel right "

Natalie walked out with eight " Caprica didn't mean you can't join us, she just needs to know without a doubt she can trust you " Natalie thought she heard someone and moved farther down the corridor " What we are doing is very important and if you were to tell anyone about what was said today I don't think Aurora will be very forgiving "

Eight looked at her " Our god isn't real and the humans gods are real, shouldn't all of the cylons know about this?"

Frak Natalie cursed, she should have listened to Caprica and left the eight alone " No eight, we can't just start announcing something this big, and besides I figure there will be a religious war between the cylons and you need to pick your side now "

Eight yelled " I just tried to and Caprica shut me out, how can I prove to her that she can trust me? "

Natalie had an idea " Cavil has always liked the eights, so try to get close to him and try and find out what he is up to, the sooner the better "

Eight nodded and walked away.

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Mark had come out of surgery, but Cottle said the shrapnel had cut into him deep and he would have to stay in life station for at least a week giving the antibodies time to work and he wanted to keep an eye on the stitches. Maggie shuddered when Cottle had told them Mark had to have twenty-five stitches. Maggie looked across the bed where President Roslin had been since he came out of surgery, she wished she would leave.

Racetrack looked up when Apollo came in " I was just told everything, how is he doing Maggie?"

She sighed cutting her eyes at Roslin " Doc says he has to stay in here for a week, but after that he would be past the worst of it "

Lee nodded " Let me know if I need to change your CAP rotation, okay?"

Maggie smiled " I will, thanks Apollo " She wasn't sure if she should say anything or not, so she just did " Starbuck had to shoot one of the bad guys, she shot him between the eyes right before the door blasted open, I pulled her down, so she is okay, I guess "

Lee looked at her " What do you mean by you guess she's okay?"

Maggie shrugged " I don't know if she has ever had to shoot and kill someone so close to her before, I'm sure she is okay though "

Roslin snorted " I doubt the almighty Starbuck even gives a rats ass about killing someone "

Lee crossed his arms " Why are you here Madame President?"

Roslin nodded at Mark " Mark saved my life tonight and I want to thank him, that's all "

Lee suddenly thought about the restaurant " Who is going to run the restaurant while Mark is here?"

Maggie chuckled " Starbuck offered, but Mark told her to get Adam "

Roslin jumped back in " Who is Adam?"

Lee shook his head " He helps Mark with the restaurant "

Maggie stood up " Can I talk to you outside Captain?"

Lee nodded " Sure, we will be right back " he said looking at Roslin

Once they were outside " Lee you need to check on Willow she is by herself over there with no way of knowing what is going on "

Lee chuckled " I will go and see her now, I kinda miss her openness and her curiosity "

Racetrack smiled " Thanks, I wish I could send Roslin with you she is making me batty "

Lee chuckled as he walked away " Good luck "

Lee felt better after seeing Kara earlier and even said a prayer to Aurora, he knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he truly believed him and Kara were supposed to spend their lives together.

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PART TWO TO FOLLOW-CHAPTER-38 WOULD NOT UPLOAD-It finally uploaded ( woo hoo )

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