Chapter 24 Gone

After his climax, Leoben continued to hold Kara for another few minutes, just enjoying the sensation of her pliant body beneath his after being so long denied. As the glow cleared from his mind and he rolled from her, he realized that she was unconscious. At first he just put it down to the accumulation of exhaustion and their lovemaking, but there was something disturbing in the total slackness of her features. She didn't look like someone resting peacefully.

No. Something was off that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

Shaking his head, he decided that it didn't matter. Kara was his now. She'd given herself to him physically; it only remained for her to accept that this bond they shared was love.

He deftly redressed them both, then gently lifted the limp figure in his arms and carried her from her original cell back to their apartment. Once there, he striped them down again and lay with her pulled into his arms. As he drifted off to sleep, Leoben smiled, content that they were both finally on the path God had laid out.

The next morning Leoben awoke with a smile, still spooning Kara. Gently rolling her over, he saw that she, too, was awake and his smile grew as he tried to catch her eyes. The edge started to slip from his happiness as she continued to stare straight ahead at the ceiling.

Nevermind, he knew today was likely to be difficult with her. She'd insist on feeling guilt and shame over her surrender to her emotions, but it was too late for her to undo their lovemaking. Kara responded to her heart and body, so he'd just have to arouse her need and that would overcome what her head was likely telling her.

Putting action to words, Leoben began caressing her, seeking to feel again the way she'd clung to him. He knew yesterday had been too fast, too needy on his part; she hadn't reached the pinnacle of their union as he had. Today he'd make sure she did.

He roamed her still form with gentle fingers, tracing curves and teasing peaks as he sought to whet her desire. But, as he fondled and stroked without any response to his ministrations, Leoben began to grow frustrated. He'd been prepared for many reactions from her this morning: hoped she'd move into his embrace and even initiate their lovemaking, but also been prepared for her to violently reject their union. This complete lack of response, lack of her usual fire, this detached state though caught him off guard.

As his impatience and need grew, Leoben added little pinches and nips to provoke her. Her very refusal to even acknowledge his presence inflamed an anger that wasn't his usual wont, and he finally entered her forcefully. Almost immediately, he slowed his thrusts, tamping down his own reaction as he sought again to make this good for Kara. Staring into her face as he moved within her, Leoben finally discerned that she wasn't just ignoring him. The Kara he knew wasn't even here with him. She'd fled, as was her wont. He continued to try to illicit a pleasure response, but he knew now that he would fail. Quickly finishing, Leoben rolled away to stare at the ceiling as he considered this newest twist in the path of Kara's destiny.

Laying beside her quiescent body, listening to the unchanging pattern of her slow breathing, a new worry scratched at the door of his contemplations. Between them, D'Anna and Six, they had nearly broken Kara's body. Could this absence be evidence that he'd broken her mind? Leoben gritted his teeth and clenched a hand to his chest. That had never been his plan. To make her see and accept her destiny, it had been necessary to tame the wildness of Kara's spirit, it hadn't been his intent to break it.

Later he dressed her, finding that she would respond to the simplest of instructions in a mechanical manner, which he found vaguely ironic given their circumstances. He'd even gotten her to eat, repeating every few minutes for her to lift the spoon and eat the oatmeal he'd put before her. Thus the day went on. After her first accident, he realized that she wasn't even capable of caring for her most basic of needs. He sat with her on the sofa and gently spoke, repeatedly professing his love and desire to make her happy, outlining the role God had ordained for them, and lightly touching her face with the lingering hope that she'd react in some way. Even her rage would be welcomed at this point.

The day ended as it had begun, Kara staring at the ceiling, totally unresponsive in body and mind.

After another day spent uselessly trying to get through to her, Leoben worriedly brought in Simon. His brother Cylon seemed nearly as disturbed by Kara's condition as himself, frowning over the notes he made and casting disapproving looks Leoben's way. When Simon neutrally stated that Kara had fallen into a catatonic state, Leoben's fears were confirmed. They'd finally managed to break Kara Thrace. But the result wasn't what any of them had expected. This shell of a woman was of no use to D'Anna in her bid to prop up the Occupational Government, and she certainly wasn't in any condition to fulfill her part in God's plan.

Simon shook his head at Leoben's request for treatment options, explaining that only time and care were likely to bring the human woman back to herself. Leoben didn't press his brother, having no reason to believe that Simon might be holding back any possible treatment options.

So, Leoben took care of Kara as he would a child. Each day making sure she was properly cleaned, dressed and fed to the best of his ability. As the days slipped into a week, he saw her physical condition further deteriorate despite his efforts; an unfamiliar despair clenched as a vice about his heart.

Each night his soft hands stroked her as he murmured tender words, still hoping for some sign that she was coming back to him. As she remained unmoved by his caresses, he never took it any further after that first morning.

This was not the Kara Thrace he desired.

He didn't want a…

…an automaton.