Chapter 25 Visitation

As Laura's bare feet moved silently down the metal staircase, she pondered why a humanoid model Four with a Centurion guard had escorted her from her cell, only to shove her inside this apartment and leave, all without a word of explanation. Not that they'd explained much to her since rounding her and a few others up for questioning several days ago. Stepping from the landing onto the carpet, her brown eyes quickly took in the dining unit and scanned onward to the area beyond, widening abruptly as she spotted a solitary form seated on the sofa. The blue-robed figure didn't react as Laura cautiously sidled further into the living room.

"Kara?"

Shock and relief sped Laura's steps forward as she recognized the woman, but she faltered when the blonde head didn't look up, or even twitch, at her approach.

"Kara?" she tentatively repeated. Still no response.

Laura cast a brief look about her, confirming that they were alone before returning her attention to the young woman. Pursing her lips, she considered her choices and, kneeling in front of the sofa, gently reached forward to tilt Kara's head up. She drew in a sharp breath and almost released her hold on the gaunt face as she got her first good look. Kara's green-gold eyes, usually awhirl with complex emotions, were blank in a way that stiffened the older woman in alarm. The stretched skin beneath her fingers was cool and, as she reached up to brush the blonde locks away from Kara's face, the long hair felt brittle to her touch, reflecting the overall impression Laura had of Kara general state. She looked fragile enough to shatter at any moment

"Captain Thrace? It's Laura…Laura Roslin." Again she searched for any sign of recognition…or even awareness. Any reaction at all. "Starbuck?" Nothing.

What've they done to her?

She placed a hand on each shoulder, feeling the protruding bones under the terry-cloth, and gently shook her. Kara's head swayed with the motion, yet she remained oblivious to her surroundings.

Shifting to sit on the couch, Laura noticed the slight discoloration and pinkish tissue around the wrist as she took one of Kara's limp hands in her own and gave a gentle squeeze. Their captors had obviously had Kara tightly bound at some point—and recently enough that the skin was still healing. Laura hadn't thought that her hate for the machines could grow, yet she kept discovering new reasons to despise them. Sometimes, like now, she grimly wished she had the opportunity to kill one of them by her own hand. Wouldn't Bill be shocked at her bloodlust, she thought. Then again, if he were here and saw his 'daughter' in this state, he'd be fighting for the privilege of eviscerating the responsible bastard himself.

Well, he wasn't here. And with no handy hunting knife in sight, she was going to have to find a different way to fight back. Starting with helping Kara…if she could.

Scrutinizing the apartment setup once more for clues to what might have happened—been done—to the younger woman to drive her into this state, Laura wondered again at their purpose. Why would the Cylons lock up an ex-Viper pilot in this type of accommodation?

She thought back to when they'd first received word that Kara had been taken. Her first reaction had been fear for the younger woman, knowing of the Cylons' special interest in her. Then she'd heard that it was a Two, possibly the same Leoben that Starbuck had interrogated, that had come for her the first day of the Occupation, and Laura remembered being chilled at the possible reasons for the Cylon's interest in the young officer.

Now it appeared that her concerns were amply justified.

But, among the likely scenarios she'd envisioned, this…this homey prison, for Laura knew it was still a cell despite of the nice furnishings, wasn't one of them. Why hold her in what approximated a home? What mind games had they played with Kara during the past few months?

Seeing the vibrant Starbuck reduced to a…a mindless doll tore at Laura. She'd come to care for the impulsive young woman, especially once they'd both settled on New Caprica. She recalled Kara stopping by the school Laura had setup for the children of the settlers. The first couple of times she'd come by, the ex-pilot had hung back by the entrance of the tent, just listening. After she showed up for a third time, Laura had caught her eye, giving her a signal to wait while the teacher dismissed her class for the day.

As she'd approached the younger woman, Laura had noticed how Kara kept fisting her hands at her side. Others might have interpreted this as anger, but the experienced teacher recognized it as a nervous habit, probably born of the need to protect herself when she was feeling especially vulnerable. It was at that moment that Laura's suspicions of abuse solidified.

Having worked as a teacher before the invasion, she'd learned the signs of child abuse, and Kara seemed a classic case study. Her history of aggressive behavior and fights—anger management issues—especially towards authority figures, and her trouble forming meaningful relationships all pointed to childhood trauma. And, considering that the few attachments Kara had formed were with men, Laura was willing to bet that the abuser in her life had been her mother.

These thoughts had come to Laura as she greeted Kara that day so many months ago. She hadn't let her new perception show as she offered her visitor a seat. As the silence between them threatened to become awkward, Laura had pulled out her extensive people skills and drawn Kara out with discussions about what they'd each had been doing since settling on the planet. They'd talked for about an hour before Kara had abruptly stood and excused herself. After that, the younger woman had stopped by about once a week on some pretext or another.

Until the Cylons had returned.

Bringing her attention back to the silent figure beside her, Laura tucked a straying strand of lank hair behind Kara's ear. Gently placing her palms on each cheek, she spoke slowly and clearly, "Captain, you have to fight. Bill—the Admiral—needs you to fight. And Apollo." Did she see a flicker of the eyelashes at the mention of the younger Adama? "Yes, Kara, Apollo needs you to fight. When Galactica returns, you need to be ready to go." This time she was sure; she'd definitely had felt the younger woman twitch.

Suddenly Sam Anders came to mind and she mentally berated herself for not thinking of him sooner. Kara's husband had been doing an admirable job with the Resistance prior to his disappearance several weeks ago, and Laura wondered if Kara could possibly know anything about his fate.

"Kara, have you seen Sam? Your husband, Kara, he's missing. Sam's missing. Have you seen him? Heard anything?" This time Laura felt the muscles beneath her palms tighten and she felt a quiver slowly build to shudders that traveled down Kara's lean frame until she jerked from Laura's hands.

As life returned to the green eyes in the form of shattering grief, Laura was thankful for Kara's re-emergence, but the loss reflected in the young woman's gaze was shocking.

Sounding like she was speaking from a far distance, Kara tonelessly said, "Sam's dead," her voice strangely at odds with her body's violent trembling.

Laura reached and pulled her into an awkward hug, rocking and murmuring words of comfort as the shakes continued to rack Kara. She expected the younger woman to break down into sobs, but she didn't. She let Laura hold her, yet she didn't say anything further, and the older woman was concerned that Kara might slip back into whatever dark corner she'd retreated to before. The thought brought its own worm of doubt to Laura as she considered the circumstances of the young woman's catatonic state.

Shuffling the thought aside for the moment, she returned her full attention to Kara as the worst of the shudders seemed to be easing. Keeping up a steady flow of soothing words, she sat and rocked her for a long time.

Eventually, Laura felt the shoulders she held relax, and she helped ease Kara down so she was resting with her head on Laura's lap. Continuing to gently stroke the long hair like she use to do with her younger sisters, after a little while she was surprised to realize that Kara's breathing had leveled out and she appeared to have fallen deeply asleep. Laura debated waking her, somewhat concerned, but decided against it. She knew that she should really find out what had happened to her, yet…it seemed more important to let her rest for now, there'd be time later for them to talk.

Her head jerked up as she heard the click of the door lock, and Laura carefully slid out from beneath the sleeping form, moving to put herself between Kara and the male Cylon as he stepped from the landing onto the carpet of the dining area.

Leoben. She knew the manipulative bastard was mixed up in this somehow.

Keeping her voice pitched low to avoid waking Kara, "Just what have you done to her?" she demanded.

"Only what's necessary to help her find her way," answered Leoben quietly after flicking a look in Kara's direction. "Her path is a difficult one, but Kara always seems determined to take the hardest route possible."

"And what of Samuel Anders?"

Leoben smiled, just a small lifting of the corners of his mouth, but Laura saw it and the urge to slap it off made her hand twitch.

"I regret his death." Laura gave a sniff of disbelief, but said nothing as he continued, "He had no part in God's plan for Kara. Like I said, I regret his death, but I'll see that his sacrifice wasn't wasted."

"And that means?"

"Grief often spurs the turning to others for comfort. Much like Kara just did with you," he explained. "Now she'll turn to me." As if that simple answer was all that was needed, he stepped forward, obviously intent on going to Kara where she still slept oblivious to their conversation.

Shifting to put herself between the Cylon male and the young woman, Laura stopped him with a hand to his chest. "No. You've done enough."

The sandy-haired head tilted to the side as he looked from her eyes down to the palm pressed firmly against his shirt and back up. His eyes narrowed just the slightest. "There's no need to fear for her. I won't hurt Kara. I love her," he said, his tone just a bit patronizing.

"She's obviously already been hurt."

He scowled. "That was not my doing. I was outvoted."

"Nevertheless, she was harmed," Laura said, pushing the point as she saw the regret and guilt in his face. "Since you can't protect her, you should release her."

He brushed her hand aside. "No. She stays here, with me. This is our path."

The door lock sounded again and Laura's gaze shift upwards to see Doral and his Centurion shadow enter the apartment. As she dropped a questioning look back to Leoben, his smile returned.

"I appreciate all your help, Laura. Kara's been in hiding, but I knew you'd bring her back to me." He stepped around and to Kara's side before Laura could try to block his path again. Looking from the Cylon to the still sleeping woman, it came to her that she'd been used. A chilled feeling wrapped around Laura at the realization that she'd unwittingly had done Leoben's bidding…and had betrayed Kara to him as a result. The urge to throw herself at him, scratch his eyes out, had her taking a step forward when she felt a hand close on her elbow and she was roughly pulled away and forced up the staircase.

Her last glimpse of Kara was of her stirring as Leoben laid a hand on her head.