Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. The phrase used in the summary is taken from the episode "Ties That Bind." Some of the chapter titles are taken from the lyrics of "Broken" by Amy Lee, from culinarycricket's montage. AU regarding the events from the Demetrius and the episode "Guess What's Coming to Dinner." In my version of things, Gaeta was never shot.

I'm Right Here

Chapter 1: Misinformation

The admiral, the president, her aide, the colonel, and Lee sat in the dim room behind a long, smooth black table, listening to the Cylon Natalie. The face was like the Cylon in the brig, but for some reason the hair color was different, more of a honey-blonde instead of a bleach-blonde. "We'll leave tomorrow. We only want to borrow some of your pilots to help us blow it up after we unbox the Three's," Natalie requested.

Adama folded his hands, looking from Lee to Roslin and then back to the Cylon. "What guarantee can you offer that they won't be harmed?"

"I suppose we could leave some of our people over here as collateral. Do you want Sam Anders back?" she offered.

Lee leaned toward Roslin and Adama. "Kara nearly shot him already when she found out what he was on the baseship," he whispered.

"What exactly did he do?" Tigh asked.

"He used their controls to help get the ship back to the fleet because it was damaged," Lee explained quietly.

The president turned toward the leader of the rebel Cylons. "Him you can keep."

Natalie sighed and folded her hands in her lap. "Very well. And the Resurrection Hub? If we blow it up, you won't harm the rebel Cylons?"

"You have my word no one will be harmed," Adama finished.

Later the group reconvened in Adama's quarters without Natalie. "I still think we can't trust any of them, especially her model," Roslin mentioned.

Adama paced slowly as Tigh and Lee took chairs. Tory stood by the door. The others did not notice the worried glances passing between Tory and Tigh. "Right now we don't have much of an ultimatum. Somehow the Three can point out the Final Five and they're supposed to show us where Earth is. It all sounds like a crock to me, but then again Kara seems to think this will work."

Lee cleared his throat. "Has anyone seen her lately?"

"I think you might try Joe's Bar," Tigh recommended.

The younger man stood. "Considering what she's just been through, someone should check on her."

Bill smiled at his son's concern. "Dismissed."

He chuckled. "I don't work for you anymore, sir."

Despite the gravity of their plight, Laura smirked. "Actually in a way I believe you work for me now. Dismissed."

"Yes, ma'am," Lee responded before heading out of the hatch.

His father's gaze lingered on the door after he had gone. "I know he has his problems, but he's a good kid, and he's only trying to do the right thing."

She sighed. "If only 'the right thing' didn't consist of undermining me at Quorum meetings." Roslin glanced toward Tory to see her aide yawn. "I suppose it is late. We could all do with some sleep."

"Agreed," Tigh remarked.

After he left, Roslin and Tory stood at the hatch. Bill walked over to them. "You know, there's still room for you in one of my beds."

Laura grinned at his attempt to keep her there. "As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer, I've got some files to sort out before tomorrow's Quorum meeting that were left on Colonial One. Goodnight, Bill."

He smiled back. "Goodnight, Laura." And then he added, "Tory" belatedly.

Adama's morning shift started off just fine, for about five minutes. Then the other baseship appeared on the DRADIS. "Sir, we've got another Cylon ship, and it's charging weapons. I don't think this one's friendly."

The admiral grimaced. "Put me through to the rebel baseship. Listen up over there. This is Admiral Adama. The other Cylons have shown up, so I hope you have a plan for this, other wise I'm sending out my people."

A Six's voice replied. "We are preparing to fight back, but we would welcome the assistance."

Adama called for the pilots to be ready, then looked up at the DRADIS and noticed other dots moving around. "Lieutenant Dualla, what are those?"

She studied them and then looked back at the viewscreen, her eyes widening. "Sir, it's morning shuttle traffic! We've got to tell them there's a battle."

The admiral reached for the wireless again. "Attention all ships, this is the admiral. Another Cylon ship has appeared and we are arming for battle. I want all shuttle traffic to stop and either dock or find a larger ship to hid behind until you can dock. All shuttle traffic needs to stop."

He put down the wireless and looked back at the colonel. "Somethin' tells me this is gonna be a mess no matter what," Tigh stated.

"That's for sure," Adama replied.

The battle began, weapons fire volleying between the Vipers and Cylon ships. Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Adama spotted a civilian ship. "Dee what ship is that?"

"Sir, it's the transport shuttle from Galactica. It was heading for the Astral Queen before the battle. Looks like they've resumed course," she answered.

"What the hell are they thinking?" Tigh demanded.

"Contact them. I want to talk to whoever's in charge," Adama ordered. Dee did as he asked and he picked up the wireless. "Transport shuttle, you are entering a battle zone. You are endangering everyone aboard your ship. You are ordered to stay put."

The only response he received was a muted conversation between two people that sounded like "Frak, he's pissed now. Keep flying, we'll handle it later. We should do what he says. There's no time, just keep going before we're exposed." Then the transmission cut.

"Does anyone know who's supposed to be on that ship?" Adama asked.

"Actually sir, I believe that's Zarek's transport. He'd be on it, as well as the other Sagittarian representatives, and possibly anyone working with him," Lieutenant Gaeta pointed out.

Adama thought for a moment and then figured out a Plan B. "Galactica Actual to Starbuck, do you copy?"

"Copy that, sir. Starbuck here."

"I need you to intercept that transport. It's moving into the crossfire zone," the admiral requested.

The battle continued as he received another transmission from her. "Sir, whoever's flying that thing really wants to get to the Astral Queen. They keep trying to pass me."

"Just stay with them, Starbuck," the admiral responded.

On the viewscreen, the admiral could make out the Viper chasing the transport. Suddenly the inevitable happened. The two baseships, while aiming at each other, shot the transport.

Over the wireless, Starbuck screamed "No!"

It did not blow up thought as Adama had expected it to. There only seemed to be a green fog around it. He reached for the wireless. "Galactica Actual to Starbuck, what just happened?"

He could not make out the unfamiliar sounds he heard. "I can't hear you. Starbuck, report!"

On the viewscreen, the other Cylon ship had been disabled and was blowing up in places. The rebel Cylons decided to jump and begin their other mission toward the Hub. "Why isn't she answering?" Tigh wondered.

"I don't know, but we're going down there to find out," Adama remarked, motioning for Tigh to join him as he headed to the docking bay.

Reaching his destination, Adama watched as a few Vipers were brought in, towing the transport. As he passed by a few technicians, he noticed them shaking their heads at the transport. "Rescue mission would be useless," one of the orange-suited men stated.

The other man sighed, watching the ships. "Yeah. I hear death was instantaneous."

Adama was about to comment when he spotted a familiar flash of blonde hair as a black helmet was removed. He sauntered over to Kara and the two men were quickly forgotten.

Kara stepped out of her Viper on the verge of tears. She froze, seeing Adama. "What happened out there, Starbuck?"

"I'm sorry, sir. They're gone," she choked. Avoiding eye contact with him, she dashed off, almost knocking people out of her way.

"What is going on around here?" Adama wondered aloud. He looked over his shoulder to see the colonel talking with one of the deck hands, handing him a clipboard. Tigh nodded and walked back over to Adama.

"Do we know what the Cylons hit yet?" the admiral questioned.

"They scraped the engines, but the stray weapons fire did more damage to the passengers than to the ship. Bottom line is that they shot the windows out," Tigh explained, walking as he spoke.

"Death by exposure," Adama concluded, standing outside the door of a storage room. He glanced at the clipboard. "Is that the roster?"

The colonel sighed heavily. "Yeah. We might want to finish this conversation in here."

Adama shrugged and followed Tigh into the storage room. He waited patiently as the other man closed the hatch. Crates of Viper and Raptor parts composed the room. Both men stood in silence for a moment until Adama decided that they had taken enough time for this already. "Who's on the list, Saul?"

Tigh slowly handed the clipboard to Adama. "You might want to sit down before you read that."