Rescued Adama:

Summary: Tari and the others are back on Galactica and now they have to live with the horrors of New Caprica.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of BSG and any of the other unfamiliar characters…. Except Tari.

Adama watched from the upper level of the Hanger Deck as Tari climbed out of her Viper and ambled off towards another part of his ship. His mind was troubled just as his daughters appeared to be. But he had not come here to spy on her. No, he was here because Laura was troubled and that made Adama troubled. Laura had been staying on the Galactica every spare minute she had. It was as if she was afraid to be alone and give the memories a chance to resurface and terrorize her again. When she had been in the New Caprica detention center Laura had been forced to witness the torture, mutilation, and interrogation of the other detainee's. They had even made her watch the torture of her own daughter. That had left untold scars on her resilient psyche. Laura had said she would have preferred to have been beaten rather than watch what the Cylon's had done. It surprised Bill that she was still able to function, to get out of bed every day and run this fleet of homeless, miserable, angry people crowded on ships. Yet, somehow Laura managed to keep a firm grip of her faculties and do the job at hand. Bill found himself respecting her more for what she had gone through and how she was coping now. If fortunes had been different and Laura Roslin thought in another way, he could see her as a soldier. The Lords knew she had the ability to separate the horrors she had to witness and bury them deep down while she moved on.

Bill should be in his quarters, he knew he should be. Laura was there and she was sleeping in his bed, infusing his sheets and pillows with her scent, and yet Bill Adama stood in the shadows thinking. He was glad she had chosen to come back to his bed rather than suffer alone when the memories hit and they would come back in full force to plague her. Even now he knew she hadn't been able to bury the fear, it still lingered I her eyes. The only time it went away was when she was in his arms. If he could he would have held her until the fear was permanently gone, and even then he might not let go. As time went on and they grew closer Bill was leaning things about Laura that he hadn't known before. But she was the President and he was the Admiral and they could only live at night when their schedules allowed.

Shaking his head Adama stepped from the shadows and walked back to his quarters. On the way there he passed Civilians who had been brought onto the Galactica when their ships had been lost in the radiation cloud. It was good the Pegasus was still with the Fleet or Galactica would be over run with civvies, and even then both ships were nearing a full compliment of people.

PILOTS REC ROOM:

Tari found herself in with the rest of her pilots, some of who still refused to talk to her unless they had to. Some of them still believed that she as a Cylon lover and would turn coat for the enemy if they showed. She had thought about going to the gym but she as in no mood to beat on poor defenseless nuggets or to pound out her frustration on the aging punching bag. Looking around she spotted Helo and Sharon, at least they were nice to her and still her friends. Rather than wait for an invite Tari sat down in the vacant chair and dropped her head down on the table. Helo snorted out a laugh and Sharon touched her hand lightly to Tari's back. "Life sucks." Ares said with her face against the table. Then she sat up and looked from Agathon to Agathon.

"Yeah, it may suck, but at least you're alive and with someone you love." Helo said as he went back to looking over reports.

"Oh yes there is that bright ray of light," Tari put sarcasm into her words.

"Come on CAG, things can't be all bad." Sharon said.

"Really? Well let's see…" Tari could think of anything that would make her life suck at the moment. "Ok, you got me there; things aren't as bad as my mind made them out to be."

"See."

"Shut up Sharon." Tari said but there was no hate, no venom, only teasing and the slightest bit of laughter.

BATTLESTAR PEGASUS:

For the last three days Lee had been going over files on ranking officers to take over his command. Things have been getting worse for him being in command; he wasn't feeling being in the military was the right thing for him. But what else was there for her. The answer was nothing. Everything was upside down now that Baltar's trial was coming. For the interim Lee knew what he had to do; he had to get back to the basics, needed to get back to being in a Viper.

Looking over at Kara who was still asleep he knew she was slipping further and further into her own mind and pulling away from him. This was also another reason that he wanted to get off the beast. It was swallowing his life and the life he could have with Kara; that was if she let him have a life with her.

So far the fleet was still refueling and staying orbit of a planet that had a high level of gravity. It was getting more and more dangerous the longer the fleet stayed her, but they had no choice and that left Lee with finding a new commander of the Pegasus. He couldn't do it anymore. Lee was pulled out of his thoughts when Kara groaned and rolled out of his rack. She had the CAP in an hour and she still had to get ready. Today was bound to be another bad day. Lee could feel it.

"I was thinking that we could go over to the Galactica and…"

"Fine, we could go to Joe's," Kara suggested as she traipsed her way into the head and started the shower.

Lee lowered his head and fought back the unrealistic feeling of hurt at the blind way Starbuck had answered him. He understood why she was like this. Being held by a Cylon was the worst thing that could have happened to her. Lee just wished that she would talk to him about it. As she showered he went back to picking a new Commander of Pegasus even though he knew who he was going to pick.

CAP:

STARBUCK AND HOTDOG

Kara had listened to Hotdog's endless chatter for the last half hour but it did serve to take her mind off the dreams she had been having of Leoben and her mother Socrata Thrace. It was so weird to think about a mother she hadn't thought about for years, not since the day she left and never came back. That last encounter had left Kara Thrace severely damaged and never healed. Only in the last few months of being with Lee had she actually felt like a semi sane person who didn't have a death wish.

"Starbuck you have to try this."

Kara glanced over and saw that Hotdog had his Viper upside down. For some insane reason she rolled her Viper and looked at the clouds. It was relaxing to a point. The moment was over when she saw a Heavy Raider coming out of the clouds. Instinct had her rolling her Viper and pursuing the Raider. "Hotdog, Starbuck tally one bandit at three o'clock. Committing." Starbuck let the pilot part of herself take over, wash away the human side and she pursued the threat. She wove in and out of the clouds. Every time she fired the Raider dodged and she had to line the shot up all over again. Ten minutes of this and the Raider disappeared.

"Hotdog, Starbuck, let's pack it in. I lost the bandit. Repeat I lost the bandit. Let's head back to Galactica."

GALACTICA BREFIEING ROOM:

It had been months since Kara had sat in the lumpy old chairs; the chairs she loved so much, as she watched the footage from her gun camera. She knew she had seen a heavy Raider; she swore she saw one. But the camera wasn't lying to her; there was no raider, jus the golden of her bullets being fired at clouds. Was she losing her mind? Was she actually going insane? First she was dreaming about Leoben and now she was seeing Heavy Raiders where they didn't exist.

"Going over gun camera footage?"

Kara turned to see the Admiral standing down the aisle of chairs. He was standing there like he used to when she needed some where to be that was quiet. "Yes sir."

Bill turned to the footage that was being projected and noticed that nothing was being fired on. He knew that it was Starbuck's Viper footage. "You want to talk about it?" Adama asked as he took a seat one chair down from hers.

"No, because I can't explain it." Kara answered and rewound the footage.

Adama nodded and without another word he left Kara to obsess over her gun camera footage. He knew that there was nothing he could say to her until she came to terms that there was nothing there. On more look and Adama saw she had rewound the footage and started from the beginning. Starbuck was being Starbuck again.

BATTLESTAR PEGASUS:

Dylan Wolfe walked the halls of the Pegasus. He had been called by Lee Adama to meet him in his quarters. There was a serious sense of foreboding that Dylan couldn't shake. Why would Commander Adama call him here? The only way for him to found out was to finish the length of the hall and enter the Commander's quarters.

Looking around Dylan couldn't see any of the battle damage that those officers who came from here talked about. When the transferred soldiers talked about this place they said all they could see was blood. Tari Adama and Jon Horlach were the worst of all of them. They only focused on the negative of what the Pegasus stood for. This ship was a bad chapter in their lives and he tried to understand that.

Another step and another and another and Dylan found himself standing just outside the door of the Commander's quarters. For a moment, just a moment, he was hesitant to step over the thresh hold and see what was in store for him. A deep breath and yet another step Dylan found himself standing before Commander Lee Adama.

"Good evening Dylan. I have something I want to talk to you about." Lee said and motioned to the chairs.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:

TARI ADAMA'S QUARTERS

Tari lounged in her rack and listened to all the sounds around her. The ship was alive with people coming to and from duty stations or civvies just walking about the Bucket. She had nothing to do. Flight rotations were out and the CAP was away. Her brother had turned over command of the Pegasus to Dylan Wolfe and he in turn had traded Vixon, Destiny, Wizard, and Roadkill for Narcho, Redwing, Sandman, and Pike. Those four were good pilots, but Tari could have lived without Narcho. He was an asshole who never knew when to shut up. Of course that also meant that Tari was now working for her brother, again, and that kind of infuriated her. But it was also the Chain of Command. He was a Major and she was just a Captain.

She had been talking with Kara earlier and Starbuck had had the feeling that something bad was going to happen. She had been on CAP and thought she had seen a Heavy Raider. But when she had shot at it there had been nothing there. Later today she was going back out and this time Lee was going to be her wing man. Tari was going to make it a point to be in CIC when Starbuck and Lee flew the CAP. She believed that Kara had seen the Raider, but then again maybe she hadn't and that made Tari worry about her own mental state. If Starbuck could break down, what about her? What about the other pilots? Were they all going to go crazy?

CAP:

Kara sat in her Viper and looked at her DRADIS. There was nothing but still she had the feeling that something was going to happen. Lee was her wingman for this trip, he had wanted to come.

"Starbuck, Apollo, see any little dancing toasters?"

"No," Starbuck replied, but she wasn't so sure that she wouldn't see them.

"Come on, let's pack it in." Lee was about to head back to Galactica when Starbuck rolled her Viper and went into the center of the storm. "Starbuck!"

"Apollo, Starbuck, Bandit on my six. Rolling in," Kara maneuvered her Viper and chased the Heavy Raider. It was going deeper and deeper into the storm.

It all happened so fast, one minute Lee saw her Viper and the next she was going into the storm. Lee followed her. He had to. They were a team and Lee would not let Kara go. "Kara, you come back!" Lee shouted.

"They're calling to me."

"Kara, pull up. There is nothing there!"

"Let me go Lee."

Lee watched as Kara's Viper crumbled and exploded. "No! No!"

CIC:

The entire CIC was quiet. No one could believe what had happened on the DRADIS. Kara's Viper had just exploded. Admiral Adama stood with a receiver in his hand. Tari was at his side as stunned as her father was. Kara was dead. It didn't seem possible. How could she be gone? Tari felt tears fill her eyes as her left hand placed over her father's forearm. Her fingers dug into his uniform to keep her standing.

"No, this didn't…." Tari couldn't finish.

Adama stood next to his daughter and felt as if he had been shot all over again. Kara, his second daughter was gone. She had just died. His world was upside down and it was getting shot to Hell. His Kara was gone.

PORT HANGER DECK:

The assembled mass of soldiers and civilians stood in silence as a Colonial flag was folded and placed in the launch tube; there was no body to send to send out into space. Kara Thrace had died and the fleet, the soldiers, felt that loss. They had just lost a great fighter pilot and friend. But no one felt the loss as deeply as the Adama's did. Lee had his hands fisted tightly at his side as he tried to keep his stoic stance. Tari Adama held tight to the hand of her husband while silent tears fell down her cheeks. It was Admiral Adama who had spoken and nearly choked on his words. To them Kara had been family, to the admiral she had been a daughter, and to the fleet she had been one of its many protectors.

Standing next to the Admiral, Laura Roslin lightly rested her hand over his. He had just lost someone whom he cared about. She could only imagine the pain that was ripping through his heart and she couldn't heal it. A loss like Kara would take Bill a while to recover from. It was like he lost Zac all over again. She felt tears slide down her cheek. 'Lords of Kobol hear my prayer. May you take the soul of your daughter lost this day and guide her to a place of eternal rest.' Laura sent the silent prayer to the Gods and hoped that they were listening. Next to Laura, her daughter Tari was trying to remain as stoic as her brother and her father, but she was only succeeding in remaining quiet, just her tears showed the extent of her pain.

Tari didn't know how long she had been on the Hanger Deck, but everyone around her started to turn and leave. Shaking her head Tari looked to her brother, her father, and her mother. They all still stood staring at the launch tube doors. Next to her Tony ran his thumb over the back of her hand. He knew the pain she was going through. Tari lost a sister, a fellow pilot, and a friend. Tony only lost a friend and a fellow pilot. With people filtering out Tari felt secure enough that she could turn to Tony bury her face in the crook of his neck and let the tears fall faster than they already were. Everything was falling apart but a small amount of security filtered into her with the warmth of Tony's arms around her.

Tony held his wife as she cried for the loss of Kara Thrace. "I know baby," His voice had been just a whisper and his kiss had been even lighter. He rested his cheek against her temple and threaded his fingers through her hair while cradling her head. Looking over Tony caught the eye of the President. She motioned with her head that he should take Tari back to their quarters. He smiled weakly and slowly maneuvered his wife towards the hatchway that would take them back to their billet. Tony knew without a doubt that as soon as they reached their quarters his wife would break down and let the grief take over.

Lee turned his head to watch Tony guide Tari away. She looked like a ghost, barely knowing where she was. Lee felt the same way. He lost Kara; he lost the woman he loved with all his heart. It was true Kara had been acting strange the last few weeks, but he never thought that she would go so far as to let her viper blow up. 'They're waiting for me.' Lee would never be able to get those words out of his head. Glancing at his dad Lee saw that his father was still staring at the launch tube doors. Laura was still by his side. He needed to get away. Without a word Lee turned and made his way to the memorial hall to fulfill Kara's last wish. She had told him that she wanted her picture to be next to Kat's. It was the least he could do for her.

Laura and Bill remained on the hanger Deck. The Admiral couldn't move; he couldn't think past the thought, 'Kara's gone.' It was a never ending refrain in his mind. Bill was barely aware that Laura was still at his side. She would always be there with him, but right now he wanted to be alone. He wanted to break down in private. He wanted so many things but mainly he wanted Kara back. He wanted her alive and smiling, and being Starbuck. That was never going to happen, she was gone and the fleet still remained. Life had to go one. The Admiral couldn't stop because of one pilot's death. Starbuck wasn't just any other pilot, she was his daughter, and she was part of his family. His pain cut as deep as the day he lost Zac.

Looking around Laura made sure no one was around, and no one was. More than likely the pilots, the soldiers who had attended were all off trying to make them feel alive, or getting drunk. No one would witness as she rested her head on the Admiral's shoulder and wrapped her arms around him to give him the comfort he sought.

BATTLESTAR PEGASUS:
REC ROOM

The tone aboard the Beast was somber. Every pilot was in a daze over the loss of yet another pilot. If this kept up soon there wouldn't be any pilot left to defend the fleet. At the center table in the Pilots Rec Room Destiny, Vixon, Wizard, and the new CO, Dylan Wolfe, of the Pegasus sat sipping home made booze. They had just come back from the Galactica without a word spoken. Each of them had their own person 'Starbuck' stories.

"I can't believe she's really gone." Wizard commented before taking a belt of his drink.

"Guess Starbucks number was finally up." Vixon commented.

"Who do you think will step in a take Starbucks place?" Destiny asked. Kara had always been the crazy assed pilot who did all the stupid stunts and bucked authority. She doubted that anyone could take that role.

"Tari, probably," Wolfe answered, "Those two were like a set." A light chuckling broke out around the table. Before New Caprica you would have always seen Kara with Tari. If it wasn't the two of them it would be Tari and Lee or Lee and Kara. Those three were a unit and now one was gone. Dylan looked around the table and tried to imagine one of his friends not being there. A knife sliced through his heart. That was the nature of being a pilot; loss. Soldiers died in combat and they were still in a war.

"That's true," Destiny chimed in. "Do you remember the time Ares and Starbuck were playing chicken?" She started to laugh at the memory.

"All I remember is Apollo yelling at them over the wireless." Wizard replied. That had been a good day. No Cylon's, no fleet problems, just boredom on the CAP and the interesting way Kara and Tari had livened things up. Though, he knew that they had both been yelled at by the CAG and then by the Admiral.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:
MEMORIAL HALL

The lights were down and the candles burned brightly. So many faces were plastered on the walls, but one face stuck out at him. It was the picture of Kat that Kara had pinned up a few months ago. Going over to that spot Lee removed the picture he had of Kara and pinned it next to Kat. In the picture Kara was smiling, laughing. She was dressed in green fatigues, a black service bra, and one of the zip up Galactica sweat shirts. It was Lee's favorite picture of Kara.

"I miss you, Kara." Lee whispered. He touched his fingers to the picture before he turned and walked away. He couldn't stand the grief, the overwhelming pain at looking at the picture that graced the walls. She was smiling, she was laughing in the picture, and Lee would never see that light in her eyes again. He would never hold her as she slept. He would never listen to her as she told him she loved him. It was all too much for Lee.

TARI'S QUARTERS:

Tari was curled up on the couch in her quarters with Tony holding her close. So far she had just cried no hysterics. For that she was proud of herself and how well she coped with loss. But this was Kara; this was someone who was a member of her family. She only imagined what her father was going through; what Lee was going through. Tari felt as if her heart had been ripped out and shredded.

"Want me to get you a drink?" Tony asked, kissing her temple.

"No," Tari answered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Tari was sure she didn't want the drink. A few months ago she would have taken the drink and several more just to keep from feeling anything that remotely resembled feelings. A few months ago she would have taken a Raptor over to a civvie ship and drugged herself. But now she let herself feel the pain to let her know that she was still alive, that she was still human.

"What do you need?" Tony asked, though, he had a feeling he already knew.

"I want to jab a needle in my arm and fall into the mindless abyss to take the pain away," Tari answered truthfully. She wasn't going to. It would disappoint her father and it would hurt her husband "But, will you just hold me?" Tari started to cry again, this time there was no stopping her pain. Tony scooped her up and sat with heron the couch rocking back and forth with her.

COLONIAL ONE:

Laura sat behind her desk and stared out at the stars. She had sensed that Bill needed to be alone. Colonel Tigh had tasked a Raptor to bring her back to her ship. It felt as if she hadn't been here in years, in stead of weeks. Her desk was piled with files and other assorted papers, but one thing stuck out at her. It was picture of her, Tari, and Kara from the New Caprica ground breaking ceremony. She remembered that day. Bill had been standing with Lee while both Adama men had been laughing at them. It was true that they had been a little silly that day, especially Laura. That had been a good day and now it was gone. Grabbing the picture Laura held it in her lap and continued to watch the stars while her aides worked around her.

Soon there would be a trial to occupy her mind. Baltar was going to be tried for treason and crimes against humanity. That would be enough to ease the ache in her chest. That was what she, as President, had to focus on. She had to make sure that this fleet got closure from New Caprica and that all the people who had died, been left behind, got justice. She wanted Baltar to pay with his life.

ADMIRAL'S QUARTERS:

Adama closed and locked the hatch to his quarters. Laura had left him alone without him having to say a word. She knew him well enough to know when to leave him alone and now was definitely one of those times. Bill grabbed a glass and a decanter of whiskey and went over to his couch. On the table in front of him was the personnel file of Kara Thrace. On impulse he had pulled it and smiled sadly that her file was slightly larger than his had been. Opening the file he saw an old card Kara had left for him. On the inside there was picture of Kara and when had drawn on the mustache and glasses. The caption read, "Can you see the resemblance?"

"Yeah, I can." Bill said out loud. He felt tears gather in his eyes.

Life aboard the Galactica was bleak, grim, as pilots and soldiers tried to get back to who they were. It may have been a month, but it might as well have been yesterday that Kara died. Everyone felt the void. Everyone walked around in a haze. Not even the promotion of Dylan Wolfe could take away the somber tone lingering on both Battlestars. The only way anyone got out of bed these days was because of Baltar's impending trial; that was what was seeing the people through.

PILOT'S REC ROOM

Tari Adama sat as far away from everyone as she could in the small room with her back the bulk head. Her brother was with her, just as much of a Shade as she was, but he put on a brave face for his pilots. Their father had tasked him with protecting Baltar's sniveling weasel of an attorney to keep him from getting blown up. Tari thanked their father silently for giving this job to Lee. It would force him to focus on something other than his pain. She even had something to focus on these days. The Prosecuting attorney had been grilling her on how she would respond when being questioned about her involvement in the Ground Wars. Tari had been a spy; some still regarded her as a Cylon's whore. She was going to ignore it, let it fade. When Baltar was shot then the fleet could move on and begin to heal. The blood of one man was what the fleet demanded. It was his blood that they would have.

"Hey."

Tari looked up to see Tony. He was still in his flight suit. he had been tasked on a long range recon to try and find food. The algae the fleet was eating sustained them, but it tasted like pure crap. Rising form her seat she rounded the table and threw her arms around her husband. He had been the one man she had been longing to see, to feel. "I'm so glad your home."

"Same here. Being stuck in a Raptor with Hotdog for three days... not my idea of fun."

"Poor you." Tari chuckled.

"At least it's over now and I'm home with you." Tony kissed the top of his wife's head. "Come on... I need a shower and someone to wash my back."

"Hmm sounds tempting." Tari moved with Tony out of the rec room and down the hall to the showers. This time of day the showers should be deserted.

CIC:

"The last two long range Raptor recons report no joy for possible food sources." Saul Tigh, Colonel and XO of the Galactica informed his CO Admiral Adama.

"Guess the fleet has two choices; eat the algae or go back to eating paper." Adama grumbled. On his mind was not the ever continuing search for food, but the up coming trial of Gaius Baltar. His President, his XO, and his daughter were all being called on by the prosecution to testify against Baltar. Roslin was eager to see the man dead, for the fleet and also for herself. Tigh was barely out of the bottle and functioning. If his friend had to relive the horrors he suffered, Adama didn't know if Tigh's mind would stay intact. With Tari it was a toss up. She was so strong to the point of stubborn and she let no one help her. There was never the need for Tari to explain, Adama knew. If she wasn't strong enough to roll with the punches, to take anything she was dealt, then in her mind she had no business wearing the uniform.

"At least we have something to look foreword to; Baltar's trial." Saul muttered. He didn't think there should be one. Just cut the frakker loose in the cold dark of space and be done with it. That was military justice for traitor's and Baltar was a traitor.

"Oh yes, that." but the trial was never far form his mind. Today Laura was going to chose, by lottery, who would be one of the judges. Out of all the ships captains he hoped that he wasn't one of the ones picked.

COLONIAL ONE:

Laura Roslin, President of the 12 Colonies, was about to pick the last member of the jury that would hold Baltar's life in their hands. She was surrounded by her aides, Tory at her side, and about a dozen press corp. Reaching into the glass jar Laura drew out the final name. She opened it and wasn't sure whose name she was reading at first. "Admiral... William... Adama" She stumbled through his name. Adama would have a say in whether Baltar lived or died. Her day just got a little better. Leaning close to Tory Laura said, "Have the raptor ready, I'm going to Galactica." She wanted to be the one to tell Bill.