Fragile Pieces Chapter 19
Sam-
He couldn't tell how long ago it was that the male cylon had left them alone. Hours, days, minutes? It had all blurred together in this little cell with it's never ending light overhead and nothing to pass the time. Kara had closed her eyes but Sam sensed she wasn't sleeping, knowing she needed space but his mind burned with questions. He wanted to ask them, but at the same time, he didn't want to scare her or push her into answering them because she felt obligated. Where had she been, why did it seem she had just been freshly brought here to this cell, just like him? If that was true where had she been then? His mind briefly wondered if she had betrayed him but he cursed himself for thinking it, hoping she would never know. She would not sell them out, no matter what happened. He had seen her taken away in the heavy raider for goodness sake, there was no way she had betrayed them. He felt horrible and guilty just for thinking it.
"Kara" he called out quietly, to which she stirred but did not open her eyes to look at him, her body curled up into a ball didn't shift at all. It was as though she hadn't heard him, or was deliberately not paying him any attention. He was smart enough to recognize her walls when he saw them, this was no exception.
He moved forward, again making sure she heard him as to not startle her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, hating how she automatically flinched under his touch. The cylon would pay for this, even if it was the last thing he did. Sam realized it may indeed by the last thing he ever did if the toaster made true with his promise to destroy the pair of them. But it would be worth it, even if it didn't last long for the machine and he could erase his memory.
"Talk to me Kara." He asked, more of begged really. The quiet of the cell was getting to him, the sounds of his and Kara's breathing not enough to dispel the threat of what was coming for them both. He needed a distraction, something to take his mind off what was coming, he needed to know she was alive, and with him. He didn't want to be alone, he had tried being alone over a month and a half when she was first taken away, he didn't want it again.
"What do you want Sammy?" she asked, her tone meant to come out as annoyed but ended up sounding more tired than anything. She didn't understand, she was used to silence, able to stand the quiet, she had told him stories of days when her mother would not let her talk, but he had always been around loud, cheering fans at a pyramid court, a fight on the back streets of where he grew up, he needed noise like he needed to breathe. Loud was a part of who he was, and it was a part of Starbuck too, he knew that. This silence, it felt like death.
"Just talk to me Kara. Something anything, please." he asked her again, and she opened her pretty eyes, green gold, to stare at him. His own blue felt dull in comparison, but her's were unreadable. It was odd, sometimes he knew exactly what she was thinking and could predict her actions within milliseconds but other times he had no idea what went on under that pretty blonde hair of her's. She could read him like a book though, most of the time anyways. There were times when he managed to surprise her.
She looked at him a long time, and he reached down to grasp her hands, hating the way she flinched under his touch. She shouldn't flinch, she shouldn't be afraid, she should have no reason to fear, there should be nothing wrong happening to her. It made him want to hit something, starting with her mother and moving forward. The Major who had taught her flight class, a Captain and Commander aboard the Triton, Simon, Leoben, Jared, sometimes a certain Adama made the list when Kara talked about this or that that had happened between them. He wished he could destroy them all for her, kill the demons, and make her feel safe and be safe and secure, let her know she loved her more than he had ever loved anything and would fight for everything they had.
Kara seemed to sense something in his expression and moved to pull away from him "Don't." he chokes out. He moves to wrap his arms around her, and Kara isn't fighting him, and as he leans back with her tucked inside his jacket, curled up in her little ball to hide from the camera on the ceiling what was by laws of marriage his.
"I wish this was over." she remarked after a while. It is the first sign he has that this waiting is getting to her just as much as it is getting to him. All over, for better or worse.
"Me too."
Caprica-
It just didn't make sense she mused to herself after she shut the door behind her that led to Leoben's apartment, the place was empty. Completely empty, no Kara Thrace, no Leoben, not a single living thing. It was as though it had been abandoned. Not recently either, things had not been run in a while, she could sense it, and the laundry had not been done. Her heart panged, Leoben had liked his routine and always cleaned clothing on a Monday. Today was Wednesday.
Logically then, that meant he disappeared after the Monday before last, but before the next Monday. She had seen him herself Thursday evening so that meant Thursday evening to the following Monday was the time frame. She sighed, not a lot to work with, and Kara remained a larger problem, where had the human woman gone? She had not escaped, she knew they would catch wind from the insurgency or more high scale attacks would be planned instead of smaller raids, it was a fact about her. It was so easy to believe Leoben had been taken by insurgents, but then what had happened to Kara Thrace? She didn't just vanish, and Sam Anders would have showed some kind of physical change if she was returned to him. Instead of the almost suicidal attacks they believed he was behind.
She checked the logs in the registry from the main basestar, Sam hadn't checked into work, meaning he had disappeared as well, or something happened to him. Maybe he went into hiding, but she didn't like to think that, it wasn't his style. There were too many people disappearing and she wanted to know why. They were all connected, she knew it in her gut, but how was the question, followed by why. The cylon council would never believe her if she had no proof.
Caprica exited the data stream, frustrated by the more questions then answers, and the answers she got were only more questions. A nearby Two, Leoben's second in line of succession, after himself this Two would make choices for the Council, noticed her mood. His name was Landon and he was nice enough. He was a bit of a strong personality, very upfront and tended to quote scripture a great deal and adored debating, but he was likeable enough. Caprica enjoyed his company when she saw him, it was always fascinating to talk with him about this matter or another.
"You alright there Caprica?" The Two asked, blues crinkling in confusion. "You look a bit upset over there."
"Just didn't find out what I wanted, that's all." Admitting it felt worse than she thought it did, the problem had seemed not as big as it did when she admitted it aloud. In her head it seemed more manageable, out loud it felt out of control.
"Anything I can help you out with?"
"Not that I know of, it's more of a pet project than anything, have you seen Leoben lately though?"
At the mention of Leoben, Landon frowned, his happy expression turning pensive in the matter of seconds. "Can't say I have, it bothers me. I'm going to have to fill in for him tomorrow, and I despise fencing with Cavil on anything. Stupid fracker acts like he is better then the rest of us mere mortals." Caprica laughed, the main difference between Landon and Leoben being Leoben didn't like saying things that may offend people while Landon had no problem with such proclamations."You haven't seen him have you?" Landon asked her hopefully.
"No, It worries me." she confessed, her own blue eyes lost in thought.
"Well, I'll keep an eye out for you and If I see him I'll tell him you're looking for him."
She smiled and almost said 'Thanks' before she remembered this copy found that offensive, something to do with not really meaning it and should only be used in extreme cases when more than a simple 'thanks was required. She turned and went toward the hanger bay, searching for a heavy raider to take her to the surface.
Sam-
If he closed his eyes and pretended enough, he could pretend they were back in their tent and he was sitting in one of their chairs that barely deserved the name, and enjoying a nice domestic moment. He had his nose buried in her hair, the scent of his wife marred by the scent of blood, sweat and something else he cannot identify. She was breathing softly, and he thought she was asleep, shifting slightly only to look up at him with her beautiful eyes, eyes that could make him do just about anything, and didn't say anything, just held his gaze.
"If something happens to me you can't tell him anything." Of all the things she could have said, this was the one topic he would have preferred not talking about. Despite the air seeming to tick down the seconds, he didn't want to think about anything happening to her, because then he would get angry and she took it to mean he was angry at her and then she would leave him alone. And the last thing he wanted to be right now was alone and Kara upset at him. "If he says he'll stop if you tell him things don't, no names, no positions, no supplies, no locations, frequencies, codes, nothing." He nods his head, knowing he can't give up the people out there who have the insurgency as their only means of defense, and yet, he thinks he'd give up anything if it meant saving her."I mean it Sam." She reminds him, making herself comfortable by his shoulder, "No information for me."
"Yeah okay, okay." he says, still the idea of letting her get hurt while he sits on his hands is not one he likes. She is his wife, he should save her, do something. the warning that if anything goes on that the cylon doesn't like that Kara will be punished flashes through his head, and his fingers unconsciously make fists. Was there a way out where Kara wasn't getting hurt?
The door flings open unexpected, and the cylon Sam has learned to hate within seconds lounges in the door, a few Centurions behind him, a lazy grin on his face and the bright lights above reflected off his dark sunglasses. He surveyed the scene and smiled a sick grin, and the fear he won't like what is coming courses through his veins. He hangs onto his wife just a little tighter, as though it would be enough to shield her from the cylon's gaze, thoughts, blows, everything the cylon infected.
"I think we'll start with you first Sammy." The voice drawls and it's speaker handed a whip by one the Centurions. Sam fights to stay calm, he can't let them know he is afraid of the coming pain, and afraid of what will then happen to Kara. He may not like it, but if he had the option he would take her lashings for her. Because she didn't deserve this, any of this. He was the insurgent, not her, she hadn't done anything. His mind argued she had shot cylons out of the sky and destroyed a farm, but it was he who was worth more in the long run, he was the insurgent behind the attacks on Caprica, this planet, and the humanoids had a personal vendetta against him. Not her. She didn't belong here. She was only here because of what he had done. It wasn't fair, she had more than enough of a life's allotment of pain already.
The Centurions move to pull him away from her and he whispers in her ear quiet enough to not be heard by anything mechanical. "I love you Kara Anders." They grab his arms again and pull him away from Kara and to his feet, another moving behind him to bind his hands. He steels himself inside, This is not going to be any worse than the hazing at the pyramid training camp. he reminds himself, though there the whip was a towel, not leather. But he can pretend.
Caprica-
She was distracted the entire ride down to the planet, thoughts swirling around in her mind, the Simon she was riding with was not very talkative, so she didn't have to make conversation. She still had more questions than she would like, and the longer she sat and pondered the less sense they made. They were all connected but how, she was missing pieces that bound the entire puzzle together. She sighed, maybe she would talk to Gaius, he was a brilliant man, surely he could help her figure something out.
The Heavy Raider went to land but bumped onto something. Before she could ask Simon what he thought it was the Raider exploded, and she exploded with it, and plunged into the downloading stream.