(BSG/Firefly) We Are Not Shining Stars (2/2) for skieswideopen

[perdiccas]

Back to Part 1!

"Get down!"

Mal's voice came from across the little playground. The Centrurions advanced and fired, and Zoë hit the ground. The short brick wall that surrounded the park provided enough cover for her to reload, so she did so, calming her breathing as she jammed the ammo into place. She could hear the Centurions approaching, their constant squeaking and the heavy thud of their footsteps. Across the park, Jayne and Mal were holding one wall, and Inara and Book were on the third. The brick walls might stop bullets, but they weren't going to hold if Centurions decided to knock them down. Zoë wondered how the hell they'd gotten into this frakking mess in the first place.

There was a pause in the firing. Zoë took a deep breath, half-stood, put her gun over the wall, and fired. She was close enough that a Centurion exploded in a shower of shrapnel and sparks, and another one lurched forward and fell to the ground, twitching.

"Did they twitch? It's the twitching that gets me," Wash said as Zoë ducked back down behind the wall again. "It's just so… so…."

"Human?" Zoë finished for him. Humans twitched when you shot them.

"See, I was going to say lifelike, but I guess human works, too." Wash scooted down to the entrance to the park and peeped around the corner. A hail of bullets immediately made him pull back. "At least when the other ones act like humans when they die, I expect it."

The funny thing was, she knew exactly what he meant. Zoë had killed people before. Watching a giant hunk of metal and circuitry seem like it cared if it died or not give her goosebumps, and not in a good way. She usually solved the problem by killing another one while the first one died.

"Zoë!" Mal crawled across the park, gun in one hand and walkie-talkie in the other. "Anders says they'll be here in a few minutes. Just got to hold steady till they get here."

"You think that's going to help much, sir? They do have us surrounded."

"Yeah, but we're thinning them out." There was an explosion that made the earth shake. Mal glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. "See? Jayne's having the time of his life."

"Looks like it, sir. You think you could get him to part with a couple? Wash and I could clear out a few more on this side."

"I'll see what I can do." Mal gave her another grin- that grin that said he was actually kind of enjoying this- and crawled back across the small park.

"You think we're going to get out of here?" Wash asked. "Or is Mal just being his usual comforting self?"

Zoë got up on her knees long enough to fire, taking out another Centurion. "Best I can figure, there's still fourteen of them out here."

Wash frowned in thought. "Do Centurions ever run out of bullets? You'd think they'd have to, right? At some point?"

"At some point. Problem is, we haven't found what that point is."

"Think we're going to today?"

"That's the idea." Zoë glanced back over her shoulder. Mal was waving that one of them should try to get over there and get the grenades. "Stay here. I'll go."

"Be back in time for supper!" Wash called after her.

It wasn't that bad crawling across the park, and Zoë wondered if she should have sent Wash and kept plugging away at the Centurions. On the other hand, it felt good to rest for a moment, and she wanted to get a good look at what the others were dealing with. Book was also headed towards Mal, likely after the same thing she was.

"What's it looking like over on your side, Preacher?" Zoë asked when she was close enough to hear him.

"When I left, there were still three Centurions, but there's a parking garage across the street. I think if we could take those three out, we might stand a chance at making it."

"Hot-wire a car and get the hell out of here," Zoë said, nodding, already thinking of how she could hold off the Centrurions that would undoubtedly follow while Wash got a truck going. "You hear Anders is coming?"

Book's face lit with relief. "Now that's news that's worth hearing."

"How's Inara holding up?" Zoë asked.

"She's doing fine. In fact, she-"

A loud explosion cut him off, louder than any of their grenades. Zoë ducked her head as debris rained down. "That's got to be them!" she shouted as the air cleared. Another explosion rocked the ground, and Zoë smiled. For a guy who made his living tossing a ball around, Anders was damn good at blowing things up.

"Come on!" Mal shouted. He had gotten to his feet, running in a half-crouching posture. "Let's get the frak out of here!" The Centurions were no longer firing at them, and in fact the three between the park and the garage had disappeared.

"This way," Book said, and started heading for the garage. Zoë gestured to Wash and followed. The Centurions, noticing that their prey was escaping, turned and began to fire.

"You go," Zoë ordered the others. "I'll give us cover." She dropped down behind the wall again, close to the street, and began firing. She was in no way surprised when Mal joined her, practically giddy.

"Knew he'd come through for us," Mal said, grinning as he sat against the wall and reloaded. "Although I gotta be honest, I can't say I wasn't thinking about Serenity Valley."

"Same thought occurred to me, sir." Another Centurion fell.

"But this ain't," Mal took a deep breath and rejoined her shooting, "Serenity Valley, and these fraks ain't the Colonial Fleet. In fact, I'm thinking-"

Inara's scream split the air.

Zoë didn't know exactly how she knew it was Inara so quickly. Anders always had his second with him, a woman called Barolay, and a few more of the C-Bucs were female, too. It could have been one of them. And Inara wasn't much of a screamer for Zoë to know what she sounded like in the first place. But she knew, and it froze her for a terrible moment. But Inara's scream was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what came next, and that was a strangled cry from Wash.

"Zoë!" Mal called, but it didn't matter. She was over the wall and running before she was even aware of it. She fired at the nearest Centruion, but it did nothing. Out of the corner of her eye she spot movement running towards her, and fortunately her senses registered that it was Anders and his crew, not humanoid Cylons. She ignored them and kept running.

There was a flash of orange- one of the Centurions had thrown Wash over his shoulder. He hung limply, his hands stretched down towards the ground. Unconscious or dead? They never took the corpses. Zoë aimed, but then realized it was impossible to fire. There was no way she could take the Centurion down and not harm Wash. But there had to be another way. She started to run again.

A rain of bullets made her stop, and before she could do anything else, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her away and into an alley. "Come on. We've got to get out of here."

"Like hell we do. I'm not going anywhere without Wash." She pulled against her captor.

It was Anders who had her. "You can't go back out there. We don't have the forces to get them back."

Zoë narrowed her eyes. "We haven't even tried."

He sighed. "Zoë, we blow things up. That's not going to get them back- it's going to get them killed. We can't get out there."

Zoë punched him across the face. Anders went down, sprawled across the pavement, and Zoë sprinted into the street.

"No." She stared around her. "No. It's not possible."

No Centurions were in street. The park was empty. The streets were empty.

Wash and Inara were gone.

***

Anders, his cheek already bruising, kept silent as he drove the truck back to the school. Zoë rode in the back of a truck, staring at the rivets like she had when the same model of truck had carried her to an encampment after Serenity Valley. She felt just as angry and just as betrayed as she had then.

***

It didn't take long for her to form a plan. She'd fuel up back at the school, because she would need energy. She'd raid the armory, take a truck, and go. But there was no way in hell that Zoë was going to sit here and do nothing.

The first part was easy enough, but she should have expected Mal and the others at the classroom serving as an armory. They were right there, waiting at the door, exactly as they would be. Kaylee distressed, wringing her hands, Book calm and even, his feet spread wide and his hands crossed in front of him, his eyes shaded. Jayne leering, just looking for trouble, and Simon, conflicted. River watching with curiosity. She ignored them all.

"Where the xióngxióng dìyù do you think you're going?" Mal asked. He stood in the center, his arms crossed.

"I'm getting them back, sir." Zoë tried to step around him. "Let me go."

"And just how do you propose to do that? Cause I'm thinking you're not getting too far on foot."

"No, sir."

"So you're stealing a truck."

Zoë looked him in the eye. "Yes, sir."

"Fair enough, I suppose. Trucks are easy enough to come by around here, what with all the owners dead." Mal rocked back on his heels. "Which I'm guessing, given our previous jobs, you knew I'd have no problem with. And that begs the question when were you planning on telling the rest of us?"

"Wasn't planning on it, sir. Too risky." But Zoë had to look away.

"Búdàkěnéng the hell that's your reason! You're planning on taking my ship!"

Zoë took a deep breath and looked Mal back in the eye. "So what if I am, sir?"

Mal boggled at her. "It's my ship!"

"So it is. And it's just sitting up there. How else am I going to find them, sir? Serenity's the best bet we've got."

"Be that as it may, it's still a lousy bet!" Mal snapped. "Are you forgetting she's a transport ship? She don't have guns, Zoë!"

"Or a cloaking device," Jayne offered. "Cloaking device would be real useful."

"I don't think those even exist," Simon said.

"Well, they should."

Mal's order to shut up was evident in his glare, but he turned his attention back to Zoë fast and grabbed her by the arms. "Look. I don't like this any better than you do, okay?"

"With all due respect, sir, that's my husband they've got."

"And it's my crew!" Mal practically shouted. "You think that ain't eating me alive? You know me better than that, Zoë."

Zoë tried to break free. "So your ship's more important than your crew? Is that what you're saying, sir?"

"No, I'm saying my ship ain't gonna be much good in getting my crew back! If I thought we even had half a chance against them things, I'd be gone already. We'd be flying, looking for them. But how the hell are we even supposed to find them, Zoë? Before the Cylons find us? Because if you think that they aren't going to notice a big shiny spaceship in the sky and shoot it down, then you ain't thinking at all."

Zoë wouldn't acknowledge that she was trembling. "I'm getting him back, Mal. He's got to be alive. He's got to-" he voice broke, and she steadied it. "He's alive," she said, and the knowledge gave her strength. "They want him for something or they would have just killed him, so he's alive. And I'm going to get him back."

"I know. We're going to get them both back. We just gotta figure out how, okay? And Serenity ain't the way to do it." Mal's grip on her biceps loosened, although he didn't release her. "Okay?"

He was asking a lot more than if she was okay. You understand? Are you going to take my ship? Are you going to disobey my orders anyway? She wanted to. She desperately wanted to. She could almost hear Wash calling for her from wherever he was, fell the tug in her soul. But at the same time, Mal was right. Serenity had nothing in her that would stand going up against a fleet of Cylons- not even if she had her hot-shot pilot.

"Okay," she said, and her heart broke with the word.

Mal let her go. The rest of the crew exhaled… she wasn't a threat. They knew it. Zoë wanted to collapse, but not in front of them. She looked at each one of them, an even, determined glance that conveyed everything she wanted it to convey. Then she turned on her heel and stalked away.

Right now, she desperately needed to be alone.

***

She stood outside alone at night, looking at the stars. Wash always felt most at home in the stars.

"Zoë?"

Anders. Zoë closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then turned to face him. "Hi."

"Hey." Anders had his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets. "Look, about Wash… I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

"No. I'm sorry I wouldn't let you go after him. But-"

Zoë cut him off. "It was too dangerous. Ain't much help to him if I'm dead."

"Something like that, yeah." Anders smiled. "Are we good?" He extended his hand.

She didn't want to take it. Anders had stopped her from going after Wash, and she still kind of hated him for it. But she hated even more that he was right.

Don't go into battle with bad blood. She had to let it go, because she needed Anders if she was ever going to get Wash back. "Yeah," she said, taking his hand. "We're good."

***

The logical thing to do would be to capture one of the humanoid Cylons. Would she be able to get information out of it? Zoë wasn't sure. If it felt pain, she probably could, but did they? They certainly didn't seem to fear death.

She stared down at the plan that she had outlined in the dirt of the courtyard, and then wiped it away irritably. Wouldn't work.

She was sitting on a hard wood beam that served well enough as a bench, the gray stone of the school at her back. The sun was bright enough that the courtyard almost looked cheerful, if you ignored the blown out windows and the signs of war. Shouts were coming from the other end. Happy shouts- the C-Bucs and some of the others were playing Pyramid, and still others were watching. Zoë ignored them, and started sketching again.

A shadow fell over her work, and she looked up, squinting in irritation. Shepherd Book stood in her light.

"May I join you?"

She shrugged. "If you want." She didn't move over, but Book sat anyway.

"You know, the Scrolls tells us that-"

"Stop right there, Preacher. Not interested in what the Scrolls have to say."

"Yes, I guess that was an inauspicious beginning, wasn't it?" Book sounded more amused than offended. "I thought I would try. I just wondered how you were doing, given the circumstances." He waited for her to answer, but Zoë just started sketching in the sand again. "I want to be of some help to you," Book said when it became clear she wasn't going to speak. "You shouldn't have to go through this alone."

Zoë looked up at him. "You want to be of some help? Help me figure out how to get him- them- back. That's all I'm interested in right now."

"Zoë." He said her name with great kindness, like a grandfather. "We will try to get them back. But you have to think of your own health right now, too. It's okay to grieve."

"No it isn't. Look, I get what you're trying to do. This is your job, right?" Book nodded. "And this is mine. Now either help me or get the frak out."

Book studied her, and as he did his face changed from preacher to planner. Zoë smiled grimly. The gods weren't any help now. If she wanted Wash back, praying wasn't going to work. She had to do it herself. She only had to figure out how.

***

"Survivors."

"Did you hear? More survivors."

The rumor swept through the cafeteria like wildfire. Zoë was on her feet in an instant. Human survivors. Maybe it was… it could be… it had to be….

It wasn't. She ran out of the school and into the courtyard and saw Anders talking to two people she had never seen before. One was a tall, muscular man and the other was a blonde woman. Not Wash and Inara. In fact, as she took in the details of the man's flight suit and the woman's BDUs, she turned and walked away.

"What? Where are you going?" Mal called after her.

"They're Colonial Fleet officers," Zoë said. "Nothing useful."

"Oh. Yeah. Didn't notice that." Mal fell into step beside her. "Was hard not to hope, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Zoë sighed. "Come on. Let's go finish lunch."

***

Simon shared an infirmary of sorts with the C-Bucs doctor, also confusingly called Simon, although all similarities ended in name and profession. Like everyone else, Zoë had to make a regular visit for anti-radiation meds and surprisingly enough, she found she preferred their Simon over the C-Bucs one. He had a much defter hand with a needle. When she went down for her shot that afternoon, the Colonial pilot was sitting on Simon's examination table.

"Zoë. I'll be right with you." Simon barely turned around, and Zoë settled down on the other Simon's table to wait. Oddly enough, being in Simon's presence was comforting these days. He had no idea how to talk about Wash, so he didn't. He didn't talk much at all. His silence was the best balm her soul could have asked for.

He wasn't exactly talking much to the pilot, either. Up close, Zoë could see that his patient looked worn and drawn. There were bloodstains and dust on his flight suit and cuts on his face. When his eyes met hers, he looked scared and exhausted and extremely grateful just to see another human. Despite herself, it made her soften toward him. A little.

"You been alone all this time?"

The man shifted his eyes away. "Not the whole time, but enough of it. You been with this group the whole time?"

"Yeah."

"You're a Pyramid player?"

Zoë snorted at that one. "Not likely."

He smiled back and extended his hand around Simon, who was still working. "I'm Karl Agathon. Helo."

Zoë didn't take his hand. "Zoë."

"While it's nice that you two are making friends, I am still in the middle of a medical examination," Simon reminded them. "Zoë, you can either wait and let me concentrate, or you can come back in a half hour."

A half hour was too long a time to wait. Zoë slid off the table. "I'll come back, Doc." She headed for the door.

"See you around, Zoë," Helo called.

She didn't answer.

***

The woman's name was Kara Thrace, but apparently she was called Starbuck. She was a Viper pilot, and Helo was a Raptor pilot with the Fleet before the attacks. Apparently they'd just recently met up again, but there weren't a whole lot of other details circling the camp.

"I wonder if they're sweeties," Kaylee said from under the truck as Zoë handed her a part. "They look good together, don't you think?"

"If they're together, they won't be much longer," Zoë said. "Heard tell she was playing a pretty intense game of Pyramid with Anders."

Kaylee's squeak was high-pitched, but it was almost impossible to be annoyed at it. Zoë shook her head in amusement, and Kaylee worked her way out from under the truck. "I was thinking," she began, "we should talk to them. See if they can help us find Wash and Inara."

"They aren't going to be able to help."

"But they're military! They've got all sorts of training and tactics and-"

"They're two people who have been on the run this whole time," Zoë said flatly, all traces of amusement gone. "They don't have resources and they don't have secret powers. They're just frakking lucky."

Kaylee shrugged. "Maybe luck is what we need."

"Rather rely on something a little more real." Zoë dusted off her hands. "I'm going to go check the weapon stores for tomorrow." She stalked away before Kaylee could say anything else.

***

"So what do you think?" Mal asked, sitting down beside Zoë in the cafeteria.

"What do I think about what, sir?"

"These new people. Think they're on the level?"

"That they're human? Yes, sir. But I think there's a lot they ain't saying."

"Yeah. I'm sure about that. They're in some secret meeting with Anders right now."

Zoë turned to face him. "If it's secret, how do you know about it, sir?"

"Had my ear pressed to the door till they kicked me out," Mal said flippantly, in that sort of way that Zoë couldn't be sure if he was serious or joking. Knowing Mal, it really could be either, and if he was eavesdropping, Zoë didn't blame him. She would have, too, if she'd known this meeting was happening.

Mal rubbed a hand over his face. "Haven't asked because I know the answer, but you holding up all right, Zoë?"

"I'm still here."

"Yeah." He sat back. "Me too." For a moment, Mal's face fell into its serious, harsh lines and he was lost deep in thought. But he snapped out of it fast and leaned on his elbows. "Listen. I've been giving some thought to your idea of capturing one of the humanoid Cylons. Talked to that Helo guy about it a little."

"You talked to him, sir?"

"Well, yeah. Says he's had a few run-ins with them. He says that they do feel pain, so if we get one, we might be able to convince it to tell us where Inara and Wash are. So there's that."

"Yeah."

Mal cocked his head. "You okay, Zoë? Is there a problem?"

"Not a problem, sir." But Mal knew her too well.

"I know he's a Colonial soldier, and I gotta say, I'm not too fond of that fact neither. But these days, anyone who's against the Cylons is a friend of ours, I guess."

"I know, sir. Don't mean I have to like him."

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Mal sighed. "Still, he and Thrace might be the best hope we've gotten since this whole thing happened. At least they actually know how to fight. They might be able to help us plan something."

"We'll see. Don't want to get my hopes up."

"Yeah." Mal stood up. His hand rested on Zoë's shoulder for a moment longer than it needed to, asking silent comfort. Zoë didn't meet his eyes, but she covered his hand with her own for. When she dropped her hand, Mal left her alone to her thoughts.

***

Sleep was still possible, but only when she was so worn out that she didn't have another option. Tonight Zoë was outside in the courtyard, warming her hands by a fire in a trashcan and looking up at the stars in the night sky.

"Be a hell of a lot easier to be up there," someone said. Helo. He came closer, rubbing his hands. "Mind if I join you? It's a cold night."

"No reason for me to say no," Zoë said evenly.

Helo extended his hands to the warmth of the fire, bouncing a little on his toes. "Hard to believe there are still other people alive. I haven't seen another human since the attacks. Makes you wonder how many more are out there."

"Mmm."

"I mean, it's a big planet, you know? There's got to be more people. But even in the time I've been here… nothing."

"Yeah."

Helo huffed in the cool air. "Listen, Mal told me that your husband went missing. I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I mean, I know it's… it's frakked up."

"Frakked up is an understatement." Zoë didn't want to talk about sympathy. "Don't suppose you've got any good ideas on how to get him back?"

"Not really." Helo shook his head. "Your idea of getting a human-looking Cylon is probably the place to start. Can't really plan anything until you know what you're fighting."

"Or where you're going." Zoë sighed. "I think that's what's killing me most of all. He could be on the other side of the world for all I know."

"He could be, but I can't see why the Cylons would send a prisoner of war around the world," Helo mused.

Zoë shrugged. "Colonial Fleet did."

"Huh?"

"In the Tauron Civil War." Zoë could barely keep from smirking. "Colonial Fleet sent us from Serenity Valley to Kastorias."

"You were at the Kastorias Camp?" Helo drew back. "You don't look old enough."

"Thanks." Zoë smiled wryly. "I am."

"But that was, what? Seven years ago?"

"Five. The camp, anyway."

"Man. I remember that. I was just entering the Fleet when that war was going on. I was scared to death I was going to get sent there, and scared to death I wouldn't. I wanted to fight, you know? But the Third Tauron Civil War… that was something else again."

"Thanks for the recap."

"Oh. Yeah." Helo caught on that he wasn't being the most sensitive. "Guess that's why you don't like me too much, huh?"

Zoë shrugged. "It's a new war, and a new enemy. It just takes a bit to get used to the fact that we're on the same side."

"Yeah." Helo turned his hands so the back of them was facing the flames. "Do you think… I was never at Tauron, but say I was. You think you could ever forgive someone who was there? Fighting against you?"

"Work with people who fought for the Colonies all the time."

"That's not the same thing."

"Guess not." Zoë thought about it. "Guess it would depend. Who they were, what they did, what they want now…."

"And if it was someone you loved? Someone like your husband?"

"Can't know. Wash was never in an army, and if he was, he wouldn't be the man he is."

"Guess so. Don't know why I asked, anyway." Helo sighed. "I think it's a question with no real answer."

"Lots of those around."

"Yeah." Helo shook it off. "Hey, listen, I'm going to try to get some sleep or something, but if you want to meet for breakfast, we can try to hash out some details of how to capture a Cylon."

Zoë nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Helo flashed a smile. It lit up his face and then faded, leaving him looking tired and bitter. "Well, have a good night."

"You too." Zoë turned back to her flames. She didn't know how much Helo could help her, but she was willing to find out. After all, they were on the same side in this war. She just had to keep reminding herself of that.

***

"Zoë! Come on!" Mal waved her over. "We've got a mission."

Zoë jogged over to where Mal was waiting near a truck. "What about the others, sir?"

"Anders said just you and me this time."

Interested, Zoë hopped in. "Any chance this is a rescue mission, sir?"

"Don't know. Apparently, we're headed to some airstrip. That's all Anders will say."

Zoë noticed that both Kara and Helo were with them. That was interesting. And an airstrip… she stepped closer. "Sir? Should we let them know about Serenity?"

"Not yet. I think they're fixing to steal a Cylon ship. Opens a world of possibilities, don't it, for getting Inara and Wash back?"

"Once we know where they are." The truck lurched into motion, and Zoë settled down for the ride. "Please tell me you brought my favorite gun."

Mal tossed it to her. "There you go."

"Excellent." Zoë settled back in the bed of the truck. It was a bright day outside, and no matter what they were getting up to, stealing a Cylon ship was bigger than anything they'd attempted before.

Finally, the trucks lurched to a stop. Anders hopped out of the truck in front and came back to them. "Set up a perimeter," he ordered. "Especially the flank. We're near the airstrip. I don't expect trouble, but you never can tell." He headed off to confer with a C-Buc named Sue-Shaun, Helo, and Kara, the four of them looking at a map on the hood of a truck, obviously discussing the airstrip.

"Looks like we're really going to do it," Zoë said, watching the brush. The area they were in was out of the city and surrounded by forest. It would be pretty if it wasn't an irradiated mess. The world was completely still, except the wind rustling through the trees and the rest of the resistance members with them moving about.

"Thing is," Zoë said, watching the area intently, "even if we manage to get a ship, we still don't know where we're going."

"Yeah, but it will be a lot easier to search places," Mal pointed out. "We'll be able to at least get close enough to determine if they hold prisoners there. Wonder how many prisoners of war they've even got."

"Good question." Zoë hadn't thought of that before. "You'd think that-"

"Get down!" Sue-Shaun shouted from the other side of the trucks, just before the sound of guns opening fire. Zoë and Mal looked at each other, and both sprinted over to the other side, taking cover behind the truck they'd been in.

"Hey!" Anders called to them from where he'd hit the ground by the other truck. "There's a gas station about a mile back that way, you know where I'm talking about?" Zoë nodded. "Rendezvous there, okay? Start getting everyone the frak out of here, and we'll cover you."

"What about the ship?"

"We aren't going to get down there! Go!"

Zoë swore, but one quick glance told her that Anders was right. She turned away from the trucks. "You heard the man," she shouted to the person nearest to her. "Let's go!" She waited until the others had started, and then she and Mal began to run.

"They following us?" Mal asked as they ran down the dirt road.

Zoë glanced over her shoulder. "Can't tell yet, sir." Her breath was starting to come hard. It galled her to have to run away from the possibility of a ship, but at least they hadn't gotten close yet. Maybe they'd be able to try again. She didn't think this airstrip was usually that heavily guarded, if she could remember right….

"I gotta stop," Mal said after a few minutes. He slowed to a walk, and Zoë realized that they couldn't even hear gunfire anymore. She slowed to his pace, shifting her gun and watching around her. The woods were once again silent.

"Guess they didn't give chase."

"Guess not." Mal frowned. "You'd think they would. Wonder what they wanted."

It gave Zoë a bad feeling, because the last time the Cylons had taken someone. "Hope they didn't get someone else."

"Yeah. Can't say the same thought didn't occur to me."

Zoë frowned. "Sir. Should we go back? If they did take someone, maybe we could follow."

Mal thought about it a moment, then shook his head. "Would have been a great idea if we'd thought about it sooner," he said. "But you saw how fast those things got away when they took Inara and Wash. If they've taken someone, they're long gone by now. Besides, we don't even know if they did." He sighed. "Wish we'd thought of it back there, though."

"Yeah." The gas station Anders told them to rendezvous at was coming into view. "Well, guess we'll find out soon enough."

By the time they got into the station, most of the people that had come with them were inside. Mal opened a powerless cooler and pulled out a bottle of water, but Zoë took up guard position by the door. "Everyone here?" she asked one of the others.

"Almost. Still waiting on Anders and the group he was with."

Zoë peered down the road. "Looks like they're coming." She watched them intently as they approached, then frowned. "At least, looks like Anders and Helo. I don't see Kara or Sue-Shaun."

"Maybe they're a little further behind."

Zoë was hoping, but that hope was dashed as soon as Anders and Helo came in. "Kara and Sue-Shaun here already?" Anders asked, looking around. No one answered. "Frak!" He turned and punched the pyramid of oil that the long-dead shop owner had arranged, and the containers came crashing to the ground. "FRAK."

Mal and Zoë exchanged glances, both of them thinking the same thing. Zoë closed her eyes.

"What do we do?" someone asked, and Zoë's eyes snapped back open.

"We're going to have to wait," Helo said. "It looked like the Cylons weren't following us, but we've got to make them think we're gone. They won't keep patrolling that little patch forever. We'll go back in an hour, look for them."

"We can't wait an hour," Anders insisted. "If either of them are hurt or bleeding out-"

"We can't help them much if we get shot up ourselves," Zoë said. It killed her to say it, because she knew exactly what Anders was feeling, but damn it, it was the truth. "Helo's right. Give it an hour."

Anders sat down on the floor with a thud, cradling his head in his hands. And Zoë couldn't help thinking that maybe this was a chance, a chance to get all of them back. Maybe.

***

"Anders, we must have been over this line ten times already," Helo said.

The signs of the fight were still there. Bullets, broken branches, signs of scuffle. But no Kara and no Sue-Shaun. Zoë walked slowly, placing her feet carefully and looking for signs of a trail. They should have brought Jayne. He was a better tracker than any of them, and it was amazing how lightly those mechanical Cylons could move.

Anders was trying to retrace Kara's actions. "She must have taken a bullet. She’s right here by the vehicles."

"Ok, she would have got up and crawled the frak up out of here." Helo sighed. "Hey, we have to search the entire area again."

"I told you we shouldn’t have pulled back so fast. I though she was with us."

Helo nearly threw up his hands with frustration. "Anders, we got ambushed. Okay? We all got separated. There’s nothing we could have done about it. Kara, of all people would understand. Let’s just find her."

Zoë heard something and stilled, holding her hand up. There was a rustling in the trees. There were no animals left living, not on an irradiated planet like this. The rustling grew louder, and Zoë lifted her gun, along with several of the others. A woman emerged from behind a tree, her hands up. Zoë didn't know which fact hit her harder- the fact that the woman was one of the Cylon models that they'd seen, or that she was wearing the tanks that Colonial soldiers wore. She had her hands up in surrender, but no one put their guns down.

"I know where Starbuck is," the Cylon said.

Zoë's eyes widened. She looked to Mal, who was wearing a similar expression. "Think it's a trap, sir?" she whispered.

"Not sure. No one's shooting at us yet. That's good."

"Sharon?" Helo asked. "Where have you been?"

"Sharon?" Mal whispered. "Things just got a little more interesting."

"Tracking you," the Cylon said.

"Who is she?" Anders demanded.

Helo lowered his gun and pushed Anders' gun down. "She's with us," he said.

"You're the father of my child, Helo. I'm not going to lose you," the woman said.

Mal choked.

"Oh yeah," Zoë said, lowering her gun. "Things just got a lot more interesting."

***

They returned to the high school to plan. Anders didn't like the idea, and frankly, neither did Zoë- it might compromise their position if this Sharon wasn't as trustworthy as Helo said. But they needed to reload and rearm, as well as get more people for any sort of rescue attempt to be successful. They had no real choice.

Anders, Helo, Zoë, Mal, and a few others gathered around a table in the cafeteria. "She's being held here," Sharon said, pointing at a map. "It's an old hospital." She looked at Zoë and Mal. "Your friends are almost certainly being held there as well. I can't be positive, since I only checked the data for Starbuck, but it would be logical. It's the only facility around here."

"How guarded is this place?" Mal asked.

"It's not going to be easy to get in," Sharon admitted. "But the facility is mainly guarded by the human models. They can be deadly, but they can also be shot. And while they resurrect-"

"Wait, they resurrect?" Mal said. "What the frak?"

"-It takes thirty six hours," Sharon finished. "We'll be long gone by then."

"Let's get back to this resurrecting thing," Mal said. "When did this happen?"

"There's no time to explain it." Sharon pulled the map closer to her, and Zoë put a hand on Mal's arm. She didn’t like the sounds of this either, but they'd seen it themselves- when the humanoid Cylons went down, they stayed down. "There's an entrance to the north that backs up to a forest. That's going to be our best chance of cover."

"Why don't we go at night?" Zoë asked.

"Two reasons. One, the human Cylons will be gone, and there will be more Centurions guarding the place." Zoë nodded. "But more importantly, the human Cylons come in a heavy raider. If we go during the day, I can steal that."

"That's great, but what do we need a ship for?" one of the others asked.

Anders and Helo exchanged glances. "Partly for cover," Helo said. "We can escape a lot better if we've got a ship covering us. But…." He looked at Anders.

Anders took a deep breath before answering. "Look. I don't want any of this leaving this room, okay? It's too big, and it would get people's hopes up too much." Zoë's heart started beating a little faster, even though she wasn't sure why. "Kara hasn't been on Caprica all this time."

"What, like she came from one of the other Colonies?" Mal asked.

"She came from a fleet of survivors." Zoë's eyes widened. "About sixty some-odd ships, and almost fifty thousand survivors."

"Wǒ liè yú zhèijiàn, you're frakking kidding me."

"I know." Anders grinned. "I find it kind of hard to believe myself." The grin slipped off his face. "But we can't tell people yet."

"Well, why not?" Mal asked. "Sure would make people feel a lot better."

"Not if we can't get to them," Zoë said slowly, the truth dawning on her. "They don't know we're here, do they?"

"No," Helo said. "Kara came back on reconnaissance mission. She didn't expect to find survivors- not even me. But if we can get a ship and get back to the Fleet, we can let the Fleet know people are here. They can send a rescue mission back."

"Where is this Fleet?" Mal asked.

"I don't know. Well beyond the red line." Helo spread his hands.

"Do you really think they'll come back for us?" Zoë asked. "And do you think they'll succeed if they try?"

"Kara's got some pull with the Old Man. If anyone can get him to listen, it's her."

He wasn't sure. Zoë's heart plummeted. For one amazing moment, it looked like there might be some sort of end in sight. But now…."

"We can only send a few people," Anders said. "I guess we'll hold a lottery or something. I'm not sure what the fairest way to do it will be. But if we can get some people out of this hellhole and give them a chance at surviving, well…."

"Right." Zoë sat down. Just a few people would survive. Anders saw her disappointment. He sat down next to her and put a hand on her arm.

"You can see why we didn't want to tell people. It's just… it's too much. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but-

"Maybe it doesn't," Mal interrupted. "Sharon. The raiders… am I mistaken, or do they have FTL drives?"

Zoë's mouth fell open, and her heart immediately lifted again. Sharon nodded. "They do."

"It still doesn’t matter," Helo said. "We can only fit ten people in one, tops."

Mal ignored that. "And how long would it take to jump back to this Fleet?"

Helo shrugged. "I don't know. Kara said about three jumps. Maybe a couple hours? Twenty-four at the most."

"Excellent." Mal grinned. "I'm afraid that we haven't been entirely truthsome with you, Anders."

"What do you mean?"

"Me and Zoë and the rest of my crew, well, we're… what's the word, Zoë?"

"Criminals, sir?"

"I was thinking smugglers, but thank you. We've got a ship hidden up in the mountains."

"A ship?" Anders said.

"Yeah. We were making a drop on Caprica when the Cylons hit. Didn't seem worth mentioning before this, because she ain't got an FTL and she ain't got weapons. But she's big enough to haul a herd of cattle, which means we should be able to fit everyone on this rock in no problem, at least for a short trip. If we can steal that ship and you can give us a few hours without the Cylons shooting at us, my mechanic should be able to move the FTL drive over to Serenity no problem."

Anders face lit up. "You're kidding. No way- you can't be serious." He looked to Zoë for confirmation, and she nodded.

"Holy frakking shit," Anders said, laughing. "We might get off this rock after all."

"But not until we get them out, first," Zoë said. She turned back to the map. "I'm not leaving here without Wash."

Helo caught her eye. "We'll get him back," he promised. "All four of them. Let's finish planning this."

***

"So that's the situation," Mal said, looking around at the small group. "Anders is asking for volunteers to go on the rescue, but I'm doing some assigning of my own. Kaylee, you're going straight up to Serenity."

"Captain, if you need me to get Inara and Wash I can-"

"I need you to be up there getting Serenity ready to take on an FTL drive, okay?" Mal said. Kaylee nodded. "And what's more, I don't need you getting shot. You get shot, no one else is going to be able to put that drive in, and then where does that leave us, right? And it goes without saying that you'll be looking after River." Mal turned to Simon. "Doc, according to Sharon, the people we're saving might be needing medical care right away. She wants to brief you personally. Says it's too important to relay through me."

Simon twined his fingers together awkwardly. "And you trust her? Even though she's a Cylon?"

"Might be a mistake on my part, but yeah. I trust her enough for this. So you go talk to her and find out what you've got to do. Shepherd, you're gonna stay with me, and Jayne, you're gonna go with Zoë. Sharon says the men are in one place and the women are in two others, so we're gonna have to be ready to split up."

"If I may ask," Shepherd Book said, "what are they doing in this place?"

"Don't rightly know. Sharon's being kind of cagey about it, and I suspect it's because she don't want us knowing. I'm not pushing her 'cause it don't matter- we've still got to get them out of there, even if they're feeding them peeled grapes. Let's just assume the worst and get them all out of there. You got that?" There were murmurs of assent. "Good. Now let's get moving."

***

"At least it's not raining," Zoë said as she hopped up in the truck. "I hate shooting in the rain."

"Nice weather does make things a little easier," Mal agreed.

"Course, it makes us plenty easy to see," Jayne said. "Hey. What's she doing?" He pointed at River, who was climbing up in the truck.

"River." Simon hurried over. "Why aren't you with Kaylee?"

River was smiling. "Red rover, red rover, it's time to come over… I hear them calling." She snapped into something like clarity. "I'm coming, too."

"Oh, no. This is a rescue mission. I ain't got time for this-" the truck lurched into motion, and Mal burst into a long string of swearing. "Hey!" he shouted. "HEY! We've got the wrong person on the truck! Do you hear me?" But either no one heard him or the driver ignored him.

"Well, that's just great," Mal said, slumping back against the wall. "This is not what I asked for."

"She can stay in the truck," Zoë said. "River, honey? Can you do that? Just stay in the truck?"

"If you reach home before 'it' tags you, you're safe."

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Mal said.

"Don't sound like a yes," Jayne said. "Sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me."

"I don't care. I need a yes, so I'm gonna take it as one. You got it?"

Zoë closed her eyes and shut them out. They had to be getting close now, and she needed to focus. Just a few more minutes, baby, she told Wash silently. I'm getting you out of there.

***

They parked the trucks a quarter mile away. River seemed to understand the situation well enough to stay in the truck- Zoë could only hope she'd actually stay there. The group grabbed their guns and made their way through the forest until they came to the hospital. The hospital was a large, pretty stone structure, with two staircases leading up to the main entrance. Zoë hated it on sight.

"Looks like three Centurions," Anders whispered. "You guys ready?" There were murmurs of assent. "Good. Let's do this."

They were just about to walk out and start firing when a figure appeared on the stairs- a blond woman in a colorless shift. "Hold your fire!" Helo shouted. "That's Starbuck!"

Zoë pulled her gun up sharply, grinning. "Frak. I'm impressed."

"That's Starbuck," Helo repeated. "So that's one down. Jayne, you go with the others to get the women. I'll go with Zoë to get Wash."

"Don't care where I go, long as I get to shoot some toasters." Jayne cocked his gun. "Let's go."

Zoë looked back at the hospital just in time to see a man come out- a man who looked exactly like Simon O'Neill. Starbuck killed him without hesitation, and stumbled further down the steps. On some level it occurred to Zoë that their camp was harboring a Cylon, but there was no time to process that now. A Centurion appeared and began firing, and Zoë started firing back.

There was a roar of engines, and a small, clunky ship lurched into the air, turning and firing at the Centurion. "That's it!" Anders shouted. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!!!"

Zoë ran, her feet barely touching the ground, Helo at her side. Another one of those O'Neill lookalikes came at her and she fired without hesitation, not even watching as he dropped to the ground. She led the way up the stairs and slammed her shoulder into the door, getting it the frak out of her way.

Inside, the hospital looked a lot more decrepit than the outside would suggest. It wasn't nearly as modern as some of the hospitals she'd seen, even the one they'd been in on the other side of Delphi. Not that she cared. She turned left and dashed down the hall. Sharon had said the double doors at the end. She burst through the doors and then stopped so suddenly that Helo ran into her. The force of the impact knocked her a step forward, but she caught herself without thinking.

"Frak," she gasped, taking in the horror of the room.

Beds were arranged in a star pattern around a big, blinking machine. On each bed lay a man, each of them hooked to wires and machines, and each wearing a hospital gown. Zoë turned to Helo. "What the hell?"

"Breeding program," Helo answered, looking sick. "Is Wash here?"

Zoë had already found him. "Wash. Wash, baby, can you here me?" Wash lay there with his eyes closed, pale but otherwise looking unharmed. "Wash." There was no response. Zoë put her hands on his cheeks. They were warm and flushed. She breathed out a sigh of relief, then examined the wires and tubes.

"Better hurry," Helo said, edging closer. "They'll be coming soon."

The wires were just monitors, held on with medical tape. Zoë peeled them off quickly, and noticed that Wash didn't even wince. He was under something, then. One tube was an IV and easy to disconnect, the other….

"Oh gods," Helo said, when Zoë traced it to its source.

Well, Wash was passed out. Hoping the catheter wasn't anchored in any particular way, Zoë tugged gently. To her relief it moved easily.

There was a noise outside.

"Heads up," Helo said, cocking his gun and aiming it at the door. "We're going to have company in just a minute."

"Can we hold them off?" Zoë asked. "There's a lot of other people here."

"I'd like to, that's for sure." Helo looked around the room. "Don't know how well we'll be able to, though."

The catheter was out, and Wash still wasn't responding. Zoë looked frantically around the room. "Is there any chance we can get all the Cylons out of here?"

"Not a chance in hell, you know that. They've probably already got some sort of reserves coming in. We've got to get out of here."

She hated it, and she could see on his face that Helo hated it, too. But he was right. "You take Wash," Zoë said. "I'll shoot. Let's get out of here."

Helo heaved Wash over his shoulder, and Zoë aimed her gun at the door. The door swung open, and a tall, thin blonde woman came in with a gun pointed right at her. Zoë shot, and the blonde woman dropped. "Let's move," she ordered Helo.

They ran into two more Cylons- one of the O'Neill types and one that looked like Sharon. Zoë shot them both, without hesitation. They might look like people she knew, but they'd kept Wash here for a week. They were going down.

"We’ve just got to get across that open space," Zoë shouted over her shoulder. "Shouldn't be too bad if Sharon's still holding it with the Raider."

Zoë threw the door open, and the sunlight streamed in. There was no sound of gunfire from the outside, and when she looked up, the Raider was still there.

"Almost there, honey," she told Wash, who was still hanging limply over Helo's shoulder. "Just hang on."

The door banged open at the other end if the hall, and Zoë found herself staring at the barrel of a gun. "Jayne, don't shoot."

"How do I know it's you and you're not a Cylon like that doctor?" Jayne asked.

"Because it's me." Zoë saw Mal coming out of the room, Inara in his arms. "What about Sue-Shaun?" Zoë asked.

"She's dead, like the others in her room. So are two more of those doctor things. So may I suggest we get the frak out of here before any more come?"

"Best suggestion I've heard all day," Zoë said. She held the door for the others. As they left, she noticed that Simon- their Simon- was incredibly pale. "You okay, doc?"

"We had to leave them…." He looked back over his shoulder.

Zoë put a hand on his shoulder understandingly. "Yeah. We do. Let's move." She shoved him, and Simon stumbled after the others.

She wished she could blow this place to hell, along with everyone in it. The inmates would probably be better off, and the place where Wash was held prisoner would be gone. But that was wishful thinking, and there was no time for that. She slammed the door behind her and ran down the stairs.

***

Kara had made it back to the trucks and was lying on the bed of it, clutching her side. Wash was beside her, and he was still asleep, River perched over him. Zoë jumped up into the truck and checked his pulse. Still strong and steady. She relaxed a little. "How you holding up?" she asked Kara.

"Been better," Kara said, "but been a lot frakking worse, too."

"I'll say. You need anything?"

"A gun would be nice."

Zoë smiled and tossed Kara the one she was holding, then reached down and grabbed another. "Just a few more hours and we'll be off this rock. We'll have the doc get you into the infirmary as soon as we get to Serenity."

"Think I've had enough of doctors and infirmaries," Kara said, propping herself up better in the truck bed. "Last one was a Cylon."

"Pretty sure this one's not, although that would explain a lot." Zoë saw Mal settling Inara onto the other truck. "Brace yourself- I think we're ready to go."

The trucks lurched into motion. Above them, the Raider rose higher in the sky, and then blinked out of view. Faster than light indeed. Zoë never got over watching that. She knelt in the truck bed, the metal digging into her knees, scanning the road behind them.

"They're gonna come after us," Kara predicted.

"I know."

The truck bounced over ruts in the dirt road. Zoë glanced back at Wash, who looked like he might have moved. She wondered how long it would take whatever they gave him to wear off.

"Heads up," Kara said.

Zoë jerked her attention back to the road behind him. "Shénshèng hóuzi qiú

"I have no idea what you just said, but I'm pretty sure I agree. They must have a garage of the bastards nearby or something." Kara struggled to sit up, and supported her gun on the back of the truck. The truck was accelerating- the driver must have seen the nightmare in his mirrors.

Someone crouched next to her. Zoë didn't even think of it for a second, until she realized that there was only one person it could be. "River. Get down and get out of the way."

"The tin soldiers come marching," River said. "One by one, two by two."

"What the frak?"

"Don't ask." Zoë glanced at River again. Far from obeying, River had picked up a gun. "River!"

"Tin soldiers all fall down," River said, and suddenly she was in flight, vaulting over the tailgate and onto the road.

"River!" Zoë shouted. "Get back here!" Not that that would do any good, but…

River stood her ground, the gun held up on her shoulder. Then, when the Centurions got closer, she began to fire.

Zoë and the others had learned long ago that there were spots that would cause a Centurion to fall more easily than others. Of course, those spots were never easy to hit. River aimed, she fired, and one by one the Centurions began to fall.

"Frak me," Kara said, staring wide-eyed at the damage.

Zoë was staring, too. "My thoughts exactly."

The truck had stopped. Zoë hadn't even been fully aware of it until the last Centurion fell, and River ran back. She jumped into the truck lightly, like a dancer, and smiled at Kara and Zoë. "They all fall."

"Yeah. They sure do." Zoë's breathing was starting to return to normal. She shook her head. "Let's move it," she shouted up to the front of the truck. "Before they find us again."

***

It was an hour later when she heard the voice she most wanted to hear. The truck was still navigating the dirt roads, climbing the mountain towards Serenity. Wash opened his eyes. "Zoë?"

"Yeah, baby. I'm here." Zoë squeezed Wash's hand. "You're safe."

"Is there a reason my insides are being shaken out?"

"We're in a truck, and the road is bad." Zoë stroked Wash's hair back from his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Lousy. Everything hurts. Especially…" his head jerked up, his eyes wide with panic. "They were trying to get at- is everything- is everything still there?"

"Far as I can tell." Zoë pulled his head back down. "We'll have the doc check you over when we get back up to Serenity. Our Simon," she clarified, when she saw the panicked expression on his face hadn't disappeared.

"Oh. Good." He laid back and closed his eyes, and laced his fingers through hers. "You're not going anywhere, are you?"

"Not without you. It's all going to be okay."

"Good. That's exactly…" Wash yawned. "Exactly what I needed to hear."

***

Serenity was waiting for them at the top of the mountain. "Oh man," Wash said, sagging against Zoë. "It's so good to see the old girl again."

"It is. You think you're going to be able to fly her with an FTL drive?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Wash still looked woozy, but he was regaining his color and becoming more coherent. "Of course I can fly her."

"Figured." Zoë tightened her arm around Wash's shoulder. "I shouldn't have even had to ask." The truck came to a stop, and Jayne and Book came out to help. "How's Inara?" Zoë asked them.

"She's in the infirmary," Book answered. "It was quite the shock to her system, being disconnected from whatever they had her connected to. But Simon seems to think that she'll be okay."

"Good."

"You know what I'd like right about now?" Wash said as Zoë helped him out of the truck. "Pants. I could really go for some pants."

"I know." Zoë laughed. "Come on. Let's go home."

***

Almost all of the resistance was down in the cargo hold, but Zoë had no intention of staying down there. She left the crowd control to Book and headed up to the cockpit.

The cockpit of Serenity was filled with wires, cables, parts, and people. Kaylee was under the console taking tools from Sharon, and Jayne was talking to Helo and Kara, who probably should have been in the infirmary but was also the only one who knew where this Fleet was. Zoë helped Wash up the step and over to his seat. When Wash sat down in the pilots' chair, his face lit up with relief and happiness. Zoë smiled and rubbed his shoulder, and he caught her hand.

"So this is a smuggling ship," Helo said, looking around.

"You sound disappointed," Zoë laughed.

"Well, yeah. I expected it to look a little more… illegal."

"If you look in the cabinets, we might have some stolen crown jewels or something," Wash suggested.

"Really?" Jayne opened the cabinet. Helo and Kara both snickered, and Wash rolled his eyes in Zoë's direction. She couldn't help laughing. She knew he was putting up a brave front and there was a lot he had to deal with, but having him here and ready to leave Caprica was more than she'd thought would happen.

"Ugh. Don't like so many people on my ship," Mal said, making his way into the cockpit. "Think I liked it better when it was cows."

"At least people make less of a mess," Wash offered, then considered. "I hope."

"Yeah, well, if we don't get this lot to this Fleet or whatever, we might find ourselves dealing with that sort of mess," Mal said. "How's it coming, Kaylee?"

Kaylee pulled herself out from under a console. "It's not pretty, but we should be patched in, Captain."

"She don't have to be pretty. She just has to work."

"She'll do it."

"Good." He looked at Kara. "Well? What do we do next?"

"We get off this rock," Kara said. "I think everyone's ready to get home."

Wash flicked the switches and Serenity began to lift off. The ground got smaller and smaller beneath them.

Kara leaned over and punched some numbers into a control box that was perched precariously on the edge of a console, and it felt like the whole ship held its breath.

"Jump!"

Zoë blinked, and they were out of the atmosphere and trees of Caprica and into the peaceful calm black of space.

"Well," Mal said, his grin stretching from ear to ear, "ain't that a sight for sore eyes."

"Sure is, sir." There was a sincere fervor in Wash's voice that made Zoë's heart clench. "Too bad we can't just stay here."

"Only if we want eighty-something people down in the cargo hold to go space mad and kill us all," Mal said. "Kara, get us where we're going."

Jumping was not a new sensation to Zoë, but it was something she hadn't done in years. By the end of the fourth jump, her stomach was definitely queasy. And by the end of the fifth….

"Never thought I'd be so gorram happy to see a battlestar," she said to Mal as they saw the bulk of the Galactica in front of them.

"You can say that again." Mal shook his head. "Let's head on in. No matter what's lurking in there, it can't be worse than what we left behind." He looked at her. "You ready for this?"

"We're off Caprica," Zoë said, squeezing Wash's shoulder again. "I'm ready for anything."

-END-

Prompts:
-Coming to terms with the consequences of choices
-Rescue mission
-Battlestar Galactica/Firefly: Helo & Zoë