Princess in a Tower (The "True Love's First Kiss, My Ass" Remix)
Title: Princess in a Tower (The "True Love's First Kiss, My Ass" Remix)
Author: lls_mutant
Summary: When Sharon and Helo are taken prisoner by the Cylons, desperate times call for desperate measures. But the way out is the last thing that Sharon ever expected.
Characters: Sharon Agathon, Karl Agathon, various Cylons
Pairings: Sharon/Helo
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: very vague mentions of dubcon, allusions to torture
Title, Author, and URL of original story: Helo ficlet by trovia
Author's Note: It's not nearly as epic as you were envisioning the original to be, I'm sure, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Frak them. Death was supposedly instantaneous, but being shot between the eyes hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before.
Sharon Agathon was not in a good mood.
She pushed the goo off her face and out of her eyes, and her mood managed to get even worse.
"So there you are. We've been waiting."
"Not you," Sharon muttered as a One sat perched on the edge of her tub. "Get out."
The One's smile deepened. "You really think you're in a position to make threats here?"
"So I'm a prisoner?" Sharon asked. She should be. She sure as hell knew what side she was on. In fact, if she was a One, she'd box her frakking ass. Not that she was going to say that out loud, of course.
"No, not a prisoner." A Three came into view. "More like a prodigal daughter. Prodigal sister. You're home, Sharon." The Three bent over and kissed her forehead. Sharon wanted to push her away. Or pull her into the tub and drown her. Yeah. That would be better.
"Where's Helo?" she ground out. "Where is my husband?"
"Husband?" the One clucked, shaking his head. "Such a human concept, don't you think? Swearing to just stay with one person for all eternity. What a load of shit."
"You really shouldn't be so concerned about him," the Three told her, holding out a robe. "Not when you're home, among your true family."
So he was alive. Because if they'd killed him, the One would be lording it over her right now. Sharon knew that for sure. The tightness in her chest loosened just a little. She took the robe from the Three and glared at the One.
"You could get out."
"I could. Not going to."
"Pervert." Nudity didn't really bother her, but he did. Nevertheless, she got out of the tub and pulled the robe on.
"Come on," the One said when she had the robe tied. "Might as well not pretend this is anything more than it is. You give us trouble, we call the Centurions. Got it?"
"Got it," Sharon agreed. She pulled the robe tight and followed him out.
The Three stayed behind.
***
There were problems. There were a lot of problems. For one, her memories were in a huge bank, which would compromise the Fleet. Shit. For two, there was Helo. If he wasn't dead, she'd bet cubits he was somewhere in the Cylon fleet. When the Cylons ambushed them during that tylium mining operation, they weren't going to just leave a group of dead Colonials. Well, maybe Colonials. But not Helo. Not the only human that had fathered a child from a Cylon.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. In fact, Sharon was pretty sure even Hot Dog could have gotten this one. But she wasn't so sure Adama would.
Well, no. Adama would probably figure it out. The question was, what would he do about it?
If Sharon was in charge of the Galactica, the answer would be unfortunate but simple. Blow up any Cylon ship they came across, but nothing more. There was no way to figure out what basestar they were on, where they were, if they were even anywhere near the Fleet. In fact, Sharon wasn't sure the were even still on the same basestar.
In short, they were screwed.
The Three led her down corridors and to a room with a bed in it and several Centurions standing outside. Sharon didn't even glance at them as she passed, ushering herself into what she knew was a cell. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked. "Why didn't you just shoot me?"
The Three's smile was cool. "We wouldn't do that. You're our sister." That kiss again, this time on the cheek. "Besides, you are too valuable for us to waste, especially now that you're back here in our hands. Get some sleep. You'll need it."
Sharon swallowed hard as the Three smiled and then left the cell.
***
Take stock.
She was here, in a cell. On a basestar. With Centurions guarding her. And probably about to become a medical experiment. That was the situation.
What did she have to work with?
She wasn't armed. She was strong, but so were the hundreds of other Cylons on this ship. But she had no weapons. A quick search of the room and the adjacent bathroom betrayed the reality that there wasn't much she could fashion into one, either.
She couldn't die. Not really. But each resurrection would take thirty six hours, and who knew what would happen to Helo during that time? Plus, each time she downloaded, they'd have the chance to box her. And eventually, the novelty of a Cylon who'd given birth would be eclipsed by the annoyance of a Cylon who was trying to escape. So resurrection as a means of travel was out.
Someone would have to acknowledge she was here. She assumed, anyway. Otherwise they would have just boxed her. So there was always the possibility of swinging someone over to her side and getting them to help her.
Yeah, right. Help Helo and me escape and when we get back to the Fleet, Adama will lock you up, too! Just like Caprica! And good luck lying about it, because they had all her memories.
So, all she had to do was get out of her cell, rescue her husband, steal a heavy raider, escape the basestar, find the Fleet, and keep the Fleet from shooting them down before she got them to listen to who they were.
Screwed didn't even begin to cover it. Frakked was a little closer.
***
A Four came for her. Sharon sighed. She knew it would be the Fours.
"Where's Helo?" she demanded as soon as he walked in.
He arched his eyebrows. "Hello to you, too. I see living among humans has only decreased your social capabilities."
"Where's Helo?" Sharon repeated.
He smirked. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you that?"
No. Of course not.
He led her to an examination room. She took one look at the table, turned around, and tried to charge out. Unfortunately, he'd anticipated that and centurions blocked her way. Sharon tried to break through, but they grabbed her, and she was carried, struggling, to the table.
"Interesting that you thought that would work," the Four said, and then injected something into her veins.
Her last conscious thought was that she hoped she'd wake up from this.
***
Hera.
Once again, Sharon was running after her, but this time, the when the doors opened Sharon was down on the floor of the Opera House and able to get through.
"We can get her," Karl said, and he was there with her, and they were running. Hera headed through the doors and instead of a theater and a stage she ran out into green grass, wind kicking up her hair and her skirt.
"We can get her," Sharon said, and they both tried to run. But as they entered that light, something slowed them, and it was like running through molasses. The more they struggled, the slower they ran.
Some dreams made no sense; others required no explanation at all. Sharon really hated both kinds.
***
She was aware of pain. Pain in her vagina, in her lower abdomen, in her thighs, in her head. She groaned, turning over, and realized she was back in her cell. Whatever they had done, they'd just dumped her back here.
And if they were doing this to her, what were they doing to Karl? Sharon was pretty sure it had to be worse.
They had to get out of here, and fast. She just had no idea how to do it.
***
Sometimes she heard snatches of conversations, outside her cell. Others walking by and talking.
"-accept that God's love means that we must all live in harmony, and no harmony can come until-
"
"-find 'em and nuke the lot. We should have done that on New Caprica, but those damn Sixes and Eights-"
"-those shoes! I know that humans are a plague on the galaxy, but they at least created some sort of beauty-"
"-don't know what's going to happen? Oh, come on. He's practically our brother-in-law. We won't hurt him. Too much."
Laughter, and Sharon raised her head. Brother-in-law. That had to be him. He was here.
Her eyes narrowed. She could definitely do this. She had to.
***
She'd been held prisoner before, and the experience had been far from a pleasant one. And she hadn't escaped that; she'd earned her way out.
She wondered if she could do that again.
The thought came to her, slow and sure. But that was the problem: slow and sure. It had taken her the better part of a year, not to mention some pretty impressive heroics, to get the Old Man to trust her. She might have that kind of time, but she had a feeling Helo didn't.
But it was the only idea she'd come up with that even had a shot.
***
But who should she convince? Who would believe her? Not the Ones, that was for sure. And not the Threes. The Fours wouldn't care, the Fives were too sadistic. That left the Twos, the Sixes, and the Eights.
She was never sure who would come to her cell to bring her food or water. The models didn't even take turns- it just seemed to be a task delegated to whoever wasn't doing anything when they thought of it. So there was no chance of establishing a rapport.
The Twos were obsessed with destiny and gods. The Sixes were capricious and individualistic. And the Eights were flimsy and not easily trusted.
But then, it wasn’t a whole line she had to convince. Just one. One person. She couldn't change the mind of an entire race. But had a shot at changing the mind of an individual.
She could do this.
***
"New Caprica," she said to the Two who brought her food.
He raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?" he said, and she swore he was almost laughing.
"What you did on New Caprica-"
"Never set foot there," he said. "I managed to pull ship duty the whole time." He was smug, gleeful.
He wasn't the one.
***
"Did you ever hold her?" she asked the Six when she came in with water.
"Hold who?" the Six demanded irritably.
"Hera."
"She pulled my hair so hard it felt like it would come out of scalp."
Nope. Not her, either.
***
"Where is Helo?" she begged the Four who came for her yet again. "Please? Can't you tell me anything?"
"You know I'm not going to."
She did know. She'd tried tears. Threats. Pleas. She'd even tried a kind of bribery she really didn't want to think about. But none of them had worked. She'd known they wouldn't, but she'd had to try anyway.
***
A One came.
Sharon stayed silent.
***
"New Caprica," she tried on another Two.
His eyes flicked to her. "A momentary divergence in our river."
He was the one who'd taken Starbuck; Sharon was sure of that. "Let me go," she whispered, "and I'll take you right to her."
He laughed. The bastard had the gall to laugh. "You think Adama is going to let me back on that ship? There will be an entire platoon of Marines to greet me, and I won't be out of the raider before my body hits the ground."
He was right; that's what she'd been counting on to protect Kara in the first place. She slumped against the wall, defeated.
***
"Have there been any others?"
It was a last ditch effort, because Sharon knew the answer. No. There hadn't been. But the Eight who'd brought her tray paused. "Any other what?"
"Any other pregnancies?"
Silence. Then, "No."
Sharon looked up slowly. She was lying. She could hear it in her voice. "Who?" she asked.
The Eight drew back angrily. "I said no."
"I heard you. You don't think I know what you sound like when you lie?"
"I thought we were all so different according to you," the Eight spat. "That we aren't alike."
"We make different decisions," Sharon corrected her. "But the genetic material is the same." She considered her sister. Sister- God, she hated that word. The Eight was backing up, her eyes hard and cold. Her hands resting on her stomach. An unconscious motion, but one she knew well. Too well.
"It was you, wasn't it?" she said, incredulous. "The baby?"
The Eight looked away.
"Oh my God," Sharon said, sinking back. "It's alive." This changed so much. This changed everything. "Is it a boy? Girl?"
"Boy," the Eight said, the words tearing out of her. "A boy."
"Cylon or-"
"Hybrid."
"Like Hera." More silence from the Eight. Sharon leaned forward. "Who was it? Is he… is he here?"
"No." The Eight scowled. "I shouldn't have told you this. I should-"
Sharon lunged forward and grabbed her by the wrist. "No. Don't go. Do you want to go back to the father? You must have loved him if you-"
"Love?" the Eight laughed. "That's what everyone says. It's also the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard. I hated the father."
"Oh."
"I hated the father and I hate-" the Eight cut off.
"You hate him," Sharon realized. "You hate the baby." The Eight flushed. "What's his name?" Sharon pressed.
"He doesn't have one," the Eight admitted.
She really did hate him. Sharon's heart lurched up into her throat. "If the you hated the father…"
"It was an assignment," the Eight said angrily. "We were at war. We are at war. I had to keep him in check."
There were all sorts of bits and pieces missing here, but from the way the Eight spoke, Sharon was almost positive she was telling the truth. The details didn't matter, not beyond what she needed.
"Do you want to leave the Cylons?" she asked. The Eight shook her head. "But you want the baby gone. What about the others?"
"I don't care about the others," the Eight said. "Not when it comes to this. I would have terminated the damn pregnancy if I could."
A sudden realization hit Sharon like a wave. "They wanted this outcome," she said. "They wanted you to-"
"You finally figured that out?"
"Like me."
"Not like you. I didn't mind the mission, the war. I don't want to be some farm experiment for Cylon reproduction. There are ways we shouldn't be like the humans."
"You want the baby gone?" Sharon said, leaning in. "Why don't you just throw it out an airlock?"
The Eight recoiled in horror. "No!"
"I thought so. You can't do it. It might be half human, but it's your baby. But you want it gone. Well… I have a trade I'd be willing to make."
The Eight's eyes widened. "I'm listening."
***
Karl was in a cell, crumpled and shaking and black and blue. "Hurry up and get him," the Eight hissed, "before I change my mind and shoot him."
Sharon scooped down to help her husband stand. "Wha… what's going on?" Karl slurred, then his eyes fixed on her face. "Sharon? Athena?"
"It's me," she confirmed.
He smiled. "I knew you'd save my ass."
"Come on," Sharon said. "We're not done this yet. Can you walk?"
He tried. "I think so," he said, finally, but he was uncertain.
"Good. Carry this." The Eight thrust an infant into his arms. Helo stared at it blankly. "It's…."
"Don't ask," Sharon ordered him. "We're kidnapping it."
"Sharon, Adama isn't going to like-"
"What's it going to do, Helo?" Sharon snapped. "Send the entire Cylon Fleet after us, bent on our destruction?"
"I see your point," he muttered, staring at the baby.
"Good. Now shut up and soldier, soldier," Sharon said. "We're going to have to run." She took the two guns the Eight offered her. "Fast."
***
Bullets. Screaming. The guns in her hands as she fired back, the kick back and the echoes that nearly deafened her. The baby began to cry.
Karl, pale and bruised, with one eye blackened and a cut on one cheek and God only knew how many more injuries, running as fast as he could. A bullet to her shoulder, sending her spinning.
Burning in her lungs, her legs on fire.
And then somehow, they were there. They were on a heavy raider and her hand was in the terminal and she was interfacing with it and it worked. They soared out of the basestar and jumped.
Jumped into nothing.
***
It was silent now, where before it had been all noise and confusion. Helo calmed the baby while Sharon bandaged her shoulder. It hurt like hell, but the blood loss was slowing and she'd be all right.
"He's so tiny," Helo said. "Hera was bigger than this when we got her back."
"I know." Sharon looked over his shoulder. "He needs a name."
Helo looked at her, startled. "We're keeping him? But what about the father? He's in the Fleet, right?"
"The father…" Sharon sighed. "If he's in the Fleet still, he slept with a Cylon during the occupation on New Caprica. He might not be willing to step up and say who he is."
"Oh. You're right. I wonder…" Helo shook his head. "Right now he just looks like a baby. But maybe some day…"
Sharon shrugged, and immediately regretted it. "None of that matters if we don't get back to the Fleet first," she said. "Any idea how we're going to do that?"
"I know the coordinates for where we were taken," Helo said. "We can start there."
"The Cylons will look for us there, too."
"Then outfly them." Helo jiggled the baby on his shoulder. "We'd better get there before Cavil gets the same idea."
Sharon nodded. "All right. Let's go."
***
There it was, the lone Raptor, waiting near the moon. Sharon stared at it unbelievingly.
"He waited for us," she whispered. "He really did."
"Did you ever doubt it?" Helo laughed.
Sharon considered it. "Fine. But we're not naming the baby William."
***
Adama looked at the baby like it would explode. "You're joking."
"I'm not, sir," Sharon said. "It was the only way we could get off that ship."
"How do you know that they aren't tracking us with it?" Tigh asked, peering at the little boy. "They could have implanted or programmed-"
"There are no scars, sir," Helo said forcefully. Tigh raised his eyebrows, but didn't smack him down. "I don't think they can do that. If they could have, they would have done it to Hera, first."
"He's got a point there," Adama sighed. "What are you going to do with it- him?"
"The same thing every parent does with a child, sir," Sharon said. "Feed him, change him, play with him… raise him."
Adama didn't like this. It was written all over his face. But in the end, he sighed. "Fine," he said. "It's not that easy, of course, but-"
"Of course," Helo answered immediately. But Sharon saw his face as he held the baby. It was that easy for Karl.
Of course it was. That was why she'd loved him in the first place.
***
"He still needs a name," Helo said as they walked through the halls. "And since you vetoed William…"
Sharon was glad that people interrupted them, wanting to know if it was true. Welcoming them back. Staring at them like they were untrustworthy, like they were insane. She had no idea, and she had no-
"Is it true?"
"Hey, Felix." Helo bent over and hugged him, a gesture that Felix didn't seem to even notice. "How are you?"
Felix ignored him. "Is it true?" he demanded again. "It's a hybrid baby?"
"From an Eight from New Caprica," Helo said easily. Felix stared at the baby, looking horrified. Helo laughed. "Come on, Felix. It's a baby, not a bomb. I know you've said you never planned on kids, but even you have to admit the little guy is cute."
"From an Eight. From New Caprica," Felix repeated.
And it was all clear, just like that. Huh. Sharon wouldn't have thought it, but it didn't exactly sound like the relationship was functional. And Felix Gaeta, aide to the President and potential source of information, was someone that would need to be kept in line. Sharon would bet every cubit she had that the father was standing right there in front of them.
And judging by the look on his face, it was the last thing he wanted.
"The Eight wouldn't tell us who the father was," Sharon said, trying to gentle her voice. "She didn't give us much to go on. We have no idea who it could be."
Felix just nodded.
"So unless someone steps up, we're raising him."
Felix started. "You shouldn't have to-" he began, guilt written all over his face. Guilt, and something more. Something like relief.
"We don't know who the father is," Sharon repeated. "And if it was on New Caprica… it could be anyone. And it could be… bad."
"It could be," Felix whispered.
"And Sharon and I want another child anyway," Helo added in. Sharon couldn't tell if he understood what was happening or not, but she was grateful. "And we haven't… well, you know. And we're ready to parent a hybrid child."
"But he's not yours," Felix said.
Helo laughed. "You think that's going to matter?"
Felix smiled up at him; a thin smile that stretched over his teeth. "No," he said finally. "I suppose it doesn't."
"The only thing is," Sharon said slowly, "he doesn't have a name yet."
"You're kidding."
"She didn't want him. She never named him."
Felix nodded. "Ben," he said finally. "Ben was my best friend for most of my life. He was a great guy- smart and nice and… and everything."
"Ben Agathon," Helo tried, and then smiled. "I like it."
"Ben it is," Sharon agreed.
Felix's smile looked a little less fake. They stood in awkward silence for a long moment, until someone jostled them.
"Well," Felix said, "I should go."
Sharon nodded. "We'll see you later, Gaeta," Helo agreed cheerfully. Felix shot them one more hurried look and then sprinted off.
"You think-?" Helo began.
"I can't be positive, but I'm betting it is," Sharon said. She looked at little Ben, still in Helo's arms. "I'd believe it. Do you mind?"
Helo shook his head. "I have a feeling this is for the better. Come on," he said, squaring his shoulders. "Let's get you to the infirmary and then go get Hera. She's a big sister now."
***
A baby changes everything. Sharon had known that before, so many times with Hera. But Ben was different. Ben had saved their lives, and he didn't even know it.
Sharon rocked him to sleep as he snuffled into her shoulder, kissing his little head and stroking his back. If it wasn't for Ben, they almost certainly wouldn't have made it out of their alive.
"Your daddy says I saved him," she whispered to her new son. "And I'll tell you, that's true. But you're the one that saved me. Thank you." She kissed him and laid him down in his crib.
The Agathons were together, and they were home, and they were safe. And Sharon would do anything she had to to make sure that it stayed that way.
Author: lls_mutant
Summary: When Sharon and Helo are taken prisoner by the Cylons, desperate times call for desperate measures. But the way out is the last thing that Sharon ever expected.
Characters: Sharon Agathon, Karl Agathon, various Cylons
Pairings: Sharon/Helo
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: very vague mentions of dubcon, allusions to torture
Title, Author, and URL of original story: Helo ficlet by trovia
Author's Note: It's not nearly as epic as you were envisioning the original to be, I'm sure, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Frak them. Death was supposedly instantaneous, but being shot between the eyes hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before.
Sharon Agathon was not in a good mood.
She pushed the goo off her face and out of her eyes, and her mood managed to get even worse.
"So there you are. We've been waiting."
"Not you," Sharon muttered as a One sat perched on the edge of her tub. "Get out."
The One's smile deepened. "You really think you're in a position to make threats here?"
"So I'm a prisoner?" Sharon asked. She should be. She sure as hell knew what side she was on. In fact, if she was a One, she'd box her frakking ass. Not that she was going to say that out loud, of course.
"No, not a prisoner." A Three came into view. "More like a prodigal daughter. Prodigal sister. You're home, Sharon." The Three bent over and kissed her forehead. Sharon wanted to push her away. Or pull her into the tub and drown her. Yeah. That would be better.
"Where's Helo?" she ground out. "Where is my husband?"
"Husband?" the One clucked, shaking his head. "Such a human concept, don't you think? Swearing to just stay with one person for all eternity. What a load of shit."
"You really shouldn't be so concerned about him," the Three told her, holding out a robe. "Not when you're home, among your true family."
So he was alive. Because if they'd killed him, the One would be lording it over her right now. Sharon knew that for sure. The tightness in her chest loosened just a little. She took the robe from the Three and glared at the One.
"You could get out."
"I could. Not going to."
"Pervert." Nudity didn't really bother her, but he did. Nevertheless, she got out of the tub and pulled the robe on.
"Come on," the One said when she had the robe tied. "Might as well not pretend this is anything more than it is. You give us trouble, we call the Centurions. Got it?"
"Got it," Sharon agreed. She pulled the robe tight and followed him out.
The Three stayed behind.
***
There were problems. There were a lot of problems. For one, her memories were in a huge bank, which would compromise the Fleet. Shit. For two, there was Helo. If he wasn't dead, she'd bet cubits he was somewhere in the Cylon fleet. When the Cylons ambushed them during that tylium mining operation, they weren't going to just leave a group of dead Colonials. Well, maybe Colonials. But not Helo. Not the only human that had fathered a child from a Cylon.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. In fact, Sharon was pretty sure even Hot Dog could have gotten this one. But she wasn't so sure Adama would.
Well, no. Adama would probably figure it out. The question was, what would he do about it?
If Sharon was in charge of the Galactica, the answer would be unfortunate but simple. Blow up any Cylon ship they came across, but nothing more. There was no way to figure out what basestar they were on, where they were, if they were even anywhere near the Fleet. In fact, Sharon wasn't sure the were even still on the same basestar.
In short, they were screwed.
The Three led her down corridors and to a room with a bed in it and several Centurions standing outside. Sharon didn't even glance at them as she passed, ushering herself into what she knew was a cell. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked. "Why didn't you just shoot me?"
The Three's smile was cool. "We wouldn't do that. You're our sister." That kiss again, this time on the cheek. "Besides, you are too valuable for us to waste, especially now that you're back here in our hands. Get some sleep. You'll need it."
Sharon swallowed hard as the Three smiled and then left the cell.
***
Take stock.
She was here, in a cell. On a basestar. With Centurions guarding her. And probably about to become a medical experiment. That was the situation.
What did she have to work with?
She wasn't armed. She was strong, but so were the hundreds of other Cylons on this ship. But she had no weapons. A quick search of the room and the adjacent bathroom betrayed the reality that there wasn't much she could fashion into one, either.
She couldn't die. Not really. But each resurrection would take thirty six hours, and who knew what would happen to Helo during that time? Plus, each time she downloaded, they'd have the chance to box her. And eventually, the novelty of a Cylon who'd given birth would be eclipsed by the annoyance of a Cylon who was trying to escape. So resurrection as a means of travel was out.
Someone would have to acknowledge she was here. She assumed, anyway. Otherwise they would have just boxed her. So there was always the possibility of swinging someone over to her side and getting them to help her.
Yeah, right. Help Helo and me escape and when we get back to the Fleet, Adama will lock you up, too! Just like Caprica! And good luck lying about it, because they had all her memories.
So, all she had to do was get out of her cell, rescue her husband, steal a heavy raider, escape the basestar, find the Fleet, and keep the Fleet from shooting them down before she got them to listen to who they were.
Screwed didn't even begin to cover it. Frakked was a little closer.
***
A Four came for her. Sharon sighed. She knew it would be the Fours.
"Where's Helo?" she demanded as soon as he walked in.
He arched his eyebrows. "Hello to you, too. I see living among humans has only decreased your social capabilities."
"Where's Helo?" Sharon repeated.
He smirked. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you that?"
No. Of course not.
He led her to an examination room. She took one look at the table, turned around, and tried to charge out. Unfortunately, he'd anticipated that and centurions blocked her way. Sharon tried to break through, but they grabbed her, and she was carried, struggling, to the table.
"Interesting that you thought that would work," the Four said, and then injected something into her veins.
Her last conscious thought was that she hoped she'd wake up from this.
***
Hera.
Once again, Sharon was running after her, but this time, the when the doors opened Sharon was down on the floor of the Opera House and able to get through.
"We can get her," Karl said, and he was there with her, and they were running. Hera headed through the doors and instead of a theater and a stage she ran out into green grass, wind kicking up her hair and her skirt.
"We can get her," Sharon said, and they both tried to run. But as they entered that light, something slowed them, and it was like running through molasses. The more they struggled, the slower they ran.
Some dreams made no sense; others required no explanation at all. Sharon really hated both kinds.
***
She was aware of pain. Pain in her vagina, in her lower abdomen, in her thighs, in her head. She groaned, turning over, and realized she was back in her cell. Whatever they had done, they'd just dumped her back here.
And if they were doing this to her, what were they doing to Karl? Sharon was pretty sure it had to be worse.
They had to get out of here, and fast. She just had no idea how to do it.
***
Sometimes she heard snatches of conversations, outside her cell. Others walking by and talking.
"-accept that God's love means that we must all live in harmony, and no harmony can come until-
"
"-find 'em and nuke the lot. We should have done that on New Caprica, but those damn Sixes and Eights-"
"-those shoes! I know that humans are a plague on the galaxy, but they at least created some sort of beauty-"
"-don't know what's going to happen? Oh, come on. He's practically our brother-in-law. We won't hurt him. Too much."
Laughter, and Sharon raised her head. Brother-in-law. That had to be him. He was here.
Her eyes narrowed. She could definitely do this. She had to.
***
She'd been held prisoner before, and the experience had been far from a pleasant one. And she hadn't escaped that; she'd earned her way out.
She wondered if she could do that again.
The thought came to her, slow and sure. But that was the problem: slow and sure. It had taken her the better part of a year, not to mention some pretty impressive heroics, to get the Old Man to trust her. She might have that kind of time, but she had a feeling Helo didn't.
But it was the only idea she'd come up with that even had a shot.
***
But who should she convince? Who would believe her? Not the Ones, that was for sure. And not the Threes. The Fours wouldn't care, the Fives were too sadistic. That left the Twos, the Sixes, and the Eights.
She was never sure who would come to her cell to bring her food or water. The models didn't even take turns- it just seemed to be a task delegated to whoever wasn't doing anything when they thought of it. So there was no chance of establishing a rapport.
The Twos were obsessed with destiny and gods. The Sixes were capricious and individualistic. And the Eights were flimsy and not easily trusted.
But then, it wasn’t a whole line she had to convince. Just one. One person. She couldn't change the mind of an entire race. But had a shot at changing the mind of an individual.
She could do this.
***
"New Caprica," she said to the Two who brought her food.
He raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?" he said, and she swore he was almost laughing.
"What you did on New Caprica-"
"Never set foot there," he said. "I managed to pull ship duty the whole time." He was smug, gleeful.
He wasn't the one.
***
"Did you ever hold her?" she asked the Six when she came in with water.
"Hold who?" the Six demanded irritably.
"Hera."
"She pulled my hair so hard it felt like it would come out of scalp."
Nope. Not her, either.
***
"Where is Helo?" she begged the Four who came for her yet again. "Please? Can't you tell me anything?"
"You know I'm not going to."
She did know. She'd tried tears. Threats. Pleas. She'd even tried a kind of bribery she really didn't want to think about. But none of them had worked. She'd known they wouldn't, but she'd had to try anyway.
***
A One came.
Sharon stayed silent.
***
"New Caprica," she tried on another Two.
His eyes flicked to her. "A momentary divergence in our river."
He was the one who'd taken Starbuck; Sharon was sure of that. "Let me go," she whispered, "and I'll take you right to her."
He laughed. The bastard had the gall to laugh. "You think Adama is going to let me back on that ship? There will be an entire platoon of Marines to greet me, and I won't be out of the raider before my body hits the ground."
He was right; that's what she'd been counting on to protect Kara in the first place. She slumped against the wall, defeated.
***
"Have there been any others?"
It was a last ditch effort, because Sharon knew the answer. No. There hadn't been. But the Eight who'd brought her tray paused. "Any other what?"
"Any other pregnancies?"
Silence. Then, "No."
Sharon looked up slowly. She was lying. She could hear it in her voice. "Who?" she asked.
The Eight drew back angrily. "I said no."
"I heard you. You don't think I know what you sound like when you lie?"
"I thought we were all so different according to you," the Eight spat. "That we aren't alike."
"We make different decisions," Sharon corrected her. "But the genetic material is the same." She considered her sister. Sister- God, she hated that word. The Eight was backing up, her eyes hard and cold. Her hands resting on her stomach. An unconscious motion, but one she knew well. Too well.
"It was you, wasn't it?" she said, incredulous. "The baby?"
The Eight looked away.
"Oh my God," Sharon said, sinking back. "It's alive." This changed so much. This changed everything. "Is it a boy? Girl?"
"Boy," the Eight said, the words tearing out of her. "A boy."
"Cylon or-"
"Hybrid."
"Like Hera." More silence from the Eight. Sharon leaned forward. "Who was it? Is he… is he here?"
"No." The Eight scowled. "I shouldn't have told you this. I should-"
Sharon lunged forward and grabbed her by the wrist. "No. Don't go. Do you want to go back to the father? You must have loved him if you-"
"Love?" the Eight laughed. "That's what everyone says. It's also the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard. I hated the father."
"Oh."
"I hated the father and I hate-" the Eight cut off.
"You hate him," Sharon realized. "You hate the baby." The Eight flushed. "What's his name?" Sharon pressed.
"He doesn't have one," the Eight admitted.
She really did hate him. Sharon's heart lurched up into her throat. "If the you hated the father…"
"It was an assignment," the Eight said angrily. "We were at war. We are at war. I had to keep him in check."
There were all sorts of bits and pieces missing here, but from the way the Eight spoke, Sharon was almost positive she was telling the truth. The details didn't matter, not beyond what she needed.
"Do you want to leave the Cylons?" she asked. The Eight shook her head. "But you want the baby gone. What about the others?"
"I don't care about the others," the Eight said. "Not when it comes to this. I would have terminated the damn pregnancy if I could."
A sudden realization hit Sharon like a wave. "They wanted this outcome," she said. "They wanted you to-"
"You finally figured that out?"
"Like me."
"Not like you. I didn't mind the mission, the war. I don't want to be some farm experiment for Cylon reproduction. There are ways we shouldn't be like the humans."
"You want the baby gone?" Sharon said, leaning in. "Why don't you just throw it out an airlock?"
The Eight recoiled in horror. "No!"
"I thought so. You can't do it. It might be half human, but it's your baby. But you want it gone. Well… I have a trade I'd be willing to make."
The Eight's eyes widened. "I'm listening."
***
Karl was in a cell, crumpled and shaking and black and blue. "Hurry up and get him," the Eight hissed, "before I change my mind and shoot him."
Sharon scooped down to help her husband stand. "Wha… what's going on?" Karl slurred, then his eyes fixed on her face. "Sharon? Athena?"
"It's me," she confirmed.
He smiled. "I knew you'd save my ass."
"Come on," Sharon said. "We're not done this yet. Can you walk?"
He tried. "I think so," he said, finally, but he was uncertain.
"Good. Carry this." The Eight thrust an infant into his arms. Helo stared at it blankly. "It's…."
"Don't ask," Sharon ordered him. "We're kidnapping it."
"Sharon, Adama isn't going to like-"
"What's it going to do, Helo?" Sharon snapped. "Send the entire Cylon Fleet after us, bent on our destruction?"
"I see your point," he muttered, staring at the baby.
"Good. Now shut up and soldier, soldier," Sharon said. "We're going to have to run." She took the two guns the Eight offered her. "Fast."
***
Bullets. Screaming. The guns in her hands as she fired back, the kick back and the echoes that nearly deafened her. The baby began to cry.
Karl, pale and bruised, with one eye blackened and a cut on one cheek and God only knew how many more injuries, running as fast as he could. A bullet to her shoulder, sending her spinning.
Burning in her lungs, her legs on fire.
And then somehow, they were there. They were on a heavy raider and her hand was in the terminal and she was interfacing with it and it worked. They soared out of the basestar and jumped.
Jumped into nothing.
***
It was silent now, where before it had been all noise and confusion. Helo calmed the baby while Sharon bandaged her shoulder. It hurt like hell, but the blood loss was slowing and she'd be all right.
"He's so tiny," Helo said. "Hera was bigger than this when we got her back."
"I know." Sharon looked over his shoulder. "He needs a name."
Helo looked at her, startled. "We're keeping him? But what about the father? He's in the Fleet, right?"
"The father…" Sharon sighed. "If he's in the Fleet still, he slept with a Cylon during the occupation on New Caprica. He might not be willing to step up and say who he is."
"Oh. You're right. I wonder…" Helo shook his head. "Right now he just looks like a baby. But maybe some day…"
Sharon shrugged, and immediately regretted it. "None of that matters if we don't get back to the Fleet first," she said. "Any idea how we're going to do that?"
"I know the coordinates for where we were taken," Helo said. "We can start there."
"The Cylons will look for us there, too."
"Then outfly them." Helo jiggled the baby on his shoulder. "We'd better get there before Cavil gets the same idea."
Sharon nodded. "All right. Let's go."
***
There it was, the lone Raptor, waiting near the moon. Sharon stared at it unbelievingly.
"He waited for us," she whispered. "He really did."
"Did you ever doubt it?" Helo laughed.
Sharon considered it. "Fine. But we're not naming the baby William."
***
Adama looked at the baby like it would explode. "You're joking."
"I'm not, sir," Sharon said. "It was the only way we could get off that ship."
"How do you know that they aren't tracking us with it?" Tigh asked, peering at the little boy. "They could have implanted or programmed-"
"There are no scars, sir," Helo said forcefully. Tigh raised his eyebrows, but didn't smack him down. "I don't think they can do that. If they could have, they would have done it to Hera, first."
"He's got a point there," Adama sighed. "What are you going to do with it- him?"
"The same thing every parent does with a child, sir," Sharon said. "Feed him, change him, play with him… raise him."
Adama didn't like this. It was written all over his face. But in the end, he sighed. "Fine," he said. "It's not that easy, of course, but-"
"Of course," Helo answered immediately. But Sharon saw his face as he held the baby. It was that easy for Karl.
Of course it was. That was why she'd loved him in the first place.
***
"He still needs a name," Helo said as they walked through the halls. "And since you vetoed William…"
Sharon was glad that people interrupted them, wanting to know if it was true. Welcoming them back. Staring at them like they were untrustworthy, like they were insane. She had no idea, and she had no-
"Is it true?"
"Hey, Felix." Helo bent over and hugged him, a gesture that Felix didn't seem to even notice. "How are you?"
Felix ignored him. "Is it true?" he demanded again. "It's a hybrid baby?"
"From an Eight from New Caprica," Helo said easily. Felix stared at the baby, looking horrified. Helo laughed. "Come on, Felix. It's a baby, not a bomb. I know you've said you never planned on kids, but even you have to admit the little guy is cute."
"From an Eight. From New Caprica," Felix repeated.
And it was all clear, just like that. Huh. Sharon wouldn't have thought it, but it didn't exactly sound like the relationship was functional. And Felix Gaeta, aide to the President and potential source of information, was someone that would need to be kept in line. Sharon would bet every cubit she had that the father was standing right there in front of them.
And judging by the look on his face, it was the last thing he wanted.
"The Eight wouldn't tell us who the father was," Sharon said, trying to gentle her voice. "She didn't give us much to go on. We have no idea who it could be."
Felix just nodded.
"So unless someone steps up, we're raising him."
Felix started. "You shouldn't have to-" he began, guilt written all over his face. Guilt, and something more. Something like relief.
"We don't know who the father is," Sharon repeated. "And if it was on New Caprica… it could be anyone. And it could be… bad."
"It could be," Felix whispered.
"And Sharon and I want another child anyway," Helo added in. Sharon couldn't tell if he understood what was happening or not, but she was grateful. "And we haven't… well, you know. And we're ready to parent a hybrid child."
"But he's not yours," Felix said.
Helo laughed. "You think that's going to matter?"
Felix smiled up at him; a thin smile that stretched over his teeth. "No," he said finally. "I suppose it doesn't."
"The only thing is," Sharon said slowly, "he doesn't have a name yet."
"You're kidding."
"She didn't want him. She never named him."
Felix nodded. "Ben," he said finally. "Ben was my best friend for most of my life. He was a great guy- smart and nice and… and everything."
"Ben Agathon," Helo tried, and then smiled. "I like it."
"Ben it is," Sharon agreed.
Felix's smile looked a little less fake. They stood in awkward silence for a long moment, until someone jostled them.
"Well," Felix said, "I should go."
Sharon nodded. "We'll see you later, Gaeta," Helo agreed cheerfully. Felix shot them one more hurried look and then sprinted off.
"You think-?" Helo began.
"I can't be positive, but I'm betting it is," Sharon said. She looked at little Ben, still in Helo's arms. "I'd believe it. Do you mind?"
Helo shook his head. "I have a feeling this is for the better. Come on," he said, squaring his shoulders. "Let's get you to the infirmary and then go get Hera. She's a big sister now."
***
A baby changes everything. Sharon had known that before, so many times with Hera. But Ben was different. Ben had saved their lives, and he didn't even know it.
Sharon rocked him to sleep as he snuffled into her shoulder, kissing his little head and stroking his back. If it wasn't for Ben, they almost certainly wouldn't have made it out of their alive.
"Your daddy says I saved him," she whispered to her new son. "And I'll tell you, that's true. But you're the one that saved me. Thank you." She kissed him and laid him down in his crib.
The Agathons were together, and they were home, and they were safe. And Sharon would do anything she had to to make sure that it stayed that way.