Chapter Eleven: All Right

Chapter Eleven: All Right

Walking down the hall of Galactica, Dawn rubbed her arms to try and warm them. Space was cold, there wasn’t any doubt of that, but Colonial One’s internal atmo kept the temperature steady and comfortable. Galactica was a much older ship and had problems regulating stupid things like temperature. At any given place in the ship, it could be either ten degrees colder or hotter than it should be. Dawn frowned. Why was it she got to wonder into the cold spots?

Lee and Laura had gone off to talk with Colonel Tigh as soon as they rendezvous with Galactica. It was important Presidential stuff, so Dawn figured there wasn’t much point for her to stick around. Maybe if it hadn’t been such a traumatizing day, she would have stuck around to just see how Laura handled her dad’s oldest and best friend - something not even their mother or Lee had ever managed to be able to do successfully. Dawn got the feeling that Laura would do just fine, though.

Most people didn’t look twice at her. She was just another face in a jock-smock on a ship full of people wearing them. Or there should be full of people wearing them. Dawn had noticed a distinct lack of Viper jocks running around. There were still a few, but Dawn was pretty sure that there were a sever reduction since earlier.

Dawn didn’t know a lot about the situation (Hey, this was first end of the worlds, right?) but she was pretty sure that, that was so not going to play in their favor.

She had been wondering around for nearly forty-five minutes now, trying to find her way to her dad’s quarters. Dawn had been worried when she found out that he was off ship and inside the Rancor Station. It was an odd thing for the Commander of a Battleship to leave his post, but Dawn figured there must have been a good reason. Her dad was too loyal to his ship and his people to just leave them to go exploring. Still, she knew no one was going to tell her anything. The best thing, she decided, to do was go wait for her dad in his quarters until he got back.

That was if she could find his quarters.

Two marines came to an intersection a little ways down the hall from her and turned in Dawn’s direction. Both were dressed in full gear and were carrying automatic weapons in the hands. Both had managed to have that serious ‘we’re marines, so don’t frak with us’ look and both seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, and Dawn was already stepping to the side to let them by. Still, Dawn needed directions. If she didn’t get them, well, she was pretty sure she’d spend the rest of her life wondering around her father’s ship.

“Excuse me,” she said, reaching out for the closest one.

He slowed his quick pace to a stop as he turned and considered her with a small tilt to his head. Dawn bit down on her bottom lip. Marines weren’t people that Dawn usually dealt with. There hadn’t been any in her family and all her father’s and brothers’ friends in the military had always been other Colonial Officers. She had heard stories about how they were like, though. She just hoped this guy was nice.

“How can I help you, sir?” he asked.

Dawn blinked. Sir? He was at least ten years older than her. Why would he call her ‘sir’?

“I-I was looking for the Commander’s quarters. Could you tell me where they are?”

This time, he blinked, but the surprised expression quickly melted into amusement. Dawn bristled a little since she got the distinct impression he was laughing at her. His fellow marine, who had stopped a few feet away from them, also seemed less than impressed. Dawn figured he must know the man fairly well if he could look at his back and tell that was smiling. That or he was looking at her face and could tell she wasn’t happy.

“Jolovich,” he said in a warning tone.

Jolovich just kept smiling. “Sorry, sir, I’m just not used to being asked directions by a flyboy.”

Flyboy? Why did he think…Oh, right. The jock-smock.

Rolling his eyes, the other marine stepped forward and said, “Down the corridor, go up a deck, turn right, and then turn left. It’ll be on your left.”

“Thank you…”

“Venner, sir.”

She gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Venner.”

Venner gave her a curt nod before turning away. Jolovich grinned at her a moment longer before joining his friend with a chuckle. Dawn tightened her fist. Bloody wanker.

Frowning, she scrunched her nose and eyebrows. Where the hell that come from?

The directions Venner had given her were amazingly concise, but were correct. The marine guards outside weren’t going to let her in, though. Her father was still away and no one was to be allowed in without permission or unless their status outranked them. Dawn, unfortunately, had neither.

With a frustrated groan, Dawn backed up against the opposite wall, kicked it, and dropped into a hard sitting position on the floor. Curling her arms around the top of her knees, she buried her face into her them, letting her long hair fall around her face. She could feel herself trembling lightly, but whether it was from the coolness of the hall, exhaustion, fear, or the overbearing guilt that she was trying to push from her mind, she wasn’t sure. It could have been all of them, or none of them. All she did know was that she was frakking tired.

She sat there for awhile. Dawn wasn’t sure how long, really, but her legs where beginning to tingle in protest. They’d be asleep soon if she didn’t move, but she didn’t really care.

She heard someone walking down the corridor. Before she mustered enough energy to force herself to see who it was, Dawn felt an iron grip wrap around her upper arm and violently begin to pull her to her feet.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

Whipping her hair out of her face, Dawn stumbled to regain her balance as she looked up into the outraged - and then stunned - face of Colonel Tigh.

In all honesty, she didn’t know her father’s closest friend all that well. Really, what Dawn did know about him could be boiled down into two words, cranky drunk. At least that was how her mother used to describe him. Dawn figured that was true because even then she could still smell the liquor on him.

Quickly composing himself, he asked, “What are you doing sitting in the middle of the hall wearing that?”

Dawn fought the urge to squirm or to snap back with some petulant teenage remark. “I was waiting on Dad.” She glanced at he marines stationed outside her father’s quarters. “I was going to wait inside, but they wouldn’t let me.”

Okay, maybe only one slightly petulant teenage remark.

“Sir,” she added. Tigh, from what she remembered, always responded well to ‘sir’.

Frowning tightly and not letting go of her arm, he march her to her father’s door. The marines didn’t try to stop him as Tigh punched in a series of numbers and stepped inside, dragging Dawn along with him. He did spear them a sneer, but neither marine pretended as if they saw.

He all but threw her inside, but Dawn could tell it was more from being impatience than actually anger. She was just another problem he was having to take care while waiting for Bill to come back.

“He’ll be back soon,” Tigh said. “Until then, stay here.”

Before Dawn could say anything, he was already leaving.

“And take that off before some idiot deckhand sees you and throws you in a bird,” he said over his shoulder before shutting the hatch. Dawn wasn’t sure, but she thought he might have dogged it.

Sighing, Dawn sat down on her father’s couch to as she was told -- for once -- and wait.


The fog that had started for them night before had finall rolled down the mountainsides and pooled into Serenity Valley near sunrise that morning. A sickly, radioactive yellowish orange tent had begun to settle over the sky late in the afternoon the day before and had continued to deepen throughout the night. When the first bit of light began to illuminate the night sky, the ugly orange reflected in the fog, making it look more like burning smoke than cool mist. It reminded Buffy of what she always sort of pictured hell looking like, only without the, you know, brimstone, lakes of fire, and those Teletubbie things running around.

“I don’t like this.”

Abe stood next to the truck that Ben was loading. His arms were crossed and a scowl could be seen through his thick, salt-and-pepper beard. They had awoken him and Sheba only a few minutes ago and told him what they planned to do. It was a plan that Abe obviously did really think was all that smart.

“It’s safer this way,” Buffy said.

“And faster,” Ben said logically, shutting the door to the driver’s side of the truck. “With just Buffy and myself going to Verona, we’ll be able to get there and back quicker than if you Sheba came along.”

“And what exactly are Sheba and I to do should while you two are gone?” Abe asked.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Buffy watched Sheba. The young girl had placed herself in front of the dying fire, watching the embers as they cracked and fell into small pieces. She hadn’t said a word since they woke her. Buffy was worried, but there wasn’t much she could do. Maybe when they got her mother -- Carolanne -- back, she’d talk to the girl. It was why she spent all that Adama money on school, after all.

Adjusting his oversized jacket with a shrug of his shoulders, Ben stuffed his hands in his pockets. “We’re going to need more wood and supplies. Buffy and I will try and bring something back if we can, but we’re going to have to figure out a way to find our own soon. You could be looking for some fresh water while we’re gone and see what kind of animals may have survived.”

“Just be careful the furry kind with sharp teeth that like to eat grandmas and little pigs. Kind of know some those survived,” Buffy said.

Picking up a hunting knife from the chest, Buffy pulled the weapon from the sheath. The edge was sharp and deadly looking, like the blade had been sharpened not to long ago. Perfect. Closing the top of the chest, she put the hunting knife into the satchel she had stored some extra weapons in and pulled the strap over head.

Abe frowned, but ignored her strange comment. “Even if I do find something today, that don’t mean it’ll be good tomorrow.”

With a tight smile, Ben reached across and placed a hand on Abe’s shoulder. “Look hard.”

“And if you two should get caught?” Abe asked. “What’ll me and Sheba do then?”

“Run,” Buffy said, climbing into the passenger side seat of the truck..

Abe’s nose twitched. “That’s helpful.”


Adama winced as the medic dabbed the antiseptic against the deep wound on his forehead none to gently. He must be Cottle’s top medical officer with a bedside manner like that. The medic pushed down hard on the butterfly bandage to keep the wound closed and Adama quickly waved him off. With a quick, snap salute, the medic hurried off to find more patients to tend to.

Tigh was standing next to him, leaning against the wall while Adama sat on the stairs, as they wheeled the body of the Cylon by. The look on his XO’s face was undeniable shock. Adama had known Tigh for a very long time (since before Buffy was born, something absently whispered in his mind), but he had never seen that look on his friend’s face. It took a lot to rattle an old war horse like Saul Tigh, but this newest revelation had managed to do so.

“Frak,” Tigh muttered. “So, the Cylon’s look like us now?”

Adama nodded. “They bleed like us too,” he said swiping at his own wound with a bloodied towel that the medic had given him.

He glanced at the body before the men taking it away turned a corner. Leoben Conroy was the first Cylon Adama had laid eyes on since the end of the War, but he knew it wouldn’t be his last. That one was a tricky one. For most of their conversation, Adama couldn’t tell whether the thing was lying or telling the truth or combining the two. He would have to make sure that there weren’t any more models like that on his ship. There was no telling the sort of damage that could be done by one of those with just a few well placed words.

“Yeah, well, thank the gods for small favors, I suppose,” Tigh said absently, bringing Adama out of his thoughts. Pushing away from the wall, he began to pace making Adama slightly dizzy.

“You realize what this means, right?” Tigh asked. “They could be anywhere. Anyone.”

Adama nodded and wrung the towel between his hands. “I’ve had time to think about it.”

Tigh looked at him expectantly. “And?”

“I don’t know,” Adama said.

He had had time to think about as he wondered through the munitions station, but it felt like circular logic in away. The Cylon look human now down to the blood. This new face of an old enemy meant that they could infiltrate his ship and he wouldn’t know it. Adama didn’t even know how many models there were. It was staggering to think about. Thus far, he couldn’t even come up with any sort of answer besides the one he had given Tigh. Each new question, same old answer.

Deciding to leave it for the time being, Adama asked, “How are we doing on warheads?”

“Magazine Two is secure,” Tigh said, sounding a bit more pleased. “Magazine Three and Four within the hour.”

There was a pause, which caused Adama to look up. “There’s something else.”

Adama waited.

Drawing in a breath, Tigh said, “Lee and Dawn…they’re alive.”


They had just turned onto one of the back roads going deeper into the mountains when Buffy pulled the sheathed hunting knife out of the satchel. She knew from experience that fighting with knives were only useful if you could actually get to it, and stuffed into a bag with a bunch of guns wasn’t the most ideal place to store that kind of weapon. She remembered the one that Faith used to have and how her fellow slayer had always kept it hidden in the back of her pants. Running around, that would be fine, but Buffy figured that kind of made sitting a little more difficult. Preferring not to be poked in the butt for the entire ride to Verona, Buffy undid her seatbelt, drew up her leg, and placed her foot against the dashboard. She pulled up the bottom of her pants and strapped the knife around her leg at the top of her boots. There, easy access. Much better.

She could see Ben stealing glances at her from the corner of her eyes as she armed herself. “Do you really think a knife will do much good?” he asked.

Pushing her pants leg back down, Buffy shrugged. “Against the big scary robots? Probably not.”

“Then why bother with a blade?”

“Could be useful.”

Ben didn’t say anything more. Like he said, knives, not very useful against these slightly scarier versions of C3PO and R2D2, but Buffy still felt better carrying a weapon like that. Hey some people had security blankets; she had security weapons. Since wooden stakes would be zero effective against metal, she’d have to settle for a nicely sharpened object instead.

Leaning back in her seat, Buffy glanced out the window. They were at a slightly higher altitude and she could now see down into Serenity Valley. It was still covered by fog, though. Buffy was grateful for that. At least Abe and Sheba would be safe for awhile longer.

She wondered if Dawn was safe. Of course, the only way for Dawn to be safe now was if she was very far, far away. God, did she hope she was, but it scared her at the same time. Dawn being far away, meant that she wasn’t there, and Buffy couldn’t protect her anymore. Couldn’t see her anymore. Couldn’t be there with her anymore.

Buffy should have known. How many people had always been told what being the Slayer meant? How many times had she been warned? Buffy thought that this time it might be different. Even though this wasn’t her real world or her real family, it had been nice to lay that burden down and not have to fight the evil things that lured in the darkness. There had still been pain and lose (God, she stilled missed Zak sometimes), but not to the point where she had become immune to feeling the effects. Whereas she had felt so hard and numb on the inside during that last year in Sunnydale, she had finally began to feel…human again.

It was gone now, though. She had figured it out last night while she watched those crafts scan the area. She was going to have to become that person again. She was going to have to be the Slayer. There wasn’t much of humanity left, but the things that lived in the dark threatened those who remained. It was her job to protect them.

Getting to kick robot ass ala Sarah Connor-style was just going to be bonus points.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked softly, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Buffy forced a small grin, but didn’t look back at him. “Always am.”


Lee found Dawn asleep on their father’s couch. After his conversation with Starbuck, he had come straight to his father’s quarters. He had thought that he would walk in and find their father enveloping Dawn in one of those giant bear hugs that he seemed to reserve for Dawn. Instead, she was sound asleep, and his father was no where to be seen.

Careful not to wake his sister, Lee walked over to his father’s desk and picked up a picture that hadn’t been packed away. He was surprised to see his own, younger self smiling back up at him holding baby Dawn, with Zak and Buffy smiling just as widely on either side of him. Lee himself couldn’t have been hardly twelve, and Dawn at two looked awkwardly large as his skinny, short self clumsily held onto her. Zak at ten was already as tall as Lee had been, making them look more like they were actually the same age instead of having a two year difference. Buffy at seven was smaller, but was standing on her toes to try and make herself closer to their height because she had never liked being the shortest.

Something twisted in his gut at the thought of his younger sister. Buffy. Gods, she was gone, wasn’t she. His little sister. The blonde pain-in-the-butt that used to love to get him and Zak into all sorts of trouble. She could find it anywhere. Between her and Zak, Lee spent more time trying to keep them out of trouble then he did doing anything else in his childhood and adolescents. Though he had complained repeatedly, he hadn’t minded. He was their older brother and that was what older brothers did.

Now they were both gone and it was just him and Dawn.

Gods that hurt.

“Lee?” Dawn asked sleepily.

Looking up from the photo he held, Lee glanced over at Dawn as she pushed herself up into a sitting position and swiped her hair away from her face. She had finally pulled off the jock-smock and was again wearing her sundress, though it was now considerably wrinkled and a bit of the skirt was still tucked into the shorts she had worn underneath. She must have worn it under the uniform. Lee couldn’t imagine that it had been comfortable.

He opened his mouth to ask her how long she had been there when the hatch opened noisily. Their father stood there staring at them as if he couldn’t believe that they were there.

Jumping off the couch in a graceful movement that surprised Lee, Dawn launched herself at their father. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly as he held onto her for dear life. Lee watched for what seemed like a long time before his father’s grip finally loosened from around Dawn, and his attention turned to Lee. Lee shifted awkwardly under the gaze, and he cleared his throat.

“I - uh…”

Remembering he was holding a picture, Lee puts it back on his father’s desk.

“I got to go,” he said, starting to walk past his father.

Before he managed to get by, his father’s hand wrapped around his upper arm. Lee paused, surprised that his dad had stopped him. He wondered why he had and what he wanted him to say. But then Adama surprised him again by pulling him into an awkward, but tight, one-arm hug. He was still holding onto Dawn with the other, so it was uncomfortable, but none of them seemed to notice.

Lee stood there stunned for a moment, before finally returning the hug. It amazed him to think that a day ago, this would have never happened. The only physical contact Lee thought they would ever have again was maybe another fist fight. It all seemed so stupid now.

The hug didn’t last long, though it felt like forever. Finally, Adama let go of him. Lee noticed that he kept a arm around Dawn’s shoulders, but didn’t say anything.

They were alive and together. Not all of them, but most. In a time like this, it felt like the most they could hope for.


TBC

AN: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. It just didn't want to be written. I hope it turned out alright. Thank you to those who reviewed and hope you guys enjoy.