The Originals

IMPORTANT: This is just a rough draft.

AN: First of all, I apologize to all of you for taking so long in updating. Plot bunnies had gone into hibernation but spring is in the air and they are finally waking up. Thanks for being so patient. Next time I’ll get them an alarm clock.

Special thanks to all those who reviewed:

Amy, the hyper caffeine addict – Hmmmm, I’m still working on that. It may just be hand signals for awhile lol at least until one learns the other languages. Probably the Earthlings will learn there language since they are outnumbered.

Evilclone – I’m so sorry for having abandoned you. I did check with AIM a couple of times at the beginning but our schedules don’t seem to match. I hope we will be able to finally get to chat. Good news though. I had a VERY good X-mas and got both seasons on DVD. Now my poor laptop can take a break. And YIPEEE! January is here and it is shaping up to be a great season. Here are your blinking chapters!

Kathea: Thank you so much for the offer but I already have a great beta. Her name is Elfmaiden. The reason she hasn't beta this story is because this is only supposed to be a rough draft and a way to get it out of my head until I have more time to concentrate on it. I tend to lose a lot of plot ideas if I don't write them down and since I figured I could use all the help I need, I decided to post it so that I could get readers suggestions on how to make it better and where exactly it needs work on. Again thanks for the offer and I am sorry about the grammer mishaps. The final draft should look better and as soon as I put a little more down for my other two stories, I go back on this one.

Airam4u: Thanks I’m glad you are enjoying it.

Morgana: I’ll probably contact you when I do rewrites of that chapter to get more information and possibly in future chapters (as well as other stories). I like to try and be as accurate as possible so thank you for teaching me.

Polaris, BigDaddyBall, Darklight & Darkfinder: Here’s some more.

Again, thank you for all the lovely reviews. PLEASE PLEASE keep them coming. I enjoy reading about your comments and questions so much. Thanks and enjoy. Oh, one other thing…this takes place before the season 2 finale (the Pegasus’s arrival) and will probably go slightly AU (okay maybe a lot AU from there but the Pegasus will be part of the story).

PS this is really short and I apologize but promise that there is a lot of action coming soon.

“Oh, oh…your awake.” Gaius stuttered slightly before clearing his throat. He ran his hand down the lapels of his jacket attempting to straighten out the wrinkles that seemed ever present.

Gaius looked around to see if his Cylon phantom was still present but soon realized that she had disappeared once again. He glanced back at the female who sat quietly observing him.

He walked swiftly to the sitting woman with his hand outstretched. He ignored her slight flinch at his swift action as he introduced himself. “I’m Gaius …Gaius Baltar.” He gave what he believed to be a welcoming smile.

Alexis looked at the stranger with trepidation. While the crazy man had seemed to gather his thoughts, the past few days memories came rushing back. Alexis had to quickly interpret what she remembered as well as try to stay calm. This was obviously not home and had something to do with those robots that had captured her and her crew. Even though she couldn’t explain it, she had a feeling that she was not on Earth but on another ship…a much larger ship considering that the Artemis had fit nicely within it with ample room to spare. But were these ‘humans’ friend or foe. Was it even possible that these were the ones they were looking for? Everything she had learned recently suggested to that fact. Alexis decided to reserve her judgment at least until she learned the fate of her friends.

Alexis was further taken by surprised not so much by the unknown words the stranger spoke but his method of introduction. He held his hand out as if waiting for her to shake it. If he was an…’Atlantian’, it seemed strange that he would introduce himself with such a familiar gesture.

She reached over to the outstretched hand and grasped it firmly before shaking. “Nice to meet you…Guy is Ball tar?” She hoped she got the pronunciation correct. She lifted her free hand to her chest and motioned to herself. “Alexis…Alexis Richards.”

As her hand was vigorously shaken, another memory came to the forefront of her mind. Where was Lee Adama…the man she had met earlier?

“Lee Adama?” the female…Alexis asked Gaius.

He couldn’t help feeling the tightening of his back muscles at hearing the name of the Commanders son. His mind whispered the name again but in the more familiar female voice of Kara Thrace.

“Ahhh, poor baby. That’s the second time a woman prefers the company of the Great Apollo instead of you. How will your ego manage?” The stroking of fingers through his shoulder length head alerted the Doctor to the emergence of his lover.

He cleared his throat but before he could think of a response, the two were startled by the arrival of Dr. Cottle. The elder doctor glanced quickly at the two and said, “Good you’re awake.” Before walking over to the end of the bed and retrieving the chart that hung there. He looked over the information before glancing back.

“Adama wants to meet our little guest along with the president. I expect that as vice-president you’ll be asked to join in on the meet and greet.” Dr. Cottle said. “You can escort her to the debriefing room while I check up on the others.” Without waiting for a reply, the man moved out of the curtained area and quickly returned with a set of clothing.

“Now,’ he smiled gently at the woman, ‘you’ll change and than you can be on your way.”

Once again, Dr. Cottle moved towards the curtain, parting it slightly to move through it. Noticing that he wasn’t being followed, he turned back. “Dr. Baltar?”

Gaius jerked slightly before moving his attention away from the sitted female to the other doctor. “Uh, yes. Well,’ he spoke to Alexis. “I’ll wait for you…uh, just over here.” He walked backwards toward the curtain before turning and following Dr. Cottle to the other side of the room.

Alexis glanced down at the clothing that had been left behind by the elder gentleman. She assumed he was a doctor by the white lab coat and assumed that he had been treating her for something she wasn’t sure yet what. She hoped that the answer to her questions would be forthcoming in the near future.

****

Lee “Apollo” Adama and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace flew the respected Vipers through the fleet. They were only thirty minutes into there flight with another four and half hours to go. Despite being CAG, Lee took his turn with the duty since pilots were scarce and his pilots needed as much time for R&R as possible. But he was glad that he and Kara could perform the duty together. The long time friends knew the other so well that it made the job so much easier.

Friend. Lee had at one time, very recently, thought that he and Kara could end up as much more despite the fact that he fought he’s feelings for her. Kara belonged to his brother and even though Zak had died two years prior, there would always be a part of Lee that felt that he was somehow taking over Zak’s place in Kara’s life.

Lee had always felt that way so he was surprised at the sudden rush of new feelings for Kara when they had finally met after two years of separation. It took time to realize that those feeling were in direct correlation to the feelings of loss for his younger brother. It also seemed as if Kara had felt the same and came to the same conclusion as he did and their relationship soon reverted back into the easy friendship that the two had had from the start.

“Dualla, secure channel.” Lee heard Kara’s voice say over the headset embedded into his helmet.

Lee waited several moments waiting for Kara to speak. When only silence came over his headphones Lee asked “What’s wrong, Kara?”

A few more moments passed before he finally heard a response.

“I looked at the passenger manifest of the fleet.” Kara said.

Lee was unable to see the emotions crossing her face but he heard the tenseness as well as sadness in her voice. He waited for Kara to continue knowing that he would be unable to make her speak her mind unless she was ready.

“Samuel Anders has family in the fleet.” She stated. “His mother and his youngest sister…who by the way is now six months pregnant.”

Lee was startled by the information; the chances that Anders family survived the initial attack were unimaginable. “Did you…?”

Kara didn’t need Lee to finish the question. “No, how fair would it be to them to tell them their son and brother survived but…oh, guess what, he probably won’t be for very long ‘cause he’s still on Caprica leading a small resistance group against the occupying Cylons.” Kara said with a sarcastic edge in her voice.

“Have you told the President Roslin?” Lee asked quietly. He knew that in the short time that Kara had been on Caprica, she had developed feelings for the former Captain of the Caprica Buccaneers and that when she had returned her first and foremost thought had been to return and rescue the survivors. But as time passed, due to continual attacks by the Cylons and the discovery of the abandoned Cylon base, they both knew that the chances for Anders and the other members of his resistance group were slim and that any rescue mission would be futile.

“I’m supposed to meet with her after my shift today. Anders isn’t the only one who has surviving relatives among the fleet.’ She scoffed. ‘And as much as I hate to do it, I’m leaving the decision up to her whether or not to notify them. I hope though that she will let me organize a rescue mission.”

“Kara, its been two months…the chances of Anders or any of them…”

“I KNOW, Lee…I know. But its tearing me up inside that I haven’t…can’t do anything about it.”

The line between the two went silent.

After a minute, Kara laughed but it held none of its usual life in it. “Anyway…I don’t want to spend the next four hours dwelling.”

“Kara,’ Lee said softly. ‘If you do get the go ahead, I want to help…even if it means just the two of us go.”

“Thanks Lee, that means a lot.” Kara said. “Though I think you might change your mind really soon.”

“Why would you say that?”

He could almost hear the smile in her voice as she replied. “Oh, nothing …just that you’ll have your new friend to look out for.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lee said, though he knew exactly who she was referring to.

Kara strong laugh came over the headset. “Oh, come on. If you’ve held her naked body in your…ohhhh, so manly arms…she’s at least your friend. Right?”

Kara’s chuckle was echoed in Petty Officer’s repressed snicker. Even though the channel had been secured and thus CIC was unable to hear the conversation through the overcom, for security reasons, Dualla was mandated to continue surveillance of pilot’s chatter in case of trouble. Dualla was also one of the few people in CIC that knew of the recent events and the cargo that was being held in the previous abandoned cargo bay.

Lee thanked the Gods that the slight heat that rushed his face was masked from his two tormentors. As their chuckles died down and Kara allowed Dualla to open that channel back up, Lee’s thoughts ultimately went back to the Earthlings. He hoped that the twelve individuals being guarded so fiercely would be able to give the much needed information regarding Earth and the fleet would finally be able to find a new home.

****

AN: Artemis is the Greek Goddess of the Night and the Hunt as well as the Protector of Women.

Hope you enjoyed and please take a moment to review. Thanks again Liz