Bloodlines
November 29, 2006

Disclaimer: Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. Galactica is owned by Universal, Sci-fi Channel, Glen A Larson, David Eick and Ronald D Moore.

Category: AU; L. Adama/Kara Thrace, L. Adama/Dualla, K. Agathon/S. Agathon, others.

Summery: Kara vowed to take care of Kacey on New Caprica, but that vow is put to the test when she returns to Galactica.

Notes: Torn did happen, but for reasons that will soon be apparent, Adama only tore into Tigh at the end of that episode.

Dedication: Dedicated to the usual suspects; Genova aka Schweet, Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Blaire, Red, Stone Cold, Ice Wing, Arashi, Aslan, Vega, Tony D, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, and Queen Angel who have allowed me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers.

Bloodlines

Cottle was looking at Kara with an expression of extreme disappointment, "I don't know where the frak you got the idea that you could take care of a child without bringing her to me before now Captain, but it was stupid. Kacey could have serious medical concerns, by not bringing her here the first day, you could have endangered her life."

The statement struck her to the bone, could Kacey's life be in danger? "Is… Is she…"

Cottle stood away from his desk and rummaged through his coat pockets as Kara's gaze settled on the little girl in question. Kacey was oblivious to the tense conversation as Medic Ishay was allowing her to listen to her heartbeat with a stethoscope. "No, she's healthy, battling a little bit of a cold, however you're about to learn that children and colds go hand in hand." The child giggled at the sounds she heard and Kara felt a smile slide over her face at Kacey's delight.

Cottle picked up a file and dropped it in Kara's lap before he returned to his seat, "You were afraid the child was a hybrid, weren't you?" Kara nodded mutely, "Well, that was the first test I ran and you can rest assured that she's not. She is human, no traces of Cylon DNA." A weight on her heart was eased with those words, suddenly Kara's resistance of Leoben felt more justified to her now that she knew that everything about those four months was only lies.

She was a little more confident when she asked her next question, "Is she my daughter?"

Cottle frowned, "I ran more standard tests on Kacey including maternity and paternity tests from Fleet records." Kara started to protest when Cottle continued, "It's a standard procedure so we can get family history of congenital diseases if needed. I have the results but I'd like to have some people present before I tell you."

Kara scowled, "Okay, fine. But I don't want this all over the frakking Fleet, no more people than absolutely necessary."

The old doctor's scowl was nearly blistering, "Do I look like a frakking gossip columnist? Twenty minutes."

When those twenty minutes passed, Kara was surprised when the Admiral stepped through Cottle's office door. A moment after that she leapt from her chair when Athena walked into the office, "What the frak is going on?"

He grabbed Ishay and said, "Take her back to the senior pilots' bunk." Ishay took Kacey from Kara and left and Cottle crossed the office then closed the door behind, "Settle down Captain. Lieutenant Agathon is here because of a theory I have."

Adama sat down in the chair next to her and Kara found she couldn't look at him without feeling embarrassed still. She'd attempted a bone-headed move during a training exercise and Lee had pulled her flight status for a while for disobeying a direct order which almost killed her and another pilot in the process.

In the past, she might have pulled the move off and tagged Kat but her reflexes were a little slow after a year out of the cockpit and she clipped the nose of Narcho's plane. Of course, in the past, she and Lee would have laughed something like that off, he might joke that the next time she pulled something like that he'd chuck her out the nearest airlock rather than let her wreck one of his planes or endanger his pilots. He did say that, but he was deadly serious.

Most importantly, in the past, she wouldn't have been frightened as hell that she would leave Kacey all alone. The Old Man had talked to Lee and eventually he'd allowed her to return to flight status after she did a couple weeks on raptor duty to get the feel of the stick again. She might have protested had Lee not told her it was at the Admiral's suggestion before he dismissed her abruptly.

It was the gravelly voice of the Admiral that shook her from her thoughts, "What is it, Doctor?"

Cottle went through his pockets and produced a cigarette, which he lit and took a long drag from. When he expelled the smoke, he began. "After three months on board, Captain Thrace finally saw fit to bring her stow-away to me yesterday and I've been going over Kacey's test results with her."

There was a tense silence from Adama and Athena before the raptor pilot said, "Is the child Cylon in any way?"

Cottle shook his head, "The child is human. As I informed Starbuck, I ran other tests on her; some basic pediatric blood screenings to check for things like measles, the child is in good health. I also ran DNA tests on Kacey to find her parents if possible. As you may be aware, the blood records of every member of the military is on record and the vast majority of civilians from New Caprica had been screened as well, the records were kept on Colonial One so I was able to run a lot of possible matches. The child is not genetically related to Captain Thrace but I did find some genetic matches within the Fleet." He picked up a file and handed it to the Admiral, "To be specific, two genetic matches, both paternal. One match is a ninety-nine point four percent match, the child's father. The other match is about fifty percent which suggests he's the grand-father."

Adama nodded as he opened the folder, "Good to hear, where are they?"

Cottle chuckled darkly around his lit cigarette, "That's the frakking kicker, they're right here on Galactica, both of them." Kara was sure her heart had stopped because she was sure she had died, her head managed to turn to see Adama in a stare-down with Cottle and Sharon looking between all three of them with a stunned expression. Cottle then spoke, "Congratulations Admiral, you're a grandfather."

"Oh my frakking gods…" Was all Kara could say as she buried her face in her hands, why couldn't she have been someone else's child? Anyone else's?

Adama scowled as he read over the proof that he was a grandfather, "Lee met a woman while he was at War College, they were engaged and she was expecting a child around the time of the Attacks. He presumed she was still on Caprica and killed."

Cottle nodded, "That would fit with Kacey's age. I had tried to contact the Major but he was on another ship."

Adama closed the file and dropped it on the desk, "The question is how this little girl ended up on New Caprica."

The CMO turned to the other occupant of the room, "That's why I asked the Lieutenant to be here, considering her unique knowledge."

Sharon chewed on her left thumb as she thought it over and Kara felt her world spinning out of control. She was going to loose Kacey, Lee was going to find out and want his daughter to be a part of his life, his family, not hers and she'd have to watch this girl who slipped so easily into Kara's heart grow up most likely calling Anastasia Dualla, a woman who wouldn't even take her husband's name, mother.

Kara was certain the first time she heard Kacey scream "mommy" and run into Dee's arms, Kara would eagerly take Lee up on his offer to chuck her out an airlock. As this bleak thought settled on her shoulders she felt a hand squeeze her knee and she looked between her fingers to see the Admiral trying to silently offer her support.

Sharon chose that moment to speak, "As you know, the Cylons wanted to start a cross-breeding program on the Colonies. The nuclear strikes avoided what civilian targets they could to leave as many survivors as possible. The people were gathered up, healthy men and women of breeding age were rounded up for the breeding experiments. Pregnant women underwent wide-ranging exams to make sure the mother and child were healthy. At that point, Kacey's mother was likely extensively questioned."

She paused to take a breath then continued, "The Cylons also managed to get a hold of the Colonial Database, including genetic records. They probably ran a number of tests on Kacey when she was born, up to and including a paternity test. If this woman hadn't already volunteered the information, they would have learned that the child was related to you, Admiral."

The Old Man nodded, "So, the Cylons were probably planning at some point to use Kacey as leverage, to convince me to surrender the Fleet for her well-being, something like that." Sharon nodded, and he continued, "Then when Lee took command of Pegasus, they probably moved Kacey off the Colonies to bring her closer to the Fleet."

Sharon frowned, "When they occupied New Caprica and the Fleet ran, they probably brought Kacey down to the surface in the hopes of getting word to you and the Commander that his daughter was in their possession and if you surrendered the Fleet, he could see her."

The thought of Kacey as leverage chilled Kara to the bone. But it didn't explain everything, "Why-" She cleared the lump that had been in her throat since she realized that Lee was Kacey's father and tried again, "Why would…"

Adama scowled, "It may have just been as simple as Kacey being there, or maybe Leoben thought that with the chance to get to the child and you, it might make it harder for Lee and I not to give in to them." Sharon nodded her agreement and silence settled upon them again. Finally Adama spoke, "Give us a moment." Cottle and Sharon nodded before they left.

When the door closed, Kara managed to gather enough courage to say, "Sir, I… I mean… I know that Kacey is Lee's and he'll want to raise her but I just want to be part of her life."

"I know Kara, and I'll do what I can to make sure Lee knows that when I tell him." He frowned, "To be honest, from the conversations I've had with him and Dee… I just don't know what he'll say about it."

Kara felt a chance was within reach, "Let me tell him then. I want him to have to face me when he tries to take Kacey away."

&&&&&&&&&End Part 1&&&&&&&&&

A/N: Don't expect this one to be updated a lot until after I finish Apotheosis (which has maybe six or seven parts left) but I will probably make Bloodlines my next story after Apotheosis is finished. Also, I'd like to take the time to thank you for reading, I've never been one to write for the purpose of getting feedback as much as I've just enjoyed telling stories but I do appreciate those who read my stories.

--Jason