Title: Venerate
Author: scy
Feedback: scynneh@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Kara/Sam, Kara/Leoben, implied
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up through 'The Road Less Traveled'
Summary: Sam knows enough to be worried about what he doesn't understand.
Author's Notes: For the_grynne and sarkastic, who know why.
June 2008

Leoben didn't explain himself, that was printed large in his file, and Sam knew it. Still, when he'd gone to confront the Cylon who had twisted Kara up all over again, he didn't shoot him, Sam listened and then he went to talk to the crew. There had been something sharp in Leoben, bright smiles and a demand for Sam to think, and then an offered of peace. Sam wasn't sure what had convinced him the most, but he was ready to make the effort to try and bring the others around to at least consider the idea of an truce, and he'd only just met the Cylon.

Sam didn't think he was an important representative of anybody, he'd been a sports star, but when the worlds ended, he became a part of the resistance and then the Fleet. Now one of many faces in a crowd. Kara changed that. She saw him, wanted him and he would have followed her for that even if they weren't married.

Since he found out that he wasn't really human, that he had programming waiting to take him over, Sam wasn't sure whether he was a danger to Kara or the mission,, but he was determined that he wouldn't do the wrong thing.

In the moment when the crew mutinied, Sam knew that if they went back to the Fleet without achieving their objective, that Kara would be broken, like after New Caprica, and never mind the chain of command, he knew he wouldn't stand for that again.

While Helo and Athena argued in ops and Gaeta cursed from his bunk, the rest of the crew stood back and muttered. They had been away from the Galactica for so long that they felt like they knew what needed to be done, and now they had been frightened, beaten back by the violent confrontation. Kara had stepped into the breach of command and taken control of the situation, proving that she knew what had to be done, and everyone had backed down again, looking to her as she explained why they had to finish the mission.

Kara wanted him out of the way while they made their preparations, and Sam knew if he was found by any member of the crew it would look like he had been set aside. Even though Kara was upset, it wasn't at him, and he knew that if he let her have some space, things would be all right in an hour or so. That left him trying to find a space away from the others for awhile.

Their makeshift brig wasn't where he expected to end up, but it was one place where he wouldn't be disturbed, and Leoben might be too interested in what had happened to figure out why Sam was hiding out with a Cylon.

As the door opened, Leoben didn't move from where he was slumped against the wall. It was only when Sam's boots clanged on the steps as he came down several rungs that there was any hint that he'd been noticed.

“I heard shouting and a gunshot.”

“Yeah.”

“Kara is all right,” Leoben said, still staring straight ahead.

“You don't care what happens to Kara,” Sam said.

“My feelings for her are greater than you can imagine.”

“What do you know about her destiny?”

“I know that she is meant for more than this mission, that she is meant to lead her people.”

“And if she does all that, what do you get out of it?”

Leoben shifted enough to look at Sam. The lighting was dim, but he could tell that the Cylon was sweaty and it looked as if there was blood on his face. “What does anyone get when a loved one finds their path?”

“Don't say that you love her, you can't know what that means.”

“Because I wasn't born of a human mother?” Leoben asked.

“You're a machine,” Sam said. “Machines aren't meant to know about that.” Whether he had been meant to learn what it was like to live as human to have a better understanding of them, or he was just a late bloomer, Sam didn't know, and couldn't think about for too long before he started to wonder if anyone could tell what was going on.

“One of your crew claims such knowledge, and she has been accepted as more than a pretender to emotion.”

“We know Athena, she's proven herself,” Sam said. “You, all we know about is that you've lied.” Sam watched Helo and his wife work and lived together, and hoped that if Kara ever did find out about him, she wouldn't want to shoot first, but that she would believe he hadn't known all along.

“Have I?” Leoben shifted again, more awkward than he should be, even in the cuffs, and when he turned, Sam saw blood smeared over his chin, and recognized the signs of a beating.

“I heard what you did, how you told everyone that you;d planted explosives on the ships, and what you did to my wife on New Caprica.”

“Those were necessary trials, tests for Kara's sake,” Leoben said and licked his lips absently.

“Did she do that to you?”

“She was upset about the death of her crew mate.”

“Everyone is.”

“I was not the cause of that woman's death.”

“You've been the cause of others.”

“So have you,” Leoben said. “Each of us has spilled blood, can you say that it would not be better to put aside our differences and ally with one another?”

“You killed millions of people.”

“And yet the human race survives,” Leoben said.

“Not for your lack of trying,” Sam said.

“We can argue and repeat the past, or move on from it.”

“I don't trust you.”

“Do you trust Kara?”

“Don't go there,” Sam said, and moved towards Leoben, ready to add to his bruises.

“If you break more of my bones, I won't be able to lead Kara where she needs to go.” Leoben tilted his head, like he had when he asked Sam if he knew about faith. “It's important, can you trust Kara to know what she should do?”

“Yeah, most of the time. You confuse her.”

“Is it me, or the world's inconsistencies that bewilder her?”

“Do you just talk to hear your own voice, or are you saying anything I should care about?” Sam asked.

Leoben's smile was bloody and infuriating, so Sam continued.

"I heard you over the comms when your ship showed up. You said that you were here to help Kara. Is that at least true? How important is she to the Cylon plan?"

"Kara's purpose matters to everyone, human and Cylon alike," Leoben said. "Those that cannot acknowledge the unknown allow themselves to be swayed by force or false rhetoric. They look for someone to lead them without asking why it is the right path."

"And you want everyone to go along with Kara, even when they say that she's crazy?"

"It doesn't matter what I want you to do, your actions are your own, Sam Anders, and if you choose wrongly, the consequences will be suffered by many."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If you step away now, you lose more than Kara, those around you will thank you now, but later, they will realize that it was faith that brought Kara to this place and faith in her that will free them all."

"You're sure of this."

"I knew of her before I ever saw her," Leoben said.

"When you did see her?"

"I saw truth made flesh, spirit bound only by fear." Even beat up and looking like he needed a couple days of sleep and a meal, Leoben smiled, and Sam forced himself not to look away. "You've seen it too, and know how it hurts not being close to her." Leoben met Sam's eyes and spoke gently, somehow seeing what Sam would do. "She's an angel, meant to take flight, and now she's ready to lead the way if your faith will let you believe."

-end