losttheright | (no subject)

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In retrospect, maybe she should have seen this coming.

For a couple of weeks now, Molly has been helping to draft statements about this string of disappearances, people vanishing and returning days later with stories about some alternate, fucked up version of Darrow. The story is largely the same as it was when the same thing happened a few years ago: a roundabout way of saying that they have no fucking idea what's going on, and that people shouldn't panic about something that absolutely merits panicking. At least, that's how she sees it, but she remembers not long after people started turning up in this place, when the whole city was like that and she nearly died trying to get to one of the churches. She remembers, too, the shape Russell had been in when he got back the last time this happened. The fact that, once again, it's apparently temporary is a small comfort, but the idea of it happening at all is still terrifying, and so she mostly doesn't think about it. Outside of the context of work, it isn't worth it, nothing that's affected her yet, nothing that she has any reason to think will do so.

The latter is clearly where she's mistaken. Not giving it any more thought than she has to has helped insofar as making sure she doesn't freak out about it, but it means that when she steps out of City Hall in the evening to find the world changed in a way that's uncomfortably familiar, she doesn't know what to do with it. All she can do is stand there for a moment, trying to force herself to breathe, difficult as it is with the ash in the air and when she's so fucking terrified. She could have prepared herself for this, at least to an extent, but she didn't. None of the official statements issued by City Hall could really have driven home what it would be like to find herself here, with the knowledge that, when it finishes getting dark, she'll really be in trouble, at least if what happened before is any way to judge. She might be a little more capable now than she was three and a half years ago, but that's only saying so much. It's certainly not enough for her to want to take any chances.

Tempting as it is to stay there and shut down and start to cry, she knows she'll only be worse off if she does that. Instead, she tries to think through things she can use to try to keep herself grounded — that she's lived through this or something like it before, that she's lived through what she would describe as worse, that it is, by all accounts, something that should only last a few days. That, and that there's still a little bit of time left before the sun has set and she's screwed.

It's with the latter in mind that she finally heads away from City Hall, in the direction of the nearest church. From here, it's a bit of a walk, straight through the park to the other side of the city, and she probably won't be able to stay there for too long, but she might at least have a chance to pull herself together and possibly get some sleep tonight before dealing with this head-on. Right now, she barely feels like she can deal with it at all.

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Kara's a mess.

She keeps staring at Lee - at the Lee that she shot in the head, at the trickle of blood that has run from the entry wound in his forehead. It's like she's frozen in place, unable to pull her eyes away. She doesn't hear Molly ask for the gun. It's masked by the deafening whine in her ears, and her mind's stuck like a rabbit in a trap.

She'd shot him. She'd shot Lee Adama in the head, right over his eye, and he's definitely, completely dead.

She'd killed Zak and Lee both. Kara's breath catches in a sort of soundless laugh, a huff of hysteria that is abruptly gone and replaced with blurry vision from sudden unshed tears. A wave of absolute helplessness rolls over her that she hasn't felt since she'd still lived at home. She takes half a step towards the body, when--

Church?

It's Lee, it's his voice. How can it be his voice? Kara looks up in complete confusion, and it takes her a second to even realise where it's coming from.

"What?" One word, barely voiced. Her eyes flick to Molly like she's surprised that it's not just Kara and dead-Lee, before she looks at her hands like she's trying to figure out where her gun went. Lee's lying there on the sidewalk in a widening pool of blood, but he's right there, too, and her brain won't even connect the Cylon part of it anymore. Just that Lee - the Lee she knew - was dead but he's right here and looks all wrong.

We can't leave him is what her brain provides, but that's a lie. They can leave him. Honestly they should leave him, because she knows it. Save your own skin. Carrying a body around just slows you down, makes it more likely that you'll be killed.

A distinctly unhuman howl echoes through the streets, getting noticeably closer. That's what finally cuts through her circular, endless thoughts that ranged from what Lee's father would think, about what Chief would say, about how her mother somehow had been right. Blinking, Kara yanks the gun from the back of her pants, and that's it. She's shoved aside what happened, and instead she starts backing up with her eyes locked with where that thing seemed to be heading. "We've got to move." It's not about Lee. It's not. It can't be, or else whatever that is is going to catch up with them. "Probably heard the gunshot." She pauses, because she has to do one thing. She has to.

She does one thing, and that's move two steps forward bending down, yanking the dogtags off of Lee's neck. The corpse falls back to the sidewalk with a wet sound, and her boots are stained with blood. Standing, she looks between the other Lee and Molly. "Church. You said church, let's move it."

Edited (grammar, writing style, etc.) 2016-02-22 04:01 (UTC)

Though she feels guilty for it almost immediately, Molly tenses when she sees Kara reach for the gun that's still on her, prepared to raise her own again. The last thing any of them need right now is another standoff, not when there's no telling what else might be out here, and when she knows her plan will work, at least as far as determining whether this is the real Lee, her Lee, or not. Staying out here in the open now that night has fallen isn't something they can afford, and for all that she'd been willing to put herself between Lee and a loaded gun before, consequences be damned, that's not a chance she's taking. She didn't make it this far only to have something happen to her because she stupidly dragged her heels out here. That being the case, as fucked up as all of this may be, she can't afford to let it hit her yet. Once they're inside, it'll probably be a different story, but they've got a few blocks to go before they've made it to safety, and she has no intention of being what holds them up now.

So when Kara prompts them to move, fortunately not pointing her gun at Lee again, Molly doesn't hesitate before doing so, still glancing warily between the two of them, gaze lingering a moment longer on Lee as she walks. "They're the only safe places," she explains, careful to keep her voice pitched low, so it doesn't carry. "All the shit that's out here can't get inside, for whatever reason. So if you're... you, it'll be fine." She doesn't want to consider what they'll do if not yet, though she's reluctant, too, to go too far in assuming this actually is him. She'd been wrong once before, and got to watch him die for her trouble. Having done so a second time hasn't been quite as hard on her, but only because she hasn't let it be. Even then, she knows it's an image that's going to haunt her, nothing so easily shaken.

Only after she's spoken does she realize that he wouldn't know how she'd know, and the words come out flat when she continues, figuring she owes both of them an explanation. "I've been here before." It wasn't quite the same then, in those early days, when it was the entire city, not just people going missing and winding up here instead, but it's close enough. She knows as much from the last time this happened, what Russell and so many others went through. As much as she hates that it's this, of all things, that gets a repeat occurrence, at least it gives her some idea of what to do. Under the circumstances, when there are copies of Lee running around, two of whom they've seen die, Kara having shot one herself, it's fucking strange to think so, but they could be worse off. She just has to try to keep remembering that until they're inside and out of danger.

Lee watches as Kara pulls the dogtags off of the copy of himself, and while he pauses for a second, not sure how to process it, he tries not to let it distract him for very long. Because it means Kara still doesn't trust that he is who he says he is. Not that Lee would blame her; if their places were switched, he doesn't think he'd be quick to trust either. Not after all they've gone through, not after all they've seen.

He turns to Molly, and remembering a vague mention she made about some place like this, but he can't recall if she ever went into detail. Still, it's something, and with himself, and presumably Kara, flying blind here, it at least gives them a heading, something to cling to.

"Okay, lead the way. I'll bring up the rear, Starbuck, you take point," Lee says, and it's as much because he knows Kara's a better shot than it is not wanting to keep his back to her before he can really prove that he is who he says he is and not a cylon. Not to mention, Molly will be safer if Kara's the one on the lookout.

Edited 2016-03-03 19:32 (UTC)

Normally, she'd argue; she didn't want a cylon behind them to shoot them in the back, but she's so numb that all that's filtered through is that the church is safe and is the goal, and whatever the frak that thing was, it was coming for them-- and from the sound of the howling, it was getting closer.

"Go, then." Her voice is harsh as nods for Molly to move it, the dogtags shoved in her pocket, the back of the chain smeared with blood. Starbuck leaves bloody bootprints for the first few steps, until enough ash has stuck to them that there's no sign any longer.

She'll figure it out later. Lee's somehow dead and here, and she'll figure it out later. Never mind the other one -- there's two bodies that they're leaving behind, but one's Lee as she knew him, and... well. Nightmare fuel, just to dump in with the rest of it.

They pick their way through the dark, mostly quiet streets, and Kara can feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as whatever's hunting them gets closer. She can see the church just as there's a crash, and the thing - the monstrous, giant thing that's horrific enough that her mind can't even put a description on it skitters into view, it's many legs skittering for purchase on the street, the walls, anything they can manage. "Apollo-" It's not even a question, it's the I see it, too, I've got your back exchange that they've had a hundred times; they're going to get Molly and each other into that church, and then they'll sort out everything else.

She's never seen anything like it before. Molly doesn't know if that makes it better or worse, easier or harder to look at than the copies of Lee they'd seen earlier, bodies left behind them now. Certainly it looks a hell of a lot scarier, but that might help them, as long as it doesn't get too close. She has no intention of letting it. This isn't like the last time she was in this place, scared and helpless and running for dear fucking life to the same church that they're making their way to now. Whether it's because she knows what's going on this time around, or because everything else that's happened hasn't sunk in yet, or, hell, simply because she's armed now, she doesn't know, but something keeps her surprisingly steady as she watches the thing move, trying to follow both where it is and where it will be.

Kara says something, but Molly only half-hears it, already lifting her gun, trying to remember in the span of the time it takes her to do so everything Andrea taught her. She's fired at targets countless times. There's no reason for this to be any different. It's with that in mind that she doesn't hesitate to take aim and shoot. The bullet hits its body, and the creature slows, its movements more erratic, legs twitching, like a bug that's been stepped on but isn't quite dead. The second shot, fired just a moment later, stops it.

Her arm falling to her side again, she takes a deep breath, expression even. It would have been easy enough to let Lee or Kara take care of this, but even now, after everything that's already happened, she's determined not to be dead weight, someone useless, only to be looked out for. This may not be exactly what she had in mind when she she started learning how to protect herself, but it's as good a time as any to put that into practice. "Come on," she says, sounding distant but calm. "Before we run into anything else."

Lee hears Kara's warning, but at the same time, hears something at their six. A split second later, he's nearly emptying his clip into a copy of himself holding what looks like a weapon they'd normally issue to marines on Galactica. It falls over, limp and bleeding, and Lee's trying to figure out just how frakking many of these things there are.

When he turns around, he expects to see Kara with the smoking gun, but it's Molly, and some creature she's just shot twitches and dies on the ground. Molly's mentioned that she knows how to use a weapon before, and Lee can't help but thing how it's a lucky thing that there are three of them who can handle themselves instead of just himself and Kara.

At least, he's slightly less worried about what happens if somehow, they end up separated.

"Nice shot," Lee says, and while there's something impressed in his tone, this isn't really time to stand around patting each other on the back. "Right. We keep moving."

Gunshots.

The monster thing drops as Molly empties her gun into it, but what's so much worse and more and she doesn't even know what to think is Lee.

Lee-not-Lee, because Lee's on the ground next to his other body and now there's another with a rifle and when she looks up from the body-- there's another one coming.

He's too far away and it's too dark, but she knows his build and frak. "There's more of them," she doesn't quite breathe the words, but they crawl under her skin as they head to the church; so that they can escape this hell, even as she's already starting to mentally calculate when she's going to need to line up the shot for the skinjob that's two blocks away.

Edited 2016-03-16 06:45 (UTC)

It's not something she can let herself think about, not really. Molly is aware, of course, of the copies of Lee and the dangers they pose, her gun still in her hand in case they wind up in more trouble between here and the church, but it's a distant sort of recognition, nothing she can allow herself to think too hard about. Later, she'll have a chance to let it sink in, something that she knows is inevitable, even if she's not exactly looking forward to it, but they have to actually make it to their destination first, and that isn't going to happen if she just starts freaking out about the corpses of her boyfriend that she's seen, or the fact that these copies pose a direct threat to them.

Hell, for all she knows, this Lee is one of them, too. They're not far from the church, though, and as she said before, they'll deal with that when they come to it.

"The church isn't far," she says, by way of response to what Kara has said, heading in its direction and trusting that the others will, too. Once they get inside, whatever is out here won't matter, and that's the goal. She didn't make it this far to be stopped this close to their destination. "Just at the end of this block. We can make it."

She's right, it's not far. The next bit of their journey is uneventful, the three of them on guard for more copies or monsters or whatever the hell else might be coming after them in the darkness. As they make their way there, Lee's reminded of that day on Galactica, when they were fumbling through the dark, trying to make their way through the ship while avoiding Centurions at the same time.

This is much worse.

Still, the church comes into view before they know it, and Lee gestures with his gun for Molly and Kara to head in ahead of him.

"You two first, I'll cover you," Lee says, "I'll be right behind you."

If it was another day, she wouldn't turn her back on a man that could be a cylon.

If it was another lifetime, she'd argue with him about taking point.

It's neither. It's now, and Kara's shellshocked enough that her eyes sweep past Lee into the darkness and she thinks she can see more of him - as ridiculous as that sentence is, there's more of him, and she can't even bring herself to care.

She doesn't see a gun in their hands, so she turns to move in front of Molly, to get the door open and make sure that she's safe because she's on autopilot and Molly's the civilian.

"Clear," Her eyes sweep the church, the words coming from her lips before she even mentally processes that there aren't threats on the other side.

There are a million things Molly wants to do or say when Lee tells her and Kara to go on ahead, and she can't bring herself to do a single one of them. After all, she can't even be entirely certain that this really is Lee, her Lee, the one she's built a life with here. She wants to wrap her arms around him anyway, to tell him to be careful, to stay by his side in spite of the obvious danger out here. Instead, she gets to the door of the church as quickly as she can, her chest tight, air barely making it into her lungs.

She hadn't expected anything else, knowing how this place works, but it's still a relief when Kara says the inside is clear. Just how long they'll be able to stay here, she doesn't know, but at least they'll have a safe place to regroup, to figure out what they do next. Perhaps even more importantly, they have a way to determine that this Lee really is who he says he is. After everything that happened earlier, all that shit some part of her is still reeling from — she put herself in front of a loaded gun for him, and that's not something easily forgotten, even if she's pushed it aside for now — any lack of certainty would only make things worse.

Instead of making her way further inside, she hangs back by the doorway, her eyes not leaving Lee. Part of it is wanting to make sure he's alright, that he doesn't get hurt between the sidewalk and the church door. The other part of it is painful anticipation, with her desperate to be sure if this is really him or not. And, awful as she feels for it, there's some small piece of her that doesn't think she should look away, just in case it actually is all a lie.

"Come on," she says under her breath, one hand braced against the door frame, foot tapping impatiently on the tile floor. "Come on, come on."

He hears Kara at his back, calling out that the coast is clear. A the very least, he knows that means Molly is safe. And while Kara doesn't trust him right now, he knows that she won't let that get in the way of making sure Molly is safe. It's reassuring enough that he can focus when he sees his own face at his four o'clock, lifting a gun, and he doesn't hesitate before taking it out, even as he starts to back his way across the street.

There's a moment, before he enters, where he wonders what it was like for Sharon, right before she shot the Old Man. She didn't know she was a toaster, so who was to say that it wasn't the same for him? Maybe, like Molly said, he won't be able to go inside. At least, if that's the case, he knows Kara will make it quick. Thank the gods for small favors.

"Entrance is clear," Lee says, and, to his relief, he backs over the threshold and into the church.

Lee walks into the church, and Kara doesn't know how much she believes that if he was a Cylon, he wouldn't be able to cross the doorway. She's not really examining it; there's monsters outside, the church is clear, so getting them in the church is the first priority.

It's all she's got. She's fallen back on her training, because otherwise there's facing what she's done, and it's not something she can do. Once they're inside and the door's shut behind them, she scans the room, even as the other refugees stare at all three of them. Holstering her gun, Kara looks back at Molly and Lee, and runs a hand down her face, moving down to sit in an empty pew, her eyes tired and empty, her hand slipping in her pocket to feel the sticky dogtags there.

Lee steps inside, and Molly lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, a hand pressing to her mouth to stifle what might well be a sob. She'd thought it was him, she'd hoped, but she'd been wrong once before, too, and knowing for sure now makes all the difference in the fucking world. So, for that matter, does having gotten somewhere safe. She'd kept it together out of necessity when they were still outside, but now that that isn't an issue, she's not sure she can. With everything that's happened since she first walked out of City Hall and found herself here, there's no possible way for her to really be alright now, not with everything hitting her all at once.

Even just staying on her feet feels, suddenly, remarkably difficult, but she moves towards Lee, resting a hand against his arm. "Hey," she says quietly. "I'm... glad you're okay." That barely begins to cover it, but she isn't quite sure what else to say, especially after what happened earlier and the enormity of that, something she can barely wrap her head around. She loves him, of course she does, but she isn't sure that she'd realized just how much until she stepped in front of a loaded gun for him. That in itself is as terrifying as all the rest of it.

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