A/N: This Lee/Kara fic prominently features little Kacey, because she's just about the cutest thing ever. It was also written for Kaynara who was craving some Lee/Kara/Kacey fic. Of course, I obliged.

The rating is probably PG-13 overall as there is some darker matter explored in the following chapters, but mostly it's a pretty tame PG.

Thanks to Kaynara for the beta – as always!

Title: Acceptance

Ship: Lee/Kara

Rating: PG – PG-13

Disclaimers: It's not mine. Sadly.

Spoilers: Takes place in mid-Season 3 and is AU. In my 'verse Dee and Apollo have been over for a while and Lee and Kara have done more than just make-out in supply closets.

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Acceptance, 1/4

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Lee pauses in the hallway outside the bunkroom. He would swear that his ears are playing tricks on him, but something about that doesn't ring true. He could hear just fine in the mess hall and that place is louder than a Viper take-off.

So the only explanation for the joyous laughter ringing in his head right now is that it's real.

And it belongs to Kara.

The idea of Kara laughing makes him uneasy and happy all at once. Happy because it's Kara and after the hell of New Caprica and everything else, she deserves to feel something besides despair. Selfishly, he feels uneasy because he wants to be the one to make her happy. His absence in the bunkroom as she laughs almost hurts him.

But then it doesn't quite matter where he is or why she's laughing, because he hears something else. The unmistakable giggle of a child, a small child and Lee's heart catches in his throat. The two sounds together – Kara's deep-throated laugh mixed with the little child's giggle – make him quicken his pace. He wants to see what this is all about. Wants to understand why the sound is causing his heart to thunder in his ears.

Rounding the corner, he peers his head around the edge of the open hatch to the pilot's bunkroom and is glad he's leaning against the wall. The sight before him is far too odd.

Kara Thrace sits across from him, cross-legged on her bunk, making funny faces at a little girl who is mirroring her posture. If Lee did not know any better, and thank the Gods he does, he would swear the little girl is Kara's. She has blond, fair hair like the older woman, and from this distance they seem identical in many ways.

As the shock subsides, Lee finds himself staring intently at the scene, his heart beat fading to a dull roar so he can make out what the two girls are playing at.

"I spy …" Kara draws the words out as if she's really thinking of something good. The little girl sits with her elbows on her knees, chin resting on her tiny fists, staring at Kara in rapt attention.

Eyes twinkling, Kara smiles – she actually smiles, Lee notices – and declares, "I spy something small."

Throwing her arms out, the girl bounces excitedly on the bed and squeals, "Me!"

And then Kara laughs again and the little girl joins her and Lee suddenly wishes he was in there with them, laughing and playing games. He suddenly wishes he could see this side of Kara more often because he hasn't seen her so at ease since the exodus.

"You guessed right again!" Kara reaches for the child and begins to mercilessly tickle her sides, causing more laughter to emanate through the empty bunkroom. Lee feels like an intruder, that his presence is wrong here and he should go, but before he can Racetrack sees him as she passes the hall and calls out, "Hey there, Apollo."

He grimaces as he gives her a small wave back and hears the playful sounds from the room before him quiet down. Knowing he's been given up, Lee takes a deep breath and steps over the bulkhead and into the room.

"Hi." It's lame. He smiles big, almost chuckling outright as the little girl scrambles across Kara's bed to sit firmly in her lap. The smile turns into something more as he watches the way Kara's arms protectively close around her and her lips dust over the mop of blonde curls.

"Hi, Lee." Kara's voice isn't warm, but it's not cold either and Lee is grateful.

"Kara." The little girl tugs on her chin so that the older woman's hazel eyes are now focused on her. "Who?" she asks, pointing to Lee and then shyly hiding her face back into Kara's shoulder as he smiles at her again.

"Kacey, this is Lee." Returning her eyes to his face, Kara says evenly, "Lee, this is Kacey."

Taking the opening offered to him, Lee moves around the table in the middle of the room and approaches Kara's bunk. Kacey watches him closely, one eye peeking out from her hiding spot against Kara's shoulder. Squatting at the opposite end of the bunk away from Kara and Kacey, Lee smiles again and wishes he knew how to act around children. It's not that he doesn't like them or hasn't entertained the notion of having any – he's just never had cause to interact with them either. Unless he counts Siobhan's daughter, Kya. And he doesn't want to – scaring the girl with a one-eyed doll was not on the top of his greatest moment's list.

"Hi, Kacey. It's nice to meet you."

Instead of answering him, Kacey again turns her round face up to Kara and whispers, "Nice?" It's a question and Lee has the distinct impression this is another game they play. Knowing Kara he suspects she's already taught the child exactly who to trust on board Galactica.

Pushing a few of Kacey's curls behind her ear, Kara smiles again, this one soft and indulgent and Lee wishes she was smiling at him instead. "Yes, baby. Lee is very nice. He's my friend."

Satisfied, Kacey pushes herself off Kara's lap and crawls along the bunk until she is face-to-face with Lee. Holding his blue-eyed gaze with her own, she nods and declares, "Kacey's friend. Play?"

Lee feels a ridiculous sense of relief that he has passed her test. As he rises to sit beside the little girl, he notices Kara tense. "Actually, Kace, we have to get you back to your mom."

"No." It's a whine, but not a very loud one and not half as grating as many of the others Lee can remember hearing in stores and theaters throughout his life. "Kacey stay. Play with Lee and Kara."

"Sorry, sweetie, but I promised your mom, back by dinner."

There is no other argument. Lee watches as Kacey sighs heavily, her little shoulders rising almost to her ears before settling again with the action. "Okay." Moving towards Lee, she places her hands on his shoulder so she can pull herself into a standing position. He moves to pick her up and off the bunk. It feels natural somehow, like she's silently asking him too anyway.

But before he can, Kara swoops in, her arms encircling Kacey's middle as she settles the girl on her hip. "Say goodbye to Lee," Kara instructs her, already heading for the door.

"Bye, Lee." Kacey's small hand waves over Kara's shoulder. He returns the wave with a smile and a soft "bye," as he watches them disappear.

The room is cold and quiet in the wake of their departure. Lee stares out the open door for a bit wondering what exactly just happened. When did Kara start babysitting? From what he knows of her past, this is a new development. In fact, Zak had confided to him once that Kara didn't want children, that she was pretty adamant about it actually. Lee had believed it at the time, having met Kara enough times to know she wasn't quite the mothering type.

But what he's just witnessed – it flew against almost every conception he has of his best friend. And Lee can't decide if the shift is exciting or disconcerting.

Sighing, Lee wishes Kara hadn't run out of there so that they could talk about it. He doubts he'll be able to corner her now. She's been awfully good at avoiding him in the past months. Regardless of the fact that his relationship with Dee officially ended three weeks ago and her relationship with Anders is a joke, Kara has been strong-arming him. Every time Lee thinks he might make it past her defenses, the carefully constructed ones he's noticed since she returned from New Caprica, she holds him back.

And much to his chagrin, she's far stronger than he is.

He's tried being angry with her, tried being disappointed, afraid, callous, and a million other things in between. Of course, being Kara, she almost always shuts him up with a really good kiss or some distracting bit of touching. At times Lee hates how much his body and heart betrays him where Kara is concerned. In his head he knows they have to talk through some of this – maybe not all of it, but some of it, and while Lee would do almost anything to spare Kara that kind of pain, he knows it's necessary.

So does she, which is why she's been fighting so hard to avoid it.

Leaning back against the wall of her bunk, Lee hears the crackle of paper beneath him and sits up quickly, worried he's crushing something important. Turning slightly, he reaches behind him, pulling the worn pages into his lap.

His breath catches in his throat.

There before him in the messy finger strokes of a child is New Caprica. Lee can tell by the tents in the foreground and the brown grass that surrounds them. To the right of the page is a high tower, perhaps a building and Lee sees that inside it is a little stick figure with bright yellow hair, standing next to another bigger stick figure with the same color hair.

Smoothing the paper in his lap, Lee scans it again. He can make out words now. Blue scribbles he dismissed before make sense as disjointed letters and he tries to puzzle out the child's penmanship.

As he realizes that the little figure is labeled with a wobbly "m" and "e," and the taller figure is labeled with the same type of misshapen "m," "o," "m," Lee doesn't know what to think.

Flipping through the other pictures, he sees more of the same. One is curious as it shows who he assumes is Kacey and Kara standing next to another woman, also labeled, "mom." There are nonsense drawings as well and Lee smiles slightly as he picks up one of a tulip – Kara's favorite.

The page is split down the middle, an exquisite red tulip drawn on the left side while on the right is Kacey's rendition of the flower. There are a few other drawings like that, obvious examples of Kara trying to teach the child how to draw. Pages of letters and numbers, one set written in Kara's somewhat decent handwriting, another set written in Kacey's unsure script.

Lee leafs through the other drawings left at the end of the bed and notices for the first time that Kara has hung some on the wall of her bunk. They are far from prying eyes, always covered by her curtain and Lee knows the placement isn't accidental. Kara doesn't want anyone to know how much this child obviously means to her.

Leaning forward to study a few more closely, Lee's eyes spy something shoved between the foot of the bed and the wall. Hoping he'll be able to salvage whatever it is, Lee sticks his hand in the tight space and clasps what feels like a folder. Tugging on it just hard enough, Lee frees it from its hiding place.

Moving off of Kara's bunk to get a better look at it, he can make out the faded K.T. initials in the bottom right hand corner of the folio. It's been through hell, that's obvious. What Lee thinks was once rich brown leather is now faded and worn, but still holding together. Smoothing his hand over it, his thumb rubs along the initials.

More than curious and guessing he will regret this, Lee pushes the elastic bands off the corners and opens the portfolio gingerly. More drawings greet him, but these were not done by Kacey's hand.

The lines are cleaner, stronger, bolder, the colors decidedly darker. The imagery noticeably more frightening. Lee isn't sure what most of it means; like the paintings he'd once seen in Delphi, Kara has a flare for modern art, most notably, abstract. These are no different.

Lee sits heavily at the table, pouring over image after image. Unlike Kacey's drawings of colored pencil, Kara has selected charcoal to work with. The black lines are smudged in some areas, and Lee knows touching one would dramatically alter the piece. He holds them gingerly afraid that if one should be disturbed some part of Kara might shatter.

Well, not some part – her soul. Lee knows he's holding Kara's soul in his hands as he tries to understand these dark images before him. Images she's drawn and not shared with anyone. Things she doesn't want to talk about. The imaginings of her nightmares, the ones she thinks she keeps hidden, but the ones Lee knows about, because he hears her every night as she wakes with a stifled cry and then listens as she whimpers until she falls back to sleep.

"Kara?"

Cheeks flushing bright red at the sound of an approaching voice, Lee hurriedly shoves the drawings back into the folio and dumps it at the end of Kara's bunk. By the time Anders enters the room he's at his locker, opening it and pretending to be looking for something.

"Huh." Lee turns to see Sam's face twisted in confusion.

"She left about five minutes ago," he offers, wondering why he feels the need to help his lover's husband.

If Sam is startled, he doesn't let it show. Crossing his arms over his chest, his face sets into a hard mask as he questions, "What exactly did you say to her?"

"Nothing." Lee is in no mood to take Sam's goading. The man has caused him enough grief. And the implication that he would hurt Kara in anyway makes him cold.

Probably only because in the past it was true.

"It's Thursday, right?" Sam questions, oblivious to Lee's internal musings. As the other man nods, Sam swears. "Frak. Do you know where she went?"

Slamming his locker door shut, Lee turns to face him. "She's returning Kacey to her mother."

The paleness of Sam's features at the mention of Kacey tells Lee all he needs to know – Sam knows something and Lee is going to find out what it is.

"Who is Kacey?" he questions before Anders kind find his voice. "And why is Kara spending time with her?"

"I don't think that's any of your business." Anders is good, Lee will give him that. But Lee is determined.

"What do you know, Sam?" Lee continues to advance on the taller man, using his best look of intimidation; everyone always backs down at the sight of it – well, everyone except Kara.

Sighing heavily, Sam's shoulders sag back against the wall and he shakes his head. "Probably not a hell of a lot more than you, Captain."

Now Lee's just annoyed. It's no secret he doesn't like Anders, but this evasive bullshit is just ridiculous. Sighing heavily, Lee scowls. "Fine, don't tell me."

"It's really not my story to tell," Sam shoots back, his own eyes blazing with a bit of frustration. "Kara hasn't told you anything about what happened to her on New Caprica, has she?"

Lee feels his cheeks heat up. The last thing he wants to do is admit to Sam that Kara won't tell him anything – she barely mentions New Caprica or her time there, even before the Cylon invasion. No matter how many times Lee tries to pry the knowledge out of her, she just won't give. Anders doesn't need to know that.

"Never mind." Sam sighs and bows his head for a moment. When he lifts his eyes back to Lee's face, the captain is horrified to see something like pity staring back at him. "We are two sorry bastards, aren't we?" Pushing himself off the wall, Sam wanders to the center of the room and sits on the edge of the table. Lee pivots to face him, still trying to determine the best comeback to his obviously rhetorical question. "We're both in love with a woman who would just as soon die as show either of us, for even a second that she's scared."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Lee schools his features to be calm. "What does she have to be scared of? The invasion's over. She's safe on Galactica."

"Kara's never felt safe anywhere," Sam counters, his bitter tone telling Lee this is an argument he's had with the woman in question before. "And she sure as hell doesn't feel safe on Galactica, not anymore."

"Why?" Lee's offended now. How dare Kara feel unsafe on this ship, his ship – their ship. "No one here is going to hurt her."

"It's not physical pain she's afraid of, Apollo." Sam sighs again, his hand rubbing against the back of his neck. "It's the nightmares she can't shake." Lee's jaw sets into a hard line and Sam questions, "You know she's not sleeping, right? You have to know that, you share quarters with her."

They're getting sidetracked and Lee does not need a reminder of how precarious Kara's health is at the moment. He knows she's not doing well. But she won't let him help, so what choice does he have but to stand by and watch her self-destruct?

Shaking the disturbing image of Kara exploding from his mind, Lee focuses back on Sam. "What does this have to do with Kara babysitting?"

Snorting, Sam actually chuckles, but it's not a happy sound. "Babysitting? You think Kara's all of sudden become a nurturer? You think she's going to start watching random brats for their parents?"

Lee shrugs and Sam laughs again. "You really are dense, Apollo. I always wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, but seriously, the level of your cluelessness is astounding."

"Look, Sam, either you know something or you don't." Lee is through with this conversation. He was actually through with it the moment it started.

"I don't know exactly why and I sure as hell don't know how, but Kara came back from New Caprica thinking Kacey was hers."

Brow furrowing, Lee feels confusion settling in. "Hers?"

"Yeah, like hers, like she gave birth to her. Or at least made half of her." Shrugging, Sam sighs again. "I suppose after what happened on Caprica at that Farm, it might be possible. But … Well, it doesn't really make sense. But Kara doesn't seem to use logic so much anymore."

Lee staggers back a step, glad Sam isn't looking at him so he can retain some dignity. Feeling the hard ridge of his locker door at his back, he sinks against it, trying to understand what exactly Sam has just said. Kara thinks she's a mother, or at least she did. And now, months after they cleared out of New Caprica, she obviously still feels a connection to this little girl. It made horrifying sense and Lee finds himself dutifully horrified.

"Who is the father?" The words are out before he even realizes he's thought them. Glancing up quickly, he meets Sam's weary gaze. "She can't be yours."

"Technically, she can't be Kara's either," he points out. Rising, Sam shakes his head. "No, she's not mine. She's …" Sam can't finish the thought because in truth, it's too disturbing for words. He hasn't voiced his opinion to anyone since Kara told him in bits and pieces what exactly happened to her during the occupation. And judging by the paleness of the Captain's features, he wouldn't take the idea all that well either. "I have a few theories, but nothing solid. Kara hasn't actually told me more than what I've just told you."

Lee nods and then doesn't speak. He still can't form words. Closing his eyes for a moment, he actually prays, asking his call sign namesake for strength and Artemis for insight. Lastly, he asks Aphrodite for love so that when he asks Kara the hard questions she'll know it's because he loves her, not because he wants to hurt her.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I'd go find her if I were you." Sam's words startle him and Lee's eyes snap back to his face. "She loves that little girl, but handing her back to her mom – it hurts."

Nodding numbly, Lee watches as Sam leaves, lightly punching the door frame on the way. Left alone in the bunk, his thoughts are barely ordered. He can't comprehend how all of this could have been happening with Kara and how he could not have known.

It's no secret that she has an amazing ability to hide her feelings from everyone. Including Lee, which is perhaps the most disturbing. He's been trying for years to break down those damn barriers she's built. He knows they've been fortified over time with a multitude of events and emotions that Lee can hardly guess at, much less name. So instead, he has to scrutinize every statement, every gesture, every expression for any insight into Kara.

After years of doing that, and the past few months of sleeping with her, Lee still doesn't know nearly enough. And now, he feels he knows almost nothing.

He can't stand not knowing. Surveying the now empty bunkroom for only a few moments, Lee heads out purposefully. There are only a handful of tent cities on Galactic; only a few places Kacey and her mother could be. And where he finds them, he finds Kara.

He's barely two steps down the hall before he feels an unfamiliar tremor under his feet. Knowing it's not one of Galactica's normal shudders, he's already halfway to the nearest comm when Gaeta's voice rings through the hall. "Pass the word, Commander Adama call CIC. Commander Adama, call CIC."

Wondering why his stomach's suddenly tightened with fear, Lee picks up the handset. "This is Adama."

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Her eyes are stinging, badly. Kara chokes back a cough, knowing the action will only cause her to inhale more smoke. She can't see anything and the disorientation is almost worse than the stinging in her eyes and the burning in her nostrils.

"Kacey?" Through gritted teeth, Kara says her name, trying to find the little girl. She'd let her walk the last few steps and as soon as the explosion rocked the decking, she'd lost her grip on the girl's tiny hand. Oh Gods.

"Kacey, baby, answer me."

Her ears are basically useless, the sound of the explosion still ringing in them. Forcing her eyes open, Kara tries to see through the dense smoke and her tears. Placing her forearm tightly against her mouth, Kara staggers to her feet. She flails for support, her hand connecting with the metal wall. It's a full three seconds before she realizes the metal is burning and as such manages to burn her hand. Yanking it away with a wince, she cradles the now throbbing limb to her chest and takes a few hesitant steps forward.

"Kacey?"

There are moans emanating from around her, drifting up from the deck below. She knows that as an officer of the Colonial Fleet she should stop and assess the victims, provide some kind of rudimentary triage until the medics arrive, but Kara is singularly concerned with only one life right now.

Her left foot is sluggish and Kara glances down, catching a bright spot of red soaking through her sweats just above her left knee. Groaning, Kara's glad for the adrenaline rush as she knows it's staving off the pain. She needs to find Kacey.

"Damn it!"

Ducking her head, Kara takes a few more steps forward and clears through a bit of the smoke. The sight before her is worse than the hall behind and she wishes for a moment she couldn't see it in such stark relief. The tent city, Camp Oil-Slick, is in shambles. There are still a few fires burning, but hardly anyone is moving. The smell of burned flesh and ignited tar fills Kara's nostrils and she coughs as her eyes water again.

"Kacey!"

It's a shriek cry full of desperation. She can't have lost her, she can't have lost Kacey to this – it isn't right.

Blessedly, she hears the small whimper. As if her ears have become specially attuned, Kara's head whips towards the sound. Squinting, she stumbles towards the girl, seeing her small form outlined against the far wall. Reminiscent of so many months ago, there is a gash on her forehead, blood pouring down her cheek as she cries, small sobs escaping from her injured body.

"Kara." Her voice is pained and Kara wonders where else she's hurt. She feels a familiar helplessness well in her chest at the sight of the little girl in pain. Dropping to her knees before her, Kara reaches out her uninjured arm, trying to pull Kacey towards her.

"It's okay, baby. I'm here." She reaches around her shoulders and tugs as gently as she can only causing Kacey to cry out in pain. Kara's body immediately stiffens, her sluggish mind working frantically to come up with a way to get to the girl. Reassessing her position, Kara's heart thuds loudly against her rib cage as she notices the piece of piping that has fallen across Kacey's right leg. The shin and ankle are cocked at a weird angle from the thigh and Kara knows the leg is broken or worse, the bone may be shattered.

Resting a hand to Kacey's cheek, Kara tries to swallow her panic. "You're okay, sweetie. All right? You're going to be okay."

"Hurts," she whines, her breath coming in huge gasps as her body starts to fight for oxygen; she's going into shock.

"I know, Kacey. Stay with me, okay? Kacey?"

She wants to shake her to keep her awake, but knows it'll do more harm than good. Powerless, Kara turns towards the mouth of the corridor, praying that the movement she's seeing isn't a figment of her imagination. Praying that the rescue party really has arrived.

"Help her." Kara's pretty sure it's the loss of blood and the fade of adrenaline that causes dark spots to dance in her vision before she blacks out completely.

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Lee's lungs are already burning by the time he takes in his first deep breath of smoke. He's sprinted the entire way to Camp Oil-Slick and while he likes to think he's regained he's pre-New Caprica shape, the stitch in his side tells him otherwise. As his eyes scan the destruction his heart thuds harder in his chest too; this is so very bad.

"Commander?"

The marine's clipped tone draws Lee's attention and he returns the salute before barking out, "Sitrep."

"We just sent in the first team, sir. They took some air vacs. Hopefully they can clean it out so the medics'll have an easier time doing their job."

"Casualties?" Lee's heart won't stop pounding even though he's easily caught his breath again.

"We expect them to be heavy." The marine is all business and Lee simultaneously admires and hates his detachment. "No one was even able to send a distress call."

"No one evac'd?" The question is hardly more than a whisper. Lee's eyes go wide as the scene before him starts to resolve into noticeable shapes, colors and sizes. He wishes it had stayed foggy.

"Get me the latest roster for this camp and anyone working on deck," he orders the guard. Jogging towards the destruction, he adds, "And get me some frakking medics!"