This will be a series of stand-alone stories which deal with the choices that the characters on Battlestar Galactica have made throughout the mini-series and first season (I'll be posted in as much of the order of the season as I can). I want to explore what would have happened/changed if things had gone differently. Some of the stories will be angst, some will be shippy, some will be funny. There will be different pairings throughout. Don't feel like you have to check out each one to understand the others. All I ask is that if it intrigues you, then give it a try. Hope you enjoy reading the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

There are pivotal moments in one's life where if you take the wrong path everything may change. Those changes may be for the good or for the bad. The possibilities are endless.

Kara Thrace shut her eyes to the noise and chaos surrounding her and did the only thing she knew to keep herself moving, to keep herself surviving. It was no longer as easy a thing to do as it once was. But still, it was all she had right now.

Swaying slightly to the music, she let her rationality go and surrendered to her imagination.

She could feel his hand pressing on her lower back. It would be gentle. Stable but not too soft. Kind of like him. No wonder it made her want to shiver from head to toe. His mouth was close to her ear. She could feel his breath on her hair. Could imagine the things he would whisper to her that no one else would hear. She wouldn't want anyone else to hear. This was just for him and for her. If she tried hard enough, she could even smell that musky cologne that he had run out of a week before but whose smell still lingered.

Lee.

"Are you all right, Lieutenant Thrace?"

She winced slightly as her partner's words ripped her from her little daydream. The hand on her back became a little too insistent and not at all gentle. The words shifted from light teasing to a biting kind of sarcasm with a hint of I-know-something-you-don't-know. And the cologne. Frankly, he just smelled like alcohol.

Pushing back the haze of her mind, she opened her eyes and stared at Dr. Gaius Baltar. "Oh. I'm doing just fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because the song ended a minute ago."

"Oh," she looked around at the rest of the floor where couples were casually talking. No one was dancing. "I didn't realize."

Baltar gave her an odd look. "Perhaps you should call it a night, Kara. I think that would be wise."

Thrown off by the fact that he had used her first name even though she never gave him permission, an error she usually punched men for, she watched in silence as his grin turned from genuine concern to something completely slimy and, frankly, creepy.

"How about I just take you to my quarters? They're closer to the hangar bay. You can sleep it off and then go back to your pilot's bunking in the morning."

"I don't think that's smart. The CAG will have my ass if I don't show up in my bunk."

Baltar pulled her close and, leaning over, whispered in her ear, "But it could be so much fun. And what the CAG doesn't know won't hurt him."

She had expected herself to shiver a little at such an intimate gesture. Her daydream of having Lee do the same thing only seconds before had practically made her faint, after all.

But nothing. She didn't feel one tingle. And she had had an awful lot of ambrosia. That usually helped when she wanted to imagine that the easy-to-get guy was the guy she couldn't have.

"I need more ambrosia," she said loudly.

Dr. Baltar laughed and pointed across the room. "The bar is right over there. I'm sure they'd be happy to help one of the Fleet's most notorious pilots."

She scrunched up her nose. "They have to be serving the crappy stuff by now." Her eyes lit up as a plan formed in her head. "I have a bottle of the good stuff saved in my locker back on Galactica. I was planning on using it for a particularly good hand of triad, but oh well. On a night like tonight, there are more important things it can be used for."

She walked a few steps before turning to look at the good Doctor. He seemed to be standing there and if she didn't know better, she would have thought he looked shaken up. Almost as if the resident genius couldn't understand the workings of a Viper Pilot from the shady side of Caprica. Somehow she threw him off, and he didn't look altogether comfortable with that.

And for some reason, that made her feel a little bit of pity for him. He had risen so high to the top but at the cost of everything he loved. Vice President of a motley crew of survivors who had no idea what the next step was.

That could be the only reason she found herself asking, "Are you coming?"

"I'm invited?"

Smirking, she walked back over and leaned in close to him. "Well, how else am I going to make it through these halls and into a shuttle? I am slightly drunk in case you didn't notice. I might need a rocket scientist to help me find Galactica, no matter how big of a ship it is."

"I'm not a rocket scientist."

She pulled back and squinted her eyes at him. "Close enough. And I don't want you to think you can accidentally steer me into your quarters when we get there. I might be a little confused, but I know one end of my ship from the other."

He made a cross over his heart and nodded solemnly while saying in an extra sweet tone, "I promise, Lieutenant. No foul play."

She glared at him and started to make her way to the nearest shuttle.

At least she thought it was the right way.

One hour later, she was stumbling into the bunkroom, happy to see she was right. On such a celebratory night like tonight, there was no one there. She could safely steal away her much coveted bottle without anyone being the wiser. Thank the gods, the pilots on her ship knew how to party, and they didn't let up until someone forced them to.

It made her want to shed some tears of pride.

Choosing to find her hidden bottle of ambrosia instead of surrounding to that lovely show of emotion, she stumbled across the bunkroom and yanked open her locker door. Immediately, she was greeted by her favorite picture of happier times. Both the Adama brothers smiled back at her. Well, in Lee's cause, he kind of gave a serious grin.

"Never changed," she muttered, touching the picture lightly.

"Having a small walk down memory lane?"

The voice startled her. She had really thought there was no one in the bunkroom. Especially him. She would have known if he was here. He sort of emitted this aura of warmth that encompassed those around him.

Okay. That was definitely the alcohol talking.

"No," she said, grabbing the bottle off the shelf and slamming the door shut. She held it up and smiled at him broadly. "Want a drink, Lee?"

"I have early patrol in the morning."

"Is that why you left so early?"

She heard him hesitate briefly before answering. "Yes and no."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"The only kind you're going to be getting from me tonight. Why don't you change into your sweats and get some rest so that those of us who have to fly a Viper can have some peace?"

"It's just you in the bunkroom."

"And I really would have loved to keep it that way."

He was so uptight. Thank god he had a woman like her to fix that. Sighing, she tossed the bottle into his bunk, hiked up her dress, and climbed up the ladder rungs. "Move over."

Groaning, Lee sat up in his bed to make room for her even as he protested, "I have to get some sleep."

"Just one drink and then I'll leave you alone." After mostly falling into a comfortable position at the bottom of his bunk, she wrenched his blankets out of where they were tucked in and huddled underneath them. "Galactica is a lot colder than Cloud Nine."

"That's because Cloud Nine is a luxury liner and Galactica is a military Battlestar."

"You're being an ass."

"You woke me up."

"I was just trying to be nice and share my wealth with the hardworking CAG who never seems to have much fun. It's my charitable act of the year."

"Now who's being an ass?"

"I'm drunk. What's your excuse?" With a quick flick of the wrist, she had popped the cork out of the bottle and was taking a sip.

"That's real dignified," Lee said, rolling his eyes at her.

"You work with what you have. And what I have right now is no glasses to drink out of."

She shoved the bottle into Lee's face which he reluctantly took from her. "Don't you think you should slow down, Kara. If I didn't know better, I would think you're trying desperately to drink something away."

"More like someone," she muttered with a sarcastic laugh.

Lee just gave her a strange look and took a drink out of the bottle. He turned to hand the ambrosia back to her as the bunkroom hatch slid open. Starbuck winced as she saw Dr. Baltar enter with a few glasses in hand.

"It took me a while, but I found them," Baltar said as he stepped into the room. He furrowed his brow and started to scan the room.

Lee took one look at his current bunkmate and shook his head. "You weren't actually going to let him…"

She shrugged her shoulders in indifference.

"Where are you, Kara?" Baltar's voice said from below.

Lee saw her cringe at the use of her name and for once in his life, he let himself react impetuously instead of thinking things out. It only made sense that he would. He had never really, truly though things out when it had something to do with Kara Thrace.

Hopping down from the top bunk, he smiled at Dr. Baltar. "She's with me, Doctor."

Starbuck gave him a sheepish grin and a small wave from where she sat in the bunk when he looked at her confused. "Hi, Doc."

They could both see Baltar's surprise at the scene in front of him. Kara, sitting slightly disheveled in a bunk not her own, tucked safe away underneath the blankets. Lee, being half-naked since he had been trying to sleep when he got woken up, so obviously in the middle of something with the woman in his bed.

The jealousy and anger was written all over Gaius Baltar's face.

Lee's mouth turned up on the side into a small smile-smirk. "And I don't think we'll be needing the glasses."

"Kara?" Dr. Baltar said, looking up at her.

Lee shifted so that he stood in between the path of Dr. Baltar's eyes and the inebriated pilot currently setting up camp in his bunk. "I don't think I have to remind you that it's Lieutenant Thrace. Formalities might have been lax on Cloud Nine, but you're back on Galactica now, Doctor. Until she tells you otherwise, it is Lieutenant Thrace or nothing."

Kara strained to hear what Lee was saying to Baltar, but her ears didn't seem to be working. Maybe everybody was right. Maybe she had had enough to drink. Sighing, she set the bottle of ambrosia on the small shelf at the top of the bunk, leaned back against the wall, and resigned herself to only being able to watch what was unfolding.

"Here's something I never understood, Captain Adama." Baltar made sure to enunciate the last few words. "You have always called Lieutenant Thrace by her first name. A little familiar don't you think considering you are her boss?"

Lee moved in closer so that he stood over the other man. "For reasons I do not have to share with you, I earned that right."

"Maybe I want to have a chance to do that, too," Baltar said, obviously not backing down.

Lee could see Baltar was not going to give up on the prospect of taking the mighty Starbuck to his bed that night as easily as he first thought. Which is why he finally gave up and let his temper kick in. "Well, maybe Kara doesn't want to give you that chance."

"She came back to Galactica with me," Baltar pointed out proudly.

Lee smirked and motioned at his bunk. "But she's in my bed."

Baltar shifted around Apollo to look at the woman in his bunk before laughing. "And it looks like you've bored her to death."

Baltar was right. Kara had seemingly passed out at the bottom of his bunk.

"Appears as if you won't be spending the night with Lieutenant Thrace, either," Baltar said with a laugh as he walked out of the bunkroom and slapped the hatch closed.

"Want to bet?" Lee whispered to the closed door through gritted teeth. That man really bothered him, and it wasn't just because of how damn annoying he had become.

As soon as Lee was sure Dr. Baltar was gone, he let out a laugh and climbed the rungs back up to his bunk.

"Is he gone?" Kara whispered, her eyes still locked shut.

"Yes. I can't believe that trick works."

She opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him. "It has since our Academy days. I'm surprised you still remembered it."

"I didn't," he said, sitting down on top of the blankets. "Not at first, at least. I just could tell you didn't really want to take that man home. You might be a screw-up, Kara, but you're not that bad."

She nodded and took another drink from the bottle of ambrosia which was back in her hand. "Yeah. I wanted to stay here with you."

"Now I really do know you're drunk."

"Contrary to what others may think, I actually do like spending time with you."

"Bullshit. You can barely talk to me these days without starting an argument or pointing out my shortcomings."

She looked hurt, and Lee immediately wished he could take his words back. He had only meant them jokingly.

"You really think that's the only reason I talk to you?"

"Come on. We haven't exactly been friends the past couple years."

"But that doesn't demote you to being only the CAG and the second best pilot in the Fleet." When he raised his eyebrows at her, she shrugged. "You're good, but you're not that good."

He nodded. "See? That's more like it."

"Lee. The point is you'll never just be the CAG and another pilot to me. I don't think it's possible to shove all you are into those two little categories." She took another drink from the bottle before shoving it towards him. "You're pretty much the only person I can rely on in this whole damn monster of a ship. Why do you think I'm always sticking my neck out for you to make sure that you're doing your job right? I need you to be stable so that I can have something to count on. Because if you screw up and something happens to you…" She stared at him for a moment before going on. "If something happens to you, then I don't have anyone left."

Before he could say anything in reply, she wrenched the bottle back from his hands, took another gulp, and surged. "And don't think I've forgotten for one second how frakked up it is that the brother of the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with is the one that I'm relying on. There are so many things wrong with that, but frankly, I don't care."

Another drink. "The world as we know it is over. Everyone keeps going on and on about being about to make a new start. How the world is new again and we can forget the past mistakes. Learn from the, but also forget them all the same."

Another drink. "And it got me thinking. Why can't we, you know? What's there that's holding us back? You're the only one I trust. The only stable thing in my life. I know how good you are for me. And I think that I have a right to want to stop screwing up. I think I've earned it. I've earned you."

She could see him looking at her intently, but she wasn't sure what he was thinking or whether he was just gauging her to see if she was telling him the truth. It had always made her uncomfortable when he did that. "Okay. That was probably the ambrosia talking. Sorry."

She went to shrug off the blankets and make her way out of his bunk but felt his hand reach out to grab her arm and stop her.

"I understand what you mean. But you have it easy. Try struggling to make the most temperamental, annoying, pain-in-the-ass pilot in the Fleet into something stable that you can count on."

Lee smiled as she avoided looking at him. Talking about how she felt had always made the boisterous Starbuck shy. But she did reach up to take his hand off of her arm and grasp it in hers. So he knew that she understood.

Things weren't easy, but why shouldn't they be able to have what they wanted in this age of rebirth?

After a moment, she turned to look into his eyes. He could tell that what she was about to say was probably extremely important. She might actually be vocalizing what they had been tiptoeing around since he showed up that day to talk to her in the brig. The prospect of finally having what he wanted made him nervous but in a good way.

Yeah. Definitely in a good way.

But at that moment, the hatch to the bunkroom slid open, breaking up whatever had been about to happen. Kara wrenched her hand away from his and ripped the curtain to his bunk closed.

"What do you think you're doing?" he whispered quietly.

"Do you know what they'll think if they catch me in your bunk when you look like that?" she said, gesturing to the fact that he was only wearing his standard military-issued boxers.

"Did you ever think that maybe it'll be worse when they see you stepping out of my bunk looking all disheveled? At least before it wouldn't have looked like we slept together. It is not like they are oblivious to the fact that you and I have had a previous relationship before I got marooned on Galactica."

She peeked through the small opening in the curtain. "Frak. It's half the Fleet."

"I guess you're going to have to ask me if you can sleep here," he said, stretching out and placing his hands behind his head. "Because if you haven't noticed, there really isn't that much room. So it's either ask or I'm just going to shove you out of her during the middle of the night. And it's a long drop to the bottom. Again, totally plausible considering it's not that big of a bed."

"There's enough to do what I want." He raised an eyebrow at her, and she glared. "I meant sleep."

Obviously he took pity on her predicament because he motioned for her to stay where she was and opened the curtain on his half of the bed slightly. "Hey, Cat. Could you grab me a couple tanks from my locker? It's really frakin' cold in here tonight."

The pilot nodded and, after walking over to Lee's locker, tossed him a few shirts.

Closing the curtain, he held them out to Kara. "Here. As pretty as it is to look at, I doubt you want to sleep in that thing."

She smiled at him and smoothed out a few wrinkles in her dress. "You liked it, huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just change so I can get some rest finally. I still have to fly about five hours."

Doing as he asked, she was halfway through the changing process when she noticed him intently staring at the top of the bunk. Lee, always the proper gentleman. Why for once couldn't he be a typical guy? Maybe it would be a little easier to let her impulses take over. Then at least she'd have something to blame her feelings on the next morning.

Lee stared up at the top of the bunk, willing her to finish soon. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was only human, and she was definitely one of the few women on board that would be worth the trouble of breaking the fraternization policy. Even if it pretty much screwed up the one good thing he had left in his life, it might be worth it. Why the frak was it taking so long?

"Done," she whispered.

Letting out a small nervous laugh at how close he had come to making a stupid, Starbuck, screw-up move, he slid up against the wall and motioned for her to join him. After a few moments of positioning and repositioning, they finally came to a rest with him lying on his back and she lying on her stomach, slightly on top of him, with her arm draped over his chest. It was an intimate position, but when you've been to hell and back with someone, it really isn't that awkward to have to be close.

Plus, neither one really minded it that much. Not that they would ever admit to it out loud.

"Apollo, sir."

The voice of one of his pilots made him tense up. Reaching across Kara, he stuck his head out of the curtain. "What did you need, Racetrack?"

"Well, I heard you moving around in there so I figured you were having trouble sleeping and I thought you should know that Starbuck hasn't made it back to the bunkroom yet. I know you told me to let you know when she did."

Lee chanced a glance down at Kara where she lay beneath him. She was doing her best not to laugh, and it wasn't really succeeding. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention back to Racetrack. "I saw her earlier leaving with Dr. Baltar so she probably won't be back anytime soon if I know Starbuck."

He wanted to laugh at the look of surprise and… oh gods… was that disgust?… on Racetrack's face. Instead, he gave her a nod. "Good night."

"Night, sir."

Pulling the curtain closed, he lay back down against the wall.

"You didn't have to do that," Kara said quietly.

"Check up on you? I thought it only wise considering the presence of ambrosia and your previous history with impulsive acts. As much as you probably would have deserved it, I didn't want you to sit down in the brig all night, waiting for someone to pull some strings to get you out. And by someone, of course I mean myself."

She looked surprised. "Thanks."

"It's not a problem. It's part of my job."

"Not really. But I appreciate it anyways." She settled in against him and for a moment, there was a comfortable silence between them.

Lee shut his eyes and tried to forget what a strange night it had turned out to be. He had thought it would be just another tedious night of diplomatic relations and military protection. Instead, the world seemed to have flipped on end. Kara had shown up to the celebration in a dress. She had actually allowed him to dance with her. Then she had let Dr. Baltar try to take her back to his quarters.

Okay. Maybe that last one wasn't that out of the ordinary. She did have a track record with that kind of thing. A track record he tried his best to ignore, but one he was aware of all the same.

Still, if anyone had told him that by the end of the night he would wind up sharing a bunk with a slightly drunk Starbuck who happened to be wearing his clothing, he would have laughed in their face.

"That's not what I meant." Her voice broke him away from his thoughts. "When I said you didn't have to do that. That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant you didn't have to tell them I went home with Dr. Baltar. Do you know how much work it's going to take to get the pilots to respect me again?"

Lee let out a fairly loud laugh before realizing how strange that would sound to the bunkroom. "Frak," he whispered and waited for someone out there to say something.

When nothing happened, he let himself relax. Which was precisely when Crashdown pulled the curtain back a few inches.

"Would you two keep it down? I would like to get some sleep before having to spend another day killing toasters. And to think I thought having the bunk underneath the CAG would give me a little peace and quiet."

Kara looked over at him sleepily. "Hey, Crash."

"Hey, Starbuck." He shook his head. "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit," she said before turning over to nestle against Lee again.

"Crashdown?" Lee said, calling the man's attention away from where Kara lay and back to him. "Can I ask you--"

"--to not say anything about this? Your secret's safe with me, sir. Besides, I'm looking forward to seeing how she can convince the rest of the pilots that she didn't sleep with Dr. Baltar. Because she sure can't tell them the truth about where she was."

Lee felt himself smiling as Crashdown disappeared out of view. He looked down at Kara where she lay snuggled up against him. His smile only got wider.

He had no idea when it had happened, but somewhere along the way, Galactica had become his home.

Two days later, Starbuck found herself in front of the President of the Twelve Colonies.

Laura Roslin was asking her to take the Cylon Raider back to whatever remained of Caprica in order to get some ancient artifact that had been shoved in a museum. She seemed convinced it would help them find the way to Earth. When Kara had objected that the Commander already knew where they were going, Roslin tried to persuade her that William Adama had lied to the Fleet.

"I don't believe that, sir. Even if I did, that wouldn't change my answer."

"And that answer would be?"

"A respectful no, sir."

She fidgeted impatiently as Roslin silently stared at her.

"Fine. You are dismissed, Lieutenant Thrace. And this conversation is not to leave this room." The President must have realized that she couldn't talk her into changing her mind.

"It won't, sir."

"And if you change your mind?"

"I'll let you know."

Kara gave a smile and a nod before opening the hatch and sliding out of the room.

So, maybe Roslin had been telling her the truth. Maybe the Old Man had lied to the Fleet about finding Earth. She wouldn't be happy with it, but he must have had his reasons. William Adama knew how to take care of his men. She could understand Roslin trying to diminish her faith in the man that she followed. Obviously, Roslin believed strongly that finding this Arrow of Apollo was what the Fleet needed.

Kara could respect a woman who knew what she wanted and would do anything, within reason, to make it happen. She could relate to that in a lot of ways.

On any other day, the President's persuasion tactics probably would have worked. Taking away her belief in the Commander would have made her do any number of rash actions. But Roslin had forgotten one little thing. Something she herself hadn't realized she had until just recently.

She had the stability of Lee Adama to rely on.

And while she still had that, she wasn't about to do anything stupid. She was getting tired of screwing up all the good things in her life. First Zak. Then her knee. She didn't want Lee to be the next on that list.

Plus, he had thrown down a challenge to her that night he had hid her away in his bunk. He might not have realized it at the time, but he had. And she was never one to turn down a challenge, no matter how hard.

That was pretty much all she could remember from that night. Stupid ambrosia.

So, here she was. Doing the rational thing. Trying to do something she had never been able to do since she could remember.

Kara was bound and determined to prove that she could be stable for him, too.

At least she was pretty sure she could.

If she tried really hard.

And if he forgave her when she screwed up a few times in the beginning.

And if she didn't let her temper get in her way.

And if she didn't let little things like triad or piloting or purposefully getting on his nerves get in her way.

Frak. This was going to be hard.