Possibility: Babies Chapter 1: Possibility: Babies, a battlestar galactica: 2003 fanfic

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 possibilties are endless.

Commander William Adama stared at the paper in front of him. The President had mentioned to him once that repopulating the human race was one of her main priorities, but he really hadn't thought she'd be stupid enough to try to do that now. They were in the middle of a war, and she wanted to institute her first government program. And not just any program.

"Did you get this?" Colonel Tigh said, barging into the Commander's private quarters with a paper waving in his hand. He didn't care that he might be interrupting William Adama's thoughts. "We all have to go in for genetic testing."

"The President wants to match up the best DNA to use in her repopulation program."

"Repopulation program, my ass! She wants to make test tube babies. It's unnatural."

Adama recognized the familiar irrateness in his friend's voice and demeanor. He had to move forward carefully. "I'm not agreeing with her, Saul. I'm just saying that there might not be anything we can do."

"It's not like you to accept defeat so easily. You obviously do not agree with her decision. Why aren't you telling her that she's making a stupid mistake?"

Adama walked over to his desk and took a seat. "I choose my battles. This is one that is not worth fighting. She has promised me that the testing will not impact the way I run this Fleet. And repopulation will be an issue for us at some point. We may as well deal with it now."

Tigh nodded and sat down in the chair next to the Commander's work area. "I still don't have to like it, do I?"

"No. But you do have to get tested," Adama added, trying to keep his smirk as small as he could.

Lee Adama stared at the pilots sitting in front of him in the Ready Room. He had no idea how he was going to do his job in this particular instance. He was pretty sure that he was about to step into areas that no CAG had ever ventured in before.

Taking a deep breath, he hoped for the best and began to speak. "Normally I would be giving you pilots a small talk on the state of our Fleet and who was doing what patrols. However, there's something that's taking precedence to that today. The President has decided to institute a new program which should affect most of you."

Lee grabbed a stack of papers and handed them to one of the more veteran pilots who was sitting in the first row. "These are the acceptance forms for the President's new repopulation program. Anyone who does not want to take part in it should not sign. It's purely voluntary, but the more involved, the less traumatic it should be."

"I don't understand," Boomer said, looking down at the paper in her hand. "Wouldn't repopulation involve the grounding of all women pilots in the Fleet?"

"The President is proposing a program in which… in which…" Apollo cleared his throat and tried again. "In which the eggs of the women in the fleet are harvested so that the baby is developed in a lab. The most flight time it should take out of the schedule is a few days. Everyone read over the details of the program on the paper. If there are any questions, come see me sometime in the next few days." Lee gave them a small nod of dismissal and was pleased when they began to get up and exit the room. He really didn't want to field their questions at that exact moment. It was bad enough he had to talk to Boomer about her eggs being harvested. He didn't want to get into the specifics about the male's part of the program.

He shifted the papers around on the podium in front of him until he thought every pilot was gone. Only then did he allow himself a sigh of relief and a brief moment of rest. His head rested on the cool surface of the podium as he concentrated solely on breathing in and out. The role of CAG definitely hadn't been this hard before. (take out 'had it?')

"Something the matter, Captain?"

Gods. Her voice was the last one in the universe he wanted to be hearing right now. He found himself wishing to the Lords of Kobol that they would just make her disappear. When he still felt her presence in front of him seconds later, he knew he wasn't that lucky. "I thought you were scheduled for patrol, Kara" he said without lifting his head.

Starbuck laughed and began to walk to the front of the ready room. "I was. Heard you were going to have a big meeting. Figured you had scheduled me for patrol specifically so I wouldn't be here. Now that I've witnessed your discomfort, I can see why."

She sat down in the front row and, after Lee finally lifted his head to look at her, patted the seat next to where she sat. "Tell Dr. Starbuck what's on your mind."

"You're loving this, aren't you?" Lee hissed. Contrary to his angry tone, he did walk from behind the podium and take the seat next to the one she had offered. Knowing her tendency to tease and annoy, a little space between them might be the best option in order to keep both of them out of the brig.

Meanwhile, Kara watched him put the distance between them with a smile on her face. They had been apart for two years with barely any contact, but they had already slipped back into their old routine. It was comforting and confusing at the same time. Things had stayed the same between them, but they were still so different. They weren't two kids struggling to make it at the Academy anymore. She gave him a once over. No, he was definitely not a kid.

"I'm happy that I don't have to be taken out of the cockpit to do my duty for the Fleet," she said, finally answering with a brutally unexpected honesty.

Lee stared up at the ceiling. "So you don't object to the means that the President is using to start the repopulation?"

"No. Do you?"

"I don't know." He let out a big sigh. "It's just… well…I never imagined it being like this."

Kara kicked her legs up onto the empty seat between them "Imagined what?"

"Having children," Lee said before he could stop himself. When she started to laugh, he shot her a dirty look. "What's so funny?"

"Need I remind you that you are a man, Lee Adama. This repopulation should be easy for you. Give you a cup, a private room, and one dirty thought and you're done."

He groaned. "That was gross. Even for you."

"Glad to know I've surpassed myself. But seriously, I don't understand what your problem is."

Lee shook his head. "I'm not telling you. You'll only laugh more."

She knew he was upset even if he couldn't admit it. Knowing that it was probably a stupid, emotional thing to do and completely uncharacteristic of Starbuck the pilot, Kara the friend found herself grasping his hand in hers. She wasn't surprised to feel him stiff slightly and give her a weird look before letting himself relax in the comfort of her physical touch.

Sometimes she got these weird bursts where she just needed to have some sort of contact with Lee. She had a nagging suspicion it had something to do with caring about how he felt. It was strange for her to care. At least this far out in the open where people could see.

It was also strange for her to give him a reassuring smile, but that's what Kara found herself doing along with holding his hand. The things being friends with Lee Adama compelled her to do. It would be downright fascinating if it wasn't so annoying.

"Honestly, Lee, I can tell you're upset about something. Tell me before you decide to implode from all that fraking repression."

Kara could practically feel him letting go of the last few defensive walls right before he started speaking. "I just imagined that when I would have children, it would be in the normal ways. If this program works, I might not even know the woman who is the mother of my children. I imagined making children out of love, not necessity." Lee paused, looking over at her. "You're not laughing."

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not funny."

Lee smirked at her, not believing his ears. "I think we may actually be relating to one another on a personal level. Maybe we really are friends."

"And maybe you can convince the future mother of your children to give a big frak you to the President's artificial reproduction idea. Hey, if she realizes that you're the guy she gets matched with, I doubt she would mind having to do it the old-fashioned way. Let me see. How did the girls in Hangar Bay C put it? The call sign of a god with a body and voice to match."

His cheeks reddened slightly. They never really discussed the fact that most of the Fleet privately, and all too often rather publicly, lusted after the Commander's son. It embarrassed Lee and made Kara uncomfortable. He had no idea why she was bringing it up now.

"Seriously, though," Kara said, finally releasing his hand and standing up. "Talk to the woman you get matched with. She might be willing to negotiate. Word on the street is the CAG is a great catch."

"I hate gossip," he said, punctuating it with an overly dramatic eye roll.

"All I'm saying is that you might be surprised what a woman would be willing to give up if she knew she had your attention." She sent a small wink his way before walking off, presumably to fly that CAP she was already late for.

"I don't know what to do with you, Kara Thrace," he whispered as the hatch shut. He rested his head in his hands again. He probably had a good thirty seconds of alone time in front of him before someone would come and find him in order to tell him the next crisis he had to solve. He wanted to use it wisely.

Dee offered her arm to Dr. Baltar and his needle. "Is this going to take long?"

"No," Gaius said, injecting the serum into her arm. "Are you feeling ill, Specialist?"

"Let me see. The doctor just shot me up to my ass with drugs in order to insert a rather painful looking tool into my abdomen to extract eggs in order to repopulate the human race. I'm not feeling good, that's for sure."

"Duly noted." He would have to remember that those drugs the good doctor in sick bay was handing out made the women both agitated and took away all sense of protocol and respect that the military had instilled in them. He held a piece of cotton to where the needle had been, trying to give her a smile that she wouldn't interpret as reason to hit him. "This drug should knock out the drugs that have already been given you. You should be able to go through your shift at CIC just fine. After that's done, I recommend at least eight hours sleep."

"You're not an actual physician kind of doctor, are you?" Dee asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No. I'm more of a scientific, brainy kind of doctor."

"Then don't be handing out medical advice." Dee gave him one more mean look before taking her arm back and walking out the hatch.

She made it down half the corridor before things started going dizzy, and she was forced to lean up against the cold, metal wall. Obviously, the drugs must take a few minutes to kick in. Dr. Baltar probably would have told her that if she hadn't just stormed out on him.

After a moment, Dee decided the whole dizziness thing would be okay as long as she could just lean on the walls for as much time as it took without anyone noticing her. No one could discover that she was hurting right now.

Dee didn't want to mention to her superiors that they had made a mistake on the schedule. Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh were already too stressed about the President's new program and what it meant for the Fleet. She didn't want to bring up a problem as trivial as their putting her on the schedule for a shift only a few hours after undergoing the operation.

"Dee?"

She opened her eyes a crack to focus on the figure standing in front of her. "I thought you had work to do with the President, Billy."

"I did. I do." He reached out to grab her arm as she started to sway away from the wall. "The President mentioned that your name was on the list of those women going through their operations today. When she saw that I didn't already know and figured you obviously didn't want me to know, she let me have a day off. Something about a woman not wanting to admit weakness but eventually it will come around to haunt me if I wasn't there for you. I didn't really understand. It was a good thing that the President understood because it looks like you do need me."

"I don't need you," she said, poking him hard in the chest with her finger. It took all her energy, but she wasn't going to let him keep her from her shift. Commander Adama needed her on call.

"Well, no, you don't need me specifically. But you need someone to get you back to your bunk safely."

"I'm not going to my bunk. I'm going to CIC. I have a shift in a few hours. I figured that it might take me that long to get there."

"But you just had an operation. I don't see how you could possibly have a shift."

"Dr. Baltar gave me some drug stimulant. In a few minutes, I'll be fine." Contrary to her words, Dee could feel herself getting worse. If she didn't get out of the hallway, she might just collapse completely in front of hundreds of witnesses. Or maybe there were only a few people around. She really couldn't tell. The room was spinning too fast.

No saying another word, Billy kept hold of her arm and started down the corridor. Each step they took she leaned on him more. It scared him to see such a strong woman in such obvious disarray. Especially when that woman was Dee.

"Billy," she whispered, breaking the silence as they turned a corner. "I lied to you."

"Did you?" he said with a smirk. It was strange to hear her voice without the usual defenses fighting her every emotion. She was usually so matter-of-the-fact all the time. The openly vulnerable tone she was whispering to him in right now was something completely foreign.

Again, Billy felt himself becoming a little more afraid. Maybe the President's new program was not the best choice for the Fleet right now. "So what did you lie to me about, Dee?"

"I do need you," she said with a half-drugged smile.

"You're not going to be happy you said that to me in the morning." He shook his head and continued leading her to the bunkroom, concentrating only on getting them through the next step. He didn't want to think about whether his boss had made a mistake and whether that mistake was going to permanently hurt the woman he loved.

Lee sat holding his best friend's hand as she lay in one of the beds in sickbay. It was eerie to see her so quiet. This was the woman who never held back her words no matter how hurtful they would sound. She didn't hesitate to use physical force if you refused to listen to her point. She was a spitfire in its most basic definition.

And now she was silent.

The doctor said that the operation went as normal as could be expected, but Lee still couldn't help but be worried that something was wrong since she wasn't waking up. He had insisted that he be allowed to wait right outside the make-shift "operating" room while Kara had her eggs harvested. He wanted to be as close as possible in case anything happened.

Plus, Kara had some issues with the ideas of bearing children. He really wasn't sure what they were, but they were issues none the same. And as much as she joked about the ridiculous notion of a woman like her having children, he knew that deep down she wanted them the same as any other woman. Not to mention the small fact of how real a possibility they had been for her at one time.

She meant a lot to the Fleet, and they couldn't risk losing her to neither her own self-destructive tendencies nor a complication from a surgery that didn't really have to be done. The Fleet needed her.

Lee stared down at his fingers laced in hers and shook his head. The words sounded almost as stupid in his head as they would have if he had said them out loud. He wasn't here because the Fleet needed her. For now, the Fleet had plenty of good pilots who could keep them alive and moving.

No. He was here because he had a selfish need to make sure that she was safe.

Her whole world had dropped out two years before everyone else's. He knew the loss of their civilization would hit her hard because she was more vulnerable. She already knew what the others were just now experiencing. Which was why he felt the need to be right next to her when she woke up. She had come to lean on the Adama family, and neither he nor his father minded the responsibility of not letting her fall.

Lee stared down at her silent face. No, he didn't mind it at all.

Kara began to stir at that moment for the first time, shifting in bed and squeezing his hand instinctively. He was grateful from the short reprieve from the direction his thoughts were heading.

"What the hell are you doing here, sir?" she said, finally opening her eyes and staring at him.

His heart soared at her all-too familiar sleepy smile, even if it was drug induced this time. "I happened to be off-shift for today. I figured you might want to see a familiar face when you woke up." He didn't want to mention to her that, as the person in charge of schedules, he had made sure he wouldn't have to be in the air when she went through this whole ordeal. He didn't want to mention that he had purposefully made sure that someone else was handling his duties so that he could spend his off-hours in the sick bay without having to worry about his other pilots.

For whatever reason, she didn't question him even though he knew she saw right through the things he was purposefully leaving out. Kara inched her way up so that she was sitting with her legs dangling off the edge of the hospital bed. "So, how did my hypothetical children come out?"

"The doctor said that it was the easiest operation he's done so far. It seems like your eggs didn't want to be pregnant almost as much as you did."

She laughed while trying to stand up and failing miserably. Lee slid his arm under hers immediately, supporting most of her weight with his. He knew she must be pretty heavily drugged when she didn't protest.

"Are these your pants?" she said, squinting down at her bottom half. "How the hell did I end up in your pants?"

He found himself laughing harder than he had in days. No matter what the situation was, Kara always seemed to find some way to observe the oddest, most obscure things. Of course she would notice immediately that she was wearing his clothes. Deciding that she had already been through enough that day, he let her comment about being in his pants slid by without teasing and went with giving her an honest answer. "Yeah. The doctor said that your sweats were too tight. They were going to rub the stitches from the incision. So I gave up my spare pair."

"Anything for a good cause?" she teased.

"Yeah." Lee looked over at the mess of people scurrying all over the sick bay. "The doctor said if you wanted, I could move you back to the pilots' bunkroom when you woke up. They're really busy here with all the women of the Fleet having to come in."

"I don't see why I have to go to the bunkroom. I could do some good down in the Hanger doing repairs."

"Well, it seems that the drugs they give you are going to keep you pretty out of it for at least twenty-four hours. So the bunkroom is your only option, Lieutenant."

"I can get there myself," she insisted. Prickling at his casual use of rank, she tried to push away from him.

"Sure you can," he answered, pulling her tighter against his side as they started shuffling towards the door. "While we're here and having such heartfelt discussion between us, Kara, I might as well get the obligatory scolding out for the stunt you pulled earlier on shift. You risked yourself and your ship in order to do what?"

She rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe Lee was bringing this up when she was in so much pain after her operation. Then again, it showed just how much he knew her that he wasn't changing his normal behavior. She would probably be even angrier if he just let her off-the-wall behavior from her earlier flight slide by without comment.

It was official. He knew her too well.

"I told the deck crew that it was imperative that I know my ship could handle a 360 degree turn. I might need that knowledge someday when I'm facing down a Cylon."

"But did you have to do it in front of the Nuggets while loudly screaming over the comms 'Oh my gods. I'm going to die'?" He ruffled her hair with his hand as they turned the corner away from sick bay. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that one day one of your stunts is going to get you killed?"

"Almost every day, sir," she said, giving him a mocking salute. "But then I proceed to tell them what my mother always told me when she did some trademark crazy Thrace move. Never pay the reaper with love only."

Lee thought that over for a moment before nodding. "It makes sense. And I don't think you have anything to worry about. There's a lot more pent-up inside you other than love. It's rather fascinating."

"Glad to be of service to our CAG," she joked before noticeably concentrating on walking.

He figured now was as good a time as any to ask her the question that had been running through his mind since he first heard about this new program. It seemed like her defensives were down at the moment, and there was a good chance that she would remember none of this when she woke up later on. Which would probably save him a gaping wound to his ego and a black eye. "Kara, I don't know how you are getting through this."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mind has to be on Zak every second you think about this program."

"You mean the fact that I should be married with maybe my own naturally-made bun in the oven by now?" She shook her head. "Never crossed my mind."

"Bull shit. How are you doing with that?"

"I'm getting by. Some days are better than others. I've come to accept what my life would have been if he was still alive and what it is now that he isn't. It's not so bad really. I'm surviving." Her arm noticeably tightened where it lay around his waist. "Luckily I still have people to look after me in this world."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you for the past few years."

"Don't start getting sappy on me, Lee. I don't have the patience to put up with it right now."

He smiled and gave her a small nod before they continued on. They hadn't make it very far before he noticed her beginning to stumble. The doctor had been right when he warned Lee that the effects of the drugs might be erratic. She had gone from comatose to coherent to belligerent to joking to stumbling in a matter of minutes. Maybe he should have gotten the actual move from sick bay to bunkroom approved by the doctor instead of just doing it. She might not be ready to move.

He probably should have thought of that before they hit the main corridor.

"Lee," she said softly, stopping to look up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Promise me that you won't hold what I'm about to do against me." He gave her a confused look, but when she continued to look at him intently, he nodded.

She seemed satisfied with his response because the next thing he knew she had fainted dead away into his arms. Sighing and shaking his head, he slid one of his arms around her waist and the other under her legs, lifting her up. Only Kara would make sure he agreed not to tease her for something as uncontrollable as fainting.

For her sake, Lee hoped that there wouldn't be many people walking the corridors between here and the bunkroom. He might not tease her, but he couldn't make that promise for the rest of Galactica. She would never live down needing the CAG to carry her to bed, repopulation program or no repopulation program

"Good afternoon, sir."

He looked up to see Billy steering a rather tired looking Dee towards him in the hall. Lee gave him a small nod as he remembered that Dee's name had been right below Kara's on the list of operations for that day. Recognizing a kindred spirit when he saw one, Lee whispered, "The things we do for the women of this ship."

When Billy gave him a smile and a nod, Lee understood his assumption had been right. This was a man who recognized how scary it was to be unable to alleviate the pain the women were subjecting themselves just to allow their race to continue existing. Billy understood how ridiculous it was, having to stand off to the side while everyone around him was in pain.

Billy slowly brought Dee to a stop next to Starbuck and Apollo. "Are your father and Lieutenant Gaeta in CIC?" he asked.

"I think so."

"Good. I'm going to drop Dee off in her bunk and then I need to make sure someone can cover her shift."

"A wise idea." Lee readjusted Kara in his arms. Strangely enough, she was a lot lighter than he expected. Sometimes he forgot that she was a girl. As Billy began to walk away in the direction he had been previously headed, Lee called out to him. "Could you not mention to anyone that you saw me and the Lieutenant like this? The less amount of talk, the better."

Billy nodded. "No problem. Let Lieutenant Thrace know that the President appreciates her sacrifice."

Lee gave him a funny look before shaking his head. "That sounds slightly mechanical. Starbuck would go berserk if I say that to her. Personally, I'm starting to get tired of being on the receiving end of her fists when the Commander or the President says the wrong thing."

"That's the point, isn't it? Making her go berserk? Isn't that part of your job as the CAG?" Billy said with a smirk as Dee let out a small groan. He pulled her in closer to his body, wondering if maybe it wouldn't be easier to pick her up just as Apollo had done to Starbuck. "If that's not the route you want to go, however, let her know that the President understands her pain. She had me pencil in a little free time this evening when she found out Starbuck's operation was today. I think she plans on visiting."

"Not if Starbuck doesn't wake up," Lee joked, readjusting the fallen woman in his arms. "Carry on, Billy. And make sure that my father knows about Dee's condition. They're pretty close. He'll understand if she can't fill her shift, and he'll probably help you find a suitable replacement."

"Thank you, Captain."

Lee nodded and started walking down the corridor again. He looked down at his best friend in his arms.

Vulnerable. It was a strange look for Kara. He would have to thank the President someday for letting him see this side of her.

Boomer made her way down to the hanger bay, trying to figure out why she couldn't recall where she had been a few minutes earlier. These blackouts she had been the past few days were getting worse. Before it would just be a few seconds here and there. Now it was hour-long periods. Sometimes she was pretty sure that she missed whole nights.

She didn't want to think about this right now. Her operation was scheduled for an hour, and she really wanted to see the Chief before she went under the knife. There were already horror stories circulating about how awful the recovery process was and how doped up each women was while trying to get back on her feet. She needed a little reassurance before she went through the same thing.

Pushing it from her mind for the moment, her eyes locked with Starbuck's as the other pilot made her way down the corridor at a lightning fast speed. It seemed like the recovery time for the operation went by quickly in some cases. "Something I should know about, Starbuck?" she called.

Starbuck skidded to a halt and gave her probably the wickedest smile she had ever seen a person have. "Rumor's going around that the CAG has to do his part for the repopulation program today. I can't let an opportunity like this go to waste."

Sharon laughed. "Hasn't he earned a small reprieve from your constant torment? I personally saw him carry your comatose ass all the way across half of Galactica to your bunkroom three days ago. Give the man a break."

"On any other day!" she called behind her, already on the move again.

Boomer shook her head and kept on walking. Starbuck seemed to have recovered just fine. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as they made it out to be.

Laura Roslin stared down at the envelope in her hand. The day had finally come. The results of the genetic prediction testing she had assigned Dr. Baltar to do were complete.

"Aren't you going to open it, sir?" Billy asked, gesturing at the envelope. He had just confirmed that every envelope had been delivered to its proper recipient. Now all they had to do was wait for acceptance by the various pairs, and they could begin to create the next generation.

"Madame President?" he said softly when she didn't respond. "Are you all right?"

"Do you think this was a silly idea?" she asked, finally looking over at her aide.

"The program?"

"The random matching." She looked down at the still-sealed envelope. "It is an extremely awkward situation to have to speak to someone you barely know about having children with them because you are genetically compatible."

"I don't think you'll have a problem if that's what is worrying you," Billy said, taking a seat in the chair on the other side of the desk she was sitting at.

"And why is that?"

"You're the President. Any man would be happy to be the father to the children of the woman who saved the human race. It would practically be the highest honor one could have."

"That was very sweet of you to say, Billy, but I don't think it's going to be that easy." She slipped back into the silence, still contemplating the envelope in hand.

Deciding that silence was not what they needed right now, Billy chose to answer her previous question. "I don't think the random matching was a bad idea, anyway. I think it allows for the pilots and the civilians to keep the stress level of the situation to a minimum. They won't have to worry about asking people to be their partner. Instead, the name is given to them, and they only have to be sure that their match is still fine within the parameters of the repopulation program."

"That was my original reasoning. I'm less confident now that it's actually time." She gave him a small shrug before letting out a tiny laugh. "I guess if I want people to go along with this program, I should get on board myself, right?" The President took a deep breath and ripped open the envelope. She slipped the paper out and began to read. "Oh."

"Something wrong with your results?" Billy asked.

"No. I'm just surprised." She smiled at him. "So, did you really mean what you said about it being an honor to be matched with me?"

"Yes," he said hesitantly, not sure where she was heading with this train of thought.

She slid the paper across the desk, resting it in front of him so that he could read what it said.

His face whitened as he scanned down to the words he was looking for.

Best Genetic Match: William Keikeya

Dee stood in front of Captain Adama, shuffling back from one foot to the next. She had been waiting forever to talk with Apollo. But now that she was finally by herself in his office with all other problems solved, she couldn't find the words she needed.

"Is there something you needed, Dee?" Apollo asked, looking up from his paperwork to notice she hadn't left with the rest of the CIC crew when his short, informal briefing had ended. "Is this about your test results?"

"Yes, sir," she said, biting her lip.

His face lost a little bit of his color, and she saw him begin to get nervous as he set the papers aside. "Were you matched with me?"

"I don't know, sir. Was I?"

"You don't know?" he said. "How can you not know?"

"I never got my results." Now it was her turn to question him. "And, if you don't mind my asking, how can you not know if I was matched with you? I saw Billy hand you your envelope in CIC earlier, Captain."

"I haven't opened it, Dee." He took a deep breath and motioned for her to take a seat in the chair next to him. "To be honest, I'm scared to see who they've put me with."

"Was it Starbuck's comment at the Triad game last night? Because you know, sir, I'm sure that whoever you get matched with is not going to… what phrase did she use?"

"Jump my bones," he said, shaking his head.

"Right. I'm sure there won't be any bone jumping, sir. Your father runs a tight ship."

Lee's eyes went wide at the mention of his father, and for some reason, Dee thought it had nothing to do with her little comment about the way the Old Man ran his Battlestar. She watched as he picked up the phone, hitting a familiar series of numbers.

Dee waited patiently as he had a quick conversation with the person on the other end. When he hung up the phone and turned to look at her, she finally asked, "Did I say something wrong, sir?"

"No, nothing like that Dee. I just remembered my father wanted to talk with me earlier but I was too busy with that damn paperwork to make time. He really hates it when I don't return his calls. I learned that the hard way when I was going through war school on Picon." He gave her a small smile. "He wasn't mad this time, though. Turns out that he only wanted to ask me to get some alone time to talk with you."

"He did?"

"It seems like you picked the wrong Adama to accuse, Dualla. You weren't matched up with me. You were matched up with my father."

Dee tried in vain to keep her mouth from dropping open.

"That's why you didn't receive your results," Lee continued to explain. "My father had asked the Doctor to send his results along with whomever he matched straight to him. He wanted to keep the situation a secret as much as he could, due to his being the Commander and all."

"Oh."

Lee couldn't help but laugh. "Dee, it's not the end of your world. No one has to even know that you were matched up with my father. Just pretend you're Kara. If someone asks you, tell them you're not sharing and they can go frak themselves."

Dee laughed lightly. "Did she actually say that?"

"Yes. She said it to me about twenty minutes before we had this briefing. I'm not sure why she wouldn't share. At the time, I thought it might be because she had been matched with my father."

"She still hasn't looked to see who they matched her with. I know that for a fact. She was talking to Boomer about it in the mess hall earlier. Maybe she's scared for the same reasons you are. I have to get back to my post. There's a six hour shift waiting for me there." Dee stood up and walked to the door. "Thank you, Lee, for being so nice."

He waved her compliment off as she left his office. His eyes fell on the brown envelope sitting on the edge of his desk. "Can an envelope stare?" he pondered out loud. He glared for a moment more before returning to the mound of paperwork.

Gaius Baltar did his best to sneak through the corridors of Galactica. It seemed since these stupid results the President had made him tabulate were handed out, everyone on the ship wanted to speak with him. Lieutenant Gaeta wanted to know if the one name given to them on their sheet was their only option. It seemed that he was slightly intimidated by being matched up with the rather attractive Ensign Davis. Crashdown wanted to know how the hell he was supposed to tell Specialist Cally that he had been matched with her considering the girl hated his guts. Chief Tyrol wanted to know if it was possible to get another person's match changed. He didn't like the idea of his secret girlfriend making children with another guy.

"If only he knew who she got matched up with," Six taunted as she suddenly appeared at his side.

Baltar sent her a glare, forgetting that he wasn't supposed to acknowledge her presence when he was in public.

"Are you still pouting because you didn't get matched up with Lieutenant Thrace? Because being a genetic match does not mean she'll let you into her bed."

"What makes you think that I need this reproduction program to get Lieutenant Thrace into my bed?"

"Gaius. You haven't been the smoothest man since you came on board Galactica." She leered at him. "Think positively, though. At least that trait won't be passed on to your children."

"What do you mean by that?" he hissed at her. As a few Marines passed him in the hall, he gave them a smile and then turned back to her for the answer to the question.

"I'm just saying that you won't have to worry about having children with the woman you got matched with. God has taken care of that for you."

He gave her a weird look before pulling the hatch to his office open. There was a woman standing at attention in the middle of the room, waiting for him. "Lieutenant Valerii, I was expecting you."

"Of course you were," she said, rolling her eyes. "Don't you think you could have given me a heads up that I was matched with you considering you were doing the matching?"

"Now that would be giving you an unfair advantage," he scolded. "One thing the President has taught me is that it is extremely important to be fair."

Boomer rolled her eyes. His tone always sounded so slimy. "I just wanted to let you know that as much as I find this weird, I'm not going to object to the program. You may proceed, Dr. Baltar."

He nodded and tried not to flinch as Six sat down on his lap. She leaned back into him, wiggling herself a little just to rile him up in the most painful way, and whispered in his ear, "I don't think her objections matter. She can't have children."

"I don't know how that's possible," he answered before remembering that he wasn't alone with Six. He smiled innocently at Boomer. "I was sure you would object to knowing I was your partner, Lieutenant."

"To be frank, you might be annoying as hell, sir, but your brains will be a nice asset to any children I have. Even though this whole thing is really way too creepy for my liking. "

"Doesn't matter what she likes. She won't have children," Six sang in his ear. "She's not capable. Her system won't let her."

"System?" he said, standing up and sending Six flying into the table.

"What?" Boomer asked.

"I was just thinking that you treat this system rather poorly by taking such an unemotional stance on it. It's the repopulation of our race, dear Boomer." He hoped she didn't see through his constant backtracking and covering up. When she rolled her eyes at him, he had to desperately hold back the sigh of relief.

"Whatever. I have work to attend to. Take this as my acceptance of our match and do what has to be done."

Gaius nodded, waiting until she was out of the room, before turning back to his fictional partner. "Are you trying to tell me she's a…"

"Cylon. Yes. Very much so." Six let out a little laugh. "I'll just leave you to mourn the loss of your hypothetical children, Gaius. At least the one's you might have had with her. Remember. For there to be children, there must be love. It is the way of God."

He just stared into space, not even acknowledging her sudden disappearance. What was he supposed to do now that he knew one of Galactica's pilots, a woman in a position of quite a lot of power when he thought about it, was a machine? And what exactly did the Cylons think they would gain by giving him this knowledge? And why was Six constantly fraking with his head?

"And how the frak am I supposed to explain why she can't get pregnant without damaging my manhood?" he cried out even though he knew his blond Cylon was not listening anymore.

Crashdown stared at where Cally was working intently on repairing damages to one of the Fleet's Vipers. He wasn't sure how he was going to talk to her about what was on his mind. He wasn't even sure if he would get a chance to talk to her before she started throwing the insults his way.

It turned out he didn't have to worry about how to start the conversation.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to say something?" she asked without pausing in her repairs.

"I was just wondering if you had had a moment to look at your results from the President's new program."

"Yeah, I did."

He rolled his eyes as the sounds of her tinkering did not pause. She wasn't giving him any sort of break with this one. Typical Cally. "And?"

"And I read it and now I'm working my shift just like the Chief assigned me to do two weeks ago. Life doesn't revolve around a stupid piece of paper, sir."

"Gods damnit, Cally. I know you don't like me, but do you really have to make it this hard to talk to you?"

She rolled out from underneath the plane to stare up at him with what was probably the meanest look he had ever seen. "I have no idea what you're talking about, sir. What the hell am I supposed to make easy on you?"

"I thought you said you read your results."

"I did. They matched me up with some guy name Thomas Stone. I think he might be a civilian on one of the ships from Caprica. I don't have time right now to hunt him down."

Crashdown chuckled to himself. She honestly didn't know the mess she was in. This should be fun. "Come on," he said with a smirk. He offered her a hand, and she took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet. When she tried to pull her hand away, he held on tight.

"What the hell are you doing, Crash?" she said, scrunching up her nose at him in confusion.

He smiled at her, pulling her hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on the top of her hand. "Hello. My name is Thomas Stone, and I will be the father of your children."

He watched her process his words and smiled as she started to blush when she realized the mistake she had made. "I can't believe you never bothered to learn my real name, Cally. I am a person outside of the cockpit, too, contrary to what you must obviously think."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just that, well, no one every calls you by your first name. What would it look like if I started prying into what it was? People already know that we're not friends."

"And why aren't we friends?"

"I couldn't say without you throwing me into hack, sir."

He finally let go of her hand and took a seat on the utility ladder currently leaning against the Viper. "So, now that you know it's me you've been matched to, what are your thoughts?"

She gave him a quick once over before snickering. "Well, at least I know our children won't be short on cockiness or good looks." Shaking her head at him, she lay back down and wheeled herself under the plane.

He watched her at work for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. "I think I might stop having to think of you as an innocent little girl," he finally admitted with a laugh.

"I think you should, considering my new role as the mother of your offspring" came the reply from under the plane. "And just so you know, I don't hate you. I might not like you all that much, but I don't hate you."

"Good enough for me," he said, pushing off the ladder. He kicked her lightly on the leg as a goodbye and went back to his work. That was a lot simpler than he would have thought. Now he just had to deal with the Chief finding out that he was the one set to "defile" his precious protégé.

Kara knocked lightly on the door to the CAG's office. She had put this off for the few days since the matchings had come out. If she had to do this, she was pretty sure that she would need some downtime. That meant waiting until she had an off shift and she knew Lee was scheduled to work with his mounds of paperwork. Her free of commitments, him too busy to really pay attention. That was how it had to be.

She figured now was as good as time as ever. Sighing, she knocked as commandingly as she could.

"Come in," his voice bellowed. When she opened the hatch door, he continued without looking up. "This had better be good. I'm really busy."

"I thought the CAG always had time for one of his pilots if they were in need," she scolded, shutting the door behind her.

"Kara, I'm not in the mood."

"Mood for what?" she asked innocently.

"I have a lot of work to do and not enough time to do it in. If there's something you want, just come out and say it."

"I just wanted to know if you had talked with the person you got matched with."

He could hear the nerves in her voice, which made him slightly confused. "No, I haven't found the time."

"That's right. You're really busy with all the work. Mounds and mounds of paperwork logging countless important things that will turn out to be not so important down the road."

"Right," he said, giving her a funny look. "Is there something bothering you? You're acting really strange."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're the one acting strange, Lee."

"Just because I haven't talked to the woman I'm matched with, you think I'm acting strange?"

"Well, yes."

Lee set down his pen and leaned back in his chair. "Things have gotten so frakked up since the President decided to start this stupid repopulation thing. We're on the run for our lives and all anyone can seem to talk about is who they are matched up with. No one seems to understand that we won't be safe until we find somewhere to settle that the Cylons don't know of. Then there's the small fact that I still have the same amount of work, and the world is still in danger. I have to deal with all my pilots being emotionally stressed about this damn population program and now they want to talk with me about it, too!"

"Come on, Lee. Let the people have a little distraction." She made her way over to stand next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder as she rifled through the papers spread across his desk. Maybe she could help him with all this paperwork somehow. She wasn't an expert, but she could count canisters of coffee with the best of them.

Kara's eyes caught on a dusty brown envelope. She snatched it up before Lee could realize what she was doing and grab it instead. "Levi William Adama! You said that you had already looked at who you were matched with." She waved the unopened envelope in front of his face.

"So I didn't have time. Give it back, Starbuck!" Lee made an attempt to grab the envelope back from her, but Kara dodged out of the way just in time.

"It all makes sense now. You've been too scared to figure out who you need to have a once-in-a-lifetime talk with. You're still upset because you won't know the mother of your child personally. I mean, I get it. I really do. But come on, Lee! Not talking to her because you're offended that you won't know her?"

"Well, the odds are I won't. In case you haven't noticed, I have quite a few things going against me. I'm new to this Fleet. I'm the Commander's son. I'm the CAG. And my best friend is the scariest pilot left in this world."

"Aw. You woo me with your words, Captain."

"What I'm trying to say is most people try to avoid me. They wouldn't be too pleased that they have to be the potential mother of my babies."

"Again I point out the fact that half the Fleet, mostly the female half but there are a few males, who have been actively trying to get your attention. Not that you seem to notice when someone of the opposite sex is trying to show their interest."

"You are such a bull shitter, Thrace."

She threw the envelope at him. "Open your damn mail. I have it on high authority that the woman you got matched with isn't going to object."

"You know who I got?"

"Yeah. We had a little chat." He could see her pause as she thought something over. Before he could ask her what the matter was, she gave him a small, mischievous smile. "And she also mentioned that she might not be against having a few the old-fashioned way someday."

Lee's eyes went wide.

She paused at the door on her way out. "Come find me later tonight. We can go on one of our midnight runs."

"As long as I'm not buried in paperwork," he pointed out.

"Or in that special talk with the mother of your children." She let out another laugh as his face froze up in fear once more. "Open it," she said before leaving the room and shutting the hatch behind her.

He sat there for a few minutes after she left, still wondering if it wouldn't be better if he just pretended like he had never received his match. Maybe everyone would forget and he could just do his job as CAG in peace.

Still, what Kara had said made him rather curious as to whose name was on that paper.

He closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and sliding his finger along the seal of the envelope. There was a lone white paper inside with its corners chopped off, just like he had expected. It was funny how this little piece of paper could hold such a weight to it.

"You have been matched using specific genetic procedures. Blah blah blah. The test results don't guarantee positive repopulation results. Blah blah blah. Acceptance of this match is required before the program can move on. Highest probability of success is with--" His voice cut off as he read the name on the paper. "Frak me," he whispered, staring down at it.

If it wasn't there right in front of his eyes in black and white, he would never have believed it.

Lieutenant Kara Thrace.

Dee sat in silence next to Billy in the mess hall. They had purposefully been avoiding the topic of their repopulation matches since he had handed them out. The unknown was like an invisible wall between them. It didn't help that both were dying to know who the other's match was, but neither one really wanted to get in to the specifics of their own.

In her case, Dee was pretty sure it was a security risk to tell him even though Billy had a right to know.

Even though she wanted him to know.

"Billy," she started out hesitantly. "We need to talk about this."

"You heard," he said, turning completely white. "Oh gods. I really thought I had kept it a secret. I didn't want you to find out about it this way."

"What the frak are you talking about? Of course I found out this way. It's my children we're talking about."

"Your children? How can they be your children? You're not my match."

"Of course I'm not your match. Wouldn't things be a lot easier if I was?"

Billy gave her his trademark smile that was so sweet half the time she wondered if he had even seen a difficult day in his life. But then the reality kicked in. Of course he had seen difficult days.

He continued to smile at her as he said, "Yes, things would be easier if you were. Gods, I wish you were."

They lapsed back into silence, neither one feeling any better about what they had just said and both feeling just as confused as when they started. Finally, deciding she couldn't take any more of this, Dee felt herself blurt out her thoughts. "I would tell you who I am matched with Billy, but he asked me to keep it a secret for security's sake."

"That's such a line, Dee. You and I both know there's no security risk in making your match public knowledge."

She arched her eyebrow at him. "Oh really? Then why don't you tell me who you have?"

Billy moved his mouth as if he was going to answer but, at the last moment, clamped it shut. "I can't. It's not safe."

"But I thought there was no security risk."

"There isn't. I just don't think it's best to be broadcasting around the Fleet that my boss…" His voice trailed off as he realized what he had just told her.

Dee could see his eyes go wide and his face immediately blush. If she hadn't been so shocked, she might have dwelled on how cute of a reaction it was. "You got matched with the President?" she said, grinning widely, her mouth agape. "This is too funny."

"What's so funny about it? These were tests of genetic similarities. They have nothing to do with anything else."

"You're acting like you think I'm under the impression this means you love President Roslin?" Dee shook her head. "You are such a silly boy sometimes, Billy. And you don't know a thing about women."

"Then why did you laugh?"

"I just had the thought that maybe Dr. Baltar's equipment picked up on your hero envy," Dee said, chuckling softly to herself once more. "It made me laugh."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you suddenly so happy with me?"

"Two reasons. One, I really thought you had gotten matched with Starbuck. Billy, she would have eaten you alive."

"Why would you think I was matched with Lieutenant Thrace?"

"Well, she's been refusing to tell anyone who she got. You and she were the only two who hadn't been upfront with me about the program. It's only natural to think that meant you two were matched together."

"You thought she was afraid to tell you that she had gotten your boyfriend as the potential father of her children?"

"It makes sense."

"Yes, it does." Billy's forehead crinkled slightly as he got lost in thought. "Maybe things would have been easier if I had gotten her."

"In ways it would have been."

"But that's really a question for another time." He looked up at her and smiled. "Why don't you tell me your second reason?"

"You have to promise this stays between you and I. I haven't told anyone else. Not even President Roslin."

"I'm not a gossip, Dee. You can tell me anything, and I'll keep it secret."

Dee shook her head at him and chuckled once more. Leaning over the table towards him, she whispered, "I hate to break it to you, Keikeya, but you're not the only one to be matched with your boss."

"You and Commander Adama?" Billy looked just as surprised at her news as she had been when she heard his.

"Yeah. It might have been a little hero envy on my tests, too." She stood up and tossed the leftovers from her rather dull-tasting meal into a trash compacter nearby. "I don't know why everyone's making a big deal out of this whole thing. We don't even have to interact with the people we're matched with. It says clearly on the consent forms each person must sign before the samples we gave are brought together that the father relinquishes all control over his offspring unless the mother wants him in her children's lives."

"It also goes vice versa," Billy pointed out. "If the mother doesn't want or doesn't have time to take care of her children, the father can take over control."

"The only problem I foresee is how a woman is supposed to raise her children if she's still trying to save the human race from the Cylons. Does your boss have an answer for that?"

"I don't know. There's a lot she hasn't thought through concerning this program, but I think her choice to institute it was smart. We needed a temporary distraction, and that's what this is doing. No one's been brought down to sick bay for an 'accidental shooting' since the President made her announcement."

Dee nodded. They had all begun to get sick of the thinly veiled suicide attempts that had been occurring among the civilians and military personnel. "A distraction is nice," she admitted, slipping her hand into Billy's. "So we're okay?"

"We're fine," he said, squeezing her hand as they walked out of the mess hall. "We're about to make the most influential babies of the next generation, but you and I are just fine."

Crashdown leaned against the wall of the ammunition locker, taking a breather. He had been dodging the Chief for over an hour now, and it was getting old. This was the only time in a week in which he would get some downtime, and he was spending it hiding in whatever small, secluded space he could find. That was just the kind of luck he had had since the world had been turned on end.

He had no idea who had told the Chief that he was trying to convince Cally to have children the natural way, but whoever it was, they were dead. Wiping his hands over his eyes, he shook his head. Actually if it was who he suspected, he probably wouldn't do a damn thing. She scared him too much.

Even through the cover of his hands, Crashdown's eyes caught on a movement at the end of the locker. He immediately recognized he had company. "Is that you, Hot Dog?"

"Yes, sir," the young Viper pilot said, standing up and giving a salute.

"At ease. What the hell are you doing lounging in here?"

"I could ask the same of you, sir."

Immediately sensing an ally, Crashdown let down his guard, took a deep breath, and sat on a bench near the other pilot. "This reproduction program is wrecking havoc all over the ship. So, who'd you get matched with?"

Hot Dog shook his head.

"That bad, huh?"

"Sergeant Hadrian," Hot Dog supplied quietly.

"Ouch. You have to copulate with that mean she-bitch?" Crashdown realized that he probably shouldn't be letting Hot Dog onto his personal feelings for the newly appointed Inquisitor of the Fleet, but he figured the kid might need to know he was not alone in his dislike of her.

"Hadrian keeps trying to tell me that since she doesn't have to be in the air, she doesn't mind repopulating outside the lab. Naturally. Multiple times." Hot Dog let out a large shudder.

"Ah. Now I understand. Well, you have my blessing to stay in this locker for the rest of your life if that's the case."

Hot Dog smiled. "If you don't mind my asking, sir, why are you in here? Rumor has it you were matched with Crewman Specialist Cally. In my book, that makes you an incredibly lucky man. Brains and beauty, that gives you something nice to pass on to your children."

"I hadn't thought about it that way, Hot Dog, but yeah, I guess you're right." Crashdown took a break to rub his eyes, effectively reminding himself that he should be getting some solid rack time. "I'm not hiding from Cally, though. I'm hiding from the Chief. Someone told him that I was trying to seduce his little protégé into my bed. I'll give you one guess who."

"I don't need it," Hot Dog said, laughing. "This has Starbuck written all over it."

"If that woman isn't causing havoc on Galactica, it isn't a normal day."

The door to the ammunition locker flew open. Crashdown immediately threw himself behind a rack of small electrical charges, but Hot Dog wasn't as quick on the uptake. Luckily he didn't have to be. It wasn't the person he had been avoiding who entered the locker.

"Have you seen Crashdown, Hot Dog?" The Chief asked bluntly.

"No, sir. Why are you looking for him? Raptor pilots aren't usually your responsibility unless they've done damage to your ships. Last I heard, Crashdown was twenty days accident-free."

"I have to talk to him about his behavior with my crew, not with my equipment."

"The whole Cally thing?"

"Yes, the whole Cally thing. Does anything stay a secret on this ship?"

"No, sir." Hot Dog took a deep breath and stood up. "I just want you to know, sir, that you should probably listen to what Crashdown has to say before you resort to pounding the idiot out of him. I don't think he would proposition Cally like people are saying he did. I mean, it's common knowledge that she's not exactly fond of him. He wouldn't waste his time and energy with something as hopeless as that."

"Are you sure you haven't seen Crashdown? You seem awfully defensive." The Chief gave him a glaring look when he didn't answer. It practically screamed that he knew Hot Dog was lying.

Hot Dog wasn't sure where the courage came from, but somehow he managed to shake his head back and forth a few times in denial.

After he sent him one last glare, the Chief exited the locker as quickly as he came. No matter what Hot Dog said to him, he was a man on a mission. and that couldn't be changed. Crashdown really had no hope at all of getting out of this one.

"Thanks for the save," Crashdown said, coming out from behind the rack. "I should probably get a move on it. He might come back."

"No problem. Just do me a favor and send Sgt. Hadrian in the wrong direction a few times today when you see her."

"Stupid frakkin' repopulation program," Crashdown muttered, giving Hot Dog a wave before taking a quick look down the corridor and running as fast as he could in the opposite direction of the Chief.

It was midnight, and he still hadn't found her. Kara was pacing back and forth from one side of the hallway to the next. This was the corridor she had been meeting him in the past couple nights when they had gone on their run. Insomnia had always hit them both at the same time ever since she could remember. If he was coming, he would be waiting for her here.

The part that hurt the most was Kara knew that Lee wouldn't be here. She had slowly been beginning to suspect that maybe the two of them weren't as close as they once were. The Lee she knew would show up no matter what just to be sure that she was doing all right. The Lee she knew cared about her no matter what fraked up thing she had done to hurt him or make him uncomfortable around her.

She groaned. She had the most screwed up thoughts sometimes. They got especially interesting when she was under large amounts of stress.

Her thoughts were definitely interesting of late. They had been taking the thought of Lee down a road that she would have preferred not to go.

For years, she had always imagined the idea of having little Adamas running all over the home she made on Caprica or Picon. They had always born a striking resemblance to Zak and his father. She never admitted that she desperately wanted kids to prove her mother hadn't damaged her permanently. She hadn't even told Zak. In fact, she avoided all mention of children.

Lately, the thought of children had been popping up again at the most ridiculous times. When she was in the cockpit or in the head's showers. When she was eating the worst excuse for food in the mess or when she was listening to Dr. Baltar ramble on about his latest project over a hand of triad.

The only shift in these little fantasies was the face of her children. They now were mirror images of Lee and his mother, Caroline. It unnerved her that it had been so easy to transfer these fantasies from one brother to the next.

It shouldn't have been that easy.

Kara punched the wall as her thoughts went back to Lee and she was reminded of his continued absence from their run. Maybe she had pushed it with the "old-fashioned way" comment at the end of their talk earlier. It probably scared Lee to death to figure out that his best friend since the Academy wouldn't mind going a few rounds with him in the bedroom. Half the time it scared her to death, and she was the one having all the feelings.

Yeah, she had definitely pushed it too far.

Or maybe Lee hadn't even read his matching yet. Maybe he was still being stubborn and didn't know what hell he was putting her through.

Sighing, Kara felt herself give up that last strand of hope. She started to jog along the corridor slowly. If the gods were listening, running should help to clear her mind of both Lee and this frakkin' baby program.

"Starbuck! Wait up!"

She stopped in her tracks as her heart skipped a beat or two. He had shown up after all, it seemed. She wasn't sure if that made her happy or sad. Or angry. Or scared to death.

She couldn't bring herself to turn around and look at him, choosing instead just to stand in place and let him come to her. His footsteps rang through the empty corridors, and she stood waiting until they slowed completely.

"Leaving without me?" he teased, bumping her shoulder lightly with his. "I was only a few minutes late."

"Sorry. Just wanted to get a head start on kicking your ass, sir."

"This isn't a competition."

She shook her head and took off in a dead sprint, yelling back. "Frak yeah, it is!" It had always been easier to run from her problems than stare them in the face. Especially when that face was Lee Adama.

It took Lee half the corridor to catch up, and in that time, Kara decided he definitely hadn't opened his envelope yet. There was no way he would be running alongside her if he had. In fact, he would probably be actively avoiding her if he had put two and two together.

Lee watched her out of the corner of his eye as they ran. It was amazing how they could run completely in sync even though they had opposite body types. Everyone at the Academy had called them two halves of the same whole.

And now his other half wanted to sleep with him.

He couldn't hide the smirk on his face and just hoped she wouldn't notice. He had no idea what had possessed her to tell him that. She knew full well he would understand what her comments meant when he saw he had been matched with her. And yet she had still made them. He had no idea what that said about her.

Frak. He had no idea what that said about him.

Kara bumped into him lightly, ripping him away from his thoughts. "Watch where you're going. You almost took out a nugget."

"They would have survived."

"Yeah, but you would have been really pissed off when you had to take the shift the nugget couldn't fill since he was in sick bay. Running into you when you're going full steam is like hitting a brick wall. I speak from experience."

"Nuggets shouldn't be out at this time of night," Lee pointed out.

"Why don't you go back and scold him, Mr. CAG?"

Kara was smiling at him openly again. This façade that he didn't know she was going to be the mother of his children was going to be hard to keep up if she kept looking at him like that. He had earned the right to string her along a little, though. You couldn't be best friends with a girl like Kara without suffering just a little bit from it every single day. His mind flashed to a week earlier when he was doing his part for the reproduction program. He still had to come up with a way to pay her back for that one.

Not now, though. He had more important things to focus on. Like how much her sudden openness was unsettling him. She had been closed off for so long that it was hard to adjust to this new Kara. He wasn't sure he knew how.

Slipping back into his thoughts as their rhythm evened out, Lee found himself wishing he could say he had loved his best friend since the moment he met her. That there had been some secret kind of true love in which he pinned away for her silently while she tried to work her feelings out for him by dating every guy she met. The truth was Lee spent his time studying silently so that he wouldn't flunk out of school and she dated every guy she met because that was the kind of girl she was.

And on top of that, the truth was, for the first year of their friendship, she both pissed him off and annoyed the crap out of him while continually surprising him, keeping him on his toes, and making him laugh. It had almost been a relief when she started making googly eyes at his little brother. It took the pressure off him to decide whether the rumors of their love affair were actually based on some level of truth.

That had all changed when he saw her break down after his brother's funeral. She had openly cried in front of him, something he had never seen her do with anyone. He could still remember staying up that whole night, holding her in his arms as she sobbed. Sleep hadn't been an option that night. If he fell asleep, he couldn't be sure she would make it through to the morning.

It was the one moment in his life that he really wondered if Kara would be able to handle the pressure of the life they had both chosen to lead when they entered the military.

It was the first and only moment in his life that he truly felt inadequate.

But most importantly, it was the moment he had first begun to love her for the crazy woman she was.

There were things he had never told her. Things he thought he could never tell her. Now, all of the sudden, he felt like he could and should. Like maybe she would actually want to hear what he had to say.

Lee knew Kara was suffering not knowing what he felt about her little confession. It would be so much easier if he explained to her that on those long, cold lonely nights on some random Battlestar or in the cold cockpit of a Viper in space, thoughts of her were what kept him going. He had imagined the one perfect day when he could speed in from outer space to tell her that he loved her and wanted to have a family. That there wasn't really another woman in the whole universe that fit him like she did.

"What the frak are you thinking about, Lee?" the woman in question said, interrupting his thoughts.

He noticed she was only panting slightly. She always could keep up with him. "You actually, Kara," he said with a smile. "Just admiring your running form."

He felt the trademark glare coming at him even before she turned. Later, he decided that was what set him over the top. Checking to make sure that the corridor was empty, he grabbed her hand, yanking her out of the running stride and into his arms. He practically groaned from the rightness of it.

"You have no idea what that look does to me," he said before crushing his lips into hers, knowing he was being more brutal than he had intended. She always seemed to bring out the primitive side of him.

Lee knew he had taken her by surprise when she didn't immediately belt him or respond in any way. He used that small window of free time to push their bodies back against the wall, never breaking contact with her lips. He pinned her hard against the cool surface and placed his hands on opposite sides of her head.

Pulling back a moment, he gave her a chance to catch her breath while he enjoyed their current position. Her body pressed into his in all the right places, exactly as he had imagined it would. He found himself wondering if maybe they really were two halves of a whole.

"What the frak--" she started to yell before having her senses assaulted once more with his lips. His hands came down off of the wall to touch her neck and slowly work down to her forearms before going right back up. She shivered slightly at the gentle movement, and Lee smiled even as he continued to kiss her as thoroughly as possible.

Accepting what was probably just a brief moment of weakness on his part, Kara dug her hands into his back, feeling the tightness of his muscles, and held on for dear life. His arms reached down to grab her hips, and she felt herself being picked up off the floor while his mouth continued to wreck havoc on her whole body one nerve cell at a time.

It was a completely masculine move of possession and claiming. The kind of thing she would usually give a man hell for. But with Lee, it didn't matter. It just felt good.

Kara could feel herself getting excited by the concept of Lee acting so masculine. It was no wonder her natural response was to wrap her legs around him while shamelessly grounding her body into his. It was a low blow, she knew. It was also the only thing she could think of to keep this moment going. She was willing to play dirty to get what she wanted, especially in this situation.

Lee realized he was losing control already, and he had only just started. Sighing slightly, he pulled back, setting her gently back onto the ground and nipped her bottom lip gently. There was a passion behind their kiss that had caught him off guard. He honestly thought that he would kiss her and she would slap him straight across the face the second he gave her an inch of opportunity. When she didn't, he got carried away.

And now that there was distance between them, Lee finally realized there was no way he could go back to what they were before. Not after a kiss like that.

Kara had given him an opening. He had taken it. And now she was going to take it all back. He couldn't live if she did.

That scared him more than anything else he had encountered in his life. This was the point of no return.

His eyes sparkled with both that fear and excitement as he looked down at her confused and vulnerable face. It seemed like he had done just as much of a number on her as she had on him. He had risked so much. He might as well go the rest of the way.

Kissing her lightly on the nose, he took another long look at her face, unconsciously biting his lip. "I think that I would miss you even if we had never met," he admitted after staring at her rather vulnerable looking eyes for a moment.

Taking it all in, she placed her hands on his chest to brace herself and whispered softly, "You opened your envelope, didn't you? That's what this is all about."

Leave it to Kara to make the obvious statement. "I opened my envelope."

She reached up hesitantly to touch his cheek and gasped softly as he leaned into her hand. What was happening between them was so unexpected that it was almost surreal. For a brief moment, the lines between reality and fantasy blurred.

"Lee," she sighed. "What the frak are we doing?"

"Living," he answered simply. "Listen. I don't know what this is. I don't know what we're doing. All I know is that it feels right."

Lee paused, knowing that this was it. This was the moment where everything changed.

He paused and then he went for broke.

"I love you, Kara," he said, reaching in to steal a quick kiss. It took all of his willpower to pull away from Kara's lips. They had been beyond the soft suppleness he had always imagined. Somehow he knew they would be. "I want you to know that I would have chosen you on my own even if this stupid repopulation program hadn't already done it for me. You would be the one I would want to be the mother of my children."

"Damn it," she swore, pulling away from him. She punched him lightly on the arm. "You were not supposed to be this nice about it. I don't know how to handle nice."

"Really?" he said with a laugh. "What did you expect me to do?"

She hid her face in her hands for a moment before peeking out between her fingers. When she saw that he was just looking at her with that understanding Lee type of look, she sighed and dropped her guard. "I expected you to laugh in my face at the idea of me as a mother. I expected you to point out that I couldn't be your best friend and the mother of your children. I expected a big frak you for being stupid enough to screw up what we've had together."

Lee pulled her back in close to him, forcing her to rest her head up against his chest. Sometimes he felt like smothering was the only way to get her to use what little brain she had left. For some reason, he found that as endearing as it was frustrating. "None of those options make any sense at all, Kara."

"They did to me at the time." She felt his lips touch the top of her head lightly. It was a very intimate gesture from a man who usually kept such tight control over things like that. The significance of the gesture actually made her want to cry. Lee was really fraking with her on every possible level, it seemed, if crying was an option. She both loved and hated him for it.

Kara also loved and hated that arrogant smile plastered on his face at the moment. It was time to do her job and wipe that look right off. She narrowed her eyes at him. "When are you scheduled for a shift next?"

"I have about nine hours before I have to show up on the bridge in CIC."

Smirking, she hopped into the air, happy to feel his arms catch her, and wrapped her legs securely around his waist. "Well, then, I suggest you take me back to the CAG's office, and we can get started on the whole repopulation thing." She snickered as his jaw dropped. "Don't tell me my words actually took you by surprise."

"This better not be another easy frak to you."

Kara kissed him lightly on the mouth and wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. "Nothing about this is going to be easy."

Lee snickered. There had been plenty of rumors circulating the Fleet that told him she was not the kind of girl who wanted a man who took his time in the sack. It would be interesting to know if they were the truth or if they had only been started by Starbuck herself because she was bored one day. Because he planned to have her both ways and weigh the differences in how she responded.

And so be it if he had to keep alternating from one until the other until he was sure. It was a burden he was quite willing to bear.

Judging by the way her hands were already working their way farther and farther south, he doubted she would mind his little experiment. "I hate to switch subjects so abruptly," he said with a laugh, "especially because we both know how much I like to talk about your sexual escapades of yore. I just want to point out that when a man tells a woman he loves her like I did a few minutes ago, usually he gets a response immediately. It's just an observation."

"Gods, Lee. You are so easy to annoy." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. He was about to start teasing her some more when he saw her face sober. "But I love you anyways."

He shifted her body slightly on his until she rested comfortably against him. Her hands rested lightly together behind his neck. "See? That wasn't so hard to say."

"So, I take it I can tell Dr. Baltar that we're willing to give the go ahead on our match?" she said with a smile.

"That's a definite yes. Try to let him down easy, though."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think the kind doctor has been trying to come up with ways to get you in his bed since he met you, Kara. He's not going to like hearing that he has no chance in hell at doing that anymore." Lee's face erupted into what Kara had dubbed the worry face. "He does have no chance in hell, right?"

"You are ridiculous," she said, ruffling his hair. He didn't respond nor retaliate, choosing to stare at her intently instead. "What?"

"This feels right," he said, finally breaking into a lazy grin.

"All right, Captain. If you don't get us to your office soon, we might just give some random passerbys a nice show." Backing her words up with action, she started to pull at the ends of his standard issue tanks and reach her hands underneath.

He let go of his hold on her almost immediately, and it was all she could do not to fall on her ass. It looked like no matter how strange he was acting with her, his sense of propriety was still present.

Damn. She would have to work on that.

"I bet that you could probably outrun me on this one," he said, even though he had already started jogging back down the way they had come.

She laughed and surged forward to try to catch up with him. Even if she didn't run fast enough, she knew he would eventually slow down for her. Their relationship didn't work unless they were on the same level.

As she ran beside Lee, Kara finally understood why the President was willing to take so much heat and criticism for instituting the repopulation program at this exact moment. Roslin understood a key concept of their current situation. The Fleet was in a bad way, and hope was not a thing easily given out by anyone.

President Roslin was giving them both hope and the promise of a future by making sure that their legacy would continue on, even if they did not. They could risk their lives for the Fleet, knowing that a part of them was safe. And, if it came down to it, they would have a reason to bring themselves home.

For her, having Lee was reason enough. It had always been that way.

Now, the idea of starting a family with him was way beyond any hope or expectation she had. For the first time in her life, though, she felt like she deserved it.

She wondered just how fast she could run.

William Adama stared down at the papers in front of him, detailing all matches the President's program had created. Colonel Tigh had come to him a few hours earlier wanting to know why he had never received an envelope even though he had followed Adama's order to go in for testing. Adama had quickly told his friend something must have come up in the tests to disqualify him from admittance into the program.

He knew that he could never tell the man he considered a best friend what he had done. He could never tell anyone what he had done. Altering official documents of the government was an offense that could send even him to hack. Plus, he didn't want to deal with the fallout if anyone found out.

Sighing, he grabbed a pen to correct the last evidence of his small act of defiance. He erased the name written next to Tigh's and penciled it in next to his son's.

Someday he would tell Lee and get the proper thank you that he deserved.

Someday, but not too soon.