Cry With Me

by Ioanne

1 316 words

Pairing:Kara / Lee

Summary:She wants to be there for him but will he let her?

Spoilers:Set after Kobol's Last Gleaming Parts I II. Starbuck returns from Caprica.

Disclaimer:Battlestar Galactica belongs to it's creators

Feedback:would be appreciated, thank you

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace climbed out of the Cylon Raider with the arrow of Apollo in her hand. She knew she was in big trouble and that's why she wasn't surprised to find a welcoming committee at the landing bay. Col. Tigh was waiting for her with a few men with guns in their hands. She walked straight to them, saluted and hoped they would just cuff her soon without too much of a show.

"Lt. Thrace ready to be escorted to the brig, sir. Here is the arrow I was sent for, I would appreciate if you would give it to the President, sir."

Col. Tigh stepped forward to stand right in front of her so that he could speak without the others hearing what he had to say.

"As much I would like to pin this entirely on you Lt. Thrace, I know the President is responsible for this stunt of yours, at least for the most part. You just picked one hell of a moment to abandon your fleet" Tigh said in a hushed voice. Kara was a bit confused by his words but not as confused as she was with what she saw in his eyes. There was sorrow and it almost looked like he had been crying. 'Something's wrong, something's very very wrong. What has been going on here? I wasn't gone that long', Kara thought and started to get alarmed.

"Sir, I…"

"There's something you should know", Tigh interrupted her. "The commander has been shot. He sent Boomer in a Raptor to nuke the Cylon base ship. She succeeded in the mission but when the commander congratulated her afterwards in CIC she shot him, twice. It seems to be reasonable to conclude that she is a Cylon agent. One or our own is a Cylon agent and we had no clue."

Kara had heard the words 'The commander has been shot' and after that her mind went blank. She just stared at Tigh with empty eyes and felt coldness starting from the bottom of her stomach to spread through her body.

"Starbuck, are you listening to me? Starbuck! Snap out of it, that's an order!" Tigh raised his voice and caught Kara's attention.

"Is he….", she started but could not say the word.

"No. He was in surgery and they could repair the damage caused by the bullets but he hasn't woken up yet. The doctors said that we won't know if he's going to make it before he wakes up."

" I need to… I have to go… Can I go there?" she whispered with unshed tears in her voice. She needed to see for herself that the man she considered as the other half of her still existing family was still really breathing. "Please…." It wasn't like Kara to beg for anything but this time she didn't care. She needed to go.

"Yes, but…", Tigh said and with that Kara stepped past and was about to start running towards Life Station when Tigh grabbed her hand.

"Thrace, wait." Kara started to wrestle her hand free but heard the urgency in Tigh's voice and turned around.

"Look, Lee is there and I don't think he's doing very well. Hell, the kid saw his father get shot and then watched him almost bleed to death in his arms. I'm afraid he's going to break. You are his best friend and he needs you now. If the unthinkable happens, this fleet can not afford to lose them both so I need you to keep your friend together."

Lee. Kara had not yet even thought about him. 'Oh Lords, he must be going through hell' she thought. 'Let's just hope he even lets me in the recovery room'.

She nodded to Tigh and started to leave again when she remembered the arrow in her hand and another thing she had to inform the XO before she could leave.

"Sir, there's a Cylon cargo ship coming in shortly. I found one or our pilots from Caprica and he's following me with a stolen ship and a prisoner, sir."

"One or our pilots? Who?"

"Helo, sir"

"Helo? He's still alive? How is that possible? Are you sure he's not a Cylon agent?"

"Quite sure, sir. And the prisoner…. well, she's another Boomer so please explain to Helo what has happened here and be extra cautious when they land. She should be tied up pretty good but you can never be careful enough with the toasters, sir." After saying that to the XO Kara handed him the arrow and started running towards Life Station.

Kara was standing outside the recovery room and tried to gather enough strength to enter. She took a couple of deep breaths and opened the door. Inside she saw the commander lying in bed with all kinds of tubes and wires attached to him with the monitors humming beside his bed. Lee was sitting in a chair on the other side and rested his head at the bedside. He was holding his father's hand and stared at his face. He didn't even flinch when Kara walked to stand by his side.

"Lee, I'm so sorry" she said tears falling now down her face. "How is he?" She got no answer. Lee looked like he hadn't even noticed her coming there or speaking. It was like he had gone to a world of his own where there was no one except him and his father.

Kara stood there in silence for a long time not knowing what to do. Should she touch Lee? Hug him? Try to make him know she was there, that she cared and wanted to be there for him? It pained her to see William Adama lie there motionless and fighting for his life but watching Lee broke her heart. He looked so lost, so alone. And she wanted to help him so much but they had been having an ugly fight and then she had just left without any explanation so he might not even want to speak to her or to even be in the same room with her.

Kara felt her throat tighten. She didn't want to start crying out loud there in Life Station but she didn't also want to leave Lee alone so that she could do her crying in private. Then again, Lee might not have noticed her presence there at all so he probably wouldn't notice her being gone either. She decided to go away for a little while to calm herself and then come back. Maybe the old man would be awake by then and they would have some answers.

Kara looked at Lee one more time, turned around and started to leave when she felt Lee grab her arm. She stopped in surprise and turned around. Lee hadn't moved from his place but his hand slid down slowly from her wrist and he entangled his fingers with hers. That little movement opened the wells in Kara's eyes again and she took a step towards Lee and placed her other hand hesitantly on his shoulder. It appeared to be that Lee had needed that touch because when he felt Kara's hand on his shoulder he turned his head and looked Kara in the eyes. Kara lifted her hand from his shoulder and touched gently his cheek while taking another step towards Lee. They looked at each other tears falling down from both of their faces and at that moment Kara felt being closer to Lee than she had ever felt with anyone before and at that exact moment she knew what love was really about.

Lee looked into her eyes and found what he had been looking for so with one hand still holding his father's hand he circled his another arm around Kara's waist and buried his face against her stomach. And then, holding each other tightly, they cried together.

The End