We Have This Moment Today
This story takes place pretty much directly after 'Lay Down Your Burdens - part 1'. IT DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR PART 2 - but though some of the storyline is based on spoilers, much of it is my imagination - what I think MAY happen in part 2 and beyond. (just having a little fun playing with them!)
oooooooooooooo
As she stepped off the raptor, Lee saw it. The glint on her left hand - from the diamond ring she now wore. All he got was one glimpse, then she was swallowed up in hugs, congratulations and introductions and she disappeared into the throng, a tall, dark man with a huge smile following her. Anders. Must be him. Lee had never really cared much for Pyramid and unlike Helo, couldn't identify the members of Caprica's old team on sight, but judging from the stupidly happy grin on his face, it had to be him. He stuck around for a while, playing the 'Commander' role, but not really doing anything at all. He needed to talk to Kara, but not here, not now, in front of all these people.
The noise level was immense, and the ambrosia was flowing freely, (his deck crew was going to be ticked later when they had a sticky deck to clean), and it reminded Lee of the time nearly a year earlier when he'd successfully blown up the cylon's tylium refinery and come home to a hero's welcome. Of course then it had been on Galactica not Pegasus, and the person he'd sought out first to celebrate with had been Kara. She on the other hand was everywhere but where he was, Anders either attached to her hand or standing close with an arm around her shoulder. And she was allowing him to be possessive. It really wasn't like Kara at all, Lee thought - she was her own woman - no one owned Kara Thrace.
Lee finally got tired of it all and decided to leave. He walked the relatively quiet corridors to his office, feeling like there was a lead brick sitting in the pit of his stomach. He sat at his desk, trying to work, but he just couldn't think of anything but Kara. He'd been serious when he'd told her he hoped she'd find Anders. Really, he had. He'd been enjoying his new relationship with Dee and felt bad that Kara was still hurting. He'd even been magnanimous enough to forgive her for trying to use him to escape her troubles. That had been a tough time between them - made worse by the shooting, but they'd made up and were 'okay' again. Except Lee had followed up with Dee and begun something with her, and Kara ... well she was still stuck in oblivion, desperate to go back to Caprica to find out if her lover was still alive. Turns out he was, Lee thought ruefully. I guess he is every bit tough enough for her.
His reverie was disturbed by the sound of the door. "Come in," he called, shuffling the papers he was ostensibly working on so it looked like he was busy. He stood involuntarily when he saw who it was. "Kara," he said, unable to say anything more.
"Missed you in the hangar bay. I thought you'd be glad to see me," she said, a mischevious glint in her eye.
"I am." He walked around the desk and stood a few feet in front of her. "I never had any doubt you'd come back." He smiled a genuine smile.
She blushed slightly. "It wasn't as easy as that, but we made it."
"He's alive, I see."
She smiled, eyes glowing with joy. "Thank the gods. His camp was attacked the very day we arrived and they lost half their people. I don't know what I would have done if we'd gotten there too late ..."
They stood silently, staring at one another for a few moments. But the torment was too much for Lee. He reached forward and grabbed her left hand off her hip.
"So what's this?" he demanded, sounding angrier than he'd planned to.
Kara stared defiantly at him, as if daring him. "Sam and I are getting married."
"Yeah, I figured that's what the engagement ring meant," he said sarcastically.
She stared at him levelly for a minute, eyes unreadable. "What do you want from me Lee?" She pulled her hand back and put it back on her hip. "You know I care for him. I think that's always been plainly obvious."
Lee stared at her, wondering what to say.
"What did you think was going to happen when we were together again? Pretend we didn't know each other?"
"I don't know," he exploded suddenly. "Maybe that you'd wait and actually get to know one another before making a commitment like this?"
She shrugged. "I'm not the one who likes to over-think things. I go with my instincts."
He nodded, watching her closely. She didn't flinch under his scrutiny. She wasn't embarrassed or upset. She was confident, decisive - a woman who knew what she was doing.
"So, who asked - you or him?"
"He did." She smiled as she reflected back on the proposal.
Sam pulled Kara down beside him and put his arm around her shoulders to warm and comfort her. They'd been on the run for hours, but had finally managed to evade the last few cylons and found a cave hidden in the hillside in which to pass a few hours. Sam and a few others had scrounged a few twigs to make a small fire while the marines pulled out their survival supplies and divided up the food.
They sat together silently, staring into the firelight, body language saying more than words ever could. His arm was protectively hugging her close and she melted into his side, all pretense of strength dropping away. The past months had been hell - for both of them. They'd both needed to be strong and put their feelings aside in order to do what was necessary, but now those feelings were coming to the surface, and they were overwhelming.
"Did you ever doubt me?" Kara asked softly.
"Doubt you?"
She turned to look at him. "Doubt that I'd come back for you."
He turned and looked deep into her eyes, face serious. "Not for a second."
"Even though it took so long? I promised I'd send a rescue party right away and then the weeks went by ..."
Sam took her hand in his free one and squeezed it. "Every day I expected to see you, my blonde angel come to rescue me from hell."
"Didn't you ever think I wouldn't come?"
"Wouldn't? No. Couldn't? Well ... too many times to count. Every day that would go by and you didn't come, I thought that something had happened to you. Either you couldn't find your way back, or you hadn't even made it home in the first place ... I was afraid you were already dead," he added in a whisper.
"How could you have such trust in me?" she asked wonderingly. "We only knew each other a few days - how did you know I'd keep my promise?"
"I knew." It was as simple as that. From the moment she'd made the promise, he'd believed it. Not only with his head, but also with his heart. she'd taken a part of his heart with her when she'd left, and somehow he just knew she would return it.
She squeezed his hand back - relieved beyond belief that she hadn't been the only who'd felt it between them. "I was going crazy without you. I kept seeing you, thinking of you and the time we spent together. It consumed me to the point where I just couldn't function anymore. I had to come back."
"It's too bad you couldn't have come sooner," he said sadly. "We lost a lot of good people."
"So did we," she whispered. "The last couple of months have been hell for us. I'm amazed we're still alive, to be honest."
"Thank the lords of Kobol you are," he said earnestly, letting go of her hand and reaching into his pocket for something and hiding it in his closed fist. "I picked this up when we were in Caprica city." He opened his fist to reveal a small but beautiful sparkling diamond ring. "I don't ever want to let you go again Kara - will you marry me? Please?"
Her mouth hung open for a moment. "Sam, I ..."
"Please Kara, I love you. Every day you were gone felt like a lifetime. I need you, you're a part of me." Tears sparkled in his eyes.
"Yes," she said, before she was aware of saying it. Then her brain caught up to her mouth. "Yes, I'll marry you Sam," she said, smiling widely.
"You will?" He was the picture of amazement.
Kara reached up and kissed him sweetly. "Yes I will," she murmured against his lips, and without even looking down, he picked up her left hand and slid the ring on her finger. It was a little bit loose.
"Sorry, I wasn't sure what size you were."
"It's perfect. I love it." Kara finally pulled back to look at him. Two tears made a path down each of her cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumbs, cupping her face tenderly.
"Don't ever leave me again - promise?"
"Promise."
And they'd cuddled up near the fire to rest a few hours before finding a way home, unable to consummate their new relationship yet, but content in just being together.
Kara smiled. "I was surprised, to be sure, but I couldn't be happier."
"Well, I'm happy for you then. I'm glad you've gotten what you wanted." His voice was flat and unemotional - he was striving hard to keep it that way, despite the anger he felt.
For a few moments they simply stared at one another and Lee did a little soul-searching. Why the hell am I feeling angry about this? he asked himself. I should be happy Kara's happy - she's obviously been suffering for weeks. Why am I not happy for her? Is it because I want her for myself? And Lee was, for the first time, truly honest with himself. A part of me does - there's something so magical, so enticing about her, and about the way we fit together so perfectly in the sky. But really, is Kara THE woman for me? And Lee had to admit she wasn't. There was something between them, regardless of whether or not Kara wanted to admit it, but it wasn't the sort of something that led to 'happily ever after.' More like 'tease, fight, hit, make-up'. And that just wasn't the stuff of happy, long-lasting relationship. It was the kind of relationship that people who were close friends, almost like brother and sister, had. Which is what they were. What they'd always been. What they always would be - hopefully.
He stepped forward and pulled her in for a hug - like he should have done the minute she'd stepped off that raptor. "Really, I am happy for you Kara. Be good to each other and be happy, okay?"
After a moment's hesitation, she hugged back, a feeling of joy flooding through her. This was what she needed - the acceptance and blessing of her closest friend, one of the few people who's opinion mattered to her.
"Thanks," she whispered. "We will."
TBC