Disclaimer: I'm just so disappointed that someone else gets paid to play with these characters. Maybe someday we can trade places and they can sit at their kitchen table writing fanfic and I can make Lee and Kara get busy.
Spoilers: LDYB and very broad spoilers for Season 3. The rest is my imagination and will probably never happen - but how cool would it be if it did?
- Rebellion
When she woke up, the sunlight was streaming through the crack in the tent flap and glinting off the gold band around the ring finger of her left hand. Next to her, her husband lay asleep on his stomach, his face turned towards her, his head cradled in the crook of his left arm. The matching gold band on his left hand peeked out from under his pillow.
Her heart swelled with love at this remarkable man who had given up everything he knew for her. She combed her fingers through his hair, her finger nails lightly scraping his scalp. He said something incoherent but didn't open his eyes. She smiled. Since moving planet side, he had become a heavy sleeper, so she increased her efforts.
"Wha' timeisit?" He mumbled.
"Early still." She said softly, still running her fingers through his hair.
He opened his eyes and squinted against the light. "Is something wrong?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbow.
She shook her head.
He glanced at the crib in the corner. "Is Thea ok?" He asked, looking back at his wife.
"I fed her an hour ago. She's out like a light."
He flopped back down onto the bed and closed his eyes again. "Why am I awake then?"
"I still can't believe we're here." She said quietly.
"It's a big change, isn't it?" He said cheerfully, but she didn't think he sounded convincing.
She shook her head. "You regret leaving Galactica, don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question. She looked at him, and he met her eyes briefly before looking away.
"Well, let's see," he started slowly, sitting up again. "I resigned my command, moved from a warm, comfortable battlestar to a cold, damp, desolate rock on the orders of a madman, I live in a tent, and I work as Head of Security for the President who is said madman…"
She smiled. "They gave you that job for a reason. You know what they say about keeping your enemies close.'"
"Right. That works both ways, so it's a good thing that I'm the one with the gun."
That made her laugh and that made him smile. Gods, how she loved that smile.
"But you weren't ordered to relocate. I was." She said, turning melancholy again.
"And I go where you go. Apollo and Starbuck, remember?" She grinned. Yeah, she remembered. He cupped her face in his hands and turned her face to him. "I would follow you into Hades and be perfectly happy, Kara. I don't regret coming here. Because you're here."
She pushed him back into the pillows and frakked him within an inch of his life to thank him.
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"Commander Adama," Gaius Baltar began. Lee had given up reminding the president that he was no longer a commander, or in the military at all, for that matter. It's what people were comfortable with, and frankly, so was he. 'Mr. Adama' just sounded weird. "I'll be in my personal quarters. Please be sure to notify me if anything important happens."
"Yes, sir." Lee replied from his desk. He heard female giggles as soon as the door shut.
Lee shook his head. The man was a frak up. He was completely apathetic to the settlers' problems and totally incapable of making a decision. And the vice president, Tom Zarek, was never anywhere to be found. Riots broke out frequently, and Lee found himself fighting off would be assassins on more than one occasion. Lee hated the man as a general rule but he envied him right now. Whatever he imagined Baltar was doing at the moment, he wished he could be home doing the same things to Kara.
He couldn't believe they were here either. Or more accurately, he couldn't believe that hewas here with her. She was supposed to be here with Anders. And she would have been here with Anders if he didn't decide to grow a set at the last minute and just lay his feelings for her out on the table. He was opening himself up to a world of hurt but he was willing to live with the outcome.
This time his bet, unlike the ones he made at the Triad table, paid off.
She bounced into his office with a gigantic smile on her face.
"The Admiral approved the SAR to Caprica, Lee. I'm gonna bring him home." She beamed.
The sarcastic bastard in him wanted to point out that the Galactica had never been Samuel T. Anders's home but he reminded himself that his jealous streak is what sent her back to Caprica in the first place.
"That's great, Kara." He choked out instead.
She bit her lower lip and looked up at him through lowered lashes. She nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and he knew that she was trying to decide whether or not to ask him something.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Will you help me plan it?" She asked almost timidly.
'Better yet,' he thought, 'here's my gun. Point blank in my chest should have the same effect.'
But of course he couldn't turn her down.
He didn't approach her until after her briefing with the pilots, but as she gathered up her paperwork after the room had cleared out, he gently grabbed her arm. This was it. All or nothing.
She turned around to face him with a serene look he had never seen on her face before.
"What 's up?" She asked, smiling at him.
He almost chickened out. He almost just said 'good hunting' before running away again. But he decided he was being ridiculous. He blew up a tyllium refinery, he went hand to hand with centurions, he commanded a battlestar for frak's sake. Why was he afraid of Kara Thrace?
Still, he had to close his eyes. The last time he did this, it went badly. He needed to brace himself.
"I love you." He blurted out. "I have for a long time."
"Lee…" She started. He could hear the rejection in the tone of her voice.
"Don't, please." He said, stopping her. "Don't say anything. Just hear me out, then go to Caprica and find him. But promise me you'll think about what I'm about to say to you while you're there."
She didn't say anything so he continued. "You once said that there was nothing between us, but I think you're wrong. There is something between us . I felt it when you kissed me that night…before you left."
She lowered her eyes. 'Maybe she felt it too.' He wondered. Hoped.
"It's just that Zak, Anders, and Dee are there too. If we can get past them, maybe we can find 'Starbuck and Apollo' again. Maybe we can find Kara and Lee."
She looked up at him with tears pooling in her eyes. "Don't make me choose."
"I'm gonna make you choose, Kara, I'm sorry. I should have told you how I feel sooner. There are so many things I wish I had done differently and if I had, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, but it is the way it is. But even if you choose him, I'll still be your friend. I just needed you to know how I really feel about you."
He raised his hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "Good hunting, Captain. Bring them home."
She had hugged him then, as was their custom whenever they said 'hello' or 'goodbye,' but this time it felt as if she held him just a little tighter and held on just a little longer.
He ended his relationship with Dee that night. Regardless of Kara's decision, it wasn't fair to string her along. To his surprise, Dee was fine with it. She knew his heart wasn't with her.
When Kara returned, he kept his distance, afraid that she would feel pressured. Afraid that he would look too eager.
She came to him instead. They didn't leave his quarters for two days.
Then Baltar won the election and colonization began. Civilians were sent down to New Caprica first, then he started breaking up the military.
Settlement for military personnel was voluntary at first, then mandatory. Like a draft, names were drawn for people to go planet side. When Kara's number came up, Lee went with her. His father never raised an argument, though his disappointment was clear in his eyes.
They got married on New Caprica with as much pomp as their new surroundings allowed. Thea came along nine months later.
Lee was smiling when Felix Gaeta woke him from his reverie. He hadn't even heard the man come in.
"Commander Adama." Gaeta said. "Where's the President?"
Lee smirked and pointed to the door. "Important meeting." He said.
Gaeta rolled his eyes in understanding. "Listen." He said, pointing up.
Lee's eyes went wide as he recognized the sound of Cylon raiders and he bolted to the window. The sky was full of them. He ran to the door of the President's private quarters and banged hard.
"Mr. President." Lee shouted. "We've got Cylons."