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A/N: I was in a restaurant recently and I saw a waitress who was about Kara's size/build, had blond hair, and was dressed all in black. At that moment I knew, if Kara was in a different reality in which there was no Cylon war and she wasn't in the military, she would be a waitress. And from Lee's comment in the episode Lay Down Your Burdens Part 1 I knew Lee would have a bar. I wrote this story because it was the only way to get it out of my head. This is my first fan fiction.
Kara Thrace felt most alive when she was flying in her Viper. She loved flying down the open road in her Viper motorcycle, wind in her hair, nothing but road and sky for company. Today she was flying down the road for another reason, because she was late for work. Kara was a waitress at Joe's Bar. Despite the name, Joe's Bar was a bar and restaurant. It was a neighborhood hangout that was known for its lively atmosphere. The atmosphere could get a little rough late at night when many of the patrons had had too much to drink. Kara was excellent at dealing with the customers, friendly at first, but underneath was a woman ready and able to kick their asses if they got out of line and they knew it.
Lee Adama sighed as he looked at the clock on the wall behind the bar in Joe's Bar. It looked like Kara was going to be late to work again. Lee was the bartender and part owner of Joe's Bar. Joe's was named after Lee's grandfather, whom Lee had always admired. Lee heard a motorcycle engine roaring followed by the squealing of brakes as the motorcycle halted suddenly. Then the door flew open and Kara marched in. She was dressed all in black, with a black leather jacket, wearing sunglasses and her helmet. All conversation stopped and all heads turned toward the door when Kara walked in. Lee smiled to himself. Kara sure knew how to make an entrance.
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Every night when Kara slept, she dreamed of Vipers. Instead of working as a waitress and riding a Viper motorcycle, she was a pilot, best in the fleet, flying Vipers. Lee was in her dreams too. He was the CAG, Commander of the Air Group, for the Battlestar Galactica, on which she was a Viper pilot, and her immediate supervisor, as he was in her real life. In Kara's dreams she and Lee flew together in battle against the Cylons. In Kara's dreams she wasn't Kara, she was the mighty Starbuck, Top Gun of the Fleet, and Lee was Galactica's CAG and had the callsign Apollo, call sign of the Gods.
Every night when Lee slept, he dreamed of Galactica. He dreamed that he was the CAG, Command of the Air Group, for the Battlestar Galactica. After a long estrangement from his father, Commander William Adama, Lee was serving under him on Galactica. Kara was in his dreams too. She was one of his pilots. Kara was a hotshot pilot, best in the Fleet, but not known for following the rules. In Lee's dreams he was "Captain Lee Adama", "Apollo" to the pilots, and "Captain Apollo" to the President of the 12 Colonies. Lee had tried to correct the President once, telling her that his name was Captain Lee Adama, and his callsign was Apollo, but she had just smiled and said, "Captain Apollo has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
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Kara was carrying a tray full of dirty dishes into the kitchen and as she passed by the bar, Lee realized he wanted to ask her opinion on staffing for the upcoming private party being held at Joe's. "Starbuck" he called out, without thinking. There was a loud noise of shattering dishes as the tray Kara was holding crashed to the floor when she suddenly let go of it as Lee called to her. She slowly turned and stared at Lee. Lee had called her Starbuck, her name in her dreams. She had never told anyone about her dreams that she was a Viper pilot on Battlestar Galactica. How did he know her callsign? "What did you call me?" Lee realized that he had forgotten the first rule of conversation: Engage brain before putting mouth in gear. He had called her Starbuck, the callsign of her alter ego, the feisty pilot who haunted his dreams, not Kara who was standing right in front of him. "Umm…Kara, sorry, meant to call you Kara, my brain got ahead of me onto another subject." Kara stepped closer to him. "No I think you meant to call me when you said Starbuck", Kara paused, "Apollo". Lee's eyes widened and he stared at her, stunned. "You know?"
Kara woke up with a start in the middle of the night in her bunk on Galactica. She had that dream again, the ongoing dream that had been unfolding over several weeks, in which she was living a normal life. She wasn't a pilot on Galactica, in fact she wasn't in the military and she wasn't a pilot at all. There wasn't any Cylon war. She lived on Caprica. She owned a motorcycle. She was a waitress at a bar/restaurant called Joe's, though like on Galactica, when not working, her life consisted of a lot of drinking and card playing. Lee was in her dreams too. He was the bartender and part owner of the bar. Like in real life, he was her best friend. Like in real life, she secretly had feelings for him that she could not act on, for fear of ruining their friendship because she was a screw up.
Lee woke up with a start in the middle of the night in his bunk on Galactica. He had that dream again, the ongoing dream that had been unfolding over several weeks, in which he was living a normal life, a life with a very different path, a path he had chosen for himself instead of what he had done in real life, following in his father's footsteps because that's what was expected of him. He wasn't the CAG on Galactica. He was the bartender and part owner of a bar on Galactica. Kara was a waitress at the restaurant. Like in real life, she was his best friend. Like in real life, he was secretly in love with her.
The following morning, as Lee and Kara jogged through the corridors of Galactica on their usual morning run, Kara commented, "I keep having these strange dreams." "What?" Lee asked. Kara looked straight ahead to avoid running into people who weren't smart enough to get out of the way while she continued, "I keep having these dreams. I was living on Caprica. The closest I got to flying was riding my Viper motorcycle. You were in my dreams too, you were...", Kara looked over at Lee, and realized he was no longer jogging next to her but had halted several feet behind her. "I was a bartender and part owner, at a bar called Joe's, named after my grandfather", Lee said slowly. Kara's mouth dropped open and they stared at each other. "The same dreams…" said Lee. "What does it mean?" asked Kara. "I have no idea", Lee replied. Stunned by this news, they gave up on the morning run and walked slowly to the officers' head for the usual post morning run showers. Kara showered quickly and was dressed and gone by the time Lee finished showering. While showering, Kara had decided to ask the only person, well one of two people if counting Leoben, who could tell her why she and Lee had been having the same dreams.
Kara entered the oracle's quarters and sat down. The oracle, Yolanda Brenn, came right out to see her. "I want to know what my dreams mean," stated Kara. The oracle replied, "Night after night you dream you are living a completely different life. And when you are in that life it is so real you have dreams that this life is a dream". Kara nodded. "But why is Lee…?" "Why is Lee not just in these dreams but also sharing them?" interrupted the oracle. "Sometimes dreams are just dreams, the mind's way of processing the information from the day. But sometimes dreams are something more- a vision." The oracle paused, then continued, "You saw a vision of an alternate reality. There were many differences from the reality you are experiencing right now but there was one thing that was the same …" "Lee," Kara murmured. The oracle nodded and continued, "Why is Lee having the same dreams? Have you ever wondered why Lee has been a part of your life for so long despite everything both of you have been through? Because the gods have bound you and Lee together. You and Lee, especially you, weren't getting the message, so the gods decided to be more direct and show you both the same visions. You and Lee are destined to be together, no matter how hard you try to fight it, blinded by your fear that if you screw up you will lose him." Tears were streaming down Kara's face. "Thank you," said Kara, her sobs choking the words. Kara wiped her tears and turned to leave the oracle's chamber. It was time to embrace her destiny- time to find Lee and start the next chapter of their lives- together.