We Fight, We Frak
Kara/Lee: Nothing had ever been easy for them, and they doubted whether anything ever would be.
The place where his fist had connected with her face stung like a bitch, but she ignored it, simply gritting her teeth together against the pain. She wouldn't let him see that he had hurt her; that he had the power to hurt her. He did though, as much as Kara hated to admit it to herself. She wasn't supposed to let men in, not this way; not the way she cared for Lee. Somehow he had worked his way under her skin, and she had broken every one of her own rules. Just admitting that he meant something to her; that he had this effect on her was one thing but it didn't make things any clearer or any easier. When it came to Lee nothing was simple, not even the fighting nor the frakking. Kara tried her hardest to take the sex and the fights at face value, the same way she would if Lee was another guy, but her problem was that he wasn't. He wasn't just someone she could expel from her thoughts at the drop of a hat. She didn't want to think about him; didn't want to care about him; didn't want to love him.
Lee's right hand was still curled into a fist at his side, and his cheekbone still stung from the full force of Kara's blow. He had never dreamed of being the kind of man who hit a woman but, however lame it sounded, she had started it. Wherever Kara was concerned, Lee lost the ability to think rationally, hence his retaliation punch. It wasn't right how much fighting with Kara like this, exchanging harsh blows and even harsher words, turned him on so fully. He could hear her heightened breathing, and could almost feel the thudding of her pulse, even though he stood a metre away from her. He didn't trust himself to get any closer because once more their fight would end up in the familiar territory of the bedroom.
He could see a faint bruise beginning to appear under the surface of the taut skin at Kara's jaw and he felt a pang of guilt. He wanted to reach out and rub his thumb lightly over the skin that he had damaged. He resisted, keeping his hands close to his side. Touching her right now was not a good plan. He finally met her eye, and her dark pupils locked with his, almost making him drown in their depths. He wondered if she knew the effect she had over him. Maybe, maybe not, it was always hard to tell with Kara. Sometimes she was impossible to read, other times she was like an open book.
"Jesus, Lee." Kara finally said, breaking the silence between them as she rubbed at her jaw. "Anyone ever tell you it's rude to hit a lady?"
Lee said nothing in response but he raised an eyebrow and a smirk twisted up the corners of his mouth. It was Kara who closed the distance between them, doing what Lee had not dared do, she reached out and traced her fingers over his cheek with a featherlight touch. The intimacy the gesture suggested was so incongruous with Kara's character and with the status of their on-off sexual relationship, but Lee was relieved that Kara also possessed some more tender feelings for him. It spoke of their connection, that words were useless between them and the smallest of actions could say so much. It also highlighted the complexity of the web they had woven between them.
Lee stood still as Kara stroked his cheek, longing to reach out for her, and wondering if it was what she expected of him. Kara lowered her hand, stepping back from Lee, who wondered if he had imagined the slight hint of disappointed that had flickered briefly in her eyes.
"I hope it doesn't bruise." He said, watching the lieutenant walk away.
It wasn't a surprise in the slightest when Lee followed her to bed that night. In fact, she had been surprised when he hadn't come to find her earlier. She was pulling at the hem of her shirt barely before Lee had shut the door, knowing exactly what he had come here for. She often didn't know what to say to him, most of their conversations usually ended up in fights of the verbal or the physical kind. It seemed that things passed much more simply, and more meaningfully when words were left out of the equation completely, at least those spoken coherently.
Lee slipped out of the room sometime later, Kara's breathing having deepened enough to suggest she had finally slipped, sated, into a sleeping state. He stood over her sleeping form for a few moments, debating his next move but knowing that it did not matter for she would not know anyway. He leaned over her, pressing the chastest of kisses to her temple.
"Goodnight, Starbuck." He whispered, making his way towards the door.
He wanted so many things for them, things that were impossible because of who they were and what they did. He wanted to say so many things, but his tongue and his heart often conspired against each other, leaving him saying nothing at all. He knew that what he really wanted could never be; he knew it but it didn't stop him from wanting it all the same. They fought, they frakked and for now that would be enough for him.