Disclaimer: I don't own Battlestar or the characters.
A/N: Here is my first foray into another fandom. Thanks as always to Katma for beta reading this.
Human for a Moment
Dualla strolled through the halls of Galactica, unable to sleep, her shift quickly approaching. She lost some of her military bearing as she let her fingers trail along the metal walls. Her feet shuffled as she walked aimlessly, her head down, her eyes unfocused.
She was walking a well-worn path towards a seldom-used corridor in the back of Galactica. The corridor led to a ladder that disappeared into the ceiling of the ship. A hatch opened to a maintenance catwalk high above one of the ship engine rooms. It was a noisy and hot space but it was nearly always abandoned. Nearly.
Dee looked up when she reached the ladder and noticed that the hatch was cracked open slightly. She frowned and contemplated going back to her rack to lie silently until her shift. Instead, she started up the ladder and pushed the hatch open a little more, confident of what she'd find on the other side.
Sure enough, there he was, sitting with his legs hanging over the edge of the catwalk, his arms slung over the lower rail, and his head resting against a support cable. As much as this was her private place, it was Lee's as well. They had only run into each other there a handful of times, but they always respected the other's need for privacy.
Most of the time, if she saw him there, she'd leave without a word and she knew he did the same for her. Sometimes, though, it wasn't privacy they sought but merely simple silence. In those instances, they would sit beside each other and stare down at the room below them, seeing nothing. They rarely spoke, and in their daily lives, they acted as though that little space and those little moments didn't exist. She remembered the first time he had come up there. She was sitting silently. She had gone days without sleep and her mind refused to calm down long enough to let her catch up on the much-needed rest.
The hatch creaked loud enough for her to hear even over the noise of the engine. She was startled and jumped up quickly. Lee's head poked through the hatch and he looked around slowly before locking eyes with Dualla.
"Do you mind?" he asked with a motion of his head. She shook her head and remained standing as he dropped down near the place she had been sitting. He sighed loudly and she sat carefully beside him, wondering why he was there.
He stared straight ahead and she nearly jumped again when he spoke. "I was just looking for an empty space and saw the ladder."
She nodded and let herself relax slightly. "That's how I found it, too."
"When?"
"My tenth day aboard Galactica. The first day I was ever reprimanded by the Commander."
He accepted the answer, and they sat silently again until he decided to speak. "I killed a lot of people today."
She closed her eyes and drew her knees up over the edge of the catwalk, pulling them to her chest and letting them rest against the lower rail. "I gave the wrong coordinates."
He nodded and after that they sat in companionable silence. It was not necessary to say they had both had a bad day. It was not necessary to say that it had been neither of their faults. In that instant, their minds were attuned to each other's and no words were necessary at all.
Months later and long before Billy's death, Dualla was laying on the catwalk staring at the ceiling, Lee sitting beside her, seemingly asleep. "Dee?"
"Yeah?"
He glanced at her through half closed eyes. "Do you love Billy?"
They were honest in their place. No words spoken there ever left and no judgment was ever passed because of those words.
"No. I love the connection."
He nodded, understanding the need to find something human in the dark days of war.
"Kara?" She asked, her eyes still staring up at the dark ceiling above her.
"I'll always be number two." He said automatically, without thinking.
They were silent for another hour or so before Dee stood and stretched, ready to go wash her face and take her post in the CIC. She let her hand rest lightly on Apollo's shoulder for a brief moment before starting down the hatch.
The only time he had ever come looking for her was just after Billy died. The hatch creaked and she sighed morosely, wondering idly what he would think of her lack of tears. He dropped to the metal grating next to her and slowly put his arm around her narrow shoulders. His touch affected her. Even on the most awful days, it made her feel warm and safe. Their moment in the training room aside, they had very little personal interaction outside of their private spot.
She leaned into him, his other arm coming around her to envelope her as much as possible. Her face turned into his chest and she was finally able to cry silently. They didn't speak that time and she fell asleep in his arms.
They had hardly seen each other since then but she felt no awkwardness as she moved to sit beside him. He looked up at her and grinned as she settled in, her position on the catwalk mirroring his.
"Ready for your mission?" she asked lightly, her feet swinging in the empty air.
He nodded. "You'll be on the comm, right?"
"Yes, Sir."
He looked at her with an eye roll that said there were no ranks there. "Good to hear, Petty Officer."
She smiled then and he wondered how long it had been since he had seen her truly happy.
"You know, Dee, whenever you aren't on duty when the pilots go out, I get complaints."
Her eyebrow twitched and her mouth turned up in a half smile. "They are just used to my voice."
"It means home now." He bent his elbow on the rail and rested his chin there, glancing at her as she leaned back slightly and pulled the band from her hair only to pull it back again into a more tidy tail.
He looked out at the vast room. "What happens if they ever have to do maintenance in here?"
"I'd know," she said with a half smile. "All the paperwork comes through me."
Lee untangled his arms from the railing and lay back on the meal grating, his hands behind his head. "I'm glad we have this place."
She smiled and let her agreement go unspoken. Silence followed, interrupted only by a cough from Apollo and a yawn from Dee.
Dee spoke up suddenly, her thoughts taking a turn that prompted her to speak. "It's hard to find someone to be silent with."
He leaned up on his elbow, wondering what she was thinking about. "Yes, it is."
She turned to look at him, the green of her eyes bright in the dim light of the engine room. "I miss the connection."
Lee swallowed once, reminding himself of how honest they were in this place. "But you didn't love him?"
"You know I didn't." She ran her fingers over the grating of the catwalk. "I wish I could have. He deserved better."
She said it matter-of-factly and instead of contradicting her, Lee lay back down and stared above him.
"I don't love Kara." He said it suddenly as if it had been waiting to come out and his mouth just couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Really?" There was a wry tone to her voice and Lee had a feeling that if he could see her face, an eyebrow would be raised
"We…" He swallowed. "We had sex…frakked."
He risked a glance at her then, and saw her nod in acknowledgement. He wasn't sure why he was expecting shock or disgust from her. He knew good and well that she was no prude, but for some reason, when he thought of Dualla, he thought of innocence. It was an embarrassingly alpha male thought and she would probably laugh at him for thinking it.
"And?" she asked, wondering if he had more to tell.
"It was a tension reliever. No romance at all." Dee tilted her head and waited. Lee sat up and faced her, suddenly needing to talk about this. "I didn't want any romance."
"Why?"
"Because she's Kara. We punch each other."
Dee adjusted one of the straps of her black tank. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I felt the exact same sense of relief and shame the last time I punched her as I did when we frakked."
Dee glanced at her hands, understanding. "She's your connection."
He looked at her and smiled slightly. "She thinks I like you."
She quirked an eyebrow, not willing to pretend that she wasn't interested. "Because of the training room?"
"And when I said you had pretty eyes the other day." They had all been playing one of the many games they had all played too often, and now everyone always gave the same answers and there were never any new questions. Lee wasn't the only one who had ever offered Dualla as the answer to "Who has the prettiest eyes on Galactica?" so she really wasn't certain why that would raise an eyebrow coming from Lee.
"Was she angry?"
Lee smirked. "No, she teases me."
Dee smiled and fiddled with the sleeves of the jumpsuit that was hanging loose at her waist. She had just resolved to say…something…when a voice came over the comm, warning the crew of the time and shift change.
She offered Lee a fleeting smile and stood from the hard grating, moved to the ladder and started down.
"Dee," he hadn't moved. "Kara…she wasn't wrong."
She offered him a real smile then and descended the ladder to go begin her day.
He sought her out the next day. She was playing cards with Helo, Racetrack, and Gaeta and he simply laid a hand on her shoulder and tilted his head toward the back of the ship. She furrowed her brow and bowed out of the game, ignoring Racetrack's raised eyebrows and Helo and Gaeta's exchanged glances.
He didn't speak as she followed him down the corridor and he could feel her eyes on his back as he walked, could hear her struggling to catch up to his longer stride. He climbed up the ladder wordlessly, trusting that she would follow, and instead of dropping to the grating as he normally would do, he bit his thumbnail and paced restlessly.
Lee turned and stared at her when she finally joined him on the catwalk and he contemplated what to do now that he had her there. She looked confused and just as beautiful as she usually did. He didn't even really know why he brought her there but he knew that if he didn't speak to her, he was going to go crazy.
"Lee, what –" Before she could get the word out, his lips were pressed to hers. Her eyes widened, and just as quickly, he pulled away and began to apologize. What are you doing, Lee? he thought. You can't just go around kissing people.
She raised an eyebrow and watched him stammer out his apologies. "Lee," she said calmly.
He stopped and looked at her again, watched as she stepped forward, sucked in a breath as she snaked a hand over his chest and around his neck and pulled his head down to her level. And he forgot everything he wanted to say as she pressed her lips to his and kissed him soundly. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled against her lips.
"This is against regs," she whispered.
"I'm willing to risk it," he said gruffly.
What had been their corner of the world as friends became their sanctuary as lovers. They still used the space in the same fashion as before, only now they met there regularly as well, and the awkward first kiss and more certain second paved the way for further intimacy.
People had started to figure out what was going on between them. Adama had pulled his son aside and gave him a talk about how Dee was like a daughter to him and son or not, he wouldn't look kindly on the person who hurt her.
Even Gaeta felt the need for a word with him. He was trying to be big brotherly, but Lee wondered if maybe Gaeta hadn't had his eye on Dee himself at some point.
Lee smiled at the memory and glanced at Dee as she slept, her head pillowed on his crossed legs and her body curled tight despite the heat of the room.
He traced a gentle finger across the smooth skin of her brow and he smiled as she sighed in her sleep.
Starbuck teased him every time he disappeared and although she tried to goad him into telling her where he was going, the space remained something that only he and Dee shared.
A rescue crew had finally made its way to Caprica to save the remaining humans, and Lee was surprised to discover that he was actually pleased to see Kara look at Anders in the same way he looked at Dee.
His finger continued its trail across her jaw and she smiled gently, her eyes fluttering open.
"I fell asleep."
He smirked. "I noticed."
"Sorry." She yawned hugely and sat up, leaning against his shoulder.
"Long day." It wasn't a question. It had been a very long day for the both of them. She nodded and leaned against him, his arm pulled her tight.
"This makes it more bearable."
And it did. Knowing he had her waiting for him at the end of the day, knowing they had this place and each other to cling to seemed to make everything just a bit easier. She wasn't just his connection, just that thing that kept him from being a military robot. She was more.
He didn't know if it was love and he knew it might not last. He knew there might come a day when their heads were turned in another direction and they would decide to return to their easy friendship. But for now, during these dark days of war and uncertainty, she was everything. And that was more than enough.
Note: I'm not sure I'm actually totally sold on the Lee/Dee ship but I wanted to do something that would make the sparring scene slightly less abrupt. Anyway, please review!