A/N: This fic is AU, that's what I like to write. I have a tendency to stray as far from canon as I can, because I like to see how the characters would develop in different scenarios, and this is one such scenario. I also tend to be long winded and write multi chapter stories. Anyone reading State of Delusion, I haven't forgotten about it, I'm just struggling with the epilogue and there will be a sequel.

So please enjoy this fic and let me know what you think. I take criticism well, I love to hear what readers think and what they would like to see happen. Enjoy and please review.

Chapter One: Coffee at Starbucks

Lee Adama needed coffee, massive amounts of caffeine to combat the fatigue that roared through his body demanding that he go to sleep, now. Unfortunately for both his brain and his body, sleep wasn't on the agenda. He had promised himself that when they had found Earth he would slow down, take the time to appreciate life, after all he had come close to losing his life one to many times for comfort.

But things hadn't turned out quite the way he had wanted, he realized they rarely ever did. Sure he was no longer risking his life everyday by climbing into a viper and shooting toasters out of the cosmos, but he still hadn't slowed down. Hell if he was honest with himself, he'd have to admit that he was running faster now than he did when they were fleeing the cylons.

Promises to himself got lost in the demand of needing certain things. He needed to feel secure, that his world wasn't go to blow up around him and once again force him to flee along with the remnants of humanity. He also needed those creature comforts that had long been denied everyone who had the fortune to survive the destruction of their lives. And the Americans sure knew how to entice a man who wanted nothing more than to chuck it all and disappear. They had offered him a staggering amount of money to stay, help plan a new global defense, train more pilots than he ever had command of, and damn if they weren't cunning; they locked him in for the next five years.

Even though his father had bought a house and planned to retire, he was still aboard the Galactica helping to put measures in place to keep Earth from becoming a battle ground. The president who had been insanely busy trying to keep the last remnants of their people together while fleeing the cylons was even busier now that they had reach a safe haven. Fending for more than 30,000 survivors had her tied up in so many meetings and negotiations that Lee hadn't seen her in over 3 months.

Hopefully that would change in a couple of days. He had thirty days uninterrupted leave scheduled, and after Sam's championship game, they were hopping into the jeep and secluding themselves at the large log home they had purchased in Montana. They would be joined a few days later by his little brother Zak, Tyrol and Gaeta. And if everything went well, the Admiral, President Roslin and Helo would join them in a week. The plan was to kick back, turn of the cell phones and just enjoy each others company without having to look over their shoulders.

The thought brought a smile to his lips as he reached out to the grab the door handle to his favorite coffee shop and collided with another set of hands. Startled by the unexpected contact, Lee pulled back and looked into the face of the person he had come close to mowing down. The woman had on a pair of blue mirrored shades that completely obscured her eyes, and the baseball cap pulled down low almost completely hid her blond hair. He could just see a few wispy strands of blond that had managed to escape and curl around the nape of her neck.

"Sorry," he mumbled stepping back so that she could proceed him through the door.

"No problem," she replied as she swept pass him. Her perfume flowed behind her and beckoned him to follow. She smelled like something spicy and rather delicious. He bet she would taste good with his coffee.

Where the hell had that come from, he pondered as he stepped up behind her at the counter. There were a few people in front of them and he thought that if it took too long he would end up doing something stupid, like trying to find out who she was. He took a moment to study her from behind, and what he saw brought a smile to his lips. She wasn't tall, but then neither was he, and what there was of her was nicely proportioned. He could spend the rest of the afternoon just looking at her ass alone, and thinking up wicked things he could do to said ass. As she stepped up to the counter the sway of her hips had him biting back a groan. It had been way too long since he had been in the arms of a woman that he was becoming desperate.

The sound of her voice pulled him back from his carnal thoughts. It was a strong voice, yet melodious and it has his nerve endings zinging with sexual energy. He needed to get his damn coffee and get the hell out of here. He saw her throw a look over her shoulder, one he is sure is directed towards him and hastily turns back to the barista taking her order.

"Better make that a triple," she says in that voice. Once again Lee feels the electricity zip through his body and he has to suppress a moan. Maybe it's time to take Sam's advise and find a woman, any woman to see to his more basic needs.

"Sir?" The question pulls him back to reality, and Lee opens his eyes to see the young man behind the counter looking at him in silent query. He feels foolish for having been caught not paying attention.

"Venti black coffee, red eye," he said knowing that the extra caffeine would make him jittery, but desperately needing the extra kick at the moment.

It didn't take long for his order to be filled, but it was long enough for him to have lost sight of the woman who still had his body thrumming with excitement. It was probably for the best, he thought as he made his way out of the coffee shop and over to his car. His eyes were drawn to a black sexy little sports car parked in front of his own. Lee took a few minutes to admire the sleek lines of the car, and all but burst into laughter as he watched the woman from Starbucks open the door and slide in. As the car roared to life, she looked up, drew off her sunglasses, fixed him with a sultry smile, and blew him a kiss before she peeled out of the parking lot.

Lee's body jumped at the hint of her flirtation and he didn't even try to suppress the groan that came unbidden to his lips. He leaned against his own car as he watched her maneuver out of the space and floor it. He damn near spilled his coffee as she rocketed pass him and he caught a look at the back end of her car. Two things registered in his brain as she turned onto the street; first was the words Dodge Viper etched onto the trunk and the second was the license plate that simply read KARA'S.

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Kara knew that Dee was going to have her ass, but she had to get the hell out of that hotel room before she went absolutely crazy. She needed her coffee and she needed the fresh air, without either she would have been in one bitch of a mood. Dee would just look at her with those grey- green eyes and ask what else was new.

She had managed to get in and out of the hotel parking garage without any one being the wiser, not that it was all that difficult a task, after all no one had expected her to be up and swinging at six in the morning. But some habits died hard, and for her they were up with the sun and caffeine for breakfast.

Kara walked through the door of the massive penthouse suite and deposited the bag of goodies and containers of coffee on the first flat surface she could find. She looked out of the large windows and wished she was some place else, any place not populated would do just fine.

"It's about time you brought your sorry ass back," she heard from the vicinity of the sofas located on the other side of the room.

"I brought coffee," she replied hoping to avoid a skirmish before the actual war began.

"It's going to take more than coffee," the voice said popping up from the floor by the fireplace.

Kara smiled at Cally's disheveled appearance. On most days Cally looked like a pixie of a girl with her bright and bubbly personality. No one looking at her would ever guess that she was the drum player of the hottest group on the planet, or that she had one hell of temper. Right now she looked like she had been ridden hard and put up wet, an very apt description considering the night they had.

"How mad is she?" Kara asked sprawling into a chair.

"You know how she gets when she's worried," Cally responded after taking a long pull from one of the coffees. "And for some reason she worries about you."

"I don't know why," Kara said closing her eyes. She immediately popped them back open when the image of fuck me blue eyes swam behind her closed eyelids. She didn't need the distraction of a nameless stranger right now, no matter how much her heart pounded just thinking about him.

"Sometimes neither do I," Kara heard coming from right behind her. She titled her head back and looked into the face of her best friend, and worse enemy. Good thing for her they were all rolled into one person, kept things simple as far as she was concerned.

"Look Dee..." She started, not quite sure what she was going to say.

"Save it Thrace," Dee replied grabbing a coffee and settling onto the couch next to Cally.

Kara winced at the use of her surname. Most people believed that it was just a habit that Dee had carried over from the military, but Kara knew that it went much deeper than that. It was the other woman's way of reminding Kara that Thrace was who she was, not what she was. She may have come from something distasteful, but she had taken it, reshaped it, and made it her own.

"I just need to know that you're not going to fall apart before we finish this last leg," Dee said looking at Kara over the top of her coffee. She worried about Kara because no one else was going to, and because she loved her like the sister she never had.

"I'm fine Dee," Kara said not bothering to hide the exasperation in her tone. She knew that Dee was just concerned for her welfare, and rightly so. After all the band was nothing if all five of them didn't have their shit together.

"Alright then," Dee said standing up and clapping her hands together. "We have the Super Bowl this coming Sunday, followed by the Pyramid Championships on Saturday; I still don't get the idea of that game, and we round off the month with the small concert on the Galatica."

"Sounds good to me," Cally replied standing up and heading for the stairs. "I'm assuming we'll be pulling out of her some time today?"

Dee nodded and watched as the younger woman left the room. Cally would see to the small details of getting them to their next destination, leaving Dee to deal with the bigger issue of Kara Thrace.

"Don't look at me like you expect my head to pop off, or for me to take a swan dive off the balcony," Kara said leveling Dee with a hard stare.

"I would understand if you did," Dee said hoping to avoid a fight.

"I just needed some time to myself," Kara explained.

"And I expect you to take advantage of the down time coming to us," Dee said getting up and going to kneel down in front of her friend, her sister. "Mom and Dad want to see you; they say you've been making yourself scarce and they're worried about you."

"I know," she responded on a sigh. "It's hard to go back there, he loved it there."

Dee sat in silence, holding Kara's hands as the tears rolled silently down both their cheeks. She cursed God for making one person shoulder so much pain, so much hurt and abuse. Kara had always been strong, stubborn, trying not to let the things that happened to her bring her to her knees. It worked most of the time, but not when it came to Benjamin. Every person had their Achilles heel and for Kara Thrace, it was Benjamin.

"Enough tears," Dee said reaching up and wiping the tears from Kara's face. "He wouldn't want you to cry, to wallow in misery. He was sunshine, happiness and adventure; those are the things he would want for you"

"You're right," Kara replied with a watery smile. "So let's do something he would love to do. Come one, don't be chicken."

"Do we have to?" Dee asked petulantly. "I swear every time you force me on that thing, you're just trying to kill me."

"You whine too much," Kara laughed as they rode the elevator down to the garage.

"And with good reason," Dee pouted as they stopped in front of Kara's pride and joy.

The sleek black and silver motorcycle sat next to Kara's viper looking innocent enough, but Dee wasn't fooled. She knew the machine was a beast and it's master was nothing but the devil in a female guise. She barely missed getting hit in the head by the helmet Kara lobbed at her, and she grimaced at the sound of her friend's laughter. She could endure a little bit of sheer terror if it meant bringing Kara back to the present and out of her painful past.

She slapped the helmet in place and settled behind Kara on the bike she affectionately named Demon. Dee had always thought Hell Hound would have been a better fit, and she jumped noticeably as the engine roared to life under her ass. One day she would get her revenge on Kara, she just hoped she lived long enough to plan it out as they rocketed out of the hotel garage and into the bright sunlight of another day on planet Earth.

A/N: Another authors note, just can't seem to help myself. Dee and Kara as friends, and I mean good friends, that was a twist that I had not planned in the beginning. Please hit that little button and tell me what you think.