TITLE: CHANCE

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

DISCLAIMER: Not mine, except for a select few characters. They know who they are.

SUMMARY: She wasn't supposed to fall in love, she didn't mean to get pregnant, and she never imagined losing him. (Begins four and a half months after the end of my fic, Destiny.)

DISTRIBUTION: Sure if you want it. Just drop me a line with where

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is basically a collection of days, spanning a few years in BSG's little AU future that I've come up with. So sorry if it's a bit jumpy, but it's supposed to be. Anything up to episode 8 is fair game as far as spoilers go. I have a few very basic concepts in here that are yet to come to pass in Season 1, but nothing that the whole internet isn't already talking about. If you REALLY don't want to know, you should probably steer clear of this fic.

The chapter titles say where everything falls into the timeline. This first chapter is fifteen months before little Zak Adama is born, and about seven months after the miniseries. I think that's all of my notes. Hope you enjoy! Please R&R

"Colonial Heavy 798, this is Shuttle 026-Golf on final approach," Captain Lee Adama said over the wireless system in the shuttle that he was co-piloting with Lieutenant Kara Thrace.

"Roger, 26-Golf, you are cleared to land."

Lee nodded to Kara. "She's all yours."

Under normal circumstances, she would have come up with a crack about the fact that the shuttle had been hers since the moment they took off. But this wasn't a normal circumstance, and they weren't on an everyday transport flight from the Galactica. They were flying Commander William Adama over to the ship that had been designated as Colonial One until 0124 hours that morning, and at 1200 hours, it would become Colonial One again, but right now, it was just one of a few dozen ships in the Battlestar Galactica's ragtag fleet.

President Laura Roslin had finally lost her battle with breast cancer. It had hit everyone hard, although it had come as a shock to few. She'd finally been forced to reveal her condition a month earlier. Everyone knew she had been living on borrowed time, but Roslin had hoped to make it to the end of her term. She'd fallen just two and a half weeks short. Elections within the fleet, held the previous month, had already chosen Gordon Rawlings as the new president. He would be taking office that afternoon. They had decided not to transfer power to Roslin's Vice President, just to shift it again in eighteen days. The fleet desperately needed some stability.

Even though Kara hadn't flown a shuttle in a couple years, she landed it perfectly. Lee swallowed a little jealousy at her natural talent. Adama's hand on her shoulder conveyed his appreciation for the smooth flight as he got up from his seat. She gave him a small smile and continued with shutdown procedures while he went to meet the official that was waiting for them outside the hatch.

"You okay?" Lee asked Kara as he helped her with the checklist. "You've been quiet."

"I'm sick of funerals," she sharply replied without taking the time to look away from what she was doing. Lee left her alone.

"We can shed our tears, now that she has left us, or we can smile because we had her in the first place. We can turn our backs on tomorrow, and live in yesterday, or be happy for the tomorrow she gave us with yesterdays. We can remember only that she has gone, or cherish our memories and let her live on. We return her body to the universe, from which the Lords brought her to us, knowing we will be reunited in the better world that is to come. So say we all," Priest Elosha finished the ceremony.

"So say we all," replied the group of politicians, civilians, press, and officers gathered.

Kara wasn't sure what else happened at the service; her mind was in a fog. They seemed to be returning body after body to the universe on autopilot. It made her wonder if they were actually winning this battle, actually making some sort of progress, or if the human race was slowly slipping off to oblivion. Yeah, gotta get those kind of thoughts out of your head before you sit in a cockpit, she scolded herself.

Lee approached her, where she was waiting by the shuttle in Colonial One's bay. "He'll be ready in a minute," he told her, tipping his head toward where Adama was speaking with President Rawlings. "He said to start the preflight."

"I already did the external checks," Kara told him, her eyes focused on some point on the wall across the shuttle bay.

"You ready to get back to the ship?" Lee asked.

"I'm just ready for this day to be over."

By the time the shuttle was back in the Galactica's bay, Lee could see that its pilot was a few shades paler than normal. That concerned him, as he watched her do the post-flight, and he debated whether or not trying to talk to her would be in his best interest.

"You could help, you know," Kara shot as she rounded the tail of the craft. "Or is the almighty CAG too good for post-flights?" Lee grabbed a clipboard.

"Why don't you head out?" he told her. "I'll cover for you."

"I'm fine, Lee, honest. Being tired isn't much of an excuse around here; we're all tired."

"We all also give each other breaks when we need them. You've been pulling more than your fair share around here, with training and CAPs."

"Whatever."

"Kara, don't shut down on me."

"I'm not frakking shutting down!" She then realized her voice was probably a little too loud. Whether they were dating or not, she couldn't talk to a higher ranking officer like than in the middle of the hanger deck. "I'm not shutting down," she repeated, quieter, as she looked away. Kara was trying to force the lunch she'd had on Colonial One to stay down, but it wasn't working. Without saying a thing, she gave Lee her clipboard and walked off deck.

After a (very) quick word with Tyrol, Lee found her in the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach. He wet a towel and put it on the back of her neck. "Talk to me, Kara," he told her, his voice low, as he stood behind her. She sighed.

"I'll be fine, just…some days the hopelessness of it all is a little overwhelming."

"We all have those days. You're allowed to be scared, you know."

"Since when?" she asked with a drop of sarcasm as she went to wash her mouth out.

"You're can be whatever you want to with me." They looked at each other for a long minute, and he thought he saw the armor around her emotions start to come down, but then another officer came in the room, and the walls went back up.

"I have to get back on deck," Kara told Lee. "I'm off at 2300."

"I know," he told her with a slight smile. "I make the schedule." He could see that 'those three little words' were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't say them – not on-duty, and not with an audience. Lee nodded slightly, letting her know that he understood, so she headed back out on the deck. He made his way towards his office; there were a lot of things that needed taking care of.

When Kara finally got off her shift, she wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a bed, preferably one that she was sharing with Lee. However, entering his office after giving a warning knock revealed that he was still at his desk, going through paperwork. "You're still at it?" she asked him.

"Yeah, gotta catch up on what I missed today." Kara slowly nodded.

"How much hot water do we have left?"

"You can use the whole ration."

"You gonna join me?" Most nights, that would get her a smile, even if he didn't say yes. But,

"Not tonight, Kara." She hesitated a moment, not sure whether or not to press, or if he was holding the brevity of their earlier conversation against her. In the end, she decided to head for the bathroom alone.

Hot water was a luxury on the Galactica, and Kara always enjoyed every second of her rations. The ship was generally kept at about the same temperature as a mid-fall day on Caprica in order to conserve resources, so cold showers didn't help at all. Even though Lee said she could have the whole four minutes worth, she made sure she didn't use more than two. He got chilled just as easily as she did.

Before deciding whether or not to put pajamas on, she went to see where Lee was with his paperwork. "Are you coming to bed?" Kara asked, leaning against the doorway wearing nothing but a towel. Lee had to force his attention to stay on his reports.

"Not yet."

"Come on, Lee – "

"Kara, I need to finish these for tomorrow." That came out a little harsher than he'd intended, but he did have things that needed taking care of before early shift the next morning. "Sorry…Go to sleep; you need the rest." She gave up, and the sound of the door slamming behind her let Lee know that she wasn't happy about it.

By the time he finally did go to bed, he only had a few hours before he would wake up out of habit for early shift. However, one of the things he'd secretly been working on that night was getting his and Kara's shifts changed to mid. A couple of the pilots owed him favors.

When Lee woke up, Kara was still asleep, and he laid there for a good half-hour, just watching her. She was the kind of person who took her troubles from the day with her to sleep – usually she woke up with her blankets more off than on. However, when the two of them shared a bed, her problems seemed to melt away, and he was glad he could give her that.

Kara's eyes finally cracked open, and a small smile crossed her face when she saw Lee. He returned it. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Watching you," he straightforwardly replied.

"You're nuts, you know that?" she asked as she started to get out of bed. Lee grabbed her hand, effectively stopping her and pulling her back to his side. "What are you doing? We've both got shifts this morning."

Lee just shook his head and reached for the little table that was by the bed. He picked something up, and then held it in front of Kara's eyes so she could see – a ring. "Marry me," he whispered.

"Lee…"

"We both know how short life is. I want to spend mine with you. I don't want to waste another second of our lives not being together."

Kara's eyes were still fixed on the silver band he was offering her. "How did…where did you find this?" she asked him. It wasn't as though the Galactica – or any other ship, for that matter – had jewelry stores.

"That's my secret," Lee told her. "When I'm around you, unexpected things seem to happen." He was amused by the hint of a blush he thought he saw on her features. "You know, you haven't said yes or no."

"Sorry, my brain's not handling higher functions too well at this point." But she still didn't answer.

"Kara!"

A devilish grin crossed her face; she was enjoying messing around with him a little too much. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Did you really think I would turn you down?"

"You had me scared for a minute."

Kara kissed him. "I love you," she whispered.

Lee smiled, putting the ring on her finger. "You're beautiful when you're happy."

"I'm happy when I'm with you….and as much as I would love to just stay here with you all morning – "

"We're both on mid-shift today."

The mischievous grin had reappeared. "So does that mean we have eight whole hours before we have to leave this bed?"

Lee looked at the clock. "More like seven and a half."

"Oh, whatever shall we do with ourselves?"

That night, when Kara got off of her shift, she decided to make a detour before going back to Lee's office. Heading up towards the CIC, she knocked on Adama's office door, and then entered once he'd acknowledged her.

"Sorry to interrupt, Sir," she told him. Adama shook his head.

"The day I'm too busy for one of my favorite pilots is the day I quit. Have a seat, Lieutenant." She did, albeit a bit apprehensively. Adama could read into it. "Are you off-duty?" he asked her.

"Yes, Sir."

"Then I suppose we can leave this rank business at the door, hmm? Since it doesn't look like you're here to talk about work."

Kara shook her head. "No – " she stopped herself right before she added the 'Sir.' "No, we're not," she told Adama. "I know Lee just got off shift as well, or at least he was supposed to be off shift."

Adama smiled. "My son, the workaholic. I'm afraid it's genetic."

Kara nodded. "I know," she returned with a grin. "But I assume that since he's been working, he hasn't had a chance to talk to you today."

He raised an eyebrow. "No. Is something wrong?"

"Actually, no, things are very right."

Adama sat back in his chair, a smile on his face. "He finally asked you, hmm?"

Kara couldn't keep her surprise hidden. "You knew?"

"Lee talked to me a few weeks ago about the idea. Congratulations."

"Are you really okay with this? I mean…" She trailed off, looking down. They both knew what she was trying to say.

Adama was quiet for a long moment. "There isn't much that's simple about this, is there?" he asked, more talking to himself than to her. "I knew you first through Lee's eyes as his friend, then Zak's as…and then, Kara, I saw you for myself. Learned who you were firsthand. And over the years, you've become the daughter I never had." She inhaled sharply; suddenly aware of how close she was to tears. "Lee's loved you for a long time, Kara. Probably longer than even he realizes. I was surprised when Zak informed me that you were seeing each other; I'd always assumed…" A ghost of a smile appeared on his features. "That doesn't matter now, does it? What's done is done, and yes, I am very much okay with this. I'm glad you've both found happiness."

"Thank you, Sir," Kara said with a smile. Adama nodded.

"Now, go drag that son of mine away from his work and both of you get some rest. I need my best pilots in top form."

"Yes, Sir." Before Kara left the office, however, she went around Adama's desk and gave him a hug. "You've been a good 'father', too," she told him. "And I know neither Lee nor I have always made it easy."

"It wouldn't be worth it if it was easy."