Disclaimer: I do not own BSG, or any of its characters, yet they live on in my heart. So Say We All!
A large crowd had gathered to watch the admiral's Viper, the very last to leave the Galactica, as it touched down upon the planet's virgin surface.
Despite the fact that he'd been out of the cockpit for a couple of decades now, Admiral Adama was still able to stick the landing on his first try. And on a makeshift runway no less!
Watching from his vantage point on a small grassy rise, Lee Adama sighed. Try as he might've, he was never the pilot that his father was. Thanks to a quick mind and the best flight education that the Colonies had to offer, Lee certainly had the skills and plenty of commendations to prove it, but he never had the love.
"Cheer up, Apollo," a familiar female voice stated. "You're more like him than you think."
Lee hoped the statement was a complement.
Joining him, Kara Thrace nursed what appeared to be one of the bottles of vintage Leonis champagne that had been held in reserve for such a momentous day as the one before them.
"So why aren't you down there with the others?" she asked before belching loudly from the bubbly, and offering the bottle to him.
"Dad deserves this victory lap, with his friends and crew. It has to be hard enough for him, leaving his ship."
"Yeah."
Taking a long swig from the decorated bottle, Lee figured that it must have been pretty hard for Kara to leave the Galactica as well. It had been the closest thing she'd known to home and stability in her short and troubled life. Also, having to say a final goodbye to Sam, her husband, had to have only twisted the knife deeper.
Lee wanted ask how she was doing, but chose not to. Someday...
"At least he has her," Kara noted quietly of the admiral. "For the time being."
The statement caught Lee off-guard, causing him to quirk one of his brows in question. To which Kara only snorted.
"Don't tell me you think he and Madam Airlock are still just really, really good friends. Frak, Apollo- I guess you really are a thick-headed Tauran, after all!"
She'd called him a lot of things over the years, but never that.
Lee had never once, ever before, been labeled for his heritage. Even with the last name Adama. Younger brother, Zak, however, having drawn his looks from their father's genetic pool, had been tagged as a lowly Dirt-Eater in middle school. That was, until Lee had beaten up the snot-nosed little jerk who bullied his sibling, quite publicly, during lunch in the packed school cafeteria. After that, Zak was practically treated like Virgon royalty.
"Hey!" Lee smarted back. "Watch what you say, Starbuck. You... whatever ethnicity you are!"
Kara burst into laughter. "Sorry. What can I say? I'm runnin' low on insults these days. And so are you, it seems."
Lee grinned. Actually, Kara's taunt made him proud.
From their vantage point, they watched as the elder Adama waded through the applauding masses. The Tighs were the first to greet him upon his climbing down from the Viper. Then came the Agathons, Galen Tyrol, and Louis Hoshi. Others clapped him on the back, congratulating him and wishing him a happy and well earned retirement.
Bill Adama gamely smiled and thanked them all. But he only had eyes for one figure in particular.
Laura Roslin.
The frail woman was standing with Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza, of all people. The reformed playboy held her upright with a steady arm, while his son, Nicky, careened his chubby little toddler body around the nearby area like a speeding Viper.
Adama regarded the younger man warmly, and then without shame, passionately embraced Roslin.
The sight of the Fleet Parents, together like that, was just too much for the people. Cheers and applause erupted loudly, followed by a few cat-calls, as the flight-suited warrior kissed the lady that would forever be president in their hearts.
Eventually, the crowd dispersed respectfully, leaving the couple to share in the moment together.
"He loves her. And she loves him. More than anything."
"You think?"
"Yep."
Lee watched as his father tenderly guided Roslin away from the clearing, and up a gentle slope surrounded by shady trees. There, a prearranged canopy awaited the pair, along with their duffles, provisions, and a soft blanket or two. Only after having seen to settling the woman as comfortable as possible, did the man proceed to change into a military-issue green BDU, and lounge beside her.
"It's been going on since New Caprica," Kara explained. "Maybe even before that, if the betting lines are true. But I saw what I saw on that planet, and the Old Man and the Teacher were going at it. Big time. No worries about duty or rank. Roslin had your dad so whipped, it was adorable."
"I find it hard to imagine William Adama ever being labeled whipped, or adorable for that matter."
Kara beamed, a smile from ear to ear.
"Roslin was just as bad. She'd never admit it, but I know she counted the days between his shore leaves. That woman could run faster than anyone I've ever known, down to the shipyard to meet his Raptor. I doubt if she ever wore panties while he was on-world."
Lee shut his eyes tightly at the mental picture. "Gods, Starbuck! Please, for the love of-"
Again, she laughed, clearly enjoying the playful torment of the man beside her.
"I think they tried to hide it after the Second Exodus, when she became president again. Sneaking around Galactica, and even on Colonial One. But then her cancer came back, and I suppose they just didn't care who knew after that."
Saying nothing, Lee stared off at the horizon and took another swig of champagne before passing the bottle back to Kara.
"Surely you saw it back during the mutiny."
When the two kissed in the abandoned storage airlock? As though their very lives depended on it? Yeah, Lee had seen it then, and on other occasions, too. He just didn't want to admit it.
Separately, Roslin and his father were both highly complicated individuals. Each were fraught with so much emotional weight upon their shoulders that it would make even the mighty Atlas shudder. Such knowledge was what made Lee apprehensive about their union from day one.
And yet, somehow, the two had found a way to slay the other's demons- like warm sunshine to an early-morning fog. Their love was strong and steady and good. Forever.
Everything he'd hoped for with his late wife, Dee.
Everything he dreamed of with Kara.
"About a year ago, he told me he couldn't live without her," Lee stated. "Do you think that he will?"
Kara shrugged. "My guess is, he'll try- for as long as he can. For her."
Lee nodded. He knew his father. Honorable, all the way to the very end.
"Would you? Live for me- if we were in their position?"
The blonde smiled wistfully, and rubbed her former lover's arm. "I won't have to."
The former pilot was about to ask what she meant by such a statement, when off in the distance, a distinctive POP could be heard upon the breeze.
Looking over to the next rise, Lee and Kara saw the previously mentioned couple, in a scene quite similar to their own.
The admiral had just opened an icy bottle of champagne, and, as some of its contents spilled over his large hands, he offered it to his lady for a taste of well-deserved victory. Roslin, though clearly fading, was doing her best to hang on and enjoy the moment. She even appeared to giggle, while sampling the wine- and a tender kiss from Adama.
"Should Laura be doing that?" Lee asked, sputtering a bit. "As weak as she is?"
"What- drinking, or making out with your dad?"
"Um, both."
Kara rolled her eyes and polished off the rest of their own champagne.
"Come on, Apollo. If we can see them, then they might be able to see us." Standing, she dragged Lee to his feet. "Mommy and Daddy deserve their privacy. We'll leave 'em to stare at that herd of animals down there on the savannah, or each other... whatever makes them happy. You and I'll go see if we can find some more of these bottles. That is, before Ellen Tigh gets her manicured claws on them!"
Dutifully, Lee closed his gaping mouth and followed orders.
Perhaps he was more like William Adama than he had previously thought.
Laura Roslin and Kara Thrace. If the stories woven by Pythia and Leoben were true- and who was to say they were not, the two women were mother and daughter to a prophesied destiny that had led humanity to the end of the line. And to their salvation in a new Eden.
Both were strongly independent, and as flawed as they were perfect. It was near to impossible to imagine life without them.
Lee understood this.
He and his father had no choice but to love the women that the Fates had chosen for them. It wasn't always an easy task, but one that was worth every excruciatingly wonderful moment.
Even if in the end, it meant a broken heart.
For better or worse, it was good to be a whipped man.
#END#
Author's Note:
This is not my first fan-fic that I've written for BSG, but it is the first one that I've posted here on . I wrote the story for my mother, who loved Lee & Kara. My mom passed away suddenly two years ago, and today (5/15) is her birth date. So this is for her. I hope everyone likes it.