A/N: First time writing "M." Let me know if I should try again.
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Her body was warm. Warm and soft. His fingertips felt the tiny goose bumps that sprang up under his touch. His lips tasted the salt that ran down her face. And as he pulled back to look into her eyes, he saw life.
She was alive.
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How he managed to get his bird on the deck, Lee never knew. He could barely remember anything that happened after he saw Kara's face flying next to him, heard her voice in his comm.
The four Cylon baseships never launched their Raiders. Galactica's Vipers held a line, waiting. Kara stayed by his side the entire time, but never openly communicated with Galactica. Lee didn't tell them either.
Because she wasn't real. She couldn't be. He'd watched her Viper shatter into tiny pieces. He was seeing things. She wasn't real.
For twenty-two minutes the Vipers held formation, waiting for an attack that never came. Then he heard Dee's voice rattling in his helmet, calling everyone home. Around him ships disappeared, jumping to some new, unknown location.
Kara stayed by his side the entire time.
It was only after they had landed, after Galactica had jumped, after Lee had popped the canopy and removed his helmet, that he dared look at her again.
She smiled at him nervously.
And then she removed her own helmet, popped her own canopy, and climbed out of her Viper. On her way down she handed the helmet to a shocked deckhand.
And that was when Lee started to believe. Believe she might really be alive. Believe she'd come back. Believe in miracles.
Because that deckhand was definitely holding a helmet.
Others began to react to her arrival as well. Pilots approached cautiously but maintained their distance. Crew members busied themselves with her bird in order to avoid her. But they all definitely saw her.
She was alive.
Kara stood stock still and silent in the middle of the Hanger Bay, looking unsure and confused herself. Lee knew it was only a matter of time before word reached CIC that the lost daughter had returned. Soon marines would put her in shackles, escort her to the brig. Submit her to questioning.
He had a limited amount of time.
Slowly, as if walking through water, Lee willed himself to her. He needed to touch her, to really touch, to make this real. But when he got there he couldn't make the last step. He could only stare.
Kara made it for him. Gently, she reached out and took his hand in hers. "It's ok Lee. I'm here." Her voice was tight with tears.
That broke him. Lee fell to his knees in front of her, grabbing her hips and burying his head just under her breasts. Kara wrapped one arm around his shoulders, while the other ran itself through his sweaty hair. She whispered soft assurances.
Minutes later- but could it only have been minutes, when time seemed to have stopped altogether?- the marines arrived. His father was right behind them, flanked by Tigh and Helo.
There was a flurry of motion. Lee felt himself being torn from her. Marines cocked their rifles while others put her hands in chains.
It was the neck collar- the one reserved from Cylons- that brought Lee to act. Turning, he elbowed the marine holding him in the face and tried to get to Kara.
A big man in dress blues stopped him, held him back with shaking arms. "They have to do this Apollo. Don't make it harder."
"It's ok Lee," she whispered as the collar clicked shut.
"I'm going with her." Was that his voice? How was it not shaking? His entire being felt like gelatin.
"No, you're not," the Admiral said. "She has to be questioned, tested."
"I said I'm going…"
"You are no longer a member of this crew." It was meant to be harsh, but there was an undercurrent of regret there too.
"Let's go," said Tigh gruffly.
Upon hearing his voice, Kara turned her eyes away from Lee's for the first time. She and Tigh stared intently at each other. "So you know."
This cryptic sentence caused Tigh to take a step back before quickly recovering. "Yes."
"All of you?"
"Four. Are you…?"
"No." She said it almost sadly. Tigh nodded, as if he was hoping for a different answer.
"Let's move," he said again. The marines led her out of the Hanger Bay. Again Lee tried to follow, and again Helo held him back.
"Hey. Hey! Look at me Apollo." Lee did. "I'll watch out for her ok? Go to your quarters and wait. That's all you can do now, you hear?"
Lee nodded slowly. "If anything happens to her Karl…"
"I know Lee, I know. And I won't let that happen."
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He waited for hours. Showering seemed to help his nerves, but only for a bit.
He took three more.
The Fleet jumped twice more.
And still he waited.
After his last shower he'd dressed himself back into his trial wear- his slacks and button-down white shirt. His father was right, he was no longer a part of this crew. It seemed wrong to wear those clothes.
He must have fallen asleep at some point. The last thing he remembered was sitting at his desk to read an old book of his grandfather's. Then there was a banging on the hatch and some drool on the page discussing cross-examinations of a hostile witness.
Helo was waiting outside. "It's ok. She's been cleared. They told me to take her to some empty quarters but…" He moved aside, revealing Kara, dressed in her old sweats and zippered sweatshirt.
"Thank you," Lee managed to say.
"Don't thank him, thank me. I'm the one who wanted to come here," Kara retorted.
The two men smiled. Helo said goodnight as Kara entered after Lee.
Lee locked the hatch and stared at her. Neither moved.
"So," he said.
"So," she echoed back. She stepped to him, running her hand along the front of his shirt. "I like this look," she whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. It's how you used to dress…before."
He embraced her, squeezing her to him. He would have been scared that he was hurting her had she not clung to him just as tightly. He felt tears in his eyes but didn't care, because he felt his own shirt becoming moist under her eyes.
"I thought I'd lost you forever," he whispered into her hair.
"I know," she breathed. "I know. I had to go, but the whole time, I kept thinking…If I didn't make it back….If I didn't find you again…"
He silenced her with a gentle kiss and rested his forehead to hers. "When your Viper exploded…"
"It exploded?" she asked, pulling back in surprise.
"Yeah, what did you think happened?"
"I don't know. There was a lot of light, and then I was sucked into something. And then I was at Earth. But I was always in the Viper."
"You don't know what happened?"
She shook her head. "I get flashes, pieces. The only thing I know for sure is the way to Earth. Everything else gets kind of….fuzzy." She looked him in the eye. "I'm not a Cylon Lee."
"I know you aren't."
"But I'm not…I don't know what I am. I know I'm human. But I'm something else too." She paused for a moment. "Does that matter to you?"
"No," Lee whispered. "I don't frakking care what you are, as long as you're alive."
She kissed him this time, none to gently. This kiss was about want, need, passion. He found his body reacting to hers as their tongues caressed each other. He ran his hand under her sweatshirt and found bare flesh. He pulled her even closer.
Her own hands were busy working the buttons of his shirt. Once she had enough undone, she slid them over his skin, relishing the way his chest and ab muscles tensed under her touch.
After a few minutes she pulled back, a soft blush on her cheeks. "I should go."
"Don't you frakking think about it," he softly growled against her neck.
"Lee, if I stay…"
"I know perfectly well where this is headed."
"If I stay tonight…I can't do a one night thing with you Lee. I won't be able to leave you."
"Good. Because I wasn't about to let you." He continued to kiss her neck.
Again she pulled back and forced him to meet her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Kara." He cupped her face. "Quit over thinking this and let me make love to you."
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The bed was soft and inviting, and Kara felt herself relax for the first time since returning home. Lee settled over her, enveloping her in warmth and security. They kissed slowly, deeply, tasting each other. She ran her hands lovingly down his bare back. Somewhere between the hatch and the bed they're managed to divest each other of their tops. Kara pulled Lee closer, shivering as her breasts met his chest.
Feeling the connection drove Lee to seek out another. Somehow he pulled his lips away from Kara's, her whimper turning into a moan as he suckled her pulse point. Cupping her breast, he rolled the nipple until it stood alert, all the while kissing and nipping her neck. Kara's breath hitched under his ministrations. "Lee…"
Slowly Lee trailed kisses down to the base of her neck and through the valley of her breasts. Kara wiggled underneath him. Lee gave her what she wanted, flicking his tongue over the hardened nipple once, twice, before taking it all in his mouth.
She arched beneath him, pulling his head down further. "Gods..." she gasped, causing Lee to smile before turning his attention to her other breast.
The switch allowed Kara to regain some of her senses. Trailing her hands down his back, she slid them under his pants, grabbing his ass. From there she moved her hands forward, tackling the button and zipper of his pants. Once undone, she pushed aside the material to take his hardened member in her hand.
Now it was Lee's turn to gasp. "You're not playing fair," he groaned.
She gave him an evil grin. "Says who?"
She gasped as he suddenly pressed his hand between her thighs. "Says me."
She wanted to show a bit more restraint, but her hips had other plans as they wantonly rolled against his hand. Before she could establish a true rhythm, though, his hand was gone, moving up to the waistband of her sweats. Arching up, she helped Lee remove both the pants and underwear, leaving her completely bare.
Kara smiled to herself at Lee's reaction to seeing her stretched out and naked underneath him. She'd seen something like it long before, lit by the New Caprican moon. This time it was different though. The want was still there, as was the desire. But there was something else too, something she couldn't quite put into words. Relief, perhaps, with some disbelief. It hit her once again just how much her "death" had truly affected Lee.
She pulled him down to kiss him. There was an undercurrent of passion, but that wasn't the goal. Instead, she kept it soft, sweet, and full of love and promise. When Lee responded in kind, Kara felt the tears return.
Her body was warm. Warm and soft. His fingertips felt the tiny goose bumps that sprang up under his touch. His lips tasted the salt that ran down her face. And as he pulled back to look into her eyes, he saw life.
She was alive.
"Don't ever do that to me again." He tried to joke, but the words stuck in his throat.
She nodded. "You're stuck with me now, Apollo." The teasing quality of her voice was overpowered by her own emotions. She opened her mouth to try again, but the words that came out were far from joking.
They were absolute truth.
"I love you."
Lee pressed a kiss to her forehead before looking into her hazel eyes. "I love you too."
"I don't want to frak this up anymore."
"We won't. I won't let us." He kissed her deeply, driving away any and all doubts from their minds. He shifted over her, his hardness rolling against her wet center. Even through his pants and boxers the sensation was enough to drive him crazy.
Kara was feeling the same way. "Lee."
With that one simple word, Lee stood and quickly removed his clothing. When he settled back over her, Kara spread her legs.
He kissed her once. "Welcome home, Kara."
And then he was in her. And it was even better than he remembered.
There would be time, later, for acrobatics. For taking her hard and fast on every surface in his quarters. For watching her ride him swift and sure.
But tonight…Tonight, he was going to take her slowly.
The rhythm they found was anything but frantic. It could almost have been called leisurely had it not been for the current of passion emanating out of them. Hips met hips in a sensual dance, as each thrust got them just a little bit higher than the last. Through it all, they never stopped kissing and tasting each other- lips, cheeks, jaws, necks. They were wrapped up in each other; the outside universe no longer existed.
Kara felt it first- the twinge, the extra shock wave that ran through her body after one thrust hit that one spot exactly right. Lee heard her gasp and repeated the motion, causing her to wrap arms and legs around his body. "There," she whispered.
He did it again, and her hold on him tightened even more. "Please. I'm close…"
Her voice, raspy in his ear, caused his hips to buck hard against her. The slow pace was forsaken by one that was faster, stronger, driving them both towards the long fall they had built.
"Oh Gods Lee….Now…There….Gods." Kara arched under him, drawing him in even deeper, as her muscles clenched hard around his dick. The sensation, the tightness, made Lee thrust into even harder. Kara moaned under him as her orgasm lengthened and intensified.
Lee loved watching her come and tried to prolong for as much time as possible. But his own orgasm was fast approaching, and he wasn't sure he could hold it off any longer.
As if sensing this, Kara pressed her lips to his ear. In a voice dripping with desire, she whispered, "Fill me, Lee. Come inside me."
"Yes!" he gasped, thrusting hard once, twice, three times, releasing himself deep inside her just as the last remnants of her orgasm faded.
It took them a moment to regain their senses. They stayed, connected, forehead to forehead. After a few minutes Lee lay a kiss on her lips before slowly pulling out and dropping by her side.
"Maybe I should leave more often, if that's the kind of homecoming I get," she joked, her voice finally finding itself again.
"Don't you even joke about it," Lee said through a grin.
All the fear, all the disbelief, had faded from both of them, leaving only joy.
Kara rolled to her side, placing her head on Lee's chest. It fit perfectly into the little nook by his shoulder. Wrapping her in his arms, Lee lightly ran his fingers over her back.
"Now what?" he asked.
Kara yawned. "Tomorrow I start working with Gaeta on plotting a course to Earth. And you get your father to reinstate you."
"Oh really?"
"There's no Starbuck without Apollo, Lee."
"There's not much of a Lee without Kara."
She snuggled in closer. "That's not going to happen again."
"Good. Because I meant what I said before. I'm not letting you leave me again." He kissed the top of her head.
"We should get some sleep. Both have big days tomorrow."
After a few moments he heard her breathing even out. Lee couldn't fall asleep, not just yet. He was enjoying the feeling of her in his arms much too much. He continued rubbing her back, marveling at the softness of her skin.
"Lee?" she muttered. "Go to sleep."
"Not tired."
"Try."
Lee closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. She was right; he felt himself slipping almost immediately. "I love you," he whispered before fading out completely.
"I love you too." Then, in a much more coherent voice: "I really am back Lee. I'll be here when you wake up."
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When he woke up the next morning, Kara was still asleep in his arms.
Just like she would be every morning after that, for the next sixty-two years.