Disclaimer: This version of Sam Anders actually belongs to BSG fandom, and not the canon itself.
Notes: So. Every time I poke outside of my safe zone, I always come across this version of Sam Ander. According to fandom, this is the one which is canon. sarcasm And people wonder why I hate the main pairing, when it's used to denigrate any other character directly or tangentially involved.
Pairings: (nominally) Kara Thrace/Sam Anders, Kara Thrace/Lee Adama, Kara Thrace/Leoben, Sam Anders/Lee Adama.
Rating: R, for sex, porny talk and language. Het and boyslash, both.
Set/Spoilers: Any and all, though the big Season Three ones from the end aren't in here. Length: 1900

Five Ways Sam Anders Doesn't Leave Kara Thrace
by ALC Punk!

1. Galactica.

Watching Kara and Lee as she hugged him and joked with him, Sam realized he and Kara would never have that sort of connection. Pretty soon, he'd be moving down to New Caprica, to join the other civilians, and Kara... Kara would stay where she belonged, on Galactica, where she could fly with Apollo. She might have come back for Sam, but it hadn't been for love.

She'd come back because she'd made a promise. And he was noticing how she kept her promises. Sam figured he'd stayed alive because he'd wanted to live.

Not for her. Because if it'd been for her, he was screwed, frakked, fileted and dumb as a box of rocks. All because there was a short man who looked at Kara like she was the world to him.

"Hey, Sammy," she greeted him, having shoved Lee off to some thing he had to do. Sam had heard a rumor Lee was in charge of the Pegasus, but he hadn't really ever seen evidence of that, given how much the man hung out on the flight deck of Galactica.

"Kara--" he patted her arm, "Look, it's been fun. But I get the feeling I'm just helping you mark time until something better comes along."

"Uh--"

"For instance, that Adama guy." Sam didn't point, that would be rude. "You love him, don't you." He'd seen the way they seemed to be partners, the way they came alive when the other was in the room.

"Sam..."

"I've seen the way you look at each other," he said, his tone quiet. "Look, I didn't know I was walking into something. And you're hot and a nice kid, but... I don't date women with attachments."

"It's not that easy, Sam," she said, her expression sad as she glanced over at Lee. "Lee doesn't--"

"He does." Standing up, Sam shrugged, "Look. Don't screw it up, ok? You deserve to be happy, Kara." He turned and headed for the door. He could find the Chief, or someone, and get a berth on the next shuttle down. And he could pretend that he didn't want her to run after him and tell him he was seeing things.

Maybe Barolay would have some good hooch.

--

2. New Caprica.

"Sam, Sam, Sammy--"

He woke to her cheerful voice, sounding breathless and oddly excited, and blinked blearily. "Yeah? Kara, you're way too frakkin' bright in the morning."

She laughed, bending down to kiss his lips, a procedure that made his head pound, even though it felt kinda nice. "Idiot," she murmured, pulling back. Then she paused, eyes wary as she said, "So, um, I was thinking..."

"You do that, huh?" He teased, sitting up and rubbing his forehead. Gods, she was hot and gorgeous. Looking her over, he wondered why she looked freshly-scrubbed.

Shoving him, she shook her head. Her voice came out in a rushed squeak, like she had to get out what she wanted to say before she could stop herself. "Sam--let's get married." She was smiling, almost like she wasn't sure what he'd say.

Groaning, Sam rubbed his face, "Look, Kara. You're hot and all, but isn't that a little permanent? We might die tomorrow, y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah." she said, though she didn't agree, her eyes sad and hurt.

"Gods--look, I'm sorry. I thought you knew this was just fun? You're great, Kara. Hot, gorgeous, feisty," he let his eyes wander, then realized maybe he was being a little rude. "But, ah, I'm not really into settling down."

"Ok. Just sex," her voice sounded like she was trying not to choke. "I got it. Right."

Grinning, glad she seemed to be over it, he reached out to pat her shoulder and she flinched. He paused. "I kinda ruined the mood, huh?"

"Yeah. You did. Look," Kara stood and stared down at him, eyes completely unreadable. "It's been fun, Sam. Try not to piss off too many people with your stupid stories, ok?" Then she turned and walked off.

Feeling cheerful, Sam called after her, "Frak you later, maybe!"

--

3. New Caprica redux.

He'd been fooling himself to believe she might actually love him.

But she'd been so happy to see him, he'd thought maybe he was wrong. Maybe all of those doubts he'd had while she was gone weren't real. Maybe the way she'd frakked around him was just some issue she could work through.

And then she'd run, run back to the Cylon. And Sam had stopped because there were voices and he didn't want to startle either of them. His rifle was raised, ready for any moment where he could get in a clear shot.

"I love you." There was that catch in her voice, the one that said she was telling the truth.

They weren't words she'd ever said to him, but she'd just said them to a Cylon.

His rifle dropped and he stared at the door.

"Say it again."

"I love you."

She'd never really loved him, and never would. He'd just been convenient. Someone to frak when things were bleak. Sam turned and started walking away, feeling numb.

Reaching the junction, he heard movement behind him and made a decision. He turned, heading deeper into the complex. Maybe there were others they'd missed. Maybe there were more he could save. Not that it mattered. There really was no point in going back to face the indifference in Kara's eyes.

At least she wasn't dead.

--

4. New Caprica. The other side of the coin.

Sam thinks maybe this whole thing started the night he heard Kara shout her love for Lee Adama to the hills. Of course, that next morning, she married him. It'd been confusing, but then, Sam figured he was convenient and undemanding. And he couldn't deny that Kara was hot and attractive. Sex with her was as good a reason as any to marry.

Besides, she found him convenient, he found her convenient. Half the time, she didn't come home at night. It made it simple to slip down to the bar that'd started in the lower section of the encampment. Even easier, once there, he could find any partner he wanted.

Sometimes, with his mouth wrapped around another man's cock, he wonders if Kara would understand. But then he remembers her proposing, smelling of Lee Adama and sex, and figures she would.

It's Kara's fault he starts seeking Lee the married man out. He wants to understand what she saw in the man, also, he's attractive, and Sam finds he likes the other man. After the first few times where they meet randomly, they start actually making a date of it. Lee tells him his schedule, so Sam can simply meet him in the bar.

The first time they kiss is more of a surprise to Lee than Sam.

Sam doesn't see Lee for nearly a month, after that, and he's got a good idea it's because Lee is confused and worried or possibly, doesn't remember they were both drunk.

The third time they kiss, only Sam's drunk, and he presses Lee against the side of the makeshift stall, hand working inside his pants until Lee comes with a groan and a curse, his mouth hot on Sam's neck.

Lee stops pretending, after that. He and Sam meet even more frequently, usually getting drunk, first, as they talk about everything and nothing. Sam rarely bothers remembering what they've talked about come morning, and he never wakes with Lee's skin next to his.

He thinks they both like it that way.

It's inevitable that Kara catches them, and Sam would stop like Lee wants him too, but his mouth is full and he knows it won't take long, and Lee is making that undercurrent of sound that goes right to Sam's groin.

Besides, Kara's speechlessness is priceless.

He swallows when Lee is finished and leans back on his heels, looking up at her. "Should I leave so you two can talk?"

"No--Sam, what the frak is going on?"

Getting to his feet, he shrugs, "I figured, what's good for you is good for me, y'know?"

"No, I don't know," she denies, but there's something in her eyes, some terrible pain that says she might. Then her face closes, the defenses coming up. "Talk."

"I'm convenient, remember? And you don't love me?" he waves a hand, "Any of this sounding familiar?"

"Not really, no." She swallows and looks at Lee, "And Lee?"

"He's nice."

And he was. Sadly, Sam probably isn't going to get to frak him anymore. Or Kara. Sam figures he'll live. His marriage was a sham, anyway.

When the Cylons arrive, he gets spotted by a Three. She has him shot.

--

5. Galactica redux

He kept pushing. Sam figured he should, because he'd once read that people needed to talk about the bad things that happened to them. So he pushed Kara, poked and prodded at her, told her he wouldn't have sex with her if she didn't tell him things.

So she told him things.

Horrible things that made him wonder just what the frak he'd married. Seriously, if he'd had any idea she was this broken, he would have run the other way. And now he was stuck with her.

Gods. He wasn't sure what the frak he was going to do, because having to see her was kind of, well, annoying. Now she was talking about her captivity, or her mother, or her father, and he was just... bored. Really you'd think she was the center of the universe or something!

Hell. Sam wasn't even sure why he kept coming back. Maybe it was the sex. She was really hot in the sack, and it wasn't like there were a lot of women who'd frak him on a moment's notice.

Getting her to admit maybe she loved Lee was a master-stroke, and finding that Lampkin guy was perfect.

Now all he had to do was make her sign the divorce papers, and he'd be free--and so would she. It would totally be what she wanted, anyway. There was no way she could really love a guy like him. Not when she was so very twisted up and broken.

He got her drunk, joked about poetry, and she signed on the dotted line.

They didn't need witnesses.

-f-