Author's Note: There are times when I feel that the friendship between Lee and Kara is not as smooth as it could be. Kara does not always seem to understand what Lee is doing and why, and he does not always explain it. This is a short story I wrote about that matter.

Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Battlestar Galactica, and I merely take them out to play with for my own amusement, I make no profit and I promise that no harm shall come to them that can not be repaired by a good mechanic, some duct tape and a welding rig.

Walking Away

Chapter 1: I Feel Sick

"You know what, you're just as big as fraking idiot as all the others are," Kara snapped angrily.

"If you say so," Lee nodded his head in her direction.

"I mean it you bastard," she snarled. "You come here acting like a damn buddy to me, and then all of a sudden you're pulling rank on me instead. Well, make up your fraking mind will you. Are you gonna be a buddy or are you going to be an officer. Make up your fraking mind Lee."

"I am your officer Kara," he told her tiredly. "That does not mean I can not be your friend as well."

"You are some piece of work Lee, do you know that?" She spun around and grabbed a fistful of his jacket. "I am disgusted with you!"

"You are out of line," Less stated. Even now he did not appear angry, he was calm, too calm. She let go off him, no, she shoved him away from herself with enough force that he stumbled. She hated the fact that he would not get angry, he was pathetic if he thought it made him a better person. All that stoic pride he carried around, all that thinking that he was better than her, it was disgusting.

"Calm yourself down, then report to me in two hours," he told her, and then he turned and walked away. He did nothing else, did not say another word. He simply turned around and walked away.

Crying out with rage she spun around and kicked an empty container as hard as she could. It went flying over the hangar floor and crashed against a wall. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that she was angry, furious. Everyone else simply stayed out of her way as much as they could.

Two hours later she was not quite as mad, almost, but not quite as mad. She also had to report to him and the thought of that served to fuel her anger again. It was so typical of Lee to do something like that. He always tried so hard to be so nice to everyone, but sometimes it was not what she wanted. She wanted to be angry, to rage and it was damn hard to do that with someone who was just standing there taking it.

She had no choice though, she had been ordered to report to a superior officer and she had no choice in the matter. She was also late, but that was his fault. She would have reported to him on time, if she had been able to find him, but he was nowhere around. He was supposed to be on duty, so why could she not find him? If he was keeping out of sight simply to make sure that she would be late so he could punish her, then she would make sure he regretted it. She would make sure he regretted it very much.

Half an hour later when she still had not been able to track him down she was starting to wonder what was going on. It was not like Lee to do something like that.

It took another ten minutes before she found him. Someone reported they had seen him going to the head, and even if it was near an hour since, it was the best clue she had so she went there. She had not really expected him to still be there, but he was. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and sweat was pouring down his body as he sucked in air in ragged breaths.

"Lee!" she cried out with surprise and saw him flinch. He turned his head up to her and she saw how pale he was even though he had a slightly greenish tint to his face. He certainly did not look well. When she came closer he raised a shaking hand, then pressed it to the deck as if he was trying to push himself up. He didn't really manage very far before he sank back down again.

"What's the matter Lee? What's wrong?" she demanded.

"Just a little nauseated," he swallowed. "Shouldn't have eaten that I guess."

"What are you talking about Lee?" she pushed.

"The leftover," he swallowed again.

"What leftover now, you are not making any sense at all Lee," Kara warned him.

"Food," he mumbled. "Ate some."

"Are you saying you ate some bad food?" she asked, wanting to be sure that she understood him correctly.

Lee did not answer, he dropped his head back to rest against the bulk head with a dull thud.

"Tell me now Lee, did you eat something that made you sick?" Kara pushed. "Have you been sick?"

"No, I'm here, because I feel, just great," he swallowed repeatedly between the words.

"Okay, you know what, you are going to take a walk with me," she told him as she grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet.

"Where?" he wanted to know.

"To sick bay," she bit back a smirk knowing how much he would hate that. Oh, he truly hated sick bay. Almost more so than she did, then again maybe there was a reason for it. Sometimes she thought it truly was harder on him.

"No," he pulled away and shook his head, leaning his back against the bulk head.

"I'm serious Lee, you are obviously not well, and whether it is something you ate or something else, if you have been in here wrenching your guts outside in, you need to go there and get checked out."

"No," he shook his head again then waved his hand in the air in front of his face. "Wait,"

"Wait for what?" she demanded. Then she saw the way he swallowed and how his hand went to his belly, then up to his mouth. "Ahh, I think I know," she decided as she pulled him in the right direction.

Apparently when he had been wrenching his guts inside out he had rendered it completely empty. Something that his body had yet to understand as it still sought to turn inside out.

"Oh, that's not good," she frowned. "Have you been attending parties without me?"

Instead of answer he shook his head, clutching at his belly.

"You know, it kinda looks like a bad hangover," she pointed out. "Are you sure that it was something you ate and not something you drank?"

"I hate you," he groaned as he sank down to the floor, shaky.

"Yeah, I know," she nodded as she pulled him back to his feet. "You'll hate me even more for this but we are going to sick bay, and that right now."

"No, not with you," he shook his head.

"What the hell do you mean not with me?" she frowned.

"Not my buddy," he mumbled. "Not going with you."

"What the frak are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Not my buddy, I can go myself," he declared, pushing himself to his feet.

"Lee, you can hardly stand, and you are not fooling me," she sighed. "What the hell are you griping about not being my buddy?"

"I can't be, can I?" he mumbled. "Can't be buddy and officer."

"Ah, for fraks sake Lee, don't be so damn childish," she spat. "I am still your friend."

"Walk away," he waved his hand in the air again. "Please walk away."

"I will, and you're going with me," she stated firmly. He hardly offered any resistance as she took his arm and slung it over her shoulders to support him. That meant he really was not doing very well. He was very good at not showing any weakness. She could tell that he was mad about their earlier conversation but she could not understand why he was that upset about it. It was not like they had never argued before. She was not giving up on her attitude with him, and he would try to make her. In the end, it always went back to normal the way it always did.

Now she pulled him along in the direction of life station, not bothering to even listen to his objections. "You ought to be grateful that I am doing this for you. Someone has to haul your sorry ass over there, and it don't seem like anyone else is going to do it."

"Leave me," he demanded weakly. "Leave me!" he repeated louder.

"What is the matter with you?" she frowned as she pulled him along. "And this ain't just you giving me some fraking crap about having eaten bad food. That's why you're heaving your guts out, not why you're acting like a complete idiot."

"I'm not the idiot," he dropped his head.

"Yes you are, you're the fraking idiot who won't go to life station when you are sick," Kara grinned.

"I fraking, hate, you," he spat trying to pull away.

Turning around to face him she let go off him and he crumbled to the floor.

"You know what Lee, I just might do that," she told him angrily. "Do you want me to do that, walk away?"

"Yes," he nodded as he tried to push himself back to his feet. His pride would not tolerate being down on the floor in a corridor where anyone might be able to see him.

"Oh for hells sake Lee," she laughed as she pulled him back to his feet. "You are some piece of work you know." She was laughing because he was so pitiful when he did that. Tried to be the tough guy that did not need any help. It made him so angry when she was stronger than him and he needed her. It always made him angry to find out that he was the weak one and she the strong one.

She pulled him inside the life station and grinned as Cottle came over to them.

"What seems to be the problem here?" he wanted to know.

"Lee's got himself into a mess again," Kara grinned. "He's been puking his guts out."

"Kara!" he pulled away from her again. It might be true, but there was no reason for her to talk that way. It was humiliating to be forced to listen to it.

"Very well, lets take a look at you," Cottle decided as he took the cigarette out of his mouth. "Come here Captain Adama."

He led him to an examination table and helped him to sit up. "Now, tell me what happened?"

"Ate something," he mumbled. "Must have been spoilt."

"You mean to tell me you were eating rotten food and did not even notice?" he frowned.

"If I had, do you really, think I would, have eaten it?" he wanted to know.

"Probably not, do you have anything left in you anymore?" he asked and he shook his head.

"Very well, you may leave," he told Kara. "I will take care of the patient."

"See you later Lee," Kara grinned as she left and Cottle turned to Lee again. A couple of hours later the young Captain was resting more or less comfortable in a bed. He still felt nauseated and dizzy, and his abdomen was a pit of pain. Whenever he moved it felt as if he had a belly full of glass that was cutting his internal organs to pieces. It wasn't the food either, apparently there was nothing wrong with the food he had eaten at all. It was the pills he had taken earlier for the headache. A headache that had occurred when he tried to reason with Tigh to let Kara of the hook. Two days earlier she had been drunk and rowdy in the pilots lounge and had mouthed of to Tigh who wanted her head on a silver plate. It had taken three hours of arguing before he agreed to let Lee handle it and his head had been throbbing so bad he could not function. He was still on duty and could not go lie down so he had asked Kat if she had any pain relievers. She had been more than willing to give him a couple and a couple of hours later his stomach had begun to trouble him. He had been certain it was something he had eaten but instead it was the pain killers.

Oh, he knew perfectly well that he was allergic to a large variety of medications. It was hard to miss that when there was always that same question about what alternative they could use whenever you got sick. It had been that way most of his life, the first choice always seemed to be discarded and they would discuss if there was anything else they could use that would have the same effect on the disease without killing him in the process.

Pain killers of the mild kind used for headaches was normally okay and so he had not thought about it. It was just that the kind she had given him was a more potent form given for migraines and it contained a small amount of a substance he was allergic to. The fact she had given him a slightly stronger dose had not helped the matters.

Cottle had not been impressed with him. He had told him quite frankly that he had thought he was smart enough to remember about the allergies and that he should have known better. It was never an enjoyable experience to listen to the doctor chew you out. In the end, he had gotten mad enough to yell back at him, and that was when his father had entered, most unhappy that his son had landed himself in sick bay due to what he referred to as his own stupidity.

Lee had not been much of a mind to discuss it and had tried to say it was hardly his fault that he didn't know that substance would be in the pill. He had not known it was that strong, all it had earned him was a lecture that he should have known better than to ask someone else for medication when he knew how important it was that he knew it was safe. He rather regretted getting sharp with his father but he had not quite been able to control himself.

Cottle had told him that as soon as he was able to get up and walk out of there he was free to go, but he was off duty for a couple of days until his body had recovered fully. It would most likely be that long before he could keep food down properly and before the pain eased up to let him function properly again. You could not fly a viper if you doubled over in pain whenever you moved.

So now he was alone and waited for it to ease up enough that he could get up. Whenever he tried to sit up and get out of bed he fell back again as the pain caused his body to cramp. The first time he tried to stand he fell down to the floor and Cottle had come over to help him up again, laughing at him more or less.

It was humiliating and after another attack where his stomach tried to rid itself of his long since expelled meal he settled down on the bed again. Since it was not life threatening and since he would most likely be intolerant to anything they might give him for it they had decided to simply let it run it's course until the drugs were all out of his system and he was back on his feet again.

TBC

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