Summery: When Kara met Zak. Pre Miniseries.

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and associated characters are copyright to Vivendi Universal, Sci-Fi Channel, and Sky One. This work is not for profit and is not intended to infringe upon said copyright.

Author's Note: Kara and Zak's first meeting is unabashedly appropriated from Grey's Anatomy (McPilot? Seriously). My description of flight school is based on the U.S. Naval Aviator training, as explained to me by a friend currently going through it. All mistakes are mine.

The general timeline that I'm using for Kara Thrace's military career is--completed officer candidate school at 20, completed flight training at 22, served two years on active duty, and has been an advanced flight training instructor at the Academy for a year, meaning she has taught one class previous to Zak's class.

Spoilers: Miniseries and Act of Contrition.

Kara Thrace ran her fingers through her short blond hair and sighed. As an instructor at the Colonial Fleet Advanced Flight Training Academy, she seemed to have an endless supply of paperwork. The new class was starting tomorrow, and Kara had to familiarize herself with all one hundred fifty pilot candidates. Just to be contrary, she had started at 'Z', and had reached the 'C's. She studied the two piles of folders on her desk, and made a face as she took a sip of ice cold coffee. Frak.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyes. Because of the calendar differences between the colonies, she had not realized what the date was until she had taken a communiqué from Fleet Headquarters on Picon. It's hard to believe that I'm twenty five today. Kara jumped as someone rapped on the doorframe of her office. It was Skids, one of the ECO instructors.

"Hey Starbuck, still slogging through trainee files?" He smirked as Kara gave him a death glare. "How many do you have left, twenty?" Kara nodded. "Finish them in the morning. We're all going out to celebrate our last night of freedom from nuggets. Get changed and meet us in twenty minutes at the rail stop."

Kara sprinted back to her quarters. Though she still kept her flat cum studio in Delphi, she also had housing on base for convenience, only using the Delphi place for painting and occasionally privacy. Twenty minutes? They really don't think of me as a girl. Well maybe I feel like being a girl tonight. She tossed her uniform on the back of a chair, and pulled on a pair of fitted jeans and a blue sweater. Rummaging through a drawer, she found a narrow black headband, and pulled short golden strands back from her face. Shoving her feet into black heeled boots, she applied a coat of sheer lip gloss, grabbed her bag, and dashed out the door.

Arriving at the rail station, twenty-three minutes later, she endured some relatively good-natured ribbing until the tram arrived. The group of instructors took the rail into town, and headed towards The Hanger, a popular Fleet Bar. Two beers later, Kara realized the boisterous fraternal atmosphere was not what she needed tonight. She tapped Shooter on the shoulder. "I'm going to bail. I'll see you at intake tomorrow. Have a good time," she added with a brief nod towards the voluptuous and somewhat inebriated brunette hanging on to his arm.

Exiting the Hanger, she started to walk back towards the rail station when she collided with a tall, darkly handsome man. "Oh Lords! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Kara nodded. "Can I at least buy you a drink to apologize?" Kara was going to turn him down when she saw the hopeful earnest look in his—very nice—eyes. Well, I wanted to feel like a girl. Now's my chance. She smiled up at him. "I'd love to."

Ooooooooooo

Military habit and training allowed Kara to wake at dawn. She smiled as Zak's arms tightened around her. The drink had turned into three or four and they had wound up in a motel room. It had ended up being a very nice birthday after all. "Zak," she whispered trying to shrug out of his embrace. "Zak, I have to go." She stood up and started to pull on her clothes. "Stay," he muttered sleepily. "I can't. I have to go home and get ready for work." Zak sat up and yawned. "Yeah, I need to get up too. Can I interest you in a shower?" The last with a lecherous grin. Fully dressed, but with her golden hair still tangled, Kara leaned down and kissed him. "I had a wonderful time, but I really do have to leave." She grabbed a pen and pad from the nightstand and scrawled her number on it. "No pressure."

Ooooooooooo

Kara stood at parade rest between Major 'Ike' Phillips, her direct superior, and Shooter, a Lieutenant, j.g., who was her assistant instructor. Kara tried not to smile as Ike put the fear of the Lords into their trainees. She knew that in the adjacent classrooms the Raptor, ECO, Transports, and Capital Ship Head Instructors were giving almost the exact same speech. She looked at the back of the room, and saw the records plaque on the wall. When she had been a nugget, six of the eight records had been held by Lee 'Apollo' Adama, with the last two being held by his father William 'Husker' Adama. She had always wanted to meet the Adama men.

"Now let me introduce Lieutenant Kara Thrace, call sign Starbuck. Lt. Thrace will be directly responsible for your flight training. She is the holder of seven Academy records, has over 1,000 landings, and has more combat experience than any pilot currently on active flight status. You nuggets can consider her the next thing to the Lords of Kobol. Lieutenant Thrace?"

Kara always hated this part. She could lecture on the aerodynamic principles of combat aviation, but making a suitably awe inspiring speech was always problematical for her. "Alright nuggets. Now I'm sure that you're all thinking 'I completed Primary Flight Training, I was accepted to Advanced Flight Training in strike warfare, I'm pretty frakking hot!' And you would all be wrong. Boys and girls you are about to enter a whole new world, so listen up. You will be training to fly the Viper Mark VII. The Viper is unlike anything that you have ever flown before. The trainers that you have flown before do not compare. The Mark VII is the most sophisticated example of aviation in existence. It has fully integrated avionics and it can rotate 180 degrees vertically in .28 seconds. The Mark VII is a 40 million credit plane. It is worth more than you. You should feel privileged to in the same room as it. "

She looked out at the one hundred fifty pilot candidates and one face jumped out at her. She inhaled sharply. Oh Lords, please tell me that is not who I think it is. Please tell me I did not sleep with a student. Major Phillips gave her a sharp glance and Shooter unobtrusively touched her elbow. Right, the speech. "Today, you will be introduced to the simulators. We will be evaluating your abilities. If you cannot handle it in the simulator, you will not be allowed to try in a real Viper." She stepped back. "Attention on deck! Nuggets, you will report to the simulator bay at 0900. Dismissed!" At Shooter's final command, the trainees filed neatly out of the briefing room. "You okay?" No, I am not okay! I slept with a student! I'm being punished for not reviewing all the trainee files. "I'm fine. Let's go prep the sims."