AN: This would take place pre-series. I just started watching so if the show does explore this issue more down the line keep in mind I haven't seen much past season 1.

Prompt: Stevo - "I've put up with you for 23 years!" - 'Super League Live'

Flight school!

He couldn't believe it. Zac had no business in flight school. He didn't really even have the discipline to be a part of the Colonial Fleet but Zac had bought into their father's words. He wanted to make their old man proud.

"A man isn't a man until he wears the wings of a Viper pilot."*

How many times had they heard their father say those words? Lee had long ago lost count, but the wings he wore meant that at least he had done something worthwhile in their father's eyes. He didn't fault Zac for wanting to achieve that too, but he also didn't want to see his little brother get hurt. Surely their was some other way for Zac to make their father proud.

"You need to think this through Zac," he pleaded as he watched his brother pack things into the duffel he would take to advanced flight school. "Don't go running off to do something that you're not ready for just to make Dad proud."

"You mean like you did?" Zac asked, without looking over his shoulder. "Pilot for the Colonial Fleet wasn't your dream and yet here you are, Lt. Apollo, viper pilot, following in his father's footsteps."

"We're not talking about me," Lee countered, not about to back down. "I've seen you in a simulator Zac. There is no way you should have passed basic flight."

"Except that Daddy pulled a few strings," Zac said, saying what he knew his brother was thinking. He whirled around on his heel to face his brother and technically superior officer. "That's what you're getting at, isn't it? I wouldn't think you, of all people, would pull that card. After all, word has it you're rising through the ranks so fast only because of your last name."

"I'm aware of what people are saying," Lee replied neutrally. "But we're not talking about me."

"Everything is always about you, Lee. I've lived in your shadow my whole life, and frankly I'm sick of it!"

"You're so sick of it that you want to be a pilot like me?"

"Because for once I want to show that I can do something just as well as you can. You're not the only one that is capable of making our father proud of them."

"Getting yourself or somebody else hurt or killed in the process is not the way to go about it!" Lee told him, raising his voice in frustration.

"Your callsign may be the name of an ancient god, but that doesn't make you one. You don't know everything. Whether you believe it or not, I passed basic flight on my own merit and I'm not turning back now. I'll get my wings. Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I have to finish packing."

Throwing his hands up in frustration, Lt. Lee Adama turned and left his brother's room, hoping that this one time his assessment of the situation was indeed wrong.

*Dialgoue from the Battlestar Galactica mini-series