Thank you for the reviews! :) Always happy to read them :)

Originally this was split across two chapters, but after reading it again, I decided that it would work better as one chapter, hence why it took me longer to edit.

Spoiler: I'm borrowing the situation and dialogues from ep. Sacrifice to carry this story through, but it's heavy on Kara and Lee's p.o.v

And as I've mentioned in one of the earlier chapters, time line of the story is different than the show - in this story Sacrifice happens after Lay Down Your Burden (which also means that Dee and Lee got together by other means), Sharon is still pregnant during the rescue mission, Adama is still a Commander (because they didn't meet with Pegasus) and they haven't found New Caprica.

So picking up from where we left off in the last chapter...

"Wow"

His eyes trailed her from top to bottom, tracing each curves. The dress Karl picked fell gracefully on her, clinging to the right parts of her body, down to just above her knee, while the cowl back exposed the smooth milky skin Lee was dying to touch. The dress was in a shade of deep green with a touch of turquoise on the rim. He had seen this side of Kara before, on Colonial Day, but when he thought he could spare himself from feeling like a boy on puberty, he was wrong. She once again, took his breath away.

"What? Did you really expect me to turn up in my combat boots?" she cursed silently at the pair of heels she was wearing, they were highly impractical.

"Keep dreaming, Apollo. I'm not taking more paperwork" she glided towards him and placed a hand on his arm.

"You're early..." gods, Lee! Say something else! He frantically looked for words. Kara eyed him, but didn't comment on it, she was early, and quite frankly was hoping to get a drink to calm the nerves before he got there, but being Lee, he'd turn up early too. When Karl thought that she was nervous, he was right. Kara got ready in record time and ended up hitching an earlier ride with Karl. Perhaps seeing a familiar face calmed her down, but of course she didn't admit that.

"Gods, Kara… you look stunning" he finally regained control of himself. At least it wasn't a stupid comment. And to that, she smiled. Keeping his cool, he led her to a small high table. Starlight Lounge was busy that day, and it made her wonder if any of those people realized that they were in the middle of a war.

"I'll get us a drink" he smiled, their hand clung a heartbeat longer before he moved away towards the bar. Kara watched as he disappeared into the crowd. She couldn't help but to laugh inside, after all these years of tip toeing around each other, they were finally doing it right… or at least she'd hope.

"I thought that was you" Kara's eyes widened as she recognized the voice.

"Sam" she turned to face him with a smile. His reaction wasn't too much different from Lee's and she took it as a compliment.

"Wow, Kara. You look amazing" he let out a nervous laugh. Kara managed a smile as he gave her an awkward hug. He didn't look too bad himself, groomed nicely, he was stunningly handsome in a suit, she thought.

"What brings you here?" she asked, and then noticed the pyramid ball in his hand.

"Ah… well… believe it or not, some fans invited me. I didn't even know there's a fan base here" he sheepishly showed his signature on the ball then she followed his gaze to a table where his fans were.

"They even sent this… tailor made" he indicated to his suit. How words got out that he was amongst the survivors, who knew.

"A bit creepy, don't you think?" she threw a glance to the table full of young women.

"A little" he admitted, "But I couldn't exactly turn them down, especially after they went through all the effort"

"How about you? What brings you here?" he quickly asked.

"Oh, I'm with…" Kara didn't have the chance to finish her sentence before Lee came back with their drinks in hands. The two men locked gaze for a moment before Sam offered his hands.

"Good to see you, Apollo" he should have guessed they were together, Sam's mind told him. Lee gave him a firm handshake before saying the same. Sam wasn't surprised to see Lee there with her, he had heard the rumors, and had seen how they looked at each other, there was no room for him in her heart as it already belonged to Lee Adama... at least she was honest about it.

"Well, it's good to see you. Have a lovely evening" he offered a smile before returning to his table.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked as he saw her gaze followed the other man back to his table.

"Yeah… it just surprised me, that's all" she shook her head, and took a sip of her drink. Sam was a decent man, she thought, and she was glad that she let him go before she hurt him.

The two chatted for awhile, having had time before they needed to meet their dinner reservation. Kara couldn't help but to talk about the nuggets, she blamed it on her being nervous... well, not quite, she just didn't know how to act on a date with Lee, they've spent so much time dancing around each other that they had gotten used to it, she was careful, she didn't want to frak this up. Lee listened intently as he absorbed the beauty in front of him, he had been waiting to take her out for quite a long time, and he was more than happy just to have her there with him.

The lounge quickly filled up, and Lee's gaze eventually fell at the woman by the door as he scanned the room out of habit. He frowned as his eyes focused on the unnatural bulge on her waist.

"What is it?" Kara noticed the sudden change. Lee nudged towards the woman. Kara discreetly gave her the once over before cursing under her breath.

"She's packing" she whispered.

"And she's not alone. There are two men with her"

"Uh… make that three, Apollo. One more around the back, moving towards the front" she informed him.

Great, I'm finally on a date with Lee Adama and we get this? She was pissed off. But she realized how they reacted, and laughed in the inside, not surprised. Really? We need a crisis to get us started? There are plenty of that back on Galactica! Her mind cursed again.

"Bathroom's this way, Starbuck" he offered his hand. She nodded and followed his lead, taking her drink with her, she was going to need that.

Closing the door quietly behind her, Kara moved along to check the rest of the bathroom.

"Clear" she came back next to Lee, taking a peek. Just as they thought, the lady gave a warning shot and ordered everyone to gather by the bar.

"You don't have a gun on you by any chance, do you?" Lee had to ask. Kara shot him a glare.

"You're the one who threatened me with paperwork"

"And miss out on you in a dress?" there it was again, the playful side of Lee Adama. She rolled her eyeball when Lee kept staring.

"Do I look like I'm packing?" she indicated at her dress. Lee gave a knowing smile, and she sighed, putting her drink aside, and lifting one leg up and rested on the edge of the metal trash bin nearby. Lee swallowed as she gave him an exclusive view of her slender leg. Slowly and gracefully, she took out a knife that was strapped to her thigh, and left him breathless for the second time that evening. Oh, she knew perfectly well what effect she had on the man, and she enjoyed it.

"Seriously? Did you expect me to attack you or something?" he eyed the blade, it was one of her concealed combat knives, this woman was not to be messed with, Kara could do extensive damage with it, but he knew that already.

"Just in case someone piss me off and needs a lesson" she smirked. Note to self, disarm Starbuck before pissing her off.

"Just so you know, this isn't exactly what I had in mind for our date"

"Oh yeah? So... what is it like? A date with Lee Adama?" she teased him with a smile while she played with the knife in hand.

Lee took a deep breath as he moved closer to her, placing his fingers on her arm and made a long, gentle stroke towards her palms.

"You'll just have to wait and find out" Kara's knees almost gave out as she laid eyes on him, there... she saw everything she ever wanted. All she needed to do was to grab hold of him and never let go, and the only thing standing between her and him was the situation outside.

"So did you want it or not?" she referred to the knife, as much as she'd like to continue with the teasing, they had a hostage situation outside. Taking her cue, Lee blinked and shook his head.

"Keep it, they are less likely to search you" he started going along the wall. Kara put the knife back where it came from and took her heels off, it was impractical, it made noise when she walked and she couldn't move as fast.

"Starbuck" Lee called out as he took a panel off from the wall.

"Pass me the drink" he indicated towards Kara's drink. He was already inside the gap between the walls.

"What are you doing?" she passed on the drink.

"I need the dry ice… I'm trying to get these clowns to open the door for us"

"The O2 sensor" she caught on fast. She nodded and told him to go while she stayed at the door, keeping watch.

"Please! Don't shoot! My husband is XO in Galactica. You're making the worst mistake of your life" Kara could hear Ellen. Her fist tightened, Damn it! Keep your mouth shut!

"Found out what they want yet?" Lee asked as he came back to her side.

"Big mouth Ellen just gave herself away as the XO's wife" she squinted her eyes and listened more carefully as the woman made a phone call.

"They want Sharon or hostages die" she added.

"No way in hell Dad is going to give them that" he commented.

"How the frak did they even know about it?"

"Dad has been gathering intel from the Cylon prisoner for awhile now. I'd say someone spotted her in transit"

"You have two hours" the woman ended the phone call.

Bill put the handset down, his eyes showed exhaustion his body was carrying. He feared that this may happen.

"Get me anything you can on Sesha Abinell"

"Yes, Sir" Gaeta got to work immediately.

Only a moment passed before he turned back to the Commander with a folder in hand.

"Sesha Abinell… fleet record indicates she's the widow of a Ray Abinell, he was a casualty abroad the Greenleaf freighter when the Cylons hit about ten weeks ago" Bill flinched at the word "widow".

"Who do we have abroad Cloud Nine?"

"Rotation schedule says Captain Adama, half a marine squad, Starbuck… and Helo is already there on R&R"

"Get me Apollo right away" hoping that he wasn't in the lounge.

"Yes Sir"

Bill sighed, his XO anxiously stared at him, waiting as they tried to get in touch with Lee.

"Sir… Apollo is unreachable"

"Starbuck?" he had to ask, despite the fact that he knew what the answer would be.

"Unreachable as well"

"Get me Helo"

"Are you sure that's wise?" Saul warned him.

"It's not ideal, but we are running out of time. I trust Helo will handle it just fine"

Lee studied the situation, it wasn't good, they were outnumbered and outgunned.

"I think you should get out there" Lee broke the silence.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"It would be safer for both of us if we're not here together. If they know we're both military…" He didn't need to finish his sentence before Kara got the idea, she sighed and tried to think of something else.

"Trust me, Kara" he squeezed her hand. She turned to him with a glare.

"The woman spotted us together earlier, if I go out, she'd be looking for you" her voice softened.

"Sooner or later they will anyway. It's better if only one of us is made"

"Fine. But the moment things get ugly, I'm not staying put" He expected nothing less from her.

"Look scared, Kara… no matter how much you'd like to deck them, look scared"

Kara sighed, so much for a date. She picked up her shoes. She didn't want to get out there, but they didn't have that many options. She turned to those magnetic blue eyes and her world melted once again. She realized then, how much she cared for the man, and how far she'd go to keep him safe. With one sure movement, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss to Lee's surprise. Screw the date. They didn't need one to know that they wanted to be with each other. Lee instinctively brought his hands to her jaw, and kissed her back, hungry for more. Her tongue darted and teased his as he welcomed the playful attack.

"Don't do anything stupid" he whispered between kisses, it took all his might to tear away from her inviting lips. She chuckled and set her palm on his cheeks, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers while struggling to get her breathing back to normal. For a moment they stood there, foreheads against each other's.

"Be careful" she whispered back before letting go. She tossed her hair a little, something Lee never thought she'd do and frowned at her.

"What? If they're going to come looking for you, did you really want them to think we're here having a chat?" she glared at him. But he just laughed and shook his head.

"Gods, you're beautiful" he involuntarily let that one out. Kara noticed the sincerity of that comment and her heart fluttered.

"Safe the compliments for later" she gave him one more quick kiss before she moved out of the bathroom with her hands up high, shoes in hand.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" she shouted, trying to look scared as the men pointed their guns at her.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded answer.

"I… I was in the bathroom…" Kara noticed Ellen about to say something, but Kara glared her down, silently telling her to keep her mouth shut. She crouched on the ground next to Sam as one of the men with gun pushed her towards the crowd.

The woman known as Sesha studied her and looked towards the bathroom then back at her.

"She's not alone. There is another man. Page, check the bathroom. We don't want anymore surprises" she told one of her men.

Kara's gaze followed Page into the bathroom before she turned back to the woman. She saw something familiar in her eyes, it was the same look Darius had in his eyes when he made the attack.

"This is Captain Adama from Galactica. He wanted to talk" Page came back out from the bathroom, hands in the air as Lee held a gun to his head.

"That's right... just talk" Lee repeated what the man said as they inched closer.

Kara kept her head down, not wanting to give away the anger that was boldly displayed on her face, but the woman pushed one of the men's gun towards her.

"And you are?" she threw the question at Kara.

"She's my date" Lee answered. Sesha nodded at the man holding the gun on her, and he moved closer to Kara.

"She dies, he dies, you get that?" Lee told her. Kara felt Sam's hands on her shoulder as he glared the man with the gun.

"The difference is that you wouldn't shoot, he will" Sesha said again.

One look into her eyes and Lee knew she meant business. With a sigh, he took his finger off the trigger and put his hands up in the air as Page took the gun back.

"Okay…" Lee muttered, and took the space next to Kara.

"Plan B?" Kara whispered.

"We wait"

"Good to see you, Gunny. I need some of those gorillas you called marines" Karl greeted the big man and his two comrades.

"Most of my gorillas are already here. Trying to get some R&R"

"Tell me about it" he sighed. He was worried, knowing that Kara and Lee might be in the lounge. He hoped that they have moved onto the restaurant, but for them being unreachable wasn't a good sign.

"So here's what we know..."

Lee said a silent praise as a beeping alarm sound blared through every corner of the lounge.

"Oxygen is through the roof" Kern, by then known to be the brother of the late Ray Abinell pointed out as he turned the beeping sound off.

"They're trying to suffocate us"

"What is this? A trap?" Sesha demanded answers.

"There's a reason why you don't just start shooting at a space ship. You've probably nicked a line. Why don't you let me talk to the Commander, and see if we can figure a way out of this" Lee answered calmly.

After a moment of silence, Sesha nodded,

"Get me Commander Adama. He won't pick a Cylon over his own son"

"Son of a bitch!" Karl cursed as he learned that Lee was inside, which would put Kara in the lounge as well.

"Sitrep"

"Sir, I had one of the Cloud Nine techs to check the oxygen feed in there, there's nothing wrong with the air " Karl answered quickly.

"Could be a glitch"

"Or it could be someone screwed with the sensor"

"Lee… but why?"

"He gave us an opening. If I could get someone in there, we could get a clear idea what we're dealing with"

"Helo, this is a recon mission. Get someone to volunteer, and then get the hell out of there, do you understand? There's a strike team inbound to you, ETA ten minutes"

"Yes Sir"

Karl eyed the technician who just came in, the first thought was that the man was shorter than him, but surely there are other uniforms around somewhere.

"I'm here to repair the O2 line" the man told him.

Karl extended his arm, asking for the toolbox.

"What are you doing?" Gunny asked.

"I'm volunteering"

"So what? Your husband died, and you're taking your anger out on innocent people?" Lee sought Sesha's eyes.

"He was a good man" Kern told him.

"Yeah? My team mates, they were my family! They all died on Caprica. They are good men too" Sam was quick to answer. There was regret in Kern's eyes, everyone in the room were familiar with the pain of losing someone dear during the attack.

A loud knock startled the hostages. Kara noted the door switch as the door slowly opened, and quickly diverted her attention to the main the cream overall she soon recognized as Karl walked in. She could feel Lee tensed as he squeezed her hand involuntarily at the sight of Karl. She didn't blame him, she tensed too. What if they know who Helo is? His connection to Sharon? She hoped that they didn't know, and if they did, she hoped they didn't recognize him under the black cap and the one size too big overall.

"You might not want to do that, you're losing oxygen in here" he told the man as the door was rolling down again.

"Then you should work fast" Sesha answered, letting the door closed again.

"Check him"

Karl kept quiet as he scanned the room while he was patted. Kern checked his toolbox before returning it to him.

"Do your job"

Karl walked towards the back, keeping his head down, hiding his perfect posture by adding a slight slump, while the oversized overall hid his well built figure. In truth, he was fighting every urge to shoot every single one of them. One look from Ellen Tigh was all it took for Sesha to doubt him and demanded one of her men to check the box again.

Shit! Did they recognize him? Kara's mind jumped to the worst case scenario. But when she laid eyes on Ellen who suddenly had a guilty look on her face, she knew what happened. Maybe not.

Karl sat the box down on a high table and opened a secret compartment, revealing two guns. Kara saw it coming and grabbed the woman beside her to duck. Both Lee and Sam hit the ground at the same time as soon as the first gun fire broke. With all men focused on Karl, Kara turned to Sam, hand clutching on the front of his shirt.

"The ball" she told him, eyeing at the door switch. Sam followed her gaze and nodded. As soon as he had a clear shot, Sam delivered a throw, ball hitting the switch on the right place, causing the door to reopen.

Gunny and two marines entered the facility and a gun fight broke loose, taking Chu who was at Karl's tail down. Kara lunged forward as Page aimed at Gunny, swiftly taking her knife out and threw it at him, piercing his thigh. Enraged, he picked up his gun and aimed at her.

"No you don't!" Karl pressed his gun on the back of his head and stopped him in his track.

"Starbuck!" Gunny called out as he slid a spare gun towards her. Kara leaped and got to it just after Sesha took a shot at Gunny. She missed, hitting him on the leg instead. Kara dropped a table and provided cover for him as he tried to get himself out of the premises.

Kern's shot took a marine down, while Sesha kept shooting at Gunny, but soon was knocked out by Lee. Kern followed suit, knocking Lee with the back of his gun. As he went down, Lee elbowed him in the gut before bringing his fist up to meet his nose. Lee managed to hit Kern on the base of his head and took him down before securing his weapon.

"Put your weapons down! You are surrounded!" Karl shouted while keeping his gun on the wounded Page. He scouted for the marines, but only saw their dead bodies on the ground. He prayed for the strike team to arrive soon.

"Starbuck?" Karl called out without taking his eyes off Page.

"I'm okay, Helo!" she shouted back from her hiding spot.

"Gunny?" she called out.

"Still here" he answered from outside.

"Apollo?" Karl still keeping his weapon on Page as he started lowering his weapon.

"I'm good" he brought Kern to his feet, and by doing so he missed the movement behind him.

"No, you put your weapons down or he dies" Sesha pressed her gun to Lee's head. One side of her face was red from Lee's punch earlier and there was blood on her cut lip.

Kara stood from her hiding spot, and raised her gun at Sesha, who by then had stood behind Lee. She inched closer to have a better aim at her, not that she could take the shot without hitting Lee as well. Kern had taken his gun back from Lee's hand and by then had pointed it at Kara.

"I have no doubt that you will pull that trigger, Abinell. But are you willing to do that before you get the Cylon?" Kara's voice was cold, and her eyes held a certain air that sent chill down Sesha's spine as she laid eyes on them.

"You have lost, give it up" Lee's voice was softer, "We all have lost people we love in this war" he added.

Sesha stayed quiet, all that needed to be said had been said earlier. Kara caught a glimpse of tear in the corner of Sesha's eyes, and worry splashed across Kara's face, alerting Lee of the situation.

"Don't do this" she heard his plea.

Kara's eyes focused on Lee's sweat bead trailed down her temple, lips pursed together tightly. His hypnotic pair of blue eyes was uncertain as he faced the barrel of her gun a few feet away.

"Put your weapon down" Karl warned them again. When Sesha didn't budge, Karl took a step forward, by then Page had let his weapon go.

"We can figure a way out" his voice was more of an assurance, but he knew that look on Sesha's face, he had faced that look only weeks earlier in a form of Darius Harmon.

Kara too, knew Sesha would shoot, she knew it didn't matter anymore if they get the Cylon or not. Sesha was aware that she was fighting a losing battle, and if she couldn't get the Cylon, she'd make sure the Commander would pay for it in his son's blood. She would have proven her point anyway, that the Cylons had successfully ripped apart the human fleet. Lee's eyes frantically darted to Kern, but Kara already knew that Kern wouldn't need a sniper's skill to hit Kara from where he was standing. If she shot Sesha, not only she'd take Lee down, but Kern would take the shot on her. She was well aware that both of them could end up dead.

Her surrounding turned into a blur as Lee became sharper. She knew what she needed to do. They trained for this, they were ready for this. Lee met her gaze and silently wished there was another way, and those blue eyes begged her not to do what she was intending to do.

"Do you trust me?" her eyes locked on Lee's. There was a moment of silence before Lee finally answered.

"With my life"

It was all she needed. As Sesha moved, Kara didn't waste time, her hand tightened, squeezing the trigger, followed by a deafening loud bang. Screams filled the room. Karl's gun went off next, taking Page down as he was grabbing his gun. As the man went down, Karl spotted Kern, and he knew he'd be too late.

Another gun fire went off. Karl didn't dare to look. He knew Kern had a solution on Kara and he would not miss the shot.

To be continued

I hope you enjoyed this. It was much harder for me to write, but I had fun with it.

Next chapter may take a bit longer as I still have a lot of editing to do on it and I'm still quite busy with work.