AN: We'll be going through a bit of a transition period for the time being. In other words: I'm going to be winging the next few installments until I somehow link this section with one that I have roughly planned out. So many apologies in advance for any potential crappiness.

Kara stared up at the blackness that was her new deckhead.

It was strange.

Just a few weeks ago, it seemed as if she was going to be spending the rest of her life living in a cramped pilots' duty locker, listening to other people's noises and smelling their dirty socks.

And just less than forty eight hours ago, she had been prepared to stay in sickbay for as long as it took Lee to wake up, even if it meant a lifetime.

Now she had a space all to her own-a luxury virtually unheard of in their reality-and she couldn't sleep.

It was too dark. She had become used to the dimmed lights of sickbay.

For some reason, she missed the ever present smell of antiseptic

And she couldn't just roll over to make sure that Lee was OK.

What if something happened and she wasn't there?

Would they come find her?

Would she be able to get to his side in time?

Those were the thoughts running through her head when her alarm went off.

She sat up and ran her hands over her face before turning the lights on.

There would be no time for a run or stop by the wardroom for breakfast this morning.

She barely had enough time for her to get dressed and brush her teeth.

The CAG was supposed to be in a meeting with other senior officers and noncoms so she was going to be conducting the morning's briefing before flying CAP herself.

xxxxxxxxxx

There was no getting around the embarrassment of conducting a meeting while dressed in an open-backed hospital gown. Lee was quickly learning that it was all about ignoring that fact and acting as if nothing was out the ordinary. But it was hard to do while sitting in a hospital bed, surrounded by his senior officers and SNCOs.

His fully dressed senior officers and SNCOs.

It was nearly time for lunch by the time the meeting ended. Something that Lee was definitely not looking forward to.

He was wondering whether or not he should dig into the gunk in front of him when Corpsman Kelly walked up to his bed.

"Commander? You have a visitor."

"Send 'em in."

He eagerly looked up, hoping to see Kara, but saw an upset looking petty officer at the entrance to sickbay, instead.

'Frak. Dee.'

xxxxxxxxxx

Kara made her way up the ladder to the hangar bay's upper deck, utterly exhausted and hungry after finishing her CAP. She figured that sitting in the wardroom for a little bit and having lunch would be enough to get her through the rest of her shift.

She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair, willing her body to keep moving through the exhaustion. Then she noticed a certain member of Galactica's enlisted crew walking up with an angry look in her eyes.

Dee stalked past, without acknowledging Kara's presence-something Kara would have let go under normal circumstances-but she also seemed to have suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to bump Kara's shoulder as hard as she could as she passed by.

Her attempt at being rude was laughable, but insulting nonetheless. But oddly enough, Kara didn't feel like retaliating in normal Starbuck fashion.

She respected the military's hierarchy enough so that she wouldn't constantly get in trouble for insubordination; beyond that, Kara treated most people with the equal amount of disdain, regardless of rank, and wasn't shy about letting a fist fly when so inclined.

But, today, she suddenly felt like using her authority over the petty officer who just decided to show open insubordination.

She took a deep breath and barked out, "Petty Officer Dualla, HALT!"

The comm officer reflexively stopped, turned, and snapped to attention. "Sir!"

Passing crew slowed as they passed by, interested in the spectacle that was about to unfold in front of them.

Kara walked up slowly to the younger woman until they stood toe to toe in the middle of the corridor. She crossed her arms and stared daggers at Dee.

"I believe it is common courtesy for one to say 'excuse me' after accidentally bumping into somebody, is it not?" Kara spoke quietly. Steadily.

Dee swallowed and answered, her voice shaky, "Sir, yes it is, sir."

Kara didn't really give a frak about how Dee felt and continued to "Well? I'm waiting, Petty Officer."

"Sir, excuse me, sir," Dee tried to inject a bit of disgust into her voice, but failed. "I'll be more careful next time, sir."

Kara just quirked an eyebrow as she looked the petty officer up and down, and smirked as she saw Dee falter, and fear began to show beneath Dee's anger. "Carry on."

She glared at Dee's back as the other woman continued on to the hangar bay, presumably to catch a flight back to Galactica.

One word ran through her head: 'Sickbay.' She wanted to find out what that was all about.

xxxxxxxxxx

She walked into sickbay, ignoring the strange looks the corpsmen on duty gave her, and immediately made her way to Lee's bed. He was sunk onto the raised back, clearly drained. She wasn't sure if it was from the long meeting he'd had against the doctor's recommendation or the visit from Dee. His lunch sat on the table in front of him, untouched.

"I just saw Dee looking as if she was ready to kill something."

Lee's head sort of lolled to the side so that he could make eye contact with his visitor, "Yeah. I'm sure she could."

Kara made herself comfortable in the chair next to Lee's bed. "What was that about?"

"Dee and I ended things."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So…"

Lee shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. "I guess nearly dying again made me realize that I should have gone in another direction the last time I nearly died."

"I see." Kara normally didn't dare to hope, but this time she couldn't help herself.

"The problem is that I don't know if that option's open. Or if it was ever open." There was something about Lee's gaze that made Kara shiver.

"I'm sure you could if you really wanted it to work out." 'Oh gods, please let him be talking about what I want him to be talking about.'

They sat in silence until her stomach loudly growled, reminding her that she hadn't had a meal all day, and the bowl of unidentifiable mush in front of Lee suddenly looked extremely appetizing.

"You're going to eat that?" Kara asked, pointing at the bowl.

"No. Go ahead."

She grabbed it and shoved the spoon into her mouth.

"Tastes like wet cardboard," she said around the food in her mouth. But she kept on eating; making quick work of whatever it was that was in the bowl.

Lee could only smile at the sight.

"Uh…you've got a little something on your chin."

Several days later…

Today was a momentous occasion.

To most, it was a day of change.

Where President Roslin would step down and President-elect Baltar would be sworn in.

To Kara, today was the day she would give Lee a little present that she had gone and found just for him.

xxxxxxxxxx

It felt good to be wearing something other than a hospital gown, even if he was just wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

It would have felt better if it hadn't had been for the sling around his neck and the braces on his hip and knee reminding him that, for the time being, he could barely even be considered walking wounded.

So Lee was listening carefully to what the doctor had to say about his road to recovery-and ignoring Baltar's inauguration on the wireless-as he practiced hobbling back-and-forth in sickbay with a crutch under the watchful eye of Corpsman Cullen.

"And the great Apollo deigns to walk among us mere mortals once again." Kara's voice preceded her as she walked into sickbay.

Lee just grunted as he rotated his body to move his bad leg forward. "Shut up, Starbuck."

He turned his head to look at his visitor to see that she had her hands behind her back. Obviously hiding something she wanted him to see. Knowing Kara, Lee was immediately cautious.

"Do I want to know what you're hiding behind your back?"

A playful gleam shone in Kara's eyes as she smiled. "Well, I went and got you a little something."

"Now I know I don't want to know."

Kara's smile got just a little bit wider before she pulled a black wooden cane from behind her back presented it to Lee with a flourish. "Your cane, Commander," she said with as much ceremony she could muster.

Lee stared at the curved handle as it hovered under his nose. "Please don't tell me that that's the one you used."

"Nope," Kara almost sounded disappointed. "I got this one off of some old lady whose husband died last week."

"That's not any better," Lee muttered. He handed the crutch he had been using to Cullen, grabbed onto the cane's handle. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"What can I say, Lee?" Kara said with a shrug. "Payback's a bitch."

Lee didn't bother replying, instead he jabbed the tip of his new cane onto the deck, dangerously close to Kara's toes.

"Hey!"

"What's the matter, Starbuck? Afraid you'll get hurt?"

'Okay, then," Kara took ten steps away from Lee and faced him, challenge clearly shining in her eyes. "Let's see you walk all the way here."

It was painful to watch Lee slowly make his way towards her, while trying to get used to the new sensation of using a cane instead of a crutch.

Good leg.

Cane.

Bad leg.

One.

Good leg.

Cane.

Bad leg.

Two.

Meanwhile, over the wireless, Baltar's inaugural speech was reaching its climax: "…I would like to announce the immediate colonization of the planet now known as: New Caprica!"

"What?" Lee was shocked by the announcement; as much by the declaration that colonization would begin before proper surveys had been done as by the utter audacity of the new president to unilaterally name a world after what had been one in a dozen.

The momentary distraction was all that was needed to throw him off balance. His cane clattered to the deck as he pitched forward, his injured hip and knee making it impossible for him to stop his momentum.

He was falling. The deck seemed closer and closer.

Then his face hit the shoulder of a blue uniform jacket and two arms wrapped around him, holding him up.

"I've got you, Lee," Kara whispered. "I've got you."

AN: I know that some of you will be disappointed by my glossing over Dee confronting Lee, but I never liked how her character was expanded and I never liked the way she was portrayed. She falls flat on screen and every attempt I made at writing her fell flat as well.