Title- Aftermath

Work In Progress

Author- PTBvisiongrrl

Part- 10/?

Date- 2-12-07

Rating – R

Pairings/Characters- Lee/Kara

Word Count- 1561

Category- Short Story

Genre- Angst

Archiving- The Fallout Shelter, Apollo/Starbuck Fan Fic, All others please ask!

Warnings- Not really- just language…

Spoilers- Season 1 through the rumors of Season 3

Disclaimers- Unfortunately, I don't own any of these characters, and make absolutely no profit from taking them out to play…

Summary- How do Kara and Lee reconnect after both losing spouses in the Battle for New Caprica? Can they?

Again- this is becoming repetitive- I apologize for the lag between posts. I do have several other sections of this already written, so hopefully the next few will come fast and furious. My main problem with this story is the confusing time line with flash backs- it's not a common thing for me to use. So- any comments on that would be very helpful…HINT HINT HINT.

And while this chapter is very Dee/Lee- K/L shippers, keep hope. It's just one flashback. She's dead and gone already, remember? She will probably only appear in one more chapter, at least in any length. However, I will not portray her as unredeemable, as much as I really dislike her on the show and hope she's a Cylon and/or dies soon. It's simply not fun to write for a completely unredeemable character.

Thank you for all your comments on past chapters!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PTBvisiongrrl

Chapter Nine

About a month before the Battle for New Caprica…

Dee had made Lee promise to be back in quarters for a private dinner by 1600 sharp. She was planning something special, and he better be there. The tone was joking yet there was evident tension in her voice. Lee and Dee had been getting along well- as well as two people locked in a marriage where at least one partner loved someone else could get along- and it made Lee nervous. Dee didn't often demand much of him; subtle guilt often worked better and was her preferred method. Open demand did not bode well.

He was sure to be on time, with no made-up pilot issues or CIC crises to keep him away. For a large ship, the Pegasus ran surprisingly well, with very few problems these days as the crew became skeletonized as a result of enforced colonization. The legacy of a blood thirsty but capable captain as well, he supposed in a remote acknowledgement to the dead Cain.

Lee could sense something was off the minute he stepped through the hatch into his personal quarters. The smell of real food, not processed protein; candles flickering on a real tablecloth, light glinting off a true silverware. It was a rare occasion when either he or Dee were out of uniform these days; she had put on a lavender silk dress that he had never seen before, that wrapped around and accentuated her figure. Both he and Dee had gained some weight since their wedding, Dee far less than he, yet still enough that she had more curves these days. All in all, Dee had gone to a great deal of effort.

The effect on him was to ratchet up his unease, his worry. He knew his marriage was not the best; he knew that it had been begun under somewhat false pretenses; that didn't mean that he didn't want it to succeed. He just wasn't sure how to do that. Lee never dealt well with the unknown, and this relationship was no different.

Was this the night when Dee finally got tired of Kara's ghost fluttering around them constantly?

Dee's smile was bright as she welcomed him home with a dutiful peck on the cheek. "I'm glad you made it on time. Another five minutes and dinner would be ruined."

His voice was a bit sharp as he reminded her of their conversation this morning. "I said that I would be here, didn't I?'

Dualla considered him with those big eyes for a long moment before forcing a slight smile. "Yes, you did. And you always keep your promises." She loosened his jacket for him, taking it to hang-up neatly on the back of their door, whereas he would have slung it over the back of his chair and forgotten about it. He was a long way from the neat and stiff Galactica CAG with a stick up his ass. Allowing Lee to settle into his chair, Dee began serving him some fresh herbed noodles and steamed vegetables, not quite identifiable on sight but reminiscent in taste to more familiar broccoli and carrots.

He dug right in, a full mouth always a convenient excuse not to talk. She ate as well, though more lightly and sparingly, and finished long before him. After sitting and considering him as he continued, she took a deep breath and spoke. " I know that you slept with Starbuck on that planet, Lee," she stated without preamble or emotion. "And I forgive you."

Lee paused, almost choking on the food in his mouth. Placing his chopsticks on the rest next to his setting, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me?"

"I don't blame you. You thought you were dying. You and Kara have a-" she paused, "a history. I married you knowing that."

Refusing to admit guilt or offer a defense, Lee allowed her to continue.

"But I am your future, Lee. Me, and-" Dee took a deep breath and her voice trembled slighty "our baby."

Echoes of the past threatened to swell up with the panic of the present and overwhelm him. Other, similar conversations played out in his head, almost drowning out her words. It took concentrate to speak to her at all, much less intelligently. "Our what?"

Dee placed a hand on the slight swell of her stomach. The new curves, her extra moodiness lately- it all clicked into place for him, and he lost the ability to breathe. "You're pregnant?"

A slight smile played over her lips. "Yes. About a month or so. Cottle wasn't entirely sure yet; something about hormone levels being elevated. Until the ultrasound, we won't know for sure."

Lee felt a sudden flashback to a fading afternoon in a Caprican square, and heard the echo of a voice long dead. His throat closed in the same panicked way as it had almost five years ago; the expression crossing Dualla's face blurred with blond hair and blue eyes above a slight sprinkle of the palest dusting of freckles. The need to escape, to deny, to run exploded in his chest. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, which only gave Dee time to grow angry.

"I should have known this would be your reaction. We didn't talk about this; we didn't plan this; we didn't think this through. Well, guess what? Accidents happen." Dee stood up and knocked her chair over with the force of it. "You're going to be a daddy, Lee, whether you like it or not. Congratulations!" And she stormed out of their quarters.

Lee had sat there for a good half-hour, so stunned that he couldn't get past the thought that Dee was pregnant. This was the fourth time he had found out that he was or had been going to be a father; sadly enough, this time had gone the best out of the four. Gathering his demons back up and sweeping them into the darkest corner of his mind, he set out to find Dualla and make this right.

The gods- those infernal beings he had never really believed in before- had taken pity on his frak-ups, and given him another chance. The mistakes of his past could be balanced out with this opportunity. Those lost children- lost through his bad choices, his cowardice, his weakness- could never be recovered. He prayed to the gods he barely believed in every day for their lost souls, on the off chance it would do his children some good. He had not been able to do anything else for them. But this child would not be taken away from or lost to him. This child would get the love and dutiful care that the others had never been given a chance at, that he had not been ready to give.

For the first time since their hasty marriage, Lee was seeing clearly. Dualla was his wife, pregnant with their child. She was what mattered. Kara was an evil ghost from his past that needed to be exorcised and forgotten before she became a cancer that ate away at and destroyed the good things in his life. As Lee quickly traveled corridors, eating the metal decking up with his pace so quickly that he had to stop and catch his breath when he spied her staring out the observation deck window into the stars. He watched her for a minute before gathering up the courage to go to her.

Moving up behind her, he made sure that she could see his reflection in the glass so as not to startle her. He paused a hand's breath away before he began to speak. "I apologize for letting Kara into this marriage. This marriage is not about her. This marriage is about us, and now, our child. I-" he had to pause and rapidly blink back tears, giving Dee the opportunity to face him, "don't know how to thank you for this opportunity, for making me see what I should have known all along." He dropped to his knees and circled his arms around her, resting his cheek just at the small swell of her abdomen. "I love you, Dee, and I will love this child. I will cherish you both, forever, if you will let me."

Dualla's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth opening and closing a few times as she searched for words. Lee had father issues; she knew this, given how difficult his relationship with the Admiral had been in his younger years. She and Lee had never discussed this possibility, had never really considered it; they were soldiers in a war, not really parent material. Dee had prepared herself to be alone with her child and a distant husband tied to her by duty, not love. She knew that Lee would help her, to the best of his ability, because Lee was nothing if not cognizant of his responsibilities. But she had feared the loss of his love, which she so tenuously held to begin with. The relief that flooded her gave her hope, for the first time since she had discovered her condition. In the end, she shook her head and rested her arms in a loose embrace over her husband's shoulders. They stood like that for what seemed like forever, a tableau against the dark sparkling of open space, before returning to their cabin hand in hand.