A/N: Thanks for all the kind reviews... I hope you enjoy this part as much. It's the last part of chapter 3. Next time - chapter 4.

Chapter 3: Trapped.

Part 4.

Lee was back sitting in a Raptor, going down once more to the surface of the planet. He was again sitting in the co-pilot's seat but this time it wasn't Kara flying the craft. Racetrack was flying the vessel and for once she wasn't keeping up a steady stream of conversation. It gave Lee some time to reflect on the past day. Both meetings he'd had to attend had been very useful and had the benefit of getting him away from the planet and his wife for a short period of time. The biggest plus-side about having to return to Galactica though had been getting to spend a large amount of time with Kara. The sex had been fantastic, the best ever but it wasn't just that time he'd relished. It was the other moments they'd shared as well which stayed now in his memories. What she'd done for him in the shower and after in her bunk had been more important to their relationship than the sex they'd shared. Waking with her in his arms this morning had been a whole new experience for Lee. He was so used to just sharing stolen moments with her and to have her in his arms the next morning was something he'd never thought he'd get to do. Even the night when Kara had broken down during the trips with the Fleet through the star cluster he'd woken up alone as she'd left their bed early to go and speak to Kat. He'd been bothered by it at the time, but looking back at it now he could see why she'd needed to go and see her. It was his dismay and confusion at her absence that morning that led to him not noticing how ill Kat was before that last trip. So to finally wake up and find her there, nestled in his arms was something he wished he'd been able to cherish longer. Of course, no sooner had he woken up other pilots had begun to move around the room; making enough noise to rouse her as she lay there.

He'd initially been disappointed as she moved and her eyes fluttered open. She looked at him, staring into his eyes. Her hand reached up and turned the light on within the bunk, enabling him to see her beauty as she stared at him. They were in no rush to get up and leave the haven they'd secluded themselves in. It was over an hour before either of them needed to make a move. As she moved to kiss him, softly caressing his mouth with hers, all sorrow ebbed from his body.

He fidgeted as he sat in the co-pilot's seat, remembering the slowness and passion of their lovemaking as they lay there. Despite the enforced silence and the need to keep a certain amount of secrecy to their actions, they'd maintained a level of fervor which did little to take away from the intensity of the moment. Her leg was wrapped around his hip, pulling him as close to her as he could get. The key element to the overwhelming depth of emotions they shared was the constant eye contact they held. His eyes never left hers as he stared into the stormy pools before him. They'd both known it was going to be a while before they were able to do this again and both wanted… needed… to ensure they kept a memory of just how good it could be.

Lee felt almost aroused as the heat of the memories caused his blood to pool in his groin. He fought down the emotions as much as he could and by the time the Raptor came into land, he'd almost managed to achieve his goal. He walked from the Raptor into the intense heat that met him as he left the ship. He undid his jacket and removed it from his body, wishing he'd been able to wear something other than his dress uniform back down here. Unfortunately after his meeting with Laura and his father there hadn't been time for him to do anything other than collect his things from his quarters and race to the flight deck. He hadn't even been able to see Kara after the meeting and he was missing her greatly already. He looked up and took a deep breath as he saw his wife waiting for him in the distance. He fought down his disdain at seeing her but continued to walk towards her, trying to school his thoughts so he wouldn't reveal anything to her.

As he got closer he thought he saw a knowing look wash over her face and he immediately felt guilt flash through him. She didn't deserve to be treated this way. She deserved much better; more than he was able to give and more than he wanted to. If he was any kind of man he'd end it with her now. Put an end to their shared misery because there was no way she could be happy with the current state of their marriage, surely. She forced a smile to her face which only managed to turn Lee's stomach as he stood before her. It was simpering; she may have felt sincere as she fluttered her eyes at him, but it just made him feel nauseous.

"Did you enjoy your time back on Galactica?"

He doubted she wanted to know how much he'd enjoyed his time away from her but kept that to himself. "It was okay. Things are a little unsettled up there. How were things down here?" He tried to keep a certain level of professionalism to his tone, hoping to distract her from the overt hope he could see in her eyes. Her hand touched his arm and it was all he could do not to wince as he felt her fingers on his bicep.

"We missed you. I missed you. I'm glad to have my husband back with me." She took his hand in hers. "Maybe we can catch up and spend some time together later," she whispered.

Bile rose up his throat at her words and he instinctively swallowed. "I've got things I need to do, Dee." He stepped away from her, shaking her hold from his arm and hand. "I'll see you later, if I get a chance." He couldn't look at her, knowing the rejection that would be evident on her face. He walked determinedly towards the command tent, knowing he needed to keep some distance between himself and his wife for as long as he could.

****

Three days had passed and the algae collection mission was beginning to wind up. They were probably only going to be on the planet for a couple more days and for Lee getting back to Galactica couldn't come soon enough. He hadn't seen Kara since before his meeting with his dad and the president and his temper was close to breaking point. The guilt he'd been fighting for so long had increased to the point where he couldn't hide from it any more. He knew the next time he saw her they'd have to talk about where they stood and what they were going to do. It was pretty much all he'd been able to think about in his spare time since he'd last seen her. He was finally able to admit, to himself anyway, that he needed to resolve the situation. He just hoped she wanted the same thing he did.

Both he and Dee were still participating in their previous dance, avoiding the ever-growing conflict between the two of them. She had been throwing looks of disdain his way whenever they'd been in the same room and that was something he'd determinedly tried to avoid.

He was currently in the command tent, boxing up the reports and maps they'd used while stationed on the planet. Unfortunately, given the lack of her having anything else to do Dee was assisting him in the task. They weren't talking and Lee was trying as much as he could to pretend she wasn't there.

There was the loud noise of a rapidly approaching Raptor entering the atmosphere. Lee rolled his eyes, muttering "Who the hell is that?"

He hadn't been expecting a response but Dee did answer him. "Starbuck, I guess. Third time this week. It's amazing how she keeps landing on the top of the pilot rotation." He noticed her pointed look at him as she tried to gauge his reaction to her comment.

He realized she was right, it probably was Kara. "Well, uh, donut runs are assigned off a coin flip. Kara probably thinks she's running a stream of bad luck. You know, I should probably get over there." There was an edge of hope to his voice that he hoped she didn't notice. He prayed to Gods he wasn't sure he really believed in that she wouldn't follow him.

The Gods answered his prayers. "I'm gonna skip the meet and greet this time, if you don't mind…"

He placed the file he'd been holding back on the table, trying not to look too eager to leave and go to Kara. "Sure." Lee walked from the tent and Dee followed him with her eyes, knowing with a heavy heart that she'd just given them the perfect opportunity to be together and annoyed with herself for doing so.

Lee jogged the short distance through the undergrowth to the Raptor. The hatch was already open, so he clambered up the wing and entered the craft. He didn't look at her as he walked in and looked at the consoles where the ECO usually sat. "You brought her in little hot, don't you think?"

There was an amused tone to her voice as she answered him. "Yeah, well, had I known I was being graded I'd have thrown in a couple of barrel rolls." They stared at each other intently, the passion already building between them. Then Lee was kissing her and for a moment she forgot everything other than the feel of his lips on hers. He began to help her remove the top half of her flight suit. Their kisses were short but passionate and she pulled her mouth from his, smiling as she teased him, "Remind me to thank the CAG for sticking me on these crank donut runs, huh?" Her tone was teasing, but her words were serious. They kissed again and she started to wrap her arms around his neck as this kiss deepened and became more intense. She grinned as the kiss ended; pleased she was back in his arms.

"This is insane, you know." His words highlighted the guilt he was feeling at the situation they were in.

Her smirk grew and she moved to kiss him again. "That's just the way I like it." She felt guilty about everything as well, but cheating on her husband was something everyone already expected her to do, so her guilt bothered her much less. That's what she kept trying to convince herself of anyway. She managed to delay the inevitable conversation she knew was coming by kissing him again with as much passion as she could.

Lee's hands came to her face, cupping her cheeks as he broke the kiss. "I can barely look Dee in the eye. I've got to do something." There was a sense of urgency to his voice.

She was almost relieved that finally he was feeling guilty for the right reasons. All this time she'd known Lee was a better person than how he'd been acting but it wasn't what she wanted to hear from him at all. She wanted things to be the way they were the last time they'd been together. Kara frowned as his words finally filtered into her brain, realizing he was pushing to have the conversation despite her attempted methods of distraction; methods that usually worked but not this time. She nodded, knowing what he was saying was the truth. "Okay, like what?"

Their mouths were barely apart from each other and both were fighting (and losing) the battle to kiss each other. Again their mouth's met, tongues pushing against the others. "I don't know… like divorce." He kissed her again, hoping to convince her it was a good idea with this one kiss.

She pulled her mouth from his as his words made their way through her lust-filled brain. "Mmm… no. Nuh huh." Suddenly the kissing stopped and they were staring at each other intently, each trying to measure how serious the other person was. She shook her head at him, trying to get across her distaste for what he'd suggested.

He was stunned she wasn't agreeing with him. He'd run through many different scenarios in his head over the last few days; trying to imagine how this would go, and in every single one this wasn't how he'd thought this conversation would go. After his time back on Galactica, he'd thought they were on the same page; he thought she'd be agreeing with him. How could he have been so wrong? "Well, come on. Let's get real here. You said yourself thing's were bad. Your marriage was failing." He was trying to convince her with his words, trying to get through to her this was a good idea.

The smile had fallen from her face as she realized this was it; the beginning of the end. She knew him as well as he did her and she knew he wouldn't like what she was about to suggest. This realization saddened her immensely but it didn't make her change what she was going to say. "Yeah, but marriage is a sacrament. It's not a Pyramid game. You don't… you don't get do overs, Lee. I made a vow in the sight of the Gods and I'm not going to break that." How could he not realize she would feel this way? How could he not understand how important her religion was to her? Maybe they didn't know each other as well as they'd thought.

He frowned at her words. His eyes had lowered as she'd spoken but rose to look at hers as he answered her, "You're breaking it every time we do this." He kissed her again; this kiss filled more with sorrow than passion; tinged with a hint of goodbye. "Every time." Another kiss and more guilt. He didn't think she was taking this seriously.

She smirked at him, trying one last time to persuade him things could stay the same. "Divorce is different. This is just bending the rules." She kissed him this time, silently begging him to drop the subject and let things continue the way they'd been.

Lee tore his lips from her, backing away to put some distance between the two of them. Knowing space between them would be the only way he'd be able to resist kissing her again. "No. No. I'm sorry. I can't… I can't… I can't live like this." His voice was shaking. He'd been so wrong. They were never going to be able to agree on this subject, he could see that now. "Every time I look at my wife, I see my own guilt reflected in her eyes."

Kara looked at him, sitting awkwardly, resolutely not looking at her. "Wow, wow, Lee. That is really poetic of you but you don't need to make that big a deal out of this." It was a lie and they both knew it.

"Well it is a big deal, Kara. It is. It is." Even to his own ears, his voice sounded desperate.

She could see neither of them was going to change their minds, however much they went back and forth about it. "Great. So I won't divorce and you won't cheat. So where does that leave us?"

Her question hung in the air for several seconds. It was the moment. The moment everything was going to change between them and not for the better. Lee was struggling to breathe, and for Kara it seemed to be the same. The tension in the ship had heightened to the point where it was almost painful for them to remain there.

Lee tried to find a word that summed up everything and it took him a while to find it but eventually he did. He looked at her, pain etched on his face. "Trapped." They stared at each other, the word reverberating around the Raptor. Lee was sure they'd have continued the conversation back and forth between them much longer if a hail from Galactica hadn't been received, relieving some of the pressure that had built in the small ship.

It was his father and the president on the line. After ascertaining it was just the two of them present, Bill Adama briefed them on the situation. "Four Cylon Basestars jumped into the upper atmosphere a while ago. The Fleet's jumped away. A delegation from one of the Basestars just came over to Galactica and met with the president and myself." He paused; Lee and Kara looked at each other, concern on both their faces; their previous discussion momentarily forgotten. "Gaius Baltar was with them."

It was Kara that spoke first. "What did they want?"

Laura spoke. "The Eye of Jupiter. They think we've found it and are in the process of retrieving it and bringing it back to the Fleet." She took a deep breath. "We need you to find it, Lee. Fast."

"Well it would help if I knew what I was looking for. Does it really look like an eye?" Lee looked at Kara, bewildered expressions on both their faces.

"I don't know, Lee. I've looked at the scriptures and they make reference to the Eye being left in some sort of temple but there's no physical description." She sounded defeated, even over the comm.

His father spoke again. "All we know for certain is that it supposedly points the way to Earth."

Skepticism was obvious in Lee's voice as he asked him the first thing that came to mind. "And you believe that?"

Bill was quick to reply, having anticipated Lee would ask this. "The Cylons do. I can't take a chance that they're right. If it looks like they're going to get into the temple, your order is to blow it."

Silence was the only thing that could be heard from either end of the line before Lee once again spoke. "Understood. What's my time…?" There was a loud screeching sound and the line went dead. "What's going on?" he asked Kara.

She pressed a few buttons, looking at the readings on the console in front of them both. "The Cylon's are jamming the wireless. Every frequency."

They looked at each other, realizing the enormity of their situation. It was Lee that spoke first, "Okay. We need to establish our communications. Work out a plan to defend this temple while Tyrol searches."

"Defend it with what? A dozen marines, maybe five more military?" She knew it would be difficult for them to achieve, but did Lee?

"We're going to have to draft the civilians." Even he didn't sound convinced he was suggesting the right idea.

It was time for some out-of-the-box thinking and Kara was quick to do just that. "Can I make a suggestion that you won't like?"

"Do you make any other kind?" His response was a pointed comment to their earlier discussion.

She knew he was going to hate this but said it anyway. "Use Sam to command the civilians."

"You're not serious?" It was pointless to ask her because he knew she was. 'Well, this is going to be fun,' he thought.

****

Sam walked into the tent to find the two of them waiting for him there. "Lee."

"Hey Sam." Lee tried to keep his tone light and walked away from the pair of them, having already agreed with Kara it might be best if she broached the subject.

The husband and wife were standing close together and she smiled at him, wondering if he'd forgotten about their argument. "Hi."

Sam looked at his wife as he poured himself some water from a canister. "Heard you were coming down. Guess it takes an emergency to get us in the same room these days."

Apparently he hadn't then. Kara rose from where she'd been sitting; flashing a look at Lee that suggested he maybe gave this a try. "Can we do this later please?"

Lee had heard their conversation and seen her face as she looked at him. He sighed, knowing he was letting himself in for a heap load of trouble. "Sam, I need you to command the civilians, form them into fire teams. I'll give my deployment orders through Sergeant…"

"Woah, woah, woah, woah. Deployment orders? Fire teams? Come on, some of these guys have never held a rifle before."

It wasn't the best start but had been the response Lee was expecting. His tone turned to mocking without even trying as he spoke again. "Well you're supposed to be the expert in turning civilians into soldiers." He just couldn't help the small dig at the man who'd had the audacity to marry the woman he loved.

"Oh, no, no. We were guerrilla fighters. Right, hit and run. Keep moving, keep the enemy off balance. I've never had to defend a fixed position. That's a whole different game."

Maybe just ordering him to do it would work… "Then you're just going to have to learn it fast because that's what we're doing. We're defending this fixed position until the Chief finds his Eye of Jupiter."

Incredulity was in Sam's voice as he reacted angrily to what Lee had said. "Okay, so you want us to risk our lives for something you haven't even found yet?"

Lee moved nearer to him, trying to remain reasonable. "Listen Sam, I'm not even sure it exists. But I don't have to tell you every little Gods damn detail."

Sam started to get in Lee's face; the antagonism between the two men had been increasing each time they spoke. Suddenly the discussion was about much more than their current situation. "No, you know what you have to explain to me…?"

"Hey, hey, hey." Kara forced herself between the two as they squared up to each other. She was facing Sam and it was to him she spoke. "The Major's in charge on this one, okay?"

He sneered at her. "Oh, well I certainly wouldn't want to step between you and your Major." He turned and strode out of the tent, followed closely by the rest of his team.

Lee couldn't help the sarcasm that crept into his voice as both he and Kara watched him leave. "Well, I thought that went really well."

Kara was sure she was right when she said, "He'll do it."

"He'd better." Kara couldn't help thinking it sounded like a threat.

TBC

A/N2: Now I know this is a definite step back for both of them after the previous part - but I did say I was going to follow canon... Please bear with me.