Prompt: JD - "The truth is, you should consider yourself lucky if you even occasionally get to make someone, anyone, feel a little better." - 'Scrubs'
"Dad?*"
Lee's soft utterance of the familial term caused William Adama to pause on the stairs and look back. Lee was holding up the lighter, and staring at the deck in front of him, his head turned slightly toward the stairs William was climbing.
"I'll bring it back.*"
William Adama knew that at a moment like this, his own father would have said something sentimental. However, nothing came to mind. As he had told Lee moments ago, Joseph Adama had been a better father than his son had turned out to be.
Knowing he couldn't walk away without saying anything, William Adama decided to do what his son had just done - use the lighter as a symbol for what was really being said. The lighter coming back wasn't what was important. Lee coming back was the real issue.
"You better, or I'll kick your ass. It's a good lighter.*"
William Adama saw the smile come to his son's profile, even as he turned to continue his climb. The smile told William that what he had set out to do, had been accomplished. He wasn't oblivious to the scuttlebutt going around his ship. He knew what Lee had stated, most people thought Starbuck would do better carrying out this mission. However, William knew that Lee was just as capable of it as Starbuck. He also knew that the mindset of a pilot going into battle could change the outcome of a mission. Send a pilot into combat thinking that everyone expected him to fail, then chances are, they were going to fail.
It was a lesson he had learned from the first CAG he had served under, and something that William Adama had never forgotten as he rose through the ranks. Yes, leadership was about earning the respect of those serving with you, both upper and lower ranks, and making the hard decisions. A leader could do okay with just those tools, but a leader that is truly beloved by those who serve under him, who has their devotion and not rust respect, doesn't forget that the men and women serving under him are human as well as soldiers. No amount of training can eliminate that completely. Taking the time to let them know you realize that, ignoring military protocol and reaching out to the person, went a long way.
William couldn't help but think that the fact that Lee was his son, should make that easier. It didn't. Most of the time it made it harder, but if he could say an encouraging word to Dee in the midst of battle to help ground her, then didn't he owe it to his CAG to do the same before an important mission.
He knew the importance of making someone feel better in this life style they had chosen. It didn't happen often enough. For William Adama, it had occurred even less in his personal life.
This once though, it felt good knowing that he had stepped up to that challenge.
*Dialogue from the episode "The Hand of God"
