Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; I'm only borrowing them for a while

This is a follow on from my story "It's a frakked up universe". You really need to have read that to understand all of this story, but if you haven't, in a nutshell Lee and Kara are married with a young baby. I started to wonder how that would change things when she went back to flying and this is what I came up with. Hope you like it.

Returning to work

Chapter 1

The ramshackle fleet that made up the last remnants of human civilisation had been stationary for the last week. They hadn't seen their enemy in six months but everyone was getting jittery about their inability to move forward and put more distance between themselves and the Cylons. However, moving forward was an impossibility at the moment. It wasn't until they had gotten close to it that they had discovered that this system was traversed by a high energy magnetic storm field. They couldn't go back for fear of running in to the Cylons, but they had no safe passage forward either, and as yet they had not been able to penetrate the field or discover where it ended to enable them to go around it.

President Roslin had decided that it was time to discuss the situation with Admiral Adama directly. He had been rather evasive about it for several days so she decided that the best option was just to turn up on the Galactica and then he couldn't avoid seeing her. However, having done that, his staff were being amazingly difficult about letting her see him.

"I understand that he's off duty at the moment, colonel." She stared down the XO in CIC. "But I'm sure he won't mind seeing me. Don't bother escorting me; I know the way." She ignored colonel Tigh's protests and headed down the corridors towards the admiral's quarters.

Laura was about to knock at the hatch to the admiral's quarters when she heard a high pitched squealing coming from within followed by the admiral's deep voice making a distinct "weeeeeeeeee" sound. Wondering what on earth was going on she poked her head around the door. The fleet's supreme military commander was lying on his couch holding his six month-old grandson above him, obviously pretending the little boy was a plane.

"Weeeeeeeee" he said again as he pretended to fly him around in a circle. The little boy squealed and laughed in delight. He pulled the baby down to plant large raspberry kisses on his face. It was a revelation to see William Adama like this, but suddenly Laura realised that she was intruding on a personal moment and was loathed to disturb him. She thought she should just back out of the room quietly before he realised that she was there. Unfortunately, he looked up and saw her before she could. He sat up quickly, sitting Alex carefully on his lap.

"Madame President…."

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, Bill. Your staff did try to deter me, but I'm afraid I ignored them. I should have listened to them. I don't want to interrupt your free time."

"No it's fine. Grandpa is just doing a bit of babysitting duty today."

She sat down on the couch next to him. "I know and it's lovely to see. May I hold him?"

Bill passed the baby to her. Alex looked up at her with wide, bright blue eyes.

"Gracious, I think he looks more like Lee every time I see him."

"Yes, but he has his mother's smile." As if hearing his queue, Alex smiled his wide, toothless smile at Laura and suddenly a look of pure Kara shone out of his face. Laura gave him a big smile in return.

"Oh lords, you're going to be a heart breaker, aren't you sweetheart?"

"Going to be!" the admiral laughed, "Half of my crew are already in love with him. I have trouble getting a look in when it comes to the babysitting roster!"

As if determined to show that this wasn't the case Alex reached his arms out towards his grandfather. Adama took him back and settled him safely against the crook of his arm.

"I suppose you want to talk about our current situation."

"Yes, I would like an update on what you've got planned."

"Not much I'm afraid. We've had raptor patrols investigate this thing every which way. As soon as they get near it all their instrumentation goes haywire. They've not found any gaps, breaks or an end to it."

"Can't we just jump to the other side?"

"We could if we knew where the other side was! This thing could be 100 feet or 100 miles deep; we just don't know."

"So our only option is to go backwards and find another system we can jump to?"

"There is another option, but I've been reluctant to take it before we had exhausted all the efforts with the raptors." She looked at him enquiringly so he went on. "It is possible that a mark II viper with its relatively unsophisticated computer systems would be able to fly in the storm field, but it's very risky. We could easily loose both ship and pilot and be no further forward to finding a way through it. However, I'm coming to the conclusion that it's worth the risk. You know that I've been reluctant to settle anywhere that doesn't have some sort of natural defences? Well if we can get to the other side of this thing and find a suitable planet, it might be just what we need." She nodded, recognising the logic of his thinking.

"I take it that it will require a very special pilot to be able to fly this mission?"

"Yes it will," he said simply, knowing that she understood. She looked from him to the baby, a sad smile crossing her face as she reached out to caress his soft blond hair. Sighing, she stood up to take her leave.

"Well please keep me informed of what you intend to do. I think I can keep the press at bay for another couple of days, but after that they're going to be demanding some sort of action and are likely to cause trouble if they don't get it."

−

Two dark heads poured over the very rough schematics of the magnetic storm laid out on the table in the Galactica's briefing room. The casual observer wouldn't generally put them down as father and son, but right now, so close together, their expressions serious, they looked uncannily similar. They were alone in the dim light of the briefing room. The admiral had made sure that it was just the two of them. He knew that this was going to be a difficult conversation with his son and he didn't really want witnesses. Fortunately Saul hadn't needed too many hints and had left them to it.

"Do you have someone in mind for the mission?"

"I'll do it myself," Lee replied curtly. The admiral knew that this was a knee-jerk reaction on Lee's part.

"No son. I can't let you do that. The Galactica needs her CAG too badly to risk you for this. Besides, this type of thing isn't really your forte. You excel at leading the squadron in combat situations, but what this needs is someone who can fly blind, instinctually, without anything to guide them."

"Well we both know that I only have one pilot who fits that description. She's the only one who could do it and have the remotest chance of getting back alive, but as far as I'm concerned she's not an acceptable option."

"I suppose you could ask for volunteers."

"Yeah, and like she wouldn't be the first to volunteer! She's chomping at the bit for some way of proving that she's still got the chops after having Alex."

"You can't wrap her in cotton wool, Lee. Kara's just not that sort of person; she wouldn't stand for it."

"I know that dad, but I don't have to like it. Nor do I have to send her out on the first suicide mission that comes along."

"Son, I'm not going to lecture you about doing your job; you know what needs to be done. Don't think that I don't know how hard this will be for you. I can't think of the number of times I would have liked to order you to stay behind instead of sending you to lead some foolhardy charge against the Cylons, but I know you wouldn't have thanked me for it and neither will Kara. Sleep on it and let me know your decision tomorrow."

−

Lee knew that sleeping on it wasn't really going to be an option. The likelihood of him being able to sleep with the thought that he had to send his wife out on a potentially fatal mission the next day was very slim. Everything had been fine up until now. Kara had started to go back to flying over three months ago, starting out with a reduced shift pattern and building up over time. He had no problem with her flying CAP when they hadn't seen the Cylons in months, although he was careful not to have them flying together. Lords forbid that something did happen to one of them, but at least that way Alex would still have one parent. However, this mission was very different and he just wasn't sure he could handle it.

She accosted him as soon as he got back to their quarters.

"So come on, CAG, spill. Rumour has it that you've been closeted with the old man half the day planning an op."

Lee didn't answer immediately. He bent down and picked up his son, who was lying on a blanket on the floor surrounded by the makeshift toys their friends had made for him.

"I'm going to give Alex his bath and put him to bed; then we can talk about it." Kara stared at him. He had that closed off "don't argue with me" look on his face that she hadn't seen in a long while. Oh this was going to be good, she thought as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Kara bided her time, but once the baby was bathed, fed and sound asleep in his cot, she tackled him again. Lee knew he couldn't avoid the discussion any longer and outlined the mission.

"Dad wants someone to fly a viper into the storm, assess it, see how deep it is and check out what's on the other side."

"Sounds pretty simple," she said. Lee just laughed harshly.

"Yeah right, with no navigation, flying pretty much blind. We don't know anything about this thing; it could go on forever, it could frak with the engines as well as the electrical systems and for all we know the frakking Cylons could be lying in wait on the other side. If it is possible to make it to the other side there is no way of knowing whether it will be possible to get back again!"

"So when are you going to ask me to do it?"

"I wasn't planning on asking you at all. I was hoping you would see reason and suggest to me who else might be able to do it."

"You know there isn't anyone else that can do it besides me and you. They're all coming on but they haven't had nearly enough flying hours in a viper to do something like this and I'm sure that your dad has already told you that you can't do it. That leaves yours truly." He looked away from her, not wanting to accept what she was saying to him, but knowing that she was right. She decided to take a different tack with him.

"If this mission had come up before we were married and had Alex you wouldn't have even questioned who should do it, would you?"

"You know that I wouldn't, but things are different now."

"Why? My piloting skills haven't suddenly changed just because I've had a baby."

"No, but your responsibilities have. I wouldn't choose to send any of the married pilots on this type of mission; I'd choose someone with no attachments."

"If you had a choice. In this case you don't so you might as well stop arguing about it and just accept it."

"I'm not sure I can do that."

"You'll get through it, Lee, believe me. I had to stand by and watch you go through all kinds of missions when I couldn't fly. You almost got yourself killed while I was in labour for frak sake!"

"I know Kara, but you weren't the one who sent me on those missions. What if you don't make it back? What happens when Alex asks about how his mother died? How could I tell our son that it was me that sent you to your death, huh? I don't think I can live with that kind of responsibility." She reached up and touched his face.

"You live with it every day, Lee. I hate to remind you, but you send people out every day who don't come back."

"Yes, but they're not wives, they're not mothers. I don't have to face their loved ones and tell them that they're dead."

"It's just a matter of time before you do Lee. What would happen if Crashdown didn't come back tomorrow? Would you just ignore his wife? No, you'd be the one to take the responsibility of going and telling her."

"That's different."

"How is it different?"

"She's not the mother of my son. I'm not in love with her!" he shouted at her, his feelings for once completely exposed. She grabbed him and pulled him to her. His arms went around her in return and he held her tightly.

"Don't let's argue about this, Lee. I'm going on this mission and that's final. If it makes you feel better give me an order not to go and I'll go anyway; it's what I usually do, but let's not spend this night apart from each other."

"You're right and I'm not being entirely honest with you. It's not just telling Alex that I'm worried about. I know it's selfish of me to think this way, but I don't know how I'd live without you Kara."

"I know, I'd be the same if it were you," she acknowledged, "but let's think about this objectively. How many times have I done impossibly dangerous missions?"

"Loads," he admitted.

"And how many times have I not come back?"

"None, but there's always the first time, Kara and that's all you get; one frakking chance!"

"Leeee! When did your glass become so permanently half empty?"

"Since I've had so much to loose."

"Have some more faith in my abilities please!"

"I know, I know. I do. It's just I couldn't bear it if you didn't come back." He screwed his eyes shut and she could see that he was close to tears.

"Shhh, it's not going to happen," she tried to calm him, a gentle hand stroking his hair. "But just in case it does take me to bed right now so that I can at least go off to meet the Lords with a happy memory!" She said with a wicked grin.

Lee bent his head and captured her mouth in a deep, desperate kiss. She started to pull off his uniform jacket and before they knew it they had made it to their bed, their uniforms in a messy pile on the floor.

−

Early the next morning Kara quietly eased herself out of bed, careful not to disturb her sleeping husband, glad that she had finally exhausted him enough to get him to sleep. She padded over to the baby's cot. This contraption had been a present from Tyrol and their deck crew, which they had made from one of their wooden wagons. She had heard Alex gurgling away and was anxious to make sure that he didn't start crying and wake Lee. He lay on his back looking up at her, arms and legs flailing in excitement. She picked him up with a smile. She hardly had a chance to sit down before he was searching for her breast. Although she was starting to wean him, the lack of fresh food suitable for a baby made continuing to at least partly feed him herself the only viable option. The pap they sometimes served up in the mess hall may have resembled baby food, but she wouldn't feed it to her dog let alone her child! Besides, she enjoyed this quiet time with her son. The only sounds were the occasional creaks of the old ship, Alex' contented baby noises as he fed and Lee's gentle snoring. She looked down at her son and stroked his head. He was so heartbreakingly like Lee. Much as she wanted to go on this mission, she knew that it was going to be next to impossible to leave them both and step into her viper later on that day. She hated to admit it, but Lee was right; things had changed. She had only had herself to worry about before. Now she had this precious boy and her equally precious husband. However, she supposed her perspective was somewhat different to Lee's. Before she had been so screwed up that when she was in the thick of a fight with the Cylons or some other equally precarious situation, it would cross her mind that it didn't matter if she made it back from the mission or not. Now she had very good reasons to make it back to Galactica and she fully intended to.