Dee stood outside the door to the CAG's office with her hand held up to knock. She had been in this position for the better part of two minutes. When deciding it was time to talk to Lee, she hadn't realized it would be this hard to take the first step.

"You have to actually knock to get the go ahead to go in" whispered a soft voice in her ear.

She jumped and turned to throw up a quick salute. "I didn't realize you weren't in your office, Captain."

"You wouldn't have been hesitant to knock if you knew I wasn't in there?" Lee asked, slipping past her to key the combination into the lock pad by the door. "What do you have to tell me that has you so nervous, Specialist?"

Dee shook her head at his use of rank. He knew that calling her Specialist made her mad. But he had been doing it for years.

It was amazing that no one on Galactica had ever thought to wonder why she and the CAG had such an easy-going relationship. No one had thought to actually pay attention to the two of them.

Maybe if they had, they might have picked up on the fact that Dualla and Lee had known each other for years. Then again, no one knew that Dee had served on the Battlestar Atlantia before being transferred to Commander Adama's crew about a year and a half ago. They wouldn't know that Dee had had a little relationship consisting of shameless flirting with the son of the great William Adama. They wouldn't know there had been a rather interesting conversation between the two of them about what exactly the fraternization policy meant when it came to the military intelligence staff and the pilots.

Nothing had come of it, and it had all happened years ago. Now all anyone would notice is the ease that existed between the two of them. And, to be quite frank, Dee really didn't expect anyone to notice anything about Lee and her with Starbuck around. That woman managed to unintentionally keep all attention on herself for almost every hour of every day.

"Lee, we have to talk."

She could see Lee stiffen at her casual use of his first name. They had taken such trouble to make sure no one on Galactica picked up on their previous relationship. The memory of Lee's reaction when he found out she was dating the President's assistant suddenly came to mind. His reaction had been so like him. A gentlemen to the end.

Lee had called her to his office towards the end of her shift that day. He had been quick to let her know that he had no intention of ever letting Billy know about what had gone on between them. In fact, he suggested that she start increasing the frequency she referred to him in her usual cold manner. More calling him 'sir' or 'Captain' and less showing of her concern for his strained relationship with his father.

It was typical Lee behavior, putting others' needs before his.

"Come inside, Dee," he said, pulling her back to the present. He was holding the hatch door open for her and waiting expectantly.

"Sorry, sir," she said, moving forward into the room.

When the hatch had clicked shut behind both of them, Lee turned to her. "What's wrong? Is it something with Kara? Is there news?"

"No," Dee said, shaking her head. "I just wanted to talk to you about something that I've been meaning to for quite a while now. You see, there's this thing. I've been wondering if maybe it was bothering you-"

Lee held up his hand to interrupt. "Is this about the President's program?"

"Yes," Dee said, letting out the breath she had been holding in. "How did you know?"

"Because everything I've been doing for months that didn't involve the situation on the Aerilon Sacrifice involves that fraking baby program. It's turned this Fleet into a bunch of insecure teenagers."

Dee shot him a glare. "I'll have you know, Lee Adama, the only reason I came here to talk to you is because I'm trying to be a grown-up about all of this."

"Uh oh," Lee said, shaking his head. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm in trouble?"

"You're not in trouble. I just wanted to ask you how you felt about… well… about your father and I."

"Are you two in love?" Lee deadpanned.

Dee's mouth hung open. "No, we are not. Where did you get that idea? Do not tell me it's circulating Galactica."

"No. It just seems to be the new craze. People keep falling in love with the match partners."

"Are you talking about you and Starbuck?" Dee asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"Not exactly considering she wasn't my match," Lee said absentmindedly. When he realized what he has said, he smacked his hand against his forehead and grimaced. "Would it be hard for you to just forget I said that?"

"No. Please explain to me now before I beat it out of you."

Lee turned to see the look of glee on Dee's face. She was radiating and he hadn't even told her who his real match was yet. That would probably make her die of amusement. "My father fixed the results. I wasn't originally matched with Kara."

"That crafty old man," Dee said with a laugh. "Well, do tell. Who were you and Starbuck matched with?"

"Starbuck was matched with Tigh." Lee took a deep breath and continued, "And I was matched with his wife."

"That Cylon wannabe?"

He was right. It looked like Dee was going to keel over from delight at the news. "Yes. Normally, I would object to someone's tampering with official government dealings, but in this case, I really think it was the better. It saved Starbuck from having to see what a mix between her and the XO would look like."

"And it saved you from getting sexually assaulted by Ellen Tigh."

"Exactly." Lee sat down in the chair behind his desk and kicked his feet up onto it. "We got off topic, though. Why did you come to talk with me, Dee?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with the Old Man and I giving our go ahead to Dr. Baltar and Doc Cottle for this repopulation program. Because, I mean, I thought that maybe with Zak and everything you might be a little uncomfortable."

"With having a baby brother or sister?" Lee shook his head. "Never. In fact, I'm looking forward to it. And if Zak were still alive, he would be just as elated. You're a good woman, Annie." She smiled at the use of a nickname she hadn't heard in years. "And it would be my honor to have your child as a sibling."

"You're too good to be true sometimes, Lee," she said, smiling at him.

"Don't I know it. Kara continually abuses that fact."

Dee stood up out of her chair and walked over to sit on the desk. She placed her hand lightly on his knee. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing fine today. There's been a lot of distractions." Lee glanced over at the papers on the desk. "And Gaeta finally got me that information on the weaknesses of the humano-Cylons."

"You're not planning to do something stupid like sneak away to take on that toaster by yourself, are you?"

Lee shrugged. "It's crossed my mind. But then I think about everything that could go wrong. I can't risk Kara's life like that. For now, I know she's alive over there on the Sacrifice."

Dee reached out to take his hand. "She's strong, Lee. She's not going to let some toaster posing as a human be the one to take her out."

"I know. I just…" His words faded off for a moment as he stared down at his hands. "I've gotten used to having her here with me." He looked up into Dee's eyes. "I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't there anymore."

"She's going to be fine."

"I just wish she was home."

"We all do."

The two old friends sat hand in hand for a moment, just enjoying the small peaceful silence between them.

Like all other peaceful moments on the Galactica, though, it was almost immediately interrupted by something. In this instance it was the phone.

"You should get that," Dee said, letting go of his hand and standing up. "It might be important."

Lee nodded and picked up the phone.

Dee watched as his face turned from surprise to worry to anger to joy and finally to complete shock. He didn't talk much to whomever was on the other end. He just reacted. She heard him thank someone before setting the receiver down.

When he didn't turn to tell her what had happened but just continued to stare at the telephone on his desk, she touched his shoulder lightly. "Lee?"

He twisted to look at her, and she noticed that there were tears pooling in his eyes. "She's home, Dee. Kara's home."