Chapter 2

Lee offered Stephen the use of some empty quarters close to their own. Kara went off to fetch Alex so Lee got his first chance to catch up with his old friend. He was pretty convinced that Stephen couldn't be a Cylon, but he couldn't quite get over a nagging concern that the Cylons had chosen people close to him and his family as models in the past. Just because they hadn't seen anything of the Cylons since New Kobol didn't mean they could assume their enemy had given up. He would be glad when they could get the test done to clear up the uncertainty.

For his part, Stephen's thoughts were far from thinking about possible Cylons. He was thinking about the glorious irony of finding out that his home had been destroyed, but being reunited with his oldest friends. When they had first arrived at the academy, Lee Adama and Stephen Nagala had been naturally drawn to each other by the commonality of being two young men carrying the weight of parental expectations. They had soon become firm friends. Although his father was the higher ranking, Stephen's position hadn't really been as bad as Lee's at the flight school. His father was a tactician, a strategist. Whilst he was respected he didn't generate the same awed devotion a viper-god like William Adama did. After all, as they had often joked, a man wasn't a man until he wore the wings of a viper pilot, so Admiral Nagala was somewhat lacking in that department!

How this duo had become a trio he couldn't really recall. Certainly no one had expected the foul-mouthed, trouble making blonde bombshell with the huge chip on her shoulder that was Kara Thrace at that time to join forces with the Academy's two golden boys, but somehow it had happened. At first there had been a little rivalry between them for her affections; she and Stephen had even had the briefest of flings, but things soon settled down into steady friendship. Stephen was a decent viper pilot but he wasn't in Kara's class, or even Lee's for that matter, but academically he ran rings around them both (hence the call sign 'Whiz'). They had supported him in his decision to resign his commission after graduation and pursue his doctorate in the face of the opposition from his family. For that he would always be thankful.

As they moved through the Galactica's corridors Stephen decided that he needed to brave the topic of Lee's disability.

"So Kara told me that you were hurt saving your son."

"Yeah, but I'm well on the mend now. Even starting to get some feeling back in my legs."

"That's wonderful. I have to say that's a pretty neat machine you've got there Apollo: not quite a mark VII, but it looks pretty speedy." Lee grinned up at him.

"It's great isn't it? I was lucky that one of our foremost disabled pyramid teams was travelling back from their championships when the Cylons struck. They're all holed up on one of the cruise ships. This is one of their spare racing chairs. It's much easier than the old thing I had to use before. I can pretty much get about most places in Galactica where there aren't stairs. I've even started playing pyramid with these guys. Turns out I'm quite good in a wheelchair. Kara thinks it's hilarious. I was always crap at pyramid when I had the use of my legs and both arms!"

"I can't quite comprehend that the Cylons were able to destroy so much of the colonies in one swift attack and that this small fleet is all that's left of humanity. I hadn't spoken to my family in five years before I left and now they're all gone. Thank the Lords my mom wasn't around any more. I don't think I've ever been grateful for her early death before. How about yours?" Lee shook his head sadly.

"Gods, I'm sorry Lee."

"I'm one of the lucky ones: I still have my Dad with whom, just in case you didn't notice, I've ironed out my differences, and then of course there's Kara," he said with a soft smile.

Even in the short time he had been with them it was obvious to him that Lee and Kara were head over heels in love with each other. He had so much catching up to do: he wanted to know what the "serious shit" was that had finally gotten them together.

They entered the Adama's quarters and Stephen was introduced to Alex. The toddler looked up at him with a wide smile and shining blue eyes and then solemnly held out his hand to shake. That solemn look reminded Stephen so much of Lee when he had first met him that he took the proffered hand with equal seriousness and shook it up and down twice.

"Pleased to meet you," the little boy enunciated carefully.

"I'm very pleased to meet you too, Alex". The child turned to his mother and loudly whispered.

"Wos 'at right mommy?"

"Very good, sweetheart." The loving smile that she bestowed on her son told Stephen that this was a very different woman to the one he had last seen shortly after Zac's funeral. Alex turned and ran over to his parents and buried his face against his mother's leg, giggling. Once he'd plucked up the courage he clambered onto his father's lap and smiled shyly at Stephen from the safety of his father's embrace. When father and son were close together the resemblance was even more remarkable.

"Are you sure he isn't a clone, Kara?"

"Yeah, frightening isn't it? But I was definitely there when he was born so I can confirm that I did actually have something to do with him too."

Stephen got himself settled in to his new quarters while Alex was put to bed, and then he joined them again for dinner. There seemed so much to talk about that it was difficult to know where to start. He plumped for the rather unusual command structure currently in place on Galactica.

"You really did a number on my Captain. He was raging at me after the introductions that this can't be a proper colonial military ship because the CAG's pregnant, the XO's in a wheelchair and everyone seems to be called Adama!"

"Hey, we like to encourage a family atmosphere!" replied Lee, laughing.

"Oh I'm not complaining; the little shit deserved it, but I have to admit I'm intrigued as to how you got into these positions. From what I recall your father was always a bit of a stickler when it came to the military code."

"It's a case of beggars can't be choosers I'm afraid." Lee went on to explain about what had happened on New Kobol and how it had come about that he had been promoted from CAG to XO. "After that my father didn't really have much of a choice: it was me or Gaeta. Gaeta very generously told him that he wasn't ready for the job yet and that he should appoint me, even with my obvious physical shortcomings." He didn't mention the fact that the president had tried to persuade him to run for the vice presidency left open by the death of Baltar. He had kept that conversation strictly between himself and Laura Roslin. He had been deeply flattered by her faith in him, but he couldn't deny that the trust shown by his father in making him XO was incredibly important to him at that difficult time. He had explained as gently as he could to the president that she had a range of candidates to choose from, but his father's options were very limited and he needed all the support his son could give him. He'd also known about Kara's pregnancy by then and he knew that he couldn't put her through the change or the turmoil of a political life at that point. "I thought the pair of us working so closely together would be a recipe for disaster, but we work surprisingly well together."

"That's because you're more similar than either of you is prepared to admit," chimed in Kara.

"But didn't you say that this planet was where you were injured, Lee? How did you manage to escape the Cylons?" His jaw actually dropped at the story they told him. "Frak me! You don't do things by halves do you?" He shook his head in wonder at them. "But the injuries are not as bad as they first thought? You said you had feeling coming back."

"Yeah, the spinal cord was only damaged, not severed. It's taken a long time for it to heal but I'm making real progress at last."

"How did you find out that your feeling was returning?"

Lee and Kara looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Well, we were er, ….investigating Lee's er…"

"Capabilities," supplied her husband with a grin.

"Yes, his capabilities, and we discovered that he had more feeling below the waist than we thought."

Whiz laughed, shaking his head at them.

"Bet that was fun to explain to the medics."

"You have no idea! I think it made doc Cottle's year."

"Is that how this came about?" he asked, pointing at Kara's stomach.

"No, this happened just before he was injured," she replied, patting her bump.

"Isn't it a bit difficult being CAG when you're grounded? I take it that you are grounded, Kara?" he asked with a concerned tone. Knowing her she would probably still try and fit in a viper cockpit if she could.

"Yes, at least from vipers. I'm still flying raptor patrols, although doc Cottle and I are having a bit of a battle about that now that I've passed thirty weeks, but I just don't have enough pilots to give up without a real reason. Talking of which, I'm a few pilots short of a full viper squadron at the moment. How do you fancy getting back in a viper?"

"Frak, I doubt I'd remember which end was which. Besides, I'm sure the admiral won't want me in one of his fighters before he knows I'm definitely not the enemy. How long is this Cylon-detection test going to take?"

"Each sample takes eleven hours to run. Our last resident science genius, doctor Baltar, devised it. We're not even sure that it's that reliable because he turned out to be a Cylon conspirator."

"Gaius Baltar? But he was a computer guy. Biological testing was definitely not his area of expertise. Do you want me to see if I can do anything to improve it?"

"That would be a great help Whiz, but don't take this the wrong way, how can we know that you're not a Cylon?"

He didn't take offence at this question but nodded in agreement at their caution. He thought for a while about how to deal with the problem.

"Do you have any samples from known Cylons?"

"We must have some of Sharon's; she was the Cylon model that infiltrated Galactica and shot my father. Baltar said her original test was negative which is why we're a bit sceptical about his whole testing system."

"What about a definitive human sample?"

"You should use Kara's. There's no question that she's human: you see the female Cylon models can't sustain pregnancy."

"Good. Assign someone reliable and knowledgeable to watch me so there can't be any question of the accuracy and I'll see what I can do to get a proper high throughput screening system set up."

The conversation roamed over many subjects, but they soon slipped into reminiscences about old times. Lee admitted to himself that he was driving the conversation that way deliberately to test the accuracy of Stephen's memory, but he hoped it wasn't too obvious.

"Oh my Gods, do you remember when you were caught running naked round the gardens outside barracks by colonel whatshisname?" Tears of laughter were running down Kara's face at the recollection of some of their exploits.

"Colonel Blake. Never been so embarrassed in my life trying to explain that one away, especially as it was the COs daughter I was trying to escape from!"

"Oh I can beat that," responded Lee. "Try explaining to your CO, who also happens to be your father, how you've managed to get his best pilot pregnant and broken every frat reg in the book."

"Ouch! That had to hurt!"

"Oh don't you feel too sorry for him. The old man's a softy. If I remember rightly, once he'd gotten over the initial shock, he couldn't have been more pleased, and as for his grandson, well he's positively besotted with him. I bet Alex could lead him by the nose round Galactica if he wanted to!"

Their laughter was so good to hear. Notwithstanding the shocks of the day, he felt invigorated by the evening spent in such good company. Despite the fact that Lee and Kara were very obviously a couple he didn't feel embarrassed or left out by their intimacy; they had just slipped straight back into their old camaraderie. Eventually, however, he had to admit that he was about to drop with fatigue and bid them good night.

−

As Lee and Kara got ready for bed they discussed their friend.

"He can't be a Cylon. He remembers things that happened ten years ago; intimate details that only someone who was really there would know."

"It's horrible having to be this suspicious of an old friend."

He looked at her intently. He had never been surer of her feelings for him than in the last few months, but he still had moments of insecurity.

"You must be glad to see him though."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well you always liked Whiz didn't you? I mean you made friends with him before me."

"Lords, you're dumb sometimes Lee Adama."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, why do you think I got to know Whiz?"

"I presume 'cos you fancied him?"

"No dumbass, I really fancied his friend Lee, but couldn't seem to get him to talk to me. Whiz was much easier going so I thought I might get introduced to his friend through him."

"Oh." he blushed.

"Only when I got to know his friend Lee, I found out that all he was interested in was beating every record there ever was at the academy, especially any that had been set by his father, so I decided he would be more useful as a friend than a frak buddy. Still fancied the pants off him though!" She smiled affectionately at him, knowing where this conversation was coming from and hoping she could clear his mind of any worry quickly.

"But I thought you slept with Whiz?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"Ranked as the worse night of my life until my infamous Baltar incident! We only did it the once after we'd had too much to drink. When we woke up we both agreed that it wasn't the best idea we'd ever had and never did it again. It was like sleeping with my own brother! Urgh!" She shuddered dramatically.

"I thought you might think that with me. You know, the brother bit."

"Yeah I should really, but I never have Lee, not for a moment." She caressed his cheek, a serious expression settling on her face. "I'm not going anywhere, Lee. Not with Stephen or anyone else for that matter. I only want to be with you." She tried to lighten the mood a little and a saucy grin peeped out. "Besides I'm hardly likely to get the opportunity: I'm not exactly any man's dream girl of the year at the moment am I?" she looked down at her protruding stomach.

"You'll always be my dream girl Kara, especially when you're pregnant with my child."

"Ah sweet! I don't know whether to vomit over you or kiss you."

"Can I have the latter please?" She leaned down to place a soft but passionate kiss on his mouth. He caressed her belly with his good hand. She covered his hand with hers and they stayed that way in silence for a few moments, each saying a silent prayer of thanks for their current happiness. He kissed her belly reverently then leaned up and kissed her on the mouth again, this time with more intent.

"Hang on there a moment tiger," she whispered and pulled away to go and finish her preparations for the night.

"Whiz was always more of a brunette man anyway," she called over her shoulder at Lee. "I wonder if I can fix him up with Racetrack? She deserves first crack at the new talent. And the Lords only know when Stephen last had a good frak; there weren't many women on their crew and the two I saw looked like Tauran shot putters." Lee just groaned.

"I don't want to hear this, either as your husband or your XO. I don't recall matchmaking being in a CAG's job description."

"Course it is; you were just crap at it!" He smiled slyly as he grabbed her hand and drew her down on to his lap.

"Says who? I got the match I wanted."

"Definitely crap. Putting yourself before your men? Really Major, I'm ashamed of you!" She resumed her previous occupation of kissing her husband, not really demonstrating any shame at all!