Playing with Kara - chapter 2
"Shall we go?" Lee asked, after Kara's giggle fit seemed to have subsided. She nodded and took his arm in hers, as though her giggles had left her too weak to walk on her own.
They headed down one corridor and another, people giving them strange looks as they walked arm in arm. Kara couldn't seem to keep a straight face, and hard as she tried, a big grin spread across it every ten seconds or so.
Just before they reached the hangar bay where the Vipers were prepped and ready, Hotdog intercepted them.
"Apollo, sir, I've got a problem with my CAP rotation tonight." Starbuck was in charge of CAP scheduling so Lee decided to let her take it.
"Can you handle this one?" Lee said, turning to face her.
"Do I have a choice?"
"There's always a choice, isn't there?"
"What are the consequences if I don't?" Kara figured from the expression on Hotdog's face that he was lost. Decent pilot, she thought, but definitely one sandwich short of a picnic.
"So what's the problem Hotdog?" she asked.
"I sprained my wrist."
"Your stick hand?"
"Yes sir."
"How'd you do it?"
"I was sparring with Helo, you know, a little practice at hand-to-hand combat, but we got a little carried away."
"How long are you out for?" she asked warily.
"Four days."
"Four days! Did you know that's going to mean double shifts for all of us?" Now she was getting angry.
"I'm sorry Starbuck. It won't happen again, I swear."
"Could you go tell Helo he's on in your spot tonight?"
"Will do. I'm sure he'll be fine with that."
"Well, hurry up then, we don't have all night do we?"
"No sir. Thank you sir. Anything else I can do to help out, just let me know." Hotdog nodded and headed past them to find Helo.
"You were pretty easy on him, weren't you?" Lee asked a few minutes later as they stood on the flight deck, pulling on their suits.
"Why be hard? What good would it do to his morale?"
He nodded. She did have a point. Berating someone for an accident wasn't the smartest thing to do. But he was surprised at how well she'd kept her temper in check. Seems she'd learned a few things here on Galactica - things that made her a better leader.
He gave her an appreciative glance, smiling as he thought of the impetuous, hot-tempered girl she'd been years ago when they'd known each other at the academy.
"So, you like what you see?" She said flirtatiously, posing in a sensuous way for him. He didn't know if she'd interpreted his glance the wrong way or was deliberately pretending that she had in order to bait him. She had the provocative smile on her face (the one that toyed with men's emotions - the 'you know you want me, come and get me' smile) and her eyes shone with laughter. Either way, the only way to handle her was to play the game her way.
"Do you need to ask?" he replied, walking towards her, a look of intense desire on his face. Two could play at this game! He saw her smile falter for a moment as she realized she'd gone too far. Perhaps this time he really meant to have her! She backed up a step as he stood close enough to touch her.
"Do I scare you?" he asked in a low, throaty voice.
"Should I be afraid?" She matched his tone and a sultry look crossed her face.
"I don't know, should you?" He lowered his voice even more and moved a step closer. The tension between them was almost palpable. For once, Kara was speechless.
"First fighting, now flirting. I don't believe you two."
Their heads both swung round to find Colonel Tigh standing a few feet away. They'd both been so lost in the moment, they hadn't noticed him walk in.
"Something ... wrong sir?" Kara asked in a small voice.
"Apollo, the President sent a message that she needs you to meet with her now."
"But why ... we just had a meeting ... " Lee began, but trailed off, unable to find a way to make his statement into a question.
"Don't ask me, I'm not her liaison," Tigh said sarcastically. "Just passing along the message."
"I guess we fly later then, huh?" Kara said, feeling disappointment lodge in the pit of her stomach. She'd really been looking forward to this.
"Apollo, Starbuck," Tigh said, nodding as he took his leave. Hanging around them too long was apt to make ANYONE crazy!
"Will you be here when I get back?" Lee asked quietly.
"Where am I going to go?" Kara spread her arms and shrugged.
"How should I know?"
"If I promise to stay here, will you hurry back?"
"You really want us to fly today don't you?"
"It's been a long time since it's just been the two of us hasn't it?" she said longingly. He nodded. She was right. And he'd been so looking forward to this too.
"Will you promise to wait for me?" Lee asked.
Kara nodded. He'd better hurry - she was getting awfully tired of waiting to spend time alone with Lee Adama.
As Lee climbed into his Viper and began the launch sequence, Kara leaned against hers and watched him. There was no doubt, the cockpit of a Viper was definitely where he belonged.
ZZZZZZZZ
Kara checked the clock again - for about the hundredth time in two hours. She'd hung around the flight bay, ostensibly helping with ship maintenance, but really just nervously walking around wasting time. Lee was taking forever! If only she had something to do, but unfortunately she had no shifts today.
Maybe she'd go to his office and see if there was anything to do there. Some paperwork he'd left undone or something. She whacked herself upside the head, hopefully knocking some sense into her. What was she thinking? Voluntarily doing paperwork? And someone else's no less? Was she crazy? But as she headed to his office, she knew she wasn't crazy. Just crazy about Lee. She'd never been able to see straight when it came to him. So she used her defense mechanism - she flirted with him, played games with him, just like all the other guys, so she didn't have to deal with the fact that he meant more to her.
As she sat in his chair, picked up his pen and clipboard, she wondered if he'd seen through her. He'd certainly called her bluff earlier and either he really did want her, or he was a damned good actor. Either way, it seemed there were more hidden depths to Lee Adama than she had ever imagined. Good. At least she'd never tire of him.
ZZZZZZZZ
"Starbuck to the hangar bay," came across the loudspeakers, interrupting her daydreams. She sprang up and looked at the clock, realizing she'd been in Lee's office for over an hour.
She sprinted down the corridors, arriving at the hangar bay to find Lee lounging against his Viper, holding his helmet under one arm.
"Weren't you going to wait here for me?" he asked, giving her the Adama eyebrow.
"How was I supposed to know you were going to take forever?" she replied flushing. She pulled on her flightsuit, but not before Lee caught the pink glow in her cheeks. Good. Score one more for him!
"Shall we go milady?"
"Is that what you really want?" she asked, turning on the charm.
"Can't you read my mind?"
"You have something there you want me to know?"
"Can I keep you in suspense till after we come back?"
Kara nodded and backed off, heading back towards her Viper. Things were really heating up here! Maybe her thoughts earlier were right - maybe there was something more here ...
But all those thoughts disappeared as they launched and flew together, their souls as one.
TBC