For the first two hours, all Kara could do was sit in the chair next to the bed, holding tightly to Lee's hand. The situation had to sink in before she could start thinking about how to fix it.

The Commander had told her not to feel guilt even though he had a feeling she wouldn't listen. He was right. When it came to Lee, she couldn't hold back the guilt even if she wanted to. It was odd how he had slowly slipped into her life to give her a purpose. She had the Cylons to fight and humanity to protect, but when it came down to it, she survived day to day knowing she was keeping the Old Man's son and her best friend in the world safe from harm.

It was sort of funny. At times like these, most people felt the need to start confessing their sins and admitting the things they had never had the courage to say. Lee was lying right in front of her, a captive audience to say the least. Yet she didn't feel the need to say a word. Everything she could possible tell him, he already knew.

Did she wish she had been on Galactica to save him? He knew she did.

Did she want him to know how much she loved him? He loved her just as much.

Did he know how desperately she wanted him to keep fighting to wake up? He was doing everything he could.

Did he know when he woke up, she would be by his side? He wouldn't imagine anything less.

As the third hour came and went, Kara felt her back and knee tightening up. She had pushed her body to the extreme during her two trips to Caprica. Knowing he wouldn't care, she scooted onto the bed next to Lee and wrapped her arm solidly around his body. She never thought she would be the one to hold him.

That was how Anders found her, quietly fading in and out of sleep. She didn't have the courage or the strength to pull away from Lee so she just stared at the man she had risked everything to save, knowing she was in the arms of another man.

"It seems you left out a few things about your life on Galactica," Anders pointed out. She could sense annoyance in his voice, but on the bright side, he definitely wasn't angry.

"It felt easier just to wait until we got back here."

Anders walked the rest of the way into the room and took a seat in the chair Kara had already spent hours in. "Then start talking."

Kara pulled herself up to a seated position, trying her best to shove the absurdity of her situation to the back of her head. She was in bed with the brother of her dead fiancé, talking with the man who was currently trying to fill that position left vacant by Zak. She knew she should feel guilty, should want to put some distance between herself and Lee, but something inside of her didn't want to let Lee go for even one second. He had to know she was there, waiting for him, if he was going to pull himself out of this.

"I'm waiting, Kara."

Anders' impatience rubbed her the wrong way immediately. "Fine. Do you want me to give you the flowers and puppy dog version? Or do you want me to just lay the truth on you?"

"Don't lie to me," he answered honestly.

"Fine. We'll start with the facts. Lee is the CAG on Galactica, though that was never his choosing. Just like you and the resistance, he was thrown into it when the world ended. He's the Commander's only living son. His brother, Zak, died after his graduation from flight school. I was one of his flight trainers and his fiancée at the time." Kara tried her best not to let her thoughts drift towards Zak. There wasn't time. "I met Lee through his brother, and I guess you could say I found my Viper soulmate. You should see us in the air. People say it's pure poetry in motion."

Kara saw Anders clench his jaw as he tried to reign in his jealousy. She would have felt bad for him if only he hadn't asked for her not to lie. "Zak died, I requested a post on Galactica, and my relationship with Lee became strained." For a second, she debated telling Anders the real reason why. Then she thought better. It had taken her two years to admit her part in Zak's death to his brother. She wasn't just going to volunteer the information to a man she had only met a month earlier. "He showed up on Galactica hours before the Cylons attacked. Nothing like the end of the world to mend old wounds, I guess."

"I understand how situations like we're in right now can intensify emotions."

Kara knew Anders was just trying to be understanding, but his inability to comprehend was trying on her patience. "You don't understand Lee and I. Our emotions for one another were always intense. We didn't need the world to end to give us that." Kara glanced at Lee. Even though he was lying motionless in the bed, his eyes closed, his face serene, Lee could still put a smile on her face like no one else. "Lee is one of the few people I respect. He's worked hard to earn that right, and he's one of the few people I'd give my life for in a heartbeat. There's not many men like him left in this world." Kara glanced over at Anders and was surprised to see him looking shell shocked. "That's pretty much the heart of who Lee is."

"And you weren't going to tell me any of this until later?"

"I didn't think I had to." She watched Ander's gaze shift down to where she still held Lee's hand. She knew it was making him uncomfortable.

"It sounds like you really love this guy."

It was almost like he was challenging her to admit it, and Starbuck never backed down from a challenge. "I do."

"Maybe I should leave you two alone."

His words cut through her. She would have thought Anders would be more sympathetic. Granted it was his first day back to the Fleet, but her best friend was struggling to fight his way back to life. It would have been nice to know her boyfriend was behind her while she figured out a way to bring Lee back.

"Maybe you should," she whispered while sinking back down against Lee.

"They've given me an empty bed in the bunkroom down on sub-level J, in case you want to find me."

"As soon as he wakes up," Kara said, knowing she was hammering the nail into the coffin. She felt something for this ex-pyramid player. She wasn't sure what it was yet, but there was something there. If he couldn't take her relationship with Lee, though, it was better that they ended it now. Lee Adama was a part of her life again, and she wasn't going to sacrifice that for anyone, including herself.

The room filled up with silence again as Kara found herself alone once more. She figured she had a few hours before the Commander started to worry and came down to see her.

"Good night, Lee," she whispered and tried her best to get the rest she desperately needed.