Two days later, Doc Cottle had pronounced Lee's recovery a miracle. There was no long term damage from the oxygen deprivation, and it seemed like after a small amount of downtime, he would be back to running the Air Group like normal.

Kara had refused to leave Lee's side for more than a few minutes at a time. He had asked her to stay, and she was going to get as much out of his request as she could. It had been years since she was able to spend some time with Lee that didn't involve high stress levels and probable death.

Racetrack had brought her a deck of triad cards early that morning as she showed up to visit Helo in sickbay. It was funny that the two men they cared about most had to both almost die for Kara to start to understand Margaret Edmonson. It seemed like they had finally related on the most simple of levels. Despite everything that had happened, though, there were still a few things about Racetrack that Kara just couldn't get to add up. For instance, that morning Racetrack had asked Kara what was happening with Anders. Kara wasn't sure why Racetrack would care about her most recent fraked up relationship, but she wasn't going to waste time trying to figure it out. There were more important things at hand..

Kara was in the middle of beating Lee for the fifth hand in a row when a subtle coughing tore her eyes away from the game. Anders was standing in front of the open curtain, looking rather lost and extremely uncomfortable. It looked like Kara might have something new to tell Racetrack next time she saw her.

"Can I help you?" Kara asked coldly. She saw Lee shoot her a funny look but decided to ignore him. She had to focus because, if she was up to par today, she could get rid of Anders before he said anything that would really piss her off.

"I heard Captain Adama had woken up. I wanted to see for myself," Anders explained.

"So now you've seen." Kara twisted her gaze back down to the cards in her hand. "I swear to the gods, Lee, there's no way you can beat my hand."

"You're bluffing," Lee pointed out. "I can tell because you started biting on your bottom lip."

Kara's face turned red. She had forgotten Lee had learned her tells years before. Frak him and his good memory!

Lee turned away from the game as Kara threw her hand down in disgust and looked over at Anders. "I'm sorry for Lieutenant Thrace's rudeness. We've never met. I'm Captain Lee Adama, but everyone calls me Apollo."

"The call sign of a god," Anders pointed out.

"And no one ever lets me forget it."

"I'm Samuel Anders." He stepped forward to offer his hand to Lee and did his best to ignore the look of hate radiating from Kara. Unfortunately, that meant he didn't miss the recognition that lit up Lee's face. Obviously, Kara had told him about her time on Caprica. "I just wanted to see for my own eyes that you were awake. Kara's been worried sick about you."

"I doubt that," Lee smirked.

Anders' eyes narrowed in confusion. Did this man actually have no clue how much Kara loved him? Kara had been right when she said her relationship with Lee was frakked up in every way imaginable.

Lee's voice cut into Anders' thoughts. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go right ahead."

"Do you know anything about that damn mystery scar Kara's sporting on her abdomen? She won't tell me a thing about it except that it's the Cylons' doing."

"Hey!" Kara said, chiming into the conversation for the first time. "If you have something to ask me, then just ask me, Adama."

"You aren't going to answer me," he pointed out. "You'll just dance around the truth until I get frustrated and try to punch you."

"You couldn't land a punch if you tried!" she taunted.

Lee shook his head and turned to Anders. "See? She's doing it now." He pointed a finger at Kara. "Redirection is not going to keep him from answering my question."

Anders could see the anger flash across Kara's face and suddenly understood that she wasn't above knocking out a man who had just spent time in a coma. He figured he better answer as quickly as possible. "She didn't tell me a lot about the scar. Just that the Cylons did it and it had some connection to the farm."

Lee nodded. Kara had briefed him about what really happened on Caprica hours after he woke up. She had told him about the farms and about the fact that the Cylons had had her locked up in one. She had mentioned the operation and their tactics at trying to get her to crack, but she had refused to give him one piece of information about that scar. It hadn't gone unnoticed either.

"I'm going to go," Anders said, gesturing towards the open curtain.

"I think that's best," Kara growled.

"Listen, Kara. You and I still need to talk about a few things."

"I thought you had said it all."

Anders's eyes drifted to Lee before looking back at Kara. "Not by a long shot, Thrace."

Kara felt her stomach turn as Anders left the curtained-in area. It looked like the pyramid captain had decided she was worth fighting for. He was willing to take on Lee, a man who didn't even know he was fighting to keep her. Too bad Anders didn't understand that his true opponent was Kara herself.

"What was that all about, Kara?" Lee asked, cutting into her thoughts. "I thought that guy was just someone you met while on Caprica."

"He is."

"Then why the hell was he looking at you like he would give anything to frak you?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Lee?" she hissed. Her hands reached out to gather up the long-forgotten triad cards so that she wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

"I know there are things you left out about your time on Caprica. At the time, it didn't seem smart to push you, but I think I'm going to chance it now. What does this Anders guy mean to you?"

"We had a little thing," Kara said casually. "I guess I thought I owed him something which is why I went back to Caprica. When we got back to the Fleet, I realized I had overestimated his feelings for me."

"And your feelings for him? How did they measure up?"

"I overestimated them, too," she said shortly. "Now are we going to play triad or what?"

"I'm tired of playing cards," he admitted. "I was only doing it so you wouldn't leave me."

The irony of his words didn't go unnoticed by Kara. She was doing her best to give herself reasons to stay, and he was doing his best to figure out ways to keep her from going. At least they were being true to form in their complete lack of communication.

"Lee!" she scolded with a roll of her eyes. "I promised I would stay."

"I know, but you've promised that before." The true meaning of his words hung between them. There were still many raw wounds that lay untouched between them.

"Things were different then. To use your words, I didn't have my priorities in order."

Lee scrunched up his nose in disgust. "I don't say stuff like that."

"You say things exactly like that," she laughed. "That's why everyone thinks you have a stick shoved up your ass."

"Ha ha. Very funny."

The area filled with uncomfortable silence as the familiar comfort of bickering disappeared.

"Seriously, Kara. You feel something for that Anders guy, you should figure out a way to forgive him. Even if you have to swallow a whole lot of hurt, you should do what makes you happy. Plus, he looked downright miserable. You don't want to be the one causing that pain in him."

"You're one to talk," Kara pointed out. "When was the last time you were in a real relationship?"

"Three years ago," Lee answered truthfully. "It was well before I lost myself in the military life."

"That's right! You were dating that bar singer from Picon. What was her name?"

"Gianne."

"She was the nightly act at that shithole you liked to drink at," Kara said as her mind started recollecting the details. "Whatever happened with her?"

"It didn't work out."

"You two seemed happy. I really thought you were going to beat Zak and I to the altar."

"It didn't work out," Lee repeated.

"You criticize me for being cryptic, and yet you're the same way," she exclaimed. "How hypocritical of you, Captain!"

"I'm not proud of what happened between Gianne and I, and honestly I'd rather not talk about it."

"Come on, Lee. It's me. Nothing you say can lower my already low opinion of you."

"True," he laughed. It was funny how often comments that would usually anger him only made him laugh when it was Kara doing the teasing.

Kara persisted. "So tell me what happened."

"I broke up with her on the Feast of Aphrodite."

"You broke up with her on the one day that's devoted to people being in love? On a day the girl probably thought you were going to propose or make some sort of commitment to her? That's harsh even for you."

"I just wanted to keep her from suffering anymore."

"Why would Gianne have been suffering? Last I checked you two were incredibly happy with one another."

"I thought we were, but things change."

"Zak told me that you were talking about marriage with her. You were even going to figure out a way to get your father on Caprica so he could meet her."

"He told you that?"

"He talked about you all the time, Lee. I felt like I knew you even before he introduced us." Kara smiled and shook her head slightly. "But this conversation is not about you and me and it's not about Zak. What made you change your mind about Gianne?"

"You're not going to let up until I tell you," he observed.

Kara shook her head.

"Fine. I cared for Gianne. She was a nice girl, very pretty, and the exact kind of wife I knew my father would approve of. I thought I loved her."

"You thought?"

"I found myself falling in love with someone else, and it wasn't fair to her. She deserved more than being stuck with a man who could do that kind of thing to her."

"So you left Gianne?" He nodded. "Because you didn't want to hurt her?"

"I didn't love her like she deserved to be."

"So then what happened with the woman you suddenly found yourself in love with?"

Lee's face stiffened. "It didn't work out."

"She didn't love you?"

"She never knew," Lee said.

Her curiosity was starting to get the better of her. Even though she knew Lee was evading an admission of all the details for a reason, she couldn't help but ask just one more question. "Who was it?"

"I'm tired, Kara. Maybe I should take a nap before I pass out from overexertion."

"That's very mature," she said as she stepped to her feet. "Awkward question? Let's just kick Starbuck out! That'll make it all better."

"I'm not kicking you off. I'm just apologizing in case I fall asleep on you."

Kara knew it was a lie. He wasn't tired. Lee had spent practically the whole morning begging her to figure out a way to get him an all-clear from Cottle. He was just avoiding answering her question, and for once, she had no clue why.

It was odd. They had always kept some things secret from one another, usually for a good reason. There were things about his past that Lee obviously didn't want her to know, and there were things about her past and her present that she was too scared to tell him. It had never seemed so obvious before now, though.

Kara sat there in silence and let Lee retreat into the safety of pretend sleep. It hurt her to hold back the things she had gone through on Caprica, but she knew he would just worry for her. Lee had enough weight on his shoulders. She didn't need to dump even more on him.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, doing her best not to jar Lee away from his sleep. He was resting his eyes and grumbling slightly as he shifted to find a comfortable spot. It was his normal fussy routine. Her hand reached out to rub soothing circles into his back. She had seen this routine a thousand times, and yet it never lost its cuteness. There was something about a grown man acting like a fussy five-year-old that made her smile grow just a little wider. She could just imagine how exhausting the job of raising Lee's children would be if they were anything like their father.

That thought stopped her hand in its tracks. When had she started imagining what being the mother of Lee's children would demand?

"Kara?" Lee's eyes were open and staring up at her expectantly.

The hesitance in his voice made her pause before asking, "Yes?"

"I really would like to know more about that scar."

She chuckled. "I knew you weren't really tired."

"I am," he insisted. "Playing triad with you is always exhausting." Lee turned his body to face her. "I'm not too tired to listen, though. There's something about that scar that you don't want anyone to know. Something hurt you so much that you don't feel safe letting anyone know. You're pretty vulnerable right now, but you don't think anyone's noticed. I have, though. Kara, there are things in your life that are going to cause you pain, and I don't think you should have to deal with that all by yourself."

"Maybe I like not having to depend on other people," she grumbled.

Lee let out a small laugh. "Kara, you depend on people even when you don't realize. How many times have you thrown your Viper into a death-defying move, knowing that if something went wrong, I would save you?"

"Too many times to count," she admitted after thinking it over for a few seconds.

"Make a little adjustment, and depend on me when we're not in the air, too. The pain will eat you away inside if you don't, and that's a sight I never want to see again."

Kara stared at his sudden honesty. It was a relief to actually hear him say all the important things that she had heard in his voice every time he said her name. "The scar was put there by the Cylons, but it had nothing to do with the bullet wound. The Cylon doctor who was treating me was so preoccupied with procreation and the repopulation of the species. He seemed particularly intrigued with me and my womb." She rolled her eyes at the last word. She had always hated that word. "I'm still not sure what they did to me."

She looked up to see Lee struggling to keep his mouth clamped shut. Obviously, even with this little amount of information, he was piecing together the same conclusion. "Don't get angry," she whispered, staring down at her hands. "I don't think it's permanent."

"You don't think? Do not tell me you haven't had Cottle check it out yet, Kara!"

"There hasn't been time. I got back to the Fleet and then we had to go on that quest for the Tomb of Athena. I got back to Galactica and the President gave me the go ahead to return to Caprica. I got back from Caprica and you were in a coma. There hasn't been time."

Lee reached out to lay his hand on top of hers. "Kara, you don't have to lie."

"What am I lying about?"

"The reasons you haven't been to see the Doc," Lee replied.

Her eyes went wide, but his face looked so understanding yet insistent that Kara felt herself begin to crack. "So I'm scared? Is that so wrong?" she yelled through the tears. "Is it my fault that having a machine open me up to take a look under the hood is so fraking scary?"

Lee stared at her in surprise for a moment before he burst out laughing. "Did you just say 'take a look under the hood' in context to your body?" he choked out.

"Maybe it was a bad analogy," she admitted. They sat together, hands entwined, for a few tense moments before Kara drew back. "You do need your sleep, though, so I think we're done with sharing time."

"Don't forget what I said about Anders," Lee reminded her. "If you care about him, don't let your pride get in the way. And if you're so scared about having Cottle check out the scar, just have him do it the next time he comes in here to check on me. I'll hold your hand."

Kara nodded, and after giving Lee a small kiss on the forehead, left the room.