The words coming over the general comms channel made Lee's heart stop.

"Galactica, this is Corporal Armstrong, currently stationed on Cloud Nine. I repeat, I have an officer down on board. The situation is under control, but I have an officer of the Air Group down. I need a medical transport here as soon as possible."

Lee swore. He couldn't afford to lose another pilot.

"Corporal Armstrong, would you please identify the pilot so we can have the proper medical supplies ready for them?"

Lee smiled. If Dee was in charge of making sure the pilot got the attention they needed, he didn't have to worry that much.

And then his whole world came crashing down.

"Lieutenant Kara Thrace."

Lee didn't hesitate. He flipped his comm button on, butting into the transmission. "Galactica, Apollo. I'm currently two minutes away from Cloud Nine. I'm taking my Raptor in." It was a command, not a question.

"Roger that, Apollo," Dee said. There was no way she was going to argue with him.

"Dee, you better have Doc Cottle waiting in that hangar bay."

"Don't worry, Lee. You know I will."

Lee clicked the comm off and focused on piloting the raptor closer to the travel hub. Though his landing on board was nowhere near perfect, Lee made it onto Cloud Nine in under a minute. He was greeted by a Marine. "Where is she?" he hissed.

"Third floor of the hotel, sir. We were afraid to move her."

Lee didn't even take time to thank the Marine. He took over in a sprint, forgoing the elevator for the stairs. Every second counted when it came to Kara's life. Lee spotted another Marine standing outside one of the open doors on the third floor, but again he couldn't get himself to pause. He had to see Kara.

As soon as he steeped into the room, the sight of her stopped him in his tracks.

Kara was laying on the bed, hand clutched to her stomach tightly. She looked like she was about to pass out. Lee took in her appearance as he stumbled over to the bed. He had thought her dress from Colonial Day had been too much. Even though she was so noticeably hurting, he couldn't help but think she was the most stunning sight he had ever seen. She looked up at him, and the sheer relief in her eyes made him struggle to control his emotions. All the problems they had been fighting with for the past few weeks went out the door as he sat down on the bed next to her.

He reached out and took her free hand in his. "You look beautiful, Kara," he whispered as he slipped her arm around his neck. He pulled her up off the bed as if she weighed nothing.

She tightened her grip around him as a sob broke from her lips. Lee carried her down the hall in shock as she collapsed into a fit of hysterical crying. He whispered to her that it was okay and that she was safe now, but it didn't seem to help.

When they reached the Raptor, Kara managed to get herself under control enough to hiss, "You have no right to say things like that to me, Lee."

"Huh?" His face lit up with confusion.

"You have no right to call me beautiful, not after what you did."

Her comment hit him out of nowhere. He had just been voicing the thought booming through his head amidst the chaos. She shouldn't get that upset over it. Hell, he only meant it to distract her for a few moments.

Lee tried to remember if his gunshot wound had made him as out of it as she seemed to be, but he found all he could remember about that time was the way Kara had eased away his pain. He felt her grip on him loosen as he walked up the ramp of the Raptor. That was another thing he remembered about being shot, a desperate need to just let it all slip away. "You need to stay with me here, Kara. It's still going to be a few minutes until I can get us back to Galactica."

He gently placed her in the empty co-pilot chair and took a moment to glance at her wound. He lightly pulled the tatters of her dress to the side and was happy to see that the bleeding had stopped. He had a chance to get her back in time.

"Why?"

Her voice came out so tiny and quiet that Lee wondered if he had imagined the question.

"Why did you do it?" she repeated when he didn't answer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Kara."

"I saw you with Racetrack. I want to know why you threw away military regulations for her. What was so special about her that you would risk everything just to get a quick frak in an equipment closet?"

"What?" Lee exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet. "You think I'm fraking Racetrack?"

"Lee, I saw you with her a few hours ago. You were too busy hurrying up to notice me, but I saw you."

"Kara, I've been on the restocking runs my father set up all day. The last time I was on Galactica was when I had lunch with you. Frak, I even invited you to come along."

Her face screwed up in confusion. "I don't understand. I saw you."

"That's impossible," he said, turning to raise the ramp and begin pre-flight. He was taking Kara's sudden urge to argue with him as a good sign even if she was talking nonsense.

"Well, I saw the back of your head," she insisted.

"Granted my hair's grown out a little since the attacks, but there are plenty of men in the Fleet who have the same military cut and wear the same clothes as me."

"It wasn't you?"

"Kara, if I chose to break the fraternization policy, it would definitely not be with Racetrack," he pointed out.

There must have been something in his voice that convinced her he was telling the truth because she let out a small sigh before shutting her eyes. He watched as the spark of feistiness drained right out of her "You have to stay with me, Kara," Lee growled as he pulled the Raptor out into the open space.

Kara's eyes snapped open. "Where's Anders?"

"What?"

"He was with me. We were on a date and then Hughes knocked on our room door. Then he shot me." She turned to look at Lee. "Where's Anders?"

"I don't know."

"Lee, I'm responsible for him. We're in a relationship."

Lee let out a small laugh. "Trust me. I know that."

"That's right. You were the one that forced me to give him another chance, you frakked up idiot." Her words might have been a little harsh, but somehow they put Lee at ease.

Kara reached out to grasp Lee's hand after a moment. "Anders is my responsibility, Lee. We can't leave without him."

"Newsflash. I don't give two fraks about Anders right now. I need to get you to Doc Cottle."

"Please, Lee. I have to keep him safe. You made me promise to give him a chance."

Lee held her eyes for a moment before reaching over to turn on the comm. "Galactica, Apollo. ETA three minutes. I need you to give me some information. Lieutenant Thrace says Samuel Anders was with her on Cloud Nine. Do we know if anyone's located him?"

"Corporal Armstrong said that Anders was found in Cloud Nine's refrigerated storage a few minutes after you left. Lieutenant Thrace told the Corporal what happened and made him promise to find Anders." He heard Dee pause as her attention was obviously diverted to another communication. She always seemed to be juggling a million things in the CIC. Lee heard her chuckle before she came back to him. "Are you still there, Apollo?"

"Two minutes away, but I'm here, Dee."

"Corporal Armstrong wants me to correct that statement. He doesn't want to take credit for something he didn't do. Lieutenant Thrace told him that Anders had been taken by the Cylon, but she kept asking him to find someone named Lee. The Corporal assumed that they were the same person until he actually found Anders."

Lee looked at Kara out of the corner of his eyes and saw her clenching her eyes tightly. If he wasn't still concerned about the fact she was sitting next to him with a bullet lodged in her abdomen, he would have laughed. She looked mortified. "You tell the Corporal that he managed to do both, Dee, and let him know he should take credit where credit is due."

Lee eased the ship into the open port, frustrated at the innate slowness of a Raptor. It was excruciating to a Viper pilot. Seconds away from entering the tube, he heard Kara whisper his name in a faint voice before squeezing his hand . He managed to turn in time to see her eyes roll back as her grip on his hand released.

"I'm counting on you, Dee," Lee muttered, even though the comm channel was closed. He was doing his best to concentrate on landing the ship in one piece rather than letting his worry for Kara distract him. It was hard. He knew if Cottle was not ready and waiting in the hangar bay, Kara's streak of luck might finally run out.

As soon as the Raptor touched the hangar floor, Lee had the ramp lowered and Kara in his arms. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw the gurney and the cloud of smoke signifying Doc Cottle. He would have to recommend Dee for a vacation or something.

"She just passed out about a minute ago," Lee said, setting her down gently. "We were arguing only seconds earlier. I don't know what changed."

"Let go," Cottle grumbled, motioning to where Lee still held tight to Kara's hand. Lee paused for a second but did what the doctor said. "Listen. You can't come with me, kid. I think Colonel Tigh wants you to go to the Commander's office where you can brief your father about why the frak you took that Marine's call for help without consulting Galactica. The XO said it's important."

"He'll get over it," Lee said as he continued to jog beside the gurney as it was wheeled through the corridors.

"Captain, need I remind you that I'm one of your superior officers? This is a command. You will not follow behind me like a little puppy dog. I cannot fix Lieutenant Thrace with you breathing down my fraking neck."

Lee's eyes went wide but he pulled himself to a stop. He heard the Doc mumble a thank you as he watched his best friend disappear around the corner. It took all of his strength to keep his mind clear and force his legs to move in the opposite direction. He made it halfway to his father's office before swearing and starting to sprint towards sickbay. He couldn't leave Kara, no matter how superior of an officer told him to.

When he reached his destination, he was surprised to see the majority of sickbay was clear. Usually there were a million and a half pilots and personnel crawling over every inch. There were accidents happening on Galactica constantly.

"I had the place cleared." Lee turned to look at where his father stood. He should have known that his father wouldn't be anywhere but here. Kara meant a lot to both the Adamas.

William Adama gave him a smile. "I figured you and I could use some silence while we waited for our girl to come out of surgery."

Lee didn't say a word. He just dropped in to stand beside his father as they watched Doc Cottle do his best to repair the damage in the woman they loved.