Lee was zipping up his flight suit in preparation to fly the CAP when he saw Anders for the first time since he had hurt Kara. His heart told him this was the moment he had been waiting for. His body was healed, and his mind was as calm as it would ever get.

Obviously, Anders had reached the same conclusion for he began to make his way over to where Lee stood by his Viper. Lee found it funny that the ex-pyramid captain looked nervous, but then he did have good reason to be.

The two men stood staring at one another in silence for a full minute before Anders spoke up, "I thought you would have come to find me by now."

"I had to let my hands heal first," Lee replied, letting the true meaning of his words sink in. "You know, I could probably beat you into an inch of your life and no one on this ship would care."

"I know. Everyone has made it clear how unwelcome I am on Galactica. It's funny. I never realized just how much everyone on this ship is enamored with Kara."

The silence rested uncomfortably between them. Lee was finding it hard to verbalize what he knew he had to say to Anders now that they were face to face. It wasn't easy to think when all he wanted to do was lash out in anger and grind this man's face into the hangar bay floor. Violence seemed to be in his blood lately.

"I hope you're making her happy," Anders said. The bitterness in his voice was not lost on Lee.

"I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean."

"I figured you two would be shacked up in some bunk by now, consummating your unspoken love for one another."

Lee lashed out to punch Anders in the stomach. He really had no clue why, but there was something in those words that made him lose control of his anger. Anders doubled over in pain for a moment before gritting his teeth and pulling himself back up.

"I still don't understand what she ever saw in you," Lee growled.

"Something obviously that you didn't have," Anders spit back. "She was willing to give you up to make me happy. I bet she never told you that. I told her there was no way our relationship could work if she didn't cut you out of her life completely, and she agreed with me."

Something connected inside Lee, and his mouth turned up into a sly grin. "I think I might owe you, Anders," he chuckled. When Anders gave him a look of confusion, Lee figured it might be time to put this guy out of his misery. He deserved to know that he just lost Kara Thrace forever. "Kara did tell me that you asked her to give up the one thing she loved the most, but she never told me what it was exactly. I never dreamed for one moment that it could have been me."

"I wouldn't be so smug about it," Anders warned. "She did agree with my request. She was ready to write you out of her life completely."

Lee shook his head. "It would have practically killed her to let me go, and in the end, I don't think she could have done it. In fact, I know I would never have let her do that. As much as our relationship confuses the hell out of me, I know that it's something that cannot be destroyed. It would kill both of us to have to let go. Which makes me wonder how you could be so smug about causing Kara that much pain."

"It would have been worth it in the end. She could have been happy if you had just given her a chance to have a normal life."

Lee let out a laugh, tongue in cheek. He couldn't believe this man had actually fooled him into thinking he was a good match for Kara. How could Lee have been so wrong? "Maybe she doesn't want to be normal," Lee suggested.

Anders was going to respond, but he never got the chance. Lee's fist hit his jaw with a resounding crack, and Anders felt something give way. His hands came up to cradle his jaw as a small line of blood began to drip slowly to the hangar floor.

"You might want to have that looked at," Lee said as he casually rubbed his aching hand. "I think I might have broken your jaw. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a CAP to fly and a best friend to apologize to."

Lee motioned for a few of the deck crew to come over and help Anders before making his way to the ship ladder. Cally was standing at the bottom, holding his helmet in her hands. She was staring at him wide-eyed as he stepped up to take the helmet.

"Nice punch, sir," she said with a laugh.

"I've been practicing on toasters in my spare time," he quipped.

"You know this is going to start another round of gossip about you."

"Make them good, Cally," he requested as he climbed into his ship. "I want everyone to know who finally put that bastard in his place."

Cally gave him a quick salute as the Viper canopy sealed shut, and Lee smiled to himself. Things were finally looking up.