Kara had been haunted by her dreams since she was a little girl. She found it ironic that the time she spent in her bunk was now the highlight of her day. It was the only time she could breath free and know that she didn't have to protect herself. She had been right about being the only female Viper pilot. It seemed like every person on Pegasus was determined to prove she was as worthless as her mother always claimed. It should be infuriating, but for some reason, she felt calm for the first time in years.

She hadn't had a nightmare in over a week.

Ever since the first morning Lee slid out of her bed in front of the full bunkroom, people had stopped threatening her in that sick, physically sexual way. It didn't hurt that each time someone on Pegasus got the nerve to hit on her, Kara subtly let them know Lee's call sign has nothing to do with his flying prowess and a hell of lot to do with his bedroom manner. She stopped using that comeback as soon as she realized some of the people she served with actually got excited by the prospect of a god in their bed.

Kara was smiling over that thought when the bunkroom hatch burst open. Her lips tightened to hold in the curse as she continued to riffle through her locker. She had been enjoying her few minutes of 'me time', and she was not happy to be interrupted. Not to mention, she still couldn't figure out what she did with her sweats. If those damn Pegasus frakheads stole them, she was going to be livid.

Whoever it was, they were lingering in the hatchway. At least that's what it looked like out of the corner of her eye. The problem was, in Kara's experience, no one ever paused in an open hatch unless there was something he wanted from her.

Someone was obviously intending to catch her by herself, and if she was going to be honest, she was too scared to look and see who it was. Things had been looking up lately. She didn't want to get bogged down by paranoia.

Her hands closed around the balled-up sweats at the back of her locker, and she decided not to put this off any longer. If someone wanted to mess with her, she would just have to show them her bite was just as big as her bark.

Kara turned slowly to see her new favorite person bracing himself against the hatchway as he struggled to regain his breath. He looked like he had just run the Caprica Marathon. "Lee?" she said. The sweats fell from her hand.. "What the hell is going on?"

Lee slid the hatch shut and quickly pulled his tanks over his head. His eyes never left hers as the tanks fell in a puddle on the ground. Kara's eyes widened as he strode toward her with a purpose in his step. "Lee?" she choked out through her shock.

He gave her a wicked smile before grabbing the hems of her tanks and ripping them over her head. Kara's hands instinctively came up to cover her bare breasts. Lee had seen her naked many times in this shower, but this was already feeling a lot more intimate than a chance encounter in the head. "What the frak are you doing?" she hissed.

Lee grabbed her arms roughly and pulled her to him. "Don't ask questions," he snarled.

His words caused a familiar ache of desire deep inside her to flare, and she suddenly felt ill. This was Lee in front of her. Granted they were both halfway to naked right now, but this was Lee.

Kara would have punched him in the face for his presumption if only he hadn't chosen that moment to crush his lips with hers. Her heart dropped out as her hands fell to her side. Lee backed her up a few steps until her shoulders touched the cold metal of the bunks. She shivered and felt his hands reach around her back to envelop her.

"Make this convincing for me, Kara," Lee growled against her mouth.

Kara wanted to laugh. She felt like her knees were about to give out and he wanted her to make this convincing?

Lee bit back a moan as Kara responded to his demand with an enthusiasm he had thought long gone. She pushed off the ground and wrapped her bare legs around his hips. Lee tried to focus on the extremely rational reason he had started this little encounter, but it was difficult to do when an extremely irrational voice kept reminding him Kara had just gotten out of the shower. He could still feel the wetness on her skin as her breasts pressed against his chest. It was all he could to grab her tight and hold on for the ride as their kiss fell over the edge into the dangerous territory they had always avoided.

Time slipped away for both the pilots until the hatchway burst open. "Don't you two have any respect for the frat regulations?" Captain Taylor hissed.

Lee dropped Kara to the ground and pushed her behind his back protectively. "Sorry, sir. I haven't had an off-shift in days. I had a little steam to burn off. You know how it is."

Kara flinched. If Lee wasn't careful, he was going to end up in the brig. Even she knew that taking to a superior officer like that was a no-no. Her head snapped up, though, when she heard Stinger chuckle.

"Just don't make her too sore, soldier. She has CAP in two hours." Lee gave the CAG a stiff nod and waited for the hatch to close before relaxing.

Before Kara could say a word, Lee had already bent down to grab her tanks and was holding them out for her to take. She wanted to be angry, but the picture of him standing in front of her, all embarrassed with his eyes averted, was just too damn cute. "An explanation before I remember how cheap I should feel," she playfully demanded.

"Gods, I'm sorry about that, Kara." Lee looked up as soon as he saw the shirts go over her head. "I was running through my post-flight with some of the specialists, and I overheard Hammer and Siren arguing."

"And that made you horny enough to force yourself on me?"

He gave her a quick glare before smirking, throwing up his hands, and falling back onto her bunk. "You can't blame a guy for using a situation to his advantage?"

Kara's eyes looked him over for a moment, and what she saw made her day. It seemed like she wasn't the only one affected by that kiss. After a moment, she shook her head and moved into the bunk to straddle his body. "Do you need some help getting rid of that advantage there, Captain?" Her eyes fell down to the crotch of his pants for a second before she made her move.

Lee immediately pushed her hands away from his waistband. "If you want to hear why I attacked you, you're going to have to get off me, Kara."

"Uncomfortable?" she said, arching her eyebrow as she slid to his side.

"Very much so, but only because I'm still trying to keep you safe, Thrace." Lee shut his eyes for a moment to try to wrangle up some semblance of control before continuing, "Hammer and Siren were arguing about whether or not you and I were actually involved. They mentioned something about you seeming pretty damn uptight for a girl who was getting frakked on a regular basis."

"So you decided to bust in here like a bat out of hell and give them some kind of proof?"

"Captain Taylor got involved. Hammer asked him if he was going to take his privilege as CAG to taste the new meat."

Kara's face filled with disgust. "Gross. I thought that archaic tradition had ended."

"I guess it hasn't on Pegasus. Taylor laughed and told them he was starting to think he might. To make a long story short, their little argument had a rather appalling conclusion. Taylor was going to come figure out firsthand if you and I have been fraking, and I don't think he was going to get his answer just by asking you."

"Oh gods," Kara said, her eyes widening in horror.

Lee could see the fear start to engulf her again, and he pulled her down to him without hesitation. "Don't go to that place, Kara. Stay here with me." She relaxed against him, and Lee let out a small chuckle. "Besides I didn't get a thank you for what I did even if it was a tad abrupt."

"You certainly gave me a rush," she joked.

"Yeah, I figured that out when you latched on to me like I was a piece of candy," he shot back. Her laughter was music to his ears. It died down eventually, and for that, he couldn't help but be sad.

"Did you ever wonder if we should actually do it, Lee?" she asked quietly.

He looked over at where she was settled so neatly against him. The thought of how perfectly they fit together had hit him like a brick a few days earlier, and he found it impossible to get it out of his head now that it was staring him in the face. He watched her fingers lazily trace a pattern across his bare chest and wondered why he hadn't taken the time to retrieve his tanks while he was picking up hers.

"I mean, wouldn't it make things easier?" she continued.

Lee thought over her question. He couldn't just pretend like he had no clue what she was referring to, and he couldn't lie and say he hadn't wondered about it himself. She would pick up it immediately. "I don't know. Why?"

"We're both adults here. It would be more plausible if we didn't have to worry about being caught in a lie. You're not always going to be around to hear the ship's gossip."

Lee felt his whole body freeze up as her hands started journeying south. "You really are starved for sex, aren't you?"

"There's been so much talk about it, Lee. It makes a girl start to wonder if the rumors are true." She pulled her head up to smile at him. "I mean, could you really frak me so hard that I'd forget my own name?"

She was too much sometimes. Lee rolled his eyes and pushed his way off the bunk. He made his way across the bunk room to grab his forgotten tanks. "I thought we were supposed to be fraking, mister!" Kara's disappointed tone made him turn back to face her.

"It was a quickie, Lieutenant, and yes, you did indeed forget your name for a few seconds."

"Nice," she said, giving Lee a wink as she fell back in the bunk. She waited until the hatch closed behind him before bursting into laughter. How was it that she actually felt satisfied when Lee had barely even touched her?

"Oh, he's good," she whispered.

Kara whipped her curtain shut and left herself bask in the rare moment of happiness before it died.

Admiral Cain looked over the reports her CAG had just submitted and sighed. "Captain Taylor, why do you have Captain Adama demoted to Raptors and yet Lieutenant Thrace is flying lead on the Vipers for the CAPs you assign her to?"

"Sir, it was what you suggested."

Cain raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"You told me to give them a hard time in order to figure out if they could handle the pressure. I've got Apollo running missions well below his skill and Starbuck flying as the only female Viper pilot. I can't help it if Adama doesn't complain and Thrace somehow takes control every time she's in the air."

"So this is what the naturally do."

"They're surviving the pressure, sir," Taylor confirmed.

"Dismissed," Cain growled abruptly. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering if maybe it was time for a new CAG. Taylor could see she was teetering on the edge and gave her a sharp salute. He knew better than to stay. He did not want to be there to witness when she really got mad.

Cain grabbed the edges of the table and squeezed until it hurt. She was getting fed up of her commands resulting in a complete lack of action. She wanted Adama and Thrace cracked, and for some reason, her crew wasn't complying. They were actually going light on the two new pilots.

She was going to have to do something to change that.