BSG - Betrayal of Trust

Lee/Kara pairing

Set after Pegasus

Spoilers: for second half of season two

"Lieutenant Thrace, you will not, I repeat not disobey order and attempt a maneouvre on your own again. I'm not sure what sort of behaviour your old CAG allowed," he threw a meaningful look at Lee, "But it will not be tolerated here. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir," Kara answered, seething inside.

"You're all dismissed." Taylor turned and stalked away.

"Nice one Starbuck" Wolf said sarcastically. Kara's mouth dropped open as she was about to shoot a scathing reply, but Lee kicked her just at the right moment. Her mouth snapped shut and she threw him a dirty look instead. He walked away with the rest of the pilots, leaving her and Lee alone in the hangar bay.

"That son of a ...!"

"Kara," Lee interrupted warningly. He nodded at the techs still doing the post flight checks.

"You'd think they'd be thankful. If I hadn't done what I did, he'd be dead now." Kara's cheeks were red with fury. "I've never been dressed down for saving a fellow pilot's life before."

"Things are different here."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Don't be mad at me Kara, I'd have done what you did," Lee said angrily. "And don't think I appreciate his accusations about my command style either."

"I know, I'm sorry," she sighed, laying a hand on his arm. "I just can't get used to being here. I've never worked with people who are so ... unfriendly before."

"We're just used to Galactica. It feels like family there."

"I wonder why YOU'D think that?" she teased, smiling at him, anger forgotten.

Lee nudged her. "You too - my father treats you more like family than me you know." He smiled back, and she knew he was only kidding. Lee and his father had had a rough relationship since Lee's brother's death, but since being stranded on Galactica together they'd become closer again, and almost seemed like father and son, not hostile strangers.

"Still," Kara's face crinkled in a frown. "I can't believe they'd rather let one of their own die than have someone break the rules and save him."

Lee took her arm and led her towards the crew quarters. "Like I said, things are different here. The atmosphere is different, the people are different ..."

"Are we ever going to fit in? I mean, it's been three weeks and I still feel like no one wants us here."

"They don't. Cain drafted us - no one else had a choice in the matter."

"Yeah, but when new people come to Galactica we always try to make them feel welcome..." She stopped talking suddenly as they passed a group of officers. Lee and Kara saluted and continued after their superiors saluted briefly and nodded at them.

"I don't think we have much choice Kara. Doesn't seem like we're getting sent back any time soon, so we'd best just get used to it." Kara just growled in reply. "Come on," he said, opening the hatch to their quarters. "Let's hit the showers while we can."

ZZZZZZZZ

"Wolf, Tiger, Jackal - you three will do Cylon patrol this morning. Cougar, Pirahna, you're on ship maintenance. Apollo, Starbuck, you're with me. It's time for some training."

"What? Does he think we're nuggets?" Kara whispered, following Lee out of the squadron ready room.

"Shhh," he said, eyebrows screwed up in frustration. It seemed to be the goal of Kara's life - to get him in trouble.

Taylor led them to the flight bay. "Now, it's time for training in some REAL ships. Those crappy Mark II's you've been flying need to be retired. A Mark VII, now that's a man's ship."

"I have one sir," Lee said.

"What? Where?" Taylor looked confused.

"I have a Mark VII. It's back on Galactica of course..."

"Won't do you much good there."

"We used to have Mark V's before the cylons blew them all out of the frakking sky," Kara added, hostile as always at the insinuation that her ship was a pile of garbage. She'd loved her Mark V too, but it had been destroyed in the first attack, along with the rest of her squadron, while she'd been in the brig for assaulting Colonel Tigh.

"Just because you've flown a Mark V doesn't mean you can fly a Mark VII," Taylor said condescendingly.

"There isn't a ship made that Starbuck can't fly," Lee defended her. "Sir," he added at the CAG's apoplectic look.

"We'll see about that, shall we?" Taylor said angrily. "If there's even so much as a scratch on my ships when you're done with them there'll be hell to pay." He stalked over to the closest Vipers and began to prep them for launch, screaming commands at the deckhands.

"Be careful will you Starbuck? I don't want to see you in trouble again," Lee whispered.

"Me? I'm the better pilot, remember?"

"In your dreams Thrace, in your dreams."

ZZZZZZZZ

"I swear Lee, I think Taylor's got it in for me," Kara complained, toweling her short locks till they stood on end.

"It's just your imagination," Lee said, shaking his head at her. "Sure, he's being hard on you, but look at it from his perspective - your record speaks for itself." He turned to face her, clad only in a towel, loosely slung around his hips. "Granted you're an ace pilot, but you're constantly in trouble."

"Yeah, but ..."

"Trouble is something they don't tolerate around here, or haven't you noticed?"

"I guess that's why you fit in so well, Captain By-the-Book Adama," she bit out sarcastically.

"Look, I don't like this assignment any more than you do, but antagonizing them isn't going to help." Lee sighed and ran a hand through his still-damp hair. "We're not going home. Face it Kara, we're stuck here."

"I hate it. And I hate them," she said in a low, charged voice.

Lee reached out a hand and clasped hers. "Hating it isn't going to solve anything, and you know it. We can get through this if we stick together."

Kara looked him straight in the eye. "You're with me?"

He squeezed her hand. "Always."

She smiled, and as they parted to dress, Kara stood staring at Lee's back. How lucky could she be? She had Lee Adama, a man whose loyalty and integrity were almost legendary. They were friends, flying partners, and possibly if circumstances had been different, could have been more. Lee had admitted ages ago now it seemed, that he loved her, but though that admission had piqued her curiosity, she'd never pursued it.

The first days after it had happened had been strained, and Lee seemed to be as content as she was to forget it ever happened. But Kara hadn't forgotten - she just didn't know what to do with the information. She knew Lee was more special to her than anyone left alive, except his old man of course, but she'd be hard pressed to actually vocalize her innermost feelings about him. They were just part of the swirl of emotion that was at the core of her being, never allowed to escape. Starbuck never let things get to her emotionally, and she prided herself on being the Starbuck persona she'd begun to cultivate years ago. Few had ever seen the real Kara. Of those who had, most had run, afraid of her volatility and intensity.

There was no way she was going to risk chasing Lee away as well. Much as she hated to admit it, she needed him.

TBC

Please forgive any errors in names - I don't have a copy of season 2 DVD's yet (does anyone! JK) and so I'm making up the Pegasus pilots callsigns out of my head. Any other errors are also mine - please excuse and try not to let it get in the way of enjoying the story. Thanks!