Okay. Here's part two of the Conversations trilogy. I'm not totally pleased with the way this one turned out. I'm not used to writing Kara, and I'm not sure she comes off right. Part three, which I'll have finished when I get back next week, will be the truth that neither Adama nor Kara feel a need to discuss.

As always, your letting me know your thoughts is appreciated. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Also as always, I wish they were mine, but if they were, I don't suppose I'd be using them like this...So if you're enjoying this series, be happy they're not mine - it allows me to be as irresponsible and imaginative as I want to be. Within reason, of course!

An Adama Conversation
By: Mariel

Part 2

Laura Roslin looked at Kara Thrace, her clear, green eyes steady and observant. "You two are very close," she noted quietly.

Walking down one of Galactica's corridors beside the President of the Twelve Colonies, Kara glanced sideways at her warily. Something about the inflection of the older woman's voice made it a very personal observation, and it gave her pause.

She thought she knew what had initiated her interest.

Only moments ago, on their way to the docking bay where Kara was to requisition a raptor and take Roslin back to Colonial One, they had met the Commander making his way to CIC. He'd caught sight of them first and after nodding a relaxed greeting to the President had casually gifted Kara with their usual hello.

"Starbuck, waddya hear?"

Kara's face relaxed into a broad smile. He was obviously in a good mood today. It was good to see.

"Nothing but the rain, sir."

They stopped to speak for a while, enjoying a rare moment of back and forth banter. After saying goodbye, Kara cast a fond glance back at the Commander's retreating form. Turning, she found the President watching her, a curious expression on her face.

That look had held something that struck her as unusual, and only a few moments later, the President had made her comment. Wanting time to formulate an answer, Kara asked, "I beg your pardon?"

Roslin repeated herself. "You and the Commander - you're very close."

Kara tilted her head and asked cautiously, "What do you mean?"

Roslin sighed inwardly. That had been Bill's exact response when she'd commented on his and Kara's relationship in an earlier conversation with him. The Commander and Thrace might appear very different in age, sex, and personality, but they sure as hell reacted to personal comments in similar ways. She looked at the young woman closely. There could be no brash question like the impulsive 'Have you slept with her?" she had asked Bill, but she still might obtain the information she sought if she played her cards right.

"You two have a very unique relationship that's quite unexpected," she said, explaining herself patiently. "You keep it private, but it's there, nonetheless. It's obvious you're important to each other."

Kara frowned. The woman was an astute observer, so she could hardly deny the woman's observation. That she should feel a need to comment at all, however, was disturbing.

"Madame President, he was my fiance's father."

It was a statement intended to discourage further questioning.

Laura Roslin merely groaned inwardly again. Were they destined to repeat her conversation with Bill in its entirety?

"I'm aware of that," she said patiently. Mentally sorting the cards she had to play, she decided to up the ante. "He means more than just that to you, however, and it's obvious you're more to him than simply the ex-fiancé of his deceased son."

Entering the landing bay, Kara thanked the gods she would be kept busy and unable to reply while she readied the President's transport to Colonial One for takeoff. Something about the President's interest set off warning bells in her head, and silence seemed the best defense. Expertly, she conducted her pre-flight check and made sure the President was safely seated in the co-pilot's chair. After receiving clearance, she guided the ship out of the dock and into space.

-xxx-

"It's nice to see," Laura prodded, when the ship had cleared the Galactica and it appeared that Kara was not going to respond to her earlier comments.

The comment lay like a card on a table between them.

Kara stifled a wave of irritation. The President was obviously not going to let this one go. Pausing, she pretended to try to recall their earlier conversation.

"He's a good man," she finally said.

It wasn't the response Roslin was looking for.

Trying to force the young woman to play a higher card, she asked, "How long have you known him?"

Kara looked at her curiously, wondering what the hell was behind all this.

"Since Zak's funeral," she said briefly.

"And you've gotten close in the time since then."

"Death can make people close very quickly."

The response was well played, but Roslin could have pointed out that death had done quite the opposite with the Commander and his son. She refrained, however, and instead said cryptically, "So it would appear."

Kara looked at her, then turned her attention back to piloting the shuttle.

The President was not easily ignored, however. "How did you meet?" she asked in a mildly interested tone. "There must be an interesting story there, somewhere."

Kara grimaced. She wasn't enjoying whatever game it was the President seemed intent upon playing. Still, there couldn't be much harm in giving her the information she'd just asked for. Though she didn't make a habit of it, she had told others.

"He came to see me the day before the funeral," she said. "We'd never met, but I recognised him, of course. I mean, he was pretty famous for his flying; I'd read about him in flight school, and Zak had pictures all over the place. Even without them, though, I think I'd have known who he was." Warming to her story, she shot the President a relaxed grin. "He said my name and I remember turning around and seeing him." Shaking her head, she continued, "Commander Adama has a presence about him that draws your attention. He's not so tall that he looms, he just...radiates authority, somehow. Zak had some of that - not as restrained or powerful, but he had it. And there was a family resemblance, of course; they are very alike physically." She moved her hands in the air. "They've got a very contained way of holding themselves, and that nice, solid, comfortable body type."

Laura's breath caught at the young woman's careless description and wondered how intimate her knowledge of their physical similarities was.

"Really?" was all she said as she picked up the information given her and considered her next move.

Kara nodded. She'd noticed the President's sudden stillness, recognised it as a card shark's waiting stance, but was still uncertain of what suit the woman was searching for. When the President remained silent, she shrugged inwardly and jumped ahead in her story. "After talking to the Commander, I applied for a transfer to the Galactica shortly after Zak's funeral.."

The President smiled and played one of her higher cards. "Commander Adama must have been very convincing."

Kara's eyes widened and then she frowned in confusion. "Convincing? No. No one had to convince me of anything. I asked to be here. Basically, anyways. I told the Commander I wanted a change, and he offered me a place here." She grinned. "I knew he wasn't serious when he offered, but I figured what the hell."

"Wasn't it a step down from the position you had before?"

"That's what the Commander was worried about, but hey - there are times in your life when there are more important things than promotions. I-" she stopped speaking abruptly, uneasy about revealing too much.

"You what, lieutenant?"

Silence fell between the two women, then, propelled by Roslin's patient waiting and the need to explain what it had been like for both of them, Kara continued, "I needed to be here. Zak's death was hard on me. It was difficult for the Commander, too, though he'd probably swallow fire before admitting it. It hurt..." she shook her head. "And it didn't seem to get any better. And the Commander - it just seemed right that we should be somewhere we could see each other occasionally. I mean, we shared the same loss."

"So you comforted one another."

Kara stilled suddenly at the other woman's tone, and Laura felt her withdraw in much the same manner Adama had when she'd pressed too hard. Cursing her misplayed card, she crossed her fingers. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "That came out wrong. What I meant is that when people share a loss, it's natural that they draw closer. It's good that you had each other."

Kara nodded, but did not relax. She was now pretty sure what the President was fishing for. She grunted. "Neither of us had anyone else. The Commander's ex-wife and Lee were both looking for someone to blame for Zak's death, and decided - through some sick, twisted logic that I've never understood - that it was the Commander's fault. It was frightening how they turned on him. Barely spoke to him at the funeral, and then only because he went to them. Hell," she said angrily, "they stood on the opposite side of the coffin during the service. It was like they thought they owned the grieving rights to Zak's death, or something." She looked at the President. "The Commander was the only one of them I hadn't met, but he was the one who took the time to consider there were others hurting over Zak's death, too. That I might be hurting. He sought me out and made sure that I was okay. He talked to me, helped me get through the service...I'll never forget that kindness."

Roslin listened quietly. The man behind the Commander's facade was emerging, and she was finding him fascinating, to say the least.

His relationship with this young woman was proving even more so.

Her thoughts still in the past, and obviously feeling a need to defend the older Adama, Kara continued to speak. "The Commander loved his sons. I don't know what kind of father he was when Zak and Lee were young, and I don't know about his relationship with Lee except that it was never easy, but I know that Zak and the Commander were in contact regularly. Zak told him everything - the Old Man already knew about Zak and me, just not that we were engaged." She smiled, and her eyes focussed on memories past. "Zak wanted to wait until his father returned to Caprica on shore leave before announcing that. He wanted it to be a surprise."

Leaving her memories, she paused to make contact with Colonial One. After giving them their estimated time of arrival, she turned to the President. Still unaware of how easily she had been drawn into talking to the older woman - and of how much she had said - she told her, "I wasn't going to tell him about the engagement - it seemed pointless, somehow. But he knew. I don't know how, but he knew." She looked at Roslin and said with conviction. "A father who didn't know his son wouldn't have known that. Or have cared. He did."

"And now he's come to know and care about you."

The comment jolted Kara back to the realisation she had been doing all the talking. It made her pause and reminded her that Laura Roslin, for all her gentle appearance, was a more dangerous woman than most gave her credit for. And that she had an agenda. Kara wondered where the Commander and she fit on it, and why.

Now sure that she knew what information the President was after, she decided Roslin would never get it from her. Whatever she wanted to know, she could find out from the Old Man himself - in the unlikely event he chose to tell her anything.

With only about five minutes until their arrival at Colonial One, the younger woman decided to turn the tables and try diversionary tactics. "How are you finding things now that life has settled a bit?" she asked casually. "The Commander and you seem to have worked things out between you. It's good to see. You must be pleased."

Diverted, Laura smiled. It had been rough going, at first, but things were slowly smoothing out. "I think we both are."

"He's a good man," Kara said, repeating her earlier comment. "And an excellent commanding officer - but he's an even better human being. He doesn't always let that show."

The President remembered her first, ceremony-filled visit to the Galactica as President of the Twelve Colonies, and nodded. "He's an unusual man, certainly. Not necessarily what one would expect to find in the military, and yet exactly what you'd expect to find, as well." She turned to Kara. "And he inspires incredible loyalty in his people."

"I'd follow him to hell and back," Kara said easily.

Her comment was a tactical error. It brought the focus back onto herself and her relationship with the Commander, and the President quickly and easily steered their conversation back to its original course.

"That sounds more personal than professional," she observed. Her voice sounded softly amused, but her eyes were sharp. Referring back to Kara's arrival to the Galactica, she continued, "I think I understand your reasons for signing onto the Galactica, but I find it remarkable that you elected to stay. You could, as they say, have written your own ticket to anywhere. You chose to remain here. Even after you knew that the Galactica was being decommissioned. That's surprising. Some might call it loyalty above and beyond. It was certainly quite something for someone as young and ambitious as you."

Preparing to draw up to Colonial One, Kara avoided responding by busying herself with the controls of the craft. There was definitely a personal interest behind the President's conversation and she wondered about its nature. There had been times she thought she sensed something between Roslin and the Old Man, but she knew Adama was too wily to let any emotion he wanted kept private to show. The President was much like that too, and if the rumour of her long-standing affair with President Adar had any truth to it, she'd had more practice at it than most. Still, when the two leaders were in the room together - especially in private, as when she'd accidentally intruded on them a few evenings ago - she got the definite sense that there was something building. And if there were something there, it would explain Roslin's interest in knowing things that were really none of her business

She looked at the President and thought that if she did anything to hurt him, she'd personally rip the woman's heart out.

Resolving to end their ambiguous conversation, Kara decided to lay all her cards on the table.

"Madame President, if I might ask - your conversation tonight - what, exactly, so you want to know, and why don't you ask outright?"

Laura's eyes widened in surprise. She hesitated, trying to decide which of her few remaining cards to play. Regretfully, she realised she was being forced to fold. This was a game she needed to walk away from with no regrets. There was no way she could ask her question outright.

Sighing softly, she smiled faintly and looked down at her hands. Summoning forth the correct posture and demeanour, she looked back at the young woman who confronted her. "I'm sorry. I've probably been more forthright than I should be," she said in a pleasant, apologetic tone. "I don't often get to have casual conversations with people. Sometimes I feel as though everyone knows everyone else far better than I do. It's nice to get insights into people's lives and the relationships that are important to them. I didn't mean to pry."

Kara nodded warily. Prying was exactly what the President had meant to do. The President's explanation was crap, and she didn't trust the sudden change in voice and posture. There was, however, little point in pushing.

She couldn't allow the conversation to end without saying one last thing, though.

"The Commander knows me better than anyone living. There's no one I trust more. No one I care about more. It's not my place to say so, Madame President, but you could do far worse than to trust him, too."

Roslin nodded. She trusted him already. And he, she believed, was beginning to trust her. But trust, as President Adar used to say, was something that could be used against people if the circumstances were right and you knew how. She didn't know now, but in the future, she might need to do just that.

Standing, Roslin looked down at the young lieutenant. "Thank you for the ride. And the conversation."

She left, still not knowing what she wanted to know.

Not that it would make much difference in the long run...

End
An Adama Conversation
NEXT UP: The truth that Roslin is seeking.