Eight years in the past...
It had started innocently enough. Zak's cousin, Brian, had made some stupid comment about how he wished they could have full teams on each side but that would mean the wives and girlfriends would have to play. The next thing she knew, Kara was yelling that she would wipe his face all over the backyard. This picnic was supposed to be a nice way for Kara to meet the full family before she took the final plunge the next day, and she had to go and bring competition into the mix.
Though, it didn't hurt that she was indeed wiping Brian's face all over the backyard.
Kara smirked. Brian shouldn't have gotten cocky and told her team they could play with her as an extra person. Zak had warned his cousin that he was making a mistake, and it only took Kara scoring three touchdowns for him to believe it.
"Ready to admit defeat?" Kara taunted as she squared up on the line for another play.
Brian looked embarrassed for a moment but then he straightened up and shook his head. "No way, Thrace. Things are about to turn around." Waving his arms in the air, he screamed, "Get over here. We're one man down."
Kara turned to see an attractive man jog over to their makeshift sidelines. She watched him kick off his sandals, a grin practically tattooed across his face. He was kind of short compared to the rest of the Adamas so she had no idea what Brian was so happy about. He definitely wasn't intimidating her.
Her opinion changed almost immediately. "Frak me," she groaned as he pulled his shirt over his head. The man had a body straight out of the magazines, and not the ones your mother got in the mail.
"Who am I on?" the god in human form asked. He followed his cousin's finger until his eyes rested on Kara.
Kara felt her heart drop out as she saw the corners of his mouth turn up in a smirk. Somehow, she knew he wasn't smirking because he had just been given a woman to guard. She tried to shove down the desire that was building up in the pit of her stomach. She could not be lusting after a future family member of hers.
"Huddle up, team," Zak yelled.
Kara gave her opponent a wink before jogging over to be a part of their team's pow wow. "I want the ball," she said before anyone could even suggest it.
"It's going to be hard to score," one of the cousins pointed out.
She looked over at their quarterback, her future husband. "Give me the ball."
"You heard her, boys," Zak said with a smirk. "The little lady wants the ball."
Kara ran back to her position and got set. "You don't know what's about to hit you," she taunted quietly.
"I have a feeling I'll like it."
Kara tried to ignore the way his velvety rough voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She didn't have to try to hard because seconds later, Zak started the play, and her mind focused in on scoring yet another touchdown to put Brian Adama in his place.
The ball was in her hands within seconds, and she was sprinting down the yard. This game might not come to her as naturally as pyramid, but she was still pretty fraking good. She was almost past the trees that marked the goal line when she felt a strong pair of hands come around her waist. She didn't have to turn around to know who they belonged to. She felt her foot catch on something and realized that she was about to go down hard. An image of her horribly bruised face under the yellow veil popped into her head. Zak was going to kill her.
At the last second, she felt his arms tighten and twist their bodies so that instead of hitting the ground, she landed squarely on top of him. They lay tangled together on the cool grass, both struggling to regain their breath, both failing miserably.
"You're Kara," the shirtless god said after a moment of studying her face.
She looked into his eyes and felt her heart drop out. "You're Lee."
"Welcome to the family," Lee smirked.
Kara heard someone yell and turned to see the majority of Lee's teams stomping their feet and throwing anything in sight. "What are they so mad about?"
"I usually get pretty brutal when we play these games," Lee explained, pulling both of their bodies up to sit. "I guess they're mad because I went easy on you." He winced and brought a hand up to his neck. "I think I pulled something."
"You shouldn't have done that," Kara teased. "I was going to take the hit."
"I know you were. Pretty fraking ballsy, if I do say so myself."
Kara looked over at the tree and then back at the man who still had his hands resting gently on her thighs. "I scored."
Lee shook his head. "No, you didn't. You were short."
"I am so over the line that it isn't even a contest," Kara yelled.
"Bullshit," Lee said, pushing her shoulder.
Kara found herself shoving right back and before she knew it, she was wrestling with her lover's brother while still arguing about whether she had been in or not. She had no clue if anyone was even paying attention to them. She hoped not. This probably wasn't giving Zak's family the best impression of her.
When they finally declared a truce, they were both panting, but this time it wasn't from exertion. "Kara," Lee whispered, almost like he was trying to wrap his head around the sounds that made up her name.
Kara was all too painfully aware that Lee's body was crushing her to the ground. Her common sense said she needed to knee him in the groin before it was too late, but her knee was aching from the old pyramid injury. She just couldn't get it to move.
"Frak me," Lee whispered, still staring at her intently.
Zak's voice broke through their haze a second later, and Lee pulled himself away. The two brothers embraced, and even though Kara was pretty sure it wasn't physically possible, she felt even more guilt.
"Smile!" Caroline Adama's voice caused Kara to turn, but her eyes looked to the ground as the flash went off. "That's going to be a great picture," Caroline declared.
Kara gave her a polite nod and then turned to Zak. "So, I got us another touchdown."
"No, you didn't," Lee butted in.
"Are you two going to start arguing again?" Zak asked.
Kara felt her face redden and was only saved from even more embarrassment by her favorite cousin, Brian. "How the hell did you two find the only patch of mud in the whole yard?"
Kara looked down and laughed. She hadn't even noticed that half her side was now brown. "I guess that's game over for me."
"Get cleaned up and come back," Brian suggested.
"You mean you actually want a girl to play now?"
Brian walked over and threw his arm over her shoulder. "You're not a girl. You're an Adama." He paused. "Well in a day, you will be."
Kara let out a small laugh and pushed his arm away. "This doesn't me you don't owe me six hundred cubits. I kicked your ass."
Brian stuck out his tongue and ran back to the huddle.
"I've got to get back to my team," Zak said, already backing away. "Show her where she can clean up, will you?"
Kara turned to see Lee staring at her. "I think he wants us to be friends."
"How could you tell? By the fact that he actually gave you the ball or that he pulled every string he could to get me the extra twenty-four hours on my leave pass?"
"Both," Kara said with a smile as they began to walk side by side. "So, Lee Adama, man I've never met, tell me about yourself."
At first, Lee looked stunned at her request but then he started speaking. "Well, let's see. I'm a Viper pilot, but Zak's probably told you that a hundred times by now. I've been stationed on Atlantia for a year now."
"That's where all the hotshot pilots get put," Kara said, stating the obvious.
"I'm pretty sure my father used his rank to get me the assignment, but at the moment, I don't care. Admiral Nagala is a brilliant man to work under."
"I'm sure you earned your spot there. You were always a good pilot. Maybe a little too by the book, but no one can be perfect." Kara caught Lee's look of surprise out of the corner of her eye and wondered if she had been stupid to say that. "We were at Academy together. I never really saw you, but I heard tales of the almighty Apollo."
Lee held the door to the house open for her, but before she could step inside, his hand was on her arm, pulling her to a stop. She began to feel nervous as he stared at her without saying a word. "Something you want to know?"
Lee looked at her for a moment longer before his face broke out into a smile. "Holy frak. You're Starbuck."
"That's my call sign," Kara said, giving Lee a funny look.
"Zak told me his fiancée was a pilot, but he never said you were Starbuck."
Kara could feel the self-satisfaction building up inside of her and hoped she didn't look too smug. She would never have dreamed that a person so different from her style in and out of the cockpit would actually know who she was. She was pleased, but at the same time, it kind of made her uncomfortable. Kara stepped into the kitchen and turned to look back at him. "So, tell me, Lee. Is your dream to also have your own Battlestar someday?"
Lee's whole face drained of color. "What makes you say that?"
"It's all Zak can talk about most days. He wants to be just like your father. It killed him the day the Doc told him he couldn't fly Vipers anymore. I just figured that might have come from both you and your Dad." Kara suddenly found herself wishing there was a hole she could curl up in. Why did she get the feeling she had just said the worst possible thing? "I'm sorry if that sounds stupid."
"No, it's an honest mistake," Lee said, pushing past her. Kara ran a few steps to catch up to him as he started up the stairs to the second floor. "It's just nowhere near the truth."
"So set me right, Lee. What's your goal in life?"
Lee stopped in the middle of the hall and turned to face her. "I want to own a bar."
"Excuse me?" Kara said, not sure if she had heard right.
Lee's face erupted in a small blush, and he let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Gods. I don't think I've ever said that out loud to anyone before."
"You want to own a bar?"
"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "I just remember when I was in Academy. There were so many nights when exams or flight sims got to be too much. We would head on down to that pub on the corner of the dormitory row." He sighed and pushed past Kara to open a door in the hallway. "Things were just easier back then."
Kara decided not to press the issue. Something told her this was a conversation that Lee should be having with his family and not his soon to be sister-in-law. She stepped into the room behind him, and a smile immediately filled her face. There hadn't been time for Zak to give her a proper tour of the house, but she would bet her life that this was his room. There were little Viper planes all over, and a line of trophies on the bookshelves. The walls were painted a light blue, but there were dirt marks and scrapes all over. Stepping farther into the room, Kara could make out a few pictures carved into the woodwork of the window seat by a crayon and a lot of pressure. She fought the urge to smile. The whole room looked a mess, but it was downright cute. Her eyes rested on the childhood bed in front of her, and she wondered if the sheets still smelled like Zak. She sat down on the bed and was about to find out when Lee's voice interrupted.
"I hate that my mom refuses to change this place," Lee growled. He reached into the dresser and took out a couple t-shirts, throwing one Kara's way. "I don't think I have any pants that will fit you, but the t-shirt should help."
Kara was about to pull her shirt over her head when it finally hit her. "This is your room?"
"Yeah," Lee said, wondering what the problem was. "Where'd you think I'd take you?"
"It's cute," Kara covered. Looking around, she realized that this room was so obviously not Zak's. For one, the trophies on the bookshelves were all for pyramid. Zak had only ever dreamed of playing the game. The light blue walls were definitely wrong. Zak hated the color blue. Kara leaned down to sniff the bed. Although it made her stomach do a small flip, the pillows and sheets held none of Zak's scent. There was a masculine similarity that she hoped was the cause of the desire in the pit of her body, but Zak had never smelled like Picon ambrosia and sandalwood.
"We should probably get back," Lee suggested.
Kara looked over at him and nodded. Still grasping the clean t-shirt in her hand, she stood up and tried to ignore the small feeling of regret at having to leave the bed. "So what made you so late today?" she asked, trying to keep the subject light.
"I went to visit Anne, my father's wife." Lee shook his head in disbelief. "She's a good woman. Sometimes I wonder how she can put up with being married to a man who loves a ship more than her."
"It's the way of the military."
"It wasn't the way my mother raised us," Lee said.
Kara felt like the comment came out of nowhere, and yet it fit the conversation perfectly. "Sometimes I'm afraid I was raised that way," she commented, slipping out into the hallway.
Lee took a few long strides to catch up to her, and they were almost all the way down the stairs before he spoke. "I think you're the type of woman who wouldn't put anything before love."
Kara's eyes went wide. Did Lee actually pinpoint something that not even Zak had figured out? She felt her foot catch on the stairs, and she would have tumbled down the last few if Lee's arms didn't come out to grab her. Kara felt his grip tighten as he fought to keep both of them upright. She struggled to get her breath back from the near fall and was surprised to see Lee was just as breathless. A little voice in the back of her head whispered why that would be, but the rest of the voices in her head wouldn't let her go there.
Lee's arms came down slowly, and she hated the way she felt a little more lost now that she was on her own again. Still slightly thrown off, Kara watched Lee walk down the last few stairs before blurting out, "Why haven't you asked me anything about myself?"
Lee paused in his steps and turned back to look at her. "I think it would be safer for both of us if I didn't."
Kara didn't have to ask what he meant by that. He was right. Things would be safer if she didn't ask any more questions.
She was still on the third stair staring at his brother when Zak came into the house to check on them. For the first time in her life, she felt guilty for having such a good triad face.
Lee set his keys onto the table by the door and stepped into the apartment. The sun was just beginning to rise in Picon City, and he wanted to see it. He had been stuck on Atlantia for the past twelve months with no break because of some stupid malfunction in the communication drones. Five of his pilots had been killed. Lee shook his head to clear those thoughts away. He was on leave. He didn't want to be thinking about what he had lost.
Stepping out onto the balcony, Lee let out a deep breath. He had missed this place, even more so now that he knew this was also Kara's home. He had urged her to take her leaves here, but he wasn't sure she would listen to him. She seemed to have some unconscious desire to let the ghosts of the past haunt her on that damned Colonial Outpost. Lee sighed. He was used to Kara's self-destructing tendencies by now. Too bad, they still hurt to watch. Lee turned his back to the sea below him and looked at the glass wall of his apartment. Most people had no clue that a sunrise's reflection was just as beautiful as the real thing.
Lee was just getting used to the peaceful scene when his eyes caught on something different. He pushed off the railing and entered the open door to the small side room that he had been using as an office the last time he was here.
The walls were painted a deep green mixed with a dark blue. There were words painted all over the walls. He recognized them as Kataris, one of his better works. His eyes drifted over to his desk, and he realized there was a break in the deep hued theme right above his work space. He took a few steps closer to stare at the two small grey Vipers flying side by side. Next to them were the words, "A pleasant thing, my life, you propose to me that this our love might be between us into eternity. Great gods, make it so that we are able to promise truly, and that he speaks sincerely and from the mind, so that it might be allowed for us, in this whole life and into eternity, to guide this bond of sacred friendship." He had no idea how Kara had known that was his favorite verse by Kataris, but it didn't surprise him.
His bag dropped to the floor with a soft thud, and Lee hurried the last few steps through the open doorway into the bedroom. The walls of that office had awakened a hope inside of him that maybe he was wrong about Kara refusing to accept this place as her home. Then, the sight before his eyes took his breath away and he could think no more. There she was, like a sleeping goddess, naked but for a sheet tucked tightly around her chest.
He felt himself shiver as a full year's desire kicked in. The bed was only a few yards away, and he covered the distance before he even knew he was moving. He stood over her for a moment, just admiring the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
There had been a lot of women in his life before Kara. He had always been a little on the wild side in the Academy and War College. The women were the same every time, so vulnerable, breakable even. The perfect girls to be on the arm of a Commander's son. Bright blue eyes, long brown hair. Creamy smooth skin that was as close to perfection as you could get. The kind of girls he always dreamed of.
Kara was beautifully scarred. Legs, hips, arms, all delightfully bruised. Blonde hair that had a constant disheveled quality to it, the product of one too many self-inflicted haircuts. Scars from old war wounds marring her tan skin.
She was his reality, and he couldn't have been more happy that his dreams were wrong.
Being careful not to shake the mattress, he stretched his body out next to hers. She was so fraking beautiful, all curled up with his pillow tucked securely beneath her head. Lee reached out to run a finger along her bare shoulder. Her skin was exactly as he remembered it, so soft he couldn't help but lean in to whisper gentle kisses against it.
Kara shifted under his touch, and her eyes slowly opened to look at him. "You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow."
"I couldn't resist," Lee whispered. "The idea that I could actually be in a place that you had been was too much."
"I'm here," Kara said, turning into his arms.
"So you are," Lee sighed. "Coming home to you is as amazing as I always imagined."
His words seemed to finally wake Kara up. Her eyes went wide, and she sat straight up, the sheet dipping low on her waist in the process. Lee knew his face flashed with something predatory because every inch of her skin turned pink as she pulled the sheet back up. "You fraked up my surprise," she hissed, giving him one of her famous looks of doom.
"I was still surprised," he pointed out. "The only difference was I was surprised with a sleeping beauty rather than the normal spitfire I know and love."
Kara continued to glare at him for a few seconds before turning to look at the clock. "What the frak are you doing, coming in at five o'clock in the morning, Adama?"
"The Admiral gave me some downtime, and I didn't want to waste any of it sleeping in my little bunk when I could have been done here on Picon." He watched Kara as she sighed and pulled herself and the sheet out of bed. "Where are you going?"
"To get dressed," she said, shortly. "You ruined the first part of the surprise, but I'll be damned if you screw up the rest."
Lee watched her walk into the bathroom and shut the door. Smiling, he got up and went back into the office. That's where she found him, in his desk chair staring at the walls she had spent weeks creating. She could see the look of appreciation in his eyes before he even said the words. "This is fraking amazing, Kara."
"It's your birthday gift," she pointed out, sitting on the edge of the desk. "You weren't home to get it."
"My birthday was six weeks ago," Lee pointed out.
Kara smirked at him. "I know."
"You were here six weeks ago?"
"I've been living in this apartment for three months now. Ask Desmond. We're fast friends." Kara pushed off the desk and walked back into the bedroom.
Lee stood up and followed her. He didn't question where they were going until they were in front of the door to the hall. "I don't understand."
Kara turned to smirk at him. "You thought I just got dressed so you could have the pleasure of undressing me?" When she saw a look of guilt flash across his face, she laughed. "That doesn't come until later, Lee. I have more important things for us to be doing."
"It's official. Kobol has frozen over. Kara Thrace has something better to do than fraking."
Kara smacked him on the chest before slipping her hand into his. "It's Kara Adama now, you forgetful fraker."
"That doesn't change the fact that you're giving up the opportunity to sleep with me," Lee taunted, earning himself another slap before they stepped into the elevator. Kara leaned her body up against his with a contented sigh. She had forgotten how it felt to have Lee's hands on her. It was the only thing she had dreamed of for the last twelve months.
"I didn't realize I was going to have to spend the first year of our marriage by myself," she said quietly as the elevator doors slid open on the ground floor.
"I'm sorry," Lee apologized while Kara dragged him out the front door of the complex. "I tried my best, but things were absolutely crazy on Atlantia."
Kara smiled and took a set of keys out of the pocket of her pants. When she spoke, there was a hint of sadness to her voice. "You really love that ship."
"I used to," Lee said honestly. Kara gave him a funny look. She had no clue what that meant. "Atlantia was the best ship I have ever flown on. It made me realize that I really do love being a Viper pilot, and being the CAG came so fraking natural to me. But then I met you." He shrugged his shoulders as they stopped in front of the tank of a car Kara had been driving for years. He didn't even want to know how she had gotten this thing from Delphi.
"I still don't understand," Kara said, sliding into the driver's seat. "I flew with you that day on Atlantia. You were in love with that job."
"I love you more," Lee whispered, leaning over to give her a quick kiss. "Now where are we going?"
"It's not for you to know," Kara insisted. "Can we go back to the part about you loving me more than flying?"
"It's true," Lee said. His eyes shifted to watch the buildings fly by. "Things have changed, Kara. I don't want to be anywhere that you can't be. Atlantia is the best ship in the Fleet, but it doesn't hold a candle to you."
Kara couldn't help but smile. She loved the fact that Lee wasn't scared to tell her how much he loved her. It was the only thing that kept her from pulling away most of the time. She turned the car left onto the highway and looked over at her husband. "So, have you heard from Tyler and Meg lately?"
"They visited me for my birthday. Meg says that all Tyler talks about these days is his Uncle Lee and Aunt Kara. He still worships me because I got him that ride in the Mark VIII, but I had no idea sure why he was so enamored with you. Now, it makes sense. You've been visiting, haven't you, Kara?"
"I try to make it out to Galactica every few weeks. Meg's been helping me with a little project of mine."
Lee braced himself against the frame of the car as Kara darted in and out of traffic. She had never had much patience when it came to driving. He needed to distract her now if he wanted to keep his life. "So, you've been on Picon for three months now."
"Ninety-eight days to be exact." She turned to smile at him. "I missed you the whole time. It's not fun living in our home without you there."
"How could you have done that without me knowing?" Lee demanded. "I talked to you at least twenty times in the past three months."
"Honey, didn't you realize that you never did the calling?"
Lee paused and thought over what she had just said. Come to think of it, Kara had been the one to call him the last few times. "You were calling from our home?"
"Every single time. I just used my uncanny ability to know exactly what you're thinking, Adama. Every time I figured you'd be missing my voice, I called you."
Lee shook his head. "I cannot believe I'm that transparent."
"Well, there was a few times when I called just because I missed hearing your voice," she added. "You've wormed your way into my heart, you fraking bastard."
"I never thought I would actually feel honored to be called that name," Lee teased.
"I have other ones we could try out," Kara smirked.
"Let's save those for a rainy day."
Kara gave him a small nod and focused back on driving like a maniac for a few seconds. Then she turned to give him the best impression of an innocent smile that she could muster. "So it's our one year anniversary, oh husband of mine. Can I ask what you got me?"
Lee smirked. He had a feeling that question was going to come up at some point. "I figured you weren't the type of person to want chocolates and jewelry."
"Don't judge too soon," she interrupted.
Lee rolled his eyes even though she was right. Kara had always had a soft spot for those little boxes of chocolates from the shop down the street from her Delphi apartment, and Lee had personally seen the large collection of jewelry she had amassed throughout the years. It was as unique as she was. "I got you something you want a whole lot more."
"Let me have it," Kara said, holding out her hand.
Lee shook his head, relaxing back into the seat as Kara swerved the car in and out of traffic. "You can't have it right now."
Kara gave him a small pout before putting her hand back onto the steering wheel and cutting through three lanes of traffic to take the next exit. They were getting out of the heart of the city and into an area she knew they were both extremely familiar with. She was surprised Lee hadn't said anything about that yet. Maybe his mind was still on the fact that she had turn down a welcome home frak.
"Aren't you going to ask me what it is?" Lee inquired after a moment of silence. He knew how much Kara hated surprises.
"What is it?"
"I pulled some favors and got some leave time for Helo," Lee said. He waited for her reaction and wasn't disappointed. Kara let out a squeal of delight, and for a second, Lee thought they might crash. He shut his eyes and waited for his imminent demise. When there was no explosion of white light, he opened an eye. His wife was staring at him, a massive smile on her face.
"You sure know how to treat a girl right, Adama."
"It wasn't that hard. I saw the two of you together on Atlantia last year. Plus, you're pretty much all Helo has talked about since then. I'm sure you've missed him just as much as you've missed me."
Kara shook her head as she parked the car on the brick street. "It's not possible for me to miss anyone as much as I've missed you." She slid her body over the gear shifter and straddled his waist. "I love you, Lee," she said with a smile before leaning down to give him a teasing kiss.
Lee let her play her little game for a few minutes before he felt his control begin to wane. With a regretful groan, he pushed her away. "What are you playing at, Kara? You know the military patrol these streets looking for things just like this," he scolded. "I do not want to end up in the Academy's brig eleven years after I've graduated."
Kara smiled and reached her hand over to open the passenger door. "I was afraid you didn't notice where we are."
"How can I forget this place?" Lee said. He stepped out of the car and looked up and down the street. It was still early in the morning, but in only a few hours, this place would be swarming with cadets. The Academy was only a half a mile away, and the War College was even closer.
Kara grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the street past all the old hangouts that were near to both their hearts. He realized that they had never gotten the chance to experience them together, and it made him slightly sad. He would have loved to have seen Kara during her days at the Academy.
Lee let his wife lead him down the street without much protest. He knew when Kara got something into her head, she didn't let up. She had dragged him all the way out here for a reason, and it had to be good if she gave up the chance to sleep with him to do it.
"Here we are," Kara said, pulling to a stop in front of a rather broken looking building.
Lee recognized it as the corner store that had burnt down when he was a first year. It looked like someone had had the structure rebuilt. The building could use a good washing, but otherwise it was rather nice. The windows were boarded up, telling him that there hadn't been an occupant in quite some time, but from the look of the entryway, someone had been here recently. "What am I supposed to be looking at, Kara?"
"Your anniversary present," she smirked. "Open it up."
Lee gave her a funny look which only made her smirk widen. She stepped forward to turn a key into the lock and held the door open. "Go on inside," she said.
The inside was something he was not expecting. It was the empty shell of a tavern, complete with the Picon oak bar that already had some battle scars. Lee turned to gape at his wife. "What's going on, Kara?"
"I missed you like crazy, Lee. So I spent all my military pension and the salary I saved from the outpost to come up with a way to bring you home."
"You bought me a bar?" Lee exclaimed.
"It's what you wanted, isn't it?" she asked. Suddenly her little impulsive decision wasn't sounding so smart. "You told me that day at your mother's house that you always wanted to own a bar. I thought that maybe when your current assignment on Atlantia is finished, you can move down here. I quit my job on the outpost as soon as I had enough money. Meg's helped me with getting the licenses and all the fun legal stuff. Did you know her father used to work in the Office of Business for the Twelve Colonies? That girl can work magic in the form of clauses and loopholes. I didn't even know you could get things running that quickly."
She probably would have kept talking for at least another five minutes if Lee had silenced her with a kiss. "You are one fraking amazing woman, Kara Adama." Lee let out a deep breath and looked around the room again. He couldn't believe this was all theirs.
"You like it?"
Lee gave her an annoyed look. "I love it, Kara. Frak, it's what I've always wanted." Lee's eyes rested on his wife. "We've earned this, haven't we?"
A smile spread across Kara's face. "Damn right we have." Kara pulled herself away from his arms and hopped up onto the bar. "So do you know what you're going to name it?"
"I've known this girl's name for eight years now."
"It's a girl?" Kara teased. She knew that guys liked to assign genders to their cars, but she hadn't know they liked to do it to bars, too.
"It's one hell of a girl," Lee confirmed. After a moment, he walked over to rest his back on the bar between her legs, and her arms moved around to hug his neck. It felt like they had been doing this for their whole lives. "Starbuck's," he whispered, smiling to himself. "It has a ring to it."
Kara could feel herself begin to tear up. She never imagined having a drinking establishment named after her would make her this happy. "I would have voted for Apollo's," she managed to choke out.
Lee shook his head. "It's my bar. I name it what I want."
Kara leaned back to reach over the bar and grab a bottle of ambrosia. "What say you and I have the first drink?" She poured two drinks and handed one to Lee. "To dreams achieved," she said. The ambrosia slid down her throat like a familiar song. "You're awful quiet, Lee," she said after the silence stretched between them.
"Do you really think we can do this?" Lee poured another drink for himself and Kara. "I don't know how to even begin to run a bar."
Kara gave him a look of irritation. "What are you talking about? What we have here is pure tylium. We couldn't frak it up even if we tried." She threw back the drink and slammed the glass onto the counter. "We are two of the best pilots that Academy churned out. Hell, we probably still hold most of the records for the sim runs. Those starry-eyed cadets will come running when they hear Starbuck and Apollo have a bar." Kara smirked. "I mean, you named the bar after me. Not too many people are going to get it confused for something other than what it is. Besides, you and I are in this together. There's nothing that can beat the two of us when we're together."
Lee nodded in agreement. She had a point. "I love you for doing this."
"And I love you for not being mad at me for doing this," Kara admitted. She watched Lee take another drink straight from the bottle before looking at her out of the corner of her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. She would know that look anywhere even if they hadn't been looking at each other that way for eight years now. "Don't move," she insisted as she hoped down from the bar.
Lee watched his wife go over to the large wooden door and flip the lock. Kara leaned against it for a second in order to catch her breath before making her way back to his side. "So we had the bar's first drink."
"We did."
"There's only one thing left to do." She smiled at him. Lee might have been tight-laced while at the Academy, but there were certain things that you couldn't avoid knowing. The ritual of how you christened a bar was one of those things. "It's tradition, you know."
"We wouldn't want to frak with tradition," he agreed.
Kara felt his hands pick her up and set her down on the bar. His fingers slid against her shoulders to push her jacket to the floor. "Get up here," she growled, crushing his mouth to hers.
She felt the momentum shift as Lee crawled onto the bar. He pushed her body down against the bar, and it felt deliciously right.
For the first time in eight years, she found herself thanking the gods. They had known what they were doing when they sent her Lee Adama.
Kara heard him softly whisper her name, and she could just imagine how far this could go if only she let it. He wanted to lean down to kiss her. Kara didn't have the strength to stop him. His touch was gentle, as she knew it would be. Everything Lee did was either extremely intense or extremely gentle. There was no middle ground. She knew it was crazy to let herself be this happy, but she couldn't think of one reason why she shouldn't give in to the feeling. It seemed like all rationality and common sense had left her body.
The only thing left was love.