Chapter 8

Lee was sure that it was the drugs making him hear things; they couldn't have said what he thought they did.

"What the frak are you talking about?" Kara yelled at them.

"Ok, they did just say what I thought they said," Lee mumbled to himself.

Lee just wished they would leave him alone and let him sleep. He really couldn't deal with this now.

"Well, when the refugees arrived, we had the babies tested for illness and checked their DNA to see if there were any family members. This child DNA matched you, Lt Thrace and Captain Adama." The doctor told them.

Kara shook her head; she truly had no idea what to say. She glanced over at Lee who wasn't in any real shape to take this in right now.

William Adama looked over at his son, emotions swirling. He was happy to see him alive, confused to find out he had a grandchild, but concerned about Lee's current condition. Lee looked exhausted. Maybe they should have waited for a better time.

"Doctor, this will have to wait. Lee needs rest right now." Turning toward Kara and Lee, Commander Adama said, "We'll let you know when we find more information out, ok?" He laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "Take it easy Lee, I'll be back to see you soon."

Lee nodded and mumbled something under his breath, his eyes feeling heavy and starting to close as the drugs began to influence him.

Kara waited for the Commander, the Doctor and the nurse to leave before she turned back to Lee.

"Lee, we need to talk about this." She started to say but was interrupted.

"No, I don't need to talk about anything. Shouldn't you be with your new boyfriend anyway?" He said not even trying to keep the bitterness from his voice.

"My what?" Kara asked, her face furrowed in confusion.

"Anders. Dr Baltar enjoyed telling me how close the two of you were on Caprica. Look, Kara, please just leave me alone. I'm really not up to this." Lee sighed. He was exhausted, and he didn't want to say or do something that he would regret.

"Lee," Kara paused, trying to phrase what she wanted to say correctly. "About Sam..."

"Kara, I said NO! Now get the hell out of here, leave me the frak alone!" Lee yelled, his head reverberating with pain. His face scrunched up and a hand went to his head, rubbing it.

Kara reached out to touch him, wanting to ease his pain, but he pulled back from her touch. Kara's face paled, he had never pulled away from her before. Something was seriously wrong, and she was afraid that it may never be put right.

She stood and headed towards the door when his words came back to haunt her. He'd said he loved her. He had been asleep, but for some unknown reason, she had to know how he meant it. Lee had said it twice to her now, and the first time she had made a joke of it just like she always did.

"Lee, you said you loved me. How did you mean it?" Kara whispered.

"It doesn't matter not anymore." He replied so softly she could barely hear him.

"It does to me, Lee." She pushed him.

"Tough Kara, it's not important, not anymore. Now I'm tired so leave me alone." Lee closed his eyes and he could feel sleep coming.

*****

Kara wandered through the corridors of Galactica, but her mind remained with Lee. He said he loved her twice but she was afraid to take him at face value. Why did it make her feel so warm inside? Why did it put a smile on her face, make her walk feel lighter, even with everything falling apart around her? And why did it make her feel like she could do anything?

Then it hit her like a thunderbolt; she loved him, head over heels totally in love with him.

"Frak" She muttered when it came to her. Dr Baltar and Sam Anders. No wonder he didn't want to speak to her, to even look at her. She had been rubbing his feelings in his face. Suddenly, Kara stopped in the middle of the corridor. Several crewmen looked at her as they walked around the motionless female. What if she was jumping to conclusions? What if he only loved her like a friend. Or what if she told him she loved him but he wouldn't believe that, or worse think he was third choice, which wasn't true. Kara was willing to admit that Lee was always the first in her mind.

Kara then realised she had always been in love with him, even before Zak. He had been the only one that stood toe to toe with her, and it frightened her, so she hid those feelings so deep and for so long that she managed to persuade herself she only loved him like a brother, a friend and a future brother-in-law.

How was she going to get herself out of this mess? Well, first things first, Kara told herself. She had to talk to Sam. Kara couldn't let him carry on thinking that there was a chance between them. Then she had to fix the Dr. Baltar situation for good. Of
course she couldn't forget about the child. Her smile grew so wide and so big it was blinding. She and Lee had a child, a baby girl. This was just too surreal for Kara to completely process.

*****

Sam lay in his temporary quarters, staring up at the ceiling. He was alone and his thoughts were on Kara. He was confused about everything and had no idea what was going to happen.

A knock on his hatch door broke him out of his thoughts. Sighing, he stood, walked over and opened it. Standing there was the woman who had completely occupied his thoughts.

"Kara, come in." Sam said moving out of the way with a smile on his face. Finally, he could get her to listen to him

"Uhhh, we need to talk." She said sadly.

Sam's smile faded. No conversation that started with those words ever went well. "You're in love with Captain Adama aren't you?" Sam wasn't sure where that came from, but he instinctively knew Kara had come to tell him that.

"He doesn't know, hell I've only just realised myself. A little slow on the uptake." Kara looked around the room as she spoke, avoiding his face, his eyes. She didn't want to see the hurt in them but she had to do this before it went any further.

"So, what are you going to do?" Sam asked, his voice angry. He couldn't help the sudden rush of anger. It was all Captain Adama's fault! If not for him, Sam knew he and Kara would be together.

"I don't know. Given how angry he is with me right now, I'm not sure he'll even listen to me much less believe I love him." Kara did look at Sam for a moment. "I just came to say that I'm sorry. I know that this may not mean much, but I didn't intend for this to happen. I guess I just hadn't accepted my feeling for Lee when we met back on
Caprica. Please believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt you."

"If you don't think he'll ever accept you, why even try? We can be together. I know that you could learn to love me." He brushed her hair of her face and bent forward to kiss her, desperate to keep this woman close to him.

Kara pulled back. "I'm not going to hurt him like that, not again. No matter if he wants to be with me or not."

"It's always about HIM!" Sam yelled at her, his frustrations getting the better of him. He could only stand by helplessly as he watched Kara turn and walk away from him.

*****

Lee lay asleep in the hospital bed as the door slowly opened. Samuel T. Anders quietly crept to the side of the bed and stared down at the man who was ruining his life.

TBC