Cole pondered the turn of events as the Raptor floated back to the Pegasus. He thought about the crew that he'd met so far. The CAG was going to be a problem if they both continued to bristle against each other. If the blonde woman with the attitude was high up in the ranks then her mouth would cause some problems with his crew. Most of the rest that he'd met seemed undisciplined, but workable.

When they landed he was immediately accosted by problems and he wasn't able to free himself from them until after the two Vipers had landed. He'd asked Whiplash at one point to keep an eye out for the CAG and his second so they wouldn't just be standing around if he was still tied up. When he finally got himself freed up and made his way back to the deck he was dismayed to find the pair from Galactica already there. His anger unfortunately got taken out on Whiplash who had gotten busy himself and had not even noticed when they landed.

When he returned to the pair he was dismayed to find the blonde with the attitude, something Thrace he thought, there. Oh well, if Lauren was there to help him control himself he could make it through a meeting with them. He expelled the last bit of anger at the day by yelling across the deck to Thumper and ordering him to get Lauren on the phone and send her to the conference room.

While they walked through the hallways towards the conference room the pair from the Galactica were whispering at each other like schoolchildren. For some reason that irked Cole and he turned around to look at them with what was apparently a nasty look because they both straightened up and looked somber.

When they sat at the conference room table Cole placed himself facing the door. He'd always preferred to have his back to a wall. He'd offered the pair beverages and they'd just declined when the door hissed open and Lauren walked in, flipping through a folder and already talking about the issues she'd been having. When she reached the corner of the table she realized that the pair from the Galactica was standing there and she looked over at them, her jaw dropping along with the folder she'd been holding.

"L…Lee?"

Cole's heart dropped into his stomach as he realized exactly who was standing in his conference room. He hadn't put it together since he'd not been given the man's first name. Suddenly his whole world shattered into a million tiny pieces. He stared at her as he watched the look on her face go from total elation to a tightly guarded professionalism. She was obviously trying not to break down and show a lack of control so he made a point of looking at the files in front of him.

He couldn't stand to watch as the woman he'd grown to love was reunited with the man she loved so much. The man that Cole had actually hoped was really dead. He bore no malice to the man himself but he'd been hoping and dreaming for several months now that Lauren would get over her loss and realize that he was in love with her.

When she'd finished with her farce of playing that they were simply old friends she straightened herself out and walked around the table to take the seat next to Cole. He looked at her with a hint of a sneer. "I take it you know each other?"

Lauren stumbled and bumbled over the response she was giving. Cole felt his hopes falling father and farther away as the meeting went on. Strangely that invoked a sense of hostility in him that he couldn't determine the cause of. There was no reason for him to be hostile, he was not in a relationship with Lauren and he had no claim to her affections. When Lauren directed the conversation to the topic of the stealth ship on the Galactica he spent the time chiding himself for his attitude and tried to direct his mind to other matters but it kept coming back to Lauren.

Then Lauren suggested a trip to the deck and Cole thought that the excuse to get the others closer to their Vipers and off his ship was grand. He gathered up his files and headed for the door, disappointed to find Lt. Thrace walking with him instead of Lauren. She apparently was talking with her lover and Cole's blood began to boil once more. There was no reasonable explanation for the petty jealousy he was feeling and he swore that he'd stop it immediately.

Then he found Lt. Thrace talking to him in the most annoying manner. She had no discipline and a bad attitude. He wondered if the rest of the pilots on the Galactica were as bad as she was. If that was the case then he'd have a lot of work ahead of him shaping them up. Cain would simply not stand for the lack of discipline in her men. The petite blonde droned on and on as they walked, speaking in no coherent order about how they'd made their way to the sector they were currently in.

When they finally arrived at the flight deck Cole had just about all he could stand from the woman and he looked back to see if Adama was making any move to leave. Unfortunately neither he nor Lauren was there. Cole wondered what had happened to them and figured out that Lauren had probably taken him on a detour to grab a moment alone with him. She wouldn't make the mistake of being gone to long but he felt more and more agitated the longer she took returning.

When she suddenly appeared at he hatch he stormed over to her and grabbed her sleeve, pulling her behind the closest Viper. "What were you doing with him?"

"Cole, it's Lee, he's alive!" The glow on her face could light the whole deck and it drove the knife into his heart just that much further.

"Lauren, you can't be seen with him. You know what Cain will do if she finds out about you two? You've got to be professional, especially around the pilots. Do you know what you'll lose if they find out about you and him? Everything you've worked for, the respect, the admiration, it'll all be gone."

She thought about it for a moment and nodded somberly. "You're right. I'll have to explain it to him but not here. Thanks Cole." She turned and walked back out from behind the Viper and over to her friends. She spoke crisply and said something that Cole didn't quite catch but it sounded brisk and harsh then she saluted and walked off the deck.

Thanking the Gods that Lauren had actually listened to him, he went back to the pair. Swallowing the lump in his throat he turned to Adama, "Well Captain, I hear my 2CAG took you on an impromptu tour of the ship. What did you think of her?" The maliciousness of that remark was more than Cole had intended but at least he'd be able to see if the man was going to give the game away this way. When Adama answered in reference to the ship instead of Lauren he was almost half disappointed. The Lieutenant looked like she'd had enough and was starting to get antsy so Adama excused them and they left.

That night Cole decided once and for all that he had to put Lauren Baker out of his mind. He'd pushed his luck with her too long and if he kept pushing something was going to break. He lay in his bunk pushing her out of his heart, his mind and his life.

When he turned his back on the room there was a tear in his eye.

Fin