Kara had a few things to take care of when she got back to Pegasus before she could start tackling the pile of work that was waiting for her in her office. Anders came by that evening with two trays he had 'borrowed' from the mess for dinner. "I heard you were off-ship today," he said as he laid out their plates and they both started eating.

"Did someone put an ankle monitor on me or something?"

"You have very well-informed pilots."

"I have very NOSY pilots," she corrected.

"That too. Is there something going on, or was it an unofficial visit?"

"Just a visit."

Anders nodded. "You miss being on Galactica?"

"Sometimes…Do you have a shift tomorrow?"

"Yeah, early. You?"

"Late. Meet me in the hangar when you get off duty, okay?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

"Just trust me."

"Okay."

She had a Raptor all ready to go by the time he got to the hangar early the next afternoon. Anders was surprised to see Kara wearing civies that he didn't even know she owned instead of military off-duty clothes. "Ready?" she asked as he climbed up into the ship.

"Yeah. Except I still don't know where I'm going."

She grinned. "I guess it's a good thing I'm the one flying, then."

It wasn't too big of a surprise when they cleared Pegasus and began descending to the surface of New Caprica. Upon landing on the outskirts of the settlement, Kara shut down the Raptor and jumped down out of the hatch. "Come on," she told Anders, waiting for him to follow her lead.

They walked between supply stands and rows of temporary housing that had been put up using whatever anyone could get their hands on. He almost ran into her from behind when she stopped short. "Hey!"

"What do you think?" Kara asked.

"What do I think about what?" She gestured to the patch of open ground that was in front of them. "Um…I think I'm confused."

"You think you could call this home?"

Sam looked down at her. "What?"

"You mentioned before about starting over here."

"Yeah, I did, but I hadn't really thought about it when I said it."

"So you don't want to do it?"

"I didn't say that, just…I'm not living down here without you."

"Who said you'd have to?"

"You're going to give up flying?"

"I could do transports every now and then so I don't go crazy."

"Fighters and flying are part of who you are."

"Not as much of a part as they used to be. Something else took up a little more space…I'm saying yes, Sam. My answer is yes."

He smiled. "Are you sure?"

Kara threaded her fingers through his own. "I am, as long as you're willing to keep being patient with me…I'm not very good at trusting yet, incase you hadn't figured that out."

"I was starting to get some idea," he replied with a laugh. She smiled.

"However," she continued. "I think I'm learning love a little bit quicker." Anders kissed her.

"So this is home, huh?" he asked, turning back to look at their little 'lot.'

"Yeah."

"I think it's going to need some walls."

Kara laughed. "And a roof."

Several former members of Galactica's crew – like the Chief, Cally, and a few other deckhands and pilots – were also living in the same area of the settlement. Tyrol had offered to help Anders see about getting supplies and shelter while Kara was on duty. She was supposed to go back down and get him that night after her shift, but wound up taking a little detour to Pegasus' command deck before going back to the Raptor waiting for her.

She could see Lee's eyes harden after he looked up at the sound of a knock on his door and saw that she was the one waiting. "What do you need, Captain?" he asked.

"I think…it's more about what you need, Sir," she replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Pegasus is going to need a new CAG."

Lee just stared at her. "You're really giving everything up? For him?"

"Everyone's got priorities, Lee."

"I guess so. Does he even know the truth?" Kara didn't answer. "Didn't think so."

She wasn't going to get into this with him, not now, not if she could help it. "I just wanted to tell you I was leaving," Kara said. "It'll be a few days; I can figure out a plan for the squadron – "

"The squadron will be fine," Lee cut her off. "Just go ahead and play house." That was the last straw…

"This is my life, Lee. I get to live it the way I want to."

"You certainly do that. And damn anyone else who happens to cross your path."

"I'm sorry, all right? I am. This is why I didn't want you to know. There's absolutely nothing either of us can do that's going to fix anything, and I…I just didn't want to have to deal with it."

The problem wasn't really the fact that she hadn't told him, at least not anymore. Lee believed that Kara hadn't known beforehand and understood that frakking with all of their lives wasn't going to help anything. The main source of his anger was the fact that he hadn't been there. Not on the flight deck or in the infirmary or there to take care of her afterwards. He only knew because of a slip of the tongue, and truthfully that was his fault just as much as it was hers.

They were so good at hurting each other when they were in pain, so good at pushing each other away when all they really wanted was the opposite. He'd lost her to someone else, and now lost the only link he might have had to her. It hurt more than anything else ever had. The wall between them was so thick; it was easier to keep building up the barricades than to work at trying to tear them down.

"Have a nice life, Starbuck," he finally said. Some little part of him hoped that maybe she would hold on just a little bit longer, but it wasn't to be. Kara shook her head slightly with a sigh, then turned and left, slamming the hatch behind her. Lee sat down at his desk. She was giving up just as much as he was, he told himself. Maybe eventually he'd actually believe it.

In another lifetime, perhaps things would have been different.

When Kara landed back in New Caprica City, she wasn't completely surprised to see that Anders was working on construction of a pyramid court instead of their home. "I leave you alone for a couple hours…" she scolded him teasingly. Sam grinned.

"Aw, you know you want to play, too," he told her.

"Maybe another day. Did you actually get anywhere with the requisition people?"

"Yeah. The stuff's ours as soon as we want it. We have to pitch the thing ourselves, but some of your friends said they'd help. I think this is going to be really good, Kara."

They made their way back through the settlement to the Raptor and Kara started running through the pre-flight checklist. "I got something for you," Sam said as he watched her from the co-pilot's seat.

"Something like what?"

He dug in the pocket of his jacket and finally produced a small silver ring. "It's nothing too extravagant. You could put it on a chain if you want to. Or if you want to wear it, I think I found a guy that could adjust it if the size isn't right." He reached to try putting the band on her finger and Kara could see the confusion on his face when she pulled her hand back.

"Th…there's something you need to know," she quietly said. "Something that I have to say before I can take that ring."

He nodded slowly. "Okay."

"I…I've done a lot of things in my life that I'm not proud of. I didn't tell you this before because…I guess I really was just a frakking coward." She took a deep breath. "I was ten weeks along when I lost my baby."

Anders looked down. "I wondered," he finally said. "You never said 'our'. It was always just 'yours'."

"It was only once," she started to explain, but he shook his head.

"We both have pasts," he told her, "But they don't matter anymore. I can live with yours if you can live with mine." Her curiosity was slightly piqued - his past had to be pretty colorful in order to match hers - but it didn't matter at the moment. Maybe one day they'd have a conversation about all those little things that really didn't have any bearing anymore. But that wouldn't be today. Kara fired up the Raptor's engines and the ship rose off the surface, heading back for space.

"What would you have done?" she quietly asked as they traveled through New Caprica's atmosphere. "I mean, if somehow things hadn't ended up the way they did."

Anders shrugged. "I don't know. Depends on what you wanted, what the kid's father would have wanted… How many guesses would I need to figure out who he is?"

"Probably only one."

He nodded. "Yeah, thought so. But does it really matter what I would have done, what he would have done? Things DID end up the way they've ended up." He reached for her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. It was pretty close to a perfect fit. "I happen to like where we are right now."

Kara smiled. "High orbit?"

"Brat."

TBC...

one chapter to go. as always, feedback is appreciated.