If You Had Been There First
By: Ian K.
Spoilers: Mini-series, and all episodes aired in U.S. to date.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Galactica. We all know who does. I make no profit from this story.
Summary: I once read in an article about the show that Lee and Kara might have been the ones romantically involved if they had met each other first, not Kara meeting Zak first. I decided to explore that idea with this story. Now, Kara knows Zak as her cadet trainee, but is not involved with him romantically. What happens when she and Lee meet? Read on and see. And please review if you feel so inclined.
Chapter One:
Lt. Kara Thrace tallied up the marks on the evaluation form with a sigh of frustration. "He's still frakking up the hard 90's," she said to herself. Zak Adama had been one of her nuggets for a month, learning from her how to fly the machines that were the backbone of the colonial fleet. Others had dropped out, others excelled. Zak Adama did neither. He wasn't bad enough to wash out—yet. But he definitely was not topping any record books, and if didn't pass basic flight, he didn't stand a chance of getting into Viper training.
When she finished the tallies, Kara wrote Zak's score down, with comments about improvements needed. As called for in the regs, she now had to go over the form with him. She was on her way to her office, where she would send for Zak. But on her way to the building that held the instructors' offices, she saw Zak walking and talking with an officer Kara did not recognize.
She decided to intercept them and tell Zak in person to meet her in her office, but as she did so, Kara became more interested in the officer he was talking to. The other man was a Lieutenant, about Kara's age, with short cut brown hair and handsome features. But he also carried himself like a tight-ass, by-the-book kind of guy, ones that usually didn't appreciate Kara's more unorthodox personality. Still, Kara had some lustful thoughts about taking Lt. Tight-Ass and rocking his world.
"Cadet Adama," said Kara, getting the younger man's attention.
Zak came to attention and saluted his instructor. "Yes, Ma'am."
"At ease," she said, quickly getting past the more formal parts of the instructor-cadet relationship. Zak Adama was himself very cute, and Kara knew he had a crush on her. The feeling was mutual, and she had frequent thoughts of doing something about her attraction, but decided against getting involved with one of her nuggets.
"Zak," said Kara. "I'll need to see you in my office ASAP to go over your evals."
"Roger that, Starbuck," said Zak. "Oh, I don't think you've met my brother. Lee, this is Kara Thrace. Starbuck, Lt. Lee Adama, my older brother."
"So you're Starbuck," said Lee, shaking Kara's hand.
"And your Zak's older brother," said Kara. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," said Lee. "My brother says you're a hell of a pilot."
"He says the same thing to me about you," said Kara. "You're call sign's Apollo, right?"
"Correct," said Lee.
Kara had scoffed at the call sign when she first heard about it from Zak. It was an obvious reference to the fact that his father was the great William "Husker" Adama, considered a god-like figure of a fighter pilot in his day. It gave her the idea that Lee was some kind of Daddy's boy.
Kara and Zak excused themselves while the two went to her office to go over the performance evaluation. Lee turned and headed in the other direction. Kara took a glance back at his retreating form. "Nice but," she thought, look at Lee Adama's rear end.
Later that evening, Kara was sitting with three of her fellow flight instructors at the officers' club. They sat around a table playing cards, while drinking ambrosia and putting aside the professional exterior they were expected to maintain for their trainees. The other woman at the table, Lt. Shane "Artemis" Flavia, folded her hand after Kara once again raised the wager. The others, Lt. Nathan "Razor" Boyne and Lt. Cooper "Hawk" Picchi, called Kara's bid.
Kara took a puff of her cigar, then smiled. "Well," she said, with assured victory in her voice. "Its time for me to end this match." She laid her cards on the table. "FULL COLORS! Ha, ha!"
Razor and Hawk threw down their hands with groans, as Kara collected her winnings, as she did a little victory dance in her chair.
"You should have bailed, boys," said Artemis. "You should know that when Starbuck raises the bid with that much confidence she is going to cream you."
"I still can't believe she had full colors," said Hawk. "No one is that lucky."
"Its not luck, baby, its skill," said Kara. "No, its…art. Its…seeing the target and taking it down. Its…"
"Gorgeous," said Artemis, looking towards the door.
The others turned to see what she was looking at. Kara recognized Lee Adama, standing in the doorway of the officer's club. He took a glance around the room, looked at their table, and began walking over.
"Lt. Thrace," said Lee. "Mind if I join you."
Kara looked at Lee for a moment, taken aback by his sudden appearance for some reason. "She doesn't mind" said Artemis, pulling over a chair from another table and putting it next to her.
"Starbuck," said Razor. "New friend?"
"Um, we just met actually," said Kara. "This afternoon. Lee Adama, these are Lts. Flavia, Boyne, and Picchi. Artemis, Razor, Hawk, this is one of my nuggets' older brother, Lee "Apollo" Adama."
"Nice to meet you all," said Lee. "I hope you don't mind me barging in, but my brother hit the rack early, and I had nothing else to do. So I came here, saw you had a card game going, and thought I might join in."
"You are more than welcome," said Artemis.
"Sure," said Hawk. "Fresh meat for the grinder."
They sat and played cards for a while, engaging in conversation between plays. Kara was seeing that her first impression of Lee Adama as some kind of tight-ass Daddy's boy was wrong. He was a much more relaxed in this environment, and could joke around as good as the next person.
One hand came down to just Lee and Kara left in the running. The others had folded, knowing that Kara probably had a winning hand considering how confidently she was bidding. Lee, however, bid right back just as confidently. In the end, Kara came out on top, and Lee quietly put his cards on the table and watched Kara collect her winnings.
"Apollo," said Razor. "Rule number one playing cards with Starbuck, she tends to win a lot as you can see."
"Don't feel so bad, Apollo," said Kara. "Your money will have a nice home in my wallet."
Lee sat back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. In his mind, he was considering the winner's cock-sure demeanor. "Okay, sexy as she is," he thought, "this lady needs some humbling, and I'd love to do it. But I'm just not sure I can beat her at cards." That's when inspiration struck him.
"So," Lee said. "The Darby Queen still challenging the best and brightest pilots in the colonies?"
"You bet," said Hawk. "That obstacle course is still the toughest nut to crack in the Viper training program."
"Starbuck here is our reigning base champion," said Razor.
"Really," said Apollo. "Care to prove that, Starbuck?"
Kara looked up at Lee with surprise. "Do I hear a challenge in that question, Apollo?"
"Well, I'd like an opportunity to win my money back," said Lee. "And I think that despite your reputation at cards and as a pilot…I could out fly you anywhere, anytime."
A chorus of "oohhs" sounded out from the other pilots at the table. Other pilots in the room, overhearing the conversation, walked over to the table, whispering that some visiting fighter jock had just challenged Starbuck to out fly him on the Darby Queen. "Poor idiot," was what most of them were saying.
Kara puffed on her cigar, then crushed it out in the ashtray on the table. "You looking for an ass creaming, or are you just sick in the head?"
"You sound pretty confident, Lieutenant," said Lee. "I'd say too confident. And like I said, I'd like to win back my earnings."
"I don't know," said Kara. "Betting money on a flight competition. Just seems so—boring."
"You chicken?" asked Lee, earning another chorus of oohs, this time from the whole gathered crowd.
Kara smirked. "Hardly," she said. "But if I'm going to out-fly your ass, I want to earn a better trophy than just more money. And if I had my guess, I'd say you don't want the money back as much as you want to kick my ass at something and don't think you can do it at cards. So…I propose an alternative wager."
"I'm listening," said Lee.
"If…no, when I kick your ass," she said. "You will give me your flight wings."
"My wings?" he asked.
"Sure," she said. "Can you think of a better trophy? You can always requisition another pair."
Lee was hesitant for a moment, and his pause gave Kara enormous pleasure. Then, he smiled. "Fine, my wings…against your pants."
A third chorus of "oohs" echoed from the audience.
"Excuse me?" asked Kara.
"Can you think of a better trophy for me when I kick your pretty ass?" asked Lee.
"You just want to see me drop trou, is that it?" asked Kara, a sardonic smirk. "If you're hot for me, you should just say so."
"In your dreams," said Lee. "I just want your pants in my trophy case."
Kara took a drink from her ambrosia, then reached out her hand. "Agreed."
Lee shook it, and the gauntlet was thrown down.
End of Chapter One. Chapter Two coming soon.
Feedback/reviews are always welcomed and looked forward to. Thanks.