Things were going to so well for Lee and Kara. Ahh! Now its time to throw a wrench into things! Read on.
By the way, for those who have asked, yes the holocaust is a part of this story and is coming soon, so stay tuned. I think you will find the results interesting.
Chapter Twelve:
"Mom, I'm telling you she doesn't want a big wedding," said Lee. He was speaking on the phone with his mother several days after he and Kara returned home from their vacation. When Lee told his mother about their engagement, and that they wanted to get married next week before Lee shipped out for the Atlantia, Mrs. Adama began to frantically plan the wedding since Kara's mother wasn't around to help her do it. But Kara just wanted a simple ceremony with Lee's family and a few of their friends.
"Mother, I know you mean well but she has made it very clear that she doesn't want a big wedding," he said. "Yes it will be a religious ceremony. The priestess Kara goes to has already agreed to do the ceremony. Look, mom, I'll have Kara talk to you about this when she gets home. She should have been here by now, so I want to call her office and see if she is still there. Yes, Mom, I know. I love you, too. Bye."
Lee hung up the phone, and ran his hands through his hair. "Why couldn't we have just eloped?" he thought. Kara was amenable to the idea originally, but Lee insisted that they not run off like they were hiding. Now Lee was having second thoughts.
As Lee started to dial Kara's office, a knock at the door called him away from the phone. He answered the door and found Shane Flavia.
"Shane, hi," said Lee. "What's up?"
"Big trouble, Lee!" she said, shoving past him into the living room.
Lee shut the door. "What are you talking about?"
"Lee, Kara is in the brig!" said Shane.
"WHAT!" Lee replied. "How the FRAK did that happen!"
"She punched Captain Paret."
"Oh for FRAK's sake," said Lee, as he grabbed his uniform blouse and headed for the door. "Where is the brig on this base?"
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Kara Thrace sat on the bunk of her cell; her body leaning up against the wall the bunk was attached to. She sat there, staring at the walls, wondering how she could have ended up here. She knew why she was there, of course. She let Paret get to her. She lost self-control.
About an hour after she was put in that cell, Kara heard the door to the cellblock open. The guard stepped in the door and walked over to Kara's cell. "Lt. Thrace, you have a visitor."
The guard stepped out the door he came in. A few seconds later, Lee came in the cellblock door. He slowly walked over to her cell. Kara just sat on her bunk and stared at him, trying to figure his mood since Lee's face carried no hint of emotion. He was good at that when needed.
It was Kara who finally broke the silence. "So, come to bail me out?"
Lee didn't react at first. Finally, he responded. "There is no bail, Kara. This is a military jail."
Kara hung her head down and put her hands on the back of her neck in frustration. "No shit, Sherlock," she said. "I was trying to lighten the mood."
"Lighten the mood," said Lee. "You are sitting in jail for assaulting a superior officer, and you feel like lightening the mood. You get yourself thrown in the brig days before our wedding, and you want to lighten the mood!"
Lee's tone was angry, and it was accusatory. Kara didn't like it, and stood up with a sarcastic reply in mind.
"I was bored, Lee," she said, walking up to the bars. "So I decided to punch Captain Paret for the hell of it. I figured it could make our wedding interesting. You know, put the ring on my finger through the bars."
"Knock it off, Kara! For frak's sake, how could you do this? How could you let this happen?"
Kara gave Lee an incredulous look. Finally, she just decided to turn around and walk back to her bunk. "I'm a screw up, Lee. Try to remember that."
She lay down on the bunk, her hands behind her head, and let out a deep breath. Lee stared at her for several long moments. As he did, Lee realized he took the wrong tact with the situation. He decided to try and regroup.
"I'm sorry," he said, leaning his head against the bars. "I didn't mean to lecture you. I'm sure you already feel bad enough as it is."
"Now I do," she said, still staring at the ceiling. "But in those first few moments after I hit him, it was incredibly satisfying."
"Why did you hit him?" asked Lee.
"He did what he had done before," said Kara. "Taunted me because I wouldn't sleep with him and that I am with you. He accused me of being an expensive whore who was marrying you to get in good with a battlestar commander, and that I must have gotten you to marry me because I was good in bed. He accused me of practicing a lot to get that good. He reduced my engagement to you to some form of prostitution. He pushed my buttons just right, and I just lost it."
Lee was furious, but not with Kara. "He goaded you," said Lee. "He's probably getting a big laugh over this. Son of a bitch!"
"Yeah, that's when the satisfaction from hitting him wore off," said Kara. "When I realized that I gave him what he wanted. A chance to put me in hack. To humiliate me."
Lee started pacing around, thinking about what to do. Kara sat up on the bunk and watched him, realizing that he was dealing with a lot of pent up anger. "What are you thinking?"
"Of different ways to pound Paret's skull into the pavement!" replied Lee.
"Oh, that's smart," said Kara. "Then we can be cell mates and you can kiss those new Captain's insignia goodbye."
Lee stopped in his tracks, and then turned to look at Kara. "You're right," said Lee. "Paret's got to know I'm not too happy with him right about now. He's probably expecting me to come and deal with him. What are my two obvious options if I did that?"
"Well, the first would be you would attack him," said Kara. "Which would land you in the brig, like I said."
"Or I come begging to him to drop the charges," said Lee. "Either way, he humiliates me, too. He'd love that, because I'm the guy who got the woman he wanted to have."
"It would make his victory complete," said Kara.
"But maybe I can use that," said Lee. He walked over to the bars of the cell. "Come here."
Kara walked over to the bars. Lee reached through them to pull Kara's head closer to his. He kissed her on the lips. "I'll take care of this," he said. "I've got a plan."
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Later that evening, Paret was sitting in his office working on some paperwork. His jaw was killing him, but he didn't mind the pain. Instead, every time it started to hurt, he would think of Kara Thrace in the brig, and his spirits would brighten up. If all went well, the un-attainable Thrace would be in his bed within a week. He would make it the price for her freedom, and for him dropping the charges. Then she could go off and marry her handsome prince as she had planned. Even if she didn't go for it, it would still give him satisfaction to frak up her wedding plans with Captain Daddy's Boy.
The door to his office opened, and Paret looked up. "I've been expecting you," said Paret, as Lee Adama stepped into the office. "Come to stand up for your fair lady, Captain Adama?"
"I guess you could say that," said Lee, as he shut the door behind him.
"All alone here, with the rest of the staff gone for the night," said Paret. "You must be here to beat me up. No one around to interfere."
"Why would I want to do that?" asked Lee. "Kara was the one who hit you."
Paret laughed. "Come on, Adama. We both know why she did. She probably told you all about me, considering your reaction when I touched her shoulder at the ball. Did she cry to you because the mean old Captain Paret was picking on her?"
"She told me some things," said Lee. "Tell me, why did you have to keep harassing and pressuring her after she wouldn't go out with you?"
"You must know the thrill of conquering a woman like Thrace," said Paret. "All filled with fire and confidence. Getting into her pants would be quite an achievement, and quite an experience I'd bet. Congratulations to you, by the way. For getting in her pants."
"I didn't conquer Kara," said Lee. "I treated her with respect and love and kindness. To my good fortune, she fell in love with me as I fell in love with her."
"You mean to tell me that when you are frakking her," said Paret, "the idea of having a woman like that in your bed doesn't light your manhood on fire. I mean, the cast iron balls it must take to Frak that tough cunt of hers!"
"I'm not going to stand here and discuss my sex life with Kara with you!" said Lee, with a tone of increasing anger. "I came here to ask you to do the decent thing and drop the charges. You goaded her into hitting you. You know it!"
"Tell me, Adama," said Paret, ignoring Lee's entreaty. "When you are pounding away into her, is she a moaner or a screamer? Or does she make those little mewling noises?" He mimicked such a noise by going "uh, uh, uh."
Lee stepped towards Paret in a threatening manner. "You're a pig!" he spat out.
"No, I just know what women are good for," said Paret. "And when one won't go quietly, I make sure they regret it. What now? You gonna beat me up for it, big man?"
"So you goaded Kara into hitting you and getting herself thrown in the brig because she wouldn't sleep with you?"
"Exactly," said Paret. "It worked like a charm, too."
Suddenly, a smile spread across Lee's face. "Thank you very much, Paret. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
"What?" asked Paret, a sense of confusion coming over him, caused by the apparent change in Lee's mood.
Lee pulled a small tape recorder out of his pocket. "I've got it all right here," he said, clicking the off button. "Your confession on tape. Now we can file charges against you."
A look of fury came over Paret's face. "You little bastard! You set me up!"
"Sure as hell did," said Lee, with a chuckle. "And you fell for it. You know, if you are going to break the law, you shouldn't brag about it. And you have admitted to breaking several regulations on this tape. Enough to ruin your career."
Paret looked at the tape recorder, and then smirked. "That is an illegal recording," he said. "It will get thrown out if you try to use it as evidence against me. And even if you do press charges against me, and convict me of those charges; my charge against Thrace is still legitimate. She assaulted a superior officer."
"But your career would be in the toilet once this gets out either way," said Lee. "However, if you saw fit to drop the charges against Kara, well…this little tape might accidentally get lost. If you read me."
"And how do I know you won't sandbag me later?" asked Paret.
"Well, I guess you would have to count on the ability of Kara and myself to forgive and forget," replied Lee in quiet, serious tone.
Paret went behind his desk, sat down, and started handwriting a note on a piece of paper. When finished, he handed it to Lee. "Here," he said. "I'll type it up and give it to Commander Watkins, the Presiding Authority, in the morning. Satisfied?"
"I will be," said Lee, as he handed back the short a sweet memo dropping the charge. "After it's delivered and accepted."
"Do I get the tape?" asked Paret.
"Yes," said Lee. "But Kara will hang on to a copy of it, just in case she hears of you ever harassing a female officer like you harassed her. Then it just might re-surface."
Lee turned and headed out of the office. "Adama!" shouted Paret. "You may win this round, but that bitch of yours is trouble! Mark my words!"
Lee ignored Paret and closed the door behind him on his way out.
End of Chapter Twelve. Chapter Thirteen coming soon. As always, feeback/reviews are welcomed and appreciated.