Chapter Fifteen:

His first thought when they sighted the Galactica docked at Ragnor was finding her. From the moment word came through about the Cylon attack, the moment the world went mad, Lee Adama thought about Kara Thrace once every five seconds, and whether or not she was safe. The ruse he designed to fool the Cylons into thinking the ship was destroyed worked, but he also knew that it probably fooled Galactica CIC as well. That meant that everyone on Galactica thought he and the other people on Colonial One were dead. That meant Kara thinks he is dead.

Lee could remember the cries of his father coming through the com, screaming his name. He though about the heartbreak that must be going through his father's mind, thinking he was dead. Lee felt guilty that it was his plan that gave his father that impression. He also knew that Kara would hear about it. Lee only hoped that his father would be there for her. Now that he was approaching Galactica on Colonial One, Lee's first thoughts were to get to her. To tell her that he is indeed alive. Of course, another thought gnawed at the back of his mind. "She might be dead." Lee would always push that thought away quickly. "No, she is alive," he thought. "I feel it."

Lee couldn't get off that ship fast enough, but the President stopped him. She asked him to be with her when she spoke to the Commander. Lee agreed, both because he felt a since of duty to the President, but it would also give him a chance to see his father, and to let the old man know that he had Lee after all. But Commander Adama was not who they met with. Colonel Tigh was there, and as stubborn as ever. Apparently, the Commander was on the station and out of touch with CIC. Lee helped the President convince Colonel Tigh to provide some disaster pods to help with the rescue of civilians in the fleet gathered at Ragnor. Then, the Colonel informed Lee that he was to be Galactica's CAG. To be the CAG of a battlestar had been Lee's goal since being chosen for War College nearly two years ago. But now, it seemed to be somewhat less than an honor, because there were very few qualified candidates for the position, and Lee would now have to lead Galactica's squadron into a battle they probably wouldn't win considering how things were going.

But now, Lee was free to find Kara. He somehow knew she would be on the flight deck, helping to repair and arm enough fighters to support Galactica when it inevitably attacked the Cylon forces. Lee found her, laying under a Viper, tools in hand, working to get it in fighting condition. She was wearing her regulation t-shirt and fatigue pants, and her face was blotched with grease. Kara was the most beautiful sight Lee had ever seen. He just stared at her for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to announce himself. Finally, he just said a simple greeting.

"Hey," he said quietly, just enough for her to hear him.

Kara looked over at him, and the shock registered on her face almost immediately. She dropped the tool she was holding, and became perfectly still. Kara began shaking, taking in the sight in front of her. Lee knew that it would be a shock to see him alive, but now he was concerned that Kara was going to have a nervous breakdown. He knelt down, pulled her out from under the Viper by her legs, and then grabbed her arms and pulled her to him.

"I'm here, Kara," said Lee, cupping her face with his hands. "I'm really here."

Lee helped Kara stand, and she stood there and stared at him. She then started running her hands over his head, his face, his arms, and his chest. The movements were not seductive, but were rather like that of a blind woman trying to feel something out to make sure it was indeed in front of her. Finally, she spoke.

"I thought you were dead," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Lee could feel Kara shaking in his arms. He decided to lighten the mood a bit. "Yeah, well I thought you were in hack."

Kara gave him an incredulous look, trying to figure out what the frak he was talking about. Then, it dawned on her that the last time he had seen her, she was in the brig. That seemed so long ago, and it felt as if she had not seen Lee in years by that point. But Kara also recognized that Lee was trying to relieve the tension of the moment, so she decided to play along.

"Nice to be wrong, huh," she said, gently caressing Lee's cheek with her fingers.

"Yeah, you should be used to it by now," said Lee.

Kara smiled. "Yeah, well everyone has to have a skill," she said. "Still, I'm not wrong about everything. I wasn't wrong about how much I love you. And how frakking great it feels to be wrong about you being dead."

Lee gently brushed his lips against hers. In that moment, Kara began crying, and Lee pulled her into a tight embrace, as they kissed each other more fully and deeply. After breaking the kiss, Lee kissed the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, baby," he said. "I didn't want to hurt you. But I had to make the Cylons think we were dead. Unfortunately, it made you and everyone here believe it, too."

"I don't care about that now," she said. "You did what you had to do to stay alive. All that matters is that you are here, with me, and that you are alive. And that I love you so much."

"I love you, too," he said, kissing her one more time.

After they held one another for a few more minutes, Lee decided that they're reunion had to be put on hold. There was a war to fight, after all. "So, um, how go the repairs?"

Kara was startled by the sudden shift in tone, but then realized that they both had a job to do. "Right, um…on track. A couple of more hours, and she should be ready to launch."

"Good," said Lee.

Kara pulled away from Lee, and stood in front of him. She beheld him for a moment in his flight suit, standing tall and looking every bit like a warrior. Like a leader. "Gods, he is beautiful," she thought. Then, it dawned on her that he was now the ranking pilot on Galactica.

"So, I guess you are the new CAG now, huh," said Kara.

"Yeah, so they tell me," said Lee. "I know that you were probably…"

"No, Lee," said Kara. "It's good you are going to be CAG. The job was the last thing I wanted. Not a big enough dipstick for the job." Then, she smiled slyly at him, and spoke in a more seductive voice. "Of course, I know you your dipstick is plenty big enough."

Lee laughed at the double-entendre that permeated her remarks. "That's my Kara," he said, as she just smiled at him. "Too bad I don't have time to remind you how much my dipstick happens to love your…"

"Lee Adama!" said Kara, with feigned horror. "You would speak that way to a lady?"

They both laughed that time. "I can't believe this," said Lee. "The world is coming down around us, and here we are laughing and making sexually suggestive jokes."

"It's either laugh or cry," said Kara. "I'm just so damned happy you are alive."

Kara pulled Lee to her and kissed him again.

"Lee, does your father know you're still breathing?"

"I don't think so," said Lee. "I'd better go and find him. When I come back, I'll need an update on the squadron's readiness. Coordinate the report with Chief Tyrol."

Kara nodded, and recognized that his conversation with her shifted in an instant from fiancée to fiancée to CAG to pilot. She was going to have to get used to the distinction. Kara came to attention and saluted. "Yes, sir."

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"Frak!" said Lee, as the systems on his fighter began to die out on him. The battle was raging around him, as Galactica and her fighter squadron tried to hold off the Cylon forces and give the civilian ships a chance to escape. But now Lee's fighter was damaged, and he was drifting out of control.

He could hear Kara's voice of his com system, calling him by his call sign, seeing if he was all right. Lee didn't respond at first, embarrassed that he had let his ship get damaged like that. But Lee quickly shook the stupidity of that thought out of his mind, and was going to respond to Kara's entreaties over the com, but that was when he saw the Cylon raider fire his missile. The missile closed on Lee's fighter, and he knew that he could not evade. Lee kept his eye on the missile, deciding that he was going to look death in the face as it came streaking towards him. "I love you, Kara," he whispered into his com, as the missile came within moments of striking him.

But the missile suddenly exploded, as a Viper went streaking by at full speed, blasting the raider that fired missile out of the sky just moments later. Lee smiled, knowing who that pilot must be. Kara's cheer through the com confirmed his suspicions.

"Looks like you broke your ship!" Kara screamed.

"I've had worse," replied Lee. "But thanks."

"I've got your back, flyboy!" she replied.

Kara continued to protect Lee's fighter, as raiders came along to try and finish the job their destroyed brethren had started. But they didn't stand a chance against Kara, who blasted them with determined fury every time they got close. Lee admired the beauty and skill of Kara's flying, as she hovered around his craft blasting Cylons. But there were a few close calls, and Lee worried that Kara was exposing herself to danger by protecting him.

"Starbuck," he said. "Don't hang around here. Get back into the fight!"

"What the frak do you think I've been doing!"

"You can't protect me forever!" said Lee.

"Watch me!" replied Kara.

Just then, Kara heard the recall order come from Galactica CIC. She ignored it, and continued to protect Lee's fighter.

"You heard them, Kara!" said Lee. "Get back to Galactica! That's an order!"

"Live or die, we do it together!" said Kara.

"I gave you a direct order!" shouted Lee.

"You can send me to the brig later!" replied Kara. "If we live! But I am not going to live with your death! Not again!"

"Frak!" said Lee, to himself.

Kara heard Commander Adama's voice come over the com. "Starbuck, what do you hear?"

"What!" she yelled, wondering what the hell Adama was talking about.

"Good morning, Starbuck, what do you hear?"

As debris hit the canopy of her fighter, it finally dawned on Kara was Adama was saying. "Nothing but the rain!"

"Good. Then grab your gun and bring home the cat," he replied.

"Copy that!" she said.

Then, Lee's voice came over the com one more time. "Dammit, Starbuck, just go! Leave me…"

"Lee, SHUT UP and HOLD STILL!" she yelled.

Kara brought her fighter into position, and then came at Lee's fighter at full speed.

"Oh, NO!" he said.

She pulled back on her thrusters just enough to not kill them in the collision, but not enough to break the momentum she was going for when her craft connected with Lee's. She pushed Lee's fighter back through the battle towards Galactica's closing landing pods.

"You are beyond insane!" yelled Lee.

Kara laughed. "Just saving your sweet ass, baby! Kick it into burn!"

As they got closer to the Galactica, Lee looked back at the ship, and saw how fast they were approaching it. "We're coming in a little hot don't you think!"

"No," said Kara, half-heartedly. "Not really."

They made it into the landing pod, and crashed on the deck just before Galactica jumped away from the Cylons. As they waited on the deck for their fighters to be brought into the hangar, Lee stared at Kara through the canopies of their fighters. She looked back at him with a look of sheer exhaustion, mixed with an overwhelming sense of triumph. Both of them were breathing heavy, coming down from the high of their ordeal.

"Lee, are you alright?" she asked.

"Shaken up," said Lee. "But okay. You?"

"I'm alive," she said. "We're alive. Everything else is just gravy."

They didn't say anything else, as their ships were finally brought in. Waiting for them as they extracted themselves from their fighters was Commander Adama, going from pilot to pilot, shaking their hands and congratulating them for a job well done. When he got to Lee, Adama shook his hand at first, but then pulled his son into a hug.

"Well done, son," he said.

"Thanks, Dad," said Lee.

Then Adama looked at Kara, standing close to Lee. He grabbed her and hugged her close to him. "You did good," he said, kissing Kara on the cheek. "Thank you for bringing in the cat."

Kara chuckled. "I happen to like this cat," she said. "He was too cute to leave out in the rain."

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Later that evening, after a funeral service and stirring speech given by his father, Lee sat in one of the chairs in the pilot's briefing room, waiting for Kara to arrive. The room was dark, quiet, with all of the pilots either in bed or on duty elsewhere. He considered the notion that they might find Earth, the thought-to-be mythical lost 13th colony of humankind. But mostly, his thoughts were focused on Kara.

"Hey," said Kara, as she walked into the room. "I got the word you wanted to see me here."

"Yes, Kara," said Lee. "Come in."

Kara sauntered over to Lee, plopping down on his lap. "You said you needed to see me in private," said Kara. "I thought you would be too tired for this." She played with his hair, and kissed Lee on his neck. "Then again, it has been a long time."

Lee put his hands on Kara's arms, and pushed her away slightly. "I didn't ask you here for that," said Lee. "Please get up."

Kara got off of his lap, and Lee stood up to face her. He had a serious look in his face that immediately killed Kara's playful mood. "I guess this is going to be a more serious talk."

"Yes, Kara," said Lee. "A CAG to pilot talk. Kara, what happened today…can't happen. Ever. I gave you a direct order to return to Galactica and answer the CIC's recall order. You disobeyed."

"Commander Adama overruled your order, remember," said Kara.

"Maybe he did," said Lee. "But you were hell bent on disobeying that order before you received that message from my father."

"Lee…"

"CAG to pilot, remember," said Lee.

Kara looked at him with a look of irritation. "Fine, SIR," she said. "I was not about to leave Galactica's CAG out there to die, SIR."

"Is that why you did it?" asked Lee. "Think about it and give me an honest answer."

"Partly, yes," said Kara.

"Partly," said Lee. "What was the rest of your reasoning behind disobeying your CAG's direct orders?"

"Lee…sir," said Kara. "Oh, frak, Lee can't we just drop the military protocol here for a moment."

"Why?" asked Lee. "We are having a CAG to pilot talk, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but my other reasons had nothing to do with my relationship with you as my CAG."

"And that is the problem, Kara," said Lee. "It is a problem we are going to have to deal with. Here and now."

"Lee, I don't believe this," said Kara. "You are alive and well now because I disobeyed your order. You are acting like you would rather be dead."

"Of course not, Kara," said Lee. "But your actions, and the reasoning behind them, are symptomatic of a serious problem. Kara, I am your CO now. There are regulations against a CO being involved with one of his or her pilots."

"Lee, those regulations apply to a situation that no longer exists," said Kara. "We are the last battlestar left in the universe for all we know. We are probably going to be on the run for a very long time."

"And we have a responsibility to protect the last survivors of humanity," said Lee. "We have jobs to do, and nothing can get in the way of that. Nothing!"

"So what are you saying, huh? You don't want to marry me anymore? You don't want me anymore? You don't love me anymore?"

"I love you, Kara. More than life itself. And I want more than anything to be your husband. But it is not about what we want anymore, Kara. It is about our obligations to the survival of our race. Kara, if I had died out there, but you had obeyed the order, at least one more experienced pilot could have returned to Galactica to carry on. You could have led Galactica's air group in my place. If we had both died, it would leave this ship two pilots short instead of one, and the list of qualified candidates for CAG would be dangerously thinned. That is unacceptable."

"I can't believe you are doing this!" said Kara. "After all we have been through to get to this point! After all we have lost! And you are asking me to give you up!"

"Don't lecture me about LOSS!" yelled Lee. "My mother…my brother, are both more than likely DEAD! Or left back there in the colonies to be murdered by the Cylons! So yes, believe me, I understand LOSS! And I don't want to loose you either. But again, it is not about us, Kara. It is about our duty to those around us, and those we are sworn to protect."

"You expect us to just shut off what we have by not getting married, by not being with each other," said Kara. "How?"

"I don't know," said Lee. "But we are going to have to find a way."

Kara ran her hands through her hair, and stared at Lee for several moments. His face was a stone stare, but inside, his heart was breaking over what he was doing. But at the same time, his head told him it had to be done.

Finally, Kara nodded her head. "I guess this little fairy tale of mine had to end sooner or later," she said. Kara looked down at her engagement ring, now on her finger for over a year. In one swift motion, she yanked the ring off of her finger, ignoring the physical and emotional pain that came from removing something on her finger for so long. She grabbed Lee's hand, and shoved the ring into his grasp. Then, coming to attention, Kara saluted. "May I be dismissed now, SIR?" she asked with a voice filled with anger and spite.

Lee wanted to say something to placate her, but knew it was useless. Instead, he just returned the salute. "Granted, Lieutenant. You are on CAP in the morning. Report to the flight deck at 08:00."

Kara turned and left swiftly. After she was gone, Lee stood alone in the empty room, and looked down at the ring in his grasp. He held it tightly in his hand as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

End of Chapter Fifteen. Chapter Sixteen coming soon. As always, feedback/reviews are welcomed and appreciated.