Chapter Eighteen:

"Find her."

His father's words defined Lee's reason for living at the moment. Ever since the moment he learned that Kara Thrace went missing while fighting off Cylon raiders, Lee Adama became possessed with the mission of finding her. He and every other pilot on Galactica had been searching for her for hours now, pushing their resources to the limit. They were using up a dangerous amount of fuel. A number of Vipers were out of commission because of the conditions on the planet they were searching. Lee was now on his third Viper as he flew through the atmosphere.

None of it mattered to Lee. The whole fleet's resources could be completely drained, but all Lee cared about was finding Kara. In the back of his mind, Lee's voice of reason told him that Kara might have to be left behind to protect the rest of humanity's survivors. But Lee just ignored the voice and pressed forward. Despite the fact that Lee had broken off their engagement out of a sense of duty, a desire to not be distracted from duty by personal feelings, Lee Adama's only concern was still finding Kara. Even if it meant physically threatening senior officers, as he did with Colonel Tigh a few hours earlier, Lee was going to find Kara or die trying.

His fuel supply was almost exhausted. Lee turned his Viper back to Galactica, pushing the Viper's engines to the limit to get back, so he could refuel and go back out again.

When he got back, Chief Tyrol told Lee that Commander Adama wanted to see him in his quarters. Lee headed straight there. When he arrived, the Commander was standing quietly behind his desk.

"The President is coming," said Adama. "She wants us to call off the search."

"We're not going to give into her, are we?"

"No. But she's gonna press," said Adama.

"I'm with you," said Lee, as he turned to stand next to his father and face the President.

"President Roslin," announced Colonel Tigh in formal fashion as he entered with the President.

"Madam President," greeted Adama.

"Let's skip the formalities. You both know why I'm here," said Roslin.

"Termination of a pilot's rescue mission is a military decision," said Adama.

"That's a bunch of a crap," said Roslin. "This isn't military. It's personal. Personal especially for you Captain because you want to find the woman you are in love; whom you were once engaged to. And for you Commander because of your son's love for her, and because you already love her as your own daughter. Does that sound about right?"

"That's not it. Lt. Thrace is…" began Lee.

"Don't even begin, Captain," interrupted Roslin. "You've lost perspective, as have you, Commander. I understand your feelings for her; especially after all we have lost since the holocaust destroyed our colonies. I understand that love can be a powerful emotion that causes those under its power to do desperate things to try and save the one you love. You have done everything possible to find Lt. Thrace, as you should. But now you are putting your pilots at risk and you are exposing the fleet to possible attack every moment we stay here."

"We've been at risk of a Cylon attack since day one," said Adama. "The Cylons won't be missing their patrol for at least one more day."

"Colonel Tigh," said Roslin. "How much fuel have we expended in the search?"

"43 of reserves," replied Tigh.

"Almost half," said Roslin. "That's unacceptable. And operations inside the moon's atmosphere have also put 1/3 of your fighters out of action. That is also COMPLETELY unacceptable."

"FRAK unacceptable, or whatever it is you feel about this," said Adama. "Recovery of one pilot is a military matter."

Roslin stared at the Commander coldly for a moment before responding. "Alright," she replied half-sarcastically. "It's military. Fine. And you're both officers, and you're both honorable men. And you are both aware that you are putting the lives of over 45,000 people and the future of this civilization at risk for your personal feelings. Now if the two of you of all people can live with that, then the human race doesn't stand a chance. Clear your heads."

The President quietly walked out of the room, with Colonel Tigh not far behind her. Adama and Lee stood there, reeling from the conversation they just had with Roslin. Both of them stood there for a few moments, trying to reason out what she had said to them.

Lee went to move toward the door. "I better get back out there," he said. "Search team five will need to be refueled soon, and I still need to get team 2 back out."

"Stop," said Adama.

Lee froze, and then turned to face his father. He saw the look on the old man's face. The two men stared at one another for a long moment before Lee spoke. "You aren't giving in to that crap that she spouted, are you?"

"Think about it Lee," said Adama. "Are we really doing this for military reasons, or for personal ones?"

"Lt. Thrace is the best pilot we have…"

"Son," said Adama. "Don't lie to me or to yourself. You don't want to find Lt. Thrace. You want to find Kara, the woman you love. I want to find her, too. The thought of losing her hurts me deeply, although not as much as it does you I'm sure. But it is feeling we are talking about here, not military reasoning that has motivated our search beyond the point Kara could have survived. Kara was family, and sometimes you break the rules for family. But it has gone too far."

"We don't know!" said Lee, his anger growing inside of him. "How can we just jump away not KNOWING if she is dead or alive!"

"Because we have a duty greater than our feelings," said Adama. "The President was right. We have a duty to protect over 45,000 survivors of the human race. If we keep going on with the search, we put all those people at risk! You know it and I know it! Remember that you yourself broke off your engagement with Kara in order to put duty ahead of the possibility of emotional ties getting in the way. Now we are both giving in to exactly what you tried to avoid with that decision."

"I can't believe you are just going to give up on her! I mean, if we are just going to write her off because some frakking politician thinks we are expending too much GAS…."

"Lee, the President was right! Clear your head and think about this, son!"

"She is what is in my head! All alone out there, waiting for us to find her! If we turn our back on that, then what the hell is anything of this FOR! We might as well wait here for the Cylons to come and destroy us, because I don't want to live not knowing whether she was alive when we just ABANDONED HER!"

"Lee, the time comes when a man has to take responsibility for other things than his personal feelings! This is that time for you! I know it will be hard, and you are going to have to live the rest of your life with doubt! We all do! Who knows how many people we may have left behind in the colonies! Perhaps your mother or Zack might still be alive back there! I live with that thought every day! Now we have to add Kara to that list!"

"You know what? If you can seriously stand there and ask me to write off Kara when we don't know for sure she is dead, then to hell with it and to hell with YOU!"

Lee stormed out of Adama's quarters and headed down the corridor towards the flight deck. There was nothing but emotion swirling through Lee as he marched at a brisk pace towards his destination. His plan was simple, illogical, and single-minded. Steal a raptor, stay here when the fleet jumps, and keep searching until his fuel runs out or until he finds her.

When he got to the flight deck, he found Chief Tyrol standing and waiting for him with several Marines standing around him. "Captain Adama, sir," said Tyrol. "We have orders from the Commander to detain you."

"Out of my way, Chief," said Adama, trying to shove past. But the Chief and the Marines stopped him cold.

"Can't do that, sir," said Tyrol. "Commander's orders are to detain you until we jump."

"I have to get out there," said Lee. "I have to find her."

"Sorry, sir," said Tyrol. "I can't."

Just then, the alarm claxon sounded, followed by the sound of Colonel Tigh's voice over the intercom. "Action stations, action stations. Launch the alert fighters. Cylon raider approaching."

Lee looked up, as if the voice had come from the ceiling, and then looked pointedly at Tyrol. "Get me in a Viper," he said.

Tyrol nodded. "Viper 13 is ready, sir."

Lee ran towards the Viper as a crewman handed him his helmet. He strapped himself into the fighter and readied himself for launch. His Viper streaked out of the launch tube and into space. A few moments later, Lee heard that Hot Dog, who was to be his wingman, failed to launch out of the tube due to interval failure.

"Look's like I'm going solo," said Lee to himself.

He closed on the Cylon raider. When he came into range, Lee opened fire. His shots missed as the two ships passed each other. Lee came about and pursued the raider as they headed for Galactica. Lee tried repeatedly to shoot the enemy down, but the ship kept evading his fire.

"Lords, this bastard's good," said Lee.

He kept firing, and the raider kept evading his fire. "Hold still, you little prick!" he said.

Finally, one of his shots scored a glancing blow on the raider. But then, the raider pulled back on the throttle and slid under Lee's Viper. He expertly turned his Viper 180 degrees to meet the new threat to his rear, but the enemy was nowhere to be found.

"What the…." The enemy was nowhere to be seen. "Galactica, I've lost him. I repeat, he is nowhere to be seen."

Finally, the Cylon came back into view, flying right above Lee. "Holy! Galactica, the Cylon is now flying formation with me, right above my head. This thing is acting weird."

Then, the raider turned upside down. When Lee saw the writing on the bottom of its wings, his heart skipped a beat. For the first time in a long time, Lee felt an overwhelming sense of joy. He shouted and laughed.

"IT'S STARBUCK!" he shouted into his com.

"What?" said Adama, over the com. "Come again, Apollo?"

"Galactica, the raider is marked 'Starbuck.' It's written under the frakking wing!"

Lee heard cheers erupt over the com from the personnel in CIC. Meanwhile, Lee began crying, as he thought about Kara in that raider, in his sight, when just minutes ago he was sure she was lost forever.

His father's voice came over the com and brought Lee back to reality. "Bring it into the bay! If it does anything, shoot it down!"

"Wilco, Galactica," said Lee. "But it's gotta be her. This thing is flying with some serious attitude!"

He could have kicked himself for not recognizing her flying style before. Lee had always loved watching Kara fly. Lee often-equated Kara's flying to sex because it always seemed to turn him on to see how adeptly she could handle a flying machine. It reminded him of her adeptness at the other.

When they got back into the hangar, Lee took off his helmet before canopy was even all the way up. He handed the helmet to the deck hand standing on the ladder, then jumped down off of the fighter. He began running towards the raider as soon as his feet hit the ground.

They were putting Kara onto a stretcher just as Lee ran up. "Kara!" said Lee, leaning over her. "Are you alright?"

"Pretty banged up," said Kara, looking up at Lee. "But nothing that won't mend hopefully. Was that you flying that Viper that almost gunned me down?"

"Yeah," said Lee. "Sorry."

"Someone's going to have to remind you about intercept protocol," said Kara. "So, like my new toy?"

Lee took a glance over at the raider, then back at Kara. "When you take a souvenir, you don't screw around."

Then, the two of them looked intently at one another for a long moment. The forced brevity of the previous moment fell away as their eyes studied one another. Finally, Lee took Kara's face gently in his hands and kissed her passionately on the lips. Kara gave in immediately to it as she kissed him back with as much passion as he kissed her. They kept kissing desperately, as the medics waited impatiently and rather awkwardly for them to finish.

When the kisses finally halted, Lee put his arms around Kara. "I thought I'd lost you," he said, tears falling down his cheeks.

"I thought you did too a few times," said Kara. "So, you greet every pilot who comes back alive like this?"

"Only you," said Lee. "Only the woman I love. The woman who I hope will forgive me."

"For what?" asked Kara.

Lee reached into his pocket and pulled out Kara's engagement ring. "For asking you to take this off of your finger where it belongs."

Kara was now starting to cry. "Really?"

"If you can forgive me," said Lee. "If you will take me back."

Kara took the ring from Lee and began putting it on her finger. Lee helped her, then kissed the ring and the finger it was on. He then kissed her one more time on the lips.

"Good thing for you I love you," said Kara.

Lee smiled. "I love you, too. Even though you smell like a latrine right now."

Kara chuckled. "Wanna give me a bath?"

"Later," said Lee. "You bet I will."

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