Spoilers: Lay Down Your Burdens and a smattering of Season 2.

Disclaimer: To all the Lee/Kara shippers out there - I AM ONE OF YOU, but I couldn't let Lee's wounded pride go un-avenged. And I couldn't keep Dee or Anders around…just in case. Oh, and I don't own these characters.

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- People Change -

They had to jump away to save the fleet. But after they had gathered their forces, they returned to New Caprica, chased off the Cylons and rescued the survivors. Kara Thrace was among them.

She was assigned to the Pegasus as CAG. Her husband was dead from pneumonia and somehow she had held him responsible for that. She had made that point loudly and clearly, accusing him of hoarding the medicine needed to save his life. Of course, the Cylon invasion didn't play into her conspiracy theory. And in true Kara fashion she had avoided having any further, logical, mature discussion on the subject by avoiding him.

He didn't care anymore, though. He didn't need "Kara Thrace" drama. He had his wife, a loving, gentle, sane woman. And right now, he needed to be with her.

Dee had given birth to their son yesterday. A beautiful baby boy, with Dee's mocha colored skin and his blue eyes. The delivery was difficult, there were complications, and their son only lived for four hours after he was born.

Dee never saw their child. She had lost a lot of blood and her heart had stopped during the delivery. The doctors were able to start it again but the loss of oxygen to her brain had put her into a coma. They told him her prognosis was "poor."

He walked into Life Station and sat in the chair next to her bed.

"Hi sweetie." He said, taking her hand in his. "Can you hear me?"

His only response was the monotone beep of her heart monitor.

He lifted her hand so he could hold it against his cheek. It was warm and dry and soft against his face.

"Dee, I love you. I need you to know that. I need you here. Please don't leave me."

He had been trying so hard to be strong for her, but then he saw her lying there - perfect on the outside but broken on the inside, and his strength drained away, replaced by pain and guilt. He could no longer hold back the tears. Dee had become such an integral part of his life over the past year and a half. A calming and stable force. Constant and predictable. Supportive and non judgmental. He couldn't remember what his life had been like without her. He didn't want to think of what it would be like without her. He collected himself then kissed her forehead.

"I have to go, but I'll see you later." He paused to stroke her hair. "I love you."

Two days later she stopped breathing on her own. A week after that, the doctors advised him that the EEG no longer indicated brain function. A week after that, he signed the order to remove her from life support.

He couldn't remember much after that. The funeral was a series a blurry photographs in his mind. Anonymous words of comfort from people he couldn't remember played in his head in random fragments. He felt detached from the memories as if they belonged to someone else. He vaguely remembered his father being there, discreetly supporting him during the service, whispering to him to be strong. Every day he got up, he went to work, he went to bed. Sometimes he slept, mostly he didn't. The crew respectfully left him alone for the most part unless something required his immediate attention.

He was in the passage way heading to the CIC…or somewhere…when he heard a voice.

"Lee?"

He knew that voice and at the moment he was not in the mood to deal with its owner so he kept walking, pretending not to hear.

"Commander Adama." the voice insisted, "May I speak with you, sir?"

He stopped and turned around.

"Yes, Captain Thrace?"

She took a minute before she spoke.

"I'm really sorry about Dee and the baby." She seemed sincere.

Anger flashed in his eyes. He wanted to lunge at her, grab her by the throat, throw her against the wall and knock some sense into that obnoxious head of hers. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs about how she ruined his life. Instead, he clenched his fists until his fingernails drew blood, then took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Captain."

He turned around to walk away.

"Lee."

He wheeled around again, clearly impatient.

"I never apologized to you about Anders. About that night…." She said.

His look softened a little. "You know what? Don't. It doesn't matter."

"So, are we ok?" She looked genuinely repentant and he hated her for it.

He closed the distance between them quickly and forcefully grabbed her arm, dragging her to the first available door and shoving her through it. He locked the door behind them and turned on her.

"Are we ok?" he was about to lose all control and he didn't care. "You selfish, egocentric, narcissistic, bitch. What? Your latest frak is dead so you want to be buddies again? Maybe play with me, make me think there's something between us until the next frak comes along, for old time's sake?"

"Lee, that's not fair.."

"No, it's not fair, Kara, but it's the truth. I was a good lay until Zack came along. Then, I was someone to flirt with and tease, but you spread your legs easy enough for Baltar."

"Lee!"

"Shut up!" He was shouting now. "Then there was Anders. What were you on Caprica a week? And you came back in love with him. Obsessed with him. Drank yourself into oblivion over him. You used me for a replacement frak until you could go back to Caprica and rescue him. And I let you do it, Kara. I let you do all of it because I loved you."

He registered the look of surprise on her face but was too angry to take any pride in causing it.

"I let you do it because every time you came back to me I thought it was the time. The time you stayed."

She was crying now. He had finally hurt her and somewhere in the very bottom of his heart, he was glad.

"Lee, I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I didn't know."

"Oh, bullshit, Kara. You knew. You knew and you didn't care. But now? Now it doesn't matter anymore because it's done. It's over. There is no us, not even on the basest level."

She winced at having her own words thrown back in her face.

"Now, I'm just a Commander," he said as he pointed to himself. Then he poked her in the chest. "And you're just a CAG. Now get back to work."

He walked out, leaving her crying behind him and finally, he felt free.