The Living Ones

Set during 'Scar' during the infamous Lee/Kara 'almost' scene.

Summary: There was one problem with the livings ones - they always died.

ooooooooooooooo

" ... you are okay, you're okay with the dead ones. It's the living ones you can't deal with."

Kara slapped him. Hard. She'd never slapped before - bodychecked, yes; punched, yes. But never slapped. Slapping was the action of a woman whose feelings were hurt - his words had hurt her deeply. Obviously they'd hit close to home. Well, he'd meant them to. It was time she stopped deluding herself and hurting others in the process. Acting like she wanted him, couldn't get enough of him, and then throwing him off like trash, saying it wasn't him she wanted, just a quick frak with anyone who was willing, and he'd been there. That hurt.

He took it. She'd slapped him and he took it without retaliating. That was odd behaviour for Lee - he always hit back. At least, when it came to her he did. She hadn't intended on slapping him, but after he'd said those words - those words that had pierced her soul - she'd had to hurt back, and she just couldn't think of the right words fast enough. Maybe it was the fact that she'd had more than just a little to drink that had got her tongue in a twist and her reflexes acting crazy. She never slapped - she wasn't that type of woman. Hit, yes, but slapping, no. That was for women who were weak, and she was anything but weak. At least, most of the time ... somehow when it came to Lee, there was always a dangerous weakness about her, one that she could usually control. Maybe it was the alcohol making her lose control, but blaming it on that wouldn't change what she'd done.

She grabbed his head and kissed him hard and long, feeling his surprise before he melted into it, accepting the apology she was trying to give him. But it had to end before things went any further. She pulled away as his hands touched her face gently, shoving him away physically as she grabbed the half-empty ambrosia bottle from the shelf beside the door. She swung round and grabbed the rod from the hatch door, intending to unlock it and get as far away from Lee as possible.

But he had a different idea.

Lee grabbed her from behind and yanked her away from the door, her surprise at his sudden boldness causing her to drop the bottle. It shattered and sprayed the sticky-sweet liquid everywhere. She spun round in his arms.

"What the frak are you doing?" she screamed at him. He didn't answer immediately, but kept his arms firmly around her waist. "Let me go!" she shrieked, thrashing around wildly, but Lee held tight.

"Not till you're willing to be honest with me," Lee said, forcing himself to sound calm. Inside his heart was racing - this had been the best and worst night of his life so far, and though it appeared it was going to end on the 'worst' note, he desperately hoped to change that.

"What is it you want from me?" she cried. "I was honest with you - I told you about Samuel."

"And now I want you to tell me about me," he answered, loosening his grip on her.

She broke away and strode to the other end of the room, fuming. She stood with her back to him, arms crossed over her chest, panting heavily as she strove to contain her temper.

Lee left her alone for a minute or two, just watching her, body language telling him how much of a struggle this was for her. He moved forward and stopped about halfway between them.

"There is something there, isn't there Kara?" he asked softly. "You just don't want to admit it."

She turned to face him angrily. "Maybe you're the one who just doesn't want to admit there's nothing there," she challenged, eyes flashing fire at him.

Lee snorted. "You can lie and tell me anything you want me to believe, but your actions tell the true story."

"Yeah? I thought my actions were pretty clear." Her hands slid down to her hips and her face was set resolutely.

"That they were," Lee agreed, moving towards her slowly.

"So don't you get it yet, or do I have to draw you a picture?" she said sarcastically.

"It wasn't the pushing away I was referring to." Now he was only a few steps away from her. His voice dropped to a whisper. "It was the kiss."

"The kiss?" Her voice was steady but Lee could see the emotions flit across her face quickly, before she put on the 'Starbuck' mask again.

"Stop playing games with me Kara," Lee said, voice still low but completely serious. "You can say there's nothing between us, but we both know it isn't true."

"Wishful thinking Apollo. Just because you have the callsign of a god doesn't mean you're irresistible to women."

He advanced on her and pinned her to the lockers. "There's only one woman I'm concerned with," he said, voice barely above a whisper.

"Really," she said dryly, one eyebrow raising. Her eyes met his and she was surprised to see the depth of feeling that was normally hidden. Lee Adama was a man who always held himself carefully in check, logic always triumphing over passion. Well, it seemed Kara had the key to unlocking that passion - hell, she was the key. It was written all over his face. He wanted her, desperately, and she could feel her resolve melting away. Frak him - he always had the ability to break down her barriers! That was why she usually used sarcasm and wit to hold him at bay. But now she was defenceless before him and he was moving in for the kill, his breath warm and sweet against her face.

"Really," he whispered, lips touching hers gently, then harder and more demanding as his body gave in to the passions that he was finally allowing to rule him.

Kara's mind exploded. Not ten minutes earlier they'd nearly given in and consummated their verbal-never-quite-physical relationship, and Kara had wanted nothing more than that. As it all came unraveled though, her thoughts had focused on Sam and she'd tried to push Lee away, knowing on some level that it was best they never cross this line, as there was no turning back once they did. She cared for Sam, maybe even loved him, but all the men she'd loved had ended up the same way. Dead. She dared not give in to the feelings she had for Lee. He was still here, and she needed him to stay here. She couldn't lose him too. Not after Sam. Not after Zack.

Her hands came up to his chest involuntarily to push him away, but this time he wouldn't let her; Lee Adama was all muscle and there was no way he could be moved unless he allowed himself to be. Though her arms fought uselessly against him, her lips seemed to be of a different mind. They took in all Lee had to offer and demanded more, as she opened her mouth wider and explored his mouth with her tongue. Lee kept right on kissing her, body on fire from the feel of her tongue sliding against his.

The part of her mind that was controlling Kara's mouth suddenly took over the rest and her arms stopped struggling and slid up around his neck, twining themselves in the damp hair at the back of his neck.

He gave a feral groan and his arms grabbed her and pulled her roughly against him. Within seconds she was undressed down to her bra and panties again and their bodies were straining against one another's as they devoured each other with passionate kisses.

Something in Kara's brain suddenly clicked through the haze of passion and she knew it had to stop because giving him her body would mean giving him her heart, and that was the one thing she was desperately trying to avoid. She broke away from him and slipped under his arm, walking to the other end of the room and stopping just short of the broken glass.

Lee turned and watched her, a perplexed look on his face. "Kara ...?" he asked softly, confusion evident in his voice.

"I can't do this," she broke out, voice wavering. She held her back to him, knowing if she faced him the flood of tears she was barely holding back would explode down her cheeks.

"What ... I don't understand," he said. "I thought ..."

She spun round, tears be damned. "I can't do this! You can't be just another quick frak!"

He stepped forward slowly. "I can if that's what you want. There doesn't have to be any more to it than that."

"No you can't! You don't understand - if we do this ..." She paused, not knowing quite how to put the incoherent thoughts in her brain into words. "I'll love you."

Lee shook his head, looking even more confused now. "I don't get it ... you'll love me if we have sex? You mean you won't if we don't?"

She looked up at him, eyes pleading for understanding. "I don't love you - I can't love you. You mean too much to me."

Lee's face screwed up almost comically. Sometimes it was just about impossible to follow her logic and the fact that he was having difficulty focusing with the big head wasn't really helping either.

"Okay, you're going to have to help me out on this one because I'm seriously lost," he said finally.

"Toss me my clothes," she said, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Kara ..."

"My clothes," she said firmly.

He exhaled slow, but leaned back to pick them up. "You know we're going to have to talk about this sometime," he said in a resigned voice. He tossed her the pile of clothing and she quickly dressed.

"There's nothing to talk about. This can't happen between us."

"Well that doesn't make a lot of sense, since we both seem to want it to," Lee argued.

"Doesn't matter how much we want it to," she said, straightening up, now fully dressed. "It can't."

Lee strode over to stand directly in front of her. "You want to tell me why?"

"I lost Zack. I lost Sam. I won't lose you too." She put a hand up and touched his cheek tenderly, where she'd slapped him earlier, then pulled away.

Before Lee could get over his surprise, she was gone, and he was left with only the memory of her tear-stained face as he wondered what the frak had just happened.

The End