NOTE: Thanks again for the encouraging reviews! They are really helping me! I apologize again for the short chapter, but after you read it, I think you'll understand. It was difficult to write.

And a reminder--- since this is the story that explains their situation at the end of season two... anyone Lee/Kara shippers will not be happy with the next couple of chapters (trust me, it pains me too...!). I had to create a situation where Apollo would be as mad at Starbuck as he seemed at the end of season two. My apologies in advance...

The good news is, since this storyline is depressing me at this point--- I'm much more motivated to write something that will bring them back together...! 

Chapter 7

Kara stood in front of the Admiral's quarters and stared blankly at the door. She'd been standing there for at least 30 minutes, trying to talk herself into knocking.

You've gotta do this, she thought to herself. It's the only way.

All of a sudden, the door started to open. "Starbuck," the Admiral looked surprised to see her.

Now that she saw him, she just wanted to run the other way. She stood there, trying to form words in her mind that made sense.

The Admiral eyed her curiously. "Is there something I can do for you?"

She still couldn't think of anything to say, so she just pointed inside his quarters. "May I?"

The Admiral moved out of the way, "Of course."

Starbuck walked through the door and stood in the middle of the room. The Admiral closed the door and motioned for her to sit down.

He looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "So what's bothering you?"

Kara exhaled. "Um... I--- well, actually, I was hoping you could do me a huge favor."

The Admiral smiled. "Anything for you. You know that."

She was about to say something else when someone knocked at the door. The Admiral stopped her with his hand. "Come in," he called.

The door opened. Sam was standing there... looking slightly confused. Kara gave him a small smile and walked over to him. He grabbed her hand and kissed her on the cheek.

Kara felt slightly ill at what she was about to say. She looked down at Sam's hand in hers and turned to face Adama.

"Sir…," She took a deep breath. "Sir, I would like for you to marry us... NOW."

"What?" Sam and the old man had the same reaction.

Kara turned to Sam with the most determined look she could muster. "I figure, why wait? If we're going to do this, let's do this."

Sam gave her a puzzled look before turning to Adama. "Excuse me, sir. Just a moment." He took Kara's arm and led her to the other side of the room.

"Is this why you called me here?" he asked.

Kara couldn't speak. She simply nodded.

"Kara, what's going on?"

This is exactly what Kara didn't want. She knew the more she talked about this, the more she would NOT want to go through with it. And she had made up her mind that this is what had to happen.

She had already reached that conclusion once before--- right after that night with Lee--- but at that time, she was only thinking of herself. She thought she was the only one who wouldn't survive once she drove him away.

When Lee blew up at her in the briefing room, she could not only see the pain that she caused him... she could feel it as well. It tore her up inside. The fact that she could inflict that much pain on him scared her.

If she married Sam, she knew Lee would be devastated... but he would have to let her go. And it would be the last time she would ever hurt him. He could move on with his life and find someone who would make him happy--- someone who would treat him as well as he deserved to be treated.

She felt sick to her stomach. But she knew she had to do this.

"Look, Sam. Do you want to get married or not?"

He sighed. "You know I do. But I just asked you four days ago. Isn't this a little sudden?"

She decided to take a different angle. She put her hands on either side of Sam's face and looked into his eyes.

"Look. If we've learned anything from what's happened in the past year and a half, it's that what we have today could be gone tomorrow." She could tell from his eyes that she was getting through.

"Sam...," she sounded a little desperate. "What's the point of waiting?"

Sam thought about this for a moment. He looked down at Kara's hand and played with the ring on her finger. He smiled at her. "Does this mean I need to make room in the tent immediately?" he said softly. "Because it's real mess right now."

Kara put on her best attempt at a smile as she put her arms around Sam's neck and pulled him toward her. She squeezed her eyes shut--- trying to push back the tears she felt coming on.

She tried to ignore the dull pain in her chest. In a matter of minutes, she would be losing the two things she loved more than life itself--- her Viper... and Lee.