Her body jolted awake, and it took Kara a second to realize it was less from the ambrosia she had consumed and more from the rather vivid dream she had been having. It hurt to feel the bed beside her and not find his warmth.

Growling, she pulled herself out of bed. She didn't have class until the afternoon, and after that she had some unofficial flight time scheduled in with Lee. That meant she was awake with time to kill.

After a quick change into shorts and her sports bra, she started the trek through the corridors to the gym. It had to be at least three hours from the morning shift change. There would be absolutely no one there, making it the perfect setting for her to beat the damn confusing thoughts right out of her head.

Kara rubbed her eyes as she stumbled down the hall. She was still half asleep. Her feet came to a stop outside the gym hatch when she heard the familiar thwap of glove meeting bag. Some crazy fool actually had the same idea she did.

She knew it was him even before she saw it. There was a tight precision to the punches she was hearing, and no one else on board the Galactica could do that with quite as much anger. Others got sloppy. Lee simply got more efficient. It was one of the first things she learned about her CAG.

"Rough morning?" she called, pushing off the door jamb.

"Is it morning?" Lee said. He didn't stop in his ruthlessly efficient assault.

Kara walked over to the bag and held it steady. "Haven't you slept?"

"I told you that most nights I don't," he spit out, turning to kick the bag with his leg. Kara had to brace herself to keep from falling. "Why are you here?"

"Same reason you are, I guess. I have something I need to work out."

Lee paused in his attack to glance around the gym. "There are plenty of bags."

Kara narrowed her eyes. He wanted her to go away. That was something new. "Sometimes bags aren't good enough for what you need." Lee stared at her without saying a word. She knew he was waiting for her to walk away.

As soon as her back was turned, Lee let out a deep breath. The last thing he needed was Kara here in this gym. He had been doing so well, kicking and punching his demons. He didn't need her randomly showing up to remind him why he let the demons in in the first place.

He was just about to start hitting the bag again when a pair of gloves smacked him in the back of the head. Kara was staring at him expectantly. "Put those on," she commanded.

Lee bent down to pick up the gloves. They were what most of the crew used when they were lifting weights. "I'm not in the mood for spotting," Lee growled.

Kara shook her head. "I'm not in the mood for weights. I need to punch something." She looked him up and down before smirking. "You'll do."

Lee watched Kara slip a pair of similar gloves onto her hand before cracking her knuckles slowly. As she took her time warming up, he let his eyes wander the length of her body. A woman shouldn't look that good this early in the morning.

"I find those stupid boxing gloves to be too constricting," she explained even though he hadn't asked. "The point of this is to let a little pain in. How the frak are you supposed to do that when you have so much padding on?"

Lee could understand where she was coming from, but he wasn't going to tell her that. The last thing they needed was more common ground. He wanted her out of his life. He didn't want to let her in even more. Slipping the gloves on, he pumped his hand until they felt right. He decided Kara was actually on to something. Physical pain might be the way to go.

"Promise me one thing, Apollo," she whispered roughly as she began to circle him.

"What?"

"Don't go easy." She lunged in and made a quick jab at his chin, connecting with ease. He hadn't been ready for that.

Lee shook off the pain of the blow and wondered, not for the first time, if knowing Kara Thrace was going to be the death of him. From practically the moment she came up to him on the Rising Star, he could tell those brown eyes were trouble. He was content with just blocking the punches she threw up until he remembered the way those eyes had sparkled as she stepped onto the Raptor shuttle the night before. This was the woman dating his brother, and she was currently trying to kick his ass. Lee lashed out with a vicious right hook and made contact with the side of her face.

"You hit me!" Kara exclaimed, backing off a few steps.

Lee bit back the urge to apologize. He had never hit a girl before, at least not bare handed. It had always been with boxing gloves, playfully sparring with some of his shipmates.

"You're starting to earn my respect, Adama," Kara said, reaching her hand up to wipe the small trail of blood from her bottom lip. She had bit down on the side of her mouth on impact. That was probably going to hurt quite a bit in a few hours.

They traded a few punches, but both Lee and Kara knew they were toying with one another. It had been apparent in the first few seconds that they could really do some damage to each other. As fraked up as they were, Lee knew that they probably wouldn't reach that point… unless she said something to really piss him off.

Lee's mind was preoccupied with that wonderful thought when Kara slipped under his defenses to give him a mildly hard punch to the left cheekbone before kicking his legs out from under him. As he pulled himself up off the ground, he heard her whisper, "I missed fighting with you yesterday."

If it was possible, her words hurt him more than all the blows. He had missed fighting with her, too. Their bickering from the cockpits of the Vipers had become like second nature to him even though they had only been doing it a short while. It was odd going a full night without that annoyingly sexy voice in his ear telling him he was the worst CAG in the history of CAGs.

"We both know that's not true," Lee hissed as his jab hit the empty space she had just been in. He turned to glare at her. "I'm sure you were too busy yesterday to even think of me. How did the date go, by the way?"

"Pretty good considering there wasn't a lot of options," Kara growled, dodging another punch. "It was nice to be back on the Rising Star. I've kind of missed it."

Lee's mind immediately went to the last time Kara had been on the luxury liner. He couldn't get rid of the memory of the warmth of her body in his hands.

Kara took advantage of his distraction again and punched him hard in the gut. He doubled over in pain and wondered if she would get him a moment's reprieve while he figured out if breathing was still an option. "I'm glad you took my advice," Lee groaned to the woman hovering over where his body lay on the mat.

"What advice would that be?"

"To stop playing around with my little brother," Lee said, sitting up. Kara offered him a hand and helped him to his feet.

"You really are the stereotypical self-sacrificing older brother, aren't you?" Kara said, shaking her head.

Lee nodded and moved to sweep her feet out from under her. When she tried to counter, their limbs got tangled up, and they both fell to the mat. Lee was already back on his feet before he realized Kara was clutching her knee in pain. "What happened?" he said, the concern evident on his face.

"Old fraking pyramid injury," Kara hissed. "You are such a jackass! Frak, this hurts."

"Really?" Lee said, leaning down even more.

"No!" Kara yelled before winding back to punch him across the face. Her laughter filled the gym as Lee stumbled back in pain. "You stupid frakers always fall for that crap. If I had an old injury, I wouldn't still be playing."

"That was a low blow," Lee hissed, rubbing at his already tender jaw.

"I see a weakness, I play on it, Apollo," she pointed out.

"And what weakness did you just play on?"

"You're too sympathetic, too worried about the pilots you have under your command."

"Usually that's the sign of a good CAG," Lee insisted as they both squared up for another round.

Kara threw a few half-hearted jabs as they began to circle one another. They were toying with one another in this fraked-up seductive version of cat and mouse. She hated how excited that made her. "That standard you're trying to live by to doesn't hold up now that our world has been destroyed. You need to be tough if you want your pilots to be there in the end."

"Who are you to be giving me advice on how to do my job?" Lee growled.

"I was a member of a rather successful pyramid team. I know what it's like to have to lead troops into battle."

The conversation cut off when Lee's fist connected with one of her hands abruptly. She had been trying to throw a nearly identical punch to his. There was a dull thump as they made contact with one another, and Lee saw Kara wince in pain as she tried to shake it off. "I'm not even going to ask if you're okay."

"I see you're learning."

Kara took another swing at his face, and Lee stepped to the side. Her unexpected momentum in addition to the slight push he gave her caused her to collide with the wall. She took a moment to gather herself before pivoting her body to charge at him. Her body roughly pushed his into the mat, and Kara could feel the breath rush out of his chest. She didn't give him time to recover.

Lee was protecting his face as Kara seemed to lose the last bit of control she had. He had no clue where all this anger was coming from. Knowing he needed to stop her, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Did he say you looked beautiful?" He was rewarded when her fists stop mid-air. Rolling, he pinned her body to the ground. "Because you really did look beautiful, Kara."

Kara's face melted for a moment before the tough façade came right back. She kneed him hard in the gut. "It's none of your business what Zak said to me."

Lee pulled himself to his feet despite the pain. A laugh fell from his lips that cut Kara to the bone. "He didn't say it."

"I am not here to go over the details of my night."

"Are you going to see him again?" Lee asked abruptly, earning himself a few close punches.

Kara thought over his question as she wiped another round of blood from her mouth. She hadn't thought about it yet. If she was on Caprica, things would be a lot easier. She would have gone on her date, gotten a good frak from Zak, and then moved on to the next venue. Now, she was in this Fleet, and her mistakes didn't just disappear with the changing scenery.

She broke away from Lee's penetrating gaze and focused on the swelling right below his right eye. That was definitely going to darken up into one hell of a black eye. "I don't know," she spit out as they started trading blows again.

The pace picked up as their words died away, and Kara could feel the rage radiating off of Lee. She had a small idea where all this anger was coming from. The idea of her going on a date with Zak must have reminded him of his girlfriend. Lee half-heartedly threw her up against the wall, and Kara decided she had had enough pain for one day.

Kara rested her hands on her knees for a moment, trying to catch her breath. She lifted her head to see Lee was doing the exact same thing. From the gasping for air to the pained look on the face, they were mirror images of one another. He didn't look like he was ready to stop this fight. "I can't be her for you, Lee," Kara spit out between gasps of air.

Lee's face filled with confusion. "Who?"

"Gianne."

Kara knew the second she said it, she had made a mistake. Lee's face went void of all emotion as his jaw tightened. Suddenly he had no trouble breathing and was as calm as the waters on Picon. "How do you know about Gianne?" He didn't even pause to let her answer. "Let me guess. Zak went into great details about what a horrible frak-up his older brother is while you were on your date, and you couldn't help but rub my nose into it."

"You have it all wrong," Kara growled.

"He needs to learn to keep his mouth shut when it comes to stuff that's none of his business. I never waved his shortcomings around in the air for people to look at. I was too busy being proud of the way he aced his way through mechanical school to be embarrassed by the fact that my brother was a flight school washout. I never once teased him when he brought home a random girl from the Academy and then begged me to help get rid of her the next day. He had no right to tell you about Gianne."

Kara waited until Lee's rant drew to a close before smacking him hard in the arm. It got his attention. "Your brother didn't mention Gianne, Lee."

"Then who did?"

"Your father."

"That makes no sense. My father barely knew her."

"Well, obviously he kept up with what was happening in your life because he was definitely the one who told me about your girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend," Lee corrected.

Kara's face filled with disgust. "That's a horrible way to put it. Lots of people lost loved ones in the attacks. You don't hear them going around talking about their ex-wives or ex-children! You can't abandon the memories of the people you loved just because they're gone. Be a man and honor the love you had with her. She is still your girlfriend until you get over her death."

"What the frak are you talking about?" Lee exclaimed. "The last time I spoke to Gianne was a few months before I got stationed on Atlantia. She hasn't been my girlfriend for over a year now. Frak! For all I know she's out there in the civilian Fleet somewhere."

Kara's eyes went wide. "But your father said…"

"Like I tried to tell you before, my father barely knows me, let alone the women I date." Lee was beginning to put two and two together, and he did not like what it was adding up to. "He must have heard about her from my mom and just assumed I was still with her."

They stood in silence, both digesting the misunderstanding that had just erupted between them. Lee reached out to grab Kara's gloved hands. He slowly pulled the tight black leather off of her, and Kara shivered as he ran his fingers over the bruises and cuts. "I don't think I could ever see you as a replacement, Kara."

She desperately wanted to ask him if that was a good thing, but she knew that was bordering on inappropriate. Lee would just pull away, and that was the last thing she wanted right now. It had been so long since someone had fussed over her. The fact that it was her hands he was examining added a sort of poetic irony to it.

Kara waited a moment before pulling away from him. She did her best to ignore the small whimper that suddenly wanted to get out. Her mind focused on something that had been plaguing her since she stepped onboard that Raptor the night before. She had come to rely on her little private lessons with CAG, and it made her sad to know she had probably seen her last one. She should just grab her things, hit the showers, and wash away the pain Lee had given her. That was the smart thing to do.

Somehow, Kara wasn't surprised when she pushed the smart course of action aside. Like she had said a thousand times before, she really enjoyed the pain. "Do you have an off-shift today?" she asked while quietly gathering her belongings.

Lee watched her for a moment. There was a lot riding on that little question, and there really shouldn't be. He knew her question implied she thought he would stop giving her those flying lessons, but he had no clue why. Her dating Zak didn't make her any less of a pilot so why would he punish her for it? "I can go up after the evening class you have," Lee said, bending down to pick up her discarded pair of gloves. He held them out for her to take. "All right?"

Her face broke out into a large smile. She gave him a small nod before walking out of the gym.

Lee moved to watch her walk down the corridor. He couldn't help but wonder what Kara had gone through to make her think he could swear her off after one little fight. She was the best pilot he had right now, and she wasn't even done with her training. Not to mention she was usually the only bright spot to his normal day of paperwork, flight classes, and endless CAPs.

Kara Thrace had wormed her way into being a part of his life, and for some reason, Lee had a feeling she was there to stay.