Kara managed to make it through half the meeting that morning, just long enough to get the jist of the plan. They were planning on stealing a ship from the nearest base. The lucky people to fit on the ship would return to the coordinates in space that Lee had worked out, and together those lucky few would make sure the Fleet sent back help for those that had to stay behind. It was really the only plan they could have. So, feeling bored and knowing she needed to clear her mind, Kara had slipped out of the room to come down here.

Even this stupid makeshift court felt familiar.

She had slept by herself the night before in one of the "renovated" classrooms. It had been hard, coming up with a reason Anders would believe explaining why she didn't want to snuggle up with him as soon as possible. Half of her wanted to desperately. He was familiar, something she had clung to when the Cylons were only a distant memory. The memories had never faded.

Kara bounced the pyramid ball off one of the backboards and caught it. The resounding thunk the ball made upon contact was a reminder of the way life was going these days.

She half wanted to snuggle in with Anders and let him protect her, which anyone would say was normal. The problem was her other half wanted to walk down the hallway to that history classroom Lee was bunking in, strip off her clothes one at a time, and join him in that bed. She had gotten accustomed to his touch, and she was afraid that if she went to Anders, she would realize it wasn't the same.

Kara threw the pyramid ball back and forth in her hands a few times before finally chucking it at the goal. It went in with a satisfying clink.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Kara turned and saw Lee leaning up against the wall of the school. Looking down at the ground, she found herself wondering how long he had been watching her. A part of her was pleased he was there. Plenty of fans throughout her career had told her how good she looked when she was playing ball. After the things he had said to her yesterday, it was important to her to appear strong and in charge to him.

She waited until the initial surprise had washed away before looking up at him. She had never been able to read Lee, but this time it wasn't hard. It was all right there in his eyes. He regretted what he had said to her the day before. He hadn't meant it. She knew that mostly because she was just as sorry for putting him in a position that made him feel like he needed to hurt her.

This is what they had been doing for months. They danced around each other until the only option to keep themselves apart was to cause pain. They hit the shit out of each other in Galactica's gym or they made an offhand comment referencing past mistakes. Both were effective ways of making sure they didn't cross the line with one another.

Lee pushed off the wall and walked over to stand in front of her. There was still a slight limp to the way he moved, but Kara knew better than to ask about it. "I thought you said you were the star player."

"I'm a little rusty. I haven't had much time to get in practice with the nuclear holocaust and everything." Kara went over to the goal to retrieve the ball, and she could feel his eyes following her every footstep. "It feels good," she admitted, making her way back over to him.

"I can imagine."

They stood motionless in the middle of the court. Her eyes tried to see past the façade he was so clearly putting up in order to find out what was really going on. "You look tired, Adama," she whispered.

"I am tired," he confessed. "I don't think I've had a moment to breathe in two months."

Kara narrowed her eyes before giving him a smile. Lee knew that it was probably the last time she would look at him that way. The more time they spent with Anders and his resistance, the more he could feel Kara slipping away from him.

Knowing it was a stupid decision, Kara still couldn't stop the way her heart was screaming that she had to make this right again. "I have just the cure for you, Lee." She held the ball out for him to take. "I'm going to show you how to appreciate the game."

Lee took the ball from her hand and stared at it. It was funny how small this thing looked close-up. He squeezed it a few times before setting himself in the triangle drawn on the middle of the court. Without a word, Kara shifted to stand in front of him. Lee gave her a smile before pushing off her body and launching the ball straight at the goal. It was a long shot, but it hit the circular opening dead on and fell in. Kara gave him a surprised look.

"I might not like the game, but I can still play it, Kara," Lee said with a laugh. He jogged over to retrieve the ball and met her in the center of the court again. "Your turn."

Kara knew the motions involved in playing pyramid were probably tugging at whatever injuries Lee had sustained in the last few days. She also knew that you could be pretty good at pyramid even if your body was aching. Her hands and the track record she established on the court were a testament to that. Pyramid was actually easier to play when there was pain to focus on.

Good thing Kara had plenty of pain to use right now because Lee looked like he was ready to grind her body into the ground. "I am going to wipe the court with that cocky grin of yours," she taunted.

"As long as your poor knee doesn't give out," Lee threw back.

It took Kara a moment to figure out what that meant. Then, when the memory of her faking an old pyramid injury the morning after her first date with Zak came back, she lost it. Her laughter shook her body and gave Lee the time to snatch the ball away and plant it squarely in the goal to his right. "That's two."

Kara wasn't laughing anymore. "That was cheating."

"That was being resourceful," Lee corrected. He slapped the ball into her hand. "I see weakness. I play on it. Now show me what you've got, Thrace."

"Oh, I'll show you."

Their taunts were serious, but neither one of them backed it up with action. They were tentatively playing around each other, evenly trading points. They were working off tension, nothing more, nothing less. It was simple, exactly what they needed right then.

Of course, like all things, that changed immediately. Kara's hand was on his thigh as she prepared to block his shot. She took a step to the right when he thought she was going left, and his fingers accidentally brushed against her chest. The shiver that ran through her body didn't go unnoticed.

After that, the game shifted into something more than a tug of war. It was all-out foreplay.

His hand lingered in places it shouldn't. The small strip of skin between her tanks and cargo pants that seems to bare itself every time she twists to make a shot. The sensitive spot right on the small of her back that she knows he knows about because of the way he kept touching her there on Colonial Night. The ticklish area at the curve of her neck that he should have no reason to touch even though his hands keep miraculously brushing across it.

Her hands weren't doing any better. She was touching the hard muscles of his chest whenever he tried to block her attempts, and her hand found a way to run through his hair whenever he set himself up for the kill. The sweat on his back pushed into her every time they pivoted together, and Kara knew she shouldn't be that turned on by it.

Then there was the one and only time his hand met hers when she was trying to keep her balance from a misjudged thrust. That small contact was more intense than if he had just pulled down his pants and fraked her up against one of the goals. At least that way she could have written off the wave of desire as something completely physical.

Kara scored the final goal like they both knew she would, and as soon as it was done, she regretted it. Now they were going to slide back to that place where they don't talk with one another because they don't know what to say. There will be no more touching, no more soft whispering of names, and definitely no more of that loving fraking they do with their eyes alone. She stared at the ball sitting in the goal and sighed. Lee was probably gone already, having walked off the second she shot it.

Kara was about to go retrieve the ball when she felt his hand on her arm. He spun her to face him and before she could even figure out what was happening, he was crushing his lips to hers. There was a momentary surprise that kept her from latching on to him right away. As soon as that faded, she could feel herself melt into him. His hands were in her hair, on her body, everywhere. This was what she had been missing the past twenty-four hours.

She moaned against his lips as he pushed her up against the goal hard. He took the small opening to drop his head down and kiss her neck. The kisses quickly turned into small nibbles which turned into possessive bites, and Kara wondered if he was going to all-out consume her.

When Lee's hands came up to cup her breasts through the material of her tanks, the fact that they were out in the open hit her as hard as the desire. She pushed Lee back a few feet and stared at him, her mouth red and bruised from the frantic connection they had just made. "Lee, I…" her voice trailed off as her hands came up to unconsciously touch her lips.

You what, Kara? Lee wished to the gods that she would finish that sentence. You hate me for using you so violently? You wish you could let this happen? You want me as much as I want you? You love Anders? You love me? What the frak do you want, Kara?

Lee waited for her to continue and when she didn't, he turned and walked from the pyramid court. He couldn't stay. They both might do something they would regret.