There was a slow, intense burn inside of her that she couldn't get to go away. It kept Kara from being able to concentrate on anything. She was supposed to be getting ready for her turn at maintenance duty right now yet all she managed to do was slip on her tanks and underwear. Her body kept taking over for her mind. This was out of control.

She couldn't hide the fact that the burn was directly connected to the man standing at the other end of the room with only a towel slung across his hips. Lee had looked at her as he stepped into the bunkroom half clothed and gave her a quick explanation about how Hot Dog was updating him on the progress of the nuggets while he was gone and the only free time he and Hot Dog shared happened to be right after he got out of the shower.

Kara didn't think that was a good enough reason to torture her, but what was she going to do? It wasn't like she could get the President to pass a law commanding Lee to keep himself fully clothed at all points in the day.

This insane want, need, desire for Lee Adama hadn't waned. It was still as urgent as it was before they went to Caprica. Kara was still completely confused as to what she was going to do to fix her little mess, and it would have been a lot easier if things had shifted away from the hot tension. She still saw Lee in the corridors, and her first impulse was to push him up against the wall and lick the sensitive spot he had right where his neck met his left shoulder.

Kara slammed her locker shut, ignoring the way everyone's attention in the bunkroom turned to her. As she was stepping out the hatch, she heard Kat mutter, "Looks like the star pilot can't take the heat when she's down on the ground."

She was about to turn around and get herself thrown in the brig for a second time for decking a fellow pilot when she heard Lee respond. "Don't comment on things you don't understand, Katraine. It just makes you sound stupid."

Kara let herself smile for a second. Then, the thoughts of how wrong she was to be happy seeped back in. This maintenance shift was going to take forever if she couldn't get her brain to turn off.

Kara tried to see her reflection on one of the bulkheads outside the Commander's office. It figured that she would get called here while she was in the middle of her shift. She probably had oil smeared all over her face. She knew the oil was permanently staining her hands. She was a mess.

She so did not want to be a wreck for this moment.

Pushing her hair behind her ears, Kara took a deep breath. The last time she had been called here, the Old Man told her that Lee was in love with another woman. She wished the conversation could be that simple.

She had a feeling that it was going to be her doing most of the talking this time around.

Her knock on the door was firm. She was not going to start this off by letting know she was scared to death. He yelled for her to enter, and Kara tried to center herself. This was going to be the most awkward conversation of her life.

"Commander?" she said, stepping into his office. It always surprised her how warm this place felt.

"Kara," Adama said. She tried not to wince at the use of her first name. He never used her first name. "Please take a seat."

"Is there something you needed from me, sir?" Kara asked as she lowered herself into the frighteningly comfortable chair. Maybe she should piss the Commander off more if it meant getting to relax in this thing.

"I hope you forgive my bluntness, but I'd like to know what happened to my son on Caprica."

Kara's eyes went wide even though she was doing her best to stay calm. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Something happened on that planet that Lee thinks I don't need to know about. I figured if anyone knew it would be you."

"Maybe there's a good reason he's holding back," Kara insisted.

Adama smiled and leaned back in his chair. "See? I knew you'd be helpful."

Kara's face lit up in confusion. She hadn't said a word. How the frak could she be helpful? "I don't think I'm following you."

"About two seconds ago, I thought something was wrong with Lee. Now I know that you know what that is. So we simply have to sit here until you figure out how to tell me."

Kara went pale. He had her there. The only time she had seen him since returning to the Fleet was the few minutes it took him to dress her down and then promote her to Lieutenant. He would have no clue that she was acting as strangely as Lee was these days.

"I'm not asking you as your Commander, Kara. I just want to know what happened to hurt my son."

Her heart broke at the Old Man's plea. She couldn't stand seeing that look of disappointment on a third Adama face. "I happened to you son, sir. You were right to think I was bad news."

"I don't understand what that's supposed to mean," Adama admitted.

"I withheld some information from Lee, and when he found out what that was… let's just say he took it badly."

"It's affecting his job."

Kara shook her head. "No, it's not, sir. We've been back for two weeks, and no one's complained about him being CAG."

"Then it's only a personal shortcoming we're talking about?"

Kara sighed. She wasn't going to be able to talk herself out of this one. Adama wasn't going to back down until he had answers. It was what any father would do. "I was engaged, sir."

To his credit, Adama only looked completely floored for a few seconds. "You were engaged?"

"Technically, I still am, considering Sam didn't die in the attacks."

"I'm afraid you've lost me, Lieutenant."

"I was engaged to Samuel Anders, the captain of the Buccaneers. It happened a few weeks before the attack so I didn't think I had to tell anyone if I didn't want to. Do you remember the resistance group mentioned by Lee, Helo, and myself in the reports we gave you?" Adama gave a short nod. "Anders was the leader. It turned out that most of the big players in the resistance were my old teammates. They were up in the hills when the Cylons attacked so they avoided the worst of it."

Kara rubbed her temples. Honestly, she should be getting used to these fraking headaches. They seemed to be a side effect of what the Cylons had done to her. Or maybe they were only a side effect of what she had done to herself. "The man I loved… the man I was engaged to, he's alive, sir."

"So that's why Lee requested a rescue party as soon as the Fleet was in the position to do so?"

Kara's face lit up in shock. "Lee did that?"

"He was rather adamant about returning to Caprica. Now I see his reasoning."

Kara could feel herself go red, and she knew it was more than embarrassment. It was shame. "Will that be all, sir?"

"Far from it. I now know why my son wants to go back to Caprica. I still don't know why he's walking around like a fraking zombie."

"I already explained it to you," Kara whispered. "Now please can I go?"

Adama walked around the edge of his desk to take a seat in the chair next to Kara's. He waited a moment before reaching out to touch her shoulder. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. It broke an old man's heart to know he was the one that had pushed her to that point.

Kara sniffled and turned her eyes up to look at him. "If I tell you, it has to be off-record. I have to be talking to Lee's father and not the Commander."

Adama squeezed her shoulder. "Is it that bad?"

"We openly broke military regulations."

"You think I'll send you to the brig?"

"You're already going to hate me. Is it so wrong of me to not want to wallow away in a little two by two cell?"

Adama chuckled, and that was the moment that Kara realized he had no idea what was coming. The Old Man had no idea what was happening on his ship or what was happening with his son. "Fine. You have my promise that this will be off-record."

"Lee and I have been sleeping together since Colonial Day," Kara blurted out. She wasn't surprised when Adama pulled his hand away from her shoulder. "I know that it's completely against protocol and regs and frankly common sense, but I didn't care." She bit her lip to keep the tears in and prayed to the gods that the Commander wouldn't go back on his word. "That's why Lee is so upset. I started something with him, and I didn't tell him about Anders. He feels betrayed, sir."

Adama stared at her a few minutes before asking, "And what about you?"

"What about me?" she repeated.

"How do you feel, Kara?"

Kara's eyes went wide. She did not expect the Commander to ask her that. "I don't know how I feel."

"Kara, I might be an old man, but I'm not stupid. No, I didn't know you and my son were sleeping together, but I knew something was going on. I turned a blind eye because it wasn't affecting the way you flew. So, I believe you do feel something, and I think you know exactly what that is."

"I'm lost, sir," Kara choked out. "That's all I feel. I'm completely and utterly lost."

Adama watched her break down and wondered what such a stubbornly strong women had to go through in order to hurt this much. It hadn't taken him long after Kara Thrace came on board Galactica to realize she was the kind of pilot who only came along once in a lifetime. It didn't hurt that both of his sons sang her praises at every opportunity. Add to it the fact that Lee believed in her enough to force Adama to give her the wings she had earned along with an early promotion, Adama couldn't help but look into who exactly she was. Kara Thrace had a fascinating history, even if it was a little too public.

Adama had patched himself into the ship's comm system when she flew CAP with his son. He heard the sounds of a kindred soul whenever she was in the air. Lee had always been the opposite of his father. It was no wonder that he clicked so beautifully with his wingman.

"Oh gods. You cannot talk to Lee about any of this," Kara said, pushing the tears away.

Adama couldn't help but laugh. Who was this woman, so full of such pain and guilt, whose only priority was still to make sure his son's life was as painless as possible?

"Sir?"

Her voice was so quiet that it broke Adama's heart. By all rights, he should be furious with this pilot for breaking something inside his son that he could not fix. Yet he was as far from furious as one could be.

Maybe he had just gotten used to the crazy life a military pilot was forced to lead.

"My relationship with my son is not a very good one at the moment," Adama admitted. "I think we would both find it inappropriate if I suddenly wanted to discuss his love life." That earned Adama a smile from the lost girl in front of him. "All I ask is that you tell me the very second it starts interfering with your jobs."

"It won't, sir," Kara said firmly.

Adama was slightly relieved to feel the stubbornly strong woman coming back. He reached out to grasp her hand and sighed. "You have a way about you, Lieutenant. I think this whole ship is captivated by you, myself and my sons included."

Kara pulled her hand away, and the sad smile came onto her face again. She gave him a quick salute and was already halfway out the door before she finally turned back to respond to his comment. "I really wish you weren't, sir."

Adama walked behind his desk again and slumped into his chair with a groan. As much as he hated to admit it, life had been so much easier when his two boys were hundreds of miles away. He had a feeling this was the gods way of punishing him for missing the high school years.