Lee just wanted to curl up in his bunk and tune out the whole world. The CAG job was getting harder every day he had to do it. It was something he had readily accepted when the Cylons attacked because there was no one else available. That didn't make him forget that he was not ready for this. He was not supposed to be in this type of position. He had transferred to the reserves for a reason. He was going to just wean himself out of the service.

He was stuck with the CAG position, though, and that was why he was currently knocking on his father's office door instead of getting rack time. "You wanted to see me, Commander?" Lee said, pushing the door open before his father could tell him to come in. He didn't care if he was interrupting. He was tired, and when he got tired, he got crabby.

"This isn't a professional meeting," Adama replied, addressing Lee's use of his formal title. He tucked away the papers he was reading and stood up from his desk. "I just wanted to see how you're doing, Lee."

Lee followed his father to the couch and sat down. "I'm doing fine. The nuggets are all pretty much set to join the normal ranks so we're going to need some promotion ceremonies in the next week or so. If we keep up at this rate of promotion, we're going to have to figure out if there's someone in the Fleet who can start making new rank pins. Either way, I think we might be able to round up another bunch to start training, though this time it will probably take longer and there'll be some fatalities."

"Lee."

"I've been working with Gaeta the past couple weeks, and I think we've finally gotten rid of the last remnants of that Cylon virus. The ship should be back to normal."

"Lee."

"The last meeting I had with the President went fairly well. The cancer's starting to show, but she seems really determined to get us to Earth. I promised her I'd estimate how many jumps it will take us in the next couple weeks. I'm not sure if that's possible, but I'm going to try. It's the least I can do right now."

"Lee!" Adama yelled.

Lee looked up at his father in surprise. "What?"

"I asked how you were doing, not what you were doing. I can read the reports to figure that stuff out."

"You want to know how I'm doing?"

"That's what I've been asking."

"I'm fine."

Adama stared at Lee for a moment and realized that his son wasn't going to give him any more. "These past few weeks have been tough."

"No tougher than the weeks before them," Lee insisted.

Adama figured they could beat around the bush for hours. They had done it every time they tried to have a real conversation, waiting it out until they were called away on business. Adama decided it was time to put a stop to it. "I think you're overworking yourself, Lee."

"I'm fine," Lee insisted.

"You're spreading yourself too thin. Pretty soon your roles are going to start conflicting."

"I've got it under control."

Adama narrowed his eyes. When had Lee gotten so stubborn? "Your brother says that when you take on too many things, it's because you're avoiding the issue."

"I knew I should have insisted he stay away from the fraking decommissioning ceremony," Lee growled.

Adama smiled. His boys were always getting on each other's nerves. It was the one thing he had managed to learn when they were small. Lee and Zak hated each other for it, but Adama was secretly glad. He always knew if something was wrong with one, the other would be extremely willing to spill the secret. "I agree with him, Lee. You've taken on too much."

"Well, what do you propose? I can't stop being the President's advisor. She doesn't really trust anyone else. I'm the CAG for a reason, and I wouldn't want to give that up."

"I'm taking the nuggets away from you," Adama said before his son could name why he had to keep his other hundred and one jobs.

Lee's eyes lit up, and Adama could tell he was in for a fight. "Sir, there is no one in this Fleet except for myself that could keep a bunch of completely green pilots from plowing their ships into the side of Galactica."

"You're a good teacher," Adama agreed.

"So then why are you taking it away from me?"

"You're too good of a teacher."

"Excuse me? I'm too good at training pilots how not to die? And that's why you're pulling me off the job?" Lee threw up his hands. "Well, gods, if I had known that was all it took, I would have trained people not to die a lot sooner."

"You're lucky I said this wasn't an official meeting or you would have been in hack for that comment."

Lee's face dropped as he realized Adama was right. He wasn't supposed to talk to his Commander in this fashion, and he sure as hell wasn't supposed to talk to his father this way. His mother must be rolling around in her grave. "You're right. I'm sorry." Lee let out a deep breath. "I just don't understand why you're doing this."

"Your brother says you're overworked, and I agreed. I'm trying to fix the problem."

Lee rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. He had felt awfully tired of late. "Who are you going to put in charge of the training then?"

"Like I said before, you're too good of a teacher." Lee just shook his head, still unsure of what that was supposed to mean. Luckily, this time he held his tongue and Adama was able to explain. "I asked Lieutenant Thrace to start the training as soon as you select the next group."

"What?" Lee flew to his feet. "You cannot be serious. Starbuck has only been flying for a few months now. She's too green."

"Everyone's too green these days. The Cylons haven't been given us much time to grow."

"She's not ready for this kind of responsibility."

"I seem to recall you saying you weren't ready for the responsibility of being CAG. That worked out just fine."

Lee wanted to scream that being the CAG and being the flight instructor was a completely different thing, but he knew it wouldn't help. When his father made a decision, you had to make a pretty strong case to sway him away from his choice. Lee was pretty sure screaming he didn't want to work so close to his ex-lover wasn't going to cut it. "When is she starting?"

"She hasn't accepted the position yet."

"She doesn't want it?" Lee stammered in disbelief.

"Oh, she wants it. Her face lit up the second I asked her. It seems she misses being the leader of something."

"So then why didn't she accept?"

Adama smiled. "She said she wouldn't do it unless you gave your permission." He wasn't surprised when Lee lowered himself back onto the couch. He figured that might floor the boy. "She seems to really respect you, Lee. If you say no, she's not going to accept the position, and I'll have to start looking elsewhere."

"No!" Lee blurted out. His cheeks flushed immediately. "I mean, if there's anyone who can teach nuggets besides myself, it's her."

"So you're okay with this?"

Lee thought about it a minute before nodding. "Tell Lieutenant Thrace that she can have the job."

Adama gave his son a quick nod. He figured that Lee would understand. His boy was nothing if not rational. "While we're on the subject of Lieutenant Thrace, I wanted to ask you your thoughts on how she's been acting."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Lee said.

Adama watched his son squirm uncomfortably and wanted to laugh. This was going to be all too easy. "She's been different since she got back from Caprica, a little distant and distracted."

"Have you noticed it in her flying?" Lee asked.

"No, that's the strange part. Her flying is the same. It's just when she's not in the cockpit."

"Then it's not really a problem. As long as she keeps flying like before, then we're fine."

Adama shook his head. "She's teaching the nuggets now. She needs to have her act together in the air and on the ground.

"She'll get it together," Lee insisted.

Adama reached out to rest his hand on his son's shoulder. "This is my ship, Lee, and I pride myself on knowing every single thing that happens on it. That includes you and the Lieutenant. There's been rumors that the two of you had a rather interesting relationship before you left for Caprica." Lee paled instantly, and if Adama hadn't heard it straight from Kara's mouth a few weeks earlier, this would have confirmed it.

"Sir, if I had thought for even one second that our relationship would affect how we flew-"

Adama brought his hand up to halt Lee's words. "We are not having that kind of conversation, at least now right now. I just wanted to give you some advice."

Lee's eyes went large. His father giving him advice was probably the last thing he would ever imagine happening.

"Be careful, son. Whatever went down on Caprica, it messed with that girl's head. She's really confused right now. Don't push her."

Lee could feel himself get angry. Pushing Kara was the last thing he would ever think to do, not even when every sigh coming out of her mouth seems to give Anders the precious distinction of being her true love and leaves Lee as just a casual frak to pass the time. He would never push a woman he knew was so damn breakable.

Adama continued despite seeing his son getting upset. He had to say this now before Lee figured out a way to avoid the subject. "Pushing her is not only going to make it worse, but it's going to make her stark raving mad. I guarantee it."

Lee gave a small nod as the anger slowly started to dissipate. He had already figured that out on his own. Kara put up a great façade of being strong, but Lee had seen her break down one time too many times to believe that. She was working through a lot of issues in her life right now, and having him at her elbows wasn't going to make it any better. "Is that all you wanted?" he asked after a few moments of tense silence.

Adama sighed. He wished it was that easy. He wished that his son could just sit back and continue living his life like he was until Kara made a decision. Unfortunately, there were other people wrapped up in this affair. "There's something else I need to know. What are your intentions towards my Comms Officer, son?"

"Dee?" Lee exclaimed.

"Petty Officer Dualla, yes."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lee insisted.

Adama rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I get tired of you using that line over and over again to avoid the issue. You know what I'm talking about because otherwise you wouldn't have known I was talking about Dee. So please would you just explain what you're doing."

Lee closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the couch. "I don't know, Dad. I just don't know."

"You better learn fast because she's two steps away from putting her heart on the line."

"How would you know that?"

"Her face lights up every single time you stop by the CIC and she's on shift."

"She does not," Lee insisted. "I would have noticed."

"She only does it when she doesn't expect you to be there. I think she prepares for it the rest of the time." Adama shook his head with a sigh. "She's not as good at hiding her feelings like Lieutenant Thrace or yourself. She's going to get fed up with it eventually and just ask you the same questions I am. You'll need to have an answer for her."

"I don't know," Lee repeated.

"Well, you're just going to have to figure it out." Adama stood up. "Now if there's nothing else you wish to share with me at this time, I have to go tell Lieutenant Thrace that she's the new flight instructor."

Lee nodded and waited until the hatch clicked closed before letting out a loud groan. That was as sufficiently awkward as was to be expected, and damned if his father didn't just mess with his head as bad as one could. Not only did he have no idea what he was going to do with Kara, now he had Dee to worry about. He didn't want to hurt either one of them, but somehow he knew that was exactly what he would do.

It seemed like hurting people was his specialty.