Author's note: I've revised the rating of this story to allow myself free reign with the K/L reunion!

Chapter 9

From her place next to Billy, Dualla watched Lee across the mess hall as he twirled the lumps of food around on his plate, seemingly oblivious to the laughing conversation that the other pilots were having around him. She seemed to have been watching him a lot lately. Starbuck had been gone for over two months now and whilst he was performing his CAG duties as well as ever, all life and spark had gone out of him. He rarely joined the card game in the rec room, but buried himself away in his office. The crew of Galactica had all been affected by the loss of their talismanic pilot. At first there had been a great deal of hope that the Astral Queen would find them again, but that had soon waned as the weeks past and by now everyone had accepted that Starbuck was lost forever. Everyone except Lee. Whilst it was only natural for him to grieve the loss of his wife and unborn child, their constant state of combat and the number of people that were killed each week made long periods of mourning a luxury that the crew of Galactica couldn't afford to indulge in. She thought that it was about time that someone tried to do something about Lee's state of mind. She felt that it should be his father and she had tentatively raised the subject with the commander, but he had just looked at her sombrely and said that Lee would move on in his own good time. This made her realise that Adama also hadn't come to terms with the loss of Starbuck. She was just going to have to tackle Lee herself.

She had always had a soft spot for Lee Adama, ever since he had first come on board Galactica. At one time, after Starbuck had gone back to Caprica, she had hoped that something more than just friendship might develop between them. But then he had come back to the fleet with Starbuck on his arm and a look of such love on his face that she had given up hoping and thrown herself into her relationship with Billy. When Billy had proposed she had said yes, but she still hadn't let him set a date for their wedding. She knew that she was very lucky to have him but she felt that she was just settling: she didn't want to just settle for someone. Their relationship was comfortable, but it lacked passion. If there was anything that Starbuck and Apollo had in spades it was passion. On more than one occasion she had been sent to the flight deck by the old man with a message for Apollo, only to be greeted by a giggling deck crew who would point to an equipment locker and tell her that Apollo was inside with Starbuck, both so turned on after a mission in their vipers that they couldn't make it off the hanger deck. She only wished that Billy would do something so deliciously spontaneous. She really wanted to experience passion like that. At the same time, it was pretty common knowledge that they fought like mad and scuttlebutt around the ship was that their marriage was already on the rocks. If that were the case then there was even more reason for her to try and help Lee to move on. If in doing so he came to see her as a potential replacement for Kara, and transferred some of that passion to their relationship, then all well and good.

She found him just as expected in his office. He wasn't doing paperwork as she thought he would be, but fiddling with a tool and a piece of rusty old metal, carving words into it.

"I can't believe that you're still bothering with that," she said. He looked at her coldly.

"Is there something you need petty officer?" She realised that hadn't been the best opening gambit if she was going to get him to open up to her.

"No, Captain….Lee, I was just wondering how you were doing. We don't see you in the rec room very much anymore."

"No, I guess not," was all the reply she got as he returned his attention to the piece of metal. This was proving more difficult that she thought it would be.

"Why don't you come down tonight? Chief's latest batch of grog is ready and I think there'll be a big game."

"It's OK. I've got to finish this: you never know when we might have to jump next. And Starbuck won't know where we've gone if I don't leave a message." She huffed.

"Look Lee, I'm sure that I'm not the first person to tell you this but Starbuck's gone; she's dead. Continuing to leave these silly messages is pointless."

"No she isn't! She isn't dead and it's not pointless," he spat out. Her turned back to the piece of metal and caressed it. Dee could see the tears pooling in his eyes.

"Lee, I don't like to see you fooling yourself in this way." She hesitated for a moment but then approached him and crouched down beside his chair so that she could look into his face. "I know how incredibly hard it must be for you to accept that your wife and child are dead when we never saw their ship destroyed, but you have to allow yourself to let them go. We all need you Lee; we need Apollo back. You can't carry on like this."

"I haven't had any complaints about the way I'm doing my job. If I choose to spend my free time trying to do something to find my wife then that's no concern of yours, Dee."

"OK, but just remember that I'm here whenever if you need someone to talk to or help you in any way." She rubbed her hand up and down his arm. Lee stiffened.

"Are you offering yourself to me, Petty Officer?" His blue eyes were like chips of ice as he looked at her.

"No...Yes...as a friend Lee."

"Good, I'm glad we've got that straight because Billy Keikeya is also a friend of mine. I would never treat a friend in that way nor would I like to think that you would be prepared to. This has been a nice try Dee but it's not gonna work; it's never gonna work because Kara's not dead. I would know if she were: I would feel it here." His voice had risen to a shout as he pressed his hand over his heart. "And if you really do need Apollo back then you had better join me in praying that she isn't dead, because if she were I would have to accept the fact that the last words I ever said to the only woman that I will ever truly love were bitter and hurtful. If I have to do that then there would be no more Apollo because that's not a feeling that I want to live with."

She stood up and looked at him sadly, admitting defeat, at least for the time being. She wondered whether she should speak to doc Cottle. This well of self-loathing and self-pity that he was sinking in to was obviously getting deeper as time went on and in her opinion it wasn't healthy.

"Well...umm…OK. You know where I am," she said quietly as she slipped out of the room and let Lee go back to his carving.

The next time she saw him was in CIC the next day and he ignored her, but she continued to watch him. The look of hope on his face when they spotted the unknown ship on dradis was quite pathetic. The demoralisation when it didn't turn out to be the Astral Queen was painful to see: the miracle of finding another surviving battlestar was lost on Lee Adama.

Lee pulled his uniform jacket on with a sigh. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to go on parade for some jumped up admiral. He made his way to the hanger bay to organise his group: he knew that his father wanted to put on a good show and most of them had never even drilled before and hardly knew how to come to attention properly. He got them sorted as best he could and then took his place at the front. There was a full turn out to welcome the first party from Pegasus. His father greeted Admiral Cain as she stepped down from her raptor transport. He then introduced her to the president and all of his senior officers, starting with Tigh and then moving on to Lee.

"Our CAG, Captain Adama." Lee saluted smartly.

"So you're Captain Adama. I've heard a lot about you."

"Er... you have sir?"

"Yes. We have some lost property of yours aboard Pegasus."

"Lost property? I'm sorry sir, I don't understand. I've never served on Pegasus."

"Well I'm assured that this particular piece of property belongs to you: make sure that you don't loose it again." There was an infuriating smirk playing around her mouth at his confusion and then she glanced over her shoulder as if looking for someone.

"I….um… don't….um…" Lee's inarticulate mumblings trailed off as he caught sight of someone stepping off the raptor behind the admiral. It couldn't be… but the blonde hair was so similar the feeling of hope that immediately welled up inside him was acute. It was cruel of the Gods to torture him in this way if it wasn't her. He had already gone through the hope of finding her once today; he couldn't go through it again. Then the woman raised her head and looked directly at him…..Kara! His breath caught in his throat and his chest tightened so painfully that he couldn't breathe. He couldn't seem to move either; people were cheering and hugging around them as the two crews greeted each other, but he just stood there staring at her. She had stopped moving too and was looking at him with her bottom lip caught between her teeth in a trademark smile and her eyes were glazing with tears. Suddenly his body seemed to move of its own volition and then she was in his arms and he was holding her and drinking in her familiar smell and feel. Oh Gods, his heart was pounding so hard he thought it would explode out of his chest.

"Kara, oh Kara," he sighed, burying his face in her neck.

"Lee." She choked out.

"Oh baby I've missed you so much."

"Me too."

"I can't believe that you're really here." He pulled her even tighter against him, as if he was afraid that she might disappear again if he let her go.

"Careful, Lee" she laughed lightly. Moving back she pulled his hand down onto her rounded belly.

"Wow." He whispered reverently. "Just…wow."

"Don't you dare say that I look fat."

"I can truthfully say that I've never seen anything in my life as beautiful as you are at this moment." With that he bent to capture her mouth in a sweet kiss.

His father watched them, an indulgent smile on his face and even the suspicion of a tear in his eye.

"Remind me to discuss your approach to the fraternisation regs later, Bill," the admiral said to him, bringing him back with a start. He looked at her sharply, but there was the hint of a smile in her face.

"Yes, sir." She nodded towards Kara.

"We've had her on board for almost two months. I've been very pleased with her as a command officer. She's made herself very useful."

"She has a habit of doing that."

"Although I think I would have preferred to have her as a pilot."

"You and me both, even though I'm getting a grandchild out of her being grounded, but I imagine that we won't be able to keep her out of a viper once that baby's born." Cain smiled and called to Kara, making the pair of reunited lovers pull apart.

"Lieutenant Thrace."

"Yes sir?"

"I don't need to see you back on Pegasus until mid shift tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm sure the commander will allow Captain Adama the night off as well. The pair of you must have a lot to catch up on. Now get out of here before you break the PDA regs any further!"

"Enjoy!" said the commander as he nodded in agreement. Lee and Kara didn't wait to be told twice and left the hanger deck with a gaggle of their friends, all anxious to hear how Starbuck had ended up on Pegasus.

"I can't believe that I was that young and in love once!" Adama said wistfully, watching his children surreptitiously joining hands as they disappeared into the corridor.

"Don't tell me that you're feeling your age, Bill; I won't believe it!" Cain joked lightly.

"I'm supposed to be retired."

"Funny retirement! Thrace has filled me in on some of the things that have happened to the Galactica and this fleet since the attacks and you've obviously had a tough job. I have no intention of coming in heavy handed, Bill, but there are some things that I would like to talk to you about." He nodded: he hadn't missed the fact that she had told Kara to go back to Pegasus tomorrow rather than resume her post on Galactica.

"I thought there might be. Shall we move this to my quarters? I'm sure that it'll be more palatable over a glass of ambrosia."

Once they were comfortably settled in his quarters she began.

"I said that I wouldn't interfere and I mean that. I'm quite happy for the two crews to continue as they are, but I have to make one exception: I'm going to transfer Captain Adama to the Pegasus. It'll be a straight swap; your CAG for mine. Thrace has done her best to convince me that there hasn't been an issue having your son in such a key position under your command, but it's obvious that there have been some difficulties. I know that you had no choice but to appoint him after the attacks, and from what I can gather he's generally done an excellent job, but now there is a choice and I think we should make the change. I'm also going to keep Thrace on Pegasus for the time being. She has been good for my crew, stirred them up a bit, and I doubt I'd hear the end of it if I tried to keep them apart." Adama laughed but then became serious.

"I want you to know that I made it a clear stipulation when I agreed to their marriage that their personal relationship couldn't affect their jobs. I know you don't like it, but we're going to have to re-think the frat regs. The colonies are gone and we can't afford to keep people apart because of some out of date philosophy."

"I agree that once we have returned to some sort of normality they should be looked at, but I wouldn't do it while we're still engaging with the enemy on a regular basis, and I certainly wouldn't have started with my CAG and lead pilot. But you have no need to justify yourself with me: Starbuck has already done it for you. You should know that she's had no compunction in treating me in the same forthright way I imagine she treats you!"

"I'm surprised you're not desperate to get her off your ship in that case!"

"To be honest I rather enjoy it; I find her refreshing."

"Alright, I admit that I don't like the idea of these transfers; I think we've become a good team, but I understand your reasons."

"We'll look at the situation again once she goes back to vipers and I've had a chance to fully assess Captain Adama's capabilities. Now, the other person we have to discuss is your XO."

"If your opinion of him is based on anything that lieutenant Thrace has said then it's likely to be distorted." She stared at him for a few moments.

"I am able to make up my own opinions on the basis of information I receive, Bill. I'm not going to make you do anything about Colonel Tigh just yet, but you can tell him that I'm watching him. He steps out of line at all and I will intervene and replace him."

"He's a good XO. He's just not a great commander," Adama admitted.

"But that's the problem Bill, because if, Gods forbid, anything happened to you then he would be."

"I don't plan on getting shot by a Cylon again!"

"Don't even joke about it. I hope you think that I've been fair, Bill. I want these two ships to work together as one and to do that we need to have a completely honest and open relationship." He nodded in acceptance. "Good. Now we have been tracking a very interesting prospective target for our first test together."

She showed him the pictures that they had of the cylon fleet and the large, unknown ship that they had been tracking and they made arrangements to meet up to discuss the op plan the following day.

Lee and Kara were almost comically nervous when they found themselves alone at last in their quarters.

"Frak, I feel like a wedding night virgin," Lee admitted as he ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture. "After the things I said to you, Kara…."

"Shhh, we're not gonna talk about that. Eventually, yes. Tomorrow perhaps, but not tonight. Tonight we're ignoring reality. Tonight I just want you to love me."

He wrapped her in his arms.

"I can do that."

They started to kiss and then hands started to work to remove clothing. As Lee worked to remove Kara's tanks it was her turn to be nervous.

"I'm gonna be different to how you remember Lee."

"That's OK with me. Different is good." He pulled her tanks and bra over her head. He leant down and started to kiss her breasts.

"For instance these. I mean they used to be good….(kiss)... but now…(kiss)…they're magnificent." Kara giggled and then shivered in desire as he took one pert nipple in to his mouth.

"And this is just…" He dropped to his knees and rained light kisses onto her rounded belly. "…(kiss)…wonderful…(kiss)… beautiful…(kiss)…special." He stopped and pulled back for a moment. He rested his palm and then his cheek against her belly.

"I was so worried about you."

"I know, but I'm fine; we're both fine."

"I've missed so much."

"Not much really, just a lot of vomiting and me being grouchy."

"I should have been there to help you through it."

"Yeah, well these things happen and it was hardly your fault that the Astral Queen's FTL was frakked."

"Well now I've got you back I'm never letting you go again."

"I'm counting on it: I'm certainly not changing any diapers."

"Is this OK? I mean should we be….."

"I'm only five months pregnant Lee, I'm not dying. And right now I'm feeling incredibly horny. Now where were we?" He grinned up at her then stood up and scooped her into his arms.

"Right about here, Mrs Adama." He laid her down on the bed and quickly joined her. Their lovemaking was slow and leisurely as they rediscovered each other's bodies. Lee was as gentle and caring as he could be, frightened that he'd hurt the baby, and she knew from his face that he was concentrating hard on holding back his more animalistic side that tended to come out when they made love. Her heart soared that he would do that for her, even if she really didn't want him to. Afterwards, they lay with their arms wrapped around each other, just enjoying each others presence after so long apart. Lee started to fiddle with her lengthening hair and then launched into a subject that had been bothering him since he'd heard about it.

"So Sam Anders is alive. Do I need to be jealous?" She stiffened and frowned instantly.

"No discussion of our problems tonight, remember." She slapped him on the chest.

"OK, OK, pax!" He made a sign of surrender. She couldn't help but smile at his adorable look of schoolboy contrition.

"Idiot! Anyway you don't have to be jealous. Sam's moved on to much bigger and better things than me."

"Who could be better than you?" he said, nuzzling her neck.

"How about the most powerful woman in the fleet."

"Hey, I'm pretty sure that my father's got dibs on the president."

"Not the president, dumbass. There's a new top bitch in town remember."

"Admiral Cain? Sam and Admiral Cain?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well he's certainly brave, I'll give him that." She raised an enquiring eyebrow at him. "She looks like a real ball breaker type to me," he explained. Kara laughed.

"I'm OK with that as long as she doesn't try to break your balls: they belong to me." He gave her a look. "What?"

"That's kind of a hot idea: two women fighting over my testicles." Kara grabbed the part of his anatomy in question.

"Oh there wouldn't be much of a fight because every woman around here knows that they're already mine and they wouldn't stand a chance." She gave them a squeeze and Lee's eyes almost disappeared in to the back of his head.

"Oh Lords, Kara I've missed you."

"You mean you've missed the things I do to you."

"No I've missed pretty much everything about you." He rolled her over and kissed her passionately, overwhelmingly, almost devouring her, trying to convey everything he felt in the kiss. She kissed him back with as much passion. Their mouths only broke apart when air became scarce and they were both panting heavily to get some oxygen back in to their lungs.

"Oh Gods Kara, you need to stop me if I'm hurting you or the baby 'cos I don't think I can be gentle this time." He resumed his assault on her lips and then moved down her body.

"Frak gentle, Lee. Give it all you've got."

"Are you sure?" he asked with a grin as he moved back up to kiss her again. "Cos after almost three months abstinence I've got quite a lot."

"I'm counting on it."

There was no need for foreplay: they both just had a need to be as close as two people could be, to fill and be filled. As he entered her she wrapped her legs around his hips to pull him in deeper. The rhythm he started was fast and hard. She moved in complete sync with him, urging him on, deeper and deeper. There were no more words, just moaning and panting, sucking and tasting. They both cried out each other's names as they climaxed together.

It took a while for them to come down. Kara was completely spent, sprawled out half across Lee. He pulled her up closer so that her head rested on his shoulder. He kept his arms wrapped around her: he just couldn't bear not to be touching her. She nuzzled his neck and sighed in contentment. He thought she had gone to sleep but all of a sudden she giggled.

"What is it?"

"I think we woke the baby." She took his hand and placed it on her belly. Sure enough, after a few moments he felt a ripple of movement. He let out a laugh of amazement then shimmied down her body and started to kiss her belly where he'd felt the baby.

"It's OK little one. Daddy's here and he's gonna look after you and mommy from now on. Now you go back to sleep so that mommy can get her rest."

"Daft idiot," she murmured with a sleepy smile.

He got them comfortable again, arms and legs entwined. Almost immediately her eyelids fluttered shut, but he was content to stay awake and watch her sleep. He knew that they had some tough things to talk through tomorrow, but tonight he just wanted to enjoy the fact that she was back with him again. It was almost as if he was afraid to go to sleep because he couldn't quite believe that she would still be there when he woke up. Eventually, though, tiredness overtook him and he fell into the deepest and most contented sleep that he had had since she had gone.

Author's note: So it's June, the sky is blue and the sun is shining and I'm just not in the mood for angst at the moment. Hope this wasn't too sickly sweet for you. Also, sorry to all the Dee fans but it had to be done!