Chapter Two

Lee looked at the clock.

Another shift in CIC, nearly finished. Another long, tedious shift of watching and listening, with nothing to watch and nothing to listen to.

He didn't know why he was counting the minutes to the end of the shift. After all, what would he do? Go back to his quarters, have a shower, get some food. Dutifully fill in his pointless reports. Read for a while, maybe. Go to bed and sleep until he got up again for another dull shift in CIC…

It almost made him nostalgic for the days when the Cylons were chasing them every 33 minutes and he'd been running on stims and adrenalin.

It had been utter hell, but at least it hadn't been boring.

He shook his head slightly, brushing the ridiculous thought away. Of course he didn't miss those days. Miss never knowing if his next moment was going to be his last, miss flying out to face the Cylons with only his wits and his skill to keep him alive.

Not really.

It just took time to adjust to peace, after being at war for so long. In time this would all seem normal, familiar, comfortable. In time…he shuddered despite himself at the thought of years of this, of shifts and reports and dull routines with no hope of escape…

He picked up a clipboard and pretended to study the report, telling himself to get a grip. He was just tired, that was all. And lonely. He was still relatively new to this crew, and being the commander didn't exactly make it easy to socialise.

Things would be better when Dee transferred over from the Galactica in a few weeks. He was still surprised his dad had agreed to it, but he supposed in the current situation there was no point in sticking rigidly to regulations. He wondered if Dee had said something to persuade him; he'd caught her looking at him worriedly on her last few visits, when she thought he couldn't see her. He hadn't seen that look on her face since those weeks after he'd ejected from the Blackbird…

He pushed the memories away. He was over all that, had been for months. He was just lonely, had been ever since-

Only a few more weeks, and then Dee would be here. He wouldn't be alone any more, and these morbid feelings would go away. He'd be fine.

He realised suddenly that Lieutenant Hoshi was speaking to him.

"Sorry, Lieutenant. I didn't quite catch that."

Hoshi didn't blink at the request to repeat himself. Everyone in the crew was slowing down a little, losing some of their focus as day after day passed without sight of the Cylons.

"The raptor from New Caprica just arrived, sir. With a visitor for you."

A visitor? For a moment Lee stilled completely, almost forgot to breathe. Then he forced the air in, telling himself not to be foolish. It wasn't her. It was the Chief or Cally, or maybe Gaeta. Not her.

But his heart was still thumping as he asked who it was, so loudly he thought Hoshi must hear it.

"It's Captain Thra- I mean Starbuck." Hoshi smiled. "I still can't get used to her being a civilian."

"Neither can I," said Lee mechanically. His brain was whirling. She was here? Was Anders with her? He asked the question as casually as he could.

"No, she's alone," said Hoshi. "You're old friends, aren't you, sir? It'll be nice for you to have the chance to catch up." He smiled, pleased for Lee.

"Yes," said Lee faintly. "Where is Ka – Starbuck now?"

"She said she'd wait for you in your quarters. I can finish up here if you'd like to go."

"Thanks," said Lee, forcing a smile. Hoshi was a good man – and as close to a friend as he had here. "I appreciate it."

He walked out into the corridor, feeling slightly unsteady. He couldn't believe she was here. He hadn't heard from her for months. After that first meeting with her and Anders after they got back from Caprica, he had retreated to a safe distance, found himself too busy to leave Pegasus. On the rare occasions he had visited Galactica he only saw her at meetings, or in a drunken crowd in the rec room – anywhere with plenty of other people to act as a buffer.

Since she moved down to New Caprica he hadn't heard from her at all. He'd told himself it was for the best, that it made things easier, that he didn't miss her...but then he'd always been good at lying to himself.

So why was she here? Why now?

Part of him didn't want to find out. Was afraid that if he saw her, spoke to her, he'd just end up getting hurt all over again.

But he still found himself quickening his steps as he headed to his quarters. It had been such a long time.

------

She was sitting on the black leather sofa in his quarters, flicking through the book of poetry he had left on the table.

He closed the hatch behind him and paused, disconcerted by the changes in her. He'd never seen her hair that long before, and it was odd to see her wearing civilian clothes. He hadn't seen her out of uniform since – since before Zak died, maybe? Well, except for that Colonial Day party, but he tried not to think about that night.

It wasn't that the civvie clothes – the dark trousers and jacket, and the bright yellow t-shirt - didn't suit her. They did. It just looked odd. Not like the Kara he remembered.

"Lee," she said, putting down the book and turning to face him. She looked wary.

"Kara," he said, equally guarded. "This is a surprise."

She shrugged. "I was just passing. Thought I'd drop in."

"Really?" He sat down on the other end of the sofa, a careful distance away. "Just passing?"

She smiled cautiously. "Well, maybe I'm not quite used to being dirtside yet. I had a hankering for a few days in space. Vacuum and emptiness and stars."

If that was all she wanted then why wasn't she on Galactica? Lords knew Dad and Helo would be happy to see her.

"Why are you here, Kara?" he asked bluntly.

A spark of irritation crossed her face. "Do I need a reason, Lee? I thought we were friends."

Friends. He wanted to laugh. Typical Kara. She ignored him for months, and then just turned up without warning acting as if nothing had happened.

Oh, well. It was nothing he wasn't used to by now.

"We were, Kara," he said, watching her carefully. "But things change."

She met his gaze steadily. "Not everything."

Was she trying to tell him something? He wasn't sure. "How's Sam?"

"He's fine." She blinked, but didn't look away, her hazel eyes bright with challenge. "How's Dee?"

"Fine. She's transferring to Pegasus in a few weeks, actually."

"Oh." He couldn't tell what she felt about that, closely as he was watching her; Kara could be maddeningly hard to read when she wanted to be. "So it's serious between the two of you, then?"

"I suppose." To be honest, he hadn't really thought about it. He'd never really thought about where his relationship with Dee was going. He'd drifted into it, and now he was drifting through it, with no thought of the destination. It was what he needed right now, and that was all that mattered.

"Sam and I are living together as well. In our tent." She smiled ruefully. "Well, I suppose everyone's got to start somewhere. Maybe we'll upgrade to a log cabin in another year."

"Why did you do it?" The words burst out before Lee could stop them. He cursed himself as she turned in surprise, looking defensive.

"Do what?"

"You know what. Leave the fleet," he snapped angrily. What did she think he meant? "I couldn't believe it when I heard. Why didn't you tell me?" He hadn't realised until now how much that had hurt.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Because I knew you'd try to talk me out of it."

"Damn right I would have. We need you up here, Kara."

She laughed derisively. "For what? There aren't any Cylons to shoot down any more, Lee, or hadn't you noticed?"

"Dad needs you," he said fiercely. "Do you have any idea how upset he was when you deserted him-"

"Don't say that!" She glared at him, eyes bright and fists clenched. "Don't you dare say that! You know I'd never let him down. He gave me his blessing, told me to go-"

Lee looked away, suddenly ashamed. She was right; his father had given his blessing, even though Lee knew it had been a wrench for him to do it.

"It's just – I never thought you'd go," he muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. "I never thought you'd give up flying."

"Yeah, well, it's like you said." She sounded very weary all of a sudden. "Things change."

"Do you miss it?"

She made a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "All the time."

"I don't get to fly any more either." Lee finally looked up at her. She was still looking annoyed, but her eyes had softened slightly. "Commanders aren't allowed to."

"Who would have thought that the two of us would end up grounded, of all people?" She tried to grin, but it didn't quite come out right.

He nodded. He'd known she would understand. It was what had first drawn him to her, all those years ago – the fact that she shared the same passion for flying that he did, that it was as essential to her as breathing.

Or it had been. Turned out they could both live without flying after all. After a fashion.

"It's not right."

"Well, maybe we should do something about that."

He looked at her in surprise. "Like what?"

"Well, I came up here to see some stars. Don't you have a spare viper, now half the pilots are down on the planet? Maybe even two spare vipers."

She was grinning properly now, with all her old exuberance. For the first time he saw a glimpse of the old Starbuck in her face.

He let himself smile back at her, feeling his spirits rise in response to that grin. "I just might have."

"Could they be ready for tomorrow? We could pretend we're flying CAP. For old time's sake."

"They could if I gave the order now." He stood up and moved towards the phone. "There have to be some benefits to being a commander, after all."

His chief sounded slightly surprised by his request, but they did have spare vipers, after all. And it would give his crew something to do during the long night shift.

Lee put the phone down and turned back to Kara. "All done. We fly out in the morning."

"Thanks," was all she said, but he could see in her eyes just how much it meant to her.

Gods, he'd missed her. Suddenly everything looked just that little bit brighter. He sat back down on the sofa and smiled, letting his guard fully down for the first time since he'd walked into the room.

He'd noticed that she still hadn't answered his original question, but suddenly he didn't care why she was here. All that mattered was that she was.

And he wasn't bored any more.