Lee smirked at Kara, "There's only one condition and that is you have to wait sixty seconds before firing the gun; if you can do that, you win."


Lee didn't know how it got to this point. One minute, they were working together to iron out the new flight schedules now that the pilots were being all mixed up between Galactica and Pegasus. The next, he was pulling her down the corridors towards the firing range. She had looked a little too tense, and for some reason, he was reminded of the way she smiled when they found time for target practice months ago when that Cylon Virus took hold.

She didn't protest when he shoved her into the empty range. That was the sign that his instincts were right. She needed this.

Kara walked over to the firearms locker and punched in the code. "Are we officially off-shift yet?"

Lee looked down at his watch. Technically, they had been off for over an hour now, but the flight schedule wasn't done. He looked up to see her smirking at him. "Why do you want to know?"

Kara's smile simply widened as she reached into the back of the locker and started shoving things around. After a few seconds, she pulled back with a cry of triumph. A full bottle of the Chief's illegal brew was in her hand. "Off-shift means we can have a little fun for once. Maybe pull that stick out of your ass a few inches while no one's looking."

Lee simply shook his head and grabbed the bottle out of her hands. He should protest, but he just wasn't in the mood to play the responsible one. Upending the bottle for a quick drink, he did his best not to wince at the burn.

Kara waited for him to recover before trading him a loaded gun for the bottle. She fought down her own discomfort at the roughly made alcohol before growling at Lee, "How are we going to do this?"

"Shot by shot. Loser takes a drink."

Kara grinned. "You really are hiding a bad boy deep inside that by-the-book exterior, aren't you?"

"I used to have a reputation," Lee reminded her.

Kara's mind flew back to the stories Zak had told her and the ones she picked up at Academy, and she nodded. He was right. There had been quite a few things he was known for back in the day. "Shot one," she said before aiming the gun and firing.

Lee laughed when the shot only hit the shoulder of the target. "Kara, you're not even trying."

She simply arched an eyebrow at him before hopping up on the counter. "Maybe I'm just thirsty, Apollo."

Lee rolled his eyes before firing off his own shot straight to the heart. "Happy to oblige, Captain."

They started trading off, shot for shot, in more ways than one. Lee lost count of how many times he lost halfway through the bottle. Instead, he surrendered to the appreciation of how talented Galen Tyrol was. Whatever he did to that homemade still, it churned out alcohol that could take away all thoughts of metal mother frakers and the need to just keep pushing on. In the end, Lee knew that was what the Fleet needed. More than the hope of finding Earth or the desire to rebuild life, right now they just needed to forget the lengths to which they had been pushed.

He wasn't sure who started the betting portion of their little contest, but start it did.

Before Lee could blink, he owed Kara over two dozen cigars, the handful of chocolates he was hoarding, and he had promised not to rope her into helping with the flight schedules for the rest of the month. Kara owed him… well, she owed him nothing really. She hadn't offered him anything he really wanted, at least not yet

She had asked him a few times what was on his mind when she noticed how quiet he was being, but he simply shook off her questions and pushed her to fire the next shot. He wasn't ready to let her in on what the alcohol was doing to his head. Instead, he took the opportunity to drag his eyes over the length of her body as she squared for her shot. He was doing that more often these days.

Watching her had become his secret hobby. It let him pick up subtle nuisances he had never known before. For instance, she always rubbed her fingers along her lips when she had a good hand in triad. She only teased the Chief when she did something to her Viper and knew it needed fixed. She only took a swing at you, whether it be physical or emotional, if you were dangerously close to making her think too hard about things better left alone. He loved that about her.

"That's ten," Kara said, pointing at the target in glee. "I have kicked your ass ten times in a row."

Lee watched her do a little dance and decided now was the time. His head was still cloudy from the last nine shots that all hopes of keeping himself in check were out the window. It was now or never if he didn't want his conscience to win out.

He got up from his seat on the opposite end of the range and swaggered over to stand nose to nose with her. Without breaking eye contact, he reached behind her to grab the bottle of booze off the counter and took a long taste. He could feel Kara's eyes on him. That little bit of attention burned a lot more than the alcohol currently working its way to the pit of his stomach. He pulled the bottle away from his lips and offered it to her. Smiling, she took a drink and then turned to place it back on the counter.

Lee licked his lips and let his eyes drift down to her backside. "I have a wager to make."

Kara turned to look at him and smirked when she noticed where his eyes had been. "Finally, you're getting into the game. What do you have that I can still win?"

"Two words. Performance evals."

Kara's eyes lit up. "The ones I have to do with Colonel Tigh next week?"

"The very same," Lee whispered. He was all too aware that they were completely in each other's personal space. They had been doing that a lot lately. "I'm offering to do them for you. I know the pilots just as well as you do so it shouldn't be a problem to switch if I lose."

"And if you win?"

"If I win, then the slate goes back to zero."

Kara narrowed her eyes. "What do I have to do?"

"Just get a clean head shot."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Agreed," Kara said as fast as she could.

Lee smiled. He had been counting on the fact that she would have agreed to just about anything to get out of those lengthy meetings with Tigh. She turned to take aim, and that was when Lee put his real plan into action.

Kara stiffened as she felt Lee step a few inches closer to her body. She had expected him to back off and give her room to take the shot. Her heart fluttered a brief second as she felt him lightly nuzzle her shoulder. She shut her eyes and swore to herself. This wasn't happening. She had had just a little too much ambrosia and now she was imagining things. She saw his hands moving at the corner of her eye and waited for him to reach for the bottle since that was obviously the whole reason he was crowding her so effectively.

A small moan fell from her lips when his hands rested on her hips instead of the counter. She could feel him shift her body to help her square up and realized this was all part of the game. Shrugging off his rather effective diversionary tactic, Kara brought the gun up to eye level. She could play this game.

"Wait."

Lee's breath teased the side of her neck as his words came out in a husky whisper. Kara felt her hands falter a little as she had to fight the desire churning in the pit of her stomach. She twisted her head to look at him

Lee smirked at Kara, "There's only one condition and that is you have to wait sixty seconds before firing the gun; if you can do that, you win."

"Sixty seconds and that's it? No performance evaluations?" She shook her head and turned back to take aim. "Done."

"I'm going to be counting," Lee teased. "If you only make it to fifty-nine, you lose."

Kara decided she was going to wait for two minutes just to be certain. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

Lee started counting out loud, the sound slightly muffled by her hair. His right hand started to move at ten. Kara felt it slid over the bone of her hip and slowly caress the soft skin around her scars from Caprica. At fifteen, his hand retreated back to the middle of her stomach.

"Lee." His name spilled from her lips, and she wasn't sure if it was a question or simply a reminder to herself.

"Forty five to go," he reminded her and started counting again.

Kara didn't have it in her heart to tell him that he was counting awfully slow.

His hand dipped into the waistband of her pants and started inching further. By twenty, he was tickling the skin right above the edge of her briefs. Kara bit her lip and tried to keep her hands from shaking. She needed to focus. Lee didn't have the balls to finish whatever he was playing at. He was just trying to distract her again.

As his hand moved underneath her briefs, she felt his teeth nibble lightly on her ear. "That's cheating," she whispered, trying to hold back the giggle that was on the tip of her tongue for some reason. Her head was still in a haze from all that alcohol.

"Nope," Lee answered. "This is cheating."

His hand slid the last few inches into her briefs and rubbed her folds in a deliciously slow move. Kara almost dropped the gun. "What are you-"

"Twenty-nine," Lee reminded her. "Thirty. Performance evals, Kara."

Lee felt her back straighten up as she tried to keep her focus on the target and not on the way he was teasing her. He silently thanked the gods that she hated Tigh so much. It was probably the only thing that could keep her distracted enough to forget what she was letting him do to her body. Her breathing quickened along with the motions of his hand, and he found himself fighting the urge to pull her body into his.

Kara lowered her aim a few inches. She should be fighting this. Her head was telling her to fight this. Lee was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know he was doing it to her. He would regret whatever this was in the morning. He didn't want to win the bet that bad.

His callused hands continued to toy with her senses, and she stumbled back a step almost as if she knew that was what he wanted. This time Lee couldn't hold back the groan on the tip of his tongue as her backside ground into his growing erection. She really had no clue what she was doing to him simply by being there.

"Forty," he whispered as he slipped one finger inside her before quickly taking it back. He heard her whimper slightly and fought the urge to tease her even more. She deserved it for the way she's been messing with his head for weeks. Then again, teasing might make her snap out of whatever haze he had her in, and he wanted to finish this. "Forty-one."

Kara felt her knees weaken as Lee responded to her silent plea and, parting her again, slid his finger exactly where she wanted it. She felt her feet inch apart further to give him better access, and he rewarded her by curving his touch to increase the tension. His free hand crept inside her tanks and cupped her breast through the material of her sports bra. A curse fell from her lips. She should have changed into that damn hooded zip she usually wore. Things would be so much easier if she was wearing it. She forgot about making things easier as Lee's hand pushed down the faded material of her bra.

Lee bit the side of her neck lightly as he made small circles around her areola in the same soft, slow pace as the finger he still had deep inside her. Kara let out a small moan, and that was all the encouragement he needed. He slid another finger into her body and started a firm rhythm, working her towards the edge he knew was so close.

"Oh gods," she hissed as his fingers simultaneously closed around her nipple and hit a spot inside her so delicious she had to fight back a scream. The pace was agonizingly slow, and a little voice in the back of her head told her that it was too slow.

"Fifty," he murmured against her skin.

Kara couldn't remember why that number was important right now. It had something to do with why he was doing what he was doing. She couldn't figure it out. All she knew was it meant he wasn't going to stop.

Her hips started twisting against his touch as if they had a mind of her own. Lee bit back the urge to push this further as she fraked the hell out of his hand, her hips bucking and a series of small pants coming from her lips. He hoped to gods this wasn't another one of his dreams that left him in a rather awkward position in the morning.

Kara whimpered as he moved his hand out to torment her for a moment before pushing two fingers back into her. Lee wished he could see her face right now. It would do his self-esteem wonders to see Kara losing control and knowing it was all because of him. He had always wanted to make her scream.

"Lee."

Her name fell from his lips and caused him to stop in his tracks. It was the first time she acknowledged that she knew it was him waging this war on her senses. He half believed the alcohol would have dulled her senses too much. "Kara," he panted in her ear, dragging his fingertips along her moistened skin before inching his way back inside in a steady rhythm that was rapidly becoming familiar. "Fifty-five." His movements sped up. "Fifty-six."

Kara's vision went white as she lost control. She slammed herself mercilessly into him when the orgasm took hold and let out a deep scream. His fingers only slowed slightly, still pushing as she worked her way through the sudden release.

Lee stilled his fingers just as her walls finally relaxed and leaned in to whisper, "Sixty."

Kara reacted on instinct, lifting the gun to fire off the round. She hardly even aimed.

Lee barely registered her shot before he heard the gun clatter to the floor and felt her body twisting in his arms. Her hands pulled his head towards her, and the result was a crushing, consuming kiss that stole his breath away. He could feel her kick off her boots even as her fingers tightened in his hair. Her teeth tugged at his bottom lip, demanding entrance, and he found, like everything else, he could not deny her. Her tongue eased away the small pain her bite had left behind, and Lee stopped fighting the urge to define whatever this was.

They were indefinable.

The kiss ended as quickly as it began, and Lee wondered if reality had just slammed home. He felt her grip his tanks for a moment before she was shoving him away. Her hands flew up to her swollen lips, and their eyes locked in surprise. They were both panting, searching for the breath that Lee knew was never going to come back, not after what they had just done. He was always going to be grasping to get his bearings from now on.

Kara broke first, dropping her eyes to the floor, and the guilt hit him like a brick wall. She was right. He could be a real prick sometimes. Lee was about to apologize for taking advantage of her when her hands moved to the waist of her pants. He stared in awe as she slid the old cotton sweats to the ground and carefully stepped out of them. She hopped up to sit on the counter, knocking the almost empty bottle and his gun onto the floor with a loud smack. The noise didn't faze her. She reached out and curved her fingers in the loops of his pants, pulling him close to her. He smiled when he felt her fumbling to undo the buttons. That cool Starbuck façade had disappeared somewhere along the way.

Kara was still staring at him when she finally accomplished her goal. Smirking in a way that told Lee there was a little Starbuck left in her after all, she shoved his pants down as far as she could, being sure to take his underwear along with it.

The cool air brushed against his hot skin as he was finally freed from the constrictive fabric. Kara eyes dropped down, and Lee watched the tip of her tongue dart out to lick her lips slowly. That was all it took for the last of his control to snap. "Kara," he growled, picking her up off the counter.

Kara didn't even have time to answer, to tell him that whatever he wanted to do was okay, to let him know that if he didn't get inside her this very second, she was going to scream. His fingers pushed the crotch of her briefs to the side, and he was sliding himself into her with an appreciative groan. Her legs tightened around his waist, pulling him a few more inches deeper. Lee whispered her name again as he slowly drew himself out and then plunged back inside of her.

Her hands cupped his face, and she managed to growl "harder" before she was pulling him into another one of those consuming kisses that made him forget how this was all-sorts of wrong.

Kara felt him respond to her request almost immediately. Her back slammed back into the counter, and she used it as leverage to move against his thrusts. She was going to have bruises in the morning, and for some reason, she didn't care. Feeling herself lose control, Kara pulled her lips away from his in order to bite down hard on the soft skin of his neck as her second orgasm took over.

She came hard and fast, tightening herself against him, but Lee's thrusts didn't stop. In fact, if anything, they became more forceful.

He groaned with each movement as whatever this was shifted into something more primal. He had tricked and teased his way into pleasing her, and now he was fighting to possess her. He wanted to see her moan, feel her body begging his. He wanted to know that he wasn't crazy to want this.

"I'm with you, Lee," she whispered against him, her heels digging into his spine as she held on for dear life. She could already feel herself on edge again. "Oh gods, I'm with you." Her nails dug into his back as she moved herself against him, pushing, pulling, until she felt him snap.

Lee thrust himself as deep as he could and let himself lose the last bit of control. She shattered around him with a force that had been missing the previous times, and Lee had to fight to keep them upright.

Kara's hands came out to brace herself against the counter while they fought for air. She hadn't even noticed she stopped breathing. He pulled himself slowly out of her, and she fought the urge to beg him to come back.

Lee felt his senses finally returning the second he broke contact. Most of the alcohol had been burnt out of his system in his hurry to devour her completely. His face flushed as he realized he hadn't even taken the time to push off his pants. They were simply pooled at his knees. His eyes trailed the length of her body. There were red marks on her hips where his hands were still holding her, and he could see that her underwear was completely ruined. Yet another thing he hadn't had time to take off. He had just pushed them to the side like some barbarian with only one thing on his mind.

Kara dipped her head back for a moment, and Lee tried to figure out if she had just passed out on him. Luckily, she pulled back up after a few seconds and smirked.

"What's so funny?" he asked, finally setting her back down on the ground.

Kara reached down to pull Lee's pants back up, and Lee smiled at the small show of affection as she buttoned them up. After a moment, she smirked again before sliding her arms around him again and pulling him into a quick kiss. "You put up a valiant, valiant effort, Adama, but nobody beats the master."

Lee pulled back to give her a look of confusion.

Kara's hands moved to tilt his gaze to the target behind her. "Bullseye, Lee," she whispered while leaning in to lick where her teeth had marked him earlier. "In more ways than one."