Kara had always prided herself on being a strong person, but as Lee pushed himself deep inside of her, she understood that she had finally met a temptation even the strongest woman in the world could not resist.


Kara Thrace had known one thing since she was little. A girl like her could never be happy, not really. Her mother had proved early on that she wasn't worthy of it.

Happiness was never a thing she looked for. She did not seek it out, and it didn't fight to find her. When she chanced upon it, she tended to frak it up in the end. So over the years she avoided it. She didn't need the hurt that came hand in hand with happiness.

Then the gods saw fit to push Lee Adama her way.

And Lee Adama saw fit to push happiness her way until she was ready to explode.

It was never in large ways, just small little gestures that only she could really understand.

Lee always got flustered around her when they were in any sort of romantic setting. Like the dress on Colonial Day and the dance they shared. Or when the President asked her to dinner over on Colonial One and Kara was trying on all the dresses the other pilots were lending her. Lee stumbled into the bunkroom on accident that day. He knew he got flustered, and yet he still made it a point of telling her she looked pretty.

The triad tables were a different thing altogether. Lee started the nasty habiting of running his tongue along his lower lip whenever he debated throwing his cards in. Kara found herself mesmerized to the point of needing Helo to nudge her every time it was her turn to bet.

Lee caught her looking quite a few times, and his only response was that damned smirk, the one that made her weak in the knees. It was like he knew exactly what she was thinking and he didn't mind one bit.

His hand would brush hers when he took her coffee. Every morning, he would steal it, and every morning, she would just smile and punch him in the arm. They always seemed to end up chuckling and sharing her small cup, light touches of fingers to hands.

It was a slow and steady seduction at first, all gentle touches and small movements. Then Kara had a close call in the air and things turned up a notch. Lee managed to corner her in a side corridor and pushed her back against the cold metal wall. Before she could take a breath, his lips found hers and the bottom of her world dropped out. He left her clutching the wall to keep herself upright and wondering what a man who could kiss like that was doing with the label of most eligible pilot.

After that, there was always a small, secret kiss for her when she landed safely. He would come out of nowhere to surprise her, and she never could get it together enough to make him stay and explain just what he thought he was doing.

Now at the triad games, when he ran his tongue over his lip, she found her fingers coming up to trace the spot where he had kissed her. That smirk was still on his face.

When they were in the senior officer briefings, Lee always managed to sit next to Kara. He would lean over and whisper funny comments in her ear, and she would smile. His thigh would rub lightly against hers whenever she started bouncing in her chair with boredom. It always seemed to calm her down. His hand would linger on the arm rest next to hers, and Kara had to fight the urge to slid her hand into his.

Kara didn't think there was any risk of her misinterpreting Lee's affections as anything more than friendly flirting until the day she got the flu. She had been fighting it for days without anyone noticing. Well, Lee had actually asked her if she was all right a little more often than normal, but everyone else remained the same.

They were walking down the corridor together, he to a morning briefing, she to her turn at CAP, when she suddenly felt dizzy. She knew she was going to pass out a few seconds before it actually happened.

When she woke up, she found herself in her bunk, a blanket tucked carefully around her body. She was out of her flight suit and in sweats. Her hair had been pulled back into a fresh ponytail, and there was a handful of pills and a glass of water on the shelf above her head.

Kara's mind went instantly to the man she had last been with, and she pulled back her curtain. Her eyes fell on Hot Dog who was quick to tell her that Lee wasn't around. The CAG was pulling a double CAP and then he had a maintenance shift. Kara shut her eyes and tried to remember Lee's schedule. He had a morning meeting and then his turn at CAP. That was it. Just that morning, he had been rubbing the little of amount of work he had to do in her face.

Kara asked Hot Dog how long she'd been sleeping. She only became more confused when the answer came back about five hours. She should be ending her turn at CAP right now, and then she was due in the hangar bay to help Chief repair some of the Vipers.

Her eyes went wide as she put two and two together. Lee had taken her responsibilities on his shoulders, and he hadn't let anyone know that was what he was doing. Hot Dog would have been the first to tease her about being the CAG's pet so he obviously didn't know.

Kara tucked the blanket around her chin again and smiled. No one had ever done that kind of thing for her before.

Lee continued to watch over her while she recovered from her flu, and even after that, he still made sure she wasn't overworking herself.

Her post-landing kisses shifted from the frantic passion Lee had first stirred up inside of her to a calm, slow burn that she found herself fostering. Now she had time to run her fingers through his hair before he was smiling and running off to do whatever it is the CAG had to do.

They shared mat time in the gym, those morning cups of coffee, jokes in briefings, winnings from triad. Their partnership was seamless in a way it had never been before. Kara could feel herself teetering on the edge of falling into uncharted territory, but she always managed to keep control. She wasn't stupid enough to think this was anything more than a passing fascination for Lee. She wasn't the kind of girl that could make him happy. Even more, she wasn't the kind of girl who deserved to make him happy.

Things continued to develop between them, guarded gestures, slow and sure and careful.

It seemed right that in the end it was a slow, careful gesture that made her open her eyes to what was happening.

They were sharing a sandwich in the bunkroom, the following week's flight schedule spread on the table between them when she looked up to see Lee staring at her. Their eyes stayed locked in the silence of the air around them. Kara gently bit her bottom lip and waited for him to say something.

"You are so amazing," he whispered and then went right back to fixing the flight schedule.

Something cracked inside Kara, and before she could think twice, she had pulled herself across the table and was in his lap, kissing him as if the world was about to end. She could feel his smile against her lips as her fingers started unbuttoning his jacket. He ran his hands through her hair and laughed when she pulled him over to her bunk.

Kara had always prided herself on being a strong person, but as Lee pushed himself deep inside of her, she understood that she had finally met a temptation even the strongest woman in the world could not resist.

It was slow and it was steady and she was happy.