Lee was the one to pin her wings back on when Kara returned to the Fleet, and he couldn't help but recognize her smile as their own secret signal saying they were finally home.
Lee was the one to pin her wings back on when Kara returned to the Fleet, and he couldn't help but recognize her smile as their own secret signal saying they were finally home.
There had been the initial burst of seeing each other, alive and well, again. Lee would never forget how that one ended. He had told her he loved her, and she teased him. Granted, she probably didn't realize what he was actually saying.
It was on the surface of Kobol when Lee was still trying to figure out if he should correct Kara's assumption that his father approached him. William Adama explained his part in why Kara returned to Caprica. He explained that Lee might have had the wrong idea about Kara's reasons for leaving them behind.
It was Lee's suggestion that his father get a moment alone with Kara as soon as they returned to Galactica. It was Adama's suggestion that Lee stop acting like he didn't want to be a part of that moment.
It was during a particularly quiet moment of their family dinner when Kara was busy looking over the reports on what happened to his father that Adama slid the small box into his son's hand. Lee's eyes went wide, but before he could say anything, his father was standing up and excusing himself to handle some business down in the CIC.
Kara barely noticed the shift. She was too engrossed in the story of how the Old Man had been shot by one of their own. Lee sat back and watched her. He had missed this the most.
After a few moments, Kara looked up at him. A smile played at the edge of her lips, and he bit his lip to keep from grinning like an idiot. The moment faded, though, when she looked to his father's chair and noticed it empty.
She was flinging questions at him left and right when he moved around the table to stand at her side. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. Laying a finger on her lips to quiet her, he brought out the box.
The wings ended up pinned a little crooked on her, but Lee figured there was something poetically right about that. "This is my official apology."
"For what?" Kara said, the hint of a smirk already threatening to come out. "There's just so many things, Captain."
Lee winced. He guessed he deserved that. "I'm sorry for being a complete frakhead when I should have been someone you could talk to. My father told me about what pushed you to go to Caprica. I wish I had known."
"Wishes are only regrets waiting to happen," Kara replied.
Lee offered her his hand and, after a second, she slid her hand into his. "I'm glad you're back. I was scared I'd have to keep these frakers in shape all by myself."
"Come on, Lee. I wouldn't do that to you." Her words were meant to be teasing, but somehow they came out half serious, half sad.
Lee waited until she looked up at him to speak. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't ever do that to me. Don't ever make me think that I have to do this without you because I need you to keep me in check. I need you to remind me that I can't be the pilots' friend if I want them to stay alive. I need you to tell me when I'm being too straight laced and when I should just shut up and follow my gut. I need you to come up with those stupid plans that almost get me killed but also get me the recognition we both know I desperately deserve." That one caused Kara to crack a smile. "Most of all, I just need you to be there to remind me why I'm fighting."
"I'm not going anywhere," Kara whispered, tightening her hand in his. "Not now. Not ever."
Lee watched her for a few minutes before his eyes fell to the clock. "We should be going. I think you're already back on the roster for the morning."
Kara nodded. Together she and Lee left the Old Man's office and walked down the corridor, side by side. "It's good to be home," she said with a sigh.
