Lee watched Kara climb the tree on Kobol to see if there were Cylons ahead and silently wondered when tomboys became his type.

Lee watched Kara climb the tree on Kobol to see if there were Cylons ahead and silently wondered when tomboys became his type.

It was odd. When she was Zak's girl, he had barely spent a moment's free time thinking about her although he wasn't completely oblivious. He saw the way men tended to take second glances when Kara past them by. Hell, he had been known to take a second glance or two himself. Still it wasn't some all burning passion thing where he cursed his brother for finding Kara first.

It was simple. Kara was an attractive woman, but she was his baby brother's attractive woman.

"I don't see anything." Kara's voice echoed through the forest, and Lee winced. If the Cylons didn't know their position, they did now. When had Kara lost her ability to be tactful?

"Then get your ass down here and let's move," Lee hissed up at her.

He watched Kara hop the last few feet to the ground. She let out a deep sigh, blowing the stray pieces of hair out of her eyes, and Lee felt a spike of desire in the pit of his stomach. Gods, she had mud covering over half her body and he still found her sexy. When the frak had this happened?

A little voice in the back of his head reminded him that this wasn't a new feeling. Since the day the Cylons left him stranded with Galactica, he had been feeling small pangs of attraction to Kara. They only got worse with time.

Lee handed Kara her gun, and she gave him a hesitant smile. Their relationship was still slightly tarnished from the way they had left things before she jumped to Caprica, but it seems they were both willing to try to fix that. "So, what do you think, Lieutenant?"

"I think we keep moving until we find a taller tree for me to scale."

Lee shook his head and motioned to Zarek's men to start walking. He gave the President a small smile and nod, which she returned before following the rest of the group.

He let Kara drift a few feet in front of him but made sure he kept close enough so that he could still hear her swearing. Swearing meant everything was okay. Swearing meant she was okay.

They made it about a mile through the woods before Lee found himself fighting the urge to tug on her ponytail. It had been nagging at him since the second she stepped off that Heavy Raider.

It was odd how being around Kara turned him into a five-year-old.

No woman had ever had that effect on him. Then again, no woman he loved had ever acted like Kara did.

He had always prided himself on loving women who were mature, who knew where they were headed in life and learned how to get there in a calm and quiet manner. They were the woman people expected to see on the arm of Commander William Adama's son. Pretty, graceful, demure… perfect.

They didn't go around screaming frak and climbing trees.

And yet Lee found himself wanting that. He wanted a woman who said the inappropriate thing at the appropriate time. He wanted someone who wasn't afraid to fight dirty if they had to and even if they didn't. He wanted a woman who made mistakes and refused to take the blame in public, a woman who saved the day and wouldn't let you forget it for years. He wanted to laugh at the wrong times and smile when he should be crying.

He had met plenty of women who filled most of those requirement, but it was only Kara who did that one last thing. It was only Kara who made him happy that he had survived the Cylons so far.

Lee wished he could blame it on the direness of the situation, but he had a feeling this would be happening even if the Cylons had left well enough alone. He had been thinking about Kara a lot in the past year or so, long before he got his orders to attend the decommissioning.

He spent many nights the past few months trying to figure out where this pull towards Kara had come from. The only thing he could come up with was that it had always been there. He had just been better at ignoring it before.

Kara paused in her steps and turned back to look at him. Lee hated the look of uncertainty he saw in her eyes. "Is something the matter, Lieutenant?" She shook her head and was about to step forward when Lee reached out to grab her arm. "Kara?"

"Did you mean it when you said you would listen?"

Lee nodded. It was one of the few things he had ever meant with all his heart. Because as much as his desire for Kara was growing, he found himself wanting to be there for her as a friend even more.

"I…" Kara bit her lip and shifted her eyes down to the ground. "I'd like to talk about what happened on Caprica with someone before I have to give an official report. I want to be sure I can do it without… without…"

Lee tightened his grip on her arm. "Once we've found the Tomb and go home," he promised. Kara nodded, and Lee could see the beginnings of hope in her eyes. "I mean, you and I are probably going to be given new bunks right in the middle of hack so we'll have plenty of time."

Kara let out a small laugh and started walking. "A very true point you have there, Lee."

"But you like hack," Lee finished. "And so I guess I'll learn to like it to."

"It's better when you have company," she agreed. "And Lee? The next tree is yours to climb. You still need to get that stick out of your ass, and climbing will help."

Lee shook his head and let himself fall back to his usual spot a few feet behind her. He had no idea when loud-mouthed pains in the ass became his type either, but there she was.