The question fell off his lips before he could stop himself, "Do you really call this nothing, Kara?"

The question fell off his lips before he could stop himself, "Do you really call this nothing, Kara?" It made her whole body freeze up.

They were sparring in the gym, something they tried to do whenever the two of them could make time in their schedules. Kara liked to call it her way of helping with his shoulder rehab. She usually turned a blind eye when the wound started bleeding. He always paid her back by not letting Dee know Kara was partially responsible for the pain when he would wince later that night.

It didn't take long for things to spiral out of control for them. Lee had honestly tried to keep her at a distance. Ever since she screamed at him that there was no us, he was determined to keep himself from being the fool. He had risked himself for her once. He wasn't going to do it again.

And yet the first time she let their sparring get out of hand, he was bringing it up.

"What do you mean?" Kara's voice came out more as panting. They had been in the middle of one of their knock down, drag out fights, and she had been winning.

Lee didn't respond right away. He just stared at her. She was straddling his waist, having tackled him to the floor only seconds earlier. He could feel the pulse of her body against his, and for some reason, that gave him confidence. "This isn't nothing."

"What isn't?" Kara asked.

Lee could see the start of a smile tickling the corner of her mouth, ad he realized she was playing with him. He snapped both of his hands up to grab her wrist and tugged hard. Her body slammed down against his, and he smiled. His hand came up to brush a stray hair from her eyes.

When her gaze drifted down to his lips and then back up to his eyes, Lee felt his heart freeze with the memory of when this had last happened. It had been the first moment that he realized he was attracted to Dee, the first moment he realized that he might actually be able to get past Kara.

It hadn't felt this intense when it was Dee.

"What are you thinking about?" Kara was so close that her breath tickled his face.

"What?" Lee replied. If she could play dumb, then so could he.

"You got distracted there. I could have gone in for a kill shot and you wouldn't have noticed."

"What kind of kill shot could you get in?" Lee tightened his grip around her wrists. "I've got you pretty incapacitated right now."

"I don't need my hands to turn you upside down," Kara whispered. She ground her hips into his body as proof. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Kara…" Lee warned.

She gave him that innocent look that always meant she knew exactly what she was doing. "If you don't like it, let me go."

Lee wrapped his legs around hers and shifted their weight until he was on top. He pinned her arms to the ground and smiled. "I win."

Kara's tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and she smiled. "That's all a matter of perspective, Captain."

Lee's face lost its humor as the mood shifted from playful to dead serious. He hated how much he wanted her to start telling the truth. His world had shifted into a complete disarray the second she walked into it, and he just wanted a hint that maybe it was the same way for her. "Do you see it now, Kara?"

"What?"

"Something," he whispered, leaning in to kiss the side of her neck. "A whole lot of something."

Kara laughed as the stubble on Lee's cheek teased her skin. "All I feel is your damn five o'clock shadow."

Lee pulled back and feigned insult. "If it's really that bad, I can go shave."

Kara bit her lip and shook her head. "Actually, it's kind of nice."

Lee watched her for a moment while he worked up the courage to keep pushing forward with whatever they were playing at. Just as his lips were about to touch hers, a voice echoed through the previously empty gym. "Kara Thrace, your ass is supposed to be pulling a maintenance shift right now."

Kara's face lit up in fear for a few seconds before she rolled her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she pushed Lee's body off of hers. "Fraking hell, Karl. I was about to go down there as soon as I proved to Lee that I won this little bout. You don't have to play like you're my mother."

Lee shook his head as he watched her attempts to regain her composure. Funny how she was still so out of breath when they had stopped fighting a long time ago.

Kara wasn't meeting his eyes. Instead, she focused on unwrapping the tape from her hands. It seemed things had gone back to the normal pattern of no communication and avoidance.

Sighing, Lee got to his feet. "I have to hit the showers. I have a few meetings with Garner about shifting some personnel around to form a good team that he can work with. It should take at least the rest of the day." Lee gave Kara a quick glance and saw she still wouldn't look at him. "Not that you should care. I'm sure you have better things to be doing than wondering where the frak your CAG is."

"I never do" Kara said, straightening her tanks as she got to her feet. She glanced over at Helo before bending down to pick up the discarded tape.

The anger flashed in Lee's eyes a few seconds before he got it under control. He needed to get out of here else he would so something stupid. "I'll see you later, Captain. Lieutenant."

Kara waited for Lee to slam the hatch before she dropped her calm pretense and turned to Karl. "How the frak did you know I needed you?"

"There was scuttlebutt circulating the ship that you two were sparring again, but this time the fight had become private just like the old days. I figured you needed someone to come in before you did something stupid."

Kara nodded, letting him know he had been right. She shifted herself closer to him and was grateful when she felt his arms come around her. "He asked me again, Karl."

"And what did you say?"

"You managed to butt in before I told him he was right."

"Good. The last thing you need is the CAG knowing that he's constantly on your mind these days."

Kara smacked her friend as hard as she could. He doubled over immediately. "I did not confide in you only to have you throw it back in my face every few hours."

"Sorry."

Kara rolled her eyes. He was always fraking sorry. If she didn't love him so much, she would tell him he could shove his sorry up his ass. "I need to find Anders."

"I know."

Kara felt Helo's arms tighten around her, and she sighed. He understood. She had to find Anders to know if what she remembered feeling for him was real. She had to find out if what she had with him trumped what she had with Lee. Only then could she tell Lee that she would never call what they had nothing. Only then could she tell him the truth.