But in the more immediate sense, Kara had a problem. There was a gulf of mistrust between her pilots and Karl and Lee. Sideways looks of suspicion were cast at the two men whenever they were around, and murmurs trailed in their wake. She wondered if it was only a matter of time before something had to be done. There was also a widening gulf between her and Lee and the Old Man and Lee. He simply refused to let the idea of going back to the Colonies go.
When he wasn't in the gym with Helo or on the flight deck doing his maintenance shifts, he was in Ops Planning trying to put together a rescue mission. Last week, he requested a meeting with the Commander to make his proposal and she shot him down. In typical Lee fashion, it did zero to deter him, he resubmitted his request in writing every day since.
She knew for certain that she'd have to do something about it. The only problem is that she had no idea what that was.
She stepped into CIC and made her way to the Tac Table where the Old Man, Tigh and the Chief were gathered around what looked like homemade blue prints. She saluted the Commander and spoke, "Reporting as ordered."
Adama didn't look up from the designs, "Starbuck. I have a project I want you to oversee." He pointed to the plans, "Chief Tyrol and his deck crew have designed a fighter and would like to build a prototype, pilot input is essential in this."
She grinned as she began to look over the somewhat crude plans, "This looks an awful like an early birthday present Chief."
Tyrol grinned, "I have to admit Cap'n that you were the pilot we had in mind when we designed it."
Tigh nodded and tried not to sneer, "You are a speed junkie, Starbuck."
"Guilty as charged Colonel," she replied with a wink and smug grin. She turned to the Commander and dropped the arrogant expression, "Sir, I can oversee this, but with training a new set of Nuggets and my general CAG duties, I'm pretty swamped."
Tigh nodded and spoke mostly to Adama, "Lieutenants Clellan and Agathon applied to the Flight Instructor's program before the attacks, they can teach some of the classroom portion for her."
Kara nodded and replied, "That takes care of the nuggets, but this project is going to require a lot of time."
Adama finally looked up from the blueprints, "Apollo was selected as lead test-pilot for the Viper Mark Eight program. If I'm not mistaken, both he and Helo have a lot of free time." He rolled up the plans and handed them to Kara.
"Yes sir, I'll go speak with them now."
She made her way to her office and went for the easy conversation first. Helo and Duck agreed rather easily and she handed them the profiles and her flight manuals then let them get to it.
She wasn't surprised to find Lee in Ops Planning yet again, he was obsessive about things like this. She stepped up to the table and unrolled the plans over the charts of Sagittaron. Lee looked up mildly annoyed, "I'm off duty Captain, there's no rule against me doing this, is there?"
She gave him a rueful smile and gestured to the plans, "The deck crew designed a fighter and the Old Man and I would like you to oversee the construction of the first one."
He raised an eyebrow, "Why me?"
She shrugged, "Well, you seem to be hurting for things to do." He scowled but she barreled on, "The fact is Lee, we know you were part of the Mark Eight design program, so you have to have some insight on designing a fighter." She grinned then came around the table to his side. She bumped his shoulder with hers, "Come on Mister Test pilot, dazzle me with your expertise."
He gave the plans an appraising eye for a few minutes and she could almost see him building it in his head. He glanced at the second page, "She'll handle like a drunken pig, no maneuverability."
She nodded, "The Chief wasn't going for agility, he's going for speed."
He turned to her and for the first time since Caprica, that boyish smile of his was aimed right at her, "I'd imagine so with the cockpit rammed up its ass." He checked the specs of the engine mounts, "We'll probably have to custom build the engines almost from scratch. There's no way even the smaller M-Seven Engines would fit." He pointed to a spot on the rear of the craft, "Is that an FTL mount?" She nodded and Lee shook his head, "Wild. I'd like to speak with the Chief."
She bumped his shoulder again, "So, you'll oversee the project?"
He'd already picked up his notepad and was making notes, "Only if you promise me you'll break her cherry."
"C'mon Lee, you had to have known I wouldn't let anyone else have a crack at it first."
"Alright, I'll do it."
She looked over the plans with Lee for the next few minutes. She'd silently debated herself most of that time before she gathered enough courage to say it, "You know, I didn't… I'm… well, I didn't mean to hit you." It was probably as close as she'd get to actually apologizing.
He nodded, "I didn't mean to call you a coward." He wasn't much better when it came to apologies.
They went back to studying the plans for another hour. Neither noticed when a petty officer entered the room to bring them a fresh pitcher of water, twice. Kara did notice when Lee removed his tunic, his color was still a little off but he was no longer grey. When he gripped his hands over his head and stretched out a kink, Kara found herself biting her lip slightly while a rush of heat passed over her skin, "Running again?"
Lee looked at her and nodded, "With Helo in the morning three laps of C Deck, then we usually hit the gym for a little while in the evenings, can't overdo it or Cottle will strap me down to the bed."
Kara smirked at the choice of phrase, "Funny I was just thinking about that."
Lee cocked an eyebrow at her, "Running?"
She winked, "Yeah, running."
He laughed, "Pervert."
She adopted an offended posture and faux-indignant tone, "You're the one who wants me to defile poor, virgin fighters."
He shrugged, "So, I guess what you're saying is 'takes one to know one?'"
She nodded, "So, I suppose as CAG and Soon-to-be-Lead Pilot, you and I should work on our…" She raised her eyebrow and gave him her best hungry expression, "Chemistry."
He cocked his head to the side, "Well, you're the CAG, what do you suggest?"
She grinned, "Three laps of C Deck. It'll give you a chance to watch my ass in running shorts."
He shook his head, "You are forgetting that years of cigars, booze and late-night triad have guaranteed that it's you dragging behind me like an anchor when we run. But, if you're that hard up for a friend, who am I to deny you?"
Twenty minutes later Kara found herself on C deck running in stride with Lee. "So, I had an interesting run-in with a pilot named Constanza in the mess this morning."
She gave him a sideways glance and led him up a staircase, "Hot Dog?"
"That's his call-sign?"
"He's probably the third best pilot I've got." Lee cleared his throat and she grinned, "Okay, fine. Fourth best pilot, now that you're number two."
His cough sounded suspiciously like, "Bullshit."
"You're good Lee, but I'm better." They passed a group of techs working on an air scrubber and she asked, "So what did Hot Dog do?"
He smirked, "Not too much, called me a collaborator and Toaster-frakker. Then he and a couple of his buddies did some bullshit posturing."
She frowned as they turned a corner, "You want me to-"
He laughed, "Absolutely not, they're just some kids who are scared about what Boomer did and protective of the people who lead them, namely you and the Old Man. Besides, I'm an outsider to your little family, of course they want to threaten me."
She skidded to a halt and grabbed his arm, "Our little family, Lee. Not mine, but ours."
He shook his head, "I may be the Commander's son but I'm not family, Kara."
She scowled, "You will be, if I have to beat it into you." He grinned slightly, "This goes back to the Caprica thing, doesn't it? Lee I-"
He cut her off with a hiss, "'Caprica thing?' It's the Caprica thing? Retaking our homes is a thing? Like it's some little hobby of mine?" He scowled at her for a long time, "You know, I think I've had enough running for the day. Permission to be dismissed, sir?"
She nodded and he walked away, it took a lot of self-control for her not to punch the bulkhead. She shook her head and said, "One step forward, two steps back."
&&&&&&&&&
Karl walked onto the flight deck and immediately noticed the curtained off area on the far end of the deck. As he approached he could see the faint outline of a skeleton of a fighter as well as someone operating an arc welder. He pushed the curtains aside and found several deckhands working on the ship while Chief Tyrol and Apollo were discussing something at the table in the corner.
Jammer was spot-welding the fuselage while Cally and Figurski were grinding a piece of metal for one of the engine mounts. He walked over to Lee and Tyrol and heard the tail end of Tyrol's comment, "Colonel Tigh says the Baah Pakal has a couple of DDG-62s on their flight deck that we could use."
Apollo nodded as he looked over the plans, "Those would fit and as long as they work we can get a lot of speed out of them with a few tweaks here and there." He looked up and found Karl there, "Helo."
The Raptor pilot nodded, "Apollo. Could I have a moment?"
Lee turned back to the Chief, "Could you send for the Sixty-twos? We'll take a look at them." Tyrol nodded and left while Lee led them out of the construction area and off the Flight Deck. They stepped inside the Ready Room and Karl closed the hatch behind them. Lee sat in one of the chairs while Helo took another, the smaller man then said, "What's up?"
"I had a conversation with Her and I wanted to talk to you about something she said." They made a decision after they had a couple of run-ins with people to never discuss Sharon by name, so Boomer was referred to only as "she" or "her."
Lee frowned and stood out of his chair, he then walked over to the assignment board. "What did she say?"
"Well, it's not so much something she said, rather something she told me you said." It was as though a steel rod shot up Lee's spine, his hands were clenched so hard they were trembling. "She didn't say what, but she's worried about you."
He didn't turn, nor did the tension escape him. "Why would she be?"
Karl laughed harshly, "You know why Lee, she cares about you. You helped her survive on Caprica and she's pretty sure one of the reasons the President didn't chuck her out the nearest airlock is because she made it possible for you to be here."
Still, Lee wouldn't turn around, "I…" He trailed off and remained silent.
Karl frowned, "She didn't tell me what you said, but I've watched since you've been back. When we were on Kobol, Kara and the Commander looked spooked. You've been holed up in Ops Planning trying to plot a rescue mission back to the Colonies and nearly every time you and Kara are in the same room, it ends up with you walking away angrier than I've ever seen and her looking like someone shot her frakking dog. Despite any rumors you may have heard, I'm not stupid. All these things are related to each other."
Lee had turned as he spoke but his eyes wouldn't meet Karl's. Finally, he spoke quietly. "I can't let them forget about our homes and families in favor of this shared delusion about Earth." He turned away, "I guess I'm not exactly being easy, then again I've never been all that easy to those around me."
Karl nodded, "If it helps, I agree with you. My family worships Ares, we don't believe in Pythia or even the Suicide of Athena. I believe the Thirteenth Tribe and Earth was a myth."
Lee leaned against the podium, "I hear a 'but.'"
"But she believes in Pythia and the Jealous God and the Thirteenth Tribe, all of it. She even believes that we are following the dying leader on the path to Earth."
"You believe it because she does?"
He grinned, "No, I believe in her."
Lee frowned, "Why? Why do you- Why do you trust her when we know she's a Cylon?"
Helo could understand why Lee had reservations about Sharon and why Karl had done such a sudden turn around regarding her. "When she told me she was carrying my daughter… it stopped being a Cylon-experiment and she stopped being a Cylon right there. Suddenly she was Sharon, the woman who came back for me and kept me going when I just wanted to lie down and die. She became the woman I made love to and she became the mother of my child." He looked at Lee for a moment before continuing, "Can you understand, sir? When she called my baby her daughter, none of the rest of it mattered because I was a father."
Lee was quiet for a long time, just watching this person who'd been through the same hell he'd been through yet came out stronger with a (very frakked up) family while Lee felt broken and alone. "Yeah, I guess."
Karl grinned slightly, "Liar."
Lee shrugged, "Fine, then I envy you. I… ah, I feel like I made a mistake coming back. That's what I said that made her worry."
Karl felt the smile slide right off his face, "Why?"
"Every day we jump farther away from where I need to be, Karl. Every day, our homes and our friends and our families get further out of reach and I feel like…" Lee crossed the room and slumped into a chair, "I don't what I feel anymore."
He watched the bewildered man in front of him, finally understanding why Sharon was so worried. Lee was breaking and he'd drag the whole Fleet with him as he went, because when he did Kara and the Old Man would follow right behind him. Two years ago, he saw a broken Viper pilot and did his best to reach her. Maybe the Gods thought he was good at it because he would have to drag another Viper-Jock back from the brink.
Helo collected his thoughts before he spoke, "Do you think they'd ever considered going back?"
Lee frowned, "I know what you're trying to do, and yes I'm sure they considered it carefully. I'm sure they thought of all the risks involved in going back. I understand that one battlestar cannot take on a Cylon fleet, even employing hit-and-run tactics. I know all of it, but it still feels wrong." He dropped his head and raked his fingers through his hair, every inch of him was screaming out the frustration he must be boiling in.
"Well, maybe you should be trying to convince people instead of going straight to the top."
Lee looked up, "Who?"
The larger man grinned, "Start with me, then we'll move on to the CAG."
End Part