Kara entered the Commander's cabin with a smirk on her face, they'd made five of the twelve jumps already and they were currently prepping jump number six. She and Kat had just completed the mission briefing for the pilots and marines involved in the rescue operations and were allowing the people taking part in the operations some downtime before. While the idea of a few hours rest was appealing for her, it wasn't what had her smirking.
She'd been paged to the Commander's cabin a few minutes ago and hoped to enjoy her downtime by having some "uptime" with Lee. Again, while the idea of frakking the hell out of Lee on that big bed of his was enough to have her strutting the corridors with a cocky gleam in her eyes, it was not what actually did the trick this time.
No, what put the smirk on her face was the marine guard shoving Ellen Tigh rather forcefully back into Colonel Tigh's quarters and informing her (several times in fact) that she and Saul were under house arrest until they returned to the Fleet. Most especially satisfying was the mammoth marine's comment as she turned down another corridor, "I can only hope Ma'am, that the Commander will give me the honor of throwing you off Pegasus when we return!"
"Lee, have I mentioned how much I love your Mar-" The word died on her tongue at the sight before her. She almost stepped back into the hall to make sure she was in the right cabin but the Marine presence outside the hatch confirmed where she was well enough.
The normally mellowed lights in his cabin were softened almost to the point of being extinguished casting everything in a dusky orange. The harsh lights of the trophy cases had been turned off altogether.
In the center of the room was a candlelit altar with a bowl in the center. The atmosphere was completed with the soft strains of one of her father's solo piano pieces playing over the speakers. The romantic feel of the room was undeniable and triggered more than a touch of suspicion in the Viper pilot.
Cautious steps had her standing in front of the altar and she found a small knife on the table next to it, a braided cord, two silver rings a bottle of wine, judging by the label from Tauron and an apple. "What are you up to?"
Lee's voice came from the bedroom, "Kara?" He appeared from around the corner, she could tell from the moisture on his cheeks and the hand towel over his shoulder that he'd just shaved. A voice in her head declared Action Stations and she imagined six months ago she'd already be two decks away. It might be a testament to her relationship with Lee and the trust she'd placed in him that she was still there and relatively calm.
He smiled and took his towel in hand then tossed it back into bathroom before he pulled his tunic back on. "I just paged you."
She nodded, "I was already headed this way when you did." She tossed her thumb at the altar, "What's going on?"
He flushed and stepped past her towards the altar, "I… well, I've been planning this for a while actually. All that was left was to work up the nerve to ask actually." He turned to her with a grin that was half-excited and half-frightened. "I had to do some research and a lot of bartering to get what I needed before we left and I only barely managed it."
She sighed and gave him a tired smile, "Great… that's not even close to an answer."
He stepped over to the altar and continued, "You worship Artemis and Aphrodite, right? I mean, it was difficult to know for sure, you keep your faith so private."
She took a step towards him with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah." He gave her a relieved expression and she was even more suspicious, she might have to run after all.
He picked up the wine and removed the cork then pulled out two glasses. He first poured wine into the bowl, "An offering of red wine for Zeus." He poured a lesser amount into each of the glasses then set the wine back down on the table. He picked up the apple, "An offering for Aphrodite" he then placed it on the altar next to the bowl.
He then picked up the knife and stepped over to her, Kara's eyes snapped back and forth between Lee and the altar nervously, "Lee?"
He took her hair in his fingers and tried to smile reassuringly, "Forgive me?"
He cut a small lock of hair away and banded it together with a rubber band, "For Artemis, two offerings. A lock of your hair…" He placed it on the altar then produced a piece of silver and placed it on top of the hair, "and from me silver for her arrows."
Kara's eyes widened the moment he cut her hair, "Lee the only time a woman offers Artemis some of her hair is when she gets married."
He picked up the cord and the rings, "I know." He stepped over to her and took her right hand in his, "Kara, it's been almost a year since that day in the Delphi Museum when I found you. We've taken our sweet time to get here but every moment's been worth it. I love you, and I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you as well."
She swallowed the lump in her throat as fear, joy and love all struggled for dominance within her. "Lee…" The latter emotions quickly won out and a smile stuttered into place on her face, "All you had to do was ask."
Suddenly emboldened by her words he spoke more firmly, "I wasn't sure whether or not to do this before we started back to the Fleet, but I just… I don't want to wait." In his free hand he held one end of the cord. He offered one of them as well as the other end of the rope. "Kara Thrace, on this day with the favor of the Gods I offer myself to you as your husband."
She took her end of the rope and began to wrap it around their joined hands, "Lee Adama, on this day in the presence of the Lords of Kobol I accept your offer and pledge myself to you as your wife for a period of a year and one day."
The cord secure around their joined hands, Lee held out his left hand to her. As she slid the ring onto his third finger he continued, "I pledge to honor you in word and deed until such time that a priest can complete our union."
She held out her left hand in return and he slid her ring onto her finger, "I pledge to take both your name and your house as my own until our union is completed by a priest."
He grinned boyishly and completed his part of the ritual, "So say we all."
He placed his left hand on top of their joined hands and she followed his lead, "So say we all."
She lost herself in his eyes for a long moment before she laughed nervously, "You may kiss the bride."
"Happily," he murmured. A moment later their lips found each other for a series of rather chaste kisses before he pulled back, "When we return to the Fleet, we'll find a priest of Artemis and Aphrodite and take the proper vows."
She nodded and said, "Good. But one question first."
Lee unwrapped the cord and placed it on the altar then picked up the two glasses and handed one to her, "Sure."
She smirked and took a drink of her wine, "I know they're expensive and hard to come by but please tell me that the Commander of Pegasus could swing more than just one apple."
Lee crossed the room to his desk then reached behind it and produced another apple, "Anything for the Commander's wife."
Kara crossed the room slowly and plucked the large red fruit from his hand, her mouth watering at the sight of it. It had been at least two months since the last time she'd tasted any fruit even longer since she'd had an apple and she'd wondered when she'd have one again.
As time went by and growing methods became more difficult, fruit became worth its wait in gold, in some circles literally. Lee's offering to Aphrodite was traditional and extremely expensive, she wondered what he had to have traded to get it. She brought the fruit to her nose and inhaled deeply, committing the scent to memory before she took that first bite.
The skin was pierced easily enough by her teeth and the flesh gave way, flooding her mouth with the sweet tang of its juice, after so long eating nothing but processed mess hall slop the taste of fresh fruit was absolutely decadent. A long guttural moan rolled in her throat as she fully took the taste of it on her tongue and her eyes crossed in near ecstasy as she chewed.
She turned half-lidded eyes on him and gave him a satisfied expression. He chuckled and asked, "Good?"
She held the fruit up to his lips and whispered, "Oh yeah…" He took a bite and answered her pleased moan with one of his own. She quickly knocked back her wine and ignored the burn in her throat as she set the glass aside. She took a second, toe-curling bite of the fruit then clutched his hand and took both her husband and her apple to bed to enjoy them together.
&&&&&&&&&
Just one bulkhead separated the commander's bedroom from the VIP guest quarters; Sharon Valerii was tangled in military-issued sheets. She was on her stomach; a pillow propped under her folded arms and her chin perched on top of them, the cool air of the Battlestar causing her heated flesh to chill as the sweat evaporated. She smirked slightly at her lover as he tried to regain his breath and composure.
Moments ago as Kara's eyes were crossing in food-induced ecstasy; Sharon had caused Karl's eyes to roll into his head in a very different form of bliss. It gave her a very basic thrill to see him both winded and drained and incredibly proud of himself like this.
Finally, he managed to pick up his head enough to look at her, "Okay… That was amazing."
She shook her head with a little chuckle, "I told you, bigger beds give me room to get creative."
"Then when we get back to Galactica, I'll find you the biggest frakking bed in the Fleet." His head crashed back onto the mattress and Sharon took the opportunity to crawl across the bed and wrap her body around his. Instinctually, he wrapped his arms around her in return. They laid there for a long time with the only movement in the room being their breathing and Karl's fingers tracing over her spine before he whispered, " Sharon?"
She had nearly dozed off under his touch so she could only murmur a reply sleepily, "Hmm?"
She was drifting away so his timid tone didn't register as he asked, "Do you want to try again?"
She grinned and giggled slightly, "I thought I was the machine."
"I meant… did you want to try to have another… I mean, i-if you want I would like to try to have another… baby."
The sleep burned out of her body and her head shot up, "Really?"
He looked up at her and a crooked smile twitched into place, "Yeah. This time we would have access to a doctor and Cottle said just because you had the bleeding problems last time doesn't mean you would next time."
"Karl?"
He kept on as though she hadn't spoken, "We wouldn't be on the run and the radiation poisoning…"
She tried again, "Karl?" This time he quieted and looked at her hopefully, "Do you really want to try again?" He smiled and could only seem to muster a nod, "Then I would want nothing more." Sharon felt a wicked gleam in her eye and she pressed a kiss to his chest and smirked at the sensation of his stirring against her thigh, "Mmm… Would you like to start trying right now?"
Between her moan and the breathy tone of her voice, Karl practically sprung to life and his fingers dug into her back, "I think-"
At that moment, they heard Kara shout from the other side of the bulkhead, "Oh good Gods, YES!"
Both turned in the direction of the shout and Sharon stifled a giggle, "I guess Lee convinced her."
Karl turned to her with a perplexed expression, "To what?"
She shrugged, "Lee came to me a few weeks back, said he needed help to gather the proper offerings to Artemis and Aphrodite for a handfasting."
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Lee asked her to marry him?" When Sharon nodded he grinned at her wickedly, "So, if I were ask you what the proper offerings were?"
She leaned up and caught his lips for a long lazy kiss, "Well, first I'd tell you that I won't be proposed to in bed, and second I'd tell you one thing at a time Lieutenant." She then reclaimed his mouth putting an end to any conversation.
&&&&&&&&&
Pegasus sat safely cocooned in the swirling storm at Ragnar, the klaxon echoed through it's corridors and it's crew were at action stations preparing to at last launch the rescue operations so many of them had been waiting to undertake.
Meanwhile, the Commander stood in CIC watching his crew at work; he looked to his acting XO and noticed the young woman was the picture of professionalism. Kendra Shaw hadn't been a member of Pegasus' crew before the Attacks; she'd been a junior officer at the MoD in charge of prepping Pegasus for her computer refit. When Cain jumped away, Kendra had basically been stranded there. Much like Lee had been on Galactica when Kara had got him off Caprica, she'd been an outsider among Pegasus' crew.
And like him, Cain had taken her under her wing. Cain had taught Kendra to be a Razor, she taught her to set aside fear and doubt and do whatever it took to not only survive but to win a lesson she later taught Lee. In many ways, Kendra was like a mirror image to Lee, which is why his first act as Commander was to promote her and name her Three-I-C. In truth, Lee had treated her more like his XO than he did with Tigh, confiding with her on the day to day operations, which spoke both to their rapport and Lee and Tigh's inability to develop one.
Finally the Major spoke, "All decks report in sir, alert fighters are on standby and Blackbird is prepped for jump."
Lee nodded and picked up the receiver, "Kat/Actual, you are go."
"Roger that Actual, starting the clock."
"Gods' Speed, Kat." A moment later her blip on the DRADIS disappeared, leaving behind only the raptors and Pegasus itself. Lee then asked Hoshi to patch him into the crew and the raptors, when the Lieutenant gave him a nod, Lee spoke…
&&&&&&&&&
Kara sat in the pilot's seat of her raptor, Ragnar swirled angrily in front of her and she found the calm before a dangerous operation settling over her, Lee's voice came over the speakers and she kept the smile of her face even as she was keenly remind of the silver band on her finger, "This is the Commander, at a time like this, some might remind you that no one has ever tried a rescue this far out from support troops, much less behind enemy lines. They might tell you that you are making history just coming this far.
"I won't tell you that. We all know history died the second our homes were attacked and it no longer means a damn. What you are making right now is far more important than history could ever be, what you are making is the only thing that matters now, a future. You're creating a future not just for every person we get off that planet but for each and every member of this crew and for every person in the Fleet we will return to.
"I wanted to make sure you knew that before you return to one of the Worlds that made up our homes, that's what your objective is, that's what you're fighting for, that's what some of you may have to sacrifice for and there is no one I'd entrust with this mission, this chance at a future, more than yourselves. Gods Bless and Good Hunting."
Moments later, Kat's data transmission began coming and Kara made the proper re-calculations before she transmitted to the other raptors; "Starbuck to all strike ships, final co-ordinate updates made, spin up FTLs now."
From the ECO station, Skulls informed her that all raptors were a go. "Starbuck/Strike One, you are go, all other teams on stand-by." Seconds later, three of the raptors disappeared in a flash and she started the clock.
Soon after Strike One jumped away, Kara and the remaining raptors jumped as well.