Author: Marie Adama
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Characters of Battlestar Galactica. This just for fun.
Spoiler: AU Kara and Lee are in a desert planet searching for water, while the ops take place they start to remember that night in NC.
Author's note: Thanks to Squirrely for been my beta, thank you very much.
One last Chance
Chapter 2
"Fighting the memories"
Lee left his tent annoyed. He took a few steps away from it and took a deep breath. How had he gotten into this, he questioned to himself and started to remember how everything had happened in fast motion after the call from his father the night before. His father had asked him to scramble a team to supervise water operations and since they were short of marines Tigh came with the brilliant idea of using resistance fighters to do the job. So here he was, on this planet that looks more like a desert moon than a planet, supervising deep water extraction and coordinating with Anders the deployment of the resistance fighters. But that wasn't all, he had acted on instinct once again in less than two weeks and asked Kara to be on the planet with him, when he knew very well that the logical option was for her to take his post as CAG on Galactica. But he wanted her with him and what pissed him off is that he was acting based on a dream, a stupid dream, but he couldn't take any more risks not now. Not after being so close to loose her in New Caprica, not after finding out what truly had happen to her there, he had promised her that he would watch up for her and that's what he was going to do. Even if that meant that he will have to watch her all cozy with her husband so be it, he want it her close where he could protect her.
And now this, his wife had jumped into the operation at the last minute. She wasn't supposed to be on the planet she didn't have the field experience, but they needed a communication officer and she had volunteered to be that one, and it didn't matter how much he had disagreed with her decision to volunteer nothing would make her step out from the raptor that was taking him to the planet. And he knew very well that it has nothing to do with the fact that she was a communication officer it has more to do with the fact that he will be working side by side with Kara. Anastasia had leave that pretty clear in the recent argument that they had.
Lee took another deep breath and started to walk towards the edge of the camp, trying to clear his mind. How would he manage to take care of them both, of Kara and Anastasia. He was walking when suddenly he hear the unmistakable voice of Kara.
"Fine what ever" She said and walk away from her own tent looking angry. He just looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
Kara caught his gaze and looked at him back in the same way that he was looking at her. Then she started to walk towards him.
"What?" she asked annoyed.
"Nothing, I haven't say a thing" He said looking innocent. Which makes her look at him even more upset. "The black in your eyes is going down" He finally said.
"Right" she said annoyed and then looked at him "how's the rib?" she asked crossing he arms around her chest.
"Fine, Cottle said it was more painful than harmful" Lee answered and they both look at the mountains that were outside the camp and started to walk in their direction with out saying a word.
"Marriage sucks" Kara said finally.
"Tell me about it" Lee stated without looking at her.
"Who's the brilliant mind behind putting Sam in charge of civilian ops?" She asked annoyed.
"Hey don't look at me" He said and raised his hands in innocence "that was Tigh's idea"
"I'll poke his other eye out as soon as we get back on Galactica" She said angry and after a while they both laughed.
"Good luck with that" he said with a smile.
"Right" she said and look at Lee's tent "So problems in paradise?" she asked with caution.
"What paradise?" Lee said sarcastically. "She shouldn't be here" He finally said.
"Neither should Sam"
"Yeah but you don't need to take care of Sam"
"You don't need to take care of Dee either, she's a soldier" Kara said and couldn't avoid a frown.
"I know it's just …" He said and shrunk his shoulders.
"I know" she said and looked away. "How long do you think we should stay here?" she asked changing the subject.
"I don't know, two more days. We need to find another water seam but we already have 50 of the water that we need."
"That's great I can't wait to leave this planet…it's kinda depressing" Kara said looking around.
"I know, in a way it reminds me of New Caprica" He said frowning.
"You're right. But the weather here's like hell"
"No kidding, it was hot as hell today"
"Yeah only that hell freezes at night" Kara said and shuddered. Who like Lee was only wearing her tank tops and her camouflage pants.
"Are you cold?" Lee asked and moved closer to her and with out thinking he rubbed her arms with his hands tenderly to bring some warmth to her. Kara looked at him confused and as soon as their eyes met, he knew he had made a mistake.
And inevitably he was drawn to memories that he had locked in his brain at all cost.
Flashback
"Kara Thrace loves Lee Adama" she screamed.
Her contagious smile could be heard in the silence of the night, then she turns in his direction still smiling and making him smile. His heart was beating so fast after hearing her scream that she loved him back that all he could do was kiss her with passion and tenderness. He was beyond happy.
"Are you cold?" Lee asked when he stopped kissing her and he noticed that she was shivering in his arms.
"A little bit" Kara answered looking at him in the eyes biting her lower lip. He rubbed his hands around her arms to keep her warm.
"Better?" Lee asked and when Kara frowned he softly kiss her in the forehead and hugged her tight.
"This is better" she said and hugged him back, their naked bodies in touch again.
"I know" he said and softly kissed he.
Slowly they fell onto the floor again and remained hugging each other looking at the sky.
"Did I just scream to the sky that I love you?" Lee asked looking at her in the eyes.
"Yes you did" She nodded resting her chin in his chest to look at him better.
"I do love you" He said and tenderly placed one hand on her face.
"I know" She said and kissed him softly.
He hugged her back when they broke the kiss and looked at the sky again "Are you still cold?"
"No, not any more" she said and hugged him tight and kissed him in the neck. They remained holding onto each other in silence until she said.
"Don't you find it weird to be here looking at the sky and not be in the sky flying" She finished and he sank his nose in her hair.
"Yeah it's very weird, watching the stars and not being around them" he said and looked at the sky.
"The thing I'll miss the most about quit flying will be not flying with you again" she confessed in a whisper.
"I miss flying with you too, I miss how we connected in the sky"
"How we don't need to talk, don't need a plan we just are in the sky"
"We became one in the sky…like those stars over there" He said and pointed at the sky.
"What those over there? It's only one" Kara said.
"No there's two" Lee pointed out and Kara look at him in disbelief and then back at the shy.
"No it's just…you're right there's two" She added with surprise.
"They are so close that you think there's only one" He said and looked at her in the eyes.
"Just like Starbuck and Apollo when they are flying together, we are one, we always have been one" she said and kissed him tenderly, with love.
end flashback
The touch of his hands in her bare arms was like an electricity bolt, she couldn't avoid a shiver when her gaze met his, and she knew that he was remembering too.
"I'm sorry" Lee said and stepped away from her so fast that the loss of the touch of his hands on her skin was almost painful.
"I'm…" she could barely articulate but didn't know what to say.
"I think I'll better go, tomorrow will be a long day" He said with out looking at her.
"Yes it will be a long day" She added and looked at the floor.
"Well …goodnight" he said looking at the ground too and slowly started to walk away.
"Night" Kara said and when he was far enough she raised her eyes form the ground and looked at him. Then she look at the sky trying to search for two stars…they weren't the same stars that she saw that night, but they were almost that close and she couldn't help remembering.
Flashback
"Just like Starbuck and Apollo when they are flying together, we are one we always have been one" she said and kissed him tenderly, with love. With all the love that she had fought for so long.
"Just like Starbuck and Apollo" He said and kissed her back.
"Yes, because there's no Starbuck with out Apollo" she said feeling her heart beat faster, looking at him in the eyes.
"And there's no Apollo with out Starbuck" he said and she kissed him. He moved slowly until her back was resting on the ground and he was looking at her in the eyes resting his weight in his elbows.
"But now we are not Starbuck or Apollo" she said.
"No, we are just Kara and Lee…and I don't care anything else I just want it to be with you Kara" He said and placde one hand in her face " I love you so much"
She look at him and saw how honest he was, she could see that he was right there with her and that he really loved her, that he didn't want to have just a quick lay with her, that it wasn't a game. He truly love her and for a moment she didn't feel a screw up anymore, she didn't feel that she didn't deserve to be loved because she loved him back in the same way.
He smile at her, noticing the look in her eyes and they kissed.
end flashback
He look back against his will, but he couldn't help it and there she was looking at the sky. He follow the direction of her gaze and found two stars in the sky that were almost as close as the one in New Cparica.
"There's no Starbuck with out Apollo" he remembered her saying and couldn't avoid the pain in his chest. Yes there was, there could be a Starbuck without Apollo and so could be a Kara without him. But it was nice to believe even if it was for a couple of hours that she needed him as much as he needed her.
He turned away from her, he didn't want to think in that.
Kara look at him turning away, and she shook her head. She had made the decision to leave him and she didn't regret it, it has been for his own good. But as much as she act like she didn't care, she couldn't take the fact of hurting him the way she did and she knew very well that the time would come when she would have to explain her actions to him.
If only she could used the Starbuck mask again like she did that day in New Caprica… but now she couldn't, not after all she went trough, she didn't have the strength and what was worst she needed him, she had realized that no matter what he was the only one that she could not lose, the only one that she could not live without.
Lee woke up even before the sun rose; he went to the command center to plan the search of a new source of water and checked everything related with the ops in the planet. Sooner than what he would have liked Dee had joined him, he explained the ops to her and put her in charge to deal with the resistance fighters and Kara while he supervised the water extraction ops with the Chief.
He was about to enter the tent where the central command was when he heard Kara said annoyingly "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for him" and before he noticed, she passed almost over him in her way out of the tent.
"I'll meet you at the edge of the camp with Sam and the others" She said as she almost crushed against him.
"Sure" Lee said confused and then Dee went out of the tent, she gave a weird look at Kara and placed her bullet proof vest on.
"We should get going" Dee said.
"I know, everything is set" Lee said and couldn't avoid a frown. He put on his own bullet proof vest and started to walk towards the edge of the camp.
"Team one will go ahead, team two in the read guard and team three will go with me in the middle" Dee said when Lee arrived to where everyone was.
"Wait a minute, I'm on team two!" Kara said and stepped closer to Dee.
"Yes you are, and that means that you are on the rear guard" Dee answered raising an eyebrow.
"Are you fraking kidding me?" Kara asked sarcastically and gave a quizzical look to Lee.
"No I order that, you should be on the rear guard" Lee said coldly.
"I'm the best shooter you've got, I should be up front with you" Kara said upset.
"I need you on the back" Lee lied, he wanted her there because it was the safest place she could be and still be part of the op without raising suspicion.
"This is…" Kara was saying annoyed when Lee interrupted her.
"This is an order Captain not a suggestion" Lee said seriously. Kara looked at him defiant but when he didn't even blink she just tightened her jaw and took her position in the rear guard with Sam.
They walked almost all morning until one of the marines that were with Dee finally said the words they had been waiting for. They had found water and they needed to establish the security perimeter before calling the Chief and the rest of the extraction team.
Kara established the perimeter with the resistance fighters while Lee did the same with the military personnel and Dee started to call the Chief once everything was set.
Lee approached Kara and Sam who were laughing at the edge of the perimeter.
"Major" Kara said abruptly stopping her laughs and looking at him seriously.
"Captain" Lee said looking at her in the eyes and then he continued "the Chief is already on his way, once he arrives we will have to move over here" showing Kara the map that he was holding "The civilians will set a surveillance post here where the canyon ends, the marines will guard the perimeter from the hills and we will establish the communication center over here."
"Isn't that a little bit risky?" Kara asked.
"I need the marines guarding the Chief, I can't risk them there"
"But you can risk the civilians" Sam said sarcastically.
"I'm not risking anybody. The end of the canyon is the best place for you and your guerrilla tactics" Lee said annoyed.
"Right, because we are expendable not like your marines" Sam said and stepped closer to Lee.
"What are you trying to say?" Lee said and stepped closer to him.
"You know very well what I said" Sam said defiant.
"I didn't ask you to come here, you came here as a volunteer so you are free to go if you think I'm putting your life at risk just because I want to" Lee answered and when he finished he was almost yelling in Sam's face.
"Who the frak do you think you are to…" Sam was yelling back to Lee when Kara stepped between them.
"Boys, boys" she said and looked at Sam in the eyes "Sam the Major is right, this is the best place for you and the resistance fighters, it is the safest and no one's life is more important than another, there aren't many of us left so every life counts."
Sam looked at her in the eyes for a minute "Of course "The Major" is right, isn't he?. You know what? frak this" He said and started to walk away.
Kara turned and looked at Lee, he looked back at her and made a barely noticeable nod, which made Kara start to walk in Sam's direction.
Lee looked at her grab Sam's arm and started talking to him and immediately the awkward sensation in his stomach reappeared, he looked at the ground and took a deep breath and started walking towards the marines, he had only gave a few steps when suddenly everything turned into chaos.
"Down, down! DOWN!" Lee screamed when he heard the shots and the explosion started to fill the place.
Kara covered herself behind a rock with Sam and Lee moved a little ahead of them taking cover behind another rock. He looked at Kara and made her a few signs letting her know that we was going to where Dee was.
Kara nodded at him and took her side arm and started to fire cover fire for Lee. She continued moving while Sam followed her to the center of the site, where there was a rock formation. When her gun was out of bullets she screamed at Sam "Ammo!"
"What?" Sam asked.
"Ammo!" Kara screamed annoyed. But when she realized that he hadn't understood what she was saying she took Sam's side arm and look at him in the eyes angrily.
"Sorry I didn't hear…" he was speaking but Kara didn't even pay attention to him.
Lee met in the middle of the way with Dee and the marines that were protecting her.
"Take her to the rocks" Lee screamed and keep moving towards the hill.
"Where are you going?" Dee asked scared.
"We need to warn the rest about the attack." Lee said and shoot his gun towards a centurion that was behind a rock and keep moving under heavy fire.
"Nice shot" Kara whisper to herself after seeing Lee's shot and kept shooting at the cylons until she noticed where Lee was going "your are not going to…don't you dare…" she said and when she realized that Lee was going to the hill she added "Frak! You frakin idiot!!"
"Where are you going?" Sam asked when she started to move away.
"He needs me" Kara said without hesitation and ran towards Lee.
"Kara, don't! Kara come back!" Sam yelled but she didn't listen, she just ran avoiding the fire until she was with Lee on the hill.
"What the frak are you doing here?" Lee yelled trying to cover his fear with anger when she was right by his side. He felt his blood freeze when he saw her running in his direction.
"What am I doing here? what the frak do you think you were doing coming here without back up?" She yelled back at him. He just looked at her and frown, trying to calm down.
"We need to warn the others" He finally said.
"I know, you call them I'll cover you"
"Here" he said and threw her a cartridge of ammo. "You might need it"
"You read my mind" she smile at him and reloaded her gun.
Lee looked at her and when she was in position he ran towards the radio and made the call. Once he finished he covered himself behind a rock and started to shoot his gun.
Kara made a sign to him pointing him toward the way they should took go to the extraction point. He nodded at her and stood up to move in her way when suddenly a centurion appear from the other side of the hill.
"Lee!" Kara screamed and ran towards him shooting at the cylon.
"Kara don't!" Lee yelled at her when he saw her running out in the open, then he saw the centurion and before he could turn and shoot at it, Kara jumped over him and the last thing he heard before everything went black was a clear bullet impact, he felt the blood, her blood, spatter over his face. Before he could react they were falling down the hill, rolling and crushing against the rocks until everything was black and quiet.
To be continued.