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
Chapter3
"look into my heart"

Lee tried to open his eyes but he couldn't, the sharp pain in his chest didn't let him. He tried to move but his body couldn't react. All he could do was let the memories fill his mind, memories of her, before he lost her, before she was gone. And it hurt, it hurt every time he remembered that day, the day she had left him and he did nothing to prevent that from happening.

flashback
"No, we are just Kara and Lee…and I don't care about anything else I just want it to be with you Kara" He said and place one hand in her face " I love you so much" He added and looked at her in the eyes, he could see the hesitation in her eyes but then all the doubts disappeared and he couldn't avoid a smile.
He bent down to kiss her, to reassert his words, to make it clear that he loved her.
It started as a sweet and tender kiss, but it began to grow. Just to touch her set him on fire, the simple touch of her lips against his, the feeling of her bare body against his, it was intoxicating. The sensations she caused in him, she had been in his arms a couple of seconds ago but the feeling now was totally different. He needed her, he wanted her but not like he had wanted her before. The burning passion and desire that he felt for her was still there, but now he was going to take the time, he wasn't afraid anymore that he might wake up from a dream, he knew now this was real, that she was here with him.

He kissed her softly on the neck making her giggle. He then slowly traced his way back to her mouth making her arch her back and search for his mouth only to drag him closer to her. They kissed again, a deep kiss a fight between their mouths and he let her win the fight, she softly bit his lower lip, looking at him in the eyes with this playful and sexy look that cause an immediate reaction in his body. She smiled at him, a sweet loving smile and he smiled back at her and kissed her again.

Their bodies started to search for the other, slowly and calmly they started to move in this unwritten dance, in this perfect synchrony, that no one else would understand and that only they know that dance, they move together as if they had always known what to do. And yet feeling her under him, his bare skin in touch with hers and the soft moans that she whispered in his ear every time he moved too close, it was something that he had not even imagined in his dreams and it was taking all his self control not to give into the sensation and rush things. And so was she, without words they had understood what the other wanted and for the first time they were trying to take things slow, to make it last.
But as soon as the rhythm started to increase, as soon as their bodies started to move faster the sensations were just too overwhelming to not let themselves get lost in them. She clenched her fingernails in his back dragging him closer to her, trying to take him to the edge where she was about to fall. And then when she was about to lose control she looked at him in the eyes, just for a second, but that was all that he needed to know that she loved him.

They had become one in every sense, and yet they still wanted to be closer with the other, she was trying to take him to where he was leading her and he could no longer fight the desire to be there with her. He kissed her once again with passion then buried his mouth in his favorite spot on her neck, the one that he knew made her shiver.
"Lee" she barely articulated softly in his ear and held on to him as if her life depended on it "I love you" she whispered and kissed him on the jaw line, just before she let herself go.
And that was all that it took for him to follow her where she had gone.

Kara slowly tried to move, but she couldn't. She didn't feel her body react to her orders and all she could feel was pain. Everything seemed to spin around her and she didn't know where she was, and yet even after all that she wasn't scared. She felt secure, as if someone was taking care of her.
She hadn't felt this exposed and yet at the same time so secure since that night.

flashback
He had kissed her right there, in the place that he knew would make her react. She had never felt this way, she had never wanted someone as much as she wanted him and felt so vulnerable and at the same time so secure. The feelings that she was experiencing were beyond the physical sensation, it was something more than that, it was as if for the first time she felt complete.
She has had sex many times and she had never felt this way, not with Sam not even with Zak. Only Lee could make it her feel this way, only he could make her lower her defenses, let her totally become vulnerable and yet make her feel safe. Only he could let her be Kara, not Starbuck, not Captain Thrace, not the best flight instructor in the fleet, but just Kara with all her flaws and he still loved her. It's not that Sam or Zak didn't love her or that she didn't love them, but they loved a part of her, not her in all her frakked up complexity, Lee did and she loved him back with all his flaws too. Then she understood what she had heard many times, but never believed, that love was the best aphrodisiac. She knew many tricks and had been with men that knew many tricks too, but none of them made her feel like she was feeling now. She had never loved them, because they had never loved her back like the man that was right now with her, taking his time to make her happy to prove to her that he loved her. The man that was teaching her how to "make love" feels.

"Lee" she barely articulated softly in his ear and held on to him as if her life depended on it "I love you" she whispered and kissed him on the jaw line, just before she let herself go, let herself fall into the overwhelming sensation, and held on to him.
He followed her soon enough, she felt his body shiver over her and even when she was barely recovering from her own shivers she tenderly held him, letting him rest his weight against her when he no longer had control of his actions. When finally recovered she sweetly kissed him on the forehead and she could feel him smile.
Slowly he moved until he could look in her eyes. "I love you" he whispered and softly kissed her. Then in the same slow motion he moved to the side and rested his back on the ground.
"I love you too" She said against his cheek, then kissed him on the jaw line. He moved his arms around her and she cuddled against him, both unable to erase the smile on their faces.
She rested her head on his chest and he placed his hands around her waist and in a matter of seconds she started to fall asleep in his arms, feeling the beat of his heart.

Kara felt the beat of his heart and she felt safe again, she tried to cuddle in his arms again, but the pain stopped her from moving.

Lee finally could open his eyes, but still couldn't focus on what he was watching. Then he immediately noticed a heavy weight over his chest that didn't allow him to breathe normally. He looked down to gaze at his chest and immediately noticed a tangle of blond hair that he recognized in a heartbeat.
Kara, he thought with a smile but that only lasted a second until he remembered the last thing that had happened. And a cold shiver run trough his entire body.
"Kara!" he said trying to move her but she didn't react "Kara!" he yelled almost in a panic when he was able to sit and grab her in his arms. She didn't react and all he could see was blood on her chest mixed with dust, her eyes barely open and unable to react.
"Gods, please…please, Kara" he whispered feeling the words choking in his throat. He had never been a believer, he never prayed to the Gods for anything, but this was Kara, her blood was on his hands, she didn't react and he felt that he was losing her.

Kara once again tried to open her eyes, and all she could see were sparkles of light, but she couldn't focused her gaze. She still couldn't move her body as she wanted to, but slowly her hands started to react. And she heard a whisper, as if someone was talking to her from miles and miles away. It was his voice.
"Lee?" she barely whispered and forced her eyes to look in the direction of his voice.
"Kara, Kara" it was the only thing he could say when he noticed that she was still there with him, alive.
"I'm fine" she whispered when she noticed the worry in his voice. And it was that, the fear that she could hear in his voice that make her react and start to feel her body again.
He heard her say those words and they calmed him. That make him realize that this was not the time to be afraid, he needed to be Major Adama again, he needed to be in control again.
"We need to take cover" he said and placed his arm on her waist and helped her to stand up. Kara tried to move but her body still wasn't reacting as well as she wanted, so Lee practically grabbed her in his arms and lead them both to a rocky formation a few meters away. He placed her on the ground carefully and stood in front of her.
"I need to check your wounds" He said before he removed his medical kit from one of the pockets of his pants.
"I know" Kara said trying to hide the pain that she felt in her upper left side of her chest.
Lee bent over to her and slowly and very carefully started to remove her bullet proof vest and then the rest of her clothes, trying to ignore her pain expressions. When she was only in her sports bra Lee took the medial kit again avoiding looking at her directly.
"You've been shot" he said examining her wound.
"Really?" she said sarcastically biting her lower lip to cover her pain.
"Luckily the bullet went in and out" He said unable to hide his relief when he was sure that the bullet had just went trough her left shoulder apparently without causing severe damage. But he wasn't really sure so he remained cautious and continued examining her wound.
"I'm always lucky" she said and winked at him, he looked at her back with a frown.
"I need to stop the bleeding, but I can't give you anything for the pain I need you to be alert"
"What? so no happy pills for me?" she asked.
"I'm not joking Kara, this is going to hurt like hell" Lee said seriously. "And to be honest I have never done this before I only read about it in war school"
"Then we are going to see if the fancy education paid off" she said with one of her Starbuck smiles and then turn her back to him "Just do what you have to do, and don't worry about pain I can handle pain" she said seriously.
"Are you sure?" He asked with concern.
"I've been through worst Lee"
"I know it's just that I'm not sure I…"
"I trust in you" She said confident. Turing her head to look at him straight into the eyes and made him feel a warmth in his heart that no one else could cause. She gave him the courage he needed.
"Ok so here we go" Lee said and took an injection from the medical kit and shot it into Kara's shoulder to then start a cure for her shoulder.
"Frak!" Kara mumbled while clenching her jaw as Lee treated her.
"Sorry" Lee said and kept treating her. He couldn't avoid a frown before doing his next move.
"Holy … frak me" Kara barely mumbled because of the pain, biting her lower lip, but the pain was more powerful than what she could handle at the moment.
Lee knew that what he was doing was hurting her, but he had to do it and it hurt him to cause her pain. Then he felt her body relax and noticed that she had lost consciousness because of the pain and probably it was for the best.
When he finished treating her, he slowly turned her in his direction and carefully put her clothes on. He then let her rest against a rock, taking care that she was comfortable enough.
He couldn't avoid looking at her with tenderness, with the love that he still felt for her, he wished he could hold her tight in his arms, to comfort her and make her feel safe, but he couldn't…not now, not ever.
So he took his gun and started to check the perimeter to be sure that at the moment they were safe, turning from time to time to look at Kara to make sure that she was fine and that she was comfortable.

Kara started to wake up and the sharp pain in her left shoulder made her remember what had happened. She tried to ignore the pain and started to look around.
"How are you feeling?" the soft voice of Lee asked.
"Like I need a huge bottle of ambrosia and Cottle's happy pills" she said with a smirk but when his concerned look didn't fade away she looked at him in the eyes "I'm fine, really"
"Does it hurt too much?" He asked and sat next to her.
"Nothing I can't handle" She said with a smile. "So what's next?" she asked moving only to look at him directly.
"Well we need to move to the emergency extraction point, do you think you can do it?" He asked and Kara only gave him a killer look "right, so we are here" he said and showed her their location on a map.
"And we've got to move to the other side of the planet, piece a cake" she said sarcastically.
"Not a challenge at all for Starbuck and Apollo, right?" He said raising an eyebrow.
"Well I don't know about Apollo but for Starbuck…" she was saying when Lee softly elbowed her. "Alright, alright" She said laughing and he followed her a few seconds later.
"Now don't you think we should start moving?" He said and stood up and offered her a hand to help her stand up too.
"Thanks" she said when she was on her feet again, she felt a little dizzy and the pain in her chest was still there, but she had been through worst. "So we should move down the hill and keep under cover with those rock formations" she added.
"I thought the same thing" He said with a smile.
"Great then we should start moving" She said and checked on her side arm.
"Here, your best" Lee said and bent down to pick up her bullet proof vest that was still on the ground, where he had left it. He took it in his hands slowly and examined it, it was still covered in her blood and then he noticed it, the bullet hole. It was as if something exploded inside of him all his worry transformed into anger, anger that was now covering the fear that he felt moments ago.
Kara couldn't avoid a jump when she heard him throwing her vest to the ground and before she could said anything Lee was in her face.
"What the frak were you trying to do Kara? What … what is wrong with you?" He yelled angrily.
"What are you…" she was saying but he interrupted her.
"What is it Kara? What are you trying to prove?"
"I'm not trying to prove anything" she said starting to get annoyed by Lee's comments.
"Really?" He said sarcastically and went to pick up her vest, he had to use all his self control to not throw it at her "then why did you come here wearing this piece of crap Kara? Why? When I gave specific orders to use bullet proof vests that can resist explosives rounds, and yet you came with this piece of crap that can barely take a shot from a side arm" he said and roughly placed the vest in her hand.
"I didn't…" Kara said and avoided him by looking at the vest that she had in her hands.
"No, of course you didn't think. You never think Kara because you are the mighty Starbuck and nothing will ever happen to you, isn't it? That's why you bring this" he said and pointed at the vest "that's why you jump back there with out thinking, because you want to prove that you…" Kara interrupted by throwing the vest back at him.
"I didn't bring this, this is your wife's I gave her mine" she said hurt and angry "and no I don't think, you should know that by now and yes I wasn't thinking when I jumped to save you I just had to" She said and walk away from him.
Lee stood there, trying to process what he had heard and then he remembered.
"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for him" he had heard Kara say while she was leaving the command center. She had given Dee her vest to protect her, not because she cared for her but because she cared for him and if that wasn't enough she had to jump right in front of a bullet to protect him. He felt ashamed, he shouldn't have treated her the way he did, when will he ever learn to keep his mouth shut? Not judge her before he knew the facts, he had hurt her, he knew that and he didn't know how to fix it.
"Kara I'm…" Lee began but she interrupted him.
"I don't want your apologies" She said and begins to put the vest on "And I don't want your help either" She said when she noticed that he was approaching her.
Lee remained still a few steps away from her, looking at her putting her vest on trying to hide the pain that she felt, as cocky as always.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked in a soft voice when she finally put her vest on.
"Yes, we should get moving we have a long road to walk" She said seriously.
"Yes we do" he said and with that they started walking without saying a word.

They had walked non stop and without saying a word, it was getting dark and cold but Kara even when she started to feel dizzy and her mouth was as dry as the planet she kept walking. She was ahead of Lee giving slow steps, she was tired and felt week but the difficult ground where they were walking make it easy to cover that, or that was what she thought.
Lee walked behind her, he knew that she needed her space and allowed her to lead. The fact that she was hurt didn't make her weak, but he also knew that she wasn't at her best, she was walking slow and her breathing was weak, he was tempted to make her stop but he also knew that would only make her want to keep going.
Until it happened, what he thought would happen, Kara lost her balance and he had to catch her in the air.
"I'm fine" she said and released herself from his arms. He just looked at her
"We should rest"
"I can keep walking"
"I know, but it's not safe, it's getting dark and soon we will not be able to see where we are walking and we don't know the place. So we are resting now"
"I'm not tired" she said cocky.
"Maybe not now, but you will be tomorrow. And I need you alert tomorrow, we will rest now. End of the discussion" Lee said with his most authoritarian voice and started to sit down.
"Fine, what ever" Kara said and sat down.
Lee in silence handed her his water bottle and half of his dry food emergency ration, she took them in silence and they remained in that uncomfortable silence until it was dark and they could barely see each other.
"You should sleep" he said carefully.
"Why me? Why don't you?" She asked in a defensive mode.
"Because I'm not really tired, and I can do the first watch"
"I'm not tired either"
"Kara…" He said almost as if pleading.
"You better wake me up when you start to feel tired" She said without looking at him, and she tried to curl the best she could, with out moving her arm. It was a cold night just like the night before, but with all the blood she had lost and the pain she was feeling, it was just worst. She tried not to shiver, but there was nothing that she could do to stop her body from doing just that.

Lee noticed immediately that she was shivering, and moved closer to her and sat right next to her making her look at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"What?" she said tightening her jaw to stop the shivers.
"You are freezing Kara" He said with concern.
"No I'm not" She argued and Lee just sighed.
"Can't you stop being so darned stubborn for once" He said and put his arm around her and brought her closer to him to share their body heat.
"You know I can accuse you of sexual harassment Major" she said seriously and when he looked at her back, with a mixture of embarrassment and surprise, she couldn't stop her eyes from smiling at him.
Lee just smiled back at her and hugged her tight, Kara slowly moved her head until it rested on Lee's shoulder and before she could notice she started to relax. She stopped shivering and started to feel sleepy.
Her breath became slower and more relaxed and soon enough Lee knew she had fallen asleep, he smiled tenderly and started to look around, to be sure that there was no danger around them. Then he looked at her, she looked peaceful sleeping in his arms, her right hand placed on her side arm, he noticed and couldn't stop a smile. Her head resting perfectly on his shoulder as if they were meant to fit, he fought a sigh and returned to scanning the area for any sign of danger.

Suddenly a loud noise made him focus his attention on the sky and moved his left arm tight around Kara to protect her and his right hand moved over his gun and ready to shoot.
Kara felt the noise too and she immediately picked her side arm up in her hand and started to look at the sky.
"it's a …"Lee was speaking but she finished his sentence.
"a Cylon raider" She said and they looked into each other eyes worried.

To be continued….