Title: The Broken Road

Author: arielmoondance

Rating: M (There will be smut later)

Characters: L&K, Helo, Gaeta, Dualla, Anders.

Genre: Romance

Summary: The road to Earth is a journey of the heart.

Spoilers: WARNING! Season 4 speculation, promos, and possible spoilers running rampant!

Word count: 2000 or so

Disclaimer: I have borrowed these characters for my own personal enjoyment. No monetary gain or copyright infringement intended.

Credits: Thanks to mlsky for the transcripts and very special thanks to the uber talented CranberryJei and SamStarEagle for their awesome beta work.

Dedication: To the Kara and Lee shippers on skiffy. May our ship come in!

AN: I have taken liberties with the end of the season and also with promos and possible spoilers for S4. Some things in canon may or may not happen you'll just have to read along… Please forgive my lack of original creativity, I was a professional motion picture editor and I am a total amateur writer.

CHAPTER 2: Resolution

oOoOoOoOoOo

"So that's it, you're grounding us?" Lee stood before his father feeling like he was back in grammar school.

"You are the only one I can trust. It's an important job. Helo will be stepping in as CAG. "

"And Kara?"

"She's a danger to herself and she almost took you with her into the hard deck. I want you both on this ship, not out there. Not until you two can work this out. Do you know how devastating to me it would be if she died?" Bill turned away from his son in an attempt to keep his anger in check.

"You? You have no idea! You have no frakking idea!" Lee burst without thinking. He was suddenly tired of his father's denial of his feelings. He filled his lungs with air and slowly exhaled through his nostrils. To his father's back he declared, "I love her!"

Bill swung around and brought his voice from deep in his chest. "I love her too, like my own flesh and blood!"

Clenching his fists at his sides, Lee refused to back down. "No, dad, listen to me. I am in love with Kara!"

"What? Are you out your mind? She's married and so are you!"

"We frakked up!" Lee cut infuriously as he let himself admit the truth. "We know that now."

"I'll say you did and you are going to fix this. She is grounded until Cottle says she's clear and you are going to head the security team for Lampkin. You are a soldier, act like one. Report for duty."

"Is that an order?" His disclosure had brought out a cockiness he left uncharacteristically unchecked. He was playing with fire and liking it.

"You're in way over your head." Adama growled, glaring at his son and back to his desk in an instant. "Report for duty."

"Is that an order?"

Lee's entire life had been about figuring out who he was. He finally let himself realize the truth… who Lee Adama was supposed to be…

Himself.

Adama looked up at him once more, reflecting all the anger and defiance directed at him. "I'm through giving you orders."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Helo and Gaeta were in the ops planning room studying navigational charts that were strewn all over the table. Gaeta circled an area he thought was suspicious for possible cylon activity. Helo nodded, "I am going to have a raptor check out that picket."

There was a clank from the doorway and both men looked up as Kara stumbled through the hatch "That last jump was a doozy. Anyone else feel light headed?" She asked a little embarrassed.

"Starbuck, maybe you need to go back and see Cottle," Helo suggested helpfully.

Kara rolled up her nose in response. She greeted Gaeta who was gathering up his papers, tapping the handful on the edge of table to neatly arrange them. "Captain," he responded and then addressed Helo, "We can, uh, finish this later, sir" before scurrying out the door. Helo watched him go with eyebrows raised but Kara did not seem to notice Gaeta's nervous behavior.

Helo returned his attention back to Kara and observed her for a moment. "I just got word from the Admiral."

She shrugged and played with the drawstring of her hoodie passively.

"You don't seem upset" Helo observed quietly.

She gazed up into and made eye contact with him for the first time. "I can't say I blame him. One too many crazy stunts, even for Starbuck." He shook his head and was about to argue when she continued, "Are these the coordinates for the next jump?"

"Uh yeah"

"And we want to end up… here?" She pointed on the wide, glass board.

"Right"

"Ok, then what?" Kara snapped tipping Helo off to something his still couldn't quite place, or didn't want to, that he'd seen in her ever since her near death experience.

"Not really sure. I guess we'll know more when we get there. Another sign post perhaps."

"To Earth" she said to him and then whispered under her breath he could swear she added, "and I will lead us there."

"What did you say?" Helo asked, locking his gaze onto her.

"Nothing, uh, just thinking aloud."

Helo's growing concern etched his features. "Kara, I am sorry I haven't been here for you. I should have done something when you told me about the nightmares. I was so caught up in Hera's trauma…"

"Karl, I am fine. Something happened out there today, something good and things seem to finally be falling into place."

"Does this have anything to do with a PDA with Lee in front of all the pilots and deck crew?"

She attempted, unsuccessfully, to contain a grin as she flashed back to the greeting from Lee but then she frowned. Wasn't Helo's business anyway…"That reminds me, I need to call Sam."

"I think so." He chuckled.

She started to leave then turned back "Do you mind if I come back and look at these some more?"

He nodded. "Just 'cause your grounded doesn't mean you aren't valuable to the fleet."

"Thanks Karl" She grinned. Helo watched is oldest friend, more or less by default, leave with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Kara actually looked happy and yet he wondered how much she wasn't telling him. Ignoring the signs that she was suicidal had almost cost them dearly, a mistake he did not want to repeat. He had been ordered to report any strange activity from the emotionally disturbed pilot but he made a conscious decision not to pick up the handset and recount their conversation.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lee's recent dealings with Romo Lampkin had set his mind in motion for reasons that were not clear to him yet and now as he stared down at the boxes his father had sent over from storage he was even more perplexed. His grandfather's law library that had lined the bookshelves in his den years ago, now sat on the floor of the quarters he shared with his wife.

"I heard you on the comms" said a familiar voice with an unwelcome bite to it.

Dee was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Lee looked up from the volume in his hand and immediately recognized the tone in his wife's voice. It was like listening to a volcano grumbling and knowing it was going to erupt. He inhaled, smelling the sulfur, and waited.

"Everyone in CIC heard how you couldn't maintain basic comm discipline…" she muttered acting it out as if toward herself, but targeted directly at him. Her intonation was accusatory and yet her eyes filled with huge tears that swelled before streaking down her face.

"I am sorry. I care about you," Lee defended as Dee shook her head and pursed her lips together. "And you're right I lost it out there. I have tried not to love her, tried to convince myself that I could stop but I have just been fooling myself and not being true to you. She… Kara means everything to me and I almost lost her for good."

Turning away from her he took a small duffle from his locker and unzipped it- stopping in mid motion when she placed her tiny hand over his. "Let me have this," she said evenly, giving each word the same emphasis. "Let me have my dignity."

She snatched the duffle out of his hands and crossed to her locker on the other side of the room. An awkward silence passed before he decided to leave her to her task. He reached the hatch before she said anything.

"The entire fleet thinks she's insane, that she tried to kill herself" Dee hurled at his back. He stepped out of the hatchway ignoring her completely.

oOoOoOoOoOo

In his haste, Sam almost slammed full tilt into the open locker door. He regained most of his balance with athletic grace but his forearm still made contact with it. Dee was on the other side of the door and it smacked her in the elbow. Grasping her smarting limb she glared up at him.

"Oh man, I am such a klutz. I am sorry Dee." He stammered. "Have you seen my wife?"

"No, but, I have no doubt you will find her in the company of my husband." She sniffed. "Try the mess hall."

Sam hesitated, suddenly feeling like he had fallen into a snake pit. Then he put it together as to why Dee would be unpacking and moving into the senior officer's quarters. "Figures," was all he could think of to say.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Sam stalked toward the officer's mess with a full head of steam prepared to confront Kara and Lee once and for all. Maybe it was time he gave Lee a piece of his mind for not revoking Kara's flight status before she went out and tried to kill herself. He gave the memorial hallway a passing glance as he went by and pulled up short when he caught site of her blond hair in the corner.

Her face was illuminated by the flickering candles and softened by the wispy smoke from burning incense. She sat on a crate between two taller ones across from where she had Kat's picture pinned to the wall. Papers, charts, and pictures were haphazardly spread before her and she chewed on the pencil in her mouth. Her attention to a particular one allowed him to approach unnoticed until he was close enough to see what she was looking at. That damned mandala again.

"Hey baby," he soothed, trying not to allow the frustration he felt to creep into his voice.

oOoOoOoOoOo

The carvings in the temple of five, the supernova, the swirling clouds of the gas planet, and the pattern she drew since she was a child somewhere held a key. But what was it?

She saw a familiar pair of boots in front of her.

"Sam, I was going to call you…" She had been anticipating this conversation and yet she felt unprepared and very distracted.

"It's all over the fleet. I hopped on the first shuttle over here."

Better to get it over with. Setting aside the papers and the pencil, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"They teach you in flight school to assume that every time you go out and engage the enemy you are already dead. Fear gets you killed. The irony is that pretending to be dead keeps you alive. I know what everyone is saying, how it looks..."

Slowly Sam kneeled in front of her, found her wrists and gently unfolded her arms. "My offer still stands. You are my wife and we can work through it, whatever it is. I know we can, if you'll just come away with me."

"Sam, I can't. I didn't try to kill my self; I have a reason to live." She said deliberately withdrawing her hands from his grip. "Turns out I always did..."

"Is that reason your special destiny, Kara or is it Lee Adama?" Sam breathed out, staring straight through her.

She considered his question but did not detect any sarcasm. Sometimes Sam had a knack for cutting to the chase. "Yes, both." She paused knowing that her next words were going to be painfully honest. "You asked me if I loved Lee, I wasn't sure at the time but the answer is yes."

TBC

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