Title: The Broken Road
Author: arielmoondance
Rating: M (Smut happens!)
Characters: L&K, Adama, Roslin.
Genre: Romance
Summary: The road to Earth is a journey of the heart.
Spoilers: WARNING! Season 4 speculation, promos, and possible spoilers running amok!
Word count:
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 Jeie for the awesome beta work.
Dedication: To the Kara and Lee shippers on skiffy. Long live the ship!
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…Once again some will recognize my blatant theft of dialogue from Carl Sagan's Contact.
CHAPTER Three: Consumation
"I keep looking at the charts, hoping they will trigger something, but all I get is a headache." Kara said to Lee as they jogged together along Galactica's maze of corridors.
Lee had been watching her out of the corner of his eye but he turned and made eye contact with her before deadpanning. "Don't hurt yourself." He was rewarded with a punch in the arm.
"Ouch." The new and improved Starbuck still had a mean right hook.
They continued in silence for a few minutes but every few steps he pushed her slightly off balance or she poked him in the ribs with one of her pointy elbows. When she thought the fun and games were winding down, she cleared her throat. "So, where are we?"
"C-deck," he said cracking himself up. She rolled her eyes and waited for him to get serious. "Oh…right. Let's see, you left Sam, my wife left me, you were grounded for reckless endangerment, to yourself I might add, and I am stuck babysitting the lawyer for the most hated man in human existence."
"It could be worse, Lee, you could be babysitting said reckless hotshot problem pilot," she teased.
"Actually, I'm finding Lampkin…hmmm…fascinating. He interviewed the six today and it was almost like… No, he knew exactly what to say to get the desired reaction from her."
"Desired reaction?" Kara grinned goofily.
"Something like that," Lee smiled back. "He's up to something… No frakking idea what, but he knows what he's doing."
"I think you might be enjoying..." She started to say when Lee suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby supply closet.
"Fancy meeting you here," she quipped as he dogged the hatch.
"Come here often?" He turned on her as if stalking prey.
Kara feigned seriousness, "Why yes, whenever I am in need of…." She glanced around to see what exactly was in this particular closet.
Grabbing her about the waist he pulled her close "You are driving me insane."
"I thought I was the crazy one!" He could feel her ribs vibrate as she giggled. He was mesmerized by her mouth.
"Kara?"
"Yes Lee?"
"Shut up."
"Make me." He did just that by crushing her sweet lips and taking her succulent tongue hostage with his own. Her mirth melted into passion in response. Hearing himself groan, he marveled how her hard edges could become so soft and pliable in his arms.
This was not exactly where and how he imagined their first intimate encounter since nearly loosing her. His fantasy, replayed approximately every 3 minutes, took place somewhere he could make long sweet love to her. His private shower... his office… his bed... anywhere but where they were. Their banter was so easy and her running shorts were revealing enough that he could not help himself. He was acting like a bull in a china shop and yet he could not stop.
She brought the animal out in him that he was unable and frankly unwilling to restrain. Right now he needed to be one with her. He needed to consume her and validate her existence.
Metal shelving provided him with the leverage to feel her fully against him but it was not enough for him. Their clothing was an impediment to the complete contact he craved. He set to work on removing her tank and she followed his lead, peeling his own tank off. He sucked on her salty throat while he waited to get his hands on her bare skin, his teeth sinking into the flesh above her collar bone. Her shorts landed on the floor at their feet.
He lifted her up onto the shelf and focused on the bra, pushing it out of the way but not bothering to fully remove it as his hungry mouth attached to her already excited nipples. She hissed with pleasure, reaching to get his shorts out of the way. He growled as her strong fingers wrapped around his length.
oOoOoOoOoOo
She had been preoccupied by the events of the last few days and although she felt an overall sense of calm and purpose, her free moments of time with Lee was the thing keeping her grounded. Skin on skin, his heat enveloped her and the last vestiges of tension dissipated. She felt a little lighter. She also felt an overwhelming desire for him to be inside her.
Positioning his erection at her slick folds, she gazed down at him. He gave her nipple a gentle tug with his teeth before releasing it and looked up at her.
Once their eyes locked, she used her legs to push him inside. She heard him gasp and say her name but the rest became lost in her hair and sensitive flesh of her neck. After his initial deep thrusts he was able to rein in his fervor and she matched his cadence with her hips. She dug her short nails into his back.
Then he said, "I love you" and it drove her over the ledge she had been dangling from since he entered her.
As the waves of sweet release washed over her, he spread her arms out wide to the sides, pinning her hands to the shelves. She felt vulnerable in this position. But oh so good. Three strong pumps later his breathing broke from rhythm and she knew he was close. She pressed her lips against his ear, squeezed her walls around him, and whispered "I love you." Hearing him cry out as he came caused her shatter once more around him.
They collapsed into each other gasping for air in the delicious afterglow. When she could breathe normally again she laughed and kissed him. They took their time untangling their limbs to reacquire their clothes. She was sated and giddy and she wished she had the luxury of a post coital nap.
The blissful spell was broken by Galactica's FTL warning claxon.
As the drive kicked in she felt increasing pressure in her head. She was starting to see a correlation between the jumps and a very real physical pain. "Frak!"
"Kara, what is it?"
"My head…"
oOoOoOoOoOo
Kara faced Laura Roslin and Admiral Adama in his quarters. The president cut right to the point. "So let me get this straight. You were told by your dead finance that you would lead us to Earth?"
"Well yes and no, whoever they…whatever it was, it looked like him, but that's not what's important…" Kara defended.
Laura jumped in again, "And you say we are going the wrong way."
"That is what I am saying."
"Based on what exactly?"
She paused for an instant to plant her stance firmly on the deck, and brace for what she was about to say. What she was about to admit. "Instinct. I know it sounds crazy but my whole life has been preparing me for this. My mother told me I was special and the cylons believe it too. I've been drawing patterns like the one in the temple since as long as I can remember. There was no possible way for me to have seen it before and that temple was thousands of years old."
"So now you know exactly where this fleet's supposed to go?" challenged Roslin.
"I'm not saying that…" Kara muttered defensively.
"Captain Thrace, do you or don't you know where Earth is?" Roslin shouted firmly, glaring Kara down with all her strength of will "Yes, or no?"
"I don't know where it is! I have been there! On a beach, and there were ruins, and… I don't know how I got there or how I got back to the fleet. But I do know that this feels wrong!"
Adama stepped forward between the two women. "Kara, listen to yourself!"
Roslin's gaze shot out at Adama, still understanding why he wanted to believe her, but not believing that he actually did. Kara took a step back, her face glaring with confusion and fear. She knew they didn't buy any of what she was telling them, maybe not even a word of her story. But maybe he still believed her… "You said you loved me like a daughter once." she stated, searching Adama's eyes for the conviction that she had always been able to find in him "If you still love me you will listen to me. Why can't you believe me?"
She watched for him to flinch, break his stern demeanor…anything… All she got was a growled sigh of an admission. "Because I can't." he replied, turning away from her.
"Thank you Captain." Roslin broke in, carefully watching Adama as he stepped back "We will take this under advisement. You're dismissed."
"Admiral?" Kara fired at Adama.
Adama sighed. He never liked to take sides when it came to the president and Kara. Always looked for the middle ground…always the third option. Only this time…all he could see were two diverging roads before two very headstrong women. "You are dismissed."
Kara left without saluting, storming the deck plates under her boots and holding her hands behind her head.
Bill and Laura were silent for a few minutes. Bill poured a drink for himself and Laura. He watched her intently while she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Did you see the report from Starbuck's gun camera footage? The one that recorded the static?"
"I did. What about it?" replied Roslin, pretending to concentrate on her drink, and the Admiral's book collection.
"The fact that it recorded static isn't what interests me…" Adama lead in, already seeing Roslin chafe at where they both knew he was going "What interests me is that there was 6 hours of static."
"That is interesting isn't it?" she replied, tipping her glass back and looking away off into the shadows.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Kara caught up with Lee in the gym as he worked the punching bag over pretty good. He stopped and grabbed the heavy bag when he saw her enter in her cut off cargos and sport bra.
"How did your meeting go?"
She inhaled and sucked her lower lip between her teeth. "I don't know if I would believe me."
"I believe you Kara." He said making his way over to where she stood by the bench press.
"Still trust my eyes over DRADIS, huh?" she quipped, lowering her eyes to catch his staring back into her.
"And mine." Lee replied "Promised you I'd fly your wing, Kara."
She clenched her jaw and fought the tears that threatened. His arms came around her and although he was sweaty from his exercise she welcomed the embrace. Her head rested on his shoulder and she could smell perspiration and general issue soap that they all used but that smelled particularly good on him. "Whatever it takes…" Kara whispered with a restful smile, feeling her breath grace his skin.
Just then, a boisterous group of pilots came in the room and they stepped back, regaining their casual posture. Word of the estrangements from their spouses had gone around the fleet and all at once, the whispered suspicions of the past had merit. Rumor had become fact and that made it potentially more bitter for Sam and Dee. They were resolved not to hide their relationship, but still, neither one wanted to rub salt into fresh wounds. Lee removed his boxing gloves and moved into position to spot Kara on the bench.
"I heard the tribunal was picked." she commented as she eased the bar down to her chest with a grunt.
"Yeah, but can anyone be impartial? A jury is supposed to be objective, weigh the facts and then make judgment, but there isn't a soul alive that hasn't had their lives turned inside out by what happened on New Caprica."
She finished her repetitions and Lee guided the bar back into place. She shook her head as she regulated her breathing. "What, you think you could be fair?" he challenged.
She gazed upside down at him from the bench. He was studying her so intently she bit down on the retort that popped into her head to answer seriously. "Honestly, Lee, I don't know. There was a time when I wanted everyone to pay for what happened to me there. Caprica…the end of the world…all of it. I guess I even blamed myself for it…"
"And now?" Lee asked, registering that she was speaking in the past tense about everything they still lived with.
"Now," she said sitting up and adjusting the Velcro on her padded weight gloves, "I am not in the same place anymore. Do I think the little weasel has it coming? Yeah, I think he could have used his superior mental skills to do something…anything, but I don't know that he actually broke any laws. Nothing worse than anything we did to ourselves since this war began."
"Sound's fair…" he said still searching her face. Maybe we've all got it coming.
"I think you might actually like this." Kara snarked, grinning ear to ear. "Defying your father… "
"It's not about that, Kara, it's…" Lee jumped in, wishing she couldn't see straight through him "It's just been a long time since I felt this passionate about something. Something more important than just the uniform, or the system…" She started to snap him with her sweat rag in protest but he caught the end of it. "But I have felt passionate about someone." He surrendered with a smile, tugging on the threadbare towel and pulling her up so to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her hands landed on his chest and to anyone watching, it would seem they were exchanging sweet sentiments.
"You realize it's your ass on the line if you actually use that story of yours for Baltar's defense." Kara reminded him, serious all over again.
"I don't care what people think about me. I believe in this. Everyone deserves a fair trial. Even Gaius Frakking Baltar."
Lee gazed into the greenish brown eyes that he knew so well, hoping to see something new there. She caught the question in his expression, this one nowhere near as confident as his bold statement seconds ago. "Don't worry; I've got your wing, Apollo." Kara smiled softly.
"Thanks Starbuck." He winked and planted another kiss on her forehead.
TBC
8