WHAT IF?-Chapter -14

Kara meets Lee after running into Caroline, Lee's mom. Kara literally did run into her after running away from her mom.

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A.N.-Recap of last chapter- Lee and Kara are with Mike when Mike's girlfriend interrupts them in the club ( Off Duty).

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Kara smirked at Gianne as she stepped away from Mike to sit back down.

Lee stood up " Let's go Kara we need to leave " he looked at Mike " I'm sorry, but us staying would be a mistake "

Kara was still sitting " No Lee, we are all adults and I didn't get dressed up to just go back home "

Kara looked up at Gianne who was still standing along with Lee " Sit down Gianne, I would like to hear how you ended up dating my partner, because even though I believe in coincidences, somehow I don't believe this was one of them "

Lee knew Kara wasn't going to let it go, so he sat down sighing loudly.

Mike looked at Kara than Gianne as Kara spoke " Sit down Gianne "

After Gianne sat down Kara motioned for the waitress, when she arrived Kara ordered " We need four shot glasses and a bottle of ambrosia "

Mike looked at his partner Kara " Tell me what's going on Kara "

Gianne spoke " She stole Lee away from me "

Kara picked up where she left off " Let me guess, you found out Mike and I were partners and you went after him, but what I don't understand is why "

Mike looked at his beautiful girlfriend who he thought was one of the sweetest girls he ever knew " Is Kara right Gianne, did you target me because of losing Lee to Kara?"

Gianne smirked " Yes, I needed to get close to Lee and convince him he had made a mistake by leaving me for her, so I used you to get close to them " Gianne laughed " You didn't really think I fell in love with you, did you?"

Lee had wisely kept his mouth shut and as soon as the bottle and glasses showed up he poured himself a shot and downed it.

Kara chuckled at Lee as he downed his drink " Lee could you pour us each a shot before you drink the whole bottle " Kara frowned when she remembered him almost dying from alcohol poisoning " Sorry, bad joke "

She then turned to look at Gianne " You are a sadistic bitch and Mike deserves someone better than you "

Gianne sneered " The same could be said about you Starbuck "

Mike had just finished downing his drink and looked at Gianne " Kara is nothing like you, she is the most selfless person I know "

Lee spoke up also " Do not speak about my wife like that ever again Gianne and what we had was nothing other than going on a few dates "

Gianne mouth fell open " She is your wife?"

Lee smiled at Kara before turning to look at Gianne putting the final nail in the coffin, so to speak " Yes and also the mother of our daughter "

Gianne looked at Kara with pure hatred " You bitch that could have been my life "

Lee snorted " Not in this lifetime or any other for that matter " he downed another shot.

Mike said very sternly " You need to leave Gianne, you are not welcome here and I hope I never see you again "

Kara threw back a shot " I couldn't have said it better myself, now get the frak away from us before I plant your face into this table "

Gianne scooted her chair back loudly " I frakking hate you Starbuck "

Kara grinned " Back at you bitch, now scram "

After Gianne left Kara looked at Mike " I am sorry she did that to you, she doesn't deserve you Mike "

Lee added " I hate I was the reason she used you, but trust me she isn't worth you wasting another thought on her or losing any sleep over her "

Kara smirked " Look at it like this, now you can see as many women as you want until we leave, so go find a woman and dance with her " Kara looked at Lee " Would you like to dance with me Lee?"

Lee nodded and stood up extending his hand " Yes, it will probably be a long time before we get the chance to dance together again "

Their first dance was to a fast song and Lee was amazed at how Kara's body moved with the music as he barely swayed while watching her in that black dress that clung to her in all the right places.

The second was slow, which Lee had been waiting for so he could hold her against his body, and hold her he did leaving no room between them. His hands seemed to move on their own as he caressed her back and held one hand on her bottom. He leaned back just to look down the front of her dress and knew with little effort he could tease her breast, which is what he did. He reached inside her dress until he held one breast in the palm of his hand and rubbed the nipple with his thumb.

Kara was enjoying having Lee touch her, but if she didn't stop him she knew he would soon have her breast completely out of her dress, so she stepped back breathing heavily " For the love of gods Lee you have to stop before we get kicked out of here for public indecency "

Lee placed his arms back around her and she laid her head on his shoulder and they danced as close as before.

Kara spotted Mike and pulled back " Look Lee, Mike is dancing, do you think he will be okay, I mean it must feel awful to be used like that?"

Lee nodded after barely glancing at Mike " He will be fine, trust me Gianne is easy to forget "

They went back to the table and Mike and his dance partner joined them.

Lee was looking at Kara as Mike made the introductions " This is Kara and Lee and guys this is Carter "

Kara had been looking at Carter and was about to say nice to meet you when Lee dropped his forehead to the table followed by " Frak "

Kara leaned back " For fraks sake Lee what is going on now?"

Lee raised his head up and looked at them.

Carter busted out laughing " Oh my gods it's you and I take it Kara is the reason you left me standing in the parking lot at Beyond Insane?"

Mike groaned " Come on Lee you can't possibly have met every woman in the colonies, so why do I keep ending up with your cast-offs?"

Carter snorted " I am not a cast-off, I just happened to end up with Mr. Miserable over there, believe me nothing happened except his brother pounding on my door in the middle of the night "

Kara simply asked " Explain Lee, now "

Lee reached and held one of her hands " After I got out of the hospital and found you gone I decided it would be best to try and forget you, so Zak and I went out and I had every intention of proving to myself I could get over you by frakking someone else, sorry Carter " Kara tried to pull her hand back, but Lee held onto it " Kara I tried, but my heart wasn't in it and I realized I could never get over you, so I left Carter in the parking lot and went home and started working on our house the next day hoping you would come back to me, I'm sorry "

Kara exhaled " I can't really blame you since I was the one who run away, but make no mistake if you had gone through with it we would not be together now "

Carter spoke up " I had never met a man so broken hearted before, I guess that was why I was drawn to him, I have always wanted to understand people when they seem so lost " She chuckled " He even acted gentlemanly as he turned me down "

Carter turned to Mike " I saw almost the same thing in you tonight, just not as intense "

Kara remembered once again their time together was running out, so she let it go and laughed at how accurate Carter was " Mike and us just found out Lee's old girlfriend used him to get close to Lee in the hope that he would want her back "

Carter looked at Mike " Ouch I bet that hurt, just one question are you going to leave me standing in the parking lot, so to speak?"

Mike laughed out loud " No I am not, are you ready to get out of here?"

Carter stood up " Yep, nice to meet you Kara and I'm glad to see you happy Lee, we will have to get together again "

Carter noticed the three of them suddenly seemed glum " What's up?"

Mike answered " We all deploy in a week, Kara and I are assigned to the Pegasus, her as a viper pilot and me as a marine and Lee is a viper pilot also, but will be going to the Atlantia "

Carter smiled " Then we all had better get what we can until then, let's go Mike, time waits on no one "

Lee smiled and stood up pulling Kara with him " Sounds like good advice, let's go home "

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As soon as they entered their home and closed the door Lee stopped Kara and turned her to face him. He placed his hands on her cheeks and looked directly into her eyes. " Kara I am sorry about Carter, but if it is any consolation it made me realize how much I loved you " Lee paused " I know now that I was pushing you to fast into something you weren't ready for and I was afraid of losing you " He pressed his lips to hers gently before pulling back " Kara I love you more today than yesterday and I will love you more tomorrow than today, that is how deeply I love you, it is unending "

Very few things could make Kara cry, but Lee speaking those words from his heart caused tears to trickle down her face. Kara leaned in and kissed him softly. " I don't know how to express how much I love you Lee, so if you don't mind I'll use your words, because that is exactly how I feel about you "

Lee locked the door and grabbed her hand turning off the lights as they headed to their bedroom. Once there Lee stood with his back to the door as Kara stopped in the middle of the room and turned around looking at her husband.

Lee looked her over from the top of her head to her toes poking out of her shoes " Tonight is just for us Kara, I need this to be only about us, so when I am missing you so much it hurts I can remember this night "

Kara walked toward him " I need this also Lee "

Lee walked with her to stand next to their bed " You look beautiful in that dress Kara, but right now I need to take it off of you "

Kara smiled and reached to lift the dress over her head, but Lee stopped her " Let me take it off Kara "

Kara dropped her hands and let the dress fall back down.

Lee slowly lifted the dress over her head and threw it to the side and looked at her standing there in her black low cut matching panties and bra set with her spiked heels " Oh my gods Kara, if I had known you were wearing that we would have left much sooner "

Kara giggled " I thought you would like it, now it is your turn to shed some clothes "

Kara slowly unbuttoned his shirt slipping it off his shoulders letting it fall to the floor then reached to unbutton his jeans shoving them down his legs, stooping down to remove his shoes and pulled his jeans off leaving him standing there wearing nothing except his boxers. She stood up " Now that is much better, your turn "

Lee had kept his eyes on her the whole time she undressed him " Turn around Kara "

She did as he asked feeling him unsnapping her bra and throwing it to the side, then turned her back to face him.

Lee stared at her breasts, making Kara grab his hands and lead them to her panties. Lee got the hint and stooped down as she had and slowly pulled her panties down to her ankles allowing her to step out of them. He then unstrapped her heels and pulled them off trailing his hands up the inside of her legs feeling her heat and how wet she already was as he stood up.

Lee then took off his boxers and sat down on the edge of the bed pulling her to straddle his lap knowing she would feel how hard he was and kissed her long and deep as Kara locked her legs behind him. For a while they kissed and let their hands roam their bodies.

Lee suddenly stood up and turned laying her onto the bed and covered her body with his. " I am going to make love to you slowly and then we are going to spend the rest of the night frakking until we fall out exhausted "

Kara chuckled " Less talking and more action Lee "

Afterwards they lay together as close as humanly possible " Kara this has been one of the best nights of my life, but also the most painful knowing it will be a long time before I see you again "

Kara thought the same thing " I know Lee, but we have a lot of wonderful memories to take with us, speaking of that I have a surprise for you "

Lee watched her get up and take something from the closet before coming back to bed and handing him a small photo album " I have been putting this together for a while and I made one for myself also "

Lee sat up and looked at all the pictures Kara had taken, most of them had Starlight in them with him and a few others " Thank you Kara "

She took the album and laid it on the nightstand and slipped back into his arms for the rest of the night which was actually early morning.

Kara needed to keep him here until his dad left Caroline's " Goodnight Lee "

Lee hugged her tight " Goodnight Kara "

Lee lay there wondering how he got so lucky to find the other half of his soul.

He finally drifted off to sleep smiling.

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An hour after Kara and Lee left Caroline opened the door finding Bill standing there with an overnight bag she smiled " Come in "

Bill kissed her on the cheek as he passed her and placed his bag down after hearing the door close, he turned around feeling nervous " So, where is my granddaughter?"

Caroline sighed she could tell he was nervous " Calm down Bill we are not doing anything wrong and Starlight is laying on a blanket in the living room, come and see "

He followed her into the living room and saw Starlight laying on her back looking around, he still felt amazed at how much he already loved her after only seeing her twice. He walked over and stooped down next to her " Hey Starlight I am your Poppy "

Caroline smiled " I tell her I am her Grammy, and I swear she was on her stomach when I left her "

Bill stood up and chuckled " She will probably do everything earlier than usual because she has two over achieving parents "

Caroline agreed " You can pick her up, she likes to be held "

Bill smiled and reached down and picked Starlight up " Hey, would you like to go outside and see the stars with your Poppy?"

She surprised him by looking straight at him with her bright blue eyes, as if she understood what he said.

Caroline walked over and kissed Starlight " You two go and sit on the patio and I will grab her a bottle "

Bill moved the chaise lounger closer to the end of the deck and laid down and cradled Starlight on her back.

He pointed up to the stars " Look at all the stars that are out tonight Starlight, they are almost as beautiful as you are "

Holding his granddaughter made Bill wish his last year was up already. He realized he had sacrificed to much as an officer in the Colonial military and he didn't want to miss out on getting to know his granddaughter and then there was also Caroline to consider. He had come to realize how much he missed her and how much she had sacrificed for him.

He had not seen her this happy in years, and he knew Kara Thrace had a lot to do with that. She had also changed Lee and Zak, and made Lee happier than he had ever been, even as a child.

Caroline watched Bill from the kitchen window and knew he was deep in thoughts. She hoped they got things right this time around. She didn't know how much she missed him until they started talking again.

She finally walked out back and stood next to them and Starlight spotted her bottle and reached for it " Would you like to feed her? "

Bill grinned " I would like to try " as soon as she started sucking her bottle Bill asked " Is she eating anything besides formula?"

Caroline pulled a chair next to them and sat down " Yes, twice a day for now, I fed her carrots earlier, she will be ready for bed soon "

Bill glanced at her " Where is she sleeping?"

Caroline grinned " Kara has a crib here, but I am going to let her sleep with me, just don't rat me out "

Bill chuckled " Where should I sleep? "

Caroline hoped she wasn't going to say the wrong thing " You could sleep with us, I still have our king sized bed and she can sleep between us, if you want to that is "

Bill blushed he just hoped it was dark enough she wouldn't notice " I would love to, thank you Caroline "

With that settled they sat in familiar silence as Starlight finished her bottle.

A while later Caroline stood up and took Starlight " I will get her and myself changed for bed while you take a shower, you can use the one in Lee's room while us girls get changed "

Bill watched her smiling and cooing at Starlight as she went back inside before getting up to grab his bag feeling slightly like a teenager as he went to get ready and join them in their old bed. Bill also realized it had been a long time since he felt this happy.

Later as they lay in bed with Starlight sound asleep between Bill spoke softly " I am not taking a desk job when the Galactica is retired, I have decided I want to retire also and would like to find out if we can be together again like before except better this time around, I miss you Caroline "

Caroline was facing his way so she reached across Starlight and grabbed his hand " I have missed you also Bill and I think it will take both of us to take care of Starlight as Kara and Lee finish their last year on their battlestars"

He squeezed her hand " Then count me in, goodnight Caroline "

She pulled her hand back smiling " Goodnight Bill "

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A.N.- This seemed like a good place to end this chapter, I know it was kinda mushy, but the sequel will be hard on everyone. I hope I can wrap everything up in my next chapter.

Please remember that my Kara and Lee met without much baggage weighing them down and that is why they are somewhat different, at least until the cylons decide to rip them apart. ( just kidding, sorta )

Still not sure what I am going to do with Zak, any ideas would be appreciated.

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