One Week later:

Kara was in her office looking at the rotations' board she had just finished with her back turned to the door. Her shifts, of course, were limited due to her new nugget class and need to have free time to spend with her daughter, however, it didn't bother her that much. At least she was able to fly again…

She felt someone breathe against the back of her neck, making her turn around suddenly. It was her husband. "My gods, Lee! Don't sneak up on me like that! My heart almost stopped!"

"Wow, I was hoping for a kiss or something in the lines of 'how nice of you to pay me a visit during working hours, even though you're the commander, which makes you a very busy guy'. Who did you think I was? Caprica-six?"

"Who's Caprica-six?" Kara asked confused.

"The blonde skin job."

"Oh…Wouldn't be the first time she sneaked up on me…" Kara pointed out, remembering their encounter in Caprica.

"Well, I guarantee you that this," he told her, pointing at himself, "is one hundred percent Lee Adama."

A suggestive smile crossed Kara's face as she pulled him closer to her, holding his upper arms. When she spoke, her mouth was barely an inch apart from his. "I may have to check that myself…"

"The door's open, sweetheart, so mind what you're doing during this 'checking'," he warned her. The last thing he wanted was to give the other pilots a show…

Finally, she closed the little distance that was between them and joined their lips. Every time they kissed, Kara would think that marrying that guy was the best decision she had ever made in her life. Bless the chief's brew that had loosened her enough to go ahead with making love to Lee in New Caprica and bless whatever had made her pick him in the following morning.

"Commander Adama, please report to the CIC. Commander, please report to the CIC. ASAP," they heard through the speakers.

The couple broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other's. "I think that was enough proof," Kara told him, hiding how disappointed she was because he had to leave right away. "You're still my Lee."

Something melted inside of Lee when she said 'my Lee'. "I told you I was," he said, kissing her forehead and taking one step back. "I hate to leave like this. Whatever you're doing after 1600, cancel it. Helo can be in charge of the CIC, so the two of us and a certain baby girl will be spending some quality time together." The past week had been busy and Lee had barely been able to spend one full hour with Kara and Jamie every day (except from those spent sleeping).

Kara nodded. "It's a deal," she agreed, looking forward for that time, even though it was still six hours away. "Go run the battlestar, flyboy."

"Tell your CAG to keep my pilots in place," he joked before he left his wife's office.

"She always does," she replied, returning to her seat by the desk and just staying in there, doing nothing in particular.

Was it her or the room had become much colder after Lee had left?

"Hey," Sharon said a few minutes later, entering her office with a pile of paper on her hands, which brought her back from dreamland. "The paperwork is done."

Starbuck looked up with her eyebrows raised. It had been less than two hours since she had asked Athena to do that and she was already finished?! "No offence but do you cylons have special software to fill paperwork?"

Athena shrugged her shoulders. "Not that I know of. I guess I just have a natural gift to this kind of work… Anyway, when do I get to fly?"

"You're assigned to CAP in two hours," Kara responded, checking the schedule. "Oh, and tell Bigsby that if he screws the viper during the landing like he did last time, he'll be doing CAP without one. We had to send his last viper to Galactica for repairings and the Chief just called cursing the soul of who did that to a bird."

"You know the Chief was always protective when it concerns ships," Athena pointed out. "Oh, by the way, your nuggets just arrived to the Hangar bay."

Kara huffed. Great, she thought sarcastically. The dazed mood was definitely gone. The real life had kicked in. "I guess I have to go there and meet them like a good flight instructor…"

---

"Today Mrs. Ivers is gonna let us paint with our fingers," Nate told his mother excitedly.

Decker walked through the hallways with her son by the hand, taking him to the daycare. Nathan seemed to be fitting well to his new life in a battlestar, mostly because he liked to live with his mother – he would be alright wherever she was.

"Oh, yeah?" Erin asked. "And what are you going to draw?"

The little boy looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "A dog!"

She laughed. The kid seemed to be fascinated by animals, even though had barely had the chance to really see one. Erin looked down at her son and lifted him to his arms. "So tell me, Mr. Nate, what does a dog look like?"

"Furry," her son simply said. Only children could describe an animal with one single word…

Suddenly, Kara came walking in the opposite direction. "Oh, hey," she said when she saw them. "How's it going?"

"Great," Erin said. "It's great to have this monkey around."

"'m not a monkey!" Nate protested before turning to Kara eagerly. "You're gonna fly vipers?"

"Not right now, kid. I'm gonna meet my new nuggets in the Hangar Bay," she told the little boy, before turning to his mother. "Did I mention one of them is my ex?"

"Ooch," Erin said. "Good luck with that. But isn't the hangar bay in the opposite direction?"

"This way will also take me there…" Kara said nervously.

"But it is like five times longer, meaning you're stalling," the intern concluded.

"I'm not stalling!"

"What's 'sallin'?" Nate asked.

"Stalling. It is a synonym of 'chickening out'," Decker told her son, even though the comment was entirely destined to Kara.

She raised her eyebrows. "Not that I'm intending to be a bitch, but you're the one to talk about exes."

Touché, Erin thought. "You know what? Just keep stalling. Exes are a pain."

Kara hoped not, or she'd be screwed for the following months…

---

It was another ten minutes before Kara graced the Hangar Bay with her presence. Three of the nuggets were sitting on a raptor's ramp and another, Barolay, was talking to one of the pilots. Sam and other two were looking at a viper that was being repaired. She put on her best 'Starbuck' face and approached the group.

One of them saw her coming and warned the others, so the seven of them gathered near the raptor. Kara sighed before starting to talk. "I'm Captain Kara Adama," she presented herself, using her married name so Sam would get a hint. "I will be your flight instructor for the next few months and, hopefully, I will turn you into viper pilots. You can call me Starbuck, Sir or God. You can go put your things in the junior officers' bunkroom and meet me in the ready room in twenty minutes." When they were all about to leave, Kara turned to Sam. "Anders, we need to talk."

He put his bag back on the floor as the others left and approached her. "Anything you need, sir?" his tone was sort of joking. She had to admit, him calling her sir was weird.

"Look, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. And, believe me, you don't want me to be your flight instructor the hard way. Just ask Hotdog…"

"Let me guess, it all starts with a stupid call sign," Sam tried.

"Pretty much," Kara confirmed. It relieved her that he wasn't looking at her like he had seen her naked, maybe that wouldn't be so hard, after all…

"Listen, I told your father-in-law and I'm telling you now. I will behave as long as you behave too," he assured her. "You are the one who had the power here. It would be stupid of me to piss you off, wouldn't it? Besides, holding grudges is not my thing."

"I'm glad to hear that," she told him. For a moment, Kara remembered why she had thought she loved him once. He was a nice guy, the kind that it's almost impossible to find in the middle of a battlefield. And he had been there, against all odds. However Sam had turned out not to be her nice guy – that one had been waiting for her in the Astral Queen and had enveloped her in a tight hug, right before sharing their first kiss. Lee Adama. "You can go now."

"See you in a few minutes, then," he said, turning around and walking out of the hanger bay.

---

They are good… Kara thought proudly as she landed her viper on Pegasus' landing bay. The Old Man was right. These seven individuals were nowhere near the regular nuggets. They were, first of all, disciplined. Of course, they had failed a couple of landings and their technique was still a little sloppy, but they were getting there. So far, Barolay was the best and Sam wasn't too far behind. Playing Pyramid had given the two of them good reflexes.

A deckhand removed her helmet and she got up in the cockpit, reaching for the ladder and descending it. It surprised her to see Erin Decker in the hangar bay approaching her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the life station taking care of the sick people? Ditching the job?" Kara inquired.

"Actually, one of the deckhands fell on his head when he was fixing a raptor, so I had to come check on him. He was lucky to have a helmet on, but it won't save him from a bitch of a headache. I sent him to Talbot in order to get a CT," she explained, looking at her wristwatch. "And as of two minutes ago, I'm in my lunch break. How were things with the ex?"

"Way better than I had expected," Kara said. "He says he'll behave as long as I do the same…"

"Guess you're lucky…" Decker told her. "Well, I think I'm gonna get Nate and have lunch with him. He's doing finger paintings today; the kid must be looking like a frakking rainbow."

"Then you'll have a colorful son," Kara joked.

"Like I don't already…" Erin mumbled. "Time to go. See you around."

But before she could turn to leave, a very familiar, and once much desired voice sounded in her ears. "Erin?" he asked.

Decker cursed in her mind. Maybe if she just walked away and pretended she hadn't heard him… No, it was impossible to pretend. She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was only a few feet away. Biting her lower lip, Erin turned around to see a very surprised Samuel Anders looking at her – he looked like he had just seen a ghost. She almost stopped breathing. He was actually there… Her body was about to betray her, telling her to run to him, hug him and never let him go. But she reminded herself of the last time she had seen him, of how he had cheated and the hate started to overpower the love she still felt for that bastard.

"My gods, is it really you?" he asked, taking a couple of steps in her direction. Three years, eight months, two weeks and three days. That was how long they had been apart… And every day, even when he was with Kara, he had thought of her.

"Back off, Sam!" She told him in a cold tone. Gods, she needed to get out of there, her heart was pumping so fast that she was afraid it would exhaust itself and stop. I need to get out of here, she thought, before starting to walk away from him and out of the hangar bay. He was following her, she knew that…

It wasn't long before he reached her and walked by her side. "Erin, wait. You can't just show up after almost four years and run away. You left, just like that!"

She knew that the last sentence was referring to what had happened four years earlier, before Nate was born. Nate, oh gods! She thought. "I'm sure you know why I left, Sam! Why don't you just go to hell and leave me alone?" she asked.

"You don't mean that," he told her.

She stopped abruptly. "Oh, yes, Sam. I mean that. Just get out of my life; I don't want to be around people I hate."

Decker started walking again but this time he didn't follow her. The look in her eyes had reflected her words. Erin Decker hated him.

A/N: So, most of you were right. It was Sam all along. Next chapter, it will be revealed a little more. Remember, 10 reviews will get you a preview in my livejournal. I hope you liked this one...