Bright, Shiny Futures Chapter Three
Lee had imagined this moment a thousand times in his imagination - what if she hadn't actually died and they'd ended up face to face again? In every fantasy he'd done what he always wanted to do - taken her in his arms, kissed her and told her he loved her.
Reality ended up hopelessly lacking.
All he could do was stand numbly and stare at her, mouth hanging open, unable to move. His heart was the only part of him that still seemed to be functioning, beating wildly as though it desperately wanted out of his chest.
His mouth finally got in gear. "Kara?"
The expression on his face was priceless. She wished she had a camera to capture it. But underneath the confusion, surprise and disbelief his skin was paling fast. She was afraid he might pass out from the shock.
"It really is me," she said softly.
His eyes studied her for a moment, roaming up and down as if trying to take it all in. Then they blazed to life as they met hers again, causing a sudden warmth to flood her body.
"Kara!" he flew across the room and embraced her, lifting her bodily off the ground and causing her hair to fly. His arms encircled her tightly, almost crushing her ribs, but she didn't care. Breathing wasn't necessary - all she needed to live was right here holding her as if he'd never let go.
After what seemed like an eternity and more he loosened his grip and held her slightly out in front of him, eyes looking her up and down. He shook his head. "How can this be? You died. I saw your Viper explode."
She felt herself tearing up as he spoke. His voice was low and hoarse ... as filled with unshed tears as his glistening eyes were.
"I don't know what happened Lee." She blinked repeatedly, trying to keep her own tears at bay. "It all went dark and when I woke up I was here. My Viper was gone."
"It was in a million pieces, scattered throughout the atmosphere." His voice finally broke and the tears came flooding down his cheeks. "Oh Kara, I've missed you."
He pulled her close and kissed her fiercely, eight years worth of hunger nearly overwhelming her.
Her first instinct was to pull back - she was married, this shouldn't be happening! But his lips were hot and insistent on hers and his hands held her so tightly possessively that she felt herself unable to resist. The instant heat that flared between them shocked her - could they still feel this way after all these years apart? Her bones began a slow melt as the temperature between them grew.
With great effort she tore herself away. They were still nose to nose, breathing heavily - sharing each other's breath.
Lee lifted a hand to her face and stroked back the stray blonde strands that were hanging in her eyes. "It's like a dream come true. It's a miracle."
At that moment she felt her heart tear in two.
"I'm going to get you out of here," she said determinedly over the lump in her throat. He nodded, hope shining in his eyes like a beacon.
Oh Gods, what was she going to do?
XXXXX
It took hours. Hours of interrogation, both with Kara in the room and with her in the next room, watching through the two-way mirror. Lee had been the first to be questioned, being that he was the highest ranking officer present. The questioning had been rigorous and he'd had to give a blood sample for analysis. Next had come a man named Carter Paull, the Vice President under Roslin. Kara wondered what had happened to Zarek till she remembered eight years had gone by and many things could and probably had changed in that amount of time.
Many other men and women at random were DNA tested and questioned as well. It had ended up being a very long day.
The slight grinding of the door awakened her from a light sleep. She lifted her head off her arms and sat up straight, groaning inwardly at the kink in her neck.
"So ...?" she pressed. "Are you satisfied? Can they go now?"
"Their tests all came back positive. They're all human," the Vice President answered grudgingly, "but no one seems to have any identification papers on them."
"Well of course they wouldn't," Kara said, exasperation creeping into her voice. "They got off their ships expecting to be welcomed. Why would they need ID? Besides, our homeworlds were destroyed in a surprise attack. Most people who managed to get away came with only the clothes on their backs and whatever family members they could bring with them. I'm sure no one thought of grabbing their identification."
"Has there been nothing done in the what ... " He consulted his notes. " ... ten years you've supposedly been on the run? No new form of ID created for the survivors?"
"There's a bit of a paper shortage in space you know," she bit back, getting angrier by the second. "And we were running for our lives. Even when the enemy wasn't directly behind us shooting our asses off we were busy trying to survive. Feeding forty thousand people isn't easy out in space."
"Forty thousand?" He consulted his notes again. "There are only just over seventeen thousand here."
She grew solemn. "Well there were about forty thousand when I was there last ... I guess there have been some losses since I left." A sudden vivid image of Roslin erasing the survivor board and lowering the number by one after she'd gone came to her. Lee and his father were looking on, tears in their eyes. Hers began to sting.
He gave her a look in which sympathy wasn't lacking. "I'll give the President a call and see what we can do."
She nodded, waiting till he'd left the room before wiping at her eyes. What was she going to do? There was a part of her that just wanted to forget the last eight years and pick up where she and Lee had left off. It was obvious from his response that not only had he not forgotten her and moved on like you did, he was still in love with her. I didn't forget him and move on! her subconscious flashed back at her. I still love him as much now as I ever did! But there was another part of her that knew that picking up with Lee was a bad idea. Not only for her family whom she loved and cherished, but for herself as well. She'd worked through a lot and had finally put a lot of things behind her, learning how to let go of the baggage and stay focused on the future. She knew that her relationship with Lee was a volatile one, prone to explosive emotions, mountain-peak highs and bottom-of-the-ocean lows, and that picking up where they'd left off would start them up on that destructive cycle of passion and despair again - one that only had one ending.
Devastation for all.
She couldn't put her family through that. She'd worked so hard to become a stable, even-tempered parent and she wasn't going to let herself be drawn down that dark path of emotional turmoil again. She fiddled with the ring on her finger. She'd made a vow to make this relationship work. And she had, despite the fact that Lee had never been far from her thoughts and dreams.
She sighed and pushed those thoughts away for the moment. She needed to focus on getting them out of hack first before dealing with the personal crisis she knew was about to drop on her like an anvil.
XXXXX
Lee walked back out into the open enclosure, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Which, in a way he had. Kara's ghost had been living with him since her apparent death - always whispering in his ear as he flew, taunting him about his precision with the flight schedules and endless mountains of paperwork ... invading his every thought and dream when the lights shut off for the night.
"Are you okay?" Helo was the first to notice Lee's shocked face. He looked him up and down. Other than the fact that he looked as if he'd been struck dumb, Lee seemed fine. Wasn't physical torture then.
Lee nodded and tried to focus his eyes on Helos' face. It wasn't working - all he could see was Kara standing before him.
"Are you sure? 'Cause you look a little rough around the edges ..."
"It's Kara," Lee finally blurted out, tongue suddenly coming unstuck. "She's alive! She's here!" His face came to life again as it had when she'd been there in front of him.
Helo and Sam glanced at one another. This wasn't good. Everyone who knew Lee well knew he'd never gotten over her death. There had never been closure - their relationship had been severed like a cut-off head. He'd never even gotten to say a proper goodbye. The fact that he was hallucinating and imagining he saw Kara didn't come as a surprise to either of them but it did bode ill. It meant he'd probably been tortured mentally - perhaps they'd used some sort of drugs to gain control of his mind and make him see what they wanted him to see.
"It's okay Adama. You'll be fine," Sam said gently.
Lee turned on him fiercely. "Don't patronize me! I know you think I'm crazy or delusional but I tell you she was there. Just as surely as you're standing in front of me right now. I held her in my arms - I frakking kissed her!"
Helo saw the briefest flash of jealousy in Sam's eyes before it vanished. He wondered afterwards if he'd even seen it at all. "Are you sure?" he asked Lee intently.
"One hundred percent positive. She's here."
The look in Lee's eyes was one Sam hadn't seen in a long, long time. They'd been buddies since shortly after Kara's death and since then Sam had seen the good days and the bad come and go. He'd watched the relief on Lee's face at the dissolution of his marriage to Dee and wondered had Kara had still been alive if she'd have had the same look if he'd divorced her instead of steadfastly staying with her as he had. He'd watched Lee throw himself back into work with a vengeance when it seemed he had nothing else to live for, and he'd seen Lee perk up with the new woman in his life. But even through all of that - eight years worth of living, he'd never seen that look of pure joy and happiness at being alive.
Don't be jealous, he reproached himself as he instinctively felt the old 'she's mine' possessiveness kick in. You loved her but she loved him. He still loves her and maybe now is the time for them to work it out properly. He focused his thoughts to Tory, glancing down at the ring on his finger. He'd turned to her out of blind need when Kara's death had rocked him so hard. But something had slowly developed between them. Something more than just sex. He chuckled inwardly at the irony of it - he'd done exactly as Kara had with him all those years ago on Caprica. It seemed they weren't that much different after all.
"I hope you're right man," he said, clapping Lee on the shoulder in a friendly way. "It would be fantastic to see her again."
On that note the door opened, causing all eyes to turn and stare. Kara Thrace stood there, eyes surveying the small space so many men were sharing.
At first the entire compound hushed then voices began to break through.
'Holy frak, she's alive!'
'It's Starbuck!'
'It can't be Starbuck, she's dead.'
'What is it then, her evil twin?'
'Lords of Kobol, how did you get here?'
Her mouth split into a wide grin at the smiles of recognition from those she'd known and cared about so long ago.
Helo was the first to run to her and scoop her up in his arms. "Oh my Gods Thrace - this is incredible!" He hugged her hard then, as Lee had, held her in front of him to look her up and down. "You sure you're not a Cylon? 'Cause you look pretty damn good for someone who exploded into millions of pieces."
She was swarmed by dozens of others, even people she'd never known personally but who were a part of Galactica's team. She was passed from one embrace to another, constantly answering their questions as best she could but throughout it all her eyes were glued to the blue ones shining like a beacon from behind the crowd.
TBC
