A Different Beginning----Chapter 14
Mostly AU and it begins with the mini-series. Also I am writing this solo and I apologize for any mistakes.
Chapter------14
When Kara woke up she called for a nurse, she was ready to leave sickbay. Kara noticed that someone had brought her a change of clothes and left them on the foot of her bed. She was getting up to get dressed when Cottle walked in. " Lay back down Starbuck, I need to ask you a few questions before I discharge you "
Kara laid back down " So ask "
" Is your head still hurting?" Cottle asked as he pulled out his penlight.
" No " she said
Cottle stood up and leaned over her and shined the light in each of her eyes. " Well everything seems normal, I am releasing you back to full duty, but I want you to take the rest of the day off, you can get dressed now "
" Great " Kara said as she stood up to get dressed. Before he left she asked " Who left me the clothes?"
" I have no idea " Cottle answered as he was walking out.
After Kara got dressed she headed to the bunk room to grab her things for a shower. After taking a long shower she got out and dressed in her work clothes intending on finding out where her nuggets were. She found them in the rec room. " I hope you guys have not been sitting around on your asses this whole time "
JoJo spoke up " We just got off maintenance duty "
" Who assigned you to do that?" Kara asked looking at Crashdown
" The CAG sent us down there to help the chief and to show the nuggets how to work on vipers and raptors " Crashdown told her
Kara should have known Lee would take care of them " Good, but tomorrow we are getting back in the air "
Kara heard them all start whooping and she smiled.
After they quieted down Hotdog spoke " Thank you, God " and then they snickered.
" Well, I will see you all on the flight deck at seven tomorrow morning " Kara told them before leaving.
Kara had decided to go with her plan and work them long and hard so she could graduate them earlier than she planned. Instead of quitting the military she was going to ask for some time off so that she could get away from the Galactica for a while. She knew Adama would not like it, but he would prefer it over her quitting.
Kara decided to head down to where the raider was, because that was one more thing she needed to wrap up before she could ask for time off. She did not think that tinkering on the raider was consider working. She was glad no one was around, she wanted to work without being disturbed. When she climbed inside she could tell that the chief had someone clean it up, it smelled a lot better. Kara worked on taking out the things they would not need trying to make it so there was more room inside and left the most crucial things like oxygen and the seals needed to keep it airtight.
When Lee woke up he dreaded having to get through another day. He knew he was getting depressed, but he did not have a clue what to do about it. As he was getting dressed he wondered if he would see Kara, he knew she was being released today. First thing he knew he had to do was apologize to Dee.
When he made it to the CIC he walked over to her station " Dee, I need to speak with you sometime today "
Dee looked up at him and smiled " How about during lunch, we can grab a bite to eat "
Lee had wanted to talk in a public place anyway " Okay "
Lee turned around and saw his dad looking at him and smiling so he walked over to him " It is not what you think, I just need to talk to her "
Adama patted him on the shoulder " It is none of my business son "
Lee thought, now he would choose to stay out of his business after he had ruined things between him and Kara. " I think you waited too late to stay out of my business "
Adama frowned at him " What do you mean?"
Lee sighed " Never mind "
Adama watched him as he walked away wondering what he meant.
Lee made sure to keep busy so he would not have to talk to his dad or Dee. Before long it was time for lunch so he stopped by Dee's station and told her he would meet her in the mess hall.
Lee made sure to get there first and picked a table away from everyone so nobody could hear their conservation. It was not long before Dee joined him. As she was sitting down Lee noticed several people looking their way.
Lee started talking the moment she sat down hoping to get this over with quickly. " Dee, I just wanted to apologize for last night, I was drunk and if I did anything wrong I am sorry "
Dee wanted to touch him, but she thought it might be too soon " You did nothing wrong Lee, I had a good time and I think you did too "
Lee looked at her strangely " I don't want to give you the wrong idea, you are a sweet person, but I am not interested in seeing anybody right now "
Dee was not going to give up, this time she reached and grabbed his hand " That's okay, how about we just try being friends for right now "
Lee was about to respond when he looked up and saw Kara standing in the hatchway watching them. He jerked his hand back quickly and stood up to go and talk to her, but before he could she turned around and left. He looked at Dee " I have to go " and left before she could say anything.
Lee searched for Kara everywhere and could not find her. He finally quit when it came time for his CAP. Lee could only imagine what she must have thought. He was so lost in his thoughts that he was unprepared when a basestar jumped in almost on top of his patrol. Before he had time to respond his viper took a bad hit leaving him defenseless. If it had not been for Duck and Keeper he would not have lived to see another day. As it was he had to eject after the cylons jumped away leaving him having to be picked up by Boomer. He was glad no one tried to talk to him, as soon as they landed he jumped out and went to his office.
Kara took a break from working on the raider to go grab lunch. As soon as she stepped in the hatchway she saw Lee and Dee having lunch together. She could not help but watch, then she saw Dee reach and grab his hand and she felt sick, then Lee looked up and saw her. Kara knew she had to get out of there fast, so she headed down to the flight deck and caught a raptor that was leaving. She did not care where it was going, just as long as she got away from the Galactica and Lee. Kara remembered she still had her coveralls on and stood up to take them off. She was also glad that she always wore something underneath them. Kara knew that she would not be on duty until tomorrow morning, so nobody should even know she was gone.
Kara got off on Cloud Nine and headed straight for the bar, but not before she took the rubber band out of her hair. Kara took the time to shake it loose and run her fingers through her hair to straighten it up. She went into the bar, after sitting down she ordered her first drink. Kara figured she could try and drink herself into oblivion. Kara knew she had been a fool to ever think Lee would want her in his life. Oh she knew he needed her as a pilot and an instructor, but nothing else. After a few more drinks she got to talking to the bartender and found out that she could have a job there when she got ready. With that settled she drank several more drinks and started looking around for some company. She spotted a guy she had never seen before sitting at the end of the bar. Kara was drunk enough that she thought why the frak not, grabbed her drink and headed his way.
She stopped beside him " Is this seat taken?"
The man looked up at her and smiled " I was saving it for you "
Kara sat down and looked sideways at him after propping her elbows up on the bar " You use that line often?"
" First time " when she looked at him doubtful he said " I swear, it is the first time "
Kara gave him one of her trademark smirks " Fine, I believe you " then she asked him " What line of work are you in?"
He leaned in close to her " I own the restaurant downstairs "
Kara silently thanked the gods that he was not military " Does that mean you can cook?"
He winked at her " Sure does, maybe you can stop by sometime and try it out "
Kara leaned back and looked him over. He was a nice looking man, he had light brown hair that hung just below his shirt collar and hazel eyes, plus he was muscular. Kara thought for a minute and decided to be bold " How about tonight?"
He copied her then and leaned back and looked her over " I take it you came here straight from work and we don't even know each others name "
Kara looked at what she was wearing and shrugged " I didn't have time to change and names are overrated, don't you think? " Kara drank the last of her drink and put it down waiting to see what he would do. For a second she thought of Lee and almost changed her mind, then she remembered them holding hands and eating together and was determined to use this man to help her forget about Lee, at least for one night.
He stood up " You ready to go?"
Kara jumped up off the bar stool and followed him out of the bar. She thought they were headed to his room, but was surprised when they ended up at his restaurant. " What are we doing here?"
He led her back to the kitchen area " I thought I would fix us something to eat, I think we both need to sober up "
Kara just stood there surprised, watching him pull out a skillet and place it on the stove. " What if I don't want to sober up?"
He turned around and faced her " I watched you at the bar, and I can tell when a person is drinking to forget someone "
Kara leaned against the closest counter " So, what if I was, what does it matter? "
" I have learned from past mistakes that it is not a good idea to get drunk and jump into bed with someone, the person always ends up regretting it " he then turned around and started cooking.
Kara did not know what to think of this man. All she wanted to do was frak him until she stopped thinking about Lee. Kara was starting to sober up, and whatever he was cooking smelled delicious. She saw a stool at one end of the counter and went to sit down. " You are a strange man "
He turned to look at her with an amused look " Why do you say that?"
" Because most men would already have me in a bed or somewhere fraking " she told him grinning
" Then I guess I am not like most men " he said as he filled two plates with omelets he had cooked.
" No, you're not " she said quietly
By this time, he was coming toward her with two plates, placing one in front of her and grabbing another stool to pull up to the counter for him and then he pulled his plate toward him " Well, aren't you going to eat?"
Kara took a bite of the omelet and moaned " This is delicious "
He looked at her " Thank you "
By the time they had finished eating Kara had sobered up and was starting to feel nervous. She was not used to talking with strange men unless she was drunk. She knew now that she was sober, she could not go through with fraking him. Kara knew she needed to say something " I enjoyed that, thank you "
He stood up and picked up their plates to put them away. " Your welcome " he came back over and sat down " So, you feel like telling me why you were trying so hard to get drunk?"
Kara looked at him stunned that he had asked her that, and for a minute she thought about telling him. " I changed my mind, I think we should introduce ourselves, my name is Kara "
He reached his hand out to her " Hey Kara, I am Mark " then they shook hands.
" Now that we are both sober, how do feel about going to my room?" he knew that she had changed her mind, he just wanted her to admit it.
Kara knew that he was the kind of man who deserved an explanation " About that, I realize now that I am sober, that I can't use you like that, I was hoping to get drunk enough to forget about someone, I'm sorry "
Mark laughed " It's okay, I kinda knew that was what you were doing " he reached out and placed his hand on hers " Why don't we just be friends, Kara?"
Kara smiled at him " I would like that, I don't have many friends, just co-workers "
He pulled his hand back, glad that they had agreed to be friends " Neither do I, now that you know what I do, tell me what you do "
Kara chuckled " I am a viper pilot "
Mark was impressed " Wow, so you are one of the people who defend the fleet everyday "
Kara relaxed, she realized that she was enjoying talking to Mark " Yep, and I am also the instructor for new pilots "
" I'm surprised you managed to get off for the night " Mark said as he leaned back on his stool
Kara blushed " Technically I am off today, but I kinda left without telling anyone "
Mark studied her for a minute " Are you going to get in trouble?"
She smirked " Most likely "
Mark stood up " Then you should probably get back "
" Are you trying to get rid of me?" she asked joking as she stood up
" Of course not, I just want you to be able to come back for a visit soon " he said as he led her out of the kitchen
Kara stopped him and looked at him " Thank you Mark, you were right, I would have regretted it "
" Now that we are friends let's keep in touch " Mark told Kara
" I will, and don't be surprised when I show up in your restaurant one day " she said as she walked away.
Kara headed down to the docking area to wait on a raptor. While she was waiting she realized that she felt better. That did not mean that she had gotten over seeing Lee and Dee together. At least she had made a friend, something she needed more than a frak buddy. With Helo gone and her and Lee not talking, she was glad to have Mark as a friend. She saw a raptor approaching and was glad that it was Boomer.
After they were headed back to the Galactica Boomer said " I was wondering where you disappeared to " she looked back at Kara " Certain people have been looking for you "
" I guess that means I am in trouble " Kara chuckled " You know what, I don't even care "
Boomer knew she had to tell Starbuck about Apollo " While you were gone the cylons showed up and Apollo came close to being killed "
Kara gasped and went to sit next to Boomer " Oh my gods, what happened?"
Boomer glanced over at her " It happened during CAP patrol, a basestar jumped in almost on top of CAP, Apollo did not have time to respond and took a hit and had to eject " she paused " Duck and Keeper saved his life, they said that Apollo seemed distracted during patrol "
Kara looked stricken " Is he okay?"
Boomer nodded " He did not even go to life station, as a matter of fact he has been in his office ever since it happened "
They were landing on the Galactica so Kara did not say anything else. As soon as they came to a stop she jumped out of the raptor and headed for the bunk room.
She knew she probably smelled like booze, so she went to take a shower. After her shower she was just about to crawl into bed when she heard over the comm to report to Commander Adama's office.
Kara knew she could not avoid a summons, so she headed to his office. After knocking she was told to enter. She walked in and stood at attention.
Adama watched her a minute " At ease Starbuck, have a seat "
Kara took the chair across from him at his desk. " You wanted to see me sir?"
Adama clasped his hands together and leaned back " Yes, for several reasons, why have you been avoiding me Kara?"
Kara would only say " I have been very busy "
" Why didn't you want any visitors while you were in life station?" he asked looking at her closely
Kara did not look directly at him as she usually did " I just wanted to rest without being disturbed and I was upset with myself for being caught unaware by the cylons "
Adama seemed to accept her explanation " That was not your fault Kara, no more than it was Lee's, when the same thing happened to him today "
Kara looked at him then " I just heard about that, how is he?"
Adama straightened up " I was told he was okay, but he has been holed up in his office since it happened " he took a moment to look at her knowing that there was something wrong with her " You and Lee both have been acting odd lately, what is going on?"
" We have just been really busy since the worlds ended, there is always something to deal with " Kara said as she scooted up to the edge of her chair
Adama saw that she wanted to leave, but he wasn't finished with her yet " Why did you go off ship without letting anyone know, that is not like you Kara?"
Kara knew she would never tell him the truth about why she left, plus she was still upset with him " I was off duty for the day and I needed to get off the Galactica for a while "
" I understand, but don't ever do that again without getting permission first " Adam said it in a way that she knew she would get in trouble if she did it again.
Kara stood up " If that is all commander I need to hit my rack "
Adama got up " You can go Kara, but I am here if you ever need to talk "
Kara nodded and walked out the hatch headed to her bunk.
Lee had been in his office the rest of the afternoon after Boomer had picked him up and brought him back to the Galactic. He handled the rest of his shift out of his office. He thought that Kara might come by after she heard what had happened to him during CAP. It was not long before he heard her being paged over the ship wide comm. After the fourth time he knew that she was not on the Galactica. Lee knew that seeing him with Dee had upset her, but he never thought she would leave the ship. He could not help but wonder where she went.
After his shift was over and there was still no sign of her he began to worry. Lee knew he was feeling miserable, he wondered how she felt. Lee came to the realization that Kara was upset with his dad also. He knew it had to be about Dee. Lee also could understand if she was upset about the fact that Dee had joined him and his dad for dinner. She probably felt like she was being replaced. After he had time to think about it, he realized that Kara thought that his dad did not want them to have a relationship, and in a way he didn't. He had even said that him and Kara worked to close together and it could cause problems. Lee did not agree with him. He finally heard her being paged and was told to report to the commanders office. He hoped that things worked out with Kara and his dad. Lee almost got up and went to his dads office just so he could see her, but thought it would be better not to bother them.
He knew it was late and he had to get up early so he went to bed. He would try to talk to her tomorrow. With that decision made he closed his eyes and thought about the night they had stayed together on the ice planet. It seemed so long ago.
Kara woke up and got ready to start her day. She felt better, it had to be because she had gotten away from the Galactica for a while and had made a new friend. As soon as she was dressed she headed to the mess hall for breakfast. After she finished she went to meet her nuggets. She knew they were excited about being able to fly today. As soon as she got them ready, they all lined up to take off. Kara decided instead of running maneuvers she would let them fly free for a while.
After several wide trips around the fleet she ran them through several maneuvers. They all seemed to be doing good, Kara thought that after a few more days of flying that she would be able to pass them and let them start flying CAPS. She found herself smiling more than she had in days. After they graduated she would spend all her free time on the raider, getting it ready for a test, then she would ask Adama for some time off.
Lee was working in the CIC this morning again. This time he ignored Dee and his father. Someone had opened up the comms and he could hear Kara teaching her nuggets. She seemed to be in a good mood, that made him wonder where she went yesterday. Lee hoped she was not seeing someone. He was determined that he was going to talk to her, even if he had to make it an order.
Lee noticed that his dad had walked up beside him " Kara seems to be in a good mood and by the sounds of it she will graduate them soon, and we will have some more pilots "
Lee decided to take a chance and ask about last night " How did your meeting with Starbuck go?"
Adama thought back over the meeting " It went okay, but she has been acting different for the past few days "
Lee looked at him " She has been different ever since you called us to your office the other day "
Adama looked at him " You are right now that I think about it, what happened?"
Lee sighed " I have been trying to figure it out, believe me "
Adama looked at Lee " The two of you are friends why don't you just ask her?"
Lee looked directly at his father " Kara and I are not friends "
Adama scoffed " What do you mean?"
Still looking at his father " Just what I said, now let it go "
Adama did not understand " How are you and Dee doing?"
Lee had finally had enough and moved so that he was facing his dad " I am going to say this one time, I do not want a relationship with Dee and I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to get us together!! "
Adama could tell that Lee was very upset " Okay Lee, I will stay out of your personal life, but just for the record I was only trying to help you out "
" I know, but your idea of helping me out has done nothing but frak up my life " Lee told him " I am going to take my break now " and he walked out of the CIC.
Adama stood there after Lee left trying to figure out what was going on with him. He felt that whatever it was it had something to do with Kara. Things had been awkward with the both of them. He decided to keep a close eye on them.
Lee went to the observation deck so he could watch Kara with her class. He hoped he had made his dad understand how he felt and that he would stay out of his personal life.
Lee went back to work after his break and right before his shift ended Dee approached him " Would you like to go to lunch, just as friends?" she asked smiling at him.
Lee shook his head " No Dee, I have other plans "
" Another time then " she went back to her station to finish up before the next shift came on.
The very second that his shift ended Lee made a bee line straight to the hangar deck to wait on Kara to land. He watched her land and when she got out of her cockpit she was smiling. Then he heard her laughing about something Cally must have said. Something had changed with Kara ever since she came back after running off. He waited until she was finished and saw her turn to walk his way. As she approached him she stopped.
" I heard what happened yesterday Apollo, I'm glad your okay" Kara was trying to act professional
Lee looked at her strangely " Thanks, listen Kara I want to talk to you about what you saw in the mess hall yesterday "
" There's no need Apollo, it's your life " Kara was going to get through this conservation even if it killed her.
Lee was getting frustrated " That's just it Kara, that is not my life, you are what makes my life worthwhile "
" Really, well you could have fooled me, cause every time I see you Dee is around " Kara was starting to get mad and she had been in a good mood.
Lee sighed " Kara I promise I have no feelings for her, but she wants a relationship with me, I have told her I am not interested, I don't know what else you want me to do "
This time Kara sighed " Look obviously your dad does not want us to be together, so why don't we try to be friends "
Lee took her arm and pulled her into an empty hallway " Kara you know dad loves you, and I believe if we tell him about us he will be okay with it "
Kara looked at him and wanted to believe like he did, but she had so many doubts " Why don't we try being friends first and see where it goes from there "
It was not what Lee wanted, but at least it was something " Okay, but answer me this, do you still have feelings for me and I am not talking about friendly ones ?"
Kara reached up and touched the side of his face " Of course I do Lee, but I wish I didn't "
Lee pulled her to him and kissed her before she could stop him. For a second she did not respond then she kissed him back. Kara let the kiss go on for a while before she pulled back to look at him then she stuck out her hand " Friends?"
Lee reached and shook her hand " Friends " when he let go he told her " I have missed you Kara "
She smiled at him " I missed you too "
Lee walked away smiling for the first time in a while.
When Lee had walked off Kara stood there watching him walk away. The kiss made her remember how much she had missed being with him. That still did not change the fact that she was going to take some time off. Kara finally moved to go and work on the raider.
When she got there she saw that the chief was already tinkering with the raider. " So, when do you think we can have our first test flight?"
Chief was smiling at her " Does tomorrow sound all right?"
That made Kara grin " Really, you think it is ready?"
" Yes " the chief guided her under the raider " Why don't you get in and fire it up, then run through the controls "
Kara did not have to be asked twice, she crawled inside and put on the earpiece that the chief had set up so they could talk without having to holler. " Okay, I'm ready to begin "
" Power it up " the chief was as excited as Kara
Kara powered it up and ran through all of the controls. Everything went smoothly. She kicked the hatch open and crawled out. " I have class first thing in the morning, but I will be free after that "
The chief could not stop smiling " I will let the commander know, and I will see you after your class "
Kara walked away grinning from ear to ear. Nothing was going to spoil her good mood. She then headed to the hangar deck for her maintenance shift. Kara spent the next two hours working on vipers and then she got ready for CAP. She had checked the schedule and knew Lee would be flying CAP also. It seemed like it had been a long time since they had flown together.
They had been on CAP for two hours when she was told to land and meet the commander in the situation room. Lee was also told to come in as soon as replacements got there. She wondered what could be wrong, for some reason she had a bad feeling.
When she got to the situation room Adama was there along with Colonel Tigh and the President. " Have a seat Starbuck "
Kara sat down " What's wrong?"
Adama looked at her closely " A cylon model has been taken into custody and it claims to have placed a bomb on one of the ships in the fleet "
President Roslin spoke " It is set to go off in eight hours, well seven hours now "
Kara looked at each of them " Okay, so what do you want with me?"
Adam stood up and walked over to her " This model says it will only talk to you, so we need you to interrogate it "
Kara had a bad feeling " Which model is it?"
Adama looked down at her " It's the Leobon model Kara "
Kara knew she had no choice " I'll do it, where is Leobon?"
Adama went and sat back down " In the brig under heavy guard, are you sure you want to do this Kara?"
Kara stood up " Yes sir, I'll get started right away " and she walked out.
Once she made it out of the room she leaned against one of the bulkheads and took a deep breath. Lee had walked up and placed a hand on her back " What's wrong Kara?"
Kara reached for one of his hands and held it for a minute needing to touch him. " They are waiting for you inside, they will fill you in, I gotta go"
As she walked by him he grabbed her hand to stop her " Where are you going?"
" Just go inside Lee and they will let you know what is going on " Kara squeezed his hand before walking away.
Lee went in to find Tigh, Roslin and his dad sitting there talking. " What's going on?"
" Have a seat Lee " his dad waited while he sat down
They told him exactly what they had told Kara. " You plan on sending her in there alone?"
Adama had the same concerns as Lee " It is chained up and there will be two guards in there with her "
Lee felt somewhat better " What do you want me to do?"
" We want you to get two teams of marines together and have them start searching each ship. After that I want you to listen in on the interrogation " Adama stood up after that and ended the meeting, but asked Lee to hang back.
Lee knew something was up " What's wrong dad?"
Adama did not know how much to say because he had promised Kara, but he had also told her he would not say anything unless it became a problem. This was a problem. " Sit down Lee, this could take a minute "
Lee was getting worried " It's about Kara isn't it?"
Adama sighed " Yes, when I was with Leobon on Ragnar he talked about Kara, he said that Kara belonged to him and he would not stop until he had her "
Lee jumped up and yelled " You sent her in there knowing that!! "
Adama could understand Lee's reaction " I had to, he would not talk to anyone else, Kara knows all of this, she has known for a while " Adama paused before going on " That is why I want you to monitor the situation and pull her out if it gets to be a problem, but keep in mind that Kara will use any means necessary to get the information out of him "
" What does Kara know about interrogation?" Lee asked curious
Adama stood up " Kara grew up hard Lee, she is a survivor and she will get the job done, don't pull her out unless her life is in danger and be prepared to see a side of Kara that you would never expect "
All Lee could do was stare at his father, wondering just how much he knew about Kara " I had better go "
Adama stopped him " Lee, no one knows about this except Kara, you and me and I would like to keep it that way, also I think it would be best if Kara did not know it will be you listening in "
Lee nodded and left for the brig.
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