A Different Beginning-Chapter 16

AU and it starts at the mini-series. I am writing this solo and I apologize for any mistakes.

Sorry I took so long getting back to this story. My computer crashed and I lost some chapters and notes. Anyhow for better or worse here is an update.

Chapter-16

As Kara was walking toward the restaurant her thoughts drifted back to Lee. She knew that she would have to slow things down with her and Lee. Kara had made a lot of mistakes in her past and she did not want to mess things up with Lee. In the past she would have already frakked him and moved on, but she knew Lee was not just anybody. Kara had never felt this way about anyone in her life, as a matter of fact the only person she ever loved was her father and she still thought sometimes that he left because of her. Kara shook that thought away because she knew in her heart that her dad had loved her. She knew that she should not feel something like love for Lee already since she just met him two months ago, but damned if she didn't. Kara paused as she reached the doors to the restaurant and looked inside. After scanning the room she saw Mark talking to someone at the entrance to the kitchen, but she could not see the other person. Kara could tell by Marks stance and gestures that the conservation was serious, just then he turned and saw her and quickly finished talking and headed her way.

As Mark was making his way towards Kara he was trying to remember everything his friend had said . Mark trusted his friend and would do what he asked even though he did not like the fact he would be basically trying to give and get information from Kara. Mark shook away his thoughts and smiled as he approached Kara. " Hey, I'm glad you were able to make it, come on in our table is ready " he gestured for her to follow him.

Kara waited until they sat down " Well you did say you needed to talk to me, here I am, so talk "

Mark laughed " Are you always so blunt? "

Kara drew in a breath " Sorry, it has been a long day and will be an even longer one tomorrow "

" That's okay I know your job is demanding and your right I do need to talk to you, but I thought we could enjoy our meal first if that is okay with you " he asked while smiling which made Kara relax

Kara smiled back " Should I order or have you already planned our meal, I mean it's okay if you did I trust you as long as it's not another omelet " she laughed

Mark signaled a waiter " I think you will be pleased, we are having two of the few steaks left in the universe, I just need to know how you would like it cooked "

Kara gasped " You have got to be frakking kidding me, a steak really " at his nod she continued " In that case I'll have it medium well "

Mark relayed instructions to the waiter and ordered two glasses of red wine after checking with Kara. Once their wine was brought Kara asked "So how long have you owned this restaurant ? "

That question made Mark think of his friend " I starting working here about five years ago and after two years me and a friend of mine bought it "

Kara felt herself relaxing even more, she knew she should suspect anyone of being a cylon, but somehow she knew she could trust that Mark was not one. " So that is how you came to survive the cylon attacks against our home worlds "

Mark just nodded he did not want to talk about that yet " So tell me about the guy you were drinking to forget when I met you, is there still something going on? "

Kara blushed a little bit " It's complicated "

Mark shrugged his shoulders " So, tell me about it " he paused " Isn't that what friends are supposed to do, tell each other things "

Kara thought about it and realised that if Helo was still alive she would have been able to talk to him about it, so what could it hurt to tell Mark a little bit about it. It wasn't likely that he would ever come to the Galactica or talk to the pilots about anything she said. " Well first you would have to understand how the military feels about frat regulations, even though they recently relaxed them, they still feel some relationships should not happen " Kara's thoughts quickly jumped to Adama, she wished she knew why he thought Lee should be with Dee.

After taking a drink of his wine mark put his glass down " So I take this guy is military also "

Kara snorted " Not just military, he is also a pilot who happens to be my CAG, wing-man and the son of Commander Adama " she paused a second to collect her thoughts " I was on the Galactica for a year before the attacks and first met Lee when he came for the decommissioning ceremony for the Galactica " Kara laughed " You know at first I don't think he even liked me very much and then the attacks came and as some of the few pilots and officers left we were thrown together just trying to survive and somewhere along the way we became close fast "

Mark raised his eyebrows " That sounds intense, so are you guys together ?"

It was Kara's turn to take a drink before continuing " We have decided to try to be friends and take things slow " Kara laughed again " I think the only way we are going to be able to manage that is never to be alone together anywhere "

That comment caused Mark to laugh " That bad, huh ?"

Kara smiled remembering the ride over " He gave me a ride over here and talked about kidnapping me and keeping me to himself "

When she said that he had to ask " Do you trust him ? "

Kara looked at him kinda funny wondering why he would ask that about Lee and then remembered what she said " He was kidding " when he made no comment she gave him a stern look " Lee is the only person besides the commander that I trust with my life "

Mark nodded okay, but could not help pointing out " You did just meet him, so how can you be so sure?"

Kara sat up straight and glared at him then " I just do, now drop it before you piss me off "

Mark was happy to let it drop and if his friend wanted to know more he would have to ask her himself " I'm sorry, I guess I find it hard to trust someone that much after what happened to all of us "

Kara decided to let it go " So, what about you, do you have someone in your life "

Mark sighed " I had a serious girlfriend, but she died in the attacks, she was on Picon at the time "

" I'm sorry Mark " that was all Kara could think to say

Mark looked at her " What about you, did you lose anyone ?"

Kara shook her head " Not on the home worlds no, the only family I had to lose was the pilots and crewman we lost during and since the cylons showed up, one was my best friend "

Before anything else could be said the waiter showed up with their meals and they ate in mostly silence speaking a little here and there about their meal.

[BREAK]

Lee had gone back to his office after dropping Kara off. He decided to catch up on some paperwork until she called. Lee had only been back a little over half an hour when he was paged to go to the commanders office. Lee finished up and put his paperwork up before heading there, he knew somehow that whatever his father wanted was personal. Lee stood outside the hatch a moment and mentally prepared himself before knocking on the hatch.

Adama had been waiting on Lee so he did not hesitate before getting up and opening the hatch. He could have called out for him to enter, but he needed to get up for a minute. He knew trying to talk to Lee would be a mental battle given how stubborn Lee could be. Adama pulled the hatch open " Come in Lee, I was just getting a drink, do you want one?"

Ordinarily Lee would not have a drink before flying, but since it was a raptor and not a viper and he now knew for sure it was personal he needed one " Just one, I have to pick Kara up soon "

Adama finished pouring the drinks and motioned for Lee to sit on the sofa as he sat down in his chair putting Lee's drink on the table. " Speaking of Kara, that is what I want to talk to you about "

Lee was reaching for his drink, but stopped " Dad I don't think we should talk about Kara unless it is professional "

Adama never thought Lee would outright refuse to discuss Kara. He needed to make sure what he said next would not make Lee more defensive. " I am only asking because I am worried about her and she acts like she can't stand to be in the same space that I am in and she has never acted like this before "

Lee sighed and picked up his drink, after taking a swallow he looked at his dad " Look you need to find a way to talk to her yourself, because whatever it is, it's between the two of you and I would rather stay out of it "

Adama put his drink down with force onto the tabletop " Fine you want professional we will do professional" he got up and went to his desk and grabbed a file and brought it back and threw it on the table between him and Lee " Tell me what you left out of the report regarding Kara's interrogation of the cylon Leobon "

Lee did not need the report to remember what he left out, but he promised Kara he would not put it all in there " Everything you need to know is in the report " he said calmly

Adama sat down and snatched his drink back " You are lying about something that went on in that room Lee "

Lee did not twitch " Prove it "

Adama threw his glass across the room and sat forward in his chair and growled out at Lee " I have known Kara a hell of a lot longer than you and something is not right with her and I want to know what it is and you are going to tell me what you know "

Lee thought Kara was mad at his dad about Dee and how he felt about them, but it was not his place to tell his dad that. He figured he would try another way to maybe appease his dad " How much do you know about Kara before she came to the Galactica?"

Adama watched Lee for a moment before answering " If you are talking about her childhood then enough "

Lee was not stupid " How do you know, did she tell you?"

Adama sighed " Her medical reports kinda of tell a story, I just filled in the rest on my own "

Lee just shook his head " It is not my story to tell "

Adama leaned back in his chair this was getting him nowhere " Fine then tell me what is going on with the two of you and do not say nothing, I saw the two of you before you left the hangar deck "

Frak, Lee thought he wished Kara would hurry up and call " Right now we are just friends and I gave her a lift to Cloud Nine to have dinner with a friend of hers "

Adama sighed catching the way Lee phrased his answer " Lee are you and Kara thinking about having a relationship?"

Lee shrugged his shoulders " Maybe, why would that bother you ?"

Adama could not seem to stop sighing " Gods Lee, you and Kara spend so much time together professionally how in the hell are you supposed to be able to maintain a personal relationship?"

It was Lee's turn to sigh " I don't know dad, but we can't stop what is happening between us and right now we are really just friends " He decided to give his dad a clue " It would probably make things a lot easier between us if we both felt you did not think we weren't good enough for each other "

Adama stood up becoming frustrated with Lee's half- assed remarks " What the frak are you talking about Lee?"

Lee thought enough was enough, he just hoped Kara didn't kill him if she found out what he was going to say, but he knew his dad was getting madder by the second " When Kara and I met you in this office you practically threw Dee at me making Kara think she wasn't good enough for me and then you told me you wanted the best for Kara which made me think I wasn't good enough for her, now do you understand?" he said standing also and started pacing " Oh and for the icing on the cake Kara found out about the dinner you planned for me and Dee "

Adama stood still trying to process everything Lee had just said and finally turned to face Lee " So Kara is mad at me about all of that and Dee?" Adama thought the attacks had changed Kara, but apparently it was because of his son. He never thought that Kara and Lee would be attracted to each other personally, because they react to things so differently.

Lee shrugged " Kara didn't say, but I think she thought you were replacing her with Dee in your life and mine, and if you repeat all of this to Kara she will kill me and you will have to lock her up on the Astral Queen and I am not joking "

Adama went back to his chair and sat down " Have a seat Lee, we need to figure out what to do, because you are right about Kara getting mad if she finds out what we talked about "

Lee sat down " First let me say this, I will try and get Kara to tell you more about Leobon because I promised her I would not say anything, it is Kara's personal business so therefore it has to come from her "

Adama nodded " As long as it does not put the fleet in danger "

Lee knew it could, but he still wasn't saying anything else about it " What about the rest of it?"

Adama thought for a minute " I guess I have to earn her trust back and somehow let her know how much she means to me, as for you and Kara Lee I have no idea, but I guess I should leave that between the two of you "

Lee let out a deep breath " Thanks and no more trying to set either of us up with other people "

Adama laughed " I have learned my lesson and if the two of you can make it work I will be happy for you, but your jobs come first "

Lee grinned " We both know that, don't worry "

Adama was getting ready to say something else when Lee was paged over the comm " Captain Adama there is a ship to ship call for you "

Lee got up to use his dad's phone.

After he finished speaking to Kara he turned back to face his dad " I have to go pick up Kara " Lee took a step towards the hatch and paused "Dad I'm sorry if I came between you and Kara, but I can't and won't stop whatever is happening between us "

Adam cleared his throat needing to ask Lee something else, he just hoped Lee wouldn't take it the wrong way " Lee are you sure that what you feel is not just the effects of our worlds ending and you and Kara spending so much time together has you both not thinking clearly?"

Lee thought about it " That is probably some of it, but I can't picture my life without Kara in it now " he chuckled " Actually until I met Kara I had no idea how dull my life was, whatever is between us it is very intense "

Adama stood up to walk with him to the hatch " You don't have to explain it to me Lee, when Kara came to the Galactica she came with a bolt of energy which was just what this ship needed "

Lee nodded " I'll see you in the morning for the pilots graduation "

After Lee left Adama went to his desk to put the folder up and went back over everything Lee had said. He hoped Kara would talk to him about Leobon because he had a feeling that things with the Leobon model was far from over.

[BREAK]

Kara waited until the dishes had been picked up from their table before speaking " I enjoyed the meal Mark, but if we are going to talk we need to do it now, I have to get up early tomorrow "

Mark stood up and reached for her hand " Let's take a walk outside while we talk "

Kara nodded and stood up " I need to make a call before we head outside I have someone picking me up " Kara paused " How long do you think it will be "

Mark lead her towards the phone " Thirty minutes should be fine "

Kara placed the call to Lee and let him know she would be outside with Mark talking and should be ready in half an hour. After that she walked outside with Mark.

At first they just walked while they took in the fake scenery. Kara figured it was better than nothing, she waited on Mark to start talking and when he remained silent she asked " Will you be going to the Colonial Day Dance since it will be held here on Cloud Nine?"

Mark smiled he knew he had been stalling and was learning that Kara could not stay quiet for long. " After I get off work and I will expect a dance from you "

Kara laughed at that " Somehow I don't think you will have a problem finding women to dance with you " she bumped his shoulder " So are you going to tell me why you needed to see me?"

Mark stopped and waited till she stopped and faced him " I wanted to ask you about a rumor I heard " Kara nodded so he continued " Is it true that the cylons look like us?"

For a second Kara was caught off guard this was not what she was expecting " I don't have clue " she lied

Mark nodded he didn't really expect her to tell him the truth anyway " That's okay I just thought with you being in the military you might know "

Kara looked around before commenting " I'm afraid I am not high enough up the chain of command to know something like that, but even if I did I'm sorry Mark but I could neither confirm nor deny it "

Mark held up his hands " It's okay Kara I heard it from a pretty good source so even if you don't know anything about it just be careful who you trust "

Now he had Kara wondering why the frak this seemed so important to him " Who told you this Mark?"

Mark shook his head " I won't tell you that Kara, but I can tell you that we are not spreading the rumor and as your friend I just wanted you to be aware "

Kara chuckled a little bit to cover her confusion " This was what you wanted to see me about "

Mark nodded again " I wanted to know if the military was aware and if not I wanted you to know about it "

Kara was still puzzled " I'll check into it Mark but hopefully it is just a rumor " she just wanted this weird conservation to end and she felt like they were being watched.

Mark nodded and changed the subject " Come on I'll walk with you down to the docking bay " after they started he asked " So when do I get to meet Lee?"

Kara suddenly wanted Lee to meet Mark considering what he wanted to see her about " In a few minutes if you want, he is the one picking me up"

As they stood and waited on the raptor Mark needed to find a way of letting Kara know that he only wanted to warn her about the cylons for her own safety even though he was not entirely sure why his friend wanted him to. Frak he thought, he needed to get some answers if he was going to have to keep up this friendship with Kara. The thing was that he really liked having her as a friend. " Listen Kara about before with the thing about the cylons I really just wanted to give you a heads up " he paused " I really believe it may be true, so just be careful, okay "

Kara watched him carefully as he spoke and in her gut she did not feel like he was a threat. Maybe Lee could tell her what he thought after she introduced them " Okay I will " Kara needed to lighten the mood " I'm not sure you ever told me your last name "

Mark smiled " It's Rivers "

Kara smirked as she caught sight of Lee approaching " Well Mark Rivers here comes Lee Adama "

Mark turned and watched the raptor land smoothly " He's good "

Kara hip checked him " Yeah, but I'm better "

Mark was glad to see that she seemed less serious now " Should I ask Lee who is better?"

Kara just shrugged " Sure, knock yourself out "

Mark laughed at that " Your cocky as well as blunt I see "

Kara straightened when she saw Lee heading towards them " I tend to just say what I think, believe me I have been accused of worse things "

Mark figured he could be friends with Kara a long time and never truly understand everything about her. However he did not miss the change in her when she laid eyes on Lee. She might not know it or want to admit it but she was falling in love with this Lee person. Mark pulled his eyes from Kara to watch Lee walking towards them. Mark doubted if Lee was even that much aware of him because he only had eyes for Kara and was grinning from ear to ear. Mark felt like time suspended for a moment as he heard and watched the two of them " Kara " and then " Lee " they barely breathed for that moment in time.

Finally Mark cleared his throat and watched them jump as if they had been caught doing something illegal. He laughed as Kara fumbled for a second.

Frak, Kara thought when she heard Mark and remembered where she was " Mark Rivers meet Lee Adama "

Lee shook himself mentally, Kara in that outfit was driving him insane, he might have to kidnap her, at least for tonight anyway. Lee finally shook Mark's hand " It's nice to meet you Mark, did Kara behave herself?"

Mark laughed when he saw Kara throw Lee a look " You too Lee and yeah she ate all vegetables and everything " he liked Lee already and hoped to be around them some more just to watch him push her buttons.

Kara stepped between them " Okay that's enough with the childish cracks about me " and then she looked at Lee and gave him that shit eating grin " I had a steak Lee and it was so good "

Lee gasped " No you didn't " he looked at Mark " Did she?"

Mark couldn't help but laugh again, it seems Kara likes to push Lee's buttons also " Yeah she did, I treated her to one of the few left in our universe apparently "

Kara stuck her tongue out at Lee " I told you so "

Lee puts his hands on his hips " Don't forget I am your way home tonight, you might want to be nice to me "

Kara mirrored his stance " I'm a pilot to remember Lee?"

As much as Mark was enjoying watching them he needed to get back inside " Come by the restaurant the next time your off Lee and we will have dinner, I can't offer you a steak, but I'm sure I can whip up something worth eating "

Kara spoke up " What about me, do I get to come too? "

Lee reached for her wrist getting ready to head to the raptor " Thanks Mark I will and no Kara you can't come you'll be working"

Mark chuckled as he walked away hearing Kara say " How the frak do you know I'll be working when you don't even know when your coming back to eat here?" and Lee answered " I just do, now let's go home Kara "

Mark knew now that there was no way the two of them would remain just friends and he would almost be willing to bet his restaurant that they would not last the week. Frak from the sparks coming off of them they might not make it off the raptor. Now he needed to go find some answers to some questions that he now had regarding his friend and Kara.