Playing with Lee - chapter 4

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Sorry it has taken me so long to finish this one - had a mental lapse there and a bunch of other stories filled the gaps. Thanks for staying with me to the end!

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They watched each other dress, unabashedly staring, large smiles on both of their faces.

"Playing?" Kara asked, careful to use only one word.

"Yup." Lee smiled wickedly.

Kara nodded. "Sleep." And she pointed to the hatch.

"Right." He walked over to it and opened the door, peering out cautiously. He looked back at Kara and nodded the 'all clear'.

"Go," she said.

"Later." Lee let his hand linger briefly on hers before exiting the room.

Kara let out a long breath. "Frak." It was the only word she could think at this point. She waited a respectable five minutes, headed out and took the long route back to the bunkroom.

When she arrived Lee was already in bed, as were the other pilots who were on shift first thing in the morning. She quickly changed out of uniform, feeling Lee's eyes on her. Wish it was his hands, she thought, then gave herself a mental shake. You only just finished making love and already you want him again? Pathetic, Kara, totally pathetic! She let out a quiet chuckle, then climbed into bed, facing Lee. She could see that he was staring at her.

"G'night," she whispered, smiling at him.

"Night," he whispered back, and watched her roll over and pull the blankets up. He watched her for a long time, the desire to go over and get into her bunk nearly becoming overwhelming. He desperately wanted to hold her again, and feel her warmth against him. Frak it, he thought, who's going to know? He threw off his covers and stood up, waiting for movement. Deep, heavy breathing a light snores told him everyone was asleep.

He climbed into Kara's bunk carefully, pulling the curtains shut behind him. He gingerly pulled the covers back and slid his body in beside hers, hoping not to wake her if she'd fallen asleep.

"If you're anyone but Apollo you're a dead man," Kara whispered, still facing the wall. Her body was tense like a coiled spring.

"I do believe that's more than one word," he whispered back, putting his arm around her stomach. He smiled as she relaxed back into him.

"I think a time-out is warranted. It's hard to threaten someone with just one word."

"Granted. You could just say 'die!' though," he whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver.

"That's not nearly as much fun." She rolled over so she was facing him. What a sight - Lee's naked torso in all it's muscular glory beckoning her to lie on it. She nestled up into his arms, head on his chest so she could feel his heart beating.

"Time-out over now?" he asked quietly.

"Yup."

" 'kay"

"Night."

"Night."

"Love." Lee stroked her hair back off her forehead and placed a gentle kiss there instead. He squeezed his arms a little tighter and let out a sigh of pure pleasure. Making love to her again would be wonderful, but it was heavenly enough just to hold her in his arms - something he'd wished for and dreamt of every night since coming aboard Galactica.

"You." She stroked his chest lovingly and kissed it softly.

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Lee woke in the morning to the sound of movement on the other side of the curtains. He could hear lockers opening and shutting quietly (as a favour to those not having to get up for first shift), and voices whispering. He himself didn't have to get up, but he knew Kara had the early morning CAP. Unfortunately, she was still sound asleep beside him.

"Apollo's up early - is he on with us this morning?" Lee heard.

"I thought it was Starbuck."

"Maybe they switched shifts. She still seems to be sleeping."

"You know how grumpy she is in the morning." Ain't that the truth! Lee thought, grimacing. He wasn't looking forward to waking her - her ire in the morning was notorious. Not to mention she was loud and often obnoxious. She was liable to give away their secret if he wasn't careful.

"Kara," he whispered softly in her ear. No response. "Kara." Still nothing. He kissed her ear softly and ran his tongue along the side of her neck to her exposed collarbone. She shifted, but her eyes stayed closed. He began to nibble along her shoulder, hoping she'd wake soon.

"Mmm Lee ..." she murmured. Lee stopped and lifted his head up. She was STILL sleeping! he gave a little shrug. At least she was dreaming about him. But he had to keep her quiet though, if he wanted things to stay private. And they had to stay private - a relationship between an officer and his subordinate was strictly forbidden by military rules.

"Kara. Wake. Up." He made each word into a quick sentence, just in case she happened to be fooling him (wouldn't be the first time!) and caught him breaking the game rules. Her eyes fluttered open and she jumped, obviously not expecting him to be there. Realization dawned though, as she remembered the events of the night before. Her eyes warmed and a smile crept to her mouth as she stared at him. He briefly returned it, and then covered his lips with one finger while pointing at the curtain. Kara heard quiet voices but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

"Frak," she whispered, as she realized the difficulty of the situation. Her mind raced as she tried to formulate a plan. She couldn't just wait for them to leave - she'd likely be late for her shift, and that would bring up a whole host of questions she wanted to avoid. Wasn't that the point? To keep this a secret? How to get out without letting them see Lee ... Suddenly an idea came to her.

She motioned Lee to curl into a little ball at the end of the bed. She threw her covers over him, and yesterday's clothes that she'd unfortunately slept on, making a big untidy pile. Good enough. She'd keep one half of the curtain closed and hopefully no one would look too closely.

She roughly pulled back a section of curtain and climbed out of bed.

"Morning Starbuck." The voice sounded seriously shocked. Lee snickered quietly under the blankets.

"Grrrr... " she growled in return, slamming her locker and throwing her clothes on the bed. Kara gave the other two a nasty glare and began to dress, turning to face the bed. Lee, feeling something hit the bed, ventured a small peek and was rewarded for his efforts. A smile crept across his face as he watched Kara strip out of her pajamas and get dressed.

"Um sir ... do you know where the CAG is?"

"Nope." Kara smirked.

"Are you still on CAP with us?"

"Yup."

"Then why is Apollo up so early?"

Kara shrugged and turned around, now fully dressed. "Dunno." She fixed him with an evil glare - one that everyone knew well. It was the trademark 'don't frak with me' look.

"Okay, uh ... I'll see you in the hangar bay in a few minutes, okay?" he stuttered, grabbing his flightsuit quickly. Both men fled the room, muttering about Starbuck's grouchiness, leaving Kara and Lee alone.

The moment the hatch shut, Kara collapsed on the bed, laughing hysterically. The covers came flying over her as Lee sat up, tears rolling down his face. Finally he could let it out! He laughed so hard he couldn't talk, could barely even breathe. For the next five minutes, the two of them rolled around on the bunk, unable to stop laughing.

"Crazy," Lee finally said, when he got control of himself. He wiped his eyes and cheeks, and began to chuckle again.

"Fun," Kara said, eyes sparkling with joy as well as tears. Lee leaned over and kissed her wet cheek. She ruffled his already spiky hair.

"Work," she said, tilting her head towards the hatch. Lee sighed heavily.

"Yeah."

"Later." She leaned over and kissed him on the lips, then made a face. She pointed a finger at his teeth. "Brush."

Lee gave her an 'oh yeah? make me!' smile and Kara's heart melted. Lee was irresistible when he was mischevious.

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed, after she smiled at him. Kara had the most beautiful, infectious smile he'd ever seen. He couldn't resist her when she smiled at him.

"Later," she repeated, getting off the bunk and heading to the hatch.

"Later," Lee answered, getting up and grabbing his clothes out of his locker, reading to head for the showers.

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Lee luxuriated in the warm water massaging his back. Even though water rationing had forced them into having shorter showers less frequently, they were coveted by everyone on board. He closed his eyes and let the water drip down his face, an image of Kara naked in his arms suddenly coming to mind. He smiled and let his mind wander, but his pleasant daydream was suddenly interrupted by voices entering the head. Frak, not now! He quickly turned off the water and stood still, allowing the cool air to bring his body back to normal before drying off. He swiped at himself with a towel and wrapped is 'round his waist, tucking it in and grabbing his shower supplies.

"Hey Apollo."

"Hey Speedy, Chuckles." Lee walked over to the sink and prepared to brush his teeth.

"Holy frak, what happened to you?" Chuckles' eyes had widened as he caught sight of Lee's back.

"What?" Lee shrugged.

"Your back - it's covered in scratches. You scrape yourself doing Viper repairs or what?"

"No, not that I can recall." Lee was genuinely surprised. He turned and tried to see his back in the mirror. "Where ..." he began then caught sight of them. He blushed. "Oh."

"They're not nail scratches, they're NAIL scratches." Chuckles looked quizzically at Speedy who was grinning widely. "Nails, like a woman's nails." Chuckles jaw dropped open. "Looks like someone around here got lucky."

"Guys ..." Lee began warningly, but his cheeks were flaming red.

"You did. He did." Chuckles callsign was well-chosen. He laughed as he taunted Lee. "The CAG got laid - there's the proof. There's no denying it Apollo."

"Guys please ... let's just drop it, okay?" Lee was beyond embarrassed.

"Notice how he's not denying it." Chuckles elbowed Speedy.

"Yeah, I'm noticing," Speedy smiled.

"Okay, okay, I'm not denying it. Let's just not ... not go there okay?"

"How much are you willing to pay for our silence?"

"Ha! What makes you think I care that much?" Lee laughed. "Go ahead, talk if you want to. You may know what happened, but unless you take a DNA sample, you know with whom." He smiled smugly.

"We can speculate." Chuckles smiled right back.

"Go ahead. Everyone else is. What?" He smiled at their shocked faces. "You think I haven't heard the rumours?"

"Um, no ... sir."

"That's better. Now I suggest you get busy and let me get to work."

"Yes sir," they said in unison. Lee smiled as he left the head. Yup, Starbuck isn't the only one who can frak with people!

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When Kara was done CAP, she headed for Lee's office to see what other duties needed doing, like frakking the CAG perhaps?. She knew she wasn't on shift for alert fighters till after dinner, but there were always more jobs than people to fill them, so she figured she should probably do something useful with herself for the next eight hours.

She knocked on the hatch and began to push it open without waiting for an answer. She stopped suddenly as she saw the Commander sitting across from Lee.

"Starbuck." Frak, not now! It seemed to be Lee's new mantra.

"Apollo."

"Commander."

"Kara, come, join us." Adama waved at the couch beside him.

"Sir." She nodded and smiled at him, then threw a helpless look at Lee. The game wasn't over yet - still one more hour to go! How were they to get through it with the Commander expecting them to behave properly? Lee took a deep breath and sighed. He knew exactly what Kara was thinking.

"So how'd the CAP go this morning?" Adama asked. Kara searched for an appropriate one-word answer.

"Uneventful."

"Good, that's what I like to hear. And the crew evaluations?" He turned to Lee.

"Progressing."

Adama nodded. "I'm glad I can count on you two to keep things running smoothly."

"Yes," Kara began.

"Sir," Lee added quickly.

"So what's on your agenda for the rest of the day? Besides frakking the CAG senseless later?

"Combat," Lee said.

"Training," Kara finished for him.

"Nugget."

"Evaluations."

"Sounds like you have a busy day. Any word from the President?"

"No."

"Sir," Kara added, smirking.

"How's basic flight coming?" Adama asked Kara.

"Um..." Kara stalled.

"Good."

"Mostly ..."

"Landings."

"Are."

"Still."

"Pretty."

"Rough." Frak, we make a good team! Lee thought to himself, as he smiled broadly. It was as though they'd been reading each other's minds - not a pause between words.

"What the heck ... oh, I get it, you two are playing games again." Adama smiled in spite of himself. These two never failed to raise his spirits and make him smile.

"Yes," Kara admitted.

"Sir." Lee finished.

"Sounds like a tougher one than last time." Adama stood up to leave. "I'll leave you to it then - you're making my head spin. I'll expect those evals on my desk first thing in the morning then."

"Yes."

"Sir."

Adama left and they both burst out laughing.

"Frak." Kara laughed.

"Hard," Lee admitted, referring to the game. Kara chose to take it differently however.

"Good." She made sure the hatch was locked then came and straddled Lee, sitting down on his lap.

"Frak," he said, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Now."

THE END