"Apollo, this is Shadow. Get your ass out of the frakking way! You've got Cylons on your tail!" a female voice shouted through the comm.

Lee rolled out of the way as one of the Mark II's barreled towards him, shooting down the Raiders he'd been trying to lose for the past five minutes.

"CAP, get back to the ship," the Commander's voice ordered.

Once all of the Vipers were safely back on the ship, Lee searched out the one with "Shadow" painted on the side. He'd caught glimpses of the illusive Captain. She was the best pilot the Galactica had, right up there with himself and Starbuck.

Now watching her as she pulled off her helmet and left her ship, he saw that she was gorgeous. Long black hair tied up in a ponytail, blue eyes that danced with laughter despite the war that'd just started, and a flawless body that was evident even through the flight suit.

"Apollo, sir," she greeted him as she jumped out of the ship to land in front of him—she forwent the stairs entirely.

'Call me Lee," he stated, holding out a hand for her to shake.

"Then call me Shade," she grinned, shaking his hand.

Lee was stunned for a second by her happy attitude. "Why am I just now meeting my Second?" he inquired curiously as the pair headed to the bunks.

"Been busy." Shade replied vaguely, shrugging out of the flight suit. He fought the urge to check her out as he did the same. "I spend a lot of time in the gym."

"Well, thanks for saving my ass." He said, sitting on his bunk as she crawled into her own across the room.

"It's a nice ass to save," she replied simply.

Lee laughed. "Maybe we could train together sometime," he suggested tentatively after a few moments of silence.

She turned toward him so he could see her smile. "I'd like that.

The rest of the pilots knew exactly what was going on between the two before they themselves did. The pair sparred almost every day—most of them ending with her pinning him and there being a pause full of sexual tension for a few minutes.

Lee's heart froze when he heard Shade screaming through the comm.

"Mayday, mayday! Fire in my port engine! It's spreading!"

"We're jumping. Land now!" the Commander barked.

Shade was struggling to get free in the hanger when Lee ran over. "Get me out of here!" she screamed frantically.

The leg of her uniform was on fire as she fell out of the ship. Lee caught her just before she hit the ground, causing both of them to fall. He struggled to put out the fire before it managed to burn through her suit. While the crew focused on putting out the Viper's fire, Lee carried her back to the abandoned bunks. "Gods, I thought I'd lost you," he breathed, placing her on his bunk without thinking as he cupped her face in his hands.

"That Raider got a lucky shot-off. I didn't even see it," she gasped, trying to fight off sobs.

"Good thing it had terrible aim."

Shade laughed shakily. Her hands grabbed his well-muscled biceps as something to anchor herself.

Lee caved to his basic instincts and hauled her forward into a kiss. She inhaled sharply through her nose as she pulled him closer. She gasped in pain when she tried to wrap her legs around him.

"Frak." She breathed. "Looks like we didn't get that fire put out fast enough."

Lee gently pulled off her flight suit and pants to get a better look at the injury. It wasn't bad enough to warrant a trip down to Sickbay, but he wasn't happy to see the burn.

"Don't worry about it, Lee," she managed. "It's not that bad. I just want to get some sleep."

"I'll help you get to your bunk." He said, sounding slightly disappointed.

She grabbed his arm again. "No, I want to stay here . . . If you don't mind . . . I don't want to be alone."

Smiling a bit, Lee kissed her again. "Of course you can stay here. You're always welcome here."

Shade pulled her tanks off, leaving her in just her bra and underwear as she scooted back in the bunk. "Come on then. We'll talk about this in the morning."

Lee stripped down to his boxers before joining her and closing the bed's curtain for the illusion of privacy. Carefully avoiding her leg, he pulled her close. He was unbelievably happy to hold her like this after he almost lost her.

"Thanks for saving my ass," she whispered, echoing his words from their first conversation.

"It's a nice ass to save." He replied in kind.

Lee grumbled a bit as he pulled himself into the waking world. He instinctively tightened his arms around the woman sharing his bed. Freezing, he realized what exactly he'd just done. When he looked down at who was using his chest as a pillow, Lee remembered what had happened the night before.

Shade was sleeping peacefully with her head resting on his chest. She was more relaxed than he'd ever seen her. Normally, she kept her guard up, but she was completely at ease now.

He leaned down and kissed her gently. She stirred, blinking up at him. Shade stared at him strangely for a couple seconds.

"Lee?" she asked groggily.

Once again, he allowed his basic instincts to drive him; Lee kissed her again, drawing small moan from her. "Yeah, it's me." He smiled. "How's your leg?"

"Fine." She sighed, idly tracing the contours of his chest. "Doesn't hurt too much." Lee could see the faint smile on her face. "So, about us . . ."

"What do you want from . . . us? Well, between us."

"This." She replied. "I want there to be an us."

"Looks like we want the same thing, then." Lee grinned.

Shade returned his grin with a soul-searing kiss as she moved to straddle his hips. His breath hitched when she rocked against him. Before long, they were ripping off what little clothes they'd been wearing and giving in to the drive of pleasure.

Lee rolled off her panting; they'd switched positions at some point. He made sure to keep her close to himself.

"Gods, I've wanted to do that for a while now," he managed.

"You're not the only one." Shade laughed. She picked up his arm to look at his watch and groaned. "We have duty in fifteen."

"Frak." He breathed.

The newly-formed couple fumbled to get their various undergarments back on before they all but fell out of the bunk. They laughed as Shade landed on top of Lee.

"Shit." Shade swore as they skidded to a stop in the hanger five minutes lat.

"Look who we have here." Starbuck teased instantly. "Sounded like you two had fun this morning."

"Well if it isn't this ship's favorite couple." Helo said as he walked up.

"Does everyone know about us already?" Lee laughed.

"Already?" Starbuck questioned.

"We only got together this morning, Kara." Shade explained with a laugh.

"Everyone's seen this coming for months." Helo stated. "Anyway, your father's heard about you two by now. He wants to see you in his quarter."

"Of course he does." Lee sighed.

"Can't keep the old man waiting." Shade grinned, pulling his arm.