In deference to midnightair, SG1SamFan, Lattelady and Lolatheshowgirl, I decided to write an epilogue. Hope you enjoy.-roofietoof
Stupid. Of all the stupid frakking things for her to have done, of all the stupid frakking things that she had done, this had to rank near the top.
She was going to be late. Today of all days, she was going to be late for the pilot's briefing.
They had left his office at the same time late last night and walked side by side down the corridors until they reached the pilot's bunkroom.
Normally they would have left the office and entered the quarters at different times so as not to arouse suspicion. Shewas about to do just that when he had taken her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.
He shook his head. "What the hell for?" He had smiled. "It's gonna be an undeniable fact by 07:02 tomorrow."
They had entered the room quietly, noticing that any bunks that weren't empty had their curtains tightly shut. They undressed at their respective lockers and she had leaned over her bed to pull back the covers. When she stood back up, she felt him pressed behind her, his breath against her neck as he moved her hair off to one side. He had kissed her shoulder and let his tongue flicker over the rapidly-heating skin.
She had turned around and smiled at him, placing a finger on his lips and one up to hers in a silent gesture. He saw her mouth "Tomorrow."
He nodded, reluctantly pulled away, and went to his own bunk. She had fallen asleep listening to the lullaby of his breathing, happy and content that this was the last night that she would have to listen to it from across the room.
She had heard him and several other pilots awaken sometime later, but a quick glance at her bedside clock verifying that it was only 05:30 was met with relief when she realized she could sleep for another hour before she had to get up for the day.
Sleep was a good thing.
"I hate sleep." She now muttered to herself as she walked quickly down the hallway. She glanced at her watch. "07:12" She confirmed in self-disgust. Lee was a creature of habit, and he would be well into the briefing by now. She had missed her opportunity and they would just have to wait for another one to come along. Kissing at the beginning of the briefing was one thing, but she knew that neither one of them was the type to stop it in-progress just to do a quick tongue dance.
Now she was just hoping that Lee wouldn't kill her for her tardiness and the disruption of their plan. He could be quite a lot to handle when she had done something to upset him. Maybe he would take her to his office after the briefing for a good dressing-down. She giggled slightly.
"Morning, Starbuck." Commander Adama said to her from the other side of the hallway as he walked in the opposite direction. "What do you hear?"
She hadn't noticed him before, but she stopped suddenly as she heard his voice. He stopped too and they stood face to face.
"Morning, Sir." She started hesitantly as she drew in a deep breath. "I need to speak with you."
"Of course." The Commander said and gave her his full attention. "What's on your mind?"
"Well," She sighed. "Something is going to be circulating around the ship by the end of the day, and while I'm almost positive that you know about it, you haven't heard it from me, therefore it doesn't count."
A smile flashed on his face for a split second before going back to serious. "I think I already know what you're going to say, but go ahead."
"Okay. Here goes." She laughed nervously. "I've been sleeping with your son. Well, not just sleeping. Oh gods, I can't believe I just said that to you. I just meant that it goes way beyond sleeping. Oh gods, I just made it worse. I'm just saying that it's not just ordinary sex, it goes much deeper. Oh HOLY FRAK, why can't I stop TALKING?" She cradled her forehead in her palm. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"
"Just a little bit."
"All I want to say is that I love your son. It's not just……… it's not just any other thing. I don't know how it could possibly ever be with someone that had your last name. I love Lee, just like I loved Zak. Except more, I think. Utterly, completely, madly and until I die, until after I'm dead, because I'm sure that there's some kind of lay-away plan or after-party or………I'm frakking rambling again!"
The Commander then did something that she thought she would never see. He laughed. Heartily. "Yes, but it looks good on you."
"I want to be with him, and I wanted you to know about it." She whispered, finally allowing herself to breathe.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Lee told me as much when I saw him thirty minutes ago."
"I'm sorry?" She said, shaking her head like she just couldn't believe it. "Lee talked to you about this?"
"Yes. He said pretty much the same thing, in pretty much the same bumbling, incoherent, but wholly wonderful way that you did." He paused as he saw her rubbing her eyes. "I'm surprised that Lee didn't mention to you that he was gonna talk to me about it. I wonder why he didn't."
"Probably because he knew that I wanted to talk to you too, and saw an opportunity to pay me back for all of the times I've ever put him in an awkward situation for a good laugh." She looked to the floor sheepishly, and when she looked back up, she was chewing her bottom lip. "You're not mad?"
"No."
"You're not concerned about us breaking the regs, or about how other people will view it?"
"Lt. Thrace, the fact that you and Captain Adama are not living in the brig right now after the many, many, and I do mean many things that the two of you have done worthy of me putting you there should act as proof of how little the regs concern me."
She looked away, tears brimming in her eyes. "Do you have any personal reservations?"
He took off his glasses. "I'll admit it'll be weird for a while. But you know it always tore at my heart a little that I never got to see Zak with the woman he loved. Seeing Lee with the woman he loves should ease the sting. And I'd always wanted to see what you looked like, happy and in love with my son. I realize now it doesn't matter which son."
"Sir—."
"It'll be weird for awhile, however it'll be less weird very soon. And not weird at all in about two years."
"Two years?" Her face grew puzzled. "Why two years?"
"Well," He stated, putting his glasses back on. "Babies don't really start to get cute until they're about three months old. Throw in nine months for pregnancy, and maybe a year for the two of you to stop acting like children and realize that you want to have children instead. I figure I'll be a very happy man in about two years." He started to walk away and then turned back momentarily. "Oh, and I'd prefer that my grandchild not be illegitimate, so you might wanna get working on that too."
For the second time in less than twelve hours, William Adama left her standing in the middle of the hallway, staring after him with her mouth hanging open.
A young ensign whose name she didn't know stopped to check on her when he saw the Almighty Starbuck frozen where she stood. "Lieutenant? Lieutenant, are you okay?"
She shuddered when he put his hand on her shoulder. "Um, um, I, um." She looked away, then back in the Commander's direction, then to the ensign. "Um……….."
She walked into the briefing room and was relieved when she saw that his head was down, looking at the list on his podium as he went through the run-down. She would just slip unnoticed into the vacant seat on the end of the row next to Helo.
"Lt. Thrace." Lee said looking up at her before she could sit down. "Glad you could find time in your day to join us."
"I'm sorry, Captain Adama. I overslept." She smiled widely. "But I see you started without me."
"You snooze, you lose, Starbuck." He answered simply.
"Well, I was exhausted. And that's partly your fault." Kara saw Kat nearly spit out the coffee that she had just sipped. "You know, because of all the extra shifts you've been assigning."
"We couldn't wait for you any longer." He tapped his pen against the podium.
"You always used to wait for me to come." She said as Racetrack coughed deliberately and Helo nearly doubled over in his chair with laughter. "Oh well, as long as you don't finish without me." She sat down in her chair and grinned deviously at him as he looked down to his papers, biting his lip in an attempt to seem put-out instead of amused and turned-on.
She sat in her chair with her feet propped up on the one in front of her as Lee went through his briefing with the same single-mindedness that he did everything else. But every time he looked up, Kara thought it was her duty to torture him. Unzipping her flight suit down to nearly her navel and then zipping it back up, licking her lips, mouthing words that he couldn't quite make out but that he knew were definitely not in a grammar school dictionary, and nodding her head as she gave him only slightly obscene hand gestures.
"Lt. Thrace?" He stated firmly, cutting through her attempts at seduction. "Does that nod and that gesture of the hand mean that you wouldn't mind taking over the night-watch for the next few days?" He smiled at her widely, raising his eyebrows.
Oh, he is so gonna get it. "No, I wouldn't mind at all, Sir." She smirked. "Since I most definitely won't be doing anything else for the next three nights." She finished harshly.
He bit back a laugh as he heard Frosty, Joker and Stingray let out quiet whistles.
"Okay guys, that's it." Lee said as he closed his folder.
As the meeting broke up, she stayed in her chair. Helo turned to her, shaking his head. "Cute." He laughed.
"I am, aren't I?" She laughed back.
"Can we expect this double-entendre freakshow to continue? If so, I need to find a hammer so I can beat it against my head in an attempt to lose all visual and auditory senses."
She smiled sweetly. "You can keep the tools in the tool belt, Karl. We just wanted to give the people something to talk about. After today, we'll be perfect little soldiers."
"Good to know." He patted her knee, got up and walked out.
She sat there asLee got his papers together. He looked up at her and grinned lustfully. She stood and started to walk over to him, but was stopped by Hotdog stepping in front of her. "Um, Starbuck, did you make this schedule?"
Lee saw that her journey over to him had been interrupted and moved to pull her out of the conversationbut he was also quickly stopped by someone asking him a question.
"CAG, why do I have to fly with Frosty?" Max whined as the pilot in question stood beside her.
Simultaneous conversations began:
"Yeah, Hotdog, I made it. Why?" Starbuck grumbled.
"You don't ever schedule time before CAP for pre-flight checklists." Hotdog pointed out.
"Nobody does, Costanza."
"Well." Hotdog sighed. "It's just something that we're supposed to do and yet it's never on the schedule."
Racetrack had been standing nearby and interjected. "It's not something you schedule, Hotdog. You're just supposed to do it."
"But it's not on the schedule."
"What do you want me to do?" Kara asked, irritated. "Schedule fifteen minutes before CAP for you to do your damn job?"
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"You're flying with Frosty because I scheduled it that way." Lee answered abruptly. "I don't really need to give you a reason other than that."
"But Sir, I already told you, we don't work well together." Max replied. "He doesn't show me any respect."
"In order to show someone respect, you actually have to respect them." Frosty sneered.
"Well," She shot back. "I've seen some of the nuggets call you 'Sir' and come to attention when they see you, then five minutes later talk about what a loser you are, so obviously that isn't always true."
"Max," Lee began, trying to placate her. "The rotation can't just be changed whenever someone doesn't like who they're paired with. But if you can give me a concise, compelling argument as to why you can't abide by it, I'll consider changing the lineup."
"Well," She thought for a moment. "He's stupid and I frakking hate him."
Lee sighed and rubbed his temple. "Well put." He said sarcastically.
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"I just think that if we had some structure in our lives that it would be better for everybody." Hotdog said.
"Gods." Racetrack shook her head. "You really are a whiny little bitch aren't you? You want a superior officer to hold your hand while you're in the head, too?"
"Hey, I'm just trying to say that things are kinda starting to go back to normal now and we can't use the whole 'unusual circumstances' thing anymore."
"Nobody's ever complained before." Starbuck snapped. "And I don't just mean lately, I mean EVER."
"You're just supposed to do it, Costanza." Racetrack interrupted.
"But it's not on the schedule, if it was really something that I was always supposed to do, it would be on the schedule. And I'm looking at the schedule and it's not on the schedule." Hotdog turned back to Kara. "Lieutenant, do you know of any reason that it can't be on the schedule?"
"No." Kara rubbed her eyes. "But I do know that if you say the word 'schedule' one more time, I'm gonna beat you into the frakking ground."
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"Yeah, Max, that was well put." Frosty nodded. "Do they make dictionaries that you can tape on a ceiling, because I've gotta think that would be the only way you could look at one long enough to know those eloquent words."
"Okay, you know what—." She hissed back.
"CAG, I've got an idea. Why don't you put her with Joker? Oh yeah, that's right, she's already ridden him………….." Frosty paused as he saw Max put her hands on her hips in indignation. "I'm sorry, I meant to say ridden with him……….. and he decided he didn't like it." He gave her a fake smile.
"I've thought of another reason I can't fly with you, Frosty." Max shrugged. "You can't maneuver a control stick to save your life." She looked him up and down. "Is that a common problem for you outside the cockpit as well?"
Everything started to run together.
"Starbuck, I'm just trying to say……………….."
"You do it because I'm telling you to do it; you do it because you're supposed to do it. It doesn't need to be frakking scheduled!"
"CAG, you see the way that he speaks to me?"
"The way that I speak to you? What about the way you speak to me? What's left of the world doesn't revolve around you, Max."
"I don't have time for the two of you. My day is crammed full enough as it is without taking time out to listen to your childish, petulant gripes!"
"Starbuck, why can't………….…?"
"CAG, you've gotta………………"
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"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh." Kara screamed.
"ENOUGH!" Lee yelled at the same time.
They both took in a deep breath and looked at each other sympathetically.
Kara raised her arms up and then instantaneously let them fall back down in exasperation. Shelaughed slightly. "NOW would be good."
Without hesitation Lee sidestepped Frosty and Max, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. Then he kissed her, his hands moving up and down her back and through her hair.
She gave back as good as she got, cradling his head in her hands, her lips moving in a perfect dance with his. This lasted awhile.
The remaining people left in the room stood and watched. Shocked, but at the same time, not shocked at what had unfolded before them. They all looked to each other for a moment, wondering if they should stay or quietly make their way to the hatch.
"Huh." Max snorted, turning back to look at Apollo and Starbuck. "I guess she was right about the 'not friends' thing. Even I don't kiss my friends like that and I'm a total slut."
Hotdog looked to the others. "Can I have Starbuck's bunk when she moves out of it? It's killing me to sleep under Joker."
Kara and Lee pulled apart slowly, grinning at each other as he pushed back a strand of her hair that had fallen loose.
"Okay." He said simply, though still a little out of breath. "I'll see you later, sweetheart."
She patted him on the shoulder. "Have a good day, dear."
She watched as he exited the room.She thenalternated between glancing at the floor and back to the hatch that he had just walked out of. She reached up to touch her lips and felt not only him still lingering there but a huge smile as well. She then noticed that there were other people left in the room, staring at her with amused looks on their faces.
She turned to all of them. "What?" She hissed. "I can still beat the crap out of all of you."
"You've gotta take Thumper off flight for a while." Kara told Lee a month later as they sat in the mess hall by themselves, looking over the flight logs and schedules that were spread before them.
"You wanna tell me why I have to remove a perfectly fit pilot from the rotation?" He said looking over a piece of paper.
"Well," She started hesitantly. "He's a little too fit, especially with the ladies." She watched as Lee looked up, puzzled. "He went to the Rising Star two weeks ago and he………came back with something." She bit back a laugh as realization hit Lee and his eyes got wide. "Cottle doesn't want him flying while he's on the medication."
"Yeah." Lee rubbed his temple. "We'll have to move some things around, ask people to pull extra shifts."
"Maybe we should tell Thumper to ask them, and instruct him to give them a detailed explanation as to why he's asking. That would act as a deterrent for him let it happen again." She laughed.
"Hmph. Can't really blame him though, have you seen some of the girls on the Rising Star?" He whistled.
"Excuse me?" She said in shock and looked around the empty room in bafflement. "Am I in here? Because it feels like I'm in here."
He chuckled. "That came out the wrong way."
She raised her eyebrows. "Then I suggest you make it come out the right way, and I mean damn quick."
He leaned forward in his chair and took her hand in his. "I just meant that it's easy for us to forget how lonely people can get, ya know? Because we haven't felt that way in a while."
She smiled. "That was actually a pretty good revision of your previous remark, Captain. I might just let that one go." She handed him a pen. "You have to sign his removal papers."
He smiled and moved the paper over in front of him, signing his name.
"Carlson wants off night-watch, she wants to go to early." Kara said as he handed the pen back to her.
"Which one's Carlson?" Lee asked off-handedly.
"Blond girl, came onboard with the last batch of recruits." Kara answered.
"So, she's only been here for five weeks and she wants to get on the most coveted watch?" Lee watched as she nodded in confirmation. "Kara, sometimes I'm not even on the early-watch."
Kara flipped the top page over to look at the next one. "Which is why I told her that it wasn't gonna happen, but I had to run it by you first. She says if she doesn't get it she's gonna go back to the Adriatic."
"Let her." He sighed. "I'm so sick of this crap. Sometimes it feels like the people who haven't been on Galactica since day one are never gonna grasp what miracles bad food, short showers and stolen moments in the CAG's office really are."
Her face took on a dark pink hue and she dropped her head in embarrassment.
He looked at her for a long time as she wrote something across a page. "Do you wanna get married?"
She finished putting her thought down on paper and then looked up. "Sure." She said simply.
"To me?"
"Well, I've already promised Hotdog I'd marry him. But we haven't set a date yet, so I guess I could break it off." She teased.
"Do you wanna do it soon?"
"Well," She shrugged. "It all depends on how fast you can get my dowry together."
"Your dowry?" He laughed. "I thought dowries were what women gave men so that they would marry them."
"I changed the rules." She winked. "And if you wanna get married, I suggest you get used to me doing that."
"Okay." He pondered it for awhile. "All I've got are three cigars that Representative Bagget gave me."
"That'll work." She said. "Oh, by the way, you only have two now." She saw him shake his head in astonishment and then return to his report. "Don't keep stuff like that where you know I can get to it." She warned him as she looked back to hers.
"We could do it soon. Unless of course you wanted a real wedding." He raised his head and locked gazes with her.
"You mean a real wedding? Where I'd stand below a canopy of flowers in my virginal white gown and we'd recite love sonnets to each other while harp music played?" Her eyes narrowed and she scrunched up her nose as she shook her head in rejection of the idea.
"Yeah." He laughed in amused understanding. "I figured that wouldn't really be your style." He looked back down and circled something on the rotation that looked out of place, showing it to her. "Make sure you fix that."
"I will." She took the paper from him.
"The President is sending around a priest to all of the ships for grief counseling a couple times a week, he'll be here at 09:00." He scribbled something down on the next paper he saw. "You busy tomorrow?" He looked back up to her.
"Very." She responded as she made the adjustment on the rotation with a red pen. "I have training in the morning and CAP in the afternoon."
"I see." He stated.
"But I'm free for an hour in between." She looked back to him. "We could do it then."
"Sounds good." He nodded as he put the pen down on the table. "I gotta go, I'm due in CIC." He rose from his chair and leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead before starting to walk away. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." She smiled tenderly as she went back to her paperwork.
-THE END.