Fic: Double Trouble
Title: Double Trouble
Author: Alexandria Kanaras
Rating: T
Summary: Was leaving really the best idea?
Pairing: Kara/Lee, Jean/Sam, Helo/Sharon
Spoilers: None. The show is over.
Kara stared at the planet beneath her with a mix of dread, excitement and blankness. The observation deck was completely deserted and it left her alone with the largest view of the planet below them. They had found it.
They had found Earth.
The fabled 13th colony; and here she was, staring at it. She sat slowly. Gods knew that there were enough people down there to vanish among. To simply cease to exist. Get lost among the billions and billions of people.
She looked at the fading mark on her arm. No one knew of the separation between her and Sam. And she intended to keep it that way. Jackets had become a norm for her as soon as she learned she was pregnant. Blaming wonky heating system and the processed algae on the excess weight and larger clothes. A frakked up knee took her off vipers. Her last real connection with Lee broken, she let herself drift away from him, slowly. Slowly enough that they could pass each other in the hallway and he wouldn't even glance her way. It hurt but she wasn't going to destroy the one good thing left in his life.
It was her frak up getting pregnant and he was trying for a family with Dee. Sam couldn't have kids, and Lee wasn't stupid enough to think she'd slept with someone else 5 months ago on that week. He maybe was hopeless but not stupid. She rested a hand on her belly and closed her eyes, counting slowly to 20. Letting her fears and doubts wash away from her.
It would take at least three years for the Galactica to get to the edge of the cloud obscuring their view from the rest of the universe, take their readings and scans, and then they'd jump back.
But no one was sure exactly how long it would take.
Cottle so much as told her she wasn't going on this trip anyways. That they were going to muster her out on medical. Busted knee. She'd have the baby on Earth, then go for a physical, and they'd find it was a mistake. She would be fine to fly.
She had to do this. It was the right thing.
*-*
Lee looked at the paper on his desk with something akin to disbelief. "You mustered her out? I didn't sign off on this."
"I knew you wouldn't do it. Seems you can't think straight when it comes to a certain pilot. So I went to Tigh." Cottle couldn't miss the look Lee was giving him, like he wanted to strangle him. "She's gone Major and nothing is going to change that. She's a civilian now."
"Just like that."
"Just... like... that." He knew this wouldn't be easy for the younger man to hear.
"I need her here to control the rooks."
"Learn to do it yourself." He excused himself, passing Ana at the hatch.
"What she'd do now?" Lee's eyes finally cut to his wife. Seemed she still had something against Kara. Gods it explained everything. Why Kara had drifted from him.
He didn't even realize she had been pulling away. Their jogging stopped because of her knee, and breakfasts slowed slowly over the last few months. Then he had taken the morning CAP to be gone before Ana got off of shift. Kara swung to the late deck shift to line up with Anders' visits. Gods... he had stopped looking her way and she vanished.
*-*
It turns out she didn't have any trouble finding a place to settle down.
Cottle had taken care to send a coded data burst to the medical doctor who ran a full physical on her and found well, he found the baby. Which she feigned shock and outrage and he of course found a set of fully functional knees.
Once the military found out who and what she could do they gave her base housing and a job. Teaching Nuggets. She and Sam finished removal of their wedding tattoos and she finally was able to show off her pregnancy. Of course none of it was that easy.
*-*
Kara glanced around the four bed, two bath house with something close to disdain. Jean glanced her way as she carried in a box. "What the hell is that look for? This is the best frakking house on the base and you look at it like the ground could swallow you whole and you'd die happy."
"It's very white." Sam chuckled at her words as he came through carrying another box. "Extremely white. What the hell?" She shot a glare at the ensign assigned to help her adjust to the way life was run here. "This is stark white and just how many babies do they think I am carrying. What the hell are you laughing at?" Kara said as she spun on Sam, seeing him stand straighter in defense.
"Kara." His tone placating as he watched her glance around with a glare. "You can paint the walls."
"I don't like this place."
"I'm sure that they can find another..." The ensign quickly shut up at Kara's glare.
"Look, unless you want to sleep in your car..." Jean quickly backpedaled when Kara glanced at her like she'd suggested the most brilliant thing and took the box she was carrying back to the car. "Kara... that was a joke you know." Jean said as she followed the woman back to her car. Sam shrugged as the ensign looked at him with wide eyes.
"SAM!"
*-*
"Ma'am... you can't sleep in your car." Kara cut a look at the general that would make most men's balls head to the street for safety. "If you don't like that house, I'm sure we could find one to your liking."
"Nothing on this base is going to be to my 'liking'." She used her fingers to quote the last word, twisting it around to make it sound vile and disgusting.
"Well Captain..."
"Don't Captain me."
"I did not give you permission to speak." He finally had enough of her mouth.
"I didn't ask for it. Look, I don't know what you think that you are going to accomplish by acting like a smug over arrogant jackass but I am not the person to frak with. You-" She pointed at him as if she could push him over with the motion. "Wanted me here. I'm here. I don't have to answer to anyone. I'm a teacher here, not a part of your military."
"You cannot reason with a pregnant woman." He stated tiredly. Glancing to Sam and Jean behind her. Jean shrugged.
"Don't look at me." Sam muttered, eyes glancing to where Kara was standing. "You can't reason with her when she's not pregnant."
"How did you not get tossed out on your ass?"
"I grow on people." Her matter of fact reply made the old gruff laugh. She finally sat down, the anger suddenly gone from her as she smirked.
"So. What are you going to do about your living space?"
Kara shrugged, twisting to the side suddenly as the baby kicked. Sam and Jean jumping to her side. Even the gruff general looked worried.
"I'm fine. Just startled me."
"Kicking?" Jean asked, seeing Kara nod her eyes tearing slightly before she pushed them back. Sam standing and moving to the chair beside her.
"How about bunk rooms? You got any of those?"
"None for women pilots... not at this facility."
"Why not?"
"Unlike your military. Ours isn't Co-Ed."
"Why the frak not? Don't tell me you frakking people think women aren't cut out for front lines. That's not going to fly. My class is to be taught my way."
"Well there are..."
"Don't talk to me about anymore of your frakking laws!" Kara pressed her hand to the front of her head as a blinding headache slammed into her. "Gods damn it!" She leaned forward trying to breathe through the pain. Her feet bouncing on the floor as she tried to push away the pain pounding against her skull.
"Kara?" Jean asked, lightly setting a hand on her back feeling the tremors running through her body. "Kara are you okay?"
"She gave herself a migraine. We need to lay her down." Sam murmured softly, his voice low so not to make Kara's headache worse.
The general nodded, standing, and watched as Jean helped her stand. Slid an arm around her waist, helping her out of the room. Sam followed behind them, surprised when Sharon and Karl rounded the corner in front of them.
"Kara?" Karl asked immediately, framing her face with his hands. "What the frak are you doing down here?" Karl paused, taking a look at the pain glassed look in her eyes. "What's wrong with you? Migraine?"
She nodded mutely and her face twisted in pain.
"Our bunks are this way." Sharon said, nodding to the general.
"We were on our way there." They fell in step behind Karl.
Kara groaned as they laid her down, rolling onto her side.
"Out." She whispered and Karl nodded, standing to give her room.
"I'll stay with her." Sharon said, seeing the rest agree and slip out.
"OUT!" Kara yelled.
"I'm not going anywhere, so just go to sleep." Sharon said as the door shut behind Sam.
*-*
"Is she always like that?"
"No... usually she's worse." Karl answered. "What the hell pissed her off anyway?"
Sam and Jean pointed at the general, seeing the man bristle.
Karl gave a lopsided smile. "Sucks to be you, sir."
"What is with you people?"
"Considering the fact that we've been chased across the galaxy by a race of machines that want to destroy us, I consider us normal."
"You consider yourself normal. Please."
Karl shrugged slightly. "So what's the problem."
"It started with a house..."
*-*
General Jack Glades sat in his office with a sigh. God these colonials were going to be the death of him. He'd been in the Air Force for 41 years and never had he come across a group of people that were a bigger pain in the ass than that small group; especially one young woman.
He could see why the Admiral had let them muster down to the surface. In the short two days they had been on his base they had gotten in a fight, trashed his mess and berated everything that they disagreed with. Granted most of it had merit, but damn it to hell.
He did not want this lack of discipline on his base.
*-*
Jack glanced up as his door swung open and a irate looking Commander Kara Thrace stood in his doorway.
Her promotion was based less on her record, and more that she didn't take orders from anyone anyway. This gave her a legitimate reason at least to order everyone around but him. She just ignored him. The blue folder clutched in her fingers gave a clue as too why she was in his office.
"There is not a single woman in this folder."
And that confirmed it. Jack sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "We don't allow women in known combat conditions."
"I'm not doing this." She tossed the folder on his desk. "Full integration. That is what we agreed upon."
"No. That is what you stated. No one agreed to anything."
"Fine. Get some one else to run your class. I'm not doing it." Her words cutting as she stormed out of his office, the door slammed in her wake.
God he hated that woman. Picking up his phone when it rang a moment later. "Claudia... get me Karl Agathon in here."
---
Karl stepped into a war zone as he entered the general's office and saw Jack Glades shifting through files. "Your-" he emphasized with a point of his finger, "friend is being unreasonable."
"Starbuck usually is. Unfortunately, she's also usually right. I told you that non-integration thing wasn't going to fly."
"It's going to take time."
"Also... not going fly." Karl shrugged.
Jack growled under his breath. "Find someone else. She can not be the only viper pilot on the planet. I know she's not. There are 12! If I can just find the files."
Karl grinned as he shifted through another filing cabinet. "She's the best."
"She's psychotic and completely unreasonable! I want someone else!" Glades held up a piece of paper in triumph. "CLAUDIA!"
"Just for the record." Karl waited as the general turned to face him. "This is a complete waste of time."
*-*
"So!" Jean stated suddenly, and loudly, 4 minutes into the drive. "We found you the perfect place."
"Yeah?"
"And!" Her volume caused Kara to wince in the front seat. The guard finally screening them through the gate. "It's right on main street."
"And?"
"You'll see." Main street was right beside the base, a local hot spot that allowed the base personal to relax. Two turns later had her parked in front of a local place that appeared closed. Unassuming from the outside.
"A bar?"
"Think about it. A bar. Beside a base. They may be different but not that damn different."
Kara felt a smile pulling at her lips.
"The three of us... with a bar... They won't know what hit them and..." Sam pointed up, seeing Kara glance up. "Three bed, two bath loft from hell."
Jean and Sam knew they hit it on the head when she grinned from ear to ear and bolted from the car.
*-*
"Go against Starbuck!" Showboat squeaked as she raised an eyebrow. "Are you completely insane? That women would have my entrails for the pure pleasure of it. I don't think so, sir. Plus she's right. Your military system is sexist and completely biased. I wouldn't teach in it ever." Showboat glanced at Karl with wide eyes. "You're with this?"
"Oh no." Karl held up his hands in a surrender position. "I told him that there was absolutely no point to this and that it was a complete waste of time. No one in their right mind would go against Starbuck, even if they did agree with him, which no one would. Some of our best pilots are women. Most of them actually. Showboat, Athena."
"Starbuck." Showboat said with a grin. "You want good viper pilots, she can give them to you. Unfortunately, you are not going to get her to do anything in this system. Ever."
*-*
Kara glanced around the main room with envious eyes. "Owning a business sucks."
"I know." Sam said with a grin. "We can do most of it. Because of the nuggets."
"What nuggets? I'm not helping them in their sexist..." Kara ignored Jean's smirk, holding up her hands as she walked away from them, towards the back office where the stairs were supposed to be. "I know, I know, you've heard it before."
The front doors opened into a main eating area with a few old wooden tables scattered across the floor, dust covering most of the room. A bar stretched along the back wall and barstools sat at it every few feet. Most were stacked in a storage room off to the right. Shelves lined the full length mirrors and Kara eyed it all with a wide grin.
Seeing through the repairs needed to the finished product.
Sam and Jean followed her with a knowing grin. She was already sold. The loft was just an added bonus. Once you stepped into the room it was completely open. Off to the right was the restrooms, storage area and office. A set of stairs in the office went up to the loft. The loft had what was considered a 'great' room. Eight hundred square feet for a kitchen, dining and living area. The walls were dusty with peeling brown paint and white repair patches. There was a large window over the stove and to the left of the kitchen counter was a sliding glass door. Kara walked over and quickly opened it, letting fresh air in.
The entire place faced south, so the west side of the apartment was living space. A master bedroom with two smaller bedrooms. The two smaller shared a bathroom that sat between them. The master bedroom was on the south side of the hallway. And shared a wall with the kitchen. A walk-in closet and master bath completed the area.
All of it was in need of major repairs but Kara came out with a wide grin.
"Sold?" Sam asked, seeing the anxious real estate agent standing off to the side.
"Sold."
*-*
Kara signed the papers easily, watching as the real estate agent quickly scooted out of her new place. She paused to take a good look around. The walls still needed some repair, the sliding door that opened too the outside balcony was cracked and needed replacing. The stove only worked when it felt like it and the fridge was on strike. The carpet was stained and looked like crap with patches missing. The window over the stove wouldn't close.
Gods she loved this place.
Moving towards the long hallway she made note of everything that would need to be done. The sliding door in her room didn't even open. The wall had a hole in it. The bathrooms needed to be completely redone. The closet needed new drywall. Both of the smaller bedrooms needed new paint and the windows fixed.
She had a lot to do and not a whole lot of time.
*-*
Kara heard the door open and looked over her shoulder to see Karl and Jack standing there. It had been a week since she stormed out of the general's office. Six days since she bought the bar and loft. Sam and Jean were taking care of permits and whatever for them. She showed up when they told her too and signed different papers. They let her do most of the repairs, as it gave her something to do, and let them live when they did something she didn't like.
Jack looked around slowly and then back to the woman standing on the bar with a tool belt around her hips. The obviously pregnant woman wearing worn overalls and a tool belt was a sight to see. Her hair was pulled back into a rough ponytail, paint was smeared over one cheek and her clothes. She had a pair of pliers in one hand and a piece of wire in the other. Looked like she was putting together a speaker.
"Damn Buck... you gotten a lot done in a week." Karl was impressed.
She shrugged, the movement surprisingly easy with her hands over her head as she twisted the wire in place and let go, nodding to a young man at the end of the bar with a laptop. He tapped a button and music filled the room. Kara grinned and popped all the wires in place before twisting it up and slipping the cover into it's holder.
"Nice." Karl walked across the area as the music ended and the man shut the laptop.
"Yeah, I got the lighting fixed, redid the floor, the bar buffed and scrubbed, that was the last speaker."
"The door and window replaced, painted the walls." The guy said while he ticked the list off on his fingers.
"Re-did the bathrooms yesterday." Kara saw Karl glanced that way as he helped her off the bar to sit on one of the stools. "And brought out the stools from storage."
"Which she made me go through." The guy with the laptop groused.
"Aw... poor baby." Karl said to the young man with mock sympathy.
Jack realized he was Jimmy 'Trash' Clover. A raptor pilot from Galactica.
"You should have seen the bugs in there." He shivered before an evil grin spread over his face. "Showboat screamed."
"I did no such thing!" She announced from somewhere underneath the bar.
"No wonder you got some much done. You have helpers." Helo smirked, seeing Kara shrug.
"So. What do you want?"
Jack stepped forward, seeing her brush her hands off on her pants. "I've got a proposal."
"Full integration." Kara figured if she kept repeating it, he'd understand she was not compromising.
Kara stood, turning to face the bar as Showboat rose from beneath it.
"Within six months." Jack clarified. "If your program works."
"My program?" She twisted back at his words. "Karl. Tell me you did not let this man come here with all of this bullshit."
"Kara, two classes of full integration; including head and bunk rooms. For all viper, raptor and deck training- three months each. If it works... in six months the entire military goes co-ed."
"Even front lines?"
Jack nodded, extending his hand, watching as she took it slowly. "Congratulations Commander. You accomplished what 100 years of diplomacy wouldn't have."
Kara gave a half smirk and shrug. "Every one has a skill. Causing headaches is mine."
"Well you certainly do that..." A few moments of silence followed as everyone in the room digested the news. "So show me this bar."
"Yes sir."
Karl caught the look of surprise on the general's face as Kara turned to start talking.
*-*
"KARA?!"
Kara flinched as Jean's voice carried throughout the room. She had sent the group out shopping to pick up supplies after she had finally chased the general out of her bar earlier that day. "UPSTAIRS!"
A thunder of noise from downstairs revealed Jean and Marcia as they rushed upstairs carrying boxes and bags. Sam, Trash, Karl, and Sharon at a much more subdued pace.
"By the way. The Johnson's love and hate you." Marcia announced as she set the boxes on the table.
The Johnson's owned the hardware store across the street from them and Kara had been keeping them in business the last few days, needing supplies for the reconstruction. She had moved her bed in here the day they signed the papers and had been working on whatever was needed when she had a spare moment.
They dropped the stuff by the door and started separating it. Marcia coming to kneel beside Kara where she was underneath the sink, taking plumbing apart. "Cottle would kick your ass if he knew you're not sleeping like you should be."
"Cottle's not here, is he?" Kara's words made Marcia smirk. "Speaking of work, you're going to be my assistant in the class. Helping me with the practicals."
Kara pulled herself out from underneath the sink, glaring up at her.
"What? I thought that Stinger would....What?"
"What the hell would make you think that I would let Stinger with in 100 feet of my nuggets. I hate that bastard." Kara's tone reinforced her feeling toward him.
Marcia granted that with a tilt of her head. "General Glades had indicated that I was going to be transferred somewhere upstate."
"Frak him. I'm doing what I want. I've got a spare bedroom. It's yours, if you want it." Kara said as she rolled back underneath the sink.
Marcia tilted her head to see her loosen the pipes and pull them apart before moving to work on the glue pasty shit holding the sink to the cabinet. "You want me living here?"
"Hell, I could use the extra hand around plus when the bar opens I'm gonna have to split my time between the two. Not to mention that I'm gonna have to keep you posted on what is going on in the class. Figured this would be the easiest way to accomplish all of those." Kara shrugged.
"Sure. I don't see a problem with that."
"Good, I'll let you do what you want with it then. Back room. Now... lets get this damn thing off."
Marcia smirked, helping her to stand.
*-*
Kara stares across the class of nuggets with a grin. Gods this was going to be fun. A group full of hopeful faces and not a one had a clue about what was going to happen. Not a single clue. Showboat was standing off to the side with a stoic face.
"ON YOUR FEET!" The room exploded with noise as they quickly rose. "You have to be in your absolute best physical condition to fly a viper. So an intense course of PT is going to accompany your training. You will learn to listen, you will learn to obey. Because if you don't you are going to get yourself killed. These are not your normal fighters. They will twist you, and turn you and spit you out for dinner if you don't know what you are doing."
"How do you fly? Being pregnant?"
"No one said you could speak, nugget!." Kara barked out.
The mans jaw clenched in anger
She mentally marked his name, her gut telling her he was going to be trouble. "I am the best pilot on this sorry excuse for a planet. I have the most experience and I will be the key to you getting in a viper. My medical state is my business not yours. Now let's begin..."
*-*
Kara shifted as the nuggets fell into place, breathing hard and red in the face. "Come on. Suck it up." She said, walking in the direction of the head. "Hit the shower."
Everyone paused, there were 45 cadets. 22 of them being women. 23 were men.
She turned to look at them. "What are you waiting for?"
"Which group gets first round?"
Kara stared at them.
"The men or the women, sir?" A young woman asked, eyes darting back and forth.
"Attention." She whispered, seeing them snap too seeing Showboat raise an eyebrow. "I don't know how you run or do things here. But my way, we don't separate... not for anything. We bunk together, we shower together, we fight together, we learn together, we die together. My way is your way and if any of you jocks get any ideas I will personally have your balls on my desk as a warning to the next. You will become a team, you will become pilots. Welcome to a brand new world. Get your frakking asses in there and shower."
They filed through the door slowly. Kara nodded over her shoulder as Showboat watched the last one go in. "Make sure they don't die in the process of this and get them into their bunks."
"Yes, sir." Marcia sketched a mock salute.
"I'm heading home."
"Get some rest, tomorrow is gonna be early."
"Don't I know it."
---
Jean slid upstairs slowly, seeing the door was slightly ajar. Pushing it open revealed more of the room. "Kara?"
"Bedroom!" She called out. Jean stepped further in, smiling at the picture it made.
Kara had made a lot of progress in a week. The living room was done, the floor laid out. The walls painted a light beige. The kitchen had new cabinets and new appliances. A black leather couch stretched across a dividing line. A small wooden table for a coffee table placed in front of it. A flat screen TV on the wall. A radio sat in the corner, a wooden dining table with chairs next to it.
Kara was in the master, stretched out on the bed placed in the center against the east wall, folders surrounding her. A deep red oak bed, with dark sheets and four posts, the canopy pulled open. The slider was open, letting in the chill from outside. A dresser on the wall towards the hallway and a desk between the doors of the closet and bathroom.
"How did class go?"
"Good enough I suppose. Marcia told me about the looks on their faces when they learned they were sharing sardine living spaces." The grin on Kara's face told of the amusement she found in that. "And how everyone tried to stay covered and shower at the same time."
"A few more days of torture will change that."
Kara nodded. "Where is Sam?"
"Painting." Jean smiled. "Another week we should be ready to open."
"Get the bottles in?"
"Never seen so much ambrosia in one place since New Caprica."
Kara nodded, a smile spreading across her face.
"Look Kara... I wanted to ask about..."
"I don't care if you want to frak Sam." Kara said without breaking eye contact. "We're over. We're friends. I'd like to think you and I are friends."
"We are." Jean agreed immediately. "I just didn't want to offend you."
"Sam and I made our choices. Granted I could have handled everything differently. Gods knows I hurt enough people in my life. He shouldn't have been one of them."
"You're right." Jean agreed softly, seeing Kara break eye contact finally, resting a hand on her growing stomach. "Whose is it?"
"Apollo's." Kara shrugged slightly. "That's one thing that does not need to get out."
"Everyone already knows."
"I'm sure they do."
Jean laughed at Kara's resigned tone .
"Look, um. I've hurt that man more than anyone else. He doesn't know about the baby and that is the way that I want it too stay." Kara looked quite grave as she said this.
"Okay."
"Thanks."
---
Sam laughed as Jean helped pull Kara too her feet from her position laid out on the floor beneath the bar.
"Shut up." She glared at him.
"It's amusing."
"I hate you."
"I'm sure you do." Sam said with a grin. "You ready for this." He nodded to the doors, the crowd was already forming.
"After a week of bitchy nuggets, this is going to be a cake walk."
*-*
Kara kicked the last person out at four and watched as Jean waved from her position by the television. "Damn."
"Yeah."
"How did we do?"
"Damn good." She held up a figure and Kara grinned as Sam whistled.
"That's a nice number."
"A few more nights like that and I won't have to worry about the debt we went into buying this place." A yawn overtook Kara. "I'm going to bed."
He nodded, watching as she moved towards the office.
*-*
"I can't believe you." Ana packed her belongings into a box as Lee watched.
"This shouldn't have happened in the first place. Now I have three years to figure out how to convince Kara that I really do love her."
"What if she doesn't love you?"
"I'll have to live with that."
*-*
"Hey Kara!" Marcia came from her bedroom holding the camera.
"I'm exhausted."
"So am I. So get up and turn sideways. Two snaps and that's it." Marcia smiled as Kara glared at her.
She was stretched over the couch wearing her sports bra and sweatpants. Attempting to read a book before she passed out.
"Come on, Thrace."
Kara rolled her eyes and smiled as Marcia took a picture before struggling to her feet.
"This is getting harder."
"I'm sure it is at seven months along. I swear to the Gods that you should be popping any day now."
Kara flipped her off and laughed as Marcia took another picture.
She raised her eyebrow at Kara. "You know you were the one that wanted to do these silly books."
"Shut up."
"Who would know. Starbuck, the Artist."
"I swear to the Gods one of these days I'm going to kill you. Just for the pleasure of it." Kara turned to the side standing with her hands behind her back and let Marcia take the two pictures.
Marcia set the camera aside and moved to rifle through the cabinets.
"Do you miss him?" She asked softly, looking sideways at Kara as she slipped a shirt on, watching the slight stumble in her movements before she took a deep breathe and slipped a hand over her stomach.
"I did the right thing, Case. You know that."
Marcia pulled the leftovers from the fridge and set them in to nuke while watching Kara move towards the table.
As Kara sat down, she sighed. "At least I think I did."
"You did. Or you did it for the right reasons. Look, if you would have told him about the baby then it would have just caused more problems. More hurt."
"Not telling him was wrong though. Look at all he has missed."
"Hopefully the scrap books will help with that..." Marcia paused seeing Kara look away. "That's why your doing the books to show Apollo."
Kara only nodded, staying silent.
Marcia shoved the dinner her way. "Eat."
"Yes, sir."
*-*
Jack watched as Starbuck and Showboat graded the final practicals, students being separated into two different piles upon completion. One much larger than the others. "You two ready?"
"Well, it seems we have no choice. The list will be posted by morning."
"How you doing?" He'd softened a little toward her over the months.
"Fine. Just tired. This is getting harder to do." Kara said, tapping her belly with a grin.
He was amazed at how well she was doing. He'd worked with several pregnant women during his time on this base and no one had handled theirs better than the woman sitting in front of him. She was nine months pregnant and looked every day of it. But what amazed him was the fact that the only part of her that looked pregnant was her belly. She didn't gain any weight anywhere else. She was lucky that way but God did she look pregnant.
"Well, I'll leave you two too it." He said as they both placed a packet in the larger pile. He left wondering exactly how many of his cadets they were going to fail.
Author: Alexandria Kanaras
Rating: T
Summary: Was leaving really the best idea?
Pairing: Kara/Lee, Jean/Sam, Helo/Sharon
Spoilers: None. The show is over.
Kara stared at the planet beneath her with a mix of dread, excitement and blankness. The observation deck was completely deserted and it left her alone with the largest view of the planet below them. They had found it.
They had found Earth.
The fabled 13th colony; and here she was, staring at it. She sat slowly. Gods knew that there were enough people down there to vanish among. To simply cease to exist. Get lost among the billions and billions of people.
She looked at the fading mark on her arm. No one knew of the separation between her and Sam. And she intended to keep it that way. Jackets had become a norm for her as soon as she learned she was pregnant. Blaming wonky heating system and the processed algae on the excess weight and larger clothes. A frakked up knee took her off vipers. Her last real connection with Lee broken, she let herself drift away from him, slowly. Slowly enough that they could pass each other in the hallway and he wouldn't even glance her way. It hurt but she wasn't going to destroy the one good thing left in his life.
It was her frak up getting pregnant and he was trying for a family with Dee. Sam couldn't have kids, and Lee wasn't stupid enough to think she'd slept with someone else 5 months ago on that week. He maybe was hopeless but not stupid. She rested a hand on her belly and closed her eyes, counting slowly to 20. Letting her fears and doubts wash away from her.
It would take at least three years for the Galactica to get to the edge of the cloud obscuring their view from the rest of the universe, take their readings and scans, and then they'd jump back.
But no one was sure exactly how long it would take.
Cottle so much as told her she wasn't going on this trip anyways. That they were going to muster her out on medical. Busted knee. She'd have the baby on Earth, then go for a physical, and they'd find it was a mistake. She would be fine to fly.
She had to do this. It was the right thing.
*-*
Lee looked at the paper on his desk with something akin to disbelief. "You mustered her out? I didn't sign off on this."
"I knew you wouldn't do it. Seems you can't think straight when it comes to a certain pilot. So I went to Tigh." Cottle couldn't miss the look Lee was giving him, like he wanted to strangle him. "She's gone Major and nothing is going to change that. She's a civilian now."
"Just like that."
"Just... like... that." He knew this wouldn't be easy for the younger man to hear.
"I need her here to control the rooks."
"Learn to do it yourself." He excused himself, passing Ana at the hatch.
"What she'd do now?" Lee's eyes finally cut to his wife. Seemed she still had something against Kara. Gods it explained everything. Why Kara had drifted from him.
He didn't even realize she had been pulling away. Their jogging stopped because of her knee, and breakfasts slowed slowly over the last few months. Then he had taken the morning CAP to be gone before Ana got off of shift. Kara swung to the late deck shift to line up with Anders' visits. Gods... he had stopped looking her way and she vanished.
*-*
It turns out she didn't have any trouble finding a place to settle down.
Cottle had taken care to send a coded data burst to the medical doctor who ran a full physical on her and found well, he found the baby. Which she feigned shock and outrage and he of course found a set of fully functional knees.
Once the military found out who and what she could do they gave her base housing and a job. Teaching Nuggets. She and Sam finished removal of their wedding tattoos and she finally was able to show off her pregnancy. Of course none of it was that easy.
*-*
Kara glanced around the four bed, two bath house with something close to disdain. Jean glanced her way as she carried in a box. "What the hell is that look for? This is the best frakking house on the base and you look at it like the ground could swallow you whole and you'd die happy."
"It's very white." Sam chuckled at her words as he came through carrying another box. "Extremely white. What the hell?" She shot a glare at the ensign assigned to help her adjust to the way life was run here. "This is stark white and just how many babies do they think I am carrying. What the hell are you laughing at?" Kara said as she spun on Sam, seeing him stand straighter in defense.
"Kara." His tone placating as he watched her glance around with a glare. "You can paint the walls."
"I don't like this place."
"I'm sure that they can find another..." The ensign quickly shut up at Kara's glare.
"Look, unless you want to sleep in your car..." Jean quickly backpedaled when Kara glanced at her like she'd suggested the most brilliant thing and took the box she was carrying back to the car. "Kara... that was a joke you know." Jean said as she followed the woman back to her car. Sam shrugged as the ensign looked at him with wide eyes.
"SAM!"
*-*
"Ma'am... you can't sleep in your car." Kara cut a look at the general that would make most men's balls head to the street for safety. "If you don't like that house, I'm sure we could find one to your liking."
"Nothing on this base is going to be to my 'liking'." She used her fingers to quote the last word, twisting it around to make it sound vile and disgusting.
"Well Captain..."
"Don't Captain me."
"I did not give you permission to speak." He finally had enough of her mouth.
"I didn't ask for it. Look, I don't know what you think that you are going to accomplish by acting like a smug over arrogant jackass but I am not the person to frak with. You-" She pointed at him as if she could push him over with the motion. "Wanted me here. I'm here. I don't have to answer to anyone. I'm a teacher here, not a part of your military."
"You cannot reason with a pregnant woman." He stated tiredly. Glancing to Sam and Jean behind her. Jean shrugged.
"Don't look at me." Sam muttered, eyes glancing to where Kara was standing. "You can't reason with her when she's not pregnant."
"How did you not get tossed out on your ass?"
"I grow on people." Her matter of fact reply made the old gruff laugh. She finally sat down, the anger suddenly gone from her as she smirked.
"So. What are you going to do about your living space?"
Kara shrugged, twisting to the side suddenly as the baby kicked. Sam and Jean jumping to her side. Even the gruff general looked worried.
"I'm fine. Just startled me."
"Kicking?" Jean asked, seeing Kara nod her eyes tearing slightly before she pushed them back. Sam standing and moving to the chair beside her.
"How about bunk rooms? You got any of those?"
"None for women pilots... not at this facility."
"Why not?"
"Unlike your military. Ours isn't Co-Ed."
"Why the frak not? Don't tell me you frakking people think women aren't cut out for front lines. That's not going to fly. My class is to be taught my way."
"Well there are..."
"Don't talk to me about anymore of your frakking laws!" Kara pressed her hand to the front of her head as a blinding headache slammed into her. "Gods damn it!" She leaned forward trying to breathe through the pain. Her feet bouncing on the floor as she tried to push away the pain pounding against her skull.
"Kara?" Jean asked, lightly setting a hand on her back feeling the tremors running through her body. "Kara are you okay?"
"She gave herself a migraine. We need to lay her down." Sam murmured softly, his voice low so not to make Kara's headache worse.
The general nodded, standing, and watched as Jean helped her stand. Slid an arm around her waist, helping her out of the room. Sam followed behind them, surprised when Sharon and Karl rounded the corner in front of them.
"Kara?" Karl asked immediately, framing her face with his hands. "What the frak are you doing down here?" Karl paused, taking a look at the pain glassed look in her eyes. "What's wrong with you? Migraine?"
She nodded mutely and her face twisted in pain.
"Our bunks are this way." Sharon said, nodding to the general.
"We were on our way there." They fell in step behind Karl.
Kara groaned as they laid her down, rolling onto her side.
"Out." She whispered and Karl nodded, standing to give her room.
"I'll stay with her." Sharon said, seeing the rest agree and slip out.
"OUT!" Kara yelled.
"I'm not going anywhere, so just go to sleep." Sharon said as the door shut behind Sam.
*-*
"Is she always like that?"
"No... usually she's worse." Karl answered. "What the hell pissed her off anyway?"
Sam and Jean pointed at the general, seeing the man bristle.
Karl gave a lopsided smile. "Sucks to be you, sir."
"What is with you people?"
"Considering the fact that we've been chased across the galaxy by a race of machines that want to destroy us, I consider us normal."
"You consider yourself normal. Please."
Karl shrugged slightly. "So what's the problem."
"It started with a house..."
*-*
General Jack Glades sat in his office with a sigh. God these colonials were going to be the death of him. He'd been in the Air Force for 41 years and never had he come across a group of people that were a bigger pain in the ass than that small group; especially one young woman.
He could see why the Admiral had let them muster down to the surface. In the short two days they had been on his base they had gotten in a fight, trashed his mess and berated everything that they disagreed with. Granted most of it had merit, but damn it to hell.
He did not want this lack of discipline on his base.
*-*
Jack glanced up as his door swung open and a irate looking Commander Kara Thrace stood in his doorway.
Her promotion was based less on her record, and more that she didn't take orders from anyone anyway. This gave her a legitimate reason at least to order everyone around but him. She just ignored him. The blue folder clutched in her fingers gave a clue as too why she was in his office.
"There is not a single woman in this folder."
And that confirmed it. Jack sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "We don't allow women in known combat conditions."
"I'm not doing this." She tossed the folder on his desk. "Full integration. That is what we agreed upon."
"No. That is what you stated. No one agreed to anything."
"Fine. Get some one else to run your class. I'm not doing it." Her words cutting as she stormed out of his office, the door slammed in her wake.
God he hated that woman. Picking up his phone when it rang a moment later. "Claudia... get me Karl Agathon in here."
---
Karl stepped into a war zone as he entered the general's office and saw Jack Glades shifting through files. "Your-" he emphasized with a point of his finger, "friend is being unreasonable."
"Starbuck usually is. Unfortunately, she's also usually right. I told you that non-integration thing wasn't going to fly."
"It's going to take time."
"Also... not going fly." Karl shrugged.
Jack growled under his breath. "Find someone else. She can not be the only viper pilot on the planet. I know she's not. There are 12! If I can just find the files."
Karl grinned as he shifted through another filing cabinet. "She's the best."
"She's psychotic and completely unreasonable! I want someone else!" Glades held up a piece of paper in triumph. "CLAUDIA!"
"Just for the record." Karl waited as the general turned to face him. "This is a complete waste of time."
*-*
"So!" Jean stated suddenly, and loudly, 4 minutes into the drive. "We found you the perfect place."
"Yeah?"
"And!" Her volume caused Kara to wince in the front seat. The guard finally screening them through the gate. "It's right on main street."
"And?"
"You'll see." Main street was right beside the base, a local hot spot that allowed the base personal to relax. Two turns later had her parked in front of a local place that appeared closed. Unassuming from the outside.
"A bar?"
"Think about it. A bar. Beside a base. They may be different but not that damn different."
Kara felt a smile pulling at her lips.
"The three of us... with a bar... They won't know what hit them and..." Sam pointed up, seeing Kara glance up. "Three bed, two bath loft from hell."
Jean and Sam knew they hit it on the head when she grinned from ear to ear and bolted from the car.
*-*
"Go against Starbuck!" Showboat squeaked as she raised an eyebrow. "Are you completely insane? That women would have my entrails for the pure pleasure of it. I don't think so, sir. Plus she's right. Your military system is sexist and completely biased. I wouldn't teach in it ever." Showboat glanced at Karl with wide eyes. "You're with this?"
"Oh no." Karl held up his hands in a surrender position. "I told him that there was absolutely no point to this and that it was a complete waste of time. No one in their right mind would go against Starbuck, even if they did agree with him, which no one would. Some of our best pilots are women. Most of them actually. Showboat, Athena."
"Starbuck." Showboat said with a grin. "You want good viper pilots, she can give them to you. Unfortunately, you are not going to get her to do anything in this system. Ever."
*-*
Kara glanced around the main room with envious eyes. "Owning a business sucks."
"I know." Sam said with a grin. "We can do most of it. Because of the nuggets."
"What nuggets? I'm not helping them in their sexist..." Kara ignored Jean's smirk, holding up her hands as she walked away from them, towards the back office where the stairs were supposed to be. "I know, I know, you've heard it before."
The front doors opened into a main eating area with a few old wooden tables scattered across the floor, dust covering most of the room. A bar stretched along the back wall and barstools sat at it every few feet. Most were stacked in a storage room off to the right. Shelves lined the full length mirrors and Kara eyed it all with a wide grin.
Seeing through the repairs needed to the finished product.
Sam and Jean followed her with a knowing grin. She was already sold. The loft was just an added bonus. Once you stepped into the room it was completely open. Off to the right was the restrooms, storage area and office. A set of stairs in the office went up to the loft. The loft had what was considered a 'great' room. Eight hundred square feet for a kitchen, dining and living area. The walls were dusty with peeling brown paint and white repair patches. There was a large window over the stove and to the left of the kitchen counter was a sliding glass door. Kara walked over and quickly opened it, letting fresh air in.
The entire place faced south, so the west side of the apartment was living space. A master bedroom with two smaller bedrooms. The two smaller shared a bathroom that sat between them. The master bedroom was on the south side of the hallway. And shared a wall with the kitchen. A walk-in closet and master bath completed the area.
All of it was in need of major repairs but Kara came out with a wide grin.
"Sold?" Sam asked, seeing the anxious real estate agent standing off to the side.
"Sold."
*-*
Kara signed the papers easily, watching as the real estate agent quickly scooted out of her new place. She paused to take a good look around. The walls still needed some repair, the sliding door that opened too the outside balcony was cracked and needed replacing. The stove only worked when it felt like it and the fridge was on strike. The carpet was stained and looked like crap with patches missing. The window over the stove wouldn't close.
Gods she loved this place.
Moving towards the long hallway she made note of everything that would need to be done. The sliding door in her room didn't even open. The wall had a hole in it. The bathrooms needed to be completely redone. The closet needed new drywall. Both of the smaller bedrooms needed new paint and the windows fixed.
She had a lot to do and not a whole lot of time.
*-*
Kara heard the door open and looked over her shoulder to see Karl and Jack standing there. It had been a week since she stormed out of the general's office. Six days since she bought the bar and loft. Sam and Jean were taking care of permits and whatever for them. She showed up when they told her too and signed different papers. They let her do most of the repairs, as it gave her something to do, and let them live when they did something she didn't like.
Jack looked around slowly and then back to the woman standing on the bar with a tool belt around her hips. The obviously pregnant woman wearing worn overalls and a tool belt was a sight to see. Her hair was pulled back into a rough ponytail, paint was smeared over one cheek and her clothes. She had a pair of pliers in one hand and a piece of wire in the other. Looked like she was putting together a speaker.
"Damn Buck... you gotten a lot done in a week." Karl was impressed.
She shrugged, the movement surprisingly easy with her hands over her head as she twisted the wire in place and let go, nodding to a young man at the end of the bar with a laptop. He tapped a button and music filled the room. Kara grinned and popped all the wires in place before twisting it up and slipping the cover into it's holder.
"Nice." Karl walked across the area as the music ended and the man shut the laptop.
"Yeah, I got the lighting fixed, redid the floor, the bar buffed and scrubbed, that was the last speaker."
"The door and window replaced, painted the walls." The guy said while he ticked the list off on his fingers.
"Re-did the bathrooms yesterday." Kara saw Karl glanced that way as he helped her off the bar to sit on one of the stools. "And brought out the stools from storage."
"Which she made me go through." The guy with the laptop groused.
"Aw... poor baby." Karl said to the young man with mock sympathy.
Jack realized he was Jimmy 'Trash' Clover. A raptor pilot from Galactica.
"You should have seen the bugs in there." He shivered before an evil grin spread over his face. "Showboat screamed."
"I did no such thing!" She announced from somewhere underneath the bar.
"No wonder you got some much done. You have helpers." Helo smirked, seeing Kara shrug.
"So. What do you want?"
Jack stepped forward, seeing her brush her hands off on her pants. "I've got a proposal."
"Full integration." Kara figured if she kept repeating it, he'd understand she was not compromising.
Kara stood, turning to face the bar as Showboat rose from beneath it.
"Within six months." Jack clarified. "If your program works."
"My program?" She twisted back at his words. "Karl. Tell me you did not let this man come here with all of this bullshit."
"Kara, two classes of full integration; including head and bunk rooms. For all viper, raptor and deck training- three months each. If it works... in six months the entire military goes co-ed."
"Even front lines?"
Jack nodded, extending his hand, watching as she took it slowly. "Congratulations Commander. You accomplished what 100 years of diplomacy wouldn't have."
Kara gave a half smirk and shrug. "Every one has a skill. Causing headaches is mine."
"Well you certainly do that..." A few moments of silence followed as everyone in the room digested the news. "So show me this bar."
"Yes sir."
Karl caught the look of surprise on the general's face as Kara turned to start talking.
*-*
"KARA?!"
Kara flinched as Jean's voice carried throughout the room. She had sent the group out shopping to pick up supplies after she had finally chased the general out of her bar earlier that day. "UPSTAIRS!"
A thunder of noise from downstairs revealed Jean and Marcia as they rushed upstairs carrying boxes and bags. Sam, Trash, Karl, and Sharon at a much more subdued pace.
"By the way. The Johnson's love and hate you." Marcia announced as she set the boxes on the table.
The Johnson's owned the hardware store across the street from them and Kara had been keeping them in business the last few days, needing supplies for the reconstruction. She had moved her bed in here the day they signed the papers and had been working on whatever was needed when she had a spare moment.
They dropped the stuff by the door and started separating it. Marcia coming to kneel beside Kara where she was underneath the sink, taking plumbing apart. "Cottle would kick your ass if he knew you're not sleeping like you should be."
"Cottle's not here, is he?" Kara's words made Marcia smirk. "Speaking of work, you're going to be my assistant in the class. Helping me with the practicals."
Kara pulled herself out from underneath the sink, glaring up at her.
"What? I thought that Stinger would....What?"
"What the hell would make you think that I would let Stinger with in 100 feet of my nuggets. I hate that bastard." Kara's tone reinforced her feeling toward him.
Marcia granted that with a tilt of her head. "General Glades had indicated that I was going to be transferred somewhere upstate."
"Frak him. I'm doing what I want. I've got a spare bedroom. It's yours, if you want it." Kara said as she rolled back underneath the sink.
Marcia tilted her head to see her loosen the pipes and pull them apart before moving to work on the glue pasty shit holding the sink to the cabinet. "You want me living here?"
"Hell, I could use the extra hand around plus when the bar opens I'm gonna have to split my time between the two. Not to mention that I'm gonna have to keep you posted on what is going on in the class. Figured this would be the easiest way to accomplish all of those." Kara shrugged.
"Sure. I don't see a problem with that."
"Good, I'll let you do what you want with it then. Back room. Now... lets get this damn thing off."
Marcia smirked, helping her to stand.
*-*
Kara stares across the class of nuggets with a grin. Gods this was going to be fun. A group full of hopeful faces and not a one had a clue about what was going to happen. Not a single clue. Showboat was standing off to the side with a stoic face.
"ON YOUR FEET!" The room exploded with noise as they quickly rose. "You have to be in your absolute best physical condition to fly a viper. So an intense course of PT is going to accompany your training. You will learn to listen, you will learn to obey. Because if you don't you are going to get yourself killed. These are not your normal fighters. They will twist you, and turn you and spit you out for dinner if you don't know what you are doing."
"How do you fly? Being pregnant?"
"No one said you could speak, nugget!." Kara barked out.
The mans jaw clenched in anger
She mentally marked his name, her gut telling her he was going to be trouble. "I am the best pilot on this sorry excuse for a planet. I have the most experience and I will be the key to you getting in a viper. My medical state is my business not yours. Now let's begin..."
*-*
Kara shifted as the nuggets fell into place, breathing hard and red in the face. "Come on. Suck it up." She said, walking in the direction of the head. "Hit the shower."
Everyone paused, there were 45 cadets. 22 of them being women. 23 were men.
She turned to look at them. "What are you waiting for?"
"Which group gets first round?"
Kara stared at them.
"The men or the women, sir?" A young woman asked, eyes darting back and forth.
"Attention." She whispered, seeing them snap too seeing Showboat raise an eyebrow. "I don't know how you run or do things here. But my way, we don't separate... not for anything. We bunk together, we shower together, we fight together, we learn together, we die together. My way is your way and if any of you jocks get any ideas I will personally have your balls on my desk as a warning to the next. You will become a team, you will become pilots. Welcome to a brand new world. Get your frakking asses in there and shower."
They filed through the door slowly. Kara nodded over her shoulder as Showboat watched the last one go in. "Make sure they don't die in the process of this and get them into their bunks."
"Yes, sir." Marcia sketched a mock salute.
"I'm heading home."
"Get some rest, tomorrow is gonna be early."
"Don't I know it."
---
Jean slid upstairs slowly, seeing the door was slightly ajar. Pushing it open revealed more of the room. "Kara?"
"Bedroom!" She called out. Jean stepped further in, smiling at the picture it made.
Kara had made a lot of progress in a week. The living room was done, the floor laid out. The walls painted a light beige. The kitchen had new cabinets and new appliances. A black leather couch stretched across a dividing line. A small wooden table for a coffee table placed in front of it. A flat screen TV on the wall. A radio sat in the corner, a wooden dining table with chairs next to it.
Kara was in the master, stretched out on the bed placed in the center against the east wall, folders surrounding her. A deep red oak bed, with dark sheets and four posts, the canopy pulled open. The slider was open, letting in the chill from outside. A dresser on the wall towards the hallway and a desk between the doors of the closet and bathroom.
"How did class go?"
"Good enough I suppose. Marcia told me about the looks on their faces when they learned they were sharing sardine living spaces." The grin on Kara's face told of the amusement she found in that. "And how everyone tried to stay covered and shower at the same time."
"A few more days of torture will change that."
Kara nodded. "Where is Sam?"
"Painting." Jean smiled. "Another week we should be ready to open."
"Get the bottles in?"
"Never seen so much ambrosia in one place since New Caprica."
Kara nodded, a smile spreading across her face.
"Look Kara... I wanted to ask about..."
"I don't care if you want to frak Sam." Kara said without breaking eye contact. "We're over. We're friends. I'd like to think you and I are friends."
"We are." Jean agreed immediately. "I just didn't want to offend you."
"Sam and I made our choices. Granted I could have handled everything differently. Gods knows I hurt enough people in my life. He shouldn't have been one of them."
"You're right." Jean agreed softly, seeing Kara break eye contact finally, resting a hand on her growing stomach. "Whose is it?"
"Apollo's." Kara shrugged slightly. "That's one thing that does not need to get out."
"Everyone already knows."
"I'm sure they do."
Jean laughed at Kara's resigned tone .
"Look, um. I've hurt that man more than anyone else. He doesn't know about the baby and that is the way that I want it too stay." Kara looked quite grave as she said this.
"Okay."
"Thanks."
---
Sam laughed as Jean helped pull Kara too her feet from her position laid out on the floor beneath the bar.
"Shut up." She glared at him.
"It's amusing."
"I hate you."
"I'm sure you do." Sam said with a grin. "You ready for this." He nodded to the doors, the crowd was already forming.
"After a week of bitchy nuggets, this is going to be a cake walk."
*-*
Kara kicked the last person out at four and watched as Jean waved from her position by the television. "Damn."
"Yeah."
"How did we do?"
"Damn good." She held up a figure and Kara grinned as Sam whistled.
"That's a nice number."
"A few more nights like that and I won't have to worry about the debt we went into buying this place." A yawn overtook Kara. "I'm going to bed."
He nodded, watching as she moved towards the office.
*-*
"I can't believe you." Ana packed her belongings into a box as Lee watched.
"This shouldn't have happened in the first place. Now I have three years to figure out how to convince Kara that I really do love her."
"What if she doesn't love you?"
"I'll have to live with that."
*-*
"Hey Kara!" Marcia came from her bedroom holding the camera.
"I'm exhausted."
"So am I. So get up and turn sideways. Two snaps and that's it." Marcia smiled as Kara glared at her.
She was stretched over the couch wearing her sports bra and sweatpants. Attempting to read a book before she passed out.
"Come on, Thrace."
Kara rolled her eyes and smiled as Marcia took a picture before struggling to her feet.
"This is getting harder."
"I'm sure it is at seven months along. I swear to the Gods that you should be popping any day now."
Kara flipped her off and laughed as Marcia took another picture.
She raised her eyebrow at Kara. "You know you were the one that wanted to do these silly books."
"Shut up."
"Who would know. Starbuck, the Artist."
"I swear to the Gods one of these days I'm going to kill you. Just for the pleasure of it." Kara turned to the side standing with her hands behind her back and let Marcia take the two pictures.
Marcia set the camera aside and moved to rifle through the cabinets.
"Do you miss him?" She asked softly, looking sideways at Kara as she slipped a shirt on, watching the slight stumble in her movements before she took a deep breathe and slipped a hand over her stomach.
"I did the right thing, Case. You know that."
Marcia pulled the leftovers from the fridge and set them in to nuke while watching Kara move towards the table.
As Kara sat down, she sighed. "At least I think I did."
"You did. Or you did it for the right reasons. Look, if you would have told him about the baby then it would have just caused more problems. More hurt."
"Not telling him was wrong though. Look at all he has missed."
"Hopefully the scrap books will help with that..." Marcia paused seeing Kara look away. "That's why your doing the books to show Apollo."
Kara only nodded, staying silent.
Marcia shoved the dinner her way. "Eat."
"Yes, sir."
*-*
Jack watched as Starbuck and Showboat graded the final practicals, students being separated into two different piles upon completion. One much larger than the others. "You two ready?"
"Well, it seems we have no choice. The list will be posted by morning."
"How you doing?" He'd softened a little toward her over the months.
"Fine. Just tired. This is getting harder to do." Kara said, tapping her belly with a grin.
He was amazed at how well she was doing. He'd worked with several pregnant women during his time on this base and no one had handled theirs better than the woman sitting in front of him. She was nine months pregnant and looked every day of it. But what amazed him was the fact that the only part of her that looked pregnant was her belly. She didn't gain any weight anywhere else. She was lucky that way but God did she look pregnant.
"Well, I'll leave you two too it." He said as they both placed a packet in the larger pile. He left wondering exactly how many of his cadets they were going to fail.