Five times Lee does not kiss Kara
Title: Five times Lee does not kiss Kara
Rating: PG
Spoilers: S2; one part is set in S3, but no specific spoilers
Words: ~ 1500
Right. Thanks to
ammonite7 I knew what to work on, so this is for her.
I had more trouble with the punctuation here than Starbuck has with a bunch of cylon raiders.
Probably there are still some commas missing, or maybe there are too many now, but nobody can say I didn't try.
Feedback very welcome, of course.
5 times Lee does not kiss Kara
1.
The first time they meet is in a shady little bar, one of Zak’s favourites.
They shake hands; her grip is tight, and there is pride shining in Zak’s eyes.
Lee can see why.
She’s not a girl he would call beautiful, but she’s full of life and energy, and she’s got a down-to-earth, sweaty kind of sex appeal that makes men take a second look.
Soon the three of them trade stories from the academy; they throw jokes at each other and, shots down their throats like they’ve known each other for years.
Lee feels more at ease than he has in weeks, and if he notices the curves of her body beneath her slinky shirt he wouldn’t admit that to himself. She’s his brother’s girl, for the sake of the gods.
Zak can’t keep his hands off her, and when she smiles at him her whole face lights up, and Lee has to look away.
Maybe she is beautiful after all.
Then Zak gets up with swaying movements to get them another bottle of ambrosia, and Lee is acutely aware of her warm body next to his.
She’s telling some story, and he glances over at her face. Suddenly all he can see is the way her mouth moves around the words, her lips pink and soft. He must have drunk more than he realized because he actually leans in towards her, helpless to stop himself. She stops talking, a strange expression in her eyes, and for a moment they stare at each other; he can’t look away, and she doesn’t, either.
There is a loud thud on the table; Zak is back with a new bottle. For a second something flickers across his face, but then he just plunks himself down next to Kara and pulls her over into his lap.
Lee feels guilty.
Still, he can’t stop the thought from forming in his mind. I wish I had met her first.
2.
Everyone knows she has to be dead by now, but Lee can’t give up, can’t let her go. Neither can his father.
He doesn’t care if they use up all the thylium they have left, if they risk every single viper and the whole fleet.
But then the president tells them to clear their heads, and he knows it’s over.
He can’t breathe and despair settles over him; when the alarm goes off he throws himself into his viper; he’s furious and determined to kill every frakking cylon raider out there.
Maybe he’ll get blown out of space in the process, but then, their planet is a nuclear wasteland, humanity is down to forty-thousand souls, and now Kara is gone as well; so really, what reason is there to stay?
When he realizes that Starbuck made it back the relief nearly chokes him.
He watches as they put her on a stretcher, and he can’t help grinning at her stupidly; pride and concern, tenderness and just plain happiness are all rolled into one on his face.
He tucks the blanket around her shoulders and briefly considers kissing her, but there is already a snappy remark on her lips.
Also, the whole deck crew is watching and anyways, she smells.
3.
He is not shy with women normally, but he has never seen her like that, and it throws him completely.
It’s embarrassing, the way he just stares, takes in her blue dress, the make-up on her face.
Especially considering that he knows how she looks like; it’s kind of difficult to miss in their close quarters and, to be honest, he hasn’t tried too hard.
While he is still wrapping his head around the idea of Kara looking all soft and female, she asks him to dance.
Being Kara, she tries to lead on the dance floor, and that makes him laugh. It also helps easing the tension that’s slowly building up inside him. Not by much, though.
Because now he has one hand on her naked shoulder, and his other hand has slid down to her waist; he can feel her warmth beneath his fingers.
At some point he starts to move his thumb, slowly stroking her, and he knows she’ll pull away any second now; it’s what she always does.
He can’t see her face; it’s hidden in the crook of his neck, and her breath is tickling his skin. She is moving her head back a bit, and her cheek slides against his. Still she’s not pulling away.
“Lee...” she whispers, and her arms around his neck tighten. The way she says his name hits him right into the gut, and somehow his right hand moves down further, right onto her butt. Lee savours everything; he knows this is too good to last, although right now it feels like this is what she wants, too.
All he’d have to do now is move his head a little to make their lips touch, and….
“Captain Adama, you don’t plan on having this lovely lady all to yourself, do you?” Kara steps back, out of his arms and just like that the moment is over.
He’s so stunned at Baltar’s audacity and even more stunned at what might have happened if that guy hadn’t stepped in, that he doesn’t react.
He stands there staring at her, and his body feels cold, bereft of her warmth. With a little shrug she turns towards Baltar, and Lee knows her too well not to recognize the expression in her face. There is regret there, but also relief and that makes his heart clench.
He turns and walks away from her; he doesn’t look back once.
4.
“I hope you find him, Kara. I really do.”
It’s a lie of course, and the effort to make it sound like he means it nearly is too much.
Her face is blank; he can’t tell what she’s thinking, and for a couple of seconds they just gaze at each other. He wants to jump up, to wrap his arms around her and kiss that lonely expression from her face, but she has made it more than clear that it’s not him she wants.
It kills him to see her risk her life for a guy she has only known for a couple of days, but it only emphasises that she isn’t feeling for him what he feels for her. Not that he can admit to himself what that is.
“There is nothing between us.” Her angry words still rattle in his ears, reverberating through every part of his body.
She’s still standing there like she expects something more, but he has no words left for her.
“So do I.” she finally says.
When she leaves the room it feels awfully conclusive, but even so, he doesn’t call her back.
5.
He’s standing in the ready room, filling out the flight roster, when someone comes up behind him.
He feels a soft body pressing against his back, and he doesn’t have to look around to know it’s her. She starts threading her fingers through his hair, lets her fingertips slowly stroke over the nape of his neck. Stubbornly he keeps writing, trying very hard to ignore the sensations she evokes.
“Come on, Lee,” she mutters. “Don’t be like that.”
Kara’s hands have moved higher now, and she is tracing the sensitive skin of his ear. His fingers start to tremble a bit, but he still hasn’t given up on the flight roster.
But then she bites into his neck, and he couldn’t care less about who’s flying CAP with whom, anymore.
He quickly turns around, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her body against his. She offers no resistance, just grins up at him and wriggles even closer. There is no denying what her movements do to him, and she smiles even wider. “I knew you would come to your senses.”
She leans in to bring her lips to his, and it's one of the hardest things he ever had to do, but he manages to capture her face with his hands, effectively stopping her from kissing him. His voice sounds strangely hoarse, even to his own ears. ”No, Kara, I can’t. Not like this. Not while we are both married.”
Kara moves against him suggestively and for a moment his arguments escape him. “Don’t try to tell me you don’t want this.” She sounds frustrated, and he would have smiled at that if he hadn’t felt the same damn way.
Their gazes lock. “You know I want this. I want you. Have for a long time now.”
The honesty in his words makes her blink. She pulls away from him, out of his embrace. “You really are too honourable for your own good.”
He waits for her to tell him that she can’t divorce like she usually does, but she’s just standing there, staring at him, her breath still going fast.
Like always she is the one to walk away, but for the first time in a long while Lee feels hope.