FIC: A Lot to Live Up To (Part 9)
Title: A Lot to Live Up To, Part 9
Author: lls_mutant
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Dee and Hoshi
Pairings: Dee/Lee, Hoshi/Gaeta, and past Hoshi/Narcho.
Summary:
Spoilers: Eventually through the end, but this part just through Rapture
Author's Note: Thanks to my awesome beta trovia!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Pain and Heaven
"Are you going to the Dance tonight?" Louis asked as they ran through the halls.
"Of course," Dee said. "You?"
"On duty. Truth be told, I'm not that big a fan of boxing, and Cottle wouldn't let me fight anyway." He wiped his forehead on his tanks. "Not that I'd try. I think the nice, calm, quiet CIC will suit me more tonight. Besides, with you and Helo at the Dance and Felix keeping book, if Adama leaves, the bridge is all mine." He grinned. "I'll take power over getting my ass kicked any day."
"You sound like Noel."
"I'm not that bad."
"Make a hole!" Dee ordered, and they jogged through a group of Marines. "You just don't want to go to the Dance because you're afraid if you put your tags in, I'd call you out and kick your ass in front of everyone."
"You couldn't kick my ass if you tried." Louis began to speed up a little.
"Oh, I so could," Dee laughed, keeping pace with him. "If we got into that ring together, you'd be flat on your back in seconds."
Louis looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, and then looked back at Dee with wide, innocent eyes. "You'd hit a cancer patient?"
"Don't give me that!" Dee said. "You've been in remission for a month!"
"But it was a long, hard battle," Louis said sanctimoniously, or as best as he could manage while panting for breath, "and I'm still recovering. This is the first time I've had the energy to go running."
"And I'm kicking your ass," Dee said.
Louis sped up a little more. "Are not."
Dee grinned. "Are too."
"You couldn't if you tried."
"Oh, I so could."
"Right. First one to CIC wins." And with that, Louis extended his stride and took off.
They were at the opposite end of the ship from the CIC, and Dee smiled at the challenge. She picked up her own pace, trailing Louis just slightly, letting him cut through the knots of people here and there and using the holes he made.
It felt good to run like this. Dee wasn't a runner at heart, but every now and then she could let the endorphins lift her up and take her away, out of the stale, recirculated air and the grays and blues of Galactica life. She could forget the Cylons for a minute, forget last night's fight with Lee and the fact they hadn't had sex in over a week. She could forget the baby, forget the support group, forget the CIC. Forget the dark marks under Felix's eyes, forget the way her heart jumped into her throat every time Noel and Lee took to their Vipers, forget the way they all still exchanged worried glances when Louis went to bed extremely early or said he had a headache. She pounded through the halls, glorying in the speed and the currents of air on her face.
Louis looked back at her over his shoulder, challenging her. Dee picked up the pace. They pelted down the halls, past the mess, past a group of pilots and a squadron of Marines, past people hauling laundry, people with equipment, people talking and laughing and arguing. They rounded the corner in a dead heat, flying by Tigh and Adama.
"You'd better be on duty in a half hour, Lieutenant Hoshi!" Tigh yelled after them.
"Aye, sir!" Louis shouted back, but his breath was coming hard. He and Dee whipped around another corner. Dee hit the CIC door a second before Louis did. "Ha!" she said, bending over, her hands on her knees as she panted for breath. "Told you."
"Only because you cheated," he accused. He grabbed her around the waist. "Back there." He scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder, and Dee shrieked.
"Lieutenants," a very familiar, very superior voice said.
Louis snapped to attention. "Admiral."
"Are you forgetting something, Lieutenant Hoshi?" Adama asked, amused. Belatedly, Louis eased Dee off his shoulder. He set her down, but the blood had gone to her head and Dee lost her balance, landing on her ass with a thump.
Tigh rolled his good eye. "We're not having a bridge bunny fight at the dance tonight, are we?" he demanded. "Because I'll be frakked before I want to watch you two pulling each others' hair."
"I'm on duty tonight, sir," Louis said quickly. Dee looked at him. It was amazing- she didn't think she'd ever meet anyone with Felix's ability to slip in and out of a professional demeanor so thoroughly, but Louis was just as good at it was Felix was.
Tigh noticed it, too. "Well, good," he grunted, eyeing Louis up and down.
Adama chuckled. "Actually, Saul, I think it would be one hell of a fight." He turned back to Dee and Louis. "Mr. Hoshi. Report to me ten minutes before your shift begins. There are a few things I want to go over with you."
"Aye, sir." Louis glanced at his watch. "If you don't mind…"
"Go."
Both Tigh and Adama watched him jog off. Tigh turned back to Dee first. "I take it you're not trying to flush Mr. Hoshi out of an airlock anymore."
Dee winced at his phrasing, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Adama do the same. "No, sir," she said to Tigh. "That's sorted."
"Huh. Good." Tigh turned back to Adama. "You coming down?"
"I'll be there. I want to see how Hoshi does with the bridge for a whole watch."
It had occurred to Dee, back when the Cylons had found them right after she'd gotten out of sickbay, that Adama was subtly sizing up his junior officers, testing them for command. She'd had several opportunities herself, moments here and there where she technically should not have had the deck. But this was the first she'd heard Adama speak of it, and the first time she was aware he was watching Louis as intently as he was watching herself and Felix.
"I'd better get down there as well," Tigh said. He nodded to them both and left. Dee stood awkwardly for a moment.
"Is the Colonel coming back to the CIC soon, sir?" she asked.
"I imagine so," Adama said. "It's not something you can rush." He glanced at her significantly. "Recovery rarely is."
"Right, sir," Dee said, lifting her chin slightly.
Adama sighed heavily. "Dee, there's something else I've been meaning to talk to you about," he said. "Walk with me." Dee fell into step beside him, baffled by the grave, uncertain look on the Admiral's face. They walked through a few corridors until they arrived at his study. He held the door open for her.
"Have a seat," he ordered when they entered. Dee obeyed and looked at him inquisitively. Adama sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I wasn't sure if I should talk to you or to Lee about this, but you're the one I need in the CIC, and you're the one with the clearance."
"Sir?" Dee asked, mystified. Adama looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"This isn't an order I like to give," Adama said. "I don't like to meddle this much in my crew's personal lives, and I also have a vested interest in this one. But I think we need to be clear on it." He cleared his throat and picked up a pen, looking down at the paper on his desk. "Cottle tells me that a woman who's suffered an ectopic pregnancy can try again for a baby after three months. He also tells me that while Lieutenant Hoshi is in remission, there's a significant chance the cancer could return. Hoshi himself tells me that he doesn't consider himself truly in remission until six months have gone by, after which the chance of the cancer returning drops dramatically."
Dee saw where he was going. "You want me to put off getting pregnant until Hoshi's officially in remission, sir? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." Adama looked up. "I can run the CIC without either of you. It's a hell of a lot easier if I don't have to. As much as I'd like that grandchild," he flashed a little half-grin, "it's something that has to wait."
"Unless we find Earth, first," Dee said.
Adama blinked. "Right," he said. "Unless we find Earth, first."
"Yes, sir."
"All right. You're dismissed. I'll see you at the Dance."
Dee left the study, and as she did, she wondered why the Admiral's order didn't hurt at all.
***
The Dance was savage. Dee was enjoying it immensely, especially when she won a few cubits betting on Noel in a bout against one of the other pilots.
That all evaporated when Kara called Lee up to the ring.
***
Dee didn't want to go back to her quarters, but she wasn't sure where else to go. And sure enough, when she went back, the room was empty.
She sat down on the bed, her hands falling uselessly into her lap. Her stomach was twisted into knots, because she honestly didn't know what was going to happen when Lee walked in that door tonight. Because that fight with Kara… she'd seen a lot of fights tonight, but nothing remotely that passionate. And none of them ended with a long embrace, either.
You're overreacting, she told herself. You're overreacting. But at the same time, she'd seen Anders's face, too, and the look of naked sympathy on Felix's face. She didn't know which one was real.
It was late when he came back. He was clean, with a small bandage on a cut on his cheek, his hair still damp from the shower. He opened the hatch quietly, spotted her, and then entered with an air of overcompensated confidence.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, dropping a kiss on her hair. "I went and saw Cottle."
"I see," Dee said. Her voice came out frosty, and she couldn't look up at him.
Lee sighed heavily. "All right," he said. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Dee tried.
"No, something's bothering you. I did something wrong tonight, didn't I? Let me guess. I fought Helo?" Dee gave him a dirty look. "No, it has nothing to do with Helo then. Which is just as well, since Helo beat the shit out of me."
Dee sighed. "Maybe we should just go to bed."
"No. No, you've got something to say, Dee. Let's hear it."
"Lee-"
"Kara." Lee clapped his hands down on the table, rolling his eyes and then turning away.
"I didn't say anything about Kara," Dee said, biting each word out.
"Yeah, but you were thinking it, weren't you?"
"No, I wasn't. Should I be, after watching the two of you beat the shit out of each other?" Dee arched her eyebrows.
"That's right," Lee agreed, "we beat the shit out of each other." He sighed. "I'm going to bed."
"I'm coming, too." Dee stood up. Lee turned around and looked at her like she was trailing him, but Dee met his eyes evenly. He shrugged, and then pulled off his clothing and slipped into bed. Dee climbed in after him.
They lay side by side, not touching at all.
***
"I'm sorry," Lee said the next morning, easing his sore body out of bed. "I really bit your head off last night."
"I'm sorry, too," Dee apologized. "I guess it did seem kind of accusing."
"Let's just forget it, all right?" Lee asked. "The whole thing was just strange."
Dee nodded enthusiastically.
***
"Are things okay with Lee?" Felix asked her two days later.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Dee said. Felix looked skeptical. "What?"
"Nothing. Just… I saw the look on your face when you were watching him and Kara fight at the Dance."
"I overreacted," Dee said lightly. After all, Lee had been quite attentive the past two days, not acting like anything had changed. So why should she believe it had?
"Yeah," Felix said. "That's what I used to say when Gaius brought home interns."
"Lee is not like Baltar, Felix. He's capable of thinking with more than his dick."
Felix shrugged. "You said yourself he had a thing for Kara."
Dee sighed. "It's been a long time. But more than that, we're married now. I can believe a lot of things about Lee Adama, but that he'd break a vow that he made? No. That's not Lee."
"You really believe in him, don't you?" Felix asked.
"Of course," Dee said stoically. "If I can't believe in my own husband, what can I believe in?"
"Good question," Felix agreed. "I just hope you're right."
"I am," Dee insisted, ignoring the little voice that said, yeah, me too.
***
"I see the guys were here again tonight," Lee said dryly, as Dee picked up the glasses.
"You know, you're welcome to join us," Dee offered, yet again.
Lee shook his head. "Sorry. They're good guys, Dee, but I don't have much in common with them."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for starters, when I eat with the four of you in the mess, I'm the only one who doesn't turn their head when a good-looking guy walks by."
Dee giggled. "I guess not. What else?"
"No offense, and maybe he's not like this around you, but Narcho's a bit of an ass."
"He is around the pilots," Dee agreed. "He's more toned down when he's not."
"But I'm a pilot," Lee pointed out.
"I see your point. But what about Felix? You two have a lot in common. Starting," Dee said dryly, "with your affection for a certain Sagittaron politician."
Lee snorted. "I wouldn't say I have any affection for Tom Zarek. I just understand him, and sometimes- on occasion- he is right. But come on, Dee, Gaeta and I are nothing alike. He's military, through and through. I don't care that he was in the civilian government on New Caprica- he's still a true soldier."
"So are you." Lee smiled indulgently, but didn't answer. "Louis? I seem to remember you arguing he was a good guy."
"And he is. They're all good guys, Dee, but they just aren't my kind of people. Besides," he said, sitting on the bed and grinning mischievously, "I have a bit of a secret project going."
"A secret project?"
"A long time ago, I promised the pilots if we ever found Earth- or even some habitable rock- I'd build them a bar. I didn't on New Caprica, but…" he looked at the table where Dee had been sitting earlier with her friends. "It's good for people to have a place to congregate, blow off some steam."
"It is." Dee laughed. "Oddly enough, I was never a fan of bars."
"No?" Lee asked.
"Noise, smoke, and rude people spilling drinks on you was never my idea of a good time," Dee admitted.
"Yeah," Lee said, and there might have been a stiffness in his voice. "Well, it keeps me busy, at any rate."
There was something plaintive in his voice, and Dee smiled understandingly. "I'm glad," she said. She put down the glasses and went over to the bed, and Lee draped his arm around her waist. "You know," she said, setting across his lap, "there are things that both of us agree are fun."
"Oh yeah?" Lee asked, raising his eyebrows. "Like what?"
Dee kissed him. He hesitated for a moment, and then kissed her back. It was tentative and gentle, like their sex had been a lot ever since the pregnancy, but soon enough it wasn't. And Dee was right- it was fun.
They lay together afterwards, not talking much. But the silence didn't feel strained; instead, it was companionable. Sex and its aftermath hadn't felt this good in a long, long time. Dee stretched, contented. Things were finally getting back to where they should be.
***
"Look," Dee said, trying to keep her patience as she shoved the schematics in front of Louis two weeks later. "I just don't see why we can't reroute the auxiliary power from the main-"
"Because," Louis said with exaggerated patience, "this capacitor here," he jabbed at a symbol with a long finger, "won't take it."
"But if we-"
"Dee, it's just not possible, okay?"
"But you're not listening to what I'm saying!"
"I don't need to! I see it here on the paper, plain as day!"
Dee bit her lip. She and Louis had been getting on so well recently that sometimes it was hard to remember how Louis got when he was convinced he was right. And right now, Dee was about ready to tear her hair out… or his. She glared at him, uncharitably thinking of what an improvement it would be. His close crop was growing out again, and it looked absolutely terrible.
"Make a hole!" someone shouted.
Both Dee and Louis stepped back, and Lee and Kara ran by. They were racing, judging by Kara's delighted squeals and the way they were laughing. Dee watched them sourly, and tried to ignore the shaft of fear that shot through her.
"He's making a total fool of himself," she said, as Lee chased Kara through the halls.
"We go running together three times a week," Louis pointed out. "I seem to remember picking you up outside the CIC." Dee glared at him. "What?" Louis asked. "I'm just saying… oh, never mind. You aren't going to listen to a word I say. You haven't been all day."
"What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing." Louis stuffed the schematics back into his folder. "I actually honestly meant what I said. Some people do, you know."
"Frak off, Louis," Dee said crossly.
"Now that's the best idea you've had all day." He glanced at his watch. "I'm due with the Admiral anyway."
"Well tell him we need to reroute the-" Dee would have continued, but Louis was walking away, and he waved his hand dismissively at her. "Right," Dee said, watching him go. She sighed irritably and walked back down the hall, the opposite direction.
She tried not to think about how Lee and Kara had been laughing. The only reason she noticed it was because it contrasted so sharply with her own bad mood.
After all, marriage was all about trust.
***
"I heard a strange thing today," she told Lee that night as he folded the laundry.
"Yeah?"
"Seelix told me that the rumors that you and Kara are frakking started up again."
Lee laughed, although his laughter seemed fake. Was it her imagination? "Well, considering today I heard that you and Hoshi got caught in the head…."
"Me and Hoshi?" Dee laughed. "Who told you that?"
"That would be your friend Narcho."
Dee sighed. "I told him not to do that."
Lee paused in folding a shirt and looked over at where she was sitting on the bed. "You know about this?"
"Noel's trying to up the stakes," Dee said, rolling her eyes. "He's got money on Felix and Louis getting together."
Lee shrugged in that careless way he had that meant he really wasn't all that interested. "Well, that proves right there how crazy the rumor mill is," he said. "When I heard that one about you and Hoshi, I laughed. Because I know you, and I know that I can trust you. Even if you and Hoshi have been spending a lot of time together. Even if you won't tell me what half your conversations are about. I love you and I trust you, so I don't ask." But he looked at her expectantly.
Dee stared at him open-mouthed. "I don't believe you," she said. "That's exactly what you're doing right now, isn't it? You're asking me if there's something going on between me and Hoshi?"
"Well, isn't that what you were doing when we started this conversation?" Lee shot back. "Trying to ask without asking if there's something going on between me and Kara?"
Guilt flooded her, but she held her ground. "There's nothing going on with me and Louis," she said evenly.
"And there's nothing going on with me and Kara," he said, looking angry.
"Good."
"Good." He shoved the last tank into the drawer. "So next time your insecurities are acting up, just come out and ask me, okay?"
"Fine."
Lee sighed heavily. "Let's just forget it, okay, Dee?"
"Fine."
Lee shook his head and finished putting his laundry away, and then sat down to work on his pilot rotation. Dee watched him for a moment, and tried to tell herself that forgetting it was exactly what she should do.
So why couldn't she?
***
It turned out that even if Dee couldn't forget the rumors about her husband and Kara, she didn't have time to actually think about them. Not after the food supply was contaminated, and the rations dwindled down to nothing.
"They're sending you all through the star cluster?" Louis said, drinking a glass of water like it would help. "You're kidding."
"You heard the plan, Louis," Felix said crossly. "Stop asking the same question."
"Yeah, I really don't need it rubbed in," Noel groused. "It's not like I want to do this. But if there's food on the other side… I mean, right now, even algae sounds good."
"It's insane," Louis said. "Radiation is just… tell you what. I'll fly for you."
"You don't have wings, Louis," Dee reminded him. Her stomach was cramping and she felt weak, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. And if these three idiots would just shut up about it, it would make it much easier.
"They should send me," Louis mumbled, sitting back. "What's the radiation going to do? Give me cancer?"
Noel smacked him in the back of the head. "First of all, asshole, you're in remission. Secondly, don't frakking joke about it right now, okay?"
"It's been a bad enough week between the food situation and Tigh coming back to the CIC," Felix agreed, his chin resting on his crossed arms. He glared at Louis. "And don't think I didn't see you clapping," he said crossly.
"Felix, the guy is my superior officer, and I'm not supposed to know about the Circle," Louis snapped. "Lay off, all right?"
"Circle?" Noel said.
"It's nothing," Felix said, right as Dee said, "Don't worry about it." Noel shook his head.
"Gods, we need to eat. But if we resort to cannibalism, I vote we eat Felix first."
It was a sign of how hungry and tired they all were that no one kicked Noel under the table. Dee sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "I've got to go play tour guide," she said. "Don't eat each other while I'm gone."
She walked down the corridor and saw Lee. He was in his flight suit and talking to Kara, their heads close together and urgent. But when Dee approached, all she heard was talk about stims and coordinates and radiation and throttles.
Hungry and tired. That's what they all were, and it was bringing out the worst in everyone, including her. She told herself not to be paranoid and continued on to her job.
***
"You're heading up the algae supply mission," the Admiral informed Lee. "I've got some Marines and one of Tyrol's crews down there right now, but they're not organized. They're just getting us started as fast as they can."
"Yes, sir," Lee said. Dee studied him. It wasn't a typical assignment for a CAG, dealing with a planet-side mission. She would have expected Adama to put Helo or Tyrol himself in charge. But Lee actually seemed pleased at the idea.
"Dee will be your second," Adama continued.
Lee stiffened, barely glancing at Dee. "Sir, that's not really necessary."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we don't really know what's down there on that planet," Lee said. "I'd rather Dee stayed where it's safe. After all…"
Adama glowered at Lee, and Lee subsided into silence. "She's a soldier," he reminded Lee, and Dee lifted her chin and met the Old Man's gaze proudly. "Besides, with all the radiation, the equipment is really giving us some flack. You need someone who knows communications."
"So, send Hoshi. Not my wife," Lee said.
"Hoshi's not an option," Tigh growled. "You'll take it and like it, Major."
Adama clapped Lee on the arm. "Look at it this way, you never got a chance for a honeymoon. Beautiful planet, lots of blue sky and green scenery…"
"If pumping algae qualifies as your idea of romance, sir," Lee began with a smile, and even Tigh chuckled at that.
"You're dismissed," Adama informed them both.
***
"I don't get it," Lee complained as they made their way back to their own quarters. "Why you?"
"Why not?" Dee asked, annoyed. "I was your XO on the Pegasus."
"They'll need you up here on the ship."
"Why is this such an issue for you?" Dee asked, stopping suddenly. "It's a good command opportunity for me, and it's a chance where we might actually spend a little time together. Granted, an algae planet isn't exactly what I had in mind, but still."
Lee sighed and turned to face her, rubbing her arm. "You've been through enough already. I just don't want anything to happen to you," he said. "And I can't shake the feeling that this planet is bad news." He patted her shoulder. "I'm going to go start getting my rosters ready," he said.
"Yeah, bad news is right," Dee said, watching him go. She wished she wasn't thinking there was another reason Lee didn't want her to go.
***
"This stuff is disgusting," Noel said, chewing it thoroughly. "But it's still the best frakking thing I ever ate in my life."
"No kidding," Felix forked over another blob, and then looked around the quarters. "Where's Lee, Dee?"
"Talking to the squadron leaders," Dee said. "He's got a lot to do before we leave tomorrow morning." Felix and Noel exchanged glances, and Louis didn't look up from his bowl. Dee ignored them. "I'm glad we were able to eat in here," she said. "The mess hall was packed."
"Yeah," Noel said carelessly. "Kind of like right after New Caprica."
Felix winced and glared at Noel. Louis rubbed his shoulder gently, and Noel watched them, chewing idly.
"What?" Louis demanded.
"You two are frakking each other, aren't you?"
Felix blushed, but Louis met Noel's gaze evenly. "What of it?" he said finally.
"I'm just not understanding why you're acting like it's some big secret."
Felix was the one who spoke up. "Because the minute the rumor mill gets a hold of it, then there are expectations, and it becomes more than occasional sex between friends."
"Yeah, well, it is obviously more," Noel said, chewing laconically now.
"It's not," Louis insisted. "Not yet." Felix looked down at his bowl.
"What are you waiting for?" Noel demanded.
"The six month mark." Louis's eyes narrowed. "For a damn good reason." The tone of his voice was so frosty that Dee looked down at her own plate, and Noel even shut his mouth. Dee glanced up at him, and noticed that Noel's lips were pressed together so hard that the skin was turning white at the corners of his mouth.
Felix cleared his throat. "So the Old Man is sending you down as Lee's second in command," he said to Dee. "That's big."
"I guess," Dee said, shrugging. "Lee's not happy about it, though. He was campaigning for Louis."
"For me?" Louis asked. "Why?"
"No offense, but that's what I was wondering, too," Dee said sourly. "He kept going on about it being too dangerous. What a load of shit."
Felix seemed very interested in his plate, and Noel cleared his throat and opened his mouth. "Don't say it," Dee warned. "I know you're thinking it's a great chance for some privacy, but don't say it."
Noel broke the silence. "The thing is, Dee," he said slowly, "I'm not saying that I have, but if I heard something… would you want to know?"
"No. Not if you heard anything, Mr. I-heard-Hoshi-and-Dee-were-caught-in-the-head." She fixed him with a stern glare, and Noel had the grace to flush. But he wouldn't be deterred.
"What if it wasn't a rumor, though?" Noel asked. "What if I knew for sure? I don't," he added hastily.
Dee twirled her fork in her hands, looking from Felix to Louis. The air was charged with pain, and Dee wondered what was possessing them to have this conversation. Felix was still trying to eat, chewing mechanically, but Louis had given up any pretense of it and was off into the distance, his face blank. "If you knew for sure? If you saw something with your own eyes?" she asked, trying to think, and then she sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd want to know. I don't know what I'd do about it, but I'd want to know."
The four of them sat in silence. "I guess it's a good thing no one's speaking?" Dee said, when the oppressive atmosphere got too much to bear.
Felix stood up. "I think I've had enough," he said. "I need to get to the lab to take a look at some samples that Tyrol shipped up." He paused, and then leaned down and kissed Louis on the cheek. Louis closed his eyes, but other than that he didn't react.
Noel stood up as well. "I guess I should get going as well," he said. "I was hoping that now that we all have something in our stomachs we could get rip roaring drunk tonight, but something tells me that wouldn't be much fun." He grabbed his dishes and followed Felix out of the hatch.
Dee studied Hoshi. He'd picked up his fork again. "Are you all right?" she asked cautiously.
"Fine," Louis said, stabbing the fork into the bowl. "Just fine."
"Are you okay with this?"
"It's not anything I need to be okay with. It's your life, Dee."
"No, I'm changing the subject. Sorry, I should have been more clear. Are you okay with me getting this assignment over you?"
Louis made a face. "Well, no, because the reason I'm not getting it is because of Cottle. It's too physical for me right now. I can't say I really like the fact I'm still dealing with the cancer, even if it's technically in remission."
"And if it wasn't?"
Louis shrugged. "It's different this time, Dee. Don't beat yourself up over it."
"So you've forgiven me for being XO on the Pegasus?"
"I didn't say that," Louis said, but he flashed a tiny smile. "I'll concede that you didn't intentionally sleep your way into the position, and yes, you did a good job. We wouldn't be sitting here together right now if you hadn't. But yes, I still think I should have had the position from the start." He shrugged again. "But maybe it's not your fault."
"Gee. Thanks."
"And yes, for the record, I'm horribly jealous that you're getting to go instead of me. But at least this time there's a reason, and as much as I'd like to, I can't change it. Besides," he sighed, taking another forkful, "I have a feeling this mission is going to be bad news for you."
"Funny," Dee said, although it really wasn't. "That's exactly what Lee said, too."
***
The planet was hot, humid, and muddy. Dee stepped off the Raptor and had to take several deep breaths as the atmosphere assaulted her lungs. The stench didn’t help, either. Lee stepped off beside her, looking around. "Looks like they've got a good start," he said.
Tyrol's crews were moving around in the valley below them, sucking up the algae with a giant tube. It was alarming how much the finished product looked like the raw stuff. "And there's nothing else edible on this planet?" she asked Lee. "No wildlife? No berries or root vegetation?"
"Nothing that's going to feed an entire fleet," Tyrol said, approaching them. "Major. Lieutenant." He saluted. "The wildlife we've spotted so far has been small. We don't have the resources to do any large scale fishing, and with the Cylons still looking for us, we don't have time to do anything else but get as much of this crap as we can off the planet."
Lee sighed. "Good answer," he said. "Not my favorite, but good answer." He looked around. "Well, let's go get started."
Tyrol grinned at them. "We already are."
***
To Dee's surprise, despite the oppressive heat, the humidity, the little blood-sucking insects that left itchy welts, and the horrible stench, she liked this assignment. Oddly enough, it reminded her of basic, when she'd first been so full of fire for the military ideals, and so determined to serve and protect. Not that she didn't still feel that way, but this was more the kind of mission the television commercials had promised.
"What I don't get," Cally sighed as she and Dee eased a pipe into yet another swath of algae, "is why this has to be a military mission. Unless the squirrels are organizing themselves for a ruthless attack, it seems sort of overkill, doesn't it? Let some of the civvies do the dirty work for a change."
"Hey!" Sam Anders put in from over by the pump. "Some of us are civvies."
Dee laughed. "At least we got first dibs," she pointed out. "It may taste like swamp rot, but I won't complain that my stomach's full again."
Cally sighed, deftly attaching a connection. "You know what the worst of it is?" she asked. "This is going to be all of it. Algae, morning, noon, and night. Algae bars, algae meatloaf, mashed algae…"
"Steamed algae," Anders picked up. "Roasted algae, algae casserole, algae a la king…."
"Algae soup!" Cally continued gleefully. "Algae fricassee, algae sauté, algae puffs, algae soufflé…"
"I think you need eggs to make a soufflé," Dee said.
Anders ignored that. "What about deep-fried algae?" he asked Cally. "Or algae melts? Prime roast algaeloaf, sliced thin, served on algae bread with an algae cheese melted on top."
"And dried algae chips on the side?"
"Pickled algae!"
Cally was giggling so hard that she could barely talk. Anders was laughing and smiling, and even Dee couldn't help it. She started to laugh as well. But she couldn't look straight at Anders, and she couldn't help noticing he didn’t meet her eyes, either.
"What's the joke?" Lee said, appearing behind Anders.
Anders looked over his shoulder. "Nothing, Major," he said casually. "Cally, I think I've got this sucker ready to go."
"Well, flip it on, then."
Anders flipped a switch and the operation roared to life. The noise of it made it impossible to talk, and Dee found herself watching Lee, even as she held the heavy tube steady. Lee was standing next to Anders, but just a shade too far from where he should have been for comfortable conversation. And Anders seemed far too interested in the workings of the pump.
He'd heard the same rumors, too, then.
Anders looked up and caught her staring, and gave her a tiny smile that conveyed a world of understanding, and a little solidarity.
She smiled back.
***
"Dee. Can you give me a hand here?"
Dee climbed up the hill, where Anders was struggling with a long length of hose section. "Sure," she said. "What do you need?"
"Just a second pair of hands," Anders said. "If we're gonna get this moved, it would be a lot easier if this hose was coiled. But every time I try…" he gestured to where the hose kinked.
"No problem," Dee said, and bent to the work.
They made short work of it, with Dee unraveling the hose as Anders coiled it. "Thanks," Anders said. He stood up, stretching out his back. "Hell of a mission, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Dee agreed. She stood next to him, and they surveyed the small camp set up below them, the green planet, and the sheer bluffs that surrounded them. "You know," Dee sighed, "it's not a bad little planet."
"If you can get away from the stench," Anders agreed. "Too bad the Cylons would find us."
"I'm almost surprised they haven't already. That's just how our luck goes."
"Yeah."
They looked at each other, and Anders clapped a hand on Dee's shoulder for a moment. His hand was strong and firm, heavily callused with dirty bitten fingernails. "What would you do if we didn't have to run, though?" he asked, his hand falling back to his side. "If we were staying here, and the threat of the Cylons was gone?"
"Last time I got married. And I stayed on the Pegasus," Dee mused.
"Yeah?"
"I don't know if I'd stay there again."
Anders gave her a half-grin. "I would," he admitted.
"You'd stay?"
"Frak, yeah. Sometimes, things are important. And walking away from them just hurts more than it does to stay with it."
"You think?" Dee asked.
"Yeah. I do."
They were both silent, but the silence was companionable as they surveyed the planet. At least, it was until a motion caught Dee's eye. Lee and Kara were running towards the base camp. Dee grabbed Anders's wrist.
"Oh, frak," she said, pointing to them. "There's no way that can be good."
***
After the briefing, Dee hustled to catch up with the pilot walking away. "Starbuck! Starbuck! Captain Thrace!"
Starbuck turned, a slightly mocking smile on her face and a shifty look in her eye. "What do you want, Lieutenant?" she asked.
"Do you have a problem with something I said?" Dee demanded.
Kara's eyebrow cocked up. "I have a problem with a jumped up NCO telling me how to fly recon, yes."
"And it didn't occur to you that, in a roomful of civilians, it just might be a good idea to be explicit about what everyone's supposed to be doing?" Dee demanded.
Kara looked at her, and then burst out laughing. "You and Sam should get along great," she said. "Yeah, I've got a problem with it. The frakking civvies don't have to know every move I make, and it only wastes time."
"Well, until you're in command here, you will keep your mouth shut while I'm giving orders. Is that clear, Captain?"
"Crystal, Lieutenant. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go prep my Raptor." She turned on her heel and stalked off.
The fire of combat filled Dee, and for once she was glad that Louis had been such a pain in the ass on the Pegasus. Kara might think she was a hard case, but she wasn't half the bitch that Louis could be. Smiling grimly, Dee turned back to the bunker to get her gun.
***
The wounded Raptor left a streak of flame and smoke across the blue sky. Dee watched it, her heart pounding.
"Starbuck's been hit! I say again, Starbuck's going down!" Dee shouted into the comm unit.
And all she could think was Good.
***
There was no time for sentiment, and no time for anger. Dee was a soldier, and she was at war. Centurions were on this planet, had shot down Sergeant Fischer. And the fact that her own husband had ordered her to save what she suspected was his mistress…
No, she told herself, can't think like that. She's a Colonial pilot, I'm the closest source of help. She climbed over the brush towards the Raptor. She faced it, squared her shoulders, and crept towards the door.
"Starbuck? Star -" A gun appeared in her face.
Kara looked anything but happy to see her. "Dee, why the hell didn't you sing out? I almost blew you away."
"Yeah. Glad to see you too."
Dee had never wanted to kill a human more.
***
What was the appeal? she wondered as she sat by Kara, trying to repair the Raptor. The job wouldn't have been that hard if it hadn't been for the proximity of this woman. Why was Dee so threatened? It wasn't like they were anything alike. She wasn't a younger version of Dee. Although Dee was realistic enough to know that she and Lee were having a rough spot in their marriage, she couldn't honestly believe that Kara was the kind to listen and provide comfort. Their sex life had deteriorated a little since the pregnancy, but it was rebounding. All those reasons people cheated… they just weren't there.
But then, Dee thought guiltily as she twisted a pair of wires together, Billy had been everything she'd thought she wanted, too. And it wasn't like Lee was smarter or more compassionate. It had been something undeniable that had drawn her to Lee over Billy, not something that she could hold up as an example.
Frak.
Kara convulsed with pain. Dee checked the kit and gave her a morpha shot, hard, in the leg. Gods, that felt good. "There's only one left," she told her. "Better save it for when you fly us out of here."
"I can't fly," Kara gasped. "Especially all whacked up on morpha."
"Well, that's just frakkin' great."
"He won't cheat," Kara said suddenly, looking loopy. "He's too honorable."
He's too honorable implied opportunity. It implied desire. And it implied duty. Dee couldn't bear to think about it, especially not now. Not with her own life at stake, not with her job at stake. But she couldn't resist biting off, "Unlike you."
"Yeah, unlike me," Kara agreed. " I love Sam, I hate Sam. I love Lee, I hate Lee. Gods, I have to cheat just to keep the pieces all nice and neat."
Kara started to drift off, and Dee didn't pretend there was a great deal of pleasure in slapping her into consciousness. "Stay with it," she ordered. "You've still got to walk me through these avionics." She glared at Kara. "And not one more word about Lee or Sam, got it?"
Kara nodded.
What was annoying, Dee thought, was that even high on morpha, Kara could explain this. It helped that Dee was a quick study and understood much of it already, but the nagging traitor voice in her head muttered that maybe they could have made a decent team. She pictured Lee watching them, grinning with pride, and the image only made her more furious.
"That's it," she said, clicking on the Raptor. That much she knew how to do. "All right," she said, growling deep in her throat. "Let's get out of here."
Kara nodded, and to Dee's surprise, there was a flash of pride in her eyes. Odd, really, that Kara might feel the same way.
***
He won't cheat. He's too honorable.
Kara's words rung in Dee's head even as Lee turned to see her standing by the Raptor, even as he came over, pulling her into his arms and kissing her, cradling her close. Too honorable to cheat.
Lee's body was pressed against hers, warm and solid, and she was fitting perfectly into his arms. They were both so relieved to see the other alive, both so grateful they'd made it off the planet in time and without any injury from the Cylon attack. And yet… he'd still ordered her to risk her life for Kara's, she'd still been told that Lee was too honorable to cheat.
She tried to force it from her mind. After all, if Lee wasn't cheating, she had won.
***
The Admiral caught her on her way to the showers. "Lieutenant Dualla," he said, formally, "that was some good work that you did. Both down on the planet, and piloting the Raptor back up."
"Thank you, sir," Dee said.
Adama's smile widened. "No one could have done better," he said, and Dee's heart flared with joy at what passed for extremely high praise. He winked at her, and then saluted. She saluted back.
He walked down the hall, and she watched him for a moment. Then she headed back to the showers with a smile and a spring in her step.
***
There was a knock at the hatch, and when Dee answered it, Louis stood there, stiff and formal in his duty blues. She began to smile, but his face was deadly serious, and her smile leached away. "What is it, Louis?" she asked.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course." Dee stepped aside. Louis glanced behind him and then closed the door. There were no smiles, and Louis didn't move to sit. He stood in front of her, at attention. Dee suddenly realized this wasn't Louis- this was Lieutenant Hoshi of the Pegasus. "Is something wrong?" Dee asked, her heart beginning to beat faster.
Louis just swallowed, staring at the wall. "You said," he finally began, "that if any of us heard anything- direct from the source- to let you know. When Captain Thrace landed her Raptor at 0930 hours this morning, she neglected to turn off the comm unit, although I'm sure she thought she had."
Dee's heart stopped, and then lurched into a faster staccato again. "Continue," she said evenly.
"I heard Major Adama join her, and what followed was proof that they are intimately involved." Louis still wouldn't even look at Dee. "They did confirm that they have not yet actually consummated the relationship, but the Major said…" Louis cleared his throat, "Major Adama indicated interest in seeking a divorce." Dee's ears began to buzz, and Louis was blinking hard. "Captain Thrace dismissed that plan, and they were apparently left at an impasse."
Dee opened her mouth, but no words came and she closed it again. Finally, she heard herself saying, "Thank you, Lieutenant Hoshi."
He looked at her, and there was a wealth of pain and sympathy in his eyes. "Do you need anything, Lieutenant?" he asked, gentling a little. "I could get Lieutenant Gaeta."
"No. No, I'm fine. Thank you."
Louis nodded and snapped a small salute. "I'll see myself out."
The hatch clanged shut behind him.
On to Part 10
Author: lls_mutant
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Dee and Hoshi
Pairings: Dee/Lee, Hoshi/Gaeta, and past Hoshi/Narcho.
Summary:
Spoilers: Eventually through the end, but this part just through Rapture
Author's Note: Thanks to my awesome beta trovia!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Pain and Heaven
"Are you going to the Dance tonight?" Louis asked as they ran through the halls.
"Of course," Dee said. "You?"
"On duty. Truth be told, I'm not that big a fan of boxing, and Cottle wouldn't let me fight anyway." He wiped his forehead on his tanks. "Not that I'd try. I think the nice, calm, quiet CIC will suit me more tonight. Besides, with you and Helo at the Dance and Felix keeping book, if Adama leaves, the bridge is all mine." He grinned. "I'll take power over getting my ass kicked any day."
"You sound like Noel."
"I'm not that bad."
"Make a hole!" Dee ordered, and they jogged through a group of Marines. "You just don't want to go to the Dance because you're afraid if you put your tags in, I'd call you out and kick your ass in front of everyone."
"You couldn't kick my ass if you tried." Louis began to speed up a little.
"Oh, I so could," Dee laughed, keeping pace with him. "If we got into that ring together, you'd be flat on your back in seconds."
Louis looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, and then looked back at Dee with wide, innocent eyes. "You'd hit a cancer patient?"
"Don't give me that!" Dee said. "You've been in remission for a month!"
"But it was a long, hard battle," Louis said sanctimoniously, or as best as he could manage while panting for breath, "and I'm still recovering. This is the first time I've had the energy to go running."
"And I'm kicking your ass," Dee said.
Louis sped up a little more. "Are not."
Dee grinned. "Are too."
"You couldn't if you tried."
"Oh, I so could."
"Right. First one to CIC wins." And with that, Louis extended his stride and took off.
They were at the opposite end of the ship from the CIC, and Dee smiled at the challenge. She picked up her own pace, trailing Louis just slightly, letting him cut through the knots of people here and there and using the holes he made.
It felt good to run like this. Dee wasn't a runner at heart, but every now and then she could let the endorphins lift her up and take her away, out of the stale, recirculated air and the grays and blues of Galactica life. She could forget the Cylons for a minute, forget last night's fight with Lee and the fact they hadn't had sex in over a week. She could forget the baby, forget the support group, forget the CIC. Forget the dark marks under Felix's eyes, forget the way her heart jumped into her throat every time Noel and Lee took to their Vipers, forget the way they all still exchanged worried glances when Louis went to bed extremely early or said he had a headache. She pounded through the halls, glorying in the speed and the currents of air on her face.
Louis looked back at her over his shoulder, challenging her. Dee picked up the pace. They pelted down the halls, past the mess, past a group of pilots and a squadron of Marines, past people hauling laundry, people with equipment, people talking and laughing and arguing. They rounded the corner in a dead heat, flying by Tigh and Adama.
"You'd better be on duty in a half hour, Lieutenant Hoshi!" Tigh yelled after them.
"Aye, sir!" Louis shouted back, but his breath was coming hard. He and Dee whipped around another corner. Dee hit the CIC door a second before Louis did. "Ha!" she said, bending over, her hands on her knees as she panted for breath. "Told you."
"Only because you cheated," he accused. He grabbed her around the waist. "Back there." He scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder, and Dee shrieked.
"Lieutenants," a very familiar, very superior voice said.
Louis snapped to attention. "Admiral."
"Are you forgetting something, Lieutenant Hoshi?" Adama asked, amused. Belatedly, Louis eased Dee off his shoulder. He set her down, but the blood had gone to her head and Dee lost her balance, landing on her ass with a thump.
Tigh rolled his good eye. "We're not having a bridge bunny fight at the dance tonight, are we?" he demanded. "Because I'll be frakked before I want to watch you two pulling each others' hair."
"I'm on duty tonight, sir," Louis said quickly. Dee looked at him. It was amazing- she didn't think she'd ever meet anyone with Felix's ability to slip in and out of a professional demeanor so thoroughly, but Louis was just as good at it was Felix was.
Tigh noticed it, too. "Well, good," he grunted, eyeing Louis up and down.
Adama chuckled. "Actually, Saul, I think it would be one hell of a fight." He turned back to Dee and Louis. "Mr. Hoshi. Report to me ten minutes before your shift begins. There are a few things I want to go over with you."
"Aye, sir." Louis glanced at his watch. "If you don't mind…"
"Go."
Both Tigh and Adama watched him jog off. Tigh turned back to Dee first. "I take it you're not trying to flush Mr. Hoshi out of an airlock anymore."
Dee winced at his phrasing, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Adama do the same. "No, sir," she said to Tigh. "That's sorted."
"Huh. Good." Tigh turned back to Adama. "You coming down?"
"I'll be there. I want to see how Hoshi does with the bridge for a whole watch."
It had occurred to Dee, back when the Cylons had found them right after she'd gotten out of sickbay, that Adama was subtly sizing up his junior officers, testing them for command. She'd had several opportunities herself, moments here and there where she technically should not have had the deck. But this was the first she'd heard Adama speak of it, and the first time she was aware he was watching Louis as intently as he was watching herself and Felix.
"I'd better get down there as well," Tigh said. He nodded to them both and left. Dee stood awkwardly for a moment.
"Is the Colonel coming back to the CIC soon, sir?" she asked.
"I imagine so," Adama said. "It's not something you can rush." He glanced at her significantly. "Recovery rarely is."
"Right, sir," Dee said, lifting her chin slightly.
Adama sighed heavily. "Dee, there's something else I've been meaning to talk to you about," he said. "Walk with me." Dee fell into step beside him, baffled by the grave, uncertain look on the Admiral's face. They walked through a few corridors until they arrived at his study. He held the door open for her.
"Have a seat," he ordered when they entered. Dee obeyed and looked at him inquisitively. Adama sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I wasn't sure if I should talk to you or to Lee about this, but you're the one I need in the CIC, and you're the one with the clearance."
"Sir?" Dee asked, mystified. Adama looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"This isn't an order I like to give," Adama said. "I don't like to meddle this much in my crew's personal lives, and I also have a vested interest in this one. But I think we need to be clear on it." He cleared his throat and picked up a pen, looking down at the paper on his desk. "Cottle tells me that a woman who's suffered an ectopic pregnancy can try again for a baby after three months. He also tells me that while Lieutenant Hoshi is in remission, there's a significant chance the cancer could return. Hoshi himself tells me that he doesn't consider himself truly in remission until six months have gone by, after which the chance of the cancer returning drops dramatically."
Dee saw where he was going. "You want me to put off getting pregnant until Hoshi's officially in remission, sir? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." Adama looked up. "I can run the CIC without either of you. It's a hell of a lot easier if I don't have to. As much as I'd like that grandchild," he flashed a little half-grin, "it's something that has to wait."
"Unless we find Earth, first," Dee said.
Adama blinked. "Right," he said. "Unless we find Earth, first."
"Yes, sir."
"All right. You're dismissed. I'll see you at the Dance."
Dee left the study, and as she did, she wondered why the Admiral's order didn't hurt at all.
***
The Dance was savage. Dee was enjoying it immensely, especially when she won a few cubits betting on Noel in a bout against one of the other pilots.
That all evaporated when Kara called Lee up to the ring.
***
Dee didn't want to go back to her quarters, but she wasn't sure where else to go. And sure enough, when she went back, the room was empty.
She sat down on the bed, her hands falling uselessly into her lap. Her stomach was twisted into knots, because she honestly didn't know what was going to happen when Lee walked in that door tonight. Because that fight with Kara… she'd seen a lot of fights tonight, but nothing remotely that passionate. And none of them ended with a long embrace, either.
You're overreacting, she told herself. You're overreacting. But at the same time, she'd seen Anders's face, too, and the look of naked sympathy on Felix's face. She didn't know which one was real.
It was late when he came back. He was clean, with a small bandage on a cut on his cheek, his hair still damp from the shower. He opened the hatch quietly, spotted her, and then entered with an air of overcompensated confidence.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, dropping a kiss on her hair. "I went and saw Cottle."
"I see," Dee said. Her voice came out frosty, and she couldn't look up at him.
Lee sighed heavily. "All right," he said. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Dee tried.
"No, something's bothering you. I did something wrong tonight, didn't I? Let me guess. I fought Helo?" Dee gave him a dirty look. "No, it has nothing to do with Helo then. Which is just as well, since Helo beat the shit out of me."
Dee sighed. "Maybe we should just go to bed."
"No. No, you've got something to say, Dee. Let's hear it."
"Lee-"
"Kara." Lee clapped his hands down on the table, rolling his eyes and then turning away.
"I didn't say anything about Kara," Dee said, biting each word out.
"Yeah, but you were thinking it, weren't you?"
"No, I wasn't. Should I be, after watching the two of you beat the shit out of each other?" Dee arched her eyebrows.
"That's right," Lee agreed, "we beat the shit out of each other." He sighed. "I'm going to bed."
"I'm coming, too." Dee stood up. Lee turned around and looked at her like she was trailing him, but Dee met his eyes evenly. He shrugged, and then pulled off his clothing and slipped into bed. Dee climbed in after him.
They lay side by side, not touching at all.
***
"I'm sorry," Lee said the next morning, easing his sore body out of bed. "I really bit your head off last night."
"I'm sorry, too," Dee apologized. "I guess it did seem kind of accusing."
"Let's just forget it, all right?" Lee asked. "The whole thing was just strange."
Dee nodded enthusiastically.
***
"Are things okay with Lee?" Felix asked her two days later.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Dee said. Felix looked skeptical. "What?"
"Nothing. Just… I saw the look on your face when you were watching him and Kara fight at the Dance."
"I overreacted," Dee said lightly. After all, Lee had been quite attentive the past two days, not acting like anything had changed. So why should she believe it had?
"Yeah," Felix said. "That's what I used to say when Gaius brought home interns."
"Lee is not like Baltar, Felix. He's capable of thinking with more than his dick."
Felix shrugged. "You said yourself he had a thing for Kara."
Dee sighed. "It's been a long time. But more than that, we're married now. I can believe a lot of things about Lee Adama, but that he'd break a vow that he made? No. That's not Lee."
"You really believe in him, don't you?" Felix asked.
"Of course," Dee said stoically. "If I can't believe in my own husband, what can I believe in?"
"Good question," Felix agreed. "I just hope you're right."
"I am," Dee insisted, ignoring the little voice that said, yeah, me too.
***
"I see the guys were here again tonight," Lee said dryly, as Dee picked up the glasses.
"You know, you're welcome to join us," Dee offered, yet again.
Lee shook his head. "Sorry. They're good guys, Dee, but I don't have much in common with them."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for starters, when I eat with the four of you in the mess, I'm the only one who doesn't turn their head when a good-looking guy walks by."
Dee giggled. "I guess not. What else?"
"No offense, and maybe he's not like this around you, but Narcho's a bit of an ass."
"He is around the pilots," Dee agreed. "He's more toned down when he's not."
"But I'm a pilot," Lee pointed out.
"I see your point. But what about Felix? You two have a lot in common. Starting," Dee said dryly, "with your affection for a certain Sagittaron politician."
Lee snorted. "I wouldn't say I have any affection for Tom Zarek. I just understand him, and sometimes- on occasion- he is right. But come on, Dee, Gaeta and I are nothing alike. He's military, through and through. I don't care that he was in the civilian government on New Caprica- he's still a true soldier."
"So are you." Lee smiled indulgently, but didn't answer. "Louis? I seem to remember you arguing he was a good guy."
"And he is. They're all good guys, Dee, but they just aren't my kind of people. Besides," he said, sitting on the bed and grinning mischievously, "I have a bit of a secret project going."
"A secret project?"
"A long time ago, I promised the pilots if we ever found Earth- or even some habitable rock- I'd build them a bar. I didn't on New Caprica, but…" he looked at the table where Dee had been sitting earlier with her friends. "It's good for people to have a place to congregate, blow off some steam."
"It is." Dee laughed. "Oddly enough, I was never a fan of bars."
"No?" Lee asked.
"Noise, smoke, and rude people spilling drinks on you was never my idea of a good time," Dee admitted.
"Yeah," Lee said, and there might have been a stiffness in his voice. "Well, it keeps me busy, at any rate."
There was something plaintive in his voice, and Dee smiled understandingly. "I'm glad," she said. She put down the glasses and went over to the bed, and Lee draped his arm around her waist. "You know," she said, setting across his lap, "there are things that both of us agree are fun."
"Oh yeah?" Lee asked, raising his eyebrows. "Like what?"
Dee kissed him. He hesitated for a moment, and then kissed her back. It was tentative and gentle, like their sex had been a lot ever since the pregnancy, but soon enough it wasn't. And Dee was right- it was fun.
They lay together afterwards, not talking much. But the silence didn't feel strained; instead, it was companionable. Sex and its aftermath hadn't felt this good in a long, long time. Dee stretched, contented. Things were finally getting back to where they should be.
***
"Look," Dee said, trying to keep her patience as she shoved the schematics in front of Louis two weeks later. "I just don't see why we can't reroute the auxiliary power from the main-"
"Because," Louis said with exaggerated patience, "this capacitor here," he jabbed at a symbol with a long finger, "won't take it."
"But if we-"
"Dee, it's just not possible, okay?"
"But you're not listening to what I'm saying!"
"I don't need to! I see it here on the paper, plain as day!"
Dee bit her lip. She and Louis had been getting on so well recently that sometimes it was hard to remember how Louis got when he was convinced he was right. And right now, Dee was about ready to tear her hair out… or his. She glared at him, uncharitably thinking of what an improvement it would be. His close crop was growing out again, and it looked absolutely terrible.
"Make a hole!" someone shouted.
Both Dee and Louis stepped back, and Lee and Kara ran by. They were racing, judging by Kara's delighted squeals and the way they were laughing. Dee watched them sourly, and tried to ignore the shaft of fear that shot through her.
"He's making a total fool of himself," she said, as Lee chased Kara through the halls.
"We go running together three times a week," Louis pointed out. "I seem to remember picking you up outside the CIC." Dee glared at him. "What?" Louis asked. "I'm just saying… oh, never mind. You aren't going to listen to a word I say. You haven't been all day."
"What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing." Louis stuffed the schematics back into his folder. "I actually honestly meant what I said. Some people do, you know."
"Frak off, Louis," Dee said crossly.
"Now that's the best idea you've had all day." He glanced at his watch. "I'm due with the Admiral anyway."
"Well tell him we need to reroute the-" Dee would have continued, but Louis was walking away, and he waved his hand dismissively at her. "Right," Dee said, watching him go. She sighed irritably and walked back down the hall, the opposite direction.
She tried not to think about how Lee and Kara had been laughing. The only reason she noticed it was because it contrasted so sharply with her own bad mood.
After all, marriage was all about trust.
***
"I heard a strange thing today," she told Lee that night as he folded the laundry.
"Yeah?"
"Seelix told me that the rumors that you and Kara are frakking started up again."
Lee laughed, although his laughter seemed fake. Was it her imagination? "Well, considering today I heard that you and Hoshi got caught in the head…."
"Me and Hoshi?" Dee laughed. "Who told you that?"
"That would be your friend Narcho."
Dee sighed. "I told him not to do that."
Lee paused in folding a shirt and looked over at where she was sitting on the bed. "You know about this?"
"Noel's trying to up the stakes," Dee said, rolling her eyes. "He's got money on Felix and Louis getting together."
Lee shrugged in that careless way he had that meant he really wasn't all that interested. "Well, that proves right there how crazy the rumor mill is," he said. "When I heard that one about you and Hoshi, I laughed. Because I know you, and I know that I can trust you. Even if you and Hoshi have been spending a lot of time together. Even if you won't tell me what half your conversations are about. I love you and I trust you, so I don't ask." But he looked at her expectantly.
Dee stared at him open-mouthed. "I don't believe you," she said. "That's exactly what you're doing right now, isn't it? You're asking me if there's something going on between me and Hoshi?"
"Well, isn't that what you were doing when we started this conversation?" Lee shot back. "Trying to ask without asking if there's something going on between me and Kara?"
Guilt flooded her, but she held her ground. "There's nothing going on with me and Louis," she said evenly.
"And there's nothing going on with me and Kara," he said, looking angry.
"Good."
"Good." He shoved the last tank into the drawer. "So next time your insecurities are acting up, just come out and ask me, okay?"
"Fine."
Lee sighed heavily. "Let's just forget it, okay, Dee?"
"Fine."
Lee shook his head and finished putting his laundry away, and then sat down to work on his pilot rotation. Dee watched him for a moment, and tried to tell herself that forgetting it was exactly what she should do.
So why couldn't she?
***
It turned out that even if Dee couldn't forget the rumors about her husband and Kara, she didn't have time to actually think about them. Not after the food supply was contaminated, and the rations dwindled down to nothing.
"They're sending you all through the star cluster?" Louis said, drinking a glass of water like it would help. "You're kidding."
"You heard the plan, Louis," Felix said crossly. "Stop asking the same question."
"Yeah, I really don't need it rubbed in," Noel groused. "It's not like I want to do this. But if there's food on the other side… I mean, right now, even algae sounds good."
"It's insane," Louis said. "Radiation is just… tell you what. I'll fly for you."
"You don't have wings, Louis," Dee reminded him. Her stomach was cramping and she felt weak, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. And if these three idiots would just shut up about it, it would make it much easier.
"They should send me," Louis mumbled, sitting back. "What's the radiation going to do? Give me cancer?"
Noel smacked him in the back of the head. "First of all, asshole, you're in remission. Secondly, don't frakking joke about it right now, okay?"
"It's been a bad enough week between the food situation and Tigh coming back to the CIC," Felix agreed, his chin resting on his crossed arms. He glared at Louis. "And don't think I didn't see you clapping," he said crossly.
"Felix, the guy is my superior officer, and I'm not supposed to know about the Circle," Louis snapped. "Lay off, all right?"
"Circle?" Noel said.
"It's nothing," Felix said, right as Dee said, "Don't worry about it." Noel shook his head.
"Gods, we need to eat. But if we resort to cannibalism, I vote we eat Felix first."
It was a sign of how hungry and tired they all were that no one kicked Noel under the table. Dee sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "I've got to go play tour guide," she said. "Don't eat each other while I'm gone."
She walked down the corridor and saw Lee. He was in his flight suit and talking to Kara, their heads close together and urgent. But when Dee approached, all she heard was talk about stims and coordinates and radiation and throttles.
Hungry and tired. That's what they all were, and it was bringing out the worst in everyone, including her. She told herself not to be paranoid and continued on to her job.
***
"You're heading up the algae supply mission," the Admiral informed Lee. "I've got some Marines and one of Tyrol's crews down there right now, but they're not organized. They're just getting us started as fast as they can."
"Yes, sir," Lee said. Dee studied him. It wasn't a typical assignment for a CAG, dealing with a planet-side mission. She would have expected Adama to put Helo or Tyrol himself in charge. But Lee actually seemed pleased at the idea.
"Dee will be your second," Adama continued.
Lee stiffened, barely glancing at Dee. "Sir, that's not really necessary."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we don't really know what's down there on that planet," Lee said. "I'd rather Dee stayed where it's safe. After all…"
Adama glowered at Lee, and Lee subsided into silence. "She's a soldier," he reminded Lee, and Dee lifted her chin and met the Old Man's gaze proudly. "Besides, with all the radiation, the equipment is really giving us some flack. You need someone who knows communications."
"So, send Hoshi. Not my wife," Lee said.
"Hoshi's not an option," Tigh growled. "You'll take it and like it, Major."
Adama clapped Lee on the arm. "Look at it this way, you never got a chance for a honeymoon. Beautiful planet, lots of blue sky and green scenery…"
"If pumping algae qualifies as your idea of romance, sir," Lee began with a smile, and even Tigh chuckled at that.
"You're dismissed," Adama informed them both.
***
"I don't get it," Lee complained as they made their way back to their own quarters. "Why you?"
"Why not?" Dee asked, annoyed. "I was your XO on the Pegasus."
"They'll need you up here on the ship."
"Why is this such an issue for you?" Dee asked, stopping suddenly. "It's a good command opportunity for me, and it's a chance where we might actually spend a little time together. Granted, an algae planet isn't exactly what I had in mind, but still."
Lee sighed and turned to face her, rubbing her arm. "You've been through enough already. I just don't want anything to happen to you," he said. "And I can't shake the feeling that this planet is bad news." He patted her shoulder. "I'm going to go start getting my rosters ready," he said.
"Yeah, bad news is right," Dee said, watching him go. She wished she wasn't thinking there was another reason Lee didn't want her to go.
***
"This stuff is disgusting," Noel said, chewing it thoroughly. "But it's still the best frakking thing I ever ate in my life."
"No kidding," Felix forked over another blob, and then looked around the quarters. "Where's Lee, Dee?"
"Talking to the squadron leaders," Dee said. "He's got a lot to do before we leave tomorrow morning." Felix and Noel exchanged glances, and Louis didn't look up from his bowl. Dee ignored them. "I'm glad we were able to eat in here," she said. "The mess hall was packed."
"Yeah," Noel said carelessly. "Kind of like right after New Caprica."
Felix winced and glared at Noel. Louis rubbed his shoulder gently, and Noel watched them, chewing idly.
"What?" Louis demanded.
"You two are frakking each other, aren't you?"
Felix blushed, but Louis met Noel's gaze evenly. "What of it?" he said finally.
"I'm just not understanding why you're acting like it's some big secret."
Felix was the one who spoke up. "Because the minute the rumor mill gets a hold of it, then there are expectations, and it becomes more than occasional sex between friends."
"Yeah, well, it is obviously more," Noel said, chewing laconically now.
"It's not," Louis insisted. "Not yet." Felix looked down at his bowl.
"What are you waiting for?" Noel demanded.
"The six month mark." Louis's eyes narrowed. "For a damn good reason." The tone of his voice was so frosty that Dee looked down at her own plate, and Noel even shut his mouth. Dee glanced up at him, and noticed that Noel's lips were pressed together so hard that the skin was turning white at the corners of his mouth.
Felix cleared his throat. "So the Old Man is sending you down as Lee's second in command," he said to Dee. "That's big."
"I guess," Dee said, shrugging. "Lee's not happy about it, though. He was campaigning for Louis."
"For me?" Louis asked. "Why?"
"No offense, but that's what I was wondering, too," Dee said sourly. "He kept going on about it being too dangerous. What a load of shit."
Felix seemed very interested in his plate, and Noel cleared his throat and opened his mouth. "Don't say it," Dee warned. "I know you're thinking it's a great chance for some privacy, but don't say it."
Noel broke the silence. "The thing is, Dee," he said slowly, "I'm not saying that I have, but if I heard something… would you want to know?"
"No. Not if you heard anything, Mr. I-heard-Hoshi-and-Dee-were-caught-in-the-head." She fixed him with a stern glare, and Noel had the grace to flush. But he wouldn't be deterred.
"What if it wasn't a rumor, though?" Noel asked. "What if I knew for sure? I don't," he added hastily.
Dee twirled her fork in her hands, looking from Felix to Louis. The air was charged with pain, and Dee wondered what was possessing them to have this conversation. Felix was still trying to eat, chewing mechanically, but Louis had given up any pretense of it and was off into the distance, his face blank. "If you knew for sure? If you saw something with your own eyes?" she asked, trying to think, and then she sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd want to know. I don't know what I'd do about it, but I'd want to know."
The four of them sat in silence. "I guess it's a good thing no one's speaking?" Dee said, when the oppressive atmosphere got too much to bear.
Felix stood up. "I think I've had enough," he said. "I need to get to the lab to take a look at some samples that Tyrol shipped up." He paused, and then leaned down and kissed Louis on the cheek. Louis closed his eyes, but other than that he didn't react.
Noel stood up as well. "I guess I should get going as well," he said. "I was hoping that now that we all have something in our stomachs we could get rip roaring drunk tonight, but something tells me that wouldn't be much fun." He grabbed his dishes and followed Felix out of the hatch.
Dee studied Hoshi. He'd picked up his fork again. "Are you all right?" she asked cautiously.
"Fine," Louis said, stabbing the fork into the bowl. "Just fine."
"Are you okay with this?"
"It's not anything I need to be okay with. It's your life, Dee."
"No, I'm changing the subject. Sorry, I should have been more clear. Are you okay with me getting this assignment over you?"
Louis made a face. "Well, no, because the reason I'm not getting it is because of Cottle. It's too physical for me right now. I can't say I really like the fact I'm still dealing with the cancer, even if it's technically in remission."
"And if it wasn't?"
Louis shrugged. "It's different this time, Dee. Don't beat yourself up over it."
"So you've forgiven me for being XO on the Pegasus?"
"I didn't say that," Louis said, but he flashed a tiny smile. "I'll concede that you didn't intentionally sleep your way into the position, and yes, you did a good job. We wouldn't be sitting here together right now if you hadn't. But yes, I still think I should have had the position from the start." He shrugged again. "But maybe it's not your fault."
"Gee. Thanks."
"And yes, for the record, I'm horribly jealous that you're getting to go instead of me. But at least this time there's a reason, and as much as I'd like to, I can't change it. Besides," he sighed, taking another forkful, "I have a feeling this mission is going to be bad news for you."
"Funny," Dee said, although it really wasn't. "That's exactly what Lee said, too."
***
The planet was hot, humid, and muddy. Dee stepped off the Raptor and had to take several deep breaths as the atmosphere assaulted her lungs. The stench didn’t help, either. Lee stepped off beside her, looking around. "Looks like they've got a good start," he said.
Tyrol's crews were moving around in the valley below them, sucking up the algae with a giant tube. It was alarming how much the finished product looked like the raw stuff. "And there's nothing else edible on this planet?" she asked Lee. "No wildlife? No berries or root vegetation?"
"Nothing that's going to feed an entire fleet," Tyrol said, approaching them. "Major. Lieutenant." He saluted. "The wildlife we've spotted so far has been small. We don't have the resources to do any large scale fishing, and with the Cylons still looking for us, we don't have time to do anything else but get as much of this crap as we can off the planet."
Lee sighed. "Good answer," he said. "Not my favorite, but good answer." He looked around. "Well, let's go get started."
Tyrol grinned at them. "We already are."
***
To Dee's surprise, despite the oppressive heat, the humidity, the little blood-sucking insects that left itchy welts, and the horrible stench, she liked this assignment. Oddly enough, it reminded her of basic, when she'd first been so full of fire for the military ideals, and so determined to serve and protect. Not that she didn't still feel that way, but this was more the kind of mission the television commercials had promised.
"What I don't get," Cally sighed as she and Dee eased a pipe into yet another swath of algae, "is why this has to be a military mission. Unless the squirrels are organizing themselves for a ruthless attack, it seems sort of overkill, doesn't it? Let some of the civvies do the dirty work for a change."
"Hey!" Sam Anders put in from over by the pump. "Some of us are civvies."
Dee laughed. "At least we got first dibs," she pointed out. "It may taste like swamp rot, but I won't complain that my stomach's full again."
Cally sighed, deftly attaching a connection. "You know what the worst of it is?" she asked. "This is going to be all of it. Algae, morning, noon, and night. Algae bars, algae meatloaf, mashed algae…"
"Steamed algae," Anders picked up. "Roasted algae, algae casserole, algae a la king…."
"Algae soup!" Cally continued gleefully. "Algae fricassee, algae sauté, algae puffs, algae soufflé…"
"I think you need eggs to make a soufflé," Dee said.
Anders ignored that. "What about deep-fried algae?" he asked Cally. "Or algae melts? Prime roast algaeloaf, sliced thin, served on algae bread with an algae cheese melted on top."
"And dried algae chips on the side?"
"Pickled algae!"
Cally was giggling so hard that she could barely talk. Anders was laughing and smiling, and even Dee couldn't help it. She started to laugh as well. But she couldn't look straight at Anders, and she couldn't help noticing he didn’t meet her eyes, either.
"What's the joke?" Lee said, appearing behind Anders.
Anders looked over his shoulder. "Nothing, Major," he said casually. "Cally, I think I've got this sucker ready to go."
"Well, flip it on, then."
Anders flipped a switch and the operation roared to life. The noise of it made it impossible to talk, and Dee found herself watching Lee, even as she held the heavy tube steady. Lee was standing next to Anders, but just a shade too far from where he should have been for comfortable conversation. And Anders seemed far too interested in the workings of the pump.
He'd heard the same rumors, too, then.
Anders looked up and caught her staring, and gave her a tiny smile that conveyed a world of understanding, and a little solidarity.
She smiled back.
***
"Dee. Can you give me a hand here?"
Dee climbed up the hill, where Anders was struggling with a long length of hose section. "Sure," she said. "What do you need?"
"Just a second pair of hands," Anders said. "If we're gonna get this moved, it would be a lot easier if this hose was coiled. But every time I try…" he gestured to where the hose kinked.
"No problem," Dee said, and bent to the work.
They made short work of it, with Dee unraveling the hose as Anders coiled it. "Thanks," Anders said. He stood up, stretching out his back. "Hell of a mission, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Dee agreed. She stood next to him, and they surveyed the small camp set up below them, the green planet, and the sheer bluffs that surrounded them. "You know," Dee sighed, "it's not a bad little planet."
"If you can get away from the stench," Anders agreed. "Too bad the Cylons would find us."
"I'm almost surprised they haven't already. That's just how our luck goes."
"Yeah."
They looked at each other, and Anders clapped a hand on Dee's shoulder for a moment. His hand was strong and firm, heavily callused with dirty bitten fingernails. "What would you do if we didn't have to run, though?" he asked, his hand falling back to his side. "If we were staying here, and the threat of the Cylons was gone?"
"Last time I got married. And I stayed on the Pegasus," Dee mused.
"Yeah?"
"I don't know if I'd stay there again."
Anders gave her a half-grin. "I would," he admitted.
"You'd stay?"
"Frak, yeah. Sometimes, things are important. And walking away from them just hurts more than it does to stay with it."
"You think?" Dee asked.
"Yeah. I do."
They were both silent, but the silence was companionable as they surveyed the planet. At least, it was until a motion caught Dee's eye. Lee and Kara were running towards the base camp. Dee grabbed Anders's wrist.
"Oh, frak," she said, pointing to them. "There's no way that can be good."
***
After the briefing, Dee hustled to catch up with the pilot walking away. "Starbuck! Starbuck! Captain Thrace!"
Starbuck turned, a slightly mocking smile on her face and a shifty look in her eye. "What do you want, Lieutenant?" she asked.
"Do you have a problem with something I said?" Dee demanded.
Kara's eyebrow cocked up. "I have a problem with a jumped up NCO telling me how to fly recon, yes."
"And it didn't occur to you that, in a roomful of civilians, it just might be a good idea to be explicit about what everyone's supposed to be doing?" Dee demanded.
Kara looked at her, and then burst out laughing. "You and Sam should get along great," she said. "Yeah, I've got a problem with it. The frakking civvies don't have to know every move I make, and it only wastes time."
"Well, until you're in command here, you will keep your mouth shut while I'm giving orders. Is that clear, Captain?"
"Crystal, Lieutenant. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go prep my Raptor." She turned on her heel and stalked off.
The fire of combat filled Dee, and for once she was glad that Louis had been such a pain in the ass on the Pegasus. Kara might think she was a hard case, but she wasn't half the bitch that Louis could be. Smiling grimly, Dee turned back to the bunker to get her gun.
***
The wounded Raptor left a streak of flame and smoke across the blue sky. Dee watched it, her heart pounding.
"Starbuck's been hit! I say again, Starbuck's going down!" Dee shouted into the comm unit.
And all she could think was Good.
***
There was no time for sentiment, and no time for anger. Dee was a soldier, and she was at war. Centurions were on this planet, had shot down Sergeant Fischer. And the fact that her own husband had ordered her to save what she suspected was his mistress…
No, she told herself, can't think like that. She's a Colonial pilot, I'm the closest source of help. She climbed over the brush towards the Raptor. She faced it, squared her shoulders, and crept towards the door.
"Starbuck? Star -" A gun appeared in her face.
Kara looked anything but happy to see her. "Dee, why the hell didn't you sing out? I almost blew you away."
"Yeah. Glad to see you too."
Dee had never wanted to kill a human more.
***
What was the appeal? she wondered as she sat by Kara, trying to repair the Raptor. The job wouldn't have been that hard if it hadn't been for the proximity of this woman. Why was Dee so threatened? It wasn't like they were anything alike. She wasn't a younger version of Dee. Although Dee was realistic enough to know that she and Lee were having a rough spot in their marriage, she couldn't honestly believe that Kara was the kind to listen and provide comfort. Their sex life had deteriorated a little since the pregnancy, but it was rebounding. All those reasons people cheated… they just weren't there.
But then, Dee thought guiltily as she twisted a pair of wires together, Billy had been everything she'd thought she wanted, too. And it wasn't like Lee was smarter or more compassionate. It had been something undeniable that had drawn her to Lee over Billy, not something that she could hold up as an example.
Frak.
Kara convulsed with pain. Dee checked the kit and gave her a morpha shot, hard, in the leg. Gods, that felt good. "There's only one left," she told her. "Better save it for when you fly us out of here."
"I can't fly," Kara gasped. "Especially all whacked up on morpha."
"Well, that's just frakkin' great."
"He won't cheat," Kara said suddenly, looking loopy. "He's too honorable."
He's too honorable implied opportunity. It implied desire. And it implied duty. Dee couldn't bear to think about it, especially not now. Not with her own life at stake, not with her job at stake. But she couldn't resist biting off, "Unlike you."
"Yeah, unlike me," Kara agreed. " I love Sam, I hate Sam. I love Lee, I hate Lee. Gods, I have to cheat just to keep the pieces all nice and neat."
Kara started to drift off, and Dee didn't pretend there was a great deal of pleasure in slapping her into consciousness. "Stay with it," she ordered. "You've still got to walk me through these avionics." She glared at Kara. "And not one more word about Lee or Sam, got it?"
Kara nodded.
What was annoying, Dee thought, was that even high on morpha, Kara could explain this. It helped that Dee was a quick study and understood much of it already, but the nagging traitor voice in her head muttered that maybe they could have made a decent team. She pictured Lee watching them, grinning with pride, and the image only made her more furious.
"That's it," she said, clicking on the Raptor. That much she knew how to do. "All right," she said, growling deep in her throat. "Let's get out of here."
Kara nodded, and to Dee's surprise, there was a flash of pride in her eyes. Odd, really, that Kara might feel the same way.
***
He won't cheat. He's too honorable.
Kara's words rung in Dee's head even as Lee turned to see her standing by the Raptor, even as he came over, pulling her into his arms and kissing her, cradling her close. Too honorable to cheat.
Lee's body was pressed against hers, warm and solid, and she was fitting perfectly into his arms. They were both so relieved to see the other alive, both so grateful they'd made it off the planet in time and without any injury from the Cylon attack. And yet… he'd still ordered her to risk her life for Kara's, she'd still been told that Lee was too honorable to cheat.
She tried to force it from her mind. After all, if Lee wasn't cheating, she had won.
***
The Admiral caught her on her way to the showers. "Lieutenant Dualla," he said, formally, "that was some good work that you did. Both down on the planet, and piloting the Raptor back up."
"Thank you, sir," Dee said.
Adama's smile widened. "No one could have done better," he said, and Dee's heart flared with joy at what passed for extremely high praise. He winked at her, and then saluted. She saluted back.
He walked down the hall, and she watched him for a moment. Then she headed back to the showers with a smile and a spring in her step.
***
There was a knock at the hatch, and when Dee answered it, Louis stood there, stiff and formal in his duty blues. She began to smile, but his face was deadly serious, and her smile leached away. "What is it, Louis?" she asked.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course." Dee stepped aside. Louis glanced behind him and then closed the door. There were no smiles, and Louis didn't move to sit. He stood in front of her, at attention. Dee suddenly realized this wasn't Louis- this was Lieutenant Hoshi of the Pegasus. "Is something wrong?" Dee asked, her heart beginning to beat faster.
Louis just swallowed, staring at the wall. "You said," he finally began, "that if any of us heard anything- direct from the source- to let you know. When Captain Thrace landed her Raptor at 0930 hours this morning, she neglected to turn off the comm unit, although I'm sure she thought she had."
Dee's heart stopped, and then lurched into a faster staccato again. "Continue," she said evenly.
"I heard Major Adama join her, and what followed was proof that they are intimately involved." Louis still wouldn't even look at Dee. "They did confirm that they have not yet actually consummated the relationship, but the Major said…" Louis cleared his throat, "Major Adama indicated interest in seeking a divorce." Dee's ears began to buzz, and Louis was blinking hard. "Captain Thrace dismissed that plan, and they were apparently left at an impasse."
Dee opened her mouth, but no words came and she closed it again. Finally, she heard herself saying, "Thank you, Lieutenant Hoshi."
He looked at her, and there was a wealth of pain and sympathy in his eyes. "Do you need anything, Lieutenant?" he asked, gentling a little. "I could get Lieutenant Gaeta."
"No. No, I'm fine. Thank you."
Louis nodded and snapped a small salute. "I'll see myself out."
The hatch clanged shut behind him.
On to Part 10