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Title: Worth It Pairing: Lee/Kara Rating: G Spoilers: 33, Water Disclaimer: Not mine. Sigh. Summary: Lee reflects on Kara's words to him during 33. Notes: Thanks to Megan for the read-through! :) And for pushing me to finish it when I wasn't sure I wanted to. "Good hunting." Kara’s words fell from Lee’s lips before he could stop them. It was apt, though instead of hunting Cylons, Boomer and Crashdown were hunting water. Still, it felt decidedly odd to say the words. If he was honest, it felt decidedly odd to be CAG. He hadn’t had time to adjust to the idea yet. Kara’s little rant the other day hadn’t exactly helped, though it had made him think. She was good at doing that. He knew she had spoken under the influence of sleepless and stressful conditions, but her words still carried the weight of truth. They echoed in his memory, forcing him to acknowledge what they meant. "You’re still acting like you’re everyone’s best friend." She was overstating it a bit, he thought, but she was right. He wasn’t used to a true position of authority. He was used to leading by example, by being the best (or one of the best), not by being the boss and giving orders. The responsibility of it was a bit daunting. It might have been easier, he reflected, if Kara hadn’t been one of his pilots. Being promoted over a friend made it hard on both of them. "We’re not friends, you’re the CAG." Her words, her tone, her entire attitude, had chilled him. In that moment, he wondered if he had lost her completely. Only the fact that she had dissolved into giggles reassured him, and even that didn’t entirely dispel the realization that things between them had changed. Must change, if he was to do his job. He didn’t want things to change. She was the only one on the Galactica he actually could call "friend." He’d never even stepped foot on the ship until the day of the attack. He didn’t know the crew, certainly not well enough to be comfortable with them on a personal level. Kara was all he had. For love of his duty, he did his job. Because he had to, and because the world was over and they had both had enough pain, he worked to heal the breach between himself and his father. But there was so little joy in life now. Kara . . . Kara made it all worth it. The thought caught him unprepared. Traitorous, treacherous to think something like that about the woman who had been his brother’s lover. But it was true. She was the only thing that could truly make him smile these days. He lived for a flash of her grin. Somehow, being around her made him feel more alive than he had in years. He knew that being CAG meant he shouldn’t tolerate her talking back. But if she didn’t talk back, he’d never see that grin. And that was something he was not prepared to give up. So he wouldn’t. He’d let her get away with it, like he had the other day. She wasn’t truly insubordinate, anyway. She knew her duty, and she did it well. She just liked ragging on him. The thought made him smile. He would probably have to draw the line somewhere, sometime. She’d push him too far, and he’d have to push back. But that wasn’t worth thinking about just yet. For now, he’d cherish what he had. He’d deal with the future later.