Fermented Algae burned as it slid down Lee's throat but after years of knocking back the stuff Lee barely noticed its bite. The bitter flavor didn't matter so long as the drink got the job done and the slight buzz Lee had going on told him that he was well on his way to getting smashed good and proper. It made sitting alone in a nondescript corner of the noisy bar bearable as he absent-mindedly shuffled through pages of a report. Amidst the din, Kara Thrace's full-bodied laughter carried loudest. She sat across the way, in Lee's direct line of sight, playing cards with her husband and a couple of crewmates. 

Lee looked away when Kara's fingers raked through Sam's hair with an affectionate smile tugging at her lips. Radiating bitterness clogged his chest smothered him at times like these. It hurt. When Lee looked back the view of his favorite tormentor was obscured by a delicate figure in the chair across from his. Dee. She was soft and pliant where Kara was hard and unyielding. His former wife was dark to Kara's fair and reserved while the other woman was brash.  They were a study in opposites.

"Dee, what can I do for you?" Lee asked after a few moments of her staring at him with those steady catlike eyes of hers. 

It was so impersonal. He wondered if their interactions would ever stop being awkward. Once upon a time she and he had taken vows before the gods to love each other in this life and the next. For a sliver of time they had been happy, but the foundation of their marriage was built on sand that shifted underfoot and crumbled once he realized Dee could never replace Kara in his heart. To be honest he breathed a sigh of relief the day Dee served divorce papers with her typical stoic grace. He pretended not to see the hurt on her face as she noted the speed with which he signed the documents.

"I'm pregnant," Dee said sounding tired and slightly resentful.

There was an infinitesimal narrowing of Lee's eyes as he registered the statement. After the divorce, Dee hadn't been one to suffer his presence willingly outside of a professional capacity, but she was meeting with him now...in public. He did the math thinking back to the very last time they were together. That was about two or three days before the match with Kara leaving Lee well within the possibility of having sired a child with his former wife.

Holy frak. 

"Are you sure its mine?" 

Dee expelled a short disbelieving bark of a laughter marveling at his gall. Lee flushed. Her fidelity had never been in question.

"You caught me off guard. I didn't mean to imply anything untoward on your part. It's just that things were rocky between us towards the end and then we divorced. I wouldn't be surprised if you had relationships with other men after we separated."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Relationships." She parroted. "Hmmm, how diplomatic. Unfortunately, there haven't been any post-marriage post-Lee flings for me to hang my hat on, alright? This child is yours, Lee. Do with that what you will."

Lee nodded. He believed her. If Anastasia Dualla said the child in her womb belonged to him then that was all there was to it. Dee wasn't the sort of woman to pass off another man's child as his own to trap him in a relationship.  

"To be honest I considered not telling you about the baby. I very nearly pinned the wrap on the guy your dad air-locked last week." Dee said nailing him with a steady impassive gaze.

Lee flinched. 

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't do it obviously." 

Post-divorce Dee was surprisingly mean. After separating Lee had expected his ex to plaster a bland smile on her face and wish him well, but she did nothing of the sort. She avoided him as much as possible and settled for cool cordiality when she couldn't in public. Private interactions between him and the ex, rare as they were, did not usually go very well. 

Though slow to anger and forgiving to a fault even Dee had a line and Lee evidently demolished it. While Kara burned hot and struck with the blunt force of a meat cleaver Lee was learning that Dee's anger was a whole other animal. It was soft-spoken, icy, and wielded with the artful precision of a scalpel.

"What about my dad? Dee, you're like a daughter to him. You almost deprived him of a grandchild because you are pissed off at me?" Lee hissed.

She nodded calmly conceding the point. "I didn't forget about Bill. He tipped the scales in your favor. Be grateful." 

Lee raked a hand through his short brown hair and breathed. This was neither the time nor place to lose his temper. Not with so many eyes and ears about.

"Anastasia."

Dee cocked her head ever so slightly to mock him with his own full name.

"Leland."

"Very mature."

"I do try."

Lee never knew how sarcastic Dee could be until she set her mind to it. 

"Okay. Dee. Let's just take it back to the top. You are pregnant, I'm the father, and I can see that you are happy with neither of these developments." Lee said as evenly as he could. "It's not a situation I expected so I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now. What can I do to make this easier for you?"

A spark of surprise lit up Dees' eyes. It bothered Lee. It was as if Dee never expected him to bear her any consideration. Their marriage had fallen apart but surely it hadn't been so terrible?

Dee looked down, thinking of her request, and when she was ready the young woman quietly stated,  "I want to maintain the status quo."

"What?"

"You stay out of my way, I stay out of yours."

"Dee, you just told me we're having a child together. I don't think that's feasible."

"Sure it is Lee. Just pretend we're still married."

He sighed.

"Can we at least try to be constructive?"

For a moment Dee seemed strongly disinclined to acquiesce but ultimately succumbed to her better angels. 

"The pregnancy has me off my game. I don't mean to be so harsh."

Lee nodded knowing the words were the closest he'd ever get to an apology. 

"I meant what I said though. I don't want you around---"

"You can't possibly think this is a good idea. This is your first pregnancy. You are going to need as much help as you can get and I also think it goes without saying that I'm not going to let you cut me out of my child's life." There was a surprising amount of vehemence in Lee's voice. 

The idea of children had always been a nebulous notion best put off for someday but that was then and this was now. Even though he was scared shitless Lee knew that this child might very well be his only chance to be a father. Only a fool would throw something like that away. 

"I didn't say I was going to do that."

"That's certainly not how it sounded on my end."

"Well, you didn't let me finish."

"By all means please do."

She shot Lee an icy glare.

"This baby is a big deal, Lee. I need time to get my head together without you hovering around suffocating me with your drama and self-indulgent pathos. Only Gaia knows how much I don't need the stress." She sighed. "Look I'm not completely heartless, okay? You can be a part of the kid's life as soon as it's born, but for now, I need space. I'll let you have access to Cottle's progress notes on my pregnancy. A couple of months down the line, prior to the birth, we'll meet to discuss custody. Am wrong to assume you want to share custody?"

"You are not wrong. I do want to share custody with you."

She studied him intently for a moment, perhaps gauging his sincerity, before granting him a curt nod. 

"I'm glad we can be civil about this," Lee said.

She got up to leave.

"Dee?"

The lieutenant slanted a glance his way.

"Do you ever think we'll be amicable?"

His ex-wife left without another word. 

Lee knocked back another drink in Dee's wake, and ignored the burn of Kara's concern boring into the back of his skull.