"Hey, Sam." Dee smiled.

"Hey yourself,” Sam replied with an answering grin. It was just another night at Joe's and Sam was waiting for his wife to come off duty. "What are you doing here?"

"Hanging out with some friends," she looked around. "Whenever they decide to show up. I hate being an early bird. Mind if I sit for a bit?"

"Not at all."

The woman sank into the chair with a contented sigh happy to be off her aching feet. Sam sympathized. Double shifts were a bitch and doubly so, he imagined, when you were five months pregnant. Command tried to cut Dee some slack but the miserable reality of being space faring refugees on the run from genocidal machines meant that a lighter workload usually wasn't often feasible.

"Oh gods, I'm getting so fat."

"No comment. I'm not walking that minefield, Dualla."

"Smart man," She chuckled.

The pair sat in companionable silence for a time content to watch the hustle and bustle of the bar after a hard days work. It was pleasant; an odd bit of normality hearkening back to when he use to do the very same back on Caprica when it existed.  Once upon a time sitting together like this would have been unthinkable. There had been too much ugliness between them and the ironic part about it all was that it wasn’t technically personal. Dee hadn’t done anything to harm Sam and Sam hadn’t done anything to harm Dee. Their spouses on the other hand...well that was an entirely different matter.

I’m always around if you ever want to talk.

Dee once told Sam but she aimed the sly grin on her lips at his wife. It didn’t matter. Sam took the woman up on the offer one day when he was feeling particularly raw and bloody. He hadn’t known he needed a safe space until Dee opened her door and let him in. She listened and didn’t judge him for staying in his marriage even though she found the courage to leave her own. In turn Sam listened to Dee’s side of the story and promised not to pound Lee’s face in for his role in this mess. It was a daily struggle.

For the most part, however, as they got to know one another, the pair generally stayed away from relationship talk. It was too depressing. Instead they discussed news pertaining to Galactica and the fleet that Sam refused to call gossip and had fun reminiscing about pop culture from the good old days before the holocaust.

"Who are you meeting up with?"

"Felix, Hoshi, Cally, and Noel."

"Noel, huh?" Sam waggled his eyebrows. “Since when have you been on a first name basis with Narcho?”

"Since forever and shut up," she said shaking her head laughing a little to cover her unease. "I’m not going to call him by his call sign every other minute like you viper jocks do, besides we're just friends."

"Yeah, okay Dee. Sure." Sam rolled his eyes but didn't push further.

Those two kids would either get together on their own or they wouldn't. What Sam found crazy, however, was Dee not seeing how head over heels Narcho was for her. It was so obvious. If Dee deigned to so much as breathe in his direction the man would have dropped to his knees and waved a white flag in surrender but that right there ladies and gentlemen was yet another reason why Lee Adama was a piece of shit. He smashed Dee’s self-esteem to pieces.

Now Sam was hopelessly, masochistically, in love with Kara but he wasn't blind. Dee was a stunning woman and a genuinely nice person. Who wouldn’t be in love with her? Sometimes even Sam wished he’d had the good sense to fall in love with Dee. How Lee made a woman like that feel unworthy of a man's interest was beyond frakked up.

It was horseshit of course. Even Lee was slowly cottoning onto the value of what he had so carelessly thrown away but now that Dee was gone, why wouldn’t he? Lee was a spoiled brat who was fond of wanting what he didn’t have.

"Don't judge me."

"I'm not judging."

"Yes you are, " She insisted leveling an accusing glare his way. "I'm practically choking on your judge-y vibes."

"Is judge-y even a word?" The Viper pilot wondered with amusement.

"Of course it is. Judge-y is an adverb that further modifies the word 'vibe' hence judge-y vibes."

Sam laughed. From a distance she always seemed so polite and staid, she was Gaeta's best friend for Athena's sakes, but he was continually learning that there was more to the young woman than meets the eye. Take their newfound camaraderie for example. Most people thought nothing of it because Dee was, well, Dee, sweet as pie with a cherry on top and that was true for the most part. Those people, however, never walked in on Anastasia Dualla daring the indomitable Kara Thrace to take a swing at her.

That surprised Sam. Impressed him even. Perhaps it was his penchant for violent women talking but he'd been intrigued enough to allow a friendship to grow despite knowing that a large part of the overture from Dee was based on quietly provoking his wife and screwing with Lee. Oh, well. No friendship was perfect. If Sam’s new friend wanted to press his hand to her ample belly in full view of her ex-husband than who was he to argue with a pregnant woman?

Of course he caught major hell for it when Lee went tattling to Kara. His wife had been apoplectic which blew Sam’s mind. Kara swore up and down that she was fine with him sleeping with other women, not that he ever did, so long as he came back home to her.  It’s just physical, Sam, Kara would say but that was just talk wasn’t it? His relationship with Dee with its smiles, inside jokes, and simple confidences were too intimate for Kara’s comfort. It was how Lee and Dee began and as far as Sam knew Dee was the only woman to ever, even momentarily, draw Lee’s attention away from Kara. That was a moment of deviation Kara would never forgive.  So was that Kara’s fear? Being permanently left behind for Dee or someone like her?

A good husband, one not nearing the end of his rope, would end the relationship upon seeing his partner’s distress. It was the sensible thing to do. Sam, however, was getting tired of being a good sensible husband. He was waiting for Kara to be a good wife. It was all up to her. He'd distance himself from Dee when Kara ended things with Lee and not a moment sooner. Until then he was giving Kara the same option he had: to either walk away or live with stomach-churning uncertainty.

"How well did you do in grammar school again?"

"Shut up."

"I see...about as well as the Patriots, right?"

Dee glared playfully. He never would have guessed how ridiculously competitive she was and how much of a grudge she could hold. The worlds ended and Dee, a die-hard Patriots fan, was still mad at Sam, the sole survivor of the Buccaneers, for beating her team in the pyramid championships. It was hilarious.

"You're such an fraking asshole."

"Oh, the language! Dualla, do you plan to kiss your baby with that mouth?"

The young woman grinned, "You're lucky Gaeta and Hoshi just walked in or else I would have had to respond to that in a less than ladylike fashion."

“Ooh I’m scared little Dee.” Sam teased.

She flashed another grin.

“You better be.”

Rising from her seat she waved to her friends. Sam turned in time to see them wave back and also to see Kara and Lee to come in right behind them. Kara and Lee. Together. Again. Sam clenched his jaw. All of his good cheer was gone. He saw Kara narrow her eyes and glower when she spotted Dee in his company. Lee looked weary of even breathing the same air as his former wife but his features shifted to anger at seeing Sam around Dee. Again. Good. It was a remarkable change from the man who acted like he married the invisible woman.

Spying the pair Dee remained unruffled. She smiled beatifically as Sam rose to meet her in a quick hug goodbye.

"Hey, toughen up buttercup." She whispered in his ear.

"Believe me. I'm trying."