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Chapter 1

….

Chaos and confusion surrounded them. There were bullets flying in all directions and fallen bodies were everywhere. This was the beginning of the end of the Cylon occupation on New Caprica. Decisions had been made, meetings held and the timing had been meticulously planned; everyone knew their roles.

Former President Laura Roslin lay on the floor of her cell on her 4th trip to detention and after the last 10 days she was physically numb and on the verge of going into shock when she heard a voice calling her back from the precipice upon which she now teetered.

"Madame President!" the sudden outburst had started her.
At hearing a voice she recognized, her brain started to try to work through the fog that had become her coping mechanism try to reply…"What...who's there...Saul? Is that you?"
"Yes ma'am – it's time and we're getting you out of there but it's going to require blowing up this wall. You need to be as far away as possible. Is there anything in there that could protect you?"

Laura looked around frantically – solitary had made her suspicious as it would anyone – was this just a trick? She had conflicting emotions of both fear and excitement as she prepared for a what would either be a cruel joke or a real rescue. Looking around the cell confirmed it was indeed bare except for a blanket she'd been given to use as a makeshift bed – it wasn't much but she quickly wrapped herself in it after realizing that most of her clothing was cut or torn exposing her to the elements.

She pressed herself into the opposite corner of her cell feeling every bruise and laceration throb but she held fast. One way or another she was getting out of this; either by the hands of the resistance who were there to take her back to the fleet or by the Cylons whom she knew would take anywhere except to the fleet. She waited mere minutes but it felt like an eternity. Panic rose within her as she hard the thunder of metal against concrete as the cylons headed her way when suddenly the explosion erupted pushing back the advancing cylons and filling the area with light as the dust cleared.

"Laura, come on let's go!" called Saul.

Saul Tigh – now that was an interesting man. They'd had their differences but they also had gained a mutual respect and had become friends during their time on New Caprica both in and out of Cylon detention. One of those trips had cost him an eye and for that her heart went out to him and she found she also forgave much of his anger. They were aligned in their grief for all who had suffered and lost as they both worked in their own ways to preserve the fleet.

Somehow, she found herself moving – the evacuation plan had assigned her 2 escorts who would take her and meet up with Tori en route to Colonial One. Adrenaline was coursing through her as they ran everyone trying to keep their bearings and make sure as many as possible got out alive and in one piece. She was the 5th person to board Colonial One preceded only by her security and Tori giving the all clear. She immediately settled behind her desk and fell silent wrapping the blanket from her cell tighter around her. She sat still as a statue staring out the window – as they lifted from the ground her breathing started to return to normal and the rush of energy abated bringing her back to the brink of an emotional paralysis. She knew somewhere in her mind that there would be many jumps that would bring them to a safe enough place to regroup and re-establish the entire fleet. She could wait.

Admiral Adama stood in CIC barking orders continually. The cylons weren't going to give up easily and the only real defense the fleet had was the Galactica and the Pegasus but he'd told Lee to meet them at the rendezvous point which left Galactica on her own. The base stars just kept coming and the admiral had now prepared to shift his mission that had originally included all ships returning to the rendezvous point to a new resolve of determination. They would stand fast, protect the fleet and ensure their survival even if it meant the end for himself and the ship he had lived so many years of his life for. Serving in the military had prepared him to die in battle and if he was going to be able to take out a couple of cylon base stars in the process, well that was all the better.

He thought briefly of Lee and just as quickly his thoughts then turned to Laura and while it almost broke him a whispered "I love you" managed to escape his lips. Taking a deep breath, he refocused. "Take us in – keep us between the cylons and the fleet".

Static suddenly echoed through the CIC –"Galactica this is Pegasus do you copy?"

The admiral grabbed the phone yelling back, "Pegasus this is Galactica Actual – what are you doing here?"

"How about you let us take some of the heat off you?"

"Commander you were given your orders"

"Yes sir, we decided we didn't like them, besides why let you have all the fun – no one gets left behind remember?"

"Damn it Lee, get out of here!"

"No can do Dad – we've lost enough I am not ….WE are not losing you too."

Drawing the fire of the base stars gave Galactica enough time to realign her FTL drives so they could make the jump. The Pegasus accomplished what it's Commander intended and was now starting to fail.

"Gods Lee, get out of there in one piece"

Commander Lee Adama gave the abandon ship call and positioned Pegasus' trajectory to do the most cylon damage possible. He was the last to leave and quickly landed his raptor in Galactica's bay with the rest of what remained of his crew.

Quiet – as the Admiral stood in CIC he couldn't help but practically feel the weight of the quiet….for now…As they jumped again, ships started checking in.

"Colonial One to Galactica"
"Go ahead Colonial One this is Galactica"
"Requesting permission to dock, we lost our FTL drive and 50% of thruster control after that last jump."
"Granted, please prepare to dock using landing bay 4"

Over an hour later Colonial One sat in Galactica's hanger – her pilots completing shutdown. In the shambles of Baltar's office Tori was ready to get back to business but since leaving New Caprica it was obvious something was off with Laura Roslin, she hadn't said a word or barely even blinked.

"Madame President?"
"I'm not the President anymore" was the whispered response.
"That's simply a technicality ma'am, that will change soon enough."

Admiral William Adama entered the landing bay about 2 hours after the final jump. There were people everywhere but he had a short list...Lee, Kara, Saul and Laura...he wasn't sure if he'd find them here or if he'd find them at all but it was a place to start. Lee was first – safe an unharmed he enveloped him into a hug.

"Commander you disobeyed a direct order"
"Sir, I apologize I know I but..." his father cut him off
"It's o.k. son – I just thank the Gods you're o.k. and by the way, thank you"

Lee was quickly pulled in by the throngs of people happy to see him and Bill knew he'd have time later to catch up with his son, so the Admiral continued his search.

Next was Saul Tigh – he'd caught a glimpse of him coming out of a raptor and made his way over. He immediately noticed the eye patch and from the brief discussion that followed came the realization that Ellen hadn't made it back. Bill Adama knew the road for his friend would be long and painful. It wasn't until the crowd had gathered and pulled the Admiral up on their shoulders in joy and celebration that his eyes found Kara Thrace across the bay.

"What do you hear Starbuck?"
"Nothin' but the rain Admiral." With that Kara jumped into his arms. This man has been more of father to her than anyone in her life and just as any true father would, he'd fought to bring her home safe and as Bill cupped her cheek with his hand she felt in that moment her family was finally back together.

The Admiral couldn't help but ask "Have you seen President...I mean Ms. Roslin?"
Starbuck smiled to herself, the old man always did hide his personal feelings in public so she decided to get in her digs while she could. Kara couldn't help it, she knew the Old Man had feelings for Laura Roslin – She also knew that NOT everyone knew that which made what she about to say all the more fun.

"You know she's got a first name right?"

"Starbuck…." his voice was warning
"I mean I know… that you know… that she has a first name... why all the formalities..."
"Lt. Thrace" he was clearly done going down this road.

Opting for a smarter choice given the reaction she was getting she replied simply with "No sir, I don't know if she is..." and she paused as she realized what she was about to reveal. …unfortunately, the admiral didn't miss much.

"What is it?"
"Uhhhh nothing Sir, just that well, I wanted to say, what I meant to say is I don't know if I said Thank you. You...uhhh, you should know that Laura kept us going down there until you were able to come back for us. She never let us loose hope or faith and you did it, you came back, you didn't leave us there. How can I, how can we ever repay that?"

"As far as you are concerned Starbuck, your butt back in a viper works for me although I can't say I recall you and the President seeing eye to eye on too much recently, what changed?"
"You were right – I just had to give her a chance…Down there, lots of things changed for all of us." Kara started fidgeting and looking anywhere but at Bill and while he knew her "tells" he decided to let it go for now.

"Okay...by the way, make sure you get the all clear from Doc Cottle – don't think I didn't feel those bandages around your waist. I know medical treatment was hard to come by before but that is all over now"

"Admiral – there are others of us who are in more urgent need of that medical attention..." She paused momentarily – o.k. deep breath, time to tell the old man this is what she had not been wanting to tell him ..."Okay no easy way…..I'm afraid our Laura may be one of them."

"Why?... What happened?" his voice was quiet, concerned but urgent.
"I don't... she should be the one…."
"Damn it Kara – out with it"
"She may be fine –she's spent a lot of time in cylon detention – That's where she was when the rescue started. I haven't seen her since before they took her in this last time but I know it wasn't good, it was never good."

She'd finally gotten that off her chest – she'd deal with the consequences later if Laura was pissed that she'd told the Admiral but she knew he'd figure it out sooner or later anyways. She turned and headed towards her gear when the Admiral's voice stopped her.

"Captain – I wasn't kidding – I need you in the air but not until Cottle has cleared you. Are we understood?"
"Yes Sir" Kara half saluted and headed out of the hanger muttering profanities under her breath all the way. Adama chuckled to himself – he loved her spirit. She may not have been born to him but she was as much as daughter to him as anyone could be. His happy thought was fleeting though as her words echoed in his head, Laura was in cylon detention – gods was she all right – is that why he hadn't seen her yet?

He decided to head to LifeStation – uneasiness was rising in his gut– this wasn't like her. It had taken some time and some yelling but he'd finally gotten Cottle to check all the records and he confirmed that she wasn't there nor had she been. A couple of calls to CIC determined she wasn't in any of the guest quarters which meant she was either in the hanger, wandering the ship or Gods forbid not even on board at all.

As the Admiral made his way back to the hanger he first noticed that most of the crowd had thinned. There was still plenty of Euphoria but also a shift from relief to a refocusing of energies. The work of getting the fleet back up and running again has begun. Pride coursed through him as he realized no one had ordered them back to their duties, they were doing it on their own– he'd trained them well and they were coming through for him when it mattered.

Military training hones your skills and senses. You are trained to notice the little things which is why he noticed a small detail of guards at the doors of Colonial One – guards meant one thing – she was there. He was instantly relieved to know she was on board but wondered why she was still inside. The guards didn't even try to stop him as he briskly walked by them. His eyes were scanning, searching and he heard someone talking.

"Please Madame President, please answer me... we should be getting cleaned up and out of here... ma'am are you o.k.?" There was no reply, "Do you want me to get the doctor?" still no answer..."Can I get anyone?!" Tori was getting nervous now as she was still faced with silence.
"Tori?" It was a deep masculine voice but she knew who it was immediately spinning around to face him, "Admiral! Maybe you can get her to talk, move…anything."
"What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know, she's been like this ever since we left the surface."
"O.k. Tori – why don't you go get yourself checked out and get set up in the guest quarters. We need to make sure you're all right too"
"I don't really want to leave her sir..."
"Tori – it's alright, I'm not going to leave her"
"Well, I guess, alright – Thank you Admiral" with that Tori quietly disembarked and headed towards LifeStation.

Bill Adama watched the curtain fall closed behind Tori – he appreciated her loyalty and made a mental note to thank her for that later, he turned around and focused on the only other person there and the last but possibly most important person he'd needed and wanted to make sure he saw made it back from New Caprica alive and in one piece...Laura.