Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, I'm not making any money out of this. You know the rest...

A/N: Hey, everyone. I'm relatively new to BSG, but I already love it to pieces, especially A/R. And, yes, I know there are already quite a few takes, on how Laura may have taken the news about the return of the cancer, but I wanted to give it a try as well. I hope you don't mind. :)

And I hope you'll enjoy reading this. ;)

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Laura Roslin woke with a start. Her very much needed slumber disturbed by the insistent ringing of the telephone.

Her brain needed a second to catch up with her body and she only noticed that the receiver was already pressed to her ear when the gruff voice of Doctor Cottle started to speak.

"Madame President?"

Laura cleared her throat softly, trying to get rid off the sleep in her voice. "Doctor Cottle.", she stated. "What can I do for you?"

"Sorry to disturb your sleep, but you need to see this." She somehow missed the urgency in his tone.

"Doctor, it's really late. Couldn't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No, it can't. If it could, don't you think I'd be asleep by now as well?", he snapped.

Roslin raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on his lack of respect being used to it by now.

"So, what do you expect me to do now? Wake my security from their needed rest, go find a pilot, and charter a shuttle in the middle of the night?"

"Exactly."

Laura uttered a frustrated sigh. "Doctor, why don't you just tell me what's so important and we can all go back to sleep?"

"I don't think you'd prefer to speak about this matter over the phone."

He sounded pretty convinced about that, she thought.

The president sighed again and threw back the covers of her bed, shivering slightly at the chill that crept over her body. "Fine.", she said into the phone. "I'm on my way."

Cottle just grunted something that sounded distantly like "good", then the line went dead.

Laura stared shortly at the receiver then shook her head softly. She had better things to do than wonder about the manners of Galactica's CMO.

After having hastily slipped into one of her few suits, she had made her short journey to the Galactica with fewer trouble then she had first assumed.

The available raptor her security had organized for her was preparing to dock and she waited impatiently until she was cleared to step onto the Battlestar.

Her security offered her his hand and she took it with a thankful nod, her knees being a little shakier than she cared to admit. The president of the twelve colonies silently cursed the doctor for making her feel so uneasy with his mysterious call.

The last time she had seen him was for a routine check-up two days ago.

He had taken a sample of her blood, had hurriedly done a few more standard tests, then ushered her out of sickbay again, claiming to have to do other work as well. Not that she had doubted that fact for even a moment.

Now, she was sitting in front of him again, staring at him across the desk in his office, his last, softly spoken words, for a change, repeating themselves over and over in her mind.

The cancer is back.

Seconds, minutes or even hours could have passed in silence, but she didn't notice.

It wasn't as if she had been so naïve to think the miracle cure that had saved her live once and freed her of her deadly disease was permanent. She had known there was a good chance of the illness to return.

She just wasn't prepared for those words to actually hurt that much – a second time, no less.

Taking a shuddering breath, she pressed her eyelids tightly together, trying to quench the overpowering fear that gripped her heart.

She wanted to be strong, for the sake of the fleet, for humanities last survivors. She was the president, for frak's sake! She was supposed to think about the greater good, and not like a selfish little girl. But she couldn't.

Doc Cottle was still looking at her, something like sympathy in his eyes, not saying a word.

Laura was grateful for it.

It took her another two minutes to get her resolve back; only then was she able to speak.

"How long do I have this time, Doc?" Her voice was amazingly calm.

"You were lucky, young Lady. As lucky as you can be, under those circumstances. This time, we discovered it in an early stage. With the right medical treatment there's a good chance that we can terminate it. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not promising anything.", he told her, his voice as gruff as ever.

Roslin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before settling her glasses back where they belonged.

She wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry. What was she supposed to do in such a situation?

And there she thought she should already know how to handle it.

Cottle started explaining about the treatment he wanted to do, but she couldn't bring herself to concentrate on his words.

Letting another sigh escape, she lifted a hand to stop him. "Please, Jack. Could we have this part of the conversation another time? I'm not quite up to it right now."

He took a good look at her, then nodded. "But I want you back here tomorrow at 1800 hours."

She just nodded tiredly and left his office without another word.

Despite the late hour, or as late as you thought it was on a Battlestar anyways, there were still numerous people wandering the corridors.

They greeted her respectfully and if they were wondering what she was doing here at this time, they didn't show it.

Not really having a specific place in mind, Laura just let her legs carry her. Sometime later, she stopped in front of a hatch she recognized as the entrance to the observation deck.

Perfect, she thought, now let's just hope no one else had the idea to do some stargazing.

Pushing the heavy door open, she breathed a sigh of relieve when her eyes encountered an empty room. Stepping inside, Laura closed the hatch behind her and made her way over to the huge window, sitting down on the pedestal in front of it.

Directing her gaze to the left, she stared into the vast emptiness of space all around her, letting the darkness capture her and the tears fall.

That's how he found her two hours later.

Her body had stopped shuddering with sobs, her tears had dried, but still she hadn't moved.

He knew she had heard him enter, but didn't acknowledge his presence at first. He stopped beside her, his hands clasped behind his back.

For a minute, they both stayed silent, his eyes following her line of vision.

Of course, the fleet had moved in the past few hours, and where there was only pitch black space hours ago, was now a nebula with brilliant colors; planets and stars glittering in their suns light, one star sparkling brighter than the other.

"Isn't it beautiful?", she whispered, speaking for the the first time since he had stepped onto the deck.

"Yeah. Beautiful.", he whispered back, his eyes sweeping back over her form.

If she caught the double meaning of his words she hid it well; instead, she continued speaking. "Amazing, how the very things that can give life can take it aways just as easily."

Her words made him frown. "Laura, what's going on? You want to tell me, why Tory just called me, concerned that you hadn't come back to Colonial One yet?", he asked her softly but his eyes staring intently at her.

Silence followed his questions, and after a while, he already thought she hadn't heard him, but then her soft voice reached his ears and he had to concentrate to catch what she was saying.

"Cottle called me. Said it was urgent, so I went to see him." She paused to take a deep breath and he put a warm hand on her shoulder without really thinking about his actions.

"The cancer is back." It came out on one breath and he felt as if she had punched him in the gut. Hard.

His hand on her shoulder tightened its grip involuntarily, before he sat down and gripped her hand instead.

He knew, she didn't want his pity. She was a strong woman, maybe the strongest he ever had the honor to know. He also knew that she could make it. And that was what he told her, putting all the conviction he felt into his voice.

Now, she finally looked at him, emerald locking on midnight-blue and he saw the determination there.

He nodded at her, squeezing her hand softly, his eyes telling her everything she needed to know.

"Thank you.", she whispered, before returning her gaze away from his eyes and back to the nebula. He followed her example and they continued to sit in silence, their fingers tangled together, enjoying this precious, fleeting moment with each other.

In this moment in time, they weren't the admiral and president, they were simply Laura and Bill, for as long as they could.

-fin-