Old Souls
A Battlestar Galactica crossover shortfic

by P.H. Wise

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I don't own Battlestar Galactica. Buffy is Joss Whedon's. Battlestar Galactica probably belongs to a whole host of people. Don't hate, but more importantly, don't sue. Some of the text is based on 'Exodus, Part 2' in season 3 of Battlestar Galactica.

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All of this has happened before.

All of this will happen again.

It's one of the first things taught to young Colonials in school – the first truth of the scriptures into which every child was indoctrinated. Starbuck knew that as well as anyone. So should it really have surprised her that this felt so damned familiar? Probably it shouldn't have, but it did. There she stood in the cell that had been her home for the last six months; there she stood, with Leoben before her, and young Casey at his side. "Say it," he said, and there was a familiar, desperate light burning in his eyes. It reminded her of sunlight piercing into the heart of the darkest pit of Hell.

"Say it," he said again.

She stared at him defiantly for a long moment, but with the fate of the little girl in the balance, she could do nothing else. In that moment, Kara Thrace did a thing that she had never done before in this life: she gave in. A little bit.

"I love you," she said, looking the Cylon in the eyes.

Leoben smiled and drew close to her. "Say it again," he insisted.

"I love you," she whispered, as fervently as she could manage.

His smile turned sardonic. "No you don't," he whispered, his lips brushing against hers, "But thanks for saying it."

The world pulled into an almost supernatural focus, and for a moment, the two of them stood there, stunned.

All of this has happened before.

All of this will happen again.

They kissed passionately, and just before she stabbed him in the heart, Kara Thrace remembered, if only for a moment, another false declaration of love made in the cavern beneath the Hellmouth to a vampire her other self had come to admire.

Just before the knife slipped past his ribcage, Leoben remembered it, too.

A few moments later, as the download process completed, and his new body came back fully to life in a bath of nutrients, Leoben sat up, looked around, and asked, "... Buffy?"

END

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Author's notes: Just an idea that popped into my head that I couldn't get out.