The first thing she registered was the cold. Her body was submerged in some freezing liquid and despite the strangeness of the situation she had to fight off a fit of giggles at the first thought that popped into her head.
Leave it to me to make it to the Shore and fall in.
"Open your eyes, Laura. It's alright."
The voice was muffled - some of the cold liquid seemed to have gotten into her ears - but it was unmistakably that of Ellen Tigh.
Her eyes flew open.
Ellen smiled down at her and moved to smooth a stick stand of hair back from her face. She sat up quickly, sloshing the liquid which she now realized had the consistency of hair gel, and pulled back as far as she could from the other woman.
"What the hell is going on, Ellen?"
Laura gasped at her own voice, strong and full. She hadn't sounded like that in months. She instinctively raised a hand to her left breast and found the skin there smooth, no sign of the lump that had grown to the size of a kiwi. The pain it should have caused to touch the spot was conspicuously absent.
Ellen cackled as she watched Laura touch her body and absorb her surroundings.
"It never occurred to you that you were one of us, sister?"
Laura's eyes darted around the room as her breathing quickened. She recognized the soft red light of the baseship immediately.
"No. No. It's impossible. I can't be a Cylon. I had cancer. I'm dead. I died so the people could live on Earth. I'm not a Cylon."
A wicked smile quirked at Ellen's lips.
"Ah, semantics, Laura. Now, come on, let's get you out of here before you catch a chill."
Laura's whole body shook as she allowed Ellen to help her from the tub and hand her a towel. Her mind was spinning and she didn't even pause to be embarrassed at the way Ellen's eyes raked up and down her naked body.
"I want to know what's happening right this second, Ellen," she demanded, her tone presidential even as the other woman gently removed the towel and lifted her arms to encase her in a soft white robe.
Once she was dressed Ellen turned her shoulders so she could look her directly in the eyes.
"Hera's blood effectively made you half Cylon. Your biology was affected enough to make it possible for me to manufacture a new body for your resurrection," she said calmly, a note of pride in her voice.
"No," Laura whispered. She immediately thought of all of the decisions she'd made since she was 'cured' with Hera's blood. She'd been a Cylon agent all this time; how much damage had she done without even knowing it?
"You're the same Laura Roslin you've always been, Madame President," Ellen reassured, as if she could read her thoughts. "This is something Saul and I wanted to do for you, a gift of sorts for forging a peace between our peoples."
Laura shook her head in disbelief. It wasn't possible. It wasn't fair.
"Think about it this way, Laura. Imagine how happy Bill will be to have another chance with you, without the fleet or the cancer getting in the way."
Without thinking Laura raised her hand and slapped Ellen across her pretty cheek. The other woman stumbled backwards, biting off a curse, as Laura let out a strangled cry.
"Don't you ever mention him to me. Ever. This would kill Bill Adama. I won't let you use me to make him suffer any more," she spat out before collapsing to the floor, sobs wracking her body.
She hardly registered when another Cylon, one of the Six models, finally came to her side and lifted her like she weighed nothing to carry her to a small room and place her on a bed.
All she could think as sleep finally claimed her was that she lived, the man she loved lived, and she could never see him again.
