They were arguing now. How long had they been at it? Suddenly there was a gunshot and something heavy thudded against the door. One of them had just shot the other. That was like him shooting himself. She listened for a few minutes to make sure the shooter was gone before pushing against the door. It didn't move. She pushed harder and managed to inch it open a crack. That's when she saw the arm. The dead cylon was laying against the door. She couldn't believe it, she was so close and she was trapped in a broom closet by a dead cylon. If she wasn't so exhausted and the situation not so dire she might have been amused at just how ludicrous this was. She placed both hands against the metal of the door, spread her feet, and pushed. She kept pushing until she felt light headed. She sat down slowly, and looked at the progress she'd made. There was no way this was going to work. She pulled herself closer to the crack she'd made. She couldn't believe she was going to do this… but she didn't have any choice. She reached through the door and grabbed onto the dead cylon's arm and pulled. His hair came into view. She moved her grip lower down on his arm, swallowing back the bile, and heaved again. Now she was staring into his dead eyes. She closed her eyes and pulled yet again, her stomach protesting the prolonged contact with the dead body.

-------------------

"Three civilian transports and two supply ships still on the ground, sir…"

"Right, get me Galactica actual."

"Yes sir." Lee accepted the head set from Dee.

"This is Lt. Agathon, go ahead Commander."

"Helo? Where's the Admiral?"

"Uh. Kat's raptor was lost… He took a strike force team and left to complete her mission himself."

"What? Damn it." Lee knew why his father had gone; he also knew how stupid that was. "Alright… Helo, take the Galactica and jump to the rendezvous coordinates to protect the fleet. Pegasus will stay for the last few ships."

"I— The Admiral ordered that all ships jump by the appointed time even if his raptor wasn't back. "

"You have your orders Lieutenant." Lee cut the line. Damn it, Dad, you better come back alive and with her.

-------------------

A little less than a click away from the detention center they found Kat's raptor. She had come in too close and been spotted before they'd hit the ground. The cylon centurions had done a number on them.

"Venner, Brin, cover the front. Gin, Thompsen, quick search for survivors." Bill ordered, though he didn't think they'd find any. A few minutes later and his prediction was confirmed.

"No survivors sir. They're all dead…"

"Right, keep moving. We're on the clock here." He glanced at his watch again, they had a little less than two hours if they were going to make it back to Galactica before the jump. They made their way quickly and quietly. About fifteen minutes later, Venner's arm went up, signaling a halt. He motioned the Admiral forward.

"Sir, we lose the tree cover just up ahead. There's a good 300 feet or so of open ground to cross to get to the building… I didn't see any guards, but that doesn't mean they aren't there." Bill nodded, and signaled for everyone to move again. When the reached the tree line, they stopped again, studying the area in front of them. As the corporal had said there were no visible babysitters.

"Alright, we don't have the time, so we'll just have to sprint it." Which was what they did… And nothing happened. No shots were fired, nothing exploded… The cylons seemed to be occupied else where, which was fine to them. The door of course was locked, but it only took a minute or two to jimmy it open, and then they were in.

-------------------

She leaned back against the door, now finally on the other side. She was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted and she still needed to keep going. She squeezed her eyes shut. She could do it and when she got back to the Galactica she'd sleep for a week. Sleeping sounded like a very good idea… But not right now, she opened her eyes and pushed herself off the wall. She stood swaying for a moment before forcing her legs to move. Slowly, painful step after painful step, she walked, her vision hazy, her head pounding. The hallway stopped and so did she. "Need to turn…" Which was apparently too difficult for her spent body to handle. She swayed, then stumbled to the side- hitting the wall.

-------------------

They moved cautiously down the hallway, guns at the ready. About half way down there was movement from up a head. Slowly a ghostly thin figure materialized around a corner. Bill recognized the flaming mane of hair and couldn't believe it. She stopped, swaying. Bill realized she was about to fall and ran towards her. She stumbled into the wall and he managed to grab her as she began to slide towards the floor.

"It's alright, you're safe now, Laura." And he wrapped his arms around her, and easily lifted her off the floor.

"Bill?" She croaked, she could hear him but he seemed far away.

"It's alright, I've got you." He turned back to his marines. "Let's move. Brin take point, Venner bring up the rear." Everything was going to be okay. She was alive and he had her and it was going to be okay…

"Sir, we've got company!" The sound of the clanking metal footsteps and Venner's shout interrupted his thoughts. They ran for the door, but the cylons started firing before they made it. Thompsen was hit, Venner was firing back. Brin reached the door.

"Get her out, we'll hold them back." If he hadn't had Laura in his arms, he would have argued, but right now his primary concern was getting her off this planet.

"Follow right behind, no unnecessary heroics." He ordered before making for the cover of the woods. He didn't stop, but plowed forward.

Laura was struggling to stay conscious. She was vaguely aware of the sound of gunshots and flashes of movement… There was a fight… She could smell plants and smoke… She shook her head trying to focus, but that only made the pounding worse. The last thing she heard before succumbing to the darkness was Bill's voice telling her to hang on.

-------------------

"Damn it Dad, come on." Lee's eyes were fixed on the clock counting down to the jump deadline. There was a little less than an hour left, the last transport ship had made the jump, and the last supply ship was lifting off the ground now. Lee didn't think he'd be able to leave his father behind, not now after everything that had happened in the last two and half years. He really didn't want to abandon Laura Roslin either. "Come on Dad…"

"Sir the Supply ship is making the jump to the rendezvous coordinates."

"Begin jump prep and wait for my command." Now whether he would give that command when the time came…

-------------------

"We're half way there Laura." Bill panted, ducking to avoid hitting his head on a low hanging branch. He couldn't hear anything other than his own pounding feet and thumping heart. He hoped that his men had made it out, but his gut told him they were gone. He couldn't hear any sounds of pursuit, but he was sure the cylons were after them, they weren't going to give up that easily. Especially not when they'd just lost everything else. He couldn't slow down, he had to keep going. He hadn't piloted a jump in a raptor in a long time; he didn't want to now if he didn't have to.

-------------------

Less than half an hour on the clock and Lee was beginning to feel panicked. "Come on Dad, Come on…" He wasn't the only one watching the clock, everyone in CIC that had been transferred from the Galactica to the Pegasus were staring fixedly at it as well.

"Sir! A basestar just jumped into orbit!" Luckily there were still a few people keeping an eye on the Dradis.

-------------------

"Almost there." He rasped. He could definitely hear the cylons chasing them now. "Almost there." He burst into the clearing where he'd landed the raptor. They were inside, he was sealing the hatch, the cylons were firing, a bullet grazed his leg. He clenched his teeth, slamming the hatch shut. Turning, he pulled Laura up and set her into the co-pilot chair. He punched the controls, lifting them off the ground. He glanced at his watch they weren't going to make it. Looking at his leg he decided it wasn't bad, then turned back to the controls, man handling the raptor back into orbit.

-------------------

The clock had run down five minutes ago.

"Sir, we can't stand against these Basestars, we have to jump now or we'll lose the ship." Dee looked at him, her eyes conveying her sympathy. "I'm sorry Lee but we have to jump."

"Recall the vipers, execute jump." He ground out, his hands white-knuckled on the table in front of him.

"He'll make it Lee, he always does." She tried to reassure him as the pod bays were retracted. Lee didn't respond, didn't trust himself to speak. He felt the familiar sensation of everything squeezing in on him and then they were out of the jump, the rest of the fleet around them. Lee felt as though he'd left parts of himself behind…

-------------------

The turbulence of the atmosphere jostled her into consciousness in time to hear Bill swear. She moved her head trying to see what was wrong. Bill was staring at the dradis screen… She looked at, trying to make it come into focus… Three large red dots swam into view. She scanned the rest of the dradis for any sign of green but found none. They were alone with three cylon ships. She returned her eyes to Bill to see him with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. That did not make her feel better.

"Bill?" He looked up and seeing she was awake smiled… but the smile quickly faded.

"We've got a bit of situation… I'm going to need your help if you're up to it." She didn't feel up to it but then again she hadn't felt up to anything that had been thrust upon her since the day the cylons attacked the colonies. She nodded.

"Alright, I need you to go back there," He gestured behind him. "And look in the packs. There should be an odd circular device in one of them." She nodded again, swiveled round and pushed herself out of the chair and immediately felt light headed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." She lied, and, using the ECO consol to steady herself, made her way back to the packs and began to dig through them.