"There's a space ship that has crashed right there."

"How do you know?"

"Sharon Eight found it, didn't want to go inside, since it reminded her of our base ships and it could be the evil Cylons I told you about. You know the Cavils. We should check it out. You definitely don't want Cavil lose on Earth. Trust me."

Jack looked at her like he was trying to decipher her, attempting to figure out what exactly she was hiding or planning. It was on the tip of his tongue to say no, the last time he had been on one of those ships, his old friends had still been alive, but she looked at him with those pleading eyes and he could never say no to her, anyway.

It took them less than an hour to get to the ship, which he found rather odd, but he didn't say anything.

"So is it a base star?"

"I don't know, maybe, it looks like one. It's not the one the rebels used, because that one is damaged. But it could be another one; it doesn't appear as though anyone is inside."

"You think it's empty?"

"Probably, maybe not empty, but the other Cylons will be asleep and you can't just wake everybody up accidentally. One of us, like me, or two, like Sharon Eight, maybe, but definitely not three entire lines. It doesn't work that way, it never has. So it should be empty, in the sense that nobody is awake. Trust me."

At least, she thinks, I hope not.

"Of course I trust you. All right, guys, be careful, but there shouldn't be anything too dangerous."

It cut her. It felt like her heart was being crushed, the knowledge that he trusted her and that she was about to crush that trust. But she had to do it, she couldn't change the past, but she could alter it, return Athena's daughter even if she couldn't help would give up Jack for the chance at being forgiven by those she had wronged, it had been far too long, and Hera… Hera was just a little girl without defenses.

"I'm sorry, Jack, I hope you'll understand someday."

The plan, which she and Sharon Eight had come up with, was quite simple. Get separated from the rest of the group, find a way to get to the console room and connect with the onboard computer, it will tell her where the base star had been last. Or, if that does not work, wake up the hybrid and ask her. She hoped plan A worked, because if she woke up the hybrid, she ran the chance of her attempting to jump away, ship and all – which, if it worked, which was doubtful, would have some nasty side effects.

What wasn't part of the plan: the argument between Owen and Jack, the fact that she wasn't last in line and thus couldn't sneak out, and Tosh getting herself locked in one of the various areas of the ship. She's not sure how it happened, nor how to help. A part of her thinks she could probably help her, except that she doesn't know how. She'd never been able to figure out all the nuisances of a base star, which was probably her own fault, since she had done her best not to remember the before and nobody had ever taken the time to explain it to her. Still, even if she had known, which she didn't, there was nothing she could do anyway, and the base ship had been here so long that most of it was probably broken beyond repair. Tosh would be fine, at least from what she could remember about the floor plan of a base star. She backs up slowly, going into the other room, to the room where all the decisions had always been made, and she'd connected to the computer system to find out the last place they'd been. Maybe she had woken up the other Cylons, she's not sure, but if she had, it had never been her intention. It had been her intention to leave and return, hopefully before Jack figured it out, and then tell him everything, but now she had to leave him surrounded by angry Cylons. He would be fine, but the others might not be, and if they aren't, Jack will never forgive her.

But Hera had been just a small, defenseless child, screaming for her mommy as she stole her away, and Athena hadn't actually done anything, and Helo had fallen to the ground almost dying. He'd barely survived, she remembers the joy she felt when she found out he'd lived though apparently he hadn't woken up yet. She had to make that right, because it was more a part of her than anything else.

Sharon Eight was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Help them, stop the Cylons."

"How? I mean I could cut of the air supply ,but that would probably kill the team as well. How do I stop them without hurting them?"

"I don't know, find a way, please. They cannot get hurt because I decided I needed to save Hera. I'll be back soon."

She activated the watch and jumped back to where she'd been before.

When he analyzes the situation later – and he will, because he refuses to believe that this is how it ends, for the others at least, after all nothing ends for him – there is only one thing he will be completely sure of. This is all Owen's fault. He'll admit, if anyone asks, that it had been his idea to come here – Boomer had looked at him with those loving eyes, pleading, and he could never say no to her – and it was Tosh who had gotten herself locked into that room, but in the end, no matter how you look at it, it was Owen who flipped the wrong switch.

That moment, despite his loud protest that it wasn't the right switch, leaves him really with only two options. Either Owen still doesn't listen to him –considering what happened the last time, that isn't a good thing at all – which is reminiscent of Isaac; or Owen simply cannot tell the difference between left and right, which isn't particularly helpful either. His first thought had been to run, leave, regroup and com back later, after they had figured out what exactly Owen had done.

They didn't, they couldn't, Tosh was still in that room, and Boomer seemed to have disappeared. Normally, the latter wouldn't worry him; she had done it before after all, disappearing suddenly and then coming back when he needed her most. That was just Boomer. But this time was different, there had been something in her eyes, some emotion he couldn't quite comprehend, it was like she wanted something to happen, but he couldn't figure out what.

Since they were, at the moment, completely surrounded, none of that mattered, anyway. (He seemed to have something with problems and these damn ships.)

This right here had to be the strangest thing that ever happened to him – and with his immortality, his time as a time agent and his life with the Doctor, he had seen many strange things – and he wasn't even sure what was happening. The resurrection, which had brought Boomer back, had apparently gone on overdrive and started working again perfectly. Boomer had told him it hadn't really worked in years, apart from that one time she had been brought back, but it seemed like Owen had found the right switch (or he had nothing to do with it and it was just a coincidence, though he didn't believe in that).

Still, they were surrounded by what seemed to be the same three persons over and over again – three naked persons, which he admits he might have found interesting and fun (he was Captain Jack Harkness after all), if they didn't look so damn dangerous. He can't quite figure out why it feels that way; they had no weapons, but something about these males was just menacing. He knew danger, had seen many different dangers, and knew that even the most innocent looking could be dangerous. He hoped Boomer had a plan, one she would execute quickly, since the others - she once called them Cylons - keep advancing, and he realizes, suddenly, that there is no more room to back up.

He yells her name then, praying she'll answer, but she doesn't and he's left with the realization that she might have known. And that all of this might have been part of her plan, though he refuses to really believe it; perhaps she's working on an escape plan, perhaps she's going to save them.

Perhaps he'd been wrong and Isaac had been right when they found her and he decided not to send her to Torchwood one.

She appeared just outside the room she had been in the first time she was here and for a moment, a second, she was tempted to rush in and warn Helo, tell herself how bad things would get and write a new future for them. But those few months with the Doctor, and all those years with Jack, had taught her that that was a really bad idea and the things that had happened should not be changed, no matter how much you want to. So she could do nothing, nothing but wait and try to ignore that her past self – this was going to give her a headache if she ever tried to explain it – was about to shoot her (their) best friend.

She watched as he fell and waited for the alarm to shatter the silence, but nothing came.

She was reminded of something the Doctor had once said, though most of what he said was at times not easy to follow, something about time not running linearly. From what she remembered about that conversation, certain things happened because somebody had gone back and made them happen – things, as he put it, didn't happen in order, which explained several things. Which means, if she's right, that she had always been here, that the reason the alarm went off was because she set it off, to save the man she had shot herself and save herself from being caught (or something like that). Past-Boomer rushed past her without really noticing – which was definitely a good thing; imagine having to explain that to yourself. She wants to go and help Helo, but she can't, the others will be here soon and he will live (she knows, the discovery by Sharon Eight that Helo was in fact alive was the primary reason they had come up with this plan).

So she runs, though it pains her, and passes the lower deck without truly realizing.

"I saw you run past the lower deck."

It had been a while ago that she realized that Sharon Eight had in fact seen her rushing past the lower deck, not just any Eight, but her. But she knew which road she had taken, and it had not been past there, mostly because the day care was the other way, and so she realized that it had been a different version of her, which meant that she would go back, whether she wanted to or not, and so she and Sharon Eight had started what became known as operation 'Save Hera'. A part of her felt guilty, for leading Sharon Eight to her death, but she had been assured it was okay, and the way things should go.

And there she went, into the raptor and gone, nobody paid attention to yet another Cylon running by.

The one they wanted had just gotten off the ship anyway.

The room was turning when she opened her eyes and it took a few seconds to remember how she had gotten here, bound and unconscious in one of the many stalls of the bathroom. If the mutiny hadn't happened, she would have been found sooner, but it had happened and there weren't that many people left. It may have been hours after Boomer knocked her out, or perhaps just minutes, but it only took her a minute to realize she needed to get up after she remembered. Trying to stand seemed like a bad idea, leaving her with the conclusion that she must have some kind of concussion, as well as a broken arm, but she had to get up and find Hera. She realized, suddenly, the reason she had woken up: the alarm.

It took her a few minutes to get loose, but when she did she used up all her strength crawling, for she could not walk, out of the bathroom.

"Athena!"

And then Kara was beside her, trying to stop her, calming her down and trying to get her up while Apollo – or Lee she's not sure what she's supposed to call him now – was beside them in a flash. But she couldn't stay, she had to find Helo – where was Helo? Why wasn't he here? Was he perhaps with Hera?

"Helo…Hera…Boomer."

"It's okay, Athena, we'll take you to Cottle."

Something had happened, what, she was not sure of, but something had happened. Whatever it was Kara, couldn't even look at her, which meant it couldn't be good.

"Kara. What happened?!"

"Boomer stole your colonial flight suit and was found by Helo. Somehow he saw through her scheme and she shot him."

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know, there was a lot of blood."

"Hera, she took her didn't she?"

"Yes, but my father is working on a rescue plan, it will be alright."

Kara being nice to her was a strange phenomenon, but not completely new, she was after all, her husband's best friend. But Apollo didn't trust her, never had, and for him to be nice to her – any Cylon for that matter – well, it meant things were really, really bad. It also effectively shut her up for a few minutes. To this day, she still doesn't know how she made it to the sick bay, but she did. She'd heard what had happened and she'd been proud of Helo even if he didn't succeed. He told her he probably wouldn't make it, but Helo had done impossible things before. He would make it; he had to, because she couldn't lose them both. The last time she lost her daughter, Helo had been there, despite her not talking to him, and it had given her strength, even if she didn't acknowledge it at the time.

Cottle told her that if she talked to him he might understand her, so she did, memories and stories, all the while hoping that Adama would find Hera. But when he walked in a few hours later and just looked at her sadly, she knew she hadn't been found.

She doesn't know what happened after that, or who came to visit.

Jumping to the base star that belonged to Cavil had proven far more difficult than jumping back in time. Probably because there was more than one base ship and they were, for all intent and purposes, the same. Which explains, at least she thinks it does, how she ended up on the base star belonging to her sisters. In the end, it took her a total of three jumps – she's not sure if it's actually called jumps, but it's the only word she can think of – to get to Cavil's ship.

It was just like she remembered it, and from what she could make out, she'd landed a few days after her former self had brought Hera. The clothes the girl was wearing were different and they were already talking about starting an IV for food. This, she remembers, is the last day of her former life, the last one she remembers. All she has to do now is wait for the right moment and take the child, make her way back to where she came from, and return Hera to her mother. Simple, at least in theory.

"We should start the tests today, in an hour I think."

"Don't you think we should wait a while, until she's got her strength back? I mean she hasn't eaten in days."

"Boomer, honey, she'll be fine, the tests won't kill her. Besides, if she had eaten we would have started the tests yesterday."

"She wants her mother."

"Well she can't have her now can she?"

It's a strange thing, watching yourself have an argument that has already happened, watching as events unfold in front of you while knowing how it all ends. Cavil stands and walks away and Past-Boomer follows him quickly, leaving only one of the fours, one of the Simons. Now was the time, she couldn't wait longer, Cavil would come back and there was no telling if he would actually wait an hour. So she stood, silently making her way across the room.

"Boomer, didn't you just leave."

"Yes, I'm sorry, Simon."

"For what?"

"This."

She used one of the syringes on the table next to her to stab him, she wasn't sure what was in it, but it sure did the trick. Hera had stopped crying and was now staring at her intently, as if she recognized that this Boomer had come to save her.

"Okay, Hera, you have to be very quiet so that I can get you off this ship and take you to your mommy, okay?"

"Okay."

She lifts the child, the future of the Cylon race, and walks out. This is her redemption.

More importantly, now she understands the end.

She'd been feeling guilty about what she had done ever since Hera had smiled at her. The image of her father, her once best friend, as he fell to the ground was not easy to forget. She had been thinking of a way to help Hera, but so far had come up with nothing when one of the Simons, though not the one she had seen before, came to tell her Cavil wanted to see her.

Hera was gone, that's the first thing she noticed upon entering the room that was now known as the exam room, and for some reason everyone was angry at her.

"Where is she?"

"What?"

"Boomer, don't play games, what did you do with the child?"

"I didn't do anything with her. I left with you."

"And then you came back, you stuck me with a syringe and then you left with the girl."

"No, I didn't. I left and went to my room and that's where I was when he came to get me. I didn't take the child."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not ly…"

He hadn't even let her finish, hadn't let her explain, he'd taken his gun and just shot her and she fell to the ground. There would be no resurrection for her at the end of the tunnel, she was completely lost now.

She was free.