Sorry for the delay in posting this, the last part, I hope it was worth the wait!

Denotes Flashbacks

Chapter Twelve- Not an end a beginning.

It was ironic, Laura thought, as she stood watching the planet below, it had taken them years of running, years of pain and fighting, to find Earth and here she was now - watching, as Galactica orbited round this new planet. Ridiculous really you locate the mythological Earth, only to find your dreams quickly disappearing as you discover you can never set foot upon it, and then low and behold another planet comes along within months of searching, the difference is this one you can step on, in fact you already have!

This planet, now lived upon by the long lost thirteenth tribe was literally a dream come true, for all of them.

She was too preoccupied on the wondrous sight to notice as the Admiral slipped into the room, the first sign of his presence was when a gentle hand slipped round her waist, she gripped his forearm keeping it in place as she muttered, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Bill smiled, they were the exact words she had whispered in his ear, all those months ago, as he held her in his arms and they watched Earth below them.

He had gone to visit her in life stations, wanting to tell her they would be leaving soon, all preparations were going well on the surface and the new President had given them permission to leave orbit on their journey of exploration. Bill had been looking forward to conveying the news to those in Cottle's care, it had been a difficult time especially for his son and Laura, they'd had a constant barrage of pain and lethargy. But they weren't the only ones suffering, those family members who had suddenly found themselves having to confront the fact their partners were Cylons also suffered mostly silently. Bill had gathered those loved ones together fairly early on after his own ex-wife had been brought in. He had watched their faces as he told them for certain that their worst fears were all true, there could be no doubt those individuals lying in hospital beds represented the final five Cylons. As such they stood no chance of setting foot on Earth until a cure was found, if it could indeed be found! He went on to tell these frightened bewildered people in front of him that it was his opinion that their loved ones had meant no harm to the human race and had in fact, worked tirelessly to save it.

With the pep talk over, the Admiral spoke of his plans to leave this solar system and give them the opportunity to live as normal life as they could. He was thankful that every one of them agreed and wanted to at least find out how the truth was to impact on their relationships and futures.

One person was noticeably absent, just as the Admiral had intended, it wasn't a meeting he was looking forward to and he had no idea if he could influence them or not but he felt he should at least try.

Bill had relayed the meeting back to Laura and watched as her eyes had grown a little distant.

"Laura, what's wrong?"

Turning to him, she simply shook her head, "It's so unfair, Bill, you deserve to settle on Earth, not have to give up that dream."

"Laura, that was always your dream more than mine and if it comes down to who deserves it, you would surely be down there."

She shook her head still, "You shouldn't have to..."

"Nobody is forcing me, Laura, but above all else my family and friends will still be on board," he reached forward and gripped her hand, "and then there is you," he said smiling at her and pulling her hand up to kiss the knuckles. "If you think you're going to get away from me that easily you've got another thing coming."

She gave him a watery smile. "I love you, you old romantic, I wish I had got to see Earth, just once, you know?" she said quietly.

He nodded his head, "I know, my love, I know."

Time stretched silently for a few minutes before Adama suddenly stood up and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

When he came back in, he was smiling and he grabbed Laura's dressing gown from the end of the bed.

"When a wheelchair becomes available, I have arranged to take you down to the observation suite to see Earth."

"Really," she said excitedly as she tried with difficulty to get her arms to cooperate and stuff them into the arms of her gown. "When's the chair coming?" she asked as Bill thankfully helped her dress.

"Could be a while, Cottle's got some test on the go and needs them to ferry people about."

"Aw," she said quietly.

Bill watched as the smile faltered a little and made an instant decision. He picked up the blanket from the end of the bed and pulled the rest of the covers off Laura's legs.

"What are you doing?" Laura asked as she watched him pull the blanket across her shoulders and cocoon it round her legs.

"We're going to see Earth,'' he said as he slipped his arm under her knee's and behind her back, lifting her into his arms.

"Bill!"

"Yes?"

"Put me down, I can't be seen like this," Laura protested.

"Laura, there is hardly a soul on this bucket now, they're all on the planet working," Bill said grunting slightly as he moved her to a more comfortable position.

"Well, you will hurt yourself; I'm too heavy to carry all that way!"

"Laura," he said, smiling at her protests, and walking swiftly out of her room and through life stations without notice. "You don't weigh nearly enough, my dear."

By the time they reached the observation deck, Laura's protests had turned to quiet giggles into the Admiral's neck as he breathed rather heavily.

"I told you I was too heavy."

"Nonsense, we're here now, look." He encouraged her, as he came to a stop in front of the large viewing window.

Laura lifted her head with some difficulty and some regret from Bill's warm fragrant neck and gasped at the sight of the planet below,

"It's beautiful," she said turning to look at him," isn't it?"

Laura was brought back to the present as Bill snaked his other arm around her body and pulled Laura back slightly to rest against him.

"We will need to go soon, that's why I came to find you, Tory said you where in here, AGAIN," he teased.

She pinched his arm gently for the sarcasm and said, "Yes, well, I guess we had better put our best negotiating hats on again. Do try and smile occasionally, I think the stoic Admiral routine unnerves them, dear."

"Of course, Madam Ambassador, what ever you say," Bill whispered in her ear as he nibbled lightly on her lob.

She slapped him on the arm, "That's not going to get us there on time, now is it?" She said, as she pulled away from him, making sure her ear was the last thing to lose contact with him.

"I hear Starbuck is due in soon," Laura commented as they started to leave the room hand in hand.

"Yes, any time," he smiled.

They had spoken briefly over the archaic communication system that the original inhabitants of Earth and this new planet had set up centuries ago, a bit of tinkering; well a whole lot really, by Tyrol and his crew, had the system up and running again. They had sent a raptor back to Earth with an update of their findings and instructions on how to use the technology. The first messages had come though a few weeks ago. As accommodating as this planet's people had been, it was good to have the opportunity to communicate with those they had shared so much with.

Bill face looked a little apprehensive though, so Laura asked, "What's wrong?"

He turned concerned eyes her way, "Do you think she will be alright?"

"Kara? Of course she will, you didn't leave on bad terms."

"I know but I feel as if I abandoned her."

Laura sighed, they had been over and over his decision to talk to her, and it was one of the first things he had told her about once she had fully woken.

He looked across at Laura as she gave out the sigh, he knew this was old news but thinking back, the decision still troubled him. He went over the meeting in his mind again.

Bill had been sitting at his desk when Kara finally turned up to her summons, to be fair she had been overseeing supply shipments on Earth's surface, when the requested meeting had been relayed to her, still, knowing her as he did, he sensed no rush to leave the planet for a meeting with the old man. Neither could he blame her, the outside life seemed to be suiting Kara, her face when he finally saw it, held just a little hint of colour and the smile was back on her face.

"Sir," she said with a sloppy salute and a wide grin on her face.

"Sit down, Kara, I wanted to tell you of my plans and talk to you about yours."

"Ok," she said warily sitting down slowly, "Sounds serious?"

"I'm taking Galactica and leaving this Solar system with the remaining Cylons," he started bluntly.

Kara called out loudly, "You're stealing Galactica?"

"No! No obviously not," Adama said patiently, "the new President and I have come to an agreement. Galactica will continue to explore for the thirteenth tribe."

"You're leaving Earth," Kara said distantly.

"Yes, Cottle will continue to work on a cure for those in life stations and in the mean time Galactica will go on regular patrols as they used to, those members, once they are cleared, can rejoin the crew."

"Where do I sign up?" She smiled at the man she called a second father.

Bill looked down at his desk as he said, "Kara, I want you to stay behind on Earth."

She opened her mouth and then closed it, as tears sprang to her eyes.

"I can't, you can't, my...Sam is here you can't expect me to stay behind."

"Kara, I'm not trying to telling you not to come, it's just I want you to think about staying on Earth for a while, helping the President as his military commander. I need someone I can trust here and..." he trailed off.

"What?" The stunned woman asked.

Adama looked slightly embarrassed at treading on personal ground but it needed to be said, "I think it would be good for you to be away from...Lee and even Sam, get your head together for a few months," Adama looked straight into her wild eyes, "decide just what you want."

"I...," she stood up suddenly, "I need to think," she said before fleeing out his door.

She came back a few hours later, bravado back in place and coolly accepted his promotion offer without mentioning her husband or his son in the process.

"Bill," Laura smiled, intertwining their fingers more securely and gain his flagging attention. "Stop worrying so much, she'll just be pleased to see us all again, I'm sure."

"Hmn," he said, as he regained his focus to the feel of Laura's fingers tracing the outline of his ring. "You think?"

She nodded her head, "I do."

Bill smiled, it wasn't more than a few months since she had uttered those words in front of a priest and Bill was still getting used to the idea that she instantly said yes to his question, let alone that she had gone along and actual married him.

Adama brought their joined hands up to his lips and kissed the finger that held the identical ring to his own.

"Ok, Mrs. Adama, shall we go negotiate for a small cabin by a stream?"

They started to walk off again as Laura asked jokingly, "Do you think it would be pushing it to ask for a balcony too?"

Saul Tigh watched the raptor door open and felt his heart lighten and constrict at the same time.

Bill and Laura immediately stepped into view as they exited the small vessel back from their negotiations. They emerged both smiling at something that had been said that tickled them. They did a lot of that now, smiling. Saul couldn't remember a time when he had seen his friend so happy, it gladdened him but at the same time, made his own life feel lonelier. He hadn't been abandoned and left out of their new life though, quite the opposite, they had both made a supreme effort with all the final five, leading by example. In general they couldn't complain at the way they had been treated by the other humans on board, a surprising number had agreed to sign on for a six month tour of duty, maybe it was the lack of a Cylon threat out here now. The majority had seemingly accepted, himself, Tory, Anders and Tyrol, even if they hadn't fully come to terms with the fact they were Cylons themselves. There would, he feared, always be a doubt, niggling at the back of their minds, his best friend for over twenty years was the exception. He had been first in the queue to make his feelings clear.

He remembered coming to in life stations, they had apparently jumped away from Earth, rendering the magic cure of wakefulness.

He hadn't been surprised to find Bill Adama sitting patiently beside his bed, he was later a little startled to find out the number of choices of bedsides he could be sitting beside and yet he choose his.

Saul scooted back to sit up quickly in the bed, grimacing as he went.

"Careful, you're bound to be a bit weak, you've been lying in bed a long time," Bill said quietly.

"What the frak is going on?"

"You tell me Saul? When were you planning on telling me my second in command was a Cylon?" Adama said in an outwardly calm tone.

"Oh, frak," Tigh groaned, "it's not what it looks like, we weren't..."

Bill interrupted; this was an opportunity to see were they stood, so he asked Saul some questions that he already knew the answers to. The way his XO answered them would hopefully give him some clue as to where his loyalties were.

Adama sat forward in his seat, more than close enough that if Saul Tigh did want to hurt him he could.

"We?" He asked.

Saul's eyes briefly took in his surroundings, four canvas walls left him with no idea what was going on. His eyes tracked back to his commanding officer quickly and without hesitation he replied, "There are four of us, Tyrol, Tory, Anders and myself. We've know since the trial, we all, sort of found each other and I swear Bill, we all agreed that first and foremost we belonged to this fleet."

"Really, so why didn't you come to us then?" Bill said harshly.

"We...I knew what would happen, we'd be confined to the brig... and I didn't want to let you down, I don't understand how this has happened but I knew I'd never do anything to harm you or the fleet."

"Like Boomer didn't?" Bill exclaimed.

"Bill please," Tigh cried out, leaning forward, "I would never... you're my best friend," Saul said before breaking down in tears.

Adama swallowed, this hadn't been what he wanted to achieve, truthfully Bill knew how difficult this was going to be for him, Saul was fiercely loyal to him. He reached forward and placed his hand on his friend's arm.

"Saul," he asked softly, "Do you remember anything while you were asleep?"

"No, should I?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Saul pulled a face as he tried to remember, and said unsurely, "I…Thrace…I vaguely remember telling her to destroy the Cylon Ships."

"She did, but Saul, you never had that conversation, Kara was speaking to a hybrid."

"What the frak is going on Bill," Saul said in bewilderment. "She destroyed them?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Good! Bill, I don't pretend to understand the Cylons, even if I am one but those skin jobs have corrupted and manipulated the whole race, this gives us the opportunity to start again, together?" Saul pleaded, "Can we do that Bill?"

Adama looked steadily back at his friend, "I think we can, yes," He said as he smiled.

As Bill stepped down from the Raptor he briefly turned to hold out his hand to his wife to grasp before turning back to his XO and saying excitedly, "Saul, you won't believe, they have this drink down there that will even make your toes curl."

"Pay no attention to him Saul, somebody partook a little liberally in the drinks tasting."

"I did not!" The man in question defended sulkily.

Saul smiled politely at their antics, "how did it go?"

"Great, they have agreed to let anybody on board settle. Plus they want to offer the invitation to the rest of the fleet or if they wish to stay on Earth, to convey any assistance they can," Laura said, looping an arm round Tigh's as they began walking off the hangar deck. Leaving a slightly unsteady Bill trailing behind them.

"And they want what in return?" Tom's rather crackly and suspicious voice came through his radio system.

"We negotiated them down to immediate copies of our star charts and access to the blueprints of Galactica's ftl drives after a full year of settlement. They have a agreed to allow Galactica to come and go at will, but want equal rights to anything found on it exploratory flights."

"Mmn, sounds reasonable."

"They even agreed to take Bill's ex-wife," Laura giggled, "that has to be the deal of the century."

"Hey, I heard that," Bill shouted out from the head.

"You sound happy, Laura," Zarek chuckled.

"I am, Tom, very happy."

"Good, you deserve it, you all do. Mind you, how that grumpy old Admiral can keep you happy is beyond..."

"I'm standing right here, Tom," Adama growled over Laura's shoulder, having exited the head to hear the last part.

"Admiral," Zarek said jovially, "how nice to hear from you."

"Moron," Bill muttered under his breath, loud enough for only Laura to hear and smile up at him.

The rest of their report back to Earth went quickly and smoothly, the twelve members of the quorum were more than willing to put their trust in the former leaders.

Once the meeting had drawn to a close with cheerful goodbyes, both Laura and Bill relaxed back on the couch. It had been a long but rewarding day; Laura closed her eyes as Bill got up to fetch a bottle and a couple of glasses. As he sat back down instead of pouring it out he placed the bottle down on the table top.

"Has Carolann been giving you grief? I could have a word," he enquired.

"What? No, Bill I was joking," she stated. The minute the words had come out of her mouth earlier in jest to Tom and she realised that Bill had heard them; she knew he would question it. He was terribly oversensitive about his ex-wife being around; she guessed that he felt rather awkward with the situation. New wife and old wife within spitting distance of each other, it would never happen in normal circumstances, even before they found Earth they would have been on different ships within the fleet. Truth be told, Laura felt rather sorry for the woman, the other quartet of new found Cylons were all well established on Galactica beforehand. Carolann and her husband were totally alien to the military way of living and that didn't even take into account the revelations of late she had to contend with.

Laura remembered the first time she had met her. Well, met would be overstating, come across her would best describe it.

Laura was finishing getting dressed, it was faintly absurd how good it felt to get her feet back into her usually backbreaking shoes, but the idea of never having to wear a dressing gown again was tempting. Not that Bill would complain she was sure. She felt wonderful for the first time in months and she couldn't help the smile that had taken up residence on her face.

The first she knew of the confrontation to come was when the voices that had been nothing more than background noise began to rise.

She poked her head out gingerly, to see a nurse rush into one of the cubicles leaving the curtain flung open.

"Get away from me!" the woman occupying the bed screamed, although at the rate she was going she wouldn't be in it much longer, as she threw the sheets off her legs.

"Carolann, please, darling, let me explain," a man that Laura had never seen before was trying to calm her.

So that was the ex-wife, Laura couldn't stop herself from wanting to watch the proceedings.

"What are we doing on this ship?" she cried, ignoring the poor man.

"Honey, you were brought here..."

The man, obviously the husband that Bill had spoke about, had no chance of finishing what he was saying as she interrupted him.

"Who brought me here?"

The Admiral had the misfortune of coming out of Saul's cubicle just at that moment. Bill had asked her if she minded if he went to sit with Saul as he woke up and if this was any indication of the reaction to waking up as a Cylon then it was probably a good thing. Saul and Bill had know each other a long time and the new facet to their relationship would take time to get used to, Bill had wanted to assure his friend that he was ready to rebuild.

His face upon stepping out into a clear line of fire from the ranting ex-wife was priceless.

"It was him, wasn't it? He brought us here didn't he?" Carolann shouted pointing at the confused Admiral, to be fair everyone looked a bit bewildered by the wild woman.

"Mum?" Lee said, as he also stepped from his area still buttoning his jacket, "What's wrong?"

"Lee, you have to get me out of here," she wept in confusion.

"It's ok mum you will be fine," her son reassured.

Jack was next on the scene having been briefed on the situation by one of the nurses. He came swiftly across life stations and made a quick assessment of the situation, ordering a nurse to get him a sedative, when asked what was happening he was equally quick in answering, "Shock, she is in shock, the sedative will calm her down."

It had and under calm supervision she had been told the long story of how she ended up on Galactica. She wasn't happy and when Bill had tried to speak to her, he had reported back to Laura, rather annoyed that 'she hadn't changed'. What ever that meant?

Laura had only come across her once or twice since then. Carolann and her husband kept pretty much to themselves aboard but on the scant meetings they'd had she seemed a pleasant enough woman, she was difficult to read though and Laura had caught her a few times watching her and Bill together, which Laura found a little disconcerting. She had the feeling that she went out of her way to act up in front of Bill, and as a mother she seemed a little forced, but to be fair they only tended to meet at little get-together's that were arranged to keep morale up. The ship was a much more relaxed place now that the fight seemed to be over. Although the numbers were tight to run a ship of this size, all those extras on board were volunteers and enthusiastic.

These little assemblies usually involve a fair amount of alcohol and Laura had quickly noticed she was shy in partaking. So really Laura felt she hadn't seen the best of her, and she knew from what Lee had said that she was trying hard in private to rebuild their slightly odd relationship.

Well this was no good she thought, if she didn't distract Bill some how he would brood as evening, so she leaned forward and grabbed the footwear she had only recently discarded.

"Why are you putting your shoes back on, I thought we were spending some time together?" Bill grumbled.

"We are."

"So why the shoes?"

"We are going to celebrate finding a home," she said, grabbing the bottle from the side, handing it to him, before picking up a couple of glasses in one hand and his hand in the other.

Bill went along willingly just pleased to see Laura so happy. Their destination no surprise as they stepped into the observation suite for the second time that day.

"You're getting predictable Laura," Bill teased.

"I don't care, this is our place."

He smiled, "it is indeed," he said, as he sat down on the wide seat, patting his knee for her to join him in their familiar pose. As she snuggled down on his lap, he thanked the gods for the decision he had made all those months ago.

"It beautiful," she had said, "isn't it?"

Bill's eyes had been squarely looking at Laura not the Earth below but the beautiful woman he held so gently in his arms scared half to death that he would break her if he squeezed just a little bit to hard.

He back up a little and careful sat down on one of the seats taking Laura with him to sit wrapped up on his lap. "Yes."

She turned to face him, to find him staring at her, "Bill you're not even looking," she said turning back to the planet.

"I don't care," he stated looking straight at her, "Laura..." he spoke softly, causing her to look back at him. "Will you marry me?"

She looked surprised, and then her expression softened and she closed her eyes briefly and answered with a nod of her head and a gentle kiss to his neck.

"Yes...yes please," she stuttered.

They sat wrapped up tightly together watching the Earth below them that day, until Laura had fallen asleep and Bill had worried Cottle might send out a search party.

Bill couldn't help thinking as he looked round the observation deck that he would miss this place once they were both settled on the planet they now circled, who was he kidding he would miss this old bucket immensely, it had kept those he loved and cherished most - alive and for that alone he owed it a debt but he knew they would find other special places, in the new life they were about to embark on.

THE END.

Thank you so much for the great feedback. I have really appreciated it all!!