XIV.

The Fleet was preparing to jump to the Ionian nebula. The CIC was crowded. Bill was there, with Laura by his side. It had been two weeks since she had discovered her dreams were shared with the two cylons. Ever since that day, she hadn't dreamt about it again.

"Jump coordinates have been distributed, Sir" said Gaeta. "All Fleet ships show green for jump formation Delta."

"Initiate jump" said Bill.

"Aye, Sir. Jumping in three, two, one... Jump." The Fleet jumped. After a few seconds of silence, Gaeta spoke again "Jump complete. All Fleet ships reporting in, sir."

"Very well, Mr. Gaeta. Commence dradis scan. Let's see what's out there."

The three people around the table, Helo, Bill and Laura, were looking at the dradis screens, waiting to see if they were alone out there. All of a sudden, Laura felt weird, uneasy. She moaned slightly, in discomfort. She took off her glasses and covered her face with her hands, trying to get rid of her blurred vision and the nausea that had suddenly appeared. Bill had quickly noticed her reaction. He was looking at her, worried for her health. He had just reached for her when the lights came off. In a matter of seconds, the ship had lost its energy.

Bill looked at her, even more worried. This situation could only mean trouble. "Sit rep!" he said while he held Laura by her shoulders tightly, trying to keep her from falling to the floor.

"Our sensors show major power fluctuations! Checking on Fleet..." replied Gaeta.

Laura took her hands off her face and looked around the room, her vision still blurred. The CIC was a complete chaos. Galactica herself was provably a complete chaos. People were moving around, doing their jobs, preparing for the worst. Laura felt useless, even an obstacle preventing them from doing their jobs, standing there rubbing her temples and trying not to throw up. She felt Bill's hands still holding her tightly. He had to do his job and she was only standing there making him worry for her.

"I'm fine. Do your job" she whispered to him. "I'll be alright."

Bill looked at her. Yes, he had to do his job. They still didn't know if there was something out there. If they weren't alone, then they had a big problem. There was work that had to be done. He loosened his grip around Laura's shoulders and addressed his crew. "Check auxiliary power."

"We have negative auxiliary power. We're on batteries only" answered Dualla.

Laura's mind drifted away from the CIC. She didn't hear the voices around her, they suddenly faded away. As she felt her nausea and headache grow, she allowed herself to rest her arms in the table, with her head in the top of her hands.

She was at the Opera House. Alone. It was completely dark, but she knew it was the Opera House.

She felt a deep pain down her swollen belly. She gasped for air as the pain increased, as it forced her to kneel down.

Suddenly, just when she thought she couldn't take any more pain, the darkness was gone. Light surrounded her, embraced her. It made her forget the pain.

A baby's cry impregnated the blinding light. Slowly, the light became less intense. She looked around. She was inside the auditorium. The cries hadn't stopped. Instead, they were even louder. She looked for their source, turning around.

When the light returned to its normal state, she saw a cradle and a blonde woman standing by it.

Laura's eyes opened as she gasped for air, cold sweat forming in her forehead. She looked around; they all were still there. Powers were still not working completely. And a couple of strong hands were still holding her. She didn't need to look at him, she knew it was Bill.

"Admiral, Bill, what's going on?" Laura asked, almost a whisper.

"Some kind of power surge." He tightened his grip around her shoulders, as if trying to tell her not to worry about it. He looked at Dee then. "Give me a damage report immediately."

"The power outage was fleet-wide, Admiral" the young woman replied. Suddenly, the power was restored. "It... was also simultaneously restored to all ships."

Laura quickly turned around and looked into Bill's eyes. "I'm fine. Do your job, Admiral." He looked at her and she noticed the worry still in his eyes. She raised one of her hands to meet with his. "Bill... I'm alright. Please, forget I'm here."

Bill nodded. Before resuming his work, he gently kissed her forehead while one of his hands lovingly caressed her belly. She felt his lips move against her skin, whispering some words only she could hear. "I could never forget you, darling."

When he broke their contact, she turned around to face the table again. She put her glasses back on and looked at the dradis screen, feeling slightly better. Suddenly, she noticed something strange. "Admiral! Admiral!" the urgency was written in her voice. "Bill!"

"Dradis contact!" informed Gaeta. "Massive cylon Fleet on intercept course!"

Bill's worst suspicions had become real. They had to act immediately. He ordered a new jump, but the previous power outage made it impossible. They would have to fight, it was their only possibility. He ordered to launch all the Vipers. Maybe that way they could win enough time for the FTL's to work again...

He looked at Laura. They were surrounded by cylon ships; there was no possible way to escape from them. She was facing him, looking at him. But her eyes were cold, as if they were looking through him, like she was able to see further. Without moving her eyes from his, she opened her mouth. "We're going to make it" she muttered.

Bill said nothing. He just nodded and kept doing his job. He ordered all of Galactica's weapons to be prepared. They were going to fight until the end, until they couldn't anymore. Suddenly, he noticed Saul standing by his side. "It's good to see you Colonel" he told him.

"Good to be here, Admiral" the other man replied. "You can count on me."

Bill nodded. "I've never doubted it."

Laura was still staring at the dradis screen, where she had fixed her gaze after her words to Bill. She didn't know where they had come for, but deep down she knew they were true.

Suddenly, she heard her aide's voice. "I'm here if you need me, Madam President." Laura didn't answer. She only looked at her for a second and patted her shoulder. She had noticed something strange, like an awkwardness floating in the air. Where had Tigh and Tory come from? Why did they come together?

She forgot her questions when she started hearing the Viper pilots' voices through the speakers. When she heard a certain familiar voice, she immediately looked at Bill. Lee, now her step-son, was amongst them, flying. By the look in Bill's face she knew he was just as surprised as she was.

"I have a bogey at my ten" they heard him talking. "I'm gonna check it out... Where'd he go? Where the frak did you go?... What the frak!?"

Everyone at the CIC was even more confused than Lee. Suddenly, they heard another voice. "Hi, Lee." That voice stunned everyone. Was it... Kara? They all believed her dead.

"Kara?"

"Don't freak out. It really is me. It's gonna be okay. I've been to Earth. I know where it is. And I'm gonna take us there."