This chapter alternates between *visions/dreams* and reality. Just to be clear.

…

***Laura found herself standing in her old classroom, and it brought her a strange sense of joy to be back. Stick figure drawings were tacked onto the quark board hanging at the back of the room. Each letter of the alphabet formed an artistic border at the top of the classroom's walls. It was colorful, cheerful. Little chairs and desks. Simple books. Her own writing on the chalkboard. She'd loved being a simple teacher. A melancholy mood settled over her as she walked through an isle of desks, running her hand along their cool surfaces.

"Do you know who the twelve Olympians are Laura? The twelve Lords of Kobol who sit on thrones upon Mount Olympus?" Elosha asked from the front of the classroom, her hands calmly clasped in front of her.

"Everyone on the Colonies knows the Twelve," Laura replied, used to Elosha in her visions.

"Name them. Like you once had your class recite their names," the wise woman commanded. Laura smiled at the memories of her students reciting facts at her gentle command. Days of the week. Basic addition tables. Lords of Kobol. She could almost hear young voices echoing their names with her;

"Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Dionysus." Elosha smiled at her, the proud grin of a satisfied teacher. The Priestess turned and wrote the names on the board, mirroring what Laura had once done for the children in her class.

"Do you know who you represent in this cycle of time?" Elosha asked as she wrote each God's name out.

"What?"

"I told you; twelve individuals will remember, and each of them will symbolize a Lord of Kobol. They will face the jealous God." Elosha finished writing the twelve names on the board and turned back to Laura.

"Why?"

"There is a reason. You will discover it in time," Elosha replied, and Laura sighed. She wouldn't get more information out of her puzzling friend and was too tired to prod; even in her vision, she felt an echo of the fatigue and aches her physical body experienced. She pushed it to the side, knowing that Elosha was imparting valuable information to her right now.

"So, twelve? I only know of Bill, Kara, Cottle, and me who remember." In the vision Laura felt her body tremble and knew her real body in the cell was still experiencing whatever Cavil was putting her though. "Bill has been referred to as Zeus before," she remembered. Zarek had called him Zeus condescendingly, but Laura thought the analogy was appropriate.

"Yes," Elosha laughed and turned to the blackboard, writing Bill next to the name Zeus. "Bill Adama represents Zeus." Zeus, King of the Heavens, God of honor and justice. He was a symbol of authority; a God associated with leadership and power. It does fit, Laura thought. She smiled; her determined, obstinate, and bull-headed Admiral. ***

…

Bill Adama thought about chance and probability. As the hours continued passing by and Laura was still missing, he knew that the chances of finding her had statistically dimmed. Statistics be damned. They'd made a habit of beating the odds together. After all, what are the chances he would find someone he could love forever, and that person would love him back with equal fervor and passion. What were the chances of him being given Laura not once but twice? Whatever his belief system was now, he knew there was something that connected him to Laura Roslin, and it transcended the physical realm. He'd find her.

Armed with the lead they'd been given, Adama, Tigh, and Starbuck had rushed back to the Battlestar Valkyrie. A tripartite of vengeance and fury before whom the crew scattered as they made their way to CIC. Determined. Unstoppable.

First came their official orders - handed down directly from the Office of the President. It officially stated that all previous orders were suspended, and the Battlestar Valkyrie with all its officers were ordered to follow Adama's command without question. The prevailing theory in media circles was that Laura Roslin had been taken by the Tauron Mob, with whom the Fleet regularly clashed anyway. Most of the crew seemed to believe the story, and between their loyalty to their Commander, hatred of the mob, and oaths to protect colonial citizens, they were more than happy to swoop in with their Commander be heroes. The word 'Cylon' didn't pass anyone's lips unless those who remembered were in a secure space.

Other messages came from Admiral Nagala and the Secretary of Defense simply reading, good hunting.

Bill Adama only cared about the message in his pocket which had been given to him by a puzzled President Adar. Bill pulled out the note and looked down at it. The white paper contrasted with the bold black ink which formed the words Adama was sure he had burnt into his mind now.

"I once promised to pay you back when it really meant something. After everything, I know I still owe you.

You once asked the question, why? The truth is, I don't know why I made so many of the choices I did. There was greed, spite, and jealousy. But I loved my family. I know it's time to accept responsibility for what I did. After all, sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done. Hopefully, I'm making a choice right now. She's here. There isn't much time.*

I'm sorry."

Underneath the typed message was a set of coordinates.

…

***"I'm supposed to be Hera, right? Wife of Zeus? Is it because I'm a mother and not a fighter?" Sarcasm dripped from Laura's words. She was too feminist to appreciate being reduced to mother and wife. Elosha looked at Laura and scoffed out loud.

"You're as much of a fighter as your husband. Hera is one of the fiercest of the Olympians. Even Zeus was known to fear her. And yes, you are Hera. For what did Hera hold most dear to her heart? You went to such great lengths to protect your people. You bent regulations, broke rules, and snubbed morality to keep your Fleet, humanity safe – to keep the people you held dear alive. Because what does Hera value above all else?" Elosha asked, gazing at Laura as if the story of Laura's life was written in her green eyes, and Elosha was reading it with ease. The Priestess stood at the front of the classroom in her colorful robes and her chin raised, waiting for the other woman's answer like a patient teacher.

"Family," Laura replied with a wave of understanding. She hadn't meant to find a family on Galactica, she hadn't meant to become the unofficial mother of the Fleet, and she certainly couldn't have foreseen becoming the Adama family matriarch; but she had. The memory of two laughing sisters flashed in her mind, then her parents, her sons, her adoptive daughter, and her husband. Family had always been what Laura held most dear; it was why she had suffered so greatly when members of it were taken from her. Family; her strength. Her weakness. Hera, known for her anger towards those who crossed her, loved her family deeply and protected them fiercely.

Elosha smiled and turned to the board, using her chalk to write Laura next to the name Hera. ***

…

Exhaustion overwhelmed Laura's body from her constant struggling against the bindings tying her in place. Tired. She was so, so tired. When tears began flowing freely down her cheeks, she felt humiliated. She felt even lower when great heaving sobs eventually tore from her throat.

…

*** Laura was picking up crayons off the floor. When she'd taught kindergarten, it seemed like there were always things kids had knocked to the floor. Small children were not the most careful group of individuals in the world; it was why she'd only brought glitter into the classroom once. Hideous stuff. She groaned as she felt the distant pressure of a headache and the faint feeling of a scratchy throat. Her physical body was screaming out in protest if Laura could feel it this badly in her dreams.

"What about Kara?" Elosha prompted, bringing Laura's attention back to her as she brushed the chalk dust off her hands. Laura thought for a moment, ignoring the pain.

"Kara…Artemis, right? The huntress?" Laura could see Starbuck being paired with the Goddess of the Hunt. At the front of the classroom Elosha looked like she was ready to laugh.

"Close, but you have the wrong twin."

"But," Laura thought for a moment, quickly finding an answer to the riddle, although it didn't feel quite right. "That means Kara represents Apollo. That's…" she felt a snort of laughter burst from her and heard Elosha chuckle as well. "That's hilarious. Just proves the Gods have a sick sense of humor." Elosha frowned at Laura's disparaging comment against the Lords of Kobol and drew herself up to her full height, short though she was.

"Apollo, the God of the heavens and the God of prophesy. A god who rules destiny. Kara always dominated the skies when she flew in her viper, and her life was ruled by destiny. She held the arrow of Apollo too," Elosha explained. Laura's laughter turned into a frown. She hated the words 'destiny' and 'prophesy.' She was now feeling very sober. Elosha simply turned and wrote Kara next to Apollo. ***

…

The vessel they approached was Tauron in origins, and the Valkyrie's sensors showed the smaller ships engines were damaged so badly that they were practically adrift in space. The small ship ignored all hails.

When DRADIS had picked up the vessel at the coordinates Adama had been given in the unsigned note, Kara's nerves had gone into overdrive. The urge to jump in a raptor, head over to the ship, and start cutting through bulkheads was powerful. Her whole body was ready to spring into action, but she waited for her orders. They came swiftly; gear up.

In the arms locker, Kara Thrace was suiting up alongside the most elite marines the Battlestar Valkyrie had to offer. The battle hardened and combat seasoned marines kept their mouths shut at a young cadet suiting up with them. They knew better than to question Adama, and he'd ordered the girl to join them. However, when they saw her hands deftly and expertly moving over the equipment and snapping every piece of gear into place faster and better than any of them, they began to wonder just who the new crazy girl was.

Fully geared up, Starbuck stood with the team on the hanger deck. All the marines knew what a typical soldier fearing battle looked like. Their faces turned ashen and pallid. Their bodies became shaking bags of bones. They would grip their weapons so tight that their knuckles would turn snow white. None of the soldiers assembled did any of that. Neither did Kara, they noted. No shaking. No shuddering. No smell of fear and sweat. There was just icy fire blazing from her eyes.

…

***"Who does Doc. Cottle pair with? Not Aphrodite surely?" Laura joked. She was sitting cross legged in the reading space she'd once created for her young students. Her legs were too tired to hold her upright, but her mind was still sharp.

"Ahhh, Doctor Cottle." Elosha grinned. "You'll never guess which God he pairs with. He's seen more battles than the rest of you. There are countless injured soldiers he's tended. Bones set. Bullets removed. Wounds fixed. Cottle represents Ares. The God of War. He is both soldier and doctor. He has seen war and bloodshed like few others have." Laura slowly nodded as she thought about the connection. It made an odd sort of sense to her.

Bloodshed and destruction were always associated with Ares. The God Ares was often disliked by the Colonials because he represented the brutality found in war. Doctor Cottle had seen far more than his fair share of violence. His patients were the physical repercussions of war, and their fear and anguish his reality. Yes, it made sense. Elosha wrote Cottle in the appropriate spot. ***

…

Doctor Cottle strode across the hangar deck and boarded the raptor. He plopped down in the seat next to Adama, who had joined the raiding party as well. Commander Adama opened his mouth to speak, but Cottle beat him to it.

"I'm going. That's the end of it," the Doctor growled. Adama regarded the older man for a split second and then nodded. Cottle pulled out a cigarette and lit it right. He waited for some unsuspecting idiot to ask him to put it out, but no one was stupid enough to bait him. Harrumph.

Jack never prayed. He very rarely hoped. He didn't make wishes. His job was based on science. Cause and effect. Tests and results. There were odds and statistics. To him the human body was a machine, and he was a specialized mechanic.

He prayed that Laura would be ok.

Roslin was a good person and a good friend, even if she was the most stubborn woman he knew. He didn't know what condition they'd find her in, so he was damn well going along to give her care as soon as possible. At the end of the day, he had no cure for mortality. The human body has limits, and there was only so much he could do.

…

***"So, there are eight more out there who remember!?"

"Or who will eventually remember. I think the one associated with Poseidon has awoken. Remember, this is the final cycle of time, and, as it continues, the twelve will help shape it." Laura suddenly dropped to the floor as her body felt a wave of pain go through it. "It's hard right now, Laura. You are a fighter though. Stay strong and remember what you've learned. Now, it's time for Zeus to be reunited with Hera." ***

…

Author's note: *Some dialogue inspired by the miniseries.

This is going to start tying into the series more and more, and hopefully filling in some questions the show never answers. Is there a link between the Lords of Kobol and the One True God? The Final Five just *happened* to end up in the Fleet (even with Cavil's help)? Coincidences? Why are the hybrids so crazy? Ok. That's enough spoilers. I did warn that this would be a long fanfic.