[A/N: One more chapter to go after this one, I hope to have it up soon.]

7. Everything in Life is Only for Now

Their arrival was the stuff of nightmares. Literally, Laura had been seeing this happen in her dreams for months, over and over again. The Cylons finding them. The Cylons killing them.

The Cylons discovering Isis.

She had stayed at the school till the last student went home. She didn't have to wait long for the parents to rush over, art projects and presentations beyond forgotten. Once the school was empty, Laura walked outside. Centurions were marching down the street. She made herself watch them, forcing their reality into her mind. This wasn't a nightmare; this was real.

And even worse, she kept hearing a rumour that the Fleet had jumped away. Eventually it was repeated enough for her to assume it was real. Not that she had ever doubt it. Bill had told her how limited their defence capabilities had become. If they had stayed, the Cylons would have blown them right out of the sky. At least this way, someone was safe.

That thought didn't stop Laura from feeling more alone than she had been since the attacks on the Colonies. Maybe since even before then.

Eventually she had to get out of there. The practical side of her thought about going back and cleaning. The rest of her quickly shot the idea down. Right now she needed to be with friends and…friends.

She cut back through the school's tent, then took her regular path back home. She passed many familiar faces along the way; they all looked lost. It had been so long since they had settled here on New Caprica – longer than they had been running after the first attack. Everyone had finally felt safe, wrapped up in Gaius Baltar's pretty little lie. Everyone but her.

She was walking beside the tent that Kara and Sam shared when she saw another familiar face. A chill ran down her spine as Laura looked at Leoben, seeing the face she had sent out an airlock what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Hello, Laura," he said, smiling as if they were old friends. "Have you seen Kara Thrace?"

She had seen Kara, watching the marching metal parade. She'd been talking to Galen Tyrol. Laura had been too far away to hear the conversation but she could imagine what Kara would have said. She wouldn't give up. None of them would, even if it killed them.

"If I had seen her, do you think I would tell you?"

Leoben laughed and that one act increased her hatred for him more than she thought possible. "No, you wouldn't, would you. But don't worry, I'll find her." He smiled again. "Have a good day, Laura."

She stood still as he walked past, breathing slowly to calm her nerves. Only when the sound of footsteps finally receded did she carry on her way. She thought about trying to warn Kara but doubted there was anything she could do. Besides, no offence to the former Captain Thrace but she was not Laura's most pressing concern. That was much closer to home.

Finally the familiar tents were in sight. Laura went past her own to the one beside it. "Maya," she called out, "I'm coming in."

Maya was sitting on her bed, holding Isis closed. The child was squirming, clearly uncomfortable, but she didn't cry. Tory was sitting on a chair nearby. Everything was so quiet; neither woman knew what to say. Laura didn't either and so she didn't even try, she just sat on the bed and let it all sink in even more.

They sat in near silence; every now and then they heard movement outside, saw shadows crossing the tent wall. It was impossible to tell whether the source was human or one of the skin jobs. Laura said a silent prayer of thanks to the Gods every time the silhouettes moved past the tent, leaving them in peace. For now.

Eventually Laura's mind shifted back into focus. She had faced so many crises before; she'd turned out to be quite good at it. She began to take stock of the situation. Most of the former military crew was on New Caprica now – she'd even seen Saul Tigh earlier that day, when the worst she had to think about was homework assignments and when she'd claimed that the president's problems weren't her own. She had been proven wrong in just about every way when it came to that assessment.

But that wasn't the point right now. The point was that the human resources on this planet were great. And Bill must have had a contingency plan, in case this had happened. A plan that Tigh would know. That idea gave her hope, something she knew she needed right now.

So they had people. And…not much else. But then again, when had they ever had anything else?

A new sound was coming near: this one was clearly mechanical. More Centurions, coming closer by the second. They waited, hardly daring to breathe. And it was at that moment that Isis finally had enough and began to cry.

Maya leapt to her feet, bouncing her daughter, trying to calm her down. Laura moved to the tent flap, peaking outside. There they were. Walking beside was…D'Anna Biers? "Oh my gods," Laura whispered as another D'Anna appeared: all this time, she had been a Cylon, another agent planted like Boomer. At any other time, this revelation would have been world shattering but after this day it was just another detail.

One of the D'Annas stopped and looked towards the tent, no doubt hearing Isis' cries. The woman stood there for a moment, then moved on. They all moved along, heading down the path and out of sight at a swift pace; though never swift enough.

Laura turned back to Maya and Tory and Isis. She looked at them all, the three people she cared about most on this planet. And she finally found the words they needed to hear, the words she needed to say.

"We will get through this. We will fight them and we will beat them and we'll get off this mud ball, all of us. I promise."