The first sensations Sarah felt were the ropes.
They were around her wrists, tied tight enough to stop the blood from flowing to her fingertips. Her skin burned.
"Wake up, toaster."
Sarah flinched, and struggled to open her eyes. Jean Barolay was standing above her, her face twisted into a cruel mask. She was a pretty girl, Sarah thought, but she looked ugly.
She wanted to speak, but her mouth felt dry. She needed water.
"I'm thirsty," Sarah whispered.
Jean narrowed her eyes, but then started, as if an idea had come to her.
"I'll give you water, all right," she muttered.
Sarah looked away. If she turned her face to the right, she could see that the ropes that bound her wrists led to a tree. Behind the tree stood Six. Sarah groaned.
"No, not you again," she whispered. Six just smiled.
Jean was looking at her, as if waiting for something. Sarah sat up, and tried to make herself comfortable on the dirt road.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
Jean smiled harshly. "I want to show you something."
She came closer, and leaned down over Sarah, her face uncomfortably close. Her breath smelled sour, and Sarah found herself leaning away.
Jean gripped the ends of her hair, forcing her to stay put. "I want you to look at this photograph," she said slowly.
Sarah watched as she pulled a faded photo from her pocket. It was soiled and stained, and looked a bit worse for wear.
"What do you see, toaster?" she asked.
Sarah peered at it. It showed a woman with red hair and a smiling young man. They were holding hands.
She swallowed. "They seem very happy."
Jean stared at her for a moment, her face contorting. "That was my fiancée," she said. "Mark. Such a nice man. An artist type, you know? And very young. So young. Do you know how Mark died, Sarah?"
Six walked closer. "Judgment Day," she whispered.
Sarah shook her head.
"He died," Jean began slowly. "In the attacks. He was murdered by your people." As she spoke, she showed her teeth. Sarah focused on them, how white they were.
There was silence. "Do you have anything to say?" Jean asked.
Sarah said nothing.
When Jean hit her, she wasn't surprised. The ferocity of the blow, however, shocked her. She tasted blood in her mouth as she fell to the ground. It reminded her of the blow she had given Laura Roslin, all those months ago. Back then, she had held all the cards.
Jean kicked her in the ribs. She cried out, but didn't make any move to fight back. Seemingly incensed by this, Jean kicked her again and again, all over her body.
"Why don't you do something, Sarah?" Six asked. She was watching from a few feet away. "You could uproot the tree and overpower her in less than a minute. So why don't you?"
Sarah didn't know. The world was red; there was so much blood. "More," she whispered.
Jean stepped back, incredulously. "What did you say?"
Sarah looked up at her. "I like the pain. So much…there is God there."
Jean looked like she was going to vomit. "You sick frakking toaster. Come on. We're going for a walk."
She went to the tree and untied the rope. She started to walk, pulling Sarah along like a dog. Sarah stumbled, but she felt Six at her side.
"This is your destiny," she whispered. "Do not fight it."
It was a rocky path down the hill. The water processing plant was even emptier than before. Sarah thought of calling out for help, but she doubted that any of the humans would come to her aid.
Jean stopped in front of the septic tank. Sarah watched as she came towards her, wielding a piece of tape.
"Just in case," she said nastily.
Sarah felt the tape being slapped across her mouth, but she felt little else. The world seemed a distant memory, as if her mind could scarcely comprehend it anymore.
There was water all around her. It was cold; she didn't like it. She tried to cry out, but remembered the tape.
Jean Barolay was standing outside, biting her lip. She was looking at Sarah with a contempt that she could hardly imagine one person could feel for another.
"But you're not a person, are you?"
Six was in the water with her, somehow. They held hands.
She was running out of air. She struggled, and Six squeezed her hand even harder. The world, Jean, and the water; they were all dissolving.
Ahead, she saw a little girl. She had blonde hair.
**********
When Sarah died, she saw many things.
She was in a tub, like the one she died in.
Colonel Tigh was standing above her. Not like he was when she had known him, but happy and almost young. There was a blonde woman standing with him.
"She's beautiful, Saul," the woman whispered.
They kissed, while she stared at the stars.
*********
Later, she was Six. She was having dreams of terrible things, death and destruction. She was standing in a marketplace, and she had killed a baby.
She walked away and heard the mother scream.
"My baby! My Sarah!"
She woke up in a sweat.
********
She was standing with Leoben when they killed all those people.
"This isn't right," she said.
Leoben took her hand, like Six did when she died.
"What they did wasn't right either."
She nodded.
"I'm taking a name." she said.
Leoben looked surprised. "All right. What will it be?"
She smiled. "Sarah."
********
She got her revenge eventually.
Jean Barolay came on her baseship, told her that she would kill her again if she could.
Sarah killed her instead.
Anders, the handsome man who never got his Kara Thrace back, forced her to her knees and pushed a gun into the back of her head.
Sarah cried.
Natalie pressed her fingers against her lips and kissed her.
Sarah died again.
********
Six came to her, in her red dress.
"You are the Shape of Things to Come."
Sarah shook her head.
"Let me show you something."
Sarah didn't want to see anything else. She had seen too many things already. But she went with Six anyway.
She saw Laura Roslin in her bed, cancer-stricken and weak.
She saw Tom Zarek on his prison ship. He was kneeling, praying to the gods. He was praying for a Cylon he had once known. She had been so beautiful.
Colonel Tigh with Caprica, in the brig. Facing each other, each wanting absolution.
Gaius Baltar with his cult. They believed him, and he took care of them.
She cried for them all.
**********
She dreamed of a house of her own.
Eventually, she got it.
Six took her to a new planet, a dream they had all believed in.
The house wasn't as she had dreamed it would be. There were no sentimental photos; it was only about two rooms. It was dirty and lightless.
A little girl with blonde hair stood in the center of the room, in a pool of light.
"Are you the Shape of Things to Come?" she asked.
Before Sarah could respond, the door opened.
Caprica was a bit older now. Gaius, as well. The farming must have taken a toll on them.
The little girl jumped in delight and ran to them. Gaius picked her up and laughed.
The girl looked over his shoulder, smiling.
*********
Sarah was in the water. She was pale and bloody, and when Laura Roslin found her body she waded in and thought she saw Sixes everywhere.
Tom missed her. However, he had never been one to dwell on the past, and she soon faded from his mind. But when he sat in front of the firing squad, he thought of her.
Tigh moved on to more bombings, the next thing.
Gaius thought of that strange girl once, the one that had seen Six.
Cavil remained spiteful. In fact, Sarah privately thought he killed himself just to make a point. Although, she didn't say that to Six.
Six taught her many things. The universe was round, she said. Sarah learned to play with the stars. She was a little star girl, and one night she thought she saw her image etched into the stars like a pathway.
She saw it happen many times. There were different players, but the story remained the same.
She learned to put on a red dress and tell them the things they needed to know. She didn't know is there was a God, but she knew her duty.
One day she was walking through a marketplace, and she killed a baby.
"My baby! My Sarah!"
She thought she had heard the name before.
She couldn't remember.
The End