Note: Once again I take Dialog from 4:15 No Exit. Different people Although on BSG Ellen/Cavil speak it here Roslin/Cavil do.

Chapter 9: The End of the Beginning

Sam Anders loved many things. He loved sports. He loved the beauty of it. That perfect moment where everything fit together. The perfect throw. The perfect catch. He lived for those little moments of perfection. He didn't care if he won or lost. The final score didn't matter to him. Victory or defeat didn't matter. It was the moments in between that held meaning. It was the moments that mattered. The perfect moments.

In life too, it was the moments. The perfect moments. The moments he shared with Kara Thrace. The day they met. The day they married. The first time they kissed; they fraked. The first time she looked at him and he saw she really saw him; loved him. Those were the moments he cherished. Those perfect moments.

Sam Anders loved many things. He loved perfection. He hated doubt and guilt and uncertainty. He hated being a Cylon and yet he knew he was one. He knew it wasn't time for it to end. It wasn't the end. It wasn't the beginning of the end. The clock hadn't stopped yet. The game wasn't over just yet.

It wasn't the end. It was the end of the beginning.

The end of the beginning. Laura Roslin heard those words whispered somewhere in the wind as she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times as she stared up at the bluish-purple sky. She breathed in and out. In and out. And closed her eyes again.

She was alive.

It felt good to be alive.

Laura Roslin carefully stood up and took stock of her surroundings. A few feet away laying on the ground was the Borg Queen. Laura carefully walked toward her and checked to see if she was still alive but saw there was no sign of life. The Queen was dead. Laura didn't know how to feel about that but didn't have time to think too hard about it when she heard movement behind her.

"What did you do?" John Cavil asked angrily as he stood up.

"I stopped her." Laura said simply.

"You had no right."

"I had every right." Laura paused, "You still don't see it do you John? You never did.'"

"If I'm so irredeemable. If I'm such a mistake? If I'm so broken? Then who's fault is that? It's my maker's fault." Cavil said angrily. "That's you. This is on you."

Laura paused, "I know."

Cavil picked up a gun from the ground and took a step toward Roslin, "I hate you."

Laura took a step toward Cavil, "I know."

Cavil took another step toward Roslin until he was standing only a few steps away, "I hate you!"

"I know." Laura took the gun from Cavil. She wasn't surprised that he didn't resist at all. She looked strait into his eyes and smiled sadly, "I'm sorry John."

And then fired.

He didn't resist.

Will Riker was a man who knew himself. He knew what he wanted and what he needed. He had known how to get it. With only a few minor setbacks, Will Riker was man who got what he wanted.

That was why a woman like Laura Roslin confused him so much. He didn't understand her one little bit. Nothing about her made sense to him. The way she acted and the way people acted towards her made no sense. She was a tyrant and yet people loved her. She was a machine and yet so unlike any machine he had ever known. She was…a Borg and yet…She confused him.

And Will Riker hated her for it.

Will Riker hated her like he hated no one else in his life.

He was in the first group to beam down to the planets surface after the Borg disappeared as suddenly as the appeared. Almost without warning Sam Anders screamed then woke up and just as quickly the Borg cube vanished. It took only a few moments for a team to be made of both Star Fleet officers and Colonial soldiers to form a rescue party. Saul Tigh and Lee Adama had even agreed to use the transporter which no Colonial officer had dared to do yet.

That was how much Laura Roslin was loved.

Kara Thrace had stayed behind with her husband even though she had wanted to go on the rescue mission. However when Sam had regained consciousness she had relented and stayed by his side. They had a great deal to talk about. They had a future to plan.

Will was the first to react when the transporter beamed them down to the surface of the planet. He immediately heard what he thought was an old fashioned projectile gun. He followed the sound. It took him only a moment to reach the sound and what he saw made him take pause.

Sitting on the ground was Laura Roslin with what he assumed was Cavil lying in her arms. He was most defiantly dead. Next to her was a gun. He was about to ask her what was going on when Saul Tigh and Lee Adama ran past him.

"Madam President, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lee." Roslin carefully put Cavil down and stood up, "Saul."

"Madam President."

"I'm ready to go."

"Wait one minute." Riker said a little angrier then he intended, "What the hell happened here?"

"The Queen is dead." Roslin said simply and turned to Saul Tigh, "Our mission is complete."

"And Cavil?" Lee asked.

"It's his gun." Roslin turned to Riker, "You don't want to turn this into an incident Commander. The Borg Queen is dead. The Borg are without a master. Cavil was…our problem not yours. Let it go."

Riker hated it but he knew she was right. This wasn't his concern. If he turned this into an incident it could hurt the Federation, not to mention his own career. Riker wasn't stupid. he knew he'd lose in the end. Laura Roslin had too much power.

He really really hated her.

He nodded his understanding the whole time telling himself it wasn't the end.