Tory likes it best when you can see the end of the line, when there are no more cares and no more worries; she looks at the next hump and thinks it's the last. It's how she kept them both alive, on New Caprica. But there are humps Laura doesn't want anybody to know about, and she hates to let them see her sweat. Chemotherapy is the French Revolution: something wonderful, and something ugly, that kills as it heals. That says, "This is gonna hurt," and then hurts you like war.

"I'm gonna need you to really keep an eye on things until then," Laura says, and because she can't see the guarded fear in Laura's eyes, Tory grins from where she's packing up: "Don't worry. I'll make sure our friend from Picon sees the error of his ways..."

But Laura's not talking about the Quorum, she's talking about the Fleet. About the Presidency, and about Laura/Tory Lockdown. She's warning her the humps are still coming. "There was a time, a few months ago, when you seemed overwhelmed by the stresses and the pressures of this job. But lately you've really stepped up. And I'm gonna be demanding even more of that from you in the days to come, because I'm not quite sure of what I'm doing right..." She leaves off, starts again. "I'm sort of..." And again, until we get it right: "I'm just gonna need you to keep a keen eye on every single thing that comes across this desk." Tory thanks her for her confidence, and Laura smiles. "Thank you. Let's go."

Kara marches the Leoben, cuffed, into The Raptor; she reminds him that the humps are still coming. "Just remember, if this is a trap, you die first." She joins Athena at the helm, and asks her if she can be trusted. "Do I need to watch my back with you on this?" Athena is too smart to be insulted; she knows that this is the way it has to go. She will accomplish this mission and bring the worlds together. "No, I said I'd go. You have my word." Leoben murmurs creepily as she continues preflight: "Be like a homecoming for you. The other Eights talk about you all the time." Without sparing a glance, Sharon tells Barolay to keep him the frak away from her, and Barolay nods.

Sometime after the Circle, Jean Barolay cut her hair too. Her beautiful, hard, expressive face seems almost unearthly now. Kara looks her up and down: "Barolay, I didn't ask for volunteers." Barolay reminds her that it's not true: Jean volunteered for this back on Galactica. "Look, I don't give a frak what the others say, you've been kicking ass since day one. You say you can find Earth, I want to be there when you do." Kara and Leoben almost smile, in tandem.