Orphans Beloved…IX "The Burning Bush…"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved bits in my Buffyverse stories, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later. I do plan at least one longer tale, "Nessun Dorma" but that's just getting sketched now.
Disclaimer: No copywrite infringement intended.
(Note…Remember I do not guarantee these "Orphan Beloved" bits hold as a story, though admittedly the first OBeloved tales are following a consistent line. For the Beloveds, there will be others that do not follow in logical order. However I will consider keeping the numbered OBeloveds as connected tales and others just using titles. Naturally I will indicate separate complete stories like Nessun Dorma which add chapters (the separate Prologue was just a test)).
"And you were going to tell us about this mysterious savior…When?" Allison frowned.
"Paul and I…" Sarah began…
Allison rolling eyes, throwing up hands… "See…See!" she turned to a sighing Cosima. "I knew it…I said so. 'Paul and I'…Did I not say so?"
"If you can trust Donnie based on what he's offered to excuse and what he's done…I can throw a bone to Paul." Sarah noted. "He saved my life and put his in my hands."
"Well…Helena's hands actually…" Cosima noted. "Even if he didn't know you were bringing the crazy in…"
"You didn't tell us you'd met Olivier…You didn't tell us you met Helena and brought her in with you…You didn't tell us about this mysterious man who brought you like Moses in a basket to safety."
"Mrs. S hadn't tole me as to this fellow…You were away with Donboy and I didn't know when we met before that Helena would call to do lunch…I'm tellin' you now about meeting Olivier and nearly getting sent to whoever for what." Sarah glared.
"Ally…A lot happened while you were away." Cosima noted. "Sarah's told us as soon as she could."
"Fine…What about Helena? She's still hanging around, right?" Allison, tensely.
"Actually…" Sarah sighed. "We got a bit of good news there…She doesn't know who you two are…Maybe her people don't know who all of us are."
"Which would mean she's either not working for Dyad and Leekie, maybe without knowing…Or she's being fed a name at a time by them." Cosima, puckering brow in thought.
"You say she seems to be obsessed with you…" she looked at Sarah. "Even friendly, in a totally bizarre way…"
"Most likely… 'You I will kill last' friendly…" Sarah noted. "But if you mean can I talk to her, without getting' flayed? Only if I give up more info, I'm sure. She doesn't do it for free."
"You could tell her about Dr. Leekie…" Allison, hard stare. "Sic nutbag on him as father of the 'abominations' and see what transpires."
"And if Helena killed him? We'd lose any chance of knowing what he did to each of us. He may be the one person in the whole project who has the key to us." Cosima noted.
"Or his guys would kill her…Which I'm not anxious to see, crazy as she is. Or, if she is being run by Dyad under a phony 'religious cleansing' thing…He might decide to bump us quicker, terminate the experiment." Sarah eyed the others.
"Why did Olivier want you…Alive, thinking you were the killer? And why did he think you must be the killer, even when you explained it to him?" Allison frowned.
"He probably had no idea why I was supposed to kept alive…They know I'm not Beth, they want to study me…Maybe I've never been under surveillance if Mrs. S is right and I was got out to safety."
"You doubt her story?" Cosima…
"Not her…But it could have been staged. If we think Helena's handlers might not be independent, it could always be that I wasn't 'rescued'…That I was brought to Mrs. S as a kid who needed savin' so she'd ask no questions."
"That would be a clever way to do it…" Cosima nodded. "No need to provide a phony backstory or phony biological parents years later. And it is interesting you wound up here, near us. It might be they were set up to watch Mrs. S and you from a distance, feeding her info and opportunities that made her go just where they could keep an eye on you, to some extent."
"She seemed convinced the man was sincere…" Sarah pondered. "I guess he could have been a plant but…"
"Or this Mrs. S could be a liar." Allison, tendentiously. "If we will willing to consider Donnie that way, it's only fair…" she eyed Sarah's frown.
"I keep my guard up…But I'm sure she's telling me the truth, Allison. And if this is about not including Donniekins at this assembly, I didn't say no."
"Lets go with this is true on Mrs. S' end…" Cosima urged quickly, averting a minor skirmish. "All we can say now is we may have one group…The conspiracy…Or as many as three…Two opposing Dyad and Leekie, maybe secretly, maybe not…I think we can rule out Helena's group as being of help to us."
"Exceptin' in maybe killing Leekie…If we decide that would be of help." Sarah, calmly. "Anyone object to that on lovin' daughter grounds?"
"Don't be facetious, Sarah." Allison frowned. "Though if it comes to that and you think it would help, handing him over to Helena is my vote, you two may have my proxy if I die first."
"Ally…" Cosima sighed.
"I'm not being anxious…I'm being practical. I may be next…I certainly have the clearest symptoms." Allison noted. "And speaking of that…If I die…"
"Allison…" Sarah growled.
"Let me finish…I have a husband and two children. I'd like you to promise you'll take care of them." Allison, carefully.
"Ok…Right now, I'm making it clear…I am not going to become you for the rest of my life, even to dodge prosecution for impersonatin' Beth." Sarah, hastily. "If I can, I'll gladly play your long-lost twin sister, auntie Sarah…But that's it."
"No…Certainly not…" Allison, inward sigh. "That's all I'd want…"
It would have been so practical. And better one of us than a stranger in my bed…
"Besides, Donniekins might find one of us he really gets a charge out of…Maybe a European femme fatale version or a redhead?...It'd only be fair to let him pick through the catalog." Grin.
"Funny." Allison, curtly. "Which one of us should take over with Kira if you 'croak'?"
"Guys…" Cosima…Rubbing forehead.
"Not you, for God's sake." Sarah, grimly.
"Ok, enough…" Cosima waved hands. "Allison, whatever symptoms you have, you are not dying. There's no need to be noble…But if anything happens to you or Sarah, the rest of us, whoever we are, excepting Helena, natch, will do whatever we can for your kids. They're our family too and we'll find a way to be in their lives, ok?"
"Fine…All I ask…" Allison shrugged.
"Though if any of us should decide they can find it in their heart..." high-minded tone.
Cosima, Sarah frowning…
"I don't want Donnie to be lonely…" she sighed. "And if I love him…It's not impossible one of the others…"
"He's ok with that?" Cosima stared.
"No…But time heals and I want him to be happy."
"Allison…Enough with the morbid." Sarah insisted. "I don't see how the man who loves you could possibly like some version of necrophilia with some copy of…"
Allison eyeing her, arch look…
Cosima, a bit sheepishly, but also eyeing her…
"Lets move away from this cliff, guys." Sarah, grimly. "I'll be walkin' in a second and you don't want that."
"Right…" Cosima nodded. "Sorry…"
Allison…Quietly triumphant… "Of course…"
"You know…" Cosima pondered a moment… "Most of us seem to have a strong attachment to family…Sarah, you said Helena seemed almost to really like you."
"She's lookin' for another nut to join us, maybe…Maybe life as a Ukrainian nun candidate left her desperate for someone to talk to, even if she's gonna kill them later." Shrug.
"But she said she considers you different…Of the light… A connection that she felt, right?" Cosima noted.
"She also said she'd never met us close up before…Maybe that was it."
"Ok, but if she does feel a bond…" Cosima eyed her… "And it was strong enough to persuade her to spare you and go for Olivier."
"Who's not dead…And she only let me go for now…No guarantee she won't come back to me when time's right."
"But if we could use the connection to convince her that her people have lied to her…She's obviously an obsessive person, maybe even schizophrenic…Which would be very logical…" Careful nod. "As Dr. Leekie and his people probably did manipulations with the genes implicated in schizophrenia."
"She was made to be nuts?" Sarah…
"Possibly…It would be a very interesting study…Though she's able to carry out very complicated tasks, she even managed to pass for Beth for a bit. If she's delusional, it's not crippling."
"Meaning there could be some totally insane versions of us wandering around?" Allison blinked. "Even crazier than Helena?"
"Crazier than Helena would probably get them locked up quick." Sarah noted.
"That's something I haven't thought of…" Cosima stared. "There could be versions of us, locked up in mental institutions. I should look into that."
"Include rehabs." Allison, quietly.
"Right…" kind smile. Quick pat. "Anyway, getting back to Helena…" Cosima went on…
"You might just be able to get her to question her people…At least refocus her delusion about us being 'abominations'…Maybe if we got her to consider her handlers might be working with Dyad."
"She trusted Maggie Chen." Sarah noted. "She got orders from her for a while, I think…She considered her a friend, she tole me."
"And we have proof linking Dr. Chen to Dyad…" Cosima nodded, with smile. "If we could get that to Helena without getting a knife in our hearts, it might just possibly make her think about things."
"And the good there would be?..." Allison stared.
"Helena huntin' Dyad not us if all worked out…" Sarah, calmly.
"And throwing them into a tizzy…At the very least…" Cosima nodded. "If she's their instrument, their tool for eliminating those of us who aren't of further use…A major headache for them. And if she's working for a real nutcase opposition group, not a front for Dyad…It could start a war between them that we could exploit. If nothing else we'd've thrown a monkey wrench into their works and the flying parts from the machinery could give us information we need."
"We'd have to be convincing…Helena won't trust what we give her just like that…" Sarah noted. "And she's clever enough in her twisted way but she's not the type to be convinced just by facts, even if she had any way to prove 'em."
"Tell her to be Beth…" Cosima suggested. "Give her what we have in another meeting…A dropoff if she'll accept it and tell her to impersonate Beth and go to the police station. She'd have all the resources she'd need to verify the stuff on Dr. Chen."
"And if they catch her…" Allison beamed. "All the better…It might even clear you, Sarah. They'd have her as the one impersonating a police officer."
"Art's never gonna believe Helena was me…" Sarah shook her head.
"And Helena won't accept just facts, you're right there, Cos. Even if she verifies them at the station…And she might just be able to cover as Beth, dropping by, long enough to do that, given I'm supposed to be fallin' apart and frazzled enough to quit. The facts about Maggie Chen wouldn't do it. She'd need God to tell her we were tellin' her the real Truth."
"A burning bush…" Cosima nodded. "Like Moses seeing God…It took a lot of convincing but that did it for him…"
Smile… "Suppose…She saw God speaking…And indisputable proof that Maggie Chen was his disciple?" Cosima eyed the others.
"Dr. Leekie is lecturing on Neolution on Thursday at Dyad…And I think a tour could be arranged for an eager graduate student considering work there that same day." Cosima noted. "With plenty of opportunities to see photos of the staff past and present and to talk with folks about all the good things that student has heard about Dr. Chen and her work…"
"Cos?..."
"It would mean telling her about me, yeah." Cosima nodded. "A little trust to act as the cherry on top…And a crash course in molecular genetics…But if she's bright enough to get by as a police detective for a few hours, she could get through a tour. I can give you a list of talking points for her to memorize…And she can obviously grunt a few words well enough to pass. Just tell her to nod and beam like a kid in a toy store…And do something about her hair. I'll give you an outfit."
"Helena?" Sarah shook her head. "Playing you? Of all of us? You? Cos..."
"Just for a tour...Where no one knows me. Even Leekie, if she runs into him, has only met me twice, briefly."
"But…" Allison stared. "She's insane…What if she goes nuts there and kills someone, particularly him?"
"Poor me, bound and gagged in my room…" Cosima smiled. "Replaced by the crazy obsessed twin sister I'd never heard of, for the day…Who attacked Dr. Leekie, for who knows what reason?…Maybe jealousy of her twin, who knows? Certainly more believable than that she's one of the insane models of a group of clones sent by her sisters to deliver a message to the Maker."
"We'd leave flowers on Dad's grave…" Sarah, grimly nodding.