This idea originated from a post I wrote on Tumblr a few weeks ago. I've expanded the idea now into a quick one-shot fic. Thanks for reading!
"What will happen to her?"
Pchu!
The bite of the bullet in Delphine's abdomen was quick, its force knocking her into the car behind her. She fell to the ground with a cry, her left hand instinctively clutching at the wound as blood began spilling from its opening. Through shallow breaths, Delphine watched as the warm, dark red liquid slipped past her gloved fingers and over knuckles, before soaking into her white shirt.
It was a strange feeling, Delphine thought, to know you were dying, to feel yourself slipping away. Despite her body's frantic attempts at survival, Delphine knew it was only a matter of time before she bled out. She was dying. She could feel it in each heart beat and with each shallow breath.
Delphine tore her eyes from the blood and turned her gaze to her assailant - Shay Davydov. Their roles were reversed now. Shay towered over Delphine; she was the one calling the shots, the one in power. With one final bullet she could finish Delphine.
Delphine watched as Shay stepped forward, her military boots scraping against the concrete of the parking garage. The gun she had just fired was still outstretched in front of her, but instead of delivering the final blow, she tucked the weapon in her cargo pants. And then she knelt down beside Delphine.
"Take off your coat."
"What?" Delphine breathed out.
"Take off your coat," Shay repeated. This time; however, she leaned forward and - with not-so-gentle movements - began tugging at the black garment, causing Delphine to wince in pain. Once the coat was removed and discarded, Shay grabbed Delphine's left hand and pushed it back to the wound. "Keep applying pressure."
Without another word, Shay reached into her cargo pocket and pulled out a canvas pouch. The pouch was small, not much larger than a checkbook, but as she unrolled it, a small assortment of stainless steel surgical tools was revealed - a field surgical kit. Delphine watched confused as the smaller woman ran her fingers over the utensils before pulling on a pair of blue disposable gloves.
Next Shay surveyed their surroundings, her eyes bouncing from Delphine's bloodied abdomen, to the blood-spattered car behind her, before finally meeting Delphine's eyes.
"Lean forward."
"What?" Delphine sputtered between breaths.
"Lean forward."
Again Shay reached for Delphine and tugged her forward, the jarring movements causing the injured woman to gasp. Shay ignored the distressed moans, and began running her fingers over the woman's back, stopping when she found ripped fabric and more blood - another hole. With a further rip of the shirt, Shay exposed the exit wound.
"You're lucky I'm a good shot," Shay said, sounding somewhat relieved herself.
Quickly she grabbed one of the sterile gauze pads from her surgical pouch and applied it to the wound, securing it in place with a gauze roll bandage.
Delphine was a puppet in Shay's hands, easily manipulated, unable to protest. Through hazy visions and labored breaths, she could hear Shay muttering above her as she now worked on the injury to her abdomen. A poke here. A prod there. She knew Shay was giving her proper care, but Delphine still couldn't understand why the woman who just shot her was now the one trying to save her. Delphine let her eyes flutter close, felt her consciousness waning...
"Delphine?"
"Hm?" Delphine managed. No longer were Shay's words nearby, but now somewhere floating in the distance.
"Delphine?" Shay repeated. "Are you still with me?"
"Hm," Delphine muttered again.
"This is going to hurt."
Without another word, Shay plunged a finger into the entry wound, causing Delphine's eyes to snap open. Delphine cried out. The pain was excruciating, it felt like fire in her belly. She tried clumsily swatting at Shay's hand, but found her limbs too heavy, and her body too weak.
Shay continued prodding at the opening, searching for something, feeling... It wasn't long before she was withdrawing her finger from the wound and reaching for her surgical kit. Delphine watched confused as the smaller woman's nimble fingers glided over stainless steel tools before choosing the tweezers from the pouch.
"Stop," Delphine moaned. "No more."
"Just stay with me, Delphine," Shay commanded. "It'll be over soon."
Before Delphine could protest, Shay plunged into the entry wound again, this time accompanied by a pair of tweezers. Her movements were deliberate. No longer was she searching; instead, Shay moved with purpose, pushing the utensil to a specific spot within Delphine's body.
"Don't move. Almost got it..." Shay said, her brows knitted in concentration. "There!"
Shay withdrew the tweezers from the wound, pulling with it a small, blinking device of some sort. Delphine squinted at the thing. It was small and cylindrical in shape - no larger than her pinky nail - and contained a single rapidly blinking red light. In some ways, Delphine thought, it reminded her of the strange worm-like object she had pulled from Nealon's mouth just a few hours earlier.
"What. Is. That?" Delphine said in between breaths.
"This," Shay said, examining the small capsule, "is Project T.R.T.E.D."
Delphine furrowed her brow. "What?"
"Timed Release Toxin Effusion Drone," Shay clarified, dropping the blinking device into a small plastic bag. "When I was in the military, my unit was in charge of developing the technology."
As Shay explained, she set to work caring for Delphine's abdominal injury.
"See, we actually acquired the technology from these developers who were creating mini-drone pollinators for areas where bee populations had crashed," Shay continued. As she spoke she pressed more sterile gauze pads to the wound, applying pressure. "Anyway, we bought out the bee guys and used their micro-optic technology to create this weapon, but before we could complete it, our funding was pulled and the project was abandoned. It was only recently that I learned Project T.R.T.E.D. was alive and well… and active."
"What. Does. It Do?" Delphine asked.
"It's basically a remotely controlled kill-pill," Shay said as she began wrapping a gauze roll bandage around Delphine's abdomen. "Push a button. Initiate countdown. And when time's up, the capsule will release a very toxic poison into whosever body it inhabits. See how it blinks?" Shay asked, nodding at the now quarantined capsule. "The faster it blinks, the less time you have. You're lucky; by the looks of it, I'd say you would've been gone by sunup."
Delphine shuddered at the thought, Nealon's earlier threat playing through her mind: You won't live till morning.
"Neolution?" Delphine asked.
Shay nodded. "It looks like the Neos have been on to you for quite some time," she confirmed. "Good news: Now that they've initiated your kill-pill, they'll think you're dead. Bad news: You have to pretend you're dead; you'll have to go into hiding."
At this Shay reached forward and grabbed Delphine's hand, giving it a quick squeeze.
"This means Cosima can't know you're alive, Delphine. None of her sisters can, at least not now. Knowing will only put them in danger. Do you understand me?"
Delphine's eyes met Shay's solemn ones. Deep down she knew Shay spoke the truth. She was a distraction at this point. No longer could she keep Cosima and her sisters safe in her current position. From here on out, she'd have to be an ally from behind the scenes, she'd have to love Cosima from afar.
"You've done everything you can to keep her safe," Shay continued. "Now it's time to keep you safe."