Stay With Me

Chapter 1: Prologue

Author's note: For the past few months I've been toying with a Cophine AU. And while I was planning on actually beginning it today, I decided to watch the finale first. Which made me want to continue the story, if only to keep myself sane. And while I'm not very good at making all of the pieces connect in the story, I hope you all still enjoy it.

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"You don't… understand," Cosima let a shaky breath out, only moments away from breaking into sobs. Her eyes focused on her sister in front of her, who was holding her shoulders tightly to keep her from pacing.

Alison's gaze was sympathetic, but it did nothing to help. Cosima still felt like someone had plunged a knife in her stomach. Everything just felt wrong.

"If she dies without me-" The brunette began, tears now flowing down her cheeks.

"Cos, we're going to get you in. You're going to see her." Sarah interjected.

Felix walked over, placing a hand on Cosima's back comfortingly. "Sarah's right. You're going to see her. How to do that is the question."

Helena spoke up from her spot in a waiting room chair, where she was eating one of four bags of chips she had gotten from a vending machine. "Sneaking in is always possible."

Sarah rolled her eyes, taking only a few seconds to look back at the blonde clone. "That's kind of the idea, meathead."

Again, Cosima attempted to take a deep breath. While she appreciated the comfort and presence of her sisters, what she needed most was to be in there. With Delphine. She needed to be able to see her, to let her know that she was there.

"Hey, Cos…" Sarah was in front of her now, searching her gaze. Cosima was distant, and right now Sarah needed to bring her back.

"Yeah?"

"Listen, she's here. Delphine's here. She's alive. That's what matters. And once she wakes up-"

"Sarah, I need to be there when she wakes up."

Alison spoke up again. "Everyone. I might have a plan."

ooooooooo 8 hours earlier: 11pm ooooooooo

Shay didn't like Delphine. They had never spoken more than a sentence to each other that didn't involve Cosima in some way. And despite the fact that the woman had almost tried to kill her only days before, some part of the blonde felt sorry for her. Sorry about how she had acted, and sorry that she hadn't been more accepting of her in the first place. But the other part of Shay felt no shame. The shit that she had put Cosima through was far from okay- and the fact that the other woman had thought she would do anything to harm her? Crazy. And maybe Delphine was a little crazy. But when she had visited her only moments before? She was completely and solely sane. The look in her eyes was so serious and almost desparate. The way that she pleaded with her to take care of Cosima, what the hell was that about? Something about the interaction felt completely wrong. And while it almost would have been too easy to just let her walk away, Shay decided to follow her.

"Alright…" Shay followed Delphine, the back of the other woman's care only maybe 100 yards away. A small surge of panic entered the blonde's brain. Where were they going? And what made their interaction seem like an ending? That's what Shay had decided Delphine was doing. Ending something. What it was, she didn't know. As she began to think back, there were so many times that she had wished Delphine would go away. That she would end what was between her and Cosima once and for all and just get out of their way. But Shay knew that wasn't what Cosima wanted. She would have had to have been an idiot to not see that Cosima loved Delphine. It was in her eyes, in the way that she talked in her sleep. She loved her, and it was obvious that Delphine felt the same way.

Shay just kept driving, ignoring any feelings that she should turn back. If it was Delphine's ending, it sure as hell felt like her own… something. Something was happening, and while she didn't know everything that was going on with DYAD, or the woman who had seemed to take on the institute as its leader, Shay also knew that this was bigger than her. It was bigger than Cosima.

After a while, Delphine pulled left into a parking structure. Before entering, Shay slowed down, turning off her headlights. She was determined not to be seen. Upon entering the structure, she was just able to make out Delphine's car going up and around to the upper levels. And while Shay knew that she needed to follow, it was clear that she couldn't do it in her car. Someone would hear or see her.

But as the blonde locked her car and began to move up the levels of the structure, she began to wonder exactly why Delphine was there. The structure was almost empty, just a few dim lights flickering above. It had the atmosphere of a horror movie. There were no buildings connected to the structure, no reason why the woman would naturally be there. For a few moments, Shay ran through the facts in her head:

Delphine was head of DYAD, and organization that Shay knew about, had worked with vaguely.

The fact that Delphine had come to her to directly speak about Cosima meant that she didn't know Delphine was there.

She wanted Shay to tell Cosima everything she knew, which mostly consisted of what the hell Delphine was doing in DYAD, what her role was. Something Shay had only recently uncovered.

That also meant that she could tell Cosima about herself.

Delphine didn't think that she would be around anymore.

Shay's mind whirled with all of the new information, not completely sure yet how to process it all. She could no longer hear the sound of a car engine. And while Shay moved quietly through the building, she tried to move fast. The last thing she wanted was to lose all track of Delphine. At this point, she herself needed to know. She needed to know what was happening. Cosima would deserve to know.

Suddenly, footsteps began to echo up around the corner. The clicking of heels across the hard concrete floor. And then more steps. Shay moved forward, moving to peek around the corner. A two black cars and a white one were all that sat on the floor, a bright exit sign illuminating the space above. Delphine's figure was dark, but it was there. Shay could see her, walking with a purpose. She seemed to know full well what she was doing, where she was going. A small surge of panic began to enter Shay's body as another car door opened, a lone figure coming from the back seat of one of the cars. She didn't recognize the person, a woman, older. Mid fifties, maybe?

Delphine didn't turn around. Not right away. And when she did, she seemed unsurprised, almost withdrawn from the whole situation. Then her voice rang out, sounding so much more unsure than her expression revealed. "What will happen to her?"

A shot rang out. Just one. But that was all that it took for Delphine to sink to the ground and the woman to walk back to the car, the blonde's question unanswered. Those few seconds before the car pulled away felt like an eternity, and it took everything inside her not to move. And as the car went screeching away, Shay moved forward. In only a few seconds since the bullet had hit her, Delphine was on the ground, blood everywhere. It had sunk deep into her clothing, pooling in the parking garage. Her eyes were open, her breathing rapidly increasing. From the looks of it, the bullet had only reached her stomach, but it had gone all the way through, tearing a hole through the woman. It wouldn't be long before she would bleed out.

"Delphine," Shay began, pressing a hand to the wound, which caused the woman to call out quietly in pain. "Okay, you need to stay with me okay?"

It took the other blonde a few seconds to focus on her. Then her words were quiet. "What are you-"

"It doesn't matter," Shay said quickly, "You need to focus, Delphine. Everything you wanted me to tell her? I'm not doing it. You are. You're not leaving her."

The confusion on Delphine's features was replaced by one of extreme exhaustion. Shay could see the other woman getting weaker by the second, her eyes struggling to stay focused on Shay. What the blonde knew had only been a few seconds felt like a lifetime. With one hand pressed firmly on the wound, Shay used the other to dial 911.

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"You want us to what?" Sarah questioned, crossing her arms as she stared over at her sister.

Alison just sighed a little. "It's just creating a distraction, Sarah. And if Delphine's awake before they have the chance to kick Cos out, then we're good as gold."

Cosima's voice was quiet, "But if she's not, there's no way they're gonna let me within one hundred feet of this place."

Alison crossed her arms now, her gaze shifting to Cosima. "This is your best shot. If you want to see her today, it might just be worth a try."

"She's right, Cos." Sarah put a hand on the other clone's shoulder.

"Let's just get things over with," Helena spoke up again, absently balling up the empty wrappers in her hands before standing and throwing them in the trash.

"Okay," Alison's voice gained the group's attention. "Everyone, to your positions."

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Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I might continue this story, I might not. The first chapter was all I really needed to get the feelings of "DELPHINE CAN'T BE DEAD" out of my system. I won't be able to handle if she is. I'll just spontaneously combust. Anyway, let me know what you think. Thanks!