"They gave you an injection?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Shit," mumbles Cosima, pushing back a lock of her hair. "Did you tell Alison?"

"No. We haven't spoken since…" Sarah trails off. Cosima offers a quick nod, as if she had forgotten.

"Right. Well. I'm sure Rachel knows. You didn't talk to her when you were there?"

"No," Sarah replies while taking a deep breath. "Hearing it from her wouldn't have made it better. She's such a bloody robot that it probably would have been worse."

"She does remind me of an automated telemarketer."

Sarah cracked a smile but it disappeared pretty quickly. The last few months had been a whirlwind and the last thing she really wanted to talk about was Rachel and her appointments but naturally, it's the very thing Cosima wanted to talk about. Sarah could tell she was reluctant in asking but the curiosity and need to know for her own work kept it away to dig deeper.

"They haven't come to me about anything like that. What was it?"

"They said I had some deficiency of… Vitamin E or C or… D, actually. And some others. It is a long acting or slow release or… something. I'm nothing but a pincushion to them. Needles every time I go. Whether it's coming out of or going in."

"Just… just do what they need, okay? You don't want to break your deal with them."

"I know."

"I can see if I can access more of your files, though. See exactly what they gave you. Dr. Leekie and Rachel leaving for a few days early next week. If I can't officially get it…"

"Don't get yourself in trouble over this, yeah? Besides, they told me I would feel better in a few days and I, well, I do. Brighter, if that makes any sense," Sarah tries to explain. Rachel told her it would make her feel better, physically, and when she woke up this morning it was a whole new weight on her shoulders—lighter.

"Then maybe that's all it was. Extra vitamins and nutrients would have a positive effect. At least it's helping instead of doing something worse."

Sarah shrugged a little, letting her fingers twirl around the glass of her drink. Cosima leaned back in the barstool with a long breath.

"Look, I gotta go. I'll look in to it, okay? If I find anything, you'll be the first to know," she says and puts a firm grip on Sarah's shoulder before she steps down and leaves the bar.

"Shite," she mumbles as she combs her hands through her hair and bent over the bar.

"Another?"

Sarah startles, glances up at the bartender, and shakes her head. Instead, she pushes back her glass and nearly tosses herself out of her seat. There was purpose in her steps but it wasn't until the DYAD institute was within walking distance that she figured out what that purpose was.

The building was not as bright as usual but a quick glance to her phone told her it was nearing midnight. Her breathing increased as she approached. She glanced up and down the street before crossing and walking through the automatic doors.

"Is Rachel Duncan in her office?" Sarah slurs out to the woman at the front desk. A couple of clicks later and she nods hesitantly, watching as Sarah disappears down the hallway.

She stood outside the glass door of Rachel's office and watched for a moment, trying to decipher what she might be doing. She watched as her fingers curled around a pen and scribbled a few things down but nothing out of the ordinary.

For a moment, she flashed back to when she hadn't been a part of this new world. Where the only time she saw herself was in front of the mirror and not in someone standing across from her in an entirely different wardrobe and life. As each day went on, even if she gained more answers, more questions were left open and aching for some kind of understanding to all of this.

"Are you going to come in, Manning?" she heard through the glass. Rachel didn't even look up from her desk. How does she do that?

Sarah tugged at the ends of her jacket to straighten it out and finally pushed herself through the door.

"I could smell the bourbon from here."

"Why did you take the Jaguar?"

"Should you be asking that while you're standing drunk in my office?"

Sarah scoffed. Her questions were never answered and instead returned with something vague about her own choices.

"It wasn't yours anyway."

"Fair enough," she says in defeat, her fingers scrunching up her hair.

"Want to tell me the real reason you're here?"

She turned back to the desk, standing off to the side, and eyed the chair no too far away. She didn't sit and instead glared off the wall somewhere else. She shrugged with a shake of her head, her lips trembling with a sudden wave of frustration. Her hand dropped from her hair and rubbed her face, trying to wipe away her expression.

"Is this your version of a drunk dial?"

"Oh, fuck off, Duncan."

"You came to my office, Sarah, you fuck off."

Sarah rolled her eyes and began to pace toward the back of the office, her feet angling her away from the door as she approached.

"I don't have all ni—"

"I feel better, okay?"

Rachel tilted her head to the right.

"Since the injection, yeah? You were right."

"And you had to storm over to my office after midnight to tell me that?"

"I don't… know. No. I didn't have to. I wanted to, okay?" she stammers, unsure of herself. She didn't feel as if she had a good grip and so she tried to cling to the surface. "This isn't exactly the easiest thing to get used to."

"You can't get used to feeling good?"

"No. Well, yes, but… more than that. Actually, all of this. I just found out I am technically property and you want me to comply to everything. How am I supposed to feel this good knowing that?"

Rachel sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her fingers slipped through her hair, leaving it out of place as she watched the woman.

"It's not like I've had my whole life to deal with it, yeah? You wouldn't have a clue to what I'm feeling."

"You have no idea what I'm feeling, Sarah."

"Oh, please, you poor proclone. Having to know who you were and where you came from your whole life," she tried. She knew she didn't have a good chance at the argument but she couldn't let any of it go. Rachel had the upper hand and would continue to do so as long as Sarah was forced to be a part of this awful ordeal.

"For someone that feels so much better you have a poor way of showing it."

Sarah flinched when Rachel pushed her chair back from the desk and followed as she came around, her hips swaying as delicately as ever despite the tones of their conversation.

"You have more than a week until your next appointment. You feel better. Is that all?"

She squinted a little, searching her expression. Rachel was a less wound up the last few times she had been around her. Almost pleased that she signed off but tonight was different and she couldn't find it. The stoic look on her face didn't change, even when she snapped back.

"Come, what is it?"

"I…"

Rachel allowed the silence to linger, watching Sarah flounder beneath her gaze. It made her feel a little uncomfortable to be scrutinized by her, as if she weren't good enough. She had been tossed to the side her entire life and she only felt like a piece of a very large puzzle she would never get to see.

"I don't know, okay? I just know I've regretted signing myself over to you guys since day one and now you're being…" Sarah fell away in her argument. "And the injection to make me feel better? I just want to know the bloody angle!"

Her eyes widened a little as Sarah dropped her hands and leaned forward, propping her hands up on her knees. Rachel moved her hand to the side to grasp her phone if she needed to call for help but she saw a window for something else.

The frustration was eating at Sarah. It would be visibly wearing her down had she not felt so good today. As if her body was on the mend without really wanting to.

"I'm being what?"

"What?"

"You said 'now you're being…' and I want to know."

"You're being…" Sarah trails off, biting her lip. "You're just being, I don't know, nice. I guess, yeah."

"I haven't been nice before?"

Sarah cocked her head forward, raising a brow.

"Okay, you got me there but you should reconsider what you were forcing me to do."

"What I was doing?" Sarah scoffs. "You were going to kidnap Kira had she not already been taken. Do you think I can just get over that? That you were going to take her and treat her like an experiment? You may own me but you will never lay your hands on her, so help me."

"I've heard enough, Sarah. We have a deal. A deal that goes beyond your genetic makeup. There is no reason to be hostile."

She gripped the end of her jacket, the edges of the zipper biting into her skin but she only squeezed tighter. It was an attempt to bring her back to reality and step back into a comfort zone.

"You don't have to worry anymore," Rachel says as she steps closer. She leaves space between them, set back by the woman's unpredictability and sudden vulnerability. Or what she thought was vulnerability.

Sarah tensed as Rachel approached and counteracted the steps backwards. Her head shook a few times and she blinked back a bleary gaze, fighting the urge to cry. Her fingers brushed across her eyes and she turned away to avoid being seen.

"Sarah?"

"You were right; I should have waited until my appointment to come by."

"I didn't say that. Just sit down and take a moment," Rachel offered and stepped back. She was getting too close to the injured animal and any sudden movements would spook her, sending her off into the night.

"No. I can't. I… need to go," she stammers and backs up again. She should have listened to Cosima and played along with the details instead of throwing in the curveball of a visit. "I'll see you in a few weeks."

Rachel stepped up to stop her but Sarah darted out of her office before she could try and stop her.