"She'll be alright," Jennifer says quietly as she quietly pats her cousin's forehead with a wet washcloth, "they'll know what to do."

Tony continues watching out the window, masking his own trembling fear with seething anger that's eerily too easy to tap into, you're supposed to be helping her... "We should have brought her to S. She's probably tearing through Minnesota looking for her right now as it is."

"There wasn't any time and she wouldn't have been able to do anything to help." Setting the washcloth down in a small bowl, Jennifer leaves her post and walks over to him, "She'd probably rather watch Cosima die. And don't get me started on Sn'H, we both know how they feel.." about vampires.

"God," Tony shakes his head, scoffing as he walks over towards where he assumes would be the outside if someone were to Hulk their way through a wall, "none of this wouldn't have happened if I didn't let Emi in."

"You didn't know why they were fighting." Jennifer stays in her place, watching as the youngest remnant of the American pack paces along the length of the wall restlessly, "Although I'll give you this," Jennifer waits for him to acknowledge her again, "you managed the situation. Emi's gone, we'll do what we have to keep our-" -Sister- "-Alpha alive."

Tony stops in his tracks and nods slightly just before the door swings open, causing both wolves to migrate towards Cosima's protectively.

Delphine raises her free hand in the air, palm open as she shuts the door with her hip before slowly lowering her hands to unbutton her blazer, "I was told 324B21 is ill."

"Her name is Cosima." Tony seethes as he steps in front of both his cousin and older sister.

Delphine halts in her tracks, stopping over a button for a second before continuing with a small nod. Setting the tray in one of her hands down on a table before tossing her blazer down on a vacant chair, she turns her attention back to him, "You'll have to forgive me, I was not given a name and we are running short on time to intervene. Will you let me examine Cosima?"

"Go ahead, T. I'll be fine." Cosima drags out, causing both wolves to jump and half-face her, not turning their backs from the vampire. Cosima is in the process of slowly shifting onto her back, letting the two pillows by the headboard of the bed support her from the shoulders up as she drawls out in a dry voice, "What's the worse that could happen, more nickel?"

Nickel? Merde.. Delphine worries her bottom lip between her teeth when all three wolves aren't looking at her. Silver was one thing, a rumor spread by the wolves themselves to get an advantage on hunters. While it would irritate, it couldn't hurt, not seriously. Nickel, on the other hand, could very easily kill a loup-garou in high concentrations (0.015%, to be exact). ..Cosima's body probably feels like itching, molten lead.

Tony hesitates before he moves towards Jennifer and gives the Vampire space to work.

Cosima glances at the two of them gratefully, slowly reaching out to grab Tony's hand as Delphine sits down on a nearby stool.

"You'll have to forgive me, I didn't have more than a moment to prepare."

Cosima nods and turns to get a better look at Delphine as the blonde quietly pulls on disposable gloves before a lazy, exhausted smile tugs at the corner of her lips, "..at least the nurse is pretty."

"-Doctor." Delphine corrects as she reaches out and plucks Cosima's wrist from her side, efficiently dragging a scalpel along the exposed flesh firmly enough to only get a small scrape before crinkling her nose in disgust at the smell of nickel drifting through the air.

She couldn't even smell the brunette's blood lingering underneath it.

"Sorry, Doc'." Cosima smiles slightly again, more out of amusement this time as her eyes slip shut for a moment, taking a small break from constantly squeezing her brother's hand. She never dealt well with seeing her own blood. "I coulda' just told you it was 'n my veins.."

She had no reason to tell the others why speaking was growing harder by the day; the less her brother and cousin knew, the better.

"I'd rather find out for myself," Delphine offers a small smile, "so I know how much we're dealing with."

"And?" Tony spoke up, squeezing Cosima's hand almost painfully as if she'd slip off with the sunset.

Delphine considers addressing him before turning to face Cosima, "You'll have around a week without treatment."

"A week?" Cosima looks up at her, bottom lip unknowingly quivering.

Beside her, Tony gives Cosima's hand a tight squeeze before letting go and folding his arms, "Someone should tell S, Cos'."

Cosima nods in agreement.

Delphine gets up and carefully puts the scalpel on the tray, "Would you mind if I spoke with Cosima alone for a few-?"

"-No."

Cosima looks up at Tony and rolls her eyes, "Dude, I'm an adult. I'll be fine."

"We're not supposed to split up, Cosima, rules are rules." Jennifer 'suggests', fully backing Tony.

Cosima sighs heavily and sits up straight, "Will they join me right after?"

"I have no intention of splitting up a pack in distress. Of course. They'll be right outside and we can keep the door unlocked."

Cosima looks over to Tony and Jennifer, "Please?"

Tony relents, turning to Delphine, "If you so much as lay a finger on my sister, Frenchie, I swear to god I'll make you regret it."

Delphine nods, not backing down nor seeking to usurp him, "Okay."

Tony grabs Jennifer's arm, heading towards the door which just happens to unlock the second he reaches it.

Delphine waits for 'T' and 'J' to leave before turning to Cosima, "I'm sorry about that, it would be easier for me to talk to you in private."

Cosima nods, offering a small, nervous smile, "It's fine."

"I'm assuming the nurse that was in here before me collected your stats?"

Cosima nods again.

"Good." Delphine walks over to her, offering her a warm smile before holding out her hand, "Delphine Cormier."

"C'sima Niehaus." Cosima shakes her hand, following with a heart-melting smile that makes Delphine all the more determined to play this out right.

"Enchantée"

Cosima tilts her head slightly, eyes crinkling in slight amusement, "Enchantée."

...

"So, if you were not in Canada when you were infected, why come here? Why not the DYAD institute that's located in California?"

Cosima looks to the floor suddenly, catching Delphine's curiosity off-guard.

"..Cosima?"

"Uhm.. Pack rules. Stay close to our territory."

Actually, California was very much her stomping grounds.. but they'd infiltrated the DYAD institute in L.A. a few too many times to get away with it.

Delphine nods slightly and sits down on the stool, "How did it happen?"

Cosima sighs slowly and shifts in her spot, leaning back against the pillows she was provided, "I was at the college lab-"

"-you are studying?" Delphine questions curiously.

"PhD student, evolutionary-developmental biology... My brother called me saying that my ex broke into the house, so I left to go check it out. I was hoping that I just, like, accidentally brought something of hers with me to Minnesota or something stupid. I didn't, obvs. She wanted me to go somewhere with her, I refused, she kept on claiming that she, like, had no choice.."

"No choice?"

Delphine watches in innocent confusion as Cosima visibly backtracks, stuttering for a moment as she all but trips over her own words, "I mean, it's just that.. I totally-who even..-"

Intervening when Cosima sits up and her heart starts to overwork itself through confusion, adrenaline, and nickel, Delphine leans forward and gently guides her back against the pillows with both hands gripping on her shoulders, "Just calm down, it's okay. No one outside of this room has to know what's said in here. Okay?"

Cosima looks up at her wide-eyed and disbelieving despite the sudden rush of hormones as she attempts to swat her hands away, "Holy watershed, please tell me you're not trying to pull the therapist on me-"

Delphine shuts her eyes, fighting the irritation that was beginning to itch in her palms and the bottoms of her feet before stating firmly, "The cameras in this room are only capable of recording visuals, no audio. I won't say a word you utter unless it puts your life in danger, d'accord?"

Cosima looks up at her, hazel eyes dumbly caught off-guard as she mumbles in a wavering voice, "-I caught her collecting samples.. I mean, I suspected that she was my monitor, but.. I assumed she wouldn't go as far as to try to get samples from Jennifer.."

"Je les ai prévenus cela ne fonctionnerait pas. Fous fucking stupide..." Delphine hisses under her breath as she shuts her eyes in irritation, this time not towards the small clone currently underneath her (was she shorter than the others?). When she opens her eyes, Cosima is looking up at her, all puppy-eyed and seemingly innocent. Delphine strokes the side of her shoulder slightly before remembering that she doesn't know and putting a small amount of distance between them, sitting down to rake her hand through straightened hair, "Sorry.. I just.. you knew? I was under the assumption.."

Cosima shrugs slightly in her spot, watching Delphine's movements closely, "I don't see many people day-to-day, it wasn't hard to do the math.."

Delphine nods and crosses one of her legs under the other, "So you know about the projects.."

Cosima nods again, "We all do.. It's kinda hard not to have questions when eighty percent of our pack all look like each other."

"Eighty..? There are others?"

Cosima nods again, silent this time.

"How many?"

"Can't say."

"Right.. I take it you know of the Canadian pack outside of DYAD, then?"

"Yeah, you could say we're close." Cosima rolls onto her side, shutting her eyes before deciding to throw away her own self-control, "After my grandparents died, their alpha took us in."

"That explains why none of you are alphas." Delphine blurts out, looking at Cosima who simply shrugs her shoulder.

"Jenni is 'n omega, Tony is a beta," Cosima pauses before adding as an afterthought and trying to lighten her own mood, "also a bit of a hothead."

"I picked up on that." Delphine smiles slightly as she watches the wolf pull an almost sterile blanket over her shoulders, ".. and you are?"

Cosima shrugs slightly again, "I'm me."

Beta.. Delphine pauses before a slight smile plays at her lips, and a brat.. "How did she get the nickel into your system, Cosima?"

"Injection.."

Delphine nods slightly, hesitating before standing up. She'd rather stay with Cosima and keep her company. She'd prefer to take Cosima down to the lab where she might feel like less of an experiment, ironically enough, "Okay. I am going to let your-'Jennifer' and 'Tony' back in. I have someone setting up two rooms that way you can rest and they'll still be close to you. Can I get you anything before I leave?"

"I'll be fine, thanks." Cosima offers a small, brave smile towards Delphine as the vampire takes off the gloves, tossing them on the small tray with the notebook.

"D'accord. I'll stop by later to collect a fresh sample of blood and see how your body is taking the nickel."

Cosima nods and waves awkwardly, waiting for the French doctor to leave before rolling onto her back. What the hell just happened?

Outside of her room, Delphine let the other wolves in before instructing them on how to get the guards to send for her should they need her and slipping off down the hall with the tray still in hand, fully planning on using the small amount of blood on the scalpel as a sample until she could get better.

Cosima's breath shouldn't smell like nickel if it was only injected into her bloodstream... No, there was something the wolf was omitting.. I'll have to pry it out of her later.

For now, she needs to get to the lab and prep the small amount of blood that's yet to be contaminated. She'll at least see Scott there. She can worry about settling in from her trip from the UK later.

"Three days and still not responding." Delphine murmurs aloud to herself as she goes through the notes and data they've gathered on Cosima. They've had as many matching wolves that could donate blood do so, and they've regularly withdrawn samples of Cosima's blood to attempt to lower the nickel levels but absolutely nothing was working. The clone's blood pressure was low to start, making withdrawals complicated enough. They were running low on options and the only one left that wouldn't result in turning the clone would be for Delphine to intervene entirely. She'd prefer to do so somewhere private; however, that meant separating Cosima from the others.

Shaking her head, Delphine slams the book shut with an annoyed scowl and leans back against her chair in an act of rebellion. Scott looks up from the desk across from her where he's been diligently working alongside Delphine to come up with a solution since the moment Delphine asked for his help. Scott had been at her side throughout all of it, without question. He hadn't met the subject he was trying to cure but his maker's insistence and focus seemed to be fading into his as well, leading to progress, but not success.. yet.

"-Delphine?"

"Hmm?" Delphine looks down from the ceiling to see Scott staring at her in a familiar way that irked her to think she may have looked the same to Marion at one point.

Scott rolls his eyes and fights a smile as he reaches over and snatches her notes from off the table, "I just asked if you wanted to take a break? I'll look after the samples and see if anything changes."

Delphine exhales slowly, "Good idea. Do you know if they still have fresh blood in the lobby?"

"It's six in the morning, I think they're well past not having blood... but they might still have tea?"

"Mm." Delphine stands from her seat and pushing the wheeled chair into her desk, "I guess I owe you, then. We'll have to see about getting a private shipment brought up to the lab so we can focus on 324B21's cure."

Scott looks thrilled.

"Fun.. Long as it's not AB negative. I hate AB negative.. Can I see Katja tomorrow? I know we're really busy with the other clone and it's wasting time, but uh.." Scott scratches the back of his head awkwardly, "a break could be good."

"Oui," Delphine smiles, "just make sure to be back before sunrise and don't tire yourself out too much." Reaching over, playfully, she scruffs up his hair causing an annoyed groan.

"It's only for the movies, Delphine! She wanted to see this new German movie that was leaked-"

Delphine raises her hands up in the air, "Je ne pas besoin de savoir les détails, just have fun."

Scott smiles, just as awkwardly again, and watches as she pulls out her ID tag and heads for the door, "'Planning on it. Get some rest, Delphine!"

Cosima muffles a cough and sighs in annoyance after, reaching behind her to pluck a tissue from a box on a wooden table before coughing into it and paying no mind to the off-smelling blood. She balls up the tissue before tossing it into the small trashcan at her side on the couch. Throwing the hackey-sack in the air again, she lets out a bored sigh before tossing it directly at the shatterproof window and catching it when it comes back down.

Even the lobby is boring as hell... but at least it's a change of scenery.

Cosima throws the small ball back in the air, only to not have it come back down moments later. Opening her eyes, she looks up to see Delphine staring down at her with a slightly amused (and very smug) smile.

"Bonsoir, Cosima."

Cosima quickly glances out the shatterproof windows towards the slowly rising sun before glancing back at the blonde, "..G'Morning, doc'."

Rounding the couch, Delphine tosses the ball back to Cosima, who tosses it in the air once before returning to her pattern as if nothing happened.

Window. Hands. Air. Hands. Window..

Sitting down on the opposite side of the couch, Delphine smiles slightly in amusement as she sets a mug of tea down on the other table, "You should be resting."

"I am." Cosima mumbles just as she decides to toss the ball at the French woman, "I can't sleep."

"Hmm. I don't blame you, but you should at least be in your room. How did you get out?" Delphine catches the small ball and rotates it in her hands curiously, amused by the almost annoying colors that formed a rainbow gradient.

"Someone didn't shut the door~" Cosima muses as Delphine gives her an unamused glance.

Liar.

The doors will shut on their own..

"Okay, Okay," Cosima shrugs off Delphine's expression, "Tony may have rigged it for me. I don't like being cooped up in one house for very long, much less a room in some sort of corporate, clinical..-"

"I see your point." Delphine murmurs as she tosses the ball back to Cosima, "but you could have asked one of us to escort you, it's much safer for loup-garou to remain in the lobby upstairs then down where anyone can see them."

"Loup-Garou?-Oh, right, Lycans..." Cosima tosses the ball at the window and catches it again as she muffles a cough and avoids Delphine's concerned eyes, "truth be told, the idea of being escorted everywhere is unappealing. Plus, I didn't really plan on leaving the room, I just.. couldn't sleep anymore."

Delphine nods slightly and sits back against the couch as Cosima tosses the ball in the air, "Does this have to do with Emi?"

"Maybe.." Cosima shifts in her spot until she's sitting against the arm of the couch, "'nd PhD stuff."

"PhD stuff?"

Cosima shrugs and tosses the ball back at Delphine, "After this week, I'll be lucky if Siobhan lets me out of her sight for the next three years. "

Siobhan? The woman is alive?

"Perhaps you can transfer to somewhere closer to wherever Siobhan lives?" Delphine offers as she tosses the ball back.

Cosima chuckles and shakes her head, "I guess, yeah.. maybe. I'm just..-I was so excited to finally have a chance to do something for myself, y'know?" Cosima tosses the ball up in the air with too much force. The sack hits the ceiling with a small thud before falling back into her hands and being thrown at the window, "Everything was finally starting to go right for once, and I could actually, like, see the end of the tunnel." Cosima cuts herself off with a scoff, "God, that sounds moronic."

"Non.. a little depressing, though." Delphine catches the ball when Cosima tosses it to her before adding out of pure curiosity, "I find you refreshing, to be honest."

Cosima's talking more than she had when Tony and Jennifer were around.

"You have to be the first vampire I've ever met." Cosima giggles suddenly, catching her tongue between her teeth as she playfully jiggles her hand in the air, requesting the ball back and causing the bangles on her wrist to jingle about noisily in the silence of the almost abandoned lobby.

"Hopefully I'm not letting you down?"

Cosima shakes her head quickly, "No, not at all. It's just-like-we were kinda always raised on horror stories about vampires.."

Good.

"..Long night?" Cosima cocks her head in amusement when Delphine finally tosses the ball back.

"Emm.. oui. I might be useless in the lab right now."

Cosima nods, seemingly satisfied as she tosses the ball to Delphine, "-The coffee here is shit."

Delphine nods in agreement and lightly tosses the ball at the window, curious about Cosima's amusement with it until it bounces back with almost full force into her hands, "Oui. The tea in the cafeteria is worse... Although, you shouldn't be having anything with caffeine while you're fighting off the nickel.."

"Is that where you were going?" Cosima tilts her head curiously as she sits up a bit.

"Maybe. I know where-" Marion "-my employer keeps a private stash, though. It's much better than most of what you can find in the city."

"Ooh.." Cosima straightens.

"Mhmm.." Delphine purses her lips slightly, "Would you like to come with me, if you're not too tired? We could go back to the lab once we do. I'm sure Scott wouldn't mind having someone other than myself for company."

"Something tells me he would be absolutely insane not to want you for company," Cosima grins as she stands up, waiting for a moment in order to adjust to the blood rushing to her head, "Alright, count me in."

"Dude," Cosima says in between sips of orange tea and the occasional moan, "this is almost better than Siobhan's Russian tea.."

Delphine chuckles in amusement, offering Cosima a bright smile, "I'm glad you found something you like that isn't loaded with caffeine..-Oh, here we are. Hold this for me," Delphine hands Cosima a steaming cup filled with something that smells mysteriously close to blood as the blonde uses her ID tag to unlock the door to the lab, opening it with her free hand and lightly guiding it open with her hip until the metal door automatically opens the rest of the way. "Scott? I brought you a treat," Delphine pauses as she takes the mug from Cosima and adds cheerfully as an afterthought, "and we have a visitor!"

Scott looks up at the sudden smell of blood, "A negative?" Cosima has to blink when the lab tech suddenly is at their side, taking the cup from Delphine's hands, "You're awesome, Del'."

"This is Cosima Niehaus, she's our in-patient."

"324B21? Cool! Uhh.. but..what's she doing in the old wing, Delphine?"

Delphine smiles at Cosima and nods towards the inside of the room, guiding her towards the couch, "She's restless, I thought keeping her with us might be more productive than letting her waste away in the lobby. Plus, she might be able to offer a fresh point of view to the nickel situation."

Scott nods, looking at the cloned werewolf incredulously, "Alright, well if you're going to be here, Delphine, I'm going to stop at the house and get some rest.."

Delphine offers him a smile and returns the nod, "Take it easy, I need you back early."

Scott nods, "I'll be wrapping things up in your 'office' if anything happens.."

...

"Cosima.." Delphine waits until the brunette looks up curiously from the notes she's taken on her, "what if I said I knew how to help you, but it might risk turning you..?"

"Is that even possible?" Cosima's hand trails across the papers before she pushes herself off of the desk, walking towards Delphine and closing the distance between them, "I mean.. obvs-it is, but.. would it be safe?"

"There are always risks with these sorts of things.. but yes, for the most part, it would be safe."

Cosima nods, pursing her lips to the side as she folds her arms in an unconscious act of defense. These sorts of things..

Right.

".. Okay."

".. Okay? Are you sure?" Delphine looks up at her incredulously, "It would be very... intimate. We'd need to leave for my maker's home."

Cosima nods again, firm on her decision. "If it lets me protect my family then I'll try anything."

"It will be painful the first time, excruciating, even."

"-That's what she said." Cosima blurts out without a second thought.

She? Delphine furrows her brows in confusion. "Quoi..?"

"Forget it." Cosima shakes her head, dreads flying for a second before offering Delphine a brave smile, "I'll do it, just-.. yeah. I'll do it."

"D'accord. Come on, mon ami," Delphine grabs her blazer off of her chair, "let's see if we can catch Scott before he leaves and get a ride with him."