"Are we sure about this?" Alison whimpered as she, Cosima, and Sarah scampered quietly towards the back of the police station. Sarah rolled her eyes, "For the last time, Alison. We're gonna be fine. We've planned for everything, alright?" Alison nodded, as they finally arrived at the station, and began searching for the right door.
"Okay, this is it. This is the door," whispered Cosima, "Beth said she would try to meet us here by 11 to let us in. In the meantime, are we ready?" she asked Sarah and Alison. They both nodded; they were dressed in identical blue jeans, black turtlenecks, and headbands. Cosima wore all black, with her loose cargo pants packed with the supplies they needed. "What about you? You got everything?" asked Sarah. Cosima nodded, "It's all here. DNA over here," she tapped her right pocket, "Magnets, bobby pins, and flashlight over here." She tapped her left. She took a deep breath, "We're ready."
Just then, the door opened behind them, and Beth, who was wearing the same clothes as Sarah and Alison, quietly beckoned them inside. She turned to Alison, and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, reminded her, "You know the way, right?" Alison nodded in affirmation, "A right and two lefts," she said quietly; she had studied this all week. Beth nodded, "Yep, you've got this." Alison was about to walk off when Beth reached out a hand and stopped her, "Wait!" Beth whispered. Alison stopped, and Beth reached her hand up, tucking a stray bang of Alison's into the headband. "Okay, now you're ready." Alison inhaled nervously, and headed down the hall.
Walking down the long corridor, Alison turned right, then left, then left again, until she found herself in the office area. She looked around at the desks, most of them empty. Reading the placards on the desks, she searched for the one that read "Detective Childs," until suddenly, one of the two men in the station, who had seemed still and deep in concentration just a moment before, swiveled around and greeted her with a smile. Having studied his picture all week, Alison knew exactly who he was, "There you are! Come on over here, Beth! I made you some hot chocolate!"
Alison walked over to Detective Childs' desk, trying her best to channel the calm and grounded demeanor that Beth always carried, "Thanks Dad." She said, in the voice she and Beth had practiced together: lower than her own but higher than Sarah's. Beth's Dad smiled broadly, "No problem, kiddo! I know it's your favorite!" Alison forced a smile, and took a sip. Hot chocolate was a bit sweet for her taste, but she wasn't exactly in a position to request another beverage. After all, this was supposed to be her favorite. She took a deep breath and looked at the clock. She still had 55 minutes left to be Beth, and just hoped she wouldn't eff it up during that time.
Once Alison had rounded the corner, Beth led the other three to the forensics lab. "Okay, so according to Maggie, the door is armed," Beth stated. Sarah nodded, "Yeah, we've been over that all week. Can I have the flashlight, Cos?" Sarah whispered, and Cosima dug it out of her pocket and handed it over. Sarah shown it through the cracks all around the door, finally pausing at the upper corner, "There it is," she said, "Magnets?" Sarah held out her hand, and Cosima deposited two magnets inside of it. They were thin refrigerator magnets, the type that people give out for free to promote their businesses.
Sarah took the magnets and slid them around in the upper corner where she had shown the flashlight, until they finally stuck to something. "Okay, I think I've got it." Sarah whispered, "Cosima, you wanna pick the lock?" Cosima nodded, and took out the bobby pins. After poking around for a few minutes, she was able to turn the handle. She looked at Beth and Sarah, silently asking whether she should proceed. "Just do it, " whispered Beth, wincing in preparation. Cosima nodded, and pushed the door open.
There was no alarm, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. As she looked up, Cosima saw the two magnets sticking to either side of the metal sensors on either side of the door. "Sarah, you're a genius!" she exclaimed in a whisper-shout. Sarah rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, just go! We don't have much time!"
Cosima and Beth slipped inside the lab, closing the door behind them, while Sarah remained outside. Her job was to stand guard while the other two processed the DNA. She leaned casually against the door to the lab, trying to pretend for the others and for herself that what they were doing didn't absolutely terrify her.
Twenty minutes had passed without incident, and Sarah was almost beginning to relax. She could hear Beth and Cosima working inside—as useful as they were in the planning and preparation, they weren't the best when it came down to the actual execution. Sure, they were probably doing fine with the machine, but they didn't seem to get concept of being fucking quiet, especially Cosima. It wasn't that they were loud exactly, but Sarah could certainly hear their whispers through the door. Especially when Cosima tried to give Beth instructions on how to work the machine, to which Beth would snap back that she was the one who had actually seen it before, so maybe she knew what she was doing, thank you very much.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall snapped Sarah from any temporary state of calm she had been experiencing. She knocked twice on the door, the signal to Beth and Cosima that someone was coming, and thankfully, their voices stopped instantly. Sarah then stood up straight, just as a young security guard came wandering round the hallway.
"Beth!" he exclaimed, with a smile, quickening his pace to meet her, before wrapping her in a hug. "How have you been? It's been a long time." Sarah tried her best to return the smile, and responded, "Yeah, long time no see, how have you been?" She concentrated on the voice, trying to remember the instructions Cosima had given her: higher than your own voice, lower mine, nix the British accent.
The young man pulled away, and Sarah tried to take him in. He looked to be a couple years older than her, probably eighteen or nineteen. He had a blonde buzz cut, and looked pretty muscular. Her eyes quickly stumbled across his nametag: Steven. Sarah racked her brain, but was pretty sure Beth hadn't mentioned a Steven.
"I've been good," Steven responded casually, "Got this gig doing security a couple months ago. The hours suck, but the pay's pretty good. How about you?" Sarah nodded, "Visiting my Dad," she replied, her arms hanging awkwardly at her side as she anxiously shifted her weight from one foot to the next. Shite, how does Beth stand? What do her arms do?
Steven raised an eyebrow, "And just decided to take a side trip to the forensics lab?" Sarah laughed, playfully slapping him on the arm, "Oh, Steven… You know, I was just clearing my head a bit." Steven's eyes filled with concern, "Everything okay?" Sarah shrugged, and looked at her shoes. She didn't know what to do with the concern he was demonstrating. She was having an hard enough time pretending to be Beth for a casual acquaintance. Surely someone who really knew Beth would see through this act in an instant.
He reached out and tilted her face up to his, "Beth, I know we lost touch, but if you ever need to talk, I'm around. Okay?" Sarah gently took Steven's hand, and responded, "Thanks… I think I just need some time alone, if that's alright." Steven stepped back, looking a little hurt by her dismissal, "Yeah. Yeah, totally. I'll leave you to it." He slowly turned, and walked down the hall. It wasn't until he rounded the corner that Sarah let herself breathe again, filled with a mixture of guilt and relief. She waited a few minutes to make sure he was really gone, then knocked once on the door to let the Beth and Cosima know the coast was clear.
Alison looked over at the clock. She had only seven minutes left. They had agreed on an hour. Would that be long enough? Even if it wasn't, she probably couldn't keep this up much longer anyway. Beth's father had already commented twice that she seemed a little tense, and she didn't know how long he would buy that it was just that history test happening tomorrow.
They had chatted a bit about Beth's classes and her friends. Beth had prepared her with stories from the day, and basic info on her close friends that she might need to carry on a conversation. Still, Alison was keeping her answers short. She didn't want to raise suspicion by not talking at all, but was more afraid of saying the complete wrong thing. But, for some reason it seemed that Beth's Dad was a little quiet too.
"Look, Beth…. I have something I've been meaning to tell you," Detective Childs said nervously. Alison froze. She could tell by his tone that this was a long anticipated conversation for him. He took a deep breath, and stated in a forced calm, "Your mother and I are separating."
Alison took a deep breath, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. Tears for the pain of her new friend, and tears of guilt that Beth wasn't here to have this conversation herself. Beth's father stumbled on, obviously a bit thrown off the by crying, about how he knew it might be a shock, about how they would still love her, about how it was up to her where she would live, about how they were still a family.
Alison stood abruptly, "Dad… I just, I need a minute. Can we talk about this… another time? Maybe not in the middle of the night?" Her father nodded sadly, "Of course, kiddo. Take the time you need." Alison nodded, and rushed down the hall, two minutes later than anticipated.
"Ali, hurry up!" Beth whispered urgently, finally seeing Alison rushing down the hall. "Sarah and Cosima are already outside. Cosima has our DNA results, but I have your parent's. Do you—"
"I'm not ready," snapped Alison, "Will you give them to me tomorrow morning? In front of school? Early?" Beth nodded, sensing Alison was upset about something besides the tests, "Sure. Like, 7am work?" Alison nodded, before rushing out the door to meet Sarah and Alison.
"I cannot believe we pulled that off!" cheered Cosima from the front seat of Alison's BMW. Sarah sat forward from her seat in the back and impatiently asked, "Yeah, yeah, so tell us already, Cos? What are the results?" Cosima nodded, "I guess Beth already knows, so… we're genetically identical!" Sarah leaned back in her seat, "Woah." Alison took in a sharp intake of breath, unsure of what to even say. Cosima beamed, unable to contain her glee, "Welcome to the trip, man."
