Chapter 10 – Rescue

True to her word, Rachel had sent a medical team to Cosima's room within a few minutes of leaving. Now alone with Kira in their prison/play room, Clara finally had some time to think about everything she had learned in the last hour or so. Cassie Oswald was an echo that had lived halfway across the world around fifteen years ago. From the information Cosima had given her Cassie had some kind of childhood, she hadn't just appeared one day in San Francisco. Ever since The Doctor told her about the echoes, she wondered whether they simply came into existence fully formed at the right point in the Time Lord's timeline. It appeared that the opposite was true, certainly in Cassie Oswald's case. She had been born in America and lived like a normal child right up to the point that she met the Eighth Doctor.

Even though she had Cassie's memories now, there was a blank patch from the moment that the American had left Cosima's on that fateful New Year's Eve. Several potential explanations flashed across her mind, each just as possible as the other. There was the possibility that her mind was protecting her from viewing the final hours of Cassie's life, shielding her from the mental trauma of dying. Another slightly more morbid explanation was that Cassie hadn't been in control of her actions. The echo had been deposited in the right spot of The Doctor's timeline, waiting for the moment that he would need her help and Cassie had followed a pre-determined course to her death. Clara liked to think that her echo had made some kind of conscious decision to help the Time Lord and she hadn't acted like a sacrificial lemming because it was built into her biology. Without speaking to The Doctor all these theories were exactly that, theories.

Switching her train of thought to something more positive, she recalled the kiss that she had shared with Cosima. Clara had been in a few relationships in her life but nothing had felt as good as the moment that her lips had met Cosima's. Even now she swore she could feel her lips tingling just thinking about the dreadlocked brunette. There was so much passion and electricity behind the kiss that she had literally gone weak at the knees. She couldn't remember ever feeling like this before, even when she was with Jasmine so many years ago.

There were a couple of sticking points though. Part of her wondered how much influence was being exerted by Cassie's personality. Clara had mentally gotten over that hurdle somewhat, when she first bumped into Cosima she had found the woman attractive and that was before she knew about Cassie. That brought the school teacher on to the second and biggest hurdle, Delphine Cormier. Cosima hadn't gone into too much detail about her relationship with the French scientist but the few words she did say were illuminating. The American clone clearly had feelings for the Frenchwoman and even though she stated they were no longer together, Clara could tell that she was still hung up on her.

"You're very quiet", Clara's concentration was broken by Kira's voice, "are you thinking about Auntie Cosima?"

Clara looked curiously at the young girl, this wasn't the first time that Kira had picked up her feelings. There was definitely something peculiar about the girl and that was before she factored in whatever Kira did to calm her mind after Cassie's hidden memories had been unlocked. Clara delayed her response, feeling slightly uncomfortable about sharing her feelings with an eight year old. Kira didn't look like she was waiting for a response, she was still sketching something on a piece of paper. Like the girl's other sketches this one was also of a woman but unlike the others, this woman had curly blonde hair, "Who's this?" the school teacher asked.

"Auntie Helena", Kira stated, "she calls me her angel". The girl continued to colour in the face on the drawing, "She feels different to my other Auntie's, she's so lonely and just wants a place to call home".

"Another clone", Clara muttered under her breath, "how many are there?" The other members of Clone Club had mentioned someone called Beth earlier and with Helena now identified, that brought the count up to six. Clara wondered how no one in the city had noticed several nearly identical looking women wondering around. She understood that Beth had died but that still left five clones within a few miles of each other. The Doctor was right, humans were blind sometimes, "I haven't met Helena", she said to Kira, "perhaps you can introduce me".

"She hasn't been around much", Kira replied, "but she's back now, I hope that she stays a little longer this time". The young girl finished her drawing by scrawling Helena's name on the bottom of the piece of paper, "Auntie Cosima felt happy when she was with you", Kira added, returning back to the original subject, "I haven't felt her that happy before".

Clara frowned, "How do you know all this Kira?" she asked softly.

The young girl took a few moments to reply, "Sometimes I get this feelings from Mom and the Auntie's", she shrugged, "not all the time though and some feelings are stronger than others. I usually feel Auntie Helena when she's lonely or Mom when she's angry".

Settling back into her chair, Clara's frown deepened. She was still new to travelling with The Doctor but even she knew this wasn't normal human behaviour. Sometimes Kira acted like the eight year old she was but others time she seemed much more grown up. There was something much deeper going on behind those deep brown eyes of the young girl. Much like The Doctor's, Kira's eyes looked much older than someone of her age, "How long have you noticed this for?" she asked.

Before Kira could answer the question the door swung open and their heads spun towards the entrance. Standing in the doorway was a handsome looking man with dark hair with a pair of pliers in his hand, "Ah ha, found you at last" he stated with a deep American accent.

"Erm, hello", Clara said with a confused tone, "who the hell are you?"

The man smiled broadly showing off his shiny white teeth, "Captain Jack Harkness", he said smoothly, "and who are you?"

Captain Jack didn't get to hear the answer as someone pushed him from behind. Clara immediately recognised Felix and the person she thought was Sarah. Kira though soon corrected her, "Auntie Alison", the young girl cried and ran up to meet the woman.

"Alison?" Clara stated in amusement, "does Sarah know you've borrowed her clothes?" The soccer mom shot the school teacher a look of annoyance, "My friends always hated it when I borrowed their stuff without telling them".

"Shut up", Alison snapped, "I'm not wearing this horrible ensemble for fun".

"But you wear it so well darling", Felix added with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Clara shrugged her shoulders and turned towards the other man, "Captain Jack Harkness", she stated, "never heard of you, Captain of what exactly?"

Captain Jack looked offended for a moment but that quickly passed, "I'm a friend of The Doctor's" he replied, "has he never mentioned me before?"

"Nope, not that I can remember", the school teacher shook her head. She stopped and gave the man another once over, "Actually now you come to mention it, your name has come up once or twice". A small smile appeared on her face before she broke out into a chuckle, "Sorry, just remembering something funny", she noticed the worried look on the Captain's face, "not about you", she added quickly.

"Uh, sure", Felix interjected himself into the conversation, "the real Sarah and your Doctor friend are going after the queen bitch. We should probably get out of here before someone realises there's two Sarah Manning's running around DYAD Headquarters".

"Wait a sec", Clara began, "what about Cosima? Rachel and her goons have taken her for some medical procedure, we can't just leave her in the building".

The three newcomers to the room exchanged a quick glance with each other. A silent battle of wills took place between Jack and Felix, who looked eager to escape as quickly as possible and Alison, who was a little more hesitant, "We can't hang around here, remember what The Doctor said", the head of Torchwood stated.

"We're not leaving Cosima behind", both Alison and Clara said at the same time.

"Hang on, let me finish my sentence", Jack held up his hands defensively, "I was going to say that you two", he pointed at Felix and Alison, "need to get to the TARDIS with Kira as quickly as possible". He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key attached to a piece of string, "This will protect Kira from wondering eyes-".

"A key on a chain", Clara frowned.

"Yes, it's a special key that stops people from noticing someone if they're wearing it", Alison tried to explain, "The Doctor said something my technical and science-y but I can't remember exactly what he said", the American clone waved her hands stiffly.

"Just nod and agree, works well enough for me", Clara shrugged.

"He and Sarah are wearing one right now and are keeping tabs on Rachel", Jack added, "that's how no one noticed another Sarah in the building but that illusion will be broken the second she takes the key perception filter off". He took one look into Clara's eyes and sighed, "You're going after The Doctor aren't you", the school teacher nodded, "don't worry, I'd do exactly the same thing for my friends but I'm coming with you", he smiled broadly.

Jack went to slip the key over Kira but the child stopped him, "Wait", she scuttled over a fire extinguisher that was sitting in the corner of the room, "you need to take this with you", she said firmly.

"A fire extinguisher?" Felix asked, "I think there's plenty of those dotted around the building sweetie".

"Not like this one", Kira stated, "this one's special", she patted the nozzle gently.

Clara looked at the defiant look on the young girls face and was instantly reminded of Sarah. She could imagine the rebellious clone giving plenty of authority figures that same look over the years. The extinguisher Kira stood next to had been modified by Cosima for defensive purposes. They didn't expect to use it but if there was one thing she had learned from Kira it was to trust her instincts, "Do it", Clara said firmly, much to the disbelief of Jack, "if Kira's says we need it then I believe her".

Jack groaned and shook his head before picking the heavy extinguisher up off the floor. Alison slipped the key around Kira's neck and the young girl disappeared, at least it looked like she had done. The young girl gently grasped Alison's hand, letting her know that she was beside her. The group stepped out into the corridor but they immediately ran into trouble in the shape of a large security guard. Standing behind him was a young man in a white lab coat with large glasses and slightly greasy hair, "Hey where are you going", the guard shouted and approached the group.

"Well, you see", Jack thought about conning his way out of trouble but time was really of the essence. He pulled the fire extinguisher back slightly in his arms before slamming it into the guards face with a sickening crunch. The guard crumpled to the ground, instantly unconscious from the powerful strike, "What about you Skippy?" Jack turned to the scientist, "are you going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Don't hurt me", the man held up his hands, removing them from the trolley he had been pushing. He then looked past Jack and noticed Alison, "Holy crap", he cried, "Cosima was telling the truth about the secret cloning project". The man bowed his head slightly, almost in reverence to the woman, "It's truly an honour to meet you", he added.

Alison smiled and ruffled her hair at the comment from the young scientist. Clara shook her head and gently slapped Alison on the arm, snapping the soccer mom's mood, "You know Cosima?" she asked the man, "do you know where they've taken her?"

"Yeah I persuaded Rachel to let me help", he answered, "I thought that it would help if Cosima had at least one friendly face nearby".

"As much as I love this greeting card moment", Felix interrupted, "we really need to get Kira out of here".

"Right yes", Jack began, "you two head back to the TARDIS", he pointed at Felix and Alison, "I trust you remember the way", they nodded in agreement. They stepped over the fallen security guard and quickly moved down the corridor, "Clara, our new friend and I will go help Cosima", he called out, dropping the extinguisher onto the trolley. "Hi Captain Jack Harkness at your service and that's Clara Oswald", Clara gave the man a small wave.

Jack smiled broadly at the scientist and gave him a wink, "S-Scott", the man stammered in response.

"Nice to meet you Scottie", Jack replied, "are you ready to be a hero?"

"Stop it", Clara hissed, "we've got more important problems to address than your libido". She turned to Scott, "Can you show us the way?" the scientist nodded slowly, feeling overwhelmed by the situation he found himself in.

As Scott led Clara down the corridor, Jack pouted for a moment, "Spoilsport", he then broke into smile, "God I've missed this", he dashed down the corridor, his blue coat flapping behind him. Two people had been saved, now all they needed to do was find Cosima before Rachel did something drastic.

A/N - Just wanted to give a quick shout out to a guest reviewer, ChairandBooks, for their review. I really appreciated the comments and I completely agree with your thoughts on crossovers. I've tried to focus equally on the Doctor Who and Orphan Black characters and it's surprising how well both universes fit together. Obviously the temptation is for The Doctor to swoop in and save the day. He does his fair share of saving but the other's pull their weight as well.

Four chapters left, next time the Time Lord meets the Pro Clone but can he persuade her to help treat Cosima?