Chapter 11 – The Fall
Cosima felt extremely uncomfortable on her latest bed, probably due to the prodding and probing she had just gone through. She should've been used to it by now but no matter how many medical procedures she endured, they still left her feeling sore. The degenerative disease originated as polyps in the uterus, indirectly causing infertility in the majority of the clones. In a number of cases the polyps spread to the lungs, leading to a slow, debilitating death. Cosima herself knew of two other clones that had been inflicted with the disease, Jennifer Fitzsimmons and Katja Obinger. Despite DYAD's best efforts Jennifer slowly wasted away from the illness. Katja wasn't given the option of treatment but on reflection, Cosima thought her sudden death at the hands of Helena was probably a blessing for the German clone.
As the last of the doctor's departed, all Cosima could do was lay back and wait for the procedure to start. She tried to think positively and almost instantly her thoughts drifted towards Clara. The scientist was still confused with all the feelings she was experiencing for the brunette. It wasn't that long ago she was still pining for Delphine now all thoughts of the Frenchwoman had been swept aside by Clara. The kiss between them had been electrifying though, at least if Cosima died in the immediate future she would have that moment as one of her final memories.
The door to the hospital suite opened and Cosima could see a couple of blurry shapes heading in her direction. Her glasses had been removed during the pre operation procedures and placed on a small table beside her bed. Ignoring the burning sensation in her lungs, she rolled over and grabbed them, instantly bringing the blurs into focus, "Hey", she said weakly in Rachel's direction, "come to wish your sister a speedy recovery", she added with as much sarcasm as she could muster.
Rachel raised an eyebrow but didn't offer a verbal response to her statement. The blonde haired clone stepped a little closer to the bed but Cosima's focus was solely on the man behind her. Despite the surgical attire she recognised the brown eyes and glasses belonging to her lab partner Scott Smith. He gave her a reassuring nod and then pointed to an object on the side of the trolley he had wheeled in. Cosima noticed that it was the fire extinguisher that she and Clara had modified in their holding cell. A sense of relief washed over Cosima, at the very least Clara and Kira were safe, "Don't worry, everything's going to plan", Scott said cryptically.
Fortunately Rachel didn't appear to be paying attention to the other scientist, she only had her eyes on Cosima. The dreadlocked woman frowned curiously as Scott turned to an empty space and whispered softly, "If you run into trouble, give it a squeeze", he pointed at the extinguisher. He gave Cosima one final nod and left her seemingly alone with Rachel.
Cosima ignored whatever Rachel was trying to say, instead focusing on the spot where Scott had spoken. She couldn't put her finger on it but Cosima could swear that someone else was watching over her but every time she tried to focus on the area, her gaze would shift somewhere else. Suddenly she felt someone grab her around the face and forcefully turn her head, "At least have the decency to listen when I'm speaking", Rachel spat.
"Didn't think I needed to", Cosima ground out, "I was just expecting the usual taunting crap that I've come to expect from you".
Rachel's eyes flashed dangerously at her clone and even Cosima seemed surprised by her bold choice of words. The blonde woman dangled a couple of vials in front of Cosima, they were filled with blood, "If you had been listening", she pushed back on Cosima's head and released her grip, "you would've known that I hold the key to your successful treatment in my hands". Cosima's eyes widened slightly, her stem cell treatment, "If I were you, I would play a little nicer".
Straightening herself up in her bed, Cosima replied, "What do you want?"
"The little act you and Miss Oswald put on earlier won't fool me", Rachel began, "I want to know exactly who Clara is".
Cosima pondered the question for a moment before stating, "Alright you want the truth?" Rachel inched a little closer in anticipation, "Clara Oswald is a school teacher originally from Blackpool", she could see Rachel's lip quivering with anger, "seriously dude, you need to chill out. You're like totally paranoid and shit", she added with a little smirk.
By now Rachel was literally shaking with anger and it took all of Cosima's self control not to look smug. Rachel was still largely unknown to her, she know how she going to react and rubbing her defeat in her nose would probably make the situation worse. "If that's the game you want to play", Rachel raised the vials over her head, "Just remember, you brought this on yourself".
The dreadlocked scientist was expecting to see the glass tube smash on the ground but to her surprise, Rachel didn't move. The blonde haired woman looked at her raised arm in surprise, she was trying to move it but something had a firm grip on her wrist. Suddenly the vials were ripped out her grasp and Rachel went flying across the room like someone had kicked her in the stomach. She crashed into a metal trolley and hit the ground hard. To Cosima's shock Sarah appeared in the room out of nowhere. She had the stem cell tubes in one hand and a piece of string with a key attached in the other hand, "Keep your bloody hands off my sister", the British clone spat angrily.
Moments later someone else appeared in the room, a man outwardly in his mid twenties. He pushed his floppy brown hair away from his eyes and straightened his bow tie, "A little uncouth but effective", he stated. Sarah merely smirked in the direction of the man, not really caring what he thought about her actions, "You must be Cosima", he continued, "I'm The Doctor".
Cosima breathed a sigh of relief, "Clara said you'd come", she suddenly sat up, bringing on a violent coughing fit. When it had passed and she had wiped the blood away from her mouth, she was able to ask, "What about Clara and Kira?" she said breathlessly.
"You can ask me yourself", Clara's voice called out as she pushed aside some plastic sheet. She marched over to Cosima's bedside and through her arms around the clone. The pair melted into the embrace, drinking the reassurance of physical contact. Clara gently played with Cosima's dreads and whispered into the scientist's ear, "Don't worry, we got her out".
The Doctor at the reunion happening in front of him, genuinely feeling happy that his companion had found someone she cared about. Even the usually stoic Sarah gave a small smile at the toothy grin on her sisters face just at the sight of Clara. Leaving the couple to their moment, The Doctor turned his attention to the fallen Rachel, "Now, what to do about you?" he said coldly.
Rachel touched her lip with her fingers, wiping a little bit of blood away from a small cut inflicted by the trolley. She gingerly stood up but trying to retain a calm outer appearance, "Are you here to kill me Doctor?"
The Time Lord snorted, "That's not my style", he began to pace, "normally if a large corporation did something that threatened the safety of my friends, I would make sure that the company couldn't do anything to hurt anyone again". He stopped pacing and glared at Rachel, "But I'm going to have to do something different this time".
"Really?" Clara asked in confusion.
"It does go against my better judgement", The Doctor continued, "however, this clone experiment probably goes much deeper than DYAD. Pulling the plug could place Sarah and the others in greater danger".
Rachel suddenly reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the same hand gun that she used to shoot Jack, "Perhaps I should make your decision a little easier Doctor".
The Time Lord held his hands up defensively and moved defensively in front of Clara and the two clones, "Let's not make any rash decisions Rachel", he said calmly, "no one else needs to get hurt".
"What about the hurt I feel everyday Doctor?" Rachel shouted with a shaky voice, "all I ever wanted to have a child of my own. I was led to believe that my infertility was nature's cruel joke until my own father tells me that we were designed this way".
"So you've got Daddy issues", Sarah shot back, "haven't we all, doesn't mean that we all have to suffer. Ethan's back in your life now so what's the problem".
"My father's dead", Rachel was mentally falling apart in front of them. After many years on the run Ethan Duncan, one of the men behind Project Leda, had been found and handed over to DYAD. Before he could share the secrets of human cloning, he had taken his own life in front of his adopted daughter to prevent DYAD from restarting the project. "Tell me Sarah, why does a tramp like you get blessed the gift of motherhood?"
Sarah was about to respond with something inflammatory but a firm glare from The Doctor stopped her. He nodded his head and the British clone slowly moved behind him, "We've all experienced great loss", the Time Lord began, "but its how we deal with it that defines you as a human". He opened his arms, "Look at the three of you, the very pinnacle of human ambition. You should be united rather than fighting against each other". He held out his hand, "Join them Rachel, join your fellow sisters".
A few tears began to fall from Rachel's eye. Everything she had been working towards had fallen apart in a matter of minutes. Her own father had killed himself rather than share his research with her, "There's no place for me in this world you've described Doctor", she said with a resigned sigh. She was about to squeeze the trigger when she was sudden hit in the face with a blast of carbon dioxide gas from the fire extinguisher.
For a few moments it didn't look like anything had happened but then it became apparent that Rachel was in some kind of distress. Lodged in his left eye was one of the pencils that Kira had been using to draw with in her holding cell. Cosima and Clara had modified the extinguisher to act as a small projectile cannon. Once the pressure was released by Sarah squeezing on the nozzle, the pencil shot out the end at tremendous speed.
Rachel dropped the gun and staggered back for a couple of moments. She let out a strangled cry of pain before collapsing to the ground. The Doctor grasped his hands behind his head and slowly walked over to the fallen woman. She checked her pulse and noticed that she was still breathing, "She's still alive", he sighed, "the pencil must've breached her cranial cavity and damaged her brain".
"I'm sorry Doctor", Sarah said, "but it was us or her".
"I know", the Time Lord said with a tone of heavy resignation, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it". He bent down and gently caressed Rachel's cheek and whispered, "I'm so sorry". He slowly stood up and looked at the three women, "Jack's outside keeping watch, we should probably get out of here before someone comes looking".
Cosima and the other agreed and the dreadlocked clone struggled to pull herself out of bed. She was helped gently by Clara and Sarah and the pair supported the scientist from either side. The only positive that had come out of the encounter in the hospital suite was that Sarah had been able to save the stem cell treatment. At the very least Cosima could get the treatment she needed but it had come at the cost of Rachel Duncan. Once DYAD found out what happened to the head of the clone project they wouldn't happy. Clone club would have to brace themselves for the fallout from his incident.
A/N – So Rachel still gets a pencil in the face (anyone who's seen the Season 4 finale probably wishes she would get the same treatment again) but now the stem cells treatment is safely in the hands of The Doctor. How will this affect Clone Club?
Little story I want to share, kinda related to the story but not at the same time. You can get POP Vinyl Orphan Black figures, one of which is Rachel with a pencil through the eye. I ordered this one but somehow the seller got it mixed up with an Elsa from Frozen figure. Whilst I was a little miffed I can't help but feel for the child that inevitably got my figure instead. Probably traumatised them for life.