When the elevator doors slide open, an ominous wind immediately hits her and she knows she must have chosen the correct floor. It's faint, but she can feel Helena's presence. She doesn't know how, if it's a clone thing or a twin thing or both, but there's a flicking in the back of her brain, a tugging at her heart strings and somehow she just knows.
She steps out of the compartment, leaving an unconscious Ben- still bound and gagged- behind. A light directly above her flashes to life and illuminates a small radius around her, like a firefly in the late summer night, though it's not enough for her to gaze down the entirety of the hallway and see what awaits her. She doesn't hear any noise aside from the humming of the lights so she assumes there aren't any other DYAD cretins lurking around, but she knows she should still be careful nonetheless as she slowly makes her way down the darkened path, flicking off Ben's walkie-talkie so that the buzzing and humming of voices doesn't alert anyone else who may potentially be lurking in the area. The motion-activated ceiling lights flicker and shine as she passes under them, brightening her path. There are heavy steel doors on either side of her, most of them with rectangular windows and she peers through them as she walks, looking for any sign of her sister. She passes a few offices, what looks like a supply closet and stops when she reaches the end of the hallway and finds a large, unmarked door with no windows.
She presses her hand to the door, the coldness of the metal biting her skin. She swipes Leekie's card through the access slot and hears a clicking sound, the lock opening and permitting her entry. She pushes the door open and she's standing in a fairly small and contained room, the lights activating to greet her. There are computer monitors and equipment that she can't even begin to describe, though the monitors are all dark, the equipment silent and the entire wall across from her is a large one-way mirror, allowing her to peer into another room, although the room in question is completely dark, making it impossible to discern what lay on the other side. The entire setup reminds her of the observation room in a precinct, where cops would watch as one of their comrades interrogated a suspect from behind the safety of reinforced glass. There is also another unmarked door on the wall to her far left, but before she decides to venture through it and explore, she looks around for a possible solution to the darkness on the other side of the mirror and spots a light switch on the wall. She decides to flick it on and sure enough, the room on the other side is illuminated in harsh florescent lighting. She takes a step back to allow for a full view and as soon as she takes in an eyeful, every hair on her body is standing at attention.
In the center of the room is an empty restraint chair. There's a metal table against the wall with plenty of instruments strewn out in a methodical manner upon it's cold surface. There is a door leading into the chamber from the other side and the nausea in her stomach tells her that her sister has been forcibly dragged through it numerous times. She quickly flicks the light off again and stares at the ground, slamming her fist against the wall.
Helena isn't here.
She heads over to the door on her left and walks through it, being led out into another hallway, this one even narrower than the last. Being underground, there are no windows or natural lights and the artificial ones are anything but inviting. Even still, she doesn't allow herself to be deterred and she keeps following the path until she reaches the end, another set of large, steel doors barring her path. She swipes Leekie's card, once again, and marches onward.
The room she enters is much larger, much more open than the corridors that led her here. In fact, it's large enough to fit a guard station and she notices it too late. There is a man sitting behind the desk, his feet propped up and as soon as he spots her, he swings them around until he's standing, reaching for his gun.
"Who the hell are you?"
She freezes, raising her hands reluctantly above her head. She tries to think of some way out this hairy situation and she remembers the taser that she stole from Ben. If she could get it and fire it, she's certain she could subdue this guard. The only problem is that she's certain he'll fire a bullet into her if she makes any attempt to reach for her weapon. She needs to think of a way to distract him long enough to reach for Ben's weapon and fire it.
"How did you get down here?" he asks, cautiously approaching her.
"Easy. I'm here to see Doctor Nealon," she tries.
He stares at her closely and she sees something flash in his eyes, something she recognizes as... recognition? Then it clicks. He recognizes her because of her resemblance to Helena. Helena is down here and this guard must know who she is. It's something she can use.
"Doctor Nealon didn't tell me he was expecting anyone," he replies with thick skepticism, circling around her.
She turns with him, making sure to keep her front to him as they both rotate. She doesn't want him to spot the guns she has tucked away in the back of her waistband. If he sees them, he'll definitely know her intent.
"He's not expecting me, but trust me. He's gonna wanna see me," she says. "Tell him Sarah Manning is here."
He still doesn't seem completely convinced.
"It's about the prisoner you're keeping here. You know who I'm talking about," she adds, staring at him expectantly. "I have what he wants."
"And you just decided to walk right in here and give it to him?"
"I wanna make a deal," she tells him. "I'm willing to cooperate. I just wanna help my sister."
He meets her gaze and her eyes give away nothing of her lie. It's one of her many talents, being able to stare someone directly in the eye and lie to their face. It's gotten her out of trouble with the cops on plenty of occasions, as well as plenty of other questionable people and situations. The only one it never seems to work on is Mrs. S, but that's another case entirely. He reads her firm expression and nods in understanding, slowly holstering his weapon as he buys her story.
She releases a mental sigh of relief.
He turns his back on her for a second and trudges over to his desk, leaning over to press a button, an intercom, and speak into it.
"Sir, Sarah Manning is-"
He stops mid-speech, every muscle in his body twisting and contorting in pain as the prongs of the taser stick into his back, sending a powerful shock through his body. Sarah continues with the electrical assault until she's certain the threat is neutralized. He falls to the ground, unconscious, and she quickly dashes over to him, repeating the same process with him that she did with Ben, binding his hands behind his back with one of her zip-ties and seizing his weapons. She pulls him under the desk and out of sight and even though he didn't finish relaying his message, she's fairly certain that if Nealon heard it, he'll come to check things out.
There's no time to waste.
There are two hallways for her to take, one to her left and one to her right. The one on her left seems much longer and turns a corner towards the end, while the one on the right is short, with a singular, isolated door. It's heavy, made of reinforced steel and unmarked. As she inspects it from a distance, she thinks that if she were trying to hold her sister prisoner, she'd want her behind a set of heavy doors such as the ones in question.
She stops in front of them, preparing herself for what she might find on the other side. Once she's composed herself, she closes her eyes and swipes Leekie's pass card through the access slot and just like all of the other doors, it clicks, indicating that it's unlocked. She pushes it open just a sliver and pokes her head inside, trying make out what's going on inside. The room is pitch black and silent, the air heavy and stale.
"Helena?" she whispers.
In the darkness, something stirs.
"Helena?" she tries again. "It's me."
She steps into the room and the light activates, illuminating a tiny white cell with a cot in the corner. On the cot is her feral twin, curled into the fetal position. Sarah's eyes begin to sting with tears, especially when Helena rolls over onto her side and meets her gaze.
"Sestra?" she asks in disbelief, squinting.
"Yeah. That's right."
Sarah offers her a teary smile and carefully approaches Helena, kneeling in front of the rather uncomfortable-looking cot. Helena twists her body so that she's sitting up straight, staring down at her heroic sister.
"You came for me," she utters.
She reaches out for Sarah, but her hand stops just short of making contact with her face. There are tears in the Ukrainian's eyes now, too. A tearful reunion that neither one of them really expected.
"I did," Sarah nods. "I'm gonna get you out of here, yeah? I'm gonna take you some place safe."
She helps Helena to her feet and the blonde is unsteady on them. It takes her a minute to find her strength, to fight through the weariness that Nealon and Leekie and DYAD have inflicted upon her. She seems thinner than she was before, the dark circles around her eyes even more pronounced, the paleness of her skin giving her a ghost-like complexion. Judging by Helena's current state, Sarah knows that if she waited even a few days longer to come and rescue her sister, there was a good chance that she'd already be gone.
"We've gotta go, Helena," Sarah tells her. "We don't got a lot of time."
Helena nods, allowing Sarah to lead her out of the cell she's called home since her recapture. As soon as they step out of the cell, however, there's an older man in a white coat standing in front of them, gun aimed squarely at Sarah's head.
"That'll be enough of that," he speaks.
Both Sarah and Helena freeze, the brunette standing in front of the blonde, shielding her from any potential harm. She doesn't recognize the man at all but as she studies his face, she somehow finds herself knowing exactly who he is.
"Doctor Nealon."
He smiles.
"That's right," he confirms. "Aren't you a resourceful one?"
Sarah glares at him, trying to fight back the fury that's raging inside of her. She wants to lash out, to tear this man to pieces, but she knows that doing so is a death sentence, if not for her than at least for her sister.
Helena isn't so easily deterred.
She flies by Sarah with impressive speed and before the brunette or the doctor can make sense of what's happening, she throws herself into Nealon with her full weight, biting and scratching and snarling like the rabid beast she is. Nealon falls to the ground, startled, struggling with the wild woman on top of him. She grabs hold of the arm that is holding the gun, smashing his hand against the floor repeatedly until his grip on the gun finally loosens, but not before firing a few accidental shots in random directions. As the gun skids across the floor, Sarah runs over to collect it, pointing it at Nealon as Helena continues to viciously assault him, slamming his head against the floor, as well. She has no idea where this strength has come from since her sister could barely stand just minutes ago. It must have been buried deep inside, waiting for the proper moment to unleash.
"Helena, don't!" Sarah protests.
Nealon deserves every ounce of pain currently being inflicted upon him but a part of her can't let her sister kill this man. Helena quickly glances over her shoulder at Sarah, acknowledging her words and choosing to ignore them. Nealon cries out in both pain and fear, trying to struggle against the blonde. She digs her thumbs into his eye sockets, pressing down. Nealon's anguish becomes even louder.
"Helena, that's enough!"
Sarah places a hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her sister off and prevent her from killing the doctor.
"The devil lives inside of him!" Helena hisses, attempting to explain her fury and justify her actions.
"I know that! I know, but you don't have to do this, Helena!" Sarah pleads. "You don't have to be a weapon! Not anymore!"
Helena freezes.
"Don't let him take anything else from you!"
Sarah's words have their intended effect.
She releases the doctor and he recoils into a ball on the floor as Helena backs away. Sarah rubs Helena's back awkwardly, trying to soothe her twin sister but not really knowing how. Helena seems to appreciate the gesture, nonetheless.
"There's no way the two of you are walking out of here!" Nealon snarls from the ground.
Sarah trains the gun on him again, her grip tightening, her teeth gritted.
"Shut up!" she barks. "Do you want me to let her tear you to pieces?"
Nealon manages to force himself up into a sitting position, the two women staring down at him. Sarah has placed herself between her sister and the doctor to prevent the assassin from finishing the job, but Nealon's words are making it difficult for her to keep the beast at bay.
"You've been careless, Sarah," he sputters, wiping the blood from his head. "I knew you were rash, but I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to walk head-first into my lab."
"I said shut up!" Sarah warns him again, cocking the gun.
He laughs.
It's quiet, reserved, but malicious in nature, the kind that twists her stomach and tempts her to pull the trigger. Helena has fury in her eyes, every muscle taut and prepared to strike like a viper with its prey in sight. Nealon slowly rises to his unsteady feet and Sarah's gun moves with him, aimed at his chest.
"Maybe I will let Helena go. With you, I hardly need her."
"That's enough out of your shit!"
A low, growl-like sound is rumbling in Helena's chest as she stares her tormentor down. Sarah's gun remains focused on Nealon, hesitant to fire but willing if necessary. Every second they waste down here with Nealon brings them a second closer to being captured. Leekie's bound to notice that his pass card is missing if he hasn't already and security will figure out that they've been breached any minute now. Their escape window is quickly ticking away.
"Once I have Kira-"
Helena is moving so fast again, the mention of her niece's name launching her forward. She grabs the gun that's still nestled snuggly in the waistband of Sarah's pants and, without hesitating, she fires a bullet directly between his eyes.
He falls to the floor, lifeless.
Sarah's eyes widen, her jaw drops in horror. Helena leans over him, spitting on his corpse, happy to be rid of the evil that's plagued her life for far too long.
"He will touch no one else," Helena speaks.
Sarah's body is trembling. She definitely didn't expect things to take such a turn. Her plan was to get in and out, but now there's a dead man at her feet and she's in far deeper than she ever expected to be. Helena kneels down next to Nealon's body, riffling through his lab coat until she finds what she's looking for. She pulls out a flash drive, holding it up for Sarah to see.
"W-What is that?" Sarah asks her.
"Everything he took from me," Helena explains. "I saw him put it in here."
She inspects it closely, uncertain of how so much information can be contained on such a small device. Sarah extends her hand forward, waiting for Helena to deposit it. She drops the tiny bit of plastic into Sarah's hand and the brunette tucks it into the pocket of her hoodie. She doesn't know what Nealon has on Helena, but she does know that it's without a doubt very valuable to DYAD, which means it's valuable to her.
"Listen up," Sarah says, regaining Helena's attention. "The only way we're gonna make it out of here is if we play it my way, yeah? That means listening to everything I say. No more pulling some crazy wolf-people shit, you got that?"
Helena grins, nodding eagerly.
"Good," Sarah replies. "Then let's go."
They run through the halls, Sarah retracing all of her previous steps with Helena following faithfully behind her like a labrador. They reach the private elevator and Sarah swipes Leekie's card to open it. Ben is waiting inside, conscious and panicking as soon as he sees Sarah and Helena. He struggles against the zip-tie and tries to remove the gag with no success. Helena stares down at him with an amused smile, crouching over to run a hand through his hair.
"Don't be scared, little pig," she tells him.
"Oi! Leave him alone!" Sarah instructs.
Helena shrugs, then leans against the wall of the elevator. Ben stares up at Sarah, confused. Without Cosima's coat and glasses, she really doesn't look like the scientist all that much.
"Sorry about your head," she says in her regular accent. "It's nothing personal, yeah?"
He tries to mumble something through the gag and she picks up Cosima's coat from the elevator floor, digging into the pocket and retrieving her cell phone. She frowns when she sees there's no service, but then again, they are underground so she doesn't know exactly what she's expecting.
"Help me with him," she instructs Helena, motioning towards Ben with a tilt of her head.
Sarah grabs his feet while he tries to kick at her, Helena grabbing his shoulders. They manage to pull him from the elevator, leaving him bound and gagged in the middle of the hallway of sub-level three. Like Nealon, someone will eventually find him and she knows he'll be fine, but she can't risk having him compromise their escape. They slip back into the elevator and Sarah presses the button that will lead them back up to the main floor. As soon as they arrive and the doors open, Helena pokes her head out of the elevator and Sarah pulls her back in.
"Just hang on a bloody sec, will you?" she scolds. "We can't just walk out through the front door, you know."
She turns to the walkie-talkie she stole from Ben earlier as a guide, switching it back on. It's buzzing with the voices of the other guards communicating with each other and she suddenly has an idea. She stares at her phone again and upon seeing that she finally has service, she smiles and dials a familiar number.
"Hey," she greets. "I need a little help on my end."
"You're kidding, right?" Cosima asks.
"I need you to call your girlfriend. I need a distraction."
Cosima sighs.
"Let me see what I can do."
Leekie's speech concludes and the entire room erupts into applause. Delphine's eyes have been shifting between Leekie and security for the entire duration, looking for any indication of trouble. The guards seem unaware of any breach and Leekie doesn't seem to notice that his pass card is missing. For the time being, all appears to be well, but Delphine doesn't allow the illusion to lull her into a false sense of security.
"Delphine."
She turns as Leekie approaches her with a warm smile and she greets him with one of her own. He looks to her side and notices that "Cosima" is missing, his brow furrowing in confusion. She chews nervously on her bottom lip.
"Where did Cosima run off to?" he inquires.
"She had to use the bathroom," Delphine lies.
It's not the best excuse, but at least it's believable. Leekie nods, having no reason to question her response. Perhaps he will when more time passes and "Cosima" is still missing, but for now, she's deterred any suspicion.
"So, what did you think?"
She assumes he's referring to his speech and in all honesty, she was far too distracted to really pay attention.
"You were brilliant. As usual," she says, throwing praise in his direction.
He accepts it and she spends the next several minutes making small talk with him. More people approach them, all of them eager to speak with Leekie and gush over how brilliant he is. She decides to stay close to him so she can keep a watchful eye, making sure his attention is occupied so that he doesn't notice the fact that is pass card is gone and that "Cosima" is still missing. She doesn't agree with Sarah or Cosima's tactics, but she knows that it isn't in any of their best interests to allow Sarah to be captured. When her cell phone starts ringing, she pulls it from her purse and frowns when Cosima's name comes up on the call display. She politely excuses herself from the gathering group, wandering over to someplace more quiet.
"You and I need to have a discussion," she says very sternly, clearly unimpressed.
Cosima had lied to her and she has no intention of keeping her displeasure a secret.
"You figured it out, huh?"
"Did you honestly think you could send Sarah in here pretending to be you and I wouldn't notice?" she asks incredulously, shifting the phone from her left ear to her right.
"I know, I know. I didn't wanna get you involved in all of this," is Cosima's excuse.
"Well, I am involved," Delphine snaps. "I'm involved and I'm unprepared. So, thank you."
"Yeah. I know. It was a shitty thing for me to do," Cosima admits. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. It's just that... I sort of need a favour."
"Are you serious?"
"Well, actually, it's Sarah that needs a favour."
Delphine sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. She doesn't want any part in this plot, especially considering the fact that Cosima lied to her. She hardly has any ground to stand on with her own lies, be she can't help but feel insulted.
"You keep me in the dark, send your sister in here pretending to be you and now you want to ask me a favour?" Delphine counters. "Are you trying to make a fool out of me, Cosima?"
"Look, I'm sorry!" Cosima apologizes. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't really important!"
Delphine sighs.
"What does Sarah need?"
She can hear Cosima's smile on the other end and while it would normally warm her heart, it only furthers her frustration in this instance. Cosima really doesn't understand the consequences of her actions, the extent to which they reach. This isn't just about the lying, this is about how Sarah's success or failure is going to put Cosima in jeopardy and after how hard she's worked to protect her subject, she finds Cosima's lack of regard infuriating, a blatant slap in the face.
"She has Helena, but she's stuck in the elevator," Cosima explains. "She needs some sort of distraction. She needs you to get the guards away so they can make a break for it."
"And what would you like me to do?"
"I don't know. You're a scientist. Be creative."
She's ready to snap back at the brunette but Cosima hangs up before she can do so. Stuffing her phone back in her purse, she glances around the room, wondering what she can do to create a distraction. Leekie is still in the same position that she left him, as are the guards that are monitoring the party. Sarah and Helena haven't caught their attention yet, but she still needs to act quickly. She comes to the conclusion that the only way the guards are going to leave their designated posts is if there is a physical threat to everybody in the building.
That's when she comes up with the idea.
Several minutes pass, Sarah and Helena are camped out in the elevator, waiting for some sort of signal of safety. Sarah's arms are crossed, leg bouncing impatiently as Helena paces back and forth, her impatience palpable. Hers is far more dangerous than Sarah's and she doesn't know how much longer she can keep the renegade clone under her control.
"How long must we wait?" Helena asks.
"Soon," Sarah replies. "We gotta wait for the right moment, meat head. Do you wanna get captured and go back down there?"
Helena shakes her head and leans back against the wall with a loud huff.
"I don't like small rooms."
Sarah sighs.
"I know."
Ben's walkie-talkie buzzes to life again, voices filling the compartment. There's a man speaking, informing everybody on the channel that there's a possible bomb and the building needs to be discreetly searched and evacuated.
"Don't cause a panic," the gruff voice says. "We need to get the guests evacuated first. Then we can start with the search."
"This is it," Sarah says, nudging Helena. "This is our window."
Helena nods.
There's going to be a flood of people pouring through the doors any minute now and in the chaos and confusion, no one's going to notice the two of them. Just to be sure, she hands Helena Cosima's red coat and instructs her to put it it, concealing the prisoner-like garb that DYAD has her wearing. She hands the guns in her possession to Helena and the blonde tucks them safely into her pockets for safekeeping.
"Keep your head down. Don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone. Just stay close to me, yeah?"
She leads Helena out of the elevator and the two stealthily move down the hall, following the twists and turns of the west wing that Sarah took to get there. They stop every few feet to look and listen, proceeding only when they're certain they're in the clear. She hears voices up ahead coming from the lobby, the security team coordinating their efforts. They hang back for a minute, concealing themselves behind the wall, waiting before they turn the corner. They need more cover, they need to be able to slip into the crowd unnoticed.
Sure enough, a minute later, the mass of people start pouring from the elevators and the stairs, flooding into the lobby. Sarah darts into the large group with Helena right behind her, both of them keeping their heads down and faces hidden. There are guards at the main entrance, holding the doors open and ushering people out. The twins allow themselves to be funneled through the doors and the guards, so busy with evacuation procedures, take no notice. Sarah keeps an eye out for Leekie or someone else who might recognize them, but nobody stops them as they all rush out into the streets where fire and police crews are waiting.
"This way," Sarah whispers to Helena, grabbing her arm and picking up the pace.
She's determined to break away, to put as much distance between her and DYAD as possible before anyone notices what's really going on. She doesn't have a car of her own to hop into and drive off so she looks for a cab, only the entire street surrounding DYAD is blocked off to the public.
"Sarah!"
The sound of her name injects fear into her body and she grabs Helena's arm tighter, breaking into a faster run.
"Sarah, hang on a sec!"
Now that's a voice she recognizes.
She stops, turning around. Beth and Art are there, standing in front of Art's car.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing here?" she asks them.
"Trying to save your ass!" Beth replies. "Cosima just called us and told us what you were doing. Get in the car. Both of you."
"Beth-"
"We don't have time for this shit right now," Art intervenes. "Get in the car now. We gotta get going."
Sarah looks around, taking in the scene before her. Figuring that she doesn't have a better option, she turns to Helena.
"Get in the car," she instructs. "We can trust them. They're gonna help us."
Helena remains frozen in place.
Sarah wonders why her sister refuses to move and she when she follows Helena's gaze, she realizes that she's staring at Beth with uncertainty. Beth, the woman she shot and nearly killed not too long ago. It isn't murder in her eyes, but fear.
"I tried to kill her," Helena says mechanically. "Why is she helping me?"
"Because we're family," Sarah replies.
"Hey. We're cool," Beth says, addressing Helena. "As long as you don't try to kill me again. Otherwise I'm throwing your ass in another cell, you got it?"
Sarah tugs on Helena's arm even harder and the blonde relents, quickly climbing into the back of Art's car with Sarah slinking in next to her. With both of them safely in the vehicle, Beth climbs back into the passenger's seat and slams the door, Art doing the same on the driver's side. Using the police light mounted on his dashboard, he drives the sisters out of the fenced off area and towards safety.
When she steps through the threshold into Leekie's office, the older man's back is to her but she can tell that he is shaking with a quiet rage that nearly has her trembling herself. When he does turn around to acknowledge her presence, there's a look in his eyes that she's never seen before. Aldous Leekie is always so calm and composed, charming and amiable, so to see such fury in his eyes strikes fear into her own.
"Aldous-"
"You need to maintain better control over your subject," he says harshly through gritted teeth, dangerously close to barking. "This happened right under your nose."
She wants to curse Cosima for her foolishness but she knows right now that she needs to do some serious damage control, so she shakes her head in protest and steps a little closer.
"I... I doubt that Cosima has anything to do with this!" Delphine proclaims. "Sarah is a con artist! She's acted on her own before, she-"
"Keep you mouth shut."
He issues her a glare of warning and she does as she's told, all the while trying to keep herself from quaking, her eyes from spilling over with tears. She feels like she might throw up at any given moment, especially as he stalks closer to her until they're separated by a mere few inches. His slight height advantage has him bearing over her and they're so close now that she can feel every sharp exhale of breath from his flared nostrils.
"I want Cosima in here for questioning."
"Questioning?"
He pulls away, walking over to the small hobby farm in the center of the room. He runs his fingers over several pieces, toying with them, trying to compose his simmering anger. Delphine bites down on her bottom lip to suppress a tiny whimper as she waits for him to expand.
"I told you to keep tabs on her, Delphine. I told you to pry information from her, to be my eyes and ears within their group," he finally speaks. "Since you seem to be incapable of doing so, I'll have someone else do it."
Her mouth falls open, her knees buckle.
"Are you removing me from Cosima's case?"
He turns to face her, his eyes narrowing as he inspects her reaction closely.
"Perhaps another doctor with a more hands on approach would-"
"No!" she shouts, her voice booming and surprising the both of them. "I won't allow it!"
She had feared that Cosima's (seemingly genetic) impulsive behaviour would lead to disaster and it appears as though that very disaster is unfolding before her.
"Doctor Cormier," Leekie says, his voice a low warning. "Careful, now."
"Cosima is my subject! She's my responsibility!" she protests.
"And you've failed her tonight!" he throws back. "You've failed me and you've failed your subject!"
It isn't his raised voice that rattles her, but the fact that he's right. She failed in her duties as Cosima's monitor. She failed to protect her lover and now, things were going to be worse for the clone than ever before. All she ever wanted to do was help Cosima and by giving the brunette what she wanted, she may have done far more damage than she ever could have conceived.
"Tomorrow morning," he says, his voice returning to its normal volume. "If she comes into work tomorrow morning, you bring her straight to me. If she doesn't, then you'll go and get her yourself and bring her here. Do I make myself clear?"
When she hears a banging at her door, her stomach flutters in nauseous anticipation. She knows it's Delphine, she knows the blonde is furious. She adjusts her glasses (dropped off, along with her coat, by Beth only an hour before) and scampers across her apartment to open it. Delphine is standing on the other side and Cosima has never seen such an energy radiating off of her before. It's a combination of anger and frustration and betrayal.
"What have you done?" she asks, mortified.
Cosima steps aside, allowing Delphine to enter.
"I helped save a woman's life. That's what I did."
Delphine slams the door behind her, the loudness making the clone jump in surprise. She stares wide-eyed at her lover, unfamiliar with Delphine's newfound aggression. Delphine's breathing is heavy, she's trying hard to contain herself, to stop herself from lashing out.
"What you did was irresponsible and reckless!"
Cosima finds her own fire, matching Delphine's flame-for-flame. She won't stand for being talked down to, being scolded like a child. She'd hoped to reason with her girlfriend, to explain everything to her, but the blonde is still raw from the deception.
"We didn't have a choice, Delphine! We saw an opening and we had to take it!"
"You've put us both at risk!" Delphine yells.
She stalks even closer to Cosima, using her height and her anger as an intimidation tactic.
"If Leekie suspects that you're conspiring against DYAD, then he'll-"
"What? Lock me away? Run experiments on me, too?"
Cosima doesn't back down, her eyes meeting Delphine's heated gaze. She's as certain in her conviction as the doctor is, neither of them willing to budge. She decides to shift her tactic slightly, aiming for the Eurpoean's gut with a blow that's meant to speak to her guilt.
"Will you let him, Delphine?"
Her voice is quiet, meek. She's the one to take a step closer this time, her body flush up against her girlfriend's. It isn't affection or desire that has pulled them so close together, but a need for both of them to assert themselves, to make their feelings known. Cosima stares up at her lover, Delphine staring down, trying not to fall for Cosima's trick.
"Will you let him do that to me?"
Her voice is even smaller this time and Delphine shakes her head, reaching forward until her hands are planted on Cosima's shoulders, pushing the shorter girl away from her. It isn't necessarily an aggressive gesture, but Cosima's looking at her with those eyes and she knows that if she falls victim to the guilt trip, all of her fire will be sucked right out of her belly like a flame in a room without oxygen.
"Don't do that," she warns.
She turns her back on Cosima, putting some space between them.
"They tortured Helena up there!"
She rushes forward, grabbing Delphine's arm and pulling her back around so that they're facing each other again. She isn't going to let her monitor hide from the truth and pretend like Helena's life is meaningless, just as she's done in the past.
"When Sarah told me what Maggie Chen confessed to doing, what Leekie is doing, I felt sick to my stomach! How can you possibly think that anything DYAD is doing is okay?" she presses.
"Cosima, you never told me any of this!" Delphine retorts, throwing her hands up. "You never told me about Maggie Chen, you never-"
"Did I have to?" Cosima counters. "You know what DYAD's doing! You know what they've been doing! Deep down, you had to have known! How can you be so delusional?"
Here they are again, having the very same fight that seems to be a recurring theme in their relationship. No matter how many massive steps they take forward, this will always be the anchor that pulls them back.
"That doesn't mean you can run around and act irrationally, Cosima! The woman who tried to kill you and your sisters is on the loose! What's to stop her from trying to kill you again?" Delphine throws.
"Sarah said Helena won't-"
"Sarah's a fool! She doesn't think things through, you know that!"
The shouting comes to a momentary halt, both women taking advantage of the brief reprieve and stepping away from each other to carve out more space. Delphine drags a hand through her hair, overwhelmed by the entirety of the evening and uncertain of how to proceed. Cosima watches her carefully, gauging her reaction.
"Leekie isn't going to stop until he has Helena back," Delphine says, the first to break the tension-filled silence.
Cosima laughs.
"Well, he's gonna be pretty disappointed because Sarah's hellbent on disappearing with her family."
Delphine shakes her head, sighing. Cosima hears what she thinks is the beginning of a sob as the blonde exhales, but she wills it down. She blinks several times, willing the tears away, as well. Cosima honestly didn't expect such a reaction from Delphine and she frowns.
"If that happens... do you know what kind of position that will put you in?" Delphine asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't care!" Cosima snaps. "Kira's just a kid, Delphine! Helena may as well be, too! They both deserve a chance! They both deserve better than the shit that's been handed to them!"
Delphine's head drops.
She chews on her bottom lip, wondering how to break the news to Cosima.
"Leekie wants to see you tomorrow morning," she says, deciding to jump right into it.
"I bet he does," Cosima mutters, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "Is that why you came here? To tell me that?"
Delphine looks back up at her
"I came here because I love you," she says earnestly. "I love you and I'm afraid that you've just made a terrible mistake."
Cosima's lip quivers slightly at her girlfriend's confession. She inhales deeply, determined to keep her composure in tact. Even if Delphine's words are heartfelt, it doesn't change the fact that up until a few hours ago, DYAD was torturing a women in the most disgusting way possible. She can't allow her feelings to cloud her judgment.
"I'll deal with the consequences myself."
"But it's not just you, Cosima!" Delphine shouts, her eyes welling with tears. "You're not the only one who has to deal with the consequences of your actions! Don't you understand that?"
Her expression softens.
"Are... are you in trouble, Delphine?"
The blonde laughs through her tears, nodding.
"Yes."