A/N: Again it took me a long time to get this one done, since I needed to change quite a bit of the story when it was almost done... really need to think things over a little bit better... but, well, at least it's here. Hope you enjoy it.
Many thanks to my beta for an amazing work.
I'm paralyzed by the scene before me. When I spoke with Felix I knew it was bad, maybe they were made by Daniel or maybe pinned down by the FBI men Delphine had mentioned, but not this. Definitely not this…
I blink a few times, but the image doesn't change, every time I reopen my eyes it's the same clusterfuck that I see. Sarah's still holding Daniel's limp body in her arms, her tactical shirt covered in blood and her eyes locked on the dead man. When I finally move my stare away from her, I look back to where Felix is still standing by the door - his eyes wide open, clearly in a state of shock. Next to me Delphine seems to be equally shell-shocked - she's not moving, glistering eyes pinned on the dismal figure on the floor.
"What happened?" I find my voice to ask, but it sounds as if it doesn't belong to me.
"We've found him like this," Sarah says, her own voice hoarse. "We followed him upstairs, had been on the corner of the hall for twenty minutes and heard loud voices coming from the room."
"Who else was in the room?" Delphine asks, awkwardly giving a few steps in Sarah's direction but retreating almost immediately.
"We don't know," Sarah answers, still not moving, it's as if she's forgotten the body on her arms. "No one entered after Daniel. We thought he was talking on the phone."
"Or someone was already inside when he arrived." This time Delphine's steps are decisive, almost frantic as she goes to the balcony and peers outside.
"We've secured the room," Sarah says, sounding defensive. "While we were here no one got in or out."
"Not by the front door." Delphine seems to have shaken off the shock, her voice sounds commanding when she turns around to face us again. "Was the balcony door open when you got here?"
Sarah nods. "We didn't touch anything other than the door."
"And the body, of course," Delphine comments, her eyes momentarily lowered to the man she has called fiancé.
Self-consciously, Sarah releases the body, but she's gentle about it, although her expression has hardened. "The point is that there was no one here."
"Someone can jump from one balcony to the other next door without much hassle," Delphine says. "They're close enough to go around the divider."
Without saying anything else, Delphine reaches for her pocket and takes out the phone. That movement springs me into action and I walk quickly to her. The suddenness of my gesture allows me to take her by surprise and snatch the phone from her hand.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I demand, turning off the phone in the power button.
"I'm calling this in, of course," Delphine answers in a voice that means business, and extends her hand. "Give me back the phone, Cosima!"
"No! You can't!" I don't raise my voice but sound determined nonetheless. "Look at this, Delphine! You know how it looks!"
"What the fuck is going on?!" I hear Felix's voice several steps behind me but I don't have time to address his confusion.
"There are cameras everywhere, they're presence here will be noticed," she says, making a move for my hand that I keep out of her reach. "Cosima, give it back!" Delphine's voice has a hint of threat.
"We'll take care of the cameras," Sarah says.
Delphine pauses in her attempts to get back her phone and narrows her eyes at Sarah. "What do you mean?"
"I'm sure we can find our way onto the security room and delete the footage," my partner explains.
"You're assuming they're not storing the footage in some other location," Delphine remains unyielding.
"It doesn't matter," I say. "I can still access and erase it."
"Yeah, along with any clue of who might've done this," Delphine says, her hand aiming at the man on the floor.
"We can get a copy of the recording first," I venture, but even for me this plan is sounding worse by the minute. The problem is that we really don't have any other option, not if we want to get out of this mess unscathed.
"Why the hell does she get a say in this?" Felix says from the entrance of the room.
"Because she can rat us out," Sarah's practicality comes to surface. "Although I find it pretty damn interesting that you're so calm for someone who's just found their fiancé's body in a pool of blood," she comments, walking closer to Delphine. Her mind, apparently recovering from the shock, is starting to see the cracks in the picture. Her eyes never leave Delphine, judging, searching for an answer as she asks me. "What is she even doing here anyway?"
"I think we have more important things to worry about," Delphine answers in quiet control.
The expression on her face never changes: her determination never shows signs of easing up, while her eyes move over all of us in the room – staring longer at the pitiful body laying on the ground over a pool of blood that keeps growing. It's a risk that I take when I give her back the phone.
"Give us twenty minutes, then you can call whomever you want," I tell her in a soft voice as she takes the phone.
"You're sure you can do this?"
I can't complain about the doubt in her voice as she asks it - I too am doubtful about the probabilities of Sarah's plan working. "Yes!" I still respond as if I believe it and nod my head.
"Twenty minutes!" She repeats aloud, but this time her stare is locked on Sarah.
"Great!" Sarah says, approaching the door. "Let's get the fuck out of here!"
"I wouldn't if I were you," Delphine raises her voice just a little.
"Didn't we cover this already?" Sarah stops to look over her shoulder and roll her eyes.
"Your shirt is covered in blood," Delphine points out while her eyes move to Sarah's torso.
"Shit!" Sarah mutters looking over herself.
"Here!" I start removing my coat. "Give me your shirt," I say pulling mine over my head, "I can hide it under my coat."
"Try to stay clear of the cameras, just in case…" Delphine advises us.
"Yeah… that ship has sailed…" Sarah throws over her shoulder, opening the door and peeking outside. "We're clear," she announces, but notices my hesitation. "Cosima, let's go!"
My eyes move from Sarah to Delphine and back again, unsure if I should leave Delphine to deal with this mess all by her lonesome.
"Go," Delphine says, her eyes guiding me to the door briefly. "I'll call you when I can." Her hand comes up to adjust my coat, making sure the bloody shirt is thoroughly concealed.
"You don't have my number," I remind her.
"Says who?" She gives me a small smile, but there's a hint of sadness in her eyes that is hard to miss.
We walk at a moderate pace, avoiding capturing attention - although I suspect that if anyone bothered to look at us closely they could see the tension in our expressions. Fortunately, no one gives us a second glance, the sudden arrival of several new guests keeps it that way. The lobby is also packed with people wearing Cowboys jerseys or some other sort of gear to show their support for the Texan team.
"Game night," Sarah comments. "That's good…it'll keep the staff busy."
She's not wrong. Everywhere we look there's a hotel employee attending to a group of people. Even the security has its hands full with sports fans who have had one or two or too many beers. As we walk through the lobby, Sarah swipes a couple of unattended beanie hats and hands one to me and another to Felix.
"To blend in," she explains, taking control of a jersey peeking out of someone's backpack.
It's all rather chaotic, which works well for us. A loud, drunken group attracts the attention of the hotel's security, and we notice three large men - all dressed in black suits and earpieces - coming out of a door with a Staff Only sign. We exchange a look and neither of us needs to say anything as we make our way to that door.
"Maybe our luck is turning," Felix says when we find a white corridor empty.
"I wouldn't count on it until we're out of here," Sarah says as we reach the Control Room, according to the sign.
There's a moment of tension before she opens the door, using the fabric of the jersey not to leave fingerprints. But no one's inside, the sports fans have taken control of the hotel and are making the hotel security team earn their paycheck.
"Alright geek, do your thing," Sarah says, using the tip of her boot to push the office chair away from the desk.
Several screens give us the live feed of the chaos that's been unleashed in the hotel. The lobby is absolutely packed with loud Texans, as is the bar and restaurant. If there was a perfect day and time to murder someone in here, it would be tonight, and I begin to wonder if this is more than just a happy coincidence.
The CCTV system is a rather common one, almost rudimentary. User friendly, easy to hack. Even so, long gone are the days of hard copies and I need to go to the system's cloud to access the footage. Not exactly a difficult task when the password is scribbled on a post-it glued to the main screen.
"Talk about idiots," Felix comments with a snort, as I type the password.
"Yes, for a security team they're not very security-conscious," Sarah adds.
"Most people don't think they'll be hacked until they are," I say, when I locate the file with today's date and bring it to the main screen.
"What the hell?!" Felix voices our collective thoughts.
The screen is blank: the file is there, the size seems about right, but it shows nothing but a black screen. I try several cameras, from the floors, the lobby, the restaurant… nothing. The result is always the same.
"There's a live feed, but it's not recording," I think aloud, my fingers moving over the keyboard and the corner of my eye occasionally glancing to the camera that's turning to the door of the restricted area that we've crossed minutes ago.
"What do you think it means?" Felix asks to no one in particular.
"It means that someone beat us to it," I answer as I keep pressing keys. This time I look for a backup copy but, of course, there isn't one. "Probably whoever did Daniel."
"Well, if there was any doubt about whether this was planned…" Sarah mumbles, walking to the door and opening just enough to take a look outside. "C'mon, wrap this up, let's not push our luck."
I leave everything as we found it. The main screen is again displaying the chaotic scene unfolding in the lobby, but it's the camera that's showing the hotel's main entrance that catches my eyes. A police cruiser just pulled up.
"I hope that's not for us," Sarah says, having seen the same thing.
"She said she'd give us twenty minutes," I remind her.
"Yes… and we have no reasons to doubt her whatsoever…" Felix sarcastically comments under his breath.
I give him an ugly look as I clean the keyboard with the sleeve of my coat. No one notices us leaving however, and no one stops us as we move outside and walk down the street. I look over my shoulder and see a very pissed off Cowboys fan being dragged into the police cruiser, a few of his friends hooting and high fiving each other as he's pushed into the back seat. We walk by Delphine's old SUV and continue to walk a few more minutes, abandoning the sports apparel in a trash can along the way. They're parked in a side street and we waste no time getting in and driving away.
"What the hell was that?!" Felix turns around on the front seat to look back at me.
"What are you talking about?" I reply, my muscles feel heavy, my head starting to pound.
"Oh… I don't know?" Felix says scornfully. "How about you letting Cormier call the shots? Or why do you care about what happens to her when you should have our backs? How about you think about your teammates first?"
"How about you show some gratitude?" I snap back at him, my stress levels through the roof. "Right now she's in there trying to save your ungrateful ass!"
"You don't know that! Should we believe it just because she said so?" He doesn't disarm and I'd be willing to give him some elbow room, he just went through a traumatic experience after all, but I'm just too tired for it.
"We got out of there, didn't we?" I reply, seriously getting tired of this conversation. "You don't know what you're talking about," I say, wanting to put a stop to it.
"Then why don't you tell us?" He counters.
"Ask Siobhan," I say, "she'll tell you if she wants to."
"Oh… I will!" Felix's voice rings coldly. "We're heading straight to her."
"No, we're not! We're going back to the Estate." Sarah, who's been quiet the whole time, intervenes, her tone firm. "It's bad enough that we're not accounted for by the time of Daniel's death. We are not going to go MIA during the entire night!"
"That's crazy," Felix says, but his voice is much more subdued when he's talking to Sarah. "We need to figure out this now!"
"What we need to do is lay low and see where the chips fall. And you need to untwist your knickers!" Sarah says, her eyes briefly moving to her side, giving Felix a meaningful look. "Now are you sure we can trust her?" She asks me, her stare moving to my reflection on the rearview mirror.
I nod. "She'll keep our names out of it," I say with assertiveness.
"Alright then." She gives me a short nod in return.
"Not you too," Felix moans, crossing his arms over his chest. "I get why Cosima would be blind from all the sex, but you can't possibly…"
"Do you have a better idea, Felix?" Sarah interrupts him. "'Cause if you do, I'm all ears. Otherwise you need to shut the fuck up and pray that Delphine will do the same."
That ends the argument. The rest of the ride is eerily quiet. Along the way, nearly out of city boundaries, we make a quick stop. I take off my coat so I can remove the bloody shirt and toss it into a garbage bin behind a butcher shop.
In the Webster's property there's no sign that anyone knows anything about what happened tonight. The gate opens even before we need to press the buzzer, and I envision a man in the security room watching us through the cameras. It immediately brings me back to what happened at the hotel and how their system has been tampered with in order to conduct an assassination – how it would have taken a significant amount of planning ahead. It's imperative that we know who Daniel was meeting because even if that person is not responsible for his death, they're certainly involved in some way. But I'm too tired to think about it now, and the perspective of what we'll have to face tomorrow isn't exactly very cheerful.
Sarah takes a long time to get out of the shower, not that I blame her. In fact my own shower is lengthy, I make sure to scrub every inch of my skin vigorously. It doesn't really help much, I don't sleep. I'm sure neither of us do.
The sleepless night gives me ample time to worry about Delphine. She's taking her sweet time to call me and every minute that passes without news keeps the sleep at bay, making me more and more restless. The stress coming from her silence adds to my exhaustion which is already at unmanageable levels. I imagine her busy, giving explanations to a faceless superior about what happened. I wonder what story she tells them and if she's convincing enough to keep mine and my friends' names out of it.
In the only time I'm able to drift to sleep, I dream of seeing a caravan of dark SUVs storming the Webster's estate and dragging all of us in cuffs. I startle awake, my heart thumping in my ears while I struggle to listen for any movement outside, but I only hear the wind. I assume it wouldn't take long for the police to arrive to, at least, notify the family. However, no one comes - all's quiet outside as if nothing had happened and I fear that that might be worse than being arrested.
Through the slits of the shutters I see dawn break, darkened by the clouds heavy with rain that has started to pour as soon as the sun comes up. I lay awake in bed, listening to the raindrops hitting against the outside wall. On my nightstand, my phone vibrates, cutting through the silence, and even though I'm expecting a call, the sound still manages to startle me. I turn in the bed and take the phone, squinting to see the time: 6.38.
"Hi," I answer in a coarse voice that I clear, sitting up on the bed.
"I don't have much time, so listen closely," Delphine says on the other end in a hushed tone.
"Are you okay?" I ask, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the early morning.
"They're coming in the afternoon," she says in the same tone, her words coming in quick succession. "When they ask, you tell them that you never made up to the room. I received a text and told you to leave. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, yeah…" my tired brain is having a hard and bad time keeping up with her.
"Did you get the security recordings before deleting the footage?" She asks.
I shake my head. "We didn't do anything. Someone got there first," I explain. "There's no footage."
"Putain de merde!" I hear her muttering.
"Are you okay?" I repeat my first question, the tension in her voice palpable.
"I've got to go," Delphine says, not answering my question.
"O… okay…" I mumble, but the line's already dead.
I remain sitting on the bed for a long while, blankly staring at the phone's screen until it turns off. If I couldn't sleep before, I certainly can't now. Anxiety is making my heart beat erratically, I can hear it loud on my eardrums and I feel an irresistible need to move, to walk, to do something other than lay in bed waiting for the Feds to come.
I turn off the alarm clock on the phone, get up and go to the kitchen to get a pot of coffee brewing. While I wait for it to be done, I head back to the bedroom and get dressed. A quick stop at the bathroom and a look at the mirror is enough for me to notice how the sleepless night is painted all over my face - the eyeliner and glasses do little to disguise it. My limbs feel heavy, my head aching so much that I believe is about to split open.
When I return to the kitchen Sarah's already there, leaning over the counter, as if willing the coffee to be done. When she turns to me I can see that's she's feeling as miserably as I am.
"You didn't sleep either then," she comments in a rough voice.
I shake my head as I reach the overhead cupboard and pull down two mugs that I set on the counter next to the coffee machine.
"You'd think they'd come over by now," Sarah says, "at least to bring the news."
"They'll come this afternoon," I tell her.
She's filling the two mugs, but pauses to look at me. "How do you know?"
"Delphine called me a few minutes ago," I inform Sarah, who only hums and returns to the task of pouring the coffee. "I am to tell them that I never came up to the room. I assume to make sure that our stories match."
"How does she know when they're coming?" Sarah catches my slip up and looks at me for a long while, shaking her head when I don't say anything. "I sure hope we're doing the right thing by trusting her blindly," Sarah says eventually, taking the hot mug in both her hands.
I grab the mug she's filled for me, fully aware of my need for coffee. I didn't even notice my lapse until Sarah pointed out. It was bad, but apparently she's also too tired to press about it. However I won't get away with it if - or better, when - the Feds decide to ask me some very uncomfortable questions. "We are!" I guarantee her. There was a time I wouldn't be sure of it, but not now.
Her motivations are probably not completely selfless, but I know Delphine will cover for us in this instance. She's in no less trouble than we are if her bosses were to discover what truly happened last night. She's in too deep; off the top of my head I can name a handful of crimes she's committed just in the past couple of weeks. Delphine's too clever not to understand that it's also in her best interest to keep covering for us.
For a few minutes we drink our coffee in silence, both of us staring out the kitchen window which gives us a view to the main door of the Webster's residence. Rain continues to pour, the morning advances but the day isn't likely to get much brighter than what it is now, the sky covered in angry gray clouds with nary a glint of sunlight in sight.
"I didn't want to push it last night, but you know there's a lot you need to answer for," she says quietly next to me, while her eyes don't leave the window. "Regarding Delphine…" Sarah adds when I don't reply.
"As I said, you should ask Siobhan," I answer. "She'll tell you if she wants to. The truth is not only didn't she give me authorization to tell you, it's also not my decision to make."
Sarah hums, as if she's complying, but I know she won't rest until she has her answers. I won't let it consume me though – it is out of my hands. Especially after last night's events, it's no longer up to me to disclose what we know about Delphine. That's Siobhan's job now, and knowing her like I do, I'm sure that, while it's a decision she won't like to make, ultimately she has no other choice but to tell Sarah and Felix what's going on. If she doesn't we'll lose the team. And I imagine it's a difficult decision for Siobhan, not because she doesn't trust them, but because in knowing the complex weave we're tangled in, it'll put them in danger, more than they already are.
Siobhan takes tremendous pride for being able to - throughout the years - keep our missions and our true identities out of any law enforcement records. I have little doubt that this may very well constitute a low point in her already extensive career. Being in bed with the FBI, even if just marginally, has to be something she absolutely loathes.
It takes a significant amount of effort, but we manage to convince Felix to carry on the day as if nothing happened. A change in our routines would be a huge red flag once Daniel's fate becomes known for the rest of the staff. Therefore, when it's time, we get to work, as if it's just another day.
It isn't until just after lunch that Sarah, still in the cottage, receives a call from the guard at the gate, requesting her presence at the main building. When she asks the man for more information he tells her that the eldest Webster had just arrived, along with several FBI agents. She does her best to hide the anxiety I know she's feeling, but I notice the stiffness in her movements as she throws a coat over her shoulders.
"What do the Feds have to do with this?" Sarah asks to no one in particular. "I thought this was Boston PD's jurisdiction."
I meet her at the door just before she leaves. "If they knew anything they wouldn't bother asking for us," I say in a low calming voice. "They'd just barge in and take us. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."
I don't address her question although the answer is plain: Daniel was under federal investigation, his death falls under their jurisdiction. Most likely Boston PD never had a chance to sink their teeth in this one. Delphine would've called her colleagues and the FBI took over the crime scene.
She gives me a short nod and eyes Felix behind me. "Keep him in check!" She says and leaves after a deep breath.
My words make sense, they come from a corner of my brain that's still able to see reason, but there's hardly any rationality in fear and my own nerves are spiking. I can't stay still, and the fact that Felix, after being told that his services won't be required this afternoon, stays inside doesn't help.
He too keeps pacing back and forth, running his mouth.
"I can't go to jail," he whines, his voice on the verge of hysteria. "You know what happens to guys like me inside?"
"No one's going to prison, Fee," I say, exasperated. "We'll be fine, as long as you can keep your cool."
"How can you be so sure?" He continues. "For all we know they'll be bursting in any minute, cuff us and drag us out of here and put us in those God awful prison jumpers."
"Orange is no one's colour…" I comment under my breath with a roll of my eyes.
"This is not the time for jokes, Cosima!" He stops to look at me in the eyes.
"And this is not the time to worry about fashion, either, Felix," I snap. "Calm down or you'll fuck this up for all of us."
"This wouldn't be happening if you hadn't brought Delphine with you to the hotel room," he lashes out, restarting his pacing.
"Yeah, because she's the one who offed Daniel…" I remark sarcastically. "And we know she kept her mouth shut. Otherwise we'd already be in those God awful prison jumpers."
That makes him stop, at least for the moment, but I suspect it won't last long. Felix is wired too tightly, I just hope he can keep it together and not snap.
"This won't be a good look if the Feds decide to have words with you, Felix," I say in an attempt to calm him down. "Get your shit together… for Siobhan. Prove to her that she didn't make a mistake sending you in."
He pauses to look at me. "You think she did, don't you?" Felix asks, narrowing his eyes at me. "You think I'm not up to this like you and Sarah are."
I hold his stare. "Prove me wrong!"
As if on cue, someone knocks on our door. I give him one last look and go to open it. Two agents are at the door, one tells me that I should go with him, while the other stays behind.
I'd pray for Felix not to break if I were the believer type.
A/N: in a couple of weeks or so I'll be posting a Xmas Cophine Special. It's all about the fluff that one. If it's your thing, make sure to check it out.