AN: Sorry for the delay in updating, I had an unexpected trip, so the writing for both stories went on the back burner. Here's an extra long chapter in return for your patience!
Helena: from the Greek meaning, shining light. She lowered her head, entering the room like a shy child meeting her cousins for the first time. Would her other sestras love her as Sarah loved her?
"Hey." Cosima grinned, greeting her like an old friend. She leaned on her tank as Felix helped her up.
"You should not be up." Helena was almost afraid to get any closer. She looked so fragile, each step had to cause great pain.
"I'm up, c'mere." Cosima wouldn't have missed this moment for the world. Their sisterhood had blossomed another member, and she was accepting with open arms. Helena was one of them. She slowly broke from the hug, keeping her hands on Helena's arms. "You're very beautiful."
"Thank you." Helena had been called many things in her lifetime. Monster. Worthless. Abomination. Certainly never beautiful. Here was this woman she had never met, who she had once been ordered to kill, embracing her unconditionally. How could she repay the compliment? "I like your hairs."
"I like your hairs, too." Cosima couldn't have smiled any wider. Helena was part of the Clone Club now. What a trip.
Meanwhile, Alison had stayed to the side, trying to remind herself that Helena was no longer the hooded figure hunting them down like prized elk. Felix took note. Where Cosima was giving, Alison put up a ten-foot fence. He waltzed over to her, ready to help play social Teflon for the pair.
"This is your other sister, Alison." She finally uncrossed her arms, taking a few steps in her direction. "Hello, Helena, lovely to meet you." She'd still managed to come off like she was meeting an eccentric college roommate for the first time.
"Pleased to meet you too." Helena politely shook her hand. Cosima couldn't help but laugh at the exchange as she took a seat on the arm of Sarah's couch. They were both trying so hard. It was adorable to watch. "You are married?" Helena noted the ring. A marriage, a family, a happily ever after, this was something real she could have with the Proletheans out of the picture.
"Yes, oh yes, very much so. To Donnie." Alison glanced at the ring, letting a smile peek through. After months of game-playing and suspicions, she finally proud to say it out loud.
"I will be married too, someday." Married, with many babies to chase around the house. Jesse was a strong man with a good job, they would make a wonderful life together soon.
"Well, it's very rewarding if you can get through the rough patches." Those same few months ago, Alison never thought she'd find common ground with her former would-be killer.
"Auntie Helena!" Kira emerged from her sleepy hideaway in the loft. Helena pulled her up in the sweetest hug, slowly bringing her back down to ground level. Her sweet little angel. They had not harmed her, and for that she was relieved.
"We thought you ran away from us."
"I came back to see your little face. I'm so happy to see you, I'm going to eat your finger." Helena could not remember the last time she felt this kind of joy. She was with all of her sestras, in a room brimming with love. The others couldn't help but smile as they looked on. Helena really was good with children, who would've thought it?
"She alright?" Felix leaned into Sarah.
"Yeah." She marveled at the pair. She was going to be just fine. Clone Club was complete, and together, they'd find a way through this bloody mess.
"I'll make us some tea." He gave her shoulders a squeeze before shuffling along to the kitchen, as the sisters settled in together around the coffee table.
"I'm good, it's okay." Cosima declined Alison's proffered hand while she lowered herself back to the couch.
"You are not well." Helena had phrased it more as an observation than a question. She couldn't help it, her sestra was sick, and she had protective instincts.
"I've had better days." Cosima tried to stuff the cough in her shoulder. She couldn't separate herself from her fate much longer, but, Helena was part of the club now. This was as much her concern as any of them. "It's a, uh, disease somewhere in our DNA that some of us have gotten." And if they'd had just a few more hours with Ethan, she'd have a much better explanation for all of them. She fumbled with the string on her pants, keeping her hands occupied. "Just lucky, I guess."
"And bloody brilliant enough to find a way to cure it." Sarah cut in. She was going to tell Cosima as many times as she needed to hear it.
"Yeah, thanks mom." Cosima managed a smile as Felix came back around with steaming mugs for them.
"Cream and sugar's on the table. If you want honey, you'll have to go 'round the corner to buy it." Felix squeezed into an empty spot on the couch. "Teddy used up the last of it the other night." He casually sipped from his cup.
"Wait, who's Teddy?" Alison asked, feeling behind the times again.
"No one remotely related to DYAD or clones, relax." Sarah couldn't help but roll her eyes, laughing.
"Lucky little bastard." Cosima smirked. Though she was thrilled by her lifelong quest for knowledge, there was a small part of her that wished she could be in the dark about what was coming for her. "You and Donnie doing okay?" She deflected to Alison. Anything to take the spotlight away from her impending doom, and the pity that already preceded it.
"Much better, actually." She didn't dare spill the real details. As she'd said before, every marriage had its secrets. "Sometimes you find you have much more in common than you think."
"Donnie, he is handsome man?" Helena took a stab at the group's small talk. The sestras had their standards after all.
"In his own way…" Alison looked off for a moment, trying to avoid the inevitable sass from Felix. Their relationship was still under repair, but she was finally coming to appreciate what he brought to the table. "He's kind, he's loyal, I'm lucky to have a beautiful family with him."
"You have a family?" It was all so intriguing to Helena.
"Oh yes, two kids." Alison's fortress had long since collapsed, and she found herself digging a photo out of her wallet. "We adopted them when they were just babies."
Helena examined the photo carefully. A mother and father with adoring children, it was the life she wanted so very badly. She could probably do without the matching cardigans, though. "They are cute children."
Meanwhile, Cosima had walked across the room, examining Felix's record collection. All the talk of significant others made her miss that certain someone, who was currently being taken thousands of miles away at Rachel's behest. "Hey Felix, where do you hide the good stuff?" She teased, flipping through the vinyls in his box.
"I keep the West Coast rubbish on the shelf." He waved a casual hand towards the stack on the wall while pouring a short glass of bourbon for himself.
"Nice." She ran her fingers past the album covers, finally finding the proper soundtrack for the occasion. She flipped the record in her hands, setting it down on the turntable. Fuck it. She thought, peeling off the nasal cannula. If she was with her sisters, she was damn well going to have a good time with them.
For a brief, shining moment, they were just sisters having a great time enjoying each other's company. Sarah crashed on the couch. When was the last time she felt this kind of happiness? "Must be how normal people feel."
"Yeah, man, tea and dance parties, you missed out growing up." Cosima slowly threaded the tubes back to their perch around her ears. Amazing how crummy she felt after only a few minutes without the oxygen flow. The endorphins could only keep her up for so long.
"Oh dear." Alison finally checked her phone. She hadn't told Donnie about her impromptu Clone Club meeting. Oscar and Gemma could be a handful when they joined forces. Time to head back to reality. "I better get going. Donnie doesn't do too well when he's in charge of dinner." She hated to leave, but familial obligations were calling.
"Go on, I'll take you." Felix tossed his coat over his shoulders. He wasn't about to let her wander off all alone after the day's excitement.
"There's more soup on the stove if you get hungry." Alison made sure she had everything before she left. "Be careful with Marion, try not to get thrown in a van, please." Alison had enough of that for a lifetime.
"Can't say I'd be surprised." Sarah smirked as the pair headed for the door. "Be safe, yeah? I'll call you tomorrow."
"Make sure Cosima eats!" Alison called back as they walked out.
"Sure thing." Cosima smiled a little, burying herself deeper in the couch cushions. Good lord, was that comfortable.
Kira crawled her way down to Sarah's lap. She had a feeling her mom and her auntie could use some alone time. "Gettin' tired, monkey?" Sarah brushed a stray lock from Kira's face. "It's a bit past your bedtime."
"Can Auntie Helena read me a story?" She asked through a yawn.
"That's up to Auntie Helena." She smiled, looking to her twin across the room.
"Of course, angel." Helena held out her hand, leading Kira up to the loft, and Sarah alone with Cosima.
"I'm so glad she came." Cosima stared at the pair dreamily while they walked off.
"Yeah, me too." Helena didn't have to feel alone anymore. She had a family and a home to call her own.
"Didn't think she had those dance moves in her."
"Didn't think you did, either." Sarah was still pretty amazed how Cosima could just let loose like that.
"Dying people can surprise you like that sometimes." Cosima knew the studies. There were plenty of scientific accounts of having that one last surge before a patient passed. She was starting to worry that their little soiree was hers.
"Hey…" Sarah took pause. The D word hadn't been dropped so casually before. God, why did Cosima insist on being so strong all the time? "We just need a little more time—"
Before Sarah could finish, Cosima erupted in a coughing fit, fighting to breathe between hacks as the warm blood splattered her hands.
"Alright, Cos." Sarah's heart sank. This was really happening. She grabbed a spare dish towel from the coffee table, offering it up for Cosima's next round of lung mayhem. She cradled her just as she did Kira, when she had that nasty bout of the flu. "S'alright." She rubbed her back as the storm quelled. Marion better have some answers, and fast.
"Sorry." She'd practically said it at a whisper. She couldn't help but feel it was the beginning of the end. They had no cure, and no real plan. It was just more logical to stop fighting the notion of death.
"Did I miss the French braiding?" Felix slid the slab of a door behind him. He dropped the sarcastic grin once he read the room. Things had morphed quite a bit in the short time he was away. He didn't know what he could do to help, but he scurried over to the couch to give it a try.
"Let's get you to bed, yeah?" Sarah offered softly. She'd had an exhausting day, and her body just wasn't having any more of it. It didn't take a PhD candidate to see that much.
"Long as I get a story too." She cracked the smallest of smiles once the coughing subsided.
"I'll tell you the one about the Banker and the Rent Boy." Felix tried his hardest to mask his fear while he and Sarah helped her up. They weren't ready for her to be this sick yet.
"Mmm, kinky." She winced. It was much more of a struggle to make the short journey than she wanted it to be.
"Nice 'n easy, Cos." They set her down gently. Felix fluffed the pillows and Sarah helped her under the covers.
"Great service, is the tip included in the bill?" Cosima let her head fall back on the pillow.
"Cheeky." Sarah let a small smile loose as she settled in next to her.
"I'll be on the couch, two sheets to the wind if you need me." Felix took his leave, letting the sisters have their well-earned rest. He needed to half the bottle to get over this day.
"Night Felix, thanks." Cosima locked eyes with him on his way out, as if the connection could spring loose all the gratitude she had to give for the part he played in getting her home to her sisters.
"Getcha sleep, geek." Sarah rested in the space beside her. "Long day, you earned it."
"No shit." Her heavy eyelids finally came to rest. The battle with her biology would have to wait till morning.
Sarah kept her vigil, watching her chest rise with each struggling breath. Stay alive. Please, stay alive.