A/N: Warning for drug use/addiction because I forgot that before.

It's Harder Than We First Thought, I Believe You're the Antidote

They'd been awake all night. It was nearly dawn by the time they'd managed to clean the car up. Well, Beth thought, Sarah had cleaned the car up. God knows how she found a place to do that.

Sarah had done everything. Taken care of the body, the car, hell she'd even taken care of her. She'd tried to help, she was a cop for God's sake, and she was supposed to be able to respond well to stress, she was trained to be better than the pathetic shell of a person that she'd become.

They'd returned to her townhouse in silence, Beth didn't know if there was anything she would say to the woman who had literally just helped her hide a body.

Sarah led her slowly to the couch, before settling beside her. The silence between them thick with the understanding that they were well and truly in this together now, for better or worse they were in this until the end.

'I didn't even get the briefcase.'

'Well, we got her room key so we'll get it, okay?' Sarah huffed beside her, 'just get some sleep, yeah? We'll put this behind us an' deal with it tomorrow.' Before rising and making her way to the bathroom. Beth hoped absently that she hadn't left any blood on the couch as she lay down in the space Sarah had left.

Through her tired haze, Beth decided that the promise of tomorrow was poetic. Symbolic yet ultimately meaningless. She liked the idea of tomorrow because it never comes, not really, but the promise that it can get better, that the illusive tomorrow will finally come is enough to make people keep moving on through their lives.

She'd thought that she was done with that empty promise, that things were never going to get better, but at that moment even with everything that had happened in the past few days, weeks, months even seemed insignificant. Watching Sarah who was so full of life, who was fighting for her better tomorrow, Sarah who had already saved her in more ways than one, a better tomorrow didn't feel so much like a promise but an inevitability.

And she knew that she'd have to fight for it. That it wasn't going to be easy. Sarah wasn't going to make her magically better. She knew this. But, for the first time in a long time, she knew that she could fight, would fight and actually believed that she could win.

She had a plan. Okay, so it wasn't a great plan in fact, by all accounts it was bloody stupid but it was the best they had. They needed to get that briefcase before anyone else got their hands on it and Sarah figured that if she could be Beth she could be the German, they had the same face after all, and how hard could a German accent be?She just had to figure out how to pull it off. She didn't want to cut all her hair off, so she had that to deal with, a hat maybe? Beth's clothes were not going to cut it, she needed something more ostentatious. The devil's in the details and they really needed to not get caught. Maybe Felix had something she could use?

She heard Beth stir, time for planning was up, it seemed.

'Mornin',' she said, drawing attention to herself. She didn't want Beth to think she'd skipped out on her again.

'Yeah, it is isn't it?' Beth said as she sat up, combing a hand through her hair.

'So…' Sarah said, 'I've got a plan. To get the briefcase, I mean.' No need to beat around the bush.

'Let's hear it'

'Okay, so long story short, I had to be you yesterday. Don't even ask' she added before Beth could even start to respond. 'Just, if your partner calls an' asks if you're alright today, jus' go with it, okay? I'll explain properly later'

'Okay…' Beth agreed hesitantly 'But what does this have to do with the briefcase?'

'Simple. I pretend to be her and go and get it.'

'But that's fraud' Not able to contain the police officer in her, obviously.

'We hid a dead body yesterday!'

She watched Beth as that sunk in. If she were being honest, she still couldn't quite believe it either, and she'd done some shit in her time.

But still, nothing quite like that. She hoped she'd never have to do anything like that again.

The longer that Beth sat there in silence, the more nervous Sarah became, doubt beginning to claw away at her chest. Maybe the idea really was as idiotic as she thought it was. Maybe Beth didn't think she could pull it off, or worse, didn't trust her to.

The silence hung thickly between them, Beth's deliberation creating an almost tangible presence, neither of them moving, neither knowing how to break the spell.

Beth turned towards her, slowly, carefully.

'Okay. So what do we have to do?'

The game was on, but that didn't mean she was ready for it. She still had so much that she needed to do if she was actually going to pull it off. A German accent wasn't going to just made her way to Felix's loft, hoping that he had clothes that could help her out. And besides, she needed to talk to him, had promised to talk to him, to not disappear and since she'd been back, even if it had only been a couple of days, she hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information about what she'd been up to; and something about that didn't sit right with her.

He was her brother, he should know things about her life. She didn't like keeping thing secret from him if she can help it. They'd always been it in together, family, even if she didn't act like it sometimes. She didn't want that to change.

She needed this one thing in her life not to change.

'Oi, oi!' she shouted as she entered the flat, immediately moving towards his clothes. 'Fe?'

'Oh. It's you'

'Ouch, Fe. That hurts.'

'Well, after the visit I had from Vic earlier, I can't be too careful'

Vic had been there? That bastards just couldn't take a hint.

'Shit, Fe. I am so sorry. You okay? He didn't try anything?'

'Well it wasn't me he was lookin' for, was it? Pissed off sharpish when he realised I wasn't actually hiding you, my dear sister. Course I may have had to knock it into him. Like talking to a brick wall, that one.

'Sarah' He said, his tone softening, real concern for her welfare shining through, 'Just watch out for Vic, yeah?'

She stilled as the weight of Felix's concern settled over her. She'd missed it, having someone who cared about her.

'Ah, Fe you do care,' She mocked, trying to shake off the sentimentality that had taken hold of her as she resumed rifling through his clothes.

'Well I wouldn't be happy if you died, so.' Thankfully he got the message.

He sat down, watching as she continued in her search. 'What are you doing?'

That was the question, wasn't it? How on earth could she even begin to explain this?

'Shit's getting real, Fe.' She exhaled. 'When did everything get this complicated?'

'You know I have no idea what you're going on about?'

'I just… Shit.' She wanted to tell him. She had to tell him. 'I'm just gonna tell you, but you have to keep your mouth shut, got it? You can't tell no one, not even Mrs S.' God what was she thinking, 'Especially Mrs S, yeah'

'Cut the dramatics, Sarah. It doesn't suit you.'

Okay, so he really wanted to know. 'I saw a woman try to kill herself, the other night, at the station.'

'Ew, a jumper.'

'I said try, Fe. She didn't actually do it.'

'Oh. Well. What about it then?'

'This woman, she looked… she looked exactly like me.'

Floppy hat and fur vest. That could work.

'Really? You really expect me to believe that.'

'I'm not fucking with you,'

'Prove it'

'I'm not lying,'

Sunglasses. Perfect.

'Whatever you say Sarah'

She turned to face him, sliding the sunglasses into place.

'Can I borrow these?'

'What for? You'll look like a right pillock.'

Like that really mattered.

'What else, Fe? Still a hustler.' She replied, as she put the finishing touches to the outfit and made to leave.

'You actually look quite hot.'

'Later, Fe.'

Operation: Katja Obinger, was a go.

After having a surprisingly hard time finding something flamboyant enough to wear to at least try and look like Katja, she made her way to the hotel.

The closer she got, the more she had to try and hold her nerve. She couldn't afford to freak, even if it was seeming like an increasingly bad idea.

They needed that briefcase. Even if she had no idea what could possibly be in it, or what they needed it for. Beth thought it was important and apparently that's all it took for her to get on board.

But still, she was allowed to be nervous. Beth wasn't the one who actually had to pull it off.

Sarah steeled herself as she began to walk across the hotel lobby, trying to contain her rising panic as she noticed the hotel receptionists trying to get her attention. Trying to wave her, wave Katja, over. Now was not the time for panic.

She slumped against the lift wall. This was more stress than she'd anticipated and probably more trouble than it was worth. She hadn't signed up for this shit but she couldn't see a way out. She wasn't even sure she really wanted a way out.

She was fucked.

Moving out of the elevator, she made her way towards the room. It was simple, get in, she'd already done that, now she just needed to get the briefcase and get out. Then she, they could put this, put Katja behind them and move on. They could try to forget.

She was not prepared for the scene that greeted her behind the door.

'Bloody Hell.' Someone had gotten there before her that much was evident as she took in the state of the room. 'Fuck,' she breathed as she began to pick through the mess in front of her, hoping in vain that the briefcase was still there.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialling quickly. Beth answered on the first ring. Good, maybe she'd know what to do now.

'It's not here,' she said as calmly as she could.

'What do you mean it's not there?'

'I mean the bloody briefcase in't in the bloody room!'

She exhaled quickly, trying to expel the anger rising in her chest and calm herself. The anger wouldn't help anyone and Beth didn't deserve it.

'Room's been trashed too. Looks like someone got here before us.'

'Shit.' Beth exhaled from the other end of the line. 'Shit'

'Shit is right. But now what?'

'Now? Now nothing. Get out of there, don't hang around it's too dangerous. Whoever was there before us must have known that we'd come looking. They may still be watching the hotel.'

And she couldn't have mentioned that before she went in. 'Shit. Okay, yeah. I'm… I'll catch you later, yeah?'

As she hung up the phone she did a final sweep of the room, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything. That's when she saw it.

A decapitated Barbie doll. On top of a Bible

That was just perfect. They were dealing with a fucking psycho. Great. That was bound to lead to oodles of fun. They couldn't just be dealing with your garden variety murderer could they? Not even that could be simple.

Giving the room one final once over, eyes again coming to rest on the doll, she decided it was time to get the hell out of there. She could deal with the implications of that later.

She'd forgotten about the hotel staff that had tried to flag her down until she was being escorted to the hotel desk. It was really not part of the plan. But the plan had been blown to hell well before this.

She just needed to keep her cool.

'Miss Obinger?'

Okay. Showtime.

'We'd like to talk to you about the damage to your room.'

Shit. Just play it cool. They don't suspect a thing.

'Vy were you in my room?'

'We'd had some noise complaints from other guests, we went to investigate.'

Okay that actually made sense, but still.

'Miss Obinger, why damage your room like that?'

'Rock and Roll'

'Rock and Roll? The sink was torn from the wall'

Ha. Really? She hadn't noticed that. Apparently she was dealing with a freakishly strong murderous psychopath. Things just keep getting better.

'I vill pay for ze damage and vould like to check out now.' She thanked God that she's bought Katja's credit cards as she handed one over. Now she just had to hope that they were accepted.

She stood with bated breath as she waited for the transaction to clear. She really needed it to go through.

She tried to contain her elated surprise as he handed her back the card. She was in the clear. She could finally get the hell out of there.

'Miss Obinger?'

Apparently not.

'Your Bag.'

Bag? What bag?

She turned again to face the counter, schooling her expression, trying to contain the smile that threatened to emerge at the sight of the silver briefcase sitting on the desk. It seemed that this whole mission wasn't a failure after all.

'Of course.' She said as she picked up the case. 'Danke.'

And with that, she was gone.

Paul was there.

Sarah had left, and Art had rung and rung and stopped ringing and then Paul was there.

Why was Paul there? He wasn't supposed to be back yet. Wasn't she supposed to have another day?

She'd thought that she had the strength needed to fight, and when Sarah was there, it was almost like she did. She had the motivation, at least. But with Paul it was different. She was different when he was there.

Paul was a reminder of everything that was wrong with her life. Even before she got into the whole cloning thing, he'd been there. A parasite, draining the life, draining the love from her. And she didn't know how to make it stop. How to stop caring. She needed to make it stop, but he just wouldn't leave.

But he wasn't there either. Not really. He never really had been.

He wasn't staying. For now, he was going to give her some space, but still there he was checking up on her, checking in when they'd only been apart a couple of days.

Never too close, never too far. A familiar pattern for them. It's the way he'd always been.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the paranoia. That sinking feeling in her gut that told her he was up to something.

If he hadn't been sent to watch her, what was he doing there? What was keeping him there? If he actually cared he'd see what he, what his pretence was doing to her. It was killing her, hell, it almost had and she didn't know how much more of it she could take.

Why wouldn't he just let her be?

How did he really expect her to believe that that was really how lovers acted towards each other, that what they had together was how a relationship was supposed to be? For so long she'd thought that she was the problem, that the faults that she saw were her fault but now she knew the truth. She was drowning in his bullshit. She knew this and yet she still couldn't pull herself out. She wouldn't. Not until she had answers,

'How was the hearing,' He asked. 'I know you've been under a lot of stress recently.'

He really had no idea.

She'd forgotten about the hearing; that must have been what Sarah was talking about earlier, when she was talking about Art. She hadn't thought she'd mentioned him. Although, now she was intrigued as to how Sarah had handled that meeting. She guessed she'd just have to ask.

'It was fine.' For all she knew, it was.

And then, as quickly as he appeared, he was gone. Never spending too much time together if he could help it. Never too close. Never too far. Always too much.

She walked to the bathroom and reached immediately for her medicine cabinet. It didn't matter what she took, any would help, she just needed something to dull the ache that Paul always left behind him.

The thing that got her was that he asked like he cared. That's what hurt the most. That in moments like that she could almost fall for his lies all over again. It would be easy. She could just pretend, forget everything that she'd learnt and just carry on for the rest of her life with Paul. She'd fallen for them once before happily, what was to say that she couldn't again.

Absolutely nothing , apart from the knowledge that if she let herself it would destroy her completely.

Her phone beeped from where she had left it, pulling her from the thoughts that would only aid in her destruction.

Got the Briefcase

Sarah. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve her but she was glad for her. She was always saving her. But she couldn't let herself think about it for too long, Sarah had the case. There was work to be done.