– Chapter Twenty-Seven –
Danielle's house was large but mostly empty. Rat and Katja recognised the butler they'd seen before, who looked momentarily confused as to why Danielle was here rather than at the skating tournament, but the French clone shot him a glare as if to tell him to mind his own business. The butler then left the clones alone, deciding he probably didn't want to know anyway.
"Hand zem over," Katja spoke bluntly. She held her hand out impatiently. "Zee documents. Fetch zem and hand zem over so vee can get zis over with."
Danielle lowered herself into an armchair and took a moment to rest her injured ankle while Rat irritably translated Katja's instruction.
Danielle raised her eyebrows and looked to Rat helplessly. "You no stay?" she asked.
Rat stared at her. "What?"
"Drinks? Tea maybe?" Danielle offered.
Katja stuffed both hands in her pockets and scowled deeply, but Rat's expression softened slightly. "We don't really have time," the hacker said quietly, but it occurred to her instantly Danielle hadn't understood. The French clone sat quietly for a while, staring down at her own hands. Rat thought she looked quite sad. "One drink," Rat sighed.
Danielle whipped her head around to grin at Rat, and then she was up to grab the attention of the butler. Katja darted forward to help her, but it seemed the skater managed to support herself by holding onto various pieces of furniture as she went.
Katja glared at her sister. "Vhy, Rat?"
Rat shrugged. "I feel sorry for her."
Katja looked as though she'd never seen Rat before. "I do not know you," she said dramatically.
Rat nodded towards Danielle. "Read her body language and tell me what you see. Usually you're better at this than I am."
Katja sighed, but took a moment to observe the skater. "I see an annoying lady who likes making trouble for us," she muttered.
Rat gave her an unimpressed look. Katja sighed and forced herself to calm down and be unbiased, if only for Rat's sake. She didn't know what her sister had suddenly noticed that she hadn't.
"I think she's lonely," the hacker continued when it became apparent Katja didn't get it. "Over the last couple of weeks, I started to notice it from different things she's said...to be honest, I think that's the real reason she's been dragging this out. As much of a pain in the ass as she's been, having one drink won't kill us. Besides, we have a few hours until Leigh and Aila will be back from the tournament anyway," she reasoned.
Katja could only stare at Rat, completely taken aback at her unusually compassionate behaviour. "Who are you and vat have you done vith my sister?" she grumbled, though she sighed and made herself comfortable.
"Hush, it won't kill you," Rat told her, eyeing as Danielle slowly made her way back over.
"Ready soon," the French clone said, easing herself down on the sofa opposite them.
"Merci," Rat replied. She watched as the other clone examined her ankle with a frown. The skin around the injury was red and slightly swollen, and looked very painful. Aila had said Danielle should be fine soon enough though. She'd just need to be careful with it and manage the pain with regular painkillers.
Katja remained standing for a while even after Rat sat down. When the butler arrived with a tray of drinks, Rat glowered at her sister.
Katja held in a sigh. "Cookies?" she asked sternly.
Rat tried very hard not to press her palm into her face, but Danielle seemed content to accept the request. Katja sat down at last and helped herself to some tea while waiting for the butler to return with food.
The three clones were mostly quiet while they drank their tea and ate the cookies. Danielle didn't appear to have much to say. She seemed happy to sit in the company of the other two. Rat felt rather tense and awkward, unsure of what to say, while Katja shovelled as many cookies into her mouth as possible, one after the other.
Danielle reached for the remote for the TV after a bit, making a comment in French about seeing how the tournament was going. Nerves hit Rat as the skater found the channel. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what was happening...but Danielle giggled to herself.
Katja leered at her. "You should not be so happy about zis," she muttered.
"You really hate the ice skating that much?" Rat questioned. Danielle looked at her expectantly. Rat then repeated the question in French, to which Danielle just shrugged. "Why?" Rat added.
"It is...not fun anymore," Danielle offered. "Never really was."
"But taking drugs is fun, ja?" Katja muttered under her breath. Thankfully, neither Rat nor Danielle heard her.
"Why'd you start if it was never fun?" Rat asked, using words Danielle understood. It would be easier to talk in French, but she knew Katja's mood was growing worse by the minute. Rat didn't want to exclude her sister from the conversation.
Danielle hesitated for a moment, before turning the TV off and looking down at her hands. "It was a...erm...concours...contest?" she said, looking to Rat to make sure she got the word right. She carried on when the hacker nodded in approval. "Contest, yes...when I was very little. It was only won by chance. My parents zough, zey wanted that I kept at it. I never had many friends in school, so I agreed to more lessons. Few turned into many, and parents kept demanding more of me...zey wanted that I become famous and compete in Olympics one day. I did not want to disappoint them, but..." she trailed off and sighed. "Never 'appy. Always wanting more. Why bother when doing zeir wish makes me miserable?"
Rat nodded in understanding. "Yeah," she agreed."It's hard to please parents sometimes."
"Vell zey should be more understanding," Katja scorned as she sipped her drink. "Parents...zey are zere to guide and love, not to make kids do only vat zey vant zem to do."
"Sadly it doesn't always happen that way, Katja," Rat told her. "Hell knows my parents were impossible to please." Turning her attention back to Danielle, Rat frowned slightly. "When the backlash of this whole mess gets out, do you think your parents will at least try to understand?"
Danielle raised an eyebrow, and Rat repeated the question in French. The skater looked down, a shadowed look suddenly crossing her face before she masked it with a forced smile. "It does not matter. Nobody will miss me."
Rat stared at her, her heart skipping a beat. Did Danielle just mean nobody would miss her on the skating scene, or did she mean something far worse? The hacker glanced at Katja, who stopped eating as her thoughts wandered into similar territory.
Before they could question her further, Danielle stood up. "Merci. I will get things for you now." Danielle left the room as quickly as she could manage with her ankle. Rat and Katja could only watch her leave, before focusing their attention on each other.
"She didn't mean what I think she meant just then...right?" Rat asked quietly.
Katja shook her head. "I do not know."
Suddenly, Rat's phone rang. She glanced down at the display. "It's Leigh. Wonder if they finished early." She hit the button and held the phone to her ear. "Yeah?" For a moment, the hacker was startled to hear crying on the other end of the line. "Leigh? What happened?" she asked urgently.
"It's Aila..." Leigh said, finding her voice after taking a deep breath. "She's been hurt badly."
Rat paled and looked at Katja with wide eyes, her gaze travelling to Danielle as the skater re-entered the room. "Hurt how? Did Helena attack her?" the hacker asked. Katja's eyes widened in horror.
"No, it...it was an accident on the ice. God, we never should have made her enter that stupid tournament!" Leigh said, and Rat could hear the guilt in her voice.
"Calm down and tell me where you guys are. We'll be there shortly," Rat instructed. She nodded when Leigh told her the name of the hospital. "We're on our way." Rat hung up and faced Katja and Danielle. "Aila was injured on the ice, and apparently it's pretty bad. They're at the hospital now."
"Vee are going zen," Katja stated, roughly snatching the papers from Danielle as she passed her.
"I am going too," the French clone said firmly.
Katja glared at her, but Rat sighed and offered a hand to help support Danielle, not having the time or energy to argue about it. They needed to get to Leigh and Aila. Nothing else mattered for the moment.
Katja crossly muttered something under her breath, but said nothing else and flagged them down a taxi.
Entering the hospital was sickeningly familiar to Rat and Katja. It was as if they couldn't escape hospitals, someone always ending up hurt somehow wherever they went. Rat continued to help Danielle walk as they looked around the waiting room.
It didn't take long to spot Leigh sitting in the corner, her face in her hands as she waited to hear any news about Aila. The clones approached her, though Leigh barely acknowledged them.
Katja frowned and put an arm around the hairdresser as she sobbed. People around them looked on curiously, some of them whispering Danielle's name. Danielle herself wanted nothing more than to disappear in that moment. She felt absolutely horrible that Aila had gotten hurt.
"I am sorry..." she said to Leigh quietly, meaning it as she fought back her own tears. Leigh just shook her head, not looking up as she leaned into Katja. Her shoulders shook as she cried.
Danielle frowned, staring down at her hands before she closed her eyes. "Ce est de ma faute...ce ne est arrivé parce que je suis tellement égoïste..." she murmured to herself. ("This is my fault...this only happened because I am selfish...")
Rat glanced at her, and then at Leigh. She had no idea what she could do to help either of them in that moment. She didn't know what time Leigh had gotten here, but the hacker hoped they heard good news soon. The rest of them didn't know the extent of the injury, though they didn't have the heart to press Leigh for details yet.
Leigh eventually ceased her crying, instead settling for falling into an uncharacteristic silence as she looked up at the other clones. Katja remained with her arm around her. "Leigh, vat happened?" she asked gently.
Leigh swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "She just...well she's not a skater, is she? She was thrown and she didn't land how she was supposed to..."
"Oh God," Rat whispered, horrified.
Leigh sniffed a few times as she pulled herself together. "They were saying something about her arm, but there was so much blood – I dunno what really happened – nobody will tell me anything-"
"It's OK," Katja said soothingly. She rubbed Leigh's back gently while Danielle took a seat next to the hairdresser, she too on the verge of tears.
Rat remained standing, glancing around for a sign of a doctor approaching them. She wanted to feel angry at Danielle for a moment, but it was clear how upset the skater was, and Rat found she didn't have the heart for it after understanding Danielle a lot more. It was hard not to pity her...
"Oh damn," Rat blurted out, eyes wide. The figure of a man came into view from behind the glass in the hospital doors, and Rat knew who he was immediately from his glittery, flamboyant skater outfit. Kyle burst into the room, banging the doors open as he did, desperate to see his girlfriend.
Rat flailed for a moment before turning on the spot and rushing over to the clones to stand in front of them. She managed to block their faces from view, but it seemed Kyle was far too distracted looking for doctors to notice them huddled together for the time being anyway.
Danielle peered around at the sound of Kyle's voice. "Oh merde," she gasped in horror.
"Is he the type to cause a scene?" Rat asked her as the clones huddled together to hide their faces.
"Um...maybe?" Danielle offered.
"Isn't that her monitor as well?" Leigh asked tiredly, her head hurting from the entire stressful ordeal. If Danielle's monitor decided to grass them up to DYAD, Leigh wasn't sure if they'd be able to escape again like they did in Geneva.
"Ja," Katja nodded, remembering him from Danielle's file.
"Bloody perfect..." the hairdresser groaned.
Danielle looked to Rat for some type of explanation, not understanding much about monitors yet. Rat sighed and explained that all clones had at least one person to keep tabs on them and report things back to the people who created them. Danielle was shocked. She returned her gaze to Kyle as he stood at the front desk, speaking with the secretary.
"Il espionne sur moi?" Danielle asked, looking both hurt and betrayed now. ("He spies on me?")
"Oui." Rat sighed.
"Fournier?"
Everybody's heads shot up at the sound of Danielle's surname. Kyle looked over and ran towards the nurse, speaking in rushed French.
Leigh grit her teeth and stood up. "Come on. I'm not bloody well letting that tosser stop me from seeing Aila." She followed after the nurse.
The rest of the clones stood and walked after her. They followed behind the nurse until they reached the room. Kyle went in without looking back. The nurse paused in surprise as she saw the group of identicals, but said nothing as they rushed past her to enter the room as well.
Aila was lying in the white hospital bed, still asleep from being sedated. Her arm was bound in bandages and secured in a sling. The doctor was pale, even with the make-up on, her face and arms dotted with scrapes and bruises from skidding across the ice. Danielle froze at the sight, momentarily spooked to see Aila looking just like her.
"Aila..." Leigh whimpered, covering her mouth with her hand.
Kyle, who had been standing beside the bed, glanced over his shoulder at the group of clones. His eyes grew wide in shock and confusion as he saw Danielle, looking back and forth between her and Aila.
"Faaaack," Katja blurted out. The German whipped out her sunglasses from her pocket and hastily threw them on her face, almost placing them upside down. Rat could only glance at her sister in disbelief that Katja thought she could hide now.
"Wha-what?" Kyle exclaimed. He had turned pale as well now. "Danielle?" His eyes darted between the clones, and suddenly he was spinning on the spot to look back at Aila.
"Kyle," Danielle said desperately, stepping forward carefully with raised hands. "Kyle..."
Kyle froze completely for a moment as Danielle hurried forward to tug him by the arm. He could not find it in himself to resist Danielle urging him out of the room, instead temporarily paralyzed by what he was seeing. The other clones watched in horror as the doors closed behind the couple, only for them to see Kyle finally react in anger when Danielle talked at him in a raised, angry voice.
Rat pressed hand to her forehead. "Great," she whispered, eyes shut tight. "Bloody great..."
"Someone ez going to have to make sure Kyle does not blab or freak out too much," Katja stated. Her eyes fell on Rat, and she pulled a child-like, hopeful face.
Rat bit back a frustrated groan. She threw a glance in Aila's direction. She knew Aila didn't need to wake up to angry arguing outside of the room after what had happened to her...
And of course, Rat was the only one who spoke Kyle and Danielle's language.
"The things I DO for you people!" she grumbled as she burst through the doors.
Rat came to an abrupt halt when Danielle and Kyle froze mid-argument to stare at her in shock. The hacker simply folded her arms and raised her eyebrows to express her disapproval.
"Go," Danielle said to her. She made a shooing gesture with her hand as if to tell Rat to go back to the room. "Go – I can sort zis."
Kyle's large brown eyes grew extremely wide. "When did you learn ENGLISH?"
"Is that really a concern right now?" Rat snapped at the man. "Oh whatever, just shut up and listen. This isn't the time or the place for you to be arguing."
Kyle stared at Rat in disbelief. He was clearly having trouble coming to terms with the fact there were other women with Danielle's face. Rat wondered what Danielle had said to him so far.
"Fine...we can go..." Danielle said, but she paused when Rat fixed her with a pointed glare.
"Oh no you bloody well don't. You aren't going anywhere until you apologise to Aila for what you made her do for you," the hacker said firmly. While she was starting to like the French clone more, this was one thing she wouldn't let her get out of.
Danielle frowned then, suddenly looking very guilty again. "I did not know she would be 'urt!" she whined pathetically.
"I don't care. As soon as she wakes up, you're going to be in there apologising," Rat ordered with a final tone. Then she looked at Kyle. "And you – don't play completely dumb. You're her monitor, right? You report back to DYAD."
Kyle looked shocked that the pale clone knew this, and he averted his gaze guiltily.
"Exactly. Did you never wonder why you've been doing that?" Rat asked dryly.
Danielle glared up at Kyle then. "Why?!" she demanded.
Kyle ignored her in favour of leering at Rat. "How the hell do you know about all of this?" he demanded.
"I have my sources," Rat told him, not at all intimidated. "If you want to know why there are so many people with the same face, I can give you an overview of the situation, but right now, we need to come to some sort of agreement about what you're going to tell DYAD when they contact you about the incident. So are you going to work with us or against us? I'm afraid there's no middle ground."
Back in the room, Aila groaned lowly as she opened her eyes. Her head pounded, and she could barely see from the residual effects of being put under. She felt someone take her hand carefully, turning her head to see an unmistakable flash of auburn hair that she'd recognise anywhere, even if the person wasn't fully in focus yet.
"Leigh..." she murmured, her eyes adjusting to the light. "Katja..." she added upon seeing the German appear over Leigh's shoulder.
"Aila..." Leigh responded quietly. "I'm SO sorry. We never should have made you do that."
Aila seemed confused for a moment, before memories of the skating incident flashed through her mind. She cringed and looked down at her injured arm. She'd never been more thankful for a morphine drip than she was in that moment.
"I agreed though, didn't I?" Aila whispered tiredly. "Nobody...nobody made me..."
"Yeah, but still," Leigh responded. She leaned closer to Aila, wanting to hug her, but scared of causing her more pain or discomfort. "You scared the shit out of us."
Katja nodded in agreement as she neared the bed. Aila held back a tired sob. "Could have been worse," she said bravely, though it was clear the incident had shaken her up. "Could have been my neck."
"Oh God, don't even," Leigh began, rubbing her eyes now.
"If you need or vant anything, Aila, you tell us," Katja spoke up. "Vee owe you big time for zis." She glanced back at the door for a moment, where behind it, Rat, Danielle and Kyle were still talking. "So does Danielle."
"Shit, is she here?" Aila squeaked. She attempted to sit up so she could see through the glass in the door, but Leigh urged her back down.
"Rat's dealing with her," the hairdresser said. "Don't fret for now."
Aila nodded, but she felt anxious. She resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably. "I'd like to get all this hideous make-up off," she spoke in a low voice. "And the hair...it has to go."
Leigh laughed a bit, even as another tear escaped her. "You insulting my work, Aila?"
Aila managed a smile. "I'd just rather be me again."
Katja nodded and made her way to the door. "Ja, so vould vee. I can bring your zings from the house. Pink hoody and all."
Aila nodded to her with a tired smile as she tried to relax a bit. "Thanks..."
Katja opened the door, and raised an eyebrow to not see the corridor was now empty. Curious, she sent Rat a quick text asking where she was. Her phone buzzed a moment later.
'End of hallway at chairs with the others. Had to move them from corridor. Started to cause another scene.'
Katja typed a reply. 'Aila is awake. I'll get things from house for her.'
'I'll go with you. Need a break from these two.'
Katja snorted and shook, but she leaned against the wall and waited for Rat. Somewhere in her mind she wanted to argue that she could handle it by herself, but she knew it would be pointless to do so. Besides, she didn't doubt Rat really wanted an excuse to get away from the bickering couple.
A few minutes later, the German glanced over and saw the trio walking up the corridor. Danielle and Kyle both looked angry and refused to look at each other, and Rat just looked exasperated. When they reached the door, Rat glanced at Danielle and gave her a stern look. The skater snapped something in French and then walked into the room, leaving Kyle out in the corridor. Rat looked at him for a moment, before turning her attention to Katja.
"Let's go," she said with a sigh, making her way towards the front of the hospital. "What do we need to get from the house?"
"Vee need Aila's hoody, and Leigh's box of hair thingies," Katja told her. "Aila does not vant to be Danielle anymore. She ez shaken up badly from zee whole zing..."
"Don't blame her," Rat muttered. "I told Danielle to go and beg forgiveness for what happened. No way in hell was she getting out of that one. Personal problems or not, she owes Aila big time."
Katja nodded firmly. "As soon as doctor is better, vee leave zis place. No more pissing about. Vee must go to Canada."
When the door to the room opened and Danielle walked in, Aila stared at her blankly. Her uninjured hand fidgeted slightly as it clenched and unclenched the bed sheet, betraying her anxiety.
"This enough of a fuck-up for you?" Aila asked, her voice flat and void of emotion.
Danielle lowered her head, feeling even more guilty as she looked at the Scottish clone. She made herself cross the room as best she could with her ankle before sitting down in the chair beside Leigh, who remained silent, even as she gave the French clone a hard stare.
"I am so very sorry..." Danielle whimpered. She repeated the words Rat had taught her, wanting to make sure her apology was as accurate as possible. "I never zought zat somezing like zis would 'appen!"
Aila suddenly felt very awkward and uncomfortable as she remained silent. She glowered down at her bandaged arm. It was beginning to throb again. She didn't have the energy to argue, but if she was starkly honest with herself, she wasn't ready to accept the French clone's apology yet. The agony, humiliation, and trauma of the incident were still too raw.
Danielle didn't sleep that night. She left the hospital with an angry Kyle, only to be followed and harassed by journalists and eager fans who wanted to hear her side of the story, all of them intrigued and confused as to why the French clone suddenly appeared unhurt and ready to leave. Distraught, Danielle ignored them completely and allowed Kyle to drive her home, though deep fear set into her that these events didn't add up. Would the public work out the truth? They must have seen the other clones hanging around the hospital. They'd seen Leigh's face at the fancy party, after all, and there had been rumours and gossip circulating the 'two Danielles' then as well.
It occurred to her later, when the shock of Kyle being her monitor wore off, that this DYAD organisation might cover it up somehow. If this experiment was so important to them, they'd surely go to great lengths to make sure it remained unexposed.
Why though? Danielle found it disgusting they could abuse human life like this. She found it disgusting her own boyfriend had been involved in it all along.
She supposed it made sense though. That night, Kyle explained that yes, he had been made to observe and take notes on Danielle, and encourage her to take her ice skating career as far as possible. It explained why he constantly pushed her, just as her parents once had – were they her original monitors? Danielle felt as though she never really knew them. She had not seen or heard from them properly in years. It made sense that Kyle had taken over their role of pushing her to perfection...and now she knew why.
Kyle was angry; angry that Danielle would run away from this; angry she would talk another clone into taking over and ruining the tournament, because this had been as much of opportunity for fame and glory for him as it had been for her, and now this Aila clone had ruined that...and surely DYAD would be angry at him for not keeping a close enough eye on Danielle; for not realising she'd been meeting these other subjects.
It was clear to Danielle that Kyle was just as shocked and disgusted at the existence of human clones, but his anger was far too great for Danielle to try and feel for him. When she asked why he agreed to spy on her for DYAD, Kyle could not provide an answer, instead turning the discussion around to the fact Danielle had failed.
Failed, like it was some sort of test. It was then that it really sunk in. DYAD wanted to see how a clone would react to fame. Danielle didn't know much about DYAD, but she knew she despised them already. This revelation only strengthened her resolve to quit skating. She would do what she wanted to do, not what some twisted corporation wanted her to do.
After hours of angry shouting and blaming, Kyle left the house. He said he needed some air and that he would be back later. Danielle couldn't deny wanting the space in that moment. The skater poured herself a drink, and reached for her small bag of white powder...but she paused before adding it to the glass.
Had this been part of the experiment as well? She couldn't even remember when or why she first tried cocaine. It had been so long since she'd started using. Now it was just routine to take it whenever she felt depressed, which had been more and more in recent months. The drug-induced sense of false happiness was a comfort when she never felt anything close while sober.
Danielle sighed and reluctantly pulled her hand away from the bag, instead downing her drink and placing the glass aside. She paced back and forth through her bedroom as she watched the clock slowly move through the evening, her thoughts growing darker and darker.
Making her way to the bathroom, the skater stared at her reflection. How much of her life had been hers? Or had it all been a lie, directed as if she was merely a puppet in a play? Danielle saw her own tired eyes staring back at her, and sighed as she leaned against the sink.
"I can't do zis anymore."
The following morning, Aila woke up slowly and sighed, rubbing her eyes. She'd barely slept. She'd been moved up to the third floor of the building when a proper and private room opened up.
Considering Danielle's status as a celebrity, it astounded Aila it took so long to be moved into a proper room, but she didn't say anything about it. There wasn't much she could say regardless since she didn't speak French.
The doctor looked down at her arms. Her bruises had only grown more vivid overnight, and her scrapes felt sore, even as they healed. Aila tried to sit up, and managed to do so after a few minutes of struggling with her good arm. She wondered how long she'd be stuck here. She didn't know the extent of the break, but she recalled seeing part of a bone sticking up through her skin before she'd passed out, and that alone told her it was bad.
The doctor muttered something under her breath and rubbed her eyes. At least Leigh had taken all of the make-up off, though she still had Danielle's curly mass of hair remained. It felt as though it had turned into a bird nest overnight.
"Should you be sitting up?"
Aila glanced over to see Leigh standing in the doorway. She managed a guilty smile as she saw the hairdresser's unimpressed look. "I'm fine to sit up, thank you very much," she said, pleased to see the other clone.
Rat stood behind Leigh, shaking her head slightly, though she didn't comment as they walked into the room. "How're you feeling?" the hacker asked as she sat down near the bed.
"Like ass," Aila admitted. "Though better than yesterday. At least I don't have a migraine today. No Katja?"
"No, not today," Rat said with a sigh. She stretched a little and gazed at her knees. "She's not feeling too good. She's keeping the dogs company anyway."
"Yeah," Aila said with a nod. It wasn't surprising if Katja opted to say indoors sometimes, though Aila worried about her being left entirely on her own. What if she lost all her energy and passed out or took some other turn for the worse?
Aila shook her head to herself. It would do no good to think like this, especially in the state she was in.
"Yep, so you're stuck with just us, I'm afraid," Leigh said in a teasing manner.
"I can handle that, as long as you behave," Aila laughed a bit.
Rat and Leigh glanced at each other, both refusing to acknowledge the two rarely managed being in the same room without causing some sort of drama.
"And Danielle?" Aila asked suddenly. Her tone was much more serious now.
"Haven't heard from her," Leigh said with a shrug. She gently took some of Aila's dishevelled curls in her hand, looking quite sad at the sorry state they were now in. "Though the press is going mad about what happened. You should see what they've been saying. I bet Danielle doesn't wanna show her face – can I please straighten your hair already? It's doing my head in."
Aila managed a slight smile. "Please do. It feels hideous."
"It looks hideous," Leigh told her. "Rat, pass me that bag – the one under your chair."
Rat obeyed without argument and passed Leigh a bag Katja had brought in the previous day. "I'm taking it Danielle's apology didn't go down well," she murmured. "She was very upset when she left."
Aila froze. Now some of the shock had worn off, she was torn about how she'd reacted to Danielle. She still felt as though she had the right to be annoyed, though.
Rat seemed to read her mind, because she stared thoughtfully at Aila as she sat up straight. "We're sorry too," she said bluntly. "It was a complete waste of time, and it wasn't worth it. We shouldn't have expected you to do it."
Aila shrugged as Leigh started working on her hair. "Nobody could have predicted this, and I agreed to do it. Leigh gave me the choice to back out on the drive over there and I chose not to take it. What happened from there was my doing and nobody else's. Stop blaming yourselves."
Rat narrowed her eyes slightly, but bit back whatever she wanted to say. She had a feeling arguing with Aila wouldn't be effective, and would probably only cause more stress for the doctor. "How long do you think you'll be stuck in here for?" she asked instead.
"I don't know. I can't tell how bad the break is. I think it mostly depends on how well I can manage the pain by myself. Granted...given the circumstances of my teenage years, it's become a bit of an art to ignore pain and get on with it, so...a few days maybe? I'd just like to rest for now, then we can talk about going to Canada."
"I don't want you to just ignore it, Aila," Leigh snapped suddenly, looking down at the Scottish clone. "Stay put until you're actually fit to leave."
Aila blinked in surprise and glanced up at the hairdresser, though rather than seeing anger, she saw ony raw emotion – the residual effects of fear. She frowned, her eyes softening slightly. She couldn't imagine what it had been like for Leigh to have seen the injury; to have seen the blood and to have heard the crying...and to have been unable to do anything. She had to keep reminding herself that Leigh wasn't used to seeing the things she'd spent a lifetime seeing.
"I'm sorry," Aila told her sincerely.
Leigh sighed and shook her head, carefully running a brush through the long curly hair in small sections. She brushed it very carefully to avoid causing the doctor more pain, needing to get the knots out before she could straighten it.
"Just...don't pretend like nothing happened," Leigh muttered after a moment.
"I'm not pretending anything of the sort," Aila said evenly. "I know it happened, but that doesn't mean we don't still have a job to do. Now we have the rest of Danielle's information, we need to get to Beth and figure out how to stop Helena once and for all. I could sit around dwelling on it, but how would that help us?"
Leigh froze mid-brush, suddenly finding herself back in an alleyway in Glasgow. Aila had said nearly exactly the same thing then, even after being shot at. Leigh still didn't know how she could put things behind her so easily.
"How the hell do you do it?" she muttered.
"Do what?" Aila asked, lost for a moment.
"Just...get on with things. You were exactly the same after coming inches away from being shot in the head."
Aila was silent for a moment as she mulled over the question. "It just takes practise, I suppose."
Rat stayed silent during the exchange, looking down at her phone as she again tried to send a text to Danielle. The hacker felt slightly out of place in the room, but she didn't let it bother her. If she was honest, she was glad Leigh and Aila had each other. They needed to maintain that bond as much as possible, especially in such a desperate and bleak situation.
The hacker and the hairdresser returned home that night to be welcomed by a very sleepy Katja. The clones didn't like there being one person short in the house, but it wouldn't be long before they'd all be making their way to Canada with Aila. It was just a matter of waiting.
"Beth called," Katja stated when she, Rat and Leigh sat together for dinner. "She ez impatient."
"As always," Rat grunted.
"She ez having boyfriend issues," Katja explained. She stuck a fork into her mouth and kept it there while she reached for her laptop with both hands. "I do not zink she ez very happy vith zis Paul fellow."
"Yeah, her and Danielle both," Leigh murmured. She was prodding her meal with her knife, tempting herself to eat more than her stomach would currently allow. "He was mega pissed at her...Kyle..."
"Yeah, and that's why I've been trying to get in touch with her all day," Rat complained. She instinctively took out her phone to gaze at the screen. "She's an annoying little diva, I know, but..."
Leigh nodded and set down her knife and fork at last before pushing her plate away. "I was re-reading her file earlier," she admitted quietly.
"She's unhappy," Rat said bluntly.
Leigh nodded. "Yeah...maybe we should offer to take her with us. Maybe she'll be nicer if she gets away from this place for a while."
"Might do her good," Rat nodded. "Look...I think she's holding back a lot more than even her monitor realises. When Katja and I were talking to her before, just a bit before you called us...she said something that's been bothering me a lot."
Katja nodded quietly, knowing what Rat was talking about. Danielle's words had stuck with her as well for their possible double meaning.
"What?" Leigh asked, looking between the sisters.
"We were talking about her parents, and when I asked if they would try to understand when the backlash of the skating incident got out, she said something along the lines of 'It doesn't matter, no one is going to miss me', but then she ran out of the room before we could ask what she meant," Rat explained.
"Shit..." Leigh breathed. "And you haven't been able to contact her at all since she left the hospital?"
"Not even once," Rat confirmed, unwilling to show just how worried she actually was. She couldn't deny she'd started forming a bond with Danielle over the course of their lessons, and even more so when she understood the French woman better.
"Vith zee media going crazy over the many Danielles, it von't be vise to go over to her house," Katja said after a minute, frowning. "I do not know how vee can get close enough to make sure she is OK."
Night had fallen over Paris when the call came in.
It took Rat several minutes to open her eyes to the sound of the ringing, blindly reaching for her phone as she attempted to return to consciousness. She was confused by the fact the clock told her it was nearly one in the morning. Who the hell would be calling at this hour?
After a moment of fumbling in the darkness, the hacker managed to hit the button on the phone and put it to her ear as she turned the lamp on. "Hello?"
For a moment the line was silent before a quiet voice spoke. "'Ey...sorry if I woke you..."
Rat blinked, surprised at the voice, which matched that of a clone but with a soft French accent. "Danielle! Jesus Christ woman, I've been trying to get hold of you. Are you alright? Why haven't you answered my texts?"
"Sorry...just been doing some zinking about everyzing zat 'appened..." Danielle told her, and Rat immediately felt like something was wrong.
"What's up?" Rat asked bluntly, standing to aimlessly walk around the room to help herself wake up.
"Who says anyzing is up?"
"Danielle, don't try to bullshit me. It won't work, especially not at this hour. What's up?" Rat said, forcing her voice to be gentle despite the harsh phrasing of her question.
The French clone was silent for several minutes before Rat heard what sounded like a muffled whimper. The hacker blinked, surprised. Was Danielle crying?
"Hey, talk to me...what's going on. Are you hurt?" Rat asked gently, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"I...I do not know if I can do zis anymore..." Danielle admitted quietly, and Rat felt her heart stop for a moment at the skater's words, her fears from the other day suddenly re-entering her mind.
The hacker bit her lip, knowing she'd need to choose her words very carefully. "Tell me exactly what's going through your mind right now. Don't censor it, just tell me," she said calmly.
Danielle gave a shrill but hollow laugh. "What's on my mind? Let's see. My boyfriend 'ates me and left me, and is also a creepy spy. Parents 'ave all but disowned me, and are also creepy spies. Career is over, and zough zat was zee end goal, my agents 'ave told me zat no one will ever want me to work for zem anywhere after showing such unreliability. I realised zee only zing zat's been keeping me feeling like something close to 'uman is my coke, and zee kicker to zat is zee fact zat I've never been 'uman to begin wiz! I'm just zee end result of some freak experiment zat's pretty much made my 'ole existence a puppet show. At zee end of the day, what's even zee point...if I'm just gonna be a puppet for zee rest of my miserable existence, why not just cut zee strings early..."
The former skater abruptly fell silent then, as if she hadn't meant to say that last part out loud. Rat closed her eyes tightly, now knowing she was right. Danielle was suicidal. The fact she called someone rather than ending it gave Rat hope that the French clone could be led away from the edge, though. She just hoped that words alone would be enough. She wouldn't be able to reach the other clone in person in time.
"You're probably expecting some long-winded speech about how it's not worth it, and how things will get better, right? Well I've been there, and I can say right now hearing all that doesn't make you feel better, because when it doesn't hold up to the stark reality of the world, it drives you that much more crazy," Rat told her quietly, speaking in French now to ensure nothing was lost in translation.
The hacker paused for a moment, hoping Danielle would stick around to listen to the entirety of what she was going to say. "Fact is, it sucks being a clone. Most of the time, we don't get a whole lot of happiness because of what we are, and because of who our creators are. It's just how things are. Would it be easy to give up and say you're done with it? Absolutely. However, in my mind at least, that's the same as letting them win. Letting them own us and make our lives into puppet shows."
Danielle was quiet for a moment before sighing. "I suppose...what can we do to change it zough? Zey'll always be above us, finding ways to control us. We're not even people, just shadows of 'uman..." she said, continuing to speak in English as best she could. Rat couldn't help thinking the French woman really had retained quite a lot of what she was taught.
"Maybe so, but then again, the only way that's ever going to change is if we stop letting them have all the control. It doesn't matter that we were born of science. We are people. We all have our own lives and thoughts and dreams, right?" Rat asked, remembering when she needed to say the very same thing to Katja. "Look, I know everything sucks, and like I said, I can't promise it'll ever not suck, but...come with us, Danielle. We're planning on leaving for Canada soon, to meet up with another clone who's going to try to help us. It's your choice in the end, but...who knows. You might end up happier to get away from this city, and to get away from all things DYAD for a while. Just...promise me you'll at least think it over and decide for yourself if you really, truly want to end it here or not. That's one good thing DYAD did for us. They let us keep the ability to decide for ourselves what we want."
Danielle gave another dry laugh. "I do not feel as zough I've ever had zat ability, to be 'onest."
"You have, and you still do. Whatever happens next is entirely in your hands. Not mine, not your boyfriend's, not your parents', and definitely not DYAD's. Yours. Think it over and decide how you want this to end, because once you choose to end it through drastic measures, that's it," Rat told her bluntly.
"'Ow do you cope wiz everyzing?" the French clone asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Rat paused as she considered the question for a moment, before shrugging. "Sometimes I don't. As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes even I need the support of the others to make it through whatever dark and depressing crap we're faced with. Overall, though...I just try to keep believing that what we're doing is worth it. That one day, everything will pay off, and clones everywhere can live free lives. Might sound daft, but that's really what keeps me going when I feel like giving up."
"I see...merci Rat...you are a good friend," Danielle murmured quietly. "Sorry again for waking you."
"Don't worry about it," Rat said gently, and she meant it. She wouldn't mind being woken up every night if it meant helping another clone to not go through with whatever dark plots the French woman had in mind before she'd made the choice to call her.
She only hoped her words had been enough.