know your enemy

Helena’s grin said it all and soon Sarah would find her sister launching at her. Maybe the hug had been too eager, but it was too late to fix it now. “Yes, sestra. Very much. You are well? And little Kira?”

                Sarah stumbled back a little by the force of the hug--Helena was strong--but she didn’t mind. She was glad to see her sister, and to see her happy. “We’re both fine,” she laughed. “What abou’ you? You good?”

“ I am not talking about an occult right now, well then I guess I can show you what I mean “.

                “Jesus bloody Christ. I thought you Neos liked white eyes, not red. That’s some messed-up shit, sweetheart.”

Rachel only curled   her lips into a  tight  smile  and   took  a  long drink of her wine.       “Under the circumstance, I expected you’d be… pleased.”

     “A – parasite?” She can’t help but move a little closer, hand resting on her back. “Okay, where – where is it, then? Like, do we know what it is, what it does…? Maybe I can just get it out –”

          Looking up for the first time since Evie had told her that Delphine had died after being shot, Cosima’s gaze settles on her sister. It’s obvious that she probably looks horrified, and when Sarah’s voice quietens, she knows that she must look as if everything had fallen in, had collapsed and for once, Cosima couldn’t help but feel as if everything was hopeless. She couldn’t even find it within herself to smile, to force herself to look okay. Her lips press together tightly, and she grasps loosely at her own shirt. “Sarah, she’s dead.” She breathes, closing her eyes. “Delphine — she was shot. She died –” Her voice cracks, and she finds herself unable to continue, no matter how hard she tried.

             “Shit,” the word tumbled from her lips before she could stop it. “God. Fuck. Cosima, I--” She broke off, unable to form a suitable response. Delphine was dead? She looked at her sister, and she could see the loss etched into her face. After a moment of silence, she wrapped her arms around Cosima, drawing her into what she hoped was some form of comfort. “Shit, Cos. I’m so sorry.”

The blonde receptionist was still for a moment before she picked up the phone and called Evie, her eyes darting up at Sarah and then back down again as she spoke. When she was done, she set the receiver down and told the scruffy looking woman that she would be there shortly. It only took a minute or so before Evie appeared, clad in a knee-length black and white Ralph Lauren dress. Her hair was tucked behind her ears and she wore a small gold ring that glinted in the light streaming through the large windows. Her heels clicked against the floor as she approached Sarah and stopped in front of her.

“It’s alright, Ms. Manning here is a friend of mine.” She explained to the receptionist but her words only made the little blonde woman more confused though she didn’t dare question her boss. Evie cast a large grin at Sarah and took a step towards her. “Out here is hardly an appropriate place to conduct business. How about we go to my office? We can discuss things over coffee.”

                          Sarah leaned against the desk, ignoring the reproving glare from the receptionist. The sound of her heels against the floor alerted Sarah to the approaching arrival of who was now enemy #1. Although her stance was casual, her expression neutral, the feelings that shot through her upon Evie’s prompt appearance were anything but. Here stood the reason that S. had lost her mother, the reason that she would soon lose Cosima, and the rest of her sisters until only she remained, a lone clone. Sarah raised an eyebrow at the word ‘friend’, but didn’t question it. There was a time and place. “Sounds good,” Sarah shrugged.

                     Alison knew things looked grim. She had her moment of panic, her realization that everything she knew had been pulled out from under her. They were not in a good place right now, but she knew her sisters needed hope. The manic look in Sarah’s eyes told her that much. Alison couldn’t be the weak link, not today. 

                        “Can’t we start at the beginning? We still have Scott and Cosima. We still have…something. We just can’t stop moving. We have to do something, Sarah.”

                   Sarah shook her head. How could they go back to the beginning now? After all that they had endured. Besides, they needed time, and that was one thing they didn’t have. Without their original, Cosima was as good as dead. The thought made her chest hurt. 

                 “We’ve got nothin’, Alison. Bloody nothin’.” She sighed, frustration rolling off of her. She pushed a hand through her hair. “They took everything.”

                       “Cosima, thank god.” Sarah hurried forwards, concern etched across her face. Relief washed over her and she felt herself relax just a little bit, the first time since she’d laid eyes on that packet of cigarettes lying in a pool of blood. “You okay? Hey,” her voice became quieter, softer, as she registered the look on her sister’s face. “What’s wrong?”

                     Beth knew. Kendall dead. Cosima dying. Sarah could think of little else.She wanted to scream, to tear everything that she knew straight from her head. To go back to being Sarah Manning: con-artist, instead of Sarah Manning: clone. But that would help nobody. Her sisters needed her, and she needed them, now more than ever.

                         “Alison, I--I don’t know where we go from here.”

                   The metal of the gun against her back was cold. She tucked it carefully behind the waistband of her jeans before pulling her shirt back down and shrugging on a jacket. She looked up, and through the windscreen, the Brightborn building loomed above her. 

                     Her phone started to ring. She glanced down. Mrs S. Ignoring it, she let herself out of the car. She didn’t need a lecture, nor any sense talking into her. She knew the truth now, and she knew exactly what she had to do. She had to finish what Beth had started. 

                    She pulled her hood up with one hand, using the other to tuck her phone into her pocket as she strode towards the glass doors. She pushed them open, immediately feeling distinctly scruffy and under-dressed as she did so. The receptionist looked up as Sarah moved into the foyer. “Alrigh’?” She sauntered over to the desk, ignoring the raised eyebrow and the critical once-over she was given; she wasn’t their usual standard of clientele. “I’m lookin’ for Evie Cho.”

                         “I’m afraid Ms. Cho is unavailable at the moment.”

                                          “Yeah? Tell her Sarah Manning’s here.”