if you wanna stay

[coppelganger]

WHO: Sarah, Sarissa, Clara
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: Nebulous points between the 18th and the 26th
WHAT: Just some freakouts
WARNINGS: Will add as necessary



for sarissa: [ After their short text conversation, Sarah goes outside to wait for Sarissa, pacing up and down the street. She doesn't smoke cigarettes, but situations like this make her understand how easy it would be to start. She needs something to do with her hands, besides wring them together, which is what she's doing right now.

Jesus. Can't they ever catch a break? It's one thing after another, and it never seems to stop. ]

for clara: [ Since Cosima and Alison have gone missing, Sarah has taken to spending time at the places they can usually be found. She'll spend a couple hours skulking around near Alison's house, then a few hours at Cosima's, then make a trip to Cosima's lab. Just in case. She knows it's getting ridiculous, but it's a way to pass the day.

On this particular evening, she's wrapped herself up in one of Cosima's old blankets and fallen asleep on the couch in the lab's Chill Zone. She doesn't even wake up when the door to the lab opens and someone appears in the doorway. Whoops. ]

Comments

who's ready to fuck up

[oddbod]

[The door opens into a dark, quiet lab, which is the first sign that something is off. If Cosima wasn't here, it should have been locked, and if she was-

Clara turns her head, following the softest sound to the far side of the room.]

Cosima?

[She can make out the lump on the sofa, but in the dark it's impossible to see any differences between sisters. There's a mass of dark hair, a pale brow, a familiar blanket. Her own face creasing with worry, Clara wastes no time in getting across the lab.]

Cosima, are you okay?

raises hand

[coppelganger]

[ Sarah jerks awake when she hears the voice calling her, and isn't sure at first where she is or what's happening. But then she remembers. She's in Cosima's lab, Cosima's missing, and there's someone standing over her. ]

Who the hell are you?

[ Her voice might still be half-asleep, but her eyes are wide and her body is tense, ready to either run or fight, depending on what happens next. ]

[oddbod]

[Oh. Well. That is certainly not Cosima.]

Clara. We haven't met in person.

[She's quite a bit smaller than her level, self-assured voice may have suggested during the kidnapping, and something in her over-large eyes is too unsteady. She's still assessing the crisis.]

Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Is Cosima... ?

[Here doesn't make it out, because that's the moment Clara stumbles on the answer, in the back of her own mind. No, Cosima isn't here. She hasn't been here for days.

And "here" isn't just the lab.]

[coppelganger]

Oh. Right.

[ Cosima's charming time-traveler is, um, tinier than she expected.

Sarah sits up on the couch and rubs at her face, trying to force herself awake. ]

Cosima's not... [ She doesn't want to say it out loud. Typing it was hard enough. ] Alison, too.

[oddbod]

... She's gone.

[Clara's face is perfectly still as she lowers to her knees, coming to rest level with Sarah. She feels strange, detached. Cosima's left, just like that, just between heartbeats, and Clara distantly registers that she wants to tear something apart. She wants to see someone answer for leaving her alone like this, again. But all of that is filtered through a haze, tipped on its side by the discomfort and distraction of her purpose in coming here.

She touches her arm gingerly, through black leather. It's far too hot for the jacket, but nothing else could hide the bulk of the bandage.]

I'm sorry, Sarah.

[coppelganger]

She's not—don't say it like that. She'll be back. They both will.

[ Because things were bad enough for her while Cosima and Alison were both present. What's she going to do if they're gone? She needs someone who can test Sarissa's blood, be the go-between when it comes to her fights with Felix, be her friend. Christ only knows what's going on at home, and she can't have Cosima and Alison just... be back in that world permanently with no preparation. They need this extra time. ]

She's not gone.

[oddbod]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way.

[It's a white lie. In her gut, Clara's already working through how to grieve this. She can't survive another Danny, not so soon, when she's still getting used to the stillness in her veins. Cosima has been someone real and warm and loving to hold onto, for all of these months.

Clara Oswald doesn't need anyone, but she needs her.]

Listen, Sarah- [She winces out of habit, feeling for the wound through her sleeve.] I came here because I needed her help, but... I might need yours.

[coppelganger]

[ That gets Sarah to sit up straighter, confused and a little suspicious. Clara needs help. She came to Cosima's lab to get that help. If she thinks Sarah's a fraction of the scientist Cosima is, she's in for a bad surprise. ]

I can't do anything related to this shit. [ She gestures at the lab around them. ] Not my thing, sorry. I'm the fuckup of the family, didn't she tell you?

[oddbod]

[Clara gives her a brief, stern look, as if to say, Shut your mouth, you tit. Under different circumstances she might argue the point, but Sarah doesn't seem the type to accept a motivating speech, and quite frankly? Clara isn't in the mood to give one.]

I don't think Cosima would agree. But don't worry, it's nothing major.

[She slides off her jacket, and the bandaged arm comes into view. There's still a bit of blood, from what gravity could pull out of the affected veins, but it's minimal.]

There's a bullet in my arm, and I can't get it out.

[coppelganger]

Oh.

[ Sadly, Sarah's first reaction is to feel relieved. She's pulled a bullet out of somebody's leg before. At least she knows how to handle this. If Clara'd asked her for help with some kind of experiment or with the lab equipment, that would be another story.

She doesn't ask how Clara got shot, or who shot her, because that's not important right now. She just gets off the couch and goes looking for what she'll need. ]

Okay. This is gonna hurt like a bitch, but it'll get infected otherwise.

[oddbod]

It's alright, I can't quite... feel pain.

[She tries to say it lightly, but there's still a bit of detached panic in the back of her voice as she unwinds the bandage.]

[coppelganger]

Uh. That makes this easier, then, I guess.

[ It takes a couple minutes, but she manages to find what she needs: a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a set of long tweezers, and some fresh bandages. ]

Last time I had to do this, all I had was a bottle of whiskey and my fingers. Lucky you, eh?

[oddbod]

Yeah, I'm getting the royal treatment.

[She smiles, a bit too bright and forced for the circumstances, as she unwinds the rest of the bandage.

The wound looks just as it did twelve hours ago - small, round, and incorrect. There's no angry tissue inflammation, no pooled blood. Just a dark hole, leading down to a single bullet embedded in bone.]

STORMS IN HERE

[magnitudes]

( Sarissa has, at least, acquired a vehicle. It's not her vehicle.

Don't ask where she got the car. Either she "borrowed" it or she actually borrowed it, and Sarissa only knows alarming people and clones and children, so knowing where the car came from probably isn't the best. She pulls up, and leans across to unlatch the door and push it open. )

Hey. You got an idea where you wanna start?

( She's oddly calm.

For now.

Just wait. )

i am ready

[coppelganger]

[ Sarah climbs into the passenger seat, slouching down and leaning against the door as soon as she closes it behind her. Her only reliable method of transportation is her cab, and the last thing she needs is people trying to hail her while they search for Cosima and Alison. She has no idea where Sarissa got this car, or whose it is, but right now she couldn't care less. ]

I went to Alison's house, then Cosima's, then the lab. Nothing. So right now, I don't know.

[ She wishes she'd paid more attention to Alison's event planning thing, like where she might have gone to meet with people, but that's more Fee's deal. Sarah just shows up with a limo when Alison tells her to. ]

[magnitudes]

Okay. Who do we know that they know? Cosima has a girlfriend, yeah? Any other roommates? Coworkers? Neighbours? People they doesn't like on the network? Anyone they mention in passing that stood out for some reason?

( The car idles, condensation slowly fogging the glass, and Sarissa throws on the aircon. No good driving until they what direction they want. )

You know both of them better than I do.

[coppelganger]

Cosima's got a girlfriend and I think some kid lives with them. There's a scientist friend she mentioned working with. And Alison meets with people for her business all the time, suburban people who can afford to hire her.

[ She starts biting at a thumbnail. For someone who regularly has to go looking for people who've been kidnapped or are in hiding, you'd think she'd be better at this, but no. ]

[magnitudes]

( Sarissa rolls her thumb and forefinger together, thinking. Her gaze is trained straight ahead, and her voice is quiet and even. )

Is the girlfriend dangerous?

( She doesn't look at Sarah when she asks. ) If she did something to Cos, Al might have been there, too.

( ALWAYS SUSPECT THE LOVE INTEREST, SARAH

ALWAYS

but no seriously always )

[coppelganger]

[ Now Sarah turns to look at Sarissa, a look of incredulity on her face. She's been thinking worst case scenario, they've both been Ported out. Worst-worst case, Russia's involved again. But it sounds like Sarissa is talking about... shit, a double murder or something? ]

Uh. Okay, I've never met her in person, but I don't think... that's...

[ She trails off, at a loss for words, before finally managing, ] She seems nice enough.

this escalated quickly

[magnitudes]

Plenty of people seem nice, Sarah. It's how they get away with shit.

( Sarissa leans into the back seat, grabbing something from the bag behind Sarah's seat. As she settles back into her seat, she holds out a handgun. ) Here. I need to go introduce myself to Clara.

( Her hands flex on the steering wheel as she presses her foot on the accelerator. ) Cosima fucking trusted her.

( That was the bad sign. That was always the bad sign. She asked Sarah what she knew, but she'd already heard enough bright and shiny things about Clara that it set her on edge. ) There's rope in the boot.

[coppelganger]

Wait, what?

[ Sarah stares while Sarissa grabs the gun out of the bag, not sure how exactly this "help me find our missing sisters" mission has turned into an impending murder interrogation, and definitely not pleased about it. As Sarissa accelerates, Sarah presses herself against the side of the car, as if she can escape via osmosis. She can't take her eyes off the gun. ]

Hold on a second, put that away! You sound like—like a—

[ Like a crazy person. ]

We're not gonna go hold Cosima's girlfriend at gunpoint, Sarissa. [ She hates saying this, but she needs to say it before this goes any further. ] Most likely thing is that they're just gone, alright? Sent back home.

[magnitudes]

No.

( No. That's it. Just no. They aren't gone home. She won't accept that, because when Sarah left and came back she had a parasite that had to be cut out of her, and they might never come back, and if they never come back then there's no guarantee that they even ever find Sarissa in that world because they haven't yet and there's still every possibility that she's not from that world, and— )

They aren't just gone, and they aren't dead. They're missing, and someone took 'em.

( Her knuckles are white, by demand of cliche if nothing else, and she runs a red light and wins an aggravated (justified) blare of a horn as she speeds around a corner. She is a very good driver, thanks police training, but that doesn't make it any less alarming. )

[coppelganger]

[ Oh, is all Sarah has time to think as Sarissa sends them careening through a red light. This is how I die. She's frozen in her seat, too frightened to make a noise, and it's only after they're through the light and the sound of the truck's horn is ringing in her ears that she turns back to Sarissa. ]

Pull over, you bloody psychopath!

[ Her heart is beating in her throat, her mouth is dry. She swallows hard. This is reminding her way, way too much of the time Daniel took her and forced her to drive, drive all the way back to DYAD, and then Cal had to hit them to stop it, and—she thinks she might throw up. ]

If they've been kidnapped, it's Russia. You're gonna drive to bloody Russia now?

[magnitudes]

( A glance to Sarah, sidelong, and Sarissa swears under her breath as she spots a car park and swings into it. Slow, no longer quite so fast, until she stops. The traffic on the road carries on, and her breath feels rough and jagged, like she was running the whole way instead of driving.

She's not an idiot. Not totally, despite popular opinion. She can see Sarah's not fine, and she remembers scaring her before with her temper, and it makes looking at Sarah near impossible. She forgets, sometimes, that Sarah isn't the same as her. That Sarah is a survivor of something, sure, but maybe doesn't fling herself into the fire so readily as Sarissa does.

There's a pause before she tries to reply to either being called a psychopath (God, she hopes it's not true) or the comment on Russia. )

Sorry. ( Quieter— meek doesn't seem right for it, and neither just gentle, but there's some truth in both. She was being too much again. ) I can go do this alone. You don't have to get dragged into my bullshit.

( Her conviction that people might love each other, but it's just a tie in for people always hurting each other. Her belief that Clara is going to hurt Cosima, or has, that flared out of her own life. That George might do the same to Sarah, if she didn't already have concerns with a man who was prepared to do what Sarah did, equal parts grateful and swallowing the desire to kick him in the knees. The adrenaline is still pushing in her veins, and she's still angry and still convinced, but she's stopped and she's pulled over and she'll probably wind up doing whatever Sarah wants, because she might be a psychopath, or just damaged, and too ready to throw herself into a fight for some cause she defines as worthwhile, but Sarah's—

even if she isn't family (but Sarissa hopes she is, she wants her to be, she wants these ridiculous women to be her family) then she's a woman that's scared and unhappy and uncomfortable, and Sarissa made that happen. The one thing she never wants to make happen, and she keeps doing that to Sarah. )

You don't know it's Russia.

[coppelganger]

[ Sarah doesn't say anything right away. She takes a couple deep breaths, wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans. She can hear that Sarissa's upset, and part of her feels lucky that this person has so totally accepted Sarah and the other clones as her sisters. That she's willing to run red lights and interrogate people at gunpoint for them. The other part of her just wants to take Sarissa by the shoulders and shake her. ]

No, you're not going alone. You just need to calm down. [ Usually, it's Sarah who runs headlong into trouble and thinks about the consequences later. Now, with Cosima and Alison gone, she needs to be the calm and rational one. Wonders never cease. ]

We can talk to Clara first, but we can't break into her flat and stick a gun in her face. That's— [ Okay, she's called Sarissa crazy too many times already. ] That's not gonna get her to talk to us.