Usual disclaimer, don't own the characters.

The last few days were amazing, we went swimming and bike riding and we even hiked through the Redwood National Park, even though I was leaning against a tree and managed to get poison ivy, Cosima refused to let me live that one down.

"I still can not believe you got poison ivy, I mean..seriously?" She giggled at me as I pulled our luggage off the carousel. I flipped her off and she just grinned at me, looping her arm through mine as we walked to find Alison.

"It's not that funny, people get friggin poison ivy all the time, why do you keep taking the piss out of me for?" I asked, pouting at her as we walked, ignoring the looks we got from people.

"Because of how confident you were when you swore up and down it wasn't poison ivy, and then the next morning bitching about how much your back itched, and when I checked it out and told you what it was, you whined about it, even though it was your own damned fault." She retorted as we exited the airport, being greeted by not only Alison but by Felix and Tony as well.

"What's her own fault?" Felix asked, earning a glare from me as I tossed our bags into the back of the minivan.

"Oh, she got poison ivy and I'm picking on her for it and she's been pouting." Cosima said as she hugged everyone. I stayed back, accepting a hug from Felix, before we all climbed in.

"Nice ring, Dreads." Tony drawled, running a hand through his hair as Cosima grinned, holding her hand out so he could get a better look.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" She grinned, almost bouncing in her seat as a blush crawled up my neck. "Sarah proposed a few days ago and it was just..oh my gosh." She shook her head, reaching over to take my hand.

I squeezed her hand gently as the other occupants congratulated us, even Alison, who had a sad sort of smile on her lips. I patted her shoulder gently and she rolled her eyes at me, making me smile.

"Can we stop somewhere and get food? I am totally starved and no way was I paying five dollars for an unripe fruit cup." Cosima pouted, as Felix chimed in his also being hungry.

"Well, we can eat at my place, since the children are at my mother's and Donnie is out having his game night, I have plenty of leftovers and that way we don't have a bunch of people raising brows and asking questions about the band of quadruplets having dinner." Alison spoke up, making us all chuckle.

"Could you imagine their faces? I mean I'm gorgeous enough, let alone having three ladies who are almost as gorgeous accompanying me, the whole restaurant would go up in flames." Tony teased, as we all chuckled.

"You're giving yourself far too much credit, Tony, we all know Cosima is the hottest clone." I smirked, earning a slap to the arm from Cosima as I rolled my eyes. "What? It's true, ask Felix, when he was doing your first painting, he said so and he also made that wonderful comment about your breasts being bigger."

This earned Felix a pointed look from Alison and a snort from his boyfriend. "Thank you for throwin' me under the bus, sis." He retorted, flipping me off.

"My pleasure, as always." I grinned, leaning over to peck Cosima on the cheek.

"Dreads may have bigger boobs, but we all know I have the biggest..." Tony never got to finish the sentence before I smacked a hand over his mouth, leaning over the back of my seat, giving him a look that I was sure Alison mirrored.

"Tony, if you finish that sentence, Alison is liable to have a heart attack and then you're liable to end up with a broken nose." I said, watching him pale slightly. I could hear Felix scoff as I rolled my eyes, moving my hand from his mouth.

"Thank you, Sarah." Alison murmured as I turned back around, taking Cosima's hand once more.

The rest of the trip was made in relative silence, minus the random question or two about how things were in our absence. As we pulled into Alison's driveway, the van was emptied out. Felix was nice enough to bring over my car, which would mean I would have to give him and Tony a ride home.

"You guys go on in, I'm going to put our bags in my car." I said, offering them a smile, before pulling the baggage out, transferring it from one vehicle to the other with relative ease. I leaned against the trunk for a moment, glancing over the area as I pulled my phone out.

I clicked on Cal's name and waited, listening to the ringer a few times before getting his voicemail. "Hey Cal, I'm at Ali's right now, I'll be home in a little while, I just wanted to call and check in, I'll see you and Kira tomorrow. Give her a hug and kiss for me when you get this and let her know I love her. Bye."

I hung up, letting out a soft sigh, before headed into the house, greeted by the smells of various foods being cooked. "Sarah, do you want spaghetti or meat loaf?" Alison asked me as I made myself comfortable at the kitchen table.

"Oh, neither, I'm not very hungry right now." I said, offering her a smile as Cosima set a Pepsi in front of me. I took it and cracked it open, taking a sip, before leaning my head in my hand, watching everyone bustle around the kitchen.

It was an odd sight, all of them together, the only people missing were Helena and Cal and Kira..and Beth, but that was something I didn't want to dwell on, it made my heart hurt a little, thinking about how I could have saved her.

"At least eat a roll, please?" Cosima said, holding a buttered roll out to me, making me sigh a bit, before taking the bread, shrugging my shoulders.

"Alright." I took a bite, chewing mechanically as she retrieved her food from the counter, sitting down next to me as the others joined us. I ate the roll, just to appease my fiance as I watched everyone eat and chat amongst themselves, making me smile at the odd family we had made from all these broken pieces.

I kind of zoned out, my mind on so many other things, how I would get Helena out, how badly I wanted to punch whoever brought her to the military and how nervous I was about Kira's safety. I actually debated on having Cal take her after to school season was over, just get the hell away from all of this.

"Sarah.." I blinked out of my thoughts as Felix punched me in the arm. I shot him a look as I rubbed the spot, returning my attention to the group.

"I'm sorry, what? I was kind of spaced out." I said softly, taking my arm out of my jacket sleeve, looking at the red mark that was forming, it would definitely be a bruise by the time I woke up in the morning.

"I just wondered what you planned on doing tomorrow." Alison said, as I sorted through all my thoughts, realizing I still had to see Marion tomorrow.

"Shit, I really don't know I figured if she's involved with the military, then she's got to know about Helena, I figure I'll either snoop around or just straight up ask her, what's the worst that could happen?" I said, taking a sip from my drink, a slight shrug bringing my shoulders up.

"Oh, I dunno, you could end up in the same boat as Helena." Felix pointed out as I rolled my eyes, ignoring the worried look on Cosima's face.

"I honestly doubt that, especially since they know I'll be expected back home, besides, I feel like Helena has either made her escape or is planning it, we all know she single handedly escaped that fucked up religious cult, and it's not like she's opposed to killing, my bet is, she's fine and Marion will do her best to cover up whatever involvement she's had in it. You lot need to stop worrying about me, it's pretty obvious I can take care of myself." I said, probably sounding more annoyed than I meant to.

I pushed away from the table, offering a rushed smile, before I headed out the back door. I sat down on a lawn chair, leaning my forearms on my legs, rocking back and forth as I timed my breathing. I wasn't anxious, I was just overwhelmed, I didn't have a clue how to find my sister, or what I was going to do to help her, but I had to do something.

I don't know how long I sat there like that, just calming myself, before someone came out to check on me, surprisingly it was Alison who pulled a chair up next to me, her hand patting my arm.

"Sarah, we all know how strong you are, but you can't fight this battle by yourself, Beth tried to do that, and we know how that ended." She said, her voice catching in her throat, but she continued anyway. "We're here for you, I know you aren't used to having help, but you need to let us help you, okay?" She took one of my hands, as I looked over at her, flashing a lopsided smile.

"I know you lot are here, trust me, I just, I have to do this, I don't think I could stand the thought of any of you getting hurt, you all are far too important to me, probably more than I'd like, considering all of the shite we've dealt with, but regardless, I want to protect you all, you're my family." I said, giving her hand a squeeze as she smiled at me.

"Just don't push yourself too hard, okay?" She said softly and I could see the worry in her eyes. I leaned over and pulled her into my arms, hugging her gently, letting out a soft sigh as she squeezed me back.

"Don't worry, Ali, I'm not going anywhere." I murmured, kissing the side of her head. "Besides, you'd bring me back just to clean up the mess." I teased, getting a breathless laugh in return.

"You're such a pain in the butt." She said, as we stood up. She sniffed lightly, wiping away any moisture that may have leaked from her eyes, before straightening her spine. "let's go back in before they think we're fighting or something."

I nodded, allowing her to open the door, before stepping in. I never noticed how warm it was inside the house, until I had been in the chilled air. "Damn, why's it so hot in here?" I asked as I shrugged my jacket off, laying it across the back of a chair.

"Well, I mean, I'm in here." Tony remarked as I rolled my eyes, picking up my can of Pepsi, before downing what was left.

"If anyone is causing rise in temperature, it's Cosima, so hush you're fuzzy face, Tony." I said, leaning against the kitchen counter as Cosima grinned at me.

"Pft, whatever limey." He said, making me snort as I turned my attention back to him, my brows raised.

"Limey? That's the best your Yank ass could come up with?" I asked, slipping into my American accent, a smirk on my lips as he gave me a shocked sort of look.

"Alright, alright, enough with the name calling, how old are you two?" Felix jumped in, making me roll my eyes once more. "I think it's time we headed home, yeah?" He asked, as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Okay, you gonna be alright, Ali?" I asked, tilting my head at her. She nodded, offering me a smile, before turning to load the dishwasher. "If you need anything, call." I smiled at her, before grabbing my jacket, snatching my keys away from Felix and headed out the door.

After we dropped Felix and Tony off, Cosima turned to me as I cruised down the road toward our apartment. "Why did you ask if Alison was going to be okay?" She asked me as I shrugged my shoulder.

"She's in a rough place, she missed Beth like crazy and she's worried I'm going to go off and get myself killed and I think she needs a vacation to be honest." I said, pulling into our parking space. I killed the engine and let my head thud against the seat.

"Oh, well, I mean, you do tend to push yourself sometimes, I get why she would be worried, I worry about you all the time, but that's for totally different reasons." She said as I let out a soft sigh, my nose crinkling at the thought of heaving those bags up to the apartment.

"You don't have to worry about me, I'm not that stupid." I flashed her a smile, before getting out of the car, unlocking the trunk as I glared at the bags. "Thankfully this is the last time I'll have to do this." I muttered, grabbing both of them after passing over the keys.

We opted for the elevator, mostly because there was no way in hell I was lugging our heavy shit up the steps. Cosima had insisted on bringing back some sea glass and all these odd souvenirs and they just weighed down the already heavy bags.

I waited as she unlocked the door, before half dragging our luggage back to our room. "Holy watershed!" I heard her shout from the living room. My heart sped up as I dropped the bags, bolting out to see what was wrong.

"What, what's wrong?" I asked, my body tensed, ready to fight if needed. I looked at the mess on the couch, recognizing the head of bushy blonde locks in an instant. "Helena?" I knelt down, looking at the blood that covered her face and hands.

"Seestra?" She murmured, her voice sounding hoarse. I was pretty sure all of the blood on her wasn't her own, and something about that made me relax.

"What have you done now, meathead?" I asked, a slight smile on my lips as I moved my arms under her, scooping her up with ease, before carrying her to the bathroom.

"I escaped, that's what I have done." She said, making me roll my eyes as I got her undressed and in the tub. Cosima came in with fresh clothes as I turned the shower head on, hosing her down.

I bit my lip as my gaze settled on the scars that decorated her back, a set of wings carved into her skin. Most of the scarring looked more than a year old, some were about a month or so old. I kept quiet as I washed her down, making her she was spotless, before helping her out.

She looked a little worse for wear, but she was in one piece and I was grateful for that. "Here, let's get you dressed and then get something in your stomach, okay?" I murmured as I helped her into a set of sweatpants and a baggy sweater.

She nodded and allowed me to lead her back to the livingroom, where Cosima was cleaning up the blood and dirt off of the couch. "How did she even get in?" I asked as I set her down in the chair.

"The window, fell into the sink.." The blonde informed me as I shook my head, not wanting to know how she knew where we lived, or how she had managed to get to the kitchen window on the third floor.

I grabbed a microwave dinner from the freezer, the fridge was mostly cleared out, thankfully there was nothing spoiled in it. I popped the tray into the microwave, setting the timer, before making a pot of tea.

I made a cup of hot chocolate for my twin, bringing it out to her with the food. "You will use the silverware, not your fingers, you got that?" I said, setting the tray on the end table, giving her a stern look as she nodded at me.

"Well, at least you won't have to go see Marion, right?" Cosima asked as I shook my head, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"I don't know, this complicates things, doesn't it?"

Thanks for reading!