A/N: Hey, this story idea doesn't leave me alone for days now so I thought I need to write it before it turns me insane. I have to thank the great 'elodealeaf' for being my beta and giving me story ideas and directions. So glad to have her. So I'll see where this story goes and hope you guys like it.

If you wonder what a few mentioned gods stand for it's explained at the end.

Italic = Inner monologue

'Italic in those things' = Kind of Inner voice, you'll see

"Cosima I'm not sure that's a good idea. There're guards-the royal guards for the sake of Isis! You're going to get yourself killed."

"So what? You expect me to sit here and wait, let you three starve while they literally sit on the food and store it in bunkers for the gods? Fresh, healthy food Sarah! It just rots in those temples and only serves to satisfy the hunger of those fat priests. The same priests who tell us every day that we should be thankful to serve the great pharaoh by building that pyramid. I bet if we took away their fruit, corn, wine and meat and let them work eighteen hours for a little sip of water, they'd finally shut up." The young woman replied. Her hands balled to fists when she just thought about this morning.

One of the old priests in his white robe came to examine the pyramid work, holding a chicken wing in his hand. He ate it in front of hundreds of underweight, hungry, hard-working men and women. He just stood there, watching them, when they had to put stones on the right places but always had one eye on the mans right hand where the chicken wing was slowly getting less and less. If it weren't for all the guards Cosima was sure that there wouldn't be much left of that priest. It wasn't just the chicken; it was the fact that he had so much disrespect for them to hold it under their noses. Most of them probably wouldn't even touch the meat, just smack this arrogant grin out of his face, nothing more, maybe even continued their work after and Cosima wouldn't stop them for sure. She didn't believe in violence and never acted on it herself, but she understood the need of others to do so. Sometimes she wanted to punch things too but it never worked, not for her. The last time she tried to hit someone her fist slammed against a heavy stone wall and all of her anger shifted instantly into shame when she felt the burning pain in her hand. Violence wasn't something she used because it always ended badly for her but she knew that someday soon, she might need to overcome her internal dislike for it. Especially if things got down any further.

It just wasn't fair, but she stopped believing in fairness years ago. It also wasn't fair of her to scream at Sarah like this, she could see the young girl shaking a little, not used from such an outburst from her big sister. The last days had been hard on them and slowly Cosima lost her will to stay calm, she needed to act, she needed to do something. If she just sat here and waited, nothing would change. Her sisters were dying-all three of them-and Cosima wasn't willing to accept that without a fight. Maybe they weren't related by blood, but that didn't make them any less her family and her family was something she would protect at all cost.

Her sisters were there for her for as long as Cosima could remember. They'd met in the small orphanage in Alexandria, and they had protected each other ever since. As far as Cosima was concerned, that's what made them a family; not the same parents or crazy bunch of relatives. Hell, they probably were more of a family than the most blood related.

Since the pharaoh shut down the orphanage to have more space for the travelers, they had to move into the ghetto of Alexandria, Egypt's biggest city and home of the royal family. Residence of the great pharaoh; chosen by the gods themselves, blessed by the power of Ra and the biggest idiot alive.

If she just thought about the way he treated his subordinates, her blood began to boil. She's never witnessed an emperor who treated the poor and sick like insects, not worth to kiss the earth he walked upon. Not that she knew any other emperor, but nobody could be worse than him. He let his own people, citizens and slaves alike, starve and demanded them to work on that stupid pyramid so it would be finished whenever he died. Cosima couldn't wait for that day to come. She hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

The whole pyramid concept itself was idiotic. Building a something just to be buried in it, so your soul can find the way to the gods. As if it wouldn't be able to do so without. Where did the souls of people go who hadn't the gold or just weren't cruel enough to let people die for this big dream? The whole thing was highly illogical, but nobody else seemed to share her opinion in that matter.

She believed in the gods like everybody else. Isis, Ra, Horus, Osiris and the whole gang, especially of course her personal favorite, Thot, god of wisdom. But they were gods. Gods! She was pretty sure Osiris and Anubis would be able to find everybody's soul without a big stone pyramid literally pointing at it. If not, she'd need to reconsider if they were really worth being praised or even called gods.

"Please Cosima don't do it. They'll kill you if they find you." Sarah pleaded for the hundredth time that night. Sarah held her arms in a tight grip, but she'd lost a lot of strength over the last few weeks, so she couldn't muster as much as the usual energy bundle Cosima had to fight normally whenever she didn't let Sarah have her will. Of course, it wasn't without risk. But how else could she feed her sisters? Helena was already sick and almost too weak to look her into the eyes. Alison also had problems at the market today, breaking some pots as she was too weak to hold them for a longer time. Xander, the potter, didn't punish her for it but refused to pay her today as replacement for her inadequacy. Sarah got weaker too but she refused to let it show too much but in situations like this Cosima could feel it. It was Cosima's job to care for her sisters, she promised Siobhan that she would when they last parted and she would hold onto that promise at all costs.

"Don't worry, Sarah." Cosima said, taking her knives into her shoes. "I'll get in, take some food and get out again. Plain and simple. What can go wrong?" She tried to sound hopeful, sent her sister her cheerful grin when she turned to her but Sarah's raised eyebrow made it clear that she did a horrible job hiding her nervousness so she dropped the act immediately again. "Look, we need food and they have it. Maybe I'll even find a little bit of gold so we can live for a little while from it. There's no other way, Sarah. Helena won't make it much longer." Cosima said, keeping her voice low as her gaze turned immediately to the little room where her sister slept.

Cosima was right, Helena needed help. They'd all need help sooner or later. What other options did they have? They already worked as much as possible. Cosima worked at the pyramids, plaiting ropes to drag the stones or doing whatever she needed to, Alison worked at the market, selling pots to people who could still effort it and normally Sarah would work at the market too but Helena's sickness made her presence at home more needed. When her twin broke down in front of her last week it scared the small girl to death, making her pray to every god she knew that her sister got well again and not leaving her like Katja did before.

They couldn't achieve a healer but the sicker Helena got, the more they knew they needed one. The sisters were scared and Cosima's desperate plan showed exactly that, her desperation. Cosima didn't want a repeat of Katja's passing and wanted to do something to prevent another one of her sisters leaving her like that. Sarah knew that and it was the only reason that stopped her from following her out of the door and stopping her from her task. Now the only thing she could do was to pray for her sister and trust in her ability. "Thot, you better not let her down tonight!" The girl threatened Cosima's patron, knowing full well that there wasn't anything more she could. "Please come back, Cosima." The girl whispered before she lockedthe door to prevent any unwanted visitors or desperate parents from stealing their last bit of food.

She could feel it as soon as she stepped out of the door, the strong breeze blowing in her face, filling her senses with the smell of that part of the city; dirt, blood, sweat, the city in its purest form. Maybe this place wasn't the heart of Alexandria, but something different but equally important. It's true soul. The rotten soul of the city slowly crawled into the ghettos and took all of the broken dreams, hopes, miseries and desperation into this place just to attract more victims into it's down spiral. Here were the broken dreams of hundreds, maybe thousands of people who'd lost their hope of a better life a long time ago, just accepting their fate. Work and die as a slave for the pharaoh, or sell your body if you need to, get paid, take whatever you can to the temple so that the gods will bless your soul. That way maybe just your life in this world will be miserable and the next world will be better.

People here accepted their fate, most of them but not her. Not Cosima. She'd never accept what happened here. In just a few years the new ruler of Egypt has run the city into a spiral where it would lose itself in its depths someday. Each day the intensity of the city smell got worse and the strong wind blowing it directly into her face didn't help to control her anger either. Someone needed to stop this. Not a simple orphan, that's for sure. She didn't have the knowledge or the power to change anything. The only thing she could do was feed her family.

The strong smell got lost the closer she got to the temple. Now she only smelled the bittersweet taste of incense and a light ode of meat and fruits. No wonder. They were brought the whole way from around the city. Not just the slums. Also the palace and the trader area. Everybody wanted to make the weight on the scale of justice as heavy as possible, so it would sink into their favor. Normally Cosima loved the strong breeze in her nose, letting the wind play with her hair and enjoying the thought that the same wind that just pressed against her body could be under the wings of a falcon a few minutes later. Nothing else had the same amount of freedom in her eyes, not even the great chosen of Ra himself.

If the strong breezes wouldn't stop soon, her plan would fall apart. As strong as the wind was it was very likely that the guards would chose to get inside, avoiding the cold and stopping the plan Cosima worked on for days now. If she was forced to try again tomorrow there was a higher possibility to get caught. Cosima could feel her strength slowly fading away too. She hadn't properly slept or eaten in days, just the little bit of water the wardens gave her during her pyramid duty. The little amount of food she got she gave to her sisters, and she started slowly to feel the price for that, as her world turned blurry now and then. She almost wasn't able to resist the wind from knocking her of her feet. Tomorrow it would get even harder to fulfill the plan. Damn. Why couldn't anything work in her favor, just once?

Damn Thot, a little help would be nice. Maybe stopping the wind or just letting the guards stay out a little while longer, nothing more. Just make them stay; make them do what they always do. Please. Just this once.

"Fire! Fire! Help!" A panicked voice screamed and getting the attention of the guards to the small lane opposite the temple. Completely away from the roof of the house beside the temple where Cosima was located. And even more important, away from the small window in the wall, a few feet above the roof where Cosima planned to get in.

Finally, you're late Ramon. The young man came out of the shadows of the houses, stumbling to the guards. As expected, nobody moved. Why should they help a normal citizen when standing still in the cold night wind was so much less troublesome then to actually do something? Ramon got closer to them, reaching the first man and touching his arm.

"Please help me! Our house is burning down and my sister is in there still. She'll die if you don't help her." No reaction. But Cosima had to admire Ramon's acting skills for a second, not that she ever doubted that he could totally nail it. The small soot on his cheeks and his stumbling moves just made it more believable. Now it came to use that he broke his ankle last week, more like got it broken by a guard as he ran away from them. Unnecessary cruelty for stealing simple bread. Hopefully Ramon didn't go much further; he was playing with his life right now. If everything got as planned she would be able to repay him with some real food. More then simple bread.

"Please! My sister!" He screamed again, tugging the man forcefully away from his spot, at least he tried to, as he wasn't nearly strong enough to do so. Now the guard reacted. His arm shot forward, slapping Ramon into his face and made him fall down.

"If your sister survives this she may have not a brother to protect her anymore!" One of the guards screamed and the others just joined into his laughter, obviously enjoying the situation they found themselves in. If she could Cosima would whip this virtuous grin out of their faces but she needed to hope that they'd be punished when her break in was detected. Patience, Cosima.

Ramon was still lying on the ground and she was too far away to see if the smack hurt him enough to draw blood. Then again,he was used to this. Ramon knew how to take punches but he lay a little to still for her liking. Sometimes he was too good for his own good. He knew her plan, knew where she was right now but not looking at her even if she knew he wanted to, but he didn't. She needs to be fast now. The smoke from the small fire Ramon set with her help in a small fountain near the temple slowly made its way here. The wind blew the whole smoke into their direction now and Cosima silently thanked whoever was behind this that the wind finally turned in the right direction. As the fog was confusing the guards as their eyes started to tear up at the contact. Maybe she should've used a little less of the green powder. She wanted them, to cry but one of them seemed to have trouble breathing.

Go inside! They wouldn't care about you either! Tears never killed anyone. Go inside! You need the food!' Right! She did! The small window she stood in front of, well twenty feet below, was finally safe to be climbed into. Now she could get inside without the risk of them noticing her.

Her hand gripping into the hole in the stone wall, climbing slowly upwards to the entry. She had trouble getting a firm grip; there were a lot of loose stones which made climbing even harder. It wasn't easy finding the small moles in the building to get a better grip. Some were vents, some just witnesses of the buildings ages. But the smoke got to her too now. Slowly, her own tears clouded her sight and now she definitely knew that it was too much powder, fuck. She would fall. Maybe they were only five feet to climb but she didn't have the strength to do so. The wind really was against her today. Damn you, Amun.

Come on Cosima, you can do this. Just a few steps more.' She tried to motivate herself. Think of your sisters, Helena needs you! Sarah and Alison need you! You promised Siobhan! And you promised it yourself! Get your shit together and climb. You owe them! Sadly that wouldn't help her tears from falling and disturb her sight or stopping her arms from slowly losing their strength and making the possibility of her falling down more and more likely. At least the guards couldn't see her either so they wouldn't throw knives at her. Always look on the bright sight of life, right?

A small laugh. Beautiful, like a choir of the most beautiful singers and not even close. She knew that laugh. She loved it, she hated it, and she was desperate to hear it again.

'Cosima, come on, you can do this.' The voice whispered now and Cosima took all of her willpower to concentrate on the voice instead of the burning feeling in her eyes or her protesting arms. That didn't help her to see any better as she lost the grip on one of the holes and slipped a little. Luckily she could hold herself on the wall. This wasn't going to work, she was doomed.

'Cherie, you can't give up now. Not when you're so close. Cosima please! Just a few more steps.' How she loved that voice. She would do anything to just see a face to it. A light cough erupted her lungs. Probably not that much of a chance to find that face. She thought when she fought the burning in her lungs from ripping her insides apart. Again her fingers grabbed into nothingness as she now tried to grab anything she could hold onto. Ironic that her own trap for the guards, preventing them from seeing her climb, was going to be her death sentence now. This brought a small smile on her lips. At least it was completely in her hands and she couldn't blame anyone else for her death. 'Don't you dare to give up now! Not now! Not when you're so close! You promised you wouldn't give up, ever! Hold on to that promise! Do it for me! Cosima Please.'

Then climb yourself! She wanted to scream at that voice in her head, cursing it for making her fight. Begging her to do so and making her wonder why she obeyed, following the lead of a simple voice in her head. But it worked; she could feel the big fringe of the window. A few more seconds and she would be inside the temple, finally able to feed her family. She grabbed into the hole, searching for a solid place to grip and take her whole weight. There it was. Her goal. Her life saver. It took all her strength to get her weakened body into the window but she finally made it. It was done. She was inside.

She was on the third floor. At least Cosima assumed this from the height of the window. Unfortunately this didn't make it any better. She had no plans or knowledge of what to expect here. Nor did she know where the storage room was. She needed to orientate herself as fast as possible. The priests would be up soon for their daily rituals: screaming at people, taking their donations, telling them they needed to be more generous if they want Osiris to grant their souls a place in Iaru. Breaking into the temple was punished by death. She knew what she needed to do. Run!

A/N: Here's a little key to explain the Egyptian stuff.

Definition:

Amun: King of the gods and god of the wind

Anubis: Protector of the dead and embalming

Isis: Goddess of health, marriage, and love

Osiris: God of the afterlife, death, life, and resurrection

Thot: God of Knowledge, Hieroglyphs and Wisdom

Scale of justice and place of Iaru: After your death your soul is in front Osiris, on one side the scale is weighted with all your good deeds and when your bad deeds aren't heavier than the good ones, your good and are granted in the great world of Iaru (something like heaven where everything is perfect)

I hope I didn't forget anything, if so just ask.

Don't know if this inner voice thing actually works but I kind of like it so I thought I leave it in, you'll see why. Hopefully you weren't confused, if so say and I'll need to think of something different.

I don't know if Orphan Black and Egypt can actually work together but like I said it wouldn't leave me alone and I just love Egypt and gods and Orphan Black so it came natural to me to join them.

I really hope you guys like it and feel free to review and tell me what you think. ;)

Julie