AN: This story might end up changing ratings eventually, could be a little darker than I anticipate it to be.
Un-beta'd, so please forgive any akwardness.
And….ah yes, if Claire seems a bit off it's because I was trying to get a feel for how she'd be only a few weeks after the 'event', she'll transition into more of a Show! Claire eventually.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything other than my ideas and OCs.
-Cough-
Also posted on my live journal: .com/
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"Parker, all actions have consequences. Even if those consequences if they're delayed, sooner or later things catch up."
Adelle DeWitt was good at her job. Bloody fantastic in fact. She could turn a squeamish client into a panting eager mess in under half an hour. Spin promises and dreams until they couldn't see straight enough to sign their name on the million little dotted lines. The Ultimate Vacation Lover, The Infallible Thief, The Unwavering Bodyguard, Adelle had sold them all.
Sold.
In her quiet moments Adelle sometimes wondered if it was worth it, the money, the power, the secrets. If her life been a mathematical problem, the benefits put into neat little rows and added together, would they come close to equaling the damages? The taints on her life she couldn't rationalize or even compartmentalize away.
How at times she felt like the worst sort of evil in the world.
How she would be out enjoying a rare outside lunch or stroll when someone would pass by with that rare combination of qualities that had marked each and every one of her Dolls and instead of just continuing on with her day, she'd be stuck. Instinctively drawn to the potential in a desperate man or woman. How sometimes she'd abandon the highly illegal police reports to search out a random passerby. Help dig the hole a little deeper if it wasn't quite bottomless just yet.
She likes to tell herself it's their choice, they pick the escape of Dollhouse over the harsh desperation of their lives. But it's nothing more than her chosen point of view, Adelle knows that. If they hadn't made the drugs a little more accessible, the bills just a tad steeper, or the series of string pulls among the authorities…half of the beds in Dollhouse would be vacant.
But it's her job….and she's very good at it.
"Imagine if they didn't"
_________________________________________________________________________
"I can't say I approve of bringing in so much new blood at a time like this." Claire winced at Dominic's tone and barely held back a gasp of pain. Wincing was painful now, smiling was painful now.
"Mr. Dominic, if I wanted your approval on anything nothing would ever get accomplished."
Ms. DeWitt stood in front of her strangely empty desk, arms folded, eyes stern and hair perfectly set in a serious bun. Claire ran a hand through her own brown locks and felt just a little bit lower, she'd need the pills today for sure. Ms. DeWitt had summoned Dominic, herself, Topher who had yet to appear, to her office an hour ago. The usually airy office felt stifling, blinds closed even in the middle of the day, the air somehow thicker than the rest of the building. As if the weight of all the engagements, the lies and secrets had seeped into the very atmosphere itself. Three weeks ago something had been decided in this very room that had set Alpha on an unsuspecting staff…on an unsuspecting her.
Claire pushed her arms deeper into the pockets of her white lab coat, buttoned to the very top, and tilted her head back just a little bit, just to see better.
What did it matter anyway?
They weren't looking at her.
A few more tense moments in which Dominic demanded and DeWitt refused to speak and Topher made his entrance in the typical matter, awkwardly while still somehow managing to leave no doubt that his arrival made everyone else useless and moronic.
"Sorry, sorry, Bravo needed a wipe and after-" The fair-haired scientist babbled, mostly to DeWitt, and swept his eyes quickly around the room. Took in the standing, scowling Dominic in that horrible black suit, the stoic DeWitt in her muted blouse and skirt, and for the barest of seconds, her.
"I wanted to be extra sure."
Topher sank down onto the plush chair beside her, shot her another glance and once again she felt the beginnings of hate….of fear, rise in her belly.
He knew, he had too.
Claire may not have had his smarts but Alpha had it was obvious, hadn't he?
She wasn't that innocent, shouldn't have been so secure in her safety… so dismissive of the Dolls.
But she wouldn't ever be again.
He'd fixed that.
"Topher, as I've already informed Mr. Dominic and Dr. Saunders, it's time to bring in some new faces to Dollhouse."
Dominic's mouth snapped open and they were off, his near-yelled protests and her cool retorts blending into a undecipherable mess. She sat quietly with Topher, off in the corner, feeling very much like a child. Dominic paced back and forth in agitation and Claire let her eyes track his movements, careful to avoid Topher's eyes.
"-already replaced Saunderson, no need for-"
"Alpha took out much more than-"
"Any outside forces-"
"-lost, Sierra, India, Kilo, Juliet, Hotel and-"
"Still it's too early for-"
"It's already been done."
That effectively ended the one-sides debate and DeWitt spoke pair of them exclusively, Dominic glowering over her shoulder.
"Topher, you are getting an….assistant. Someone to double check the imprints and manage wipes when you are elsewhere." Topher stared at the floor and apathetically affected a frown at the news. For a moment Claire wondered about his calm, the boy genius was very protective of his tech.
But after all when you're afraid of the axe, a pair of handcuffs is a welcome relief.
"Doctor Saunders, we've acquired another physician to assist you in dealing with the Dolls and Handlers in addition to going over the paperwork….make sure we don't miss anymore clues." Claire found enough strength in the sudden flare of anger to meet DeWitt's eyes dead.
The things she saw made her wish she'd never looked.
"And Mr. Dominic, I assume you'd like to complete a more extensive background checks on the potential Dolls and their handlers?"
His answering nod was a quick angry movement that joined his tense jaw, folded arms and scrunched brow in what she was supposed was a effort to look intimidating….he just looked like a pissed off prom date whose girlfriend told him he wasn't getting any tonight.
Dewitt dismissed them with a slightly threatening, "I want them trained and handling lesser duties by tomorrow." and Claire gladly took her leave of the office.
She wondered how they would appear to these outsiders for those previous weeks when Dollhouse hadn't taken over their lives yet.
Business men?
Scientists on the fascinating edge of science?
Broken people playing with shattered toys.