chapter one

Ainsley.

Paul Ballard huffed impatiently, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he leaned back against the wall, an irritated scowl on his face.

"Tell me again why we're having an impromptu staff meeting rather than eating lunch?" he griped. Usually he would eat in the little staff nook that overlooked the Actives' dining area so that he could watch Echo have lunch. He liked having her in his line of sight. It made him feel less anxious. He kept having this nagging feeling these days that something bad was going to happen soon, what with how Echo was maintaining all her former programming.

Adelle rolled her eyes and poured herself a fifth of scotch. The man got on her nerves on the best of days, but she couldn't deny it was an asset to have him on board, especially with how devoted he was to Echo's safety.

"Seeing as we've suddenly found ourselves rather short-staffed in our medical department, I've hired someone to fill Dr. Saunders' shoes in case she does not in fact return to us," Adelle stated succinctly, pursing her lips in distaste at the sore subject of their renegade physician. "I believe everyone but you is already acquainted with our new hire, Mr. Ballard."

Paul raised an eyebrow at that.

"Do tell," he said, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't like the idea of being the only person who didn't know something, even if it was only because everyone else had worked at the Dollhouse longer than he had.

Adelle took a healthy swig of her scotch and gave the former FBI agent a knowing smirk. She knew his issues with not knowing everything.

"Our new physician's parents are loyal patrons of the Dollhouse, but she herself was actually an Active here up until a couple years ago, believe it or not."

Paul's eyebrows shot up at that information.

"Seriously?" He gave a bark of laughter at the irony. "So our last physician was formerly a Doll, and now that she's gone we're getting a new physician who also used to be a Doll. Maybe it's just me, but I'm starting to sense a pattern here."

Adele snorted into her glass.

"Actually, not only was she a former Active, but the only reason she's a physician now is because we imprinted her with that knowledge when her contract was up." At Paul's incredulous look, she frowned, feeling the need to explain further. "Her parents drove a bit of a hard bargain when it came to her contract—they arranged for her to stay the standard five years, like any other Active, but they insisted we imprint her with knowledge of a respectable profession when her time was up. She used to have mental health issues before she came to us, you see, and it was bad enough that she nearly didn't get her high school diploma, so it was doubtful any university would let her into any of the high-demand courses. She came to us straight after graduation. When we got her, Topher fixed her up good as new." Adelle gave a small smile at the thought of one of her success stories. It was nice when she could think of one of her former Actives and honestly think to herself, I helped that person.

Topher, who was lounging on one of Adelle's couches leafing through an electronics magazine, perked up at that.

"Are you talking about Heaven?" he said, seeming excited. He almost looked like he might start bouncing up and down on the couch at any moment. "Are we getting Heaven back?"

Adelle finished off her scotch and placed the glass down on her desk.

"Well, she won't be Heaven now, she'll be going by her actual name; Ainsley Ludovico."

Topher shrugged. "Eh...potato, potahto."

Paul raised an eyebrow at Topher's excitement.

"Why so eager to have her back? Dolls aren't exactly the liveliest people, and you clearly didn't get to know her after her contract finished if you're still calling her Heaven," he pointed out.

Topher shrugged, lying back on the couch with his hands folded behind his head.

"Heaven was a big ol' sweetheart. She used to give her paintings to staff members as gifts. Plus she laughed at my jokes, even though she didn't usually get them," he said, muttering the last part under his breath.

Adelle straightened, noticing the elevator changing numbers to indicate that someone was on their way up.

"Ah. That would be Mr. Langton with Ainsley now," she said, smoothing the nonexistent creases out of her navy pencil skirt. "Look lively, Topher. Don't be rude."

Topher sighed, grumbling under his breath about how he had just gotten comfortable, but he stood up anyways, shoving his hands in his pockets and hoping he didn't look too eager to meet their new doctor. If one thing was for sure, there would definitely be a lot less tension between him and her than there had been between him and Dr. Saunders before she'd left. Maybe he might even finally make a friend, he thought hopefully, though he wouldn't hold his breath. There was no guarantee that Ainsley would be anything like Heaven had been, and he hadn't talked with her enough during her first few post-contract diagnostics tests to really gauge her personality. She seemed nice enough, but then most people did if they didn't get any more personal than making small talk with you.

There was a quiet 'ding' before the elevators opened to reveal Boyd talking to a girl in her mid-twenties, her chin-length dark brown hair parted deeply to the side, her lightly tanned olive complexion speaking of a fair amount of time spent outdoors. The girl turned her head when she realized the elevator doors had opened, and her eyes lit up when she saw Adelle.

"Addie!" she squealed, running over to hug said woman tightly. "It's been far too long, you damn workaholic."

Adelle rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She patted the younger woman's back before holding her at arm's length.

"Thank you for agreeing to my proposal, Ainsley. There aren't many that I would trust with this position," she said, giving Ainsley's arms an affectionate squeeze.

Ainsley grinned. "That's just because you have trust issues, Addie," she said teasingly.

Topher snorted at that one. Now that's an understatement, he thought.

Ainsley heard the snort and turned to see who else was in the room, noticing a tall, muscled stranger who wasn't bad on the eyes but appeared to be quite moody, if the scowl on his face and his defensive posture was anything to judge by. Then her eyes landed on Topher, and she lit up.

"Topher! Nice to see you again," she said, surprising everyone (Topher included) by walking over to him and giving him a hug.

Topher froze at the human contact. He didn't have friends. He didn't get hugs. It was like some sort of foreign idea to him that someone might actually willingly come into physical contact with him. The hug didn't last very long, and by the time he finally managed to get his limbs to react, thinking to perhaps return the hug, Ainsley had already stepped back. She took one look at his face and laughed so hard she ended up clutching her side.

"Ahahaha! You sh-you should see your-your face right now," she said. "You'd think someone tasered you or something. You look like a deer in the headlights right now." She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Ahhh, that was good. I needed that."

Topher scowled at her, but there was no anger behind it.

"What? You can't blame me for being surprised," he said defensively. "We haven't really talked since you were here for your contract, and like I say...you were in your contract then."

Ainsley rolled her eyes, giving a noncommittal shrug.

"What can I say? I'm sentimental. I don't see somebody for a long time, I get all teary-eyed," she joked with a wink.

Adelle smiled at the two of them.

"Well, seeing as you two seem to be getting along famously, Topher, why don't you show our new doctor to her work area?"

She watched the two closely as they agreed, Topher offering his arm to Ainsley with a goofy grin on his face, which Ainsley dipped into a curtsy before accepting. As they headed towards the elevator, Adelle called after them.

"Oh, and Ainsley, dear..." Ainsley tilted her head to show she was listening. "Do try not to let Topher rub off on you too much."

Ainsley just laughed. They slipped into the elevator, chatting away as the doors closed.

Boyd raised his eyebrows at the display.

"You sure it's a good idea to let those two be together unsupervised? That just seems like a disaster waiting to happen," he said, noting how both of them seemed to have almost an air of immaturity about them.

Adelle sighed, her fingers twitching a bit as she resisted the urge to pour herself another drink.

"Mr. Langton...Mr. Ballard," she said, motioning them both to approach her desk. They both complied. "What I am about to tell you must never leave this office. No one else on the staff is to know. A select handful of them know already because they were part of our staff before the incident, but most of them are unaware of this and I would prefer to keep it that way."

Paul gave her an unimpressed look.

"Why do I feel like you're about to tell me about Alpha all over again?"

Adelle gave him a scathing look to shut him up.

"Because in a way, I am," she said, running a hand through her hair. This job is way too stressful, she thought. "Ainsley was in a contract here at the same time Alpha was. During her last year here, the two of them began grouping. It was...concerning, to say the least. She's a sweet girl, and I didn't want her mixed up with the likes of him. No matter how many times we wiped them, though, they kept grouping. But during her last month here, Echo showed up, and Alpha became fascinated by her. He became distracted from Ainsley most of the time. She seemed...lonely," Adelle said, her eyebrows raising to echo how surprised she had been to notice that. "She began lingering around Topher's lab...and then she started grouping with Topher. It was...odd, to say the least." Adelle leaned back against her desk, arms folded over her chest. "The only reason we could give her behavior was that she's by habit a social creature, and her brain functions in such a way that she gets attached to people quite easily."

Boyd nodded.

"So that's why Topher was so excited that 'Heaven' was coming back," he said. "She's probably the closest thing he's had to a friend since he came here."

"Indeed," Adelle said. "But as I said...she does have a history with Alpha, and even if she no longer remembers it...I highly doubt Alpha has forgotten," she said, giving Boyd and Paul a serious look. "I want both of you to keep an eye on her, look out for any unusual or erratic behavior. I don't want to find out too late if Alpha gets to her." Her eyes went soft at the thought of the girl. "I rather like having her around."

With that, Adelle waved her hand at the two dismissively, going over to the bar.

Screw sobriety. She needed another drink.

Ainsley pulled into the garage off her small two-bedroom house nearby the Rossum building, feeling entirely ready to just curl up in bed and sleep. It wasn't as if she had done a whole lot at work, all she had done was toured the facility and had coffee with Topher while she observed the Actives, but spending the majority of her time with Topher made her feel drained of all her energy. Goodness gracious, that man could talk her ears off! She hadn't really had a good conversation with him since her contract had been ended, but even after she had been reawoken as herself, she had a deep-seated sense of familiarity with Topher that she just couldn't shake, despite that she remembered nothing of any time she might have spent with him. She had been reluctant to strike up a conversation with him during the different times she had been back at the facility for diagnostic tests because he seemed kind of awkward and stand-offish, always having his back towards her or not making eye contact with her, but she was glad she had thought to talk to him in the office. She could tell from how much attention he gave her—and how little he gave to everyone else—that he had missed her, and that he was a very solitary person.

She sighed in relief as she unlocked the door that joined her garage to her house and stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was that it smelled like there was food cooking...garlic bread? And pizza? She scowled in irritation, tossing her purse on top of the shoe rack before jamming her shoes on the bottom. She peeked around the corner of the kitchen into the living room, spotting a very naked, fit-looking man with his butt cheeks planted on her coffee table as he watched the news on TV.

Ainsley gave an exasperated sigh.

"Just because you put food in the oven for me doesn't mean it's okay for you to leave ass prints all over the glass of my coffee table," she said, throwing the man a disapproving look as he turned his face to her with an innocent look.

"Oh, sorry. I just thought you might want a reminder that my naked behind was here for when I leave. After all, I've caught you staring at it more than once," he said with what anyone else would have thought was a charming smile, but being familiar with him, Ainsley saw the predatory gleam in his eyes. She hated when he got like this, then she had to tiptoe around him, watching what she said very carefully. It didn't take much to set him off. Not that he had ever gotten truly violent with her, but he was scary when he was angry. Plus, she didn't want him taking his anger out on anybody else, even if it was never her. She would've been able to live with it if she was the target of his anger, but she wasn't, and that was what made her so conscious of her words.

Ainsley focused on the tote bag she had taken with her to work, taking all of her notepads and medical paraphernalia out of it, setting it neatly on the end table by the couch as she spoke.

"I won't deny it. You're a fine-looking man," she said, glancing at Alpha and noting he had a proud smirk on his face, the predatory gleam in his eyes replaced by a playful one now. He would appreciate a well-placed barb at this point. "Or should I say, men."

He laughed, standing up in all his nude glory. Ainsley tried to control her blush, looking anywhere but at him as he approached her, wrapping her in a hug.

"Ah! I've missed your humor, Heaven," he said, kissing the top of her head.

Ainsley returned the hug half-heartedly.

"Yeah," she mumbled into his shoulder. "I've missed you, too...Alpha."