Active: Isabella Swan
A/N: Hey guys, just a small one shot companion to my story: "Dollhouse" that should be up in a couple days. Read and hope you like it. PS : I own nada.
Thirty nine year old Charlie Swan sat heavy on the bench. He had just received the results of his tests back. The headaches he had recently were in fact something far worse. He had a tumor. An inoperable tumor. He was dying.
Dr. Carlisle Cullen, somewhat of a friend and one of the best doctors at the hospital, had given him the bad news.
"You have less than a year Charlie. You should travel, see the world. Do everything you ever wanted to do"
Charlie didn't want to see the world. he didn't want to travel. He had always been just fine being a cop in the small town he was born and bred and lived in his entire life. He loved his job and had taken on the Sheriff hat at the age of thirty-two, the youngest Sheriff ever in Forks.
His life would be complete had it not been for that divorce. Hell, he was okay with the divorce but he wasn't okay with the death of his daughter.
Bella had been in a freak accident when she was eleven years old. Some madman had broken into her school, held a bunch of kids hostages and when the cops refused to meet his insane demands, he shot one of them.
He shot Bella Swan.
His shy, awkward, sweet, blushing, bookworm daughter had died too young and Charlie had never been able to cope with it. Charlie and Renee had married too young, had spit her out too fast, and divorced too easily. Renee took the toddler away claiming that Forks was too dreary, too quiet, too fucking green for Bella to live.
He would visit her in California every Christmas and she would visit him back every summer.
Most people would do it backwards. They weren't most people.
He never told anyone in forks about his daughter's death. He told everyone, including his best friends, that the girl had gotten sick of the small town and he would visit her instead. and he did. He spent a week every Christmas and a month every summer visiting her grave, bringing her fresh flower and read books for her.
Passing his fingers over his daughter's photo in his wallet, Charlie Swan knew what he had to do.
During a weekend hunting trip to the mountains he stumbled upon a young woman running away from a madman with a gun. When the nut job tried to kill the woman, Charlie and his buddies killed him.
A tall, brush man had come to fetch the young woman and when Charlie refused to hand over the beaten and raped woman, the man was forced to come clean about his organization.
He worked at an organization called the 'Dollhouse'. The young woman was an Active for them. Actives are (usually) volunteers who have surrendered their minds and bodies to the organization for five-year stints, during which their original personalities are saved on hard drives, in exchange for vast amounts of money and a solution to any other problematic circumstances in their lives.
These "engagements" range from romantic interludes to high-risk criminal enterprises. Each Active has their original memories wiped and exists in a childlike blank state until programmed via the insertion of new memories and personalities for each mission.
At the time Charlie thought it was ridiculous. Now he saw it differently.
His visit to the Seattle House had proved to be fruitless as no active was the age Bella would be had she lived. He was directed to the Los Angeles House.
The Institute was large. People of all ages, sexes and races would walk around aimlessly or read books. Others were in small groups drawing or attending to potted animals.
He felt as if he was in rescue center looking for the perfect puppy.
"Are you ready to pick one sir?"
Adele DeWitt (who had an unhealthy addiction to tea) was looking at him with a smirk planted on her face. the two had gone over his notes for the engagement and had worked together to map out the personality he wanted the Active to have. Usually the Houses stayed clear of each other, but Adele prided in having one single underage Active. Even though Charlie was a cop and geographically should be searching in another House, she was proud.
Charlie huffed. there was no Active that made him see his daughter and the black dressed guards (or handlers as Adele called them) were suffocating the actives. He was about to say 'no' when a form fell on her knees near him. he hasted to help the blond girl up with a fond smile remembering the numerous times he'd help Bella up.
The girl thanked him quietly looking sad. the handler walking behind her looked upset over the fall while Adele seemed surprised. Charlie handed the limping girl to the handler but her cerulean eyes and blond curls were etched on his face.
"I want her"
he said in a clogged voice.
"Let's go to my office then, shall we?"
Adele was nervous as she guided Charlie away. She didn't like continuous printing on the same doll but the money was good and the active's face was all over the east coast thanks to her previous engagement.
From the vantage point of the glass office the two watched the active.
she was taken to a scarred doctor to get her ankle checked out and the girl smiled childishly as she received a red lollipop from the doctor. A trip to the in house salon to get rid of the blond clip ons in favor for the girls own reddish brown locks and a pair of brown contact lenses was placed on her eyes in favor of the crystal blue ones.
Dressed in a simple tank top and jeans with sneakers the Active was placed on the table.
fifteen minutes the chocolate eyes popped open.
"Hello Isabella"
Charlie said softly at the Active that would be his daughter until the end of his days.
"Just Bella Ch-Dad."
'Bella' greeted back. Charlie chuckled under his breath. He knew it wasn't healthy but it was how he coped.
'Bella' fingered the heart shaped pendant in her bag. Everyone had been too careless when she was packing and she had been able to gather all her belongings. She had even given a hug to Echo and promised to look for Alpha.
She wasn't going back. She was free. One way or another.
The End