House of the Month,

Introduction,

To say that Bennett Halverson was misunderstood wasn't quite the right way to put it. Her genius was well understood by anyone, and though no one ever said it directly to her face, her slight instability in the head was well known too. Not a completely over the edge crazy, just on the slight wrong side of the edge crazy. The only people who knew even half of the crazy though, were the people who Topher Brink had told about it in the LA Dollhouse. To everyone at the D.C. Dollhouse, Bennett had a slightly unstable manner, but was not crazy. Not really, anyway.

To the LA Dollhouse, where Topher's impression of Bennett caused the others there to mirror his impression of her. To them, Bennett Halverson was someone too unstable to be trusted in the Dollhouse, she was someone with a disturbing vendetta against a doll, and the conviction that said doll deserved to be dead, or, at least, in a severe amount of pain. To the LA Dollhouse, this was something of great concern.

Topher didn't talk about Bennett much, except to Ivy, and when he was muttering under his breath slightly. Wondering how someone so perfect could be so wrong, wrong, wrong.

After about a week, Topher had stopped complaining about Bennett to Ivy, but the concerns about her sanity were still there. Topher had talked to Ivy, Ivy had mentioned it to some of the handlers, the handlers had mentioned it to Adelle Dewitt, Adelle mentioned it to some others. Because of this communication, the concern about Bennett Halverson's sanity led to the conviction that she ought to be kept an eye on.

The result was something that Topher didn't appreciate. He wanted to be left to continue his work and forget about Bennett, but this wasn't something he was about to be allowed to do. Within a day it was decided that Bennett Halverson would be transferred to the LA Dollhouse for a month. For just this month, Echo would be moved to another house, for her protection. Topher would keep a close eye on Bennett --He didn't know why he'd been chosen for such punishment-- and if after this month he didn't approve of her condition, she would be removed from her work at the Dollhouse.

Day One,

The first day, with Bennett at the Dollhouse, was a short day because Bennett's plain didn't land till 5:00 PM. Of course, this only made things worse, because Topher had a whole day to worry about her arrival. He put a code on all his computers, he didn't want to take any chances. Topher was still impressed by Bennett -though he never would have admitted it- but was no longer worried about what she would think of him. His respect for Bennett hadn't completely gone down the drain, but he didn't trust her, and he convinced himself that he couldn't stand her.

Bennett picked up on this immediately, she knew she was not wanted around. She didn't want to be there herself. But Topher was just expecting her to try some awful trick. Bennett knew this, but she wasn't evil. Misunderstood wasn't the word that needed to be used for her, it had been established already that wasn't the right word, but Topher Brink, at least, didn't understand her. He didn't try to understand her.

That day was a bad day for both of them, Bennett was treated with contempt from Topher, and the reaction Topher received from it was an unpleasant one.

Bennett didn't like being treated like an assistant, and what was worse was being treated like an unwanted assistant. Bennett was equally as intelligent as Topher, even if she was a little unstable, and she hated being treated like some kind of disgusting servant. Especially when Topher already had an assistant, he could at least try to treat her cordially, couldn't he?

"Go find Sierra." Topher said to Bennett, the only words he'd said to her that day were commands, and normally she wouldn't have done the things he asked, but she could understand that her ability to keep her job rested on how much he thought she deserved it by the end of the month. She couldn't stand the fact that he didn't even look at her when he talked to her, his command 'Go find Sierra' had been spoken with his back to her. He hadn't looked at her since she arrived. "Go get Sierra, she needs her treatment." He sounded like he had been about to say her name, but he'd cut himself short, he hadn't said her name that day either. He lifted a hand and did a small motion as if to shoo her away.

Bennett left to go find Sierra.

Once she was gone, Topher was now open to talk about her as he pleased. Her presents had set him off ranting about her again. He ranted about everything that was possible for him to rant about her, and Ivy had to suffer through and listen to it.

Bennett had to suffer for it too. As, since Topher's back was to the door, his rants continued once she was standing in the doorway. Ivy tried to signal to him to point out Bennett's presence, but he didn't realize she was there until a good five minutes of his ranting continued.

If Bennett had given Topher some smart remark, he probably would have liked that better. But the look on her face when he saw her was not one of anger, it was a solemn -perhaps slightly sad- looking face, which caused Topher to feel guilty. But Bennett did everything that was in her power not to display any emotions. "Sierra is ready for her treatment." Were Bennett's only words. Bennett had feelings, despite her instability, she had feelings. That was what some people didn't realize, because she hid it well. But Topher could see that his rather cruel words hadn't gone unfelt. Topher could see this, because people often made the same mistake with him. Thinking he didn't care what they said to him, but the phrase 'Sticks and Stones can break my bones but words could never hurt me.' this phrase was a complete lie. Words could hurt everyone, even Bennett Halverson. This wasn't enough to make Topher forgive Bennett, it wasn't enough to make him trust her, it wasn't enough to make him even like her again. But it was enough to make Topher pity her, and perhaps treat her a little more gently for the rest of the day.

It wasn't enough though, Bennett had been shown quite clearly, just how unwelcome her presence was. She wasn't one to wallow in self-pity. She had feelings, but she tried to ignore them. Her respect for Topher had continued even after 'the incident'. But she could see his respect for her had not.

Bennett wasn't blind to her instability, she didn't blindly wish to torture Echo, she knew that there was something wrong in a head with such a vendetta for the doll, for Caroline. This wasn't enough to stop her. Bennett's ego had been damaged that day, her feelings had been damaged. But she hadn't been changed. And by the next day, Topher had forgotten that he felt guilty about insulting Bennett, and Bennett forgot that she had been hurt by those words. They were back to where they had started the day before.

Day One was over.

Author's Note: This chapter didn't have much dialogue, something I realized after I finished, and it was really short, so I apologize. There will be more dialogue, and the chapters will get longer as time goes on, this was just a starter chapter....Please stick with me! And please review!