'He's watching me again' Sarah thought with dread as their gazes met and the young man's eyes stared at her across the room, bright, unblinking and unnatural. The lack of expression on his face made him seem like a child but something in the intensity of his eyes scared her. Sarah shifted in a nervous gesture and turned away, trying to appear natural.

"You seem tired, babe." Roller stated and Sarah frowned in annoyance, not particularly in the mood to play one of his idiotic mind games. Roller called practically every female in the facility 'babe' and it was therefore extremely fitting that the Active he was in charge of was called Cherry. The girl looked the part too-blonde hair and rosy cheeks…Sarah mildly wondered if Roller ever thought about fucking his Active.

Probably yes.

"Had a rough night. McFarrow." She explained curtly and Roller raised his eyebrows in recognition. McFarrow was a code-name of sorts for male assassination engagements within the Dollhouse. The imprint of a perfect male assassin- Jeremy McFarrow was often used for any dirty jobs such as these and Sarah was well aware that her own Active was imprinted with this persona at least seven times. Perhaps his brain was comfortable with it? She'd rather not think about things like that.

Sarah's frown deepened, her migraine returning. She needed coffee.

"Aaaw, your poor little thing…" the man next to her patted her on the head and she angrily sidestepped him, envious and annoyed that somebody was in such a good mood so early in the morning. Drawing 'lessons' were the first event of the day (right after breakfast and a shower) and as she turned around to check on her Doll again she could still see a few droplets of water dripping from his black hair and down his cheekbone. He was still staring at her.

'Stop it' she ordered him mentally and surprisingly the young man obeyed, lowering his head back at the paper in front of him and grabbing one of the crayons into an awkward grip. Sarah blinked in confusion.

"So…how about you and me have a lunch together today. What do you say, babe?" The Handler next to her just won't quit and Sarah answered him without even turning away from the sight of her Active's hunched figure "We eat lunch together ANYWAY, Roller. And I ain't your babe."

"Whatever you say…" he smiled sleazily and grabbed her by her chin, turning her head left and right, left and right , left and r-

"-yeah, yeah real cute; doesn't Cherry have someplace to be or something?" Sarah tore her face away from the prying hands and Roller was about to come back with some witty reply no doubt when

RIIIIIIIIPPPPPPP

Both Handlers turned to the numerous tables where Actives were obediently painting their pictures, looking for the source of the strange ripping noise. Sarah nearly gasped when she saw her Doll staring at her again, no longer sitting but standing up while his hands were clutching the drawing paper with a shockingly strong grip. Although his expression was blank, full of the naiveté of the natural state of a wiped Active, she could clearly see that there was something wrong. She could hear Roller next to her mumble "What the hell…"

One of the workers in charge of the drawing lesson was looking at Sarah with pleading eyes, obviously confused and unsure in how to deal with this unusual situation. The young woman left Roller standing by the wall and with fast, steady steps made it across the room, still quite bewildered but trying not to show it. She stopped right in front of her Active who hasn't moved an inch ever since that strange act of destruction. 'Actives aren't meant to destroy', Sarah thought with a sinking feeling in her stomach. 'At least not in their Doll-state. Is he broken? Are they gonna sent him into the attic?'

'No, that's…I'm pretty sure it's nothing.' She tried to reassure herself, feeling the crushing weight of responsibility for the young man opposite her. She didn't want him to be sent to the Attic. She didn't want ANYBODY to be sent there…but especially him.

"Hunter." She addressed the standing man. His vulnerable face was showing some hints of fear now and Sarah assumed he realized that he did something he Should Not Have Done. This comforted her somehow. His stare was less intrusive now and she always liked him better when he was vulnerable.

"I am…sorry." He said after a tense silence, his deep voice at odds with the childlike tone all the Dolls used in their blank state. Sarah noticed that all of the other Actives were looking up at them from their pictures and they still seemed to be in a shock from the unexpected noise. Sometimes she forgot how easy it is to frighten them. They were so delicate.

She gently touched Hunter's elbow to make him move to a better location. His dark blue eyes flicked towards her hand on his body and then back to her face but in the end he obeyed and Sarah silently led him away from the main hall, making sure her movements were calm and slow so that Hunter won't be frightened any further.

"It's all right, Hunter." She replied when he still stared at her with that guilty look on his face "We're going to see, Dr. Sanders now, would you like that?"

When there was no usual answer ("I like Dr. Sanders. He is nice.") she turned to face the young man again and with surprise, realized that he was now much closer to her than before. His muscled arm was now pressed against the side of her breast and Sarah immediately stepped away, keeping her distance but still holding his elbow in reassurance. She was glad that the trip to Dr. Sanders' office was a quiet one.

However when they arrived at their destination, the old doctor was nowhere to be found. She knew he was never away for too long so their best bet was to stay and wait for him to return so that the good doctor can write a report on this unusual occurrence.

"Dr. Sanders is not here." Hunter stated with a hint of surprise. 'No shit' Sarah thought wearily but smiled at her Active instead.

"That's right. But he is going to return soon so we would just wait here for him, how would you like that, Hunter?"

The tall man blinked a few times and then returned her smile.

"Yes. Very much."

The tip of his perfect white teeth gnawed at his lip in a gesture of happy anticipation. The young woman sat at the doctor's table and shook her head. Hunter really was like a child.

Naturally, she knew nothing of Hunter's origins or even his real name. He arrived at the Dollhouse five months ago and she was put in charge of him, her first Doll, her first responsibility. It was strange to think that this man in front of her trusted her with his very life, but of course the imprint made her his safe haven, trusted ally, the most important person in his life. It was a little scary, Sarah had to admit.

She wondered why such a handsome young man gave away his life to the Dollhouse. He probably had his reasons. They all did.

She could remember their first Engagement just like it was yesterday. By overall standards, it was nothing exciting-a romantic weekend where some girl was supposed to be living her own romantic dream of eloping with a bad-ass motorcycle stud and experience the 'wild life' with the safety only Dollhouse can offer their clients. Sarah had to admit, Hunter could play the role of a bad-boy very well. Whenever he was chosen for romantic engagements later on (although some of them had nothing to do with romance in general) he was always the rebellious, dangerous type of a guy. Sarah supposed that a lot of women wanted a fling with a 'dark' man like that. 'I guess that certain things never change, no matter what age is the client.'

She was so deep in her thoughts, she didn't even realize that Hunter joined her at the table until she could feel his hand rest on her thigh. The woman blinked and then turned to her Active. This was not a normal behavior for a Doll. She had to understand what was going on here.

"Hunter, what are you doing?" she asked calmly, not letting herself show any disapproval or encouragement. The hand on her thigh stiffened a little and Hunter lowered his head in submission.

"Am I doing something wrong?"

"I'm not saying you did something right or wrong. I'm asking you WHAT are you doing."

"I'm touching you" Hunter replied after a while. The usual child-like tone of his voice was gone. Sarah straightened up.

"I can see that. Why are you touching me, Hunter?"

She could see he was thinking about the answer, as if he was doing calculations in his head. After a minute, he stated

"I like you."

Sarah sighed in annoyance. This was obviously getting nowhere. However she had to resolve this before it became a major issue and somebody would want Hunter up in the Attic. She didn't want that. Above all, she didn't want to do that to him.

"Do you like me, Sarah?" he asked after a while and his blank, doll-like face was uncomfortably close to hers now. The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed and everything felt strangely intimate. Sarah could feel panic rise inside of her but forced herself to stay calm. He was just a Doll. What could happen?

Yet…this is the first time he called her by her name. It was…unnerving.

"Of course I like you, Hunter. And I'm glad you like me as well. " she answered and saw his eyes brighten up. He leaned even closer now. It was becoming quite scary, as if she was studied by a robot or an alien. The man next to her just looked so…inhuman.

She decided to quickly change the subject.

"Why did you tear up that paper?" She asked at last and this seemed to trigger something in Hunter because he immediately leaned back and lowered his head again. Sarah breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"I…." Hunter started with an unsure voice.

"I…I was upset."

'Since when do Dolls feel upset?' Sarah thought with a growing suspicion 'This is a problem' .

"Do you know why you were upset, Hunter?"

"I…I don't know."

He was LYING. Sarah's eyes widened as she recognized the fact. Hunter was LYING. To his HANDLER no less! The Active was deliberately not telling her the truth. She didn't even know this was possible.

'Maybe it isn't.' her mind answered for her. 'Maybe he's broken.'

'He's NOT.'

"Tell me the truth. Why were you upset?"

"I…I"

"Hunter." She put her hand on his elbow again and she heard him gasp in surprise, his blue eyes staring at her with an innocence of a child. He leaned closer to her again, as if tired and said

"I don't like the man."

'Now we're getting somewhere' Sarah thought with satisfaction. She let the man lean on her softly.

"The man? What man?"

"That man." Hunter answered in a surprisingly bitter tone that she never heard from him in his clean state. She thought carefully about what he meant. He was staring at her the whole time during drawing so he probably meant…

"Roller? You mean Roller, the man that was talking to me?"

"Yes." Hunter mumbled, as if embarrassed and Sarah blinked in surprise. Well, she sort of hated Roller as well it was no surprise really-that guy was the sleaziest man on earth. How the hell he even kept his job was beyond her. But for Hunter to feel this way…

She had to discreetly suggest another wipe for Hunter. There was no other way. Hopefully by the time he woke up all of this would go away and he would go back to normal. She had to come up with some stupid excuse, something dull, something non-threatening…

"Don't worry about it, Hunter." She stated after a while, getting quite bothered by their close proximity and the fact that he was now pressing his face into her hair. She didn't want to create a scene or make him scared but if somebody found them like this…

She quickly hopped off from the desk and fixed her now ruffled hair.

"Let's go. We'll go see Dr. Sanders some other time."

When there was no response, she turned around and found Hunter staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. She wanted to leave the room very badly. The way Hunter made her feel right now was…unsafe.

"Hunter."

Still, no response. He was not listening to her orders.

"We have to go."

Nothing.

"HUNTER."

At last he jumped off the table, very unwilling and somehow even annoyed. These were all expressions she was never supposed to see on his face in these circumstances and for a second, Sarah wondered if reporting it would not be a better idea after all.

But then he joined her by her side and he was back to a Doll again, blank and naïve and she was sure she probably imagined the whole thing. They made their way out of Dr. Sanders' medical office and Sarah silently checked her watch, noting that the drawing lesson was over.

"Hunter, would you like to go swim in the pool now?"

"I like to exercise." Was his answer. "It's important to do my best."

"Yes it is." Sarah answered and watched him as turned to walk towards the sport section, his walk steady and mechanical exactly like the rest of the Actives.

Everything was fine. There is no need to report anything.

She forced herself not to think about the strange conversation in Dr. Sanders' office the whole day. It was nothing. It was nothing.

It was nothing.