I take no credit obviously in the beginning of this story. Much of the beginning is verbatim dialogue taken from "A Spy In the House Of Love" and "Haunted" of Dollhouse." Fox owns the rights to both "Dollhouse" and "The X-Files" and all characters involved. The first chapter is used to set up subsequent material. What was added was the emotion of the characters and background. From that point it will be as a parallel universe in a point of time. A different line.
I will warn if anything changes in the tone of the writing or if there are spoilers. On a personal note, I don't care for spoilers...
This is my first attempt at fan fic. It is inspired by my obsession for Dollhouse and sci-fi and a friend. I write songs, not stories. But I want to take a different direction in songs. I thought writing short fiction may help.

X Files: The Dollhouse

Chapter One: The Set Up

Mellie was facing Paul with a blank stare towards him. She had just got back from her journey away a few moments ago facing an excited, obsessed and very paranoid Paul Ballard. He even pulled his gun out on her opening his door when she went to unlock her door to her apartment just across from his. He had spent the last few minutes updating her on events when she was away. Mostly about his obsession of the Dollhouse. The bugging of the apartment. The reason for all the locks on his door. Why his bulletin board and wall was filled with papers all over them, all about the Dollhouse and his attempts to trace it's location and reason for existence. They had been talking...him about the Dollhouse, her about her need to come back home. The conversation finally met in the middle between them.

"Yeah. You didn't come back to listen to this," said Paul. Something about the look on her face stopped his ranting over the Dollhouse. Reading her face, he could tell her reason for coming back. Mellie was moving towards him in the room.

"I came back to see you." There was a hint of a smile on her mouth.

"I'm sorry, it, it's just..." Paul wrung his hands in in the air and looked at her helplessly. "You should go back to you mother's." His head was nodding slightly, staring at her eye to eye.

She still had her coat on. "I can't." She began moving across the room and put her handbag down in a chair,removing her coat. "Besides the obvious reason she lives in Iowa and likes to set me up with losers I dated in high school..." she began to straighten her hair and move about, picking up empty food containers along her way. "I realized I was running away from my life," she finished, heading toward the kitchen.

"I'm giving you an out. You can walk out that door." By the expression on Paul's face Mellie could see how serious he meant it.

Mellie began walking back towards him smiling. "I'm pretty sure I can't even unlock it."

"Hey. I'm serious. I can't sleep!" Paul was visibly upset and getting very animated with his body and hands. "All I think of is finding this place, and sometimes I'm not even sure why I'm after it anymore!"

Mellie was moving face to face with him. "That's why you need someone to help you stay grounded."

"How are you going to do that."

She moved towards his lips and kissed him tenderly. "We can start by getting into the shower?" She gave him a smile and took his hand and lead him back to his bedroom towards the shower. Paul gave a somber look towards his work on his wall. Mellie began undressing him, removing his shirt...leaving his t shirt on with "Nippon" written in Japanese characters on the back. She was kissing him with long, lingering kisses; he was returning them eagerly. He began to unfasten the front of her dress....then began to set real still, looking down with a blank stare.

He moved away some, looking in her eyes, which were still turned towards the floor. "Too much? Too fast?" he asked inquisitively. "Hgggg...do I smell that bad?" He had a nervous smile on his face, still trying to get a reaction from her.

She looked up slowly, meeting his stare. "I have a message for you from inside the Dollhouse." Her voice was calm as she continued to remain still.

He was still staring in her eyes, not believing what he is hearing, "That's not funny."

"This Doll's name is November."

"Mellie. Your name is Mellie." Paul was becoming unglued.

"We knew this would be hard to hear."

"If you're pissed because I'm still investigating the Dollhouse..."

"This body belongs to a Doll."

"Just tell me. Don't do this." His look turned into a frown.

"We are sorry we had to deliver the news to you like this, in this body. But the Dollhouse has likely discovered that we've been placing messages inside their imprints. This is the only way we could the message to you."

"They did this to you." Paul began backing away.

"They did this long before you met me. They've been using this body to spy on you for months. The only reason Mellie exists is because of you."

He turned away and said to her "Aren't I special." He turned his back to her.

"Now that you've removed their surveillance they are going to rely on her more." As Paul began scanning his wall of Dollhouse facts she continued. "Don't tell her anything about the the investigation it will get back to the Dollhouse."

Paul began shaking his head, still with his back to "November." "That's why you...she came back here."

"Now you understand how dangerous their technology really is."

He was still turned with his back to her, looking down searchingly. "I slept with her." He turned to face her. "I shouldv'e known."

"You can't tell Mellie about this. If the Dollhouse knows you know they will kill you. And they'll make Mellie do it."

He looked down then back up at November. "Mellie Couldn't."

November continued to speak. "She's not a regular Doll. She's a sleeper. With the flip of a switch the Dollhouse can turn her into a killer. Her person inside has been captured..."

"Wait a minute."

"...This is the last time you will hear from us through the Doll."

"You can't tear apart my life and not give me anything. Where's the Dollhouse located." Paul was getting frantic.

"You need to investigate why it exists," November said calmly.

"Is it underground." Paul asked imploringly. "Am I on the right track!." To Hell with this. To hell with Mellie. I need to get to the bottom of this. Paul's thoughts were racing in his head like a bat out of hell.

"The Dollhouse deals in fantasy but it is not their purpose. Investigate their purpose. We will find other ways to contact you."

Paul sighed with exasperation. "Who. Who sent you."

"I'm not imprinted with information you're not supposed to have."

"Tell me, who!"

"Remember. You can't. Tell her. You must maintain the illusion." November looked down and when she looked up, Mellie was back and was smiling.

Paul was losing it. "Wait!"

It was too late...November was gone. Paul was still staring hard at her, drawing back.

"Paul, what's wrong?"

He smiled back and gave out a sigh. "Nothing."

She beamed back at him and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Why aren't you kissing me?" She closed her eyes and gave him a long soft kiss on the mouth. As they were wrapped together he looked off with a troubled look...

Loomis was walking toward her desk focusing on her next task, ready to shuffle some papers around...

"Holy Cr..." Loomis exclaimed in surprise, turning around and seeing Paul staring at her with is arms folded, standing in a corner of her office by the doorway. How did he get in here unnoticed?

"Sorry."

"You can't be here."

Paul got right to the point. "I need you to run some prints. They're entered. All keyed up. Just need authorization."

Loomis was still in a little shock, leaning on the chair in front of her computer. She stared at him and then turned to look at her monitor screens. She noticed her screen, waiting for her access code to be entered. Paul approached Loomis, gently moving the chair back she was still leaning on. She eased into it. Her screens were getting her full attention now.

"Comfy?" he asked.

Her thoughts were turning over in her head on why Paul would risk even being here. He already got suspended over his obsession over this Dollhouse thing. And this has to be about the Dollhouse. He is still obsessed. Whose fingerprints were these and where did they come from?

"I shouldn't do this." She turned back around to look at him.

"I got prints on someone that might be a missing person."

"Uh hum. We got prints on someone that might be a doll you mean." Her thoughts were right on the money. His obsession with this Dollhouse is consuming him.

"They are missing people you know, they just...don't know it." Loomis focused on her screen and typed in her access code. Loomis breathed out a deep sigh.

Neither her or Paul were prepared for what they are about to view. There was "Mellie's" picture...Annebeth S.

"My god it's her," Paul exclaimed. "How do we access the file." He could not believe what was popping up on Loomis' screen. Neither could.

A second name, with "Mellie" holding up a sign to her chest. Polly Keller. Denver PD. 56404. December 2006. She was wearing a low cut leather vest.

"Polly Keller..." Loomis said.

Paul was staring at the screen seeing all these names with "Mellie's" photos. Amanda James...Florida PD, 154604. "Mellie" looked sullen, unsmiling. Heather B...a side shot. Jane H. Heather B. again, a different photo. The mug shot of Amanda James again. "Oh my god." The photos were repeating themselves in rapid progression. Polly again. A new one, Michelle S. The photos were in repetition.

"Wha"...Loomis' eyes were taking it in.

Then the screen went dark. "They're gone." Loomis' eyes were still fixed to the screen.

"What just happened?" Paul's eyes were also still fixed to the screen as both saw the message come across her monitor replacing the darkness with SEARCH RETURNED 0 RESULTS.

She turned to face Paul and their eyes met. "I just started to believe you."

Paul turned away and breathed out a long sigh.

"How did you get these prints, Paul?"

"I've been sleeping with a... Doll." This Doll. He was still having trouble believing it. And it ate more of him away each day. He knew he was having trouble hiding that fact from Mellie. He was trying to fight the vision in his head of making love with her night after night. Her warm body wrapped in his. He loved her and knew it. And she was a Doll imprinted to spy on his progress. It was like a pain so deep inside no one could reach it. He turned away for a minute as Loomis got more comfortable in her chair. "One day Mellie comes back from visiting her mother. And..." He put his hands over his face for a second trying to collect his words. "And after a few minutes of talking, she just stands there. Just stands there looking down staring at the floor. And then looks at me with this blank look on her...And tells me her name is November. And she's s sleeper Doll. That Mellie can't be told anything of the Dollhouse. And if she finds out I know where it is located, they will have me killed, and use Mellie to do it. I got the prints one night after we had dinner in my apartment. It was from her wine glass."

He turned for second and then faced Loomis. "And she told me, that the Dollhouse has a purpose. It isn't just about kidnapping people to use for fantasy."

"Oh Paul." L oomis sat in her chair, staring at the dark screen. She looked down for a minute before speaking. "Well, where do we go from here? How can we handle this? This is big, Paul. Really big. We can't do this alone."

"I know. S ee what you can find out, Loomis? Please? Who has access to those files? I'm gonna go home and think. Oh if you find anything, anything, call me on my cell phone. The less Mellie hears the better for both of us."

"OK, Paul. You better go. Best that nobody find you here."

As Paul headed out Loomis gave all of this a hard thought. She was still staring at her monitor, still dark. Who had access to the prints of that Doll. Why so many names and identities. Who were these people? She started wondering through some of this confusion what to do with this. Who can she tell. And then it hit her. She got back on her computer and looked up a name. A name of someone she never met yet knew he and his partner handled strange cases within the FBI. So strange that many were top secret. Then she made the phone call. A phone call to the Bureau in Washington, D.C.

"Is this Agent Mulder? Fox Mulder...?"

"Yes it is, to whom am I speaking?" answered Mulder.

"Well, you don't know me but I work for the Bureau out of L.A. My name is Loomis. Have you ever heard of the Dollhouse?"

"Rumors spinning around, nothing I could pin down, why?"

"Well, you may be very interested in something I got here. Some very strange things happening. Missing people...Apparently imprinted with personalities other than their own. To do whatever rich clients want them to do, all by people running this Dollhouse. They're called Dolls. I was accessing some prints of a missing person given to me by an agent here and the info got erased right before our eyes. Do you think maybe there's a chance you can come out and help me investigate this thing? See what's going on? This woman looked like she was in some trouble before she disappeared. I can't tell you much more over the phone, but can tell you I'm convinced from what I saw and what this agent told me she is a Doll operative. I am worried about what Paul has gotten himself into. The Bureau already suspended him over this Dollhouse investigation when he didn't give it up. I am wondering what the Dollhouse may be really about."

There was a short silence on the phone. Then she heard Mulder on the other end. "We'll be on the first flight out. I'm bringing my partner Agent Scully with me. Give me a phone number to reach you at. Who else knows about this?"

"Just me, the agent Paul Ballard, and you right now. Everyone else here wants to believe this Dollhouse isn't real. A figment of Paul's imagination. I didn't believe it either until I saw what happened running this woman's prints. Everything just disappeared off the screen. Photos. Aliases she used. Just disappeared. And a rumor of an NSA agent disappearing, but hushed up. I didn't tell Paul of it, I didn't think until now maybe there's a connection with that and what's going on with this Dollhouse."

"We'll be on the first flight we can get. Can you get a car waiting for us at the airport? And give me Agent Ballard's phone number. Do you know who this NSA agent is?"

"No. I can't track that down yet. And of course. I'll be waiting to hear from you."

"Ok. Until then."

Loomis heard a click on the other end. She kept the phone in her hand and took a deep breath. She pushed the buttons to call Paul.