A/N: Okay, so this is my first official fan fiction. I adore Dollhouse, and clearly there's so much scope for fan fiction with it. This is post-Epitaph Two, following Adelle and centering mainly around her relationship with Topher and what happens to her in the years after the end/new beginning. I actually I have a very detailed story in my mind about Adelle rebuilding the world, but this focuses on specific points and her thoughts about Topher. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I don't think I ever will be, and I really needed to write something about her afterwards.

I love Topher an awful lot. I am completely unable to do him justice and any description of him I try to write is in adequate. Apologies for this.

Zone and the girl who Caroline II really is feature in the story, and I've renamed them. I assume Zone wasn't always his name, and I always want to make it clear that I have softened his character a bit, because all his tough stuff was for the war.

Well, this author note is far too large now. I'll just get on with it. I hope you enjoy it, and criticism (of the constructive kind) is greatly appreciated!


"We literally become what we do, not what we've done or will do. We're best defined by our actions in the moment."


She remembered holding his face in her hands, kissing his head. She remembered watching him go, walking away from her, to their salvation and his destruction. She should have stopped him. She could have stopped him.

She could have gone with him. He shouldn't have been alone.

Adelle placed her hand against her mouth, attempting to stifle the sobs as the tears came pouring out. She was alone, now, in an old office, half destroyed, not far from the Dollhouse. The others, the freshly reset, were in other rooms nearby, attempting to sleep. Attempting to make sense of all that had happened.

It had been less than 24 hours, but it felt like an age. She'd had to be strong, she always had to be strong. She'd brought them all together; the wiped people Alpha had cared for, the butchers roaming the streets, the few scared, messed up people hiding out in the ruins. She had gathered them together, and explained it all.

A war had raged for 10 years, crazed and self indulgent business men using advanced technology to wipe people out of their own heads and replace them with someone, or something, else. A decade of half the population filled only with a desire to destroy the other half, whilst the fat cats at the top controlled it all, eating and laughing and indulging in all life's luxuries, moving from body to body without a care in the world. No purpose to any of it. And a man named Topher Brink who saved them all, who sacrificed himself to restore humanity.

To restore the humanity he believed he himself had taken away. She couldn't understand it, she could never understand it, how he blamed himself so entirely. Of all those who'd played their part, he was least to blame. He was led astray... he was seduced by the science... he was betrayed. By her. Yet he never blamed her.

She threw herself onto the sofa that remained in the corner of the room, wishing there was a glass of vodka in her hand. She wiped her eyes furiously. She had to stop this, she had to get her head straight. Do the job he'd left for her to do.

But her heart wept for him. The poor, lonely boy; the intelligent, humorous man. Her friend. Her son.

There was a knock on the door. Quickly, Adelle pulled herself upright and wiped her eyes again. "Come in," she said.

Zone entered. Or rather, she reminded herself, Michael the landscape architect.

"Hey," he said. He looked lost, out of place, unsure. The war he knew how to fight was over, and he didn't know what to do next. "So what now?" he asked, joining Adelle on the sofa.

"Oh..." she sighed, leaning back, a hand over her eyes. "I don't know. We need to... There are so many. So many people out there who need to understand. The whole world, with no one to explain. We'll have to broadcast... get the message out... And we need to find all the tech, all the wedges, all the backups of people like Harding and Ambrose..." She was talking quicker now, sitting up, getting into her stride, glad to have something else to think about. This was what she needed. Work to do. "We'll have to organise. There's a new world to set up – it's all collapsed. We need to rebuild, we need to –"

"Hey," interrupted Michael, "let's start small, maybe. Like, food."

"Food. Right." Adelle sighed. "These poor people. They've lost so much. Their world has been destroyed and they don't even remember it. They're stuck at different points in time, trying to understand... And we don't even have any food to give them."

"Well. Better this than before, right? The world is on the mend!" Michael laughed and clapped his hands together. "I never thought I'd see the day. And if we've got this far... we can damn well get that bit further."

Adelle jerked her head in something like assent, a half smile on her lips. But she placed her head in her hands and for a moment they sat in silence.

"What you said before... out there," Michael began, "when you were telling them all what happened. Is it true? That Topher guy – he invented it all? The tech that destroyed everything?"

Adelle's head shot up, her eyes boring into his. "Why? Does that make you hate him? Does that make his... You didn't know him."

"No. I know. I didn't mean... What he did today, that's just..." Michael shrugged. "Well. I didn't know, is all."

Adelle looked away, staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said. "About Topher. You... you loved him, right?"

Again, her head shot up, but her gaze was softer this time. She looked at him almost as though she wasn't seeing him at all.

"Yes," she said, simply. "More than anything, I loved him very much. He was like a son to me."

"I'm sorry," Michael repeated. "At least... at least you know he died for a reason. For something good. He did... a noble thing."

Adelle snorted, getting to her feet and striding across the room. "He should never have had to," she said. She looked at Michael, sitting on the couch and watching her. "He never..." Her voice broke off and she turned away abruptly. Out of the broken windows she could see the remains of the old Rossum building. The windows blown out of the top floors...

She turned back to Michael.

"We need to get out of LA. We won't find food here. We'll head away from the city, there'll be food somewhere. We'll find more people; maybe more Actuals, hiding out."

Michael hesitated for a moment, then stood, nodding, understanding. "Right. What do you want me to do?"

Adelle paused and spread her hands. "We'll stay here for the night. You just... just do what you can to help them. Look after Camilla. Tomorrow, we'll move on."


Okay, so there it is. Chapter Two will follow shortly. I'd love to know what people think.