He always said it might hurt a little, but this was different. Everything was so hazy, every time she tried to get something into focus, a blinding pain would shoot through her, causing a scream to erupt from her throat. Lifting her hands she thrashed out wildly at anything, wanting to grip onto something and hold on for dear life. She could hear voices around her, and a fierce grip on her shoulder and another much lighter grip on her hand. Tearing herself away from the hand on her shoulder, she pushed herself fully against the person holding onto her hand, her eyes flashing open, needing the pain to go away. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced, a complete loss of coherence. Her last thought before she blacked out was that she hoped Topher wasn't mad that she wasn't her best.

*

It had all seemed to happen so fast. He'd heard something coming from the elevator and as the doors slid open, it felt like someone had grabbed his insides and twisted them. Standing up, Victor's mouth had dropped as he saw Sierra being dragged from the elevator. There was blood everywhere. But Sierra, couldn't have been hurt, she was never hurt, he had to protect her.

*

Literally having had to drag Lima up the stairs towards the chair room, Dominic was glad to finally throw him down into the chair. Clicking his fingers impatiently at Topher, Dominic spoke. "Get on with the imp-," raising his head as the doors flew open, his eyes widened as Sierra's bloodied body was carried in. "What the hell happened?!" Grabbing Lima with his hand Dominic quickly lifted him out of the chair, tossing him to one side. "Go swimming or something!"

Not giving Lima a second thought, Dominic took a step back as Sierra screamed, making him wince. He didn't usually show compassion to any of the dolls, but this was painful to watch. This house was broken and he seemed to be the only one who saw it.

*

As Claire Saunders flicked through yet another series of files, she exhaled heavily. Maybe she should het some rest. Well that was about all she did, she mused to herself. "Sierra can you hear me?"

Hearing shouts from above her, she glanced up at the ceiling, her lips parting and her eyebrows arching. Stepping towards the door, her eyes remaining fixed upon the origin of the shouting. As she backed out of her office, a high pitched scream rang out, causing Claire to gasp sharply. As more shouts rang out, she ran towards the stairs, making her way up them as quickly as she could, almost bumping directly into Lima as he came down the stairs. Apologising quickly she sidestepped out of his way and pushed the doors to the chair room open. Her eyes immediately fixed on Sierra, an obvious wound in her stomach, blood oozing out profusely. "Oh my God. What happened?"

Topher turned away from the computers, his mind racing from all that was happening. Keeping his attention focused on Sierra, as she tossed and turned in the chair, he replied to Claire. "She was shot on an assignment." Kneeling down in front of Sierra, he grimaced as he saw the blood continuing to pour out. Taking her hand in his he moved it over the wound, pressing it down to attempt to the flow of blood. Suddenly without warning she seemed to lunge forward, her hands clawing at him, quickly holding her frame against his.

Dominic and Claire exchanged a questioning look between each other, Topher's own expression very much the same. Not sure how to react he lifted his head to meet Claire's gaze, mouthing, what do I do?

Stepping towards the two, Claire placed her arms around Sierra's shoulders, pulling her gently back into the chair to lie down, having to use considerable force to drag her away from Topher. "Sierra, look at me, Sierra." Smiling weakly as Sierra cast her gaze onto her, she brushed a strand of her from her face. "Maybe you should get some rest."

Placing her hands over her stomach, Topher took his own hands away, finding that they were shaking and covered in blood. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling deeply. "I need to sit down… get a juice box." Stepping back from Sierra he collapsed into a chair by some computers.

Dr. Saunders, spoke up quietly. "I'll go get something to fix that wound." Dominic quickly left the room with Claire, both going their separate ways, leaving Topher with Sierra. He had no idea what had just happened between the two of them, but he safely say that was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do.

******

Yes it turns out I'm a Topher/Sierra shipper. I'm just weird like that.

Anyway this chapter didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to but hopefully the next couple of chapters will start to pick up with the whole Lima storyline.

Remember R&R.