Disclaimer: I don't own Dollhouse.

Chapter 3: When Desperate and Dying

August and Everything After

(When the Levee Breaks, When the Phone Rings, When Desperate and Dying, When They Reach the Brink, TBC)

Taking place a year after Epitaph Two: Return, in the year 2021 the world is beginning to rebuild itself. Echo and Alpha have reached the near end of their mission to destroy all remaining Rossum imprints. Adelle has taken over the Rossum enterprise, Tony and Priyah have found peace in California, and Mag and Kilo have taken over the old L.A. Dollhouse.

August and Everything After

Chapter 3: When Desperate and Dying

Los Angeles – Dollhouse – 2021

Outside where the vans would drop off their dolls and pick them up when it came time for engagements, Echo's dark van pulled quickly up. Mag was sitting in her wheelchair at the open door of the building. When the van stopped, Mag reached down and lifted up her pant legs and pressed a small blue button on each of her legs at the knees. The veins in her legs became brighter for a moment before returning to normal and a clicking sound went off. She pulled her pant legs down and stood. She then walked quickly to the van. Whiskey and Mag rushed to the van and helped Echo carry Alpha across the street and inside. Alpha was shouting and looked at Whiskey with hatred in his eyes. Whiskey looked at him blankly before returning her gaze to the path she ran along.

Inside, they quickly lifted him up the stairs of the main lobby and lead him through what was now Mag's office. They passed the office and took him into the room where the chair* once was. Mag ran ahead and opened the far wall by placing her hand on a scanner. She then disappeared for a moment before coming back with a gurney. She rolled it over and they laid him down. Kilo entered and began to act quickly without acknowledging Mag. She brought in a small scanner and ran it across Alpha's body. The scanner glowed and then beeped.

Kilo: "I need the remote wipe."

Echo reached into a small holster on her belt and handed the remote wipe gun to Kilo. Kilo then quickly took the round cylinder that was the interior core of the remote out and slid it into a large computer. She then placed the hand held scanner in a reader shaped as if meant perfectly for such a cylinder. The screen was a translucent green, but as the wipe registered, it became blue and a 3-Dimensional model of the cylinder appeared on the screen. Using her fingers, she clicked a piece of it and a few waves appeared beside it. The scanner she used for his body then popped up in the corner of the screen and she clicked it to open its contents. When the scanner opened, 162 small boxes appeared, as well as Alpha's heart rate and overall health. The heart rate was steadily increasing as the health decreased. The boxes were beginning to dissolve right in front of them.

Kilo: "That's genius."

Echo looked at it for a moment and then began to understand.

Echo: "His mind is disintegrating."

Mag disappeared from the room again and returned with a hot towel. She placed it on Alpha's forehead and he threw it away. She left the room once more.

Kilo: "One mind at a time."

When Mag returned, she had a new cloth and placed it on his forehead. This one was cold and he did not throw it away. Mag looked wearily at Echo, though avoided eye contact with Kilo.

Mag: "What do we do?"

Kilo clicked away on the computer and within moments was cross checking the wiped articulation of the abnormality and the boxes from Alpha's scan.

Kilo: "I can try and pinpoint the virus, but it is moving rapidly and I don't know how to stop it."

Echo looked back at Alpha and then to Mag who stood over him.

Echo: "I know one man that could."

Kilo looked over to Alpha and nodded in acceptance.

Kilo: "Yes, well he is out cold."

Echo: "I'm not talking about Alpha."

Kilo took a step back and slightly bumped her computer.

Kilo: "You're joking."

Echo: "No. Look, I know we have a copy of him somewhere."

Kilo was clearly shocked at the entire idea.

Kilo: "Just because you let the only person smart enough to save himself imprint himself with a dangerous Rossum employee, doesn't mean you can bring back the dead whenever you please. What would Dewitt say?"

Kilo folded her arms in clear disapproval while Echo looked at Alpha with deep concern in her eyes.

Echo: "I didn't let him. It's not like he asks my permission. He didn't talk to me about it. He knew this was a possibility and he didn't want it to be me."

To be continued in Chapter 4: When They Reach the Brink

*chair – the chair was used before the remote wipes to manually erase and imprint as well as build doll architecture within the mind.