(Guys! A friend of mine did fabulous voice-overs of two of the chapters I've written: he played Sarge in After the Recon: Party Crashers, Part II and O'Malley in After the Recon II: Supposed to be Dead, Part III. They are amazing and are posted on Eleven's tumblr page, ask-agent-eleven. I suggest that you go take a look and tell Razi how talented he is!

-Stella)

Eventually, I stood up, still shaking a little. My mind spun with a million little plans to escape, all of them a failure just because I had thought them. Deciding I would just deal with the problem later, I looked up and down the street, trying to think of how to get back to the apartment. I couldn't do anything but play along with this nonsense for now.

Good girl, a sinister voice whispered in my head.

"Shut up," I responded irritably.

I had no idea where I was in this place. I had run far away from Church and didn't even know where to start looking for him.

Conveniently, as soon as that thought passed through my head, a police car came careening around the corner and sped toward me. I stumbled out of the way just in time for it to come up beside the sidewalk, slamming the breaks. The window rolled down.

"Ellen!" Wash said worriedly. "Leonard just called in to the station saying that you'd run off! I've been looking all over for you!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Sorry."

"What did you even think you were doing?" he chastised, beckoning me to enter the car. "Your brother said that you just ran off randomly!"

I said nothing as I entered the vehicle, sitting down and buckling in.

"You had us worried," Wash continued, upset.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I responded, irritated. "It was stupid. I get it."

Wash sighed. "Okay. I'm going to drop you off at home now, but you can't keep doing that! You're going to get yourself hurt."

I nodded, though my thoughts were filled with hatred toward Gamma. I was doing exactly what he wanted. Obeying.

You think this is funny, don't you? I thought savagely as Wash began driving me home. I couldn't bear to look at him in his police officer uniform. You just love messing with my real life.

Oh, but this will soon become your real life, Gamma replied. I glanced over at Wash, who apparently couldn't hear this conversation in my thoughts. After I am through with you, you will have no recollection of anything but here.

I still remember everything, I challenged, silently outraged. I still know who I am! You can't stop that.

Gamma sniggered. It has only been a few days, Ellen. I cringed at the new name. After a few years in here, try to remember your other life. I dare you.

My anger was mixed with fear again. How dare you! How dare you alter my life! My memories!

Aww… is poor little Ellen upset that she's going to marry Grif? Gamma taunted. My face reddened in embarrassment. Can't she stand that fact that neither Father Lavernius nor Officer David has feelings for her?

Shut up! I growled, and Wash looked over at me.

"Are you all right, Ellen?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I snapped, probably more rudely than I should have. I didn't care. You don't know anything about me! You don't know a damn thing!

Gamma didn't respond; Wash had just pulled into the driveway of the apartment building. I got out, said a quick thanks to the policeman, and made my way through the lobby.

One of my neighbors and I entered the elevator simultaneously; he was wearing pink and sported a full beard.

"Hi, Franklin," I said.

"Hey, Ellen," Franklin responded. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm all right," I replied, trying not to stare at the man. Did I know him from somewhere? He was my neighbor. He lived on the same floor as I did. He was married and pretty much the manliest person I'd ever met. That was… that was all I knew.

I frowned. He looked familiar for a reason other than that, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

We reached the eleventh floor and exited the elevator, heading to our respective rooms. I was still thinking about how I knew Franklin when I passed by my other neighbor, a hippie dressed in red.

Sarge!

It hit me. Franklin was a Red soldier. Just like Sarge, Simmons, and Grif. Yes. So… why couldn't I remember him like that?

I stopped in the middle of the hallway, horror-struck. It was happening. Gamma was poisoning my mind. Already I was forgetting my friends for who they really were.

I stared at Franklin as he entered his apartment and locked the door. He was Franklin… Franklin Delano Donut. Therefore, if I remembered the other Reds by their last names, I must have called the pink-clad man Donut too.

I frowned. That last name sounded so foreign on my thoughts—as if it weren't supposed to be there…

No!

I stood outside my own apartment, leaning on the door with my head in my hands. Donut. Donut. Donut. He wasn't this way. He wasn't acting normally here.

I swallowed hard and entered my apartment, willing myself to remember Fran—no, Donut's—real personality. However, as hard as I tried, my memories of the pink soldier were utterly gone.

"Ellen!" Grif exclaimed as I entered, grasping me tightly in a hug. I tensed up, refusing to hug him back. "Leonard said you ran off after your therapy. What happened?"

He placed both hands on my shoulders, gazing at me worriedly.

"Nothing," I said tiredly. "I just thought I saw someone I knew. Can we just drop the subject?"

"No," Grif replied seriously. "We're getting really worried about you. You're acting so strangely, even for someone with your condition!"

I didn't respond. Like he knew what was going on. I could have sworn I heard Gamma chuckle through my mind again.

"I'm fine, Grif," I said, pulling away from him and walking toward the kitchen.

I could feel my fiancé staring at my back as I entered the kitchen.

"Wh… why are you calling me by my last name now?" he asked. I stopped, willed myself not to huff exasperatedly, and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry, Dex," I said, trying my hardest to stay calm. "I didn't mean to."

Grif said nothing, but flashed me another look of apprehension. "There's something seriously wrong here. I…" he trailed off. "I have to make a few phone calls." He exited the apartment at that, and I sank into a chair at the kitchen table, flashing my middle finger into the air just for Gamma.