I do not own these characters, and this is not a product of the original series. The story is my own.

Chapter 3

Life Isn't Always What It Seems

Dorothy slowly awoke, groggy and confused. What had just happened? She felt the cold hard table underneath her and as she looked around, her vision began to clear, and she saw the large computer mainframe and equipment of Leon's shop with Leon hovering over her.

"Ah! You're awake! How are feeling?" He asked.

Dorothy held her head. "What happened? Why am I here?

"Seems you became unresponsive during lunch then fainted. Apparently, you said something about escaping with Roger and being saved by him before you lost consciousness. Do you remember what you meant by that?"

She thought for a moment and shook her head.

"I don't know. I don't remember saying that."

"Then what do you remember?"

"We were having lunch on the roof… I asked what we used to talk about… And then I was here."

"That's it? That's all you remember?"

She touched her lips. The sensation of Roger's lips lingered on hers and the memory of him pulling her into a kiss flashed in her mind.

"Kiss…"

"Huh?"

She smiled to herself. "I think we kissed."

Leon tapped his chin. "Hmm…

He glanced over at his computer and smiled at her.

"Well, it seems like you're all right. I need to talk to Roger about monitoring you. You can wait with Jane. It'll only take a second."

He pressed the call button on his desk and spoke into it.

"Jane, can you send Roger in and have Dorothy wait with you?"

A second later Jane opened the door and let Roger in.

"Of course." She said. "Come on Dorothy, I have a nice cup of tea waiting for you."

Jane beckoned Dorothy over and she hopped off the table.

"Thank you, Leon." Dorothy said.

Leon waited until Jane had closed the door before he spoke.

"Come take a look at this."

Roger followed him to his computer, and he pointed at the screen.

"Do you see that?" Leon said.

Roger looked at the data on the screen.

"I do, but what does it mean?" Roger asked.

"These are the brain waves representing Dorothy's memory engrams over the span of time. Do you see how there's multiple waves overlapping? Those are different versions of the same memory, but one is prominent, and the others are dormant." Leon pointed to another part of his screen. "Here you can see these overlapping memories go back years. Even though her memories were lost after being revived, it looks as though others have somehow surfaced."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure. The dormant memories are not viewable, but I can see that they are there."

"Did you look at her memory from lunch?"

"I tried, but the data is missing a section of memory. There's a particular point where I can see her brain waves became sporadic reacting to something, but I can't see what it was. It's as if someone wiped them but left a few crumbs behind."

Roger looked at him taken aback.

"Someone erased her memory on the rooftop? But that can't be… How would they do that?"

"I have no idea. I checked for any implants when I first repaired her in case Mr. Belafonte tried to leave some behind, but I found nothing. I recorded this data so I can further analyze it. In the meantime, keep a close eye on her and if it happens again, bring here right away."

"That's it? That's all you can do?"

"For now, yes. Do you remember anything odd happening before she became unresponsive?"

"She became hyper emotional, but nothing besides that."

"Emotional in what way?"

"She seemed to be panicking."

"Over what?"

"I don't know. She asked me if I loved her… I'm trying not to overwhelm her, so I avoided the answer. She became agitated when I wouldn't answer and after I did answer she lost consciousness. It's the second time today she became irrationally upset. The first time was this morning, but she didn't faint."

"Hmm, odd… Well, I'll let you know if I find anything new. For now, you can take Dorothy home."

Roger gave Leon a pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks Leon. I'll be seeing you."

Leon gave a nod of acknowledgement and Roger exited the room. After a few moments, once Roger and Dorothy had left, Jane came in.

"Did you tell him?" Jane asked.

Leon shook his head. Jane sighed and spoke again.

"Why won't you tell him you have Dorothy's memories saved? Wasn't the whole point of recording them so she could get them back?"

"Yes, but she told me to wait before giving them back to her."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me." He stared at his computer screen. "These new memories surfaced after losing her old ones…"

"Are you saying she knew they were there."

Leon sighed. "I don't know… But I'm going to try and figure out why they're there and how."

Dorothy eyed Roger as they arrived home. He had been quiet the entire car ride home. Something seemed to be on his mind and while she wanted to ask, she doubted he would tell her. Norman stood at the garage entrance into the house and spoke when they exited the car.

"Master Roger, Miss Angel has requested to see you."

Roger's eyes widened with rage.

"Tell her to get the hell out of my house!" Roger growled.

"I never let her in. I told her you weren't home, but she's outside the front door refusing to leave until she speaks with you.

He clenched his jaw and fists.

"How dare she even-"

He didn't get to finish the thought. Dorothy touched his arm drawing his attention to her.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"It's nothing for you to worry about. Why you don't you go inside and rest."

Dorothy grabbed his hand.

"I'll go with you."

"It's alright Dorothy, I'll handle it."

He tried to take his hand back, but she held on tighter.

"Roger…" She hooked an arm around his. "I want to go with you."

Roger was about to protest, but the frightened look in her eyes changed his mind. She must have still been shaken and didn't want to be alone.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright. But stay out of sight. It'll only take a second."

Dorothy's face lit up and she gave a nod of acknowledgement. Roger held her hand as he stormed toward the front door, a raging fire in his eyes. His body shook with fury. Who the hell did Angel think she was? After all the manipulation and everything that she did to put Dorothy and him in the position they were in.

When they got to the door, Roger had Dorothy stand close to the wall by the door so she wouldn't be visible when the door was open. He swung the door open and before Angel could get word in, he yelled, "Fuck off!" and slammed it in her face. He grabbed Dorothy's hand to led her to her room for rest when Angel kept banging on the door.

"Roger, would you let me in!" Angel called from outside.

Dorothy frowned.

"Who's she?" She wondered.

"A week is not long enough Angel. You really don't want to test me." Roger warned.

"I just want to see Dorothy-"

The front door aggressively swung open, and Roger stood in the doorway, his gaze filled with a wrathful ire she had never seen before.

"You want to what?" He asked, his voice dangerously low.

"Roger I-"

He took a step out the door and Angel backed up.

"You want to what?" He asked again.

"R-Roger, why are you-"

"You know damn well why I'm pissed! So don't come around here looking for me or looking for Dorothy!"

Dorothy peeked through the crack in the door near the hinges. She caught a glimpse of Angel and her chest felt tight. She didn't know who she was, but even she felt angry looking at her.

"I told you I was only after Leon's equipment!" Angel yelled back.

Roger rolled his eyes. "Oh, whatever."

"I came around here to see how she was doing!"

"How do you think she's doing?! She doesn't remember a damn thing! The woman I love doesn't remember a damn thing! Thanks to you!"

Dorothy's breath caught and her eyes widened.

"That's why he's been so upset… He loves me…" She thought.

"Look, I'm trying to tell you about a client-"

Roger waved his arm in a dismissive manner and turned to step back inside.

"Screw your client!"

And with that he slammed the door and bolted it.

Roger froze when he noticed Dorothy out of the corner of his eyes. In the heat of the moment, he had forgotten she was there.

"That… Wasn't really gentlemanly… Uh, Dorothy, I-"

Dorothy smiled at him. "It's ok."

He sighed in relief and smiled back at her.

"Look, she's bad news. If you're ever out on your own and you run into her, avoid her. "

"But who is she?"

He placed his hand on her shoulders. "I'll tell you later, I promise, but right now after your ordeal you should rest. Come on."

Roger walked her to her room. After Dorothy crawled into bed he turned to leave when she spoke.

"Will you stay with me? I mean… Lie with me."

Roger looked into her vulnerable pleading eyes and nodded, taking off his suit jacket.

"I will."

Dorothy moved over and made room for him. Roger laid on his back and stared at the ceiling with his hands on his stomach. He felt her move close to him and he turned his head. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were by her face on the pillow gently touching his shoulder. She moved even closer, eyes still closed, and after a few moments placed a hand on his shoulder. He watched as her breath slowed and deepened, and she fell asleep. He brushed her hair out of face and caressed her cheek. He swallowed a lump in his throat that formed as his emotions swelled looking at her. He wished things could have been different- That she would have never died and needed to be brought back by Leon. He had hoped that some of her memories would have survived and been able to resurface, and on one hand some memories did seem to survive- Or at least impressions of them- But something was clearly wrong with them.

"I'll figure it out. I'll find out what I'm supposed to save us from." Roger said to her sleeping form.

Dorothy stirred and snuggled as close as she could, draping her arm and leg over him and lying her head on his chest.

He smiled softly at her.

"I swear I will."