fic for doll_ficathon!
Title: Romeo X-ray
Author: acinogan
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Paul/Mellie
Warning(s)/Spoiler(s): Spoilers thru episode 1.09 "A Spy in the House of Love"
Recipient/Prompt: claudia6913 - "After Mellie introduces herself as November, Paul begins to see just how much the Dollhouse has infiltrated his life."
Summary: Takes place between the events of 1.09 & 1.10
Beta: superkappa
Disclaimer: Dollhouse does not belong to me.
A/N: I hope this is along the lines of what you wanted, claudia6913!
The clear amber liquid swirled in the glass. Surely this fifth pouring would distance him far enough from his life so it wouldn't seem as messed up as it actually was.
He lifted the glass in a mock toast. What should he drink to this time? He'd already saluted his suspension, fake personalities, the Russians, and the dead guy in his apartment. Well, here's to Caroline, wherever she is, and to whoever sent the very helpful communications that made this whole thing snowball into him investigating the Russians, the dead guy in his apartment, and women with fake personalities. Therefore getting him suspended. Thanks, asshole.
He raised the glass higher, forcefully enough to send a few drops over the rim and onto his hand. Then he downed the contents in one large swallow. Over the lips and past the gums, look out liver, here it comes. He missed the days when beating the shit out of someone in the ring made him feel better, replenished him. Now every time he felt like punching someone, he thought about Caroline in the alley, or the dead guy with his neck snapped, probably between the edge of his coffee table and Mellie's foot.
He was an idiot. While someone from inside the Dollhouse had been sending him a secret message through Caroline, the right hand hadn't known what the left hand had been doing and they'd gone on keeping tabs on him through Mellie. And he hadn't even known Mellie was a part of it until he got yet another damn secret message through her. Then, after he knew Mellie wasn't real, he'd chosen to play along like everything was just fine. He was such an idiot. He probably deserved to be suspended for not even knowing his girlfriend was a plant.
He poured another drink. Here's to secret messages.
Maybe he would go to the gym tomorrow. He kind of needed to hit something. And some willing participant's face was better than his wall.
* * *
Thud.
The glove absorbed most of the sound. Every third jab or so he really connected with a part of his sparring partner's body and the contact jarred him, helped to rattle his mind and clear it.
Thud.
Luckily his normal partner was here; he didn't feel the need to pull any punches, and if he got a little sneaky and landed an unexpected blow, he was sure the other man wouldn't take it personally.
Thwack.
Like that one. The other man's head was whipped around to his own right from the force of his roundhouse, and a few slo-mo seconds later, he hit the mat with another thud. In retrospect, it might have been a bit excessive for simply sparring. He just wished he could go back to "simply" doing anything. Now, every punch he threw was actually a form of revenge that he couldn't take out on the Dollhouse, on his own stupidity, on Mellie...
The other man's face was swelling more than it should, under his eye socket, like maybe he'd broken the man's cheekbone. He offered to take the man to the doctor or the ER, but the man said his wife was on her way to pick him up anyway. He gave the man his business card, after writing his cell number on the back, and told him to send the bill to him. The man pocketed the card, but told him that's what insurance was for and that everything was going to be all right.
Easy for the guy with the broken face to say.
After watching the other man leave the gym through the front door, he gathered his things from the gym locker room and also left through the front door, intending to shower at home instead of the gym. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large dark-colored van, the same type he had requisitioned for surveillance several times himself before he'd been suspended.
He let his imagination run wild for a moment before shutting it down and turning away to walk to his car. That was part of the reason he was in this mess to begin with. Maybe he was just as paranoid as everyone thought. No one would waste resources to get surveillance on him...except the Dollhouse. And with the kind of clientele they had paying for their services, they probably had plenty of resources to waste.
Stop it. They've already gotten to you through Mellie; what else could they possibly want?
He drove home, trying to forget about the Dollhouse, knowing that when he saw Mellie, he would be painfully reminded all too soon.
The showers at the gym weren't stingingly hot enough for his tastes any more. He ran the water in his own shower at scalding hot until it ran lukewarm, then wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower. As he wiped some condensation off of the mirror, Mellie's face appeared in the reflection next to his. He jumped when he felt her arms reach around him from behind, her real arms and not just his overactive imagination.
"I was going to join you, but I kind of like keeping my skin on my body instead of boiling it off." She dropped an easy kiss on his shoulder, then walked around so she was in front of him, facing him, her arms still around him. He heard her voice in his head again, the voice from the trance: the only reason Mellie exists is because of you...you must maintain the illusion.
"I like your skin just where it is," he made himself say, while he made himself react to her touch the way he knew she expected. The sweet kisses, the gentle voice, the soft touch. He didn't know how long he could maintain the illusion. It was already starting to drive him a little crazy. Crazier. Whatever. Right now he was too scared of what would happen to Mellie if he didn't keep up appearances that he didn't have any choice but to maintain the status quo. So he would let the Dollhouse keep this carte blanche access to his home for now and try not to do any irreparable damage to their operative while he figured out how to work around it to bring them down for good, to get Mellie and Caroline both out.
Author: acinogan
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Paul/Mellie
Warning(s)/Spoiler(s): Spoilers thru episode 1.09 "A Spy in the House of Love"
Recipient/Prompt: claudia6913 - "After Mellie introduces herself as November, Paul begins to see just how much the Dollhouse has infiltrated his life."
Summary: Takes place between the events of 1.09 & 1.10
Beta: superkappa
Disclaimer: Dollhouse does not belong to me.
A/N: I hope this is along the lines of what you wanted, claudia6913!
The clear amber liquid swirled in the glass. Surely this fifth pouring would distance him far enough from his life so it wouldn't seem as messed up as it actually was.
He lifted the glass in a mock toast. What should he drink to this time? He'd already saluted his suspension, fake personalities, the Russians, and the dead guy in his apartment. Well, here's to Caroline, wherever she is, and to whoever sent the very helpful communications that made this whole thing snowball into him investigating the Russians, the dead guy in his apartment, and women with fake personalities. Therefore getting him suspended. Thanks, asshole.
He raised the glass higher, forcefully enough to send a few drops over the rim and onto his hand. Then he downed the contents in one large swallow. Over the lips and past the gums, look out liver, here it comes. He missed the days when beating the shit out of someone in the ring made him feel better, replenished him. Now every time he felt like punching someone, he thought about Caroline in the alley, or the dead guy with his neck snapped, probably between the edge of his coffee table and Mellie's foot.
He was an idiot. While someone from inside the Dollhouse had been sending him a secret message through Caroline, the right hand hadn't known what the left hand had been doing and they'd gone on keeping tabs on him through Mellie. And he hadn't even known Mellie was a part of it until he got yet another damn secret message through her. Then, after he knew Mellie wasn't real, he'd chosen to play along like everything was just fine. He was such an idiot. He probably deserved to be suspended for not even knowing his girlfriend was a plant.
He poured another drink. Here's to secret messages.
Maybe he would go to the gym tomorrow. He kind of needed to hit something. And some willing participant's face was better than his wall.
* * *
Thud.
The glove absorbed most of the sound. Every third jab or so he really connected with a part of his sparring partner's body and the contact jarred him, helped to rattle his mind and clear it.
Thud.
Luckily his normal partner was here; he didn't feel the need to pull any punches, and if he got a little sneaky and landed an unexpected blow, he was sure the other man wouldn't take it personally.
Thwack.
Like that one. The other man's head was whipped around to his own right from the force of his roundhouse, and a few slo-mo seconds later, he hit the mat with another thud. In retrospect, it might have been a bit excessive for simply sparring. He just wished he could go back to "simply" doing anything. Now, every punch he threw was actually a form of revenge that he couldn't take out on the Dollhouse, on his own stupidity, on Mellie...
The other man's face was swelling more than it should, under his eye socket, like maybe he'd broken the man's cheekbone. He offered to take the man to the doctor or the ER, but the man said his wife was on her way to pick him up anyway. He gave the man his business card, after writing his cell number on the back, and told him to send the bill to him. The man pocketed the card, but told him that's what insurance was for and that everything was going to be all right.
Easy for the guy with the broken face to say.
After watching the other man leave the gym through the front door, he gathered his things from the gym locker room and also left through the front door, intending to shower at home instead of the gym. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large dark-colored van, the same type he had requisitioned for surveillance several times himself before he'd been suspended.
He let his imagination run wild for a moment before shutting it down and turning away to walk to his car. That was part of the reason he was in this mess to begin with. Maybe he was just as paranoid as everyone thought. No one would waste resources to get surveillance on him...except the Dollhouse. And with the kind of clientele they had paying for their services, they probably had plenty of resources to waste.
Stop it. They've already gotten to you through Mellie; what else could they possibly want?
He drove home, trying to forget about the Dollhouse, knowing that when he saw Mellie, he would be painfully reminded all too soon.
The showers at the gym weren't stingingly hot enough for his tastes any more. He ran the water in his own shower at scalding hot until it ran lukewarm, then wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower. As he wiped some condensation off of the mirror, Mellie's face appeared in the reflection next to his. He jumped when he felt her arms reach around him from behind, her real arms and not just his overactive imagination.
"I was going to join you, but I kind of like keeping my skin on my body instead of boiling it off." She dropped an easy kiss on his shoulder, then walked around so she was in front of him, facing him, her arms still around him. He heard her voice in his head again, the voice from the trance: the only reason Mellie exists is because of you...you must maintain the illusion.
"I like your skin just where it is," he made himself say, while he made himself react to her touch the way he knew she expected. The sweet kisses, the gentle voice, the soft touch. He didn't know how long he could maintain the illusion. It was already starting to drive him a little crazy. Crazier. Whatever. Right now he was too scared of what would happen to Mellie if he didn't keep up appearances that he didn't have any choice but to maintain the status quo. So he would let the Dollhouse keep this carte blanche access to his home for now and try not to do any irreparable damage to their operative while he figured out how to work around it to bring them down for good, to get Mellie and Caroline both out.