The Big Picture (PG; Adelle, Paul)
Title: The Big Picture
Author: obiwahn
Pairing/Characters: Adelle, Paul
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Man on the Street
Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss' ginormous brain.
Word Count: 916
Summary: Adelle is full of surprises.
A/N: Written for dollhousefics challenge 006: surprise, as well as for dollhouseflash, character of the month: Adelle
X-posted to blank_dolls , dollhousetales
“Ma’am, we have Agent Ballard in custody.”
Laurence Dominic smiled, quite satisfied with himself.
“Well done Mr. Dominic,” Adelle replied archly, her back turned as she gazed out of the magnificent high-story window of her office. Everything was going according to plan. “Bring him to me,” she spoke after a pause, turning around to face the head of security. “I believe it’s time he and I had a little tête-à-tête.”
Dominic bowed slightly before leaving the room, only to return moments later with Paul Ballard, cuffed and gagged. Roughly he shoved the struggling man down onto the chair opposite Adelle’s desk, and then pulled out the gag, causing the man to cough as his mouth was met with the unexpected air.
“Leave us,” Adelle ordered, her face blank. Dominic did as he was told, shutting the door gently behind him. Paul wondered where that gentleness had been a few moments ago. From the way that he’d been man-handled to this office from the Dollhouse underground detention facility, he would have sworn that the blond security man was a door slammer.
A pleasant smile crossed Adelle’s face as she took a seat at her desk.
“I would offer you a drink, Mr. Ballard, but I believe it would be quite useless, seeing as your hands are a bit tied at the moment…or cuffed, as it were.”
“Where is she?” Paul demanded, leaning forward in his chair, his voice scratchy, as if from disuse.
Adelle raised an eyebrow. “Caroline?”
“Mellie,” Paul retorted. “I saw her get into the van…followed it here.”
“I see,” Adelle looked amused. “So, Mellie is this week’s damsel in distress?” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, while still managing to sound polite.
“What did you do with her?” Paul spoke hoarsely. “Is this how you get your dolls? Abduct them from their homes and take them here?”
“Did she look like she was being abducted, Mr. Ballard?”
Paul paused. Actually, she hadn’t.
She hadn’t been forced into the van.
She had gone willingly.
Oh God.
No…not Mellie.
His face twisted with grief, anger, and disgust. He’d slept with her. He’d shared his work with her…she was supposed to be the one real thing in his life…
“You seem surprised,” Adelle said softly. “I would have thought you’d figured it out before now.”
“No,” Paul whispered, his face breaking down before the woman’s eyes. “This is too much.”
“Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Ballard, that our Actives are here of their own choice? Did it ever occur to you that Caroline and 'Mellie' had been suffering from evils far worse before they came here?”
“Whatever they did…whatever they were going through, it can’t be as bad as this. It can’t be as bad as playing love slave to anyone with a wad of cash.”
“Yes, well, Mellie certainly wasn’t paid for, now was she?”
Again a look of agony washed over Paul’s features, causing Adelle to soften her tone a little. She was not without pity. But Paul needed to know the truth. He needed to know the big picture. She got up from her desk and walked toward the table on the side of the room - the table where the expensive scotch sat in its crystal decanter.
“Her real name is Amber,” she began, pouring herself a drink. “She was a drug addict from the age of 16. Her parents had been killed when she was a small child, and she’d been forced to watch. After that she was passed from foster home to foster home - in some cases, abused. She came here on the verge on death. We’ve taken better care of her than she ever could of herself.”
Adelle sat again, taking a sip of her scotch before setting it down gently on the table.
“It doesn’t make it alright,” Paul countered. “It doesn’t make what you do any less immoral.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Adelle agreed icily.
Paul started. That was not the response that he’d been expecting.
“If you agree with me, then why do you do it? Why do you work here?” He looked confounded.
Adelle smiled sardonically, and leaned forward in her chair toward Paul.
“The problem with you, Mr. Ballard, is that you are dreadfully near-sighted. You assume that everyone here is wearing a black hat, when that’s far from the case.” She got up again and moved toward the window, her back turned from him. “I was the one who sent you the message via Echo…about the nature of the Dollhouse.”
Paul was silent, intrigued.
After a few seconds of processing this new information, he spoke: “She said that there were over twenty Dollhouses worldwide…that their purpose wasn’t merely dealing in fantasy.”
“Then you must have gathered that I am not the head of this organization. I answer to others above me. I have no real power in the grand scheme of things,” the British woman pointed out.
“She said they had another purpose. Do you know what that purpose is?”
Adelle turned and looked squarely at him.
“No. That’s what I need you to find out.”
Paul’s head was spinning…this woman was trying to bring the Dollhouse down from the inside? And she’d been using him all along to help her.
“I need your help, Mr. Ballard,” Adelle said lowly, walking over to where he sat. “But I need you to do this my way.” She leaned down and took a key from a drawer in her desk, and then proceeded to unlock the handcuffs.
Author: obiwahn
Pairing/Characters: Adelle, Paul
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Man on the Street
Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss' ginormous brain.
Word Count: 916
Summary: Adelle is full of surprises.
A/N: Written for dollhousefics challenge 006: surprise, as well as for dollhouseflash, character of the month: Adelle
X-posted to blank_dolls , dollhousetales
“Ma’am, we have Agent Ballard in custody.”
Laurence Dominic smiled, quite satisfied with himself.
“Well done Mr. Dominic,” Adelle replied archly, her back turned as she gazed out of the magnificent high-story window of her office. Everything was going according to plan. “Bring him to me,” she spoke after a pause, turning around to face the head of security. “I believe it’s time he and I had a little tête-à-tête.”
Dominic bowed slightly before leaving the room, only to return moments later with Paul Ballard, cuffed and gagged. Roughly he shoved the struggling man down onto the chair opposite Adelle’s desk, and then pulled out the gag, causing the man to cough as his mouth was met with the unexpected air.
“Leave us,” Adelle ordered, her face blank. Dominic did as he was told, shutting the door gently behind him. Paul wondered where that gentleness had been a few moments ago. From the way that he’d been man-handled to this office from the Dollhouse underground detention facility, he would have sworn that the blond security man was a door slammer.
A pleasant smile crossed Adelle’s face as she took a seat at her desk.
“I would offer you a drink, Mr. Ballard, but I believe it would be quite useless, seeing as your hands are a bit tied at the moment…or cuffed, as it were.”
“Where is she?” Paul demanded, leaning forward in his chair, his voice scratchy, as if from disuse.
Adelle raised an eyebrow. “Caroline?”
“Mellie,” Paul retorted. “I saw her get into the van…followed it here.”
“I see,” Adelle looked amused. “So, Mellie is this week’s damsel in distress?” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, while still managing to sound polite.
“What did you do with her?” Paul spoke hoarsely. “Is this how you get your dolls? Abduct them from their homes and take them here?”
“Did she look like she was being abducted, Mr. Ballard?”
Paul paused. Actually, she hadn’t.
She hadn’t been forced into the van.
She had gone willingly.
Oh God.
No…not Mellie.
His face twisted with grief, anger, and disgust. He’d slept with her. He’d shared his work with her…she was supposed to be the one real thing in his life…
“You seem surprised,” Adelle said softly. “I would have thought you’d figured it out before now.”
“No,” Paul whispered, his face breaking down before the woman’s eyes. “This is too much.”
“Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Ballard, that our Actives are here of their own choice? Did it ever occur to you that Caroline and 'Mellie' had been suffering from evils far worse before they came here?”
“Whatever they did…whatever they were going through, it can’t be as bad as this. It can’t be as bad as playing love slave to anyone with a wad of cash.”
“Yes, well, Mellie certainly wasn’t paid for, now was she?”
Again a look of agony washed over Paul’s features, causing Adelle to soften her tone a little. She was not without pity. But Paul needed to know the truth. He needed to know the big picture. She got up from her desk and walked toward the table on the side of the room - the table where the expensive scotch sat in its crystal decanter.
“Her real name is Amber,” she began, pouring herself a drink. “She was a drug addict from the age of 16. Her parents had been killed when she was a small child, and she’d been forced to watch. After that she was passed from foster home to foster home - in some cases, abused. She came here on the verge on death. We’ve taken better care of her than she ever could of herself.”
Adelle sat again, taking a sip of her scotch before setting it down gently on the table.
“It doesn’t make it alright,” Paul countered. “It doesn’t make what you do any less immoral.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Adelle agreed icily.
Paul started. That was not the response that he’d been expecting.
“If you agree with me, then why do you do it? Why do you work here?” He looked confounded.
Adelle smiled sardonically, and leaned forward in her chair toward Paul.
“The problem with you, Mr. Ballard, is that you are dreadfully near-sighted. You assume that everyone here is wearing a black hat, when that’s far from the case.” She got up again and moved toward the window, her back turned from him. “I was the one who sent you the message via Echo…about the nature of the Dollhouse.”
Paul was silent, intrigued.
After a few seconds of processing this new information, he spoke: “She said that there were over twenty Dollhouses worldwide…that their purpose wasn’t merely dealing in fantasy.”
“Then you must have gathered that I am not the head of this organization. I answer to others above me. I have no real power in the grand scheme of things,” the British woman pointed out.
“She said they had another purpose. Do you know what that purpose is?”
Adelle turned and looked squarely at him.
“No. That’s what I need you to find out.”
Paul’s head was spinning…this woman was trying to bring the Dollhouse down from the inside? And she’d been using him all along to help her.
“I need your help, Mr. Ballard,” Adelle said lowly, walking over to where he sat. “But I need you to do this my way.” She leaned down and took a key from a drawer in her desk, and then proceeded to unlock the handcuffs.