Operation Goliath - Chapter 3
Title:Operation Goliath - Part 3
Author:Penikitty
Pairing/Characters:Paul Ballard
Rating:R - Violence and strong language
Spoilers:None as set before Dollhouse
Disclaimer:I do not own Dollhouse or any of the characters
Word Count:1192
Summary:A look at Pauls past and the events which led to him being assigned the Dollhouse case. Please comment/review!
“What do you expect from me Paul? You want me to be happy that you’re putting your life in danger? That I won’t be able to see or talk to you for god knows how long? That I won’t even know if you’re alive....?”
Jo wasn’t taking the news well. He had known she wouldn’t. The fight had been going on since he’d arrived home a few hours ago. At first she had been angry, telling him he could get screwed if he thought she would let him take the case. Then, when she had realised that nothing would change his mine, she had started to cry, begging him not to do it. He looked at the tears streaming down her face and marvelled at the fact that she was still gorgeous. Wearing just a simple vest and cut off jeans she was the most beautiful women he’d ever met. He felt his heart breaking inside his chest. He didn’t want to leave her, surely she knew that?
“Honey, this isn’t what I want either but it’s my chance to show them I’m worth keeping around. We still have two months together before I leave. I have to prove to them that I’m.....”
She cut him off, raising her voice “I don’t care Paul. I don’t care about you proving yourself. I care about you being alive. About us being together. If this job means taking you away from me it’s just not worth it. I’ve put up with a lot because of your job but this is asking too much, I can’t handle it. You won’t be the same when you get back, my Paul will disappear.....” She sat down on their new cream sofa and began sobbing quietly.
He knew why she was so afraid. They had both heard the stories about cops and agents who went in so deep they never came out the other side. Even if they did they weren’t the same. It was something she had always been terrified of. He went and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her shaking body. “It’ll be ok beautiful” he whispered gently to her. “I won’t change. I’ll always be yours, I’ll never leave you.”
She looked up at him; unshed tears making her eyes glisten. “Promise me Paul. Promise me you’ll be the Paul I love and the Paul I married when you come back. “
He looked into her stunning blue eyes. He couldn’t bear to see her in so much pain. He pulled her tighter into his arms and whispered gently, “I promise baby, I promise”.
He knew it was a lie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5 Months Later
Paul washed his shaking hands in the dirty off-white sink. He let the cool water flow over his bleeding knuckles washing away the grit and dirt but not the guilt. He shook his head. Guilt was not an option here; he had to keep the act up.
“Yo, Karl? What you doing in there man, taking a fucking shit?”
Raucous laughter came from the other side of the door. Paul took a deep breath and walked out of the grubby bathroom.
“So what if I was? You wanna take a look?”
Matthew Van Dyne looked at him, a wide grin on his face. “Nah man, you’re alright, I think I’ll pass on that. Now where were we?”
Paul looked across the small living room. Slumped against the far wall was a guy he had never met before today. He didn’t even know his name. He owed the Van Dynes an extortionate amount of money and had done for a while. He’d had a warning the previous week but still hadn’t paid up so Jacob had sent Paul, along with his sons Matthew and Thomas round to ‘explain’ the situation. It was the first time he had sent Paul to do something like this so it meant he was making progress within the family, but it also meant he was losing himself.
They had smashed the door down and stormed in on the man and his girlfriend. The girl had screamed then gone running as Tom had charged towards her, chasing her into the bedroom, while the man just sat there in shock. Tom was a complete psycho and Paul knew what he would have done to girl. He must have gagged her or knocked her out because they didn’t hear anymore noise coming from the bedroom. Paul had briefly squeezed his eyes shut and put up a mental barrier in his mind. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that. When he bought the family down then Tom would pay, he’d make damn sure of that. Matthew had then grabbed the guy as he’d tired to make his way to the bedroom, laughing hard as he’d told Paul to beat the proverbial shit out of him. The fear in the guy’s eyes had almost made him stop. Almost.
Instead he let loose with his fists, punching him in the stomach until he was doubled over and wheezing. Then, as he fell to the floor in agony, both he and Matthew had repeatedly kicked him while Matthew shouted and screamed at him.
“YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCK WITH US? WE’RE THE FUCKING VAN DYNES YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. NO ONE SCREWS WITH US. YOU WILL PAY US THE MONEY TOMORROW OR YOU WILL DIE, YOU AND YOUR SLUT OF A GIRLFRIEND. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING, WE ARE WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE YOU FUCKING SCUM BAG”
That had been just twenty minutes ago and now Matthew was looking at him expectantly, obviously still hyped up and wanting to dish out more punishment. “Come on man” said Paul, “He looks to me like he’s got the message” he ended the sentence with a sadistic laugh and felt part of his soul leave him. The guy lay on the ground not moving. Matthew grabbed a chunk of his hair, pulling his head back and looking him in the eye. The guy struggled in vain to get away from him. “Please”, he wheezed, “Please, I’ll have the money tomorrow, I promise. Please don’t hurt me anymore.”
Matthew looked at him with contempt before slamming his face into the ground. Standing up to face Paul he grinned before shouting out “Hey Tom? Get your lazy ass out here, we’re done” A few moments passed then Tom emerged pulling up the fly on his pants. He looked at Paul, with a wicked grin on his face. “Lucky for me she wasn’t a screamer.” Paul felt his stomach tighten like a knot as Tom past him sauntered through the broken doorway.
Matthew looked at Paul, “You did good today Karl, real good. Dad wants to meet you, he likes what he see’s. You’ve got potential.”
Three months. Three months of lying, drug dealing and living with these scumbags. Three months of being away from his real life, from Jo and his family. Three months of constant pressure and worry that they’d find out who he really was. Finally it all seemed worth it. Finally he’d got the invite he needed.
Author:Penikitty
Pairing/Characters:Paul Ballard
Rating:R - Violence and strong language
Spoilers:None as set before Dollhouse
Disclaimer:I do not own Dollhouse or any of the characters
Word Count:1192
Summary:A look at Pauls past and the events which led to him being assigned the Dollhouse case. Please comment/review!
“What do you expect from me Paul? You want me to be happy that you’re putting your life in danger? That I won’t be able to see or talk to you for god knows how long? That I won’t even know if you’re alive....?”
Jo wasn’t taking the news well. He had known she wouldn’t. The fight had been going on since he’d arrived home a few hours ago. At first she had been angry, telling him he could get screwed if he thought she would let him take the case. Then, when she had realised that nothing would change his mine, she had started to cry, begging him not to do it. He looked at the tears streaming down her face and marvelled at the fact that she was still gorgeous. Wearing just a simple vest and cut off jeans she was the most beautiful women he’d ever met. He felt his heart breaking inside his chest. He didn’t want to leave her, surely she knew that?
“Honey, this isn’t what I want either but it’s my chance to show them I’m worth keeping around. We still have two months together before I leave. I have to prove to them that I’m.....”
She cut him off, raising her voice “I don’t care Paul. I don’t care about you proving yourself. I care about you being alive. About us being together. If this job means taking you away from me it’s just not worth it. I’ve put up with a lot because of your job but this is asking too much, I can’t handle it. You won’t be the same when you get back, my Paul will disappear.....” She sat down on their new cream sofa and began sobbing quietly.
He knew why she was so afraid. They had both heard the stories about cops and agents who went in so deep they never came out the other side. Even if they did they weren’t the same. It was something she had always been terrified of. He went and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her shaking body. “It’ll be ok beautiful” he whispered gently to her. “I won’t change. I’ll always be yours, I’ll never leave you.”
She looked up at him; unshed tears making her eyes glisten. “Promise me Paul. Promise me you’ll be the Paul I love and the Paul I married when you come back. “
He looked into her stunning blue eyes. He couldn’t bear to see her in so much pain. He pulled her tighter into his arms and whispered gently, “I promise baby, I promise”.
He knew it was a lie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5 Months Later
Paul washed his shaking hands in the dirty off-white sink. He let the cool water flow over his bleeding knuckles washing away the grit and dirt but not the guilt. He shook his head. Guilt was not an option here; he had to keep the act up.
“Yo, Karl? What you doing in there man, taking a fucking shit?”
Raucous laughter came from the other side of the door. Paul took a deep breath and walked out of the grubby bathroom.
“So what if I was? You wanna take a look?”
Matthew Van Dyne looked at him, a wide grin on his face. “Nah man, you’re alright, I think I’ll pass on that. Now where were we?”
Paul looked across the small living room. Slumped against the far wall was a guy he had never met before today. He didn’t even know his name. He owed the Van Dynes an extortionate amount of money and had done for a while. He’d had a warning the previous week but still hadn’t paid up so Jacob had sent Paul, along with his sons Matthew and Thomas round to ‘explain’ the situation. It was the first time he had sent Paul to do something like this so it meant he was making progress within the family, but it also meant he was losing himself.
They had smashed the door down and stormed in on the man and his girlfriend. The girl had screamed then gone running as Tom had charged towards her, chasing her into the bedroom, while the man just sat there in shock. Tom was a complete psycho and Paul knew what he would have done to girl. He must have gagged her or knocked her out because they didn’t hear anymore noise coming from the bedroom. Paul had briefly squeezed his eyes shut and put up a mental barrier in his mind. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that. When he bought the family down then Tom would pay, he’d make damn sure of that. Matthew had then grabbed the guy as he’d tired to make his way to the bedroom, laughing hard as he’d told Paul to beat the proverbial shit out of him. The fear in the guy’s eyes had almost made him stop. Almost.
Instead he let loose with his fists, punching him in the stomach until he was doubled over and wheezing. Then, as he fell to the floor in agony, both he and Matthew had repeatedly kicked him while Matthew shouted and screamed at him.
“YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCK WITH US? WE’RE THE FUCKING VAN DYNES YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. NO ONE SCREWS WITH US. YOU WILL PAY US THE MONEY TOMORROW OR YOU WILL DIE, YOU AND YOUR SLUT OF A GIRLFRIEND. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING, WE ARE WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE YOU FUCKING SCUM BAG”
That had been just twenty minutes ago and now Matthew was looking at him expectantly, obviously still hyped up and wanting to dish out more punishment. “Come on man” said Paul, “He looks to me like he’s got the message” he ended the sentence with a sadistic laugh and felt part of his soul leave him. The guy lay on the ground not moving. Matthew grabbed a chunk of his hair, pulling his head back and looking him in the eye. The guy struggled in vain to get away from him. “Please”, he wheezed, “Please, I’ll have the money tomorrow, I promise. Please don’t hurt me anymore.”
Matthew looked at him with contempt before slamming his face into the ground. Standing up to face Paul he grinned before shouting out “Hey Tom? Get your lazy ass out here, we’re done” A few moments passed then Tom emerged pulling up the fly on his pants. He looked at Paul, with a wicked grin on his face. “Lucky for me she wasn’t a screamer.” Paul felt his stomach tighten like a knot as Tom past him sauntered through the broken doorway.
Matthew looked at Paul, “You did good today Karl, real good. Dad wants to meet you, he likes what he see’s. You’ve got potential.”
Three months. Three months of lying, drug dealing and living with these scumbags. Three months of being away from his real life, from Jo and his family. Three months of constant pressure and worry that they’d find out who he really was. Finally it all seemed worth it. Finally he’d got the invite he needed.