Dollhouse fic: Valentine's Day Part Six
Mar. 6th, 2010 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseThis is a multi-chaptered fic. The Index Post which includes summary, ratings, and warnings, is here
SIX
Victor stepped back and pulled off his gloves.
“Not a bad job,” he said, pulling the mask from his face. “I think that will heal quite nicely.”
He leant over to drop the gloves into the metal bowl that was already holding bloody swabs and the bullet fragments. Echo saw him palm a scalpel from the instrument tray and her brow furrowed but she said nothing.
Victor strode over to Rance. “You can tell your boss,” he said, “that despite his best efforts, Mr Dominic will survive.”
And then Victor plunged the scalpel into Rance’s neck and pulled on the blade, splitting the flesh apart. Blood spurted forth and Rance’s hands went desperately to his neck but Victor stepped away, scalpel in hand, and there was too large a cut for Rance to close it over.
Rance opened and closed his mouth a few times, then fell over, dead.
Sierra began berating Victor in Russian. Maybe he understood the langue, or maybe he just guessed what she was complaining about because he responded to her with, “He was one of the bad guys.”
Saunders nodded. “Yes, he was,” she said, stunned by the amount of blood pooling on her floor. “But we are doctors.” Sierra gave a noise of agreement.
“I’m not just a trauma surgeon,” Victor informed her coolly. “I’m a soldier and I’m damned if I'm going to let my squad be harassed by a bunch of bullies with rifles.”
Saunders suddenly understood. A trauma surgeon who’d served in the military was a good choice. They had a lot of experience in far worse injuries than this one. It also explained why she’d had to nag him to close the wound properly – military surgeons were about a quick repair to preserve life and a definitive closure later when the patient was more stable and in a facility that could oversee the healing process. She'd put her foot down and, of course, in retrospect, he had to obey the chain of command, Victor/Vaughn had done what she'd asked.
However if it had been a deliberate choice on Topher’s part to choose a military surgeon in order to not only save Dominic but to liberate the Dollhouse then it was genius. Which, of course, she'd never tell him, because the guy's ego barely fitted into the building now.
“How many more are there?” Victor/Vaughn asked.
“The leader, Valentine,” Saunders said. “And five or six others. And Juliet. You can’t kill Juliet. It’s not her fault.”
The active raised an eyebrow and Saunders said, “She’s been brainwashed.” Close enough to the truth.
“Fine. You, Saunders, come with me. We’re going to take down the rest of these bastards.” Victor took the rifle from Rance, and a small sidearm from a leg holster. He held out the pistol towards Saunders.
“I…I don’t know,” Saunders began.
“This is our chance,” Victor/Vaughn insisted. “Irina, you need to stay here, watch the patient, just in case.”
Sierra/Irina nodded. “Da.”
“What about me?” Echo asked.
“You game? It could get rough, Maggie,” Victor warned.
“I’m military too,” Echo/Maggie said defiantly. “I’m not afraid.”
Victor nodded. “Arm yourselves. Scalpels, sedatives, whatever you think will be useful.” He cocked the rifle, liking the sound it made. “Then we retake this house.”
---
Saunders led the way downstairs, trailed by the imprinted actives. Adelle stood as they approached her.
“I’m sorry,” Saunders said, and she hated to say it, hated to see the sudden shock in DeWitt’s eyes, the pain she’d caused. She wanted to reach out to steady the woman, because DeWitt looked dazed, but the doctor had a job to do.
“Where is Rance?” Valentine asked, but he never got an answer.
Victor swiftly grabbed a guard from behind and restrained him, drew the scalpel across his throat and dropped to the ground with the limp body. He grabbed for the man’s weapon; Saunders had successfully argued that a stealthy approach would be to their advantage, and he'd left the rifle behind with the reluctant Sierra.
Almost at the same time Echo took out another guard with a swift kick to his knee that made him stumble and fall sideways. She leapt on top of him and delivered an elbow strike to his face. She pulled the hunting knife from his boot and plunged it into his heart.
Saunders grabbed for the guard nearest to her, who was distracted by Victor’s assault and plunged the syringe into the back of his neck. He began gasping for breath almost immediately and, clutching his throat, fell to the floor. She ducked down and grabbed his weapon, tossed it to Boyd.
Boyd caught the gun and stepped in front of Adelle, much as Dominic had earlier. The difference was, he was armed. Valentine, who was about to shoot Adelle, hesitated.
The guard who had been minding the civilians turned and opened fire but hit no one. Victor killed him with a single shot to the forehead.
Echo had taken her victim’s gun by now and was holding it confidently towards one of the last upright armed man.
“Put it down,” the last of Valentine’s men yelled, training his weapon on Adelle.
Victor didn’t have a clear shot, but moved quickly forward to cover Valentine which left Boyd free to react. Boyd casually shifted his weapon and shot the offending guard twice in the chest.
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“Well,” Adelle said at last. “It appears the balance of power has shifted, Mr Raye.”
Valentine, with three guns now pointed at him, uttered a sharp curse and lowered his own weapon.
"What do you want done with him?" Boyd asked.
Before she could answer, Saunders spoke up, urgently. "Ms DeWitt? I'm sorry about before. I didn't want to lie but we needed to surprise them. He's alive. Mr Dominic is alive."
Adelle paused, and Saunders saw the relief wash across her face. Then Adelle was all business again.
"Well, in that case, Valentine, you get to live," Adelle said. "Boyd, take him for a drive. Take his cell phone and wallet. Dump him somewhere unpopulated so he can think about his actions on his long walk home. Make sure he's alive, but make sure he understands how displeased I am at his behaviour."
Boyd nodded. "Got it."
"We'll move the bodies of your men to one of the local morgues," Adelle said. "Make sure you find them and deal with them appropriately. They died because of your incompetence and they deserve a decent burial with their families present. If you ever cross my path again, I will not give you the same consideration."
People moved about; handlers took actives away from the scene, the freed guards began dragging the corpses away.
"Topher," Adelle said, seeing him looking somewhat shell-shocked. "I was hoping you would come up with something brilliant. You rather excelled yourself, I think."
"Hey, what perks could he give me that you couldn't?" Topher said with a grin.
They watched the organised chaos a moment longer and then Topher sniggered. Adelle shot him a look.
"I was just thinking," Topher said. "I guess it wasn't Valentine's day."
---
"Are you sure?"
Adelle nodded. "Quite sure, Dr Saunders."
"You know that this drug is experimental," Saunders began. "And that I'll have to keep him sedated while I carry out the protocol."
Adelle raised one eyebrow. "I think five days sedation would be preferable to what could be months of pain," she said.
"There are no guarantees it will have any effect," Saunders protested half-heartedly. They both knew Adelle had made up her mind.
"I will take full responsibility for anything untoward," Adelle said, forestalling the only other objection Saunders could raise. "Now, begin."
Adelle took one of Dominic's hands in hers. He was, as Saunders, had stated, still sedated. She watched as Saunders inserted the hypodermic into the IV line.
"Give me a moment," she ordered and Saunders left the room.
Adelle sat, her knees shaking. She hadn't sat down since Valentine had been disarmed. She'd supervised the cleanup, informed the Center that an attempt had been made to breach their security, downed two brandies. She hadn't sat, not even when using the phone, because she was afraid she'd not be able to get back up for a long while.
Now she let herself accept the reality of what had happened. Dominic had almost died, and that was unforgivable. She'd let Valentine go, but she was fairly certain the Center would take of him, by either killing him, or by using him to find and destroy their competitors. She had dealt with the situation to the best of her abilities, but it almost hadn't been enough.
She let her lower lip tremble, allowed her resolve to crumble and just a few tears to fall.
By the time Saunders came back, Adelle was composed once more. It was, after all, all about appearances.
Part Seven
Part Five / Index
SIX
Victor stepped back and pulled off his gloves.
“Not a bad job,” he said, pulling the mask from his face. “I think that will heal quite nicely.”
He leant over to drop the gloves into the metal bowl that was already holding bloody swabs and the bullet fragments. Echo saw him palm a scalpel from the instrument tray and her brow furrowed but she said nothing.
Victor strode over to Rance. “You can tell your boss,” he said, “that despite his best efforts, Mr Dominic will survive.”
And then Victor plunged the scalpel into Rance’s neck and pulled on the blade, splitting the flesh apart. Blood spurted forth and Rance’s hands went desperately to his neck but Victor stepped away, scalpel in hand, and there was too large a cut for Rance to close it over.
Rance opened and closed his mouth a few times, then fell over, dead.
Sierra began berating Victor in Russian. Maybe he understood the langue, or maybe he just guessed what she was complaining about because he responded to her with, “He was one of the bad guys.”
Saunders nodded. “Yes, he was,” she said, stunned by the amount of blood pooling on her floor. “But we are doctors.” Sierra gave a noise of agreement.
“I’m not just a trauma surgeon,” Victor informed her coolly. “I’m a soldier and I’m damned if I'm going to let my squad be harassed by a bunch of bullies with rifles.”
Saunders suddenly understood. A trauma surgeon who’d served in the military was a good choice. They had a lot of experience in far worse injuries than this one. It also explained why she’d had to nag him to close the wound properly – military surgeons were about a quick repair to preserve life and a definitive closure later when the patient was more stable and in a facility that could oversee the healing process. She'd put her foot down and, of course, in retrospect, he had to obey the chain of command, Victor/Vaughn had done what she'd asked.
However if it had been a deliberate choice on Topher’s part to choose a military surgeon in order to not only save Dominic but to liberate the Dollhouse then it was genius. Which, of course, she'd never tell him, because the guy's ego barely fitted into the building now.
“How many more are there?” Victor/Vaughn asked.
“The leader, Valentine,” Saunders said. “And five or six others. And Juliet. You can’t kill Juliet. It’s not her fault.”
The active raised an eyebrow and Saunders said, “She’s been brainwashed.” Close enough to the truth.
“Fine. You, Saunders, come with me. We’re going to take down the rest of these bastards.” Victor took the rifle from Rance, and a small sidearm from a leg holster. He held out the pistol towards Saunders.
“I…I don’t know,” Saunders began.
“This is our chance,” Victor/Vaughn insisted. “Irina, you need to stay here, watch the patient, just in case.”
Sierra/Irina nodded. “Da.”
“What about me?” Echo asked.
“You game? It could get rough, Maggie,” Victor warned.
“I’m military too,” Echo/Maggie said defiantly. “I’m not afraid.”
Victor nodded. “Arm yourselves. Scalpels, sedatives, whatever you think will be useful.” He cocked the rifle, liking the sound it made. “Then we retake this house.”
Saunders led the way downstairs, trailed by the imprinted actives. Adelle stood as they approached her.
“I’m sorry,” Saunders said, and she hated to say it, hated to see the sudden shock in DeWitt’s eyes, the pain she’d caused. She wanted to reach out to steady the woman, because DeWitt looked dazed, but the doctor had a job to do.
“Where is Rance?” Valentine asked, but he never got an answer.
Victor swiftly grabbed a guard from behind and restrained him, drew the scalpel across his throat and dropped to the ground with the limp body. He grabbed for the man’s weapon; Saunders had successfully argued that a stealthy approach would be to their advantage, and he'd left the rifle behind with the reluctant Sierra.
Almost at the same time Echo took out another guard with a swift kick to his knee that made him stumble and fall sideways. She leapt on top of him and delivered an elbow strike to his face. She pulled the hunting knife from his boot and plunged it into his heart.
Saunders grabbed for the guard nearest to her, who was distracted by Victor’s assault and plunged the syringe into the back of his neck. He began gasping for breath almost immediately and, clutching his throat, fell to the floor. She ducked down and grabbed his weapon, tossed it to Boyd.
Boyd caught the gun and stepped in front of Adelle, much as Dominic had earlier. The difference was, he was armed. Valentine, who was about to shoot Adelle, hesitated.
The guard who had been minding the civilians turned and opened fire but hit no one. Victor killed him with a single shot to the forehead.
Echo had taken her victim’s gun by now and was holding it confidently towards one of the last upright armed man.
“Put it down,” the last of Valentine’s men yelled, training his weapon on Adelle.
Victor didn’t have a clear shot, but moved quickly forward to cover Valentine which left Boyd free to react. Boyd casually shifted his weapon and shot the offending guard twice in the chest.
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“Well,” Adelle said at last. “It appears the balance of power has shifted, Mr Raye.”
Valentine, with three guns now pointed at him, uttered a sharp curse and lowered his own weapon.
"What do you want done with him?" Boyd asked.
Before she could answer, Saunders spoke up, urgently. "Ms DeWitt? I'm sorry about before. I didn't want to lie but we needed to surprise them. He's alive. Mr Dominic is alive."
Adelle paused, and Saunders saw the relief wash across her face. Then Adelle was all business again.
"Well, in that case, Valentine, you get to live," Adelle said. "Boyd, take him for a drive. Take his cell phone and wallet. Dump him somewhere unpopulated so he can think about his actions on his long walk home. Make sure he's alive, but make sure he understands how displeased I am at his behaviour."
Boyd nodded. "Got it."
"We'll move the bodies of your men to one of the local morgues," Adelle said. "Make sure you find them and deal with them appropriately. They died because of your incompetence and they deserve a decent burial with their families present. If you ever cross my path again, I will not give you the same consideration."
People moved about; handlers took actives away from the scene, the freed guards began dragging the corpses away.
"Topher," Adelle said, seeing him looking somewhat shell-shocked. "I was hoping you would come up with something brilliant. You rather excelled yourself, I think."
"Hey, what perks could he give me that you couldn't?" Topher said with a grin.
They watched the organised chaos a moment longer and then Topher sniggered. Adelle shot him a look.
"I was just thinking," Topher said. "I guess it wasn't Valentine's day."
"Are you sure?"
Adelle nodded. "Quite sure, Dr Saunders."
"You know that this drug is experimental," Saunders began. "And that I'll have to keep him sedated while I carry out the protocol."
Adelle raised one eyebrow. "I think five days sedation would be preferable to what could be months of pain," she said.
"There are no guarantees it will have any effect," Saunders protested half-heartedly. They both knew Adelle had made up her mind.
"I will take full responsibility for anything untoward," Adelle said, forestalling the only other objection Saunders could raise. "Now, begin."
Adelle took one of Dominic's hands in hers. He was, as Saunders, had stated, still sedated. She watched as Saunders inserted the hypodermic into the IV line.
"Give me a moment," she ordered and Saunders left the room.
Adelle sat, her knees shaking. She hadn't sat down since Valentine had been disarmed. She'd supervised the cleanup, informed the Center that an attempt had been made to breach their security, downed two brandies. She hadn't sat, not even when using the phone, because she was afraid she'd not be able to get back up for a long while.
Now she let herself accept the reality of what had happened. Dominic had almost died, and that was unforgivable. She'd let Valentine go, but she was fairly certain the Center would take of him, by either killing him, or by using him to find and destroy their competitors. She had dealt with the situation to the best of her abilities, but it almost hadn't been enough.
She let her lower lip tremble, allowed her resolve to crumble and just a few tears to fall.
By the time Saunders came back, Adelle was composed once more. It was, after all, all about appearances.
Part Seven
Part Five / Index
