Title: Thinking just one second longer
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Adelle DeWitt, Laurence Dominic, Echo
Words: 1, 093
Disclaimer: Don't own Dollhouse
Notes: au_bingo prompt-- Alternate History: canon event changed

Author's Notes: I was trying for ~restraint. lol. And here's my bingo card





“I never lied to you about my methods, or my priorities.”

“You lied about your intentions.”

His betrayal cuts her, like shards of glass slicing through her skin. She ignores the pain and tries to push away the emotions that are trying to overcome her. She needs to think. She can’t think if she lets herself be overwhelmed by feelings.

“Do you know what the world would be like if Rossum lets the Dollhouse slip from its grasp? The technology needs to be reined in and controlled!”

“By a clandestine organization with little government oversight?!”

She can have him killed but death is an easy way out for a man like Laurence Dominic. No, she’s not going to kill him; she wants to see him suffer.

“You believe in the Dollhouse and its mission? It’s like how you believed in me and look how that played out.”

This man knows her, knows what buttons to push. This isn’t just some mindless babbling in an hour of panic; this is an act to elicit a response from her.

“You were wrong.”

Her head snaps up and she looks at him. It takes all her control to keep her face stoic, to keep that sudden pain from seeping out of her body. Laurence Dominic looks back at her with an expression of rage and distaste.

Her chest starts to tighten as fury starts to bubble within her. Her fingers grip the handle of the fencing blade she picked up earlier. She’s not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her feel anything for him.

Wrong.

She can send him to the Attic. It’s the easiest solution and she wants to see the look on his face when she gives the order. She wants to sign his death warrant, send him to the gallows and be rid of him, forever.

You were wrong.

It takes all her restraint to keep herself from lashing out and she’s all but clutching the rapier for dear life. She’s not going to do anything emotional. Laurence Dominic is more useful outside the Attic. The Dollhouse can use him; Rossum can use him.

She glances at Echo, “Please leave me with Mr. Dominic.” She orders curtly, “Close the door behind you.”

“But ma’am—”

“I’ll be fine.” She snaps and clenches her jaw, “Please.”

The Active takes one wary look at Dominic before reluctantly doing what she had ordered her to do.

She hears the door click shut. Dominic looks at her wordlessly, waiting for her verdict. The silence is excruciating, but she lets it stretch on.

“What do you suggest I do to someone like you, Mr. Dominic?” she asks coolly and looks at the rapier with feigned interest, “Should I have you disposed? Or should I send you to the Attic?”

He had adopted a blank expression on his face. He doesn’t answer her and merely stares at her angrily.

The sharp tip of the blade pierces her finger. She doesn’t react to the prick of pain, or to the blood, “I asked you a question, Mr. Dominic.” She says and looks at him.

His lips curl downwards in disgust, “We both know you disapprove of killing federal agents, ma’am.” He spats, “I would suggest the Attic, but I think you have something else in mind.”

She walks slowly around the room, the click of her heels filling the void between them. A bitter smile appears on her face, “As a matter of fact, I do have something else in mind for you.” She murmurs and whirls around to lean on one of the chairs at the far end of the room and sneers, “I’m quite certain you might take a liking to it.”

For just a second, his posture shifts and an uneasy look flashes across his features. It’s quickly replaced with defiance.

As she rolls the blade in her hands, she begins to wonder what it would feel to stab him in the chest with the sword. To kill him with it, here, in her house. It would be easy; his hands are tied behind his back. He won’t be able to fight back.

“Your training will no doubt be a benefit to the company.” She continues impassively, “You’ll get to work in the field more, as you’ve always wanted—”

“—don’t talk to me as if I’m about to sign one of your nifty five-year contracts, Adelle. I’m not one of your volunteers.”

The liberty of which he uses her name makes the fleeting moment of anger flare up inside her.

“Oh, quite the contrary. You aren’t a volunteer.” She replies in derision, “But you are going to sign a contract—not to waive your rights to your body for five years, but to waive your loyalty to the NSA for an indefinite period of time.”

“Can you actually hear what you’re saying? You can’t just waive your loyalty.”

She scoffs, “Yes, and you can’t just waive your right to your body to an illegal organization that wipes away people’s personalities.” She counters, “You’re in the Dollhouse, Mr. Dominic. Any abstraction created by society can be surrendered here for a price.”

“And if I don’t cooperate?” he asks, gritting his teeth.

“I’m sure Topher has a few tricks up his sleeve to make you as docile as the Actives in their blank slate.”

“You're insane.”

“Don’t underestimate my capability to think up of sadistic ways to torture you, Mr. Dominic. You of all people should know that.”

She’s been dealt with another bad hand. And if she plays her cards right, she’s going to come out of it on top, again. She’s not going to let him bring her down.

When she steps outside the room, she finds Echo waiting for her.

“Bring Mr. Dominic back to the Dollhouse so that we can discuss the terms of his agreement.”

“This isn’t going to end well.” Echo says, earnestly, “Someone’s going to get hurt, Ms. DeWitt. And it’s not going to be him.”

“I believe I have this under control.” She remarks. She still hasn’t let go of the rapier, afraid that doing so might make her lose the restraint that she had forcibly pulled out of herself.

“He’s a security risk!” Echo says in incredulity.

She gives the younger woman a withering stare. The irony of this moment isn’t lost on her.

“Your… objections have been noted.” She replies dryly, “Now, please. Get this man out of my house.”

Echo acquiesces, nodding her head.

“As you wish, ma’am.”