Okay I finally got to see all of the Dollhouse and I am editing and adding to this story. Sorry for the long hiatus but it is already much longer than the original.

Chapter 1: Echoes of the Present

"Nothing is what it appears to be."

"Seems pretty clear to me."

"Because you are only seeing part of it. I'm talking about a clean slate"

She watched this woman. She would try and warn her in the only way she could. She could only hope that Adele would hear her warning, but somehow she didn't think she would.

"You ever try and clean an actual slate? You always see what was on it before."

A long pause before Adele spoke again. She was abrupt almost harsh. "Are you volunteering?"

"I don't have a choice, do I. I didn't get this far…"

She had a past, one that if anyone found out about she would be put back in jail or worse in a lab. Now this woman, who looked so like another from her past, like her old watcher, was giving her an out. It was a way to erase her past, to change her future. Could she trust her? Did she have a choice? This woman called her Caroline but she had another name. What would those who thought they knew her, say about what she was going to allow to happen.

"Caroline, actions have consequences."

"Oh, god you're loving this aren't you?"

"I'm sorry you don't understand what we are offering here, but what we do helps people. If you become a part of that it can help you"

"Right…You're just looking out for me."

"Perhaps better than you have. We can take care of this mess. After your five year term you will be free to …"

"I don't deserve this. I was just trying to make a difference. Tryin' to take my place in the world. You know like she always said. Now I'm like…" She paused and drew in a heavy breath. She might be being blackmailed into this position but they weren't prepared for the results. "I know, I know, actions have consequences." The words threw her back in time. A time when there was blood on her hands, the blood of a human. Her eyes flew up at Adele's next words.

"What if they didn't?"

So she took the offer, signed a name of a girl who died in a town that no longer existed. That was who she became and now even that name would be stripped from her. She would become an empty shell, her memory stripped of everything, everything except her heritage. Something no science could erase.

She was Eleanor Penn, and she was here to help a man, Gabriel Crestejo, get his daughter back after she had been kidnapped. She was a negotiator, because he wanted no official involvement. The ransom was five million dollars, an amount Mr. Crestejo was more than willing to pay, but he thought that since she was a beautiful woman that she would be more of a hindrance than a help. He thought she was presumptive and perhaps out of her league. She made demands and he worried that her attitude would get his daughter killed. So he had started pushing at her. Making comments about her past experiences but he only laughed at her when she explained her education. He made her tell him about her past how she had been kidnapped and abused and something had happened flashes of dreams or memories of things that made no sense.

The next day they met with the kidnappers. The exchange was almost done when she caught a glimpse of him, of the man that had kidnapped and raped her when she was only nine. He had been part of a team then too. Her parents had paid but the exchange was never made. He had said he was a ghost, that you couldn't fight a ghost. But he was heavy, the weight of him, but ghosts aren't heavy they are sheets with holes cut out. Inside her she was screaming but it was time for her treatment. Boyd was taking her for her treatment but they talked it out on the way… there was only her, she was the only one that could find that little girl. There wasn't much time. She lay back in the chair and waited after a few moments Topher got a call and then she sat up ready to go.

They had it figured out. They knew where the girl and her kidnappers were. There wasn't much time. Something moved behind her eyes and for a moment she didn't look like a hot librarian, she looked like the perfect predator and then it was gone.

She was there at the house, words were spoken but it was hazy, like part of a dream. Her body reacted, went through motions but there was more there. She almost had it and then it was gone. It was time for her treatment.

Topher was there. She lay back in the chair as he spoke. "This is going to pinch a bit."

Pain… Flashes…A blond girl smiling at her helping her make a bed. Looking down at her stomach to see a blade there. Miles to go little miss Moffit counting down from seven three oh. A dark haired man that changes and seems to be a monster. A woman, Gwendolyn Post…a glove. What the hell was this? Why was she here? Where was here? What the hell was going on? Pain, intense pain, and the images were gone, replaced with calm contentment.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"For a little bit."

"Shall I go now?"

"If you like."

Topher watched her as she walked out of the room and down the stairs. She would go swimming and perhaps practice her Tae Chi. Her face turned back towards him for just a moment and the look in her eyes was not that of a contented idiot but that of a killer. Then she turned away again and he shook the feeling away.