DISCLAIMER: Joss is god. I think he was always so, but still, I love this show. Dollhouse belongs to him and Eliza Dushku.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Spoils tonight's (27 February 09) episode, so be warned. This is set right after the events of the third episode of this (so far) amazing series.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Her Friend
By Erin Griffin
Sierra was sure she had fallen asleep again. She felt emotionally drained as she always did after treatments, but this time, she was exhausted, as if she'd been crying for hours. "Did I fall asleep?" she asked the kind man she always saw standing a few feet away with a look of concern for her. He nodded. "Oh. I want..." Sierra stopped, seeing movement in the corner of her eye, brunette hair swaying past, and something clicked for a moment, but she couldn't tell what. A woman, her friend Echo. Her roommate. She held on to... someone... What was this? What isn't she remembering? Why was this confusion so familiar to her? Why did she feel that it was so important?
Then something washed over her, a safe feeling as she saw her. Her friend. "I would like to go for a swim," she finally said. She didn't wait for an answer as she walked away from the two men, who said something in a way of dismissal. Only she didn't go for a swim. She spotted her friend, and she knew she didn't want anything to happen to her. She knew that her friend would look out for her in turn. She couldn't stop herself from smiling when she saw her friend walking her way. She wanted to say 'Hello Friend', but something stopped her, the frantic looking shake of her friend's head. Would they get in trouble? It was almost bedtime, she supposed, but surely a hello wouldn't be bad. Sierra walked on by her friend Echo, wishing she didn't feel like she was being bad for wanting to say hello, or even goodnight. She continued to smile at her friend to show that she liked seeing her, but she couldn't help but feel the confusion. Her friend seemed to not want to be around her a little later when it came time for showers. She felt her aching muscles slowly feel better, but she didn't remember what happened to make them feel that way. A good night's sleep will help, she knew. She slowly went through the motions for putting on her sweatpants and tank top, looking around every once in a while for her friend. She just needed to know she was there. Then she saw Echo walking into the showers just as she walked out. There was the slightest flicker of her eyes as she walked past this time, but Sierra didn't acknowledge it. She smiled and went to lie down. She lay there for a couple of minutes as she listened to her roommates join her. "Goodnight," someone said, and in reflexive response, she said, "Goodnight".
She saw Echo there in her head. That was all she saw as the lights went out and the screen to her bed covered her for the night. She was safe, and she, her friend, was only feet away. She knew Echo was her friend, and she felt trust for her. Sierra sighed, her contentment coming over her as it always did after her treatment. Yet instead of falling into a fast sleep, her mind filled up, her heart beating steadily, and she wondered why she couldn't just walk up to her friend earlier and say hello? Why did it feel so bad that she wanted to speak with her? As a small tear fell, sliding down the sides of her eyes and onto the pillow at the back of her neck, she wondered, why did Echo shake her head as they walked past, and why did it hurt her so much?
The End