Sorry this took so long. I got sidetracked by my Supernatural fic.

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Elli stood transfixed, her eyes locked on the face encased in the crystal in front of her. The face of her maternal grandfather Un-Li, who'd once been a prominent Sheevoran ambassador to Krypton.

She heard his deep voice tell her the same tale she'd listened to a dozen times. She wasn't really listening to what he was saying, it was more like white noise. All she wanted to do was drown out the swirling masses of thoughts circling in her head.

She felt rather than heard a figure land beside her. She sighed and reluctantly turned around when she felt a heavy hand come to rest on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of her father Kal-El.

"Hi Dad." She said quietly.

He gave her a concerned once over with his eyes. "No injuries, no sign of physical trauma at all. So what is your excuse for running away from your mother during an argument? I've never known either of you back down from a fight." He pulled the crystal out of the console with one hand, handing it back to her.

She took it and slid it back into her pack before sitting on the hard crystal ground. He took his seat just beside her. She let out a long sigh.

"Am I just being irrational Dad? I just..." She searched for the right words. "I feel trapped by who and what we are. Like my destiny is set in stone and I cannot escape it."

He mussed up her hair with one hand, smiling gently down at her. "El, I understand what you mean."

Her eyes widened and she looked at him speculatively. "You do?"

He laughed, a bitter tinge to the sound. "Yeah, I do. Remember I went to high school too with our powers. I even got strung up as the town scarecrow one homecoming."

Her face showed her surprise. "But you never fought back, did you? Grandpa Jonathan wouldn't let you."

He shook his head. "No, no I didn't. I wanted to though. Some days I just wanted to throw some jock right into the lockers. I even joined the football team and got to be the jock all-star for a year."

"Then you have to understand why I told Jon to heat up that guy's coffee." She looked at him pleadingly. "I was sick of how we're treated like we're handicapped by everyone who knows the secret. I mean, my school still has no idea that it has had one half-Kryptonian graduate from its ranks already, and that the first Sheevoran-Kryptonian hybrid is in its graduating class this year."

Kal put a soothing arm around his daughter's shoulders, squeezing her with a force that would crush a tanker truck but felt just like a strong hug to her. "Life's gonna be a little weird because of your gifts, but just remember that they are not all of who you are. I'll talk to your mom about the punishment coming your way, but you have to keep your temper under control."

She sighed and rested her chin on her knees as she wrapped her arms around her bent legs. "I know Dad. Haven't you ever lost your temper though?"

He nodded. "Did I ever tell you about the time I got a red Kryptonite class ring?"

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"You really knocked over banks and held up ATMs?" Elli said with wide eyes, surprised.

He nodded. "I ran around Metropolis in a leather jacket, calling myself by my Kryptonian name."

She stared at him for a moment. "What happened to make you go back to Smallville?"

He smiled sadly. "My dad. Basically he showed up and made me take off the ring. As soon as it was off my finger, I realized what I'd been doing."

Elli and Kal talked for nearly a half-hour, before they decided to go home. They climbed to their feet and readied themselves to fly off the crystal floor and back home.

"Dad?" Elli asked quietly.

Kal looked over at his daughter. "Yes El?"

"Can I get a leather jacket?" She asked with a wide smile and Puss in Boots eyes.

He sighed. "We'll have to talk to your mother about that."

She sighed melodramatically. "So...no."

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Elli glared at Joey as he sat laughing across the room. He was tormenting her brother and she knew it. Unfortunately he'd never so much as looked at Jon funny when Elli was around, so she couldn't call him on it.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket. She had a text message from Hellraiser. Most of the Kent family still referred to her as that, which drew stares from outsiders when they saw that the person in question was a bubbly overly-optimistic blonde young woman.

For a genius, your brother sure can be an idiot some days. - Hell

El laughed, and wrote her reply.

He's a guy, they can be a little dense. What'd he do now? – El

The usual. Skipped a dinner to work late. – H

Sounds like typical distracted genius stuff to me. – E

It would've been if it hadn't been for the fact that I'd planned to tell him something important. – H

THE important something?– E

Affirmative. – H

Eep! Jason's gonna be dead isn't he? – E

Got any green stuff handy? – H

Fresh out. Call me with the recap. -E

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