Disclaimer: Don't own anyone, just doing different takes on once-or-twice-seen characters.

Elena knew she should call Betty and tell her what was happening. She should admit that the director's perfect little team had failed to protect her and Felix after all, no matter how inevitable this scenario was. She should warn Felix not to trust any stranger, no matter how official looking, and be careful if he left the house. Hell, she should convince him to spend a week at the Stoppables'; at least that would put him out of the line of fire.

However, Electronique never "should" on herself, and so Elena went to work, acting as though she hadn't received a life-changing call last night. Her day was spent mulling over the treat she had waiting at home. Felix had plans with Ron tonight, so she'd have the house to herself for a few hours…

"Dr. Renton, there's a phone call for you." The intern announced. Elena set down the panel she was working on, making her way to the public phone.

"Elena Renton."

"Yes, I know your name, Lena."

Elena closed her eyes. For a minute she had hoped it was someone other than him.

"It's rude to hang up on a villain giving an ultimatum," he chastised lightly, "Or are you really that out of touch with your old ways?"

"How did you find me?" She murmured bitterly, keeping her voice low. She could almost see his amused face on the back on her eyelids.

"Despite the "War of the Worlds" come to life, the high school graduation of the cheerleading crime-fighter still garnered plenty of media attention." He paused, his tone losing its smugness, "I saw his eyes…your eyes. The valedictorian... You must be so proud. Did you know they panned to you during his speech?"

"Rather clumsy of GJ not to catch that," she mumbled.

She could feel the smirk on his lips and felt a pang of longing strike her gut. It almost wasn't fair, her self-imposed separation from him. There had been nothing wrong with their love; no abuse, no irreconcilable differences…

"…are you over me?" He asked softly. She shook her head.

"Never."

"Then why are you resisting?"

"Felix." He was silent, chewing over the name.

"Fair enough. But knowing that some part of you still wants your old life, still wants me… I won't give up."

"I never asked you to."

She hung up, feeling an odd glow in her chest. It was no time to focus on her own desires, however; getting Felix out of the way before the war began was her top priority.

Her walk home was more foreboding. Agents with Greek letters on their chests were posted around her route home, painfully conspicuous in their attempts to be inconspicuous. She kept her hand close to her pocket, fingering a pen. Betty wouldn't even let her carry around pepper spray after the third or fourth slip-up, as if she had ever used pepper spray in any of her schemes. If the director was so concerned about her being up to no good she would've forced them into an Amish community.

But Elena digressed; one of the agents was trying to get closer to her under the pretense of throwing some trash away. Apparently the garbage can was invisible to her, and he was determined to cross the street to dispose of it. Elena grit her teeth; she'd never been very good in hand-to-hand combat. That was what hench people were for…

A good natured honk pulled her out of her line of thought. She glanced up and smiled as James slowed down, rolling down the side window.

"Need a lift?" He asked. Elena nodded.

"Sure, thank you." She shot a triumphant look at the disheartened agent, who had stopped in his tracks at the offer, before slipping into Dr. Possible's passenger seat.

He dropped her off a few blocks later and she thanked him, making a bee line for the closet in her room. Her hand trembled in anticipation as she reached for the ray gun, pulling it out of its hiding place. A weapon, a beautiful glorious weapon…and one they hadn't even mentioned was missing yet! She sank to her knees as her fingers instinctively started to pry at it like an enthusiastic biology student dissecting a frog.

"Now, precious, tell me your secrets." She cooed in her abandoned accent, instantly absorbed by her passion.

Felix Renton had always been close to his mother. Never having a father in the picture and moving to a different state every other year tended to do that to a kid. She was the one constant in his life, though Middleton was turning into what he considered his home town to be. Leaving for college didn't scare him that much; it was the fact that it was the first move his mother wouldn't be a part of that unnerved him.

So he tried to make the most of the time left in Middleton. Hanging out with friends (especially Zita) while his mom was at work, making sure he was home around the time she was so he could spend some time with her… It was a careful balancing act. There was something comforting in the monotony of combo moves and killing evil brain-starving zombies, a distraction from the facts he'd have to face.

He wasn't sure how close he'd stay with his friends, since they were all going on different paths.

He wasn't sure how well his relationship with Zita would fair with the whole "long distance" thing.

His mother was past due for being shipped off to a different job to work at (so few technological geniuses, so many positions for them). He may not come back to Middleton until he was ready to settle down with his own family.

"It's not fair!" Ron Stoppable whined, "My character hates me!"

"Aw, come on. You know it has less to do with the character than me being better than you." Felix insisted, scooping up another slice of pizza.

"Cheater," Ron muttered under his breath. He paused the game and settled back into the couch, taking up his own slice, "You up for another round after this?" He asked. Felix shook his head.

"Nah, man, I've gotta head back. Mom's going to be home in a bit."

"So?"

"So, I'm worried about her." Felix chewed over a bite slowly, "I dunno… Ever since graduation she's been acting really weird. Like she's not even here."

"She's daydreaming. Isn't that normal for smart people?" Ron asked.

"It's different," Felix insisted, sighing, "And then there was that call last night…"

"What call?"

"We were out in the garage and she picked up the phone." He grimaced, "Her face…she was totally freaked, worse than the babysitter off of "When an Unfamiliar Person Dials". She was all like "how?", but the other person did most of the talking." Ron frowned.

"You think your mom's in trouble or something?" Felix shook her head.

"I dunno…" He admitted, "But I don't want her alone."

Felix wheeled away from the couch and out of the Stoppable household, heading home. Maybe he was just being paranoid; maybe it was just a relative she didn't want to talk to. The only family Felix had met were his grandparents up in Canada, whom he stayed with whenever Mom had a business trip she couldn't take him with on.

Come to think of it, Mom never really talked about her past. At all. He guess he should've asked more questions, but he just took her for who she was now.

He rolled into the house, which was oddly silent. He went through the kitchen, the living room, even his room.

"Mom?" He asked. Maybe she wasn't home yet.

He went towards her room, slowly opening the door. He looked inside and found her on the floor, a gun in her hand, pointed towards her head.

Even if Elena was rarely one-hundred percent positive, Electronique was. She had found a way to turn it from a lethal weapon to just a mild stun pistol. She looked down the barrel, trying to find the tell-tale warm-up glow as her finger rested against the trigger.

"MOM!"

The word was a bomb, jerking Elena out of her high and back to reality. Felix was in the doorway, staring at her with a mix of horror and revulsion.

"Felix!"

"Whatever's going on…whatever's bothering you…it's not worth it. Please…put the gun down." His voice shook as he spoke slowly, purposefully.

Oh god. Oh dear heavenly god he thought she… She set the gun down, nudging it away from her with her foot as she raised her hands near her head.

"Felix, my darling, please, this isn't what it looks like." She begged.

"Really? Then what is it?"

A robotic claw jumped out of his chair and snatched the gun, holding it even farther away. He flicked open a panel on his arm rest and pressed a red button.

"No!" Elena screeched.

"911, what is your emergency?" A calm voice came out of the chair's speaker.

"It's my mom," Felix choked, "My mom…she just tried to commit suicide…"

Elena shook her head helplessly as Felix listed their address. Her rational mind was flooded with pesky emotions, and she was unable to summon a good reason as to why she had a gun in her hands. All she did was try to keep the tears from slipping out of her ducts, her voice rough in the waiting silence once 911 had hung up.

"Please…my baby, my beautiful beautiful baby boy… I know it looks bad but I promise you, I wasn't…" Felix's eyes were hard, unforgiving. She wanted to throw up as she recognized them as her own merciless eyes, usually hidden behind thick goggles during such fits of rage.

"We're going to get you help, Mom." He said firmly.

She wasn't sure how long she had been on her knees, pleading with him as he stared back at her, when she heard the faint beginnings of sirens. The sound only made her sobs heavier. Everything was spiraling out of her tight control. First the call, now this…

"Just call them off, Felix, please. Tell them it was a mistake, I promise that this is all it was. I'll tell you everything, Felix, every last thing, just please don't make me go with them."

Maybe Elena didn't have a son; maybe the boy in front of her belonged to Electronique. His cool detachment certainly seemed like it, his own tears a steady leak in comparison to her violent weeping.

"No, Mom. You need to go, to get help."

"I don't need help!" Felix jerked back in surprise and she realized that Electronique's voice, the fake yet very well done Belgium accent, had slipped out of what was supposed to be Elena's mouth.

It was the first time she had ever used it in his presence.

Desperate people did crazy things, so Elena sat there, helpless while the officers burst their way in, one taking each arm as they hauled her to her feet. Limp as a rag doll, she went down the ramps and out to the waiting police car, parked alongside an ambulance. She had worked so hard to keep it together until he left, and giving into her little temptation had ruined everything. It was absolutely crazy to Electronique that she wasn't fighting, but what was there to fight for? Her son had no comprehension about what was going on, and the hospital might serve as a sort of shelter from her ex. He wouldn't be likely to look for her there.

III

So I was having a little chat with Mengsk about Electronique and her mental state; as far as I had posted she seemed like a somewhat stable adult, maybe with some huge issues but still able to function in society. Then I got to the end of editing this section and I was like "…nope, this girl's bat-shit insane". Because even at exposing that she's more than just a housewife discontent with monotony to her oblivious son, terrified of losing him…she kinda went off the rails on a crazy train with her reaction to calling the police. So you win this debate, Mengsk, but I'm sticking to my narrative guns. Even if the main character is not so much misunderstood as someone who needs a heavy dose of medication and a nice long stay in Arkham Asylum.