Summary: After overhearing something she probably shouldn't have, Elle needs someone to talk to.
Characters: Elle, Vlad, Skulker, and Valerie
Written: April 2015
Note: This is set a little before and then after chapter 52 of Spectacular Specter.

Chapter 52.5

"I'm terminating our contract."

Elle kept out of sight when she heard her father's voice. She had seen the man her father spoke to a few times when he came to their house to have secret meetings with her father. Whatever they talked about, she didn't know, and she never thought to be curious even though the man didn't strike her as the usual type of person with whom her father talked business. The man didn't come dressed in a nice, freshly pressed suit. He wore leather pants and jacket. He gave off a dangerous vibe that had Elle holding her breath and hoping he wouldn't take notice of her. Today, he came limping into their home, bruised and battered, with his right arm bandaged and hanging limp at his side.

"You paid me to do a job," the man argued. Elle never learned his name.

"I paid you to bring Phantom to me," her father snapped, and Elle nearly gasped out loud. "I didn't tell you to make such a scene. I wanted this done quietly. Now it's all over the news after those two attacks you've done. Do you think I want the police sticking their nose into my business?"

"The news is painting it up to be all Phantom's fault anyway."

"I paid you the money we agreed on. So our contract is complete. Now, if you would, please leave my house."

The man made a frustrated sound. "Next time you need a job done, don't call me." He stormed as well as he could with his limp toward the laboratory's exit.

Elle shrank down as much as she could where she hid so she wouldn't be seen when he passed her. The door clicked shut after the man left, and Elle only relaxed a little. She came to the laboratory to ask her father if it was okay for her to take on a seasonal part time job to make some money to buy the gift she had in mind for Danny. Of course, she could always simply ask her father for the money, but she wanted to work for it and earn the money on her own for this. She doubted her father would appreciate knowing that she had overheard that conversation, so she wasn't about to announce her presence.

Her father sighed. "Now I can get back to unlocking your secrets."

Elle cautiously peeked over the table behind which she hid. Her father stood at one of his work tables holding up a test tube filled with a green substance. She frowned curiously. Her father didn't tell her about a lot of his projects, the ones he worked on personally. She never dared to enter his laboratory unless she had a good reason for being there.

The phone rang, and her father grumbled in frustration. He set his cell phone down on the table before he accepted the call and put it on speaker. "What is it?"

"Sir, you have a meeting in twenty minutes," his secretary announced. "Mrs. Santiago will only be in town today, and she will not be pleased if you put this off."

Her father sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, thank you for the reminder. I'm heading over right now." After he ended the call, he placed the test tube back in its stand. "Will the interruptions never end?" He pocketed his phone then swept out of his laboratory without a second thought. Why would he think to check the laboratory for another person? He so rarely had visitors, and the one he knew of had already left.

Elle waited after the door closed a second time and counted to twenty before she released her breath and stood. Her legs felt sore and cramped from crouching down for such a long time. She stretched her legs out for a bit then walked over to the table at which her father had worked. The test tube filled with the strange green substance stood alone in the center of the table. What was this stuff? Why was her father so obsessed with it lately? Curiosity snuck its way into her and took root. She didn't care about her father's company or taking it over, but she wanted to know more about this stuff, whatever it was, that kept him holed up in his laboratory for almost every hour he was home lately.

She found a small vial among her father's supplies. He would never notice if one went missing. Then she took the test tube and poured a little of the green substance into the vial. Once she had placed the test tube back in the stand and sealed the vial, she slipped out of the laboratory without a trace that she had ever been there.

Elle sighed as she recalled the events of that day. Her father didn't seem to take notice of anything unusual in his laboratory, for which she could breathe easier. She had hoped, though, that Danny would end up saying he was able to come to her father's Christmas party. She had a better chance of talking to him privately without it seeming suspicious if they were gone for a while at the party than at the dinner. She thought about talking to him when they exchanged their gifts, but she worried their parents would come looking for them if they took too long. She didn't want her father finding out that she had taken something from his laboratory.

When she glanced around the hall rented out for the party, Elle easily spotted her father talking with some of his business partners. She hated the little twinge of jealousy in her heart when she thought about how if Danny had come, her father would probably have dragged him off and presented him to his partners as if Danny was his own son. She knew it wasn't Danny's fault, but she hated how much her father praised him. Maybe she wasn't smart like Danny, but she had her own talents. Her fingers ran over the guitar pendant Danny had given her. She practiced singing every day and tried to write her own songs, though she wasn't as skilled as Ember was. But her father looked at her hard work as her just playing around, and it hurt.

"That's a pretty necklace."

"Huh?" Elle blinked out of her thoughts as she turned her head to the speaker. She had seen the other woman before at social functions, though they had never talked to each other. What was her name? Elle racked her mind but couldn't put a name to the beautifully dark brown skinned woman. "Oh," she dropped her gaze to the pendant, "it was a Christmas present from Danny."

"Danny?" Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Like as in Danny Fenton?"

"Yeah. How do you know him?"

"We go to the same school. How do you know him? I mean, I'm pretty sure you don't go to Casper High."

"He tutors me," she explained then held out her hand to the woman. "I'm Elle Masters."

"Valerie Gray." She shook Elle's hand.

Her name rang a bell, and it took a minute before Elle put it together. "You're the daughter of the Police Chief!"

Valerie nodded. "And you're the daughter of Vlad Masters, president of Axion Labs." She folded her arms over the soft yellow dress she wore. "So Danny helps you get good grades and gets you presents?"

Elle frowned at the way Valerie said it. "I'm not using him or something," she argued, her mouth pursing thinly. "I pay him to tutor me, and he explains things until I can understand it for myself. He's way better at teaching than any of the teachers at my school. He's smart. And he's funny. And we got each other Christmas gifts. He got this," she touched the pendant, "because he knew I wanted to sing. And I got him a model rocket because he's always going off on a tangent about his interest in space."

"Whoa!" Valerie put up her hands. "Take a breath."

Elle breathed in deeply then slowly released it. "Sorry." Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "But I'm really not using him. He's a friend, and he's really sweet."

"Oh? Do you like him?" Valerie winked with a teasing grin.

"N-No! Nothing like that." Elle shook her head, her cheeks heating up even more. "I mean, he would make a good boyfriend, b-but I'm not - He's more like a big brother to me. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he likes someone else."

"Hey." Valerie nudged her lightly with an elbow. "I was only joking. Though now that you mention it, we did see Danny with this hunk of a guy." She held a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, we didn't see his face, but his body looked like he was pretty muscular."

"He never mentioned anything about actually dating someone to me!" Elle huffed, making a mental note to get more details about that from Danny. With a sigh, she hugged her arms around her waist. "But I was hoping he would turn up tonight. I wanted to talk to him about something."

Curiosity spread across Valerie's face. "Something secret? Or can you share it with me?"

Elle considered, her gaze darting around the hall. The adults were all socializing, networking or whatever. She spotted her father discussing something with Valerie's father. No one would ever notice if two teenagers disappeared for a little while. She grabbed hold of Valerie's hand then pulled her along toward one of the doors. Once they were outside in the small courtyard filled with flowers and bushes and a fountain in the center of it all, she released her hold on Valerie's hand.

"I know I should be snooping around in my father's laboratory," she explained as she took a seat on the stone bench before the fountain. Valerie joined her, leaning back on her arms as she listened. "But he's been really obsessed with working on this new project. And I, well-" She rifled through the purse she brought with her. "I kind of stole a bit of what he was experimenting on." She held up the small vial containing maybe a thumbnail amount of the green substance.

"Does the glowing mean it's radioactive?" Valerie questioned cautiously.

"I don't know."

"Is it dangerous for us to just be sitting here with it out?"

"I don't know."

"Uh, maybe you should just put that away for now."

"Okay." Elle slipped the vial back into her purse. Valerie sounded wary and uncomfortable after seeing it. She hadn't even considered it might cause side effects just being around it. Her father didn't wear any sort of protective gear when she saw him with it. "That's why I wanted to talk to Danny. He's smart, and I thought maybe he could tell me what exactly my dad is working with." She wasn't even sure why she cared, but she wanted answers.

"And what do you plan to do if he can tell you what that stuff is?"

Elle shrugged. "I just want to understand what has my dad so obsessed lately, I guess." She didn't know how to explain what she was feeling or why she needed to know. Maybe if she understood, maybe if she could contribute something, she wouldn't be a complete disappointment to her father.

"Well, I hope you can figure it out." Valerie patted her on the shoulder. "Just, you know, be careful." She smiled, and after a moment, Elle nodded and smiled back.

YumiStar: Aw~ Isn't that just the sweetest? Now if only they both knew who the other was. XD;;

Mals42: Uh, well, probably not for this story.

jessiejr21: Dan thinks he's pretty freaking awesome too. 8D