Summary: Elle feels a little restless after everything that happened.
Characters: Elle, Vlad, Jack, and Technus
Written: August 2015
Note: This is set after chapter 63 of Spectacular Specter.

Chapter 63.5

After the day she had, Elle was exhausted, and her skin still tingled slightly with the pins and needles feeling she got when her leg would fall asleep. She knew she should do as everyone told her and go to rest in her room, but she didn't feel like she would be able to rest peacefully. She stared at her hands like they had turned into some strange new appendages. What was she anymore? She could no longer call herself one hundred percent human. Now she was just a freak.

With a sigh, she walked down the stairs to the laboratory, not caring if her father yelled at her for being there. If he truly wanted her forgiveness, he would have to talk to her and treat her like her own person. She stepped into the laboratory, and regret washed over her when she saw the destruction. All of this was her fault. It was strange how four words could set off a storm of rage inside her. She never realized how much she was holding in until it all exploded out of her.

"Let me at him!"

Elle shrank back when she heard the garbled shout. Her father and Mr. Fenton held down the weakly struggling man. Or was he a ghost? Elle felt her head spinning trying to remember everything when it all happened in a blur to her. Mr. Fenton showed the same gentleness when dealing with the man that he had shown her. Her father was more hesitant about dealing with the man, allowing Mr. Fenton do more of the work in strapping down the man so he wouldn't flail around too much and hurt himself, or them.

"What were you thinking?" Mr. Fenton demanded once the man was secured.

"I didn't intend this," her father snapped, gesturing with both hands to the man strapped to the table, "to happen." He sighed as he raked a hand through his silver hair. "He was in a coma, and I thought maybe I could help him. I wanted to wake him up. Imagine what that would do for the world? If we had a way to help wake up coma patients?" He frowned miserably as he stared at the man on the table. "But it was all a failure. I don't even know what went wrong. I truly thought it would work. Then things went up in smoke. Next thing I knew, I had this technopathic ghost out to kill me."

"You should have known better than that." Mr. Fenton glared, jabbing a finger into her father's chest. "And you should have known Maddie and I would never abandon you after the accident."

"And I couldn't allow my existence to put your lives at risk," her father countered, the two men glaring at each other. Then Mr. Fenton suddenly pulled her father to him, enclosing him in a tight bear hug.

"We would have figured out a way to keep all of us safe." Mr. Fenton sighed like he was letting go of the long years without his best friend. "Maddie and I love you like family. We don't care what that accident did to you, but we'll help you out any way we can if you really want to find a way to reverse it."

Elle hugged her arms around her body. They were going to look for a way to fix her father? She frowned, hating herself for wanting them to fail in that endeavor. She just didn't want to be alone being this weird half ghost-half human freak. But she wasn't as bad off as her father. She didn't have look in the mirror and see her face half eaten away.

"You should have told us," Elle blurted out when her father and Mr. Fenton pulled away from their embrace. She gulped when both men turned the gazes onto her. The man on the table mumbled incoherent threats, his hands twitching where they were pinned down at his sides.

"Elle!" Her father's eyes widened, startled by her presence in the laboratory. "You should be resting."

"I will." Elle rubbed at her arm, turning her gaze briefly away. "In a little while. But you should have told us the truth!" she said firmly as she glared back at her father. "Did you think I wouldn't love you if I knew what your real face looked like?"

Her father frowned, lowering his gaze. "I'd been hiding it for so long. It was just easier to continue that then face possible rejection from my own daughter. I didn't think I could bear that."

"But you could bear forcing me into the mold you set out for me?" Elle folded her arms, tapping her foot as she waited for his answer.

"I apologize. I unwittingly became the villain. I want to make that up to you."

Elle was almost tempted to forgive when she saw the misery in his eyes. But that was too easy. She refused to let him get her forgiveness just like that. Then her eyes lit up as an idea came to her. "Does that mean you might be willing to let me switch to a different school?" She bit her lip, hoping and praying he would say yes.

Her father hesitated, even after Mr. Fenton nudged him in the back. "I'll consider it." He winced when Elle pouted. "Can we have this talk a little later? We should really focus on helping Mr. Technus. If we get distracted, we might make things worse."

Elle frowned, but she supposed her father had a point. It seemed Mr. Technus was far worse off than she was. At least, she was stable and not screaming deadly harm to anyone. "Can I at least stay and watch?"

"You should really rest-" Her father sighed in defeat. "All right. I suppose you can stay." He held up a finger before Elle could cheer in victory. "But you have to promise not to get in the way. If we tell you to do something, you must do it. As a safety precaution for all of us."

Elle bobbed her head. "Promise!" It was the first time her father actually agreed to let her watch him work. She found a suitable place to sit and watch the two men. In about eight minutes, the exhaustion finally caught up to her, and she fell asleep where she sat.

Tetractys: Woo! That was intense, right? XD At least things have calmed down a bit now.

YumiStar: It'll be a process. XD;; At least he seems to be trying now? Don't let him off easy though, Elle! XD

The freedom girl: I had been planning this for ages! XD Whew, it's finally done! Vlad does have ectoplasm bonded to his DNA, but he doesn't have, like, all the abilities as Danny, and now Elle, does. Like he can't turn invisible or intangible or fly. Though who knows? If the GiW mess with his daughter, he might be able to unleash some hell. XD;; Right then, she was fueled by rage and pure instinct and obsession. Now that that's all steamed out, she might find things a little more difficult.