Title: Girl
Author: scy
Feedback: scynneh@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Adam/Elle
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up  through 2x08 'Four Months Ago'
Summary:  Elle learned things, just not in any school.
Author's Notes: Ladycat and I had a spirited conversation about these two the other day, and then we continued as I wrote this. Title is from Tori Amos' 'Girl.'
November 2007

Sit in the chair and be good now

And become all that they told you

The white coats enter her room

And I'm callin' my baby

Callin' my baby

Callin' my baby

Callin' everybody else's girl

Maybe one day she'll be her own

-Girl, Tori Amos

No matter where Elle was locked up, they always sent men in suits to give her the bad news, but this time there was only one of them. He didn't look all that important to Elle; she'd seen judges, lawyers and so many doctors that she should be an expert, and this guy seemed way too ordinary to be allowed to see her.

"Hello there, Elle, I'm Bob," he said and didn't come closer than ten steps from where she was sitting on her bed. Whoever he was, he'd been listening to the rumors about what happened when people got close to her.

Elle didn't trust anybody since her only family had shoved her into a hospital the first chance they got. Bob smiling at her and doing his best to be friendly didn't make him someone she would trust, in fact it pushed him firmly in the other column and kept her on guard.

"How long have you been with us, Elle?" Bob asked, like he didn't know the answer and wasn't trying to make sure she was paying attention.

"I don't know, a few years," Elle stared at the wall over Bob's shoulder. If she didn't look at him, she wouldn't have to deal with him.

Bob had a folder in one hand and he opened it, paging through the file inside. "In all that time you haven't been able to adjust or to show any remorse for your actions." He paused, and Elle could guess what he was reading about; one of the notes the shrinks had written that claimed she was crazy for wanting to be let out of her cage and live a life without white walls and pills in a cup beside her cup of orange juice.

The folder was closed with a sharp slap and Bob put his hands behind his back and took a step closer. "You've been given a chance, Elle. Here you can do something good to make up for all the harm you've caused."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Don't you feel bad about the pain you caused?"Bob asked. "Your ability is dangerous and you have to learn to control it."

Elle stared at Bob, the soft man who had been assigned to her and sneered. "No, I don't."

"You should," Bob said. "That's the right thing to do, it's what you'd feel if you were like other girls."

"I'm not, and I won't be," Elle said. "The doctors told me that I'm going to stay locked up in here forever, so what's the point in caring what anybody thinks anyway?"

Bob looked at her thoughtfully and then said, "Circumstances can change quickly, and with the right attitude, I see them shifting in a positive direction for you, but only given certain stipulations."

"What does that mean?" Elle asked, taking her eyes off the wall and looking at Bob.

"You would have to agree to a code of behavior," Bob said.

"Like I'd have to say please and thank you?" Elle asked.

"I was aiming more for you not electrocuting the staff whenever they get near you."

Elle frowned. "They try and do things to me like give me medicine, and I don't like that."

"They only give you those things because you haven't shown that you can control yourself. If you prove you can, then I'll order them not to give you any more pills," Bob said.

"No shots either," Elle bargained. "And I get ice cream whenever I want."

Bob smiled. "No shots, and the ice cream shouldn't be a problem."

"But if they try anything, they deserve what they get," Elle said.

"Of course," Bob said. He came another foot nearer. "And to make clear how serious I am about you following the rules, I will show you what happens when someone dangerous is unable to control themselves." He motioned for Elle to get up. "Come with me."

Bob showed Elle to a room a ways away from her own, inside which was a man. He had blonde hair and was wearing a gray t-shirt and pants like what she had on. Pale and still, he was the only color in the room. He didn't move when the door opened, and lay still with an arm over his face.

Bob cleared his throat and knocked on the doorframe, like he cared about manners. "You have a visitor," Bob said.

"What's the occasion?" the man asked.

"This is Elle, she's new to us here and I thought it would be beneficial for her to meet our other residents," Bob said.

The man sat up, hands dropping to his sides as he braced himself on the bench, bare feet touching the linoleum floor. "Ah, so you're doing the rounds," he said.

Bob smiled. "I thought it would be best if she got a sense of the scope of the Company's efforts."

"Yes, it certainly would," the man said.

He turned to look at Elle, and she shifted uneasily as his gaze went from head to toe and then came to rest on her face. She didn't get nervous, that was what happened to other people, the doctors, the security men with their knockout sticks.

This man made her spark without meaning too, and Elle had to clench her hands to keep the charge from getting away from her.

His eyes fixed on her fists held tightly at her side, and his mouth moved upwards. "You feel it, don't you my dear? I'm like you, different from almost everyone else in the world."

Elle put her chin up defiantly. "I'm not like you, I'm not going to be stuck here forever."

"Is that so?" The man glanced past her to Bob. "Have they loosened their famous restraint for a girl who throws electricity ?"

"We make concessions for those who cooperate," Bob said, keeping his eyes locked with the man's.

"Both of us know what that means, but I see that she doesn't understand yet."

"Elle has told me that she is willing to meet the conditions we've set for her good behavior. That gives her an amount of latitude we don't usually permit people with these abilities to have," Bob said.

"Something you don't have," Elle said triumphantly, smiling brightly at the man.

"That's right, Elle," Bob said and gave her an approving look.

"Did he tell you why I'm not allowed out of this room?"

Elle shrugged. "You did bad things, I guess. I don't care."

"You don't," he said, and he didn't sound horrified, but like he'd gotten an answer to a question Elle hadn't heard.

"Nope, it's nothing to me," Elle said.

"Wherever did they find you?"

"In a psychiatric facility," Bob said. "She was sedated for the protection of others." Bob glanced at Elle. "But she never hurt herself."

"Look you guys, I'm not a lab rat, that's what he is," Elle pointed at the blonde man. "So stop talking about me like I'm not standing here." She quivered angrily. "I don't like it."

"There are many things in life that you may find distasteful, but you will have to learn to tolerate them, this is only one of them," the man said.

He gave her glowing hands a pointed look. "You must learn to control your emotions."

"Are you supposed to help me do that?" Elle demanded hotly.

"It's only one of the many skills I can teach you."

Elle crossed her arms over her chest. "If you know so much, how come you're in here and not out, oh, doing whatever you want?"

The man and Bob had another conversation without saying a word and then the man said. "That is something I am sure will be shared with you when you're ready to grasp the nuances of loyalty."

"Do you have any?" Elle dared.

"Elle," Bob said sharply. "That was rude."

"Honesty has its time and place," the man said and smiled at Elle. "For that, I will answer you in kind. Yes, I do have loyalty, and it is not to the Company."

"And they haven't killed you," Elle said. To have him say something so against Bob and what he was trying to do was unheard of, especially for someone who couldn't defend himself if they wanted to hurt him. She took a couple steps closer and looked at him with more interest. "Why not?"

The man leaned forward, as if he had a secret he wanted Elle to hear. "They can't."

She scoffed. "That's impossible."

He sat back. "When you've lived as long as I have, you'll know that nothing cannot be accomplished when one's will is strong enough."

Elle craned her neck to see Bob's reaction and he nodded seriously at her.

"He's correct, we have been unable to kill him, in spite of our efforts."

"Nothing can hurt you?" Elle asked curiously.

"Oh, I can be hurt," the man said. "It just doesn't last."

"Where did you come from?" Elle asked and crouched down in front of his bunk.

"England, originally," the man said. "And I spent a great deal of time in Japan. It's something of a second home to me."

"But, how can you do that, how can I-" Elle had never known anyone who would even begin to know how to answer her questions, and this man was first person she thought might be worthy of hearing them.

"I can't do what you can, I bleed," Elle said.

"It's what you do after they cut you that matters," he said.

"What do you do?"

He beckoned Elle close and breathed his answer into her ear. "I get back up."

Bob cleared his throat. "That's enough for today, Elle, you need to come with me."

Elle put her hand out, electricity tingling in her fingertips and didn't quite touch the man in front of her.

"Elle," Bob said sharply and snapped his fingers. "Now."

"Can I see him again?" Elle asked as she stood up and followed Bob to the door.

"Ask if it's alright," Bob prompted, and there it was, she had to prove that she could follow the rules so Bob wouldn't leave her in a room like this one.

"May I visit again, please?" Elle asked.

"It's considered well mannered to ask someone's name," the man said, leaning back against the wall. "And you need the practice."

"Fine. My name's Elle, what's yours?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elle, I'm Adam."

-end