Night 53: Disciplinary Therapy Room 2 [M-U for Elle Bishop]

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

Unlike most patients, this set-up would likely be familiar to Elle Bishop. Or so the doctor had assumed, at least. Even when she was only a child, she'd been examined and tested for her ability. Taking her back to those days probably wasn't the nicest of things to do be doing, but the doctor also didn't get paid to be nice.

Fully outfitted in a suit that would guarantee that her electricity would do him no damage, the doctor watched the girl's sleeping face pensively. They didn't usually allow patients to use their abilities during sleep studies, but Elle could be called a special case. Something had gone wrong with her ability -- something that the institute itself wasn't responsible for. If they corrected it, she wouldn't necessarily be back to her full power, but she would have that control.

If they could alter that, she would become far more useful in the long run.

While the walls of the room looked normal enough, they would also be able to withstand whatever wattage she released. With any luck, she would fall back into the patterns of forcing her own power to the brink, but if not? Then there were ways to persuade her to do so.

The doctor reached out and ran a gloved hand through the girl's hair. "Come on now, Elle," he said, sounding almost fatherly. "It's time to wake up."

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[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

Even if she claimed that she still had the same amount of power, he knew for a fact that that wasn't true. Elle's own problem aside, the institute had dragged her down to a more manageable level, and that wouldn't be changing. But they could at least try to get her to a point where she only released those volts when she chose to, rather than this unrestrained setup she had now.

He only scoffed and shook his head when she tried to threaten him. He was well aware of how she could hurt him, but she was in no position to now -- nor would she ever be. Those people who had tested her as a child had remained untouchable, and he would as well.

But then she said it. Then she touched on the very thing that he'd been waiting for her to bring up. Maybe it wasn't quite time for the physical torture after all. He turned back toward her, pulling close enough again that she'd be able to see him.

"Exactly," he said, his tone more forceful, like a scientist who had just stumbled on some sort of breakthrough. Though in this case, it was completely psychological. "Your father -- the man who caged you up like an animal and prized you for what you could do rather than who you are -- he's finally dead. You're rid of him!" He flung his hands back to make his point.

"And yet instead of feeling free, you're lost... to the point that you can't even keep a hold on the one thing that you've always taken for granted. Explain that to me."

[highvoltagegirl.livejournal.com]

"I'm free." Even through all her fear and pain and uncertainty, she found the strength to flash the doctor a defiant, "fuck you" kind of smile. "I'm more free than I've ever been. This was the best thing that ever happened to me. You know what I did after getting fired? I went to England. And it was awesome."

She was just rambling. Inane rambling meant to build up her defenses, make herself feel better, and distract from the sparks that were threatening to crop up again.

It was exhausting. She couldn't keep doing this like she had been. Not like she could at home. Then she could go on and on with her self-destructive electrical hate spiral and not even break a sweat. But here it was different. She wasn't ready to give out yet, but she was feeling the burn. In more ways than one.

The first thing she wanted to do was argue that she wasn't taking anything for granted, that the doctor was wrong, wrong wrong wrong, Elle decided it was time to show him. Show him before she was rendered completely unable to.

Things were harder when her hands were restrained, but she still managed to emit a reasonably large blast of voltage toward the doctor. She wasn't that optimistic, but there was still a part of her that hoped she'd burn through all his protective gear and fry him.

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

It was odd to hear anyone say that the death of a parent was the best thing that had ever happened to them, and yet the doctor wouldn't be surprised if there was some truth to it. Before Bob Bishop's death, Elle had been like a caged animal, only let out when she was given a rare chance to "prove herself." And yet he wondered if anyone could eat out of someone else's hand for that many years and not feel something after that person was dead.

And then she started again, sending a blast of lightning that was clearly aimed at him. The doctor was forced to close his eyes against the brightness, and while he could fear the pressure of the volts around him, there was no pain.

He stood there in silence for a moment before glancing to the computer monitor again. That one had been stronger, and she'd controlled it. This was working, at least to some extent.

"So you have no regrets about leaving a life that had been all you'd known for years?" he asked with a tilt of his masked head. "None at all?"