Elliot and the Fire

Taken

Leo's jaw dropped. Clearly he was offended at the thought of not being a threat. "Hey! What about me?! I'm dangerous." he said, moving into an, admittedly pretty bad, fighting stance. Even Elliot could fight better than that, and he was a glorified calculator. At least in his humble opinion.

Elliot's dad deadpanned, "Yeah, there's always a chance you might faint on somebody." His spiky hair moved as he tilted his head. Elliot tried, and ultimately failed, to hold in his cackle.

Donald sighed, raking a hand through his precious hair. "Look, Adam, Bree, Chase... and Leo, can handle anything. And after all you've done to this family, why should we trust you?" he grunted.

Elliot sputtered, trying to think clearly for once in his life, "Well.. uhh.. There's.."

Douglas cut him off, stuttering and making a mess of a sentence on his own. "Well, I... give me a minute." he said, holding up a finger on each hand. The necklace around his neck moved with every breath he took, rubbing obnoxiously against the back of his neck. Elliot had gotten it for him, and he hadn't taken it off since. It was a simple little chain with a dog tag on the end, engraved with Elliot's initials and birthday. He often fiddled with it when nervous.

Donald smiled, raising a hand in mock surrender. "Take all the time you want." he advised with mocking sincerity. His gray tee shirt was entirely too small for him. Elliot could tell everyone else noticed too, especially by everyone in the labs' eyes flickering towards his chest with disgust.

His brother, though, couldn't tell he was mocking him. "Oh, thanks. I–" he managed to get out before the call ended. They had hung up! Even when Douglas was actually trying to help them for once! God, how stupid could they be?! "Dammit!" he shouted, kicking the chair that previously resided near his desk.

"I'm back!" Krane announced crudely, slamming the door open and scaring the father and son. "Tell me you've come up with something new." His black trench coat flowed behind him as he stomped through the building, sending loud echoing thumps through the damp lair. Sound verberated off the stone walls, shocking Elliot into place.

"Krane! Hello, nice to see you... How's your head doing..?" Douglas asked, trying not to anger the large man any further. He stepped in front of his son, protecting him from anything he may be about to face.

Elliot was completely frozen. Out of habit or out of fear, he didn't know. His breathing was borderline erratic and his head was killing him. He was going into a panic attack. 'What're five things you see?' he thought to himself, 'I can see my dad standing in front of me, the lair's gray walls, my black shirt sleeves, my notebooks on the desk, and extra pencils all over the floor.' His breathing was a little calmer. '4 things you can feel?' He shifted a little where he stood, careful not to attract the attention of the angry man. 'My sleeves on my wrists, my pants against my knees, my socks on my feet, and the water soaking through the fabric of said socks.' Slightly calmer breaths blew out of his nose. 'Three things you can hear, Elliot?' He listened carefully, trying to breathe a little quieter. 'I can hear the water dripping down from the ceiling, Krane and dad arguing, and my eyes clicking every time I blink.' His breathing was the calmest it had been yet. 'Two things you can smell?' He sniffed the air carefully, not wanting his breathing to pick back up again. 'Mold. I can definitely smell the mold in the walls. I can also smell the cologne Dad must've put on.' He was barely even panicking. 'Alright, and lastly, I can sort of taste the sandwich I had earlier.' he thought to himself again.

"So, has the kid done anything useful yet? Or is he taking after his father?" Krane asked, nodding to the boy behind Douglas. He didn't know Elliot was transgender, both his father and the boy in question had decided against it. It was for the best. He'd only ever know him as a male.