Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 1

[forgot_my_life]

Oh yeah. This was bad. Grabbing a chair and ignoring the woman who had brought him in, Takaya crossed his arms and glared at the wall. He wasn't going to participate in this bullshit. Being told he had 'company' and that he should he happy about it had ruined what was otherwise an okay day

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[ellectriclights]

Elle wasn't quite sure what to make of it when she was told she had a visitor. The room she was led into was empty, save for nurses and patients. Nobody eagerly expecting to see her. No Daddy waiting with a smile and a hug - not that she needed either from him. So... somebody was preventing her from getting a tan by making her sit, by herself, in a stuffy room with florescent lightning? Real considerate.

The nurse deposited her in an uncomfortable chair and asked her politely to wait.

.... Could her dad be coming? Would he? She'd been making up excuses for him not to all day. But the idea that he actually might.... She fidgeted unconsciously at the thought, brushing her bangs over the wound on the side of her head. There was nothing she could do about the arm in a sling, though - he'd see it and know she'd screwed something up.

Waiting, even for a few minutes, galled her. Her toes scraped against the floor and her fingers beat idly against her leg.

Please, please come, Daddy, she thought fiercely, as if he could hear her and arrive faster by the sheer power of her will. Part of her believed he would never show, that this was some kind of test. But most of her needed desperately to believe that he would come, and tell her what a good girl she'd been, and that everything would be okay again. Please hurry Daddy, she begged silently, pouring her heart out inside her head; all the 'I've missed you's and 'I love you's that she would never say aloud because those things were weak.

[damned_visitors]

And "Daddy" did come, or at least someone who looked and acted just like him. Bill Cardinal walked through the entrance to the lobby, seeming more displeased by the situation than he was concerned. His eyes followed a nurse's pointed finger towards his sitting daughter and he approached her with a slow gait and a deep frown.

"Jaye," he said levelly, looking down at her through his glasses, "are you ready to stop this game yet?"

[ellectriclights]

Elle instinctively sat up straighter as her father walked in the room. Her mouth opened of its own volition with a "sorry" on her tongue, but when he called her by that fake name the nurses used...

"Daddy," she said quietly, trying to figure out why he was doing this. He loved her; he wouldn't do anything to hurt her. So why this? "Don't make me stay here anymore. Please. I'll be good, I promise. I'll be better." She looked up at him without raising her chin, her eyes pleading. Maybe if she told him about the list she'd been making, of all the people here with abilities, he'd be proud of her and take her home to the facility.

"Peter Petrelli's here," she blurted out before she could stop herself. "I can get him back. I won't mess up this time."

[damned_visitors]

Bill's expression seemed on the verge of satisfied until his daughter mentioned the 'Petrelli' name. His small smile faded and after a moment, he let out a sigh.

"Jaye," he said, enunciating her name slowly, "you have to understand that it's not that I don't want you to come back home... it's that I can't let you back until you're ready to perform proper work for the company, which you're unable to do in your current condition."

He tilted his head.

"If you want to get out of here, you're just going to have to try harder."

[ellectriclights]

"I'll try harder, Daddy," Elle asserted quickly, desperate to impress him, to eke just one word of approval out of him. "I'm fine. I can perform really good work." What did he mean, her current condition? Her wounded arm? She could work with a wounded arm.

And why he was calling her Jaye? Was it to make sure she could stand up to brainwashing, or psychological torture, or something? If she could prove that she wouldn't fall for anyone's tricks - even her father's - he'd let her out? Whatever the reason, she was sure it was only to make her tougher, better.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" she asked, her voice coming out so much younger and more vulnerable than she would have liked. "It isn't my name."

[damned_visitors]

"Yes it is," Bill replied with a small, patronizing smile, taking a step towards his daughter. "And I know you can do better, much better, but until you realize that for yourself... you're going to have to stay here."

He made eye contact and stared down at her. "Is that understood?"

[ellectriclights]

"Yes Daddy," Elle whispered, feeling her body draw in on itself.

She looked up at him again. "If I promise to do better, will you take me home? I don't like it here. T-they hurt me," she lied, clutching her wounded arm with her good hand.

What Bennet had told her flashed through her mind: her father had locked her up before. And tortured her. She didn't believe it, wouldn't believe it, but... No, she loved her dad and he loved her. And bringing up something like that wouldn't get her out of here faster.

[damned_visitors]

"They aren't hurting you," Bill sighed, glancing at the ceiling as if to ask some higher power for more patience. He looked back at her, sternly. "They're just trying to make you stronger, though if the way you've been handling those boys here is any indication, I don't think your overconfidence is really the issue here."

He shook his head in admonishment. "I think the problem is that you're too confident. You really think that chasing boys is going to make me proud when I know there's so much more you could be doing?"

[ellectriclights]

Elle gaped, but shut her mouth as soon as she realized it was open. She didn't know why she was so surprised - if Daddy had put her in here, of course he'd be apprised of her behavior.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said quietly, still looking down instead of at him. She didn't think she could stand to see the disappointment there. I will make you proud, she promised silently. If only she knew exactly what he wanted, but she couldn't work up the courage to ask. He'd think she was stupid, or not paying attention.

Bennet's words kept pressing into her thoughts. She wished she could just ask him about it, torture or wheedle the truth out of him, but she hadn't seen him in days. And her dad was right here. "Bennet said you locked me up when I was a kid. That you... experimented on me." Her words were soft and hurried, as though she were ashamed of them. "A-after what happened to grandma, there's so much I can't remember, and I always thought it was 'cause I was so young, but--"

Her eyes finally settled on his face, and she realized she shouldn't have said anything. She was such an idiot, like always, saying whatever she felt like without thinking. If only she could take it back. None of it was true; her father loved her.

[damned_visitors]

While most other fathers would smile and offer a comforting hug to a distraught daughter, Bill instead sighed and sat down, closing his eyes and steepling his fingers as if in deep thought. When he spoke, it was with words that he seemed to have repeated many times in the past:

"Your grandmother died of natural causes, Jaye - how many times do I have to tell you?" And as far as experimentation... I don't think ridiculous accusations like that are going to get you any real answers, are they?" He opened his eyes and glanced up at her. "Moreover, who is this... 'Bennet'?"

[ellectriclights]

"Grandma died..." in a house fire that I started. "...of natural causes," she said softly, grudgingly. Maybe Daddy was right, maybe she'd just... exaggerated it. In her head. The shrinks had told her she was delusional, after all... maybe that was one of her delusions.

"Mr. Bennet. You know, he used to work for you..." Elle trailed off as she realized other visitors were beginning to get up and leave.

No nonono she hadn't had enough time! Interviews with her father were always painfully short, but there was so much she still wanted to ask him!

She stood up, knowing he had to go but hoping he'd hug her before he did. "I love you," she managed to choke out. He probably wouldn't say anything - he never did, and he didn't have to say it for her to know it was true - but there was always the faint hope that he'd verbally return her affection.