#{alternate verse}

.

“What did you call me here for?” Elias asked, shifting in the chair he’d been provided. It was as uncomfortable as the way Dr. Eru was looking at him, and the cold look in her eyes.

He wasn’t going to show that, of course, not with how determinedly she seemed to be trying to stare him down, but it didn’t change how that look unsettled him.

Eru smiled, as kindly as she could in the moment, folding her hands neatly in her lap as if to hide how hard her fingers were pressing down on each other. “I wanted to talk, Dr. Nabbott. In private. I’ve got some issues I’d like to talk to you about.”

Elias’s expression settled into a frown. Issues. That was a new one. Especially for people who so clearly distrusted him. He knew enough about Eun Eru from her file, one he’d read after she started getting nosy. Transferred from Site 19, decisive, physical and trigger-happy-- a simple talk seemed almost incongruous. He wondered if he should be expecting a gun to his head.

A gun would certainly kill him quickly, after all. But he was reasonably sure she wouldn’t risk it. Killing him in an empty cafe just outside Site 17 would be one of the most obvious things in the world.

“You’re doing really well at work,” Eru began, keeping her tone focused and steady. “I really don’t want to take that from you, Dr. Nabbott. You’re not exactly bad at doing what you need to do.”

“Thank you for the compliments, Dr. Eru,” Elias replied. “I’d like to think I am. But what exactly are you implying?”

The psychologist’s smile fell, no longer even trying to veil her anger. “I’m telling you to stop.”

“... Excuse me?”

“You’re not excused, asshole,” she continued, in the same steady tone. “I’ll say it straight. Fuck off. Leave Sebastian and Jim and whatever other poor researchers you’re threatening out of your undeserved power fantasies. Or I will make your life a nightmare in the worst way I know.”

Just for a second, Elias froze.

... Had Eru had found something? Proof enough that she thought she could threaten him with it, maybe? Something she thought could stop him?

He paused, shoving down that initial fear to think. To properly consider this. Because he hadn’t left any evidence behind. None past the word of a man no-one respected anymore and the doubts of a researcher or two without any proof. More competent people than some psychologist with suspicions had been fooled by the persona he’d put on. Nobody would believe her.

He laughed, just to watch that determination snap into something like fury.

“Oh, you- God, I wish I’d just decided to kill you.” Eru forced in a deep breath, barely able to contain herself. “But no. Let’s do this the nice way. I like the nice way much more than risking Foundation members’ lives.”

The nice way. Did she even realize what she sounded like right now? Elias wondered just how quickly he could destroy her when she realized her threats were empty. She didn’t seem to realize it now.

Eru shook her head, looking back up at him. “Listen. I’m giving you one chance to do this. Otherwise, I’m going to have to kill you, and I don’t think either of us want that. Leave them be.”

Elias shook his head. “Dr. Eru, I really do think there are better uses of our time than this. You couldn’t kill me if you tried. And besides, no-one would listen to you.”

“.. Oh. Oh, I know.” Eru broke into a smile, this one looking far more real than the last one. “That’s why I’m not telling anyone. I said I would make your life a nightmare, not tell everyone about you. That’d be an amazing bonus, of course, but I doubt I’d get anyone to listen without more hard evidence than I have.”

Elias paused, leaning forward in something like interest. “Really.”

“Yes. Like I said, you’re good at doing what needs to be done. Even if it’s for the goal of hiding literal crimes. I’d have to be a lot more creative to get you to take a step back.” Eru’s smile grew wider. “So, Dr. Nabbott. How do you think your son would look in a D-Class uniform?”

... What?

“A D-Class?! You’re going to--”

“He’d look interesting in orange,” Eru continued, probably enjoying the shock that had to have been written clear on his face. “Oh, and there’s that friend of his. Jamie, right? It’s always better to work with friends. Maybe they’d even let him test out the plant SCPs! The biology department always needs some new bodies.”

“How dare you?!” Elias stood up, slamming his hands down on the table. It only made Eru’s smile brighter. “Do you really think you can get away with this?! If you even think about hurting my son--”

“I’ve done more than think about it. I could genuinely do it. I will, if you so much as blink wrong in Jim and Sebastian’s direction.” Eru continued on blithely. “It’d be so easy to implicate him, after all. There are so many ways to make someone snap. Gaslighting would be a good start, wouldn’t it?”

Gaslighting? She was going to gaslight his son?! Oh, Elias swore he was going to kill her. And he was going to do it slowly.

“Oh, or maybe I could lie to him! What do you think Casey would do, Dr. Nabbott, if he got word that you were threatening Jamie? Combine that with a little gaslighting and a lot of stress-- say, too many psychological meetings and whole loads of paperwork, and something dangerous just a few feet away... Add imminent harm to his friend’s person and, well. Attacking a senior researcher is enough to put anyone on that list, I think. Especially to protect a D-Class. Would you like to put some alcohol on the list? For good measure? Or maybe being framed for causing a containment breach...”

“You’re insane.” Elias growled. It only made Eru laugh.

“I’m not bluffing, Dr. Nabbott.” She shrugged. “So? Will you agree or not?”

Would he agree or not? What kind of a question was that?! Elias wished, suddenly, that he had a gun. Or that Eru had done something in her life before that he could use against her. Something that wasn’t an incident with Level Five clearance and that she only looked almost proud at the mention at. “Do you really think you can--”

“What? Threaten your son?” The look on her face said everything. “Of course I do. The real question is whether you’ll agree to my terms.”

Elias stood. “We’re done here, Dr. Eru.”

“Is that a no?”

He didn’t dignify that with an answer. The only thing to do was leave. Make plans. Do research. Find out what would destroy--

Eru pulled out her phone and opened a video feed.

Elias watched with something like budding horror at the grainy camera feed trained on Casey, working at his desk as if nothing was wrong. A simple flick of Eru’s finger across the screen changed it to a photo of his room, and then a list of places he went to regularly. Weaknesses. A psychological profile with little notes in scribbly cursive, listing off method after method of worsening his mental state until it breaks. A carefully titled and documented series of recordings, all with the names of his fears.

Eru didn’t stop him from clicking one. It wasn’t a fake. Casey’s voice came from the speaker, muffled but still definitely his. Talking, in a psychological meeting, about his worst fears and his worries and the things that made him tick.

Another list. Things that researchers had been made D-Classes for.

“Sit down, Dr. Nabbott.” Eru met his eyes. “We have an agreement to make.”