Hey everyone, first Heroes oneshot, so I would love if you would review :). Time period would be around the season finale of Volume Two.

"Words like this" are flashbacks.

Words in italics with no quotation marks at all are the lyrics of the song Circle.

And just to clear up any confusion, the snippet of a flashback I have in here is not something that occured in the show. Well, something close to it may have, but I'm sure you understand what I mean.

Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes, Tim Kring does. Nor do I own the song Circle, Paramore does.

Breaking The Cycle

Elle found herself back in her father's office, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. She cradled her wounded arm with a sigh, turning her head to stare blankly out of the window. Her thoughts drifted slowly from one to the next as she tried in vain to break down her father's words, tried to understand what she had done wrong.

"Do you know how worthless you are? I can't trust you with anything, you can't do something right to save your own damn life."

She lightly hit her head against the wall again and again as she replayed the scene in her head. She knew more than anyone that she tried harder than anything else to impress him. He had absolute control over her, and he knew it so well. Her eyebrows knitted together while she tried to come to the conclusion of why he left her to drown in his merciless words. Of how he could treat her like an overused doormat that had been worn out from exhaustion and was no longer of any use.

Take this time to realize

That you always shut your eyes

In the midst of trial

And everything is always right

She pushed herself up from the floor and stood to her feet, taking slow and careful steps toward the window. To keep her mind off of her current troubles, she counted her footsteps aloud until she reached the edge of the room. Sunlight flooded inside of the office as she raised the blinds and pressed her forehead against the window and her previous thoughts infiltrated her mind, causing her to quite literally grimace from the unpleasantness of their emotional presence.

And I think that it's time

This battle must be won

But you pushed it aside

Pushed it aside

Pretend that it's gone

The bustling city below gave her anything but peace as she closed her eyes and exhaled with a heavy sigh, dropping the blinds to cover the unwelcome sunlight. She was growing accustomed to being alone, and honestly that terrified her. It scared her that she could get used to having no one there. Then again, she was beginning to realize the kind of man her father really was, her blindness was beginning to disappear, and she was beginning to understand that she most certainly did not need him.

Although, she was disappointed by the lack of bitterness she had toward the subject. She wantedto hate him, she deserved to hate him, and in order to take the next step, she needed to hate him.

This circle never ends

And it's time you just face it, don't pretend

That it's over

She had yet to break the so far endless cycle of doing whatever it was he wanted done, accepting his words of disgust, and above all, believing in them. The fact that she had started to believe she was useless and unworthy of the powers she had caused her to turn around in disgust as she frowned with disdain. Her routine behavior of acting as some sort of slave to her father's demands repulsed her, and she found it to be scornful. She found it absolutely disgusting that she could allow someone to think they owned her, to think that they controlled her every move, her emotional stability.

Take this time to realize

That you always force a smile

In the midst of trial

And everything is always right

She twisted the doorknob and stepped out of the office, closing the door quietly behind her. She was making her way down the hall at a normal pace, and as she slowed her steps, he passed her without any form of acknowledgement before slamming his office door behind him with a deafening crack of wood against wood.

And she smiled to herself because that sharp ache had gone dull.

She just didn't need him anymore.

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