A man in a white lab coat tossed another henchman across the concrete floor. Seven in total were rolling around in agony, staring up at the high cavern walls of their bosses' lair. The man responsible for their pain was none other than Dr. Phillian. He was a young practicing doctor at St. Vinci's Hospital and moonlighted as a hero. His rage was more consuming than the acne on his face, but he had mercy on the henchmen. They were not the reason for his anger nor were they worth his energy. There was only one he wished to release his full wrath upon.

"Stenson! Come out and face me like a man!"

Stenson watched from his surveillance room as the hero trashed his lair and more henchmen came rushing to receive their own beating. He pushed his thin frame glasses up his nose and turned to the henchman on his right.

"Why would my nemesis come to my lair? Did we do something to him?"

"I don't think so, sir."

"This is between you and me! Let my girlfriend go!" Dr. Phillian shouted and kicked the last charging henchman in the groin.

Stenson and the henchman by his side winced at the last blow they watched from the monitors. Dr. Phillian meant business and stormed off to a blindspot.

"Girlfriend? I never captured anyone. Did you, Jeffrey?"

"No sir…"

At the same moment, they came to the same realization and slowly turned around to a young blonde teenager who gave them a nervous smile. She sat in her chair, trying not to fidget too much.

"Ellen, do you know Dr. Phillian?"

"Doctor who? Phillipian? Nope. Can't say I have. Why would you think that?" Ellen tried her best to not let her voice get all high pitched and guilty.

"Ellen," Stenson said sternly.

She began to sweat and looked over to Jeffrey who crossed his arms in disapproval. Ellen knew she was busted.

"You know, I'm thirsty. Jeffrey, can you get us something to drink?"

"Not until you tell us why that lunatic is wrecking your father's lair."

She gasped. "Daddy, you're going to let your henchman talk to me like that?"

Stenson stepped forward. "Jeffrey is family and his question is valid. What did you do?"

Shoot, that didn't work. Better drag this out. "Soooo…I maybe…kinda–"

"Damn it, Ellen. You're not pregnant, are you?"

"What? No! Jeez Dad. He's just a guy I flirt with sometimes."

"He seems to think it is more than that."

That was when Ellen was hit with a stroke of genius. She got up, strutted over to the monitor, and pointed to Dr. Phillian on the screen. "Do I look like the kind of girl who would be with that? His whole face is covered in acne."

She shivered to sell it better, but if she was being honest, his acne was the best part. It gave his face texture and character. A man with flaws who was bold enough to not hide behind makeup. She was not that strong, but he never made her feel that way. Ellen removed her finger from the screen, realizing she was trying to feel those beautiful bumps through the glass.

"And besides, he never said my name. It could be anybody."

"Ellen, hold on! I'm coming for you!" Dr. Phillian declared, going up a flight of stairs.

Stenson and Jeffrey glared at her. Her ruse was up and they demanded the truth. Ellen hung her head down in defeat. There was no more delaying the inevitable.

"Okay, fine. You caught me. I was dating him."

Jeffrey quirked his eyebrow. "Was?"

Ellen realized there was a lot they didn't know, but she wasn't so keen on letting them in on her love life. She decided the less they knew, the better.

"I've never broken up with a hero before, so I thought the best way to do it was to leave a ransom letter."

The smack from Stenson facepalming himself echoed in the room. He couldn't believe his own daughter would do something so boneheaded. Ransom letters were for high value people, not for superhero girlfriends. It gave the wrong kind of attention and left few possible culprits, especially since it was his nemesis.

"Why can't you break up with someone like a normal person?" Stenson strained to ask.

She crossed her arms and stuck out her hip. "Why can't you just follow the law?"

"He's at the door." Jeffrey marched toward the solid metal door and grabbed Ellen's purse on the ground.

"Hey!" Ellen said.

"Ellen! I'm coming!"

Jeffrey ignored both of them and pulled out the pepper spray. He pressed the big blue button to open the door. The door swished open and Dr. Phillian only got one step in before getting a face full of eye burning spray. He flopped around on the floor while Ellen rushed to his side.

"Chuck, are you okay?" Ellen asked, laying her hands on him.

"My eyes. It hurts so bad," he said.

Ellen ran her fingers along his bumpy face and touched his eyes. The pain went away like a toilet being flushed. He gazed up at her, glad to see her alive and well.

Jeffrey saw Dr. Phillian's eyes cleared up and got ready to spray him again. He did not anticipate the doctor's speed, who kicked the can out of his hands from the ground. Dr. Phillian got up and twirled Ellen behind him.

"Run. I'll take care of these two."

"Ellen," Stenson said. "Are you going to explain this or will I have to?"

Dr. Phillian didn't take his eyes off Stenson. "What's he talking about, Ellen?"

"I don't know. Let's just go." Ellen tried pulling on him, but he stayed put. It was the wrong move.

"I never sent you a ransom note." Stenson pointed to Ellen. "My daughter still has a lot to learn about breaking up with someone."

Dr. Phillian froze. "Your daughter?"

"Yeah. I'm not surprised you don't see the resemblance. She got everything from her mother, including her dumb ideas."

Dr. Phillian slowly turned around to face her. She wore a wounded smile, but the betrayal cut deeper. All the lies had piled up and struck him where he was most vulnerable. His heart.

"You–you lied to me..."

"I didn't mean to."

"How can I believe that? You have lied to me constantly."

Jeffrey walked over to Stenson and whispered in his ear. "Should we give them some space?"

"Nope. She made this mess. I want to see how she cleans it up."

Ellen leaned in and placed her hand on Dr. Phillian's cheek. "I promise. No more lies from here on in."

Dr. Phillian moved her hand away. "Is your father telling the truth? About you wanting to break up with me?"

"I did, but I don't want to anymore. You're a good man. Better than anyone else in my life. I couldn't do better than you and I see that now."

"What other lies have you told me that I should know?"

"I don't know. If you have something in mind, just ask. Let me prove I'm serious."

"Did you tell him you're only seventeen?" Stenson asked.

Dr. Phillian looked over his shoulder and then back at her. "You said you were in college."

"I'm taking college classes. It's basically the same thing."

Dr. Phillian grunted and stormed off.

"Wait! I can explain." Ellen chased after him, leaving her heels clicking against the stone floor. Stenson's smile slowly grew until he bursted out laughing. Jeffrey was far less amused.

"Aren't you worried about your teenage daughter dating an older man?"

Stenson slapped his knee and tried to stop his laughter to answer. "She's not dating him any more."

"What if he took advantage of her?"

"I know my daughter. If anything, she took advantage of him. Heck, if she did sleep with him, I could get him thrown in prison for a few years. Could you imagine the kind of damage I could accomplish without him interfering?"

"You are a terrible dad."

"Well, she is a terrible daughter. Maybe one day we'll figure it out. Until then, go send someone to check out his place. If we can find any evidence, we will want to use it," Stenson said and whirled around to watch his daughter frantically chase after her former lover like a deer on ice. "She runs just like her mother."