The atmosphere outside the Baxter Building was stifling, the press of cameras and microphones feeling more like a firing squad than a news conference. Reed stood at the podium, his silhouette thin and brittle against the mid day sun. He looked less like the smartest man alive and more like a ghost haunted by its own survival.

"Sue... Susan is..." His voice, usually so steady and clinical, cracked like dry earth.

He didn't explain the containment breach or the cascading failure of the atmospheric stabilizers. He couldn't. The words died in his throat, replaced by a raw, hollow silence. Before the reporters could shout their questions, Ben’s heavy hand landed on Reed’s shoulder, guiding his trembling frame back into the lobby.

The doors hissed shut, cutting off the roar of the world, but the silence inside was worse. You were standing there, right by the elevator, your shadow stretching across the polished floor. You looked so much like her in that light, the same tilt of the head, the same eyes, and for a second, Reed’s face twisted in an expression that was terrifyingly unreadable.

He didn't look at you as he stepped into the elevator. He didn't look at you as the numbers climbed. The air in the elevator felt thin, pressurized by a grief that was rapidly turning into something more volatile.

"Dad," you whispered as the doors opened into the lab, the very room where the smell of ozone and burnt circuits still lingered. "I... I’m so sorry. I just wanted to help, I never thought the experiment would-"

"Stop." The word was a scalpel.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," you choked out, reaching for his arm, desperate for a shred of the comfort he’d always provided. "If I had just stayed back, if I hadn't tried to trigger the-"

"I said stop!" Reed spun around, and for the first time in your life, you saw him truly explode. It wasn't a physical expansion, it was an emotional detonation. "I don’t want to hear it! I don't want your apologies, and I don't want to hear your voice! You think I need a reminder of what happened? You think I need you to narrate the moment I lost her?"

"Reed, easy now," Ben rumbled, stepping forward, his rocky face etched with concern. "The kid’s hurting too, let’s just-"

"She’s gone, Ben!" Reed’s voice rose to a frantic, sharp peak. He turned his burning gaze back to you, his eyes wild. "She spent every ounce of her energy, every drop of her life force, holding this floor together because you couldn't just be content being human! She died shielding a vacuum that shouldn't have existed! She’s dead because she had to save you from your own ego!"

The air left the room. Ben reached out, a hand like a boulder grabbing Reed’s shoulder. "Reed, stop. You don't-"

"I do mean it!" Reed snapped, the grief finally curdling into a toxic, focused blame. He pointed a shaking finger at your chest. "If you hadn't been in that chamber-... if she hadn't been so busy protecting you, she’d be standing right here. It was supposed to be your experiment. Why is it that the only person in this family without powers is the one who came out without a scratch? It should have been you."

The silence that followed was deafening. The words hung in the air like poison gas. Reed’s eyes cleared for a split second, the red fog of rage receding to reveal a sudden, horrific realization of what he’d just leveled at his own child. His hand dropped. His mouth opened to recant, to pull the daggers back out, but the damage was done.