In the company of real heroes, emotion-stricken teammates, and one furious director, Elliot maintained a grave silence.  His first instinct was to say that none of the misfortune which transpired had been his fault, but Kens wasn't exactly blaming the Wards; he placed the fault squarely on Sonar.  And, even if he didn't exact punishment, the young man's fate was severe.  Condemned to exist in a coma to preserve him from the dire ramifications of an unchecked power, he would never again lead the band of super-powered teens.  Even worse, he might never again see the light of day, or the face of a loved one.  It made Elliot feel bad—guilty, even.  How much he liked the kid didn't matter.  He should have done more.  At the very least, he felt less inclined to complain about his own less-than-ideal ability than ever before, even in the solitude of his own company.  To not have a power that meant a lifetime asleep or insane was a blessing taken for granted, he realized.

Elliot did not receive the title of leader, but he hardly wanted it.  Such a position asked far more than he felt he could contribute.  If anything, he felt as though Messiah drew the short end of the stick.  Now she was the inexperienced, unwilling individual responsible for a group of quarrelsome, unreliable teenagers.  Even leaving the meeting, which Elliot might have delighted in any other day, failed to fill him with relief.  The entire ordeal filled in him a sense of dread.  No matter what powers he had, he -and the rest of the Wards- were not invincible, as many young men and women liked to believe.  Some day, maybe as soon as tomorrow, he might run into a meta who might ruin his life just as ruthlessly and effortlessly as the deathly one ruined Collin's.  It was with a bitter face and hands jammed into pockets that Elliot stalked from the conference chamber, bound for the privacy of his own little room.  He intended to while away some time in an online MMO in an effort to immerse himself somewhere far away from this reality's troubles, but with the gloomy cloud that permeated the whole building, he wondered if he could even do that.