Why So Jaded
Chapter 9
Saturday morning Violet happily got dressed in a gorgeous floral dress that was tea length with a cardigan and beautiful comfortable sandals and did her hair and makeup to reflect a more- sweet, non threatening and likable look as she could, before she went to the florist to pick up the flower arrangements she had ordered for Beth, Tammy and Lisa and had ordered them to look like centerpieces because surely every woman enjoyed getting flowers and was happy when they came out looking and more importantly smelling- divine.
Then she went to the bakery, The Merry Cherry, to pick up the cake and the cupcakes, because Buddy and her had decided, especially since everyone was bringing their kids that they should make the cake tempting enough to encourage the kids to eat all of their dinner, so they got a galaxy cake and galaxy cupcakes which did look really awesome. Then she went to Chocolacier- a boutique chocolatier that was right around the corner from the Merry Cherry, to pick up her huge case of chocolate covered strawberries and four big cases of chocolates, one for each family to take home with them and the last one for Buddy and his guests to enjoy after dinner.
She had spent the night before with Jack who helped her get little gift bags together for all the kids at Party City, a party supply place which went with the galaxy theme because it was gender neutral and age appropriate for all the kids involved and Jack had been invaluable in making sure each child would recieve something special, yet age appropraite and more importantly - super cool, before she made another stop across the street from Chocolacier, to Linster Rivera which was a very high end delicatessen and charcuterie bodega to get all the charcuterie elements because she was bound and determined to have a proper cheese and charcuterie board and even bought a huge authentic charcuterie board and a set of cheese knives because she had already gotten some cheeses and crackers at the liquor store's market but she needed more to round everything out along with some last minute items before she drove into SEB to deliver everything.
Buddy frowned when he heard a thudding at his apartment door before he came and opened the door to see a pile of things so tall, he couldn't see Violet's head and knew she must have been "knocking" with the toe of her sandal but the flowers covering her head were breathtaking.
"Hi," came Violet's muffled greeting from behind the pile of things as her head had been nestled in the bouquet itself as everything else was precariously stacked within her arms, threatening to overflow them.
"Oh my goodness, here, let me help with that." Buddy laughed as he took as much from her as he could manage but nearly dropped what he was carrying when he saw her. She was so beautiful. She was always beautiful but today, she was extra gorgeous and disarmingly bewitching that had him swooning, it was like seeing her for the first time all over again as the butterflies once again fluttered almost thunderously within his belly and his heart skipped a beat or two.
"Have you ever heard of taking two trips?" Buddy teased with a chuckle as he did his best to be as unaffected by her as he could and felt he was failing miserably.
"Well that's the thing, I have another load down there, probably two or three." Violet answered honestly as she organized what was left and avoided his gaze as she did her best to stamp down her own bashfulness as her cheeks flushed rose.
"Load of what?" Buddy asked as he tried to think of what else she could have possibly brought that he hadn't prepared for.
"Well, I got Jack off the bus yesterday and he asked about today and I told him about it and he suggested that we make gift bags for the kids and since we got a galaxy cake we got galaxy themed gift bags and stuff because they're age neutral and gender neutral and would be inclusive for everyone. And so we went to Party City and we kind of went a little nuts and then it snowballed from there. So I have gift bags for all the kids, and the baby." Violet confessed because she had also drug Jack to Target to get together some things for Beth's baby- Roman, and Buddy's heart melted that she was being so thoughtful and doubted Jack would really do such a thing and figured she was using her little brother as an excuse to do something nice and inclusive for the kids. Which was incredibly sweet.
"Aww, you didn't have to, it's just a dinner, not really a party. Very sweet of you to think of them though." Buddy noted as he put his own stack on his kitchen island and started to unpack what she had gotten, impressed when he saw all the deli stuff as his stomach reminded him it was going to be lunch time soon.
"Yeah Jack, with his silver tongue, justified it as a mini SEB public relations stunt and I have extras just in case any of the kids end up bringing a friend or two." Violet explained with a chuckle which got Buddy to grin, as he reconsidered his previous thought about Jack but also knew that Violet wasn't one to be talked into something she didn't want to do.
"So yeah, I have a big tub with gift bags in the back of my SUV." Violet informed him bashfully and Buddy could tell she was nervous and anxious and obviously trying so hard to gain approval.
"Well let me help you unload the rest of it." Buddy insisted as he slipped his own shoes on real quick as Buddy went with her to her SUV in the parking garage.
"How are the spider's in here?" Buddy asked in a whisper as they walked side by side in tandem.
"Not nearly as bad, just watching, not listening." Violet answered.
"Well let me know when their webs aren't in the way." Buddy said before Violet suddenly pulled them to be between huge SUV's and Buddy didn't even ask, he just pulled her into a tight hug and smiled sadly when she hugged him back just as tightly.
"Are you nervous?" Buddy murmured.
"I know I have no reason to be." Violet answered with a defeated sigh.
"Do you by any chance feel the need to overcompensate?" Buddy guessed gently.
"I still feel like I'm intruding and I gotta make up for that." Violet confessed.
"You're not intruding. You're just as invited as everyone else. They're all cool with you coming. They were excited about it actually. Keith most of all, which is kinda creepy with how enthusiastic he was." Buddy teased and smiled when he felt her smile into his chest.
"And even if they don't like you, I can always get new friends." Buddy offered which got Violet to snort a laugh.
"That's ridiculous." Violet murmured as she finally seemed to relax in his arms though as Buddy smiled happily when she finally did.
"Yeah but I like you better than I do them." Buddy reassured her.
"You shouldn't though." Violet argued softly as Buddy felt her shoulder's sag which got him to frown.
"Yeah, but I do, it's too late to go back now, besides it's going to be ok. It's just a group of friends hanging out. That's all it is and the moment they come into my place, you won't have to be Ms. Parr for the rest of the day, all you need to be and should be is Violet. And that's more than enough." Buddy reassured her.
"Ok." Violet finally caved as she nuzzled her face into the crux of his neck and shoulder before she got a call which caused them to part reluctantly.
"Hey," Violet answered when she saw the caller ID.
"Hey, what time is your thing today?" Violet's mom Helen called.
"Uh, kind of an all day thing, but it technically starts at five, why? What do you need?" Violet asked.
"Could you get Jack, he spent the night at his friend Jaxon's house and he was supposed to be spending the weekend with them and your Dad and I are already out of town on business and Dash is at Ashley's or Amy's or I forget which girl he's going out with now, but Jaxon's parents have plans tonight at someone else's house and they don't want to be rude to that host by having Jack tag along, so could you pick him up?" Helen asked hopefully as Violet scrunched up her face which Buddy thought was beyond adorable.
"Yup, I got him, I'll give him a call." Violet agreed.
"Thanks Honey, Jack will give you the address." Helen answered.
"You're welcome, have fun and be safe, bye Mom." Violet bit her mom.
"You too Sweetie bye." Helen thanked her.
"Well, it seems Jack needs me to go get him. I'm sorry, I really wanted to stay and help out more." Violet began to apologize.
"Well if it's not too weird, Jack could just hang out with us, he's more than welcome to and he can stay the rest of the day if he wanted to too, it's not like he's going to be the only kid around here." Buddy generously offered.
"Really? You don't mind?" Violet asked.
"Not one bit, as long as he's ok with it." Buddy answered before Violet reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek sweetly.
"Thank you." Violet thanked him before she got back on her phone and called her brother.
"Hey Vi," Jack greeted.
"Hey, so here's the deal, Mom and Dad are already out of town, and Dash is still screwing his way through a model catalog…" Violet began before Buddy snorted a laugh before he quickly covered his mouth with his hand so he wouldn't make any more noise as he and Violet shared a meaningful look.
"And I'm still here at work but I'm helping set up for the thing tonight, now my host has offered for you to just hang out with us…" Violet began.
"Yes! I'm ready now, you can pick me up now." Jack eagerly insisted.
"Oh, ok then, text me the address. I'll be there as soon as I can." Violet replied before she hung up.
"Hey, by any chance, did you ever have any other nicknames besides Buddy or Bud, because Bartholomew is a mouthful?" Violet asked Buddy thoughtfully.
"Yeah, why? Were you looking for one?" Buddy asked curiously.
"Yeah, because you have the distinction between Violet and Ms. Par and Invisigirl, I was hoping you had another distinction between Mr. Pine." Violet explained as she self consciously put her hair behind her ears.
"Uh, well, Tali called me Tully, so that's out." Buddy realized as his brain was spinning into a tizzy at the possible implications of what this could mean for them.
"Uh, otherwise, I've been called any number of things…" Buddy tried to think of something to give her but was coming up with a blank.
"What about Barret?" Violet suggested hopefully and Buddy was ready to go down to the courthouse to change his legal name to that because the way she said it was making the butterflies flutter again, like they usually did whenever she was around but now they were about to become a hurricane in his stomach.
"Barret totally works, honestly I could just answer to 'hey you' if you wanted." Buddy answered as he tried not to giggle. Because Violet having her very own private nickname just for him? Sign him up.
"Well, cause I've been thinking about this since Wednesday, and it would be a nice way to cut through all the Ms. Parr, Mr. Pine stuff with, but wouldn't set Phillip off, like a pet name but I guess, not a pet name?" Violet carefully worded as her cheeks flushed cherry and Buddy was about to squeal in delight. She wanted an intimate pet name for him without tipping off the sensors or anyone else. So she did feel the same way! Oh how sweet the vindication and validation.
"Yeah, Barret totally works, Barret and Violet, Violet and Barret. Winning combination." Buddy blathered off, trying to keep his excitement to a reasonable level.
"Thank you. Will your friends look at me crazy if I call you that in front of them though?" Violet posed.
"They shouldn't care honestly." Buddy shook his head no with a shrug.
"Ok, well help me with the tub and then I'll go get Jack before he tries to portal here." Violet urged before she turned and nearly ran into the SUV on the side of her which made them both erupt into laughter.
"Wow, so smooth." Violet chided herself as she led the way to her SUV and popped the back hatch to reveal a big clear plastic tub full of gift bags, with all the kid's names on the tags and yet even more things as she grabbed the big case of chocolate covered strawberries and the remaining flower arrangements before they walked back into the building as Violet made sure he was squared away in his 'gilded cage' before she left to go pick up Jack.
Violet was barely parked in front of the house before Jack came running out of the house and practically lept into her SUV with his backpack.
"Let's go, let's go!" Jack insisted.
"What is going on?" Violet asked as she waived to Jaxon's mother before she pulled out of the driveway.
"We don't have much time. Step on it." Jack insisted.
"Much time for what?" Violet asked as she got back on the road.
"Are the spiders awake?" Jack asked.
"No, they're sleeping." Violet answered.
"Ok, so I was up really late last night and I think I have a breakthrough on Phillip. But I need a lab and hopefully Mr. Pine's genius will do the rest." Jack explained.
"You...Do you mean to tell me- that Jaxon's parent's really don't have other plans that they couldn't drag you along with? And that you literally called Mom and Dad to pick you up, knowing they were out of town and Dash is busy so that left me to get you so that I could watch you myself because you wanted to get one on one time with my asset?!" Violet demanded angrily.
"Yeah, look, you told me that you told him about Phillip's powers and the fact that he picked up on the fact that Phillip has them, and he was cool about it and he's been really awesome about everything. If he likes you as much as you make him sound like he does, that gives him- opportunity, motive and availability, the magic trio to work miracles. Because I have a really bad feeling we are running out of time. Like I want this done before you leave for Hong Kong, Tokyo at the latest." Jack insisted.
"You...manipulator!" Violet growled as she threw her phone at him before he let it phase through him and her phone hit the passenger door.
"You said that he said that he'd do anything for you right? Let him prove it." Jack pleaded as he got her phone and handed it back to her.
"God damn it Jack, I also told you I could be reading in between the lines and going out on a limb there." Violet groaned.
"Yeah, I doubt it, come on, plus you know Phillip agreed that the moment anyone from your family is on SEB property that he'd promise to turn off all the cameras and listening devices. This way we get most of the day without Big Brother watching us and listening to us the whole time. Look Edna and I have been hitting our heads against a brick wall here and we're out of ideas. And with the pictures that came up when you went to Vegas, Phillip isn't making it hard for anyone to guess what his intentions with you are. And if we can't find a way to stop him- you'll be trapped as Mrs. Sebastian for life, however long or short that would be. You're already miserable being his handler. I can't imagine how awful you would feel being his wife."
"Jack this isn't your problem to solve." Violet answered.
"Well your way of handling it isn't working, it's just making it worse. If you told Mom and Dad half of what you've told me, then you know Dad would beat Phillip into a pulp but we both know Phillip would plant a suicide seed in his head before the first punch could be thrown. Same thing with Mom, that's why you haven't told anyone but me." Jack explained and Violet couldn't argue with that.
"But you said it yourself that whatever Buddy puts his hands on- he improves. Let him put his hands and his brain on this and the worst that can happen is he can't come up with something. The best that can happen is he solves this. We just need to give him a starting point. Give him what we've come up with so far and have him do his genius thing. He's already been solving your medical stuff and you said you trusted him. So trust him, take the leap of faith Vi." Jack pleaded.
"How am I going to explain to Phillip that you and Barret are working on a way to expose the very powers that he has killed -who knows how many- for even talking about?" Violet asked.
"Ooh, Barret, so he did go for the pet name that is so not a pet name." Jack grinned cheekily.
"He did," Violet confided.
"Well that and Barret is a good way to talk about him to Mom and Dad and get them to like him before they meet him face to face and freak out that you're hot for the guy who tried to kill the family a decade ago." Jack said with a shrug.
"Who said I'm ever going to let them meet?" Violet asked.
"As soon as you're free from Phillip and you can hook up with him and go steady for a while." Jack answered like it was the most obvious answer.
"Yeah, every day I'm little less and less certain that's ever going to be a possibility and you're almost making me regret ever telling you about any of this." Violet confessed.
"You'll be thanking me once this works, now call Phillip so he can turn off the cameras." Jack prodded.
Violet begrudgingly called Phillip and told him that she needed to watch Jack and take him back to Mr. Pine's floor because she was assisting Mr. Pine with the party which he agreed that the moment that Jack showed up on the cameras, they would all be shut off to protect Jack's secrecy and privacy and they would remain that way until Jack went home. Even to the lab because he knew how Jack had a fondness for science equipment and Jack practically yelled into the phone that he had a science project that he wanted Mr. Pine's assistance with which Phillip agreed to as well.
"Perfect." Jack beamed when Violet got off the phone.
"You're lucky he still thinks he has to charm you."
"And you're lucky I'm immune so far." Jack responded.
"It just sucks that Dash isn't." Violet grumbled.
"You really think he has a suicide seed planted in his head?" Jack asked worriedly.
"At this point, I assume everyone within a 500 foot radius has it, hell make it a thousand feet including and especially me, and especially Barret." Violet confessed before Jack reached over and held her hand.
"Well then we have to find a way to find it." Jack comforted her as she squeezed his hand back.
True to Phillip's word, Violet could feel all the camera's shut off and the listening devices get disabled as soon as Jack was seen by the cameras.
Meanwhile Buddy anxiously tried to get lunch prepared, he had to charm Jack. It was clear that Violet favored Jack and was especially close to him, more than anyone so if by a longshot, he could make a good impression with Jack, despite the history, maybe he stood a chance and just as he was getting things together, Jack burst into his apartment with a very irritated looking Violet behind him.
"Hey, Violet said I could call you Barret, you know I'm Jack, we got Phillip to put the spiders to sleep while I'm here, we need to get in the lab, we only got about six hours before your other company comes and we need your help." Jack said quickly as he practically bounded up to Buddy eagerly.
"Help with what?" Buddy asked as he was completely but pleasantly surprised by this development.
"Help to expose Phillip as a Super, and save everyone who has to be around him, especially Violet." Jack said as Buddy looked from Jack to Violet who seemed defeated and resigned as she leaned against the counter in the kitchen and looked apologetically from Jack to Buddy.
"Who else have you talked to about this?" Buddy asked them.
"Everyone else we can trust. Violet told me she trusts you. At least look at it." Jack pleaded as he held up a case that had all the data in it.
"Please? Because I'm out of ideas and options and so is he and everyone else." Violet finally spoke and the heartbreak in her voice was heart rendering.
"Violet? I really hate to do this to you, but, if you'll finish cooking lunch, and follow this recipe, that'll give me a head start on.." Buddy immediately decided.
"Let me clear your lab first." Violet smiled in relief before the three of them went into Buddy's lab and Violet pulled up the two computers side by side and started to put in two separate codes with each hand on two separate keyboards as she closed her eyes and focused on her finger movements, coordinating both hands to do separate things before she got two spare key cards and put them into the programmer and then went into The Agency's database and brought up all the research she had been able to do in the last year and brought up everything every other agent had discovered in their post before the keycards finished programing before she handed one to Buddy and one to Jack.
"Ok, so the key cards are a shortcut to this project and they should disable all other eyes and ears when working on them and this way all three of us can work on this together and Jack I trust you'll let Edna use yours when you're not using it, all of this is encrypted, and if Phillip ever gets to see any of this, he'll assume I'm working on someone named Dragon Eye who is actually a real guy in China who does have similar powers but he's not nearly as dangerous as all this makes him to be, all the intel is on Phillip, but Phillip has clearance at The Agency and we had to make something he wouldn't notice or suspect. Here's how far I've gotten, Jack, your turn." Violet offered before she left the lab and Jack immediately plugged in all the flash drives he kept for this into the computer as Buddy focused on reading all the could as quickly as he could.
"My sister really likes you." Jack murmured to Buddy as he keyed in his own passwords to get to the contents of the drives.
"She shouldn't." Buddy blurted before he fully let what Jack said sunk into his consciousness. Holy shit, Violet really liked him?! Yes!
"But she does. Violet doesn't trust people as far as she can kick them. She's been doing the wrong kind of Super work for way too long and it's changed her, but not for the better. She has no faith in people, much less humanity. She's incredibly jaded and guarded. So for you to get through all that- says a lot about you." Jack noted as he pulled up everything for Buddy to see.
"All I've been doing is just being myself." Buddy muttered.
"And that's all you needed to do. Violet has every reason to believe everyone she knows is in danger and can be used as leverage against her and despite everything that's happened to her and everything else she's done- she's still a good person. And she will sacrifice herself to save others."
"Even when those others aren't worth saving." Buddy finished as he carefully looked at everything.
"If she deems someone worthy of being saved, then they're lucky to have her view them as such. And it means that they should respond in kind." Jack insisted.
"This is true." Buddy had to admit.
"I like you." Jack grinned at Buddy as he watched Buddy get to work.
"Why? You don't even know me." Buddy frowned.
"Violet does, and that's more than enough for anyone, even me. And don't worry about everyone else, they'll come around. Just keep having her back and do everything you can with helping us with this. It'll work out, I got a good feeling about it." Jack advised.
"There, now that's everything." Jack said once he was finished and once Buddy read over everything, his spark lit up like lightning again before he started to link things together, like taking two halves of a sweater and finally threading and knitting them together on both ends to make a whole and complete work as Jack simply sat back and watched on with proud excitement just as Violet came in with two big bowls of chicken carbonara Buddy had started as she handed the first to Jack and then simply placed the second one into Buddy's hands since he was preoccupied and already jumping down the rabbit hole.
"Thanks Vi." Buddy answered a little bit distractedly as he blindly reached for the fork before he started to feed himself before Violet leaned over and kissed his cheek sweetly which did give him pause as his head skipped a beat or two.
"Thanks Barret." Violet couldn't help but coo before she left as Jack did his best to pretend he didn't see it.
"You-you're welcome." Buddy replied before Violet retreated as she left and got her own lunch and before Buddy knew it he had already dived right in again with renewed vigor and enthusiasm and Violet was grateful Buddy had written down a 'to do' list on when to start what and already had all his recipes pulled up and Violet happily picked up where he left off while she happily danced away in the kitchen once she synced up her phone with the kitchen sound system so Buddy could focus on her own problem as Jack seemed to float back and forth between the two.
"How's he doing?" Violet asked Jack as she put two of the dishes into one of the ovens while the main course braised in the other.
"Oh he hasn't barely come up for air, I've had to hand him- like two water bottles and a brain superfood bar so far. He's dove in head first and he's threading everything all together and making a proper spider web. It's awesome. He's even redesigning your suit. Because we've narrowed it down on which particular bandwidths that Phillip is "broadcasting" off. Like a radio tower. So the suit, as long as it can cover your head, can, in theory- protect you and he has already designed like a dozen more features that Edna would be drooling if she saw them and every other Super is going to want their own set of them. It's working perfectly." Jack informed her proudly as he got into the fridge to see what Buddy had in the way of afternoon snacks.
"I can see what you see in him. For once you have really good taste in men." Jack teased before Violet mused his hair.
"You keep that quiet." Violet urged.
"He's actually a really good guy though. And he clearly cares about you enough to take all this on with just a single 'please' from you and if I had to bet, he's clearly way beyond head over heels for you. And I think you're in just as much danger of being the future Mrs. Pine that you are being Mrs. Sebastian." Jack hinted with a scheming grin.
"My love life is also not a problem to be solved, much less by you." Violet tried to argue but the little excited grin that she immediately tried to swipe off her face was pretty telling to Jack especially.
"I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing. You'd two be a cute couple. Whereas in the other one you'd be a hostage." Jack shrugged as he found a string cheese and started to eat that for a snack before dinner which Violet had been doing so well at following the directions Buddy had left for himself.
"That's true." Violet admitted- as she got a blackberry yogurt from Buddy's fridge and ate that as a snack herself.
"And the moment you pop out a kid, and give Mom and Dad a legitimate grandbaby they will be all on board." Jack reminded her.
"What about the two they already have?" Violet argued, referring to Dash's kids.
"They're from two different baby mama's and he's not even with either one of them right now and he's probably on his way to making a third as we speak." Jack retorted as Violet did nod in agreement to that as she did her best to hide her own guilty expression.
"Maybe after Barret solves this, he can tackle a way to put a permanent condom on Dash." Violet muttered sarcastically.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea." Jack offered.
"No it wouldn't be." Violet agreed as she wrapped her arm around Jack and gave him a side hug.
"Do you really think Barret can do it?" Violet asked softly.
"I do. He's working like over a dozen angles simultaneously and is using his entire lab to work on all of it. He really is a genius. Like a savant level of genius. Almost makes me wonder if he's actually a Super himself." Jack answered.
"He probably is a low grade one, but one that there isn't a test for yet." Violet mused. "Either that or one hell of a gifted normal." Violet shrugged.
"Either way, good brother in law material." Jack muttered.
"That's if we can survive Phillip's best efforts." Violet murmured with a grimace before she could stop herself.
"Well Barret gave Phillip the blueprint about how to come clean with you and how to move his relationship with you from asset and handler to genuine and legitimate and Phillip has yet to take him up on it or follow any of it. All Buddy is doing is following his own blueprint and it's working out for him. That and your chemistry is pretty good if one kiss on the cheek from you sent him into a mini tizzy, I can't imagine what he'd do if you actually kissed him- kissed him." Jack teased and cackled when Violet smacked him upside the head.
"Get back in that lab before I hurt you." Violet ordered.
"Ok, ok, I'm gone, one more string cheese and a Coke." Jack said before he grabbed the can and another snack before he retreated into the lab again as Violet set everything up for the company and artfully arranged all the snacks on trays. Making not just a cheese and charcuterie board but also a tray for the remaining cheeses and fruits and nuts and of course the chocolate covered strawberries and even wrapped the cases of chocolates and made sure to fill the cards out for each of the families before putting the snack trays back into the fridge and even made an extra dish for the dinner because Buddy had the ingredients and did her best to keep her dress clean with the help of the apron but was all too happy and comfortable to be barefoot in the kitchen and out of her heeled sandals as she continued to dance around the kitchen, listening to her music and feeling right at home for some reason. Violet even had time to take a leisurely break and watch some TV as she waited for everything to finish cooking in the ovens before she set the ovens to be warm for most of the food so it wouldn't overcook while the main course finished braising and arranged all the bottles of wine and beers before it was time for her to go greet her guests if they decided they would be coming early.
"Hey guys, we got about 25 minutes before our company should be coming. So try to wrap up what you can and just set things to process for a while." Violet reminded them.
"Ok." Jack agreed from his spot at one of the pieces of equipment from the other side of the lab.
"Yeah." Buddy answered but Violet could tell by that tone that he was still super distracted with what he was working on before she simply shook her head and walked across the lab and purposefully sat in Buddy's lap and placed her arm around his shoulders as the touch completely yanked him out of his hyper-focus.
"Wha- huh?" Buddy asked as he suddenly realized she was not only next to him but obviously in his lap and the serene but expectant look she gave him as she simply reached up and gently threaded her fingers through his hair and grinned when he seemed to melt at her touch.
"Did you hear what I just told you?" Violet asked sweetly but thoughtfully.
"Uh...something about the time?" Buddy asked before he noticed what time it was.
"Oh shit, the dinner…" Buddy realized.
"Nope, I took care of it. I just followed the to do list you left yourself and followed the recipes you had pulled up on the tablet in your kitchen. It's all done, it's all ready to go. The main course still has about thirty minutes left, but everything else is done. All the snacks and cold appetizers are in the fridge, already on the trays, all you have to do is pull them out of the fridge and set them on the breakfast bar. I'm just letting you know, you now have about 23 minutes before your guests arrive. So that gives you 15 minutes to wrap things up and set things to continue processing while we socialize. Can you handle that?" Violet reassured him in one of her more calming, soothing tones and Buddy was ready to propose to her in that instant as he readily held her steadily in his lap and was ready to break at least one chair if it meant she'd have nowhere to sit but his lap for the evening.
"Yep, I can do that."
"Good, give me your phone so I can set an alarm, just in case and then I'll go down and see if anyone ends up being early. Ok?" Violet posed before Buddy freely handed her his phone as she put an alarm that would sound in 15 minutes.
"Thank you Barret, see you in a bit." Violet thanked him and gave his temple a quick kiss she offered before she got up and sauntered away and left as Buddy was hopeless but to watch her leave. God was he falling hard and fast for her.
"Someone's gonna be Mrs. Pine." Jack teased in a sing-song tone from across the lab once the door was closed behind Violet.
"Shh! Don't jinx it Man." Buddy shushed him.
"Violet didn't have any aversions to it when I said something about it to her earlier." Jack added.
"Wait what?" Buddy pressed as he nearly fell out of his chair as he leaned as far back as he could so he could see Jack clearly from across the lab.
"Look, with Phillip, she's a hostage, with you she's happy and more like her old self before she did so many missions as a spy. It's just an observation." Jack answered as he put his hands up in defeat.
"Really? She's happy with me?" Buddy pressed.
"You really need to ask that? I thought you were a genius?" Jack teased with a shit eating grin.
"Yeah with computers I am, to women and most social situations, not really no." Buddy confessed.
"None of us can have it all Man." Jack shrugged. "Come on, we only have like 12 minutes left." Jack reminded him before they went back to work trying to get as many processes starting as they could before they ran out of time.
Meanwhile Violet waited anxiously at SEB's entrance, having brought the tub of gifts down and set them up on a table on the other side of security so she could hand them to the kids once they came through the metal detectors before Greg and Tammy and their kids came in and Violet put on a bright, welcoming smile.
"Well hello guys! Welcome to SEB Industries. I'm Miss Violet Parr, acting head of security. And I'll need all of you to come through the metal detector and then I just have some really quick paperwork for you." Violet said sweetly as Greg's little boy Alex, who was 4 smiled brightly at her.
"Hi!" He greeted.
"Hello, what's your name Handsome?" Violet cooed as she turned to him from the other side of security.
"Alex!" He greeted.,
"Well come on through Alex," Violet invited as she waived him through before his parents followed him through security as Violet got their paperwork in order.
"Ok, so in exchange for the cameras to be turned off so we're not in a complete fish bowl, I need both of you to sign these. And while you're reading these over and signing them. I have these for Evan, Alex and even Kaely, I didn't know if they would be jealous that you guys got to sign paperwork and they didn't. So I wrote up something they could "sign" too." Violet informed them as she showed Greg and Tammy the "contracts" she had written that basically had big check marks next to the things she thought would be appropriate for each kid. Kaely's paper just had pictures with check marks on. Which Tammy and Greg thought was super cute and agreed to let her show their kids as Evan took his "contract" and snorted a laugh but agreed and signed it while Kaely happily sat on the floor and did the same with hers, choosing to scribble on the pictures while Violet helped Alex with his.
"Ok Alex, while your mommy and daddy are signing their paperwork, you have the most important paperwork. Let me read it to you. Objective number 1, so think of this like your mission, should you choose to accept it- is you will have fun while you're here. Do you agree?" She posed.
"Yes." Alex eagerly answered.
"Awesome, so put a check mark right here." Violet directed as she handed him a pen which he happily did.
"Ok, now, objective number two, you will eat all your dinner so that you can have dessert? Which there is an awesome cake up there, it's super yummy. Do you agree?" Violet posed.
"Yes." Alex giggled as he checked that off.
"Number three, most important, there are other kids coming tonight and a limited number of toys, so that means that you have to share what's up there and do your best to get along, do you agree?" Violet posed.
"Yes." Alex answered as he checked that.
"Ok, now all you gotta do is sign your name, which if you don't know how to write your name, you can totally just scribble it in." Violet reassured him before Alex scribbled excitedly.
"Now we gotta stamp this, can you stamp it for me?" Violet asked as she handed him the "Approved" stamp and had him stamp it which he did, like five times before Violet could get the stamp back with a laugh.
"Super duper approved! Awesome. Ok, so now we put the stamp back and we give this to your parents so they can keep it." Violet urged as Alex took the paper and eagerly showed his parents who had just gotten done with their own paperwork as Violet traded and made sure that they had initialed, signed and dated it before she did the same and stamped the paperwork herself quickly before she directed them to the gift table to pick up the kids' gift bags along with the family's gift case of chocolates to take home which the wives all eagerly took and held onto as the others came and she repeated the process, all the parents thinking it was super adorable that Violet would include the kids and be as awesome with them as she was and Greg, Kieth and Scott along with their wives were happy to see this soft side of Violet and the kids were super happy about the gift bags and had already looked through them a little and had found all kinds of goodies.
"Ok, is everyone here and accounted for?" Violet asked as she did a head count and double checked her paperwork to make sure she had everyone.
"Awesome, well follow me guys," Violet said as she led the way to the freight elevator that would be big enough for all of them before they all squeezed in and Violet hit the floors with her passkey that she had on a lanyard on her neck.
"So how come he doesn't have an actual floor on the elevator?" Evan asked.
"Oh it's a safety precaution. SEB is not immune to corporate espionage and the last thing we need is for Mr. Pine to be subjected to any while he's here with us since all the projects he works on are all the intellectually property of SEB." Violet answered politely.
"But I thought that's what you were here for?" Scott posed.
"I'm only one person. I can't fight off everything and everyone." Violet shrugged before they came to the floor and Violet led the way to Buddy's apartment and walked in to see Buddy thankfully in the kitchen, putting out the trays of appetizers on the breakfast bar like Violet had suggested.
"Hey guys! Thanks for coming, take your shoes off, stay a while." Buddy warmly invited as he came over and did the handshake hug thing with everyone as the kids eagerly went over to where the cake was set up to look at it in awe as they realized it was a galaxy cake as Violet simply slipped away to change out of her dress and into more casual attire before she seemed to reappear just as the adults were gathering around the breakfast bar to dig into the snacks provided before Jack came out of Buddy's lab.
"Well hi." Greg greeted Jack as he looked from Jack to Buddy curiously.
"Hi," Jack replied before he soon took refuge next to his sister.
"Is this your son?" Greg asked Violet but he was struck by how ginger Jack was, almost like he could be Violet and Buddy's son if they ever got to have kids.
"No, I'm her little brother, Jack, nice to meet you." Jack immediately countered.
"My parents are out of town for the weekend so I'm staying with Violet and Barret agreed to help me with a school project." Jack informed them casually as all the adults blinked in surprise as they looked from Jack to Buddy excitedly.
"What's the school project about?" Tammy, Greg's wife asked.
"Radio waves." Jack answered.
"Oh, cool, well if there was anyone to help you with that, it would be Bud." Tammy nodded as she looked at him and tried to think of where she had seen him before Tammy's son Evan came around his mom to grab another handful of snacks himself, mostly a handful of blueberries and another chocolate covered strawberry.
"Hey! I know you! You play at Millwood Park a lot." Evan noted to Jack.
"Yeah!" Jack beamed in excitement because low and behold, he had a friend at this shindig after all before he happily left Violet's side to go over to Evan before the two went back with the rest of the kids to play among themselves in Buddy's living room while Jack happily got to have his own gift bag from among the extras.
"Wow Bud you really went all out." Beth, Keith's wife noted as she appreciated the spread.
"Actually, this is all Violet's doing. Jack and I went down a rabbit hole for his school project so Violet is the one that put this all together. Didn't she do a great job?" Buddy proudly answered as he marveled at these snack trays and happily started putting a little bit of everything together and marveling at the amazing quality of it all, being immensely proud of Violet for putting all this together and saving his bacon to speak.
Almost like a real couple should.
"Well I wouldn't have done half as good if you hadn't left a pretty good plan to follow, I just followed your 'to-do' list that had all the instructions on what and when to start all the elements. It was a piece of cake because of that." Violet returned with a little shrug but her pleased grin shamed the sun at the praise, being ever so happy he pleased with it.
"Well now that you mention it, yes it's obvious you did it because there's no way he would have thought to include flower arrangements or half of these snack trays and look at that cake and those cupcakes, and this wine selection is flawless, I mean come on, all this does scream feminine touch." Lisa praised as she gestured to everything as she even noticed Buddy's table was set up beautifully too before they dissolved into idle chit chat before the oven beeped which signaled that dinner was ready before all the adults got a place around the table and all the kids got to sit around a second table that Violet had set up for them as everyone seemed to grab a dish and put it on the table before Buddy said grace and all the mothers got their kid's plates ready and squared away before all the adults dug into what was left and even Buddy was pleasantly surprised to see Violet's added dish and thought it complemented the meal perfectly and he was ever so grateful that Violet had just picked up where he left off so he could do the same for her and they had done it flawlessly together and with him sitting at the head of the table and her sitting to his immediate right, he was all too pleased about this and thought she fit in flawlessly, if anything she was the integral part to all of this and with the way they were kind of smooshed around the table, his knee was happy to rest against hers.
"So, where are you from Violet?" Beth asked.
"Uh, well my parents are originally from here but then they moved around a lot when I was little but when I was 14 we settled here back here in Metroville and my family has been here ever since." Violet answered.
"Oh, so you're just a hometown girl who's made it big then?" Beth surmised.
"Well, yeah, I guess you could say that." Violet mused.
"Where did you go to college at? I mean I assume you've been to collage if you're head of security." Beth furthered.
"Actually I didn't go to collage, although I did have internships." Violet said simply.
"Oh that's nice, how did you manage that was the application process hard?" Beth guessed as all the guys looked a little worriedly from Violet to Buddy who looked tense who kept looking from them to Violet to gauge her reactions at being poked and prodded.
"It was really a case of who I knew and developing the right skill set." Violet tried to explain delicately.
"But what about you guys, since you brought up college, where did you go?" Violet returned, trying to keep the focus off of herself which Buddy and Violet were grateful for which worked for a little while before the conversation came right back around to her.
And then when they learned that Violet was "single" then all the girls seemed to try to make Buddy out to be this amazing catch of a guy. Which Violet thought was adorable because Buddy was getting a little flustered by it but when her hand went under the table to gently squeeze his knee, that had him relax a little and then to hold his hand under the table had him relaxing even more and taking it all in stride.
Then once dinner was eaten and the cake was cut and all the kids eagerly taking a cupcake before Violet put on a movie for them, the adults happily cleared the table and moved the snack trays to the table so they could sit and continue to snack as Violet opened Buddy's case of chocolates to enjoy with them as Buddy eagerly and happily went through the case of chocolates to find his favorites as his friends gently poked and prodded Violet some more to try to get to know her better which was an easier feat with Violet happily drinking her favorite wine and with Buddy's hand and hers both seemed to be drawn together under the table and before Violet knew it she was happily holding his hand under the table since they were still kitty corner to each other as they ate and drank happily with their free hand and Buddy was so unbelievably proud of Violet for staying Violet and it really was- for a few blissful hours- just a group of adults hanging out for a dinner.
It wasn't until after the second movie that Violet put on for the kids, that the group heard the tell tail signs of little ones snoring as they had all snuggled up together on the couch with a couch throw over them and had fallen asleep since it was now almost midnight. But the adults had had too much fun just talking and catching up and getting to know each other better and Violet was very happy when all the women invited her and Jack to their kid's birthday parties and slumber parties and even to out to brunch and stuff which Violet was thrilled to have because she didn't really have any close friends besides other Supers and Tammy, Lisa and Beth were really fun actually as Buddy was grateful that they had eagerly accepted her into the fold.
"I think it's time we better go." Beth encouraged them before they all murmured their agreement and Violet happily, yet sleepily let them out.
"Please be gentle with him. Tali did a number on him when she left him, granted he's changed quite a bit since then, but still. To see how you are with Phillip in the tabloids, I'm worried about how messy that could get." Beth murmured to Violet as Violet carried Beth's daughter Riley out to their van while Beth carried her newborn, Roman on her chest, covered in a thick baby blanket.
"I'm aware," Violet nodded in understanding. "And I'll do my best to do what I can." Violet reassured her.
"Thank you Vi." Beth thanked her.
By the time Violet got back into Buddy's apartment and to see Jack still zonked out on the couch, she wanted nothing more than to just crash as Buddy was loading up the dishwasher and setting the pots and pans to soak in the sink overnight and noticed Violet was beyond tired herself.
"Why don't you stay?" Buddy finally spoke up which caused Violet to turn her head to consider him.
"Oh, no uh, I really should get home." Violet tried to refuse even though the thought of just crashing in Buddy's bed sounded particularly fantastic.
"Vi, it's late and you've been drinking, please, I'll move Jack to my bed and you can sleep in it with him and I'll take the couch. I don't want you to chance you driving like this." Buddy gently argued.
"Ok fine." Violet easily caved before Buddy washed his hands from handling the dirty dishes and then happily came over and picked Jack up and carried him to his own room as Violet happily got her own bag and realized she had actually packed it for staying over which she thought was interesting that she had either consciously or subconsciously done that before she went into Buddy's bathroom to wash the makeup off her face and brush out her hair and braid it so it wouldn't tangle before Buddy simply knocked on the bathroom door and when Violet had opened it, he was holding an old tshirt and held it out to her so she had something to sleep in which Violet happily took.
"Thank you Barret." Violet cooed tiredly as she took and when she emerged, she noticed that Jack had already been tucked into the bed and a set of Buddy's spare set of bedding had been taken out of his closet and when she had peaked into the living room Buddy was taking the pull out bed from his couch and setting up the bed and she was able to walk up behind him and hug him from behind and nuzzled his back with her face, letting his scent settle deep into her lungs and happily welcomed the comfort it brought which gave Buddy pause as he simply hugged her arms in turn.
"You're welcome." Buddy returned.
"Goodnight Barret." Violet murmured.
"Good night Vi." Buddy replied before he felt her pull away and retreat as he looked over his shoulder to see her go and blushed when he noticed she wasn't wearing pajama pants or shorts or anything and took a moment to appreciate her amazing legs even though she was drowning in his shirt- just enough to be super adorable before she disappeared down the hallway to his bedroom before he finished making the bed and just as he was about to get into it , he heard a beeping sound in his lab which woke him up fully and got him to go into the lab to see what processes had finished before he once again happily plunged himself down the rabbit hole.
An hour and a half later, Violet woke up, having to go to the bathroom and decided to check up on Buddy before she noticed that the lights were still on and his bed was untouched which made her frown before she went around the apartment and turned the lights off before she opened the door to the lab to see Buddy still working on stuff.
"Barret?" Violet called out sleepily which got him to jump before he turned to her and was relieved it was only her.
"Hey, you should be in bed." Buddy softly encouraged her.
"So should you," Violet returned as she walked up to him.
"Sorry, I got caught up in…" Buddy gestured to what was in front of him which got Violet to hum and nod sleepily before she straddled his lap in his chair before she laid down on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders.
"You got two minutes to set things to process overnight, then you're getting in bed." Violet warned.
"But…" Buddy tried to argue but once Violet lifted her head and fixed him with a look, that even though she was beyond tired, still conveyed the seriousness of her request.
"Do it or I will use my secret weapon on you." Violet threatened and Buddy was both scared yet intrigued to see what exactly she would do before he simply reached around her and did as she asked before she let her head rest on his shoulder once again and for the last minute it took him to get everything squared away, his heart was hammering, wondering if she was noticing it was taking longer than she told him to take and once he was done , he blew out a breath of relief.
"Ok, I'm done." Buddy informed her.
"Good, come on, bed." Violet insisted and got up but pulled him after her and got the lights to the lab on her way out before she led him to the pull out bed and practically pushed him into the bed before she got into the bed with him and pulled his head to rest in her chest as he readily gathered her into his arms and when she started petting his head , her fingertips lazily scratching his scalp as her other arm softly and comfortingly smoothed over his back.
"Is this your secret weapon?" Buddy asked, his words muffled by his own t-shirt she was wearing.
"Yup, works on babies and grown men alike." Violet answered, refusing to open her eyes and smiled softly in the darkness when he felt her relax and in 5 minutes flat, he was out like a light as she stopped her motions and simply wriggled down so she could cuddle with his chest and go to sleep herself.
But that wasn't until Violet heard Buddy murmur something in his sleep.
"Hmm?" Violet hummed in question.
"I love you Violet." Buddy answered, even though he was completely asleep.
"I love you too Barret." Violet murmured back, a pleased, but happy smile on her face as she fell asleep in his arms.