Buddy breathed in deep, taking in the scent of Violet. Even with all the excitement yesterday her hair still carried the scent of lavender from the hair wash she all but forced him to buy. He wasn't dreaming, but he wasn't quite awake yet either as his mind looped over what had happened last night.
"Buddy, I love you," Violet said and the words caught him off guard.
It had been a long time since he had heard the English strung together like that but he had never heard it in that context. Mirage wasn't a sentimental lover and he wasn't exactly possessive over her either and the women that he'd pay to be entertained by, well, paying someone to say something just felt pathetic. He didn't have experience with this. These feelings. So he didn't say it back. He knew that was considered rude to a degree but he couldn't speak when every fiber in his body was telling him to carry out the act of that simple word.
It was only the third time that he had the pleasure of Violet. It was a number that he had wished was much higher but he hadn't dared attempt to lure her to bed without her acting on it first. Not just because of the fact that she could kill him with the flick of her wrist if she didn't want him but because even as greedy as he was he valued her consent.
Yeah, even a vindictive, murdering war criminal, super snatching asshole like him had a line. It could get blurred in most arenas, but with intimacy… It was just something he had to keep himself in check with. But he couldn't hold himself back from her when she had said those words.
He had taken her. Over and over again he pulled the love out of her just to return it tenfold. The sex wasn't fueled by the pent up desire like the first time they had a go, and it wasn't done for wanting to feel the warmth of another human being. It was done out of wanting to ingrain her voice saying those three insignificant words and his stupid name into his mind forever.
And she had repeated herself. Both freely and from his pleas to hear them again.
"I love you, Buddy," she had said when she had pulled him into bed. He barely knew the meaning of the 'L' word but damn it all he knew he could learn. He was a quick study and he could learn from her if she was willing to teach it to him.
"I love you, Buddy!" she had cried as he entered her and he kissed her tears away, swearing that he'd never let her shed a tear that wasn't made from passion or joy.
"I love you, Buddy," Violet screamed and Buddy Pine knew that no name he could ever make up for himself would ever compare to the way she made him feel while screaming out those two cursed syllables attached at the end.
He lost count at how many times she had said his name and couldn't say how many times she came. Worst of all however was the fact that in excitement he had lost track of time and his own consciousness as well.
When he opened his eyes again to the sunlight bleeding into the bedroom it was then and only then that he realized the error that he had made. Really it was a team effort here but he knew that he should have known better than to cave in to the woman currently in his grasp. It was a comforting sight to wake to however. Violet curled up in his arms, still sleeping, and it was a relief to see that there weren't any government agents swarming around them ready to end them both, but he knew that they were living on borrowed time.
Leaning closer, he placed a kiss to her forehead and whispered to her to wake up.
She obeyed the demand and she looked around, dazed and asked for the time before looking at the watch that was on his wrist. It wasn't even 8 am, but it may as well have been a minute to midnight on the doomsday clock.
"Finish packing, I'm going to start loading up the jet and collect that name," he whispered before he rolled out of bed. Violet was slow to move but seeing him dress in the clothes that he wore the night before brought her back into the present situation. "Wings go up in a half-hour, earlier if possible" he said before leaving the room.
He grabbed the emergency bag from his closet and nicked a few items from his den before heading for the front door. He checked off in his head all the things that had to be done before they could leave.
Pack the plane. Grab the name of the legislator who fits into the NSA files. Wipe all the servers on the property and set all the self-destruct systems to go. Collect the super and then then go.
It was easy. He was going to get away with it all and then some. He checked his accounts and he had stashed enough wealth to live a modest millionaire's life. The papers hadn't spoken a word about what had happened at DevTech Tower so WatchDog was still a hero, letting him live the fantasy he had since he was a kid and the most recent development was his personal favorite.
He got the girl.
It was something unexpected and frankly somewhat juvenile to think about, he recalled how some of the heroes back in the day would pride themselves most for saving the damsel in distress, some supers would even make it a point to romantically pursue the dames they saved. As a kid he had just wanted to be the one people could depend on, but then he discovered that you really couldn't depend on anyone. But here he was, feeling giddy because he saw what those stupid capes were ranting and raving about.
He got the girl.
Opening the door to the outside world, Buddy Pine felt the warmth of the morning sun sink deep into his skin. He was going to miss the warm weather, but the Europeans spoke fondly about the wonders of Egypt, or he could always vacation on one of the coastal cities located in Africa. He was trying to picture Violet in a two piece swimsuit when something caught his eye.
He turned his head to see Mirage standing in front of a silver SUV. He almost believed he was seeing things until she made her way towards him, her heels clicking with each step she made. That's when it felt more like a nightmare. When she struck his face with a hard slap he wasn't sure how to take the situation. He was too stunned to retaliate, he could only stare at the woman who was formally his right hand as she shook off the stinging sensation from her own hand.
"What are you doing here? H-how did you-"
"I'd ask you the same thing," Mirage quickly interjected, "but I made a deal with someone else, and I think he has more pressing questions than catching up."
Buddy blinked at the statement until he no longer felt the warmth of the sun and was eclipsed in a silhouette that he had studied for years.
"Hello Syndrome."
Violet was dressed back up in the tactical outfit that belonged to WatchDog, the only pieces missing were the pistol that was lost in the fight with her father, an expended smoke canister and the helmet which she had left on the aircraft. Zipping up the bag she stepped out of the room and stopped upon hearing the sound of shattering glass.
Dropping the bag, Violet went invisible to investigate who or what had caused the sound and turning the corner to look down the staircase she saw Buddy laying on the ground with her family crowded around him. In the doorway stood Mirage.
"Now hold up just a second, Parr family," Buddy stuttered as he extended his right hand out. Her father caught that hand and pried the watch off of his wrist and crushing it in his hand.
"That should take care of your robot. Now you are going to tell us what I want to know, Syndrome? If the answer is convincing enough I may let you go back with your ex lover in one piece."
"I think I'd rather deal with you to be honest," Buddy admitted as he tended to his wrist. "What do you want to know?"
"Did you kill Violet?" Elastigirl asked.
"I didn't kill your daughter."
"You're lying," growled Mr. Incredible.
"Who was Sardonic to you?" Dash questioned and Buddy chuckled.
"A perpetual thorn in my side."
"And that's why you killed him with Violet along with him!" The angry father implied.
"I know it's hard to believe but I didn't kill your daughter. Any choice that she makes is her choice alone."
He was giving her an out even now. A choice to make a run for it, or to stay hidden in the shadows. If he wanted to be saved he could have said anything alluding to that but he didn't.
"What was the game with WatchDog?' Mirage asked from the doorway. Buddy laughed heartily and shrugged.
"I got to live out a dream for a little bit. Be a hero and piss off the right folks, clearly."
"It's finished, Syndrome, and so are you," Mr. Incredible growled as he moved closer to Buddy and pulled back his fist.
Buddy flinched, preparing for the devastating if not lethal blow that Mr. Incredible was going to deliver. He was just as shocked as the rest of the room by the deflection made of Bob's fist hitting what looked to be the back of a woman's head but the hand didn't make contact with it.
"You're not a robot," Jack-Jack stated, who was just pointing out the obvious to the rest of the room.
"Yeah and a girl? I thought you were a dude," Dash followed up and it was that moment that Violet revealed her face to them. All of Parr's faces revealed some tint of shock none of them were as glorious as the outrage of her younger brother. "AND YOU'RE MY SISTER?!"
Violet turned her body towards her family and offered a weak smile.
"... Surprise?..."
Buddy sat in the living room with a pair of NSA issued cuffs around his wrists listening in to the screaming match going on in the kitchen between Violet and her parents as he sat across from the real Incrediboys. Both of them stared at him as though they were waiting for permission to tear him apart.
"So. You brainwashed my sister huh?" Dash asked and Buddy shrugged.
"I'm sure some would call it that but it was not my original intention."
"What was?" Jack-of-all-Trades asked and he pondered how to put the answer in a nice enough way that wouldn't get him or Violet in bigger shit.
"Well, technically, I was using her to advance my agenda-"
"World domination?" The youngest Part sibling asked and Buddy shook his head before snubbing his nose.
"Listen kid, if a villain ever tells you they are looking for world domination they are just dumb. Taking over the world is overrated and really not worth the effort."
"What if a villain says they want to destroy humanity?" Jac-Jack followed up.
"Well I-"
"Don't talk to him Jack-Jack, he tried to kidnap you too," Dash quickly snapped and the teen blinked at the news.
"You did?! I don't remember that… Why would you do that Mr. Syndrome?"
"Revenge mostly," Buddy said simply. He'd rather be down below keeping Mirage's double-crossing hands off of his stuff than playing 20 questions with the Parr boys but this game certainly beat being in the same room as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.
"Did you steal Violet for revenge too?"
"That's a mixed bag there, kid."
"Mixed how?" Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.
Buddy clapped his cuffed hands together and brought them to his mouth as a temporary dam. What the hell was he supposed to say? He might be able to fool the still maturing teen super but the young man before him was certainly experienced enough to see past his colorful language. He opened his mouth again when he heard another car pulling in. Doors to a car opened and then came Apple running in, Winston and Rick trailing behind her.
The Parr family had insisted on keeping the NSA at bay for the time being. Before he was to be handed off to the authorities, the Parr parents wanted to do their own investigation first. Mirage allowed the measure mainly because she was after WatchDog, but now that it was revealed that WatchDog was none other than Invisi-girl, things had become a bit more complicated. That reveal led to the invitation of Winston Deavor and Rick Dicker.
Winston remained in the entryway where Rick had wanted to see Violet, but realizing the super was otherwise indisposed by her furious parents he looked for his fellow agent.
"She's down the elevator," Buddy called, winning a death stare from the usually placid entity that was Dicker. Buddy smirked, priding himself in making the man break his composure. "Oh come on now, you really can't be that surprised to see me, right? How long ago was it that you told me to stay out of your way?"
Dicker gave a gruff growl before he made his way towards the elevator to reconnect with the Capitol NSA agent.
Buddy's gaze followed the man until he was out of his line of vision. At that point, he moved his attention to Winston who's expression was less pleasing to see.
The man was hurt. He was angry, but the pained look on his face was overwhelming for Buddy. Rising from his seat, Dash gave him a look of warning as his younger brother was tending to the innocent pup.
"I'm just going to step outside to talk to Winston," Buddy said and Dash shook his head.
"You're just trying to run away," he started folding his arms as he rose to his feet. The middle child of the Parr family grew up to be tall, not as tall as his father, but Buddy had to lift his gaze to meet Dash's eyes.
"You should hope for that, right? You'd have an excuse to knock my lights out," Buddy said in response and The Speedster seemed to like the idea of that.
"I'll be coming for you in ten minutes if you aren't back in that seat," the hero warned before kneeling down beside the rescue dog.
Free of the wrathful gazes of any of the Parr's, Buddy stepped out the front door with Winston Deavor. Looking over his shoulder to try to spy on the kitchen before turning his attention to the professional beside him. He wasn't even able to get a word in when Winston began the emotional barrage.
"Jimmy! How could you do this to me?! Oh my father must be rolling in his grave right now! A freaking super villain?! I went into business with a super villain? James you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"Win, my name isn't James-"
"Oh, so everything about you is a lie then! I suppose next you are going to tell me that Apple's name isn't even Apple!"
"She was Fiona when I picked her up, so yeah, I guess that was a lie too."
"Un-Be-Leave-Able! The shareholders are going to pull out if this gets out, and ooooo my sister is going to be loving this too! Why is it that I always seem to attract the worst people?! You've ruined me James, or, whatever the hell your name is!"
"It's Buddy," he replied while looking down at the pavement and Winston scoffed at the given name.
"You most certainly are not a buddy! You're worse than my sister! You- you actually killed supers! Made me think I was tied to Violet's death, hell I am still liable and complicit to the actions you managed to pull! And worst of all is that while all this stuff was going on you were acting like a real friend to me."
"It was never personal Win-"
"Only my friends get to call me that! And you sir, are. not. my. friend."
Buddy tried to speak when the outrage of could be heard from within the house.
"How could you be working with him, him?!" Bob shouted as he circled the kitchen island.
"Well I told you that I couldn't get out at first, didn't I?!" Violet shouted back at her father from the dining room table. She had told her parents just about everything within reason. The kidnapping, the forced weapons tests, the villain guild members wanting to buy her and him protecting her, the pursuit of weeding out certain parts of the criminal underground. She left out the NSA and her feelings for their sake as well as her own.
"But you are still working with him!"
"And I'm trying to tell you guys that It's complicated!'
Bob didn't acknowledge the comment. Instead, he threw his hands in the air as he paced the wooden floor, trying to decide what he would throw at Syndrome next. Helen however doesn't let the comment go.
"What do you mean by complicated, Violet?" Helen Parr asked, stepping closer to her daughter.
"Don't read into it mom," Violet muttered as she turned her face away. "It's not ideal but we make a pretty good team."
"Violet, you aren't telling us everything… What aren't you saying?" Helen asked while refraining from clenching her teeth together.
Violet was a professional when it came to hiding, but when it came to her mother it was a lost cause. Helen 'Elastigirl' Parr could spot a lie from a mile away.
"It's nothing…." Violet mumbled quietly with her eyes on her hands. Helen's eyes widened.
"Violet. Please tell me you aren't-"
"Wait, mom! You always said I should put myself out there again!" Violet quickly stated as she got to her feet.
"YES! BUT NOT LIKE THIS!"
"Not like what? Someone fill me in!" Bod said from the other side of the kitchen trying to find where Syndrome kept the knives.
"Your daughter is involved with Syndrome."
"MOM!" Violet screamed but her father gave a roll of his eyes and looked back to the ladies in his life.
"Well I already knew that honey," Robert said with a smile. "I'm really glad you got back into the family business, sweetie but was all this really necessary? I mean, you would have a statue on every street corner if you turned Syndrome in-"
"Nobody remembers him, Dad. They only cared about the robot," Violet said, thankful for her father steering the conversation away but Helen wasn't going to let this go.
"No Bob, you aren't listening."
"Yes I am, Violet is working with Syndrome."
"Bob. Your daughter isn't just defending Syndrome or working with him. She is involved with him."
The room went quiet as Violet and Helen watched Robert's masked face configure to the words that his wife just fed him. One could swear that you could hear the gears in Mr. Incredible's head turn before the light bulb went off.
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
Violet cursed and went invisible before her mother could grab her. She ran out for the front door where Syndrome was in conversation with Winston and she dragged him away from the door.
"Ah, Violet? What did you do?" Buddy asked nervously as he saw Mr. Incredible stomp towards them.
"You slept with my daughter?!"
"Oh, yeah, that'll do it," Buddy said, letting Violet guide him onto the lawn.
"You're going to wish you died from that jet crash! I'm going to kill you, Syndrome, and not quickly either!" Mr. Incredible growled and the red headed man felt fear go through his system again, but rather than run he embraced the oncoming death, confident that Violet would shield him from it.
"Actually, I go by Buddy now. You can even ask Violet as she was screaming it just last night," he said with a smug grin as Mr. Incredible lifted his arms above his head, intending on breaking every bone in the villain's body.
Violet brought up a shield as she let herself be seen again as she glared at Buddy who was too busy having a staring contest with her father. "Was that really necessary?" she hissed as her father continued to wail on the near invisible dome surrounding them.
"Probably not, but this is," Buddy smiled as he leaned in closer to her and stole a quick kiss from her lips. Violet didn't return the affection, but she didn't have to. Seeing the lips of the murderous psychopath sent Mr. Incredible's blood over a boiling point.
Violet shifted gears and turned the forcefield around onto her father. Delivering a heated look back to Buddy, Violet nodded to the house.
"Please go hide in your den-"
"Oh no he, he stays here," Helen called as she and Violet's brothers made their way outside. "I'm calling on a family meeting!" The Parr children all collectively groaned, Dash making it the biggest deal of all.
"Why?! We just got Violet back?"
"Because your sister is romantically tangled with a villain," Helen growled, folding her arms and the brothers both gasped before replying with 'gross' in unison.
"You know that me being here for a family meeting implies that I'm part of the family, right?" Buddy asked as he threw a pair of finger guns Bob's way, forgetting that Winston was still on standby.
"Wait, you're dating Violet now?!" Winston shouted from the doorway.
"No!" Robert, Helen and Violet shouted, Buddy on the other hand countered that with a very smug 'yep', earning a vicious glare from the family matriarch.
"Syndrome, you aren't a part of the family, you are in this meeting because you are the problem," Helen stated clearly before looking at Violet. "I don't get what you are doing here, with him?! HIM!? He's a killer- a criminal of the worst kind!"
"That's rich coming from you," Violet stated as she folded her arms, the hold on her father was still intact. "I seem to remember you telling me about a star-crossed romance you had before dad-"
"Hey, this isn't about me, this is about you!"
"Actually I kinda want to hear about this bad guy fling you had, mom," Dash said, taking a glance over to his mother.
"Yeah," Buddy agreed, looking at Bob once again who was back to trying to process what he was hearing again. "It sounds like enjoying bad boys runs in the family."
"Buddy, you aren't helping," Violet urged before looking back to her mother.
"He's too old for you!" Helen pointed out. It was Buddy who averted his gaze now and Helen went on the attack mode. "Like robbing from the cradle, in fact that is exactly what it's like, you kidnapped her!"
"In my defense," Buddy started with raising his cuffed hands, "supers tend to have an average lifespan of 47 years so I'd say that kind of equals out the age gap."
"Mom, am I going to die in my forties?" Jack-Jack asked and Helen placed a comforting hand onto her child's shoulder.
"Sweetie, nothing bad is going to happen to you, stop listening to the bad man," Helen cooed before looking back to Violet and Buddy. "You've got what, 10 years on her and a kill count that's in the triple digits at least?"
"And Xerex had at least a hundred years on you and who knows how many bodies!"
"Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone, Xerex? Like zapping life force out of other supers Xerex?" Buddy asked as he supported his chin on top of his fists as the Parr men focused on Elastigirl again.
"Helen?!"
"Mom?"
"Vi, I told you that in confidence while under the influence of wine," Helen Parr groaned in frustration. She shook her head and brought a hand over her face while trying to come to the next argument point, one that didn't have to do with Syndrome." I want to hear in what scenario you two end up living happily ever after… I want to know how long you two think this will last? Violet, honey, your father and I, we've got history, and we are a united front… That's why it didn't work with Xerex and me. We weren't on the same side, and I'm worried that you'll try to go down the wrong path to keep him in your life."
Buddy was at a loss again. Elastigirl, as usual, was right. They were of different worlds and while running away and going into hiding was his version of walking off into the sunset, Violet wanted more than a provincial life in a snowy cabin. She wasn't vocal about it, but she still looked ready to start tearing the NSA a new one. He had already corrupted her beyond repair.
The field went tense, waiting for someone to have a comeback. But Violet had nothing to fight.
Dropping the force field around her father, Violet quietly retreated back to the house without pulling Buddy along. Everyone watched Violet as she crossed the yard and didn't look away until she was back inside. Once she was gone all eyes were back on Syndrome who was still watching the house until Mr. Incredible's hand grabbed onto his shoulder. Buddy resigned any hope of coming out without a broken bone at the very least.
He flinched, waiting to feel his jaw shatter into a thousand pieces, or for his whole world to go black, but he felt Mr. Incredible's grip release and opening his eyes he saw Violet coming back out, carrying a stack of newspapers. Handing off the dated papers to the members of her family, Violet held up an article from their first villain, The Puppet Master.
"If it's possible for me to go down the wrong path it's equally plausible for him to start walking up the right path," Violet stated before grabbing Buddy by the hand and led him back inside.
Bewildered by it all, Buddy eyed Winston as they walked right by and the executive offered a smile before following them in.
Rick Dicker sat in a chair across from Violet Parr and Buddy 'Syndrome' Pine. It wasn't something that he had believed could happen but here they all were, sitting in Pine's sound proof den. It had been a decade since he had even thought about the name Syndrome, but while the files on him were no longer in existence he still remembered the physical paperwork that had been collected on the bastard posthumously. At least, that's what he had believed. And in Violet's case, well, she was supposed to be dead as well. In his head, he hated the pairing, but given the information he had, the two looked like a perfect match on paper.
"What is the play here, Pine? We both know that you're not doing this vigilante stuff out of the good of your heart," the agent grumbled as a tape recorder sat between them.
"You're right, Dick, I don't do anything for free," Buddy said with a smug grin until Violet gave him a jab to the ribs and the two exchanged warning glances to each other. "I'm the techie of the WatchDog operation as well as the insider. I had the benefit of weeding out the people your agency can't seem to get or chooses to not pursue while I get to raise the prices on my products to clients. I don't have the numbers in front of me but I think since WatchDog came onto the scene I've gained a considerable amount of new clients and revenue. Anyway the cashflow, well, it's high. Really high."
"Uh huh. And I don't suppose you get other benefits out of this too," Rick pressed, ignoring Syndrome's purposeful name error.
"Well pissing off Mr. Incredible is a reward in itself, as well as making the NSA look as sloppy as it is," Buddy replied.
"And you actually believe that you are doing the citizens of this great country a favor by participating in vigilante work?"
Buddy would have been more than happy to answer that question but Violet leaned forward and hit the stop button on the recorder and met the eyes of Dicker.
"Violet, please don't tamper with government equipment."
"I want to know about the SRA," she whispered.
"You lived the Super Relocation Act, there is nothing to tell you that you don't already know," Rick sighed and motioned to start the recorder again but Violet trapped it within a force field and shook her head.
"That isn't the one I meant."
Dicker was notorious for his poker face, especially when it came to the interview process, but with Violet's words he raised his eyebrows and let his jaw fall ever so slightly.
"Nobody is supposed to know about that."
"But you know?" Violet snapped. "You knew that the NSA was snuffing out super kids?!" Violet asked furiously as she got to her feet.
"Yes."
"And you still worked for them?! How?! How did you stay in when they ordered the murders?!"
"Because if I left, who do you think would have protected you kids?" Rick asked without raising his voice. Even in the face of an elite and enraged super, the agent remained calm, cool and collected. "I wasn't happy about it. I'm still not happy about it. But I can't change the past nor could I convince others that it was wrong. I did what I could for your parents and I don't regret that. Not just because of who you and your brothers are or what you have done for the public, but because it's been a privilege to see what fine young people that you've turned into."
The force field that was around the tape recorder was released but Dicker didn't reach for it.
"Violet, as long as we are being transparent here, I need to know if you plan on telling anyone else about the SRA."
Violet shook her head as she sat down again. "No. You can thank Buddy for that."
"I'm not obligated to thank people for doing the responsible thing. What I am obligated to do however is to protect the agency from potential risks. When I was down in Syndrome's lair, Mirage and I saw that the computer system had tracked all the information that could be pulled on a Paul Colton Senior. Does that name mean anything to you?"
Violet shook her head before looking up to Buddy. A moment ago he looked like the cat that ate the canary, but now his expression was more akin to being the canary before it was eaten.
"Buddy, who is that?" Violet asked but Buddy kept his mouth shut.
"For a time, Mr. Colton was the chair for the NSA oversight committee while he was in office as a senator," Rick stated, also observing the worried villain across from him. "While he was in office he drafted both of the SRAs. The one that made your parents go into hiding, and the one that was meant to make sure no new generation of supers would ever reach the age of five. Does that name mean something else to you, Syndrome?"
Buddy nodded slowly.
"His son is a part of the criminal network I was, or still am loosely affiliated with," Buddy said looking down to meet the eyes of Violet briefly before looking back at Rick. "Is he still alive?"
"He is. And he's happily retired now. Living with said son."
"Great, so we can't touch him," Buddy said quickly, and Violet stood up again.
"What are you talking about?! Buddy do you know what this means?! The NSA was ordered by some freaking super villains to kill supers so they could take over! It means that the agency was manipulated and used by the bad guys! We have to take them down now!"
"It also highly implies that there may be agents on the inside that are working both sides of the aisle," Buddy said as he kept his eyes away from the woman, purely focused on the agent in front of him. "That there is no one in the NSA to trust and that we should have gotten the hell out of dodge while we still had the chance."
"You said that we could get this last name! We got it, and we can take down a major criminal syndicate while we are at it too! Two birds, one stone, you like those!"
"Not when the stone is trying to take down an eagle and a vulture on one throw! This won't work, we don't know how deep this goes. We can't attack this without risking everything, don't you get that Violet? It's not just cutting off a finger or amputating a leg to save the body- it's the whole system that is fucked and we can't save it," Buddy snapped at Violet before looking back to possibly the only agent that was trustworthy. "Besides you and Mirage, does anyone else know that you have me right now?"
Rick nodded his head.
"Mirage and I agreed that you're a special case and should be handled within the circle, however there were a few agents who were assigned to investigate your dealings with DevTech. I trust them though."
"No offense, but you didn't even recognize me with a pair of shades on, any one of those guys could be in on this and I'm not waiting around to find out," Buddy said as he looked at Violet and held up his cuffed hands. "They are coming for us Vi, it's going to be pretty obvious to my former associates that I didn't actually lose you soon enough- get me out of these things so we can hide before we disappear for good!"
"We can still win," Violet said before looking at Rick. "If WatchDog brings up this evidence to the FBI, could they detain them? Could the government temporarily shut down the NSA to clear the house of all the insurgents?"
"Violet, please I'm begging you-"
"If you bring in the father and son with the evidence… I believe that could start to turn the ship right again," Rick answered. That was all Violet needed to hear.
"I want immunity for Buddy," Violet stated, surprising both of the men in the room.
"I can't promise you that. He still needs to answer for his crimes, Violet. What I can offer is his safety. We can get him into protective custody in our Westberg facility. Once he's detained and the Colton's are dealt with we can negotiate his fate."
"Or we can just go right now," Buddy pleaded, winning her attention again. "Forget everything else okay, this isn't worth it, Parr."
Violet took hold of Buddy's hands and held them tight. a moment he believed that she would ignore the high road, that she'd break him out and the two could run off like the Bonnie and Clyde couple they played so well, but Bonnie and Clyde didn't make it out alive either. She shook her head at him and he felt his heart plummet even as she kissed his forehead in front of the agent who was determined to see him rot in a jail cell.
"I'm not doing this for anyone else but us, Buddy. We're going to be alright. We can be on the same side, you can be seen for the good that's in you," Violet whispered and he shook his head in disagreement.
"You're killing me Vi."
"No Buddy. I'm trying to save you," Violet replied before releasing his hands and opening the secured door of the den to prepare for the mission that could buy their happy ending.
