I don't own The Incredibles, and this is my first fic of that franchise.
Please let me know what you think.
The Act.
Morning sickness was what woke up Helen Parr; she loved the baby growing within her, but she honestly wished the symptoms of pregnancy would not get her down. She wished there was something in human biology - especially those who possessed the Super gene - which helped her soothe the symptoms. Helen got out of bed, being careful not to disturb Bob; if she needed him, she could wake him up later. But for now, all she wanted was to deal with this by herself.
Bob had been working steadily for the last few months, and while she saw him sleep she could see the toll taken on him. Helen sighed, remembering the interview the pair of them done about their lives, and how she'd claimed she didn't want to give up the life of the Super, whereas Bob did.
He wanted to hang up the suit.
He wanted to have a normal job.
Boy, how ironic it was things flipped. Helen didn't have a problem with her new life; it was, in some ways disconcerting to know Elasti-Girl was no more. No more would she spend her time patrolling the streets, looking for criminals or people to save. Elasti-Girl had worked long and hard to become one of the best Supers, next to Mr Incredible himself, the man she had fallen in love with. The thought of it all being over was hard to accept, but Helen was accepting it as were dozens of other Supers. Some of her old friends had settled down by now, but there were quite a few people who refused to let go of the past.
Sadly Bob was one of them.
When she felt the urge to retch, Helen found it hard to resist…
After 10 minutes of `retching in the toilet pan, Helen cleaned herself and she washed the foul taste in her mouth with mouthwash a couple of times before she satisfied the vomit was out of her mouth.
Helen sighed as she walked out of the bathroom, stretching her arm out to turn off the light, and she headed for the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. She needed something to make her sleep while she still could, and while she would likely bring it up later Helen needed something to help her relax. In the kitchen, Helen stretched out her arms and she took the kettle off the heater, filled it with water and turned it on before she grabbed a cup, and then reached for milk and sugar.
Once she the cup in her hand, Helen walked to the sitting room and she sat down on the sofa so she could drink her tea in peace. When she had married Bob, Helen had pictured a long, happy life. She would likely have to give up her Super career to have children, but she had been prepared for that. She had even prepared to juggle her Super career, but what she hadn't expected was for Supers to be banned, all because Bob as Mr Incredible had saved the life of a man who didn't even want to be saved.
As a result, the man had sued them.
Once that happened, it had all begun. Helen had seen countless trends happen over the years, especially the kind where once an accusation was made, many others wanted a piece of the pie. Suddenly civilians left and right was suing Supers, claiming they'd been picked up roughly by super-strength, thrown around without any consideration, or how they were almost smashed to a pulp during a fight between a Super and a villain, stuff like that. But what had surprised Helen within the first two years of her marriage with Bob, was just how willing people were to believe the worst about Supers. And now there was a ban on Supers in general now the Government had enacted the Superhero relocation Program, aimed at forcing the Supers to stick to their secret identities and not to carry on with their lives.
Helen had found it hard to deal with at first, considering how hard she had worked to prove herself, but truthfully she was okay with it all.
Bob, on the other hand…
Helen sighed as she thought of her husband. She loved him, but she wished he would get over the fact his golden age was gone. It was not coming back. It was horrible, yes and she hated it. But there was nothing that he could do about it, not without getting them into trouble. And Helen prayed he didn't; while he was a good man and a wonderful husband, and she loved him implicitly with all of her heart, Helen could not deny how her husband sometimes acted without thinking.
If he made some stupid mistake….
No, she would not go there.
Even if Bob impulsively went out, and made some idiotic mistake, she would not think any worse of her husband. He deserved better than that. In any case… Helen sighed. The act had taken its toll on Bob.
He blamed himself for the act.
He hated how there were dozens of Supers out there, and they could not be themselves anymore. Worse, he blamed himself when he thought how Super children would never be able to practice their powers unless they wished to be punished by the US government. Helen could understand that well enough, and she just hoped it was not as extreme as she thought.
Helen could understand and even agree with Bob to a degree, but truthfully she doubted it was completely his fault. There was a chance
"You okay?"
Helen let out a cry of shock as she jumped up so fast and so high, her legs and arms stretched, but she quickly realised it was Bob.
"Don't do that!" She glared at him.
Bob chuckled despite his obvious fatigue. "Sorry."
Helen softened. "It's okay. Couldn't sleep?"
"I needed to go to the bathroom. I found you weren't there. Are you okay?" Bob asked gently, and he walked over and wrapped an arm around her.
Helen smiled and she pushed herself deeper into his embrace. "I'm fine. I just wanted to have a quick drink before I got back to bed."
She made a conscious decision not to speak to Bob about the Act. It would depress him and it would spoil this moment.