This chapter contains violence.
Buddy cursed at his unfortunate situation. Ordinarily, he would have loved to have an uninvited guest make an attempt on his life, really, he would. However, normal circumstances would have afforded him the benefit of a warning at the very least.
His security droids should have been activated the moment this asshole stepped foot on his property. There should have been non-lethal turrets on him from the courtyard and by this point an electric shock that should have been able to take down a bull elephant on the door handle.
None of this happened, obviously, as his front door was flung halfway down his driveway. No. Buddy 'Syndrome' Pine was denied the luxury of his edge all because Winston fucking Deavor forgot to turn the security settings back on.
"What do you mean you forgot to turn them back on?!" Buddy hissed as he and Winston took shelter in the kitchen, the pair of them trying desperately to go through the protocols to engage the mansion's security systems to active again but it was a lost cause now.
"I mean I forgot!"
"How the hell did you forget something so important?!"
"First thing I saw was the kid and she looked cute and I-"
Winston and Buddy stopped their fumbling and made eye contact with one another.
Lillian!
"Oh geez, we gotta get to her!"
Buddy nodded in agreement looking over the countertop to see where The Ox had placed himself. While Buddy's defense system was down, he always made sure to have something up his sleeve. In this case, it was a bookshelf, a smokescreen dispenser installed in the panels. The smoke was beginning to clear and there wasn't much time before the brute would find them.
"Alright, you heard the man, he just wants me," Buddy muttered as he began to formulate his plan of attack. "I'll distract him while you find Lillian and call Mirage to let her know this is your fault."
"Or, alternative plan: how about you go find Lil' and let Mirage know someone broke in and I'll do my best to calm down the big lug. I'm sure this is just some big misunderstanding!"
"Syndrome, when I find you, I'm going to peel you like a grape!" roared the masked intruder.
Needing no other motivator to do his assigned task, Winston gave a shake of his head before he crawled towards the dining room. Once the man crawled out of view, Buddy got to his feet.
Had it not been for the presence of Lillian, Buddy would have no problem setting the home defense system to kill. The last thing he needed was to prove that he was still more than capable of killing off supers, even if it was in defense.
Taking a page out of Violet's book, Buddy picked up a half-empty mug and hurled it in the direction the intruder was believed to be in. A direct hit as he heard an irritated growl followed by heavy footsteps heading in his direction.
"Hey, ugly, didn't you get the memo? I'm untouchable!" Buddy shouted with his arms wide open.
"No one escapes justice," The Ox said in a chilling tone, but it did little to sway the reformed villain's jovial mood.
"I'll be sure to remember that as you get blacklisted from the NSA and the pay for renovations. I've been wanting to add some more water features to the place."
The hero didn't have the patience to continue the banter, instead, he came barreling into the kitchen, forcing Buddy to flee the scene. Buddy ran for the sliding doors, his zero-point energy worked best in open spaces, less likely to pick up an unwanted item. And the farther he could keep the knock-off Mr. Incredible the better.
He didn't make it to the door. The Ox managed to grab him by the back of his pajama top and brought him back for a wind-up blow. Cursing, Buddy quickly cycled through the watch options and just before The Ox's fist came into contact an instant shield was summoned, protecting him, but the impact still set him into the air.
Buddy was sent careening into the living room, his back hitting the hardwood floor, but his internal organs were protected from that near-deadly blow. Wincing as he sat up. Buddy eyed what was left of the front entrance and made a break for it, only to be seized again, this time by the ankle.
"Shit."
He was flung back to the fireplace, his head narrowly missing the mantle but the blow to the back of his head was still staggering. It was at this point that his brain began to pick up the danger signals that should have been going off the entire time.
He could actually die like this. Killed by some off-brand meathead. In his home. In an outfit he had swore he would not be caught dead in. No longer able to resist his instincts for survival, Buddy prepared to fire the heat laser he had installed that until this point had just been a flashy power tool, but The Ox had already crossed the distance between. Grabbing hold of Buddy's wrist, The Ox began to squeeze.
Buddy screamed out as felt the tech and his wrist being crushed beneath the colossal fist.
"Not so tough without your toys, are you, Syndrome?" The Ox mocked as Buddy's legs began to buckle from the pain. His free hand began the futile effort of pounding into the chest and arm of the powerful being. He didn't hear his attacker's laughter or taunts, nor Winston's shouts from the stairs. He only recognized the sound of his bones and watch being crushed and ground together.
The Ox released Buddy's broken wrist and before the injured man could tend to his wrist the larger man wrapped his hand around Buddy's throat. As he was lifted off the ground Buddy's life started to play out before his eyes. Panic was going out the door and acceptance was knocking but he wasn't ready to go yet.
His left hand, unscathed from the attack, reached out to the mantle to grab anything he could to break out of the hold. His fingers ghosted over a vase and he twitched as he attempted to grab hold before his could-be killer noticed, but The Ox was too consumed by savoring the change of colors in his victim's face as he continued the slow death grip.
As Buddy began to see stars behind his eyes his fingers finally managed to grasp the antique item that was sold to him. In a last-ditch maneuver, Buddy smashed the vase against the side of The Ox's temple as hard as he could. It was a successful blow considering that The Ox dropped him like a bag of potatoes, but if anything at all he had only pissed off his attacker more.
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" the super screamed and Buddy could only scoff at the threat as he caught his breath.
"Oh, wow, what a game-changer," Buddy rasped as he looked at Winston. "Please tell me someone is on the way!"
"An extraction team is on their way. It's going to be a bit- but we've got another problem!"
"Of course it is," Buddy muttered as he focused on the threat again, expecting to see more uninvited guests only to see Lillian standing between him and The Ox. "LILLIAN! GET BACK TO WINSTON NOW!"
"Oh, don't worry, Syndrome. I don't hurt the innocent," the super boasted as he wiped the blood from his face and knelt in front of the child, offering her a smile.
"Hey there sweetheart. How about you go back to your room and play with your dolls? Me and your old man are nearly finished down here," The Ox said as he flashed his eyes to a recovering Buddy.
"He isn't my dad and you're hurting him. Miss Violet said we aren't allowed to hurt Buddy!"
"Well, little lady, this man here has hurt a lot of other people. I just want to make sure that he isn't able to hurt anyone ever again-"
"Miss Violet said no hurting him!" Lillian shouted as she pulled her fist back and threw her whole weight into the punch. Buddy reached out to stop her until he remembered that he hadn't placed a lock on her powers. There was no reason to without Violet around. He watched with awe and horror of the pipsqueak going toe-to-toe with a bonafide super.
The Ox cried out in a mixture of surprise and pain when Lillian struck his nose. His hands immediately went to cover the tender region.
"My nose! I think you broke my nose!"
Buddy wasn't going to waste the chance the kid afforded him. Crouching down, he reached into the mouth of the fireplace and felt along the stone panel to find one of the best weapons to help him in this situation. Pulling out a gun, his Super Tranquilizer to be exact, Buddy aimed it at The Ox and let loose. Two needles would have been enough to put the ogre down but he unloaded the clip for good measure, six shots in total, and The Ox was out in seconds.
Relief flooded Buddy's system, followed by pain with the loss of fresh adrenaline. Collapsing against the wall behind him, Buddy slid down with the gun still in his left hand and eyed his right wrist. Thankfully, none of the glass or metal from his wrist communicator tapped into his main vein, but his wrist was most certainly broken and he was down one very dear and expensive piece of equipment.
His eyes glanced up to Lillian to see if the kid had changed her mind about hurting him but she just stood there in silence watching him as Winston came to his aid.
"This is all my fault! I'm so sorry Bud, what can I do to make it up to you?! Should I call an ambulance?"
"No, but I would appreciate it if you could put security back online until the boys and girls in black show up," Buddy muttered before focusing on him a little more critically. "And I'd also like to know what made you want to leave in such a hurry."
Winston sucked in a breath of uneasiness. Turning to Lillian, he placed a hand into her shoulder and offered a warm smile.
"Hey kid, you did great! I've got one more mission for you if you think you can handle it." She nodded without hesitation and Winston nodded to the kitchen. "I think a glass of water would be really good for Buddy right now, don't you?"
Lillian glanced at Buddy briefly before nodding at Winston's suggestion and headed for the kitchen. Once Winston felt secure that the child was out of earshot, he pulled out the drawing from his blazer pocket again and tapped a finger on the purple planet. "Does this look familiar to you at all?"
"Fuck, is that a joke? That's her favorite thing to draw, so yeah, been seeing it a lot this past week," Buddy grumbled as he debated on if he was going to have his medical droid tend to him first or see if he could find what he did with his last model of supped-up wrist gear.
"Well, I forget where I've seen this before, but I'm sure I've done business with a company with this exact logo."
Buddy blinked at the statement as turned his head to the kitchen where Lillian was on her tiptoes, filling up a glass of water from the sink. Psychology was Violet's department, but from what brief conversations he's had with her on the topic, he was all too aware trauma had a way of being hidden in plain sight.
"Why did you want to keep this insider info, Win?"
"Oh, I don't know, Bud. Let's just chalk it up to whiplash from having an evil twin sister and my former business partner also being no stranger to the bad guy spectrum! If I did business with another evil jerk, I'd like to be the first to know about it and be able to do something about it rather than dead last and look like a fool."
Buddy pursed his lips and said nothing. What could he say? Looking back to Lillian who was on her way back with the water, Buddy nodded to the den.
"Feel free to use my computer, to start investigating or whatever… I'm going down to see how jacked up my wrist is."
"Good call, but I think you should take Lil with you."
"I'm pretty sure she'd rather be with you."
"Ha! She just put her little self on the line for your sorry butt! Though if you're willing to make a bet, I'm game."
"Gladly. What do you want on the table?"
"I get to take you and Violet out on a double date with Mira if I win?"
Buddy's eyes shot open at the stakes and he began to imagine all the things that could go wrong with that scenario. With a second wind of adrenaline and no longer willing to take part in such a risky bet, Buddy turned to meet the child. Plucking the glass from her hand he placed it upon the mantle and focused on her confused face.
"Let's go kid, I gotta grab some things down below," he said, reaching for her hand but hesitated remembering whose power she was currently leaching from, but the child already took hold of his hand with a gentle grip. Looking back to Winston, Buddy knew he had dodged a bullet.
…
Bent over a table, Violet looked over a sea of photographs and she wasn't sure which was worse: Forced to gaze over the ruthless carnage and remains of several families or the fact that she had to do it while locked in her WatchDog suit. The tinted visor wasn't doing her any favors here and the office environment somehow managed to leave her both cold and breaking a sweat.
Hearing the door to the room click open, Violet turned her attention to Mirage who wore a look of concern.
"There's been an incident, you need to come with me."
Violet straightened herself out and moved for the door.
'Is it another family?' came the cold, synthetic voice Buddy had installed into the helmet. Mirage shook her head and checked their immediate surroundings before fixing her olive-green eyes to where she believed Violet's gaze to be.
"We don't know how yet, but Buddy's location was somehow leaked. The Ox, a super from Wisconsin attacked alone. Winston is there and says that Buddy is going to be okay-"
"Is okay, or going to be okay?" Violet quickly snapped back.
"He only said that he's going to be okay. We have a team on their way to the estate now and we've just set up transport that will get you there in roughly six hours, there is a helicopter on the roof-"
That was all Violet needed to hear.
Rushing from the room, Violet made her way to the stairwell that led to the rooftop ignoring the frustrated voice of her superior. She began to frantically reach out to Buddy's communicator but no response or even a signal came back to her. Violet's mind kept playing out the worst-case scenarios in her head.
Why wasn't he responding?!
She should have been there, leaving him alone was a mistake. She knew that he was a target without her nearby, but how was he not even safe at home? She tried the home phone, but she only got a busy signal. Maybe Winston was calling for more backup- or maybe the line was cut down.
Did that super bring backup for the hit?
Forcing the rooftop exit door open, Violet did not slow her pace as she made her way to the helicopter that would likely take her to the nearest airstrip. She should have gotten the itinerary from Mirage. She should have checked in with him earlier. She could call her parents to check in on him, but she still wasn't entirely sure if she could trust her father in the same room as Buddy without her on standby. Would he take advantage of such an opportunity?
All she could do was sit back, dial in, and pray she wasn't going to have to bury another lover.
…
"Sorry I almost hurt you, Mr. Pine."
Buddy turned his attention from the medical droid working on pulling all of the scrap from his wrist and over to the child sitting on the floor with some of his plain white chalk.
"Don't be. You got closer than most other supers before you, I'll tell you that much. And you did help me out just now, so as far as I'm concerned, we're even."
Lillian nodded and turned her eyes to the floor. Believing their conversation was finished, Buddy closed his eyes and tried not to dwell on the fact that each super that lashed out against him progressively got closer to killing him.
He wasn't going to admit that the bovine-inspired hero knocked out upstairs nearly beat the record of having a corvette tossed at him. He also didn't want that information distributed to anyone else either as The Ox wasn't going to remember the attack. As a standard procedure with attacks on him, supers usually ended up in an NSA interrogation room and a quick mindwipe, cleaning the plate of any resentment or regret on their end.
Meanwhile, he got to live with a growing tally of assassination attempts.
"Is it true that you killed people like me?"
Buddy held his breath and hesitated on opening his eyes. He knew he couldn't ignore this question forever.
She's a kid, and kids shouldn't be talking about this sort of stuff. But she was old enough to understand a lie, and unfortunately, she was personally experienced with death. Not to mention she now had a small taste of violence herself.
"I did," he finally admitted, flinching as the medical droid strikes a nerve from pulling out a piece of metal, but it's the last piece and the machine begins to prep for placing a cast on him. "That was a long time ago though, and depending on who you talk to, I'm trying to make up for the damage I caused."
"Are you?"
"Honestly… I'm not sure. I think I'd at least like to try my hand at being something other than a villain."
"Oh. Okay"
The silence was heavy between them, but Buddy was keenly aware that the kid hadn't abandoned her post. He didn't acknowledge her, or at least he tried not to. Maybe if he pretended he fell asleep she'd go back up to Winston, or into one of the training arenas to play by herself.
"My dad told me that you killed people he cared about… said you would try to kill us too, and anybody like us. Are you going to try to kill me, or Miss Violet?"
Buddy turned his head to face the young and powerless super. She was terrified. Why couldn't he hear that in her voice? It was evident in the way she was holding herself, the way that fear clung to her eyes. She had just taken down a super several times her size without much thought behind her strike, and yet here she was, frightened of him.
Why shouldn't she be afraid? He still struck terror and rage into the minds of adults, people who were far more equipped to deal with him even on his worst days. Of course he came off as a threat to her.
"No kid. Quite the opposite actually," he replied, readjusting himself in the chair. "I'm not in the business of hunting down supers anymore, so no… you are safe, as is Vi."
"Then why isn't she here?"
Buddy debated on answering that question truthfully, but the way he saw it the truth wasn't going to hurt her.
"Violet is trying to figure out who attacked your family. She's a real hero, unlike that jerk upstairs," Buddy said with a half-smile but his expression was dulled seeing that the child looked more terrified by the statement.
"Don't do that," she whispered softly and shook her head. "I don't want the spacemen to get her too…"
Buddy stared at the girl with rising suspicion. Shutting the medical droid's order off and quickly fastening a sloppy makeshift splint to his wrist with his left hand and teeth. He turned his entire body towards her.
"Lillian, do you know who attacked your parents? Did you see it happen?"
She stifled but nodded quickly and Buddy left his seat, but instead of rising above the child's small stature, he lowered himself to the floor to stay at her eye level.
"Who was at your house, kid?"
Lillian was on the verge of tears. He wished Violet was here for this. She was so much better at pulling information from people, and here he was about to make the kid clam up for good. She was going to run away, go silent and-
"I was playing hide-and-seek with Marcus," Lily started as she rubbed her eyes. "I don't know who the bad men were but they killed us all."
Buddy sighed heavily. It was just a nightmare then. Not an actual lead.
"No they didn't- you're still here kid, you lived. You're okay and I know that's scary but-"
"NO! They killed us all!" Lily shouted, making Buddy shut his lip tight. She was frustrated with him. That, or it was a miscommunication.
"Tell me how they got everyone then."
"I was playing hide-and-seek with Marcus," she repeated. Her hands were balled up into fists as she tried to summon the right words. "Marcus hated it when I borrowed daddy's powers- said it was cheating."
Buddy understood the situation a little more clearly and he wasn't even sure if he even needed to hear the rest of the story to see the picture she was painting. Her father could make doppelgangers, just like Jack-Jack, but that was Carbon Copy's only power.
"I cheated," Lily whimpered as she continued to rub at her teary eyes. "I was hiding in Daddy's office when they came, but I-"
Her hands went to her chest as she began to sob uncontrollably.
Buddy didn't hesitate to pull the distraught child into a hug. The act was instinctive and Lillian responded by throwing her arms around his neck, crying louder.
"They shot me first- cheater me- I jumped up because I thought that I was going to scare Marcus, but instead it was a man with a gun. It hurt. I remember getting shot and it hurt more than anything! My family came out to help me- but they didn't know it was a fake me. They didn't know!"
Buddy's mind went to the photos in her file. Her family was all in a line in the living room. It wasn't a sloppy execution. It was an attempted rescue. Most supers could survive more than the average attack, but a single bullet to the right spot could stop just about anyone.
"I'm so sorry kid, I really am," Buddy whispered as he held her shaking form to his chest.
"The spaceman who shot me was in a lot of trouble. His friends had used bad words at him, said he shouldn't have shot me."
"Do you remember what they said?"
"They wanted to take me away. Said I was a package," the child responded, confused by the phrase she just spoke but it made him even more alert. She was the primary goal, not her parents.
Why she was a target was pretty obvious to him. The power to replicate the abilities of others could go far. Very far. But why go through the hassle of killing other super families? Were they looking for specific powers and stealing only who or what they wanted? And it was still unclear how the families were targeted in the first place.
Whatever the case, he and everyone in Lillian's corner had the advantage being that the attackers believed that she was dead and not missing.
For now.
He wanted to ask her why she had lied to the agents, why she had kept the truth hidden, but he wasn't going nitpick things now. He was just shocked that she opened up to him of all people.
Turning his attention to the monitors again, Buddy saw the NSA extraction team rolling up the driveway and sighed heavily knowing that it would be a whole ordeal of paperwork and claims to clear this mess up.
More importantly, he needed to change out of these damn Mr. Incredible pajamas before he became the laughing stock of the NSA.
Getting to his feet, Buddy nudged the kid gently forward. "We should head back up, and I don't know about you, but I could use a nap."
Nodding in response, Lillian began to walk from the room as Buddy dragged the medical bot behind him. He never thought he'd go back to those bulky gauntlets of his again, but it was looking more appealing than ever to have that extra layer of protection.
…
It was only mid-afternoon on the west coast by the time that Violet arrived back at the mansion. As exhausted as she was flying through four time zone, she felt like she could beat Dash's record on the mile.
She could have removed her helmet by this point as the final transporter was someone within the most trusted circle of agents, but Violet didn't want anyone to see her tears.
Leaping out from the helicopter before it touched the ground, Violet rushed to the front entrance of their home. The reinforced door was in the driveway and Violet's heart was in her chest as she heard agents talking inside.
She couldn't hear his voice.
Once inside she was ready to tear the place apart but Winston was already standing in front of her with Buddy's corded phone in hand. That explained why she couldn't get through.
"He's upstairs resting with Lil."
Violet swallowed hard at the statement and looked to the staircase. "What room?" she asked in a whisper. If it was their room, it would imply things weren't great. She recalled the time she had put him to bed when made a house call. Was he in a worse state than that?
"Her room," Winston stated. "I'd tell you to pack a bag since this address is compromised, but I know where your priorities are," Winston said as he clasped her shoulder. "Go get'em, kiddo."
Violet needed no other motivator, but she lost all the momentum she carried with her from the capital. Making her way up the stairs and turning to the left at the top, she removed her helmet once she was safely hidden from the agents below. Opening the door to the room that she once viewed as her safe place, Violet was introduced to the sight of a seemingly unharmed Buddy sitting beside a sleeping Lillian.
She wanted to scream. She had been trying to contact him for hours and he was fine! Hardly a scratch on him and… he was okay. That was what mattered, she reminded herself.
Suddenly, Buddy turned his attention to the doorway and Violet nearly dropped her helmet. He offered her a smile, but she didn't take it in. Her eyes were glued to his bruised throat and bloodshot eyes.
Seeing her distress, Buddy quietly managed to slip away from the bed without disturbing Lillian and ushered the woman out of the room.
"Holy shit-"
"I know, but it's not that bad."
"Not that bad?! You look like you were nearly choked to death! And your wrist?! God, I've been trying to get in contact with you all day- no wonder why you didn't pick up," Violet uttered as she gently took hold of the casted-up arm, guilt spreading through her once more. "I should have never left- it was all stuff that could have been sent in a digital file anyway-"
Buddy kissed her quickly. It was meant to silence her, but the grief-struck woman was ready to throw herself into a passion. Her lips planting a little more force than his as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Vi,Vi,Vi,- wait a minute, we need to talk-" Buddy urged between kisses but he was finding it rather difficult to push his lover off with only one functioning wrist. Violet clearly had more composure than he had imagined as she stepped back, giving him the space he needed.
"Lillian was there when her family was murdered."
"What?!" Violet said a little louder, and Buddy found himself placing a finger to her lips as he checked to see if that woke the kid up or caused an agent to overstep their boundaries but the coast was still clear.
"Lily, she was there. Said she was copying her father's powers, made a second copy of herself that was shot up by the intruders. I'm pretty sure she could feel some sliver of that death too by the way she was telling the story."
"Jesus… that's awful. Did she see them? The people who are doing this?"
"Yes and no, she kept calling them spacemen, so no facial recognition by the sounds of it, but Winston does have a lead for us. Those purple planets she's been drawing since she got here? It might be a logo or something on their uniforms or weapons maybe. If that's the case we aren't looking at a lone wolf killer. This is clearly some well-organized and well-funded group, albeit a bit dumb for wearing a calling card, but it gets worse."
"How does this get worse?"
"The kid was able to tune into her clone's dying ears and it's likely that she was meant to be kidnapped. Whoever is doing this isn't just looking to kill supers, they might be stealing some too. But the fact that her family was underground and all..."
"That means someone outside of her family knew about her powers," Violet finished as she set her helmet on an end table. As far as she could recall there wasn't a fourth body at the Thomas house, so either the deceased clone had a shelf life, or the attackers took the body away. "So it could be someone her family trusted maybe? Or maybe she had a slip up in public?"
"Doubtful. My money is on something bigger than her alone. I'd really love to start investigating into this more, but you may have noticed we can't stick around here anymore."
Violet nodded. The Ox was already in a detention center, but the problem wasn't just him. Their location was leaked somehow. No. By someone.
"Is that cabin in the Baltics still on the table?" Violet asked wistfully, recalling his pleas to run away.
"No, Violet… that ship sailed a long time ago," Buddy muttered as he took hold of her hand with his left hand, running his thumb over her gloved fingers. "I'm almost certain we aren't going to have the luxury of picking out our next location. It's either going to be some dank and moldy government bunker or a very public space that a super wouldn't dare touch if they want to keep their reputation clean."
"... So. It's a matter of who puts up a better argument. Winston or Mirage."
Buddy confirmed the speculation with a nod.
Violet sighed and leaned up against the wall, peering around the corner to see Winston still on the phone in a negotiation deal of some sort based on his body language. That explained why Mirage didn't come with her- not that she expected her to give much of a thought about Buddy's wellbeing, but Winston was in the danger zone too.
What the hell was going on between those two?
"Who do you think will win?"
"Oh, Winston for sure and I wish that wasn't the case. The man is going to essentially get us into a fishbowl. Either a penthouse close to DevTech or something in the capital as a compromise to Mirage," Buddy said as he motioned to put his hands into his pockets but stopped when he found he couldn't fit his right hand in with the cast on. If he could resurrect any of the supers he had killed off, he'd happily dish out what money he could for an appointment with Downburst to heal up his damn wrist.
"Whatever the case, it might be best for you to crash at your parent's place with Lillian."
"What did I just say? I'm not leaving you again!"
"I know you like that suit, Parr, but wherever I end up I'm going to have eyes on me all hours of the day. Meaning you're not going to get to break character."
Violet shook her head in disagreement. "If we get placed in D.C. I can get by without the suit easier."
"And what if you get recognized? Hmm? I'll admit, gawky Violet Parr might not have had a shot in hell at being Miss California-"
"HEY!"
"But you're gonna be turning a lot of heads if you're on my arm in the capital," he said as he hooked her arm with his. "Whoever could that mysterious beauty be? Is that a ring on her finger?! Oh, whatever will my fanbase think when the paparazzi catch us together?" he teased as he attempted to kiss her face.
"That's assuming you even get the benefit of daylight," Violet muttered as she reluctantly leaned into his frame and allowed the kisses to hit her. For a moment, she found herself wishing she could enjoy a simple walk down a city block with Buddy. No costumes or death threats. Just a brief return to normal.
Like that was ever going to happen.
"How the hell did anyone even find this place anyway?"
"Isn't that obvious? Someone in the NSA ratted me out."
Violet frowned at the suggestion. "We cleaned house, remember?"
"You know Vi, that's the thing about infestations. Sometimes you miss a roach or two and gotta start the fumigation process all over again," Buddy muttered as footsteps came up the stairs. Violet reached for her helmet again but Winston was already turning the corner.
"Okay, good news folks, I got the okay for a temporary housing situation for you three."
"Please tell me that you didn't announce the address in front of the suits," Buddy pressed.
Shaking his head, Winston rested his elbows into the palms of his hands.
"No sir, I already had my oopsie for the week, thank you very much. Though I'd like to see someone try to break their way into this facility!"
"I managed to get through your business security clearance checks if you recall," Buddy stated and Winston rubbed his hands together.
"Oh come on, you're going to make me ruin the surprise with that kind of talk! Just pack your bags already and let's go! You are not going to want to miss this!"