Once night fell on the west coast, Buddy, Violet, Lily, and Winston all hopped into Buddy's jet, making one short stop at Winston's estate to pick up a few things, and Apple. Lillian had been asleep up until that point, but with the arrival of the lovable pooch, Lillian giggles could be heard nearly the entire flight to the east coast.
Surprisingly, the only thing that couldn't be heard was Winston giving up the secret location they were heading to.
"How is it that you can remember this GPS coordinate, but not a simple security switch?" Buddy muttered from the cockpit seat with a coffee in hand. The aircraft was on autopilot, but he wasn't going to risk falling asleep while in transit, especially given the events of the day.
Sitting in the co-pilot chair, Winston placed his feet up on the dash and his arms behind his head. "I'll admit, that was pretty dumb on my part, but this time tomorrow you'll be thanking me."
"I highly doubt that," Buddy replied before glancing back to where Violet sat. She was out like a light, and he couldn't fault her for a second as this was a round trip across the country for her in less than 24 hours. Turning back to the nose of the aircraft, Buddy cast a side glance to Winston once more.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to spill the beans on what you know about that Saturn company."
"Nope. I'd rather have a proper sit-down presentation for that conversation," Winston said with a yawn. "But if you are looking to pass the time by, I gotta ask; what made little Buddy Pine want to be a superhero?"
"I'm not having this conversation with you."
"Oh come on! Mira gave me the details on your big bad escapade back in the day, but that wasn't fueled on hate alone-"
"Yes, it was."
"That plan of yours, while very, very, evil, came from an innocent place I think," Winston prodded with a smile.
"Winston, you do realize that I killed people to fulfill that goal, right?"
"I do, which is why I brought up that it was evil. But seriously, what made you run around after Mr. Incredible in the first place?"
Buddy bit his tongue as he devised how he was going to repay Mirage for giving such private details to her new beau. Setting his cup down into a holder, Buddy cracked his neck and rubbed at his eyelids.
"What kid didn't want to be a super?" he deflected, but Winston chuckled back.
"Well, I didn't know any kids that made super suits and chased after their favorite heroes at every opportunity," Winton chirped and Buddy swore he was going to have an aneurysm as he imagined Winston and Mirage in bed, laughing at his expense.
That was it. He was going to kill Mirage. He was going to murder her in cold blood the next time he saw her.
"You know what I think?"
"I think you should stop."
"I think that you just really wanted to prove you could do good things."
Buddy didn't acknowledge the statement. But he didn't deny it either. His motivations as a kid were fueled by good intentions. He wanted to help people, he wanted to stop bad guys, but ultimately his main goal was to prove that he could do good.
Instead, he paved a narrow path to hell with the bodies of his former heroes.
"And I know that you haven't been given a fair shot so far, but I'm willing to bet that bright-eyed kid is still waiting to have his shot," Winston said softly.
Placing his hands on the steering wheel, Buddy gripped the leather handles with all his might, ignoring the flare of pain from his broken wrist. He had been optimistic about collaborating with the NSA initially. He really had been. But that died pretty quickly. By his fifth submission, he had felt enough rejection to stop going out on a limb with tech to help the supers and instead stuck to troubleshooting other inventor's shitty gear.
Why did he even expect to be given a chance? He held the record for killing supers outside of the NSA, and he couldn't even be open about that. Even if he did open that can of worms, no one would believe him, and Violet would end up paying the consequences.
"Does your sister appreciate these pep talks of yours?"
"My sister hasn't put in the work to earn these fireside chats," Winston said with a sad smile before looking back out the window and pulled his feet down from the dash. "We're close, you might want to slow up a bit."
"Winston, we are in the middle of the Atlantic and the last town is a good two miles behind us. Where exactly is this sweet little hideaway of yours?"
"I never said it was little," Winston said with a wink as he pulled out a small transponder from his pocket and pressed a button. Ahead of Buddy's aircraft, out in the water, a light ignited and it looked like the sea would part, but what it did was offer a landing pad.
"Winston."
"Yeah, Buddy?"
"How in the hell have you been keeping this a secret from me?"
"Oh gosh, you would not believe the amount of times I nearly broke! And as neat as this is, we are only at the tip of the iceberg here!" Winston said as Buddy parked onto the landing pad which triggered the descent into the ocean opening. "I'm just glad I don't have to keep this a secret anymore!"
Buddy felt like a kid again. As they sank down he had feelings akin to seeing Mr. Incredible in action for the first time, but instead of being in awe with an individual he was silently worshiping humanity and all the technological advances made through science and innovation to make such a piece of architecture possible.
What was he supposed to call this? A seascraper? They were delving into a giant cylinder base located in the ocean. A base that looked like it could easily top his old turf in terms of tech, armed men, and just sheer size.
The further down they went the more he questioned how well he knew the man known as Winston Deavor.
"How?!"
"Oh boy, where do I begin? I guess at the start. It wasn't long after supers got their rights back that the DoD reached out to me on how to best meet the needs of our masked heroes. For a time, it was just casual phone calls and random board meetings at the Pentagon or wherever my presence was requested. But this right here had been in the works for ten years, and it is finally ready for some supers to inhabit. Going to be picking out some people this week actually… and you and WatchDog were already on that list."
Buddy did a double-take at Winston who was grinning from ear to ear before looking back to the windshield that revealed soldiers hard at work.
"You mean that this is like what, a super lair?"
"Lair puts a bit of a darker glint on the place, but that's essentially the idea. Way flashier than the HQ that the Thrilling Three had."
"No kidding," Buddy replied as the aircraft finally landed, some three miles below sea level.
"So? I know we have only just arrived and you don't have all the details, but what do you think? I'm a sucker for first impressions!"
"What do I think?" But repeated back as he considered his answer.
This was a wet dream!
Yeah, he had grown up with The Thrilling Three, but this was going to be a bonafide super base, not some hideout stashed beneath some burger joint or in a suburban basement. An actual government-funded facility to give all the resources a super could ever hope to have.
Christ, he was feeling euphoric just thinking about what systems the supers drafted would get to play with. What he would potentially get to play with. Or create.
"Winston, this has to be the coolest thing I've ever seen."
"It's the worst idea I've ever heard," Violet countered, winning the attention of both of the men.
Violet had awoken just in time to see the base entrance open. She heard all that Winston had to tell this far and saw what she needed from her seat window.
She hated it. She didn't think she had ever hated anything as much as she hated this.
"Oh come on, babe! You gotta admit, this is pretty cool!"
Violet contorted her face into a sneer as she was reminded that he thought a robot destroying their hometown was defined as 'pretty cool' as well.
Seeing the obvious displeasure of his beloved fiance, Buddy released a resigned sigh and eyed the fellow lair enthusiast.
"Win, mind taking the kid and Apple out while I talk to ol' sour patch here?"
Not wanting to stick around for the blowout, or potentially escalate the brewing debate anymore, Winston nodded and made his way to the back of the aircraft. Collecting the half-asleep dog and child, he managed to usher them out with only a single complaint from Apple, who wanted to stick around her previous owners.
"What are you upset about now?" Buddy quickly questioned once the aircraft was sealed up again.
"Are you seriously not seeing how messed up this is?"
"By 'messed up' I assume you mean how absolutely awesome this place is. Like, holy shit, Parr. This joint is a fantasy for anyone who was in a super fan club! Hell, I wish that there was something like this around when I was a kid. Can you imagine the kind of missions supers could collaborate on with this kind of backing? The kind of missions you could be doing with this place at your disposal?!"
"No, I can't. I'm too busy trying to tally up how many school programs have been cut and hospitals were shut down just to pay for the lights in this place," Violet muttered as she tightened her arms over her chest causing Buddy to roll his eyes.
"Christ, here we go again with this- Miss SJW has arrived. Killing all the joy in the room once again!"
"I mean what good is this place going to do for anyone? It's just going to be some super clubhouse that doesn't have direct access to any major city anyway!"
"Well, darling, if you can remember back to this afternoon, Winston said this is going to be temporary lodging for us while the NSA gets its shit together and reigns in the supers who want to kill me. So I think it's already making me feel a little safer, which is a very good thing" Buddy reminded as he stood from his seat and moved down the aisle to meet her. "And so what if this ends up being some clubhouse? I would have thought you of all people would want some form of reparation from the government for overlooking if not ordering the genocide on your kind."
"This isn't reparations! Do you know what this is going to be? At best a waste of money, but most likely a distraction. The media is going to have a field day if this is ever let out."
"I highly doubt that the press will get to walk around in here, this beats Area 51 for sure, and you don't see that place getting news specials."
"If this place isn't going to go public then why is Winston involved? All he does is marketing, of course this place will end up being the talk of the whole world!"
"Well, that should be a win in your book if you hate this place so much because if I knew where I could find multiple supers at once I'd-"
"Kill them," Violet finished bitterly.
Buddy ran his untarnished hand over his forehead in defeat. There was no winning this fight as he just put himself in the hole. Thankfully he had nothing to do with the base, other than being a fan of the concept.
"Fine. It sucks and it's more expensive than it should be. You win. So do you want to tell Winston you'd rather sleep in a tent somewhere or can we at least settle down for a bit and figure out our next move?" he asked as he knife handed towards the door.
Violet turned her glare to the window and ran over the situation again.
What alternative was there? Go and hide out at her parents place? Ask Mirage to put them up in something that wasn't designed to be a prison, or just go AWOL.
With nothing else to say, Violet rose from her seat and placed her helmet on. The location might have been secure, but she really didn't want to fake any smiles.
"Having it underwater is just stupid too," Violet muttered as she passed him.
"There is just no pleasing you, is there?" Buddy responded as he followed her out. Deboarding the aircraft, the pair came into contact with a small squad of soldiers and an impressively tall full bird colonel.
"Buddy, WatchDog, I'd like you to meet Colonel Griffon," Winston started as the colonel raised his hand up to stop Winston from proceeding any further.
"It's alright, Winston, there's no need for secret identities around here. I'm very aware of the company that we are currently keeping," the military officer noted as he broke away from the rest of the group to meet his guests. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Parr. We've already had Little Lillian and the hound escorted to the quarters you'll be staying in. However, before you two retire from your travels, I'd like to take you to the war room and just go over some house rules."
Violet clenched her fists as she heard her surname roll off the tongue of the stranger before her. She recalled a very important moment in her life, a point in time where she was sitting in a cave with her mother and Dash, being handed a mask for the first time in her life.
'Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it,' had been the words her mother used.
Surveying the older man who had dark brown eyes and snow-white hair that was cropped high and tight, Violet instantly decided she did not care for this man and there were very few exceptions of people who managed to reverse that fate.
Before Violet could act on her emotions, Buddy was already pulling her away from the group, eyeing Winston with a questioning glare. Winston, torn between choosing the company of the base commander or that of his friends, Winston gave a strained sound before chasing after pair.
"This isn't right," growled the synthetic voice of WatchDog. "I don't like this place and I definitely don't like him."
Buddy shook his head as he dragged Violet behind him. He wasn't one to put his neck out for anyone, least of all for someone who was already on Violet's shit list, but he wasn't willing to jump right back into his jet after flying all night. Nor did he want to leave the state-of-the-art facility without getting his fill of the place.
"Let's just recharge our batteries and then we can see where Mirage wanted to stick us," he coaxed, knowing they'd be trading in this place for a maximum-security cell deep underground.
"He knows my name, Buddy. Not my other alias, but my actual name!"
"I heard him too, believe it or not."
"This doesn't sit right, why does he know who I am?" she asked before Winston gained on them and she directed her frustration unto him. "Did you tell him who I was? Who I am?"
"What, no! No, he's got access to the NSA database," Winston said making the couple stop in their tracks.
"Are you telling me that Mirage knew about this place too?" Buddy asked and Winston mustered a guilty nod and Buddy groaned.
"Unbelievable. How? How has something this big been kept in the dark for so long?" Buddy asked as he released his hold on Violet and brought both hands to his head. There wasn't even a rumor or a whisper about this when he was still running his nefarious operations.
"Because we have this zone well secured," reported the colonel as approached them again. "Between the navy, air force, and Sea King, we've been able to keep unwanted eyes away from this location from the very start of construction."
"For the love of-... Actually, it makes a lot of sense for that soggy fisherman to know about this place before me," Buddy said in realization as Winston clasped his hand onto his shoulder.
"Doesn't feel good to be the last to know, does it?"
Buddy shook his head and sighed. "At least I saw this before Mr. Incredible, right? Right?"
"You are correct," the colonel responded. "However, the elder Parr boy did get a tour of the facility last month."
Buddy raised an eyebrow at the information, he turned to see Violet's expression, but she kept her helmet on. It was hard to imagine that her expression wasn't far off from the scowl that her canine mask displayed. He reached out to take her hand again but was spun around by the base commander and ushered to the side.
"Truthfully, I had wanted your input on this place the minute I heard you were alive and in NSA custody."
"What?" Buddy studdered, not expecting the blunt confession. Half the time it seemed like the NSA didn't even want him.
"Oh yes, I had even put in multiple appeals to have you transferred to my division," Colonel Griffin swayed as he led Buddy to the side railing that overlooked the vehicle maintenance and parking area. "The powers that be thought you made a much better show pony instead. A crying shame that I couldn't have you building tech for me, because much of this is based on your former home."
"It- it is?" Buddy asked as his eyes shifted to take in the facility again, picking out the similarities. A multi-rail system that spiraled the eye of the building did remind him of Nomanisa's transport system and the use of graphene was evident as well. He couldn't say for sure, Buddy was willing to bet his bottom dollar that the place was powered by an active underwater volcano.
"None of this would have been possible had it not been for your work, Dr. Pine," Colonel Griffin said making Buddy wave a hand in feigned modesty. His PhD in engineering was rarely recognized.
"Please, Colonel, you are too kind! I'm merely a student of those who came before me."
"I beg to differ, Dr. Pine!"
"Well, okay then. Beg." Buddy instructed as he narrowed his gaze on the taller man.
The pair suddenly became locked in an intense staring contest, each of them looking as serious as death itself. One would believe that the pair became fast friends and faster enemies before Colonel Griffin laughed and slapped his hand on Buddy's back. Still sore from the fight he had with The Ox, Buddy remained stoic and laughed as well, blissfully unaware of the rage that was bubbling inside of the woman only feet away.
"Well, I would certainly like to share a drink or two with you, Dr. Pine, but I'm sure you must be tired from your flight here. Tomorrow after chow I would love to give you and Miss Parr, oh, apologies, WatchDog here, a tour of The Eighth Wonder and we can go over the ground rules then."
"The Eighth Wonder, eh? A very fitting name, sir," Buddy blessed with a grin as they made their way together to the elevator. Violet would not have been shocked if Buddy took the man to bed as easily.
The ride up was agonizing for the woman as she was forced to listen to the colonel, Buddy, and Winston all chitter over the glorious can they were currently in. She wondered if the soldiers assigned to bellhop duty were also disgusted with the display, but their expressions were void of any emotion.
The rise up thirteen floors only took a minute, and the walk to their assigned room took less than that but it may as well have been an eternity.
"Lillian is right next door, though your rooms are conjoined from the inside. We made sure to fit the lodging to the needs of any super family that might join our ranks."
"How considerate," Violet grumbled through her mask, making the officer smirk.
"I'll leave you two for the night. It was a pleasure getting to meet you, Dr. Pine, WatchDog," Colonel Griffin finished with a subtle note of jeering that Violet took in with all the salt in the ocean.
Watching as he and Winston made plans to have morning cocktails, Violet didn't move until the elevator doors closed again. Storming into the room, Violet ripped the helmet from her head and was going to let Buddy have it as the silent treatment would have been too good for him here.
"Are you seriously okay with that guy?"
Buddy felt like he had walked right into a screen door with that question. In his own joy, he had forgotten all about Violet's disdain for their sanctuary. And what a sanctuary it was. Buddy certainly preferred the tropical and warm Nomanisan Island over the cold dark ocean, but there was no denying that their underwater lodging oozed luxury.
"He seemed fine to me," Buddy shrugged as he moved to the flat-screen television and picked up the remote to see if the base could even pick up any channels. To his surprise, there were more than 10 channels to choose from. Closer to 50 stations by the looks of it, diverse in programming and languages.
"Would you look at that- I always thought the future would be in space, not at the bottom of the deep blue sea."
"Buddy!"
"Hmm?" he answered back as he continued to flip through the channels. He wasn't even remotely interested in television, but he couldn't help but be impressed by the mundane in this place.
"He knows my name!"
"Well duh. Winston said he's got connections to the NSA."
"And you don't see a problem with the military absorbing responsibilities that belong to the NSA?"
"If anything I'd take it as an improvement," he said with a shrug.
Violet stared at Buddy incredulously. "Are you really that blind, or are you just charmed by a man in a uniform."
Buddy would have resented that comment if he wasn't looking at how utterly pissed Violet was. His past with former military leaders wasn't exactly considered honorable given that his mentor Professor Chalk, best known as Major Metal, was a supervillain.
Rather than groveling to appease Violet's state of rage he grinned wider and shut the tv off.
"Oh my goodness. Are you jealous?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh my god. You are!"
"N-no I'm not!" Violet muttered as she turned her head away and Buddy could practically sing with laughter.
"Oh come on Violet, look at me. I forgot how cute you are when you get mad."
"Please shut up," Violet muttered as she turned to her bag to pull out her sleepwear. With her back turned, Buddy took the opportunity to step behind Violet.
Placing his hands on her hips, he anchored her to him and kissed the top of her ear.
"Come on, babe, you know the only outfit I'm swayed by is your birthday suit," he purred and Violet clicked her tongue.
"Pig."
Buddy smirked feeling the tension lessen and he turned the woman around to kiss her forehead.
"Okay, maybe I let Uncle Sam's minion butter me up just a tad bit, but I'm still in control. Why I bet that when we are on the tour tomorrow I'll find some flaws that turn me back into that nasty tyrant you fell for."
Violet felt her cheeks burn at the statement. She wasn't opposed to his dedication to perfection, but what she actually enjoyed was his enthusiasm. The look of childlike wonder that sparked in his eye when he came up with an invention or figured out a problem.
Or how he looked at his place.
"... Maybe I am a little jealous," Violet begrudgingly admitted as she looked away. "But I still don't like this. And I really don't like him."
Buddy lifted her head with his casted hand to meet her gaze. Her gauge of frustrations wasn't quite at zero, but he didn't mind treading the dangerous waters.
"I know."
"And I think it is a little too coincidental that we got outed as this place is ready to take in residents."
"I'd like to consider it lucky on our part."
"You don't believe in luck."
"True, I don't. But I believe in you, so if you say this place is too good to be true, you say the word and we'll just load up the jet and settle down at a real lair."
Violet could not suppress the building simper as Buddy left a trail of kisses along her neck and jawline. Laughing softly, she took hold of his face and pressed her lips to his and kissed him repeatedly as she turned them around so his back was facing towards the bed.
"You've had a pretty rough day, so I guess I can let you off easy. Just this once," she playfully warned before pushing him to sit down.
Rough was an understatement in his opinion, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when said gift horse was preparing to take him into her mouth.
Buddy watched in anticipation as Violet got on her knees and unbuckled his belt. After eliminating another few barriers she pulled his semi-stiff member out into the open and directly into her mouth.
He kept his hands at his sides. Even if his wrist wasn't broken he'd refrain from forcing himself on her. Tilting his head back, Buddy held his breath as he felt Violet hollow her cheeks. He didn't want to be vulgar knowing it would likely kill the charity act she was giving him, but christ her mouth should be considered the eighth wonder of the world.
His left hand found its way to her crown, he hadn't even noticed the mistake until his fingers were lacing themselves into her hair. The response he got wasn't a snappy statement or a force field to the face but a huff and an increased pace from Violet.
"Fucking hell," he rasped releasing his hold. Leaning back onto his elbows, Buddy bit his lip as he internally lectured himself that he wasn't allowed to finish before she did.
"Violet-"
She turned her eyes up, expecting more to come from the man, but instead of producing words, he put his hands to work.
Cupping her face and lifting it up, Buddy silently coaxed her to stand again. Violet compiled without question and Buddy began to fumble with her tactical gear. This was usually so much easier to deal with, but he wasn't yet used to being impaired.
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath before both of Violet's hands took hold of his cast.
"We need to be quiet. Little ears are sleeping next door," she reminded, placing gentle kisses on each of his fingertips. "Let me do the heavy lifting," she whispered before picking up where he left off.
Buddy waited as Violet stripped herself down to nothing, and then she got to work on what remained on him. Forgetting his place, he kicked off his shoes and the trousers that were already around his ankles before attempting to get to the buttons but was prevented by a force field.
"Viol- ep!" Cut off by her lips, Buddy Relaxed his shoulders, already seeing that he wasn't going to win this battle.
Breaking the kiss, Violet offered a smile that matched her bedroom eyes as she slowly undid the remaining buttons. There was a struggle to pull the rolled-up sleeve over the cast but the ordeal wasn't as frustrating as Buddy had anticipated. It was hard to be upset with her lips marking his skin in the meantime.
His left hand wasn't his best, but he slipped his hand beneath her mound, his fingers brushing over her sex. Not enough pressure to call it pleasure, but it did elicit the response he was looking for. She nearly cried out at the torturous sensation, the only thing that kept her from doing just that was pressing a hand over her mouth as she found herself rolling against his fingers as she climbed onto his lap.
While placing sporadic kisses along Buddy's shoulders, Violet's eyes lingered on the bruises longer than they should have. They had joked that maybe he was a super after all and he was just gifted in having multiple lives.
But like a suicidal cat, one of these days he was going to run out of luck.
Composed enough to remove the palm of her hand from her mouth, she leaned forward to kiss a welt that was darker than the rest, and the tender act caused him to flinch.
"What are you doing?"
"Wishing I could kiss your injuries away," Violet replied as her fingers traced over the fresh bruises on his throat before they made their way down to older scars. The strikes that Dr. Schmerzen left on him, the pale burn wounds from the jet crash. She didn't feel the tears burning in her eyes until he was wiping them off her face.
"I've found it's easier to find something to distract me from the pain than to erase it," he murmured as he brushed her hair out of her face.
They kissed again, a little more desperately than the ones that proceeded the tenderness before.
Violet rested her forehead against his as she repositioned herself over him and slowly sank down his full length. Buddy sucked in his breath as Violet pressed him down onto the mattress again. With his back fully on the soft surface, her hands moved from his shoulders to his chest as she began to roll her hips.
Every now and then, Buddy had to remind himself that he wasn't dreaming, and this was one of those moments for him. Even though he had over a year with the super he still couldn't believe that she was with him and while he prided himself on knowing people, she could still be a complete enigma. Stronger than any metal he had worked with, yet softer than silk. Not ten minutes ago she looked like she was going to tear him apart, but now she was giving him far more love than he may have deserved.
He sat up again to plant his lips upon her breasts, paying particular attention to her rosy and sensitive buds. Again, Violet had to cover her mouth to mute herself in fear of waking someone next door. Buddy was positive that the rooms were soundproofed from one another, but he wasn't going to spoil that fact.
Fuck, she was so cute when she wanted to be quiet.
He thrusted beneath her, a soft squeal breaking out from behind her hand. Letting her recover, Buddy prepped to give another throttle from his hips but Violet raised her hands out, and a sheet of her force field appeared, pinning him gently to the bed.
"That's cheating, Parr," Buddy uttered as Violet returned her gentle motions on top.
"I told you, I'm doing the heavy lifting today," she cooed. "And when are you going to stop calling me that?"
"Never."
She clicked her tongue and squeezed her walls on him which made him groan.
"Vi-"
"That's more like it," she purred as she rode him. Closing her eyes, Violet threw her head back and continued to ride him, increasing her pace.
"VIolet, I, I'm going to come," he rasped. "Let me up."
Violet hadn't reached her peak yet, but she didn't mind terribly if she didn't finish this round knowing that he'd carry the guilt of not getting her into the next round of passion, regardless if that was in a few minutes or a few days. Shaking her head she shifted the force field from a veil and into braces for his wrists. She manipulated the bands and had his hands raised above his head and pinned to the mattress.
She rocked herself harder on him, slipping down close enough to kiss him but kept her face out of his reach.
Buddy cursed her name as he came. When she released him from the hold he was still somewhat immobilized, but his arms eventually wrapped around her form, his fingers running through her sleek raven hair.
Violet smiled, victorious in this battle of the sexes. Her own fingers began to comb through his hair, and she found she was drawing out the copper locks into the flame he had fashioned over a decade ago. Not exactly the same length, but it was close.
"Your hair is getting so long," she said before kissing his cheek.
Brought back to the world, it took a moment for Buddy to process the statement and he met her eyes, though they were still focused on his hair.
"Should I cut it?"
"Mmmm, no. Not unless if you want to."
Buddy nodded as he ran his fingers over her back as he closed his eyes, perfectly content with falling asleep with her weight on him and still tucked inside of her, and that's what he did. He did wake when she pulled away to clean herself off, nor when she managed to get the sheets from underneath him and on top of them.
He couldn't say if it was the beating he got earlier that day, the jetlag in his system, or the sex, but he had never slept better in his life.
…
Buddy wished he could have slept forever, or at least another few hours before he was awoken to the sound of banging on the door.
"Guys?! Guys you two need to wake up right now!" Winston called through the door and Buddy groaned in response as he rolled over.
"If someone else wants to murder me then they need to wait until I get my beauty sleep," Buddy grumbled back as he pulled the sheets over his head.
"GUYS! This is serious!"
Violet hissed something incoherent in her sleep. Sitting up with the sheets pinned to her bare chest, she summoned a force field around the door handle and opened the door from the bed, letting in the frantic man and she collapsed back into her pillow.
"... Why do you hate me Violet?" Buddy asked with his eyes still sealed shut.
"I don't hate you. I just like sleep more right now, and I can't do that with Winston breaking down the door," she mumbled back.
Winston didn't say a word as he scrambled to find the remote. Turning the television on, he flipped to a news station based in D.C which showed Evelyn standing at a podium in front of the NSA.
"While in prison, I've been able to do a lot of soul searching. I've come to terms that what I attempted to do was inexcusable. I was a fear-monger, I took advantage of my brother, broke the trust of many people I would have liked to consider friends but worst of all I have hurt those who have only sought to help others. And for that, I am deeply sorry."
The sound of Evelyn's voice woke Violet right up. She glared at the screen with animosity as she clutched the sheets. To someone who had never met Evelyn, one would believe that the words were genuine, but Violet only heard lies coming through the television stereo.
"It is because of my regret that I stand before you today. I have answered for my crimes and I have learned from them, but there are some people who have not. Some people, who for whatever reason, have been able to hide behind institutions and feel like they can bury the past and not the bodies they left behind."
Violet waited for the ax to fall. Waited to hear how awful it was that Syndrome was allowed to live above the law.
"But I'm here to say that it is time for the National Super Agency to pay!"
"Wait-" Winston whispered as he sat at the edge of the bed.
"Is she serious?" Buddy asked sitting up to take in the press brief.
"For too long, those who have pretended to serve the supers have been able to go by unpunished! I have uncovered encrypted documents that prove without a doubt that the NSA has a history of picking off supers since their founding- a tactic they claimed was done for the protection of everyday people. I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but I would certainly like to know how killing super children made the world a safer place."
Audible gasps could be heard in the crowd, along with the rumble of rage.
In the bedroom, Violet turned invisible and quickly began to dress as Winston and Buddy were both glued to the screen. Their faces wore expressions that could only be equated to horror.
"I- I have to call Mira," Winston whispered as he rose from the bed. He was aware of the darker parts of the NSA, he just didn't have any of the blood on his hands as he got out before the second half of the Super Rectification Act went into effect.
"No- we have to go and get Evelyn. Now," Violet said as she made herself visible again.
"And then what?" Buddy asked not removing his eyes from the screen. "I'm not sure if it's hit you yet Parr, but I'm about to be a man with nowhere to go except…"
Buddy ran his lift hand through his hair, grasping a chunk of it to display his distress. And then Violet remembered his contract with the NSA.
If they didn't have him, death row would.
That was if someone else didn't kill him first.
…
"Dammit!" Mirage cursed as she slammed the remote down in her D.C. office before moving to the window to see Evelyn's back on the steps of the building she was currently damning.
She had been warned that Evelyn would be making a statement this morning outside of the NSA, she had just assumed that Evelyn was going to make a statement against Buddy Pine and herself- because that's what Evelyn's lawyers had sent this morning. A false script.
While they could sue the shit out of Evelyn for false pretenses, the NSA had much bigger problems now. Problems that they likely wouldn't be able to contain all at once.
"I've already sent the files to every major news publication in the country," Evelyn stated into the mics on the podium. "The NSA may try to silence me, but they can't silence the truth! They'll swear that they changed their ways, but that couldn't be farther from the truth! Who is the NSA protecting now?"
"Syndrome!" someone in the crowd shouted and the name was repeated by others.
"And can you believe that his murderous harlot is now in charge of the agency?"
Mirage clenched her fists. Christ. Violet was right. They should have pushed to keep that bitch locked up longer.
Her phone was now ringing off the hook. Every line had either someone underneath her command in a panic or a furious super who had a threat they could actually fulfill.
There was no way out of this. She could only hope that the agency could make it through as nothing was going to be able to distract the public from a bombshell of this size.