Caroline gestured for the Parrs to wait behind another stack of boxes. She then turned and ran towards the door at full tilt, bursting into it, gasping as though she was out of breath. Syndrome was still sitting, staring at the screen saver as though fascinated, but he looked up in surprise as Caroline ran in.

"Baby, what's wrong? Where's Jacob?" He glanced over the monitors and saw the energy in the cells. Cell 19 had no energy at all. "Did they get out?"

Caroline nodded, then flipped on the microphone. "44-19, repeat, we have a 44-19. Code Tan, Code Tan, Code Tan." She snapped off the microphone and looked up at her father. "Dad. You go ahead on to the hangar and get out of here. I'll find Jacob--he's probably in his room--and meet you at the next island."

"Omega," Syndrome told her. "All right, I'll see you then. I'm leaving Bessy May for you two. Hurry--and don't let the Incredibles follow you!"

Caroline saluted. Her father left out one door. She started to go out the other, then paused and beckoned for Jacob and his family to come in.

"Okay, they're leaving. Wait in here a few minutes just to be sure. Then head on down to the hangar and book it."

"Thank you," Bob said gratefully, and meant it. Everyone took a seat. Jacob curled up next to Caroline.

"You guys are close, huh?" Dash said, sitting backwards in a red chair.

"Mmm-hmm," Jacob nodded. "She's my big sister. Sort of."

Violet gave Caroline a warm smile. "Does she take care of you?"

Jacob nodded again. "She makes sure I don't get lost or hurt or anything like that."

"Is she mean?" Dash asked Jacob. "Vi picks on me all the time...OW!" he yelped as she reached over and thumped him across the shoulder. "See what I mean?"

Jacob laughed. "Nope. She's really nice. She teaches me things."

"Like what? Guitar? Banjo? Piano? Painting?"

"She taught me what the difference is between good and bad."

Bob's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? And what does she say that is?"

Caroline recognized the challenge and felt a little hurt, but Jacob thought his father was genuinely curious. "She says that good people don't kill people. They have the physical ability to, but not the mental one. They can't consciously kill people. Bad people kill other people al the time, just 'cause they want to or because they think that they're in their way. That's not what Da--Syndrome told me, though. He said that bad people only wanted to destroy people from the inside out, and that killing them meant nothing 'cause there are lots of ways of destroying people without killing them and that's what bad people do. Good people care enough about everyone to make sure they get raised in a loving environment, even if they have to kidnap them."

"And which one do you believe?" Bob asked him.

"Caroline," Jacob answered promptly. "'Cause Syndrome was only saying it so I'd think he was good, but he didn't care enough about Caroline to make sure she was always in a loving environment, and she's his real daughter, so I don't believe him. Plus you guys are good and you wouldn't kill anyone."

Bob was impressed in spite of himself. She had raised him with some good moral values. Before he could ask her about her mother, Caroline spoke up.

"I think it's probably about time for you guys to go. Everyone else will have left by now."

"Aren't you coming with us?" Helen asked, surprised.

"No, I don't think so," Caroline said quietly. Jacob frowned at her.

"So, you're going to...what, follow Syndrome's group to their new location? Stay with them?" Bob demanded.

Caroline shook her head. "I never said that. No, I'm not going to follow them."

"Then you're staying here? You plan on living by yourself? Good for you."

"No. I'm not living here either."

"What do you mean?"

Caroline smiled a little sadly in response. She brushed one hand over the keyboard and called up a large grid with red and green bars all over it. "This is a grid of the hanger. Look at it. What do you see?"

"A bunch of blinking dashes," Bob answered, wondering what this had to do with anything.

Caroline turned to his son. "Jacob? What do you see?"

Jacob frowned at the screen. "Well, the red ones are the jets that aren't there, and...there's only one left," he finally said triumphantly, pointing to a green bar. Suddenly, a look of panic crossed his face. "Oh, no. Caroline Austin Pine, you wouldn't."

"Jacob...what else is there for me to do?"

"You can come with us," the little boy said stubbornly. "Right, Dad?"

Caroline shook her head before Bob could say anything. "Jacob, I couldn't."

"Yes, you can," Jacob said stubbornly.

Helen put a hand on Caroline's shoulder before she could protest. "We're more than willing to take you with us. You're family after all."

There was a brief pause. "What do you mean?" Bob asked finally.

Helen slipped one hand into a pocket and pulled out a small wallet. Opening this, she showed them half a photograph, depicting a small girl with very long hair, likely golden, leaning backwards and laughing. She seemed to be holding someone's hand.

Caroline paled. She reached into her pocket and pulled out another half a photograph. This one showed a slightly older girl with shortish brown hair, also leaning back and laughing. The two fit perfectly together, showing the girls holding hands as they spun in a circle.

"That's my mom," Caroline said, looking at the picture Helen was holding.

Violet leaned over the younger girl's shoulder and pointed to Caroline's half of the picture. "That's my mom."

Bob frowned. "You knew Caroline's mother?"

Helen nodded. "Her name was Austin. We were very close as children...Bob, I think you only met her once, and you didn't know she was Austin. You knew her as Irony."

"Oh, yeah, I remember her," Bob mused. He looked at Caroline in surprise. "You're a super?"

"Wind and flame," Caroline answered quietly. She was still trying to absorb the fact that Helen Parr was her mother's best friend. "But...I don't understand...if you were friends why did you say I'm family?"

"Family can't be friends? We were best friends--our family lived in the country when we were younger, so we didn't have a lot of friends--but she was my baby sister. And I use that term loosely--we were only about a year apart."

A shocked silence descended. Now that Bob thought about it, he could vaguely remember meeting Austin once; she had been very little like Helen, although she had the same inner strength and determination--as well as feminist activism--that had first attracted Bob to Helen. Austin had been the intelligent one, but incredibly naïve. Bob wondered where she was now and suspected this was the wrong time to ask.

The radio squawked suddenly, making them all jump. "Okay, I'll try here. Tawny Owl, this is Papa Goose. Come in, Tawny Owl. Over."

Caroline hastily switched on the microphone and waved for the Parrs to be quiet. "Papa Goose, this is Tawny Owl. I read you loud and clear. Over."

"Tawny Owl, this is Papa Goose," the voice, clearly Syndrome's, answered, sounding relieved. "Caroline, why haven't you left yet? I tried raising Bessy May and didn't get an answer. For a while I was afraid those blasted Incredibles had taken the jet and left you behind."

"Papa Goose, this is Tawny Owl. Sorry to have worried you, Dad. I just thought...well, I thought I'd make sure they were actually in the compound before I left. We're getting ready to leave now, I promise. Jacob's right here, he's fine."

There was a slight pause. Then, "Ostrich Chick, this is Papa Goose. Come in, Ostrich Chick."

Jacob rolled his eyes and nudged Caroline out of the way. "Papa Goose, this is--Ostrich Chick. You know I hate that name."

"Would you prefer I called you a penguin?" Syndrome cracked. He sounded relieved as well.

"Nope. I'd rather be a canary. Because this bird is flown."

"Good. Tawny Owl, are the Dodos returned to their nests?"

"Affirmative, Papa Goose."

"Then you can go. And hurry up before they beat you to the hanger."

"Can do, will do, done. See you, Dad." Caroline snapped off the microphone.

"Dodos?" repeated Dash with a snort. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The dodo was flightless, so it means you aren't going anywhere." Caroline hesitated. "And the dodos are extinct."

"Why was your dad so afraid that we'd left you?" Violet wanted to know. "Is it related to the dodo comparison?"

Caroline nodded. "The way the compound is set up, when the last jet leaves the hanger, the whole place will blow up."

Bob suddenly paled. "And you wanted us to leave you behind." It wasn't a question.

"Now you get it. I didn't think anyone would really care enough about me to worry if I died--well, except maybe Joseph, but I didn't know what I could do about that."

Bob stood up abruptly. "I think we'd best leave now."

"I concur," Dash piped up.

"He knows big words!" Violet gasped. Dash boxed her on the shoulder. Jacob laughed. Caroline just shook her head.

Caroline had to authorize the plane's startup, but she needed a copilot. Bob had been planning to do it until he saw the controls; they were made for someone with small, delicate hands. This was explained as soon as Caroline sat down in the pilot's chair, which semed to be made for her.

"Bessy May was my twelfth birthday present," Caroline informed Helen, who slipped into the copilot seat. "Dad built it himself...he's pretty handy with this sort of thing."

"She gets that from him," Jacob called up as he buckled himself in. Suddenly he froze. "Caro, I forgot Sage!"

"Stay put. I'll get him." Caroline unbuckled her own seatbelt. "I'll be back in five minutes." She ran for it. When she returned--exactly five minutes later--she had a white canvass messenger bag over her shoulder. Reaching into it, she pulled out something small and golden brown, then tossed it to Jacob as she returned to the cockpit and put the bag down.

Dash blinked in surprise as his little brother caught the thing. It was a teddy bear--a worn, squat, short-legged bear with a face as though it had been pressed against a brick wall.

Jacob noticed him staring and held out the bear. "This is Sage. Caroline gave him to me for my third birthday."

Dash smiled warmly. "He looks like a great bear."

Jacob grinned.

"What's in the bag?" Helen asked as Caroline began flipping switches.

"Bessy May, this is Tawny Owl. Initiate launch sequence." To Helen, she said, "I threw together a few of mine and Jacob's things--pajamas, toothbrushes, that sort of thing, plus a couple of my favorite books."

"Like what?"

"Watership Down, the Riftwar saga, and two of my photograph albums."

Before Helen could say anything else, the plane began heading for the hangar bay doors. "Welcome, Tawny Owl. Autopilot set and locked. Location Omega."

"What?" yelped Caroline. "Computer, override Autopilot. Authorization Pine C. Charlie Delta two nine."

"Authorization denied. Autopilot must be overwritten by master control."

Caroline put her face in her hands. "Great," she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Helen asked, concerned.

Caroline didn't answer, merely flipped a switch. "Papa Goose, this is Tawny Owl. Come in, Papa Goose. Over."

"Ssssssssssss..." Nothing but static.

Caroline flipped another switch and tried again. "Bravo Omega, this is Tawny Owl. Come in, Bravo Omega. Over."

Finally, a voice crackled on. "Tawny Owl, this is Bravo Omega. Caroline, honey, you made it out!"

BOOM!

While Bob threw his children to the ground and Helen jumped to go back to them, Caroline remained calm. "Yeah, the fireworks just went off. Listen, Dad, did you set the autopilot on Bessy May?"

"Sorry, baby, I forgot. I was afraid you wouldn't know where you were going, since as far as I know you've never been to Omega before."

He had her there. "Sorry, Dad, I was just wondering. How's the base?"

"Incredibly comfortable. We have reports of someone living in a hut on the island, and I've got a squad out looking for whoever it is, but other than that it's fine. See you when you get here, baby."

"Bye, Dad." She turned off the microphone and moved into the cabin, where Bob was craning to look out the window and see what had caused the explosion.

"We're dead," Caroline announced, collapsing into a chair.

Violet did a swift count of the number of people in the cabin. "Who's flying this thing?"

"Autopilot. That's why we're dead. Dad set it for Omega before he left the compound. And I can't override it. We're going to have to go."

Silence descended as the impact of this statement settled in. It was Jacob who spoke up next.

"Well, we've got a bit of a ride ahead of us. We can figure out a plan before we get there."