A year had passed since the battle against Syndrome that had brought about another stir of heroism. Supers were once again revered as protectors and peace givers, and her family was free to protect the city, as it seemed they were destined to do all along. Their powers were surely gifts to be used with restraint and responsibility any time there was need. Though as a mother of three, she found it difficult to find time to save the world. Her kids needed enough saving.
So Helen Parr usually found herself managing home-life even though they were once again allowed to be superheroes, while her husband Bob did all the world saving. She didn't mind really, her family was more important to her than anything, though she did occasionally get the urge to go out and kick some butt. She still went out when something big happened though.
"Who's the Dash? I'm the Dash!" Dash shouted at the top of his lungs as he streaked through the living room at full speed. Helen has to lunge to the side to avoid her hyper-paced second-born child. Her daughter Violet looked up irritably from her book.
"Violet, hurry up and get going, you're going to be late for school." Helen reminded her daughter as she walked through the house with a little waddling form running along behind her to keep up. Jack-Jack's powers seemed to be growing every day, making him almost as much of a handful as Dash was at that age. Though nothing would ever compare to trying to keep up with a 30 MPH toddler.
"Yeah I'm going." Violet grumped as she slapped her book shut and pushed herself up from the chair. Before she could take a single step Dash raced through the room.
"Lova ya bye mom see ya!" He vanished out the front door.
"Hey, no superpowers at school! I MEAN IT!" Helen screamed after her son, though he was probably too far away to hear by now. Helen sighed and put her hand on her forehead. "That boy is going to be the death of me..."
Violet chuckled and walked up to kiss her mother on the cheek. "See you after school mom."
"Have a good day honey." Helen smiled back. She watched her eldest child leave, then looked down at Jack-Jack's smiling, giggling face near her leg. "You're never going to be blatantly displaying your powers in public, are you?" The baby giggled, as if finding the very thought of self-restraint funny. "I thought so." Helen leaned down and picked up her giggling child.
It was strange, her husband still had a day job, because superheroes were required to have one to cover their identities, but she'd never known him to leave as much as he had been lately. It wasn't much, just an hour or two every few days, but the pattern was still there. He claimed it was for work... but the last time he'd said that was when he was sneaking off to work for that damned woman and her psychopathic boss Syndrome...
She trusted that he wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice though, so she tried to ignore it. After all, aside from being used by some evil mastermind, he could've been... but he wouldn't. He loved his family... she knew that.
So she put it out of her mind for the rest of the day, feeding, changing, and bathing her infant son. It came easy after two other kids, though his powers got very annoying. He kept turning into a living fireball and running from her, threatening to burn the entire house to the ground. But by now she'd started carrying a spray-bottle filled with water around to put out the flames.
Finally she cornered him in the living room. "You are going to take a nap, Jack-Jack. It's way past time." She told him reasonably. "You'll feel so much better."
"Noooooo!" The baby howled up at her, his body beginning to glimmer in the light. Helen grabbed him and pulled... but the kid weighed a ton. His entire body was made of steel.
She could hurl bad guys through the air like so many logs, but she was struggling furiously to lift her third-born child off the carpet. The solid-steel baby just refused to move. "Come on Jack-Jack, you need to take your nap now!" Helen strained, her arms wrapped around the baby like twin lassos but still unable to move him. The baby was yelling back at her, batting at her arms with his two rattles angrily.
"Honey, I'm home!" The booming voice of her husband Bob sounded from the front door.
"Good, come carry your son to his bed." Helen unwrapped her arms from the baby and stood up, stretching her back painfully. "I'm going to need a chiropractor from this one..."
"I love you too honey." Bob walked up and gave her a peck on the lips before bending down to lift the steel baby with ease. "Whoa. You're getting pretty big there. That's my boy." Bob poked the child's stomach, prompting a series of giggles.
"Don't encourage this, I have a hard enough time as it is." Helen said sharply.
"He's just experimenting with his powers." Bob replied calmly as he walked toward the bedroom.
"Well YOU don't have to deal with these experiments. I had to put out three fires today alone!" Helen shouted after him. When he disappeared into their son's room she sighed and put a hand to her forehead. She knew it was best for the boy to learn how to use his powers young, but that didn't make things easier on her. She almost wished she wasn't a Super sometimes. Regular kids weren't nearly so much trouble.
The phone rang, so she made her way over to it and picked it up. "Parr residence, this is Helen."
"Mrs. Parr." The voice of her daughter's school principal said from the other side of the phone. "I'm afraid there's been a bit of an incident with your daughter."
"An incident? What happened? Is she okay?"
"Reports say she's fine. She got in a fight with one of her fellow students and knocked him out, then disappeared. We've searched the campus thoroughly, but we can't find her. We believe she must have left school grounds. Her friend said she looked panicked about something when she ran away from the scene." The principal replied.
"Oh my God..." Helen muttered. "Okay... we'll get someone to help look for her, thank you." Helen hung up as Bob emerged from the back of the house. "Bob, Violet ran away from school an hour ago." Helen said.
"What?" Bob asked worriedly. "We have to go look for her."
"I'll go look, you stay with Jack-Jack." Helen said.
"But, I should be the one to..." Bob began.
"I can move faster than you, I'm going to look." Helen said sternly. Bob nodded quickly.
"Okay... I'll watch Jack-Jack. I'll send Dash out when he gets home too." Bob said.
"Good idea... I'll let you know the second I find her." Helen turned to walk into her room, changing quickly into her red and black superhero suit, donning her black mask last before opening the window and pulling herself up to the roof of the building.
She leapt across to the other side of the street, stretching across and grabbing the edge of the roof with her arms to pull the rest of herself across. She moved quickly across the city this way in the direction of Violet's school. Soon the school hove into view and she dropped down beside the front entrance. Several students turned to watch in surprise as she walked inside and made her way to the Principal's office.
The Principal and a teenage girl both looked up when she entered. "Elastigirl?" The principal exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"A friend asked me to help with the search for Violet." Helen half-lied. "I just came to find out what exactly happened."
"Well, this is our primary witness, Lisa Keenan." The principal gestured to the girl, who smiled weakly up at the superhero.
"Tell me what happened." Helen said.
"Well... I was throwing snowballs around because it's my favorite part of Winter, but I accidentally hit the stupid bully Andrew. He threatened to beat me up for it, but Violet stopped him, so he slapped her across the face." Lisa took a moment to calm down, as her speech had been growing more frantic with each word. "Then she got up and hit him and... and I don't know, it was like she was wearing steel gloves or something. She knocked him out cold... then gave me the strangest look."
"What kind of look?" Helen asked.
"I don't know... it was like she was totally terrified... then she turned and just ran away." Lisa shook her head worriedly. "I hope she's okay..."
"I'll make sure she is." Helen smiled and patted the girls' shoulder. "I'm going to look for her right now, so you don't worry about it."
"Thanks Elastigirl..." Lisa smiled up at her. Helen smiled back, then moved to jump out the principal's window and make her way back into the city. In truth, with Violet's powers, searching for her when she didn't want to be found was completely useless. But there wasn't much else she could do, the tracking devices had been removed from the suits for fear harmful forces could discover the frequency and track them.
"Come on Violet... where are you..." Helen muttered worriedly as she leapt and swung through the city, keeping an eye out for any sign of her precious daughter. She stopped in mid-swinging, grabbing the flagpole she was hanging on to stop herself when she saw a green backpack sitting next to an alley nearby. She flung herself to the alley and knelt down beside the backpack.
It contained all of Violet's schoolbooks and the clothes she'd worn to school that morning. So she was using her powers to hide. But the snow made it difficult to disappear completely, as she could see a set of footprints leading away from the backpack further into the alley.
Helen followed them, but they stopped at a fire escape that extended up to the top of the building. Helen quickly scaled it, skipping over the ladders until she reached the roof and flung herself onto it. She moved out into the center of the roof... and could hear a soft sobbing sound nearby. The footsteps in the otherwise fresh snow led up to a spot on the edge of the building, where a patch of snow had been cleared off of the edge.
"Violet... honey?" Helen said softly, moving toward the ledge. The sobs stopped, and she heard Violet's boots scrape against the ledge. "Wait, I'm not angry... it's okay."
"I didn't mean to..." Violet's shaking voice insisted.
"I know you didn't sweety." Helen replied. "I heard the story from Lisa... it's not your fault."
"I don't even kn... know what happened..." Violet appeared on the ledge, wearing her Invisigirl outfit, which matched the outfits of the rest of her family. "I was just trying to keep him from hitting Lisa, I didn't mean to... I didn't even know I could..."
"Sshhh... come here sweety." Helen said. Violet looked at her, then stepped off the ledge and into her mother's arms. Helen wrapped her up in a tight hug, holding her close. "It's okay, nobody's angry at you... it was just an accident..." She cooed.
"But I revealed... I mean they know..." Violet said.
"No, they don't. They didn't see anything. It's okay. Your secret's still safe." Helen told her. "Now come home with me, tell us exactly what happened, and I'll make you something warm to drink, okay?" She ran her hand over her daughter's cheek to wipe away a tear. Violet nodded slowly, sniffling away her tears. The snow continued to fall across the city, unaffected by the trauma of the day.
Violet's powers were evolving beyond their previous limitations. It was part of what a Super went through when they grew up, but Helen knew that didn't help ease the shock of it. Especially to discover it as Violet did must have been a bit of a shock. She was careful to keep a close eye on her only daughter for the next few weeks, and she did notice a change in her attitude. She'd been opening up more and more... but now she was drawing back into her old shell.
Meanwhile, it seemed like Bob disappeared more often for longer periods of time. It was getting difficult for Helen to ignore; he just seemed to disappear whenever he had a few free hours. Even apart from that though, she could tell things were changing between them. He was spending his time at work or wherever he went, while she took care of the kids. Well, she had a responsibility to them. She couldn't just ditch them to spend time with her husband.
And Dash... little, hyper-ball Dash. The boy had been so good about staying out of trouble for the last year, but since Violet's disappearance scare he'd been coming home with notes every other day complaining about disruptive behavior. Helen figured it was just nerves over Violet's disappearance, but finally after the fifth note requested her presence at school she had to do something about it.
"Dash..." Helen sighed, looking past the note at her young son, who had a puppy-dog smile on his face. "What's happening? You've been so good."
"It's not my fault." Dash complained. "This bully keeps attacking me, so I have to fight back don't I? So I kick his butt and I get in trouble for it! And then he does it again the next day! He's TRYING to get me in trouble I know it!"
"Dash, what aren't you telling me?" Helen demanded.
"Nothing!" Dash insisted. "It's the truth! They're all out to get me or something, I know it!"
"Well, they got you, and me too." Helen said as she pulled on a jacket to guard against the Winter chill. "We have a parent-teacher conference with your teacher tonight."
"Do we have to go?" Dash asked hopefully.
"It's that or expulsion, and I won't have that." Helen tossed the boy his jacket, then went into the back to knock on Violet's door. Her daughter opened the door, looking a bit tired and weary, but she was going through kind of a tough time. "Would you watch Jack-Jack for a few minutes, Violet?" Helen asked.
"Sure, what's going on?" Violet asked curiously.
"Don't worry about it, me and Dash will be back soon." Helen turned to leave, grabbing Dash's hand as she passed and dragging the boy out the door. He put up some resistance, but she wrapped her arm around him and lifted him into the air, taking his feet off the ground and thus disabling his power. Dash yelled in protest, but she just put him in the car and climbed in after him, driving toward his school.
When they reached the school Helen grabbed her son's hand and walked into the school. He stopped resisting finally, walking along beside her as they walked into the principal's officer, where both his principal and teacher were waiting.
"Mrs. Parr, it's good that you could make it." The principal said.
"I wish I could say I'm happy to be here but..." Helen trailed off. Both men chuckled, a good sign that nothing was TOO wrong.
"We just want to talk." Dash's teacher gestured to the pair of chairs sitting in front of the principal's desk. Helen sat down, pulling her son into the seat beside her. "Mrs. Parr, we're afraid your son has been lashing out frequently as of late... and we were wondering if anything might have happened at home to cause it." He asked bluntly.
Yes, there was, but nothing Helen could reveal. When Dash had found out about Violet's outburst at school, he'd been shocked... then he just seemed to withdraw. She thought he was just dealing with it, but then why would he be lashing out at school? Was there more to it?
Her son remained stonily silent though. "No... I can't think of anything. Do you have any ideas?" Helen asked.
"Frankly no. We've questioned him repeatedly, but he keeps insisting that someone else is pushing his buttons. We've tried to reason with him, but he won't listen. Today he insisted that a boy half his size was trying to punch him, so he felt the need to beat him to the ground until he stopped fighting back." The principal shook his head. "This is the most violent outburst yet, and they're getting worse. So we'd like you to see to him. If you can't, we have no choice but to expel him."
"I understand." Helen looked down at her son, but he still refused to meet her gaze. "Thanks for telling me about this."
"We hope we can work something out. Dash is a bright young boy and it would be a shame to waste such potential." Dash's teacher said.
"I'll take care of it." Helen nodded and stood up. "Come on Dash, we've got to get home before Jack-Jack drives your sister insane."
"Wouldn't possibly want that." Dash muttered as they turned to leave the school. After Helen got them both in the car on their way home Helen spoke.
"Dash, what-"
"Just shut up." Dash surprised his mother. "You don't believe me, so why should I bother?"
"You should bother because I am your mother and you won't be beating innocent kids to the ground anymore." Helen snapped back. "Honestly Dash, I never expected anything like that from you."
"He was attacking me." Dash replied angrily. "I keep saying that!"
"Well next time some kid attacks you, go tell a teacher, alright?" Helen retorted. "I don't care if he puts you in a headlock and tries to slam you to the ground, you don't beat other kids like that. You get away from him and tell someone. Do I make myself clear?" Dash muttered something. "Do I make myself clear Dashiel Parr?"
"Crystal..." Dash said venomously. The rest of the ride home was besieged by a thick, tense silence. Helen hated it, but she couldn't afford to let Dash do this. She tried reasoning with him, and there were times when a good mother had to be tough. That didn't make it easy, but it was still necessary to make sure he made the right decisions.
The next few days passed without incident, with Violet keeping to herself, Bob making his daily disappearances, and Dash keeping on at school. Bless the boy's heart, Helen knew he was trying, but it was like something kept goading him into fighting. She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't see him at a supermarket, swiping at someone in the checkout line yelling about threats. She silently considered therapy, but she wouldn't go that far unless she ran out of alternatives.
Of course, there were still the messes of every day life to take care of before that. She was just leaving the supermarket with a bag of groceries and Jack-Jack when it seemed like a massive explosion erupted in the city with enough force to almost knock her off her feet. Jack-Jack screamed in fear. "Ssshhhh, don't worry honey. Mommy'll take care of it..."
Helen rushed to her car and hopped in, keeping track of the billowing black smoke in the distance as she rushed toward her house. She drove quickly to the home of one of their superhero partners, currently out of town, and rang the doorbell. A kindly woman with black skin opened the door.
"Oh, Helen. I'm afraid my husband isn't home right now." She said. Her husband was Bob's best friend Frozone, but he was gone on a business trip... which meant he was busy saving the world elsewhere.
"Just keep an eye on Jack-Jack for me, something big is happening." Helen said. Indeed, the fireball still loomed far too large in the distance.
"Oh... okay..." The woman took the baby from her.
"Thanks, I'll be back for him soon!" Helen ran back to her car, jumped in, and took off toward her home. She found it empty, but took the chance to change into her Elastigirl outfit. When she emerged again she was just in time to see Bob and Dash pull up against the curb in Bob's car.
"There you are, get suited up so we can go!" Helen marched out of the house quickly, wearing her red, black, and gold Elastigirl suit.
"Yes ma'am!" Dash dashed inside the house and emerged moments later in his own superhero outfit. The boy had yet to choose a superhero identity for himself. He wanted to call himself The Dash, but that was too much of a dead giveaway to his real name. His second choice was Incrediboy, but Bob shot that one down instantly.
"Where's Violet?" Bob asked.
"I don't know, she's not home and we can't wait for her." Helen replied. "Now come on, we have to stop whatever this thing is." So the three heroes turned to run toward the disturbance. The fire was, literally, a massive demon that looked like molten rock that had burst into flames and emerged straight form the mouth of a volcano. A fearsome sight that set even the veteran Elastigirl aback.
The sound that floated out from the demon was even worse. A scream of anguish and pain, coming from one of the demon's hands. All three family members saw her at once, and all of them screamed in unison. "INVISIGIRL!"
Bob charged up to the demon with a furious yell, plunging his fist forward with all the strength he could bring to bear. But the demon merely stumbled. It looked over at them, then turned back to the teenage girl clutched tightly in one fiery fist.
"Your death will come another time... when I choose." It told her before flinging her body carelessly over it shoulder. Violet's small frame flew through the air, slamming into the ground like someone had just tossed a rag doll carelessly to the floor.
"No!" Helen screamed in fear as her daughter rolled to a stop in front of the crowd of people beyond the demon. She didn't have any more time to worry however. The demon was turning on them, bringing one fist down right on top of her. She threw herself out of the way just in time before the fist embedded itself in the street.
"You leave my family alone!" Bob hurled himself at the demon again, leaping into the air and slamming straight into its stomach. The full force of his body had more impact, driving the demon back.
"I got it!" Dash vanished in a red blur, slamming the full force of his body into the creature's ankle. He didn't have much weight, but with that much speed his momentum more than made up for it. Its foot flew out from under it, collapsing to its back.
"You... YOU!..." Helen's eyes were glowing with fire as she leapt into the air, sailing up over the demon. Her fists lashed out well ahead of her, aiming straight for the creature's eyes, but the demon raised one hand and swatted her aside, sending her flying into a nearby building. The side of the building shattered, allowing her to roll into a nicely furnished apartment.
"Uuugh..." Helen groaned and rolled to her hands and knees, rubbing her head. "That hurt... that really, really hurt..." She pushed herself up to her hands and knees, wobbling somewhat from the force of the blow. Her husband could take a freight train unphased, but she couldn't. She'd bounce off of it, but that didn't keep it from hurting.
She stumbled back to the opening in the wall as quickly as she could get her bearings again... but the towering inferno was gone. She saw the crowd of people, gathering around the unconscious form of her only daughter, and Dash standing in the street looking dazed and confused. Helen thought to go to him, but when she saw Bob emerged from another building heading toward him, she oriented on her daughter.
Leaping from the building, she landed in a crouch and took off at a run, breaking through the crowd as fast as she could to reach Invisigirl. When she arrived she saw the teenage girl from a few weeks ago, Lisa, holding her jacket over Violet's face. The girl was shivering in the Winter cold, which now returned now that the flame-demon was gone.
"She... she saved us." Lisa's teeth chattered slightly.
Helen knelt down and picked up Violet, standing in the middle of the ground. Lisa stood with her to make sure the jacket didn't fall free. "Everyone move, we have an emergency here!" She marched through the crowd, which parted to let her through. Violet was limp in her arms, and barely breathing. She didn't know how long the girl would last... and she didn't want to find out.
So they took her as quickly as possible to the domicile of Edna Mode, a somewhat eccentric old woman who was the best friend a superhero could have. She not only created almost every superhero costume there was, but she also tended to their medical needs when their wounds were too great to pass off as daily accidents or diseases.
"Why, why, why would she try to fight something like that without waiting for us?" Helen stuttered, her voice cracking slightly in near panic. She was pacing around Edna's lounger nervously, her hands wringing together with nervousness. "She knows better than that, she can't handle it on her own." She shook her head, her pace around the room quickening. "Did we do something wrong? What did we do? Maybe... when I said her power was more defensive than offensive she thought that meant-"
"Hey, breathe." Her husband stood up and approached her, grabbing her shoulders to stop her mad dash around the room. Helen's eyes turned to his, overflowing with tears and fear. In his eyes, she found a comforting pride. "You didn't do anything. She's a Super, Helen, she's a hero. She was doing what comes naturally for her. And that Lisa girl said she saved everyone on the block. We didn't do anything wrong... we did something right. And so did she."
"But... but she was..." Helen stuttered incomprehensibly.
"I know..." Bob pulled her into a gentle hug, pulling her head up against his massive, strong chest. "But we should be proud of what she did, not angry that she got hurt." His wife rested against him, putting her arms around his waist and closing her eyes, nesting her head up against his chest. She felt his massively strong arms wrap around her, as if protecting her from the world.
In a moment she pulled back, looking up at her husband with her hands resting on his chest. His eyes said more than she'd heard or seen in months. A deep emotional bond, a sorry mixed with love. And she found herself returning that love, despite her suspicions. She gave him a small smile through her tears. "I love you, Bob." She told him softly.
"I love you too, Helen." Bob replied. Helen stared up at him until a small red, black, and gold blur rushed into the room.
"She's awake! She's awake!" As quickly as he'd appeared Dash was gone again into another room to let Edna and Lisa know the good news. Helen and Bob looked over at the door, then at each other for a moment before Helen turned to run away from him. She slipped out of his grasp, letting his strong arms fall away from her as she ran. She wanted him desperately... but her daughter was still in danger. Maybe when she knew Violet was safe, she could get her husband back to the way they were...
Helen's wish to spend time with her husband seemed to have gone ungranted, because she spent the next two days looking after her wounded daughter. Though once she went to school Helen thought she would have more time to spend with Bob, but he began to disappear more and more until she wondered whether he wasn't secretly flying to Mars and back. And though Dash's teacher's notes thinned, he still occasionally brought one home... and usually tried to hide it in his closet.
Helen was especially surprised when her daughter walked into the kitchen one day, hunched over and limping slightly. Helen watched curiously as her daughter pulled a can of soda out of the fridge, and put it under her shirt against the bare skin underneath. "Violet... are you okay?" Helen asked as her daughter tried to retreat to the living room. But Helen followed.
"I'll be fine mom... just some divine retribution for my outburst a few weeks ago I guess." Violet smirked and shook her head as she spoke. Helen approached and sat down beside her, looking at her seriously.
"That Andrew boy? Didn't you tell anyone?" She asked.
"Like anybody would care. Even the principal is scared of me." Violet smirked. "He would probably find it hilarious." She looked down as she pulled the soda out from under her shirt and popped it open to take a swig. "Everyone at that school hates me..." She didn't even say it like a self-pitying or paranoid statement. It seemed like a simple fact of her life.
For all that she wanted to comfort her daughter, she didn't know how. "I'm sure it'll all blow over..." Her mom smiled and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "And you'll forget it ever happened..." she wished she could do more, but found herself completely helpless...
So she could only watch her daughter come home, day after day, with new bruises and moving stiffer than the day before. She wanted to scream, to fight, to go to the school and demand that something be done... but she couldn't. Violet was depressed enough about being unable to defend herself, if Helen rushed to her rescue she might never recover. She had to fight this battle on her own.
So the weeks to Christmas Eve passed, to find Helen still trapped in a cocoon of helplessness while Bob ran away and Dash seemed to be fighting with himself somehow. Violet, fortunately, seemed to take care of her problem at last, and even invited Lisa to spend part of Christmas Day with them after turning her away in Edna's villa. It was good to see her daughter looking good... but things would not be so good for Helen.
Underneath a couch in the living room as she cleaned up the floors, she found a small piece of paper with nothing but a phone number written on it. Bob, Dash and Violet were all out, so Helen took a moment while Jack-Jack slept to head into the kitchen and called the number. The ringer buzzed time and time again, until finally someone answered.
"Hello?" A hauntingly familiar voice came back across the receiver. For a moment Helen doubted her own ears, but the voice spoke again, erasing all doubt. "Is anybody there? This better not be another Goddamn prank call." Mirage grumped. Slowly Helen hung up the phone, staring down at it. She couldn't believe it... all this time Bob HAD been running to another woman. And THAT woman no less... what was he thinking?
"We're back." Bob shouted as he entered the house with Violet and Dash behind them, after catching a Christmas Eve sports event down at Violet's school. Helen walked into the living room, watching the two kids chatter about the game while Bob lumbered past them to his chair, with a surprisingly morose... almost distant look in his eyes.
Helen had a mind to go after him, but she would hold her tongue at least until after Christmas. The kids looked happy to have their father around for a change, and she didn't want to ruin that by starting a yelling match right this second. So she stuffed the small note in one of her pockets and walked into the living room to offer her family some drinks.
Christmas Eve faded into night, and Helen tried her best to get some sleep. Bob was beside her, though they slept as far from each other as they could. Her sleep was fitful, and Helen didn't feel rested at all when she was woken up at six AM by the sound of the kids sneaking their way downstairs. Bob heard it too, sitting up and letting out a yawn.
They both climbed out of bed silently and made their way to the living room. Violet had set Jack-Jack down in front of his present, where he was gleefully beating on the box, while she moved to collect her own. Helen moved to help Jack-Jack actually open his present, though honestly he looked like he would rather just rumple the paper.
"Look inside." Helen said gently as she set the baby in her lap and started unwrapping the present. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Bob sitting in his comfortable, watching the proceedings with a gaze that didn't exactly scream 'Christmas spirit'. He was probably thinking about HER... while his own family was sitting in front of him depending on him to be a father.
Finally Helen set Jack-Jack on the floor with his stuffed bear and stood up. "Bob, we need to talk. In our room." She tried to keep her tone light, but Bob, Violet, and Dash all turned to look at her solemnly. Bob didn't argue, just nodded and turned to walk into their room. Helen followed, closing and locking the door behind her.
"Is something wrong honey?" When Bob turned around Helen was already holding up the phone-number she'd collected from the couch the previous day. Bob just stared at it in surprise, then looked past it at her face. He looked confused and guilty, but that wasn't enough for her.
"I called this." Helen said stiffly. "I know that voice." Bob remained silent, just staring at her numbly. "Bob... I trust you. Tell me what's going on." Bob remained silent. "Tell me it's not what it looks like... tell me you're not fraternizing with another woman... let alone the woman who murdered all of our old friends. Well?" Bob didn't respond. "Answer me damnit!" Helen demanded. "Just tell me it's not what it looks like."
"I have to go..." Bob said numbly. Helen's eyes narrowed in distrust, but didn't move to stop her husband as he turned to move past her. He was running to her... Helen had no doubt... he was leaving his family and running to a psychopathic genocidal witch. How could he do this to them? She wanted to collapse to her knees and cry... but she wouldn't her children still needed her.
So she took a deep breath, composed herself as much as possible, and walked back out to the living room. Of course Bob was gone, but the kids though confused didn't seem to catch on to anything major happening. That was for the best, and Helen sat down with her third born son again to extract him from the wad of wrapping paper he'd buried himself in.
She tried to get some Christmas cheer back as they day progressed. Violet's friend Lisa showed up around two PM, a fact that seemed to make Dash at once giddy and uncomfortable. He spent most of the day avoiding her, though he kept casting furtive glances at her. Ah she remembered being that age. The yucky/attraction phase.
By that evening she was able to forget about Bob and focus on the remainder of her family, even singing a Christmas carol softly to herself as she prepared Christmas dinner. "Hark the Herald angels siiing..." She sang.
"Glory to my Christmas Presents." Dash finished from beside her.
"You know it's not too late to take those back." Helen told him snidely.
"Oh you can't resist this face mom, no matter what my attitude is like." Dash flashed her his best charming boy smile. Helen chuckled and shook her head.
"I've resisted it before. Now go set the table please." Helen said. Dash nodded and moved off to accomplish his assigned task. Helen focused on her cooking until she heard Violet from the living room.
"I'm gonna walk Lisa home, I'll be back in a few minutes." Violet called into the kitchen.
"Don't be too long honey." Helen shouted back.
"I won't." Violet replied. Helen listened to her daughter leave the house as Dash walked back into the kitchen, having completed his chore in record time. He looked into the living room, then frowned.
"Where's Lisa?" Dash asked.
"She went home." Helen hid her smirk as the boy sighed and hung his shoulders. "Come on, why don't you help me with dinner?" She patted the boys head and guided him up to a can of corn, setting the can opener in front of him. He took to trying to pry it open while she went back to her food preparations, but they didn't last much longer.
"Mrs. Parr!" Lisa's voice shouted from the living room as the door was flung open. "Mrs. Parr where are you!?"
"Lisa?" Helen walked into the living room. "What's going on?"
"Violet's being attacked by that demon from before! It just came out of nowhere! She hid me, then ran off to lead it away." Lisa was shaking in fear, her wide eyes shooting every which way.
"Dash, get-" Helen didn't even have to finish her order. The boy vanished, then reappeared in his superhero suit. Helen quickly donned hers, then ran back out to the living room. "Lisa, can you watch Jack-Jack while we're gone?"
"Uh... uh-huh..." Lisa nodded numbly.
"We'll be back as soon as we can. Come on Dash!" Helen ran out of the house and leapt into the air, her legs stretching to shoot her across the night sky like a bullet. Dash ran below through the pure white snow that coated the earth, giving a false sense of peace. Helen bounded from rooftop to rooftop like this, heading toward a tower of sinister black smoke that rose in the distance.
Helen threw herself off the final building toward the city park, flying through the air. She saw a massive crowd had formed, staring in awe and wonder at the headless body of what had once been a flame demon, and a teenage girl sitting on the snow, hunched over and panting heavily. Helen slammed into the snow, then ran toward her daughter.
"Violet!" Helen quickly pushed her way through the crowd and ran to her daughter's side, kneeling down beside her. "Violet, Lisa told us you were attacked! Are you okay!?"
"I'm fine..." Violet looked back at the decapitated creature behind her. "I won... but..." She looked at the crowd again. Helen looked around, taking in the situation, then looked down at her daughter with a gentle expression on her face.
"Don't worry... we'll work everything out..." She said tenderly. Helen knew that after something like this, the people wouldn't be eager to share Violet's secret. It looked like she'd saved their lives, and most people respected that life-debt more than any other. Violet's secret would remain safe even after all of this. "Come on, let's get you home." She helped her daughter stand, then looked around for Dash. She saw him standing in front of the demon's head as if transfixed. "Son, we're leaving!" Helen shouted.
Dash looked back in surprise, glanced at the demon head again, then turned to follow Helen home as she helped her daughter hobble along. They reached the house soon enough, and Helen was surprised to see her husband's car parked out front. They went inside, with Violet leading the way since she'd regained a bit of strength during the journey home.
"Violet!" Lisa jumped up and ran to hug her friend tightly. "Oh my God, are you okay!?"
"I'm okay... I got rid of it..." Violet's voice was shaking in weakness, but there was a tinge of pride contained within it. "He won't come back again..." She leaned against her friend tiredly, holding onto her. Helen could feel her husband's eyes on her, but she refused to meet them, instead focusing on her wounded daughter.
"Come on honey, I'll help you get ready for bed. You should get home before you get in trouble Lisa." Helen told Violet's young friend. Lisa nodded.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow Violet. You just rest up... and thank you for saving me." She smiled and squeezed Violet one last time before turning to leave. Helen picked up Jack-Jack, then led all three of her children into the back to tuck them into bed. She put the baby in his crib and let Dash tuck himself in while she tucked Violet carefully into bed.
"I'm very proud of you honey..." Helen smiled and kissed her eldest child on the cheek tenderly. Violet smiled back.
"Thanks mom..." Violet replied. Helen ruffled her hair.
"Goodnight sweetie." Helen turned to walk out into the hall, reaching up to pull her heroes mask off. She just wanted to peel this costume off, lay down, and forget the world for a little while. Forget Bob, forget her daughter's dangers, forget Dash's strange behavior. Leave it all behind and just do nothing for a few hours.
But as she turned into her bedroom she slammed face-first into what felt like a wall, but on further investigation was her husband dressed in full superhero gear. "Bob? What are you doing?" Helen smirked. "Running off to hrGH!?" Helen gasped in shock when her husband's mighty fist squeezed around her throat, lifting her off the ground. Helen grabbed at his arms, but his grip was stronger than steel.
His cold, unfeeling... almost unthinking eyes bore into hers before he wound up and hurled her into the opposite wall. She let out a pained yelp as she broke straight through the wall with a horrendous crash, collapsing to the other side in a pile of debris. In the room behind her, Jack-Jack howled in fear at the sudden noise and the dust in the air.
"Uuughn..." Helen groaned in pain and pulled herself out of the debris in time to see her husband disappearing down the hallway, marching away from her. She saw her children creeping down the hall after him, eyes wide with fear and confusion. "Kids, don't. Stay back." Helen pulled herself out of the debris, rubbing her head.
"Mom, what's going on?" Violet asked fearfully.
"I don't know. You two just stay here, and take care of Jack-Jack." Helen demanded.
"But mom..." Dash complained softly.
"Stay here! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Helen quickly slapped her mask back on and ran for the still-open front door, running out into the snowy Winter's night. She was once again glad their suits were well insulated against the cold; it allowed her to focus on searching for her husband, who seemed to have disappeared.
As she searched, she just couldn't figure it out. Sure they had a fight, but it was hardly their first and he'd never attacked her like this before. Something was seriously wrong, something far worse than an unfaithful husband and a breaking relationship. And she had a feeling Mirage was connected to it somehow. What did she do to her husband?
Helen landed on a building, and stopped when she heard a thunderous crash from nearby. She leapt the rooftops in the direction of the sound and stopped when she saw a large hole in the side of a building. A painfully skinny form was standing outside it, wearing thick winter clothes but still instantly recognizable.
"Mirage!" Helen leapt to the snow on the street, attracting the woman's attention. She didn't look very surprised to see her. "What did you do to my husband!?" Helen demanded.
"What did I do? Why, nothing." Mirage smirked. "He came to me of his own free will because you weren't doing your wifely duties." She shook her head, pursing her lips shamefully. "You drove him away, and he ran to little old me. It's not all that hard to figure out."
"You tell me the truth or so help me I'll-" Helen didn't have time to finish that sentence before suddenly she caught sight of a fire hydrant flying toward her head. Her neck stretched backward to avoid it, but still more things flew at her. Street signs, bricks, more fire hydrants ripped straight from the ground. Helen's body wound itself around, twisting into a myriad of positions until the onslaught stopped.
As Helen snapped back to normal her husband stepped between her and Mirage. "Don't you see, Elastigirl?" Mirage moved up behind Bob, wrapping her arms around his chest. "He's with me now... so you'd might as well leave us to our happiness."
"I'll leave you in the ground!" Helen growled darkly. Bob lunged forward, but Helen folded herself in half and slipped quickly under his legs, straightening on his other side to uppercut Mirage straight into the side of the building. She brought her fist back again, but a mighty hand grabbed her arm and flung her in the opposite direction.
Helen flew like a bullet, but wrapped one arm around a light pole to stop herself. She wrapped around it and pulled herself on top of it, kneeling on the thin bar and looking down at them. "You can't defeat Mr. Incredible. He's the greatest superhero there ever was!" Mirage laughed, rubbing her jaw and moving to stand behind Bob.
Helen leapt from the light pole, her body writhing in the air until she hit the ground, her limbs double their normal length. Bob threw a punch at her, but she leapt over him, landing on her oversized hands and slamming both feet into Mirage's jaw. She pushed herself off the ground in time to avoid one of her husband's punches, wrapping her legs around his neck like a pair of ropes and coming down on the other side, using leverage and momentum to bring the giant man crashing to the pavement.
Mirage tried to scramble away from her, but Helen unwrapped her legs from around her husband's neck and hurled herself after the thin woman, slamming into her and knocking her to the snow. She grabbed the scruff of Mirage's neck, pulling her up and raising one fist.
"Wait! Please!" Mirage yelled.
"What did you do to my husband!?" Helen demanded angrily.
"I... I only wanted to be his friend at first..." Mirage whined softly. "He offered to help me... how could I refuse? I was used to living in luxury, and then after Syndrome was defeated... I could never have that again. It was frustrating."
"I don't see why I should care." Helen growled.
"He tried to help me... he gave me money to help... but it wasn't enough. I needed more... and I needed him to get it. So I used Syndrome's last invention..." Mirage gulped.
"Last invention? What is it?" Helen demanded.
"It's a mind control serum... but the person you use it on has to already have a lot of emotional attachment to you. Syndrome was going to use it on Jack-Jack when the boy thought he was his father. I kept giving it to Bob, but its effect was limited. He was relying on me more and more... because you kept pushing him away." Mirage snickered, then outright laughed. "You pushed him to me... and the serum became stronger and stronger until earlier today when it reached maximum potency."
"A serum... the serum made him run to you... you've been manipulating him!" Helen shouted.
"Yes... with your help. If you hadn't been such a cold fish, the serum might never have become as strong as it has now." She snickered. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Mirage smirked. Helen blinked, then suddenly something slammed into her side. Helen flew through the air, slamming into the side of a car with enough force to shatter all of the windows. She yowled in pain as the glass shards cut through her back and she collapsed to her hands and knees.
Bob approached her, holding a light pole like a golf club, raising it over his head. He brought it crashing down on top of her, but Helen rolled into a thin log and hurled herself under the car, emerging from the other side as the car was crushed under the massive impact of the light pole. Helen climbed to her feet, looking into her brain-dead husband's eyes.
"You don't want to do this!" Helen shouted as he husband dropped the light pole and marched toward her. "I love you! I'm sorry I've been ignoring you... I'm sorry if it felt like I was abandoning you!" She stepped back as her husband reached the totaled car between them and hurled it aside like nothing. It slammed into another car nearby, and the sound of a car alarm blared. "Please stop this!"
"What do you think this is, a movie? There's no breaking through to him. My serum controls every one of his brain's functions at my whim. Syndrome was insane, but he was also a genius." Mirage grinned. Bob grinned darkly as well as he approached. Wait... he hadn't made any facial expression until now. Why would he do it now? Was he being directly controlled by Mirage's mind? So if she knocked out Mirage...
She would knock out the connection. Helen stood with her back to the wall, waiting for her husband to pull back and let loose with a furious swing. She bent down to avoid it and flung herself to the side, circling him like a rubber band and lunging away from him toward Mirage. She slammed into the woman and pulled a fist back, but something slammed into her back, carrying her right over Mirage to plow her into the snow-covered street.
The car fell to the street in front of her with a thunderous crash, allowing her to climb to her hands and knees. She looked back in time to see her husband leaping toward her, one fist drawn back behind his head. She flipped backward and rolled into a ball, rolling away from him just in time to avoid the Earth-shattering punch.
Helen sprang back to her normal shape and leapt over him, once again aiming for Mirage, but her husband grabbed her ankle and yanked downward, slamming her face-first into the street. She groaned, but he didn't let go, whirling and spinning her around like a rubber doll until he let go and sent her flying into the side of a building.
"Bob... I don't want to have to go through you..." Helen pushed herself painfully away from the building, wobbling on her feet. "But I will if I have to..." she raised her fists in front of her, watching as her husband stomped toward her, his massive fists clenched dangerously at his sides, and his eyes full of bloodlust.
She tried to lunge to the side as he approached, but she didn't have access to her husband's seemingly endless well of stamina. She was tiring, and slowing down. He grabbed her around the waist and flung her back against the wall, bringing one fist down right onto her face. She barely moved it in time and tries to leap over him, but he wrapped his arms around her and whirled, slamming her onto the snow on her back with all his strength.
Helen howled in pain and tried to scoot away from him, but her body was aching and quivering. "Bob... please..." Helen pleaded. "Don't do this... I love you..." She felt tears running down her face as her husband marched up to his feet, staring down at her emotionlessly. "I love you..." She could barely move as her husband reached down and grabbed her around the waist with one mighty hand, lifting her off the ground.
"I told you. Emotional appeals are useless." Mirage cackled. "You should've stayed home. This could've been avoided."
"Bob..." Helen cried softly, closing her eyes as his fist squeezed her stomach to the width of a string of spaghetti. She clenched her teeth in pain as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry..." She felt herself lifted up over her husband's head, drooping down around him, helpless in his super powered grasp. She opened her eyes in time to be flung like a missile through the air.
"What!?" Mirage screamed in surprise. Helen just now realized her husband had just thrown her straight at Mirage. Helen quickly pulled herself into the shape of a rubber ball just before her body slammed into Mirage's face, knocking her flat to the snow while Helen bounced off in another direction. She let herself snap back to her normal shape and stretched her arms out to grab a nearby light pole, swinging down on it until she hung limply.
She could see Mirage unconscious on the snow. Bob wobbled on his feet, then collapsed to the ground, a miniature Earthquake signaling his fall. Helen dropped to the snow, falling to her knees and panting heavily. She allowed herself only a moment's rest before she scrambled across the snow to her husband, who lay unconscious.
"Bob..." She put her hands on each side of her face, speaking softly. "Don't worry... I'll take you to Edna... and she'll help you..." She closed her eyes. "I'm... so sorry..." She sniffled, but she couldn't rest now. She wrapped her arms around her massive husbands and heaved him up from the ground, determined to get him help no matter what she had to do...
Bob was lying on the bed he and Helen shared, a position Edna said would help with the recover process. Helen could barely contain her emotions as she prepared the counter serum Edna had prepared. Her hands were shaking, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. She drew the required amount into the hypodermic needle Edna provided and injected it into her husband's neck.
She sat on the edge of the bed and watched him, wearing her bathrobe to complete the illusion of familiarity and family that Edna said he would need when he awoke. For a moment there was nothing, then she heard her husband growl in his throat, squirming in bed. She took his hand in both of hers, watching his face. It contorted in rage, then confusion... and all the while tears flowed down his cheeks.
"Wake up..." Helen said softly, reaching up to run a hand over his cheek. Bob's face contorted and his body shifted, as if he was struggling with something. "Wake up please... come back to me..." Helen pleaded with him. The growling in his throat grew louder as tears ran down his cheeks, until suddenly his eyes opened and he shot up in bed.
"STOP!" He screamed fearfully, his chest heaving and his eyes wide with fear. His entire body was shaking, and he looked extremely confused. It took him a moment to see her standing over him, but when he did his eyes clouded over sadly.
"Bob..." Helen croaked. There was so much to say... she didn't know what to say first.
"What...?" Bob gulped, then looked down and lifted one hand to wipe at his eyes. "I had... the worst dream." Helen watched him sadly, reaching up to help him wipe the tears from his cheeks. "I dreamed I was... hurting you..." He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, but a fresh wave of tears came nonetheless. "Helen, I'm so sorry... I did... I know I can't excuse it but..."
"Ssshhhh..." Helen grabbed him and held him tightly, resting his head against her chest and stroking the back of his head. "I know honey... I know everything..." She sniffled. "You're not the only one to blame... I'm sorry I made you feel that way..." Her hands ran through his hair and over his muscular back. She could feel him shivering in her grasp. "I promise, I won't do it again..."
"You know what I did... and you don't... hate me...?" Bob asked. "I mean the dream... it just felt like I was hurting you so bad..." He shook his head. "It must've been how I felt... I didn't want to Helen..."
"I know you didn't..." Helen said softly. "Don't worry, it was just a dream..." She kissed the top of his head tenderly. "You didn't hurt me... it was just a dream..." She closed her eyes, holding her beloved husband as close as she possibly could. She didn't want to tell him everything that had happened... it wasn't his fault. Mirage with that damned serum... Bob's only flaw all along had been his belief in second chances, and trust in someone who didn't deserve it. Strangely, that only made her love him even more than she already did...
THE END