Disclaimer: I do not and will unfortunately never own The Incredibles. Disney/Pixar owns them. I DO however, own Zacathia and all other previously unknown characters. So there.

Buddy walked down hallway's, with his daughter in a carrier on his back. She was asleep, so he was taking the chance to get some work done. He had been forgetting to do them, so he decided to do them now, seeing as he was remembering them.

Zacathia was away, on a business trip in Europe, or what was left of it. Most of it was a wasteland, after years of wars and over-using the land for farming. Most of the damage was in the Middle East, lower and eastern Europe, along with some of China and Russia. They had been reading up on what had been happening during the time they were asleep, which as close as they could figure was around sixty or seventy years.

Feeling her move shift her position on his back, Buddy stopped moving for a moment, hoping that Marie didn't wake up. He had just started filing some papers that needed to be put away, and he needed his full attention on them to make sure they were put into the right places. Zacathia would kill him if they were put into the wrong places, because that would mean having to re-file everything so that she could find the miss-filed files. Sometimes being married could be so annoying…

Playing with his wedding ring, he smiled. He had married the only girl to ever even look at him kindly, and it was just what he had expected. Demanding, yes, but fun because they understood each other to such an extent that they didn't even have to talk and they knew what they other wanted to get done. They would laugh at things that others thought was stupid because they were that alike in their thoughts, but they were sharply different also.

Frowning, he thought back to what he used to do. No man is an island… he had had that drilled into his skull, and even named his island home after the saying, simply to get back at the man who had shut him down, crushed all his dreams and hopes, all his childhood beliefs. But Zac, she had put her brain to good use, getting herself a name, and a good name at that. She had been the owner of the best guard training facility in most of the world. Now because of her sixty-plus years in stasis, her company was just above average, only just above the norm. But Buddy and Zacathia were quickly bringing the prestige back to the company. Oh yes, they would and could do it.

A guard tapped Buddy on the shoulder, bringing him out of his memories. It was one of the ones unable to speak, so Buddy immediately started to use the basic sign language he knew.

What?

There's someone to see you sir, in C room 4. Buddy nodded, and put the file he was holding in the proper cabinet. Well, he'd get back to it later.

Following the guard, He went to Conference room four. He hated when the guards didn't know what to do with someone. Then he had to deal with them himself.

Going into the room, he smiled to see his son, Steven. His smile quickly disappeared when he saw the look on Steven's face. His eyes were red, and his face downcast.

"What's wrong?" Buddy asked, concerned. Steven was usually a very happy guy, and the same went for Alex. You rarely saw them apart, which was a big difference from when they were kids and they tried to stay as far apart as they possibly could.

"He's gone. Alex is gone." Steven seemed very distraught about this, and for good reason. Alex didn't go anywhere without Steven knowing, as Alex had severe arthritis. Some people wondered why Alex had it and Steven didn't, not even they knew. Buddy thought that maybe it was because Alex had been into sports and Steven hadn't been when they were younger.

"Where, when?" Buddy asked quietly. He still didn't want to wake up Marie.

"I don't know, I woke up this morning and made some coffee. Alex wasn't up, so I figured he was simply still sleeping but after awhile I realized that Alex never slept in, and he needed to take his medicine so I went to wake him up to find he wasn't in his bed or anywhere in the house." Steve said, on the verge of tears.

"I don't know, he hasn't been here all day the guards would have let him in and told me." Buddy said, worried. This was very strange… "Does Jack-Jack know about this?"

"Yes! He was the first person I called, and he said he'd be on the lookout for Alex." Steven said.

"You can stay here until we find him, if you want." Buddy offered.

"no, I should stay at home in case he shows up." Steven replied, wiping tears off his face.

"I'll send guards out looking for him. Don't worry, we'll find him." Buddy said, leading Steven out.

A few miles away, on a rooftop, a man stood looking at the Virus Industries Building. He smiled, seeing the co-owner leading the elderly man back out of the building, walking down the street with him. He was possibly one of the most powerful supers ever born, but he was also the least known. He had no family, no friends, and no job. He lived alone, surviving off one of his many powers.

"The plan is falling into place, just as we knew it would." He said. No one was around him, but he received an answer anyways. It was from his only weakness, his other personalities.

"And when we are finished we will be free, in bodies of our own."

"Yes, we will be free, free to wreak havoc on the world, and eventually rule it as we were always meant to."

"We will rule it. We will rule it with iron fists."

"With our iron fists, the worlds leaders will obey us, and do our will."

Buddy drove to the airport. He had to pick up Zacathia as she was arriving from Spain today. Marie was babbling in the backseat, playing with her blue teddy bear. Smiling, he stopped as a man crossed the street. The man stopped midway and looked at Buddy, he stood there for five minutes before Buddy honked his horn and the man looked away, finishing the crossing and allowing Buddy to go on.

"That was weird." He said to himself, looking up briefly at the man in the rearview mirror. The man was staring at the back of Buddy's car. Buddy quickly turned a corner, glad to get out of the sight of the creepy man.

The rest of the ride was normal, and Buddy completely forgot the man. Zacathia had told him she had brought gifts for everyone, him, Jack-jack, Marie, Steven, and Alex. Hearing that, Buddy had to quickly remind himself that she didn't know, couldn't know, that Alex was missing. He had to tell her, but didn't want to. He'd show up at dinnertime, hungry and wanting food. They'd all find out that he had simply gone out for a walk, wanting a day to himself.

Upon arriving at the complex, Zacathia quickly took Marie and put her to bed. Zacathia gently placed a blanket she had gotten in Spain that she had gotten for Marie.

"Wanna find out what I got for you?" She asked in a singsong voice, swinging a paper bag from her finger. Buddy smiled, probing the bag with his powers to find out if it was electronic. It wasn't, she wasn't that stupid. If it had been he would know what it was in a second. He put on a fake bored face.

"Not really, I'm bored with gifts. I'm going to bed." He said, faking a yawn and a stretch.

"I guess I'll keep it for myself then, or maybe I'll give it to one of the guards." She said, turning away teasingly, placing her hand in the bag and playing with whatever was in it.

"Or you could keep it for yourself." Buddy suggested, closing the door that Zac had been heading for, smiling mischievously.

"You want to see what's inside it?" She asked, looking at him excitedly.

"Maybe." He said, going and holding her by her hips, and pulling her close to him.

"You need to let go of me to open it." She pointed out. Buddy smiled.

"You could open it for me." He said, kissing her cheek.

"I could, but that would ruin the surprise." She said, taking one of his hands and putting the bag in it. It was surprisingly light.

"What's in it?" He asked, intrigued. He pulled the top layer of tissue paper out of it carefully, not wanting to drop whatever was inside the bag. Reaching in, he pulled out a slip of paper. It was black and white, and was hard to make out.

"What is it?" he asked, confused.

"I'm pregnant." She said, smiling. "I just found out." Her smile widened at the look of ecstasy on Buddy's face.

"How long?" He asked. There was so much to do!

"I've known for two days, but the doctor said as far as he can tell I've been pregnant for three weeks." She said, smiling.

"So that would be just before you left." He said, smiling. That had been a good night. She smiled back.

"This is good news, we need good news today." Buddy said, his smile dissipating slightly, remembering Alex.

"What do you mean?" Zac asked.

"Alex went missing today. Steven woke up and found out Alex had left sometime during the night." Buddy explained. "I hadn't wanted to tell you at first, but it just slipped out."

"I'm glad you told me. I'm glad I know, now I can help look." Zac said, kissing Buddy's cheek. He pulled her close against his body, and hugged her tightly. She hugged back, knowing he was worried. She was just glad Mirage wasn't here; it would have been too much for her.