sesshylover: Well, I can't let you die, can I? Here's the next chapter.

all reviewers: I have to disappoint you, there won't be SUCH a scene... at least I haven't planned one. But I hope you'll still read further.

Disclaimer: The Incredibles belong to Pixar and Disney.

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Chapter 5: Regret

The worst thing was, that not even one single moment of blessed ignorance was granted to him. From the first moment on, when he awaked, he knew what he had done. He could not even convince himself, that everything had maybe been just a bad dream. Bob buried his face in his hands and completely dedicated himself to his mixed feelings. Shame and fury turned on himself fought keenly for his attention, which was however claimed by helplessness and grief too. But the strongest of all them was regret.

Regret for all the pictures, which stuck in his mind unquenchable. Pictures of two bodies, which were pressed tightly together in a firm embrace. Two bodies, which were nearly glowing with heat in spite of the cool rain. Pictures of vigorous movements, which should have slacked this fire, but fanned it even further, accentuated by sounds, that reminded rather of animals than of humans.

Bob had a bitter lump in his throat, when he took the hands slowly away from his face. He asked himself, why he was still holding back the tears. They would not cure the tortures, cause of which his soul crucified itself, but maybe they could relieve his pain at least. But another part of him welcomed the pain. It shouted at him, that he deserved every little piece of pain and that he should kindly endure it like a real man. And Bob was willing to agree to this part of himself. He had done something absolutely inexcusable. He had broken no law, which he had sworn to protect. It was much worse. He had betrayed the trust of a person, who meant more to him than everything in this world.

"Helen", he whispered with low voice.

It would have helped him a little bit, if he had been able to say, that the last night had been nothing special. That he was wondering, why he had ever desired Elastigirl that much, because she was not better in bed than every other girl. But, unfortunately, that was wide of the truth. Bob uttered a pained groan, when he remembered the events of last night. It had been absolutely fantastic. Elastigirl had been so wild and perseverely. She hadn't grudged him just one break, her hot lips had badgered him untiringly, just as her strong hands. Her superpowers had permitted her to try out positions, which would have been deadly for each other woman, and that had excited him even more. After their fight they had spoken no more word, because they had urgently needed every a little bit of energy in their bodies. She had been perfect. She had been everything a young man could dream of in his wildest fantasies.

And, nevertheless, it had been a mistake. An inexcusable mistake.

"Helen", Bob sobbed, as the tears overpowered him finally. "I'm such an idiot... "

The absurdest thing was, that he still didn't know, who Elastigirl was in her normal life. He had no clue, why they had kept on their masks in spite of the unbelievable desire, which had paralyzed their brains. Maybe it had been their deep-rooted knowledge about the importance of the own secret identity. The knowledge, that you were in grave danger, if another one discovered this secret. In any case, he still had no clue, who the girl was, that had granted him the most exciting night of his life. He wished so desperately, that Helen would be this girl... but deep inside he knew, that she could never keep up with Elastigirl.

"But I love her!", he shouted and blew frustratedly upon his nightstand, which broke immediately. " I love her, damn! "

It didn't matter, how much he loved her. Even if his desire had completely disappeared now, even if he could be happy with the normal Helen a whole lifetime, it was no longer possible. He had lost any right to be with her for good. To say nothing of the fact, that he couldn't hide his bad conscience from her for just one minute. It was over. He had exchanged the chance of many happy years for just one intensive night.

He had to tell her. He had to confess to Helen what he had done, he owed this to her. But he was terribly afraid of it. Mr. Incredible, the man without fear, was scared like never before in his life. Not scared of her wrath. She had every right to be angry, and he deserved every penalty she wanted to inflict on him. He feared the sight of the pained expression in her face after he had told her about his unfaithfulness. He knew, that he was unfair. He knew, that she would suffer even more than he did, but it would hurt him to see her sad expression. And nothing he could say would relieve this pain.

He did not hear the knock the first time. Thereto he was much to lost in his dark thoughts. The following considerably louder knock however couldn't be ignored. Bob awoke with a start and blinked startledly. Who would visit him at that early period on a day off?

"Bob", he heard a softened voice through the door and the hall. He was terribly familiar with this voice. "Open the door!"

"Helen?" Bob felt a slight pain in the stomach. Yes, he had decided to talk with her soon, but NOW? "What are you doing here?"

"Open, Bob!", she repeated a little louder and banged her fist on the door once again. "It is urgent!"

"One moment", Bob replied and got up reluctantly. He reached for his trousers.

"NOW, Bob!", she shouted emphatically... or did her voice sound tensed? "It cannot wait!"

Yeah, I bet it can't, Bob thought sullenly, while he changed into trousers fast. But how could she have come to know of his escapade that fast? Nobody knew of it... nobody except Elastigirl. He reached for his T-shirt and put it on in passing hastily. If he kept Helen waiting any longer, she would become even more furious for sure. He breathed deeply, when he got to the door, then he opened it.

He got frightened, when he saw Helen. Even though she had always paid attention to her appearance, she looked dishevelled this time. Her usually straight hair was uncombed and stuck out in all directions. Her eyes were puffy and she was all out of breath. Her hands were trembling. But the worst of all was her look. In her eyes he could see bitter agony and indescribable terror. It was worse than he had feared. He swallowed hard.

"Helen", he started. "I..."

"No, Bob, say nothing", she interrupted him. Her voice sounded as if she was on the verge of hysteria. "I... I must tell you something." As he wanted to interrupt her, she gesticulated warningly. "Do not interrupt me! I don't know ... whether I'll be strong enough to tell you everything otherwise." She took a deep breath and her tremblement became so strong, that Bob feared, she would collapse every moment. "Bob ... I don't know, how such a dreadful thing could happen."

Although Bob was still torn by his feelings, his concern came out on top. "Helen, what is wrong with you?" He reached out his hand for her shoulder.

He had not expected her to jump back suddenly. "Don't touch me!", she cried out loud. Stunned Bob observed, how the girl suddenly burst into tears and clutched her shoulders. "You mustn't ever touch me again..."

When she collapsed weeping, Bob got on his knees tentatively. She knew it. She knew everything. But he had still to confess his mistake to her, he owed her at least honesty. Even if he was going to destroy everything they had together. However as he opened his mouth to say something, she got ahead of him.

Helen sobbed once again, then she whimpered: "I don't deserve you..."

Bob blinked completely confused. He reached out his hand once again in her direction, but he did not dare to touch her. It hurt him to see her all in tears. "Helen, what the heck does all that mean?"

She raised her head jerkily and looked at him with watery eyes. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!", she yelled tormentedly. "I HAVE CHEATED ON YOU! I HAVE SLEPT WITH ANOTHER MAN!"

Bob froze in his position. His jaw dropped with shock and he stared at her with wide eyes. His face became deadly pale. His consciousness refused to accept, what he had just heard. That could not be real!

Helen whimpered once again and looked to the ground. "I didn't want this to happen at all", she mumbled. "We have always struggled, but suddenly..." Then she put herself up noticeably. She raised her head and faced up to Bob. He could still do nothing else than staring at her. "I know that you won't believe me this", she said quietly, "but I wish nothing more than I had never met this man. I have never intended to cheat on you, Bob ... it was just a single weak moment. I am sorry." She started up to her feet. Infinite pain lay in her eyes. "I will never bother you again, Bob. Maybe you will be able to forgive me sometime, even if I don't deserve it. I hope..." She swallowed hard. "I hope, that you will find a woman, who can remain faithful to you. Farewell, Bob."

She turned around, hid her face in her hands and ran away weeping. Bob awoke too late from his paralysis to hold her back.

"Helen!", he shouted after her. "Helen, wait! Come back!"

But she had disappeared, and Bob didn't feel strong enough to run after her right now. He still couldn't believe, what she had just said to him. His head was nearly going to explode, because it was filled with all kinds of weird thoughts.

"Helen", he groaned. „This cannot be true... Please... come back."

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When Helen arrived home and slammed the door, she had no longer tears inside of her, which she could shed. Since she had woken up, she had been crying nearly continuously, partly with anger and partly with pain. It had lasted hours, until she had commanded all the courage to go to Bob and to confess everything to him.

As he had stood in front of her suddenly, she had nearly not been able to articulate a word. In her sight he had suddenly been perfect, without any spot, even if he had looked overslept and a little bit pale. Her heart had broken, when she had become aware of the fact, that she would never see this man again. Every fiber of her body had screamed at her not to tell him about her mistake and to be the best girlfriend of the whole world to him from now on, but her stomach had nearly turned at this thoughts. Even through she wanted to be together with Bob more than ever, it wouldn't have been possible for her to maintain this gigantic lie for just one day. It was over.

Leaning against the door she slowly sank down and hid her face in her hands. When she had woken up in the morning, she had felt infinite fury. Fury on Mr. Incredible, who had created this awkward situation, but even more on herself. Her whole lifetime she had been strong, had adhered to her ideals and had served as a model for others. And now? Now she had spurned her fortune, the one thing, that would have made her life perfect... just because of one single night!

She would have felt a little better if she had been able to regret her mistake. Her contrition made her feel queasy of course, but simply because she had cheated on Bob and had lost him for that reason. But hard as she tried, she wasn't able to convince herself, that the night with Mr. Incredible had been disappointing. On the contrary. She grimaced with fury on herself when she acknowledged to herself, that she had enjoyed every second. Even if her mind was freed from desire now, her body was still remembering the things, that Mr. Incredible had given to her... things her body had liked, things he had longed for. The superhero had done his reputation credit. His hard, but not injuring touches had driven her almost crazy. Several times she had believed, that she would melt with ecstasy, and her climaxes had been supernovae in the galaxy of her consciousness.

Helen bit her lip to suppress a sob. It had not been her first time, but it had never before been nearly that intensive like it had been yesterday night. The passion inside of her had never burned so long and so hot ... and probably Mr. Incredible had felt the same. His... stamina had lasted longer than she had considered it possible, but it didn't give her much satisfaction right now, that he had to be completely run out today. Although he had given her a fantastic night, he had taken something much more important from her. Now it was a certainty, that Bob was not the perfect partner for her in all things. As much as she loved him, he could not give her a night like that one.

She lifted her head, when she heard the phone ringing. It was not hard to guess who wanted to reach her right now, thus she waited for the answering machine to intervene. When she heard the voice of the caller, she pressed her lips together and dug her fingernails into her shoulders.

"Helen, take lift the receiver!" Bobs voice sounded agitated and sad at the same time, exactly as she had expected. "We have to talk urgently. You are not the only one, who made a mistake. I..."

He was interrupted, when Helen switched off the answering machine with her stretched arm.

"But I made an inexcusable mistake, Bob", she said with rough voice. A single tear flowed down her cheek. "You must let me go. It is better for you."

For one more moment she was staying like that. She considered, what she should do now actually. She could not stay in this city. Even if she moved, it was not impossible, that she ran into Bob once again... or that he found her. And she did not want that to happen. Even if he could forgive her, she had not forgiven herself yet. She bared her teeth. In addition there was prohability, that she crossed Mr. Incredibles path again. And she doubted, that she would be able to control herself then. She would kill him.

She slowly got up. She had no choice, she had to go back to her hometown. Actually she had moved here willingly, but now there was nothing left to keep her from going back. She opened a cupboard and took out a suitcase. She had to hurry. It was rather certain, that Bob would come here soon to search for her. Till then she had to have disappeared from here. She could commission a forwarding agency to pick up the furniture and the remain.

In a hurry she packed together a few things, until there was no more space in the suitcase. Then she eyed her superhero-costume. Last night, when she had come home completely exhausted, she had fallen into bed still dressed. Thereby the awakening had been even worse, because she had not even been able to convince herself, that everything had just been a nightmare. She had taken off the costume immediately and had thrown it far away from her. She clenched her teeth. Should she take it with her? Elastigirl was after all to blame for the whole mess!

But in the end her reasonable part prevailed. She WAS Elastigirl. She could not simply blame all of her mistakes on the superheroine. In addition, somebody might find the costume in this apartment, and then everyone would know about her secret identity soon. Relucantly she picked up the costume from the ground and threw it into the suitcase. Then she took a last look at the room. Her mirror leaped into her eye.

She did not know why, but as she saw her reflection, she flied into a rage. Quick as lightening she stretched her arm and shattered the mirror into a thousand pieces. Momentarily she just stood there without regarding her bleeding hand. She wondered, why she had been caught by rage... had she seen Helen or Elastigirl? She looked at her hand musing. She had got into this mess, because she had been torn between her two lifes. If she didn't want to get hurt like that again, she had to give up one life. But which?

She thought about that, while she was taking a bandage and dressing the wound. It would be just logical to give up the life as a superheroine. In the end Elastigirls irresponsible actions had destroyed Helens happiness. But exactly there was the rub. Helen didn't know whether she was able to live lighthearted like a normal person ever again. She didn't want, that other people got wind of her pain, which they could never understand at all, no more than she wanted to get comforted. Helen looked at Elastigirls costume. The superheroine ran at least the chance to let off steam. She smiled fiercely.

"Helen will die from lovesickness", she announced. "But Elastigirl will live on!"

She closed the suitcase, lifted him and went to the door as fast as she could without looking back again. This life lay behind her. In her hometown she would talk to the authorities. She would leave her apartment only as Elastigirl. And she hoped, that sometime not only Helen, but also Helens memories would die away.