Warning: Even when the first few chapters will be relatively light, the subsequent chapters could trigger some people. Themes like torture, human experimentation and even SA of a minor, discretion is adviced.

The search.

The living room of the Parr family home was a far cry from its usual warmth and liveliness. It felt hollow, stripped of joy and filled with an unbearable tension. Helen sat on the couch, gripping a photograph of Violet and Dash in her trembling hands. Her eyes were red and swollen from countless nights of crying, her face etched with exhaustion. Bob paced back and forth across the room, his large frame tight with barely-contained rage and helplessness.

"It's been four months, Helen," Bob said, his voice breaking. "FOUR MONTHS!, and we still don't have any answers. Who took them? Why? Where are they?"

Helen shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I don't know, Bob. I don't know." Her voice cracked, and she pressed the photograph to her chest. "They're just kids. What could they possibly want with them?"

Helen buried her face in her hands, her body shaking with sobs. "I should've been there. I should've protected them. I shouldn't have let the go alone in a patrol"

Bob knelt beside her, taking her hands in his. "This isn't your fault, Helen. Whoever did this... they're the ones who'll pay. We'll find them. No matter how long it takes, no matter what it takes, we'll bring them home."

Bob sank onto the arm of the couch, burying his face in his hands. "I can't stop thinking about it, Helen. What if they're hurt? What if they're... alone and scared?"

The words hung in the air, suffocating them both. Helen closed her eyes, her mind unwillingly conjuring images of Violet and Dash trapped in some cell, cold, hurt and terrified. Dash, spending his birthday away from home. Instead of running around the house, tearing into presents, eating too much cake.

And Violet…probably blaming herself for being taken away, doing everything she can to protect him when she herself must be scared

"They're strong," Helen said, as much to herself as to Bob. Her voice was trembling, but she forced herself to keep speaking. "They're fighters. Whatever's happening to them, they're holding on. They have to be."

Bob looked up, his eyes filled with anguish. "But for how long? We don't even know who took them or why. What if we're too late?"

Helen slammed her hand on the table, the sound startling both of them. "We are not giving up," she said fiercely, her voice shaking with emotion. "They're out there, Bob, and they're waiting for us. We will find them."

Bob looked up at her, his jaw tightening. "You're right." He stood, towering over her, but his shoulders were slumped with the weight of their grief. "We'll find them. No matter what it takes."

Helen nodded, though the fear in her heart remained. "We have to believe that they're holding on. That they know we're coming for them."

Bob wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. For a moment, they stayed like that, clinging to each other as they tried to hold onto hope.

But in the back of their minds, the horrifying possibilities lingered. What if Violet and Dash were being tortured? Starved? What if they were being used as pawns? What if some pervert…?

Helen closed her eyes, cutting that last thought and silently vowing to bring their children home. Whatever it took, wherever they were, she would find them.

The dim, oppressive light of the cell cast long shadows on the walls. Violet and Dash sat huddled together in the corner, the cold floor beneath them doing little to ease their discomfort. The silence between them had grown too loud, the weight of their isolation pressing heavily on their shoulders.

Dash rested his head on Violet's arm, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think Mom and Dad miss us?"

Violet glanced down at him, her chest tightening. "Of course they do. Every second."

Dash let out a shaky breath, his fingers playing with the edge of his tattered sleeve. "I keep thinking about home. About... before."

Violet nodded, a faint smile tugging at her lips despite their bleak surroundings. "What do you remember?" she asked softly, encouraging him to talk.

Dash's face lit up slightly, his eyes distant as he thought. "Mom's pancakes. The ones she made on Saturdays. Remember how she'd get mad when I tried to eat them before they were done?"

Violet chuckled lightly, her voice warm. "Yeah, and you'd always burn your tongue because you couldn't wait."

"Worth it," Dash said with a weak grin. He leaned his head back against the wall. "And Dad… he'd let me sit on his shoulders when we went to the park. I felt like I could see the whole world from up there."

"Because he's practically a giant," Violet said, smiling faintly.

Dash's grin faded slightly. "I miss them so much, Vi. I miss Jack-Jack too. It was never boring when he was around…"

Violet's smile faltered, her throat tightening as memories flooded back. She closed her eyes, imagining their cozy living room, the smell of her Mom's cooking, Jack-Jack's giggles echoing through the house. She thought about the quiet moments in her room, her favorite books scattered on the bed, her headphones drowning out the chaos of her little brothers.

"I miss my room," she said softly, her voice tinged with longing. "The way the sunlight came through the curtains in the morning. And my desk... where I used to sketch or write in my journal."

"You know, I even miss going to school… even math classes." Dash said with a wry laugh.

Then he looked up at her, his expression serious. "What do you think they're doing right now? Mom and Dad?"

Violet hesitated, then forced herself to answer. "They're looking for us. They haven't stopped." She swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady. "They'll find us, Dash. They have to."

Dash didn't respond right away. He shifted closer to her, his small frame pressing against hers for comfort. "I just want to go home," he whispered, his voice cracking.

"I know," Violet said, wrapping an arm around him and resting her chin on his head. "I do too."

The silence returned, but this time it was filled with shared memories of warmth, laughter, and love—things that felt impossibly far away. Yet, in that moment, those memories gave them a flicker of hope.

"I bet Mom will make a huge dinner when we get back," Violet said, her voice soft but certain. "And Dad will probably try to tell some dumb joke to make us laugh."

Dash smiled faintly. "And Jack-Jack will turn into a monster and throw the peas he doesn't want to eat."

"Exactly," Violet said, squeezing his shoulder gently. "We'll be back there one day. Together. Just like before."

The cell was still cold, and the shadows still loomed, but for a little while, they held onto the warmth of their memories. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep them going.