Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“And we hope you have a wonderful senior year here, Ms. Veronica Best.” 

“Thank you. I’ll sure try.” She says disingenuous.  

“Your mother can stay as long as-” 

“Oh, she’s not my mom.” Veronica says quickly, a little offended in fact.  

“Sorry, your guardian can say as long as you like. Have a great first day.” 

Veronica and her guardian walk out into the hallway before class starts. Rowdy teenagers fill the halls, throwing footballs down the hallway, having shallow talks in front of their lockers as Veronica looks uncomfortably at the small space around her.  

“You’ll be alright. Everything will be fine.” her guardian says, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

“Easy for you to say, your life isn’t in danger.” 

“I assure you it is.” 

“Whatever, Mirage! You know he’d never hurt you!” 

Mirage’s brows lower in annoyance. “Have a good day at school, Veronica.” 

She huffs as she watches Mirage walk back to her new sleek black car. The same one she only dreamed of having. It was faster than any other on the market, not like she could drive it though, he’d never let her. 

As the hallways clear, Veronica trudges down, nose to schedule, trying to decipher what L3H stands for, and where it could even be in a school that only has one floor. She walks for a while before running headfirst into a stranger and falling to the floor. He seemed annoyed and frustrated at first, but once she looks up at him with her big brown eyes, his gaze softens, and so does his voice. 

“...hey.” 

“Hey.” She says just as soft. She pushes a piece of her curly brown hair behind her ear before he helps her up. She looks away and finally comes to her senses, and says, “Oh! I’m sorry, I'm new here, I actually just moved, and I'm just trying to find my classes so-" 

“I-It's alright! Uh, hey, you know, I could help you find them actually, I'm like, kind of the expert at uh... giving tours.”  

Veronica laughs a little, and he smiles, looking surprised his dumb joke made her laugh at all." 

“I wouldn't want to make you late, though..." She says a little worried. 

"Don't worry.” He says leaning his arm against the lockers smoothly as the loud school bell rings. “I already am.” 

She smiles, and he spends the entirety of first period giving her a tour of the school and showing her every class, and she discovers that L3H is in the only L shaped hallway in the building, and 3H is just the room number. He shows her the gym, the cafeteria, the best route to get to the track outside, and the only stairwell that leads to the roof, “The best lunch and hang out spot,” in his opinion. But before he can show her to her last class, the bell for second period rings. 

 “Well, I gotta run, sorry we didn’t get to your last class.” He says putting a hand on the back of his head. 

She looks up at him as she says, "That's alright. You can show me later, at lunch maybe?" 

“Yeah, for sure...” he says slowly as he watches her walk to her second period. 

“What the hell was that?!" Syndromes voice booms inside her head, "I mean I get you're a teenager and all, but can we STICK TO THE TASK AT HAND?!” Veronica holds her head in her hands as her ears start ringing. "Oh, come on! don't tell me you've forgotten? Your life is on the line here, Vee. I could kill you right here, right now-” 

"Yes, I know." Her head feels ten times as heavy as before, and pressure begins to build. 

"Don't get all upset. All you have to do is find one guy. Just one! You already know his name. You act like this is hard or something- are you even listening to me?" 

Veronica looks ahead to her class with a furrowed brow, trying to focus on anything else. “Yeah, totally...” she says rolling her eyes, but then feels a sharp, splitting pain in her head, causing her ears to ring louder than before and her nose to bleed. 

“Apparently you forgot who I am, Veronica. I could split your brain in half at any moment. Don't test me. And don't fail me." 

She wipes her nose on her hand, and huffs, frustrated. It's a lot more blood than she’s ever delt with before, and this time, he really feels serious. She’s scared, but that’s become a normal lingering feeling for her. Veronica grits her teeth as she walks to the bathroom, and begins washing her hands and face and, of course, is late to class because of it.  

Once she makes it to class, she sits down, looking for anyone who could possibly be him. Because if she doesn’t find him... she’d rather not think about that. No one in her first class stands out, besides for the girls sitting behind her, whispering about her as if she can’t hear them sitting two feet in front of them. Her third period, again, no one interesting, a lot of whispering. In her fourth period, one of the girls from before sits beside her, asking her shallow questions like, “Are you new? When did you come here? Why were you late? Do you know anyone here?” But Veronica rolls her eyes. She asks like she hasn’t made assumptions about those exact same questions already. After an entire class of nodding along to whatever she’s saying, she goes to lunch, looking for the guy she met before. 

Though, no matter where she looks, she doesn’t find him. Not in the cafeteria, not in the hallways, not even on the roof. She sighs, hanging her feet off the building, eating the average school food as a slight breeze blows by. She hears laughing and yelling nearby, and she looks over to see the guy from before playing tag with a bunch of other jock looking dudes. She smiles, it’s a sweet sight, highschoolers usually don’t play around like its recess. She is a little peeved though, he said he’d show her to her last class, and yet, here she is, on the roof alone. 

Fifth and sixth period go by, and yet nothing. She sits down near the back of class and sighs, defeated. It would have been great to find him today, but it is only the first day of school. Maybe Syndrome will understand. Maybe he’ll tell her that it’s fine, that they can always find him later. And maybe, they’ll hug at the end, and he’ll apologize for everything he’s done to her! She rolls her eyes and huffs, frustrated that in an hour she’ll go “home” and have nothing to show for it. 

Someone sits down next to her, and says, “Hey, looks like we have math together.” She turns to look at him, realizes he’s the guy from before, and her mood instantly changes. 

“Would be better if we had chemistry.” 

He looks at her shocked, and tries to reply, but he breathed in too quickly, and all he can do is cough, red-faced from lack of air and embarrassment. 

As they sit through their honors math class as his eyes dart from the board to her and back. He’s taking a jumble of notes, all chicken scratch and moving further off the page with every letter, not that he’s trying to pay attention anyway. She looks down at her paper though, copying exactly what’s on the board making no sense of it in her mind at all.  

She whispers to herself, “Can you help me with this later?”  

Syndrome’s voice rings back, “Seriously? Calculus isn’t even that hard!” She sighs a frustrated sigh, and he inhales sharply, “Look, you know what, if you find him, I’ll help you, how’s that sound?” he says in a mocking tone. 

She leans back in her seat, and stares straight ahead and says, “Great,” through gritted teeth. 

Next to her, he noticed her lack of enthusiasm just as their teacher mentioned their first homework of the week, and he sees her frustratedly walk out the door as he tries to catch up with her. But a sea of students erupts from every door, and he loses sight of her. 

As she steps into Mirage’s beautiful car, she feels a slight click in the center of her mind.  

“He’s gone.” Veronica informs her, and she breathes a small sigh of relief. 

“He’s upset with you, you know.” 

“It’s the first day of school! How does he expect me to find him on day one! It's not like he would be able to find any of them. It took him years to even figure out their secret identities!" 

“...I wouldn’t tell him that.” 

“I would.” 

After driving for an hour, Mirage and Veronica arrive at a place in the middle of a dry dessert like area on the outskirts of the city. Usually, Veronica likes watching the ground shift underneath them, and the gentle spin of the giant metal elevator that takes them deep underground. But right now, she’s struggling through her calculus homework on the pull-out desk from the glove box. Another reason to love this car of its vinyl wood interior, and intriguing features like that. But all Veronica is focused on is the small black print that's starting to melt into the white working area. Maybe she’s been staring at it too long. 

They arrive in the garage and take yet another elevator down even further into the earth. Veronica can only stare frustrated at the page, as Mirage puts in a long code very quickly, which opens the door to a long white hallway. Today, the small pools on either side of the main path are open, but Veronica could never figure out why he even had them. There was nothing in them except clear water, and the white shiny vinyl that covered every wall and surface only made the pools look that much emptier.  

She looks up and is greeted with the same sight as always, two giant black metal doors with silver rings and hinges. They’d have to be around twenty feet tall, Veronica thinks, but she’s always been a bad guesser. Mirage opens the doors for her, taking her homework as she's greeted with a pitch-black room, and a glowing red eye in the center. He only ever turns off all the lights when he’s upset. 

Syndrome’s metal claw hands clank together in a pattern, over and over, as his identical feet grip the base of his obsidian throne. His cloak shifts as he gets up to talk to her, making the small white S on his chest visible, but only for a moment before Mirage closes the door.  

The semi-translucent veil on his face glows red from his left eye, and his metal arms and legs slither uncomfortably as he gets even closer. She hates the sound they make, like metal cogs grinding together in an old, forgotten clock.  

“I don’t think I need to explain why I’m cross with you, Veronica.”  

She hates how close he gets. Especially since his long hair touches her face while he looms over her. It’s bearable if the lights are on, his red hair with white stress streaks isn’t a good look for him, and she can focus on how stupid he looks rather than the feeling. But when all the lights are off, it’s torturous. She protests, moving backwards as she says, “This is ridiculous! I didn't do anything wrong-” but his arm extends out towards her. His metal claw wraps around her neck as it slams her into the double doors, the only thing she can see is the light from his red eye, and the veil it illuminates. 

"Every day you don't find him is another day wasted." 

She coughs, pulling the claw off her neck to say, “Go do it yourself then...” She inhales hard just to say, “You half human bastard.” 

His grip on her neck tightens. “You have no room to talk, you powered freak.” His voice hardens with that last word. His second claw supports the first, scratching the metal behind her head. He begins to smile and then laugh. “Where’s all that attitude now, Vee? Not so smart now that your life is in my hands!” 

She manages to speak once again, much raspier than the first time, “If you were really going to kill me you would have done it already.” 

His red eye pulses for a moment, before he abruptly throws her hard at the ground. She groans as he returns loudly to his throne, metal clanking and scraping against the dark rock ground.  

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I'm more of a... spirit breaker. And wouldn't it be fun to break the spirit of Frozone's only niece." She weakly tries to get back up, only for one of Syndrome’s arms to rapidly extend to her and slam her back down. “He should have died, you know. Should have been him fighting V.8, not Mr. Incredible. But now... now I have you to bring the Incredibles to me.” 

“Yeah? What are you going to do with that nub of yours?” He reels back his arm into view of his red eye, realizing his claw has been melted off, and she holds the evidence. Her palms are glowing around the three metal pieces missing from Syndrome’s arm as she smiles at him, the first time she’s felt truly satisfied in years. 

“You-!” He screams, plunging his other arm into the abyss where she just sat. But as he slams his hand against the ground, trying to find her, she uses a claw piece to pry open the door. He squints as light fills the room, watching her silhouette get further and further away. 

As she’s running down the hall, preparing to round the corner to her room, she yells in agony, and crumbles to the ground. She holds her head as her nose bleeds on to the white floor and Syndromes voice booms both inside and outside her mind. He walks up behind her, saying, “You think you're some kind of genius, don't you? Well, every day you don't find him, every day not one incredible is found, you will suffer." He slams his working hand down on her, staring at her with callous eyes. "Over, and over, and over again." He slams the giant metal claw three times more.  

Another day at school goes by, and she finds nothing, and learns even less. But of course, her punishment that day is worse. 

Another day, nothing. Another night, beaten. 

Another. Another. 

And by Friday, she’s much too exhausted to even think about school. She doesn’t have the energy to bother with the girls calling her a ghost, she can’t focus in class at all, even when the teachers call her out. And she barely responds to Syndrome when he speaks to her, even when he threatens her and makes her nose bleed. But her attitude completely shifts when she sees him again, as it did every day, sitting right next to her in her last class of the day. It was something she could actually look forward to, maybe the only thing. 

At the end of class, though, their teacher announces they’ll have their first test on Monday, and Veronica sighs hard, hanging her head. She gets up to leave, taking a test review with her, but before she leaves, he puts a hand on her shoulder and asks, “Hey, uh, are you struggling with math or something?” 

She looks at him defeated, saying, "Is it that obvious?" 

"Uh, I could help you, if you wanted." He says putting his hand on his neck, a little embarrassed. 

"Really?" She says pleasantly surprised. 

"Yeah, we could go to my house... if that's fine with you?" 

"NO THATS NOT FINE WITH YOU!" Syndrome's voice in her head screams. Her ears ring loudly, but she completely ignores him with a smile on her face. 

“Yeah, that sounds great.” She smiles through the immense pain and Syndromes shrieks in her head, feeling truly happy for the first time this week. "But uh, before I go with some random stranger," she teases "what's your name?" She puts out her hand, and he shakes it.  

"Dash. Dash Parr." 

“...Ohuh, ohhohohoho!” Syndrome’s terrible laugh echoes behind her eyes as they widen, and her mouth slightly opens in shock.  

“Would you look at that! Your little crush was an incredible all along! What are the odds! You know, yeah, you should go study at his house. Stay there as long as you want! And you know what? As a reward for job well done, I won't bother you the rest of the day!" 

She hears a click, and stares at Dash in silence.  

Chapter Text

That click didn’t feel real. Why would he just leave her here? With an Incredible? The one he wanted her to find so badly? She feels relieved but alone, comforted yet scared and empty. She holds on to Dash’s hand much longer than intended while she speeds through every stage of grief three times over. 

With a red face, Dash squeaks out, “Uh, we could l-leave now? If you want?” 

She looks at him, and then their hands, “Oh.” she pulls away quickly, slightly embarrassed, but more so confused, and very distracted. “...Yeah, yeah that’s fine.”  she says staring past him. 

She follows him to his car in the senior lot, the one with painted parking spots, as he talks about everything and nothing, not that Veronica is listening anyway. Even though her hearing is fine, her vision is clear, her head isn’t hurting, and her nose isn’t bleeding, her shoulders still feel heavier than ever. What did he mean by reward? Is this just one giant test? Did he ever actually leave? 

“I know you’re still there.” she whispers to herself. But she’s met with silence. And a small chirping cricket on the pavement. 

They get to his car, a small, red, sporty car, and he adjusts his mirrors as he says, “You know, I’ve never had a girl in here before.” 

“Mhm.” She says dismissively. He has to be there. He has to be listening. There’s no way he’s not. Veronica grips her hair, trying to think of anything he wants her to do. This is just some test, this is just a trap, and if she doesn’t perform well, everything will be so much worse. She looks at dash who begins reversing out of his spot. Does he want her to... to take care of him? Right here, right now? Maybe that’s the only way to escape the torture that awaits her back home. Maybe- 

“Are you feeling alright?” He looks at her concerned, putting the car in park right next to his parking spot. They’ve barely gone anywhere. 

She looks at him again, her gaze softening. “Oh. Uh... yeah. Sorry.” Guilt almost instantly washes over her. How could she think that when all he’s ever done is be kind to her? 

“Psh, don’t be sorry. I was just worried about you.” He says so casually, as if it’s no big deal. She looks out the window, feeling the most cared about, terrible person on earth. She looks at his parking spot, painted with the Incredibles iconic i, and words around it that reads, “Looking forward to an INCREDIBLE Senior year!” 

Subtle.  

“You’re an Incredibles fan?” She asks innocently. 

“Uh, who’s not?” He responds pretty cocky. 

She laughs, saying, “I can think of at least one person.” 

“Well, you can’t win em’ all.” 

“You know, I actually met Kid Incredible once.” 

“Really?” He says intrigued, looking at her for a moment before returning to the road. 

She shifts in her seat, facing forward instead of looking out the window. 

“Yeah, he was... really cool.” she says smiling, looking down. 

“Uh, how so?”  

She laughs a little and says, “Well, it was a big event for the Incredibles like a year or two ago, after they locked up a record number of super villains in just a year, but I’m sure you knew that already.” 

“Uh, yeah. I was there.” 

She smiles and says, “I’m sure you were. Anyway, I was at the very front of the giant crowd that came to see them and congratulate them, and I got his autograph, it was dumb, I snuck out to go, but, you know, I actually still have it.” 

He looks at her for a moment, surprised, “...You’re serious?” 

“Oh yeah, I keep it in my wallet.” She takes out a small piece of paper that says KiD in a cursive font, the i kept lowercase, while the K and D take up most of the page.  

“You really kept it that long...?” 

“Yeah, it’s stupid, I know. But he’s like, kind of my favorite hero, it’s dumb.” Dash’s ears get red when she says that. But he looks over at her a little confused when she suddenly sighs. “I wonder if he even remembers it.” 

“I’m sure he does,” he says almost immediately. 

“Right.” She smiles as he drives, the rest of the car ride filled with sweet silence. 

They set up a study area at the table in front of the TV, textbooks spread out neatly. They sit next to each other on the floor in front of the couch. Dash speeds through the homework as fast as a reasonably paced, definitely normal person would. But in the thirty minutes he takes to do the homework and the test review, Veronica has completed half a question the homework the completely wrong way. 

She slams her head down on the table with a long sigh, and Dash looks at her with worry and surprise, putting down the papers he was neatly shuffling just a moment before. 

“...Are you alright?” 

She sighs again, pushing her papers away from her. “I just don’t get it.” 

Dash scoots closer to her, looking over her at her paper that she’s covering half of. “Well, it looks like you’re, uh, really trying-” 

“That just means I’m doing it wrong.” 

Dash gives her an awkward smile and says, “The issue is you’re trying to solve for y, when you should first solve for x, then z, then y.” He says pointing to the equations on her paper, leaning over her. 

She looks up at him; he’s closer than she expected. But she doesn’t move away, instead, she leans on him as she asks, “Well, where should I start?” 

Dash nervously and awkwardly walks her through the steps and helping her on any other problems she doesn’t understand. After about an hour, they finish the homework. 

Veronica throws her arms in the air as she says, “YES! Finally done!”  

“Uh, did you forget about the test review?” he laughs a little as he asks. 

She looks at him with a blank stare, before sharply inhaling, and slamming back down on the table. 

“You’re going to hurt your head if you keep doing that,” Dash says as he gets up and walks to the kitchen. She slowly gets up and follows him, sitting at the bar facing the stove. He puts on a red apron with the Incredibles i on it, and turns to grab some knives off the counter, and gets slightly surprised to see Veronica sitting there. “Wanna watch me cook or something?” he asks smiling. 

“Beats doing math homework.”  

He laughs a little and grabs some chicken and vegetables from the fridge, returning to the stove. 

“But are you like... obsessed with the Incredibles or something?” He stops for a moment. “I mean, first the parking spot, now the apron... I mean, I get if you like them, but...” she says, trying to get him to open up to her, tell her information she really already knows. 

“I don’t see how it’s any weirder than keeping an autograph in your wallet,” he says a little defensive. 

“Well, I have a good reason, I just wanted to know why you liked them so much.” she says leaning back in the dining room chair. She convinces herself it's better to get it out of the way. If he just tells her now, he'll never have to know just how much she already knew. And if things do go south... then... maybe it’s not just her fault.  

“Yeah? And what’s that?” he says cutting the vegetables a little faster than before. 

“Oh, it’s uh... personal-” 

“Oh no, you don’t get to judge me and then say nothing!” He says, whipping around quickly from the stove. He plants his hands on the counter, staring her down. 

She looks at him surprised and guilty, “...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” 

“Go on. Tell me what your ‘good reason’ is.” He says very annoyed with her. 

She thinks about dodging the question, which probably isn’t the best idea based on how his eyes are practically piercing through her own. 

“Well... I may or may not... have the smallest... like tiniest, like it’s crazy to even think...” 

Dash folds his arms, very unimpressed with Veronica’s embarrassed fumbling of words. She looks up at him, and then down at the counter as her face goes red. 

She quickly spits out, “I have a crush on Kid Incredible.” 

He stares at her wide eyed as she puts her hands in between her knees, sitting very awkwardly and rigidly, waiting for him to say anything. Instead, keeps staring at her as his ears get red. She closes her eyes, wishing she’d said anything else. 

Dash stands there in shock, before realizing the dinner he’s making has caught on fire. “Shit!” he runs over and quickly puts a lid on the fire as Veronica watches in worry. He puts it out, but what was their dinner is now completely charred. “Well... there goes our dinner.” 

“We could order pizza?” 

He looks at her, and then back at blackened pan. 

An hour later, they’re sitting on the couch, eating in silence, the pizza box covering Veronica’s homework she should be doing. Dash rests his arm on the back of the couch behind her as she sits a little bit further away from him than before, the awkward feeling still lingering between them. 

She decides to think about something else, anything else. She looks over at her math homework and sighs. Not that. She looks at her pizza, just plain cheese. It’s nice actually, since Buddy only ever gets anchovies on his pizza. Literally the worst topping possible. And of course, he doesn’t get everyone their own kind, it’s anchovies or nothing. It’s one of the few things he doesn’t compromise on. The other’s being she’s not allowed to be a fan of the Incredibles, and she can’t reschedule repair days. But really, he knows she loves supers including the Incredibles; he even bought her a retro design of a Mr. Incredible t-shirt, saying he, ‘mistook it for an actually good-looking shirt.’ She laughs a little to herself. 

She thinks about him more, he hasn’t bothered her all night. That’s what he said he’d do, but she didn’t believe him. Even last year when she went to that concert and he said he’d leave her be, she felt a few clicks throughout the night. It’s... nice to not have to worry what she can and can’t say, hurting people, or getting herself hurt. But... she’s still a little worried. It only recently got that bad, since he’s so close to getting what he’s wanted for seven years now. 

Is it normal to feel this conflicted about your... no, family isn’t the right word. 

“Deep in thought over there?” Dash interrupts her mulling. 

“Oh, uh, yeah, just thinking about my...my...” She struggles to think of a title fitting for him. “My uh...” She squints her eyes, staring out into space. She really can’t think of anything. 

“...Well, I was just thinking too... that if you wanted to, uh, meet Kid again, I actually happen to know him-” 

“What, like... personally?” she says with a small smile on her face. 

“Uh, yeah... I guess you could say that-” 

She sits up on her knees, entertained, and gets increasingly closer to him as she asks, “Do you have his autograph? What about his phone number? Are you guys like best friends? Do you hang out?” 

“Uh... no, yes, I guess so? And uh, yeah, we hang out sometimes.” 

“How did you get to be friends with someone like Kid incredible?” She says, trying to hide her widening smile. 

He smiles and says, laughing a little, “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

She laughs too, and says, “Well, Kid is just so suave and charming and cool...” 

He looks into her deep brown eyes, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, “You have no idea how cool I am.” 

She looks at him for a moment, her face getting warm as his hand still lingers by her ear. His face turns from a confident smile, to a hesitant, almost asking expression. They stay there for a moment, before his eyes flick down to her lips, and then back up to her eyes. Even though it was quick, she notices, and pulls away, saying, “Soo... you think I could get Kid’s number? That is, if he’s even interested-” 

“Yeah of course!” He rushes, flustered, looking for a pen and paper. He writes it down for her in a very familiar style of handwriting.  

He brings it back to her, and she smiles as she looks at it. She gets up, walking to the rotary in the kitchen, saying, “Do you mind if I test it now? You know, just to make sure it’s the right one and all-” 

“NO!” He rushes in front of her and blocks the phone. “Ah! I mean, he’s probably asleep right now!” 

“At eight thirty?” She says skeptically. 

“Hey, even heroes need their beauty sleep.” he says, folding his arms, standing perfectly in the way of the phone. 

She tries to look for a way around him, and sighs when she realizes he's moving with her, blocking her from even seeing the phone. “Fine, I won’t call him right now. But can I please just see the phone? I need to call home.” 

“What? Why?” He looks at her a little confused, “Are you not having a good time here?” 

“No, I am.... it’s just getting late, and I’m just a little worried about, uh... getting the, uh, test review done.” She lies, still struggling to label her and Buddy’s relationship. 

“Well, you could just finish it here...” He insists, looking away with big blue puppy dog eyes. 

She smiles, and laughs a little through her nose, “It’s like you want me to stay or something.” She leans in closer to him. And he leans back, flustered, putting his hands on the counter. 

“I mean, I, uh-” he says very embarrassed as she leans in closer, very entertained by his red ears and face.  

She smiles at him before walking back to the table in the living room, saying, “I guess I can stay a little longer.” 

But instead of doing the test review, they put on a movie, and she falls asleep halfway through, leaning on his shoulder that he’s too nervous to move. 

“WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE SHE IS?!” Mirage screams at Buddy after he just told her he decided to leave her alone for a while. 

Buddy’s eye widens as he looks at her, but says pretty smugly, “Woah, babydoll, what’s got you so worked up-” 

“Don’t ‘babydoll’ me,” she says, looking at him with disgust as she grabs his cloak collar, standing above him as he sits on his throne. “Where. Is. She?” 

He extends his Omi droid legs, looming over her now, saying, “I already told you, I let her relax.” She’s forced to let him go, as he’s gotten taller than her arms can reach. He begins walking behind his throne towards two giant metal double doors on the pitch-black wall at the back of the room. “She’s finally doing a good job, so why not let her have this? Especially since, ha, it only really gets better from here.” 

“For you, or for her?” 

His last few steps echo through the room as he stops in his tracks. Mirage waits for a response but doesn’t get one. 

“Typical. You don’t care about her. You never did, and this little break for her? You just feel bad-” 

“I CARE ABOUT HER MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE!” Syndrome screeches as his claw grab Mirage by the shoulder and slam her to the ground, his voice breaking like a record. His red eye spotlights Mirage’s face, and she looks up at him, not scared, not upset, just... disappointed. “...No one gets her like I do.” He reassures himself more than anything else. 

“Just because you both live off of machines doesn’t mean you understand her.” 

Syndrome squints at her and pushes off her as he turns back to the doors.  

“They don’t care, you know.” Mirage says lowly from the same place on the ground that Syndrome left her. “He’ll kill her if he finds out.” 

As the doors slide open with the sound of grinding metal, Syndrome grabs the door, saying, “Ha, Dash would never hurt her.” 

“It’s not dash I’m talking about.” 

The doors to Syndrome’s room slam shut, and he stands in the entrance for a moment. His room fills with the glow of motion sensing red lights which illuminate his dramatic black canopy bed and the towers of NSA folders spread out across the floor. His reflection on the obsidian rock floor reflects his face under the veil as he stares at the ground. He never takes the time to stare at his red burned and scarred face, especially not his cheeks where giant holes reveal his teeth and bone... and he isn’t going to start now.  

Instead, he stares at the nub where his right claw used to be, reminding him of his faults and failures. Even though he just made himself taller than anyone in the world, he’s never felt smaller. If he could ball his fist in anger, he would. But all he can do is make the ends of his left claw clamp together.  

With a sudden roar, whips his clawless arm around the room, hitting walls and sending papers flying everywhere. He huffs in anger, his chest rising and falling rapidly. As the last paper flutters down, it reveals the smiling face of Mr. Incredible himself. 

“...Ha.” He pauses, staring at it. “Ha...ha-ha...” Syndrome laughs, beginning to lose control of himself. “HahahahaHAHAHAHA!” He continues, the sound getting louder and louder as he steps on the picture with his three toed, chicken-like feet, and rips it completely in half with his remaining claw. 

And though his internal battery begins to die, and the weight of his metal arms weigh heavier on his shoulder sockets, he continues digging and tearing until there's only a hole in the floor where his picture should be. 

Chapter Text

Veronica wakes up groggily, rubbing her eyes as she lifts her head up from dash’s shoulder.  

“Mm… what time is it?” 

“Only like… one…pm…” 

“What?!” she jolts up, “Why didn’t you… wake me…” She looks in front of her to see some fresh fruit, a small pile of bacon, and a three-pancake stack with a blueberry smile on top of it, still warm.  

“I had to make sure you knew I was a good cook.”  

She smiles at him as she takes a bite. “Did you just make these?” 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“But I woke up on your shoulder.” 

His face turns red as he realizes how embarrassing it is that he got up, made her an entire breakfast, and came back to sit in the exact same spot just so she’d lean on him a little longer. 

She laughs a little, and just as he’s about to explain, they hear the front door unlock. 

 “Ugh, does it have to end now?” Bob jokingly groans as he walks in the door.  

Helen follows behind him, holding Jack Jack’s hand as they walk in, “Date nights can’t last forever, Bob. You already let Jack Jack convince you to get ice-cream on the way home.” 

“He’s very convincing, I mean, look at those… eyes…” Bob’s demeanor turns from joking to serious in a second as he locks eyes with Dash.  

Dash stands up and says, “It’s not what it looks like-” 

Helen speaks loudly to him, “Oh, really, because it looks like instead of running workouts and strength training for your track team, you’re at home with some girl we’ve never met?” 

Veronica looks around awkwardly as she takes another bite of her breakfast. 

Bob chimes in, “What happened to, ‘I can’t watch him, I have to train.’ You know Edna was busy this weekend, and you still pawned him off to her!” 

“I know, I know-” 

“Do you?!” Helen points at him sternly as he walks up to them, letting go of Jack Jack’s hand. 

As the three argue more, Jack wanders up to Veronica who has no idea what to do. 

“Hi.” Jack Jack says to Veronica. 

“Hi.” She says back. 

“Why are you here?” 

“Well, Dash was helping me with my math homework.” 

“Oh. Do you like math?” 

“No. Hate it.” 

“Me too.” 

Helen and Bob dig into dash more, and Jack Jack plops down next to Veronica. He looks at Dash’s papers and pencils in front of him, and then picks them up, and starts drawing. Veronica finishes her breakfast and doesn’t notice him scribbling away until his elbow bumps her after he switches drawing from his right hand to his left. 

“Hey, you shouldn’t… actually, that’s pretty good.” 

“Thanks,” he says adding a curly piece of hair onto his simple drawing of a hero Veronica thinks she recognizes.  

“Who’s that?” She asks, tucking her knees to her chest. 

“Me. But in the future.”  

Veronica looks at him a little confused, but before she can ask him anything about it, Helen walks up to her. “Hey honey, I’m sure you’re really sweet, but you have to leave. Sorry.” 

“Oh, no, that’s fine.” 

“I can drive you home, or Dash can since this is probably going to be the last time he has his car for a while-” 

“Oh, uh, that’s okay, can I just call my… family?” 

“Oh, yes, of course.” 

Veronica walks over to the phone as Helen and Bob walk to their room, deciding on a punishment for Dash. Jack Jack draws more, his future hero self with a long cape standing with his arms crossed next to a very short Edna. She has a speech bubble that reads, “No capes!” 

Veronica walks up to Dash who has his arms folded, leaning against the counter where the phone is. Veronica dials as she looks as Dash, joking, “I didn’t know I was a fugitive.” 

“…so stupid.” He says frustrated. 

“Well, you did kind of skip your track training.” 

“It was worth it.” He says as his gaze softens when he looks at her. She blushes slightly, turning away as she calls Mirage.  

“Hey, I’m-” She holds the phone away as Mirage yells. “…Are you done? Alright I’m- okay, I’m with dash- okay, I know you know- okay, geez.” She asks dash quietly off to the side, “What’s your address?” and once he tells her, all they can do is wait. 

Veronica packs up her stuff from the table and Dash does the same, but sighs as he realizes Jack Jack has completely covered his homework in drawings. “Jack…” He says taking it away from him. 

“Hey!” 

“You can’t just draw on other people’s stuff. We already talked about this.” 

“Well, you can’t have people over when no one is home, and you did it anyway! Plus, she said she liked my drawings!” He says pointing at Veronica. 

She holds her hands up as Dash glares at her, “That was when it was just one drawing!” 

Dash groans as they finally clear off the table and waits with her by the door. 

“And I didn’t even finish my homework.” 

“Well, I’d still help you, but I’m probably grounded from pencils at this point.” He says as he rolls his eyes. 

Veronica laughs a little but almost instantly looks concerned as Dash’s parents storm out of their room and walk up to him. 

Bob looks at Veronica and says, “I thought you’d be gone by now-” but Helen smacks his arm. Lowly he says “What?” as Helen rolls her eyes and turns to Dash. 

“We decided we’re taking your car for a week-” 

“How am I supposed to get to school?” 

Helen looks at him very unimpressed, and he rolls his eyes with a sigh.  

Bob chimes in, “Aaannddd you’ll be running two times the laps at every practice until the tournament on Friday.” 

“Dad-”  

“Until the tournament, it’s coach to you.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding…” 

“No, we aren’t kidding, Dash!” Helen almost yells at him. “I mean, seriously, what were you thinking…” 

As she continues, a sleek car pulls into the driveway, and Veronica waves to dash on her way out. He smiles at her as she gently closes the front door, and Bob watches her leave wearing a slightly annoyed expression. His face quickly lights up, though, when he looks out the window and admires the shiny black car with a whistle, looking a lot like his own. Dark tinted windows and all. But when he notices the driver's platinum blonde hair and tan skin as Veronica opens the passenger door, he feels a pit drop in his stomach. 

Mirage takes off her big sunglasses, tucking them into her jacket pocket. Her sharp eyes look at Veronica coldly, “You didn’t think about telling anyone where you were?” 

“Uh… why would I? Buddy can just check my location whenever he wants-” 

“But he didn’t. He wouldn’t.” 

“…Well… how was I supposed to know that?” 

Mirage huffs. “He plans to leave you alone. I don’t know how long and, obviously, neither do you.”  

“…Why?” 

Mirage looks forward, putting the car in drive. “I don’t know.” 

As Mirage slowly pulls out of the driveway, and off to the road, Bob begins to panic. He suddenly runs outside, almost breaking the door off its hinges from pushing it so hard. His breathing gets heavy, and his head starts reeling. He huffs as he runs to the end of driveway, seeing the beautiful black car drive over a hill and out of sight. 

Dash and Helen run out after him, “Bob, what are you doing?” She says concerned.  

“Yeah, dad, what’s going on-” 

“YOU HAVE TO GO AFTER THAT CAR!” He yells grabbing Dash hard by the shoulders. If he held them any tighter, they’d bruise. 

“What?” He says, extremely confused and trying to escape his dad’s tough grasp. “What are you talking about? Why would-” 

“BECAUSE MIRAGE IS IN THAT CAR, DASH!”  

Helen steps up, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Bob, it can’t be. She’s been gone for at least seven years. Let’s think rationally about this-” 

“I SAW HER, HELEN!” 

“Okay… Let’s say you did… why are you panicking? She helped us before, so why-” 

“Because if she’s back, driving a car like that, somehow around us…” He puts his head down, and says lowly, “That could mean that he’s back too.” 

“What…? You can’t be serious-” she says trying to look him in the eyes. 

“Dash.” He lets go of his arms. “If you run after that car right now, you can forget everything we just said, no grounding, no punishment, no nothing.” 

“Bob!” 

“Seriously?” Dash says, probably more excited than appropriate for the situation. In the blink of an eye, he’s gone from wearing his comfortable white collared shirt and brown bell bottom pants to a super suit inspired by Mr. Incredibles retro suit. His mask, gloves, boots and trunks are all black, as well as the top quarter of his suit around his shoulders and chest; the rest is bright, electric blue. In the center of his chest is the iconic, retro, Incredibles i, red dot and all, with a white halo surrounding the top half. Coming out of the base of the i is a thick, white racing stripe connecting all the way around with a thin red stripe cutting through the center. 

Helen looks at him, putting a hand to her head, “You can’t be serious.” 

“Whaaat?” Dash says with a slight smile, “What if someone sees me? You always need to be prepared-” 

“JUST GO!” Bob yells, exasperated.  

“Alright, alright! Geez…” Dash says before taking off after the car. 

As they both watch him run off, Helen turns to Bob, infuriated. “I can’t believe you just did that.” 

“What? What if it’s really her, Helen, what if-” 

“And what if it’s not?  You’ve just destroyed our authority as parents! And for what? A hunch? A what if?” She walks back inside and huffs, “Unbelievable,” before slamming the door. 

Chapter Text

Dash sprints down the road, barely breaking a sweat, though is a bit slowed down by the fact he’s slowly wearing holes in his boots. Probably from all the times he’s worn his suit when he didn’t necessarily need to. Maybe like, right now for example. He sighs, frustrated he can’t go his full speed even though he’s already passing every car on the road with ease. He really never can, he’d either instantly wear down a new pair of shoes or hurt himself trying to run barefoot.  

Something that makes him feel a little better is that he’s already caught up to the car though, and they’re approaching a much softer dirt road.  

He passes the car with a smug smile and wink, quite literally leaving them in the dust while he looks for a safe clearing. 

“What was that...?” Mirage says quietly and confused. 

“Shit.” Veronica says as she looks ahead of them, seeing dash leaning against the guardrail on the right side of the road, pointing to a clearing on the left. 

Mirage squints at him in annoyance, and floors it. 

“MIRAGE! YOU’RE GOING TO HIT HIM!” 

“I know.” 

As the car approaches dash, Veronica looks from him to Mirage, to him one last time, before grabbing the wheel and veering them across the road into the clearing, grazing a tree or two on the way. 

Mirage angrily blurts out “Veronica-!” Before getting interrupted by knuckles rapping on her window. 

“Why is he here?” Mirage asks Veronica coldly. 

“How am I supposed to know?!” 

“What did you do?” 

“Nothing!” 

Mirage looks at her sharply before reaching into the trunk behind her, her hand landing on a silver, pistol looking gun. 

“WAIT! Wait, wait! Just, before you do anything crazy...” Veronica puts her hands out in front of her, her eyes wide open with fear, “Just... let me handle it, alright?” 

“Yeah, and what are you going to do? Talk him away? Flirt him to death?” 

Veronica looks at her for a moment. 

As Dash runs his fingers through his hair, fixing his long, wind-blown mullet, suddenly the driver's window rolls down. Veronica is in the driver’s seat, leaning one arm on the steering wheel as if she belongs there, wearing Mirage’s sunglasses. 

She pulls them down to the tip of her nose as she says, “Kid Incredible? To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

He laughs a bit through his nose, and says, “Well, for one, you, uh... you definitely, uh...” he struggles to find a reason why he would need to pull her over in the first place. “Well, either way, something’s definitely wrong, miss...?” 

“Veronica.” She says a little skeptically before turning on the charm, “But you can call me Vee.” She says with a wink. He smiles and rolls his eyes in response. 

“Well, Miss Vee, you also almost ran me over when I tried to stop you. What’s up with that?” He says, his arms folded resting on the driver’s side door, leaning into the car. 

“Oh, that? I just didn’t notice you at first. But I was wondering, since when were supers traffic cops?” She says putting her index finger to her bottom lip. 

He looks at her a little annoyed, though still with a smile on his face, “Whenever it’s necessary.” He pushes off of the car and begins looking around it, peering into windows that lead to the trunk.  

Veronica quickly rushes out, stepping between him and the car, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” 

“You know, I could have sworn I saw someone else driving before, I’m just making sure-” 

“Making sure of what? You don’t have a warrant.” She says, pointing her finger into his chest.  

“No, but I have probable cause~” he says looking smug, moving to the back of the car, placing his hand on the trunk. 

“You aren’t even an officer! You can’t just search my car!” 

“Actually, according to section fifteen-point eight dash one in the Super Civility and Enforcement Act, it says any hero with good intent can act as an officer of the law.” 

“Oh yeah? And how about ones with bad intent?” 

“Then they aren’t heroes.” 

“Then what does that make you?” 

He scrunches his nose at her with a ‘very funny’ expression on his face, before opening the trunk. He steps back, surprised to actually see Mirage sit up in front of him, and even more surprised to see her holding something that looks like a silver pistol. 

He prepares to take off, scared and confused but as soon as he does, Mirage’s eyes narrow.  

“DON’T-” Veronica yells, but it was already too late, as mirage pulled the trigger, and a pink tranquilizer dart landed in his thigh. 

He looks down at it in shock, and then turns slowly to Veronica, his eyes welling with betrayal. 

He collapses hard to the ground, unconscious, but the look he gave her lingers a bit longer. 

“Oh my god, oh my god. WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” Veronica yells at mirage, her hands tight in her hair. 

“What was I supposed to do? Let him run back home, tell the whole Incredible family that I’m out here? Do you know how this looks, Veronica? No one even knows I’m alive.” 

Veronica’s voice quivers a little, “...What are we going to do now?”  

“What we planned to do from the beginning.” Mirage grabs Kid and throws him violently into the trunk.  

“What?! No! You can’t do that!” She says following Mirage into the car.  

“Veronica.” She says coldly, “Your little crush isn’t going to stand in the way of business, do you understand?” 

“...Whatever. I’ll just talk to Buddy when we get back. At least he tries to understand me, you don’t even-” 

“He. Beats. You.” 

Veronica goes silent. She puts her head down, hiding her face behind her hair as Mirage starts the car, and takes off down the road. 

It’s just... a phase in their relationship. It’s never like this. Well, it had been, but that was when she was little and didn’t understand how much trouble she could be in. Or could cause.  

‘All it takes is one wrong move,’ Buddy’s voice echoes in her mind. ‘It’s like chess really, do you... know how to play chess?’ 

A young Veronica shakes her head, quietly crying, rubbing a newfound mark on her arm. 

‘Well, see... I don’t want to hurt you. In fact, I really like you. We’re pretty similar, you and I. But right now, I’m kind of the king, and you’re like... a princess, of sorts.’ 

Young Veronica sniffs, ‘Is there a princess in chess?’ 

‘Oh no... but there could be! What piece do you want to be the princess?’ He says, gesturing at the wooden board in front of them. 

She picks one of the brown, wooden horses in front of her and holds it out to him. He gently takes it from her small hand.  

‘So, this is the king, and this is the princess,’ he says, holding the two pieces together. ‘The king has to make sure the princess listens to him, so the princess doesn’t get hurt. The king has a lot of enemies, like those ones over there, so he has to make sure they don’t get to her. And the best way to do that is for the princess to listen. And there has to be some... correction... if she doesn’t. Only because he wants to keep her safe.’ 

‘Wait, but these ones are the enemies?’ She says, pointing at the pieces in front of her. 

‘That’s right.’ 

‘Then... why is my piece the same color as theirs?’ 

They arrive in their underground garage, and Mirage and Veronica wait by the car. As Mirage looks satisfied, Veronica leans against the passenger door with her arms folded and her eyes puffy. 

“Princess! Babydoll!” Buddy yells as he struts out of the elevator. He quickly makes his way over to them, grabbing them both and pulling them into a hug, and kissing Mirage on the cheek. 

“You’re in a good mood today,” Mirage says with a smile. 

“Well, when you called and said you had a surprise for me, I couldn’t help but get excited.” 

Veronica rolls her eyes with a huff. 

“What’s wrong, Vee?” 

“She’s just upset,” Mirage says dismissively, “Here, come look.” 

She opens the trunk to show off an unconscious Kid Incredible, completely limp and mainly unharmed. 

“WOAH! I-I can’t believe this! A real Incredible! You always knew how much I wanted one of these.” He says joking around, getting a smile out of Mirage but gritted teeth from Veronica. 

“You just think this is some big joke, don’t you?” She turns to him, very upset. “You think killing people and ruining their lives is just so much fun, don’t you?” 

Buddy looks at her confused, “Veronica, sweetheart... what’s gotten into you? You knew from the start that-” 

“Supers are people too, Buddy! And just because it’s your job, doesn’t make it right! Hell, he’s not even the Incredible who almost killed you! What does he have to do with any of it?!” She screams, tears falling from her eyes and on to the dry concrete floor. 

“Veronica-” He calls after her, but she had already stormed off, and the elevator doors slam shut. 

He sighs and looks at Mirage as he takes Kid out of the trunk with one claw, dragging him by one leg like a child with his limp doll. 

“I just... I don’t know what changed. She was on board in the beginning!” 

“Well... you didn’t really give her a choice.” 

“She used to listen to me.” He continues, walking with Mirage to the elevator, and dragging Kid behind him. “Why is she acting like this?” 

“Well, you did give her more freedom. That she hasn’t had since... well, the entirety of being a teenager.” 

Buddy holds Kid like a fish on a line above them in the elevator as they begin their ascend. “But I thought with that freedom she’d learn to appreciate me more.” 

“Are you sure you didn’t just... feel guilty?” 

“For what?” He says with a slight laugh. The elevator doors open, and he walks towards his lair chamber, Kid unconsciously following behind, his latex suit squeaking against the white marble floor. “For being there for her when she needed me most? For acting like a real parent, not the terrible ones she had before? For saving her life?” He says half laughing through all his words, “Ha...ha...hm...” He suddenly stops, putting a claw up to his mouth, his smile fading away as he sits in thought.  

“She’s her own person now.” She holds out her hand, revealing a small remote control. “But you can fix that.”  

“How did you get that?” He says frustrated and a little frightened. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” She says, smiling and walks up to him to give him a hug. “I’m only trying to help.” She says as she puts the remote back in his pocket and walks away to her room. 

He stands there in silence. 

He looks around, worried, confused, upset. 

And his frustrations only grow when he looks down at Kid, still as unconscious as ever. He rolls his eyes with a “tsk,” and throws him into a chair in his dark lair in front of one of the two consoles on each wall of the room. He ties him up extremely tight and very quickly with some rope inside the cabinets under the console, all with one arm while standing in the hallway. He huffs as he grabs the doors and slams them shut, and then storms off, walking the opposite way of Mirage, down to Veronica’s room. 

Chapter Text

Buddy gently opens Veronica’s door, peering inside. She’s angry and on the verge of tears, her hair covering her face as she lays silently on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Did you do it yet?” She asks, noticing Buddy the moment he opened the door. 

“No, I-” 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” She says in a very monotone, emotionless voice.  

“Princess-” 

“Don’t.” 

Buddy sighs as he walks in, closing the door behind him, and takes a seat at the edge of her bed. 

“Veronica, why are you so upset? You knew this was the plan from the start.” He speaks gently and calmly. 

“And you knew I liked him and decided to do it anyway.” She says coldly, turning away from him to face the wall. “You gave me no choice, decided what I’d do for me, and expect me not to get upset? I thought you were some genius.” 

“Look, I admit I was a little pushy-” 

“A LITTLE PUSHY?!” She yells as she whips around to face him. “You said you’d kill me if I didn’t listen!” she says pointing a finger at him 

“Yeah, but I was never going to!” He says defensively. “I mean, at least not then. How would I have gotten any of them here without you?” 

She looks at him in disgust, “Psh. Typical. Everyone’s just a tool to you, huh? Something to keep around until their not useful anymore.” she says laying back down. 

“You know that’s not true.” 

“Really? Because it feels like it is.” 

“Would a tool get a nice room to live in? Nice clothes and gifts and celebrate holidays? Would a tool get 3 nice meals a day, and a pantry full of her favorite snacks, which I see you’ve snuck into your room, by the way.” He says, gesturing a claw at her desk across the room which has scattered candy wrappers, chip bags, and soda cans all surrounding her big computer. 

“How about bedtime stories and the latest tech, trips to the mall, every concert she’s wanted to go to? You know, all I’m asking is for one thing, really just one. And I’ve given you so much, much better than what you had before, at least.” 

Veronica continues to stare at the wall. “Just because you’re nice to me sometimes, doesn’t mean I’m not a tool most of the time.” 

“...But would a tool get anything and everything she’s ever asked for?” 

“Not this. I don’t get this.” 

He sits and stares at her for a moment. He should feel angry, that she’s disobeying him, that it’ll only ever get worse from here. That he’s given her everything, and she can’t just do one thing for him.  

Just one. 

But he doesn’t. He’s not angry. He’s not upset with her. Rather, his heart sinks as he looks around the room, seeing all the hero posters on her wall framing the one he gave her, the giant one of Mr. Incredible, sitting pristinely above her desk. 

“...Look, uh, Vee... even if I was gonna spare him... he’d just tell his family, or come back after us and he’d definitely remember what happened with Mirage and the car...” 

Veronica’s eyes light up, and she pops up with a newfound energy. “But he doesn’t have to!” 

“...What?” 

“He doesn’t have to remember! Call Uncle Rick!” 

“You can’t be serious, for something like this?” 

“Definitely for something like this!” 

Veronica, Buddy, and Mirage surround Rick uncomfortably close, staring at the machine he just hooked up to a frame above the wooden table Buddy dragged out from his room. It’s held up by metal beams on each corner which wobble a little as he turns a few screws and flicks some buttons, pointing it straight at Kid’s head who’s sitting on the opposite side. 

“Isn’t very sturdy, is it...” Buddy says as he taps the thin metal bars with his claw. 

“Well, this thing wasn’t really meant to move, especially on such short notice.” Rick responds, a little annoyed, double checking the machine is hooked up properly. 

“And you’re sure this will work?” Mirage asks skeptically. 

“It’s worked every other time.” 

“Maybe, but I’m sure it was in much better shape.” Buddy says, staring at the frame. 

“Look kid, I only came here because Ronnie here needed my help,” he says playfully patting Veronica on the head with a smile. He returns to his usual stone face demeanor as he says, “I don’t need your comments, and really, I don’t need you to talk at all. Ronnie, go hold his head up.” 

She walks over to Kid and does just that, but as the machine whirrs up, and the laser points at his forehead, he moves his neck slowly upwards with a groan. 

“He’s waking up!” Veronica says, letting him go instantly and turning to the others, worried. 

“What the...” Kid says slowly, squinting his eyes, “Veronica...?” he slowly turns forwards, “Dicker? Wait...WAIT!” He yells as he struggles in his chair, staring wide eyed at the machine and then at the ropes he’s tied in. “What’s going on?! Vee, if this is about earlier, I-I forgive you, okay?! We can just move on, pretend like nothing happened! A-And, Dicker! You know me! You can’t do this to me!” His struggling gets faster as he talks, moving the chair around against the hard floor. “I-I won’t say anything! Not about Veronica, not about Mirage- Nothing!” 

Rick softens for a moment, “Kid, I-” 

“That’s not a risk we’re willing to take, Kid Incredible. Or should I say, Dash Parr.” Syndrome says smugly as he steps forward into Dash’s view. Rick puts a hand on his face, disappointed, and Mirage rolls her eyes. 

“You... you really are alive...” Dash says, scared and confused. He looks down, shaking his head, and then back up at him, “How do you know my name?!” 

“Well, your good friend Dicker told us, didn’t you, Rick?” 

As Dash looks at him in denial, Rick explains, “They forced me out of retirement, kid. The NSA wanted me back, said something about how I’m the best on the team. Offered me a raise and all... but you have to understand, it wasn’t my choice.” 

“He’s right... It was mine.” Syndrome says cockily. “But don’t get it twisted, this National Supers Agency was never really your friend to begin with!” 

“What are you talking about?! They... they protected us! Gave us a house and, and-” 

“And had access to all your personal information? Your real identity? Your location at all times? Used that info to, let's say, find every super and gid rid of them once and for all?” 

Dash looks at him in fear and disbelief before turning to Veronica. But the hurt in his gaze only grows as her looks at her. 

“Think for a moment, Dash. How do you think I just ‘got away’ with killing all those supers, huh? You think the NSA wouldn’t have at least one thing to say about it? Not one agent at my door? Not one warrant for my arrest?”  

Dash looks down at his lap, hanging his head, defeated. 

“Come on, you’re a smart kid! Put the pieces together! They were never looking out for you, they were hunting you! They put you in a nice place, pretended to be nice people with good intentions, and you didn’t even realize the trap was decorated! You just thought they were that nice.” 

“So, what are you going to do?” Dash says, his eyes closed and head still low. “Erase my memory, for what? Just to torture me all over again?” 

“Oh man, if you think this is torture... I’d love to see how you react to the real thing.” 

Dash looks up in anger, staring daggers into Syndrome’s glowing eye. But just as he does, Dicker points the laser right in the middle of his forehead and pulls the trigger. 

Dash’s eyes glint for a moment, a plan forming in his mind. If he can speed up his brain’s information processing, maybe he can skip over the entire memory wipe all together. This information is too valuable to lose, and he can’t just give up now. As he speeds up his mind, everything around him seems to move incredibly slow. His eyes dart to the faces around him: anxious, malicious, disheartened, and unbothered. He stares down the small suction cup heading towards him, trying to think even faster. To completely skip over something, even something that may take just a few seconds would take an immense focus and speed never seen before- 

But the suction cup hits his head anyway, and he instantly goes unconscious.  

Veronica and Dicker look shocked. He turns to her and says lowly, “That’s the fastest I’ve seen anyone knock out.” 

Veronica looks back at Dash, worried, hurt, shameful, guilty. This was her suggestion after all. But she didn’t think he’d wake up, and she didn’t think he’d look at her like that. It makes her eyes water, but she can’t cry, this is her fault. It’d be like throwing a rock at a beautiful little bird and being sad that it died. 

But at least that rock got to fly just once, right? 

Buddy, Mirage, and Veronica all look at each other as Dicker reaches a hand out to take apart the frame, but just as he does, Dash groans lowly. 

Buddy begins in a whispered panic, “RICK, YOU SAID THIS WOULD KNOCK HIM OUT!” 

Rick whispers back, “It should have!” 

Mirage impatiently says, “Then just do it again,” as she puts her hands on the sides of the small hanging machine. 

“Don’t! That might kill him! Or at least completely wipe his memory.” Rick says, gently pushing her out of the way. “He’d be practically brain dead.” 

“I’m willing to take that risk,” she says reaching for it again. 

“I’M NOT!” Veronica yells in a whisper.  

“What else are we going to do?” Mirage says as she looks at her annoyed.  

Veronica looks at Buddy, her eyes begging for an answer. He looks at Dash, who begins to slowly raise his head. Panicking, Buddy looks at Veronica, and then back at Dash, quickly grabbing the back of his chair, and dragging him out of the room and down the hallway at a speed he’s never achieved before. Veronica runs behind him, seeing him cut the ropes Dash was tied up in, and toss him into Veronica’s room, the only normal looking room in the entire underground lair.  

He lands in her bed, his head hitting the bedframe, causing him to wince. 

“Buddy, be careful-” but she’s interrupted by a claw pushing her into the room. 

“Don’t let him leave until we figure something out.” He says lowly and slightly panicked before slamming the door.  

Dash groggily puts a hand up to his head, slowly opening his eyes. Veronica rushes over to him and leans over him with a worried look. 

“...Are you alright?” She asks, a little scared and very anxious. 

He looks at her, and his gaze softens into a smile. “I am now.” 

She laughs slightly, pushing his messy hair out of his face.  

She looks him in the eyes and all she can do is smile. 

Chapter Text

“Does your head hurt,” she says still smiling at him, and messing with his hair. 

“Mm, yeah,” he says, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Yeah, I bet. It looked like you hit it pretty hard.” 

“I mean, it didn’t feel that hard? But uh...” He looks around the room, and then back at her with an awkward smile, “how did I get here again?” 

“You don’t remember?” She says, half genuinely surprised, and half acting surprised. 

“Uh, no...” 

“What, did you get a concussion or something?” She says, teasing him, climbing on to the bed next to him.  

“I really don’t know... did I really hit my head that hard...?” He says, looking away, extremely confused. 

“Apparently, if you can’t even remember how you got here.” She says, laughing a little. 

“This isn’t funny, I’m actually really worried now...” 

“Well, if it helps...” She looks away, pretending to remember what happened earlier that day, “I called you to ask for homework help and you came over... but once we started you said you were way too tired, and just got in my bed, without asking by the way, and fell asleep. And then I guess you woke up and hit your head so hard you just completely forgot everything.” 

“Really?” He says in a little bit of disbelief. “...And why didn’t you call Dash to help you with your homework? Is this homework a threat to the city? A danger to society?” 

“It’s a danger to my grade.” She says slipping off the bed and sitting against the side. “Plus, Dash said I could call you.” 

“But for homework?” He says a little amused. 

“What else would I call you for?” She says, smiling back. 

He laughs through his nose, gets up and grabs her bag sitting next to her bed, saying, “Alright, let’s get this done.” 

Rick packs up the frame he disassembled, along with the small machine into the suitcase he brought with him. Buddy watches him, a claw resting over his mouth in a thinking pose. Mirage types away on the console a few feet away. 

“Can I help you, Pine?” He says, glancing up at him briefly and then looking back down at his suitcase, stuffing the wires into the sides and zipping it up. 

“It’s just strange.” He says, staring. 

“Well, it’s not an exact science, but a machine like this isn’t really that hard to understand-” 

“No, no, not that. I could build a machine like that in my sleep.” 

“Then why’d you call me?” Rick asks, and Mirage snorts. 

Buddy gives her a dirty look, not that she could see it under his veil, “Anyway. What I meant was how she calls you uncle.” 

“Does she now?” 

“Yeah, you haven’t noticed?” 

“I guess I just didn’t think much of it-” 

“How could you not?!” 

Dicker looks over at Mirage, who sighs and rolls her eyes.  

“What is this about-” Rick asks, but Buddy interrupts him again. 

“I mean, seriously, its just no big deal to you? Some people would kill to have a title like that.” 

Rick looks around, awkwardly. He grabs his suitcase, ready to go, and says “Right... well-” 

“Do you even know how much that would mean to some people?” 

“Buddy... are you jealous?” Rick asks genuinely, and mirage laughs yet again. 

“What?! No! I’m just saying you don’t know how good you have it.” 

“Right... okay... well, maybe if you-” 

“Not me.” 

“Maybe if someone wanted to be called something... different... then maybe he could start off by being kind. And honest.” 

“Oh, he’s so kind and honest.” Buddy says, folding his arms. 

Rick sighs, “Sure. And I’m still retired.” 

He rolls his suitcase to the giant double doors, and puts a hand up to open it, but before he does, he looks back, a little bit sad. “Just... you’re going to have to tell her sooner or later.” 

“Psh... Technically I already mentioned it.” Buddy says, waving him away. 

“Well, clearly, she didn’t get the memo.” 

“I don’t understand how you’re not getting this,” Kid says, almost laughing at Veronica.  

“I don’t get how you do!”  

They’re lying on the floor next to each other on her fluffy rug in the middle of the room, her textbooks and formula sheets creating a ring around the two of them. Veronica is grabbing her hair, stressed, as Kid has his arms folded under his head, looking up at her. 

“Alright, well, maybe you’re just not good at math. What’s the big deal?” 

“The big deal is that the test is on Monday! That’s only 2 days from now, and I don’t understand anything!” 

“You might be a lost cause.” He says, laughing a little. 

“It’s not funny! If I don’t pass this test, it sets me on a course for failure for the rest of the year! And this is my senior year, if I flunk out now, there’s no way I’ll be able to get into a good college or study computer science which you have to be good at math for, and- 

“Wait, wait, wait. You want to study computer science?” He interrupts her, surprised, and smiling. 

“Why is that so surprising?” She says, annoyed. 

“No, no, I didn’t mean anything by it, I just...” He looks at her for a moment, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “I wouldn’t have expected you to be into that kind of stuff.”  

“Oh, I’m more than just into it,” She pushes his head down as she gets up, messing with him with a smile on her face, and heads to her computer. He laughs slightly as he looks up at her and then follows her over.  

She opens a drawer in her desk, revealing tons of floppy disks, obviously haphazardly tossed inside.  

“You know, they make organizers for those,” Kid says, teasing.  

She looks up at him with a half-smile, and then back at the drawer. She pushes some disks around, until she finds one marked, “sim4---,” the last word scratched and scribbled out. She loads it into the computer, and a start screen appears.  

“Woah, wait, you make games? Like video games?” Kid says, much more interested than before, now leaning over her shoulder. 

“Well, these aren’t really games, more simulations, really. But that’s what I want to do, actually make video games. This one plays like a game, but that wasn’t really the point.” 

She shows him a low poly world, starting off in a grass field. She navigates the space, Kid becoming increasingly invested in every small movement. She approaches a smoking grey ball, which quickly sprouts 6 legs and a head with a red laser eye.  

“Wait, is that...” 

“Omnidroid 7? Sure is.” 

He looks at her confused and a bit stand offish, and she looks at him with a slightly amused smile, “What, you think heroes are the only ones I’m interested in?” 

He looks at her relieved with a soft smile, and resumes watching.  

“Usually,” she begins very matter-a-factly, “These aren’t things you can beat. In every other simulation I’ve made, they’re just to gauge how these bots would behave. And how they interact with the space around them, like how they sink in water, but can still swim, or how they’ll uproot trees in a hurricane trying to stay on the ground. Stuff you can’t really test in real life. But this one, I made it so you could fight it. 

And win.” 

She quickly runs up to the robot, its claws slamming around her, making a shaking effect on the screen. She runs underneath it, two of its claws following her, and causing the droid to fall over. She jumps on top of it, causing it to slam its own claws into its body. She jumps in to a newly created hole as a claw follows her in. She dodges, and it grabs its own, low poly, battery pack, ripping it out. It poofs into a burst of confetti, and fades into a “You win!” screen. 

“WOAH! That was awesome!” He looks at her astonished. 

She looks at him smugly, leaned back in her seat, “See I told you-” Her pride quickly turns to panic, as she realizes the ending screen she’s been conflicted about since she created it is playing. She freaks out, trying any button to skip them because they’re way too big to cover up, and Kid is way to nosey not to look. 

It reads, “You’ve come so far since then. And even though we don’t agree or get along all the time, I still appreciate everything you’ve done for me.  

Happy Birthday, Dad.” The floppy disk ejects, and the computer shuts off. 

“Aw, isn’t that sweet.” Kid says, leaning against the desk, staring at Veronica, who looks as defeated as an old doormat. “Why’d you freak out, it’s cute!”  

Veronica snatches the floppy disk and throws it back in the drawer, hard. She sighs, slumping over with her eyes closed. 

Kid steps over and puts his hands on either side of her chair, teasing her, “You’re that embarrassed over this?” 

She brings her hands to her face, "You don’t get it.” She says, muffled and anything but happy. 

He gently lets go with a soft huff, a little worried about her. He looks around the room, trying to change the subject. He looks at the homework they were just working on and decides now is probably not the best time. Then the bed, maybe just relaxing would help? Or maybe it would just sink her further. He’d rather not gamble that. Kid continues looking around, until he notices the giant Mr. Incredible framed poster above her desk. 

“Woah...” he blurts out, “How did I not notice this before?”  

She looks up and says, “Oh, that? My lights reflect off it a lot, most of the time it just has a huge glare. It’s kind of annoying, actually.” 

“Then why do you keep it up?” 

“I mean... someone gave it to me, so...” 

“Was it your dad?” He says teasing her. 

She rolls her eyes, is frustrated, and he corrects his mistakes. 

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry. But you do sure have a lot of posters up here.” He says, returning his gaze to her wall. 

“Oh yeah, only the best.” 

“Really? Then where’s my poster?”  

She laughs slightly, and says, “You think you’re one of the best?” 

He leans over her again with a smile, “I mean, you sure seem to think so.” 

“Oh, really? What’s that supposed to mean?” She says, smiling back. 

“I heard I’m your favorite hero.” 

“And where’d you hear that from?” 

“A mutual friend.” 

“Oh yeah? And what if he’s wrong?” 

He squints at her, and pushes off her chair, saying, “I’m so confident he’s not wrong that I’d bet fifty bucks you have a poster, you’re just hiding it from me.” 

She laughs and says, “You’re delusional!” 

“And yet, you didn’t take the bet.” 

She sits at her desk chair, watching him look around the room. He looks under her sheets, her bed, under her dresser, and in her drawers.  

“You’re not going to find anything.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” 

He continues looking, under a few already hung-up posters, and in her desk drawers.  

“You’re not a very good detective, are you?” 

“Are you saying there’s something to find?” 

She rolls her eyes with a smile but suddenly becomes very serious as he approaches her closet. He turns around to look at her, and she pretends to be unbothered, but she’s very stressed. 

He flings the door open and walks in, and she sighs in relief that he didn’t notice. He looks around, pushing her clothes out of the way, but nothing is there. On his way out, however, he spots some black and bright blue on the inside of the door.  

“You really thought I wouldn’t notice?” He says as he grabs the door and turns it towards him.  

“Wait!” But it's too late, and he sees the giant poster of him she has on the door. It’s a picture of him from a low side angle at golden hour, a beautiful picture really, just very surprising to see surrounded by polaroids, magazine cut outs, and newspaper pictures, all of him. And, of course, with heart stickers scattered around all of it. 

He looks at her wide eyed, his ears turning red.  

And she looks at him in almost horror and embarrassment, her face flushing faster than ever before. 

Chapter Text

A giant smile cracks across his face as she covers hers entirely with her arms. 

“I KNEW IT!” he loudly celebrates, “I knew I was your favorite!” He rushes over to her, happier than ever. 

“Yeah, so?” She responds muffled from her self-made cocoon.  

He huffs with a smile, and leans over her, “You act like this is nothing.” 

“It is.” 

He rolls his eyes, and picks her up from her chair, holding her like a hero would. She panics for a moment, looking at him like he's crazy. 

 “That’s a lot of hearts for nothing.” He says, moving his face closer to hers.  

“Whatever.” She says, pushing his face away, “Just put me down.” 

“Just admit I’m your favorite.” he says, pretty pompous and not letting her go. 

“It’s not very hero like you to hold someone hostage.” She says, folding her arms. 

“All you have to do is say it. Really, you’re holding yourself hostage.” 

“What are we going to do...” Buddy says, pacing, his robotic feet creating a rhythmic tap on the hard rock floor.  

Mirage huffs, “Why do you even ask when you’re not willing to actually take care of things?” 

“Mirage, you know why we can’t just kill him.” 

“Oh, because your precious Vee would be heartbroken,” She begins with a mocking tone, but quickly switches to a bitter one, “just like she is every time you do something she doesn’t like. But somehow, she survives, and comes crawling back to you, right?” 

He stops for a moment and looks at her. 

“...When did you get so mean?” 

She looks at him and slowly turns away. She gets up, and heads for the door, her heels clacking against the floor, echoing around the room. 

“Wait, babydoll-” he says moving after her, but as soon as his claw touches her shoulder, she breaks down crying. “...Honey, what’s wrong?” He wraps his arms around her, looking at her worried, “I-I'm sorry about what I said, I didn’t think you’d take it to heart-” 

“But you’re right...” She sobs, holding onto his cloak. “But you’re also wrong, and terrible, and great, and awful, and...” She inhales sharply, and cries out her words, “We’re you ever as good as I thought you were?” She looks up at him with wet, glistening eyes. She looks back down at her hands as a few tears fall on to them. Her knuckles are turning white. “Or... do I just feel... guilty...?” 

He looks at her, fear overcoming him for a moment. He pulls her in closer, putting his head on top of hers and a claw through her hair. “It’s okay. I already said it’s okay, there’s nothing-” 

“But it’s not!” She pushes away from him. “You’re so horrible sometimes it makes me nauseous, and you’re so perfect other times I wonder why I ever doubted you. It’s never just fine with you, it’s always either amazing or fucking terrible.” She grabs her hair tight as she breathes hard, her anger and tears spilling over. Her green eyes pierce his red one. “But you know the worst thing you’ve ever done?” 

She stares at him, and he stares back. 

“You forgave me. And that’s something I’ll never forget.” 

She leaves, tears still welling in her eyes. She closes the door gently on her way out. 

He looks after her, not knowing what to do. 

“What are we doing to do, Bob?! You send him on this insane mission based on a hunch, and for all you know, he could be in jail right now for harassing a regular citizen!” Helen says, stretching her neck over his shoulder as he sits at the kitchen bar, reading through the entire year's worth of newspapers. 

“I know what I saw. It was her.” He says taking a sip out of his coffee cup. 

“Oh yeah, then why isn’t it covered in any of these papers then, Bob? You’re searching for someone who doesn’t exist anymore! And more importantly, Dash is who knows where, doing who knows what, and won’t even get punished for it because of his spineless father!” 

“Sp-” he takes a deep breath, “You know what, I’m going after him.” He says, taking the jacket off the back of his chair and putting it on. He gets up and starts walking towards the door. 

“Oh great, just what we need, half the house lost on some- some wild goose chase!” 

“What do you want from me, Helen? To get him, to not get him, what do you want?!” He says, annunciating his last few words. 

The pair notice a small, blue, glowing, star-like blip above them. Bob puts his hands on his hips as Helen folds her arms. 

“Alright, Jack. Come on out.” He says, looking around. 

“...I don’t want to.” He says in an echoey, fourth dimensional voice. 

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Helen says, looking around as well. 

They see a flash of blue light, and Jack Jack around the corner down a hallway, his eyes looking wet and sad. “I... don’t like when you fight.” 

They rush over to him, “Oh, buddy, we weren’t fighting, right honey?”  

“Yes of course, just a discussion. That’s all.” She says picking up Jack Jack. 

“It’s a loud discussion.” He says, clinging to Helen’s arm. 

They look at each other for a moment. Their sad eyes linger.  

“I’m sorry. To both of you.” He says, kissing Helen on the forehead, and patting Jack on the head. “I didn’t mean to push it so far.” 

“...I’m sorry too. I’m just... worried is all. Especially since it's been hours and he’s still not home.” 

“Which is why,” He pauses for a moment, putting a hand on her shoulder, “I need you to trust me.” He says with a smile, a genuine one. 

She looks up at him, and then back at Jack Jack. “I just... what if he’s upset with us? And that’s why he hasn’t come back yet?” 

“Well, then, when I find him, I’ll apologize.”  

She smiles as she puts a hand on his. He gives her a kiss and heads towards his car. 

“My arms are getting tired.” Kid jokingly complains. 

“Just put me down then.” Veronica responds, her arms folded. “It’s not hard.” 

“I will when you say it.” He huffs. 

She teases him, leaning into him a little as she says, “It seems like you already know, so what difference does it make?” 

“I just... want to hear you say it.” He says, turning away from her. 

“Psh...” She looks up at him and then closes her eyes as she puts her head against his chest. “You’re just going to keep standing here?” 

“If that’s what it takes.” 

“So stubborn...” She smiles. 

Ten minutes pass.  

“You’re really committing to this.” She says, a little surprised he hasn’t given up yet. 

“I don’t give up easily.” He says unwavering. 

Thirty minutes pass. 

“You’re not tired?” 

“...Not at all.” He says, looking at her face. First her long eyelashes, and then her cute flat nose, and then her lips. 

An hour passes. And he’s still standing there, as strong as a tree. He only moves with a sudden flinch when he hears a knock on the door, causing him to stop his staring.  

“Oh, let me get that-” she says, pushing away from him, trying to get down. 

“Oh no,” he says holding her tight, “You’re just getting out of it.” 

“I’m not, I swear, I just need to check-” She turns back to him to see him very sour and upset. She sighs and says, “Fine. I’ll say it, but you have to put me down first.” 

“You promise?” 

“I promise.” 

He lets her down, and she goes to check the door. She opens it to find a charcuterie board of various snacks: grapes, small cheese cubes, pretzels and the like. And with it is a small handwritten note, and in fancy, very loopy, cursive letters it reads, “snacks for your friend.” Veronica sighs, taking the note and crumbling it, putting it in her pocket. She turns back around to face Kid with an overly happy smile on her face, saying, “We got snacks!” But she sees him looking very defeated, like a sad dog, sitting on the floor and leaning against her bed.  

She walks over, setting the board on her bed and sitting on the edge. She pats the bed next to her, but instead of going there, he shuffles over to her, putting his folded arms on her lap, and rests his chin on his wrists. He looks up at her, and then back down sadly.  

She sighs with a smile and runs her fingers through his hair. “It really meant that much to you, huh?” 

“Well, you promised...”  

She looks over at the board a little apprehensively. Anything from Mirage can’t be trusted, especially food, but at this point, she’s running out of options. It’s either this, or... nothing, really. She takes a grape off the board, and holds it in her hand for a moment, rolling it on her fingers. She looks at Kid with sadness in her eyes. If only things were different. 

She feigns her smile from before and lifts his chin up gently. “Kid Incredible...” She says looking down at the grape as she places it in his mouth.  

“You’re my favorite superhero.” 

He smiles at her, his ears and face turning red. But only for a moment is he able to, as after he eats the grape, his eyes roll back, his body goes limp, and he hits the floor. 

Chapter Text

Veronica barrels down the road in a glittery, red, sleek, two-person convertible, not as nice as Mirage’s black car, but nice none the less. She glances over to Kid in the passenger seat; his breathing is heavy, but he’s still out cold.  

“I hope you know how hard I worked to convince them to let me do this. They didn’t even want you to go home.” She says lowly to him, knowing he’s not listening. “...I just hope you’re actually okay. You gotta be, alright?” 

She looks at his slumped posture and sighs hard.  

“You just... you have to know I didn’t want any of this. Why’d you have to go and chase us, huh? I barely convinced them to let you live. I don’t want to hurt you, Dash! I really like you!” 

She’s more-so trying to convince herself than anything else. Anything to not be a part of the problem. Her eyes water a little. “I wish it was different. I wish... I wish you weren’t a hero. Then maybe you’d understand.” 

She looks at him for a moment and pushes his hair out of his face.   

“...Would you understand?” 

She sniffs and continues driving to his house. 

Bob takes off down the road. His frustration has turned to focus, and his demeanor is rough, merciless. He sits in thought for half an hour, asking himself what he’d actually do if Dash was hurt, and if he found the person responsible. The last person that messed with his family was... him... and he didn’t survive, he couldn’t have. Though these were Bob’s thoughts, his face gave away his doubts. If she somehow returned, who’s to say what’s possible? And that girl, that girl has something to do with all of this. When he finds her- 

But it’s not a matter of when anymore. As he passes a red car heading in the opposite direction, he sees his son slumped over in the passenger seat, with none other than that girl as the driver.  

He hits the breaks and swerves on the road, creating tire marks, before eventually sharply turning around, and racing after her.  

Once he catches up, he hits a button on his dashboard, flipping over the black circle on the hood of his car, and revealing its signature red color. Though, with a quick switch flip, it starts flashing red and blue. 

Veronica checks her mirrors, and panics. The only thing she can see is red and blue, and Buddy gave her two rules when taking out this car. Don’t wreck it, and don’t get pulled over. 

“You can see why they can’t be registered under our real names. And you aren’t even on the insurance.” His warning to her suddenly popped into her mind. 

“Shit.” She says, feeling the car behind her inching closer and closer. She looks back once more, before deciding to floor it, pressing the petal flat against the floorboard. A puff of black smoke clouds Bob’s view, and before he can even react, she’s gone. 

He grunts as a furious expression forms on his face, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles as he follows suit. 

Luckily for Veronica, a small town made of a gas station and just a few buildings provided a perfect alley way for her to park in and watch the pseudo cop car speed right on by. She continues at her regular pace and looks at Dash one last time before arriving at his house. She holds up his chin for a moment, and stares at him before saying, “...Oh, right. Gotta make this believable,” as she removes his mask and puts it in his lap. 

She slowly stops in front of their house, putting on a worried expression, and turning up the air to try and get her eyes to water. 

Bob rushes outside once he sees her car pull up when minutes before he was yelling to Helen about what just happened. She follows him out apprehensively, getting only a few feet further than the out swing of the door. 

Veronica gets out of the car, just as Bob reaches the passenger door. He throws it open, breaking a hinge, and gently grabs his son, holding him for a moment in relief. But when he looks up at Veronica, who is slowly approaching them, Bob holds Dash tighter, and turns him away from the on-coming threat. 

“I-I just found him like this, on my way out, and-” she feigns ignorance. 

“LIKE I BELIEVE THAT BULLSHIT!” He yells though jagged teeth. 

She stands frozen in front of him, looking worried, more so for herself than anyone else. His ice blue eyes are stuck on her brown, doe ones. 

“...I know what you are.” He says, holding his son close to his chest. “You’re a monster. Just like the woman who picked you up. Just like the man you work for.” 

“I...” She says, trying to find any words to help her. As she fears a click, she slowly says in fear and rising tensity, “Let me explain, please-” 

“Tsk, explain what?” Bob replies with an almost amused tone. He turns to Helen, who reaches out, and takes Dash from him. She gently lays him down on her lap. 

Bob, with his back to Veronica, slowly turns to look back at her, “Explain how my son comes back home unconscious? Explain why you’re working with them?” She looks at him in rapidly rising anger. “Explain how ever since you showed up, everything’s gone to-?” 

“IF YOU’D JUST LISTEN!” She screams, finally breaking, her voice echoing in the hills around them. “He’d tell you! He’d tell you I didn’t hurt him!” She yells, rushing over to Dash, but before she makes it anywhere close, a giant hand grabs her by the neck. 

“And just what were you planning on doing this time?” A low, serious voice booms in her ears. 

“Nothing! I just want-” she says, trying to pull a slowly tightening hand away from her neck. 

“Want to what? Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” He says through gritted teeth, his hand gripping her neck so hard she can barely breathe. 

“Bob!” Helen shouts, “She’s just a kid!” The concern in her voice is palpable. 

“A kid who could’ve killed ours!” 

While he’s distracted, Veronica finally catches her breath. She begins to speak with a few wheezes, still suspended in the air, angrier than she’s ever been. “You know, you ‘heroes’ are all the same. The moment anyone needs any real saving, you wait until the perfect moment to speak up. To make yourselves look good.” She says, glancing over at Helen. “Or not at all if it’s not convenient for you,” she says, as a bitter memory of her own Uncle’s abandonment floods her mind. She turns her attention back to Mr. Incredible. “And you hate when anyone else does a good thing, because then the world wouldn’t need you anymore. You take, and you take, and you take, but what do you heroes ever give, huh? I wanted to be just like you, strong, capable, a good guy. A real good guy. But every situation is black and white with you people; no one is ever worth hearing out, right?” Her words take on a different tone, one that stings the back of Mr. Incredible’s mind as words that aren’t hers flow out of her mouth. “And if this is what every super is like,” she says looking at the hand around her throat and then back up at his face, “Maybe no one should be.” 

She feels slightly regretful and guilty after her last few words. In her anger, she’s denounced not only her childhood heroes, her friend and lifelong crush, but also... herself. 

Not that she has any time to think about it though, as Mr. Incredible throws her into the hill across the street. She slams into the grass and rock and slides down on to the shoulder of the road.  

She holds the back of her head with a wince looking up slowly, only to see Mr. Incredible with her car held high above his head. 

“YOU SOUND JUST LIKE HIM!” He says with a half yell, half cry. 

Helen yells out to him, “BOB, DON’T-” 

The car flies towards her, and as she stares at it, it starts moving slower and slower. In the reflections of the windows, she sees herself, but much younger, much thinner and beaten down. And then her parents, standing next to her for kindergarten graduation pictures. And then them again, but this time with her uncle too, patting her head for getting A honor roll in third grade. The first picture she’s smiling in. And then her being held in the air by Uncle Lucius, spinning around without a care in the world. As the windows get bigger, she sees the aftermath. Her house on fire, her parents lying limp, a bloody hand moving into view from the back of her head. 

And then... chess, lots of it. And food, real food. She didn’t have her uncle, but a few new people. She was less beaten down, less thin, less... sad. She had a new uncle, a new house, a new room, a new family. She sees buddy teaching her how to fix the wires in his arms, and how proud yet annoyed he’d get when she started beating him at chess. How even though he was mean and rash and terrible at times, he was still caring and concerned and doting. She sees her birthday parties ever since she turned eleven; how they were filled with people and smiles and gifts and home-made cake. How every time she’d shown a small interest in something, she’d have ten of them the next day, even if it was something he hated. And how he supported her, through every career change, every school switch, every hard class. And how even though he definitely wasn’t the best, he was still a pretty alright dad.  

And then she met Dash. 

She instinctively throws her arms up as the car speeds back up again. She engulfs herself in flames, hoping for any kind of protection. But as soon as she does, her splitting head pain returns, this time worse than ever before, and with a scream, she passes out before the car even touches her. But the car continues forward, and as it slams into her limp, fiery body against the hill behind her, it explodes in a burst of red glittery wrapped steel and gas fueled inferno.  

Chapter Text

A red light begins blinking at the end of the remote Buddy keeps in his pocket, but he’s too busy talking to notice.  

“So, I’m asking as more of a formality, but she’d definitely have a future here, right?” He says as if he already knows the answer. 

“I’d say so, Mr. Pine.” A man says nodding at the end of the table as he looks at the other officially dressed people around him who nod along, pretending not to be nervous. “Everything you’ve shown us is very impressive, especially for a seventeen-year-old.” He says, looking at the projector screen playing across the long meeting table behind Buddy.  

He rests his intertwined claws on the table and looks at them, his red eye glowing brightly in the dark room, “Well that settles that!” He claps his claws together, and the lights turn on, the projector screen ascends into the ceiling, and window blinds begin to roll up. “It was great meeting with you all!” Buddy says as he gets up and begins to walk out. 

The man looks at the people around him, who shake their heads and motion him to be quiet. He speaks up anyway, “Though...” 

Buddy stops in his tracks and turns his head sharply so that only his red eye stares at him. As the golden hour light rolls in from the windows, the man’s NSA badge glints on to the handful of papers he’s now hiding behind. He holds them like a shield in front of his face as he speaks; the other agents silently panicking as his voice trembles out of him. “Her... her background check says-” 

“You did a background check on her?” He says slowly as rage bubbles within him.  

“W-we do it for every candidate, Mr. Pine-” 

“She isn’t just some candidate, now, is she?” He says as his claws tighten into what would be fists. 

“Yes... but-” 

Another one of his colleges jump in seeing his fear, “She’s directly related to Lucius Best.” She waits for a response, and then continues, “Frozone, Mr. Pine-” 

“Don’t you think I know that already?” He says as his anger seeps into his voice. 

“This is a real concern, Mr. Pine. How can we know for certain that she wouldn’t choose her family over her career?” She says genuinely. 

“That won’t be a problem.” He says through gritted teeth. 

“How can you be so sure? We have a reason to be suspicious. Especially since supers are generational.” 

Buddy huffs and begins walking out of the big conference room, his cloak trailing behind him. 

“If it’s not about her family, what about... a sense of self-preservation?” 

Some of her colleges gasp, and the man at the end of the table shakes his head vigorously. 

Buddy is already out the door, but she continues, “Come on guys, her dad is Frozone’s brother.” She explains, talking with her hands. “Who’s to say she's not a-” 

“SHE’S NOT!” Buddy roars, and his voice echoes into the room as his claws grip and crack the wooden doors of the conference room. He huffs in the doorway as his metal hands squeak and grind against the giant carvings he just created. 

“...She’s not.” He slowly huffs out. He leaves the room, his feet clunking heavily against the floor as the conference stares at the damaged doors, looking like they were torn apart by a savage animal. 

“How was your meeting?” Mirage asks with a binder in her hand.  

He looks at her for a moment and then looks away with a sigh. 

“Well, I got the information you asked for, about Mr. Greene’s past affair, about Ms. Yanes’ illegal drug use-” 

“I think I got the message across... but thank you.” He heads towards Veronica’s room, tired and stressed. 

“Going to decompress?” 

He nods, and she says, “I’ll get your pajamas.” 

After changing into his favorite, velvety soft pajamas, patterned with superhero teddy bears, he sits down at Veronica’s desk, and puts in one of her simulation floppy disks. He kept his favorites at the lair, the rest he gave to the NSA Defense and Research team. He plays through all his favorites, ranging from her very first simulation, which had the worst graphics but its own sentimental charm, to her most recent, which was semi realistic and very detailed. He notices the one he usually ignores; it probably wasn’t anything good if the name was scratched out. She mentioned accidentally making a virus once, and he wasn’t willing to risk it. But today, he’s in need of a little extra comfort, and he can always buy her a new computer. 

He takes the risk and puts it in the floppy disk. This simulation looks a lot livelier than her usual ones, much more like a cute, simple game. He laughs through his nose; she must have been embarrassed of this one compared to all her more detailed and professional looking work. 

As he begins to play through, his attitude shifts from delight to frustration and annoyance. Was she making fun of him? He plays through and destroys his own robot before his very eyes, the exact same way his ultimate enemy did before. He sits angrily through the confetti at the end, who does she think she is? He let her read through all those past records to learn from, to study, and this is what he gets? A stupid game that highlights his failures. He sighs and folds his arms, pushing away from the desk.  

He’s about to get up and walk out, but he notices text that begins to roll across the screen. His frustration shifts to curiosity, and then... 

He stares at the last word as it sinks into his mind. As the floppy disk ejects, he’s left staring at his reflection. He took his veil off, even though he usually prefers to have it on, but it’s hard to see the small, dim screen through it. He looks at himself for a moment, his scars ripping across the left side of his face down to the right side of his chin. His nose is crooked and broken, and his teeth are visible from holes in his cheeks. His long hair drapes over his shoulders and reaches down to his shoulder blades, and yet, a short strand always finds its way out to drape in front of his face. He’s never looked at himself this long before; his scars always reminded him of his failures. How he’d never achieved his lifelong goals... and almost died trying.  

But in this moment... it almost feels like all of that was worth it. Because if things played out differently, he might never have met her. Because if he had his way the first time, she’d still be in that god-awful house.  

Because the man he is right now... is her dad. 

And he’s never been happier. 

Mirage opens the door, his cloak in one hand, and the blinking remote in the other. She looks at the remote and back up at him, silently alarmed. 

His heart drops. 

“Son! You’re finally awake!” Bob says, hugging Dash, who just groggily opened his eyes. 

“What...” Dash says as he looks around, confused.  

“It’s okay, you’re safe now.” 

“What do you mean?” Dash says, slowly pushing him away. 

“Well, I guess you were knocked out the whole time, but that girl brought you back here unconscious with some ridiculous story, but I knew better, son. I knew better.” He says with a tired, deranged look in his eyes.  

Dash looks at his dad with worry and apprehension. “...What are you talking about?” 

“I knew it!” He continues, “She was working with him the whole time!” He says as he paces behind the couch Dash is lying on.  

He looks around before asking, “Where’s mom?” as he gets up slowly, his body tired and sore.  

“...What do you need her for?” He says, asking a little crazed. He grabs his shoulders as he asks, “What’s the matter, son?” 

Dash tries to push his dads hands off him, saying, “Dad... you’re acting... weird.” 

Bob grips his shoulders harder as he looks into his eyes. Dash leans back and does everything to avoid eye contact as Bob leans forward, studying his son. 

“You don’t remember, do you?” 

“Remember what?!” Dash says exasperated, finally getting fed up with his father. 

Bob lets him go and sits down on the couch, staring off into space. Dash sits next to him and loudly says, “Dad, what the hell are you talking about?!” 

“...Your friend, Victoria-” 

“Veronica.” 

Bob gives him a look before continuing, “She’s working with Syndrome. Well, she was.” 

Dash looks at him like he’s insane. He puts a hand on his shoulder, saying slowly so he can understand, “Dad. Syndrome is dead. And what you just said makes no sense at all.” 

“She drove you back here without your mask on, Dash. She practically admitted it.” 

Dash looks bewildered. He stands up again and begins looking around the house. 

Bob, still staring, “What are you doing?” 

“Where’s mom? Someone here has to be rational.” 

Bob sighs. “...She left with Jack two hours ago.” He says, hanging his head. 

“What? Why are you saying it like that?” He says as he walks back and stands directly in front of his father. 

“I... I did what I had to. I protected our family. And she thought it was too much, that she was just a kid... ha, you know what your mother called me?” He says, smiling weakly up at Dash. 

He looks down at his dad as his hair covers his face in a dark shadow, his eyes practically glowing with rage. “What did you do?” 

Buddy bursts through the doors of the hospital, rushing past the lobby and to the front desk, any inconspicuousness that would have come from his disguise, now almost completely lost. He’s wearing an oversized dark grey sweater and sweatpants that cover his robotic arms and legs which he compressed to a normal length. The long sleeves cover his claws as well, which he also shortened to be just like any ordinary hands; that is, if ordinary hands had three fingers and were made of metal. He’s wearing big brown loafers to cover his feet, and a medical mask and eye patch to cover his face and robotic eye. He didn’t have any time to cover his hair, which is now trailing behind him. 

He decides to skip over the front desk, there’s no time, anything could have happened, and he needs to find her. He keeps his momentum as he crashes through the doors leading to hallways of patient rooms. 

Nurses shout after him, “Sir! Sir!” 

“You can’t be back here!” 

“Sir, visiting hours are over!” 

He hears them, but he ignores them. He has to make sure she’s okay. He keeps running down long hallways, all looking the same.  The smell of bleach and blood fills his nose as he continues running, seeing the same things over and over again through room windows: IV bags, heart monitors, sad grey walls. He’s got a few people chasing after him now, two security officers and a particularly bothered nurse. Not that it matters, he could outrun them all night; he just needs to find her.  

A crazed look begins to seep into his eye. She has to be here. He rounds another corner, pushing past a cart full of needles and a nurse with a clipboard. He’s gaining speed the more frantic he gets. She has to be here, that’s what the locator said. But everything is starting to look the same, has he been this way before? Didn’t he just pass that room? 

But he keeps running anyway, eventually leading him down a long hallway with a dead end. He runs down anyway, the people after him are ways away; he’s got plenty of time. 

He looks in every room as his panic begins to rise, none of them are her.  

He slams into the wall at the end of the hall. As he prepares to run the other way, he looks into the last room on the right wall. 

And it's her. 

She’s unconscious, hooked up to a ventilator, heart monitor, and IV. Burns cover her arms and half her face, and she looks... debilitated. 

He places his hand on the door, about to open it ever so gently. 

But just as he prepares to walk in, the three from earlier catch up to him. They grab him hard and abruptly, shocking him more than anything. The officers grab his arms and begin dragging him away as he thrashes about, the nurse following behind with a satisfied, smug look on his face. 

“PLEASE! I NEED TO SEE HER!” Buddy cries, “JUST FOR A SECOND, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND!” 

But the officers don’t budge, and just as quickly as he made his way around the hospital, he’s thrown out into the lobby, where he stumbles and loses his footing. He crashes to the floor with tears in his eyes, looking up at the two who begin closing the doors. 

“PLEASE, SHE’S MY DAUGHTER-” But the doors slam anyway, and he’s left on the cold tile floor, leaning against the hard, painted wood of the front desk as his tears create dark spots on his shirt. 

Chapter Text

“Violet, you need to come home,” Dash says into the mic of the Incredibile, driving towards the closest hospital to their house. 

“What? Why? And why are you calling me from dad’s car?” She says recognizing the slight distortion from the other line. She yawns tiredly, being woken up from her early slumber at nine pm.  

“I can’t leave it with him right now-” He sighs heavily, “I-I don’t know what he’ll do!” 

“Dash. What the hell are you talking about?” She says, leaning against the wall outside her dorm room in her purple pajama set, pushing her eye mask off her face. 

“He’s going crazy, Violet! He threw a car at one of my friends because he thought she was working with Syndrome!” 

“...That doesn’t make any sense, Syndrome’s dead.” 

“THAT’S WHAT I SAID!” He yells, gripping the steering wheel hard. 

“...And what about your friend? Is she okay?” 

“I-I don’t know. It all just happened today, and I’m heading to see her now. I just... I don’t know what to do.” He says, beginning to tear up. 

“What about Mom? Surely, she-” 

“She left a few hours ago with Jack Jack, and I don’t even know where she went. I... I need your help, Violet.” 

She hesitates. It’s the beginning of her last senior semester. She’s been taking classes and internships every summer so she can graduate early, move away from home, and finally start her own life. She’s even got a job lined up with Edna to create better chemical compounds for super suits, something she’s dreamed of since high school, especially since her own is starting to wear. She’s so close, and she has no idea how long she’ll need to be home, this isn’t something she can just give up- 

“...Please.” Dash’s voice cracks through tears. He’s finally parked outside the hospital, the reality of his situation coming to a peak.  

She pauses for a moment. “...I’ll be there tomorrow morning.” She shoves the phone back into place and rushes back to her room to begin packing her things. 

Before he can say thank you, he hears the click of the phone. He sighs hard and wipes his tears on his tan shearling jacket sleeve. He gets out of the car and heads inside, feeling worried about... well, everything. 

He walks up to the front desk, and says, “I’m here to see-” 

“Sorry kid, visiting hours are over,” says the woman behind the desk without even looking up from her newspaper. 

He sighs, taping his fist gently on the cold, white granite desktop. “Alright.” 

He takes a seat in the lobby in the light blue, squishy, faux leather chairs which are too small and too uncomfortable. But at this point, he doesn’t care, it’s not like he has anywhere else to go anyway.  

“Uh, kid... visiting hours don’t start until nine in the morning.” The woman says as she adjusts her glasses, pushing her pearl eyeglass chain behind her shoulders. 

Dash sniffs before saying innocently, “That’s fine. I can wait.” 

She sighs, flicking her newspaper as she rolls her chair over to the wall, turning off the lights in the lobby. She leaves her reading light on though. She looks up at him, and then back to her newspaper, “You can leave whenever you like.” She says, more of a demand than a suggestion. 

But it’s too late; he’s already made himself comfortable, cocooning himself in his jacket and slumping his head down. And being the only person there, he bothers no one with his snoring... besides the lady behind the desk. 

But less than ten minutes into his slumber, he feels a figure rush past him. And almost just as quickly, he sees that same figure thrown to the floor, crying in aguish.  

“PLEASE, SHE’S MY DAUGHTER-” he says as the security guards slam the doors in front of him. As he leans against the dark blue base of the semi-circle desk, Dash stares at him with pity. 

The woman adjusts her glasses as she leans over the desk to look at him, “Sir, if you don’t get up and leave now, I’m going to call the-” 

“Wait, please...” Dash says as he gets up, and hurries over to them. “He’s just worried about his daughter.” 

“No one else who’s worried about their family has barged in like this.” 

“I-I don’t even know what happened... I don’t even know why she’s here...” He says through sniffs and sobs. 

Dash kneels to him, putting a hand on his back, and looks up at the woman with concern. 

She looks at them both, and grumbles for a moment, holding the bridge of her nose. She sits back down and angrily grabs her newspaper, “Fine, whatever. But if you even think about pulling something like that again...” 

As her sentence trails off, Dash offers a hand to help the man to his seat. He ignores him, and stands up on his own, walking over to the seat Dash was just sitting in, and taking it for himself. 

Dash sighs and looks at him with an understanding smile. He walks over and sits in the chair next to him. He looks a little intimidating, a dark silhouette lit from behind as a small amount of streetlight pours in from the windows, but Dash doesn’t mind. All he sees is a concerned father, much like his own. 

“Your daughter... what’s her name?” Dash asks innocently.  

The man wipes his face with his long sleeves and looks at him skeptically for a moment before saying, “...Veronica.” 

“No way! I-I actually came here to see her!” He realizes his excitement and clears his throat before offering his hand out. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Best.” 

“...Right.” He says as he pushes Dash’s hand back into his chest.  

They sit in awkward silence for a moment before Mr. Best asks, “Why aren’t you at home, kid? It’s late.” 

“I, uh... can’t go back home right now.” Dash says as he stares at the floor in front of him, his hands now in his jacket pockets. 

Mr. Best looks at him with disinterest. He turns his attention to the floor as well, hunching over as he begins thinking about Veronica. What could have possibly happened? She wasn’t in any danger, she’s a relatively good driver, what went wrong? And to look like that- no, to look like him? How... how could that happen? 

He sighs loudly as he thinks about the situation at a complete loss for any ideas. 

“...Are you alright, sir?” Dash asks a bit apprehensively. 

“I just...” He thinks for a moment and then sits up to face Dash. “Do you know what happened to my daughter?” 

“Oh, you don’t-I mean, of course you probably don’t, I uh...” He flounders as he avoids eye contact. “I... my, uh...”  

Mr. Best looks at him with wide, serious eyes. 

He scrambles for an acceptable answer. “She uh, crashed her car... outside of my house, actually. It was... brutal. My dad said there was an explosion and flames and... I-I'm really sorry, Mr. Best.” 

That’s impossible. She’s a fine driver, and clearly, he’s unscathed. If this were the truth, he’d have been in the same car crash. He’d be here, just as helpless, just as debilitated, just as burned. How could she have crashed right outside their house if she had already dropped him off? If she had already stopped there? 

Mr. Best laughs lowly. “Don’t bullshit me, kid. I know my daughter. What actually happened?”  

For a moment, Dash could have sworn he saw a red glint shine through his eyepatch. But then again, he always got paranoid when he was lying. 

“I...” He stops to think for a moment, but he’s watching. He feels a mounting pressure within his chest. Doesn’t a worried father deserve the truth? As he feels Mr. Best’s strong gaze on him, the words fall out before he can catch them. “A super... a super who thought she was working with syndrome... he threw the car at her.” 

Mr. Best looks at him, shocked. And then begin to laugh. He laughs hard, and says through an entertained smile, “Kid, that’s more far-fetched than the first story.” He composes himself and then looks at him with a grin he can’t see. As a car passes outside, its headlights illuminate the room for a moment, just long enough for Dash to get a good look at him. 

“After all... everyone knows Syndrome is dead.” 

And though it was only for a moment, a brief, fleeting moment, Dash’s heart sinks to his feet as he looks at him in horror, realizing his hair is strikingly ginger. 

Mr... He rises out of his seat, much to stiffly for Dash’s liking, and heads towards the front doors. 

Dash jumps to his feet, terrified and nauseous. He holds his head as he looks at him walk away, and it feels like the whole world is spinning. “Where... where are you going...?” Dash asks weakly, his voice cracking as he intended it to be more like a demand.  

He turns back to look at him for a moment. Did Veronica’s favorite superhero always look so pathetic?  

“Out for a smoke. Why, you want one?” He teases, very entertained by Dash’s anxious display. 

“Oh... uh, no.” Dash quickly crashes back onto his seat, his paranoia overwhelming him.  

He continues out the doors and around the side of the building to the payphone he briefly saw on his way there. 

He leans against the brick wall as he dials, wrapping the cord around his claw as it rings. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Rick, I’ve got a job for you-” 

“Are you serious right now, Buddy? It’s almost ten on a Sunday, and I’m old!” 

“Doesn’t matter, I need you to find whatever camera footage you can in a fifty-mile radius from the Parr residence. It doesn’t matter if you have to pull from home security or traffic cams. Get me everything there is from mid-day today to right now.” 

He hears a sigh. “...And if I don’t?” 

“Hm, well, I’ll just take back your little raise and call it a night.” 

He hears a long pause of silence. 

“Rick?” 

“...I’ll do it.” 

Buddy puts on a sarcastic chipper attitude, “Now that’s what I like to hear!” 

But before he could finish his sentence, Rick had already hung up.