From the top of the ACME building, the city looked peaceful. The shadows of night hid the dirt and grime of everyday life and lights of every color dotted the buildings and streets. A light fog shrouded random parts of the Metroville skyline, giving it an almost ethereal feel. Two men stood at the edge of a roof in the easy silence of old friends. They’d met like this several times over the years, providing companionship and a sympathetic shoulder to a friend that no one else could really understand. It was nice to know that someone else, anyone else understood the rigors of your job and the special stresses put upon you by your extraordinary circumstances. It was also comforting to know that even with super powers, keeping your wife happy was, universally, a difficult and sometimes impossible task.
Frozone let out a sigh. “So…?”
“Helen found a blonde hair on my sleeve,” Mr. Incredible shrugged. “Between that and the extra time I spent in Mexico over the last few weeks, she’s convinced I’m seeing Mirage again.” He ran a hand through his hair and pretended to look for crime downtown. “You…?”
“Dicker interrupted dinner with my mom.”
The big man cringed in sympathy, “Ouch.”
Frozone laughed ruefully, “Worst part is there wasn’t a real emergency. If I can point at the news and tell Honey that I was saving the world, she usually calms down, but this time it was just the good old boys getting nervous.”
“About what?”
Frozone hesitated before replying, “Violet.”
Mr. Incredible turned suddenly, “My Violet?”
“I’m afraid so.”
The big man looked angry for a few moments then sunk in on himself with a resigned sigh. “I guess that’s my fault. She’s been having nightmares and losing control of herself while she’s sleeping.” He smiled slyly, “Last week she threw the sofa so hard, it knocked me on my ass when I caught it.” Lucius whistled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Bob continued, “but Helen was pissy about it and made me call The Agency and ask them to set up a shrink for the girl.” He snorted. “She walked out on the shrink and now they’re afraid she’s going nuts.”
“Nah, they just want her to have someone to talk to.”
“She can talk to us, Helen and me’ll listen…” Lucius’ raised eyebrow stopped him. “I guess not…” He brightened, “What about you? She might talk to you.”
“That’s exactly what Rick said.”
“Numbers are significant.” The corpulent agency director paused and turned back to glare at the two men standing as far away from him as the narrow confines of his office would allow, “Particularly numbers that follow a dollar sign.” He leveled a penetrating gaze at the two men, the younger one was definitely affected but the older one didn’t seem to notice; agent Rick Dicker was legendary for his unflappability. Nothing the big man had thrown at him over the past twelve years had ever gotten a rise out of the stoic agent. He had a feeling that the record was going to fall today. “Ten million, three hundred and seventy two thousand… is the number that brings us to this meeting, gentlemen. It is a large number, worthy of notice in any form, but it is particularly noticeable because this is one of those numbers that follows a dollar sign.” His glare was unrelenting and the younger agent was starting to crack. The fat man could see sweat rolling down his face and a slight tremor in his legs. Dicker still seemed oblivious.
“It is, in fact, an estimation of the costs to repair damages caused by Mr. Incredible and…” the fat man paused to consult his notes, “…Speedy, over the last ten days.” He dropped the papers onto his desk and leaned back against it. The thick oak let out a small creaking protest. “Why?” He asked in a sweetly reasonable tone, “Why is it that our most vaunted Super is destroying Metroville?” His piercing gaze conveyed that he was certain it was all the fault of the men standing before him. The young nearly collapsed under the weight of the glare and began stammering about nightmares and shrinks and imaginary blondes, the fat man ignored him. “Two years ago, I approved a limited program of reintroducing the Supers on your recommendation, Rick.” Was that a flinch? “I have made sure that everyone who knows what’s going on also knows that you were the one who recommended the current course of action.” Definitely a flinch, possibly even a tic. “If this gets out of hand, like it did twenty years ago, you’re going to be held responsible.” He studied his fingernails for a moment, “Again.” He said softly. “And this time, I don’t think they’re going to transfer you. They’ll probably just use your little toy to wipe your mind and put you out to pasture in some nursing home… a government nursing home.”
“We’ll take care of it, sir.” The older agent said calmly, but there was a bead of sweat rolling down his face. Rick Dicker grabbed his babbling partner and dragged him out of the room.
---
“Can I tell you a secret?” Violet asked.
“Of course.” Chi replied with a small smile. “But are you sure you want to tell me?”
“I don’t know. I have all this stuff going on inside me and I want to talk to someone, but…”
“But what?”
“I can’t talk to anyone without telling secrets.”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Vi.” Chi frowned. “Is it someone else’s secret?”
“Isn’t it always?” Violet countered. “Even if it’s my secret too, isn’t there always more than one person involved in a secret?”
“Usually, but maybe there’s a way to tell a secret without telling everything about the secret.”
“The problem is that you’re really smart.”
The blonde smiled widely. “If that’s my only problem, I’ll take it.”
“If I tell you my part of the secret, you’re going to figure out the rest of it and then I’ll have told you someone else’s secret and it’s not my place.” She looked at her hands for a few minutes and Chi let her sit quietly. “Let me give you an example… you know who The Incredibles are, right?”
Chi was startled but Violet was too engrossed in a water stain on the table to notice. “Uh, what do you mean?”
“You’ve seen ‘em on TV, and stuff.”
“Yeah…?”
“What if one of them suddenly took off her mask?”
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say…”
“What if… Uh, Mrs. Incredible took of her mask and showed everyone who she is? It’s her secret, right? She could just take off her mask and y-we’d all know who she is, right? But then we’d know who Mr. Incredible is too.”
“And their kids.” Chi added.
“Yeah. And their kids.” She glanced over at Chi, “It’s kinda like that.”
Chi reached out to take Violet’s hands in her own. “Vi, I promise you that no matter what you tell me, I’ll keep your secret.” She wondered if the girl would really share the secret of her dual life with anyone outside of her family.
Violet took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “OK, here goes… I think I like someone and I think they like me, but…”
“You think and you think?” Chi asked sarcastically. She had been expecting an earth shattering revelation and instead got a high-school crush.
“I’m not supposed to like them.”
“Why not?”
“She’s a girl.”
That’s more like it. Chi thought. “That does make the secret more interesting.” She said thoughtfully, “Why do you think she likes you?”
“She, uh, kissed me.” The dark haired girl muttered.
“Why do you think you like her?”
Red was creeping up her face. “I really liked it.”
“When you say ‘kissed,’ you mean…?”
“Full on the mouth, tongue and everything.” She couldn’t bring herself to raise her head.
“When you say you liked it…?”
“I really liked it.”
“What did you do?”
“I pushed her away and kicked her out of my house.” Violet chanced a look at the older woman and saw the light go on in her head. But, to her credit, the blonde didn’t even ask. Violet searched her face for some kind of revulsion or a hint of reproach. “Are you going to stop talking to me?” She asked.
Chi almost asked if it was Kari, but she stopped herself just in time. She knew that if she asked any questions about the details, she would be proving to Violet that she couldn’t be trusted. “Because you kissed a girl?”
“Because I might be… you know… I, uh…”
“Because you might like kissing girls?” Violet tried to say something, but couldn’t find her tongue, red-faced, she just nodded. “Are you going to jump on me and kiss me without warning?” Violet blushed an even deeper shade of red and shook her head while chewing on her bottom lip. “Then I don’t have a problem with it.”
The young woman’s face tilted up, relief clearly radiating from her expression. “Really?” she asked.
“Really,” Chi smiled kindly, “You’re in a transitional period right now, Vi…”
“You think I’ll grow out of it?” Her voice was tinged with hope and skepticism.
Chi chuckled. “I don’t think it’s a ‘phase,’ if that’s what you’re asking. I just mean that you’re life is in a transitional period. You’re not a kid anymore, but you’re not really an adult either. Society is sending you mixed signals; you can go to war, but you can’t buy alcohol. You’re allowed to vote, but not to drive after dark. You’re moving from childhood to adulthood and everything is a little confusing.”
“That doesn’t explain why I kissed… a girl.”
“No, but it should help you realize that everything is a little confusing right now. You’re trying to figure out exactly who you are and what you’re like. From the big things like: whether you like kissing boys or girls, or both, or neither, to the little things like: do you want to put a shaggy rug on the toilet seat in your first apartment.”
Violet giggled. “My grandmother had those. I never could figure out why.”
“My last boyfriend had them, black shag carpet on the toilet lid…” She shivered at the memory. “That one didn’t last long.”
“The boyfriend or the toilet cover?” Violet asked and they both laughed. “Chi…?” Violet’s voice was soft and she avoided looking at the blonde woman.
“Yes?”
“Have you ever… I mean… Do you know anyone who…” Violet looked at the floor, her shoes, the table, everywhere but at the blonde. “um…”
“Do I know any lesbians?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes, I do. And I’m sure you do to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, I’m sure there are people that you know who are gay that you don’t know are gay.”
“No way.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’d know.”
“Think about it, Vi. You’re not even sure about yourself, how can you be sure about anyone else?”
Violet puzzled over the question all the way home. Not just of her own sexuality but of her convictions about people and the world around her. A month ago she thought she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. Today, not only did she not know who she was, she didn’t even know who she wanted to be, all stemming from a surprise kiss and an even more surprising reaction. By the time she crawled into bed, she knew she would have to do something. She didn’t know what, but she knew she couldn’t sit around wondering for the rest of her life.
On her way home, Mirage hugged herself tightly, trying to control the tremors. Why did Violet have to be asking the same questions she had asked five years ago? Why did she feel so drawn to the young woman, so protective toward her? Why did she just want to take her into her arms and smooth her hair, soothe her spirit and promise to make it all right? Why did she care?
Brutally she slammed the barriers of her emotions down around the feelings. She had let herself be ruled by emotions once before and it hadn’t ended well. Now, she was the boss. She was the one in control and she would never give that up. Violet Parr would be manipulated and brought into Mirage’s game as a pawn to be used and discarded at her whim, she firmly asserted to herself. But in the back of her mind, closed off and shut down by her conscious, she didn’t want a pawn, she wanted a queen.
She didn’t notice the unmarked sedan that followed her home.
Hey, Mom, I’m home!” Violet called as she entered the house, Kari in tow. The shout was purely for show. She wasn’t expecting an answer. Dash was supposed to be at soccer practice and Jack had an appointment with the pediatrician. Her mom should be with Jack and her dad was supposed to pick up Dash. If everything went the way it usually did, her dad would forget and make it almost all the way home before her mom called him to remind him to pick up Dash and then he’d have to turn around and go get Dash from the SportsPlex. She figured she had about an hour alone with Kari.
The redhead was off on one of her usual tangents, “So I told ‘em that the phone company didn’t own all of the telephone poles and it hadn’t since the break-up of Ma-Bell in the mid-eighties, but they didn’t listen to me and they kept insisting that it was always AT&T. Do you have any oranges? So I pulled up the Wiki page and showed ‘em the article I had read the night before.” The red-head dropped her book bag on the counter and opened the refrigerator. “I spend a lot of time reading stuff on Wiki. There’s a lot of things that you can learn from there. Did you know that you can just make stuff up and post it?”
“I’m sure no one just makes up stuff and posts it on Wiki.”
“Uh, huh!” the redhead insisted, as she pulled out an orange and started peeling it. “Last month there was this thing about how Bumblebee was originally an AMC Hornet but everyone knows he was a Volkswagen Beetle. But some guy just wrote a totally made up paragraph about the Hornet thing and posted it on the Wiki site.”
“Bumblebee?” Violet moved their backpacks off of the kitchen island into the living room and flopped onto the couch.
“Yeah, you know, the Transformers?” Kari grabbed a paper towel and began sectioning the orange to share with Violet. “Anyway, He was always a Beetle and I don’t know why anyone would think that he was ever a Hornet. Besides the guy who wrote it was a total loser, he said that the Go-Bots were better than the Transformers because they had cooler names…”
“Kari…”
“I don’t know a whole lot about the Go-Bots but I think they had stupid names. I mean, really, Leader-1…? Turbo…? Scooter…? Those names are just dumb.”
“Kari…?”
“Optimus Prime is a cool name…” Kari continued as she made her way over to the couch, “and Bumblebee is too—“
Violet stood up and grabbed Kari’s shoulders, “Kari!”
“What?”
Violet held tightly to Kari’s shoulders and leaned in to kiss her. She wasn’t sure of herself and misjudged the distance as the redhead pulled away. They ended up banging their teeth together at first, but she eventually got it right and their lips were pressed together for about four seconds. It was the longest four seconds in her life. Violet gently broke the kiss and released Kari’s shoulders. She took a half step back and waited for the other girl’s reaction. Each microsecond that passed caused her stomach to roil up and tighten; she felt like she was going to throw up. Kari’s eyes were wide in something that looked like fear to Violet and she stilled herself for the redhead to flee in horror.
“You kissed me?” Kari asked, disbelievingly. Violet couldn’t find her voice, she just nodded. “You kissed me?” Kari asked again, this time her tone was surprised, like she was trying to convince herself that it was true. “You kissed me!” The redhead’s tone was triumphant. “You kissed me!” She sat down on the couch, shaking her head in wonderment.
Violet found her voice, “Are you mad?” Kari shook her head, stunned. She looked up at the worried girl and kept shaking her head, for once, completely unable to say anything. “Would you be mad if I kissed you again?” This time Kari blushed bright red as she continued to shake her head violently.
Violet sat down on the couch next to her and gently held her hand. Embarrassed but determined to follow this through, she leaned in to Kari and this time they met halfway. The kiss was tentative and soft but it was stunning because they were both participating. Violet opened her mouth slightly and Kari’s tongue flicked across her lips before they broke off once more and sat back to stare at each other.
“HOLY SHIT!”
They turned to see Dash staring at them open mouthed from the kitchen with his father standing right behind him. In a bizarre twist of fate, Bob had remembered to pick up the boy from practice today and they were home a lot earlier than she expected. Now, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. “Dash,” He said numbly, “Go to your room.”