Title: The Redemption Clause (1/?)

Author: Kijikun

Rating: PG-13 (this part)

Characters/pairings: Violet Parr, Buddy Pine (Syndrome)

A/N: I can't believe I'm writing fic for the Incredibles but here it is. I blame the art for the Violet/Syndrome pairing, frankly. For age purposes, I'm guessing that Syndrome was 23 at the time of the movie.

Summary: redemption - 1. an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. deliverance; rescue. 3. Theology. deliverance from sin; salvation. 4. atonement for guilt.

He was going to really regret taking out the IV in a while, but at least it allowed him to think clearly for several hours at a time, without the haze of painkillers. He needed all the clear thinking time he could get. He had an empire to rebuild -- or to at least salvage.

Thankfully most of his accounts had gone untouched by the NSA. One of the perks about being presumed dead, he guessed, they don't hunt down all your bank accounts and freeze them. Why go through the trouble?

He'd lost a lot of time. Almost three years to the coma, a handful of months to track down a hospital that could be bribed to look the other way about his identity. Almost a year to salvage the mess his body was in. Physical therapy...

He didn't even have the energy to hate, right now. If he did, the first thing on his list would be capes.

Putting down his pencil, he sighed, hating how weak he felt. And if one more doctor told him how lucky he was not to have to relearn to talk and eat he'd…

A sound near the door made him look up. There was a girl about three or four years old standing there, her eyes tightly shut.

"You lost, kid?"

The girl started but didn't open her eyes. Her red hair was done up in pigtails that bounced when she shook her head. "Sorry. Didn' think it anyone's room."

Despite himself, he was intrigued. "Playing some sort of game?" He knew there were children in this hospital, 'special cases'. The NSA would love to know about this place, but they didn't, which was partly why he picked it.

"Hiding," she told him solemnly.

He snorted. "And who does a little girl like you have to hide from, huh? Try to take over your pre-school?"

"Doctors," she said finally. "Want me to open eyes. But it hurts."

"Why does it hurt?" he asked. Not that he cared, but it was something to do, something to think about besides his arm.

"I see really good," she told him. "But it hurts. Doctor says I'm fibbing."

He snorted. "Sensory overload and some crack-pot thinks she's making it up." He shook his head. "What's your name, kid?"

"Robin, cuz my hair is red," she said after a moment.

He hadn't planned on saying it, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "Just so happens, Robin, that I have a cup of chocolate pudding left. Would you like to share it?"

She looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded, making her way across the room to the bed with her eyes still tightly closed. "What's your name?" she asked, as he used his good arm to pull her up on to the bed.

"My name's Buddy."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two years later

'Stupid, that was such a stupid move,' Violet Parr, alias, Invisagirl, scolded herself. She barely scrambled out of the way of the Villain's laser blast, still berating herself for letting herself be cornered.

"You can dodge all you want little girl, but I'll get you, my pretty!" The villain cackled.

"And my little dog too?" Violet snorted. This was just great, she was going to be killed by some second rate villain whose name she didn't even know. Whose idea of a costume seemed to be left overs from a production of the Wizard of OZ, and who didn't seem to have anything better to do than ruin her first vacation in years.

At twenty-two, she was sure she was far too young to be thinking she was too old for this shit.

"No, I'm allergic," he declared, his next shot glancing off Violet's shields and hitting the cave wall. Rocks tumbled down in a way that made her worry about the roof coming down on them.

When all else fails, get them monologue-ing, she remembered her mother telling her years ago. "Not to sound rude or anything, but I usually like knowing the name of the villain whose ass I'm going to kick into next year."

"You mean to tell me, you've never heard of the Wizard of the East?" he asked, taken back for a moment. "Never mind, soon everyone will know my name and cower in fear of me!"

Violet dodged another blast, slowly working her way closer to him. "That is the worst super villain name I've ever heard," she told him. "And what are you going to do? Instil fear by scaring people off beaches?"

"Is it my fault that they were shocked into fear by my awesome appearance?" he sniffed. "I've been promised great things for brining her to Xerek. She might have eluded me for the moment because of your interference, but once I've dealt with you, I can complete my mission."

Violet ignored him, if she could just get some of the falling rocks to pin his cape, she could escape from the cave and take this fight back to where she could manoeuvre better.

"You really think my name is that bad?" the Wizard asked suddenly.

"Worse than Syndrome's, and his was pretty stupid. Sounded more like an internet virus, than a Villain's name."

"What!?" the Wizard of E sounded pretty pissed off and Violet dodged left then right…then…

And realized she'd made a horrible mistake as half the cave roof came down on them. For a moment, everything went black.

When she opened her eyes again, she could barely breathe and the Wizard of E was standing over her, gun pointed at her face. She tried to bring up a shield but her arms were pinned ---and oh, god she hurt.

"Goodnight, little girl," the Wizard grinned.

There was a flash of light and the Wizard was blasted away from her. "I don't think it's her bedtime yet," a male voice said, and she could almost hear the cockiness in it.

She swore she'd heard that voice before…another super maybe? Violet managed to turn her head slightly, her vision already cutting out as unconsciousness threatened to pull her down. She had a brief impression of red hair and…

"Syndrome?" she whispered, but it couldn't be. He'd been killed years before, if he was still alive surely, they would have known. Surely, he would have come after her family again.

The man that wore her family's nemesis face glanced down at her. "Lucky for you, Invisagirl, not anymore."

Violet knew nothing more as the darkness pulled her in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Violet was vaguely aware of a hand behind her head and a cup pressed to her lips.

"Drink," someone told her. As the water hit her lips, she realized she was thirsty, so very thirsty and so very tired. She tried to open her eyes but she barely had the energy to take the water in her mouth and swallow.

The feeling of being pinned was gone but she hurt, breathing hurt.

Broken ribs, part of her brain supplied - a memory from the last time she'd broken a few.

The cup was taken from her lips and her head was lowered to a soft pillow. She tried opening her eyes again. Where was she? A hospital?

A small part of her was still aware enough to panic at the thought of her secret identify being spilled, not for her sake, but for her family's.

"You're a tough one, I'll give you that," the voice said with a hint of admiration, or was that amusement?

She was forgetting something important and she knew it. Unconsciousness pulled her under again before she could grasp it.

She woke several more times, usually only long enough for someone to give her water before she fell back asleep.

When she finally truly woke up, she found she could open her eyes and though she hurt - she was nowhere near as tried. She groaned softly and tried to sit up, managing only to elevate herself onto her elbows before her ribs protested.

Still, she was safe, and ribs would heal.

"Pretty nice for a hospital," she said aloud, and then realized it wasn't. Suddenly it all clicked and Violet didn't feel very safe anymore.

Syndrome. She had seen him before she'd passed out, and he was the voice she'd heard telling her to drink. But what ---

Violet shook her head then regretted as it made her feel nauseous. 'Calm down, Vi, and think this through. Your family's worst enemy apparently saved your life from some two-bit off Broadway villain, and has been waiting on you by your bedside? Okay, thinking this through isn't helping.'

She glanced around the room more carefully this time and found that she was alone. Maybe she hadn't heard his voice, because if it was him --and how the hell was he alive? He been sucked into the engine of a jet--something she tried not to think about because what a horrible way to die -- if it was him why was she in what looked like a five star resort hotel room and not in a cell?

"Finally awake I see. Not a very good recovery time for a super," came a mocking voice from the doorway.

Violet winced and looked over. Sure enough, there stood Syndrome. The man that had tried to kill her family and kidnap her baby brother, but he looked different. Older, with scars on his face, but hair that still reminded her of one of those anime characters her brother used to watch on Saturday morning, just not as tall. He didn't look scary, though. For some reason in her memory, he'd been this huge scary -- thing. Barely human at all.

This Syndrome looked way too human.

"You try having a cave dropped on you," Violet shot back, proud that her voice didn't waver.

"Been there, done that. I've learned to avoid such things, thank you very much," he laughed. He walked further into the room carrying a tray of food.

Violet's stomach growled traitorously. "I don't know why you brought me here, but I'm not going to tell you anything."

Syndrome rolled his eyes. "Ah, the gratitude of a super. I'd almost forgotten it," he said dryly. He sat the tray down on the table by the bed. "In case you're wondering, no, the food isn't poisoned."

"I wasn't wondering that at all," Violet said, slightly offended. 'Shouldn't I, have been wondering though?' she thought. "I was wondering why you bothered saving me at all."

Syndrome folded his arms over his chest. "Because having a super die on my island would bring just the sort of attention I don't want." He turned and headed for the door.

"You can't keep me prisoner here. People will come looking for me!" Violet told his retreating back.

He looked back her in disgust. "And why do you assume you're a prisoner." He shut the door behind him.

Violet resisted the urge the throw the tray after him. Mostly because she was hungry and partly because she wasn't sure she had enough strength to do so.

"I've got to be dreaming," she muttered, and tried to make a shield bubble. She could only hold it for a few moments, but her powers were still working, even if barely. "I'm probably in a coma somewhere."

Her stomach growled again and she reached for the tray. It wasn't anything complicated; a glass of juice, a bowl of soup and some toast.

Violet poked at it a bit before finally starting to eat. She was hungry, after all, and if Syndrome wanted to kill her, he'd probably do it in a much flashier way.

tbc