leave the saving of the world to the men?

"I know," he fit in, "I know, I could've told you, and I should've. I don't know, Helen, I was just--I was embarrassed," Bob admitted, the first time he'd spoken the word aloud, even to himself, in this context. It was really why he'd kept everything to himself for so long, and why he'd never told his wife in the first place how his plan to stay busy had gone awry. "I took that job because I knew I had to do my part, to provide for our kids, for you, and then ... I fucked it all up, and I started to do something that wasn't getting me anything in return, except an ego boost, and by then, I didn't know how to tell you everything I'd done. I didn't think you'd forgive me, and I--I'm not even sure I deserve your forgiveness now."

If he couldn't forgive himself now, though, he surely wouldn't have been able to if something had happened to him, or one of his children, and Helen had to find out that way. In a way, that was what had wound up happening in the end, even if he did know he wasn't directly responsible for how Dash had been hurt. In truth, he hadn't thought about the consequences like that--he was Mr. Incredible, he wouldn't have been caught, or found dead. But, she was right: it could've happened, and, if it had, he might've left his wife widowed without ever getting to tell her the truth himself. He buried his head in his hands for a moment, in the image she'd painted, and, for the first time, he felt tears begin to fall. Honestly, he hadn't wanted her to get him a job, and it was exactly what he feared she would offer. It was silly, but for once, he'd wanted to do something himself, and it had gotten the best of him. "I didn't want you to get hurt because I was missing it," he argued as he lifted his head, wiping beneath his eyes frustratedly. "And I didn't want you to have to go find a place for your husband who'd gotten sacked. I didn't want to have to ask for your help, but ... I'm sorry that I didn't."

Seeing the tears in his eyes that he tries to wipe away and hide from her almost breaks her. It’s just nearly enough for her to let go of her anger and her own pain, to take him into her arms and promise that everything is fine. To forgive him blindly without any type of further discussion. But Helen wasn’t that type of woman - she refused to be. Her feelings, her anger and hurt, deserved to be felt and expressed just as much as his. Even if it meant making him continue to feel like shit - she wasn’t going to just pretend she was fine to comfort and coddle him. Bob had brought this upon himself, he was the reason they were in this current situation, and he would have to face the consequences of his actions. “But this, the lying and hiding things from me, that hurts more than any physical wound would have. You know that, right, Bob? That this, all of this, is worse than anything I would have faced going out into the field. This is the worst I have ever felt about myself, about us.” Which was really saying something, considering she had gone through quite the down period when they were younger and her parents had disowned her. But even that hadn’t hit quite as hard as this. Probably because it had been Bob himself who had helped her through that time. It had been Bob who promised he would always be there for her and they would remain a team together forever.

“We could use you, you know. In The Order,” she admits, truly meaning it rather than just saying it because it might be what he wants to hear. “I never offered because I thought you were happy. I mean, I knew you didn’t love your job - but you’d never seemed like the biggest fan of mine either, so I always thought… Well, I thought you’d rather keep doing what you’d always done than come join us.” A small part of her wonders if maybe she had to shoulder some of the blame for their current situation as well, never having bothered to check in further or really ensure that Bob was happy with the way his life was going. But as quick as that thought enters her head, she dismisses it just as fast. No. This was not her fault. Even if she could have been more diligent keeping tabs on his true mental health state, that didn’t mean she deserved to have been so obviously lied to in such a major way.

It wasn't right after that Bob had turned to being an undercover super again, but the turnaround hadn't been longer than a week or so before he'd decided what to do with all his free time. "I was applying to jobs, and ... I don't know, I'd always kinda listened to the police scanners every now and then, for fun. I thought, y'know, I'm not doing anything else, while I'm waiting for places to get back to me and, so, I just ... I fell back into it. I started doing that in, I guess, February." He paused, glancing to her to gauge any sign of a reaction. "I promise, if I'd gotten a job, a real one, I would've taken it. But, none of the places in the beginning had gotten back to me, and I never found anything else to apply for that I was really into, but ... obviously, now, I'm just gonna take whatever I can get."

Raising three kids and growing up in the type of home that she had gave the redhead plenty of time to perfect her poker face, a skill that she was putting to good use right now as she made she not to let any of the rage and betrayal and hurt boiling inside of her show any of the few times Bob glanced over her way. She waits, lets him finish trying to reason with her just why he had started this in the first place before she looks away again, staring out the front window this time rather than her side, keeping him in her peripheral vision. “You were fired and you didn’t tell me,” she echoes back to the one point that really got to her the most. “For half a year, you didn’t think at any point that I should know about that. You didn’t know how to tell me because why Bob? Did you really think I wouldn’t have supported you? That I would have what? What did you think I would have said or done that made you really believe lying to me, for half of a fucking year, was the best solution you had? I’m your wife. This is the type of shit I’m supposed to help you with, Bob. We’re supposed to be partners, we’ve always been partners, but you couldn’t trust me with something like this?”

It’s as she begins to vocalize all of these thoughts that the damn begins to break, a shakiness coming into her breath and she continues on. “And then, on top of not telling me you lost your job - you decided to keep lying and go off putting your life at risk, our family at risk, without a single word to me about it. What would have happened if you’d gotten hurt? If you had been killed? And I would have had no way of being contacted? Did you ever stop to think about that? About everything you were putting at risk without consulting me first, even just listening to what I might have had to say or think about it?” she questions, fighting back the urge to cry as she did so. The tears that were threatening to come weren’t even just because she was hurt by his actions, but just the overwhelmingness of it all. Having held back on all of these feelings, this pain and anger, for so many weeks now had been hard - but she hadn’t realized how much worse it would be actually allowing herself to stop and truly feel them. “Bob, if that is what you wanted to do instead then you should have fucking come to me. I could have given you a job. I could have found a way to get you back in the field. We could have done something together.” That was what was really getting to her, not even that he was doing all of these things, simply that he hadn’t bothered or cared to actually tell her about any of it.

Things could've been better, to say the least, for Bob and Helen since he'd been caught in his lie. They'd agreed to remain cordial while their children were still in mental and physical recovery, which had left the topic Bob was so eager to simply rip the bandage on unspoken for longer than he'd hoped. But, now that Dash was back on his feet, literally, Bob had figured it was safe enough to at least ask about addressing the elephant in the room. With the constant presence of their children in the house, he'd suggested that they take a drive, and it was here, in the parking lot beside the boardwalk, that he parked with no intention of getting out.

It was an entirely unfamiliar feeling, that he could lose her. Bob had never done anything so egregious that had gotten him in so much trouble with anyone in his family, nevermind his wife. They'd never fought this deeply before, never even having much more than a spat every now and then like he thought normal married couples did. This, though, was far beyond the levels of fucking up that Bob ever intended, though he should've seen it coming. He'd had so many opportunities to come clean, and still, this was where he'd ended. "I don't know ... uh, how to, y'know, if you wanted to start, you can. Or, I can, if you want, I just--I thought I should offer, if you had any questions."

But now here they were, driving to Helen didn’t even know where in complete silence before he finally parked the car. The entire ride, her eyes had remained glued out the window, watching the island she’d known her entire life pass by in a blur as she tried to predict just how this was going to go. The thought of things not being okay in the end between them wasn’t one she could handle even briefly allowing to pass her mind - that wasn’t an option as far as she was concerned. But she also had no clue how they were supposed to move past this, how things could ever go back to the way they’d been before now that she knew just how much deception Bob was actually capable of. “How long?” was the first and only question that came out of her mouth, still unable to quite look at him. It was the one unknown that had haunted her over these past few weeks, more than anything else, the simple question of just how long this had been going on. How long had he been actively lying to her, each and every day.

What he couldn't stand to hear, though, was that Helen thought he'd kept this from her for so long because she thought he didn't think much of her. In fact, his reasoning for hiding it from her was practically the opposite. "Helen, I don't--are you kidding me? I don't think little of you at all, I thought ... I don't know, I was afraid of what you would think of me because I can't--I haven't let go." He was supposed to have grown up by now, to have let go of who he'd been before he had a whole family to provide for and worry about. Maybe, had he not taken his eye off his son, he would've been able to do something to protect him, instead of worrying about keeping his identity hidden while helping other people.

Bob could only nod his head silently, accepting that their focus should be on Dash right now. She was right: that's where they had to keep their attention. They could talk later, but anything could happen to their son at any minute. "Okay," he replied simply. "You're right. Do you ... you know what, whatever you need, uh, from me. I can stay the night, if you want to go home with Jack Jack, we can take shifts. Just--whatever I can do, Helen. I love you, and I'm just ... I'm so sorry. I just need you to know that." He reached for her hand, only hardly outstretching his own, but instead grasped his coffee cup--Bob couldn't stand to think that he might make things even worse.

And again, his offer to do whatever she wanted or needed of him should have been a comfort - a reminder of just how great of a guy he really is, a fact that Helen already knew, deep down, even if she had briefly questioned it moments before. But all it did was cause the knot in her chest to tighten even more. He loved her, that much she also knew to be true, despite all the lies and secrets. And that honestly only just made all of this so much harder. It’d be easier to accept everything he’d done if she could write it off as just another man doing whatever he wanted without any care for anyone else. But that’s not true, and she knows it. He cares, he cares so much - for her and their family. It’s clear even now as he tries to think of ways to help her adjust and deal with everything that had blown up in their lives just a few hours ago. She hadn’t even thought of their youngest son, her mind far too focused on first Dash and now all of this. “Let's give it an hour or two, see if anything changes before either of us go anywhere. I’m not leaving this hospital until they’re certain he’s stable. Violet can watch Jack-Jack if he needs to go home, at least until they have anything new for us.”

Life could probably not get much worse for the Parr family right now. With his eldest son children in the hospital, ten stitches in his head, and a very angry wife sitting across from him in the cafeteria, this was likely the lowest Bob had ever found himself. He shouldn't have worn the suit--the old one, that he'd been using behind his wife's back--blowing his cover with his entire family, but with the kind of strength he possessed, it had been simply too dangerous for him to go out in the open with his face showing bare. They were supposed to be keeping a low profile, especially with just how threatening the Parr family knew the Hunters to be. But, Bob could never help himself, or say no to trying to help their kind.

With his food untouched, Bob sat rather impatiently as he waited for Helen to return to her seat. The truth was going to have to be fully admitted, despite his wishes to continue to keep this side-job behind his wife's back. He should've gotten ahead of it, telling her before the truth was told for him, but it was too late now. All he could do was jump ahead of her imminent explosion, offering what he hoped was a shot at redemption: "I can explain. I'm sorry, I know--I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry, and please, just hear me out."

A call from Arthur had interrupted Bob’s attempt at starting whatever conversation he was going to pull out his ass, and she had been thankful for the distraction, excusing herself to answer the phone and also grab another cup of vending machine coffee. The call in its entirety had only been a minute or two, just a check-in and updating her on what he’s heard from the rest of the Order so far tonight, but Helen took her time stirring in her cream and sugar. But there was only so long she could stay away before it became obvious she was avoiding him, so after another minute or two she finally made her way back over to their table and retook her seat across from her husband. Of course he decides to jump right into the mess of it all as soon as she sits back down. The grip on her styrofoam cup tightens and there’s a splash of coffee that drops onto the tabletop as she tries her hardest to keep from exploding right then and there.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she states instead, voice even as ever despite the raging turmoil of her inner emotions. “Our son is in surgery right now, for the bullet that he took to the chest. He could die at any moment and we have absolutely no control over it… There’s already official records of his injuries, so I can’t even call in a healer for help without raising even more suspicions on the rest of the kids.” All statements that she was well aware that Bob already knew, but still ones that felt important to reiterate right now. “So no. We will not be discussing the fact that you have been lying to me for god knows how long - that you have been putting your life and our entire family’s safety on the line for again, god knows how long. We will not be discussing the hundreds of chances you likely had to tell me all of this or the fact that if you had, I would have done my best to support you - offered you the resources you may have needed to remain completely under the radar and stay safe. We will not be discussing the way you so clearly think so little of me that you felt this was something you had to hide, that you may have just completely broken all of the trust I’ve had in you our entire twenty-plus years of being together. We will not be discussing any of it.”

Throughout her entire little speech, Helen hadn’t once glanced up from her coffee, unable to look Bob in the eyes and know everything she was saying had been true. That he had been openly and actively lying to her for potentially up to years now. However even without looking at him, her words were enough to bring a few stray tears to her eyes and she finally let go of her cup to reach up and wipe them away, shaking her head as she did so. “No, I can’t. Right now, Dash is the one that needs us - that needs me. So I can’t go losing the very fragile control I have over myself by opening up any of those conversations.”

"He didn't tell me all the details, but, from what he did say, he basically came up with this plan to win her over so she'd be distracted enough to stop caring about her coaching and his team could beat hers," he explained with a sigh, finding it even more ridiculous now that he spoke it aloud. "And, she thought something was up, because she's a smart girl, and he told her there wasn't. Long story short, he'd told a friend about it, whose girlfriend so happens to be one of Lil's friends, so that's how the word got back to her."

“So… all of this was for his soccer team?” she repeats, still trying to wrap her head around it. Sitting up out of her husband’s arms, she remains on the couch but pulls away ever so slightly. Not because Bob had done anything wrong, she just simply needs a bit of space to think this all through. “That is horrific. And then he lied to her when she asked about it? How long was he going to let it go on for? Where would he even come up with an idea like this? I know he’s always been competitive, but this is a new level. And for a team he doesn’t even actually play on.” Perhaps she shouldn’t be as upset about it as she was, but Helen can’t help it. It was such a horrible thing to do to anyone, especially someone as sweet as that Lil girl, and it almost made her feel a bit sick that her own son was even capable of doing such a thing.

Bob let out a laugh at his wife's suspicion, only briefly relishing in the thought of Lillian having been the one to leave a temporary mark on Dash's face. He shook his head at her as he chuckled, despite wishing it had been true. "No, it was her brother. The guy apparently went to his apartment and gave it to him, and Dash actually thought he deserved it," Bob admitted, still feeling impressed by his son's acceptance of responsibility for his actions. "He said he, I don't even know, lied about something a long time ago, when they first started dating, and then, she confronted him about it, and he lied again. Somehow, she found out the truth, which, I told him, women always do." Bob pressed a kiss to his wife's hair in hopes to hide the guilt he was holding, having been lying to her for some time, too. But, now wasn't the time to admit to that. "Apparently, they broke up before that, though."

And then hearing what her son had done to warrant being punched in the first place, well it made even more sense. Though with the admission, Helen no longer cared about what the Deville boy was like, her focus fully returning right back to Dash and his own behavior. “He lied to her? Multiple times? About what?” she asks, even though Bob had made it clear he didn’t fully know the answer to that. A frown formed on her face as she thought about how much of a little shithead it seemed her son was being. “Oh that’s so disappointing. It had to have been something big too, for the brother to get upset about it. Do you think he was cheating?” It was the first thought she had and honestly, the one that made the most sense given everything she knew at the moment.

It hadn't been long since he was talking to his wife about the current state of his son's romantic affairs, but something had drastically shifted in the time between the Parr parents going out to dinner and now. Bob had never been as keen as his wife to what was going on with their children, but when Dash had come home with a shiner around his eye, there really was no avoiding telling him what had happened. He had no doubt that Helen might’ve seen the black ring on his face, too, but whether their son had told her as much as he had confided in Bob himself, he was about to find out.

"Did you get the whole story?" he asked his wife quietly as they finally settled on the couch for the evening, their three children out of earshot in their rooms. "I think he only told me because I threatened to go sock whoever it was who left a mark like that.” And he would’ve, had he thought his son didn’t deserve to get hit like that, but after hearing that it was simply a concerned brother sticking up for his sister. Bob admired it—he would’ve expected the same out of Dash had anyone treated Violet less than she deserved. “I thought it was just a stupid bar fight, but no. It’s about the girl.”

“No, he’s evaded giving me any real answers,” she admits, adjusting herself on the couch so that she could face her husband as she hoped to finally get some kind of truth behind Dash’s blackened eye. The corner of her lips quirk up at Bob’s threat to get revenge for their son’s injury - the redhead likely wouldn’t have gone to the same length… if only because she had a feeling deep down that whatever the reason had been was likely a good one. And that suspicion was confirmed when her husband finally admitted that it was over a girl. “A girl? Do you mean Lilian? She did this?”

Call it cheesy, but Bob had kind of always dreamt of having someone else to watch the game with, whoever Dash decided to date. The other blonde he'd been with didn't seem to be the sporty type, but at least he had a chance now with the other coach. Not that there was anything wrong with his son's ex-girlfriend, but she simply wasn't Bob's personal taste. "Did you like her better than the last one--what was her name, Tink? The blonde? She was sweet, but, I don't know, I like the idea of someone who sounds like she has more in common with him, at least from her job."

Taking a sip from her wine, the redhead thought over her husband’s question for a moment as she tried to decide what her answer might be. Did she like Lil better than Tink? It wasn’t an entirely fair comparison, at least not yet, considering the Parrs had more time with the blonde than they did with this new girl. But she figured if she had to judge based off first impressions there was a clear winner… “Well, I’ve only met her once, so I could be wrong but… I think so. She seemed more… genuine, I suppose would be a good word for it. Tink was nice and I liked her well enough, but it always felt like she was trying too hard for us to like her.”

With Violet at home looking after Jack-Jack, the Parr parents were on their monthly date night. They typically frequented a few of the nicer restaurants on the island, sometimes even venturing off it for an overnight a few times a year, but with the borders still closed, the latter wasn't really an option. Tiana's was one of Helen and Bob's favorites, though, having remembered when the owner's father was the manager of a much smaller, but still just as good, restaurant on one of the main strips. Bob clinked his beer glass to his wife's wine, giving her a smile as they handed over their menus to their server.

"So, who's this girl of Dash's you met? Is she any good at soccer?" Dash deserved a girl who could keep up with him, both in attitude and athletics. Obviously he couldn't expect anyone who was truly up to par in that department, but at least for a normal human. "What a little sneak. Wasn't he just talking trash about someone at work, how annoying she is? Was that supposed to throw us off?"

“Her name’s Lil Deville and I only watched the tail end of her team playing, but from everything Dash has said about her - I’m going to assume she probably is. Her girls were at least,” she answers with another laugh. It wasn’t surprising at all to find out the girl that their son had been complaining about for so long was now his potential girlfriend. Though Helen wasn’t sure if the two had put any label on anything between them yet, she wouldn’t be surprised if it happened soon enough. Then again, she always wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t - given that Dash hadn’t really dated anyone since that Tink girl and though she didn’t know the whole story behind it, she gathered enough information to know it had ended badly. “Oh, I don’t know. She talked a bit about how annoying he was as well - perhaps that’s just their thing. Some friendly competition turning into something a bit more than just friendly.”