Freezing the Flames

By Jessie (AKA Dory)

Author Note: Takes place not long after the events of The Incredibles. Other than that – just look in the disclaimer below. Warning – first chapter written very late at night, so any spelling errors etc should be ignored unless you want to be smacked on the cheek or something. Ignore that bit too – this is my exhausted and rather not-too-clearly-thinking self speaking, heh.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Incredibles, they are owned by Disney and Pixar. (More rightfully owned by Pixar … cough-cough). I do however own Blaze, and any other character that did not originate from the movie etc. Though I have to point out, I do NOT own Blazestone, whom is mentioned later in the story – she is one of the supers mentioned in the movie as well as the top secret files on the DVD. Bits of what is mentioned about her in there will be used in this story.

Chapter 1: Early Morning Queries

3 AM – the worst time of night to be awake, where one is simply half still dreaming and just barely awake to realize they're not asleep. Where you may not even realize the next morning when really awaken, that in the middle of the night a cookie suddenly disappeared from the depths of the cookie jar. A time of night that some of us awaken, but we aren't really sure why – perhaps it is some inner worry that keeps us up at odd hours without our realization of the cause. Or perhaps it is a sign of what is to come in our future that can be sensed days in advance. Maybe even it has to do with realizing something is wrong, or even having a spiritual honest moment – after all, a number of artists and writers have claimed to have written their best work at the gawky hours of the morning when they should be sleeping.

Or perhaps, it simply comes down to the fact that some of us just need a snack in the middle of the night. I'll be going with that one.

A blonde and short little boy dragged his feet awkwardly slowly through the hallway of his home. It was only awkward because he was so used to being quick, speedy, and rarely a slow dull moment. If anyone needed to be constantly lectured about taking time to stop and smell the roses, it would surely be this ten year old boy. He was so fast so often that it would be a wonder if he truly took in any detail that wasn't a blur in his path.

The little blonde boy, known by most as Dash, was only going slowly so not to awaken anyone. When he was this tired while running, he would surely smash into a wall, or knock something over and cause a racket without realizing it. Slow was the safe way to go – as much as he detested it in his mind, he knew sometimes just slowing down would answer his troubles. As he inched into the kitchen, he adjusted his eyes to the darkness, he thought back to when he was being chased in the jungles of Nomanisan Island. When he was being chased, he couldn't shake those guys loose no matter how fast he ran, which is to say, he totally didn't regret it – it was a wild fantasy to be running on water as though he were a speedy motor boat in a James Bond movie. However, he later thought about it, and realized all his troubles with those things chasing him were ended when he simply just stopped.

"Hmm," he muttered to himself as he thought about all these things, whilst noticing that the cake from dinner was gone, "Dad beat me to it," he sighed as softly as he could. He walked around the kitchen; perhaps something else to eat would be spotted. He then went back to thinking about how he simply had to stop in order for the two – what ever those things were called – to crash into each other, and that was the end of that. For that brief moment he had been cornered in a near death trap, he stopped thinking entirely. Without realizing it, he had stopped moving his feet, causing gravity to truly kick in as his weight grabbed him by the stomach and pulled him into the water just as the two things crashed together.

Alright – so perhaps being awake late at night makes you think a bit more deeply about these things, but really, it all starts with wanting a snack or having to go to the bathroom. It's not like anyone sets their alarm to wake up at 3 AM to just have time to THINK – as far as any of us know anyways.

He narrowed his eyes, getting into a spy-like position as if he were hunting down something of great importance. Of course, since he was somewhat starving – any form of desert-like-food was considered great importance at that moment. He suddenly eyed the cookie jar on the counter, rubbing his hands evilly, he tip-toed towards his treasure chest.

Shifting his eyes as he reached the counter, he started to whisper to himself, "Worldwide adored superhero – The Incredible Dash – is sneakily trying to take back the stolen treasure from the clutches of evil," he made a humming sound as though it were his theme song. He touched the lid of the cookie jar briefly, creaked it slowly open so that the lid would not make a creaking clatter of a sound.

Almost instantly, the light of the kitchen flickered on and Dash jumped in shock at the sudden surprise of brightness. He fell to the floor, as the cookie jar stood promptly in its place, and he covered his face with his oversized PJ sleeve covering his arm, he whispered to himself intently, "Drat – the hero has been caught by the villain in his attempt to save the world again."

"You do realize you could have just turned the light on in the first place, right? No one would have noticed," a voice responded to his awkward position sarcastically. Dash lowered his shielding sleeve to see a blurry figure leaning against the door of the kitchen.

He huffed with a sigh, "I know – but it's so bright- and I wanted to seem – I don't know, sneaky I guess," he slowly stood to his feet, nearly losing his balance from his drowsiness.

Dash continued blinking his eyes in order to straighten out his vision, finally resorting to rubbing them with his clenching fists and giving a huge yawn. He looked up again with an exhausted expression to see Violet in the doorway, dressed in her big purple PJs, as well as wearing a sleepy smirk across her face.

"What are you doing up at this hour, shorty?" She yawned, walking into the kitchen towards him, ruffling his already bed-head messy hair as she passed by him with a large yawn.

"What are you doing up, Vi?" He asked defensively, crossing his arms and all as he narrowed his suspicious eyes.

Violet simply rolled her eyes, lifted the lid to the jar of the cookie jar and grabbed two, handing one to her little brother. "I asked first," she pointed out, taking a bite out of her cookie and then putting her hands on the counter as she held onto her cookie with her mouth. Effortlessly, she lifted herself onto the counter and began chewing the cookie a little more.

Dash stared at the cookie for a moment, and then proceeded to eating it, giving her a slightly annoyed glance, "Obviously I was hungry, hence my sneakiness in trying to get a cookie," he looked up at her, suddenly feeling a bit more drowsy and wishing he was sitting instead.

"Nothing at all bothering you?" She raised an eyebrow as she swallowed the last of the cookie, adjusting her mouth briefly as she made sure that all of the cookie had been swallowed. She then proceeded to wrapping her arms around her waist to keep warm as her hair fell in front of part of her face.

Dash shook his head 'no', finishing up his cookie as well and then looking at his hand as though he were wishing he had some more, "Why would there be?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, starting to rub her arms a bit more as a slight breeze came through.

He looked up expectantly at her, "So why are you here then? Tony problems?" He mocked teasingly at Tony's name as though he was saying something disgustingly sweet.

She narrowed her eyes briefly, then looked away, "No – nothing about Tony. I was hungry – and thinking."

"Thinking?" Dash cocked his head, "Who wakes up at this time in the morning to just – think?" He didn't bring up the fact that the whole time he had been thinking about the whole running and stopping issue when him and the rest of their family – minus Jack-Jack – were on that island.

She gave him a look, but a small smile, then sighed deeply as she rested her elbow on her knee and then rested her chin into her palm, "I guess I do."

"Weirdo," he teased in a loving brotherly way.

"Shrimp," she instantly shot back.

"Tony-lover," he teased without a breath of thought.

"Speedo," she narrowed her eyes once again, threatening to get worse if he continued to pester, "and I mean those disturbing swim suits too!"

"Acne-face," he hissed back at her, crossing his arms.

Her hands clenched the ends of the counter and she couldn't hold it back anymore, "bed wetter!"

His eyes went wide, and his mouth gaped slightly, "Hey – that had to be a year ago – and it was only like .. twice," his expression fell completely, and his hands went behind his back sheepishly. His head hung rather low and his long and messy blonde hair fell in front of his eyesight, but he didn't bother to push them away.

Violet suddenly frowned as that old pang of guilt suddenly slapped her in the face, it always went too far – and she knew she shouldn't have brought it up, but it was just too early in the morning for her compassion to have any real sensibility. She hopped off the counter and crouched down to her little brother's level.

"I'm sorry Dash," she sighed, but he just turned around, crossing his arms, but keeping his head down distraughtly. She bit her lip; she hated when he did that, and suddenly pushed him around and gave him a hug. He sighed at her embrace, but did not hug her back. She muttered, "It's just late – or early – whatever," she sighed, leaving the half-hug and holding him by the shoulders, "You know I love you little guy, and I'm sorry – I can tell something is on your mind. Want to share it to acne-face?" She offered, and he smiled slightly as she added, "Even though I rather lack acne, thankfully."

He simply shrugged his shoulders, "I don't really know – it just seems like something weird is coming," he scrunched his mouth to one side of his face as he thought about it a moment and looked up to Violet's eye sight, "It probably sounds really silly or something. I don't know – it feels like I'll have to make some big decisions pretty soon."

She arched her eyebrows curiously, "Like what?

He stood in silence for a moment and shook his head, "I really don't know. It's just this sorta weirdo gut feeling type thing."

She nodded, letting his shoulders go as they both reduced to sitting on the ground, "Are you sure it isn't just your stomach growling?"

Raising his head a little more he rather gave her a harsh expression, "Yes, Violet, I think I can tell the difference between a stomach growl and a weird feeling of something strange to happen."

She simply scoffed, pushing part of her hair away, "Dash – seriously, your just ten! You haven't even gone through voice changing yet! How on earth are you suppose to tell the difference between the two when there may be nothing at all?"

He crossed his arms and stood up with such a swift huff that he nearly slipped on the floor in his exhaust state, "I'm going back to bed," he stomped his feet towards the door towards the hallway.

Rolling her eyes to herself, she simply responded, "Goodnight, Dash," he didn't respond, but she noticed he no longer stomped as the door closed and he headed towards his bed room. She sighed, feeling overly tired and more or so defeated as she slowly crept to the door as well. With a lazy wave of her arm, she turned the kitchen light off and dragged her feet towards her room. She reached her door and looked to Dash's room, the light was off and she heard nothing from there. Then turning her head towards her parents room she noticed the same, everyone in the house must have been asleep other than her. That is unless Dash was moodily sulking in his bed, in silence of course. If he wanted her attention, he would have been making more noise, but it would have been foolish for him to do so considering it would have probably awaken their parents. Violet sighed once again and pushed her door open, kicking some random stuff on her floor away and then flopping sloppily onto her bed. She took a deep breath and then exhaled as she cuddled into the depths of her blankets.

What if Dash really had a strange feeling of what was to come? What if it really wasn't just another stomach ache? What if this was all some weird omen, and because she ignored it, will release a horrible domino effect of unfortunate events to occur to her family? She closed her eyes, and then decided that she would put those what ifs away and just sleep it off. For all she knew, this was just some weird dream, but she doubted that. Everything seemed a bit too realistic for it to be a dream in her opinion. She couldn't ponder another word – as she drifted off to sleep.

On the other side of the city, a girl sat in a limo, dressed up slightly with her partially blonde and partially brunette hair slump in a pony tail. She could scarcely keep her eyes open as she sat their, holding her stomach cautiously. The world for her had recently gone in a downward spiral, and she felt so lost about it.

She sighed deeply, looking up to this strange government man known as Rick Dicker, she bit her lip, "It's so late at night, Mr. Dicker – why must we do this now? They won't accept me if I show up at 3:30 AM – no matter how fancily I'm dressed up," she sulked briefly, looking down at her expensive-shoe-covered feet.

"Relax kid, things will be alright – and they know that they will have to accept you," he gave a rather annoyed sigh, "I just wish we had located you much earlier – but we have no where else to put you without anyone being suspicious."

"I know," she pouted, looking out the tainted windows – but it was so dark out that she couldn't see a thing, and from this she frowned, "I just wish I knew a bit more," a held back a tear. He simply nodded in response, but acknowledged her no longer as his cell phone rang and he answered it.

She looked out the window – oh how so much her life had recently changed, and she feared for the fact she was about to change the lives of so many others. The only problem was, she wasn't really sure as to whether it was for the better. Perhaps things would have been better off if she had simply stayed with her neighbors – oh now she certainly wished she had never called that phone number her mother had left, just in case something bad was to happen.

She had never heard of Dash, and he had never heard of her – but little did either of him know, it was because of her – Dash knew something big was about to happen. He just didn't realize that it wasn't what – but whom.

To Be Continued