Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or any original characters.

Decisions

Warren opened his eyes.

It was warm and he felt like he had been sleeping for a week. He shifted his gaze from the ceiling to the machine standing next to his bed where his chest of drawers should be. On the other side there was a small, white nightstand. That's not mine, he thought. Then he realized that he wasn't in his room.

Warren lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes. He often had strange dreams. This was just a new, even stranger dream. He willed himself back to sleep, but the glare from the window kept him stuck in the dream.

Realization struck and Warren felt his eyes fly open. What the hell?

He sat up and clawed at the lines attached to his chest. At least he recognized his own pajamas. The machine to his right started beeping furiously and he stared at it in utter confusion. He lifted his arms and the lines trailed across his body.

Suddenly a hand gripped his wrist and a sharp jab of pain brought him staring at the offending hand.

"Hush, Mr. Peace. Calm down, lie still."

He gaped at the nurse who carefully pushed him back onto the pillows. Only then he found his voice.

"Where am I? What's going on? What happened?"

As she readjusted the lines and monitors, she answered each question separately.

"You're in the Super-powered Being Ward. I'm trying to make you comfortable so that we can talk about your last question. Right," she said and took a seat in the chair next to the heart monitor. She smiled warmly to put the confused boy at ease. It only made him more uneasy. Her smile faded and was replaced with a concerned, somber expression. She took his hand. There was a long, deep cut held together with about eight stitches on his wrist.

"Your mother has passed away." That was all he needed to remind him.

A flood of images turmoiled through his mind. His mother sagging down the wall, tears and blood on her face, smiling, smiling at a framed picture of Him. He tried to stop the blood, but somehow he only managed to make it worse. Her white nightdress was caked with dried blood, the knife still wielding in her palm. He had tried- he tried so hard-

"She was very sick. The doctor had lowered the amount of anti-depressants because she had fared so well. They didn't know…" The nurse's soothing voice didn't carry over the raging storm in his head.

His mother's limp body in his arms, the tears coming so fast he could barely see. She was still smiling, the picture cracked by the fall, the knife beckoning condolence. His own blood, little at first, more pronounced later, as he kept the wound open, knowing that his indestructibility would try to counteract-

Real tears were now coursing down his face, dampening the sheets, the nurse, well trained for situations like this, smoothing his hair, stroking his hand, pulled a cabinet closer and started preparing a tranquilizer to slip into the IV line connected to his arm.

It didn't knock him out, only calmed his nerves and helped him to think through the incident more clearly.

An hour later, the effects began to wear off and he started to worry about his future. With his father in a maximum security prison and his mother gone, where will he go? He was old enough to take care of himself, but the thought of being alone in that dark house scared him, frankly, and he didn't know if he could keep himself from doing something that he would regret later on.

Warren sighed and rested his head against his knees. He realized he didn't have a choice and would have to deal with his mother's death in a mature way. He was nearly eighteen, after all. The loss of his mother was difficult to understand. He had always known that he would outlive her, but he never actually accepted the fact. And this, although painful, was going to happen anyway. The real Angelique Peace he had known was a loving, caring individual who would do anything to help anybody else, and he would always remember her that way. The pills she had taken had changed her, and he knew the cowering, pitiful creature was not really his mother. The thought eased the pain he felt deep in his soul and he knew that she was happy where she was now. One day he would join her…

The door creaked open. Warren's mind was still working overtime and he didn't hear five pairs of footsteps quietly enter his private room. It was only when Ethan whispered something that he jerked his head up and saw that he wasn't alone anymore.

For a while he regarded his friends with an uneasy stare. Then Layla spoke up and broke the silence.

"Finally! You're awake." She placed herself in the chair opposite the monitor and smiled brightly, casting an annoyed glance towards the nightstand.

"Yeah." Warren answered and sat back. His tears had dried on his face and he wondered if they could see that he had been bawling his eyes out until a few minutes before. From the looks they gave each other, it was obvious that they could. So, what do they know?

"Dude, you have no idea how worried we all were. Magenta actually cried." Zack said, receiving a vicious glare and a punch from his on/off girlfriend. Maj gave a blank, humorless smile and said: "Now you know. So did Layla."

"Yeah, but that's more natural. You really did scare us." Ethan added. Will perched on the edge of the bed and gave Warren a tired grin.

"I'm just glad you're okay. They almost didn't have enough blood to save you."

There was a long, awkward silence and Warren sighed again.

"I feel so stupid. I should have seen it was coming."

"Warren, nothing you could have done could have saved her." Layla said quickly. He gave her a cynical glance.

"She was too far gone when you found her. I know, I found you," she added, her eyes flashing with something her friends couldn't recognize. Warren could. It was self-reproach.

"Well, neither could you." He pointed out.

"Oh well, now that you're okay, everything can go back to normal, right?" Zack said and grinned like a fool.

"No." Warren said. He sighed again. "I still have half a year left at school, and I seriously doubt that I'll spend it in that house without trying to do myself in again."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Will said, brightening. "My parents have it sorted out."

"What?" Warren frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. He instinctively backed up his walls again, vowing to himself to be as difficult as possible to work with. He would stubbornly refuse to go to an orphanage, be taken up as a boarding student at Sky High, or anything else along those lines.

As Will opened his mouth to explain, the nurse came in with a tray of food, ushered them out and set it before Warren with an order to eat. He was ravenous and finished before she had time to do a quick check-up.

"That was quick," she remarked and removed some of the lines connecting him to the heart monitor. "I see your fans are glad you're better. They've been here every day, the redhead and the Stronghold kid sometimes twice. They brought a very strange plant. I took it away and said it might meddle with the oxygen. I'll bring it back if you like. The girl wouldn't stop giving me grief if I didn't ask you."

Warren smiled inwardly at finding the cause of the "annoyed glance". Layla, always the eco-freak.

"Yeah, you can bring it back. She'll give me hell if I didn't let you."

"All right. There are some people wanting to talk to you before you go to bed."

Five minutes later Principal Powers walked into the room.

"Hello, Warren," she greeted and took a seat. He greeted her with a mumble. Then she got right to the point.

"I'm not here to talk about school. I've been appointed you guardian as your mother didn't leave a will." At this, his mouth fell open and he gaped at her in astonishment. "However, there has been a request for you to be fostered by Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold for the rest of the year, after that, you'll be back with me." Principal Powers looked slightly miffed and triumphant at the same time.

Warren tried to hide his surprise by looking down at his hands, but failed miserably. He still looked like a goldfish with his mouth opening and closing continuously, wanting to say something but then deciding it was not a good idea. Someone actually wants me?

"But-"

"Let me finish. You're very welcome to stay with me, of course. I could help you with training, homework, get you the best cover job- there are many perks, of course."

There was silence for a moment and Warren decided to grab it.

"But why would you do that? I'd just be a burden. Besides, with Baron Battle as a father and a mother who committed suicide, I'm not exactly pedigree."

Sarah Powers regarded the boy in front of her with a mixture of pity and affection.

"There have been many people who have wanted to adopt you over the years." She said softly. "Every time your mother had a relapse, to be exact. This one was just worse than the others. And it couldn't have come at a worse time. You only have half a year-"

"I know." Warren interrupted her with annoyance. He was not going to be freighted around like a four year old. Maybe he should try the bachelor thing. But then again, the feeling of acceptance was new and he was beginning to enjoy it. And there was the house…

"Well, I'll leave you to think it over. The Strongholds are here as well. I think they might want to talk to you about this." Principal Powers stood up.

"Christ, this is happening fast," he said, his mind awhirl with strange thoughts.

"Not exactly." Her brow furrowed and she stood closer. "This is your ninth day in hospital."

"Jesus Christ, I've been in hospital for nine days?" Warren half yelled, sitting up. Sarah jumped slightly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Careful." She warned and turned around at the sound of someone entering the room. The Commander and Jetstream were by Warren's bedside in less than a second. He suddenly felt extremely self-conscious in his old pinstripe pajamas and pulled the sheets up higher.

"What happened?" Josie Stronghold asked, concern evident in her eyes. "We heard a shout-"

"Are you okay?" Steven Stronghold enquired. Warren felt even more awkward as the man who put his father in prison towered over him. Warren knew he was big, but from a new perspective (meaning lying down) the man looked like a mountain.

"Yeah." Warren replied, at the height of embarrassment and shame. His voice came out like a little girl's: timid and insecure.

"I'm leaving now," Principal Powers stated and held out a hand towards Warren. Automatically he reacted and offered his hand, his sleeve falling back and revealing the place where he decided to mortally wound himself. The adults around him gasped and leaned in for closer inspection. That made Warren snap.

"All right!" He declared, maybe a little too vehemently. He could feel the heat building up inside himself. Principal Powers apologized, nodded at the Strongholds and finally left.

"Good God." Warren shook himself and pulled his sleeve down. "I thought my mom was bad."

Will Stronghold wandered through the door, grinning weakly. The grinning part was to show that he was glad that his best friend was acting more like himself. The weak part was to show that he knew what Warren was capable of, especially when he is acting like himself.

Warren groaned audibly at the sight of Will.

"Is anyone else hiding behind the door?" He asked sarcastically. Will was about to answer yes, some hospital staff to see the fire show but thought better of himself.

"Welcome to the family," he said instead and spread his arms.

"I haven't decided yet," Warren snapped darkly and fell back against the pillows. Josie sighed. This might be more difficult than she thought. She gave Steven an encouraging glance and nodded towards Warren, who was staring at them moodily and muttering something inaudible.

"Warren," Steven started. He hesitated and perched on the edge of the bed and stared at his feet. "We'd be delighted if you could come stay with us until you've found your own feet."

Warren's brooding expression softened. He now had two very nice deals to choose from. For once in his life he could make a decision that only affects him. He didn't have to think of the implications on his father, or his unstable mother. This was just about him.

He tried to weigh the two against each other. Suddenly he was tired. His brain was rapidly shutting down like a computer that suddenly froze in the middle of a very important document.

"I'm really tired," he managed to utter before his mind went completely numb. Josie saw the exertion coming on and indicated to her two boys to leave now. They said abrupt goodbyes and slipped noiselessly out of the room. Josie neared Warren and pulled the blankets and sheets over his chest. To his complete surprise her lips swept across his forehead.

"Goodnight, Warren." He heard the click of the bedside lamp and darkness enveloped him.

First chapter. Like it? Let me know.

Reg