[Author's Note: Greetings. This is one of my first Sky High stories. Hopefully it's not too hard to follow. If anything doesn't make sense, please feel free to point it out and I'll do my best to fix it. This is rated M for later chapters. They get a bit gory. But that's much later. I'm also sorry if the first... four chapters seem different then the chapters afterwards. I've been writing on this off and on for... three or four years now. Just as a note.

Also, I don't own anything related to Sky High. Just my characters and plot line. Enjoy.]

Chapter One.

I picked a can out of my box and put it on the shelf with ten other brands of soup and I sighed. This had to be one of the most boring jobs I've ever had. A man walked by me and seemed to look me over.

I only caught a glimpse of his red highlighted hair before I picked up another couple of cans and put them on the shelf. I stood up straight, stretching. My blue/brown hair fell a few inches short of my shoulder.

I yawned and looked at the closest clock. Fifteen minutes then I can go home.

"Tired of work already?" My new boss asked.

"No, sir." I said, picking up a hand full of cans.

Obviously, my handful seemed to be one too many. One fell out of my arms and rolled down the aisle, hitting the man that just looked at me, in the foot.

He looked down at the can and picked it up. He looked at me and walked over. "I think you dropped this." He said in a gravelly voice, putting it on the shelf for me with his fingerless-gloved hand.

"Thanks." I mumbled with a shy smile as I continued to put cans on the shelf. My boss glared at me. "What'd I do now?" I asked with a sigh.

"No flirting with customers." He snapped, walking away.

I glared after him, grumbling to myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the guy was still there. I saw that my box was empty, so I put it on the dolly, and rolled it away. I wanted to get his name, but I didn't want to get fired on my second day at work.

Walking into the back with the dolly, I broke down the box. I then got another box to work on. This time I ended up in the frozen food section. I happened to be unloading a box of TV dinners.

I heard a door open near me and ignored it. I continued unloading the box until I saw a gloved hand reach in front of me.

"Excuse me." He said in his deep voice. I looked up and he was barely, like barely, smiling at me as he took about five of the dinners out of my hands. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Was all I could muster up.

"Name's Peace." He said, holding out his hand.

I looked around for my boss and when I saw he wasn't around; I took his hand and stood up, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Peace. I'm Love." I smiled.

"No, my name's seriously Peace." He smiled at me.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. My name is seriously Young." I smiled back at him.

"First name or last name?" He asked, tucking a strand of loose black hair behind his ear.

"Last. Yours?" I asked.

"Last." He said.

I saw my boss come around the corner. "Oh. Ice cream? It's at the very beginning of the aisle. Try the new flavors of Dryer's. They are pretty good." I said, pointing down the opposite way.

"Thanks." He said with a nod to me and he continued back to the aisle. My boss shook his head at me. "What? He couldn't find the ice cream." I said.


Fifteen minutes later…

I bought three TV dinners, a box of chocolate cookies, and a four pack of Monster. I checked out and walked out of the store I worked at. I just moved to this city, Maxville. I had just started working at the Maxville Shopping Center. I wasn't really good at anything else and I needed the job. You see, I'm only 17, but I'm emancipated. And I dropped out of school, so I needed the work.

I rode the bus all the way here from Colorado. I needed a new start, and this was the best way I could think of. I walked down the street in the pouring rain. I pulled my hood farther over my head and was thankful my backpack was water proof.

I thought I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turned around but nothing was there. There was an alley to my left so I took it. The tall building shielded me from the rain, but not the loud noises it made on the metal roof. I pulled my hood off my head and shook it off.

All the sudden, I was flung against the wall to my right. There was a guy in a hoodie holding a knife to my throat. My breath got caught in my throat as he smiled at me.

"Take the backpack off." He said. I quickly removed it and tossed it to the side. When I did this, he started attacking me, trying to grab at my clothes. It stopped as fast as it started. He suddenly got off me and landed all the way on the opposite end of the alley, about ten feet from me. Then I saw another man, holding my attacker at last two feet off the ground.

My breath seemed to come out in a rush. "If I ever see you again, I'll put you in prison. Got it?" Said my savior.

My attacker nodded his head violently. The younger man set the attacker down and he took off running away from me.

I pieced my shirt back together and zipped up my jacket. The man who saved me looked at me from the shadows of the closest building and dug something out of his pocket and put on his face, then walked over to me. "You ok miss? Did he hurt you?"

I just stared at him for a long moment before I realized he was actually talking to me. "Physically, I think I'm bruised. Mentally, I'm scared." I said, looking up at him. I mean, he was like five inches taller than me.

"Well, physically, bruises heal. Mentally, time heals all things." He said, helping me to my feet.

As the light hit him, I noticed he had a mask over his face. "Are you a… superhero?" I asked, picking up my backpack. I had heard stories from people around town. But I thought they were just gossip. I didn't know this town actually had Supers.

"Um… Yes." He said.

"That's so cool." I whispered, looking him over. He wasn't overly bulky, but you could see he had some muscles. "So, what's you power?"

"Super Strength and Flying." He told me. I nodded. Not sure if I felt comfortable with a Super saving me. "You're not from around here, are you?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Just moved here." I told him.

He nodded. "Well, after that little mishap, you probably don't want to walk home by yourself." He stated. "Can I fly you home?"

"Fly me home?" I asked, concerned that he was joking with me. He nodded and his feet lifted off the ground. "Can you carry me?" I asked.

"Super Strength, remember?" He laughed. It was a comforting sound. He held his hand out. I took it hesitantly. "Forgive my strong grip. I don't want to drop you." He said.

"Me neither." I said, nervously.

"I was joking." He told me with a smile as he took off.

I don't know how hard I was holding his hand, but he didn't say anything. I closed my eyes tightly. I always had a thing about heights. When I opened my eyes, I gasped. The city was so beautiful.

"Where do you live?" He asked.

So, I pointed out my apartment building. As a bird flies, it only took us five minutes. Of course, he flew faster then I could've walked. He found a tree with a few bushes around it to land behind. "Can't make a too obvious entrance." He explained when I asked.

I nodded. "Thank you." I told him. "For saving me and for flying me home." Well, that wasn't the weirdest thing I'd ever said…

He smiled. "It's my pleasure. It's a bad way to meet, but I am glad I met you." He said. I smiled. "Where do you go to school?" He asked.

"Oh. Well. I uh… don't." I said. He gave me a confused look. "I dropped out of school when I became emancipated because I had to pay my own bills." I said. "So I work at the Shopping Center, but no school for Jade."

He smiled.

I realized I hadn't told him my name. "I'm sorry. I feel rude now. Jade Young." I said, holding out my hand to him.

He smiled, shaking my hands. "Well, I'm still working out my name since I'm not a full time hero yet." He said. "But I'm thinking about Flying Strong or something like that."

I nodded. "Well, 'Flying Strong,' thanks again." I said, kissing him gently on the cheek.

He turned tomato red as I walked into the building. I sighed, leaning against the wall. I took a breath and continued up the stairs to the third floor. As soon as I got inside my apartment, I collapsed against the door.


It had been a week since I was saved by the hero-in-training. And I have to admit, if there weren't any heroes, this town would be a ghost town for all that I saw. I sighed, hanging my coat in the break room. I put my lunch in the fridge and put on my sale's apron. Today was going to be a long day. I just knew it.

Like any other day, I went into the back room and got a box that needed to be stacked. I rolled it down the main aisle way, and down the correct aisle. "Oh fun." I said.

Today was baby clothes. Go me.

After a very long thirty minutes, I returned to the back room to get another box. I looked over what we had gotten. There was only cheese and beer left and since I was a minor, I went with the cheese. Out rolled the box and down the dairy aisle.

"Excuse me miss. Do you know where the green chili is? Like for Mexican food?" A woman asked me.

"Oh, yeah. It's down aisle 8 with the refried beans." I said, pointing in the general direction.

She thanked me and continued on with her shopping.

I was really starting to get bored when I heard someone yelling. Actually, it sounded like a group of someone's. "Stupid teenagers." I said in annoyance, going to see what the disturbance in the produce was. I stopped short coming around the corner as I saw about eight men in masks. All with guns.

I began to slowly back away when I felt something against the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes as a voice spoke.

"Going somewhere?"

"Well. I heard this guy made a mess on the soup aisle and I was going to get a trash can." I said. Something hard hit the back of my head and I fell on my hands and knees.

"Shut up, smart ass. Get in the group." He said, kicking me in the side.

I groaned, dragging myself over to where the other people were being held hostage.

"Caught this one trying to escape." The man said to another man, whom I presumed to be the leader of their little group.

"Actually, I was planning on getting something to hit you in the head with." I explained, keeping my hands up.

He snarled at me and sent a kick to my side. I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth. I felt one of my ribs bend and I didn't think that was good.

"It's alright." Said an unknown voice, who gently helped me stand up.

I was in too much pain to get out a thank you.

Fifteen more minutes of torturing went by before anything happened. First, there was a blast and broken glass everywhere. Then there were lots and lots of green. It took me a minute to see that it was plants.

Lots of plants.

Needless to say, a mound of confusion washed over me as I saw that our attackers were being pummeled by long vines. Then I saw her. A Super. She was gorgeous. Long red hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore normal clothes, but they were immensely green, just like her mask.

"I suggest you put those down." She called to the two men that still had guns.

Their only reply was three shots fired, none of which reached her.

"Well, I did warn you." She said, as she moved her hands and the vines took the guns, wrapping them up.

"We surrender!" The group leader yelled, getting on his knees and putting his hands behind his head.

"Smart guy." She commented as they were 'hand cuffed' with said plants.

"Thank you!" Said most of the people being held hostage.

"Anything for the good people of Maxville." Said the masked maiden. She walked over to me after the police had taken care of the masked men. "Think I could talk to you for a sec?"

"Um, sure, yeah." I said, holding my side from the kick I received in the ribs.

"Are you Jade Young?" She asked me.

I felt like this was a trick question. "Yeah?"

"The guy that saved you the other night is my boyfriend, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around kissing him. Cheek, or otherwise." She smiled at me.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I was just trying to be polite. I didn't mean anything by it." I said, partially scared she'd wrap me in plants and hang me from the rafters.

"It's all good. I just wanted to clear that up. I don't really like fighting, so I try really hard to prevent it." Another honest smile.

I nodded. "I would feel the same way if I were you. Sorry, I didn't actually introduce myself. I'm Jade Young." I said, holding out my hand.

"I'm still working on a superhero name." She said, shaking my hand and leaning closer to me. "But you can call me Layla."

I smiled at her. "Thanks for saving us, by the way."

"Oh, anytime." She laughed. "Hey, I'm going for pizza later with a couple friends. You wanna come?"

I thought about it for a moment. "You're not asking me on a date, are you?" I whispered.

Another hearty laugh. "No, silly. Just pizza. You sound cool. I want you to meet some of my friends." She smiled. I laughed, relieved. Then stop instantly. Hurt ribs and laughing are a no-no. "Ok. Sure. What's the address?"