Disclaimer: I own nothing from Sky High... if I did, I'd be one happy girl. I only own Bree... and any other unknown characters that may pop up later on
Quick note... 'Fortezza' is Italian and roughly translates to Stronghold in English...

**A/N: Pictures are officially up on my homepage. Look for the album 'Another Stronghold'**


Bree woke up the next day and went though her usual morning routine, waiting for Will down in the kitchen as she finished her breakfast. He grabbed one of the breakfast sandwiches his mom had made for them before they made their way outside, meeting up with Layla as they walked down to the bus stop. Layla and Will sat down next to each other, leaving Bree to sit next to Zach on the bus, who immediately started asking questions about her powers and why she didn't just fly herself to school.

"Because that would draw attention to me."

"But you're a Hero!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I like the attention," she replied, settling back into the seats as the straps came down over her head. Zach was quiet for the rest of the ride, something Bree was eternally grateful for, and she concentrated on the rest of her day.

The bus landed on the school and the small group got off together, moving to sit on the front steps as they waited for the first bell to ring for homeroom. Bree and Magenta were having a heated but friendly argument about their favorite bands and were completely oblivious to their friends and everyone else around them. It wasn't until Bree felt someone nudge her knee that she looked up, catching sight of a tall, dark figure walking past them. She locked eyes with Warren but said nothing, gave no indication that she had talked to him before as her friends watched the exchange curiously.

"You wanna explain that?" Will asked, his eyes going back to his cousin once the school bad-boy had walked away.

"Explain what?"

"You and Warren?"

"Me and Warren? There is no 'me and Warren'. Nothing's going on. He's in my homeroom and a few of my classes. That's it. Why, Will, are you trying to insinuate something?"

"N-no! I'd never… especially not with…" Bree laughed at her cousin's reaction, flipping her hair out of her face when the wind picked up. Before she had a chance to respond the bell rang and the small group got up to head inside the school for their classes.

The day seemed to drag on for Bree as she did her best to ignore Warren whenever possible, even in the classes they had together where they were partners or sitting next to each other. The looks he sent her told her he was confused but not unhappy about her actions. She hurried out of her Language class and made her way down to the lunchroom, looking around for Will or Layla.

"Bree!" Glancing up, she saw Will waving to her from a table against the far wall and waved back to let him know she'd seen them before hurrying into the lunch line. She went for the least repulsive looking food the school offered today – which happened to be salad – and walked over to the table her friend's had claimed as their own for the day.

"Hey, y'all. What?" she asked, frowning at the amused look Layla sent her. "Oh, I did it again, didn't I?"

"Our own little Texan girl," Will teased, earning a scowl from his cousin.

"Yeah, yeah. How's everyone's day going?"

"Well, mom," Will started and everyone laughed when Bree hit his arm.

"That's not funny, William."

"Don't call me William!"

"Quit acting like I'm your mother!" she shot back, sticking her tongue out at him playfully. "Besides, we both know I'm the least mature out of the two of us." Will rolled his eyes but didn't continue the argument and instead focused on digging into what the school decided passed as 'food'. Once lunch was over Bree reluctantly said good-bye to her friends and packed up her bag for the rest of her classes.

* * * *

Since there had been no incidents during the day Will and Bree took the bus home, giving Bree's aching muscles a reprieve after gym. Once home, they watched TV for a few hours before they set up their books in Bree's room and went about finishing their homework together. His cousin had been unusually quiet since lunch and even as they worked, a time when they usually talked about everything, she was quiet and Will wondered if something was bothering her. He wanted to ask her but knew if he were to do that he'd just get the cold shoulder.

Bree was the more 'suffer in silence' type of girl, to quote her favorite book; she had always been that way. He wasn't the touchy-feely kind of guy either but he knew when his cousin was hurting or when something was bugging her and it was a big deal for him if someone had done something to her. Thinking back to the start of the day, when Warren had walked past and shared that look with Bree, he hoped to god that wasn't what was bothering her; he loved his cousin but there was no way he was about to face Warren in a showdown over Bree's honor, not that she'd even let there be a showdown over her honor.

"So, Bree…"

"Jesus, would you quit looking at me like that?" He looked up in surprise at her words only to find her watching him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm fine!"

"Well, I thought maybe…"

"And that's your first problem right there, you were thinking."

"Very funny." She grinned and turned back to her homework, ducking too late when he threw his pen at her.

"Bree? Would you mind going to pick up dinner?" Bree sighed dramatically but closed her books without a word and stood up, stretching for a moment as she looked around for her purse.

"No problem, Josie! Where is that damn thing?" she muttered to herself, still digging around her desk for the small purse. Will covered his mouth to hide his laugh but she heard him and spun around, her eyes narrowing. He simply pointed at her bed and hoped she would be distracted from beating him up. "Knew there was a reason I kept my cards in my pocket…"

"Sure, Bree. Hey, can you pick up some root beer on your way home? Because you're an awesome cousin?"

"You're damn right I'm an awesome cousin," she retorted, pulling out her card holder and making sure it had her driver's license inside before shoving it in her back pocket. "I should get a freakin' plaque for the things I do."

"I'll get right on that."

"Bite me." Will grinned and mock-saluted her as she left the room, running down the stairs and waiting at the kitchen island expectantly.

"Sorry about this, honey," Josie said, adjusting her cape as she walked into the kitchen. "But Steve and I need to run for a few hours."

"No problem, Josie. Where am I going and how much is it?"

"Here, don't you even worry about paying for it. I called in at the Paper Lantern, I hope you kids don't mind Chinese food tonight?"

"Nah, Chinese is fine with me. Is there something for Will or can I let him cook for himself and see if he tries to burn the house down again?" Josie laughed fondly at her niece and hugged the young girl, placing a few bills in her hand.

"There's something for him in the fridge. You make sure he does his homework and eats something."

"Will do. Go kick butt!" Bree waved at her uncle before the two left the house and she walked to the stairs, shouting up them to let Will know she was leaving.

* * * *

The Paper Lantern was her favorite Chinese place… okay, it was the only Chinese place that she would eat at. Bree wasn't a big fan of foreign foods but she was picky enough to not try everything at least once. The place wasn't unfamiliar to her but she rarely ate inside the small, homey restaurant. She felt a little out of her element but walked quietly up to the counter and waited for someone to come over.

"Can I help you?" Bree looked up at the lady behind the counter, just about to open her mouth when another voice interrupted her.

"I got this, Leah." She tried to pull her eyes away from the figure that was walking towards the cashier's counter but was unable to get her body to listen to her mind. "Hey, Bree."

"Warren," she managed to get out, her eyes doing a quick inventory of the man in front of her. "So… um, you work here."

"Yeah. Your total is $13.64." Bree silently handed over one of the bills her aunt had given her and waited as Warren dug out her change. "$6.36. And here's your order."

"Thank you." Warren just nodded as he handed over the change and the bag, their eyes locked as each tried to figure the other out and Bree gave him a slight smile before turning away.

"Listen, Bree…" She stopped and looked back at him, waiting for him to finish his thought. "Would you mind… uh…"

"History notes again?"

"No. Language 23?"

"Oh! Um… sure, I could talk to you about it tomorrow."

"Sure." Bree reached out and grabbed his wrist, smiling when he looked up at her warily.

"Keep the change," she told him, placing the bills in his hand and turning away. She didn't wait to see what his response was, just smiled to herself as she walked out the door.

* * * *

Will was sitting in the living room when she finally returned, jumping on her immediately and searching her for his root beer. With a laugh she handed him the bag from the convenience store down the street and ran with the Chinese food into the kitchen, Will hot on her heels and ordering her to hand over his food. The two wrestled each other for first dibs on their favorite chicken before Will finally relented and let Bree dig in first.

With a delighted squeal she dug around for the rice and grabbed the first container of orange chicken before claiming a spot on the couch in the living room. Will followed a few moments later, setting the container of chili from the fridge on the table in front of the sofa as he plopped down on the ground in front of Bree, flipping on the TV and surfing for a movie they both liked. Will didn't miss the look of contemplation on his cousin's face as she watched the movie and she tried to play it off casually but when she missed her favorite scene he knew something was up. She didn't offer an explanation and he didn't ask her about it, but his curiosity had been peaked. They finished eating just before the movie ended and Bree stretched, patting her younger cousin on the head and wishing him a good night as she made her way up to her room for the night.

* * * *

When Bree walked into homeroom the next morning she locked eyes with Warren before he returned to his book, ignoring the rest of the world. She popped her gum and tucked a lock of hair self-consciously behind her ear as she walked to an empty desk in the back of the room. Using the desk in front of her, she propped her feet up on the seat and relaxed back, pulling out a sheet of paper and scribbling a quick note on the corner. The rest of the ten minutes were spent with her nose buried in her notebook, dead to the world.

The bell rang but she hung back for a few seconds until the rest of the class was up and out of their seats, finally pushing herself up and walking past Warren's desk to drop the small note into his book before walking out of the room, not once looking at him. They didn't talk to each other except for when they had a partner project, didn't let anyone else know that they knew each other outside of class. She had to take extra care, too, because Will was starting to get curious about her actions. Sometimes her cousin was able to read her easier than she would have liked.

Before lunch, Bree found Layla at her locker and let her know she had other plans for lunch. Layla tried to pry more details from her friend but the raven-haired girl wouldn't offer up anymore information other than she 'had plans'. The red-head finally gave up and waved her friend off. Bree made sure Layla had gone to lunch and that no-one else from the group was around before she made her way to the library. Somewhat to her surprise Warren was already waiting for her by the audio books section, checking out the study rooms as she approached him, glancing around to make sure no-one was watching her.

"Any open?" He glanced back at her before motioning silently to the room he was standing by. She waited for him to go in before she realized he was holding the door open for her. Bree ducked into the room, flipping on the lights as she set her bag on the table, settling down in a chair as she waited for him to join her. She was prepared to tell him not to sit across the table but he surprised her by sitting in the chair next to her, his head down as she focused on his gloves.

"You eat?" he ground out, still avoiding her eyes.

"No, you?" When he shook his head she pulled open her bag and set the containers on the table, close enough so that they both could easily reach them.

"What's this?"

"I hope you don't mind Chinese," she said with a sheepish smile. "Otherwise I've got peanut butter." His eyes moved between her and the containers in front of him before he cocked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Nothing. You're just…"

"Different?"

"Surprisingly normal," he said, sitting up a little straighter and reaching out for a container.

"Is that good or bad?" Bree asked, grabbing a piece of Crab Rangoon out of its container before setting it back down.

"The jury's still out on that one." She rolled her eyes but at least he seemed more like the Warren she saw at the Paper Lantern as opposed to the Warren she from school. They ate for a few minutes in companionable silence before Bree set down her rice, clearing her throat.

"So, what did you need help with?"

"I was talking to Miss Linde about this project I've been working on and she said to have someone else look over it so I had a different view on it."

"And you chose me?

"Um… yeah. You're writing all the time and Miss Linde suggested you so…"

"What are you working on," she asked as she dug around in her bag for her notebook and a pencil.

"It's an independent project, poetry I guess."

"Poetry?" she frowned, taking the notebook from Warren and missing the look on his face as she flipped past the cover.

"What's wrong with…"

"Nothing! I'm just wondering why she told you to come to me. I couldn't write poetry if my life depended on it."

"She said something about you being a good editor.

"Only 'cause I read a lot and critique my own writing worse than someone who gets paid for it." Her eyes widened as she continued to flip through the notebook, skimming over each page of writing.

"What now?" he asked, seeing the expression on her face.

"This is really good. You wrote all of these by yourself?"

"Yeah," he replied, watching her warily.

"Um…" Bree sighed, pressing her fingers against her forehead as she thought. "This is going to take some time to go through. Especially if you want me to checkout all of them?" Warren shrugged, he just wanted an opinion, and he looked u pin surprise when her pencil hit his chest.

"The hell was that for?"

"I can't work with a shrug."

"You're annoying, you know that?"

"So I've been told," she responded nonchalantly, shrugging as she packed up the food containers and stealing another Crab Rangoon. "Are you okay with me taking this to look over it?

"I guess. Could I give it to you after school? I'm in the middle of a few things…"

"No problem. I'll wait around on the front steps?"

"I'll be in the hallway when you're done changing." She handed over the notebook without a word and watched as she slid it into his backpack.

"Do you like fortune cookies?"

"What?" he asked, more out of surprise and curiosity than anything.

"Do you like fortune cookies? Te gusta las galletas de fortunas? I'd try French but if I knew it…" She grinned when he cocked an eyebrow at her an just shook his head.

"Yeah, I like 'em."

"Awesome, 'cause I hate them. Taste like cardboard so…" She grabbed his hand and dropped a cookie into his hand, her fingers sliding gently over this skin of his wrist and the back of his hand as she pulled away. "I'll see you later, then." He nodded at her and silently slid her pencil across the table, barely catching the 'thanks' that fell from her lips before she was out the door, the bell signaling the end of lunch following a few heartbeats later.

She was a mystery, someone who didn't make much sense to him at all. On the one hand, she was the same as all the teachers and counselors, always wanting to know how he felt or if he was okay. Bree may not have said it outright but he'd gotten so used to the questions that he could see it in people's faces, in their eyes. She fit the 'popular' description to a T: pretty face, bubbly attitude and personality, the right kind of clothes, got along with all the teachers. On the other, she gave him his space (well, she at least didn't push him for answers), left him alone even though she was curious to know what was going on in his head. She was popular, most people in every clique knew the raven-haired girl but she stuck to her small group of friends. Her bubbly personality was part of a mask she wore, only masking the pain she was harboring for whatever reason. All in all, she was so normal that she was different, and Warren wasn't sure if it was a good thing he was thinking that hard about her.

A/N: I would love it if I got a review just to let me know if people are still reading this... even if all it says is 'hi'. Oh, and I would LOVE some constructive criticism! Just please be gentle ;)

grabbed the first container of orange chicken