I don't own Sky High. Oh, well.

11

Glory –

"The hero's back, Glory." I heard Meta, but I really didn't want to wake up. My dream was so nice and Lash…Lash was a nightmare. "Glory, wake up. This is not a drill, kid, wake up!"

I opened an eye and glanced around the room. Lash was standing just inside the window, looking like hell. He was pale, his eyes wide and unseeing. For a moment I wondered if he even knew where he was. "Lash? What are you doing here?"

My voice seemed to snap him out of it. He turned his eyes on me and I really wish that he hadn't. He looked freaked the fuck out. "She's dead. He…he just killed her. He killed her like it didn't even matter."

"Huh? Wha…what happened?" I was still half asleep. Someone was dead? What the hell? I hadn't seen him for weeks, not since his little episode under the tree. Or maybe it was my little episode. Whatever, I hadn't seen him since I had punched him in the face. "What are you doing here?"

He looked confused. "It was supposed to be a quick job, but…he just killed her."

We weren't getting anywhere. I tuned out everything else as I listened to his clothes. Most of them were foreign made so they gave me nothing but a headache, but his watch spoke clearly if in annoying ticking words. Whistler. Killed a. Woman. Lash and. Speed. Ran.

"Killed…what the hell did you do?"

Lash. Is. Innocent.

It really didn't matter. He was in trouble anyway. Real trouble. Even if he had only been a witness, he was implicated in a murder. You know, other girls have easy lives. They are pretty, and smart, with an awesome power, and they land the hero. Hell, they are the hero. I wind up with a villain that decides it's ok to turn my room in to his hide out.

He really did look upset, though.

"Lash, it's alright. You didn't do anything." I tried my hardest to sound convincing.

"He killed her. Right in front of us. For nothing."

Something flashed outside the window and we both froze. "Police," Meta alerted. We glanced out the window and saw several squad cars pulling up and down the street. They were searching. Lash dove at the window, thinking he would beat a hasty escape but I intercepted him and we both fell onto the carpet.

"Don't. Don't run, Lash. Running is what guilty people do."

He struggled, going all rubbery and twisting around. "After what happened at school last year, they won't care if I'm guilty or not. I'm Lash Livingston, villain, and that's all they will see. Someone is dead, Glory. Dead. They'll pin this on me."

Why would he pick that particular moment to be intelligent? Where was his brain an hour ago when he thought that breaking into someone's house was a good idea? "Lash, I know you didn't hurt her. I believe you."

"You don't believe me!" He elbowed me in the jaw trying to get away and I saw stars, gasping in pain. "You believe whatever piece of clothes told you I didn't do it."

I held my jaw and tried to push back the painful tears that burned my eyes. "You can't just run. You can tell the police. You can tell them it was Whistler."

He laughed. It was a scornful sound but he did stop fighting me. "You want me to tell Maxville Police that The Ghost, one of their favorite superheroes, just committed a crime?"

"Oh, Lash." He was right, of course. I worked with police enough times that I knew how highly they all thought of Whistler. Still, if Lash hadn't done anything wrong… A car door slammed outside and we both scrambled back to the window. A cruiser had pulled up outside and two officers were on their way up the walk, plastic evidence bags in their hands.

"Shit!" I dragged him away from the window.

He was incredulous. "How did they find me?"

"They didn't. They're here for me." I was standing in the middle of my room rapidly joining him in a full fledged panic. "They bring by evidence since I can hear things…"

"Glory!" Meta hissed. "You need to have a good reason for having Lash in here and fast."

Down stairs the doorbell rang followed by several sharp knocks.

I shook my head. "Dammit, Lash, why did you come here?" I threw my hands up, exasperated. I could hear my parents' bedroom door open and someone head downstairs.

"You're my sidekick." He sounded so bewildered and sincere I did a double take, just to make sure that it really was him that stood next to me. The door opened downstairs and Lash looked sick. I suddenly missed his usual smirk and arrogance. That I could deal with. Subdued, defeated Lash was too damn pathetic. "What do we do?"

Clearly no one explained to him that hero supports just stand back and let the 'hero' take care of business. That probably wasn't going to work this time.

Alright, think Glory. What is a good excuse to have a possible criminal in your bedroom in the middle of the night? No…not a criminal. A guy. A guy in my room…

Oh, I was going to regret this, I just knew it.

"Meta?"

"I've got you covered, darling," he said immediately.

"You'll have to cover us both. Let's say just before midnight." I looked at Lash and growled. "If you tell anyone about this, the police will be the least of your problems." I couldn't believe I was even considering helping him. His brother had just killed someone. He had just stood by and let it happen, and implicated Glory in the process. I should be tossing him to the cops, serving him up with fries and a pickle spear…but I just couldn't do it. "Hurry up!"

"What are you talking about?" Lash demanded.

God help me. "Take off your pants."

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