A/N: Woohoo! Chapter Ten! Things are gonna start heating up soon guys :P.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High, I make no money from this story...

I feel light. I want to float, but something is dragging me down. Clinging to me.

I hear noise. Piercing sounds. I want to fly away, to where there is quiet. But I can't.

The noise it too bright. It is so insanely bright. But it is fading...slowly. Too slowly. I know I can make the light dark now. Make it black. But I can't. It won't let me. It's getting brighter. Brighter hurts.

It took me a minute to realize I was alive. I didn't feel anything. But I could see the lights burning through my eyelids.

It made me giggle.

I heard something near me, my name? I don't know. I tried to open my eyes, but all I saw was white before my eyelids drooped back down. For some reason, it made me giggle more.

There were voices. They didn't say anything I could understand.

"What did they give her?"

"Beats me."

"Get a doctor."

Time flew. I don't know how long. The giggles would come and go, but they never lasted long. I couldn't hold a thought together to laugh at. I spoke, I think. I couldn't feel my face, but I knew words were flowing. Flowing. Haha.

Sleep...was nice.

I think it was the pain that woke me up. I'm not sure, but I definitely think it was the pain. I could feel myself. I wished I was back to the floating.

I whimpered. Everything hurt.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're okay."

I opened my eyes. The light was blinding. I flinched. Then it was gone. I opened my eyes again, and through the spots I saw a face. It was hard to focus, but I knew who it was. I smiled at him and looked down. His hand was holding bandages. Was I in those bandages?

Why was I in bandages?

I looked up at Lash. "What happened?"

"Nothing. How're you feeling, Nightlight?"

"I hurt. Something must have happened or else I wouldn't hurt."

"They told me not to tell you. They said it would upset you."

"Please."

Lash sighed. "Someone tried to blow you up." My heart stopped. Lash saw the look on my face and hurriedly continued. "It wasn't Warren. The cop hunted him down, and he passed the lie detector test."

I calmed down a bit, until I remembered that someone still had tried to kill me. The tears started flowing freely, but I tried to keep the sobs to a minimum. All the movement hurt my chest. It took me a few minutes to realize Lash was crying too.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. He used his free hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I heard them blow you up. You were just talking, then there was an explosion, and you screamed. The phone fell to the ground, and it was still on and you weren't screaming anymore. I thought you–." He broke off, but I didn't say anything. I could tell he had more to say. "I'd never driven so fast in my life. I got there just as the fire department did. You were crumpled on top of the dumpster. The explosion actually launched you off the stairs and threw you against the opposite wall. You weren't moving; just laying there. I was afraid to touch you. The firemen just went right to put out the fire, they didn't even see you. It was cop who wound up calling the ambulance. I couldn't even do that. I just saw you and froze." His voice was rushed, as if he would never be able to say the words if he didn't say them now.

"Lash, calm down. Please. I'm alive." I gripped his hand harder, but he was still crying. We were both a bunch of babies.

We were still crying, though a bit more softly, when a doctor came in. Well, flew in. He chuckled when my jaw dropped.

"We're on the super hero floor." He explained.

"The hospital has a super hero floor?"

"Yes, most hospitals do. Supers need special treatments and doctors, since they usually aren't put in here by normal means." The doctor, a slightly older man, said. "Now, let's see how that head of yours is doing." He walked over and took out a little pen light. He shined it in my left eye, the my right eye. Then he took my chin and turned my head from side to side before shining the light again.

"Well, no concussion, which is always good." He said as he took a chart from the end of my bed and started writing.

"What else is wrong with me? I hurt, but I can't tell from what."

"Well, we had some of our best healers in to work with you. We fixed your spine and back, which was our top priority, since I'd assume you like walking. We also fixed your broken leg. It will be sore for a while, but there won't be any permanent damage there. There were some minor burns on your chest and stomach that we took care of, so they won't wined up scarring. You'll only have light scarring on your hands, but your forearms were burnt up pretty badly, so the scarring will be a bit worse there, I'm afraid."

I nodded. I could deal with scarring. I was alive, that was enough.

"Now your face, on the other hand..."

I could feel my stomach drop.

"Well, all I can say is you are very lucky. I don't know if you were looking away or what but your face only had minor burns, most of which we were able to heal. You still have a burn on the right side of your face, right under your eye, but it should heal up pretty fast, and the scar shouldn't be too horrible." He paused as I tried to keep from crying. "A lot of your hair was singed, but you'll still have a decent mop on you. Now, it seems like the pain meds have started to wear off, since you're pretty lucid, but I won't give you another dose for a while because there is a policeman outside waiting to talk to you, and I'm guessing he'd like you coherent. Do you think you're ready to see him?"

I nodded. The doctor put my chart back and left the room. I looked over at Lash. "How bad is it really?" I asked.

"You were lucky. Most of you is bandaged up, but I don't think it's that bad." Lash said. He looked at me right in the eye, and it was hard not to believe him, but the shallow part of me was wailing. Lash stood up and leaned close to me, gently wiping a tear from the left side of my face. "Don't worry. You're beautiful."

Lash's lips touched mine, and suddenly I didn't care about the burns or the scars or anything. His touch was so gentle, like he was afraid that he'd break me, that it made me ache in a totally good way.

"Ahem." We broke apart when Officer Michaels made his presence known. Michaels' face was red, and I gave him a wan smile. "Looks like you're feeling better."

"Yeah."

"That's good. Wouldn't look good for me if the kid I was sent to look after got blown up, huh?" He laughed to himself. "Now, I've called your parents, and they're already on a flight out, and when they get here we're going to have a nice long conversation before we decide on your placement."

"Placement?"

"Someone just tried to kill you. You can't stay here."

"Why can't she?" Lash butted in. "Here she'll be surrounded by superheros. Who better to protect her?"

"It doesn't matter how many people are around to protect her if they know she's here."

"Wait a minute, who is they?" I asked. "Do you know?"

"We have a guess."

"Well, spill it." I commanded. Michaels looked back and forth from me to Lash. "Spill."

"We have reason to believe that your attackers were, for a lack of a better word, human." He paused. "They used a pipe bomb. Crudely made, but effective. Supers have technology way more advanced then what was used, and most wouldn't need a bomb."

As he spoke I could feel my stomach turn. I moved hundreds of miles away, my family moved, Mellie moved. They were in jail, and they still found me. "It was them, wasn't it?"

"We believe so."

"It was who?" Lash asked.

"My old best buddies."

"The gang?"

"Yup." I sighed. "I thought they were all in jail?"

"Mostly." Michaels answered.

"Mostly?" Lash stood up, rage seething out his pores. He walked over to Officer Michaels, but never let go of my hand. "You let her run around Maxville like everything was okay, while hostile gang members that want to kill her have been loose? Are you insane?"

"We're doing everything we can, and I'd appreciate if you stop yelling at me!" Officer Michaels shouted. I squeezed on Lash's hand, mentally telling him to shut the hell up. "And, you might want to get that arm checked out kid."

Lash extended his other arm and poked Officer Michaels in the chest. "My arms are just fine." Michaels gulped.

"Lash goes to my school." I told Officer Michaels. "So, how did Warren respond to the questioning?"

"He was not a happy camper, but he eventually complied, which is good, because pointing a gun at that kid makes me nervous. It was bad enough at the park." If I could move an inch without hurting myself, I would have slapped him.

"What happened at the park?" Lash asked. He was met with silence. "Kira, what happened with Warren?"

"Warren got kind of," I paused and tried to think of an easy way to put it, "fired up."

"Did he attack you?"

"No, Lash, you know he wouldn't." I tried to reason with him. The last thing I needed was to have Lash go after Warren. "How would you feel if you were in his position? He was pissed. Warren tends to light up when he's pissed. He can't help it. He didn't actually throw anything."

"You suck at lying."

"He only threw like two, and I'm good at dodging. He didn't even hit me."

"If you two are done, we still have some things to discuss." Officer Michaels interjected, before Lash could start speaking.

"Can I stay?"

"We'll have to talk to your parents."

"Then we're done," I muttered, "I'm tired."

"Are you sure?" Officer Michaels asked.

"It can wait until morning." Lash said as he walked back over to my bedside.

"It practically is morning."

"Then afternoon. Just let her sleep, and get the doctor on the way out, will you?"

"Lash, be nice." I said. "But get the meds."

Officer Michaels huffed and left the room. Lash stretched himself out in the chair next to me. "How is it?" He asked.

"Pain? Not horrible, but it's getting there." I paused when something occurred to me. "Where's my aunt? Did she show up while I was out?"

"Nope. She ran outside when all the fire trucks arrived, saw that I had you all taken care of and would get you safely to the hospital, and went back into the Lantern."

"Go Aunt Wu." I said. The doctor from before flew into the room again and rechecked my stats. He fiddled with a few dials out of my view, and I instantly began to feel light again. I looked over at Lash, who looked like he was ready to burst out laughing.

"Are you going to start talking weird again?"

"Just sleep, stupid...super head."

It was my parents who woke me up the second time, since it was hard to ignore my screaming mother.

She was standing in the doorway, clutching the frame as if gravity would suck her into the ground if she didn't. Lash looked at my hysterically weeping mother, then back to me. I could tell she made him uncomfortable, but I clutched his hand firmly. He could not escape while I was stuck to the bed.

"Mommmmm, calm down." I whispered. My throat was parched. "I'm fine."

"Fine? Fine?" She wailed. "You were blown up! They broke your spine! I can't even see your skin under all those bandages!"

"That's probably a good thing." I muttered, and she cried harder. She ran over to my bedside and paused for a minute before she hugged me. I would have hugged her back, but that required the use of my arms. And my arms weren't going anywhere. She seemed to calm down a bit after hugging me. Her wailing slowed to quiet sobs, and she managed to drag another chair over to the bed.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's talking to your doctor and Officer Michaels."

"He's still here?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Can you go get me some water, Mom?"

"Sure hunny." She said before hurrying out of the room. The room seemed much larger without her in it. The beige walls were bare, and there were about six chairs scattered around the room, half for my side, and half for the other side with the empty bed. I waited ten seconds, until I was sure she was gone, before I looked over at Lash.

"So what time is it?"

"About one in the afternoon."

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Nope. Somebody's got to keep you company." He said. "So what was with getting rid of your mom?"

"She gets hysterical, and my dad is always good at calming her down, so I'm hoping she'll come back in with him and Michaels so we can figure out what is going on."

He 'oohed.' "You wanna stay, right?"

"Ummm."

"You can't be serious."

"They almost blew me up! How can I not feel a bit worried about staying with Aunt Wu?"

"Stay with me. Then I'll be your bodyguard." He puffed out his chest, and I giggled.

"Thanks, but I don't think my parents would enjoy that."

"Then you can live with Parker." He gave me a little peck on my right cheek just seconds before my parents walked back into the room. They were followed by the same doctor I had last night, and the good cop.

My dad came right over and gave me a hug, and the rest of the adults pulled up a couple of chairs and sat around my bed. I felt like I was on trial. My mom handed me the glass of water, and I eagerly took a few gulps. I gave the empty glass back to my mom, then lifted the bed up so I could look at everyone without craning my neck.

"So when can I leave?" Lash tugged at my hand. "The hospital, I mean."

"If physical therapy goes well, you'll be out in about a week or two." The doctor said. "We don't have much to do, just make sure your legs are working fine, and get you used to lifting things and writing. We'll also assess your power levels while you're here, and make sure your abilities are fine."

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Spinal injuries are tricky things with super heros, especially ones with conscious powers. Sometimes things get, well, lost in translation, I guess you'd say, when you fix such a delicate injury."

I concentrated on the doctor's pearly white lab coat, and willed it red.

...Pink was close enough.

Lash, who was the first to notice, laughed. "I think her powers are fine, Doctor."

He looked down at his coat. "Very well then. After a week here you'll go through another healing session, just a superficial one though so you'll be able to move easier. After physical therapy we'll send you home, and possibly back to school if we feel you're ready. You'll still be on daily medications to fight off infections, and you'll probably still have quiet a few bandages on you, but other than that you should be fine. Thank you." During his speech his lab coat had gone back to its original color, but not with my help. I took a few deep breaths to stop myself from crying.

"And once all that is done, you can come home with us." My dad said.

"With you?"

"Well, not to New York, of course. But back to Maine. It's lovely up there, you'd like it. And the public school near our house is great." I tried to digest what he was saying, but I couldn't.

"You can't do that!" Lash said. "You'd just be taking her away from people who can protect her!"

"We're her parents Jake, who can protect her better?"

"I don't know, maybe a kid with super strength and flight, another who can control the ground you walk on and one who can control the plants around your feet, and one that can stretch untold amounts."

"Don't forget the ones who can shapeshift, glow, look into other people's souls, and melt. And those are just my friends." I added.

"Kira, we really want you with us."

"I know Mom, and trust me, I love you guys, but I think I'll be much safer if I'm constantly surrounded by super heroes." I told her. "What if you guys come to Maxville?"

"We both have good jobs back home, and good covers. We can't just leave."

"I'm afraid I agree with your parents on this one too, Kira." Officer Michaels butted in. I glared at him.

"You can't just take me away from here! What about my punishment? The law says I have to go to Sky High. I have to do my community service. I can't just leave!"

"Extenuating circumstances." Michaels said.

"You're not helping!" I groaned.

"Wait a minute," My dad interrupted. "Doesn't Medulla still teach there?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Couldn't he make some sort of thing that could tell us if you're in danger?"

I love my dad.

"Probably. If he does, can I stay?"

My parents looked at each other, communicating silently in a way parents only can, and nodded. "If he can make something that works, then we'll think about it."

"Thank you." Lash and I said at the same time. My mother looked at us and frowned, then dug around in her bag for something. She pulled out a stack of papers.

"I know I probably shouldn't give this to you now, but at least it will be here for when you're ready to do it."

"What is it?" I asked as she handed the stack to me.

"Homework."