(A/N: Woot chapter fourteen! How this chapter got so long I have no idea, it just kind of happened. I also think I may have slammed on the fluff, mostly because I love it, so let me know what you think.=D)

Disclaimer: Sky High belongs to its legal owners

Chapter Fourteen: Aftermath

The combined force of all of their powers exploding blasted them all back. Layla was the first to open her eyes that's when she noticed that the shadows were gone; she looked around trying to see where the others were. "Is everyone alright?" She asked as she sat up.

"Let me be the first to say…OW!" Zach said as he stared at the ceiling.

She looked around again, "Where's Will?"

She saw Warren lift his hand up and brought her attention to the hole in the wall behind them. "He'll be back shortly." He told her as he sat up.

They all heard the static return to their communicators and Ethan's voice was heard, "Guys! Guys! Can you hear me?"

"It's good to hear your voice again Ethan." Will told him as he climbed out of the hole in the wall. "Hey guys." He looked at the others still on the floor.

"Will!" Layla squeaked.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Serenity's energy ball exploded." Evelynn told him.

Warren's eyes opened, "What happened to her?" He looked into the room and saw her laying on the ground.

Jason looked into the room and sat up enough so that he could see properly. He couldn't see her chest rising or falling. He crawled over to her and his suspicions were confirmed, she wasn't breathing. He tilted her head up enough that he could get a decent flow of air into her lungs as he parted her lips and breathed into mouth. He checked her pulse which was faint; he kept his fingers over her pulse as he continued to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Warren got up very shakily and walked over to where Jason and Serenity were. He heard Jason mutter, "Come on breathe." Warren saw him freeze then heard him curse. "What are you planning to do? Die on us?"

"What can I do?" Warren asked as Jason began giving her CPR.

"Give her CPR; I need to place a brace on her leg. Remember five chest compressions per breath. Match your compressions with your heartbeat." Warren knelt on the opposite side of Serenity and his hands replaced Jason's.

Will walked into the room, looking around for Brian who he was going to make pay for this. "Ethan we're going to need an ambulance, Serenity's pretty badly injured." His eyes drifted to the end of the room behind the chair and he saw a shrunken figure who was obviously trying to sneak away. "Found you." He flew over so the Brian didn't hear his approach. He quickly picked up the older man, "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Let go of me!" He demanded.

Will flew higher so that Brian could get a good look at Serenity, "You see that girl over there my best friend has feelings for that girl. So if anything happens to her you'll have to pay the price for hurting her back tenfold."

"Will!" Josie called from the door way where she and Steve stood in full hero outfit.

Will flew over to them with Brian still in his hands. "Hi." He said sheepishly.

"You guys did it!" Josie said as Steve took Brian from Will. "Though you're grounded for skipping school and for disobeying our orders."

"I'll be back; we've got a very nice police van waiting for him." Steve told them as he dragged Brian away.

"We didn't do it…Serenity did." Will told Josie as she looked at the girl who was battered and broken.

Warren continued to give CPR to Serenity, "Come on breathe." He muttered while everything looked utterly hopeless. His pulse sped as he tried to get the girl's heart to restart. "You can't just die on us!" He told her.

"Come on Serenity." Layla muttered as she walked over and took Will's hand.

Helen ran around the corner, out of breath as she peered into the doorway. She took in everything and her hands shot up to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. "No. You can't die…we were just finally getting to know each other again."

Warren shook his head, as he tried to rid himself of the tears in his eyes, he wouldn't cry not in front of everyone. "Serenity you better listen to me and you better listen well. You are not going to die." He paused to breathe into her mouth. "You're going to open your eyes and then when you're all healed you're going to return to Sky High. You're going to start eating lunch with us again. Then we're all going to take the bus together again and you'll come to my place to convince my mother that you're fine." Another breath. "And then you'll take me to your old place where I am going to tell you something very important." He went to give her another breath but she inhaled.

The others watched as Serenity started coughing, "Oh thank God!" Layla told them with tears running down her face.

Serenity couldn't move she just laid there and coughed, she tried to stop because all it did was cause her ribs to ache. She tried to move her right arm to cover them but it wouldn't move and when she felt her hand twitch she had to swallow down a scream. "Well it's good to know my arms broken." She muttered as she opened her eyes. She saw Warren looking down at her, "Hey, what's this? Is Warren Peace crying?" She teased.

He rubbed his eyes, "No!"

"Come here." She told him and hated herself for not being able to move. He leaned closer and she managed to lift herself up enough to kiss away the tears that he hadn't quite gotten rid of. She whispered loud enough for only him to hear, even with Jason holding down her leg, "Don't worry I'm not going anywhere."

"You're an idiot." He told her with a small smile then looked up, "The medics are here, they'll take care of you."

"Please move away from her so we can get her on the stretcher." One of the medics told him.

"Hey Jason." The other looked at the boy. "What's the situation?"

"Her leg's broken, that much I know for sure but I'm not sure about everything else, we had to use CPR on her and she fractured one of her ribs on Friday. Can you guys take her to my dad's hospital? You know just to be safe." He frowned.

"Well since you're involved I kind of figured. Don't worry we'll take of her."

"What are you doing? Hurry up and help me! She needs some serious help we'll need to put her to sleep when we get into the ambulance." The other medic told him.

"Wait…" Serenity told them. "Warren, Mia kept her promise. Her mother needs to get to a hospital…"

"Alright, we'll follow behind in the car." He watched as his mother stomped her foot. "Or I guess the others could follow behind in the car, since you need someone of age to ride with you in the ambulance." He looked up to see his mother give him a double thumbs up, causing him to shake his head. He waited as they lifted Serenity onto the stretcher, he knew she was forcing down the scream that threatened to break free. Somehow he knew that if she started screaming now, she wouldn't stop. He watched as blood trickled down her lip as she bit onto it to keep herself from crying, she was brave that much he'd admit.

He walked up to the group before the stretcher got past the door, "Mia," He looked at the girl who seemed uncertain now that Serenity wasn't around, "Take them to go get your mother, then we'll meet you at the hospital. Jason knows the way, right?" He looked back at the healer, who he could have sworn was glaring at him.

"Yeah." Jason nodded as he pulled out his cell phone. They watched as the stretcher came through and Warren followed it nodding to Steve as he came back to the group.

"So are those two together yet?" He asked, looking back at Warren.

"Give them a couple of days." Evelynn told them as she walked off wanting to get out of this place and breathe some fresh air. "I'll be outside."

Layla looked back and forth between Evelynn walking away and Will's face. He shrugged; he didn't know anything either, after all Warren wouldn't talk about what was going on with him unless Will specifically asked. "I'm gonna follow Eve, go get Mia's mother." She placed a quick kiss on Will's cheek and followed Eve out of the building. She found her standing outside away from the building entrance. "Eve?"

Eve blew out a frosty breath, "I'll be fine."

"What happened?"

"He was reintroduced to his childhood friend and we hit a dead end because of it. His heart just wasn't in it anymore after all she's held the key to unlocking it since they were kids."

"What are you talking about?" Layla slightly confused about what she was saying.

"Ten years ago, just after my seventh birthday party, my parents took me to a funeral. They probably couldn't get a babysitter I don't know. My mother went out of courtesy because I know she pretty much hated the girl since high school. There had to be at least two dozen supers at this funeral, and there was one villain that I remember."

"Barron Battle?" Layla asked taking a guess.

"What I remember most is this boy being there, he didn't cry though his mother was bawling. This boy kept looking back and forth between his parents and this girl with impossibly white hair. It was plain on her face that she had been crying for a while, I watched as the boy went up to the girl took her hand and kissed her then he kissed her tears away." She laughed bitterly, "Like some prince!" She let out another chilled breath freezing the condensation in the air in front of her. "When I met that boy again he was different, colder now. His eyes no longer burned because of kindness instead they were hateful and he never smiled."

"Warren and Serenity?" Layla asked.

Eve nodded, "He might not realize it but he needs her." She sank down to the sidewalk. "I don't want to get in the way of that…" She tilted her head back as a couple of tears slipped out of her eyes, "But it still hurts." After the first few came out, every ounce of tears that she'd been holding back over the past two weeks came flowing out.

Layla sat down beside her took her hand and remained silent while Eve quietly cried. Layla heard Will over her communicator, "We're leaving now, are you two ready?"

"Go on ahead without us, we'll catch up." She told him and they did, when they arrived Serenity was still in critical condition. The doctor told them that it would be best if they came back in a couple of days since they were going to keep her under close observation until they knew it was safe for her to wake up.

Two Days later:

Serenity first heard the beeping of the heart monitor when she woke up, she opened her eyes then quickly closed them again as the brightness burned them. She opened them again more slowly this time. All she saw was white on white walls. She took in a deep breath and smelled the faintest of smells of medication. 'Wait did I just take a deep breath? I could have sworn…' She took in another one and yet there still wasn't any pain circulating through her. She took this opportunity to try and sit up. She waited for pain to shoot up anywhere but it didn't, the only thing she noticed was the cast covering most of her left arm, it covered it from just past the elbow to her fingers. "Well at least it's my left arm…" She looked around the room again from a different perspective; she noticed the chair beside her bed and its occupant. Her fingers stroked the fine brown hairs. "Auntie Lynda…" She called softly and the woman stirred.

Lynda stirred at her name being called and the feeling of her head being touched. She looked up to spot two trails of comet white pigtails leading upwards instead of laying on the pillows. She looked up into the Caribbean blue eyes of her niece and she hugged her tightly. "Oh thank God you're awake! And alive! And Awake!"

"Where are we?" Serenity asked.

"In a hospital dedicated to fixing up supers, though you were probably the worst case they've ever gotten. And probably the first person they've had to put a cast on." Lynda frowned as she pulled away from their hug. "How do you feel?"

"Fine. It's strange having to wear a cast though, but I'll get used to it." Serenity shrugged.

"So how much-" Lynda was cut off by a knock on the door. "Enter."

The door opened and a doctor walked in, "Oh good you're awake." He smiled, "How do you feel?"

"Fine." She saw a glint in his eyes that reminded her of Jason.

"That's good to hear, you were pretty beat up when the ambulance brought you in." He flipped some pages on the clipboard, "Twelve fractured ribs, and two fully broken ones. The bone in your right arm was practically shattered. Your leg had a full break and two different fractures in it and they had to give you CPR. Surprisingly the thing with the least amount of damage was your left arm, though it was broken and your wrist had about six different fractures. You, Serenity Powers, are a lucky girl not many people would have survived something like that, hell most super heroes wouldn't have survived that."

"What makes you bring up the topic of super heroes?" She half laughed.

"Serenity relax this man was Kyle's…I mean your father's sidekick and he's also your friend Jason's dad." Lynda told her.

"Speaking of Jason, Miss. Powers, you have visitors. So I'll come back in a bit for now you should ease their worries." He opened the door again and walked out. She heard his voice talking to someone else.

The first person that walked through the door was Layla, who squealed and ran over to the bed and hugged her. "You're awake!"

"You're chipper as always." Serenity told her as she patted her back.

Layla pulled away enough for her to see that everyone had entered the room. Will waved, Ethan grinned, Zach beamed, Magenta was holding a bundle of flowers, Jason gave her the sign for victory with a smile, and Evelynn smiled and gave her a small wave. Serenity frowned when she noticed that Warren and Mia were missing. Layla looked at her frown and then at the group. "Where is he?"

"Still outside." Will told her.

She frowned then stalked outside she looked at the brooding boy sitting on the chair. He'd been there longer than the others had. "Well?"

"What?" He looked up at her.

She crossed her arms, "Are you going to go in by yourself or do I have to drag you?"

"I'd like you see you try." He grinned as she grabbed his arm and tried to get him out of his chair. She pulled and tugged until her face was red, but he remained seated.

She looked down at him and pouted while making her eyes as wide as possible, "Warren…"

Sometimes he hated the women in his life, "Alright fine I'm going." He got up with her hands still wrapped around his arm. She made it look like she was dragging him in as they walked into the room.

"I brought him!" She told them.

He looked up at the bed to see Serenity there, she smiled lightly and he returned the smile; glad to see that she was awake. They looked away from each other when they heard Will speak. "So how much do you remember?"

Serenity paused quickly she looked down at her hands trying to make it look like she was thinking. Then she looked back up at them and smiled, "Up to the point where he used his nightmare creating power on me the first time."

Warren looked at her, 'The first time?' He smiled as he realized that she was lying. He had spoken to Mia privately when he had gotten the chance, she had told him that Brian had put her to sleep twice, the first time was when she had fractured her wrist and the second time was when they had found her.

Lynda stood, "I'm going to go get something to eat do you kids want anything?"

Serenity looked at her, "I'll have whatever you're having." She whispered.

The others politely declined, but Jason told her that he'd come with her. They watched as the two exited the room. Evelynn whispered something to Magenta, "We'll be back." Eve told them.

Magenta walked up to Serenity and placed the flowers she was holding onto the bed. "Feel better soon; we miss you at the lunch table." The words were surprisingly kind coming from Magenta. Then they watched as those two left.

Serenity looked at the remaining five then noticed that they all seemed slightly uncomfortable, Will spoke next, "I forgot something in the car, I'll be back."

"I'll come with you." Layla told him, the couple left the room.

Zach and Ethan looked at each other then back at Serenity, "Yeah we don't have an excuse so we'll just be outside."

"Thanks for being honest." She told them as they left, closing the door behind them. She looked at the only one remaining, Warren. "So…?"

"So…" He walked over to the bed side, "How much do actually remember?"

"Most of it…just up until the energy ball exploded though there are some things that I remember." She looked at him, 'Soft warm lips…kind words that I'll probably never hear from him again…and…wait a minute.' She hit him.

"Ow. What was that for?" He glared down at her.

"You stole my first kiss!" She glared back at him.

"Yeah, to get you to wake up!"

"But it was my first…Tell me, Warren Peace, what exactly are you going to do about it?" She continued to glare at him, though she could see that glint in his eyes. It was the same glint she had seen the same day she had started running away from him.

He leaned in close enough that their breath intermingled, "Then I'll just have to steal your third." He kissed her but pulled away quickly, "And fourth." He kissed her again only a bit longer this time and a little more demanding. He pulled away again and looked at her this time, her eyes were wide and her face was flushed.

'Well I'm officially confused.' She blinked, "What are you doing?"

"And now your fifth." He kissed her again and he felt her eyes close this time. He smiled against her lips and then pulled away enough for her to breathe.

"But what about…" She was cut off by him kissing her again. This time she tried to kiss him back though she had never done this before. He pulled away more hesitantly this time, "Eve?" She continued her question just as their lips separated.

"Do you want to stop?" He asked.

"No." That one word was enough for him, he lifted her head up so that her lips were at an easier angle to access, and he kissed her again. Only this time it wasn't hesitant and his lips parted hers, his hands moved to her hair, though it was still pulled back into pigtails they had loosened enough for him to run his fingers through the white locks. Her right hand found its way into his hair and it undid the ponytail he had it in. The elastic slipped down her wrist as she played with his hair until his kissing capabilities made her forget what she was doing and all she could concentrate on the feeling of his lips on hers.

When his tongue slipped into her mouth they heard the heart monitor go flat for a second and he pulled away laughing. "Maybe we should continue this when you're not hooked up to a machine that might get me in trouble with your doctor."

She looked at him confusedly now that she was thinking coherently and her breathing was going back to normal, "Why'd you start counting at three?"

"I stole your first kiss when you were four." He grinned.

"And what happened with Evelynn?"

"We broke up." He told her flatly.

She eyed him suspiciously, "Why?"

"I found myself falling for a completely different girl." He told her.

Her hand covered her mouth, "Oh Warren? Why would you do that? For me of all people!"

"What was I supposed to do? Ignore it? Then what? What am I supposed to do when you're pretty much all I think about? Even if her father hadn't told her, she would have noticed eventually!" He snapped at her.

"You don't understand! I'm not worth it!" She looked down at her hands and her eyes got that older look in them and her tone became quiet. "I would have killed him…I had the chance to kill him and I would have taken it. I almost crossed that line and if I had then there would have been no coming back. And if I was willing to kill him then…what's to keep me from me killing another person?"

He smiled at her then stroked her hair, "You won't because you're no villain Serenity, you're a hero through and through to your very core. That's why Mia went with you, because she believed you were good."

She looked up at him again, "Speaking of Mia, what happened to her?"

There was a knock on the door and he went to it, "You'll see." He grinned.

The next Monday at Lunch:

"Do you have everything?" Lynda asked Serenity as she got out of the car.

"I think so." She muttered around her messenger bag's strap. One week of not going to school had severely increased her work load. She had a backpack on one of her shoulders, her duffle bag hung on her other shoulder and now her old messenger bag was in her mouth, it didn't help that the arm she used for carrying everything was in a sling. She shot a glare at the cast on her arm as Lynda walked over to her then took the messenger bag out of her mouth.

"Right or left side?" Lynda asked, as Serenity weighed both sides.

"Right, my duffle bag is heavier than my backpack." Lynda placed the bag onto her right shoulder.

"Okay I've got to get to the office. I'll see you after school." Lynda kissed her forehead, and then raised her arms, "Comets away!"

Serenity cringed back as the comet flew away. "That thing still gets brighter every time she uses it." She looked at her watch, which had been moved to her bag strap for convenience. "I've still got time…guess I could head to the cafeteria." She looked down at her bags, "Okay locker first then the cafeteria."

She walked down the hall trying not to blush, even though everyone was whispering she somehow knew they were talking about her. She looked ahead, and noticed long black hair pulled into a ponytail "No…" She whispered then rubbed her eyes to make sure that her eyes weren't deceiving her and they weren't. She placed down her bags and suddenly she understood why Layla squealed whenever she was excited. "MIA!"

Mia turned to look at whoever shouted her name that's when she saw Serenity running towards her. She quickly closed her locker and began running away but it was pointless Serenity was faster than she was. The next thing she knew she was on the floor with Serenity sitting on her. She looked at the straight ahead as she muttered, "Don't tackle someone when you have a broken arm."

Warren, Will, and Layla turned the corner on their way back from the cafeteria when they heard it. "MIA!" They looked ahead to see streaks of white chasing after a streak of black. They watched as the white tackled the black.

"Is that…" Layla started.

"Serenity?" Will finished. "I thought she wasn't supposed to be back until next week."

"So did I." Warren raised an eyebrow at Serenity as she sat of Mia.

Serenity looked down at Mia, "I can't believe it! You're going here!"

"Yeah, some government organization offered me and my mom funding until she can get back on her feet and into the world again." Mia rolled and Serenity fell off of her, "And until my mother's out of the hospital Principal Powers offered me a room at your place."

Serenity's eyes widened and glittered with excitement, "Ooh! How exciting!" She paused, "How is your mom doing by the way?"

"She woke up yesterday and was still a little confused when I left. I'm going back today." Mia's eyes got a faraway look in them.

"Don't worry! She'll remember you…and when she does you can tell her that Brian can no longer hurt you or her." Serenity smiled, "Right?"

"Right." Mia smiled back. That's when she noticed the three watching them, "So tell me, what's going on between you and Mr. Tall, Dark and Broody over there?"

Serenity looked over and blushed, "There's nothing going on-" Mia raised an eyebrow. "Maybe? I don't know, we never actually specified what was going on between us."

"You should probably find out don't you think?" Mia told her as she got up, she then helped Serenity up.

Serenity looked at the three who were obviously waiting for them and then they walked over. "Hi guys." She smiled.

"What happened to you being back next week?" Warren asked.

"It turns out that I heal quickly so they let me out a week early though I've still got to wear the cast for a couple of more days until they can heal my wrist fully." She shrugged and began picking up the bags she had dropped. She had managed to get the first two on alright but once again her messenger bag was causing her problems.

Warren let out a sigh then took it from her, throwing it over his shoulder. "We'll see you guys on the bus." He took her hand and walked her to her classroom.

The blush on her face increased, "People are staring." She told him.

"Let them." He told her as they arrived at her classroom. "I'll see you on the bus, okay?"

She nodded as she took her bag from him, "Yeah I'll see you." She turned.

He looked into the classroom and saw Jason sitting there, "Hey Serenity, one more thing." She turned back to look at him again. His hand lifted her chin up and his lips descended onto hers. He kissed her until she was flushed and breathless. When he pulled away he grinned mischievously then looked at Jason to make sure he had seen and he had. "Alright I'll see you on the bus."

"Okay." She turned to look into the sidekick class and saw everyone staring at her with wide but intrigued eyes.

Three years later:

Serenity's eyes opened and she let out a long groan into the couch's throw pillow. When she finished she wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes, "How long do you plan on torturing me Warren?" She muttered then turned off the television then looked at the photo album on the table, "I guess this is my own damn fault for looking at those stupid pictures…Just once I'd like to be able to sleep without dreaming about you." She closed her eyes again and tried to get some sleep.