Disclaimer:I do not own Sky High, its setting, premise, or characters -or related characters named and unnamed. All is the property of Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures, Andrew Gunn, and Mark McCorkie.

( A/N: This fic is part of my "One Sky Continuity" (OSC) fic series. The series, in order…

· [coming soon]

· Between Peace and Battle

· [coming soon]

· Happiness is a Warm Crossbow

· Cloudy Internships

· Cold Case 10-PHX-00001

· From Out of Town (YOU ARE HERE)

· [coming soon]

Each fic is its own adventure, like episodes in a series but there's also an over-arching plot that builds slowly, like seasons building to a season finale. )

From Out of Town

Chapter One: Still Stuck On the Last Case

"Hardwin? Hardwin Battle?" Phoenix trudged through the woods, calling the name of his paternal grandfather. Holding a raw cow heart in his hands. "I have some delicious, uh, meat for you! Fresh from the artisanal butcher shop Dad liked! Hardwin?"

The was no answer from the woods.

Even the mountain breeze rustling the leaves of the trees seemed quieter. Less whispering and more just a lack-luster shuffling of branches.

Next to him, his mother yawned. Flamebird was retired as a superhero. She did not put on the costume every night and go out to fight the good fight. She didn't care about the Good Fight anymore. But she could fly, and her son could not. Phoenix needed a lift up to the woods above Bedlam, and he did not want to ask the Lieutenant because that would also involve telling the other man why. He was not yet ready to explain to his best friend, that his paternal grandfather was an un-dead, heart-eating monster, that killed countless animals, and at least four innocent civilians that they knew of.

Flamebird, however, already knew about the Battle family powers. She was married to Barron Battle, lived with him, got to see his powers of instant healing and resurrection from death first hand. She knew that after a resurrection, or a lot of healing, or even if they were just exceptionally tired and run-down, their bodies made them crave flesh. Dense, muscled flesh. No marbling or fatty tissue. Strong muscle full of life. There was no stronger muscle than the heart. The engine of life. After reviving from a death, they craved hearts. Barron usually ate cow hearts from an artisanal butcher in Maxville. Flamebird knew this, understood this, and was comfortable with this.

Comfortable enough that it wasn't even her main concern. "So, this is your big plan to find him." She commented with that tone mothers used that conveyed a judgment without actually having to say a judgment. "Just wandering through the woods aimlessly, carrying a raw cow heart, and shouting his name."

"Dad never taught me how to hunt or track, so what else am I supposed to do?" He countered.

"Are you still working with the Bedlam Sherriff?" Flamebird asked. "Has he told you about any new deaths –animal or otherwise- that resemble his killings?"

No. In fact, Sherriff Law thanked him because all killings seemed to have mysteriously stopped not long after he sent the case file to Phoenix and the Lieutenant. Law just assumed the superheroes took care of it.

Maybe Phoenix crossing paths with Hardwin Battle that night did somehow fix things. If the killings had stopped. But that wasn't the impression Phoenix got from their meeting. Hardwin Battle was more animal than man. Hungry, lashing out to attack when he felt cornered, and trying to escape the first opportunity he got. When Phoenix caught up with him alone in the caves, Hardwin had only an animal's recognition of him. Scenting his wound and realizing he was herd, family, the offspring of his offspring.

But then the Lieutenant and Persephone caught up with them and Hardwin fled back into the shadows while Phoenix was distracted.

He hadn't been seen or heard from since, and not knowing what happened to him, and finding no sign of him, somehow felt worse than finding the bodies of creatures and people he'd killed. At least when they were finding the remains of his prey, Phoenix knew it was him. Knew what was happening and why. But Hardwin disappearing without a trace, that filled Phoenix with a level of dread he was not expecting.

"Sherriff Law has no new news." Phoenix finally answered his mother, teeth gritted in frustration.

"You know what they say: no news is good news." Flamebird reminded him. "Besides, didn't your father tell you to leave it alone? He doesn't want you going after Hardwin. If he does resurface, let another hero deal with him. He's not your responsibility."

"He's my grandfather!" He reminded her.

"Only genetically." Flamebird was not impressed. She never met Hardwin Battle in her life. He was already 'dead' by the time she met Barron. But she saw the scars Hardwin had left on her husband. Not physical scars, one of the nice things about the Battle family power of instant healing was that they never scarred, Barron's physical body was the picture of perfection. But there was no miraculous superpower for healing emotional scars, and Hardwin gave Barron enough to keep a team of psychologist busy for more than one –natural- human lifetime. "Hardwin Battle is not your personal responsibility. Your father knows how you were trained and what your powers are, he knows what you're capable of and what you can and cannot handle. He also knows his own father and what he's capable of. If Barron told you to stay away from Hardwin, then you should really stay away from Hardwin."

Phoenix scoffed. "If that's how you feel, why'd you fly me up here?"

Flamebird frowned back. A very particular frown she usually only reserved for her disapproval of his friends –namely Will Stronghold. "Because, I know if I didn't come with you, you'd just find a way to come up here on your own. Or worse, you'd get the Lieutenant to fly you."

In her mind, him partnering up with the son of the Commander was worse than him traipsing around the woods alone.

"You know, Mom, the Lieutenant and the others are the first friends I've had since Dad was arrested." He reminded her. "I'd really appreciate it if you at least tried to like them."

Pursing her lips, Flamebird was a long time in answering. It was impossible to read her eyes behind her mask when she finally did speak again. "I like that you do have friends again. It's been a long time. I don't like them, but I do like the idea of them. And I like that you're happy."

It was the best concession Phoenix was going to get on the subject of his friends. Specifically, his friendship with the son of the man to took his father away from them. Flamebird might never like his friends, or the fact that his best friend was the son of the Commander. But she did like that her son had friends again. She did like that those friends did appear to honestly care about and support him. And she liked that he was happy. It was not her ideal, but it was also not her choice.

Instead, she changed the subject. "We need to get you a car."

Phoenix just laughed. A short clip of a laugh that sounded more like he was scoffing. "With what money?"

"Your father left you a very generous trust fund." Flamebird reminded him.

He snorted with derision. "Yeah. And I've already spent a third of it on school." Phoenix was attending his second year of culinary school. "When Dad set up that trust fund for me, I don't think he quite realized how expensive school was going to get."

And –if economists were to be believed- it would get even more expensive before he was done. Ethan was already having to apply for financial aid to pay for his education, and he was only in his first year! (Of course, Ethan was studying a scholarly subject, while Phoenix was learning a trade.) Phoenix hoped the money his father left him would last just long enough that he could finish culinary school before having to take out a student loan.

Flamebird pursed her lips. Before her husband was arrested and put in jail, she enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle paid for by the generous income of her husband's supervillain work. After Barron Battle was convicted, that revenue stream dried up and Flamebird had to go back to a lifestyle that could be afforded for a household on a single middle-income.

"I'm only two years away from paying off the house." She reminded her son. 'The house' was the house they currently lived in, which she had purchased ten years ago when Phoenix was nine. It still would not be completely paid off and owned by her for another two years, when Phoenix would be twenty-one. "After the house is paid off, I'm gonna start saving again to get you a car."

"Motorcycle would be cheaper." He suggested.

"They're also not as safe." Flamebird reminded him.

Phoenix gave a self-deprecating laugh and threw his arms up in mock dismay. The hand that was still holding the raw cow heart sprinkling blood all over the underbrush. "What's it gonna do? Kill me! Oh, well. Guess I'll die."

While Phoenix's main superpower was pyrokinesis, the ability to create and control fire, which he inherited from his mother, he did also have a second power. One inherited from his father's side of the family. He couldn't heal instantly. His body still scarred. He couldn't cleanse his bloodstream of poisons and toxins. But he could revive. After he was killed. Phoenix could come back from the dead. Just like Barron Battle. Just like Hardwin Battle. Phoenix could die, but death was not a permanent state for him. Something they discovered last year when he was stabbed through the heart by a supervillain.

"Don't make jokes like that." Flamebird told him. "You know I don't like jokes like that."

"Oh, c'mon, Mom. It's no big deal." Phoenix did not quite seem to grasp his mother's objection to her only child joking about his own death (or deaths).

"Maybe not to you!" She shot back. "You aren't a parent. You didn't have to watch your only baby bleed out on the floor! You didn't try to cauterize the wound only to have nothing happen because fire-wielders don't burn! I held your wrist and felt your pulse stop, Warren!" It was a true testament to just how distraught she –still- was over this for her to use his real name while in costume. "I watched you die! No mother should ever have to see that! I swear, you and your father both! It's like death is just a big joke to you! And maybe it is. To you. It's not permanent for you! But that doesn't change the fact that it is disturbing for everyone else around you!"

Phoenx opened his mouth to argue. Thought better about whatever it was he was about to say. Closed it again. Now it was his turn to change the subject.

Turning his attention back to the woods surrounding them. Holding the raw heart out in front of him. Phoenix resumed shouting. "Hardwin! Hardwin Battle!"

Next to him, Flamebird sighed. "You need a new case. Something different to distract you from this."