The past week went by in a flash. Katie was resting, either on her bed or on the couch. Luckily, her Dad was able to help her a lot. She took the time to read and watch TV. When her parents were at work, she was practicing controlling her barriers. Like the time she caught Warren's fireball. She was practicing how to surround something in a barrier and bring it closer to her. There were times where things fell to the floor, which would make Katie groan. Luckily, there were times where it would work.

James had suggested staying home but Katie declined and told him she could handle herself. For the rest of the week, James was doing half days. He would then finish his work at home. Because of that, Katie changed her sleeping schedule. It was only for a few days. Her routine would go back to normal. Katie would go to bed early in the morning and wake up around noon. It was the time James came home from work. If she would wake up earlier, she would just stay in bed. She only would make her way to the bathroom if she needed. It took some time and she was really careful not to strain her leg. She avoided situations that put pressure on her leg.

After Katie would eat, he would make her comfortable, changing her bandage if it was needed, getting ice to apply to her leg and elevating her leg. When Katie was comfortable, James would head to his office and do his work. Katie would call him if he needed something and he'd be there in a flash.

It was finally Saturday and Katie's leg was a lot better. She was using a crutch to help move around. By Monday, it should be all healed.

XX

"I'm not looking forward to this…"

"Katie tutoring you?"

Speed and Lash were standing in front of Katie's house. All they had to do was ring the bell. They were hesitant. Lash had a session with Katie and because of her injury, she had to limit movement. Even if she was feeling better, she didn't want it to happen to get worse. Speed's tutor had cancelled on him and Lash wondered if Katie would tutor him. He even asked her. They weren't surprised that Katie had accepted. Speed didn't want to come alone and was glad that Lash was there as well. He was getting an extra session in, so he didn't see it as a bad thing.

Speed groaned. "Let's just get this over with!" He rang the bell. He was hoping this would go by fast. He was already wasting an hour of his Saturday here.

Katie opened the door, a crutch was placed under her right armpit. "Hey guys!" She greeted. She was dressed comfy today. She wore a white hoodie with a tank top underneath and pink sweatpants. Her hair was in a loose bun.

"Hey." Lash greeted.

Speed locked eyes with who he assumed was Katie's dad. Katie's dad didn't seem to want him there. "...Hey." He finally looked over at Katie.

"Come in!" Katie moved out of the way, giving space for the boys to come into the house. "Make yourself at home. You both could go to the living room. We'll be doing the session there."

Speed and Lash entered the house and took off their shoes.

James closed the door behind them. "So, you're Laurence's friend?" He had a smile on his face but his eyes were intense. "You know the one who hurt Katie?"

Katie sighed. "Dad, it's okay." She started moving slowly towards the kitchen. "I'll get some snacks from the kitchen."

"I'll get them!" James told her. "Go sit down!"

"It's fine-" Katie stumbled. She panicked. Her crutch falling to the floor. Was she going to fall on her thigh? Was she going to make it worse?!

Before Lash or James could do something, Speed zoomed over to her. "I got you." He helped her stabilize.

"...Thanks." Katie gripped his arm, keeping herself steady.

Speed helped her walk over to the couch. He sat her in the love seat and set her crutch leaning on the sofa arm near her. He sat in the sofa armchair and he took off his backpack and placed it on the floor. He zipped it open and took the stuff he needed. He put what he needed on his lap.

James' demeanour softened. "I'll get the snacks..."

Lash followed them to the living room, sitting down next to Katie in the love seat. He grabbed his things from his backpack as well, putting it on the floor next to him. He also had what he needed on his lap.

Katie had her things on the coffee table. She reached out and grabbed it with her left hand, placing it carefully on her lap. "What should we cover?" She wondered. Speed's tutor cancelled and she agreed to tutor him.

In the kitchen, James took two bowls from the shelf and two bags of chips. He opened both bags, pouring the chips in each. He grabbed some soft drinks and teleported to the living room, startling Lash and Speed.

Seeing this, Katie laughed. "You'll get used to it."

James placed the bowls of chips on the living room table and put the soda cans nearby. He looked over at Speed. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Speed."

"Really?" He raised a brow, sceptical.

"Dad!"

"What?" James held his hands up, in defense. "Just asking."

"It just sounded rude, he's our guest."

"Guest?" He questioned, a scoff behind his voice. "After what-"

"Spencer." Speed informed him.

"What?"

"My real name is Spencer."

"Well Spencer…I'm going to be honest, I'm not happy with you. If you or Laurence need anything, I'll be in my office." James kissed the top of Katie's head before walking to his office, leaving the door open.

Silence.

Lash grabbed a soda, opening it and taking a sip before placing it on the coffee table in front of him. He let them speak it out, remaining silent.

"Listen Speed," Katie's hands were on her lap. She was twiddling her thumbs. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Speed asked. "Your dad?" He waved it off, nonchalantly. "It's fine." Speed did hurt his daughter so he did kind of deserve it. "Let's just start." He wanted to get this over with.

"Not that, Speed." Katie shook her head. "Whatever I did to you to get you mad. That wasn't my intention."

So they weren't starting right away. "Are you seriously apologizing to me after what I did to you?" There was annoyance in his tone. "Really?"

"Yeah." Katie nodded.

Speed let out an irritated sigh. "Come on! You didn't even see the Principal to tell her what happened. You just let it slide!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "What is seriously wrong with you? Oh, don't say you're 'too nice' because honestly, it's not normal." He said. "Why are you so nice to us after we bullied and hurt you?"

"My parents raised me to be nice to everyone. They said 'you never know what they are going through' and since then, I have been just being nice." Katie told him.

"And the times we hurt you?" Speed wondered. "You don't want us to have any consequences."

"…I just don't want to start anything or get people in trouble. You know, to cause drama and stress at school." Katie shook her head. "I don't want any of that."

"I don't get you."

Katie let out a long sigh. She was going to say this, wasn't she? "I feel like this especially now. I don't want to be the cause of anyone's stress, you know?" She let out a sigh. "I found out that psycho villain is my biological father. And that has been stressing me and my parents out lately."

Speed was taken aback. "What? Are you talking about the one that sent Lash's mom to the hospital?" He remembered when Lash had told him what happened.

"Yeah." Katie replied.

"What the actual hell? This is a lot of crazy information to handle." Speed told her. "Especially from youof all people."

"Right? Craziness." Katie agreed.

"Wow." Speed understood her situation more now. "You're so happy all the time. I never would have known. Though, I notice it's been toned down."

Katie just smiled. "We all go through things. Some people have a good way of hiding them. It's also good to talk to people about it."

"Who else knows?" Speed asked.

"Well it's not something I want to exactly tell everyone." Katie admitted. "Lash knows, since he was kind of there and you know since I told you just now."

"Why did you tell me? We're not close. We're not friends."

"It related to my stress and how I don't want to-"

"Yeah, I know." Speed cut her off. "So how did Lash find out?"

"O-Oh." She stammered, remembering something. Speaking of Lash… "I'm also sorry since I got you upset about Lash."

We also rarely hang out anymore because of her. I just miss my best friend. Lash remembered what Speed had told you on the phone.

Speed sighed and took off his black cap, running a hand through his hair before putting it back on. "Do we have to do this now? I came here to get tutored by you not to be speaking about my feelings."

"Yes! We need to fix this." Katie took a deep breath, thinking of everything she was going to say to Speed. "Well firstly, I know his real name." She started.

"Yeah your Dad too apparently."

"Yeah, that's the thing Spencer…"

Speed shot her a glare. "Don't call me that."

Katie held up her hands in defense. "I won't." She assured. "I don't call Lash by his real name." She told him."I've heard his Dad say it." She informed him.

"…When were you with his Dad?! What?" This was all new to him. He figured Lash and Katie were close or whatever but this?

"It's a long story." Katie responded. "You wanted to get the tutoring done."

Speed sighed. He was this far into the conversation, why stop now? "We have the time. As long as we get to tutoring...eventually."

Katie thought about it. "That's true. Oh right, okay well…" She took a deep breath. She was going to tell Speed everything.

"Wow, you're that willing to tell me?" Speed chuckled.

Katie looked over at him.

Speed caught that. "Kidding."

Lash had been silent the whole time. Firstly, he basically knew everything Katie was telling Speed. Secondly, he wanted to give them the opportunity to talk. He grabbed his soda and took another sip.

"Okay well, I'm tutoring Lash, right? And one day, I went to his house, met his Dad and heard him call him…well, Laurence." Katie explained. "And I figured that was his real name and Lash said that only his Dad called him that."

"Didn't we address this already?" Now, Speed took a soda, opening the can and taking a sip. He placed his soda on the table and grabbed a hand full of chips, shoving them into his mouth. This was going to take long, wasn't it?

Katie ignored that. "I saw a picture in their living room, the same one like we have in our living room and called my Dad. So when he came to pick me up at the house, he saw Mr. Langford and they instantly recognized each other, having been best friends when they were at Sky High."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And after that, we've just been seeing each other often. It's mostly been dinners. Or when I visited Lash's mom in the hospital." Katie told him. "I also found out then that my Dad is Lash's godfather. So that was new to me." She laughed a little.

Speed just nodded.

"I asked Lash if he wanted to be friends, but he didn't give me an answer." Katie told him. "I understand why, of course."

"Are you serious?" He looked at her, eyes wide. "You asked him that?"

"Yeah…" Katie replied.

Speed shook his head. "I really don't understand you."

Katie shrugged.

"Wow. What did he say?" Speed asked. He chuckled, remembering Lash was there. "What did you say?" He turned over to his best friend.

Lash took another sip of the soda before putting it on the table. "Nothing. I didn't give her an answer."

"Oh." Speed looked over at Katie. "Does Stronghold know about this?" He asked. "Everything that is going on? Your friends?"

Katie was surprised he asked that. "Will knows, since his parents told him. His parents knew mine and our Dads were close." She replied. "Actually, his parents are my godparents. Will was an infant at the time, and Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold felt it would be harder to protect and take care of two small children. They thought it was best for my Aunt and Uncle to take care of me."

Speed just nodded. "Wow."

"Yeah." Katie smiled. "And my other friends don't know. It's not something I really want to tell them, either." She admitted. "Lash knows because he was there to experience it and I just told you."

"This is way too much information for me to take in at this hour." Speed commented.

Silence.

Speed sighed. "Look...about what happened-"

"It's fine."

"…Don't interrupt me!" He snapped. "I'm saying this one time."

"What?"

"…I'm sorry."

"…What?" Katie was surprised.

"What I did to you, I'm sorry." Speed took a breath and exhaled. "I was an asshole to you. You didn't deserve it. You've been nothing but nice to me." He was looking downward. "I'm sorry."

Katie spoke right away. She had a warm smile on her face. "I accept your apology."

Speed looked up at her, relieved. "Thank you."

Lash was surprised to have heard that, but he was glad that they talked this over. "Well, let's start this thing, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's!"

XX

"Three hours?!"

Speed and Lash were surprised on how much longer the session lasted. Now it was around dinner time. They started packing their things. Notebooks and pencil cases were shoved in their bags.

James walked out of his office, rubbing his face with the back of his hand and walking towards the living room. "I'm hungry! What do you want for dinner, sweetie?" He stopped short when he noticed that Speed and Lash were still in the living room. "Woah," He checked the watch on his wrist. "How long was this session?"

"I guess those three hours just flew by?" Katie shrugged her shoulders. She signed the tutoring papers and then the boys signed as well. They shoved the papers into their bags.

James looked over at the boys. "Hey, why don't you two stay for dinner?" He asked. "I can order pizza." It was near dinner time and he didn't really feel like cooking. He had worked in his office all day and considering it was Saturday, he could use a break.

Speed looked over at James. "I don't think I'm exactly your favourite person right now."

"I don't hate you." James said. "I just don't like you." He clarified. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to be rude to you." He said and then he smiled. "But now I do like you."

"I'm sorry, what?" Speed did a double take.

"The door was open. I heard everything you said to Katie. I heard your sincere apology." James told him, with a smile. "So I'm not mad anymore."

Speed hid his face in his hands, groaning. "You heard that?" He didn't want an audience.

"Well yeah." James shrugged. "Alright, alright." He went to grab the house phone. "Who wants pizza? You guys staying?"

Xxx

James, Katie, Speed and Lash were all sitting around the table. Speed and Lash had agreed to dinner and James had ordered a couple of pizzas. He wasn't sure what he wanted and neither the teenagers so he ordered one of each pizza. Five pizza boxes were open on the table and a couple slices of each already eaten. Sodas and water bottles were on the table, opened as well.

"So Spencer, did your parents go to Sky High too?" James asked, taking a sip of his water. "Any siblings?"

Speed went to grab another slice of pizza. "Dad went but Mom didn't. She's not a super." He took a bite of the pizza.

"What's his name?" James asked. "Super power?"

"Matthew Gardner." Speed replied. "And his superpower is super speed, like mine. Surprise surprise."

James nodded. "Yes, I know him."

Katie laughed. "You know everyone."

James held up his hands. "Hey, if they went to Sky High, I probably know them. He wasn't in the same year though."

Speed nodded. "Right yeah." He took another bite of his pizza. "I do have siblings. An older brother, Simon and a younger sister, Stella. Simon has super speed and Stella…nothing yet."

"It may take time." James told him. "Katie didn't get her powers until later. She went to a normal school and gotten her invisibility power. She finished the year at the regular school and we moved her to Sky High." He stated. "And then there's Steve's son, Will. You probably know that he got his powers late too."

"Oh yes." He deadpanned. Speed was thrilled to hear about Stronghold. Not. He grabbed another slice of pizza. This was his favorite! He couldn't say no! He took another bite.

James stood up and went over to the cupboards, grabbing some tupperware. "You boys want to bring some pizza home?" He wondered, carrying two big tupperwares. Perfect for multiple slices of pizza.

"Sure, Mr. Grey. Thanks." Lash nodded.

"As if I'd say no to pizza." Speed chuckled.

James gave them some tupperware. "Take as much as you like."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Speed grabbed the pizza he liked.

Lash took the ones he wanted as well. "This is going to be dinner for the next few days."

Katie blinked, seeing how many the boys were taking. "Hey! Save some for me!"

James started clearing the table, placing the empty pizza boxes on the counter and recycling the empty water bottles. He then rinsed out the soda cans, and then placed them in the drying rack before he recycled them later. "Don't worry." He gave Katie a tupperware too so she could put the pizzas she wanted.

Speed and Lash closed their tupperware. "Perfect."

"I'll be right back; I'm going to throw out these pizza boxes." James grabbed the pizza boxes from the counter and went to throw the boxes outside in the trash bin.

Speed, Katie and Lash sat back down in their respective seats in the kitchen.

"So…"

"So…"

"…"

"Thank you for the session." Speed told Katie.

"You're welcome, Speed. I'm glad to help." Katie smiled.

James came back empty handed, having thrown out the pizza boxes. "Alright, shall I drive people home?" He wondered, going to grab his car keys.

Speed shook his head. "Don't worry, Mr. Grey. We're going to head home together. We live close by."

"Come on! It's getting late." Katie told them. "Dad can drive you home. It's dangerous to walk home now."

"For you, but not for two tall intimidating super powered teenage boys."

"I won't take no for an answer." James said, dangling the keys in front of the boys. "Come on, I'll go start the car." He went to the entrance, getting his jacket and putting on his shoes. He headed out the door.

"Your dad is too nice." Speed noted, standing up from the chair.

"That's where I get it from." Katie laughed, getting up from the chair as well. She used her crutch to walk out of the kitchen.

Lash followed them. "It was nice of him to invite to dinner."

"It was nice having the company." Katie grinned, walking carefully.

Lash smiled at her. "I agree."

A honk came from outside.

"Bye Katie." Lash told her. "Thanks for having us."

"Yes, thank you." Speed said, nodding.

"My pleasure." Katie smiled at them.

Lash lingered a moment with a smile. He then closed the door behind him.