Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
Summary: The simplest of events can change a person deeply. Other not-so-simple events can change a person irrevocably; even if they become someone they had never imagined. These are the events that lead to the creation of Poison and Fire, and their reign of Chaos.
Warning: Just a quick reminder that this is rated M for a reason. There will be graphic scenes later on, of both torture and a sexual nature, and quite a lot of the chapters involve swearing. Please do not read if you're not comfortable with these things. I will put a warning for torture scenes.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
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Chapter Five
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Despite waking up with crumpled hair, Layla told herself that she wouldn't let things be awkward with Warren. She straightened out her gym shirt the best she could, not wanting to wear the same shirt to school for a second day in a row.
Warren had come out, looked at her for a moment, and immediately returned to his room. She frowned slightly, wondering if her hair really was that bad. When he'd come out a few moments later with a black shirt for her, offering it silently, Layla thanked him and hurried to the bathroom to put it on before he changed his mind.
Neither Ms. Peace nor Warren were morning people it seemed, and Layla had come out of the bathroom to find both of them holding coffee mugs. She'd accepted the offer for juice and a slice of toast reluctantly, and only because she needed to eat. Warren had sat across from her with a piece of toast for himself as well, but mainly drank the coffee instead of eating. Soon after she'd finished the coffee and looked somewhat alert, Ms. Peace bid them both farewell and left, her car pulling out of the driveway moments later.
Warren tried not to look up at Layla sitting across from him; the erotic dreams he'd had the night before still lingering in his mind. Layla had been naked before him, a vine the only thing wrapped around her. When he'd tried to burn it away, the vine had burst into bloom. He'd moved to her, the flowers falling away as they kissed, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. It had been so realistic that Warren woke up with sore shoulders. And a raging hard on.
He'd taken a shower as cold as he could handle, trying not to think of Layla on the other side of the door, her body covered with nothing but a light blanket and plants. And then, after everything, he'd come out of his room to see her in that ridiculously light-coloured gym shirt that he swore he could see right through. He knew that he wouldn't be able to control himself, and had immediately found his cleanest and darkest shirt for her to wear instead, one that covered her shoulders as well. Instead of making it better, it had made his thoughts worse... Now he was imagining Layla in one of his shirts, the material sliding up her thighs as she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him.
"Do we need to leave soon, Warren?" Layla asked, pulling him out of his imaginings.
He glanced at his watch, nodding quickly. "We've got to run."
Layla hurried to take their plates and glasses to the kitchen, a vine wrapped around the glasses so they wouldn't fall in her rush.
Warren picked up her bag, slinging his own over his shoulder. Layla met him at the door, taking her bag from him with a quick thanks and stepping outside. It took him a moment to lock the door, and they ran down the driveway, onto the path and down the street to the bus stop.
The bus was just pulling up as they rounded the corner. Warren swore softly, grabbing Layla's waist, lifting her and running towards the bus. When they were close enough, Layla threw out a vine, wrapping it around the bus' side mirror, pulling them in quicker than Warren was running.
She let the vine disappear back into her body, feigning innocence as she stepped onto the bus step, Warren behind her and glaring menacingly. The bus driver kept his eyes straight ahead, a tick in his jaw indicating that he wasn't happy. The door closed behind them, and the bus took off before they'd moved to their usual seat. Layla rolled her eyes, hoping that the driver now thought them to be even. There were no more incidents, and Warren eventually stopped glaring, taking a book out of his bag to read.
...
Layla's phone began to ring as she left the classroom for lunch, and she indicated for the others to go ahead, escaping outside by the closest door to have some quiet in order to answer the call from Ms. Peace.
"Hello, Ms. Peace. Fine, thank you. How are you?" she answered politely, her foot tapping out her nerves.
The conversation was short, and as she listened to Ms. Peace talk, Layla's heart and hopes began to sink.
"... You have until 5pm tomorrow to think about the offer. I really hope to hear back from you soon, Layla," Ms. Peace added.
"Thank you, Ms. Peace. I will think about it, thank you," Layla said automatically, hanging up from the call after saying goodbye.
Slipping her phone back into her pocket, Layla tugged on the shirt's long sleeves nervously before heading back inside to grab her lunch and head to the cafeteria.
...
Magenta definitely wasn't thinking about Will's leg against her own, her skin seeming to tingle pleasantly at the places their knees were touching. She'd hoped and worried at the same time that Will wouldn't sit next to her, but he'd arrived soon after she had and had taken the seat next to her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Zach sat on the other side of her, Ethan sitting next to Will. It had become routine for them to sit on one side with Warren getting the opposite side of the table to himself, unless Layla sat in the cafeteria with them. Today, as usual, Layla was the last one to arrive.
Magenta definitely wasn't hoping that she would eat outside, leaving her to sit beside Will without feeling guilty. Of course she wasn't. She moved away from Will slightly when she saw Layla enter the cafeteria.
Magenta absolutely, definitely was not thinking about Will's lips, or the way he'd looked at her after they'd kissed just last night. She wasn't imagining kissing him again, his lips soft against hers as she clung to him, amazed as he flew them above her house, kissing her with all the time in the world... Definitely not.
She frowned when she realised that she finally recognised the large, long-sleeved black and red shirt that Layla was wearing. Magenta was fairly sure that Layla had been wearing that same green skirt the day before too.
"You're wearing Warren's shirt," she said suddenly, her eyes wide as she stared at Layla. "It's been driving me nuts all day, but just then when I saw you walking across, I recognised the shirt because that's what Warren wore when he and Will had that fight in the cafeteria last year," she said.
There was a moment of silence as everyone processed Magenta's words. Ethan looked over to the wall where the plaster and paint job was still fairly obvious. Zach frowned slightly at Magenta's sudden explosion of fast-paced words. Will stopped drinking his juice and simply stared at Layla, looking from her shirt to Warren.
"Why are you wearing Warren's shirt, Layla?" Ethan asked, frowning at her.
Across from her, Will was staring, his expression a mix of confusion, suspicion, fear and some other emotions he couldn't even put a name to.
"I went over to Warren's house last night to talk with his mother about a job in the Mayor's office. I ended up staying later than expected, slept on their couch, and this morning, Warren gave me this shirt to wear since my gym one was crumpled and my other shirt smelled," she explained, her words and tone clear, no hint of remorse or guilt in her expression.
She had done nothing wrong, and therefore, had nothing to feel guilty about. She just wouldn't mention or think about the almost-kiss.
"You ... you kissed him, didn't you?" Will said, glaring at her. He didn't dare glare at Warren, and kept his gaze focused on Layla. "I can't believe you'd do that, Layla! You're supposed to be my girlfriend, and then you go around kissing my best friend behind my back!"
Layla looked stunned at his words, the entire cafeteria going silent at his accusations. Across the cafeteria, a chair scraped along the floor as a boy stood up, a smirk on his face.
"Actually, Stronghold, you're the one in the wrong. You kissed Magenta behind your girlfriend's back, even though you knew ... Zach liked her," he said, looking at the paling blonde boy. "Don't try to lie when you're sitting in the same room as a telepath, idiot," the guy called, grinning when noise exploded in the cafeteria once more. He took his seat once more, his friends congratulating him.
"Will? Did you kiss Magenta?" Zach asked, his voice as hurt as his expression. He turned to Magenta when Will was silent. "Maj? Is what that guy said the truth?"
Neither one answered, keeping their gazes firmly on their lunch trays before them. Looking helpless, Zach looked to the others sitting with them. Layla was simply staring at Will and Magenta in shock. Ethan looked extremely uncomfortable and shocked as well. Warren looked over to the telepath across the room, telling him exactly what he thought of him, before turning to his crushed friend.
"That guy is an asshole... He loves to fuck around with people by telling the truth when they don't want the truth known. Sorry, dude, but he's probably right," Warren said as sympathetically as he could manage.
Layla stood up, looking a little lost. She glanced at Will, opened her mouth, as if going to say something, but then shook her head and turned around, leaving the cafeteria without a word.
Zach left moments later, rubbing at his eyes and only just managing to walk out of the doorway without banging into the door itself. Ethan was silent as he melted down and slid away, trying not to be noticed.
"That guy's an asshole, Stronghold, but you know what? You're worse," Warren said, grabbing his bag and leaving.
He kept his thoughts purposely vague so that the telepathic asshole couldn't pick up on his own guilt. But hell, at least he hadn't acted on it.
Will and Magenta sat side by side in the cafeteria, their faces burning as everyone around them talked about them.
"Hey," Warren said quietly as he approached Layla.
She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears.
"Shit, Layla, don't cry over him. You said it yourself last year: he's a jerk," he muttered, sitting beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders.
She leaned against him, slow tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Is... Is Zach all right?" she asked eventually, wiping her tears away on her sleeve. "He's really a good guy, and he doesn't deserve this," Layla said.
"I don't know. I figure he's in the bathroom, but the light in there is so bright that I couldn't even open the door without it hurting me."
"That's interesting," Layla said, sitting up straighter and clamping her hand over her mouth. She lowered her hand slowly, staring at Warren with red eyes. "What's wrong with me? He's in there, probably going through the worst emotional pain he's felt in sixteen years, and I'm saying it's interesting because his powers have changed? There's something seriously wrong with me," she whispered, shaking her head.
Warren was silent for a moment. He couldn't agree with there being something wrong with her, because he'd be lying if his thoughts hadn't strayed along a similar thread on seeing the bright light beneath the door.
"So... Have you heard from my mum yet?" he asked, hoping to change the subject completely and take her mind off her own emotional pain.
She sniffed slightly, wiping her eyes on the shirt again. "Yeah, before lunch. Apparently, the Mayor's very impressed with your mother's description and first impression of me, but..." Layla sighed softly before continuing, "But, I need to be a Hero, not Hero Support, in order to work for the Mayor. Something about his image and positive thinking of Heroes. It's ridiculous, of course, but I won't get the job if I'm not classed as a Hero."
Warren rolled his eyes. "Sounds about right. The Mayor's an elitist, and he went to an all-Hero school back when they existed, so he's biased towards Heroes, and never hires sidekicks."
"Could've mentioned that before," Layla muttered briefly, grinning when he nudged her.
"Why? You've impressed my mother, and she's the first person to get through in order to get any job in the Mayor's office. Besides, after Homecoming last year, you could get onto the Hero track faster than you could click your fingers. I'm surprised you weren't automatically transferred," Warren added with a slight frown.
"I told Principal Powers not to transfer me. I wanted to stay a sidekick."
"Any life-altering reason why?"
Layla sighed heavily, picking at a loose thread on her skirt. "I thought that by staying a sidekick when I've got powers more suited to a Hero, I'd be able to break down the wall between the two tracks," she said.
Warren was silent for a long moment. "That's the second-stupidest thing I've ever heard you say, hippie. All you're doing is holding yourself back by not properly learning how to use your power."
"Second-stupidest thing? What's the first?" Layla asked, frowning slightly.
"I'm going to go with the employee discounts at the Paper Lantern," he replied, grinning.
Layla laughed softly, nudging him. "You're cra-azy, Warren."
She wasn't offended by his words, as she could see what Warren meant by holding herself back (her mother may have mentioned something similar when she'd told her that she was a sidekick, but she hadn't listened), but she'd also been younger, naive, and had wanted to save the world. Layla had thought that if she could change how things were run in high school, then maybe she'd have a better understanding of how to change the world below Sky High. So far it was just politics and popularity.
But now she'd gained a better perspective on life. Her mother had died, Will and Magenta had betrayed her, her old house had been sold, she'd been forced to live with a woman who she just couldn't relate to, and everything that she thought she'd wanted now seemed as childish as candy-flavoured clouds. Life wasn't fair.
It was amazing how much could change in the space of twelve months, just like a flower dying in the autumn and winter months only to come back stronger and more beautiful in the spring.
"So, what are you going to do about the job?"
"I'll think about it some more. I don't want to make a rash decision and end up regretting it."
"How long do you have to think about it?" Warren asked, glancing at his watch.
"Until 5pm tomorrow."
"That's plenty of time. Sleep on it tonight, see how you feel in the morning, and then go from there. We can talk about it on the bus tomorrow if you're still undecided," Warren added, standing up.
The bell rang moments later, and Layla stood up as well, heading inside with Warren by her side.
...
Deciding that Warren had made sense in his idea to sleep on the job offer, Layla also thought it would be a good idea to search the Internet to see what requirements were needed for superhero and sidekick jobs. She switched on her computer, opening her browser and logging into the super's job database. There weren't many jobs listed, considering that Jetstream and the Commander had the monopoly on most of them (which had come at the cost of a lot of annual dinners, hefty donations, and long hours spent on the golfing range with the Mayor and his wife), but some jobs were still listed. Ten measly jobs that the Commander and Jetstream probably deemed beneath them.
Out of the ten, only one was for a sidekick, and after reading the requirements (applicant must be able to handle pressure while possibly being lowered into a vat of acid or toxic waste; be well versed in unarmed combat or equivalent street fighting skills; and be flexible about job hours, colours, and catch phrases), Layla found that being a sidekick didn't exactly lead to a life of luxury. Or even a life of moderate comfort. The superhero jobs were extremely different, with the worst criteria involving their dramatic poses for the news cameras, the sound effects required when punching and otherwise defeating the villains, and their ability to resist the temptation of the Big Red Button.
She'd been curious enough to wonder what super villain jobs were available, if they even advertised such positions. The search results had all been blocked, and on hearing tires screeching outside, Layla looked out of her window to see an unfamiliar van parked in front of the house. She was certain that it hadn't been there earlier, knowing that she would have remembered a vehicle that included a large satellite dish on it's roof. She moved away from the window when the satellite dish swivelled towards her, and decided that turning off the computer would probably be a good thing right about then.
Turning off the computer, Layla went to her bed and thought about her initial principles about the unfairness of the two tracks in Sky High, and how they were changing now that her life had become so different. Yet Layla hadn't gone over to the Hero track when Will was transferred last year. She'd stuck to her principles back then, when the boy she thought she loved had moved to a class that she could have easily followed him to, so what was so different this time around?
The answer came almost immediately: she was doing this for herself. She could stay where she was - limiting her potential, as Warren (and the super-related jobs she'd looked at) had said - or she could step up to the plate and let herself try to be the very best super that she could be.
Layla rolled onto her side, closing her eyes and intending on napping until her Great Aunt came home. When she was awake, she could tell her about the job and maybe they could bond over something that didn't involve her mother's death...
On arriving home later that night and finding Layla asleep, her Great Aunt decided to let her continue sleeping, and went to her own room to sleep after a long shift at the hospital. She wondered when Layla would finally unpack her belongings.
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End of the fifth chapter.
I hope you liked it!
