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 Eight

...

Creating another tree to get out of the bedroom didn't take as much effort as Layla expected. Although she was surprised to see lemons hanging from the branches, she was far from proud or pleased at their presence. Before leaving, Layla made a web of vines to cover the glass, ensuring that her Great Aunt couldn't get inside from either entry.

On her way to the bus, Layla realised that by going out through the window, she hadn't eaten breakfast and had nothing for lunch that afternoon either. Digging into her pockets, she found a few dollars that she hoped would cover a vegetarian roll at the cafeteria.

Once seated on the bus, Layla took out her notebook to look at the drawing she and Warren had worked on the night before. By sitting on the correct side of the bus, she hoped that she would be able to see the house again. Warren would be on the bus before they passed the house, and she waited impatiently for the driver to drive faster, sketching more rooms for the sanctum.

"Hey hippie," Warren muttered, sliding into the seat beside her.

"Hey," Layla replied, absent-mindedly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, seeing the book in her lap.

"Drawing," she answered, handing him the notebook before glancing out the window to see where they were.

"How'd it go last night with your Great Aunt?"

Layla scowled briefly. "I'll tell you when we're up in the air," she muttered.

With all of the screaming that the other students did, as well as the noise from the jet engine's exhausts on the back of the bus, Layla and Warren had found that their seat provided the perfect cover to talk about anything they didn't want others overhearing. Of course, with all of that noise, it was difficult to hear much without shouting, which raised the issue of being heard all over again. Sitting side by side, with their mouth to the other's ear as they'd done the night before, had worked so far, and if anyone had seen them, they would have mistakenly thought that Warren and Layla were making out.

Warren didn't seem offended by her response, and turned her notebook around with a slight frown. "I really don't think that's possible. You think that can go there without resulting in some serious damage?"

As Layla turned to look at what he was referring to, she noticed the house coming up, and kept her attention glued to the street instead.

"You really want to do this, don't you?" Warren asked quietly.

She almost jumped when she heard his voice in her ear. Nodding briefly, Layla kept her eyes on the house until it was out of sight. Warren was silent beside her, sketching something on the notebook.

Ten minutes later, when the bus was in the air, Layla turned to Warren, her lips close to his ear. He returned the motion, and she repressed a shiver at the feel of his breath against her skin.

"My Great Aunt doesn't like the fact I hang around you," she admitted.

"Didn't think she did. What happened?"

"We had a huge fight. She slapped me..."

"Retaliate?" he asked, moving to look at her cheek. She didn't seem to have a bruise, but Warren believed her nonetheless.

"I grew a tree in the room I sleep in so she can't get inside, and I blocked the window with vines this morning."

"Why doesn't she like me?"

"No actual reason. She just thinks I should be with Will because he's nice."

Warren scoffed in disbelief. "Yeah, right. What are you going to do?"

"Get out of her house as soon as possible."

"How?" he replied, frowning slightly.

As much as he was sure that Layla didn't like her Great Aunt, Warren loathed the idea of her running away and living on the streets. He wondered if his mum would mind if Layla moved in with them...

"Save up as much money as I can with my job, and then move out after my senior year with my inheritance. It's not a lot, but it's enough to get me started. I hope," she added.

Relieved that she wouldn't be homeless at sixteen, Warren quickly agreed to her idea. "You've just got to figure out how to live with your Great Aunt for the next two years, and you'll be set."

"Easier said than done. She doesn't really care about me, I don't like her, and we still have to live in the same house. Not exactly a recipe for a happy family," Layla said, rolling her eyes.

"Then stop trying to be something that you're obviously not going to be. Stay out of each other's way, make set days for dishes or cooking, and just survive for 24 months... Doesn't seem as long that way, does it?" Warren added, grinning.

She conceded with a brief nod, but doubted that it would work. Her Great Aunt probably hated her now, and Layla wasn't overly fond of the pretentious woman anyway.

The bus began to slow down as Sky High came into view, and they moved so they were facing the front again. Layla put her notebook away quickly, and they held on tightly as the bus landed on the tarmac.

Warren let Layla get out first, as he always did, nodding to the driver as he stepped off the bus behind her. They parted ways, planning to meet in the cafeteria for lunch.

...

"So, why do you think you'd be good at this job?" Warren asked, looking at her seriously.

Layla smiled in return. "I think it would be the perfect opportunity for me to see how I'm able to handle a work environment, and I'm extremely organised, so I am confident that I would be good at the job."

Warren nodded at her answer. "Not bad. Want another question, or are you actually going to eat something now?" he asked, glancing to her tray.

They'd been doing mock interview questions for the whole of lunch, and Layla insisted that she was too nervous to eat. She'd found a few notes hidden at the bottom of her bag, making up more than enough for a salad, and she had filled her water bottle from the school coolers.

"I'll eat in a minute. Ethan, do you want to ask a question?" Layla asked, turning to him.

He grinned and nodded, swallowing the last of his sandwich (a Hero sandwich, thank you very much!).

"Um... How about... If the Mayor's opposition offered you a job for more money, would you accept it, and why?"

"Good question," Layla said with a slight grin, before making her expression more neutral and answering. "It would depend on my own circumstances, but I would probably say no, as I am a very loyal person. However, if the Mayor's campaign promises and electoral term differed so drastically that I couldn't bring myself to work for him any longer, it's likely that I would look at the opposition's promises and see if they were similar to my own ideals."

"Okay... Good answer, but if you say anything about hypocrisy, then you probably won't get the job. The Mayor's been accused of being a hypocrite by the media, and I doubt he'd be happy about one of his potential staff turning tail over it," Warren said.

"Yeah, you should have stopped at the loyalty part. That would have been better," Ethan agreed.

"When was he accused of being a hypocrite?" Layla asked, frowning.

"A few months ago. It was over the plans for the goods and services tax increase, which he promised wouldn't happen during his electoral campaign," Warren replied.

"He's put it aside for now, but everyone knows he'll still do it eventually," Ethan added, shrugging.

She didn't look reassured or comfortable at the idea of working for a hypocrite.

"Eat your lunch, hippie," Warren said, nudging her salad towards her. "If you don't eat now, you'll be sick later, and I seriously doubt the Mayor would appreciate you ruining his three-piece."

She wrinkled her nose at his comment, but picked up her fork and began to eat nonetheless. It still tasted awful to her, and Layla drank half of her water before she was even a quarter of the way through her lunch.

Across from her, Ethan started talking to Warren about the study group on the weekend, and the Save the Citizen game to be held that afternoon.

...

"I'm really sorry, Layla, but Nurse Spex says I can't participate in Save the Citizen for a few more weeks. That hit from Will bruised my ribs, and if I get hit again, they could fracture," Larry said.

"Oh, that's all right, Larry. You just concentrate on getting better," she said, patting his hand sympathetically.

Layla went over to Coach Boomer, telling him Larry's reason for not playing. Boomer didn't look convinced, but agreed to her request to partner with Warren again. He called for Peace to join Williams on the arena, and set about changing the names on the board. Warren stood up, looking slightly confused, but headed to the change room quickly.

"Heroes or villains?" Boomer asked.

"Heroes," Layla replied.

"We choose Donny," Warren said, pointing at the telepathic boy from the cafeteria, "and Ritchie," he added, indicating a telekinetic boy from his year.

"Okay, you two get ready," Boomer called.

"Who are they? Well, I know that Donny kid is telepathic, but is that all he does?" Layla asked quietly.

"It's all he's done in front of the class, well, besides be an asshole. He can get overwhelmed by thoughts, and is weak against physical attacks... Ritchie is telekinetic, but he can only lift objects, not elements. I can take him out if you think you can handle Donny?"

"I think I can. Did you ask Ethan to record the fight?"

"Yeah, he said he wanted to keep Zach up to date."

She nodded in reply, glancing to their opponents across the arena. Donny had a look of pure concentration on his face, and Layla glared as she realised he was using his power before the game had even started.

He really is an asshole, she thought to herself, and Donny feigned offence, grinning at her.

Moments later, the buzzer went off loudly. Ritchie immediately started on pulling the citizen closer to the metal teeth. Warren threw a fireball at him, making him jump out of the way and lose his concentration. Layla and Donny circled each other, the grin on his face grating her nerves.

"So, little Layla, what are your weaknesses?" Donny murmured.

Memories started to flick through her mind, and she tried to build some sort of protection against him, thinking of the scientific names of every plant and flower she knew. It worked for a moment, but then a memory of her mother appeared, her smile as she listened to Layla recite the scientific names of the flowers they were going to plant that day. Layla was five years old, dressed in stained overalls, her hair bunched in pigtails, and she was excited to help with the gardening. She'd been looking forward to this all week, her excitement making her lima beans grow even faster at school. Layla's mother smiled at her warmly, the entire room seeming to light up with the motion. Layla's mother holding her arms open for a hug. Layla's mother...

Layla gritted her teeth, and Donny actually paled slightly as her memory forcefully stopped playing in her mind.

Her mother, who had been killed by a bull she'd been trying to save. Her mother, who had showed the world nothing but kindness and had died in return. Her mother, who she could never see again, never make her smile again, never see her light up a room just by being there. Her mother, who was cold and dead, and buried beneath the very earth that Layla could control but was useless to do anything. Her mother, who had been there for every moment of her relationship with Will, except the end. Her mother, who would have known exactly what to say to make it better. Her mother, who was no longer there to hug, or hold, or just talk to. Her mother, whose voice she would never hear again. Her mother, her mother, her mother...

Donny gasped at the intensity of her memories, of her overflowing emotions accompanied with the images and thoughts, and sank to his knees in pain. Layla walked over to him, a vine picking him up. He was tied to the street lamp moments later, just in case he managed to get past the memories and emotion. She was crying as she turned around, tears falling down her cheeks, but thankfully keeping her vision somewhat clear.

Warren was fighting Ritchie still, attempting to melt down the large boxes that were being thrown at him. It obviously wasn't working as well as he'd hoped, and Ritchie looked all too triumphant for her liking. Wiping her tears away quickly, Layla held her hands out, her power centralising in her palms. Seconds later, the ground beneath Ritchie's feet began to rumble and quake. Distracted, his power lapsed and the boxes fell to the ground, Warren quickly dodging them before they flattened him. A stalk started to grow from the floor, lifting Ritchie up into the air. A large leaf grew from one of the smaller branches, wrapping around Ritchie to face him at the ceiling and keep him firmly where he was. Unable to see anything below him, Ritchie wouldn't be able to use his telekinesis against them. While Layla was finishing off Ritchie, Warren moved to save the citizen, throwing a fireball at the rope and catching the mannequin before the metal teeth claimed it.

Boomer counted down the ten obligatory seconds, and when the villains stayed stuck where they were, unable to escape or move, he claimed Layla and Warren the victors.

Moments later, Donny and Ritchie were back on their feet, untied and relatively unharmed. Layla didn't meet Donny's gaze, her thoughts still focused on her mother. He gave her a brief nod when he passed, but steered clear of her nonetheless.

"Want to tell me what happened there, hippie?" Warren asked quietly as the students cheered and applauded their victory.

"He tried to make me weak by making me think about my mother. It backfired when I became so emotional that he incapacitated himself instead," she replied with a brief shrug. "Want to be villains now?"

"Not today. You really want to have an interview with the Mayor after being a villain?" Warren asked pointedly.

"True... All right, but next time we're going to be villains. That citizen's starting to give me a headache," Layla muttered.

He nodded in understanding, his head not feeling much better.

They fought against another pair, one girl who could bounce fast and high, and a boy who had six arms and equal strength in all of them. The bouncer was almost as irritating as the citizen, dodging every fireball Warren could send at her. Layla was having trouble creating a vine that the boy couldn't get out of, and the citizen continued to drop. With two minutes to spare, they swapped so Warren was against the six-armed boy, and Layla was against the bouncing girl.

From there, it was over in a matter of seconds. The girl was brought down by a long-reaching vine, keeping her tied to the park bench so she couldn't bounce. A fireball destroyed the street lamp the boy had climbed, bringing him down to the ground quickly, where he was tied up by another vine. Warren destroyed the cable holding the citizen and Layla caught the mannequin with a vine. He might have been imagining it, but Warren was almost certain that Layla let the citizen drop towards the metal teeth for a moment longer than necessary.

Applause erupted again, and moments later, the bell rang, signifying the end of the school for the day.

Layla hurried to the change room to get into her interview clothes, silently hoping the shirt and skirt she had chosen looked professional enough. Making her way to the bus, she wasn't surprised to find that she was one of the last ones to get aboard.

As usual, Warren was sitting at the back of the bus. He glanced up briefly when he heard the bus doors close, doing a double take when he saw what Layla was wearing. He hurried to put out the flame that appeared on his clenched fist. Layla was in a black skirt and a simple black buttoned shirt, and Warren knew that he shouldn't have been turned on by the sight of her walking towards him, but he was, and couldn't seem to regret the feeling. It took longer than normal to repress the thoughts he was having about unbuttoning that shirt and screwing her senseless.

"You okay, Warren?" Layla asked with a slight frown, sitting beside him.

He must have managed a fairly convincing nod because she didn't press it like she normally would have.

"Do I look okay? I tried to go for something professional, but I had that laser-beam guy wolf-whistle at me, and now I'm thinking I don't look as professional as I thought," she lamented.

"He whistled at you?" Warren asked, his voice little more than a territorial growl.

He looked at the students on the bus, hoping that the guy was on the same bus as them so he could beat him up. At least he'd be able to relieve some tension that way.

"Yeah... I grew a bamboo forest around him so he couldn't move or get out," Layla admitted, grinning slightly when Warren chuckled deeply.

"Oh, that's fantastic, Layla. I hope he's stuck in there for the rest of the year."

She didn't reply, simply staring at him for a moment. It was the first time she could remember Warren calling her by her actual name. Layla smiled to herself.

"You look fine. If the Mayor doesn't hire you, then we'll do worse than egg his car," he added with a smirk.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked, a slight smirk on her face too.

"Not telling. You agreed that you shouldn't think those sort of things before meeting with him. So, think about positive things. You know, forests and rainbows, or whatever."

Layla laughed at his words - forests and rainbows, really? - and remembered her morning escapade.

"I can make lemons now," she said, a hint of pride and sadness in her voice.

"Lemons?" Warren echoed, frowning.

"Yeah. I never could make a lemon tree before. I can now... I'll show you," she said, pulling out her notebook.

"No need, hippie, I believe you. I have no desire to have the bus torn apart by tree roots. Stronghold might have to save us then, and that would be too much to handle," he muttered.

"I'm not going rip up the bus. Just watch," she said, placing her palm on an empty page.

Lifting her hand slowly, a miniature tree began to grow up from the blank piece of paper. At first Warren thought she'd been lying, because the tree just had yellow leaves, but then he realised that they were actually lemons. She grinned at his expression, lowering her hand until the tree disappeared and the page was blank once more.

"When did you find out you could do that?" he asked when he overcame his surprise.

"Eighth grade for art class. We had to draw a lifelike object, and I wanted to draw a particular type of tree, but I couldn't remember what type of bark it had. I was just thinking about it and mucking about with my art book, and that sort of happened by accident. Luckily I was alone in the art room," Layla added, grinning briefly. "I tried it again that night when I was home, and it worked... I haven't shown anyone else," she added, feeling as though he should know that.

"Thanks, Layla," he said quietly, smiling.

She smiled back at him. Seat belts flowed out of the seat to secure them down, and they both held on as the driver flew off the edge of the school. Fifteen minutes later, the bus touched down on it's particular freeway ramp, merging onto the road as a normal school bus with a flip of a switch.

The first stop was the closest to the Mayor's office, and Layla got off the bus, Warren wishing her luck.

Walking down to the council building, Layla felt her pocket vibrating and pulled out her phone. She'd received a text, and on reading it, discovered that Ethan and Zach had written to her, wishing her luck with her interview with the Mayor, also informing her that they'd bought four cartons of eggs, just in case. (If she did get the job, then Zach promised to make omelettes.) Layla made a mental note to tell them off if she suddenly started laughing in the middle of her interview because of their message.

Opening the door and stepping into the cool building, Layla hurried to smooth her skirt down, suddenly feeling nervous. She smiled at the receptionist briefly, telling her who she was and that she had an appointment with the Mayor. The woman nodded, stating that she was expected, the Mayor was running late, and could she wait for five minutes?

Fifteen minutes later, the Mayor came out of his office, a broad white-toothed smile on his face, and his arm extended for her to shake his hand. Layla hurried to stand, shaking his hand quickly and smiling in return. He held onto her hand for a moment longer, and she wondered if it was an after effect of the recent electoral campaign, where the Mayor probably shook hands with people for minutes at a time, just to get the perfect camera shot.

When he finally let go, the Mayor led her into the back of the office building, and Layla discreetly wiped her hand on her skirt. The Mayor was talking about all the great and wonderful changes that were going to happen in Maxville with his electoral campaign, and she bit back a comment of how she was too young to vote. Not that she'd vote for the tree-lopping and animal-habitat-harming man anyway. She concentrated on listening to the Mayor carefully when she noticed Ms. Peace across the room. Opening the door and ushering Layla into his office, the Mayor smiled again, that toothy smile that she didn't trust, and moved to sit behind his desk.

"Now, Layla, tell me what you think you can contribute to my team."

With that sentence, her interview began. She'd never been to an interview before, but Layla was positive that they usually had something to do with how well a person could do a job. The Mayor must have missed that memo, as he kept all of his questions purely on what she could do to make him look good to the public, how powerful she was, and if she had any qualms against promoting the Mayor if she saved Maxville from a monster or two. He had more than twenty people in his employment, ten of those supers, and the others the best in their chosen profession. His personal assistant alone was made to sound as if she would have personally steamrolled his pants if they weren't pressed in the morning.

Somehow, Layla managed to answer all of his questions, and with another toothy smile and extended hand, the Mayor offered her the apprenticeship. He joked about her running the office when he retired, but Layla was certain he said the same thing to every other person he hired, and she was right. Still, she thanked him for the opportunity, the job offer, and was ushered out of his office so he could go for dinner with the Strongholds. After seeing his personal assistant, and receiving information about the job, the pay, and the required forms she needed to fill out, Layla thanked Ms. Peace face to face once more before leaving.

...

Waiting until reaching the bus stop to pull out her phone, Layla text Warren, Zach and Ethan to tell them that she'd received the job. Warren text back a very quick congratulatory text since he was already at work, and Zach rang her with Ethan in the background as they sang an awful rendition of 'for he's a jolly good fellow'.

Layla had no desire to return to her Great Aunt's house just yet, and so, she began walking through Maxville. She avoided the street that her old house was on, knowing that if she was so close to the Stronghold's home that she wouldn't be able to resist wrapping a few vines around Will's window, just to freak him out. It wouldn't be a good start to her new job, especially with the Strongholds knowing the Mayor personally.

Continuing through the town, Layla eventually found herself standing in front of the old house that was for sale. She was surprised that no aspiring developers had torn it down yet, but supposed that it was due to the fact that it wasn't as close to the main part of town, and it would be useless to make people drive so far for another shopping centre when one was already conveniently close. The Paper Lantern only received such good business because it was rumoured that superheroes ate there, and people were eager to see if they could match the nondescript civilians to their superhero image. With the Commander's constant inability to remember to wear his glasses, Layla was surprised that his cover hadn't been blown years ago.

Realising that she'd been standing in the same spot for a long time and probably looked more than suspicious, Layla continued along the sidewalk quickly. Making her way to the Paper Lantern, Layla decided to celebrate her new job by eating out. She was sure that she could buy something with the small amount of change she had, even if it was just a spring roll.

As she reached the restaurant, Layla was dismayed to see that it was full, people milling about in the foyer as they waited for the next available table to be free.

"You here to see Warren, Miss?" a voice asked from nearby.

Layla looked in the direction of the voice, and smiled slightly when she saw Mrs. Woo standing beside the restaurant.

"Warren is around back. You go now," Mrs. Woo said, shooing her around the corner.

Surprised into following her order, Layla went to the back of the restaurant. A few of the younger chefs were having a quick break, smoke from their cigarettes littering the air. Holding her breath slightly, Layla smiled and passed them as fast as she could. They continued with their conversation, recognising her from the week before and not stopping her as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Layla? What are you doing here?" Warren hissed, looking around for Mrs. Woo so he could get Layla the hell out before she was noticed.

Layla grinned slightly. "Mrs. Woo sent me around the back because the restaurant's full."

"Of course she did," Warren muttered to himself, now looking for Mrs. Woo to glare at her.

"I was going to eat out to celebrate my job, but I guess that's out of the question considering how full it is out there," Layla said, glancing over his shoulder to see every table occupied.

"I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Oh, no. I didn't mean it like that. I meant..." she was interrupted by a string of Cantonese from the head chef.

Warren answered back quickly, throwing up his arm as he mentioned Mrs. Woo.

Layla grimaced slightly. "Never mind me, you're busy. I'll just get going."

"If you leave now, Mrs. Woo will never let me live it down. Can you keep yourself entertained for a few hours in the locker room?" Warren asked, guiding her towards the door without waiting for an answer. "I'll be as quick as I can, and then we'll see about celebrating," he added, smiling at her brightly.

His smile must have done something to her knees, or to her brain, because her knees felt weak, and she couldn't seem to think of a response. Nodding slightly, Layla moved to sit on the closest bench before her legs gave out on her. Warren shut the door as he called out something else in Cantonese, returning to his job.

...

End of the eighth chapter.

Hope you liked it!