Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.

Author's note: This chapter's being posted early in celebration of me meeting Danielle Panabaker on the weekend! There will be fangirling.

Read on, oh faithful ones...

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Chapter Thirty Six

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"Are you taking us out to the middle of nowhere to kill us, Layla?" Craig asked, frowning when civilisation faded to paddocks and empty fields.

"With so much video evidence of us all leaving together? I don't think so," Layla said, grinning.

"That sort of stuff can be changed, y'know," Wendy pointed out.

"Do any of you actually know how to change it?" Warren retorted.

Adam raised his hand, looking a little sheepish. "I do. Summer can get very boring when you have acid spit and might burn someone's larynx just by kissing them, okay?"

There was a moment of silence, all of them thinking about Adam's admittance.

"Just how do you kiss someone to burn their larynx?" Zach asked, sounding confused.

"French kissing doesn't produce that much saliva," Ethan added.

"You never burnt my larynx," Lisa said, her tone more curious than anything.

"I didn't have complete control over it when I was younger," Adam replied, shrugging. "Sometimes acid would just ... build up. It wasn't pretty. I melted at least a dozen toothbrushes in a couple of weeks."

"Do you have any cutlery left at home?" Craig asked, grinning.

"You've been to my house, dude," Adam muttered, rolling his eyes.

"All right, everyone. Don't think about elephants," Donny said, his voice loud enough to get over all of their noise. He gave an audible sigh of relief when everyone thought about elephants and their mental noise settled down.

"Must be a tiring power to have," Layla commented, trying to continue thinking of elephants for Donny's benefit.

He gave a shrug, eyes closed.

"I thought you could control it and block everyone out?" Ethan asked curiously.

"Close proximity doesn't help, and when everyone's thinking so fucking loud, it really doesn't help. It's like screaming in one of those echoing rooms; it'll just reverberate and continue until your ears bleed."

"I don't think that's what happens in echoing rooms," Ethan said dubiously.

Donny opened one eye long enough to glare at him. Ethan decided to be quiet, but Zach glared at Donny and started thinking louder instead.

"We're here," Warren announced, pressing the button for the bus.

The bus slowed to a stop at the top of the hill, and they all filed out, following after Layla and Warren.

"Anyone going to tell us where it is we're actually meant to be going? If we're going to be killed out here, I want my final interaction with the outside world to tell them who my murderers were," Wendy muttered.

"Do you honestly think we'd bring you out here to kill you?" Layla asked, sounding innocent and offended all at once.

"Yeah, it's way too difficult to kill everyone all at once. We'd have to divide and conquer," Warren added.

"You sound like you've put a lot of thought into this," Craig said.

"Oh, not nearly enough," Layla said lightly.

"It'd be too difficult to do it all at once - no one would believe we all ran away at once, y'know," Adam pointed out.

"Joined a cult; were all kidnapped together; formed a suicide pact; building was set on fire," Ethan listed off, brow furrowing as he tried to think of more.

"Okay, now we're all definitely thinking about this too much; you're probably traumatising Heidi," Lisa said, shaking her head.

Heidi scrunched her nose up at that and signed something at Zach quickly, making him laugh in return.

"Heidi said that being dropped into vats of acid would be better: leaves less evidence behind."

"That's true, but where would we find vats of acid nearby?" Craig asked, grinning.

"And acid doesn't hurt me," Adam pointed out.

"Any kind of acid, or just the acid you spit?" Ethan asked curiously.

The others kept the conversation going, not really paying attention as they continued to follow Layla and Warren, but as they came upon the small forest that was growing, they all slowed to a stop.

"I swear drove past this place three months ago; those trees were not there," Wendy said, eyes wide.

"We planted the trees a couple of months ago, and I encouraged them to grow faster," Layla explained, smiling.

"So... You've brought us out to a forest to kill us and bury our bodies to add extra nutrients to the soil?" Craig asked.

"That's not funny, Craig."

"It is a little," Adam argued with his girlfriend, wincing when Lisa glared at him.

"Come on, you haven't seen the best part yet," Warren said with a smirk, leading them up to the small forest and into the trees.

Zach might've held onto Ethan's hand a little tighter as they walked between the trees, the long branches reaching down towards them.

"Your trees are still a little creepy, Lay," Zach muttered.

"Good, that should stop people from trespassing. I told you, they're just curious," she replied offhandedly over her shoulder.

"Wait, what?" Adam asked, jumping back when one of the tree branches swiped at his hair.

"What are you doing, Donny?" Wendy asked, the hair on her arms raising when she saw that Donny seemed to be lost in a trance, walking between the trees and touching the trunks lightly with an awed expression on his face.

Heidi stepped through the last of the trees, looking to the Hive with a big grin on her face. She loved the forest that Layla and Warren had made, and thought that the teenagers were being weirdos. The trees were nothing to be scared of, not with a world of adults out there.

Slowly, the others all filtered out of the trees, looking a little dazed and scared, but their expressions changed to one of awe when they saw the Hive.

"This place definitely wasn't here," Wendy muttered, walking towards the ramp that led up to the porch.

"My mother left the building plans and council permission in her will. I was allowed to access enough of my inheritance to get it built straight away," Layla lied, knowing that Donny wouldn't dare try to read her mind when her mother was involved.

Craig seemed a little suspicious, remembering the lottery ticket he'd helped her buy earlier in the year, but didn't bring it up.

"This place is actually kind of beautiful," Lisa murmured, touching the hive emblem by the door.

"Wait 'til you see inside," Zach called, grinning.

Layla walked up to unlock the door, holding it open for the others to go inside. "Feel free to look around. There's not a whole lot in here yet; there's only so much Warren and I can transport by bus."

Heidi rushed in, and the others weren't too far behind. Zach and Ethan hung back, the four of them watching as the others explored the Hive.

"You know I'm still working on getting my license, hippie," Warren muttered.

"Yes, I do, but you've been talking about motorbikes, and it's still going to be difficult to bring anything here on one of those," Layla said, grinning.

"My mum would probably bring things if you asked," Ethan pointed out.

"Your mother's driving is terrifying, Ethan. We might not survive the trip with any furniture intact," Warren muttered.

"Why don't you just grow it?" Zach asked, curious.

Layla frowned, thinking for a moment. "I never considered it. I'll try."

She headed inside, the three boys following her into the lounge room to watch. Layla tilted her head slightly to consider the type of plant she could use, one that would be strong enough to hold someone's weight without breaking. A tree would probably be better, she thought, if I can keep it to the required height.

Layla coerced a tree to start growing out of the floorboards, the trunk forming slowly into a chair-like shape, her hands splayed in front of her. The tree started to grow too quickly though, and Layla forced it to stop before it hit the ceiling, frustrated that it hadn't worked the way she wanted. There was a blaze of heat beside her and Warren threw a fireball at the half-formed tree chair, the flame burning away the extra wood. She looked at him, pleased that he'd thought of a solution, and smiled at the look of concentration on his face. Even as she turned back to their chair, Layla could see that the fire was going out. The chair itself was wide enough to seat two people comfortably, and once Warren's flames were put out, the back of the chair was at a much more manageable height.

"Holy shit. That was amazing! Guys, look at this!" Craig called, laughing in delight as he moved in closer to look at the chair, circling around to see it properly.

Ethan and Zach did the same, and the others, brought in at Craig's call, looked as well. Donny reached out to the chair, that same expression he'd had earlier on his face, and Wendy still didn't know if she was more intrigued or frightened. Heidi had followed Lisa and Adam back, and she grinned on seeing the chair, tugging on Zach's shirt. She signed to him, her hands moving as fast as her thoughts, and Zach looked to Layla and Warren.

"Can Heidi have her own chair too?"

Layla nodded and Heidi clapped excitedly, then tugged on Layla's hand so she would follow her to the library. Heidi pointed to a spot just by the window, close to both the bookcases and with a view of the forest, and Layla was almost jealous that she hadn't chosen that one for herself. It was mostly hidden from view, but would still be a perfect vantage point to see anyone coming up to the Hive.

"You picked a very good spot, Heidi," Layla said, smiling.

Heidi grinned so brightly that the bulb overhead lit up. Ethan frowned slightly at that, seeing that the light switch wasn't on.

"Zach, I don't think Heidi can control lights," Ethan murmured quietly, watching as Layla and Warren started to create another tree chair.

Zach frowned at him, then looked from his sister to the bright light globe in the ceiling. "Uh, the evidence is kinda right there in your face, Eth."

"If she could only control lights, then she would have to wait for some kind of power source to be fed to the lights first. You know the diagrams they make us draw in primary school, with the stop switch and electric current flow? Well, without that flow, the light shouldn't work."

"That's the point of Heidi's power, though, to change the flow."

"If that was the case, then if we flipped the switch on right now, it would effectively be turning the light off, right?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Zach said, still a little confused.

Heidi clapped again, excited when her chair was completed, charred though it was from Warren's fireball being left a fraction too long. Heidi didn't look as though she cared, and promptly ran over to sit in it, waving at her brother with another broad grin.

"Good. Tell Heidi to leave the light on, and we'll try. I could be wrong," Ethan added with a shrug.

"I don't really know what you're going on about, but okay," Zach said, signing to Heidi.

She didn't seem to know what Zach meant either, but nodded, and the light bulb grew that little bit brighter. Ethan turned off the light switch, and by then, they were all looking up at the light, though the brightness was hurting their eyes. Ethan flipped the switch on and off several times, but the light stayed on.

"I still don't get it, Eth," Zach said, looking between Ethan and Heidi, the former looking pleased and the latter just looking confused.

"Heidi doesn't control lights, she controls electricity."

Ethan's words seemed to clear up any of Heidi's confusion, and she looked up at the light once more, dimming it slowly until it turned off completely. Then, before anyone could do or say anything, she scrambled off her chair and ran out of the library. Zach ran after her, Ethan behind him. Realising that Heidi was heading to the kitchen, Warren was barely a second after them, and Layla followed.

"What's going on?" Craig called, Adam sticking his head out of the lounge room to look at them.

"Come on, I want to see for myself," Wendy said, taking Donny's hand and leading him out of the lounge room.

The other three looked to each other, then ran after them as fast as they possibly could.

Heidi was laughing her low-decibel laugh, looking utterly excited as she turned various appliances on and off at just a whim.

"It'll be interesting to see what she does when she's older; all people have an electrical current running through them, after all," Ethan said.

His voice was loud enough to be picked up by her hearing aid, and Heidi stopped watching the fridge light turn on and off, turning to face them curiously. She signed to Zach, her head tilted to the side, and all of the appliances stopped turning on and off, much to Warren's relief. Zach licked his lips nervously, but nodded and stepped to the side, away from the others.

"Zach, what's going on?" Ethan asked.

Heidi didn't give him a chance to reply, and there was a single heartbeat before Zach was on the ground screaming. Heidi stopped quickly, her face pale, and she stared at her brother who was kneeling, clutching his head like he was trying to hold it together. She rushed over to him, shaking his shoulder when he didn't look up. He looked up at her, tears streaming down his cheeks, and she signed to ask if he was all right. Zach's hands were trembling as he answered no, shaking his head at the same time. Around them, the others were all quiet, Layla already thinking about what Heidi would be able to do when she was older and had more control, and beside her, Warren was thinking along similar threads. Finally, Ethan stepped forward hesitantly.

"Zach, what happened?"

"Think she got the electrical pain signal going. Felt like my brain was being fried. We'll have to try a different electrical impulse next time, okay, Heids?" Zach said, his grin forced and weaker than normal.

"Next time? You're going to let her do that to you again?" Lisa asked in surprise.

"Well, it's not like she can practise on random citizens, now can she?" Zach replied, voice sharp and sarcastic, but he held onto Ethan's offered arm as he stood up slowly.

"You might want to watch what you say about Heidi there, Lisa. Zach's not the only one defensive about her," Donny commented, his voice light, but he was watching Layla, Warren, and Ethan carefully.

Layla figured that he'd already heard her thoughts about what Heidi would be able to do when she was older and had more control, and didn't bother censoring her thoughts like she usually would. Donny just smirked and didn't seem at all surprised.

"Right. Now that that's terrified me of all people younger than me forever more again, can I get my own chair too?" Craig asked, turning to Layla and grinning broadly.

"What do you mean again?" Adam asked, frowning.

"Children of the Corn, dude. Couldn't look at my twin nephews for a whole month afterwards," Craig admitted, clapping him on the shoulder, then headed back to the lounge room to decide where he wanted his chair.

The others followed a few at a time, Zach tugging Heidi close for a firm hug. He smiled at her as he pulled away, more genuine and not as weak this time.

"You did good. You're going to be awesome when you've got control, I know it," he said.

Heidi still looked a little shaken up, but gave a nod, and hugged him again.

"Heh, she won't grow up to be a heart breaker, she'll be a heart stopper," Ethan said, looking proud of his joke.

"My sister discovering her real powers and my boyfriend making a joke, all in the same hour? It must be a Christmas miracle," Zach said.

"We're nowhere near Christmas, Zach."

"That doesn't mean Santa's not providing miracles."

Ethan just rolled his eyes and left to where Craig was lounging in his chair.

...

Two hours later, everyone had their own chair throughout several rooms of the house, and Layla had even created an outdoor setting complete with a huge round table and several chairs. Warren had stopped her after that, seeing how pale she had become. To be honest, he wasn't feeling too crash hot either after using so many fireballs to control the trees' growth, and they were all glad to go inside and sit on their chairs to relax once more.

Warren sat on the first chair that had been created, pulling Layla down onto his lap and looking across to the others. Ethan and Zach's chairs were curled up next to each other, the branches weaving together so it almost looked to be one tree rather than two, and they were in the only spot that had Heidi's chair in sight. Craig had a chair right by the window, closer to a window seat than an actual chair; Adam had a chair in the library that he had used his acid spit on while it was being constructed, the tree actually becoming resistant to the acid rather than being corroded by it with the help of Warren's flames (it was a surprise to all of them, Adam included, and Ethan wanted to study it and find out more, but he was content to sit with Zach for the moment); Wendy and Donny had chosen to seat themselves opposite Ethan and Zach, and as soon as Donny had sat in his chair, it was as though he'd gone into a trance again (Wendy decided to ask him about it later); Lisa had requested a stool to sit on in the kitchen instead, choosing to look out to the garden that Layla had planted there.

They all relaxed for a while, together even though they weren't in the same rooms, and Layla recuperated along with Warren, resting her head on his shoulder. This would do very nicely. For now, at least.

...

They all had to return to their homes sooner or later, and eventually their hunger drove them back out to the bus stop. Layla could have offered fruit or vegetables, but she was still feeling depleted after creating so much furniture for the Hive that she couldn't even bring herself to suggest it.

The bus trip back was a quiet one, but they all looked to each other every now and then, as if to determine that what they'd seen had been real, and that they would go back to the Hive again. The bus stopped at the shopping centre, all of them filing out, thanking the driver after Layla and Warren exited first. Craig made himself into a likeness of the Commander and called out 'thank you' in Jetstream's voice, laughing to himself as the bus driver stared at him when he passed as his normal self.

"You're going to get caught one day, Craig," Lisa reprimanded, shaking her head at him.

"How? What're they going to say? That I'm the Commander?" Craig asked, laughing again.

"They might if the bus camera proved it," Warren pointed out.

"Had my back to it, and my hat was on."

"What about the camera behind the mirror?" Ethan asked.

"There's a camera behind the mirror?" Craig asked, sounding a little uncertain now.

"There was in Speed," Zach said.

"Movies don't count."

"There was a camera behind the mirror. It's a new security feature the Mayor organised since the buses travel out to Westville and the crime rate there is triple Maxville's rate," Layla said distractedly, looking at the next bus timetable to get her to Great Aunt's.

"Shit."

"I'm sure he'll just think it was kids being kids," Donny said, patting Craig on the shoulder.

"Why're you being nice to me?" Craig asked suspiciously.

"'Cause it keeps you all on your toes," he replied with a smirk. "My parents are here; see you at school," Donny said over his shoulder.

"He promised me a ride home," Wendy muttered, hurrying after him.

"We'd better get back before mum does," Zach said, Heidi pouting beside him.

"Mum'll give you a lift if you want?" Ethan offered, waving over to his mother.

"I'll start praying," Zach muttered, but he and Heidi went with Ethan anyway, calling goodbye to the others as they left.

"See you tomorrow," Lisa called, leaving when she saw her parents arrive.

"My bus is almost here. Are you getting picked up too, Adam?"

"Yeah, later. My folks work weekends," he admitted, shrugging. "Tuition's expensive."

"Come over to mine, if you like," Warren offered.

His offer was sudden enough that Layla looked to him, but Warren just grinned in response.

"I don't know, man. You got cable?" Adam asked.

"On a single parent's income, are you kidding me? I download TV shows and movies, just like the rest of the poor folks."

Adam seemed to consider his options for a moment longer, then nodded. "Yeah, all right."

"You'll be okay to get home on your own, hippie?" Warren asked, seeing her bus arriving and his own on the heels of it.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry, I'll text you when I'm home safe," Layla said, smiling and kissing him. "You do the same, okay?"

She wanted to know just what on earth he was planning with Adam, and Warren seemed to know that, because he gave her a wink and then nodded as he pulled away.

"See you tomorrow, Layla," Adam called, following after Warren to their bus.

She boarded hers before the doors could close, and closed her eyes as the bus pulled away from the kerb. Layla could feel her vines under her skin and smiled.

In the Hive, Warren and Layla's chair let out a old creaking noise, the wood under the burnt charcoal still growing. Several green shoots burst free of their charcoal confines, and in the quiet of the house, the shoots burst into bloom with red, black, and green flowers. The other chairs, stool, and outdoor setting all followed suit, several flowers blooming on each, and their scent weaving throughout the rooms until the sweet scent filled the Hive completely.

...

End of the thirty-sixth chapter.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!