Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High

Read on, oh faithful ones...

...

Chapter Forty

...

"We're going to be late," Layla murmured, grinning against Warren's lips.

"It's a barbecue, hippie; there isn't a set arrival time," he replied, drawing her in close.

Layla pulled away and grinned. "There is if we want to make it there in time before you have to leave for work. You're leaving at 2:30pm, right?"

Warren nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure if I don't turn up to work on time, Mrs. Woo will come to the park and drag me to the Paper Lantern by my ears."

"It wouldn't surprise me. I'll set my alarm to remind you," Layla said, flicking her phone on and setting her alarm. Warren did the same on his phone, just in case.

"Are you two ready yet?" Nina called.

"Be right there," Warren called back.

"Good; hurry up. I want to get a good spot!"

Layla smiled, kissed Warren's cheek, and left to help Nina finish packing the car with baskets of food, chairs, and several blankets. Warren joined them a few minutes later, carrying a carton of drinks in each hand.

"All right, that's everything. Let's get outta here," Nina said, grinning.

She locked the front door, practically running down to the car to get buckled in.

"Your mother's definitely excited about this barbecue."

"I'm pretty sure it's the first non-work event she's been to since my father's arrest."

"What, seriously?"

"People don't tend to extend party invitations to single mothers whose partners tried to destroy the town," Warren said with a brief shrug, heading down to the car.

Layla sighed, shook her head, and followed after him.

...

Despite arriving at 10am, the park was surprisingly busy. Layla supposed the nice weather was to blame, but as she, Warren, and Nina made their way towards the picnic area, she noticed that quite a few of the people were the ones that Nina, Adam's mother, and then Anita, Honey, and Ms. Bettendorf had invited.

Sarah was talking with Honey by the sectioned-off dog area, a tall man standing beside her. Layla couldn't help but smile when she saw the poodle, Maltese, and poodle-cross-Maltese dogs running around. Honey waved to Layla and Warren, who waved back.

Anita, Richard, and Ethan were setting up tables near the barbecues, though Anita kept looking over to the playground every few minutes, where Heidi was being pushed on a swing by Zach. Mr. and Mrs. Brighton were adding more ice to a large container full of drinks.

"You kids go and have fun; I'm going to help Anita and Richard set things up. Holy... would you look at that cake?!" Nina muttered, stopping short as she stared at the ridiculously long chocolate-frosted cake that covered a fourth of the picnic table.

"I'd say that's Honey's cake," Layla said with a laugh. "That thing is huge. How did she get it here in one piece?"

"She didn't. Richard and I arrived as she was icing it; there's actually about five separate cakes in there," Anita said, sounding a bit overwhelmed by it herself. "If anyone says we don't have enough food, I won't believe a thing they say for the rest of their lives," she added, grinning.

"Well, we brought more food. And veggie burgers and tofu dogs," Nina said.

Heidi jumped off the swing when she saw Layla and Warren, running across the wood chip playground to meet them at the picnic tables. She almost barrelled into Layla to hug her firmly, then hugged Warren too.

"Hello," Layla said, adding the ASL hand motion along with her greeting.

Warren copied Layla's greeting, and Heidi grinned brightly and signed 'hello' back to both of them.

"There's an ASL short course run in the council building on Saturday mornings, if you're interested in attending," Nina said, looking between the three of them thoughtfully. "I'm sure the Mayor would give you the time off, if you propose it to him in the right way, Layla."

"Ethan, you'd be interested too, wouldn't you?" Anita called over to him.

Ethan pushed his glasses up his nose and looked over in confusion, not having heard the conversation.

"ASL short course, Saturday mornings, council building," Warren supplied.

"Oh, yeah, that'd be great. How much does it cost? And is it all morning, or just an hour or two?" Ethan asked, coming over.

"I can look into it for you and let you both know," Nina offered.

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Nina," Anita said with a smile. "An extra language would look great on Ethan's college applications. Is there another language course offered, do you know?"

Ethan shook his head as his mother led Nina away. Seeing that he wasn't going to be roped into doing more work, and the others had put their food and drinks away in the proper places, Ethan ran towards the playground. Heidi grinned and then ran after Ethan. Zach was swinging on the Tarzan rope, yodelling loudly.

"I think Ethan's got the right idea, kids. Run off before you get roped into things," Richard said with a conspiratorial wink.

Layla laughed and ran after Ethan and Heidi, Warren following at a slower pace.

"Having fun, Zach?" Layla called, grinning up at him.

Zach stopped yodelling and looked down at her. "Me Tarzan. You scary forest-wielding Jane."

"You're looking surprisingly well-groomed for Tarzan," Ethan said, grinning.

"Tarzan likes bubble baths," Zach replied seriously.

"Get down from there before some PTA hover-mum comes over and says you're scarring her precious snotty brat," Warren said, rolling his eyes.

"Tarzan no like PTA hover-mums. Tarzan will scare them off," Zach said, swinging on the rope and starting to yodel again.

Heidi laughed and sat on the swing in the next row of playground equipment.

"Want me to push you?" Warren asked when he had Heidi's attention.

She looked at her brother, who was still occupied, and then nodded. Heidi smiled and thanked Warren in ASL with a hand from her chin. He didn't know how to say 'you're welcome', so he just nodded and moved behind her to push the swing.

"That looks like fun. Think I should add a porch swing to the Hive?" Layla asked, sitting on the swing next to Heidi and pushing herself along with her feet.

"Yes! And a tyre rope swing thingy," Zach called over.

"Tyre rope swing thingy, really, Zach?" Ethan asked, shaking his head.

"You know what I meant, don't deny it!"

"Have you finished yodelling yet?" Ethan asked pointedly.

Zach hummed, thinking about it seriously. "Yeah, think so. Hey, there's Wendy and Donny. Hey, Wendy and Donny!" he called loudly.

"Any louder, and they'll pretend they don't know you," Warren said with a grin.

"I accept that challenge. HEY, WENDY AND DONNY!" Zach practically screamed.

This time, he did get several glares from the mothers sitting at benches near the playground.

"Congratulations, Zach. You just pissed off at least five mothers," Donny said, grinning as he and Wendy approached.

"Only five? Damn," Zach said with a long-suffering sigh.

"Get off that rope, you look like an idiot," Wendy muttered.

"Don't care!" Zach replied.

"If you fall and break your neck, I'm not calling an ambulance."

"If I fall and break my neck, there's at least five angry mothers and you who won't call an ambulance for me. I'm pretty sure the other thirty-odd people in the park won't be so mean."

"Would you two shut up? Zach, get off the rope. We've got important things to discuss," Warren added, still pushing Heidi on the swing.

Heidi was watching them all carefully, reading their lips and listening with her hearing aid the best she could.

"In a playground? That's not weird," Wendy muttered sarcastically.

"Somewhat more private than lunch will be. Though you're probably right. Let's go see Honey and Sarah. We haven't met Jared yet," Layla said, stopping the swing and standing.

Heidi waited until she passed before jumping off the swing and landing a metre away.

"Nice, Heids! Ten point landing," Zach said, giving her a high-five.

Heidi grinned and then raced towards the dog park.

"I don't remember ever having that much energy," Ethan said, grinning.

"I don't think anyone has as much energy as Heidi," Donny said.

"Was that a nerd joke?" Zach asked, gasping dramatically.

"Shut up."

"It was funny," Ethan said with a broad grin.

"You shut up, too," Donny muttered.

Zach hurried to the fence when he saw that Heidi was inside the dog park. She was laughing her rough laugh and smiling so brightly that Zach's face ached in response. Heidi tried to sign something, but the dogs kept clambering over her for attention and pats, and Zach could only laugh at what she ended up saying instead.

"Za-pup-wet-cold-nose. Sounds about right, Heids."

"She'll be fine, Zach. You can relax," Honey said, her hand resting on his shoulder gently.

"Sure?"

Honey smiled. "Positive."

"Ah, another joke. What is it with you lot, today? You know I'm meant to be the funny one," Zach pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't worry, you're still the funniest person I know," Ethan said, smiling.

Unnoticed in the daylight, Zach glowed a little brighter.

"Warren, Layla, you remember Sarah. This is Sarah's boyfriend, Jared," Honey introduced them to the tall lanky man, who grinned broadly and shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you both. Honey says you're supers too?" Jared asked.

"You're a super?" Layla asked, surprised; Honey hadn't told them that.

"Not quite. My mother was Babel before she retired. Now she's just Babs," Jared said, shrugging.

"Your mother was Babel? The longest-serving super Ambassador to the UN? The woman who just had to know a single word of a language to be able to understand, speak, and write the full language completely?" Ethan asked, looking as though all of his Christmases had arrived early.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. She's just Mum to me though. Though, learning to swear in 12 different languages is actually as fun as it sounds," Jared admitted with a laugh.

"Is it true that Babel - your mum - can recognise a person's dialect just by looking at them?" Ethan asked eagerly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Actually, that is true. She stopped an attack on the UN headquarters that way. It was hushed up, of course; no one wanted to start an outright war."

"Wait, how did she stop it by knowing someone's dialect?" Warren asked in confusion, looking between Jared and Ethan.

"A person said they were from a particular country, but they were actually from another country all together, and there were high hostilities between that country and another country at the time. Mum told the security personnel, and they discovered poisons both on the person and in their hotel room," Jared said, being very careful not to name names or countries. "Let me tell you: it was both the worst and best 'take your kid to work' day."

"You were there?" Ethan asked, practically gaping at the implications and what Jared must know about the supers' world and how the UN really thought of it; the things people would say in the presence of a child wouldn't be as guarded as the things they said around adults.

"I tell you what, next time there's another get-together like this, I'll invite my mum along, yeah? She'd love it that someone even recognised her name," Jared said, his smile not quite as humorous or joyful now.

"Layla, when's the next BBQ?" Ethan demanded.

She tried her hardest not to laugh at her friend's enthusiasm, and patted his arm consolingly. "You tell me when the best time is, and we'll organise it, okay?"

"Okay... the school paper's busiest time is then, exams are then, final assignments are a week before that," Ethan murmured, mentally working through a calendar as he continued to murmur to himself.

"Oh, I wish I could do that in my head; if my phone dies, then so do I," Sarah said with a grin.

"Mum's said the same thing about her calendar at work; she's got everything on there. Even my birthday, which I should probably find insulting," Warren said.

"Is Ethan okay? I swear his brain's running an Excel program on fast-forward right now," Donny said, looking a little queasy.

"Donny, nice to see you again," Honey said with a smile, redirecting his attention away from Ethan's eager and encompassing thoughts.

Donny seemed relieved at the distraction. "You too, Honey. How's Ari's puppy training going?"

"Well; he graduates from puppy school next week. He's only torn up one piece of furniture, but I hated the thing anyway, so I don't really mind."

"The blue chair, or the red one?" Donny asked.

"Blue. The red one will be its replacement."

"Ah, right. That's a better choice with your décor anyway," Donny said, nodding.

"The green might work, but I think it's overwhelming."

"Yeah, a bit. Ari wouldn't like it either."

"No, that's a good point. I'd prefer to keep it intact," Honey added with a brief frown.

"Red's probably best, then."

"Certainly seems that way, don't you think?"

"Definitely; just, whatever you do..."

"Don't get pink," they said in unison.

Layla, Warren, Sarah, and Jared looked between Honey and Donny's back and forth with little clue as to what was going on. It seemed as though Honey was referring to a vision she'd seen, while Donny was responding to whatever he'd seen in her head.

"That was creepy. Seriously, guys: creepy," Jared said, shaking his head. "Hey, Snowball, c'mon, girl. Let's get you on a leash and go terrorise the parents that are glaring at us instead."

"Ooh, I'm up for that. C'mere, Toby," Sarah whistled.

Both dogs bounded over immediately. Their owners put leashes on them and walked them out of the dog park.

"If someone mutters about keeping dogs in the dog park, I say we drop the leashes," Sarah said with a snicker.

"We can't both drop our leashes."

"All right, I'll drop Toby's leash."

"Please, no one's going to be terrified of that little fluffball."

"Fluffball? Have you seen your poodle lately? She's the definition of a fluffball."

"With sharper teeth," Jared replied, grinning.

More people started to arrive: Craig with his parents, uncle, sister, and her twins; Adam with his mother and father; Frieda and a woman in a business suit who looked very out of place at the park.

"We're not going to get any privacy this way. Think anyone will notice if a storm cloud suddenly appeared?" Wendy asked.

"Out of this sky? Probably," Layla replied. "Would you aim for anyone or just try to get everyone to leave?"

"Depends on how much anyone pisses me off," Wendy replied, grinning.

"You said you and Donny had an answer; this is as private as it's going to get," Warren prompted.

"I promise Ari won't say a thing," Honey added with a laugh, seeing Ari whining for Heidi to keep patting him.

"We're in," Donny said.

"What made you decide?"

"Ethan's book. It's comprehensive but understandable, and the hierarchal structure he's started to organise could actually work," Wendy said.

"You never told us about a structure, Popsicle," Warren said.

Ethan shrugged. "I wanted to work out the kinks before I proposed it; I forgot it was in that book," he added.

"We'll discuss it later. Good to have you with us, Wendy and Donny," Layla said, going quiet as Frieda approached with her guest.

"Heidi, time to get out of the dog park. You'll need to get washed up," Honey said. "Wendy, may you take Heidi to the ladies bathroom, please?"

"Uh, all right. C'mon, Heidi," Wendy said, holding her hand out for Heidi.

Heidi seemed surprised, but reluctantly left Ari and took Wendy's hand, heading to the bathroom.

"Hi Mum, you look nice," Honey said with a smile, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, Honey dear. You look relaxed," Frieda said, smiling back at her daughter. "Oh, look how big Ari's getting!" she cooed at the dog.

Ari barked happily at the attention, then started to run around the dog park again.

"Mum, introduce your guest; everyone's dying to know who you've brought along."

"Oh, Ms. Martin, my lawyer. This is my daughter, Honey, I believe you met her at the divorce," Frieda said, both of them nodding in agreement. "This is Zach, Ethan, Warren, Layla, and I don't know your name yet, dear?" she added to Donny.

"Donny, ma'am. Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a hand to shake.

Frieda shook his hand, going still as her power worked on him. She let go after a moment, looking from Donny to her daughter, and then to Layla and Warren.

"Everything all right, Mum?" Honey asked, and it felt as though the whole park stopped and waited with bated breath for her answer.

"Yes. Everything's fine," Frieda replied, the park resuming noise and movement in the same breath.

Honey smiled broadly and took her mother's hand, squeezing gently. Layla wanted to know what had just happened, but neither Donny, Frieda, nor Honey looked as though they would say anything while the lawyer was present.

"Layla, Ms. Martin is here at my request. I hope you don't mind me asking in front of your friends, but I was wondering if you would agree to be my adopted daughter."

Though Layla had been expecting something, from what Honey had alluded to over the past week or so, she hadn't truly expected this. She hadn't expected to feel a rush of warmth and happiness, of surprise at Frieda's hesitation and worry, of pure and utter relief at the opportunity to get away from her Great Aunt. It was more than that though, Layla realised. She really did adore Frieda - and not just for her teasing Warren by calling him cutie all the time - and she almost wished that Frieda had been her Great Aunt for all of this time instead of Greta.

"I'd love to, Frieda," she said with a broad smile, moving to hug Frieda firmly.

Honey let go of her mother's hand so Frieda could return the hug. Zach did not get teary eyed, not at all. Beside him, Ethan surreptitiously wiped his eyes.

"I think that's everyone finally here," Honey said, looking over to where Ben and Lisa had arrived with their parents.

"Why'd Lisa arrive with Ben? There wasn't anything for the school paper that I knew about," Ethan added.

Adam looked over to where his girlfriend was laughing with the six-armed boy and frowned in confusion. "I'll be back later," he said, leaving a moment later.

Wendy returned with Heidi, the young girl eagerly watching Wendy as she talked.

"You all right, Heids?" Zach asked, receiving a bright grin and nod in return.

"Layla, if you'll come with me, we'll organise the paperwork to annul your Great Aunt's guardianship on the grounds of neglect and abuse. It sounds horrible, I know, but it will allow the courts to agree to Frieda's claim for adoption sooner rather than later, in order to get you into a more stable home," Ms. Martin said, leading Layla back towards the picnic tables so they had a flat surface for the forms to be filled out.

Richard was already cooking at the barbecue, Mr. Brighton standing nearby stiffly, while Mrs. Brighton talked with Nina at a table. Anita was organising plates and napkins for everyone, and gave a curious look to Ms. Martin, who she didn't recognise.

"Mrs. Damsale, this is Ms. Martin, Frieda's lawyer. She's offered to legally adopt me," Layla said with a bright smile.

"That's lovely, dear. I heard about that horrid Aunt of yours; she won't cause any problems, will she?" Anita asked, looking between Layla and Ms. Martin.

"I certainly hope not, for everyone's sake," Ms. Martin replied, opening her briefcase to get out the relevant forms.

Anita looked from Layla to where Zach and Heidi were playing, then glanced at Mrs. Brighton briefly. "Is it possible for someone to adopt a child - or children - whose parents are still alive and in their care?" she asked quietly.

Ms. Martin seemed surprised at her question, but realising that Anita had a reason for asking in a quiet tone, nodded briefly. "I'll just instruct Layla on what she needs to fill out, and then we'll have a chat."

Layla was surprised at Anita's question herself, but supposed she should have known it would end up that way. She listened to Ms. Martin as she explained what sections of the paperwork to fill out, and sat down with the offered pen to begin.

Warren wandered over after about ten minutes, sitting across from her. "Everything going okay, hippie?"

"It would seem so. I don't have much left to sign. The hardest part was writing what Greta's done to me; reliving that is not fun in any sense."

Warren nodded. "Did you include the part about the jewellery?"

"Huh, no. I'll do that now," she said, flipping back a few pages.

"Think Greta will cause any problems?"

"Probably; she likes the attention," Layla muttered.

"We can take care of that though, can't we?" Warren suggested, voice at a murmur.

"Of course," she replied with a broad smile.

"Good. Thought you were going soft on me for a minute there," he teased.

Layla snorted and shook her head, signing the last of the forms. "This doesn't change a thing. I'm still aiming for something permanent."

Warren's response was cut short by a familiar voice.

"I hope we're not interrupting?" the Commander called out from the edge of the park, hands on his hips, and Jetstream standing beside him, smiling broadly.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" Warren hissed.

The citizens in the park rushed over to greet the two superheroes, take photos, and get autographs.

"Who... Did anyone invite the Strongholds?" Nina asked, keeping her voice low enough to not be heard by the two superheroes over their adoring fans' noise.

The civilians simply looked confused, but the supers in the nearby vicinity shook their heads quite adamantly; Josie was known to be a dominating over-achiever who needed to control everything, and neither her presence, nor her husband's, wouldn't have been welcomed by anyone already at the barbecue.

"Larry," Layla said, seeing the redheaded boy arriving with his parents.

"The Levinsky's have been trying to get an in with the Stronghold's for years; looks like they finally got one," Craig's sister said, rolling her eyes.

"If either of 'em mention Hawaii, I'm leavin'," Adam's uncle muttered, opening the lid to his container of brandy schnapps.

Several seats away, Layla swore that she could smell the brandy.

"Phil, you promised not to open those until later!" Adam's father reminded him.

"That was 'fore I knew they'd be here," he replied, eating two schnapps without hesitation.

"What's wrong with them?" Anita asked in confusion, looking between the others.

"If you like to hang off every word they say, then absolutely nothing," Nina muttered.

Jetstream and the Commander finally broke away from their adoring crowd, heading over to the barbecue area with the Levinsky's following closely.

"Good morning, citizens!" the Commander said, smiling at them broadly.

"We were just in the neighbourhood, saw a party, and thought we'd drop by," Jetstream added with a smile just as broad as her husband's.

"Did the Levinsky's need their GPS to get here, or did they follow your ego?" Nina snapped.

Jetstream and the Commander's smiles both faltered, the couple looking to each other briefly.

"Nina, I had no idea you'd be here," Jetstream said in a low voice, wary of the amount of citizens around them.

"I'm sure you didn't, otherwise you wouldn't have shown your faces in a three-block radius, isn't that right?" Nina sneered.

Jetstream's smile disappeared completely and she stopped hovering, her feet touching the ground a moment later. "We - we never had a chance to apologise."

"For what, exactly? For dragging my husband's trial into the public, for telling everyone that I was Barron's accomplice, or for making sure that I could never get a job in the super community again?"

On her wrist, Layla's fire tattoo was aching and spinning wildly, Warren's turmoil and emotions filtering through until she wanted nothing more than to set the world ablaze herself. She stood, ready to do exactly that, the trees and grass swaying towards her in anticipation. A hand fell heavy on her shoulder, Layla forced to her seat abruptly, and she barely resisted the urge to turn and snap at Honey.

Across from them, Mr. Brighton no longer looked so placid or stiff. In fact, he was moving forward, through the gathered crowd of parents and their super teenagers, past his own wife and children, until he stood right next to the Commander and Jetstream.

"Now, now, can't we just let bygones be bygones?" the Commander suggested, looking between his wife and Nina.

"Bygones," she echoed incredulously. "You publicly ruined my life, my son's life, and you expect me to forgive you without even a single apology?!" Nina snapped.

The Commander stammered something incoherent and looked to Jetstream desperately.

Jetstream looked from Nina to the crowd around them, from the eager-to-please faces of the Levinsky's, hoping to ride on their coat-tails like others before them, to the fierce expression on Nina Battle - Nina Peace's - face, to the tense and nervous expressions on most of the others around them.

"I think we might have overstayed our welcome, dear," she said lightly, hovering up into the air again.

The Commander frowned. "But... we just got here."

"Yes, and now we're leaving," Jetstream replied tersely through her broad smile.

"Ah. Okay. Will the Levinsky's be joining us for lunch still?" he asked, not quite low enough not to be heard.

Jetstream looked to the redheaded family once more, then shook her head. "Not today, dear. We can't set a precedent of dining with civilians," she added.

The Levinsky's hopeful expressions were dashed in a moment, and by the time Jetstream and the Commander left, they looked around at the other picnickers and realised that they'd managed to ostracise themselves completely. Larry was bright red in a mix of anger and embarrassment, and he avoided looking at everyone around them.

"You're welcome to stay, if you'd like," Nina offered, knowing all too well that the Levinsky's would loathe to associate themselves with the ex-wife of a villain.

"No, thank you. We need to take Larry home," his mother replied, practically dragging Larry and her husband away.

Craig's nephews started crying loudly, Richard cursed when he realised he'd charred one side of the hot dogs, and Frieda put her arm around Nina, leading her away with quiet words of reassurance. Slowly, Honey released her grip on Layla's shoulder, and Layla grabbed Warren's hand, leading him back over to the dog park, which was empty now.

"They certainly know how to ruin a party, huh?" Anita murmured to Honey, shaking her head while Honey nodded in agreement.

"Craig, can you help?" his sister called out, realising her sons weren't going to settle without their uncle's help.

Craig, who had been talking with Sarah and Jared, went over to his sister and nephews, and made a few funny faces at them. When he saw certain that no citizens were watching, Craig changed his features to that of Mr. Godmother, their favourite cartoon character.

"Huh, I didn't know he could change into a cartoon character as well," Ethan said, surprised. "I would have assumed there wasn't enough depth to a 2D character to replicate it properly."

"You make assumptions? Eth, I never would've suspected it of you," Zach said dramatically.

"Oh, shut up," Ethan muttered, rising up on his toes to press a kiss to his lips.

"Zach? What are you doing?" Mrs. Brighton hissed, cheeks bright red as she witnessed her son's display of affection.

"Kissing my boyfriend; I told you I was dating Ethan," Zach replied, frowning.

"But there are children around! And your sister, what would she - "

Her words cut off as Heidi began signing very quickly, looking between her mother and Zach with each sentence.

"Uh, what did she say?" Ethan asked.

"That she's not ashamed, upset, or even embarrassed by us, and for Mum to stop using her as a shield to hide her own homophobia."

"Oh. If I'd known your mother had a problem with us, then - "

"You'd better not finish that sentence in the way I think you're going to finish it, Eth."

" - I would've kissed you sooner," Ethan replied, grinning broadly.

"Zach, Heidi, I'd like you both to stay at our house until your parents have overcome their own attitudes and issues," Anita said, barely sparing a glance at Mrs. Brighton.

Nearby, Ms. Martin seemed to understand what Anita had been alluding to earlier, and jotted a few things down in her phone to follow up on at a later time.

Over at the dog park, Layla had pulled Warren in for a firm kiss as soon as they were alone, allowing him to vent his frustration and emotion in a way that wouldn't involve setting the park alight. When they pulled away, both with swollen lips, Warren seemed a little calmer.

"Thanks, hippie," he murmured.

"Happy to help. Want to talk about it, or do we need to go set the Stronghold's secret sanctum on fire?"

"The second option works for me. While they're still in it, right?"

"Of course; there's no point in destroying their sanctum otherwise. Losing their X-box isn't that traumatising," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Why did we agree to do this again?" Warren asked with a sigh, looking back to the crowd of people still by the barbecue.

"Because we wanted to seem normal while also seeing how everyone worked together to see if they could be permanent. Plus, it's difficult to argue with so many strong women when they get an idea in their heads," Layla pointed out, pressing another kiss to his mouth.

"Have you seen Adam since Lisa and Ben arrived together?" Warren asked as they pulled away, realising that he hadn't seen him in almost an hour.

Layla shook her head and looked back to the crowd. "Lisa and Ben are by the drinks table, but I can't see Adam."

Warren looked around the park completely, trying to see where Adam had gone.

"Uh, Warren? Was that giant pit here when we arrived?" Layla asked, indicating to the far end of the parklands.

"I don't think so," Warren replied, both of them already starting towards the pit.

Ethan grabbed Zach's hand and followed after them, Honey, Heidi, Wendy, and Donny not far behind. Craig finally finished settling his nephews and jogged after the others, curious as to what was going on.

"Holy shit, what happened here?" Craig muttered, looking at the corroded and blackened grass as he approached the others.

"What happened is that Adam's power's changed," Ethan replied, looking down into the hole where Adam was curled up, his whole body leaking acid.

...

End of the fortieth chapter.

Thanks for reading!