Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
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Chapter Forty Eight
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"The kitchen stool is gone," Wendy noted as she and the others hunted around the Hive, trying to determine what Layla had done to redecorate.
Warren was only somewhat surprised that he'd missed that detail for himself. He'd forgotten that Lisa's stool had even existed, really.
"Please tell me no one's missing the giant vine curtains right in front of their face?" Donny asked, rolling his eyes when they all looked to the windows.
"That's it? A kitchen stool and some curtains? This is seriously unimpressive," Craig said, arms folded across his chest.
Layla grinned and nodded to the back doors where the vines were parting with a small burst of power.
"Holy shit. I stand corrected: this is awesome!"
The others were outside as soon as the vine curtains opened, and Layla and Warren grinned, watching as their friends explored the mini oasis.
"Are these trees like the ones at the front?" Zach called, looking at the trees warily and from a safe distance.
"Yes, they are," Donny replied almost dreamily. He didn't wait for an answer, walking between the trees, into the small forest, and disappearing from sight within seconds.
"Uh, will he be okay in there?" Zach asked Layla, stepping forward.
"He'll be fine. And so will you, stop shaking like a leaf," Layla said, trying not to laugh when one of the trees curiously swiped down towards Zach with a long-leafed branch.
"Is there more, or is Eden everything you did?" Ethan asked, grinning and tugging Zach away from the overly-curious trees.
"There's more," Layla said.
"What? Where?" Warren asked, surprised.
"We ran out of time last weekend, remember?" Layla prompted, kissing his cheek. "You can be surprised with everyone else, just this once."
Warren didn't look entirely appeased, but he remembered why they'd run out of time, and nodded briefly. "Just this once," he agreed.
Layla grinned and took his hand, leading everyone back inside. They were all silent as Layla led them through the house, through the trapdoor, and down into the real hive below. Ethan frowned when he didn't immediately see any differences to the walls or tunnels around them. He went ahead, tugging Zach along with him, looking into one room, then the next, a smile spreading across his face.
"Holy shit, Lay. Did you do this for every room?" Zach asked, looking between Layla and the room.
There was a bed, side table, wardrobe, desk and a chair, all made from wood and possibly bamboo; Zach wasn't an expert on plants.
"Most rooms. A few I've left empty, others I made into entertainment areas. The next one down, Ethan," she added when he looked at her curiously.
"Bet you there, Popsicle," Craig said, already running down the hallway.
"Hey!" Ethan ran after him, changing to his liquid form and stretching out at the last second, reforming right in front of Craig.
"Cheater," Craig snickered, not seeming at all upset at losing the small race.
Ethan ignored him in favour of looking around the room: a lounge and chaise, large enough to fit five people comfortably, several armchairs, a coffee table and inbuilt bookcases that hadn't been inbuilt the last time he'd been in the Hive.
"Where's the TV?" Craig asked, frowning.
"There isn't one. I can't exactly make one out of trees," Layla said pointedly.
"Yeah, but there's not even room for a TV," Craig pouted.
"Yes, there is!" Adam called from a few rooms down. "Hurry up, man. You've gotta see this!"
Craig was out of the room in a shot, the others following quickly. Layla sat on the lounge, Warren sitting beside her. She curled up against his chest, smiling as she listened to the others' excitement on discovering the home cinema she'd created.
"I call dibs on this seat forever!"
"Dude, it's a seat."
"It's mine now."
"You're not going to look around?" Layla asked Warren.
He shook his head. "I'll have plenty of time to look later."
They sat together, Warren's arm around Layla's shoulders and her body pressed up against his, her eyes closed as she dozed off lightly.
Donny eventually made his way down into the hive, finally leaving the small forest and the trees up above. He looked into each room as he passed, curious at the changes that had been made, and eventually came upon Warren and Layla dozing on the lounge. Not wanting to disturb them, and still trying to come down from the trees' thoughts he'd been listening to for the last half an hour, Donny chose an armchair for himself and sat down to enjoy the relative silence in his own mind.
"Hey. I found out about those people you texted me about," Ethan said to Warren as everyone returned to the lounge room ten minutes later.
Warren and Layla sat up, awake and curious. Ethan let his bag slip off his shoulders and pulled out a water bottle, tipping the water out onto the coffee table. Ignoring the sound of surprise from Wendy and Craig, Ethan reformed the water into stacks of paper, notebooks, and a stray highlighter that had been melted down with the rest of the things.
"You've been practising," Layla said, smiling broadly.
Ethan nodded. "It's easier now; I don't have to concentrate so much."
"Ugh, when do you have time to practise? You're doing assignments for two people, on the newspaper, have as much of a social life as I do, and you're doing external practice for the ASL classes as well," Craig groaned. "There are days when I can barely function."
Ethan shrugged. "I've re-trained my circadian rhythm so I only need five hours of sleep."
"I'd die if I only had five hours of sleep," Craig muttered, looking horrified at the very idea of getting less than a solid nine hours of sleep.
"What did you find out?" Warren asked, redirecting the conversation.
Ethan handed each Layla and Warren a sheet of paper. "Adam helped me with some of the more illegal aspects, but this is as much as I could find on them. The married couple were both having affairs; he was on Ashley Madison, Tinder, and Grindr. She was also on Ashley Madison and used a couple of adult porn sites to get hookups when her husband wasn't home.
"Their friends were Sagar, Smith, and Johnson, and they weren't much better. Sagar was embezzling from her workplace; she siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars; Smith was in about three-hundred thousand dollars worth of credit card debt due to gambling - according to his financial records, he'd bet on anything from horses and casinos to the local sweepstakes and football teams; and Johnson had an offshore account to avoid paying higher taxes and has lied to the IRS for the last five years about his income and savings.
Ethan trailed off when he realised that everyone - with the exception of Adam - was staring at him. "What?"
"We only wanted to know if they were good people or not, not their whole life stories," Layla said, her eyes wide and mouth dry.
"It's not their whole life stories," Ethan protested.
"I can see the baby photos from here, Popsicle," Warren said, reaching out to hold it up.
Ethan shrugged. "I thought it would be better to get more than less."
"You certainly did that," Layla said, looking over her summary sheet to the piles and piles of paperwork that were strewn on the coffee table.
Warren had taken up the financial reports from Sagar and Johnson. "Do the police know about these?"
Ethan shook his head. "They're still trying to determine how the accident happened, I think. They'll start on the people's backgrounds soon though," he added.
"Good. Adam, I need you to modify Sagar's transactions: combine them to slightly larger amounts, but keep it under ten-thousand for tax purposes. Sagar was smart, she wouldn't make an easy mistake like that. Change the transactions to be made within the last three months, and the largest amount needs to be in the last week. If we make it look like these people were killed because of embezzling, the police will assume the others were killed as innocent bystanders, and they won't know what really happened."
Adam nodded, typing out Warren's instructions on his phone as fast as possible. "So what really happened?" he asked curiously, Ethan watching Warren and Layla intently.
"We killed them. Mostly by accident, but that doesn't mean that I regret it or that I want to be imprisoned for it," Layla said.
"I assume no one knew about Johnson's offshore accounts?" Warren asked Ethan, not allowing anyone time to dwell on the fact that they'd admitted to the murder of five citizens.
Ethan thought for a moment. "Johnson spent ridiculous amounts of money on things, but he came from a wealthy family, so no one would think it was his. The account is registered under his mother's maiden name, not Johnson," he added.
"Good. You've got all the documentation with his signature?" Warren asked, Ethan nodding firmly and handing him the relevant bank statements. Looking it over for a moment, Warren grinned at the sight of all of those zeroes. "Adam, set up a new account for all of this money to be transferred into, along with the rest of Sagar's money. Preferably offshore if you can; we won't want to be picked up on tax fraud any more than Sagar or Johnson would have.
"Congratulations on your newest asset, Mr. Phillips," Warren added to Ethan, handing the statements back to him.
"W-what?! There's over... There's a lot of money in that bank account," Ethan said, his eyes wide.
"There's about to be even more," Adam snorted, already starting on his own task to transfer Sagar's money to the account.
"And we'll trust you'll be responsible with it," Layla interjected, Ethan straightening up and his chest puffed out at the responsibility and praise.
"Of course."
"We can buy a projector for the cinema, right?" Zach asked, Craig nodding and vocalising his agreement instantly.
Ethan rolled his eyes. "It's nice to see you both have your priorities straight."
"What else would we get?" Craig asked.
"The material for our super suits, duh," Wendy said, shaking her head.
Zach sighed. "Fine. But we can get the projector afterwards, right?"
Donny's phone chimed with an incoming text and he looked at his phone. "Honey says there's a few organisations she owns that we can use as fronts to transfer the money. She also has three hostile takeovers for some businesses that she'd like to discuss with Ethan and Adam when they're both available."
"Get Honey to send me the list of businesses and their banking accounts. Ethan can set the appointment up for both of us," Adam said, not looking up from his phone.
"Holy shit. We're really doing this, huh?" Zach asked, grinning around at everyone.
"You didn't think we were here for the fun of it, did you?" Wendy asked.
"It's different talking about something than actually doing it," he replied, not at all perturbed by her acerbic tone.
"We have to start heading back; the bus is going to be ten minutes early," Donny said, leaving the lounge room and heading upstairs.
Layla tugged on Warren's hand to keep him back as the others filed out. When they were alone, Warren looked at her curiously. Layla smiled broadly and kissed him, firm and hard, her nails scoring lines down his sides and making Warren shudder against her. It was kiss that encompassed everything Layla couldn't say: thank you and holy hell, you were hot and I can't believe we're actually doing this! The kiss was hot and hard and bruising, and Warren felt Layla's desire pulsing from the vine on his wrist, sending small shockwaves along his arm and through his body. His own desire pooled in his stomach and Warren nipped at Layla's bottom lip as she pulled away slowly and reluctantly. Layla grinned at the sight of Warren's messy hair, the dark look in his eyes, and the swollen red lips that stretched into a warm smile. She kissed him once more, slow and soft this time.
"Come over tonight after work," Layla whispered against his lips.
"Anything you want, hippie," Warren murmured, his lips brushing against hers with his words.
Layla smiled and led Warren out of the hive and upstairs, ignoring Craig's wolf whistle when they finally appeared above ground, obviously having spent the last few minutes kissing.
"Shut up. Everyone ready?" Warren asked, grabbing Layla's bag and shouldering it, then heading out with Layla to the front porch and down the stairs.
"You're not going to lock up?" Ethan asked, adjusting his bag, which had all of the paperwork and documentation melted down and hidden in a water bottle again.
"No one will ever get close enough to get inside," Layla said certainly.
"If they go through the trees, yeah, but what about from the air? Jetstream's not the only super who can fly," Wendy pointed out, frowning.
"That will only be an issue for the next two weeks. No one should be flying in or out of Maxville over this area in that time," Layla said, knowing that her trees would grow tall enough to create a canopy that would hide the Hive from view.
Beside Ethan, Zach muttered and ducked as a few trees reached for him, leaves and branches trying to tug at his bright hair. Craig laughed, then realised what Layla had said. "Uh, Super Heroes Day is coming up?"
"There will be at least five supers flying in, and three of them live in a direction that will take them over the outskirts of Maxville and close to the Hive," Ethan added in explanation.
"Shit," Layla cursed under her breath; she hated Super Heroes Day.
"Don't worry, I already solved that issue two weeks ago," Adam said.
"How?" Warren asked.
"One of my first tasks with my extracurricular work was to set up a no-fly zone for commercial and private planes, as well as supers with flight. I figured the Hive would need as much protection as it could get," he said, shrugging.
"You're brilliant, Adam. Thank you," Layla said with a smile, resting a hand on his arm gently.
Adam nodded and looked a little shy as he smiled back at her. "Thanks."
"The bus is almost here," Donny called, seeing the bus in the distance, all of them jogging for the stop so they wouldn't miss it entirely.
The driver pulled the bus up to the stop, a little surprised to see a group of kids out in the middle of nowhere with nothing around. Frowning at the group, who tagged their bus cards onto the automatic swipe system as they boarded, the driver looked out at their surroundings again, trying to determine what they'd been doing.
"Thank you for stopping for us, sir. How has your route been so far?" Ethan asked politely, drawing the driver's attention.
If they were drug addicts, they were sure as hell nicer than the last lot who'd been on the bus.
"Not bad. What're you lot doing out here?" the driver asked.
There was a moment of silence, broken by the chime of a phone alert, and then Donny spoke up. "Volunteering at the beekeeper's just a bit further down the road," he added, indicating to where the top of the trees could be seen.
The driver squinted at the trees. "Huh. Never seen those before. There's a beekeeper there, you say?"
"Yes. It's called the Hive," Layla said with a pleasant tone and smile.
"Hmm... Any chance of fresh honey?"
"Uh, maybe in a few weeks. The bees are still getting settled in."
"Floral or iron bark? Or manuka?" the driver added.
"I'm hoping for all three," Layla replied, sitting on the front seat near the driver as the others continued towards the back, escaping while they could. "You know much about honey?"
The driver seemed pleased at her question and the prospect of company, and chatted Layla's ear off for the rest of the trip, telling her about the three-hundred different types of honey they'd gone all over the US to try. The half-hour bus trip seemed to be over in minutes, and the driver looked a little disappointed that they were leaving so soon.
"See you next week," Layla said with a warm smile, leaving the bus after her friends.
The driver waved and continued on their route, a little happier for the pleasant company.
...
Honey met them at the bus station parking lot, waving from her minivan. Wendy looked as pleased as ever about the prospect of riding in a minivan, but smiled genuinely when she saw Heidi sitting in the front seat.
"Hi Heidi, you look nice," Wendy said, trying to include the proper ASL hand motions along with her words.
Heidi beamed at her progress and compliment, and thanked Wendy, looking to the bright blue skirt, white shirt, and green jacket she was wearing. Heidi asked a question in return, her hands slow as she spelled out each letter for her friend's benefit.
"Hey, I think I got that," Craig said, sounding as surprised as he looked. "You asked how our trip was, right?"
"Yes. Good!" Heidi said, grinning.
"Heh, cool. How do I say 'I am awesome'?" Craig asked.
"Shut up, Craig. What are you doing for Super Heroes Day, Honey?" Wendy asked as they headed over to her van.
"My mother's hosting lunch. Act surprised when she invites you," Honey said, then paused as she put her seatbelt on. "Not that surprised, Zach."
Zach stopped making exaggerated faces of surprise and shock, and grinned apologetically. "Right, sorry."
"Dork," Wendy snorted, rolling her eyes.
"Heidi, why don't you show everyone what we bought?" Honey asked as she started to drive out of the parking lot and towards the Paper Lantern.
Heidi smiled and reached for a bag at her feet. She pulled out a rectangular box and held it up above her head for everyone to see.
"Are those Christmas lights?" Ethan asked, frowning.
"Yep. Watch this," Honey said with a grin. "Two blue."
As they watched, two of the blue lights in the box lit up brightly.
"Oh, no way! Heidi, three red," Craig said eagerly, getting her attention and even including the ASL signs he knew.
Heidi grinned and three red lights lit up almost immediately.
Craig laughed at the sight. "That's freaking awesome."
"One blue, two green," Ethan said.
Two blue and one green light lit up, and though no one cared about the small mistake, Heidi didn't look happy with herself. She tried again and the right combination lit up this time. Nodding firmly at her success, Heidi looked to the others for more combinations.
"Green, red, white. One of each, blinking," Layla said.
Heidi's head tilted to the side as she considered it; she hadn't tried to make the lights blink yet. She nodded, lowered the box so she could see the lights better, and concentrated. Four minutes later, Heidi lifted the box with one green, one red, and one white light blinking on and off in a controlled movement.
"All right, let Heidi rest for a moment," Honey called as they pulled into the Paper Lantern.
"Thanks for the ride, Honey. See you tonight," Warren said to Layla, kissing her briefly.
"Have a good shift," she replied.
Warren nodded and headed to the staff entrance. Honey barely waited for him to get inside before leaving the parking lot once more.
"Sorry, but there's going to be a traffic jam. We'll be lucky if we miss it entirely," Honey called when a few people made noises of surprise at her sudden departure.
...
Getting stuck in a traffic jam became boring quickly. Heidi became tired, too excited and using too much power, so they couldn't keep playing the light game. Donny threatened to throw both Craig and Zach out of the minivan if they kept saying 'I'm thinking of a number between one and ten'. Ethan threatened to melt Donny down if he kept threatening Zach. Adam ignored everyone, still working on his phone, and Wendy pretended that she didn't know any of them. Layla closed her eyes and wished she was with Warren at the Paper Lantern instead.
"What's caused the traffic jam anyway?" Craig asked, trying to look over Honey to the road ahead.
"Car collided with a truck. Everyone keeps slowing down to look and they're causing the cars behind them to get jammed," Donny reported.
"All of these superpowers and nothing to help with traffic jams," Zach said, sighing.
"What kind of superpower would help with a traffic jam anyway?" Ethan asked curiously, thinking about the answer even before he'd finished asking the question. "Oil, ice, and water are too dangerous, only idiots would drive faster. Fog wouldn't work either."
"What about tilting the road downwards?" Craig suggested.
"Hmm, no. That would only work for people already on that side of the road, but even then, they could spend most of the trip with their brakes on."
"What about wind?" Donny asked.
Ethan frowned. "It could work; it depends which way the wind's blowing, of course, and also how fast. People tend to go against the wind if it's too strong, which could cause accidents if it died down suddenly."
"How fast?" Wendy asked.
"Something slow to start off with, so people wouldn't notice it. Maybe five knots, then up to ten when they're actually on their way," Ethan suggested.
Wendy smiled. "You've got it."
"Wait, what?"
Wendy didn't reply. Outside of the car, they could all see a soft breeze starting to pick up. It flowed over the road easily, taking stray clumps of grass and the rubbish that people had thrown out of their cars. The wind pushed at the cars gently, the people towards the front starting to drive that little bit faster. Behind them, other cars started to drive forward as well, the drivers concentrating on the road rather than the accident.
"All right, stop now, Wendy," Honey said from the front seat.
Reluctantly, Wendy did as she was told. "I could've kept going."
"I know. If you had, then you would have blown away some vital evidence for the collision," Honey said as they passed the scene themselves.
They saw a smashed windscreen, blood smeared on the glass, and then it was gone from sight.
"Ethan, I'll drop you, Zach, and Heidi off first, okay? Wait until after the eight o'clock news to write anything about the crash," Honey said, turning off at the next exit to get to the Damsales' home.
"All right. I've got to finish Adam's essay for tomorrow morning anyway," Ethan said.
"Good, concentrate on that," Honey said with a smile.
Arriving at the Damsales' home a few minutes later, they all said their goodbyes. Heidi was out of the minivan in a matter of seconds, clutching the lights to her chest. Ethan was out next with Zach following. He managed to step on Craig's knee along the way. Craig cursed at him, Donny slamming the door shut before Anita could hear his words.
Honey waved to Anita from the driver's seat, trying not to laugh at the inventive curses Craig was spouting, and then headed to Wendy's house.
Eventually, Layla and Honey were the last two left, and Layla moved to the front seat. Honey grinned at her and nodded to the radio. "Feel free to pick a station. Avoid country if you don't want to listen to me singing off-key."
"All right, thanks for the warning," Layla said with a grin, turning the radio on and settling on a classic rock station. "How was your day?"
"Not bad. Sarah and Jared are coming over for dinner tomorrow, so I spent most of today cooking up a storm. They're going home with about three weeks' worth of food."
"Why?"
"Sarah does an amazing job looking after me and my businesses, but she has an unfortunate habit of not looking after herself. Sarah and Jared pretend to be adults, but they never remember to do grocery shopping and it's far too easy to eat junk food every night of the week with all of this modern conveniences. This way, I know they're getting at least three vegetables and some fruit. I mean, it's baked into pastry, but it's better than nothing," Honey said with a grin.
"I'd be happy to provide fresh fruit and vegetables, if you'd like?"
Honey thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, that would be good. How about a bunch of black grapes and red delicious apples?"
"Not a problem," Layla said with a smile, closing her eyes and concentrating on the grape vine that wove around the lattice on Frieda's back porch and the apple tree seeds she'd planted in the garden two weeks ago.
By the time they arrived at the Bettendorf residence, Frieda had already collected the grapes and apples.
"One minute I was washing the dishes and the next, I see this shadow growing in the backyard! I almost had a heart attack," Frieda said as they came inside.
"Sorry, Mother, that was my fault," Honey apologised.
"Mine as well; I'll text you before I grow something next time," Layla said.
"It's not all that bad; I ate quite a few grapes and an apple for myself," Frieda said with a quick smile. "I'm sure you were saving some, so I washed them and set them aside. Will Warren be over tonight?"
"The grapes and apples are for Sarah and Jared," Honey said, taking the bowls her mother had put the fruit in. "I'll bring the bowls back, along with Warren."
"That's very kind of you. Stay for dinner, dear, you look hungry."
Honey set the bowls back down. "All right, but I have to leave by eight-thirty."
Frieda nodded. "I'll set an alarm for you, dear. Now, I have a Mongolian black bean stir fry, honey chicken and rice, or a vegetarian lasagne."
"Honey chicken, please."
"Mongolian stir fry, please. Would you like any help?" Layla offered.
"I can manage to carry a few bowls, dear," Frieda said with a smile. "But you can organise drinks, if you'd like."
"Water for me, please," Honey said, already organising the cutlery for everyone.
The table was set in a matter of minutes, the food heated and served soon afterwards. Layla ate her food with gusto, not realising how hungry she was until the food was in front of her. Frieda and Honey had a conversation about the latest edition of Labyrinth, their words washing over Layla as pleasant background noise.
Frieda's alarm sounded at quarter past eight and Honey left with the bowls of fruit and a promise to return by ten-thirty with the bowls and Warren.
"Thank you for dinner, Frieda. I have some studying to do; is it all right if I work downstairs?"
"Of course, dear. I'll work on my knitting, if you don't mind an old woman keeping you company?" she asked.
"You're not old, Frieda. And I'd love your company, thank you."
Frieda made a noise somewhere between a scoff and snort. "Thank you, dear, you're very kind to say that, but today I feel old and therefore, I am allowed to be an old woman."
Layla wanted to argue again, but didn't know what to say, so she simply nodded. "All right. I'll be back soon with my homework," she said, taking their empty dishes to the kitchen before heading upstairs.
Layla worked on the essay she'd started the day before during the study group, the steady clicking noise of Frieda's knitting needles in the background surprisingly soothing. Layla flicked between her essay, book, and laptop to find appropriate information to back up her work about All-American Boy's own heroic deeds before, during, and after being the Commander's sidekick.
By the time Layla was pleased with the sources she'd found and the overall outline of her essay, Honey and Warren came in through the door. Frieda fussed over Warren and fixed him dinner - he had the lasagne - and Honey washed, dried, and put away the fruit bowls.
Warren sat beside Layla once he'd finished inhaling his dinner, his eyes closed in exhaustion.
"Are you all right?" Layla asked, worried.
"Four banquets for groups of eight, and two birthday parties. I'm wiped," Warren groaned.
Layla kissed his cheek. "Go on upstairs, I'll pack up and be there soon," she said.
Warren nodded and left without protest, the prospect of bed far too enticing.
Honey looked in a moment later. "See you next week, Layla."
"See you then. Have a good week at work," she replied, smiling.
"Thanks, you too," Honey said as she left, calling out a final farewell to her mother and Warren.
Layla finished tidying her notes, saved her work and turned off her laptop, and then headed upstairs to where Warren was already asleep. After finishing her nightly routine and brushing her teeth, Layla slipped into bed next to Warren, curling up against his chest and tugging his arm around her body. Warren didn't even stir.
...
End of the forty-eighth chapter.
Thanks for reading!
