Chapter Fifty Two

Read on, oh faithful ones...

...

"Dude, have you seen the new English teacher yet?" Craig asked. "I heard the freshman talking about him; apparently he's the hottest thing ever," he said with a snicker.

"That's my title," Warren deadpanned.

"Eth, quick, get your camera out! Warren made a joke! We need to record the moment for posterity! The people of the future need to know!" Zach said, shaking Ethan dramatically.

Ethan laughed, adjusting his glasses, and nudged Zach away. "You keep doing that and soon you'll be the hottest thing ever. Literally," he added, grinning at his own joke.

"Aww, I love it when you make jokes," Zach said, pressing a loud smacking kiss on Ethan's lips. "I'm totally writing this in my diary."

"You have a diary?" Craig sneered.

"'Course I do! Dear Diary, today Craig was a literal dickhead. It was the weirdest day ever," Zach said.

Craig laughed. "Dork."

Adam stole Craig's chocolate pudding and swapped it for his banana one. Craig frowned at the exchange, then shrugged and kept eating his lunch.

"I know who the new English teacher is," Ethan said, nodding over to the cafeteria entrance.

"Jared?" Layla said, surprised. She hadn't known he was a teacher.

"We've got English with him next. It'll be interesting to see what his teaching style is like," Wendy said.

Donny groaned and rubbed his temples. "I have to go and put up a mental block. You should all be ashamed," he called out to the cafeteria in general, standing and leaving without waiting for a response.

Jared saw the group and waved, heading over. "Hey, nice to see some familiar faces. How are you?"

"Good, thank you, Mr. uh, I don't know your last name," Layla said with an apologetic smile.

"Bowman. My friends call me Bowie," Jared said with a conspiratorial wink.

"Jared Bowie, really?" Wendy asked, failing to hide her grin.

Jared just laughed. "Thankfully, I didn't get the joke until it was too late. It's easier to go by Mr. Bowie here anyway, secret identities and all that. Oh, and Ethan, you're still the only one who's recognised my mother's name. I've gotta teach these kids the error of their ways."

Ethan grinned. "We're organising the next barbecue for the 7th of May, after school's finished. Babel will be coming, won't she?"

"She's been hounding me about it for weeks, so I can safely say: yes," Jared said. Thinking about his mother, Jared remembered that he'd walked over to ask them a question as well as to say hello. "Oh, what do you guys think about an extra-curricular class?"

"We've already - I mean, what kind of class?" Craig asked with a wince when someone kicked his shin.

"Well, apart from being an English teacher, I'm also qualified to teach several foreign languages. I thought it could be useful; not all heroes, villains, or citizens speak English, after all."

"That's a good point, Mr. Bowie," Layla said, smiling as she thought of the possibilities.

"Could you get Babel as a guest speaker?" Ethan asked, far too excited for Craig's eye roll to have any affect on his mood.

"Calm down, Eth; Mr. Bowie hasn't even organised it yet. When you do, we totally want in," Zach added.

"If you do get Babel in, I'm pretty sure Ethan would be able to fly home without a jetpack," Craig said, snickering as he opened his pudding. "But I'm in, too."

The others were surprised at his easy agreement, though they echoed their own after him.

Jared laughed. "It's great to see you all so excited about it. I'll talk with Principal Powers and hopefully she agrees. I'll let her know I've already got a group of students willing and ready to learn," he said with a grin. His stomach rumbled loudly and Jared winced at the sound. "Guess that's my cue to get some food. Any recommendations?"

"Don't get the lasagne. It's just overcooked mystery meat and undercooked pasta covered in ketchup," Warren said in disgust.

"Sounds like something I'd cook. Thanks for the advice," Jared said before heading to the cafeteria line.

"All right, Craig; what was that about?" Adam asked.

"What was what about?" Craig asked distractedly, trying to scoop out every last drop of pudding from the ridiculously tiny container.

"You agreeing to the language class," Wendy said. "You're still complaining about the ASL classes on Saturdays."

"That's 'cause it's a weekend; weekends are sacred," Craig said, giving up and setting the empty container on his tray. "I figure if I'm going to change into different people, I should be able to speak their language, yeah? This'll help," he said, shrugging.

"Good thinking," Layla said.

"What languages do you think he'll teach?" Ethan asked eagerly, drawing everyone into a discussion that only ended when the bell rang.

...

Principal Powers looked at the two Super Bureau agents, trying to determine what to say. She was surprised by their report, but not that surprised. Sky High had been attacked before and, unfortunately, she doubted that this would be the last time.

"You're certain about this?" she asked, sighing.

"Yes, ma'am. It's not a malfunction; the bus' fuel line was purposely cut."

"The fuel line was taped up again, but it was only meant to delay the problem rather than fix it. Whoever cut the line made sure that the fuel wouldn't start leaking until after the bus transformed to fly up to Sky High."

"From the chatter we've heard, it seems multiple people noticed the leaking fuel that left a streak in the clouds up to Sky High, but only a few realised what it actually meant."

Principal Powers had a sudden thought: if any villains had seen the fuel path, realised what it meant, and had done something about it that day, Sky High could have been attacked. The realisation sent waves of nausea through her - the children could have been harmed so easily, and she wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it - but she hid it from the Super Bureau agents. Showing weakness in front of them was never a good idea.

"We recommend changing the location of the school for the next few weeks," one of the agents added.

Principal Powers frowned. "Very well, but what about the bus?"

"The repairs have been completed - "

"Yes, I know. I mean, what about an investigation? Surely you're going to find out who cut the bus' fuel line? Those children could have been killed!"

The two Super Bureau agents looked to each other and then back to Principal Powers.

"No one was killed or injured, and by taking pre-emptive action and changing the school's location, the bus won't be tampered with again."

"How are you so certain it was an outside job?" Principal Powers asked, hating herself for even thinking it, let alone suggesting the idea to the two agents.

"Repairing the bus destroyed any evidence we might have found, Ms. Powers."

"I needed to make sure the bus was ready for the students to go home again," she said tersely; the government still hadn't responded to her application for a spare bus, so Principal Powers was limited to the buses Sky High currently had, whether or not they'd been damaged.

"Yes, so we've heard."

One Super Bureau agent reached into their jacket and handed a pamphlet to Principal Powers. "We've had similar issues before, so we found this helps. Keep it in mind the next time the school's attacked."

Principal Powers read the pamphlet title - What to do when your business is attacked by supervillains! - and tried not to scoff in disbelief. She'd dealt with so many villains and would-be villains over the years that it seemed ridiculous that they thought she needed a pamphlet on how to handle them. "Thank you, I'll keep it in mind."

Looking up, Principal Powers realised that the two agents had already left her office. Sighing, she put the pamphlet in her bottom drawer to promptly forget about the ridiculous thing.

Deciding to take the Super Bureau agents' advice, Principal Powers set about changing Sky High's coordinates for the next few weeks. As she did so, she wondered if it was worth hiring someone to investigate the sabotaged bus herself. Principal Powers shook her head at the idea almost immediately - the cost for a supered private investigator would be sky high and she would already have a hard enough time with next year's enrolments already likely to be affected by the incident. She needed to retain money where possible.

Besides, any parents who were upset about the lack of investigation into the sabotaged bus could be referred straight to the Super Bureau; see how they liked being screamed at by parents and egotistical supers, Principal Powers thought, rolling her eyes.

...

"Why are you pacing?" Sarah asked Honey in exasperation.

"I'm not pacing, I'm thinking," Honey replied.

"You only pace when you're procrastinating, Honey. Now, why are you pacing?"

Honey stopped, opened her mouth, then shook her head and started pacing once more. "Why did you come to see me?"

Sarah sighed, realising that Honey wouldn't tell her what was wrong until she was good and ready. "I wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" Honey asked absent-mindedly.

"For getting Jared the job at Sky High. He's really pleased about it. He even came home yesterday talking about a foreign language extra-curricular class Principal Powers agreed to."

"Oh, good. I was worried that she'd say no."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Honey. "You're not using my fiancé for some evil plan, are you?"

"Not evil," Honey replied. "Well, not completely," she amended. "So did Jared go with the roses or the chocolates to propose?"

"Honey, focus! What are you getting Jared involved in?"

Honey stopped again and faced Sarah. "Nothing nefarious. It's a good job and he'll help lots of kids, not just the ones I care about," she said with a brief shrug.

"Help them how exactly? He's an English teacher," Sarah pointed out.

"Jared's a good role model, for the most part," Honey added, thinking about his last disastrous attempt at boiling an egg which had resulted in a literal egg-splosion. "He knows what it's like to be the kid of a famous super and how to handle that sort of responsibility. Jared will educate them in more than English or foreign languages, and he'll even end up providing a lot of students with international opportunities once he gets Babs in to talk to them."

"And the evil plan part?" Sarah asked, sighing heavily.

"Not all heroes - or villains - speak English."

Sarah looked up at the ceiling and inhaled deeply, exhaling loudly as she looked at Honey once more. "One day, I will say no to whatever evil thing you propose."

"No, you won't."

"I hate you sometimes."

"I know. I love you too, Sarah."

"Mm-hmm. Now, what are you pacing about?"

"Ah, damn, I thought you'd forgotten," Honey muttered, starting to pace again.

"Honey, just tell me. You didn't kill anyone, did you?" Sarah asked, rolling her eyes.

Honey coughed. "Well, they didn't die, but they... could have?"

Sarah groaned, rubbing her temples. "Focus on them not dying, focus on them not dying," she muttered to herself. "Honey, what did you do?"

"I cut a bus' fuel line. I taped it back up!" she added quickly.

Sarah's jaw dropped. "You mean the Sky High bus that almost killed thirty-five students?! Jared brought home the Sky High school paper; Ethan wrote an article about it - he's actually really good, I thought you'd be interested in reading it," she said, her words fast and incredulous as the potential consequences hit her like a freight train. "You sabotaged the bus that Layla and Warren were on. You almost killed them too... But Layla and Warren saved everyone. Oh fuck, Honey, tell me you didn't almost kill them all for that?!"

"Life debts come in handy?" Honey said, wincing.

"They couldn't have gained them in any other way?! You almost murdered thirty-five kids, for fuck's sakes!"

"I knew they'd survive. Well... a few injuries, broken bones, but no fatalities. There was only one vision where they failed and I knew it wouldn't happen because they've got their full powers now. That possibility faded as soon as they gave each other their powers."

"So... you sabotaged the fuel line knowing that Layla and Warren wouldn't die, they'd get life debts from everyone on the bus, and that everyone would survive?"

"Yes," Honey said, nodding emphatically.

Sarah processed that for a long silent moment. "Okay. So why are you pacing?"

"Because I have to tell them that I did it," Honey said. "They're going to be pissed, no matter how I tell them or what I say."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "You want me to tell them, don't you?"

Honey smiled quickly, guiltily. "Yes. Please?"

"You're going to blackmail me about Jared's job if I don't, aren't you?" she asked, sighing.

"Probably."

"I definitely hate you now," Sarah muttered, then held her hand out. "Give me your phone."

...

Surprised to see Honey calling her late in the evening, Layla immediately wondered what was wrong. Leaving the Paper Lantern's kitchen to go to the back staff area, Layla answered the call with no small amount of trepidation.

"Hi Layla, it's Sarah."

"Is everything all right? Is Honey okay?" Layla asked, her mind immediately latching onto the idea that Honey had to be hurt, kidnapped, or worse, if Sarah was calling her on Honey's phone.

"Honey's a pain in the ass, but otherwise fine," Sarah replied. "I'm calling about the bus sabotage."

"Oh. Does Honey know who did it?"

There was a long moment of silence and Sarah sighed in frustration. "You might want to sit down for this, Layla."

Frowning at the seriousness in Sarah's voice, Layla sat on the bench. "All right, I'm sitting down. Would you tell me what's going on? I'm kind of freaking out here," she admitted with a brief humourless laugh.

Sarah sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Honey had a vision. As you and Warren have your full powers, she knew that no one would be killed. Keep that in mind, okay?"

A cold feeling of dread started to build up along Layla's spine. She knew that Warren could feel her emotions in the kitchen as well and tried to breathe, to stay calm.

"Honey sabotaged the bus. She did it knowing that no one would be hurt, and so that you and Warren could get the life debts from all of the students on the bus."

Before Sarah had even finished explaining, the staff door opened and Warren walked in, calling over his shoulder in Cantonese that he was going on his break. The door swung closed and he knelt in front of Layla who - as far as he could tell - was going into shock.

Carefully prying the phone from her hand, Warren looked at the caller ID. "Honey, what's going on?"

"It's Sarah. Honey's fine, she's just feeling exceptionally guilty and will be giving me a holiday in the next month, blackmail or not," Sarah muttered.

"What?" Warren asked, confused. Cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear, he pressed his hands to Layla's cheeks, hoping to thaw out her shock. "What did you tell Layla?"

"Honey sabotaged the bus, and trust me, Honey doesn't do anything without a very good reason."

"What?! We almost died!" Warren hissed, no longer surprised at Layla's shock. If he hadn't been so worried about her, he might've gone into shock himself.

"Almost, but you didn't. You came into your full powers, Honey knew you would survive, and you've got life debts from everyone on the bus. Not to mention, Principal Powers now thinks you're both heroes," Sarah said, reading Honey's quickly-scrawled note.

"Fuck that, Sarah; fuck Honey, too," Warren snapped, ending the call and turning his full attention to Layla. "Hippie? Layla, come on, look at me," he pleaded, not liking the blank and lifeless expression in her eyes.

When he didn't get a response, Warren pulled Layla down onto his lap. He cupped her cheeks again, let his power warm his hands, and pressed his lips to her own. Breathing hot air into her mouth, Warren felt his power burning through her body, making her vines shrink and stop taking all of her shock.

Layla pulled away from his mouth with a gasp, breathing heavily. She looked from her phone on the bench beside them to Warren, and on his wrist, he could feel that Layla's shock was giving way to anger. "She could have killed us!" Layla snapped.

The doorway opened abruptly, Mrs. Woo standing there and not looking at all impressed to find Layla on Warren's lap. "Warren, you left your station early and burnt food."

Warren winced and apologised quickly in Cantonese. Seeing that Mrs. Woo wasn't impressed or ready to forgive him, Warren moved Layla onto the bench and stood up to return to his work.

Mrs. Woo opened the door completely and waved Warren through the doorway and back to his station. Waiting until he was gone, Mrs. Woo turned her attention to Layla, who still looked pale and shaken up. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Mrs. Woo asked, frowning.

"Uh, no. I just... found out a friend did something that could have hurt me," Layla said.

"But you are not hurt?"

"No. Not physically, at least."

"Tea and massage helps with non-physical pains," Mrs. Woo said, confident and firm. "Ask Warren for massage. Later, after work," she added, leaving suddenly, the door swinging shut and blocking the light from the kitchen.

She returned just as suddenly, Layla blinking at the sudden adjustment between dark and light.

Mrs. Woo held out a small jar of tea leaves to her. "Tea helps," she promised.

"Okay... Thank you," Layla said, a little confused.

Mrs. Woo nodded, glad to see some colour back in Layla's cheeks. "Work helps too. You remember how to fold napkins?" she asked, holding the door open.

Putting the jar of tea and her phone in her bag, Layla followed Mrs. Woo through to the restaurant to fold napkins and keep her mind off what Honey had done.

...

Giving themselves time to process the shock of what Honey had done, neither Layla nor Warren had a chance to tell their friends what she'd done until their Saturday study group after their morning ASL class.

"She sabotaged the bus' fuel line? How?" Ethan asked, trying to say all of the words with his hands as well as his voice.

"Nah, that was van, not bus," Craig said, showing Ethan the correct hand motion.

"Right, thanks."

"You're not shocked or upset by what Honey did? You just want to know how she did it?" Warren asked incredulously.

"Well, Sarah said Honey had had a vision and knew you wouldn't be killed, right?" Zach said with a slight shrug.

"Principal Powers has stopped glaring at me," Wendy added, her hands moving fluidly as she'd been practising with Heidi.

"She's also stopped thinking of you guys as potential villains. It's a shame about the leather jacket, of course," Donny added, fluttering his eyelashes.

"We could have died, you realise that, right?"

"You didn't though," Adam said. "You saved thirty-five students, you're being praised as Heroes, and everyone wants to be you two."

"Seriously, you've got an actual fan club. It's kinda creepy, mostly towards Warren, and full of young impressionable girls," Wendy said, then looked to Ethan and Craig. "Did you understand the hand movement for fan club?"

"You used ceiling fan, but it still sorta made sense," Craig said.

"Wait, go back to this fan club thing. Who, why, when?" Layla asked, Warren looking horrified beside her.

"Cassie started it. Like I said, she's impressionable and thinks Warren's her knight in shining armour now. Not sure when; probably after the bus thing. Heard anything about it through the school paper, Ethan?" Wendy asked.

Taking a moment to think about his hand movements, Ethan shook his head. "Nothing yet. I can ask around though."

"A fan club? I'll burn her to a freaking crisp, see how she likes that for a knight in shining armour," Warren muttered.

"She's practically a child, Warren," Zach pointed out, slowing his hand movements to show the others properly.

Warren's mutterings became too low for anyone to hear, though Donny laughed at his thoughts.

"This could be good," Layla said, almost to herself.

Donny's laughter faded as he looked over to her, his expression becoming thoughtful. Beside her, Warren frowned in confusion.

"You forgot the ASL," Adam pointed out.

"Sorry," Layla replied with the appropriate hand gesture, then stood up and tugged on Warren's hand. "We'll be right back," she said with the ASL motions before practically dragging Warren out of Frieda's dinging room and up to her bedroom.

"What's going on, hippie?" Warren asked.

"We can use this," Layla said, pacing as she tried to work out her thoughts in a coherent manner.

"Use what? And did everyone forget that Honey almost killed us?" Warren asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The others are right: we didn't die and we didn't even get hurt," she replied with a heavy sigh. Layla looked at him, a smile blooming across her face. "Warren, we can use this."

Warren's fierce expression lasted the whole of two seconds in the face of Layla's smile. He sighed and uncrossed his arms, then gestured for Layla to keep talking. "You'd better start making sense soon, hippie."

"It's long-term and you might hate it," she admitted, warning him. When Warren just waited, Layla continued, "You need to be a knight in shining armour."

"What?"

"Not forever, of course. I'm still planning on being permanent, but I'm thinking ahead. You're going to be out of Sky High sooner than the rest of us and you'll need to do something other than work at the Paper Lantern since you're not planning on going to university."

"So what should I be doing?"

"You should be a Hero."

"No," Warren said flatly.

"You haven't even heard why."

"I don't care. Hippie, that's the complete opposite of what we're planning on doing."

"Exactly! No one would believe that Warren the Hero would do anything like burn people to a crisp. Not when he's spent a whole year saving them from that exact thing!"

"That exact thing," Warren echoed, then his eyes widened in understanding. "You want me to be a firefighter?! Hippie, are you insane?"

"Well, that's up for debate. I mean, most people are probably only pretending to be sane, and then there's the whole 'what is sane?' argument anyway," Layla rambled, then stopped abruptly. "You realise you could start the fires, right? Besides, if you're there as a firefighter, you can determine whether or not you save the people inside."

"I could burn them all before any firefighters get there," he snapped.

"And have the fire investigated for arson? You know they'll start looking for supers before they look for citizens," she said pointedly. "Besides, it'd really screw with Jetstream and the Commander. Imagine you, the son of Baron Battle, being a Hero and saving people before they even get there. Jetstream would go insane."

"Not if I do first," Warren muttered, then let out an annoyed sigh of frustration, running his hands through his hair.

"You'll do it?" Layla asked eagerly.

"Y'know, I never grew up wanting to be a hero or a villain, and now in the next three years, I'm going to be both. This sucks, hippie. You've gotta be a plain hero for a while too, just to really feel my misery," Warren muttered.

"Deal," Layla said, smiling and rising up on her toes to press a firm kiss to his lips. "Come on, let's go tell the others."

...

Craig laughed for a full minute before he realised they were serious, his laughter giving way to hiccups and disbelief. "You really - hic - mean it? Warren, you're going to - hic - be a heroic firefighter?!"

"I don't think I could handle being in real estate," Warren deadpanned.

"It's not the job I'm concerned about; it's the heroic part!"

"Fires have to be started somehow," Adam said, realising the point of Layla and Warren's decision quickly.

Ethan's eyes widened. "Oh, of course! You'll work off a list and won't do several in succession, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Craig asked, frowning.

"He's got a list, he's checking it twice,

Doesn't care if you're naughty or nice,

Warren's gonna burn your house down," Donny sang, trailing off with a laugh. "What? I didn't think it, I just sang it," he added when the others looked at him.

"I didn't know you could sing," Wendy said.

"I'm a man of mystery," Donny said, winking at her.

"You're something all right," Adam muttered, rolling his eyes. "So, was that the big announcement? Can we get back to work now?"

"Sure. It's your last week doing the coding, isn't it?" Warren asked.

Layla frowned slightly when she realised that Zach hadn't said anything since their announcement and went to sit by him. "Hey, you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Zach asked.

"Because you didn't say anything about Warren's future alter-ego job of being a firefighter."

Zach grinned. "That's 'cause he'd probably roast me if I said what I wanted to say. I like my skin non-crispy."

Layla tilted her head slightly, confused. "What did you want to say?"

Zach shook his head and mimed zipping his lips. Across the table, Donny burst out laughing.

"What the hell's going on with you, Donny?" Craig asked.

Donny just continued to laugh and didn't reply.

Craig frowned, looking around the table, his eyes narrowing when he saw Zach and Layla. "What did you two think about?"

"I didn't think anything that would cause that," Layla said, nodding at Donny.

Zach just grinned and shrugged.

"Aw, c'mon. If it's that funny, I gotta hear it!" Craig said.

"Warren, could you get a drink for me, please?" Layla asked sweetly.

"What's going on?" Warren asked suspiciously, frowning at Donny who was wiping tears from his eyes after laughing so hard.

"Nothing!"

Warren sighed and shook his head at the obvious lie from all of his friends, but he left to get a drink from the kitchen anyway.

"Spill it, light bulb," Craig hissed.

"I was just wondering if Warren was planning on doing one of those charity firefighter calendars? He could be Mr. January," Zach said, grinning.

Craig burst out laughing, which set Donny off again, and by the time Warren returned with Layla's drink, they were all giggling or laughing in some way or another.

"What the hell happened in here?" Warren asked, setting Layla's drink on the coaster, and nudging Zach out of the way so he could sit beside her.

Layla inhaled deeply, her eyes flashing green, and she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Don't worry; we were talking about you, not to you."

"That's worse," Warren said pointedly.

"I know. Thanks for getting my drink," she said, lacing her fingers with his own.

"You're all a bunch of weirdos and I'm embarrassed to be friends with you," he muttered, picking up his pen to work on his assignment.

"Liar; you love having us for friends," Zach said, his laughter finally dying down.

Warren rolled his eyes but didn't deny it.

...

"Mum, I'm home," Warren called.

"Hanging out the laundry," Nina called from the backyard.

Leaving his bag and shoes by the door, Warren headed through the house and to the backyard. "Need any help?"

"I wouldn't mind a bit of heat if you could manage it? I should've checked the weather before washing the towels," Nina said, glaring up at the cloudy sky overhead.

"Do you want them crispy or well done?" Warren asked, pressing his hands on either side of a damp towel and warming it carefully between his palms.

"Very funny," Nina said sarcastically, picking up the empty laundry basket. "How was your study group?" she asked, making her way to the back door.

"Yeah, all right. We talked about what jobs we're planning on getting after graduation," Warren said, moving to the next towel.

Nina paused at the door and set the basket down. "Oh? What jobs are you all planning on, then?" she asked, hoping her tone sounded lighter than the pounding of her heart.

She hadn't heard Warren talk about a job beyond his work at the Paper Lantern. Even as a child, he had never had an answer when anyone asked what he wanted to be when he grew up.

"I'm going to be a stand-up comedian," Warren said.

There was a moment of silence. "Well, I'll be in the audience every night," Nina replied firmly.

Warren laughed. "I was kidding, Mum, but thanks for the support."

Thank goodness, Nina thought to herself in relief, not daring to voice the thought. "All right, Mr. Comedian, the truth now."

Warren grinned and moved to dry another towel. "Ethan wants to be a reporter; he's actually lining up to work at Labyrinth and is already organising that for his work placement. We don't have to do our work placement until senior year, but that's Ethan for you."

Nina nodded, not really expecting anything less.

"Zach hadn't made a decision by the time we left; Donny's planning on university, though he's not sure if he wants to be a lawyer or a politician; Wendy's going straight into active super work - apparently there's a weather-super organisation or something. Craig's considering acting; Adam's planning on getting a job in IT; and Layla's either going to be an environmental activist or continue working for the Mayor. It depends on if he's still elected by then," Warren said, drying the last towel and starting on their clothes, adjusting the temperature for his mother's silky shirts.

"What about you?" Nina asked, moving back to the clothesline to take the towels down and fold them into the basket.

"I'm thinking of being a firefighter and going into active super work. If Mrs. Woo doesn't mind the interruptions every now and then, that is."

"A firefighter?" Nina echoed, surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, I won't get hurt by the flames, and it'd be good to help people," Warren said, barely refraining from pulling a face as he said the words, grateful that his mother couldn't see his expression.

"That's - " a relief; totally unlike your father; completely and utterly surprising " - wonderful, Warren. I'm a little surprised, but I'm sure you'll be a great firefighter," she said, smiling.

"Thanks, Mum."

...

"You've got tomorrow night off, don't you?" Layla asked.

"Yeah. I was going to finish my work for English; Mr. Bowie wants to know our style of writing and our understanding of the texts before he issues any more readings or assignments," Warren said, his phone held to his ear as he tugged his boots off.

"Want to work at the Hive with me? I've got a Mad Science project due next week."

"Yeah, sure. Want to go to the oasis once we're done?"

"Sounds good to me. Did you tell your mum about the firefighting idea?"

"I did; she totally loved it. I think she cried afterwards, though I'm not sure if it was from joy or relief," Warren said, throwing his socks in his laundry hamper and grinning when they both went in without touching the edges.

"Hmm, probably both. You're not worried that she'll compare you to your father, are you?"

Warren's grin faded and he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm not really worried about it, since I know it'll happen either way, but I'm hoping she'll see past that to what we're really doing."

"And what are we really doing?" Layla asked, grinning.

"Fixing an unjust system that's far too bias towards two superheroes when there are others out there that are just as capable - or even better - than they are. Citizens of the world rely on them winning and that won't always be the case. One day, someone will defeat them, and the world will fall without any sort of support structure in place. We can fix that," Warren said firmly.

"Defeating them will definitely fix that," she replied with a laugh.

Outside Warren's room, Nina was standing still, her hand still raised to knock on his door. Lowering her hand slowly, she quietly left the hallway and went to the kitchen. Coughing slightly to clear both her throat and her mind, Nina called out, "Good night!"

Warren called 'good night' back to her, oblivious to the fact that Nina had heard his dialogue about fixing an unjust system.

Heading to her bedroom, Nina closed and locked the door behind her, her hands trembling. Opening her wardrobe, she looked at the bulky shelf that separated the top of the wardrobe from the lower hanging space. Nina tugged on the block of wood to pull it loose, waving to clear the dust that escaped. Reaching into the small dark space, her fingers closed around material, and she pulled the object out of its hiding spot.

Leaning the plank of wood against the wardrobe, Nina sat on her bed and carefully unwrapped the material back, revealing a framed picture of herself and Barron on the day Warren was born. Nina was adamant that Warren was the best thing they'd ever done together, and that hadn't changed over the years. For the first few months of Warren's life, Barron had even discussed hanging up the mantle of Baron Battle and focusing on being a father and husband instead. It hadn't happened, of course.

Barron couldn't handle the idea of Warren growing up in a world that was biased towards the likes of the Commander and Jetstream and against supers like him: supers who were born with destructive powers, supers that had no way of controlling what power they were given and yet were instantly condemned for that power.

As soon as Warren came into his fiery power - Barron had never once considered their son might have her power - he would be hated, scorned and condemned by citizens and supers alike, he'd said over and over, as though it was a promise.

When Baron Battle had been arrested and brought to trial, he suddenly went silent. It had scared Nina when she'd seen him silent and submissive in court, so far removed from the husband and villain she knew, the man who needed the world to know he was there and he wouldn't go down without a fight. His screams and shouts, she could understand, but the cold silence burning away inside of him was so alien to everything she knew about her husband that she wanted to yell 'you've got the wrong man! That's not my husband!'

Barron had stayed silent throughout the trial, but then when the verdict had come - guilty, guilty, guilty, sentenced to quadruple lifetimes in Maxville's Super Penitentiary - Barron had stood up and screamed about an unjust system, the bias the jury had towards the Commander and Jetstream, and how one day the two superheroes would fail and the world would fall to pieces around them. His outburst had been kept from the court's official transcripts to 'maintain the peace', and despite the public's interest in Barron's case, there had been no reporters allowed inside of the court for the trial of Baron Battle v. The Commander, Jetstream, and the City of Maxville. Barron had been silent throughout the trial, and he had been silenced afterwards as well.

Nina wiped at the tear that had fallen onto the photo frame, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle the sobs that wanted to escape.

How, after all of these years, was her son practically quoting her husband's final words before he had been hauled off to prison?

Nina wrapped the photo frame up again, unable to look at her ex-husband's face for one more second. She placed the wrapped frame back into the recess of the wardrobe's shelf, and shoved the plank of wood back in place. Her heart felt like it was hammering in her chest and Nina forced herself to breathe - in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out - with her hand pressed to her chest to keep her heart from beating its way out.

When she was finally calm again, Nina changed into her pyjamas and went to bed. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, and as she drifted off to sleep, Nina had one final thought: what if they're right?

...

End of the fifty-second chapter.

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!