Disclaimer: Sky High the Movie and its characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own pleasure and making no money out of this.

Disclaimer 2: Some things in my fic I have borrowed from other Sky High writers. If you think you've seen something already written somewhere, it's probably because it has been. Those things are borrowed and don't belong to me. Go surf the Sky High section of and enjoy the stories there.

Author's notes:

1. This story was written because every pairing needs a „We must have sex with each-other or else we'll die" fic. To my deepest sorrow I have yet to find one with Warren/Will, so I wrote it myself.

2. This fic is not a parody, but you can't take it too seriously either.

3. I like Terry Pratchett. The word „thaumic" is my tribute to his work. The explanation is crazy enough.

4. Fic is in three parts, is completed, but I will post it in three chapter as I want to edit it some more.

5. Fic is spellchecked, but not betaed. If you find any mistakes, please point them out and I'll fix them. Thank you

6. Reviewing is always welcome.

Title: Thaumic Resonance

Author: LadyBird

Fandom: Sky High

Pairing: Warren/Will

Rating: M (to be safe)

Warnings: slash, drama, angst, mentions of killing, and yes, sex

I had fun writing it, hopefully you will have fun reading it.

Read at your own risk!

Part Three: The Great Escape

Next morning Warren woke at the sound of the cell door opening. He sat up, wincing a bit at the discomfort and felt Will move next to him.

„Get up," the minion's face was expressionless, his voice bland. All of the Queen of Pain's minions appeared to be kind of lifeless, peaking up only when they saw somebody being tortured. Warren supposed this was why they followed her. He was glad Will and him had cleaned up – as much as they could – and got dressed before falling asleep. Having somebody walk in and see them in the state they'd been in after... that would have been really embarrassing.

„What, no breakfast?" Will asked as he stood up and stretched. Concrete floor was not the most comfortable sleeping place in the world.

The minion's face lit up with the expectation of something really good.

„A bit pointless to waste it on you, isn't it? Either of you in need of a potty break?" The minion was openly smirking now.

„No," said Will and Warren shook his head. Whatever was coming, he wanted it to be done with. As quick as possible. Besides, it was not as if the Queen was generous with food and drink.

„Well then," the minion was clearly enjoying himself. „The Queen is waiting. No funny business on the way or you'll be in a lot of pain. I'm sure you've understood it by now."

With that the minion turned and walked out of the cell.

Warren stood up and exchanged a look with Will. Trying to escape now was impossible – they'd tried that on their first day here. And second. By third they'd learnt better. The consequences of trying had been... unpleasant. Queen of Pain was named thus for a reason.

Will shrugged.

„A bit pointless to worry about pain when..." He turned to Warren.

„It's time, yes? Let's hope it works," he said quietly. Warren nodded. There was nothing more to say. Let's hope...

The minion looked into the cell.

„Time to go gentlemen."

Will grabbed Warren's wrist and stepped out of the cell, pulling Warren after him. Walking hurt a bit, but it was nothing unbearable. Much worse was the dread gathering in Warren's stomach, making him feel queasy. Warren swallowed and kept his eyes on the back of Will's neck where short strands of hair curled a bit. He envied Will's bravery. Or his ability to put on brave front. Or...whatever.

Warren wondered if his fingers felt sweaty in Will's hand. He swallowed again. Will had it easy. His part of the plan was only to stand there and take it. And Warren desperately hoped their plan would work.

The main hall slash torture chamber looked as cavernous as ever. Queen of Pain's throne raised on the left side of it, the circle of power-reflecting shields in the middle of the room.

Warren shook his head to clear it and tried to drive the memory of Will flinching under the touch of his flaming fingers out of his mind. That was the past. Not going to repeat. It was not important now. Important was present – and future. Warren felt determination rising in him. They were going to get out of her. They were!

„My dear guests," Queen of Pain's voice echoed through the hall.

As when he first saw her, Warren caught himself at the thought that she must have been devastatingly attractive once. She was still beautiful, but twenty years in solitary did nobody a favor. And given the situation, Warren did not feel like admiring her beauty.

„You know what I want you to do. You know what the consequences will be if you refuse. The choice is yours."

She gestured at the circle and yet-dormant shields.

Warren felt Will's grip tighten. Then Will was walking, stepping into the circle, giving Warren no time to reconsider. The shields hummed to life behind them and Warren felt the bracelet on his wrist shutting down.

„Good boys," there was both pleasure and mockery in Queen's voice as she settled on her throne. Her minions gathered around her to better enjoy the spectacle.

Now Will let Warren's hand go and walked to turn and stand across the circle. There was perhaps five meters between them.

They looked at each other, then Will said:

„Do it," and closed his eyes.

Warren swallowed to get rid of the feeling of choking. Then he called forth his fire.

The specialty of the power-reflecting shields was to reflect back any power directed at them, amplifying it several times.

With sudden certainty Warren knew that if they'd not figured the way out, if they'd not realized, he would have done it. Would have gathered all his power and thrown it on the shields behind Will. He would have killed Will – because the thought of Will alone in Queen of Pain's hands was worse than killing him. Dead is dead. It's life that is dangerous.

But they had found the way and Warren was ready to risk the danger that was living. Standing right next to Will.

Yes, Warren would have used the shields to amplify his power – and he was doing it now. Pouring everything he had into the fire, letting his flames burn, consume, be reflected back from one shield only to fall upon another – and be reflected back again until it inferno was raging inside the shields.

The only danger now was running out of oxygen and Warren guessed that was what the Queen was waiting for. He felt the shields around them strengthening, more and more energy being poured into them to contain the firestorm... But nobody had thought to shield the ceiling up high. After all, with his powers bound, Will could not fly. And it was time to deal with that, Warren thought.

He walked through the fire that did not touch him as he was the fire. When he reached Will, Warren took Will's wrist and found the power-binding bracelet without trouble. The bracelet was already ho – and this was probably hurting Will, so Warren made it quick drawing a vertical line with his finger over the bracelet, a line that melted the metal and everything in it on its way.

And then Will's arm was around Warren's waist and they were flying, the impact of Will's fist sending the pieces of broken ceiling crushing down around them. And then they were...free.

Will didn't stop for some time, trying to put as much a distance between them and their kidnappers as possible. Warren guessed the speed they were going at was somewhere close to sonic.

But some pressing things could not be ignored infinitely. For example...

„I suppose Mom and Dad are in the Hero-Coordination Center. Or looking for us somewhere. As a lot of others." said Will.

They had stopped somewhere over the ocean. From this height Warren could see the land. Will was trying to decide where to first, but was having trouble because... Well, because... Warren was suppressing the laughter bubbling in him because he was sure Will wouldn't appreciate it at the moment.

„I guess we should go to the Centre as quick as possible and let them know we're out, but," Will shivered a little. Warren bit his lip.

„First, I'm going home." Will decided.

„There's no chance I'll be going anywhere without finding a pair of trousers first."

Warren rested his forehead on Will's bare shoulder to hide his smile. While Will might be immune to Warren's fire, his clothes certainly were not. So, yes, trousers.

Warren thought Will was certainly making a good use out of his power of flight. The familiar cityscape of Maxville flashed under them so quickly Warren had barely time to register his surroundings. Then Will landed in the middle of Strongholds' kitchen and, for a second, Warren wondered how they had got in there. But then he heard the crash that could only be the pieces of front door falling. Okay, no more questions. Will let Warren go and streaked up the stairs into his room to appear again in moments clad in jeans and in the process of pulling a T-shirt over his head. Somehow it reached him only now that he'd been held against Will's bare body for the duration of their escape. The thought made him feel a lot like he was powering up. Warren averted his eyes. He was not going to think about last night.

Not noticing Warren's confusion Will gestured for Warren to sit and walked to the counter to pick up the phone. Warren shrugged and sat figuring there was nothing else for him to do at the moment. Then he was forcefully reminded that he'd better be careful when sitting down for the next few days or so. He checked Will to see if he'd noticed anything, but Will was focused on the phone. Right, no worries, then. Will could handle announcing the news of their escape to the wide world. Warren was just going to sit there and enjoying his last moments of peace before falling under the interrogation of what had happened during their imprisonment. He looked over at Will. They had to decide what they were going to tell. Some things...

Will was holding the phone to his ear. For some time all Warren could hear was Will's breathing and the muffled sounds of the phone calling.

Then there was the sound of a distant female voice and Warren looked down at his hands when he heard Will say: „Mom."

Warren watched Will apply the burn plaster and quickly wrap a bandage around his wrist. The place where the binding-bracelet had been was red and in some places the skin had cracked. It was a miracle the injury had not been worse. Warren felt nauseous.

„I'm sorry," his mouth felt dry.

„Don't apologize," Will answered, expertly securing the ends of the bandage. „If not for you, I would have certainly been a toast."

Warren shook his head. „Without me there wouldn't have been anybody to toast you."

Will flashed him a reassuring smile.

„No worries, I'm sure the Queen would have found something else for me."

Warren was forced to agree it was probably true. Queen of Pain had the reputation of being resourceful. At least in the torture department. After all, she was still remembered eve though she had spent the last twenty years in solitary. All in all, Warren thought they'd gotten off lightly because she had underestimated them. She was not going to repeat that mistake. Warren was not looking forward to facing her again, but he would if it was needed to protect Will. Or anybody, of course.

Will left the counter to stand next to Warren.

„Mom and Dad will be here soon. The Center is still trying to get hold of your mother. Mom says the connection in the area she's stationed in is always bad, but with everything that's been going on there lately all the lines are down and the scramblers are messing up radio and 'net. The situation is really on the brink and if she'd left everything that was gained in the last months would have been lost. That's why your mother couldn't return when they told her we'd been taken. But Mom says it's starting to get better and she'll probably get home in a few weeks. In the meantime the Center will have Lady Psi call her mentally again once the Lady has finished her mission. So tonight the latest your mother will know you're okay."

Warren knew Will was trying to assure him and he felt kind of thankful against his will. He'd never questioned his mother's love for him, but he'd always known her work came first. It had been so before she'd married Warren's father, it had been so before Michael Peace had turned into a supervillain, and it continued to be so after Baron Battle was caught and locked up. Warren understood. But sometimes he missed having a parent there for him.

„You know, I think..." Will studied the bandage intently. Warren felt himself tensing up. He had a feeling now Will was going to talk about...what had happened. And Warren didn't feel like talking at all. It was all too obvious what Will was going to say.

„I think I'm not going to tell Mom and Dad...and Layla...or anybody... anything about," he paused, clearly trying to gather his thoughts. „I'm not ashamed or anything, really."

Warren thought resignedly that if Will kept repeating it to himself often enough, he might even start believing it someday.

„No, I know what you think," Will rested his hand on Warren's shoulder. In this position Warren had to look up to see Will's face.

„I'm really not ashamed. We did what we had to and it wasn't..." Will blushed. „It wasn't all bad. Just, it's kind of – kind of personal."

Personal was the right word for it, Warren thought. And although not talking about what had happened would probably not solve anything or make what happened go away – yeah, Warren had listened some in the psychology class – well, not talking about it sounded like a good idea to Warren. So he agreed with Will. Personal.

„I'm not going to tell either," Warren assured Will. „It would be..." Warren trailed off, unsure how to finish. His feelings were too much a mess to force them into concrete words. He just knew that the vision of Will above him, lips parted in pleasure, was not a picture he wanted to share with anybody.

„So now what?" Warren finally asked unable to find anything else to say.

Will shrugged.

„I don't know. I guess we'll see. But in any case..." He looked at Warren and Warren's breath caught at the sight of Will's lips curving into such a familiar smile. With an effort he made himself breath normally. This was getting ridiculous. If it continued Will was surely going to notice something was wrong with Warren. He forced his attention back to Will to find reaching out his hand.

„Still friends?" Will asked, smiling.

Warren looked into Will's eyes and clasped the offered hand firmly. What choice did he have?

„Always friends," he said and felt an answering smile rise on his face.

All right. They would deal with everything that had happened. It wouldn't be easy and at some point they would have to let go of their denial, but suddenly Warren was sure that together they were going to manage it.

And if looking at Will still sent small and not-at-all-unpleasant shivers down his backbone and made his lips tingle... Well, that was his problem. It would pass soon.

It had to.

The end of Thaumic Resonance.

A/N:

1) Yes, there will be a sequel. It's in outlining stages. But I will be very busy for the next month, so the soonest I'll be posting anything is the end of august (the things have already sped up, that's why this chapter took so long – I just didn't have time to sit down and edit it carefully. Finally I decided to post an unedited version, so there are probably some mistakes that have escaped my notice. Sorry).

2) Thank you for reading. Whether you left a review or not I hope you enjoyed my little story.