I don't own any of these characters.

Part 5

"WHAT?" Mr. Battle bellowed as everyone else in the room gasped in surprise.

Warren sat in stunned silence. Pregnant? What had Mr. Medulla and those idiot doctors been drinking? There is no way in hell that he could be pregnant. What kind of a sick joke was this?

"Mr. Peace is clearly pregnant with what looks like a temporary womb. He conceived a child with Mr. Stronghold shortly before he was rescued," the doctor said, "Mr. Medulla was able to completely return Mr. Stronghold to normal, but with Mr. Peace we had to be more careful. We were able to negate the hormonal bond with his 'mate,' but if we completely put Mr. Peace back to normal he would lose the baby. We needed to wait for Mr. Peace to decide whether to abort the baby or not so as to know how to help him next."

"What are the risks for my son on either choice?" Warren's mother asked the doctor anxiously.

"I'm afraid that if we end the pregnancy the overload of hormones returning to normal could prove lethal for Mr. Peace," the doctor said, "I am sorry to have to say that it would be safer for your son to allow the pregnancy to occur naturally. He would have to go through a caesarian, but his hormone levels would return to normal at a slower pace after he has the baby. He will have no lasting repercussions to the ray gun besides the baby and he could always consider putting the child up for adoption."

Pandemonium broke out again as everybody started yelling at once. Warren thoughts whirled within him wildly as he considered the repercussions of pregnancy and trying to finish school. He looked over to Will and noticed that all the color had drained from his friend's face.

"Will?" Warren asked numbly as he saw his friend begin to sway.

"What kind of a goddamn school are you running?" Warren vaguely heard his father yelling, "We send our child to your school only to have him be used in a lab experiment, raped, and impregnated by a Stronghold?"

"If you were listening, you would have noticed that my child had also been used in this 'lab experiment' as well," Steve Stronghold snapped angrily, "My son has also been used and abused in this and now he is going to be a father."

"Will?" Warren tried to get his friend's attention again as he himself was finding it harder to breathe.

"Well I don't see your child numbed to the waist in a hospital bed!" Mr. Battle growled, "And I don't see your child pregnant at the age of sixteen!"

"I do not use my students as lab experiments!" Mr. Medulla objected.

"Well why didn't you have better control over your classroom?" Josie Stronghold accused the flustered teacher, "This should never have been allowed to occur in the first place!"

"I totally agree!" Warren's mother said angrily.

"We all need to calm down!" Warren heard Ms. Powers say as he tried to gasp in some air.

"You calm down Bitch!" Mr. Battle roared, "I ask again, what kind of a school are you running?"

"Watch your mouth!" Steve snapped at his enemy.

"Fuck you!"

"SHUT UP!" two irate mothers yelled out simultaneously as silenced reigned once more until a loud thud echoed throughout the conference room due to a passed out Will Stronghold.

"Will!" Josie and Steve cried out as they hurried to their son's side.

"Maddie hurry! Help Warren!" Mr. Battle ordered suddenly as he watched his son hyperventilate in his bed.

The doctor's hurried to help the two young men. Vaguely, Warren heard his mother begging him to calm down and breath deeply while his father yelled at the doctors in the background. A doctor placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth while instructing him to take deep breaths. Slowly Warren was able to get his breathing back under control. He looked over and noticed that Will was awake and lying on a stretcher.

"This meeting will have to end now," the head doctor snapped angrily, "You people are endangering the health of my patients."

"No. I'm fine," Will said faintly, "This is just a lot to take in."

"No. I think the doctor is right," Maddie Peace said, "You and Warren have had a great shock. I feel that the two of you need to process all this and then we can meet tomorrow and make some plans for the future."

"We agree," Josie said speaking for her husband as well.

"Wait," Warren said as he removed the mask from his face, "May I please talk with my father alone for just a moment?"

"I am not sure that it would be a good idea. You are in a very delicate condition right now and I am not sure how getting anymore upset would affect you or the baby," the doctor said.

"Please. Just for five minutes?" Warren begged.

"I will not upset my child or endanger his or the baby's health," Mr. Battle insisted, "He is just asking for five minutes."

"Very well," the doctor reluctantly agreed as he and the other left the room.

Warren looked up at his father's face and didn't know where to start. This wasn't a conversation that he thought he would ever be in.

"Warren, what is it you want to talk with me about?" his father asked gently.

"Are you disgusted with me?" Warren blurted out feeling like a little child.

"Disgusted with you? Never!" his father said emphatically, "Why would you ever feel that way?"

"I…I was raped and couldn't fight off Will and now I'm going to have a baby with the son of the man who put you in prison and he is my best friend and his girlfriend is going to kill me." Warren babbled in distress.

"Warren calm down," Baron Battle said softly, "I am not ashamed of you because you were raped Son. Nobody would have been able to fight off Will with his strength. The only person who was able to stop me was your friend's father because he was more powerful than I was. Does that make me weak?"

"No," Warren said softly.

"I am not upset with you. Like you told Will, this is not your fault and I do not blame you or your friend. I am angry that Sky High did not take preventative measures in keeping students from getting hurt in the classes. Unfortunately, we cannot change the past so we will have to focus on the future. You are going to have to decide about you and your child's future now."

"I'm keeping my baby. I cannot give up a child of mine for adoption," Warren insisted, "I can't change this situation so I might as well except the fact that I'm going to be a Dad. You wouldn't hate your grandchild for being half Stronghold would you? This baby is not to blame for what has happened."

"I would love my grandchild no matter what," his father said solemnly, "I cannot tell you how proud I am by your maturity. If I had half the brains in my head that you have in yours then maybe I would never had made the mistakes that I have in my life. Never forget that I love you no matter what Warren. That is something I never want you to doubt."

"I love you too Dad," Warren said in relief, "I miss you."

"I miss you and your mother more than anything," Baron Battle said sadly as the orderlies came in to take his son back to his room, "Get some sleep Warren. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye Dad," Warren said as he was rolled from the room.

His mother was waiting in his room for him and waited for the orderlies to help get him settled before sitting to speak with him.

"I'm okay Mom," Warren said before his mother had to ask, "I am really overwhelmed, but I'll be fine with time. Don't worry about me."

"It is a mother's prerogative to worry," Maddie Peace said to her son gently, "I'm so sorry that this happened to you Baby. Your life has been hard enough without this to worry about."

"I'm sorry too Mom," Warren said as he held his mother's hand, "I wish that Will and I had never been hit by the ray gun, but it happened and now I'll deal like I always do."

"What have you decided about the baby?" his mother asked, "You know that I am going to insist that you go through with the pregnancy. I can't chance losing you too; and you can give the baby up for adoption like the doctor said."

"I'm keeping my baby," Warren snapped at his mother before looking up at her in shock, "I'm sorry Mom. I'm not sure where that came from."

"I do," Maddie chuckled looking lovingly at her child, "The hormones are making you protective of your baby. All mothers go through this."

"I'm not a 'mother,'" Warren protested.

"Of course not," his mother said realizing her mistake, "I meant that anybody who has a living being growing within them are very protective. Did you talk with this with your father? Is that what you needed to speak with him about?"

"Yeah. Kinda," Warren admitted, "I needed to straighten out some things with Dad. He was proud of me for deciding to keep my baby and he assured me that he wouldn't hate the baby for being a part of the Strongholds."

"Good for him," his mother growled, "Because if he hadn't I would have had to kick his ass in."

Maddie spluttered in shock as her son burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at Imp?" she asked her son using his childhood name.

"I can see how you and Dad got together," Warren giggled, "You wouldn't take any of his crap."

"Damn straight," his mother said striking a challenging pose before chuckling softly, "I'm going to get you some lunch and then I want you to get some sleep Warren. We will talk more later."

"I'll only eat if you get it from somewhere other than the hospital," Warren grumped.

"I'll run down to the cafeteria," Maddie said as she smoothed her child's hair, "The food is quite good. I promise."

"Okay," Warren agreed as his mother left.

"This is unbelievable," Warren thought to himself as he placed a hand on his flat stomach in wonder before sending a silent message to the little one forming inside of him, "This wasn't my choice, but you are not unwanted. I will protect and love you no matter what. You will be cherished."

To be continued…

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