SC: Okay, so, this is where that 'T' rating comes into play for something other than Alexa's potty mouth- there are implications of non-kid-friendly activities, so be forewarned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High or any of its characters, just the ones I made up.

Chapter 3

"Ah, there you guys are!" Elliot said, waving the group of teens down. "We've been waiting on you."

"No seats left, you guys are going to have to sit on the floor." Peter teased.

"For what?" Will questioned.

Alexa groaned. "Ah crap… I forgot about this."
"First night back is family movie night." Troy explained. "Which Alexa seems to have forgotten."

"Oh, I have got to see this." Magenta said, running around the couches to claim a spot on the carpet. The rest followed, Alexa hanging her head.

"God, if you are merciful, smite me now." She muttered. Warren pinched her, pulling her down next to him.

"How bad can it be?" She glared at him. "Just thought I'd ask."

"Alright," Troy began, "Which one should we start with?"

"This one!" Louis yelled, almost before he had finished, handing him the tape. Troy checked the date before sliding it into the VCR with a chuckle. The image flickered to life after a moment, and Carson groaned.

"Ah crap…"

The video showed what apparently was a dance studio- mirrors covered the visible wall, and the reflection showed that it was Elliot taping… as well as a little blonde girl doing pirouettes. "Oh my god." Will laughed.

"Is… is that Carson?!" Warren demanded incredulously. "You took ballet?"

"Takes." Daniel corrected. Much staring.

"I am going to kill you all." Carson muttered, her face practically glowing red.

The younger Carson- who could've only been five or six- wobbled slightly, putting her foot down to balance herself a second too late and falling, and the music playing in the background stopped. "Carson?" Another blonde walked onto the screen, easily recognizable by the grey feathered wings coming out of her back.

The video-Alexa knelt down by her sister. "Car, did you hurt yourself?" Vid-Carson nodded, her lip wobbling, and pointed to her skinned knee.

"Everybody say it with me now: aww…" Magenta said, elbowing Alexa. She halfheartedly smacked her away. The videos continued, going through birthday parties, holidays, and other such events, until…

"Guess who's here?" Everyone familiar with the video suddenly stiffened.

"Daniel… turn it off." Alexa said quietly.

"Why?" Amanda asked, smirking down at her cousin from her position lounging on one of the shorter couches. "I thought you were over it, Lexi."

"Amanda, shut up!" Lily ordered. "Danny, turn it off!"

"Keith!" A very happy and slightly younger looking Alexa ran into the camera's view, hugging the blonde boy standing in the doorway… and then the video stopped, because Peter was smart enough to grab the remote and turn off the entire TV.

"I think that's enough for tonight." Aria said quietly. "We should all get some sleep." Murmurs of agreement went around the room save from a select few, and everyone made their way upstairs.

"Alexa, are you okay?" Warren asked, stopping outside the door of the girls' room.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm… I'm fine. Night." She kissed his cheek lightly before following Magenta and Layla into the room and shutting the door.

"You're a really bad liar." Magenta told the blonde as she changed into her pajamas. "Look, your wings are even drooping."

"I'm just tired." Alexa said quietly, the flame flickering over her back as they disappeared again before she climbed into her bed. Magenta and Layla looked over at each other worriedly before flicking off the lights and climbing into bed themselves.

--

Warren Peace was a light sleeper- hence why he was wearing headphones to bed to block out Zach's buzz saw snoring.

Unfortunately, the cd player's batteries had died from being overused in the car ride, and Zach's snoring was becoming rather prevalent. He wasn't quite sure how Ethan and Will were still asleep (he did, however, know they were bastards). So, he was going to do something that he knew probably wasn't the brightest idea and find some new batteries. He didn't bother trying to be quiet for his roommates, an earthquake wouldn't wake those idiots up, and snuck down the stairs (skipping the third one from the top on the second flight, it was squeaky- thank you, Alexa).

However, half way down the last flight of stairs (boys rooms were on the third floor, haha), he was surprised to hear noise and light coming from the living room. Slowly, he made his way down to the bottom step and peered around the corner. Alexa was sitting on the couch- the wings and blonde hair were a big clue- and she was watching the video that Peter had cut off earlier.

"Keith!"

"Jeez, Alexa. Calm down." Keith laughed teasingly, the slightest hint of a southern accent in his voice, hugging her back with one arm. "Your present's heavy, lemme go put it down."

The image froze, and Alexa's head turned slightly. "You can come off the staircase, Warren."

He grimaced about the fact that he had been spying on her (and caught) but moved over to the couch and sat down next to his girlfriend. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Alexa replied quietly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You just give off a lot of heat. Trying to sneak up on another pyro probably wasn't very smart."

Warren conceded to that with a nod, before looking back at the frozen screen. "This is…"

"Yeah. My fourteenth birthday." Alexa sighed. "And thirteen days before my first boyfriend broke my heart."

"Is that why you don't like to watch this?" Warren questioned gently.

"Something like that." Alexa smirked, grabbing the remote and hitting the fast-forward button. She hit the play button just as the cake was being brought out. "Watch for Amanda." She said.

Warren frowned, looking back toward the screen, until he saw what Alexa wanted. As 'Happy Birthday' was being sang, the older girl slipped out the front door without anyone noticing. "Keep watching." Alexa ordered quietly. Five minutes passed, and Warren finally got it. Keith was leaning over Alexa's shoulder, saying something quietly, and Alexa frowned, but nodded and kissed his cheek. He quickly left too.

"That bastard."

Alexa paused the tape again, nodding. "Yeah. That 'older girl' I told you Keith cheated on me with? It was Amanda." She bit her lip. "Warren, I… well, I almost didn't invite you to come here. Amanda has made ruining my life into an art form… and nothing has ever made her happier than taking Keith."

"Hey, give me a little credit." Warren laughed. "She's not my type."

"I know that, I know that. It was just a scary thought…" She glanced over at him. "What are you doing down here, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh…" He held out his dead cd player. "The batteries died, and Zach snores like a buzz saw."

Alexa laughed. "I see. C'mon, I'll show you the battery drawer."

The Next Morning…

"Warren! Get up!"

"Carson… I'm dating your sister, that doesn't mean I won't kill you."

"No, seriously. Get. Up. You have like six minutes before Alexa and the devil twins have free reign over wake up call."

Warren lifted his face from his pillow, giving her a 'WTF are you talking about' look. "Look, let's just say it involves a couple of high powered NERF™ super soakers, and a lot of cold water.

"We're up!" Zach, Ethan, and Will called at once.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Carson said, walking out.

--

"You get the boys up?" Magenta yawned as Carson came back downstairs.

"Yeah." She said, scratching the back of her head. "They oughta be down here in about three seconds."

"They'd better hurry…" Lily giggled.

The kitchen was nowhere near as full as it had been the night before for dinner- Amelia was working on getting breakfast ready with Julie and Eileen, while Troy, Allison (who was giving Aubrey his bottle), Robert, and Kendra sat at the table, most sipping coffee. Lily and Louis were standing by Alexa, wielding already full super soakers, while she filled a third. Daniel was setting the table, while Magenta filled a coffee mug for her and Layla.

Warren, Will, Zach, and Ethan made their way downstairs. "Aw, Carson, why'd you warn them?" Louis whined.

"Hey, everyone gets one warning." Alexa said from the sink. "Not my problem if they didn't set their alarms."

"You see," Robert started, "The rule around here is that everyone's supposed to be up by ten, unless you're sick or otherwise invalid."

"A lot of people didn't follow the rule, though, so mom decided to give the duty to the kids to wake everyone up." Julie continued. "At the time, it was only Amanda, Alexa, and Carson, though, and Carson was only three, so Alexa took it upon herself to do it."

"Hey, I'm being nice now." She protested. "I used to set everyone on fire, and just jump on Peter and Julie and my dad until they finally got up." She glanced over at the clock. "Sweet. Louis, Lily, come on." Alexa twisted the cap on the super soaker she had been filling. Carson gave all three a tap and the trio of terror ran up the staircase.

"She's enjoying that way too much." Warren commented.

"Well, duh." Daniel said. "Look around. Who's not up?"

There was a shriek from upstairs. "ALEXA!"

"You know the rule, Amanda! Up by ten or I have free reign!" Alexa yelled back, running back down the stairs.

"Alexa…" Troy said. "Did you use the entire thing?"

"It wasn't completely full." She replied defensively. "Besides, I haven't been able to do that in two years. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be hiding in the basement with the dogs." She said, bolting for a door on the other side of the room.

Seconds after the door shut, a soaked and thoroughly PISSED looking Amanda stormed down the stairs. "Where. Is. She?" The nineteen year old hissed.

"She went that way." Daniel said, pointing toward the door Alexa had just exited through. Amanda scoffed, heading the opposite direction. Daniel just grinned. "Sucker."

Amelia just shook her head. "Warren, would you mind dragging Alexa up here for breakfast? If she's found the puppies, she's going to be impossible." The pyro nodded, relinquishing his chair and going toward the door.

As he reached the bottom, he was greeted by the sight of three large dogs, all of whom his girlfriend was managing to keep occupied and happy at the same time. "Wow. And here I thought you were a cat person."

Alexa glanced up at him. "Did Daniel send Amanda off already?"

"Yeah. Your grandma wants you back upstairs."

She glanced down at the three canines. "Um… if you can get the monsters off me, I'll try."

"The monsters?" He questioned, walking over.

"Only because they're so dang big." She relented. "This is Miss Belle." She pointed to a white, furry thing. "She's a Great Pyrenees. She guards all the animals. Don't go near the goats when she's in the pen, by the way." Alexa warned.

"Duly noted." Warren said, kneeling down to scratch a rather large, wolfish looking dog who was sniffing at his pant leg curiously.

"That's Malkyn, or Mal for short." She said. "One of the older dogs, Demi, shacked up with a wolf, and hence we have Mal." She scratched the last of the dogs' heads that she was with, obviously another mutt. "And this big brute is Bruno." She said, kissing the dog's furry head. "Baby is the German Shepard in the corner with the little balls of adorable. Mal knocked her up." She said, jerking her thumb at the blocked off corner.

"Baby?"

"Yeah. Apparently, Baby can put herself in a corner." Alexa joked.

"No more 'Dirty Dancing' for you."

"I'm surprised you know where that came from." She replied, letting him pull her to her feet.

"Hey, I lived with my mom for a long time." He reminded her. "And that's her favorite movie. So I've seen it. A lot."

"Aw, poor Warren. He has to watch chick flicks." Alexa giggled as they went up the stairs.

"Hey, don't make me make the phrase 'throw you to the dogs' literal." He warned over his shoulder. She bit her lip, still smiling.

When they came back into the kitchen, the rest of the household was awake, some wetter than others. Amanda had taken a seat at the table and was glaring hatefully at Alexa, who smiled in return and tightened her grip on Warren's hand.

"No PDA in the kitchen." Bradley warned.

Alexa rolled her eyes at her uncle, who was obviously ignoring the fact that his youngest brother had his wife practically in his lap. "Yeah, okay." She said sarcastically, letting go of Warren's hand to grab them both a plate.

"So, you kids up for a tour today?" Amelia asked. "Since Alexa didn't get a chance yesterday." Alexa suddenly became very interested in getting her and Warren some eggs.

"Sounds like fun." Layla said.

Alexa sighed. "Well, since I've apparently just been volunteered…" She muttered. The rest of the table laughed.

0458349

After breakfast and everyone was dressed, I dragged my friends outside to go run around the ranch.

"Alexa, where are we going?" Magenta asked after we'd been trekking for a couple of minutes.

"We're almost there." I called back over my shoulder. I knew I should've gotten the ATVs… so sue me, walking wasn't my favorite hobby. I used to fly everywhere on this ranch, but as most of my friends didn't possess the ability to fly- conventionally or otherwise- my legs got a stretch they really didn't want.

So, I was pretty relieved when the large, wooden building I was looking for came into sight. "This it?" Zach panted. Nice to know that someone was actually in worse shape than I was.

"Yeah, this is it." I said, pushing open the door with my shoulder to prevent any splinters. "Hey, Cal! You in here?"

"Where else would I be you little pyro?" An older male voice called back.

"Oh you're so funny." I muttered under my breath with a sarcastic laugh.

Calvin laughed. "Aren't I just?" He asked, coming out of one of the stables. Cal towered over me at six foot three to my five nine, and was skinny as a rail. His curly blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was longer than even Warren's hair, almost as long as mine, and he had the beginnings of a goatee on his chin. His jeans were faded and covered in hay, as was his Avenged Sevenfold T-shirt. Grey eyes looked over the crowd behind me curiously. "Well, if I'd known we had important visitors, I'd have cleaned up a little."

I shook my fist at him, blue flames licking over my knuckles. "Watch it, animal boy. You aren't fireproof."

"Neither is Dodger." He retorted.

I snuffed out the flames. "Touché."

"Who's Dodger?" Will asked.

"Her horse." Cal replied for me. "Better question is, who are all of you?"

I sighed, preparing to go over the list again. "Cal, meet Will, Layla, Zach, Magenta, Ethan, and Warren. Guys, meet Calvin. He works for my grandma and grandpa. And as a plus, he can talk to animals."

"Cool as that is, why are we here?" Magenta asked.

"Well, the only way to get around this place without passing out is to either use the four-wheelers, which scare the animals, or to go on horseback." Cal explained once again. I glared at him.

"Why don't you do your job and go get some of the horses ready?" I growled.

Cal just rolled his eyes and walked off. "And don't you dare get Raz out!" I yelled after him.

"Are you kidding? I'm not that mean!"

Magenta tapped my shoulder. "Do I want to ask?"

"Raz the Spaz." Cal said, walking back out with a saddle under his arm. "He's one of our more… psychotic stallions. No one can ride him."

"I blame Amanda for that." I replied.

"So do I. His full name is Rasputin, the Devil's Equine." Actually, we added that last bit, but that didn't make it any less true.

"Hey, Alexa, no offense, but I don't do well with animals." Magenta said.

"Yeah, me neither." Zach chimed in.

I sighed. "Go back to the house, grab the green keys out of the dish near the garage. Just keep it down to a dull roar." Magenta ran off, Zach and Ethan behind her.

"You do realize that she just wants to play with the four wheelers?" Warren questioned.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I fear putting them in her hands but… c'est la vie."

"So… just four horses then?"

"Three." Will corrected. "I'd rather fly. I'm not great with animals either."

"Three then." Cal said, going back to the stables. I heard what sounded like whinnying and neighing, and a deep black stallion came prancing out from the back.

"Hey, Dodger." I said, petting his muzzle when he butted my arm. He nipped at my hair.

"Stupid…" Cal muttered, storming out after him. Something that sounded like an angry whinny came out of his mouth, and Dodger turned about and clopped back over to him, rather annoyed if the snort was any indication. "He just does not get that I can't let you ride bareback anymore."

"Why not?" Warren asked.

"Because apparently the lack of saddle makes them both stupid." Cal said, giving me a 'look.' I started playing the ceiling game again. Hm, funny, I didn't remember that knot up there… "Alexa liked to pretend she was one of those trick riders in the circus."

"Wish I'd seen that." I elbowed Warren.

It took Cal a few minutes, but he managed to saddle Dodger and a couple of the other riding horses for Warren and Layla.

I laughed as Layla had to get Will to help her up into the saddle, and turned to see how Warren was doing (hey, he gets to laugh at me, I get to laugh at him right back), only to see that he had hooked his foot through the stirrup and pulled himself already. "What?" He questioned when he saw me glowering.

"Do you have to be good at everything?" I questioned.

"This isn't the first time I've been horseback riding." He informed me, looking rather insulted.

Shit- I was assuming things again. Thankfully, Maj and the boys pulled up before I could say anything else, Zach clinging to Magenta's waist as though his life depended on it.

"I feel bad for him." Layla mused.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, let's go. And, Maj-"

"Yeah, yeah. Dull roar, I know." She said, rolling her eyes. "Where are we going?"

I pointed to my left. "Straight out that way. We've got an ATV course." The words weren't out of my mouth before Magenta took off, making Zach yelp. Ethan just shook his head and took off after him. Will hovered around near Layla, which meant I needed to apologize to War. I clicked Dodger up next to his horse- Lou, one of our calmer stallions, so no fighting.

I curse Calvin for his perceptiveness.

"Um, War…"

"Don't." He cut me off. "You didn't know I'd ever been horseback riding. Not like I look the type or anything."

I smiled. "I am sorry, though. It took me, like, the entire summer to be able to get on a horse by myself, and I can fly." I paused. "And it didn't help that Dodger was stubborn as hell and practically refused to let me on him. Probably because I looked like a big hawk." I mused. Warren chuckled a little. I looked over at him. "So… are there any other dirty little secrets I need to know that you haven't told me?"

There was a pause, and then, "I know how to waltz."
I laughed, but at the dead serious look on his face, my jaw dropped. "No way. Seriously?!"

"My mother is a cruel and vindictive woman." I covered my mouth, trying to picture Warren… waltzing. I could barely get him to slow dance!

The mental image made me giggle. "What about you, little miss perfect?" Warren teased.

"None you don't already know about, I assure you." I told him. "Wait, no. I play guitar. And, if given enough time, can draw pretty damn well, or so say my cousins."

Warren looked intrigued. "You play guitar?"

"Well, played." I amended. "I haven't in a while. Apparently, all the musical inclination in the family just skipped right over our parents and into us. I play guitar, Carson dances, I think Danny's still playing piano in his school orchestra, and we all regret getting Louis that drum set. Lily plays flute, but not when Louis is around." Warren quirked an eyebrow. "They tend to try to out play each other. The neighbors complain."

Warren laughed. It didn't take long for us to get close enough to hear the others screaming and laughing as they went through the ATV course. Layla was waiting for us, Butterball's reigns in her hand. "She wouldn't go any farther." She explained.

I nodded. "Yeah, we train the horses to stay pretty far away from the course." I told her, clambering off of Dodger's back. I took the reins from her and tied them, along with Dodger's, around the post nearby. "Stay." I ordered Dodge. He huffed a little but didn't tug on the knot, so that was good.

We all went a few rounds on the track before I quit, going over to stand by the horses. I wasn't alone for long, since Warren relinquished his ride to Will to come keep me and the horses company. "Well, hi there." I said as he came in earshot. I could practically feel Layla eyeing me (she had this crazy idea that me and Warren needed to be supervised at all times when together- not sure where she got it from) as I hugged him.

"She's doing it again, isn't she?" Warren muttered.

"Yeah." I confirmed, having a clear view over his shoulder (on my tiptoes, but still). "Are we really that bad?"

"Well, we do tend to light things on fire… like foliage…"

I smacked his shoulder. "That was not my fault!" I glanced around him as Will managed to convince Layla to give the course a go, then grinned. "Follow me." I ordered, grabbing his wrist and dodging into the thick trees beside us.

"Is this one of those 'come with me if you want to live' things? Because I'm pretty sure that's copyrighted."

I turned my face so he could see my rolling my eyes at him. "No, this is a 'come with me if you want to get away from Layla and the rest of the spectators' thing."

Warren grinned. "Oh. I like those."

"I know you do." I replied, not able to hold back a laugh.

"When did they start trying to document every moment of our lives again?" He questioned.

"About the time that they locked us in the locker room." I responded dryly. Yes, you heard me. Our "wonderful" friends locked me and Warren in the girls' locker room. I don't know what they expected to happen, except Warren frying the door.

"You know, Will was right. After the fact, and I beat the snot out of him, it was kind of funny."

I glanced back at him. "That why you toasted the door?"

He shrugged. "Hey, it's my job to defend your honor."

"Uh-huh. And a couple minutes before that, when we were making out?"

"Taking advantage of the situation?" He offered, smiling. I made an honest effort to not roll my eyes as our trek became uphill.

--

Warren pushed a branch out of his way as he followed after his girlfriend. "Alexa, where are we going?"

"You'll see in a second!" She called, laughing. If he didn't know any better, Warren would've thought that this was revenge for something. Alexa stopped suddenly, and he stopped behind her. "We're here." She said quietly, pushing the last few branches away. They were standing on a cliff that overlooked the entire complex.

"Whoa."

Alexa grinned. "Yeah. I found this place about four years back. I came up here when I couldn't deal with Amanda anymore. It's really peaceful, and gave me a chance to calm down without frying anything or anyone."

"Seems a little out of the way." Warren couldn't help commenting.

"Well, I usually took the easy route and flew here." She said, pointing to the house, which seemed very far away. "I'd just climb up onto the roof and take off."

"How?"

"That window seat at the end of the hall doesn't have a screen, so I'd just open it up and climb out onto the garage, then onto the house." She shrugged. "Besides, it has a great view, so it was worth it."

Warren looked over at her. "Yes it does."

"Warren, if you were looking at me while you said that, I'm going to have to smack you for being so cheesy." Alexa told him dryly, glancing over.

"You're going to smack me for giving you a compliment?"

Alexa turned toward him. "Unless you give me a reason not to." She taunted, hands on her hips.

Warren took up the challenge, grinning as he pulled her over to him. Alexa smiled as the kiss broke. "Okay, do that again and you can be as cheesy as you damn want."

"Deal." He said, leaning in for another kiss-

-which was rudely interrupted by a loud 'crack'. "Eeewww! Warren's got cooties now."

Alexa's nostrils flared. "Louis!"

"Just came to tell you that it's lunch time." The teleporter said, covering his eyes. "Unfortunately, I think I just lost my appetite."

"You're about to lose your head!" Alexa snapped. "Scram, half-pint!" There was another crack as Louis disappeared.

"Stealthy, he is not." Warren said, dropping his arms from Alexa's waist.

Alexa sighed. "Let's go, we've got a long walk." She smiled a bit. "Unless you wanna…" She motioned toward the cliff.

"Not. A. Chance." He growled.

Alexa smiled at Warren's retreating back. "Just thought I'd ask."

--

"Well, where've you two been?" Magenta teased as Alexa and Warren came out of the woods. "Alone, at that."

"Hey Maj, your mind? Get it out of the gutter for a while, would you?" Alexa asked, walking over to where the horses were tied up.

"And make it give up the condo I just got for it? Never!"

Alexa almost fell out of Dodger's saddle from laughing so hard.

--

Apparently, Louis had decided that it was safer to his health not to tell anyone what he'd seen, so there wasn't any glaring or overprotective male relatives when the group came back inside. Alexa, however, almost tripped over a certain Russian Blue when he came running to her, winding between her legs. Muttering curses at the attention whore, she scooped Blue up off the floor, carrying him snugly in one arm into the kitchen.

"He missed you." Her mother explained, trying not to laugh at her daughter's annoyed expression.

"Yeah, cuz everyone else here tortures him." Danny snickered.

Alexa rolled my eyes. "Poor baby." She set him down, letting him go hop up on the windowsill and stare at the birds and squirrels.

Amelia glanced over at the group mingling in the kitchen. "So, what's the agenda for the rest of the day?"

"Well, me and Carson kinda wanted to go out to Dust tonight…" Daniel hinted.

"Not without Alexa." Came the immediate response. Two pairs of puppy-dog eyes turned on the older girl.

"What, so I can babysit you two all night? No thanks." She responded, grabbing a coke out of the fridge and popping the top.

"What's dust?" Will asked.

Carson was still pouting. "It's this really sweet teen nightclub in town. You can't get in unless you're thirteen or older, unless you have someone with you."

"Which we both qualify for, but we still can't go by ourselves." Daniel added.

"Maybe because neither of you can drive?" Alexa suggested.

"It sounds like fun." Layla said. "And Warren's got his license."

"I love how you just drag me into this." The pyro in question sighed. "Fine. I'll go if Alexa does."

Alexa suddenly felt several pairs of eyes on her back. "Gee, thanks War." She hissed under her breath. Crossing her arms, she exhaled loudly. "Okay, we'll go to Dust."

Carson and Daniel cheered.

--

SC: Yay, I actually finished the damn chapter! Everyone cheer! Expect more updates on my other stuff too, I'm working on it!