Author's note:

Sorry that this chapter has been so long in the making. My laptop crashed. My brother, a computer programmer, couldn't even revive it. I think what he said was "You had to know that a laptop this old was bound to die sooner or later. Have you learned nothing from me about backing up your work?" Luckily, most of this chapter was backed up because I actually wrote the ending to this chapter 2 years ago when I wrote the first few chapters about how Warren and Jamie meet.. It's just taken me this long to write the beginning of this chapter. But, finally here it is. Please review and let me know what you think.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

"A glooming peace this morning with it brings;

The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:

Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;

Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:

For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo." - Shakespeare

Chapter 21 -

Warren's heart stopped. Time seemed to stand still. He couldn't seem to form a coherent thought. His eyes darted to the side and, seeing Will and Layla, he knew they were frozen, too.

This wasn't 'Save the Citizen' in the gym. There was no ticking clock to let them know how much time they had left. And the hostage in front of them wasn't a mannequin. She was a living, breathing person, and she was their friend. The blood running down her face and down her arms was real and so was the agony she was in. They had heard her screams, and now they realized what was at stake. Any wrong decisions or actions would result in far worse than a losing tally on the score board.

Warren had been puzzled when he had arrived at Jamie's house to discover that she had gone on to the party with out him. His puzzlement had turned to concern when he had arrived at Layla's and he had realized that Jamie wasn't there. Then he had received the phone call on his mobile. A distorted voice had instructed him to bring his friends to the Stronghold's house. Warren knew that the screams that he heard in the background had been Jamie's.

Warren looked at his friends. Jamie's life and his future were in their hands. They had to be together in this. Cybertronic and Transmorph were two villains that had been eluding capture for quite some time. Both villains had been inactive for so long that most of the hero network felt that the two villains were either dead, or retired. But Warren knew that Cybertronic and Transmorph were hoping to make a comeback by using Jamie as a pawn.

With Jamie's life hanging in the balance, the villains were figuring that the teens would give in to their demands. The villains had activated a high frequency blocking device, effectively preventing the teens from contacting their parents. Cybertronic and Transmorph assumed that if the teens were unable to reach their parents, they would be easier to manipulate.

The villains wanted access into the Commander's and Jetstream's secret sanctum. There was no way that they could threaten Will, Warren, or the other teens with enough bodily harm to force Will into allowing the villains access into his parents' fortress. But, Jamie was only flesh and blood. She was a citizen with only one life. Giving into Cybertronic and Transmorph's blackmail was distasteful, but Warren was more than willing to do it if it was the only way to save Jamie's life

But there was one factor weighing against them. Warren knew that villains loved torturing their victims just for the pleasure of torture itself. And, as much as he hated to admit it, there was really no reason for them to let Jamie go once they had what they wanted. Giving in wouldn't secure a guarantee of her safety. It would just give Cybertronic and Transmorph the upper hand.

Warren closed his eyes and swallowed. He steadied his heartbeat and prepared himself for what he knew he was going to have to do. Fight for Jamie's life.

Cybertronic stood behind Jamie, a knife in his hand. A knife that was digging deeper into Jamie's arm. Warren could see where they had heated the knife and used it to brand the top of one of Jamie's hands. There were several shallow cuts running along the side of her face, near the hair line. Her hair was pulled back and he could see that part of one of her ears was missing. The blade must have still been red hot for it looked as though it had cauterized the flesh.

Will, Ethan, Magenta, Layla, and Zach were strung out on either side of Warren. He knew that Magenta and Layla, possibly Ethan and Zach too, were trying to control their nausea. The smell of burnt flesh hung heavily in the air.

Warren nodded once, barely perceptible, but he knew that the others were aware of it. They moved as one. Ethan melted into liquid and moved across Cybertronic's feet. At the same time, Layla urged the plant on the window sill to send tendrils out towards Cybertronic and Transmorph. The tendrils pulled Cybertronic away from Jamie as Ethan reached the wall socket, sending an electric shock back to Cybertronic, knocking him off of his feet, and effectively disabling him. Zach swooped in to loosen the ropes binding Jamie to the chair so that he could pull her to safety as Warren and Will moved towards Transmorph.

Warren was dimly aware of Jamie reaching up to grab an unfamiliar weapon from the table beside of her chair. She pointed it towards Transmorph, just as Transmorph pulled an equally lethal looking weapon from his holster and pointed it towards Will and Warren. He pulled the trigger and Will crashed backwards through the living room wall. He pointed it towards Warren, just as Jamie fired the weapon in her hand.

Jamie's hand wavered due to her ebbing strength and the shot went awry, too low to reach Transmorph. Striking the floor several feet short of its intended target, a yellow beam blanketed the hardwood floor. Warren watched in amazement as the floor in front of Transmorph melted as though sprayed with acid. Jamie raised the weapon higher, trying for a truer shot and Warren realized she meant to kill Transmorph. As much as he echoed Jamie's feelings, he couldn't allow her to become the murderer in this situation.

Warren realized that Transmorp had hesitated for a moment, trying to decide who was a bigger threat, Warren, or Jamie and the gun. Warren knew he would have to make his move before Transmorph decided, and before Jamie had a chance to pull the trigger.

The fire had been just below the surface all evening, ever since he had received that first phone call. It was easy to let the flood gates down and let the flames roil out. He rejoiced in it and in the devastation that followed.

There wasn't much to do after that. What ever Cybertronic and Transmorph had been using to block the heroes from calling their parents must have been destroyed with Warren's fire. The Commander and Jetstream responded right away. Jamie was taken to the hospital and the fire was explained to the neighbors as a problem with the gas lines. What else could cause such localized and severe destruction?

Warren watched Jamie from the hospital hallway. She had been patched and sewn up as much as was possible. She was sedated now, and hopefully resting peacefully for a while. Warren thought about how close she had come to taking a step in a direction that was irreversible. He knew she would have been justified in pulling that trigger, but would she have been able to live with herself afterwards? The death of anyone, even a villain, weighs heavily on a person's mind. Would Jamie have been able to recover from that, or would that have been a wound that never completely healed?

Jamie had awoken slowly from her drug-induced sleep, but was still afraid to move . She was afraid that moving would bring back all of the pain. She sensed Warren in the hallway and wondered how long he had been waiting there.

She thought about what he had done for her. He had crossed the line. Killed for her. That wasn't something that she had wanted to happen. She knew that wasn't what he had wanted either. This wasn't supposed to be his future. He wasn't his father's son.

Now she knew how far he would go to protect her. And it wasn't something that she was prepared for. She didn't want Warren putting aside his principles for her. As long as she was around, Warren would feel as though he needed to protect her. She sighed. This wasn't how the story was supposed to end.

Warren walked into the room and gazed down at Jamie. Bandaged, wounds still red and raw, she looked so vulnerable. He couldn't put her into this kind of situation again. If they remained together, they were just tempting fate. A similar incident was just as likely to occur again in the future. She was his Achilles' heel.

Jamie watched Warren enter the room. She could tell from the look upon his face that his mind was made up.

"Two doomed lovers, Romeo, two doomed lovers." She said sadly, referring to a conversation they'd had when they first met.

"Not if I can help it, Juliet." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

Jamie watched him walk away. She knew he wouldn't be coming back.

It was just as well. She knew she'd never be the one strong enough to leave.

Sometimes things go so wrong that you know that nothing can fix them except time. This was one of those moments

Mahatma Gandhi said that true sacrifice made for your loved ones lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy.

Jameson wondered if Gandhi's heart was breaking when he said that. If not, he was surely a hypocrite.

Jamie lay back down and prepared to wait.