Here we go, ladies and gents, the next chapter. I really like this one, actually. The last one was a lot of Warren dealing with Emm's new partner, this one is Emm dealing with Warren's new partner.

And I love all your reviews. You guys make my world go round. Thank you.

Chapter 13-

Free periods were few and far in between at Sky High when there was no explosion or accident. Most of the time they were spent out in the sunshine with a liberal use of powers and maybe a nap or two. Emm, however, chose to spend it in the library knocking out her need for a new formula and book on the Underground Civil War in one swoop. Logan chose to skip class and spend the period duplicating any book Emm picked up.

Emm gave him the same speech she gave him each time she found out he was skipping and reminded him that the reason he got caught was due to his lack of practice in duplicating himself, but he ignored her. He insisted that, this time, Medulla would be none the wiser about his little absence. Emm knew better.

Still, she let him loiter around her while she found the book she needed for her history report. She figured managing to get him to do his homework had been a good enough baby step for now. And he'd been practicing his duplications more now. She was so proud.

When Principal Powers had paired Emm up with Peace she'd thought maybe she had something against her. By the end of the partnership, thought she wasn't likely to admit it, she had changed her mind. Logan, however, had been an excellent choice from the get-go. They had simply clicked and Emm couldn't help but adore his enthusiasm for her projects, even after catching fire.

He'd been throwing little duplicated balls of paper at her since she'd sat down and she might have been annoyed if he didn't have such awful aim. Just as she was getting ready to retaliate she heard Peace's name.

"I can't believe Powers places you with him. Garwin I get, she's been dealing with him for years, but you?"

Emm furrowed her brow and waved a distracted hand at Logan when he made to speak.

"He's been alright so far."

It took Emm about a second to realize it was Ian Jacobsen and his sister, Isabel. Despite being twins the two had very little in common. Isabel was a highly skilled teleporter and hero (and a bit of a bitch) while Ian was a shy sidekick who could only move things about five feet away.

"You've spent no time with him, and it's better that way. I don't even know why they bother with him anyway. Everyone knows he's just going to end up like his father."

Emm didn't remember standing up or even phasing through two stacks of books. She did, however, remember putting her fist through their table. Later, when her ire had worn off, she would be thankful that her density kept her splinter free and Logan would say it was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen, but at that instant she was too busy keeping from putting her fist through them.

"Children who don't know what they're talking about shouldn't speak at all." She grit her teeth to keep from calling them a number of things that would have likely made Ian cry. A telepath in the next room blushed bright red at the thoughts suddenly bombarding her.

Isabel was not someone to back down and quickly pushed her chair back to look Emm in the eye. Had there not been a table between them Isabel would have towered over Emm, but Emm had the table and the force of her fury to make up for her lack of height. Still, Isabel starred down at her. "This is none of your business, Garwin. This is a private conversation."

"You shut your mouth." Both the Jacobsen's looked taken aback. "You don't know him. You don't know a damn thing. But, I promise you, say something about him becoming a villain again and I'll tear your head clean off."

She didn't wait to hear Isabel's response or watch Ian's face turn even whiter, instead she took an awestruck Logan by the arm and led him out of the library. It took a coke or two and Logan creating a few Jacobsen duplicates with more than a little wrong with them before Emm cooled down enough to apologize for threatening to beat Logan if he so much as thought about telling Peace.

Logan, for his part, just continued to look like he could kiss her.

By the time lunch rolled around Emm had calmed enough that Maggie could dismiss her sour mood earlier and she let Logan practice duplicating her. They were met at the lunch table by a grinning Logan and three expectant Emm's. Peace had apparently gone to get something from his locker and remained absent. All three Emm's grinned.

"So," the first one, "Who can tell which me-"

"Is the real me?"

Without missing a beat Maggie, Dan and Elijah all pointed to the middle. Emm couldn't have been more proud.

Logan, on the other hand, looked deeply disappointed. "But, but, how?"

"Elijah pointed to the real Emm's left eyebrow. "When we were little Emm fell off the top of the monkey bars and got stitches on her brow." Sure enough, the other two lacked the little scar.

"Emm also bites her lips all the time, she tears them up. No matter how much chapstick I buy her." Maggie pointed out, to which Dan nodded. "It's little things like that that we notice because we know her so well."

Zack leaned forward in his seat to look at the Emm's more closely. "I couldn't tell the difference."

"Someone please tell me this is a horrible nightmare."

All three Emm's adapted the same unamused look and made a face at Peace as he approached.

"Ha ha ha ha."

"You're a riot, Peace."

"But can you tell which one is real?"

They waggled their eyebrows for effect.

Peace rolled his eyes and sat down in the his usual spot before saying anything. "The middle one."

Logan looked damn near heartbroken. "How can you tell?"

Peace wasted no time in liberating Emm's tater tots from her tray. He took a moment to study her before settling Logan with a straight look. "Her eyes are blue."

Emm couldn't stop the smile that split her face. Apparently neither could Layla or Maggie. Their grins looked nearly painful.

"I even messed up your eye color." Logan threw his hands up in the air in mock defeat and pretended to sob while Emm patted him on the head. Her smile remained firmly in place.

And, then, Peace leaned back to stop Ian Jacobsen in his tracks. Emm's smile was immediately replaced by a serious-as-cancer look that almost seemed strange on her. Jacobsen looked like he was ready to wet himself. Logan was instantly amused once again.

"It's still Saturday night, right?" Only an idiot could have missed the frightened looks Jacobsen kept shooting Emm. He barely seemed aware of Peace's question. "Everything alright?"

He snapped back to attention, tearing his eyes from Emm long enough to hastily nod his agreement and scurry away.

When Emm pretended to not know what in the world they were talking about and kicked Logan under the table, they let it slide. Just another odd thing that Emm had said to him, they assumed. When Isabel Jacobsen passed by with Marianne Wash and the tension became so thick they could nearly spread it on their hero subs, they were less inclined to let it slide.

Isabel strutted past their table, speaking loud enough for them to hear. "I wonder what the policy on damage of school property is." Marianne only sighed.

Emm pushed her tray at Peace and fixed Jacobsen with a steady glare. "I don't know. Maybe you should look that up in the library. And find out the policy on damage of student attendants while you're at it." The stare down that ensued was uncomfortable for everyone. Except Logan, who still looked like a giddy schoolboy.

It continued in silence until Marianne rolled her eyes and tugged on Jacobsen's arm. With a final dirty glance at Emm, she stormed change in Emm was instantaneous. She pulled her tray back and began eating her sandwich, looking to all the world as though she hadn't just murdered a girl with her eyes forty times over. Logan was laughing so hard he had to cross his legs.

Peace pulled the tray away from her and pushed it into Ethan's. "Garwin, what the hell was that?"

"What was what?" The patented confused Emm look was in full effect, and completely faked. As a unit they all gave her the same look. Logan continued to laugh (he was beginning to turn blue).

"What just happened between you and the Jacobsens?"

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"Emm, we all saw it."

"Mags, are you feeling alright?"

"Okay, come on, Emmy, what happened?"

"Are you all feeling alright? Is there something in the water today?"

"Garwin, cut the crap."

"Peace, you're beginning to worry me. Do we need to see Nurse Spex?"

Logan was practically dying. He leaned over onto Emm's shoulder and continued to laugh like it was going out of style. It got a chuckle out of Emm before he calmed down enough to talk. But, Emm continued to pretend they were all insane.

"I need to find a way to just request you as my permanent sidekick." He wiped tears from his eyes.

Emm pulled her tray back from its spot by Ethan. "What a waste of a request. I'm not going to be a sidekick."

Magenta finished off her apple juice and gave Emm a look. "Then what are you going to do?"

"Just imagine me as the Oracle to your birds. Even though I always wanted to be Black Canary better." She grinned at them. "I'll make all your rays and lazers and grappling hooks and give you lot first dibs. Basically, I'll be my dad."

Elijah nodded knowingly. Zack immediately began planning all the cool gadgets he could ask her for. The others seemed to accept that they would not be getting any straight answers from Emm, but at least would be supplied later on with all the best tools.

"Well, then you'll just have to marry me."

The way Layla's head snapped around was terrifying. Maggie blushed bright despite being in no way involved as well. And was it suddenly much hotter at their table?

"Careful, don't want her to punch you." Logan and Emm both sent a questioning look over at Zack and waited for him to explain what Dan and Elijah had told them (all news to Peace) and were sucked into a long talk (or as long as they had left of lunch) where Emm claimed that Elijah was exaggerating, Elijah pointed out that she had last punched a boy for declaring his affection only a year ago, and Maggie pointing that he was an icky boy and deserved it and Emm had, in fact, had a boyfriend before.

They also learned that Emm was a god awful cellist with excellent taste in cello prodigies as boyfriends.

That final bell ringing was something of a godsend to the Hero Support class, most of which had noticed the way Ian Jacobsen had flinched every time he'd been forced to stand anywhere near Emm and her friends. Maggie had stuck around a few extra minutes talking to Mr. Boy and Emm was waiting for her by her locker when she spotted Layla and Peace.

From where she stood even her hearing (she really was quite proud of it) wasn't enough to catch anything, but she'd made Peace angry enough times to recognize the signs. She was intrigued, especially by the brilliant grin on Layla's face.

Pushing off from the locker she approached cautiously. Peace turned from Layla and stormed her way.

"Simmer down, Peace, you're going to melt the floor." He brushed roughly past her shoulder without so much as a spare glance and made a path through terrified little underclassmen in the hallway. Emm frowned.

Layla looked positively giddy.

"What in the hell?" Layla just kept grinning like a madman. Emm had to admit, she frightened her.

Excerpts from the next chapter (because I'm feeling generous):

"No, no, you don't have to be so exact. Just go with it."

"Okay, but if you poison Logan, I refuse to take the fall."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you have any single-celled friends? If I'd known I would have sent flowers."

"Are you cleaning my kitchen? You OCD freak! Get out of there!"