Disclaimer: I still don't own Sky High.
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Will, Warren and Ivy got to Ivy's building right as she remembered she didn't have her keys. She knew the landlord wasn't in until later, so the three of them stood dumbfounded for a few minutes. Ivy looked up at her window and remembered she never locked it.
"We could go up the fire escape." She said to the two boys, still looking up.
"And how do you expect me to get up there? I don't fly, like Stronghold here." Warren looked up.
The fire escapes last outside balcony was on the second floor, with a drop down ladder that was kept up the majority of the time. Will started to take off, but Ivy grabbed his pant leg preventing him from going any farther.
"My territory." She told him, and he saw something dangerous in her eyes, and he lowered himself back to the ground.
Will and Warren looked at each other nervously, unsure of how she'd get up to the ladder herself. She ran at the building, jumped about halfway up, kicked off the side of it, and grabbed onto the lowest bar of the railing. She swung back and forth once to build momentum, before flipping up backwards over the top railing. She lowered the ladder, and watched the boys climb up. They both stared at her once they reached her.
"I spent a lot of time at the playground when I was younger." She shrugged.
"Which playground was that?" Will was still in shock. He knew she had super-cat reflexes but he had never really seen her use them before Save the Citizen that day.
"Xavier called it the Danger Room. I called it the playground." She smiled and continued up until she reached her own balcony. The window was still unlocked, and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. They climbed into the apartment and it was just the way she'd left it the night before.
"It doesn't look like he's been in here." Will looked around.
"But that doesn't mean he wasn't." Ivy went to her bedroom and began packing a few changes of clothes and some shoes. She wasn't sure how long she'd stay at Warren's, so she grabbed as much as she felt was necessary. She took her toiletries, and her cell phone charger, and lastly shoved the entire shoe box into the bag. Back in the living room the boys waited, and she shoved her purse and wallet into her duffel bag and picked up her keys. "What about my car?" Warren grabbed her school bag, since she had no hands left.
"Well it'd be suspicious if you took it, and probably easier to find you." Will pointed out.
"It'll be suspicious if I leave it here, too, while I leave for an indefinite amount of time with no explanation. And if Blake wanted to find me, he wouldn't need to look for my car."
"She has a point." Warren looked at Will. "And I've gotten accustomed to getting picked up from work."
Ivy snorted and the three of them left the apartment. She jotted down a note telling her landlord that she had to go away for a little bit, but he'd get her payment in two weeks when it due. They loaded her bag into the back of the car, and loaded themselves in, too. As soon as she turned on the car, Britney Spears blared out of the radio.
Warren reached out to change it. Ivy hit his hand back. "Not today, Big Boy." A playfully evil smile crossed her face.
He stared at her in disbelief. "You're joking. Right?"
"A guy like you... Should wear a warnin'... It's dangerous... I'm fallin'..."
"Warren. Make it stop, Warren!" Will begged from the backseat, and Ivy raised the volume.
"Do you feel me now? With the taste of your lips, I'm on a ride! You're toxic, I'm slippin' under..."
"Fuck." Warren hunched over, and did his version of pouting.
"And I love what you do, don't you know that you're toxic?"
The pulled up to Layla's house, and before Ivy had even turned off the car, the boys jumped out and ran into the house. They opened the door and Layla, Zach and Magenta all looked at them confused. Ivy followed them in a moment later laughing hysterically.
"Did we miss something?" Layla raised her eyebrow.
"She was playing Britney Spears." Will shuddered and Warren groaned. Loudly.
Ivy laughed harder, and through her laughs, she managed to get out a broken: "I've never seen Warren move so fast in my life!" Regarding his exit of the car. Layla and Magenta laughed at that.
"'Ey man, Britney's awesome, yo!" Zach started singing. "Once more! You OPEN the DOOR! And you're here! In my blah blah blah blah Heart will go ON!" Zach sang off key and horribly, and everyone laughed at him.
"Zach. That's Celine Dion." Magenta was on the floor next to Ivy laughing almost at the point of tears.
"Oh, shoot, which one's Britney, then?" Everyone laughed harder. Layla leaned against the wall clutching her side, while Will and, surprisingly, Warren were close to shaking the entire house with their laughter alone. "Oh yeah, I remember! Hit me baby one more time!" He started singing again attempting the running man instantaneously, but he still didn't know all the words, so it was not only off key, but mainly "blahblah meh, uhh huuuuh".
Ivy finally stood and started singing the actual words.
"I must confess, that my loneliness, is killing me now!" Layla and Magenta both joined her and the boys cringed in pain. When they finished the song everyone started laughing again. Magenta ran out to Ivy's car and grabbed the "B.S. MIX" from the player and forced Layla to play it. The boys retreated to the kitchen where the music wasn't as loud. Ivy sat in the living room and injected half a dose of serum so it only lasted a day before changing into some of her own clothes. She met everyone in the kitchen minutes after.
"This song is so inappropriate. Like, what? Why is she talking about his... um... manliness?" Magenta snorted and the other two girls snickered.
Zach looked at her. "Why are you talking about his manliness?"
Ivy and Layla laughed outright as she turned pink. Ivy looked at the clock. "Warren, aren't you gonna be late to work?"
"Huh? No, I called this morning and got the week off so I can make sure you don't get killed."
Ivy smiled. "My own personal body guard. How nifty." She pinched his cheeks and he swatted her hands away.
The six Supers sat in Layla's kitchen for another hour and a half until they decided to make their way to dinner.
"I wonder if Lash will show up." Magenta was sitting in the backseat of Ivy's Jeep next to Zach.
"He better not." Warren growled at the thought of Lash being at dinner with them.
"Warren. Could you at least pretend to be nice?" Ivy shot him a quick glance as they pulled away from the curb. He grunted in response.
They met Layla and Will at the restaurant, and were immediately showed to their table. Stripes? Black jeans. Shaggy hair--
"I thought you guys were saving me a seat, not the other way around?" Lash looked up from the menu.
Layla smiled almost evilly. "I thought you weren't coming."
"Tony and Taylor decided they wanted some -- uh -- alone time." He shuddered.
Warren looked at him, and Ivy noticed his gaze darken. "Alone time?" He growled at Lash.
Lash's face paled, and he started to get up from his seat to back away from Warren.
Ivy went over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, and gently pushed him back down in his seat. She turned to Warren, who was the only one still standing.
"Yes. They're together now. Or something." She watched Warren as he continued to stare at Lash. It was then that Ivy realized that he still cared about Taylor, and she felt her own face fall.
"Sit down, Warren. People are staring." Layla whispered in his direction.
Warren took a seat at the opposite end of the table as Lash, and Ivy asked Magenta and Zach to slide down a seat so she could sit by Lash. Warren broke his stare and looked at Ivy who was solemnly reading her menu. He saw sadness on her face, but didn't understand why. Midway through the meal, Ivy excused herself to use the restroom. Layla looked at Magenta, who then excused herself and followed Ivy to the Ladies' Room.
"You alright, Ivy?" Magenta leaned against the wall as Ivy splashed water on her face.
She looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" She didn't take her eyes of her reflection.
"You've just been really quiet all dinner."
"Oh. No, I'm fine." She patted her face dry, and reapplied some light mascara.
Magenta continued to watch her. Ivy suddenly dropped her hands from adjusting her hair and looked at her friend.
"He still cares about her." She looked so sad.
"Who now?" The purple girl was utterly confused by Ivy's statement, and furrowed her brow.
"Warren. He still cares about Taylor." She looked back at her reflection.
"Oh, Ivy." Magenta moved to give her a quick hug. Ivy didn't hug back, just continued to stare. "I'm sure he's just surprised to know she's seeing someone. It took them all of Freshman year to get together, then they were together all Sophomore year, and part of Junior, too. She wasn't with anyone before him, and hasn't been with anyone since him. He's probably just-- Just--" She paused, unsure of what to say.
"Does he love her?" She looked back at Magenta.
"What? Oh, God no!" Magenta tried not to gag at the thought of Warren in love with the bimbo. "You like him, huh?"
"You just noticed?" She smiled sadly.
"No. Just thought now was an appropriate time to ask." She grinned widely at Ivy. "Come on. They'll get suspicious if we stay here too long." Magenta offered Ivy her hand. Ivy smiled and graciously took it. The girls walked back to the table hand in hand. Lash grinned when he saw it.
"What took you guys so long?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"'Ey, man!" Zach threw him a look. Lash just laughed.
Ivy and Magenta sat down in their seats, and picked their forks back up. She didn't seem to notice Warren staring at her questioningly.
"What's your real name, Lash?" The group was finishing desert and Lash nearly choked.
"Eh?" He coughed out.
Ivy turned to face him. "Your real name. Lash is a nickname." She took another bite of her desert.
He blushed a little and looked down at the table. "Jordan." He mumbled.
Ivy, Magenta and Layla all smiled.
"I wish my dad named me somethin' cool." Zach looked at Will. "Zachary is so boring, man."
Will shrugged. "Better than William. I always wanted a cool name, like Hawthorne or something."
Lash laughed. "My cousins name is Hawthorne. He's a total ass." Will laughed, too.
"I like my name. Nothing else would suit me." Layla smiled contently.
Magenta nodded. "Yeah, me, too. Although, I really like the name Christina. Chris for short. Guys names on girls are so hot."
Ivy smiled, remembering how her aunt would always call her mom Chris, and not Christine.
"What about you, Ivy?" Layla looked at her friend.
"I'd never change my name. I don't think it suits me, but it was my mom's middle name, and that's a good enough reason for me to keep it." She smiled and took another bite.
"Didn't Josie say your middle name is Discord or somethin' crazy like that?" Zach leaned over and dug into Ivy's desert with his fork. She proceeded to poke his hand with her own fork before responding.
"It's a nickname. I don't have a middle name, and my, uh, feline side, tends to be a big fan of war and mayhem. Boomer gave me the name when I was just a kid. He'll never admit the soft spot he used to have for me, though. You know how he is." She poked Zach harder when she saw his fork coming her direction again.
Lash just sat and listened to the entire conversation. When he noticed Warren hadn't said a thing the entire meal, he made up his mind that it was time to stir up some drama.
"Peace." Warren looked at Lash angrily. "Why didn't you take your dads' name?" Everyone fell silent, and the table started to get hot. Burning hot.
Warren stood up. "What'd you say?" He clenched his fists until his knuckles were white.
"You heard me." Lash grinned at Warren's response.
"Warren, he just wants to get a rise out of you." Will tried to calm Warren down before he set something on fire.
"Sit down, man. It ain't worth it." Zach tried to pull Warren down, but he grabbed his arm away.
"I'll be outside." Warren left the table, and Magenta looked at Ivy. Ivy looked back at her and sighed angrily.
"Warren. Warren, stop!" Ivy ran after him as he stormed down the street. "You're acting like a child!" She grabbed his elbow.
"Don't touch me." He ripped his elbow from her grasp and continued to walk away.
"Would you stop and talk to me?" She dropped her hand to her side before flailing her arms in frustration.
"Why? Why should I? What difference will it make?" He whipped around to glare at her, and she saw the fire he was trying desperately to hold in reflect in his eyes.
She took a step back, not out of fear, but out of caution. "Maybe if you stopped brooding and talked to someone--"
"No." He cut her off with a single word. "I don't need to talk to anyone. I don't need... Anyone."
Her face fell from concerned to angry and sad. Her hair fought to turn black; the roots began to change. "If that's how you feel." She stared at him in disbelief. "I'll see if I can stay at Will's." She turned her back to him and heard him scream in anger behind her.
She sat back down at the table and turned to Will. "Mind if I stay at your place? I know there's some construction going on, but..." Her voice trailed off.
Lash looked at her confused. "You can stay with me." He blurted before he could stop himself. Everyone at the table looked at him.
"Huh?" Ivy's eyes widened in shock.
"If he has construction or whatever going on, my place is open. My dad's cool, he won't mind. And we just remodeled the guest bedroom. It's pretty cool. It has a skylight." He shrugged.
Ivy looked at Will. "My parents wouldn't mind if you needed to, but we don't really have the extra room." He turned to face Lash. "Can we trust you?" He was very stern and civil.
"Yeah." Lash shrugged. "She was nice to me, only fair to return the favor."
Layla and Magenta exchanged glances, then turned to Ivy. "Would you feel safe at his place?" Layla looked worried.
Ivy squinted her eye at Lash in thought. He looked back at her. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. If he tries anything funny, I'm pretty sure I can take him."
"After that display in PE today, and at the apartment, I'm sure you could." Will laughed, and Magenta looked at him with a funny expression.
"What'd she do at the apartment?" Zach took another bite of Ivy's desert.
"She's just crazy. You have to see this girl in action. It's like, I don't even know. Just crazy."
After dinner was finished, Ivy and Lash dropped Zach at his house, since he was on the way to Lash's. They arrived at his small home, and he directed her to park across the street in front of an empty lot. She grabbed her duffel bag out of the trunk, and he eyed it.
"Moving in, are we?" He took it from her, so she didn't have to carry it herself. She smiled at his gesture, and grabbed her school bag.
"I can't stay at my place for a little while. It's a long story." She followed him up his front steps.
"Why? Cockroach infestation?" He glanced back at her and saw her laugh.
"Yeah, something like that." He opened the door, and moved aside so she could enter first. "Why cockroaches?" She laughed again at the idea of a cockroach infestation.
"First thing I could think of." He smiled.
Ivy looked around his small house. It was neat and orderly, not a single thing out of place, but still artsy and fun. There were tons of pictures of Lash when he was a baby and a young boy. The room was painted with an array of light colors to brighten to atmosphere, and there was a canvas in the corner of the main living room with a large tray of paints on the table beside it.
"An artist in the family?" She walked over to the canvas, and saw a beautiful watercolor of what looked like Africa, with a lion attacking an antelope-looking thing. "Wow. That's really good."
Lash came and stood beside her. "Thanks. It's not done yet. I can't decide if I want to add some trees, and make it sunset in the background, or just keep it blue."
"You did that?" She pointed at the painting and turned her head to face him in astonishment.
Lash nodded. "I'm taking an art elective at school, and need a realism portrait for part of the final portfolio. Then I need a surreal portrait, and I need a fantasy somethin'."
"Wow. Never would have pegged you for a painter." She left the painting and explored the rest of the room.
After a few minutes, he led her down a short hallway, past the kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. He opened the door to the guest room which was directly across from his own room, and she was shocked to see a white room with abstract paintings hung on the walls. Multicolored curtains, and a big, fluffy white comforter on the queen-sized bed. He dropped her duffel on the bed next to where she had put her school bag, and he went to turn on a lamp.
"Leave it off. I see better in the dark." She faced him, and saw a confused look. She smiled and opened the curtains to see an old, almost Gothic style building down the road. "What's that?" She pointed at the building.
Lash smiled at her. "I'll show you." He took her hand and led her out the back door.
They climbed over a picket fence, and then walked a few minutes until they got to the gate of the building. Lash hopped over the three foot gate, and held out his hand to help her. She smiled at him mischievously, and jumped over the fence with a super-human attitude. He smiled at her display and led her around the side of the building to an unlocked door. He pulled the thick, creaking door open and followed Ivy inside.
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Please review me?? K, thanks!