I don't own Sky High. Updates might be longer, I have finals to study for.

I started avoiding Peace, and it was harder than I imagined.

I saw him a whole four times in three weeks. Personally, I thought zero times would have been better but hey, that's just my pessimistic side talking.

The first time I ran into Peace was a week or so into school -a few days after I got my hair dyed, brown this time- in the hallway outside the gym.

If he was shocked to see me with brown hair, he made no indication -or maybe I didn't notice it since I blatantly ignored him, choosing to stare down the crowded hallway instead of acknowledging his existence at all.

I am aware of the fact that sometimes I act immaturely, but hey, we all have our quirks. Mine just happen to be very unpleasant.

The second time I saw him was when we were at lunch. Normally I get there before him, eat, and leave before he gets to the table. Then I go outside and read or something, despite whatever weather we're floating -drifting?- through.

But about a week after our first encounter -if you could call it that- I had to stay after in Psychology to get a packet about the background of the villain that I have to annualize -Barron Battle or something- this semester and I was late getting to the lunch room.

I went to my usual table after I had loaded up with food -not the tastiest thing in the world, but I was really hungry, so it didn't matter- and dug in. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish before Peace arrived.

At first I thought he was going to yell, or spontaneously combust -the way he had that first day- but he didn't. He just sat down without a word, pulled out a book, and read, ignoring his tray of food.

I did my best to ignore him, but my curiosity got the better of me. I had the undeniable urge to see what he was reading because the cover was faded and I have a thing for classic books. A big thing, like obsession worthy -my room is filled with books.

Soon I found myself subtly sneaking glances at the cover and trying to get a glimpse at the spine.

"It's Macbeth." he muttered. Okay, so maybe I hadn't been so subtle. I shrugged, despite my fathomless curiosity. Why would someone like Peace like Shakespeare? I was endlessly fascinated by this.

Our third encounter was during Save the Citizen a few days later. I was playing a villain, which was so freaking easy -until I figured out the girl Peace was fighting with wasn't afraid to lose her powers, then I was pretty much screwed.

The girl in question could shoot ice out of her palms so really, me and my scrawny white belt self couldn't take her in hand to hand so I tried to leave it up to my partner, Mr. I-can-fly-and-I-have-super-strength. Boomer told me his name, but I forgot it, mostly because Peace walked in the arena and I got distracted by the you're-supposed-to-be-avoiding-him vibe I got from my stomach.

Unfortunately for me the girl was smarter than I gave her pretty little head credit for, and figured out that I was the one shorting out Peace -mostly because she actually has a brain, unlike Speed and Hash

(or was it Lash, I can't remember). So, she shot ice beams at me, thoroughly distracting me from using Peace's fear against him in favour of saving my skin from frostbite.

Shit.

"Can't neutralize me can ya, Nelson?" the blond who was trying to kill me with her icy beams of death laughed.

"I." Dodged behind the fake light pole. "Don't." Half crawled, half ran behind a trash can. "Neutralize." Hit the deck and barely miss a shot to the head. "People!" I rolled under the bench just before she swung her hands in my direction.

"Sure you don't." Through one of the ice cover slats I saw her roll her eyes.

"Really, ask Boomer." I rolled out as fast as I could and sprinted behind my partner, because he was having an awfully hard time dealing with Peace, and I could handle Peace without destroying his sanity. Icy -as I have so dubbed her- not so much.

"Go fight her." I pushed my partner in the direction of Icy.

"But-" he protested weakly.

"I can deal with Pyro." Another shove. What was this guy, a rock? "Go, Flyboy!"

Peace seemed really amused by this as he threw a fireball at me, which I avoided by ducking low and throwing my leg out, to make him fall down. And, hurray, it worked. He ended up sprawled on his back, and I ended up having enough time to throw my powers into drive.

But, the disconcerting thing was, when I grabbed hold of Peace's fear I saw something that I hadn't seen before. A new fear.

It left me staring at him with a confused look on my face as my black eyes met his brown ones a second before the alarm sounded.

Peace wasn't afraid of me, he was just afraid he'd met his match.

The last time I saw Peace in those three weeks when I was dutifully avoiding him was at Homecoming. No, I didn't go to the Sky High's homecoming. Give me a little credit.

Nope, I crashed MHS's homecoming. It really was a homecoming, for me.

The dance was okay, but the party after was amazing. Booze, someone loses their shirt, dancing on tables crazy. In other words, my kind of party.

So of course, I get hammered and start dancing on tables. I did not, however, lose my shirt. Because somewhere deep, deep inside I have class. I have a hella lot of class.

It was one of my favourite songs, so I had to dance. And I was far too drunk to bother denying the erg. Everything was fuzzy around the edges and a bit wobbly but I hadn't felt this good in a long time.

I even forgot that I was a freaky super.

Until the patrols came around. See, when you're a Junior you get the option to go patrolling with a certified Hero and learn the ropes early. I had been offered such a job with Psychotics herself, but I turned it down.

So I was dancing like a slut -because I was very, very drunk- on one of the tables when a whole group of kids from my school burst in.

"Supers!" someone shouts, because supers are always worse than cops where parties are concerned. Everyone scatters. It's utter freaking chaos, bodies thrashing every which way. Drunks stumbling on everything.

I made it to the ally before I fell, and I only fell because it was really dark and I couldn't see two feet in front of my blurred eyes. I fall into a pothole, which really pisses me off, so I cuss.

Louder than I thought I did.

And who appears at the end of the ally where I just ran through but Pyro in a mask that really isn't working to hide his true identity. In my drunken state I didn't think I would be a bad idea to get caught. In fact, I didn't think about it at all.

I wish I had.

"Ugh, fuck!" I moan on the ground because my ankle is fucking KILLING me. Or, that's the way it seems. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

"Hey." He says rather loudly, making his way toward me- the form on the ground clutching her ankle. "Are you alright?"

At this point in time I don't think he knows it's me.

"No." I sound very whiny, very unlike me.

"What's wrong?"

"My ankle, dickweed." I groan. The insult is because this should be obvious since I'm clutching my effing ankle. Could I make it more obvious? I'm drunk as all get out and I realize how stupid his question is. That's saying something.

His arm flares up and he says, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just have to see you're ankle."

"You couldn't hurt my anyway Pyro. I thought we went through this already. By the by, that mask -not working." I slur into the dirty gravel as the light from his flames illuminates the pot hole.

It jumps to me, almost like he's startled but I don't know. I can't see his face when his hand is all lit up, my attention is held on the orange fire.

"Nelson?" he grunts, not so concerned sounding now.

I nod, but only succeed in rubbing my face against the little sharp rocks. Ouch. I give him an affirmative grunt, he can see me now so it really doesn't matter, but I do it anyway.

"Fuck." I heard him mutter to himself.

"Yeah, I'm not so happy to see you either Pyro."

Another grunt and the fire is extinguished. It's pitch black and I can't see anything.

"Hold out your hand." he grunts. Seriously, everything he says comes out like a grunt.

"Why?" I am a very uncooperative drunk, let me tell you.

"So I don't feel you up."

"What?!" I don't like that, I don't like that at all.

"I'm going to pick you up." He doesn't sound very happy about it. I still don't understand. " Hold out your hand so I don't grope at you in the dark."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" He seems rather annoyed. I wonder why.

"I have this thing against physical contact." I muttered because it's true.

"Would you like to lie in an ally with a twisted ankle?"

"It's twisted?" I don't wait for his answer. "Damn."

"Well?" he asks, irritated and huffing.

A little resigned I cave. "No, I don't want to lie in an ally with a twisted ankle." I pull up my sleeves all the way before I hold out my hand, making sure it's covered with cloth. It hits him, but I don't know where. I think in his face, but it could have been his shoulder.

His hands comes down around my wrist and he finds my shoulders. His skin is really, really warm -I can feel it through my shirt and his leather jacket.

"Where's your knees?" he grunts and his voice is right next to my ear.

I use my hand -the one that he has his hand around my wrist- and pat my knee.

He shifts, and I take that as a nod.

A click sounds quietly and a little red light comes on. Pyro talks. "I found a hurt girl."

"How hurt?" comes the reply. Not from me. Must be a walkie talkie.

"Twisted ankle. I'm taking her home."

"Home?" the voice sounds amused, and familiar. Then I recognise it.

"It's Flyboy!" Yep, I'm drunk. Really drunk.

Peace sighs.

"Nelson?! You found Nelson?!" Flyboy's answer is very panicky. His voice shoots up an octave when he talks like that. I tell him so.

"Flyboy, you shouldn't talk like that. It makes your voice sound like a girl's."

Peace chuckles silently. I can feel his body shake just a little.

"Just tell your dad that I'm not coming back alright?" Peace grunts.

"Su-" Flyboy's response was cut off by a click as the walkie talkie was shut off.

Then Pyro grabs me beneath my knees and pulls us off the ground. I'm wondering if he knows where I live.