Chapter 1.

“One, two, three,” Claire counted as she continued with her sit-ups.

A small-ish dog of doubtful pedigree trotted over and decided to lay its head on the woman’s stomach with a heavy sigh.

“Dodger,” she mumbled and pushed the dog’s head away. She sat up and crossed her legs as she scratched the mutt’s ears. “I’m trying to get psyched for the day alright? Mama needs to exercise so she can chase after her students,” she said, looking into the dog’s eyes with a soft smile.

Standing suddenly, she looked around the small living room of the townhouse, “I’m talking to a dog,” she concluded and rubbed her forehead, “Right- shower, breakfast, take-off,” she listed out loud before hurrying to finish up her morning routine.

In half an hour she was giving Dodger one last scratch. Outside the weather was bright with that type of light that only came at the end of summer. Claire closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She decided that end of summer air was almost as good as spring air. There was no time to think about that any further however. Taking cover near some tall bushes, she pulled on her flying goggles and helmet before she strapped on the jet pack. Flipping the switch, she took to the sky, following the coordinates that would lead her to Sky High.

People who can fly are awfully lucky, she thought as she continued towards her destination. The school was soon in sight and Claire might have smiled, but she knew that smiling while flying often meant collecting bugs in one’s mouth. Besides that, her stomach was tied in too many nervous knots to let her feel happy. She began her descent towards the green lawn.

Claire’s sensitive hearing suddenly picked up on a strange grating noise from within the jet pack. Heart pounding, she managed to look down briefly before a loud pop almost frightened her out of her wits. The sound, however, was nothing compared to the feeling when

She

suddenly

plummeted

D

D

D

own

“Did you hear that?” Magenta asked as she got off the bus. She looked up, trying to figure out what the sound was. “Like someone shrieking or something?” she continued, flipping her long black and purple hair away from her face.

Layla looked over at her friend and then turned her gaze in the same direction- up towards the sky. “Oh!” she exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth, “Will!” she shouted, but her boyfriend had already swooped up towards the falling figure.

Warren moved forward to stand silently watching the scene. A brief smile twitched into existence at the corner of his mouth as he watched his best friend save the person in distress. He flinched slightly at the odd catch.

“That sucks,” he stated suddenly as they flew slowly towards the ground.

“Dude she would have been- like, squashed if Will hadn’t caught her,” Zach contested as he bounced up and down nearby.

Warren reached over and smacked the back of Zach’s head with an apathetic glance. “I meant the catch sucked- that’s about the worst one Will’s ever had.”

“He did manage to slow his ascent, but at that velocity it is very likely that she will suffer quite a bit of bruising,” Ethan said, nodding in agreement with the pyro’s statement.

Will landed a moment later with Claire holding onto him awkwardly. As soon as they reached the ground she ripped the jet pack off her back and looked at it skeptically.

“What a piece of junk,” she muttered before dropping it to the ground. Looking back at Will her expression changed to a grateful smile. “Thanks,” she offered, pulling off her helmet and goggles.

“No problem,” Will replied as his friends came running up to them. “This is a school for heroes after all, right?” he added sheepishly, trying to ignore the way Warren and Magenta rolled their eyes in unison at that statement.

“Right,” Claire agreed and raised a hand to touch her hair. The unruly mess of wavy locks had practically become a work of modern art.

“Are you alright?” Layla asked breathlessly, “We saw you fall and I was so worried-”

“Oh I’m fine,” Claire answered with a brief smile before she began searching the pockets of her dress pants for a hair-tie. “Thanks for your concern though, I guess if I had to have jet pack problems this is definitely the place to do it.”

“Yo, you were flailing like a rag doll or something,” Zach volunteered, “If you had hit the ground you would have been-”

“What’s with that bus?” Magenta asked, tactfully distracting her boyfriend.

Everyone but Will and Layla turned to look at the bus in question.

“I have to go,” Claire volunteered quickly, “See you later,” she said and picked up the broken jet pack before she took off at a sprint towards the main building.

“Well…” Will said after a moment, “She’s interesting. Wonder what grade she’s in.”

“She looked old enough to be graduated, maybe she’s a new teacher,” Layla answered and stepped closer to place a kiss on Will’s cheek. “Student or not though- that was awfully cool the way you saved her.” She stepped away with a small smile and turned to look at the bus that was attracting so much attention. Will rubbed his cheek and tried not to blush.

“Is that- is that really who I think it is?” Magenta asked, her dark eyes widening in shock.

Ethan adjusted his glasses and peered with the rest of them.

“Oh man,” Zach breathed.

“What the hell are they doing back here?” Warren asked, his jaw clenched in a dangerous scowl.

Layla moved to the front and watched with a frown as three criminals got off the bus. All the windows on the bus had bars on the windows. She had never expected to see Lash, Speed and Penny again- especially since three years had gone by since they’d been imprisoned. Her hand pulled on her red pigtail subconsciously as she thought the matter over. The first warning bell ringing startled her out of her reverie.

“Come on,” she said, placing a hand on Warren’s shoulder, “We better go or we’ll all be late.”

“First Powers and Medulla are fired at the end of last year…and now this?” Magenta muttered with an angry glare, “What were they thinking letting them back here?”

“Come on Maj,” Zach said, pulling on his girlfriend’s arm.

“I’ll ask around in the office,” Ethan said before looking anxiously at the school office, “But I have to get going- see you all later,” he said, before running off across the lawn.

The rest of them left more slowly, casting a few wary glances back at the three criminals who crossed the lawn behind them.

The other students gave the three wide berth as they walked up the stairs and into the school building. They walked in a horizontal line, Lash flanked on either side by his two friends. The other students might not have been as intimidated if they had known that each of the three returning students were wearing power draining cuffs on their ankles.

“Feels like home,” Speed said, making a face at a sophomore that they passed. “Better than prison at least,” he added and looked at his friends for confirmation. Neither of them answered.

“We’re supposed to go to the gym,” Penny said, crossing her arms with a look of distaste, “There’s some opening ceremony or whatever.”

“It’ll be weird to see Powers again,” Speed said with a deep laugh, “But you know, I always kinda thought she was a hott-”

“Powers is gone,” Lash said simply, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he flipped his head to move his hair out of his face. “Medulla and her were doing it in the science room or something like that.”

“Huh? Her and melon-head?” Speed asked, his expression flabbergasted. “You’re kidding right?”

“Nope,” Lash answered and grinned at his friend. He slapped Speed’s back before gesturing to the gym doors. “Well, here we are.”

“You two better not embarrass me,” Penny said simply and strode into the gym with her usual modelesque stride.

“Wanna bet how long before she’s head of the cheerleading squad again?” Lash asked, rolling his eyes before he walked in after her. He forced himself to grin as he walked, even though he thought he knew every single student in the gym was thinking about him, wondering how the heck a loser like him could get back into Sky High for a second go-around.

“Round two,” he muttered to himself and grinned flirtatiously at a few freshman girls before taking a seat next to Penny in the seniors section. He could feel Warren’s gaze setting his back on fire. Even though he knew they’d be a class with Will and company, he hadn’t expected that Stronghold would still have the exact same friends from before…sidekicks and all.

“Watcha looking at?” Speed said, turning to look at the group of senior elite. He examined guinea pig girl and the hippie chick in a way that was sure to make them uncomfortable before turning back around. He wondered if the look had made Stronghold damage the bleachers by gripping too hard- the thought made him chuckle.

Warren squeezed Will’s arm before the kid launched himself at Speed. The pyro looked over at his friend and shook his head. “Not the time,” he said simply and let go.

Will nodded and straightened his back as the gym doors opened. Coach Boomer came first, followed by a few other teachers, including Claire.

“You were right,” he whispered to Layla, “She’s a teacher.” He turned back to watch the teachers and tried not to think about the students sitting in front of them.

Lash leaned forward to look at the youngest teacher in the bunch. “Is that-” he began, nudging Speed and glancing at Penny.

Penny’s dark lips twisted into a grimace. “The rabbit,” she concluded and glanced at her two compatriots. “What was her name? Chloe?”

“It was Claire,” Lash said, the same half-grin still plastered on his face. His friends knew the expression well enough not to assume that he was happy. His eyes were fixed on the young woman, showing the hatred they all felt towards her. He shook his head suddenly and tugged at the edge of his striped shirt, trying to distract himself.

There was some feedback as a short, balding man tapped the microphone on the raised platform. He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back as he looked at the rows of students.

“Hello everyone,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. He was adorable and slightly laughable in his checkered vest and polka-dotted tie. “My name is Mr. Thrift and I will be taking Ms. Powers place as Principal of Sky High. I hope that this year we can all get along.” He smiled and then coughed in the awkward silence. “There is also one new teacher this year,” he added suddenly and waved his hand towards Claire.

He motioned with his head when she didn’t move, “Come on,” he said with a smile, “Come and say hi.”

“Yo this dude needs some help,” Zach murmured.

“He’s cute,” Layla contested and laughed into her arm.

Claire rolled her eyes and walked up the stairs. She tried not to feel self-conscious of her messy hair as she bent to speak into the microphone.

“Hi, I’m Claire Voyant,” she introduced herself awkwardly and winced at the titters of laughter that swept through the group, “But unfortunately I’m actually not gifted that way- otherwise I might have avoided almost plummeting to my death this morning,” she laughed slightly. “I’ll be serving as the Mad Science teacher for the upperclassmen-”

“And women,” Layla corrected quietly from her seat.

“And women,” Claire amended with a slight grin and glanced towards the seniors, “And I’ll also be working as the homeroom teacher and advisor for the senior class. I expect us all to have a great year together.” She paused, nodded and then stepped back from the microphone, glad to have that over with at least.

“How did she hear that?” Layla whispered to Will.

He shrugged in return and watched as the Principal laid out the schedule for the rest of the day. The freshmen were of course staying for power placement but everyone else had a slightly altered schedule as well. Every class was going to meet with their home room teacher for the last hour of the day to get the year’s information. Will was slightly interested in learning more about the new teacher but new that Ethan would be brimming with information to share by lunch time anyway. He hoped Ethan would have just as much to tell about why Lash, Speed and Penny had suddenly returned.

“Will? Time to go,” Layla said as she stared down at her boyfriend.

Will nodded and stood up. He watched as the three in front of them stood up as well.

“Can’t believe she’s working here,” he caught Penny saying. “And our homeroom teacher too?” she laughed, “This should be interesting.”

“What’s interesting is you three showing up again,” Warren said gruffly as he passed by them. He turned to glance at Lash first.

“I’d say that’s none of your business Peace,” Speed replied, brushing by roughly.

Magenta jumped off the bleachers and landed next to Warren. She watched them walk away and turned to face the rest of the group. “Looks like it’s going to be some senior year,” she dead-panned.

AN: Yeah I started a new one...no excuses this time. This story wouldn't leave me alone. It's really been playing out in my brain for a couple weeks. I don't think there's any other way to get it unstuck unless I write it all out. I hope you all enjoy it. It's going to be mostly drama/action but there are several pairings that are going to be developed during the story so you romance fans will have something to look forward to. Make sure to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High or its characters. The original characters and ideas belong to me.