The Ring

Disclaimer: Sky High (2005) is property of Disney, I own no such things.

This short story is part of my story-verse started off with another fic called 'The Mixed Tape'. There's no need to read that one to be able to understand this story but I would love it anyways if you guys choose to read that one too. This was just a plot-bunny in my head that had to be written down so I hope you enjoy!

Characters: Will/Layla, Josie/Steve, Warren/Mia (OC), Zack/Magenta, Ethan/Gabriela (OC)

Genre: Romance, Humour, Action/Adventure, Friendship

Enjoy!

"Here it is," Josie Stronghold gushed at her son as she came back to their dinner table with a small velvet box in her hands.

Will had just told his parents that he planned on getting a ring for Layla so that he could propose soon. Both Steve and Josie, of course, were ecstatic, and upon hearing about Will's intentions to acquire a ring they figured that he should be given a family keepsake instead; Grandma Stronghold's engagement ring.

Josie opened the box to reveal a silver ring with a square shaped emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds glittering against the overhead lighting.

"Wow, " Will breathed out.

"You just have to get it resized in order to fit Layla," Steve said as he grinned at his son. "You do know her ring size do you?"

Will thought about it for a moment, "It should be the same as her shoe size right?"

Josie laughed at his comment and hugged her grown-up son close to her, wondering where all the time had gone by.

"Hello?" A curt voice replied from the other end of the call.

Will held his cell phone to his ear as he flew around Downtown Maxville during his morning rounds, "Warren? Are you in Maxville? Or in the country at all?"

"In Chicago, but I'm coming back this afternoon, why?"

"I need you to do something important for me, can we meet when you get here?" Will asked as he landed on one building's roof.

"Why do you sound so strange? Has something happened?" Warren asked, noting his friend's tone.

Will laughed nervously, "No, nothing bad, something good actually, but I'll tell you when I see you."

"Alright Stronghold I'll see you later," Warren responded and Will grinned.

10 hours later and the two men sat at a bar drinking shots of whiskey, while Will told his best friend about his plans.

Will showed Warren the ring, "I got it resized this afternoon so it's all set."

"And when are you planning on asking her?" Warren asked as he set down his empty glass on the counter.

"Maxville Centre is hosting their botanical garden show on Monday, so I'm going to take her there to propose."

"How fitting, and matches with the green ring too."

Will laughed, "I know, when mom and dad showed me the ring I was so surprised. Do you think Layla will like it?"

Warren opened his mouth to answer but Will cut him off with another question.

"Or do you think she'll even say yes?" Will asked, laughter gone on his face to be replaced with a look of horror at the thought of Layla saying no.

Warren shook his head at his friend, "I'm sure she'll say yes, you've been together for almost 6 years, she probably already knows you have a mind to ask her about marriage soon enough."

Will's morale was increased at his words and he smiled, "I hope so…Anyways will you do me a favour and keep the ring until Monday?"

"What? Why?" Warren surprisingly asked.

"Because I'm either going to lose it, or worse, Layla will find it."

"You're not going to lose it and Layla won't find it," Warren reassured Will but he only shook his head.

"No I'll feel more at ease if you have it, please?"

After a few more seconds of begging, Warren relented.

"Okay, but if I lose this thing I won't be held accountable alright?"

"You won't lose it."

"Whatever you say Stronghold."

"Hello?" A female voice responded from the other end of the line the next morning.

Warren stopped at a red light, and adjusted his Bluetooth earpiece, "Mia? Are you in the city?"

"Yeah, I got back a couple of days ago, but was called in for a local mission last night, where are you?" she asked.

"Can we meet for coffee? Taylor's Café?"

"Sure, I'll see you in a bit."

A half an hour later, Warren stood up from his chair at the café as he spotted his girlfriend Mia walk through the door, and looked around for him. When she saw Warren she smiled widely and quickly walked towards him. Enveloping her in a hug, Warren kissed her and gave a grin as they sat down.

"How was Chicago?" Mia asked as she sipped her coffee.

Warren shrugged, "Villain was caught by a policeman, I wasn't even needed."

"Wow, what a waste."

Warren looked at Mia over his own cup of coffee and noted her slight tan from her week in Africa, but otherwise he was glad that she didn't have any injuries or scars left over from her missions, just as she had many times before.

"So what's up with you?" Mia asked lightheartedly and Warren took out the small velvet box that housed Will's engagement ring for Layla. He slid the box across the table and Mia opened it.

Her eyes widened dramatically as she saw the gorgeous ring, "Oooh this is pretty," she commented, looking up at him with a teasing look in her eyes that Warren didn't notice immediately. "But love, don't you think we're a little too young to get married?" she asked in a delicate tone.

Warren almost choked on the coffee he was drinking and spluttered out, "No, no, that's not…I mean, it's for...no-"

Mia only laughed at his reaction and raised her eyebrow, "Relax Warren, I know this is Will's, I was just messing with you," she grinned and Warren couldn't help but crack a smile at her.

"You're impossible," he said but the slight smile on his face never left him and Mia's eyes sparkled with humour. "So how did you find out?"

"Zack told us, he went with Will to get this resized yesterday," she responded, gesturing to the tiny box in her hand.

"Us?"

Mia laughed, "Yeah, he told me right after he left Will, and then Magenta, then Ethan and his girlfriend Gabby."

"Not Layla I hope," Warren muttered, shaking his head.

"No, thank goodness he can keep his mouth shut enough not to tell Layla, although it helps that he's been avoiding her ever since," she said, taking a bite out of a croissant and wiping her fingers on a napkin. "So why are you giving me this again?" she held up the box as she asked him and he looked at her closely.

"I need you to keep it until Will needs it," Warren said in a gentle voice, hoping that his slight pleading look would work on her.

"Excuse me?" Mia asked incredulously. "Will asked you to keep it didn't he? You're supposed to be the best man, and keeping the ring is supposed to be the best man's job."

"Correction, the best man is supposed to keep the wedding rings, not the engagement ring," Warren pointed out but Mia only rolled her eyes at him.

"Well the two are completely related so I guess it'll be your job," Mia retorted as she slid the box across the table back to Warren.

Warren grasped the tiny box and looked at his girlfriend pleadingly, "Mia please, I'm only going to lose this, you have to help me out here."

"And you don't think I'll lose it? I won't be the one to ruin a happy occasion for our friends."

Warren gave her a smile in hope of changing her mind, "But you're good at safekeeping, remember that case with the Department supplies you had to keep for me when we were up north?"

Mia rubbed her temples in exasperation, "Warren I lost those supplies remember?"

"Oh."

"Yeah."

A moment of silence, then Warren tried again, "Just…keep it for me Mia, please, I'll owe you a big one."

Mia looked at him, and was reeled in by that particular look of his, and in the end she relented. The two left the café, and Warren kissed her deeply in gratitude and Mia laughingly shook her head as she linked her hand through his.

"Okay, but if I do lose this, I won't be held responsible okay?"

"You won't lose it, just…keep it somewhere safe at home."

"Well come on then, let's get this baby home. When is Will planning to pop the question anyways?"

"Next Monday at the botanical garden show," Warren replied and Mia 'awwed', he turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"That's so sweet, that's her most favourite event of the year," she said in a happy voice. "It's so romantic of Will to have thought of that."

Warren looked down at her, "And why are you so surprised?"

Mia poked his side playfully, "Because just like you, Will rarely shows that he has some ounce of romance in his blood."

"I resent that," Warren simply replied. "I thought you found me romantic."

"Whatever you say Peace," she patted his stomach teasingly as they walked towards his car.

"There's an unidentified aircraft coming straight Downtown, call in one of the available heroes," Zack ordered and one of the interns nodded and entered a few codes on the database.

Magenta sat a few computer monitors away from Zack, and noticed abnormal activity on the streets downtown as well, "Civilians in disarray on Red Boulevard near Trent, it looks like a car is on fire."

"Is there anyone available?" Zack called out again.

"We've managed to contact Flare, and he's on the scene, Lady Force is also on the move," the intern replied through the intercom.

"I'm getting a couple of video feeds from the satellite and the rovers," Magenta called and soon a bird's eye-view of the downtown area was seen on their monitors, as well as a roaming video feed that showed what was happening at ground level.

"Where's Warren and Lia?" Zack said as he sat down beside Magenta.

Magenta entered something on the computer and soon two blue dots appeared on the screen, following the heroes' movements.

They watched as the car on fire was hurled through the air and through a brick building, missing the two heroes by inches. They spotted the villain, about to escape towards a helicopter that landed on the park about 100 metres away.

"Come on Warren," Zack muttered as they watched transfixed as Warren hurled fireball after fireball at the villain, with the fire snaking around him. But in the next second another villain appeared from the side, who was being fought off by Mia's force fields. The villain she was fighting seemed to have water powers as he doused the surrounding fire with a sweep of his hands. Both villains rushed towards the helicopter and the two heroes still trailed after them, battling against them as they ran.

Warren tackled the first villain on the grass a few feet away from the helicopter, while Mia grabbed on to the other villain's neck as he stepped on the helicopter platform. She enveloped them in a forcefield, but another villain inside the helicopter fired a laser gun at her and her hold on the other slackened as her right arm was hit. When the forcefield around them disappeared Mia punched the villain on the face, and he in turn, grabbed her left side roughly and tore her utility belt in the process. With two villains against her, the helicopter rose from the ground and as Mia sent another attack, a fist collided with her jaw and a pair of arms threw her over the side of the helicopter.

"No!" Magenta yelled as she stood up on her seat, horror on her face as she saw her friend freefall down to the ground.

But then in the last second, they saw Mia hold out her hands and a blue circular flat forcefield appeared in front of her, and she directed it down to her feet. She then looked as if she surfed down ever so gently towards the grass down below. Magenta sighed with relief as they watched their progress on the screen, she leaned against Zack who put an arm around her comfortably.

An alarm beeped overhead, signaling the request for a cleanup crew and medics, and Magenta and Zack decided to go with the crew towards the scene of the crime to see their friends.

"Stay still so I can heal your arm," Warren said strictly to Mia as she tried to stand up, they were inside one of vans sent over by the Hero Centre, as the cleanup crew were tending to other civilian's wounds and damages to the area.

"We have to get them Warren, we have to," she replied through gritted teeth, as she watched the villain that Warren managed to apprehend being led away by one of the crew members. She saw Zack and Magenta heading towards them and she stood up abruptly, only to be yanked back down to her seat by Warren.

"How's your arm?" Magenta asked concernedly.

"Feels much better now," Mia replied as Warren let her arm go, revealing pinkish skin on her forearm, as if her laser burn had a chance to re-generate over many days. "What did you find out about those villains?" she turned to Zack.

"I was just talking to that dude Warren knocked out, he seems out of it still but he said something about the Bank Heist group," Zack said as he crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back on the wall.

Mia stood up and stretched her arms, and rubbed her newly healed jaw which was cracked by her villain, "Well we have to go and find them or else we'll all be in trouble."

"What do you mean?" Warren asked worriedly.

"That jerk who punched me grabbed me on the side and split my utility belt before they threw me overboard, the belt is still in that helicopter, with them," she said as she walked towards the other van that held their prisoner.

"What's so important about the belt?" Magenta asked as the others walked alongside her.

Mia turned around and an apologetic look crossed her features.

"Will and Layla's engagement ring was in that belt."

"Crap."

"So I got us tickets for the botanical show next Monday," Will said to Layla as they sat down on a bench at the park, eating from Chinese take-out boxes, despite Will's preference for anything but Chinese food.

"Oh that's great! I'm so excited," Layla replied. "Is anyone else going? Or are they all busy?"

Will shrugged, "Not so sure, Ethan and Gabby might go, they got a week off after their assignment at Capital City."

"I hope the others can make it, it's so much fun going there with you guys, just like old times," Layla smiled.

He laughed as he remembered their trip there the year before, "Yeah, like when Zack knocked down the whole orchids row and security kicked him out."

Layla laughed along, "Yup, good times."

"Layla?" Will asked as he looked at some kids playing on the merry-go-round.

"Hmm?"

"If you could pick anywhere in the world to live in permanently, would you choose Maxville?"

Layla looked at her boyfriend for a moment and pondered about it, "Umm… Yeah, I think I would choose Maxville, it's familiar and it's a great place. Why do you ask?"

Will looked back at her and gave a small smile, "Well, you know, we've been getting all these missions where we have to go cross country and even out of the country, and I was just wondering if you ended up liking one of those places better than here."

She shook her head, "I mean, some of those places are definitely breathtaking, but they'll never feel like home to me you know? How about you?"

Will nodded in reply, "I feel the same, and besides, Sky High is here, and you know I really like running those summer mentorship programs they have now."

"I think this is the first time we've ever discussed our futures," Layla noted. "It's a breath of fresh air don't you think? Compared to our talks about risky and depressing missions?"

"Definitely," Will replied as he wrapped an arm around Layla affectionately, thinking about how in just 5 days he would get a chance to ask Layla to marry him. Layla took his hand in her own and Will noted her bare ring finger, smiling as he imagined a particular emerald silver ring nesting comfortably on it.

TBC

A/N. This will be a two-chapter story so stay tuned for it. Hope you guys liked it and if you do please review and tell me your thoughts. :)