Title: Mother Nature's Call

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sky High characters, and include some of my own in this work. All but the characters in the movie are mine.

Feedback: Guys, I really appreciate your feedback and reviews. I'm not sure about Warren being in the same grade as the others. He's a year older, so it makes sense to me that he'd be in grade higher. I took out the reference to him being a junior though, just in case.

Synopsis: Sophomore year comes quickly for Will and friends. When trouble arises from student transfers, members of the small group of friends are faced with difficult choices.

Mother Nature's Call

Chapter One: The New Year

Walking onto the bus, Will glanced at the staunch-faced bus driver who had taken Ron Wilson's place. Currently he was ignoring Layla's cheerful smile and the curious look of the Stronghold boy, so the two kept walking until they joined Ethan, Zach and Majenta in the back of the bus. The small group hadn't been able to hang out together much during the summer, so they greeted each other with bright smiles.

"Will! How's it going?" Zach asked, smiling as Will took his hand. Layla said hey to the others and sat down next to Will. The small group spent most of the trip catching up on the summer. Before long they found themselves stepping out of the bus onto Sky High's floating campus. The school looked beautiful, even more so this year since they were no longer freshmen. Spotting Warren walking up the steps, Layla turned to Will and smiled.

"I'm gonna go say hi to Warren," the flower child said while smiling at her boyfriend. Nodding his head, Will looked over until he saw the tall dark figure of his best friend. Not seeing him all summer had meant he and Layla had spent a calm one together, but he looked forward to the moody glances and the intimidating stares. Beneath it all was a good man, a true friend, and he would never forget it was him he was indebted too for revealing Layla's feelings for him. Will grabbed Layla's hand and the two moved off from the group to catch up with him. One day Will would thank him, but today he'd settle for just being able to say hello.

"Warren!" Layla yelled down the hall, smiling as the reluctant figure stopped and turned slowly. Seeing the hippie and her taller, broader looking boyfriend next to her brought a sincere and unexpected smile to Warren's face. Thinking on it, he stood as the two ran up to him.

"Hey Warren!" Will greeted, holding out his hand to take the strong one that Warren smoothly extended.

"You've grown Stronghold," Warren said, smiling. Nodding bashfully, Will smiled while Layla reached out to hug him.

"Warren, its great to see you!" Layla said as she pulled back, fully aware of how uncomfortable Warren was with public displays.

"You too Layla," Warren said softly while smiling. Somehow the hippie had wiggled her way into his heart. He had a great affection for her, and found himself wanting to protect her like a sister. Sighing, he looked at Will and thought he probably didn't have to worry about it, something he figured was probably for the best.

"Hey!" Ethan said, walking up to the group.

"Hey man!" Zach said as he and Majenta reached the others. Warren's lips quirked up sardonically, nodding his head. Despite the half smile on his face, Layla knew he was happy to see the others and wondered if he had realized yet that the same kids he had helped save Sky High with could now see through his loner act. Smiling at the thought of how irritated it would make him, Layla turned to kiss Will on the cheek before heading off to class. Watching her go, both Will and Warren smiled. Glancing back at each other and catching the remaining smiles, the guys quickly changed their expressions to more serious ones and headed off to their own classes.

Ethan, Zach, Majenta and Layla found themselves back in Hero Support. While the previous year's Homecoming had gone a long way to break down some barriers, the system was too old to be changed that quickly. So the four found themselves with a new teacher, Red Radar, a woman whose superpower was incredible hearing. While a nifty gift, it wasn't found worthy of Hero status when she went to Sky High so she found herself serving as a sidekick for several years before retiring to teach.

"Hello," Ethan greeted before moving to take a seat. The dark haired teacher smiled as she began passing out a class syllabus to her new students. Sitting down, the small group of friends reached for their papers and began going through them, eager for another school year.

Will was sitting, a little less eagerly, in his class. He still regretted his seat, his "label" as Layla called it, while his friends were forced under a different, less respected "label."

"Remember Will, it's just a label. We'll see you, and we'll work with you, you know we will. So don't worry about us, you'll always be one of our greatest friends." Layla whispered that morning before they left the house to catch the bus. As the words came back to him, Will smiled. Thankful that she always seemed to know what to say, Will looked up and smiled at his teacher. A new year had begun and he was excited.