Running for Home

Chapter Twenty-seven – Just Like a Dream Turned Out All Wrong

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am simply borrowing the wonderful characters and settings for my own enjoyment and amusement, and not for any profit.

Warren was an hour late for work. I don't know how long that meeting actually went on, but the longer I had to wait for him, the angrier I became. We were at a good place in our friendship. Why the heck had he gone and tried to mess it up? If I'd wanted it messed up, I could have tried to turn that moment we had on Friday night into something more. That would have been a perfect time to figure out if we were more than friends. Why had he waited until Monday at school, between my Sidekick classes, to try something like that?

The clock hit 5:35. What if he wasn't even coming in today? He'd never actually said he'd had to work today, I'd just assumed since we'd had most of the weekend off. Maybe he'd made up some shifts on Sunday. And I'd spend the rest of this shift working without him.

I was in the middle of working up the courage to ask Lisa or Mama Wu if Warren was working today, when he strolled in. Whistling. He nodded at me before heading into the back room to drop off his stuff.

Seriously? I gave up on the dishes as he walked back in.

"Guess who's one of the Homecoming Heroes?" he asked, grinning at me.

"What the hell?"

Warren stopped and looked around the room, double checking to make sure he hadn't done any hero-talking in front of non-supers. "What?"

"What? Really, that's all you have to say?" I knew he wasn't exactly on my thought-train, but still, if that almost-kiss had been on my mind all day, it damn well should've been on his mind too.

"I'll never use that nickname again?" Warren offered.

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it."

"I do?" Warren asked, looking more confused by the minute.

"What the hell was up with the hallway this afternoon?"

"The hallway?" Warren repeated.

"Yeah, that stunt you pulled this afternoon. Was that some sick, twisted joke? News flash – not funny."

"What, giving you the comic book? I thought you'd like it. Maybe even, gee, I don't know, identify with it."

"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about after that."

"Tyler, I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't seen you since lunch."

And like that, puzzle pieces fell into place. Warren really didn't know what I was talking about, because the guy in the hallway this afternoon – not Warren. He confirmed it, "A metamorph."

Shitake. Mushrooms.

Okay, now it was my turn to be confused. "There's what, two metamorphs at Sky High? I've never even talked to them. They have no idea who I am. Why would a metamorph pretend to be you just to mess with my head?"

And like that, having asked the question, it clicked.

Warren reached the same conclusion as me. "Josh. I'm gonna kill him."

"Not if I get to him first," I said. That…asshole. How had I not figured it out sooner? Seriously, Warren almost kissing me? I should have known right then. If I hadn't had such a big crush on Warren and wanted so badly for something like that to really happen, I would have realized that something was wrong with what had happened in the hallway. If I had just thought it through. Like Warren would have pulled a stunt like that.

And I ignored the little tweak in my heart that so wished it had been him.

"What did he do?" Warren growled.

I shook my head and turned back to the sink, not wanting to make eye contact. No way in hell was I about to tell him what Josh had done while impersonating Warren. No way in hell was I going to tell him that I actually believed it had been him who had almost kissed me.

That sick creep.

"Tyler, what did he do?" Warren asked again, his voice getting louder, deeper, angrier. He stood next to me at the sink, his arm brushing the metal platform where the newest dirty dishes were stacked. I realized he was starting to flame up when the metal of the sink grew hot.

"It's nothing. I'll deal with it," I said, trying to brush off the subject. Which was difficult. I was so angry I could feel my hands shaking.

I clenched my hands tight, trying to hide the outward sign of my fury. Of all the asshole moves to pull, Josh had to do that. I could handle almost anything else…but that…he'd found a vulnerable spot. And exploited it. It felt like a movie, where the person sticks their fingers in the other guy's bullet wound and digs.

"He was pretending to be me, obviously. What did he say to you?" Warren was tenacious, I had to give him that.

"Can we please just not talk about it? I'm pissed off and I feel like the biggest idiot on the planet. How could I have thought Josh was you? Even for a second?" I ran my hands through my hair, trying to give them something to do other than shaking at my sides. Since they were still wet from the dishes, the move really didn't help the situation.

"Talk to me. Quit trying to hide things, and tell me what happened," Warren said.

"Warren, I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm just embarrassed, and pissed off, and did I mention embarrassed?"

"Why are you embarrassed?"

I wished he'd just let it go. However, if the situation was reversed, and someone had impersonated me, I'd be just as determined to figure out what had happened. But tell Warren I thought he'd tried to kiss me? Nope, not happening. I looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to tell him. Enough so I wouldn't be lying, but less than would cause me to die of embarrassment.

"It was just for a minute between classes. He said some weird things, like, he knew me. And I thought it was you, but you were…different." There. That should do it. Pretty much what Josh had said, and he had been acting odd.

"What did he say to make you think he knew you?"

"He actually said he knew me. I'd mentioned the comic book." I thought about it for a second. "And he had no idea what I was talking about it, so he just said some stupid thing about knowing what I'd like or knowing me well. Kind of creepy, now that I know it was him."

"What else did he say?"

"Nothing. That was pretty much it." Well, it was mostly true. He hadn't said much else.

"And that's caused you to be this embarrassed?" The look Warren gave me said he still doubted my story.

I sighed, deciding to stick as close to the truth as possible. "I really thought it was you. That's what's so embarrassing. He said something strange about being tired of class, which I knew didn't sound like you, and I still thought it was you. On TV, when they're dealing with a shapeshifter or ghost-possession or something, they always know the possessed person isn't actually their friend. They just know. And I didn't. I didn't have a freaking clue." How could I not tell Warren from a fake-Warren? Was I just stupid? I would so fail if this was a TV show.

"This is real life, not Hollywood. You couldn't have known he'd do something like this. I'll take care of Josh tomorrow." Now that Warren had a satisfactory answer, he was ready to move from Curious Warren to Vengeful Warren. The look on his face reminded me more of when we'd first met than the Warren I'd come to know over the past few weeks.

"You can't," I said. "It'll just piss him off, and then he'll tell people who I am."

"So you're just going to let him intimidate you?"

And this was the look I hadn't wanted to see on Warren's face. The look that said he clearly didn't understand how I could let someone push me around. The look that said he didn't understand why I wouldn't stand up for myself. I felt like a coward.

"I don't have a choice right now, Warren. Not a lot of options."

Warren paused for a moment before he said, "If you told people who you were, he'd have nothing on you."

If only it were last week and it was still that simple. Not that that situation had ever really been simple. But simpler than the current Mexican standoff Josh and I were in. Warren couldn't find out about any of that. He'd think even less of me than he seemed to be thinking right now. Like just having a secret identity hadn't been complicated enough. Always worrying about my reactions and facial expressions and whether or not someone would recognize me. And thinking about that reminded me of why I'd needed a secret identity. "I can't tell people who I am. You know that."

"Because you think you helped your parents commit their crimes? That's bullshit. You didn't do anything that day. Not on purpose."

"Because I helped kill some of our classmates' parents. Even if you don't agree, and even if I'm starting to believe it, there are still three kids at our school whose parents were killed by mine. Not to mention all the other supers in Maxville who must hate my parents."

"You're not them, you're not responsible for what they did."

Oh God, I wanted to believe that. My life would be so much easier if it was all out in the open. If I didn't have to keep my secrets, or Josh's. "Every other day, we talk about the trial in class. About what my parents did, what I did. And even if you accept that I'm not responsible for my parent's crimes, even if half of my class accepts that idea, there's still that other half that thinks I'm as responsible for killing all those supers as Dynamite and Heartthrob."

Warren still didn't get it. "If you don't believe it, then who cares what everyone else thinks?"

How could I make him understand what these last weeks had meant to me? "Warren, what if you could go someplace where no one knows who your father is and what he's done? If you could just be you, and not be known as Baron Battle's son. I might not be able to use my real name or use my real powers, but by not being Jenny Conway, I'm able to actually be me. And be known for who I am, without all that extra crap that surrounds the Conway name."

Warren looked like he might be starting to see things from my perspective. "Okay. It still sucks that in order to be yourself, you can't be you."

"Yeah, the whole secret-thing hasn't really been working out for me lately," I said. And being reminded of what had started this whole conversation, I added, "Don't try to talk to Josh. That'll just piss him off. I'll talk to him, he'll get his little thrill out of knowing he tricked me, and it'll be over."

"And what's to stop him from doing this the next time he gets bored?"

Good question. Shitake mushrooms, having one fake almost-kiss had been humiliating enough. If Josh made a game out of this, I was screwed. "Uh, I have a feeling asking him nicely isn't going to work."

"And I can't burn him to a crisp."

"I'd like to say that next time, I'll be able to tell the difference between you and Josh pretending to be you…" But clearly, hoping for the best was not a viable strategy. "We can't be the only supers in the world to ever encounter a shapeshifter problem. They must have had some way to deal with it."

Warren was deep in thought and I wasn't even sure he was really listening to me at this point. "Code words," he said, nodding his head. "We need some kind of code."

"Like a secret handshake?"

Warren shook his head. "If you start to doubt that I'm me, we'll have a phrase. And an answer, so we know neither of us is Josh. It'll be like the security questions that websites set up in case you forget your password."

I thought about the stupid questions that my email asked me. "What elementary school did you go to?"

Warren gave me a look. "That's the best you could do?"

"Fine, you think of something."

"How about this: What time will the horse arrive? And the other person will answer: Superman wears tights."

It was my turn to give him a look. "I feel like I'm in a bad spy movie. And be careful about the tights comment – what if you have to wear them someday?"

"I'm not going to become a tights-wearing hero."

"You never know, it might be like all those little kids who think they're going to grow up to be football stars and instead work a desk job. Hey, football players wear tights too. Maybe wearing tights isn't such a bad thing."

"They're not tights," Warren said. Really, it was more of a growl. "And if you think wearing tights is so great, does that mean you're going to run out after high school and buy a spandex suit to wear while you fight crime?"

"Oh yeah, I can't wait for that. We even discussed it in class today. I'm thinking of going for neon yellow."

"Bright enough to hurt the eyes?" Warren laughed.

"Is there any other shade?" I asked, grinning.

"And now we have our code."

"What? Neon yellow spandex?"

"And Superman wears tights," Warren said, confirming the end of the code.

I looked at him. "I feel like a nerdy fifth-grader, setting up a secret clubhouse."

"At least it will be a clubhouse that Josh can't trick his way into."

No argument there. And I felt better now, knowing that Josh wouldn't be able to pull any more stupid stunts like making me think he was Warren. Other stupid stunts, yes. I had no doubt Josh would come up with something else as evilly appropriate. I don't think he understood the concept of our Mexican standoff. He should've been leaving me alone. I wouldn't tell what he'd done, and he wouldn't tell what he knew. Maybe I needed to remind him that he wasn't supposed to still be playing these games. I just wasn't quite sure how to go about doing that.

Lisa came in then, and spotting Warren, tossed a glare his way. "Now that you're finally here, how about you do your job so I don't have to?" She threw the dirty dishes tub onto a counter and flounced back out.

"Oops," I said, feeling sheepish because I'd totally forgotten that he'd already been pretty late to work when he'd come in and I'd ambushed him. But speaking of him being late… "What happened with Principal Powers today?"

Warren smiled as he tied on his apron. "You mean when she called us Homecoming Heroes into her office?"

"Really, you're actually going to start calling yourself that?"

"Naw, I just wanted to see what you'd say when I did," he said.

"Yeah, Tara already told me about the nickname during Save the Citizen. You know, when you weren't there."

He grabbed a clean tub to take out into the dining area. "Me and Stronghold and the rest had to meet with Principal Powers during P.E."

"Again, something Tara already told me." I leaned back against the sink, ignoring the water on the metal that seeped into the back of my shirt. In the grand scheme of things going on today, a wet spot on the back of my shirt ranked pretty low.

"Principal Powers and some of the teachers were there, both hero and sidekick. They asked us a bunch of questions about how we worked together at Homecoming."

"They just asked about your teamwork? That's it? And it took that long? What did they want to know?"

Warren shrugged. "Stuff like how Ethan turned into a puddle and was able to slow down Speed enough for me to finally hit him. And how Glowstick was able to lead us through the air vent. Magenta fixing the anti-gravity tech. Then they went and had a teachers' meeting, but we'd missed the bus, so we had to wait for them to finish. Ms. Grey, the sophomore hero teacher, gave us a ride back down in her aircar."

"I thought you guys were supposed to be in on that meeting about revolutionizing the education at Sky High. Big changes and all that," I complained, more than a little disappointed that Warren didn't have anything to add to those rumors that Tara had mentioned.

Warren shrugged. "Maybe they'll start having people work in pairs, like Commander and Jetstream. Or we'll pair up with our sidekick or hero now, instead of waiting till graduation."

"Great. With my luck, I'd end up paired with Spitfire's kid or Jillian Lockwood or someone else whose life was destroyed by my parents."

"Could be worse. They might pair you up with that kid who turns into a bouncy ball."

"Hey, being one of the Homecoming Heroes, you should know better than anyone that she could be a very…powerful ally someday."

He grinned, nodding at me, "You just called me a Homecoming Hero."

"Shut up, you know what I meant."

"That name's going to stick," he said as he grabbed the tub and left.

Author's Note: Thanks to my reviewers, new and old: RedRaven1994, Alice Rose Winter, Spyro Flavord Skittles, mergirl007, Talis Ruadair, Closed Doors, LilMizFireGirl, Aleesh, Abby, VanityMirror, SandShinobi21, AikoRose, Charm1997, KeiGinya, dokuki, Vaughn Tyler, whointheworldwouldbelievethat, DamnBlackHeart, serenitylovegod, CrippledSoul, and Haruka Munashii

Song lyrics are from Boomerang by Steven Strait :)