Stitches lay on his bunk with his arms folded behind his head and hummed to himself. He knew it annoyed the guards but there was nothing they could do to make him stop so he kept at it. Annoying the guards and doctors was one of the few pleasures he had in captivity.

He still couldn't believe that it had all gone so wrong. Royal Pain's plan should have worked. It would have worked if not for the interference of Will and his sidekick friends. Stitches should have been the minion of the ruler of the world by now. Instead, he'd been stuck in this small cell with nothing to do for the past month.

After a couple of days in the Sky High detention cell, the prisoners had been taken into custody and brought to a federal penitentiary, awaiting trial. Stitches had been separated from the others as he was the only one they could try as an adult. Penny, Lash, and Speed were to be tried as juveniles and last he'd heard, there was still debate about what to do with Gwen. Did her birth date qualify her as an adult or should they go by her biological age and treat her as a juvenile? It was an odd situation and one that had legal scholars arguing on both sides.

Either way, he wouldn't be allowed to see her again unless she escaped which he had no doubt she would. She was an evil genius and no jail could hold her for too long. Sure, they were probably using drugs on her to suppress her powers but the authorities would slip up sooner or later and then she'd be out. She wouldn't leave him behind. He was her favorite helper and father figure. She wouldn't leave him here to rot.

For someone with as much boundless energy as him, being stuck in this tiny cell with nothing to do was pure torture. So he found his enjoyment anyway he could. He knew his cell was being monitored so sometimes he'd sing whatever songs came to mind at the top of his lungs for hours until his throat hurt. One day he'd been especially amused to sing the same song all day over and over again until the guards got so fed up they'd had the doctor sedate him. Any day he could get under their skin was a good day.

They were hoping he would crack and confess everything to save them the long drawn out process of a trial but he was a lot stronger than anyone believed. Oh sure, he was a lunatic by their standards but that just made resistance easier. A sane man would have cracked under the pressure that first week.

But Stitches laughed his head off every time one of the psychiatrists suggested that he'd get better treatment, maybe even time in the rec room, if he'd just cooperate. He'd spent seventeen years raising a supervillain from infancy so she could take over the world and they thought a little isolation was going to break him? That was nothing compared to seventeen years of wiping runny noses, bandaging scraped knees, and finding ways to keep a child genius occupied and happy. Fatherhood had prepared him for anything they could dish out. He wouldn't betray Gwen no matter what they promised.

He was allowed books to read in his cell but not newspapers or television. Still, he'd heard enough information from the guards and the doctors to piece together what had happened after his arrest. Will Stronghold and his friends had been hailed as heroes for stopping Royal Pain and her followers. The Pacifier had been destroyed and all the babies had been restored to their normal ages. Which was too bad because Stitches could have accepted defeat easier if he knew Will had to care for his infantazized parents. What good would victory have done him then?

Night time was the worst. He didn't need much sleep and spent much of the night simply lying in darkness as his mind raced. There were fewer guards near him at night and he couldn't sing or talk constantly so he spent the nights in silence. Sometimes, he would hear other inmates yelling and screaming at night but the section he was in was reserved for low-level criminals, sidekicks, and the like. It wasn't as though he had to listen to the supervillains ranting about their foiled plans.

He preferred not to dwell on the past anyway. They'd lost. It sucked. Time to move on and consider possible avenues of escape. Although really, until Gwen came for him or there was some kind of mass breakout attempt, he wasn't going anywhere. The guards were too careful for him and his powers weren't conducive to an escape. That's why they hadn't even bothered to drug him. What good did super-stamina do him in here except to annoy the guards?

Sometimes, just for a change of pace, instead of singing he'd spend all day literally bouncing off the walls. He'd jump onto the bed, jump off again, and repeat as long as needed. Or he'd do exaggerated karate movies, pivoting around the room and hacking at imaginary foes. Sometimes he'd even sing while he did it. It was all quite amusing and he wondered if the doctors taped his performances and used them as blooper reels during their psychiatric conventions. Let them go on underestimating him and thinking him merely a witless, capering fool. It would make his escape that much more satisfying.

He had been in the prison six weeks, four days, fifteen hours, twenty-seven minutes and eleven seconds(although it felt more like an eternity) when the inevitable happened. It was dark out, well after midnight, when the alarms began going off. That meant there was trouble somewhere in the prison. He jumped off the bed and peered out the narrow slot into the dark hallway but there was nothing to see. Hopefully it was Gwen, but even if it was someone else, there was a chance he could escape in the confusion and release his master.

The alarms cut off in mid-peal and every door on the ward suddenly unlocked. That had to be Gwen. Who else could control the electronic locks? He ran out into the dark corridor. The other inmates were stumbling out as well, disoriented and half-asleep, but he disregarded them. The exit signs were the only source of illumination as he took off towards the maximum-security wing where Gwen would be waiting for him.

Royal Pain had once considered a plan to break several villains out of the penitentiary, including the notorious Baron Battle. Their rampages would have made a nice cover for her own, more subtle crimes and by the time the heroes rounded them all up, they'd be too tired and distracted to pose a threat to her. So she'd memorized the floor plans of the jail and made Stitches do the same. She'd ultimately dropped the plans once she'd decided the other villains were too much of an unknown quantity but he still remembered the exact layout of these buildings.

Every door was unlocked just as he'd known it would be. Inmates were running wild everywhere and the few guards he saw were more interested in containing them then in paying heed to one skinny, harmless-looking man who ran from them rather than attacking. They probably thought they could round him up later with the other crazies.

The violent ones were the ones to watch out for for him as well as the guards. Twice, he was forced to hide, first in a closet and then a bathroom as some dangerous inmate thundered down the hall, attacking everyone they could see. The only thing that prevented wholesale slaughter was that the ones with powers were still drugged and couldn't do damage with anything more than their fists, feet, and in one incident that he saw, their teeth.

He was worried about the more violent inmates in the maximum-security wing but when he arrived there, none of the cells were open except for one in the middle of the corridor. A quick glance at the nameplate told him this was Gwen's cell but she was nowhere in sight. The lights were still on here but the security cameras were off-line. Carefully, on the highest alert, he continued down the hall as fast as he could, hoping to run into her.

Stitches could feel the stares of some of the imprisoned inmates as he passed and it made him jumpy but there was nothing he could do to help them even if he were the suicidal type. There were beings in this section that made Royal Pain look harmless in comparison. She wanted to rule the world and if some people had to die for her to achieve her goal, then so be it. But she'd never been one to commit mass slaughter just for fun like one of the inmates whose name he happened to glance at as he passed. With a shudder, he hurried on through the hall.

"Release me." He froze at the soft, commanding voice coming from the cell to his left. "Release me and I shall reward you most handsomely."

Stitches glanced up at to meet the black eyes of the man peering through the slot. There was nothing but madness in those eyes. He glanced at the name on the door and then started as he realized who it was. Despite himself, he grinned. It was lunacy to tease someone this dangerous, even if they were caged and drugged into submission, but no one had ever accused him of being sane.

"No, sorry Baron. I'm in a hurry but I'll be sure to say 'hi' to your son next time I see him. He's quite the hero these days. Takes after his mom I guess. Bye!" As he skipped off, Baron Battle began to scream and curse at him but he heard none of it. All his attention was on finding Gwen.

The hall eventually led him to a large recreation room and that was where he found Gwen. She was still dressed in the regulation gray jumpsuit but her attitude and posture were all Royal Pain. A few guards lay sprawled out on the floor, either unconscious or dead; he didn't know or care which. Penny, Lash, and Speed were with her. They all started when they saw him approaching and then relaxed when they realized who it was.

"I know you'd escape, Master! That's my clever little girl. Now we can get back to our plans for world domination." He clapped his hands in glee as he danced up to her. She looked at him with such disdain that he actually froze in mid-step and stumbled a bit.

"You must be joking. Why would I bother with you any more, Stitches? You were defeated by a bus driver with NO POWERS! You're useless to me. At least they got defeated by people with actual powers." She swept her hand out to indicate the other three teens but her cold eyes never left his face. He assumed they were smirking at his shocked expression but his gaze was fixed to Gwen's. He stood there in shock, too startled to even breathe for a moment.

"But master, I'm your faithful sidekick. What will you do without me?" His mind seemed to be frozen. Nothing made sense. How could she even think of leaving him behind after all he'd done for her? Where were Penny, Speed, and Lash when she'd been a helpless baby in his arms? So he'd gotten careless and been defeated. It wouldn't happen again. She couldn't do this.

"I've just released a whole wing full of villainous sidekicks who will be happy to serve me and my plans. I don't need you anymore. If you want to escape, feel free, but it won't be with us."

This was a nightmare. It had to be. On the rare occasions where he actually slept, he tended to have weird dreams. It was the only explanation. Alarms suddenly wailed out again and all the lights flickered. Gwen glanced up as though she could see through the concrete walls and a flicker of unease crossed her face.

"We're leaving. Go where ever you want but don't try to follow or no amount of 'Uncles!' will save you from me." She turned and walked away and the other three followed. They were smirking. He could see that now. The doors on the far wall opened to Gwen's powers. He could see open air beyond them and freedom. She stopped at the door and addressed him one final time without turning around.

"Better hurry. The heroes are on their way to stop us. I'm going to open all of the cells. You'd be wise not to be here when that happens." There might have been a hint of concern in her voice or maybe it was just his imagination. She walked out and her helpers followed.

Stitches had never been this conflicted in his life, even when he'd had to decide what to do about Pacified Sue. Gwen couldn't really mean what she'd said, could she? Was this all a test of his loyalty? If he went running after her, threw himself at her feet, and begged for another chance would she agree or just kill him on the spot? Would death be preferable to the overwhelming idea of being alone and unwanted, rejected even by hs own daughter?

The alarms kept shrilling and he heard a click as all of the cells were opened at once. The thought of Baron Battle coming after him, broke him from his frozen stance. He ran for the open doors. As long as he was still alive, there was a chance she'd relent but he was no good to her or himself if he was dead.

The air outside was cool and calm. He looked up at the stars and breathed a sigh of relief at being outside again. But there was no time to enjoy himself. There was a glint of light hurtling towards the jail and he knew it was one of the Heroes. He wasn't sure which one but he had to leave now.

Gwen and company were nowhere in sight, probably long gone thanks to Speed but the wall around the prison was breached. He ran through it, and into the grasslands surrounding the prison. There was no cover for a long way except for a copse of trees on the horizon which was a deliberate part of the security methods. It made it easier to see escaping prisoners.

He started running and the prison suddenly lit up with light and sirens behind him but it wasn't for him. The spotlights were all turned inward. Dimly, he could hear explosions and the sounds of fighting getting softer behind him as he got farther away. The supervillains were loose and the Heroes were too busy fighting them to notice or care about him.

Stitches reached the distant trees and kept going. He ran for miles just as he had with baby Sue but the only burden this time was his own bewilderment. He still couldn't believe she'd rejected him like that. Sure she was evil, but she'd always rewarded loyalty before.

He kept running all night and eventually he realized that he was instinctively heading to where the Strongholds lived. It was where Gwen would go to get her revenge and if he could find a way to help her, she'd take him back with open arms.

The only thing he was certain of was that he had to win back Gwen's approval. His whole purpose was to serve her. It had been for a very long time and he wasn't about to stop now. The first glimmerings of a plan began to appear in his mind. It just might work if he could pull it off. Stitches and Royal Pain would be a force to be reckoned with and the Heroes wouldn't know what hit them. It would be just like old times.

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"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." From King Lear by William Shakespeare.

Well, there it is, my first Sky High fic. I do plan on writing a sequel to this but there's another Sky High fic I have in mind and I don't know which one I'll work on first. Reviews are appreciated.