"If he's here, then I assume that you are now his guardians while his mother is away?" Patricia asked as they walked down the hall. Josie nodded in affirmation.

"In that case, there's a lot that we need to discuss. But first can I see him?"

Josie stopped and looked at her. As confusing as the situation had gotten, she recognized genuine concern in the other woman's eyes. "He's right in here." She relented, gesturing to the living room.

They were greeted with varying degrees of surprise. Principle Powers smiled and hastily greeted each of her students before she focused all her attention on the young man sleeping on the couch. Josie motioned for the rest of the teens to vacate the room as their Principle knelt beside the occupied piece of furniture. Even though they didn't completely leave, they might as well have been in a different universe.

Patricia smoothed back his dark hair taking in the fading bruises on his face, before gently nudging his shoulder. "Warren?" She said quietly. She repeated this action twice before she got much of a response.

Warren was warmer that he had been, but he still hurt and he definitely didn't fit on this couch. That thought brought him up short. Who's couch was he on, and what was Aunt Pat doing here?

"Aunt Pat?" Warren asked groggily as he blinked open his eyes to confirm what he thought he was hearing.

"Yup." Patricia answered quietly.

"Wha…?" Was his most intelligent reply.

"You weren't answering your phone. It took me a while to track you down. How do you feel?" She asked firmly as she gently kept him from sitting up.

Warren blinked a few times before gingerly rubbing his face with his less injured hand. "This just got more complicated." He finally said.

Patricia sheepishly grimaced, but nodded in the affirmative. "Give me the rundown. And fine is not an answer."

Warren sagged back on the couch and rolled his eyes. "Couple of broken bones, heck of a head ache. Had some trouble with English for a bit. And I'm still a little cold." He listed off.

Patricia raised an eyebrow. "Couple of broken bones?"

Warren shrugged as well as one could while lying down on a too small couch with a broken arm and three broken ribs. "It's not like this is the first time I've had a broken bone…or two."

"Pain?" Patricia asked as she shook her head at his nonchalance.

"They hurt, but I'm pretty sure its more them healing than them being broken." Warren said flatly.

Patricia stared him down for a full minute, all the while evaluating his answers vs. his appearance. "You go back to sleep. I'll talk things over with the Strongholds, but you're going to have to stay here until you Mom gets back. I'll stop by your house tomorrow and grab your go bag and bring it here."

"Why them?" Warren was so far off kilter that he didn't realize how petulant he sounded, and thus couldn't stop himself from asking the question.

"I'm sure your mother had her reasons. She always does." Patricia said. "I'm sure this will be trying for you, but please try not to cause any trouble."

"I don't cause trouble." Warren mumbled in reply as he started to drift off.

"Right." Patricia huffed. "It just finds you."

Warren cracked an eye at her incredulous tone, and gingerly lifting his air casted arm and wiggling the toes on his air casted foot. "Case in point." Was all he said before closing his eye and ignoring her.

Patricia Powers smiled ruefully at her nephew and shook her head with a heavy sigh. By the time she tugged the blanket back up to his chin he was sleeping again; deeply enough that he wouldn't know to protest the quick kiss she laid on his forehead before getting up to follow a waiting Josie to her dining room.

Josie motioned to an empty chair as she took a seat next to Steve. She opened her mouth to dismiss the teens that had followed them when Will cut her off.

"We're not going anywhere." Will said. "He's our friend."

The three adults looked at the five teens and saw matching looks of determination on their faces.

Patricia sighed. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you have all become a part of Warren's life. I've always thought he needed some friends his own age to keep him grounded." She said, her tone a bit wistful. When she spoke again her tone was her no nonsense, I mean business, principle tone. "But this conversation is not for you to hear. I must ask that you never again speak of what you've already seen and heard."

"But…" Will began to argue.

"Remain a loyal friend to him and you will eventually have the answers to all the questions you no doubt have right now and then some." Patricia interrupted Will before he could even articulate half a sentence in protest.

There was a brief staring match between teens and principle.

"Fine." Will finally acquiesced.

"We won't tell anyone." Magenta said giving Zack a pointed look that promised doom and pain if he did not agree.

"Promise." Zack quickly agreed, though it sounded more like a yelp.

"Thank you for trusting us with that information." Ethan said diplomatically.

"We'll just be in the living room with Warren." Layla said as she ushered them from the room.

"Make sure to close the sliding doors." Josie said as the teens disappeared through the doorway.

The adults waited a few moments in silence, listening for the tell tale scape of the sliding doors closing the living room off from the rest of the house. Josie got up to peer down the hall to make sure the doors were shut. Satisfied that the teens had obeyed she returned to her seat at the table.

"You said Barry was your brother?" Steve asked in utter disbelief, unable to contain himself any longer.

"Half brother." Patricia corrected. "We share the same father."

"Younger or older?" Steve asked curiously.

"Eight years younger." Patricia answered. "My father left when I was a little girl. I don't remember him all that well. I didn't know that Barry was my brother until shortly before you arrested him."

"How did you find out about him?" Josie asked.

"From my older brother. I didn't know about him either; he found me, we share the same mother. Apparently he knew about the both of us all along. I don't know why he chose then to approach me, but he gave me the information I needed to contact Barry and left the decision to meet him up to me. I had finally decided to call him the day you arrested him." Patricia explained awkwardly.

"I had the phone in my hand when the news started broadcasting that you had taken him to the UltraMax."

She had to pause to choose her words.

"The first time I saw my little brother was on a TV as he was being dragged bound by you past the outer gates of the prison. Then the news channels started broadcasting the fires…the body count…"

She had to stop again. Josie sympathetically poured a glass of water and handed it to her. Her listeners waited patiently for her to continue.

"I had just been appointed Assistant Principle at Sky High. I knew if I wanted to keep my job…I could never let anyone find out that I was in any way connected to him." The she huffed at the irony, "So I burned the papers that my older brother had given me."

Josie drew her eyebrows together in thought. "That looked a little more familiar than burying all connections to Barry would suggest." She said in reference to the little question and answer session that had passed in the living room.

"Two years after I burned the information that my older brother gave me; I went to visit him and his wife, an attempt to get to know him better and a vacation before I started as the Principle at the school." Patricia said. "He and his mother, Laura, were there visiting as well."

"Phil and I can't have children of our own." Patricia continued, "I suppose teaching, being a principle filled a void in a way. But I didn't realize that void existed until I met my nephew."

She smiled wistfully, "I don't think I've ever had as much fun on a vacation as I had that year."

This drew surprised looks from the Strongholds at the seeming change of mood.

Patricia's smile broadened as if in response to some joke. "Just you wait," she warned, a twinkle in her eye, "Soon enough you'll see that young man in there has one wicked sense of humor. And the thing that gets you every time," she explained, "You never see it coming. Though I'm sure his mother does."

She shook her head to clear the fond memories of that first meeting with her estranged sister in law and nephew.

"After that, visiting my brother became my default vacation plan; summer, holiday, mid winter, spring break. That's how I got to know them all, and by extension, Barry."

"So," Steve said when Patricia paused, obviously thinking of fond memories. "If I follow correctly; the reason you're not listed as his guardian is because you think that publicly acknowledging a familial connection to Barry will get you fired?"

Patricia looked at him, a sad shadow in her eyes. "Initially…yes." She said. "Sky High is technically a private school with a board of trustees. They can hire and fire anyone at any time for any reason they deem worthy. At the time being connected to Barry, however obliquely, would have been a worthy reason to fire me. As the years passed, keeping my job became less of a reason not to say we're family. Some of the board members have changed, and the hype about what he did has died down to an awful footnote in recent history. I suppose I'm not afraid of losing my job anymore."

"So…" Steve said. "What is the reason then?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D" Patricia said. This earned a new round of surprised eyebrow lifts from the Strongholds.

"Phill, my husband, was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He's retired now, but he still has active connections. He knows what they would do to have a Pyro like Warren under their purview; and they're not particular about age either." Patricia explained. "Because of Phil's connections, acknowledging him as family would bring him on their radar far sooner than any of us want; as well as every enemy they have."

The adults sat in silence; Patricia reminiscing over fond memories, and the Strongholds digesting the information that had just been given them.

A few minutes later, Steve broke the silence, unknowingly mirroring the question and tone that the injured teen in his living room had voiced earlier.

"Why us?" Steve asked.

Patricia smiled and kept herself from letting out a laugh. "Like I told Warren," she said, "Laura likely had her reasons. She always does."

Steve blinked a few times, confused at her apparent amusement.

"I suppose it most likely comes down to politics." Patricia said.

"Politics?" he asked dryly, clearly expecting more of an explanation.

"You two have enough of a presence in the super world that the alphabet soup agencies would have a hard time maneuvering you into a corner." Patricia offered. "That and I'm sure that she thought it a good idea for you to get to know one another if the group of remarkable teens in the next room insist on continuing on a path of friendship with him."

"True." Josie agreed thoughtfully.

"This was a high enough profile event that the Changs wouldn't have been able to keep him under the radar." Patricia further explained. "Not to mention the whole can of worms that particular connection could open."

"Changs?" Steve was confused by the new reference.

"They own the Paper Lantern. They have some connection to Laura, they've kept an eye on him before. But like I said, this incident was just a little too big."

"Well," Josie said after another short contemplative silence had settled on over the room. "While I am curious about her reasoning; I don't think it's really important right now."

Patricia smiled. "Indeed." She agreed. Steve frowned.

They spent the next half hour discussing the finer points of the care and keeping of a cranky pyro. Their discussion was brought to a close when Josie's watch beeped, signaling that it was time to check said pyro's temperature.

"I assume that everything he had with him when the accident happened was destroyed." Patricia asked as they got up from the table and tucked in their chairs.

"The nurse at the hospital handed me a bag as we left the room." Josie said. "I haven't looked at what was in it."

"I'll stop by the Changs' and grab his 72 hour kit and let them know he's ok." Patricia said, "If his house keys aren't in the bag the hospital gave you, I'm pretty sure he has a spare in the go bag. He'll be able to direct you to his house to get some necessities if he's going to be here for longer."

Steve involuntarily grimaced at the implication of length of time that his arch enemy's son could be staying in his home. Josie caught it though and sent him a look that promised a stern talking to when they were alone.

"Would you like to stay for pie?" Josie invited the Principle as they approached the closed sliding doors that led to the living room.

"No," Patricia graciously declined. "Thank you though. I need to get home. Like I said, I'll pick up some of his things and bring them by tomorrow."

"Alright then." Josie said.

They split at the door to the living room. Josie slid the doors open to find the group of teens engrossed in a quiet game of go fish. Steve showed Principle Powers to the door.

"Please call me if you have any questions." Patricia said as she stepped out the door.

"We will." Steve promised, thankful that there was someone that knew more about pyros; apparently modern medicine had brought to light just how complicated pyros could be.

"Have a happy holiday." Patricia wished the household before quickly moving to her car and leaving for her home.

Steve closed the door after wishing their visitor a similar farewell. He took a deep breath. There was a lot that he needed to think about; and he wasn't sure he liked that.