Will's pencil stopped and started as he tried to focus on his equations, above the sound of the arguing.

"Why did you come? I was fine! I would have gotten myself out!"

"He had that contraption on your head already, Gwen. It was powering up. When exactly were you going to start working yourself free of it?"

"I was waking up. You didn't need to interfere." Slam. "You always interfere! I'm not weak you know. I don't need someone charging in to rescue me all the time."

"I never said you were or that you did, Gwen."

"Then quit calling me Gwen!" She bellowed and Will winced. "Royal Pain to you! And he wasn't that far along into his plan. You're exaggerating. I can work myself out of a mind-downloading machine with a wave, I didn't need you. He'd barely sedated me. He probably wasn't even reading the incantations right."

"You know, if you took better care who you picked to date to begin with and didn't go out with a man so obviously still into his former girlfriend, these things wouldn't happen. There were warning signs, Pain."

"I don't need a lecture from you! You're not my father!" She finally stormed into the kitchen, not even stopping to look at Will as she dove into the freezer. "I don't want to talk about this, especially not with you!"

"Ever single one, Pain. Aren't you noticing a pattern? The guy with the goo all over him who tried to eat your brains, that purple fruity art trader without arms who wanted you to wear that transparent plastic tablecloth of a dress, the robot, for the love of…"

"Nothing was wrong with Meggy!" She violently dug into a tub of ice cream and threw a scoop into a bowl. "We parted on good terms. He had other things to do, I wanted kids some day. Well, more kids." She finally looked at Will. "Keep doing your homework, sweetie, Baron and I are just having a discussion."

"Wait, kids?" He crossed his arm. "Did you two do something?"

"He was a robot. You know that I'm a technopath. I can move things inside of him without having to even touch him. And why would you be surprised at the range of devices I can make with his parts?" She grabbed a spoon and started shoveling in the vanilla. "Not that it's any of your business or relevant to this discussion. In fact, this isn't even a discussion. It's over, that's what it is." She licked the spoon and gave a last nod to Will. "Bring me your homework when you're done and we'll look over it, alright?"

"Sure mom." Will nodded then dropped his head again as the Baron stormed past.

"That's disgusting! A robot? Really? And it is my business when you bring them home!" He shouted and followed her out of the room. "I don't care what you do to yourself, but this is my house as well and I don't want them here!"

"Then I'll take them to hotels! Would that make you happy? If it all went down in some seedy Motel 6?"

The walls were thick, but not thick enough, and Will sighed as he tried to refocus. He scribbled down the last few answers then shoved the papers aside to make a beeline for the gym. He found Victor there like he usually was, punching the bag in front of him like he hated it.

"Our parents are arguing again," he said sadly, taping up his spindly hands like the Baron had shown him how.

"Duh." Victor rolled his eyes. "They're always arguing."

"So why are we living in the same place if they don't like each other?" He started throwing little punches of his own at an adjacent bag.

"Because they need each other," Victor said in the condescending tone that always reminded Will that Victor was (however slightly) older and therefore knew infinitely more. "To do their work."

"Well I wish they'd be nice." Punch. "They're always telling us to be nice."

"It's different for grownups, dummy."

"How is it different?"

"It just is!" Victor sounded exasperated. "Don't you know that?"

"No." Will frowned. "Didn't."

"Aw don't be mad." Victor rubbed his head with his boxing glove. "And they're gonna make up. They always do."

"But what if they don't?" Will worried. "What if they have a really big fight and then mommy and I have to go away or your daddy decides to leave and its forever? Then I'll never get to see you again and your dad won't teach me cool things and stuff!"

"Well maybe you'd get to live with that goggle guy you mom is always hanging out with. He seems pretty cool." Victor said doubtfully. "And anyway, just because we aren't living together doesn't mean we can't be friends. I'd still visit ya. Friends can visit."

"You promise?" Will asked to be sure.

"Quadruple swear." He nodded. "Even if you are a dork, I guess you are my best friend."

Will beamed and left the punching bag to go play with a jump rope.

"You're still talking to him?" The fight had died down for about a week but was really simmering below the surface. "He's been leaving messages; are you two getting back together? I can't believe you're getting back together."

"Quiet," she chided. "It's almost midnight, you're going to wake the boys."

"Well I wouldn't have to shout if you weren't doing such stupid things all the time."

"It's not stupid." She dropped a bag of Early Grey into a mug. "It's smart politics. Okay, so we had a breakup and maybe it didn't happen under the best circumstances. But he's got a lot of west coast influence and he's one of the smartest technical minds out there, including myself. It would be stupid to let a relationship squabble get in the way of a professional relationship."

"That still doesn't tell me why he's calling." The Baron crossed his arms.

Gwen ran a finger around the rim of the mug. "We've been talking."

"I know that."

"About his old girlfriend."

"What? Why would you be talking about that?"

"He really missed her." She sipped her tea. "That's why we didn't work out. And I know he tried using me to get her back and that wasn't good but I think I can help him." Another sip. "You remember that girl that your son and I used to go to school with? The hippie one who could control plants?"

"Yes, I remember her. Annoying little green thumb."

"Well she's about the same age as me, obviously, which makes her another good candidate for Penny. They've got similar body builds, similar hairstyles, even similar attitudes. So I suggested that he let me help capture Layla and he'd get his girlfriend back and then everything would be cool with us again. No harm no foul, right?"

"Are you serious?" He asked slowly. "You're going to help him use some freaky machine to try to bring back his dead girlfriend? And you want me to help, I take it?"

"Well, a machine and a little magic. And you don't have to help; I can do it on my own."

"I've heard that before," he snarked.

"But I would appreciate it," she went on. "As a favor to me."

"I guess I could," he sighed. "It's another stab at Stronghold. But you owe me one. Agreed?"

"Agreed," she nodded and finished her tea.

"Good." He smiled and then went off to check on his son, leaving her alone in the dark kitchen.

"I can't believe they're doing this to me!" Steve punched the concrete wall that held him.

"This is your fault!" Josie pointed angrily. "He was only a henchman! He wasn't even a very good henchman. The only thing he could do was make things wet. And you take it all out on him instead of the ones actually responsible for capturing Leyla?"

"I couldn't get to them fast enough! Believe me, I wanted to, but they got away," he growled.

"And instead of hunting them down, I'm here paying your bail." The officer came up and slid the depowering bars off to the side. "In fact, we're probably not even on the case anymore. I'm sure we've been taken off of it, thanks to your lack of control." She shook her head. "I can't do this anymore, Steve. This is the absolute last straw."

"What are you saying, Josie?" He trailed behind her.

"I want a divorce," she snapped.

"A divorce?" He spun her around. "How dare you! This is about that little sidekick of yours isn't it? Is that why you were so upset that it was a sidekick I took out?"

"Let go of me Steve!" She shouted. "Right now! And I'm mad because you beat him to death!"

The officers ran up behind him. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

Steve set her down on the floor and she glared. "No. We were just leaving. Separately." She made her way to the door of the holding facility and flew off, knowing he wouldn't be able to follow. She flew around for over an over, enjoying the peace and quiet of the blue sky and puffy clouds, before finally coming back down on a lawn that was not her own.

She knocked and the door and tried to straighten up and look dignified.

"Oh god, Josie!" Jonathon gasped. "I heard what happened, it's absolutely awful."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Yeah. Look, Jon, I know I've talked too much and taken up a lot of your time."

"No, Josie, no, not at all, I'm happy to see you. Always." He smiled and pushed up his glasses.

"I know Jon." She shifted from foot to foot. "If you say no I won't be offended. But Steve and I just split and I really don't feel like going back to the house and facing everything tonight." She bit her lip. "I was hoping I could stay with you. It's a terrible imposition and I have no right but I don't want to be alone and I can't go back to the house. Would you mind?"

"Not at all." He stepped back from the door so she could come in. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll put out fresh sheets and towels in the guest bedroom. Can I get you anything else?"

"A glass of wine would be nice," she sighed as she fell onto the couch.

"I'll get you a glass of pinot grigio." He ducked into the kitchen while she kicked off her loafers. When he returned he found her stretched out, causing him to blush. "I'll, uh, go get the guest room ready then." His hand shook a little nearly spilling the wine, but she took it from him in one smooth motion and took a generous sip.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled and took his hand, pulling him so that he sat down next to her. "I'd rather have the company, to be honest."

"You're sure you're alright?" He anxiously twiddled with his hands.

"Better now," she said, letting her head drop onto his shoulder. "Tomorrow might not be so good, though."

She drank her wine for a while in silence until Mr. Boy nervously cleared his throat. "I suppose you'll want to go to bed, then?"

"Sleep would be nice," she admitted.

"I'll just go get the room ready…"

He stood up and she grabbed his hand again. "I already told you Jonathon. Don't worry about it. I don't want to be a bother."

"Oh."

"Oh indeed," she smiled, set down he glass, and lead him down the by now familiar hallway.

Victor heard a knock at his door and sleepily sat up in bed. The light from the hallway illuminated Will's tiny frame dragging a stuffed cephalopod beside him.

"Hey dweeb. What're you doin' here," he yawned.

"Mommy's crying," he whispered. "In the kitchen."

"Where's my dad?"

"Talking to her." He looked nervous. "I've never seen mommy cry like this before."

"You wanna listen?" Victor slipped out of bed. "Come on, we'll sneak over and listen."

They crept down the hall and halted at the edge of the kitchen door, pressing themselves up against the wall.

"…feel like I failed him!"

"Henchmen take that risk. You did right in getting the girl away. You saw how happy he was. And the transfer was a total success!"

"I know!" She kept sobbing. "But it brought up so many bad memories of his arch-nemesis Hammer because he was like that too, all brawn and no brains, you know, and I keep thinking that I should have known Stronghold would do something stupid."

"Stronghold?" Will whispered to Victor.

"One of the people my dad hates," Victor whispered back.

"Sounds familiar."

"They've talk about him before. Be quiet before they hear us."

"Besides, now he's in prison. We are breaking him Pain."

"I shouldn't be this upset over a henchman," she gasped. "But I am. Moist was sweet, in his own awkward way."

"What are they talking about?" Will whispered.

Before Victor could answer, a voice came from behind them. "What are you two doing out of bed?"

"Grandpa!" Will gasped. "I'm sorry." He hugged his plush Cthulhu. "I wanted to know why mommy was crying. What's happening grandpa?"

"A mission went somewhat wrong." He picked Will up. "Anything more than that, I think it's up to your mother to explain."

"Oh. Okay." He hugged Stitches. "Will mommy be okay?"

"She'll be fine. Now come on. You too Victor."

"Only came because he wanted to," Victor grumbled.

"You're not in trouble. But get to bed. Okay?" He guided the boys back to their bedrooms, sparing a glance at the kitchen, hoping himself that Gwen would be alright.

Okay, first let me say that I apologize for not updating more. Second, somewhere along the line this became a light crossover, but I promise that this fic is always going to focus on the Sky High characters and how things affect them, not the DH characters. I'm mostly using them because I'm not a fan of making or using OCs. More fallout from Leyla's capture will be seen next time. And finally, this will be getting more W/W as they get older but I hope all the family subplots are working too! Let me know what you think.