Author's note: Well, here we go. Part two of two. I think I overdid the whole talking before the story in the last chapter, so I'm going to keep it simple this time.

Music suggestions: 'The unknown' by Crossfade, 'All or nothing' by Theory Of A Deadman, 'Hot' by Avril Lavigne.

Disclaimer: The same applies to this chapter as it did the last.

2-The relationship cycle

It didn't take her much longer to discover that there was another important man in her life. One that was more likely to stay in the shadows and let others take the lead in the light rather than draw too much attention to himself. A man that didn't put nearly enough credit behind himself than he deserved. One that fought like hell to throw off the presumptions of strangers that thought he was just like his father. Another man that would go to the ends of the earth to try and protect her. Regardless of whether or not she wanted him to.

She and Warren Peace had never really been the best of friends, per se. He was a boy and she was a girl. And if one really paid attention to all the romantic comedies out there, there really was no way a girl and a guy could be best friends without the whole "feelings and benefits" aspect coming up at some point. Um...hello? She kind of had experience in the area. They talked, kept in touch. It was physically impossible not to. He was one of Will's best friends and co-workers and they worked well together, in as well as out of the superhero world.

It was six years after her world collided with Warren's that she noticed what kind of effect Warren Peace could have on her. She recalled faintly that he could be charming when he wanted to be. Will told her a few months after the homecoming dance their freshman year that he hadn't even intended to show up at the dance and that Warren had known Will wasn't coming. It was only due to Sue Tenney's nefarious plan that had brought him. So she found out, inadvertently, that Warren still showed at the dance despite the fact. Wearing a tux, no less.

And alright, she'd be willing to admit that he was just as hot as his power. Especially when he showed up at the dance for no other reason than to not leave her hanging, his facial expression resembling something that looked as if he'd been shoved in with the doors all shut and locked behind him. It had actually been kind of sweet.

And a little awkward.

The feelings didn't really register until they'd been accidentally forced to team up together. It was the first time she realized that Warren actually cared about her well being and what he'd do to keep her safe.

She found out that they also worked well together in the superhero world. But somehow, just like Will, he also almost managed to get himself killed in the process.

She glared at him, hands on her hips once they made it back to her loft apartment, door securely shut behind him. It wouldn't look well if the rest of the world saw allied superheroes bickering.

"Don't give me that look, hippie. I'm still alive, aren't I?" Warren grumbled, fingering what was left of the freshly shorn locks. They all had to grow up sometime and he got tired of always pulling his hair back in a ponytail. The red streaks still spiked out defiantly here and there, because some things were too hard to give up. Like the woman standing before him, looking as if she'd love nothing more than to finish off what the latest supervillian had just tried to do.

"You walked right into that." Layla snapped in a reprimanding tone, yanking off her mask and tossing it on the coffee table beside her. "You knew he could manipulate air molecules. You were also aware that he had a limited range. We could have, and were, defeating him effectively from a safe distance. What did he do to provoke you into getting so close?" Layla finished curiously, head tilted inquiringly.

"Do you mind if I borrow your shower?" Warren asked, changing the subject. As most supervillians were prone to do, he attacked a superhero's weaknesses, and this one had been lucky enough to grasp at the correct straw. Warren had gotten better at controlling his temper. Not much could spark it enough to make him act like an idiot anymore. Threatening his mom or close friends came real close. However, the number one position that made him snap at the slightest provocation was reserved for the only other woman in his life that cared for his well being rather than just how powerful he was. The only other woman that understood the way his mind worked and could manipulate him into doing just about anything she wanted. The one woman that could make him act with his heart before his head.

It was too bad she didn't realize just how much power she had over him. Probably had from the very beginning.

Layla growled quietly in frustration, but she swept her arm across the room in a welcoming gesture towards her bathroom. He brushed past her, ducking his head as well as her gaze.

Nothing happened after their first encounter. Well, other than him stepping out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his perfectly sculpted everything and scrubbing another towel against his damp head.

"What?" he asked in a confused tone, looking down at himself and back up to her stupefied gaze. She supposed in his head, there was nothing wrong with walking around practically naked in a woman's home. But to her...it was the first time a man had been naked in her apartment since Will. It was a very big deal in her book. She threw the oversized pile of clothes that Will had never collected and booked it into the refuge of her bedroom real fast.

It only got more intense from there.

It was when he dropped off a change of clothes before they went out on another mission together.

"Just in case." he quipped with a wry grin and that deep smoky tone that made her knees melt the tiniest bit.

It was the third time he took a shower at her place when he crashed on her couch. The first time a man had stayed overnight since Will.

They both trudged through the door, dragging their feet and looking like death warmed over. Closing the door, Layla leaned her back and head against it as she slid to the floor, not caring how her legs looked spread akimbo. Warren didn't seem to be much better off, not paying her any heed as he fell back onto the couch with one arm draped over his eyes.

"Remind me again why I keep doing this." Warren asked, his tone as scorched and torn as the leather uniform he sported.

"Because you don't want to see the world overrun by terror and mayhem." Layla answered, repeating the same litany she always did. "And for all the hot and undoubtedly easy women that throw themselves at your feet in gratitude."

"Oh, right. How could I forget that?" Warren said, forcing enthusiasm into his tone. Then he groaned painfully as he sat forward on his knees. "Why did this one have to be so obstinate and time-consuming? Otherwise being an all-around pain in the ass?"

"Because they have no consideration when it comes to our personal lives." Layla retorted bitterly, pushing her mask up to hold her hair back from her face. "Go ahead and take your shower first. I'm just going to sit here for awhile and work on the motivation to get up. You can crash on the couch if you want afterwards."

"Alright." Warren said in a surprised tone, grunting as he pushed himself to his feet. She'd never asked him to stay before. "I might do that."

She looked up at him slowly with an eyebrow raised as he came to a stop at her feet. Extending his hand to her, he waited for her tiny hand to slide into his.

"Come on now, up we go." Warren commanded softly with a small encouraging grin.

It was two months after they started working together full-time as a team that she commented casually that after all the times he returned home with her after a mission, he should just move in with her. He already had a toothbrush, body wash, and shampoo in her bathroom. He also had a change of clothes for a casual, workout, as well as formal occasion in her hall closet. Don't ask about the formal. He had one of his spare uniforms hanging beside hers hidden behind the trap wall that came with the apartment. She even kept a couple of his preferred breakfast foods stocked in her refrigerator since he wasn't exactly fond of the vegan lifestyle she adhered to.

He practically lived there already.

"There's only one way I'll ever live with a woman." Warren stated in a husky tone, his voice full of the same intent that was present in his eyes as he closed the distance between them and pressed her into the kitchen island behind her. "It starts with me seducing her for months on end, followed with unbelieveably pleasurable, tension breaking sex."

"Oh. Sounds time consuming." Layla said nonchalantly, focusing her gaze to the floor and shrugging her shoulder. Her insides were turning to mush, she was sure of it. "I don't know if either of us has that kind of free time."

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I started in on you from the first time I walked out of your bathroom in nothing but a towel." Warren answered with a self-assured smirk.

"Are you serious?" Layla exclaimed, her gaze snapping fire when it turned upwards and challenged his. "The whole time I thought you just didn't have any common sense..."

The rest of her retort was silenced with Warren's lips, who was unable to keep the genuine smile from creeping up as he leaned into the now pliant redheaded Gaia returning his kiss in earnest.

It was the first time she'd ever had sex with anyone in the shower. She and Will had always kept it in comfortable, "sleeping" locations.

Warren had no such issue.

"I don't want to flame up on you if I get too, well...excited the first go around." Warren retorted, an uncertain and slightly sheepish look ghosting across his features as he led them towards the bathroom.

Steam had literally risen off of him as he pressed her into the cool tile of her shower wall, water cascading down his back as he kissed her reverently. His hands slid down to her thighs as he lifted her off her feet and wound her legs around his waist.

There were faint pink burn marks on her thighs in the shape of hand prints afterwards. And when they stepped out of the bathroom, she sucked a breath deep into her lungs at the sight surrounding her. Every plant she had in her apartment had vined up around the walls, dangling from the ceiling like a tiny slice of the rainforest in her very own home.

That had never happened with Will. Ever. Sure, flowers had sprouted into bloom regardless of the season, but they usually did whenever she was happy and nearby plants.

This...this was something else.

"Way to boost a man's ego, hippie." Warren said endearingly, leaning in to press a kiss to the nape of her neck before pulling her awestruck body towards her bedroom.

She was finally able to open that flower shop she always dreamt of opening as her cover. And with Warren's help, she was never in any need of keeping her store stocked.

oooooozooo*ooooooxooo*oooooosooo

Okay... so maybe I cut all of Warren's signature hair. But just consider it like this... Steven Strait in The Covenant, with the same red colored highlights in his hair, and one of those black leather X-men uniforms... I think it works. And I think he looks way hotter with short hair, so there! ;-D Anyway... I hope you liked!