Listening to her tearful wishes, Lash had spent the entire week after avoiding her entirely. He didn't look at her when they passed each other, he sat at the back of the bus once more being his usual irritating self but kept Astrid out of it and he left her alone in school. Speed had commented on his bizarre behaviour but Lash had shrugged him off and distracted him by pointing out a Freshman that had something worth stealing.

All week Astrid had held her head up high and refused to avoid the man who had upset her. She looked at him only when he wandered into her peripheral and she walked down hallways confidently. Natalia had commented on the peculiarity of Lash's behaviour but when she saw the steel in Astrid's eyes at the sound of his name, Natalia had fallen quiet. Knowing that Astrid would talk about when she was ready, the small brunette didn't press the matter but she had been glancing between the two all week.

Whilst Astrid and Lash ignored the looks, Speed had begun noticing them and how quickly Natalia glanced away when he caught her. Something had happened between the two of them but neither one was talking about.

Having returned home after a week at Josie and Steven's, Astrid had barely acknowledged her mother before rushing up the stairs to her bedroom. An hour or two later, she had heard the front door open multiple times and loud voices filled the house. Knowing she would never be able to get her essay done with the boozy women downstairs, she slammed her textbook closed before collapsing face first into her duvet.

"Why aren't you getting ready for Homecoming?" Allison asked, bursting into her daughter's bedroom without knocking.

The stench of alcohol surrounded her like a poisonous cloud and Astrid knew instantly that she was already one glass of wine over her limit. Otherwise, not only would she have knocked, she wouldn't have bothered asking Astrid in the first place.

"I'm not going."

"Why?"

"Don't feel like it," she mumbled, face buried into the duvet.

So far, she had had this conversation with her Natalia and Layla. Neither woman could believe that Astrid was voluntarily missing out on going to Homecoming. All they talked about that week was Homecoming and how much they were looking forward to it so when Astrid said she would skipping it this year, they looked at her like she had kicked a puppy. Even though she had spent all week telling herself she didn't care about Lash, she wasn't in the mood to put on a dress and pretend to be cheerful all night. She just wanted to put on her pyjamas and sob at Hallmark movies.

"Okay then. I'm going out with the girls now. Don't wait up." Allison informed, not noticing (or caring) that her daughter was clearly bothered by something.

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Let's go girls." Allison cheered, barely closing the door behind her.

Waiting until the front door slammed shut behind the drunken women, Astrid buried her face into the pillow and screamed until her throat felt raw. More often than not, Astrid was forced to be the adult whilst Allison got to act like a rebellious teenager. Most Friday nights, she and some of the younger women from work went out drinking until Allison stumbled home in the early hours of the morning.

The only aspect of her mother that Astrid still had respect for was that she didn't sully the memory of her marriage by sleeping with random men every night. No, for Allison, all that mattered was drinking away the pain until she could forget what her daughter was and what she reminded Allison of.

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ ⁂☆⁂ ☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

Pressing play, Astrid had just snuggled under the blanket with a large bowl of popcorn when her cousin came charging through the front door, yelling wildly for her. Placing both hands on his shoulders, the blond forced Will to stand still and stop pacing as he attempted to string together a comprehensible sentence.

"Pacifier. Stolen. Homecoming. Gwen's mother. Need to go. Now. Mom and Dad. Help, please." Will gasped, pulling out his phone and the card that contained Ron Wilson's phone number and shoving into Astrid's hand.

"Wait, what? Gwen's mom stole the Pacifier from the Secret Sanctum and she's going to use it against your parents at Homecoming?"

"Gwen stole the Pacifier for her mother because her mother made it but yes, she's going to use it against Mom and Dad."

"So, Gwen stole it from the Secret Sanctum that you were explicitly told to never let anyone in?"

"Yes!" Will exclaimed in frustration.

"You're an idiot. Come on." Astrid yelled, grabbing her jacket and shoving her feet into her sneakers.

Locking the door behind her as Will called Ron, the young Strongholds ran to the bus stop, grateful to see that the bus driver was already there waiting for them. Explaining the situation on the way, it didn't take long before the trio reached Sky High.

Thanking Ron for his help, the Hero and the Sidekick charged towards the school. Heart leaping into her throat, Astrid realised that the events unfolding were eerily similar to the nightmare she had had. Bursting through the doors, she prayed that she wasn't about to find Lash involved the horror happening.

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ ⁂☆⁂ ☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

Sprinting through the hallways, Astrid came to an abrupt stop when she noticed one of the vents glowing and Will crashed straight into her. Pointing out what she had spotted, she watched as the small group of Sidekicks clambered out of the vent after Will had pulled the cover off.

"You're never going to believe this. Gwen is-." Will started.

"Royal Pain's daughter."

"Yeah, and she-."

"Stole the Pacifier."

"She turned everyone into babies, including your parents."

"Okay, that we didn't know." Will admitted. "This is going to take all of us."

So that's what the Pacifier does, Astrid thought to herself. Why would someone even make something like that in the first place? Whilst it could be a huge annoyance for the person it was used on, it didn't seem like the sort of a thing a villain would make.

"Will, the rest of us are just Sidekicks." Astrid pointed out, looking at the rest of the group who were sporting grim expressions.

None of them believed they were capable of defeating Royal Pain so they were bound to fail from the offset. Smiling as Will came to the revelation that having powers wasn't what made someone a Hero, she tried to disguise her laughter for a cough when he struggled to think of an eloquent way of saying it.

"We get it. You've been a jerk." Layla said.

Finally, he was apologising for the way he had behaved and whilst it was slightly overdue, Astrid was proud that he had figured it out for himself and he was correcting his mistakes.

"Layla, in case my Homecoming date ends up killing me tonight, I just want you to know-."

Once again, he was unable to finish his sentence but this time it was because Layla had kissed him.

"Fucking finally!" Astrid hollered, causing the rest of the group to look at her weirdly.

"What? I have waited for this for very long time."

Unfortunately, jeering caused the young couple to spring apart and Astrid's smile disappeared at the same time she did. Turning the corner was Penny, Speed and Lash, each one smirking at the group of Sidekicks who had managed to escape from the hall. Just as she had dreamt, the three Heroes had joined Royal Pain's side.