***Hi! My name is still Roxy, got it memorized? No, Reese, Don't kill me for saying that! Anyways, I adopted this story from FashionDiva7. She wasn't really into the story so she put it up for adoption. Uh, look in my favorite authors file to see her. Hope you like the fic!***

Patrol and Close Calls

Virgil woke with a start. His sides were heaving and his face was coated in sweat.

He looked at the beeping alarm clock, the machine that freed him from his nightmares. He reached out to turn it off, and accidentally shocked it to ashes.

He took a long breath. Dang, that's the third one this month! Maybe Richie can make a stronger one…

The teen pulled his backpack of the desk and yanked it silently open. With a hint of a smile, he fished through it.

"Ah-hah!" He whisper-yelled. He held a blue and white mask. It may have looked like a scrap of cloth, but it was his escape from his world. It held the key to him feeling strong and important. Heck, people may ignore him normally, but when he had it on he was a hero.

Time to cool off. He tied it around his face and began pulling on the rest of his costume.

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A minute later, Static was ready to have some fun.

He unfolded a metal disk and threw it into the cool night air. Instead of dropping like deadweight, it hovered there, suspended by a white-purple beam of electricity.

The teen hero jumped onto it with no further hesitation. He sent shocks through his boots, keeping the disk airborne. He sailed into the night's inky depths, a spark of light that illuminated the world below him.

Deep within Dakota, there's a gas station. It was abandoned five years prior, only standing now as a reminder of the terrible riots. And the ones who died those nights. Static thought. Like my mom.

Dakota let it sit there, and to them it was a monument. To Static and his best friend, Gear, it was a headquarters. They spent almost as much time in the forgotten building as in their own homes. Or more, we barely ever go home…

Now, the electric bang-baby was there once again. He slipped inside and pulled off his mask. He threw it carelessly onto the table in the middle of the room and walked over to where a blonde boy was hunched over a mess of mechanical parts.

"Gear?"

The boy looked up. "Hey Stat-er-V."

"It's time for patrol." The African American hero stated.

His best friend sighed. "Just a second." He continued fiddling with the mech. parts.

Virgil had to ask. "What are you doing?"

Gear smiled. "I figure I can enhance the trackers by recalibrating the microphonic chip and stabilizing the reactors."

"Uh-huh." The other teen murmered, retrieving his mask.

The genius laughed. "You have no idea was I just said?"

Static threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Not a clue." He answered honestly.

Gear put down the tracker. "Let's go kick some bang-baby butt!"

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"I'm telling you, Rich, they're still out there. I know it!" Virgil practically yelled in exasperation.

A few onlookers glanced at them in curiousity. Richie whispered back, out of prying ears. "We need proof, Virg. You know that..." He kicked a can out of his way as they headed home from school. CLANG! It rolled a little, now dented. "I honestly agree, theres a gut feeling telling me their still out there. But we dont know for sure."

Virgil grimaced. "Hotstreak and Ebon were at the secong Big-Bang, others easily could have been too."

"I know." He turned the corner. "See ya, V."

10 minutes later, Virgil arrived home. His sister was on the phone, twirling the cord through her fingers. Must be Adam. He laughed silently. Where was the camera when you needed it.

As he watched, she batted her eyes and smiled huge. Virgil mimed puking before pulling the disk out once again.

When he was sure she wasn't looking, he jumped on and flew up the stairs.

Once he reached the top, he had to swerve upside-down to avoid cutting his father's head off. He jumped off and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Pops."

His father looked around worried. "What are you doing, Virgil?" He stressed the name, as if to draw attention to the fact that his son was not in costume.

"Dont worry, Sharon's on the phone." He laughed. "With Adam." He imitated Sharon in a whiney voice when he said the name of his sisters boyfriend.

Mr. Hawkins cracked a smile at that. "Yes, well. You still need to be careful who see you do that. You cant afford to get sloppy."

Virgil turned serious. "I know, I still remember the last time that happened..." He was haunted by Daisy's face when she was in the coma. It reminded him that he had a job to do, to protect.

"Ah, yes, Daisy. That reminds me son, your girlfriend called a few minutes ago." He stated down the stairs.

Virgil's face reddened. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" He called down after his father.

Then he ran to the phone. "Daisy." He whispered as he dialed.