She appeared on the superhero scene a week away from his tenth birthday.
Along with Icon, Dakota City's newest champion, she battled it out with a few rogues that had escaped from Arkham Asylum. Their names were Harley and Ivy and Virgil had been particularly terrified of the plant lady. Her skin was green and her eyes almost seemed to have a hypnotic hold on any male fifty feet away from her. He and his family had been in the crowd downtown when Icon and Rocket confronted the duo, his father keeping them hidden underneath a bench. Although his view was a bit obscured, Virgil was still able to make out the schism playing out in center square, eyes taking in the swift jabs, the hard hits, and incredible powers each villain and hero possessed. It was well worth the feeling of terror and anxiety pounding against his skin.
When the fight was over and Dakota City's heroic duo came out victorious, newscasters flooded the pair before they had the chance to depart, an onslaught of who, what, when, and how's thrown in their face at any given moment. Virgil wanted to stay and watch, maybe even thank the two if the media would just let them breathe, but his father's firm hold on his hand led him back towards the car two blocks away.
He would occasionally catch glimpses of her in the five years to come before his fateful trip to the train station. Everything about her: from her effortless gliding and ferocious fighting style to her wicked smiles and witty banter with reporters radiated a natural confidence Virgil strove to achieve. It took a lot of willpower not to jump up and flag her down every time she was in his general vicinity. Though, that had to do more with the fact that Richie or Frieda were usually beside him and they would laugh up a storm if they uncovered just how much he admired the vivacious Rocket.
Too bad neither one was here to see him now.
"Oh man, I can't - " Virgil could feel his voice about to crack and took a deep breath instead, though the wide smile digging into his cheeks stood ever resilient, "I can't believe you're here, in front of me! I'm a big, huge fan of your work, Rocket. You have no idea. I watched you first when you were - "
"Boy, you need to stop," her hand landed inches away from his face, her brows wrinkled into a scowl, "And listen to me. What we are about to go up against is not child's play. I know you and your little group of runaway friends had fun throwing the smack down on the Reach, but you kids got lucky. And civilians weren't at stake. Now, you either roll with me and help get rid of this Hot-streak flunky or stay put and direct traffic."
Virgil gulped and nodded, though her apparent agitation didn't stop him from asking, "…Could we at least grab a slice of pizza after this?"
The woman in front of him heaved a sigh, despite the fact her lips curved into a grin, a low giggle slipping passed her throat, "Sure, Static. Pizza it is."