[A/N: Holy crap I'm not dead! Now this is just a one-shot (I have a lot of these, you will never know) but there are some longer ones comming! Thanks to Bbrae-fan354 for the beta, you are pure win!]
Oh Brother
There was a knock on the door just as she shut down her computer. Sharon sighed and yelled while she gatherd up her bag.
"Sorry I'm in a hurry! Come back tomorrow!"
The door creaked open and a familiar face peeked inside.
"It's me baby!"
"Adam!"
She jumped off her chair to hug her boyfriend. She felt his body stretch and tighten as he pulled her in. A lesser girl might have been freaked out by that, but not Sharon. Never Sharon.
"I thaught I'd come pick you up. It's been so long since I saw you last."
She snorted and gave him a puzzled smile.
"We saw each other just yesterday!"
The rubber meta-human just smiled and stroked her cheek gently.
"Yeah, it WAS forever ago."
She rolled her eyes and kissed him, not bothering to answer. It did feel like forever ago, as it always did when he was not around.
They walked outside the centre, fingers laced, Adam carrying the heavy bag with all the files she had to go over for tomorrow.
"So, anything interesting happen today?"
"Nah, I'm a bit stuck on the new tune, and Carmen Dillo made a mess of things at the mall around lunch, but Static and Gear helped me out with that one. Oh, and Marcus requested the weekend off, so I'm free too. Is there anything you want to do?"
Part of her knew that it was highly unusual to date a guy that was not only a world famous singer, but also a meta human and one of the few open-identity super-heros, but she had received far too many answers like that one to fret over it anymore. She loved him, and he loved her. They made it work and that was all that mattered.
"Well, I do have to work, but we can have dinner at that new place down by Central Square. Maybe Saturday? How's that?"
Adam smiled and noded, rubbing his thumb along her finger before letting it go so she could unlock the car.
"Speaking of dinner, do you want to eat with us? Daddy's making chicken tonight."
"I'd love to. You sure Mr. H won't mind?"
"Of course not. Get in."
Sharon wasn't at all surprised to find Richies shoes in the hallway. What DID surprise her however, was how quiet the house was.
"Did they fall asleep playing games again? Adam, could you put these in the kitchen, I'll go check up on them."
She dumped the grocery bag in the outstretched hand and went up the stairs, muttering to herself about teenagers and their unusual sleeping patterns.
When she reached the top of the stairs however, there was a noise from her brothers room. Surprised, she stoped by the door and listened.
"No, Virgil stop..!"
It didn't sound like playfighting, gaming or anything along those lines. It was a pleading noice, like the speaker wished just for the opposite. Sharons face blushed in red and she practically kicked the door in.
"What the hell are you two doing?"
There was a loud crash and she stopped dead in her tracks.
Surprisingly, Virgil was on his back on the bed, no shirt, with Richie on top, also no shirt, and the bed itself had colappsed, standing on only one leg, making the whole pile tilt. She took one look at their panicked faces, finding the answer to her own question in just a second.
"Holy…"
"Sharon, wait!"
She didn't. She slammed the door shut and almost ran down the stairs, ignoring her brother's calls.
"Sharon baby, what's going on?"
She pushed her boyfriend aside, leaning heavily onto the kitchen counter, trying to breathe. She HAD NOT seen that one coming. How had she not seen that one coming? Now that it had been thrown in her face, it was so plainly obvious.
"Sharon! Can you let me explain?"
She turned to face her little brother who staggered into the kitchen, barely wearing a tank top. Adam looked confused and just a tiny bit nervous, like he could guess what it was about.
"Explain what? I don't need you to explain anything, Virgil, I'm not stupid!"
"Aw man, she figured you out?"
She shot a glare at Adam, wondering if he had known all along, but he failed to see it since Virgil almost instantly answered.
"Huh? No man, it's not that…!"
"What?"
They both snapped their atention back at her, panic rising in their faces.
"What else are you keeping from me that you see fit to tell my boyfriend huh?"
They both gulped and glanced at eatch other. Behind them, Richie made it down the stairs, cheeks red and eyes worried.
"I didn't tell him, he figured me out…"
She shot a glaring dagger at her little brother's mumbling and then she turned to Adam again.
"What. Have. I. Missed?"
They both gulped again and neither looked her in the eye as Virgil started to try and explain.
"Sharon, about what just happend, right now…Shit I didn't mean for it… it just sorta… It's not… It wasn't a big deal ok? It's not gonna happen again!"
All of them heard the painful gasp, despite how low it was. Virgil turned to his best friend standing in the door, looking at him like he had just broken his heart. A moment later, Sharon realized that was just what her brother had done.
"Rich?"
But the blonde didn't answer, just turned and headed for the door. Virgil actually forgot his sister, despite his situation, and chased after him.
"Rich? Richie! Come on! Don't…!"
"Shut the hell up V! Just leave me alone!"
Sharon watched as her little brother froze mid-step when his timid friend raised his voice at him. Sharon could not remember ever hearing Richie swear. She had a feeling she should do something, anything, but it was like watching a car accident. She couldn't do a thing except observe how one of the strongest bonds she had ever seen burned and tore apart, leaving only a wake of destruction.
"Just leave me the hell alone."
With that, he was gone, and somehow, Sharon felt herself calm down. She hadn't been angry, just shocked. She got violent then she was shocked, and people took it for anger. She knew she shouldn't ask, she should leave him alone, but she couldn't stop herself.
"Anything else you want to get of your chest?"
Adam grunted behind her, but didn't say anything. Virgil hid his face in his hands, taking a deep breath. She stared at his back, suddenly wondering when her baby brother started to become so damn fit. There was actual muscle standing out under his skin. Just when she was about to tell him to nevermind it, he spoke, voice cracked and tone low and broken.
"Just… Promise you won't freak… Ok?"
Before she could answer, purple sparks flew over his body, the lights flashed, the TV turned on and the blender on the counter in the room behind her jumped to a start.
It died down after a second, but Sharon had seen it. She glanced at the blender, noticing how it wasn't even plugged in. She faced her brother again, who was just turning back to her, body slumped and a tired look all over his face.
"You're Static…"
He closed his eyes, breathing in deep, waiting for it.
"But…HOW? I saw you! You where right next to me when he flew over!"
He smiled weakly, brushing his dreds from his eyes.
"I have a friend. She's called Mirage. Guess what her power is…"
She almost hit him. Had he been closer she might would have. Now she just stared at him, disbelief all over her face. Then, another thing dawned on her.
"Richie… He's Gear…! Oh my God!"
He physically jerked when she said his name. She should do something. He was her little brother, he was hurting, she should help, but so many things called for attention in her head.
"And YOU-"
Adam jumped back as she turned to him.
"You knew! All along, you knew and didn't tell me!"
"Baby, I'm sorry! I thaught he should tell you himself…!"
He was close enough to hit. Not that it did much, his face just bent around her hand before gaining it's original shape.
The sudden reaction startled both of the boys though, making them stare at her with surprise. Sharon ignored them, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. After a few seconds, her big sister sonar picked up on the final detail.
"What are you still doing here?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
She glared at her brother, softer this time, and pointed to the door.
"Hurry you idiot, or he'll get away! Go apologize already!"
She looked at him, noticing how tall he had gotten, how his chest and arms had gotten broad and strong, how his face was sharper, his eyes big and confused.
Her baby brother had wrapped himself in a man's body. How did she not see that before?
"Go!"
Suddenly he stepped over, yanked her into a tight embrace and kissed her cheek before he whispered into her ear.
"I love you sis. I'm so sorry…!"
Then he turned and ran out the door, not bothering with shoes. She looked at the door, not turning away until Adam reached out and pushed it close. Then she turned to him, gently patting his cheek.
"I'm sorry, did it hurt?"
He smiled at her, placing his arm around her waist.
"No, not really. But that's quite the left hook you got there. Maybe super-heroing runs in the family."
"Oh my God! Daddy's gonna freak!"
"I think he already knows about the Static-bit…"
"Good, then he can have his heart attack over the Richie-bit… Wait! I'm the last to know?"
Adam was smart enough to kiss her at that point. He didn't want to see if her right was as strong as her left.
A block down, Richie was pulled back, yelling and kicking, but Static was used to getting beaten up once in a while and soon enough, his partner in crime-fighting let himself be held, showered with apologies and sweet words. It was hard to be mad at Virgil. Really hard. He was going to forgive him, eventually. So Richie hugged him back, not caring who was watching.
"Probobly shouldn't have done that in the middle of the afternoon…"
"V, you shouldn't have pinned me to the roof at all…"
"Oh yeah… It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Virgil, where on earth are your shoes?"
"Never mind, I caught you again… I'm not going to let you go. I promise…"
"That's what you said the second before we crashed to the floor…"
Virgil half laughed, half grunted as he slowly wobbled his beloved friend from side to side.
"Hey, I softened your fall didn't I?"
Richie smiled and burried his face against Virgils neck.
"Maybe the couch in the gas station of solitude is better for stuff like this…"
He could feel the dark boy's blush.
"Should… We go try it out?"
"Virgil!"
"Ok fine! Just asking!"
The blonde giggled, traced the other boys spine with his fingertips.
"Let's wait until after patrol."