While You Were Gone
By Xilvrin
Fandom: Static Shock
Rating: pg-13
Pairing: Richie hearts Virgil (one-sided slash)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Static Shock or DC comics, they belong to their specific creators/DC/Warner Bros. I make no profit, this is only fanfic for fun.
Author's Note: This takes place AFTER the last episode of the Static Shock cartoon and is based on the entire series and Static's appearance in DC comics from 2009 onward (in issues of TerrorTitans, TeenTitans, and crossovers).
Chapter 1
Day 1
One day without Virgil was not unusual.
There was a time when Richie would call his best friend multiple times a day (Sharon, his best friend's older sister, had tallied the maximum at 17). They saw eachother walking to junior high and high school. They saw eachother during and inbetween classes, and after school. They'd first bonded as two nerds avoiding the bullies. Hours upon hours were spent competing in videogames, discussing comic books, and watching cheesy horror movies whilst scarfing down junkfood.
Then the "big bang" happened. Not the forming of the universe (though in retrospect, Richie supposed that was an important event as well), rather, the leak of experimental gas that leaked during a gang rumble at the docks. A mash-up that Virgil had foolishly been there for… Richie sometimes wondered how his friend would have turned out if he hadn't been there to lean on. Would he have really fallen in with the gangs? Would V keep piling up debts to one tough guy in order to protect himself from the other tough guys, pushing him to do things he really didn't want to and shouldn't do? Would he become the very thing that his parents fought so hard to keep out of the community? Virgil had called him almost immediately for advice…
And had him meet him at a junkyard, eager to show off his newly gained electrical superpowers. From that point forward after school activities included designing a costume for Virgil's alter-ego 'Static', strategizing on how to deal with petty thieves, evil corporations, gangs (some of which also gained super-powers from the bang-gas, others who didn't), saving helpless citizens, and occasionally scuffling with/counseling a fellow student steered down the wrong path (sometimes super-powered, sometimes not).
There was a point at which the advice and attention became unwanted instead of begged for, at which over-familiarity bred contempt. You need to give a man his space to stay on his good side.
So no, one day without any contact with his dreadlocked other-half was not unusual.
Day 2
Two days without contact with Virgil wasn't unheard of.
There were entire weekends Virgil liked to take for himself. Sometimes it was because he was plain tuckered out… a week full of tests, homework, and being Dakota's headlining hero left him with four hours of sleep or less (not doctor recommended) a night. Richie wanted to see his friend change the world for the better, and having his grades slip or putting himself at risk in the middle of feats of heroics due to being dog-tired simply wouldn't do. Static deserved some shuteye.
Then there were the OTHER weekends… the weekends Virgil chased after pretty things in skirts. Richie was not fond of those, having no interest in girls himself. He could fake it with the best of them, though. He'd come up with what he believed to be an ingenious plan. All he had to do was act like a total perv. For example, bringing binoculars to the girls' swim meets and making lewd comments. Doing things like this ensured two things: one, that no dudes would doubt his 'straightness' (ha) and two, that the females in question would be too disgusted to ever show interest back.
The ones he was really interested in, of course, were the guys. One guy in particular.
Oh, he could kick himself for ever suggesting Virgil try to hook up with Daisy. He tried to be supportive, but was comfortable in the knowledge that his friend always struck out. His attempts at wooing Frieda, Miss Popularity, were always fruitless. Virgil was unlucky in love… until, of course, he wasn't. Richie tried not to think about his crush and Daisy (or girl of the moment) enjoying themselves at a concert, holding hands on a long walk along the shore, kissing in the dark of a movie theater, or whatever else they could be up to. Richie would be shut out those plans, because third wheel was not a position he liked playing anymore.
At least Virgil had never told Daisy about his secret identity. Only Richie, Pops, and Batman knew (Batman always knows… EVERYTHING. He's BATMAN). Sharon also knew… but Sharon was nosy and despite many attempts over the years to throw her off from connecting Static to her brother, she'd figured it out.
The constant break-ups between Virgil and Daisy would also be reassuring to him that the couple was not meant to be, if only they weren't followed by make-ups. Worse was that Daisy knew- she KNEW about Richie's more-than-friends feelings for Virgil. She'd guessed it right away. Virgil may have been oblivious, but girls could pick up on these sorts of things.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I really am… but it can't be helped if he's not gay… and you… are…" she'd patted his shoulder awkwardly as they stood by a row of lockers. He'd given the most evil glare he could muster. It worked because she backed off. She'd whispered it, so it was out of earshot from the other students passing by. Nor had she later told anyone else (and that was a major fear, considering how teenage girls liked to gossip) so there was that… he could keep himself from strangulating her (not that he would, it was just an expression. 'Strangulating' isn't even a real word).
Every so often he'd fantasize that she'd develop bang-baby powers and turn to the wrong side of the law so he could have the satisfaction of tying her up in a zap trap and watch her being carted off in a paddy wagon.
But two days without Virgil were not unheard of.
Day 3
3 days without Virgil… Richie tried contacting him on the shock vox (their suped-up walkie-talkies). There was no response… not simply no response, but as Backpack (Richie's faithful surveillance robot) revealed, NO SIGNAL. Being out of range wasn't a question; Static once used his power to boost the signal all the way from a family vacation to Africa in the middle of the night (in his timezone) to talk to Richie because he couldn't sleep. Also to tell him about the amazing discovery that there were black people in Africa and that he'd finally found where he belonged and now knew how Richie felt to be white. Right. The comment had rubbed Richie entirely the wrong way, because it was hard to think of anyone more typically American than Virgil, nor did he appreciate the subtle hints that he may have inherited any of the unfortunate racist tendencies of his father. He shrugged it off and chalked it up to jetlag on his friend's part. Or stupidity. Or all of the above.
Sometimes Virgil could make Richie's list of people to strangulate (but only lightly, as deep down he loved him).
Had he broken the shock vox? Dropped it, shorted it out, melted it? Was it lying at the bottom of the ocean, or perhaps died of stink underneath used gym socks in the mess that Virgil called a bedroom?
Richie sighed. He wasn't going to mother-hen him. He would not worry. He would have faith in Static.
Day 4
Richie, suited up in a skin-tight green and white outfit, rollerblades, and a visored helmet as 'GEAR' and went on patrol alone. He was able to assist the police in subduing some second-generation bang-babies who were knocking over a convenience store. Literally. Bricks, mortar, and glass, everywhere.
"Seriously, guys? You decide to go all super-villain, and this is what first occurs to you? Not the sharpest tacks, are you?" He had to shake his head.
There may have been a cure for the mutations the bang gas caused sprayed around the city only a few weeks ago, but an explosion set off by Hotstreak and Ebon had caused a whole new set of hooligans (and some repeat offenders) to mutate again. It would be a while before the effect wore off. In the meantime, Richie used all his super-smarts and chemistry skills to make both he and Virgil's powers permanent. As well as having to come up with a formula that would detangle the HotBon or EbHo or any disturbingly named disturbing combination of Hotstreak and Ebon who had turned into one large animalistic-minded shadowy blob that spewed fire after being caught in the center of the previously mentioned gas explosion. That task had not been pleasant, in the least.
Under his breath he mumbled, "Static, where the H-E-double-hockey-sticks ARE YOU?"
He tried skating by the Hawkin's household. The lights in Virgil's room weren't on.
4 days: No Virgil, no Static. Tomorrow, he would start asking around.