I gotta figure out the pace of this, since I mostly know the direction.
(-)
An odd uneasy pattern followed in the next week, with Virgil handing after-school patrol to Richie every other day so he could tutor Francis.
During one of the days where he wasn't tutoring Francis, he happened to pass by the gym on his way off campus and noticed Francis with some other known bullies in the shadows beside it. Suspicion immediately demanding he investigate, Virgil crept closer to listen.
"When did F-stop become such a pussy, huh?" Virgil's eyebrows shot up upon hearing that statement. It was Howard Johnson, senior and blow-hard bully extraordinaire. It looked like he and his crew were taunting Francis. For what purpose, Virgil couldn't fathom. Francis was a Bang-Baby, and one known for igniting people who made him mad.
"When did you grow a pair, Johnson?" Francis replied, an irritated frown already settled firmly on his face.
"I'm not afraid of pansy has-beens." Howard replied.
"You'd be afraid of daffodils, chump." It looked like Francis was trying not to think about the situation so he could keep his temper.
"He probably sucked too much cock when he was locked up. Doesn't know what to do anymore without a dick in his mouth." one of Howard's cronies, Blake Radford added.
Francis's fists went white as he clenched them, and his eye started to twitch. Virgil took these signs as a subtle hint that Francis was close to losing it. What the hell did Howard and his friends think they would gain from this?
"Good point." Howard agreed. "Found anyone out here willing to fuck you yet?"
Virgil moved before Francis did, though he could see the imminent violence in the pyromaniac's stance. "Hey, guys, am I too late for the tea and cookies?" Virgil asked, coming around the corner and into their view. They all turned to look at him. Francis's eyes went wide and his face showed blatant dismay.
"The hell you talking about?" Blake demanded.
"This is Lady Johnson's Tea Party for Bullies, right? Or was the address wrong on my invitation? I know you guys are mad that Francis showed up without an invite, but I'm sure if you explain that it was just a mailing error, he'll forgive you for excluding him." Virgil said. This was stupid, and he knew it, but he didn't like bullies, and he had accidentally bumped the button that put his mouth on "smart-ass auto-pilot".
On the other hand, they had all ignored Francis to turn to him. "Hawkins, you better walk away, right now." Howard said, menace in his posture and threat in his tone.
"I just wanted to remind Francis of his appointment. He's got better things to do and more intelligent people to see." Virgil said. He spoke past them to Francis, "We're doing math today, right?"
Francis frowned for a moment, but picked up his bag and replied, "Yeah, numbers and all that jazz." He pushed past Howard, his glare at the boy daring him to say something.
The bullies let Francis and Virgil leave, though Virgil was sure it was far from over. They hadn't planned to study that day, and they didn't say anything until Virgil stopped across the street from Burger Fool. "Um, want a burger? My treat." Virgil said.
Francis gave him a supremely confused look, but nodded. They went inside, and once they were seated with their food, Francis asked, "What was that about?"
"What do you mean?" Virgil shrugged. "I got a big mouth and don't like bullies. Remember how we used to not get along so well? That was why."
A sour smile crawled onto Francis's face. "And now you're defending me from bullies. That's irony, right?"
"Yeah, nice job with paying attention to literature class." Virgil said, grinning.
"Now that I'm not causing a lot of trouble and trying to not fight people, jerk-offs like that guy are trying to make a rep for themselves by beating me up." Francis said after a few moments of silence.
"Were you going to let them?" Virgil asked quietly.
A scowl crossed Francis's face. "I think you know. There was a reason you interrupted when you did."
"I could tell there was about to be some bully barbeque spread out on the lawn, yeah." Virgil said. "But up to that point you were doing a great job of keeping your temper. They just took it over the line."
Francis didn't say anything to that, but his face became slightly red. They ate for another minute or so before he said, "Thanks, Virgil."
Virgil dropped a fry halfway to his mouth, blinked at Francis, but then recovered and said, "Not a problem."
He paused to think for a few moments, then asked, "If they hadn't made those last few comments, would you have fought them?"
The red crept onto Francis's face again. "I don't know. I really didn't want to because I know it wouldn't take much for me to go back to jail. They'll look for any excuse."
Virgil did not want to address the questions going through his mind right then. Had Francis been raped? Is that why he reacted so strongly to those taunts? Would it have to have been rape? Could Francis be gay?
"Well, my sister's boyfriend had a bit of an uphill climb with the whole 'reformed Bang-Baby' thing too." Virgil said, before he thought it through. No need to call attention to his connection with Adam. Too late.
"Wait, who's your sister's boyfriend?" Francis asked, looking slightly confused and very curious.
"Rubber-Band Man." Virgil said shortly. "I was kind of skeptical about him being reformed, at least at the start, but he's grown on me." He grinned at Francis.
"Oh, that's a pun, right? Because he stretches?" Francis asked.
"Yeah. You really are getting the hang of those literature terms."
"It's easier than math and science."
"Well, I imagine you should have a good grasp of those too. You throw fire around, so it would be important for you to know the possible chemical consequences of tossing it around in certain areas or near certain things, I imagine." Virgil pointed out.
"True. Especially once I start using my powers again." Francis noted.
Virgil stiffened nervously, trying not to show his sudden apprehension. "Oh?"
"Yeah. I'll have to be careful." Francis said, not elaborating.
Virgil burned to ask more, but he was fairly certain that was Static. Virgil Hawkins would leave Francis to take care of his own business. The Shock Box vibrating silently in his pocket saved him from the decision.
Sliding out of the booth, Virgil said, "I'll be right back."
When he was in the single men's restroom and had locked the door, he pulled out the Shock Box and said, "Hey, Gear. I am so glad you installed a vibrate feature for these."
"Where are you? We were supposed to start our patrol 15 minutes ago." Richie complained.
"Um, a code red came up." Virgil said, for some reason feeling a bit uneasy about telling Richie about the situation with Francis.
"Code red? Do you mean Hotstreak?"
"Yes, but I guess it isn't a code red. Maybe a code mauve or code lavender, or maybe a code rainbow-Hell, I don't know what color this code is!" Virgil fumed. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?
"Um, maybe you should ditch the code then." Richie suggested. "What's up?"
"I saw an incident occurring with Francis and I went to check it out. I ended up helping him avoid losing his temper and charbroiling Howard Johnson and his lackeys. We're at Burger Fool right now."
"You're at Burger Fool with Hotstreak? When the hell did you two become so tight?" Richie demanded, sounding both disbelieving and outraged.
"I don't know what's going on with him, Rich. He was just saying something about having to be more careful when he starts using his powers again. I can't figure him out at all." Virgil admitted.
"Well if you want keep an eye on him for now, I'll start the patrol by myself. You can probably catch up later." Richie said with a sigh.
Virgil grinned. "Thanks, Rich, you've always got my back. I'll try to take more patrols after this."
"Sure, sure." Richie scoffed, but Virgil could hear his smile. "Gear, over and out."
Pocketing his Shock Box, Virgil washed his hands quickly, dried them, then unlocked the bathroom door and went back to the booth. Francis was shamelessly stealing his fries. He didn't even stop when Virgil sat down.
"I guess being an inferno means you need a lot of fuel." Virgil said dryly.
"Well, I do burn a lot more calories than I did before the Big Bang." Francis agreed.
"Makes sense I guess. Do you have a higher body temperature than normal?" Virgil wondered.
"Yeah. And I don't feel hot. When other people are baking in the sun, I'm swimming in a cool oasis." Francis said with a grin.
"So you're a human solar-panel too. Cool. Metaphorically speaking." Virgil added.
Francis looked at him for a moment. "'Cool'? That's it? I'm a freak. People just aren't okay with 'human solar-panel's."
Thinking it was an allusion to him being Static, Virgil tried not to show how nervous he was. "Why not?"
"Because they aren't! Aside from the super-hero metahumans, Bang-Babies are considered dangerous, even if they aren't doing anything. Being neutral doesn't mean a damn thing. When weird shit goes down around you, even if nothing gets damaged and no trouble is caused, people fear you."
The vehemence in Francis's voice caught Virgil by surprise. "Then they're stupid. Or more accurately, they're people, and people are stupid and fear what they don't understand."
Francis looked even more upset by that for some strange reason. "Hawkins, you don't make any damn sense!" He got up and grabbed his bag, shaking his head before he left.
"Rude. And 'I' don't make any damn sense? That hothead seems to be more than a few matches short of a box. Hmph." Then Virgil remembered that he had promised to catch up with Richie, so he left Burger Fool and went to find a safe place to change.
(-)
"So he only ran out because you were accepting of the fact that he's a Bang-Baby?" Gear asked as they flew above the city, looking for signs of an incident.
"Yeah, which is unfathomable, apparently." Static scoffed.
"Think about it. To him, it might be. He doesn't know you're a Bang-Baby, and since he got out of prison, I'm sure he's met with all types of suspicion and hostility." Gear pointed out.
"I guess that's true." Static hummed thoughtfully. "But since he said that thing about using his powers again, I'm back to worrying about what his overall plan is."
"Well, it'll have to be something unexpected and nonviolent." Gear hypothesized.
A burning flare shone in one of the seedier neighborhoods, and Static asked, "You were saying?"
They headed towards the flame, and found Hotstreak in a confrontation with what looked like a mugger on the street. Static spotted a woman watching from the corner of a building, and he spotted a purse on the ground, presumably the woman's.
"You have got to be kidding me." Static said to Gear.
"Let's stay back for now. See what he does." Gear said. They moved to a rooftop with a good view.
"Now a real man doesn't need to prey on women to earn a living. How pathetic are you?" Francis asked. The scorch marks on the sidewalk indicated that he had blasted fire near the mugger's feet, forcing him to back up. Now he just had flaming hands and an intimidating posture.
The mugger looked properly cowed and terrified. "This can go two ways. You can resist me and make me chase you down and beat you into submission, or you could just let me zip-tie your hands and wait for the cops. And I'd hate to have to hunt you down if you ran after I left. I might have to burn you so you'd listen in the future."
Eyes wide, the mugger put out his hands together, like he was letting the cops cuff him. Francis slipped a large zip tie around the man's wrists and tightened it. "A wise decision." he assured the mugger.
He picked up the woman's purse and brought it back to her. She cautiously came out from her hiding place. "Um, here's your purse. I think I might have scorched the bottom a little. Sorry about that. Do you have a cell phone?"
She nodded slowly, still seemingly wary. "Okay, you'll want to call the cops then. This isn't the most upstanding neighborhood, and I'm not sure anyone in the buildings around us would bother. I can wait for a while until they come, but once they start getting closer, I'd prefer to be elsewhere." Hotstreak told her.
That seemed to give her her voice back. "Why?"
Francis sighed. "I have a bad rep to beat, and if the cops show up, I'm likely to get hosed down with fire extinguishers whether I've done anything bad or not. I like avoiding that; it's pretty gross."
She blinked at him. "So what do I tell the police?"
Francis shrugged. "The truth. If they want to ask me about it, my parole officer has my address. Like I said, I just want to avoid reactionary firefighting."
"Um...okay. Thank you." she said, sounding very bewildered, but she offered him a small smile.
"Not a problem." Hotstreak assured her, and he went to keep an eye on the mugger as she pulled out her phone.
Static and Gear exchanged wide-eyed baffled glances. "Do we get involved?" Static wondered.
Gear considered it for a moment. "Once Francis leaves. I can keep an eye on the mugger and handle PR for Hotstreak, and you can follow him and talk to him about what he's up to."
"Sounds like a plan." Static agreed.
When police sirens became audible, Francis nodded respectfully at the woman and gave the mugger a warning glare before setting off at a brisk pace. Once he was around the corner and out of her line of sight, he broke into a light jog. Static covertly shadowed him for a while until Francis stopped and sat on an empty crate abandoned on the sidewalk. He took a deep breath and his exhale seemed a bit shaky to Virgil as he rode his disk down to the sidewalk.
Hotstreak only seemed mildly surprised to see him. "Hiya, Static." he said tiredly. "Didn't think you'd catch up that fast. Gonna zap me?"
Static just stared at him silently for a moment, and then asked, "Zip-ties?"
Hotstreak grinned, seemingly pleased with his non-hostile response. "I saw them use those on a TV show."
"Interesting. So this was your big plan? You did your time so you could go to school and be a super-hero? I don't think that's gonna unmask me." Static said.
Francis shrugged. "It doesn't have to be anytime soon."
Static blinked at him. "That's not going to unmask me." he repeated.
"Whatever. How did you know I was going to school?" Francis wondered.
Poker face and hero mask, don't fail him now. "Unlike you, I have a working relationship with law enforcement officials. Since your parole officer knows you're going to school, so do a lot of other people." Virgil hoped that was a good enough lie to stop the questions.
Francis coolly assessed him. "If you aren't planning to detain me officially, was there anything else?"
Static shrugged. "Just letting you know Gear is handling the police and the PR at your mugging."
One eyebrow raised in question, Francis asked, "Why?"
"Maybe he thinks you might be serious about this."
"What do you think?"
"I'm not sure what to think." Virgil admitted.
Francis just looked at him then, and though Static was waiting for him to say something, he didn't. He just kept watching the hero, intent on something Static couldn't interpret. It started to make him uncomfortable.
"Um, Hotstreak, I don't know much about any of this, but I'm going to give you the benefit of a doubt for now. We can see how things go from here." Static said, stepping back onto his disk.
Francis smirked at him. "Guess I'll have to be on my best behavior."
"That sounds like 'a wise decision'." Static said with a smirk of his own, deliberately echoing what Hotstreak had said to the mugger.
Hotstreak frowned at that. "You never will believe that I've changed, will you?"
Static rolled his eyes. "I suppose it could happen. Nice job with that mugger. Effective use and control of force; they aren't shipping the guy off to the Burn Ward at the hospital."
Francis blinked at the unexpected praise. "...thanks."
"Keep your kiln closed, Hotstreak, and I think you'll be okay." Static said, grinning as he started to fly away.
Hotstreak stood and shouted after him, "What the hell do you mean by that?"
Virgil looked over his shoulder, and Francis was scowling and looked intensely uncomfortable. What was wrong with him? He headed back towards the mugging and Gear intercepted him before he got into view. "The media got wind of this, V. I already told the cops what happened, but the news reporters got a statement out of me too. Francis is going to get a bit of fame for this."
"I just keep getting more and more confused. I don't know what happened to him before he started torching the park, but it must have been something major." Virgil observed as they bypassed the mugging scene and headed back towards the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude.
"To have caused this dramatic a change in him, you're probably right." Richie agreed.
"I need to come up with a more pro-active plan. I'm tired of sitting around being stumped."
"Get closer to Francis when you're Virgil. He'll have his guard down a bit more than when you're Static." Richie said, shrugging at the obvious course.
"That's still pretty dangerous."
"Unless he starts threatening his study-buddy with fire, I think it won't be anything Virgil can't handle."
Virgil rolled his eyes. "That's all I need; to get attacked while I have to act normal. How much better could it get than that?"
(-)
So hopefully you enjoyed that chapter. Weird place to end it, but I didn't think I was finding a better one. Plus, hopefully a good tie-in for the next chapter. Let me know what you think. And I was also wondering about giving Hotstreak a different handle for his new super hero persona. Would that be lame because it isn't cannon, cool, or would it depend on the name?