Disclaimer: Once again, me no own.

Chapter Eleven: The Warning Bell Sounds

Virgil ignored his cereal and continued glaring across the table at Francis, who meanwhile was busy staring interestingly at his own bowl of Fruit Loops. Devin poked his uncle in the side with his spoon. "What're you looking at Uncle V?"

"Him." Virgil growled and pointed at Francis with his spoon, clenched tightly in his fist.

Francis raised a hand to his chest and looked offended. "Me? But I have been nothing but golden." He said with mock surprise.

Virgil scoffed loudly and shoved a big spoonful of loops in his mouth, chewing angrily. "Golden. Ha!"

Sharon smacked her brother lightly on the arm as she walked by with a cup of coffee for Adam. "You're just mad because everyone laughed at you." She said with a knowing smile.

Francis grinned, obviously delighted with himself and spooned the last of his cereal into his mouth.

Devin laughed as if to prove his mother's point. "Yeah, you were real funny."

Virgil scowled but didn't say anything else because all those in the kitchen had stared laughing at him. Or at least snickering behind their hands.

Francis pushed back his cereal bowl and leaned back in the chair, stretching until he heard his back crack several times. Sharon shuddered at the noise. "Uch, that's disgusting." Francis merely smirked slightly and cracked his neck as well.

Robert came into the kitchen, holding several clothing items in his arms. He set them on the table and sorted through them while everyone else in the kitchen looked on in silence. "Umm...Pops? What are you doing?" Virgil finally asked, as his father pulled a pair of green khaki pants from the pile triumphantly.

"Francis needs clothes. His jeans, shirt, and sweatshirt are all torn up." He explained matter-of-factly and handed the pants over to Francis. "Those should fit."

"Uh, thanks. I guess." Francis said uncertainly, holding the pants aloft. He was quickly given a button-up black shirt and a gray t-shirt as well.

Daisy came into the kitchen and waved off the cup of coffee offered to her by Adam. "Batman just got here so we're ready to move Richie to the hospital. You too, Smoky. Bring the clothes, you can get dressed there." She said, pointing at both Virgil and Francis. Both men got up and followed her out to the jet, which was waiting outside with Batman at the wheel.


At the hospital, Daisy took over. She had paramedics bring Richie, back in his Gear uniform to shield his identity, into the ER and then had him admitted into a private room, calling together her interns to watch him while she set Francis up in a room across the hall.

In a few minutes, Francis was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling on the new khaki pants and waiting for Daisy to come back in to fix his ribs.

Instead, Static came in and pulled up an orange plastic chair in the corner of the room. They stared at each other for a minute or two and then Francis turned to look out the window, extremely uncomfortable.

"They're giving Rich a better bandaging and the new blood." Static said, to fill the gaping silence. He held up his arm to show a band-aid on his bicep. "I was feeling dizzy so Daisy said to come sit in here for a while." He explained.

Francis nodded, still silent.

"You know we will get Jesse back for you, right?"

Francis looked up sharply and frowned in confusion. "Why're you...listen can we talk about this later?"

"I know we were close, so close to having him. Things...things don't always go as planned." Static continued.

"Seriously, shut up." Francis came close to snarling.

"Don't be like that." Static continued.

"Like what? Like a father who can't even look after his own kid?" Francis stood suddenly and grimaced, doubling over in pain. Static put a hand on his good shoulder to steady him. Francis shrugged it off and looked at Static with anger in his green eyes. "Just leave it okay?"

"Yeah." Static watched Francis sit back down with concern and dropped the topic entirely. Luckily, Daisy came into the room followed by two interns and broke up the intensity.

"Why are you sweating?" She asked Francis and put a hand on his forehead. "You've got an elevated temperature. What've you been doing?" She looked first at Francis and then Static for an answer. Neither of them answered.

Daisy sighed. "Fine, Kevin get me a rib cage protector and Carol, prepare for a CT Scan." Daisy wrote something on a clipboard and handed it to Carol, who left the room..

"What's the scan for?" Francis asked.

"Just to make sure nothing else is wrong in your chest. By the way, I was looking over your medical file and you have quiet an extensive history." Daisy said with an accusatory tone.

Francis winced, and not because of his ribs. "Yeah."

"Now I get why you don't like needles." Daisy continued. "But I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. Patient-doctor confedentiality and all that."

Francis looked stunned and then he grinned. "You've got yourself a keeper." He winked at Static. "A girl who can keep a secret."

"Can't Theresa keep a secret?" Daisy asked.

"No." The pryo responded bluntly.

"Gear's doing fine by the way." Daisy added to Static, who perked up immediately. "The blood transfuison went off without a hitch and he's sleeping now. I want him to stay in the hospital for at least two weeks to watch for infection, is that clear?" She added, knowing that Virgil would want his partner and best friend by his side and Richie would want the same thing.

"Crystal babe." Static smiled. "I don't want Gear getting hurt again."

Carol, the intern, popper her head back into the room. "Dr. Cervais says he's ready for the scan now."

Daisy snapped at Francis. "Let's go Smoky." Francis stood and frowned at the nickname. "You've really got to stop calling me that." He muttered as he followed her out of the room and into the hallway, leaving Static behind. Daisy smiled at him over her shoulder. "Well Francisco, Francis, Frankie, F-Stop, Hotstreak. What would you like me to call you?"

Francis winced at all but two names and he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as he scanned the halls for anyone who might have heard the first. "Frankie I guess. Frankie's good for right now."

Daisy wrinkled her nose. "Nah, I'll call you Francis."

Francis raised an eyebrow. "You're not even going to listen to my answer to a question that you asked."

"I took your opinion into consideration, and then chose an answer for myself. You should really think about choosing one specific alias to stick with. It's rather confusing." Daisy said lightly with a teasing smile and herded Francis into the lab ahead of her. "Lay down on there and we'll start in just a moment. I hope you'e not claustrophobic."

Francis settled onto the metal gurney and the machine started, sending him into a cocoon like machine. "Nah. Theresa is though, wouldn't even get on a subway."


Later that afternoon, everyone was crammed into Gear's room. Static sitting on the egde of his best friend's bed, Francis lounging half asleep in another plastic chair, Batman standing with his back to the room staring out the window, and Daisy looking over charts by the doorway.

"Can I go see Theresa?" Francis asked, sitting forward and rubbing his eyes.

Static looked up. "Yeah, I'll take you. C'mon."

"I do remember where her room is y'know." Francis complained, tugging at the rib cage protector Daisy had given him beneath his shirts. "Still don't trust me?"

"I trust you enough. I just want to tell her something."

Once again the two walked in silence, but this time the silence was a comfortable one. Francis walked into the room first and a huge grin split his face as his wife looked up at him from a book.

"Hey baby." She smiled and marked her place, patting the bed beside her. Francis took the invitation and sat carefully on the edge of her bed, looking at her bandaged arm with guilty eyes.

"You should never have gotten hurt. You or Jesse." He said quietly.

Theresa reached forward and tapped the bandage creeping out from beneath his own shirt. "Didn't I tell you to be careful?" She asked.

"I tried. Wade's insane T. I can't reason with him at all. Gear got hurt, Jesse's hurt and he's still with that psycho. I could've had him..." Francis muttered, his brow furrowing in annoyance and anger.

Theresa's hand moved from his arm to his face and she cupped his chin, pulling his face towards her. "None of this is your fault mi amor. You can't blame yourself and you cannot doubt yourself." She said sternly.

Francis averted his gaze and pouted slightly. Theresa shook his head gently, still holding his face. "I don't doubt for a minute that you will get Jesse back for me. I trust you completely so trust yourself too, okay baby?"

Francis just barely nodded and Theresa pulled him closer, kissing the pout away. "Better?" She asked, knowing Francis had been struggling with something.

Francis nodded again and Theresa released him, a smirk forming on her own lips.

"Um, hi." Static said awkwardly, not sure if he wanted to invade their private moment or not, and wishing now that he had let Francis come alone. Both of them looked up and Francis flushed bright red. He had obviously forgotten that Static was even there.

"Hey Sparky." Theresa greeted him happily, not showing any signs of embarassment. "How's your partner?"

Static smiled and stepped forward. "He's fine. I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to keep my identity a seceret, Francis already knows."

She raised one eyebrow at her husband. "Does he now. Surprised dearest?"

"A bit." Francis shrugged and looked at Static. "It really should have been easier to figure out. I was probably the last person to see you at the docks before the gas went off and how many fourteen-year-olds with that hair could there have been at the Bang?"

"Are you making fun of my hair? At least dreads are a style, your hair just looks liks your head is on fire." Static pointed out, gesturing at Francis' spiked red and blond locks.

"I love his spikes," Theresa said fondly and ran a hand through them to prove her point. Francis blushed deeper but didn't pull away.

Static grinned. "Yeah, well. I'll leave now. Just come back to the room when you're done." He turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

Theresa pulled on Francis' button-up shirt and he leaned backwards against her. "Yes?" He asked teasingly.

"Can I say hello properly?" She whispered in his hear. Francis grinned.


It had been a week. A week without injuries, without sudden attacks from Wade, without word of Jesse, and without any more leads on where Wade could be hiding. For Francis, it had been an unbearable week, passing by with excruciating slowness. Fortunately, the uneventful week had allowed him to recover from most of his injuries. Bruises and cuts were fading, turning from shocking blue to dull browns and yellows and everyday Daisy looked him over. Yesterday she removed the bandaging from around his thigh.

Virgil, seemed to notice none of his new ally's anxiety. He passed the week away visiting Gear, still confined to the hospital, and exercising. After a rousing session of pullups and pushups in his bedroom, Virgil clomped down the stairs shirtless and with a towel around his neck, a grin on his face and sweat on his forehead. "I feel great!" He exclaimed coming into the kitchen and clapping Adam on the back. "You should really work out with me. It feels great." He went to the sink and poured himself a glass of water, leaning against the cool countertop.

"Are you implying that I'm out of shape?" Adam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no. Physique's looking good." Virgil said with a smile.

"Yeah right." Sharon said, coming up behind her husband and squeezing two little flabs of skin on his side. Adam yelped and jumped out of her grasp. "You could do with losing that tire around your waist."

Adam frowned and pinched his side. "Tire?"

Virgil laughed and looked around the kitchen. Devin was happily coloring at the table, showing Robert the proper way to draw a sailboat. "Where's Francis?" He asked suddenly.

"I haven't seen him for a while. I figured he was being all manly man with you." Sharon said.

Robert looked up briefly from his tutorial. "He's outside. He found Virgil's old skateboard in the basement and took it out into the street, I think Taylor went with him."

"Outside?" Virgil said. "He's not supposed to go outside without me or Batman."

Robert shrugged and picked up the blue crayon. Devin immediately took it away from him and handed him a purple one instead. "Purple's better." He explained and bent over his picture. Robert smacked his forehead. "Of course purple, how silly of me."


"Do a kickflip again!" Taylor shouted from the stoop.

"Again? I just did three in a row." Francis grinned from the street. Luckily it wasn't a very busy street, he had yet to see a car pass by.

"Yes again, it's my favorite one." Taylor explained, pouting slightly.

"Okay." Francis put his foot down on the cement and pushed himself forward, gaining a little bit of speed. He jumped into an Ollie and then flicked the skateboard with his foot, so it spun underneath him in midair. Francis landed back on the board with both feet and glided past the delighted Taylor.

"Good one."

Francis looked up and saw Virgil in the doorway, his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face.

"Hey." He said slowly, skidding to a stop.

"Do you really think skateboarding is good for you right now?" Virgil asked.

"My leg doesn't hurt at all." Francis tried to explain.

"Your ribs?"

"Listen Sparky, I'm fine."

"Yeah Uncle Virgil, you should see him grind." Taylor tugged at her uncle's sweatpants. "It is called grind right?" She asked Francis quietly.

Francis laughed. "Yes it's grind." Virgil wasn't amused. He jumped down the stairs and walked over to Francis. "I really don't think this is a good idea."

Francis sighed. "How do you vent Virgil?"

Virgil looked taken aback by the question. "I go flying." He said slowly, not sure where this was going.

Francis stepped on the back of the skateboard and it flipped into his hand. "Yeah, well I skate." His voice dropped so only Virgil could hear his next words. "Do you remember at Alva's island when I told you I was in a hospital for two years?" Virgil nodded, he had been reminded of it when Daisy had commented on Francis' extensive medical history a week ago. "I was in a bad accident, internal complications and all that shit but my leg was busted too. When I had to do physical therapy, my doctor recommended skateboarding. This helped me, it doesn't hurt when I skate so please...just let me skate."

Virgil mulled over the revelation in his head. "Yeah. I just wasn't sure."

Francis grinned. "Cool, and don't tell anyone okay. Theresa doesn't even know about it."

"Okay." Virgil nodded and headed back for the house.

"And Virgil?" He turned halfway up the stairs. Francis held up the skateboard. "This board is awful."

Virgil shrugged. "I was eight and tried it for two months. I got that at Toy's 'R Us for twenty bucks. It's more plastic than wood." He pointed at a bike rack across the street. "Let's see that grind."


"What do you think would be the best way to murder your dear father?" Wade asked conversationally, plucking a cobweb out of his path.

Jesse remained silent, sitting against a dusty, lumpy old sofa, his broken leg splayed out in front of him. Last night Wade had dragged him into this old apartment, cordoned off for being unstable along with the rest of the rickety old building. He knew better by now than to answer any of Wade's probing questions.

Wade's eyes flashed with anger for a moment as he looked the boy over. Dirty and bruised, his leg swollen and miscolored, and his clothes were more raggedy than anything else. "Should I rip through his throat? No, that would be too quick." Wade grinned with sick enjoyment, watching as Jesse's face paled. "Maybe I could tear him apart from his stomach, just making the hole larger and larger until he splits in two."

Jesse gulped and looked away nervously.

Wade strode forward and clenched the boy's face in one huge hand. "I could just leave your body for him to find." A spike shot out of his hand, cutting into Jesse's cheek.

Jesse gasped and jerked backwards. Wade's grin widened. "No, no. I don't want to risk getting caught before I can kill F-Stop. But don't worry, you'll follow after him quickly enough." He released Jesse, wiping a finger across the blood stain. "You can watch him die."

Jesse's face screwed up in anger and he kicked out with his good leg. Wade, off-balance in his kneeling position, took the kick in the stomach and teetered backwards. Fortunately for Jesse, the apartment had been cordoned for a reason. Wade's heavy body smacked into the rotting floor and it collapsed beneath his weight. Wade fell through to the floor below and landed on a kitchen counter in a huge cloud of dust.

Jesse scrambled to his feet and limped to the window. He looked out and grinned, there was a fire escape. He pushed the window open just wide enough for his skinny frame to slip out. Jesse yelped when his leg caught on the window ledge and set off, limping as fast as he could down the slick ladders, knowing that Wade would be after him shortly.

On the street, he looked around wildly for anyone who could help him. Behind him he heard a roar of anger and he knew Wade was coming. Jesse limped down the street, looking for someone, anyone...and then he saw a familiar sight. A large apartment building loomed over the street, and even better, Jesse saw a familiar person walking out of that apartment building.

"Danny!" He yelled and staggered over to his dad's friend.

"Jesse?" Danny Taylor took a step back in astonishment and then rushed forward, catching Jesse by the elbow as he stumbled and fell to his knees. "What happened to you? Your leg...where's your dad?"

Jesse clutched at Danny and refused to let go. "He's going to kill me and dad. You can't let him, you have to help me!"

Danny picked Jesse up carefully. "Who?"

Jesse pointed behind him. Danny looked and saw what looked like a man-mountain thundering towards him. "Shit."

Wade let out a murderous yell and leapt forward.

Danny staggered backwards and the last thing he saw was razor-sharp spikes shooting through the air at him and Jesse.

Author's Note:

Oh wow, a cliff-hanger. I don't do those very often. I usually like to wrap things up cleanly every chapter but that's no fun. What's going to happen to Danny? Is Jesse free of Wade? Will Francis ever be reunited with his family? All these questions, and many more, will be answered in the coming chapters. But you all HAVE TO REVIEW! Please, you make me sad when you don't.