Okay, let's all have a moment of silence to mourn the loss of my netbook. It died and I haven't been able to get a new one until now. Even though my new laptop is better, I still kind of miss my netbook. It was the first computer I posted fanfiction on. Stupid, yes, but I'm sentimental like that. I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Anyway, let's get started.
highlander348: Ebon doesn't know about their secret identities, only Wade and his crew. Though Virgil and Richie will have a hard time explaining to their parents why they were missing for so long.
AwesomeJellyBean: My thoughts exactly. Thank you for waiting.
pocketpirate: Yes, Katrina can be quite devious when she wants to be, that's what makes her so much fun!
Sakura: I did the same thing, that's how I came up with the story. Thanks for your review!
Chavonnie26: Thank you for the encouragement, it means a lot to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Static Shock, blah, blah, blah, don't sue me.
Warning: Violence, foul language, etc.
.:Line Break:.
Later the duo arrived at the Metabreed hideout. The two didn't hide themselves this time as Francis told her it would be useless with Ebon's powers. Talon and Shiv eyed them warily, while Ebon glared at Francis.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here, Hotstreak." The living shadow growled, "And with your little girlfriend here, too. I've heard about what you two have been doing. I'm not telling you anything."
Francis growled back, body smoking, eyes fading to a milky white, "Wrong answer, Ebon! I'm not afraid of you so don't think I won't beat the information out of you!"
Shiv was the first to jump to his boss' defense, hands morphing into purple glowing blades. Talon was next, feathers ruffling as her muscles tensed. Ebon drew closer to Francis, causing the pyro to light his hands. Just as it looked like a fight was about to break out, Katrina intervened.
"Um, excuse me." she began, stepping between the Ebon and Hotstreak. She received confused looks from everyone except the shadow, who sneered at her for getting in the way.
"What do you want?"
The healer smiled coyly, mischief gleaming in her blue irises, "There's no need for violence. We just want to talk."
Ebon scoffed, crossing his arms, "I'm not in a talking mood."
"That's a shame, because I was hoping that we could help each other out."
He appeared to be mildly intrigued, "Go on."
Shiv's blades disappeared as he, Talon, and Francis relaxed. Ebon was clearly feeling less hostile.
"I hear that you don't like Wade, which is understandable. I mean, you've been the biggest, most feared bang baby in all of Dakota for awhile now and suddenly, here comes this punk trying to upstage you, and he hasn't even used his powers yet. He just sends out others he's recruited to do his dirty work for him." Katrina shot him an almost pitying glance, "I can't even begin to imagine how frustrating that must be for you."
Francis realized what she was doing and resisted the urge to smirk.
"If he keeps gathering more people, he'll be the one everyone is afraid of and you'll be nothing more than a shadow."
Ebon snarled at her choice of words and Katrina knew she had hit a nerve. "Get to the point."
"Easy, easy. I'm getting there." She told him, pleased with how well things were working, "I've heard a rumor. A rumor that Wade has captured Terra, Static, and Gear. Considering the fact that they haven't been seen all day despite the crime, I'm guessing it's true. If he can take down three superheroes, two of which are famous, think of how people will react. More bang babies would join up with him and he'll be the one everyone fears, not you."
"I won't ask again, girl. What's your point?"
"My point," she began, "is that if you tell us where Wade is hiding out, not only would we be able to save them, giving you ample opportunity to take them down later, but it will also utterly humiliate Wade to have them slip through his fingers. You don't have to do a thing, we'll take care of the dirty work and no one has to know you told us."
Ebon raised a brow, seemingly impressed. He glanced at Francis, "Where'd an idiot like you find a girl like her?"
"Hey!"
"Calm down." She told the pyro. Turning back to the Metabreed leader, she held out her hand, "Do we have a deal, Ebon?"
He regarded her silently for a moment before nodding. He gripped her hand tightly, giving it a shake. "Yeah, we have a deal. You know the old abandoned bakery down town? Under that is a bunch of old subway tunnels. He's directly under the bakery itself."
Katrina grinned, "Pleasure doing business with you. Let's go, Hotstreak."
Ebon watched the two leave. The girl was smart, he'd give her that. She was definitely smarter than Hotstreak which made him wonder where he found her and why she hung out with him.
"Too bad she isn't a bang baby." He thought to himself, "It'd be good to have someone like her in the Metabreed."
.:Line Break:.
The sun began to rise as the two neared their destination, though they were oblivious to it being underground. They were tired and hungry and relieved to know that everything would soon be over. However, the feeling soon dissipated when they unexpectedly ran into trouble.
The tunnel they were supposed to go down to get to Wade's hideout led to a brick wall.
Francis growled, frustrated by everything they had been put through, "Damn it! I knew we couldn't trust that bastard!"
"This doesn't make any sense…" Katrina thought aloud, "Ebon wants to be rid of Wade. Why would he lie?"
"Because he's an asshole!" he yelled, walking over to the wall, "He probably wants the credit of bringing down Wade himself."
Katrina watched with weary eyes as Francis moved to lean up against the wall, only to see his upper half fall through when he tried to put his weight on it.
"Ow! What the hell?"
The healer gasped and rushed to his side as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Seeing that he wasn't bleeding or bruised, she examined the "wall". She reached out to touch it, but her hand passed through it just as Francis had.
"It's… not real?"
The pyro glared at it, as if blaming it for his fall, "Obviously."
"Do you think it's a hologram of some kind?" Katrina asked as she and Francis got to their feet, "You don't think one of the bang babies Wade recruited made it, do you?"
"Don't know, don't care." he grunted, "At least we know Ebon wasn't lying to us."
Katrina nodded, her mind lingering on the "wall" even as they passed it and continued on.
Soon after, the two came upon a large metal door. It was made of steel and it appeared to have been installed in the tunnels only recently.
The healer grabbed the handle and pulled, only to find it locked. She voiced her observation to Francis and stepped away from the door, "We must be pretty close."
Fire formed in the pyro's hands, "Get behind me."
She did as she was told, watching as her friend blasted the door off its hinges. It fell with a loud crash and cracked the tiled flooring on the other side.
"We should hurry." Katrina whispered, passing Francis, "Someone will have heard that."
They rushed through the dark tunnels until they came to a point where there was a hole in the tiled subway wall, a dirt tunnel beyond it. Near the opening was a small wooden table with a small flickering candle and three familiar masks.
"Damn it!" Katrina cursed, grabbing them, "Wade's unmasked them."
"So, he knows who they are." he mused, "That means that you're in even more trouble now. You'll be a target."
"Can't worry about that now. Let's go!" She dashed down the tunnel, panic and fear overriding exhaustion.
A little deeper into the tunnel was a small dark cell. Katrina froze upon finding it and seeing what was inside. Her sister was slumped up against the back wall, battered and bruised, unconscious. Next to her were the forms of Richie and Virgil, dressed as Gear and Static, also unconscious and in the same condition her sister was in.
Katrina was unsure whether she should feel relieved or frightened by the situation. On the one hand, her sister and friends had been found. On the other hand, Wade and his gang knew who they were and where to find them. Were any of them safe anymore? If Wade wasn't above torturing people, how low was he willing to sink to get at them?
Katrina shuddered at the thought.
"Looks like you were right." Francis said, gently pushing Katrina aside so he could melt the hinges off the cell door. There would be time for him to be shocked about this scene later. If Wade could render three bang babies useless, they didn't have time to sit and stare.
Once the hinges were gone, he pulled the door away and carefully retrieved Virgil and Richie, carrying them under his arms. Katrina put Kathrine on her back, trying not to drop their masks. They left without further delay, surprisingly not running into any trouble.
.:Line Break:.
The duo managed to bring the injured heroes to the Blake household before sunrise without being seen. Katrina put Kathrine in her room, instructing Francis to set Virgil and Richie down on the double bed in the guest room.
He watched as she went to work on her friends, healing their serious injuries first, then fixing as many of their cuts and bruises as she could. She couldn't heal all of them, though. Her abilities required intense focus and quite a bit of her energy. She wouldn't be able to heal all of their injuries and her sister's too, so she had to take care of anything that could potentially become problematic.
By the time she was done with Virgil and Richie, her exhaustion was weighing down on her more than it had before and it showed. The dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep were more pronounced and she was much paler than she usually was. She walked out of the room, nearly dragging her feet because her body felt so heavy as she made her way to her sister's room. She stumbled and almost fell flat on her face, but Francis caught her and steadied her. She mumbled a quick "thanks" and continued on her way to her sister's room.
Just like with Virgil and Richie, she was quiet while healing her sister as well. Francis leaned against the wall opposite the bed, arms crossed over his chest, deep in thought as he kept an eye on the healer so she didn't pass out.
He wondered why he hadn't made the connections about the heroes before. The signs were right in front of him the entire time. He had even seen Virgil at the big bang and he still hadn't realized that he was Static. He probably never would have either if it hadn't been for this little stunt Wade pulled.
He thought back to how they found the heroes, a frown pulling at his lips. "Did you notice it?"
Katrina glanced at him, not needing him to elaborate, "Yeah. No guards, no alarm, no traps. It was… unsettling, to say the least."
"Exactly." he said, "Either Wade was cocky and thought no one would find them, or…"
"Or he planned for it all to happen the way it did. I know. It's been bothering me." the healer admitted softly, "But why? What's his purpose? I just… can't figure out what it is that he wants. And how did he know we would save them? Did he plan for us to go and get them? How could he have known?"
Francis raised a brow, "You think he's screwing with us?"
"I don't think we should jump to any conclusions just yet, but… it is entirely possible."
The pyro growled, not liking the idea of being toyed with.
"I'm just about done here." Katrina told him, "If you want to go home, you can. I should be fine."
He shot her a questioning look, disbelief in his green eyes.
"Really, I'm fine." she assured, "Go home and get some sleep. There's no reason why we should both suffer."
She had meant the last part as a joke and even gave him a little smile, but the light didn't reach her eyes. He was hesitant to leave, though he wasn't sure why. After all, he had finished his job. Kathrine, Virgil, and Richie had been found, there was nothing left for him to do.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll be fine." Another smile, just as fake as the first.
Francis lingered a moment before pushing off the wall and walking out of the room. He made his way to the front door, checking his phone as he did so. As he suspected, there were numerous messages from Officer Gore. He listened to his voice mail, feeling a little guilty when he heard the concern in her voice.
The pyro sighed and was about to grab the doorknob when something stopped him. The image of Katrina's fake smile popped into his head.
"She doesn't want to be alone."
He drew his hand back and hit his head on the door with a single thud and mentally cursed himself. No matter how hard he tried, he simply could not will himself to leave.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought, rubbing the back of his neck.
Seeing no other option, Francis straightened up and trudged back up the stairs, sending Officer Gore a text message saying that he was fine. He found Kathrine's door cracked open, just how he had left it. Peering inside, he saw Katrina sitting in a chair by her sister's bedside, feebly trying to fend off sleep. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smirk and shake his head.
Katrina was so tired, she didn't even notice Francis reenter the room until he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled, and looked up at him in surprise.
"Francis?"
"Sleep." he told her, "They're not going anywhere."
Katrina smiled a real smile as her eyes slowly fluttered shut. Three words left her lips as sleep claimed her: "Thank you, Francis."
.:Line Break:.
Don't really have much to say this time. Please tell me what you think.