Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last few chapters: dea puella, pita, valkyrie-alex,Mo, KaliAnn, JadeDragoness, Webkitsune, Aryah, EyesLikeSilk, Landen, KateMaxwell. If you are enjoying this story and haven't reviewed yet, please drop me a line! Even if you have reviewed, keep 'em coming! (Egad, I have become a review-whore. Heavy sigh.)

Warning - Scenes/discussion of abuse. Not too detailed, but still sad. Saturn's Hikari - here comes the e) in your Richie-angst list. Let me know if you like it.

Standard disclaimers - I don't own Static Shock or the Justice League. Richie is a cutie. Why do we always hurt the ones we love???

He remembered screaming inside his mind even as he built the shell that was destined to keep him safe while his species was exterminated. Cocooned in the android, he would be able to sense what was happening - to see and hear what Brainiac said and did to his friends and to his home. He tried to fight, to keep his hands from shaping the weaponry, but he was unable to interfere. Brainiac had full control of his body. If the alien intelligence wanted to, it could stop Richie's heart from beating or stop his lungs from taking in oxygen with a simple thought.

His utter helplessness was driven home every time Brainiac communicated with him. It felt like spiders crawling through his brain. No place was safe from the invader; there was nowhere to hide. Tendrils of thoughts not his own crept through crevices and sought out secrets. Everything Richie had experienced, every thought and feeling lay naked to the alien mind.

The only things that allowed Richie to retain his sanity during Brainiac's mind-rape were thoughts of Virgil. When the horror of what was happening to him was too much, Richie retreated as far within his mind as he could. He concentrated on his friend. He focused on the good times they had together, the laughter and fun, the closeness. Richie's pure love for Virgil. Richie believed that gentle but powerful emotions - like love - were beyond Brainiac's understanding. Whenever Richie retreated to the 'Virgil Zone,' Brainiac avoided contactinghim until it needed him. Like when it used him to interact with others at school or to infect the Flash with a control chip.

Later, he was forced into awareness when the Justice League and Static arrived at the factory. He thought he would die when the Flash attached a control chip to Static. His face hademptied of all the beautiful emotions that made Virgil, Virgil. Thank God Static's electrical aura interfered and short-circuited the control. Hope had flared in Richie. Static was free! Richie's joy was quickly overpowered by gut-wrenching fear. The Justice League - Batman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Flash,Hawk Girl - they were all under Brainiac's control. How could Static Shock hope to survive when the older, more experienced superheroes all turned against him?

In Richie's nightmare, Static didn't survive, and Richie was left with a front row seat to the destruction of humanity. He could see the buildings being destroyed with weapons that Richie had made with his Bang Baby brains and 16-year old hands. He could smell the remains of those too slow to avoid the flames…

Richie woke screaming and coughing, trying to rid his airway of the taint of burning flesh.

The other students serving detention whispered nervously to each other and backed away from the troubled boy. Mrs. Noring let out a frightened squawk then moved to stand by Richie as he tried to shake off the dream. She noted Richie's pale, sweat-soaked face. For a moment, she wishedVirgil Hawkins was still in the room.

"Mr. Foley, I am excusing you from the remainder of detention. You should go straight home." Mrs. Noring took another look at his face before asking, "Would you like me to call your parents and have them pick you up?"

Richie shook his head in an emphatic 'no.' He gathered his belongings and left the room. Richie was too flustered from having the nightmare at school that he didn't think to look for Virgil. He left the building and began his trek home.

Richie had been doing a lot of thinking lately, about Brainiac and his life in general. Things weren't so good at home. He wished he could live with the Hawkins'. Mr. Hawkins was cool and was demonstrative in his love for his children. Richie knew that Virgil and Sharon had never doubted their parents' love for them. Richie certainly doubted his own folks.

He remembered his lunchtime conversation with Dad.

"It's bad enough what happened this morning, but then you had to be late to class? Your mother and I have had it up to here with your laziness. Our time is very valuable and you are wasting it by acting like an idiot. Don't stop anywhere on your way home and that includes Virgil's house. We'll be waiting for you."

Richie had lied to Virgil. He hadn't forgotten to set his alarm clock this morning. He'd had the very same dream he'd had in detention. When he woke up screaming at two in the morning, he felt hands jerk him roughly out of bed, drag him downstairs, and throw him bodily into the tiny supply closet in the garage. When the door slammed shut behind him, he could hear his parents screaming at one another.

"It was a nightmare! He's just a child; they have nightmares!"

"Well, now he can have them where I don't have to listen to him!"

The screaming faded as they moved back up to their bedroom. Richie huddled in the closet, not daring to move, not even to open the door, which was left unlocked. He knew what would happen if he opened the door before it was time to get ready for school. He had made that mistake once. That was actually the first time he'd had to go to the hospital. Broken collarbone. He was seven. His mother had rushed him to the hospital. She was crying as she told Richie to tell anyone who asked that he fell out of the tree in the backyard. Richie didn't bother to argue that they didn't have a tree in the backyard.

Hospital visits were rare. Too much danger of a doctor reporting something unusual in the injuries. Other methods were employed to punish Richie for his stupidity. Sleeping on the garage floor, rocks in his shoes, the occasional cigarette burn, and always, always the hitting, punching, and kicking. Never where the bruises would show, though. Richie learned that baggy clothes would not only hide the damage so others couldn't see what he made his parents do, but they also wouldn't rub against the sore spots.

That wasn't the only reason he wore baggy clothes, though.

He had always been small for his age. When he finally hit his growth spurt at ten, he outgrew his ragged thrift store clothes. For hours he heard about what a pig he was; at dinner that evening he was informed that he was going on a diet. During meal times, Richie would sit and watch his parents eat their fill. He was allowed only whatever was left on their plates. Sometimes he would get something to eat and sometimes he wouldn't. Once, he was given a regular helping but it was coated with so much hot sauce that it burned his mouth and he couldn't eat anything for two days. The diet, which lasted for three years, put and end to his dream of playing professional basketball. Malnutrition at a young age would leave him at a diminutive five feet six inches in his adult life. From then on his mom only bought him clothes that were too big so that if he did grow again, she wouldn't have to buy new ones.

Richie shook himself from morbid remembrances. He was almost home, and he would need his wits about him when he faced his parents. As he paused at the end of the sidewalk, he wondered which he would prefer - to face his parents or to be in Brainiac's power again? Both options sucked, but at least he knew that Brainiac never intended to kill him; the 'nest' inside the android proved that. He had no idea what his parents were going to do. With a deep breath to fortify his courage, Richie went inside the house.

At the end of the block, Ebon and Hotstreak watched the blond boy enter his home.

"Why are we helping this guy again?" whined Hotstreak. "Why don't we just leave him in the cavern? It could take years to find the way out if he has to get out on his own. We could be long gone by then."

Ebon replied, "And have him at our backs with a score to settle? No way. I ain't taking no chances. This way, we get on his good side. We'll get him what he needs. Then we'll take care of Static and Gear while he goes after the Justice League. Once the heroes out of the way, we can take over the whole damned planet.!"

"I don't like this. I don't like him, and I sure as hell don't trust him."

"You want to be stuck in Dakota all your life? He is an arrogant prick, though, and he wants this kid real bad. If he tries a double cross, we'll just take the kid away from him." Ebon left Hotstreak watching the house. "I'm gonna round up the crew. I'll meet you here at dark and we'll grab the kid."

Hotstreak acknowledged Ebon with a nod of his head. He was still bothered by the whole thing, but Ebon was smart. If he thought an alliance would give them an edge, he would follow orders. He just couldn't help but wonder, "What does Brainiac want with Richie Foley?"