"If that wasn't a hard day," Virgil said as he walked home, too exhausted to even fly. "I don't know what is." Some of his classes had been better when he started coming up with jokes, but mostly, they had been tense and hard, and they seemed like they had lasted forever. At lunch, he had grabbed some food, and flown onto the roof. It had worked, no one bothered him. He had never felt so alone in his life.

Finally, he came to his doorstep.

"Virgil!" His mother exclaimed. "Where have you been!?"

"Sorry, moms," he said tiredly, "I missed the bus...or more precisely, the other kids didn't want me riding it." He flopped onto the couch. "I didn't get a tutor," he sighed. "But I did go by the containment lab."

"And?" she asked.

"They had me fill out a few forms, and than gave me a physical. Nothing too bad, except that they tested me to see how much electricity I can generate." He laid his head back on the couch, "They practically drained me, moms," he groaned. "I can barely move!"

"Well," she looked away, "your sister called," Virgil looked up. "She said that she'd talk to Adam Evans, you know, her boyfriend, and see if he can help you out."

"Why?" Virgil asked, sitting up.

"Because he'd be tolerant of Bang Babies, seeing as he's dating one. Plus, he's Dyslexic, and probably has a lot of things that would help you catch up on your homework."

"Um, okay, moms," Virgil said, sitting back again. Adam Evans...or Rubber-band man in his world. How ironic is that? He asked himself. Suddenly Virgil smiled. That would mean his older brother was Ebon...or Cloak, or whatever his name was. "Thanks, Moms," he grinned, "That's a great idea!"

"Good," she smiled. "I also took the liberty of setting up a councilor for you. You need to be there in 10 minutes." Virgil's smile vanished.

"What? Where is it?" A few minutes later, despite his exhaustion, he flew out of his window on his disk to Downtown Dakota so he could meet his new councilor."

--

"Hi, honey," his mother's voice came wafting from the kitchen, along with the amazing aroma (sp?) of Spaghetti. As bad as Virgil's mood was, this definitely helped. "How did it go?"

"Horrible," he grumbled. "I met with Mr. Klidesdale, after a 20 minute wait, and all he told me is that I have serious psychological problems that I need to tell him about. Mom, I don't even remember most of the incidents that he asked me about. When I told him so, he told me I have to stop running from the past." His fists started to glow, "Frustrating is not the word for it," he growled.

"Well, how about an early dinner, and than you can go over to the Evan's." This brightened Virgil's mood slightly.

"So, he said yes?"

"Sharon called back, and she said that he'd be fine with it, and that you can start tonight."

"Good," Virgil sighed, "I have a ton of homework."
"Than come and sit down," his mother's head appeared in the door, a grin splitting her face. Seeing her face smile like that again almost stopped Virgil's heart, and his anger seemed to melt away.

"Moms," he said, "You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that."

Virgil glanced at his watch, and took a deep breath. 7:30. That meant he'd have to figure out some way to break the news of Cloak's secret identity within the next hour. He had been flying over to the address he had been given, when it dawned on him. If Ebon showed up at his house, in his dimension, for any reason, and told Virgil he knew Static's secret identity, he would probably panic and fight him right there. So, he figured that's what "Cloak" would do. He'd also have to talk to him alone, in case his family didn't know either. That was, if he was still living at home.

Of course, there was the possibility that Ebon, if he was the older brother like he was in the other dimension (or if they were even in the same family...this dimension was just screwy enough to do that to him), he was probably in collage as well, or working a full-time job or something. Than, he'd have to track him down. The thing is, even though Adam had told him once that Ebon was older, he had never told Virgil, or Static, Ebon's real name.

"Talk about winging it," he grumbled and rang the doorbell. A few minutes later, Adam opened the door with a big smile on his face.

"Virgil, welcome," he said. Slightly taken aback, Virgil nodded politely and walked in.

"Er...thanks," he finally said as Adam closed the door.

"Let's get right to it," Adam led him into the kitchen, and to the table where he gestured for Virgil to have a seat. "So, what kind of help do you need?" Virgil sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long night.