Virgil zoomed in the door at 4 minutes after curfew, and made a b-line through the immaculate house, heading to the kitchen.

"There you are," Jean scolded, as he stomped onto the linoleum. She placed the phone she had been holding back onto the receiver.

"I know, moms," he said, "I'm sorry, but I was helping Cloak out with some metahuman break-ins."

"I know," she sighed, "it was a late-breaking story on the news a few minutes ago."

"So you're not going to report me?" He asked. She looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You obviously tried to get here on time," her face softened and broke into a grin. "You don't know how long I've dreamed that my Virgil would do something like this." She gazed at him for a few moments, and he basked in the pride that radiated off of her, until her smile suddenly disappeared. "But he never will, will he?" She looked away from him, and an uneasy silence settled over the kitchen for a few seconds.

"Moms," Virgil said as he sat down at the table across from her, "well..." he found he wanted to comfort her, but seemed unable to do so. How do you comfort someone when regarding an evil twin in an alternate dimension? Finally he sighed. "I'm good. I'm not a perfect son, pops could tell you that. But," he reached across the table and held her hand...it seemed like the right thing to do. This was all new for him. "Well, now you know he has it in him. That's got to be worth somethin'." She reached over with her other palm and patted his hand.

"Oh, Virgil, I know that. I always did. He just never proved me right." She stood up from the table and smiled at him. "I'm going to bed, and I suggest you do the same, young man." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. Memories of the last five years flashed through his head, and he remembered how empty he had felt without her there. Feeling her lips on his forehead almost made him want to forget going back, yet again...but it wasn't right. He had to leave, and he knew it. As she padded down the hall to her room, he swore he would remember everything about that moment for the rest of his life.

-

"Is his dad still mad?" Shanice asked Richie, joining her fellow super-hero in the halls of Dakota Union High at least 10 minutes before the warning bell rang. Virgil's father hadn't taken the news Richie had to offer very well. They actually hadn't told him for the first day and a half of his son's disappearance, but Mr. Hawkins had eventually tracked Richie down and forced the truth out of him. The blond-haired teen knew what kind of sleep the older man was losing because of this now that he knew, but was still grateful that his best-friend's father had agreed to help the two remaining teens when they needed such help, and otherwise stay away from the entire situation. Richie nodded at Shanice's question with a sigh.

"I don't think he really knows what to think, and he's not the only one who's put two and two together," they reached his locker, and he sent a command to backpack to open it via remote. Seconds later, the door popped open, almost like it was begging for him to put his books inside. He shoved several such objects into the gaping hole, and sighed, checking on backpack for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. With Viper on the loose, he didn't dare leave Backpack anywhere, and kept the robot inside his...well..backpack. "Viper's appearance, and Static's disappearance have been all over the news for the last few days," he continued. "That's just in case you haven't noticed, so," he glanced around and reached into his pocket, bringing out a small device, he grinned at the African American. "This is a holographic projector. It'll project the image of Static anywhere we want it to. It should get them off of our backs for a little while."

"And what about Viper?" Shanice leaned against the locker next to Richie's, hugging her books, as if they would give her comfort.

"I traced him to a power plant after our last encounter at the jewelry store, but lost his trail there. I lost the ionic trail in the highly charged atmosphere, and couldn't pick it up again." He slammed his fist into the back of his locker in frustration. "And I haven't been able to get ahold of the night-breed. Even if I did, only Nightengale would talk to me." He glanced up at Shanice, and realized she had been staring down the hall for some time.

"Shanice?" he waved a hand in front of her face, finally followed her stare. A girl had just walked in the front door, and was stumbling through the crowd, most of which simply stared or ignored her. Richie found her choice of clothing disquieting, seeing as she dressed in a large overcoat and sunglasses stumbling down the hall, as if she were in pain. Her long, red hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in weeks, and he couldn't see any of her skin. Even her hands were shoved in her pockets.

"Must...get...help..." she muttered as she passed, gasping.

"Um...are you alright?" Richie asked, stepping up to her. She turned and looked at him through dark sunglasses.

"Help me..." she gasped and collapsed. Richie jumped forward, and Shanice bolted towards the girl, both trying to catch her, but the dark figure vanished before she'd even really started to fall. Richie and Shanice both stared at the ground where the girl was supposed to be laying for several seconds before the super-powered girl glanced over at Richie.

"Did that just happen?" she asked. Richie looked over and shrugged.

"Depends on what you think just happened."

Okay, answering questions: Freida's power has to do with her breaking down her molecular structure into a giant slug-like blob, and getting through and around obstacles like that. She can change her shape, but it's difficult for her to hold, and she can never really gain or loose any mass.

Daisy's powers have to do with her having super speeds, and turning her body hard...like a bullet. ;)

Thanks for your reviews, I do apreciate them.