Title: The Best Laid Plans

Author: Silverkitsune

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Static Shock is the property of the WB and all other associated networks and creators. The characters of Tracy, Derrick, Aden, Carlos, Dr. Kumar, Dr. Cruz, Jenny and Ankit however do belong to me.

Author's Note: Finally, finally, FINALLY! I have found the time to update this story. :weeps with joy: Ok, It's been forever, and I apologize for making this chapter so short, but the juicy stuff is coming up. Former Girl Scout's honor.

Part 12

Derrick considered card games to be the ultimate metaphors for life. Luck was just as important as skill in any card game, in more dangerous hands, a straight poker face could be what got your ass out of the fire, and in order to play a good game you had to know just what each of the cards in your hand was capable of. Derrick took each of these lessons to heart, but it was the last one that had proven to be the most valuable. Just like Derrick knew his cards, he made sure to know his people. What they wanted, who they wanted, what they feared, where they had been, where they hoped to go if they truly ever wanted to go anywhere. Past. Present. Future. When it came to his people he had an understanding of it all. There was one member though, that he had found himself making a small exception for.

Considering that his gang consisted of people who had epithets like thief, druggy, drop-out, delinquent and menace to society attached to their names, Derrick had expected a few skeletons to appear when he went digging into their pasts. With Aden, he had discovered a lot more than just a few and each of them had names Derrick wanted no association with whispering from their dead lips. He'd stopped digging for information on Aden Burk for fear of eventually becoming a part of what was quickly adding up to be a mass grave. He wasn't exactly sure what business Aden's family was in. Stolen cars, drug running, the mafia it could have been one or all of the above, and for the first time in his short life Derrick had been content to not know too many of the details. Which was why when he decided that his crew would pull out of Dakota for a while, and Aden said he knew someone who could help them out, he'd been reluctant to accept the offer. Especially after Aden had told him who they were going to see.

The Green Dragon, one of Dakota's many bars, was remarkably clean, and remarkably empty. It was 1:38 in the morning, but even the drunks had cleared out. The chairs at each of the round wooden tables had already been put up, and the neon green sign hanging above the bar was off. The bar tender, a young man with close shaved brown hair, gave them a calculating look as they entered, but after seeing Aden did nothing more than shrugged and hopped over the bar. Ignoring them, he strode over to the only occupied table in the room, sliding into the seat next to a skinny black haired woman who peered at the two of them over the top of what looked to be a biology textbook. Quickly dismissing them as unimportant, she went back to studying.

Aden gave the girl a lazy grin, and leaving Derrick's side sauntered over to her. Both the young man and the thin girl gave Aden an annoyed look as he moved to sit in the remaining chair.

"Aden," a voice from the opposite end of the bar snapped. "Leave pretty Kitty alone. She's busy making something of herself. Something my bum of a nephew seems to be incapable of."

Aden turned, and grinning in the direction of the voice. "Why do you have to be so mean to me Aunt Winter?"

"Because you're acting like an ass, and your mother is not here to reprimand you. Come over here. Bring your friend."

Winter was at a table in the back playing a game of Solitaire. Derrick had only met her once before, about two years ago, and she hadn't changed much since then. Derrick had never asked whether or not Aden and Winter were really blood related. They looked nothing alike. Aden was huge, red haired and looked as though he deserved to be standing in a locker room in some far off University preparing for a football game. An easy going guy, he was still large enough to make anyone think twice before messing with him. Winter on the other hand, looked almost cuddly. Her hair was long, dark brown, curly and fell to the middle of her back. Her skin was clean and smooth, with a button nose and huge blue eyes Derrick had only thought existed on the faces of animated kittens peering up at people from a middle-aged face. When she stood her height couldn't have gone past 4'9, but very few people were allowed to comment on her height. Those that did in a less than respectful manner had a tendency of materializing in front of emergency room doors with a good portion of their legs missing. There was also something in her face that made people nervous. A long legged hardness, a black cruelty that shifted and scuttled across the skin, disappearing and then reappearing at a moments notice. Derrick did not want to wake that particular monster.

"What do you need?" Winter asked motioning for the two of them to sit down. People who came to see Winter knew that the first question was never, 'Why are you here?' People only came to see Winter when they needed something and she knew it.

"A way out of Dakota," Derrick responded. "Nothing that involves a train, bus or a plane."

If she was surprised that it was Derrick who had answered, and not Aden who the question had originally been addressed too she didn't let it show. In fact, when Winter looked up, there was amusement in her eyes. "Next time just say car. Why no planes, trains or buses?"

"I don't like large groups of people," Derrick answered coolly.

Winter shuffled the cards in her hand and began to deal out a new game of Solitaire. "Hey Joe," she suddenly called out. "Bring me three burgers. Two rare, one well done, and drown the cow on all of them."

The brown haired bartender in the corner stood, stretched and made his way to the kitchen.

Winter shook her head at the bar tender's retreating back. "I always tell him that he should get a tattoo or an earring. It would make him look more menacing, but he never listens."

Derrick said nothing. Aden squirmed a little in his seat.

"There are hundreds of cars in Dakota that you can steal," Winter said suddenly.

Derrick shook his head. "Stolen cars get reported."

"Plenty of cars you can go buy," she gave Derrick a sly glance. "If you've got the money of course."

Derrick felt his heart skip a beat. She knew. Somehow, this dangerous and short woman knew about his robberies.

"Come on Aunt Winter," Aden pleaded. "I know you've got something. Do it for me. Do if for mom."

Winter gave the cards in her hand a glance.

"I might have something. Not for free of course. But still something."

Derrick had been waiting for this. If she asked for money he could, and would give it to her. It was if she asked for favors that the game was going to get tricky.

"I'll give you a car," Winter said slowly laying her cards down. "No strings attached. But you will have to do one thing for me."

"What's that?" Derrick asked his muscles tense.

"Aden has to go visit his mother."

Aden startled. "What?"

"You are going to home and visit my sister, Mr. I'm too busy to visit the woman who gave birth to me. I will give you a car. You will stop by and stay for no less than four, are you listening to me Aden? Four days. During that time you will go out to dinner, and a movie of her choosing. You will not use any drugs during this visit, you will not touch one drop of alcohol, and at the end of four days my sister will call me, and tell me all about the wonderful visit she had with her very favorite middle son."

"Aunt Winter," Aden protested.

"Those are my terms," Winter said. "They are very, very generous terms."

To Derrick, they were more than generous. They were unbelievable.

Aden humped then nodded.

Winter smiled. A large beaming one that reminded Derrick of sharpened knifes and dead dreams. "Good to hear. Now, don't look so glum Aden. Metropolis is very lovely this time of year."

There was no moon out that night, and only a cluster of the strongest stars watched over Virgil as he hovered a good fifty feet about the glass greenhouse that held row, after row of red poppy plants. Sitting cross-legged, on top of his bored, he removed his mask to let the cool autumn breeze wash over his face. In the distance, Virgil could see the skyline of Metropolis. The lights, stronger and brighter than any star, shown red, yellow, green and black colors into his eyes. It's steady nighttime pulse making them throb. It was as though all you needed to do was run your hand over any building in the city to feel the horrible, beautiful, painful life pounding through it.

Dakota, though a somewhat smaller city, had the same rhythm and pulse running through it as this Metropolis did. It was what made Virgil love it so much, and it was these feelings that cause translucent realizations appear in the back of his mind. Thoughts that let him know that if he really wanted to make sure poison didn't start clogging up his city's life veins, drowning and killing the people who lived off it, he was going to have to stick around Dakota and fight the good fight. Maybe until college; maybe forever. At 15, those thoughts made him nervous and unsure. Normally, he did his best to ignore them, but tonight he wished for them. They were an old worry, and a comfortable one.

It was late, almost two in the morning, and even though patrolling usually kept Virgil up until at least three or four a.m. he still, out of a habits created in life his pre-Static, labeled any hour after midnight as "late." There was nothing for him to do now. As soon as Dr. Cruz had finished with them, Adam had stolen Virgil's coat, curled up in the corner and fallen fast asleep.

"Wake me up if anything changes," he'd called to Virgil his voice thick and tired.

Dr. Cruz had disappeared back behind the large steel double doors where his friend now was. Virgil, who had tried to sleep and failed, was left with nothing to do but worry and turn over the bits of information Dr. Cruz had given him until he was too twitchy to sit. Going outside, and using some of his powers made him feel better.

"Hungry?"

The voice to his left made Virgil jolt his board back in panic, a path of electricity left in his wake. Jerking his head up, Virgil blinked at the sight of Superman floating a few feet away, a wrapped hamburger in his outstretch hand.

Because my life just isn't weird enough, Virgil thought.

"You have to stop sneaking up on me!" Virgil squeaked. "You're gunna give a brother a heart attack."

Superman looked amused. "I'll try. Do you want this. I imagine you haven't eaten for awhile."

Floating back to where the older hero flew, Virgil accepted the burger and after tearing the paper off practically attacked the meal.

"I see, I was right."

Virgil swallowed the last of the food and grinned sheepishly. "I've been sort of busy."

Worrying about my best friend, wondering how much he forgot since he got a bad dose of that shit. Did he just forget days or did it affect any other memories or motor skills?

The thought that the drug may have caused Ritchie to forget something as simple as how to tie his shoes, or hold a pencil was so depressing that Virgil had to shoved it violently away before it could do any permanent damage.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Superman said.

Virgil had never wanted to believe anyone more than he wanted to believe the Big S at that moment. The man's voice, his tone, the meaning behind the words all of it was so absolutely genuine and positive.

Batman would have said something like, "We'll have to wait and see" or "if he's forgotten more than you think he has, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" or not said anything at all. To Virgil's outright horror, he found himself wishing for Batman's words. Not the ones full of hallow hope that Superman was handing him. Instead he just nodded, and said them himself.

"We'll see."