Richie's release from the hospital came sooner than he would have liked it too. While he was there he could forget about everything. He didn't have to think about his parents knowing or even the whole city.
Now he would have to face reality.
Since Richie was not badly hurt he did not need to stay in the hospital and so now only one day after being relieved as Gear he had to go out and face the world.
At the moment Richie was staying behind his parents as they signed his release papers.
"Come on, son its time to go home," Sean said after he finished and started heading for the door.
Richie just nodded and followed his parents. His dad was nervous and Richie could tell it be the sound of his voice.
When they got to the front door of the hospital, Richie took a deep breath and walked out.
At first he was blinded. There were flashing lights everywhere. After his eyes cleared he noticed that the lights were coming from cameras. The paparazzi was there waiting for him. To think a few days ago he would have thought it would be cool to have the paparazzi taking pictures of you. Now he that he saw what that was really like, he would do anything for them to go away.
No wonder celebrities complain about them so much.
The paparazzi was one thing, but they were nothing compared to the reporters who happened to be waiting for him.
"Mr. Foley, how does it feel for the world to know who you are?"
"Gear, could you give us an idea on what the identity of Static is?"
"What does your discovery mean for your future as Gear?"
At this Sean spoke up, "We have decided as a family that Richie's crime fighting days are over. We ask that our privacy be respected."
With that Sean took Richie's arm and forced his way though the crowd of people to their car.
"We didn't decide as a family that my days as Gear were over," Richie thought, "You decided that."
However, Richie kept his thoughts to himself. After all these years he knew that with his dad it was best to wait things out. He believed that if he gave his dad a few days to get use to the idea that he was Gear, he would be more open to him continuing to be Gear.
When they got home there was just as big a crowd outside in their front yard as there was at the hospital. This time Sean said nothing to them, the family simply walked into the house. Once they were inside Sean pulled the curtains over the windows so that the reports could not see inside the house.
After that nothing else was said about him being Gear and his being forced to stop.
This worried Richie a little. Apart from telling him that they did not want him to be Gear anymore there was no punishment. Nothing was said about grounding him, taking way his allowance, or even his phone privileges. If it wasn't for the reporters outside Richie would think it was the same as any other day.
Once he had gotten home Richie had called Virgil and talked for a while. They kept the conversation away from anything to do with what had happened. Richie was a little surprised by this, because this effect him as well and he knew Virgil knew that he was no longer allowed to be Gear. It had been all over the news.
Richie's dad almost always had the news on, so Richie knew that that been the top story today. Which surprised him.
Who would have ever thought that him resigning from the superhero business would be a big deal. It had even made the national news. This was something that Richie could not help but smile at. Him and Virgil were well known in Dakota, but they were no where near the big leagues when it came to heroes. Apparently, they were big enough to be talked about on all the major news stations.
After Virgil had hung up to go on patrol, Richie entertained himself a little bit by watching the reporters sitting outside though the curtains.
What a boring job that had to be. Thinking you were onto some great story, but in the end you had to sit outside some random kid's house with little to no chance of getting any new information.
Richie heard his door open.
"Richie, are you alright?" Maggie asked.
"I guess," Richie said turning to face his mom.
Maggie walked into Richie's room and sat down on the bed.
"I just want everything to calm down a little bit," Richie said.
"Don't worry, there are a lot of heroes out there who have revealed who they were or were discovered. While the press had their little field days, it quickly became old news," Maggie said.
"Things don't go completely back to normal for them either," Richie said joining his mom on the bed.
"Change is a part of life Richie, good and bad," Maggie said.
At this Richie smiled.
After a small moment of silence, Richie asked a question that had been bothering him since he had gotten home.
"Mom why have I am not been punished for lying to you about all this or sneaking out or all the other rules I broke doing this. I know that you don't want me to be Gear any more, but I thought that…"
"Come on, I know that you don't want to be punished," Maggie said cutting her son off. "And to answer your question, you not being punished because we are proud of what you choose to use your new abilities for. We may not agree with the fact that your putting yourself in danger, but we are happy with your reasons for doing it."
"Dad didn't seem so proud," Richie said.
"Your dad is just worried. You have no idea how scared he was when he saw you get hurt on TV. He just wants you to be safe," Maggie said.
"So you guys are proud of what I did, but don't want me to do it again," Richie said scratching his head. "Mom, you know that makes no sense."
"Neither does finding out your teenage son is a superhero," Maggie says with a smile.
Richie returns the smile.
"So do you think that you are proud enough not to make me go to school tomorrow."
Maggie laughed, "We'll see."