Aftermath
Chapter Three
Richie stirred awake slowly with a soft moan seeing the fuzzy bedroom was dark with the only light coming from the alarm clock on the bedside cabinet and under the crack of the door leading out of the bedroom.
Looking down he could make out Virgil curled up with his head against Richie's chest while the rest of his body was almost in Richie's lap.
Richie smiled softly and slowly reached over for his glasses hoping not to stir Virgil as he continued to sleep soundly without any nightmares. With his glasses on he could make out the time and inwardly sighed when he heard Virgil mutter in his sleep and stretched catlike before sighing and opened his eyes slightly.
Richie's smile widened, "Hey" He spoke softly and moved with a soft moan.
"Hey... you ok?" Virgil asked with a croaky voice full of sleep and moved with a slight stiffness in the neck and shoulders.
"Yeah I'm fine Virg, just stiff, are you hungry?" Richie asked as he rubbed the back of his neck and sat up a little.
"I guess... means we have to get up" Virgil said with a soft moan as he rose to get up even though part of him wanted to stay where he was, feeling warm and safe.
Richie was glad that the room was dark feeling his cheeks burn slightly giving him the tad tale sign of him blushing. "It does, I stopped at the shop on the way back from the gas station" He said pushing his glasses back up his nose from where they had slipped.
"What did you get?" Virgil asked looking up at Richie from where he laid down, he had moved his head to rest in Richie's lap.
"Well we'll have to get up and find out won't we" Richie said with a small laugh as Virgil pouted.
I've missed this... just being a normal teenager and not having to worry about metahuman attacks or Backpack's alarm going off Virgil thought to himself as he moved away to let Richie got up. "I guess" He replied softly running a hand through his hair.
"V... about the talk we had before falling asleep..." Richie started to say unsure how to say what was on his mind.
Virgil moved to lean against the wall with Richie, "It's ok Rich, it's my fault for not being careful enough around one of your experiments" He said resting his head on Richie's shoulder remembering how all this trouble had started.
Richie sighed, "Shows how dangerous I am, how my powers can be evil" He said softly looking down at his hands, clenching them into fists.
"Rich... we... I..." Virgil tried to say and calmed himself down with a few deep breaths and covered Richie's hands with his own. "We're both afraid of our powers after this experience but deep down I've feared my powers since I first got them, I soon learnt how to control them but I treated them with respect" He continued softly. "I know I showed off as my confidence grew but as I learnt more about my powers I began to trust them and learn about how strong they are, but after seeing the power of that monster..." Virgil stopped, shuddering at the memories that flooded back to him.
Richie remained silent he could see that virgil was battling his inner demons while Virgil's words sunk into him making his own inner demons fade away.
"It was different... a different feeling, it felt like the power was tainted and wrong. I can't describe it" Virgil continued talking through the flurry of memories then hit a blank area. "I can't really remember anything else" He said rubbing his eyes tiredly.
Richie sighed, "It turned out that my experiment tainted your powers and the energy monster was always trying to take in more energy to purify itself of your own energy, to free it from you" He said as he rose up from the bed and stretched.
"The cure I made was pretty much a normal zap cap with a few extras, it was a little hurried but at least you're back... W...I... we wouldn't have been able to cope without you" Richie continued turning around to put his back to Virgil, his shoulders and voice shook slightly with suppressed tears.
The bed creaked slightly as Virgil got up from it and crossed over to Richie, "Rich..." He spoke softly unsure what to say. Richie remained still with his arms crossed against his chest, his shoulders shaking a little harder.
"T-thanks Richie" Virgil said pulling his friend into a hug, "Thanks for rescuing me and being here now to help me through this like I am here to help you" He continued softly, his voice muffled by Richie's back.
"Hey Marty! Easy on the starboard side! We'll hit the side of the dock if we continue like this!" The captain yelled up to his first mate.
"Ok Jim! Just that she's pulling off to the left! You better check out the engine room then the rudder" Marty replied with a slight grunt as he fought to keep the boat straight.
"Ok Marty just keep her steady as best you can! Another hour or so and we'll be back on mainland at last" Jim replied before climbing inside the cabin to get access to the engines.
Marty looked out of the windows around the ship barely making out the ocean currents that rippled and flowed as the ship cut through the water. Hope its just a simple glitch He thought to himself as he continued to hold the ship steady.
Jim tapped the thermalstat making sure that it was reading the engine's temperature right before checking the other parts of the enging but couldn't find anything wrong.
"Marty, I checked the engine and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong! I'm going to try and see if something is wrong with the rudder" Jim reported over the internal radio.
"Ok Jim! She still seems to be pulling right, so take it easy" Marty replied his voice sounding slightly strained.
"I will just keep her steady! I like my hands where they are" Jim replied with a small laugh.
Richie yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly knocking his glasses askque as the microwave beeped, "Microwave's finished Rich" Virgil's voice said waking Richie up from his thoughts.
"Ok V, you feeling any better now?" Richie asked as he checked on the microwave before reaching for his coffee, sipping it and winced at the bitter taste.
"Yeah and you're right about that I needed a shower, I feel better than I did earlier" Virgil said quietly as he moved to sit down at the table remembering seeing Adam and Sharon were fast asleep while there was no sign of Robert anywhere.
"That's good Virg... and sorry about earlier, I should be careful what I should say..." Richie said not looking at the eggs that were boiling in the saucepan in front of him but his hands shook as they curled up into fists.
"Richie... it's ok! I am sure that things will work out... it will just take some time" Virgil said softly playing with a mark on the table. "Just have to find myself... then maybe one day I will find him" He added in a almost whisper.
"Virg... are you talking about Static? He's you not a different person, just like I'm Gear with or without the helmet and uniform" Richie said turning around to face Virgil.
"Virgil, its not Static who I-" Richie started to say but stopped abruptly when a drowsy Adam showed up in the kitchen.
"I... ah... smelt coffee" Adam said feeling that he walked into the middle of something private.
"Sure Adam help yourself" Richie said returning to the microwave, opening the door and stirred the bowl's contents before putting them back into the microwave to continue its cycle.
Virgil sighed quietly and looked at Richie's back, he tried to figure out what he was going to say before Adam came in. "Who you what Rich?" He asked as Adam made his coffee.
Richie shook his head slightly, "Never mind Virg, foods almost done..." He said focusing on the cooking as Adam left the kitchen with the coffees, full of sleep.
Virgil inwardly sighed and rested his head in his arms leaning heavily on the table, he went over the last couple of months noticing how he was looking more and more at Richie and less at Frieda and Daisy or any other girls.
Richie glanced back at his best friend seeing his brown eyes lost in thought, looking off at a distant space. He could see how troubled Virgil was and didn't need to be troubled by Richie's mixed up emotions and thoughts.
"Nothing I could see down there Marty and we're almost at the docks, so we can give her a good look over" Jim said as he entered the cabin.
"Take over for me Jim, want to get feeling back in my arms before we start docking" Marty said as he locked the controls and stepped away from them, rubbing his arms.
"Sure Marty, coffees in the bag" Jim replied taking over the controls, unlocking them and felt the tug. "It could be something dragging, harbour master might have a camera to check it out" He said as he felt his left arm protest slightly and increased the engine speed to let them get to the dock quicker.
"What do you think it is? Do you think it can be that monster Danny was talking about?" Marty asked remembering what a friend of theirs at the docks inn had told them.
"If you're talking about that monster that went around the city destroying the power stations, then there's no way it can be around" Jim said with a slight shrug. "Gear defeated it along with the other heroes, there has been no sign of Static since the first appearance of that monster.. not even a spark!" He continued with a sigh.
"Gear defeated it? Really? Wow, he's underestimated then but what about the other monster, the one that appeared at the second big bang?" Marty asked before sipping on the coffee he had poured out.
"Not really sure, word on the street is that the monster was created by two bang babies merging together because of the amount of metagas that was in that ship. It was supposedly destroyed by Static and Gear before the ship blew up" Jim said as he battled to keep the ship straight.
"Well that's good then, better slow down now Jim! Almost time to start docking" Marty told his captain and friend before finishing the small cup of coffee and sealed the flask.
"Great Marty, we're almost there and once we're locked up we can get some decent food in our stomachs!" Jim said with a laugh and handed the controls back to Marty.
"And you'll get to see Rosie again, stand aside there Romeo and let me park this" Marty replied with a laugh and lowered their speed as the docks approached rapidly.
Unknown to the two laughing boatmen who discussed and planned about what they would do once on dry land until their next delivery job, attached to the bottom of their boat's rudder was a large shadow ball with dark red lines flaring slightly.
"S- S- Sta- Static" Was the one thing repeating in its mind over and over again.
A big storm was brewing in Dakota docks but is the cities population including the heroes ready for this trouble?
They're about to find out.
To be continued!