I know it's been a while since I updated, but please enjoy! -
Ch-5 Daisy and Revenge Don't Mix
Gear hovered above the bank, trying to make up his mind about what to do. On his way there, he had struggled with the idea of whether or not he should tell Daisy. He still couldn't decide, but when he remembered coming into the hospital room when Virgil had told Daisy that he wished he could tell here that he was really Static, Richie made up his mind.
Turning around, he pushed himself forward and toward his school, which he knew still hadn't been dismissed. Sighing, Richie landed a block away from his destination and walked slowly into a familiar ally that him and Virgil had frequently changed in. Making sure nobody was watching, he quickly changed, stuffing his clothing into one of the extra backpacks Virgil had put there when he had become Static to make sure he always had somewhere to put his costume; Richie had later added his own backpacks.
Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he left the alley. Taking his time to walk down the block, another question popped into his head; should he tell Frieda? Him and Virgil had known her longer then Daisy, but there hadn't ever really been a connection between her and Static. He was starting to become very confused with all the thoughts about Daisy, Frieda, Static, telling people, and then all the scientific idea's running through his head that he couldn't make much sense of anything.
He decided that it would be a lot easier for any one of the two to receive the news together. Yep, that was it, he'd tell both of them.... Yeah, he'd tell them both together....Not a hard decision....Nope......WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM! Oh, hey guys, what's up.... Oh, you wanna hear something interesting? Virgil is Static, cool huh? YEAH RIGHT!
Letting out a groan, Richie sat down on the side of the street, staring up at the giant clock; he was scared and slightly relieved to find that the end of school bell would be ringing in six minutes. Looking up at the sky, he saw the sun shining bright above him, then, looking around, saw people walking down the street, totally oblivious of anything except what they had to do. The sight showed the young hero of the tragic events of the previous day, no indication that it had ever happened. The only thing that reminded him was the bandage on his arm... And the fact that he wasn't in school.
Getting up, he took the few remaining steps toward the school and stood next to the steps, leaning against the wall. He found himself zoning out, thinking of the week before when Virgil had fallen asleep on the couch while he had sat on the floor watching the news.
"Virgil! Virgil get up off your lazy ass!" Sharon yelled at her younger brother. Shaking him, she screamed again. "Virgil GET UP!"
With a start, Virgil leaped off the couch and landed with a painful thud to the floor. Yawning, he glared at his older sister while Richie rolled on the floor, laughing hysterically. "What was that for?"
"It's you're turn to do the dishes tonight little brother." She stated angrily at the boy that was supposedly her little brother, but she knew was from a different planet.
"What! But that's not fair, I didn't even EAT dinner!"
"So, it's still you're turn, and anyway, Richie did." Sharon replied with a smirk before walking calmly back into the kitchen.
Virgil glared at Richie, who smiled innocently back at him. "What? It would have been a shame to let all that good food go to waist."
Virgil gave his best friend a quizzical look. "Good food? How can there be GOOD food when my sister cooks!?"
"Um, heh, yeah....You're dad order take out...Chinese food." Richie gave a weak, nervous smile back at his friend.
"TAKE OUT!" Virgil launched at Richie, who jumped back just in time to avoid being pulverized. "The one time Sharon doesn't cook, you eat MY food!?"
"Hey, V-man, um, we tried to wake you up, really we did." Richie backed slowly away and reached the door, and right before Virgil could grab him, opened it and went flying out. "Bye Virg, see yah in school tomorrow!" Richie yelled back as he ran down the block.
Richie smiled at the memory. The next day during patrol, Virgil had told him that that had been the biggest and messiest pile of dishes he had ever had to clean. He was dragged away from memory lane when he heard someone calling him from behind. Turning around, he stared up into the faces of Daisy and Frieda.
"Richie, why weren't you and Virgil in school today?" Daisy asked, she paused for a moment, looking around her. "Speaking of which, where is Virgil"
Looking between the two questioning faces, he stood up with a sigh. "Come with me." Richie whispered, guiding the girls toward the alley he had recently vacated.
"Richie, what's this about?" Frieda spoke up when Richie didn't answer Daisy's question.
"Just.... Follow me." When they reached the back of the alley, Richie took off his backpack. "Look at all the backpacks here.... Five that look like mine and five that look like Virgil's." He said, pointing to the bags that lay on the ground. Turning to face them, he smiled sadly, knowing what this was going to do to his friends. "Daisy, remember when there was an accident at the movie theater, and you were in the hospital? We... We were all really worried, especially Virgil... He felt responsible for what happened." He stopped there, taking a deep breath to keep himself from crying again.
"Why, he couldn't have done anything, he wasn't even there." Daisy looked curiously at Richie, waiting for him to continue.
"But that's just it, he was there. When you were in a coma, Virgil told you something, something that only I know. Remember that electric daisy that you saw in the sky after you woke up? That was Virgil, that was STATIC." Richie bowed his head at the dumbfounded looks that the girls gave him. He hadn't put it in the nicest way possible, but he was tired, and he had used up a lot of energy today, telling his father, and the day before that, telling the Hawkins. At the moment, all he could think about was the bank robbers, his parent, and Virgil...He didn't have any room for sympathy for the two girls.
Daisy and Frieda looked at each other, neither knowing what to say. It was a delicate situation, and it seamed apparent to both of them that Richie was like a piece of fragile glass at the moment, just about ready to fall to the ground and shatter into a million unfixable pieces. But at the same time, they didn't know how to react, to them, it was an unthinkable situation, something you joked about during 5th period history.
After five minutes of uncomfortable silence, Richie spoke up. "Nobody finds out about this.... Nobody, got it?" Looking up, he saw Daisy chew her lower lip in thought, and Frieda shifted uncomfortable from one foot to the other. They both saw haw deadly serious Richie was about the whole situation and knew they couldn't keep telling themselves it was one huge gag.
Nodding, Daisy asked, "Can we see Virgil?" Richie could hear the desperation in her voice and nodded.
" I'll take you there." He whispered. He walked out of the alley, knowing perfectly well that Daisy and Frieda were following him without turning around. After a short walk down the block, Richie turned around to look at the two girls. Taking a good look at the two, he saw the emotion well up in their eye's, especially Daisy, who was trying hard not to let the tears fall.
For a second, he thought about taking the girls to the hospital himself, but instantly shook the thought off. With a sigh, he gave the two specific instructions on how to get to Virgil's room.
Frieda stopped him before he could leave. "Where are you going?" She asked shakily, barely trusting her own voice as she spoke.
"I have something to do." Richie said quietly, not looking up off the floor, his back now turned to her.
"You want revenge, don't you?" Daisy whispered, coming from behind her friend. At that moment, Richie couldn't even begin to imagine how seemingly everyone in the entire universe knew what he wanted, no... needed, to do. "Don't do it Richie, Virgil would never forgive you for doing that, especially not for him." Richie had thought about that on his way to tell the girls, and had decided that what Virgil didn't know wouldn't hurt him, especially if he didn't.... Richie wouldn't allow himself to think about that, concentrating on how he was going to get his hands on the crooks.
Richie sighed and turned to his two friends, looking each of them straight in the eye. "Go to Virgil, he needs all the help he can get." He received a nod from Daisy, but he hadn't expected what she was going to say.
"Exactly Richie, all the help he can get." The tears started pooling at the brims of her eyes. "He needs you more then us, you. Richie, what you're going to do, its..." The tears started flowing down her face, "It's not right, please Richie, come with us to see Virgil...Please." The last word caught in her throat, but she managed to get it out.
Richie turned away from the sorrow faces, whispering, "Go see Virgil," before rushing off down the street, ready to dodge into the first ally in sight to change.
Gear flew quickly to the bank; ready to handle both the scene of the crime, and the reporters, not entirely sure which was worse. He made up his mind that it was the first, as he looked down at the floor where just the day before, his best friend lay bleeding to death. Taking a deep breath, he started combing the site for clues.
A few hours into his search, he was finally awarded with a strand of hair that hadn't matched anyone at the bank at the time of the robbery, or even that day that the police knew of. Although that was true, he wanted to make sure he was looking at the right person, not wanting to make any assumptions until he was fully sure.
He knew how to do that, but he also knew that it would take a few hours. But as he started making his way out of the bank, he found, to his relief, that his just planned trip wouldn't be happening. Looking up, he saw the solemn face of one of the world's most famous super heroes.
Daisy trembled as she stood next to Virgil's bed, staring hopelessly at the tube coming out of the hero's mouth. The Hawkins and Adam had graciously left the teens alone, allowing them to let out their own emotions in privet. Frieda had only stayed for a few minutes, leaving Daisy alone with Virgil.
"I..." She started to talk, but her voice betrayed her as a sob caught in her throat, not for the first time that day. Sitting down, she allowed the tears to fall, not caring that she was making her pants damp as she let go of her emotions. Between the sobs, she managed out the words she had been waiting to say for a long time. "I love you Virgil."
The tall hero stood over him, his piercing eyes staring into his own. Richie didn't need to ask what the man was doing here, and the man didn't need to explain.
"I was just on my way to see you." Richie stated, and he found his voice hadn't betrayed him like before, that it had remained sober, lack of emotion. "I need you're help Batman."
He received a nod, and was quickly amazed to find that they were no longer the only two occupying the room. The rest of the Justice League stood around him, and a half smile appeared on Richie's face. It felt alien, but he accepted it's warm greeting.
Superman was the first to speak up. "We would have come sooner, but there was a bit of trouble we had to deal with."
Richie amazed himself by saying, "You didn't have to come, I know how busy you are."
"Anything for a fellow man in tights." Said Flash. Richie nodded and turned back to Batman, the guy he had been on his way to see.
"You said you needed my help, with what?" Asked Batman, looking down at Richie with serious eyes.
"I found a clue, but I needed you to analyze it before I did anything. I wasn't about to barge into a guys house, only to find that it's the wrong guy." Gear eyed the people around him before continuing. "It's a strand of hair, and I believe it was one of the guys that shot up this place.
-
So? What do ya think? Please tell me, I know that I haven't updated for a while, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Please review, I really want to know if it was up the your standards.