Virgil, Richie, and Mr. Hawkins have stumbled onto a tragedy that unlocks a lot of answers to Hotstreak, but will he except help? I do not own Static Shock. Enjoy and don't forget to read and review.
The room seemed to grow cold as Richie finished the article. They all sat in silence for a few moments trying to take it all in.
"Well I think now we know why, but you're right Richie it doesn't tell us much. I would like to hear the story from the person it happened to. Virgil I want you to slip this to him somehow" Mr. Hawkins said giving him a business card for the center.
Virgil looked at it before placing it in the pocket of his uniform, "alright pops I'll do my best"
The next day at school Virgil was limping, but he his burn wasn't that bad anymore.
"So how you planning to give Hotstreak the card?" Richie asked closing his locker and looking at his best friend.
"Well we have to wait until he acts up again then I will drop it as I leave" Virgil said.
"Yeah, but what if he doesn't do anything today?"
"Come on Rich this is Hotstreak we are talking about here"
"True let's just hope its not during school"
After school as if on cue smoke started to rise from the distance buildings. Richie was the first to notice it.
"Um …Virgil" Richie said tapping Virgil on the shoulder and pointing to the smoke.
"Yeah I see it. You ladies will have to excuse us we have to get home now" Virgil said to Jamie and Nichole as they ran off, leaving both girls confused.
Once they were in an alley getting their gear on Richie looked at Virgil, "you got the card right?"
Virgil took the card out of his cape pocket, "right here."
Richie put his Gear helmet on as Virgil slipped on his mask. The two heroes looked at each other as Gear said, "alright lets roll."
Once they reached the place where Hotstreak was they saw he was alone this time, robbing a motorcycle store (typical Hotstreak).
"Hotstreak!" Static yelled as they zoomed in.
Hotstreak turned and smiled wickedly, "Static I was worried you wouldn't show. How's that ankle?"
"Enough talk lets take care of this issue" Static said.
"I agree" Hotstreak said as he launched a fire ball at Static. Static took the card out of his pocket and dropped it as he dived out of the way.
"Missed me" Static teased.
"Then I'll make sure that doesn't happen again" Hotstreak said throwing another that hit it's mark this time.
Gear flew to Static's side leaving Hotstreak the chance to escape, but just as he was about to take off he notices the card on the ground. He picked it up, looked over it, and stuck it in his pocket before running off. Gear who had watched the whole scene from the roof turned back to Static.
"Did he take it?" Static asked.
"Yup if we are lucky he will be there soon" Gear replied.
"Good at least it was somewhat worth getting hit" Static said rubbing his head, "man he throws hard."
The next day Virgil was helping out at the community center after school when he overheard his dad talking to someone as he passed by the office. Virgil stopped and listened in, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Now your name is Francis correct?" His dad was asking.
"I prefer the name Hotstreak" Hotstreak said from where he was in a chair facing Mr. Hawkins.
"Yes, but Francis is the name your parents gave you so that is what you will be called here" Mr. Hawkins said noticing Francis winced at the mention of his parents, "you are troubled aren't you. I can see it in your face that you have a horrible past that you are trying to forget. Would you like to talk about it? I guarantee that you will feel better if you do."
Hot Streak took a deep breath before speaking, "It all started one morning when my parents decided to take my sisters and I to the amusement park and skip school. We went and had a lot of fun, but we didn't keep track of time so we had to drive back late at night. We were turning to the right when I saw this blinding white light and then the car jerked hard. We didn't ever roll over, but the other car hit us pretty hard. Everything was a blur after the hit and the only sound I could hear was the screams of my sisters and the scattering of glass. When I regained focus I looked around to see that my parents and my older sister weren't moving. Blood was dripping down their heads from large cuts and my father's neck was in a strange angle, but they were very still. I knew that they would never move again, but at the moment I was too afraid to admit it. My little sister, Jessica was her name, lay across my lap with blood on her head and cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open and she spoke weakly to me 'Brother what happened?' I told her that someone hit us and she became scared, 'I feel cold Francis. Don't leave me' she had said in no more than a small whisper. I promised her I wouldn't, but she suddenly turned pale. I shook her gently and cried out her name, but the only thing she said to me was 'Brother I can't see you anymore' and that was the last thing she ever said" Tears were starting to come to Francis's eyes as he told the story, "I watched the light leave her eyes and she fell limp in my arms, a fragile little ragdoll. I watched her die right in my arms, unable to stop it. I was so confused and didn't know what to do or how to handle the pain so I did the only thing I could do, I ran away from that terrible scene. I wanted the pain to stop, I wanted my sister back, I wanted to die with my family. The last thing I remember is fainting from fright and shock with strange people gathering around me. When I woke I was in the hospital. I had no idea what was going on and when they told me I was the only one that survived the car crash, the scenes from the night before hit me and I realized that I was on my own. It was a drunk driver that hit our car and killed my family. We didn't ask for that to happen, it was his fault. Many times as I grew I considered joining my family. I missed them and at times the sadness seemed so unbearable, but for some reason every time I was about to do it something stopped me. A voice, somewhere inside me said 'No Francis there is a reason you are alive don't throw that away'.
"You know who that is Francis? That is Jessica talking to you. As your guardian angel no doubt" Mr. Hawkins said showing sympathy for the boy sitting in front of him.
Hotstreak, for the first time ever, had tears rolling down his cheeks sending off small puffs of smoke as they went. It was obvious he was trying to stop the tears, but they kept coming as he talked again, "I loved her more than anything. She was my little sister, I felt protective of her and in that moment, when I watched her die, I felt so helpless. I was suppose to protect her. Jessica was eight, I was twelve, and Amy, my older sister, was fourteen when that happened. Jessica was just starting to live life. We had made plans and dreams and they were all ripped away from us in that moment, shattered like the glass of the car."
Francis wanted to say more, but was overwhelmed by the pain and he fell silent as the tears ran faster down his cheeks. As Virgil sat looking at him he didn't see the Francis that beat him up in school. He saw a small fragile Francis that had a horrible past and no way out.
"That's it Francis just let it all out. You have had that bottled up for a long time. You will feel a lot better after you get it out. I'm going to tell you something that people could only guess at. When my son was little during the gang break outs my wife Gene was shot by one of the gang members and died. I know your pain. It took my family a long time to get through it because she was a really good mother, and for a long time we were separated from the rest of the world. Only a select few people broke through to us and we slowly got better after we talked about it, we found a way to cope with it, so we could move on" Mr. Hawkins said as he came from behind the desk and knelt down so he and Francis were at eye level with each other.
"You have lost someone too? I didn't know that, Virgil never seemed to... I mean..." Hotstreak said stumbling.
"Oh so you have met my son, then I won't have to introduce him now. Virgil, I know you are out there come in please" Mr. Hawkins said and Virgil froze.
He really hated when his dad did that. Virgil slowly got up to his feet and came in. When Hotstreak saw him come in he quickly turned away to wipe away his tears.
"How long have you been listening, you little spy" Hotstreak said turning back to him with anger showing in his eyes.
"I heard you talking to my dad and I got curious so I listened" Virgil said looking down, not able to hold eye contact with the fiery meta-human.
"Why you little..." Hotstreak said getting up from his chair and reached for Virgil, but Mr. Hawkins was faster and got in between the two before Hotstreak could do anything.
"Now Francis I know what you are feeling right now, but if you want me to help you, you must control your emotions. You can no longer use anger as your reaction to everything. Understand?" Mr. Hawkins said staring right into Francis's eyes without blinking.
It took Hotstreak a while to finally calm down and when he did he lowered his arms, but still glared at Virgil.
"Yes I hear you… I'm sorry" Hotstreak said adding the last part reluctantly.
"Hotstreak" Virgil said slowly approaching him. "I know we didn't see eye to eye when we were in school together and I had no idea of your suffering. I now understand you better and I want to help, if you will let me" Virgil said holding out his hand.
Hotstreak looked at Virgil's outstretched hand and hesitated. After a few seconds he took it and pulled Virgil closer so that they were standing face to face, "Alright I'll take you up on that for now, but there is one thing that is bothering me."
"What is that Francis?" Mr. Hawkins asked.
"When I became a meta-human I was kicked out of school and now talking about all this kinda makes me want to go back. I know Jessica would want me to get an education" Hotstreak said rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
Mr. Hawkins smiled, "Good for you Francis. If you really want to the center can provide you with the money to go. Which high school are you thinking about?"
"Dakota Union High where I used to go. I will have a friend there now" Hotstreak said looking at Virgil.
Virgil smiled, "yeah that sounds good"
"Then it's settled. Now Francis would you like to live here at the center so you have a roof over your head?" Mr. Hawkins asked.
"That would be great I've been out on the streets so long I've forgotten what it's like to have a home." Hotstreak said smiling slightly.
"Alright I will get you a room send a message to the high school and is there anything that you own that you want to bring here?" Mr. Hawkins asked.
"Only a couple things that are back where I usually sleep. I'll go get them. Virgil do you want to help me?" Hotstreak asked and by the way he was looking at Virgil he knew Hotstreak wanted to talk to him alone.
"Um sure" Virgil said, a little confused at what Hotstreak wanted to talk to him about.
Both of them walked out into the street together. Once they were about a half a block away from the center Hotstreak turned on Virgil making Virgil flinch a little from instinct.
"I should be really mad at you for listening in on my conversation, but I can't because you are the first person that is actually my friend because you want to be. My old gang were all with me because they feared me. It's nice to have a real friend" Hotstreak said going from anger to rubbing the back of his neck with his hand again.
"Yeah it's no problem man. I can relate to how you feel" Virgil said nervously.
"And I'm grateful for that, but I swear if you tell anyone I've gone soft" Hotstreak said holding up a fist to Virgil who gulped.
Virgil held up his hands, "hey my lips are sealed shut. You can trust me"
"Good now lets go get my stuff" Hotstreak said seeming to relax a bit.
As they were walking Hotstreak noticed that Virgil was slightly limping.
"Why are you limping?" Hotstreak asked.
Virgil was a little caught off guard as his eyes shot down to his injured leg, "Oh um I twisted my ankle and it's still a little tender"
Hotstreak narrowed his eyes, thinking of the burn he had given Static that was, now that he thought about it, the same leg as Virgil's injured leg.
"What?" Virgil asked.
"Nothing I was just thinking about a possibility, but it can't be, it's crazy" Hotstreak replied.
Virgil stiffened for a moment at that.
"Can I see your ankle?" Hotstreak asked suddenly.
"Why?" Virgil asked trying to keep his voice level.
"I want to confirm or dismiss my suspicion"
Virgil kneeled down to rolled up his pant leg to reveal a bandage.
Hot Streak grunted in frustration under his breath, "alright I believe you"
"What did you think I was going to show you?" Virgil asked a little more suspicious now.
"Something else, but never mind let me show you where my stuff is" Hotstreak said quickly changing the subject.
Hotstreak took Virgil down an alley and led him over to a small area by the dumpster with boxes making a small shelter. Hotstreak slid in and brought out a small box full of items, a picture of his family, three shirts and two pairs of pants, a book with a child's drawing on the front, a baseball glove and worn baseball, an old doll with brown hair and a torn dress, and a small heart necklace.
Hot Streak laughed when he saw Virgil's anxious expression as he looked around the alley, "Don't worry I'm not going to beat you up."
"Yeah I know I just don't like alleys, they give me an uneasy feeling"
"I'm sorry if I'm the reason you don't like alleys"
"That means a lot coming from you, thanks"
Both of them looked at each other for a moment before Virgil cleared his throat and looked down, "So what's in the box?"
Hotstreak looked down at the box and picked up the photo, "This is a picture of my family when we first moved to Dakota, that's the house we lived in" He put it back and picked up the book, "This was a book Jessica made in class and gave it to me for my tenth birthday" he said then picked up the glove and baseball. "My dad used to play catch with me everyday after he got home from work and he promised me that he would take me to my first game on the day the crash happened" he said picking up the doll and necklace, "This was Jessica's favorite doll. It was given to me when I was in the hospital. They had found it by the car. And this was my older sister's, it has a picture of Jessica and I in it. I keep these to remember them. I feel if I don't have them I will start to lose their memory and I will forget them forever."
Virgil looked at Hotstreak knowing exactly how he felt, "I know what you mean. I once felt that I was starting to lose the memory of my mom"
"What did you do?"
"Lets just say someone close to me reminded me that she is always with me in here" Virgil said putting his hand over his heart.
Hotstreak placed his hand over his heart and smiled at Virgil, "you know Hawkins your not too bad"
Virgil smiled.
So this is basically the end but I have one more part I want to add in. So how did I do tell me what you thought. What did you like? What could I do better? And if I write more stories will you read them?