So I discovered recently that Richie was originally supposed to be gay, but because of the nature and the audience of the show they left that fact unspoken. Just thought it was an interesting thing to know XD But I'm sure many of you already knew that XD

I have fun sunset imagery lol I IS GOOD WRITER LAWLZ nah but I love imagery; that and conversations XD I wish I were better at remembering synonyms lol ALSO chapter is longer than usual cause I didn't want it to be short and I wanted to get stuff done lol But, if the pacing seems really off, let me know, as usual C:

Swallow A Nightmare -

Static and Hotstreak stood on the streets of Phoenix, Static's doubt hidden behind his usual facade of sharp wit and calm, but Francis was beginning to notice the tension hidden deep in his shoulders, the way he would anxiously fiddle or fidget. Either his mask was beginning to crack or Francis just knew him better, but he suspected it was a gentle mixture of both.

"So, Virginia?" Both had slept well into the afternoon to begin with so the sun was already low in the sky, on the verge of late afternoon as traffic around them began to back up and become a chaotic river of cars.

Virgil let his head bob in a nod, "I've been thinking about how we can break in, and so far, I've got nothing."

Snapping his head toward the superhero, he snipped, "Nothing? So what then?"

Virgil cast his eyes towards his in reassurance, "Calm down, I said break in, not get in."

Hotstreak's mouth fell open in confusion, "Uhh."

"I have a plan, but I think to pull this off we're going to need to be a bit more discreet."

"So I don't get to break any skulls?" Hotstreak pouted.

Not able to resist a small grin, Virgil responded, "I never said that."

Pulling out a small pocket map, Virgil unfolded it and pointed to a spot on the state of Virginia, "This is where we need to be."

"Uhh and we're...here?" Hotstreak pointed to a spot at the northern tip or Arizona.

"Sadly no. More in the middle; we're going to need to get to the East coast and I don't know about you, but flying that far on my own is ridiculous."

Hotstreak shrugged, "I bet I could do it," though the full gusto of his voice didn't back his claim.

Eyes glittering in humor, Static couldn't keep his mouth from tilting into a crooked grin, "Pshh, you wish. That's the entire distance of the United States, we don't have that long."

Crossing his arms Hotstreak demanded, "So how do you propose we get there? Unless we steal it, I don't think we could even pay for one ticket to take us that far; let alone gas money."

Virgil grinned, his eyes full of mischief, "Who said we were paying for that ticket?"

Hotstreak laughed incredulously, "And how, mister hero, are you going to do that?"

Static's confidence didn't waver as he pointed up to an imaginary plane in the sky, "We hitch a ride."

Comprehending what he was telling him Hotstreak started, "We...hitch a ride." Putting his hands on his hips and looking up at the sky Hotstreak shook his head, "I feel like that ain't gonna happen."

Still grinning, Static started through the crowd to a delivery alley behind a strip mall, "I've done it before."

Hotstreak's eyes widened, "Wha-when?"

"Remember back when we first got our powers, that hot day in July? Your powers were amplified by the solar flare's and mine short circuited."

"Yeah I remember," He sniggered at a memory before asking, "How is that relevant to jacking a ride on a plane?"

"Well, before they short circuited, I was stuck in a power surge and I could barely control my powers. I ended up miles away from the city, so to get back before I was grounded, I hitched a ride on the wing on a jet. You'll be surprised how well magnetism works."

"How am I going to hang on then?"

Static looked over his shoulder as he walked, leaving the crowd behind as the meandered into a deserted delivery lane, "Seriously? Have you not been stuck to the ceiling waiting for the cops to come get you?"

Eyes narrowing a bit, Hotstreak grumbled, "Several times."

"That's essentially what I plan to do, only stronger. Tell me if you feel a tingle in your spine though."

"What why?"

Static stopped and made a face, "I don't want to force too much electricity into you; while it doesn't hurt me..."

Hotstreak frowned, "Hey! I don't wanna feel like I've gotten a bit too friendly with an electric socket."

Jumping on to his disk, Static lifted himself to the roof and jumped on top of an air conditioning unit, his boots lightly denting the metal of the humming favs. Hotstreak landing on the concrete roof after him, "I'll be careful, don't worry."

Keeping up the small talk, they waited until sunset before using the cover of the sun to make it into the air unnoticed. Static replaced the googles over his eyes and cruising in a low crouch, the electric metahuman led Hotstreak to the nearest plane headed east, his powers giving him a vague radar towards anything with a current. And he was lucky that he was so far away from the earth's constant magnetic hum, it only made finding the plane that much easier.

Getting themselves on the plane to piggyback was only complicated because the cruising speed of a commercial jet was just fast enough that hanging on was going to be tough. Eventually the two made it on, Static forming a wedge shaped force field to slow the intensity of the wind whipping at their clothes while Hotstreak made sure he had constant contact with Static so he wouldn't become un-magnetized. Normally being in contact with the superhero would have made him edgy, but several thousand feet over the ground he realized he didn't care.

While it was an awkward, unpleasant trip, it saved them hours of time as they split from the jet somewhere above Missouri. Both dropping altitude as quickly as possible without bursting their eardrums, they landed in the middle of farmlands that extended for miles and miles and miles in every direction.

Falling to his back in the long, sun burnt grass, Virgil sighed in exhaustion, jerkily yanking his goggles from his face, indents in his skin from where the plastic had rested under his eyes and on the bridge of his nose making him look like a raccoon.

Not as tired as Static, since he was essentially the only one using his powers, Hotstreak inquired, "You aren't cold from being in such cold air for so long?"

"No, when I'm at full power I stay warmer, longer. The current in my body acts like my own personal heater." Hearing that, Hotstreak thought he understood the implications of that, so he asked another question, "If you used up so much power in the sky, wouldn't that start making you cold?"

"Someone's using their brain today. Another reason I called it quits; I was getting too tired"

Hotstreak raised his shoulders a fraction and dropped them, "Yeah that makes sense," then added as an afterthought, "I could have warmed you up you know."

Static was surprisingly silent for a moment, the emotion in his eyes unclear as he stared at Hotstreak. Suddenly feeling stupid, Hotstreak babbled dumbly, "You know, fire powers..."

His bumbling breaking him out of his thoughts, Static shattered the tension with a grin, "Sorry I didn't ask."

Hotstreak swore there was an edge to his amused response, but then, he also figured he could have imagined it. Both decided on walking as far as they could until sunset so they could find shelter, or at the very least get out of the field. Static would have flown, but his legs were stiff and his limbs numb from overusing his powers again, so he voted for the stroll in the "meadow".

As the sun started to fall the light melted rapidly from an ambient yellow glow to a burst of brilliant orange, molten amber rippling in torrents in the grass around them, light enough to float dreamily in the breeze and just high enough to caress their fingertips with featherlight touches. In the bright twilight, the outline of a barn was just barely visible as a dark silhouette against the sun. Once they got close enough, it was apparent the barn had been burned out and abandoned, though maybe not in that order.

Deciding that it was sufficient and the walls weren't going to collapse in on them, both cleared the dead leaves from the center of the abandoned building leaving only clean dirt and built a fire, courtesy of Hotstreak. Feeling extra bold, Hotstreak sat down uncharacteristically close to Static, his exhaustion acting almost like a drug in his system as. Not close enough to touch, but close enough that Static felt the hair on his arms raise in tension as his spine tightened nervously.

By the time the fire was started, the sunset was a forgotten memory, the sky a saturated indigo, only a few scattered clouds blushing pink in the leftover rays from the sun. The stronger ambient light becoming the fire, Hotstreak found he was immensely interested in the way the flames highlighted the dips and curves in the muscles of Virgil's arms, his skin appearing softer than satin. Forcing his gaze back to the fire before he was caught or too tempted to touch, Hotstreak asked a question, "Can I ask you somethin'? Been bothering me for a while."

Static glanced in his direction, arms resting over his bent knees, "Go ahead."

"Why do you smile if you don't mean it?"

"What?"

Hotstreak frowned, "I just don't understand why you hide how you feel. I never really noticed before, but all that bravado, most of it wasn't real."

Static seemed ready to disagree, but then he closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes in thought. Hotstreak let him think, patient until he responded, "I guess...I don't want anyone to worry, and I figure I can solve my problems on my own. I figure if I don't take the situation as seriously as I should, it won't be as real and it won't bother me as much."

"What bothers you?"

Static closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, glassy as unwanted memories corroded his brain, "I know you're into some bad stuff sometimes, and I know you've seen some shit you'd probably like to forget, but sometimes I just don't think I'm up for this. I feel responsible for so many people; Gear included. I've seen people die, and it just eats me up. If I think too hard about it all, I'm going to lose it." Static covered his face his his hand as he rubbed his eyes, an unsteady breath a clear indicator that he wasn't alright.

Hotstreak wasn't sure why, but the hero's words bothered him. If his representation of the one person in his life that was good was just as fucked up as he was, who was he supposed to rely on? Without really meaning too, Hotstreak found his hand on Static's shoulder, a comforting weight for the hero that dragged him back to reality, "Do what you gotta, but don't end up like me. I just don't think at all," letting his hand fall from his shoulder Hotstreak fell to his back and crossed his hands behind his head, his voice raising in volume as his anger grew, "Nothing but adrenaline. Look where it's gotten me; prison, suspension, gangs. I'm a fucking idiot. Im not just ruining my life, I'm fucking up everyone else's cause of my stupid problems."

Static's voice was quiet, "Your problems aren't stupid. They mean something to you and that makes them important."

Hotstreak calmed down, the rise and fall of his chest slowing, "You know...you were the first person in my life to notice me for who I am."

Static swallowed and looked away, "I know you don't want my pity, but I'm sorry..."

Hotstreak snorted, "I don't know how you do it. You make yourself responsible for so many people...how can you live with that kind of guilt?"

Mouth tilting upwards in a dreamy grin, Static sighed, "I'm not. I haven't been doing so well lately, but to be honest, if you weren't around after Richie was kidnapped, I might have just...snapped. Things have been going downhill for a while now."

"I've noticed, well now that I think back, you've been...different? Slipping."

Static sighed heavily, "At first it was just wearing me down, but it's started turning into anger." Laughing nervously Static joked sadly, "Is this what you feel like all the time?"

Hotstreak chuckled weakly, "Probably."

Static tried to hold back hysterical laughter, but it slipped past, his head falling back in raucous laughter, Hotstreak joining him, his sniggers evolving to top Virgil's. Eventually Virgil gained enough control over himself to wheeze, "Well, we're fucked up."

Hotstreak let out one last bark of laughter in agreement then sighed, "Well if I'm beat from stressing out about getting killed in space, you must be half dead. Lets sleep and deal with food when we can see more than three feet in front of our face."

Static immediately fell to his back and curled on his side, "Sounds like a plan." He felt like every muscle in his body was straining, his head swimming with exhaustion so much that when he closed his eyes he felt like the ground was pulling him down with dizzying gravity. He was so tired he was asleep within minutes.

Hotstreak was too wound up to sleep and he once again found himself once again awake in his insomnia with the dying embers of the fire crackling under the cacophony of bugs screaming in the dark. Mind too alert for his body, Hotstreak let the fire die, turning his attention once again to the stars, his vision greedily soaking in the full moon to see enough to see a silhouette of Static sleeping in only his undershirt next to him.

Chewing his lower lip, Hotstreak rolled to his side and hissed quietly, "Virgil." The metahuman didn't even stir, his chest still rising and falling in the slow rhythm of a deep sleep. Reaching towards his back, Hotstreak let his hand hover so long his arm began to ache. His indecision clawing at his confidence, but he needed to touch him. He'd always been obsessed with the material, and he'd always needed to touch.

With a burst of courage, Hotstreak let his fingers close the distance between him and Virgil's earthy skin, slowly letting his palm press against the warmth of his back. Shivering as his hands traced the iron of his muscles, Hotstreak felt a sharp stab in his chest as his breath caught and he realized...he needed Virgil. He'd never needed anyone, and now, with just this small contact between them, Hotstreak realized he'd never known what feeling lonely was because he'd never been close enough to someone to miss them.

You can't miss what you don't have.

Now, with the metahuman at his side, he'd never felt more lonely. He wanted more of Virgil, he still felt like there was a wall between them. An anxious tension. It was something Hotstreak both hated and loved. It meant he finally had someone to care about, but he hated the pain it brought.

It could have just been a fluke when the hero had kissed him. What if he scared the hero away? What if the one person he cared about turned his back on him?

Drawing his hand back from Virgil, Hotstreak drifted into a restless sleep, keenly aware of the proximity of the superhero beside him.

Both metahumans crossed the rest of the distance to Virginia with ease, only having to hunt down their dinner once, which was more than enough for them. Static took his time, gradually increasing the amount of energy rushing through his system, Hotstreak doing the same. Sitting on a rooftop far enough away to not be detected by their surveillance, but close enough to see it, even in the dark, Static played with his powers. Blue sparks cast an eerie glow across the roof, Static's posture almost casual as he charged the metal in his palm

Hotstreak watched the metahuman levitate the steel ball as he said, "I'm gonna go charge up before we do this; what do you do to charge up?"

Hotstreak shrugged, "I can take the heat from the air; helps when it's drier out, but that's just common sense. Can't you do that same?"

Static shook his head, "If I don't have direct contact with the object I'm trying to drain, or if I'm not close enough to it and concentrating, then I could end up killing the people around me."

Hotstreak stared blankly and Virgil rolled his eyes, "I forgot you flunked biology. Everyone's brain is powered by electrical impulses in the brain, if I drain that... BOOM, dead."

"Oh"

Static stood up and pocketed the orb, "Yeah, oh." Throwing his disk out, Static landed on it with a clatter of his boots, "I know you're probably against this, but jump on. People in our city may disregard us, but I don't think these people will. Plus, I don't really want many people to know we're around and you're kinda stick out about as much as the sun at night."

Hotstreak crossed his ams, "We can walk."

"To the other end of the city tonight? I think not."

Static stared at him from where he hovered several inches above the ground as Hotstreak glared at the metal disk. He weighed his options in his head and concluded that he really didn't think they could walk that far in one night and was simultaneously thrilled that Static had upgraded his disk to a bigger model, "Okay." Narrowing his eyes, Hotstreak took Static's outstretched arm and hauled himself up onto the disk.

Spacing his legs far enough apart the Hotstreak could crouch by his feet, Hotstreak had to admit that it wasn't really all that bad, though his legs were cramping up after only five minutes of kneeling there.

Letting Hotstreak on the inside containing wall around the power plant, Hotstreak nearly face planted trying to catch himself on half asleep limbs. Static caught his upper arm before he could fall and jerked him back upright. Hotstreak let out a little curse and stepped as far back from the power conduct as he could. A loud, dangerous hum emitted from the metal structure, a prelude to the power surging through the coils.

Static took a deep breath and stretched his hands out, tendons showing beneath his skin as he bent into a crouch, hands out as he siphoned the energy from the machine lightning connecting in whitehot bolts of energy viciously snapping and seizing in the air like a writhing snake. Hotstreak watched, fascinated as Static controlled the element and tamed it as it fought unleash its chaos.

Watching the metahuman drain the lightning, Hotstreak felt a thrill of a adrenaline flood his veins in the anticipation of freeing his own untamable element. Unable to keep a grin from his face from the overflow of energy, Static cut off the flow of energy, literally glowing with energy until he calmed the river of power inside him. Straightening his coat, Static turned with a manic grin to match Hotstreak's, "You feelin it?"

Hotstreak clenched his fist, focusing the heat in his bones to ignite the air around his hand, coating his arms in fire, "Oh yeah, now we;re cookin! Let's go start some shit!"

Static 's smile only grew at his enthusiasm as he dragged Hotstreak back on to his disk so he could bring them closer to the Pentagon. Dropping Hotstreak on the ground in an alley not three blocks from the building, Static laid out the plan again to make sure Hotstreak understood. When they were both certain they understood the plan, Static led them to the back of the building and spread his hands, closing his eyes.

Hotstreak's eyes focused in on a flurry of sparks from the nearest security camera pointed out over the lawn and he could hear many more sizzle as their circuits fried, "They know we're here, now all we gotta do is leave them in the dark. Let's go!" Sprinting out across the lawn, Static knew they wouldn't be seen as he fell into the wall, reaching out with his powers until he felt the lines of faint energy running through the walls. Killing it with a simple drain of it's power, Static was certain no alarms could sound even after their next stunt, "Melt it; we only have second before they find us; I could only knock out a couple hundred feet of power."

Static kept his back to Hotstreak as the pyro lit up and rested his hands against the wall, drywall, support beams, all of it dripping as the heat destroyed its structure. Eyes literally aflame, Hotstreak stayed lit and stepped through the hole he'd burned in the wall. Static held his disk over his head to protect him from anymore melted metal the might drip onto him as he followed him through.

The second his boots touched the ground Static sucked in a quick intake of breath, Hotstreak kept moviing, both annoyed and thankful they'd melted into a storage room, "What?"

"This place goes underground," Static replaced the disk into his inner pocket and clarified, "I mean, much further than I would have thought; maybe...twenty floors down."

Hotstreak stopped and looked back at him as Static shorted out the rest of the cameras in the building, "So now what? Does the plan change?"

Static heard the sound of heavy feet approaching quickly on their left, "Umm, just a little; I still need to drain their generators, but to get to them we have to go down."

"How far down?"

"All the way."

Hotstreak snarled, "Dammit, that's going to take time we don't have! Cover me." Static backed up as far as he could and then threw out his strongest force shield, arms up and ready to defend the instant he saw a threat. Hotstreak flared up his powers and started working on melting through the floor. Granted it probably wouldn't have been so hard to get down there if they had known the layout, except that it was government property and places like the pentagon were just too important to NOT be a secret.

They made eventually made it to the bottom while Static fought off the soldiers that surrounded him, which was easier than he thought after he jammed all their communications and started sealing off the ceiling they were melting through with "scrap" metal and desks. They were essentially running blind and on word of mouth, so it was taking their security much longer to regroup than if they could receive orders through their comm links.

Feet clattering on to the bottom floor, static didn't bother sealing the ceiling and nudged Hotstreak in the right direction. With his foot so he wouldn't accidently catch himself on fire, the pyro was still running hot, fire crawling over his shoulders and upper arms. Hotstreak's breath was coming fast and short as Virgil charged his hands with electricity and threw all his weight into a right jab into a metal door. His powers bending the metal in on itself dramatically increased his success when he kicked the door in.

Still alone in the drab metal hallway, Virgil drained the generators, throwing the entire facility into darkness. The fire from Hotstreaks powers distorted and deepened the shadows around them as Static urged him forward, "Now we find Richie."

Hotstreak grumbled, one eye behind them to avoid ambush, "How does that work again? Now that these generators are dead, there's only one hotspot left in the entire building. There's no way Gear wouldn't have some type of tech left with him that can resist electro magnetic pulses."

Hotstreak was silent for a few seconds before blurting, "What?"

"He's this way."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

Static groaned, "How about we both shut up." Hotstreak couldn't hold back a snicker as Virgil led them down the winding hallways.

Hesitating briefly before touching the door, Virgil was surprised it wasn't locked. The doors slid open into the walls with a hiss and Virgil's breath caught in his chest to see Richie casually leaning forward on his knees in a roll away chair facing the door. His friend smiled and sat up, taking his glasses off enough to rub his eyes and replace them, "And here you are." The way he said it held the tone of someone who might have been expecting a party guest.

Hotstreak voiced what Static was thinking, albeit in a little more outrage, "You're fine?"

Richie let out a wistful sigh, he was dressed in a long sleeve navy blue shirt and ragged blue jeans lit only by the fire Hotstreak was still burning and the faint glow of a computer monitor behind him, "I told them you'd be here. I also told him his shitty security wasn't going to be enough to keep you out. What I wasn't sure about was if Hotstreak would be with you. I figured he'd tag along to break some skulls, but who would have thought he'd stick with you all the way."

Hotstreak snapped, "What about it?"

Richie narrowed his eyes in thought before ignoring him and addressing his friend, "Listen, I'm sorry I couldn't get a message to you Virg, but if there's one thing these military types are good at, its keeping people quiet."

Virgil took a long steadying breath, "Okay...then what's going on?"

Hotstreak let his flames lower in intensity until they were at a slow simmer over his shoulders; but the fire white blue with heat as Richie folded his hands to explain, "Well, right now I told the Captain to back off and I'd handle you-"

"You can do that?" Static's eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"Umm yeah, I assured him if he didn't he was going to publicly embarrass himself and get his ass kicked. I knew you'd go for the generators first. But back to what I was saying, the CIA has a problem, so of course their first logical conclusion was to kidnap me, which I'm still getting over." Mumbling in anger he added as a side thought, "They thought I wouldn't realize where I was, the pompous pricks." Then re-boarding his train of thought, he continued. "Anyways, they needed my intellect, and I decided it was in the best interest of our country to stay. I think your hero talk as started to rub off on me V."

Hotstreak glowered, "Well you certainly like to listen to yourself talk."

Richie smiled sarcastically, "Thank you Hotstreak."

Virgil had significantly calmed down now that he could see his best friend was okay, or maybe it just hadn't hit him yet as he put on his game face, "What did they need you for?"

Richie held up a hand, "That, is still a little confusing." Spinning in his chair to face the monitor Richie commented idly, "I would have a clearer method to present this if the generators were still running, but this will be fine. I'm glad glad the surge didn't wipe the hard drive, it's a piece of shit to begin with even with my protectors in place."

Hotstreak grumbled, "Looks fine to me."

Fingers flying over the keyboard Richie let out a little snort of derision, "I'm surprised our country's still afloat if this is the best they've got, but, on another, lighter note, the CIA might be looking at a big problem. And all thanks to a man I can't find." His words melted into venom as he leaned back in his chair and stared down the monitor like it was a demon from hell. Static read over the files he'd pulled up; mostly headlines about mass suicides and serial killers, but there were a few about strange fires.

"He's certainly a headache, but he has a pattern, which to be honest, the pattern is that he doesn't have one." Richie rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb and groaned with lack of sleep.

Virgil leaned over the back of his chair memorizing the incidents, "Then how do you know it's one guy?"

Richie's eyes grew dark as he hit a couple of keys, his voice low, "Good question, he has something of an ego." The image that pulled itself onscreen was a still from a video or surveillance camera of a tall caucasian man, about 6' 7'' but in his arms, despite the pixellated screen, the image was unmistakeable as the body of a young girl, a smudge of black across her throat on the black and white output melting into a stream of black ribbons from her hair to the ground. Richie played the video and as the man casually passed the camera he looked up, eyes connecting with whoever was watching he play. His eyes were blocked out by a superhero's mask, but he wore a common suit with his styled dark hair.

His teeth shone in a brilliant smile you wouldn't expect to see on a killer as his mouth formed the words, "And then there were six." Virgil saw Richie's knuckles turn white at the challenge and Hotstreak voice behind them, his words lacking the bluster he'd had before, "What did he say?"

Richie straightened his glasses, "And then there were six."

Hotstreak blurted, "Isn't this what the Justice Guild or whatever is for? What about Batman, isn't he the best detective in the world?"

Static looked back at Hotstreak briefly in agreement and back at Richie for a response who closed out of the window onscreen, "Well I contacted Batman and he said 'I'll look into it' then hung up, but I've checked out Gotham and the Joker's escaped again, that and there's been a surge in crime, so I don't think he's putting all his resources into this, he has problems of his own. So I'm taking care of it...or, trying too more like."

Static straightened, "Well he told you there were six left, who was the girl?"

"The daughter of the vice president. The rest have been extremely influential people, but this girl was just to attract attention."

Hotstreak sneered, "That's sick."

Richie seemed partially surprised by his opinion and turned to look at him as the pyro defended himself, "Are you serious? I do have morals."

Static turned his attention back to the matter at hand, "Well now what do we do?"

Richie crossed his arms, "Collective we, or you and Hotstreak?"

Hotstreak answered for him, "Both."

An expression of surprise still on has face, Richie answered, "Well, I told the Captain you wouldn't seriously injure anyone and I told him to stay away until we got the power back on if he knew what was good for him, though he probably won't listen. I also told him you'd be onboard for helping if you made it here. Though I never doubted it. So you're home free from the property damage considering it was pretty legitimate. My cameras were down so exactly how much damage did you do?" Richie's smile was genuine for the first time they'd seen him.

"Hotstreak melted through the floor and I disabled all their firepower and knocked a few heads."

Hotstreak was proud of himself for that, fire now completely out as Richie laughed, "I'm sure it's a lot more than that, but to be honest, that makes me feel better about the whole kidnapping thing." Face turning more serious he added, "Now that we've gotten all that checked off, I suggest you make your demands."

Static was genuinely confused, "You're losin me Rich."

Richie explained, voice a little too fast for comfort, "The ultimatum. You threaten to haul my ass outta here and impede their investigation unless I get some freedom and you get in on the investigation."

Hotstreak jumped in, "What makes you think I want in on this mess?"

Richie laughed, "Are you serious?" Then ignoring him pulled out something similar to their old shock vox's, "I already told the Captain you'd contact him through this walkie talkie if you got to me. He knows nothing about the extent of your powers and he had no idea you'd be able to find me this quickly."

Static took it and stared at it a moment before slowing things down, "Woah woah, wait, this guy's a creep, but what could possibly draw the attention of the CIA?"

Spelling it out for him Richie made it simple, "They think he might go after the president, if he gets to number one on his list."

Eyes wide, Hotstreak commented, "Woah."

Virgil weighed his options for a moment, and then hit the button on the communicator, "Captain?"

A gravely voice on the other end responded almost immediately, "Who is this?"

"Static, I'm not the bad guy here and you have something I want."

The Captain followed his lead, certain where the conversation was headed, but followed protocol regardless, "What do you want?"

"Gear."

"We need him."

Static frowned, "You loosen the leash, and you get something in return; we'll help with your investigation."

"What makes you think you can offer any help?"

"Your just going to have to trust that I can."

There was static and then silence on the other end lasting more than a couple of minutes. Finally the Captain's voice came back over the speakers, "Since this is a delicate situation, I accept, but only if your accompanied by one of our own when you're in the field."

Static hissed, "Your men will slow us down."

"Final offer." The line went silent waiting for his response.

Hotstreak and Richie watched Virgil who was still debating weather or not he wanted to just smash his way back out dragging Richie with him.

"V."

Richie's voice broke him from his thoughts as he met his gaze before answering, "I accept."