Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock. I am not making profit from this story so no one sue me, please. Any characters whom are not from Static Shock are rightfully owned by me.

Summary: Virgil and Richie haven't been friends for nearly 20 years. They have gone their separate ways and lived their successful live through work. However, how have their personal lives suffered since their failed friendship?

"My Daddy told me to go to my room so the adults could talk," Chloé said as she sat down on her bed. Bending over, she fished through one of her bags, looking for a pair of gloves she had chosen while shopping with her mother. When she found them, she lied back on her bed and put them on, examining them. They were yellow and blue—her favorite colors.

There was a rustling noise on the other end of the phone. After a few moments, the rustling ceased and Rachael finally spoke. "Well, do you know what they're talking about?"

Chloé shrugged and laid her arms beside her torso. "I don't know," she said and turned to her side. "Daddy seems sad, though. I think it has to do with my mom."

"What makes you think that?"

Chloé was quiet for a minute. During the pause, she outstretched her hand again and wiggled her fingers, pleased with how well the gloves fit. She had been ecstatic to find blue and yellow—the yellow more gold and the blue more navy—leather gloves, and she couldn't quite get over how cool she felt they made her look. "Daddy had a panic attack." Chloé finally said.

"What did he panic about?" Rachael said and sighed.

"I don't know," Chloé admitted. Sitting up again, she fished through the bags once more, this time looking for a trench coat that matched the blue of the gloves. Sense it matched the gloves so well, Chloé had practically begged her mother to buy it as well. "He's not being himself."

"What do you mean?" Rachael asked, concerned. "Does it have something to do with Richie being there, maybe?"

Chloé shrugged. "Maybe," she said dismissively. "He just seems so different now that Richie is around, and now he's panicking." She paused. "It's not a bad difference; he seems happier, but I'm not sure why."

"Well, wasn't Richie his friend? Maybe he's just happy to see his friend again."

Chloé shook her head. "No," she said simply. "It's different. It's not like when I'm happy to see you; it's a different type of happiness."

Rachael was quiet for a minute, during which time Chloé got up off the bed and tried on her coat. She smiled when she looked in the mirror, happy with the way it fit.

"What kind of happiness?" Rachael finally asked.

"I don't know," Chloé said again. She pressed pointer finger to her chin as she thought. "Mm," she finally mumbled. "It's like when your Daddy is happy to see your mom."

"So, your Daddy loves Richie?" Rachael asked, her tone increasing slightly in pitch at the sentence's completion. There was a silence that stretched over five minutes. Finally, Rachael made an undistinguishable noise and said, "Maybe you'll have two daddies."

Chloé sniffed and shrugged out of her coat. After stuffing the coat back in the bag, she pulled off the gloves and put them back in the bag as well. Getting back on her bed, she laid down and, finally, she said, "Well, three, probably."

Virgil was aware Richie had asked him to stop, and he would, but first he had to get through talking to Angelica. While it seemed ridiculous Virgil would be uncomfortable talking to a woman he had once slept with, he nonetheless was and smoking helped to ease that stress. Save for the days following Virgil and Richie's Monday run-in, smoking always helped to calm Virgil's nerves and stress levels, both of which were heightened at this moment.

Angelica crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Crossing her legs at the ankles, she raised an eyebrow and flared a nostril. "Since when do you smoke?" she spat. "You better not do that around Chloé," she hissed warningly.

Virgil rolled his eyes and rested the hand holding the cigarette on the arm of the chair, keeping his wrist flexed upward so as to not burn his furniture. "Why the hell would I smoke around Chloé, Angelica?" he spat in return. "Contrary to popular belief, I actually can be a pretty decent human being."

Angelica snorted, but the sound lacked amusement. "Yeah, well, I've never seen it," she hissed.

Virgil laughed sarcastically. "Oh, you've never seen it? Is that right?" He fixated a glare on Angelica as he continued, "Angelica, who bought you your first house; your first car? Who called the police station when you were pregnant, risking his job," he emphasized, "to cuss out an officer for giving you a ticket because it made you cry? A ticket you really did deserve, by the way." A nose-wrinkling smile, that dripped sarcasm when paired with his words, crossed Virgil's features as he continued. "Who bought you a $10,000 ring to make for the fact I couldn't afford one when we got married? Who learned to make your father's fried chicken after he died? Who did the laundry, the dishes, and cleaned the bathroom, because those are your least favorite chores? And who went to every romance movie that came out for two years after your dad died?" He paused, running his tongue over his top teeth. "And just for the record, just because I'm gay doesn't mean I enjoyed those movies. I hate romance movies; they're stupid," he said, and slouched back into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Now, please, please tell me how horrible of a person I am," Virgil hissed, his smile turning to a frown and his glare becoming venomous.

Angelica was quiet for a minute, biting her bottom lip gently. A series of thoughts went through her mind, but none of them seemed to be an appropriate response. Sighing exasperatedly, Angelica finally said, "Fine. Maybe you weren't completely," she said with emphasis, "a terrible husband.

"But you didn't actually love me," she hissed, leaning forward in her seat. "You may have done all those things for me, but you didn't love me, and you lied to me."

Placing the butt of the cigarette gently between his lips, Virgil inhaled a long drag. Unnoticeably holding his breath for several moments, Virgil glanced diagonally to the couch where Richie was sitting, having agreed he would only say something if Angelica and Virgil's conversation turned by any means violent. After looking up at the ceiling to let out the smoke, he turned his attention back to Angelica. He sighed, knowing what he wanted to say, but also fully aware of what actually needed to be said.

"I'm sorry," Virgil said, slumping further into his seat.

Angelica blinked, caught off guard by the sudden apology. It hadn't been what she was expecting Virgil to say, so she hadn't prepared herself for it. Kitting her eyebrows, she mentally bounced around the words, trying to figure out for what Virgil was apologizing. In the twenty years she had known Virgil, she learned quickly that he did not apologize for anything, unless he was approached with an apology first.

Virgil sighed, realizing Angelica probably wasn't going to speak anytime soon, so he decided to continue. "I'm sorry for dragging you along for twenty years," Virgil said quietly, doing his best to maintain eye contact with Angelica. "I'm sorry for marrying you to pretend to be straight, and I'm sorry for not telling you and leaving you to wonder and assume."

Angelica blinked and knitted her eyebrows together. For a long time, she debated over what emotions to feel, finding that nothing quiet explained what was rushing through her mind. She wasn't mad; even she knew it was bitchy to be mad at someone who was trying to apologize. She wasn't happy; it wasn't like Virgil apologizing would make up from twenty years of his crap, even if it were certainly a start. And she wasn't sad; there was nothing to be sad about. The question still remained, though: What were her feelings?

In a barely audible whisper, Angelica finally said, "I just wanted you to love me," and sighed softly. "For a long time, I couldn't figure out why you didn't, and I thought it was my fault," she began, realizing quickly the she had no control over what she was saying. "I was pissed when I realized you loved someone else, and even more mad that you wouldn't tell me."

"I didn't want to accept it," Virgil said with a shrug. Part of him still didn't want to accept it; wanted to crawl back into the shadows and remain completely in the closet from everyone. "I didn't know it was going to get me into this huge mess."

"How could you have honestly not realized that, Virgil?" Angelica spat, her words coming across a little more venomously than she had intended. She slumped back into her seat and crossed her arms.

Virgil shrugged defensively. "I… I thought…" he sighed and trailed off, realizing he had no idea what he wanted to say. For several moments, he sat and debated over what to say to Angelica to make her understand that he really didn't think he would end up in this mess. "I thought… if I married you… it meant I wasn't gay."

Angelica raised an eyebrow, her features easing to sympathy. "What would make you think that?"

Virgil shrugged one shoulder. Shaking his head slightly, he looked down at the burned-out butt between his fingers and sighed. He wanted another one, but didn't want to further disappoint Richie.

"Well, look at yourself, Angelica; you're absolutely beautiful," Virgil said and smiled softly when Angelica grinned from the compliment. After a moment, the smile faded, and Virgil continued speaking. "I'm not saying that you can convert people from their sexuality—I obviously get that isn't possible—but I wanted to try. I thought, maybe, if I could marry a woman it meant some part of me still liked them… but that obviously wasn't true. I mean, Angelica, I cared about you, and I wanted to do everything for you, but… having sex with you felt more like a chore than something I actually wanted to do." He paused and gave Angelica his full attention momentarily, looking for a reaction to his last statement, but she seemed completely indifferent. "I should have learned to accept it then; not put it off for twenty years."

Virgil sighed and finally quit talking. Closing his eyes, he laid his head back against the chair, suddenly feeling weary from everything just said. To make matters worse, he was far from done being open and honest with Angelica; there was still one major thing he had to tell her, because she deserved to know it.

"I accept your apology," Angelica said.

Virgil shot up almost faster than he could send a bolt of lightning across the room. The look on his face was comically confused and he stared wide-eyed at Angelica. "What?"

Angelica rolled her eyes, a small grin forming across her lips, puckering her top lip gently. "I said I forgive you."

"I… uh… but… why, though?"

Shaking her head, Angelica laughed quickly, airily. She smiled as she spoke. "Virgil, I'm forty years old. I have so many better things to do with my life than continue hating and fighting with you." She paused briefly. "I just wanted an apology." Shifting in her seat, she leaned in toward Virgil once more. Sighing, she admitted, "The only reason I told Richie not to come back to you… is because I didn't think you deserved him." Angelica paused to clear her throat. "Look, Virgil, in all honesty, I'm pretty sure I always knew you were gay, but… I guess… I didn't want to accept it either. And, I suppose, part of the reason I've been so mad at you is because I was mad at myself for letting you string me along for so long."

"You knew?"

Angelica nodded. "Well, I didn't know," she emphasized, "but I was pretty damn sure. I mean, we almost never had sex; you spent all your time at work; and, you always stared at the picture on your dresser." She paused and thought for a moment. Then she was hit with a realization. "You started smoking to continue avoiding your sexuality, didn't you?"

Virgil sighed and scratched his forehead with the middle finger of his right hand—the one that wasn't still holding the cigarette butt. Nodding gently, he said, "Well, and I was stressed out about our divorce." He sighed, puffing out his cheeks. Sniffing, Virgil pushed himself out of the seat long enough to get into another position, now sitting in the chair cross-legged.

"So why did you convince the court so earnestly that I'm this horrible father?" Virgil questioned, pressing his hand against the right side of his neck, where the shoulder and neck met. Furrowing his eyebrows, he sighed and said softly, "Do you really think I'm a bad parent?"

Angelica sighed and shook her head gently. "No," she admitted. "In fact, I think you're a great father. Chloé absolutely loves you." She paused and laughed airily, shaking her head at the thoughts rushing through her mind. "Sometimes, Chloé goes weeks talking only about you, and she tells me all the time she wishes she could see you more."

Virgil shrugged, a blank expression covering his features, but his eyes filled with hurt. Shaking his head slowly, he looked down at his lap and sighed. "Then why?" was all he could bring himself to say.

"I was mad." Angelica sighed and scratched her hairline. She bit the inside of her lower lip and glazed down at the ground, her expression solemn. Drawing a deep breath, she kept her attention on the floor as she said, "Virgil, I think you're a great father, but I was mad. That was it; I was mad, and I didn't want Chloé to be around you because…"

"I'm gay?" Virgil questioned, knitting his eyebrows together.

"No!" Angelica protested quickly and shook her head. "No… no, that's not it," Angelica said feverishly, holding up her hands defensively. "No, Virgil, I don't care you're gay. I care you're a liar. I didn't want our daughter around a liar." Sighing, Angelica dropped her hands to her lap and clasped her hands. Nodding gently, she continued, "I just figured… if you were going to lie to me, what was stopping you from lying to Chloé?"

"I would never lie to Chloé," Virgil said and sighed.

Nodding his head rhythmically to some tune in his head, his thoughts diverted to a week before, when Chloé told Virgil she was clairvoyant, and how he hadn't told Chloé about his own abilities. A pang of guilt shot through his body and he gave another, slightly more distressed, sigh. Was not telling her the truth really a lie? Was it lying to not tell your own daughter about your own powers to protect yourself, even if she did deserve to know? Virgil sighed, leaning his head against the back of the chair, well on his way to falling out of the seat.

"Angelica, there's something you should know about Chloé," Virgil finally said and sat up straight. His entire body loose, he leaned forward a little to get closer to Angelica. When he saw the concern in Angelica's eyes, Virgil finally spoke. "No, no, it's nothing bad… Um. Angelica… Chloé's a… bang baby."

Immediately, Angelica's mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. For close to ten minutes, she said nothing. Her only response to Virgil's statement was periodical blinking and the occasional attempt to speak that turned into incoherent crackling noises. Finally, she broke from her trance and pressed her hands against her face and began muttering, "Wha… what? What? How? How is she… how is he a bang baby? The big bang was thirty… years… ago…" Her eyes shot open wide when the realization of what Virgil was saying hit. "Oh, my God," she exclaimed loudly. "You're a bang baby? What bang baby? Who are you?"

Virgil sighed and pressed his pointer fingers against the sides of his nose. Sighing, he glanced up at Richie who simply shrugged, as if to say: "You got yourself into this mess. Get yourself out of it." At least, that's what Virgil got from the shrug, so he turned his attention back to Angelica, debating for a moment how to tell Angelica just who he was. But actions spoke louder than words, and it saved time, so he decided to show her instead.

Clearing his throat, shot a bolt of electricity from his pointer finger, across the room, to the radio, and turned it on to an R&B station. Flicking his pointer finger against his thumb, he sniffed and turned his attention to Angelica who was dumbfounded and staring blankly at the radio as it played its gentle tune.

A smile slowly began creeping across Angelica's features and soon became a grin. Virgil responded to the reaction by knitting his eyebrows and frowning, having no idea what to make of her reaction. Suddenly, Angelica jumped up from her seat and Virgil found himself wrapped in a hug strong enough to suffocate. It was when Angelica began squealing that Virgil pushed her away and gave her a look of complete confusion.

"You're Static!" Angelica cried. "Oh, my God, you're Static! Oh, my God, I used to love you when I was a kid!" she said, squealing like a schoolgirl. Letting go of Virgil, she took a step back, but the pure joy still radiated in her eyes as she continued to fuss over Virgil. "I used to collect all the newspaper clippings about you, and I basically had a shrine to you in my fucking closet," she said. Whether or not Virgil found it weird was not a concern to her, because she was simply that excited. "No, but, seriously, you were like the hottest superhero ever. My friends and I fucking loved you. You were, like, a majority of our conversations. Seriously! We were always talking about what cool things you did, and what evil you had fought recently." She paused to catch her breath, glancing between Virgil and Richie, but stopping her attention on Richie. She gasped loudly as she said, "Oh, my God," squealing. "Were you Gear?"

Richie sighed and rolled his eyes, glancing sideways at Virgil. When Virgil shrugged in a similar manner to what Richie had done moments before, Richie rolled his eyes again and turned his attention back to Angelica. "Yes."

Angelica looked as though she were ready to faint. She stumbled backwards into her seat, her eyes wide and her head spinning, swimming. There were no words to the absolute degree of glee that she felt; to know that the two greatest superheroes of Dakota were sitting in Virgil's living room.

"Oh, my God," Angelica exclaimed loudly, cupping her hands over her mouth as her eyes practically bulged. She looked between Virgil and Richie, her breathing heavy as she processed the realization she had just had. "Oh, my God…" she muttered again, dropping her hands to her lap. "I've slept with Static," he muttered, mostly to herself.

"What?" Virgil asked, knitting his eyebrows and scrunching his nose. "Did you just say…?"

"I've slept with Static!" Angelica squealed loudly, immediately cupping her hands over her mouth again, praying Chloé hadn't heard what she said, and immensely thankful for her for her ethnicity, because she would have been beet red otherwise.

"I…" Virgil began, just as thankful for his ethnicity as Angelica was. Dropping his face into his hands, he inhaled deeply through his nose when he realized how hot his cheeks were. "Oh, my God," he muttered several times. "This is ridiculous… I…" Sniffing, Virgil looked back up at Angelica who was practically bouncing from excitement, and he immediately notice how childlike Angelica really was. To say the least, he found it endearing; it was better than the woman who was always made at him and yelling at him for one reason or another. If knowing he was Static would keep them from fight—though it also seemed that apologizing would help that—then Virgil was thankful Angelica knew.

Virgil just hadn't been expecting her to be a Static fan girl.

"Does this mean we'll quit fighting?" was all Virgil could think to ask.

Angelica laughed. "Virgil, apologizing to me meant we would quit fighting," she said and then grinned as she continued. "Being Static just means our marriage was awesome, because now I can tell everyone who I was married to be the coolest person at work."

Virgil rolled his eyes and smacked his palm to his forehead. With an airy laugh, he said, "I would really prefer you didn't; I don't need the whole city knowing where Static lives. I'm perfectly content without the media at my doorstep," he said and laughed again. "To be honest, I would rather you just tell people I'm gay."

Angelica gave an airy laugh and wrapped her arms around the back of her neck. Sighing contentedly, she nodded, silently agreeing she wouldn't tell anyone he was Static, if it really meant that much to him. Sighing again, she dropped her hands to her lap and said, "So, what powers does Chloé have exactly?"

Virgil smiled. "I think it'll be better if she tells you," he said and shifted in his seat. "Chloé," Virgil called loudly after his daughter. "Can you come here for a minute?"

After a beat, Chloé appeared in the living room. "Yes, Daddy?" she asked as she stood in front of the chair Virgil was sitting in. "Is it time for dinner?"

Virgil shook his head. "Not yet, baby. I'm going to make dinner soon. I promise." When he received a nod from Chloé, Virgil continued with the reason he had called his daughter to the living room. "I want you your mom about your powers," Virgil said and nodded his head sideways toward Angelica. With a smile, he added, "I'll tell you about mine and Richie's after you do," with a wink.

Chloé gasped. "You have powers?" she exclaimed gleefully. "Is that how I got mine?" she practically squealed. Her mouth went agape and her eyes wide when she was hit with another realization, "Do you think Rachael's Daddy has powers, too?"

Angelica raised an eyebrow. "What's this about Rachael?"

Chloé grinned as she spun around to face her mother. With a prideful grin, she said, "Rachael is a super genius and I'm clairvoyant, Mom."

Richie snorted from his spot on the couch, rewarding himself with a strange look from both Virgil and Angelica. Laughing airily he said, "Sorry. That just fully explains why Chloé randomly knew who I was on Monday and why I'm here."

Virgil rolled his eyes and tossed the closest pillow he could reach at Richie's face, laughing as he did so. Getting up from his seat so Chloé could sit closer to her mother, Virgil made his way over to the couch and sat down beside Richie. As he watched Chloé go into full detail about everything she could do as someone who was clairvoyant, Virgil found himself hand in hand with Richie. Glancing down at their hands briefly, Virgil looked up at Richie and raised an eyebrow. Richie's only response was a simple shrug of his left shoulder and a small smile.

Leaning against Richie slightly, Virgil let out a low, content sigh. He smiled warmly as he continued watching Chloé excitedly explain clairvoyance, never before realizing there was so much to it. His features animated along with Angelica's and he eventually found himself laughing when Chloé said her and Rachael wanted to become superheroes.

"So, Daddy, Richie," Chloé said, breaking Virgil of his trance, "What are your powers?"

"Well, I'm a super-genius," Richie said with a smile.

Chloé gasped loudly and climbed up on Richie's lap causing Richie to let go of Virgil's hand. "Cool! Can I introduce you to Rachael? She would love to know another super-genius!" she exclaimed and laughed. "She says there aren't enough intelligent people to talk to."

Richie laughed loudly, pressing his hand over the part of his nose that was blushing red. He wrapped his arms tightly around Chloé and said, while nodding vigorously, "Yes, I would love to meet Rachael," he said. For a moment he was quiet as he looked from Virgil to Chloé and back again. Finally, he leaned into Chloé and said in a whisper he hoped Virgil couldn't hear: "Do you think Rachael could show me how that mp3 player works?"

"You're still preoccupied with that mp3 player, Richie?" Virgil questioned and laughed. "It's been hours!"

Richie looked at Virgil with a playfully warning expression. Raising his eyebrows, he tilted his head sideways and said, "I need to know how to works, V."

V. It had been twenty years since anyone had called him that. He had almost forgotten that used to be his nickname. For two decades he had been 'Virgil' or 'Mr. Hawkins,' but never 'V.' It was a rather nice for someone to call him something wasn't quite so professional.

Laughing to himself, he finally broke from his thoughts and turned his attention back to Chloé as she and Richie gossiped about Rachael and all the stuff she had invented or wanted to invent, and the twinkle in Richie's eye was enough to make Virgil's heart melt; he loved when Richie was excited about inventing, even if he never understood it. Plain and simple, he loved Richie, and Virgil wanted nothing more than to show Richie just how much.

And he knew exactly how he was going to do it.

"I'll be right back," Virgil said and got up from the couch.

Walking over to the seat Angelica was occupying, Virgil gently tapped Angelica's shoulder and motioned toward the balcony door. With a look of confusion, Angelica got up from the couch and followed Virgil outside. When the sliding door was securely shut, and they were facing one another, Angelica spoke up.

"What's up, Virgil?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Virgil let it out shakily as he leaned against the table. Clearing his throat, he debated over what to say for a few moments, pinching his nose when his thoughts were rushing too fast. He took a moment to slow them down, breathing evenly. Finally letting his hand drop to his side, Virgil gave his full, undivided attention to Angelica.

"I… um…" Virgil began, stumbling momentarily over his thoughts. He hated asking for help, but this was something he had never properly done this before, and he figured the best person to ask was Angelica. "I want to… um…" He trailed off, still not fully sure what to say, or how to say it, or why he was so embarrassed about it in the first place. Dropping his gaze to the ground, he wrapped his right hand around the ring finger of his left hand and massaged it gently.

"Aw, Virgil," Angelica exclaimed, watching Virgil intently. She grinned as she wrapped her arms around Virgil's neck and Virgil wrapped his arms loosely around the middle of her back. "Of course I'll help you, Virgil. That's adorable."

A/N: Holy long fucking chapter, Batman! I had a lot to say, I guess. Not that you all mind, right? XD

Um. So. How did you like it? I personally enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, and I think it's great place to end the story!

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... I'm just kidding. I wouldn't end the story on a cliffhanger. XD I'm not that mean, guys! But I don't think there will be many more chapters. Probably just one or two! So... yeah... XD

Um. Let me think. Is there anything else I want to comment on? *thinks*

Oh! Um. I thoroughly enjoyed the outfit of Chloé's I described at the beginning. XD If it sounds strangely similar to Static's costume, it's because it's supposed to; that was the whole point. Not to mention, I just think that Static's gloves are the coolest ever and I TOTALLY think that Dakota would mass produce a similar product as winter clothing. Why? The same reason we mass produce Batman stuff. XD

Erm. Um. Yeah. I hope you all liked the conversation with Angelica, because I personally thought it was amazing. And turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I personally thought there was going to be bloodshed, and I'm seriously glad there wasn't. I didn't want to deal with bloodshed. And I also didn't really want to deal with post panic attack stuff, so I just had Chloé mention it to Rachael. Good enough, right? XD

Anyway. Please review! I would really, really appreciate reviews! I worked really hard on this chapter, and I want some feedback on it! Thank you!

Also, just for the record, I'm in college and it's nearing the end of the quarter, meaning that I have papers and homework GALORE. Woo. So, I may not be able to update with chapter twenty-four as soon as I like. Sit tight; I WILL post it. I promise you!