Chapter Text
Virgil sighed as he dragged himself into the house. It was late but the next day was Saturday so he could nurse his new injuries in the peace of his own home rather than trying to navigate school while hurting this bad. The door is gently removed from his hand, and he looks up to see his father standing there. Virgil didn’t resist when Robert grabbed him and helped him into the house.
Robert had seen the breaking news report and saw the battle Static had gotten into with the meta breed. He knew his son would be injured and in pain when he got home so, instead of going to bed he waited up for Virgil to arrive. If he couldn’t keep his son out of the fights he could at least be there to tend to him after.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed between the report and Virgil dragging himself into the house exhausted and injured. It had felt like hours but when Robert looked at the clock later it would have actually only been about an hour and a half.
“Pops…” Virgil said his voice tight with pain.
Robert pulled Virgil into his arms.
“Easy, son…” he guided Virgil to the couch and eases him down.
“I’m okay, pops…” Virgil lied it was a blatant, bold faced lie and Robert glared at Virgil as if to say he didn’t believe him.
“Don’t lie to me… I can tell you’re in pain… I don’t have superpowers like you or Richie. but I can help you if you let me.” Robert said sitting beside Virgil and pulling his son into his arms. The action is first met with a grimace of pain but soon Virgil relaxed into his father’s embrace and the room fell into a comfortable silence as Virgil let the warmth of his father’s embrace soothe his aches and pains.
“You seem to forget I know everything… I’m always here for you to lean on, you just have to take the offer.” Robert said gently.
Virgil couldn’t really remember the last time he sat there and just let his father hold him. He had always thought it was embarrassing especially when others were around but today it was just him and his dad and he was too tired and in too much pain to put up a protest. So, he rested his head on his father’s shoulder and felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier.
“You want something to eat before you go to bed, son?” Robert asked.
“Yeah, pops…” Virgil replied already fighting a war with his eyelids and from what Robert could tell, Virgil was losing bad.
Robert could tell Virgil and Richie had done their best to patch Virgil up from his encounter with the meta breed and it was also clear Richie hadn’t gotten away unscathed either. Robert watched warily as Virgil walked into the kitchen favoring his left ankle, he feared it was sprained but he was by no means qualified to make a diagnosis nor was he in a position to take his superhero son into the emergency room.
“I notice you’re favoring that ankle son, what did you do?”
“Not sure… that fight was something else!”
“Let me look at that.” Robert said simply.
“Pops…”
“Virgil Ovid…”
“Fine, but please, pops, you know how I feel about my middle name.”
“Then don’t be hardheaded and I won’t have to use it.” Robert countered with a good-natured chuckle. “Now let me take a look at that ankle, son.”
“Okay…”
Virgil sat at the table then took his shoe and sock off then put his foot up in another chair to let his father have a good look at his ankle.
This wasn’t the first time Robert wished his wife were still alive. Her skills as a medic would have made short work of sorting out what was wrong with Virgil’s ankle, but the swelling made Robert believe it was likely sprained to some extent. He then went to the freezer and soon had an ice pack ready and wrapped in a kitchen towel.
“Pops…”
“Keep that on there…” he instructed in a tone that brooked no argument. “I’ve got to stop by the center tomorrow morning to pick up papers I’ll go by the store and get a brace for that on the way home.”
“You don’t have to…”
“Virgil… like I said I can’t help you fight but I can help you recover after… you just have to let me, son.” Robert cut him off gently. “Tell me when you need my help and I’ll be here for you, but I can’t help you if I don’t know when you need help or what kind of help you need.”
“Okay… thank you…” Virgil yawned, the ice felt good on his ankle, and he was completely exhausted.
“You’re usually hungry after patrol aren’t you?”
“Yeah… especially when I actually have to use my powers more than just cruising through the skies like tonight.”
“How about we find a place to hide some snacks for you where you’re sister can’t find them so when you get home like tonight you can grab something without waking anyone up or rousing your sister’s suspicions.”
“Sounds good to me.” Virgil said, “Thanks Pops, for understanding.”
“No problem, son.” Robert smiled as he placed a plate in front of his son. They’d had spaghetti that night and there was plenty for Virgil to have a generous plate of leftovers after patrol, which was perfectly fine by him.
“You finish eating then we’ll get you up to bed… you’ve got no reason to get up early tomorrow, so just sleep in.” Robert sighed.
It hadn’t taken long after realizing Virgil was Static for Robert to realize that Virgil’s new appetite was due to his electrical powers jacking up his metabolism. He had also attributed that to his initially dropping several pounds, almost to the point of being unhealthy, before regaining it all and then some in muscle, but that could also be from fighting. What made Robert a little envious was that Virgil seemed to be able to eat whatever he wanted to and not gain an ounce of fat. Robert’s own weight was a testament to the fact that he was getting older and didn’t have the metabolism to eat just anything he wanted to.
“Yeah, Richie and I agreed we’re not going to patrol tomorrow… we actually got word there are two other heroes here in Dakota and they agreed they’d pick up the slack tomorrow, so we can rest.” Virgil sighed.
“Really… do we know who they are?”
“Under their masks, no, they call themselves Chi and Stormfront… if I had to wager a guess I’d say they’re brother and sister, look too similar to not be related.” Virgil replied after swallowing a mouthful of pasta.
“Do they know who the two of you are?”
“I don’t really know… I don’t think so.” Virgil replied, “I hear their little sister is the latest addition to the Teen Titans… they are Justice League trainees.”
“Wow… that’s a big honor… all three of them found their way into great teams…” Robert wondered if Virgil was going to be invited into any of those teams, as of now Static and Gear worked as, for lack of a better term, free agents. They didn’t really have a team to fall back on except for each other although, from what he could tell, that was fine by the two of them.
Robert took the plate after Virgil finished, he’d wash it and put it away once he had Virgil squared away.
It took a few minutes but soon Virgil was asleep in his bed and Robert went back to clean up the last few dishes praying Richie wasn’t nearly as bad as Virgil. Also praying that Sean Foley was either more oblivious than Robert had given him credit for or maybe he had figured out more than they had given him credit for and would finally step up and be the father his son, Richie deserved.
To Be Continued…