Who: Virgil and first ghost on the third night. What: Memories When: November 20ith Where: The highest ledge of the Bradbury building. Warnings: The use of puppy faces inside. Proceed at own risk. Works as a narrative unless anyone at the bradbury wants to tag in!
Virgil didn't know what to do. How to react to these ghosts. What to say. Or if he should say anything at all. Bart and Bruce thought he should be cautious. But it was his mom right? She would never hurt him. It didn't help that his mom's anniversary was coming up of the day she was killed in the Dakota Riots. His thoughts of her were amplified and her ghost persistent in the Bradbury Building. In his room or in the kitchen trying to bake. His memories however that were waning. He missed her, but it was worse than that. The ghosts were a reminder of just how little he knew about her. How faded his memory was of his mom as time went on. She'd died when he was three, he barely had any time with her. She was killed in the crossfire between two rival gangs while trying to save lives in the most violent gang war in Dakota's history.
For the first time since his arrival Virgil wasn't looking for company or acceptance. Probably the first time in months he was away longer than five minutes from Bart without whining. What he did go out of his way to find was space. There was loud music playing from his room to possibly allude to his presence, throw them off his tail for a while should they come looking. They could assume he was fine and yell at him to turn his music down. Sure he'd been around, made some appearances here and there, but vocally he'd been quiet since he started seeing her. He hardly went in his room or the kitchen after he saw his mom the other day, whenever he did he always escaped out the window to the roof for air and always alone. It was cruel what this city was doing. Forcing them to face up to their pasts. He didn't know how much more he could take. Even if he did face it she couldn't come back. He'd tried that once. He didn't have the strength to try it again. He wanted nothing more than to see his mom of coarse, that was all he'd wanted the last thirteen years of his life. But not like this. There were moments when she was there that he was happy. That he almost gave into the false sense of security and felt normal. But then he remembered she was a ghost of someone he was forgetting. Of someone's face he could barely remember, and it had to be some kind of trick. She was going to fade away and he was going to be left feeling miserable.
He was in his Static gear ontop of the impressive building. The window to his room was open as always. The door shut but not locked. At meals that day he barely said a word, barely touched his food. During the day his sense of humor was just lost. He hated it. He was so angry at the world. Had very nearly snapped at Bart a couple of times. He caught himself of coarse but barely. All he was doing was trying to help him feel better, but the only thing that could was to be in his mom's arms. And it was impossible as far as he knew. It scared him that he could barely remember her. That one day he might forget and only be left with the image of whatever these things were. All he knew about them was that her face and the ghosts were the same. So he projected that image infront of him, two royal blue and gold gloved hands spread apart. In mid air the large shape of his mom's face and head hung infront of him in detail with electricity, and just left it there trying to burn it into his memory. Part of him wanted the ghosts to go away, and the other didn't. The other wanted them to stay. To be real. He wanted and craved his mom's attention more than anything in the world.
The young black woman appeared by his side in an old vintage nurses uniform and the static marquee of her face faded as he felt a chill down his spine. His hands lowered to his knees and his eyes staring down at them. "Mom..?" Confusion fell over her face. "Do I know you?" Something broke inside Virgil, she didn't recognize her own son? "It's me moms..it's Virgil." At first she moved to take a step back, but then he pulled off his mask and sunglasses and she stopped for a minute studying his face. "But I just tucked my little Virgil into bed a few minutes ago. "She insisted. Virgil's brows furrowed. It dawned on him that she didn't realize she was dead. That just maybe she wasn't part of the PTB's trick..and this was his second chance to be with her. He explained everything to the woman and for the longest time she was just silent trying to take it all in. "Mom? Are you okay?" It was alot of information. How he became a super hero, where they were. All about helping the Justice League and even meeting his future double. All the woman could do was stare in shock. "..I don't understand all of that. But imagine, my boy a super hero." She looked at him with such proud eyes, Virgil couldn't help but feel somehow vindicated and took a chance. He stood up and reached out to hug her tightly. He could smell a faint aroma of blood and ash from the fires that night but he didn't break away. Not for the longest time until she embraced him back.
"If all that really is true, I'm so proud of what you've become. Imagine that. My boy, a super hero." Beads of moisture threatened his eyes. He closed them but they fell down his cheeks anyway. "Virgil, I'll always be with you. "She tried to be reassuring as he held onto her as if he was scared she would leave. She had to. Dawn was breaking over the sleeping city and he was drained, he couldn't hold focus anymore. Suddenly his arms were empty and she was gone. His eyes full of tears he sank down to the edge of the building with his head in his hands.