Title:  "Between Time and Tide"

Author:  Destiny's Creator, [email protected]

Genre:  Action/Adventure with dabs of Romance but I'm not overdoing this people!  Let's go, get those minds out of the gutter; for now anyways…

Warnings:  This will be a slash V/R!  If you don't like, then please don't read.  Slight language, but they're teenagers!  I'm just trying to make this as realistic as I can.

Rating: PG this chapter but will probably increase to PG13 in the future.

Archives:  FF.net and Static Slash (Yahoo group), anyone else is welcome but ask first!

Disclaimer:  Do not own Static Shock!  If I did I'd change so many things… like why do they always disparage Gear?  That annoys me; he's my favorite character and just as good as the rest… if not better!  He should get just as much of the spotlight, if not more!

Summary:  Shipwrecked alone would have been enough of a problem for anyone, but poor Virgil and Ritchie just never have it easy.  They have to deal not only with finding the essentials in a wilderness that is definitely not Dakota, but also having no powers and consequently no way home… not to mention they have to survive each other!  Oh, and a forgotten curse doesn't seem to want to help matters much either… 

It's Static and Gear stranded on a deserted island together!  What more could you possibly ask for?  Oh, those wondrous possibilities keep growing…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."  –Louisa May Alcott

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 1:

It was dark and stormy that night.  

The ocean was fierce, its currents pounding too harshly against the little cruiser for it to hold.  Within minutes, the helm broke beyond repair.  Screams of many rang through the air.  They could no longer steer and with no one having control over the boat, a rising shock of pandemonium swept onboard with the blaring winds.  The sides cracked open, water quickly flooding the deck beyond bailing; the only option left to everyone was…

"Abandon ship!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"God I think I'm gonna barf," Ritchie groaned from where he slumped over the railing, looking dangerously green as he watched the people run back and forth in a blind panic… while getting absolutely no place.  "V, can't you do anything about this man?"

"Like what?  I can't control the weather!"  Virgil was also disgruntled and looking more than a little pale in the brief flashes of lightning.  They were the only two not completely freaked about the whole sinking thing, but face it, they've gone through a lot worse.

Of course, nobody actually knew that.

"Just hold the boat together or something, I don't know!"

"I can't, it's too wet!  I'd risk electrocuting everybody!"

He could just hear Ritchie groaning from that news but he knew Virgil was right.  There was no way he could transform into Static here.

"Remind me to work on that when we get home."

"What about you?  Can't you do something?"  Virgil yelled back over the growing din, knowing full well that Backpack was waterproof.

"I sent an emergency message to the coast guard, doesn't that count as something?"

Virgil just shook his head remorsefully.  "Just our luck," he whispered, mostly to himself.

They both turned to the sound of sloping footsteps approaching.  When Virgil's sister reached the two, panting hard from the effort, she slapped her brother one for good measure… making her come all the way over here indeed!  She had to claw and elbow at least a dozen frightened tourists just to reach them…

Needless to say, Sharon was furious.  She was soaking wet, frozen to the bone and definitely not in the best of moods…

"Hell?  What was that for?"  Virgil rubbed at his abused cheek.

"Let's go!  Dad wants us up there!"  She shouted, pointing up the ship to where Mr. Hawkins stood waving frantically and motioning to a nearby lifeboat.  He was hollering out something too but the roar of passing thunder drowned him out completely.

The message was clear though. 

"Now!"

"But we need to get our stuff…"  Ritchie started to protest, before the ship gave another gigantic lurch to the side, much to his dismay… 

"Move it!"  She snapped, giving both her brother and Ritchie a none-too-gentle shove towards the bow, before wrapping her arms tightly about her own person, shivering. 

It was never that easy.

They slipped and slid up the increasingly steep deck, holding onto the railings and each other for support.  Many times found them tripping and falling over their own feet.  Eventually though, slowly but surely, they made progress.

"Didn't the weather forecast say clear all this week?"

"Shut it you two!"

Suddenly, a wave larger than the rest crashed dangerously close to the vessel causing an unexpected shove backwards.  Both Ritchie and Sharon were able to grab hold of railings but Virgil, in the middle, was not so fortunate.

Arms flailing, he nearly tumbled back into the sea if it wasn't for Ritchie's quick reactions.  His hand snapped out of nowhere and caught his in the last second.

"Come on!"  He gritted his teeth at the weight but didn't let go, hauling his best friend back to safety.  After a few more skids, Virgil found his footing and leaned against Ritchie's shoulder for a moment while regaining his breath.

"Thanks."

Ritchie just smiled tiredly and shrugged, "Heh, what can I say?  Reflex."

"Keep going!"  Sharon called; there were a few more nerves in her voice now.  She was way ahead of them in reaching her father, and when she got there, they both threw down a rope and hung on for dear life.

"Grab this quick!"  A particularly nasty moan from the ship sprang the pair into action.  It was lucky that they were young superheroes, pulling yourself up a cord is hard work in a life or death matter, which this was soon becoming.

They scrambled up as fast they could.

"I always did say I was better at shimmying than you," Ritchie teased softly to Virgil as they reached the top, always keeping his cool.

Robert Hawkins took hold of his son and swung him into the lifeboat where Sharon awaited with life vests.  Next in went Ritchie and then he himself climbed in.  He made swift work of the knots holding them and carefully lowered the craft into the water.  Once they were clear of immediate danger, he turned to the others.

"Put those on and make sure they're secure!"  And with his command, one by one the life vests went on until they realized…

"Oh shit, we're one short!"  Everyone froze in terror and even Mr. Hawkins forgot to rebuke Virgil's language.  Nobody ever checks those things like they're supposed to and now Ritchie was the only one left.

They were still rocking violently, tossed back and forth like a ping-pong ball.  Mr. Hawkins struggled to free himself of his own life preserver, despite shouts of "Dad no!" and "It's alright Mr. H, really!"  However, just when he finished coaxing the buckles to come undone the worst possible thing happened.

A swell crashed down upon them and even holding on as tightly as he could, Ritchie was flung out with a yell that no one heard.

Spluttering, Virgil looked around frantically. 

"Is everyone alright?  Ritchie?  Dad where's Ritchie?"

"He must have been thrown over!" 

"Man overboard!"

"RITCHIE!"  Virgil bellowed anxiously…  "Ritchie where are you?"

He held his breath, eyes anxiously scanning the water's surface for any sign of…

There!

It was Ritchie holding onto some piece of broken off wood, but still floating!  Gasping and coughing, his eyes widened as the force of the unrelenting current pulled him back under.

"RITCHIE!"  Without thought or reason, Virgil Hawkins jumped in after his friend before anyone could make a grab to stop him.  Sensibly, he shouldn't have gone, yet somehow sense didn't matter in that single moment.

This was his friend's life.

He swam recklessly in the direction he thought he last saw Ritchie go down, hands searched vigorously and only praying he would find him in time.  He ignored all calls of his father and sister to return.  He had to find him here; he just had to!

He swallowed even more seawater but didn't give up, no matter how rough.  Then, for one miraculous instant, it seemed that every sound in the world had gone silent.  He could no longer hear the rumble of thunder or the crashing of the ocean; he heard no one's voice.  Reality stopped and then behind him…

The sound of someone surfacing, huffing, and wheezing caught his attention.  He turned just in time to see blond hair and a lone hand go under again.

Taking a deep breath, he dived for all he was worth. 

It was too dark, he could barely see, but with another push down, he felt skin brush against skin.  Grasping tightly, he tried to pull him to the surface but found him too heavy to do so. 

Alarmed, he swam down further to his friend's level and felt around him.  Ritchie was still wearing Backpack!  Knowing his friend would most likely murder him later; he separated the shoulder straps from Ritchie and let them fall to the ocean floor, before giving one more giant heave upward towards the surface. 

Emerging together, he never felt so relieved in his life—well minus a few—but was Ritchie still breathing?  He'd been underneath for so long…

"Ritchie!  Ritchie come on man, you gotta wake up!"  He fearfully spun his friend around as best as he could to see his face.  He nudged him, gently first then harder, trying to get some sort—any sort—of reaction.  Finally, brown eyes opened groggily, but couldn't focus due to the loss of glasses when he was dumped over.

"V?  That you?"  His voice, cracking with strain, sounded harsh.  He was already exhausted, and the water was none too warm either... 

"It's okay man…  I'm here, I've got you."  Virgil maneuvered Ritchie's arms to a better hold, before looking about frantically.  "Dad!  Sharon!" he called out desperately, but to no avail, he couldn't see their boat anywhere in the surrounding rapids.  Water raging in surges continued to bombard them as he yelled holding to Ritchie tight. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Neither knew how long they'd been there, maybe hours, or how far they'd drifted, maybe miles, but both felt weaker than they'd ever been.  The storm had somewhat died down at least, they were no longer fighting to remain afloat, but as tired as Ritchie was, he knew Virgil couldn't hold on to him forever.

"V," he started, then coughed some and tried again, "V-man, you gotta let go."

Virgil looked at his friend horrified, "What?  Are you crazy?  If I do, you'll die!"

Ritchie just smiled at him feebly, acceptingly, "Everyone does eventually.  You gotta let go V.  You gotta find your family.  If you don't… you'll die here too."

Virgil shook his head, negatively and hard.  "Nu-uh, no way I'm letting that happen bro!  Never, you got that?  It's sink or swim with us—literally now—and either way, no one's leaving anyone!  Listen, if I can just take out this arm like so and you tuck that one in—oh just do it already!—then we can just hold on to each other and get to share the life vest.  It'll hold!  Brilliant huh?" 

"And they say I'm the smart one, just be thankful it's not one of those cheep ones!  And V?" 

"Yeah?"

"Just… stay with me, 'kay?"

"Deal."

So there they remained, calling out once in awhile but mostly they kept to holding firm, drawing strength from one another as they drifted to who-knows-where.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Author's Note:  I know where!  I know where!  Okay now the hard part, continuing the story to the point where you—the readers—actually find out.  First chapters are always the easiest for me but continuing after that usually finds me sidetracked somehow... happens quite often unfortunately.  So please review, put me on guilt trips if you have to, and help me finish this story!  I have so many good ideas; I just need to get them down on paper…

Also, I know I have yet to post the promised sequel of "A Simple Conversation," but it's nearly finished!  Those are simply my one-shots though, this I intend to be fully chaptered… *faints*

Thanks to all my reviews from that as well!  I was like WOW!  People actually liked that, best positive feedback ever!  Gosh, everyone here is so nice that I just had to get this out quick.  So this is dedicated to everyone who reviewed and encouraged me on my first ever "Static Shock" fic!