Theme 17: Vengeance
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Thunderbirds Are Go - they belong to the late Gerry and Silvia
Author's Note: It's been a very long time since I have written any sort of fanfiction - since 2013 to be precise - so I'm probably going to be a bit rusty. I made the decision to get back into writing again as a form of distraction for my anxiety and stresses. The theme of this fic (Vengeance) is based upon the 100 Themes Challenge on DeviantArt - I started that years ago and never completed it so I figured it would be a good reason to tackle two birds with one stone. That and I'm pretty out of my comfort zone writing something from Virgil's perspective (I've only ever been Scott when I've done RP stuff). Anyway, I hope you guys like it! Please do leave a review and let me know how I've done!
Securing himself to his power suit, Virgil Tracy gave Gordon a small nod as his sandy-haired sibling brought up the touch screens for the Pod configuration.
"I'll leave you to that," Virgil instructed, flexing slightly as the Module doors opened, brown eyes already surveying the piles of rubble and debris in front of him. "I'm going ahead to clear you a path. We gotta work fast to get that stabilising foam deployed."
Both of them were more than aware of just how much damage would be caused when the foundations to the building finally gave way. Not just to the structure itself - if something that size came down in such an industrial area, who knew what kind of chain reaction of damage would occur.
Furthermore, thus far, neither John nor the GDF had been able to ascertain the cause of such a powerful explosion. A small voice in the back of Virgil's mind was telling him to err more on the side of caution because of this - especially with both The Hood and the Chaos Crew still at large - however for now, he chose to only pay half the attention to it. He and his brothers had been on back-to-back missions again and right now, all he wanted to do was to get home, have a nice hot shower and sleep.
Speaking of erring on the side of caution...
"Thunderbird Five. Any word from Scott?"
"Negative. The distress call we had received was coming from a worker trapped inside that building. Since the main entrance was blocked off by debris, Scott jetpacked up to the fourth floor. I told him to wait for you and Gordon but you know how he is. Said it'd be a quick in and out job," even John's calm, matter-of-fact tone sounded slightly drawn. Tired. "That was about fifteen minutes ago."
Fifteen minutes was an awfully long time for radio silence...
"You tried contacting him?" Virgil frowned, the pincer claw on his power suit clamping around a sizable chunk of broken concrete and tossing it to the side as if it were nothing. He could hear Gordon approaching in the Pod not too far behind him.
"A couple of times, yes," there was the slightest hint of irritation in the space monitor's voice, mixed in with a pinch of worry. "But no response. I've managed to pinpoint his location. He's still in that building. He did say that his comms unit took some minor damage during the previous mission in Indonesia but.. "A pause. "I don't like this, Virgil."
"I hear ya, bro," Virgil snorted lightly, relocating another broken slab of debris. "I'm nearly done clearing a path for Gordon to get in there with the stabilising foam. If the foundations look like they can hold a little longer, I may just head in to look for that trapped worker and our wayward brother."
"F.A.B., Virgil. EOS has just run another satellite diagnostic of your area. It should hold but the sooner we sort the structural integrity out, the better." John gave an almost sarcastic laugh. "We might even be able to get some rest after this before the next call out."
Cracking a wry smile at the thought, Virgil opened his mouth to respond when he was suddenly knocked backwards and off his feet. He was vaguely aware of the juddering, crunching sounds from the structures around him as he hit the ground hard, skidding backwards in the power suit. Despite wearing his helmet, he found himself instinctively shielding his head with his arms as shards of glass rained down from shattered windows.
And that was when he saw it.
At first glance, he could have mistaken it for some random debris - ejected from the building by the force of... well, whatever that had been. His foggy mind could not identify if what had just occurred had been an explosion of some kind or something else. However, he very quickly identified those recognisable shades of blues and grey.
"Shit!"
Dark brown eyes wide in panic, Virgil's instincts kicked in faster than his shaken, sleep-deprived mind could register. Hauling himself to his feet, he ran a couple of steps forwards before anchoring the claws of his power suit to the ground, slipping his arms free of the mechanical exoskeleton and bracing himself just in time to catch his target; shielding his brother as more glass cascaded over them.
Even through the cracked visor of his brother's damaged helmet, Virgil saw those familiar blue eyes flutter open; their usual crystalline sharpness now dull and clouded with pain. Scott's uniform was scuffed and torn with ribbons of crimson staining the fabric of his flight suit and Virgil had certainly not missed the unnatural angle of the pilot's right arm - nor the fact that he was also missing his jetpack. Just what the hell had happened up there?
"V-Virg..?"
"I'm here, brother," Virgil said as calmly as he could, dimly aware of sound of the Pod canopy opening behind him and the running of footsteps. "I've got you."
"Holy shit! What happened?!" Gordon was next to them in a flash, his eyes wide as his gaze darted between his two siblings.
"Was a t-trap..." Scott managed to gasp out shakily, blue eyes blinking slowly as he fought to stay conscious. "I.. It's... Fuse.."
Fuse.
Virgil growled, gritting his teeth. He knew something had been off about this mission but he had put it down to paranoia due to tiredness from their string of recent rescues. He should have trusted his instincts.
"Oh! Still alive, ey?"
"You!" Gordon snarled, already assuming an aggressive posture. "You're going down!"
Fuse gave a hearty laugh in response, dusting off his armour as he strode casually toward them. "Funny enough, that's what your brother said," he snickered as he primed his gauntlets. "Right before I wiped that cocky smirk off his pretty-boy face."
"You asshole! I'm gonna-!"
"Gordon, stop."
Gordon blinked, as his verbal tirade was abruptly halted by Virgil's quiet words. Despite the lack of volume, the aquanaut had already picked up on the firm tone of voice - the tension and aura oozing from that muscular frame.
Uh-oh...
"Gordon, I need you to get Scott back to the Module, stat. Get John to run a remote diagnostic on him once you've secured him in the med bay and then work on getting that stabilising foam deployed." Virgil's dark brown eyes had lost their usual warmth, giving rise to something solid. Vengeful and unyielding.
Dangerous.
"F.A.B." The sandy-haired aquanaut swallowed, nodding quickly and trying his best not to jostle Scott too much as he accepted him from Virgil's grasp. The brunette seemed to have succumbed to unconsciousness, which made moving him slightly easier in Gordon's mind - at least he didn't have to worry about causing him anymore pain as he half-carried, half-dragged him back past the Pod and towards Thunderbird Two's open Module. "Seriously, Scooter, you gotta lay off the pie..."
Virgil refused to break eye contact with Fuse as he crouched to slot his arms back into his power suit. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he considered himself as one of the most calm and level-headed of his brothers. However...
"You..." he growled, his voice dangerously low. "You hurt my brother.."
"Yeah?" Fuse was goading him, those dark eyes dancing with delight in anticipation of another brawl. "What are you gonna do about it, tough guy?" he flexed his fingers before raising clenched fists. "I'm gonna make short work of you once I peel you outta that tin suit and then," he chuckled. "Then I'm gonna crush your brothers and that flying green monstrosity behind you."
And then it happened.
All logic and common sense disappeared.
Something snapped.
With a bloodthirsty roar, Virgil charged at Fuse.