G'day everyone! I know I should not have started another story while working on Dangerous Secrets sequel - The Death Trap – but this idea just would not leave me alone. So, purely for peace of course (ha ha), I have decided to do this story. If anyone is curious, The Death Trap is in the 'Thunderbirds + 39 Clues' crossover section.

This is just going to be a one-shot. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and this story is set when the Tracy boys are children and teenagers and before they move to Tracy Island.

His feet pounded on the gravel path. He was breathing hard and was in need of a rest, but he kept going. He did not dare stop. He felt like a giant hole had been ripped out of his heart. He felt empty and despair threatened to overwhelm him. Tears once again tried to spill over. He forced his tired legs to go faster. Anything to forget.

Fourteen-year-old Virgil tripped and stumbled. He landed heavily on the ground, scrapping his chin. He got up on his knees and touched his chin. His fingers came away bloody. He sighed and looked around him. He realized that he was in the forest just outside of town. Judging from the shadows, he was far into the forest. Virgil had not realised where he was. The emptiness and sadness began to overwhelm him and tears began falling down his cheeks. Images of his mother's face flashed before his eyes. Quickly pushing the swarming memories to the back of his head, he wiped his eyes. He was about to stand up when he noticed something infront of his knees. It was blue. More tears blurred his eyes and, wiping the tears away, he focused on it. It was a Blue Hibiscus Flower in a patch of grass. He reached down and gently picked it up.

"Mommy?"

Four-year-old Virgil watched his mother in concern. Lucy, his mother, was sitting on the porch steps, hands covering her face, and sobbing. She did not respond to him. Fear spread through Virgil. He hated seeing his mother crying and it made him feel scared when she cried. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She lifted her head up and looked at him with tear stains on her face. She sniffled and held out her hand to him. He took it and she embraced him.

She kissed his dark brown hair and he snuggled into her. "What's the matter, Mommy?" Virgil whispered. Lucy was silent for a little while. "I don't like you crying. It scares me," he continued. Lucy pulled away to look down at his face.

"Why?"

"Because I'm scared that you've been hurt. Or something worse," Virgil replied. He reached up with his little hands and began wiping the tears off of his mother's cheeks. "Everything will be alright," he told her, though he was scared it was not. He held up the Blue Hibiscus flower, which he had picked a few minutes beforehand.

"Thank you," she whispered. "It's my favourite."

His mother had been crying because her grandfather had just died. He could not fight the memories anymore. His chest tightened as he began weeping. His shoulder's shook, and he tried to stop, but he could not. His grip tightened on the flower. Why did you die, Mom? Memory after memory flooded through his mind, and he could do nothing to stop the onslaught.

Lucy's smile. Her laugh. Her playing with him and his brothers. Then he remembered all the times she had played the piano, and made him feel such joy. Virgil remembered when she had taught him to play the piano.

Taking a shaky breath, he sniffled and ran a hand through his hair. His heart felt so empty without his mother. He whipped around. He was sure he had heard her laughing nearby. Just imagining things, he assured himself. Then he heard it again. He stood up, looking around. What's going on? Then there was a bright flash of light and he had to cover his eyes. "Virgil, why are you crying?"

What? The voice did not sound familiar, yet, at the same time, it did. The voice was masculine and expressed warmth, compassion, love, and care. He did not lower his arms as he was suddenly scared. A stranger. I should not have run out here, he scolded himself.

"Virgil, don't be scared. I want to help you. What's wrong?"

Virgil slowly lowered his arms. He squinted in the sunlight, then shielded his eyes with his hand. A man stood nearby. Standing up, Virgil studied the man. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and dark skin but it was not black. Any distrust Virgil had immediately evaporated. The man radiated love and concern. The man took three steps over to him and smiled at him. "How do you know my name?" Virgil asked.

"I know everything. What's wrong?" the man repeated.

"If you know everything, then you should be able to tell me what's wrong," Virgil challenged.

"Why don't you tell me?" the man said softly.

Virgil studied the man's face. The man expressed nothing but concern and love for him, like a father's love. Virgil could tell that he was not trying to torment him by getting him to say it."My mother's...dead." Virgil's voice caught on the last word and he began crying again. The man laid a hand on his shoulder. "She's gone," Virgil found himself repeating. The man embraced him. Something wet fell on his hair. Virgil pulled away and saw tears in the man's eyes and trickling down his cheeks. What?

The man touched his chin. "Come with me. There is someone I want you to see," the man said and began walking away. Only then did Virgil notice his surroundings. He was no longer in the forest, but in a field full of flowers. Really colourful flowers. Looking around he saw the forest in the distance, with mountains behind them. The sun was shining, a cloudless sky. It looked so beautiful. He heard singing in the distance, but could not make out what the words were. But the tune left him in awe.

Then he realized something. He no longer felt sad, empty, or alone. What's going on? Where am I?

"You'll see," called out the man. Startled, Virgil started following him. He knew what I was thinking? He saw another man nearby with feathered wings. Then, Virgil saw someone was running towards them. Stopping to pay attention, he saw the person was a female. The sun shone on her and Virgil saw that she had long, wavy blonde hair. Then he knew who she was.

"Mom?"

She reached them very quickly – quick enough to surprise Virgil – and wrapped Virgil up in a big bear hug. Virgil immediately returned the embrace, snuggling into his mother like he had when he was four. "Mom. I thought you were dead," Virgil whispered.

"On Earth, I am dead," Lucy whispered.

Virgil did not think about the statement as he hugged his mother. "I love you, Mom. I want to stay with you."

"I would love that, too," and Lucy kissed his head. "But, it's not time yet."

"We want you back, Mom. We need you."

"You need Him," she whispered. "The man."

"I love you."

"I love you, Virgil."

"Virgil."

He snuggled into Lucy. He did not want to leave.

"Virgil?"

That's not Mom's voice.

"Virgil! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes. He was lying down on his right side on the gravel. The flower was in his hand, and he was holding it more loosely, more relaxed. Someone was shaking his shoulder. "Get up, please!" Virgil got to his feet and looked around desperately.

It was dark. The stars were out. He was in the forest, in the spot where he had fallen down. An owl hooted nearby and the leaves were rustling in a slight breeze.

There was no field of flowers. No mountains. No sunshine. He listened desperately for the sound of Lucy's laughter, but all he heard was the rustling of the leaves in the breeze and the hoot of a nearby owl. Virgil's breathing came faster as fear and despair gripped him. Tears pricked his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his fists into his eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling. It was all a dream, he thought. Just a stupid, dumb dream.

"Are you okay?"

Virgil pulled his fists away from his eyes and opened them. He saw Scott standing infront of him, looking at him really concerned. Virgil did not have the words to describe how upset he felt after his dream, so forced a nod. Scott did not buy it. "Really?" he asked skeptically, with more than a hint of concern.

Virgil nodded again, more firmly this time and brushed his tears away. Might as well admit it to himself, like the man in his dream got him to do – she was gone. Never coming back. "What time is it?"

"Past 8 o'clock at night. After you ran off this morning, we've been looking for you ever since. Dad and the others are further back," Scott explained. He studied him for a moment. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"Yes." Virgil noticed that Scott's eyes were red from crying. "Let's go." As they began walking back home, Virgil felt something brush against his cheek. It felt like a feathered wing. He whipped around to see what was there, but there was nothing. He thought of the man with the wings in his dream. What if it wasn't a dream?

Then he heard a voice in the breeze. "I'm here for you." Virgil immediately recognized it as belonging to that man's. Virgil felt so relieved. He then remembered that the man had touched his chin, where he had scrapped it. He touched the spot - it was completely healed.

"Virgil?"

He turned to his brother – and smiled. He was happy. "Let's go home."

I have trouble writing emotional stuff, so please forgive any cliche stuff in this story or any problems in this. I do not know if there is any stories like this around, so my apologies if there is a similar one. I do not own Thunderbirds. Don't know whether this was worth writing or not.

Hope you enjoyed!