Title: 96 Hours Until Sold
Rating: T (for violence, torture, swearing)
Warnings: Violence, torture, swearing (like you would expect anything less!)
Summary: Four of our boys in blue are captured after what seems to be an easy island rescue goes awry. Will the remaining members of International Rescue be able to save their family before they're sold on the auction block?
"You will tell me what I want to know," the man said, breathing heavily as he dumped the barely twenty-year-old boy into the room. The blond cried out in pain and tried to pull away from the other, only to be shoved into the wall.
A redhead was shoved back into the room next, followed by two individuals with dark hair. One was awake, one was not. The one who was awake was instantly up, glaring at the man who dropped the oldest one of them on the ground. "You can't arrest us for this," he said as he tried to make his way to the man.
"We have absolute authority on the island," he said. The man's face clearly showed his smirk, which made the second-eldest want to punch him in the face right then and there. "You do not have a passport on your person. That is one of our laws. We thank you for helping us, but since you do not have a residency sticker, or have a passport on your person, you are under arrest."
"That's bullshit!" the dark-haired man exclaimed as he glared at the first individual, his jaw dropping as he hoped to firmly express his anger. He winced as he was pushed back against the wall.
"I'm sorry you weren't informed of our laws. Maybe we can work something out," the man said as he opened the door before slamming it shut. The dark-haired boy moved over, trying in vain to reach the door. It had already been locked shut.
Virgil swore softly. "Shit," he moaned as he sank back against the wall. "How did we get ourselves in this situation?"
"We didn't carry our passport on our person," Gordon snorted as he shifted, hoping to avoid stepping on Scott's arm. Both Scott and Alan had been brought in unconscious. "I wonder how long it'll take them to find them?"
"They probably won't even look for our passports," Virgil said. He exhaled slowly. "I want to know what they'll do of the planes. It's unlike us to use only one jet. But the Thunderbird One is pretty large; it could fit all of us and it seemed to be all we needed."
"How big is the island?" Gordon asked as he watched his brother check Scott's breathing and his pulse. Virgil then moved on to checking Alan's pulse. When he declared them to be as fine as he could be, he sank down.
"Not the slightest clue." Virgil closed his eyes as he laid his head back against the wall. "They took my watch," he said with a pouty frown. "Actually, I think they took pretty much everything that wasn't stapled to our body."
"Well, technically," Gordon said, always one to make the mood light, "they didn't take our clothes, and those weren't stapled too our bodies."
Virgil shot Gordon an 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "Yeah, but they grabbed our identifying colors. It makes me wonder, maybe they have a way of contacting Dad."
"Are you thinking ransom?"
"Don't know," Virgil muttered. He shifted uncomfortably again, hoping this wasn't the place where they were going to sleep tonight. "I hope John notices something is wrong soon, though."
"Me, too," Gordon responded with a vigorous nod, "me, too."
John Tracy rarely got as worried as he was at this exact moment. Right now, he could reach none of his brothers by command. He sighed as he glanced at his watch. Scott had been unreachable in the field for 30 minutes now. That time in itself wasn't unheard of, but John couldn't shake his feeling of worry.
He decided to finally call his father and see if there was any news. "Dad, it's me. Is there anything from the brothers on the island rescue?"
The island rescue had been one of their more abnormal calls. One of the dams had flooded and they'd wanted some help saving some residents' houses. It hadn't really take any of their machines, just some extra manpower and a few technological tools that the island didn't have. Gordon had remarked before departure that the island seemed to be "straight out of the 1800s" as far as its technology went.
"No, John. I was just about to radio you and ask that. I haven't heard from him in over an hour." Even on the vid-phone, Jeff Tracy looked worried. "I'll try and reach Scott. If I can't within the next half-hour, we'll raise the alarm on the island."
"I really hope nothing is wrong," John responded with a worried glint in his eye. He sighed, praying that nothing had happened. "Scott," he muttered under his breath, "please tell me Gordon is just playing with the communications equipment again, like he was doing that one time..."
Virgil groaned as he awoke, blinking rapidly. He sighed as he saw the dank walls of the prison cell. He had been separated from his brothers. One of the individuals had found out that Virgil had been treating people for their medical needs, as he put it, and didn't want him to do the same thing to help his brothers. Virgil swallowed hard. He'd already told the man that torture was against all the laws set forth by United Nations, but as the man had so patiently said…
Flashback
"Take him," they said, pointing at Virgil. Virgil swallowed hard as he looked at the man, his expressive eyes no doubt showing fear.
"Why him?" the first man grumbled, not making a move towards Virgil. Virgil didn't know whether or not to feel grateful that Scott hadn't woken up yet. If Scott was awake, he probably would have pummeled the man into unconsciousness by now.
"Because he's a medic. We don't want him to help heal his team members after we've beaten them," the man explained, as if it were obvious. Virgil felt nauseated, but at the same time, felt a wave of relief wash over him. The man didn't know that they were brothers; that was good; one less thing for them to hold over their heads.
But there was one issue that Virgil saw a pressing need to address. "Torture," he said, "is against the law by the United Nations – every single continent is held accountable for it."
The island's law enforcement officer snickered. "Well," he said, "We are an island, independent from the law. Move him," he added, barking to an individual officer.
"Vir—"Alan started to say, but stopped himself before he gave his brother's name away. It wasn't common and could possibly be used to track down who his brother was. "Don't take him!" he settled on shouting as the man dragged his brother out of the dingy cell.
## end flash ##
Virgil slumped against the wall, thinking about their current predicament. John and their father would know they were missing soon, when they didn't report in. They would hopefully send action to the island. It was a big island, sure, but they had ways of knowing where they were. Virgil wished for his watch or for some personal something, but they'd taken all his belongings.
The door creaked open, and Virgil looked up. "Well, well, well," the man said. Virgil surveyed the man. He had a gun in the pocket holster, and was holding another weapon that appeared to be a stun gun. "We're going to send your leader a little note. See, we're a bit… behind on times in technology. We know this, but we haven't had a way to catch up our times. You are going to help us catch up on technology," he said, tracing Virgil's outline with his stun gun, "or you will die."
Virgil gulped at that. He'd rather die than put International Rescue's technology in the hands of glorified criminals, which was what these men were to him. They were certainly not law enforcement officers.
"I want you to communicate to your leader that you are fine, and that nothing bad has happened, and that they should not come to the island," the man said. He smiled a little. For the first time, Virgil noticed his voice was accented, but with what language?
"And if not?"
"Your youngest comrade, whoever he is, gets to suffer for your mistake." The man smiled. It was a sick smile. His eyebrows crinkled, and his red hair made him look like he was about to explode for some reason, which Virgil hoped he wouldn't. His teeth showed when he smiled, and Virgil found himself thinking that the man was obviously a chain smoker because of the way his teeth looked.
Virgil gulped. "You will all suffer here," the man continued, his voice sounding like fingernails grating on a board, "But you can control how much your brothers suffer or don't suffer. So, will you do it?"
Before Virgil could answer, the man pressed the button on his taser, and Virgil screamed as he felt the electric current pass through him.
"There's something else you should know," the man continued, obviously enjoying Virgil's pain. "If we do not find you innocent within 96 hours of your crime, you will be sold on our auction block."
"W-what?" Virgil stuttered. "Slavery is illegal too!" he burst out, "it was the first international l..."
"I told you," the man barked, "we're an island. We make our own laws. Now, tell me if you'll write the letter to tell your leader to back off, or if one of your team mates will pay the price."
"I won't do it," Virgil responded as he jutted out his chin.
"Fine," the man said. He turned towards the door. "Then I'll just find out who the youngest one is, and they'll pay the price."
"No, wait!" Virgil said, calling the man back. Or attempting too. "I'll write it! I'll write it, damn-it!"
But it was too late. The man had already shut the door, and was making his way down the hall.
Mom, Virgil prayed, please, protect Alan...
He had no idea of the nightmare that was to come.
A/N: This is the introductory chapter; next chapter the action will really start to pick up! Hope you like it, please review, and let me know what you think. There will be plenty of whump here to go around!