A/N – Thank you to JoTracy123, Silver Bee, grnfield, Florianderl and anon the anonymous reviewer for being so lovely as to review.
Beta'd by LiGi (the rescuer of poor trapped spelling mistakes and abused grammar)
Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or any of the Tracy boys… if only…
2
Virgil found that he'd closed his eyes at some point. He opened them to see the ground and remains of buildings further damaged. As he revved up the DOMO's motors it slid sideways, dislodged from its position by just the slight vibrations from the engine. Virgil tried frantically to correct that slide, but it was only Brains' amazingly engineered tracks that saved both him and the machine.
When he was on more stable, though not stable by any measure, ground, Virgil grabbed the comm and spoke into it desperately.
"Hello? Are you there? Charlotte? Elliot? Joe? Amber? Harrison? Anne-Marie?"
No sound came back, then out blared Scott's voice.
"Virgil, do you read me?"
"Scott, I've lost contact with the people trapped in there. I had contact before."
"Okay, Virge, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, what about them?" This wasn't a time for Scott to worry about him.
"I'm just getting a heat map," his older brother said soothingly. "God, everything is so much slower without Five, we need it working again. Ah, got it."
"Are they okay?" Virgil demanded.
"There are still heat signatures, that doesn't necessarily mean survivors though, but don't give up. I'll keep tabs on it and tell you if they fade, you keep going just in case."
"F.A.B."
"Do you need Gordon's help?" Scott asked. "He got all the kids out just before it hit, I can have him with you sooner than I could get there."
Vigil felt a strange desire to say no, Gordon often got the approval and credit from the victims and Vigil very rarely got seen as the hero, but he bit back that response as it wouldn't help anyone.
"Yes please, as much help as you can get to me," Virgil said firmly. IR was not a place to play heroes.
"I'm afraid Gordon is the only person I can get there any time soon and even he's going to be hoverbiking over some very rough ground."
"F.A.B." Virgil replied.
"Good, I'll call you on your watch so you can use the radio for their signal," Scott told him. "Keep trying for them, Virge."
"F.A.B," Virgil said again, very quietly as Scott signed off and then he picked up the mic again and opened up the signal,
"Charlotte? Elliot? Amber? Joe? Mr Philips? Ms Ryan?"
He repeated it several times, using different variations of their names, all the while carefully edging the DOMO forward over the broken ground. He supposed he could get the hoverbike out. Though they were difficult to fly on rough terrain they didn't have the weight problem that the DOMO had, but they would mean a longer trip if anyone was injured and Virgil was realistic enough to realise that that was most probably the case.
Suddenly, the radio crackled alive.
"I fixed it again. It got dropped, luckily I picked it up so it didn't get crushed and I fixed it again."
"Elliot!" Virgil sighed with relief. "Are you okay? Is everyone else okay?"
"I'm fine," came the boy's voice, "Charlotte got hit on the head when part of the roof caved in, not by the roof, by the debris, she's sort of awake though and Harrison said that's good. He's got a cut on his arm but he said that it's fine. Joe is okay too, but Amber is breathing funny and she said her inhaler was in her bag and that's buried in the rubble now. Anne-Marie was coughing a lot too, but she told me not to worry. Was that helpful, am I helping?"
"Yes, you're helping brilliantly," Virgil said solemnly and truthfully, the boy's description was very detailed, considering the barely contained panic in his voice. That was yet another trait Virgil associated with John. It had been John who had broken the news of Gordon's accident to them all, as he was the only one of the family anywhere near the naval base when the crash happened, and he had done it with the same quiet methodical panic.
"You're doing great, Elliot," Virgil reassured him again. "I'm coming to get you all out of there, okay, and another of my team is going to help too. We'll rescue you from there soon." He heard the boy sigh with relief, his trust was staggering to Virgil.
"Can I speak to Virgil please, Elliot?" he heard Anne-Marie's voice.
"What should I do?" the boy said and Virgil realised it was him he was asking.
"Go and help Harrison, he's right, Charlotte needs to stay awake, talk to her, make sure she doesn't fall asleep."
"Okay," Virgil heard the phone being handed over.
"Are you okay, Ms Ryan?" Virgil asked her.
"I'm fine," she stated, though, even through the comm, he could hear the slight rasp in her breathing. "A lot of dust came down and I'm not as young as I used to be. Miss Chavez needs an inhaler badly, though."
"I have one in my medical kit," Virgil promised, "When I get close enough I will bring it to her. I'm trying my best to get to you as quickly as possible, but I can't go too fast in case I bring more rubble down on top of you."
"I understand, laddie," she broke off to cough hackingly. "We all know you're doing your best, we'll last until you reach us."
"Can I speak to Harrison?" Virgil requested. Again there was the sound of the phone being passed on and then the deep voice spoke.
"How soon will you get here?"
"I'm not sure, as I told Ms Ryan, I don't want to risk causing a cave in on you."
"We'll last then."
"Can you describe where you are?" Virgil asked him.
"I don't know exactly, but we're protected by some concrete slabs, they have fallen and hit each other making the shelter we are in, sort of like a tent. There is still some light and fresh air coming from the top."
"Good, you should be protected. How's your arm?"
"Deep," Virgil was glad the man didn't lie, "But, with Elliot's help it's bandaged well with my shirt and I'm in no more danger than the others."
"Good." Virgil manoeuvred the DOMO carefully across a very unstable area.
"Did you learn first aid at a work course?" Virgil asked, trying to get a conversation started like before to stop the awful quiet.
"No, I learnt in college, a long time ago. I was supposed to be a doctor, that's what my parents wanted, but I changed my major sophomore year to law."
"My brother considered doing law," Virgil said truthfully, "Then he became a pilot."
"What does he think of your job?" Harrison asked, as eager for silence filling conversation as Virgil was.
"He worries. He says I put myself in danger."
"He's right," Harrison told him with a soft chuckle.
Virgil gave a ruefully chuckle of his own as the DOMO crept closer to the six people alive in all this mess.
"Gordon will be there in thirty minutes," Scott's voice issued from his watch.
"Good, I've got contact again, they are all okay."
"Excellent, be careful."
"F.A.B. Scott."
"What was that?" Harrison asked. "Backup?"
"Yeah, my team mate will be here in half an hour, he's making his was across from the area that's been cleared."
"Half an hour?" he heard Joe's voice in the background.
"That's when he will get here," Virgil spoke louder so they could all hear clearly. "I not going to wait for him to arrive before I come to get you, as soon as I reach you, I am getting you out, backup or no."
A ragged cheer issued from the radio and Virgil grinned.
