Title: Love and Sacrifice
Part Three
Warm Rain Series
Author: Gumnut
Oct – Nov 2018
Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS
Rating: Teen
Summary: When she is worth everything.
Word count: 1535
Spoilers & warnings: Virgil/Kayo
Timeline: After 'Sharing the Scenery' and the events of 'Road Rash'.
Author's note: And here is finally the story of the scar Virgil has on his back mentioned in the first fic of this series and so uproarishly demanded by you wonderful people. I hope it meets expectations. Also, pieces of this fic have been posted all over the place in the last couple of months as I have been slowly piecing it all together, so apologies if you have read some of it before or it seems familiar as I've re-written sections.
Author's note: Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.
-o-o-o-
Virgil operated like a possessed automaton.
Despite the situation, Gordon found it creepy. His brother said nothing more than was absolutely necessary, he operated smoothly, fast and efficient.
But there was something missing, as if he had switched off part of himself to function.
He didn't have time to speak to Scott, but he knew something was wrong beyond their current situation, something serious and it was related to Kayo.
The flight to Jakarta was deadly quiet.
Thunderbird S was a familiar yet uncomfortable sight. The lack of his sister's presence marked even more by her empty 'bird.
Virgil, after helping Gordon with pre-flight, reached out and touched her fuselage with his fingers. The expression on his face was lost.
Gordon placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll get her out, Virgil. We will."
Virgil didn't look at him, his voice rough. "Yes, we will." He let his hand drop to his side. He finally turned to Gordon, his expression intense. "Fly safe." And he turned back to his 'bird, the automaton well in control.
-o-o-o-
Thunderbirds One and Two hit the plantation's airspace loud and hard. They came in from opposite directions, their mere presence shaking the palm trees and rattling windows. The buildings were old and more than one window fell from its pane.
John had reported no anti-aircraft munitions on the site. That didn't stop the rough dressed inhabitants from shooting their guns at the 'birds. The chances of damage were small, but Virgil grit his teeth anyway.
Shortly after One and Two's entrance, S ghosted in under their radar, the ripple of her camouflage barely noticeable even to the brothers.
She landed beside the main building, Gordon's figure seen appearing from nowhere and dashing into the structure.
"I'm in."
And Virgil pulled the roof off one of the outer buildings.
Scott did the same on the other side of the property.
And then Virgil started chopping up an empty storage barn with his laser.
The whole plantation was in an uproar, armed men running, firing at the Thunderbirds. There was a lot of yelling.
Virgil cared for none of it.
Kayo was in the central building and everything in his body ached to get to her. To get her out.
"Uh, Thunderbird One? These aren't terrorists." Gordon's voice was worried.
"What?" Scott echoed Virgil.
"Well, they are, but this is the Hood. I've seen several of his stupid henchmen already."
Virgil's blood ran cold. Her uncle, the bastard who had taken so much from them already.
Thunderbird Two spun on her axis and started carving up another building, the red of her cutting laser violent in the sunlight.
It was taking too long.
"Gordon, what's the hold up?"
There was a pause, but then his younger brother answered, a little out of breath. "Having some difficulty getting to her. I think we've lost what little surprise we had. The bastard knows us too-" There was a gasp over the line and a groan.
"Gordon!"
No answer.
"Scott!"
"Stay in position, Virgil."
Scott!"
"No!"
Then another signal came in. "Oh my, it is International Rescue to the rescue. Thank you so much for delivering your equipment to me." A smarmy chuckle. "And now I have two operatives to add to my collection. Though I would like a couple more. After all, it is good policy to collect them all."
Virgil's knuckles clenched white on the steering yoke. "Scott, please."
His brother didn't answer immediately, and it gave him hope.
"Go in through the roof. Two has the equipment. Make it fast."
"FAB."
Thunderbird Two spun, her VTOL raking the air. Her laser struck out again, slicing a decent sized hole in the roof of the main building, and cutting all the way through the floors to the point where Kayo's signal...he blinked...and now Gordon's icon flickered on his hologram.
Thunderbird One darted around him, causing a moat of havoc to prevent any approach.
Setting his 'bird to remote and auto, Virgil scrambled down to the bay and lowered himself and the rescue rig through the hole in the roof. The winch ran hot as he lowered it faster than he ever had.
She was down there. Gordon was down there.
The rig hit a solid surface with a clunk.
In darkness.
Flicking on his shoulder lamp he illuminated the room.
Kayo was tied to a pole at one end.
Her open eye was wide and frightened in the stark light. She shook her head violently, the gag in her mouth muffling whatever it was she was trying to say.
"Well, well, well. Operative number three has arrived." The voice came from above, in the darkness. Virgil looked up, directing the light towards the voice. The Hood stood on some kind of mezzanine high above.
With a gun aimed directly at Virgil.
"Which one are you? Pilot of Thunderbird Two perhaps? Vincent? Vernon?" A smirk. "Virgil Tracy."
Virgil flicked his light to his cutting laser, aimed, and fired.
In the retina induced afterimage there was a yelp and the sound of a gun clattering to the floor somewhere near him in the darkness.
He took the opportunity and moved.
Setting his lamp on dim, enough to see, but not blind, he hurried over to Kayo and began tackling the knots holding her hands to the pole.
-o-o-o-
She heard him before she saw him. She could hear the familiar roar of Thunderbird Two far overhead and she greeted it with both hope and fear. A moment later, she was blinded by the red beam of a cutting laser slicing into the building.
Plasterboard and roofing fell with a crash and a cloud of dust. A soft circle of light lit the floor.
Followed by the rescue rig.
Virgil.
As always, the name meant safety.
But he wasn't safe here.
She knew her uncle was here somewhere. There was an overhead ledge or mezzanine to this room. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there.
Waiting.
Please, Virgil, no.
The gag prevented her from saying anything intelligible, so she was reduced to moaning at him and shaking her head as his lamp light landed on her.
At the sound of her uncle's voice, she thought that this was it, she was going to see her brother shot in front of her. She screamed into the gag.
But there was another bright slice of red, a yelp, the clatter of a dropped weapon, and he was there, his ever-familiar aftershave in her nostrils as he leant around her, grabbing at her bound hands.
"Hey, Kay." His voice was a whisper, but so Virgil it hurt.
"Move away." And the bastard had recovered himself somewhere above them in the darkness. She yelled into her gag again.
Her brother kept pulling at her bonds.
A gun fired and Virgil flinched towards her, a gasp forced from him.
Virgil!
But then his eyes, half in shadow latched onto hers and he continued to pull at the knots. "We have to go."
The gun fired again, and this time she felt it impact his body. He shuddered, stumbling forward a step into her space. He almost fell, his groan hot on her cheek.
But her hands were free.
She steadied him, and dove for the gun.
She located the shadow of her uncle and, drawing a calming breath...fired.
He dropped without a word, the only sound that of his body hitting the floor.
It ends here, Uncle. No more.
She turned back to Virgil, only to find him gone.
"Gordon?" His voice was almost a whisper, his dim lamp staggering off to the right.
She followed him. "Virgil?"
"Gordon is here." And his lamp brightened as he searched, moments later landing on his little brother, limp and discarded in the corner of the room.
Kayo drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the unconscious aquanaut, limping over to him to assess his condition. "He's out cold."
"John?" Virgil's voice was shaky.
"Virgil, what happened? You're injured."
"Gordon? Vitals?"
"Unconscious but all signs are that he is stable. You are not."
And as if to illustrate his brother's comment, Virgil began to tip sideways, stumbling to right himself. "We need to get out of here." There was the sound of feet running in the hallways outside the room. "Hurry."
Kayo grabbed Gordon, staggering under his weight until she could get him into a proper hold. Her abused body complained extensively, but she ignored it.
Virgil stumbled towards the rescue rig, clinging to it for support and accessing his wrist remote. Kayo deposited Gordon in one of the harnesses and secured him before turning to her rescuer. "Come and sit down."
He looked as if to protest, but yet another waver threatened to take his feet from under him, so he obeyed, letting her hold his arm as he lowered himself painfully into the harness beside her.
For a moment she thought he might pass out, but his eyes latched onto hers before he activated the winch to recall.
She paid no attention to the body on the mezzanine as they rose through the ceiling.
He had made his choice.
And she had made hers.
-o-o-o-