Title: Gentle Rain
Warm Rain Series
Part Eleven
Author: Gumnut
3 – 7 Feb 2019
Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS
Rating: Teen
Summary: Sometimes it is so gentle, you don't realise it is happening.
Word count: 3218
Spoilers & warnings: Virgil/Kayo, Scott/OC, Gordon/Penelope, spoilers for Warm Rain up to this point in the timeline.
Timeline: Six months after 'The Proposal', almost a sequel.
Author's note: For scribbles97 I have been staring at this forever. RL has been kicking my butt and I keep finding myself falling asleep while trying to write only having written a paragraph or two. So basically I've been staring at this for far too long. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Many thanks for all your wonderful support. This fandom and its fans are amazing.
Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.
-o-o-o-
If it hadn't been Christmas Eve, Kayo would have been inclined to stay in their rooms. She would have most definitely preferred Virgil to sleep as long as possible, and if he had stayed asleep, she would have left him there. But at seven in the evening, he woke foggy, realised what time it was and was adamant that they needed to make an appearance.
He still looked half dead, but admittedly that may have been something to do with the mess of hair on his head. He was also stiff as a board and was moving awkwardly, but his mood was cranky and he growled at her at least twice at the mere mention of anything related to his injury, so she left it. Perhaps Scott could kick his ass.
She followed Virgil down to the comms room, knowing his target was none other than the first coffee pot to cross his path. Stepping into the room, she caught the tail end of a question.
"...Why didn't you call me?"
"Because you didn't need to know. You've done far too much already." Em paused. "And I wasn't ready to tell you."
The tableau leapt up and slammed into her retinas.
Kip Harris.
Damn.
She had been distracted. She hadn't been able to warn Em. She knew about their relationship, of course, and had intended to take her aside and speak to her about it. Then Broome happened, and Virgil.
Damn. She was slipping up.
"Virgil?" Scott.
"Before anyone asks, I'm fine, I just need coffee." And she watched as her fiancé scanned the room, looking for that fabled pot.
"Here you go, sir. Just as you like it." Parker appeared as if from nowhere and Virgil pounced on the mug of liquid ecstasy in his hand.
Kayo turned away, refusing to be baited by her lover's relationship with coffee.
Em was pale, sitting in her hoverscoot beside Scott. Her brother caught her eye and she was immediately pinned. Scott was not happy. No doubt there would be hell to pay later. The man hated not knowing and the Kip Harris and Em Harris surprise would have royally pissed him off.
"But tell me, honey, are you okay?" Kip's attention was narrowed on his niece.
Em held up a hand. "I'm fine, Uncle. I promise. Scott has me well in hand." She forced a smile.
"Oh, he does, does he?" That narrow beam of attention hit the eldest Tracy brother between the eyes.
"Yes, sir, I do." And those blue eyes blazed back, defiant.
"You better, boy."
"Uncle Crispin!"
"Kip, dear, put away your dynamite. Scott's a Tracy. There are none more honourable. You should know that." Her grandmother's faith echoed around the sunken lounge.
Virgil, probably purposefully ignoring them all in favour of his coffee, groaned unconsciously as he folded himself onto one of the lounges beside Scott.
Immediately the older brother's attention dropped Kip and narrowed on the younger pilot. "Virg, are you sure you're okay?"
Virgil sighed as he leaned back, closing his eyes, coffee still in hand. "Give me a minute. I'm still fuelling." He took another gulp of the very hot coffee and groaned obscenely.
"God, Virg, get a room."
"Already got one, Gordon. Don't like it? Find your own." Another gulp and a sigh. "Parker, marry me."
Kayo, sitting down beside him with her own cup of coffee, kicked his boot. "You are taken. Though that may change in the near future if you don't stop making love to your mug."
Gordon snorted his own drink and spluttered all over himself.
Virgil startled. Foggy brown eyes found hers and they were suddenly full of apology.
She frowned.
"Heard you had a bad one this morning."
Virgil's attention was immediately diverted, ever attentive to his hero. Kayo resisted rolling her eyes.
"Cyclone off Broome. Had a bit of trouble retrieving the module from the ocean surface."
Kip was peering at him closely. "You're lookin' a little peaked there, son."
Kayo eyed Virgil again. He was still a touch pale...
"I'm okay, Mr Harris." Virgil took another gulp of coffee and hid behind his mug.
Em was eyeing her uncle and Virgil with a frown on her face, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
"Virgil? Kayo? Could I speak with the two of you for a moment? In my office." Scott's expression was ominous. She vaguely wondered what his reaction would be if she said no.
But Virgil was moving, his body almost visibly creaking as he staggered up and off the lounge still clutching his coffee mug. God, she wished he could have stayed in bed.
Scott gripped Em's hand. "I'll only be a moment." He directed his hoverchair up and out of the lounge circle, heading for the elevator. Virgil followed, his body loosening up as he gained momentum. Kayo fell in line at a more sedate pace.
The elevator ride was silent.
Scott was obviously beyond pissed. This wasn't going to be fun.
And as soon as that office door was closed, she was proven right.
"Why the hell have you kept me in the dark?"
"What?" Virgil's bewilderment was obvious.
"Did you know Em lost her legs in Perth?"
Virgil blinked. "Well, yeah, didn't you?"
That brought Scott up short. "No. I did not." A glare. "I didn't even know she was a paraplegic."
"Really?"
"I never met the woman until today! Do you have any idea how it felt to discover her injuries like that? I don't think it is unreasonable that my brother and our security officer keep me up to date on important matters."
"I thought you knew." Virgil's eyes were wide.
"Well, I didn't! And this Kip Harris relationship was the icing on the cake."
Her fiancé's eyes widened even further. "What? She's related to Kip?"
"Her uncle. You didn't know that?"
"No, I didn't know that! What am I? Your local fountain of information? I was asleep when Kip arrived, for goodness sake. I've said two words to the man."
"Kayo knew, though, didn't you." It wasn't a question as his accusing gaze landed on her.
"I knew. I was going to speak to Em, but I was otherwise detained. My apologies."
"And when were you going to tell me?" Those blue eyes were accusing.
"I wasn't. It is not my information to share. None of it affects or even relates to our operations. She checks out. Penelope double checked and agreed. Sighting her personal information does not give me the right to share it with all and sundry. If she had been a threat, Scott, of course, but she is not. She is simply a private individual who has been through no small amount of hell in her life and you should be respecting her privacy." Her lips thinned as she glared at the man. "If you want to know more about Em, ask her."
A large hand took hers and she turned to discover her favourite pair of brown eyes supporting her calmly. Kayo frowned, she felt oddly protective of Em. She could understand Scott's anger, but she felt defensive as if the man was intruding. She adored her big brother, but the man could be an ass sometimes. A thumb caressed the back of her fingers.
Scott stared back and forth between them, his lips pursed.
"Scott, are you okay?" Virgil's baritone was soft, his thumb didn't stop moving.
Scott glared at his brother. "I'm fine."
"Bullshit." The expletive punctured the room. The hand in hers squeezed gently and let her go.
A brief flash of request in her direction from her lover, and she got the message. She didn't even bother to say goodbye, simply slipping out of the room with a gentle smile at Virgil.
This was brother territory.
And besides, she needed to check on Em. Who knew what Scott had put her through with this.
-o-o-o-
The door shut behind Kay and Virgil felt the loss immediately.
"Where's she going?"
"What? Did you want her to wait for a dismissal?" Virgil's tone was sharp.
Scott's brow crinkled. "What's got into you?"
"You."
"What? Why?"
"You tell me."
"What do you want me to say?"
"Oh, I don't know. Preferably something about what the hell is going on with you."
"I'm fine." His brother turned towards his desk and to Virgil's amazement, activated the holographic interface and started shuffling icons.
Virgil's palm came down on the off switch with a sudden crack. "No."
"What the hell?"
"Scott, you are my brother and I love you more than my life, but, god, you can be an ass."
"Says the master of all asses."
Virgil blinked, frowned, and bit his lip. "Uh, you want to try that again?"
Scott's eyes were wide. "That so didn't come out the way I expected."
"I didn't think so." Virgil sighed. "C'mon, Scott, what's bugging you?"
His brother sagged in his hoverchair. A frustrated sigh.
Virgil grabbed a chair and slapped it down beside his brother and took a seat...slowly. Goddamnit, he was getting sick of that ache. Now was not the time. A flinch at the wrong moment and his brother would be all over him.
This was about Scott, not about his injury.
"Is it Em?"
The flash of blue in his direction most certainly confirmed it, but his brother turned away again.
"Scott?"
Apparently, the far wall was extremely interesting. His voice was quiet. "I like her, Virg."
Virgil couldn't help but smile. "Well, that's great, Scott."
But the expression on his brother's face was anything but happy as he turned to face Virgil. "We had some great conversations in the hospital. Her sense of humour..." Scott smiled, seeing something other than the room. "She has me laughing despite everything." Thoughtful. "And she is strong. Oh god, is she strong." But his eyes shuttered before turning to Virgil again. "Do you have any idea what it was like to meet her this morning, so happy to finally see her, only to discover how injured she is?"
Virgil frowned. "It doesn't make her any less of a person, Scott."
Blue eyes flared. "Of course not! It's was just...it was like she was injured then and there in front of me. I had an...assumption...and fate may have taken her legs long ago, but at that moment, they were taken from me." He looked away. "And god damn it hurt."
Virgil shifted in his seat. "You more than like her, don't you."
Scott looked up at him, lips thinning, before looking away again and saying nothing.
He placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. The muscles under his fingers were strung like piano wire. "What else?"
The shoulder flexed. "She lost her legs because of me."
A sigh. "She lost her legs because a building fell on her."
"She did damage to herself to get to me."
"She did what she had to do. It was not your fault."
"How can you say that? I was supposed to save her."
"But she saved you, and in the process had to make a shitty decision. But it was her decision. Don't take that away from her."
"Virgil-"
"Scott, do you blame Kayo for my injury? Do you blame her because I ripped open my ribcage saving her life?" He pinned his brother with his eyes.
"Of course not!"
"Then how can it possibly be your fault that Em lost her legs saving you?" A breath. "In fact, it was nobody's fault, just shitty fate kicking our asses yet again."
And there is was. Scott's anger flaring up behind those blue eyes. But this anger was healthier than the despair that had leeched into his voice. This was determined anger, strong anger.
The anger that kept his brother going.
"Now, I don't know about you, big brother, but I am starving." He pushed himself out of the chair and held back yet another grimace as pain lanced up and down his side. Blue eyes frowned at him. "I am going downstairs and I am going to eat some of that delicious food John ordered." He gripped his brother's shoulder again. "And you are going down there to dazzle that lovely young woman with that weaponised smile of yours." He grabbed his coffee cup off the edge of the desk. "There will also be more coffee. Definitely more coffee."
"You are still an ass."
Virgil snorted. "Yeah, but I'm good ass." He smirked. "Just ask Kay."
-o-o-o-
By the time Virgil and Scott re-joined the family downstairs, Grandma had laid out all the evening's food.
And tied Alan to a chair to keep his fingers out of it.
"Aww, Grandma!"
"You will sit there, young man, and wait for your brothers. We have guests, where are your manners?" She was gazing up at Kip who had approached and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"They were eaten by the black hole where my stomach used to be." Virgil, still unseen by his youngest brother, had to laugh at the expression on Alan's face. A pout mixed with frustrated anger and longing for the food in front of him. "Where the hell are they?"
"Right here, little bro." Virgil snorted at him and waltzed past to have at the food.
"Oi, young man." He was thwapped by a delicate hand. "Guests first."
"Yes, Grandma."
Kay eventually rescued him, and Virgil was happy to see Em doing something similar for a blushing Scott. He eyed Kip and Em during the night as well, his artistic eye finally seeing just the touches of resemblance. There wasn't much. Where Kip was dark, Em was pale. Where Kip was white haired, all trace of his original colour gone, Em's hair was a cloud of wavy almost black hovering around her head. Em's pale blue eyes couldn't be further from Kip dark brown. Not to mention Em's Australian accent going up against Kip's American twang, there was no comparison. But there was something in their faces, just an echo of similarity, barely there that labelled them as family.
As the evening moved on, a comfortable swell of conversation bounced about the room. Kay kept him company all night. He suspected she was hovering over him regarding his injury, but he didn't have the energy to challenge her, and besides, he loved her company regardless. Em stuck with Scott mostly, the chair-bound pair quite cute in their attachment. Further observation convinced Virgil that Scott was seriously attracted to this woman. He was attentive and smiled softly from time to time, something in his eyes. It got to the point that Virgil had to look away or embarrass himself. There was definitely something there.
He couldn't help the warmth that welled inside at seeing his brother happy.
When Em wasn't with Scott, she was with Kay. The two of them sat on a couch at one point chatting away quite happily.
Virgil couldn't help but grin at that as well.
Gordon spoke often to Penelope. In fact, the aquanaut never seemed to be very far away from the blonde woman. It left Virgil wondering if he was missing something, but Penny didn't seem to mind.
If he hadn't gone outside for a fresh breath of air at around ten, he might have never ascertained what exactly was going on between those two. As it was, he was glad he couldn't actually see them. Hearing them was intrusive enough.
"Pen, I..."
"Gordon, what exactly are you worried about?"
"I'm not worried."
"You're fidgeting."
"I-"
"Gordon, I have been waiting for you to kiss me for over a year now. If you don't action that want I'm going to- hmph."
The sounds that followed didn't need subtitles.
Virgil crept back inside.
Grandma, on the other hand, was anything but subtle. At one point she jumped on Kip's lap and kissed him madly in full view of everyone. There were several good-natured groans.
John couldn't help himself and kept the desk holographic interface running. Grandma coaxed him to the lounge conversation several times, but the man seemed chained to the desk and kept returning. He also appeared to be talking to someone...a lot. Virgil grew suspicious, but didn't comment. He didn't think Eos would cause quite that kind of smile on his brother's face, but if it was someone else...well, Virgil could always third degree him later.
All in all, it was a pleasant evening. But as it wore on, he found himself flagging. Between the pain in his side and the strain of the day, despite his nap earlier, a comfortable conversation on the couch eventually drifted into sleep.
He woke to a not so gentle nudge from Kay. "C'mon, love, let's get you to bed."
He blinked, only half awake. His family was smiling and smirking at him. Damn. "I'm fine." He struggled to straighten up. His side screeched at him and he groaned.
"Oh, for god's sake, Virgil." Her glare was ready to rip his face off.
"Okay, okay, I get the message." A large hand, Kip's? Was helping him off the lounge. "I'm going...going."
Kay was there and they were leaving the room. "Merry Christmas everyone." A range of well wishes and the elevator ate them.
Kay kissed him, her hand on his cheek. "You big idiot."
"Wha-?" But he was really too tired to care.
They made it to their rooms. Clothes off, pyjama bottoms on. Bed.
He curled up beside Kay and let sleep take him.
-o-o-o-
The beep was soft, barely loud enough to hear, but it woke Kayo without a problem. It was designed to do that.
Beside her, Virgil slept on, the same beep equally designed not to wake him. In fact, he didn't even know of its existence. Kayo planned to keep it that way.
Slipping out of bed, she padded barefoot out of the room and closed the door behind her. Secure in the knowledge of the room's soundproofing she grabbed her comms and, keeping both her voice and the volume low, answered John's summons.
The clock on the wall said 3.26am.
"Kayo?"
"This better not be a rescue, John." The pause at the other end of the line confirmed her suspicions. "No, I'm sorry. He is not going out."
"Kayo, you know I wouldn't ask if I had a choice."
"There is no choice involved. You can't ask him this."
"Honestly, I don't want to, but his engineering knowledge and equipment is needed."
"Send Brains."
He fell silent.
"John, he is exhausted and in pain. He is not going." Final word.
"Copy that." The line went dead.
She sighed. Virgil would not be happy, but he would just have to live with it.
Better grumpy alive than happy dead.
She turned off her comms and threw the dress over the back of the lounge.
A drink of water and she killed the light, tiptoeing back into their room.
He was softly snoring.
Despite herself, her heart warmed at the sound. Drawn to him, she climbed back into bed and wrapped herself around him, her face buried in the back of his neck. He didn't even stir. God, she loved him.
And be damned if she would let his job throw his life away
After all, it was hers.
-o-o-o-
End Part 11
