Title: We'll be home for Christmas
Day Four – Five Billionaires and No Wives – Part 4
Author: Gumnut
23 - 29 Apr 2020
Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS
Rating: Teen
Summary: The boys can't fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.
Word count: 2989
Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.
Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven't seen it yet.
Author's note: For scattergraph . This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D
I'm nervous about this one. I'm chewing nails. Also, it is very late and I haven't reread it as much as I probably should. Aaaargh! I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Many thanks to scribbles97 and onereyofstarlight for reading through, fielding my many wibblies with this bit, and for all their wonderful support.
Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.
-o-o-o-
The world tipped up and Gordon found himself airborne. It was only lifelong training that saw him in diving form by the time he hit the water.
The various squawks and splashes of tumbled brothers told him that he needed to run more water drills.
Fully dressed, Gordon slid through the water as easily as ever, shedding his momentum and twisting towards the surface. A gasp of air, an image of their upturned boat and a disappearing humpback fluke. He immediately made to locate four brothers.
John appeared first, elegant as ever, but with floppy red hair in his eyes. Scott followed, his expression a mix of worry and anger. A moment later Alan popped up spitting salt water. Of all the brothers, the youngest was the least fish.
There was no sign of Virgil.
Shit.
John was deploying his tablet in seconds. Gordon swam towards the upturned boat, worried that his brother might be trapped under it. "Virgil?"
A deep vibration in the water. Song thrumming from far below.
"She's surfacing again!" It was Scott, hastily backing away from a shadow rearing up from the depths. Gordon's eyes widened. Too close. Too close!
But there was no sudden eruption and breach.
The massive whale slowed her approach allowing her head to gently break the surface in an arc.
Virgil lay limp on his belly draped over her rostrum.
Oh, shit.
-o-o-o-
Virgil Tracy was not a fish. He much preferred his feet on dry land. That said, he could swim well. Swimming was great training and an all-over fitness tool. Not to mention that he had to be qualified for underwater rescue as much as his brothers, even if not perhaps as much as Gordon. His brother had taken him down into the depths of the Tracy Island caldera and amongst the amazing wildlife there. He had painted scenes of the coral and the sharks and the fish. He really enjoyed it.
But he was not a natural.
If Gordon had seen how he hit the water with a god-awful slap, he would be training his ass in that caldera for all time to come. The seawater that ended up in his throat and mouth wasn't much fun either. his orientation was blown for a few crucial moments until he began to sink.
It was then he discovered that his post-operative body did not appreciate the movements required to push himself towards the light now far above. His lungs hated him, desperate to expel the water contaminated air irritating them.
If that wasn't enough to contend with, the water around him suddenly vibrated with query, with rhythm, with song.
It swamped his senses. The light above dazzled with it. Every muscle in his shoulders and arms desperately tried to climb the water column, but the possibility that this time the strength he so often relied on might not be enough crept into his mind and somewhere deep in his gut true fear began to brew.
Not enough.
A nudge from below, a spike in that intense query and the huge humpback whale came up underneath him. He found himself clinging to her head, soft skin, barnacles and all.
He closed his eyes as her song enveloped him.
-o-o-o-
"Virgil!"
The body under him flinched and he was shaken gently.
It forced his eyes open and sunlight hit his retinas. His lungs noted that he was no longer surrounded by water and promptly puked up what they had been trying to get rid of and Virgil found himself wracked by coughing spasms.
His abdomen decided this wasn't appreciated in the slightest and yelled at him appropriately.
"Virgil." Gordon's voice was much quieter and between coughs he caught a glimpse of his little brother cautiously approaching. A struggle to calm his diaphragm and he caught sight of three more brothers, all with worried eyes.
The mother humpback hummed into his chest and lowered Virgil just a little as if to offer him to Gordon.
The aquanaut slipped alongside and laid a gentle hand on her head, muttering soft words.
She answered with a rumble and a purr.
Virgil found himself smiling with no idea why.
"Virg, you okay?" Gordon reached out and touched his arm.
He grunted. "My appendix hates me." He let his head drop gently down onto wet and cool skin.
"You don't have an appendix."
"That's probably why it hates me." His eyes closed. Her voice was so lulling, he could just lose himself in the sound.
"No sleeping on the whale, Virgil. You gonna come down from there?"
He didn't answer immediately. To be honest he was quite happy exactly where he was. It was odd. It was weird. But he felt perfectly safe lying there, her voice lulling him.
"Virgil, I said no sleeping." The hand on his arm squeezed.
"Not sleeping." He wasn't, really. "Listening." Feeling. Absorbing. Trying to understand. He hummed deep in his throat, interweaving a harmony with her voice. It was surprisingly comforting.
A click and a groan, the mother tossed her head just slightly, her voice sparking in query again.
Gordon backed off a little. "Virgil, I'd be much more comfortable if you came down from there."
Virgil let out a breath and his fingers slid over the soft skin cushioning his head. He stroked gently and she rumbled at him.
He hummed in reply.
Her voice wove around his. He half felt, half heard her, rhythm dancing about his body and mind. Rising in crescendo and dipping into depths that spoke of oceans vast and deeper.
It was such a high, such an intricate duet of incomprehensible melody. He sung without thought, giving what little his voice could provide and she compensated, vibrating through him with such an upwelling of astonishment and amazement.
He let go.
-o-o-o-
Scott stared as Virgil lay prone on a whale's head and crooned some strange song that obviously meant something to him, but nothing to Scott. Every muscle in his body was strung for action, to swim over there, grab Virgil and pull him to safety.
The only thing holding him back was a pair of turquoise eyes.
John had swum over to Scott as Gordon made his way over to Virgil and placed himself in a position to stop Scott from doing exactly what they both knew Scott wanted to do.
"Gordon's got this." The words were quiet, barely heard above the lap of water against his collar bone, but they might as well have been a slap in the face.
This was Gordon's realm, not his. Gordon knew these creatures, he knew the ocean. Gordon would protect Virgil.
Virgil was singing to a whale.
It was ridiculous. It was dangerous. The humpback was many times the size of both his brothers combined and could hurt or injure them at will.
Turquoise continued to stare at him.
Scott let out a non-committal grunt that if examined closer could easily be interpreted as one of distress.
Gordon was talking quietly to the whale, to Virgil, but the engineer was ignoring him as if he was caught in some kind of thrall.
God, he hated this.
Alan swam in closer and Scott was instinctively grateful.
"What's going on?" His voice was as worried as Scott felt.
Exhaled over the dip and swell of the ocean. "Hell, if I know."
-o-o-o-
Gordon stared at Virgil as he sang. Deep, ever so deep at the edge of his range, only to spike to a higher register. He lay, eyes closed, on the mother whale's rostrum, body lax, but diaphragm working hard.
Concerned for his brother's medical condition, Gordon opened his mouth to interrupt.
A nudge and a cool, wet body came up under his right arm.
He startled and spun. Several gasps from his brothers and Gordon came face to face with the young calf they had saved the day before.
He could feel the vibrations in the water and the echo of Virgil's odd singing, but amongst it, he also heard the mutter of the little one as she nudged his hand again.
Jaw dropping, Gordon reached out and lay his hand on her rostrum.
She bounced her head lightly, nudging him further and he made his way down her side until he reached her eye. She rumbled at him.
"Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" He reached out and gently touched her eye ridge just as he had the day before.
She clicked at him, deepening his touch by leaning into his hand.
A purr vibrated between his fingers.
The purr was echoed by the mother whale and she moved slightly taking Virgil with her.
Hurriedly, Gordon reached over and re-connected with Mamma whale. He ended up with one hand on the calf and one on her mother. "Hey, guys, you've got my brother. No running off with him, okay? We kinda need him."
The calf snorted.
Virgil burst out laughing.
Startled, Gordon looked back at his brother and found him grinning, eyes still closed as if reacting to an unheard joke.
"What are you guys doing to Virgil?" He muttered it, aware of the audience to this little concert. Scott, no doubt was going into meltdown. While Sam was probably foaming at the bit, desperate to jump in the water and join in.
But no one was moving, thank god.
Gordon ran scenarios through his head, listing off everything he knew about these beautiful creatures and attempting to work out what exactly they wanted with his brother. Ultimately trying to work out whether he should intervene or not.
But then the decision was taken from him.
The music stopped. Its absence was abrupt and disturbing. Water and wind dominated the soundscape by themselves for several moments.
Virgil still had his eyes closed, a slight frown on his face.
"Virgil, you with me bro?"
It took a moment and Virgil's brow crumpled just a touch more. "I'm good." Barely heard above the water and the calf who started a repetitive click now that Mamma had fallen silent.
Mamma whale clicked back and suddenly turned in the water, her huge body creating a wake of bubbles around Gordon and sweeping him up.
Virgil yelped and fell off her rostrum with an awkward splash.
That was all it took for everything to start moving again. Gordon dove to where his brother had fallen and, with a grab, caught Virgil's shirt and dragged him back to the surface.
"Virgil? You okay?"
A splutter and a mumbled something followed by yet more coughing was answer enough for Gordon. "Okay, this little sea venture is over, bro. Back onto a boat for you." He shifted his heavy brother into a rescue hold and began swimming him to Sam and Mel's boat.
There was a protest from Virgil, but it was small. It was obvious a lot had been taken out of the man and for once in his life, he relaxed and let Gordon take control.
That was even more disconcerting.
Of course, 'relaxed' was the direct opposite of what Scott was feeling at that very moment and he narrowed in on both brothers almost immediately.
"Virgil?"
"Scott, can I get him aboard the boat before you rip his head off?"
That earned Gordon a blue-eyed glare for the record books.
"Hey, he's half drowned. Give the guy a break. Hell, give me a break, he's heavy."
That, of course, prompted Virgil to protest that he could swim himself.
"You, shut up. You want to sing with whales, you're on my turf, bro. You do what I say." A snort. "My ocean, my rules."
Virgil groaned, but he grudgingly relaxed back into Gordon's hold again.
With another glare at Scott, Gordon resumed swimming towards Sam and Mel.
He wasn't surprised in the slightest when his brothers followed.
Both Mel and Sam were ready to help him. Virgil muttered something about being sick of having to be manhandled in and out of boats, but Gordon ignored him.
He didn't ignore the groan from his brother as he was dragged into the inflatable or the fact he curled into a ball the moment he was gently laid down. Gordon resisted the urge to jump up into the boat with him. Of course, Scott threw himself out of the water and as soon as he possibly could, clambering aboard and kneeling beside Virgil.
Gordon turned back to their upturned boat. Mamma whale and calf were still hovering not far away and he wondered what their intentions were.
Maybe Virgil knew.
The thought was just out there.
Both whales exhaled in a fountain of wet spray.
Gordon blinked saltwater from his eyes. "John, you wanna give me a hand?"
The astronaut was giving Alan a leg up into the boat, but turned and nodded.
A sigh. Turn over the boat, find what luggage they could, get Virgil aboard A Little Lightning…
And go home.
Mamma whale slapped her fluke and a spray of water was carried across them all.
-o-o-o-
Virgil was exhausted and he had no idea why.
Sure, his abdomen hurt, but he was held down by a whole-body lethargy, as if contact with the whales had drained all the energy from his limbs.
"Virgil? You with me?"
The plastic beneath his cheek was cold, wet and smelled of the sea. Scott was a vibrating presence beside him and Virgil knew he had screwed up again. "I'm sorry." He tried to wrap himself tighter, his arms pulling on each other as if he was cold, even though he wasn't.
"Are you okay?"
A cough burnt the back of his throat and his voice was hoarse as a result. "'M fine."
"Bullshit."
A survival blanket appeared out of nowhere and Scott draped it around Virgil, tucking it into corners. Something soft was placed under his head.
"I'm fine."
Exasperation. "Okay. Whatever. I'm not, so just lie there for me, please."
Virgil grunted, but forced his eyes to focus on his brother. Scott's hair was plastered to his scalp making him look young and vulnerable. His eyebrows were a worried line that crumpled in the centre. His usual blue shirt was sodden and clinging to his frame.
Virgil's eyes closed without permission.
She whispered to him through the bottom of the boat. A soft hum barely felt and he found himself smiling again. His brothers' voices were a pleasant background concert to her voice and that of her daughter.
He became vaguely aware that Gordon had righted the other boat and was now working out how to retrieve their luggage.
The world faded a moment there.
"Back away, John!" Gordon's voice was sharp with command and it carried firmly across the water. "She's moving! Sam, move the boat!"
An outboard engine started up and it jarred him, roaring out the gentle song. He pushed himself up, the survival blanket falling to his waist. "No! No, engine!"
Sam wasn't Gordon and didn't automatically obey a Virgil order. The inflatable headed away from Gordon and the other boat.
"Turn off the engine, Sam!" He yelled and his throat complained, but Mel took the cue, her eyes darting between Virgil and Scott.
"Sam, do as he says."
The man frowned, but the engine died.
The sudden silence was profound.
John climbed out of the water and into the other boat beside Gordon, now several dozen metres in the distance.
Virgil could feel the thrum of the mother whale in the pads of his fingers and the palm of his hand splayed across the plastic bottom of the boat.
But he couldn't see them anywhere.
He sat up taller. Where were they?
John yelled something and Virgil could see him reach for his comms…
Mother whale broke the surface of the water between the two boats.
At speed.
A good two thirds of her body shot vertically into the air. Virgil's eyes widened as her size became immediately apparent as a swath of white and grey skin passed him. For a handful of moments, she loomed over them, her body arching into a graceful arc.
Time hung.
Virgil's heart missed a beat.
With a sonic yell, she flung herself onto her back, sending half the ocean into the air in her place.
Virgil blinked as water hit his face. The boat was tossed and his brothers were yelling. He blinked again, holding on tight to the seat beside him.
It was a simple goodbye.
He let out a breath as water ran down his face. The ocean calmed; the boat lulled back to the gentle sway of the swell.
The song was fading. They were leaving.
"Virgil?"
Another blink and he attempted to focus on his brother.
A sigh at the concern in those blue eyes. "Please don't ask me if I'm okay."
Scott folded down beside him in the cramped space between the seats. His hair was still in his eyes and he looked as bedraggled as Virgil felt. "What do you want me to say?"
"Nothing." But he let his head drop to Scott's shoulder. "They're leaving."
"How do you know?"
"I don't know, I just do." The song had already faded to almost nothing. God, he was tired.
An arm snaked around his back and pulled the blanket up around him again before wrapping around his shoulder as Scott drew him in. "You know what?"
"What?" His eyes were drifting closed again.
"You're hard work."
Virgil snorted, the echo of the accusation he had lobbed at his brother only a few days earlier thrown back him.
"Yeah, well, I learnt from the best."
Scott sighed. "I guess I'll have to kick your ass later."
"I'm sure you will." But his brother only pulled him closer, there may have even been a kiss in his hair.
The lap of water, his brothers' voices, the rhythm of Scott's breathing and heartbeat.
Warmth, song and memory.
Virgil drifted off to sleep.
-o-o-o-
End Day Four, Part Four