14. Sineater asks for 'I'll be right behind you' Virgil to Kayo. With thanks to MariaShades for the inspiration.

Please note that this also appears in my Whumptober 2022 collection.


Characters: Virgil, Kayo

Warnings: Fighting


Sometimes Virgil thought he was born to follow.

He followed Scott into, well, everything. There to support his brilliant eldest brother and enable him to be whatever Scott needed to be.

Virgil didn't mind. He loved his brother so very, very much and even as adults it was an honour to be there for Scott.

It wasn't just Scott that Virgil fell into following. John and he had an equal footing in everything, following Gordon and Alan was never going to happen but Tanusha…

He'd follow Kayo as much as he would follow Scott.

Virgil followed Scott as his Commander and big brother.

He followed Kayo as their Head of Security.

Kayo kept them safe.

Sometimes, against his better judgement, he had to admit. Virgil was a Tracy, and that came with certain ideals of protecting. Kayo didn't need to be protected, though. In fact, he'd lost count of the number of times she'd protected and saved him and his brothers.

This time was different.

Scott was usually the subject of fake rescues, the man was a trouble magnet enough without being the heir to a multi-billion dollar fortune and business and Commander of TI.

But Kayo had her own reasons for being a target. Least of which was her relationship with the Hood, her relationship with the Tracy family and her absent father.

The fake rescue may well have been set up for Scott, but it was Kayo who was sent after John had already deployed Scott earlier. Virgil, for once having not followed Scott, followed Kayo. He had no reason to, Virgil just wanted something to do…

Thank goodness he did.

Shadow had speeds that almost matched One, and she definitely outrun Two, and Kayo was almost there when Virgil got the strongest ever feeling.

He didn't like this. Something was wrong. Gordon had his Squid Sense. Scott had his Scooter Sense. Virgil didn't have anything like that. But there was something he didn't like about the rescue.

Virgil pushed Two harder. He didn't have time to explain it to John when his brother appeared to query what was going on, but he didn't have to. Virgil and Scott may have been known for reading each other's minds, but often he and John didn't need words either.

John took one look at Virgil's face and knew there was trouble. He set about contacting Scott while leaving the comms open.

When Two landed next to her sister there was no sign of his sister. But the trail of bodies leading inside the building showed him the way. He had donned his exosuit because despite Kayo and Scott's best efforts he couldn't fight for toffee and at least the suit would give him some protection, plus people were less likely to hit him when he was in it. The building was full of twists and turns but eventually he found the centre building.

He found Kayo on her knees, a man in the process of cuffing her hands behind her back, and for once in his life Virgil saw red.

Before he even thought about it the man was on the floor halfway across the room and Virgil was shrugging out of his suit to tend to Kayo. She had a deep bloody gash across her left eye and several cuts and bruises that he could see through the torn ribbons of her suit.

In turn, Kayo hugged him tightly but briefly, batting his hands away as he tried to treat her.

'There is no time, Virgil! There will be more coming!'

'Kayo's right, Virgil. I read multiple life signs converging on your location. You have seconds to get out before they arrive!'

They ran, Kayo in the lead and Virgil on her heels. It had been only a short distance from their 'birds, but it felt like they were miles away. Kayo looked over her shoulder and he threw a smile at her.

'Go! I'll be right behind you.'

She smiled back and concentrated on running through the building. Eventually she broke free and turned to check Virgil was right behind her.

He was not.