Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds, it's characters, blah de blah...

Note: WOW! Thank you all so much for your reviews!!! Thank you for your encouragement!

Claudette – I'd just like to say I'm sorry. I don't know WHY I chose Virgil, he's my very fave Tracy son!

Everyone else – thank you so much!!!!!!!! I am eternally grateful!!! Any way enough of the drabble....

On with the story!!!

Fate

Chapter 2 – Suspicion

Josephine Tracy watched her second eldest grandson, concerned, as he sat at the dinner table.

She observed as he tried, for the third time, to successfully take a drink of water without spilling it down his sweater. His hands shook, as if with cold, and his eyes had a distant, glazed kind of look about them.

Finally admitting defeat, Virgil put down the glass and tried to focus on what his father was saying.

It was mostly idol chat, really. Virgil heard as Jeff tried to reassure Scott about the number that had died in that day's rescue.

"...can't always make it, Scott...going to fail at times...did your very best..."

Virgil caught bits of it – yet it seemed so far away. His father's voice and Scott's, and the noise of his two younger brothers seemed to blend together to become one noisy mess in his head. He massaged his forehead for about the hundredth time that day, and tried to focus on reality. The voices were still muddled together – he could no longer distinguish Scott's voice from Jeff's.

Then he blacked out.

The bang as Virgil fell from his chair raised the family from their places. Jeff knelt on the floor and gave his son's arm a shake.

"Virgil? Son?"

And although Virgil's eyes snapped open at the sound of his father's voice, they had rolled right back in his head, so only the whites of his eyes were visible.

"Oh my God," Josie whispered, bending over her grandson.

"Tin-Tin. Prepare the sick – room immediately," Jeff instructed.

"Yes, Mr Tracy."

"Scott. Go and get a stretcher."

Jeff tried to hold his son still as he convulsed on the floor.

"Come on, Virgil," Jeff quietly willed him.

"NO!" Virgil struggled and tried to writhe out of his father's grasp, talking nonsense, his words mixed up and slurred, lashing out violently. Jeff restrained his son until Scott returned a few moments later.

****

Virgil blinked awake at the sound of the clock. It bleeped seven times. Seven o'clock. Morning or evening? He didn't know.

Why couldn't he see? Blinking again, he tried to focus through the fog over his eyes. Feeling the bed beneath him, he wondered if he had got there by himself or had been carried. The last thing he remembered was sitting at the dinner table.

His head still ached, but overall, he felt a lot better than when he had returned from the rescue. The mist in his eyes began to clear and he focused on eight pairs of worried eyes staring down at him.

"W-what happened?" he asked, the stutter in his voice merely from exhaustion.

"We don't know, son," Jeff replied. "I've sent for a doctor. He would be here already but there was another emergency he had to deal with."

"Is it morning or evening?"

"Morning. We haven't been able to wake you for the past twelve hours."

Virgil, unhappy at the prospect of seeing a doctor, glanced at his surroundings; it was now clear to him that he was in the sickroom. Worriedly, he swivelled his gaze back to his father.

"How did I get here?" He asked, his voice quiet.

"You passed out over dinner, Virgil. Scott and Gordon got you here. Though we must admit it was a bit of a battle."

There was a moment's silence.

"Can I get up?" Virgil asked.

"NO!" everyone said in unison, bringing on a healthy round of laughter.

"Just try and get some rest, Virgil," Jeff smiled. "We'll wake you when the doctor arrives."

After glancing around the room, each person there returning his look with a warm smile, Virgil closed his eyes. Everyone except Jeff filed out, who stayed until he heard Virgil's breathing become even and his chest rose and fell gently. Knowing he was asleep now, Jeff quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Brains?" Jeff quickened his pace to catch up, before the young man disappeared back to his lab.

"Mr Tracy?"

"Do you have any idea as to what is wrong with Virgil?"

"W-well, it looks to m-me as if he had a seizure, d-due perhaps t-to some underlying illness. I-it could be anything from epilepsy t-to d-diabetes."

"Diabetes?"

"Y-yes. Seizures and sudden f-fits like that often occur in d-diabetics."

Diabetic? Jeff thought. He wondered how International Rescue could rely on a member who could suddenly take a turn like that.

Suddenly guilty, he pushed the thought out of his mind. International Rescue didn't matter right now – his family came first.

***

"Virg!" Scott's voice broke into Virgil's dreamless sleep. Virgil awoke to see the face of his brother grinning down at him.

"Wakey wakey. How're you feeling?"

Virgil sat up and thought about it for a second.

"Alright," he replied. "Better than before anyway. Why are you here?"

"Oh, that's nice!" Scott replied jokily. "I know when I'm not wanted! Grandma insisted I bring you a slice of the cake she baked yesterday. You missed it last night with all your antics,"

As Virgil ate the cake, Scott assessed how he looked.

Better, he thought, more normal.

The cake was soon devoured, and the two brothers chatted for a while. Scott knew Virgil hated being in confined space; much like himself, really. Virgil always wanted to be up and about.

"The doctor should be here soon," Scott said, looking at his watch. "Yeah. In about twenty minutes."

Virgil didn't reply. He felt...all washed out again.

"Virg? You OK?" A look of concern spread across Scott's face.

Virgil smiled.

"Yeah, fine Scott," he replied.

****

"Jeff! It's a pleasure to see you," Dr Krauss smiled, "I just wish it was more of a social event rather than a serious one. Now, where is this son of yours?"

Jeff, returning the handshake, led the doctor to where Virgil was.

"How is he, Scott?" Jeff asked his eldest, resting one arm across the back of Scott's chair.

Scott looked worried. "He seems to be going downhill again, Dad. He was fine earlier."

Dr Krauss smiled at the usually lively second Tracy son.

"What kind of symptoms have you had, Virgil?"

Virgil didn't answer for a moment. He had never been very confident around doctors; he often needed prompting before he spoke up.

"Any headaches at all?"

Virgil nodded.

"Have you felt dizzy? Dry-mouthed at all?"

Another nod.

Giving up on vocal evidence, Dr Krauss began his examination.

His cheery expression became more and more serious as he came to a conclusion. He turned to Virgil's father.

"Jeff. I think you ought to sit down while I explain."

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End Note: Chapter Two is done! I'm afraid you'll all have to wait until Chapter 3 – Diagnosis....? is uploaded to find out what's definitely up with Virgil!

Hope this chapter does my first justice! Chapter 3 will be here as soon as I can manage, but it will be quite a bit longer as there's a lot of detail to fill in.

All of Virgil's symptoms are researched.