That's Business - Chapter 4
Apologies for the cruel cliff-hanger and then the extended wait for this chapter, it refused to be wrangled. On the plus side I predict just one more to go! Thank-you for all the lovely comments 3
~30 minutes earlier~
Virgil cursed when the feed abruptly shut down. One of the men inside Tracy Industries had ripped the glasses from John's face and presumably broken them if the static he was now seeing on his tablet was any indication.
Up until now Virgil had been calmed by the fact that it didn't seem like the men were there to hurt anyone. Once they'd heard that they only wanted information, Gordon had managed to convince the GDF not to rush in too soon.
They were on the ground in New York now. Far enough away that they wouldn't be spotted but not so far that they wouldn't be there in minutes. Kayo and the GDF were coordinating with them, this was a hugely high profile situation. Some of the most powerful men in the world were in that room.
Virgil hated how that fact seemed to garner a much higher priority than they were usually afforded when working with the GDF. But with his family involved, Virgil also couldn't say he wasn't relieved that no resources were left to spare here.
Virgil had been sitting in Two, watching the feed from John's glasses. He wasn't sure where Gordon had run off to. As much as he hated to admit it there wasn't much they could do right now.
Unless they wanted to fly up the side of the building in the hulk of Two, their only option was to sit and wait. Virgil had been okay with that plan until the video feed had gone down. Now his anxiety was through the roof.
He'd been left with the image of the furious man who'd taken the glasses replaying in his head. What if he hurt John? Or worse.
"Gordon." He called over the comms. "Where are you? I've lost the feed."
"Not to worry bro." Gordon said in person, startling Virgil as he walked into the cockpit.
Gordon had a games controller out.
"What's that?" Virgil asked, sceptical that Gordon would be playing games right now.
"One of Brains' new camera bots." Gordon supplied and pushed the controller closed, banishing the holoscreen on the controller in front of him and transferring the image to the larger holoscreen on Two's dashboard.
Virgil saw the windowed sides of the Tracy Industries building as he watched the new feed. Gordon was flying a camera drone. Virgil tapped his fingers on the dash anxiously as the drone slowly came round to the side of the building that they knew the board meeting had been held in.
Gordon didn't get too close, but they could both clearly see the room in question. The glass was completely missing from one of the panels on the 30th floor room. The sun glaring off the other windows left a dark hole into the building. The camera zoom was good though. They could see a man lingering at the edge of the window from their angled vantage point.
"I can't get closer." Gordon supplied. "It's not a small drone, they'll see it from a mile away."
Virgil nodded his agreement.
This was enough.
The mercenaries escape route was clear now. All they'd have to do was wait until they saw the men leave and then they could go in with the GDF.
Well, that's what Virgil thought until a familiar ginger head appeared at the edge of the window.
Virgil swore as he abruptly stood up from his chair, hands thrown out as if he could do anything while just watching on the screen. He heard Gordon cursing beside him, but he couldn't tear his eyes away.
The zoom was suddenly a curse as they were forced to watch their brother hanging out of the destroyed window. John was scrambling, feet balanced precariously on the edge.
The drone moved slightly closer as Gordon also itched to do something, but they were helpless.
He wasn't a stranger to watching brothers hang off the side of buildings, but they were usually secured or at least had the equipment to secure themselves. Not with their lives being held in the hands of a mercenary who could let go at any second.
John, in his expensive suit, lacking any grapples or means to secure himself.
His brother was finally yanked back into the room and Virgil exchanged a glance with Gordon, the terror echoing in both their eyes.
"This is escalating." Gordon said grimly. Trying to find an angle with the drone that could reveal where their brother had disappeared to. "The GDF should go in now."
Virgil nodded and Gordon swiftly got on the line with Kayo who was with the group of GDF officers ready to storm the building.
"Let's go." Virgil said when Gordon was finished.
His brother swapped the drone display back to the controller as they exited the cockpit. Virgil made sure to grab his full med-bag on the way out, hefting the heavy pack over his shoulder.
He kept a hand on Gordon's shoulder as they weaved their way through the crowded New York streets. His brother was focused on the drone display, keeping it on the window but out of sight.
"There's a helicopter there now." Gordon supplied.
"Any word from Kayo?" Virgil asked.
"Nothing."
Virgil readjusted his grip on his brother's shoulder, pulling Gordon towards him as the crowd thickened. All these people just getting on with their lives, commuting, not knowing what was going on in the high rise building just a few streets over. He envied them.
"They're leaving." Gordon said eventually, eyes still focused on the screen. Virgil took his eyes off the crowd briefly, glanced over his brother's shoulder to see a cable extending from the window to the helicopter.
This was the moment they'd been waiting for.
He just hoped both his brothers had been left unharmed in the process. Well at least as unharmed as Virgil had last seen them. Scott with a clear head wound and John hanging halfway out of a 30th floor window.
o-o-o
Scott couldn't tell if he was screaming or not. His ears were muted, ringing.
The helicopter had retreated, the other man still dangling from beneath, but Scott didn't care anymore. Barely spared it a glance.
He was frozen. Staring out at the same place John had just disappeared from view.
His little brother. His crazy-smart, genius little brother. Gone.
Scott felt sick.
"Scott." Someone said shakily behind him. He almost missed it. There was still a deafening rushing sound in his ears.
"Scott." They said more firmly.
He turned his head slightly. Sanders. She was looking at him a little shell shocked.
"You need to breathe." She said eventually.
Scott only now realised he was near hyperventilating and realising it only made things worse. His chest was tight, his heart thudding far too fast.
He started seeing spots as he awkwardly bent over in his chair, hands still tied behind him.
"Scott." Henry echoed, his voice equally tight. "Please take a breath, you're going to pass out."
Scott stared at the floor, and it was only all his years of training that allowed him to take a slow shaky breath. Compartmentalise. Focus.
He turned to face the room again. The board were all in varying states of shock. Sanders had tears running down her face even as she looked worriedly at him. She'd known John almost since birth.
No one said anything to him. What could you say in this situation? They were all staring at him though.
The door burst open breaking the silence and Scott flinched uncharacteristically. It was the GDF. The black-clad men and women rushed into the room; guns raised.
Scott locked eyes with Kayo. She hurried over to him.
He felt his shock turn to rage.
"Where were you?" He rasped out; his own voice unrecognisable.
Kayo looked sullen.
"I know they've got John, Scott. Don't worry, they won't get far." Kayo softened as she knelt behind him to cut away his restraints. "John'll be okay."
"No." Scott choked, aggressively pushing away from the chair as soon as he was able.
He ran, unsteadily, over to the window. "He didn't make it on to the helicopter."
Scott gripped a hand on the sharp edge of the window frame, barely noticing the sting of glass cutting into his palm and leaned out of the opening. He stared down onto the street hoping for a miracle but all he could see was the sheer drop and nothing that his brother could've used to save himself.
His vision wobbled.
A hand yanked him backwards and his legs folded as he landed on his butt.
"Scott! What the hell are you doing?" Even as Kayo shouted at him, Scott could hear the shaky uncertainty in her voice. She knew. Deep down, like he did.
"He's dead."
Then Scott threw up.
o-o-o
Kayo helped Scott out through the main entrance of Tracy Industries, supporting him under the arm. A crowd had formed. The many emergency services vehicles blocking the street had led to that. The media vultures had also descended, and Kayo cursed that they'd already had knowledge of the board meeting. They knew whatever was happening was high profile and they all wanted to be the first to break the story.
Kayo was used to dealing with the press of course. Everything International Rescue and her family were involved in was high profile. This was different though. This wasn't a carefully crafted statement about lives saved and lives lost. This was her brothers.
She'd need to release a statement before the rumours could get too out of control.
Scott's face was blank, she wondered if he was even registering the reporter's shouting questions at them. He'd spent the last 10 minutes throwing up the entire contents of his stomach then continuing to retch until he didn't have any energy left.
Kayo wasn't sure she'd ever seen him so out of control. She'd seen him stressed, tired, hurt, angry but never like this. He hadn't been making sense when she'd first reached him, but she'd managed to piece it together. That unwelcome tightness in her stomach made a reappearance.
John. She'd sent word to the GDF about a likely body on the streets. She didn't have the stomach to handle that herself. The last thing she'd heard from a worried Virgil was that the mercenaries appeared to be taking John with them. Something must have gone wrong.
She should've been there earlier. It was the first thing Scott said to her when she entered the room, and he was right. If she'd just been faster, breached the room 30 seconds earlier. They should've gone in straight away.
She'd made the wrong decision and John had paid the price. Kayo dug her nails into the palm of her hand as she eased Scott down to sit at the back edge of an ambulance.
It was her job to protect her brothers. It was her job to keep them safe. She'd failed.
She placed a hand on Scott's shoulder, kneeling beside him. His face was still bloody, a likely head wound. That couldn't be helping with the situation.
"Hey" She tried. Scott didn't even flinch, continuing his blank stare.
Kayo felt her own eyes watering as the situation crashed down on her. This was it. There would be no recovering from this.
"Hey" She tried again, her voice cracking, her hand tightening on Scott's shoulder as it trembled. He finally locked eyes with her.
She felt the despair overcome her as they stared into each other's grief.
"I'm sorry." She choked out. "I'm sorry."
She couldn't stop.
And then Scott was crying too. They still held each other's gaze. She didn't expect comfort from him at a time like this. She didn't deserve it. But Scott's hand grabbed at her outstretched arm and pulled her in towards him. The embrace was crushing as Scott sobbed silently into her shoulder, shakes wracking his body.
She felt her own tears spill over her cheeks. She lost track of time as they stayed frozen in that moment until a familiar voice brought her back to reality.
"Scott!" The voice sounded from behind Kayo's back. She couldn't turn in the bone crushing embrace Scott had on her, but she felt Scott raise his head slowly at the sound of his brother. Gordon. Sounding far too energetic.
"Are you okay?" Gordon asked speedily but uncertainly. She wondered if he'd ever seen Scott like this before. "Do you need a paramedic? I can find one?"
Kayo could practically feel him vibrating through his words even though she couldn't actually see him.
He doesn't know. She realised.
Scott's grip on her loosened, his hands sliding away, and she finally turned to face her little brother. He looked confused and worried while still bouncing on the balls of his feet, as if waiting for someone to give him a task.
Scott had gone back to a more-or-less expressionless face even with his eyes still red-rimmed and wet. It was startling to see the change. She wondered if this was his way of coping. Either way, big brother was clearly not up to the task of big brothering right now.
"Gordon." She started, her face softening even as her eyes scrunched up with the moisture filling them again. "It's John…he…"
And then a familiar green baldric appeared from behind the ambulance door. The thing that shocked Kayo into saying anything further however was the other familiar face strung over his shoulder.
"Virgil" John groaned, hopping forward beside his brother, one foot elevated. "You're going too fast."
"Well, if you'd have let me carry you-" Virgil started even as he adjusted his grip, supporting John a bit more by the waist.
She was frozen. Scott was frozen beside her.
Virgin and John quieted down as the noticed the sombre atmosphere.
"Scott?" Virgil questioned sounding worried, trying to lock eyes with his brother. "Are you okay?"
Scott's eyes were glued on John.
"John" Kayo breathed. "How…?"
John's eyes softened as he realised the implications.
"It's a long story but I'm okay." He said it with a smile, almost casually and Kayo felt the strange urge to laugh.
"You're not okay." Virgil grunted, shifting his grip again. "Your leg is broken."
"It's not broken." John protested. "It's just a bad sprain."
"Yeah well, we'll let the paramedics decide-"
Virgil was interrupted as Scott shot across to his brother like lightening. Kayo had barely even registered him moving before he was grabbing the back of John's neck and yanking him into a strangling embrace.
John flailed for a second on one leg as he was pulled sharply away from Virgil, but Scott's hold was unyielding, and he quickly found his balance.
John only hesitated a millisecond before his long arms were snaking around Scott's back. Scott fisted his fingers into John rumpled, dirty dress shirt and shook his brother lightly.
"Don't ever do that to me again."
Tbc.