"I'm not being arrested, Gordon." Virgil ran his hand through his hair and realised it was due a wash. "It's only an inquiry."
His aquanaut brother glared at him. "Virg, it's dangerous. They obviously think you are guilty. What if they decide they want to hold you?"
"It's the law Gordon. You want me to break the law? Because as soon as I do, then they win."
His little brother let off a frustrated sound. Virgil had no doubt that if they weren't flying Tracy Two, Gordon would be pacing. As it was, Grandma had words with him pre-take off just to get the aquanaut to sit in the co-pilot's seat.
Virgil could appreciate Gordon's point and if he was completely honest, he was scared. This could be life altering.
Permanently life altering.
But he had to find out what happened and the law had the right to summon him to question his actions.
He had to trust that law. Wainwright and company obviously had an agenda. But even they had to abide by the law, didn't they?
"I don't trust them. They want to take us down and they are trying to use you to do it."
Virgil's heart clenched. It all came back to him being the weak one, the vulnerability. His hands tightened on the yoke.
Gordon noticed and growled. "God, Virg, you're not a weakness. For fuck's sake, you're the strongest of us all. Don't fall for their crap. They want you doubting yourself."
Well, in that case, it was working perfectly. Today had proven that beyond measure.
"Scott will fix this. Pen and Kayo will get the facts. Hell, Virg, you had groupies at the press conference. Did you see how many of them were dressed in green?"
Virgil blinked, his mind supplying his last sight of their supporters as several of them were led away by police. A riot had been averted, barely. Even on the security cam from inside Tracy Tower he could see the fire in that woman's eyes.
And he didn't even know her name.
"Jack has a lawyer on it. He'll get them off."
Virgil glanced at his brother and wondered when the fish had developed telepathy. Carnelian eyes caught his and his brother touched his arm. "We'll work this out, Virg."
Was it a weakness to rely on hope? Scott had stayed behind in Auckland to oversee the aftermath of the conference. They had had their chance to state their side of the story and it did appear that they at least had a few people asking questions.
Scott and Jack had been discussing the possibility of an interview with Ned Cook to follow up the conference...minus Virgil.
As with each time he thought of his conduct on the podium, Virgil groaned internally. All he had needed to do was stick to the script, but no, he'd opened his goddamned mouth and stuck his foot in it.
But the woman who had lost her son in New York, her eyes, her tears, her accusations...god, he had just wanted to help.
Hell, it was what he did.
Of course, the summons had been timed perfectly by the opposition. In front of the press and in a way that added to his apparent guilt.
Grandma had banned him from watching the newscasts.
Tracy Island appeared on the horizon and he had never been happier to see their refuge.
The thought that he might be taken away from the Island suddenly curdled in his belly.
He didn't acknowledge Gordon, instead starting the approach sequence, checking windspeed and direction in preparation for landing.
The aquanaut had been bundled into Tracy Two with Virgil, Scott wanting nothing more than to get his vulnerable brother out of reach, home and safe. But certainly not by himself. No, military-trained Gordon had been directed to keep an eye on his brother. No doubt, to keep him secure while Scott cleaned up the mess.
They may say he wasn't a weakness, but they were certainly acting like he was.
As he banked towards landing, Virgil both appreciated his amazing family and wished he wasn't letting them down.
-o-o-o-
The days that followed the press conference were frustrating. With IR down for the count, four out of five operatives were out of work. This was a situation that rarely occurred and never for this length of time.
Scott returned to the Island with mixed emotions. The eldest had seen to the assistance of their supporters, posted bail where needed and sic'd their lawyers on the charges, paltry that they were.
John had identified the leader as none other than Susie Tedford, Ned's younger sister. Scott managed to have a very revealing conversation with her, both about her brother and the value she saw in International Rescue. Hers wasn't a fan club. They were a working emulation. Her small group went out of its way to assist people who had been caught in disasters.
The thing that baffled Virgil as well as his brothers was that the group had never applied for Tracy grant money to do what they did. They'd flown beneath Thunderbird Five radar, giving help, but refusing to ask for it. A hunt by one annoyed astronaut found a trail of good deeds scattered across the planet. The group had geographical divisions, for goodness sake. Each working quietly to help everyone they could.
Scott hunted down the director responsible for grant funding and had some serious words.
Money was thrown where it would be well used.
The cherry on top of the ice cream was the fact Susie was a fully qualified engineer. His brother's frown at Virgil's reaction when he mentioned her user name on the nets was justified.
Virgil had been a fan of 'SturdySue' for some years.
If there was one thing that he hoped he could get out of this whole mess was to meet the woman who saved lives by designing structures that withstood disasters. If Virgil babbled a bunch of engineeringese at his eldest brother when he asked why, so be it. Scott needed to be flummoxed occasionally.
But this bright spark was only one light amongst so many dark days. The rest of the week passed with no word from Penny or Kayo and Virgil began to despair. The Inquiry was set for the end of the following week. he was hoping to have some proof to back up his assurances that did not rely on his word or recordings. Independent verification was mandatory to get himself out of this mess.
To get his brothers out of this mess.
John continued to refuse to come down. Virgil went up there again, but only managed to get into a shouting match with the man. John rarely yelled, but he was obviously at his wits end. It only caused Virgil to worry more.
And Scott refused to order him down.
Because Scott was exactly the same. His eldest brother was driven, obsessive almost. He lived off every bit of information John could dig up. He had that same passion in his eyes that he had when on a rescue. He was focussed on saving someone.
On saving Virgil.
The launch of 'World Rescue' neared and Virgil watched as the world was taught to believe in the initiative and deride the 'former' International Rescue.
Gordon was particularly vocal on the matter, reading every report he could get his hand on, determined to find fault, suspicious of everything. His opinion of Wainwright defied the depth of Challenger Deep and he foretold dire results and a repeat of the Sentinel disaster.
Gordon literally hated her guts.
Virgil was of two minds himself. While their treatment of International Rescue was abominable, the idea of the GDF picking up some Rescue slack, wasn't a bad one. After all, International Rescue would not have existed if there wasn't a dearth of need in the first place.
As to the quality of the new organisation, well, they weren't Thunderbirds and far from Tracys.
While there was little information on the equipment that would be used, the choice of a lead Colonel left much to be desired. Colonel Barrett had definitely been involved in the Sentinel fiasco - Gordon had raved for a full half an hour about that when he found out.
But Virgil was one to watch and see and step in when needed. He planned ahead when possible, kept his cool and anticipated when he could.
But no-one could have anticipated the rescue alarm going off on the morning of the launch.
No-one.
-o-o-o-