Author's Notes: From Wikipedia, "A virago is a woman who demonstrates exemplary and heroic qualities."
Though I know CP was about Jon Power and his fight against Dread, I have often wondered about the others around the country (and even the world) who were fighting alongside him. We know about the leaders that were summoned by Freedom One, but it seemed to me that aside from Cypher, the others weren't as well known to the team. I wanted to have a group that Power and his team were familiar with - that they worked with for years and could call on, day or night, for help. And who could also give them crap when they needed it.
Virago, led by Commander Adrianna 'Addy' Herndon, is that group. The personalities of the team members have evolved over the last year or so in our round robin writing, but they are part of the Power team's extended family in this AU.
Locke emerged from behind a crumbling wall with Peter in his arms and Miranda tucked against his side. The looks of horror on their faces at the scene in front of them were quickly hidden as they buried themselves into their father.
He hurried them toward Power's team, gratitude the only emotion on his face. "Thank you," was all he could muster. All three men nodded, relieved to see both children physically unhurt aside from a few cuts and scrapes. With an initial assessment putting their fears to rest, they moved in the direction of their fallen teammates.
They found Pilot and Scout leaning heavily against the transport, watching the rest of their team draw near. Tank and Power handed them their canteens, and both gratefully took it, swishing their mouths out several times before finally turning back to the group.
"Virago's base is on our way home. You two are getting a once-over by Striker. No arguments. We may all have EMT training, but this is beyond the scope of what I'm comfortable with." Hawk's face was filled with concern for them.
Both raised their hands in a show of surrender.
"The suits come off as soon as we get back to the base. I don't want either of you charging them before I have a chance to look them over. Who knows what that beam did to them and I'm not willing to risk your lives for them." Power's expression was even grimmer than Hawk's.
They both nodded.
"No jokes from either of you. That must've hurt." Tank flashed a grin, though his eyes showed his concern for them.
Pilot nodded again. "Even more than that wall falling on me."
Scout turned his head to regard her. The incident with Polarski was one none of them would forget and it was obvious from her comment that it still weighed heavily on her mind. "You've taken such a beating; do you know that?" And come out even stronger on the other side, he added mentally.
"What doesn't kill me…" she trailed off, pushing some hair out of her eyes. Their comments lifted the tension and the frowns turned to grins.
"Let's get back to the jumpship before any more troops arrive." Power reached out a hand to Pilot, supporting her around her shoulders while Scout waved off a helping hand from Tank. Both were slightly unsteady but made it inside the ship and to the hold without incident. As soon as they were harnessed into their seats, with Locke's family beside them, the jumpship lifted off.
"Soaron! SOARON!" Dread repeatedly shouted the name, barely hearing the report from Overmind.
"BioDread Soaron is inoperable. Estimated time to full regeneration is twenty-eight hours and thirty-seven minutes."
Dread fumed. "Blastarr! Report!"
A link established between the BioDread and the throne room and a visual came through on the screen. Blown apart mechs and smoking ruins were all that remained.
"Power is no longer here." Blastarr sounded almost sad that it had nothing to destroy.
Dread stared at the screen in silence.
It had taken over an hour to deposit the springer and his children at their temporary home and by the time Hawk set the ship down outside Virago's base, both corporal and sergeant had fallen asleep in their seats, Jennifer's head on Rob's shoulder, Rob's head resting on top of hers. Jon was in the hold with them when Molly Striker, Virago's medic, joined them, nodding a greeting to him as she knelt in front of the two.
"When did they fall asleep?" She opened her pack and pulled out a few supplies, her brown eyes returning to watch their respirations. The initial symptoms and vital signs they'd sent through weren't alarming, but she'd also never encountered someone that had been nearly digitized before.
"About fifteen minutes ago. Their biggest complaint was the headache." Jon sat down on the seat beside Jennifer, ready to assist with whatever Striker needed.
Jennifer stirred at the voices, her movement waking Rob. "Are we home?" She looked around the hold sleepily, finally focusing on Molly. "Not home."
Rob rested his head back against the seat, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "I drooled on your hair. Sorry about that." He reached over and attempted to take care of the situation.
"I drooled on your shoulder." She patted his leg, her eyes closing again as her head went back to where it had been on him.
Molly spoke softly but firmly. "Jennifer, can you keep your eyes open?"
"Yes, Ma'am." She nodded, doing as she was told, but still resting against Rob's shoulder.
Molly rolled her eyes at the formality, causing Jennifer to chuckle. As she ran through a list of questions to assess their current physical symptoms, Striker took a small blood sample from each of them and began the analysis. Less than a minute later, a soft beep indicated the results were ready and she did a double take when she saw them. Grabbing a bottle from her bag, she shook two pieces out and dropped one in each of their mouths. "Your blood sugar is a little too low for my liking, so we're going to boost it up a bit before we move you."
Not two seconds later, Jennifer's eyes widened. "What IS this?" She lifted her head and looked curiously at Molly, who grinned at her.
"Rock candy. My mama makes it every now and then to spoil us. I keep it around for situations like this too, where we need a quick boost. When you're done with this one, you'll get another."
Hawk and Tank both appeared at the top of the hold with Adrianna Herndon, commander of Virago. Jon greeted her with a grateful nod and she returned it, keeping quiet as her medic continued to assess the situation. Though it took several minutes for Striker to consider them ready to move, no one was willing to rush her.
"All right, let's get the two of you to the medbay. Get up slowly and let me know if you're at all light headed or dizzy." She signaled to Power to help Scout up while she assisted Pilot, waiting until they both said they could move independently.
The teams moved through the small hangar and into the base itself. Herndon slowed as they passed the control room, directing Power inside with a nod of her head. Hawk acknowledged the movement, assuring Jon silently that he and Tank had the younger two.
Addy folded her arms over her chest as Striker led Jennifer and Rob to Virago's medbay. When they were all a reasonable distance away, she raised her eyebrow at him. "I know you all have formal EMT training, but you really need a medic, Jon."
He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I have someone in mind." He'd talked with Matt about asking Elzer Polarski's medic, Abraham Carter, to join the team. Matt had whole-heartedly agreed, knowing the rapport their unit had with him. When they'd put it to a vote, it had been enthusiastically approved. And yet, Jon still hadn't 'gotten around to it.'
Addy frowned, her brown eyes narrowing on him. "Don't get any thoughts of trying to woo Striker away from us."
Jon held up his hands, almost laughing. "Not going there, trust me." He'd worked with her long enough to know he didn't need Addy angry with him for THAT. He could handle Polarski's wrath over Herndon's any day of the week.
"Good." She nodded approvingly. "I will never forgive you for taking Jennifer from us. And might I remind you that if you get her injured again, we're going to forcibly remove her from your team." She regarded him with a mock glare, both knowing full well it was an idle threat.
Jon shook his head. "Suits are non-returnable. She's stuck with it, which means that you are out of luck. Nice try, though. And may I remind YOU that I did not take her from you, she chose to join us." He smiled at her, backing up to avoid being swatted.
Selena Cho, Virago's weapons officer, walked by and added her own two cents. "Don't worry, Commander. There will come a day when we can woo her to our side. Even if it's just for a mission, we'll get her with us." With a smile at Jon, she continued. "And then, Captain, you should be worried she'll have too much fun with us and want to stay."
Now that Cho had chimed in, Meredith Sullivan turned slightly in her chair at the comm station. "She can keep her suit. We'll let her go back to your base to charge it whenever it needs it."
Cho grinned at her. "Ooooo…Merry, let's just make a charging station here!"
Merry's brown eyes danced as she laughed at the face Jon was making at them. "How about we start those plans AFTER they go home? It looks like the good Captain is going to need Molly's assistance himself soon."
Addy was enjoying the banter but realized that after the long day Power's team had had, it was enough. "Ladies, we still need to prep for tomorrow's mission. Let's keep things moving. Alpha Base is expecting us at sunrise."
Jon looked at his communicator and saw what time it was. "You could have told us you were unavailable. We'd have gone to the Passages to get them checked out."
"Nonsense. We've got your back." She shook her head, urging him to follow her down the hall. "The UTO is retrieving several abandoned ships in a shady part of Sector 8 and want some back up on the ground. Since there's a depot we've been curious about out there, we offered to help them out, then do some recon at the depot. Nothing more than twelve hours."
He nodded as they walked, knowing what a valuable commodity ships in any state of disrepair were. And knowing Jennifer, she'd want the vehicles in the area they'd just left scrounged for any usable parts. It wouldn't take much to convince the Rowans to send out a team, if she felt the vehicles were worth it.
The Rowans, founders of Alpha Base and the UTO unit stationed there, were well known within the resistance for their ability to find the positive in almost any situation. Whether it was broken aircraft or broken people, they seemed to take things in, clean off the dirt and make it whole again. In situations like this, the aircraft would be repaired and distributed throughout the resistance, adding to the arsenal in the fight against Dread.
"I'll give the Rowans a call as soon as we get those two settled at home. I know how much they're going to worry if they hear anything about this." It was his top priority. Along with getting in touch with Nikki Trosko. "And don't hesitate to yell if things get out of control on the recon. We can be there quickly," Jon added.
Addy smirked. "I appreciate it." Even though they'd joined forces on missions over the years, they'd never needed to call on them, but Jon never failed to add that last line in there. "What are you going to do if we ever actually need you?"
He returned the smirk. "You know I say that just to push your buttons. I'm pretty sure you will never need us to save your asses."
She nodded. "I pray we never do, Jon."
They stopped at the entrance to the medbay and looked in. Both Pilot and Scout were sitting up on a shared bunk, their backs against the wall. Molly had just handed them mugs and they each sipped as she went back to the cabinet for more supplies.
Though Jon's gaze was on the medbunk, Addy knew his focus was on Jennifer. "Have you talked to her yet?" The last time they had seen each other, she had asked him the same question. The attraction between the two was becoming more visible, though she knew they were trying to hide it. Even from themselves.
"Started to," he admitted. "Got interrupted by the mission."
She clicked her tongue lightly in disapproval. "Jon, life is too precious. You know that."
He nodded and without another word, walked across the room to his team.
Striker looked up at his footsteps and acknowledged him. "I'm glad you brought them in. Blood sugar is still low. They're drinking tea with some honey in it to boost it up more, but they're staying until I can get a decent reading on them. Gretchen just went to get some peanut butter sandwiches. They said it's been at least ten hours since they've eaten, but with the digitization attempt and the vomiting, that's exacerbated an already unfortunate situation. They're both on the anemic side as well. I have a message out to Sam Cooke at Alpha to see what she recommends. I don't have iron pills and we're out of red meat. Correction. We're just plain out of meat." She took Jon's hand without asking, cleaned his skin quickly and lanced his finger, dropping the blood splotch that appeared into her handheld device.
"Ow!" he protested, yanking it away from her with a scowl. "Maybe ask next time?"
"Maybe not." She shrugged and as the numbers came up, went for another mug of tea and dumped in some honey. Handing it to him, the brunette sternly said, "Drink."
Seeing the look on her face, Jon knew better than to argue with her. Instead, he pulled up a chair and sat down, taking a sip of the tea to appease her. He had nothing but admiration for the medic. He knew that under her serious exterior was a gentle and even funny personality, but it wasn't often that side surfaced. Her concern for his entire team ran as deep as for her own and he would always be grateful for that. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Molly frowned at him. "Captain, may I suggest you keep some rations in your ship for occasions such as this?
"We handed ours out to the kids after we got them back to the ship," Jon said in soft protest.
Molly turned a not too harsh glare on him. "There were two kiddos and their dad. Even if you gave them two each, that still means you weren't carrying enough for your team to have appropriate provisions."
Jon didn't want to bring any more of her anger out, so he nodded. "Adding it to the list of things I need to do, Dr. Striker." He saw Addy roll her eyes and just shook his head at her.
Gretchen Stamps, Virago's security officer and demolitions expert, entered the medbay with several plates. Her German shepherd, Kong, walked obediently by her side, his tail swishing back and forth when he saw the new arrivals in the room.
Jon leaned forward and reached out to Kong, allowing him to sniff and accept him before scratching behind his ears. "Hey, Buddy, how are you doing? Heard you got banged up a bit in a scuffle with some mechs."
Kong licked his hand, as if acknowledging that he was fine. Gretchen nodded her agreement. "He's back to himself. Some shrapnel cut his hind quarter, but Molly was able to stitch him up without incident."
Molly took the plates from Gretchen and handed them out to Power and his team. "Hawk and Tank are in the kitchen with Kell, getting their own sandwiches. I checked them and they're nowhere near as low as you three. Did you even eat this morning before you left your base?" she asked Power.
Jon averted his eyes guiltily and shoved the sandwich in his mouth to avoid speaking. Molly looked at Pilot, who shook her head after pointing at Jon, then smiled at him when he caught her and swatted her boot.
"Captain, quit being a dumbass. You're no good to your team if you're not functioning." Striker's frustration was running higher than usual. This wasn't the first time she'd admonished him to take care of himself, so he could, in turn, take care of his team.
Addy smirked and nudged Jon's foot with hers. "She tells me the same thing. It's even better when she gets David on the comm and tells him to talk some sense into me."
Jon nodded. David Farber had stayed behind at the Passages to raise their twins when Addy had formed Virago with Cho and Sullivan nearly a decade earlier. He knew Addy's husband did not enjoy finding out what some of their missions entailed, especially when it was their medic that made the call to him.
"I wouldn't have to do these things if you two would actually LISTEN to me." The look Striker gave both reinforced her commitment to them as their doctor. Her voice softened when she spoke again. "You're not invincible. And we need you."
"I'll follow through on all of it, Molly." He knew she had their best interests at heart and the last thing he wanted to do was anger her. She didn't need that and neither did they. "You have my word."
"Thank you." She got up and went back to the cabinets near the sink, returning to Chase and Baker with a bottle of pills. "Pain reliever. You're each going to take two of these now, then two again in twelve hours. You should start to feel them working in about twenty minutes."
Jon saw them swallow down the pills with their tea, then finish their sandwiches. As he took another bite of his own, Kong stared up at him, his brown eyes patiently watching for any scrap of food to fall. "Sorry, my friend, if I give you anything, I'm afraid Molly will sedate me."
"Oh, don't you worry about him." Gretchen scratched the dog's neck. "Matt and Michael both gave him some. He knows he's going to get spoiled when you guys show up."
Jon laughed, sneaking Kong a bite anyway. "He's the only guy here. We have to take care of him."
Molly rolled her eyes at him, a grin finally breaking through. "And you wonder why we're always trying to get Jennifer to go on a mission with us." She then patted Jennifer's leg. "You know you can hang out with us whenever you need a break from them."
Jennifer nodded, laughing at the pouty faces both Power and Baker turned on her.
"Why would you need a break from us?" Rob rested his head on her shoulder, looking up at her with his best sad puppy eyes. "Please tell me you don't want to leave us."
Gretchen laughed. "Kong is REALLY good at begging and I don't think even he has pulled off a look like that."
Jennifer rested her cheek against Rob's forehead and patted his leg. "Not leaving you guys. Although, if I fall asleep and start drooling again, you might WANT me to leave."
Striker motioned to the cabinet and raised an eyebrow at Herndon. "I could knock her out, so she'll drool."
"No!" came the emphatic response from both men, which brought laughter from all the women. The way Power stared at Chase at the mention of her remaining at Virago's base didn't escape Herndon or Striker and they exchanged a knowing look. This mission was making the young captain re-evaluate several things, including his feelings for the pilot on his team.
With great restraint, Addy changed the subject to keep herself – or Molly - from saying something that might embarrass him. "Jon, you are all welcome to stay here for the night. There are a couple of cots here in the medbay and we'll shift bunks around for the remaining three. We will be out early, and you can sleep in as long as you'd like."
Power shook his head. "Thank you, but we'll be heading home as soon as Doc gives the word. That'll give you some peace to finish what you need and get some sleep. And I think we'd all like to sleep in our own beds tonight."