Alrighty on to chapter 2, hope you all enjoyed the first one and a shout out to our first follower and all our viewers. You really know how to boost someone's confidence. Don't forget if you have any questions just drop me a message or even if you just want to let me know what you think of it so far. I always enjoy the feedback. As always Thunderbirds belongs to its creators except for Lucia and Ellie, who are of course mine.
"We're okay, mighty glad to see you though." It was Ellie who answered as she looked up the hole, this was enough to kick Lucia back into work mode. "Not much more than a few broken bones, concussions and lacerations. I'll be easiest if we pass everyone out up to you." Lucia interjected before Virgil could jump down into the cabin. "I don't know what you're doing down there Virgil but if there are any survivors you need to move them pronto, I don't think she'll hold together much longer." it was Scott's voice over the radio that affirmed Lucia's way was the best. "We have survivors, extracting now Thunderbird 1" Virgil replied as he leant in to hold a hand forwards, "Alrighty then, we better get a move on." was all he could manage in the face of being presented with an unusually calm situation.
Lucia turned towards Ellie as the hand came down, "We'll need someone to go up first to help." her eyes turned over a few passengers who were bordering on shock, "We'll need the delicate handling two people can provide for some of them." When everyone knew of Lucia's qualifications it became an almost unanimous decision for her to make the call on getting them out. After all she was the one with the experience. "I'll stay behind, Stronger swimmer remember." Ellie winked at Lucia before she linked her hands over one of her knees. "I'll give you a boost up, I can get one of the attendants to help me pass everyone up." she added having the calm of someone who was confident in her skills.
"See you topside then" Were Lucia's last words to Ellie as with a boost she grabbed onto Virgil's and let him pull her up. She had to shield her eyes against the sun when she was pulled clear of the wreckage but once she had climbed out with the help of Virgil she let go of him and turned, calling down the hole before he could say anything. "Alright Ellie, send up the young boy and his mother first." she was in full fledged work mode as she reached her hand inside for the boy. "This is Daniel, he's 7 and he had a bit of a knock to the head, his mother Sally broke her arm in the crash." yep, work mode. It had not taken her long to find out the names and ages of the passengers as she attended them while waiting for rescue.
Virgil had been about to radio something to Scott about the rescue practically conducting itself without them, when he heard Lucia handing off the passengers to him. He turned to find her pulling up the young boy whose head had already been tended, kneeling beside her he helped pull Daniel up before carrying him to the waiting rescue seats and strapped him in. Daniel's mother Sally was next and with only one good arm, it became clear to Virgil that for a few of the passengers double handling was needed to get them out. After strapping in Sally next to her son he knelt down beside Lucia again, "So, do this often?" he queried helping up the next passenger of the flight. "What? Get trapped in sinking planes? I try not to" Lucia replied with a laugh as they pulled up the next passenger. The rescue was proceeded faster than either expected and very quickly they were just down to Ellie and the flight attendant remaining in the plane when the lights turned out within the cabin. Lucia could hear muffled talking before hearing Ellie's voice yell out to her, "I'm sending Michael up, says he can't swim. I'll go see if I can get to the pilots now the power is out." Lucia reached out to grab Michael's hand and with Ellie's help began to pull him up. "Be careful Ellie." was all Lucia could reply with before Ellie disappeared from sight.
"Virgil, I don't think she's going to hold much longer" it was Gordon who radioed in this time with concern when he began to see cracks forming in the fuselage. "Almost done here Gordon, two more and we are out of here."
Lucia could hear Virgil's voice behind her as she pulled Michael up out of the hole, she was about to turn to say something to him when she heard a groan. This was not an unfamiliar sound to her ears and fear struck her heart, she looked around and saw one of the magnets from two begin to shudder. "Look out" she yelled as she pinned Michael to the plane and covered him, "Virgil! Watch out!" came Scott's voice at the same time as there was a hideous creak before the sound of tearing metal as one of the magnetic clamps came flying free when part of the plane gave way. Virgil only had time to turn towards the sound before the magnet came flying at him. There was little much else to do but watch in horror as the side of the magnet swept past him before retracting back up into 2. There was no sigh of relief breathed however as he had not been missed, instead he had been thrown by the magnet to the ground and was rapidly sliding towards the water as the plane lurched under the loss of support. Scrambling to her feet Lucia raced down the plane sliding in to grab Virgil's right arm before he slipped over the edge. There was a moment when Lucia felt herself slipping under Virgil's weight but it just made her pull all the harder, there was crackled static and voice over the radio from a frantic Scott and Gordon and she could only make out words here and there.
"Heaven's sake Michael don't just sit there, get into the seat with the others." Lucia barked at Michael who sat trembling where she left him. The message seemed to get through and as Michael scrambled to get himself into one of the seats where everyone was waiting with baited breath, eyes on Lucia and the fallen man from International Rescue. It didn't look like he was bleeding, which was both good but without getting a look under his suit it could also be bad if it was internal. He was still breathing to, she was relieved to notice. There was a crack in the side of his helmet and the shoulder of his harness had appeared to take the brunt of the damage. Very carefully Lucia removed his helmet to better see his face, good. There was no visible damage there either and from the feel nothing broken either. Working down she felt his neck, all good there until she moved to the shoulder. There was a groan from Virgil as she inspected it as best she could, "Hey there cowboy, welcome back to the land of the living" she said when she saw his eyes fluttering and begin to open again.
He didn't know how long he had been out for, last he remembered was sliding towards the water before he blacked out from the pain. That's right the pain and right now his entire left side felt like it was on fire. Still he had a job to do and no amount of pain was going to stop him from completing the mission. Especially not when they needed to get off the plane as soon as they possibly could. There was nothing left to do really but grit his teeth against the increase in pain and force himself to get up."Whoa there, just keep still a moment" Lucia pressed down on Virgil's right shoulder when he tried getting up, she didn't have to use much force as it appeared the pain had him slump back down. "I think you may have a broken collarbone, does it hurt anywhere else?" it would be much faster if he could tell her himself, there was a cough and another loud groan from Virgil before he gave her a reply in a raspy voice. "Arm, ribs" it was short but it was the information she needed, "I'm really sorry about this" Lucia apologised as she first felt his ribs. They felt stable which was good, an x-ray would give better insight into whether they were broken or not but that would have to wait. Now that she got a better look, his left arm didn't quite look right. A quick but thorough inspection of that revealed it was almost certainly broken. "Hey you still with me" Lucia called as she put a hand on his cheek to refocus him back to her, "Yeah, still here." Came Virgil's raspy reply, "Rightio mate, well I'm going to move your arm here to help stabilise it and then we are going to try sitting up okay?" Lucia kept her voice as calmly as she could when she realised his radio had gone silent. "FAB" came the reply and as much as she knew it would hurt Lucia moved his arm as carefully as she could and tucked it under the harness as she did. Repositioning herself she grasped his other hand tightly and slid her other hand behind his good shoulder, "On the count of three, I'm going to help you sit up. 1, 2….." she paused for a moment letting him refocus and get ready. She knew this wasn't going to be pain free. "3" Moving with him and taking most of the strain she brought Virgil up to a sitting position, trying to ignore the noises the fuselage of the plane was making.
"Man that hurts" the tone of voice made Lucia chuckle, "I'll bet it does mate, we should get you up to the ship before they have a panic attack. Ready to try standing?" she asked but not before she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey there, need a hand?"
"Virgil! Watch Out!"
Gordon heard Scott's cry over the radio and he felt terror strike his heart not being able to see what was going on up there. "Scott, what's going on? Is Virgil okay?" he yelled down the com as Scott kept yelling Virgil's name. It sounded like he had been hurt and not the run of the mill rescue cuts and bruises but actual seriously hurt. "Hey big brother! What's going on?" he yelled again when he got no response. This time Scott replied to him, "He's been hit Gordon. One of 2's clamps broke free with some of the plane, he was right in the path." it was not the news Gordon had been wanting to hear. "Is he okay?" he asked Scott, "Hey Virge, you still kicking?" he tried Virgil's com but all he got was broken static and bits and pieces of a woman's voice. "Scott, I'm going up. The plane is starting to disintegrate, who knows when the next clamp is going to go." Gordon was already out the hatch before Scott could make a complaint, they were running on borrowed time now, who knew when the plane was going to completely fall apart. It didn't take much to get up the side of the plane but what he saw when he got up froze him to the spot for several moments.
He could see Virgil ahead of him sprawled on the top of the plane, a woman by his side tending to him. Gordon breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Virgil was conscious again and watched the woman assist him to sit up. "Man that hurts" he chuckled internally at Virgil's assessment, "I'll bet it does mate, we should get you up to the ship before they have a panic attack. Ready to try standing?" he could hear the accent in the woman's voice, she was right about panicking that's for sure. "Hey there, need a hand?" he offered kneeling next to her, couldn't let the one's he came to rescue to all the work after all, that was their job.
Lucia found herself face to face with Gordon as he knelt next to her, "Still kicking there big brother?" he asked Virgil with a grin. "Can't get rid of me that easy Gordo." came the terse but affectionate reply. There was a snigger of laughter from Lucia before she indicated to Virgil's good side. "I'll never say no to a helping hand, but easy does it. Won't be long now and I can get you something for that pain." she could only assume a rescue operation as big as them would have some form of medical supplies on-board. "Hear that Virge, you're going to get the good stuff and from a pretty lady too." Lucia had to smother another laugh as Gordon winked at her, perhaps this holiday wasn't such a bad thing after all despite the crash of course. Though she wouldn't admit it out loud she was probably the lucky one getting to attend them. "Count of 3 again and then easy does it. 1, 2….." Lucia paused again "3". It was far easier to get Virgil to his feet with Gordon's help and though it was slow going they made it to the rescue seats and had eased him into one.
"Alright you can calm down now Mama bear, I can pilot 4 from here back to the pod and come up to pilot 2…" Gordon had finally decided answer the paranoid Scott on his shoulder now that everything was under control, that was until Lucia interjected. "Ellie's gone back for the pilots, until the power went out we couldn't find out if they were okay." there was silence between everyone for a moment. Gordon suggested he could go back in, he had enough space for Ellie and the pilots, but then who would fly two to the pod. Scott suggested he could come down but was vetoed, they needed him to stay put. It was too risky to move 1 yet especially as he was at the nose where Ellie was, plus they needed someone with eyes on the clamps. Virgil suggested he could remotely pilot 2 to the pod after all he still had one good arm and Gordon could fly from there. Before Lucia could say anything they had decided on the plan and Gordon had leaped down the hole she had not long exited with a salute. There was a groan from the plane and also from Virgil next to her as he tapped a few things on his wrist pad which had escaped harm. "Hold on" came the voice beside her as they began to lift into the air and into the nose of Thunderbird 2. The door closed below them and the harnesses opened allowing them out of the seats.
It was easier now for Virgil to get around despite the pain, now he was upright. "Alright everyone we aren't out of the woods yet." Ouch, even speaking was painful just standing there but even injured he couldn't neglect his duties. "It'll be alright, you've all done so well so far. Not much longer now." it was Lucia's clear voice he noticed first as she directed them to where they could buckle in safely. He couldn't do much as every step was agony but even he found himself appreciating the assistance. "Right, now let's get you to this cockpit. I'll assume you've medical supplies up there." perhaps he had thought too soon as she turned to him and placed a hand on his good shoulder. She certainly wasn't going to take no for an answer and he couldn't object the fact and say he could do it himself. He sighed and tapped on his wrist pad, bringing down the lift to get him to the cockpit, "Coming?" he asked moving as quickly as he could to the pad. She could see the pain on his face he was desperate to hide, she certainly didn't need to be asked twice and she moved to stand beside him. Another tap on his wrist pad and they were moving up, she turned and gave a quick thumbs up to the passengers to let them know it was all going to be okay before she couldn't see them anymore. The cockpit was more spacious than she expected, it was also very clearly marked and it didn't take much to find the supplies as Virgil eased himself into the pilot's seat with a loud groan.
"Give me your hand."
It sounded less as a request and more like and order and turning he found Lucia hovering beside him needle in hand. "Don't give me that look, you know what you have on this ship. You can see the dosage," Lucia clearly showed him the amount she had in the needle, "If I managed to get on a plane and trust my life to someone I didn't know. Something I've never done in my life, I think you can trust me to do my job." There was a chuckle from Virgil followed by noise of pain, "Poor analogy, you trusted the wrong pilot." but he complied with what she had said and held out his hand anyway. It was Lucia's turn to laugh, "Next time I'll fly myself." she replied with a wink as she administered the pain relievers and moved to dispose of the syringe and retrieve the sling to provide a brace for his arm. With the sling on he definitely couldn't fly Virgil realised with a sigh, he was officially useless in this rescue now. At least the pain meds were kicking in, all he could do was pray the plane would hold together and the clamps would hold until Gordon was free. His prayers fell short as the second clamp broke free of the plan sending it and 2 lurching, thankfully before he could reach for the controls the autopilot kicked in and stabilised them.
Lucia braced herself against Virgil's chair as the second clamp snapped, she knew she would likely be breaking all sorts of rules with what she was about to do but she saw little choice. She had jumped into the co-pilots place, hands on the yoke she looked around trying to familiarise herself with the set up. "Thunderbird 2, what's going on down there?" the voice made her look up and she found herself looking at the hologram of another International Rescue member. "Geez Virgil, what happened?" he asked with concern as he noticed Virgil's arm in the sling. "In short, magnet came off, he got hit. I hope Ellie gets out of there soon, plane is falling apart as we speak." It was Lucia that piped up, though now that she had she kind of wished she had not when the attention turned to her. "Virgil, who is this and why is she sitting there?" John asked, "Lucia Anderson, I was one of the passengers." it was Lucia who had supplied her name, "'Apparently she can fly" came Virgil's addition. "Ahh, and Ellie is?" he queried further, "Another passenger, she volunteered to be last out. She was the strongest swimmer out of us. She went back to see if she could get to the pilots." Lucia added eyes still familiarising herself with the dash around her. So far aside from some controls she had absolutely no idea about the basics appeared to be the same. "Gordon went in after her" Virgil supplied before John could ask why someone was left within the plane still. "He better make it quick then, I don't think the plane will hold together much longer." As if to confirm what John had said there was an almighty groan and a snap from outside, another clamp had broken. There was a sickening crunch to the hull though as the drop in altitude from 2 snapped the cable up into her nose.
A large chunk of the plane had broken off under the tension of the clamp colliding with the nose of 2. Very quickly she began to lose altitude and Virgil reached for the controls despite the pain that came back to remind him of his situation. "Don't even think about it" came the voice beside him as 2 suddenly stopped dropping. Lucia had pulled back on the yoke and increased the thrust to level her out before adjusting it, "Whoa, there" she muttered to herself as she levelled them out best she could without putting too much strain on the remaining clamp. "Apparently I can fly." she added with a dry laugh, using Virgil's own words against him. "Apparently so." was all he could manage as he tried initiating autopilot again. The error light blinked at him and he swore under his breath, "Let me guess, that hit fried the auto pilot? Are the coms okay?" Lucia remained with her hands on the controls, this was far and away different than what she was used to flying. Heavy yes but the handling was better than the aircraft she was more familiar with.
"Virgil! What's going on in there, I just saw 2 get hit. You alright?" Well that answered her question about communications when Scott's voice came over the radio. "We're just peachy, Big Brother. Auto pilot is out, so is long range communications. So send our condolences to John would you." Now the pain medication had kicked in talking and breathing was almost bearable if he didn't move around to much. "We? I haven't seen Gordon com up." Scott didn't think Virgil could fly 2 judging by the state he had seen him in and Gordon was the only other person with them who knew how to fly 2 besides himself. So who the hell was in there with him. "Lucia has command of the big bird for me." came Virgil's almost petulant reply, "Lucia?" Scott queried back when he heard a new voice over the com. "That would be me, apparently I can fly." there was a muffled sound of laughter, "I'm not living that one down am I." he could hear Virgil in the background, "It's okay it'll be our little secret." Lucia bantered back. "I owe you our thanks then Lucia. You're doing good from here so just try keep her level until Gordon gets out." this time it was Virgil who replied, "FAB Scott."
"FAB? What does that even stand for?" Lucia asked Virgil as they ended the conversation with Scott. There was a cough of laughter from Virgil, "Just how we end communications" was really the only answer he could give. "Right, if you're up for it. I need a crash course in flying the big bird." She was in control, she was in her safe place in work mode. She could fall apart later when all this was over. "Well you have the basics under control…" Virgil started, they had only just started going over basic controls when they heard Gordon's panicked voice over the com.