Disclaimer: For the final time, I don't actually own it! I swear!
Authors note: So here we are . . . at the end finally . . . boy it's been fun! Not really much to say other than I HATE it when people put you or your story on alert and you haven't got the foggiest who they are as they've never reviewed you! EVER! On anything! It's bizarre . . .
Somewhere In Between
By Bubblegum Thai
Chapter Fifteen: The crash.
"F.A.B. Scott, see you back at base!" Virgil chirped before cutting the link of contact between himself and his older brother. Hovering around behind him, leaning on the back of his seat, was Suzan, her dirty and slightly charred hair falling down into her eyes,
"You ok?" She asked, tentatively touching the side of his head which was bleeding even heavier now than when he'd done it in the first place,
"Fine, hun." He reassured, swotting her hands away in annoyance. It had been another one of those wretched fires which Virgil was getting oh so sick of. He'd taken Suzan with him as it was pretty simple. Alan and John were mid-swap when the distress call had come in, Brains up with them and Gordon had sun stroke, though he was well enough to go, Jeff didn't see why Suzan couldn't go in his place, so long as she stayed out of trouble this time,
"No running in front of avalanches!" He'd warned as she headed towards the lift to Thunderbird 2,
"'Course not, Daddy!" She'd cooed before disappearing behind the wall.
Now back in Thunderbird 2, she was busy pottering about behind him somewhere,
"I hope you're not fiddling with anything!" He called over his shoulder,
"'Course not, Virgil!" She answered in a similar coo as to that she'd responded to their Father with, "I'm just getting something for you . . ."
"What?"
"Ahh . . . now that'll ruin the element of surprise!"
"If you're planning on dressing my wound. Stop. It can wait . . . I'm piloting right now."
"Cha! It's called auto-pilot, bozo!" She muttered, rolling her eyes.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over Virgil as he began to get dizzy. His vision blurred at the edge as he struggled to reach forwards. He had to contact Scott, this wasn't good . . . Suzan didn't know how to pilot the little family jet, let alone something as complicated as the huge transport vessel he was at the helm of. With a groan, everything went dark and just as he began to drift out, there was a loud crash and Suzan yelled,
"Virgil!" Though she was beginning to get lost in the distance.
Suzan was by her brother's side, he was slumped against the control panel of the huge green machine, completely out cold,
"I knew it . . ." She whispered, shaking her head. She began to now shake his shoulder, harder and harder, "Virgil! Virgil! Please wake up! We're going to crash!" She exclaimed as Thunderbird 2 began to take a nose dive towards a large expanse of hot, dry wasteland, "Virgil!"
"Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 2! What's happening Virgil? You're taking a dive!"
"Scott!" Suzan cried, "Scott! Help!"
"Suzan! What's wrong? Where's Virgil?"
"He just passed out!" She whimpered, "Help!"
"Ok, you need to take control of the vessel, ok? It's really simple, I'll guide you through . . ."
"Ok . . ." She breathed, easing Virgil up, back into a sitting position, though he only slumped forwards again due to the position of the craft, banging his head again on the console. She huffed, taking the 'wheel' firmly within both of her hands, "Right . . . let's do this . . ." She sniffled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at the rapidly approaching ground. It didn't help that she was scared of heights really,
"Right . . . grab the wheel and pull it towards you . . . you need to pull her up, got that? Pull the wheel towards you! Quickly! You're running out of time!"
Suzan did as instructed, firmly pulling the wheel strongly towards her chest. Thunderbird 2 began to curve upwards slightly. She grit her teeth, pulling as hard as she could. She let out a loud growl as she watched the weak muscles in her arms flex beneath the skin at the sudden pressure. Sweat began to roll down her forehead, though, slowly, Thunderbird 2 was pulling up,
"She's not gonna make it . . ." Scott muttered to himself was he watched Thunderbird 2 like a train wreck, unable to tear his eyes away. The large green machine skimmed the large expanse of desert floor, causing a low rumble as it did so, sand being thrown up around it as it skidded along, "Darn . . ." He huffed, following the sliding mass and landing shortly after it.
- - -
Suzan let out a small groan, followed by a whimper,
"God . . . I'm a jinx . . ." She murmured, giving her head a little shake, "Virgil!" She suddenly remembered, vaulting across the cockpit towards her older brother. Luckily Thunderbird 2 was so big that it's sheer mass took the brunt of the impact. Virgil, because of his seat belt, was more or less in the same position he had been when they'd crashed. She rushed to his side and began shaking him again. He was still out cold, but at least he was still breathing. She gently smoothed the hair off of his face, looking around. The radio popped and fizzed angrily. She screamed, jumping back slightly, but covering Virgil's face with her hands so he remained unharmed.
Suddenly, there was a loud thumping against the exterior,
"SUZAN!" Scott yelled, though it was only just about audible through the thick shell of the craft. Her head whipped around, she had to open the emergency door to let Scott in . . . or to get herself and Virgil out of there. She decided first she'd move Virgil away from the console that was beginning to smoke. She carefully unhooked his seatbelt so that he slid forwards, resting against her, knocking her backwards against the broken controls. One hand came to rest on a shattered alert light, the broken glass slicing open her palm, the other dropping onto the burning metal. She winced, pulling both of her hands away and losing her support so that the duo landed in a crumpled mess on the floor,
"God . . . put down the pie, Virg' . . ." She groaned, trying to lift him desperately, but to no avail, "Great . . . I'm stuck . . ." She huffed, grabbing a hold of her brother's shoulder, "I apologise in advance!" She said quietly before rolling her entire body weight over so that she now hovered over her brother. He'd simply flopped, arms spread out, across the floor, head lulling to the side. She quickly checked to make sure he was still breathing, her hands sore and beginning to swell, Virgil's uniform smeared with the blood from her palm. She climbed to her feet and ran around, grabbing his shoulder tightly, lifting them so that his head wasn't on the floor any more. She dragged him towards the nearest wall and propped him up against it so tat he was sitting up, yet still slumped slightly. She run her hands through her hair, letting out a long sigh.
Her gaze darted to the emergency door, she knew she had to get that open and get her and her brother out of there before the cockpit filled with smoke, it was already beginning to swirl about. The door was slightly crumpled inwards from the impact. With an almighty yell she lifted her foot and slammed it against the dented panel. She repeated this process over and over until she saw a slighter of daylight peek through. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks, she was getting so tired but continued kicking regardless. She dropped down onto her knees, seeing Scott standing beneath ready to pull it off. As she panted heavily Scott reached an arm through and began tugging on it roughly. Once she'd caught a little of her lost breath, she crawled back towards Virgil, taking his shoulders again and sliding him across the floor back towards Scott and the gaping whole in Thunderbird 2's underside,
"He's still out cold." She told Scott as she began to pass him down, though because he was so heavy and she was so weak, as she began to lower Virgil down towards Scott, his weight dragged her down also, so she ended up falling out of the cockpit with Virgil, both landing on Scott who's sleeves and hands were torn from ripping the metal door from it's brackets.
Scott shook himself off, supporting Virgil's head, he looked at his sister,
"Graceful." He said, almost irritably, "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine."
"Where's all the blood coming from?"
"Relax . . . I cut myself . . . no big deal . . ." She drawled, "Virgil'll be ok, right?"
"Well . . . he looks to be fine for the minute . . . he's still breathing, at least."
"I'm sorry, Scott."
"What for?" Scott asked, looking down at his younger sister,
"Every time I come out, something bad happens . . . I must be a jinx!"
Scott snorted,
"There's no such thing!" He scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Typical kid logic." He muttered, hoisting Virgil over his shoulder and carrying him back towards Thunderbird 1,
"Do you think Thunderbird 2 will explode?" She asked, walking along side of him,
"It's doubtful." Scott answered,
"But it was smoking inside."
"It'll be fine so long as the automatic fire detectors go off." Just as he said that, there was a great whooshing sound and a faint white cloud drifted out of the emergency exit panel, "Like that." Scott said, motioning towards the craft before trudging back to his own. He gently placed Virgil down inside and decided to deal with him in a few minutes, "Keep an eye on him." He instructed Suzan, "Just make sure he doesn't swallow his tongue!"
"Right!"
"This is Thunderbird 1 calling International Rescue base . . ."
"Go ahead Scott . . . what's the latest?"
"Uhm . . ." Scott began carefully, "Thunderbird 2 went down, Father."
"WHAT!"
"It's ok . . . it's mostly in one piece and so are the others, Virgil's out cold but otherwise fine I think."
"How did this happen!"
"I'll let Suzan field that one! Suz'! Dad wants to talk to you!"
Suzan sent her brother a chilling look before nodding slowly and walking towards her brother. She'd never been in Thunderbird 1 before, it was a little too cramped for her liking,
"Uh . . . hey Dad . . ." She said nervously,
"What in heaven's name happened? Why wasn't Virgil in control!"
"He passed out! He had a head injury but he said he was fine and then he just black out at the controls!"
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Father!" She snapped, "I'm worried about Virgil . . . he's taken a bit of a banging."
Jeff 'hmmed' for a minute,
"Well Scott'll have to bring you back and I guess we'll just have to leave Thunderbird 2 out there."
"I can stay with it." She said softly, "Really, I'll be fine."
"Where abouts are you . . .?"
"Uhm . . . the desert . . .?"
Jeff sighed heavily,
"This just proves to me she's not experienced enough to handle this job." He thought to himself before clearing his throat, "Get Scott to send me the co-ordinates and no, you're not staying out in a desert by yourself! You're just a child, Suzan . . . you wouldn't stand a chance if someone attacked you! I can't run this risk of losing you . . . it's just too high!"
"But Father!"
"No buts!" Jeff said sternly, "Please don't tell me I have to have yet ANOTHER talk with you about obeying me."
"No . . ."
"No what?"
"No sir . . ." She murmured, bowing her head in defeat,
"Right . . . put Scott back on then."
Scott was already there, bumping her to the side with his hips. She looked up at him and he smiled softly,
"Cheer up, kiddo." He whispered before going back to talking to his Father. Suzan wandered over to Virgil and sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder, "I wish you were awake . . ." She sighed, "I'm gonna be in so much trouble when we get home. Guaranteed . . ."
- - -
"Wh . . . what happened . . .?" Virgil mumbled as he opened his blurry eyes, slowly sitting up before groaning, "My head . . ."
"Rest, son." Jeff soothed, "You've got a concussion."
"Concussion? Oh . . . yeah . . . I hit my head on that mission . . ."
"Yes," Jeff began sternly, "you knew you had a head injury, yet you still piloted your craft."
"I didn't think it was that bad, besides . . . who else could've flown her home!"
"Yes . . . well . . . you didn't quite make it home."
"I didn't?"
"No. You crashed on en-route."
"What!"
"You crashed over the desert. Suzan tried to pull her up, but it was too late."
"Is she ok?"
"She's fine, just some injury to your hands . . ."
"Wait a minute . . . did I hit my head in the crash?" Virgil asked, "I've got another bump here," He said, feeling his forehead,
"Uhm, no . . . sorry about that . . . I dropped you . . ." Suzan mumbled sheepishly from the doorway, "You were just too heavy for me!" She giggled nervously, "You ok, Virg'?"
"Fine, kiddo . . . just fine . . ." He reassured,
"I've decided to train Suzan for a couple of months before she goes out on any missions. Because she wasn't trained, I couldn't rely on her and that could become a problem."
"I think that's a great idea!" Virgil exclaimed, "You'll really be one of the team . . ."
"Yeah . . . that'll be . . . uhm . . . great!" She beamed, "Well . . . I'm gonna go and get a snack!" She said and disappeared.
- - -
It was late that evening and Alan was headed for bed when he saw his little sister's light on from beneath her door. He knocked but got no answer, so he pressed the door-release to find it wasn't locked. He scanned the room and noticed her slumped over her desk, pen poised within her fingers over her notebook. He smirked, plucking the pen from her hand and lifting her up into his arms, carrying her to her bed. He placed her down and covered her with a blanket before returning to turn the desk-lamp off. As he did, he caught sight of the scribbling in her ledger.
My name's Suzan Tracy, I'm sixteen years old and American.
I couldn't be happier than I am when I'm with my family . . . they are my inspiration and one day, I hope I can be just like them.
He smirked, glancing over at her, still fast asleep. He chuckled, flicking the light off before heading to the door. He flipped the main light switch off before shutting the door as he left.
- - - The end.
Well . . . that's it . . . the last couple of chapters lapsed, I know . . . they really sucked . . . sorry! But I've got plans for a sequel in the works so fear not!
Thank you everyone who reviewed! And for those of you who didn't, but read anyway . . . you should be ashamed of yourself! I hope that you never get reviewed again! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sorry . . . crazy moment . . . ok . . . I'm really going this time . . . THANK YOU AND BYE!