mariashades asked: For Whumptober No. 27: Laboratory Muzzled

Virgil please! TAG or AU

Characters: Virgil, Scott, John, Gordon, Alan, Kayo

Warnings: Kidnapped, Caged, Muzzled, Broken Bone

Virgil opened one eye a little but he couldn't focus on anything. He was groggy, weak. For some reason he was swaying a little. His leg hurt. Scratch that, his whole side was aflame.

What the hell had happened to him?

He let out a small, quiet whine and immediately there was a banging of something on the cage he was in. It was loud and he winced, letting out another whine.

'Check him. He should still be out of it.'

Well, those voices were not his family, and they did not sound friendly at all, so he closed his eye and made himself go limp as hands reached in.

That's when he realised he was muzzled. The hands pulled at the muzzle, checking the buckles to make sure they were tight. The blanket was pulled back over the cage and Virgil's world went dark.

The voices continued talking, too low for Virgil to hear, and with a quiet sigh he set about trying to check out his wounds. He couldn't reach them to lick them clean, which frustrated Virgil as he could feel the dried blood in his fur and how stiff the wounds were.

Well – there was nothing for him to do right now so he might as well make the most of it, so Virgil closed his eyes again and relaxed, letting the slight swaying of the truck lull him back to sleep.

Hopefully his brothers could work out where he was before things got too bad.

…

A cool wet cloth suddenly placed on his face startled Scott awake.

He shot up with a strangled yell, only he was still in his eagle-self and all he managed to do was startle Gordon and beat him around the face with his wings. It didn't last long, but it was long enough for Gordon to get poked in the eye.

It didn't take John long to calm the bird down enough for Scott to transform back into human, and the first thing he did was apologise for the rapidly blackening eye Gordon was sporting.

As he leaned forward to check out Gordon's eye Scott's arm spasmed and he gasped, holding it tightly to his chest.

'Yeah, Scotty, you have a fractured arm.'

'What happened?'

'What do you remember?'

'Uh…we were heading for the mountains. Someone…someone shot Virgil!'

Scott shot up and it took both John and Gordon to hold him down.

'Yeah, we know. It looks like you attacked them but they managed to get away.'

'Tracking?'

'Yeah, they haven't checked Virgil for a tracker -they seem to think they've caught a wild black wolf.'

'Do we have a destination?'

'They're still on the move but we're not too far behind. Kayo's on their tail and we're prepped and ready to go as soon as she gives the green light.'

'In the meantime, you should rest. You took a bit of a beating, judging from the bruises that are beginning to show.'

'I'm fine.'

'No you're not, Scott. And we need you at your best if you're going to come with us and rescue Virgil.'

Scott wanted to argue back but his brothers were right so he suffered through the indignity of having his arm plastered and a shot of pain relief he really didn't want, and he settled back to watch John work while Gordon went up to Two's cockpit to allow Alan to come and see for himself that Scott was alright.

By the time that Alan made it down to the infirmary Scott was asleep, the sedative Gordon had slipped him had taken full effect, even if it would only last half an hour. Alan smiled at the sight and went over to John, leaning lightly on him and watching him work.

…

The subdermal trackers had been agreed on that last time Scott had gone missing whilst in his eagle-self. John, EOS and Brains had created virtually undiscoverable microchips and they had all had one implanted.

Even Kayo had one, and she absentmindedly rubbed her thigh. The chips had been implanted in the largest part of the thigh as close to the bone as possible to keep them hidden.

Shadow lived up to her name. In stealth mode she was shadowing the truck that Virgil was in. Five had identified six people in the back of the truck with her brother, and, while the image of the wolf on the floor surrounded by them made Kayo's blood boil, she needed to know where they were going, what they had planned. They had been on the road so long that the sun was beginning to rise.

'EOS, we've turned off the road into what looks like an industrial area. Can you confirm?'

'Confirmed. There are several empty properties but the biggest one is registered to some kind of pharmaceutical company. The others are electrical companies and …'

'They've stopped at the pharmaceutical place. EOS, I'm gonna need a schematic of the place and patch everyone through.'

'FAB, Kayo.'

'Gordon, you need to get here ASAP. John – call the GDF and let them know that we might have uncovered a Traditional Medicine factory. Guys, hurry. They're about to unload Virgil.'

Gordon floored Two.