Chapter Text
It was supposed to be impossible.
It should have never happened.
Virgil’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel of thunderbird 2, on the return route from what should have been a regular mission. His co-pilot laid unconscious in the med bay behind him with a med scanner scanned him over.
The mission was simple. An earthquake in Los Angeles had caused a building to begin collapsing. A simple go in and get people out, rescue. That was all it was supposed to be. Virgil didn’t stop to consider that the building was up to date on earthquake codes and that it really shouldn’t have been collapsing in the first place. No, there were people inside who were scared and needed rescuing, and unfortunately, the time for questions would have to come later.
The rescue was almost textbook with how smoothly it went. The building was more structurally sound than the initial rescue report made it seem and with Thunderbird Five running a scan of the building to see how many heat signatures were inside, the mission was really an in and out. Virgil ran almost on auto-pilot as he dashed into the building and located three trapped victims on the upper floors of the building.
Two men and a woman were huddled into a small storage closet. No one seemed majorly hurt. They seemed more shaken that this could have happened to them in the first place. But Virgil shook off their concerns, telling them it really could have happened to anybody and they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn’t give a second thought to the sketchiness of the whole situation.
“Let’s get you all out of here before this place comes down on our heads.” He said as he ushered the group out of the closet.
“Oh, yes please.” The woman said gratefully as she passed him by. The two men shook their heads in agreement.
Guiding three other people out of the collapsing building was a bit more challenging than coming in, but nothing he hadn’t seen before. One of the men was limping and Virgil assumed that he might have twisted his ankle in the quake, but as long as he could still move at a good pace, the paramedics outside could deal with it. He led them carefully throughout the building, over debris, and down stairs deemed safe enough to climb down as the building creaked and shifted around them.
Eventually, they met daylight and Virgil led the three over the nearest first response team, when John commed in.
“Virgil, I’m picking up one more heat signature in the basement. You’ll need to go in again but make it quick, I don’t know how much longer the building will hold.”
“FAB John.” Virgil turned and rushed into the building. John was right, the building wasn’t going to hold up for much longer and he had one last person to save. He could only hope there was enough time.
Virgil rushed down the stairs into the basement. It seemed fairly clear for a collapsing building. Sure there was debris laying around but it wasn’t too hard to find a swift way through. If he wasn’t in such a hurry, he might have considered that the debris was moved around to make such a path. But this wasn’t the case. Virgil was on a time limit and there was a person to save. He took the easy route without a second question.
“Hello?” He called, “This is International Rescue, can anyone hear me?” Virgil held his breath for a few moments, listening for any little movement that may happen in response.
“Help. Over here!” It was a faint response but it was all Virgil needed to take off in a sprint. He turned corner after corner until he came across a man standing in the middle of the hallway. Virgil paused his pursuit and allowed his eyes to scan the man for a general assessment of the damage. The man was facing away from Virgil, standing a bit hunched over, and had his arms wrapped around his midriff. He seemed to be holding himself in pain.
Maybe he’s injured.
“Help me.” The strained voice was enough to snap Virgil back into action and he began advancing toward the man. The man, however, began to turn around at the same time and his eyes locked with Virgil’s. “International Rescue.”
Virgil stopped dead in his tracks. He knew those eyes. The man unwrapped his arms, revealing a gun-like object in his right hand. He raised up his arm and pointed it right at Virgil’s chest.
The Hood
Virgil’s body froze. Being a part of an international rescue organization that prided itself on its lack of violence, he hadn’t had to stare down the barrel of a gun many times, and Virgil would have liked to keep it that way. Slowly, he raised his hands in surrender, keeping his eyes locked on the gun, “What do you want, Hood?”
The Hood gave a sickly grin, “To tear apart International Rescue, of course.” He pulled the trigger.
Virgil could have sworn that time slowed down. He heard the click of the trigger. His body tensed up and he prepared for impact. Distantly he heard someone scream as he watched the barrel of the gun light up. People always screamed when shots were fired. Then before he knew it, there was a body in front of him. Virgil felt his heart drop to his stomach. That body wore a very familiar blue International Rescue uniform and helmet.
Alan.
Alan wasn’t usually Virgil’s partner on these kinds of rescues. Alan preferred and specialized in space rescue and this rescue was very much on Earth. In normal circumstances, Alan wouldn’t have come on this mission. In normal circumstances, Gordon would tag along or Scott would assist in Thunderbird One. But today Thunderbird One was in Australia, assisting at a research facility that had overheated its generator, and Gordon was grounded with a slightly sprained ankle he sustained last week doing God knows what. Virgil had planned on clearing him for duty tomorrow. Hence, Alan was Virgil’s partner on this rescue. The rescue that was supposed to be so simple, it was textbook.
Alan wasn’t supposed to be here. Alan was supposed to be up outside assisting in crowd control or scanning the building to make sure they got everyone out. He was supposed to be assisting Colonel Casey. He was supposed to be gaining experience in ground control. He was supposed to be anywhere but here in front of Virgil. He wasn’t supposed to be here.
Virgil’s mind was racing. Why hadn’t he heard Alan following him? Why had Alan followed him? Why hadn’t he recognized that it was Alan who screamed? Why did Alan jump in front of him? Why, why why?
Alan’s body hit the floor with a resounding thud. Virgil stumbled forward, falling to his knees just before his little brother’s body. This isn’t happening. This isn’t real. Virgil’s hands hovered above Alan’s still frame. He could hardly hear anything over the blood rushing in his ears.
He could barely register the second click as The Hood fired his weapon again. But this time nothing shot out. The weapon had jammed. It was a one-time shot and Alan had been lucky enough to be on the receiving end. The Hood became frustrated, smacking his weapon with his hand in an attempt to unjam it but to no avail. Eventually, he gave up, putting his weapon in a holster that Virgil hadn’t noticed before, and ran off. To where, Virgil didn’t care.
Alan wasn’t moving. He hadn’t made a sound nor did he shift even in the slightest. Virgil’s hands were still hovering, his chest felt heavy, his eyes scanning, looking for blood that should be oozing out of his little brother. But there was none. Virgil continued to observe his unnaturally still little brother. Alan’s uniform was loose. It seemed to drape around his body in excess. His uniform was far too loose. But it wasn’t this loose earlier.
The observation of the far too loose uniform seemed to snap Virgil out of his stupor. It was strange that Alan’s uniform was so baggy. Virgil held his breath as he slowly grasped Alan’s shoulder and turned him to lay on his back. Again he found himself scanning for injuries, but other than a uniform that looked three sizes too big, Virgil couldn’t find anything. The uniform wasn’t even ripped. Virgil moved to remove Alan’s helmet. He sucked in his breath.
A small boy with blond hair and chubby cheeks was unconscious on the floor in front of Virgil, wearing an IR uniform that he wouldn’t fit into for at least another ten years. His face was completely void of any pain; he looked to be sleeping peacefully. His skin had a healthy color and his cheeks had a light blush about them. His lips were slightly parted and if Virgil listened closely he could hear the soft snores the child emitted.
Alan?
Time seemed to stop completely. The artificial light of the basement flooded around them. Dust fell through the air, disturbed only by Virgil and the child’s breathing. Soft snores quietly bounced on the walls of the hallway they lay in, assuring Virgil that the child was indeed breathing with a nice constant rhythm. And Virgil? Well, Virgil stared. His mind couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. The little boy on the ground in front of him looked exactly like a young Alan, and Virgil couldn’t stop staring.
A rumble of the earth and dirt falling around them reminded Virgil of where he was. Right, there was a rescue going on. This building was going to collapse any minute, and Virgil was in the basement. He took a moment to calm himself before assessing the situation. He jumped into rescue mode, trying to push out the fact that his little brother may or may not have just been turned into a child by The Hood.
Speaking of The Hood, where had he gone? He was the whole reason Virgil had come down here. But a quick glance around told him that The Hood was long gone. Good. Virgil wasn’t sure he’d be able to control his anger if he saw The Hood again. After all, the man had the audacity to shoot his little brother.
“-gil. Virgil!” John startled Virgil out of his own thoughts, “Thunderbird 2, report!”
“Sorry, John. There’s been an incident. The Hood was down here.”
John was silent for a moment. The Hood and his crew had escaped their prison holdings about six months ago. Despite thoroughly searching, the GDF and International Rescue couldn’t find any sign of them.
“The Hood? I’ll alert the GDF, is he still down there? Are you alright?”
“Negative John. He ran off. There must be another exit, he didn’t leave the way I came in. I’m fine but, John, Alan ran in after me. He’s- ” Virgil’s voice cut off. What was he supposed to say? That their little brother was attacked by The Hood and was now a child? Even Virgil was having a hard time believing it.
John, however, didn’t need to hear the whole story to understand that something had happened. “FAB Virgil. Listen the building isn’t going to hold up much longer, you and Alan need to get out of there NOW. I’ll let Scott know something has happened.”
“FAB John.” Shit, Scott. How was he going to explain this to Scott? No. How was he going to explain this to their dad? To anyone on the Island? No . Virgil shook his head. That is a problem for future Virgil. Right here, right now, he was in the basement of a collapsing building with an unconscious child.
Yes, a random unconscious child. Not his stupid, self-sacrificing, nineteen-year-old little brother who just took some sort of bullet for him and essentially got himself knocked unconscious and turned into a small child. No. This was just a random unconscious child in the basement of a collapsing building. Dammit, Alan.
Virgil scooped up the child into his arms. Not bothering to put the helmet back on him, Virgil held it in his right hand and shifted the child in his arms. He guided the kid’s head to rest in the crook of his neck and secured his grip before setting off. He had to get out of this building. Dust and debris fell around him as the building continued to shift and settle.
On the swift trek out of the building, Virgil wanted to kick himself. It had been so obvious that a path had been set. The debris was shifted around to form a discrete path straight to The Hood, and Virgil had walked straight through it… and so had Alan. A quick glance down at the blond head below his chin and Virgil was silently cursing himself. Why hadn’t he noticed how sketchy this whole rescue had been? The building that shouldn’t have collapsed, the people who were shaken, how easy it was to navigate the basement of a COLLAPSING BUILDING. But no. Virgil was too focused on the rescue to ask questions. It was supposed to be a simple rescue. In and out. In. and. Out.
Finally, Virgil burst through the doors of the building out to the hustle and bustle of the outside world. There was a loud crack and rumble behind him and Virgil sprinted a few feet before falling to his knees. He held the child tightly, his body curling around the small figure as the building creaked and collapsed behind him. Virgil’s body tensed as he listened to the loud crash and anticipated some sort of impact from behind. But other than a few pebbles and a gust of wind, Virgil didn’t feel anything. Good. Too much was going on, and he didn’t need an injury on top of it all.
Suddenly a pair of shoes and a hand on his shoulder pulled Virgil out of his thoughts. “Hey, are you alright? Want us to take him? We can get him checked out.”
A paramedic. Virgil locked eyes with him before slowly rising to his feet. The paramedic looked at him expectantly with his arms open, as if he was looking to receive something. Virgil eyed him curiously for a moment before it finally clicked in his brain. He had just run out of a collapsing building with an unconscious child in his arm. The paramedic wanted to take the child. “No... no. I’ve got him, thanks.”
Virgil adjusted his hold on the child. His big brother instincts were starting to kick in and he wasn’t going to let anyone take this child from him. The paramedic nodded in understanding and returned to his first response team. Virgil watched him for a moment as he tended to other rescue victims before turning and walking toward Thunderbird Two.
“John, we made it out of the building. We were able to get everyone out in time before the collapse. Boarding Thunderbird Two now.”
“Virgil! Well done. I’ve alerted the GDF about The Hood’s appearance but they weren’t able to find him. He may have gotten away.”
Virgil sighed heavily as he loaded the little boy into Thunderbird Two’s med bay. “FAB John.”
The child was still unconscious. He hadn’t made a sound or stirred at all during the time that Virgil held him. But his breathing was constant and Virgil felt a little of the tension in his body edge away. The kid looked so peaceful despite everything that had just happened.
Virgil ran his fingers through the child’s messy blond hair. His mind was still working to wrap itself around the current situation. This wasn’t just any child laid on the medical bed before him. The kid had Alan’s blond mop, Alan’s freckles, and if the kid opened his eyes, Virgil would bet Thunderbird Two that he’d have Alan’s bright sky blue eyes. Virgil couldn’t believe it, nor deny it. His brave, courageous, stupid, self-sacrificing little brother had been reverted into a five-year-old child. It should have been impossible.
“Virgil, is everything ok?”
Another sigh and Virgil clasped down the safety bars on the medical bed, securing little Alan in place. He quickly set up a med scanner before heading to the cockpit. “I’m fine, setting course for Tracy Island, but John... We have a situation.”