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Watching Gordon disappear into the darkness was difficult. His little brother had tried to hide it, but Virgil’s medic’s eye had caught the winces of pain. He knew Gordon’s back was hurting. He also knew calling his brother out on it would cost them valuable time they didn’t have, and accomplish nothing. So he let him go, waiting until Gordon was out of sight before sighing and switching his communicator to a direct line to John.
“He’s doing too much, John. He’s going to burn himself out.”
His space brother responded immediately. “I know, Virgil. After this, he’s on mandatory downtime for the next week. You both are.”
Moving to secure a beam that was coming loose, Virgil shook his head. “I can keep going.”
“Funny. That’s exactly what Gordon would say. You’re both grounded. You’re way over your flight hours.”
Later, Virgil would blame himself for distracting John, because the warning they got was not nearly enough.
“The building is coming down now!” John’s voice blared from his comm. “Get out of there!”
Years of rescues had trained Virgil to respond to that voice, and he was out of the building before he consciously processed he was moving. Behind him, the debris thundered to the ground, collapsing where he had just been. He rested his hand on his knees, breathing heavily. That had been close.
Static filled the comms, and he froze. “Gordon? Gordon!?!” He and John both shouted. Only the static answered them. Virgil plunged back into the debris, frantically yanking beams out of the way to get to his brother. He vaguely registered John shouting for EOS, too focused on his own work, but her reply had his blood running cold. No data transmitting? That could mean a suit malfunction, but there was another, much more terrifying option, and in this situation, it seemed more likely. There was simply no data to transmit.
He didn’t even notice the static had cut out as he sat heavily on a convenient beam. Gordon was gone?
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Virgil’s brain was refusing to work. He had let Gordon go into the building on his own. He had distracted John, delaying the warning that could have saved Gordon. His little brother was dead, and it was all his fault. How could he continue? How could he face Scott? How could he live with himself? What could-
“Virgil!” John’s voice shook him out of his spiral. “I’ve got something. It’s very faint, but it matches Gordon’s last known location.”
Virgil sprang to his feet. He could blame himself later. Right now, he had a brother to save. “I’m coming, Gordon. Just hold on.”
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He had been digging for hours, and his body was refusing to continue much longer. “John, tell me something good.” He begged.
“The closer you get, the stronger the signal gets. It must have been all the debris blocking the signal. I’ve got his vitals. They’re fairly weak, but that’s to be expected. I don’t love his heart rate, though. It’s far too high. I think he’s panicking, Virgil.”
“I’m almost there, Gordon. Hold on. I’m coming.”
One last push, and Virgil was clearing the final bits of debris from his brother’s position. He had to be careful now. One wrong move, and things could crumble further, crushing Gordon. He could see the bright blue boot of an IR uniform peeking out from under the slab in front of him. “Gordon? Can you hear me?”
“Virgil. Am I glad to hear your voice.” Gordon was trying to hide it, but Virgil could hear the relief in his voice. “I can’t move right now, so I’ve just been waiting for you to get here.”
“I’ll have you out in a minute.” Virgil promised. “Just hold on.” He lifted the final slab, and Gordon was free. “Hold still.” He ordered, attempting to check for injuries before moving his brother, but Gordon had other plans, As soon as the slab was gone, he was up, forcing himself to his feet, despite the obvious pain he was feeling. Though from the haunted look in his eyes, Virgil knew better than to protest.
“All right, get home you two.” John ordered. “I’m coming down tonight, and if you don’t hurry up, I’m going to beat you home.”
Virgil slung Gordon’s arm over his shoulders, and they started heading back to Two. They all had a lot to process, but everyone was alive, and at the moment, that was all that mattered.