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To be honest, Virgil should’ve seen this coming.
There were a lot of things he could do build, fix, paint, compose, but every now and then, he’d mess up royally.
And this? Yeah, this was one of those times.
Brains was off-island for a few days, but one of the Thunderbirds still needed a tune-up. Thunderbird One had taken a hit on its last mission, nothing major, just a dent and some scarring the usual wear and tear.
Virgil did maintenance all the time. Easy job. No big deal.
Only problem was… he might not have double-checked his harness before starting.
So there he was halfway up Thunderbird One’s side, when his boot slipped. He flailed, grabbed at the first thing he could, and ended up tangled in a mess of wires and cables from an open panel.
Perfectly safe. No danger of falling. Just… completely stuck.
And upside down.
Virgil hung there for a long moment, staring at the world inverted, then groaned loud enough to echo through the hangar.
“Faaaantastic,” he muttered. “Just great.”
The good news was he had his tablet and comm-pad on him.
The bad news was the only other person on the island was Gordon and Gordon wasn’t answering his comms.
Virgil fiddled with the wires, trying to see if he could free himself. He couldn’t. So he did the next best thing by sending an SOS to the one person who was always online.
Big brother John.
---
A few seconds later, John’s hologram flickered to life beside him.
“Virgil? You okay?”
Virgil groaned and tilted his head not that it mattered, since everything was upside down. “Define okay.”
John paused. Then he blinked. “Are you… upside down?”
Virgil sighed dramatically. “No, I’m just testing the blood flow to my head for fun.”
John snorted. “So that’s a yes.”
“Yeah. I slipped. Harness caught me, but now I’m stuck in the wiring. I can’t reach the release. Tried calling Gordon, but-”
John interrupted with a sharp laugh. Not a small chuckle but a full-on belly laugh.
“John,” Virgil warned.
“How the hell did you even fall like that?!”
“Maintenance, you space-nerd. Can you please just get Gordon?”
“Alright, alright,” John said between laughs. “Stay put.”
“Not like I can go anywhere,” Virgil mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing! Go get my help!”
---
About twenty minutes later, John’s hologram flickered back.
“Okay,” John said, still grinning. “Help’s on the way.”
The hangar doors slid open, and in strolled Gordon hair still damp, towel slung over his shoulder.
Ah. So that’s why he didn’t answer.
“How’s it hanging?” Gordon called, grinning ear to ear.
Virgil crossed his arms or tried to, considering his current position. “Hilarious.”
John’s hologram reappeared just in time to hear it, and of course he started laughing again.
“You guys are asses,” Virgil muttered. “Just get me down.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Gordon said cheerfully, walking over. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his comm, and click took a picture.
“GORDON!” Virgil roared. “Why the hell are you taking pictures?!”
“Because no one would believe me otherwise,” Gordon said, smirking as he typed something on his screen.
Virgil groaned. “You did not just send that-”
“Oh, I did.”
By the time Gordon managed to untangle him and get him back on solid ground, Virgil was ready to strangle him. He lunged for Gordon’s comms pad, trying to delete the photo, but Gordon was faster.
And unfortunately for Virgil, John had already sent the picture to Scott.
By the end of the night, every single one of them, Scott, Alan, Kayo, even Grandma had asked the same thing.
“So, Virgil… how’s it hanging?”
Virgil groaned and buried his head in his hand.
He wasn’t going to live this one down for a long time.