My Galaxy

In order, Virgil is soothed by the fact that he is not alone in this unfortunate situation. An emergency call had come forth from the Nevada desert by a mining operation foreman who reported unusual seismic activity in the area that resulted in a cave-in, trapping three men underground with no idea of when the next earthquake might strike. A fairly bogstandard rescue operation, all things considered. Scott stayed topside with a map in hand and the foreman’s advice on where best to tunnel into the mineshaft while Gordon joined Virgil in the Mole to retrieve the workers.

At least, the first two had been such, a pair of well-built men, one with a leg pinned underneath rubble that took Gordon and Virgil lifting together to free him. They brought the pair of them topside straight away so that the injured man could receive medical care as soon as possible, given his condition. From there, they burrowed back underground at the insistence of both the workers and the foreman, who were under the impression they’d seen someone sneak into the tunnels just before the collapse.

In hindsight, perhaps that should’ve been the red flag that turned them away from heading back under. However, even if they had even the slightest clue of what happened next, they likely still would have done it. No situation is too dangerous for International Rescue to turn away if it means an unnecessary, preventable death occurs.

It’s just a shame that the whole thing turned out to be sabotage, rather than the freak natural disaster everyone assumed it to be. Virgil and Gordon got clear of the explosive charge without an issue, but the resulting rumbling and the ground splitting beneath their feet had been unavoidable.

Which brings Virgil to the reason for his worries. He’d rather not be here, obviously, as any rational person would, but he would especially prefer that his younger brother also would not be here. It’s bad enough being trapped down here, which is made only worse knowing that if anything else goes wrong, someone he cares about may not make it out unscathed, nevermind his own possible injuries.

This is made all the worse by the fact that they have been here for what Virgil assumes has been the better part of two hours, should the clock function of their wristwatches still be working properly. What isn’t working properly is the communication feature of said watches, which has remained woefully silent, likely a result of either the battering they took from the falling rocks or the depths they’ve fallen to preventing any radiowaves from reaching them. At the very least, they’ve been able to provide some dim light in this otherwise pitch black hole.

It’s understandable why they’ve been down here so long. The Mole had likely been buried right alongside them, making any plan of burrowing to them impossible, and should the explosion have worsened the already fragile state of the mineshaft, extreme caution would be needed in moving forward to rescue both him and Gordon. This rational train of thought is what Virgil has been holding onto, using it to reassure himself that it is simply a matter of when Scott and whoever else’s help he’s enlisted will reach them, not if.

And lastly, Gordon’s presence vexes Virgil for one reason: Despite the fact they have such limited space, Gordon simply will not stop moving.

Virgil has reminded him on more than one occasion at this point that his squirming is simply wasting energy, and that he ought to remain put, especially given how cramped the area is. Upon every reminder, Gordon has given him a curt acknowledgement, stayed still for a few minutes, and then gone right back to shifting, crouching, half-standing, stretching somewhat, all manner of moving about.

It hadn’t been this bad at first, when after they confirmed they couldn’t escape on their own but wouldn’t die of oxygen deprivation, they’d sat down and waited. But as the minutes crept on longer and longer, stretching into an hour, Gordon began getting more restless. From there, the fidgeting only grew in intensity.

About half an hour ago is when the noises began, as well. Another one escapes the aquanaut, a quiet huff through his nose, and not for the first time, Virgil can’t help but be struck by the familiarity of it. For some reason unbeknownst to him, that tiny, involuntary sound is stirring faint memories in the back of Virgil’s mind, ones that remain out of reach in the face of the harsh reality before him.

It’s when Gordon moves to stand again, or rather, lean against the stone walls of the hole, his boot accidentally nudging one of the two wristwatches laid on the ground to act as their lightsource, that Virgil finally decides enough is enough.

“For goodness’ sake, Gordon, what are you doing?”

“What?” Gordon replies in a tone that Virgil is certain was meant to sound casual, but the underlying edge to it makes it read as defensive.

“You know what. Can’t you just sit down already? You’ll tire yourself out.”

“It’s fine. I need something to do while we wait.”

Virgil frowns. While Gordon isn’t exactly the most patient person he knows, his reply registers as being odd to him. His second youngest brother is no stranger to taking it easy, being just as willing to kick back in the living room as he is to bound about their island home. No, this is certainly something else, and a single stolen glance at Gordon’s tight expression being briefly illuminated by the watches gives him the hint he’d needed.

“Are you hurt?”

At this, Gordon finally stills. It does not last long, though, with him soon sinking to his feet and resting his behind on his heels.

“I’m– Fine.”

The sentence is broken up by yet another breath, this one accompanied by a near imperceptible noise made at the back of Gordon’s throat, and finally, it hits him. He’s heard Gordon making these exact sorts of sounds before, and he knows why. Virgil’s eyes widen.

“Your back. It’s bothering you, isn’t it?”

It feels so obvious now that he’s said it out loud. Lifting those heavy rocks earlier, even with perfect form, must’ve stirred his old injury into rearing its ugly head. That, paired with the tumble they took earlier and the stones they’d been pelted with, is a recipe for hurt.

Sure enough, he hears Gordon click his tongue more than he sees it, followed by the other lightly dashing his hand against his own leg.

“It’s not just bothering, it’s killing me,” Gordon admits, now allowing some of the pain he’s been feeling to creep into his voice, though it is soon overridden by annoyance. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I could relax it, but I can’t get comfortable in here! It’s too cramped!”

So that explains all of the writhing about his brother has been doing. In an effort to assuage his aching back, he’s been contorting himself to find a position that will relieve it, to no avail. Virgil frowns. They have no reference of how much longer it will take for them to be rescued, but the last thing he wants to do is leave Gordon to continue suffering needlessly, even if they are going to be saved relatively soon.

Looking around, he decides to once again take stock of the space they’ve found themselves in. The hole is small and circular, with the ground being just flat enough to sit on without sliding about. There isn’t enough room for either of them to stand at full height, and the hole they’d fallen through just above them has been shut by a bunch of larger rocks and debris having landed on top of it. As of right now, Virgil is sitting on what has been deemed his half of the space, while Gordon is on his own half, meaning neither of them are occupying the area directly in the middle, which would allow for the most amount of leg room.

However, simply handing over that spot to Gordon won’t immediately fix the issue. Not only will Virgil then be pressed uncomfortably against the side of the hole, Gordon himself would probably still find it dissatisfying, since he won’t have anything to brace his back against at an angle. No, he would simply be resting the upper half of his torso against the flat stone wall, leaving his lower back to sag and become further agitated. There isn’t anything here for him to rest upon, though, not without sitting ramrod straight against the wall.

His train of thought suddenly veers off course, a lightbulb going off in his head. Of course, that’s it! He has the solution. Granted, it’s a terribly awkward one, but in their line of work, awkward is always preferable when compared to injury. “In that case, I think I might have an idea on how to help,” Virgil offers.

“Really?” Gordon asks in return, sounding hopeful at the prospect.

Virgil nods, then remembers to make a noise of affirmation along with it, in case Gordon missed the action due to the darkness.

“Here, move one of the watches onto your side and I’ll move it on mine. Then, scooch over.”

It takes a moment for Gordon to comply, most likely trying to puzzle out what exactly it is Virgil is doing, but he follows through nonetheless. Once he’s made some space, Virgil moves into the middle, sitting against one of the walls and bending his knees out as far as they’ll manage before spreading his legs a good distance.

“Alright, now do your best to climb over me, slowly.”

Apparently, this is where Gordon realizes what it is he’s up to, if the stunned blink Virgil catches sight of is any indication. A short, disbelieving laugh bubbles up out of his brother, followed by a pause before he carefully clambers over Virgil and into the center.

After a moment of hesitation, Gordon reclines, resting his upper half against Virgil’s, effectively using him as a backrest. If he had to guess based on the disgruntled yet relieved sigh his brother lets out, the effect is an immediate success. Still, it’s never good to leave things to a guess with injuries, so he decides to ask.

“So, is that better?”

“A little,” The aquanaut grumbles, then goes on to elaborate with less edge to his voice. “It’s more of a dull ache now. Definitely an improvement, though.”

“What was it feeling like before, then?”

Gordon shifts somewhat at this, his shoulders tensing before relaxing once more.

“It felt hot, still does, and like something was pinching me. Occasionally I’d feel a shudder as well, but only in that one spot.”

At this, Virgil’s frown returns, his eyebrows set in place.

“Your muscles were spasming?”

“Maybe. It was always too short to tell.”

“Hm. That doesn’t sound good. We should get it checked out after this.”

“Do we really?” Gordon whines, likely already dreading the idea of having his back examined for the nth time in his life. Not that Virgil can blame him much for feeling that way.

“Yes, we really must. I’m not letting you use me as a chair just for you to go and hurt yourself further.”

At this, Gordon huffs something that sounds a mighty suspicious amount like the word “worrywart”, but Virgil doesn’t pout, instead smiling slightly at it. After all, if the other had really meant it, he’d have put up further resistance at being checked over once they’ve left this hole.

ALL the kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/KsndWzq/all-the-kudos.png" alt="all the kudos">

Chapter kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/9ZSmqrp/Chapter-kudos.png" alt="Chapter kudos">

Elevenses kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/6P4JTsP/elevenses-kudos.png" alt="elevenses kudos">

Heaps of kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/GvRw2HS/heaps-of-kudos.png" alt="heaps of kudos">

Kisses your forehead kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/6nph6nM/kisses-your-forehead.png" alt="kisses your forehead kudos">

Reading in public kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/f1HDR2K/reading-in-public.png" alt="reading in public kudos">

Re-read kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/jWYQ8bt/re-read-kudos.png" alt="re-read kudos">

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Read the whole fic in one go kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/jMHrgSk/the-whole-fic.png" alt="read the whole fic in one go kudos">

Ungodly hour kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/84300T6/ungodly-hour.png" alt="ungodly hour kudos">

‘Jeff, my friend, I hope you appreciate all the trouble I’m going through for your eldest. You may have escaped me, but your clone is a worthy substitute. I’m going to put him through hell, just for you, old friend. Just for you.’

And with that he swept from the room. He had a few more things to prepare before his esteemed guest would be joining him.

~

Kayo had been uneasy all afternoon, and as the sun set – which cast a magnificent glow over the city and the Eiffel Tower that she barely registered – that unease ramped up exponentially.

While she hadn’t told Scott of her feelings the man was also restless, his inane Scooter Sense was obviously in overdrive too.

He kissed her temple and pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head as they turned to look out over the city.

‘Are you alright, Tin? You seem worried.’

‘I – I’m not sure. Something feels off. You can feel it too, can’t you?’

‘Yeah, I know what you mean. What do you want to do?’

‘Ideally I’d like to go home, but you have that speech to give tomorrow and I’m loathe to pull you away, you’ve been looking forward to it for months.’

‘I have, but if you say it’s not safe then as head of my security I will listen and do as you say.’

She turned in his arms and pulled his head down for a kiss. They lingered, the kiss deepening until only the need for air broke them apart.

‘No, no. I’m worrying over nothing. We have excellent security and I can always call up some more.’

‘You never worry over nothing, my anak kucing maut. Call in the others and let’s go to bed.’

Grateful that he hadn’t dismissed her concerns, Kayo pressed a quick kiss to Scott’s lips and pulled out her comm, instantly connecting to John and discussing with him who he should also send. Scott watched her with a fond smile before making his way to their bedroom.

The speech went off without a hitch as expected, and Kayo kept close by as Scott worked the room during the lunchtime break. Despite how much he detested doing these, Scott was a natural, and more than once she marvelled at how he hid his *distaste* for certain people as he was forced to greet them.

One such person was Mr Xavier. They hadn’t had much dealings with the man – never in person, only through his PA – so it was a surprise to see him in person. A short, thinnish man with the air of superiority about him, Mr Xavier was nonetheless charming and polite. Only his eyes seemed to be dead and they set Kayo’s teeth on edge.

Scott shook hands with him and words were said, not that Kayo heard them, and then they were off. Their route might look meandering to an amateur but a professional would clearly see that they were heading for the exit. 

As they neared the side door that would lead into the conference centre and from there they could head back to the hotel and from there back home. The thought made Scott speed up slightly so that he passed through the main doors a little quicker than Kayo had been prepared for.

The door swung shut just before she reached it and she cursed.

Then she cursed some more.

That 30 seconds was enough for someone to jam the door closed, and try as she might Kayo couldn’t get it open.

‘Teams A, B – converge in the conference centre, Code Blue. I repeat Code Blue.’

She was shouting as she ran, unheeding of the people she was shoving out of the way. Kayo wasn’t the only one. From all directions people were running for the two remaining exits.

The corridor was empty.

Except for one thing.

Scott’s watch was on the floor by the door, it’s glass broken. 

Cursing even more and filling John in as she ran down the corridor after whoever had Scott, she skidded into the back kitchen where all activity stopped at her sudden appearance. But no one had seen Scott pass this way.

‘John – kitchen staff say Scott hasn’t come this way. Anything on the cameras around the centre?’’

‘On it.’

Directing her staff to spread out and look for clues, talk to people, Kayo retraced her steps and kept an eye out for anything unusual. She found it in a door marked “Staff Only” that was ever so slightly ajar.

As stealthily as she could Kayo made her way into the room. There were no signs of a struggle, at least not at first. But as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she could see footprints in the thin layer of dust.

Pausing only long enough to tell John what she’d found, she followed the footprints through the room. It appeared to be some kind of storage room and it led to another room, a much smaller one. There was no exit but there was a window. A window that was currently broken.

There was still no sign of Scott, and now they knew how he’d been taken out of the building John and EOS set to work backtracking through all the cameras until they found the van Scott had unceremonially been dumped in.

But their luck ran out quite quickly when the van entered a tunnel and didn’t come out again.

Kayo ran to the roof where Shadow had been parked in stealth mode and made a beeline for the coordinates. She had to fly higher than normal due to being in the city, but Kayo didn’t let that stop her, and she eventually dropped to the ground on her bike while John took control of her ship.

There was nothing.

No sign of the van, no secret tunnels, no suddenly shielded spots moving at a fast pace away from the exit. There was three semis that exited but there was nothing to indicate any of them had taken on board the van, and John tracked them as far as he could.

Reaching the outskirts of Paris and into the countryside the cameras were few and far between, and soon all three were lost in the country roads.

~

The family waited. And waited. And waited some more.

No one claimed responsibility, although they were fairly sure that the Hood was behind this – the level of planning and manpower needed to pull something of this calibre off virtually screamed his involvement – and the waiting without knowing became unnerving.

And then one day Kayo caught a lead, a tip discovered in an overheard conversation in a bar. There was a possible location…and she leapt at the chance, no matter how slim. John had been insistent on sending Gordon with her, but Kayo had no time to waste waiting for him to get home from their rescue. The same was said about Penny and Parker, they could meet her there. She was already closer to the place as she was still in France, still looking and chasing leads, and while in the back of her mind it screamed “trap” Kayo didn’t care.

She just needed to find Scott.

The coordinates to an isolated farmhouse in the heart of the mid-Pyrenees in the commune of L’Isle-en-Dodon looked run-down and uninhabited. She crept along the edges of the grounds, looking for hidden cameras, pressure pads and tripwires, but there was nothing.

Eventually there was nothing more for her to do but to enter the main building. The kitchen was empty, as was the next room, but in what would have been the main living area there was a laptop on a dusty table. 

On it was a note: OPEN ME

She did.

Immediately a picture appeared that Kayo could tell was a streamed real-time video, and she swallowed a gasp.

Scott was hanging from a wall, hands chained above him and attached to what looked like a wooden frame. He looked unconscious, and Kayo hoped he was for he was covered with bruises and dried blood. He was still in his suit trousers, but that was all.

The camera panned over the room to the figure she’d been expecting, sitting at a similar desk.

‘Uncle.’

‘Tanusha my dear! So nice of you to join us!’

‘Let him go.’

‘Now why would I do that? He’s become my favourite picture, framed on the wall there for me to look at whenever I want.’

‘What do you want?’

‘Want? I want what is rightfully mine! You by my side and Jeff Tracy’s legacy on a platter. I have one, now don’t you think it’s about time you fulfilled the other?’

Kayo stared at him as he lifted his glass and saluted her. 

‘This obsession with Jeff Tracy has gone too far, Uncle.’

‘Au contraire, Tanusha. I’m enjoying it very much.

‘I repeat, what do you want?’

‘Food for thought, my dear. You. I want you. And if you agree, maybe I’ll let Tracy go.’

“Is she okay?”

The voice of Francois Lemaire lacked empathy. Rigby peered over his shoulder, his eyes narrow in a glare as he sized the man up.

Lemaire stood a few feet away from where he was crouching over an unconscious Kayo, hands clasped together in front of him with his fingers fidgeting anxiously as he awaited a response. Rigby knew he was only concerned for himself. The main reason he’d been so against taking Lemaire with them in the first place, no matter his connections to the business they were investigating, was that he couldn’t be trusted. Kayo hadn’t listened to him, deeming Lemaire worth the risk for the information he claimed to possess.

If he could have said I told you so, he would have done, but Kayo wasn’t currently awake. She was unconscious, yet another victim on Lemaire’s long list of collateral damage, only she was lucky enough to still be breathing.

Lemaire was lucky she was still breathing.

Rigby stood to his full height and turned on the man. He could have sworn Lemaire backed up a step or two, cowering slightly when he could see properly the anger that was evident on Rigby’s features. Rigby didn’t follow him, however. He remained rooted on the spot, next to Kayo.

“She’ll live.” He state bluntly, as though it was through no help from him. Technically speaking, it wasn’t. “Now you’re going to tell me what the hell you were thinking.”

“It wasn’t my idea!” Lemaire protested, his hands palm side down on his chest.

“What wasn’t? The ridiculous stunt you just pulled, or dragging us here in the first place. You were the one who said there was a lead, but all you’ve done is lead us into more and more danger!”

“I suggested that there might be something of interest to you both, for your investigation.”

That had Rigby’s ears perking up. Quizzically, his brows furrowed and he advanced towards Lemaire. “Speaking of our investigation, how did you even come to hear about it?”

“I keep tabs on things…”

Despite his attempts to sound confident, Rigby could tell Lemaire was in the deep end. He gulped visibly and, for every step Rigby took towards him, he backed up double. Rigby knew the man wasn’t as heroic as he’d like to show the world, that Lemaire hid behind his money and lived his life alongside the idea that someone was always going to come and rescue him as a rock-solid fact, but this behaviour he found interesting. Whatever this was, Lemaire was in over his head. The stubborn man was just too proud to admit it.

For now.

“You mean you spy on government agencies, on the GDF?”

“I wouldn’t say spy, not like that anyway. I think its a public service—”

“I’d be very careful how you proceed, Mister Lemaire, if you don’t want to end this day arrested and in a cell.”

Lemaire was taken back, affronted by the threat. Finding his lost confidence, he lifted his chin and, smugly commented, “I’d like to see what my lawyers think about that, Mister Rigby.”

“Captain.” Rigby corrected him with a growl.

“Excuse me?”

“You will address me as Captain Rigby, not ‘mister’.”

Lemaire waved him off as though the matter was unimportant. His lack of respect was astonishing, even to Rigby who had dealt with far worse than him in the past. Master criminals with nefarious intent were only a few leagues above this… imbecile, and that was saying something.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Rigby realised out loud.

“Which one?”

Quite, Rigby thought. Through gritted teeth and with fists curled into balls at his side, he calmly replied. “Both. What were you thinking and what exactly do you ‘keep tabs on’?”

“I wasn’t thinking.” Lemaire proudly proclaimed. “It had been her idea!”

A slender finger was pointed accusingly towards Kayo, who was still peaceful on the ground behind Rigby. The man’s attempt to absolve himself simply by claiming the idea wasn’t his had Rigby’s patience wearing thinner.

“You didn’t think to try and stop her?”

“Why would I? She said she thought she could find a way out of this place. I’d have been a fool to try and stop her.”

“You are a fool, Lemaire, because you let her almost fall to her death! You don’t even care and— Hold on a second! You said you knew the way out of here!”

Lemaire’s eyes suddenly glinted. “… Did I?”

“The whole reason we brought you along with us was because you said you knew the way out of this labryinth.” Rigby sized him up. “Were you lying?”

It didn’t make any sense. Lemaire wouldn’t have put himself in danger if he there wasn’t something he could gain from it. If he was the captain of a ship, Lemaire would be the first to jump overboard and then later proclaim that he’d been the hero all along, simply because he’d been there.

“No! No, no, no! I wasn’t lying. There must have been some sort of miscommunication… Perhaps my secretary sent you the wrong details… or something...”

Rigby was having none of it. He shook his head. “I spoke to you directly. When you told us you had the lead, you said to me that you knew this place like the back of your hand.”

Behind him, Kayo stirred. The first groan was so quiet, he almost missed it. Rigby abandoned his interrogation and crouched back down to help his friend.

She was trying to sit herself up, gripping her head. “Everything… spinning…”

“Take it easy, Kay. You had a nasty fall.”

“Fall… falling… I don’t…”

Again, she tried to move, and, again, Rigby cautioned her against it.

“Take it easy.”

Her eyes, which had been blinking painfully as she reorientated herself, suddenly flashed wide open, and that was the moment Rigby’s heart sunk. He’d seen Kayo scared before. Working with her so often, Rigby had picked up on certain tells. Normally she’d pretend, very convincingly, to be anything but terrified and he usually would have argued that she’d perfected that skill. But this time she wasn’t trying to hide her fear. The absolute terror that was shining from her amber hues sent a chilling shiver down Rigby’s spine.

“We have to get out.” Kayo whispered. Her words were sharp, crisp and she tried to move again.

“Yeah, we’ve been trying that. Don’t you remember?” Perhaps the fall had done more damage than Rignby had previously thought.

Adamant in her need to sit up, he stopped fighting her and aided her instead. Kayo pressed her back into the wall behind her and Rigby immediately set the medical scanner to work again.

As he hovered it over her body, Kayo peeked over his shoulder. “Where is he?”

“Who, Lemaire? He’s right…”

Rigby turned to point the man out, only he’d vanished. He couldn’t suppress his sigh. Now, of all moments, was the time Lemaire decided to bolt? Rigby guessed he shouldn’t have expected any less.

His attention was again returned to Kayo as she pulled on his jacket sleeves. She was shaking her head. “That wasn’t Lemaire.”

“What do you mean that wasn’t Lemaire? Of course it was.” He lifted up three fingers. “How many?”

Kayo batted them away forcefully. “I’m not playing around, Rigs. We need to get out. Now!”

“Kay, relax, alright? He’s probably just gone off for a wander. You know what Lemaire’s like.”

“That wasn’t Lemaire!”

“Then who—?”

The blood drained from Rigby’s face as the realisation sunk in. He felt the presence behind him before he’d had the chance to stand and face the man. Like the coward he was, he didn’t wait for Rigby to confront him.

The so-called Lemaire imposter kicked Rigby’s legs out from under him, knocking him off-balance and sending him to the floor. Polished brogues collided with his stomach. The breath was taken out of him.

Rigby glanced up in time to see Lemaire’s face morph into a more sinister appearance, one Rigby was unfortunately well acquainted with. Large, bushy brows and a thin, gaunt face. He was smiling down at Rigby, the same shoes as before kicking once again as he tried to upholster his weapon.

“And the penny drops.” The Hood’s taunt was accompanied by a condescending smile. “And they claim you are one of the GDF’s best and brightest? Pah!”

The Hood bent down and retrieved Rigby’s weapon. He aimed at the two of them, gesturing for Rigby to join Kayo by the wall.

With little power currently in his court, Rigby obeyed. He shuffled backwards and offered an apologetic look towards Kayo. She, however, had her eyes set on the man in front of them. She glared at her uncle.

“Come now, Tanusha, don’t be like that.” The Hood waved the weapon towards her communications device. “Do something more useful and call off your brothers’s rescue mission. We don’t want to be disturbed.”

He’d spat that word — brothers’s — with every ounce of disdain he could muster. Everyone knew if the Hood’s complete contempt for Kayo’s decision to join his enemies rather than stand with him. It ate away at him, bred more scorn towards the family Kayo chose to call her own.

Kayo did as she was told. Like Rigby, she understood the predicament.

As she typed away her message, he glowered up at the Hood. “What’s your endgame here anyway? I thought this complex was closed down? And why bother pretending to be Lemaire?”

And with that he plunged a needle into Scott’s neck and all Scott could see was the mocking smirk on the Hood’s face as he lost consciousness.

The next thing Scott was aware of was a warm hand holding his and a pressure against his side.

It took a few tries but eventually he managed to open his eyes and focus long enough to make out Virgil asleep on the chair with his upper body on the bed, clasping Scott’s hand. Scott couldn’t help but smile fondly, slowly and carefully sliding his hand out of his brother’s grasp and gently resting it on Virgil’s head.

Someone clearing their throat had Scott’s head whipping to his other side, where John sat with an equally fond smile on his face.

‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Uhh…I’m not sure.’

John’s smile grew wider as he put his tablet to one side and reached over to the table at the foot of the bed, snagging the cup of ice chips and helping Scott eat several before putting the cup back down.

‘What do you remember?’ ‘The Hood…th-the chain…’

John reached forward and squeezed his brother’s forearm. He’d known that part would be particularly hard on Scott, and it had come as no surprise that that was the part that was uppermost on his mind.

‘Do you remember how you got there?’ ‘Not really. I vaguely recall a walk…in a park?’ ‘Yeah. You were taking a break from back-to-back meetings and had gone to get some air. You were jumped as you left the park, they were so quick that security had no chance to stop them.’

Scott looked down and John could feel him pulling into himself and so he tightened his hand. His brother was focused on the bandage around his wrist. Scott offered him a watery smile. When he did speak his voice was hoarse, and not from the sedative he’d been given.

‘How long?’ ‘Six days.’ ‘Six days?!’ ‘Sorry. You were cloaked, we couldn’t find you. I – I tried, honestly I…’

Scott moved his hand and grabbed John’s, giving it a squeeze in assurance.

‘I know, John. I know you would have moved heaven and earth to find me.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘How did you find me?’ ‘Your tracker suddenly appeared.’

John stopped speaking at Scott’s sudden frown. His brother looked like he’d seen a ghost, the little colour he had draining quickly.

‘What? What is it?’ ‘I – I remember. The Hood was gloating and then…something happened, I can’t remember what, but I knew that you were coming. Then he said “I may not win, but I’m going to make sure you lose” and stuck a needle in my neck.’ ‘What did he mean?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘We better double check your bloodwork then.’

Virgil’s voice was rough with sleep but he’d heard the last few sentences and was rapidly waking up. John moved to grab a fresh coffee for him while Scott sat back, resigned to more prodding and needles.

The bloodwork came back clean.

Over the next few hours Scott had visits from Gordon and Alan and Grandma, and after some more sleep and more clear bloodwork she gave approval for Scott to leave and he gratefully took up residence in the den, helping (‘ordering, more like’ said Gordon) the tinies build a pillow fort.

A couple of movies later and Kayo came home. She’d stayed at the scene and liaised with the GDF as they took her uncle into custody (again – but she was trying to be charitable…again) but as it became clear that there was nothing more she could do she couldn’t wait to see that Scott was alright with her own eyes.

Making her way inside the fort, she wiggled Alan out of the way to scoot down in his place next to Scott, nudging her brother’s shoulder. Scott turned to her and flashed a grin.

But then the grin faded and Kayo watched with concern as Scott’s pupils dilated until it seemed that they were black.

Before anyone could move Scott’s hands were around Kayo’s neck.

The pillow fort made it difficult to move but everyone moved quickly. Virgil tried to pull Scott off Kayo while John and Alan tried to get his hands to loosen, but Scott seemed to have superhuman strength.

Kayo was losing consciousness fast when Gordon vaulted back into the fort and stabbed one of iR’s preprepared tranq’s into Scott’s thigh.

It didn’t work.

In the end it took two sedatives and all their combined efforts to pry Scott free. By the time they had separated them Kayo was unconscious.

In the infirmary John and Virgil stood at the foot of both beds. The sedation wouldn’t wear off Scott for some time, even with his freaky metabolism. They had erected a screen between the beds so that he couldn’t see Kayo in the other bed. They had also cuffed him to the bed just in case.

They were running his bloods again to try and find out what had caused the sudden switch in personality. Whatever had caused it hadn’t shown up in any of the tests they had run.

Right now there was only one thing that was sure.