#csatm

Colonel White steepled his fingers before his face as he stared at his officer, standing at attention before his desk. Scarlet was rumpled but healed after a small fracas groundside in a civilian-but-popular-with-WASP bar, which itself had been after a joint exercise between their two organisations. Blue and Grey had also been involved - both in the exercise and in the fracas - and they would have been present but Fawn hadn’t released them yet and as the alleged instigator, the responsibility rested on Scarlet’s head.

“Why did you backhand Tempest?” he finally asked. 

“With the relative positions of myself, Captain Blue, Captain Grey, the other officer, his buddies, and the furniture, I judged a backhand was the best tactical option,” was the crisp report.  

The cheek of it would have gotten a smile from him if it hadn’t been for his years of command experience. “That’s not what I asked, Captain.”

“No, sir,” was Scarlet’s ready agreement.

“So tell me, Captain Scarlet, why did you hit him?” 

Somehow Scarlet drew himself into an even stiffer ‘attention’. “Sir. I did not hit him when he and his buddies were unknowingly mocking Captain Grey when they discussed the captain of the first Stingray prototype. I did not hit him when they insulted Spectrum as an organisation. I did not hit him when he turned to insulting you personally, sir, nor did I hit him when he started insulting myself and Captains Blue and Grey. At that point Captain Blue, Captain Grey, and I attempted to deescalate the situation by removing ourselves from the area but the other officer continued to escalate. I hit him,” his jaw clenched, “because he insulted the Angels.” 

“I see.” Privately, White was almost certain that list would have been half as long if it hadn’t been for Grey and Blue’s presence. He had already watched the security tapes, he knew his officer’s temper and the pride he had in Spectrum, and he also knew how short Scarlet’s fuse could get when someone started in on his favourite people. “What was the nature of this insult?” 

“Sir, I am uncomfortable repeating it word for word but I will relay exactly what he said in my report on the incident. Tempest stated that the Angels are on Cloudbase for decorative purposes and,” Scarlet’s mouth thinned, “and to provide… entertainment for the male senior officers.” 

“I see. Any mitigating factors in this situation?” 

“They were drinking, sir. We were not, which appeared to trigger some of their commentary.” 

Choosing to ignore the admission that Scarlet had information on Grey’s life before Spectrum - because this meeting was not about that - White sat back in his chair to consider what to do next. With that damning accusation against him, it was almost a surprise that the WASP officer was alive to complain. ‘Shore is generally a reasonable man, but unfortunately the person in question is one of his favourites and this little incident has stung WASP’s pride as well - my three gave Shore’s five a sound drubbing.’ Decision made, White took some time to pick his words - again, he knew his officer. “While your actions are understandable, I cannot condone inciting violence against other organisations, no matter how unacceptable their actions are. We cannot claim the high ground by sinking to their level. I believe it was George Bernard Shaw who had a rather pithy saying about ‘don’t mud wrestle with pigs, you’ll both get dirty and the pig likes it’ - but while we do not start fights, Captain, we do finish them.” 

That got the barest twitch at the corner of Scarlet’s mouth. “Yessir.” 

“In any case,” White continued, “despite any personal opinions that may be held on the matter, the forms must be observed. Along with your report I want a formal apology letter on my desk by 1800 and after your duty shift tomorrow you will be spending three hours as fetch-and-carry for Medical, they have a restock arriving at 2100.” 

“Yessir.” Scarlet accepted it without reservation: they both knew that his punishment should have been much worse. 

“You’re settling in your friends and your brother, then I’m bringing you food and you’re going to eat it,” was the blunt instruction. “You’re not collapsing on me, understood?”

“S.I.G.” Xanthic turned to Brains and MAX and put on a warm smile. “C’mon Brains, MAX. Doctor Fawn’ll want to make sure you’re okay, then we’ll get you cleaned up and sorted with a room. You’re gonna love meeting Cloud, I just know it.” He looked at Wayne next. “Didn’t get a chance earlier, but thank you.” Gordon indicated first towards Brains and MAX, then in the rough direction of the other helicopter with Virgil. “Thank you for looking after them.”

“It was the least we could do,” Rigby replied. “What’s next?”

“Like I said, getting you all checked out and settled in, and then?” Xanthic knew his smile was sharp. “Then the truth gets out.”

T H U N D E R F A L L 

At the same time, Virgil was blushing with embarrassment as he was unloaded from his helicopter. The drip had been changed out halfway through the trip for a fresh one, and Scott had resolutely refused to allow him to get off the hover stretcher, instead insisting he stay put.

"I can walk, you know." Virgil huffed from the stretcher. This was kind of humiliating, he was tired, not hurt. He could make it to the infirmary under his own power, thank you very much. Especially now that the second drip had finished, he was feeling pretty decent. Feeling very self-conscious already, that feeling redoubled when their group joined up with the group from the second helicopter - Wayne, MAX, Brains, and the rest of the Captains. “Seriously, I can walk!” 

Scott - no, Cobalt, when he was in uniform, he was Cobalt, Virgil had to remember that -  gave a small laugh from his place, walking next to the stretcher. "That's what you think. You haven't met our CMO yet. He can give you and Grandma a run for your money." 

There were soft chuckles from - Blue and Scarlet. Uniforms meant code names, he had to remember. Virgil thought back to some of the stories that were told back in New Haven, then disregarded them. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He just needed some rest and food, and he'd be fine.  

Virgil liked the colour scheme of infirmary as he was brought into it. Sage green and gainsboro grey, nice easy colours. Standard white ceiling though, which was a shame. The Island infirmary had light panels and a projector to keep you from going stir crazy because you'd been staring at a plain, white nothing. They stopped in what looked like the main receiving area and that was when the medical team struck. 

In what had to have been a pre-arranged manoeuvre of the ‘divide and conquer’ type, the tiny blonde doctor he’d met back in Houston - Burgundy, he belatedly remembered - came from the direction of the nurses’ station and Xanthic beckoned her towards Brains, Wayne and Dosela. A short, low, conversation and Doctor Burgundy and Xanthic were guiding all of them plus MAX to what had to be a ward or something, while further away an office door opened and a brown haired man in pale blue scrubs and a lab coat came over to meet them. 

"Captains, who’s this?" 

Cobalt gestured, "Dr. Fawn, Thunderbird Two. Two, Dr. Fawn."

"Doctor." Virgil nodded at the man, then looked at Cobalt. "Can I get up now?" he demanded in a testy tone. 

One of the others, Virgil couldn't tell who, muttered, "Your funeral." 

Cobalt rolled his eyes and helped Virgil to sit up, which was slightly better.

"Thunderbird Two, hello." Dark brown eyes scanned over him, then turned to Blue. "What's wrong with him?"

"My CMO called it 'run ragged'." Virgil interrupted. "I just need some food and sleep." 

"No hidden wounds? No broken limbs you don't want to mention?" Fawn asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You're confusing me with - Cobalt." Had to remember to use the right names. 

"Humph, we'll see about that," the doctor said. "Let's get you up and clean. If you check out okay, then yes, you can go eat and sleep."

Virgil muttered, "Toldya," at his brother and pulled the blanket off so he could swing his feet off the stretcher. A shower and some clean clothes would be wonderful. Even if he had to put up with a medical exam first. The muck from the tunnels had dried and set his clothes into what almost felt like fitted armour. Virgil was mentally consigning the entire lot of it to the bin when Scarlet spoke up. "I say, Two. Is that just the dirt or have you put on some weight?"

Virgil was absurdly pleased that someone noticed that, yes, he had been trying to eat on the regular.

"Excuse me, Scarlet, but did you say put on weight?" Fawn's voice had a strangled tone as if he was forcing the words out.

Virgil was aware that the other men seemed to move away from him and Fawn. 

"Yes, I did. He looks better than he did when he passed out six months back." 

Belatedly recognising the danger, Virgil kept his attention at Fawn, who had a twitch in his jaw line and a hard look in his eyes. "Scarlet, in yer semi expert opinion, as my favourite idiot, is ‘e in better or worse shape than Five was when ‘e got shot?" The doctor now had a distinctly Australian twang bleeding through and for some reason that had the others retreating even further.

"In my semi expert opinion, as your favourite idiot, I would say that he is slightly better, but not by much." The words were crisp and precise in a cut glass accent.

"Right." Fawn pointed at Virgil. "Do NOT move." He looked up at the ceiling. "Cloud, I need James and Kirimiko ‘ere, as of two min’its ago." Of course, Dr. Fawn. They have been notified and are enroute.

"Thank yew." Fawn waved a hand at the others, his gaze locked on Virgil. "Yew lot can go report to the Colonel or wha’ever it is yew need to do. I've got this from ‘ere." 

Cobalt leaned in and patted Virgil on his shoulder. "Good luck."

"Hey!" Virgil turned to see the others vanishing towards the main entrance. He turned back just in time to see a woman and a man approaching from the other side, both wearing the expressions of medics well used to interesting patients. "I'm fine!"

T H U N D E R F A L L 

An hour after the helicopters returned, White steepled his fingers before his face and listened attentively as his captains reported back. They were in the conference room because it was bigger - fitting everyone into the Control Room was more than a bit of a squeeze - and this way everyone could sit down.

By now Thunderbird Two had been cleaned up, checked over, and installed in the same iso ward that held Thunderbird Five. Fawn’s update had come with a note: ‘Figured they’d be less trouble and easier to contain if they’re in the same room, probably famous last words but we’ll see. If you need it for the trial, Burgundy and I can testify about medical neglect for both of them. Keep the troublemakers out of Medical if you can, I have angry staff brainstorming ways to make UnNamed not a problem any more.’

Rigby and Dosela (whom, he noted, did not claim the titles of Thunderbird One and Thunderbird Four) had been given a clean bill of health and one of the VIP rooms, as had Brains and MAX. EOS had also introduced herself to him (at Cloud’s urging, as she was a guest and it was polite to do so), and he’d immediately seen the similarities between the AI and her companion.

In turn he had advised his officers of the call from Jeff Tracy. The attempted deception had gotten quite the range of reactions from them, not all of which were well hidden. A report from the Boston office of what appeared to be a snatch team evading police in New Haven got almost identical looks of terror on Cobalt and Xanthic’s faces - and quiet touches of reassurance from the officers flanking them - but they didn’t say anything about it yet.

“What do we do now, sir?”

That was Ochre, a thoughtful frown on his face.

White double checked the information in front of him. “Now we wait for Ms. Cavernaugh’s broadcast and whatever actions that Jeff Tracy chooses to make between now and then. That will decide when we release the recordings and when we make the arrest. Cobalt, Xanthic, you are now off duty until further notice. Go to the Room of Sleep and get an hour of down time, the flight from London is due in eighty nine minutes. The rest of you are on standby in the Lounge. When the ‘Room is free, cycle yourselves through it. Sort out who is going when amongst yourselves and send the list to me later, but I want two officers ready to respond at all times.” White swept his gaze over them all. “Your patience is about to pay off. Whilst I myself would prefer to simply arrest the man, he still has the ears of powerful people who would protest on his behalf. Destroying his public reputation will whip away the support that might otherwise save his neck.”

Cobalt stood, one hand in a tight fist. “Is there any word from Gold about the incursion at the Creighton-Ward Manor, sir?”

White raised an eyebrow, but pulled up the preliminary report. “’Eleven suspects in custody or dead. All civilians alive - minor injuries and enroute to Cloudbase. Report to follow.’ Captain Gold seems to belong to the fewest words possible school of reports.” The colonel looked at Scarlet - also a devotee of this particular report style - and was rewarded with a slight shuffle of feet.

“Thank you, sir. Much appreciated.” Cobalt nodded and headed out with Xanthic at his side.

If anyone noticed Xanthic’s hand on Cobalt’s shoulder, no one cared to mention it.

The Tracys detoured through the commissary to grab fruit and yoghurt before turning themselves over to the RoS. They’d have less than fifteen minutes to make themselves presentable and be in the hangar waiting for the SPJ to finish post flight.

The technician on duty was Karina, and she ushered them to the gimbal mounted beds with her usual care. An hour of dreamless sleep that seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, and she was back at their sides with the glasses of warm water needed to wash out the usual gumminess. “The colonel put out a general update while you were down,” she told them as she collected the empty glasses. “We’re under ‘active crisis’ rules, so you can take another three one-hour sessions over the next thirty six, then you’re on a fifty six ‘cool down’ from the RoS.”

“Any way we can stretch that?” Cobalt asked as he put his tunic, ‘Cap and boots back on.

“Only if you get a solid eight hour block of natural sleep between now and when the thirty six runs out.” Karina informed him. “That’ll let you tack on another twenty four hours and a one hour session. But,” she gave them both a hard look, “we’re monitoring everything closely. CMO’s orders.”

“Understood.” Xanthic stood up from zipping up his boots and put his pistol back in the holster. “C’mon Cobalt, we need to get to the hangar.”

“S.I.G.”

A quick stop off in their cabins to brush their teeth and splash water on their faces, then they were on their way to the hangar. No change of clothes however. Yes, they were off-duty, but they both needed the armour of their Spectrum identities right now. It was harder to hold that identity when they weren’t in uniform.

The hangar had only just pressurised when they arrived, technicians swarming in to start the usual post-flight, and the SPJ’s hatch was already opened so people could disembark.

“Cobalt!”

Scott was never so glad to hear a voice in his life. He wove his way through the people on the deck toward the SPJ and met Kayo halfway. He didn’t actually care who saw what at that moment and pulled her into his arms for a tight embrace. She returned with equal strength, but as he pulled back to check her over, she pulled on his arms, tugging him towards the jet. “It’s Alan, he needs you.”

His heart plummeted like an asteroid in the sun's gravity well. “Where? How bad?”

“Bad.” She pulled him toward the passenger area of the jet. Scott locked everything down behind being ‘Cobalt’, he’d fall apart later when he had the luxury to do so. Right now he was already calculating the fastest path to Medical in his head. Lil was standing just inside the door, a worried frown on her face. “He ‘asn’t moved.”

Before Cobalt could demand an explanation of that, the sight inside the plane froze the words in his mouth. Alan was sitting in one of the chairs at the very back of the plane, dressed in the baggy grey coveralls that all the vehicles had for when you needed clean clothes. Looking strangely child-like in the too-big overalls, Alan had his head in his hands, his eyes fixed on the floor, and his body was curled up and in. 

“What happened?” He had to force the words out of a suddenly tight throat. Kayo turned to face him. While her face was carefully neutral, her eyes brimmed with grief that she didn’t dare let out right now. “Three of them cornered Lil and Alan.” She took a slow breath. “Alan had knives.”

Scott shoved Cobalt aside, this was big brother stuff. “And?” He was horrifically certain he knew what the answer was.

“Perfectly placed throat shot for one.” Kayo’s voice had become flat. “Up close and personal for the other two. Yes, they’re all dead.”

Scott nodded, his mind whirling at one of his worst nightmares coming true. This was the thing that all of them had tried to shield Alan from: having to take a life instead of saving it. “Any physical wounds?” Those were the easy ones, an immediate problem that could be fixed. The rest… that would take time. Time, patience, and expertise that he wasn’t sure he had.

“Just some bruises and a couple of minor cuts. But he should go to Medical to make sure,” Kayo told him, then nodded to the other occupied chairs at the front of the plane. “Penny took a leg shot, it’s stable with wound foam, and Lil’ was tased, but she seems okay.”

“I’ll tell Fawn and get stretchers and a ‘chair.” That was Xanthic, already moving off to do exactly that.

“Thank you,” Scott said absently. He was already trying to work the problem, then threw that all to the wind. What Alan needed was comfort. He crouched near Alan’s seat. “Allie?”

The blond head came up, blue eyes all the more striking by the redness around them. “S-scooter?”

“Yeah, it’s Scooter.” He was going to have to be careful here, the wrong word and Alan would shatter. He shuffled closer, only to be knocked back as Alan launched himself into Scott and held on for dear life.

The youngest Tracy was trembling like a leaf, his breathing coming in short, rip-saw gasps, and his hands clutching at him as if he was the only thing keeping him from cracking into a thousand pieces. Scott folded his legs under himself and sat on the floor with Alan in his lap, tucked Alan’s head under his chin and hummed softly as he gently rocked his littlest brother. He didn’t ignore the shoulder-heaving sobs but let them happen, knowing all too well the catharsis of having a deep, soul-purging cry.

He absolutely did not let the words ‘it’s okay’ cross his lips, because it wasn’t. The nature of rescue work meant that Alan wasn’t a stranger to death, but while he’d been there when people passed, he’d never taken a life before. Today, that man had forced Alan to cross that line, stealing yet another thing away from his baby brother.

‘If I’d known about this... Jeff wouldn’t have walked off that beach.’ Scott only let himself entertain the dark thought for a handful of seconds before putting it away. It wasn’t going to help Alan, and that’s what he needed to focus on right now. The sobs slowly eased, and that was when Scott ventured a careful “Allie, I want to get you to Medical for a check up, you okay with that?”

Alan nodded, but he looped his arms around Scott’s neck and clung on. Scott understood immediately. “Okay Allie, I’ve got you.” A grunt of effort and he was standing, his youngest brother in his arms.

In the meantime, Gordon had come back with the stretchers and gotten Penny out of the jet and onto one, Bertie in her arms, and was waiting beside the plane with Parker, Kayo and Lillian, who was in a hoverchair. When Gordon saw the situation, he pushed the other stretcher out of the way, it wasn’t needed.

He’d also come back with something else: all five of the other Colour Captains and Harmony and Melody, the two Angels not on duty. Without a word, they ringed the group, shielding them all from the eyes of strangers and ushering them along to Medical.

When they got there, Cobalt immediately disappeared into an exam room with Alan, Fawn close on his heels. Meanwhile, Burgundy handed custody of Bertie over to Xanthic and took charge of Penny, whisking her behind a curtain with Kirimiko in attendance, leaving Parker to fuss over Bertie and Lilian until she smacked his hand and snapped, “Aloysius Parker! I’m the old woman here, not you!”

Heads turned at that, Ochre’s mouth formed ‘Aloysius’, and Magenta’s ears pricked up. Kayo immediately appeared in front of them. “Take whatever thought you have out of your heads and drop it over the side,” she warned Ochre and Magenta, “otherwise I will drop you over the side.”

Melody took Ochre’s arm and levelled a hard look at Magenta, who nodded his complete agreement. “I’ll make sure they behave, sughar.” She tugged on Ochre’s arm. “C’mon, our turn for the RoS. You too, Mags. You’re gonna need it before you convince the Old Man to take a nap too.”

“But -” Ochre started.

“Unless you want yours in a sling, I’d stop right there, honey.” Taking Magenta’s arm as well, Melody guided both men out of Medical with the bemused looks of their fellow captains following, Harmony slipping in behind to ensure they didn’t do anything stupid.

Half an ear on the exchange, Xanthic was checking over Bertie just as Fawn slipped out of the exam room and Pastor Juniper slipped in. Xanthic took one look at the murderous expression on Fawn’s face and placed himself and Bertie right in front of the CMO. “Can you look Bertie over?” Xanthic held up the pug before Fawn could do more than open his mouth. “His barking alerted everyone to the intruders, but he got a steel toed kick for it. It would mean a lot to Lady Penelope.”

Fawn’s mouth twitched as he looked down at the small dog. “I'm a doctor, not a vet... but I know someone who can get the latest in canine care books. Cloud?”

Accessing now, Cloud replied. Requesting medical scan data, please.

“Coming.” Fawn fished a handheld scanner out of his lab coat pocket, let Bertie sniff both him and the device first, then ran it over the little pug and waited for Cloud to examine the results and cross-reference the findings with the databanks he was accessing.

No internal injuries, some minor bruising, minor dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, was Cloud’s assessment.

“So a prescription of cuddles and fussing, some water, and a bowl of tucker?” Fawn asked.

There was a pause as Cloud presumably looked up ‘tucker’ then, Affirmative. I will contact the catering staff and query if they have any suitable options.

“Thank you Cloud, appreciated.” Fawn nodded.

You are welcome. Is there anything else I can do to assist? Rooms have already been allocated for all persons.

Fawn threw a worried glance at the room that held the youngest and eldest Tracys, then at the Tracy in front of him, then in the direction of the iso pod that held the final two, and his heart, hardened and shielded though it was through years of the medical world, broke a little on behalf of the people who had suffered so much at the hands of someone who should have protected them and loved them.

“...I’ll let you know.” He turned to Xanthic. “You’re off duty, so you’re looking after Bertie until Lady Penelope and the others have been treated. See James about a bowl of water and whatever else he needs. As for you three,” he looked at Scarlet, Blue and Grey, “you’re still on duty. Refuel and rest. You can’t help anyone if you’re half dead.” He turned to Shadow, Parker, and Lil. “I can have someone take you to your rooms.”

Xanthic shook his head. "No can do, doc." He turned and handed Bertie over to Parker with care. "Someone has to tell Two and Five what's happened. That's best from me and Shadow."  He turned to Shadow. "You want to handle Five and I'll take Two?" Shadow nodded, "Yes," her gaze on the room where Two and Five were.

"Cloud, can you keep EOS from acting prematurely as well?" Xanthic requested.

I will do so to my best ability, Captain Xanthic. "My patients are my responsibility, I'll tell them." Fawn informed them all.

The look that came Fawn's way was agate hard. "Doc, you're used to corralling Colour Captains who are scared of you. Five is way more healthy than he was the last time you saw him and Two might be a ghost of himself, but both of them are capable of wreaking havoc at a level that Scarlet can only dream about."

Blue put a hand on Scarlet's chest to keep him from responding to that implied slight. "This is best coming from family, Dr. Fawn." Shadow's voice was soft. "Let us do what needs doing, please?"

Fawn glanced between the two of them, then at the captains. “Blue, get Parker, Bertie, and Lil to their room. Shadow, Xanthic, my office,” he ordered, turning on his heel and marching off without waiting for them to follow.

He was mildly surprised that they actually did follow, and he ushered them into his soundproofed office. Once they were inside and the door was shut, he crossed the floor to his desk, leaned over the edge and engaged the full privacy locks, which included turning off the security camera in the corner. The final step was putting a mug upside down over the holo emitter on his desk, just in case someone called or decided to access the microphone remotely. Once done, he turned around and regarded the two of them with a grim expression.

“I accept that it’s best coming from family, but I need to know what you’re going to tell them,” he began, arms crossed and leaning on the edge of his desk. “I don’t know if either of you understand exactly how sick Two and Five are. When Five first got here, he was skin and bones held together with stubbornness and sarcasm. While yes, he has improved, the percentage points he’s gained are still single digits. If Two is ‘better’ I’m afraid to ask what his ‘bad’ looked like. All their stress markers are off the charts, I’ve got active monitoring on both of them for all major organ functions with checks every fifteen and bloods every hour. I don’t want to hear anything about how tough iR operatives are and how much punishment you can take. Xanthic, I know how much you and Cobalt can take - I patch you up afterwards - but you’re healthy. They’re far from it, and I’m guessing the ‘go until drop’ is a family trait.” He uncrossed his arms, dropping his head slightly and letting his worry show. “Short version, Two and Five’s health is right now on a knife’s edge. I am not exaggerating. I don’t want to put my foot down, but I will protect my patients, which, if necessary, includes protecting them from themselves and from family with the best intentions.”

Xanthic shifted his stance, his expression sharpening at the idea he could be a threat to his family, and for the first time Fawn became keenly aware how dangerous the man in front of him was. He’d just never had it aimed at him before. Then Shadow laid a hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eyes, and the sharpness faded away.  

Still keeping her hand on Xanthic, Shadow then turned that penetrating green gaze onto him. 

"You've kept my brothers alive and mostly well, and I deeply appreciate it,” she began, “I appreciate it more than you will ever know. But I also know my brothers, in some cases, better than they know themselves. Five will take what happened to Three as a personal failing." She held up her free hand to forestall his response. "Yes, I know that is an unreasonable and illogical reaction, but that is what Five is going to think. He's going to blame himself for not being better. Two is also going to blame himself for not leaving with Cobalt, Xanthic, and Three. He already blames himself for staying and being Thunderbird Two, and he’ll castigate himself over Three and what happened, utterly sure that he could have kept it from happening." She let go of Xanthic's shoulder to curl her arm around his shoulders. "This one is already doing it."

"Hey!"

The look she turned to him was fond. "You can tell me you're not?"

Xanthic's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, then he shook his head.

 "Idiot." She turned back to Fawn. "I won't even try to explain the hell that Cobalt is putting himself through. It's darker than any I've ever had to tread. Before you ask it, yes, I blame myself as well. I knew there was going to be a reaction from UnNamed, I should have stayed with Three, I should have protected him better. Parker and Lady Penelope will be blaming themselves as well. It doesn't make sense but that's how we work. Yes, these are skewed metrics, but they're the only ones we've been able to survive with, and I can tell you as well that with our history, not knowing what’s happened to someone is a unique hell all of its own. So we need to tell Two and Five. Not everything, but enough that they know that Three is safe and enough to keep themselves from stressing themselves with unknown variables. We can ask Cloud to sit on EOS, try to keep her out of the files." 

"Have Five ask her, she usually listens to him," Xanthic suggested. 

Shadow nodded. "Good thought, but we have to tell them something. Maybe not the full truth, not now, but they both need to know something. Not knowing might just be enough to have them tumble off that knife's edge."

“Only if I’m there and when I say stop, you do,” Fawn countered. “You know your brothers, but I know what happens if a human body is pushed too far. And as for ‘Eos’, if she’s the same person who was fiddling with my doors last time, I want assurances there won’t be a repeat event,” Fawn growled. “She put Five in danger with that stunt. If things don’t go to plan I’m going to have more patients in here. I will not have someone playing with my systems and putting lives at risk.”

Xanthic snorted with something that was almost laughter. "She is, she probably won't, especially if Five asks her not to."

"And if they wake up and there's not even a note telling them everyone is here and mostly alright, they will break out to find out what’s going on." Shadow added. "If they're asleep, we'll leave a note. If they're awake, we'll keep to the bare minimum and you can be there to enforce it." 

“Only what is absolutely necessary,” Fawn reiterated with a nod, took the mug off the projector and deactivated the privacy protocols. “This way.” He led them out and around to the iso ward where Two and Five had been sequestered.

T H U N D E R F A L L

Virgil was entertaining himself by doing his finger exercises. Without a keyboard for reference, he was doing it from memory, which was keeping his mind focused on that and not spiralling out on what might be happening elsewhere. John was asleep (passed out or drugged, Virgil wasn't sure), he wasn't allowed to talk to Cloud or EOS, and the nurses that came in every fifteen minutes to check things or do blood draws, (he'd timed it on his watch - the clock still worked but he couldn’t access the internet here) were friendly but refused to answer anything but the most general of questions. 

The door opened while he was doing a particularly tricky run. It was too early for the nurse. Surprised, he looked up to see a yellow tunic of colour streaking brightness. "...Xanthic!" 

The smile he got back outshone the tunic. "Hey Two." 

Virgil's gaze went to the next person and he gave a small sigh of relief. "Shadow." Their jungle cat of a sister was too relaxed for anything to be really wrong.

She came over and kissed his brow gently. "It's good to see you again, Two." She sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. Xanthic leaned on the wall with an air of studied casualness that Virgil could read easier than music. Doctor Fawn was the last to enter, and he nodded to Virgil before going to check John's drips and the readings of the autonurse. "Who's hurt?" he demanded. Gordon was wearing his 'everything is okay but it's not' face.

"Penny was shot, an incursion at the Manor," Kayo said. "It was a through and through in her leg that missed the bone. Three, Lil, and Bertie have some bruises and are shaken up, but okay." 

"Bertie? What happened to Bertie?" The little dog was the least likely to be hurt. "Some piece of hagfish slime kicked him," Gordon snarled.

"They weren't expecting Bertie, his barking gave us the warning we needed," Kayo filled in. 

Virgil was bewildered. "They got past the security system? How?"

"That is something that Parker and I are very interested in finding out." Kayo's tone promised dark and dreadful things to those who arranged that.

"Time's up." Doctor Fawn stood at the foot of John's bed. 

"But they just got here!" Virgil protested.

"And you are still under observation," the doctor shot back. 

Kayo kissed Virgil's forehead again as she stood up. "Behave and do as you're told." "Or it's Grandma's cookies for you." Gordon added as he pushed off the wall. 

The robot nurse warbled as Virgil's heart rate spiked. "Grandma! Is she okay?"

"We contacted her on the way here. She's headed for New York and she's fine," Kayo soothed.

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, everyone he cared about was accounted for. He touched Kayo's hand. "You'll come back soon?"

"As soon as Fawn lets us," Xanthic promised. "You'll bring Five up to speed when he wakes up?"

"FEH, like you need to ask?"

Xanthic's eyes glinted. "Well, I don't know if you've been dropped on your head recently. You could have more than the usual amount of brain damage." He ducked out of the room before Virgil could find something to throw.

Kayo rolled her eyes. "I'll get the Fish later. You just get better," she told him and left. 

Fawn crossed his arms. "Don't even think about getting out of that bed. Your blood gases are still too low." "Yes, sir. Could I at least have a book to read or a pad of paper and pencil to draw with?" The nurses had kept telling him the CMO had to approve either. 

Fawn narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Crayons. I don't trust you with a sharp pencil yet." Before Virgil could pull together a protest at that, Fawn followed up by pointing first at John, then in the direction that Xanthic had gone. “That one broke into the base, and that one and the other one regularly try to break each other or their buddies out of Medical. Can you blame me?”

Virgil huffed a laugh. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

Fawn’s eyes softened. “I’ll get you something, Two. But you have to take it easy, we don’t need a recreation of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.”

Seeing the concern and the worry behind the medical mask, Virgil offered a nod, the promise of something to entertain himself with helping soften things. “F.A.B.”

T H U N D E R F A L L 

On the other side of Medical, in one of the smaller exam rooms, Juniper looked at his drowsing charges and yet again was amazed by the depth of love that knit this family together. They balanced each other out, both anchor and support, the wind that lifted them and the safety line that kept them from going too far.

Huddled up on the exam bed with his brother, Three had clung to Scott, only barely letting go long enough for Scott to shed his tunic, pistol, ‘Cap and boots to make curling up with him that much easier. At Scott’s urging, Three had taken the folding knife from his overalls pocket and handed it over to him, reluctant to touch it, but just as reluctant to let it go.

Juniper understood that. It had helped him save Lillian - and by extension himself - but he’d killed with it, a dichotomy that he was having trouble processing. He’d taken it from Three with the promise of getting it cleaned, and it was right now sitting in a kidney bowl on the other side of the room. He’d plied the both of them with strong, sweet cups of builder’s tea and dry crackers, and in halting, piecemeal fashion, Three had briefed them on what happened between the news breaking and when Gold had ushered them out of the mansion and into the helicopter.

He hadn’t at all missed the fury burning in Scott’s eyes, as bright and as powerful as the flame off a welding torch, but he’d subsumed it behind a tidal wave of love and compassion for his littlest brother.

Wrung out and exhausted from their individual ordeals - Juniper already had a session booked with Cobalt to debrief about the confrontation on the beach - they’d at last dozed off, somehow both of them squeezing onto the narrow exam bed together.

Judging it safe enough to leave them alone for a couple of minutes, Juniper picked up the kidney bowl and ducked out of the door, firmly closing it behind him. As he’d hoped, Scarlet was still lurking about the main area of Medical. None of the captains liked leaving one of their own alone in Medical, Scarlet least of all, and they tended to haunt the place until they were satisfied their comrades were on the mend. 

“Ah, there you are. Scarlet, can I ask a favour of you?” Juniper asked.

“Of course, Pastor.” Scarlet came over, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw the traces of blood crusting on the folding knife. “Three’s?”

“Not his blood, but he used it, yes.” Juniper nodded. “Would you clean it and see if someone could run it through an autoclave?”

“It needs to be washed?” Scarlet asked with a certain care.

“It needs to be purified,” Juniper clarified, a soldier speaking to a soldier.

“Understood, I’ll take care of it.” Scarlet nodded, taking the bowl and heading off.