#virgil whump

More ideas happened!  This will get on Ao3 eventually. 

Translations-  wāhine toa- warrior/strong woman
Whānau Room- family room
Te Reo Māori- Māori language

CW: injuries

Despite the late hour the parking tower was still nearly full, but he found a good spot just after Thunderbird One arrived and just before the police could send a unit to guard the aircraft now resting on the cricket ground in the Domain Park beside Auckland Hospital. Through the gaps in the decorative artwork over the parking tower he could see the ambulance as it turned out of the entrance to the park and roared down the road towards the ambulance bay of the hospital. Tim jogged down the stairs and across to the public entrance to the emergency department, showed his credentials to the orderly and was waved straight through to the rescus unit. Jess was already there, leaning against the wall in a good vantage point that was out of the way of the nurses, doctors and orderlies as the two medics briefed everyone. 

“Haast Eagle.” Jess demanded, just loudly enough that he could hear her over the noise of the rescue unit and what sounded like a very disoriented Trouble shouting for his brother from behind the curtain. 

“Pouakai.” Tim automatically replied and took his place to lean against the wall beside her. She nodded sharply and retook her position. 

Each of the teams- Australia, New Zealand and a specialist hospital in San Francisco- had worked out their own shibboleth- a way to immediately expose anyone who wasn’t one of theirs. For the Aotearoa team, it was English and Te Reo Māori translations- for anyone who hadn’t grown up in the area or spent significant time in the country, anything in Māori was an instant giveaway, non-locals would always mispronounce it. 

“What happened?” Tim asked, wincing at a crash of something being knocked over, a yelp from Renaissance and a panicked cry of ‘Virgil!’ from Trouble. From the earmarks he was pretty sure they’d be called in to help calm the brothers fairly shortly. Disoriented and distressed Tracys needed a particular touch to defuse them, and familiar faces always helped.

“Rescue went bad.” Jess replied, her delicate Eurasian features pulled into a grimace. “Oil rig in international waters, the roughnecks got upset when Renaissance had to seal the pipe permanently and came after him when he rappelled down onto the platform to finish the job, Trouble jumped in to assist. Someone hit Trouble over the head with something and he’s got a knife in him- the bandolier slowed it, but he’ll still need surgery. Renaissance has a few broken bones, but what they’re worried about the most is internal bleeding.” 

“Was Trouble wearing his helmet this time?” Tim asked, glancing over at another cry from behind the curtain. He knew about Scott’s prediction to take his helmet off at a rescue, and he’d heard about the threats levelled at him from most of the family to ‘weld the damned thing to your neck’ to remind him to keep it on. 

“For once he was.” Jess nodded towards the taller of the two paramedics who had by now found their own corner so they could finish up their paperwork. “He was saying it would have been a funeral if he hadn’t been, going by the damage to the helmet.” 

“Well that’s something.” Was Tim’s remark. “So if Trouble is at least concussed and has a knife in him and Renaissance is badly beaten, how’d they get One over here?”  

“They got into the cargo section and Coppertop remote flew it over.” 

“That makes sense.” Tim looked over as yet another doctor arrived, subtly scanned her with the holographic detector that they’d all been issued with and returned to the briefing once she checked out. “Any word on Coppertop’s assistant?” He asked curiously.

“Nada.” Jess shook her head. Eight months ago they’d become aware that the Tracys had scooped up a new person somewhere along the way. The Boss refused to elaborate and they didn’t ask- if it was a secret, the less people who knew about it, the better. If they needed to know, she’d tell them. But they weren’t exactly paid to keep their eyes shut and and ears blocked so the various Emergency Protection and Security Teams had put their heads together and pooled what little information they had- she appeared to be female, worked mostly with John but would speak to the others if they called her, and was addressed as ‘Eos’- but if that was her real name or a code name wasn’t clear. At their best guess she seemed to be based on the island because no one had seen her yet. She hadn’t even ventured out for a conference like what Wizard would occasionally leave the island to attend. 

Jim over in San Francisco had come up with her code name and dubbed her ‘Canary’ because she didn’t sing like one. She barely even chirped with the amount of communication she made outside of the immediate family.

“You two!” One of the medics had stuck their head around the curtain and waved at Jess and Tim. “We need a hand with Scott!” 

“What do you need?” Jess instantly asked as she stepped forward and vanished behind the curtain. 

Tim stayed where he was and kept an ear out- standard protocol with a disoriented Trouble and no family present yet was to let the female team members take the first shot at calming him down. Seeing a male in uniform, even though it was the TI navy blue, usually had the opposite effect until his brain kicked back in. 

He heard Jess speaking to Trouble in a low, soothing voice, then Hope appeared at his elbow. “Haast Eagle.” He immediately demanded. 

“Pouakai.” Hope snapped, the tall Māori woman looking every inch the wāhine toa she was as she cast her gaze over the area. “What’s the situation?” 

Tim quickly started to brief her, but one of the doctors approached and interrupted them. 

“We’re taking them both through to surgery now.” He reported, looking between the two of them. “Tell the family that they’ll have to wait in the Whānau Room until we’re done, it’s going to be a good couple of hours at least.” 

“Can you give us any more details, doc?” Tim asked, taking his phone out to message the rest of the team and The Boss. 

“Scott’s got a grade two concussion and the knife is close to his brachial artery. Virgil definitely has some internal bleeding going on- it’s minor, but it still needs surgery. We should be able to get away with laparoscopic for him.” The doctor reported. 

“Thanks doctor.” Hope nodded to him. “Jess and I will be outside the theatres.” 

The doctor didn’t look happy about it, but nodded and turned back to give instructions to the staff. A EPT member outside the OR had been standard procedure ever since a journalist managed to bluff their way through security in Melbourne and got into the observation gallery that looked into the operating room that was being used that day. 

“Tim, when Janet gets here, you two take a break until they’re in recovery, then take over.” Hope instructed. 

“Got it.” Tim nodded as he flicked the information out to the relevant parties. 

The noises behind the curtains changed, orderlies appeared and Jess rejoined them. “You got the update?” She asked as first Renaissance, then Trouble were wheeled out on the hospital beds, their uniforms in shreds. 

“Yes, you and me are on OR duty.” Hope nodded curtly, beckoning for Jess to follow as the last of the nurses passed them and they fell in behind. 

Left alone in the rescus ward, aside from the ward clerks finishing up the paperwork and the various orderlies and nurses now beginning the process of tidying up and re-setting for the next patients, Tim checked his phone for any replies, found none, messaged Janet with their updated orders and went to go find himself a seat at the cafe in the main lobby to wait until it was his turn to stand guard over his assigned Tracy.