Summary: Virgil left behind the only woman he'd ever loved to join International Rescue. Now, a rescue in Hong Kong brings him face-to-face with her parents…and Virgil finds himself having to launch a rescue of a whole different kind.

Author's Note: This is the prequel, companion piece and sequel to "Enslaved," all in one package.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to my editor, Samantha Winchester, for her assistance with some dialogue and general beta-reading!

THE ROAD TO FREEDOM

Prologue

If you'd asked him eighteen months ago where he thought he'd be right now, he'd probably have said somewhere near a really good engineering school where he'd be doing research work and teaching, his beautiful wife in his bed every night and maybe even a newborn baby in his arms.

Things hadn't quite turned out that way, though.

Virgil sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and leaned forward onto the balcony railing. He still thought of her all the time. He couldn't help it. Couldn't help wondering what she'd done after the day he'd gone to her apartment to tell her he was leaving. He couldn't tell her why. He was breaking the heart of the woman he loved and he couldn't even tell her why.

He slammed the meat of his palm down on the railing and squeezed his eyes closed. All he could think about was how her eyes had looked up close, how her skin had smelled and tasted. How she could match wits with him better than even Scott. How she'd fight him on something and then turn around and make a concession he never thought she'd make.

The yin to his yang. The push to his pull.

The love of his life.

Not that he regretted being part of International Rescue. He loved his family being all together again, and filled his non-rescue hours with work he enjoyed. Inventing new machinery, using amazing technology, developing new forms of inter-vehicle and underground-to-surface communication methods with John. Or discovering different ways of fueling engines with Brains. Working with Scott on designs for aircraft. Maintaining and piloting the most beautiful machine he'd ever laid eyes on in Thunderbird Two. Saving lives. Being home.

And yet a part of him was missing. A part that none of his new activities, none of the times spent bantering with or just hanging out with his brothers, could fill. An empty space he'd hoped would close in time.

It hadn't yet.

He felt Scott behind him before his brother's hand found his shoulder and squeezed. Scott leaned on the railing in a perfect imitation of Virgil's posture, looked at him for a moment, then gazed out at the South Pacific.

The water sparkled in the tropical sun. The light breeze ruffled their hair.

Scott sighed.

He was the only one who knew how serious Virgil had been about Morgan. Long, blond hair, large eyes that were almost violet; a color Virgil had never been able to match on his painter's palette no matter how many times he'd tried. Scott had even been introduced to her once when he'd come to visit Virg at the Denver School of Advanced Technology where he and Morgan met in the Engineering Program.

Colorado was butt-cold a lot of the time, but Virg and Morgan had always found ways to keep each other warm. Now here on a tropical island, sometimes Virgil felt colder than he ever had in Denver.

Scott squeezed his brother's bicep, met his eyes, and seemed to be apologizing with the look he gave him. Then he walked away, leaving Virgil alone with his thoughts.

A place Virgil really didn't like to be anymore.