Nope, I still don't own Thunderbirds, but one can always hope. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this, my first completed Thunderbirds fic. I wrote it a couple of years ago and its home site is now The Tracy Island Chronicles but I thought it was time I re-posted it here where it first appeared.

ONE

A choking sound could be heard as the dust and debris slowly cleared from the air.

"You okay, Virg?"

The strangled answer came with a cough. "Yeah, I think so...you?"

"Still here."

"What the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we fell into an underground sink hole. The weight of the Excadigger must have been too much for the ground to support."

"Well, thank God this didn't happen while we were still trying to pry those kids out of that cave."

"Amen to that."

Scott scanned the area intently, still trying to get his bearings. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of daylight, he realized that he was laying flat on his stomach on the edge of a precipice. He froze as he looked down and couldn't find the bottom of the huge chasm before him.

"Oh my God..."

"Scott, what is it?"

"Virg, where are you? Keep talking so I can hear you."

Virgil began speaking in a loud voice.

"Down here! Where are you?"

The sound reverberated off the walls and gravel began to rain down, accompanied by a faint rumbling sound in the distance.

He quickly fell silent and sucked in a breath, which he held until the rumbling subsided. Finally, he released it and spoke, almost in a whisper.

"Whew, that was close! Scott, can you hear me? Scott?"

There was no reply and Virgil instantly feared for his brother's safety. Oh God...

The next sound he heard was a soft moan, coming from somewhere above him and just off to the side. He looked up and saw sparse sunlight streaming down through the hole they had just plummeted through. The crust of topsoil was still partially intact. His eyes followed what was left of it down the side of the crater to what appeared to be a small ledge protruding out. He tried to focus on the silhouette of the still figure lying upon it.

"Scott!"

For the first time, Virgil began to take stock of his own surroundings. He didn't appear to have any serious injuries that he could detect, but he couldn't move. He felt something tickling his ear and realized he was not alone down here. He shook his head as best he could and spat at the rather sizeable eight legged creature who was trying to get up close and personal with him. It skittered away, unhappily. Out of the corner of his eye, a shadow loomed. He turned his head slowly, not wanting to believe what his mind was telling him.

It was the Excadigger. International Rescue's specialized excavating machine, designed for just the type of emergency they had been called out to. However in its current position, suspended inauspiciously just above him, it represented the possible, premature end of Virgil's life. It remained stationary for now, but he knew that situation could change at any moment. He looked up again at the opening high above and tried to figure out how far down they had fallen. He knew that some of these holes could be virtually bottomless. He didn't want to think about that right now though. If only he could move his arms, he might be able to free himself and get to his injured brother. He tried calling to him again, being careful not to raise his voice beyond a certain pitch.

"Scott? Scott, please answer me. Are you all right?"

Nothing. Then...

"Ohhhh. Mmmm. Virgil?"

"Yes, Scott! Yes, I'm here. Are you hurt?"

"I-I think...I felt something hit me...from above. A rock, maybe. My head..."

"Okay, take it easy. I'm kind of stuck down here right now. I'm not badly hurt, but I'm trapped under some heavy debris. I think it's part of the collapsed wall of that cave that I had to dig through. I must have gotten hung up on it on the way down. It broke my fall. That was lucky. What isn't, is that the Excadigger is perched right above me and I don't know how stable it is. If I can get loose though, I could get inside it and get the life lines out..."

Scott's hand slid down to his side. Yes, it was still there.

"Virg! I've still got the one we used to get those kids out tied to my waist. I can lower it down to you. Do you think you could grab it?"

"I hope so. I still can't get my hands free, but I can feel them loosening up."

"Good, keep trying. In the meantime, I'm going to try and tie this end off somewhere."

He looked around for something, anything to anchor the thin cable on, but nothing seemed sturdy enough. God, his head was still throbbing and he thought back to how the day had begun.

International Rescue had received a distress call from some teenagers who had become trapped in a cave they had been exploring on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Thank God one of them had thought to bring a walkie talkie along, so that they could communicate with their compadres on the outside who had opted for other recreational activities. It had been touch and go there for a minute, but all in all, pretty much a routine operation. The kids were all safe, if a bit shaken up, and eternally grateful to their rescuers, especially the young girls in the group. They had seen it all before, the tendency of female victims to view their saviors in an exaggerated light, elevating them up onto some sort of pedestal. Scott was sure that the same thing constantly happened to fireman and even policeman. It came with the territory and it was understood that the condition was most likely temporary. They would be long forgotten once the euphoria of making it out alive had subsided. All had seemed to be business as usual on this mission. He and Virgil had answered the call alone, as a double crew on Thunderbird Two had been deemed "not necessary." Virgil and he had performed this type of rescue more than once together and had never required any assistance. This time though, fate had other ideas. Now they were the ones in need of rescuing and there was no help in sight.

"Scott?"

His brother's voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Um, yeah, Virg?"

"How're you making out up there?" Scott could detect a trace of fear in his brother's voice.

"I-I can't seem to find any way to tie off the line Virg. I'm afraid this ledge won't take...Ahhh!"

He didn't even have a chance to finish the sentence. The rickety ledge gave way and began to crumble down, taking Scott with it. Virgil's eyes went wide with horror as he looked up at the deluge collapsing down towards him. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, helpless to move out of the way.

When the dust had finally settled, Scott found himself dangling out into the great chasm, just below where the Excadigger was perched. It was teetering slightly. He quickly drew himself up and strained to get his entire body up and away from the edge. Then, he looked around at the pile of rock and debris next to him. A frightening realization hit him full force.

"Virgil! Virgil, Oh my God! Please, no. Please..."

He began digging with his hands like a madman, his nails tearing and his fingers bleeding with the effort.

"Virgil! Virg, can you hear me?"

Scott was almost in tears. He knew his brother was still pinned by the debris and would not be able to dig himself out. He had precious little time to get to him before he was smothered to death under that heap.

He found a piece of metal that he could use as a makeshift shovel and soon he was making some headway. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was Virgil' wrist communicator. The little bit of light trickling in from above was glinting off it. Scott gasped and began calling his brother's name, telling him it was going to be all right. He pressed on until he uncovered his face. His eyes were closed and his complexion had a tinge of blue to it. Scott could tell he was not breathing.

"No!"

He made sure to sweep any dirt out of his airway and nostrils as he began to perform rescue breathing on him. He kept it up for what seemed like an eternity, but had actually only been a couple of minutes. He placed two fingers on the side of his neck and checked for a pulse. His head drooped with relief when he could detect a faint heartbeat. He continued on with the rescue breathing and after a minute was rewarded with a gagging sound, followed by coughing and wheezing.

Scott closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks. He placed his hand alongside Virgil's head and spoke to him gently.

"Hey there. Welcome back."

His eyes tried to focus on the figure looming over him.

"Scott? You're okay."

"I'm fine, but you were kind of doubtful there for a minute."

Virgil coughed. "Yeah...well, you're not gonna get rid of me that easily."

Scott smiled and looked down into his brother's burnt-honey eyes, grateful for the chance to do so again. He smoothed the hair back off his forehead.

He shook his finger at his younger brother in mock-sternness.

"Don't ever scare me like that again or next time I'll leave you at home."

Virgil turned his head around as best he could, his eyes scanning the area immediately surrounding him. He nervously looked up again at the huge machine which could possibly end up being the cause of his early demise.

"Promise?"

"Don't worry; we're going to get you out of here somehow."

"But Scott, you're stuck down here too. We're both trapped, and those kids...They already took off for the other side of the island."

"I know Virg, but John can track us through our communicators and..."

"Scott, have you noticed that no one has tried to contact us?"

Scott's face fell as he realized that Virgil was right. He looked at his left wrist and noticed that his watch was missing. He fingered the watch on Virgil's wrist and noticed that it had stopped working.

"Shit! Of all the rotten luck..."

"Well, at least they have our last known location, and as they won't be able to track the Thunderbirds in the air, they'll know we haven't taken off yet."

"Yeah, you're right. It won't be long before we're missed." I hope.

>>>>>+>>>>>+

"Dad?" It was Gordon who made Jeff Tracy look up from the reports on his desk.

"Yes, son, something on your mind?"

"Well, has Scott reported in again since he and Virgil were loading up to leave Hawaii?"

"Come to think of it, no. That's not like him either. He's always really good about keeping me informed."

"I know. Do you think...?"

"Yeah, we'd better try and contact them."

"Base to Thunderbird One. Come in, please."

He got nothing back but dead air.

"Thunderbird One, Scott, do you read me?"

Nothing.

"Base to Virgil. Thunderbird Two, are you there?"

Again, silence.

"Father, I'm not liking the sound of this."

Jeff immediately contacted John up in the space satellite.

His middle son's Nordic features filled the vidscreen in the space that his portrait usually occupied.

"Thunderbird Five here. What's up, Father?"

"I don't know John. Trouble, maybe. We haven't heard from Scott and Virgil since they rescued those kids in Hawaii and we can't contact either one of them. They should have been on their way back by now. Are you tracking them on your scanners?"

"Negative, Dad. Not a blip in sight. They must still be on the ground. Let me contact the local authorities again. I'm sure they can tell us something."

"Okay, John. Base standing by."

"F.A.B."

There was a short pause while John made the call. The tension in the lounge had gotten thicker in the last minute or so since Alan had walked in. Tin- Tin and Grandma were now apprized of the situation and were also staring anxiously at the vidscreen. Even though the wait was brief, the passage of time had seemed to stop.

Finally, John's signal came through again.

"Thunderbird Five calling Base." Jeff allowed himself to breathe again.

"Go ahead, John."

"Father...it seems the local authorities never made it to the scene of that rescue. They were too busy taking care of a huge warehouse fire further down the coast. They figured International Rescue could handle it well enough. They didn't see the need to spare the excess manpower."

They all felt what the tone of John's voice had conveyed. Something had gone wrong. It was the only possible explanation.

Jeff mulled it over for a minute and then made his decision.

"Right, Gordon, you and Alan take the jet and find out what's going on over there."

Gordon half smiled, happy to be able to do something besides sit around and wait.

"Yes, sir!"

>>>>>+>>>>>+

The air in the cavern had started to become stale and breathing was getting difficult. The dampness wasn't helping much either. Virgil had begun to wheeze again. The rancid air, coupled with the huge weight on his chest was starting to affect him. He had fallen asleep, exhausted. Scott watched over him, his expression one of anxiety. He had tried to lift some of the bigger pieces of the cave wall off of him, but they were just too heavy and he didn't have the right tools. His frustration had turned into concern about whether either one of them would make it out of there alive. Oh, they could probably last a while longer, but the Digger, he could see the little bit of earth holding it in place starting to crumble before his eyes.

"Oh God, Virgil," he whispered. "I've got to get you free, I've just got to."

He looked around for anything that might be of help. He kept thinking about all of the equipment stored just a few feet above him, but unreachable at this point. If he tried to go inside the Digger, it would be signing Virgil's, and quite possibly his, death warrant.

His mind raced through all the possible scenarios and he kept coming back to one. Since he couldn't risk climbing inside the machine to get the necessary equipment out, what if he used the excavator itself? He could use its weight to pull the largest piece of the rock wall off of Virgil. He would have to find a way to lasso it and then tie off the life line onto the Digger. It would be close and extremely dangerous, but what was the alternative, to sit there and watch his brother die? That was not an option.