Thanks for the reviews!
Okay here is the quick summary I promised: Because of what happened in chapter 2 the Thunderbirds are under suspicion. Things will go from bad to worse and all of IR, including the Thunderbirds, their families and all of IR's agents, will be thrown into a conflict of love, danger and betrayal.
So yeah, hopefully its going to be a pretty long fanfic. I hope you all enjoy it.
Please review!
The humming of Thunderbird 1's engines did nothing to mask the thick silence that lay in the cockpit.
Scott had his hands firmly on the controls, always preferring to fly the bird himself than to use the auto-pilot.
Virgil sat looking at the floor, wanting to say something but unsure of what words to use. In the end he used the words that were scaring him most at that moment.
"Please don't hate me…" He said barely above a mutter. Scott looked at him softly.
"Virg, of course I don't hate you, no matter what went on back there I would never hate you…but I need to know exactly what happened." Virgil nodded and swallowed hard.
The story still filled him with horror and re-telling it to Scott made his blood run cold. Scott sat and listened patiently. He never took his eyes off the front but Virgil knew he was listening to every word.
"I would have tried to grab him but…he fell so fast, I…I didn't know what to do…" Virgil could hear his voice shaking and worried he might break down in front of Scott.
"It wasn't your fault." Scott told his brother calmly, "He was the one who attacked you, not the other way around." Scott was trying to reassure his brother but knew the words would do little to calm Virgil's conscience.
Virgil looked out into the sky. The sun was fading under the horizon, back home his father would be waiting for them to return. What would Virgil say to him? How could Jeff forgive him for what he had done?
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Jeff looked up in surprise as Scott and Virgil walked into the room.
"Virgil? Why aren't you piloting Thunderbird 2?" Virgil looked at the floor so Scott answered for him.
"It's a long story, Dad." Virgil looked up and spoke quietly.
"Dad, I…I need to talk to you…about the rescue…" Jeff looked worried and confused. Scott turned to Virgil.
"Do you want me to go?" Virgil immediately shook his head.
"No Scott…could you stay? Please?" Scott nodded and they both sat down on the sofa facing Jeff. Virgil looked reluctant to start so Scott began speaking.
"The fire was threatening an unidentified building, at first we were reluctant to go in but then we were told there were people in there who seemed unaware of the danger," he explained, "We split into two groups, Gordon, Alan and Tintin searched downstairs, while Virgil and I went upstairs." Scott glanced at Virgil and the middle Tracy nodded. He cleared his throat and began speaking.
"When we reached the next floor Gordon called our wrist coms, saying that here were helicopters outside. There must have been a lot of insulation in the walls upstairs because we couldn't hear anything from outside."
"There were two rooms upstairs, I took the right, Scott took the left…I went inside and there were men gathered inside, several were sat in a circle…I told them that they needed to evacuate the building, then I heard Scott called me on my wrist com, saying that we needed to get out and that the helicopters outside were from the United States." Jeff's eyebrows rose sharply in surprise.
"One of the men from Scott's room had seen the helicopters and burst into my room yelling 'Americans!'. There was panic, everyone was running around. Some of the men accused me of bringing the troops to the building and advanced towards me but then there was a shout of 'Fire!' and everyone was distracted."
"I ran to the window and pulled off the boards to see outside but then one of the old men grabbed me and spun me around, I tried to get him off me but when he did let go he tripped on something on the floor and fell backwards through the window…" Jeff went visibly pale. Virgil tried to continue but his voice shook. Scott placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and continued for him.
"The man fell from the second floor to the ground, Tintin ran to him and checked for a pulse but he was dead," said Scott quietly "A U.S soldier entered the room and asked Virgil what was going on, I came in and explained to him what we were doing there but he seemed rather hostile so we left…I thought it would be best if Gordon piloted Thunderbird 2 and Virgil came with me…"
Scott immediately expressed what he had already told Virgil. Jeff took in all the information and nodded.
"I'm sorry Dad, I didn't mean for it to happen…" Virgil said weakly. Jeff looked firmly at his son.
"Virgil, you were not to blame for this, Scott's right, that man attacked you." Virgil looked slightly relieved when he heard his father's words but there was still a dark look of fear and guilt on his face.
The momentary silence ended when Gordon marched into the room. All three looked surprised as they had been too distracted to even hear Thunderbird 2 land. The second youngest looked at Scott with severe annoyance.
"What was going on back there? You order me to fly Thunderbird 2, Virgil goes with you but you won't say why and you don't bother to contact me for the entire journey back! Why?" Scott immediately looked very guilty.
"Gords, I'm sorry, I should have explained…it was just…I'm sorry-"
"Gordon, don't blame Scott! It was my fault!" Virgil insisted.
"Virgil, I should have handled the situation better, this wasn't your fault!"
"What wasn't his fault?" Alan asked as he and Tintin entered the room behind Gordon. Virgil's face flooded with even more guilt and Scott didn't look keen on explaining.
"Scott and Virgil, you two can go now…the rest of you sit down; I need to talk to you." Jeff said firmly. The two eldest nodded numbly and walked out. As they walked away they could hear Jeff beginning to explain what had happened.
Without taking any notice of where they were going they walked out onto the terrace, past Penny's favourite deck chair and out towards the shore.
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The beach looked so calm during the early evening and it did a lot to calm the brothers' nerves. They both looked out onto the horizon, wondering how their brothers were taking the news.
Virgil looked at his eldest brother with wonder.
"How do you do it?" Scott looked at him.
"Do what?"
"Stay calm…I was a wreck during that rescue, if you hadn't been there I would have fallen apart…how do you keep so cool and controlled?" Scott looked back towards the sea.
"I have to Virgil, if I don't then I could lose one of you and that's not gonna happen." He said it so calmly which didn't surprise Virgil. Each of them would rather die themselves than lose a brother. In the rescue business they had faced that situation many times.
Scott stretched his arms and let out a yawn.
"Well, it's early but I'm exhausted, I'm gonna get some sleep, you should too." Virgil nodded and they both headed back up the beach towards Tracy Villa…
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Gordon nodded quietly. Alan and Tintin were unsure of how to react.
"As you can imagine, Virgil is feeling awful about this, so we need to offer him all the help and comfort we can…he blames himself and that is not likely to leave him, we can only hope the grief gets easier to live with." Jeff spoke quietly. He wished there was something he could say to Virgil that would make him feel better but he knew how Virgil was feeling. Jeff had felt that feeling before, perhaps his pain was even greater than his son's.
"Where is Virgil now?" asked Tintin.
"He's gone to bed," answered Scott as he walked into the room, "I'm just about to head up myself."
"Scott, I'm sorry about earlier…I was just-"
"Its okay, Gords." Scott cut in softly.
"How's Virgil?" Alan asked the eldest.
"I don't know really, it's a huge weight on his shoulders, hopefully he'll feel better in the morning…"
…
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The bright sunlight crept through the blinds in Virgil's room. His eyes stuttered open and he pulled himself up. Virgil Tracy had quite the bed head as he left his room, still in his pajamas. He reached the end of the corridor and then sleepily but swiftly turned around and returned to his room, lazily flopping down on the bed again.
"Wake up Virg." Scott laughed as he looked into his brother's room.
"Mnmphf…" came the muffled reply. Scott walked in, picked the clothes off the floor and threw them at Virgil's head.
"I think Onaha is making pancakes…" Scott said in a tuneful voice. He left the room smiling as Virgil hurried to get dressed and join him downstairs.
…
Needless to say, Scott and Virgil dropped their forks on their plates completely stuffed.
"It's a good thing I make enough to feed an army, you two could give any regiment a run for their money," laughed Onaha as she gathered up the dishes.
"Well, how can we not eat every bite when it's your amazing cooking Onaha?" Scott smiled and the good-natured house-keeper smiled back.
"Suck up." Virgil muttered with a small grin. Scott just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Onaha.
"Where's Dad this morning?"
"I think he is in his office speaking to your brother." She said with a smile, knowing the information would get a happy reaction from Scott.
"John's on the line?" He and Virgil sprang from their seats and ran from the kitchen, their full stomachs completely forgotten.
…
Scott reached the office first but stopped abruptly when he saw his father's worried face.
"Dad? What is it? Is John alright?" he asked quickly.
"I'm fine Scott." John's voice sounded from the computer speakers. Scott walked up and stood behind his father and was relieved to see John sitting in Thunderbird 5 looking completely fine.
"Then what's wrong?" Scott asked both their father and John as Virgil walked into the room.
"It seems that the old man that died yesterday…he was a senior member of a guerrilla troop based in that area…and his daughter has accused International Rescue of his murder…the group is furious and has publicly announced they intend to retaliate." Scott and Jeff looked at Virgil, who had gone an awfully pale colour.
"It seems that may not be all of our worries." Gordon announced as he and the others, including Brains, Fermat, Onaha and Kyrano, walked into the room. He placed the sheet of paper he was holding onto the desk.
"This is a printout of the front page of the New York Times." He said gravely as the family gathered round to look at it. What they saw shocked them all beyond belief.
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"INTERNATIONAL RESCUE TERRORISTS?"
"Why were the Thunderbirds found at a Taliban base?"
-
Scott looked at John and they shared a grave look. Things were about to get from bad to worse…
What is going to happen to the Thunderbirds? Can they prove their innocence? Chapter 4 will be up soon!
