A Sacrifice too Far?

Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1.

Thanks for the reviews everyone. Even more drama ahead now. Thanks for reading over this Sam, you're a star and thanks for listening to me recently. You too Loopsta, you've been such a sweetie. Love ya both so this for you enjoy.

Chapter 3: MIA

Virgil waited until the last person was safely belted in and then restarted the Mole. There had only been minor injuries and with a bit of squeezing, everyone was now on board.

"Mole to Mobile Control, come in, Scott?" he called, wanting to make sure it was safe for them to move. He was a little surprised when Scott didn't respond so tried again but still got nothing.

He lifted up his arm and activated the communicator in his watch. "Virgil to Scott." There was still no response and Virgil couldn't fight down the sense of panic that something was wrong. Scott would never ignore them during a rescue especially when he was supposed to be monitoring the structure of a building they were under.

"Can you reach Gordon? Maybe it is just our communications that are down," suggested John, hoping that he was right because he didn't want to consider the idea that something may have happened to Scott.

"Mole to Firefly, come in, Gordon?"

"Go ahead," replied Gordon, instantly proving that their communications were not down.

Fighting down his fears and keeping his voice calm, Virgil asked, "Is the fire out?"

"Yep, the people have been rescued and I am now putting the Firefly to bed. How are you getting on?" asked Gordon, suddenly suspicious that something was going on. Virgil was good at disguising his worries but his eyes could easily give him away and those honeyed brown orbs were filled with worry.

"We have everyone on board and are now about to leave but I can't reach Scott to check the stability of the structure," explained Virgil.

Gordon now understood Virgil's worry and felt the same fear rising inside him but fought it back down. He had to concentrate on the immediate issue of getting his brothers to the surface. "I'll lock the Firefly down then go to Mobile Control and let you know the stability. Call you from there." He quickly signed off and completed the shut down procedures. Making sure the Firefly was secure, he headed out of Thunderbird Two and over to where Mobile Control was situated.

There was no sign of Scott anywhere and as much as he wanted to search for his missing brother, Gordon knew he had to help Virgil first. Checking the scanners, he was relieved to see that structure was still stable though it probably wouldn't hold out too much longer. "Mobile Control to Mole. The structure is stable but I can't see it holding for much longer so no hanging about."

"FAB," replied Virgil, signing off so he could concentrate on getting the large drilling machine to the surface.

Gordon waited until the Mole had safely reached the surface before he jogged off to see if he could find his older brother. He checked with all the ambulance crews, the Fire Brigade and the Police but no one had seen any sign of him. He took a quick check around the area where the fire had been burning in case Scott had seen something but there was still nothing. He jogged back to Mobile Control and his two waiting brothers.

"Where is he, Gords?" asked Virgil.

Gordon replied with the three words that neither of the brothers wanted to hear. "I don't know."

Awareness slowly returned to Scott but a huge headache and a strong feeling of nausea accompanied it. Closing his eyes, the pain lessened slightly. He tried to raise his hand to his head but couldn't. It was then he realized that his hands were tied behind him. A quick wiggle of his legs confirmed that they were tied too. Opening his eyes again, he realized he was somewhere dark and very cramped. He could hear the sound of an engine and now realized he was lying in the trunk of a car.

"How the hell did I get here?" he asked himself. Racking his brains, all he could remember was being on a rescue. That didn't explain how he had ended up in the trunk with a pain in his head like he had never experienced. It suddenly dawned on the seasoned pilot what had happened. Someone had knocked him out and put him in here. The question now was who and why?

Rubbing his wrists together, Scott could feel that his watch was gone which meant he had no way to let his family know he was okay. He could feel the pull of unconsciousness once more and it was too strong to fight back so he gave in.

Much as he didn't want to, Virgil knew he needed to contact Alan and tell him the situation. Thunderbird Five might be able to locate Scott's watch. "Mobile Control to Thunderbird Five?"

"Go ahead, Mobile Control," replied Alan, appearing on the small screen before them. If he was wondering why Virgil had called and not Scott then he wasn't giving anything away.

"Alan, can you trace Scott's communicator please?" asked Virgil, keeping his own voice calm.

Alan nodded and began pressing the relevant buttons. A frown quickly appeared on his face. "I can't trace it anywhere. It's either been damaged or destroyed," replied Alan, fear now evident in his eyes. "Where is Scott, Virge?"

"We don't know but we're going to find him," reassured Virgil. He knew now that he had to take charge of this situation. Although, John was next oldest this was a rescue and with Scott missing, he was now in charge. "Al, listen out for any possible news and keep trying to locate his communicator, it may still be working." After Alan had signed off, Virgil turned to his other brothers. "Get the hand held scanners and begin a search of this area. I'm sure the Police and Fire Brigade can help you."

"What are you going to do?" asked Gordon.

"Call Base," replied Virgil and Gordon instantly felt glad he didn't have to do that job. It would certainly not be an easy call to make.

"Do you want me to do that?" asked John. He could only imagine how his Dad would react when he learnt that Scott had disappeared. He also couldn't fight down the slight guilt that he should be the one in charge but if he was honest, he wasn't totally sure what to do. Virgil, on the other hand just seemed to know.

Virgil just shook his head and gave his two brothers a weak smile before jogging off towards Thunderbird Two. This was one chat that needed to be done in private. Virgil took a deep breath and then opened communications with base.

"Go ahead, Virgil," replied Jeff, smiling at his middle son. The smile quickly disappeared when he saw how pale Virgil was. "What's going on?"

"Scott has gone missing," explained Virgil, pausing for a moment to let that sink in and then he continued. "Gordon and John are searching the area with help from the Police and Fire Brigade. We have tried to locate his communicator but can't get any reading on it."

Jeff nodded but said nothing to his son. He was still trying to absorb the fact that his oldest son was missing and possibly seriously hurt or worse. Seeing the fear in Virgil's eyes Jeff knew he had to snap out of this. He needed to be there for his sons. "You have done all the right things, Virgil," he said smiling reassuringly at him. "There is one more thing you need to consider though and that's the possibility that someone has abducted Scott from the site," he added.

"I've been thinking the same thing too," replied Virgil, nodding his head.

"You need to talk to the head of the Police Force here and get them involved."

Virgil nodded again. "I am going to do that now."

"Good and keep me informed of everything that happens," replied Jeff and watched as Virgil signed off. He dropped his head into his hands and took a few deep breaths. His head lifted slightly to look at the portrait of his missing son. "Where are you, Scott?"

Awareness returned to Scott again and he slowly opened his eyes. He could instantly tell that he was in the same situation as before but at least the car was still moving. Whilst he could hear the hum of the engine, he knew he was safe. His thoughts moved to his family and he wondered if his brothers knew he was missing yet?

Like a stab to the heart, Scott suddenly remembered what he had been doing before being taken. He had been scanning the building his brothers were tunnelling under to make sure it wouldn't collapse on them. What if the building had become unstable whilst he was taken. What if the building had collapsed before they could escape? What if they were trapped underneath it somewhere? What if they were ...? Scott forced himself to stop and take a few deep breaths. He needed to calm down. Freaking out right now was not going to help.

A few more deep breaths and he started to think rationally again or as much as he could with a migraine. He forced himself to think logically. Virgil would have tried contacting him and when he couldn't, he would have called Gordon. Gordon could then have checked for them as he was just about done with the Firefly. They would be okay and he had to believe that. He needed that to keep him going.

It was then his biggest fear was realized, the car had stopped!

"Given the jobs you do and the fact that we have had no sign of your colleague so far, abduction does look likely," said the Chief Inspector of the Local Police Force.

"Is there any way of finding out if anyone has left the site recently?" asked Virgil.

"I have officers on both exits of the Industrial Estate and another has gone round looking for any other possible escape points."

A female officer then came over to them. "No one has left via the exits without express permission from you and they can all be easily tracked down. There is one possible exit though. At the rear of Solaris' loading dock, a fence has been knocked down and there are signs that a vehicle has driven over it recently. It could be the Arsonist of course," explained the young woman.

Another Police Officer who had been part of the search came over and as he drew level with them said, "He's not here, Sir."

"Gather a few officers and begin talking to people here. See if anyone saw or heard anything. Sergeant Granger I want you to put together a Missing Person's report on him. Get as much detail as you can," replied the Chief Inspector. The female officer nodded and pulled out a notebook. The Chief then walked off towards the Station Officer.

Sergeant Granger then turned to Virgil, "I need you to tell me all about your colleague. Height, weight, hair colour etc...," she said, smiling gently at him.

Virgil quickly reeled off all the information she had asked for. His mind kept going over who could have done this and was Scott okay. He couldn't help but wonder if there was something, he could have done to prevent this. He then noticed that the officer was staring at him worriedly. He shook the thoughts away to concentrate on what she was saying.

"Does he take any medication that has to be taken at certain times like insulin?" Virgil just shook his head.

"Is he wearing any jewellery like a wedding ring or a watch?"

"He had a communicator on like mine but it looks like it has been damaged," replied Virgil, lifting his wrist to show her his own one.

"What about any tattoos, distinguishing marks or scars that would make it easy for us to identify him if he's found unconscious?"

"You mean if he's found dead," replied Gordon, walking over. He and John had only caught her last words but they knew what she meant.

"I can't deny that there is a possibility but there is still a chance it won't come to that especially if this is for ransom. As hard as it may be you need to try and have hope," she replied.

The trunk opened slowly and Scott flinched at the bright light that flooded in. Fighting down the rising nausea, he opened his eyes to confront the man who had kidnapped him.

"Thought that brick might have knocked you out a little longer," said his captor.

Scott studied the man closely. He looked like a regular guy and not like the type of man who would just kidnap someone. His eyes though were full of anger and Scott knew this man was dangerous. "What are you going to do to me?" he asked.

"Kill you like you killed my wife," he said, dragging Scott out of the car and dumping him on the wet grass.

Scott looked up at the man in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"My wife, the woman you guys failed to save because you were too busy putting out fires," explained the man, his anger becoming stronger. He then put his hand into his jacket and pulled out a gun.

Scott could now see that this was revenge not ransom and that he was going to die. He tried to work out whom the man was talking about and then it hit him. The woman who had been brought out of the building already deceased. She must have been his wife.

Seeing the realization dawn on Scott's face, the man spoke again. "I see you remember her now. You should have been concentrating on saving her and not worrying about the fire. She would be alive now if you had."

Scott was about to answer back and try to explain their decisions when the man cocked the gun and held it close to his face. Scott froze.

"Don't even begin to give me excuses. You failed and now you're going to die but not quickly. Slowly and painfully. I'm going to leave you here all alone to bleed to death," he said, moving away slightly so that gun was no longer pointed directly at Scott's head.

Before Scott could attempt to move or speak, the gun went off and he felt the bullet rip into his leg. If he thought the pain in his head was bad, it was nothing compared to the pain in his leg.

His captor then grabbed him by his tied hands and dragged him down a small embankment to a stream. He shoved Scott into the icy water and stepped back. Scott managed to turn just enough to keep his head out of it and glanced at the man.

"Goodbye, Mr International Rescue," said the man and then he walked back to his car and was gone.

Scott fought desperately against the bonds on his wrists but the rope was knotted too well and he just couldn't get his hands free. He tried to free his legs but the pain was too much and he gave up. The water was icy cold and he knew he wouldn't last long if he stayed there. He had to get out of it. Again, he fought to free his wrists ignoring the burns he was getting from the ropes as he struggled. He just couldn't get them free and he stopped. He really was going to die all alone in the middle of nowhere. He would never get a chance to see his Dad or his brothers again. A solitary tear stole down his cheek as he accepted his fate. The blackness began creeping into his head once more and this time he didn't even try to fight it. With thoughts of his family on his mind, his eyes closed.

So anyone wanna kill me now hee hee. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this Loopsta.