Hey everyone! In this chapter we get to meet the jerk with evil plans.....

Disclaimer: It would be awesome, but no, I sadly do not own the Thunderbirds.

Chapter 3

Everything was going smoothly. His plans were falling into place. Now all he needed was for his target to arrive in the crowded airport. He watched as parents, children and security guards swarm past him in a rush to get to their next destination. It was loud and chaotic but there was a general rhythm to the madness.

He looked to his left. A man of medium height with short brown hair had appeared next to him. This man was no doubt in his mid forties, with a pair of glasses sitting on his straight nose in front of dull, gray eyes. An impassive expression covered his face.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Daily?" he asked the newcomer. Before answering, Daily pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. His eyes shifted nervously across the room.

"I have double checked with my sources and it appears that there are now two people coming, not one." Daily cleared his throat. "I have direct conformation on this. The extra seems to be the youngest Tracy, Alan." He coughed slightly. "I believe that this would be cause for a pay raise, as our agreement only took care of the first person."

"Of course, Mr. Daily. You will receive the money once we have finished our little operation." He smiled. This was exactly why he had hired Andrew Daily. All that mattered to him was the money involved. He had gone to great lengths to get this man and was not about to let him slip away. Not when he had everything going his way.

This was going to be his greatest revenge on the man who let his wife die.

About a year ago, he and his wife had been living happily in an apartment in upstate New York. Then one night, some idiot had been smoking and had dropped the still burning cigarette butt on to the flammable carpet. Needless to say, the entire building went up in flames. International Rescue was called and the one person they didn't save was his wife.

They let her die in those terrible flames.

Since then he had done extensive research on the Thunderbirds. It had taken him half a year but around January he had made a breakthrough. He had attended one of the Thunderbird's rescues that had taken place in a collapsed mine. After everyone had been saved, one of the operatives had called a meeting in the shadow of Thunderbird Two with one of his team members. It was a goldmine of information. The first operative had taken his helmet off due to a crack that had formed on the side of the piece of equipment while he was in the mine. It turned out to be Gordon Tracy, son of the billionaire Jeff Tracy.

After that, he began to study the team closely as they worked together and what he saw made the puzzle of International Rescue fit together perfectly. They worked like a family. There were indications of it in the way that they had moved and gestured.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The Tracy family lived on an island in the middle of the ocean. Where better to hide a secret organization? Jeff Tracy was extremely wealthy, too, so they had the funds and the resources to build the Thunderbird machines. Yes, it made perfect sense.

He watched from his bench as his targets came into view. The older one was apparently steering the other through the airport as if he had done it a thousand times. Ah, brotherly protection. It would seem that he would have to be wary of the older brother, seeing as he didn't know what the boy would do to protect his younger sibling. But otherwise, this would work fine.

"Follow them and make sure you are not seen," he said to two burly men to his left. "If you are, you'll answer directly to me." They both gave curt nods and left.

It was all so very perfect. He would make Jeff pay for the loss of his wife. And what better way to do that than to take, not just one, but two of his sons away from him? He, David Charles Richardson, would have his revenge on International Rescue.

TB

(40 minutes earlier)

Scott sighed as he sat in the lounge area of Tracy One. It had been pretty quiet since they had left the island. Alan was helping Parker in the cockpit and Scott, who had promptly fallen asleep once they had taken off, was now awake.

He watched silently as his younger brother walked in and sank into one of the chairs. Scott couldn't help but notice that he looked a little exhausted but, remembering how their conversation went that morning, he decided not to press it. This in mind, he was almost surprised at Alan's words.

"Sorry for the way I treated you this morning, Scott."

"What?" The former pilot blinked at the abrupt apology.

Alan snorted at his brother's expression. "Are you deaf? I said, I'm sorry. Look, I know now why Dad sent me with you and I agree. I was just being selfish and I know it. Besides," he sat back into the chair, "I could do with a good vacation." Then Alan put his head into his hands and muttered something about 'getting more sleep'.

This only proceeded to worry Scott further. "Alan, please tell me. Are you getting any sleep at all? Is it the nightmares?"

After a few tense, silent moments, Alan raised his head at the last question and Scott was shocked to see tears in his baby brother's blue eyes.

"They're terrible, Scott, absolutely terrible." Alan's voice shook, even though it was obvious he was trying to hide it. "In the dreams, everyone dies, and I'm left all alone. Then I hear his voice, the Hood, telling me that I will always be alone. That no one loves me. And it hurts so much, Scott, it really hurts." By this time the tears were freely falling. "Then I find myself hanging over the Mole again but then, just before I fall, I wake up…and…I…"

Scott couldn't take it anymore. He got up, went over to his brother, and hugged him fiercely. "You're never alone, Allie. We all love you. More than you'll ever know." How long had this been going on? How long had they not noticed that their brother was in so much emotional pain? He waited until the tears had stopped and let go of his brother. Then something occurred to him. "What did you mean by 'hanging over the Mole'?"

Alan's expression went from tearful, to confused, then to one of understanding. "Did Dad ever tell you what happened?" Scott nodded. "I guess he didn't want to worry you guys with the end then."

Now it was Scott's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?"

In a couple short sentences Alan described the scene that took place over the Thunderbird machine.

"And Dad never told us? I'm gonna kill him!" Scott was just barely holding in his temper. He had no right! Then, with total realization, I almost lost my baby brother twice to that psychopath! Suddenly the eldest Tracy brother could not keep his eyes off of Alan.

"Scott, please, be reasonable. I doubt Dad wanted to relive his son almost dying."

Scott looked up at Alan. His brother almost seemed detached.

His natural instincts took over. "Alan, I want you to get some sleep and eat something. You aren't getting enough of either."

Alan's vacant look changed to one of mock threatening. "Are you trying to mother me, Scott? I swear you even have that face you get when you…" The pillow that was thrown in his face cut off the rest of his words.

"Yes, Alan, I am. Trust me, this is the one time you'll hear me say it. Now get some sleep. I'm going to help Parker."

As he settled on to the couch, Alan asked, "So why are we going to New York anyway?"

Scott rolled his eyes. "I have to finish up some legal stuff with one of our contacts there. It will take up to two days. Then we will have the rest of the week to ourselves to do whatever we want. Maybe we could see the Statue of Liberty or something."

"Yeah that'd be cool." He was already drifting off.

"Sleep well, Sprout." And thanks for opening up to me, he thought as he walked into the cockpit. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.


Soooo, what do you think? Don't hesitate to tell me! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and special thanks to Little Miss Bump for beta'ing this story. :) I promise, one more chapter of feelings then there is finally some action! Review!!