Thank you again for the lovely reviews!

Considering the events of the rescue, the rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Alan and Tin-Tin had disappeared to pack, both beaming from ear to ear about the chance to spend some time together without the rest of the family being around. Being on an island did have some drawbacks, but both fathers were glad they were going away, even if it did come with the normal parental doubt. Jeff was just glad that Alan had the chance to have a break; he always worried about the mental strain of what they did on a day-to-day basis. He worried about them all, but especially his youngest. Had Alan been given the chance to grow up properly before accepting a role that dictated his life?

Kyrano found that his reasons were more selfish. He knew Jeff was a practical man, and as of yet, he not only had no proof, but he had no inclination about who it was who was in trouble. All he knew was that one of the boys was potentially going through something that he had no understanding of. He hadn't said anything yet about the feelings he was getting, but knowing that his daughter, his only child, was going to be safely away from the island brought him some comfort.

Scott had spent the afternoon sprawled across the sofa, much to Alan's amusement when he heard what had happened. On awakening, there had been an uncomfortable tension between him and Virgil. Scott was annoyed that Virgil had tried to sedate him, and in turn, Virgil was annoyed that Scott didn't believe him when he said that he hadn't. The artist had an idea of what might have happened, considering he hadn't yet found Gordon asleep somewhere.

That was troubling him. He hadn't found Gordon at all; the prankster didn't show for dinner. Considering his strange behaviour, the brothers agreed that maybe he needed a little space, a chance to work things through by himself. That didn't stop Scott from worrying until John once again made contact. The space monitor couldn't stop laughing, having picked up the signal from Gordon's watch. Scolding the pair for worrying, he then casually asked whether they had actually checked the redhead's room. The look on their faces was enough to set him off again and Jeff had been forced to cut the link before a full-scale argument could emerge, considering the mood of both Scott and Virgil. Even so, it had been done with a fond smile on his face and an exasperated shake of his head. Anything the slightest bit wrong, and they both reacted in such an extreme manner. With any luck, Gordon had just been getting some rest, and it wasn't long before the father sent his two remaining sons to do the same. It wasn't often they went without a protest: having long grown out of bedtimes, it was often a battle – but Jeff had a few tricks up his sleeve. One of them being pulling rank, claiming that they had been out on a rescue and therefore it was his duty as their commander to ensure they had got some rest. Scott had scowled, but Virgil had pulled him away.

Unfortunately, whilst Gordon's watch may have been signalling that he was in his room, it was wrong. It was true that the watch was in there, and considering the brothers never took them off, John was right to presume that its owner was also there. But to Gordon's great discomfort, the Hood had seemed to know about the significance of the watches. Why else would he have forced it off Gordon and left it next to his bed? Why would he have had the men remove it, but not damage it, down in the tunnels?

At that moment in time, Gordon was down in the silos once again. He moved silently, something that he couldn't normally do. Not through any choice of his own; the prankster was doing everything he could to make some sort of noise, to alert the many sensors surrounding the area that he shouldn't be down here. But somehow, he just couldn't get any sort of control over himself. Even under normal circumstances, creeping around the silos at three in the morning was not on Gordon's list of fun things to do, and he was feeling it. He had tried to get some sleep as his brothers had believed, a vain attempt at stopping the Hood. But he had opened his eyes twenty minutes later to find himself at the edge of his balcony. It appeared the madman didn't sleep, and was using the lack of resistance from Gordon to use him as he saw fit.

That did it for the aquanaut. He had sworn quite solemnly that he would get no rest until the Hood had been thrown from his mind, and so, splashing cold water on his face, he had strode from his room. But once again, his plan to get to the beach - and therefore away from the rest of the family - didn't work. He had only made it down the stairs when he realised that he didn't have his watch on, and as he turned, everything froze. After the Hood had gloated that there was nothing Gordon would be able to do to stop him, they had somehow ended up in the silos.

If he was honest, Gordon had no idea what it was the Hood wanted, and he found that he almost didn't care either. Instead, he was just struggling physically to stop his body from doing what the man wanted it to, being rewarded with intense pain shooting through him as he did so. Every time he tried to stop a leg from moving, he ended up on his knees as it simply gave way underneath him. If he tried to stop his hand lifting to open a door, it resulted in him cradling his wrist. There were bright red lines shooting from the joint, almost looking like a burn. But if he just tried to move in the opposite direction, pain unlike anything he had ever known blossomed through his head and caused him to momentarily black out. By the time he had regained his senses, his body had moved itself to where the man wanted him to go.

It took Gordon almost an hour to realise that this technique was not going to work. It was obvious that being unconscious did nothing to stop the man, and if that was the case, he would have no idea what he was up to. So instead of fighting physically, Gordon threw himself into something that he himself thought to be completely surreal. He entered the battle for his mind.

TBTBTB

"Dude, you look like crap. Did you get any sleep?"

Gordon blinked at Virgil through stinging eyes before wearily shaking his head. Whatever the Hood had wanted in the silos, he had clearly found, and had thankfully backed away slightly. The throbbing headache he had left in his wake was a clear reminder that he hadn't gone far. Somehow, Gordon knew what the maniac was doing. If the redhead answered his brothers normally, they would remain oblivious to what was going on, something that the Hood seemed keen to maintain.

"You should get some rest, Gords."

"No!" Gordon practically yelled his answer at his astonished brother.

Scott, who had been passing at the time, came to a stop, resting a hand on Virgil's shoulder and peering at his other brother. Gordon was pale, paler than Scott had seen him for a long time, but his eyes were bloodshot and sore-looking. He appeared to be trembling slightly and it was obvious from the look in his eyes that he was in pain. Running his eyes over the state of the younger man, Scott frowned.

"What did you do to your wrist?"

Following his gaze, Gordon was amazed to see the marks were still there. Somehow, whatever the Hood was doing to him to make him co-operate was showing on him physically. Wondering if he could make this work to his advantage without the man knowing what he was up to, Gordon shrugged.

"Caught it on the gym stuff, needed a release last night," he muttered, and by the stirring in his mind, he knew the Hood was pleased he was trying to come up with an excuse. But judging by the look on Scott's face, it had done the trick. He knew that Scott knew him well enough to know that Gordon never used the gym equipment, not if he could help it. If he needed a physical release, he turned to the pool, even in the middle of the night. It was the only way he could think of that would give his brother some clue as to what was going on. "Just drop it, it's fine."

Scott nodded slowly, much to Gordon's relief, but his eyes had narrowed and he searched Gordon's face more intently. The younger brother knew in that instant the pilot had caught on to what Gordon had been trying to say, and was now trying to work out why Gordon was either lying to him or doing something that was not his norm.

"Virg is right, you know. You do look like crap; why don't you go and have a lie down?"

"No!" This time, it was a yell and Gordon pushed his chair back violently. Standing up, he let it clatter to the floor as he backed away from them, shaking his head frantically as he did so. He was exhausted, he couldn't deny it. But he also couldn't give the Hood the luxury of walking around without anyone trying to stop him. He could not sleep, no matter what happened. At his protest, he felt the Hood stirring in warning again, making it clear that he wanted Gordon to pretend to get some rest. In return, Gordon simply bit his lip, his own eyes narrowing as his head gave a throb. If the creep thought that he could make Gordon submit through physical measures, then he was in for a surprise. The redhead would have thought the night before would have given that one away. No matter what the man had thrown at him, Gordon had not given in.

"No, I can't, please don't make me..."

"Okay, easy. It's alright, you don't have to. No one is going to force you to do something you don't want to, you know that, don't you?"

Gordon could feel himself shaking at Scott's words, the Hood coming further back into control as he clearly realised the potential danger of where this conversation was going. Gordon let his hands drift behind him, resting on the counter, but finding what he needed. Someone had spilt something, and keeping his attention locked on the two brothers in front of him so that the Hood didn't know what he was doing, his finger began to move.

"Gordon, what is it?" Virgil stood up from where he had been sitting opposite his brother. He hadn't failed to notice the way Gordon's breakfast hadn't been touched, and he knew his brother hadn't eaten anything the night before either. If there was anything to set off warning bells, it was a Tracy not eating. What was concerning Virgil more, however, was that he was sure that Gordon hadn't drunk anything either.

"N-nothing." Gordon knew the Hood was getting angry, he could feel the man's control of his body returning. Somehow knowing that he was about to be forced to walk off, Gordon knew he had to speak again in order to stop them from following him. With the Hood working up into what felt like a rage, Gordon didn't want anyone near him.

"Gords..."

"Just leave me alone!" Not waiting to see the stunned expressions on their faces at his scream, Gordon turned and ran. The Hood let him, before interfering as he reached the stairs, once more driving Gordon towards the silos. For once, Gordon didn't fight it. He had to get away from the rest of the family; he had to deal with this on his own before anyone else got hurt.

Back in the kitchen, Virgil simply stood there in shock.

"What is wrong with him?" he cried, his mind going completely blank as to what could be affecting their brother so badly. This wasn't just a bad rescue or nightmares. He knew Gordon, knew how the man reacted to those. The swimmer hadn't even touched the pool since they had been back. Virgil knew that this was something much deeper, something that Gordon clearly felt he couldn't tell them about. But anything that stopped him both eating and sleeping was something so great that it was obvious he couldn't cope with it on his own.

"I'm not sure," Scott murmured thoughtfully, walking forward. Virgil blinked at him. How on earth could Scott sound so quiet, so in control, when it looked like their brother was falling apart in front of them and they didn't know what was wrong in order to help?

"Not sure? Not sure? Scott, this is Gordon we're talk-"

"Virgil, stop. I'm not sure, but I think Gordon wants us to find out. He does want help, and for some reason, he feels like he can't tell us."

"That's ridiculous," Virgil scoffed, automatically taking a few steps forward to follow Scott without thinking about what he was doing. "What on earth does he think is so bad that he can't tell us?"

Neither of the two saw Kyrano hesitate outside of the kitchen door, hearing the conversation within and wondering whether perhaps he had some of the answers they were looking for.

"How about something that could get us hurt?" Scott said softly, and Virgil swallowed hard, his frustration dying away as he realised that Scott might be right. Any of them would do anything to protect the others, no matter what the cost to themselves.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this." Gesturing for his brother to continue walking towards him, Scott stepped to one side. It was true, someone had spilt coffee there that morning, and with both Kyrano and Grandma being preoccupied by other things, no one had yet cleared it up. But now, just about legible, three letters were scrawled into through the liquid staining the surface.

"S.O.S?" Virgil mused, frowning up at Scott. "But we're back on the island, what could possibly be getting to him now?"

"I think I might be able to help."

Both brothers jumped as Kyrano entered the kitchen. He looked sorrowful and as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he moved over to join them at the counter, fingers tracing what they now thought to be Gordon's plea for help.

"Kyrano?" Scott pushed gently, wanting answers but not wanting to feel like he was pressing the man.

"S.O.S. You know what it means?"

"A distress signal. A cry for help," Virgil answered, sitting on the edge of the table as he waited to see where this was going.

"You know what it literally means?" Kyrano continued, and the two brothers exchanged looks.

"Save Our Soul." Scott muttered, and Kyrano nodded sadly.

"This time, boys, I think your brother might mean it literally."

There was a moment of silence in the kitchen before Scott spoke again.

"We need to find him. And fast."

TBTBTB

Gordon let out a low groan, coughing slightly and wincing when he felt blood coming up.

"I know you warned them somehow."

"How?" Gordon protested, letting out another groan as his body was suddenly rolled across the grating. They were in Thunderbird Two's silo, and to start with, Gordon had believed the Hood simply wanted to carry on with what he had been doing the night before. He must be gathering information, for he hadn't really tried to get Gordon to do anything other than carry out a thorough exploration. Gordon had vague recollections of being around Thunderbird Three the night before. It seemed the creep was just working through the 'birds. But as soon as they had reached the seclusion and silence of the silo, Gordon had found himself thrown to the floor. He had never thought it was possible to literally beat someone from the inside, but now he wasn't so sure. Especially now his nose was dripping blood, his lip had split and he could feel the bruises from where the man had flung him around. What was even more worrying was that it didn't seem to be hurting the Hood, it was only affecting Gordon.

"Oh, I underestimated you Tracys before. I'm sure you found a way. But let me tell you now, any of them confront you on it, and I'll kill them."

"Never!" Gordon snarled, digging his fingers into the metal as he tried to push himself upright. A shockwave of pain ripped through him, making it feel like someone was trying to claw his insides out, and he arched, crying out momentarily before collapsing back with a thud, panting heavily. "You know I won't stop fighting you. It will be two against one, and that is just going against Scott and Virgil. Do you really think that you can stop them?"

"But I have something that will have them submitting to me for the very same reasons that you fight me."

Gordon had a horrible feeling that he knew where this was going, but instead of answering, he forced himself onto his knees, breathing heavily. He was not going to simply lie on the floor like the man had already won, not whilst he still could fight against him. Realising that Gordon wasn't going to ask the question he wanted him to, the Hood simply pressed on.

"I have you. Their younger brother. Do you really think that they will try and fight me when they can hear me making you scream? And this time, there will be no miraculous rescue; they can't simply pluck you away from me. I can destroy you with just a thought, and before long, they'll know it."

Gordon just breathed heavily, scowling. There was nothing he could say to argue back against that, for he knew that the man was completely right. Scott would die ten times over if it meant that he could protect one of his younger brothers and he knew that Virgil was not much better. He was not going to be used as a bargaining chip against the rest of the family. Very slowly, he began the agonising task of pushing himself to his feet properly. No sooner had he made it upright when something sharp shot through his leg and it crumbled underneath him.

"What do you want?" Gordon gasped, still standing, but clutching his leg, determined to keep upright.

"Who says that I'm not getting exactly what I want?" the Hood responded casually, but Gordon was ready for that one. Shaking his head, he managed to drag himself over to the wall and leant against it, glad of the support. He wasn't sure how much more the Hood needed to do before Gordon wouldn't be able to stand even if he wanted to.

"You don't want them knowing. You've said so yourself. You need something here. You had me back in the tunnels, and they would have had no idea for hours. You know they are aware of something now; you can't expect to just possess me or whatever the hell you are doing and for my own family not to notice something is wrong. Even doing this," he pulled himself up straighter, wincing as he did so. "Even this isn't what you want, because you could have done that back at the rescue zone."

"Maybe I do want something. But maybe your resistance is annoying."

Gordon couldn't help but smirk. Everyone from his own brothers to his enemy apparently thought he could be annoying; that had to be some sort of record, surely?

"I told you, I'm never going to stop resisting," Gordon muttered, gritting his teeth even though he was talking inside of his own head. He knew technically he might not have a choice - he was shaking a lot now and every inch of him hurt. But he was not going to give in.

"No? But what's to stop me killing you and taking one of the others? Your oldest brother perhaps, turn him on the young ones that he is always so desperate to protect. Or the artistic one... He hasn't had the same training, he wouldn't be able to withstand the pain, surely?"

"Stop it! Why are you doing this?" Gordon snarled. The Hood didn't answer, and Gordon swallowed hard when he felt the satisfaction coming out of the man. The Hood knew he had the power to win, and right now, Gordon wasn't so sure he would be able to stop him. Before anything else could be said, his body flew through the air again.

"No!" Yelling out loud, Gordon realised he had control back just in time to grab the edge of the railing as he went flying over it. Dangling, he grunted as his already sore arms screamed in protest - and made the mistake of looking down. The Mole was directly under him, and he knew that even thought it wasn't switched on, the drillwould kill him if he let go. Gritting his teeth, Gordon tried to pull himself up again, only for something to slam into his head like a mental probe.

"What I want, you clearly can't give me. You are too weak-minded to see that giving in would protect your family. I'm going to destroy you, take another and then get what I want. And it will all be your fault."

"No! No, don't!" Gordon sucked in a sharp breath as he watched the burn mark on his wrist begin to slowly spread up his fingers and down his arm at the same time. For a split second, there was only the mark, and then the pain hit. Gasping, Gordon instinctively let go, then yelped as he realised he was only hanging by one hand and the same sensation was beginning to spread across the other arm as well. Grabbing back on with the first arm, Gordon stared in horror. He didn't have the strength to pull himself upright, and he could feel his fingers beginning to loosen. It was the Hood, slowly teasing them away from the railing.

One hand went again, and as much as he struggled against the man, he could feel his other hand slowly beginning to unpeel itself from the railing.

"You won't win!"

"I already have."

Gordon's hand slipped and suddenly he was falling...

...and then he wasn't.

"Come on, I gotcha."

A hand was wrapped firmly around his wrist and Gordon could only stare as Virgil began slowly dragging him back up again. As soon as he felt his shins hit the railings, Gordon scrambled for purchase to help his brother, and with a thud, they both fell over as Gordon was hauled back over the safety of the railings.

"Virg, go..." Gordon panted, coughing again and feeling the blood against his lips. He shakily rolled over onto his knees and tried to crawl away from his brother, feeling the Hood begin to surface once more. The maniac had backed away in the belief that Gordon was falling to his death, clearly prepared to leave the redhead's mind. But now it was clear that Gordon was still very much alive, he was making his presence known.

"It's okay, Gordon, we know," Virgil said softly, horror in his eyes at both the state of his little brother and the scene he had walked in on. He owed John and the man's knowledge of the security cameras around the island big time. In fact, he knew that he owed them Gordon's life.

"No, please... Can't stop him... Go..." Gordon's voice trailed off into a groan as he was flipped onto his back. But then there were hands on his shoulders, holding his bucking body down, and a lap cushioning his head.

"You are stronger than him, Gords," Virgil whispered, finally starting to believe what Kyrano had been saying as they had searched the villa frantically for Gordon. He had been nodding along, but he knew by the expression on Scott's face that neither of them had believed what the man had said. Possession? It all seemed a bit surreal for men who dealt with the most advanced machinery the world had ever seen. But then he had reached the silos, seen Gordon thrown over the railing by something invisible, and knew that they were dealing with something none of them had ever dreamt of.

"Not..." Gordon whispered, tears of exhaustion and pain springing into his eyes and slowly beginning to trickle down his face. "Said he would...would...said he was going to..."

Whatever Gordon had been trying to tell Virgil, the Hood wasn't going to allow it. He resurfaced properly in the man's mind, throwing everything at him. For a moment, Gordon completely froze, his eyes going wide and glazed. Then his body suddenly jolted out of Virgil's grip and a scream tore from him as he collapsed back onto the ground. This time, his eyes stayed shut and he didn't move again.

"Gordon? Gordon!" Pulling his brother towards him, Virgil stared at the burn marks running up and down his brother's arms, took note of the blood coming from his nose and mouth and saw the bruises. The Hood had really worked his brother over, that was for sure. But despite the state of Gordon, Virgil couldn't help but smile sadly. For the Hood to have wanted to hurt him this much, it showed that Gordon had not been giving him anything. The man had been met with a fight, and considering the behaviour of his brother since they had returned from the rescue, Gordon had been fighting from the beginning. Running his hand through his sibling's hair, Virgil hit his watch.

"Scott? Get down to Two's silos."

"You found him?"

Virgil sighed heavily, looking at the still figure cradled in his lap.

"Yeah, I got him. It's worse than we thought. Scott, I have no idea what has been done to him."

"It's okay, Virg. You've got him, I'm on my way. We'll get Dad and Kyrano, they'll know what to do, they always do. He's going to be okay, Virgil, I promise."

Virgil nodded softly.

"I hope so. Just hurry, Scott, please." Disconnecting, Virgil moved Gordon into a more comfortable position and bent over his brother, trying to assess the damage that had been done.

"Oh, kiddo. What's he done to you?" he mumbled softly. What he wasn't expecting was for Gordon's eyes to shoot open. With a gasp, Virgil made to move backwards as the younger man's pupils blazed yellow, a clear sign that he was not addressing his little brother.

"What he is about to do to you."

The words came from Gordon's mouth, but there was no way it was his brother's voice talking to him. Virgil opened his mouth, not sure whether he was about to try and get back through to Scott or to address the madman in front of him, to try to make him leave Gordon alone.

But he didn't have time to do either as Gordon's hand lifted, grabbing him by the throat. Slowly, the redhead came up onto his knees, forcing Virgil down as he did so. It only took seconds until Virgil was flat on the floor, Gordon straddling him to avoid the artist's kicking legs. Virgil's fingers prised at Gordon's, desperately trying to make his brother let go.

"You're...str...stronger..." Virgil gasped, fighting as much as he could as black spots began to dance in his vision. He stared straight into the figure's eyes, trying to see past the yellow in an attempt to get through to his brother. He had to believe that Gordon was still in there. "F-fight..."

"He can't," a silky voice replied, and Virgil could feel his legs fall still. "And neither can you."

And with that, the grip around his throat tightened.