Thank you so much for the support once again! Special thanks to Xenitha and Kirsten as I can't respond directly to you! Hope you all like the next chapter!

Despite being tied back to back with his younger brother, Scott felt calm. Since Virgil's casual use of Maloc's name, the men had all been at each other's throats. For Virgil to know said name, Scott knew John was involved and if John had found something, Scott knew they had a way out. It was just a matter of time.

"Scott?" Virgil's voice was a whisper, making sure he wasn't overheard. Keane was still working away on the computer but he clearly hadn't found anything. Although Scott was worried about what Keane was looking for – not to mention Keane's taunt about Scott already knowing – he also trusted Brains. The man had never let them down before (apart from a few machinery burn-outs – nothing they hadn't been able to handle) and Scott knew his father had the highest security possible on his computer. He knew that John would also be keeping an eye on things his end and hopefully blocking Keane's attempts.

"Yeah?" He twisted his head around the best he could. Virgil's voice had been worried and this was the closest Scott was going to get to looking at him.

"Dad knows."

"What?" Scott hissed, his voice rising. Instantly, he realised what he had done and glanced around. Maloc glared but no one came over. The men were close to the door, rummaging through the bags they had brought with them and arming themselves. Keane might have got himself in with a gang and promised them whatever it was he was trying to find, but they weren't letting him take all day about it. They must have realised people would soon start investigating the missing Tracys' whereabouts and wanted to be out of there by then. Scott only hoped they held onto their caution in regards to the noise a gun would make and didn't start shooting.

"John told him," Virgil said. His voice was miserable and Scott could feel his hands twisting in their ties. He grabbed hold, stopping the movement. Virgil was only going to hurt himself if he continued like this. But Scott could understand why. Keeping this quiet had been his only hope that his father would ever let them off the island again.

"We'll deal with that once we are out of here."

"How?"

"For the love of…" Maloc had clearly had enough of their whispering, for he suddenly broke away from his men and strode towards them. Scott swallowed as the man picked up the roll of tape again. "Will you two shut up?"

Scott tried leaning back in his chair as the man advanced, but there was nowhere for him to go. With Virgil tied the other side of him, it wasn't even as if he could push his chair back. But Maloc never got that far. The ringing of the phone stopped him in his tracks. He stared at Scott, who felt his eyes widen in genuine surprise before both of them stared at the phone. Scott could feel Virgil twisting around in order to do the same.

Silence fell across the men as it rang, Maloc signalling for them to get into position, believing it was some sort of trap. Eventually, the answering machine kicked in and Scott had no idea how to react as Lady Penelope's clear tone rang through the room.

"Jeff, darling, I know you said you were in the office later today. Ring me as soon as you are in; there have been developments with the Tokyo deal."

The line went dead and Scott had to bite his lip to stop himself smirking. There was no way Penny would ever ring his father's office phone, Scott didn't realise she even had the number. They had far more effective ways of getting hold of each other when they needed to. Besides, Penny might have been their agent but there was no way she was part of his father's business. It seemed the rest of the family were on the case.

"You said no one was due in today," Maloc snarled, turning on Keane.

Keane finally looked up from the computer.

"He's not coming. I've checked his schedule, he's not leaving that precious island for a few weeks."

"Then why did she say he was?"

"They must have given some sort of signal," Keane argued, glaring at Scott as he spoke. Scott rolled his eyes, making sure Keane saw.

"How the hell would we have done that?" he demanded, deciding it was time to up his act a little. "You've been with me ever since this started."

"Your brother then."

"Search him!" Maloc ordered, gesturing one of his men over.

Scott could feel Virgil squirming as the man checked his pockets before pulling out his phone and handing it to Maloc, who instantly passed it to Keane. Keane tapped a few buttons before shaking his head.

"No calls."

"Then he deleted them."

"Do you really think I just checked the call log? What did you bring me for? I'm telling you: he hasn't contacted anyone. They don't know what's going on. There must have been a change of plan."

For the first time since this began, Scott felt a smug satisfaction at seeing Keane looking worried. His confidence was dwindling: first Scott was present when he shouldn't have been, then Virgil had appeared and now it sounded as if Jeff himself might be on his way… Scott didn't blame him for being scared.

"I told you they knew we were here," Scott said quietly. "Leave now before they get here and you might get away."

"No. You've been stalling us since we got here," Keane said, turning his attention back to the computer. "I don't believe anything you say."

Scott gritted his teeth in fury. He couldn't blame Keane; he wouldn't believe anything he said either. But it wasn't making things easy.

"Then at least tell me what you're after. I might be able to help."

"And why should I believe that?"

"You have my brother," Scott said. "I just want this to be over and to know that he is safe. Let Virgil go-"

"Scott!"

"-and I'll help you if I can." Scott made sure he didn't look away from Keane this time. He didn't even blink. The man stared back at him with equal intensity before finally he nodded.

"Maybe this one I do believe. I've heard the stories as much as the next man about how close you two are. I need certain files: plans and documents. Files the public don't know about."

"I don't understand…"

"Do you want Maloc to shoot your brother instead? You know precisely what I'm talking about! Your father has hidden files on this machine and I want them."

"What are you going to do with them when you have them?" Scott asked, his heart thudding. He couldn't let Keane discover the plans for International Rescue, but if it was that or Virgil, then there was no choice.

"What do you think? Use them of course. Now, where should I look?"

"Untie me and I can help."

"I don't think so. Tell me from there."

"Scott, don't you dare!" Virgil hissed.

Keane nodded at Maloc and before Scott could do anything, the man had punched Virgil.

"Leave him alone!"

"Tell me what I want to know and I will. You really think, however much he tries to hide it, that your father can get away with an arms deal like this? Once we have the weapons, we'll make it public who provided them and you'll be ruined."

"What?" Scott could only stare. Arms deal? Weapons? Precisely what did Keane think he was looking for on his father's computer? Scott's complete bewilderment made Keane lose his temper, crossing the distance between them and grabbing onto the front of Scott's shirt.

"Enough games! You said you would help me to protect your brother. You have five minutes to have a think about where those files will be archived or I'll have him shot. Think that over." Keane let go and strode to the opposite side of the room. He opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Maloc asked, stepping after him.

"Giving Mr Tracy here some thinking time. What does he think is more valuable: his father's plans or his brother's life? They're not going anywhere, so let them have a few moments to discuss it."

He left and Maloc sneered before heading after him. His men followed and Scott instantly blew out a breath, leaning his head back and resting it against Virgil's as the door clicked shut.

"I don't get it," Virgil said. "Why have they gone?"

"You know how you got them at each other's throats? He's hoping we will do the same arguing over the best course of action and then one of us will be so angry that we will tell them."

"Well, that's stupid."

"Tell me about it. Arms deals and weapons? They can't be serious."

"I think they are, actually," Virgil said quietly. He was still shifting in the ties, trying to use his watch to break free despite the edges being smooth. So far he wasn't having much luck other than to make himself bleed. "John said Maloc is an arms dealer. A big one by the sounds of it. He knows what he is doing and I doubt he would have come here on a whim. They must truly believe that is what Dad is doing."

"How though?" Scott felt Virgil shake his head behind him.

"I wish I knew. I…damnit, almost had it."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get us out of here."

"I've got a better idea," Scott said. "John."

Both brothers scrabbled for their watches, their fingers bumping each other as they both tried to hit the buttons.

"Are you two okay?" John didn't wait for them to press anything; a sign he had been monitoring the conversation the whole time. Scott's words had revealed it was safe for him to now speak.

"We're fine," Scott heard himself say, although he was beginning to wonder how long for. If Keane and the others truly believed there were weapons at stake here, maybe Scott had underestimated how violent they were prepared to get.

"Why does he think Dad has weapons?" Virgil asked, wasting no time. He knew they didn't have time to spare; there was no telling when the men would be back. This was their opportunity to find out what was going on.

"I have no idea." There was amusement in John's voice. Although Scott could understand that – their father was saving the world, not arming it - it wasn't helping matters. John wasn't the one who had accidentally put Virgil in more danger by offering to help. But even he couldn't help them find something that didn't exist.

"Not funny, John."

"Sorry. I've been keeping Keane out of Dad's computer and doing some digging at the same time. According to the records, there was an attack attempt a few months ago. The hacker never got in, he never saw anything. But now I'm thinking it was Keane."

"Could-" Virgil paused as he tried to work out what it was he wanted to say. "I mean, if it was Keane and if he never saw anything, could he have still seen there was something there he shouldn't see?"

"Come again?"

"He's good, right? So could he have got so far in as to see there were hidden files although he couldn't access them, and that's why he has come here, straight to the source?"

A whistle slipped through Scott's teeth as he thought about what his brother had said. "But how did Maloc and the others get involved?"

"No idea," John admitted. "Look, what do you want me to do? I can't just sit here and do nothing knowing you two dunderheads could get yourselves killed. I have to do that often enough on rescues, I'm not doing it while you are on vacation."

"Get Dad to contact his security team. There are six armed men plus Keane, who must know how to fire a gun even if he isn't comfortable doing it. Maloc is their leader but there is tension between him and Keane – they both have a higher stake in this than the rest of the men," Scott reported, knowing details could make the difference between whether they were helped or not. "They know they are running out of time, so they're going to be getting desperate. Get us some help, John."

"F.A.B."

"John?" Virgil cut in before his brother could disconnect. "Tell Penny: nice work."

John agreed and went silent again, leaving the trapped Tracys in silence for a moment. They both knew their brother would be monitoring the situation.

"You know we're never going to live it down if we have to be rescued?" Virgil eventually muttered, squirming at the thought. Scott agreed and repeated Virgil's earlier actions of trying to pull his hands free.

"It won't work, Scott," Virgil said. "I've been trying for long enough."

"Well, we can't just sit here." Scott glanced around, looking for inspiration. He looked towards the floor and grinned. His hands might have been bound by plastic ties, but they had only tied his feet with rope. Leaning back on the chair and hoping Virgil being there was enough to stop him from falling over backwards, Scott began wriggling and kicking out as much as he could. He had been right in thinking the ropes had been hastily tied in order to stop him kicking and it didn't take long before he felt them loosen and eventually fall free.

"Your turn," he told his brother, bracing the chairs as Virgil also kicked his way loose. It felt like an achievement when a panting Virgil also announced that he was done, but then both brothers simply looked around.

"Now what?" Virgil asked and Scott was about to admit he didn't have a clue when his eyes fell on the desk. There were scissors on it and Scott knew if they could just get across, then they would be able to cut themselves free.

"We move," he said. Putting his feet properly on the floor, Scott attempted to stand but ended up falling backwards, landing firmly back in his seat without going anywhere and hearing Virgil cursing at him.

"The chairs are too deep for us both to put our feet on the floor," Virgil told him. "You do that and you're yanking me back."

"Sorry." Scott had forgotten the fact they weren't just tied to the chairs; they were tied to each other. "So what do we do?"

Virgil was silent for a moment as he thought it through.

"We hop."

"What?"

"On three, I push back, you pull forwards and both chairs should move. Then we simply repeat the process until we get over to the desk. As I'm assuming that's where we are going, considering you haven't actually told me?"

Scott winced. He had also forgotten Virgil was facing nothing but a wall and hadn't seen what Scott had. Confirming that was indeed their destination, he braced himself once more.

"Ready?"

"Yep. One…"

"...Two…"

"…Three!" Both brothers shifted their weight at the same time. The chairs might have been deep, but they weren't heavy and they moved across the floor by an inch or so. Scott groaned. They were never going to make it there at this rate. If Keane and his men were outside, they must have heard them. But the door remained shut - and he had no other ideas. Starting the countdown again, Scott braced himself for another shift.

It took forever. Inch by inch they crossed their father's office and Scott refused to look away from the scissors. They took a moment to catch their breath.

"Scott?"

"What?"

"Why is Dad's office so big?"

Scott laughed. It was exactly the same thing that was going through his mind but he didn't answer his brother. Instead, he just shifted in the chair until he could brace himself.

"Ready?"

"No?"

Ignoring Virgil, Scott ran through the countdown and they shifted again. After what felt like an age, they were finally alongside the desk.

"Now what?"

"We lean," Scott muttered. Rocking the chair first of all in the other direction to get some momentum, Scott knew Virgil had realised what he had meant. Both brothers shifted their weight to the same side, standing on one leg. It was the strangest feeling that Scott had ever felt, but he was able to slide his hands across the desk by just a few centimetres. It took a lot of desperate scrabbling and cursing and they had to repeat the action a few times before he could actually reach, but eventually he took hold of the scissors. At least, he managed to hook his finger through the handles and flicked them.

"Watch out!"

The scissors skidded off the desk and landed on the floor. But then Scott realised they had a bigger problem. He had automatically shifted to catch the scissors and moved his weight back the other way but Virgil hadn't been prepared for it and lost his balance, his weight pulling them to one side. Still standing on one leg, there was nothing Scott could do other than go with his brother as both chairs toppled over, landing on their sides and taking the brothers with them. Feeling more stuck than before, Scott groaned and rested his head against the floor, wondering if this day could possibly get any worse.

"Damn." Virgil's word summed up so perfectly how Scott was feeling he couldn't help but laugh again. This whole thing was getting more surreal by the moment and he literally had no idea what was about to come at them next.

"Now what?" Virgil continued, but Scott shook his head, still laughing.

"It's your turn now. You come up with the next move."

"Thanks," Virgil muttered drily and Scott could feel him trying to wriggle. But while Virgil tried to think of something, Scott froze.

They had run out of time. The door was opening again.