Virgil had fallen asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. He didn't even remember James hooking his IV line back in, or Dr. Anderson visiting, or anything else that had happened after unceremoniously plopping himself back into his bed, with a hand from James.

As he blinked his eyelids slowly open, he was surprised to hear Tin-Tin's voice coming from not very far away at all. Isn't she supposed to be going to Miami? he wondered dully as he struggled toward full consciousness.

"Virgil?"

Another voice he knew, this time belonging to Grandma, coming from his left. He managed to pry his eyelids open and look at her.

"Ah, there you are," she said with a smile and a pat of her hand to his. "Look, Jeff made certain you boys could be along for the ride," she continued, gesturing to something slightly over Virgil's hips.

He turned to look, then pushed himself partially upright.

"Now, now, let me adjust the bed for you so you're not straining your side," Ruth admonished. And within moments, she'd taken control of the bed, the top half of which began rising to keep Virgil supported.

There on one of those rolling hospital bed tables, right over top of his thighs, now, as his position changed with the bed's movement, was a laptop. And on that laptop was what appeared to be a live feed coming from the International Rescue helijet which hadn't yet been put into use on a rescue. Well, until now, that was.

"How long have I been out?" Virgil asked.

"Nearly five hours," Ruth replied. "Your father thought you, John and Gordon might want to be awake to see what Tin-Tin finds on-scene in Miami. He's in with John, and they've wheeled Gordon into John's room as well. Jeff could only get his hands on two laptops with the innards he needed."

Virgil quirked a smile at his grandmother. Innards, indeed. Her grasp of technology wasn't half-bad for a woman her age, thanks to living on Tracy Island, but sometimes she just cracked him up when knowledge failed her and old-fashioned terminology kicked in.

"Is everyone reading me?" Tin-Tin asked.

Virgil looked back at the screen. "Five-by-five, Tin-Tin," he replied, then heard his father do the same over the airwaves.

"Good. Now, as Mr. Tracy is already aware, repeated attempts to phone Ms. McInerny on her land line and cell phone have gone nowhere. Penelope is still attempting these forms of contact. We have, however, with Brains' help, been able to utilize Thunderbird Five to pinpoint the location of the cell phone. Brains only just sent the information to me, and it appears the cell phone is at the same address listed as her home address in Cleveland Clinic's records."

Virgil turned to his grandmother, noting that the room door was closed. "Isn't Dad worried about staff coming in while this is going on?" he asked.

"No," Ruth whispered. "He told Dr. Acton that we needed time alone with you boys, and that we're not to be disturbed for an hour." Then she gave him a sly grin. "I locked your door just in case."

Her hand found his and he gently wrapped his fingers around it. Her touch had always been soothing, from the time he was an infant. At thirty-three years of age, Virgil found it no less so.

"And how's Scott?"

"He's going in to surgery in a couple hours' time," Ruth informed him as the whine of the helijet's engines drowned out whatever it was Tin-Tin was speaking to the pilot – presumably Agent Seventeen – about. "Jeff's told Anderson to put the lung back in, only this time to account for the shortened tube from the trachea to the new lung to see if we can't avoid a repeat of the tracheal spasms Scott had before."

"And his liver? Does he need mine?"

"Well, that's the strange thing," Ruth said, eyes still on the laptop screen. "The doctors couldn't find a thing wrong with the portion of John's liver they had originally implanted and then removed because it'd shut down."

"What? You mean it's functioning properly?" Virgil asked, surprised.

"Apparently so, from all the tests they've run. They say they've never seen anything like it."

Virgil looked back at the laptop. Could it be? Could the fact that they were doing what Scott had asked, that Tin-Tin was on her way to save Kelly's life, could that somehow be changing the tide for Scott and the donated organs from them all? "What are his chances this time?"

"Dr. Anderson is very optimistic," Ruth replied. "Oh, look. They've just gotten over Miami." She pointed at the screen. "Dear God."

'Dear God' was an understatement, in Virgil's opinion. Miami was, literally, gone. Here and there a structure might've gone a little higher than one story still somewhat intact, but for the most part, the piles of rubble from ruined skyscrapers, apartment buildings and other taller structures out-sized anything left standing by far.

But the biggest and most unbelievable thing they were seeing, was a series of five perfectly-spaced gigantic holes. They looked like sinkholes, but seemed deeper than most of those usually got, as far as Virgil knew. And they were in a pattern much like you'd find on the number five face of a die. A perfect square of holes with one larger hole in the center of them all, looking pretty much equidistant.

As though it had been planned.

As though these holes weren't naturally occurring at all.

"Holy shit," Virgil breathed. "Tin-Tin, do those holes look as big in person as they do on-screen?"

"Bigger, Virgil," Tin-Tin replied grimly. "I'm controlling the camera mounted on the bottom of the helijet from here, and I'm seeing what you're seeing…as well as what I can see with my own eyes out the cockpit windows. I've never seen anything like these. Brains, what do you make of them?"

"Well, ah, Tin-Tin, the, uh, the relative size of them, roughly one hundred kilometers in diameter, i-if my calculations are correct, means they're not the, uh, largest in recorded history. The, uh…the Quattra Depression in Egypt measured one hundred a-and twenty kilometers in width. However, the depth is phenomenal. I-In Guatemala City, a sinkhole fell more than, uh, thirty stories in an instant, however, so this sort of o-occurrence is not unheard of. Ah, Tin-Tin, ha-have Agent Seventeen move directly over the largest one. In the, uh, center, there."

Virgil watched as the pilot maneuvered the helijet until it was hovering some two hundred feet above the sinkhole in question. "Does it even have a bottom?" he asked, not trusting his eyes, which were telling him it didn't.

"A-apparently not a, uh, visible one, ah, Virgil," Brains responded. "I'm using Thunderbird Five's, ah, sensors to obtain projections as to depth, but, I, uh…I'm not so sure even she can calculate it."

"It's…an abyss, like the ones Gordon maps on the sea floor, only…a circular one," Virgil observed. "Tin-Tin, how close is Kelly's house to this hole?"

"I'm afraid, Virgil, that according to the satellite maps we're working with online, her home is either on the very edge of that hole, or…"

"Or already in it," Virgil whispered, heart sinking. "Damn it."

"Brains, Alan, I want you both hitting things hard with respect to these five sinkholes and the subsequent earthquakes," Jeff said from his end of the connection. "I'm no geologist, but those are man-made or my name's not Jeff Tracy."

"Uh…yes, sir, we-we're on it as we speak," Brains replied.

It was Alan who spoke next. "Dad, Penny's found out some information from her contacts in South Africa about some major underground drilling machines not unlike the Mole that were constructed for a black market sale by local foundries and machineries. We're following that as well as what could possibly be gained by this precise placement of holes, and by the destruction of the city."

"Good," Jeff said. "Keep me informed. In the meantime, Tin-Tin, have your cameras been able to locate the specific house that belongs to Kelly?"

"I believe…I may have something here," Tin-Tin said, and Virgil perked up. Maybe, by some miracle, Kelly's house hadn't been one to go into the massive hole. "Yes, I—I'm seeing some indication that this home, I'm focusing the camera on it now, may be hers. It's difficult to be certain with everything leveled as it is."

"God, that place is half-gone," Virgil observed as the picture on the screen zoomed in to a house half-fallen into the chasm already.

"Wait just a moment!" Tin-Tin said excitedly, then turned and said something to her pilot. The camera moved quickly as the helijet lowered.

"Be careful over that hole, Tin-Tin. We don't know if there's anything under there liable to shoot right up at you." Virgil had to smile. Alan. His little brother so worried about his woman…and he had an idea that maybe both Alan and Tin-Tin had finally gotten their acts together and realized she was his woman after six long years of flirting, and denying all involvement with each other 'til they were blue in the face.

"Thunderbird Five's scanners show no, ah, seismic activity a-anywhere within a, uh, fifty-mile radius," Brains reported. "However, I-I am seeing severe erosion from the, uh, thunderstorm that passed through this a-area last night."

"Is the rest of the house in danger of falling into the pit?" Virgil asked, leaning forward like somehow he could do something just by getting a better look at the scene.

"I-I'm afraid so, Virgil. In fact, it, ah, it could go a-at any moment."

Once again, Virgil's heart sank.

"I'm going to harness up and have Jason lower me for a closer look," Tin-Tin said. "I'll be back with you shortly."

"Who's Jason?" Virgil asked. "Agent Seventeen?"

"Yes, Virgil," Jeff replied. "Tin-Tin, be careful. I'm not about to tell your father I lost you in some lunatic-created abyss."

Tin-Tin's soft laughter came through the air. "Honestly, Mr. Tracy, this is what I'm trained for, and you know I can do it or you wouldn't have sent me here."

"Yeah, well," Jeff grumbled and Virgil had to chuckle. Leave it to Tin-Tin to be the only person other than Grandma who could give Jeff Tracy shit and get away with it.

"All right, Mr. Tracy, camera control is now at your command."

"I've got it, Tin-Tin. John's handling it."

"Jason, begin winching me down. Everyone, I'm headed straight for the very edge of the crater," Tin-Tin announced, and Virgil watched as the camera moved to focus on her for the descent. "There is a mountain of debris which appears extremely unstable, but beneath it is what may have been a table of some sort, and helijet scanners are giving me a heat source beneath that."

"Kelly," Virgil breathed, suddenly finding himself willing it to be true with every cell in his being. If it was a heat source, then that meant whoever it was, was still alive. "Come on, come on," he gritted out through his teeth.

Even his grandmother's hand in his wasn't soothing enough to edge his nervous anticipation down even one notch, let alone altogether.

"Nearly there," Tin-Tin reported.

"Dad, we've got something big here," Alan interrupted. "I'm sending the information through to your cell on coded channel."

"What is it?" Virgil asked.

"Penny's contacts have given us just enough information for me to believe that those two earthquakes, and the formation of the giant holes that seem to have caused them, were no accident, nor from Nature's hand."

"Oh, my God," Jeff breathed, and Virgil felt his entire body go cold. His father never sounded like this. Not unless—"It's the Hood."

"What?" Virgil asked. "How do you know?"

"Penny got a team of local law enforcement to raid a warehouse where one of these drilling machines was supposedly built," Jeff replied. "Inside, on a small miniature of the machine, a model of some sort, was hanging one of those face masks the Hood leaves behind."

"When he wants everyone to know it's him," Virgil stated. "The amount of lives lost because of this, what…what the hell is he doing? Why?" He was so furious he was shaking.

Jeff didn't sound any less angry when he replied, "I don't know, but I'm bringing in the big guns to stop him once and for all."

Anyone who knew Jeff Tracy, knew that tone of voice meant he wasn't going to rest until his words became reality.

Tin-Tin's sudden "I see something!" from the laptop screen made Virgil lean forward even further, eyes now so close to it he wondered if his grandmother could see any part of the picture at all around his head.

"Tell me it's her," Virgil said quietly.

And then the camera zoomed down to just below Tin-Tin's boot-clad feet, and Virgil got eyes on exactly what she saw. It was a human hand, pale-colored, opened palm-up and not moving. He grabbed the laptop and dragged it off the table, then lifted it and held it up to his face. It made his grandma have to stand and maneuver to where she was nearly behind the bed in order to see it.

"Please be alive," Virgil pleaded.

"Definitely female," Tin-Tin told them. But the camera couldn't angle itself to see anything beyond Tin-Tin hanging from the cables and the person on the floor's arm up to the elbow. "All right, shining my wrist-light in, hold on, boys."

Virgil held his breath. He was ready to bet the rest of them were holding their breaths, too.

"She's unconscious. Movement of the chest indicates she's breathing. And she does have red hair," Tin-Tin confirmed.

Virgil's breath left him in one giant whoosh of air. "Oh, thank God." He felt Ruth's hand come to rest on his shoulder.

"What's it look like for getting her out of there?" Gordon asked. It was the first time he'd spoken.

"I could simply pull her out horizontally, but without any leverage beneath me, I'd rather secure her to the line first, before attempting to return to the helijet," Tin-Tin replied.

"That debris looks awfully unstable," Alan said.

"And the, uh…the side of the sinkhole is mud, ah, Tin-Tin," Brains advised. "I-It may give way at any, ah, moment."

"I know, I know. Need the Peanut Gallery to die down a little, please. Let the lady work, boys."

Virgil grinned. Cheeky woman. And all Tin-Tin. She always loved going out on rescues, and had become just as good as any one of them at operating a lot of the equipment. Plus, her smaller frame helped out a lot in situations where all of them were simply too bulky to fit into tight spaces. From the small area that was clear under the table, Virg knew this would be just such a space.

"Jason, give me a foot of slack, but be ready to haul me away in an instant."

"F.A.B.," Jason replied. Also the first time Virgil had heard his voice clearly.

Virg watched carefully, noting that Tin-Tin was doing absolutely everything by-the-book perfect, from avoiding the haphazardly-strewn debris above and surrounding the table to touching only the broken-off bit of floor sticking out over the edge of the gigantic hole. From using her cables to full advantage by swinging upside-down and hooking one ankle around one of them, to tying the extra harness she'd brought with her to her own torso after securing the clamps to the same hooks her own harness was clipped into.

There was no denying what this woman did for a living. Not after seeing her in action like this. Usually he was too busy piloting Thunderbird Two or handling one of their big machines to really stop and watch how Tin-Tin operated. But now he had a whole new appreciation for her abilities. The one difference between her and the Tracy sons in the field? Every move she made was graceful, like she was doing a mid-air life-and-death ballet.

Virg thought maybe, once they'd all come through this, he might paint her doing just that. She'd probably love it.

"All right, all secure. Jason, lower me two feet, then reel me out another foot for slack."

"F.A.B., lowering now."

Tin-Tin got lower, and then lightning-quick the entire upper half of her body disappeared into the hole beneath the coffee table.

"We're monitoring the debris above you, Tin-Tin," John said. Virgil had begun to wonder if his younger brother was asleep. "We've got a few pieces to the north side of you shifting."

"Understood," Tin-Tin responded, and Virg could hear the strain in her voice. She was trying to secure Kelly with hardly any space at all to move around. That couldn't be easy. Virg had been in some spots like that far too frequently for his liking, with victims both unconscious like Kelly was, and those who preferred panicking over holding still long enough to be saved.

It seemed like an eternity passed, but when Virg glanced up at the wall clock to find it read three forty-four in the afternoon, he knew it hadn't been long at all. At last came the words he'd been waiting to hear.

"She's as secure as she's going to get. I'm going to maneuver her out. Stand by to winch up, Jason."

"Standing by."

Tin-Tin slowly pulled herself away from the opening, the movement of her body automatically bringing Kelly with her. And it was, indeed, Kelly…because the first thing to come out was her head, and Virgil would know that face and that fiery red hair anywhere. He breathed a sigh of relief, then nearly choked on it when Alan yelled, "Debris falling! Tin-Tin, look out!"

A large chunk of earth beneath the edge of Kelly's house fell away into the pit. The movement sent debris clattering down its own mountain, some flying off the pile into the vast abyss, and some falling directly toward Tin-Tin and Kelly.

"No," Virg ground out, fists clenched. Then Tin-Tin executed a maneuver Virg didn't think any of his brothers could've done: she yanked Kelly out hard, using the momentum of Kelly's weight to swing away from the debris even as she – with Kelly attached to her waist, and held tightly in her arms – leg go of the cable with her ankle and somersaulted herself upright, simultaneously turning her back toward the house.

The house which was now teetering precariously on the edge of that hole.

"Winch up, high-speed!" Tin-Tin barked into her microphone, breath coming in short puffs. "God, I hope I didn't just permanently injure her," she whispered as she and Kelly swung back the other way.

Jason had started the winch going fast as he could, Virgil could tell, because while the women weren't completely clear of the debris, they were higher than they'd been just a few seconds ago. Tin-Tin's boot slammed into a large chunk of roof as they swung wildly over the house, and that one extra push was all the house needed to give in to the forces of gravity.

As Tin-Tin and Kelly were winched upward to safety, even as the helijet, too, rose a little higher to get them further away, what was left of Kelly's house and all its contents tipped up, wood ripping from the concrete slab that served as its foundation.

It hung there at a forty-five degree angle almost comically, Virgil thought, like it was suspended indefinitely in place by guiding wires or something. And then with a mighty groan and the sound of glass, concrete and wood grinding and scraping against each other as a cacophony in the background, the house slid right into the sinkhole and disappeared from sight.

Virgil fell back against the raised portion of his bed, dropping the computer to his lap in the process. He felt like he'd just effected the rescue. It took him a minute to catch his breath. When he did, he looked back at the screen. All the camera was showing now, was the empty lot where Kelly's house used to be, and all the crumbled homes around it.

"Tin-Tin, report," Jeff said.

"Jason's almost got us up to the helijet, Mr. Tracy, but I think there's a reason Kelly's unconscious. I'll have to examine her more closely once we're aboard."

"Well, Scott did tell us she was hurt," Virgil observed.

"That's right, he did," Jeff replied. "Tin-Tin?"

"Jason, get us to Cleveland Clinic and step on it."

"What is it, Tin-Tin?" That from Alan. "Is she hurt?"

"I see no visible injuries, neither lacerations nor any apparent broken bones. However, her pupils are not responding to stimuli, and…hang on, trying eye-openers."

Virgil knew if Kelly was okay underneath it all, the eye-openers would wake her up but quick. Brains had invented them as an alternative to smelling salts, used only by International Rescue, and they were tough to get out of your nostrils once you'd inhaled their fumes, God. Sometimes he wished he didn't volunteer to be Brains' guinea pig so much. You'd think he would've learned by now.

"She's not responding to the eye-openers at all. Not even a flinch."

"Should she got to a closer hospital?" John asked.

"Cleveland is just over one thousand miles north. Present speed we can make the Clinic in…"

Jason's voice came through. "I've engaged the additional jet-pack configuration on the tail of the helijet," he informed them. "Instruments are telling me we're there in forty minutes, tops."

There was a moment of silence, and then Jeff spoke. "Fine. Bring her here. In the meantime, Tin-Tin, perform standard field medic procedure. I'll go speak with Dr. Acton and have that ER ready for your arrival."

"F.A.B. Tin-Tin out."

With that, the camera feed went black. Virgil closed the laptop and watched his grandmother pick it up, put it back on the rolling table, and then wheel the table back out of the way.

"She'll be all right, Virgil," Ruth said quietly. "You've got to believe she will."

He nodded, but wouldn't look at her. Still didn't when she went to the door, unlocked it and walked out into the hallway. Another sound, the door opening again, and still he didn't look up…just plucked at the blanket covering his legs.

"Tin-Tin's damn good."

Finally Virg raised his head and saw his dad standing a couple feet from the bed. "Yeah. She's one of us through and through," he replied.

What if everything they'd done, though, was for naught? What if they'd busted their asses to find Kelly, and Tin-Tin had completed a difficult rescue, and all of it was for nothing because Kelly was so injured somewhere inside her body that she wouldn't survive?

Would Scott actually die, regardless of getting the organs put back in him tonight?

Virg guessed everything he was thinking must be showing plain as day on his face, because his father came up to him, laid a hand on his shoulder and said quietly, "How about we go see him?"

He looked up, searching his father's face…saw that his dad was just as worried. Hell, even if this hadn't been someone Scott so adamantly insisted was crucial to his own survival, it was still a person. A person who'd gotten themselves tested just in case they could help Scott. A person who'd been saved from one earthquake, only to nearly be killed in a second one.

And all because the Hood was up to something none of them could even begin to fathom.

"Son?" Jeff said, squeezing his shoulder again.

"Yeah, Dad, I do want to go see him, I think."

"They've started prepping him for surgery," Jeff said. "But right now they're just keeping him stable in his room until it's time to move him to the OR. I don't think you'll be in the way."

"Thanks," Virgil said.

He knew what he was going to tell Scott. He was going to tell him they'd found Kelly alive. The only thing was, he didn't know what to tell him about whether or not she'd stay that way.