White Out

Disclaimer - Absolutely, positively do not own. 'Nuff said.

Chapter 10

Jared sobbed out his pain and fear, holding onto Dean in death as he always had life. He knew that they had rescued that other guy, the one from International Rescue. For a moment, as he heard his uncle in the background, felt Helen's calm presence, Jared felt a smidgen of resentment. "Why," Jared wondered. "He's probably someone's son, like Dean was practically Norman's son. He could be someone's brother, like Dean was mine. Why does he get a second chance and Dean gets to die in the snow? It's not fair that he can get a second chance and…"

The thought was never completed as an alarm sounded over by the hospital bed that the IR man had been placed on. Jared felt sick, anguished that his resentful musings could come true.

Emily had been reviewing Alan's readings with concerns and was about to ask Virgil to get the portable e-ray device when the alarm sounded. Moving quickly, she began to call out orders – the hardest one being to Kate (the only time she could get away with a "hey, you" to her sister-in-law) to secure the curtain and get everyone but Virgil out of the way.

Jeff felt that his own heart had stopped, not acknowledging when John placed a comforting arm around his shoulders to pull him back, only seeing when Kate pulled curtains tight to create a private room. Virgil had long ago placed the curtains around the one cubicle in case they needed to treat one of their own when civilians were around. But Jeff was desperately afraid that secrecy wasn't why Emily wanted them blocked from seeing Alan…

She didn't want Jeff to see his son die.

Inside the cubicle, Emily worked in sync with Virgil. The middle Tracy son had never gotten to see his sister-in-law in her true element, fighting death itself, unwilling to surrender to the greatest enemy of all.

Damn, she was good.

"His left lung collapsed," Emily murmured. "Was that the one?"

Without her saying the words, Virgil knew what Emily meant. She had first met Alan after Shana Pierce had faxed the teen's records following the youngster being hit by a car. Among his injuries had been a collapsed lung.

"Yes," Virgil said as he watched Emily place a stent before she began to work to re-inflate the lung. He breathed deeply when he saw Alan's vitals begin to re-stabilize.

"Still not good," Emily softly said as she pressed a free hand into Alan's stomach. "Possible internal bleeding – wouldn't be surprised if he re-injured his spleen. Hope we can save it again. Kid doesn't need the complications that would bring."

Virgil had lifted off Alan's face mask when he had replaced it with an oxygen mask, but his helmet had still been on. At Emily's nod, he gently removed it, hissing at the trail of blood that followed. "The helmet cracked," he groaned. "Must have been hit by some debris."

"Then where did the burn mark come from?" Emily asked as she glanced up even as she made the decision to intubate Alan. She really hadn't wanted to put Alan on a full respirator, but with the lung and other possible injuries, Emily felt she had no choice.

Turning his baby brother's helmet in his hands, Virgil hissed at the crack – complete with burn marks. He couldn't see Alan's back that well, the winds had started moving things around again up on the mountain, but he would be willing to bet there were similar markings on Alan's back as well. Luckily, there suits were well-padded, preventing many injuries, but still…

"This wasn't an accident," Virgil bit out even as he began to cut away at Alan's uniform. They needed to treat as many injuries as quickly as possible if Alan was to have a chance to survive.

Emily looked up again, shaking her head as she gestured to Virgil to cut but not remove Alan's uniform – not until she had some x-rays to make sure there was no spinal injuries.

"Who gets to tell the Commander?" she murmured.

"Screw that," Virgil sighed. "Who is brave enough to tell Op One?"

"Op Seven is currently disarmed, right?" Emily asked even as she gestured to Virgil to bring the portable x-ray machine.

Virgil paused before he left to get the machine. He'd double check on that before he said anything to Kate.

Kate sat on a bench next to Jeff, holding his hands even as John sat on the other side, silently praying. Looking up at the Sheriff, she asked, "Would that Statie still be down at Base?"

"He should be," Wes responded.

Not looking at her family, Kate nodded. "I'll call Op One and tell him to meet us at the hospital but to bring the authorities. You may even need the FBI."

"For an avalanche?" Joey scoffed from where he sat next to his friends.

"The second avalanche?" Kate said, ignoring the teenager. "I heard an explosion just before hand. I'm ex-law enforcement…I know what an explosive device going off sounds like. This was no accident."

"Neither was Dean," Helen said from behind her fiance. At everyone's startled look, she pulled something from her pocket. "Your man – Op Five – found this." She handed the small bag to Wes before she continued. "He said it was part of a bomb. That the avalanche was no accident."

"My brother died because of a bomb?" Jared gasped.

"No," Helen murmured refusing to look at Jared, focusing instead on the Thunderbirds. "Your man examined Dean when we found him. He said he was stabbed in the back. That Dean was dead before the avalanche occurred."

Wes knelt on the other side of Dean's body and with Jared's gentle help, raised it up, examining the back. Settling him back down, Wes picked up the bag with the bomb fragment once more, shaking his head.

"So Dean didn't suffer?" Norman asked in a broken voice.

"I'm no medical expert," Wes said. "But that wound is dead center – would have hit the spine. Death would be almost instantaneous. He never knew what hit him."

"So whoever planted the bomb probably killed my brother?" Jared asked, rage filling him. "I swear to God, I'm going to kill whoever is responsible."

"Get in line," John murmured, even as he watched Virgil come out of the cubicle. They had heard the alarm be silenced but could still hear Virgil and Emily's voices – if not the words – as they had worked on Alan. When Virgil pulled out the portable x-ray machine, he had relaxed slightly. If Emily was requesting x-rays, it meant whatever had triggered the alarm had been dealt with for the moment and that Alan was still alive.

Now if they could just keep him that way.

Lester Ovid was scared. He had thought he was about to be assaulted – he had heard of that happening in prison. The irony of his fears completed escaped him.

But instead he had been brought to a portion of the prison that had been closed after a round of budget cuts – this area of the prison needed renovations to be habitable and there just wasn't enough money. A few pieces of furniture were still there...

Including the metal bed frame he was currently chained to.

The tall dark-haired young man stood over Ovid.

"We have almost eighteen hours before anyone realizes that you are missing, Professor. Messing with computers to make you seem one place or another is scarily easy. We won't need the whole time, only two-thirds of it. So this whole episode should last about twelve hours." He pulled out a needle, flicking it to make sure there was no air in it. Seeing Ovid's confused look, he smiled coldly.

"No air bubble will let you escape early, Professor. Nope. You will suffer. The drugs I will give you will keep you alive and...not so well. This -" he gestured at the needle. "It is suxamethonium chloride, better known to medical professionals as Sux. And it will suck for you," he smirked. "As a former chemistry professor, I am sure you can recall what Sux will do. You will be conscious, but your muscles will refuse to obey you. Not even breathing but that is what this," he said as he placed a portable respirator next to Ovid's head, "is for."

"My client," he explained, "wants you to suffer as long as possible. You raped a boy he loved more than his own life. You destroyed so many lives. And you need to suffer on Earth before you journey to Hell."

"Now," the man said with a cheerfulness that was terrifying in and of itself. "We ready to have some fun?"

With that said, he slid the needle into Ovid's arm, smiling coldly as the liquid began it's deadly task.

Kate had moved to the front to contact Scott. Soon her husband was on the vid-phone. "Mobile Command to Thunderbird Two, can you update your status?" Scott said formally.

"All personnel and victims accounted for, Op One," Kate responded. "We are en-route to Lake County Hospital, have the families of the students meet us there. The Commander said you are to pack up and we will rendezvous at that location. I'm sending you full status report on everyone, let the people who need to know be informed."

Scott's jaw tightened without reading the list. He was pretty good at reading between the lines and knew that meant Alan was in bad shape. "I have already begun to pack things up," Scott assured Kate even as he glanced over the data she had sent. "I'll meet you there."

As Scott cut off the communication, Rocco Manning patted his arm. "You get what you have to done then go meet up with your team. I'll alert the parents where to go and make sure the supplies go back where they belong."

"And I'll help," Yeatts said as he approached the pair. Pausing, he looked at Scott then held out his hand. "I just heard from the Governor's office and it appears the flooding to the south, while now contained, was pretty bad and stretched resources fairly thin. The first help we would have gotten would have been in another hour. Most of the people your team rescued would have been buried since the second avalanche followed a slightly different path than the first which only cut them off. Only one dead versus God knows how many? That was thanks to your people."

Looking Yeatts up and down, Scott came to a quick decision as he shook his hand. "Your services may be required after all. The sheriff is with my team, but the one person who was killed? According to my team, the one death? It appears that a member of Ski Patrol was stabbed in the back and left near the zone where the avalanche began. And since they found evidence that an explosive device was recently used there, I have every reason to believe that this was no accident. That man may have witnessed something and was murdered, with his killer believing his body would be hidden by the avalanche. By the time he would have been found, evidence would have been lost and everyone might think it was a tragic accident."

Yeatts nodded. "I don't usually work on homicides, but let the Sheriff know I'll contact the appropriate parties and make sure the State Labs are open with this case receiving top priority." He sighed even as he pulled out his phone. "This will probably get bumped to the FBI, you know. If that was a bomb, this will fall under an act of terrorism."

Scott nodded. "Yes, well you better find out who did this, because if our man dies because of this, there will no place on this Earth that the party or parties responsible will be able to hide."

Yeatts and Rocco both gave each other wide-eyed looks. They knew the job International Rescue did took brass ones, but each suspected that the guilty party might need some rescuing from the rescuers.

Not far away, Barty Smith played with his stolen helmet as he listened in before climbing back onto his procured snow mobile. He had driven past the condos where he knew Sherman was staying and had come here to check the list, seeing that his employer was in the hospital. Using the snow mobile he could get to the next town and from there get to Lake County Hospital. The fact that the member of International Rescue that had seen his face was being brought there was useful. He could kill the guy there if he had to.

As Barty pulled his helmet back on and drove off, Javi walked by carrying some of the medical supplies that had been used and now needed to be returned to the resort clinic. The guy on the snow mobile looked familiar to Javi, but he couldn't place him. He'd worry about that later.

Timmy Sherman lay back in the hospital bed, annoyed at the idea of having to share his room.

"My insurance pays for a private room," he snapped. Getting no reaction, he sniped, "Nurse, can you hear me or are you deaf?"

Shana didn't look up from the chart at first before she slowly raised her eyes. "Are you talking to me?"

"Do you see anyone else?"

Sighing, Shana set down the chart after saving the data. "First – I am a doctor. Shana Pierce, MD," she pulled at her visiting physician badge. "Second, there is someone else here. Mr. Kendall was injured and is recovering from the same avalanche as you and he is trying to sleep. I would advise you to do the same."

"And if I don't?" Timmy sneered at her.

Tilting her head, Shana smiled in a way that made most grown men wet their pants. "If you don't, you will discover the many and varying ways a physician can justify a colonoscopy. Do NOT make me angry. You wouldn't like me angry."

"You're not the Hulk," the developer tried to act tough.

"In the Avengers I always preferred Natasha Romanoff," Shana smiled again. "The Black Widow – a master assassin. Thoroughly charming the pants – sometimes literally – off of men before laying them down…and I don't mean in a bed."

Picking up her chart, she tossed him the remote. "Here – be a good boy, and find some cartoons to watch. It'll match your maturity level."

Glaring at the closing door, Timmy did turn on the TV but moved it to the news. He paled when he heard the reporter on the scene.

"- In a shocking development, we have discovered that both avalanches on Mount Elbert may have in fact been the result of some kind of terrorist attack, perhaps a bomb. Scuttlebutt has it that at least one person has been killed and a member of the heroic International Rescue has been injured seriously. The Thunderbird has been rushed to Lake County Hospital and his condition has yet to be confirmed. But what is known was that he was the one to identify something that led to the information we know now. What else he saw up there is not known."

"Jason," the anchor asked as the camera cut back to her. "Could the International Rescue Operative have witnessed anything on the mountain that will lead to the capture of the person or persons responsible for one death, seventeen injuries, more than a million dollars in property damage and leaving a community in shock?"

"It's possible, Suzy," Jason confirmed. "At this point, it is a wait and see for both his team and law enforcement."

Timmy hit mute and closed his eyes. He had to get in contact with Smith. The news said one person had died, no one was supposed to die. He had paid for discretion.

Well…it seemed to him that Smith owed him some clean-up costs. He knew Smith would turn on him in a second so…it really was all for the best.

"If you want," John said softly, "you can go back and see the Sprout. You probably saved his life today."

Gordon kept looking forward and John wondered for a moment if the red-head had heard him. Then he finally spoke. "Commander tell you I fell off a cliff or did Op Seven tell you she thinks I'm nuts?"

John chuckled. "I really haven't been able to talk to the Commander. And Op Seven has always thought you were nuts."

Shrugging, Gordon remained silent – a state so unnatural to him that John became worried.

"Fish-face," he said softly. "What is it?"

"I saw Tomo," Gordon admitted as quietly as John after he checked to make sure no one else was there.

"You were under a lot of stress," John said as he pushed aside his shock. "You -"

"Saw him several times, each time leading me to save our little brother," Gordon said firmly before casting a dismayed look to John. "Why me? Why did he trust me to save Alan?"

John was thoughtful for a moment. "You have only one kid brother. So did Tomo. No matter what, no one can doubt how much you both loved him. Maybe this was Tomo's way of saying it was up to you to protect the Sprout now because he wouldn't be around to do it."

"How is he?" Gordon asked suddenly.

Confusion was visible in John's face for a minute. How was Tomo? Tomo was…Oh, yeah – Alan. "He's not too good," John admitted.

"The snow too much?" Gordon asked sadly. Shaking his head, John's jaw was clenched as he ground out,

"No, the bomb blast caused most of the damage."

Gordon turned to his brother in dismay before his own jaw clenched as well. "Someone is gonna be in for a world of hurt."

John nodded in agreement before he asked, "Who tells Op One?"

Gordon chuckled darkly. "The better question is does Op Seven know and did someone disarm her first?"

Alan couldn't help but stare at the young woman.

"Do I have dirt on my nose?" she asked.

Shaking his head, Alan sighed. "You look like, I mean...Mom?"

"Wrong generation." At Alan's confused look, the young woman grinned. "You're what? Seventeen?"

Alan looked offended. "Eighteen."

"Oh, right. The avalanche in - Nevada?"

"Utah."

"Oh, yeah. Uncle Johnny told us all about that one. Bomb, avalanche, murder and intrigue - High drama." Now it was her turn to look confused. "Wait - this was just after you graduated high school, which was the last weekend in May that year. Avalanche worthy snow even in the high points of the Rocky Mountains seems unlikely."

Alan shrugged. "But not impossible. It had been a late winter, no real good snows until February, but once it hit in the high mountains, it didn't let go until - well, then. It was one of the reasons the snow was so unstable."

She nodded. "The bomb didn't help. But the rest of that makes sense. Grandpa and Uncle Scott hate talking about that rescue. Your first full-fledged Thunderbird rescue and you were nearly killed."

Alan sat down next to her. "Nearly? So - I'm not dead."

Shaking her head, the blonde grinned again. "Once again - nope. Neither am I. Or so you keep assuring me."

Alan looked confused. "I do?"

"Well, not you you. I mean, you will be you but for now you're you. Get it?"

"No," Alan said baldly.

Chuckling, she tilted her head in a way that seemed strangely familiar to Alan. In fact, a lot about this woman - girl? he was reluctant to call her a woman - seemed familiar.

"I can hear you, you know."

"I didn't say anything," Alan protested.

She shook her head. "Not eighteen year old you. You from, um, around thirty years in the future from your perspective." Laughing again when Alan's frown deepened, she punched him lightly in the arm. "I think an introduction would help."

The woman stood and gave a mock-curtsy. "Samantha Katherine Tracy, at your service - Dad."

They were nearly to the hospital when Emily came to the edge of the enclosure to speak with Jeff.

"He'll need surgery; there is internal bleeding and a collapsed lung. I've managed to get the lung partially re-inflated but we have him on a respirator to be safe. There are some minor cuts and burns to his back and shoulders and I'll want a cat scan for the head injury, but I think it will be a concussion and not a severe trauma. His uniform helped save his life."

Jeff nodded, before he asked, "Can I see him?"

Emily also nodded, stepping aside as Jeff entered.

Pulling up a small stool that was usually secured to the wall, Jeff sat down next to Alan. He lifted his face mask, tears streaking down his face as he looked at his youngest. A bandage was wrapped around Alan's hair, covering the blonde locks. The ventilator kept up a rhythmic pattern, breathing for the eighteen year old. Virgil and Emily had managed to cut away most of his uniform, placing bandages over a good portion of Alan's back and shoulders. The light blanket was pulled up to rest under Alan's arms, which, while bruised and injured, didn't look like anything Tylenol wouldn't take care of. Pulling the blanket down gently, Jeff removed a glove to softly touch Alan's chest, feeling the damage to his left side before ghosting his fingers over the bruising on the boy's abdomen. As more tears traced down the frightened father's face only to fall on Alan, Jeff was thrown back to recalling seeing Alan like this before…

"How is he?" Jeff asked from the doorway of a room in the PICU of Lake County Medical Center.

Scott didn't look up at his father, just sat holding Alan's hand all the harder. "Not good," Scott finally said. "Internal bleeding, damage to his trachea, fractured collarbone, broken arm, skull fracture – and those are the ones they think they have under control."

Jeff nodded. The doctor had rattled off all of Alan's injuries, before asking if they wanted someone from the hospital chapel. The father knew what the doctor was implying – his baby wasn't expected to live. Jeff had just glared at the man before heading over to his son's room.

Pulling up a chair on the other side of Alan's bed, Jeff picked up his son's other hand as best he could – most of it was encased in plaster.

"Mom?" Scott asked, even though he knew the answer in his heart.

Jeff just shook his head as he stared at the sickening sight of the ventilator breathing for his three year old son.

Scott simply nodded as he silently cried, holding onto Alan's hand. He had made his mother a promise years ago and damn it, he would keep it. Alan would be protected by his big brother to the best of his ability.

Kissing the tiny fingers in his hand, Jeff whispered, "Please, please Lucy – don't take our baby yet. We need him. Please, Lucy – I can't lose you both."

Pulling himself back to the present, Jeff whispered softly as he kissed Alan's fingers. "Please, Sweetheart. Not our baby. Please – not our baby boy."

"Commander?" Virgil asked from the opening.

When Jeff looked up, Virgil nodded firmly. "We've gotten permission to land Two on the helicopter pad. It will be a tight fit, so I am heading up front to fly her in. Op Four and Two can move the 'Bird afterwards before joining us in the medical center."

Emily moved around Virgil as she came back in, pulling up the warming blanket she had pulled over Alan before grabbing another. "We won't be outside long, but I want him kept warm."

Looking up at Jeff she nodded, determined to keep everything on the level she would need to maintain, ignoring this was family. "With your permission, I would like to be his hospitalist while he is here."

"Of course, Dr. Tracy," Jeff said with some relief even as Virgil headed up front. "I'm aware of your reputation," he added, sure his voice would now carry beyond the enclosure.

"Thank you." Emily nodded even as she adjusted some of the equipment so they could get Alan off as quickly as possible. Looking to make sure no one was nearby – if she knew Kate, Emily would bet the ex-FBI agent was making sure of that – Emily leaned in to kiss Alan's forehead. "Hold on, Sweetie. We have you now. Hold on."

A/N

Tomo - OK, brief convos here. First, a message from CC. And to read it, may I present Sarah Jane Woodbury Tracy.

Sarah - You know, just Sarah would do.

Tomo - Yeah, I know.

Sarah - You really did match up as a Tracy you know. Anyhow - "CC regrets to say that her computer at home is headed to the shop. Luckily no hard drive or memory issues - loose internal wiring that needs to be repaired so she can see the monitor. Fortunately, she had saved this chapter to fan fic dot net so that she can post from work during her lunch break. But she could not answer any reviews. Sorry."

Tomo - But here are the gist of the answers:

Updated as soon as possible. Yes, that meant not until today.

No death fics and I believe Alan grows emotionally with each near death experience. Under my guidance, I think he is emotionally somewhere in his seventies by now.

My mom is doing well, but will need some further surgery. As this happens at the same time as my stay-cation, it makes getting off work easier, but does blow a beach day. And I wouldn't be writing much that week anyhow.

Evil is questionable, psychologically disturbed? To quote Tony Stark when Captain America said, "Are you nuts?" "Jury is still out."

No, I don't dislike Tin-Tin. I keep her with Alan, don't I? But she isn't one of the voices in my head. I can hear the boys and my OCs, I can't really hear her. But I may let her answer reviews in ch 12.

Sarah - Well, I don't know about you Tomo, but I am hungry. You want anything?

Tomo - Dead people don't eat a lot, you know.

Sarah - Well, I am pregnant. I do. Some gingerbread cake with powdered sugar sounds good, doesn't it?

Tomo - You are such a Tracy.

Sarah (grins) - Yes, yes I am.

Tomo - OK, read and review and cross you fingers for CC's computer. She has something evil planned.

Sarah - Something else?

Tomo - Well, Sammygirl1963's birthday is coming up and she wants to make it special.

Sarah - That her notes...OH MY FREAKING...NO WAY!

Tomo - Yup. She practically made Sammygirl cry when she saw what she was giving her.

Sarah - OK, you sure those two aren't related?

Tomo - I'm starting to wonder.