Disclaimer: I do not own the Thunderbirds.

CHAPTER 10

The past three weeks had been filled with plenty of brotherly bonding. Most of it was against Alan's will. They had done pretty much everything the island had to offer. Every day one of his brothers would find a new way to distract him or keep him occupied. He loved spending time with his brothers, but knew he needed to go back to school.

Alan knocked on his father's office door before entering. He needed to start this talk off on a good note. "Enter." He heard his father call.

"Do you have a minute?" Alan was hoping this conversation would go smooth.

Jeff assessed the boy before speaking. "What's on your mind?"

"I want to talk about school." Alan started.

Jeff turned around to face his son. "I thought you had sent in all your completed work." His father remembered. Alan had done better in school since the family had found out about the younger boys situation.

Alan realized this was going to be harder than he originally planned. "I think it's time that we make arrangements for me to go back, don't you?" He acting like he was talking about the weather. Alan knew by agreeing to come back with Scott he opened himself up to the smother hens. It showed his father that maybe Alan's strength had its limits before breaking.

Jeff closed his eyes at the suggestion. He was beginning to wonder if Alan was going to have this talk. John had called a few weeks prior to warn him that Alan missed school and intended on going back. "We haven't made arrangements, because I have no intention of sending you back." The patriarch spoke softly.

"Shouldn't I have a say? It's my life." Alan tried to rein his temper in.

"It's too dangerous, Alan." Jeff had already decided this was not a gray area. "I can't send you to Wharton's Academy knowing that the school cannot handle the situation."

"What about what I want?" Alan yelled.

Jeff took a deep breath. "I know that you want to be at school with your friends. But that's not an option anymore. You're safety has to come first son."

"Why am I the one being punished?" Alan argued.

"This isn't a punishment." Jeff clarified.

"Please, Dad. Give me one more chance. I just want to finish this year." Alan begged.

Jeff looked into his son's eyes. They were identical to Lucy's. How could Jeff send Alan back to a place he was bound to get hurt again? "You're not in trouble. This isn't your fault." The father wanted the youngest to know he wasn't angry.

"Please Dad," Alan pleaded. "At least think about it."

Jeff rubbed his hand over his face. If he sent Alan back he would be playing into Dr. Lancaster's hands. If he forced Alan to stay then he would be unhappy. "I'll let you know in a few days." The older man decided.

Alan strode out of fathers office with a satisfied look on his face. "What did you do?" Gordon recognized the look all too well.

"I just talked to dad about arrangements for school." Alan revealed.

Scott chuckled, "You're being home schooled, Sprout. There is no need for arrangements."

"Dad said he's let me know in a few days." Alan challenged.

Gordon spat out his drink. "He said what?" The crimson haired man gasped.

"I asked him to give it another chance and he said he'd let me know." Alan rephrased.

Scott and Gordon shared a look of concern. "Why do you want to go back there so bad?" Gordon spoke openly.

Alan shrugged, "I like going to Wharton's. All my friends are there."

Scott couldn't believe Alan wanted to go back after he was attacked. If anything Alan should be running in the opposite direction. "That's not going to happen, Squirt." The oldest insisted.

"Aren't you scared?" Virgil inquired. He was beginning to wonder about his brother's sanity. Alan was walking himself into danger.

"I can't live my life in fear of something that might happen." Alan rationalized.

Alan had already made his decision. He wanted to go back to school. He needed to go back to school. In his mind there was no reason to blame Wharton's for Dr. Lancaster's actions.

"What are you thinking giving Alan false hope?" Scott hollered at his father.

Jeff knew the damn would break eventually. It was only a matter of time before the boys discovered Alan's request to return to school. "Alan needs this Scott."

"No, Alan needs to be protected." Scott continued to raise his voice. "Do you honestly think he would want to go back if he knew about the pictures? He thinks he's been safe this entire semester when it's all been a lie."

"We agreed that keeping the pictures from Alan was better for him." Jeff reminded.

"That was before he wanted to serve himself up on a platter. You might as well put up a neon sign saying, 'come take him'." Scott argued. "We need to tell him, Dad."

"What good can come from it?" Jeff rationalized. "Those pictures are going to make your brother sick again."

"At least he would be home." Scott couldn't bear the thought of Alan leaving again. He wished he could go back in time and tell Alan everything.

"This isn't up for discussion, Scott. You brother made his position very clear. If I don't send him back he will think I'm punishing him." Jeff rationalized.

Scott wanted to knock some sense into his father. His fear of losing Alan's trust was controlling his every decision. "You have to take a stand at some point, Dad." He stormed out of his father's office.

The next week Jeff had agreed to bring Alan back to Wharton's. They had agreed that if Dr. Lancaster was spotted on or near campus Alan was going to be pulled from school immediately. Scott and Gordon refused to acknowledge their father's decision. They were pissed and openly made it known everyone in the household. They wanted nothing to do with Alan returning to school. Jeff was forced to take Alan back to Wharton's himself.

After returning to Wharton's Academy life was business as usual. It was March and Alan had been back for nearly three months. He went to classes, attended track practice, talked to one of his brothers, did homework, and then went to bed. Alan felt like his life was getting back to normal. Even though his brothers were upset they kept up with the calling schedule. It wasn't Alan they were angry with.

It was a Wednesday night that everything fell downhill at a rapid pace. Alan had talked to Virgil earlier that afternoon before heading to track. It had been a normal day until he came back to his dorm to find blood on the carpet. It was a lot. There was stuff thrown everywhere. It was obvious a struggle had occurred. It was the only reasonable explanation. His phone suddenly buzzed.

"Hello Alan," A voice stated.

"How did you get this number?" Alan couldn't believe this was happening.

"You don't need to know the specifics." Dr. Lancaster argued.

"Where's Wesley?" Alan demanded. "He has nothing to do with this."

"You were the one that rejected me. This is your fault. Wesley's fate will rest on your shoulders from this point forward." The former professor threatened.

"What do you want?" Alan tried to keep his voice from shaking.

"I thought that was obvious." Dr. Lancaster reasoned. "I want you. Ditch all the tracking devices and meet me at the south wall in an hour. I will know if you try anything stupid." The line disconnected.

Alan kicked the wall beside him. His father was going to kill him. But he couldn't let Wesley suffer, because of his mistakes. If he notified the police his best friend was dead. Alan removed his watch and left it on the desk. Then he disabled the GPS in his phone. The walk to the park was the longest walk he'd ever taken. It was like walking away from his family.

When Alan reached the parked he clearly saw Wesley on the ground. He was still alive. "Alan! What are you doing?" Wesley's hands were tied behind his back.

"I can't let him hurt you." Alan reasoned.

"That's not your decision to make." Wesley pleaded. "Please run! He's insane."

Alan ignored Wesley's request. He had to save his friend. Alan could never forgive himself if anything happened to Wesley, because of his actions. "Let him go we had a deal."

Dr. Lancaster made no move to release the boy. "We'll dump him along the way." The man stated. "It's good to see you again, Alan."

Jeff was sitting at his desk finishing up some work. Things had been slow on the mission front. It left too much time for Gordon to play pranks. Jeff's office phone rang and the caller ID read Wharton's Academy.

"Jeff Tracy speaking," Jeff couldn't remember the last time the school had called regarding Alan's behavior. Due to the call schedule Jeff usually knew what was happening in Alan's life.

"Hello Mr. Tracy this is Headmaster Greer from Wharton's Academy for Boys." The man introduced.

"Is there a problem?" The last time Wharton's called it was about the attack on Alan. But no distress signal had been activated.

"We had a situation regarding your son. Your son's roommate was murdered. Some student's discovered the body while they were walking home from football practice." The man informed.

"Is Alan okay?" Jeff needed to know if this had anything to do with his son. Wesley and Alan were best friends.

There was a sight pause on the other end of the line. "I'm afraid that your son is missing. We've patrolled the entire grounds, but came up empty." Mr. Greer enlightened. "The local police believe that the former professor Dr. Lancaster was involved. They claim to have evidence to support that Dr. Lancaster kidnapped Wesley to make Alan meet with him."

"What type of evidence?" Jeff's world was spinning out of control. "Why wasn't I notified sooner?"

"There are surveillance tapes on campus and Alan left his watch and removed the GPS from his phone." Professor Greer explained. "I would recommend coming to Wharton's as soon as you can. The next twenty four to forty eight hours are crucial to the investigation."

Jeff wanted to break something. Why had he allowed Alan to go back to that school? Jeff knew it wasn't safe for Alan. He knew he had made a mistake. Scott was never going to let him live this down. He was going to be furious. Jeff wasted no time in sounding the klaxon to get everyone gathered.

"John, what's the situation?" Scott, Virgil, and Gordon strode in.

The blonde shrugged, "It wasn't me that sounded the alarm."

"I did," Their father stated.

"What's wrong?" Virgil knew the look on his father's face well.

"I just got off the phone with the headmaster at Wharton's." Jeff started.

"Is Alan in trouble?" Gordon shared his rebellious side with Alan.

"Your brother's roommate was murdered last night and now Alan is missing." Jeff hated to speak the words.

"I'll run a track on his phone and watch." John jumped into action.

"Alan removed his watch and disabled the GPS device in his phone." The older Tracy shared worried glances with his sons.

"Why would Alan do something so stupid?" Scott demanded.

"The police believe that Dr. Lancaster kidnapped Wesley as leverage to get Alan alone. Since Alan cares about Wesley's safety he complied." Jeff recapped.

Virgil shook his head. "I talked to Alan yesterday afternoon. He was fine." The doctor defended.

"It must have happened after you talked with him." Jeff needed his son's on the same page. "Right now the only thing that matters is getting your brother back."

Jeff and the boys flew out to Massachusetts after they retrieved John from five. They had no interest in dealing with International Rescue until the youngest was safe. When they landed Jeff and John went to the police station to get caught up on the developments of the case. Gordon and Virgil went to Alan's dorm room. Scott went to talk to the headmaster.

"That's a lot of blood." Gordon whispered as he looked at the floor of Alan's dorm room.

"Dad said police ran it through the data base. It's Wesley's." Virgil comforted.

"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel better." Gordon sat down and started going through Alan's stuff.

Virgil picked his brother's computer and opened it. "It's encrypted. I'll have to get John to hack it." He was surprised the police didn't confiscate it as evidence.

"Did the police give cause of death?" Gordon was worried that the man capable of killing a kid had his only little brother.

"Dad didn't say." Virgil sighed.

Scott walked into the room unannounced. He froze at the blood on the floor. "That's not Allie's right?" He confirmed. "The headmaster told me they had no leads."

Virgil nodded, "It's Wesley's, not like it's comforting."

"Did Wesley's parents get his stuff?" Scott looked at the empty half of the room.

"I guess so." Gordon shrugged.

Scott sat down on the bed next to Virgil. He was still trying to break into the laptop. "Let me try." Scott suggested. "I know how the kid thinks."

Virgil had already tried and failed epically. He willing passed the computer over to his older brother. "There's no hint." He told the older man.

Scott continued to try to crack his brother's password. He used to know all of his passwords. "I got it!" He celebrated after the third failed attempt.

"What was it?" Gordon wondered.

"J-T-3-S-C-1-J-G-5-V-G-2-G-C-4," Scott smiled.

"What does that mean?" Gordon rolled his eyes.

"Jefferson Tracy Thunderbird 3, Scott Carpenter Thunderbird 1, John Glenn Thunderbird 5, Virgil Grissom Thunderbird 2, Gordon Cooper Thunderbird 4. It's in age order oldest to youngest." Scott explained.

"How in the world did you figure that out?" Virgil was amazed.

Scott poured through his brother's files. He hoped that since he cracked the password his brother would have let some clue. "In Alan's eyes we're his heroes. It makes sense that it would be his password."

Jeff and John were stunned by the pictures in front of them. Wesley had been strangled and left in a ditch like trash. It broke Jeff's heart to know Alan's attempt at keeping his friend safe was wasted.

"Do you think Allie was there?" John asked timidly.

Alan had been through enough hurt in his life. "I hope not." Jeff prayed.

"What kind of a sick person does this to children?" John couldn't keep the rage held in.

Jeff wished he had an answer. He placed a hand on John's shoulder. "The police are working around the clock on this, John. They're putting up posters, contacting the media, patrolling neighborhoods, looking into connections to Lancaster. There isn't much else we can do, but keep searching and pray that Alan is staying strong." Jeff needed to hear these words himself.

Alan could hardly breathe from the pain. It wasn't physical, but emotional. He was stupid to believe that Dr. Lancaster would spare his friend. Now he had nothing to lose. The man reached out and brushed fingers along Alan's cheek. "I'm sorry things had to be this way. But you left me no choice." Dr. Lancaster rationalized.

Alan pulled away from his touch and pushed him away. "You promised me you would let him go."

Dr. Lancaster hit Alan in the face causing him to fall to the ground. Alan could taste the blood in his mouth. "He would have told everyone what he knew." The man lectured. "I couldn't risk losing you again. You mean too much to me. It's been too long." The dark haired hand ran his fingers through the boy's hair.

"He didn't deserve to die." Alan argued. "I would have gone with you. We had a deal."

The professor hovered over the boy without speaking. "You're making this harder for yourself Alan. Stop fighting me." He picked Alan by his shirt up and pressed him against the wall.

Alan continued to struggle. He didn't care if he was hurt. Nothing else mattered. Dr. Lancaster had nothing to threaten him with anymore. "I won't." Alan yelled. "I will never stop fighting you. There is nothing more you do to me that you haven't already done. You don't scare me anymore."

Dr. Lancaster hit Alan before leaving the room. He locked the door behind him to make sure Alan couldn't escape from his dark basement. Alan found it more comfortable in the dark than with the former professor. He just hoped that John would get his message sooner rather than later.

Scott, Gordon, and Virgil went back to the hotel with the computer. They needed privacy to sort through everything. Jeff and John came back not long afterwards.

"Do the police have any leads?" Virgil asked his father.

Jeff shook his head. "They know Lancaster was involved. His DNA was all over the body. But he went off the grid." John stated.

"I got this from the headmaster." Scott gave the watch and GPS device to his father.

"Wait a second," John interrupted taking the bag from his father. "This isn't from Alan's cell phone."

"What are you talking about?" Gordon groaned.

"I helped Brains develop the untraceable satellite phones we all carry. This GPS device is from a standard phone." John ranted.

"What does that mean?" Virgil's interests were heightened.

"It means that I can find Alan." John smiled. "Assuming he still has his GPS device."

"Dr. Lancaster would have made sure he had no way of contacting us." Jeff didn't want to get his hopes up.

"It's worth a try." Scott handed John his laptop so he could start the trace.

"What would happen if Alan removed the GPS from the satellite phone?" Gordon randomly asked.

John hesitated, "It would still work until the juice ran out."

"Why do you ask?" Jeff thought the question was weird.

"Well if he didn't want Lancaster to find it he could have swallowed it or used the cell phone as a distraction from the GPS." Gordon offered. "I told Alan a story about when I was in WASP."

"I got a hit. It's weak, but not moving. I'll write down the coordinates." Everyone's prayers had just been answered. Now they hoped they could make it there in time. Lancaster had already killed one innocent kid. The family hoped that Alan's temper wouldn't get the better of him.