Disclaimer – I own nothing.
To Mimimum – Thank you so much for your review! Some of your questions will be answered in this chapter. Enjoy!
To MajaTerese03 – Thank you so much for your review! I will admit, I do feel a little bad for putting Alan through all of this, but it's almost over. I'm glad your notifications are working again! Here is the next chapter, enjoy!
To code92hopeful – Thank you so much for your review! Jeff's plan will be occurring in this chapter. Enjoy!
To Stormyskies89 – Thank you so much for your review! Of course Jeff loves all of his sons, proving it to Alan though might be a bit of a challenge though. Your question will be answered in this chapter. Enjoy!
To Helen Williams(Guest) – Thank you so much for your review! Jeff's plan will occur in this chapter. Hope it doesn't disappoint!
AN – So has you guys can probably guess from the chapter title, I'm going to be nice this chapter, hope you guys all like it. This chapter was a little rushed as I am going to be a little busy this week and wanted to get at least one more chapter done before then. Sorry if it's a little bad. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!
Enjoy!
As Jeff walked into the small, out of the way park, he tried to keep from looking at his surroundings. The Hood had called only an hour earlier, ordering him to leave a flashdrive with the information he wanted under a bench in an unpopular park in the city so there wouldn't be so many people around. He was also warned that if there was any police, agents, or other authorities present, he would kill Alan. So Jeff went alone.
He quickly spotted an empty park bench, bent down and acted like he was just tying his shoe, and slipped the flashdrive under. He then stood up and continued walking straight to the other end of the park, keeping his eyes down. If the Hood or one of his associates were indeed watching him, he didn't want them to think that he was trying to look for them or identify them and confront them, though he really, really wanted to.
Soon, he was out of the park and made his way down the three blocks where the black car and Director Cardinal was waiting for him. Even though Jeff was supposed to go alone, Andrew drove him close to the location so he could be there if something went wrong, but far enough away that he wouldn't be spotted. He then sat and waited for Jeff to return.
"Well?" Andrew prompted his old friend when Jeff got into the passenger seat and shut the door.
"It's done. Now we wait, again." Jeff answered, looking down at his hands that were resting on his lap.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Andrew asked. Jeff sighed, but didn't reply for a moment.
The plan was somewhat a simple one. They put a microscopic size tracker on the flashdrive that would let them know where it was at all time. And if the Hood or one of the people working for him discovered it, or simply moved the file onto a computer or another flashdrive, there was a back up plan.
The minute they opened the file that was supposed to have the information on the Thunderbirds, a computer virus, created by John who was all too happy to help his Dad and Scott find his younger brother, would not only shut down the computer or whatever device the file was on, but also send out a signal that they could also track. It was almost foolproof. Almost.
"It will. It has too." Jeff finally responded to the Director's question. He couldn't handle it if this wouldn't work, because if it didn't, his son was dead. And that was a loss that Jeff knew he couldn't take. Andrew didn't say anything as he started up the car and drove back to the FBI.
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The Hood waited impatiently for Transom to return with the flashdrive. Ever since he had called Jeff Tracy and told him where to put the drive with the information he wanted, he had been on edge. His last plan against the Tracy family didn't go well, considering he at first didn't know which family was running International Rescue until he got to the island and he underestimated Alan. He wasn't sure if he could count on this plan either, especially considering he was never really planning on getting what he wanted directly from Jeff. Once again, he had underestimated the youngest Tracy.
By the time Transom arrived, it was dark outside as it had taken her longer to get back to the warehouse they were hiding in because he wanted her to make sure that she wouldn't be followed.
"I've got it." Transom announced as she entered the building.
"Perfect." The Hood exclaimed as he stood up from his chair as did Mullion who was sitting across the room.
"You weren't followed, correct?" The Hood checked.
"Not at all." Transom confirmed.
"Then check to make sure Jeff has held up his end of the bargain. Once we know he has, get the SUV ready to go. We will need to get out of here as fast as we can and get as far away as we can before I fulfill my end of the bargain." The Hood told them. Transom quickly did as she was told and plugged the drive into the computer and opened it up to view the file.
The minute she clicked it however, the computer screen froze and high pitched noise sounded. Then the screen started flashing colours at them randomly.
"What's happening?" The Hood demanded, already starting to realize that something in his plan had indeed gone sideways.
"I, I don't know." Transom answered as she started typing, trying to fix whatever the problem was. It was then that they heard the sirens of police cars heading towards them.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Scott wished that the agent driving the SUV he and his father were in would drive a lot faster. It didn't take very long before the locator on the flashdrive to stop moving, sending out its signal from one spot. When they looked at the location on the satellite image, they saw it was an abandoned warehouse five miles outside of the city. Not long after they were on the road, the computer virus also appeared, the signal also coming from the same spot.
It took a some arguing and debating, the FBI Director finally agreed that Scott and Jeff could come along to where the locator and computer virus said the Hood, and Alan was. Cardinal argued that it wasn't safe and they weren't agents, but Jeff made it clear that he was going to get his son, and Scott used the fact that he did have military training to come along as well.
"You sure you can't go any faster?" Scott asked the driver. Jeff shot a look at his oldest but didn't say anything. He was just as worried and anxious as his son was.
"Trust me, if I could go any faster, I would." The Agent replied, having a pretty good idea what the oldest members of the Tracy family was going through. He had a several cases with parents worried over their children and he couldn't fault them for wanting to get their family member back as soon as possible.
Suddenly, the two other FBI SUV's ahead of them started to slow down as the abandoned warehouse that the locator was broadcasting its signal from appeared in front of them. The driver stopped the vehicle and got out along with Jeff and Scott. The other agents in the other SUV's also got out and immediately headed towards the building while Director Cardinal came over to them.
"You two need to stay here. We don't know how many are inside or the situation in the building yet." The Director ordered them. Scott was about to object, but felt his Dad's hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to stay put. Reluctantly, he did as he was told.
For the next few minutes, Scott and Jeff waited with baited breath. So far, everything seemed to be going good, if silence was anything to go by. The only noise that they heard was the distant siren of the ambulance that was making its way to the warehouse. There weren't any gunshots, explosions, or yelling which was always good, right? The more time that passed, the more anxious and fearful Jeff and Scott felt. The former military pilot started pacing up and down the line that had been set up in case any civilians, as unlikely as it was, showed up.
It was then that Scott saw something at the side of the building, specifically, someone making their way out of the building through another exit. It was dark outside, so Scott couldn't get a very clear look, but he could see the man was tall and well muscled, and he wasn't wearing the protective gear that the FBI was wearing. Once he stepped more outside, the brunette could see that it wasn't an agent at all, it was one of the men who had attacked Tracy Island a year ago, one of the Hood's minions, the one they called Mullion. A surge of rage flooded the man's body and he ran towards him.
Scott didn't even hear his Dad or the Director calling after him. It was like he had tunnel vision that was completely red. He wasn't even sure if Mullion realized that he had been spotted and someone was coming after him. If he did, he realized it too late because Scott immediately tackled him to the ground. Once he lifted his head, seeing that he was right on who it was, the oldest brother gripped Mullion's shirt and lifted his clenched fist and punched him hard in the face. Then he punched him again, and again, and again.
"Scott! Scott stop!" Scott barely heard his father yelling at him. All he could think about was hurting the man who had hurt his family, who had hurt his baby brother. It wasn't until someone grabbed his arm mid-punch did he look away from Mullion to see his Dad right there beside him, holding his limb in a tight grip.
"Scott, stop. Alan needs us right now. Let the FBI deal with him." Hearing his Dad say his brother's name broke through his anger-filled fog and Scott looked down at Mullion.
The man was obviously unconscious. His face was already starting to swell from all of the punches it received and there was blood running down his nose and all over his mouth. Scott let go of his hold on Mullion's shirt and stood up, his Dad helping him as he was still holding Scott's arm. An FBI agent quickly came over to deal with Mullion as Scott turned his attention to his Dad.
"Where's Alan?" Scott asked, his voice desperate.
"They found him inside. The paramedics are getting ready to go in now." The Director came over to inform them. Scott was already tackling Mullion and Jeff and the agent were running after him when Andrew got the call over the walkie talkie that they found Alan. Scott and Jeff didn't need to hear anymore before they rushed towards the building and went inside. They had waited long enough to be reunited with their missing family member.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Alan had no idea what was going on anymore. He was still all alone in the room, but that was okay with him. There was no one to beat him up right now, and that was just fine with him. He felt bad enough as it was. He could hear as well as feel his blood pumping through his body, making the injuries he already had throb painfully. His skin felt like it was on fire and his stomach was constantly churning, threatening to empty itself.
It wasn't until he heard the annoying squeak of the door hinge did Alan try to pay attention to what was going on. If he was about to be beaten again, he needed to prepare himself for it, but the two people who came inside the room weren't anyone he recognized. One of them came over to him and crouched down right in front of him. Alan was pretty sure that the person was talking to him, but he couldn't make sense of it. He just wanted to go to sleep. It was better when he was asleep and wasn't feeling anything.
Loud shouts suddenly filled the room. Alan instinctively flinched at the noise, but he recognized the voices, voices he had heard all throughout his entire life. His Dad and oldest brother. Before he could blink, they were in front of him, taking the other person's place. Even though their figures were blurry and out of focus, he could recognize them easily.
The relief that both Jeff and Scott felt at seeing Alan alive and now safe immediately died when they saw how terrible he looked. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin flushed, left eye swollen, blood covering his mouth and chin, three long scrapes on his cheek, bruises on his neck, and that was just his face and neck. When they looked him over more, they easily spotted the knife sticking out of Alan's left hand, the swelling in his wrist, and the blood on the tips of his fingers on his left hand. Looking down at the ground, they found the teenager's fingernails on the floor.
Jeff turned his attention back to his boy, feeling sick at the sight of his baby's nails discarded on the floor in tiny pools of blood. Alan however didn't seem to be fully aware of what was going on. When Jeff placed his hand on the side of the teenager's face as gently as possible, scared to hurt him, he felt the unnatural heat of his skin and knew that his son most likely wasn't mentally with them.
Scott moved to crouch down more on Alan's right side, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder to let him know that he was there. After seeing how badly his brother was treated, tortured, he wished that he had killed Mullion while he was still punching him. But he couldn't think about that now, not when his little brother needed them to get him to safety.
Not long after Jeff and Scott came into the room where Alan was being kept, two paramedics with a stretcher joined them. The paramedics, a man and a woman, quickly rushed over to the boy who need their attention, gently pushing Jeff who was on his knees in front of his son to the side so they could get closer to their patient.
"He's got a fever." Jeff informed the medics. The man went to Alan's left side, looking at the most obvious injuries while the woman crouched down by Jeff into of the teenager.
"Not surprising if this knife had been in his hand for a while." The female paramedic replied.
"Kate, the knife is directly into the metal. Going to have to pull the knife to get it out so we can move him." The other medic stated as he cut the zip-tie restraining Alan's left hand to the arm of the chair.
"Isn't that going to hurt him?" Jeff asked, scared at the idea of putting his son through any more pain. The medic, Kate, beside him gave him a sympathetic smile.
"We will try and numb his hand as best we can, but we can't give him anything because we don't know for sure what he had been drugged with." She told the father. She and her partner had been informed of the details of the case when they were called and were told about the very high possibility that the victim had been injected with experimental drugs.
Jeff and Scott were then pushed further away from Alan so the paramedics could work on freeing Alan, and they hated every minute of it. Logically they both knew that Alan needed them more right now given how badly he was injured, but after everything that happened to him over the last few days, they felt the need to stay right by his side. Unfortunately, logic won that argument.
They waited impatiently as the paramedics wiped Alan's left in with a topical anesthetic wipe to numb up his hand and the zip-ties restraining him to the chair. Once that was done, they gently started pulling on the knife. During the time before, Alan didn't really react to what was going on. But when the knife started moving, he flinched and gasped in pain. Scott was immediately at his brother's side with their Dad quickly following. With his Dad and older brother comforting him, the knife was pulled out of the metal and Alan was free.
Deciding that it was too risky to pull the knife all the way out of Alan's hand as they didn't know for sure what damage was done, the paramedics wrapped the now bleeding injury around the knife as best as they could. They then slipped a splint onto Alan's wrist which was more difficult do to the weapon but managed to get it to fit. After that, they deemed Alan secure enough to get him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, as they could examine him there while getting him into the hospital.
Scott was right there, helping them move his little brother onto the gurney while Jeff circled around to the other side and they headed out of the building. Once outside though, another problem arose. Only one person could ride in the ambulance.
Though he didn't want to, Jeff opt to stay behind and let Andrew drive him to the hospital as there was some more details that they needed to address. How to deal with the Hood who was now in the FBI's custody, call his other sons and tell them that their brother was found, what to tell the public, all of which could all be dealt with on the drive. Scott didn't need any reasons from his Dad though. He was in the back of the ambulance the second his Dad told him to go with Alan.
As the ambulance drove away with both of his sons, Jeff took a deep breath, finally feeling some sense of relief after the last, what was it, four days? Five? Everything had passed in such a blur of fear and determination that Jeff didn't really know. But he quickly reminded himself that not everything was okay yet and he headed over to Andrew's car where he was already waiting, and they rushed to the hospital.
AN – I know, this chapter is a bit rushed. I will go more into what all happened in the warehouse when he was rescued next chapter, but for this one, I really wanted to focus more solely on Jeff's, Scott's, and Alan's POV of Alan's rescue. Only five more chapters left. Hope you guys liked this chapter despite it being pretty rushed. See you all next time.