Hour Twelve

The following takes place between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

7:01:01

"Penny!" Jeff yelled, stuffing the small box in his pocket and running toward the mansion. "Penelope!" He ran inside, stopping in every room as he went. There was no sign of her. "PENNY!" he yelled again. Over and over, calling her name.

He ran up the mansion's huge staircase. "PENNY!" Left, down the hall to their bedroom. "Penny?" Open the door. No one there. Next room, the one he used to use before they'd gotten together. Open the door. Look inside. "Penelope?"

Heart beat faster, faster.

God, Penny, where are you?

Faster...faster...

Open the next door. This used to be...Parker's room. Poor Parker. "Penny!"

Where the hell are you?

7:07:22

Penelope had gone to her room, entered her spacious walk-in closet and chosen clothing appropriate for the dirty work she was certain she'd be involved in some time in the very near future. There was no time for a shower, but a lady could at least sponge herself down, she reasoned.

It had been during this most private of moments in her bathroom when she'd seen him. And screamed.

It couldn't have been him.

She quickly toweled herself dry and threw on the blue jeans and rather plain black blouse she'd selected. Throwing on her socks and shoes, she raced out of her bedroom.

The hall was deserted.

I saw him. I know I did.

But it couldn't be him. I just couldn't!

Penelope, you've gone off your rocker.

No doubt.

Still, she couldn't just leave it at that. She ran down the hall, checking the room next to hers and then Parker's old room. Perhaps he was in there? But no. No one. It was empty. Where, then?

Penny made it down to the end of the hall. There was a room there. A room she'd not opened the door to...or even thought of, really...in many, many years. How many years...what, twenty-five now? Thirty?

But something compelled her to open the door. She had to have a look inside. She had to know...

Quietly she opened the right side of the double doors. The room was dark, but enough light shone from the window to illuminate shadows that held memories. Painful memories. She picked her way around draped objects, knowing instinctively what lay beneath each sheet, remembering how her father had done all of this for her mother before she'd even come home.

She was halfway into the room when she heard a noise to her left. It was coming from behind a large sheet-covered item.

"Hello?" she said softly.

A figure rose from behind it. When she saw who it was, Penny gasped and very nearly fainted.

"It can't be!"

7:12:40

Jeff was almost to the end of the hall when he heard the exclamation. "Penelope?" he said, pushing the door open further. He'd never been in this room before. In fact, he'd never even thought to ask what it contained.

He saw her standing over to his left and nearer the back of the room. She was white as a ghost, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Penny? What is it?" He hurried to her side and gaped openly at what he saw.

It can't be.

"Parker?" he asked, his voice an octave higher than normal.

"Yes, Sir."

"Parker!" Penelope shrieked. She ran forward and embraced her old friend in a bear hug. "Parker, oh, my God! How...? What...? We thought you were dead! Oh, Parker!"

Jeff swallowed hard as Parker returned the hug. He waited until Penelope had backed away slightly to move forward and shake Parker's hand.

"I thought you were a ghost when I saw you earlier!" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Oh, Parker, I saw you take several bullets in the chest! What happened? How is this even possible?"

"You should never h'underestimate one h'of Mister Brains' bulletproof vests!" Parker said with a smile, producing said vest from where it had lain near his feet on the floor. "I h'only just h'arrived, milady."

"Why on Earth were you wearing that vest just ferrying Penny and John to the Isle of Muck?"

"Mister Brains 'ad h'asked me to test i'out for 'im, Sir. 'e was particularly concerned h'over 'ow 'eavy it may be. h'I must say, Sir, h'it's not 'eavy a' awl."

Jeff laughed as he took the vest and inspected it. "You must've gotten some serious bruising," he commented, holding up the back of the vest for all to see. "Most of these indentations are at least half an inch deep!"

"Oh, yes, Sir, h'I did bruise quite badly, and," he continued with his eyes turned to the floor, "h'I'm ashamed to say that's why h'I passed out, Sir. They lef' me for dead, h'I would h'imagine. h'I'm very sorry, milady."

"Oh, Parker, don't you worry about a thing like that. I'm just ever so glad you aren't dead!" Penny replied, hugging him again.

"h'I must say, milady, h'I'm finding meself h'awfully glad on tha' one, too!"

Jeff's watch communicator chose that moment to beep.

7:24:18

"Jeff?"

"Yes, Brains. You devil, you!"

"Uh...e-excuse me?"

"Not only have you saved us with your design on Thunderbird One's fuel switch-off, but you saved Parker's life as well!"

"P-Parker? Y-You mean he's not dead?" Brains asked with a smile.

"No, he isn't. Your bulletproof vest saved him, Brains. Any news on Kyrano?"

"N-No, Sir. Kyrano has remained unconscious. All vital signs are normal, but I have noticed his brain a-activity seems to i-increase a-and then decrease at o-odd times."

"Hmm. You think he'll be all right, though?"

"Y-Yes, Sir. A-And I've just had a-an update from Tin-Tin. She said Gordon's back required minimal, uh, surgery a-and some skin grafting from his leg to replace what he lost due to the, uh, laser rifle shots. They're e-expecting he should be a-able to walk out of there, uh, tomorrow."

"Wonderful news. Thank you, Brains."

"Jeff, I'm going to tend to Parker. Let us know when you're ready to leave."

"I will, Penny." Jeff laid a hand on Parker's shoulder. "It's good to have you back."

"Thank you, Sir." With that, he and Penelope left the room.

"Brains, what are you not saying? I can always tell."

"Well, uh, Jeff, I-I believe I have found several connections where the attack in England, John's kidnapping, Penelope's kidnapping, Ebony, the Hood and their child are concerned."

"That's an awful lot of connections, Brains," Jeff replied as he started to walk out of the room. He stopped and frowned at a spot where one of the sheets had been pulled back slightly from the object it covered. He moved forward and pulled the sheet the rest of the way off.

He couldn't help the small gasp of surprise. It was a crib. A baby's crib.

"Jeff?"

"I..."

"What is it?"

"A crib."

"A what?"

"Crib."

"I-In Lady Penelope's mansion?"

"Yes. I've never been in this room before. I didn't know what was in it." Jeff moved to the next object and pulled the sheet away.

It was a changing table.

The next sheet.

A rocking horse.

The next...

...a small pink dresser.

...a large wardrobe box containing...

"Baby clothes."

Brains shook his head. "That confirms what I found," he said quietly.

"What are you talking about, Brains?"

"Well, i-it appears as though the Hood chose Ebony for a reason other than her looks or susceptibility to his, uh, charms."

"Well?" Jeff said impatiently into the watch.

"I-It appears, Sir, that, uh, Ebony's mother...i-is Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward."

7:41:28

John went as fast as his injured limbs could move them, but it just wasn't fast enough. He heard it before he saw it. Crying out, he hunched over Esunge's body as the rock surrounding them cracked for the last time, then came crashing down upon them.

A large chunk of rock glanced off the back of his head. John roared in pain as he continued to be pelted. He could hear Esunge crying and screaming as well, but it was all he could do to keep the child sheltered, let alone try and comfort him.

Not good, not good...

The rocks and dirt began weighing on him.

Have to stay on my hands and knees...

If he didn't, he knew his weight would crush Esunge.

The baby wailed. John waited for the pelting to stop. When it did, he was surprised that he felt warmth on his back, as though exposed to open air. He coughed, the dust and dirt choking his mouth and nose.

Just that one movement brought the last, large piece of rock right down on his head.

7:47:12

"How're you doing now, Scott?" Virgil asked as he made a small course correction.

"Fine," Scott breathed. He was now strapped into a passenger seat behind his brother, the wound on his leg medicated and quite well-wrapped. He'd even changed into a clean uniform, and watched as Megan returned from cleaning up back in Two's sick bay. "How's your head, Virg?"

"The aspirin seems to be doing the trick, mostly."

"You probably have a concussion, Virgil," Megan interjected as she strapped herself into the other passenger seat. "You must have hit the wing awfully hard."

"I did. Believe me."

"Well, I'm just glad you're both all right." She turned to look at Scott. "What would I have done if I'd lost you?"

"Well, going up on the hull after she started going down was awfully risky, Meg. I can't believe you chanced it just to save me," Scott said softly.

"Oh, it wasn't you particularly I was going for up there," Megan replied.

"Huh?"

"Well, I needed Virgil to be able to fly this thing."

"Virgil?" Scott spluttered. "Of all the—"

Megan started to laugh. Virgil joined in. "Gotcha!" she crowed.

Scott reddened, then burst out laughing. As it subsided he cast a look in her direction. A look she returned as she smiled demurely and turned away.

Virgil opened his mouth to say something when a red light on the top, right corner of his control panel blinked. Frowning, he studied the indicator. A few seconds later it blinked again. His hands moved quickly, bringing a diagnostic of one of Two's VTOL rockets up on the screen. It turned in a three-dimensional rotation, full color. The onboard computer outlined one particular anomaly, then zoomed in on that spot. When it became larger, Virgil saw the crack in the hull next to it.

"Uh-oh."

Scott and Megan frowned. "Uh-oh?" they asked in unison.

"It's the damaged VTOL," Virgil explained, fingers flying across the control panel so fast Megan couldn't tell what the hell he was flipping or punching. "It must have taken a direct hit back there. Somehow, the hull on one side of it is cracked."

"Is that a bad thing?" Megan asked.

"Well, it wouldn't be except the VTOL was still firing when the missile actually created the crack in the hull. We've got rocket fuel that's been leaking into the pod all this time. I'm almost completely out."

"Virg, without the VTOLs..."

"I know," Virgil replied. "I can't land."

7:54:33

The first thing John became aware of was the throbbing of his head. The second thing he became aware of was something squirming against his chest. Whatever had hit his head was gone now, and he struggled to push himself and Esunge up out of the debris. But it was too heavy. And the oxygen supply was getting thinner and thinner. His arms and legs felt like Jell-O.

The dirt in his wounds stung terribly. Tears sprang to his eyes. "Esunge," he gasped. "Are you okay?"

The child squalled terribly.

Shit. We can't be very far from the temple. Ebony's bound to hear that.

John gingerly moved first one leg and then the other. They seemed to be relatively free of debris. But before he could try anything else, he felt something above him moving and then voices speaking in a language that sounded very much like Chinese.

Ebony doesn't speak Chinese.

His spirits lifted a little. Maybe these were just good people there to help him? And not some insane woman hell-bent on torturing him?

He could only hope.

The hands dug around him, freeing his arms, legs and torso. He still had his eyes squeezed shut and was a little afraid to open them. Then the hands grabbed him and lifted him out of the hole where the tunnel had once been. He was placed on his feet, but staggered as his legs threatened to give way beneath him.

Esunge stopped crying and clung to John as two pairs of hands reached out to steady him. Slowly, John opened his eyes.

Six of the largest Asian men he'd ever seen surrounded him. And they were holding really big guns. Guns pointed right at him.

Oh, shit.

7:59:58

7:59:59

8:00:0