Decisions.

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1

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Chapter 14: Misunderstanding.

Virgil cut the engines on the Mole and climbed out. He hadn't wanted to use it for fear of bringing down the building but there was no other way in. Using his scanners, he was relieved to see that the Mole's entry had done little damage to the building's structure.

"Which door is it?" asked Gordon, appearing behind him.

"That one but we need to be quick, the main building isn't going to stand much longer," he replied, reaching back in to grab the cutting equipment they would need.

They quickly set up near the door and began the difficult task of getting through the strengthened door. Thankfully, they had just the equipment to get through the door due to Brains. His oxyhydnite could go through just about every material known to man and it quickly went through the heavy metal door.

"Hurry up, Virge, the roof is getting weaker. The scanner's picking up massive fractures running across it now," said Gordon.

"Almost there," said Virgil as he began working his way back across the bottom to where he began.

The second he reached it, the door fell into the room and Virgil knew he would never get the image that greeted him out of his head. A large section of the ceiling had already come down and buried beneath the large sections of plasterboard was his brother. The roof was still holding so it was only the boards of the ceiling but Virgil was aware that could still cause massive internal damage.

The two brothers raced over and began to clear the debris. As they moved the biggest piece, they realized there was someone else with Scott. It was a young woman and she was lying unconscious across their brother. From the position of her hands on his chest, Virgil guessed she had been performing CPR. He quickly checked for his brother's pulse and was relived to feel a weak one. Clearly, she had managed to get his heart started again before the ceiling came down on them.

Virgil began checking his brother over for injuries and his attention quickly landed on the blood soaked sash tied around his waist. Moving it slightly, Virgil was able to see the deep wound hiding beneath it. Realizing the seriousness of the injury, the young medic knew he had to act fast.

"We need to get out of here now," he said, standing up

Gordon just nodded and pulled the young woman up into his arms. "Can you manage?" he asked, turning back to Virgil who had pulled Scott up.

"Yes," grunted Virgil as he shifted Scott into a better position.

The two moved quickly and were soon back aboard the Mole. Gordon headed straight for the controls and soon had the digging machine reversing out of the building.

Virgil did all he could for Scott with the limited medical supplies they had on board then turned to the young woman. Thankfully, she appeared to have no life threatening injuries. As he checked out the most serious injury, a deep abrasion to her head, he couldn't help but feel like he knew her. "She looks a lot like Kate," he said, more to himself then Gordon as he wasn't sure his younger brother could hear him.

"That's cos I am," said a voice and he looked down into familiar green eyes.

"Kate!" exclaimed Gordon, swinging round to look at her.

"Hey," she said, smiling slightly at him then her eyes drifted to Scott, "Is he okay?"

Virgil smiled reassuringly at her, "He will be thanks to you."

Kate just gave him a weak smile, her eyes never leaving Scott's still form. Virgil could see that the young woman clearly did still care for his brother.

A bleep from the console in front of them alerted them that John was making contact. "Go ahead, Five," said Gordon as his brother's face appeared on the screen before him.

"Did you manage to find Scott, is he okay?" asked John, his face calm but his eyes betrayed the worry that the star gazer was feeling.

"He's hurt bad but will be okay," said Virgil, coming up behind his younger brother. "Can you call Base and let Dad know. I'm going with Scott. Gord can you and Al fly the 'birds home?" he asked, looking down at Gordon.

"Yep," replied Gordon, hoping that Alan would agree to this plan and not argue about wanting to stay with Scott. As much as Gordon wanted to be with his oldest brother, he knew they had to get the crafts back to Base where they would be safe.

Gordon brought the Mole to a stop and turned off the engines. Virgil quickly opened the door and was relieved to see the paramedics waiting for them. They soon had Scott loaded into one ambulance and Kate into another. Virgil gave a quick wave to his two younger brothers as the doors closed and they were gone.

"We flying these back to the Island?" asked Alan, his voice quiet.

Gordon nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. Alan gave him a half-hearted one in return and made his way to Thunderbird One. As much as he enjoyed the opportunity to fly Scott's baby home, this was one time he sincerely wished he didn't have to. Sighing, he collected up the last parts of their equipment and climbed aboard One.

Jeff sat beside his son's bed watching as his chest rose up and down with each breath. Conversations happened all around him but his eyes never wavered from his son's still form. It was unnerving to see his eldest son still and pale. Scott had been incredibly lucky under the circumstances. The only serious injury was the deep wound to his side and although it had caused massive blood loss, it hadn't actually done any major damage. The rest of his injuries were minor bruises and scrapes from the falling debris. Jeff couldn't help but feel that Lucy was there somewhere protecting her boys from danger.

"Uh, Dad," said a voice as a hand touched his shoulder.

Jeff turned to see Virgil beside him, "Yes, Son?"

"The person Scott was trapped with was someone we know," said Virgil, fidgeting nervously.

"Yes, it was, Kate. I'm already aware of that," he replied, smiling slightly at the stunned look on his face.

"How?" questioned Gordon.

"Penny called me and told me," replied Jeff as his other sons approached the bed.

"How did Penny know?" asked Alan.

"Probably because of the men she has watching Kate, you dunce," replied Virgil.

Jeff ignored the glare Alan sent Virgil. "Yes, they called Penny and informed her of the situation who in turn called me."

"How come we didn't see them or they didn't tell us she was trapped. We nearly didn't find her," questioned Gordon.

"They did tell you. They alerted someone there that Kate was missing. They couldn't get too close in case someone got suspicious," explained Jeff.

Gordon nodded, realizing that made sense. "Do we know how she is yet?" he asked.

"Nope, they wouldn't tell me earlier," replied Virgil. He couldn't deny he was a little worried about the young woman. Although, she had been conscious when they arrived at the hospital, she hadn't looked good.

"I'll find out," said Gordon, walking to the door.

"What makes you think they will tell you?" questioned Virgil.

Gordon grinned, "Cos, no girl can say no to me." Virgil just rolled his eyes at his younger brother's disappearing form.

A groan then drew everyone's attention back to their loved one in the bed. Scott had finally opened his eyes and they soon landed on his dad.

"Hey," said Jeff, smiling down at his first born.

"Hey, what happened?" asked Scott, glancing groggily around the room. His eyes landed on Alan and Virgil on the other side of the bed. "Rescue?"

"Yep, an explosion in an office block," replied Virgil, relieved to see his brother was awake.

"Where's Gordon?" asked Scott, realizing he was missing a brother. He had already guessed that John would still be on Five.

"He's just checking on something," replied Virgil, not wanting to worry his brother. Scott clearly didn't remember what had happened yet.

"How do you feel, Son?" asked Jeff, drawing his son's attention back to him.

"Like Thunderbird Two landed on me," he replied and gave a faint smile as his baby brother snickered.

"I'm not surprised. You're lucky to be alive. If whatever hit you in the side had gone about an inch deeper," Virgil paused unable to finish that sentence.

A silence fell amongst the group which was broken by the door opening and Gordon coming back in. "I see Sleeping Beauty has resurfaced," he said, grinning at his older brother.

"Sleeping beauty? Are we looking at the same person?" questioned Alan with a grin.

"Still better looking than you, Sprout," replied Scott.

As the playful banter continued between the oldest and youngest, Virgil pulled Gordon aside. "How is she?" he whispered.

"How is who?" asked Scott. He had noticed Virgil move over to Gordon and knew something was going on.

Virgil looked over to his Dad and Jeff nodded his head slightly, "Scott, you weren't alone when you were injured.

At his brother's words memories came flooding back to Scott. He remembered the building, a young woman trapped, the building coming down and then it all went blank. Suddenly the young woman's face came into focus and he gasped, "Kate! Is she okay?"

Gordon moved forward, knowing he was the only one that could answer that question. "She will be fine. Now, I'm not medically obsessed like Virgil so gonna do this in normal speak. She broke some ribs, cracked something in her ankle, and has concussion from one hell of a bang to the head but will be fine in a few days.

"Good," replied Scott, sighing in relief.

"Cracked something in her ankle?" questioned Virgil with a grin.

"Hey, I don't know all the bones. I'm not weird like you," Gordon replied and swiftly side stepped the arm heading towards him only to have another from the opposite side smack him upside his head. Gordon whirled to face his only younger brother.

Alan just grinned and pointed down at Scott. "His idea not mine."

Virgil sat watching his older brother closely. Scott had been staring out of the window for the last hour and his expression had gotten darker with each passing minute. It was clear something was bothering him and Virgil decided to try to find out what. "You might be a hero, Scott, but you haven't got super powers."

Scott looked over at Virgil, "What?"

"You're staring at that glass like you can make it disappear," replied Virgil and couldn't help but grin as Scott rolled his eyes. "You okay?" he asked, moving to sit on a chair beside the bed.

"I have to let her go, Virge," he said with a sigh.

"Huh?" questioned the young artist.

"Kate, I have to leave her alone to live her life. She's never gonna forgive me for what I did," he explained.

"Did she say that?" questioned Virgil.

"Not in those words," muttered Scott but he knew she meant it.

Virgil sighed, "Then how do you know she won't forgive you?"

Scott's mind wandered back to when they were trapped. His memory was a bit hazy but he could remember her being angry at him.

"Oh, come on, Scott. We both know that's not true." Her voice echoed in his head.

He could remember the glare that followed, too. They were not the actions of someone who could still care about him. He had to let her go. "I just know, Virge."

"Are you sure you can just let her go?" questioned the artist. His own mind wandered back to Lexie and how hard it had been for him to let her go.

Scott sighed, "I don't have a choice."

"Are you really sure this is the right decision? She seemed pretty concerned about you when she came round in the Mole," replied Virgil, remembering the worried look that had crossed her face.

"I am, bro."

"Okay, but at least say thanks to her. She did just save your life again," replied Virgil standing up. He couldn't believe Scott was ready to give up so soon and wondered if his brother actually remembered everything that had happened down there.

Suddenly, there was a knock and the young woman in question came into the room, balancing on crutches. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked, shyly.

"Nope, come on in," said Virgil, smiling warmly at her. Maybe this would convince Scott that she cared, after all, why visit him if she hated him that much?

Kate smiled at him and moved slowly over to the bed, "How are you feeling, Scott?" she asked.

"I'll survive. What about you?" he asked, seeing the thick white bandage taped to her head.

"About the same," she replied with a slight smile.

Virgil grinned, "Yep, she cares. Come on, Scott, don't be an idiot." He moved towards the door, deciding to leave them alone. "Well, I'm gonna grab a coffee, I'll see you later," he said and headed off.

"Virge, told me you saved my life again," began Scott.

"Only after you saved mine. We seem to be making a habit of this," she said, wryly

"Yeah, we do," he paused for a moment, wondering how to broach what he needed to say. "Speaking of that, we need to talk, Kate."

"Sounds ominous," she replied, looking a little worried.

"I can see now that you are not going to forgive me and I can't ever blame you for that. What I did was wrong and you didn't deserve that," he paused for a second and she quickly jumped in.

"But, Scott," she began before he stopped her.

"No, please hear me out. I have to say this."

"Have to say what? Scott, I'm confused," she stared at him in disbelief.

"Kate, I'm sorry for everything that has happened. I never meant to hurt you and I will always regret that I did. I thought maybe given time, I could show you that I'm not that guy but I can see now that's never going to happen," he paused and could see once again Kate was trying to interrupt so continued, "I promise you that when I leave this hospital you will never see me again. I won't call or email, I'll let you live your life the way you deserve to," he finished.

Kate stared at him in shock, "You're saying goodbye?" she questioned. "After everything that just happened?" she added.

Before she could say anymore, a nurse walked into the room. "Hello, Scott, just got to do some tests, won't be long," explained the nurse, approaching the bed.

"Yes, I am, Kate, I know this is what you want," he said, trying to smile at her.

"You have no idea what I want but if you want a goodbye then you got it," she said, angrily. As she reached the door, she turned back round to him, "Goodbye, Scott."

Scott watched her walk out surprised by her anger. Wasn't this what she wanted?

Kate walked back along the corridor, stunned by what had just transpired. Everything she had told him whilst trapped and he just wrote it all off just like that. She shook her head angrily.

"What the hell just happened? I can't believe he did that to me again. I am such an idiot for ever thinking this could work," she muttered to herself, oblivious to a pair of eyes watching her

As she walked away, a figure appeared from the shadows. An evil grin crossed his face as a new plan began to form. "Oh, Scott Tracy, you just handed her to me on a plate and she will be your downfall."