So, I'm back?! I'm really really sorry about the huge delay in posting this chapter! University has been insane, I got writer's block, and then just couldn't find the time or motivation to sit down and finish this chapter! I'm definitely going to finish this fic, no fear, but I do hope this really has been worth the wait!

baao xo

Disclaimer: I still definitely own nothing...

Chapter 21:

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief as he finally managed to escape from the cluster of paparazzi outside of his father's office. Pushing his way through the crowd and into a more or less empty space, he turned to see his small group (minus Askay who was now thankfully with the paramedics) closely behind him. He couldn't say he was surprised to see the looks of shock plastered across Julie's and Michael's faces.

"So..." began Michael slowly.

"So..." replied Virgil tiredly, eyes cast downwards.

"You're one of the Tracy boys, then?"

"The middle one" answered Virgil "though there seemed no point to say anything earlier. I didn't want to really draw attention to it, you know?"

Michael nodded his head in agreement, whereas Julie just looked horrified. Considering her distaste at the family earlier, Virgil was hardly surprised.

"I'm, er, really sorry..." stuttered Julie, eyes downcast "I had no idea."

"Don't worry about it," replied Virgil, dismissively, "I've heard worse."

"But I-" tried Julie again.

Virgil shook his head and answered: "Seriously, it doesn't matter. I'm not offended. But you guys should go get cleaned up; I should probably call my dad."

Julie nodded and departed, though Michael hesitated.

"Seriously, thank you." he said, sincerely "You saved our lives and I can't ever repay you. I hope you find your brother."

Virgil nodded, and with a quick wave of his hand, Michael was gone as well. Finally alone, Virgil let a sigh of relief escape him as he ran his hands over his face, a poor attempt at wiping away all the dust and grime that had gathered there. Today was easily turning into the worst day of his life.

As silently as he'd come, Gordon slunk away from the door once he saw the creep who was holding his brother hostage enter the room. Ducking around a corner and into an adjacent room, Gordon decided it'd be best to put in a quick call to John to let him know about the situation.

Keeping his voice as low as possible, Gordon whispered:

"Come in, John."

"Reading you, Gordon, what's-"

"Shh!" whispered Gordon, hurriedly "I'm near the reactor room and no one knows I'm here yet."

"Sorry, sorry," replied John "what's the situation there?"

Gordon sighed, "Well, I found Scott, but it's going to be tricky to get him out. The Hood is either in the reactor room with him, or in a side room. I don't know how I'm supposed to slip inside."

"You've got to wait it out, Gords, don't do anything rash."

"How am I supposed to just wait, John? Our brother is in there with some madman – I can't just wait!" whispered Gordon, angrily.

"You can't just barge in. You've got to have some sort of plan or wait for an opening, and since neither you nor I have a plan, you've got to wait for an opening, okay?" retorted John.

"Fine, fine..." muttered Gordon, not at all happy about the situation at hand, "I'll wait it out but if anything else happens to Scotty, I'm going in."

Gordon heard John sigh at the other end of the line but Gordon knew he couldn't be swayed and he was confident John was well aware of that too.

"Just don't be stupid Gords," answered John after a pause "Scott's already in there with the Hood; we don't need you in the same situation too."

"FAB Johnny," replied Gordon before cutting the link between him and his elder brother.

Running a hand over his face in exasperation, Gordon turned back around to face the door to the reactor. Patience had never been his strong point, and he'll be damned if he'll let anything else happen to his eldest brother.

It was official: Jeff Tracy had been banned from the kitchen and had the coffee machine confiscated. After consuming dangerous amounts of coffee, Kyrano had clearly had enough and locked the machine away in his own quarters, including the smaller one Jeff had hidden away in his office months ago in case this very situation did occur.

Without the seemingly stress-relieving liquid, Jeff was more than struggling. His hair was tussled and scruffy more so than Virgil's could be if he had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night – it seems that both Scott and Alan had caught the habit of running their hands through their hair from someone. He'd even taken to furious pacing in front of his desk in a weak attempt to curb his frustration and worry about his sons and had had to restrain himself from snapping at Alan when he'd tried half-heartedly to lighten the mood by suggesting that Jeff would wear a hole in the floor.

Jeff's guilt had increased further when a dejected Alan had signed himself off and retreated back into the isolation of 'Five when Jeff had seemed less than impressed by Alan's light heartedness. Finally sitting back in his office chair, Jeff took a moment to review the situation he had found his family in – he was aware that worrying and fretting from Tracy Island wasn't going to help anyone, and he knew he had to be pragmatic and rational about the situation. Making a mental note to apologise to Alan, Jeff considered what options he had left.

John was still in the Control Room of the station, monitoring the situation from a secure and hidden point – this gave the boys some leverage, as John could take on what was usually Scott's role in rescues and coordinate Gordon safely through the wreck and towards their elder brother.

Gordon was, as far as Jeff was aware, approaching the Hood and Scott, though he prayed that his second youngest wouldn't be reckless or desperate enough to attempt a rescue without appropriate back up. He knew that Gordon had be injured earlier, and despite his protests and insistences, Jeff feared that his son wouldn't consider his new limitations and act without thinking for his own safety. Gordon and Scott were incredibly similar in this respect and it never went well for either of them.

Virgil was safe for now, Jeff concluded. He'd escaped the building and disarmed the bomb, saving countless people in the process. Whilst it would be difficult now for Virgil to avoid the press, Jeff would rather that Virgil had to face a barrage of nosy journalists than another bomb any day. Virgil was due to be checking in any moment now and the Tracy patriarch hoped it was purely good news at this point in time. Brains had been coordinating with the emergency services on behalf of International Rescue, and there had been no deaths reported thus far at the site, though it seemed today, nothing was free from the Hood's destructive revenge.

Alan was brooding on Thunderbird Five, and was the only son who had remained physically unharmed during this ordeal. Jeff couldn't help but thank his lucky stars that his baby had been safely tucked away in space during this mess. However, he had been worrying for his youngest despite this – Alan seemed to be drowning in guilt and blamed himself for accepting the call to the nuclear power station, despite the fact that Alan had just been doing his job. Jeff knew he had to contact Alan soon and reassure him that there was nothing he could've done to prevent this mess before he spiralled further.

Finally, Jeff came to think of his eldest. Scott could sometimes be so protective of his brothers that he didn't think of the implications of his actions, and whilst none of the boys had been aware of the danger lurking just around the corner, Jeff now carried the benefit of hindsight, and now it was clear to see that Scott should've waited for backup before investigating – the entire building had been screaming warning signs at all of them from the beginning. Jeff obviously didn't blame his eldest son for his actions in exploring the location, but he regretted that he didn't look into everything earlier. Perhaps then he could've stopped this; perhaps then he wouldn't have his son in a life-or-death hostage situation that was threatening to explode across the entire globe.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the self-pitying and guilt inducing thoughts, Jeff stood abruptly. Now wasn't the time to mope in his office about what disaster had now befallen his family, but to do something about it without anyone else getting hurt. Turning towards the portraits of his five boys, Jeff downed the final dregs of the instant coffee he had managed to hide from Kyrano and put in a call to Virgil. It was time to finish this.

Well, not a lot happened there; it was just kind of a filler/recap chapter. Fortunately, we'll be back to the action soon! And I'll hopefully be posting it soon, if StarKid McFly and I can talk through what's going to happen next by the end of the month! I've still got like 2 months of summer holiday left, so I hope to update more regularly again (don't hold me to that though).

P.S. in case any of you who read my other fic, Space Race, were hoping for an update, I hope to be posting chapter 5 there very soon so keep an eye out!