Cause and Effect

By GrumpyMagrat and Magratconvert

Disclaimer: We don't own the Thunderbirds. We wish we did, but it's just one of those dreams that will never come true. We do NOT make any money off this endeavor. It is just for our own pleasure, and (we hope) your enjoyment.

Chapter 21 – Another Mistake?

Scott was heedless of the shouting that was going on around him. He ran as fast as he could toward the firefly. He reached the downed machine a few seconds after Gordon had. He saw that his younger brother was climbing up on to the machine.

"Virgil!" Gordon yelled. He was crouched low trying to futilely protect himself from the heat from the flame as he crawled towards the door of the firefly.

By the time that Scott climbed on to the firefly, Gordon was already lowering himself through the now open door into the cockpit area. Scott crept to the doorway himself. At that point, Scott began to feel the spray of water as the firefighters began to fight the new blaze. "How is he?" Scott called down to Gordon.

"He's unconscious right now." Gordon called back. "I'm still checking for other injuries."

A couple of paramedics began to climb on the firefly. Scott yelled to them. "We're going to need a c-collar and a backboard."

One handed Scott the equipment that he was carrying and headed back to get the requested equipment. The other handed Scott the box that he was carrying and then climbed next to Scott. "What have we got?"

"We're not sure yet." Scott replied. "He's unconscious, but we don't know about other injuries. The collar and board are a precaution."

The paramedic nodded. "You should go back down, at least until the fire is out. We'll get your colleague out of here."

Scott shook his head. "There's no way that I'm leaving him."

"Please, we've been trained to do this kind of work." The paramedic tried to argue.

"I've been trained too." Scott snapped. "And I'm not going anywhere until my colleague is out of here. Now are you going in there to help or am I?"

The paramedic nodded. "Okay, I'll go in there. Once we get him ready to move, you can help pull him up."

Scott nodded and impatiently drummed his fingers against his knee while subconsciously chewing his bottom lip. The other paramedic returned with the requested items and handed them to his partner. "Do you want me down there?"

His partner shook his head. "No, Roy, it's tight as it is. Just be ready to pull him up once we get him on the board."

"You got it Mitch." The paramedic replied. He noticed how upset Scott looked. "Hey, relax a bit. Mitch is a great paramedic. Your buddy couldn't be in better hands."

Scott gave Roy a curt nod but didn't show any signs of relaxing. A few minutes later Mitch called from inside the firefly. "Okay, we're ready to move him."

Scott and Roy positioned themselves on either side of the doorway. They reached down as Gordon and Mitch raised the backboard into their waiting hands. As they pulled Virgil up, Scott realized that some more firefighters had joined them. Two more had climbed on top of the firefly. They helped pull the backboard up. Once Virgil was clear of the door, the four of them maneuvered him to the edge of the firefly and lowered him down to the waiting arms of more firefighters who immediately began to carry him away. Roy climbed down as Scott reached in to help Mitch and Gordon climb from the interior.

Once they climbed off the firefly, they followed behind Virgil to the triage area. Chief Wiseman joined them as they walked. "How's your man?"

Scott shook his head. "He's unconscious. That's all I know. Hopefully your men can tell me more."

"I'm sure they will." The fire chief replied. "They're good men and good at their jobs."

Scott nodded. "Do you have any idea what caused the explosion?"

"I don't know for sure," Chief Wiseman replied. "But my gut is telling me that when your man pushed in the corner, he broke the gas line coming into the building which then was ignited probably by a spark created by your machine going over the rubble."

Scott shook his head. "There shouldn't be any gas in that line. It was shut off at the main."

The chief eyed the spire of flame shooting out of the ground. "It was supposed to be shut off, but I can tell by that fire that it is a live gas line. I've been trying to get a hold of the utility company, but…"

"Let me try." Scott practically growled as he switched direction and headed towards mobile control. "Mobile control to Thunderbird Five," Scott barked into the comm. unit.

Alan answered immediately. He could tell by Scott's voice that something was wrong. "This is Thunderbird Five. What's wrong Scott?"

"We have a live gas line here." Scott angrily spat out. "Call the utility company and find out why the hell it hasn't been shut down."

"F-A-B" Alan replied and then switched comm. channels. About five minutes later, Alan was back on the comm. "Thunderbird Five to mobile control."

"What have you found out?" Scott demanded.

Alan sighed a bit. "I don't know, Scott. I've talked to the utility company, and they have confirmed the shut down of all utilities at 1860 N. Martin Ave. They're…"

"1860?" Scott erupted in anger. "God dammit, Alan, we're at 1680 N. Martin Ave. You gave them the wrong address. You screwed up again and now Virgil is hurt."

"Virgil is hurt?" Alan asked in alarm. "What…"

Scott angrily interrupted. "When are you ever going to grow up and learn to do your job?"

Alan's voice became clogged with emotion. "Scott…I'm sorry…I…"

"Stuff it Alan," Scott snapped. "Quit sniveling and do your job. Call the utility company back and get the right gas line shut down. Can you do that? Can I trust you to do your job?"

"I can't believe…" Alan tried to speak.

"You can't believe?!" Scott yelled incredulously. "Well, I can believe it. I knew you were just play acting to avoid trouble. I tried to warn them that you couldn't be trusted…"

That statement hit Alan like a physical punch. Scott just admitted that he didn't trust him. So his apology was a lie. He should have listened to his head instead of following his heart and trying to make peace with his family. Since he couldn't believe Scott, he shouldn't trust the rest of the family either. This was it; he was done with both International Rescue and his family.

Scott's rant had continued. "I tried to tell them that you were immature and irresponsible. I just hope that they will listen to me this time. We're running out of brothers for you to injure. You're not going to weasel your way out of this one. I will make sure of it this time. Now, do your job and do it right this time. I'm going to check on Virgil's condition."

"Scott…" Alan tried to speak again.

"NO! Alan." Scott growled. "Just fix this." He then disconnected the comm. before Alan could say any more.

Scott walked over to where the paramedics were examining Virgil. He was relieved to see that Virgil was awake and arguing with them.

"I'm telling you that I am fine." Virgil complained. "I just had the wind knocked out of me. No big deal."

"Sir, you were unconscious for almost twenty minutes." Mitch tried to patiently explain. "That's more than just getting the wind knocked out of you. You need to be examined by a doctor."

Virgil spotted his older brother. "Hey, Scott, will you tell these guys that I'm fine."

"What's his condition?" Scott asked Mitch.

Mitch looked up at Scott. "He has a probable concussion, but he should have a MRI to rule out a more serious head injury. Plus he has an injured wrist. It's more than likely just a sprain, but he will need an x-ray to confirm it."

"Which we can do back at our base." Virgil continued to plead his case. "We have a doctor and the equipment. I don't have to go to the hospital."

Scott squatted down next to Virgil's head. "Look, Virg, we're going to be here for a bit longer. Why don't you go to the hospital and let them take care of you. We'll meet you there once we get things squared away here."

"But Scott," Virgil began.

"No buts." Scott said with a smile. "Consider it an order from your field commander."

Virgil knew he had been beat. "F-A-B" he replied. Waving his hand dismissively, he told the paramedics. "I guess I'm all yours."

Once Virgil was on his way to the hospital, Scott turned to Gordon. "Okay, we need to upright the firefly and assess her for damage."

Gordon looked back towards the firefly. The fire was now out. "How did this happen?" He muttered quietly.

Scott, however, heard him. "Alan screwed up again. That's how it happened."

"What?" Gordon asked in confusion.

Scott shook his head and snapped at Gordon. "Alan had the utility company cut the utilities to the wrong address. So when Virgil knocked down the corner, he broke a live gas line that exploded."

"Maybe it was the utility company that made the mistake." Gordon volunteered.

Scott shook his head. "No, when I asked him to find out what went wrong, he gave me the wrong address. I knew then what the problem was, or should I say who?"

Gordon shook his head. "I can't believe it. Alan's been so careful since John's accident. There's got to be something more to it?"

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Scott snarled. "But everyone wanted to believe that he made the mistake on Five because he was emotionally upset over that one rescue. What's going to be his excuse this time? We don't even know the names of the victims, so he couldn't be upset about a boy and his mother with his and mom's name. How many more of us are going to be hurt before something is done about Alan? Does one of us have to be killed?"

Gordon shook his head. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it right now. So we better just do our jobs."

Scott just nodded as the two of them headed towards the firefly.

An hour later, the firefly was secured in the pod, and Scott and Gordon were busy tearing down mobile control. "All, in all, the damages aren't bad. Most of them are just cosmetic." Gordon remarked. "It shouldn't take long to repair it."

Scott nodded. "Yes, that broken track should only take about an hour or so. The longest time will be waiting for the new paint job to dry. We were lucky, or should I say that Alan was lucky. I can't believe that he was so careless."

Gordon really didn't feel like arguing with Scott about Alan. "Well, how are we going to get Virgil? Are we taking the ships, or what?"

Chief Wiseman approached just then. "Excuse me," he interrupted. "I wanted to thank you for your help today, and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." Gordon shot Scott a concerned look. Just how much had he overheard? Had he heard the disgust in Scott's voice? His fears, though, were allayed when the chief continued. "I can take you to the hospital and then bring you back here when you're finished."

Scott shook his head. "I couldn't ask you to do that. I'm sure that you have plenty of work to do."

"You didn't ask." The chief countered. "I offered. Besides I'd like to see how Virgil…is that what you called him earlier?" Scott nodded and the chief continues. "I'd like to see how Virgil is doing and thank him personally."

"There's no need." Scott argued. "We were just doing our job."

"You were doing our jobs." The chief countered. "Please let me do this. I hold International Rescue in such high esteem. You guys risk your lives with no thought of recompense. This is the least that I can do."

Scott finally relented. "Okay, it would help us out. Just give us a minute to put this stuff away and lock down our ships."

"Sure, I need to talk to Captain Light about the overhaul, and I'll meet you at my car." Chief Wiseman said as he headed back towards the two remaining fire trucks.

"Let's not discuss Alan anymore until we get home." Gordon said. "We don't need the whole world knowing that there is such animosity between International Rescue operatives."

"Whatever." Scott replied snidely. "Let's get this stuff stowed."

A half hour later, Scott and Gordon followed Chief Wiseman into the hospital's emergency room department. The chief walked to the reception desk and spoke to the young woman behind it. "Excuse me, miss. We are here to see the International Rescue agent."

The woman eyed the two young men who stood with the fire chief. They wore the same uniform as their star patient. "Yes, sir, I can take you to him." She seemed to hesitate for a moment as she looked up his information on the computer. "I do have a few questions. What is his last name? He wouldn't tell us. He said that if we really needed a last name to use 'Smith'. Also who should we send the bill to? Does he have any insurance? Does he have a primary care physician that we should send a report of this visit to?"

Scott shook his head. "No insurance. We will pay before we leave and if we can just get copies of any x-rays and tests results and any doctor's notes, our doctor can add it to his file. We don't need an official report. Just a copy of his chart will do. As far as a last name, continue using 'Smith'. I'm sorry but it is vital that our identities remain secret even in this case."

The nurse shook her head. "Sir, I don't think you realize how much this visit will cost, with the MRI and x-rays. Without any insurance, it will be very costly, and I don't think that you normally carry large sums of cash with you."

Scott smiled indulgently. "You're right. I don't carry a large sum of cash, but let me assure you, I can handle it. We have a secure bank account that I can make an electronic transfer from just for cases like this. The money will be in the hospital's account before we leave."

The receptionist nodded her head. "I guess as long as you pay before you leave, we will have to be happy with that." She called to a passing nurse. "Excuse me, Linda. Could you take these gentlemen to exam room seven?"

A petite red head smiled enticingly at Gordon. "Certainly, follow me gentlemen." They followed her down the hall. She stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall. Still making eyes at Gordon, she said. "Here you are gentlemen. If there is anything else I can do for you, just ask."

Gordon blushed. "I'm sure that we will be fine, but thank you."

"Any time," she replied as she sauntered back down the hall.

"I think she likes you." Scott teased as they opened the door to Virgil's room.

Gordon rolled his eyes. "Gee, ya think? Hey, Virg, how are you feeling?" He asked trying to change subjects.

"Yes, Virgil, how are you doing?" Scott asked as he took in his brother's appearance.

Virgil lay in the hospital bed, looking a bit better than he had when he had been taken away from the scene. His face at least had been washed. The backboard and c-collar had been removed. He was in a clean hospital gown instead of his dirty uniform. His arm was in a temporary splint and rested on a pillow. Scott, though, could still see the pain evident on his face.

"I'm fine." Virgil replied. "I'm just waiting for the results of the MRI and the x-rays to come back."

"You remember Chief Wiseman from the fire, right?" Scott asked indicating the other person who had joined them. "He has been gracious enough to bring us here, and he is going to take us back to the ships once you're released."

Virgil held his good hand out. "We weren't actually introduced at the fire. I'm Virgil. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for the help that you've given my co-workers."

The chief shook Virgil's hand. "It's my pleasure to meet you. I wanted the opportunity to thank you and to tell you how sorry I was that you were injured."

Virgil waved off the apology. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about. Accidents do happen."

Scott let out a snort of disgust.

"What?" Virgil asked.

Gordon jumped in before Scott could reply. "It's nothing that you need to worry about right now. We can talk later."

Chief Wiseman could sense that he was in the way, so he excused himself. "Well, I'll wait for you out in the waiting room. I should find a phone and check in with the office."

Scott nodded. "Okay, we'll come find you once we hear from the doctor."

Once the chief left the room, Scott asked. "How are you really feeling?" While at the same time Virgil asked his own question. "Now, what is really going on?"

Scott shook his head. "You answer first. How are you really feeling? And don't give me the line that you're fine. I can see by your face that you're in pain."

Virgil sighed. "All right, I've got a major headache. I feel like the whole drum section from the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra had taken up residence in my head. Is that what you want to hear? Fine, I admit it. Now, tell me. What's going on."

"Have they given you anything for the pain?" Gordon asked.

Virgil closed his eyes and tried to will the pain away. "Not yet, they wanted to wait until they got the results of the MRI."

"Maybe I should go find your doctor. It's not right that they have just left you in pain." Gordon grumbled and headed towards the door.

"No, Gordon." Virgil stopped him. "They're just doing what they think is best. Now will someone please explain Scott's reaction when I mentioned the accident?"

Scott began to pace as he angrily started to explain. "That's just it. Your 'accident' wasn't really and accident."

"Scott," Gordon interrupted. "I thought we agreed not to talk about this until we get back to the Island."

"Virgil has a right to know." Scott argued. "After all, he has been asking." Turning back towards Virgil, he continued. "Your accident was a direct result of Alan's carelessness."

"Scott, you can't be certain…" Gordon began only to be cut off by Scott.

"What I am certain of is that Alan screwed up again." Scott snapped. "He transposed those two numbers and the utility company shut down the utilities at a building two blocks away."

"Whoa, calm down and explain it to me slowly." Virgil requested. "And sit down. God, that pacing is annoying."

Scott plopped down in a chair. "All right, calm…I can do calm. Okay, first off, the fire chief was having radio trouble and could not contact the utility company."

"Because of the solar flares?" Virgil interrupted.

Scott nodded. "Probably, so I had Alan call the utility company."

"Why didn't you call from mobile control?" Gordon asked.

"Because I wasn't sure if I could get through." Scott answered.

"But Brains said that the interference from the solar flares wouldn't interfere with our equipment." Gordon pointed out.

Scott ran a hand over his face. He had not expected his action to have been called into question. "I felt that I should go with the definite course of action. I knew that Thunderbird Five could unquestionably break through the interference."

"Did you even try to call them yourself?" Gordon pressed.

"It's not like I was shirking my responsibilities." Scott snapped at Gordon. "I decided not to waste time trying something that may or may not work. I decided that the prudent choice was to go with the option that I knew would work. It still doesn't change the fact that Alan was careless."

"But if he hadn't been given your job to do…" Gordon continued his argument.

"Guys," Virgil broke in. "I wanted to hear what happened, not an argument between you two."

Gordon crossed his arms and leaned against a wall. He understood that Alan made a mistake, but Scott was not blameless in this incident, at least in his mind. He hoped that their father would also see that.

"Sorry," Scott told Virgil as he continued his story. "Anyways, I asked Alan to call the utility company to cut the utilities to the apartment building. He gave them the wrong address. So the utilities were still active to the building."

"Which was probably one of the reasons why we were having a hard time putting out the fire." Virgil speculated.

"What about the electricity?" Gordon suddenly asked. "Why was that cut?"

"I don't know for certain." Scott replied. "If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the building's transformer had a safety shut-off. So when the transformer registered the overloads that were obviously happening in the early stages of the fire, it shut itself off, probably before Alan even called the utility company."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he mumbled.

Scott shot him a disgusted look and went back to explaining to Virgil. "Anyways, when you knocked in the corner, you broke the incoming gas line and a spark set it off. The force of the explosion knocked the firefly on to its side and you along with it."

"So, you blame Alan for this." Virgil ventured a guess.

Scott couldn't believe Virgil asked him that. "Of course, if Alan had given the utility company the right address that gas line would not have been active."

Virgil started to shake his head but stopped as the headache increased. "Are you sure that Alan gave them the wrong address? Maybe the utility company…"

Scott interrupted shaking his head. "No, when I called him after the explosion, he…"

Scott was interrupted by the door opening. The white coated doctor walked in. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am Dr. Barton, and I have been treating Virgil today, and I'm pleased to say that things are looking good."

"Does that mean you can finally give him something for his headache?" Gordon demanded.

"Yes, and I've already ordered a pain reliever for him." Dr. Barton replied. Addressing Virgil, he continued. "I'm sorry that I couldn't give you anything for it earlier, but I really wanted to rule out a more serious head injury. A pain killer could have masked symptoms of that."

"I understand." Virgil replied. "You only did what you thought was best. Besides, it wasn't so bad."

"Virgil is tough." Scott teased. "Aren't ya, Virg?"

"Shut up, Scott." Virgil muttered.

Scott laughed lightly but then sobered as he asked the doctor. "So how is he?"

Dr. Barton cleared his throat. "The MRI came back clear."

"That's good, isn't it?" Gordon asked.

"Well, it means that you don't have a skull fracture." Dr. Barton answered, keeping his attention towards his patient, not Gordon. "But you did suffer a slight concussion. You will probably have a headache over the next couple of days. Which is why I'm going to send a prescription home with you."

"That really isn't necessary." Virgil replied. "I'm sure that our doctor will have something for me."

"That is your choice." The doctor remarked.

The nurse entered at that moment. She had a syringe and an ace bandage. Virgil flinched as the needle pierced his skin after she had wiped the injection site with an alcohol wipe.

The doctor continued speaking as the nurse continued her duties. "The x-ray confirmed that you're wrist is just sprained and not broken. So you'll need to keep it wrapped for a week or so. You're doctor can monitor its progress. I would recommend that you take it easy for the next week. Do you have any questions?"

Virgil looked up from watching the nurse wrap his arm. "Just one, can I go home now?"

Dr. Barton laughed. "Are you tired of our hospitality already?"

"It's not you." Virgil replied flustered. "I just don't like hospitals."

"I don't know many people who do." Dr. Barton answered still laughing. "I want to keep you for another thirty minutes just to make sure that you aren't going to have a reaction to the pain killer."

"I doubt it. I have never had a reaction to pain killers before." Virgil argued.

Dr. Barton shook his head. "Relax, it would take probably that long to get your discharge papers ready, and to make you happy, I'll get started on them right now."

Virgil smiled. "Thanks Doc. I appreciate it."

"No, thank you." Dr. Barton said as he reached out to shake Virgil's good hand. "You put yourself in danger to help people, and this was the result." He shook Scott's and then Gordon's hand. "It was my pleasure to return the favor, no matter how small the contribution. Let me know if you need anything else before you leave." Dr. Barton then left the room, and the nurse, who had finished with Virgil's wrist, followed behind him.

"He seemed nice." Gordon said.

"He is." Virgil replied. "Everyone has been very nice."

Scott stood up. "Well, I better find the billing office and get your account squared away. Plus I should let Chief Wiseman know what is going on."

"Okay, Scott, we'll wait here for you." Gordon remarked.

Scott nodded. "I'll be as quick as I can."

"Take your time." Virgil said, finally feeling some relief from the pain killer.

Scott left the room, and Virgil and Gordon were quiet for a few moments. Finally, Gordon broke the silence. "Virgil, are you upset with Alan?"

Virgil sighed. "To tell you the truth, I don't know what to think. I know he's been extra cautious since John's accident. So this whole incident doesn't make sense."

Gordon nodded. "I know. I feel the same way. But Scott is so angry about it that I'm afraid of what he will say or do to Alan. We were just drawing him back, and I'm afraid that he is going to drive him away again."

"Then we'll just have to keep Alan from running away, emotionally speaking." Virgil tried to reassure his brother.

Gordon let out a snort of disgust. "I wouldn't be too surprised if it will be 'physical' depending on how Scott treats him."

"Let's not borrow trouble." Virgil said. "Things will look better after our trip."

"Oh come on," Gordon declared angrily. "Do you really think that either Scott or Alan will be willing to go on that trip now?"

"Okay," Virgil acquiesced. "So when Alan gets home, we'll just have to prove to him how much we care about him."

Gordon swallowed back the lump that had formed in his throat. "I just hope it isn't too late." He whispered.

Silence reigned again in the room as the two brothers were lost in their own thoughts. Neither brother paid attention to the time until Scott returned with Chief Wiseman and the nurse.

"Okay, guys, I've taken care of the bill." Scott began in an upbeat tone. "So once Virg signs his release papers, we can get out of here." Noticing the subdued looks, he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Virgil was busy with the nurse and his release papers, but Gordon just shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. It's just been a long and tiring day."

Scott nodded. "I understand."

Another ten minutes later, the release papers had been signed. Virgil had changed back to his uniform, and the three Tracy brothers were on their way back to the ships in order to finally be able to head home.

Author's Note: How much of a beast can Scott be? Poor Alan, he's being blamed again. What does Gordon know? Why is he defending Alan? Find out next week.

Okay, we are letting you know ahead of time. Next weekend is the holiday weekend, and poor Convert is already got a full schedule from Friday through Monday. Hopefully, we will have a chance to do review replies, but then again, we may not have a chance to get together. Convert though will MAKE the time to update next Sunday, but it may be a little later in the evening. PLEASE be patient with us. Thanks again to everyone who did review, especially our anonymous ones, since this is the only time that we can acknowledge you. They do mean so much to us. Thanks again.