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Alan paced up and down, the gun in his hand and his eyes fixed firmly on the door. Kyrano had his arm around Tin-Tin, but had a faraway expression on his face. Alan knew not to question it, knew the man sitting so casually on the floor was as capable of saving them as the armed Tracy was. He hated that he had to be the one to stay out here - away from it all - in order to make sure the remaining occupants of the island were safe. Not that he would have wanted them on their own - although he was more than sure that Tin-Tin could handle herself. But his grandmother was sitting in the only chair they had – a small collapsible one. He was sure she was going to moan about it ruining her back for days to come. She looked so vulnerable, not helped by the fact she still had her floral-patterned apron on. He just hated the feeling of being on the outskirts with no idea what was happening with his brothers.

"Al? Thankfully, John had been keeping in contact with him regularly. If anyone knew what it was like to be stuck on the edge while the others were in danger, it was John. Despite Alan's enthusiasm for sharing the rota on Five, it had still taken his big brother a few weeks to help him adjust to the idea that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help and that he just had to keep himself calm. Not that Alan had quite mastered that yet, but he was better than he had been.

"John?"

"You've got five guys heading your way. They must have seen something, or have just been sent to investigate."

"How did they get past Scott and Virg?" It wasn't the idea of a few of the intruders heading towards him that had Alan worried. He was almost looking forward to showing them that they had messed with the wrong family, especially as it was his best friend who had been so badly hurt in all of this. But for them to be heading this way, it meant they had either been able to slip past Scott and Virgil – something Alan doubted because he knew (as did all of the younger brothers) that nothing really seemed to get past Scott –or that something had happened to them.

"John?" When the astronaut remained silent, Alan found himself prompting for answers. He couldn't do this without knowing what had happened to the others, his mind would be too distracted.

"Scott's out cold and Virg is at gunpoint."

Alan swore, running a hand through his hair and kicking the wall of the hut at the same time. The others all looked over at him, and the youngest knew that the stress must have been showing on his face when Grandma didn't even rebuke him for his use of language.

"Al? You okay there, kid? I need you to focus; you need to keep Grandma and the others safe."

"He's quite well, thank you, John. You see what you can do about freeing those brothers of yours."

Alan hadn't even noticed that Grandma had crossed the room until a hand had taken hold of his wrist. As John confirmed he would try his best, the old lady disconnected, placed her hands on Alan's shoulders and spun her youngest grandson around to face her.

"Alan?"

"I'm fine," Alan muttered, not wanting to meet her gaze. He should have been the one to reassure them that everything was going to be okay, he should have told John that nothing was going to get past him. Instead, he had frozen. Angry at himself, he shrugged off his grandmother's grip and once again checked the gun. Tin-Tin slipped away from her father and put a comforting hand on his arm, but Alan shook his head softly, stepping away from her, too. This was not the time for comfort; this was the time for action.

"You're going out there, aren't you?"

Alan glanced over at Tin-Tin, a small smile on his face over the fact that she just seemed to be able to read his mind. He offered her half a shrug.

"It's better than them coming in here."

She nodded, biting her lip as she clearly tried to hold back tears. Alan moved back to her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he turned to her father.

"You'll keep them safe?" After seeing what Kyrano was capable of in the past, or at least, after hearing about it from the others, Alan knew that the man didn't need a gun in order to protect them and he was more than happy to leave the ladies in his capable care. Kyrano dipped his head in acknowledgement and Alan turned to Grandma.

"You going to be okay, Grandma?"

To his surprise, the old lady smiled, one hand caressing his cheek whilst the other reached into her apron pocket.

"You just look out for yourself, you hear me, young man?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Alan grinned, only for a small frown to bridge his nose as Grandma began to pull something out of the pocket. He stepped back in order to get a better look, but suddenly let out a shout of laughter as the rolling pin they had all learnt to fear emerged.

"Anyone that comes through that door, get 'em good, Grandma. You'll take care of the others for me?"

"Only as well as you would,'" Grandma promised kissing his cheek and holding his gaze for a long moment. Still chuckling, Alan turned towards the door. No wonder he and his brothers were all so stubborn and so determined that they would do anything to protect each other. Alan knew that it was their father they had got it from, but it seemed that he had received it from his own mother. Hit by an overwhelming urge of affection for the old lady, Alan turned and gave her a swift hug. Nodding at Kyrano, he kissed Tin-Tin's cheek, then headed out of the door.

With the hut pressing into his back, Alan surveyed the area carefully, looking for any signs of where the men might approach from. There were limited options: the sea was on one side and a cliff the other. But Alan wanted to make sure he knew where they would emerge. Glancing once more at the hut – almost for reassurance – the youngest moved into the trees, gun ready. He wasn't sure how much good he was going to be able to do if both Scott and Virgil had been taken out. But he also knew that whilst his brothers might have doubled their chances because there were two of them, they would have been taking on at least ten times the number that Alan was expecting to meet. He had been given the job of keeping the others safe, and nothing was going to get in the way of that.

The sound of voices drew his attention and Alan pressed himself against a tree. John had been right, there were five men heading towards the hut. They were all armed and had a glint in their eye that Alan knew meant danger. They passed within almost five feet of him, yet didn't notice that he was there, too busy on getting to their destination. Whether they actually knew there were people in there or not, Alan had no idea. It could be they had just been sent to check it out, but he had no intention of letting them get that far. Reaching into his pocket, he grinned at John's quick thinking as he pulled out a slender tube and screwed it onto the end of the gun.

With the silencer in place, Alan double checked his position, took aim, and fired.

The first man dropped without hesitation and as the others wildly turned, Alan ran. Darting from tree to tree, he couldn't seem to get another hit in, despite the fact that he was firing almost non-stop. Bullets tore up the ground around his feet and sent Alan scrambling for cover before luck decided to join the intruders side. Forcing himself to breathe lightly despite panting with the exertion – not wanting to give away his position - Alan carefully peered back around and took another shot. His aim steadied now he was standing still and a second man, then a third, dropped, before the others seemed to realise where he was.

Alan took off again, only this time, he was heading towards them. One man was still firing at him, but the other had come to the conclusion that there was something worth guarding in the hut and had turned towards it. Alan shot wildly at his back, the first two missing completely and the third only just clipping his shoulder. It was still enough for the man to fall heavily against the door, the thud echoing out and making the whole structure shake a little. Alan knew that would be sign enough for the others to get down and keep down, but his attention was distracted by the final man. He had the perfect shot lined up and his finger squeezed the trigger.

Snick.

The barrel was empty, there was no ammunition left. His hand flying to his pocket, Alan hastened to pull out what he needed, but his position had been given away and he was out in the open. He had no chance to reload as he was forced to duck flying bullets. Turning back to the trees, Alan knew he had to get to cover. But before he had gone more than a few steps, something caught around his ankles and he tripped. Glancing down, he tore at the rope the man had used to trip him, but it was too late. The final man was upon him, wrestling Alan over until he was lying on his back before dropping down, his knees pressing into Alan's sides and keeping his hands trapped between their bodies.

Alan screwed his eyes up as the man's finger squeezed the trigger. But the same snick he had just heard echoed out again. It seemed he wasn't the only one who was out of ammunition, and it had just saved his life.

Alan bucked upwards, snarling as the man tossed the gun away. He had a glint in his eye that the youngest Tracy didn't like the look of, and sure enough, he didn't have to wait long to find out what that might mean. His hands now free, the intruder wrapped them around Alan's neck. Ignoring the way his prisoner's legs were kicking out desperately, he steadily continued to apply pressure, blocking off Alan's airway as he gasped for breath. His hands grappled for the man's, desperately trying to pull him away, but it was as if the intruder didn't even feel what Alan was doing in order to try and escape, he just continued to press down.

Just as Alan thought that this was it, that he was going to die here, unable to protect the others, the loud crack of a gunshot filled the air again. The man's eyes widened in surprise before he pitched to one side, his legs still laying over Alan's torso. Shoving them off, Alan rolled to his knees, rubbing his throat as he coughed and gasped for breath. Tears stung his eyes as he struggled to control his erratic heartbeat and it took him a good few moments before he was able to turn to look at the person who had just saved his life. Kyrano didn't even look ruffled as he just stood there, a smoking gun in his hand and his heel pressing firmly down on the last man's shoulder, just over the wound, therefore keeping him down effectively.

Alan scrambled to his feet, picking up another gun and moving across.

"No." Kyrano's hand calmly moved, resting on the gun and forcing Alan to lower it from where he had been aiming at the defenceless man. "You will not take his life in anger."

"He would have taken yours."

"And that is why he is the criminal in this story, not you. You are better than him."

"But… they…"

"I will not have my daughter near a murderer."

Alan blinked, letting go of the gun and allowing Kyrano to take it from his hands with a soft smile. His eyes were full of understanding and compassion as Alan went back to rubbing his throat. If Kyrano hadn't have been there, he would have killed this man. And it wouldn't have been in self-defence, or even for the protection of the others. It would have been because he could. His body aching from the fight, he nodded in understanding. Kyrano squeezed his shoulder.

"I believe your grandmother is waiting for you."

Suddenly wishing the others were here just so they could deflect some of her fussing, Alan offered a shadow of a smile, but let his hand stretch out towards the door. It was only then that he realised he was shaking, the ebbing adrenaline making him feel drained and exhausted. If he was like that after taking on just a few men, he couldn't even begin to think about what Scott and Virgil might feel like.

A thud from behind him made him glance back to see that Kyrano had knocked the man out.

Pushing open the door, Alan frowned when he couldn't immediately see the others. There was a strange stirring in his gut, almost like a warning telling him to be careful, but before Alan could truly pay attention to it, a movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention.

"Grandma, it's me!" Alan yelled, one hand flying up in order to try and deflect the lump of wood currently on a collision course with his head. Somehow, he managed to miss the rolling pin, but Grandma tried to stop herself at the same time. Rather than being knocked out – as would have happened given the force of the blow – Alan instead just received a sharp rap on the head before being pulled into a hug and having apologies muttered in his ear. Unable to stop himself, he found that he was laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situation before gently untangling himself from the hug.

"Nothing is ever going to get past you, is it, Grandma?"

"No, dear, it is not," Grandma responded calmly, hiding the weapon away and smoothing out the creases in her apron again. Alan smiled, pecking her on the cheek before realising that his legs no longer wanted to support his weight. Whether sitting down was a conscious decision or not, Alan wasn't quite sure, but he suddenly found that he was kneeling on the floor. Tin-Tin came down next to him, her hand resting on his arm and her eyes burning in concern.

"I'm fine." Alan tried to sound reassuring, but considering his voice was a little hoarse from the pressure on his wind pipe, he wasn't quite sure whether it worked or not. Instead, he flicked his watch.

"John, come in. John? Johnny, you there? John!"

Alan felt cold dread settling into the pit of his stomach even as he continued to try. Fear-filled eyes turned to face his grandmother as he swallowed hard.

He couldn't get an answer.

TBTBTB

John had always worked well with Brains. But he wasn't sure if anything touched upon the way they just seemed to be reading each other's minds right now. Stuck in his father's office, wiring and screens were strewn around them as the pair tried to monitor everything that was going on around the island. It had only been Brains continuing to tap away as he attempted to further secure things against the intruders that had stopped John from completely freaking out whilst watching Virgil and Scott being taken down.

Originally, they weren't going to interfere. Lagamer didn't need to know what he was going to walk into until it was too late. But the second that the Hood had turned on his brothers, John knew they had just entered a different game entirely. The man might claim that he wanted their machinery, but the astronaut knew that he wanted them dead just as badly. There was nothing he could do to stop Scott being knocked out – interfering would have more likely caused his brother to be killed. But on seeing what they were planning to do to Virgil, John knew that he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Brains had sent him a somewhat startled look as he had opened up the line, but when Virgil was just handcuffed and dragged up, John knew that it had been worth it.

Now, the only problem was that he had just directed where they were all going to go next. And that was straight towards the house, bringing the Hood closer to his desired machinery and Lagamer closer to Gordon.

"S-s-silos s-secure," Brains muttered, more to himself than John. The blond still leant over though, frowning when he saw the complex system of numbers scrolling across Brains' screen. His brothers might have claimed that John was the one who had ended up with the brains of the family, but he knew he barely even touched upon what Brains was capable of. By the looks of it, he had somehow tapped into Two's weapon system and rigged it so that if anyone with unauthorised access made it down there, they would be met with the most technology International Rescue possessed.

"Nice one! I…oh, wait a second, Alan's about to have company." Swiftly reporting to his youngest brother that there were men on their way, John found himself running his fingers through his hair in frustration as he tried to keep an eye on everything. He had warned Alan, but there was nothing he could do to help himself. The Hood knew not only the island, but the majority of their security systems as well after his time possessing Gordon. John was under no illusion about getting away with interfering; the Hood would have worked out where he was in order to be monitoring the entire island. They would be heading straight for the office.

When the cameras around the jungle stopped picking up any movement, John knew that it was just beginning.

"Brains, you have to keep down, you have to hide," John hissed, glancing at each screen swiftly. The men were in the house now, heading directly towards him. The traps around the jungle would remain dormant until activity was back in that area – if John got the chance to turn them back on. Upon realising what Scott and Virgil were planning, John had deactivated some in order to make sure his brothers didn't fall into any of the pitfalls by accident.

Taking the protesting scientist by the shoulder, John practically forced Brains into the large storage closet in the corner of the room, shoving a wireless keyboard and one of the monitors in with him. Ideally, he would have got the man out of the office and to safety. But he knew there was no time. The men were approaching from the direction of Brains lab and John didn't trust the security of the rest of the house. Keeping Brains close was the only option he had left in the given time available. Brains had to stay safe – he was the only one with the knowledge to save the rest of them. Muttering a quick apology, John reached up, grabbed a flashlight from the emergency supplies box above Brains' head, slammed it into the man's hand and shut the door. He had just made it back to the centre of the room and sat down again, pulling the closest keyboard onto his lap with the pretence that he was doing something, when the door burst open.

Despite the way that his heart was hammering hard, John kept his face calm as he glanced up.

"Well, well, John Tracy." The Hood was the first through the door, and John didn't even have time to say anything before he felt an invisible force wrap around his neck. As his hands left the keyboard in order to clutch at his throat, the Hood kicked it swiftly from his lap and let his power go again. It seemed that he had realised John could do more damage with a piece of technology than he could with a gun and had effectively disarmed him. Smirking, the Hood stepped to the side and a dozen or so men spilled in, Lagamer among them.

John ignored the colonel though. His eyes were focused on a couple of the other people. Scott was still unconscious as he was dropped to the floor before being dragged over to their father's desk. John watched - knowing the Hood wouldn't let him move - as a large man grabbed Scott's bound hands and an extra piece of rope and proceeded to tie him to the desk leg. It seemed they weren't taking any chances about what the pilot would do if he should wake up and have the smallest bit of leeway. John bit his lip in worry, but Scott's chest was rising and falling steadily even though his eyes remained closed. His gaze flickered back to the door just as Virgil was wrestled through it.

Despite having his hands cuffed behind his back, the artist was putting up a hell of a fight. In the end, it took five men to get him down to his knees and keep him there, and that was only helped by a gun being pressed not only to Virgil's head, but to Scott's as well.

"Get us into the silos, Johnny," The Hood said conversationally, walking over to Virgil as he did so. Lagamer frowned, moving forward himself and glancing around the monitors. He clearly liked what he saw, for he suddenly smirked.

"You three, with me. We have to get reacquainted with an old friend."

John took one glance at the screen the colonel had looked at and jumped to his feet.

"No!" The Hood didn't move from Virgil, but barked a command. Another man stepped forward, his gun coming to rest in between John's eyes as he forced the astronaut to take a few steps backwards. John walked until his father's chair hit the back of his knees, forcing him to sit down. He hadn't even noticed that the man who had bound Scott was still on that side of the room until he felt his arms being grabbed and forced around the back of the chair. John struggled as he felt them being bound, but couldn't move away quickly enough before he was effectively tied to the chair. He yanked harshly on the rope, then fell still as the Hood drew his attention again. In that time, the rest of the men had left the room, no doubt following Lagamer in order to get to Gordon.

"I know you saw everything that went on out there, John. I know you know what unimaginable pain I can cause your little brother here. So why don't you use that head of yours and get me into the silos?"

John swallowed, looking towards Virgil. The younger man shook his head, only for the Hood to backhand him sharply.

"Think, Johnny. What good would it do resisting me? It will only make you responsible for Virgil's agonising death, and that will certainly offer you no comfort once this is over."

"Don't listen to him!"

"Shut him up."

Virgil didn't get the chance to say anything else before a hand clamped over his mouth, silencing him.

"Fine. I'll get you in." John deliberately raised his voice as he spoke, hoping it would just look as if he was getting slightly emotional about having to betray their secrets. But he had known precisely what equipment he had thrust into the cupboard with Brains, knew the damage the man would be able to cause with it. All he had to do was hope that Brains had enough awareness of the situation to not detonate anything too early or leave anything too late.

"Tell me." The Hood pulled free a gun, jamming it under Virgil's chin as both a reminder to John to do as he was told and for Virgil to keep quiet. He forced Virgil over to where John was gesturing. There was a small panel in the room, barely noticeable unless one knew where to look. Very slowly, John began to tell the Hood the access codes, although he kept his eyes locked on his little brother rather than the madman as he did so. It felt like the longest conversation of his life as the Hood entered the information into the keypad, but there was finally a whirring noise followed by a clunk and the entrance opened. The portraits in the lounge were not the only way down to the silos, there were entrances scattered all over the island if one knew where to find them; it felt like a safer idea to have various exists if the need ever arose.

This time, a simple panel of wall slid back. The Hood gave Virgil a sharp kick, forcing him to end up flat-out on the floor, but kept his gun ready as he stepped forward. John knew that it was for show, a way of warning people that he was armed, more than anything else. He knew full well what damage the Hood could cause with nothing more than his mind. Yet the second that the Hood cleared the door, John somehow managed to get up. His arms were bound to the chair, but his legs were free and he awkwardly made his way over, the chair coming with him. With his foot, he gave the wall an almighty kick, causing the panel to slide back into place. It went with a bang, the locks audible in the quiet office as it sealed the Hood in.

"You know that won't hold him? He can open anything."

"I know. But it buys us time. He won't try and get out yet, it's taken him too long to be able to get in." John let the chair crash back down to the ground, sitting on it and panting. "Any time today would be useful, Brains."

Virgil gave a slight huff of disbelief as the closet door swung open. The genius barely even seemed to have noticed everything that was going on around him as he continued to tap away at the keyboard, staying where he was and muttering to himself as he checked things on the screen in front of him. John struggled with the rope binding him to the chair for a long moment before realising that he wasn't getting out. Virgil knew that he couldn't break out of his handcuffs, so was instead tackling the challenge of sitting up straight again.

"You think I could have a hand here, buddy?" John eventually muttered, causing Brains to look up.

"Oh, s-s-sorry." The man finally straightened out, keyboard in one hand, as he stumbled over to John. Brains was forced to put the equipment down as he swiftly untied the astronaut, but went straight back to what he was doing the second John slid his hands free. John found he could only hope that what Brains was working so intently on would somehow get them all out of this. Standing up from the chair, he rummaged around his father's desk for a moment before finding an ordinary looking paper clip and dropping to his knees next to Virgil.

"Don't tell me you can…"

Click.

The handcuffs swung off, but John found that Virgil was looking at him in a mixture of incredulity, astonishment and awe.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Where did you learn to do that?"

John winked, tapping his nose.

"Wouldn't you like to know, little brother. Gordon isn't the only one who can cause chaos around here."

Virgil grinned, but swiftly crawled over to Scott, resting his fingers against his brother's neck.

"His pulse is all over the place, but I think he is going to be okay. Can you untie him too?"

"I could," John said slowly, a frown on his face as a treacherous thought came into his head. Virgil frowned, turning where he was kneeling and let out a soft "oh" when he saw the look on John's face.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"He'll get himself killed if he thinks it is helping us; he'll try and take on the lot of them alone."

"But if he can't get out of Dad's office…"

"… he can't do anything foolish."

"Brains, come on, you need to get back to your lab, you can work better there," John declared, taking Brains by the arm and pulling the man towards the door. "You need to find a way of neutralising the threat the Hood is providing. Alan is with Kyrano, use the watches to find out what he knows about his brother and what he can do."

"S-s-sure." Brains seemed to be in a world of his own, but John knew better than to interrupt. Brains like this meant he was thinking. And Brains thinking meant they all possibly just had a chance of getting out of this. Virgil followed them to the door, but turned back as he left.

"John…"

"It's for his own good."

"Yeah." Virgil softly shut the door and both brothers winced. They knew neither of them truly believed that this would work, but both felt like they had to try. Scott had saved them enough times over the years, it was time to repay the favour. As they began to lead Brains down the hall, tense and on the lookout for anyone that might prove to be a threat, Virgil just wished he didn't feel so guilty about doing it.

"We need to get to Gordon," John muttered but Virgil held out a hand to stop him.

"And do what?" John made to protest before he realised Virgil had a point. They were unarmed. Walking straight into the infirmary like this just made them targets and a distraction for Gordon and their father.

"Brains' lab?" It was the closest place they could get to that had weapons inside. Not only the closest to the office, but to the infirmary as well. With any luck, they could get there shortly after Lagamer, especially if the man wasn't sure where he was going.

Virgil nodded in agreement and both brothers set off down the hallway after Brains.