The Enemy of My Enemy
Disclaimer - no.
Chapter Thirty Four
Jeff and Scott burst out of the foliage, their hearts in their throats when they saw the empty cliff.
"Hey guys," Alan said from his position on a nearby boulder.
"Allie!" Scott cried out in relief. "Are you ok? Sammie?"
"She's a little wet and kinda scared," Alan said, cuddling his daughter as he stood up. "But I think she's ok. I'd still like to take her back to the house, if only to get her changed."
"Where's Gina," Jeff asked when Alan simply began to walk away.
Alan turned and gestured to the cliff. "First step was a doozy. I give fifty-fifty odds for her body washing up to the beach within three days. It will depend on the current, I suppose."
"Did you…" Scott began, shocked.
"Did I push that bitch over?" Alan asked. "Nope. She was about to walk off the cliff, Sammie in her arms when – when a flash of lightning distracted her. I grabbed Sammie, she fell. Maybe I should have tried to grab her too, but the area was slippery and I might have been willing to risk my life for a psychopath but not my daughter's."
Scott and Jeff looked at each other as Alan disappeared into the jungle with Sammie.
"He's not telling us something," Jeff murmured.
"I know," Scott sighed. "We know Alan wouldn't have killed Gina, not outright. Not unless he felt there was no choice."
"Maybe there wasn't one," Jeff countered.
"No," Scott said firmly. "He would have admitted he did it and said it was in self-defense. But something happened that he doesn't want to talk about."
Thinking back to various incidents where his sons – especially Alan – had been endangered Jeff sighed.
Yeah, he got that.
As they headed back towards the main house, Scott looked up to see Thunderbird Two approaching.
"Kate will be annoyed," he sighed. Seeing his father's questioning look, Scott shrugged. "There's no one left to shoot."
That remark made Jeff chuckle as he followed his oldest son.
Yeah, he got that, too.
Kate ran up the walkway, trying to make sure she wasn't seen, the spare gun she kept on Thunderbird Two clenched in her hands. It would have been faster to use the elevator from the silos to Jeff's office, but as she pointed out to the others, if the Hood and Gina were on Tracy Island, they would most likely be in Command and Control.
No one would be bone-headed enough to use that entrance.
"Mommy!" Jason called out, running through a broken glass door.
"Jason, mon petite!" Julie called out from inside the house. "Did I not say to stay away from the broken glass?"
"Aw, I'm good Auntie Julie," Jason grinned even as he ran to his mother.
Kate lowered her weapon before reaching down for her first born. "Are you ok, baby?"
"I'm fine, Mom," Jason promised. "I even helped take out the bad guy. HE-YAH!" he yelled.
"Excuse me?" Sarah said as she and Tin-Tin came up behind Kate, Virgil, John and Gordon trailing in the women's wake.
Julie gingerly opened the second patio door, wincing when another piece of glass fell from the first, before allowing Elizabeth out of the house and into her father's arms.
"Some bald freak was yelling about killing all Tracys when Uncle Allie came in and distracted him so I ran up and kicked him – HE-YAH – and then he went through the glass and then he got up and started going all nutso and then he was hit by lightning," Jason said in a cheerful ramble.
"So…the Hood is dead?" Gordon asked cautiously as he carefully examined Julie. "And everyone is ok. Well, except the Hood."
"The Hood is alive," Onaha said as she came out of the house. "Virgil, Sarah, we could use your help in the infirmary. I don't know what to do for that man and Brains and my husband were both injured by him."
The two medics, Onaha following them, quickly ran into the villa while Tin-Tin spoke up. "Julie, where are the children?"
"Most of them are in the classroom," Elizabeth assured her aunt from the comfort of her father's arms. "Except Sammie. She was in her nursery but the crazy lady who hurt Mommy took her and Uncle Alan went after them and Uncle Scott and Grandpa went after him. Daddy, can we have ice cream once everyone gets back? It's been a rough afternoon."
Tin-Tin and Kate looked around frantically. "Elizabeth, where did they go?" Kate asked carefully although Tin-Tin seemed to want to shake it out of someone.
"Gina took her up to the cliff," Alan said as he emerged from the jungle. "Don't worry, the munchkin is fine, aren't you baby?" Alan smiled as he kissed his daughter again.
"Where's Gina?" Kate asked anxiously.
"And hello to you too," Scott grinned as he and Jeff emerged.
"Gina won't be a problem anymore," Alan said coldly as he moved his wife and child into the house.
John looked around. "Gordon, let's get the kids from the classroom before we get changed. Kate, you may want to give Daria a call. She's the agent in charge, right?"
Julie mumbled something about making the kids snacks while Kate rolled her eyes at her husband.
"This is going to involve a lot of paperwork, isn't it?" she moaned.
"Probably," Scott said cheerfully. "But with any luck, it will mainly be Daria's"
That did perk Kate up considerably.
Hours later, everyone was changed, Parker and Lady P had arrived (one simply cannot travel even with a flying car in the middle of a storm, can one?) and now Daria had arrived as well.
The FBI agent had begun to make her way to the Island shortly after Alan had left New York, but even catching several rides with a variety of military jets, Daria had still been several hours behind him.
After viewing and photographing the different scenes and getting statements from the family, Daria was currently leaning against a wall outside the infirmary. After a few minutes, Emily – who had arrived from Japan only a short time before Daria – emerged with a sigh.
"Any chance of getting a statement from the Hood?" Daria asked.
Kate came up behind the other two women. "Any chance of me using him for target practice?" she growled.
"No to both of you," Emily said softly as she entered what used to be part of Virgil's suite and was now office space for the medics of the family. "I'm not sure why but the Hood suffered a massive stroke. He's alive – for now. He could live another twenty minutes or another twenty years. If you want to call that living."
Seeing the confusion on the others' faces, Emily tapped a pen against the desk. "Trahan Belegant is in a near vegetative state. His mind is somewhat functioning. He can feel but not respond. He can hear but not respond. He is now and until he dies in a prison from which he can never escape."
"Talk about a fate worse than death," Daria sighed.
"He deserves it," Kate growled. "He came here to kill our babies. Not us. Not adults. The children."
"He tried to kill Alan when he was only fourteen," Emily reminded her.
"Yeah, well maybe if Alan hadn't saved him a decade ago, none of this would have happened," Kate snapped.
"Yet if I had to do it again," Alan said as he came in quietly. "I would probably do it again. And so would any of us. We aren't the kind of people to let anyone die if we can help it."
"You let Gina die," Daria pointed out, remaining silent even when Kate and Emily protested at that.
"Alan," Daria said softly. "I'm going to write up the report just as you said it happened. I viewed the scene up on the cliff. It could have happened just the way you said. But I could tell – you left something out. Now Gina was homicidal – I have enough dead bodies behind her to prove that one. But she wasn't suicidal. What really happened?"
Alan walked over to the wall, smiling at the latest family picture, taken only the week before. His baby…
"She was going to throw Sammie off the cliff," Alan said in a quiet voice. "I was begging her not to hurt her but I knew I couldn't get close enough before my Sammie…Then Tommy was there."
"Tommy?" Daria frowned, thinking of Sarah's younger son before her jaw dropped. "Tomo Wattamee was there?"
"Alan, honey," Emily began before looking desperately at Kate.
Alan ignored the women and continued. "He held out his hand and told Gina to come to him. When she started to, I realized she was completely focused on Tomo and I could grab Sammie, so I did. Then Gina was gone. End of story. I don't think I could have caught Gina and held on to Sammie. Especially not under those conditions. The weather, not that the crazy bitch had tried to kill my daughter."
Turning, Alan gave a small smile. "I don't think you want that part in your report. Onaha said to tell you dinner was almost ready. Daria, are you staying? OK, one of us can fly you back to New York tomorrow. And Em – the medi-vac copter is landing in a few minutes. You'll need to have the Hood ready for transport."
Alan left the three women standing there, staring after him. Finally, Daria spoke up.
"OK, so the official version is Gina Tanaka died by her own hand after attempting infanticide of Samantha Katherine Tracy. Case closed."
Daria left the room, muttering, "'Cause I sure as hell am not saying that a homicidal over protecting ghost killed her. No way in hell. I am not filing a report like that."
After a minute, Emily turned to Kate. "Do you believe that? That Tomo would lure Gina to her death?"
Kate was silent for so long Emily thought she wasn't going to answer. And then she did.
"What would any of his brothers – hell, any of us – do to protect Alan?"
Smiling, Emily nodded. Anything she would have said ended when her text alert beeped, letting her know that the medivac chopper had landed. She still had to get rid of…Um, she still had to assist in transporting the patient to a secure facility.
Kate headed back upstairs even as Sarah and Virgil led men with a stretcher to the infirmary, glad that the nightmare was finally over. Maybe she could finally get some sleep tonight.
"HI-YAH!" Jason could be heard yelling just before something crashed above Kate's head.
Kate sighed. Then again, maybe sleep would not be forthcoming.
a/n - so, the total is all henchmen dead, Gina dead, and the Hood is worse than dead. A peak into the future in the epilogue, along with a small announcement. Coming to a fan fiction page near you soon...