Chapter 26.

The light turned green.

Then yellow.

Then red.

Scott gave a cry of frustration.

They'd been close, so very close, but the damn car they were stuck behind hadn't moved quickly enough. Scott bashed the horn in frustration, ignoring the way the driver in front rolled down his window and started yelling profanities in Portuguese.

Oh, how he missed being able to get anywhere and everyone in the blink of an eye in his beloved Thunderbird One.

Over on Scott's right, John had his arms folded across his chest and was glaring at the red light like he was trying to establish a telekinetic link with it.

Alan was slouched in the back, miserably stabbing away at a game on his phone.

"Yes!" Scott hissed as the light turned green again, revving the engine and honking angrily, "Move you idiot! Move!"

As instructed, the car in front pulled away in a timely manner, it's driver treating the brothers to some obscene finger gestures in the process. Scott kindly returned the favour before steering off down a street that looked scarily familiar.

"We've been down here twice already," Alan whined, leaning forward so that he had a clear view out the front, "Maybe we should take a break and grab something to eat?"

"A capital idea, Alan," John replied, pulling out his own phone and running a quick search, "There's a nice looking Thai place about three minutes from where we are now. If we hurry, we might get there before the evening rush."

"Not hungry," Scott snapped as he whizzed towards a ferocious looking roundabout.

"Oh…" Alan sank back into his seat and tried to mask his disappointment. John however, possessed no such tact, and shot Scott a glare that made the temperature inside the car rise by several degrees.

Alan could sense another round of fisticuffs approaching, "How about we listen to some music? Turn the radio on Scott, let's see if the Brazilians know their tunes."

Scott went to obey Alan's request, only to have his hand slapped away from the dash by a thunderous looking John.

"No music, I've got a headache," the redhead growled, re-folding his arms and turning his stony gaze to the fresh set of traffic lights they were imprisoned underneath.

Alan could feel himself start to sweat, "I-I'm just gonna roll my window down for a bit…"

"I'll turn the air conditioning on for you," John offered, moving to alter the temperature dial, only to have his own hand slapped away by a revenge-seeking Scott.

"No air con, I'm cold," the eldest sniped, deliberately ignoring the sweat that was starting to form on his brow.

Just as Alan was contemplating whether he was going to boil or starve to death, his phone rang.

"Hey Virg, everything okay? How's Gordo?" the youngest asked, cringing when Scott stalled and the light they were stuck under shifted back to red again.

Five minutes later…

"What did he want?" Scott asked wearily, banging his forehead against the rim of the steering wheel as he swung the car round another bend, only to run smack into yet another set of traffic lights.

Alan swallowed and mentally steeled himself for the explosion he knew was coming, "Uh, so apparently Kayo just got home. Virgil said that she's-"

"Wait, what?" John's voice was low and dangerous as he twisted around in his seat to stare Alan straight in the eye, "What did you just say?"

Alan gulped and wondered if he was small enough to hurl himself out the window, "Virg just called and said that Kayo's back home, so we can-"

It was at that moment that something inside of John snapped. Whether it was brought on by Rio's heat, his earlier brawl with Scott, being away from Thunderbird Five or just his red hair, nobody could tell.

There was no perceptible change in the redhead's demeaner, however both Scott and Alan could tell that he'd just tipped over the precipice of Bitch Fit Canyon.

"What the hell?!" Scott shrieked as John swiftly unbuckled his seatbelt and scrambled into the driver's seat, roughly shoving Scott out of the way with strength that belied his slender physique.

Alan's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls as the front section of the car devolved into a frenzy of flailing limbs. He was pretty certain it was illegal in any country for a passenger's feet to be touching the ceiling…

Aware that the traffic lights had once again turned green, John completed Scott's ejection from the driver's seat with a well-aimed kick to the groin, ignoring the ensuing shriek of pain as he roughly manhandled his now limp brother into the passenger seat with one hand, while seizing the steering wheel with the other.

Scott barely had time to register what had happened before John stamped on the accelerator, the tyres squealing loudly as the car surged forward in plume of blue smoke.

"J-John! Stop!" Alan shrieked, clinging to the door handle for dear life as Scott grappled desperately for his seatbelt, "W-where are we going?!"

The redhead didn't tear his gaze away from the road for a second, "Home."

Alan had a horrible feeling that the 'home' John was referring to wasn't Tracy Island.

-x-

Gordon scowled as he brought the knife in his hand down, the blade expertly slicing through the delicate flesh before him.

With the finesse of a five year old, the aquanaut set about slicing and butchering his victim.

A humble tomato.

Over in the den, Kayo lay on one of the sofas with her feet propped on the armrest, "Don't forget the extra mayonnaise!"

Gordon grumbled something rude under his breath and slapped another spoonful of mayonnaise onto the two slices of bread in front of him, resisting the urge to spit on the tomato as he threw Kayo's lunch together.

Under normal circumstances, the aquanaut would not have been caught dead making food for anyone other than himself. Another unwritten rule in the Tracy family was that, while Gordon was very capable at consuming food, he wasn't capable of producing it.

Or so he claimed. While the exact cause had yet to be determined, the unexplained kitchen fire of fifty seven was frequently used by the aquanaut as an excuse as to why he couldn't possibly, under any circumstances, be left unsupervised in the kitchen.

Kayo kicking down the bathroom door and interrupting his beautiful soak with threats of what she'd do to him if he didn't evacuate the tub and make her a tomato on granary had successfully overridden the aforementioned rule.

Gordon sighed as he licked the mayonnaise spoon clean. He was holding out a flicker of hope that if he pandered to Kayo's every whim, his score wouldn't suffer too badly.

The aquanaut was just rinsing off the chopping board he'd used when his phone buzzed. Eager for an excuse to evacuate before Kayo demanded a cup of tea to accompany her sandwich, Gordon slipped out onto the patio and answered the call.

It was Alan.

"Yo 'lil bro," Gordon chirped as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Kayo wasn't following him, "You on your way back yet?"

An ear-splitting scream was the aquanaut's answer, closely followed by a strangled cry of, "Help!"

Gordon frowned, idly wondering if he was being pranked, "Uh, Al? Everything okay?"

"John! Car! Hijack! Help!" the voice that answered this time was a lot deeper and smoother than Alan's helium tone.

"Scott?" Gordon's frown deepened as he tried to decipher the commotion in the background, "What's going on? Are you guys okay? Where's John?"

There was a loud bang which sounded suspiciously like an engine backfiring, then silence.

Gordon felt unease bubble up inside his stomach as he turned off towards the hangers to consult with Virgil.

"Gordon! Tea!" Kayo bellowed as soon as the aquanaut came within range, "Milk, one sugar and a biscuit! And make sure to use a clean mug!"

Gordon screwed his face up in frustration as he quickly threw together Kayo's drink, taking care to use a mug that was freshly licked, coffee instead of tea, salt instead of sugar and vinegar instead of milk.

"Virgil!" Gordon yelled down the stairwell as he bombed off in search of his brother, deliberately ignoring Kayo's scream of disgust as she took an unsuspecting sip of her 'tea', "We may have a situation!"

-x-

Alan regretted ever outgrowing diapers.

"John! Stop!" the youngest howled, practically standing up in his seat as the redhead swerved to overtake a taxi, "You're going to kill us all!"

Scott wasn't faring much better. While he was confident that his need for a diaper wasn't quite on a par with Alan, being up front meant that he had an uninterrupted view of the crazy gleam in John's turquoise eyes.

An insane sort of desperation seemed to have consumed the redhead. Whether it was desperation to get away from Rio's heat, desperation to get away from so many people, or desperation to get away from his family, Scott couldn't tell.

What he could tell, was that they were in the wrong lane and going against traffic.

"Shit!" Scott screamed as John mounted the curb and nearly mowed down a pedestrian, "John, slow down!"

John's eyes barely twitched as he expertly shifted gear before running his third red light. The redhead seemed determined to break the sound barrier as he pulled out onto a straight stretch of road and pushed the car to its limit.

"Where are we going?!" Alan cried, panic coursing through him as police sirens started to wail behind them.

"Home," John calmly replied, executing a perfect handbrake turn he swung them around a dangerously sharp bend.

Scott was used to speed. His Thunderbird was the fastest of the entire fleet, and he regularly pushed her to her limit when on rescues. Cars, trains and commercial jets were all painfully slow when compared to his beautiful 'Bird.

John's driving however, was in a category of its own.

Scott let out yet another unmanly shriek and braced his hand against the door as John once again swerved into the wrong lane, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry for spreading that rumour around school that you were adopted! I'm sorry for feeding chocolate to that pet rabbit you had! I'm sorry for that time I hid your antihistamines in Grandma's underwear drawer!"

John briefly hesitated in the middle of a gear shift, but didn't tear his eyes off the road, "That was you? You told me that Virgil started the rumour, that Gordon killed Galileo and that Alan planted my pills in one of Grandma's bras!"

"I lied!" Scott wailed, before hurling himself into the back and snaking a protective arm around Alan, "I confess! I'm a liar, a workaholic and sometimes alcoholic! Now please, slow down!"

John shook his head grimly, his nimble feet continuing to ignore the brakes in favour of skilfully working the clutch and the accelerator, "Not until I'm home."

Alan gulped and clung to Scott like a koala, "Y-You don't think he's gonna try and get into orbit by driving us off a cliff or something, do you?"

Scott didn't answer, his energy focussed on keeping the contents of his stomach under control. John was now exceeding the recommended speed limit by almost eighty percent.

And the single police car that had been tailing them earlier had invited two brothers of its own, as well as its helicopter uncle.

-x-

Over in London, Lady Penelope was in the middle of fixing Sherbert's dinner when a commotion broke out in the living room.

Abandoning the bowl of king salmon and rice she was in the middle of mixing, Penelope rinsed her hands under the sink before poking her head into the neighbouring room. Parker was sat on a pouffe and was staring dry-eyed at the television, which seemed to be showing a live broadcast.

"Really Parker," Lady Penelope tutted as she went to draw the curtains, "I thought we agreed to not watch mainstream news channels anymore. Half the cases they report are deliberately embellished, plus the focus is never on anything positive or productive."

"But look, m'lady!" Parker wheezed, pointing a finger at the screen. The camera appeared to be tracking what looked suspiciously like a car chase, however the aerial views weren't particularly clear. It was only when a ground-based cameraman managed to get a quick shot of the interior of the getaway vehicle that Parker's original commotion made sense.

"Well, this is rather distressing," Lady Penelope muttered, as three very familiar faces flashed across the screen.

"Right you are there, m'lady!" Parker whistled as the Tracy's car was encircled by a hoard of police vehicles.

-x-

Virgil sighed as his comm device bleeped angrily. After Gordon had finished briefing him on Alan's suspicious phone call, he'd prepped Thunderbird One with the intention of going to Rio and retrieving his brothers and Thunderbird Two himself.

Trust fate to deliver him his first rescue in nearly a week at precisely the wrong moment.

His first responder mode making a reluctant appearance, Virgil answered the call and was surprised when he was greeted with Lady Penelope's crisp voice.

"Hello? Virgil? Are you there?" their London agent queried, her tone slightly more garbled than usual.

Virgil frowned, "Yes, I am. Lady P, before we get into anything work related, I want to have a quick talk with you about this little 'experiment' you and Kayo have been conducting."

"What?" Lady Penelope sounded utterly clueless, "Oh, really Virgil, now is hardly the time for such trivial matters."

"I don't consider being made to look like a fool trivial," Virgil countered sharply, "It was fun in the beginning, but things have gotten completely out of hand. You started this silly game by saying that we needed to get out more, however I reckon both you and Kayo could benefit from taking your own advice in that department!"

Virgil expected to be met with a curt rebuttal, however was treated to an irritated sigh instead, "We can talk about all of this later over a cup of tea, Virgil. Right now, we have a situation. I'm afraid your brothers are in…well…a bit of a state."

Virgil shook his head as he yanked down the lighting brackets that led to Thunderbird One's launch chute, "I'm on my way now. I'll be in Thunderbird One, so the journey should only take a few minutes. Just tell them to stay put."

There was a slight pause at Lady Penelope's end, "I don't think they've much of a choice to be honest."

Virgil could feel his pulse ticking higher and higher at the blond woman's evasive statements, "Penelope, where exactly are they?"

A small pause.

"In jail."