Unforgotten

AN - I feel a bit mean about where I left the previous chapter. I hope this one helps to make up for it a bit. Thank you again to all the reviewers, I'm glad you are still enjoying it!

Disclaimer - I do not own Thunderbirds

Chapter Twenty Four - Rescue

The flight to Calgary seemed to take forever. Scott usually flew alone, but he would usually be spending a lot of time communicating with John or his father to get details of the mission. On the way back from a rescue he would often just chat to whichever brother was up on the space station.

But not today. Today he was flying in a tense silence, maintaining a convoy with Thunderbird 2 instead of racing off ahead. It would do no good for him to be seen, Thunderbird 2 had better signal jamming capabilities than Thunderbird 1 did and provided he kept close he should be able to sneak through undetected as well. They were deliberately keeping communications to a minimum so that there was no chance of them being picked up.

They had gone over the mission back on the base, finally setting off as dawn broke over Tracy Island. Jeff had been calm and controlled as he laid the details of the plan out for the boys, although they would refine when they made contact with Sam in Calgary. Brains was barely holding it together and Kyrano had disappeared to find some solace in his plants. Grandma fussed over them all, making sure that they were all fed before embarking on this rescue.

None of them had needed to be reminded of what was at stake.

They were now approaching the danger zone, flying as low to the ground as they dared up a heavily wooded valley. They couldn't risk being seen over the edge of the valley and they were relying on the sound of the engines being muffled by the rocky valley walls. Scott was flying below and slightly to the side of Thunderbird 2, as close as he could to try to ensure Thunderbird 1 was covered by the cloaking coverage. Brains had managed to keep calm for long enough to make the adjustments that would enable the cloaking to be spread over an area instead of just Thunderbird 2's frame, but they weren't quite sure how far it extended to as they hadn't been able to test it.

A building emerged from the tree line below. A man stood next to it with a pickup truck, gazing up at the approaching craft with one hand above his eyes. Upon seeing him Scott darted away from Thunderbird 2 and went to land near to the building. He was already hopping out his craft by the time Thunderbird 2 settled gently onto the ground.

"Samuel Byrne?"

"That's me," the man approached and held out his hand for Scott to shake. Scott could now see that the man was dressed in a vicar's outfit, including dog collar. Samuel noticed his gaze. "I'm one of the local vicar's," he explained. "But in this case, it's a useful way for me to get up to houses without many questions - I'm tending to the flock, see?"

Scott nodded slowly, turning to watch his brothers join them. Gordon looked grim, Virgil serious and Alan slightly sick. "So what's the plan?" He asked the group.

""You want to attack the front on one hand, whilst the others slip in the back and rescue your missing friends, right?" Samuel asked. "The house will be hard to approach without being seen but it isn't well defended. If I take one of you lads with me, we could probably get quite close. Then one of these machines could be used as backup, if things get ugly. We don't know how many people are in there."

"Thunderbird 2 has no offensive capabilities," Virgil stated, looking up at his beloved machine. "If a craft is going to provide covering fire it will have to be '1. But I don't think Gordon or I have the skills to fly it, not in this way." Gordon was also shaking his head.

Scott thought hard. "Right, here's what we're going to do. Gordon, you'll get into disguise and go in with Samuel here. Don't blow cover unless you need to. It may depend on if anyone recognises you, but you haven't been seen much since your Olympic days whilst we're out and about quite a bit. Remember than Ethan knows out true identities and is likely to have prepared his men. Alan, you'll be providing back up in Thunderbird 1. You're a competent pilot and you won't be shooting to kill, just to distract. Virgil and I will get into the house while you are causing a disturbance out front and retrieve the girls. I know that's a slight change from the plan we agreed but the situation calls for it."

"F.A.B. Scott." There were no arguments from any of his brothers and Samuel was nodding sagely.

"I've got something for you, young man." He addressed Gordon, rummaging around in the back of the pickup. "Here, try this on."

He flung him some form of smock with a hood. Gordon looked at it questioningly.

"One of the splinter branches of the church around here tends to take out its trainees to the parishioners in simple smocks to indicate humility. Not my church, but they won't know that. You should be able to easily hide weapons in there." Gordon nodded and pulled the fabric over his head, securing it loosely with a large belt. It covered his uniform completely but was still roomy, giving him a lot of space to move in. The hood also covered his distinctive red hair.

Scott looked on approvingly. "Well done. But I'm afraid we can't ask you to put yourself in harm's way for us-"

"Nonsense," Samuel stated, brokering no discussion. "Of course I'm going to come with you. You need someone who knows the lay of the land." He went around to the back of the pickup, retrieving a shotgun.

"Well, ok then. Virgil and I will take the Hoverjets, Alan get familiarising yourself with the controls. Good luck everyone. Let's try to maintain silence until our cover is blown."

Alan nodded tersely and took himself away to Thunderbird 1, now looking less green. Gordon started talking with Samuel, judging by his brother's expressive gestures Scott thought he was probably trying to get some more intel.

Scott accompanied Virgil to Thunderbird 2 to pick up a Hoverjet. Once they were inside the machine Virgil turned to his elder brother.

"Are you sure about this? You would be the logical choice for Thunderbird 1."

Scott sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know, but you need me on the ground. Alan looked like he was going to throw up, at least if he's the one in the craft he's out of harm's way - well as much as can be expected. If I was flying then you wouldn't have had anyone to cover you rescuing the girls."

"I could have gone with Samuel."

"But what if they need first aid, Virgil? I know we've all been trained but we don't know what we're walking into. You saw the photo last night, Angel looked pretty rough and you need covering fire. Alan is a good pilot, he'll be fine. Also, he won't be shooting to kill in 1, just creating a distraction."

Virgil nodded. "Ok Scott, I understand. I just wanted to check that you'd covered all bases." He didn't say that he thought Scott's judgement may have been impaired by emotion, something Scott was very thankful for.

Soon enough they were ready to go. Scott and Virgil started working their way through the dense forest, leaving the valley from its northern edge. They had been given a bearing and directions from Samuel but they were still pleased when they saw the mansion walls looming in front of them.

The mansion had obviously not been looked after properly for some time. Although some work had obviously been done on the main building itself to make it habitable, the perimeter wall was crumbling and in some places had fallen completely. The occupants were obviously relying on not being found in the first place.

They found a break in the wall where they had a clear view of the back of the property. The left the Hoverjets and proceeded on foot, keeping low and quiet. They reached the door and stopped and waiting, opening the comms so that they could hear when something kicked off.

Through it, they could hear Samuel talking loudly, though the words were indistinct. There was a pause, and then shots were fired. Trying to ignore what that might mean for his brothers, Scott waited tensely until he heard the roar of Thunderbird 1 echo around the grounds of the mansion. A quick nod to Virgil had his younger brother using a well-placed boot to open the back door.

Inside the mansion they could hear shouting. There were no people in the back half of the building, housing kitchens and utility areas. They crept through, trying not to be seen.

But then the screaming started. With a quick glance at each other, Scott and Virgil both gave up on stealth and ran forwards into a front room. Distantly, Scott was aware of Tintin being held by someone, it was her that was screaming. Scott's attention was on the crumpled figure of Angel, trying desperately to roll away from a brutal attack. Without pausing to think Scott leapt forwards, shoving one man out of the way. The second was poised, about to bring his foot down on her head. He was so intent on his task he hadn't noticed the commotion in the room behind him, which meant that Scott could bodily pick him up and throw him against the wall before kneeling down next to Angel. He scooped her up bridal style in his arms.

Virgil had been having his own fight. As they had entered he had immediately gone to help Tintin, breaking the man's grip on her and quite possibly his arm. Seeing he was outnumbered the man had snarled and shoved someone else towards Virgil whilst he took off out of the room.

The man that caught Virgil and slowed him down was the first of the henchmen that Scott had dealt with. Colliding with Virgil he was already disorientated, it only took one swing from Virgil to knock him out completely. Seeing that Scott had now reached Annie, Virgil quickly informed whoever was listening on the radio that they had the girls.

Scott looked down at the woman in his arms. He was practically vibrating with anger, one of her eyes was swelling shut and she was covered in bruises. Her subconscious gasps suggested her ribs were badly bruised, if not broken. It was very fortunate for the men that had assaulted her that he was too preoccupied with holding her and checking the damage, he wasn't sure he would have been able to hold back otherwise.

Golden eyes squinted up at him and a hand gently touched his cheek. "Scott," she breathed, causing him to inhale sharply. Before he could say anything though, she slumped into unconsciousness.

"Annie!" Tintin cried, running up to him. "Oh I'm so, so sorry!"

Virgil was also there. "Put her on the sofa," he directed. Scott laid her down gently, touching her softly on the side of her face that wasn't bruised. Virgil whistled as he surveyed the damage, gently prodding to see the extent of her injuries. Finally he rocked back onto his heels. "We need to get her out of here," he stated. "I don't think it's anything that won't heal, but I won't know until we get her some x-rays."

"We'll take her back to the Island." Scott stated firmly.

"Scott, she could have severe internal injuries." Virgil protested.

"Then we'll scan her in Thunderbird 2 on the way for anything urgent and do a full diagnostic at home."

Virgil looked at his older brother. Scott's expression was set and his posture suggested he would not be changing his mind. Virgil sighed, Annie didn't appear to have any serious injuries despite the beating she had taken. "OK, we'll do it your way. If the scans pick up anything though, we take her to a hospital."

Scott nodded to show he agreed with the compromise before scooping her back up into his arms. Virgil turned to Tintin.

"Are you ok?"

"I think so. He was trying to hurt Annie to make me talk, he wanted to know all about you! He was said some funny things about you Scott, about how you stole something from him. It didn't make any sense." Tintin rubbed her arm where it had been grabbed. Virgil tenderly took it and rolled her sleeves up to have a look.

"This will bruise Tintin, but I think it's ok." He straightened up. "Virgil to Thunderbird 1, come in Alan. What's going on out there?"

"Virgil! Do you have Tintin?"

"Yes, she's ok. Annie has been beaten up quite badly but Scott has her, we're going to put her in Thunderbird 2 and take her back to the Island. Is it safe to come out?"

"Yes Virgil, a group of people took off in a car a few minutes ago. I think one was Ethan, but I couldn't follow them through the woods so I came back."

"Good work, Alan. We're going to need Thunderbird 2 out the front here, we won't be able to carry Annie back into the valley."

"I'm already on it, Virgil." Gordon's voice cut in, as he had obviously been listening in to the communications. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

The group left the mansion by the front door, just in time to see a car turn up on the driveway. The person that stepped out was wearing the traditional red jacket of the Canadian mounted police. He nodded to Virgil and then stepped over to talk to Samuel, who was leaning up against a tree with the shotgun by his foot.

The arrival of Thunderbird 2 distracted Virgil from wondering what was going on. The moment it landed, Scott was climbing inside with Annie in his arms. Virgil got back onto his comms. "Alan, can you fly Thunderbird 1 home? I may need Scott in the infirmary with me, just in case."

"F.A.B., Virgil. I'll get going." With a roar the silver rocket took to the skies, turning and heading back to the Pacific.

Scott was already in the infirmary, gently moving Angel's loose hair out of her face. The bruises were swelling and turning purple, but he still thought the sight of her safe in a Thunderbird might be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Virgil came bustling in, fingers flying over the control pad that operated the scanners.

"Step back Scott, I need to run these scans before we take off."

Scott moved silently but stayed close, hovering protectively. Tintin was also in the doorway, worrying about her friend.

"Why don't you go up to the cockpit Tintin? Gordon will be in soon, he's just having a quick chat with Samuel and the police."

"Are we expecting the police to be trouble?" Scott asked, breaking his silence.

Virgil snorted. "Not likely, apparently they're married. Him and Sam, I mean. Fully aware that Sam is an International Rescue agent, I think they're just working out the story that they're going to give to the rest of the department once we've gone. There." He finished tapping, an array of lights started flashing as the scanners went to work. "We should find out any moment now...here we are."

Virgil quickly read the screen and whistled. "She's been very lucky, no internal injuries, only one cracked rib and a lot of swelling. She'll be in pain but she'll heal quickly enough."

"She was amazing," Tintin murmured. "She was blocking most of the blows, I wonder where she learnt to do that."

"Maybe she'll teach you when she's healed?" Virgil suggested. "Can you go and radio home, let them all know we're going to leave soon."

As soon as Tintin left, Virgil turned to Scott. "I told Alan to fly your 'bird home, I figured you'd want to stay in here. Saves me sending Gordon down, just keep an eye on those graphs and alert me if anything drastic happens. I'm a bit more reassured that she won't suddenly crash but better to be safe than sorry. I'm going to give her something to make sure she stays asleep, I don't want her waking and panicking mid-flight." He bustled around, dropping a quick injection into Angel's arm. "There. Call me if anything changes."

Scott nodded. "Thanks Virgil."

Virgil just clasped his shoulder in reply before leaving the small infirmary. Scott settled into a small seat next to the bed, watching Angel gently breathing as the sedative relaxed her unconscious body.

Scott reached out and took her hand in his, revelling at the feel of her, warm and so alive. He brought her hand to his mouth, dropping a soft kiss on it, before putting it back on the side of the bed. He didn't let go though, just held it gently as he felt the rumble beneath his feet that told him Thunderbird 2 was taking to the skies.