Sorry for the late update, this one took a while to write and i have had less time of late, please feel free to review i'd love to know if your enjoying it but any feedback is welcome.

10

"They're moving out." Joe watched intently as Lisa and Gary jumped into a large vehicle similar to the military SUV's with the impenetrable armored outside, it meant they couldn't see Gary or Lisa at all. Joe assessed the terrain - it was going to be easier to follow them from the air.

"Sarah come pick us up we'll follow them from the sky."

"Copy that."

Within minutes osprey roared into view just as the truck pulled off. Gary was wearing a tracker so they would be able to follow from a distance. Sarah deployed the winch with the harnesses Candy had attached. Chris and Joe quickly strapped in before they radioed through their headsets for Sarah again to pull them up.

Once on board they sat at the open door and looked out over the wide expanse of the sub-tropical rain forest. They could see the thick canopies and the waterways that networked across the rich green habitat. The sheer scale was impressive, the forests were said to be over 130 million years old, making them one of the oldest rain forests on Earth. They continued to watch the vehicle crash through the undergrowth on an old road akin to an unmetalled road. Not a road as such; more like an ancient byway that was rarely used. Chris wondered where they might be going, it was going to be hard to gain a tactical advantage here. This was uncharted terrain that these locals knew like the back of their hand, they were going to be at a distinct disadvantage if they weren't careful. He eyed the M72 rockets case stored at the back of the hold, that would do nicely. He brushed past Joe to start gearing up.

"What's the plan Joe?" Candy was determined to protect her parents and return them to their own time period. Her very existence depended on it, so naturally she was invested.

"I was under strict instructions not to involve you."

"As was I." Called Sarah from the cockpit.

Chris pushed past as he parked himself back down. "Well, I fucking wasn't. If the girl wants to help, let her help. We're out gunned as it is – I trained you right?" He directed his gaze to her.

"Yep; since I was a teen everything from martial arts, weapons and defense."

"She'll be fine. It's about time Lisa realised that no kid or hers or Gary's was going to sit on the sidelines like some fucking pussy." Chris pulled on his shades. Joe had to agree and it would be useful to have another fighter on the ground.

"Alright; here's the plan."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x

Penny's legs had gone to sleep, god knows how Gordon held this position for so long. He hadn't moved an inch in well over forty minutes. Her patience was starting to wear thin. She tapped her filthy foot on the earth in unbridled frustration. "Gordon, don't you think we've done enough surveillance now? Wait any longer and we could risk the Hood returning."

Gordon shifted slightly, still not taking his eye off the mark. "Do you really think he would have left it here unattended? I suspect he has it on his person. It's what I would do."

"We don't know for sure unless we look." Penelope countered.

He sighed heavily before sitting up. He turned his attention to her. "Fine. Ten minutes that's all. In and out; and you follow my lead."

"I don't seem to remember your father putting you in charge of this operation." Penelope was not used to being a subordinate.

"I told my father I would protect you and that's exactly what I intend to do." Gordon rounded on her vehemently. His eyes were ablaze. His hands tremored slightly, if she had to guess she would say that Gordon was fearful but of what? The Hood or her welfare?

"Very well, I will do as you say. Shall we?" She swept her arm outwards towards the path.

There was a definite hint of relief in his eyes, his features marginally relaxed. Without another word he packed up his gear but left a camera in place before pulling up the feed on his wrist. "We'll set up a couple of more of these on the way down so we can continue to monitor the outside."

"Good idea."

They stalked through the undergrowth as they descended down the hillside. It was slick in places but they made it without incident. As they drew nearer, they both withdrew their pistols. Gordon surveyed the area carefully before using hand signals to indicate they should split to either side of the entrance. They both did a quick sweep before entering the recess to shield them from view. It turned out to be a narrow staircase that descended downwards at a steep angle below ground. The space was incredibly small, Gordon had to turn side on to avoid wedging them both with his broad shoulders. They both scanned the door for some kind of handle or hinge but all they could feel was rough stone. Gordon flicked on a torch and swept it over the door. Penny followed its halo.

"There! What's that?" She indicated towards some sort of inscription at shoulder height on the right. They were small carved images struck directly out of the ancient stone. They depicted a Scallop shell, a Tiger, a Tree and a Hibiscus flower in a circle. On the inside there was a star with four long points in a quadrant and four smaller ones laid over the top. There was a deep trench all the way around the star and the symbols each aligned with a point. She'd seen the shell somewhere before….

Gordon was still trying to force the door. "Gordon, show me a feed of the front of the temple." Confused Gordon complied holding his wrist out and allowing her to flick through. She used her other hand to steady his wrist, her fingers resting over the sensitive pulse point. She drew his arm around her so she could view it from the correct angle. He caught a trace of orange blossom and cardamon. He was uncomfortably aware of their proximity. Penelope was too intent on her task to notice the hitch in his breath on her neck. "Aha!" She exclaimed making Gordon jump. "Gordon what direction does the front of the temple face?"

He withdrew his compass from his pocket careful not to nudge her back. "It's almost north facing."

"Making this the west entrance." Before Gordon could protest, she firmly grabbed the circlet with both hands. She slowly twisted it clockwise hearing the mechanism wind and settle into place with a definite click as the Scallop pointed ninety degrees to the left. The compass sunk down as the door slid upwards, disappearing into the wall.

"How did you" – Gordon's wrist still hovered awkwardly in front of her.

"It was a compass. By knowing the Scallop dictated the north entrance, I knew the tiger symbolised the west. The symbols were not aligned to their respective doors so It remained locked. By matching them to the compass it unlocked."

She turned to face him; his jaw was still slack in surprise. She gently pressed his chin up "Don't look so surprised, it is my job to seek clues and solve puzzles you know." She slipped away from him into the temple, surprised at its welcome coolness. He followed and let out a low whistle.

"This place is massive it's going to need a team of us to explore it." He whispered. The place was cavernous. They appeared to be in some kind of silo. It was dimly lit but Gordon could make out some kind of aircraft in the distance across the room. "I don't like this Penny it's too exposed."

"I agree. Come on there appears to be a corridor over there. Stick to the shadows." They pressed themselves to the wall using the darkness to conceal their movements. Both moved with the grace of a cat on a fence top. They reached the corridor which was lit with actual flamed torches all along its length. Penny was just about to step forwards when Gordon whipped out a hand and pulled her back. She looked stunned. He put a finger to his lips and reached into his backpack. He pulled out some black looking goggles and worked them over his sandy hair. He activated a button on the side and scanned the corridor. His mouth set in a grim line. He took them off and placed them over Penny's head and turned her around, keeping hold of her shoulders less she pitched forwards. She gasped. The whole corridor was covered in a crisscross web of infra-red lasers. "I'm going to have to get Brains to design an extra pair of these." She murmured.

Gordon took them back and smirked as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "They're not Brains' design or IR issue. Come on, stay directly behind me and copy my movements exactly." They began to dance through the minefield like two synchronised swimmers their movements calculated and precise. "When you say not International rescue issued you mean to say they are part of your old kit?"

He sighed. "Yes, they were part of my old kit." He stretched to the floor and slid under a low ray keeping his limbs in check. Before standing up again to take stock.

"I'm sure they were very useful when observing mimic octopuses."

Gordon turned to face her, staring at her perfectly schooled face before bursting into raucous laughter. He felt the tension lift in his shoulders. Penny's eyes danced. There was the Gordon she knew. She was worried for a time that he might have lost himself here in Malaysia. "Penny; has anyone told you sarcastic humour is not becoming of a lady of your status." He turned back to the task in hand, dipping and stepping over two rays at the same time. Penny conformed to the same shape as she passed through.

"I wasn't being sardonic, if you actually attended the functions your family is invited to, you would understand you cannot survive high society without a large dose of veiled facetiousness. Actually, come to think of it; it may be a British thing."

"You really must teach me some time." Gordon put on his best upper-class stereotypical British accent as he took off his bag and cradled it to his chest so he could slip through parallel; one leg raised in the air over the last wire. The wire was too high for Penny's leg so she flipped down like she was doing limbo, chin chucked and arms extended as she slipped under it.

She looked at him flushed from their excursion. "Maybe I will." She dusted herself off to explore the next chamber. Gordon had put the goggles away so she knew it was clear.

This appeared to be the heart of operations, some kind of control room. There were several computers inbuilt into a large desk along with radio transmitters. Gordon glanced over it with interest. Penny had walked further around the desk and was starting to work her way through some drawers below a large black screen. Gordon ran his gloved hands over the computer desk as he crouched down to search for hidden cubby holes. He couldn't see anything obvious; he sat back and searched the immediate area before standing up. He walked over to Penelope.

"Found anything?"

"No. Its most vexing, as you say he appears to have it on his person." Gordon headed over to get a better view of the screen as he did so something caught his attention. He looked at his feet rolling back on his steps, then he walked forward again. He was stood near a large statue depicting Shiva the destroyer, if he wasn't mistaken. "I wonder…."

Penelope watched as Gordon stood transfixed next to the statue. Then all of a sudden, he threw his shoulder into it and pushed, grunting with the effort, the muscles in his legs and arms protesting. Gordon was rewarded with a scraping sound as the statue slid out of the way to reveal a stair case and another lit corridor – although this one was much shorter in length. "I knew I should have been an archaeologist!" He gave Penny a boyish lopsided grin before heading down the stairs.

He put his goggles on again but didn't detect any lasers. He was just about to step forwards before Penny grabbed the top of his arm and pulled him back. "Notice the worn rounded stones and the pristine ones? Something tells me we should exert some caution." Now she had pointed it out, he nodded. He could see the pattern.

They snaked their way in a zig zag motion and they almost got to the end when Gordon felt a stone depress under his heel. He heard the stones moving before the rush of air. "Down!" He yelled clutching at Penny's waist and dragging her to the floor. A rush of arrows scored overhead before clattering harmlessly off the solid walls. They remained there for a moment Penelope crushed against Gordon's frame on the floor, her head pushed against his chest protectively as he struggled to regulate his harsh breathing. When the tension released Penelope lifted her head, she was close enough to feel Gordon's breath flutter against her cheek and could feel every defined section of his torso against her chest. She'd seen him topless many times in the pool but this was different, the touch of his gloved hands clutched around her waist set her heart aflutter. Gordon had always known Penelope was a beautiful woman but having her suddenly thrust into his arms was an experience he wasn't sure how to handle. Her slim body melded to him like a glove and he was hyper aware of her leg resting directly between his. He released his grip slightly, holding her loose in his hands as he shifted underneath her to a more bearable position. "Are you alright?" He gasped.

"Yes thankfully, you?"

"Bit restricted but otherwise fine."He panted. Penny realised he was struggling to breathe with his backpack wedged underneath him and her weight pushing into him. Aware of his old back injury, she hastily sat back on her haunches over one of his legs which sent a shiver down him before she stood gracefully and bent back down to offer him her hand.

"Sorry."

"No worries" He grunted as he pulled himself up. His back cracked audibly as he cried not to wince. He quickly brushed himself down suddenly not sure how to behave. Penelope entered the tiny anti-chamber. Once in there she gasped. The walls were covered in newspaper clippings and magazine articles, they all had one common factor. Gordon came up behind her. "Christ! He's obsessed!" Thunderbirds saved my life, International rescue thwart plane sabotage, IR you seeing this? Another daring rescue complete. Thunderbirds – who are they? Headlines, snippets of articles of all their rescues. Gordon didn't think there was a single one that hadn't been collated, there were hundreds all set into a neat time line, right up until the last call out they'd had two weeks ago to the Allerton bridge disaster. That wasn't the most worrying thing though. In the centre of the wall surrounded by all these articles was the newspaper article depicting his father's retirement. Jeff's stern countenance struck them both. Penny was already taking a video on her compact cataloging all the information.

"I think your father and I need to discuss some new security measures."

"I agree." Gordon once recovered from the initial shock had begun to ferret around the only piece of furniture in the circular room which was a large ornate desk. "Remind me what we are looking for exactly?"

"It looks like this." Penny showed him an image on her phone of a little black box and a long sliver old fashioned USB stick. No one used those any more it was defunct technology so it was no wonder the Hood couldn't get them to work. Gordon sat in the large chair with the mesh back running his hands under the lip of the desk. His long fingers rested on a well concealed button. "Ah hah!" He felt the spring-loaded drawer pop against his palm as a small green felt lined drawer revealed itself. Inside was the computer components they were seeking along with a C8 pistol and a ripped IR badge, it looked like the ones that were on their hats. Sometimes they got damaged or lost on rescues. Gordon snatched it up along with the gun. He passed the computer parts to penny who tucked them in her bag.

"Right; I've seen enough let's get out of here." Gordon checked his wrist and frowned. His camera feed had stopped. It was just static. "The camera feed's dead, most likely interference of some kind." Gordon's eyes almost looked black in the half light. His whole countenance was back to barely contained hostility. Penny eyed him warily before nodding and allowing him to lead. They hurried up and reached the control room without issue before sliding the statue back across. As they were heading out, they heard raised voices and a clatter of several sets of footsteps. Too many to take on and coming from the direction of their planned exit. Gordon swore and indicated to Penny to hide behind two statues on the other side of the room. They glanced nervously at each other, segregated six foot apart. They pressed themselves into the back of the burnished gold hoping the deities would conceal them.

"Stand there." Barked a cold voice. The man commanded the centre of the room as two captives were shunted before him by four armed men. "On your knees." The man spat.

The dark-haired woman and the man complied. The brunette stranger refused chin stuck proudly in the air. "We had a deal, why treat us this way?" He try to bargain. Penelope averted her eyes as the man was struck across the back of the head with the barrel of a hefty machine gun. The woman cried out in anger as he hit the deck on his knees, hands tied behind his back. She recognised them as the Team America operatives underneath their poorly veiled disguises.

Gordon chanced a look around when he heard additional footsteps and a dragging sound. Two additional armed men entered dragging an unconscious young man in blue across the marble floor. He was faced downwards, His lower legs scraping out behind his limp form. A familiar pair of thick rimmed glasses slipped from one side of his face. Gordon blanched, retreating with his back to the statue before looking wide eyed at Penelope. The Hood had Brains.