So I was going to hold off posting this but i'm impulsive when it comes to these sorts of things so here it is! it may just be a couple of days before i'm able to post again.

13

Several things occurred simultaneously that led to a series of unfortunate events. Penny watched helpless, as Brains was led away with Lisa up the steps. On the outside, she was her usual poised self but internally she was as close as she came to panicking which meant her mind was running through a multitude of scenario's fruitlessly cursing each one that followed. Somewhere far away she heard the Hood give the order to execute them all. She had to be able to do something! The two guards had now sauntered up to Gary and Gordon; guns level with their foreheads. Gordon looked at her out the corner of his eye almost apologetically. She had managed to work her hands out of the rope whilst their attention was diverted; she had just slipped a hand out when –

There were several explosions in quick succession. The doors to the right imploded, Heavy stone crashing to the ground, the debris scattering far and wide like meteors impacting the walls and floor. The noise was deafening as Chris and Candy gunned down the two-armed men. Lisa; anticipating what was about to happen, shoulder barged Brains to the left away from the door where the Hood was still poised to leave. The door also exploded sending him careening backwards down the steps from the impact. He rolled into a ball protecting his head and limbs, the stairs shielding him from the rest of the blast. He scrambled to his feet and darted off behind a pillar to the left. Sarah sent a couple of shots after him but they ricocheted off the pillar gouging the stone. She saw Lisa and Brains and bent down to cover them behind the low wall.

It was like a battle zone; shots being fired everywhere and Gordon, Penny and Gary were sitting ducks as bullets tore through the vicinity. Candy caught sight of her father bleeding out in the crossfire, lying in a pool of his own crimson blood. "NOOOOOO" Chris tried to grab her but she ran from cover across the floor, she caught her dad's wrist and start to drag him back. The hood took aim, his sights focused on the first easy targets.

Chris didn't hesitate, he fired his remaining rocket straight at the Hood. "No!" Shouted Gordon as it whizzed over his head, missing its target and taking out the central column. It hit the lower section, obliterating the large circular segment that had formed the column. There was a tremendous din as the column collapsed in on itself. The whole building started to shake before the ceiling crashed down around that section and the other points now weakened from the initial explosions. Where the lintels had been impacted; the walls above the doorways collapsed entombing them. Dust kicked up everywhere.

Gordon's ears were ringing as he rolled back on to his front, instincts kicking in. First things first; get free. Using the cover of the dust cloud he scrabbled over to the dead man that had pointed a gun at his temple only moments ago. He had spied a knife hilt in his boot earlier and thankfully it was still there. He sat up with his back against the body and with some difficulty, yanked the knife out of the boot with his bound hands. There was coughing and shouting now, along with the sound of hysterical sobbing. He focused on the task at hand turning the small dagger around in his hands so he could cut through the rope. Once free he immediately sprung to his feet, his back protesting at the sudden movement. He swayed on the spot as he cursed. He realised he was most likely semi-concussed. He had a deep wound in his thigh where a jagged bit of rock had bit into him, that was going to bruise like a peach. He limped over disorientated, to where he had last seen Penny but she was nowhere to be seen. His breathing quickened. He swallowed down the rising panic. The Violence, the loud explosions were triggering his repressed fears and not knowing where the Hood was only served to make it worse. He stumbled to the side of the room, the dust making him cough, the darkness oppressive. Most of the torches had been extinguished during the collapse. The sobbing was closer now. Gordon approached with caution at the sight of a woman with wavy honey coloured hair crouched over a prone man on the floor. Gordon could make out a grey-haired man in the dim light from a hole in the roof above.

Gordon stepped out of the shadows; stolen pistol raised in both hands in front of him."Put the weapon down."

"You first bastard." Chris snarled hitching his weapon higher.

"Your man doesn't look so good." Gordon took in the protective stance and the way the man was shielding the girl and injured man. He was confident he wasn't one of the Hood's henchmen.

A weak groan came from the floor.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Chris' finger twitched on the trigger.

"You don't but if you don't let me attend to him, he will definitely die. I could save him."

Chris frowned. Candy turned to face Gordon. "Chris let him through, please..please help him!" she begged. Now Gordon knew why she hadn't got up, she was holding the wound with as much pressure as she could muster, her hands were saturated in blood and gore.

Gordon slipped past not lowering his gun until he was level with Gary. He holstered it and quickly assessed the situation. "We need more light; but I also don't want to give away our location too much." They were behind one of the larger bronze statues so were reasonably well protected. Gordon could see that someone had applied a belt as a tourniquet but it wasn't tight enough. He immediately pulled it tighter. Gary bit back a cry of anguish before falling unconscious. Gordon was surprised he wasn't bleeding out more, he looked at the girl's hands and noticed what she was doing. "You located the tear?" She nodded. She was applying pressure to the femoral artery pressure point and her other hand was pushing the ruptured artery directly against the bone. "Keep doing that". She nodded. Gordon quickly cut the rest of the trouser leg away with the dagger so they could see what they were doing, the sound pf fabric ripping at his impatience to cut all the way through. They had to stop this bleed; he was amazed he wasn't dead already. The only way to do that was going to be to cauterise it. He had no clamps, no bandages or other vital equipment. Gordon looked around, think. Think!

He caught sight of a canister on the man's back gleaming in the weak grey light. Seriously? "Hey you! Is that what I think it is on your back?"

"The M270 or the flamethrower?"

"You know if we weren't in the shit, I'd say I could get to like you. The flamethrower I need it."

Gordon stood with the dagger at his side. Chris looked grim. "Your fucking crazy!" He exclaimed once it dawned on him.

"That I can't argue with but this is our only option; you must see that? I'm Gordon by the way." He held out a bloodied hand whilst wiping the dagger off on his combats.

Chris frowned at this strange little ginger man. "Chris, team America." He shook Gordon's hand warily. "How do you want to do this?"

"You need to apply the flame to this for at least a minute." Gordon had used some ramshackle blocks from the devastation to create a mini kiln with an open top. It wasn't ideal. Gordon still had to work out how the hell he was going to pick it up again. Chris nodded and flamed up. Gordon ran back over to the girl.

"Is he still alive?" She asked, tears streaming.

"Barely." Gordon was struggling to find a pulse. "Look I don't know who he is to you but for him to survive he's going to have to most likely loose the leg." Gordon was expecting something akin to hysterics but she looked resigned.

"So, this is how it happened." She murmured so softly Gordon could only just make it out. "Do it." She replied firmly. Gordon stood and went to retrieve the blade. His shirt was technically heat proof but he hadn't tested it to this degree before. He stripped it off and wrapped it around his hand several times. He tentatively picked up the blade from its makeshift furnace. "Shit! We're going to have to be quick, brace his leg the best you can." Chris nodded and quickly got into position. "Candy when I give you the signal move your hand and step out of the way."

"Yep" Gordon felt for her hand, once confident he was in the right place he signaled. She moved out and he applied the flat edge of the blade. Gary leapt up fighting against them yelling for a moment before he fell unconscious again. The smell of burned flesh in the air was palpable. Gordon tried not to gag. He dropped the blade and checked his handiwork. There was no pumping blood anymore. "Right immediate problem's been hashed together for now, he mustn't be moved at all, it could split again. He's freezing; we need to give him whatever clothing or warmth we can find." Gordon felt his pulse again, it was there but weak. Gordon salvaged his top, it had a few holes but had held up pretty well. It was still warm so he placed it over Gary's torso as Candy quickly stripped her jacket off and threw it over Gary's chest, Chris did the same. "You need to keep checking his airways and pulse, we may have yet to do CPR. Any sign of a bleed you get that tourniquet back on." Candy nodded. She stared at her reddened hands. "What's your name?" Gordon asked softly, dog tags dangling from his neck over his white vest. "Candy."

"Seriously?" It was out of his mouth before he'd thought about it, He looked contrite. She smiled.

"It's okay. I get that a lot - Candy's a unusual name." She placed a gentle hand on Gary's cheek.

"Earlier you said…." Gordon looked up at Chris who had his back turned, he'd taken up watch again.

"So, this is how it happened? Yeah. I knew he'd lost his leg – before. Growing up I never thought anything of it till I started going to school and some of the kids pointed it out. He just said he'd left it behind on a mission and would joke and shrug it off, he ever elaborated. Now I know."

They were interrupted by a beeping sound. Gordon looked at his watch in surprise. It was functioning! "Excuse me - keep an eye on him."

Gordon walked a little further away and picked up the call. "Gordon! Boy am I relived to see you! Approaching your location, ETA five minutes. What's the situation. are you alright?"

"Too long to explain, things hit the wall for various reasons. We're trapped in a collapsed temple with the Hood unaccounted for but he's in here somewhere. There are nine of us in total plus that bastard. I've located three others which leaves six unaccounted for, including Penny and Brains."

"Brains!"

I need an emergency extraction, quickest way is through the collapsed roof and airlifted. Patient is young man late 20's to early 30's significant femoral artery injury, now cauterised but no first aid administered, just emergency field treatment. Patient Unconscious, breathing but pulse rate is bradycardic at 45 under 100 and fluctuating."

"Right. Thunderbird 2 is ten minutes out they were waiting on Intel from me but once I worked out where you were and with Parker's assessment, I guessed the kit we would need and got them airborne."

"Scott he's going to be too late, this guy's as good as dead and you know it." Gordon looked around warily. They hadn't come across the others yet. Were they caught in the explosion or being held hostage? It was far too quiet and they would soon be drawing too much attention to themselves. They were still in a world of danger. One problem at a time Gordon.

"There's not a lot I can do Gordon" …. Scott frowned as he processed the information. "Hang on, Brains installed the emergency stretcher bay in here last month, I have capabilities to airlift one casualty now but it will need someone to come back up with him to stabilise the stretcher and get him secured." Gordon frowned, there was no way he was leaving here with the others missing and he had to know if the Hood was dead for sure.

"Alright. Call me when you're over our location and send down a medical kit with the stretcher would you?"

"F.A.B"

Gordon cut the link and crossed back to the motley crew. "Who were you talking to?"

"A friend who is going to get Gary to hospital and then hopefully come back and get us out."

"Who are you?"

"Later, no time for explanations now. Candy; I'm going to set Gary up so he's fit to be airlifted then you're going with him. Do you think you can keep the stretcher steady and strap him in under the pilot's direction?"

She looked at Gary then Chris torn. "What about you guys? what if that asshole shows up again, we don't even know where the others are."

"Leave that to me and Chris we'll find them, won't we?"

He eyed Gordon up and down. "Yeah, we'll manage something; tells me you know how to handle a shit show."

Gordon smiled. Candy looked surprised, high praise indeed. The stranger's ears pricked at the sudden sound of an unfamiliar aircraft. Gordon had already heard her a mile off. He raised his watch; 5,4,2,2,1 – his watch buzzed. Bingo!

"Reading you International Rescue; go ahead."

"At danger zone. I can see two open sections in the roof. I take it you are near the one to the left?" Scott still had the tracker information. "Yep, it's about 15 feet from us but we can't move the patient till he's stabilised."

"Understood. Lowering gear now."

"Right; Candy stays here, I'm going to get the equipment."

"I'll come with you and provide cover."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, although can I make a suggestion… Chris?"

"No" He shot back.

Unfazed Gordon responded. "Maybe stick to the flame thrower or the uzi and not the launchers yeah? I admire what you did to that prick but I kind of want to get out of here relatively unscathed without being buried under a fuckton of temple."

"Language!" A Voice barked over the comm. Gordon ignored his eldest brother with ease.

Chris smirked. "Haven't fucking got any left anyway so don't go shitting yourself."

Gordon laughed. This was definitely the guy that had called his brothers fucking actors. He was ballsy as fuck. Gordon hadn't really ever met anyone like him, even in W.A.S.P but he'd tried to kill his enemy which instantly made him likable in Gordon's mind eye.

They walked over to the light, hesitating in the shadows whilst they both scoped the area. "Clear. I'm going in; cover me."

"I've got your back."

"You've heard of friendly fire, haven't you?"

"Fuck off and get on with it." Chris hissed.

Gordon put his hands up in mock surrender. "Just checking! Thunderbird One lower the gear."

Scott didn't even bother to reply, the stretcher soon came through on a cable through the hole in the high ceiling.

"Okay; take her up. We'll call you when we're ready for extraction."

"F.A.B"

Gordon grabbed the gear and jogged back to Gary. He wasted no time in setting up an IV and depositing the bag into Candy's outstretched hand, it was tough to find a vein but he located one third time lucky. Gordon quickly rigged up the oxygen mask, then he applied a large compress and bandage carefully. "Right, we need to lift as gently as we can on three. 1,2,3!" They swiftly but gently lifted Gary onto the stretcher, Gordon quickly secured the small oxygen canister down the side, wrapped him securely in a blanket and rechecked his vitals. Chris did up the straps and they were set.

"Ok, Candy and I will lift the stretcher, Chris you cover us."

"Yep"

Gordon called into his comms. "Gordon calling Thunderbird One. Ready for extraction."

"Thunderbird one to Gordon. Understood lowering cable now."

"Ready? Alright; lets go and be on your guard."

They raced as quickly as they dared in the half light, skirting around the rubble. The cable was midway down by the time they arrived. Gordon jumped the last few feet for the cables before clipping them to the stretcher. He then helped Candy into to harness. Final checks complete he looked at his watch.

"Take her up! Thunderbird one!"

The stretcher started its slow assent. Just as the shooting started.