Chapter 75.

Havoc smirked as she uploaded the stolen blueprints from her tech gloves into the Chaos Cruiser's communication network.

"Well done," the Hood drawled, smiling as his holographic eyes scanned the data before him, "This should make blackmailing those incompetent junior officers at the GDF's Munich branch much easier. Excellent work."

Havoc smiled and propped her feet up on the dashboard, "You got it, boss. Want me to report back?"

"Not yet," the Hood replied, "I'm still waiting for Fuse to finish destabilising that new fusion reactor in Provence. I want you to remain on call in case he requires backup."

"You got it," Havoc scoffed, rolling her eyes at her younger brother's incompetence, "Anything you want me to do in the meantime?"

The Hood's face suddenly twisted into his trademark sinister smile, "Come to think of it, there is one thing you can help me with…"

"Name it," Havoc gushed, her eagerness to please evident.

"Such loyalty," the Hood sneered, "I like it. Tell me Havoc, what do you think would be the best way to cripple International Rescue?"

Havoc pondered this for a second. Not that she hadn't given it plenty of thought, but she knew from experience that the Tracys and their allies ran a fairly watertight operation.

"Dunno," Havoc admitted, shrugging offhandedly, "Hold their grandma for ransom? Remotely drain their fuel supplies? Force them to write bad checks?"

The Hood sniggered at Havoc's sarcasm, not realising that she was in fact, deadly serious, "How cute. I'm afraid the answer is no to all of the above. Would you like me to tell you?"

An enthusiastic nod was offered in lieu of a verbal reply.

"International Rescue's running costs are extortionate," the Hood began, "The repair, maintenance and fuelling of five highly specialised crafts is an expensive endeavour, as are the living costs associated with running a private island. Suffice to say, the Tracys don't run their operation on a tight budget."

Havoc cocked her head in intrigue.

"Ruining them financially would completely destroy the foundation International Rescue is built upon. As a non-profit and non-government enterprise, all the services they offer are one hundred percent self-funded. They may like to play the humble heroes, but even the great Scott Tracy isn't exempt from paying tax."

The grin spreading across Havoc's face was the dictionary definition of evil, "So we're going to bankrupt them?"

"Indeed," the Hood replied, linking both hands and assuming his authoritative stance, "And to do that, we need something very special from one of them, which is where you come in."

Havoc straightened in anticipation, "What do you need, boss? Sort codes? Account numbers? Memorable words? Their mother's cat's maiden name?"

The Hood shook his head, tutting as if Havoc were a small child, "I acquired all that information ages ago. No, what I need you to get for me is some DNA."

A pause.

"DNA?" Havoc repeated, her mind going momentarily blank.

"Yes, DNA," the Hood affirmed, "All of the Tracy's financial accounts are protected by the latest in biometric technology. If we want to gain access, we'll need fingerprints, retina scans and saliva samples."

"Saliva?" Havoc's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, "Why saliva? Won't the fingerprint and retina scans be enough?"

"Saliva has the same biometric accuracy as fingerprints," the Hood coolly replied, "If we lose or fail to obtain one, then we have the other as a backup. I've managed to obtain semi-accurate retina scans from Scott, Virgil and Gordon, however I'm assigning you the job of acquiring the fingerprints and saliva."

Havoc felt her heart drop into her boots.

"Oh, come now," the Hood sighed, green eyes narrowing in irritation, "I'm not going to ask you to do anything unbecoming of a young lady. I do however expect you to be…creative…in your approach. They'll all be attending a party in honour of my niece's birthday later this evening, so I recommend you strike then. And choose your target carefully. Both the fingerprints and the saliva have to come from the same host."

"Doesn't that limit me to the three you said you already have retina scans for?" Havoc queried, trying frantically to quash the unease fizzing in her stomach.

"I can easily acquire retina scans for John and Alan," the Hood sniffed, "They just don't get deployed on as many earthbound missions as the others, hence my decision to omit them. Alan isn't yet old enough to access the accounts independently, so don't waste your efforts on him. Also, be careful around Scott. Rumour has it my dear niece is soft on him, so any attention you direct at him will not go unnoticed by her. You of all people should know that Kayo interfering is the last thing we need."

Havoc nodded mutely, lost in thought.

"Now," the Hood drawled, smiling serenely, "Do you have a dress handy, or should I arrange a private fitting at Versace for you?"

-x-

It wasn't often that Scott Tracy was lost for words.

Sure, he wasn't immune to being rendered speechless, but the cause was usually something worth being speechless over. A beautiful sunset, food, a fresh paintjob on Thunderbird One, Alan trying to go on a rescue in his pyjamas…

Never other people.

"Scott, relax," Virgil soothed, raising his hands in a peaceful surrender, "If it bugs you, I'll tell her no."

Scott snapped back to earth with an ominous glare, "What do you mean, if it bugs me? It doesn't bug me in the slightest, Virg. Kayo's a grown woman and capable of making her own decisions. Everyone makes mistakes, but still, I have no business prying into her personal life."

Virgil let out an uneasy sigh, but did a double take when he replayed Scott's words, "What do you mean, everyone makes mistakes? Are you implying that she didn't mean to ask me?"

A casual shrug was thrown back, "I don't know Virg, why don't you ask her yourself. I'm sure she'd love that."

It was a well-established fact, both inside and outside of International Rescue, that Virgil was the peacemaker of the Tracy family. He may have been the most imposing to look at, but he was the most emotionally sensitive brother (a trait he shared with Gordon, alongside eye colour) and was known to read between the lines during conversations, much to Scott and John's irritation.

"Scott, none of this is my doing," Virgil retaliated, his expression neutral, "I'm happy to say no, but I need to go back to Kayo in some form. It wouldn't be fair to ghost her mere hours before her own birthday celebration. Yes, or no. It's a simple decision, and one I'm quite happy to hand over to you."

In the background, John took an instinctive step backwards when Scott's shoulders visibly tensed. A row was imminent, and he, Gordon and Alan were right in the splash zone.

Scott snarled and swivelled to face his three youngest brothers as they tried to make a subtle dash for the door, "For goodness sake John, grow a pair already!"

The redhead balked at Scott's words, however was denied the chance to respond by Virgil wading back into the fray.

"Hey, don't take this out on them," the engineer warned, swinging out of bed, "This is between you, me and your inability to handle situations that make you look bad. You feel betrayed because Kayo asked me instead of you, but I must remind you that you're not technically dating, therefore this doesn't constitute a break-up, cheating or any of the other catastrophic things pinging around inside your head at the moment."

Scott's eyes widened, accepting the challenge Virgil was laying down, "I find your belief that I'm affected by this laughable. Accept her offer, Virg. You won't be treading on any toes, least of all mine. Just promise you won't make any messes that I have to clean up later, both physical and emotional."

"You see!" Virgil erupted, marching up to Scott and poking him roughly in the chest, "This is exactly what I'm talking about! You bottle everything up and then take it out on us when things start to fester! It's a simple question, Scott! Do you like Kayo or don't you like Kayo?"

The eldest brother drew himself up to his full height, revealing himself to be a good four to five inches taller than Virgil, "Someone has to bear the load, Virg! Dad wouldn't want-"

"This isn't about dad!" Virgil all but yelled, his brown eyes wide with frustration and impatience, "This is about you! This is about your fragile ego and your inability to talk about your emotions. How do think that makes all of us feel? I can't speak for the others, but personally, the fact that you won't confide in me makes me feel as if I've failed you as a brother."

Scott paused to consider the engineer's words. It was true that he didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, unlike Gordon. He was the leader of International Rescue, head of the Tracy family and the world's most elite first responder. He'd taken on full responsibility for his two youngest brothers and the running of International Rescue before he'd even turned twenty one. He'd practically raised Alan, and had been accountable for eighty percent of Gordon's development. In all honesty, the speed at which he blitzed through life never afforded him the time to give his own emotions any proper consideration.

Virgil noted the vulnerability in his brother's eyes and felt his anger fizzle out. Sometimes, it was so easy to forget that Scott himself was also young.

A pregnant pause descended over the room as five brothers tried to make sense of what was being said. A quick over the shoulder glance filled Scott with guilt when he saw John, Gordon and Alan all staring determinedly at the floor.

Virgil cringing from the pain in his jaw was the icing on the anxiety cake.

"I'm going for a run," Scott announced, groping blindly for the door. The tension in the room was thick enough to inhale.

A sigh broke free from John when Alan made to tail his eldest brother, duckling style.

"Stay with the others, Alan," Scott instructed, "See if you can find Virg an ice pack. His left cheek is starting to swell."

Disappointment descended over the youngest as the door clicked shut.

Outside the window, Havoc swallowed a snort of laughter.

-x-

Scott felt guilt claw at him as he slowed to admire a vermillion flycatcher perched atop a decorative stone wall.

He knew the comment he'd thrown at Virgil had been out of line, but he couldn't help himself. He was a stickler for order and found it difficult to keep his cool when people behaved unpredictably.

Women were the bane of his existence for that very reason.

The tell-tale buzz of an incoming phone call aborted Scott's attempt at re-starting his run. He half expected it to be one of his brothers calling to check in on him, but was proven wrong when Penelope's name flashed across the screen.

"Scott, is everything okay?" came the crisp British accent, "I'm tracking you as being two miles away from the hotel? And on your own?"

"Everything's fine," Scott replied, silently irritated at the assumption that he and his brothers had to always be together in order for everything to be okay, "Just needed a bit of fresh air. How's the dress shopping going?"

"Oh, quite well, thank you," Penelope chirped, "We've finally managed to settle on a pair of heels for Kayo. I don't like to speak ill of colleagues, but she's probably the fussiest dresser I''ve ever met."

Scott snorted. Perhaps he'd dodged a bullet.

"Anyway, that's not the reason why I'm calling," Penelope carried on, "Well, obviously I wanted to check that you were okay, but I actually have a proposition for you. I'm aware that Kayo has asked Virgil to be her date for this evening, which I must say has rather shocked me. I was fully expecting her to ask you."

Scott opted to remain silent.

"Anyway, as she hasn't, I was wondering whether you'd entertain the thought of attending with me instead. The media are slating you for apparently dumping me in favour of Kayo, and in my experience the best way to silence such rumours is to simply do the opposite of whatever the front covers are claiming. Plus, your grandmother tells me that you're an excellent dancer."

Scott felt a sigh bubble up his diaphragm. Somehow, the situation had managed to complicate itself even further. He didn't give a toss about what the media had to say about him or his brothers; it wasn't like International Rescue relied on public donations as a source of funding anyway. And Penelope had much more control over her emotions than Kayo…

"I'd love to," Scott replied, forcing a smile onto his face even though Penelope wasn't present to witness it, "Are you planning on heading over with Kayo later, or should I swing by and pick you up?"

"Oh, we're getting there an hour before the doors officially open to help set up," Penelope sang, her delight obvious, "No need for you to though. How about we meet out on the terrace at seven thirty sharp? I know Kayos told Virgil to meet her at eight, but I'd rather you got here a bit earlier than that."

Scott felt a frown infect his face, "So Virgil's definitely going?"

"I certainly hope so," Penelope replied, "Because he's just texted Kayo and accepted her invite."