Scott had considered and rejected half a dozen plans as he approached the junction box. It was far too windy for his jet pack. The fence was too high to climb, with a segregated top which he was bound to get snagged on in these conditions. His magnetic clamp wouldn't lock onto the debris piled up against the gates as it was mostly fallen tree. He couldn't attach the clamp to the fence because if he destroyed it then the entire box would go which could leave the area without power once the line had been replaced. It only left him one option and it was a terrible one.

"John?"

"Go ahead Scott."

"Remember in Johannesburg you managed to pilot One home?"

"Why? What's happened, are you alright?"

Scott mentally facepalmed. He hadn't prefaced this one well considering they were in the middle of a rescue.

"Everything is fine."

"Scott." The tone in John's voice said he clearly didn't believe his older brother.

"I haven't left One yet, John. The problem is that I can see no way to access the box except from above. I'm going to rappel down from One, switch off the power and use the grapple to pull myself back up, but, in this wind, I don't think the auto pilot will hold her."

"You want to rappel down to a live junction box in a storm with me holding your 'bird steady?" came the incredulous response.

"Yes."

"Base to Thunderbird One, that's a negative. Wait for ground support."

Scott huffed out his annoyance.

"How long till ground support arrive Thunderbird Five?"

"Between the blockages on the main road and the flooding the emergency responders are having a hard time getting to you" John responded. "The power line is a priority but it is too far from the town for swift access in these conditions. They estimate it'll be another fifteen minutes before anyone can reach the area."

Scott shielded his eyes as the line grounded once again with a huge flash.

"How long till the flood waters reach the powerline or the junction box?"

"Less than ten minutes."

"Then I'm going in. If that line strikes water then everyone will be on the receiving end of a massive shock. John, can you do it or not?"

There was silence on the line but Scott knew his brother well enough to know that meant John was working, not panicking.

"Yes" came the ever-calm voice. "I'll take control on your command."

"You have control"

"I have control."

Scott swung himself out of his seat and went to the bay doors. He secured a safety line for and spared a though for his immediately younger brother. As ever it seemed you could throw just about anything at John and he'd find a way to make it work. Scott would also have to thank him later for the backup John was giving him against their father.

Like Scott, John knew he was able to do more than answer calls up on Five and he wanted to do more. In the short time Five had been operation John had heard calls from hundreds of people, all on the very worst day of their lives. He had been naive to think it wouldn't affect him as much as it did, but then to have to listen as his brothers threw themselves into the danger zone again and again…

That was why he'd designed such major upgrades for Five. Like Scott he felt that the more information he could provide, the more use he would be. That he had his big brother's blessing for it made it seem all the more vital.

Before him he had a surface scan of the danger zone with icons present for each of his brothers. With a tap he could access their individual coms or link several of them together. He also had icons for the local emergency services and overlayed above that the latest weather readouts. With Virgil's blessing he had advanced telemetry gathering sensors attached to Two and this aided the weather overlay giving him again a clearer picture of what was going on. This was the only test he was expecting for today, if the sensors worked well, he would have them installed on One and then ask Brains to finish the underwater designs for Four.

With a flick he pushed the telemetry to the background and focused on the controls for One. Scott had already manoeuvred her into position. John called up windspeed and set about keeping One steady so his brother didn't impale himself on the security fence surrounding the junction box.

Scott braced himself as the bay doors swung open. He felt One try to heave as her aerodynamics were altered but she soon settled back to where she was supposed to be.

"Disembarking now."

It was only a short drop to the ground, no more than twenty feet or so but given the storm there was no way he was going to make a graceful landing. The wind took his feet out from under him and he sprawled onto his stomach his heart flying to his throat as he felt the safety line catch and drag him backwards.

"John!"

"I got it" his brother replied and Thunderbird One righted herself again.

Not wanting to waste any more time Scott pushed to his feet and scrambled for the green unit. Pulling on the doors he let out a shout of frustration.

"It's locked!"

"Obviously" came John's reply. "I assume you bought the right tools with you?"

"What am I, Virgil?" Scott did a quick inventory of what he did have. Grapple gun, long line, basic medical supplies; none of which was useful. But he did have his old multitool.

"Don't use a laser on it."

Scott didn't dignify that one with a response.

Finally, he prised the door open and it was only a few moments work to throw the breaker and cut off power to the whipping line. Quickly he got himself back under his 'bird and reeled himself back inside.

He was shocked by the sudden quiet after the bay doors closed. He hadn't realised how loud it was out there. Slipping back into his seat he signalled John.

"I have control."

"You have control." John sounded like he did this every day whilst Scott's system was still surging with adrenalin.

"Alright, what's next?"

John's assessment came in fast. He'd already directed Two to a farm house with people stranded due to the rising flood water. Scott was needed on the ground helping coordinate the evacuation of the lower town. The flood water was eroding the river banks so much there was a danger of a landslip and he needed to get people out of there fast.

It was going to be a long day.

Five hours later John leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hands down his face. Today had been long and hard on all of them. What had started out as a minor bridge collapse had turned into a major event as the storm revved itself up and slammed the small town. With Scott abandoning mobile control John had found himself in charge of overseeing both teams and relaying information back to Base Control as well as coordinating with the local emergency services and running algorithms to try and predict what the storm would do next.

He was fried, as were all three of his brothers. Gordon was currently asleep in the cockpit of Two, he'd been out in the elements more than anyone else in the end as he'd joined Scott in the evacuation. Virgil was clearly exhausted. Two might have been doing the heavy lifting but hours of flying her in the severe wind had taken its toll. He'd switched her to auto for the majority of the flight and John had only signed off when he was sure his younger brother wasn't about to fall asleep at the controls.

Scott was almost all the way home already. He knew his night wasn't over yet as he still had to answer to his father for his actions today so he'd decided to make good time. John would have to have a similar conversation but one of the perks of not being the Field Commander was not having to do that first.

He stepped from the command module to the observation ring sighing as he transitioned to weightlessness. Sometimes zero gravity was better than a hot shower for relieving tense muscles.

"International Rescue, come in" a female British voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up frowning towards the nearest panel. He did a double take. That was Gordon's personal line, but he was sure his brother was asleep in Two. He opened a line to Virgil, not wanting to disturb Gordon if he was right.

"Virgil, is Gordon still up there with you?"

Soft piano music filtered through the line and John smiled. Virgil was finding his own shower substitute as well.

"Still dead to the world" Virgil replied. "Why?"

That was a good question. John didn't really know.

"It could be nothing, I'll let you know." He cut the line to his brother and pulled himself back to the command module and, regrettably, gravity.

"This is international Rescue; can we be of assistance?"

"I have something you're going to want to hear" the voice said. Immediately the line filled with ambient noise, it sounded like she was in a bar.

"Okay" a male voice began. "Oracle, are you even listening?" That made John sit up. The woman from the mugging (and the one who had fractured Gordon's knee) was calling him? He started a trace.

"Yes, Nick" she replied.

"These people don't fuck about. Did you hear what I told you or not?"

"Yes" she sounded bored. "You haven't told me about their plan to steal Thunderbird Two and abduct the pilot. I have to let them tell me that and then sound surprised."

John's blood turned to ice. Was this for real? He daren't say anything for fear of being heard via her open comm line.

"You need to sell it, Oracle." Nick sounded distressed. "They'll kill us both otherwise."

"They'll kill you, maybe."

"Oh no. If I'm going down, you're going down with me."

"Charming."

John heard her take a slow breath.

"You got a name, International Rescue?"

John realised with a start that she was talking to him. Maybe Nick had moved off?

"You can call me Thunderbird Five" he said.

"Fair enough. Here's how this works. I can hear you but no one else can. I can also talk to you without anyone else noticing."

"How?"

"I can subvocalise." The answer was quick but John didn't believe it for a minute. That just wasn't how subvocalization worked.

"Why should I trust you?" The question was out before John had a chance to reframe it. Usually, he was a lot more tactful than that. He blamed the long rescue.

"I really don't have any other reason to be doing this other than to help you."

"Doing what exactly?"

"The paragon of idiocy that is Nick here has managed to get himself hired by a gang that want one of your machines. They're apparently looking for someone to act as bait and I'm going to volunteer. You'll be able to hear everything. You should then be able to stop whatever it is they have in mind."

"Why would you do that for us?"

The was a pause on the line.

"Because you're a force for good in the world and I'm-" she cut herself off. "Here's what I think" she started again, her voice regaining its confidence. "Here's what I think I know. You can tell me if I'm right. A while ago two members of International Rescue stopped me from getting mugged, I figure they were off duty at the time. Unless one of your Thunderbirds is a limo."

John couldn't help but quirk a smile at that, thinking of FAB 1.

"A short time later their brother, Gordon, came and found me at work. I palmed his comm in the ring and stole this number. I'm assuming you know about that?"

"I do. But Gordon said his attackers took it and you stole it back."

"I might have given his that impression, yes. I had intended to sell it but he needed it more than I did after the assault."

"So, you just gave it back?"

"It seemed like the right thing to do. I'm trying here."

John didn't know what to make of that last comment but he encouraged her to continue.

"I didn't know much about International Rescue before the mugging, but it seems like you only want to help people. The world needs more of that. Those men that came to my aid? They didn't have to do that. I would hate it if one of them was the pilot these bastards want to abduct. So, I'm going into the meeting. You listen and then you can stop this before it gets going. Do we have a deal?"

"We do." Though he agreed quickly John thought it through. Oracle sounded sincere, but then so did Gordon when he was protesting his innocence over a prank. If there was a genuine threat to Virgil then he needed to know. He thought about what Gordon and Penelope had told them about Oracle. They said she hadn't really lived up to the intel of lose canon with a firecracker temper. Rather she'd been concerned about her friend, gone to Gordon's aid when she didn't have to and only become withdrawn when Gordon and Penny had tried to corner her. "Don't take any unnecessary risks" he said.

"Huh" she sounded surprised. "Right, pipe down Thunderbird Five, it's show time."