"Dad I'm fine!"

Two weeks later, Scott, Gordon and Alan stood outside their father's study as Virgil's deep baritone rang through the door.

"Urgh!" Gordon moaned. "Two more days and I would have won. Seriously, he couldn't keep it together for two more days?"

"That's three in a row to John" Alan pointed out. They'd been betting on how long it would take Virgil to crack and demand to be let back on active duty.

"Three what in a row?" Scott asked suddenly wary. This had all the hall marks of a terrible two scheme.

"Nothing" Gordon said as Alan replied "three times we bet to see how long it took ow!" Gordon had stamped on his foot and was glaring.

Scott hid his smirk. This one was as good as won. His youngest brother was fast growing out of his idolisation of Scott, but there was still enough of it there that Scott knew he would break easily. Manoeuvring between the two blonds Scott put a comforting arm across Alan's shoulders and made sure Gordon couldn't get in his eye line.

"You're not in trouble Alan" he said with a smile. "Come on now, how long it took until what?"

"Until Virgil cracked and asked to go back on duty" Alan said looking up at Scott with suspicion.

"Uh huh" Scott agreed. "And how have you managed that three times in a row?"

"Weeelll."

"Alan!" Came Gordon's slightly desperate sounding voice.

"I'm really not in trouble?" Alan asked giving his elder brother his very best puppy dog eyes. Scott nearly laughed. He knew he'd caved in to those eyes numerous times over Alan's life but this time they weren't needed and Scott saw just how much effort Alan actually put into his innocent face.

"You're not in trouble, I promise."

"Well, once was just after the Sentinel. Then there was that time you got shot down in Egypt and finally when Virgil got caught in that rock slide in Papa New Guinea."

"And each time you and Gordon-"

"And John!"

"You and Gordon and John, made a bet on how long it'd take before we asked to be put back on active duty?"

"Begged" Gordon said, clearly annoyed at being left out. "How long before you begged dad to be allowed back on duty."

"Right" Scott said now feeling slightly narked. After all he didn't beg for anything. "And John keeps winning?" They both nodded. "What do you bet?"

"Chores" Gordon now sounded despondent. "We each bet a weeks' worth of chores and John has now won three times – which he hasn't cashed in."

Now Scott really did laugh. John came down from Five for a mandatory month off but, due to the stresses of living in orbit he was exempt from any house work for the first week. If he really had won three weeks' worth of chores from both Gordon and Alan chances were the next time John was home he wouldn't have to lift a finger.

"Well done, John" Scott said mostly to himself. All three of them suddenly had to leap backwards as their father's study door was thrown open and an irate Virgil stormed through.

"Maybe I should go!" He shouted over his shoulder. "Even if everyone is speaking French, I'll have better luck getting them to listen to me!" Virgil pushed through his brothers and shook of Scott's hand before Scott could get a good grip on him.

"Let him go" came his father's gruff voice. "He needs to cool off and maybe then he'll start to see some reason."

Scott peaked into the office but Jeff had already gone back to work. Scott felt a flash of irritation. When things got hard their father still retreated back into his work leaving Scott to smooth things over.

"Come on Al" Gordon said starting to steer the youngest Tracy away. "There's a new programme starting called Buddy and Ellie, I think you're gonna love it."

Scott sighed and slowly went to find Virgil. There were only a few places he would be and, as Scott couldn't hear the piano, one was already ruled out. He knew Virgil would need some time to cool off but he also knew the longer he left it, the worse Virgil would be. Things tended to build with Virgil and a small problem left unaddressed could become something much bigger later. Scott thought back over the past month or so to all the times Virgil and their father had clashed. It was becoming more regular, and that worried Scott more than anything else. The last time the two had argued like this had been when Jeff had finally come to his senses and made more of an effort to get back involved with his family. Scott still blamed himself for it, if he was honest. It had taken him a very long time to trust his father when he said he would be somewhere at a certain time or remember to do something for the boys, and Virgil always took his lead from Scott. Inevitably it had only been a matter of time before Jeff broke a promise and that had happened to be picking up a young Virgil from his piano lesson. The then twelve-year-old had given his dad both barrels but Jeff hadn't backed down, saying instead that sometimes plans changed and that was a part of growing up. It had been a long couple of months for Scott until the two had started to see eye to eye again. Even now Virgil had a big problem with anyone who broke a commitment for anything less than an emergency.

Having checked the art studio Scott was surprised to find Virgil in his room throwing things into a duffel bag.

"I know you're mad Virg but running away is a bit much don't you think?" he said trying to keep the tone light. Virgil shot him a wry look.

"That was always more Gordon's speed than mine" he said. "Or John's" he chucked as the memory of John attempting to run away from home hit him. Scott laughed too.

"Yeah, though I do wonder what would have happened if we hadn't caught him during the planning stage."

"It probably wouldn't have been worth him coming back, he'd planned to take Grandma's best pan, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Because he was worried he would need something to make apple pie in." Scott spun the desk chair around and sat down. Virgil continued packing, though Scott noticed he was being very careful with his left arm, keeping it cradled to his chest most of the time.

"Jesus Virg, will you just put the damn sling back on?"

"I don't need it" came the petulant reply and a pair of socks got hurled into the bag more violently than was needed.

"Okay, what do you need?"

"A lift to Paris?" Virgil looked up hopefully.

"You wanna go to the piano thing?" Virgil nodded. "What did dad say?"

"It's dad's suggestion" he said his face clouding over. "In fact, he all but threw me out the door. It's like he can't stand to have me around at the moment."

"I'm sure that's not true" Scott said shocked. Things weren't that bad between the two, were they?

"Right after this happened" Virgil gestured with his sore arm, "I asked him if I could review what the GDF had found about the biomech factory. I wanted to know if John really was in trouble" he explained. "Dad just about exploded at me! I got a twenty-minute lecture about chain of command and how he needed to explain things to me more clearly because I'm not military." Virgil was getting properly angry now as the memory of that first argument (and every one since) hit him. "Since then, all I have to do is open my mouth and dad says no and shuts me down and then out. Today I thought I'd run a diagnostic check on Two – something I can literally do one handed, even though this isn't that bad any more – and he cut me off before I'd even finished asking."

"He's just worried about you Virg" Scott said gently. "You gave us quite a scare, dad most of all. He's trying to keep you safe and make sure you heal properly. You know we all push it a bit when it comes to stuff like this."

"If he's so interested in keeping me safe then why did he then shove Paris at me like it was some kind of final get-out card for him? I'm telling you Scott, he wants me out of the way for a while."

Scott was dumb struck. The problem was that dad and grandma had joked about sending Virgil to the piano competition if he got too antsy. Now, however, Scott was wondering if it was a joke or if their father had been holding it in reserve as a final means of making Virgil get some proper down time in. It had no doubt been meant as a loving gesture – free time was something they each seldom got – but how it was said, or possibly perceived to be said, seemed to be the problem.

"I'm sure that's not true" he tried but Virgil cut him off.

"The problem is that I asked him about Oracle. Every time one of us mentions her or Johannesburg or even the mugging he clams right up and goes all military. It's 'chain of command' this and 'you don't have a need to know' that. It's like he thinks I couldn't possibly understand because I haven't served."

"What?"

"Yeah, well, you might not have noticed because I doubt he does it to you. Did you know he grilled Gordon about his time in London?"

"Me too" Scott nodded, "though there wasn't much I could tell him. Didn't he ask you?"

"No, nor John and John's getting this worse than I am, by the way. Father has become almost monosyllabic with him."

"Oh" Scott said as something fell into place. "That's why John has been calling for a chat more often."

Virgil suddenly looked like he was chewing a wasp and Scott realised he'd bitten back a sarcastic comment.

"Yeah" was all he said instead. "John is up there, by himself, terrified that the next time he hits tera firma he'll get thrown into prison and all dad can manage is the daily report. It just makes me so mad, Scott. I just want to help John and dad won't talk to me, or him or, by the look on your face, you. He's shutting us out again." That last part was said quietly and Scott felt something in his chest start to crack.

"I'll fly you out to Paris in One" Scott said moving to put his arm round Virgil's shoulders. "I think a few days away will do you good and whilst you're away" he carried on over Virgil's weak protests "I'll see if I can't get a handle on dad. Maybe you're right and he taking things from a military viewpoint only, but that's not who we are. Gordon and I both gave that up to join IR and neither of us regret it. Our way works best for us, maybe dad just needs a reminder."

"That's what I've been trying to do!"

"Maybe dad needs a reminder at less than a hundred decibels" Scott said with a raised eyebrow. Virgil had the good grace to look sheepish.

"Finish getting packed. I'll go tell dad I'm moving up One's thruster test and killing two birds with one stone."

With that he left Virgil to it and went to interrupt whatever his father had thrown himself into. Virgil had given him a lot to think about, but, when the family was at each other's throats that was what tended to happen. Virgil noticed everything Scott didn't and usually all the things he did and, whilst each of his younger brothers still looked to Scott to fix the problem, it was Virgil that Scott looked to as a sounding board. He would miss his brother over the next week, but he couldn't deny that getting Virgil out of the house and away from dad would help smooth things over, at least in the short term.

Scott was still mulling things over a couple of hours later as he launched Thunderbird One and turned her toward France. They had only just left Tracy Island's airspace when the comm chimed and John and Gordon's holograms popped up.

"We have some things to tell you" Gordon started receiving a flash of annoyance from John.

Scott sighed, hasn't there been enough secrets and sneaking around behind each other's backs? What have we been keeping from each other this time?

"It seems dad hasn't exactly been forthcoming over the whole Oracle situation" Gordon glowered.

"What do you mean?" Virgil leant forward in his seat. The jump seats behind Scott didn't give the best view of the comm channel, but then Thunderbird One wasn't built for comfort. The jump seats were generally only used in an emergency.

"I've been in contact with Oracle quite a number of times since she made the initial overture" John started.

"WHAT? John, why didn't you say anything?" Scott exploded. This was seriously bad. Not only was prolonged contact with her a potential risk to John but their father would go ballistic if he found out that, yet again, they weren't following orders to leave the situation alone.

"I did!" came the frustrated reply from the astronaut. "Every single contact I recorded and sent to dad. I've kept reports on my conversations with her as well. I've documented everything. But, from what I can tell, dad hasn't passed the information on to anyone."

"What are you saying John?" Virgil asked but Scott's mind was already racing ahead.

If she was as dangerous as dad said then it would make sense for him to froward all information about her on to the GDF. They would then be able to use it to bring her in and find out once and for all if she was telling the truth. If she was, the GDF could run the undercover operation she'd proposed, leaving International Rescue to do what they did best – albeit with a closer eye on Thunderbird Two. If she wasn't the then GDF would deal with it.

John confirmed what he suspected.

"Dad isn't sure" Gordon concluded. "Pulling the biomech card on someone is a big deal. He might as well accuse her of being a witch. The GDF would pull her life apart to confirm or deny it and by the time they did whatever the plan is for Two might well have been sprung."

"He's data gathering" John said. "Which makes sense."

"Well, I for one am not willing to wait until he's good and ready to tell us what he wants us to do."

"Now hold on a minute" Scott cut in. "This is dad we're talking about. We trust him with our lives on every rescue. He knows what he's doing."

"Does he Scott?" Gordon challenged. "Even Grandma thinks he's blinded by his hatred of biomechanoids."

"He wants us well away from this one, just in case" Scott argued back.

"And what about those people on those tapes?" Gordon countered. "Dad is sitting back and waiting for who knows what before he does who knows what and all the while they could still be living in that hell."

Scott suppressed a wince. That one hit closer to home than he was willing to admit to. Sometimes being stuck in a small cell still came and found him in his nightmares.

"I went through dad's computer" John said quietly. "When he wouldn't talk to me, I wanted to find out just what he has in store for her and for those other people."

"John" Scott said shocked "it's dad. How could you do this to him?"

"It doesn't look good, Scott. He's been researching biomechanoids with a view to containing and controlling them" he held up his hands to stop the protest from his older brother. "I know, that makes sense. But there's nothing there on what he's going to do if she isn't. No moves to find those other people. Nothing about verifying the threat to Thunderbird Two. It's like he has a one-track mind on this."

"John, that's a serious breech of privacy" Scott said unsettled by his brother's actions. They all knew John could do that, but it never occurred to Scott that he actually would. You would have thought that something would have happened when he, John and Virgil were teenagers and occasionally at each other's throats but it never did. John respected them all too much to invade their personal space like that. But he'd done it to dad…

"He's going to take me down from here" John said clearly seeing some of what Scott was thinking on his face. "Until he does, I'm going to do everything I can to help those people and I'm going to help Oracle help us as well. I believe her, Scott. I talk to her every other day. If she's some pre-programmed puppet then it's one hell of a job. She has good days and bad days, mood swings, one hell of a sharp tongue if you piss her off" he laughed and trailed off. "I also know who we are. We're International Rescue. We help everyone and anyone who needs it. We're not International-we'll-decide-who-we-save-based-on-someone-else's-opinions." Gordon nodded emphatically.

Scott was silent for a long time and his brothers knew to give him a minute. Life on the island had been uncomfortable, to say the least, these past few weeks. The biggest problem, as far as Scott could see, was that no one was communicating properly. Or, perhaps it was just that their father wasn't. Scott knew it stemmed from an intense desire to protect his sons, but if he really only wanted their protection he wouldn't have set up International Rescue in the first place. It wasn't exactly a safe job. It was long hours, back breaking work and mentally draining. They wouldn't change it, but that wasn't the point.

Then there was Virgil. Scott was convinced that the threat to him was real but dad hadn't informed the GDF. Why? Come to think of it, Virgil hadn't said anything up to this point. Scott looked over his shoulder at his middle brother and found himself staring at determined brown eyes. Virgil flicked his gaze back to John and Gordon.

"You want me to go to England." It wasn't a question.

"We need to know" John said "and you're not only in the best position to do it but you're our medical expert as well. It seems to me that we're stuck until we get the question of whether or not she is a biomech answered."

"No way" Scott's answer was flat.

"Scott-" Gordon started but he was cut off.

"No. I'm not allowing this. I will not send Virgil out there on his own into an unknown danger."

"Do I get a say in this?" came the voice from behind him.

"No" Scott turned. "You can't do this Virgil, you're not-"

"Military?" came the angry response. "So, you agree with dad then? As we're not military John and I are useless here?"

"I didn't say that!"

"You might as well have. Scott, I can do this, all I need to do is talk to her."

"Oh, and you'll magically be able to tell?" came the unbelieving response. "If she is and it triggers some kind of programming in her, what are you going to do?"

"Exactly the same thing you or I would" came Gordon's hard voice. "Face it, Scott. If she is a biomechanoid there is nothing any of us could do if she decided to harm us. Virgil and John are valuable members of our team-"

"You don't have to tell me that!"

"It seems like I do. I know everything in you is screaming that if this risk needs taking you should be the one to take it. But you can't, anymore than you could have been the one to go to Cascade and if she is a biomech now then she was one then. The danger is the same."

"She hurt you, Gordon."

"I literally paid her to. She wouldn't have otherwise, there's no doubt in my mind."

"There are things we can do to make this as safe as possible" John said sounding more like Thunderbird Five setting up a mission. "I'll set up a meeting in broad daylight and in a public place. Virgil will keep his comm line open so we can hear what's going on."

"I still don't like it" Scott said and Gordon grinned.

"You were never going to" he replied.

"We need to tell dad."

All three of his brothers hesitated.

"You do what you think is best, Scott" John said eventually. "But if you tell him before Virgil has made contact then you know he'll pull the mission."

"If I don't then there's no way I will be able to stay close by, just in case."

John sharply turned his head to one side and frowned then vanished.

"I don't think you're going to get to either way" Gordon said. "I know that look."

So did Scott. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the head rest.

Please not now.

Jeff appeared in John's place.

"Base to Thunderbird One."

"Thunderbird One receiving, Base."

"Scott how long before you drop Virgil off?"

"ETA 4 minutes, father."

"Good, as soon as you have you need to proceed to Hong Kong. John will give you the details once you're en route."

"FAB."

The line disconnected and Scott realised that Gordon had gone as well, presumably to get Thunderbird Two ready.

"Virgil you can't go." He'd meant it as an order and what somewhat surprised by how much it came out like a plea.

"I'm going, Scott" came the gentle reply. "I have to. For John."

Scott's hands tightened on the controls as he fought not to make a sound. He wanted to scream and a part of him even wanted to cry. How was he meant to let his little brother go in to such a potentially dangerous situation with no backup at all? He knew Virgil wouldn't want to hear it but he just wasn't trained for that kind of thing. If it got out of hand… Scott shuddered.

"Scott, do you really think John and Gordon would be suggesting this is they weren't sure I'd be safe?"

"They don't know."

"No" Virgil let out a humourless laugh. "That's really the point, isn't it?" He leant forwards and clasped Scott on the shoulder. "I'll be alright." Scott's hand found his and he clasped their fingers together drawing comfort from the small embrace.

"I hate this" he said.

"I know" Virgil squeezed briefly.

Ten minutes later Virgil was standing in a field on the outskirts of Paris watching as Thunderbird One shot off into the sky. He'd put on a brave front for Scott but inside his stomach was doing summersaults.

"I've ordered you a taxi" came John's voice causing Virgil to jump.

"Thanks John."

"You're set with tickets on the Eurostar and I've made a hotel reservation for you under the name Brian Dailey at the London Azure" he paused. "You also have a hotel in Paris."

"Thanks John."

"You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. You're right, I am the best one to make an assessment."

John regarded him quizzically.

"How are you going to do that, exactly?"

Virgil drew in a steadying breath. In the distance he could see a car approach.

"The only way to know for sure is with a blood test and I don't think I'm likely to manage that. But biomechanoids were meant to have extraordinary healing capabilities. We know she fights."

"That seems to be how she makes the majority of her living" John agreed.

"Then I just have to time how long it takes her to heal from an injury. We've all been in a fight, you know as well as I how easy it is to pick up a black eye or similar."

"That'll mean staying in London for a while and coming up with a reason to see her a few times."

"I know" Virgil said signalling as the approaching car turned out to be a taxi.

"How are you going to do that?"

"One problem at a time" he replied throwing his bag in the car and climbing in the back. "But I do have a few ideas."