"We have a situation." Scott groaned, losing control of TB2.
"Scott, hand control of 2 to John, get 4 into the water!" Virgil yelled, trying to avoid that damn claw.
"FAB. John, you have control." Scott said as he stood up and raced to TB4, opening the hatch and climbing into the pilot seat.
"FAB, lowering 2 gently, the waves are too violent to drop the submarine container into the water, you'd capsize immediately. When I give the signal, launch 4 straight from 2." John said.
"Is that s-safe?" Fermat asked.
"No but it's all we have right now. Ready... launch!" John yelled. Scott launched into the water, crashing hard as he entered beneath the surface.
"Ugh never again." Scott groaned.
"You'll live. Pulling 2 out of there now, the line is still connected but sucking me in, Grab the container and lift it now Scott." John said, wrestling control with the ship with his one arm. Fermat took over comms while Brains tried to help John pull on the ship.
"Deploying magnetic claws." Scott said. Once he made contact, he informed them of it, and both he and John attempted to drag the container to the surface.
"Oh the current's are too strong, 2's nearly in the water!" John exclaimed.
Suddenly another magnetic hook shot out of the clouds and latched onto TB2, steadying it slightly and pulling it up slowly.
"What-" John exclaimed.
"Sorry we're late. Did someone call for a tow-ship?" Alan grinned as TB1 emerged from the clouds.
"Alan!" Fermat laughed.
"Alan!" Jeff yelled, grinning as he saw the welcome sight.
"John, give me control of 2." Alan requested, looking to Tin-Tin was was readying herself to take it.
"FAB. Control is yours in three... two... one." John said. Straight away, Tin-Tin felt the heavy weight of the currents pulling 2 under, both the air and water currents that was, while 2 had it's grip on the continuously sinking container.
"Tin-Tin, commence full power reverse thrust on my signal, Scott, be ready to push that container to the surface." Alan commanded.
"FAB. Commence the countdown." Scott said.
"Three... two... one!" Alan yelled, the teens pulling the ships with a yell and Scott pushing all that 4 had into resurfacing the container.
"It's working, keep going you three." Jeff said, watching as the container came up to the surface.
"Scott, release your hold now! Tin-Tin, pull it into 2's cargo hold and get out of there. You too Scott, get away from the currents and get back to 2." Alan ordered.
"FAB!" They responded.
Meanwhile, Virgil and Lady P glanced at each other, smiling at the teamwork with their youngest. It really felt like Alan was a Thunderbird. They had just taken down the last of the men, being the one operating the claw.
"This is Virgil. The crew has been taken down, what are we doing about the Hood?"
"Leave that to us." Alan said.
"Alan-" Jeff started.
"Just trust me Dad. Please." Alan interrupted.
The line was silent for a few seconds, until the older man replied. "Alright son, both of you be careful. On John's signal, I'll be there with you."
"FAB." The kids replied. Now that didn't have a line connected to 2, Alan manoevered them to land on the runway tracks of the Hood's aircraft. He and Tin-Tin exited and ran inside, confirming their entry.
Scott couldn't get into TB2 quick enough. Once he parked TB4 into it's place in the cargo hold, he ran over to open the door of the shipping container to flood the Thunderbird with water.
He cursed, being heard across the silent comms, as he ran in to find Gordon unconcious near the back, hands bound behind his back. He used his trusted penknife to cut it and he carried Gordon out and onto the floor of the medical bay on board the ship. He grabbed the scanner and scanned, sending all details to John before beginning CPR to revive him.
"Come on John, talk to me!" Scott snapped.
"Concussion, couple of cracked ribs, heavy bruising, damn, internal bleeding." John listed.
"Scott listen to me carefully. Revive him first, get the water out of his lungs. As soon as you've done that and stabilized him, waste no time in getting to a hospital." Virgil explained.
"I can get to Tracy Island in nine minutes at full speed." Scott said as he kept pushing on Gordon's chest.
"Forget Tracy Island, our brother needs a hospital, now!"John yelled.
Jeff spoke up. "Land 2 on the runway and get Gordon into 1, you'll get there much quicker in your rocket Scott."
"FAB." Scott replied. "I got him back! Hang on Gordon! John, take us down!"
"Already on it." John said, lowering TB2 remotely.
"Scott standby, I'm coming out and I'm taking Gordon and 1. Get inside and give the kids backup along with the Mechanic and Lady P." Virgil ordered as he ran out to grab the stretcher with Scott.
"FAB, better you than me. Take care of him Virge." Scott said as they strapped Gordon into TB1. Scott ran out to allow Virgil to take off, and soon TB1 was once again flown by someone other than Scott.
Scott then ran inside with the Mechanic and Lady P, headed towards the ships control centre where they knew Alan and Tin-Tin were headed.
John bode his time well, he listened over the comms as he listening to the kids quite literally tick the Hood off. He was using his powers to launch sharp and heavy objects towards Alan who was dodging and taking cover. John knew Alan was weaking the Hood by making his use his powers, but wondered how long it would be before Alan got injured.
"John. Anytime." Jeff casually but clearly irritably said.
"Just trust me Dad, not yet." John insisted.
A yell from Alan broke the tension, and Jeff all but yelled into the comms. " Alan, you okay?"
"Fine, the Hood can't last much longer." Alan said, gasping heavy.
"Neither can you! Just get out of there."Jeff said.
"No, we're nearly there!" Alan insisted, dodging yet another item.
"Scott, where are you and the others?" John asked.
"A bit preoccupied right now Johnny. It's a power match between the Mechanic and Mullion and round 2 of Lady P and Transom!" Scott said, observing the fighting. Parker was of course dazed, as he was knocked down and had hit his head.
"Scott what are you doing? Spectating?" John asked.
"Slipping past them to give Alan assistance." Scott hissed back.
"He needs it, go quickly." John said. Scott picked up the pace, stopping to yell all of a sudden as an object nearly hit him. Alan had pulled him to the ground in time, and pulled Scott behind a console.
"We need to distract the Hood." Alan said, daring Scott to ask more time-wasting questions.
"FAB." Scott said. Alan smiled a little at the lack of hesitation to trust him. They bumped their fists and ran out to continue distracting the Hood. Unfortunately, Alan was much more flexible than Scott, and very soon the Hood managed to hit him and knock him to the ground.
"Scott!" Alan exclaimed, losing his focus for a dangerous second. The Hood grabbed Alan out of the air and began to choke him.
"Alan! Let him go!" Scott growled.
On the comms, John sucked in a sharp breath, and decided to bite the bullet. "Dad get in there!"
"Wait, stay out." Tin-Tin suddenly exclaimed. "A little more time, please!"
"He's killing Alan!" Jeff yelled. Where was she hiding?
"He's too weak for that!" Tin-Tin insisted.
Kyrano intervened on John's channel. "Trust my daughter and your son Mr Tracy."
"Kyrano." Jeff noted in surprise. He had been silent all this time.
Suddenly a thud was heard over the comms, followed by Scott calling out Alan's name.
"Time to shine." Tin-Tin flinched, as she left her hiding place, holding her crystal in hand as she faced the Hood. She stepped in front of Alan and Scott, the former gasping for much needed air and the latter there to help him.
"My dear niece." The Hood smirked as his eyes turned red once again to attack her. What he wasn't expecting was for her eyes to turn yellow and fight back, quite quickly overpowering him and sending his collapsing onto the floor. She kneeled suddenly, holding her head in pain.
"Tin-Tin, well done." Alan said, pulling her into a hug.
On John's signal, Jeff used the laser of TBS to cut off the roof of the pilot room, revealing the three islanders huddled and the Hood knocked out cold. He jumped from the jet and with Scott's help, bound the Hoods arms together. Jeff ran over to Alan and hugged him tight, pulling Tin-Tin in a moment later to gently kiss her forehead.
"The Hood is secure." Scott announced into the comms.
"The same applies for Mullion and Transom. Unfortunately..." Lady P faltered a bit.
"What?" John asked.
"The Mechanic left." She sighed.
"That's quite alright. He did what he could and made his decision. I'm sure he will turn up somewhere."Jeff said.
"And w-when he does, I can f-finally free him of the H-Hood's control." Brains said. Over the comms, they all cheered for that sentiment, unaware of the Mechanic in question, overhearing them.
So they did trust him. And they fully intended to keep their promise to him. He knew what the next step was then. He took one of the workers jets, planning a route off the aircraft to make some stops before he got to his final destination. He had work to do.
When they arrived at the nearest appropriate hospital, a well respected one in London, Jeff handed the Hood and his goons to the appropriate authorities, who called themselves the Global Defence Force, or the GDF for short. Thanking Jeff for his service as International Rescue, and promising anonymity of their identities, Colonel Casey also left them with a promise to keep in touch regarding some much needed back up should IR need such help again.
Then was the hard part. On the way back, Scott had taken Thunderbird Shadow, while Jeff, Alan and Tin-Tin took TB2, Lady P and Parker had left in FAB1 before they did, intending on getting to the hospital while Jeff dealt with the Hood. The IR members had to strategically land their crafts and change into civilian clothes, to avoid the hospital staff connecting Gordon and Virgil Tracy to IR.
Virgil was one step ahead earlier, very very carefully changing Gordon into normal clothes, and then placing on his own head his helmet with a tinted visor. He handed Gordon off to the hospital staff and gave a run down of injuries, as well as a made up story regarding what happened to this poor man during a rescue attempt, before leaving in TB1 and parking her somewhere discreet so he could return in civilian clothes asking about his brother that had allegedly been bought in by IR. He was already there holding Gordon's hand when the rest of their family ran in, including Lady Penelope.
"Dad." Virgil said as his father laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Look who's here!" Gordon grinned weakly, unable to move very much with his neck in a brace and his chest bound neatly with a bandage aquired after a surgery.
"Gordo!" Alan whispered as he gently sat on the bed next to his immediate older brother and hugged him gently.
"Hey Sprout, would you believe me if I told you I missed you?" Gordon grinned.
"Yes." Alan said in all seriousness.
"I'm fine, don't you worry." Gordon said softly as he tried to run his fingers through Alan's hair.
"They had Gordon in surgery to try and stop the internal bleeding. His ribs scarred his lungs, no puncture thank god, but contact with the water caused more than a few problems. Concussion, bruised neck bones, to name a few." Virgil said.
"And you still couldn't be rid of me!" Gordon said before wincing.
"Take it easy damn it." Scott told him, but having the trace of a relieved smile on his face.
"Any idea when we can take him home?" Jeff asked.
"The doctors want him in observation for a couple of days but he will be free to come home afterwards with very very strict orders of rest." Virgil explained.
"That's good news. I know a few people here that could do with the exact same instructions." Scott said, holding heavy eye contact with Alan.
"I'm fine, really. The Hood is out of my head now." Alan insisted.
"But your mental health isn't." Scott said.
"I've been handling it." Alan insisted.
"Damn it Alan, we don't want you handling it yourself, we want you to tell us and let us help." Scott replied.
"Would you have taken him seriously? Think very carefully about your answer Scott." Tin-Tin interrupted.
"No, we wouldn't." Virgil jumped in. "It pains me to admit it, but none of us would have taken it seriously. John maybe, not no one else."
The room was silent, no one daring to insist that Virgil was wrong, because they knew he was right. Scott collasped into a chair and pulled Alan into his lap, content to hug him to death despite the kid's protests.
"We're listening now." Scott said.
"What am I supposed to even say?" Alan protested.
"Something like 'Hey knucklehead, your jokes and comments are disrespectful and I'll gladly launch you into space on 3 because you and I know damn well that I can'." Virgil said. Everyone stared at him, while Alan looked contemplative. "What?"
"Get that idea out of your head right now Alan. Dad tell him!" Scott protested, seeing Alan smirk.
"Okay you two, we can talk this out later- peacefully. For now we should leave Gordon to get some rest. We'll fly back to Tracy Island and all get some well needed rest." Jeff said.
Alan fought his way out of Scott's arms, which made the older brother smirk, and then frown as Alan collapsed to the ground.
"Alan!" Erupted a chorus of voices.
"I'm okay, ju-just exhausted." Alan said, laughing as he just laid sprawled across the ground. "The floor is nice and cold."
"Get up, baby." Virgil snorted, pulling Alan to his feet and pulling both him and Scott out of the room. Tin-Tin followed, casting Gordon a smile before doing so. Jeff placed a hand on Gordon's shoulder, smiling warmly before leaving just Gordon and Lady P.
"You didn't have to come along and get involved in the Hood fiasco for me you know." Gordon murmered, taking her hand into his.
"You would have done the same for me, Gordon." Lady P said.
"Indeed I would have." Gordon replied, smiling as he and Lady P made eye contact for a few seconds.
"Get some rest. When you feel better, I believe I owe you a cup of tea." Lady P said as she left. Gordon chuckled as he closed his eyes and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
He wasn't the only one. Virgil and Scott both flew their respective Thunderbirds back to Tracy Island, with Jeff taking Shadow again. Virgil looked back to see Alan and Tin-Tin both asleep, holding hands still, as they did for lift off. He smiled, thinking "Finally!"