Buckets of hugs to all my lovely reviewers. I love and appreciate each and every individual one of you!
-x-
Chapter 25.
Scott liked to think of himself as a good driver.
He had top notch reactions, excellent spatial awareness, and unparalleled concern for his passengers.
Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned traits were only applicable if Thunderbird One was the vehicle in question.
Not a car.
"You have got to be kidding me?" John quacked as Scott led him and Alan into the lobby of the car rental agency he'd set Thunderbird Two down in the carpark of. The redhead had tried quizzing his eldest brother on what his plan for transporting them around one of the most crowded cities in the world in their hunt for Kayo was, however had been stiffly told to mind his own business.
Of course, nothing would have pleased John more. He'd very much like to be minding his own business, thank you very much. Twenty two thousand miles up in his beloved Thunderbird Five preferably, with only EOS and algebraic algorithms for company.
But apparently, that was asking far too much. He was stuck. Stuck on earth, stuck in a city that stank of sewage, stuck as the awkward piece of cheese sandwiched between his eldest and youngest brothers.
"Can I drive?" Alan asked enthusiastically as Scott collected the keys to a rather snazzy sports car that was parked right in the middle of the lot, "I've not been in a proper car since I passed my test."
"Absolutely not," Scott snapped, wrenching the back door open and motioning with his head for Alan to get inside, "You can sit in the back and be quiet. You can call Virgil and ask if he's heard from Kayo if you really want to be helpful."
Alan pouted, disappointed that he hadn't even been given the option of riding shotgun.
"Care to fill us in on the rest of your master plan?" John asked as he lowered himself into the front passenger seat, "I now know what our alternative form of transportation is, but I'm interested to know how you intend to get back to Botafogo before the end of the day."
Scott made a noise of warning as he put the key in the ignition.
"Rush hour started fifteen minutes ago," John unhelpfully announced, crossing his arms as he glared out the window, "We'll be lucky if we can cover two blocks in the next hour."
Alan meanwhile, was glancing nervously at Scott, who was studying the steering wheel like a man possessed, "Everything okay, bro?"
"Just fine, thank you," Scott clipped as he accidentally turned the windscreen wipers on, "Just getting my bearings..."
John sighed and made to unbuckle his seatbelt, "I can drive if you're not up to the task."
"No!" Scott barked, stabbing and pushing things at random in an attempt to make it look like he knew what he was doing, "I'm fine. I think it's all starting to come back…"
John's eyes widened as the engine purred to life, "Scott, you're in reverse-"
The redhead was barely able to finish his warning before Scott stamped on the accelerator and the car violently shot backwards, the sudden motion causing the eldest to headbutt the horn. Alan yelped as his safety belt cut into his chest, and John let out a rather undignified shriek as his legs mounted the dashboard.
A moment of silence passed, before Scott gave an arrogant sniff and shifted the car into first gear, "Really John, you could have warned me."
John buried his face in his hands and groaned, not even bothering to glance up when one of the agency staff came rushing over to investigate the reason behind the impromptu horn honk.
In the backseat, Alan miserably pulled out his phone and punched in Kayo's number.
No response.
Again.
-x-
It was with some trepidation that Virgil glanced up from his lunch at the sound of the hanger door slamming shut two storeys down.
As far as he was aware, his brothers weren't due home for at least another few hours. Alan had called to say that they were navigating Rio via a humble automobile, and were no closer to locating Kayo than they had been when they'd first departed. Gordon was busy soaking in the bath, Brains was squirrelled away in his lab, Grandma was off tending to what little remained of her wild hibiscus, and as far as Virgil was aware, they weren't expecting any visitors.
Mild worry setting in as footsteps began to make their way up the stairwell, Virgil positioned himself behind one of the bookcases next to the doorway that connected the hanger stairwell to the house, a frying pan held high above his head.
He didn't have Scott's super quick reflexes or Gordon's shrill voice, but he wasn't about to let an intruder in without a fight.
Just as the frying pan was about to meet its maker, a familiar female voice cut through the air.
"Hello? Anyone home?" Kayo called, oblivious to the peril her face was in.
"Kayo?" Virgil lowered his weapon and stepped out from his hiding place with a slack jaw, "Where on earth have you been? And how did you get back here?"
Kayo blinked in shock, her gaze travelling between Virgil's face and the frying pan now dangling at his side, "I phoned Lady Penelope for a ride after Gordon ditched me yesterday. We decided to make a day of it and cracked open a bottle of champagne when we got back to London. I'll be honest and say that it was nice to have some female company for a change. As to how I got back, Penny and Parker are attending a conference in Perth this evening, so I hitched a lift and they kindly made a small detour."
Virgil shook his head to try and make sense of the situation, "You do know that Scott, John, and Alan are scouring Rio looking for you right this second?"
Kayo snorted and made her way towards the kitchen, "Their problem, not mine."
Virgil's eyebrows rose in outrage, "Why haven't you been answering any of our calls? John said he tried to contact you four times from Thunderbird Two, and Alan's been ringing you every fifteen minutes."
Shadow's pilot shrugged and flicked the kettle on, "It was Gordon's responsibility to get me home safely last night, and he failed. As far as I'm concerned, his failure is your failure."
Virgil was having a hard time comprehending Kayo's justification for her actions, "Kayo, the very least you could have done was keep your comm on so that we could track you. As things currently stand, those three are looking for you in a city of six million people. If that isn't good enough for you, then I don't know what is."
Kayo paused to select a teabag, "You can call and tell them to stop their wild goose chase if you want. I however, will be upstairs in the bath."
Too angry to inform Kayo that the bath was already occupied, Virgil yanked out his phone and furiously dialled Scott's number, only to be sent straight to voicemail. Muttering a few choice swear words under his breath, Virgil tried Alan's phone, and was rewarded when the youngest answered almost immediately.
"Hey Virg, everything okay? How's Gordo?" Alan asked over the sound of car horns honking in the background.
"Never mind about that," Virgil replied, his voice dropping dangerously, "Just tell Scott and John to come home. Kayo's back."
"What?" Alan's own voice was laced with confusion, "How? I've been trying to get through to her for the past two hours."
Virgil closed his eyes and pursed his mouth as the background commotion on Alan's end got louder, "I'll explain when you get back, just get out of there now. I've had enough of this stupid little game of hers. I'll be having words with Lady Penelope about her role in all of this as well, as I very much doubt that Kayo has been acting alone."
Alan made a small noise of agreement, "Maybe you're right – oh, hold on, Scott's stalled again. You gotta let the clutch up slowly, bro. Slowly."
Virgil was about to request that Alan put him on speaker so that he could mock Scott's driving ability, but was interrupted by a pair of wet feet furiously slapping along the upstairs hallway.
"Dude!" Gordon shrieked as he skidded to a halt at the top of the staircase, white shampoo lather in his hair and one of John's towels wrapped around his waist, "Kayo just hijacked my bath!"
Virgil's face abruptly met the palm of his hand with a loud 'thwack'.