'Better prepare yourselves, Mr Tracy.'

The camera cut out.

The penthouse went absolutely silent. In the quiet everyone heard Gordon sit down heavily, and it was like a switch. Everyone started talking at once. Jeff screwed his eyes up and pinched his nose as the cacophony washed over him.

'QUIET!'

They all stopped as Jeff got to his feet and began pacing the floor. He needed to make some decisions now, before Scott arrived.

'I've got them, Dad!' John said, sounding like he was shouting in the quiet.

'Call it into the police, John. Deltane will be long gone. He's obviously dropped the shielding, wouldn't you say?'

'Yeah, Dad. You're probably right.'

Jeff ran a hand down his face and sat back down. He looked at everyone and sighed.

'Ok. First things first. As soon as we've finished discussing this I want you, Virgil, to take your Grandmother, Alan and Penny back home and come back with Brains.'

He held up his hand as he waited for Alan's protests to stop.

'But Dad…'

'Son, I need you and Penny to protect Tracy Island. Scott knows where it is, and if – god forbid – if he leads Deltane there and reveals to him International Rescue…well, we can't afford for that to happen. You and Penny are going to be our defence.'

'Ok, Dad.'

The words were said but the sulk was there. Alan knew he was being sent away to keep him safe, but at the same time he couldn't fault his Dad's reasoning. There was a significant threat to their base of operation that couldn't be ignored.

'Good. John, I want you to begin working on some way to track Gordon that won't be trackable to anyone but ourselves and won't show up on any scanners. Gordon will help you when we've finished talking.'

'On it, Dad.'

'Parker, Kayo, EOS – I want you to firstly get the building evacuated. I'll put out an announcement shortly that Tracy Towers is going off-line for the next three days so you can do that, then the three of you need to be going over security measures.'

'Ok, Mr Tracy.'

'Get started everyone.'

Everyone scattered. Sally came up and cupped Jeff's cheek. 'Bring our boy home, Jeff.' Jeff looked into his Ma's eyes and saw nothing but confidence. He smiled in return, grasped her hand and kissed her head. Sally nodded approvingly and snagged Alan's arm, virtually pulling her youngest grandson out.

Jeff sighed again. He had a feeling he'd be doing that a lot. He turned back to the room where only Gordon was sitting. He crossed the room and sat next to his son. The bruises were fading but they were still very visible, and he laid a hand on Gordon's thigh and squeezed gently.

'Gordon.'

'Dad?'

'Talk me through what you think Scott's next moves are going to be.'

'Me? Why didn't you ask Virgil?'

'Because only you understand Scott's military mindset. Virgil and Scott may have an uncanny ability to read each other's minds, but Virgil doesn't understand this side of your lives.'

Gordon nodded in understanding. If anything, it was the one area of Scott's life that Virgil had never understood Even as children Virgil hadn't liked Scott's desire to join any armed force. It was the only thing they had ever disagreed on.

'Ok, Dad. You're right.'

'Do you think I did the right thing sending Alan and your Grandmother back home?'

'Yeah. Yeah, I think you did. I seriously doubt Scott would lead Deltane there, but you really can't take that for granted.'

'I think so too.'

'Besides, Penny's there. Nothing's going to happen to our home.'

Jeff nodded. Alan may be his youngest son, but he was absolutely convinced that Alan would step up if needed. Penny would definitely be able to hold the island, but Alan may well be the one person who could – maybe, just maybe – get through to his older brother

'Scott knows that I'm here at Tracy Towers. But he's not going to be coming straight here. He needs to get equipment. He'll spend some time planning.'

'Will he hurt anyone else? I mean, if he sees John or Kayo or Parker, will he hurt them?'

'Only if they don't stay out of the way. He's been given a set mission and he won't deviate from that mission, but that doesn't mean that he won't allow for some collateral damage. It's very against his nature, but this isn't Scott, is it, Dad?'

'No son, it's not. So we need to prepare. How long do you think before Scott actually gets here?'

'I think that three days maximum is the right timeframe.'

'Ok. I'm going to go talk to our employees. You go and help John, please.'

They stood up together, and Gordon pulled his father into a tight embrace. 'it will be alright, Dad,' he whispered in his ear, and Jeff nodded. They made their way over to where John had set up and Gordon sat down, immediately engrossed in whatever it was John was creating.

Jeff carried on, out and down in the private lift to his office, where he announced to the entire workforce that they were to have the next four days off effective immediately so that some construction work could be carried out. Parker and Kayo were already there, helping people to clear their desks. The evacuation was smooth, every employee was loyal to the Tracy family and not one asked any questions. And so Tracy Industries shut down outside of the traditional Christmas closure for the first time ever.

Once the building was empty Parker and Kayo began sweeping the floors from the basement up and EOS initiated a lockdown at each level, leaving Scott only one path through. They didn't make it too obvious a path.

While they were completing that John and Gordon were creating a transmitter for Gordon, just in case. John had taken apart one of their old edible transmitters and was tinkering away, Gordon helping where he could, mostly by passing him stuff.

Several hours later Virgil and Brains arrived, bringing pizza for everyone. The two engineers-come-medics disappeared shortly afterwards to work on their own project. They didn't reappear.

Before settling down for the night Jeff called everyone together. He stood in the middle of the room while everyone settled down, watching each one. Parker, Kayo and Gordon sat on one side while John sat on the other. Virgil and Brains were still down in the lab.

'Gordon? Take it away.'

'Thanks, Dad.'

Gordon stood up and took the floor.

'Scott's mission is me, but if we let him just come directly to me he'll get suspicious.'

'Would he, though? Wouldn't Scott expect us to move everyone out of the way?'

'Yeah, he would, John. Normally. But he's military at the moment, and with that mindset he'll also be more suspicious. We need to allay that suspicion.'

Gordon looked around the room, but particularly at Kayo and Parker. They would be the ones, the ones who would be natural to try to stop Scott. He didn't want them to, but if they didn't, Scott would become too suspicious. By the looks the two shared between they knew it too.

Jeff stood up and pulled Gordon into a one-armed hug.

'Get some sleep everyone. Tomorrow promises to be a big day.'