AU: Who are these men who took Gordon and Alan, and why is Gordon not waking up? Whilst the family take Gordon to the hospital, Kayo interrogates The Hood for information.

"Come on Gordon, breathe," Virgil begged, pushing down hard on Gordon's chest.

"Anything?"

Virgil shook his head. "I can't do anything more here. He needs to go to the hospital."

Scott ran into the room, ignoring the water, and straight over to his brother. "Gordon!" He cried. "Virgil, what happened?"

Jeff entered the house just as Alexis reached the bottom of the stairs. He noticed her hands were stained with blood, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Hello?"

Alexis gasped with a smile, instantly recognising him. "Jeff Tracy. Oh my goodness. They brought you home."

"And who are you?" He asked then heard a shout from downstairs. "Introductions later. What was that?"

Natasha held Alan tightly as he sobbed watching Virgil and Scott trying to revive his brother. "It's okay Al, it's okay."

"He's not breathing, Nat!"

Jeff walked into the room followed by Alexis and stopped dead. "Boys?"

Scott turned his head so fast, Natasha could have sworn he had given himself whiplash. "Dad!" He jumped to his feet and ran at his father, who caught his fists before he could hit him. "What were you doing? What the hell was going on in that prison!"

"I had to do it, son, I had to go to the Trapezoid and let those men think I was on their side." He sighed, "I never thought they would go through with hurting you. What's happened?"

"The room was flooded when we got here, we think Gordon was submerged for a while," Natasha answered for Scott, who went back to Gordon's side and began rubbing his head.

"Get him into Thunderbird 2, Virgil. Son, go."

Virgil nodded, and ever so gently lifted Gordon into his arms. "I'll get the ship ready. Nat and Alan? With me."

Scott noticed Alexis' bloody hands. "What happened to you?"

"Smithy won't hurt anyone ever again, but you might want to do something with the other man. I'll be in Thunderbird 2."

Scott grabbed her arm. "Did he hurt you?"

"The opposite. Now let's go. I think we've spent enough time here, don't you?"

Jeff watched her go. "Who was that, Scott?"

"That is, or rather was, Virgil's ex-girlfriend, Alexis. They met whilst you were in the Oort cloud. But they broke up a couple of years ago."

"Hence why you know her, and I don't." Jeff nodded in understanding.

"I can fill you in with all the details later, but we should go."

"After you, son. Well done today."

Scott huffed and walked back up the stairs with his father. "I let Alan and Gordon get hurt."

"No, that was me, son. And I am so sorry. The deal was I got the Hood out and they wouldn't hurt them. When I heard Bentley on the phone, I should have known something had happened and acted. By the time I did, it was too late. Your grandma's message was the relief I needed."

"It's not really me you should be apologising to, Dad."

Scott and Jeff left the house just as Thunderbird 2 was disappearing into the distance. They walked past Lewis, who was now handcuffed to the railing and Jeff stopped in front of him.

"The GDF will be here soon to pick you up."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt your sons. Smithy and Bentley were ruthless."

Scott struck a blow across his face, causing him to cry out in pain. "Shut up! And nice cut you have there, I'm sure you deserved it."

Jeff stared at his son in shock. In all the years before his accident, he had never seen his eldest be violent towards anyone. Leaving Lewis to wait for the GDF, he followed his son up into Thunderbird 1 and took a seat behind the pilot's chair.

"Son, you didn't have to hit him."

Scott grunted as he ran his preflight checks. "No, I didn't. I chose to. Gordon's in hospital, again."

"Don't take it to heart."

"Where else can I take it, Dad?" He snapped, firing up Thunderbird 1's engines. "This shouldn't have happened, none of this should have happened. They wanted to enjoy Halloween after a mission, and now they're going to spend the night in hospital!"

Jeff hung his head. "I know, Scooter."

"The sooner I see Gordon awake, the better I'll feel. Hang on tight," he fired the afterburners and set a course to Jacksonville General Hospital, hoping that Thunderbird 2 was there already.

Kayo, now conscious and up to speed with what happened, paced in front of her uncle who had been brought from his cell to the interrogation room and stopped hearing him chuckle behind her.

"This isn't a game, Uncle. Who were those men?"

"I never saw their faces, Tanusha. How am I to know?"

Kayo growled. "They knew Jeff's sons. That can't be a coincidence. Yes, they're well known, but to find them just out of the blue seems very unlikely."

The Hood rolled his eyes. "If I had anything to do with this, I would have done it in a much more elegant fashion. Why threaten your hostages? Just kill them there and then if you want something done quickly."

There was a bang as Kayo slammed her hands down on the table.

"You do realise those are my brothers you are referring to?"

"Oh yes, I am aware." He leaned forward, "listen, Kayo, what do you want?"

"Bring him in," Kayo spoke into her communicator and the door beeped before opening. Bentley was led in by a security guard and she pointed at him. "Have you ever seen him before?"

Bentley squirmed in the GDF guard's grip seeing the Hood. "This isn't how I wanted to meet you."

The Hood raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me?"

Kayo frowned at her uncle. "You don't know him?"

"I've never seen this man before in my life."

Kayo turned her attention back to Bentley. "So, what was this scheme all for then?"

"Where's Lewis, and Smithy?"

"On their way here, the GDF has gone to pick them up." Kayo sneered. "Now, back to business. Who are you?"

"Jasper Bentley."

"And how do you know The Hood?"

"Everyone knows him, he's The Hood, the one and only."

Kayo glanced at the mirror in the room. "Leave him with me, Lieutenant, and bring in Casey."

Casey nodded hearing her through the two-way mirror and turned to leave the room as the guard came to get her. "I heard."

"Just so I understand correctly. You idolise me?" The Hood asked Bentley, a little surprised.

"In a way. Rather, we like how you operated."

Casey walked in and frowned. "Your words alone will keep you here for a long time, Mr Bentley."

"So be it, but we accomplished what we set out to do. Get revenge on Jeff Tracy's boys for The Hood."

Colonel Casey's communicator beeped and a voice sounded from it.

"Colonel Casey? Commander Fawn here. We've found one man here at the house, but we've also found a fatality."

Casey nodded. "Understood. Return to the Trapezoid, Commander, we'll deal with the body here."

Kayo glanced at Bentley. "What was going on at that house?"

The Hood shook his head. "Let's get one thing straight. There's only one me. If I need help, I hire minions. I don't get people to act on their own."

Kayo laughed. "Right. Because the Chaos Crew were so loyal to you?"

"They broke away thanks to Brains. I'd still have them under my control if it wasn't for that machine of his."

"Take him away. When the other man gets here, lock them up together." Casey turned back to Kayo. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Kayo? I'll keep an eye on your uncle."

"I can stay."

"I've heard your communicator go off several times."

Kayo turned it on and saw that she had missed a message from Scott and Jeff, both telling her to get to Jacksonville Hospital. "The hospital?"

Casey nodded. "Go."

"We're not done, Uncle. I'll be back."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, am I?"

Kayo frowned then left the room at a run to the helipad where Shadow was perched on her grips. She leapt up into the cockpit and fired the VTOL jets lifting off, then plotted a course to Jacksonville and activated her scramjets.

The Tracy family and Lady Penelope sat in a small private waiting area that had been set up for them. Scott paced the room, and a constant thud sounded on the floor from Virgil tapping his heel on the ground under his chair. Natasha held his knee down sympathetically and he smiled at her then pressed his forehead against hers with a sigh as Alexis watched them.

"How long has he been in there?" Scott asked impatiently.

Virgil sighed. "He wasn't breathing, Scott. And he swallowed a lot of water, not the clean stuff either.

"This is like Deja Vu. He's waking up in a hospital, again."

"Who were those guys?" Virgil asked.

Jeff shook his head. "I don't know, Virgil, I'm hoping Kayo will have found out from her uncle."

The doors opened from the ward and a doctor walked in. "Mr Tracy, and family? Your youngest son is awake, he wants to see you."

Scott smiled. "What about Gordon?"

"We're still pumping his stomach. We should be done in about an hour's time." She smiled, "I'll be back soon."

Suddenly the sound of arguing arose from outside, and Kayo stormed into the waiting room leaving two security guards almost walking into the doors swinging shut behind her.

"They wouldn't let me in," Kayo muttered, flicking her ponytail back behind her. "Is Gordon awake yet?"

Scott shook his head hiding his smirk at her expression. "Not yet. You okay?"

"Fine now. I can't believe they weren't going to let me in. I'm dressed in uniform, it's pretty obvious who I am." She replied smugly before pecking him on the lips. "Are you okay?"

"As well as someone waiting for their brother to regain consciousness can be."

Kayo nodded and sat down on one of the plastic chairs beside the ward doors. "I suppose you want to know who those guys were? Well two of them anyway, they found the last guy dead."

"What?" Jeff exclaimed, and Alexis shrank in her chair.

"Yep. The GDF found Lewis outside and a body on the roof. Smithy, was it?"

Virgil cast a glance at Alexis who was rubbing her hands together. "Any idea how he died?"

"Does it matter? He's dead. Move on." Alexis said nervously.

"It was you," Scott said, narrowing his eyes. "That wasn't your blood on your hands, was it? It was his."

Natasha gasped. "What?"

"It's my job, Scott, you know that," Alexis crossed her arms.

"But you weren't ordered to kill someone this time!"

"This time?" Natasha frowned looking at Virgil for an explanation.

"Another reason why you broke up with me. You didn't want this to coincide with my rescue business anymore. Why did you do it, Lexi?" Virgil asked angrily.

"He hurt Alan, and I couldn't let him get away with that. He dropped him from the roof, Virgil! I shouldn't have to defend my actions. You could say, thank you?"

"Thank you for murdering someone? I don't think so," Scott grimaced. "That was the wrong thing to do, Lexi. Virgil stunned him for the GDF to pick up, that was all that was needed. Did you kill him whilst he was unconscious?"

Natasha got up. "I can't hear this. Call me when you're going in to see Alan."

Virgil got up to follow her out, much to Alexis' frustration. "You're probably wondering what that was all about, Tash?" He rubbed his arm nervously, walking beside her.

"Um yes. Very much so." She ran a hand through her hair as they walked out to the hospital garden.

Virgil sighed heavily and sat down on the wall next to an ornate fountain. "I found out she was an assassin for an organisation within the GDF when we were dating. They don't use them very often. She wanted that part of her life hidden from our relationship. She only wanted to focus on music and becoming a concert pianist."

"An assassin?" Natasha hissed quietly. "I'm glad I haven't asked for details of your ex-relationships."

"Please don't be mad at me for this," he closed his eyes sorrowfully.

"I'm not, sweet pea, just a little shocked that she has killed someone," silence passed between them until Natasha rested her hand on his knee. "I can let this go if you can?"

Virgil smiled at her. "Really?"

Natasha nodded. "She did it for your family, so that can't be all bad, can it?"

"But it's still murder."

"Virgil?" She said, moving closer to him and turning his face to hers with her hand. "Would you do the same if it meant protecting someone you loved?" Her pendant beeped as Virgil mulled over her words and she opened it. "Nat here?"

"We're going in to see Alan now."

"On our way, Scott. See you soon," Natasha hopped off the wall and held her hand out to Virgil. "Come on, sweetheart."

Virgil took it, entwining his fingers with hers. Then he pulled her towards him into a kiss, closing his eyes and pressing his hand into her back gently, he angled his head and felt her melt in his embrace then pulled back to look at her.

"Thanks." Virgil smiled, stroking a strand of hair off her face.

Natasha got her breath back with a laugh. "I'll reassure you more often if I'm going to get kisses like that."

The family gathered beside Alan's bed and Jeff hugged him gently.

"All fit, Alan?"

"Much better Dad. I've got some bruising on my wrists and my neck, but that's all. Is Gordon awake yet?"

"Not yet Son. Hopefully, we can see him soon."

"What happened, Alan?" Kayo asked after giving him a hug.

"Gordon and I were tied up; he was chained to the floor and me on a chair. I think he suffered more than I did. When we awoke from being kidnapped, his eye was swollen and he looked like he had been hit in the face. I don't remember how we got from the bar to the basement of that house."

Jeff smiled down at him. "At least you're safe now."

"What happened to Smithy? He was holding me out over the roof before Virgil stunned him. Then I was falling."

Alexis scuffed the floor with the toe of her trainer. "I took care of him."

"You killed him?"

"I had to. To stop him from doing that to someone else. It is my job, in a way."

A different doctor walked into the room at that moment and checked a report on the tablet he was holding.

"Tracy family?"

Jeff nodded. "That's us. Sorry, there are a lot of us. I'm Alan, and Gordon's father."

"I'm Doctor Augustine. Your son is awake, sir. We've pumped his stomach successfully. He's a little sore, but he'll be okay," he smiled. "You're welcome to go and see him."

Alan sat up. "Can I get up doc? He's my brother."

Virgil chucked him a set of casual clothes that his youngest brother kept in Thunderbird 2. "Here, you might want these before wandering the halls."

Doctor Augustine chuckled. "Follow me when you're ready."

Gordon opened his eyes sensing more presence in his room and smiled upon seeing his family gathered around his bed.

"Hey," he uttered with a croak.

Scott smiled tearfully. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Thanks, Scott. How did you find us?"

"Dad gave us a heads up. But if you want specifics, we found you unconscious."

Gordon coughed. "Well, you've heard the expression, eat sh..."

"Yes, we've heard it, son. They've got it out of you now," Jeff chuckled, interrupting his son's almost expletive. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone has scraped my insides out, to be honest. But I had to do it for Alan. Where is he?"

Kayo pushed Alan forward before wrapping her arm around Scott's waist. "Here."

"Hey, Gords."

Gordon smiled. "Thank God. I should have done more Noodle. I'm sorry."

Alan wiped away his tears before they could spill over, then sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Come here."

Virgil smiled as his brothers hugged. "How many times are you going to get yourself into a hospital, Gords?"

"This is the last time, I swear," Gordon replied before fist-bumping Alan's hand.

Penelope bent over and kissed his forehead. "You promised to stop scaring me."

"I know I know, but this was in self-defence. Thanks for coming to rescue us." He added, looking around at his family again.

"It's what we do, bro," Virgil smiled back at him as Penelope squeezed his hand.

"Have we missed Halloween?" Gordon asked, sadly.

Scott nodded. "Sorry, Gordon."

"It's not your fault. We shouldn't have wandered off into town after the rescue," he said, rubbing his stomach painfully as Doctor Augustine came into the room. "Ow."

"You may feel some side effects from the pumping, Mister Tracy. It should be cleared up by tomorrow."

"So, you're saying I have to stay here overnight?"

"It's probably for the best, yes."

Virgil smiled sympathetically at Gordon's sigh. "I'll stay with you Gords, you'll be needing a lift home anyway."

Jeff nodded. "I'm staying too."

Alexis zipped up her jacket as the family discussed who was going, and who was staying put. "I should head home."

"Alexis, wait. Can we talk?" Virgil turned, facing her, and she nodded.

"Sure."

"I'll give you a lift back to the nearest GDF base, Lexi. I'm heading home with Alan," Scott smiled from Gordon's bedside.

"Thanks, Scott," Alexis replied before following Virgil out into the waiting room they had gathered in previously. "Yes?"

"I wanted to thank you for helping us find our brothers. I don't like how you did it, but your actions saved Alan's life."

Alexis smiled. "You're my friends, it's the least I could do. Umm, and I'm sorry I broke your heart, Virgil. It's just, well this side of me, I don't like it and I could see it becoming an obstacle in our relationship down the line. I never meant to hurt you, but I can see that I have."

Virgil shook his head. "I'm okay, all things considered."

"And Natasha?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I really do love her, and I think we found each other when we both needed someone," he sighed. "Alexis, you risked your life today to save Alan, and I couldn't be more grateful."

Alexis nodded. "You're welcome. Well, I should go."

"You never know? We might meet each other again."

"I'd like that," she smiled at him getting to her feet as he did the same then cleared her throat. "Goodbye, Virgil."

"Good to see you, Alexis," Virgil kissed her cheek tenderly, then turned away and walked back into the main ward.

"I'll miss you, my love," she whispered and touched her cheek with a sniff.

"Scott? Alexis is waiting for you in the room outside," Virgil said crossing the room to Gordon's side.

"FAB. Those coming with me, let's get going."

Gordon reached out to Penelope's hand. "Please stay?"

"Sorry, darling. My new dog is in a show tomorrow morning, I've got to get back to England."

"Keep in touch?"

"Of course," she bent over to his level and pressed her lips to his ignoring the murmurs of giggles in the room. "Get well soon."

"Thanks, Penny."

Kayo took off in Thunderbird Shadow and was followed quickly by Thunderbird 1. Scott fired the afterburners and turned to his passengers with a smirk.

"There's just a little detour I want to take first. We're following Kayo. We have unfinished business."

To be concluded...