Virgil smiled as his siblings visibly shivered, "you remember it then?"

"That was the one in Italy right?" Gordon asked and Virgil nodded. "Yeah, that was freaky, but I didn't see anything there."

"Well, I did. I went off on my own to make sure we hadn't missed anybody in the evacuation..."

Leaving the Jaws of Life behind in the module, Virgil took the Explorer Pod out into the town for a last check of the city. His siblings were helping those saved out of the concrete jungle down the slope, and Scott had already made the call they were going to return home as soon as everyone was out, so he knew he wouldn't have long to do a final sweep. He drove the pod as far as he could, then leapt out as the road narrowed. He looked around at the never-ending white walls and heard a low chuckle behind him, he turned but saw nothing. Being a sceptic, he ignored it being a ghost and instead called out, if there was someone with him they needed to leave the city as the tourists and other residents had done earlier.

"I'm a member of International Rescue, you can't stay here!" His voice echoed off the walls and he grunted to himself when no one replied. "A check is a check," he walked up the slope and checked some of the empty houses before following the road round to the centre where he found a large hall.

As with all the other buildings in the abandoned town, the windows were blown out and walls stood cracked and bare, he pushed the door open and it fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. He slid his torch up beside his cheek and looked ahead of him into the shadows, his boots thudded on the wooden floor as he walked through the once-proud town hall.

"Wow," he gasped, and looked up at the high ceiling then back at the hall, his eyes laid upon a large object covered in a cloth and he walked over to it. With a gentle tug he pulled it off to reveal a grand piano and smiled, his family were miles away and no one was here to stop him. He looked around but no stool was in sight, then he spotted an old chair sitting in the corner. He drew it up to the fallboard and lifted the lid up uncovering the now yellow keys. "Real ivory," he tutted sadly, and shuffled on the seat to get comfortable, even before playing he knew the sound wouldn't be perfect unlike his piano at home, but he couldn't help grinning as he poised his fingers above the keys. Just before pressing down, he heard a creak from somewhere behind him and he peered back over his shoulder, again there was nothing. He frowned and removed his helmet placing it on top of the lid.

"If that's you Gordon, nice try," he smirked facing the piano again. "I'll be ready to leave soon," and with a fierce grin, he struck the chords to one of Rachmaninoff's preludes. His helmet wobbled on the lid and he continued to play with his eyes shut, knowing the notes backwards no matter how sharp or flat they were and he moved with the melody. Suddenly something hit the piano causing him to jump, and his eyes flew open. The melody stopped abruptly and looking down he noticed a small rock lying beside his foot which hadn't been there before, he looked up. "Gordon?"

"I'm not Gordon."

Virgil leapt to his feet, the chair clattered to the floor and he grabbed his helmet spinning round to face where the voice had sounded from, "whoever that is, you're not safe here. This city is off-limits to civilians." He tried to sound authoritative.

"You're right," the voice growled. "So get out."

"Not without you, no one gets left behind." Virgil dodged suddenly as another rock soared past him. "I'm just trying to help."

"Get out!"

Virgil almost screamed as a figure lunged at him from the darkness and he sprinted out of the hall running full pelt down the path he had come up, he heard pebbles scatter behind him and focused on the pod vehicle ahead of him. Not daring to look back after jumping into the cockpit, he slid the roof down above him and slammed his foot onto the accelerator almost skidding the vehicle down the road. He heard a rock hit the side of the door and forced himself to look back, only to wish he hadn't. A tall figure clothed from head to toe in black was running after him, he couldn't make out a face but it ran barefooted at an almost inhuman speed, he drove the pod faster until he was out of range and spotted his family up ahead next to the ships. He skidded to a halt, then slowly drove the pod up into the module checking the figure wasn't following him, it wasn't and the sun shone out from behind the clouds.

"Well Virgil, did you find anyone?" Scott asked.

"No one," Virgil replied keeping his voice steady. "We're clear to go."

Thunderbird 2 took off and Virgil looked down at the empty city below as Gordon and Alan chatted behind him, suddenly he spotted the figure moving back into one of the buildings and trembled slightly thinking how if he had stayed at that piano he may have been hurt…

Scott's eyes widened in the darkness of the lounge, "why didn't you tell us there and then, Virgil? We could have called in the GDF for backup."

"Some people just like to be left alone, Scott," he shrugged in reply. "And I think that figure was just a troubled civilian."

"A dangerous one more like," John narrowed his eyes. "I should have done a thorough scan for life readings in all of the buildings for you."

Virgil sighed. "I explored that whole area, and I've got it on camera."

"Get it. I want to see the footage," Gordon sat up.

"And me," Scott crossed his arms, sliding forwards on the sofa.

Kayo smiled. "I didn't know you had a body cam, Virgil?"

"I don't use it very often," Virgil got up, and pushed his cloak back over his shoulders so it hung down behind his back.

Alan watched him leave the room then frowned, "he seems really upset by this. Do you think that person attacked him?"

"He said they threw a rock, but nothing else." Scott shook his head. "I don't like the idea that we were being watched. Who knows what their motive was? Virgil was all alone with no backup." He sighed, "whose idea was this to tell mission stories? I thought we were doing scary stories."

"These are scary stories," Gordon shrugged.

Virgil returned holding a small camera and hooked it into the holoprojector, "the town hall was the last place I went to." He sat down on the top step.

John leaned forwards watching the footage and pointed, "hey Virg, pause it for a second. What is that?"

Scott nodded as he zoomed into the image with his thumb, "yeah I see it. Look at that outline, there, someone is watching you."

Virgil hit the play button again watching the feed of himself move through the street and towards the town hall, "that's the building."

"And you're still being watched. Look?" Kayo reached forward and paused the video, "see there? That shape."

Virgil covered his face with his hands, "this is too much."

Scott moved over to the steps and settled beside him wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "you're safe now though."

John resumed the video and they all watched their brother enter the hall and over to the piano, "it must have followed you in there." He smiled at the music, "even on a bad piano, you sound good."

Virgil did his best to smile. "Thanks."

Kayo watched the footage focused on the piano keys and spotted the rock land on the ground beside her brother's foot, she shook her head angrily, "that wasn't a ghost. It looks as if someone just didn't want you trespassing."

Gordon turned the camera off, "that's enough I think. This is too disturbing to think someone was there and ready to hurt one of us."

Jeff walked in tutting, "you lot are still telling scary tales?" He chuckled then looked over at Virgil being comforted by Scott. "Boys, what's happened?"

Scott looked up, "we've just discovered that Virgil was being stalked in Italy, that mission in the abandoned city. He filmed it."

"I'll get Casey to check the location tomorrow, that place should be empty, it's not safe for civilians," he walked around to the steps Virgil and Scott were sat on and knelt down beside them. "You're safe here son, okay?"

Virgil nodded with a smile as his father's hand squeezed his shoulder, "thanks, Dad."

Kayo curled up under the throw Scott had left, "I saw something once when I used to trick and treat as a kid."

Alan grinned. "What happened?"

Jeff shook his head, "I'll leave you to it, I just came to get my laptop."

Scott helped Virgil to his feet and they rejoined the circle, "how old were you, Kayo?"

"Five," Kayo smirked draping the soft throw over herself and Scott as he sat down beside her again. "This is a fun one I promise. I laugh when I look back at it."