It was a sight that never failed to fill him with pride and awe. But today there was something so very poignant about the vision in green that descended through the low clouds of the early afternoon.
Ustin had come flying back to the doctor's office just ten minutes before, babbling in Kazakh the news that somehow needed no translation. The EM weapon was off. Thunderbird 2 could approach. But with no way of contacting them, they had simply had to wait for the fading energy signature to be detected. And it had seemed an age before the familiar rumble of the powerful craft heralded her low pass in preparation to land.
And it really was her. No strange shimmering or unusual missile ports. Just the immense green form of hope at last.
Scott shielded his eyes with his arm as the VTOL thrusters fired up and sent dust and debris spiralling through the air. He then heard the low whine of the landing gear being deployed and the soft thud of ground contact.
The warning claxon rang out through the complex as the cargo bay door opened and Scott hurried forward. Clothed in trademark green and white, the figure waiting impatiently within then burst forth before the metal ramp had even settled.
Suddenly overcome with relief and exhaustion, Scott waited near the foot of the still descending ramp and felt his throat tighten. He closed his eyes as he was suddenly then met with the full force of the man hurtling down the ramp, both of them almost toppling over.
"Oh god!" Jeff threw his arms around Scott and clutched him against him.
Scott held onto his father and felt the sting of tears welling as the man trembled against him.
"What the HELL were you thinking!" Jeff was suddenly stepping back from him, holding him firmly by the shoulders and glaring at him in fury, pain sparkling in his shadowed eyes.
Scott could only offer a nod of understanding.
"Oh god, Scott!" Jeff glanced up and down his son's dirty, weary body and his anger faded. He clutched him close once more and groaned softly.
Footfalls on the metal ramp caught Scott's attention and he looked up, seeing his brothers watching the embrace in concern and apprehension as they approached.
"John." Scott managed huskily, suddenly pushing his father back from him. "Hurry!"
Jeff frowned in confusion but the urgency in his son's voice was enough. He fell into a quick sprint behind Scott, beckoning Gordon and Virgil to follow and they hurried inside the complex.
So this was the all but motionless tracking beacon that Alan had been monitoring. Jeff halted outside the med lab, seeing the pale form that lay amid those trying to revive him. His eyes then took in the scene; the bloodied body slumped inside the doorway, the black-clad military personnel and the one he assumed to be a native guard. He was then drawn back to the ashen face of his son, his heart sinking as he watched the medic arch his casualty's head back and gently slide the metal blade of a laryngoscope into his mouth.
"Jeff …"
Jeff could not look away. He heard his sons groaning in dismay, was aware of Virgil and Gordon hurrying to support Scott, saw her stand and begin to approach him.
"Jeff …?"
She stepped into his view and crouched slightly to meet his gaze. When he then turned his head to look at her, she smiled thinly and offered a nod of reassurance.
"What - " Jeff cleared his dry throat and his frown deepened. "What the hell happened?"
"He has internal bleeding." Penny answered softly.
Jeff's world was suddenly spinning around him. He closed his eyes and her continued explanation faded into the dizzy ringing in his ears. She was saying something about convulsions and sedation and best options but none of it sank in.
"Jeff?" Penny urged worriedly, placing a hand on his arm.
Jeff opened his eyes and managed a nod in response. "Who did this?" He husked.
"I did."
The reply came from Scott and it could make no sense. Jeff turned to look at him, saw him transfixed on the resuscitation before them.
"I kept telling them he was a civilian. Not a Thunderbird." Scott continued quietly, watching the medic secure the ET tube and continue to squeeze air into his brother's limp form. "I thought I was protecting him."
Janson looked up towards Penny and frowned in concern. "Ma'am. We need to organise a Med Evac. Can you attempt contact - "
"No!" Gordon urged quickly, "We'll handle this. Virg!" He grabbed his brother by the arm and they headed back out of the building.
"He … he seemed okay at first." Scott resumed in a husked whisper.
Jeff tore his eyes from the sight of his second eldest once again seemingly slipping away from him. And just like before he could think of nothing other than what the hell would he do without his sounding board, his confidante. The one precious remaining piece of Lucy.
Scott suddenly felt the weight of the past god-knows-how-long pressing down onto his shoulders. He staggered backwards, almost losing his footing. And then a pair of strong arms were about his waist and he clung to them gratefully.
"I've got you." Jeff offered softly.
Scott nodded and let his head rest against his father's shoulder. The world spun around him giddily and he closed his eyes. He listened as distant voices made plans to secure the complex and await further reinforcements.
"Jeff." Penny urged carefully, "You ought to leave. We can take it from here. You should go in case more guards return, bringing Spooks or KGB or goodness knows who else with them."
Jeff mumbled an affirmative.
Scott was then aware of his younger brothers returning with a stretcher and listened as they carefully lifted John from the room. Janson, the medic, insisted on going with them and no one made any attempt to argue. Any help for John was most welcome.
"Scott." Jeff squeezed his son gently, "We should go."
Scott stood up straight, his legs weary beneath him but thankfully still working. He watched Penny and Eva head from the room, talking sombrely together. They nodded as they spoke and then Scott's heart sank as Eva said the words that he had been secretly praying would not be mentioned here.
"What … ?" Jeff breathed.
Scott looked up into his fathers face and understood all too well the pain and anger that rested there.
"What did she just say?" Jeff urged louder, stepping towards the two women.
Penny's shoulders fell and she nodded slowly. "Trangh." She confirmed quietly. "Trangh Belagant."
oooo
There was no stopping him. And something told Scott that perhaps they shouldn't even try. He climbed aboard Thunderbird 2 and felt numb as he sank to the floor beside the firmly secured stretcher that held his brother's pale form.
Scott's body was drained and his mind foggy as he tried to keep out of the way of Virgil and Gordon, rigging John up to all kinds of monitoring and stabilizing equipment. And it was all so horribly familiar. With the exception that this time John wasn't making brave jokes and smiling in weak reassurance in the back of a London Ambulance. The courage that had kept him going aboard the mortally wounded Five and somehow on his feet for most of the clear up in London was not there to reassure Scott. And it was painfully obvious.
"Jeff, no!" Penny shouted again from the adjacent cockpit.
"Why doesn't she give up?" Virgil wondered aloud, satisfied that there wasn't a single piece of equipment not being somehow used to either help or observe his unconscious brother.
Gordon glanced through the open door and shook his head in dismay. "He needs to let it go …"
"All I know is that we need to go!" Janson countered and glanced up briefly at his assistants, his focus maintained on the steady rhythm of inflations he was squeezing into the ambubag.
"Yeah …" Virgil sighed and turned to watch Scott sagging heavily against the side of the stretcher. "Guess I'll go tell 'em that …"
Penny was standing beside the seated Jeff, her face flushed and her hands sat firmly on her hips. She shook her head and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You have a son in there who needs to get to a hospital!" She flicked a pointed finger towards the cargo hold beyond, "And you are chancing his life for the sake of some bloody stupid vendetta!"
Jeff was silent.
Penny groaned and then caught sight of Virgil entering behind them. "Talk some sense into him, Virgil? Please?"
Virgil shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable with the notion that he was being asked to chastise his all too often intimidating father.
"Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird Two?"
The three of them paused as Alan's voice came over the comm.
"Go ahead." Jeff responded quickly.
"I've got a heat signature 4.7 miles North-North-East of your position, one jeep-sized vehicle and one occupant. The forest is too dense for a clear image but it's not moving and it's alone."
Jeff nodded thoughtfully. "And it's on the border."
"Yup. Sending co-ordinates now."
"And Brains?"
"En route. ETA 23 mins."
Jeff nodded again, rubbing a hand up over his forehead and back across his close-cut hair. "Thanks, Alan."
Virgil watched Penny throw her hands into the air in frustration and then turned back to his father. "Dad …" He began carefully.
Jeff took a deep breath and stood from the pilot seat. He offered Virgil a thin smile and ignored Penny's angered glare. "Get John to London."
Penny gasped slightly, "Moscow is - "
"London's the closest place that I can trust!" Jeff countered, his annoyance at once more being second-guessed obvious and his smile quickly fading, "And besides … they've treated him before so …" He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "I'll wait here. Make sure The Hood is caught."
"But - " Penny's protest was silenced by Jeff's raised hand.
"Brains and I will be in contact." Jeff concluded sternly.
Virgil nodded - in understanding if not agreement - and retreated to the corner of the cargo bay that posed as a med lab and informed his passengers.
Jeff waited for his son to be out of earshot and then turned to Penny. "I have to do this."
Penny regarded him in silence.
"I have to know that he's finally secured. Gone. For good."
Penny frowned gently and shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "I wish I could believe you, Jeff."
Jeff looked into her flushed face and made no reply.
"I understand … really I do …"
Jeff nodded and turned away from her.
"But … for the sake of your sons," Penny called after him softly, "You cannot be the one to pull the trigger."
tbc …