From the air everything had appeared normal.

Brains set Thunderbird 1 down at the far end of the immense lawn where large oaks and conifers helped conceal her. It was the perfect spot really. And an extra monthly bonus had bought the infuriated gardener's silence.

Penny helped Jeff and Brains heave on the ropes that pulled across the wide tarpaulin suspended amid the tops of the trees. She secured her rope and headed out towards the house, smiling as she glanced back to check the covering. Money bought a great many things: comfort, privacy, seclusion, security. Still, she wondered how many of the British aristocracy could say they had a camouflage canopy strung up behind the tennis courts.

Habit and still stinging reminders of recent events made the three of them stick to the edge of the grounds and they jogged in single file silence beside the cultivated hedge.

Penny halted abruptly as they neared the house, grunting in slight pain as Jeff slammed into her back.

"What?" Jeff urged in a breathless whisper.

"I don't know." She replied quietly, "But something's wrong."

Jeff watched her flushed face for a moment, his heart pounding in his ears. He glanced up at the enormous house before them and then turned to Brains.

Brains shrugged slightly, "I c-c-could head back. Scan the grounds."

Penny sighed heavily, "It was because I heard his voice."

"Hey?" Jeff frowned.

"Parker." Penny smiled thinly, "I heard his relief but nothing more." She closed her eyes, replaying the conversation in her mind. "But maybe he did try to warn me."

Jeff's frown deepened and he looked back at the seemingly normal, quiet house. "But … Pen - ?"

"The curtains." Penny stated sadly.

Jeff and Brains took another look at the house but were both still none the wiser.

Penny glanced at her watch. "It's ten in the morning and the curtains are closed in the upper floor."

Jeff's frown faded and he instinctively backed up against the hedge, nodding in wary understanding.

Brains pulled his comm. device from his pocket and cleared his throat. "Thunderbird 5, come in."

"Roger, Brains."

"Alan. We need you to sc-sc-sc-do a complete sensor sweep of the Creighton-Ward estate."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Okay … give me a sec … what am I looking for, anyhow?"

"Uh … we're not sure," Brains replied quietly. Hopefully nothing, he added to himself. He looked up at Penny and Jeff and was sure they were also silently praying.

"Okay …" Alan began after what seemed an impossibly long minute. "I've got Parker located in a large room at the front of the mansion. "And he's got eight others with him."

"What are they doing?" Penny asked quickly.

"Just sitting together," Alan chuckled, "Caught the staff having a coffee morning, huh?"

"How about the rest of the grounds?" Jeff urged.

"Hey, Dad." Alan's voice was smiling, "Uh … nothing except the three of you."

"Thanks, Alan." Jeff nodded.

"Sure," Alan's voice sank a little, "Is everything okay?"

Jeff and Brains turned to Penny and watched her shake her head sadly.

"Just fine," Brains offered hurriedly, "We'll be in touch."

"F.A.B."

Brains switched off the comm. and sighed heavily.

Penny was counting on her fingers, muttering her thoughts softly. "It's a midweek morning so … Parker, housekeeper, gardener, two maids, cook …"

"That leaves three." Brains concluded.

Penny contemplated her calculations for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Three."

"And three of us." Jeff shrugged.

"And no idea who they are or if they are armed." Penny countered.

Brains gasped slightly and reached inside his jacket, pulling out a very small pistol. "It's only a st-st-st-tranquilizer. But they won't know that."

Jeff nodded eagerly, "And we've got the element of surprise."

Penny laughed suddenly, "We just called in!" She shook her head and pointed back down to the far end of the grounds. "Never mind the low fly-by and landing!"

"Ah." Jeff conceded quietly.

"No … we need to go about this carefully …" Penny sighed and pulled her fingers through her tangled hair, retying the loose ponytail at the base of her neck. "In fact," She gasped slightly and turned to head back away from the house. "We need to get to my car!"

The three of them jogged in a wide arc around the west wing of the mansion and ducked down under the windows as they edged round to approach the front of the house.

Jeff peered out across the quiet front drive and grinned suddenly as he saw the long pink limousine. "Since when did my money and Brains' invention become your car … ?"

Penny sighed and turned to glare at him with a very clear 'not now' message etched on her face.

Jeff shrugged an apology, his smile lingering as he thought of the many times he had commented on his son's cheeky bravado during dangerous rescues; there was no doubting who they had got that from.

"Together." Penny suggested in a whisper and watched them nod in agreement. She held up her fist, lifting her fingers in sequence. On three, they ran for it.

The gravel drive was noisy with a long line of mini-eruptions as the bullets that trailed them impacted with the ground at their feet. A few shots ricochet off the bright armour-plating of FAB1 and they were sure that some had grazed their hair as they at last reached their target and crouched down behind the protection of the car.

Penny closed her eyes and leaned against the car, breathless and scared.

Brains patted the door beside him and smiled gratefully, the last few rounds that pursued them still spinning off of the shielding.

"Well," Jeff shook his head, his ears ringing from the gunfire. He watched his companions catching their breath and a smile pulled at his lips. "I guess they're armed."

Alex adjusted her position carefully, flexing the fingers in her right hand and feeling a little sensation return as blood flowed again. She was balanced awkwardly on the edge of the bed and her shoulder ached where John rested against her but he had fallen into such a deep, peaceful sleep and she was loath to disturb him.

The nurse smiled in understanding as she crept into the room and beheld the two of them.

Alex could feel her cheeks flushing, "He was restless and - "

"It's okay." The nurse nodded and her smile grew. "It was kind of obvious." She continued forwards and then headed round to the other side of the bed. "Although, if I were you, I'd be careful."

Alex frowned up at her warily.

"Being in the bed and all, we might mistake you for a patient."

"Oh," Alex laughed softly, "True." She turned her attention to John and could just make out his face below her. "How is he doing?"

"Fine."

Alex looked back up and saw the nurse watching them in intrigue. It was clear she wanted to ask about him, about Alex, about all of it. But professional courtesy and a promise to John's father stopped her.

"It should be fine to move him in a few hours."

"Move him?" Alex echoed.

The nurse nodded, "To his private medical facility. Wherever that is." She smiled warmly, excited by the secrecy of it all. "His doctor is outside now discussing the transfer with our staff."

Alex turned to the door but could see nothing beyond the small glass window. She was confused; surely Scott would have said –

Tom's face was pale and full of fear as he suddenly hurried into the room. "I'm sorry Alex, I tried to - " He was silenced as a small squeaking sound came from somewhere behind him and he was thrown forward by the impact of the silenced bullet slamming into his vest.

Alex was rolling off of the bed and onto her feet in a heartbeat. She heard the nurse yelp in terror and John cry out in pain as she pulled her arm out from behind him and dove to the floor.

The two suited men were clear in their intentions, guns raised and faces emotionless as they strode into the room. Alex grabbed her bulletproof vest and threw it up over John, hearing the thud of impacting bullets and John gasping in fear.

Alex fired back, her un-silenced weapon shattering the relative quiet of the ward. Her aim was good and she watched in relief as the two strangers dropped their weapons and clutched at their injured shoulders.

In the sudden quiet of the room, Alex called out to Tom and heard him groan an affirmative. She peered under the bed and watched him rolling onto his back, bruised and shocked but unharmed.

Alex got to her feet and kept her gun trained on the two men as she stepped closer to the bed. "John?"

John pushed the vest off of his face and nodded, his eyes closed as he waited for the pain from sudden movement to fade.

Alex looked beyond him to the nurse and watched her cowering in the corner of the room behind a chair but the older woman managed a brief smile and Alex returned one of her own.

Sensibly, the ward staff had stayed well back from the commotion but now a few nurses were appearing in the corridor, peering cautiously around the door.

"Call your security team." Alex ordered calmly.

"We already have." One of them replied quietly. "And more police."

Alex sighed inwardly; this was not necessarily a good thing. She nodded and then moved slowly towards the two strangers who had attacked them. "Who are you?"

The two men glared back at her sullenly.

"Tom?" Alex urged.

"Yeah." Tom was at last on his feet, reaching behind him to reassure himself that the vest had worked.

"Cuff the one by the door." Alex continued, "I've got this one." She stepped forwards and smiled thinly at the man before her. "Kindly hold out your hands, sir."

The man winced as he obeyed her, the movement jarring his heavily bleeding shoulder.

Alex sighed in relief and holstered her gun, pulling her cuffs from her belt. "I'm arresting you for assault with intent with a deadly weapon. You have the right to - "

"I know my rights." The man growled in annoyance, glaring at Alex as she secured the handcuffs firmly.

"Oh really?" Alex smiled thinly, "Care to explain them to me? Hmm? What exactly gives you the right to attack a sick man in his hospital bed?"

The man fell silent again, groaning as Alex eased him back across the room and into a chair. Tom then forced the other attacker to follow suit and together he and Alex studied them in interest.

Alex turned to her partner. "ID." She began quietly, "And I'd better call it in." She headed back across the room to grab her radio when a commotion the erupted in the corridor and she headed out to investigate.

"It's okay!" Alex called out quickly as she saw an angry, worried Scott about to launch into one of the rather burly security guards that was prevented him entering the ward.

"Alex!" Scott lurched past the guards and raced along the wards. "What the hell is going on?"

Alex shrugged her shoulders, "Wish I could tell you." She sighed and shook her head, "They just appeared from nowhere and - "

"What?" Scott gasped, stepping past her and hurrying into John's room. He took it all in within a few seconds, the cuffed men, the frightened nurse, the police vest that lay across John's legs. His eyes rested on his shaken brother for a moment and he then turned to the two gunmen. "Who the hell are you?"

The two men stared at the floor in silence.

"Who are you!" Scott shouted suddenly, leaping forward and grabbing the nearest man by the hair, forcing him to look up. "Who sent you?"

The man clenched his teeth and remained stubbornly silent.

"Scott …" Alex moved close to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Scott released the man and groaned angrily as he back away.

Alex watched Scott in concern and then turned her attention to the nurse. "Could you get some supplies to treat these men?"

The nurse nodded eagerly, all too happy for any excuse to get out of the room.

"Nothing." Tom had finished searching the two men and shook his head sadly. "No ID." He turned to Alex and frowned in confusion. "Al … after what you told me … if Bryce turns up, we might never know."

Alex nodded slowly. "Get them out of here. See if there's an empty room." She lowered her voice, "Convince them to talk to you."

Tom regarded her in apprehension and then seemed to realise that it was the only option. He urged the two men to their feet and marched them from the room.

Scott had sat down beside John's bed and was watching him in concern. "Bro?" he urged softly.

John's breathing was laboured, his eyes squeezed tightly closed. "I'll be fine." He husked through clenched teeth.

Alex approached him from the other side of the bed and reached out to place her hand on his cheek. John leaned into her touch and smiled thinly.

Scott jumped slightly as the comm. in his watch bleeped gently and he sighed wearily.

"Scott! They've got Parker and they shot at Dad!"

"Wo!" Scott soothed quickly, "Alan, slow down. What's happened?"

Alan's voice was still filled with panic but somehow he was able to relay what had happened at Penny's house.

Scott looked up at Alex and could see John fighting back tears.

"Scott, Virg and Gord think it's because of them! The news report went out ten minutes ago." Alan continued hurriedly. "Scott, what the fuck are we supposed to do?"

Scott held Alex's gaze and watched her nodding slowly.

"It makes sense." John husked quietly, "They don't … don't want to be exposed."

"They've stepped up their game." Alex agreed sombrely. "They'll get rid of anyone who saw them."

"Scott?" Alan called over the comm., his voice cracking. "What should we do?"

tbc …