Judas

Part Two: Under Suspicion

By Arashi Doragon

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Thanks: I would like to thank everybody for their reviews. I never expected so manuy...

And for Claudette these are your answers honey I knew all that and I knew I had to make some decision over what I was going to do about it, and if you wait a couple of chapters, you'll know what happened…kay?

Rated: There is one use of language :P

Notes: Here's the second chapter for y'all. It's got lots of action and I hope you like this one better than the first. The people behind the rumours are revealed and we see the damage done to the Tracy family Enjoy!

I'm back Little One. You have more information for me I believe. You fought me once before. I do hope we won't be repeating that this time. You're resistance is really starting to bore me.

Jeff Tracy calmly sat at the Control centre, his eyes trained on three screens at once. There had been no communication from Thunderbird 5 other than the usual duty reports. Alan stayed no longer than necessary on the VidScreen, unless it was Gordon, Fermat or Tin-Tin he was talking to. The young blonde blanked his father, and elder three brothers, seeming to sense that they all thought he was responsible. And Jeff couldn't blame him. They did, didn't they?

Gordon had relayed the late night conversation between Jeff and Alan to Fermat and Tin-Tin, who had promptly, and not surprisingly, taken Alan's side. All three refused to converse or even stay in the same room longer than necessary with the elder four Tracy's. Gordon himself was becoming a major headache to Jeff and they were all starting to lose their temper with him.

His elder four sons were right now on their way to America. Brains had discovered the location of the conference that was to take place that night and was currently tracing the transmissions from the hotel to any nearby locations, in the hope that one of them would reveal the location of the Organisation who claimed to have the secrets.

The genius friend of the Tracy Family had skilfully remained out of the arguments, not mentioning it at all, well aware of the fact that his closest friend and his son were on opposing sides of the argument. Lady Penelope had also been in contact with Tracy Island and was herself on the way to America, in order to help the Tracy Family trace the rumours.

Jeff's eyes landed on the screens again and noticed that Thunderbird 2 Comm panel was flashing. Pushing the call button he smiled as Virgil's face flicked on the screen.

"What's the problem Virgil?"

"Just wanted to let you know that our ETA is 30 minutes. We're approaching the continent at maximum speed father. I have no idea how we're going to get to the bottom of this. Has Brains figured out where that transmission is coming from?"

"He's working on it. And Lady Penelope is on her way to help you boys. She'll be meeting you in Toronto as planned."

Virgil nodded and then turned his head. Gordon must have been speaking to him. Jeff frowned. It had taken a while for them to get Gordon to share a Thunderbird with any of his brothers. He had been adamant that he wouldn't go, until Jeff had pointedly told him that while he was still a member of International Rescue, he had a duty to the people of Earth, and if these secrets were exposed it could jeopardise the future of the Tracy Family.

Gordon had relented, though he refused to share at all with Scott. Jeff hadn't been able to figure it out. Though Scott did partly believe that Alan was responsible, he had shown the least amount of belief that Alan had told their secrets. But then Alan and Scott had never been close anyway, and Gordon may have seen this as the last straw. They had finally gotten him to share with Virgil after much persuading, and reminding him that Thunderbird 2 held his Ship, and John rode with Scott. Stony silence had occupied the cockpits of both Thunderbirds since they had left that morning.

"Virgil?"

The dark-haired pilot of Thunderbird 2 shrugged easily and turned back to face his father.

"Gordon's worried about Al is all."

At the mention of Jeff's wild youngest son, silence filled the waves. Even Thunderbird 1, where there had been a scattering of chatter between Jeff's eldest sons, was silent.

"I'm sure he's fine Gordo."

Scott's attempts to placate the bad air between him and Gordon went awry as Gordon snapped back over the communication system.

"I didn't ask you Scott."

"Yeah? Well I was telling you anyway!"

"That's enough!"

Jeff's stern command was instantly obeyed and Jeff sighed deeply. He was glad of the obedience he had worked into sons and the speed with which they reacted. Alan may, or may not have spilled Tracy secrets, but he had certainly split the family. Not intentionally, Jeff knew, but still…Alan certainly knew how to leave his mark. Even on his family.

"At the moment, Alan is safely up on Thunderbird 5 and that's where he stays. You are to focus on this mission for now, and this mission only. Do I make myself clear?"

There were muffled assents from John and Virgil.

"Scott?"

"Yeah dad. I got it"

"Gordon?"

The assent from Gordon was quiet and not quite sincere but Jeff knew that it was the best he was going to get. Sitting back in his chair he left his boys to their mission and focused on the last comm unit. Thunderbird 5's comm unit had been dark for the last few hours and Jeff was concerned that maybe Alan wasn't paying as much attention to what he should be. Not that there was anything he could do if Alan didn't want to listen.

As if reading his mind, the comm flashed red and Jeff immediately hit the call.

"Alan?"

"There's no one else stuck on this bucket is there?"

Alan's voice was cold and Jeff pointedly ignored his remark. Waiting for Alan, to continue, Jeff stared at his son's face. Alan was refusing to look into the screen, instead settling for glancing at the various monitors.

"There's a Tornado about to hit the shores of Mexico and a Hurricane headed for Canada."

"Well keep an eye on them for me. We'll divert Thunderbird 2 to the Tornado. and Tin-Tin and Fermat can handle the Hurricane with Scott."

"In Thunderbird 3?"

Jeff heard the undertone in Alan's voice. His best friends they may have been, but Jeff's youngest son trusted nobody but himself at the controls of his ship.

"Yes Alan. Thunderbird 3. Unless you have a better idea?"

Jeff wished he hadn't said anything when Alan started to rant about not wanting to be on Thunderbird 5 anyway and that they could come up and take his place and he could go to Canada.

"Alan. Stop. You are staying on Thunderbird 5 until I send John back up to take your place. Is that clear?"

Alan was about to reply nastily when he winced and gripped his head in pain. Concern immediately filled Jeff and he touched the screen.

"Alan? Are you okay? Alan?"

His youngest son gasped for a second before looking up at the screen. The pain in his eyes immediately retreated behind the shields he always wore when he spoke with his father.

"I'm fine. It's just…been happening a lot recently but its no big deal."

"No big deal? Alan if this…"

"I said I'm fine! I'll keep you posted on the Hurricane. And tell Fermat to be careful with my ship"

Alan signed off and left Jeff to stare at a blank screen. He couldn't think too much on Alan for long though, as Brains crashed into the room.

"S-sir? We've found out w-where the s-signal is coming f-from."

Jeff focused his attention on the data and proceeded to send it to Thunderbird 1, 2 and FAB 1.

Alan was completely forgotten.

Virgil cruised across the Pacific and pointedly tried to ignore the silence behind him. Since their father had called twenty minutes ago, Gordon hadn't said another word. Virgil couldn't blame Gordon for the way he was acting. He and Alan had always been close and where constantly looking out for each other. Despite that fact, Gordon was starting to get to him.He knew that Gordon saw the family as betraying their youngest, but the damage had been done. And no amount of protesting on Gordon's part, and anger on Alan's part would change a thing.

Except getting on with the mission.

"ETA ten minutes. You ready Gordo?"

There was a grunt of assent from behind him and Virgil turned to look out of the cockpit. The beauty of America below him blew him away everytime he saw it. There was nothing quite like seeing the world from above. Much like seeing the planet from Thunderbird 5. It was so beautiful. Steering his thoughts away from the space-bound craft. Virgil hit the comm panel.

"Thunderbird 2 to Tracy Island."

"Tracy Island. Virgil, there's a Tornado headed for Mexico. Can you go check that out? Scott's still on target for Toronto and Penny's on her way to meet him."

Virgil nodded affirmative almost immediately. Despite the emergency of their predicament, civilians always took precedent. If any of the Tracy boys had asked which came first, they all knew that a Civilian would take precedent over a brother. It was just the way it went. Although they all knew this, none of the Tracy's ever focused on it for too long. It was something that was just there, and something they all hoped fervently would never come up.

Thunderbird 2 made the correct course corrections and headed for Mexico, casting a look out the cockpit window at Thunderbird 2. Scott threw Virgil a hasty salute before continuing on course for Toronto.

"Virg…"

Virgil turned to face his youngest brother, taken aback but the calm way Gordon was speaking.

"What will happen if it turns out Alan did do this?"

Virgil was stunned for a moment. So. Even Gordon was starting to see the possibilities. But Virgil had no answer. What would happen? Jeff and Alan had a very unstable relationship as it was…Virgil didn't know what would happen if this turned out to be Alan's doing. He'd never fly again….Virgil knew that much. But the Tracy family couldn't survive it if Alan was responsible…

Alan lay in his bed, cursing the headaches even as one hit him again. They were starting to get more frequent and they were doing him in. He was sure that his father would have pressed the matter, called him back and demanded to know what was going on, but there had been nothing. Alan wasn't surprised. Who'd remember him, stuck up on Thunderbird 5 with nothing but the drone of equipment to keep him happy?

Sighing, he stood, grasping the doorjamb as a wave of nausea hit him. Stumbling down the corridor, Alan glanced over at the world outside. It was the best thing about Thunderbird 5. It had the most amazing view you could ever want to see.

Two years ago, after their return to Tracy Island, Alan and his brothers had taken a trip to Thunderbird 5, patching the ship back up after its wreckage. Spending months together, fixing and joking they put Thunderbird 5 back in shape as Jeff fixed up Thunderbird 3 and occasionally called for some of his boys as disasters plagued the world. As soon as Thunderbird 5 had come back online, there had been discussions over what would happen next. Alan, already familiar with Thunderbird 1 and 2, had taken to Thunderbird 3 just as well, but with a difference. He had become completely attached to the ship, spending more time fixing it up than it needed.

On his Fifteenth birthday, Jeff and Scott had revealed to Alan their plans for him to be Thunderbird 3's primary pilot. In the heat of the moment, Alan had readily agreed to be the one to take John's place when he wanted to come home. Alan had taken to space travel like Scott had taken to flying, and was pretty soon better than his brothers at withstanding the conditions. But when Alan experienced firsthand the loneliness and isolation of Thunderbird 5, he'd almost gone crazy.

In the weeks aboard Thunderbird 5, Alan developed his mischievous personality and as soon as he touched down he dragged Gordon into his pranks. Jeff had been apprehensive of sending Alan back to Thunderbird 5, fearing that his son would crack under another bout of isolation, but John needed to come home too, and Alan was just the best at handling the conditions. And so Alan had gone up for a second time.

And it was on this second trip that the headaches had started.

Sighing, he poured himself a coffee and took a sip, momentarily glancing at the monitors to his left. Nothing to do now...except wait. Alan was as worried as his family about the state of things. And he was dammed if he could understand why his family thought he was to blame. He couldn't deny that it hurt and made him angry. His family was supposed to be the ones to stand behind him, and instead they were blaming him. Gripping the cup in white-knuckled hands he cursed as the red light on the Control Panel flashed.

Striding over to the controls, he dropped his coffee in surprise.

The Emergency klaxon started aboard both the Thunderbirds and at Tracy Island all at once. Jeff pushed away all the paper work on his desk and hit the comm panel to Thunderbird 5. As the screen flipped on, Jeff managed to see Alan panicking as he hurriedly tried to fix whatever was the problem.

"Alan? What's going on?"

Even as he spoke, Scott and Virgil came on the VidScreens, eager to know what was going on. Jeff's youngest son was frantically playing with the controls of Thunderbird 5, and raised his panicked gaze to meet that of his father.

"They've found us Dad…I don't know how, but they're coming."

Jeff froze even as Scott cursed and Virgil sputtered a denial. After the events of the last two years, Jeff had made sure that they changed Thunderbird 5's trajectory and hidden it away from its previous location, ensuring the safety of the ship. But, obviously, his precautions had been in vain.

"Calm down Alan. Now. Who's found you?"

"I don't know!"

Alans voice rose with every word, and Jeff could sense his fear. Virgil and Scott were still listening to every word, and now even Penny was asking what the trouble was.

"There's a ship. Coming this way. And it's not like they can miss me! What do I do Dad? What do I do?"

Jeff took control immediately, as Tin-Tin, Fermat and Brains skidded into the Control room. He turned back to the VidScreens, looking at his eldest son and London agent.

"Scott, Penny, continue on to Toronto. We must know who has these secrets and how they got them. Virgil, you stay on course to that Tornado. And keep an eye on the Hurricane. It could shatter the conference anyway. Tin-Tin, Fermat, you're in Thunderbird 3 with me. Brains, I need you to stay here and hold the fort. Alan, we're coming, Just hold on and don't panic!"

Scott leapt from Thunderbird 1, John coming out straight after him. Both were unable to focus themselves totally on the task at hand, having…other things on their minds. The co-ordinates from Brains had arrived swiftly, and Lady Penelope was already waiting at the entrance to the hotel, Parker as usual by her side. The two brothers were also worrying about their youngest brother. Alan was alone on Thunderbird 5 and despite their father's command to not panic, they didn't know how Alan could do anything but panic.

"Lady P! Let's go get these guys!"

As they raced through the lobby doors, they ignored startled patrons and staff, and raced up the stairs, not even bothering to take the lift. They had to hurry. There wasn't much time left to the conference and that Hurricane was still heading this way. Scott's eyes scoured the door numbers as they reached the fifth floor. Lady Penelope and Parker were right behind him, ready for anything. John brought up the rear, looking out for anyone that might try something.

The eldest Tracy finally found the room, and brought out his weapon, used only for emergencies. He tried the door, and found it open. Frowning, he pushed it open, careful to keep quiet. He could feel Penny's breath on the back of his neck, and he shivered unconsciously. As they slid into the room, he peered round the door, and froze

"Shit! We're to late!"

The four of them turned fully into the room and stared at the carnage. Scott swallowed the bile rising in his throat and turned away from the sight. John could only stare, dumbfounded at the bodies, but Parker and Penny strode right in and bent down, checking everyone in the room. Scott had seen something, against the far wall that sent a deep fear trickling through his guts.

"Oh no…"

Lady Penelope and Parker both followed his gaze, swallowing hard when they saw what he was looking at. John was already looking in that direction and all the colour had drained from his face. Tacked to the wall, were the plans for Thunderbird 5 and 3. Below them, were rough designs of another ship, one Scott assumed had been built. Whoever had been in this room, had built a space-worthy craft, and was currently on their way to Thunderbird 5.

Scott let his head fall, knowing that there was only one person who could have possibly laid his hands on plans for the Thunderbirds. And fear filled his heart as he saw a folder lying on the bed, bloody fingerprints all over it. As Penny and Parker lifted the plans off the wall, Scott opened the file.

"Shit…"

Alan's face stared up at him from the front page and below it was everything on the Tracy's. Their names, the location of the Island, the plans for the Thunderbirds, and other information that only one of the family could know. His hands shook even as he felt John put a hand on his arm.

"Scott?"

"Its Alan, John…"

His voice quavered with barely controlled feelings as he turned haunted eyes to his brother.

"It was Alan. Why would he do this…why!?"

"DAD! Where are you?"

Alan stumbled against the controls as another blast from the unknown ship crashed against Thunderbird 5. The consoles sputtered and sparked and Alan ducked, as flames set alight to one of the panels.

"Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 3 come in...Dad? DAD!"

There was silence and Alan started to shake. Where was his father? He'd said he was coming…so where was he? The blonde astronaut picked himself up off the floor, and stared at the screen, only to see it flick on. He stared into familiar eyes, and all he could taste was fear.

"Hello Alan. I trust you're well?"

Alan felt pain rip through his head once more and he whimpered as a chuckle filled the comm unit.

"I hope you're father won't be too angry when he discovers you're responsible for what's happened."

Alan tried to fight but the pain was just too intense. He felt something latch onto Thunderbird 5, and heard the warning klaxon announce unauthorised attachment. But there was nothing he could do. The pain ripped through any coherent thought in his head and he had a fleeting vision of a familiar person standing in the docking bay, before passing out.

There you have it. The second chapter in the fic. Hope it was okay, and thanks to my little brother for proof reading it A loyal fan of the show, he'd soon tell me if I was crap at writing Thunderbird Fiction! And I hope you would too!