Alan slept uneasily. He didn't have anything else to do. He tried to use sleep to escape the ever-present feeling of utter helplessness. But it provided no remedy. Instead the feeling pierced his dreams.

He was running. Running through thick black smoke. It made his eyes stream tears and choked him. He was trying desperately to find his father.

"Dad!" he called through the blackness. He was hot. He knew that soon the flames would swallow him. But he didn't care; he had to find his dad. Suddenly he heard his father's voice, "Alan! Alan come and find me!"

"Where are you?" cried Alan

He ran in the direction the voice came from. He couldn't see through the smoke. He held out his hands blindly trying to find his father.

Suddenly his hands came in contact with something.

"Dad! I found you!" he cried joyfully

"Yes Alan, you did," said Jeff

The smoke started to clear. Not much, but just enough for Alan to see the man's face…Corper!

Corper laughed. Alan screamed as Corper opened a door and flames spilled out, plunging him into nothingness…

Alan woke up still screaming. But he wasn't in the burning building. There was no smoke. There were no flames. He was alone, gasping for air. His shoulder throbbed. Getting up, Alan ran to the small bathroom adjoined to his room and bent over the toilet, vomiting into the bowl.

He sank to his knees weakly, feeling as if he no longer had the will to stand, to breathe, to live. He jumped when something cold and wet landed on the back of his neck. Spinning around, he saw Corper standing behind him, holding a wet flannel.

Corper didn't say anything. He went about helping Alan back onto the bed with steel eyes.

He disappeared for a moment, closing the bedroom door behind him, before returning with a brown paper bag. Silently he pulled up a chair beside Alan's bed and stuck his hand into the bag.

Alan tensed, but all Corper took out of the bag was a sandwich.

"Eat," he said plainly

Alan slowly took it from him but did not eat it. Instead he spoke.

"You were responsible for the fire"

Corper looked up at him, his eyes seeming to soften slightly, "Very good" he said, "How did you know that?"

Alan swallowed, "The day I was in the school infirmary I overheard the Headmaster talking to my father. He said the explosion had come from the chemistry lab, but no bomb had been found. He said the fire chief suspected a gas leak or something"

He paused, "The night before…you were handling sodium. You said it was for our next class. It wasn't true was it?"

Alan looked at him gravely, "Sodium produces hydrogen when it comes into contact with water. If it produces enough too quickly it can self-combust. All you had to do was leave enough of it in the sink with the tap running…and nobody would've known it was you"

Corper stayed silent, then nodded, "You're smarter than even I give you credit for" he said bluntly

"Why did you do it?" asked Alan disbelievingly

Corper handed him a small bottle of water, "Drink and eat" he ordered

Corper stood up and went to look out the window. Alan carefully took a sip from the bottle. His mouth seemed to hum its approval of the water quenching his invisible thirst. Not feeling like he wanted to eat, he rested the sandwich on the bedside table and d went to join Corper.

"Sit" hissed Corper before he could come within a metre of him.

Alan sat back on the bed just as Corper smiled, "Very interesting device of yours. A trial product of your father's company no doubt?"

"What?" Alan was confused

Corper looked at him, "Your watch" he said, "I took it while you were sleeping. Just in case"

Alan felt like he was going to throw up again, how could I have been so stupid?

His watch would have allowed him to communicate with his family or at least let them trace him.

"What did you do with it?" he asked cautiously, hoping that it had at least not been destroyed

But yet again, Corper gave him an answer that did not answer his question, "I've taken care of it"

Alan looked away, trying not to give anything away by the expression on his face, "What's going to happen? What are you waiting for? Why haven't you done anything to me yet?"

Corper smiled, "Trust me Alan, I have everything perfectly under control"

Alan sighed, once again unsatisfied with his answer.

"In the mean time" said Corper, flicking a switch on the wall. The blinds snapped shut, darkening the room. Alan sat up and tensed as Corper's dark figure walked towards him. Corper put a hand in his pocket and uncapped the merciless looking object he withdrew from it. Alan pushed himself along the bed with his good arm, trying to put distance between them until he found out what the object was. But Coper was too quick for him and leapt on him, pinning him onto the bed with a knee in his stomach and an arm across his chest.

"Just a quick pinch Alan and you can sleep. We can't have your nightmares making you scream again can we? Somebody might hear you," said Corper

Alan twisted and tried to prise Corper's hand off his sore shoulder, which was beginning to hurt dreadfully, but he just made matters worse. He tried to call out, but Corper put that hand onto his mouth, silencing him. Alan tried to kick out, just as he saw Corper push the object he was holding towards his arm. It turned out to be a hypo and after Corper had pricked his arm and injected the drug, Alan could no longer kick and the room grew darker.

TB-TB-TB-TB

Scott rubbed his eyes as he stared at the laptop screen. From behind him, Jeff held out a cup of coffee for him.

"Thanks" he said gratefully.

He, Jeff and John had been working flat out trying to find out as much as they could about Peter Corper. Virgil and Gordon, who had started the search a few hours ago, had crashed out on the couch behind them.

Their work had been fruitless. It appeared Corper was the probably the cleanest man in the world. Not even a parking ticket.

His father Eric Corper had owned a small, but successful chains of banks through America. The only interesting fact was that although Peter had been the eldest brother (to a Jack Corper), he had not inherited the firm, but gone on to do teaching instead. He had taught at a small primary school in his early days, and then gone on to do teaching at orphanages until Wharton Academy.

None of this information was what the Tracy's were looking for.

Scott sighed, "It's a dead end Dad, this guy probably comes with his own halo"

"Wait a minute, this cant be a dead end" said Jeff patiently, "Lets see" he scanned the screen once more, "Maybe he can help us" he pointed

"Jack Corper? The brother?" asked John sceptically

"It's better than nothing. I'll call Penny and get her to pay him a visit," said Jeff, going to the telecomm.

Penelope picked up instantly, "Jeff, just the man I wanted to talked to," she said

"Any news Penny?" asked Jeff

"It appears the fire at Wharton Academy was no accident Jeff. Forensics at the scene have informed me that the fire was caused by a planned chemical explosion," she reported

"Wait a minute," said John, who tapped a few keys on the laptop, "Corper has several degrees in that area. That's too much of a coincidence"

"Exactly" Penelope nodded

"But why would Corper have wanted to start the fire? What was his motive?" asked Virgil, who had just awoken from his doze. As had Gordon.

Penelope narrowed her eyes, "Well, based on my observations. Corper's primary motive was to kidnap Alan. He as already confirmed during the telecall he made with you that Alan had been his target for some time. Corper had been labelled 'missing' during the fire. He may have done this purposely as a diversion, hoping to kidnap Alan that very day"

Jeff nodded, "He knew that Alan would go looking for him. Even if it jeopardised his own safety. He must've hoped to lure Alan away from the evacuation location to get rid of the possibility of any witnesses"

"But I'm guessing he didn't expect International Rescue to find Alan first" finished Scott

"Of course" said Gordon, "The fire would have been the perfect means for him. The smoke would cause Alan to lose consciousness, making it more than easy for Corper to take him away quietly"

"So Corper must have been in the building while it was burning, waiting for Alan," mused Virgil

"And if he knew Alan as well as he says he does, he must've known Alan would look for him in the chemistry lab" said Scott

"You mean the dirty rat was just metres away from us when we found Alan?" cried Gordon

Jeff nodded, "The smoke was so thick, we wouldn't seen him"

"So when we found Alan, he must have just left and tried again when Alan came to say goodbye," said Scott

"He just walked out of a burning building?" questioned Gordon with a raised eyebrow

John nodded, "He would have had a way out. He wouldn't put himself in danger"

Jeff nodded, "Very well done Penny, that's answered a few questions. But we have another favour to ask. I need you to find a Mr Jack Corper. I'll send you all the necessary information when you're on your way"

"Very well Jeff" said Penny, signing off

Scott sighed, "Well, it looks like we're gonna have to keep a closer watch on this guy"

The room was silent for a while, but soon Gordon started mumbling something. They all jumped when he bolted up from his seat yelling "OH MY GOD!"

"What? What is it?" asked Jeff

"Alan's watch! It has a tracer in it remember?" Gordon was ecstatic

"Oh-" Scott swore loudly, "Why didn't we think of this before?"

They all jumped to the laptop as Jeff thumped in commands. It wasn't long before a tiny red dot appeared, blinking amidst a map

"Hey! He's not far from here!" gasped Virgil

Jeff's face fell, "Too right Virgil, in fact he's in this hotel"