Thanks to all of you wonderful people who reviewed my last chapter. To answer some of your questions: (1) Lona's history will be revealed-you'll actually get a bit of it in this chapter (2) the "takedown of the Hood"…well, we'll have to wait and see, won't we? Even I'm not privy to that information (3) Scott and Lona getting well-we all wish that, but after all they've been through, getting well takes time and finally (my fav) (4) Scott and Lona being perfect for each other- this kinda surprised me. Just recently my beta reader had mentioned that they were "perfect" for each other. While I will admit the idea has flittered across my mind…all I can say is-Lona and Scott haven't told me what they're going to do. So we all have to wait and see.

Anywho, this is kind of a long chapter, which I didn't realize until my beta reader sent it back to me. Oh well. Enjoy. Let me know what you think. Please, Katya told me to let her know what the readers thought of this chapter.

Reminder: large sections of italics are flashbacks and once, a dream

Till next time,

Miss Elizabeth and Katya

Chapter 20: The Prodigal Child

Jeff Tracy sat on the side of his bed and rested his head in his hands. It was two days since they had rescued his son and Lona from the Hood. In that time, neither one of them had gained consciousness. Brains was extremely concerned and was making plans to move both of them to a hospital on the Australian mainland. He was currently trying to concoct an explanation for their wounds being days old and for their wounds period. If they did not wake up in the next twenty-four hours, then they would have to take them to the hospital. It may have already been too late.

His breath caught as he remembered how weak and hurt his eldest had seemed when he had first seen him. His injuries were horrible; worse was the fact that most of them had never been treated and most of them risked infection at best, were infected at worse. And Lona…

Jeff's eyes squeezed shut as he remembered when he realized the full extent of Lona's injuries. Her back was raw and ravaged, and she was thin to the point of emaciated. Her face was a hundred years older then when last he had seen it. It spoke eloquently of the hell she been in for years.

At that thought, the distraught man pushed himself off the bed and started pacing up and down the large bedroom. Four years, she had been reportedly dead for four years, and now… Slamming his fist against the wall, he then wearily rested his head on the tense fingers. He should have known, somehow…impossibly…he should have known.

Virgil sat in a chair between the two occupied beds. His eyes kept darting from their faces to the monitor displays, showing him that their conditions were still unchanged. His eyes fell upon his brother's bruised face. Brains said that after the stress and torment he had been subjected to, it was not surprising that he would remain unconscious; yet it still was dangerous for him to be so.

His eyes suspiciously misty, Virgil gave a weak smile at his brother who he had feared he had lost forever. Scott was back, and miraculously, so was Lona. The smile faded quickly. Had they been saved only to die now from their wounds?

With his left hand, he grabbed his brother's hand, and with his right, he grabbed Lona's. Lona Danvers. None of the family could believe it. They had almost forgotten Scott's old friend, or rather, they had tried to push thoughts of her as far back as they could. When he had heard that the entire Danvers family had been killed in that automobile accident…his family had attended the funeral. Scott had been so distraught over her death; they had always been so close. He had never mentioned her name since the funeral and had actively tried to forget her. Virgil did not know if he could blame his brother, after all, they had all been hurt when she had refused to see them again. He looked at the hard face, the thin, tough, yet torn body, and felt terrible for her. He could not imagine what she had gone through.

His thoughts were interrupted by a change in the steady beeping of the monitor. The chair skidded across the room as he leaped to the intercom.

"Dad, get down here, now!"

The first thing he noticed was the light shining relentlessly down into his eyes. He had opened his eyes only to squeeze them tight shut. Then he noticed the sounds. He heard the beeping of medical equipment, and the hissing of an oxygen machine. Then he heard voices. Voices he had thought he would never hear again.

"Hey Scotty, it's time to wake up.

"Scott, we'd like to see you wake up, Son."

"Yeah, or else we'll have to eat all of Onaha's apple pies she's been baking for ya."

"Not on your life," came the whispered reply. Jeff grinned. He had his son back. He watched as Scott slowly and painfully opened his eyes and scanned the faces of his family. Scott's eyes shown with such a joy as his eyes rested briefly on each of his family members. His eyes seemed to drink in their faces, as if he would never see them again. Jeff thought, There was a time where I'm sure he believed that. He watched his oldest's eyes sweep each person. Then he paused.

"Al?" Jeff's smile was a forced one, but he was sure that in his current condition, Scott would not notice.

"Alan's not slept since you came back, he's been so worried. I finally had to tie him down so he would rest." Jeff neglected to tell Scott that he had not allowed his youngest to see him since his return. Since the first altercation with Hood, Alan had been a little overly concerned when it came to his brother's injuries. The horror of watching his father and four brothers almost die the previous year had been too much for the young boy. Scott smiled slightly as Jeff had hoped he would, then his gaze became troubled.

"Where's Lona?" Jeff and Virgil exchanged glances before focusing their attention back on Scott. This did not go unnoticed.

"Where is she? Is she all right? I want to see her!" he whispered. His hands, limp only a moment before, began straying across the top of his coverlet as if searching for a certain hand. When they did not find what they sought, his hands grew more frantic, grasping the cloth then waving wildly about.

"Where is she?" The tortured whispers were more then Jeff could bear. Kneeling down next to his son's bed, he grasped the wandering hands in one of his own strong hands. His other hand strayed up to the mess of dirty blond hair and smoothed it gently away from his son's eyes.

"Lona is fine, Scott. She is still unconscious, and we are a little worried about that, but it's not terribly surprising. She needs rest just as you need rest. We'll take care of Lona; you just concentrate on getting well yourself." Scott started to argue, but decided it would be too much trouble. His eyes grew heavier and heavier until they shut of their own accord. Jeff stayed where he was, watching his oldest son slip back into unconsciousness. Squeezing his son's hand one last time, he collapsed back into his chair feeling older then his 40 plus years. Virgil came up behind him and rested his hands on his father's shoulders.

"He's going to be fine, Dad. He woke up, and now he is resting. Scott's going to be just fine." Jeff nodded. He knew that, but he also knew that his son would never be quite the same again. He was worried. Would he know his own son?

Alan slipped into the medical suite, making sure the door closed as softly as it could. It was well past midnight, yet Alan still could not sleep. He had to see Scott, make sure it was real. Every time he had closed his eyes during the past two days, he had dreamed that Scott was not back, that they had not rescued him. In each one of them, the Hood had come to him, taunting…teasing him that the rescuers could not rescue one of their own. As the days had gone by, the events had seemed illusory and unbelievable as if Alan was descending into a constant nightmare. Even when he had seen his brother brought aboard THUNDERBIRD 2, he could not believe it. Too many of his dreams had started that way only to end with the knowledge it was a hopeless wish, nothing more.

Jeff and Brains had both kept Alan out of the medical facility, as they did not want him to see the kind of state his oldest brother was in currently. Alan did not know this, as none of the family wished to think about how bruised, battered, and malnourished Scott was. As he turned around to see his older brother, he let out a strangled cry for he could hardly tell it was his brother. Scott had lost a lot of weight, and his face was a mass of bruises. His hair, normally so neat and cared for, lay haphazardly on the pillow, its normal brightness replaced with a dullness bespeaking his lack of nourishment. His wrists were wrapped where the manacles had cut deeply into his skin while bandages covering different cuts and slashes poked out from the sheet covering the sleeping figure.

Alan sank into the nearby chair, his eyes wide with shock. He could not believe this was his brother. Scott was always so…strong, sure, perfect. To the fourteen year old, Scott was his hero, the ideal he was reaching for. The clear, blue eyes became foggy, and his eyes began blinking rapidly in an attempt to stem the tide of tears. He would not cry. Tracy men never cry. If he had taken the time to think, he would have realized that the mantra had been a lie for the past month or so. He lowered his head and surreptitiously attempted to wipe his eyes. The Hood had done this. He would never stop until he or the family was dead. Alan began shaking; they would never be safe unless…they committed murder. The Tracy men would never murder. A hand on his shoulder caused his head to shoot up and a flash of guilt to rush through him. Suddenly, Alan found himself looking into the dark blue eyes of his older brother.

"Alan?" The whispered word held so much meaning to the young boy. He could not help himself. Giving a quiet shout of joy, he threw his arms around his brother. Scott smothered a grunt of pain, and then wrapped his own arms around his kid brother. He was back home; he was safe. Most importantly, he had his family. His thoughts were cut off as his brother began rambling.

"Oh, Scott! I was so scared! I tried not to be, you know, be strong like you. But everyone was so afraid, and I thought I would never see you again. Then, when the Hood attacked the island again…" Alan's words were halted when Scott's body jerked at the news of the Hood's attack, followed by a shouted curse as his body protested the harsh movement. His breath was ragged while beads of sweat began dotting his forehead. Alan was standing over his brother, waiting for Scott to tell him what he could do. Finally, his breathing slowed. Scott slowly turned his head towards his youngest brother and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm. Okay. Did. Hood. Hurt. You?" Alan shook his head.

"Got a pretty good bump on my head, but I lived." Scott chuckled.

"Your head's. So thick. You'll be. Alright." Alan threw him a look of mock anger, then grinned. As his brother slipped back asleep, Alan grabbed his limp hand and laid his blond head next to his brother's arm. Soon, they were both asleep.

Jeff walked into the medical bay, hair still tousled from sleep. He had spent another restless night because of the dream. It had started after the Hood's attack on Tracy Island and had come to him every night since.

He looks around and sees he is once again in the Bank of England vault. There in front of him is the Hood, the man who continually attacks and hurt his beloved sons. He looks to his right, and he sees his youngest son fighting through the rubble towards him. He looks to his left, and he sees his oldest son hanging lifelessly from chains imbedded in the ceiling. He wants to run to both of them and help them escape this evil man, but he cannot. The evil man holds his eyes, he is not hypnotized but he cannot take his eyes off this terrible, evil man. This man had attacked two of his sons just so he could get information about International Rescue's magnificent machines. At this moment, Jeff wishes he had never come up with International Rescue, that he had never started the organization founded only to help people. It only seemed to hurt his sons.

"Well Mr. Tracy, you have a hard choice in front of you. You can choose which son to save." With that, Jeff saw a large man sneak up behind his youngest son and grab him. Though Alan struggled hard against him, the man quickly captured his wrists in one large hand while he wrapped his arm around the boy's neck in a chokehold. Before Jeff can rush to his aid, the Hood points to his left. Dreading what he will see, he slowly turns his head to his oldest son. One of the Hood's minions is standing next to his son, holding a whip. Suddenly, he raises it and brings it down on his son's back.

Scott's eyes fly open as a sharp cry is torn from his throat. Then his head flies back and his eyes focus on his father. Jeff stares straight into his oldest son's eyes. They are filled with pain and anger. The anger is directed to him!

"Why did it take you so long to find me? Lona had to save me as I was unable to save myself. I would have thought my own father could save me!" Jeff opens his mouth to tell his beloved son that he had tried so hard to find him when a scream from Alan catches his attention. His stomach revolts as he watches the big man repeatedly kicking and beating the young boy.

Jeff turns to the evil man responsible for all of this pain and suffering with pure hate shining out of his eyes. He takes a step towards the Hood, ready to attack him as he had attacked his sons when an invisible force throws him through the air until a stone pillar breaks his flight. As different parts of his body blossomed into agony, he raises his head in time to see the Hood place a pistol against Scott's head.

"Live with your failure, Mr. Tracy. I will have your machines and control the world. And you will have to watch your precious sons die one by one. Beginning with this one." Jeff's eyes grow wide with horror then he shuts them tight. He might be a coward, but he could not watch the death of his son. The muffled blast from the pistol ripped a gut-wrenching scream from his throat.

"Scott!"

Jeff's eyes held a haunted look as he scanned the room. The sight that greeted him helped slightly to dispel the horror he had experienced that night. His youngest son was sleeping in the chair next to the bed, his head lying next to his brother's sleeping body. Jeff did not want to wake the sleeping boy, but he knew that position could not be comfortable. Resting his hand on Alan's shoulder, he gently shook him. Alan's clear blue eyes flew open, and he slowly sat up, spine popping as he moved out of his strange position. He looked up and winced. There was his dad, looking down on him with an unreadable expression. Alan struggled to meet his father's eyes, shifting his gaze around the room until he could no longer put it off. Blue eyes met brown, and the blue were astonished to not see anger but rather to see love.

"Dad? I'm sorry I came down. But I…I had to see Scott. Had to make sure…you know." Jeff nodded his head. Silently he wrapped his arms around his youngest boy and let his gaze fall on his oldest son. Seeing him sleeping peacefully, Jeff glanced over to Lona's bed. Walking over to her bedside, he glanced at the monitors, then back at her face. He could have sworn…

A slight quiver of her eyelid sent him hurrying to the intercom.

"Brains, get down here now!"

Light. Blinding, unforgiving light. Noise. Harsh, clamorous noise that grated on her ears. Then, the noise settled down, and she was able to distinguish words.

"Lona, honey; please come back to us." Daddy Tracy, how I longed to hear those words from you!

"Lona, you and I need to talk." Scott figured out who I am.

"Lonnie, I guess I'll have to use Gordo's threat he used on Scott. If you don't wake up, you won't get any of our apple pie." John remembered my nickname. Could they possibly still want me? Apple pie? Don't get pie? I think not!

Slowly, using more energy than she ever thought she would need to use, she opened her eyes. As soon as they were open, she immediately squeezed them shut. There was a fluorescent light right over her head. No wonder the light was so intense. She had not been in fluorescent light in years; candlelight had been her only light for years and years.

"Turn the light down, Alan. Her eyes need to get used to the light. Lona honey, you've been unconscious for almost four days now. We need you to let us know you're wake and how badly your hurt." Once again, Lona tried to open her leaden eyelids. When they were finally open, her eyes took moments to focus. Lona watched as someone's face swum in and out of focus, finally becoming clear enough to recognize them as Mr. Tracy. She did not know whether to draw away from him or try to be strong or to hug him tight and burst into tears. She would not cry, but she could not resist the urge to hug the man who had been more of a father to her then her real father.

Jeff was momentarily stunned when Lona, who had been so weak and frail a moment before, reached up and drew him into a hard embrace. Though he knew it must be pure agony for her, he could not resist returning her hug. As he held her in his warm embrace, he remembered the other times this girl, now a young lady, had ran to him and let him comfort her. Because her father had been so disappointed that she was a girl and not the boy he had wanted, he had had nothing to do with his daughter. Instead, James Danvers and his lovely wife, Annalise, had ignored the young child and thrown themselves into the public eye. They had become the "royal family" of the United States, but they tried to forget that they ever had a daughter.

Danvers had been a good friend of Jeff's, and instead of hiring a nanny for their forgotten child, they had let the Tracy's take care of her for months at a time. Jeff and his wife had adopted Lona as their child in all but name, and she had been raised with their sons. Scott and Lona had been born months apart and had quickly become inseparable. A memory floated up reminding him of the young Lona he had loved so much.

He heard a car door slam and tires squeal as the car drove off as fast as it could. He waited for the front door to open, but heard nothing. After a couple of minutes, he went to the front door and opened it, expecting to find a little dark haired head waiting for him. There was no one out there. By now, Jeff was extremely worried. He quickly searched all around the house, desperate to find Lona. When he got to the back of the house, he chanced to look up into the tree house. He could just make out the top of her small head. Jeff quickly climbed up into the tree house and stopped on the last rung. Lona was curled up into a little ball, sobbing her heart out. Quickly he moved towards her and gathered her up in her arms. Unconsciously, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his strong shoulder.

Jeff let her cry for several minutes, and then tenderly, he moved his head so he could see a part of her face.

"Lona honey, what's the matter?" She just buried her face deeper into his shoulder and said nothing. He gently but firmly pulled her into a sitting position and very gently grabbed her chin.

"What is it, honey? Something is obviously bothering you? We'll sit up here all day if we have to until you tell me what it is. I've got all the time in the world, so I can wait you out, because you can't. Lucille is taking you to the zoo today as soon as she and the boys get back from the dentist You don't want to miss that, do you? So why don't you just tell me what's wrong." Lona twisted her head so Jeff's hand fell from her chin, then she lowered her eyes to the floor. She nervously chewed on her bottom lip while her right hand strayed to her hair and began pulling at small patches of hair. Jeff had to stifle a smile. He had always thought her nervous habit of pulling at her hair to be so cute. He quickly turned his attention back to the sad girl on his lap.

"Daddy dropped me off today." Jeff felt a flash of fury. He had a feeling where this might go. He would never understand how his friend could be so cruel to his own child.

"And…and he said he was busy. He said he was too busy to have to…to shaperon a ungraceful b."

Jeff was appalled. To say to a young child that you were too busy to do anything with them and to call your young daughter an ungrateful… how could anyone have so little regard for a young child's feelings. Or use such language around them. Though it was quite obvious Lona was too young to understand chaperon an ungrateful b or as the case maybe, "shaperon a ungraceful b." So, what was had he said that had hurt her so badly?

"Was that all, honey?" She just chewed her lip, then finally shook her head.

"He…he said…I…I couldn't call him daddy. He said I wasn't his daughter; he didn't have a daughter. He wanted a son and that I was worthless. He said I didn't have a…a daddy." At this she burst into sobs, her little body shaking as she cried harder then any child should cry. Jeff could do nothing but hold her tightly, while he wracked his brain trying to come up with words to say to comfort this hurting girl.

"Well, he's wrong, you know. You do have a daddy. Maybe you don't have my last name like Scott, Virgil, and John do, but you're as much my child as they are. After all, who has always been there when you scraped your knee? Who has told you how pretty you look in your Easter dresses, and who met with your principal to hear how you beat up that boy who teased Virgil? I've always been there for you, and you can always count on me to be there for you anytime you need me. Isn't that what being a dad is all about?" Lona frowned for a moment, and then gave Jeff the biggest smile he had ever seen.

"So you're my Daddy Tracy? Can I call you that?" Jeff smiled back at her.

"Sure honey, I'm your Daddy Tracy. And you can call me that when you're ten, twenty, or a hundred!"

Jeff Tracy looked down and saw Lona looking at him. Through the breathing mask she mouthed, "Daddy Tracy" then her eyes closed. He lowered her back down on her bed and watched as she slept peacefully. Inconspicuously wiping a tear from his eye, he turned to Virgil and John.

"I want you both to get the big guest bedroom ready for Lona. I have a feeling she will be with us for awhile. Get your Onaha and Kyrano to help you."