Almost at the end now!

Hope you enjoy! c:

Virgil was still sitting at the controls of Thunderbird 2, heart heavy with the knowledge that his little brother probably hadn't made it.

There had still been no radio contact with Gordon since he'd first gone underwater, and although the storm had cleared up and it was almost morning now, Gordon had still not made contact with any of his family.

Virgil had been dozing on and off in the pilot seat all night long and had just shaken himself awake. He sat forward in his chair and rubbed his sore neck, then straightened out his back which cracked loudly, causing him to groan.

Note to self: modify the cockpit chair for sleep.

Virgil stretched out his arms and rubbed a tired eye, looking through Two's cockpit window. The sky was beginning to turn blue as the sun rose above the horizon, shining across the calm sea. It was the start of another sunny day.

It seemed the danger of the hurricane had been eliminated now, and Scott had not long reported that it had even fizzled out inland, meaning all those who had evacuated could now return to their homes, including Scott, who announced after he'd helped with clean up operations he'd be heading back to the island.

Being the artist and seascape enthusiast that he was, Virgil found he would have appreciated the beauty of his surroundings more if he knew Gordon was safe and not-

He closed his eyes with a frown before opening them again, not wanting to think about his missing brother. He briefly flicked the switch opening up the general radio feed to see if he could hear anything, but all that came through his panel was static.

Virgil was about to contact his father to discuss his next move when a high-pitched noise squealed in his cockpit, completely stunning him. Virgil winced and held his hands up to his ears, forgetting that Brains had recently upgraded the alarm system which had in turn, increased the volume. Before he even had a chance to even see which of his alarms had sounded off, a tinny voice suddenly roared into the flight deck.

"Virgil, get out of there!"

Virgil's eyes widened considerably as the unexpected yet familiar voice broke into his Thunderbird. He swiftly spoke into the radio to confirm. "G-Gordon, is that you? Are you-"

"There's no time, Virgil! Take evasive action! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

The second these words left Gordon's mouth, three spiky missiles were propelled out of the sea, heading towards Thunderbird 2 at high speed. Now knowing which of his sirens had gone off and with only a split second to react, Virgil grasped the yoke and pulled back hard, forcing his aircraft into a panicked reverse and ascent. The missiles grazed past the main bulk of his airship and exploded just above it, fortunately missing most of its vital instruments. Virgil cursed and forced his ship to climb away from the area, not wanting to be caught in another attack. It was then that he became aware that Gordon was still screaming at him over the radio.

"Keep going Virgil! They're firing again!"

Fighting against the intense g-forces that his wild manoeuvres were creating, Virgil forced his aircraft to her limits as he fled the next barrage of projectiles which followed. He felt one missile clip Two's wing, causing the aircraft to lose a few hundred feet. Virgil aggressively pushed forward on the control column, trying to recover the lopsided balance before she fell into a stall. Once he'd righted his plane, Virgil smashed the button which opened the emergency radio link to all of the other Thunderbirds, including Tracy Island. "Virgil to Thunderbirds 1, 3, 5, and base, I'm being attacked!"

Scott was the first to respond. "Take evasive action!"

"That's what I'm doing, but I can't see what's firing at me!"

"Jettison the Pod, Virgil! It'll give you less weight and more speed!"

"On it!"

As Virgil avoided a further set of missiles and jettisoned Thunderbird 4's Pod which landed in the sea with a mighty splash, it occurred to the rest of the family who had actually uttered the suggestion.

"Wait a minute, GORDON?"

"Gords, are you alright?"

"Gordon, are you there?"

"GORDON ARE YOU OKAY?"

Gordon chuckled. "I'm fine guys, sheesh! It's like I've been gone for twenty four hours or something."

"What happened? Are you-"

"Let's talk about this later. Virgil, they're sending some more up after you!"

"Why can't I detect them?" Virgil barked, inputting the desperate controls needed to shift Thunderbird 2 as he tried to work out their trajectory.

"Their technology is more advanced than ours; I guess they have some sort of cloaking device to protect their weapons. Oh wait now, Troy's got an idea! Call you back as soon as I can!"

Thunderbird 4's line went dead.

Before Virgil could even attempt to avoid the swarm of missiles heading towards him, a barrage of missiles from the sky sped past his Thunderbird and made contact with the ones from the sea, blowing them up. John's staccato voice shortly cut through the melee of other voices barking at him through the radio.

"Virg, you have heavy traffic coming up on your left. Looks like WASP interceptors." he announced. "Oh, I can also see some WASP strike vessels approaching beneath you."

Virgil looked at his radar to see the new blips on his screen, indicating the arrival of the approaching aircraft and warships. "Took them long enough."

"That's the Navy for ya." came Scott's wry comment.

A heavy bubbling of the sea attracted Virgil's attention back to the attack area and he beamed when he saw Thunderbird 4 pop above the surface, accompanied by the larger Stingray craft. "Dad, fellas, Gordon's just resurfaced! And Stingray's with him!" he announced over the radio.

"That's excellent news, Virgil."

"I'll say! I can't believe Gordon's somehow managed to pull this off! I wonder what happened down there?"

"I'm sure he'll tell us soon. Boy am I glad to see that little yellow tin can." Virgil sighed happily, switching off his emergency radio link.

Thunderbird 2 made its way back to where it had relieved the Pod and hovered in wait as Thunderbird 4 detached itself from the WASP submarine, allowing the warships to gather around it in preparation to tow it back to Marineville. Once Thunderbird 4 had re-entered the Pod, an elated yet equally exhausted Virgil picked it up. He was about to take the rescued crew back to land to drop them off when Gordon meekly spoke to him over the radio, distracting him.

"Um, Virgil?"

"Hey Gords! I'm so glad to hear your voice! Must have been a tricky one down there, huh? What's up?"

"So… you know I saved the crew, right?"

"Yes?"

"And they work for WASP, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And Dad would stab my sorry butt if he ever found out a member of WASP knew who were were, right?"

"…Right?"

"Well, a member of WASP knows who we are. Technically three members of WASP."

Thunderbird 2 dropped a few feet as Virgil's grip momentarily slackened on the controls. "W-What?"

Gordon sighed. "Virgil, I rescued Troy. Troy Tempest."

Virgil blanched and with a small voice uttered one simple word: "Oh."