"Pull out!"

Scott recoiled from the sudden shout over the comm. and closed his eyes.

"Pull out and get to safety." Jeff urged, his voice full of fear

"But - "

"NO!" Jeff shouted urgently, "Scott, get the hell out of there!"

Scott sighed and looked back out at the sleeping city. "I can't Dad. I have to find him."

"Please! I can't lose you both. I can't - "

"I'll be careful Dad." Scott insisted evenly. "I promise."

"Scott, no! Listen to m - "

Scott cut the link and blinked back tears, able to well imagine the state his father must be in. Muttering a quiet prayer to no one in particular, Scott hoped he was doing the right thing and leaned back against the seat with a groan.

The ringing of his phone made him jump slightly and he pulled it from his pocket, frowning as he saw the caller ID. He opened the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Hey."

"Oh, thank god! I've been trying to call you!"

Scott opened his eyes and peered up into the night sky. "What's wrong, Ruth?"

"Dan." Ruth replied.

Scott's heart sank.

"He's gone missing, Scott. And the FBI came here. Looking for you."

Scott closed his eyes.

"I didn't tell them anything. I said I didn't know where you had gone after we had talked." Ruth offered quickly, "I hope that was the right thing."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Are you okay?"

Scott smiled and took in his surroundings. Thinking back over the past few days, his answer should have been a resounding no but she didn't need any more to worry about. "Sure."

"Where are you?"

Scott smiled, "Ruthie, it's probably best you don't - "

"Fine. Fine. I get it."

Scott frowned slightly, "I'm sorry, Ruth …"

"Yeah … me too …"

"Listen. Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah. I called my mom. She's gonna come and keep me company. Art's still away and … well … I'm going crazy worrying about you and …" She trailed off with a sigh. "It's big, isn't it …?"

Scott smiled and nodded, "Oh yeah … one huge mess, hon' …"

"Shit … Scott, did I - ?"

"No!" Scott gasped, guessing her thoughts, "God, no. Ruthie this mess was here waiting for me before you called. This isn't your fault. You even helped."

"Oh. Okay."

Scott took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You helped more than you know." He added quietly.

Ruth was quiet for a moment. "You know … I had almost convinced myself."

Scott frowned, tears gathering.

"But when I couldn't reach you and …" She sighed loudly, "Scott … I … oh hell."

"I know." Scott cleared his throat and then forced a smile to his lips, knowing she would hear it in his words. "I'll call you when this is over, Ruthie."

"Yeah."

Scott heard the emotion in her voice and hung his head. "I have to go."

"Okay."

"I … I'll call …" Scott offered, his throat tight.

Scott heard her sign off and closed his phone. He held his head in his hands and groaned in dismay, wishing desperately for a chance to turn back time and change it all. But he didn't have long to get lost in his thoughts. His phone rang again and he looked down at the display, hoping it wasn't Ruth calling back and yet disappointed to see that it wasn't. He sighed in confusion and opened the phone. "Yeah, Pen?"

"Scott, get down here! And hurry!"

Scott opened the hatch in the belly of One and clutched his phone to his ear, listening to Penny's directions as he sped to the roof access and hurried inside the hospital. He galloped down the fire stairs, four at a time and was breathless as he reached them.

Penny supported Alex's head in her lap and again checked the pulse at her neck. She heard Scott approaching and looked up as he leapt down the last few steps and hurried over to her.

"What happened?" Scott demanded in a panic, taking in the uniform Alex wore and her apparent collapse.

"She insisted." Penny shrugged. "I thought - " She groaned and looked down at Alex's still face. "We have to get out of here. They will probably have discovered the owner of the uniform."

Scott sighed and leaned forward to place his hand on Alex's cheek. "Shit …"

Penny nodded in agreement.

"Help me." Scott sighed and slid his hand behind Alex's shoulders to pull her into a crumpled sitting position. He then took her arm and lifted her up onto his shoulder, smiling gratefully as Penny helped secure Alex over his back.

"She told me where they were staying." Penny offered, watching Scott balancing Alex's unconscious form and following quickly after him as he climbed the stairs.

"Maybe they'll be there." Scott wondered aloud.

Penny smiled and nodded slightly. "One can only hope."

Pulling Alex up into the ship was not the easiest of tasks and Scott paused inside the hatch for a moment to check on her, wishing he had Virgil with him. He slid Alex across the flight deck and lifted her into the co-pilots chair, pulling the harness down quickly to secure her slumped position.

"Scott?" Penny hurried up inside and nodded towards his shoulder with a frown of concern.

Scott peered down at his shirt and saw the dark patch that stained the cotton. With a gasp, he leaned over Alex and lifted the harness back up, steadying her as he lifted her arm clear and saw the deep red area on the white uniform.

"Crap." Penny groaned.

Scott unzipped the dress and pulled the material aside, seeing the soaked dressing and choking on the bile that rose in his throat. "Pen, grab the first aid kit."

Penny sighed and ducked under the helm to grab the small green box. "We should take her back inside." She opened the box and shook her head as she saw the bare essentials that seemed of little use.

Scott grabbed a pack of gauze from the box and kept his attention on Alex, frowning in thought. He peeled back the wet dressing and slid the fresh gauze over the slowly oozing open wound.

Penny gasped, "Have the stitches gone?"

Scott shook his head. "They left it open. Seems they felt closing it would close in the infection."

"Oh."

Scott pressed the gauze onto the wound and was aware of Alex flinching slightly. His heart sinking, he pressed harder and this time got a more definite response.

Alex blinked her eyes open and gasped in protest, grabbing at Scott's hand.

"Hey." Scott soothed and placed his free hand on her cheek. "Easy. It's okay. You're okay."

Alex groaned and closed her eyes again, her face tight with pain. She then looked back up at him and frowned as she took in her surroundings. "What … what happened?"

"You fainted." Penny replied, reaching out to place her hand on Alex's shoulder. "And scared me half to death!"

Alex turned to her and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Penny shook her head quickly, "At least we were outside the ward."

"Yeah. That was an interesting move." Scott observed.

"Her idea." Alex defended.

Penny laughed gently and moved back to perch on the edge of the pilots seat. "Well, it worked." She shrugged.

Alex smiled and then gasped suddenly, trying to push Scott's hand away. "Shit, that fucking hurts!"

"Sorry."

Alex took a moment to catch her breath and then released her grip on his wrist. She looked down into his worried face and managed a small smile of apology.

"We need to get you to a doctor." Scott sighed.

Alex peered down to where his hand covered her side and frowned in thought.

Scott turned to Penny. "Do we have any safe contacts out here?"

"Absolutely. In Moscow." Penny stood and crossed the flight deck. She grabbed her laptop from its secured position down beside the base of the co-pilot chair and knelt down to enter in the search commands.

Alex tensed as Scott lifted the gauze to check on the wound and she watched his frown deepen. "Scott, we need to find John."

Scott looked up at her. "We need to get this seen to." He countered, nodding towards where he resumed the pressure on the wound.

"Not until we've found John." Alex argued, gently moving his hand away and pressing her own fingers onto the gauze. "Please."

"Shall I make contact?" Penny queried.

Scott glanced at Penny and then turned back to Alex. He watched her shake her head slowly and he sighed in dismay.

"Please." Alex urged.

"Okay." Scott stood and moved across to the pilot's chair, shaking his head in concern as he powered up the engines. "But you are so staying right there and not moving."

"Deal." Alex smiled up at him as he moved back and pulled down her harness.

Scott held her gaze for a second and then leaned round to see Penny reading through the file she had opened. "Pen? The motel?"

"Right." Penny nodded, "We need to follow the main road south east and up towards the forest."

"Got it." Scott checked through the pre-flight data and ensured the sky was clear of traffic. "And you might want to hang on to something."

Alex closed her eyes as the craft lifted from the roof and shot up into the night sky. Literally. It was amazing. The g-forces pressed her hard into the seat and she clutched at the harness. At any other time, she was sure she would have revelled in the speed and agility of the powerful rocket but right then all she could do was focus on keeping her nausea at bay.

Thunderbird One crossed the few miles out from the city in a heartbeat and sank down over the location Alex had given them. Scott peered down through the Plexiglass shielding and could see the forest clearing and the motel. And the flames that climbed into the night sky from the burning building.

Tbc …