For Nourelle-tracy and prompt 16: 'You made me hurt them.' 'I didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do.' With the Hood and Gordon.

The thing with being a rich family was that it made the children targets for kidnapping. Jeff may not have become a millionaire overnight, but the earliest kidnap attempt was when Lucy was pregnant with Gordon, a contributing factor in his early birth. Scott was six and gone a little over 24 hours.

Multiply the millions and attempts became more frequent and elaborate. Before Alan had reached two and Scott was eleven, Jeff had been forced to hire a security specialist and all the boys bar Alan had been given some form of training. It didn't stop the attempts, but it did mean they were more likely to fail.

Then their life went to hell. The boys grew up and the eldest went their separate ways. Then Jeff founded International Rescue. Now the boys were once again targets, only this time technology was often the aim, although the odd attempt for money still happened. Thankfully very few attempts came anywhere near being successful. But suddenly Jeff was gone, the world knew who iR was, and it was back to full alert as, once again, they became targets.

Each of these attempts had one thing in common. No-one outside the family and those immediately involved knew anything about it. Ask the everyday man on the street and he would not be able to tell you a single occasion. Which is one reason why this time was so difficult.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

It was the (second) worse day in iR history. First place should have been given to their father's abrupt disappearance from their lives, but the public were, in the main, ignorant of the complete details.

The public were not ignorant of it this time. John and EOS might be fast, but a simultaneous live broadcast on all airwaves was really hard to block. Besides that, they needed to know. For Scott Tracy had been missing for four days with no clue, no ransom, no contact of any details.

He hadn't even been on a mission. Scott had been jumped on his first day off in years. His brothers were up in arms and plans had been put into place to never allow him off the island alone again. There were no recordings. No images at all. Someone was being very thorough, and that unnerved John. He should be able to find something. Penny, Parker and Kayo had similarly come back with no results from their not inconsiderable sources.

Scott Tracy had simply vanished.

Then, what would have been 10am island time, in a broadcast eerily similar to that first one of the Hood's a couple of years ago, they finally found out what was happening, what was wanted.

The man – could have been a woman even – the person behind all this stayed hidden, all but a projected outline and a voice. A voice that demanded all the Thunderbirds and their plans. In exchange for Scott's life. There followed an unnecessarily graphic video in case there was any doubting of intent.

So the whole world knew. And it waited. International Rescue was stood down. But they began to be flooded with calls offering help, people who claimed to have seen Scott walking around and wasn't this just an elaborate hoax? People who claimed to have been there and witnessed it all, people who had seen someone acting suspiciously and couldn't they be the one responsible? People who undoubtedly thought they were helping but were creating trees. As in, they could not see the wood for the trees.

They were getting nowhere, and the deadline was approaching. Kayo, Penny, Parker, Rigby and Colonel Casey were all sifting through the information looking for that one key, the key that would save Scott without giving up their 'birds. It wasn't that they were loath to give them up, but they understood better than most the potential the ships had if they fell into the wrong hands.

These would definitely be the wrong hands.

Gordon had been in contact with his old WASP mates and had been stuck in military mode since they first realised Scott was missing. There wasn't even a whisper. Whoever this was was either very new and therefore an unknown – a scary thought considering the lengths they had gone to already – or was very well known and connected and controlled a lot of people. Neither scenario was great for Scott or them.

Kayo took the call. It was obviously by design that it came through to her, as no-one else would have given him the time of day, and indeed, Kayo really didn't want to. But his opening words stopped her cutting him off.

'I know where he is.'

A simple statement that could easily be a lie from this man's lips, but there was something in his features, a look of distaste as if he couldn't believe he was doing this. Kayo got everyone's attention.

'We're listening.'

'I know where he is and who has him.'

'And who might that be, Uncle?'

She shuddered inwardly, she hated calling him that, but if he had information he was willing to share then she could play nice. The idea that they may owe him in the future didn't bear thinking about but there was no contest here.

The Hood stared at his niece. He couldn't see the men she called brothers around her, but he had no doubt that they were there. He hated this. Hated it. But they would owe him big time and a little bit of avarice was prompting his move. Besides, no-one was going to get those ships but him, especially not this person. He had a score to settle too.

'The person who has your brother goes by the name of General X. Many moons ago, when Jeff Tracy first set up International Rescue I was hired by them to steal plans and footage of the Thunderbirds. Thankfully I do not need to work for anyone these days, but we all have to start somewhere. I had thought that General X had just disappeared when the plane crashed into the mansion, but it appears I am wrong.'

'And Scott?'

'We have very little time, and General X is a person of their word. They will kill him if we do not hurry.'

And thus an absolute first occurred. Gordon Tracy, Kayo Kyrano and The Hood joined forces together to rescue one Scott Tracy. Virgil was furious at being left out until he saw Gordon packing his service gun.

The large mansion was exactly as the Hood remembered it. General X was not to be underestimated, but they had no taste in architecture. No taste at all. The place had been rebuilt almost exactly as he remembered it from before. As before, getting in was easy. No-one knew who General X was, so security, at least here on the outside, was minimal to avoid raising any alarm.

The inside was another matter, and they had to move fast. No-one could match Kayo for stealth, and Gordon in this mindset gave a glimpse of a previous life few knew anything about. Probably Scott did, she mused, but her brother the youngest WASP officer in history was always tight-lipped about his service. As was Scott. She was grateful for it though, she had backup. Kayo wouldn't trust her uncle under any circumstances, and the two siblings had planned contingencies in case this was a trap.

The Hood led them through hallway after hallway, ducking into rooms when they might be discovered, always heading for the centre of the huge building. Almost there, and they were spotted. Neutralising the guards was easy, thanks to Brains' incredibly fast-acting tranquiliser darts, but one had been talking on a radio.

A short gun battle ensued. As useless as he remembered, it didn't take long to overcome the hired thugs. Why General X always seemed to surround themselves with such rubbish people the Hood didn't know, but he was thankful nonetheless, he had not needed to get his hands dirty yet. They debated separating. Gordon going off to find Scott while Kayo and her uncle went after the General. In the end they decided to stick together.

It was a good job they did. For as they entered what would probably have been the ballroom, they came across both persons of interest together. The person they assumed was General X was seated in front of a desk. They were completely in darkness so that even this close no details could be made out. Beside them, curled up on the floor and chained to the chair by a collar around his neck was Scott. He didn't seem aware that they were there.

If the General was surprised at their appearance they did not show it. The three of them fanned out slightly, Gordon in the middle. He knew the drill – keep them talking while they slowly edged forward. No-one had said anything yet.

'Well, well, well! If it isn't Agent 47! It has been a long time, my friend.' The Hood wanted to spit in their face. 'You are not my friend. You left me to be captured! After everything I had been through to get those pictures for you.' He took a step forward as Kayo murmured something about holding steady. 'Hmm. You are right about that, but I have watched your rise to criminal mastermind with much interest. You wouldn't be where you are now without me.'

Scott stirred, and General X gave a sharp yank on the chain, causing him to collapse and he cried out in pain. He was not in any condition to help them and seemed to lapse back into semi-consciousness. Gordon and Kayo both took steps forward to keep pace with the Hood.

'That's quite close enough, thank you.' And so saying a gun appeared, pointing straight at Scott. They stilled. 'I don't understand why you, of all people, are helping them,' they said, gun gesturing at Scott but obviously addressing the Hood. 'After all, it's this one's fault you got captured that first time. He destroyed my house.' Technically, it had been the Hood who had destroyed the house, but this wasn't a detail to go into now.

'It's quite simple, General. The Thunderbirds are mine. And I will not allow them to fall into anyone else's hands!' General X laughed. 'Really? And how's that working out for you? Almost 6 years since iR started and you still haven't managed it yet.' The Hood ground his teeth.

Turning to Gordon and Kayo the General continued. 'And I assume you brough some plans with you? It's been a fun diversion, having your brother here, but I'm getting tired of him.' He cocked the gun. Gordon held his hands out. 'Wait! Wait, we do have something for you.' General X smirked at the Hood. 'Well. I'm waiting.' Kayo shook her head. 'Not until Scott's safe.' The smirk turned into a full smile, and it was not pleasant. 'You think you're in a position to bargain with me?' They yanked the chain again, pulling Scott close enough so that they could grab a fistful of hair.

The gun was now at Scott's temple and Kayo was seeing the situation rapidly escaping them. But then several things happened at once. Scott moved. With a speed that belied his outward condition he reached out and grabbed the gun, twisting it in the General's hands and causing them to cry out in pain. Gordon, Kayo and the Hood all rushed forward.

There was a gunshot that stopped everyone dead. Looking in surprise at the hole in their chest, General X stared at the Hood. 'You shot me!' was the only thing they managed to say.

Kayo rushed over to Scott as Gordon turned to stare at the Hood. The Hood stared right back, a gun in between them. He looked almost as surprised as the General had looked. Getting his hands dirty was not something he liked to do, but he would do if it was necessary. This was necessary, he couldn't have another rival on the scene for the Thunderbirds.

'You made me hurt them,' he said to Gordon, frowning in distaste at the gun still in his hand. Gordon smirked. 'I didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do.' Turning his back on the Hood, he rushed over to help Kayo with Scott. There were very careful hugs.

Turning back to thank her uncle for his help Kayo was not surprised to find he had already left. Hitting her comm, she told Virgil the coast was clear and bring the stretcher. The relief in the man's voice was palpable.

Turning the other way to check the General she got her first surprise.

General X was nowhere to be seen.

*References made to Thunderbirds TOS episode 'Martian Invasion'