VIRGIL was in a difficult predicament. On his left he had an angry man who was pointing a gun directly at him, a man who was clearly desperate to live and was prepared to take drastic measures to make sure that he was rescued. On his right was a young woman trapped under debris that was almost completely surrounded by fire. If he helped the man he'd probably not have time to get her out. But if he helped her he'd risk getting shot at. He also realised that the weakened ceiling was starting to break up and was going to collapse imminently - on top of him and the man with the gun.

"Virgil, what the hell are you doing?" John's voice said sharply. "Why are you just standing around? Get those people out of there!"

"I'll kill you," said the man with the gun. "I swear, I'LL KILL YOU!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" the woman's voice cried.

A chunk of the ceiling then fell and almost hit Virgil on the head. That made up his mind for him. "I'LL BE BACK FOR YOU!" he shouted to the man and then dived through the large gap where the wall had been just as the ceiling gave way completely.

"No! NO!" yelled the man. "AAAAAAAAAAAARGGGH!"

The man's scream was cut off swiftly as the ceiling collapsed on top of him. Now all Virgil could hear was the crackling of the flames and the sounds of a woman sobbing.

"Someone…please…help!"

Virgil rushed forwards, and grabbed the largest piece of debris before moving it off of the woman. He then found her coughing and choking underneath. Her face was blackened by the smoke so she didn't really notice Virgil as he picked her up off the floor. "It's okay, I've got you!" Virgil said as he kicked down the door and hurried back up the corridor to the stairs and then up the stairs to the roof where the family were still waiting.

Virgil then put her down on the floor so she could breath in fresh air. As he did so, he couldn't help the feeling that he recognised her from somewhere, and that the voice when calling had sounded so familiar. And yet he could not remember a name or where he might have seen her before. "I got one of them, John," he said. "I'm going back for the other one."

"Don't bother, Virgil," said John grimly. "The ceiling collapse has done him."

Virgil sighed heavily and hung his head. He swore under his breath. "If only he'd not pointed that gun at me I might have-"

"Gun?!" Gordon, John and Alan all exclaimed together.

"Yeah, he had a gun," replied Virgil. "He threatened to shoot me if I didn't help him."

"Well he didn't deserve saving if he was doing that," scowled Alan.

"Alan, we don't get to make that choice!" snapped John.

"It's irrelevant now," sighed Virgil. "There's nothing we can do for him now. John, is there anybody else trapped down there?"

"There were some on the lower floors, but it looks like the Fire-Brigade has already got to them," said John. "That just leaves the remaining upper level fires to extinguish, Thunderbird 2."

"Already on it," said Gordon. "Then we'll get those survivors down to ground level."

Now knowing that he did not need to go back inside the building, Virgil checked on the family and the woman. They were fine, but he was still trying to figure out who the woman was.

Nina was too full of smoke and disorientated to have realised that it was Virgil who had rescued her from the fire. It wasn't until she was being put into the back of an Ambulance that she finally caught sight of Thunderbird 2 hovering above the tower block. "V-V-Virgil?!" She tried to sit up but was stopped by the Paramedics.

"Easy, madam. You've inhaled a lot of smoke," said one. "We need to get you to the hospital."

Nina wasn't sure if she'd even seen Thunderbird 2. But after being in hospital for several hours and then seeing a news report on the TV showing Thunderbird 2 putting out the fires and lowering the survivors to the ground. Nina then gasped at the realisation that one of them was her, and that the man in the grey suit who'd rescued her from the fire was in fact Virgil.

One of the nurses came in. "How are you feeling, Miss Gallagher?" she asked.

Nina heard the nurse but was too busy staring at Virgil to answer properly. "He didn't speak to me."

"Pardon?" said the nurse.

"Virgil," said Nina bitterly. "He saved my life a second time, and yet he didn't even have the guts to say 'hello'? How dare he!"

The nurse was confused, but decided it wasn't her business to learn. So she left Nina alone to stare at the TV with a slow rise of anger building inside of her. "I gave my number, Virgil Tracy. You never called. And now you saved my life and didn't even acknowledge me? Oh, I'm gonna make sure you will. I've waited so long for you to come back into my life. I'm not letting you go again."

Virgil was having a restless night. No matter how hard he tried to sleep, he could not get the sound of the woman shouting 'Help' out of his head. Even when he'd looked down at her after getting her on the roof, he'd struggled to remember who she was and it had bothered him for the rest of the day. Soon his mind began to drift back in time to an event that had occurred several years before - to what would in fact be the day that would answer his question.

***Flashback Begins***

Virgil and Grandma looked around at the darkened city around them. Virgil in particular was looking down the road where Thunderbird 2 had crash-landed on and was amazed at although there was severe damage to the tarmac, none of the buildings had been hit. "I guess miracles can happen," he remarked.

"Yeah, but what happened?" Grandma asked. "Why has all the power gone out?"

Virgil had already been thinking about that. "It's got to be some kind of sustained EMF," he said. "An Electro-Magnetic-Frequency knocking out all electrical power in the city - and over it."

"You got the last part right," said Grandma. "Look!"

Virgil looked to where Grandma was pointing and realised they'd come to rest right next to a building site. There were two tall yellow tower-cranes. One of which seemed to be wobbling in the wind, and from where he stood, he could just about hear the sound of a woman shouting desperately from above.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Nina cried and banged on the windshield of the crane's cab.

Virgil looked at Thunderbird 2. "Goddamnit!" he said angrily. "I've got the best rescue equipment in the world with me - and I can't use any of it."

Grandma put her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you put too much faith in technology, kid," she said. "It's not the gear in there that rescues people, it's the Tracy. Now get climbing!"

Virgil looked back up at the crane, swallowed the doubt and put on his helmet. "You're right," he said. "That poor lady needs help. And I'm gonna do what I can for her." He ran into the building site and began to climb the ladder up towards the top of the crane where the cab was.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Nina cried again.

It was a long way up and Virgil was a little puffed out by the time he reached the crane arm but he managed to regain his strength quickly and hurried over to the cab where he startled Nina by knocking on the glass of the door. "International Rescue calling."

"International Rescue!" said Nina, but her relief then turned to confusion. "But why didn't you come in a Thunderbird?"

"It's out of juice," explained Virgil. "Along with all my gear. And the whole city. But don't worry - I'm getting you out of here." He grabbed hold of the door handle and tried to open it. But after a few goes he realised that the door was locked tight and wouldn't budge. "Or not," he said. "Let me guess - the door's electronically controlled?"

"The door shorted out when the power failed," said Nina.

The support tower of the crane was failing due to the crane's age and instability. It lurched suddenly and Virgil was almost thrown off. He managed to grab hold of the railing just below the base of the cab. "WOAH!"

"VIRGIL - HOLD ON!" Grandma shouted from the ground.

"I'M TRYING!" Virgil shouted back. He then turned to face the cab and held on with both hands. He then looked out and saw that there was a pallet of building equipment attached to the crane's hook. It was heavy and this wasn't helping the crane's structure at all. "Can you release the load?" he asked Nina.

"Not without power," replied Nina, shaking her head. "It's got to be done manually. But that means climbing all the way out and then down to the coupling that's connecting the load to the cable."

Virgil grimaced. "Uggh - got it," he said. He then decided to try and lighten the mood with a bit of mild humour. "Want me to pick you up anything whilst I'm out?"

Nina chuckled nervously. "No, but please hurry," she pleaded.

So Virgil began to make his way along the long crane arm towards where the winch and coupling were located. He was halfway there when it lurched again and he once again had to grab onto it hard to prevent himself from falling. If he did - even with his suit, he wouldn't survive the fall. He could feel his heart beating rapidly and he had to kneel down on the walkway to catch his breath. He felt a great sense of helplessness running through his body - something he wasn't used to feeling. "No power-suit. No pods. I don't know if I can do this," he said to himself.

"YOU CAN DO IT, KID!" Grandma shouted from far below.

Virgil perked up. "Well, I guess that answers that," he said, now full of determination again. He hurried on to where the winch was located and then slid down the cable like a Fireman's Pole to the coupling. "Should be a snap to uncouple with my ion-wrench," he said as he took it out of his toolbelt. "Oh….if it were working," he then remembered. He looked down at Grandma's figure far below. "IF YOU'VE GOT ANY MORE WORDS OF WISDOM, I COULD USE SOME!" he called down. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO OPEN THE COUPLING WHEN MY TOOLS AREN'T WORKING?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Grandma shouted back up. "TRY GIVING IT A GOOD OLD-FASHIONED WHACK!"

"Oh, yeah. That'll work," Virgil realised and he repositioned himself. "LOOK OUT BELOW!" He then started to hit against the coupling with the ion-wrench. It took three hits before the coupling released and the pallet dropped several feet down before crashing into the ground and scattering its contents all over the place. Virgil then gave a thumbs up to Nina, but then the crane lurched again. The support tower had almost completely failed. "ALL THE STRESS ON THE CRANE'S LEGS HAS CAUSED THEM TO BUCKLE! THEY'RE GONNA SNAP! THE CRANE'S GONNA TOPPLE! With me on it!" he finished to himself.

The crane began to lean over to the side as it was about to fall.

"VIRGIL! YOU GOTTA GET OFF OF THERE!" yelled Grandma.

"Yeah, I think that's probably a good idea!" agreed Virgil. He swung himself on the coupling cable and jumped across to the cable of the second tower-crane. He was not a moment too soon before the crane started to fall.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" screamed Nina. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Then the crane's support tower failed completely and over it went, taking Nina with it.

But there was nothing Virgil could except watch helplessly as the crane toppled over and landed with an almighty CRASH!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

***Flashback Ends***

"AAAAAAAH!" Virgil cried as he sat up, panting for breath. He was sweating too and clambered out of bed to open a window and get some air in to cool himself off. "Oh, God," he said, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Haven't thought about that night in a long time. I wonder what made me-" He broke off, as he then began to hear the voice again. The scream of 'Help' that he could remember hearing from the woman in the crane, and it seemed to merge in with the one he'd heard from the woman in the building fire. And then it clicked. "Nina!" he gasped. "It was her! The woman in the fire was the woman in the crane! I knew it! I knew I recognised her voice." But then he remembered something else. "Oh, hell. She gave me her number. She wanted me to call her. I never did. Oh, good grief." Now he began to feel guilty.

Grandma came into the kitchen to put on the morning coffee. She was surprised to find a very tired and weary-looking Virgil already up and sitting at the table with his head buried in his arms. "Virgil? You're up early. Is something the matter?"

Virgil stirred and lifted his head. Turned out he'd fallen asleep whilst at the table. "Wha-? Oh, Grandma, it's you." He then let out a massive yawn. "Man, how long have I been here?"

"I don't know," replied Grandma. "But judging by your eyes you've not had much sleep, if any."

Virgil then remembered why he was there. "Oh, yeah. No, I haven't," he said. "Grandma, you remember the lady I rescued in London the night of The Luddites attack, don't you?"

"The one in the crane that fell over? Sure," said Grandma. "She gave you her number, didn't she?"

"Yeah…" said Virgil, his heart sinking. "And I totally forgot about it. I've probably thrown away the bit of paper she gave me with it on. Damn, she must hate me so much."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," said Grandma. "It's been over five years, Virgil. I expect she's probably found a man and moved on."

"But I saw her yesterday, Grandma," said Virgil. "She was the woman I dug out of the rubble in the building. I didn't recognise her from being blackened by the smoke. But when she was calling for help. It was so familiar. Then in my dreams last night I relived that night in London - when she was crying out from the crane. The cries were identical. It was her. I know it was."

"And did she recognise you?" asked Grandma.

"No, she was too out of it by that point," said Virgil.

Grandma smiled triumphantly. "Well there you go then," she said. "If she'd remembered you, she'd have said something."

"I, er, guess so?" said Virgil with uncertainty.

Grandma patted him on the shoulder. "I know so," she said. "Now off back to bed with you. You can't fly Thunderbird 2 on no sleep now, can you?"

Virgil managed a smile. "Thanks, Grandma," he said gratefully as he got up to head back upstairs. He felt better, but deep down, there was still a little niggle inside his stomach telling him things weren't quite as well as they should be.

It was four days before Nina was finally allowed to leave the hospital. But knowing that her flat was destroyed, she had to go somewhere else. Fortunately, she knew a place out in the countryside where she could go. It was a remote cottage in the woodlands of Sussex that her late Grandparents had owned and it had been given to her after their passing. Nina had spent her time in hospital making plans. A plan that if successful would get her exactly what she wanted. "It's remote in this area," she said to herself. "Nobody around. All I need is to create a situation." She chuckled menacingly as she went inside the house to continue making her plans.

John entered the control room of Thunderbird 5 upon the request of EOS. "You wanted me, EOS?"

"Yes, John," answered EOS. "I'm picking up a distress call from somewhere South of London."

"Then let's hear it," said John.

EOS played the message. "Calling International Rescue. Oh, God. Please! You've got to help me! A tree has fallen across my house. It's partially demolished. I'm trapped! Can't get out! If you can hear me, please send help!"

John frowned. "And where is this?" he asked.

"The county of Sussex I believe," said EOS. "The signal is weak but I've roughly pinpointed the area." She showed the location on the hologram map for John to see.

"Hmmm," said John, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Strange that this is a transmitted message and not a direct one. But for all we know this person could be in real trouble. Better alert Tracy Island."

"Was there nothing other than that?" Jeff asked after John had played back the message.

"Afraid not, Dad," said John. "She didn't say who she was or anything. Weirdly also that EOS could not get an exact location off the signal. Only that it's a woodland area in the county of Sussex, England."

Jeff thought for a moment. "There's not a lot to go on, but if this lady is in trouble then we have to help her," he said. "Better send Thunderbird 2 out there." He reached over and pressed a button on his desk. "Virgil?"

Virgil's hologram appeared. "Yes, Dad?"

"We have a situation," said Jeff. "A tree has fallen on a house in Sussex, England. We need you to go out there and help the person inside."

"F-A-B," said Virgil. "I'll be on my way!"

Virgil made his way to the lounge and down the tunnel via the rocket painting to Thunderbird 2 where he was given his uniform on the way down. Once inside Thunderbird 2 he selected Module 3 and lowered the main body into place before heading out along the runway to the launch pad.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

Thunderbird 2 roared off the ramp and climbed away from Tracy Island to start the long journey to England.

"Thunderbird 2 is GO!" said Virgil.

"Good luck, son," said Jeff over the radio.

Virgil had expected his journey to be trouble-free. But as he was making his way across the Pacific, he found a fierce storm directly in his path. "Hmmm," he thought to himself. "Perhaps I should have checked the weather before choosing this route. No matter. It's nothing my bird can't handle." He did not change course and instead flew straight into the storm.

He'd barely been in the storm for a minute before he began to realise this wasn't as good an idea as he had originally thought. The rain was horrendous and his visibility was reduced.

"Oh, dear," Virgil said out loud to himself. "On second thoughts. Perhaps I'd better go above it."

Pulling back on the control column, Thunderbird 2 began to climb upwards. Suddenly there was a flash as a bolt of lightning struck the top of Thunderbird 2. The whole ship shuddered and all the instruments cut out for a second before coming back. Virgil knew now he had to get out of the storm. He pushed the thrusters to full power and soared upwards through the clouds before breaking clear high above. It was a little higher than he was comfortable with flying but it was going to keep him clear of the storm.

"Virgil Tracy, you're an idiot!" he said crossly to himself. He then ran a diagnostics check of all the ship's systems to make sure everything was working. "All seems to be fine," he remarked. "Let's hope that it all is."

Scott and Kayo entered the lounge sometime after Thunderbird 2 had gone where they found Jeff looking thoughtful.

"Something on your mind, Dad?" asked Scott.

"Not sure, son," replied Jeff. "There was something about that distress call that seemed…off."

"Was Thunderbird 2 required?" asked Kayo. "I thought I heard it taking off a little while ago."

"Yes, Kayo," said Jeff. "Thunderbird 5 picked up a distress call that was sent as a transmission. Said a tree had fallen on a house in some woods."

"Where would this be?" asked Scott.

"Sussex in England," said Jeff.

"Okay, and what's making you suspicious?" said Scott.

"I'm not sure, son," Jeff replied. "I'm honestly not sure. There's just something about it that feels off."

"Could we hear it?" said Kayo. "If it's a Cabal trick then Virgil could be heading into danger."

Jeff went a little pale. "I didn't even consider that," he said as he pressed a button. "John, come in."

John's hologram appeared. "Yes, Dad?"

"I need you to descramble that message you picked up but play it to us first," said Jeff. "Kayo and Scott need to hear it."

"I've already run it through a descrambler, Dad," said John. "It's definitely not The Cabal trying to lure us into a trap or anything."

"Still play the message though," said Jeff.

John nodded and played the message for Scott and Kayo to listen to.

"Calling International Rescue. Oh, God. Please! You've got to help me! A tree has fallen across my house. It's partially demolished. I'm trapped! Can't get out! If you can hear me, please send help!"

Scott and Kayo looked at each other.

"Does anything seem off to you?" asked Jeff.

"For someone in a tight spot, she doesn't sound too frightened," remarked Scott.

"I don't recognise the voice either," added Kayo. "Could it be someone making a prank call?"

"Or just for something very trivial?" suggested Scott.

"No. It's not!"

Jeff, Kayo and Scott along with John's hologram were surprised as they turned to see a rather worried-looking Grandma had come into the lounge.

"Mother?"

"Play that again," Grandma said sharply. "I need to hear that voice."

"Calling International Rescue. Oh, God. Please! You've got to help me! A tree has fallen across my house. It's partially demolished. I'm trapped! Can't get out! If you can hear me, please send help!"

Grandma went very pale.

"Grandma, what is it?" asked Scott anxiously. "Do you know who that is?"

Grandma nodded. "I believe I do," she said. "I don't remember the name, but that voice belongs to the girl who Virgil rescued from the crane during the blackout we got caught up in."

"Okay…" said Kayo. "And why would that be of any concern?"

"Because she gave Virgil her number and asked him to call her," Grandma said. "But he never did. And he also rescued her the other week from that fire in London. Only neither he nor she recognised each other. Has Virgil heard the message?"

"No, we just sent him on his way," said John.

Grandma scowled at them all. She turned to Jeff. "Call him back," she said.

"What? Why? This woman-"

"This woman wants to make out with Virgil!" said Grandma, stunning them all into silence. "I could see it in her eyes after he rescued her from the crane. She'd fallen head over heels for him and I believe she wanted to start an instant relationship with him!"

"But…but Virgil's already got a girl," said Kayo. "He's got Hayley."

"Not when he rescued this girl he didn't," said Grandma. "This girl's probably spent the last five years waiting for him to come back to her and if she realised he saved her from the fire without saying anything to her, she might feel betrayed."

"Mother, this is very far-fetched," remarked Jeff. "What if you're wrong?"

"Jeff…I really hope that I am," said Grandma. "But my gut is telling me that Virgil's heading into danger."

Jeff scratched his head. He turned to John. "John, scan that wood. Find the tree that's fallen on the house."

"I've already done that," said John. "I found a weak signal that could be the house. But it's not damaged. There's no tree on it."

Jeff pressed another button on his desk. "Base to Thunderbird 2. Come in, Virgil?"

But no response came from Thunderbird 2.

"Thunderbird 2, come in? Virgil, can you hear me? Acknowledge!"

Still nothing.

"Where is Thunderbird 2, John?" asked Jeff anxiously.

John checked the hologram map. "Already approaching the coastline," he said. "He's practically there."

Scott began to make his way towards the revolving wall panel.

"Scott, where are you going?" asked Kayo.

"To England," said Scott. "I'm not standing if Virgil's heading into trouble."

"Then I'm coming with you," said Kayo.

"Thunderbird Shadow isn't fast enough," objected Scott.

"I know," said Kayo. "I'll come with you."

Jeff had no objection to this at all. "Hurry, both of you," he said.

Scott pulled down the lamps from the wall before it swivelled round and he began to descend in the express elevator down to where his rocket was located. Once fully uniformed and at the bottom he went out on the extendable platform before entering the ship whilst Kayo made her own way and joined him, fully suited up herself moments later. The trolley then conveyed Thunderbird 1 up the tunnel to the launch bay just as the pool had finished opening.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

Thunderbird 1's engines roared as it zoomed up out from where the pool had been and climbed high into the sky before switching to horizontal flight and rocketing off in the same direction as Thunderbird 2.

"Thunderbird 1 is GO!" said Scott.

"Do you think Virgil really is in danger?" Kayo asked.

"I think I may have inherited Grandma's gut, Kayo," Scott answered. "And after John said there's no tree down on that house, I reckon he is. Hang on tight - I'm putting taking her up to full!"

Thunderbird 2 lowered in altitude as it began to cross over the Sussex countryside. Virgil soon located the area of woodland that he'd been given on the map. "This must be the place," he said. "Better double-check with John though." He flicked a switch to activate the radio only for sparks to come flying out instead. "WOAH!" Once he had gotten over the shock he then began to check the systems. And it was then that he discovered the problem. "Blast! That storm has done something! It fried the radio! Darn it! Looks like I'm on my own then."

Seeing a large field just on the outskirts of the woods, Virgil brought Thunderbird 2 down to land. He then armed himself with the Jaws of Life and exited the craft before hurrying off into the woods to search for the house and the tree that was supposed to be down on the top of it. As he entered the trees, he did not see a tiny little camera concealed in one of the trees that was tracking him.

From inside the house, Nina watched as Virgil entered the woods and a triumphant grin spread across her face. "Oh, yes!" she said out loud to herself. "Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-YES! You're mine now!"