Author's note: Thanks again for the review.

/

There's a beeping that comes from Jeff's desk.

Kayo looks over but doesn't dare approach.

It's been one month and two weeks almost exactly since she was rescued. Since then, she's mostly certain that the others trust her. She's given them no cause to think otherwise after all. It hurts but she can envision their thought process that they'll be using. They all trust her, why wouldn't they? She's their sister. She's grown up, fought and saved countless lives by their side. As far as they're concerned, she's been safe for these past few weeks, well out of her uncle's grasp. If she'd done or said anything to compromise them, surely she would have come clean about it by now. Some of their confidence is no doubt due to her act. Every second, every moment, she forces herself to act as natural as possible.

She knows that deep down somewhere inside of her, the old Kayo is screaming, roaring, demanding that she stop forcing a smile, break this silence so as to warn her family and then be damned the consequences for her insurrection. That voice is so quiet now. It's been broken and beaten into submission. It along with the strength that it had harbored have been sealed off and silenced by a mixture of her uncle and her own self-preservation instinct. Now, all that she's left with is the urge to speak words which she knows as well as the Hood will never come and a few tears that she equally can't allow herself to shed.

Kayo holds off from approaching Jeff's desk. As of right now, she's still to have nothing to do with the Thunderbirds. They haven't expressly told her that much. After everything that she's been through, it must have seemed like an added cruelty for her family to suddenly start doubting her loyalty. All the same, she'd read inbetween the lines, understood that if they made a gentle point of keeping her out of the hangar and politely but firmly Jeff and Kyrano refused any offers of help she had made, it was because there is still just a little bit of doubt that lingers.

So she doesn't push things. Patience… The Hood assures her, is all that's required.

Jeff isn't here right now. Nobody is. Well, Scott's due back any moment and Virgil, Gordon and Alan aren't far behind. That's probably why Jeff and Grandma left to go for their shopping trip. Her father is still chasing his brother. He won't find him. Brains and Max will be downstairs in their lab or otherwise attending to the Thunderbirds. It leaves her more or less alone in the residential part of island. She does what she can to ignore the call, John will deal with it and transfer it to Jeff or someone else if it's urgent.

She's startled however as his hologram suddenly materializes in the room, causing her to look up from her book. Instinctively, she fears the worst. The boys should have just been returning from a mission but there could have been an accident. Maybe it's her father…

"John, is everything okay?"

"Yes. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 are about half an hour out but you're going to have a visitor about twenty minutes before then." She raises an eyebrow curious, not detecting much urgency or fear behind the brother's voice. "Colonel Casey just called, she's on her way to the island. Rigby's tagging along. They said they wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing."

A surprise indeed. Nobody's mentioned it to her and if there's anything that she's certain of it's that someone would have thought to do so.

Instantly, she begins to panic internally. It's only been a couple of weeks since she was last on the mainland and the doctor had slipped her that device. Could someone have uncovered the double agent? Had she spilled the beans and revealed that International Rescue itself has been infiltrated by one of their own? For a few seconds, she actually wonders if that might not be a blessing in disguise. If they uncover her and it's not her fault, then surely her uncle won't be so cruel and unreasonable as to make her suffer for it. Although he might well do it as an act of vengeance in the hopes of causing the Tracys some pain… Kayo realizes.

She doesn't quite smile. She wouldn't have done so ordinarily and as a result didn't attempt to force as overly content response. It's not that she has anything against Casey and Rigby, quite the contrary but it's more the nature of their visit that makes her uneasy. They don't get many uninvited and unannounced guests here.

"I'm sure I can entertain them if it's just for ten minutes." Kayo answers.

"Yeah. Dad's been keeping them up to date with how you're doing but I guess they just wanted to see for themselves." Despite his assurances, John hesitates for a moment. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course. It's just a little chat, right? I can make some of my father's tea."

"Sounds good. I've let Brains know they're coming. He'll join you as soon as he can. He's just finishing some upgrades to Thunderbird 4."

When John vanishes, attending once more to his business around Thunderbird 5, Kayo allows herself to drift outside. There are cameras within the villa and there's always a chance that she'll be unlucky and get caught by someone she thought was elsewhere. As a result, she keeps her communications with her uncle reserved solely for either the confines of her room or outside. She's able to disguise her trip as simply being her keeping an eye out for the incoming jet. Once she's a safe distance away from the home, she finally dares to speak:

"Uncle, did you get all that?"

"Yes."

"I don't like this. Why would she want to come here unannounced?"

"No doubt because she's suspicious. You are making tremendous progress after all..."

"But then..."

"No "buts". We practiced for this, if you'll recall." Kayo closes her eyes, she wishes that she could forget. "Play your role and everything will be just fine. Remember, I'm right here with you."

She knows that it isn't meant to be comforting. Once more, the young woman silently bends to the will of the invisible force that now has a hold over her existence.

It's a few minutes later that the jet appears on the horizon. Tanusha makes the effort to make her way down to the tarmac to greet them. She's nervous but does what she can to conceal that simple fact. One glance as colonel Casey confirms that the young woman is going to have to be careful. This isn't a family member desperate to ensure that she's made comfortable and welcome. Her adversary this time is a formidable soldier. She's here to ensure that her friends are safe and through them, that nobody will have access to the Thunderbirds which might enable them to put more lives in danger. In short, she'll be looking for the slightest sign that something's wrong. Any slip-ups will be noticed and they most certainly won't be brushed off as being the result of confusion.

Still, she forces a gentle smile. Not so much of one as to appear insincere. After all, it was Casey herself who had been the one to first offer her some of the kindness that she'd been so cruelly denied for so long. She should be glad to see the woman but not blinded by her presence. Kayo would be suspicious… Wondering just what had caused the woman to come here in such a fashion. It's no t her custom to drop by unannounced.

"Colonel, Rigby… It's been a while."

"Yeah. What, about a month and a half now?" Rigby greets her with a smile. "How's that wrist of yours Kyrano?"

"Getting better." She rubs the plaster a little, a nervous tic she's developed of late as soon as someone reminds her about her injury.

"Looks like you let someone take some artistic liberties." The man comments as he takes note of a few of the notes.

"I'll let you take a guess which one was Gordon."

There's something of a sincere grumble behind her comment. She'd assumed the second youngest brother was going to write a few kind words on the cast when she'd allowed him to take a marker to it. She's struggled to see just what it was that he was doing. It wasn't until he'd finished that she'd finally been able to make out the shape of a butterfly. She could easily have cracked his skull for that one. Granted, Alan had been kind enough to include a drawing of his own he assured her was Thunderbird 3 with added rockets shooting the butterfly down and Virgil had offered to just paint over the whole thing but it was of little consolation.

Let them have their fun…

She escorts them back up to the villa, offering them some tea. Both accept. She's already boiled the kettle. It's a slightly awkward walk back towards the building. Casey is quiet but every step that they take, Kayo can feel the older woman's dark eyes resting upon her at every step. They study each and every one of her moves, looking for the slightest sign, the faintest hint that something, somewhere isn't quite right. Anger bubbles up underneath Kayo's skin. They'd had her in their custody for days and hadn't been able to spot the fact that her left eye's been torn out and replaced by the Hood's implant.

She hides it well or at least as well as she can. Serving them tea. She falls into her father's shoes well enough. Although no doubt the aging man would have reproached her some manner of the way that she brewed it. She lacked patience apparently. It was a point that she decided to poke some fun at:

"It's not as good as dad makes but it should be just about drinkable."

"I'm sure it'll be more than fine..." Casey replies, taking the mug carefully before blowing on it. "How are you doing?"

"Better..." Kayo replies, it's only partially a lie.

"You look it. What have you put on, five, six pounds?"

"Seven and a half."

"Good."

Much of what follows over the course of the next few minutes is comparatively idle chatter. Tanusha tries not to read too much into it. If Rigby seems meek enough and truly invested, she gets the feeling that whilst Casey does care – the younger woman knows she does – she's equally alert, watching, waiting. Some of this is just a facade. Kayo has to force herself not to look up to the nearby clock. To keep all of her attention on the conversation and to avoid her mind wandering as she listens desperately for the sound of mighty engines in the distance which signal the imminent arrival of reinforcements.

Perhaps the colonel also senses that this briefest of openings where she will be able to question the young woman without the presence of others who might tell her to "take it easy" is running out, as she shifts the topic of the discussion:

"Your uncle… Would you mind talking about him now?"

"The Hood?" Kayo questions, her mouth dry suddenly. "What do you want to know?"

"What happened exactly?"

"I thought you were told all that. The Hood and some of his goons grabbed me when they broke out of the prison."

"Yes. I was hoping you might be able to tell us about what happened afterwards."

This is the first time someone's made such an open request. It's a subject that the Tracys have avoided like the plague. She's only offered a handful of glimpses into what might possibly have been inflicted upon her and that's mostly just to cover for the occasional very minor slip up with her uncle. How could any of them even begin to envision the true horror that is the truth? It strikes Kayo as she sits there there, that if there's one person who might be able to see through her lies, then it's Valery Casey.

She lowers her head. It doesn't take much acting for her. She doesn't like thinking back to that cold, padded cell and all those hours left alone only to be dragged out and forced through hell. She has enough time struggling with the nightmares which haunt her sleep. She does not want to be forced to relive those memories which weigh equally heavily upon her. She stares down into her tea, unwilling to face the colonel or her companion:

"I was just there I guess." The young woman replies eventually with a small shrug. "He wanted to know about the Thunderbirds, the security protocols and how to bypass them… I wouldn't tell him. So he had some of his goons hurt me."

"How?"

"Depended on the day… Usually they'd just hit me."

She illustrates the concept, although it probably doesn't need it, by miming the gesture. She balls her left hand into a fist and slowly raises it so that it hits her jaw. It's so gentle it barely registers as anything above a little tap. She allows her head to roll however. Reliving each and every blow that she had never been dealt. They should be able to believe her tale. After all, she'd been in a sorry enough state when they'd found her. They weren't to know that she'd allowed that to be done to her, all part of this infernal ruse of her uncle's.

As such, Tanusha is expecting looks of sympathy and even maybe some pity from the two who sit before her. She finds it behind Rigby's eyes. Casey's however remain, not cold but impossible to read. Isn't it enough? Is she on to her? Please let her be onto her…

"Mrs. Tracy mentioned that you didn't much like infirmaries. That they bring back some bad memories?"

"Is this an interrogation?" Kayo asks a mixture of frustrated and genuinely curious.

"Kayo, my business is security. Yours, your family's and everyone else's." Casey reminds her dryly. "For everyone's sake. I need you to answer."

"Yeah..." She lets out in a sigh. "They did..."

Her uncle had been kind enough to give her a list of things that she could use if the question ever came up. There's an intelligence and purpose behind the man which even now causes Kayo to shudder. He'd really planned all of this out, thought of every eventuality. Granted, he'd had the time to do so but still… How had she ever thought that she could beat him? Sitting there, she feels tiny, stupid, insignificant as she repeats the words that he'd taken the time to drill into her head. She describes some of the procedures in detail, others less so, she was under drugs, her mind was foggy… All little things which would add credence to her explanations.

They're interrupted halfway through by the return of Thunderbird 1. Tanusha assumes that this will be an end to the interrogation but to her surprise, she's instructed to continue. She does so without quibbling. Best to get this over and done with. So she resumes her explanations; recounting the events in an attempt to persuade of her innocence.

One problem: they seem to trouble Casey more than anything else.

"Kayo… You must have been drugged out of your mind some days."

"I guess… Like I said, I can't really remember."

"So you couldn't possibly know what you did or didn't say..."

Kayo remains frozen for a few seconds with the realization. It isn't something that she ever thought to give any thought. A loophole that she feels angered her uncle allowed to slip on past. For a moment, she just stays immobile, her mouth slightly ajar as no explanations come to her. She wants to refute the colonel's words but nothing seems to come to her. She's right. The younger woman realizes, under such conditions, she could have spat anything out, from the most irrelevant pieces of information to their greatest secrets and wouldn't know about it. The mood shifts suddenly. She sees Rigby catch on, concern evident.

"I suggest you think quickly." Her uncle commands suddenly.

"C-Colonel, if I said anything… My uncle wouldn't have drawn things out. He'd have acted by now."

"Maybe. Maybe not… We both know that the Hood is unpredictable. You said he wanted the access codes. Why would he want those? He must have known Jeff and the others would change them as soon as you were taken."

Kayo feels the story begin to crumble. Fear takes hold as she realizes that there most definitely will be retributions from her uncle if this is what causes his scheme to fall apart. At this stage in the game, he doesn't need to say or do anything. She can feel his irritation and anger from the other side of the world. It serves its purpose, causing her pulse to quicken as she realizes that she stands a good chance of being exposed to some of the hell the man had promised if she doesn't do something soon. Unfortunately, her mind refuses to play ball and she struggles to do anything other than utter a few token words.

"Colonel… I was looked up for six months." Kayo stresses that fact, unsure if the woman can even begin to comprehend just how much time that represents. "I really don't know."

"Enough."

The voice cuts through like a dagger causing everyone to jump. Kayo's not too sure when Scott made it back up here, he must have made quick work exiting the hangar… She doesn't question it. It's relief that she feels upon seeing him. Brains isn't far behind, watching cautiously and with some clear concern.

The man enters into the room. He moves quickly, purposefully. His intent is clear as he stands between the colonel and the young woman she'd been speaking to. There's a cold hostility behind his eyes, a challenge which is issued silently. If Rigby shrinks away slightly, the same isn't true of his superior. Scott's look darkens as a result, turning into something that's perilously close to a glare. How much has he heard? It seems likely to be enough as he speaks a few seconds later:

"This is nonsense Colonel. Kayo wouldn't betray us. After everything that happened?! How could you possibly think that?!"

"Scott, this is secu-"

"I don't care!"

"S-Scott…" This time it's Brains who speaks. "Let's wait a few m-minutes to talk about this, like Mr. Tracy said. The others will be back soon."

Reluctantly, Scott turns away, going to cool off his head as usual it would seem. As he does so however, the man slows as he walks on past Kayo. They look eyes and he gives her a small nod before continuing on his way.

Kayo looks away as discreetly as possible. Some of it is out of fear, others pain and then shame. Shame knowing that right now, they all thing that she endured hell for them. She knows the truth… She broke. Broke and betrayed all of them.