Out of Place

AN – Thank you again to all reviewers! Harlow – I definitely am planning on finishing Three's a Crowd, but I'm going to overhaul what I have as I'm not 100% happy before I write the rest. I also have to decide how much of a monster to make it as there are several places I could go with the story! So I'm going to wait until I've got enough time to think about it. But first – here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer – I don't own Thunderbirds

Chapter Seven – Starting to move

John sat for a moment, watching his communicator on his arm where a moment before he had seen his family. Now it was powered down, lifeless. Despite spending most of his time in space, despite knowing that Brains and Alan were somewhere there with him, he had never felt quite so far away from home.

He'd been awake for a couple of hours now. He had woken up tied to a bed, wrists above his head and legs spread wide. Some of his siblings *cough*Scott* may have found it enjoyable but John had been terrified. Even more so when the brown haired woman came into view, asking him questions about who he was.

He answered truthfully and after a while she had released him, explaining that she'd been in contact with someone who verified his identity. It took another hour for her to actually tell him that she had been in contact with Tracy Island, which wasn't his Tracy Island but was still somehow the base of International Rescue.

John had spent the next hour or so after that in a state of shock, processing what he knew. Calling up Brains had helped, there was no one John would rather be stuck somewhere with. He knew Brains would be working on a way to get them home.

But Brains wasn't here right now. The only other person in this ramshackle cabin was the woman from earlier, who he guessed was called Angel after the call they'd had from his Tracy Island. Putting the pieces together John assumed she was Scott's partner – the way they had spoken to each other was very familiar and for a moment she had looked less guarded when talking to him. The second the conversation was over, she had risen from her seat and stalked back up to the small bedroom.

John looked up at the mezzanine floor that housed the bedroom. He couldn't clearly see what she was doing up there, but he could hear it. Space was quiet. No air meant no sound waves – John was used to hearing nothing but the faint beat of his own heart. Here, it was noisy. Her movements caused noise, the house creaked, he could hear birds and animals outside and the wind whistling around. He could barely think over the din.

Eventually the woman came back down, a bundle in her arms. "Here," she said, throwing the bundle at him. Out of reflex he caught it, seeing that it was a set of clothes wrapped in a blue shirt. "Some of Scott's things," she said by way of explanation. "If we want information, we're going to have to go and get it and you can't be dressed like that. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

John looked down at his International Rescue spacesuit before nodding in agreement. "Where can I change?"

She gestured back up to the bedroom so John climbed up the stairs into the small room he had woken in. Carefully not looking at the bed he stripped out of his spacesuit and placed it aside, patting it regretfully as he did so. He pulled on the clothes Angel had given him, a pair of jeans and a blue shirt. They were a bit short but were good enough. When he came down, he noticed she had also changed clothes and was now wearing a tight leather jacket with dark jeans. It was very similar to something Kayo might wear, but he wasn't sure he'd ever noticed Kayo having curves quite like that. He didn't know where to look. She was carrying a pair of heeled boots but otherwise was just in socks.

"Here," she gestured to the doorway where two pairs of lime green rain boots were waiting for them. Seeing John's face, she sighed. "It's a muddy hike, we'll wear these until we get there."

"Where is there?" John asked, confused. "And why are we going anywhere? I thought you wanted me to find you information?"

"I do," Angel confirmed. "But I don't have any way for you to access it here. Even if I did, I don't want it to be traced back to me. We're going to go on a romantic break."

"A what?" John spluttered.

She rolled her eyes. "Not a real one, but we need a reason to be staying in a small hotel. Here." She pressed something into his hand. "You don't have to do much, just try not to do anything that makes us stand out. We don't want to be memorable."

John stared at the small band she had given him. "A wedding ring?" At her pointed gaze, he sighed and put it on his fourth finger. "Is this strictly necessary?"

"If the Black Phantom is involved then yes."

John studied her as she continued to move around the ground floor of the cabin. "You seem to know a lot about him. Are you MI5 or something?"

Angel huffed in amusement. "Or something. Ready?"

John pulled on the larger pair of rain boots, realising he wasn't going to get any more information out of her. "I guess." The boots were a size too big and really weren't comfortable "I really hope we aren't going far."

The woman shrugged. "Depends on your definition of far. It's about a mile and a half."

John sighed, eyeing up the borrowed boots. "Let's get this over with then."

It was muddy and he could see why Angel had insisted on the boots. They walked down a field and then across a small footbridge before eventually reaching a road. It was then another mile or so down the tarmac. To take his mind off the blisters he was developing, John started talking to her again.

"Not that I don't want to help you out, but why hasn't someone from International Rescue come to collect me yet?"

"From what John – the other one – told me, it's because they want to collect Thunderbird 1 at the same time."

"Thunderbird 1?"

Angel nodded. "It's parked in the woods behind the cottage. Only John can fly it now, so they want to get him down from Thunderbird 5 before they send Virgil out here for you."

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to wait then? It can't take that long to get down, our space elevator does it in eight minutes."

"Space elevator?" John could hear the surprise in her voice. "They don't have anything like that, they have to send Thunderbird 3 up to get him. And the three main pilots of Thunderbird 3 are the ones who have switched places with you and your family."

John thought about it for a bit. "What are they doing instead, then?"

"I think Jeff's going to fly up himself." Angel still kept an emotionless expression as she explained. "But he's out of date on qualifications I think, so he needs a co-pilot. John said they're training your Alan on the simulators so he can do it. It's going to take a little while."

John released his breath in a long whoosh. "So we're going somewhere else to hack into some things while we wait."

"That pretty much sums it up."

"So why are we walking down the road?"

At that, finally Angel showed some emotion. The corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk as she glanced at him sideways. "We're picking up some wheels."

They finally reached a small village, just a few houses spread down the road with a green in the middle. Angel walked up to one of the doors and knocked smartly. An older woman answered it, greying hair tied back messily into a bun.

"I need to borrow Lucille," Angel explained to the woman, who gave Angel a knowing look.

"Hello to you too! You know where she is. This the houseguest?" The woman was looking curiously at John. "The radio went earlier to say that operations were being suspended for a short time due to some unusual circumstances. John filled me in on the rest."

"Um…hi." John said, waving awkwardly.

"My name is Jane, dear. Is he going to need kit?" Jane was talking to Angel again, who nodded.

"Boots and a jacket, if you have them. Oh, and a helmet."

"I do somewhere. You go get Lucille out, I'd grab some of Derek's old things." Jane disappeared again and Angel started walking around the side of the cottage, John jogging slightly to catch up.

"Who is Lucille?"

Angel just smirked again and threw open the doors of an old garage. A click and stuttering lights illuminated the contents. A metallic black motorcycle stood there, something that looked like it was made in the previous century. "Meet Lucille, a Kawasaki Ninja."

John just gulped. "And you want us to…ride, that thing?"

A helmet was thrust in front of him. He looked from it up to the woman holding it with a knowing smile on her face. "This is my late husband's, you look after it son. I've put the boots and jacket by the door." The woman turned to Angel. "I don't want to know what you're getting up to, but stay safe and bring that man of yours home. He promised to fix my guttering."

Angel smiled at that. "He did, didn't he? I'll do my best Jane, thanks for this."

The woman nodded. "Don't you worry about that Mr Tracy either, we'll get him straightened out. You just do what you do best." With that the woman turned and left, tossing a set of keys over her shoulder to Angel who caught them effortlessly.

John just stared at the helmet in his hands, until his elbow was knocked. "Come on," Angel said, her voice muffled by the helmet she was wearing. He swallowed deeply and grabbed the jacket she was holding out, feeling swamped by the leather. The boots were too big again, but they were ok.

He stiffly climbed onto the back of the motorbike behind Angel, feeling clumsy and awkward. Once there, he didn't know where to put his hands and ended up resting them on his knees.

"Comfortable?" Angel asked him, turned her head towards him.

"No," he replied honestly and she just shook her head as she kicked the motorbike into life.

As they roared out of the garage, John immediately forgot about propriety and clung to the woman desperately, arms wrapped around her waist. He shut his eyes and tried to pretend that he wasn't on a motorbike, but it was no good. They roared around country lanes, each corner convincing John that he was going to die, until they pulled up into some form of shopping mall.

Angel took off her helmet. "Come on," she muttered, taking him by the arm and pulling him into the building. Once inside, John realised it was an electronics store. Angel led him straight away over to a section that looked as though it was stocking old fashioned tablets. "Pick what you need, it just needs to be small enough to go into the box on the back of Lucille." She instructed him quietly.

John was baffled by the basic nature of these computers, but eventually found the best one that the store had to offer. Despite the hefty price tag Angel didn't balk and took it straight up to the desk. John also grabbed a few accessories before joining her.

Then they were off on the bike again, but this time they were on much wider, multiple lanes roads. It was a lot less harrowing than the country lanes, so much so that John began to get bored. Eventually Angel pulled off and into a village, parking the bike up in the car park of a pub.

"Where are we?" John asked as he tried to massage some feeling back into his fingers.

Angel shrugged slightly before spying an information board. "Sandford, Gloucestershire apparently. This will do for the night. Come on." Leaving the helmets on the bike she led the way into the pub.

Reaching the front desk, she somehow managed to weasel her way under his arm. John blinked but Angel was already talking to the woman.

"Hey, have you got a room for the night?"

"Of course dear," the receptionist's expression was a bit fixed as she saw Angel's free hand wandering across John's abdomen underneath his leather jacket as she curled into his side. John barely breathed and tried not to look as terrified as he felt. "Double bed?"

"Please," Angel replied breathlessly, gazing up at John with wide, expressive eyes. "We so rarely get any time away together…"

"You can have the Harrow suite," the woman sniffed. "Up the stairs, end of the corridor on the left."

"T-thank you," John stammered, trying very hard to ignore the hand that was roaming down his back as he scooped up the keys. The woman huffed again before returning to her crossword.

Angel all but dragged John up the stairs, giggling as she did so. She pulled him into the room, a coy smile on her face, before closing the door behind her. Immediately the smile was gone and she was all business.

"What was that?" He asked her irritatedly, but she ignored him completely.

"This place has reliable internet," she told John crisply. "You'll need to access the Network."

"The Network?"

"Replacement for the dark web," she explained, John nodding in understanding. He knew how to access the dark web, still very much alive and kicking in his dimension – he should be able to find The Network. "We're looking for either the Hood or Agent Seventy-Nine. If you can find anything on the Black Phantom then that's useful too."

John pulled the tablet out of his bag and started typing away on it, it had been a very long time since he'd used a physical keyboard. "So what, we stay here for a few days until we find something?"

"No, we'll need to keep moving. If we stay in any place for too long then someone might realise we're looking for them and come to investigate." Angel looked out of the window onto the dark street below. "I'm going to go and get us some food, I'll be back soon."

John was about to offer to go with her when the closing door told him she had already left. Grumbling to himself, he got back to his task. "Sooner I find the Hood, the sooner I'll be able to get home and she'll be out of my hair."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Alan stepped out of the simulator, beaming from ear to ear. "Wow!" He exclaimed to Jeff Tracy, waiting patiently for him outside. "It's so different! I mean, in some ways it's so basic but in others it surpasses everything we have!"

"I'm glad you approve," Jeff smiled as he watched the young man, so like his own Alan a few years ago. "Think you'll be able to get enough hours in to be confident to come up to get John?"

"Sure, I'll need a bit longer as the controls are just so different… maybe if I spend more time tomorrow on it I'll be able to do the assessment thing at the end and we can go the day after?"

"Sounds like a plan, boy," Jeff led him out of the laboratory housing the simulator and back up into the main house, while Alan tried not to be offended about being called boy.

Gordon, hair still dripping water, was waiting in the lounge. "Hey dad, Alan. You'll never guess what happened!"

"Well son, what was it?" Jeff asked as he sat behind his desk.

"Alan's family managed to contact us!" Gordon told them excitedly. "Well, they contacted Brains, Brains and Virgil seeing as you two were in the simulator and I was in the pool."

"What, really?" Alan cried, bouncing. "Can I call them back? Speak to them?"

"Not right now," Virgil came into the room, smiling warmly. "Tintin said something about needing to harness a lot of power to talk, but we've arranged to call at the same time tomorrow."

"That's great news," Jeff injected. "What did they have to say?"

Virgil frowned. "Apparently the Hood from their dimension has disappeared and in his place is a person they don't recognise, they sent an image of him through and John's looking now. They weren't able to stay on the call for long but Tintin, Alan and Scott looked fine. We told them that you were ok," Virgil nodded to Alan. "They were planning to call their John separately I think as he also has one of their communicators."

"Yeah, John would be in his spacesuit." Alan said, buoyed by the fact that somehow his family had managed to be in touch.

"I'm impressed they managed to do that without their Brains to help them out," Jeff mused, pushing some of his paperwork around.

"T-that was all Tintin," Alan looked up to see Brains – not his – enter the room followed by his Brains. This was all very confusing.

"She seems to have a r-remarkable aptitude for c-calculating the waveform f-functions of the continuum drift."

"S-she is very talented, a-and works closely in artificial intelligence development, she m-must have formed a bond with M-Max, you must, er, tell me more about him."

"Oh of course, well i-it started when I…" the two engineers drifted over to the other side of the room, deep in conversation. Alan shook his head, listening to them was going to give him a headache, he didn't know where one ended and the other began. Instead he tuned back into what Virgil was saying.

"Penny is coming over as soon as she can, she thinks she'll be here sometime before midnight."

Jeff frowned at his son. "That's not necessary."

Virgil sighed. "She seems to think we will be adrift without Tintin here to look after us. I tried to put her off but she insisted, I'm not about to tell her she can't visit."

Gordon coughed in the background, Alan thought he might have heard the word 'whipped' coming out the redhead's mouth.

"Hey, are you talking about Lady P? Is she one of your agents too?"

"Lady Penelope," Jeff stressed, "Is in fact our head agent, as well as being our London based operative."

"Cool, can't wait to meet her. Does she have Sherbert? And Parker?"

"Sher-who?" Virgil asked, bemused. "And she never travels anywhere without Parker."

"Sherbert, the dog. A pug?" Seeing blank faces, Alan shrugged. "Never mind, maybe not."

"Well, there isn't much to do until she arrives then," Jeff stated. "I'll be in my study if anyone wants me."

"Ok dad," "Sure father." The two men watched him leave before turning to Alan.

"So, want to see our games room?" Gordon asked. "Any good at pool?"

Virgil smiled indulgently. "I'm going to be in my room if either of you need me. Alan, if you get hungry I'm sure Grandma will rustle you up something if you want it, I know how hard dad can drive us sometimes. She'll probably be in the kitchen."

Alan felt his mouth go dry and palms become sweaty. "Grandma's….cooking?"

"Apparently she's making an apple pie in your honour," Gordon teased. "Scott is going to be sorry he missed it, you can't beat Grandma's cooking."

"Wait," Alan held up a hand, looking around. "You're saying that Grandma is cooking…and you want to eat it?"

"Of course," Virgil frowned at him in confusion.

"Whoa, now I know I'm in a different dimension!" Alan stated, causing all three to burst into giggles.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was several hours later, after sampling a decent amount of Grandma's cooking that caused Alan to groan appreciably with a full stomach, they were again seated in the lounge when a small plane was spotted approaching the Island.

"That will be Penny now," Jeff stated, starting to rise from his desk.

"I'll go father," Virgil offered, standing instead. He left the room as Gordon started making kissing noises, Virgil throwing his brother a rude hand gesture when he could be sure that Jeff wasn't looking. Jeff was busy sternly glaring at Gordon instead.

"Just because your brother has actually managed to find himself in a stable relationship doesn't mean you should tease him about it. You could take a leaf out of his book."

Gordon stopped making noises, but Alan could have sworn he heard the redhead mutter 'yeah, look how well that's worked for Scott' under his breath. Alan's eyes were almost boggling at this new information – here, Lady Penelope was with Virgil and not Gordon!

He didn't have too long to process it before the door slid open and an elegant blond floated into the room, Virgil following her. "Jeff, darling," she crooned, greeting him with a kiss on each cheek. "How lovely it is to see you again, but you simply must tell me all the latest news! Virgil says you've spoken to Tintin? How is she?"

Alan couldn't help but gape – somehow this woman was exactly like and yet nothing like the Lady Penelope he knew.

"Ah, Penny," Jeff was saying. "You really didn't need to travel all this way, we're getting along quite alright."

"Nonsense," she replied airily. "It was no problem at all, and I would far rather see that you are all safe for myself. Goodness, is this Alan?"

Her large blue eyes had turned to Alan and despite himself he felt the blush crawling up his neck. Sure, he was used to Lady Penelope but this woman was somehow so much…. more. Larger than life in every sense. "H-Hello," he stammered. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you my dear," the breezy aristocratic air disappeared momentarily and Alan caught a glimpse of a truly kind face, regarding him with sympathy. "If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask."

The blond aristocrat whirled away to face Jeff again. "And the new John?"

"Is apparently with Angel," Jeff informed her. "Once we get our John down from Thunderbird 5 we will be able to go and collect him at the same time as Thunderbird 1."

Lady Penelope lit a cigarette at the end of a long, tapered holder. "Of course. And what is Angel up to?"

Jeff frowned. "What are you getting at, Penny?"

The end of the cigarette waved around, producing a drift of smoke that Alan realised wasn't real when he didn't choke on it. "Only that she is hardly one to sit on her laurels, Jeff."

"I don't see what she would be doing."

"Hmm," Lady Penelope looked around the room, her gaze alighting on the pair of Brains. Brains squared, Alan decided in his mind. "Did you tell me earlier that they were going to call John after they rang you?"

"That's right Pen," Virgil told her, coming to stand close behind her. The soft smile she bestowed on the tall man left Alan in no doubt of where her affections lay.

"Well then, I assume they gave John – and by extension, Angel – the same information they gave you regarding the Hood."

"It's possible," Jeff conceded, steepling his hands in front of her.

Lady Penelope arched one eyebrow at him. "And you think that Angel would just sit around looking after her houseguest? This is the same woman that almost literally moved heaven and earth to find Scott last time he was taken from her."

Alan still wasn't sure of the particular family dynamics here, but even he could tell that this Jeff Tracy was not someone who was lost for words easily. Now though, he resembled a gaping fish as he processed what Lady Penelope was telling him.

"But I don't… why would she? We don't need her to, you can find him!"

"Oh Jeff dear, I am flattered by your faith in my ability." The lady sat down on the small couch, Virgil next to her. "But the reality is that my connections really won't be of much help in this circumstances. I just don't operate in the same…circles, as these kind of criminals. Angel really is the best person for the job, and if the other John is as skilled as our own she has suitable support."

Jeff frowned down at his paperwork. "That may be so, but I have serious concerns about her methods and motives. Still, there isn't much we can do tonight. I'll ask John to keep an eye on her for now." He stood, closing down the discussion. "I'm going to turn in, I'll see you in the morning Penelope, boys." He strode out of the room, still frowning to himself.

The Brains squared left soon after, still muttering to themselves as they left. Only Virgil, Gordon and Lady Penelope were left in the room with Alan now.

"Would you feel more comfortable in a guest room or Alan's room?" Virgil asked the young blond.

"Oh…probably the guest room," Alan replied, scratching the back of his neck. "I know he's me but… it's a bit weird, y'know?"

"I can't imagine quite how strange this all must be for you," Lady Penelope smiled at him gently.

"Oh sure, it's fine. I mean, it's not like we'll be stuck here forever right?" Alan swallowed quickly, fighting the lump in his throat. He cast around, trying to change the subject. "So, who is this Angel person?"

Gordon snorted and leant back in his seat. "That's a good question, Al. She's Scott's girlfriend."

Alan nodded. "Right…and your dad doesn't approve?"

This time it was Virgil that sighed deeply. "No… for some very good reasons." Seeing Penelope and Gordon's expressions, he spread his hands wide placatingly. "I'm not saying dad's right. But you can't deny that she's… different. She makes me very uncomfortable – I try not to be, for Scott's sake, but…"

Lady Penelope squeezed one of his hands with her own. "I do understand, I feel the same. But she'd do anything for Scott, and he for her. They will be together, regardless of what we think."

"And unfortunately for dad, also regardless of what he thinks." Gordon huffed. "I like her, she's very good at getting what we need. The problem with dad is his views of right and wrong are very black and white, there isn't any place for Angel's shades of grey in it."

"You could be on to something there Gordon," Virgil narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. "When did you get so wise?"

"Hey! I have depths! I just choose to hide them!"

"Of course dear," Lady Penelope patted his arm with a fond smile as she stood. "I think it might be time for me to retire as well."

"Let me show you to your room, Al." Gordon stood, stretching. "I just hope that whatever Angel's doing, it works. No matter which dimension he's from, the Hood has messed with International Rescue one time too many."

"I definitely agree with that," Alan told him as he followed the redhead out of the room.