A/N:
Fanfic only; I don't own or claim any rights to Thunderbirds.
Big thank you to those who left such lovely reviews and to anyone else who is reading along!
.
.
"Grandma's lost her mind!"
"Excuse me?" Jeff asked his son, eyebrows raised and a half-eaten donut still hanging out of his mouth as the sudden intrusion of his frantic second-born appeared as if from nowhere on the holo-projector in front of him. It had been a very, very long night and another problem adding into the mix was not something he had either expected or needed.
"I said," Virgil tried again, more slowly this time to make sure he got his point across, "Grandma's. Lost. Her. Mind."
Jeff sighed to himself, discarding his no-longer-secret pre-breakfast sugar-hit and moving closer in towards the hologram.
"Son, you know the rules about the emergency channel – we don't use it for personal calls. Even if you are reporting in on something I've asked. I thought you knew better than that? Having you popping up unannounced in front of me yelling like that almost gave me a heart attack."
"Yeah? Well here, have another one." Virgil replied abruptly, his patience running thin. Yes, his Father's state of health probably still wasn't yet back to 100% following his long stint in deep-space and as Jeff's designated home-medic, Virgil very likely shouldn't be messing around with it, but this was an emergency damnit and he was all out of options.
Having swapped out his usual chunky communicator for its stealthier wristwatch counterpart prior to leaving the Island, Virgil preceded to spin the little device so that it was facing back out onto the street. He could only imagine the look on his Father's face as the man would have copped an eye-full of Grandma and The Hood sat arm-in-arm in the car behind him, happily singing along to the radio like an old married couple.
"Come along Virgil!" Grandma scolded as she leaned across 'Bernard' in the driver's seat and called through the open car window. "We're going to hit all the traffic if we don't get going soon."
Turning the watch back to his own face, unable to look at the happy couple himself any longer, Virgil took-in his Dad's pale features as the man processed what he had just seen, suddenly regretting his abrupt approach as a pang of guilt washed over him. "Dad – "
"I'm calling the GDF. Get yourself and your Grandmother away from that man right now." Jeff responded, harsh and deathly serious.
"Don't you think I've tried that? She won't listen to me, Dad. I gave Grandma every argument I could think of including reminding her that The Hood has tried to murder us all on multiple occasions. She won't listen. Apparently he's changed – turned his life around for the better and wants to make amends for what he's done. New name, identity, career, the works. Remember? He's 'Bernard the suit salesman' now."
Jeff felt sick to his stomach. Maybe that donut hadn't been such a good idea after all.
"He's supposed to be in jail. Maximum security, no less. I don't understand how this has even happened. I'm calling Col. Casey right now. I don't care what your Grandmother says, Virgil, I want you both away from that man, whatever his name might be now. He's dangerous."
"What do you want me to do, Dad? Grab Grandma round the waist and carry her back to the jet?"
"If you have to, yes."
"Dad?!"
"Okay, okay Virgil," Jeff sighed, knowing that was never going to be a realistic option, "how do you want to play this?"
"I really don't know. I don't trust him one bit, but whatever he's said to Grandma, he has her won over so I think for now I'm just going to have to play along. I don't want to risk her going off alone with him again."
Jeff thought for a moment before begrudgingly conceding. Until he had spoken to the GDF and found out what was going on, his son was on his own so if playing along for now kept him safe, that was all they could do. Sometimes he cursed being so far away and cut-off on their little island.
"Fine. Agreed. But I want you to check-in every hour – no excuses. In the meantime, I'll talk to Val and find out how in the world he's managed to escape without the GDF noticing."
"Are you going to tell the others?"
"For now, no. I don't want to worry them. They have enough to deal with."
"Rescue?" Virgil asked, fully aware that if there had been a Thunderbird available to him right then, Jeff would have been halfway to his location by now.
"Avalanche."
"Right…" Virgil nodded in acceptance. It was the worst possible scenario for the family, no matter how many times they had dealt with them over the years. There was no way Jeff would ever consider pulling resource away from something like that and Virgil would never ask him too, no matter the threat he was potentially facing himself at that moment in time. The guilt at not being there to help them out himself was consuming enough; he just hoped his little brothers were handling it all okay.
"They're fine, Virgil." His Dad softened, reading his son's expression without any question even needing to be asked. "Scott's been keeping tabs on them from New York and I have a live video feed onto the scene thanks to EOS."
"Right, yeah…sorry."
"I may be old and out of practice, but I wouldn't keep your brothers there if I thought they were in any way unable to handle it. For now, you just worry about keeping yourself and your Grandmother out of harm's way. It looks like Lady Penelope and Parker are already in the 'States with FAB1. I'm going to send them your way, just in case. Judging by their location, they should be there in less than an hour so I'll have Penny meet you at the farmhouse. You be careful, son. Whatever that man says, you don't believe him. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Be safe, Virgil, and tell your Grandma…" Virgil held his watch higher above his shoulder, aiming it back out towards the curb again to allow his Dad another brief view of the car where Grandma and 'Bernard' were now merrily singing along to some old show-tune he vaguely recognised. "Well," Jeff continued, "I guess there are just no words for that. I'll call you with an update soon."
"FAB. Bye Dad."
Jeff nodded solemnly as Virgil cut the connection, hesitantly making his way back out of the rental office and to the waiting car, all the while steeling himself ready for the drive ahead. Stowing his bag in the back seat before eventually slipping in himself, Virgil caught sight of his Grandmother's kind eyes in the rear-view mirror as they locked gazes. He still couldn't quite understand how this had all come about and how none of them had even had the first clue that the lady had been spending every waking hour of the last three weeks in the company of their biggest enemy. Most worryingly of all was how absolutely, truly happy she genuinely appeared to be.
"Ready, Virgil?" Grandma asked, smiling back at him.
"I guess I have no choice…" Virgil reluctantly replied, wanting nothing more than for the both of them to be anywhere other than inside The Hood's car at the man's complete and utter mercy.
"Excellent." The Hood replied on Grandma's behalf, somewhat menacingly as he let off the parking brake and began to drive them further and further away from the safety of the jet that could have taken them home.
Virgil only hoped that Penny was already on her way. Too consumed in his own worry, he missed the brief flicker of confusion that washed over Grandma's face as she watched the interaction between her new friend Bernard and her Grandson. But, like all the other times before it, within seconds any doubts she may have had were gone and here she was again on her way to her old home with two of her favourite people in tow, ready to continue her holiday. Yes, everything was happy and right in Grandma's world. Wasn't it…?