Thank you so much for the reviews - and to the three people I couldn't respond to either. I really hope you like this next chapter.

Warning: this chapter does contain some violence in the second half.

The sound of his cell pinging made John glance at the screen and swear violently. Gordon slammed on the brakes, causing both of them to be thrown forward until their seatbelts did their job. Then it was Gordon cursing as he rubbed sore ribs and glared at his brother.

"You know we're in the rescuing business, right, Johnny?" Gordon said, his tone flippant. "Saving villages from earthquakes, a mall from a fire, our brothers from a madman… Any reason you wanted us to crash?"

John ignored him. Gordon had woken, taken one look at him and held his hand out for the keys. John hadn't argued; he was exhausted. It meant that he could concentrate on working out what they were about to walk into and wait for Brains to make contact: he hadn't put his phone down for hours.

"John? What is it?"

John suddenly realised that, despite ignoring Gordon's teasing, he had also offered no explanation for his initial reaction. Gordon was staring at him, his face pale. John swallowed.

"We're in this alone."

"What do you mean?"

John filled Gordon in on his conversation with their father regarding the cops. Blag might have been covering his tracks and the police might have encrypted databases, but John knew Brains was up for the challenge. With not one, but two Tracys in danger, it would fuel their friend more than any pep-talk could. Brains wouldn't give up.

Considering the data now currently showing on John's phone, Brains' perseverance had paid off.

"The captain has been receiving payments for the last ten years. Small amounts, stuff that won't show up, but it's built up. Brains' tracked it – and had to go halfway way around the world before he found the source. It's coming from somewhere in Russia."

"Wasn't Blag-?"

"Using the Russians? Yes. He's been using them to buy cops. The police – the genuine ones - are all in position, waiting for an order that isn't going to come."

"What do we do?" Gordon wasn't the type of person to let his nerves show. Considering what they did for a living, it was a blessing. He was the one who could stay totally calm no matter how bad things got in a rescue. Scott freaked, Virgil got a stony expression - and Gordon carried on like he was going for a stroll through the park. John knew bad rescues hit Gordon harder than the other two though, and both Scott and Virgil were needed when they got home to reassure their younger brother. While there was a job to do, however, nothing fazed Gordon.

John couldn't ignore the tremble in his brother's voice. He leant over, squeezing the back of Gordon's neck. Gordon smiled tightly, but the tension didn't ease. John didn't blame him. He was loathe to deliberately put his little brother in danger but knew Gordon wouldn't accept any reasoning or arguments that he presented. Deep down, a small, selfish part of him needed Gordon there. He couldn't do this alone.

"We stick to the plan," John said. He sat back, gesturing for Gordon to start driving. Gordon, however, stared at him.

"Are you mad?"

"No. I'll contact Dad and get him to put in some calls. Think about who he is, Gordon. KPD will listen to him; Matt built that department before he moved to the city. Dad's poured funds into them over the years. As long as it's only the captain accepting bribes, we can work around that."

"What if it isn't just the captain?" Gordon asked, his voice quiet. "What if someone else is involved and they tip Blag off?"

"He might accelerate his plans," John whispered, the implications of what he was saying horrifying him. His hand clenched into a fist.

"You mean-?"

John nodded and Gordon swore. He fumbled for the keys, started the engine and then almost stalled again as his hands shook. John put a hand on Gordon's shoulder.

"Breathe, Gords. We can only help them if we actually get there."

He tried to mimic Gordon's previous casual tone but his heart was thudding hard. Blag didn't know about their technology. He might not even realise they would figure out about the police corruption. But he did know their family. John knew Blag had set up the explosion in order to take Scott, meaning he had guessed they would come for Virgil. Blag would know they were on their way.

Blag had been playing them from the start; using Virgil to lure out Scott. He had planned this methodically and John wondered if they had actually figured out any answers on their own or whether Blag had given them just enough evidence to work with. But if he was aware that the rest of the Tracys would be moving in, he would have planned for that eventuality. They were running out of time.

John glanced at Gordon. His brother had got the car started again, only his knuckles were white from his grip on the steering wheel. John didn't say anything, though. Anything that came out of his mouth would be a false reassurance and he knew Gordon would see straight through him. The last thing he needed was for Gordon to be angry at him.

He opened his laptop so he could monitor any further communication from Brains while calling his father. He suspected his dad already knew – Brains probably had sent the information to both of them. He hoped that things had already been set into motion as he knew it would take his father a while to convince the cops it wasn't a hoax.

The conversation went exactly the way John suspected it would: his dad insisting that they wait until they had back up en-route and both John and Gordon flatly refusing. When Gordon calmly pointed out that Scott had been in one place for some time now and every moment they wasted was a moment more likely that Blag would move on – or kill Scott – their father had no comeback. John knew he wasn't happy, but he was too far away to physically stop them. He couldn't even call the cops on them; that was the crux of the matter as it was.

Jeff had started making calls before John connected. By the time he hung up, John was convinced that they would be receiving back up after all, it would just take slightly longer than anticipated.

"Johnny?" Gordon still sounded nervous and John looked up from his screens.

"Yeah?"

"What if the cops try to connect with their captain to get to the bottom of it all?"

John didn't say anything. He stared at Gordon. This time, he didn't have an answer. He had been so focused on ensuring the cops were on their side he hadn't thought about internal communication within the department.

If the police made contact with their captain, there was every chance he in turn would call Blag. If Blag was tipped off that his cover with the cops was blown, John knew full well who would bear the brunt of his anger. Asking for back up, insisting on it, meant he could have just signed Scott and Virgil's death warrants. A single call could be all it took and John was too far away to do anything about it.

"Call Dad again," Gordon said, tersely.

"Why?"

"He needs to talk to the cops."

"He's just done that."

"He didn't tell them I'm about to break every speed limit in the state."

Gordon put his foot down before he finished speaking. John hung on as the car lurched forward before the movement became smoother. Only this time, the scenery was whipping past the window and he didn't dare look at the speedometer as they shot off.

But just this once, he didn't care. If that was what it took to get to their brothers before it was too late, then that was what they had to do. Gritting his teeth and decidedly not thinking about the fact he felt sick, John picked up his phone again.

TBTB

Regardless of how determined Scott was to free himself, his restraints didn't let him.

If it was just his hands, he would've been fine. He either would have freed himself or made it across to Virgil, showing Blag once and for all their teamwork.

But the rope around his neck was doing its job well. Almost too well. Everything Scott tried was limited by knowing if he lost his balance, he would be in trouble. Virgil eventually snapped at him to stop struggling after Scott slipped and he was forced to listen to his brother choking before he managed to get his knees under him and regain his balance properly. The rope dug painfully into his neck and Scott knew that, unless he was careful, it would be easy to slip too far.

Knowing Virgil was right, Scott settled himself in a position where he could continue to work on the knots while propped against the wall, reducing his chances of falling. The two brothers were quiet; there was nothing to say. Scott knew any reassurances would be a lie and Virgil wouldn't stand for it.

Scott had no idea how long they had been in the dark. All he knew it was that it was dim, damp and cold, and that Virgil seemed to be shivering far more than Scott was happy with. He knew from what Virgil had already told him that his brother hadn't been down here for the whole time but he also knew that if a rescue didn't hurry up and happen, then Blag wouldn't need to do anything to finish them off, the conditions would do that on their own.

A sound drew his attention from his morbid thoughts and even as Scott shifted, Matt coughed again and his eyes opened.

Virgil instantly twisted awkwardly, his arms straining. He began coaxing Matt back to alertness and Scott was struck by how many times he had heard his brother do this. Day after day, they dealt with life and death situations. Both of them were used to saving people, not needing rescuing themselves. Scott hated it.

Virgil's voice was as calm as ever and Scott realised his brother had slipped back into his rescuer role. Scott was glad. Virgil might be able to deal with their situation better if he detached himself emotionally – for the time being – from what was happening, just the way he did on a hard rescue. They had all learnt that lesson the hard way, but Scott was grateful if it meant Virgil was calm now.

"Look who decided to drop in?" Virgil's voice drew Scott from his musings. He looked over as Matt noticed him.

"What are you doing here?" Matt demanded. Scott would have laughed if the situation had been any different.

"Your wife said you were supposed to be on bedtimes tonight and getting kidnapped doesn't get you out of it?" Scott said, avoiding answering the question. Matt knew why he was here; he knew the sort of things that Blag would have planned.

Matt laughed weakly but Scott could tell by Virgil's face that the conditions were beginning to get to him. They had to get him out of there.

They all had to get out of there.

"How you doing, Matt?" Scott asked softly, not certain what he was supposed to say. He wished he could at least move around; the forced stillness was beginning to get to him and he started fidgeting again.

"I'll be better when I've actually done my job and got you two out of here," Matt mumbled and Virgil laughed. None of them knew what to say. No one wanted to admit what was running through their heads because their situation was looking bleak. The Tracys had never been ones to give up, but Scott couldn't stop the wave of helplessness from crashing over him. For the first time in a very long time, he had no idea what to do.

Either his thoughts were playing out across his face, or Virgil knew him too well.

"The others are coming, Scott," he said, his tone adamant. "They're not dead and they are on their way with John yelling at Gordon to stop driving so recklessly. We're going to be alright."

"I thought I was supposed to be the one to be reassuring you?"

"Yeah well… always thought you were a bit of a control freak when it came to the whole reassuring rights. We can share you know."

"We can, can we?" Scott was smiling. Virgil always knew what to say to take his mind off what was going on. The hopelessness eased away, courage seeping into its place once more.

"You two are never going to change, are you?" Matt muttered, the amusement obvious in his own voice.

"Nope," both Scott and Virgil answered at the same time, and for a split second, Scott could imagine they were anyway but in a crypt, being held by a maniac.

His relief, however, was short lived. No sooner had they spoken when light suddenly flooded in as the door opened. Scott tried to push himself further back against the wall, making sure it wouldn't be easy to knock him off balance. He looked around only when he was certain he was stable.

Blag stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at his prisoners as if he couldn't believe that he was hearing laughter. Two men flanked him, cutting off the light straight away. If anything, Scott decided he preferred the darkness. His eyes had grown accustomed to it and Blag couldn't use it as a distraction.

Blag walked slowly down the steps, sneering when he saw what Scott was doing. It didn't matter how close to the wall the pilot had pressed himself, as Blag reached across and seized the rope around his neck. He pulled forward sharply and, with no way of maintaining his balance, Scott fell.

He didn't hit the floor, however, for Blag's grip tightened as he twisted his wrist. Scott let out a gasp before he could cover it up, desperately shuffling forward. After the longest moment of his life, he managed to support his own weight. Coughing sharply to try and get the air back into his lungs, Scott didn't notice the two men had also walked down the stairs and were approaching Virgil and Matt.

"Leave him alone!" Virgil yelled, fear obvious in his voice as Scott gasped for breath.

Scott looked up sharply when he heard the tell-tale sound of a blow being delivered and saw one of the men step back from his brother. Snarling, he wrenched at the ropes – both around his neck and wrists. Blag chuckled, giving him some slack and allowing Scott to lunge forward. But just as he thought he would be able to make it to Virgil, Blag pulled sharply. Scott didn't stand a chance as he was hauled back, crashing down on his back. He lay where he landed, panting. He should have known there was no way Blag was going to let him go to Virgil, but he had to do something to get the men away from his brother.

"Leave the kid alone!" Matt shouted and Scott got his breathing under control just in time to hear a solid punch land and Matt grunting in pain. Awkwardly, Scott made it back into a kneeling position, convinced he felt blood on his neck from the rope digging in. Virgil's alarmed look indicated he was right.

"You've always been protective of them, haven't you, Officer?" Blag asked, his voice silky yet menace dripping from every word. He walked forward, allowing the rope to have more slack as he did so. Scott bunched his muscles but didn't dare move. He knew Blag wouldn't let him and he couldn't help Virgil or Matt if he couldn't breathe. Instead, he shuffled forward to stop the rope from pulling.

"But you couldn't save them before. And you can't save them now. You can't stop me from doing this…"

Scott yelled out as one of the men struck Virgil again.

"Or this…" Blag continued, moving behind Scott and pulling up sharply. He put one hand on Scott's shoulder, enough to stop him from rising. Instead, he could feel the rope tightening around his neck, restricting his airway.

Only this time, Blag wasn't letting go again.

Scott choked, trying to do something, anything, in order to allow air back into his lungs.

"STOP IT!"

Virgil's scream echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls and multiplying until it was ringing in Scott's ears long after his brother had actually finished. Scott heard Blag chuckle, low and deep, as the rope tightened a touch more.

Eventually though, he threw Scott away from him, letting go of the rope completely. Scott knew why. He wasn't going to be offering a fight any time soon when he could barely breathe.

"Scotty?" Virgil sounded tentative, almost as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know the answer to the question Scott knew he was asking. Scott shakily sat up, meeting Virgil's gaze.

"I'm okay," he muttered, eyes widening at how hoarse his voice was. Virgil grimaced, but neither of them could do anything about it.

"How sweet," Blag mocked, moving forward. His fingers threaded through Virgil's hair until he tightened his grip and wrenched the artist's head back. "But I would be more worried about yourself if I were you."

"Leave the boys alone!" Matt interrupted, his voice calm despite the situation they were in. Just as Virgil had slipped into his rescuer role, Matt was sliding back into the mindset of a police officer with a duty: protecting Virgil and Scott.

"Boys? You still think of them as the children you mistakenly saved all those years ago? I hear you have children of your own now, officer. Twins, am I right? Another little one with a fourth on the way? And you got more than a promotion out of everything, didn't you? Got yourself a nice secretary to keep the bed warm. Saved the day and got the girl; you must have been so proud."

Scott watched Matt closely. He could see the man was glaring at Blag, clearly trying to not react to his goading. But Scott noticed the way he paled at hearing Blag knew about his family. He didn't blame him. How much did Blag know about them all – both the Tracys and Matt's family?

He caught Virgil's eye and knew the same thing was running through his brother's head. The man might have sources everywhere, but both brothers were convinced that if he knew about International Rescue, he would have commented on it by now. It would have been risking too much otherwise, especially considering the technology at their disposal. For now, Scott was convinced their secret was safe.

But that didn't make their situation any less deadly. In fact, it made it more so. They had nothing to bargain with.

"But I'm forgetting myself. I came down here to give you boys a history lesson." Blag stepped away from the wall and Scott sagged in relief, glad there was now space between the man and his little brother.

"Do you know where we are? There used to be a church on top of this old crypt, but it was knocked down years ago after it ran out of money. No one was interested in the crypts though, so they just left them to rot. An underground river flows right by. I guess they assumed that water would eventually get in and flood the place. But what they didn't know was that this place was too well-built; it had been designed to hold back water. Unless, of course, something like this happens…"

Blag nodded to his men and they both moved into a far corner of the crypt. There was barely enough light to see what they were doing, but the ominous sound of stone scraping made Scott force himself into a kneeling position. Blag laughed again, taking hold of the end of the rope. He didn't put any pressure on it though, he just used it as a way of keeping Scott still.

No one spoke as the men worked, although Scott traded worried glances with Virgil.

Eventually, there came the unmistakeable sound of a trickle of water and the men stepped back. It was barely more than a drip, but there was no denying water was coming through the wall.

Scott didn't get the chance to say anything before Blag grabbed him by the upper arm, yanked him to his feet and spun him around to face the wall.

"Which one?"

"What?" Scott spat, trying to hide how hard his heart was pounding.

"Which one do you want to save?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Why do you think I took them both, Scotty? You see, now you have a choice. I'm a considerate man-" one of his lackey's punched Virgil hard when the artist snorted "-and I'm giving you the chance to save your little brother. I know how much you always want to. Well, now you can. Just say his name and Virgil will be walking out of here. Of course, your police friend will have to stay here."

"You're mad," Scott whispered, and he knew that everyone could hear his voice trembling. Blag couldn't be serious? He honestly expected Scott to choose between his brother and their friend?

"Maybe. But pick one."

Scott shook his head, and, instantly, there was a gun pressed to it. This time, however, he smirked.

"Go on then, shoot me. I'm not playing your game."

"Oh no, Scott, it won't be you we shoot." Out of the corner of his eye, Scott saw Blag nod to his men. They both pulled out weapons and moved on Virgil and Matt.

"We'll shoot them. Not enough to kill them, just enough for them to drown in agony. You see, you pick one or I kill both. I'm being fair here, I'm giving you the chance to save someone."

"No…" Scott whispered, glancing over to where the water was still trickling in. Even buying time wouldn't help; Virgil and Matt were chained to the wall. If Scott thought he had been feeling helpless before, it was nothing compared to now.

"Very well." Two guns snicked as they prepared to fire, the men taking aim.

"NO! Don't…. don't shoot…" Scott swallowed hard, his heart racing as the men backed away. There was no way he could let either of them get shot.

"You know the longer it takes, the more chance I'm going to take back my generosity and just kill them both."

"Scotty…"

Scott's eyes snapped to Virgil to see his brother offering him a small smile. "It's okay, big brother. You know what you have to do."

"No…"

"Scott, listen to me. I know you know, and you know that I would make the same choice because it is who we are. The others will come for me."

"Don't hold your breath," Blag sneered, before chuckling. "Or better yet, do, might save drowning for a few seconds longer. Make your choice."

"Scott, don't you dare…" Matt seemed to realise what Virgil had been implying, but the artist cut over him.

"He's got kids, Scott. Don't let what happened to us happen to Nic and the kids."

"Scott, please, no…"

"If you don't pick him, I will never forgive you." There was a note of finality in Virgil's voice.

Scott felt a single tear run down his face. The bottoms of his feet were beginning to get wet where the water had trickled in. If he saved Virgil, it would be at the cost of not only Matt's life, but their bond, everything that made them who they were.

But could he pick Matt either, knowing that meant sentencing Virgil?

"Your time is up. Say a name or I start shooting."

Realising he had indeed run out of time, Scott whispered a name even as his heart broke.