Virgil was dreaming. It was a fluid thing made of colours, sounds and impressions but one thing stood out; she was there. In a haze of emerald green and deep purple they lay entwined, bodies thrumming together in a harmony that could only exist in a twilight world. Gentle fingers traced exposed skin producing a moan that came from a half remembered, half imagined place. He chased the sound across her form until it was constant, the sound of it reverberating through every part of him. The lightness of her kiss rang discordant to the fire below; a fire he wanted to pin down and bury himself in over and over again until the vibration turned to sound and crashed through him. But that wasn't for now, and the memory of it flittered away. This fire required gentle coaxing - a soft melody played lightly and not by him. This tune he provided the harmony to, not the other way around. Vibrant shades turned to watercolour, washing over him, washing over them, and he was content to be carried away on the pallet as they swirled together. But that fire couldn't be denied forever. Around him their music swelled, the colours once again becoming vibrant. Her two hands were on the small of his back, urging him on. The third shook his shoulder.

Wait.

What?

Virgil awoke suddenly, confused and more than a bit alarmed. The dream snapped off to be replaced with bright, late dawn light and an older brother shaking him awake. Virgil shifted to face the offender and suddenly became aware of something that made him very glad he was lying on his front.

"Jasmine just called in. They're getting ready, she'll be calling for IR in just over an hour" Scott said.

"Right" Virgil said, raising himself up to his elbows to make it look like he was moving. "I'll be right there."

"Comms room in 10" the Field Commander said turning to leave.

Virgil waited for his brother to leave before glancing down at himself. It didn't seem to be going down.

Comms room in 10.

Christ.

He needed a shower.

A cold shower

Almost an hour later everyone available was assembled in the Comms room. Everyone had the jitters - it was, after all, a first for International Rescue to know about an emergency before it happened.

Scott was the only one of the brothers in uniform. He didn't want to waste time once the call came in and he couldn't exactly use his own launch chute as he'd end up in the wrong hanger for Thunderbird Two. He was pacing, going from brother to brother, then to grandma and back again. Only Kyrano and his father were left out of his mini rounds as they were deep in conversation. Occasionally a message would come through from the GDF but, like so many things, the contents were never shared.

Scott started again, pausing next to Virgil to put a hand and his shoulder and attempt a comforting squeeze. Though sitting down, the man was as taught as a bowstring, his shoulder muscles providing no give for Scott to squeeze into. Gordon was little better. In an almost exact copy of his immediately older brother, Gordon sat, leaning forward with elbows on knees. Where Virgil was utterly still though, Gordon fidgeted. His left leg bounced with nervous energy and he was absentmindedly wringing his hands over and over again.

"Scott, I don't want you to go" said a small voice from his littlest brother. He'd reached Alan on his very short circuit of the room.

"Who would you have go instead hmm?" Scott sat in front of him placing his hands on the young boy's knees. This was the Alan Scott always tended to see. The little kid who was growing up surrounded by men and tremendous machines but who, at the heart of it, was still a little kid. It was hard to think that only a few hours ago he'd taken a rocket into space and back again. But then, when Alan was in his space suit - not a full IR uniform, not yet - he became so much more than just a kid with brattish tendencies. Scott was working on compartmentalising the two, Alan the baby brother and Alan the IR member in training were going to be two different people to him. That way he might worry less when Alan was out there.

"No one should go!" Alan insisted firmly but quietly. It wouldn't do for their father to hear the rehashing this argument again.

"Then who would bring Tintin home?" Scott asked. "She's under a lot of rubble right now and needs our help. Unless you want to leave it to the GDF?"

"Let Jasmine do it. She's already there, plus she's like this super cool nanobot thing. It'd be a walk in the park to her."

"Father doesn't want to take that risk. We haven't known her very long Alan, something might go wrong."

"But Virgil loves her" Alan said his voice rising slightly. Scott winced, convinced could feel his father's eyes boring into him from across the room. "That's good enough for you, why can't it be good enough for father?"

"Oh Alan" Scott said pulling him in for a hug. It gave Scott the few moments he needed to marshal his thoughts. The problem was that it wasn't good enough for him. He'd only met Jasmine once and he'd been pretty heavily distracted at the time. Even their most trusted agent, Lady Penelope, had had more than a dozen meetings with his father before being allowed fully inside their wall of secrecy - and she'd come highly recommended!

"She hasn't had the training we've had" he said instead, "and she's only one person. Who's watching her back?"

Virgil shot him a grateful look which only made Scott feel more guilty.

"I wish we were moving now" Gordon said quietly. "We don't even know if Kayo is alright. It must be killing Kyrano having to wait like this!"

"Jasmine put her as far out of danger as possible" Virgil said assuredly, "and Kayo has aways been able to look out for herself. She only has to hang on a little longer and we'll get her out."

From across the room Brain's jerked suddenly with a sharp intake of breath. The tablet he'd been engrossed him was held away as though it had tried to bite him.

"Th-Th-Thunderbird Two just failed a diagnostics check!" he exclaimed.

Scott spun and crossed the room in less than a second.

"What do you mean it failed? It can't fail now!"

"I-I-I don't know! She was f-fine when she landed from her la-last mission!" The scientist looked devastated. His great machines had never failed them before, why now? Cautiously Brains raised his eyes to meet those of his employer, only to find that Jeff wasn't looking at him at all.

"Virgil, what did you do?" Jeff asked his voice covering an undercurrent of suspicion, disbelief, and utter rage.

"I'm the best man for this job" Virgil said, surprising Scott with the confidence he was exuding. "That you don't see that is downright demeaning to everything I've worked for, and everything my brothers have worked for too."

Scott's jaw dropped as Virgil rose and planted himself in front of their father's desk.

"We each bring something very different to International Rescue, I know you think you know that but, when the chips are down, you prove time and time again that you don't."

Jeff opened his mouth to speak but Virgil didn't give him the chance.

"You placed Scott as our Field Commander and so you should have, he's the perfect choice to lead us. But you question him every time he does something that isn't in our regular procedure. A rule book you wrote, sitting at your desk."

"How dare you!" Jeff started but Virgil had only just got going.

"In the field Scott makes split second decisions all the time, and then has to sit and watch as Gordon and I carry out his orders. It's killing him by inches that he can't leave mobile control and actually come help. You gave John" he gestured to John's holo "Thunderbird Five, the most sophisticated telecommunications satellite the world has ever seen and then you expect him not to use it. You actually think that him being up in space will be enough and that he won't tinker with things and improve them."

Scott shot a look at John and was surprised by John's reaction. His face said 'ah finally' and held not a hint of surprise at Virgil's outburst.

"John is one of the most intelligent people you'll ever meet. As we've proven, he can run mobile control from Thunderbird Five and provide information faster and clearer than mobile control ever could, because he has the power of Thunderbird Five behind him. But what happened when we tried it? You tore strips off both Scott and John. We were able to attend multiple hot spots in Surbitton and we never once lost touch with each other, the local authorities or Base but you didn't even put that in your review."

"It wasn't relevant. We do things the way we do them-"

"For a reason, yes, I know. What I'm saying is that perhaps, no not perhaps, it is time we re-evaluated that."

"I suppose you want your youngest brother to have free reign with Thunderbird Three as well?" Jeff growled.

"No, Alan need to be trained properly" Virgil cut him dead. "As does Gordon."

"Excuse me?" Gordon said shocked.

"Gordon, you're Two's relief pilot but when was the last time you actually flew her?"

"Uh…"

"Exactly."

"You never let me!" Gordon exclaimed surprised to be included in Virgil's (clearly well-rehearsed) rant.

"Because you don't have the flight hours behind you. Flying her home from a mission is one thing, but usually we're both exhausted and in that scenario I'm the better man for the job because you don't have the experience."

"How can I get the experience if you won't give me a chance!"

"Yes dad" Virgil, rounded on his father, "how? How many times have I asked you to schedule in flight training for Gordon – run by either myself or Scott – for you to veto it?"

"Virgil" Jeff said clearly hanging on to his patience "you tend to ask at inappropriate times."

"I shouldn't have to ask! It should be mandatory, just like it should for me to be trained fully on Thunderbirds Four and Five and Scott on Four. As for inappropriate, the last time I asked you was a few weeks after I busted my shoulder and you responded that I needed to recover first. I can sit on my ass in a co-pilot's chair just as easily as I can on a sun lounger."

"I mean bringing thing up at a time like this!" Jeff exploded. "We have a mission incoming with a family member already injured in the danger zone and you're wasting time with something we can deal with later! Now, go fix whatever you did to Thunderbird Two. That's an order! After that you can confine yourself to your rooms. I'll deal with you later."

"No."

Scott was shocked by how calm Virgil had remained. Jeff now stood, leaning forwards on his desk, veins popping out of his neck and all but foaming at the mouth in his rage but Virgil stood as though he'd planted himself in the floor. Scott and the brothers in the room had watched the exchange like a tennis match and now simultaneously held their breath as they waited for the finale.

"I'm the best man for the job, father. The job of freeing two victims from under a destabilised building. That's my training, my background and my experience."

"He's right" John chimed in unexpectedly. All eyes in the room swung to John's holo and Scott was struck by how similar his two next youngest brothers suddenly looked. It wasn't in physical resemblance, but rather facial expression and body language. Scott had just enough time to wonder if they'd rehearsed this before John continued.

"Of the personnel you have available to you, two have experience with hostiles and, whilst all three have the necessary training to carry out this mission the experience of one far outreaches the experience of the other two. It's simple division of labour, father. Virgil should carry out the mission with Scott and Gordon to guard him as he does so. As previously discussed, Thunderbird Two will go alone to avoid arousing suspicions. Here are the alterations as I see them. Gordon will accompany Virgil but not disembark with him. His mission will be to find and neutralise the sniper. Thunderbird Two can scan the area as she approaches and Thunderbird Five will analyse the data and relay. I will then be able to inform Gordon of any heat signatures which could be our sniper. Gordon's training will allow him to assess which is most likely and proceed from there. Thunderbird One will discretely park at the bottom of the cliff face and Scott will enter the smuggler tunnels. Brains thinks the improved ground penetrating scanner on Thunderbird One will allow me to get a full picture of the tunnels and I will be able to guide Scott from there. Virgil will rendezvous with Scott who will provide cover and they will evacuate Kayo and Nick to Thunderbird One. Thunderbird Two will remain on site whilst the GDF wrap their side of the mission."

Scott nodded; it was a good plan. Gordon had experience dealing with snipers and would be able to handle it if needed (though Scott hoped it wouldn't come to that.) Looking between his brothers he could see they all agreed. It was only when he looked at his father that Scott felt the adrenalin rush that comes with a good mission brief drain away.

Jeff worked his jaw and took a couple of obvious deep breaths.

"What about Jasmine?" Gordon spoke up. "You said we would extract her, father."

"Jasmine is meant to be capturing Virgil" John said. "This means she will be looking for him. When she finds you, Virgil, appraise her of the new plan. She can return to Thunderbird One with you."

Jeff finally had enough control over himself to address the space monitor directly.

"So, you want to analyse the data from Thunderbird Two, whilst directing your brother through a series of unknown tunnels, presumably whilst keeping in contact with Jasmine and monitoring the GDF?" he said, his tone of voice making it obvious how stupid he considered the idea.

"Yes, sir" John replied as though he hadn't heard the inference. "That'll free up Scott to take action as necessary. He'll, still have all communications available to him but he won't have mounds of data to go through. Scott will remain as onsite coordinator without being tied to the mobile control station."

Jeff deliberately turned away from John, shelving that problem.

"And you?" he turned to Virgil. "You want to go into an unknown hostile situation with little training and certainly no field experience. What will you do if they capture you? What will you do if…" his voice broke suddenly and one hand came up of the desk to cover his eyes. Virgil moved quietly round the desk, giving Jeff the moment he needed to pull himself back together. He placed a gentle hand on his father elbow.

"I can't let it be them" he said quietly, imploring Jeff to finally understand. "I can't protect them the way they could protect me. You're right, I don't have the skills for it - and I don't want them. Let me do what I'm good at doing."

"Virgil it's not safe" Jeff replied just as quietly.

"Our lives aren't safe" Virgil replied with a sad smile, "but that doesn't stop us from doing what we do."

Something passed between the two then though Scott couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. There was a kind od understanding reached, even if each would never agree with the other's position.

"Father" Scott spoke up breaking the moment, "for what it's worth, I agree with my brothers. If you weren't here, this is the plan I would approve."

Gordon nodded emphatically.

Jeff sat down heavily and rubbed his hands down his face before worrying his fingers together. Several moments passed and Scott found himself on edge waiting to see if their father would come to a decision before Jasmine called in.

"Alright" he said finally. The word seemed to deflate him and he visibly pulled himself back together as he carried on. "But, each of you will have an open channel at all times. John, I want the data from their uniforms fed directly to base."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes Brains" Jeff waved off the scientist's concern, "I'm aware the suit telemetry is a work in progress but it's better than nothing. If it proves useful today then you can consider that you have approval for the upgrades we discussed."

Scott's lip twitched at that. Brains wanted to change their uniforms to a high-grade neoprene. Better insulation, more durability and the ease at which he could attach the hair-fine filament wires were his reasons. Jeff had vetoed it in the past as the neoprene made the uniforms rather well fitted. Even Scott had had a shock at seeing John in his prototype for the first time. Jeff was concerned it would be putting the wrong image forward for International Rescue. Gordon's comment that they could start International Pinup hadn't helped matters.

"Virgil, return to Thunderbird Two, get suited up and fix whatever you did. Gordon, go with him. You can both monitor the call from there." Both men nodded and turned for their respective launch tubes. "And Virgil," Jeff halted his middle son as he made it to the top of the stairs.

"Yes?"

"This isn't over. You and I are going to have a serious conversation later."

"Yes sir."

From his angle Scott was probably the only one who saw Virgil blanch slightly as he turned back to his launch tube. Scott could sympathise, when their father demanded a 'serious conversation' in that tone it meant major repercussions for the son on the other end. But then what had Virgil expected, pulling something like that before a major mission? Scott mentally shook it off. While he could sympathise, Virgil had bought it on himself.

He looked up as Jeff huffed out a breath and was surprised to see Kyrano had placed a supportive hand on Jeff shoulder and was looking at his employer and friend with deep concern.

"You make sure they get home, son" Jeff said, meeting his eldest eyes.

"Yes sir, I will. All of them" he said making sure Kyrano understood that Kayo would be coming home too. He'd never intended to keep any promise more in his life.

"Here we go" John said suddenly, causing adrenaline and dread alike to shoot through everyone in the room. "I'm putting her through now."

"International Rescue?" A panicked female voice shrieked. It took Scott a moment to recognise it as Jasmine's. Despite everything she'd been put through for their family, she'd never sounded as scared as she did now. If he didn't know it was an act, he would have bought it, hook, line and sinker.

"International Rescue? Is anyone out there? Please?!"