7

Thank you to the last reviewers and all present followers, here is the next instalment, apologies for it taking so long I am currently fostering an abandoned rescue collie puppy and she demands a lot of my time, which she deserves after such a poor start!

Scott had reported in and delivered the awful news. They were all staying overnight at the base until they had got their heads together. His poor boys! What on earth was happening? First Scott, then his mother and now this! He wasn't sure he could take much more. What a terrible year! He buried his head in his hands. Poor Vigil, how would he recover? And Gordon having to find out in that way, the pain he must have experienced…

'I am so sorry Mr Tracy. Poor Virgil'. He looked up to see Tin-Tin close to tears. She offered him a silent hug which he gratefully received. 'I know you are Tin-Tin thank you.'

They were interrupted with a beep beep of the buzzer. Jeff untangled himself from Tin-Tin's embrace. 'Oh god, that's John I don't know if I can face him.' Jeff ran a hand across his mouth much like the gesture Scott so often displayed when under stress.

'Go ahead John'.

'Father, I have some great news about Thunderbird 4'.

Good we need some good news 'What about her John?' Jeff listened carefully.

'I've just been speaking with Troy Tempest from W.A.S.P - he's a great guy! I can see why Gordon was so awe of him when he was young. They tracked thunderbird 4 to an underwater silo and ran a sting operation with other W.A.S.P crews. They have successfully secured her. Shall I put you through? He's on the line'. John was so happy at the news; Jeff didn't want to be the one to ruin it for him.

'Dad, are you alright? Is something wrong?'

Jeff shook himself. 'It's ok son, put them through but hold the line, I need to talk to you afterwards'.

'Sure thing, putting you through now'.

'I hear you have the first bit of good news I've had all day' Jeff's mind kept wandering to his middle son. 'Yes sir. We have detained two men in regards to the theft and threatening a W.A.S.P officer by holding him hostage. We also have a yellow sub in our possession. She is unharmed from what we can see.'

'Are you interviewing the two men?'

'We will be shortly.'

'Would you be able to patch me in via video link? I should like to hear what they have to say but we won't encroach on your investigation.'

'Higher up may not like it but I reckon I can fix it.'

'Thank you, can thunderbird four be held secure until we can collect her? Thanks to the attack earlier our main craft has been grounded until repaired. It would only be for a couple of days at most'.

'If it helps sir we could drop her off at a secure location if you had one? I'm not keen to take her back. It would be quite a responsibility to maintain the secrecy amongst the organisation.'

'Understood. I'll send over the coordinates now'. Jeff was going to have her secured at agent 150's secure boathouse. He was already messaging the agent now.

'Perfect, we'll be in contact'.

'Thank you gentleman.'

Jeff flicked back to John. It was 5am island time, Jeff hadn't slept a wink. None of them had and he wouldn't until all his boys were home or safely ensconced in thunderbird 5. 'John, I need you to grab a seat'. His father had finally lost his composure now business was done. He looked bereft and it scared John, he knew something bad had happened for sure. He sat promptly and waited for his dad to spill.

'John it's about Virgil…'

By the time his dad had finished John was numb. How could someone have done this? First Scott, now this! Who were these people? Why target us when all we do is help?

'John…'

I will find them; I have access to everything up here! I will have justice for Virgil, for Scott and Gordon!

'John!' Jeff raised his voice.

John jumped and shot his dad a teary look of determination before typing furiously.

'Son, talk to me. Don't shut me out, please; your isolated enough as it is. I wish I could be there with you.'

'It's ok dad, I'm going to find who did this.' John was resolute. It was something Jeff learnt to be wary of - even in his son's early development. He would push and strive until he burnt himself to exhaustion to achieve his goal.

'John, I have our best agents on the case, they are all on high alert. You've never seen anything like it. W.A.S.P has those two men to interview. We'll get a break soon.'

'Dad, I have access to all their reports up here and the police and the army-

'John, you know we have a code to respect the privacy of other organisations, we're not a big brother organisation. That's not our purpose'.

'Screw privacy dad! Someone is attacking our organisation, my family! Privacy can resume when we've caught the - (Jeff cringed at the number of expletives from his quietest son). 'John please that's enough, it's not like I don't care too!' Jeff frowned angrily at his son.

'Sorry Dad! I just I can't take it. Someone has robbed my brother of his memory! We are strangers to him; will he ever get his life back? What if one of us is killed next time?' Fresh tears poured down his face; Virgil was the one that John always confided in. He and John used to do everything together when they were young and they routinely used to gang up on Scott, until the others came along. John found it hard to express himself but Virgil had an aptitude for getting it out of him. He couldn't even begin to describe how he was really feeling but Virgil would have known. Meanwhile Jeff knew his son's burst of temper had stemmed from fear and compassion for his brothers. 'I know it's far from ok son but we will figure this out. Thunderbirds will not be deploying until we do. I am not risking any of you anymore.'

Jeff closed the call, alone in his lounge. Perhaps out of all the shocking events of the last 48 hours was the fact that for the first time, all his sons were away from home for the night. Whoever were behind these attacks had not only dismantled his beloved rescue organisation but they had spilt his family and shattered them to pieces at the same time. Everything he loved and cared for was in ashes. The lump in his throat became more pronounced as silent tears that had been threatening to fall spilled onto his desk.

Scott had crashed for a couple of hours out of sheer exhaustion. He had slept in thunderbird one to ensure her safety. Right now, he didn't trust a damn soul outside of IR and was on high alert, despite being in a secure compound. Of course, he would have preferred to sleep next to his brother's bedside but since Virgil didn't know who he was, he figured it wasn't appropriate. Scott tried to suppress the rawness of that statement. He had been to see Virgil. Apart from the large bandage on his forehead you wouldn't know anything had happened to him. He had been sat up in bed as Scott entered. The doctors had warned him to keep it simple, don't talk too much about the accident or family as it might frustrate or upset him that he couldn't remember. Try to stick to present subjects. Scott knocked at the door.

'Erm, may I come in?

'Sure, are you here with Gordon?'

'Yes, how did you know?' Scott asked surprised. There was a tinge of excitement to his voice.'

'I figured - you're wearing the same uniform'.

'Ah' of course, he had lost his memory but that didn't mean he had lost the ability to observe. He sat down on the seat wearily. There was an awkward pause as the brothers tried to figure out what to say to each other. This was a bad idea thought Scott. He wasn't sure he could hold it together, trying to make polite conversation whilst dying inside at his brother's condition. It was too much to comprehend in the flesh. 'Tough day huh?' Scott smiled at him 'You could say that'. Scott looked at his hands. 'What is IR?' Virgil questioned looking at the symbol on Scott's blue sash.

'It stands for International Rescue. Our purpose is to help those in need of rescue globally. We have advanced specialist equipment that can help those in even the most remote or dire locations.' It's our Father's brainchild and you pilot thunderbird 2. We are almost always on rescues together; Scott refrained from mentioning that part.

'Sounds like an amazing thing to do, did you and Gordon rescue me then?'

'I was there but there was nothing I could do to help but Gordon was able to get you to safety.'

'It seems I owe him more than I thought'.

Scott rose to leave, he couldn't manage any longer. He might make things worse and talking to his brother was like talking to a stranger. He knew it was selfish but he couldn't do it.

'I am sure he will tell you that you don't owe him anything, I'll be back later I just need to go and check on Gordon too. I am glad that you are safe and I hope you recover soon. '.

'Hey?'

Scott paused and took his hand off of the handle to face Virgil.

'I'm sorry; I don't know your name?'

Scott felt like he had been punched in the heart and watched as it was ripped out of him. 'It's Scott; I'll be back tomorrow to see how you are'.

He left the room quickly, rushing past a nurse in the corridor trying to wipe his streaming eyes.

Scott pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes to try and shove the painful memory away before it flooded him again. He flipped back the sheet and stretched awkwardly to ease the kinks in his back, he was tall and the make shift camp bed had been too short for him. Years of sleeping on such things in the force had knackered his back spectacularly. He sat up and dragged his boots back on before heading out to Thunderbird Two. The quicker they could repair her the quicker they could all return home.

As he had expected Brains was already working on thunderbird two along with Alan. 'Morning; where's Gordon?' Gordon had chosen to sleep in the same room as Alan last night.

'With Virgil, he figured that he should try to explain that we might be going home today. Gordon thought it would be best coming from him. To introduce more brothers this early on might overwhelm him'. Alan talked as he worked, he could see the logic but he really wanted to see Virgil. Scott nodded. He needed to check in with Gordon later, he was worried about the impact all of this was having on him when he was injured himself.

'OK and where are we at with all this Brains?'

'W..We..Well Scott. It's a..a mess for sure. We still have wh..whole thrusters to replace and I..I need to rewire the system.' Scott was already rolling up his sleeves to the elbows.

'Well let's crack on then.' Hard graft was exactly what he needed.

The three of them had worked in silent unity on the air craft for about three hours. Some of the personnel from the base watched them in wonder as they realised that these IR guys were much more than just search and rescue. They marvelled at their engineering skills and the speed which they worked at. The guy with the glasses was obviously a genius. Hell! They could do with guys like this! They had been ordered to only speak when spoken to and not to question IR in order to maintain their secrecy as much as possible. With the recent attacks they had suffered they seemed to be even stricter with their policy. They hadn't even needed proper clearance to enter base. A call to IR's senior commander had sufficed. A ginger haired lad walked up to the three IR members, he was with the one who had been badly injured. The word was that they were brothers but that could just be hearsay. Chinese whispers spread like wildfire through the base at times like these.

'Are we anywhere near leaving? I'd really like to go home now. I just spoke to' – Gordon looked left to right to ensure no one was in earshot that shouldn't be. 'Dad' he finished. Scott straightened and turned to face Gordon.

'Well what did he have to say?'

'That they found TB4, she is being returned home today. Apparently unscathed but I won't believe it until I've completed the checks myself. W.A.S.P also arrested two people in connection with the theft.'

'That's great are they interviewing them?'

'Yes, in a couple of hours' Gordon looked TB2 up and down. She still had blackened scorch marks over her and rips in the metal panelling. He remembered hearing it tear off piece by piece in the wind, the chemical smelling of burning, the thick smoke clogging his airway…

'Are we done here?' Scott asked. Gordon became aware of his surroundings again. Brains had shuffled forwards to Scott's side, wiping his hands on a flannel as he did so.

'Well as y..y..you can s..s..ee she ah! S..still has a long w..ay to go but she's flyable at a steady pace for the A..h..h distance we need.'

'How's Virgil?' Alan asked.

'Weirded out as you can imagine. I've explained it in layman's terms. We live on an uncharted island and that we need to fly to get there.'

'Uh-uh and how did he take that?' Scott folded his arms.

'Just nodded, he's scared of the unknown but he doesn't like it here either. He said he wants to go somewhere he can go outside without a security detail or doctors. I explained home to him a little and he liked the concept.'

'Well that's all we can hope for I suppose'. Scott sighed. 'Right here's what we're gonna do. Alan is going to pilot Thunderbird two.' Alan nodded, with a serious expression. He hoped their repairs were good enough; there would be no turning back over open water. 'Gordon, I know your hurt but the carrier can be set to auto pilot can you manage it?' Gordon nodded instantly; he was on good non-drowsy pain relief. The kind they give to soldiers to tie them over until they get the job done. 'Good. Brains will go with me and Virgil in TB1. The doctors warned me that people with Virgil's type of injury can be panicked easily and memories triggered so Brains is going to make sure he is ok and stays safe on the flight home while I fly. Virgil will be sedated for transit as an extra measure, especially with Gordon not being there as his only constant.' Scott was not going to allow Virgil to get hurt again.

'Y..y..es Scott'

'I'm going to scout ahead and behind and make sure that we are not a target on the flight home with two in such a vulnerable state. Should we be attacked we split and I will try and lure them away. The Air force is going to accompany us for the first 50 miles so hopefully that will be enough to deter any spotters. Any questions?' They all shook their heads. 'Great let's gear up and head on out'.

Scott watched as his sleeping brother was loaded onto TB1. He thanked the Air Marshall for their hospitality and the doctors for the treatment Virgil and Gordon had received. As Virgil was strapped in, he tried not to feel guilty. He should have realised that pilot was fake. It was his job to identify risks and to safeguard them and he had failed. He was a seasoned fighter pilot, he should have known, should have acted sooner. He was startled by a hand on his shoulder.

'I know that look Scott, don't start the; I'm the one to blame thing because you're not. You didn't make those people attack us. You brought us time Scott. We would have died had you not shouted for us to stay clear. We owe you our lives.' Gordon looked at his eldest brother with complete gratitude. Scott half smiled. 'I know but I feel bad still. I'm very glad you're still here'.

'Me too, see you on the other side'.

'F.A.B'

Scott filed in after Brains and settled into the cockpit. He ran through the checks as he waited for Alan and Gordon to reach their positions. He looked to his left and saw the two fighter jets taxi off, to his right another two tippled out of the hangar. Scott heard the screeches further down the runway, signalling that they were airborne. Then slowly he and Alan were pulled out in tandem ready to taxi out themselves. Their birds didn't need runways and therefore they didn't have to venture far before they were given flight clearance by command. A small crowd had gathered to watch them take off. Scott waited with baited breath as TB2 fired up. He hoped to god she would fly!

Alan started the flight sequence and flicked on the controls. 'Come on old girl we can do it can't we?' he patted the dash for luck. He fired the reverse thrusters with his eyes closed. Squinting out the corner of one eye he dared to look at the control panel. It was lit momentarily before everything conked out and he heard the thrusters cut out of existence. 'Damn!' he exclaimed vexed and frowning. He shut everything down before he rebooted her. 'Take two'.

He tried again. This time he heard the engines roar into life. 'Yes!' He punched the air in delight.

'Scott! She's good to go!'

'That's great Alan, take her up and take it easy'.

'Scott I'm not going to fly like a mad thing, I'm not stupid!'

'I know, just be careful please, I don't want another one of us to get hurt.'

'Ok' Alan replied sullenly. He pulled the wheel towards him and felt TB2 lift underneath him.

Scott watched his six and everyone else's all the way home. He was on high alert scanning the horizon and constantly doubling back. 'This is thunderbird one to thunderbird two'.

'Thunderbird two receiving you'

'Alan, how's it going any problems?'

'Not at present as long as we remain at this speed we should be fine. Earlier when we tried to increase speed there was an awful noise and she was shaking but this seems ok so far.' Alan monitored the performance stats on the screen in front of him.

'Great'. Scott's reply was short and abrupt. The lack of sleep combined with the heightened concentration was beginning to wear him down but it wasn't far now. He forced himself to sit straighter in his seat. The air force had left by this point so it was just down to him. They flew in a tight formation, TB1 just ahead of TB2 and the carrier behind. Scott would flit from front to back every now and then to satisfy himself that they were not being followed. His paranoia was worrying his brothers; they would all be relieved when they reached home.

'Alan, I want you to land first, then Gordon.'

'F.A.B Scott'

'Thunderbird 2 to base, requesting permission to land.'

'Permission granted Alan, glad to have you home.' Alan smiled as he begun the landing sequence, the hangar opened automatically as he drew closer.

'Gordon Tracy to base, requesting to land'

'Go ahead son, Scott didn't tell me you were flying, is that safe?'

'Dad chill, it's on auto pilot with the occasional help from me. It's totally safe'.

Scott cut in 'Thunderbird 1 to base, requesting permission to land also'.

'Granted also, Thunderbird one'.

The pool slid open as Scott set TB1 into the vertical position to descend into the silo.

Jeff sipping his third coffee of the morning and set it down with a sigh of relief, at least his boys were finally home safe. They would take the rest a step at a time.