A huge thanks for the response to the last chapter. Whirlgirl, I appreciated your review so much - that was exactly the effect I was going for!

Not much left now...

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Virgil had just about given up hope of Scott ever arriving when his brother burst in. It had always been a long-shot - thanks to the jammers in Sahara's helicopter Virgil's edible transmitter had been useless, leaving Scott to follow the craft via his nuclear-powered jetpack, their father having arranged for the propulsion unit to be recharged. The equipment had been delivered to the Kent farmhouse by Rosie, speeding through the night in a borrowed car to get it there on time. They'd have to make her an agent after this, Virgil thought. She'd come through for them yet again. But that had been the easy part. Scott would have had to have kept the helicopter in his sight and Sahara hadn't held back on the power in her hurry to prove once and for all that Virgil was part of International Rescue. It would have been a hellish journey for his brother and one he was lucky to have completed successfully. The delay had convinced Virgil that the plan had failed - that at best, Scott had come back down to earth safely and at worst, that the jetpack had failed and he'd lost his brother.

It was good to know that Scott had come through once again - though Virgil couldn't help wondering if he'd ever get the chance to tell him that as bullets flew through the air. The oldest Tracy's arrival hadn't exactly been subtle, clearly a desperate attempt to stop Sahara proving Virgil's identity by means of the scar her bullet had left.

The woman really did like making him suffer, he thought, shifting his injured leg with a wince and wishing he'd taken Sebastian Swayne up on his offer to condition him not to feel pain. The man had warned him that Sahara had a particularly effective means of ensuring that a subject really was under her control. It was just as well he had a high pain threshold. Years of being battered and bruised out on rescues had ensured that. He was used to injuries, but doing something like this deliberately... that was a new one.

"Stay still!" Sahara ordered, jabbing her gun into his side. The pair of them were lying behind the desk, Virgil having dived for cover when the shooting started. Sahara had quickly joined him, not so much to keep hold of her hostage but because there really had been nowhere else to go. Now there was a stand-off, no one able to get a clear shot at their enemy or make any attempt to escape. Scott was covering the door, having found a safe place behind some old piece of machinery.

Only Penny was exposed, still tied to the pillar behind which Chen had taken cover. It was a situation Sahara was determined to use to her advantage.

"Throw down the gun, Scott. I've got Virgil, Chen's got Penny. You can't win."

"I told you, I've got reinforcements. You can't get away."

"So where are they? I don't hear anyone outside. Call them in and prove it."

Virgil doubted Scott could do that. This place was in the middle of nowhere, an abandoned industrial estate that had been left to rot for the last ten years or so. Not only would Scott have had no idea of his destination until he actually reached it, but the need to try to keep International Rescue secret would have ensured that calling the police would have been an absolute last resort. Maybe Scott had been waiting for their arrival and that had been the cause of his delay, but then again, if the authorities had arrived, would they really have allowed a civilian to go in alone? British police weren't routinely armed anyway - a specialist unit would have to be called in and that would take time. No, help wasn't going to arrive just yet. Scott might have prevented the immediate unmasking of Virgil as Thunderbird Two's pilot, but they weren't out of trouble just yet - far from it.

"Quite a coincidence, you arriving when you did, Scott," Sahara shouted. "You knew I was about to prove everything."

"Don't know what you're talking about!" Scott retorted. His voice came from slightly further to the left than it had before and they all knew he was manoeuvring to try to get a better shot at his enemies.

"Liar. You've just proved to me that you're the pilot of Thunderbird One."

"I have?" The incredulity in Scott's voice was clear. "How do you work that one out?"

"Did you really think I'd be fooled?" Sahara sounded bored. "International Rescue is out on a mission - suspiciously good timing by the way - but there's no sign of Thunderbird One. Well, how could she be there when her pilot is here?"

"You sure about that?" It was Virgil who spoke. "Look." He indicated the tablet they'd been using to follow the FireFlash mission. The device had fallen to the floor in the mayhem of the gunfight, but although the screen had cracked, it was still working.

The rescue was still being transmitted, hazy pictures to be sure, thanks to IR's blocking devices, but the audio was clear. Up till now it had just been there in the background, but suddenly the commentator's voice rose and there was no mistaking the words.

"Thunderbird One has just arrived! Yes, folks, the pride of the Thunderbird fleet is here. Where she's been no one knows, maybe helping souls in distress somewhere on the other side of the world. But she's here now, and I can tell you, it's quite a sight watching that amazing machine swooping across the ocean. She's hovering next to Thunderbird Two now. I just wish the organisation would let us show you the pictures. It's an incredible vision. But wait... It looks like... Yes! The grabs have finally closed around the FireFlash. Looks like International Rescue has saved the day again!"

Sahara let out a scream of rage, grabbing the tablet and throwing it against the wall where it shattered, the transmission abruptly cut off. Chen's head snapped round, Scott forgotten for a moment, and he shouted something at the woman, a rapid argument resulting as they both took the opportunity to relieve their feelings.

Scott took advantage of the distraction to run the short distance towards another piece of machinery, one from where he could get a much better aim, diving for cover as Chen and Sahara broke off from their argument and started shooting once more.

"So I'm in two places at once, am I?" he called. "Guess I'm definitely good enough to work for those guys, then. But where does that leave you now? Give up, Sahara. I wasn't lying about International Rescue, I'm not lying about taking you down."

There was silence for a long time. Virgil wondered whether to chip in, but Sahara's body was rigid with tension as she knelt next to him and her breath came in tight gasps. He didn't want to risk pushing her over the edge, not when she had a gun in her hands and a whole lot of anger to work out.

But when Sahara finally responded, she was surprisingly calm. "Anyone can pilot an aircraft, Scott. Your brothers-"

"No one left Tracy Island." Penny's soft voice made them jump. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet throughout all of this.

"Shut up!" Sahara gave up any pretence of calm, barking some sharp order at Chen, then grabbing a fistful of Virgil's hair, pulling him to his knees and forcing a grunt of pain out of him.

But it was Penny who was really in trouble. Chen reached around the pillar, fastening an arm around her throat and pulling it tight. With her hands bound, Penny could do nothing to relieve the pressure.

"Throw down your gun, Scott!"

But Scott had finally managed to get into a position from where he could take aim at Chen. Forcing himself to take deep breaths and knowing that he only had one chance to get this right, he steadied his hand and pulled the trigger.

If Chen hadn't tightened his grip on Penny and moved slightly forward, Scott's shot would have been perfect, but as it was, the bullet missed the man by a fraction, drilling into the post and spitting chips of concrete into his face. More surprised than hurt, Chen let go of Penny and stumbled backwards, his own gun firing wildly, but before Scott could get another shot in, Sahara was firing at him too, yelling something at Chen, who threw himself to the floor and crawled quickly across to the desk.

Virgil was none too thrilled to have both his enemies there, but at least Penny was safe, the pillar protecting her from any bullets Sahara or Chen might care to send her way.

Scott was less secure, though, having to expose more of himself than he cared to in order to get the right angle to get a shot on target. It was a risk, and he was in two minds whether or not to stop shooting, worried about the danger he was putting his brother in. Why hadn't the cavalry arrived yet? John was supposed to be alerting the authorities...

Then the decision was taken out of his hands - literally. As he reached out to fire another round, a bullet from Sahara's gun hit his own weapon, sending it flying out of his hand and leaving him with a couple of broken fingers, so forceful was the impact.

"Stop!" It was Sahara who called out, waving a hand at Chen in an instruction to hold fire. She smiled at the sight of Scott's gun spinning across the floor, well out of his reach. Swallowing hard as she tried to calm her rapid breathing, she muttered something to Chen. Clearly surprised at his angry retort - Virgil and Penny both wished they could understand the language they were using, whilst Scott was in too much pain to take much notice anyway - Sahara argued back for a moment before apparently allowing herself to be persuaded.

"Up!" she ordered Virgil, pulling him to his feet and keeping the gun jammed tightly into his temple as she pulled him towards the door. "Do as I say or I'll shoot you! Then I'll go back and shoot your brother," she told him. "He's defenceless, Virgil. So's Penny."

The need to protect the others won out - all he'd heard from Scott were a few curses, gasps and moans - and Virgil reluctantly did as he was told.

Outside, he tried to make a break for it, but Chen had clearly been expecting such a move and a hard blow to his temple with the butt of the gun left Virgil in a crumpled heap on the ground. By the time he'd stopped seeing stars, he was strapped into the back seat of one of the helicopters, Chen at the controls.

Sahara had clearly been ranting, though with only Chen for an audience, it had all been in his language. Now, with Virgil awake, she turned to him and considered him carefully for a minute.

"Don't think I've given up. I've still got you and I know you're the key to exposing the rest of your family. It's a pity I've lost Scott and Penny, but she's finished and he's bound to come after you so I'll get him then. It's going to work out, Virgil, believe me." She reached for the microphone. "I suppose I might as well talk to your lot now. It's not like they don't know where we are."

Virgil wanted to protest that he didn't have a 'lot', that he wasn't a member of International Rescue, but his head was still fuzzy and he didn't think he could stand to go through the whole performance yet again. Sahara turned off the jammers and once more put in a call to International Rescue.

"You?" Alan sounded irritated. "I'm a little busy at the moment - saving FireFlash again."

"I've got Virgil, Alan."

"Who?"

"You know who. Nothing's changed - except my price. I want-"

A sudden sharp burst of static followed by a blue flash of electrical energy made everyone jump. If Virgil's brain had been working properly he'd have known to expect it, John having told him what he and Brains had been working on. The pair had figured out a way of sending a surge of energy into the helicopter's controls via the communications system. With everything shorting out, the only option for the pilot would be to ditch the craft.

But. Sahara was having none of it. As the helicopter spun towards the ground she screamed something at Chen, reaching out to try to wrestle the controls from him when he apparently gave her an answer she didn't like. Clearly the experienced pilot had decided enough was enough and he pushed her away, continuing to descend.

Sahara gave up trying to fight him, instead reaching under her seat and pulling out a box from which she extracted a syringe, which she jabbed into Chen's arm. Penny would have recognised it as the drug which caused the subject to freeze. That was what happened to Chen and his hands slipped from the controls, Sahara immediately taking over.

"I'm not giving in!" Sahara told Virgil as she battled to gain some height. "I'd rather die than fail. Anyway, they know I've got you, they won't want you hurt."

Virgil wanted to tell her that it was too late, that the damage caused by the energy surge was irreversible and that the plan had been for the helicopter to land safely, its pilot understanding that it was over.

But Sahara had never taken the safe option.

Now it was too late.