Okay, I'm back ;)

Oh, slightly non-canon, I gave the boys commwatches instead of those big ss mics they carry around. ;P (though I seem to remember them having commwatches, why I don't know ¬¬' Or was that Penny from Inspector Gadget:S)

Hope you guys like it :)

Juud18

Virgil was right a few hours later when he stopped prying stones loose and looked back.

"Ehm, Scott?" he muttered, trying to get his brother's attention as well as his panic under control. He was just imagining things, they weren't really gone... Right?

"Yeah?" Scott answered. He kept on throwing rocks back to open up the tunnel. He wondered why Virgil had stopped, they weren't going to get far if he didn't help along. They were running out of time as it was.. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible, get the expedition team out as fast as they could..

Virgil sounded a little farther away and more afraid when he finally asked:" Where are Gordon and Alan?"

Scott stopped digging. For about two seconds, it was silent.. Then..

"Damn it!"

Virgil slapped Scott upside the head ."If grandma heard you.." He warned the vampire.

Scott shrugged. Luckily Gran wasn't around, 'cause she would've slapped him upside the head that much harder, would probably have grabbed him by his ear and dragged him off to his Thunderbird to clean his mouth with water and soap.. He moaned at the thought, praising himself lucky Gran wasn't around.

Virgil couldn't quite smother his laughter when he saw the look of horror that appeared on Scott's face. The vampire shot him a look, and proceeded to try and contact his youngest brothers, a scowl on his face as he did.

"Scott to Gordon.." He said into the small piece of white technology. He looked down on it, hope flickering in his stomach, praying the boys would answer and nothing was wrong, that the two just strayed off on their own. It would be typically them, scaring the hell out of his older brothers and father while all they did was go explore. God knows how many times they did that back in Texas when the family went shopping every once in a month because they lived so remote.

But... Static was all he got in return..

"Scott to Alan.." Scott tried again, different brother this time. "Answer me, kiddo.." He adds, worried when static greets him yet again.. What could have happened to the two? Why weren't they answering? Were the cavewalls too thick for the signal of their watches to penetrate? Were their watches broken? Were the boys in danger?

"I'll go find them," Scott said suddenly, turning back to Virgil. The younger Tracy nodded and watched the immortal run away around the corner, trough the tunnels, and sighed. Well, no need to stop digging.. He told himself. Someone has to keep going...

And so he did..

Deeper into the tunnel-system, a blond and red head appeared from behind a few large rocks.

"Is he gone?" The blond asked the redhead, blue eyes flashing with worry.

"I think so.." The redhead answered after listening intently for a few seconds, his honey brown eyes flicking from one side to the other."I don't hear him anymore.."

"Me neither.." The blond muttered. Carefully, the redhead stood up from the huge rocks he'd been hiding behind, and checked if the tunnel was really empty. The blond stood up as well, and kept himself partly behind the other man.

"I think he's gone.." The redhead said, glancing at the three tunnels before him. They were like black gaping holes in the universe, just lacking stars.. He shivered. Another reason he liked the water rather then space..

"Oh, good.." the blond sighed in relief, moving to the redhead's side. "Too bad that guy took our commwatches..."

The redhead answered with a mere shrug." Won't matter now anyway, we just go back, I'll bet they didn't even missed us..."

If only the boys had checked the tunnels father inward.

"Don't.. Move.." A disembodied voice told them from somewhere in the dark. The scuffle of shoes sounded, and a thud, like someone hitting the wall.

Both the boys froze up. "I thought you said he was gone!" The blond whisper-hissed at the redhead.

"Don't blame this on me, brat!" The redhead retaliated. "You could have looked yourself.. You.."

"Shut up!" The voice cut back in. "Alan! Gordon! The both of you!" Then..:" You're worse then usual..."

Hang on... Alan thought. He knew that voice..

"Scott!" He called out, recognizing it finally. It was too dark to see where their oldest brother even was though. "You have to look out, there's a man on the loose in here, he's responsible for everything that happened here!"

It took a moment before Scott answered, and when he did, he sounded a tad exasperated. "I think I found him.. Tell me... Is he a big fella?"

Alan looked at Gordon, both of their expressions confused.. "Uh yeah.."

"Ah.." It was silent for a few seconds, no one moved, not a peep sounded.. Until:" Did he hurt you two?"

"No, Scott. We're okay, but he was responsible for the cave-in and everything, he did this just because he wanted to kill some Thunderbirds.. Apparently we failed to save some girl last year, it was his daughter. You know, in that mudslide.." Gordon said no more, he knew Scott would remember.

Both Alan and Gordon jumped back in shock when two red rubies appeared in the black hole before them. They looked like they were someone's eyes, but that was impossible! They heard angered, hushed whispers, choking noises and words like 'sorry', 'fault' and 'tried'.

Gordon tried to listen harder. The death of that girl had been a hard one.. It always hurt them all when they couldn't save everyone. They knew they weren't supermen, but they felt horrible when they lost someone in a rescue. Just about eight months ago, Scott had been the last one to receive the backlash of the death of a young girl. It had hit the oldest one hard..

Sudden shots sounded and the youngest Tracy's ducked to stay out of the way. They heard the sounds of a scuffle, and bullets flying trough the cave.

Several minutes later, Gordon looked up from the ground, and nudged Alan. They were just in time to see the man -who had threatened them- appear from the dark and get thrown onto a dimly lit spot. He landed with a heavy thump, and Scott appeared out of the darkness, his face a blank mask..

"Scott?" Alan asked.

"He's just unconscious if that's what you're wondering.." Scott said, looking down on the taken care of threat. Then glancing down at the holes in his IR shirt, he stuck a finger trough one of them. He wondered how many shirts he'd ruined already.. If he was going to keep it up, he would -at least!- have five shot shirts (not including the shirts he ruined by getting them torn and/or slashed) by the end of the month, it was getting ridiculous!

"You saved us, Scott.." Alan muttered. He looked at his brother, incredulous.

"As if I'd let you two get hurt.." Scott snorted. He smiled and was immensely pleased when both younger brothers smiled back from where they still were on the ground. He held up his hand and tossed something at them. When the boys picked it up, they realised it were their commwatches.

"Oh, thanks Scott.." Alan said relieved, "Dad would kill us if we lost another two..."

Scott stifled a laugh. Lord knew how many commwatches those two lost. Brains would be making a fortune on them if he hadn't been their resident scientist.. They kept the poor man busy, that was a sure fact. Not that it was a bad thing, he had to keep busy somehow on an island with a family of rescuers. The man had to keep busy 24/7 so, why not with the Thunderbirds and lost watches?

Scott was shaken out of his thoughts when a heavy tremor shook the unstable caves. Thinking quickly, Scott threw himself over Gordon and Alan. The both of them didn't even flinch as they clung to his IR shirt, trying to keep as small as they could..

Scott barely felt the stones falling down on him, protecting his brothers with his immortal back. He was just glad that his brothers weren't scared of him anymore.. He would do anything for those brats.

Luckily, the rain of stones didn't last long. As Scott stood up, a small rubble fell of his back, un-burying them. He stretched, and winced when his back twinged painfully.

"Let's go find, Virgil.." He muttered, trying to not grit his teeth as he spoke. Don't draw attention.. It's nothing..

He was just about to step over the rubble, when he remembered he should probably take the 'father' of the unfortunate girl with him. He might not deserve it, but Scott still wasn't a ruthless killer, never would be if he could help it..

Bending down over the rubble, he pushed aside a few rocks and grabbed the man's arm so he could sling him over his shoulder in a firemen's carry. Again, his back protested heavily, nearly making him overbalance and drop his passenger.

If Alan and Gordon noticed, they didn't mention it. They merely followed him as he made his way back to Virgil, ignoring -or trying to- the serious twinging and smarting of his back.

"Virgil? Where are you?" Scott called out when he returned to the place he left his oldest younger brother. He heard his youngest brothers calling Virgil's name behind him. With every pace, dread settled further in.. He was sure something happened, he could feel it..

He heard voices in the next tunnel, and fastened his pace. When he found -and could see- where the voices came from, he turned around again, held his arms out to stop his youngest brothers, and pulled them back, out of sight. Then, he quickly grabbed his passenger again before the man could slip off his shoulder.

"Stay here." He told them, laying his passenger down at their feet. "Look after him until I get back." He added, and walked back to where the voices had come from.

"Virgil..?" Scott called out, looking at three men sitting around a pile of rocks, talking amongst themselves.

"Down here, Scotty.." Virgil's voice floated trough the cave, tired, hurt..

Scott felt his throat tighten. Among the expedition party -two men and two women-, lay Virgil on his back, his legs, hips and abdomen disappearing beneath a large pile of rocks.

Now I really'd like to know, and I know this is gonna give it away a little, but, should I turn Virgil or not? I'd hate to do that to him actually, but on the other hand... Or should I just save him and keep him human:)
Juud18