I don't own Thunderbirds...woe is me! There is some language and adult situations in this chapter, so younger readers be warned.

Scott and Alan watched as Thunderbird 2 landed a short distance away. The ramp lowered and he could see the Firefly being unloaded. "Mobile Control to Firefly." Scott said into his microphone.

"Firefly here. What's the situation Scott?" Gordon called out.

"The worst of the fires are off to the northwest. I'll send you the co-ordinates."

"FAB. Firefly out."

Scott quickly punched in some numbers on the portable computer in front of him. "Alan, where's Dad and Virgil?"

Alan peered down at the screen in front of him. "Dad's over near that burning building and Virgil…Virgil just joined him. They're talking to the firemen."

"Mobile Control to Command." Scott called.

"This is Command."

"Op Three is in the Firefly, what's your situation?"

"Be right with you."

Over near the where emergency services had set up their command center, Jeff and Virgil stood talking to the men in charge.

One man shook Jeff's hand and broke into a grin. "Are we ever glad to see you guys."

Jeff smiled, even though he knew the man couldn't see him behind the tinted glass of his helmet. "Happy to help. What can we do?"

The fireman pointed to the building a short distance away. "We were using that building as a shelter when the winds shifted and caught the back end. We think we managed to get everyone out, my people are doing a sweep now. Could you give us a hand putting out the flames?"

"Will do." Jeff pressed a button on his belt. "Command to Firefly."

"Firefly here."

"Gordon, we need you over near the shelter. Get these flames under control."

"FAB. See you in a few."

"Command to Mobile Control."

"Mobile Control here."

"Do a sweep, make sure everyone is out of there." Jeff ordered.

"FAB." There was a short pause. "I'm not reading any…Get them out! The roof's going! Get them out now!" Scott hollered across the speaker.

Virgil and Jeff turned as one. Jeff bolted towards the building. "The roof went down. Keep your people back, we'll get the others out." Virgil rushed after his father.

Jeff and Virgil carefully entered the building. "How much further?" Jeff asked, trying to see through the smoke.

"Another thirty feet or so, around the next corner."

Jeff and Virgil rounded the corner, meeting up with a group of dazed looking firemen. "Are you alright?" Jeff asked as Virgil began giving the men a quick once over.

One of them nodded. "We're fine…But Billy's still back there!" He started to head back, but Jeff grabbed his arm.

"Let us go. Get the rest of your men out of here before this whole place goes down." Jeff told him.

The man nodded and he and the others started towards the exit. "Scott, tell me what you've got." Jeff ordered.

"I'm reading a heat signature twelve degrees from your current position. Make it fast Dad, the rest of that place is going to go down any minute." Scott answered.

"FAB Scott. Virgil, let's move." They moved through the smoke, occasionally aiming their extinguishers when the flames got too close. Timbers dropped all around them, causing them to duck to avoid getting hit.

"We've got to get out of here Dad!" Virgil called out.

Jeff nodded. "Smoke's getting thicker."

They turned to head back out, when a movement caught Virgil's eye. "Dad! Over there!" He yelled pointing.

Jeff followed his gaze. "I see him." Together they hurried over. "Looks like he's pinned. Give me a hand."

They pushed and shoved the beams off the fallen rescue worker. Finally he was freed. Virgil felt the mans neck. "He's got a pulse and his mask is intact. Let's get out of here." He hefted the man up and threw one arm over his shoulder. Jeff took the other one.

"Right behind you." They started towards the exit. The smoke was worse and going was slow. "I can't see a damned thing." Jeff muttered.

"Language Dad." Virgil teased.

Jeff glared even though he knew Virgil couldn't see it. "Move it smart guy." They slowly made their way forward. Suddenly, the whole place began to shake and burning timbers rained down on them.

"Dad! Virgil get the hell out of there! Get out now!" Scott's voice sounded frantic.

Before either could reply, the ceiling came collapsing down in a fiery crash, burying them all.

John staggered up the stairs into the house. He sat down at the video phone and with one hand, punched in the number to home. He had the other hand pressed tightly up against his temple and closed his eyes, trying to ease the pain in his head.

"J-J-John?"

John's head snapped up. "Brains, I saw the news, what's going on?"

"We've been trying to re-re-get in touch with you, but your communicator doesn't seem to be w-w-working."

"I don't have it anymore."

Brains nodded thoughtfully. "I-I see. There was an a-a-accident. Je-Je-your father and Virgil were caught in a burning building."

John swallowed thickly. "Where are they?"

"They're at the UCLA T-T-Trauma Center. Scott is there waiting. G-G-Gordon and Alan brought Thunderbird 2 home. Scott s-s-stayed at the hosp-hosp-medical center."

John closed his eyes. "What do the docs say?"

Brains shook his head. "I haven't heard a-anything since Sco—"

"You've got some fucking nerve calling here now."

His brother's face appeared on the screen, pushing Brains out of view. "Gordon. I—"

"Don't you 'Gordon' me. If you had been here, doing your job like you're supposed to, this wouldn't have happened." Gordon's face was an angry red and his brown eyes were filled with hatred.

Headache or not, John wasn't going to take that from his younger brother. His eyes flashed blue fire of their own. "I had nothing to do with this and you know it. Now what's wrong with Dad and Virgil?"

"What do you care? You made it perfectly clear how you feel about this family."

"Knock it off Gord."

"Screw you!"

John took a deep breath and counted to ten. Then counted to ten again. "Gordon, if you don't tell me what happened, so help me I'll—"

Gordon snorted. "You'll what John?" Gordon narrowed his eyes at his brother. "You want to know what happened? Then come home and find out." Without another word, Gordon cut the connection and the screen went dark.

John swore and in one fluid movement, grabbed the vase off the desk and hurled it across the room. A searing pain tore through his head, and blood began to flow from his nose.

"They don't want you John. This just proves it."

"Get out of my head!" John yelled, clutching his head in his hands.

"Your own brother wouldn't even talk to you. Your father is dying John, and they won't tell you."

"He's not dying! I'm not listening to you!" John staggered to his feet and into the kitchen. He balled a towel up under his nose then moved into the living room. He threw open the door of the liquor cabinet so hard, he tore it off the hinges. He grabbed the first bottle he saw and swallowed the alcohol without bothering with a glass.

"They don't care about you John."

"Leave me alone!" He continued drinking until he could no longer hold the bottle and it fell to the floor, empty. Slumping down on the couch, John moaned in anguish. "Just leave me alone…"

Scott watched as his brother's eyelids fluttered. "Welcome back."

Virgil groaned and opened his eyes. "Where...what…" He rasped.

"Here." Scott leaned forward and placed a straw in Virgil's mouth. His brother nodded gratefully, and took a sip.

"Thanks." Virgil lay back a moment, then took in his surroundings. "What happened?" He asked hoarsely. He brought his hand up to his face, feeling the oxygen tube in his nose.

"No, leave it." Scott told him. "What do you remember?"

"The fire…we were in the shelter looking for that missing fireman. We found him and…" Virgil looked up at his brother. "Is he alright?"

Scott nodded. "A little battered, but fine."

"That's good." He lay back and closed his eyes. Then they snapped open. "Dad! Where's Dad?" He started coughing.

"Easy Virg. He's in another room." Scott wouldn't meet his brother's eyes.

Virgil grew cold. "Scott…."

Scott sighed. "It's not good Vigil. His helmet cracked from the impact of the beams and like you, he swallowed alot of smoke. There was another big beam across his back too. We won't know the full extent of the damage until he wakes up." He said quietly.

Virgil clenched his eyes shut. "I'm sorry. I should have moved faster."

Scott shook his brother. "Don't you dare blame yourself do you hear me Virgil Grissom Tracy!" Virgil stared at his brother in awe. Scott rarely raised his voice. "Now, you just concentrate on getting better so we can get both you and Dad out of here, got me?"

Virgil nodded, still too stunned to reply. Scott settled back in his chair, wincing and Virgil noticed for the first time that his oldest brother wasn't wearing his sling. "Scott? Your shoulder?"

Scott shrugged, carefully. "It's OK Virg. I had to fly TB 1 here, and it's kinda hard to do that one handed."

Virgil frowned as images started coming back to him. "Wait a minute…You! You carried me out! Dammit Scott!"

Scott had to smile, Virgil almost never swore. Even Alan cussed more than Virgil did. "It's OK Virg, I had it looked at." He told his brother.

Virgil relaxed back onto the pillow and closed his eyes. Scott took his younger brother's hand in his. "Sleep Virgil. We'll talk later." He sat there until he was sure Virgil was asleep then got up to see his father.

He moved stiffly, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. He hated lying to his brother, but didn't want to worry him any more than he already was. Plus he didn't want to advertise the fact that yet another member of International Rescue was wounded. Bad for morale.

Scott slowly opened the door to his father's room. The nurse looked up from Jeff's bedside. She smiled and nodded as Scott walked in. "He's still unconscious, but showing signs of coming out of it. I'll let you stay for a while, just call when he wakes." She left the room and Scott sat down in the chair she had just vacated.

He leaned forward, resting his head in his good hand. After a few minutes, he sighed wearily and looked up at his father. Jeff lay still on the hospital bed, his face covered with small cuts and bruises. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth and an IV ran into one arm.

Scott took his father's hand in his and squeezed gently. "Come on Dad, it's time to wake up. The others are driving me nuts asking about you." Well, some of them. We can't find John. He sighed again. "Dad, if you don't wake up, I'm putting Alan in charge of Thunderbird 3."

Was it his imagination, or did his father's hand twitch. Scott tried again. "And Fermat wants to learn how to pilot Thunderbird 1. With me out of commission for a while, I think it's a good idea."

Definite movement that time. "Dad? Can you hear me?"

"You even think about putting Alan in TB 3, and you're dead." Jeff whispered.

"Dad!" Scott jumped up and leaned over his father.

Jeff slowly opened his eyes. "What happened?" He asked hoarsely.

"You decided to take on a building, and the building won." Scott smiled.

Jeff smiled thinly and started to speak, only to be overtaken by a fit of coughing.

Scott watched his father in concern. "Easy Dad."

Finally the coughing stopped and Jeff lay back, trying to catch his breath. "Virgil…where's…Virgil?"

"He's fine Dad. A little smoke inhalation and some bruises. He's in a room down the hall." He eyed his father critically. "How do you feel?"

"Not sure yet." He shifted a bit and winced. "OK, that hurts." He shifted again and a hiss of pain escaped his lips and he clenched his eyes shut.

"Dad? Dad!" Scott pressed the nurse call button and within moments, a doctor and two nurses came rushing in.

"All right son, let us take a look at him." The doctor said. One of the nurses ushered Scott out into the hall.

He stared for a moment, then paced then scowling paced the length of the hallway. Nearly twenty minutes later, the door opened and the doctor came out. He steered Scott over to a bench against the wall.

"You're colleague will be fine. He's got a deep bruise on is back, but it looks like the pack he was wearing took the brunt of the impact. He'll be very, very sore for quite a while, but I expect a full recovery. We've got him on morphine right now for the pain and he's resting comfortably."

Scott closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of relief before turning back to the doctor. "And his lungs?"

"Again, he should recover in time. I want to keep him here on oxygen for a couple of days just to make sure."

"And Virgil?"

"The same with him. But I would advise him to lay off the cigarettes." Scott frowned and glanced at the door to Virgil's room. The doctor smiled. "Now, you get some rest as well. Security has been posted at all stairwells and elevators. No one can get in here. Go back to your…base and you can come see them both tomorrow. With any luck, you can take them home in a couple of days."

Scott shook the man's hand. "Thank-you doctor. Myself or one of my other colleagues will be back in the morning." After one last look at the doors where his father and brother lay, Scott made his way outside to where Thunderbird 1 was parked. He put on his helmet and waved to the security guards. Climbing into the cockpit, he quickly did a perimeter and systems sweep, then fired up the engines. Within moments, the giant rocket was in the air. He did a perfunctory check for bugs and though the scan came up negative, he arced over Alaska before heading back south to Tracy Island.

Within fifteen minutes, he was landing his 'bird in her silo. As the engines shut down and the locking procedures commenced, Scott glanced down at his watch. It was a little after one in the morning. Scott groaned and rested his head on the yoke closing his eyes. When all was quiet, he got up and walked out onto the catwalk. A sudden dizziness swept over him and he gripped the railing with his good hand to stay upright.

"Scott? You OK?"

Scott opened his eyes and looked into the concerned face of his youngest brother. "Hey there Sprout. Yeah, just worn out." He said tiredly.

"How's Dad? And Virgil?"

"They're both fine. The docs say they can come home in a couple of days." Scott and Alan made their way down the steps to the elevator, Scott filling him in on their father and brother's conditions. "Like I said, they'll be fine. Were you able to get in touch with John?" When Alan didn't answer, Scott looked sharply at his little brother. "Alan, I asked you a question."

Man, Scott sure sounds like Dad sometimes. Alan shrugged. "Brains talked to him." He said, avoiding looking at Scott.

Scott waited a moment. "And?"

"And Gordon talked to him too." Alan said quietly.

Scott stopped the elevator and faced his brother. "What happened?"

Alan gulped. "Gord said… He told John that it was John's fault. If he had been here nothing would have happened. Then Gord told John if he wanted to know how Dad and Virgil were, he had to come home and find out."

Scott's eyes grew cold. "Where is Gordon now?" He demanded.

Alan took a step back at Scott's tone. "I-I don't know. Honestly Scott. He disappeared and he's not wearing his communicator."

Scott released the button and the elevator started moving again. When the doors opened, he turned to Alan. "Go to bed Al. I'll see you in the morning." Without a backwards glance, Scott marched to his father's office. He sat down behind the desk and reached for the video phone.

"Master Scott."

Scott jumped. "Jesus Kyrano! You scared the hell out of me!"

"Forgive me." Kyrano stepped out from the shadows. "Your father?"

"He'll be fine. We can bring them both home in a day or three." He ran a shaking hand through his dark hair.

Kyrano smiled. "That is good." He walked over and placed his hand on Scott's shoulder, causing the young man to wince. Kyrano frowned. "You are in pain?" He looked closely at Scott. "Why are you not wearing your sling?"

Scott sighed. "Just haven't gotten the chance to put it on again."

"May I?" Scott nodded. Scott nodded and sucked in a sharp breath when Kyrano probed his shoulder. Kyrano frowned. "You need to have that looked at by a doctor. I fear you have damaged it again."

"Yeah, I figured that out already." He sighed. "I heard there was more trouble between Gord and John?"

Kyrano nodded. "Master Gordon is feeling betrayed by his brother's apparent abandonment."

"John didn't abandon us." Scott said firmly.

"I know that. But Master Gordon doesn't."

Scott sighed wearily and looked up Kyrano. "I don't know what to do Kyrano. I feel like I'm being pulled in a thousand different directions, and soon, I'm going to snap. I understand how Gordon feels, really I do! Part of me is furious at John another is jealous that he got to leave. Virgil's got his music to lose himself into, and Alan has Fermat and Tin-Tin. I'm trying to stay strong for Dad, but I'm not John! I can't take his place!" Scott's head slumped into his hands.

Kyrano laid his hand on Scott's back. "No one is asking you to take his place. You have your own place in this family. No one person can bear the weight of the world on his shoulders Master Scott. Even the mighty Atlas shifted his burden occasionally."

Scott looked up and smiled tiredly. "Thanks Kyrano."

"You are most welcome. Call your brother. He needs to know what has happened to his father and brother." Kyrano frowned for a moment. "Do not be alarmed at his appearance. He too has had a difficult night." And with that cryptic remark the Malaysian man left Scott alone in the room.

Great, more riddles. Scott sighed and punched in the number of the brownstone. Within moments, John answered and Scott had to force himself not to comment on his brother's haggard appearance. "John."

"Scott. How's Dad and Virgil?" John asked without preamble.

"They're fine. Or they will be anyway. Smoke inhalation mostly and some bumps and bruises. Dad re-injured his back, but the docs don't think there'll be any permanent damage."

John sighed with relief. "Thank-God."

"We tried reaching you by communicator, but the computer couldn't find you. Said the unit was malfunctioning."

To Scott's surprise, John blushed. "I don't exactly have it anymore." At Scott's raised eyebrow, he continued. "It kinda…fell into the garbage disposal. Must have happened when I was washing the dishes."

"Yeah, I can see how that would happen." Scott deadpanned.

John smiled, then frowned. "You look like hell Scotty."

"Well stay away from a mirror kiddo, 'cause you don't look much better."

"He tried again. During the rescue…" John said quietly.

"Are you alright?"

John nodded. "I think so." He sighed. "Alan OK?"

Scott smiled. "He did great. Flew Thunderbird 2 home with Gordon." Scott's smile faded. "What happened with you and Gord?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"John…"

"Drop it Scott." John said firmly.

Scott sighed. "Fine. You two are the biggest pair of idiots I've ever met."

"Yeah well, you're the eldest of us, so what does that make you?"

Despite himself, Scott had to grin. "Smart ass." He yawned. "John it's almost two. I'm going to go crash. I'll call you tomorrow OK?"

"I should be here. Night Scott."

"Night John-boy." John rolled his eyes and cut the connection. Scott stared at the darkened screen for a minute, then got to his feet and headed to his room. He peeled off his jumpsuit, and with a silent apology to Onaha, he dropped it in a heap on the floor. He padded into the bathroom and stared at the shower for a minute. Then deciding it wasn't worth the effort, he turned back to his room. The painkillers on the sink caught his eye. He opened the bottle and shook two out into his hand. Staring at it a moment, he shook out two more and swallowed them quickly. Then he walked over and sank down onto his bed. Soon, exhaustion, both mental and physical, overtook him and he was fast asleep.