So I missed updating on Monday again, sorry! Does taking exams both Monday and today count as a legitimate excuse? On the plus side, I'm finally finished with my freshman year of high school so ye. Anyways, longest chapter yet at 2,247 words. Nice.
So there's the next chapter out of the way! Considering that this is fully canon divergent at this point I get to take a few liberties, and goof around a little with the dialogue. My main problem with the dialogue at this point is that I don't actually have the movie on hand so my best reference for dialogue is other Thunderbirds fanfics set during the movie and my memory. Yeah. So, in an attempt to waffle through some scenes I just end up describing them talking instead of actually putting what they say in because I honestly don't remember.
So, with that out of the way, enjoy, and I shall hopefully have the next chapter of both this and the re-written first chapter of 'Dangers of the Job' out soon! (And maybe 'A Hero In Need Of Saving' if my co-author for that story is up to it.)
2065 - With Alan, Tin-Tin, Fermat, and 'Alan'.
Tin-Tin and Fermat made quick work of the people coming down the lift, as Alan finished making an opening into TB1's silo. As soon as tall, dark, and ugly and his buddies went down, Fermat and Tin-Tin were making a break for were Alan stood, and the other Alan darting over to join them, his helmet clutched tightly in his hand. Two sets of blue eyes met, and 'Alan' gestured towards the opening, in the universal gesture of 'you first'. He looked back, watching the three men slip and slide on the green foam from Firefly, before heading through the hole in the silo door. Shortly after, the last member of their little party slipped through the hole, and they were on their way out.
They made a plan to escape through Thunderbird One's maintenance vents, and head out into the island in order to get away from the villa and find a way to get control of Thunderbird Five back to Alan's brothers. He noted with suspicion that while they were talking 'Alan' was quiet, not doing anything other than listening and frowning at spots. Eventually he'd gotten fed up with it, and was about to address it when the other blond finally spoke up.
"Hey, uh, Fermat, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Is um... is Thunderbird Two still here?" 'Alan' asked, his voice quieter than normal. Fermat opened his mouth to reply, but Alan cut in before he could.
"Why should we tell you? We won't tell you unless you have a good reason." He was well aware that the way he responded gave away that TB2 was still there, but he wasn't going to confirm it.
"Thunderbird Two has an infirmary on board, and my brother John needs the supplies in it, otherwise he's more than likely not going to make it 'til tomorrow." Fermat and Tin-Tin watched him as he explained, nodded towards Alan when he was done.
He was telling the truth. At least they thought so.
"...Thunderbird Two is still here, but it's silo's been locked, and the only person who knows the access code is in space." Alan admitted, rather begrudgingly. 'Alan's face lit up, happy at the prospect of being able to keep his brother alive.
"That's fine. There is one person not in space that does..." He grinned, and moved his arm up. The one with the screen on the patch on his hand and wrist.
"Alan to Thunderbird Three. Virgil, are you there?" A moment passed, and Alan was sure no one was going to respond. After all, Virgil was on Thunderbird Five, not Thunderbird Three. Another moment passed, and 'Alan' was about to try again, when someone answered.
"Thunderbird Three to Alan. What's going on out there?" The deep baritone of the man wasn't what startled them, it was the appearance of man that did. Covered in a blue tint, the upper half of a young man's body was projected from the screen on 'Alan's wrist. Fermat stared at it, amazed. Holograms were highly experimental things right now, so seeing it excited the technological geek in him. The man projected from the screen looked nothing like Virgil, with warm brownish eyes, and jet black hair styled into a fauxhawk.
"Virgil, Thunderbird Two is still here, but the silo is locked. But the med bay should still be stocked, so once we managed to get rid of those guys that are after us, I'll give you Thunderbird Three's passcode so you can get to Thunderbird Two."
"Sounds good Alan. Why are you calling over holocom though?"
"I uh... I wanted to see how John was doing. Last time I saw him he didn't look good..." 'Alan' trailed off. The other three watched, glancing back and forth between the other blond and the men slipping and sliding. They needed to get going, but Alan wanted to confirm the other Alan's story.
"Ah, sure thing." 'Virgil' disappeared for a moment, and they could hear hushed voices in the background. A minute later, he came back, a slim figure in his arms. A shock of ginger hair stood out amongst the massive amount of blue on screen, along with the red splotches that mottled his blue uniform. The red haired man's head turned to face them, and even through the blue tint, Alan could tell he was paler than he probably should be.
"John!" The other blond grinned, "You're awake!"
"Barely..." He mumbled, sea green eyes opening a bit more at the sound of the other blond's voice. "Virge men'ioned you 'ere havin' problems... 'hats wrong?"
"Uh... now isn't really the time for that John. I'll explain later when I have time okay?" Bright blue eyes turned to meet blue tinted brown. "How's he doing Virge?" He seemed to forget everything else going on, his attention on the black haired man and the redhead. Alan looked at the men, watching as they finally started to get up. He moved to run off, but Tin-Tin stopped him, gesturing towards 'Alan.'
"Well... I'll tell you the truth. It's not looking good. I did all I could for him with 'Three's supplies, but it wasn't enough. If I can get him to 'Two, I could do more for him."
"Alright, I'll do what I can to get them away from you so you can get him to 'Two." As soon as he said that, Tin-Tin moved forward and topped his arm to et his attention and gestured towards the men. He nodded, and looked over at the hologram again. "Virgil, I gotta go, I'll send you TB3's access code when I think it'll be okay."
"Alright, good luck Alan. Thunderbird Three out." The hologram disappeared, and Tin-Tin pulled the two Alan's along, and Alan grabbed Fermat on the way. The four took off towards Thunderbird One's maintenance silo's as planned. The two Alan's broke off, running down one corridor together. Running into a deadend, the two were met with a glass wall. Behind the wall, stood a bald man, very familiar to both of them.
"The Hood." 'Alan' growled, eyes narrowing at the man. The bald man, The Hood, smiled at them.
"The two boys with the same name. How lovely."
"What do you want?"
"Why, my dear Alan, I just want to talk." He said, and began to talk trying to convince the two to join him, trying to use Alan's dad against him. He noticed that with every mention of Alan's dad, 'Alan' winced. The Hood's eyes turned red, and Alan felt as if someone was probing inside his head. Backing up, he called back to Tin-Tin and Fermat.
"We can't go this way! He's here!" The moment he yelled that, he felt a hand around his wrist, and Alan was tugged backwards, the other blond pulling him back towards the others. Once they reached the reached the end of the corridor, they met up with Tin-Tin and Fermat under Thunderbird One. Closing in on all sides around them were The Hood's men, along with the man himself. He prattled on, talking about his plans and whatever else he wanted to waste their time with, but Alan tuned him out. He reached down to where he had placed his rock-skipper on his belt. Quickly he fired, with The Hood ducking out of the way. He critiqued his aim, and Alan grinned in response.
"I wasn't aiming at you."
He fired again, taking into account The Hood ducking, and hit a button behind the bald man. Beneath them, the floor opened up, granting them access to Thunderbird One's vents, and they fell through the opening. Behind them, Thunderbird One's thrusters kicked into life, and fire nipped at their backs as they slid. Screaming, they fell through the opening at the end, and straight into the ocean below.
2065 - Inside Thunderbird Three
Virgil gently set John back down in the passenger seat, then turned back towards the controls of his youngest brother's Thunderbird. Pulling previous displays back up, he continued moving through the instructions John had given him to access Thunderbird Three's flight logs. Completing the final step, he finally pulled up the flight logs, going back to the point where they had left Thunderbird Five, watching carefully for anything that seemed out of place. Less than two minutes after they'd left TB5, the instruments had shorted out, going offline for close to ten minutes, then coming back online. They showed Thunderbird Five on approach to Tracy Island, but something had seemed off about it. Studying the logs again, he backed up a few steps and pulled up the readouts on the flight telemetry systems.
He couldn't see anything wrong with them, at least, nothing that would cause them to go offline for ten minutes then suddenly come back online as if nothing had ever happened. He had already told Alan that his theory might have some merit, but now looking at the flight logs, he had to admit, Alan's theory could definitely be true.
A beeping from his comms tore his attention away from the logs, and he looked down to see a message from said little brother. All it consisted of was a nine digit code.
Thunderbird Three's access code for the silo.
Glancing back at his younger brother, he frowned, weighing the pros and cons of moving John out of the youngest's Thunderbird. He had to get the redhead back to Thunderbird Two, but he didn't know how bad the extent of his injuries were and he currently only had very basic medical supplies holding John together. But... there was a situation going on down there, and he didn't know how long those who caused the situation would be distracted. Running a hand through his hair, he made his choice. Gently lifting John out of the passenger's chair again, he briefly noted once more how light his twin was. Filing that information away for later-he could worry about his little brother's weight after he dealt with the life threatening injuries-he cradled John in his arms as gently as he could and made his way towards TB3's emergency exit-the same one Alan had exited only twenty minutes ago.
Had it really only been twenty minutes? It seemed like hours since his youngest brother had vanished through that door.
Shaking his head, he ducked out the door and onto the emergency platform next to the rocket and made his way down to the base of the rocket where the lock was located as quickly as he could without further injuring his little brother. Upon reaching the lock he gently adjusted John in his arms so that he could input the code without having to set him down then have to pick them up again. As soon as the large door started sliding open he was sliding out, minding the redhead's long limbs as he slid through.
He moved to start heading to Thunderbird Two nearby, but he paused, before turning around and adjusting John again and re-inputting the access code so that the silo door locked once more.
He knew that cost him time, especially considering the loud noise would attract the attention of whoever was in their hanger that really shouldn't be there. It was worth it though. At least it would keep whoever they were away from Alan's 'bird.
As soon as he was sure the door was shut tight he took off towards Thunderbird Two's silo, holding John close and trying not to jostle him around too much. Sliding to a stop by the lockpad for his 'bird's silo, he looked around for any sign of someone he didn't recognize coming his way, before hearing a soft groan.
"It's alright Johnny..." He murmured, gently adjusting his brother once more and quickly inputting nine numbers he knew by heart. "We're almost to Thunderbird Two, and then I'll be able to properly take care of you until we get you to a hospital."
Darting through the doors, it didn't occur to him to lock the silo behind him. He had slipped into full rescue mode, and John was the victim he needed to help. Inputting TB2's access code, he slipped into the green giant, pushing thoughts of 'it is way too green in here' to the back of his mind, his full focus on getting the redhead in his arms to the infirmary and doing a full check on him to get a good idea of what exactly was wrong with his little brother.
The minute Virgil got to the infirmary he let training take over and got to work. He worked quickly, but precisely. Un-doing the meager bandages he had wrapped around John's ribs and arms, he worked to re-bandaging them better now that he had more than just Thunderbird Three's meager medical supplies-which he would have to restock once he had the chance-and start running a full medical scan on the redhead.
All the while, he never noticed people coming onboard his 'bird.
In hindsight, he really should have paid more attention to his surroundings. He really should have.
Going over the data from the scan-and wincing. A lot. How did John make it so long without collapsing?-he looked up sharply at the sound of a door shutting. Whipping around on the spot, he noticed the infirmary doors were shut.
He didn't do that.
John couldn't do that.
Alan was gone.
There should be no one around to shut those doors on him.
Wait... he didn't shut the silo doors.
Someone was in his 'bird.
And they weren't good people.