Alan was exhausted. He couldn't think straight. He did not in any way, shape, or form want to go with the Hood. But it looked as though he had no choice. Alan hung his head; he felt like someone had taken him and physically punched him in the gut. Swallowing dry saliva, Alan opened his eyes, only to find the Hood standing there, waiting. It was obvious he expected nothing to stand in his path from taking Alan.

But… he closed his eyes, trying to stop the world from completely spinning. He hated making rushed choices. Didn't the psychologists say anyway that they weren't supposed to make rushed choices, because bad things could happen? Alan swallowed hard as he opened his eyes. Alan knew he should've grabbed some caffeine before he left. He was exhausted, and somehow he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, either, especially with the Hood in the picture.

"Alan!" Scott said, trying frantically to cross the distance between the brothers to catch up to his younger brother, sensing the danger instantly.. His 6'5 frame surpassed Alan's, and he quickly made his way to his brother. But before he could even attempt to get close, the Hood had grabbed Alan. His arm wrapped tightly around his neck and he grinned wildly at Scott, leering wildly.

"Do you want to come too?" the Hood responded with a sneer, his grin open wide. "I could have two Tracy brothers for the price of one. Gordon is suffering from something, I know that much. I don't know how much of it's not me." He smirked. He knew exactly how much was from him and exactly how much was the appendicitis. He knew he was making the situation worse.

"I'll kill you for even looking at my brother funny," Scott growled. The Hood just smirked and moved his gun a little closer to Alan's head, ignoring the pained look on Scott's face. Scott couldn't do anything when he was under the Hood's control.

"Tell you what, Scott," the Hood responded. He knew a deal when he saw one. Two Tracy brothers for the price of one! Originally, the Hood had planned to get Gordon and Alan, as he didn't like Scott's over-protective nature. He thought that it might get in the way of his plans for Alan. But now, Gordon was in the hospital and Scott was here, and he had the perfect way to make Scott listen. Scott wouldn' t do anything with Alan's life at stake. "You come with me, and I'll let both Alan and Gordon live – for now. I'll even let Alan go."

Scott sighed as he hung his head. What choice did he have? There was no choice. "Okay," he responded, closing his eyes tightly.

"Don't do it, Scott!" Alan responded, worried about where the Hood was going with this. Even if he didn't want the Hood to kidnap him, he didn't want his brother to be sacrificed for his sake. "Please, Scott, don't do it!" he said.

"Get in the car, Scott," the Hood responded, clamping his hand firmly over Alan's mouth. He smirked. It was never his intent to let Alan go. Now he had another Tracy brother he could hold hostage. He hadn't seen this brother when he'd stormed the island, but he looked like he would be fairly easy to control. So much for the thought that Scott would have just pushed him away earlier and been hard to control! Right now, he was being easier than Alan. "Or I'll kill Alan right now."

Scott swallowed hard as he approached the car. He touched the door handle, and then looked at the Hood, as if waiting for a command. "In the backseat," the Hood nodded. He frowned. "Sit on your hands," he responded.

Swallowing hard, Scott did as he was told.

Alan closed his eyes. He had known that the Hood would never let him go – after all, the Hood wanted personal revenge on Alan. In a way, he was relieved that Scott was with him, and he was also terrified that Scott was with him…

…. Those were Alan's last thoughts before he was knocked unconscious and shoved roughly into the trunk. The Hood grinned wickedly as he tied the unconscious hands behind Alan's hands back.

His fun was really about to start. He knew Alan, and he had plans for him, but he didn't know the other Tracy brother.

Well, this promised to be interesting…

Virgil was worried. Actually, scratch that. Virgil was beyond worried. He really envied Gordon in these situations. Gordon could just go do laps at the pool and be fine; Scott could run and be fine… Virgil's coping mechanism was to grab a can of caffeine – any kind, he really didn't have the Pepsi verses Coke battle that Scott and John did. (It really was a good thing his father kept both kinds on the island, and it was well known both boys had taken off in their jets to go get the kind of soda they'd desired instead of drinking the other kind of soda). After grabbing his caffeine, he'd go and play the piano.

But there was no time for that now. He'd heard the Hood's crackling voice, he'd heard Alan's screams, and then he'd heard nothing more. And there was still why Scott had let Alan answer his phone in the first place. Even if Alan had told him, and he probably had, Virgil had completely forgotten it.

Good thing they recorded all phone calls in the lab. Virgil sighed. At least they had a starting point – the boys had made it to the hospital. And they knew who had kidnapped Alan. But somehow, that made it even more unsettling. The Hood was dangerous and he would have no problems hurting Alan. The thought made him sick to his stomach

Virgil shuddered. In some ways, he would have preferred a stranger kidnapping Alan. Actually, technically, he would have been happiest if nobody harmed his younger brother, but the Hood had decided to attack Alan and not give him a choice in the matter.

John came into the lab. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at his younger brother with noted concern. "You look like you just lost your best friend."

Virgil swallowed hard, a dry lump in his throat. Although he and Scott were pretty close, he knew he hadn't treated Alan well lately. Tears swelled up in his eyes. Would he ever get a chance to make it up to his little brother?

Becoming instantly alarmed, John strode across the room with ease, his black shoes clinking on the floor. "Virgil?" he said. He knew something was seriously wrong. "Virgil, what's wrong? Should I get Dad? Is it Gordon, or did something happen, or…"

"Alan," Virgil choked out, tears running down his face. He could no longer keep his emotions or his worry contained. "A-Alan g-got… T-The H-H... H-H-ood…"

John understood instantly. The meaning of what Virgil was saying hit him with full force. He was glad he'd already awoken his father. As soon as the Hood had escaped, Virgil and John had divided tasks. Virgil had notified Brains and Fermat in Five – they were currently coming back down to earth and five was going on auto. Lady Penelope, who had notified them, was already on her way with Parker.

Virgil had been the one elected to call Scott. He hadn't suspected that he would hear Alan's voice on the phone. He'd heard the phone crunch. He'd heard his brother's screams.

Oh, God, he'd heard his brother scream…

"What happened, Virgil?" John's face looked like it had aged ten years within a single instant. He took off the Muppet that he had been wearing to hide his matted hair. Ironically, it had been a gift Alan had given him for his eighteenth birthday. He'd taken it with him to school and still had it all these years later. He sank down into the chair.

Virgil just wordlessly pressed play on the machine, not even noticing when their father walked in.

"Alan Tracy."

"Alan?" Virgil's worried voice came over the phone. "Why are you picking up Scott's phone?"

"Just tell me what's wrong, Virgil."

"It's the Hood, Alan," Virgil finally said. "He escaped."

"Okay," Alan responded, his voice shaky. "I'll go get Scott, and..."

"No, no, no you won't," the Hood's voice responded.

"Virgil!" Alan said, screaming into the cell phone. "Tell Dad the Hood is at the hos-"

"Tsk, tsk, little Alan," they heard the Hood's voice say.

And with that, the phone was cut off, complete with Alan's screams.

Jeff Tracy was exhausted. He had not been happy to wake up at 4:50 in the morning to hear that the Hood had escaped from prison. He had yelled at John, shouting at him for waking him up. He had been embarrassed at that, but lately, it felt like he couldn't control his actions, no matter what he did. "Alan," he said, sinking into his chair. It looked like John had just heard the news as well.

"That was Scott's phone," Virgil responded grimly. "We have no way to know if Scott is in danger or not, too."

"Remind me again why they were gone this late? They were here when I went to dinner," Jeff added. He checked his watch and sighed. "Don't tell me Scott decided to go off on a Pepsi run again with Alan because he couldn't tolerate Coke? And where is Gordon?" He swallowed, realizing how harsh his words sounded. "Sorry, boys, I'm just worried…"

Virgil and John exchanged looks, and Jeff became instantly aware that there was something his boys weren't telling him. He ignored them as he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

It was Anastasia, the woman who worked at the hospital they frequented all too often. Saving lives was a dangerous business, and one of them had gotten hurt too many times. "Jeff, I'm so terribly sorry to bug you at this late hour, but we have Gordon Tracy here at our hospital. Scott was with him and checked him in and disappeared. We haven't been able to find him."

There was a pause. "And we checked the video out on our tarmac. We saw him being forced into a car by another man, and we saw Alan getting thrown into the trunk."

Jeff Tracy felt like his life had been ripped apart. And that was before he heard the other news:

"Jeff, your son Gordon is here at our hospital as well. We've run preliminary tests and determined that he has appendicitis. We would like for you to sign the consent forms, since he's currently unconscious."

"Send them electronically," Jeff ordered. "I'm on my way," he added. He hung up the phone and looked at his boys.

"Scott and Alan have been kidnapped," he said, breaking the silence that threatened to hang over the room. He swallowed hard, closing his eyes.

By speaking those words, he felt like he had signed his both of his sons' death warrants.