Hello, hello! So chapter 3 is up a day early this week as I've got an absolutely mad week coming up with uni but I hope you enjoy it and thanks again for all the amazing reviews - I love it!

baao xo

Disclaimer: still don't own Thunderbirds, still wish I did...

Chapter 3:

"What's your ETA, Gords?" asked Scott as his landed his 'bird expertly into the available clearing that Alan had identified for them.

"Approximately 30 minutes now; it would've been less if John stopped weighing down Two with all the junk he eats when he's in Five."

Laughing at John's cry of outrage, Scott finished his post-flight checks and left the plane to set up mobile control. The plant seemed to have been built in a large clearing, next to a lazily flowing river. There was a forest surrounding the eerie-looking plant which was still covered in a thin layer of snow. Scott shivered - the only downside of living on a private, tropical island for most of the year was that he frequently forgot how cold it could be in the rest of the world, and Minnesota definitely wasn't one of the warmer states. Zipping his uniform up a little higher, he walked a few yards away from Thunderbird One in order to set up mobile control in a slightly more sheltered spot in the clearing which was a short distance from the actual plant. Turning away from mobile control, Scott looked around the area for any signs of life. He frowned and checked in with Alan to see where the people were - they needed to be far away from a nuclear meltdown.

"Come in, Five."

"Reading you, Scott. How is it down there?" responded Alan efficiently.

"Empty. Are you sure there's anyone around? Or even a nuclear meltdown? Mobile control is giving me a reading of low radioactivity levels - nowhere near enough for a meltdown." said Scott, frowning as he looked at the readings on the screen in front of him.

"There are definitely heat signals from people around, though I don't know why they'd be hiding. I can't pinpoint their position exactly, but I think they might still be in the station? I'm getting readings for a concerning amount of radioactivity, but you're right, there's nowhere near enough for this to be classified as a meltdown."

"Maybe the caller just panicked," murmured Scott in reply, as he continued to study the readings coming from mobile control.

"Wait for Gordon and John - their ETA's only a few minutes now - then go in with them maybe? Perhaps John can work out what's going on from the control room." suggested Alan, just as confused as his older brother.

Scott was about to reply when he heard the unmistakable rumble of Thunderbird Two's engines. He turned to watch Gordon land, and quickly signed off with Alan, promising to contact him with any new information before going to greet his brothers.

"How's it looking, Sasquatch?" called Gordon from where he was descending from the huge machine with John. Scott rolled his eyes at the unflattering nickname that Gordon had recently come up with him as retaliation for everyone's referral of him as 'ginger', but he nevertheless brought his two younger brothers up to speed with what he and Alan had discussed briefly before their arrival.

"Seems pretty bizarre to me," responded John, thoughtfully, "what do you think we should do? Wait around for any signs of life? Or head in and pray to God there isn't actually a nuclear meltdown?"

"Let's go in - the reports from both mobile control and Alan say it's safe. We'll get to the control room and keep our eyes peeled for anyone around and see what's going on." instructed the Field Commander, to which both John and Gordon nodded in agreement, though John's was slightly less enthusiastic - his avoidance of a boisterous, and more often than not, dangerous, younger Gordon meant that he was less prepared than Scott to deal with the unexpected, whereas Gordon bounded ahead of them towards the power plant, looking uncannily like an overgrown toddler as he raced towards their next challenge. John, of course, felt slightly responsible for Gordon's excitement; allowing Gordon to eat an entire tube of solely blue smarties just to shut him up from his various theories as to why Virgil was currently stuck in New York (each theory getting more and more ridiculous) was potentially a mistake, though this was something John would never admit to Scott. Denial was the best plan, decided John as they trudged through the thickening snow towards the entrance; Scott would never forgive him if Gordon was bouncing off the walls in the control room because he'd allowed their excitable younger brother to eat far too many e-numbers again.

The three brothers slowed down slightly as they approached the looming entrance to the now vaguely sinister power station, observing the surrounding area carefully. Scott closed the distance between them and huge door first, placing his palm against the towering piece of metal. Looking up and glancing at the seemingly inactive security camera to their right, Scott put all his weight against the door, slowly opening it with an eerie creak which split through the silence surrounding them.

"Well, shit." said Gordon, breaking the silence that had fallen over the brothers as they'd entered the desolate building.

"Well, shit indeed..." muttered Scott, before taking the first few steps forward into the pressing darkness of the Minnesotan power station.

Let me know what you thought!