Hello, hello! Sorry this chapter's a little late but it is longer than usual so I hope you enjoy!

baao xo

Chapter 15:

A stunned silence had fallen over the room after the gun had gone off; Gordon lay slightly to the side, clutching at his left arm as a weak attempt to stem the blood seeping out between his fingers from the bullet wound in his bicep, and John stood frozen slightly behind him, the shock of the blast numbing his thought processes briefly. Gordon groaned softly, attempting to move into a sitting position, and John snapped out of it. Crouching down, he assisted his younger brother in moving into a more upright position before examining the wound in Gordon's arm.

Ignoring the attacker for the time-being, John determined that whilst the wound was bleeding heavily, the bullet hadn't actually gone fully into the arm and had badly grazed it instead.

"Well, that was a bit stupid, wasn't it?" sneered their captor, rising to his feet.

Gordon scowled at the man before allowing John to haul him to his feet. Staggering slightly, John steadied his brother and glared at the man in front of them. Gordon continued to hold his left arm and blood dripped down his arm and off his fingers to the floor, but he addressed the man:

"Who are you?"

The man gave Gordon a broad grin before raising his gun once more and replying:

"Someone you probably shouldn't mess with again, boy. However, I'm sure you've seen the mysterious Hood around the station? Well, a man needs some muscle, so we're hired by him."

"And what do you want now?" asked John, far less aggressively than his sibling.

"Well, clearly I was under the impression that all the members of International Rescue that were in this station had been caught, but it seems that I was mistaken. The only one who was caught was the one that was the target, however, that leaves two of you wandering around here being a nuisance. But, no matter, I can make use of you yet." the man responded, menacingly.

Skidding to a stop outside a set of glass double doors, Virgil double-checked his watch to see whether he'd been sent the location of the bomb yet by Alan. After signing off from his father and hearing the news that John and Gordon were not responding to hails on their watches, Virgil had called his younger brother up on Thunderbird Five. He knew Alan was feeling helpless on the other side of the Earth's atmosphere, and so in an attempt to make him feel useful, Virgil had asked Alan to scan the Tracy Corps building for the bomb that the Hood had set to detonate.

Virgil had managed to mostly ignore any comments directed his way from passersby's who happened to have recognise him as one of the Tracy's, though oddly it was harder to ignore the stares from people as he raced to his father's office. He knew that there were people who would blame him for the bomb's presence in New York, and nothing he could say would change their minds. Virgil could only hope that by stopping the bomb from detonating, people would perhaps think more kindly on the Tracy's.

"Come in, Virg," his youngest brother's voice crackled through Virgil' wristwatch as he hurried across the lobby of the Tracy Corps building. Fortunately, most of the staff had fled the building after hearing the message from the Hood, so Virgil had free roam of the huge office block.

"Reading you, Sprout, found anything?"

"You're in luck - the bomb's relatively easy to get to, though there still people in the immediate vicinity - God knows why. It's under a desk or something on the very cliché 13th floor. I can't specify much more than that but my readings are saying that it's over towards the right of the floor - I think it's the accountancy department."

"F.A.B. Alan, thanks for the help." answered Virgil, beginning to make a move.

"Virg," came Alan's voice, stopping his older brother from ending the call.

"What's up?"

"Be safe," the younger of the two pleaded, concern shining in his eyes as Virgil looked at the small screen.

"I'll do my best, Allie." replied Virgil softly, before cutting the connection.

Trying to ignore how tense his youngest brother sounded, Virgil made his way to the stairs, knowing better than to trust the lifts in a situation like this. Breaking into a run, Virgil dodged around staff that were making their way out of the building and ignored their pressing stares, focussing on the task at hand.

Making it to the 13th floor in record time, Virgil hurried down the corridors, trying to locate the accountancy department where Alan believed the bomb was. Bursting into the room, Virgil searched it from top to bottom, listening hard for the tell-tale beeping of a timed bomb and watching out of the corner of his eye for any flashing lights that indicated that something was there.

Minutes passed, and Virgil checked his watch urgently. He was running out of time and the bomb was nowhere to be found. Growling in frustration, Virgil winced as he tried to move a cabinet, the adrenaline making him forget about his sprained wrist from the night before. He finally forced the cabinet open, and his jaw dropped in shock at what was inside.

Instead of finding the bomb, Virgil came face-to-face with a small digital camera. Picking it up and turning it over, he was surprised to see that it was on.

"What the...?" Virgil murmured distractedly as he flicked through the recent images. Only one item was there - a short video that had been filmed a few hours previously. Pressing play, Virgil leaned back on a desk as the video started.

"If you're watching this, Virgil Tracy, you must've known that your great father was uncooperative."

Covering his mouth to conceal his horror, Virgil's eyes were glued to the screen as the Hood spoke to him from the past.

"Now, I understand that you'll be looking for my little bit of fun that I've placed in your father's building. It's funny, bombs are far easier to conceal than one might think, and it's just so easy to make people look the other way. I bet your brother on your adorable space station told you that the bomb is in this room, right? Well, close but not quite close enough! Perhaps you Tracy's have been watching too many horror films - I would never be so obvious to choose the 13th floor! If you knew me at all, you'd know that my lucky number is 15."

Groaning, Virgil forced himself to look back at the image in front of him, only to be greeted by the smug face of the Hood.

"Well, doesn't time just fly, Virgil? Tick tock goes the clock, as they say! Best hurry - time's not only running out for you."

Just before the video clip ended, the camera quickly left the Hood's face to a slumped figure on the edge of the room. They were lying on the floor, completely motionless, and Virgil could only assume this was Scott a few hours ago. Swallowing hard, Virgil blinked back suppressed emotions as the screen went black, removing Scott from Virgil's vision.

The Hood's voice echoed in Virgil's head as he stood there blankly for a few moments. How could the Hood know that he was going to be in New York? And how could he know that Jeff wouldn't have paid yet? He suddenly gasped as he remembered the Hood's words: "tick tock goes the clock". How could he have been so stupid to stand here, wasting valuable time, as a bomb prepared itself to blow the entire building up. Looking at his watch, Virgil swore as he saw the time - it was already 9:50pm, and Virgil had wasted far too much in here already. Sprinting out of the room and up the stairs, he raced to the 15th floor, hoping that the Hood had been giving him a clue as to where the bomb was when he talked inanely about his lucky number.

The corridors were empty; everyone had apparently fled the building by now, something which Virgil was extremely grateful for as there was now the risk that he wouldn't make it to the bomb in time. Stopping briefly, Virgil stood alone, wondering where on earth the bomb would be now he was on (hopefully) the right floor. Jeff's office was on this floor, right at the end, and as if suddenly emerging from water, Virgil's thoughts cleared and it hit him - the bomb would be in his father's office. There was no other place it would be. The Hood certainly had proved that he liked a show and what better way to show up Jeff Tracy than to blow up his building from his own office?

Throwing himself through the door and grunting a little as his knee and wrist protested, Virgil knew he'd come to the right place as there, straight in front of him on the desk, was a small, homemade bomb. He darted forwards and quickly checked the clock - 9:58pm. There was no time! He tore open the hatch which had the controls in to activate or deactivate the bomb, Virgil desperately tried to work out which wire needed to be unplugged to shut it down. The timer read less than thirty seconds now, and in a last ditch attempt to save the building, Virgil pulled two wires out and sprinted out the room, hoping he'd done enough.

The timer stuttered and flashed behind the rapidly closing door to Jeff Tracy's office, but despite his best efforts, Virgil was thrown down the corridor in a flash of white light and blazing heat as the explosion signaled his failure.

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