Sorry this chapter's so late! Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing I can't believe all the support I've gotten!
baao xo
Chapter 18:
"Thunderbird Five receiving you, come in."
Alan waited hesitantly on the end of the line whilst waiting for the caller to reply, though there didn't seem to be anyone there. Alan was just about to hang up when a voice he definitely recognised burst through the static:
"Honestly, we have John on Earth for five minutes and look what's happened."
Alan sighed with relief as he heard his immediate older brother's voice echoing around Thunderbird Five. He was about to reply when John's voice cut through the comms:
"Hey, you do know I'm still holding the gun, Gordon."
"No need to be hostile, Johnny, I'm just saying it how it is." replied Gordon brightly, which somehow managed to change Alan's previously relieved mood to something far darker.
"Stop joking around you two! Do you even realise how worried everyone's been? No one's been able to get through to you for hours!" cut in Alan, sharply "You better have contacted Dad too; he's going mad over the situation over in New York with Virgil too, and he certainly doesn't need you two not telling him what's happening here!"
Alan heard an intake of breath on the other end of the line and instantly felt guilty for his outburst - no one had any idea what had happened to John and Gordon since their disappearance and the reason for their lack of communication was more than likely to be justified, given the circumstances they had found themselves in.
But, at the same time, Alan couldn't help but be angry. He was stuck hundreds of miles away in space with no company and all he could was worry about what was happening to his family back on Earth - how could Gordon be joking around now?
His thoughts were dragged back to reality when Gordon spoke once more:
"I'm sorry Sprout - we were just trying to lighten the mood. I know you all must've been worried when John and I didn't answer the calls but we were a little preoccupied."
"What happened?" asked Alan, his tone slightly softer after Gordon's apology.
"We saw a person in one of the rooms on the CCTV footage and so we went to go and investigate and it didn't exactly go in our favour."
"Are you both alright?" question Alan.
"A little bit bruised but otherwise in one piece. Anyway, what's this situation with Virgil?" answered Gordon, his voice sounding tired but still with a hint of the positivity from his earlier greeting. Alan guessed he was feeling relieved that him and John had gotten away from their situation from earlier.
"The Hood knew that Virgil is in New York and set up a bomb at Dad's office there. Virgil ran in to try and stop it from detonating but the bomb went off anyway and we haven't heard anything from him since. Dad's getting pretty stressed and you two falling off the radar didn't help, but at least we've got you back now."
"I'm not surprised Allie - oh, John's flapping his arms at me. I'm not sure what he wants... I'm suffering from constipation? Too much information there, Johnnyboy, and it's hardly something we can fix now..."
Alan snorted, but waited for Gordon to decipher John's message. After more bizarre suggestions from Gordon, Alan heard John bellow: "I'm putting Dad on the line!" Seconds later, there was a click and Jeff's voice joined the bickering between Alan's two older brothers.
"John! Gordon! Stop arguing and behave." interrupted Jeff, leaving a ringing silence on the comms in his wake.
Pausing, Jeff continued to speak to his sons: "Now, we need to plan what we're going to do next. I still can't get hold of Virgil, and nor can Alan, but at least we've finally gotten through to you two."
"Is Virgil's watch still online?" asked John.
"Nope - it's been offline for ages now." answered Alan "I can't get through to him and I have no idea whether he's trying to contact us. The news footage has no new information either, except there's been an explosion at Tracy Corps. On the plus side, I can say the explosion is considerably smaller than what it should've been, so Virgil definitely did something too it - it just depends on if he got out of the way in time."
Alan's voice cracked slightly at the end of his report, but he coughed quickly to cover it and no one had the heart to say anything.
Gordon broke the slightly awkward silence by posing a question to his father and younger brother: "Any more news on Scott?"
"Very little, if any, change in the situation but I'm worried about what the Hood will do next now that I haven't agreed to his terms. It hasn't helped that Scott has been a difficult guest at times. I don't know what we can do now." replied Jeff, his worry evident in his voice.
"But on a good note, I've managed to stop nearly all of the Hood's transmissions to the public. Now, any footage should only be shown to us via our watches, Tracy Island, and a few select screens in a range of capitals worldwide - New York, Berlin, London, Tokyo, Beijing etc. He's blocked the signals there - I can't interfere with it at all." said Alan.
"At least we know the English aren't going to care - they're so nonchalant." put in Gordon, brightly.
"Bit racist," replied John.
"I think you mean 'ethnic banter'," Gordon shot back.
"Stop it! We need to work out some sort of plan to get everyone out of this alive." snapped Jeff before things could escalate between the two brothers once more.
Silence fell once more as the Tracy's each tried to think of a way out of this mess. Finally, Gordon spoke once more:
"Well, since John and I are here, we can try and get Scott out. John can do that technical stuff he always does and I can try and locate Scott here. I think he's probably in the reactor room - it's the only room here where the CCTV footage is down; the only other places there's not footage for is corridors and Scott certainly doesn't look like he's along one here."
"You can't go there alone, Gordon! We came here together and look what happened! You're bleeding all over the floor and we've got an unconscious bodyguard at our feet but it took both of us to take just one guy out. It's suicide to approach the Hood alone." insisted John, firmly.
"What do you mean Gordon's bleeding? Gordon, you told me you were fine!" cried Alan.
"It's just a tiny scratch, it's nothing." replied Gordon dismissively.
John snorted, "Yeah, if you called getting shot 'nothing'."
"You got shot?!"
This time it was Jeff's turn to shout, and Alan could practically hear his older brother shrink away from his father's voice.
"It just nicked my arm," insisted Gordon, "it'll be fine and besides, I can't do the clever stuff John does and we'd all be lying if we said John could do the physical stuff I can do, even if I have had a slight graze from a bullet to my arm."
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded John, indignantly.
"I'm just saying that perhaps we should consider building a gym on Five."
Even Jeff couldn't hide his laughter from his sons as Gordon continued to tease his older brother.
"You know Gords, I'd be happy to ensure a bullet doesn't just graze your arm next time. I'd love to have some target practise when we get home and you're going the right way about being the actual target." threatened John whilst Gordon continued to giggle in the background. Some sort of action had to be taken, decided Jeff, and so he broke off an argument once again.
"Fine," he said, his slightly raised voice silencing his sons, "Gordon, you can go look for Scott but if there's any sign of trouble you report back to John and wait for backup from the police - no buts, Gordon! You can't take the Hood on alone if you've done your arm in, even if it is just a scratch."
Gordon reluctantly agreed to his father's terms before falling silent once more. Alan was then addressed by his father:
"Right, Alan, I need you to keep tracking Virgil and seeing if you can get hold of him. I bet the Hood will contact me again soon, so I can't focus all my attention on finding Virgil. Watch the news too and call me if you see anything, okay Sprout?"
"F.A.B., Dad." answered Alan, "I'll try doing another heat signal search as well."
"Good idea. I'll let you boys get on with it but remember: any trouble or if you find anything, report it to me. Gordon, be sensible. I'll check in again with you shortly." finished Jeff, and with a click, he signed out of the transmission where he was swiftly followed by Gordon and John, and Alan was left alone to his thoughts once more.
Um, so nothing really happened here so sorry about that! I leave you all waiting and then I give you a filler chapter. Let me know what you thought anyway and we'll get back to the action asap!