I do not own the Thunderbirds. I do not own the Thunderbirds. I do not own the Thunderbirds. I do not own the Thunderbirds.

Chapter Four – Outside Forces, Inside Terror

John Tracy had landed at Springfield Airport. Luckily, Jeff had thought ahead to make sure a spot was reserved for a second jet. According the manager at the car rental, several of the people who had tried to land at the airport had been told they would not be able to keep the plane there. With many of the private jets, the owner and the pilot could be two different people. But all of the Tracys were qualified to fly, except Sarah who was still studying for her pilot's license.

Looking around, John saw his wife Emily emerging from the restroom with their four-month-old daughter in her arms. "Well, Little Bit, we all fresh and clean so that we can so see Uncle Alan?" The baby cooed up at her father, batting her lashes, secure in the knowledge that she had her father wrapped around her tiny finger. Running a finger gently along Elizabeth's delicate cheek, John marveled once more at the overwhelming feeling of knowing such a tiny thing could hold such a big piece of your heart. Smiling up at the other thing of beauty that held so much of his heart, John leaned over to kiss his wife. "Have I told you how much I love you today?"

Smiling back at her husband, Dr. Emily Tracy was the picture of serenity. "Yes, but I have no problem with you repeating yourself."

John began to kiss Emily again when a voice called out, "OK, make out session ends now guys. I want to get to Wharton's in plenty of time to grab Al and get to dinner. Dad already has the suites reserved, and I just arranged with the car service to run our entire load of luggage directly to the hotel. Kyrano is on the phone with the hotel manager, letting him know it is on its way and to bring it up to our suites. Now, if Miss Thing there is all fresh, Onaha and I are just waiting on someone to have the rental car brought around."

John glared at Gordon, but his wife's hand on his arm restrained him from saying anything. Instead he plucked Elizabeth from her mother's arms and placed the only Tracy granddaughter into her uncle's grasp. "Here Guppy – hold your niece while Emily and I make sure the infant safety seat is in the mini-van and secure."

Clucking the baby under the chin, Gordon suddenly froze when his brother's words sunk in. "Oh. My. God. John? Did you just say a mini-van?"

Emily began to laugh. "Gordy, we are transporting five adults and an infant to Whartons's; your Dad has rented an Escalade Mark 19."

"Yeah, well, that's an SUV. You rented a mini-van."

John shrugged. "Don't worry. I requested one with a vid player. Even made sure you have a choice of Spongebob or Seaquest."

Gordon grinned, running to the rental pickup area. "Dibs on Spongebob!"

Having retrieved her baby from her excited brother-in-law, Emily whispered to her daughter. "Don't worry sweetie. You have a rear-facing seat. And we'll make sure Grandpa gets Uncle Gordon on the trip back."

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Jeff had frozen at the gunman's words. "B-but Jackson Mitchell had no family. Hell, the man had no friends!"

Cold eyes glared at the elder Tracy from the mask's eyeholes. "Half-brother if you must know. Same mother, different fathers. Our mother deserted his father and Jack. Moved up and left her child behind. Five years ago, while hard at work, slaving away for Tracy Enterprises, he tried to contact our mother. She rejected him! Can you imagine how he felt? His own mother wanted nothing to do with him!"

Alan flinched at the terrorist's words. Against his will he sought out Fermat's gaze. Tears filled Fermat's eyes. The story of Jackson Mitchell reminded him all too much of his own. But at the weak smile Alan gave his best friend, the sixteen-year-old genius drew comfort. He had something that Mitchell would never have, mainly due to his own choices. Fermat had his father and he had good friends who would stand by him. Even though both had been rejected by their mothers there was no chance of Fermat ever becoming anything like Mitchell, a man who had badly traumatized the entire Tracy family when he had abducted Alan three years before.

"Jack," the terrorist continued, "believed that if he became a big enough success, he could win our mother's approval. I got in touch with him after I overheard my parents arguing about mother's past coming back to life. I tried to tell him – you could never win her approval. Nothing and no one was ever good enough for that bitch. Trust me, I would know. Jack's father had died when he was sixteen. He was put in foster care until he went off to college. Our mother could have got him out, taken him in. But that would be admitting that she had a less than flawless past."

Pulling at Alan's collar again, he pushed the gun sharply into the back of Alan's neck. "Not everyone had a perfect, loving family. Not everyone gets to have all the luck, all the breaks. Athletic, handsome, intelligent, rich, popular… You get everything, Tracy. Just like your father. And when Jack tried to get a little bit of payback for all his years of hard work, your father had him put in jail. Then you lied at the trial, made him out to be some kind of monster."

Alan was appalled. He could still remember the pain of his injuries from Mitchell's repeated blows to his head, the terror of Mitchell's threatening taunts. He had never forgotten the fear of the Tracy family that night, the nightmares after Alan was shot when Mitchell had tried to use Alan as a human shield at the trial. How could this person view the past through such a warped perspective?

Jeff was shocked. Who could possibly twist the past to read it like that? Jackson Mitchell had kidnapped Alan off the streets of Manhattan at gunpoint, beaten and terrorized his son. Jeff had been convinced he would lose his youngest child that night. Only due to the cleverness and perseverance of a certain FBI agent was Alan returned to them. Thinking of that agent, Jeff wished desperately that his oldest daughter-in-law was here. Kate was a very good shot and fiercely protective of her family. But Kate was currently pulling her first solo tour on Thunderbird Five. How the hell would they get out of this?

Alan was scared but also confused. There was something oddly familiar about his captor. Moving his head slightly, he eyed the gunman. Suddenly, awareness overcame him. "Wescott? Kyle Wescott is that you?"

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The Tracys had almost reached Wharton's gates when Gordon cell phone rang. Pulling it out, he saw it was his brother Virgil. "Hey, Virg, tell Sarah we promise to get tons of pics of her "baby" graduating. And then…"

"Gordon, Kate just intercepted emergency signals from Wharton's. From what we can find out, some goons with guns have taken over the hall. Whether it is political or financial, we have no clue yet. We are trying to force signals from the guys wrist communicators, but they are not all that clear." Virgil voice gave a slight tremor. "But we do know, there have been shots fired and there have been casualties. We - International Rescue, that is - have already been in touch with the authorities. As a member of the Tracy family I called too. Claimed that a cell phone had been left open for a minute. But they will be expecting you. Look for a Captain James of the Massachusetts' State Police at the front gate."

Gordon had put the phone on speaker early in the conversation . Emily and John had exchanged looks, horrified at the turn that their family's life had taken once more. Looking into the back of the vehicle, Emily looked at the Kyranos and Gordon. Once more people they loved were at risk. But what could the Tracys do without exposing themselves as International Rescue?

a/n - OK, bringing in more Tracys. hmmm. what next? what to do, what to do... (Insert evil laugh here). review please, inspire me, motivate me... before someone medicates me... Oh, and by the way, I can't stand Spongebob. Sorry. But I do like SeaQuest. They just seemed to be two shows Gordy might watch.