Hello gorgeous readers! I return from beyond the grave/holiday, ready for another thrilling instalment?
I wanted to make this a really long chapter but time has been limited so I shall bring you what I can when I can and hope it pleases you.
Thanks for all the fabulous reviews, they are doing a wonderful job of guilt tripping me into writing :) Keep them coming!

The cab ride to Tess Zucco's apartment took just under half an hour in the heavy traffic of the city, Alan wasn't really sure what he should be expecting, he didn't even know if Tess knew anything about his supposed accident and even if she did there was no saying that she'd even be there to talk to, even if she was what was he supposed to say?

He remembered her from the party and it calmed his nerves slightly, her wide smile and friendliness would be a welcomed break after spending a week with the tense atmosphere at home. Alan wasn't just tired from the aching foot, ribs and constant headaches, he was tired with what was going on and the feeling of being left out of the loop. He could mildly relate it to waiting for his dad to receive his report from school - his stomach forever full of butterflies, the feeling that he had to sneak from room to room before the bomb dropped.

Now they were on the mainland the weather didn't help things, clouds were threatening rain that never seemed to come and the air was slightly too warm to be considered comfortable. It wasn't the weather you wanted when your head was beginning to pound.

The apartment block where Tess lived was surprisingly bland for a billionaires daughter, it was in the quieter outskirts where a large population of the working city must have lived, at this time of day it was quiet and the parking outside was near enough empty.

Paying the driving Alan got out of the cab and looked up at the building, Tess's flat was on the bottom floor. Stone steps led up to a large Victorian style door, green paint cracked and peeling, the letter box slanted and dusty. He had to admit, he'd expected something grander, newer and with a hell of a lot more security. It didn't add up. Then again he had to remind himself that people's preconceptions of his own family were often the source of great annoyance.

He went to hobble up the steps but halted as the only car in the small car park caught his eye, he knew it was foolish but temptation easily gave in and he spared himself a minute to look. A 1969

Chevrolet Camaro wasn't something he was willing to pass by.

Maybe it was because there were no cars on Tracy Island, unless you counted the small machines used to park the Thunderbirds, or the quad bikes used to get from one side of the island to the other. For some reason Gordon had a golf cart, but Alan refused to class any as an actual car. Seeing cars like this didn't happen everyday.

What he was looking at now, however, definitely was an actual car. The black convertible looked incredibly well looked after; tinted glass, power top, front and rear spoilers… it was a collectors piece yet it looked like it was being used. A few parking tickets were hastily stuffed into one of the door pockets and the mats were worn on the drivers side. It actually had a tape player to, he hadn't seen one of those since he was small.

What Alan wouldn't give to have a drive in one of those… Even at school all the cars he ever saw tended to be taxis or what he'd class as "old man cars". Old rolls Royce's, plastic coatings on their seats and a driver at the wheel, always in that sickly beige colour. He'd like to think he had more taste than to find such status symbols appealing, sure a rolls Royce looked impressive and said that you had money, but a Chevrolet Camero said that you liked to have fun.

Perhaps the biggest draw back he saw to becoming a Thunderbird would be the lack of being able to own something like the Camaro before him. He sighed, it was a petty thought served only to add another flare of annoyance at his family. But it was an easy distraction, he hesitantly turned back to the apartment with a sigh, he found himself nervous as he finally made his way to the top of the steps and rang the buzzer. His mind was tossing round the idea of going back to the hospital, ignoring the buzz going on around him and trying to ignore the whole thing.

Maybe whatever was going on really wasn't worth knowing, a part of him had been tempted to face the wrath of his family. Maybe they'd have told him themselves, maybe not.

He waited for a minute but was rewarded as someone picked up on the other end, a tinny voice echoing through into the quiet afternoon.

"Hello?"

"Um. Hi, is that Tess Zucco?" Alan stared at the speaker on the wall, for a moment thinking he had the wrong place. Again not sure if he really wanted to be there, wondering if she'd even know what had happened or what the hell was going on.

"Whose asking?"

This was the place. Typical answer Scott usually gave whenever anyone rang him.

"Alan Tracy, we met at a party the other night?" He paused. "This might sound odd but can we talk?"

There was a moment of silence across the line before finally the door buzzed open, he shuffled in, slightly nervous that she hadn't said anything, the darkness of the hall greeting him with wooden floors and dull cracked wall paper. Once upon a time this place would have been grand, it might have even looked worthy of a billionaire. Now it looked tired and aged, a large staircase leading up to his right to the other apartments in the block worn and unvarnished.

The only other door to in the hallway opened and he looked over to see Tess, he remembered her from the party though even that memory was slightly blurred. He recognised her though and smiled, holding a hand out to shake. She looked taken aback though, leaning against the doorway staring at him like he'd fallen from the sky, chewing her bottom lip her eyes drifted to his foot and the crutches he was using to get about, something akin to guilt in her gaze.

Letting his unshaken hand drop Alan felt the sense of worry in his stomach heighten.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice low as though someone was listening in, still holding the door half open and blocking the view into her apartment. "I thought you'd gone back home?"

"I did." He looked down, fidgeting with the handle of one of the crutches before looking back, usually so confident with people Alan was finding it difficult to think of what to say. "Can we talk indoors maybe? I broke some ribs and their starting to ache…" It was a pathetic excuse but a true one at that, it might have been a better idea to come after his check over from the doctors.

She closed her eyes and he just caught them rolling as she stepped back allowing him through the door into the apartment, he could still feel her staring as he hobbled past into the large living room.

Again, it was old and looked like it had seen better days but something about the room made Alan relax slightly, the worn leather sofas and DVDs piled by an aging TV and music system was some what assuring. He had to admit to having thought about the kind of place Tess lived, in his head he'd envisaged marble floors, minimalist decorating and nothing out of place. His father had friends in high places and most of them seemed to go for the whole wealthy look, caring far to much about what the outside world would think. It was reassuring to see something he's consider more… normal.

In the living room there were stacks of books, sloped piles with dust and bent spines, an old wooden bookcase on one wall stacked mainly with CD's and films. There was a modern looking coffee table in front of one of the large sofas but it was hard to notice beneath the suitcase and clothes which had been abandoned on top. It looked like she'd been packing at some point but abandoned the idea halfway through, a cracked passport stuck out of one of the suitcase pockets as though questioning its purpose.

Tess led him round to the sofa before grabbing some clothes that had been flung over it and making space for him, she dumped the armful into the suitcase, closed the lid and leaving it in the middle of the floor in her apparent organised mess.

Allowing himself to sit, mindful of the aching ribs, Alan smiled over to her as she perched on the edge of an armchair across from him. She was fiddling with her fingers and still looked worried, maybe just as nervous as Alan felt.

"I'm guessing you know what happened at the party?" He'd been running through what to say but the situation that was presented didn't seem to warrant any of the conversations he'd played through in his head since leaving the hospital.

"I spoke to your dad, Alan." She rubbed her eyes, speaking quickly but with a hush to her voice, her Italian accent flowing around the words effortlessly. "I didn't know he was going to do that... Though maybe I was blind sighted, he never wants to spend time with me… I should have seen it and then maybe you wouldn't be like this." She motioned to him, eyes saddened. "I've been trying to sort the whole thing out." She gestured to the suitcase on the floor as though reading Alan's thoughts on its purpose. "I was heading back to Europe, but now this has happened I'm going to make sure it's sorted, your dad said he was going to keep trying to get to you." Letting out a long sigh she rubbed her eyes. "I can't leave with things as they are."

Alan couldn't help the frown that took over his face, Tess had spoken apologetically, concern playing on her words as she empathised getting things sorted. She leant forward as though wanting to lay a hand on his but not quite managing the action.

"My dad's trying to get to me?" That made no sense.

"What? No …my dad. Tony Zucco." She shook her head as though trying to shake a thought, allowing a frown of her own. "Are you here on your own?"

"Yeah, I'll meet back up with my family later." And no doubt be grounded for a century for running, no, limping off.

"What… why… did they drop you here?" Confusion halted her words, she looked to the door again.

"No… I got a cab. What's your dad got to do with anything?"

"What?" She stared, mouthing the words before speaking them. "Tony Zucco, he sent that guy after you… haven't you spoke with your dad?"

Alan gawped, he couldn't help it. Part of him relieved that he wasn't dying of some incurable illness, the other part swallowed by the sinking feeling of dread. Abduction hadn't played on his long list of possibilities.

"Wait." They'd lied to him, he knew that from the get go but the extent of the lies hurt. Surely if you had someone trying to get to you it would help to know, even if you were trapped on an island with three paranoid brothers and an equally paranoid father. He tried to hide the anger from his words but they were sharp enough to be noticeable. "I had a head injury, I haven't got any memory of the night past talking to you!"

Realisation dawned and she visibly whitened, leaning back in the armchair. "What did your family tell you?" She asked slowly, rubbing her eyes before looking back. "You came here because of that?"

"Well yeah! No one would tell me what was going on, I knew they were lying!" It was ridiculous and it made no sense. "They said that I'd fallen down some stairs! I knew they'd been lying… why the hell wouldn't they tell me that? Some guy tried to kidnap me? What the hell!" His breath was quickening and he could feel his anger pounding against his ribs painfully. "You said he was going to keep trying? This guy… your dad?" He spoke the word as though distasteful, looking at her in a new light as she stood and started pacing in front of the coffee table.

"I didn't know they hadn't told you! Christ… that's why you came on your own?" She stopped and pulled her cell from the back pocket of her jeans, tossing it across to land besides Alan on the sofa. "You've got to call them and let them know where you are, they're going to be going crazy with worry." Running a hand through her hair she let herself sink back into the armchair, shaking her head. "I'm sorry… I just presumed you knew."

The look of shock and disbelief, most of all guilt, that played across Tess's emotions calmed Alan slightly. He knew he shouldn't be taking it out on her. "I just want to know the truth." He sighed, holding an arm round his waist to try to ease the throbbing. "I'll phone them when I know what really happened, then they can tell me why the hell they didn't tell me the truth to start with."

She stood again and went through the wide arch towards the front of the building which led to a large kitchenette, returning a moment later with a packet of aspirin and a glass of water.

"Take two of these." She passed him them as she sat once more, rubbing her eyes again before smiling weakly. "Your family are going to kill me anyway, might as well tell you before they do."

She explained as much as she knew, which was probably a lot less than Jeff but a damn site more than Alan. He was surprised and slightly ashamed that he hadn't noticed Virgil's injuries, but that hollow feeling of once again being left out of the family seemed to outweigh the emotion which in turn added another wave of guilt. It was one thing not being a Thunderbird and being left out of that, but when it came to family ties he could think of no worse a betrayal that being lied to in such a way.

Tess obviously saw the hurt on his face, she finally allowed herself to move over besides him and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I know it probably won't mean much, but the way they saw it they lied to protect you. They've been trying to sort everything out before you knew, that way you wouldn't get hurt. That's probably why they've been following you like a shadow since it happened."

Alan rubbed his hands against his eyes, angry at the tired tears that threatened to spill. He was tired and the aspirin did little to dispel the aching pain of his ribs, that pounding headache was threatening to return. "Why did my dad speak to you?" He already knew, he could see the situation in his mind - Jeff Tracy would target any connection to Taio Zucco who had since the accident, remained apparently illusive. Tess Zucco was the first and most easy target for Jeff's anger.

"He rang me." Tess looked down to her hands, fiddling nervously, her voice quiet and almost ashamed. "He thought I had something to do with it, which in a way I suppose I did." Alan frowned but she merely shrugged, letting out a small humourless laugh. "I thought my dad actually wanted to see me, I've been over here a while now trying to fix things between us, we've never been close." She sighed. "I was looking forward to the evening, our last chance to reconnect before I went back to Italy. But when I got there he didn't want to know, he just wanted to introduce me to your father and I suppose direct his and your brother's attention away from you."

"But you didn't know he was going to do what he did?"

"No. I swear I had no idea, if I had I would have stopped him, I would have told your dad, the police, the army if it would have helped... He may be family but he's crossed the line, that guy could have killed you just because of my father's righteous payback on your dad." She growled and stood again, wringing her hands angrily. "I'm going to ring your dad, you need to get back home where you're safe."

She reached over to take her phone from the sofa but Alan took it and shook his head. "I'll ring one of my brothers."

She smirked, she'd had Jeff Tracy's anger directed at her once already, she knew Alan's reasoning. "Big trouble then?"

"Oh, tell me about it." He took his mobile out, noticing a list of missed calls, he'd turned it to silent as the repetitive ringing on the taxi ride over had been annoying to not only him, but the taxi driver who'd been shooting him glares through the mirror on the journey over.

"I could drive you back if you want, if it makes things easier? Are you at a hotel?" She picked some keys off the small table the TV was perched on, twirling them in her fingers.

"No, I was meant to be having some tests at the hospital. We only came over for the day." He did feel guilty, it was hard not to but the voice in his head was trying to justify the worry he'd probably caused them. When it came down to it, if they hadn't lied then he wouldn't be sat here right now.

Although his mind was buzzing round the whole situation something else occurred to him, he watched the keys twirling in her fingers and allowed a small grin. "You don't happen to own the black Camaro outside, do you?"

"The black one?" She smirked. "Is there more than the one?"

Scott Tracy was freaking out, it was probably a good job he was still in the hospital as a stress induced heart attack or injury was looking more and more likely. He'd come back from the office with his father to find Virgil, Gordon and John sat around outside the ward waiting to be allowed in. Peering through the door it had taken one small sentence to send them all into full blown panic mode.

"Where's Alan?"

Almost two hours had past, Scott was now stood in the exit nearest the ward his youngest brother had been in, watching cars moving past. He felt utterly helpless, lost. He wasn't used to the lack of control and the feeling that Alan had been taken was eaten up his insides.

They'd checked the entire hospital and the block around it, they'd questioned the doctors and staff, even the car parking attendants as to whether they'd seen him. Jeff was currently in the process of trying to receive the CCTV footage for the hospital, it was a difficult task as everyone seemed to be insisting on protocol.

What was worse was that the doctor Alan had been seeing and many of the nurses and orderlies in the ward had all been telling them not to worry. Teenagers walk out of hospitals all the time, it was just an annoying habit they did when they were bored or fed up of being poked and prodded. He'd turn up, he'd been fine. Have you tried ringing him?

Twelve missed calls on Alan's phone, if Alan had walked out then why didn't he answer any of them? He wouldn't have just walked out, Scott was certain of it.

It was beginning to drizzle now, the grey skies heavy and depressing. Scott was trying not to flip out at the smokers crowded around the entrance trying to stay dry, they didn't seem to realise that not smoking indoors probably included the entrance which the smoke inadvertently drifted through. He was starting to feel sick, it was a hospital, some respect seemed due.

It was lucky that John appeared when he did, red faced from running around the hospital, eyes wide and worried. "Anything?"

"No, you?" Scott turned and let out a long breath, it had to be Alan landing himself in the trouble. It always seemed to be.

"Nothing. Dad's finally got the tapes, he's going to start going through them with Virgil."

"And Gordon?"

"He's taken the car and is rechecking the area." Rubbing his eyes John stared out into the rain. "Maybe it's time we called the cops?"

Scott had thought about it, they all had. But they had no proof that Taio Zucco was involved and Alan hadn't been gone more than twenty four hours, all of them knew it wouldn't be taken seriously until that time had passed.

"Maybe, but they won't do more than we've already done."

"I know but… we need to do something though, I can't just stand here." John was more agitated than Scott could remember seeing him, he looked almost as though he was about to cry, eyes wide and blinking as he chewed his lip and shook his head. "We only left him for a minute Scott! A minute!"

"Yeah well, I think it would have happened either way. We didn't see it coming, we messed up and he didn't even have a clue what was going on." It was an awful feeling, he'd failed Alan, let him down.

John shook his head once more. "I think he had an idea." Scott looked up with a frown. "You can't tell me that the Alan we've known this last week has been the same Alan from before the accident? He's been quiet, more moody than usual, he actually asked me if we were lying to him."

"He asked you?" He'd put Alan's attitude down to being fed up with being laid up in bed and being fussed over.

"After you yelled at him when you thought he'd left his room, he asked why we were lying. He couldn't understand why we were acting like we were… not that I blame him, poor kid's probably been going crazy." John put a hand on his older brother's shoulder, squeezing it gently and giving him a small smile. "But what could we do, huh?"

He growled, tired of standing in the entrance watching the cars pass, tired of the smoke stinging his eyes and tired of the seconds that ticked by where they were without Alan. "As soon as I find that Zucco creep I'm going to make him regret ever coming near out family."

His phone rang, interrupting violent thoughts directed at Zucco. He gave John a sad smile before answering, eyes widening as his father on the other end gave him the news of what they'd seen on the footage.

"You're kidding, right? No… right… see you in three."

Putting the phone down he let out a long breath of frustration as he turned to John.

"What?"

"Our beloved little blonde brother walked out the hospital. Got up and walked out." Scott couldn't believe what he'd heard, couldn't understand it but now his anger had redirected its course to Alan and whatever was going on in his stupid head.

"Walked?" John looked beyond mythed, staring at Scott as he waited for an explanation. "You mean… he's ok?"

"Well, he left the hospital on his own. Though God knows where he's gone! And why the hell isn't he answering his phone?"

John's own phone chose that moment to ring, a familiar tune playing out as he pulled it from a pocket.

"Well let's ask him."

"Huh?"

"It's Alan."

I haven't wrote in so long I think I'm forgetting how to! You must review and let me know what you think ;)
Thanks for reading x