Last Time...
“I’m Sorry”
“Don’t be Alan”
BANG… The Gun had gone off, a cry of pain had followed.
“Guards!” Desmond yelled. The occupants were hand-cuffed and led into a secluded facility.
“What do we do with the body?” Came over the radio loudly courtesy of Desmond who smiled at the looks of the captured ones.
“Dump it off the cliff into the sea”
“No!”
“Yes Sir!”
The group were shoved into a room where they came face-to-face with Penelope, Parker, Brains, the Hood, Lucille and Grandma Tracy. The door slammed behind them all effectively trapping them all in the same room.
“Where is he?” came the voice of Parker.
Present...
No one spoke for a moment. Grandma Tracy took in the faces of her grandsons and she almost sobbed when she saw all her grandchildren and her son. But the pure look of fear in Alan’s eyes was all it took for her to sweep her youngest grandson in her arms.
“John?” a quiet voice made her grandson look up in the direction of the owner's voice. “Where’s Jackson?”. “He…he..his…body…”. John looked at the Hood with pure sadness. The Hood yelled out loud, before throwing his glass across the room. Every occupant watched the glass shatter against the wall. No one stopped the grieving father who attacked the guards who came into the room to see what had happened. Despite his brother's protests, John launched himself at the Hood’s chest once the guards had left. The Hood was quick to wrap the young Tracy in his arms, he felt the sobs of the boy who was his other family member.
Virgil watched his twin with tears of his own in his eyes before helping his fallen twin and the Hood to their feet when the door creaked open to reveal the Miles brothers. Virgil wrapped an arm around John’s waist to prevent him from attacking. Scott and Gordon found themselves standing in front of Alan and the others.
Desmond and Rico Miles smiled at the sight in front of them. Jeff moved forward in front of his sons, Lucille followed to stand by his side despite Lady Penelope’s protests of staying back and letting the boys handle it. Gordon sent a very sharp look at her showing his disappointment. The Hood situated himself behind the twins, his hand on their shoulders to prove he was still there. Desmond had some sort of look in his eye as he spoke, “I love the welcome party but sadly this party must come to an end because I require the aid of the Tracy twins and if they do not come forward, it won’t be pretty for the other family members”. Virgil shared a look with Scott and the two tightened their grips on John who hadn’t spoken since the Miles brothers had entered the room.
Rico remained stoic next to the door where a few armed guards stood with a variety of weapons. “Well?” Desmond gestured to the room assessing everyone’s current situation. Rico turned to the adults in the room, “Jeff, would you really want harm to come to your family because of John not complying with simple instructions?”. Scott watched in horror as his father turned around away from the enemy to look directly into John’s eyes who stared back with his icy piercing teal eyes not even blinking at his father. John looked worse for wear but he held his fathers stare even when Jeff said, “No I wouldn’t want harm to come to my family. John do as the man says”. Scott stared at his father in disbelief, sharing a look with Virgil who held his twin tighter. Parker stepped forward to face his brothers, who turned and looked at him. Parker spoke, “Desmond I ask that I watch over the Tracy brothers as they fill in the tasks that need to be done”. Desmond looked at Parker in shock before sharing a look with Rico who nodded in acceptance. Parker almost slumped in belief until John moved out of his brother’s grip and past his parents.
Without hesitation John punched Desmond across the face making the man kiss the ground, he was aware of what was going to happen but he didn’t care anymore. Before Rico could react Jeff grabbed John’s arms and wrestled them behind his back. John struggled in his father’s grip but stopped when a knife came to his throat by his own mother who spoke coldly, “John, you are making this more difficult. Comply now before something happens to your family”. John glared at the two before allowing adrenaline to take over, he felt the knife cut his throat as he threw Jeff over his shoulder who fell onto his wife. The two landed on the floor.
Scott reached forward and grabbed his brother before any more harm could come to them. Sadly, the Miles siblings were a step ahead. None of them had realised the shock collars around each of their necks. John and Virgil were the only two not to have a shock collar. Rico hit the button and soon the victims of the collars felt strong shocks into their bodies. “Stop!” Virgil cried out while he watched his younger brothers hold tightly onto one another. “We will finish what we started, if you just stop!”. No sooner after Virgil spoke did the shocks stop. Virgil and John heard the protests from everyone before looking up and meeting the Miles siblings' identical smirks, Desmond smiled at the Tracy brothers. Rico gestured John to come forward, he then proceeded to cuff John while Desmond handled Virgil whose only focus was his twin.
Once the twins were ready, Rico turned off the shock collars once they shut the door firmly without Parker going with them. Scott rushed for the door trying to open it but with no luck he moved over to his younger brothers and pulled them onto a seat where their grandma was. Grandma Tracy was sitting still as Parker looked at her collar to see if he could get it off. Colonel Casey leaned against the back wall watching her remaining god-sons who huddled together like a flock of penguins. Alan tucked in between them. Noticing that if it weren’t for his brothers, Scott would have probably been arguing with his father right about now. Talking about Jeff Tracy who sat on a futon with Lucille Tracy, the two had unreadable expressions.
It had been about four hours according to Gordon when movement outside the door caught the room’s eyes. The door opened slowly to reveal an angry looking Kayo who smiled at the room’s occupants. She caught her uncle’s eye first before moving over to the Tracy brothers and with a device she managed to get everyone’s collars off. Without warning Scott pulled Kayo into a hug which she quickly accepted before she knelt to assess the younger brothers who smiled back at her in reassurance.
Kayo stood up and faced the room, “It was hard getting into the building but I had a little help, I don’t know if you realise but Brains isn’t here and he was taking back to Thunderbird Two for some odd reason but we can use this to our advantage. The window behind you Colonel Casey is the best way we can go and escape. Thunderbird Two is beside the building we are in and the guards around the area have been dealt with. But, we only have a short window. I hope this is okay?”. Kayo turned to face Scott knowing he would take charge. Scott then turned to Parker and spoke clearly to the room's occupants, “Parker, you will lead everyone to Thunderbird Two. Kayo and I will go and collect John and Virgil. Gordon, I need you and Alan to fly Thunderbird Two out of here and head home. Can you do that for me, please!”. Gordon hesitated but Alan beat him to it, “Scotty we will try our best, just…” “Scooter please find Johnny and Virgil and bring them home safe”. Scott looked at his two youngest brothers who could get away with twins despite the two year age gap. Determination filled his features as he directed his response to not only his brothers but his grandma, “I will not stop until I bring the two of them home. I promise you that”. Those of the room knew what a Tracy promise meant.
Parker directed everyone to the window but the hood stopped and walked over to Kayo and Scott who both turned to look at the man. He held a device in his hand, “Scott. Kayo, I know we don’t have the best relationship at all. But, this device I have been working on with John cloaks a person if they wear it as a bracelet. I have two which my son experimented with and they work. Please in my son's honour bring back the twins and use these devices to help you. I will keep your brothers safe until you return and we split ways”. Scott and Kayo took in every word before shaking hands with the Hood who despite his past was currently grieving but at the same time looking out for someone else’s family in dire times. Once the window had been closed behind the Hood, Kayo and Scott activated the devices on their wrists and the two were mesmerised as they walked straight past everyone. Kayo smirked, reminding herself to remember to thank her uncle later on. She noticed Scott had the same look. The two took off through the corridors looking for two particular people unaware they were being watched by one individual.
Meanwhile…
Originally Desmond and Rico needed the twins to complete the rest of Stingray 221 but the two surprised the twins by asking them to finish some coding on a machine that would actually aid in the world today. It turns out that Desmond Miles had a son who was ill and only the Stingray 221 could save his life and Virgil couldn’t believe it. He thought the Miles siblings were going to create a weapon of destruction but sadly his thoughts were right and Desmond’s story about having a son was fake. Virgil realised from watching John code over his shoulder while he hacked into Rico’s accounts without him knowing. They were fortunate to stumble across the truth behind why the Miles siblings wanted the weapon. It turns out Jeff Tracy had been sending money to a company called ‘Miles Power’ for over a decade and it was mostly to fund weapons rather than what it says in the emails about improving healthcare. John quickly switched the computer back to the coding programme when Desmond approached the boys, Virgil kept his hands on John’s shoulders while he kept an eye on his twin.
“How's it going boys? Are we almost done?” The positive rough voice of Rico came from Virgil’s right. Virgil tried not to flinch or jump when Rico put a hand on his right shoulder. John just ignored them to focus on the task ahead as he broke through firewalls to fix the code in the programming since Desmond had managed to screw the code up all together meaning there was so much more work to do. Knowing his twin wasn’t going to speak, Virgil spoke up, “We are almost half way through, your drawings have been drawn. Now John just needs to sort the coding out for you and your healthcare product should be done”. The Miles brothers nodded before heading over to where they were standing earlier.
This gave time for Virgil to watch John hack into the facilities areas and set up a type of escape plan. Virgil moved discreetly to the laptop and read a few more emails before anonymously sending them to John’s emails to automatically send them to Scott for future relevance and Kayo who would need them. Desmond walked back over clicking his gun before he held it to Virgil’s head. John stopped what he was doing when he heard Virgil’s struggle, turning around ever so slowly he was met by the look of Virgil standing opposite him with his brown eyes full of fear. John moved away from the keyboard ignoring Rico to the side and crossed his arms, he knew what the weapon was. It was connected to the coding, the hood had shown it to him and helped him understand it.
As soon as the coding would be complete and the enter button was pressed. Would then mean that the gun would go off and kill the person it was directly aimed at. John watched the Miles siblings frown when he didn’t move back to the keyboard, instead John pulled the memory stick out of the computer and clicked a button. The next thing the Miles siblings knew was the room was filling up with water and the electricals had been turned off meaning the gun was powerless. The room was a small square room with a few desks and computers in, John quickly put the memory stick in his waterproof pocket before tackling Desmond away from Virgil, shoving him to the other side of the room and pulling his twin close. The water rose too quickly for one’s liking and the Tracy brothers were two tired to actually care at this stage in their lives. Virgil grabbed John to pull him close looking at the waterproof watch he had on for the timer until the facility blew to smithereens. Virgil struggled to stay a float, John was in an equal position. Virgil had moved into a corner while John was in front of him a bit because he kept batting off Desmond who proceeded to continue in reaching for them. Sadly Desmond grabbed a hold of John pulling him under, the two fought each other in their dark surroundings.
Virgil panicked when John went under, he scrambled for his twin who had been under for far too long. A hand reached his shoulder pulling him upwards at first he struggled but when he heard the familiar voice, “I’ve got you Virg”, did he calm down. Virgil looked at Kayo with fear in his eyes, she smiled at him when they heard a splash behind them and a grunt. The two turned to see Scott pulling John up into the vent, the poor lad was coughing and spluttering. Virgil sighed in relief but growled when he saw the purple marks around his brother's neck probably from Desmond trying to choke him underwater. Kayo led the way through the vents they had snuck through trying to find the twins. She dropped into a room below and noticed the taking out guards had her worried, she dragged a table under the vent to help the brothers get down.
Scott dropped down not very graciously but he did so silently. Still standing on a table he helped Virgil drop down before reaching up for John who slid down carefully landing in his twin's arms. The three hopped to the floor landing next to Kayo. It was then the alarms started blaring in the facility. It was times like this John missed his helmet, looking at his twin he noticed he felt the same way as the two sent looks at Kayo and Scott who looked back confused.
“What's the alarm for?” Kayo called over the noise, directing her question at the twins. Virgil shrugged from where he was running behind her, next to his twin while Scott took up the rear. John coughed before speaking, “It’s the timer I put on for the base to explode with all its weapons, there should be about 6 minutes and counting remaining”. Kayo stopped in her tracks to look back at Scott who paled at John’s explanation. The group continued when Virgil urged them forward, pointing at his watch. Scott almost vomited when they turned a corner to see the Miles siblings visibly shooting their guards, Virgil stumbled catching the wall but his movement had the siblings' attention as they aimed in their direction. Kayo caught John’s arm pulling him backwards into her side when a bullet whistled past his head.
The Four of them somehow made it outside the facility but they found themselves on the edge of a cliff. Scott looked at Kayo as he tried to summon Thunderbird One but something was blocking him. Clapping came from behind them and the four spun around to see Rico and Desmond Miles aiming guns at them. John shrunk back a little, his mind and body was exhausted. He glanced down towards the sea below them, the waterfall creating a beautiful sight. A hand wrapped around his shoulders, he looked up to see Virgil looking at him equally exhausted, his brother pulled him away from the cliff's edge and more so to Scott’s back. Bravely Kayo and Scott stood in front of the twins despite the circumstances.
“Hand over the memory stick John and then you can go free!” Desmond shouted. Scott turned to his brother who ignored Desmond all together instead he was looking at his watch. Scott noticed Virgil’s watch had 3 minutes and counting. “John! I will not ask you again!” Desmond yelled this time, anger came off his features. Rico looked very calm for the situation they were in, he didn’t look bothered. But it all changed when he smirked and pressed a button on his wrist. The family wasn't ready for it. A surge of pain ran through John’s neck, he grabbed his neck when the pain spread. He tried to ignore it but it only deepened as it hit his nerves.
A scream of pure agony left his throat scaring his surrounding family. His legs gave out before he could catch himself, Virgil quickly grabbed his brother and pulled him into his chest. He sank down to the floor trying to work out what was wrong with his twin. Feeling pains in his heart, Virgil couldn’t explain, it was a twin thing. John rolled in agony in Virgil’s lap. It was then Virgil noticed it, the blue mark on his brother’s neck had spread despite receiving the cure. His brother had a spider-like web spreading down his chest and reaching for his heart. For once in his life Virgil felt absolutely useless, he didn’t know what to do. Scott turned his focus away from the Miles siblings and turned to see something he wished he didn’t. Virgil looked lost, confused and empty. John was in pain but he had a look of emptiness in his eyes as he blindly reached for Virgil who gripped his hand tightly.
Scott looked at his brothers and realised something. He gasped out loud. Kayo turned to him, “Scott! What is it?”. She was trying to focus on the task at hand, she had managed to take down Rico and had stolen his wrist device which she intended on giving to Scott but the look on his face scared her. She put it in his pocket. Before looking down. She then saw what Scott saw. The twins were dying.
A cry from her right had her leaping into action, she manoeuvred away from Desmond before disarming him and quickly taking him down. She knocked him back to the ground before gasping when she heard.
“Thunderbird Shadow do you read me?” Gordon’s tired voice came over the link.
“Gordon it is good to hear your voice, we haven’t got much time. We need evacuation immediately!”
“Roger. Kayo. If you look to your left you should see a blue object being flown towards you and a red one”. Kayo giggled at Gordon's description of the Thunderbirds, thankful for any humour at this time.
“Gordon, have the Thunderbirds float next to the cliff's edge, the island is set to blow in two minutes and counting. This will be a quick getaway”
“Roger. Look to your left!”
Kayo turned as soon as she heard the engines. In fact Gordon was right Thunderbird One was hovering next to the cliff’s edge. Gordon waved from the cockpit, he opened the ramp for them to jump through. Thunderbird Three hovered nearby, Alan waved while Parker and Jeff pulled the Miles brothers into the ship for Colonel Casey. Gordon watched in shock when Virgil lay limply in Scott’s arms and John the same in Kayo’s arms.
Once the ramp shut, three words uttered out of Scott’s mouth.
“Gordon! Hospital Now!”
Gordon didn’t have to be told twice. Opening a link to have a discussion with Alan. Colonel Casey directed them to the nearest GDF facilities with the best doctors possible. Gordon made sure to break as many speed laws as possible. Thunderbird Three followed at top speed but nowhere near as fast as Thunderbird One.
In the distance, the island that had been their prison. Had blown up to smithereens and the GDF were currently investigating it. But, that could be dealt with another time especially with the Tracy twins' lives hanging in the balance.