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Chapter Text

No.1 Let’s hang out sometime 

Waking up restrained | Shackled | Hanging 

Alan knew something was wrong as he felt the pull towards consciousness. His head was pounding, and his mouth was uncomfortably dry. The worst part though was the agonising pain in his shoulders. He involuntarily let out a moan that was more of a croaky gasp of air.

Opening his eyes slowly, his head spun as he realised he was somehow upright. Closing them again quickly, he took some deep breaths to quell the sudden nausea. Breathing was difficult, his throat felt tight and he gasped, chocking back a sob.

Squinting his eyes open again, his heart thumped loudly as he took in his surroundings. He didn’t have the strength to turn his head but he was facing a dirty stone wall with a bolted steel door. The most alarming thing though was that he was hanging from his wrists in the centre of the room.

His feet dragged on the floor below him. He didn’t want to stand up but the pain in his shoulders was too much. His legs were stiff and uncooperative as stumbled to get his feet under him. As he slowly stood up he had to grit his teeth as his shoulders screamed at the movement after being in the same position for so long.

Alan longed to bring them right down to his sides but he was only able to just touch the ground standing on his tip toes. His arms were still held painfully above him. Though thankfully, once he took his full weight off them, he was able to breath a bit better. He took some deep shaky breaths as he slowly took in his surroundings.

All the other walls were the same as the one he was stuck staring at. Dirty grey stone, no windows, only one door. It was empty. He looked up as his wrists, wincing at his stiff neck. There were metal shackles clamped around his wrists. He gave a half-hearted tug but it was quite clear he wasn’t going anywhere.

His wrist flared in pain at his movements. He realised he was dressed in only the t-shirt and shorts he wore under his IR suit. His bare wrists were agony under the rusted metal cuffs and he shivered from the cold air in the damp room.

Alan felt his legs shake dangerously as he took in his situation. Tears pooled in his eyes as he held back his sobs. His arms hurt, his head hurt, he felt sick. Where was he? Where were his brothers? He wanted to go home.

Before he could panic any further, the door swung open and banged loudly against the wall. Alan couldn’t help the violent flinch at the noise. He was taking sharp quick breaths, trying to calm down, as three men walked though the door.

He thought about how Scott would act in this situation. It was kind of his subconscious mantra in life “What would Scott do?”. His other brothers would tease him but it did help him stay calm and make good decisions. Right now though, simply not crying was the best he could do. He remained silent even as he continued to take quick panicked breaths, his eyes darting between the men entering the room.

“Mr. Tracy.” The man in the middle began. “Glad to see you’ve finally awakened.”

He was wearing a perfectly pressed suit that didn’t fit in with their surroundings at all. Alan stared and felt a strong need to step back but he could barely keep his feet under him as it was. He balanced precariously on his tiptoes, his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

The guy seemed to notice his fear and chuckled. The sound grated uncomfortably on Alan’s ears. “Don’t worry kid, we don’t want anything from you.”

He grabbed a hold of Alan’s chin, pulling him forward slightly and Alan toes dragged along the ground. “You’re just incentive for those older brothers of yours.”

He pushed him away again and Alan lost his footing as the chains swung too far back. He grunted as his abused shoulders were strained again.

“I can’t say you’re going to have a good time while you’re here.” The man continued almost airily. “But as long as I get what I want you’ll be back to your luxury island soon enough.”

The man almost snarled as he talked about the island. Alan didn’t know what was going on here but it clearly wasn’t good. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out as he got his feet back under him.

One of the other men was setting up a camera in front of him. His heart fluttered. This was for his brothers. He needed to get himself together.

None of the men were paying attention to him anymore as the man in the suit turned towards the camera. He straightened his tie and nodded at the man behind the camera. The red light blinked on and he began.

“International Rescue.” He smiled as if this were a social call. “I’m sure by now you’ve noticed you seem to be missing someone.”

“That’s quite a problem you seem to have and you know what? I also have a bit of a problem.” His words were casual but there was a sinister undertone that made Alan shiver. “If you help me with my problem I think I could return the favour.”

He stepped aside so that Alan was now clearly in view of the camera.

“My requests are written out for you on the accompanying piece of paper.” He paused smiling, almost laughing silently to himself. “Well I say requests but you don’t have much of a choice do you?”

And then he was waving his hand and the third man walked forward carrying a large metal bucket. Before he could process anything Alan found himself being drenched with icy cold water. He gasped sharply, spluttering at the abrupt soaking.

The man in the suit was talking to the camera again but he couldn’t concentrate enough to listen. Then there was a sparking flash to his right and he blearily looked over to see the man who’d drenched him brandishing a cattle prod towards him. It was sparking at the end and Alan had no control of the distressed noise that came out of his throat and he tried to pull away.

There was nowhere to go though, and it was pressed up against his side. His whole body seized and he couldn’t even scream as he choked through the intense pain. His muscles spasmed and it felt as if it was never going to end.

When it was finally taken away he sobbed involuntarily as he took in gasping breaths. There were tears running freely down his face and he hung limply again. He looked into the camera and he didn’t know what he was trying to portray but he knew it wouldn’t be reassuring.

Before he could even think about doing anything else the blinding pain was back against his side and he cried out as his body seized up once again. It was taken away quicker this time but he barely had time to breathe before it was placed back against him again.

This was an agonising cycle and by the end he was left panting, hanging limply as darkness crowded the edges of his vision.

The camera was packed up and the man in the suit looked gleefully at him. “Excellent show kid. Don’t think those brothers of yours will waste much time after they see this.”

He dug around in his pocket and pulled out a rusted key. “Here.” He tossed it as Alan feet. “That’s the key to the shackles for all your hard work.”

Alan stared solemnly at the key as his head rested against his chest. He couldn’t even stand up, let alone get that key up to his hands.

Despair engulfed him and he welcomed the blissful pull of unconsciousness.

*

When Alan next woke his whole body felt numb, he just wanted to sink back to sleep again but the pounding in his head wouldn’t let him. He groaned and slowly peeled his eyes open, they were sticky from dried tears and he wished he could wipe them clean.

His shoulders ached deeply and his eyes caught the key on the dirty floor beneath his feet as he remembered what had happened. It seemed like an impossible task. He bit down on his lip and took some deep breaths.

His bare feet were numb from the cold and he could barely make them cooperate as he brushed them over the key. He managed to grasp onto it, wedging it between his toes. He steeled himself before trying to pull his legs up in front of him.

His wrists screamed at the pressure and his side burned where the cattle prod had been. He barely got half a metre off the ground before the key slid free and he dropped back down with a cry of pain. Why couldn’t he do this? Any of his brothers would have been able to easily.

He took a shaky breath and worked on getting the key back between his feet. He tried once more to pull himself up, leveraging his feet up towards his hands but it was useless. His muscles weren’t cooperating. His arms shook for a few seconds before he dropped back down again.

He heard the key bouncing on the ground and peered down to see it had bounced out his reach now. He quiet sob escaped his throat. He’d been in bad situations before but he’d never felt this alone. He’d never been without a brother talking calmly in his ear. Surely John would’ve found him by now? Why weren’t they here?

Alan knew he was being unfair but he was cold, sore, alone and he really just needed Scott to burst through those door right now. There was nothing left he could do except hang there and wait.

*

Scott was sat at his fathers desk coordinating with Lady Penelope, the GDF and anyone else he thought could possibly help with finding his baby brother. He ran a hand through his hair as he read update after update of dead-ends and no leads.

John popped up next to him and he had to hide his flinch. He’d been up for way too long and was far too on edge for surprises.

“John.” He sighed. “Please tell me you’ve got something?”

As much as Scott wanted his brother down with them during this, they’d both agreed that the best place he could be to find their brother was Thunderbird 5. The space stations resources were invaluable right now.

“I’ve got something.” There was something in John’s eyes that made Scott’s heart sink. “Get the others.”

Scott nodded and stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loudly on the floor.

“Scott.” John spoke again and he turned. “Don’t get Grandma.”

The implications of that did not sit well with Scott.

Once he, Vigil, Gordon, and Kayo were gathered in the lounge, John brought up a video on the holoprojector. A DVD and a letter were left at an IR collection point in New York. John had gotten them both scanned and digitalised.

“I’ve watched a bit already.” John said tightly. “It’s not good.”

The video began playing and Scott’s fist tightened. They were forced to stand and watch Alan, their baby brother, being tortured. Scott’s heart was racing. All of this had already happened at least hours ago. Who knows what could be happening at this very second. He had to hold back the intense need to punch straight through the holoprojector, even knowing it would accomplish nothing.

“Oh god, Alan…” Gordon mumbled with pain lacing his tone.

He watched as Virgil pulled the aquanaut into his side. His own face a picture of misery and disbelief. When the original man finally stepped in front of the camera again and ended the video, Scott was frantic.

“Bring up his demands John.”

The list was clear. Blueprints of all their technology and $50,000,000 of untraceable money transferred into an offshores account. There was no mention of the actual Thunderbirds, which pointed to the fact that this man must know every fibre of their technology was highly traceable.

“Can we trace the drop-off?” Scott grit out.

“I’ve got the GDF looking into it but it’s unlikely.”

Scott’s teeth clench so hard he was sure he was grinding them down.

“Scott.” Virgil’s hand landed on his shoulder. “What should we do?”

“We give him what he wants.”

“Scott, our technology will be disastrous in the wrong hands.” John reasoned dejectedly.

“I don’t care John. We can deal with the fallout later.” Scott barked. “We are not leaving Alan there a second longer.”

“FAB.” John grunted. “I’ll put together a folder of all our blueprints.”

“Thanks John. I need to start liquidating some of our assets, the board at Tracy Industries are going to prove a challenge.” Scott said angrily. “We’re dealing with this as quickly as we possibly can. Cash-in all our favours. Kayo, have an extraction plan ready if things go wrong.”

It took hours.

Without having much to do Virgil had been over-prepping the medbay on Thunderbird 2 and ensuring the infirmary was set up just as well. In between strategy talks with Kayo, Gordon had been relentlessly swimming laps of the pool, too jittery to stay still for long.

This was it though. Scott was standing at the drop-off point, alone. Well, he appeared to be alone that is. Virgil was about half a mile away in Thunderbird 2 and would be here in seconds to pick him up if anything went wrong. There were also GDF personnel surrounding at a safe distance. Not to mention John monitoring everything and the whole family in his ear.

The instructions had been clear. Come alone.

It was an abandoned office block on the outskirts of Detroit. A quiet area but easy to slip away into traffic once they were done. Ideal for a quick trade.

Kayo and Gordon were inside the building already. Scoping it out stealthily. As loud as Gordon was normally Scott knew he was well trained in stealth operations at WASP. With such high stakes, there would be only intense focus from the usual jokester.

The ideal outcome would be that Kayo or Gordon would find Alan in the building and things could be dealt with quickly and quietly. No need to give away their secrets or money. Not that Scott cared about the money. He would give up everything they had to get Alan back.

The blueprints were another story. Giving them away didn’t just affect them. It would affect the entire world. Put the entire world in danger. Handing over the blueprints for their technology was a last resort.

“Target incoming, Scott.” Kayo said shortly over the comm. “No sign of Alan. We’ll keep looking.”

Sure enough, the man from the video emerged from the building. Two other men flanked him on either side. Scott recognised the expensive suit and perfectly polished shoes. If they’d been in a boardroom, the man would’ve passed as a high profile client.

Scott himself was dressed in his International Rescue gear. This wasn’t a business deal for him. He had a large code-locked briefcase held tightly in his hand.

“Mr. Tracy” The man started. “Thank-you for agreeing to meet with me.”

Again, the man’s speech and mannerisms wouldn’t be out of place in a boardroom, but it was chilling in this setting. The man had too much confidence for such a risky plan.

“No games.” Scott said gruffly. “Where’s Alan?”

“That depends.” The man said airily. “Where are my demands?”

Scott flicked at his watch and waited for confirmation of the transfer. “The money has been wired into your offshore account. You’ll get the blueprints once I have my brother.”

The man chuckled. “That’s not how it works boy.” The friendly businessman persona was gone. “You don’t have any leverage here. You do what I say or I kill your brother. Now hand it over.”

He held out his hand and Scott growled. “If you kill him, it’ll be you with no leverage. Bring Alan out here and I’ll give it to you.”

The man scowled. “You don’t think I’d be stupid enough to bring my only bargaining chip here do you?” He seethed. “Just like how I know you weren’t stupid enough to truly come alone.”

“It’s going south, get out of there.” Kayo hissed in his ear.

The man made to pull what Scott assumed would be a gun from his waistband but Scott made a grab at his arm before anyone could blink. Twisting it sharply, the small weapon fell to the ground in a clatter.

The men flanking him moved in immediately. Scott made to run, hoping backup was on the way but was grabbed by his upper arm. He twisted in the grip to break free and swung the hard metal briefcase at the man’s head, effectively stunning him.

It was three on one though and Scott felt two sets of arms grabbing at his, one twisting his arm behind his back until he dropped the briefcase with a cry. He was kicked in the back of the knees and pushed down onto his front, being pinned by the arm still twisted behind his back.

He could hear the whine of Two’s engines growling closer as the leader knelt down in front of him, briefcase in one hand and his gun firmly back in the other.

“The case is locked with a pin, you’ll never get into it.” Scott grunted as he struggled beneath the hold.

“Like you said, I may not be able to kill the little brat without losing my leverage but I can and will torture him within an inch of his life if I don’t get what I want.” The man seethed.

Two was in view now. “It seems we’ve run out of time here but I’ll be in touch.”

“Drop the gun or I shoot.” Kayo.

Scott stiffly turned his head to see their security officer with a gun pointed at the man. It was a desperate effort. Where the hell were the GDF!?

As anticipated the man laughed. “You think you can take down all three of us before I can put a bullet between his eyes? Alan Tracy has four older brothers to blackmail, I certainly don’t need them all. Drop the gun and step away.”

Kayo’s face was like thunder. This was not going according to plan and Scott felt true fear gnawing at his bones. There was no contingency plan if they didn’t get Alan back today. Before any plan could be made five more guys ran from the building surrounding them, guns trained.

Kayo really didn’t have a choice. She scrunched her eyes up in fury before letting the gun fall from her hands and was grabbed from behind. Handcuffs were produced and both Scott and Kayo were secured to pipes on the opposite building. Scott fought tooth and nail, if he got away with the plans they would never get Alan back.

As soon as they were restrained the men retreated into the building and Scott pulled desperately at the cuffs, trying to yank the whole pipe off the wall.

“Where the hell are the bloody GDF!?” Scott yelled angrily.

“I signalled for help they should have been here by now.” Kayo grunted.

Scott let out a scream of frustration as he continued pointlessly pulling at the cuffs. How had this gone so wrong? They had planned everything down to the letter yet somehow that man still had Alan as well as the money and the blueprints.

Virgil rappelling down to them from Thunderbird Two and Scott deflated, leaning his head against the wall.

They’d had one chance and they’d blown it.

Tbc.

Chapter Text

No.2 In the hands of the enemy

Gordon had been making a plan of his own over the last 24 hours. He’d been hoping it wouldn’t be necessary and he didn’t dare tell Scott about it but after hearing the commotion over the comms, he knew he really didn’t have a choice.

He sighed and sent a quick apology to his family for what he was about to get himself into but it was their only option. Seeing Alan, his only little brother, being tortured on that video had been way too much. His chest was painfully tight as he recalled his little brothers screams of agony. Alan shouldn’t have had to go through that. They should have protected him better. Gordon wasn’t going to let his brother down again.

Kayo had run off to help Scott and as much as he was worried for his eldest brother, he knew he would be more help elsewhere. He made his way down to the underground car park and sped up as he heard footsteps behind him. Now or never.

Running over to one of the vehicles parked near the door, he knelt down with a handheld tracking beacon in clear sight. There were 7 different vehicles down here, he and Kayo had already scoped them out in case Alan was in any of them. They theorised that they all belonged to the kidnapper.

He closed his eyes and opened a private channel to John. “John?”

“Gordon?” John replied back immediately, sounding distracted. “Where are you?”

“Listen John, I’m really sorry for what’s about to happen…just keep an eye on the tracker okay?”

“What are you talking about? Gordon, what are you d-“

Gordon cut the transmission and took a shaky breath as he heard the voices coming closer. He positioned himself to look like he was placing the tracker on the car. See this was the part of the plan Scott would not have liked. It was his plan to get caught.

“Hey!” Someone shouted behind him and Gordon jumped to his feet in a feign of surprise, holding his hands above his head – the tracker clearly in view.

He didn’t have to pretend to look scared as at least 8 guns pointed towards him.

“Another Tracy.” The leader scoffed as he walked up to him and snatched the device out of his hand.

He turned to his men. “Check the cars for trackers.”

“I didn’t plant any others.” Gordon said calmly.

“Just as much a failure as the rest of your family.” He replied disinterestedly. “Shoot him. I don’t need this one as much as the eldest one.”

“Wait!” Gordon hastily squeaked as guns were cocked. “I know the code to the briefcase.”

This got the man’s interest and he smirked. “Tell me and I’ll make it quick.”

Gordon kept a stony silence and stared the man down. There were more voices shouting from further in the building.

The man clenched his fist. “We don’t have time for this. Take him with us.”

Gordon was hard-pressed not to smirk. There were many unpleasant ways this could have gone and luckily he was getting the unpleasant way he wanted.

“Get that suit off him though. I’m not risking getting tracked.”

And then there were hands all over Gordon. Someone was pulling down the zip of his uniform and he tried not to shiver at the unwelcome touches. As soon as his suit was pulled down passed his shoulders, another pair of hands grabbed his arms and pulled them behind him. He felt the pinch of handcuffs being fastened around his wrists.

Then his suit was being pulled off his legs and he teetered to the side at the rough movement. Soon enough he was left standing shivering in his boxers, hand cuffed behind his back with two men holding tightly onto his biceps.

His suit, belt and watch were all discarded, and he was again manhandled into the trunk of one of the cars. Unpleasant but not unexpected. It may not seem like it, but he did have a plan here. He just hoped John could catch on quick enough.

He rested his head down on the rough carpet as the trunk was slammed shut and the engine started, feeling a strange mix of relief and dread. He had done the right thing. He was sure of it.

*

Virgil was quick to pick the locks on Scott and Kayo’s cuffs as he explained angrily. “The GDF said they couldn’t move in straight away because of the bad intel on the number of people and firepower.”

“So they just left us?” Scott seethed.

“Their protocol is to create a new plan of action, but they were too slow. They’re entering the building now but-”

“Guys.” John was suddenly on the comm. “Something’s happening with Gordon. He’s in trouble.”

“What?” Scott said sharply as Virgil’s chest tightened in fear. “Where the hell is he?” Scott asked half speaking to John half looking to Kayo.

“I told him to stay put when I came out to help you.” Kayo relayed concisely. “He should’ve been hidden.”

They were already moving into the building.

“What’s the status on the GFD?” Scott asked as they moved as a team through the abandoned hallways.

“They’re searching the building but 7 cars have already left the premises. I was trying to track them but they’re all cloaked. Only got 2 on the cams now.” John sounded frustrated, none of this had gone how they’d planned. “Gordon’s last location was the underground car park.”

“Last location?” Virgil asked as they increased their speed.

“He’s no longer transmitting.” John replied quietly.

Virgil swore to himself. All he’d done today was listen to his family in danger. He’d sat in the safety of Thunderbird Two while Scott faced down their little brothers kidnapper. He’d listened as Scott and Kayo were threatened and held at gunpoint. And now Gordon was in trouble too.

They reached the car park. There were already a number of GFD officers there. Virgil’s eyes were only drawn to one thing though. The crumpled flash of blue and yellow clothing discarded on the ground. There were already evidence cones next to the items.

“Gordon…” Virgil said quietly as Scott all but shouted. “Dammit! Keep your eyes on those cars John!”

Scott knelt down next to the discarded clothing, eyeing the smashed watch. A GDF officer decided to take interest in them then. “Excuse me Sir, you can’t touch that, it’s evidence.”

Virgil felt anger swell up inside him, he’d spent a good 5 minutes pleading with the GDF to move in and actually back-up his brother like they were suppose to and had been completely ignored. Virgil bristled at the comment but his eldest brother didn’t quite have the same restraint.

Scott towered over the GDF officer who, by the looks of him, was probably no more that a new recruit and seethed. “You wouldn’t need evidence if you had been here when you were supposed to be.”

Startled, the officer took multiple steps back almost losing his balance. Virgil would have laughed and felt bad for the guy if there was anything left to laugh about here. For once he was content to let Scott bulldozer through anyone who got in their way.

A more senior looking officer quickly came over to them, dismissing the traumatised recruit. “Commander. We did the best we could with the intel provided.”

Virgil watched as Scott physically had to unclenched his fists and take a breath before speaking. “Tell me you have people following those cars.” The words came out at a normal volume but the venom behind them was chilling.

“They were long gone before we made it here.” The officer answered as if he hadn’t made any mistakes. “I’ve got some guys out trying to follow the tracks but as soon as they hit the motorway they were as good as gone.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Scott grunted as he strode back towards the door. Virgil and Kayo were quick to follow leaving a put out GDF officer in the dust.

“Still got eyes on those cars John?” Scott asked over the comms.

“Yeah, sending live locations now.”

“We’ll do this ourselves.”

*

Gordon reckoned they’d only driven for around an hour before the trunk was yanked open and he was squinting as light flooded into the space. Hands grabbed him and his legs scrapped off the side of the trunk as he was pulled out.

After being stuck in the dark for an hour the light was really messing with his senses as he was marched forward into yet another abandoned looking building. He wondered how many abandoned buildings he’d passed on rescues that were actually a front for criminal operations because it seemed to be a recurring theme.

He squinted his eyes, looking around. There were no other cars here. He saw the suit-clad kidnapper striding into the building ahead of them while two of his lackeys stayed by Gordon’s side. Clearly the other cars had all been decoys then. Just to lead pursuers astray. This guy was clever.

As soon as they were inside his eyes began to adjust. It was all concrete walls and broken windows. He tried to peer out of the next shattered window but was roughly pushed in the back to keep him moving forward.

They reached a set of stairs and it felt like they went down at least three stories before reaching another hallway. Compared to the natural light from upstairs, the only light in this hallway came from dull uncovered bulbs that were definitely not frequent enough. No windows could be seen although the hall did contain the same damp-looking concrete walls. Gordon shivered, still only clad in a pair of boxers.

He was soon pulled to an abrupt stop and one of the guys holding him pulled out a set of keys. The door in front of him had a lock, a deadbolt, and a chain lock.

Once open, he was roughly shoved inside and with his hands still cuffed behind his back, he fell to his knees on the rough floor.

“Enjoy your reunion.” He heard one of the guys laugh from behind him.

Shooting his head up he zeroed in on the only other thing in the room. Alan.

“Alan!” Gordon shouted, fumbling to his feet.

His little brother was still strung up from the ceiling as he had been in the video and Gordon winced at the blood crusted around his wrists. Alan’s eyes were closed and he didn’t stir at Gordon yell.

“Alan, can you hear me?” Gordon pleaded as he nudged his brother, pretty much the only thing he could do with his hands secured behind his back.

Swearing at the lack of reaction he dropped down to the floor and contorted his body, trying to get his arms in front of him. His shoulders screamed as he strained to loop his arms out from under him. Finally, he succeeded and was quick to get back to his feet.

He placed his hands on Alan’s face, noting the dried tears still present and rubbed soothing circles with his thumbs. His skin was freezing.

“Alan.” He said gently. “It’s Gordon. Please wake up.”

His brothers breathing was strained, coming out in wheezes and Gordon knew the hanging position was putting pressure on his airways.

It wasn’t easy with the cuffs but he gently wrapped his arms around his brothers torso before lifting him slightly to release some of the pressure. Alan moaned quietly as soon as he did so. His arms must be killing him.

“Alan.” Gordon tried again, now that his brother seemed to be waking up.

“Grd’n?” Alan slurred. Gordon awkwardly readjusted his brothers’ weight so he could look at his face.

“Yeah, it’s me Alan, can you open your eyes?”

Alan’s eyes opened to slits and as soon as their gaze met Alan’s lowered lip trembled. “Hrts”

Alan shivered weakly as he began to sob. Gordon held him tightly, feeling tears well up in his own eyes at the anguish in his brother voice.

“I know Allie, I’m sorry.” Gordon tried to sooth. “The others are on their way, it’ll be over soon.”

The sobs did not stop, Gordon continued his soothing mantra of It’s okay and you’re okay. He didn’t know if he was trying to convince Alan or himself after a while.

Alan soon quietened as exhaustion took it’s place. Gordons arms were getting sore but no way was he letting go of his brother anytime soon. If he had to hold his brother up until someone burst through those doors he would.

Alan soon mumbled something so quietly that Gordon didn’t catch it. “What was that Allie?”

“Key.” Alan said again, louder this time but still a mumble.

Gordon sighed. “I don’t have a key, sorry bud.”

“No.” Alan said with more control this time, tilting his head to the right. “Key…on the ground”

Gordon looked around wildly and sure enough there was a small key not to far away from them.

“Is that the key for the shackles?” Gordon asked hopefully and Alan gave a small nod.

His brothers lip trembled. “Couldn’t reach it on m’own”

“That’s okay Allie.” Gordon reassured. “I’m gonna have to set you down so I can get it okay?”

At Alans nod Gordon slowly lowered his brother back down, wincing at the hiss of pain Alan made when his full weight was on his arms again. He quickly lunged for the key and was back at Alan in seconds.

Reaching up, he pushed the key into the lock on one of the cuffs. As it clinked open Alan cried out and his arm dropped bonelessly to his side. He stumbled, trying to get his feet under him as his other arm took all his weight.

Gordon quickly placed his brothers free arm around his shoulder. “Here, hold onto me while I unlocked the other one.”

He was quick, he knew his brother was in pain but it wouldn’t over until he could get this other cuff undone. Alan’s grip on him was weak. As soon as the cuff was unlocked Alan crumpled towards the ground and Gordon hastily grabbed hold of his brother, softening the fall as he pulled Alan up onto his chest.

The both lay on the ground for a second to catch their breath. Alan cradled his arms as he lay his head on Gordons chest. Gordon wrapped his arms around his little brother, content to sit there as long as Alan needed.

John must have figured out his plan by now. The others would be here soon and Gordon was determined to make sure nothing else happened to his little brother until then.

*

The two cars John had been able to track turned out to be dead ends. Decoys driven by paid-off lowlifes. He was still searching but he knew at this point he was scrambling. He had no leads. The whole meeting had been disastrous. They shouldn’t have put so much faith in the GDF.

And now that man still had Alan and probably Gordon as well. He was currently retracing Gordon’s steps from the office block. At the time, he’d been distracted. He was too focused on Scott and Kayo and directing Virgil to them and trying to wrangle the GDF into actually supporting them. Gordon had been the last person on his radar and now he was regretting it.

Their short conversation was playing over in John’s head now. Gordon had definitely known something was about to happen. Why hadn’t he called for help? And why had he mentioned his tracker? If he knew he was going to get caught surely he would’ve known they’d remove his uniform, just the same as they’d done to Alan.

An incoming call from Tracy Island blinked and John answered immediately.

“J-John?” Their engineer stuttered over the line.

“I’m here Brains, have you found something?”

“I was j-just reading over the report and recalled something Gordon asked me this morning.”

“Go-on Brains.”

“He asked me what would happen if someone were to swallow one of our micro-trackers.”

John immediately straightened at Brains’ words already typing as the engineer continued.

“I d-didn’t think too much of it at the time, Gordon commonly asks questions that seem strange to me…” Brains trailed off on a tangent. “But I told him, if ingested, they would work as normal and wouldn’t do any h-harm to the body. I thought maybe that could have been the tracker he mentioned to you?”

“Yes!” John exclaimed as he found the blinking beacon on their frequency.

John quickly opened a broadcast to everyone. “I’ve got a location on Gordon. Sending coordinated now.”

Scott responded immediately, a grim sense of determination in his voice at the news. “Locked in, we can be there in 5. Inform the GDF.”

As much as the GDF had let them down, they really didn’t have the man power for a full raid of a highly populated criminal base. They were going to need some support. John’s heartrate picked up as everything went into motion again.

He had felt hopeless mere seconds ago, no leads and more time ticking away that would mean more danger for his brothers. The alarming thought that Gordon had potentially meant to be taken was pushed to the back of his mind.

They had a location and they were ready.

Tbc.

Chapter Text

No.3 My way or the highway

Manhandled | Forced to Knees | Gunpoint

“How could Gordon have been so stupid?” Scott grunted as Virgil flew Thunderbird 2 with them and Kayo to the coordinates.

They thought Gordon had been caught trying to place trackers on the vehicles before they left. The news from John made Scott’s head spin. Gordon had been making a plan to get taken this whole time?

“It was stupid.” Virgil grit his teeth, equally as worried for his usual co-pilot. “But if he hadn’t, we would’ve lost Alan for good.”

“We don’t even know if he’s with Alan.” Scott rubbed his head in frustration. “So much could’ve gone wrong. Can still go wrong.”

“We’ll find them.” Kayo reassured from behind. “Just keep your heads, we’re leading this operation.”

Scott nodded and steeled himself in preparation. What’s done was done, they weren’t going to make the same mistake again.

*

Alan and Gordon eventually moved to sit back against the wall of their little cell. Alan was feeling more than a little embarrassed now that he was down from those torturous chains but Gordon didn’t seem to mind. His older brother kept his arms wrapped around Alan as they got comfy against the wall.

Now that he actually had one of his big brothers here to reassure him, Alan was feeling a lot more clear-headed.

“They got you too, huh?” Alan mumbled eventually.

“Oh, uh yeah.” Gordon grunted. “We were trading to get you back and it, uh, didn’t go well.”

“Sorry.” Alan mumbled.

“Hey, hey.” Gordon prompted rubbing on his arm. “Not your fault, okay kiddo?”

Alan hummed in supposed agreement. He still felt stupid for getting caught.

“The others aren’t going to find us, are they?”

It had been playing through his head from the moment he’d been coherent enough to realise Gordon wasn’t here to rescue him. The chains had been agony and before Gordon had arrived, he’d been sure he was going to die.

He only had vague flashes of Gordon trying to get him down through pain-fogged memories, but the pain had numbed slightly now. Every jostle sent a stab of pain to his shoulders and sides, but it wasn’t the constant agony of before.

It took him a while to realise that Gordon had been captured as well, that he wasn’t getting out of this yet. The fact that his brothers hadn’t been able to find him before made him think it was unlikely they were coming now either.

“They are Alan.” Gordon reassured through his spiralling thoughts. “Don’t worry, I had a plan.”

Alan just nodded into his brothers shoulder. He hoped that was true.

The door banged open making both the boys flinch at the abruptness. The suit-clad man walked in with at least four other men flanking him from the back. He seemed more dishevelled than Alan had yet to see him. There was an expression of fury on his face and a cocked gun in his hand that made Alan tense.

Gordon was on his feet in seconds, blocking Alan’s view as he stepped protectively in front of him. Alan wanted to get up as well, he really did, but his arms were not cooperating, he just didn’t have the energy.

“Time to go boys.” The man snarled. Guns were levelled at them and one of the lackies grabbed Gordon pushing him forward by the shoulder. There wasn’t much his brother could do with 5 guns pointed at them.

“Move it!” The guy shouted at Alan brandishing his gun and Alan was snapped out of his daze.

He tried to get up, but it was slow. Slow enough that one of the men grabbed him by his t-shirt collar and yanked him up off the floor. Alan cried out as pain flared in his shoulder. He stumbled trying to get his feet under him as he heard Gordon shouting from ahead of him.

“Hey!” his brother snarled. “Leave him alone.”

Alan finally managed to stumble along beside the man dragging him and caught Gordon keeling over as he was sucker-punched in the gut.

“Shut up and move it.” The guy holding Gordon shouted before shoving him roughly forward while his brother was still recovering from the abuse.

Alan wanted to defend his brother, but he was barely keeping his legs moving as they were hurried along through a windowless corridor. Why were they in such a hurry? Were they getting rescued? Alan sure hoped so.

They were led up the stairs and into chaos. People were running everywhere, files and papers were being packaged. There was gunfire in the distance. Through a window Alan caught sight of stars in a cloudless night. He really didn’t have any idea what time of day it was, or even what day it was at all for that matter.

They were soon being led out of what he assumed was the back of the building and there was the familiar sound of helicopter rotors. He saw Gordon still at the sight of the vehicle and become more resistant to the pulling arms. Alan felt the same way. He was finally getting rescued and they were about to lose their chance.

“Hey!” A voice shouted from behind them and Alan had never been so thankful to hear his big brother. He was abruptly twisted around and pulled into his captors’ chest. The tip of a gun was placed against his temple and he froze, fearful eyes finally landing on his eldest brother.

Scott’s face was a picture of fury, Virgil stood stoically at his side and Kayo flanked them with a gun of her own. He twisted his head to see Gordon in a similar predicament to himself. Scott was here now, they’d be okay. This is what he’d been waiting for.

“Well Scott.” The man shouted over the whine of the helicopter. “Looks like we’re at another stand-off. That didn’t end quite so well for you last time.”

“You have your money, you have the blueprints. Let them go and we’ll let you leave.” Scott countered.

The man chuckled darkly, a hint of madness in his tone that hadn’t been there before.

“You stupid fucking Tracy’s.” He seethed. “I had everything planned out and you fucking ruined it!”

The man was shouting now and Alan flinched at the volume. Gone was the smooth-talking man from before. He was unravelling and Alan didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. From the tightening of Scott jaw and the fear in Virgil’s eyes he was going to guess the latter.

“Now.” He heard Kayo shout sharply into her comm.

And then there were shots ringing out. Alan felt his captor slump bonelessly into him. He couldn’t catch himself as he fell forward at the abrupt loss of something holding him up and then Gordon was there, dragging him up, slightly awkwardly since his brothers hands were still handcuffed. He grunted at the pain but as shots fired into the ground around them, Alan realised the urgency.

“GDF Snipers.” Gordon supplied hurriedly, apparently reading his confusion. They ran but a shout behind them made them turn.

“Enough!” The leader had apparently run for the helicopter in the commotion, abandoning his hostages in an attempt to escape. He stood at the open door even as the helicopter began to rise. Time stood still for Alan as he watched him raise his gun and take aim, right at him.

The shot rang out with a chorus of laughter and Alan found himself being tackled to the ground. His vision whited out in agony as his shoulder hit the ground awkwardly and his entire abused body was jarred. He lay gasping, trying to orient himself as the weight on-top of him crushed him.

Someone was calling his name but he couldn’t focus, couldn’t breathe enough to reply. And then the weight was no longer there, and he heaved a deep breath before choking as pain spiked at the movement. Scott’s face came into view.

“Hey sprout.” Scott smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re okay, just take slow breaths okay?”

As Alan complied with the instructions his head began to clear. He felt Scott pulling at his t-shirt and saying quietly, panickily. “This is a lot of blood.”

What he heard next made him shoot back to awareness. “It’s Gordon’s.”

That was Virgil. He twisted his head to the side, seeing Gordon laying next to him with Virgil hovering over him. He hastily sat up, gritting his teeth at the pain.

“Gordon!” He sobbed worriedly.

“Alan!” Scott fretted. “Lie down, you’re hurt.”

Alan looked down at himself. There was blood covering his t-shirt. Gordon’s blood. His brother had jumped on top of him. Had been shot for him.

He tried to crawl over to Gordon but his movements were uncoordinated. Adrenaline was leaving him and black spots were forming in front of his eyes. His arms were shaking as the trauma of the last few days caught up to him. All he could focus on was the blood covering his brothers torso as his body finally gave out. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

*

“Alan!” Scott shouted as he watched his little brother collapse, lunging to catch his head and gently lowering it onto the grass.

Scott froze for a second, hands still cushioning his brothers head as he waited for his brain to catch up with him.

“Basic checks Scott.” Virgil barked from where he was working to stabilise Gordon. “Pulse, airways, check for injuries.”

Right. He snapped back to focus. What the hell was he doing?

He lay Alan out flat and worked on auto as he checked his brother over. This was all catching up to him. Seeing his little brothers held at gunpoint. Having to negotiate for their lives with that insane man again.

Thankfully, the GDF had actually backed them up this time. Hearing the shots from the snipers sent fear through him, Alan and Gordon were in the line of fire. As soon as the gunmen started to fall though Scott felt hopeful.

He watched as Gordon dragged Alan to his feet, pulling him forward as they ran. He thought that was it. That they’d done it.

And then he saw the kidnapper take aim. He was too far away. The shot rang out and Gordon tackled Alan to the ground. They didn’t move.

He and Virgil sprinted the rest of the distance to their brothers. Kayo was covering them as they went. He and Virgil gently rolled Gordon off of Alan and the older blonde scrunched his face up in pain. There was a lot of blood.

Scott knelt down next to Alan, his brother was taking panicked gasps and pain was clear in his eyes. Scott reassured even as he pulled up Alan’s blood covered shirt. There was no wound. It’s Gordon’s. Virgil had said from beside him.

Virgil already had gauze in his hand and pressed it against the wound, Gordon cried out at the pressure. Alan had panicked at Gordon’s cry of pain and now here he was, frozen, with an unresponsive Alan. His baby brother that had been missing for days now.

He’d just finished his checks when Kayo was back them. “The GDF are pursuing the leader. We need to get out of here. Can they be moved?”

An outsider would have thought her words uncompassionate, but Scott could hear the tightness, the worry. Kayo coped by keeping her mind on the mission until they were all safe.

“Alan is breathing with a strong pulse, he should be fine until we get to Thunderbird Two.” Scott reported to his more medic-minded brother.

Virgil nodded, packing up his supplies. “Gordon’s not doing great but there not much I can do for him out here.”

“Hey!” Gordon grunted from the ground. “Gordon is doing just fine, let’s just get out of here.”

“Okay fish. This is going to hurt a bit though.” Virgil replied grimly. “You got Alan Scott?”

Scott nodded and easily hoisted an unconscious Alan into his arms, kid was always light but he seemed like skin and bones right now. It just made Scott more eager to get back to Two.

He heard Gordon cry out as Virgil lifted him off the ground and winced even as they quickly made their way back to Thunderbird Two. Kayo flanked them, on guard as always.

Scott deposited Alan gently onto one of the pull-out beds in Two’s medbay and started hooking up every machine he could get his hands on. Once the heart-monitor could be heard steadily beeping and an IV for fluids had been inserted Scott let himself calm down slightly.

He ran his hand though Alan’s hair as he looked over at the other bed. Virgil was frantically rooting though drawers as his ship rumbled around them, Kayo at the controls.

“Can I get a hand Scott?”

Scott only spared a second to assure himself Alan would be fine before he was on his feet. “What do you need?”

“I need to call ahead to the hospital, just keep him talking and watch his vitals.”

He walked round so he could see Gordon’s face at last. His brother gave him a ghost of a smile. “Good thing my guardian angel is an overachiever, huh?”

Clouded by his worry Scott felt some of his previous anger come back. “What were you thinking Gordon?”

Gordon winced. “I was thinking we needed to find Alan.”

“It was stupid.” Scott hissed. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”

“Well it worked, didn’t it?”

“You got shot!”

Gordon peered over at Alan with sad eyes. “It was worth it…”

Scott found it hard to argue as he glanced at his littlest brother. Alan being missing had been his own personal hell. He can’t deny he would’ve done something equally as stupid as Gordon if this had gone on any longer.

Scott startled as machines starting blaring and whipped his head back just in time to see Gordons eyes roll back into his head. Virgil was suddenly pushing him out the way and Scott could only watch as Virgil started CPR. He could only watch as Gordon’s heart tentatively started beating again. Could only watch as he and Alan were rushed away into the hospital.

*

The first thing that hit Gordon was the familiar anti-bacterial smell that meant he’d gotten himself into some sort of trouble. The scratchy sheets beneath him confirmed that thought. He peeled his eyes open to be met with the stark whiteness of a hospital room.

He blinked the fog away from his brain and shifted on the bed, sucking in a sharp breath at the pain the movement caused. Predictably enough there was a worried older brother leaning over him in seconds.

“Scott?”

“Gordon! How’re you feeling?” When Gordon tried shifting again, his eldest brother lay a hand on his shoulder. “Just lie still Gordon.”

“What happened?”

He was definitely in a hospital and that means it had to have been serious. They’d gotten much better at dealing with injuries on the island over the years. Virgil took every course he could without actually becoming a certified doctor and although no longer practising, their Grandma wasn’t going to be kept at bay when it came to looking after them.

So yeah, over the years they had moved away from the major security risk that was hospitals. If they were in one now, something major had gone down.

“You don’t remember?” Scott asked worriedly

Gordon wracked his brain for the last thing he remembered before realisation overtook him and he shot up.

“Alan!” He was propped up for all of 2 seconds before his arms gave way and he crumpled back into the bed with a groan.

“Hey, hey, take it easy Gordon, you’re hurt.”

“Where’s Alan?” He asked in panic even as he was still recovering from his tumble.

“He’s right over there.” Scott gestured as he moved out of the way so Gordon had a clear view. “And if you don’t calm down, you’re going to wake him up.”

Gordon sighed in relief. Alan, although currently sleeping, looked a lot better than when he’d last seen him. Virgil was also sitting by their littlest brothers side, although his eyes were focused on Gordon.

“He’s fine Gordon.” Virgil’s soft baritone met his ears. “Are you okay?”

Gordon sighed and winced as he felt his injuries. “Yeah.” At the disbelieving looks he added. “Well as okay as someone who got shot can be I guess.”

“You scared us kiddo.” Scott said in that tone that always made Gordon feel guilty.

He sadly looked over to Alan once again. “Yeah I know the feeling. Sorry.”

He’d rarely felt as scared as he had when Alan had been missing.

“Did you catch the guy?”

“Not yet. The GDF are on it though. Kayo’s with them now and John’s lending his usual hand.”

Gordon knotted his fist around the bedsheets.

“It was bad Scott. It was so so bad.”

He would never forget how broken Alan had been when he’d found him. It made tears spring to his eyes as he cursed the unfairness of it all.

“Alan’s going to be okay. He was awake earlier. More worried about you than himself to be honest.” Scott smiled. “He’s definitely got that classic Tracy family gene.”

Gordon smiled as well but sobered quickly.

“He shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

Scott frowned looking over at Alan again. “No, he shouldn’t have.”

Scott’s expression turned pained. “What you did was so unbelievably stupid Gordon, and we will be having an in-depth discussion about it when you’re feeling better.” Scott gave him a pointed look. “But we wouldn’t have found Alan without you.”

Gordon had to choke back tears again.

“You did good Gordo.” Scott said quietly as he gently ran his fingers though Gordon’s hair. “Now get some sleep, we’ll still be here when you wake up.”

Gordon was too tired to argue. He was sure he was still hopped up on a world of drugs so, now knowing his family was safe, sleep came easy.

fin.