loopstagirl

[loopstagirl]

Oh crap!!! Gosh the tension here is unreal. They’re in a right tight spot now aren’t they?!

Bait & Break c5: Destination

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | AO3

~

The two boys stumbled through the complex surrounded by the thugs.

There was something familiar about the building they were in but Alan couldn’t put his finger on why until they were almost to the end.

They were stopped in front of a door and hoods were put over their heads before the door opened and Alan knew. He breathed in deeply and recognised immediately the smell of an active hangar.

Aviation fuel mixed with engineering grease meant they were heading for a plane. Part of Alan wanted to break free, to make a run for it, but a bigger part warned him to stay because Scott hopefully would be there.

So Alan didn’t make a run for it when they were forced up the stairs.

They were settled into chairs at the back of the plane separated from the main body by a curtain, and Alan felt the plane take off before the hoods were removed and the ties around their wrists cut.

One of the thugs came over and placed a glass of water and a sandwich in front of them before leaving. He threatened them to stay put or else, and both boys nodded.

Daniel picked at the food but Alan waited until the footsteps disappeared before carefully getting up and looking around the small area they were in. Daniel watched wide-eyed and terrified, but eventually Alan gave up and joined him at the table. There was nothing he could use to either help them eventually escape or identify where they were going.

‘Eat up.’ ‘I’m not hungry.’ ‘Neither am I but we should eat when we can.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because…because my brother has been kidnapped before…’

Alan swallowed as the reality of their situation really hit home. He took a mouthful of water as no sound came out when he went to carry on.

‘Scott says that you should keep yourself as fit as possible. So I’m going to eat the sandwich and drink the water since I don’t know how long it’s been and quite honestly I’m hungry.’ ‘But what if they’re drugged?’ ‘Then maybe I’ll get some sleep.’

He was trying to sound braver than he felt, but as he bit into the cheese sandwich and drank the water Alan decided that he actually did feel braver.

Being used to traveling in jets that had Brains’ engineering meant that this flight was seriously long an boring. After eating and drinking and exploring again – not surprised in the slightest that nothing had changed – both boys drifted off to sleep.

It was the plane descending that woke Alan.

He sat up and scrubbed his eyes and looked to Daniel who was doing the same. They buckled their seatbelts and waited. It didn’t take long for the plane to land and a few minutes later a thug came to get them.

‘I am not going to put a hood over your head or tie your hands but let me assure you that should you attempt to escape I will take it out on your brother and your mother. Am I clear?’

Both boys nodded. Alan thought furiously. He needed to get some clues as to where they were, and the man’s accent wasn’t one he’d heard before, and that puzzled Alan – he’d been pretty much everywhere with iR – but as they descended the stairway he looked around.

It was nothing like any airport Alan had ever seen. The buildings were old, some were a little damaged and even the runway wasn’t the smooth asphalt he was used to. There weren’t as many workers around, in fact there were very few people at all. Alan looked around before spotting a sign.

The sign that told Alan exactly where he was. The last place on Earth he wanted to be.

A push to his shoulder make Alan realise he had stopped and he stumbled as the hand stayed grasping his shoulder and manoeuvring him into the waiting van. Daniel nudged him and began whispering.

‘Alan. Alan, what happened.’ ‘I – I know where we are.’ ‘Where are we?’

~

Scott rolled his shoulders. They were aching badly, the combination of the explosion and having his arms bound behind his back for hours. It didn’t help much. He looked at Claire, who was doing the same.

‘Where do you think their taking us?’ ‘I honestly don’t know. But Scott – I’m worried about our boys.’ ‘Me too. But Alan’s smart, he’ll know what to do.’ ‘What do you mean?’

Chuckling darkly, Scott settled back against Claire, nudging her shoulder.

‘This isn’t my first rodeo, Clar, and I made damn sure that Alan would know what to do should the worst ever happen to him. He’ll make sure Daniel’s safe.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘Clar…did you tell O’Shea?’

Claire gave him a hard shove, hard enough to almost knock him over, and Scott laughed once he’d righted himself. Their split had not been amicable, and Scott had more than once been a listening ear for his old friend.

‘I know, I should have, but I got that video and panicked. There wasn’t much time to get up to the rendezvous, and I needed to get there on time.’

Scott nodded. He understood that feeling – he’d be so lucky to have his brothers online when the call came in, if he’d been alone Scott couldn’t be sure that he would have thought to call them.

‘I was surprised to see you, Scott.’ ‘Me too. I mean, I knew we were meeting up in a couple of days but this…do you think the two are connected?’ ‘I don’t know but it’s an awfully big coincidence…’

The plane began to descend and they both sat up, sharing a look. Whatever was going on they were hopefully about to find out.

“Please let us be wrong. Please let it not be about that.” The thought was playing on a loop in Scott’s brain, but he didn’t get long to think on it further as a familiar voice filled the cabin and his brain short circuited.

He couldn’t move as the owner of the voice came into view, could only stare in fear as the man stopped in front of him, crouching down and patting his cheek.

‘Welcome home, Captain Tracy, Captain Hanson.’

~

‘Oh.’ ‘John? What have you found?’ ‘I don’t believe it…’

Everyone paused and waited for John to carry on, but the spaceman was lost in whatever he was reading.

‘John? Earth to John?’

But John didn’t hear and they knew not to press him.

‘Guys, I’m heading down to Tracy Towers. Get back there. Now.’

They didn’t need to be told twice and within a couple of minutes Two was in the air. Shadow paced her sister ship.

It didn’t take too long to reach New York. They left Two at Stewart International and scrambled for TI headquarters and arrived just in time to see the elevator ascending.

The express elevator never seemed so slow.

They piled into the room, somehow not surprised that their Aunt Val was also there, along with another man they did not recognised. Gordon took charge.

‘John? What the hell is going on.’ ‘This is General Walsh. He’s going to explain what’s going on.’ ‘Please, General. What’ going on with our brother?’ ‘Scott Tracy and Claire Hanson were due to appear as star witnesses for a closed meeting. And before you ask I am unable to give you more information.’ ‘How do they know each other?’ ‘’I’m not at liberty to say.’ ‘Aunt Val, is this why Scott’s been kidnapped?’ ‘We think so. To stop them testifying.’

Everyone looked uncomfortable and angry that neither GDF officer were giving any information. But the Tracy’s were smart people. Very smart. Geniuses even.

‘They know each other from the war.’ ‘Gordon – I can’t…’ ‘But I can.’ ‘John!’ ‘Captains Scott Tracy and Claire Hanson were held in the same POW camp.’ ‘Wait – what are you saying, John?’ ‘I’ve just found this picture on social media. On the hidden social media.’ ‘That’s Scott! And…and that’s Alan!’ ‘These were taken half an hour apart.’ ‘Where, John. Where?’ ‘They were in Deggendorf Airport.’

Everyone paled.

‘You mean that…’

‘Yes. Scott and Alan are in Bereznik.'

[loopstagirl]

Some doodles I made whilst watching Sun Probe

Thoughts on the episode:

"Solo-nauts"? There's three of them! Oh, solar-nauts 😅 I have a bad track-record with mis-hearing this show...

Brains: *walks in*

Brains: oh those guys are totally fucked

Jeff: what?

TV reporter: news just in - these guys are totally fucked!

Brains: they're going to try to ___, but it isn't going to work

Jeff: What??

Guy from control: we tried ___, but it totally didn't work!

Brains: anyway, I'm bored now; back to my robot chess

Jeff: What???

Virgil just standing there watching the sofa come back up shouldn't be that funny

A 'mobile computer' needs a box that big, huh? Brains is going to lose his shit when he sees what phones could do 40 years ago

Kudos to that astronaut; if I kept having dreams about flying straight into the sun, I simply would not join a space mission heading straight for the sun. But I guess he's just built different.

"The problem is Tin-Tin." EXCUSE YOU JEFF WTF- "can we ask her to risk her life further?" OK, marginally better; I'll give you a pass this time but that thin ice that you're always skating on is getting thinner by the episode! 🤨 Ask yourself this, Jeff, if you're so concerned about Tin-Tin's safety then why did you even send her in the first place? It's not like Gordon is right there next to you in the room with nothing better to do... Oh Wait! (make it make sense, Jeff! 😑)

"I'm gonna launch Tin-Tin straight at the sun! Sure hope she doesn't die!" -Jeff Tracy, aparently.

Bruh, they've gotten stuck like 0.5 meters from Thunderbird 2 😭

"Good girl" ugh, Tin-Tin has so much self-restraint not to have strangled any of these Tracys by now

If the signal beam doesn't reach this time, I'm going to McFreakin' Lose It! 😀

"Oh no, Virgil, we've brought the wrong box!" I genuinely thought that 'mobile computer' was refering to Braimon this whole time, wat. You're telling me you were going to leave this guy at home?

Braimon looks suspiciously a lot like those robots from 30 Minutes After Noon... What exactly happened to robot #5 after they pried him off of that secret agent anyways... 🤨 suspicious...

"We're going to give a real hero's welcome to Tin-Tin, Scott, and Alan!" Yeah, ok, so Brains and Virgil were just there for moral support, were they? Jeff! Stop doing this!!! 😠

[loopstagirl]

This is soooooo good!

August Whump #18 please

Dealers choice :)

Bait & Break c3: Questions

Chapter 1 | 2 | AO3

@augustofwhump day18 please Dealers choice :) Zip Ties/Taut/Torn Muscle

~

‘Gordon, Kayo - get out of there!’

John’s cry made Gordon pause. Every instinct was screaming at him to get out of the car and get to Scott, but the training he’d received - first with swimming, then with WASP and now with iR had him obeying instantly, gunning the car into reverse.

And not a moment too soon as the ground began to shake and it collapsed inward where seconds before Gordon had been parked.

He could hear Kayo cursing as she too moved away.

‘Two is on his way. You need to move well away as the implosion has increased the radiation in the area.’ ‘That doesn’t bode well for Scott, John. I can’t just leave him!’ ‘We’re not going to leave him! But without Two there’s nothing you can do, Gordon.’ ‘I can, though! Setting Shadow into a circular sweeping pattern. Hopefully I can pick up Scott’s trackers.’ ‘FAB, Kayo. Keep us in the loop.’ ‘Will do.’

There was silence for what felt like hours but in reality was less than ten minutes before Virgil’s voice came over the comms.

‘Two is at maximum speed. ETA 90 minutes. That’s nine-one minutes.’ ‘FAB Virgil. Is there anything I can do while waiting?’ ‘John, you said that there was a plume cloud?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Radiation levels?’ ‘Radiation levels have increased exponentially since the implosion. There’s uranium mining in the Adirondacks which means radiation levels are higher than the average anyway. Gordon, I don’t advise that you leave the car and approach any closer without a rad suit.’ ‘Neither Scott nor the woman have a suit.’ ‘Putting yourself at risk will not help Scott.’ ‘We have Detam! It’s not as great a risk as it is leaving Scott under all that rubble!’ ‘Gordon.’

Sally’s voice was soft but firm and stopped all conversation. Gordon swallowed. He was visibly holding back tears but as they watched the younger brother was replaced with the WASP Commander.

‘John, please let me know the second radiation levels fall to a safe level. Kayo – any news?’ ‘FAB, Gordon.’ ‘No signs at all. Neither tracker is working, but with that increase in radiation that’s probably blocking the secondary tracker.’

No one wanted to speculate why the subderm wasn’t working…

‘John – widen the area Five’s scanners are working. Make sure there isn’t any suspicious activity in the wider vicinity.’ ‘FAB. We’re on it.’ ‘Have we identified the woman?’ ‘Yes. She is New Zealand’s Governor General Claire Hanson, here in New York for a summit at the UN. Her son is the other child taken with Alan.’ ‘Has she contacted anyone?’ ‘No – EOS spoke to Ms Hanson’s aide and she didn’t seem to know anything more than her boss had taken off.’ ‘Put me through to Colonel Casey, John.’ ‘Do you think that’s wise?’ ‘They didn’t say anything about not contacting people.’ ‘True. Ok, calling the Colonel now.’

There was a short delay before the familiar figure of their Godmother came online.

‘Gordon. John said it was urgent.’ ‘Alan’s been kidnapped and Scott’s missing.’

Colonel Casey paled before her eyes narrowed as she took in Gordon’s taut stance and tone of voice.

‘There’s more.’ ‘Yes. Another child was kidnapped at the same time and his mother is missing with Scott.’ ‘Tell me.’ ‘Governor General Claire Hanson is missing with Scott. Her son was taken with Alan.’ ‘How…how are Scott and General Hanson missing?’ ‘They were lured to an abandoned missile silo…’

Gordon swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. Kayo took over reporting.

‘Gordon and I attended the rendezvous with Scott. Ms Hanson appeared on her own. They disappeared inside and we tracked them for almost 10 minutes. The missile silo imploded five minutes ago.’

If they thought the Colonel had paled before, this news left her looking positively white. She glanced to the side before looking back to Gordon, a movement almost too quick to see but Gordon saw it. He wasn’t the only one as John spoke.

‘What is it?’ ‘Ms Hanson was here to attend a seminar at the UN, I’m sure you know that John?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘What you don’t know was that she was due to partake in a think-tank. I’m not at liberty to say what it is about, but the fact that she is missing is a huge concern.’ ‘Wait – is Scott due to attend that too?’ ‘John…’ ‘He must be! This is the reason they were targeted!’ ‘Don’t ask – I cannot tell you. I need to go. Please keep me informed.’

She disappeared, leaving them with more questions than answers.

‘John?’ ‘I’m on it, Gordon.’ ‘Carefully.’ ‘Of course!’

John’s indignation at the jibe made them all smile and he disappeared to concentrate on his task, leaving Gordon to do nothing but wait for Virgil to arrive unless John gave him the go-ahead to go get Scott.

~

Colonel Valerie Casey bit her lip as she waited for the call to be accepted.

She was worried for General Hanson, of course, but she couldn’t hide how she was actually scared for Scott. She was scared because she knew what meeting they were both due to attend.

‘Val?’ ‘We have a problem. There’s been a security breach.’ ‘How bad?’ ‘Tracy and Hanson are missing, his younger brother and her son have been kidnapped.’ ‘Don’t say anything more. I assume International Rescue is on the job?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then be our official liaison and keep tabs on them. Give them some help.’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘I do not need to remind you how instrumental they both are.’ ‘No sir, you do not.’

The comms were cut abruptly and Casey exhaled noisily as she sat back. This was not good at all.

~

Scott woke up slowly and painfully. Every part of him hurt and he couldn’t quite remember why. He went to move and that was when he realised his hands were bound behind his back, arms pulled so taut his shoulders were aching. He felt around his bonds to find they were held by a zip tie.

He sighed and shifted…and froze when his foot touched another person who groaned in response.

Oh. Oh…the building exploded…but not before he’d been jabbed by something in the neck. And he wasn’t alone.

‘Claire? Claire, are you alright?’ ‘Scott?’ ‘Yeah, it’s me.’ ‘What happened?’ ‘Looks like we’ve been kidnapped too. Are you free?’ ‘No, my hands are tied behind me.’ ‘Mine too.’ ‘What about our boys? What are we going to do?’ ‘There isn’t much we can do. We don’t know where they are so I think the best thing to do is wait and see where they take us. If we’re lucky we’ll find Alan and Daniel there too.’ ‘And if we’re not lucky?’

Scott scooted over so that they could lean on each other. But he didn’t answer the question.

[loopstagirl]

Gosh you know how to ramp up the tension. This is awesome.

Because I'm greedy and undecided😉 I would like to request day 19 silenced and day 25 force fed both for thunderbirds Scott.

And if the latter could be something within a kidnapping, interrogation, pow scenario...but of course no pressure whatever you come up with will be great!!! If the muse has different plans that’s totally ok😊😊😊

Thsnk you so much in advance❤❤❤

Bait & Break c2: Silenced

Chapter 1 | AO3

@augustofwhump day 19: Silenced. With thanks to @the-original-sineater

~

The rendezvous was in Lewis, New York, at one of the abandoned Adirondack missile silos. It had once been turned into a luxury estate but had been abandoned for many years. No one was happy that this was were the kidnappers wanted to meet – silos were notorious for blocking signals – but it wasn’t like they had a choice.

They had argued for a short while, Gordon and Kayo not wanting Scott to go in alone but Scott adamant that he needed to enter alone, and eventually Scott conceded that a man of his stature would probably have a driver had he been something like most billionaires.

Gordon sat behind the wheel of one of their cars. Brains had tinkered with them as usual, which is why four hours was plenty enough time to make the journey.

In fact, the timing of it all was wrong…something that John and Gordon had been puzzling over. If Alan had been kidnapped at lunchtime in New Zealand how on earth could he be in New York nine hours later when a flight would typically take around 15 hours…

All of them had discussed it at length but they had argued in circles until Scott had stopped the treadmill and pointed out that regardless of the fact that they knew Alan wasn’t going to be there he had no choice but to turn up anyway…

So now Gordon sat in the car, one arm casually draped out the window while the other drummed on the wheel while Scott strode across the cracked concrete to the ruin of Atlas F Missile Silo.

Scott paused at the doorway. Every bone in his body was warning him that this was a very bad idea, but he didn’t know what else to do…

‘Stop!’

~

John’s fingers flew. EOS’ lights ran around her camera at speed. But they still couldn’t find any trace of Alan. It was like he’d dropped off the face of the planet.

They were trawling through the scant footage from the cameras around the observatory and surrounding area, looking through social media and there was…nothing.

Alan and the other boy were caught on camera heading down the track towards the river and that was all there was.

‘EOS, anything?’ ‘The other child is the son of Rick O’Shea.’ ‘The DJ? Why on earth would he be a target.’ ‘I’m not sure, John, but it might have something to do with his mother.’ ‘Explain?’ ‘Daniel O’Shea’s Mother is Governor General Claire Hanson.’ ‘Wait – Claire Hanson as in head of the New Zealand’s defences?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Does Ms Hanson know her son is missing? Where is she right now?’ ‘She is currently in New York at the UN.’ ‘Can you get in contact with her? We better check that she knows.’ ‘FAB.’

‘John?’ ‘Yes Virgil?’ ‘We’ve added a second tracker to the subderm.’ ‘Given Scott’s history I think that is very wise.’ ‘It’s a radioactive dye. You should be able to track him even if the subderm doesn’t work, although it has a short life of around 12 hours.’ ‘Virgil, that was inspired!’ ‘Honestly, it was Brains’ idea.’ ‘Well, thank him for me too. Do Kayo and Gordon know?’ ‘Kayo does. Any news?’ ‘Not yet. I’m waiting for the mother of the other boy to be contacted.’ ‘Are you saying that his family haven’t been informed that their child is missing?’ ‘I don’t know and I’m worried that she doesn’t know. The family is a single parent one, the father is not in the picture although we know him.’ ‘We know the Dad?’ ‘Yes, he’s Rick O’Shea, but he hasn’t been around for several years. He’s out in orbit at the moment and he’s the next for us to contact.’ ‘I gotta say I’m suspicious that no one has been in contact with them.’ ‘I don’t know that they haven’t…but I’m not sure. There’s been silence from them.’ ‘John, I have spoken to Ms Hanson’s aide and she received a call four hours ago, cancelled all her meetings and ran from the room. She didn’t explain, just left.’ ‘Well, I think that makes clear that she does know her boy is missing.’ ‘Four hours? It’s a safe bet that she’s heading to the same place as Scott.’ ‘You better let Kayo and Gordon know.’ ‘FAB.’

~

The woman’s shout had Scott spin on his heel, but one look at her face told Scott all he needed to know. There was something vaguely familiar about her…

‘Scott? Scott Tracy?’ ‘Ms Hanson?’ ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘What are you doing here?’

They spoke together and the awkwardness dissipated momentarily.

‘Alan is missing. I assume that the other child missing is your boy?’ ‘Yeah, Daniel is missing. I got a video.’ ‘Me too.’

He held the door open and gestured for Claire to enter first.

‘Shall we go get our boys back?’ ‘Absolutely.’

The door closed behind them and Gordon sat up and discreetly activated his comms.

‘Confirming Scott’s trackers are working.’ ‘Scott and a woman have entered the silo.’ ‘They seemed to know each other.’ ‘Of course they do. Scott knows everyone.’

The fondness was clear in John’s voice. They all watched Scott’s signal moving along on the image of the silo, and then he down some stairs before continuing along the same path for another six minutes.

‘Has anyone else been seen here?’ ‘No. No one at all. Shadow?’ ‘That’s a negative. I don’t like this, John. There’s too much radiation here and that’s messing with some sensors.’ ‘Will it affect Scott’s…’

But John didn’t get to finish his sentence.

There was a muffled boom and the building Scott had disappeared into imploded, shooting a plume of dust and debris high into the air.

Scott’s trackers were silenced.

@justabitofwhump

More will follow but not until after August now...unless another prompt takes my muse's fancy...

[loopstagirl]

Oooh looking forward to seeing where this goes!

August of Whump: Alt Prompt - Used as bait Anyone but Scott

Bait & Break c1: Bait

@augustofwhump Alt Prompt: Used as bait. With much thanks to @the-original-sineater for all the help!

~

The ringing of a phone pulled Scott from his sleep.

He contemplated his comm with bleary eyes and a frown. One in the morning in New York was five in the afternoon on the island…and his family wouldn’t disturb his sleep unless it was very important.

That thought woke him up more thoroughly than any coffee had ever, and he reached across to activate it. John’s holo appeared. Scott frowned – John looked stressed.

‘John?’ ‘Scott. We have a problem.’ ‘Cat?’ ‘DEFCOM 1’

Scott swallowed.

‘Tell me.’ ‘Alan’s gone.’ ‘Wait – what? Wasn’t he on that school trip to the Pūkaki Observatory?’ ‘He was. They broke for lunch where most students sat around the observatory or on the outskirts of the forest but Alan and another boy from his class decided to walk down to the lake.’

John paused, looking aside for a moment. Scott usually loved that his brother was able to compartmentalise so well but now he just needed to know what was going on. He opened his mouth to say something but John paled – Scott could clearly see it even through the holo-blue – so he waited.

‘Scott, I have incoming marked for your eyes only.’ ‘Vid or text?’ ‘Vid.’ ‘Play it. And stay online.’ ‘FAB.’

There was static for a moment before it dissolved into the head and shoulders of a fuzzy figure. Scott sat up and leaned forward, heedless of the fact that he was bare-chested and had messy hair.

‘This is Scott Tracy.’ ‘Mr Tracy. You and I have business.’ ‘I’m sorry, I don’t usually do business at 1 o’clock in the morning. Please make arrangements with my PA if we do have business to discuss.’ ‘I’m sorry, Mr Tracy. Let me be clearer. When I say that you and I have business I mean that I have something you want and you have something I want and that an exchange would be beneficial.’

Scott kept his poker face but his heart was racing. The electronic voice changer they were using many

‘Please elucidate.’ ‘Well…’

The figure moved out the way and behind him sat Alan. He was tied to a chair and gagged, eyes were wide and full of panic, but even as Scott watched Alan zoned in on him and immediately relaxed. He even offered Scott a smile around the gag.

‘What do you want?’ ‘Straight down to business, I like that. I like that a lot.’ ‘So please tell me how much you want so I can get my brother back.’ ‘How much I want…oh, Mr Tracy!’

The robotic laughter set Scott’s teeth on edge. But not as much as seeing the figure move to behind Alan and placed his hands on his brother’s shoulders.

‘Your brother here is worth a lot of money. You’d pay anything to get him back, right?’ ‘Do I really need to answer that?’ ‘No, Mr Tracy, you do not. Everyone knows how much you’d give for your brothers, but especially for your youngest. But here’s the thing…’

Scott watched as the hands gave a quick squeeze and Alan flinched.

‘You have four hours to be at this place or I’m afraid young Mr Tracy here may become a liability. At the moment Alan here isn’t a financial investment, Mr Tracy.’ ‘No? What is he then?’ ‘Bait, Mr Tracy. Bait.’

The video cut out and was replaced with John.

‘You’re not going…please say you’re not going.’ ‘John…it’s Alan. Unless you can prove that that video is a fake somehow…’ ‘sigh I can’t because it’s not a fake.’ ‘Virgil, Brains, are the new subdermal trackers ready?’

John’s holo was quickly joined by both men and in a third holo popped up of Gordon and Kayo. Scott knew they would be listening in.

‘Subdermal trackers are not tested, Scott. We can’t guarantee they’ll work. ‘Especially since wherever Alan is they have heaving shielding since I can’t pick up his comms.’ ‘Understood. I know the risks but guys – this is Alan, I don’t have a choice. Kayo, will you be with me?’ ‘Shadow will be there all the way, Scott. With that window I should be able to get there and inject the subderm before your meeting.’ ‘While Kayo is flying you over…’ ‘Us over. I’m coming too.’ ‘Gordon…’ ‘That’s non-negotiable, Scott.’ ‘I was going to say thank you.’ ‘Oh. Well…thank you.’ ‘While you two are travelling Virgil, Brains, EOS and I will be looking to boost Five’s scanners and trying to find Alan and making sure we can track you.’ ‘And Gordon and Kayo.’ ‘And Gordon and Kayo?’ ‘Make sure they have subderms too.’ ‘Err…Scott…’ ‘No. Them’s the rules. Chip yourselves before coming or John will call you home.’ ‘Deal.’ ‘Deal.’ ‘Good. Not sure what I’m going to do in the meantime…I guess I’ll be in the gym until you get here, Shadow.’

By the time Shadow arrived Scott had run himself out, showered and sat dressed in his shorts until they hurried into the penthouse. They wasted no time getting the injector ready.

‘This goes into your forearm between the radius and ulna and just above your wrist where your watch strap should hide it. It’s waver thin and should be impervious to any scans they run but Scott – we still don’t know if it will work.’ ‘Do it. I can’t see any other choice.’ ‘Ok. This shouldn’t affect the use of your arm after a half-hour or so.’

He gritted his teeth as Gordon injected the tracker and carefully rubbed the area to ensure the tracker wasn’t obvious. The injection site was a tiny pinprick and, as Gordon had promised, his watch covered it up nicely.

Pulling both Gordon and Kayo in for a hug and forehead touch, Scott closed his eyes and drew strength from them for a moment. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he was glad to have them both here. He released them reluctantly, grabbing his car keys and striding to the door.

‘Let’s go get Alan.’

[loopstagirl]

Inspired by this WIP by @melmac78:

John was near the stern, looking out to sea. He had enjoyed looking at all the planes on board as well as the ships sailing by - business and pleasure, but this too was a sight to see. Especially as he had grown just a smidge annoyed of hearing Scott talk about the T-34 Mentor to the Scouts, so he had a bit of peace to enjoy it. John was amazed at how the light and clear blue sky would reflect off the Gulf of Mexico, turning the normally brownish waters the same beautiful color. Out in the distance, some offshore oil rigs still dotted the distance. While biofuels and renewable sources were finally being produced with an even lower waste footprint, there still was the need for some oil products. He was feeling a bit tired and warm from the sun as he leaned over the side to look at what appeared to be a pod of dolphins swimming by... or were they those blue men-of-war that Gordon said don't touch? There were others sounds, but they seemed distant and blurred. John watched the pod seem to double and triple in size, confusing him. Then his head started feeling light. "Oh no." He thought vaguely, as a few moments later as he hit the rail at his waist. The pilot gave a faint yelp as he tilted over, the vertigo getting worse as he saw thick netting and a more angry water churning by the hull. His vision started to swim as he kept moving forward. He tried to grab the rail, but caught air instead... A pair of rough hands grab his baldric and pulled back. John stumbled from the course correction and fell back, still feeling as though the world was going down a drain... The same hands cradled him under the arms now as he was then set on the ground. The person was propping him up against their legs and chest. There were running sounds on the deck toward them, but they sounded about the same as the waves - ocean or his ears John wasn’t sure. The person holding him had a hand on his jaw, trying to get him to look at them. He could see someone, even though the image was slightly blurry as grey edges flickered in his blind spots. John just couldn't speak. There were more muddled sounds nearby, vocalizing a sound similar to a distant flock of seagulls. That was until louder bass timber - a voice John reminded himself - shooed them away. The same voice then tried again to get John to speak. He tried this time, but all that came out was a soft moan. John then felt the other person's hand run through his hair, who also assured him he was all right. Between the hand and then a light kiss on the top of his head, John realized he was indeed conscious and being held by a brother. Otherwise, he'd be stretched out on the deck - and admittedly the kiss would be a little odd. Then the same gentle hand was at his throat, checking his pulse. "John - can you hear me now?" said Virgil as he leaned into John's view, gently lifting his chin again to check the redhead's eye reaction.

[loopstagirl]

Yes, yes, yes, yes!! I am HERE for relaxed, happy, cowboy Scott.

But of course he has to race!

Okay I know it’s Virgil’s birthday but Scott Tracy on horseback is living rent free in my head this weekend and I’m not going to have time to write any more than this snippet this weekend 😭

@loopstagirl that image you gave me is still filling every spare inch of brain space I have

[loopstagirl]

WIP Wednesday

Same story as last week. Really need to name this something as my files are currently just 'Unnamed Chapter 1/2/3'

Gordon returned to the centre of the camp. There was no one there. Which made his plan to contain the situation somewhat awkward. 

“Hey!” Gordon yelled into the night. He still didn’t know how many attackers were out there: this was going to be embarrassing if he’d taken them all down and was now talking to himself. 

“You want me?” He continued. “Come on, then! Come and get me!” 

Even as his shout echoed around, Gordon could’ve sworn he heard John groan his name in a particular way only his father and eldest brother normally got just so. 

For a long moment, nothing happened. Gordon stood with his hands on his hips and blowing out a long breath. Would it make him sound desperate if he had to repeat himself? 

[loopstagirl]

WIP Wednesday

YA BOY IS ON A MISSION

[loopstagirl]

This just made me snort, love it

Some doodles I made whilst watching Pit of Peril

Thoughts on the episode:

Sidewinder is the creature of all time

John! ♡ Several times!!! ♡♡♡

I'm watching these in the order that they appear on the ITV app, so Brains has just gone out on a rescue before Gordon or Alan have even left the house. Rip to those guys, I guess 😔

Speaking of creatures, the Mole!

The fact that everyone who's been lowered down into the death pit has commented on how they can't see anything through all the smoke, so when Virgil is being winched down and Scott asks "what can you see?" Nothing, my guy, what exactly were you expecting here?

Props to the puppet guys, it would never have occured to me to add sweat patches to the puppets' clothes - this is funny to me in a way that I just can't explain

Scott just being sat there by his bedside when Sweeney wakes up? Also hilarious to me. Was he just sitting there the whole time watching him sleep???

[loopstagirl]

I hope you find your way back to yourself. to the version of you that you miss, to a version of you that you recognize and identify with. I hope you meet happy again.

[loopstagirl]

WIP Wednesday

Currently unnamed, just something I'm working on

---

“Why out here?” Gordon murmured. His finger was already toying with the button that would connect him to Thunderbird Five. If this was a false alarm, his brothers would never let him live it down. But he was the team leader out here; he couldn’t risk the lives of either the interns or the villagers just to keep his pride. 

He connected, then, without looking, muted his watch. Scott had no idea how often Gordon had practiced that move. But now, John could hear everything and, no matter how much his brother yelled, Gordon could say with a clear conscience he hadn’t heard John telling him to back off. 

[loopstagirl]

WIP Wednesday (actually!)

Scott marched through the tangle of corridors, oblivious to the uniformed people he was barging past, unaware at any conscious level of where he was going. The nurse who had gently informed him Gordon was out of surgery and in the recovery suite had given directions but he hadn’t really listened. He just let his feet take him where his heart knew he needed to be.

[loopstagirl]

Chasing Ghosts - chapter 1

First chapter of the story of this post. I might make it longer someday idk.

Flashes of light and shadow swept across his vision as the boy turned his pedals rhythmically, pushing the bike on down the compact dirt track. The day was hot and dry, unusually so for the time of year. Winter had been spent with promises of up to 24 inches of snow and eagerly discussed days off from the monotony of school, only to deliver an average of about 10, which had come and gone quickly. He’d always found snow beautiful, the way it fell, how it began a blanket of pinks and blues at dawn and dusk. But it didn’t offer much fun anymore.

The track began to level out from its incline, and ahead lay an easy, and fast, ride to home. Even now there was an undeniable thrill that came with the building of speed, the wind rushing through his hair and the rare swerve over to years old dirt ramps and trails through the trees. It felt like their own personal rollercoaster.

He used to love racing down here…

“Wait up!”

There came the frustrated, huffed squawk of his little brother as Gordon slowed to a stop beside him. Virgil immediately felt a small lurch in his heart and ran his gaze across the family aquatic. Satisfied he wasn’t hurt and was in fact there, he whipped his head around, checking every shadow and corner. Nothing.

Too close, he frowned, he should be paying attention.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “just lost in thought.”

“Well try not to be, because if I pull something trying to keep up I won’t be in top shape for the competition!” Gordon swatted at his brother’s shoulder, but slowly his eyes softened.

“John and Allie are fine, Virg.”

“They’ve been home alone-“

“They’re fine.” The blond frowned, narrowing his eyes in a rather poor attempt at mimicking their old man or maybe Virgil himself. Or him.

With Alan’s school closed for the day, the responsibility of keeping an eye on him had fallen to John, who himself had been spared going in thanks to a nasty migraine. But the baby of the family was always good for their space-case, so maybe John had been offered some peace after all. Virgil still didn’t like it.

“We should still get home quickly though.” He said, eyeing a particularly dark patch of thicket. Even Gordon, in his infinite optimism, didn’t hide his slight shiver.

“Yeah… race you?”

-

Momentum carried them most of the way, and as dirt turned to gravel, the Tracy Family farm house came into view. They were almost there. They would find Alan and Johnny, lock down the house and get on with their evening-

A car was in the driveway.

For a moment years of dread felt as if it reached its boiling point, that this was it, but as he read the registration Virgil slumped, the tension draining from his body. As the pair crossed over into the threshold of its comforting aura, they hopped from the bikes, shoes crunching on the gravel as they were carefully stored in the garage. There would be no need for knocking codes today, Virgil thought as they walked back to the front door. His hand curled around the handle, and he kept an eye out as Gordon slipped inside first. Virgil made sure to lock the door behind the both of them. Just in case.

“Good day at school, boys?”

“It was okay.” Virgil shrugged, but Gordon pouted,

“Swim meet’s been cancelled, something about Coach’s daughter being sick.”

The man at the counter hummed,

“Well you can’t blame her, son, I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

“Still!” Gordon retorted, kicking off his shoes, “The competition is in four weeks! If I win I could go to the nationals!”

“Then we‘ll just have to make sure you get the extra practice in! The community pool opens… oh what day-“

“Thursday, dad.” John answered from the top of the stairs. He squinted harshly, barely noticing as little Alan rushed past him and into waiting arms.

“Right, Thursday. Thank you, John.”

Virgil may have only had a few years on Alan, but he still swung the kid around before he dared address the elephant in the room.

“I thought you were staying late tonight.”

Jeff Tracy paused, his hand half way to the pasta container.

“The logistics department managed to crack the issue so there was no reason for me to stay. And I wanted to check on John’s headache.”

His words made sense. Of course they did, he was a single father trying to balance work and home life. John had kept an eye on it, Tracy Industries had really, really taken off in the last few years. And that meant more on Jeff’s plate. More late nights. More good night ‘I love you’s over text. More reminders for the boys’ events.

But the real answer was clear as day in his pause, his silence. The unoccupied chair and stickers missing from the calendar.

“Why don’t you boys let Alan show you what he’s been up to today?”

Nice deflection, dad.

[loopstagirl]

Meep!!! You know how to pack a punch!

‘John? What are we going to do?’

‘I don’t know, Virgil. But I tell you one thing…we’re not giving up hope. We’ll never give up on Scott. He’s a Tracy.’

[loopstagirl]

So. Much. Love!

WIP Wednesday

Because the muse is playing nice this week

Gordon was tired, more tired than he’d ever felt before. His days consisted of early morning drills that had put his Olympic training to shame, followed by long afternoon lectures and classes on things he hadn’t ever considered as anything to do with aquanautics. 

Somehow, he still loved it. 

Somehow, he still found the energy for an evening swim, something to wind down and switch off after the intensity of each and every day. The officers presiding over the early entry scheme had permitted all of the recruits use of the facilities in their own time as long as they logged the exercise to be monitored by the base’s medical teams. There hadn’t been a single raised eyebrow when he’d tapped in a kilometer swim each night for his first week, only a knowing smile from Spool - his Supervising Officer. 

He had studied and trained, made friends with his bunk mates, and done his best to stay out of trouble. It hadn’t felt like work, not when everything just seemed to want to click into place. On weekends he got to enjoy the dying heat of the Californian summer, making the most of the base’s proximity to Coronado beach and the opportunity to try his hand at surfing. 

“Of course,” Mom had laughed when he’d called home the night after his first lesson, “you’re a fish, you have a supernatural talent for any water based sport.” 

He hadn’t told her how easily diving had come to him.

[loopstagirl]

So cute!

WIP… nearly Wednesday but I’m impatient and I actually wrote a little new thing. Herewith a very very rough, mostly dialogue snippet of Virgil being smitten and Scott trying and failing not to tease him about it.

💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚

“Hey Scott?”

“Mmhmmm?”

Scott belatedly registered the hesitancy in Virgil’s voice and put the cup down in order to give him an encouraging smile.

“What d’ya need little bro?”

“It’s about my mandatory downtime next week…”

“Most people call it holiday, vacation time or leave, Virgil, but yes?”

“It so happens my leave coincides with this Emerging Firefighting Technologies Convention in the UK.”

“I know it does, Vee. You asked for those dates off specifically. We switched you with Gordon.”

“I did?”

“You did.”

“Oh. Right.”

Scott chomped on the inside of his cheek to control the chuckle as he realised Virgil was actually twisting the toe of his boot into the ground like a nervous schoolchild.

“Did I also say it would be a good opportunity to figure out if TI might start supplying some of our kit into that market?”

“Something like that, yes. Specifically London I believe.”

“Well, all fire departments would value the latest kit.”

“Especially London though.” Scott pushed his luck a little further: “You booked a hotel yet?”

“No. Not yet, I was waiting to see where… I mean when and err how I could get over there.”

Scott raised an eyebrow and pulled up the messaging app on his comm. “John says Blue Watch have booked most of a floor at the Moxy. Couple of rooms left. Bit below our usual budget but he’s reserved you one just in case.”

“Oh. I didn’t… well. I… I’ve heard it’s perfectly comfortable and apparently there’s some interesting uh, decor there… As he’s already gone to the trouble… what are you laughing at, Scott?”

“You’re adorable when you blush, little brother.”

“SCOTT!”

💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚💘💚