Thunderbirds Rewritten

8: A Bit of Stealth

Gordon was not having a great time, he had to admit. Who would when they were bound and blindfolded, cursed not to see who was around him, where he was going, and what they were planning to do with a surprise hostage. All he could tell was that he had spent a significant amount of time in water, judging by the air pressure and movements of the vehicle they were in. The submarine that initially invaded Tracy Island? He hoped so, he not only placed a tracker on there in the initial invasion, but he was certain Alan had predicted that he'd do it. He would see rescue soon, and his baby brother. Gordon was furious, whatever the Hood had done to him, he hoped Alan was fine, he looked so exhausted by the time Gordon pulled him out of the Thames. He had a feeling that the Hood was being truthful about only amplifying what was already there, he just prayed it wasn't what he was dreading.

Time wearing a blindfold and clearly being stored unceremoniously in the cargo hold with no one to taunt him (thankfully), he had a lot of time to think about his escape and the Hood's words. He spent most of his time on how he had lost his bond with Alan over the years, specifically ever since IR began. Yeah, he was only training at the time and had two years to go until he graduated from that training to become a fully-fledged operative like his older brothers, but the cursed age gap saw him treated very differently to Alan anyway. The way he was pulled into IR at the age of sixteen by brothers who were only two, four, and six years older was very different to the way Alan was currently being pushed out simply for being by far the youngest. Eight years between him and Gordon, fourteen between him and Scott! No wonder Alan was having a tough time!

And on top of that, all the teasing.

Gordon had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Alan was a lot more depressed than he tried to let on. It didn't escape Gordon's notice how Alan began to dislike eating with his family, nor did it escape his notice how Alan found himself zoning out in the communal areas while his brothers engaged in games and good-natured arguments. Alan was pushed out years ago and it had consequences. Gordon knew that right now his family would be getting hit with them.

He grunted in frustration; his bounds were tight, and he was losing his cool at not knowing what was around him. He had been blindfolded ever since he woke up, many many hours ago. Gordon lost track of time – was it day or night? The biggest giveaway about being underwater all this time was not feeling the sun on his face.

He heard a noise suddenly, and stilled.

"Have you really been trying to get out of those all this time? You never really give up do you?" asked the Hood, mockingly.

"Where are we going and why am I here?" Gordon asked, growling slightly.

"My, my, aren't we curious? If you remember what I told you before, I clearly said that you are not in the position to make demands. That hasn't changed once has it?" The Hood asked, Gordon could hear the smug laugh in his voice.

"Laugh it up, you won't get away with kidnapping a member of International Rescue," Gordon said.

"Oh but I seem to have done just that. In the grand scheme of things, however, I don't intend to keep you long. I'll use you to force Jeff Tracey to surrender to me and give up all his precious Thunderbirds, then you'll be drowned in the ocean, never to be found again," The Hood snarked. Gordon felt shivers running down his spine, he knew the Hood wasn't kidding.

Better him than Allie though, a hundred times over.

The Hood walked away, Gordon could hear his footsteps receding and he almost let out a sigh of relief when he heard heavier footsteps coming towards him. Mullion.

"Come to gloat?" Gordon couldn't help but ask. Always the sharp-tongued joker. Mullion simply delivered a swift kick to his chest with his metallic boots, and Gordon though he heard a couple of cracks in his ribs. He doubled over, trying to ignore the pain.