"Dad?" He pushed himself up on his elbows. "Dad!"

Jeff grinned and gratefully accepted the hug from his son. "You took quite a hit there in the lounge," he said, squeezing him hard once before gently pushing him back down to the bed.

"Ben! Oh, God, the Hood's got him!"

"It's okay, Gordon," came a familiar voice from his right.

He turned and saw Scott. "How is that okay?" he asked. "And what the hell hit me?"

"That was me," Virgil said, stepping out from behind Scott where he'd been talking with—

"Tin-Tin? Al! Where are John and Brains?"

"Brains is tending to John's wrists in the lounge," Penelope offered.

Gordon chuckled and suddenly everyone was talking at once. Jeff, one arm around Penelope, looked across the room just as Kyrano slipped out of the hospital ward into the hall. Frowning, he squeezed Penny and kissed the top of her head.

They'd come so close to losing everything more times than he could count in the past few months. And they'd found so much, too. But now, with what was happening in Kansas at the site of their new headquarters, which was so out of the blue he hadn't even been able to process it yet…with Tin-Tin needed so badly in the country where several of them had almost been killed…to have the son who wasn't really his son now hosting their arch-enemy's body…to know what he knew about the possible connection between Ben and Brains…how Gordon had nearly died right here on the island…and he himself, the strange connection he'd found out he had with Kyrano that nearly did them both in…it was more than he could wrap his mind around; at least, all at once.

"Go after him, Jeff," she whispered into his ear.

He looked down at her as she squeezed his hand. "What's that?"

She looked into his eyes. "I think you should go after him."

He looked up at the door and then back down at a woman who would never cease to amaze and mystify in her own right. Nodding, he kissed her forehead and moved unobtrusively through the hospital ward. When he'd reached the door he turned to find Penny already engaged in a lively conversation with Parker and Ned, all past insults and conversations seemingly forgotten. He smiled faintly and left the bustling activity behind.

"I don't like it."

"I don't much either, but i-it's the logical thing to do, ah, John."

He shot a look at his counterpart; at the man he felt that way about whether or not it turned out to be true that he was their dimension's Benjamin. "That doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."

"Well, we don't e-even know if it will work."

John flopped onto the sofa, rubbing at his now-bandaged and itching wrists. "No, we don't. I wish there was someone we could ask."

"Well, there i-isn't. A-and there's only one way to find out."

John jumped to his feet. "What, now?"

"No time like the, ah, present. I-If it will kick the Hood out of Ben once and for all, I must."

Sighing, John ran a hand through his hair and nodded once. "All right, Brains. They put him in the Security Ward. Let's go."

Emergency Medical Technicians found her on the floor of the parking garage surrounded by strangers, one of whom had been the one to place the 911 call. The two blue-clad men knelt next to her as the crowd moved to give them room.

"Ma'am, what's going on?"

"The baby," she gasped, cringing as her entire body seized. "Oh, God, it's too soon!"

"How far along are you, Ma'am?" the other EMT asked her.

"Only six months!" she sobbed.

"Starting IV."

The first EMT pulled out a blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around the woman's arm. "What's your name, Ma'am?"

But his only response was a scream as another contraction hit.

"212 over 128," the first EMT reported. "Pulse erratic." He took the oxygen mask from his partner's hand and slipped it over her head. "Let's get her in."

The second EMT nodded and helped lift the woman onto the stretcher they'd brought from the back of the ambulance. "Stand back, folks!" he barked, and they scurried out of the way.

"I'll stay in the back with her," the first one said. "We might be having a baby."

Nodding, the second one slammed the back doors of the ambulance shut, raced to the driver's seat and flipped the sirens on. "Coming in hot," he said into the vid screen mounted in the middle of the ambulance cab's ceiling. "We've got a premature birth about to happen."

"Ten-four, routing to KK Women's and Children's."

"Ten-four, Base."

Even over the sirens he could hear her scream and silently prayed for her safety.

The first EMT, who'd just finished checking the woman's dilation, ripped the latex glove from his hand and tossed it to the floor. "Ma'am, you're having this baby in the next few minutes."

"No!" she cried out as another contraction hit. Tears rolling down her face, she grabbed his sleeve. "Get Ned," she breathed as the contraction released her. "Ned Cook. Please!"

The EMT's eyes widened. "The Ned Cook?" Off her nod he asked, "Who are you?"

"Adi," she said, her face twisting as another spasm loomed. "Adiduana Mataya." The contraction hit and she screamed so loud the Tech had to cover his ears. "Ned!" she cried as the pain eased up. "Ned!"

He was right where he expected to find him. As the door slid open, the room's lone burning candle bathed Kyrano's meditation room with barely enough light to see by. But Jeff could make out the shape of his friend seated atop a large pillow in the exact center of the room. The candle burned from a wall shelf to Jeff's right, and as he entered the door swished closed behind him. The flame flickered and went out.

"Sorry," Jeff said quietly. Magically the flame returned, as though the candle were one of those trick ones that never really blew out. His eyes widened to find the Malay man standing directly in front of him. "Kyrano."

He nodded and looked up with a small smile. "Are you well?"

"Sure I am. I was wondering the same thing, though, about you."

Kyrano turned away and approached the large pillow. "I am as it is meant to be."

Jeff swallowed hard. He felt like there was something more he should say, only he couldn't figure out what. He felt like there was something more he should do, but the distance between them was more than literal; somehow it felt like there was another sort of gap that had been created. "Kyrano…" His voice trailed off as he ran a hand through his hair.

Turning his head just enough so as not to appear rude, Kyrano whispered, "Thank you."

He swallowed again, a tiny line appearing between his eyebrows. Nodding once, he replied, "No. Thank you."

Something wasn't right. But Jeff couldn't put his finger on just what it was and anyway, there was so much he needed to do, so many things that had to be tied up. Later. There would be time later to talk to Kyrano. Penny was wrong; he shouldn't have come after him. His friend was preoccupied, even Jeff could see that. So with one last nod, he turned and exited the room.

He didn't see Kyrano fall to his knees as the door closed behind him.

Ned pulled his cell phone off its belt clip and hit the 'on' button. "Cook," he said, moving into the outer…and much quieter…waiting room of the island's hospital ward. The voice at the other end was raised…anxious. He listened to the words in disbelief. "I'm on my way!" he yelled into it before cutting the call and shoving the phone back onto its clip. He ran back into the room where everyone else was.

"Someone's got to get me to Singapore, and fast!" he said in a high-pitched tone.

They all turned to look at him. "I can get you there," Scott offered. "What's going on?"

"It's Adi," Ned said. "She's having that baby!"

"Oh, shit," Virgil said.

Scott raised his watch to his face. "Dad, come in."

"He's right here where they left him," John said as he and Brains looked at the video monitor outside the D-level cell.

"Well, a-at least he hasn't escaped yet."

"Yet?" John repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. "Now, listen, Brains, I don't think you should be going in there. What if he transfers out of Ben as he's weakening? I'm not exactly looking to be his next target."

"I should go in alone," Brains said.

"My ass," John retorted. "We go in together or not at all." He moved to a section of the metal wall to the left of the cell door and keyed in a password. A small four-foot by four-foot panel slid to the side. He reached in and grabbed a laser pistol, then tossed one to Brains.

"We can't shoot Ben!" Brains exclaimed.

"If he tries to kill us, that's exactly what we'll do," John said, his mouth set in a firm line. "Ben wouldn't want himself used that way."

"No," Brains said, looking at the gun in his hand. "I-I guess he wouldn't."

They looked back up at the video screen again. Ben was lying on a metal bed of sorts that slid out from the wall. The indicators told the men that that the gaseous pentobarbital still filled the room, inducing a light coma that would keep him unconscious for as long as it kept dripping through the needle in his arm. John keyed in the command that immediately began venting the substance from the air inside the cell and waited until the light signaled green; the air was pure once more.

"Ready?" John asked.

Brains gulped and readied his weapon. "A-As I'll ever be, uh, John."

He keyed in the unlock sequence. Seconds later, John heard the click telling him the sequence had been accepted and the door, unlocked. He hit another button and the door slid left into the wall. The men waited and watched. Ben didn't move.

"If you as much as sag, I'm hauling you outta here," John whispered.

Brains nodded as they entered the room.

"Ben?" John said. "Ben, you awake?" There was no response. They breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the Auto Nurse in the wall. "Vitals are normal," he said, although he knew it was unnecessary since Brains was looking at the readout as well. "Now what?"

"Now we just wait and see e-either if his, ah, vitals start to change o-or if I-I start to have, ah, problems."

John nodded, his eyes fixed on Brains, while Brains' were fixed on the Auto Nurse. They were startled when a voice barked at them from the doorway. They jumped and whirled to find Ned and Scott there.

"What the hell are you two doing in here?" Scott asked.

Before either could respond, John saw Brains move out the corner of his eye and turned toward him. He heard the gun clatter from Brains' hand and dropped his own to catch the thinner man as he fell against him, crying out once in a gut-wrenching sob.

Scott moved forward. "Get him out!"

"Dammit, someone get me to Singapore!" Ned bellowed.

John dragged Brains into the hall. Scott moved past them into the cell and grabbed the guns off the floor. He whirled so fast to high-tail it out of the cell that he bumped into the bed, jarring its occupant. As the door swished close he encrypted the lock and whirled to face his brother. "What the hell, you two going in there? You get him to the hospital after you drop Ned off at KK, you got it?"

John's eyes flashed but he was glad for the chance to do something other than sit and wonder about Ben and Brains. He held Brains close and the man doubled over like he'd been sucker-punched. "Fine," he said as he steadied Brains on his feet.

"You all right?" Scott asked Brains. When the engineer nodded, Scott returned the gesture. "Take Tracy Three, I'll let Dad know you're going."

"Scott, I thought you were taking me!" Ned said. "What goes on around here?"

"Change of plans," Scott said with a pointed look at his younger brother. "Now get going!"

Throwing his hands up in exasperation, Ned followed John and Brains as they rushed through the corridor. "What happened to him?" he puffed, trying to keep up with John, who was very nearly dragging Brains.

"He got too close to his other-dimensional counterpart," John explained.

"His other—what the devil?" Elevator doors opened for them and they were soon headed for the Tracy jet hangar. "Are you trying to tell me that Brains is Ben over here?"

Bringing himself fully upright, Brains looked into John's eyes, his mouth quirked into half a smile even as tears of pain leaked from beneath his long lashes. "I-It would seem so," he said, and John grinned at him. Brains leaned heavily on him as beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. "I-It would seem so."

Ned shook his head. How could things get any weirder?

"I thought you were taking Ned to Singapore!"

"Sorry, Father, things changed a bit. Can you believe John and Brains actually went into the cell where we're holding Ben?"

"They did what?" Jeff thundered. "And you just let them leave like that?"

"Brains was a mess, Dad. I think he got hurt a lot more than he let on when we found him and John lashed to the chain link. I figured the hospital was where he belonged, and since John was fool enough to go in with him, he should be the one to get him some help."

Jeff shook his head. "I should've known better than to think he'd gotten over it."

"Gotten over what?" Scott asked as the men headed for the elevator in hall just outside the lounge.

"Never mind."

"No, Dad, not never mind. Virgil and I had to find out there are kids' bodies buried under the site we chose for Tracy Corp's new headquarters, then we get to the island to find a Tracy trying to kill another Tracy and all the while you have a heart attack but don't really have a heart attack! Then Ned tells us his girlfriend's in premature labor and I find Johnny and Brains with B—"

Scott stopped as the elevator doors opened in front of them. His jaw dropped slightly as he watched his father enter. "Johnny and…Ben," he breathed, stepping in after him. The doors hissed shut. "Are you…Father, did John try something?"

"I've handled it, Scott."

"Apparently not!" Scott said in a clipped tone as his hand slammed down on the emergency stop button. The elevator screeched to a halt as Jeff gave him a warning glare. "Don't, Father. We've been through too much for you not to tell me everything."

Shaking his head, Jeff leaned back against the wall. "John went over there."

The four words took several seconds for Scott to decipher, but when he did, he pounded the wall with the back of his fist. "Of all the—when?"

"Before we left for Malaysia this last time." Jeff watched his son's face carefully. Scott was good at hiding his emotions for the most part, but one flyboy could read volumes in another flyboy's body language. "He won't do it again."

"He doesn't have to, Dad! The Hood's brought Ben to him!"

"And you effectively put distance between the two of them, son," Jeff said, placing his hand on Scott's shoulder. "Now let's see about coming up with a solution to having the Hood here in Ben's body before your brother returns."

Scott nodded as he set the elevator in motion again.

"I want you to solve that problem. Get everyone's help if need be, but come up with a permanent solution."

Scott was surprised. He would've expected his dad to want to spearhead anything having to do with Ben. Could it be possible his father was avoiding the whole situation for some reason? Maybe, Scott reasoned, it just hurt too much to see someone who looked so like their mother, nearly as much as Virgil did. But more than that, to see someone who you watched die as an infant.

He remembered. He was so young at the time, but he remembered when they came through the front door of the house with only one baby. "Where's the twin, Mom?" Scott had asked. "You said they were twins."

His mother had held him tightly and he'd felt her tears on his scalp. "He didn't make it, Scotty. But Johnny here will as long as we're careful around him." She'd pushed him away a little so she could look into his eyes. "You have to really be a big brother to him. He's been through a lot and I need you to help me keep him healthy and safe. Can you do that for me?"

Scott had nodded solemnly as his father brought the new little brother over. He was so thin and so very pale; even at five years of age Scott thought how fragile the sleeping infant looked. "I'll keep him safe, Mommy," Scott had vowed.

He'd kept that promise to Lucille to this day. But now? Now it could quite literally become a matter of life and death if John kept after Ben the way their father had described. Still, for Jeff himself not to want to head this operation up?

"Dad?" Scott said as they made their way out of the elevator and Jeff moved to the left while Scott faced the hall to the right.

Jeff stopped and turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Get in touch with that FBI agent you talked to…Jaansen. I'll get back with you as soon as that's resolved."

Scott nodded. On second thought, he was quite happy his father wanted to handle that rather than the Ben situation. Scott wasn't sure he could deal with hearing anything more about murdered children at the moment.

What could be done with Ben and the Hood's soul was his problem now, and he had to solve it. He walked the rest of the distance to the hospital ward. He found things had quieted down enough to where the opening of the door alerted everyone to his arrival. Gordon was up and about and everyone looked at the eldest expectantly.

"We need a plan," Scott said. "John's taken Ned Cook to Singapore, and he's taking Brains to a hospital while they're there."

"What for?" Tin-Tin asked. "Is he all right?"

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sure he's fine; I think he got knocked around more than we knew when Ben took him and John down."

"So what's the action for us, then?" Alan asked as Gordon came to stand next to him, seemingly none the worse for wear.

"And where's Jeff gotten to?" Penny asked.

"He's gone to check in with Kansas and see what the situation there's like. Gordon, you remember when Dad asked what it was you wanted to do?"

"Yeah," Gordon said. "I never did tell him."

"Well, now I'm asking."

Gordon raised his eyebrows.

"You have a choice. You either—" The door behind him slid open, and Scott turned to find Kyrano standing there. "You're just in time."

He walked into the room and Tin-Tin knew immediately something was wrong. In the same instant, both she and Alan knew what it was as his thoughts filtered very clearly into their minds.

"Oh, no," Tin-Tin whispered.

"What is it?" Ruth asked.

"The palace," Kyrano said sadly, looking into his daughter's eyes.

Alan shook his head. "How can it be gone?"

"Is…what about Badan? What about all my guards, and those loyal to me?"

"Most are dead." Kyrano's head lowered, his gaze focusing on some invisible point on the floor at Tin-Tin's feet. "It was Badan's treachery that was his undoing." He looked up, but couldn't meet his daughter's eyes. "An old friend got a message through to me which I did not see until I visited my rooms. There was an uprising at the palace by those loyal to you."

He seemed to falter. It was Alan who stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling the turmoil rolling off Kyrano in waves. The older man, who now looked ever so much more than his sixty-three years, gave him a small smile, and Alan removed his hand.

"It would appear that the actions of Badan, and subsequently of those who intended to overthrow him, destroyed over half of your palace. But that is not why so many have died."

"Then what?" Scott asked impatiently, taking a step forward.

All eyes turned to Kyrano, who seemed to shrink into himself. "I'm afraid that was my half-brother." Tin-Tin and Ruth gasped as the men's jaws dropped. "Along with your brother," he finished, looking Scott in the eyes at last.

"My brother?" he repeated. "Which one?"

"Me?" Alan asked, voice nearly a squeak.

"No, no, none of you."

"Oh, my God," Virgil said, rubbing his forehead as it all became clear. "You mean the Hood in Ben."

Kyrano nodded. "From what Kim Lee Seung tells me, there was a blinding flash of light which took everyone by surprise."

All those in the hospital ward knew exactly what had caused that.

"And within seconds, everyone in the immediate vicinity was dead. A biological agent was released which spread over twenty kilometers from the palace, killing or mortally infecting everyone in the circumference of its destruction."

Defeated, Kyrano leaned back against a cabinet bolted into the cement wall. "The government of Sarawak is gone, my daughter." When she approached and looked into his eyes, she saw tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks and took his hands as he continued. "The region is in an uproar. Even the Sultan of Brunei has fled after ceding it to you, Tin-Tin, leaving his country without direction, without a leader. As is Sarawak and all of Malaysia soon if someone does not step in and take control."

Tin-Tin bit her lip and turned to look at Alan. How could she leave him now? How could she leave the Tracys? What could she even do if she did return to the place of her birth? Could she abandon this family when there was still so much uncertainty? How would she restore order to such chaos in two countries if she did go back?

If anyone can do it, Tin-Tin, Alan thought in response to her last question, you can.

She shook her head as those gathered watched the silent conversation, mystified and yet somehow understanding it all. Not without you, I can't.

He grinned and moved to her, taking her hands from her father's and turning her to face him. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he said into her hair, "You never have to do anything without me ever again." He leaned back to make sure she was looking at him. "I'm coming with you."

"Alan, you and Tin-Tin can't go alone. You don't stand a chance under those circumstances!" Scott said, the edge in his voice belying the emotional roller coaster he was on.

"Not to mention you can't get anywhere near what's left of the palace right now with a biological agent floating around," Gordon added.

"How would you restore your government?" Virgil asked. "Where would you even start?"

Tin-Tin turned back to Kyrano. "Father, is Lee Seung in Malaysia still?"

Kyrano nodded. "I have been in contact with him." He took a deep breath and swiped at his eyes. "He's in Kuala Lumpur, which is still a safe zone. He awaits your arrival."

"Just him?" Alan asked incredulously, suddenly having his own doubts about the situation.

"No," Kyrano said. "He has assembled the leaders of the Tamil rice field and rubber plantation workers. All their followers stand ready throughout the country for their sultana's orders."

"And?" Tin-Tin prompted, a smile slowly growing.

"And," Kyrano repeated, his smile matching his only child's, "all tribes of the jungle have sent representatives to meet you as well. They wait with Lee Seung."

Alan very nearly laughed. "And?"

"And," Kyrano said, his eyes beginning to twinkle, "Singapore, and all governments of the Malay Peninsula, Brunei, Song, Indonesia and Miri await your orders." He winked at his daughter. "Among others."

Virgil let out a low whistle. "You're pretty popular over there, aren't you, Tin-Tin?"

She turned and flashed him her trademark flirtatious Tin-Tin smile. It faded as she took in Scott's countenance. "Where's your father?" she asked respectfully.

"Probably down the hall in Thunderbird Five's new comm center," Scott replied, trying not to sound as terse as he knew he did.

She nodded, grabbed Alan's hand, and headed for the ward exit. Gordon quickly followed.

"You're not going down there to persuade him too?" Scott asked Kyrano.

"There is no need, Scott. Your father will make the right decision on his own."

"What is the right decision?" Virgil asked, trying to soothe the beast that was his eldest brother before he went into full-blown field commander mode.

Kyrano looked at him as he rose to his feet. "Only Jeff Tracy knows," he replied, and left the ward.

"What the hell did that mean?" Scott exploded as soon as the door had shut behind him. "I swear to God he's more cryptic now than before he died, came back, lost all his memories, died, came back, had his life force inside our father, almost died and then came back again!"

Virgil would've burst out laughing had the situation not been as serious as possibly losing their brother to a war-torn country. "Scott, if this is what Alan wants to do, we have to let him do it."

"It would appear that we don't have any choice in the matter," Scott replied bitterly, his fist just itching to hit something good and hard.

An insistent beeping cut into their conversation. Scott raised his arm and spoke into his watch. "Scott here."

"I want to see you Five's comm center immediately."

"What's this about, Father?"

"I want you in on this decision about Malaysia."

The feed winked out and Scott stared at the blank screen for a moment before his hand dropped down to his side. "Well, I'll be a—"

"Horse's ass?" Virgil offered.

Scott threw him a look as he walked quickly to the hospital ward exit. Virgil chuckled, and was about to follow him out when he heard the video screen inside the sick room start to ring. Frowning, after all, who'd be calling the vid screen in the hospital ward, Virgil retraced his steps and thumbed the screen on.

"I need you here." Voice Only was selected, so Virgil couldn't see the man…but he knew the voice.

"John?"

"Virgil?"

"Why'd you call the vid phone but with no vid, man? What's going on?"

An uncharacteristic hesitation made a knot form in Virgil's stomach. "It's Brains," he whispered. "I'd check on Ben if I were you."

"Check on Ben? Why? And what's wrong with Brains?"

"I…I think the Hood's…I don't think he's in Ben's body anymore."

"What?" Virgil said. "What are you talking about?"

"It's…it's all my fault, he's…Virgil, please…get Kyrano!"

Ben wasn't…and Brains was…and John had asked for…Kyrano? Virgil's head was spinning. Something told him to get to Ben, to validate what John had said before interrupting what was quite possibly the most important family meeting ever held on Tracy Island. A meeting which could very well bring death upon the Kyrano and Tracy families, and they all knew it as well as they knew their own names.

He raced to the elevator and thanked it silently for being right there on that floor for a change. Punching in the D-level, he waited for it to drop four floors before the doors obediently opened. He was vaguely aware of the sound they made closing behind him as he sprinted along the gently curving hall. Doors lined it up and down; by far it was the most secure level of Tracy Island, but this was the first time they'd actually used it for a real prisoner.

Their own brother. More or less, Virgil reminded himself. He was, but he wasn't. Virgil sprinted down the hall until he reached the cell they'd put Ben in. He looked up at the monitor and was surprised to find Ben not only awake, but upright leaning against the wall next to the metal slab bed. He looked up into the camera and for a moment Virgil just stared at him.

He remembered the Scott from over there; how haunted he'd been, how gaunt and so unlike the Scott Virgil knew on this side of things. International Rescue existed, Tracy Island existed; they even used the same codes and passwords from the few Virgil had seen. Kyrano was a sultan, though; he didn't owe his life to the Tracys, although he knew of Jeff and his sons. Not strangers over there, but most definitely not the close near-brothers the two fathers were in this dimension.

Virgil looked up at the monitor once more and finally keyed open the communication line. "Ben?"

The face looked up, full of hope. "Yes! Yes, I'm here!" He peered into the small screen inside the cell. "Virgil?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"As soon as who left?"

"Virgil…the Hood. He's not here anymore."

Virgil narrowed his eyes. "How do I know for sure?"

"I—I don't know…please, I…he killed them."

Virgil's eyes widened as Ben crumpled to the floor and buried his head under his arms on his knees. He could barely make out the next words spoken.

"The Hood took me over and killed everyone!" Red-rimmed eyes looked up as if pleading for Virgil to somehow make it right. "My entire family is dead now, and then we showed up somewhere, some fancy palace or something…it's my fault."

"It's not your fault!" Virgil said vehemently, pounding the edge of his hand against the metal door. "The Hood did it, not you!"

"But he couldn't have gotten to me if I hadn't…I mean, if I'd…"

"Ben?" Virgil said, a frown creasing his brow. "Ben, what happened?"

"I…invited the sultan to Tracy Island, I thought the preparations for his visit would help take the guys' minds off everything, off…Scott…Father…you know."

Virgil nodded and whispered, "Yeah, I do."

Ben rose to his full height and came close to the camera inside the cell. "He didn't come alone."

"Oh, my God," Virgil let a puff of air escape his chest. "Ben, I…what are you going to do?"

"That depends on how long you keep me in here," Ben replied. "I've got a score to settle with that sonofabitch. Where is he?"

"That's why I'm here," Virgil said, keying in the unlock code. "I think somehow he got into Brains."

"No," Ben breathed as the door opened. He rushed into the hall, grabbed Virgil by the shoulders and said, "Brains knows everything about International Rescue! If he gets all those secrets, he'll destroy you!"

"But Mr. Tracy, we have to transport him to a more suitable hospital! KK is for women and children, not for male scientists with degrading mental states!"

John's jaw worked. "You can't move him. Exposing him to the outside world right now would be too dangerous. There's no telling what he's capable of!"

"I'm calling your father; only he is listed as having authority over Mr. Hackenbacker should he require medical treatment."

"Fine! Call my father! But you're not letting him out of that secure room and that's final!" John barked. He turned on heel and stalked back to the room in question. Looking through the small one-foot-square quadruple reinforced window set horizontally centered in the top half of the door, his eyes widened as Brains, clamped down to the bed with shackles and straps, cried out in a language John recognized only too well.

"Bahasa Melayu," he breathed, leaning his forehead against the cool steel. "My God, it's true. The Hood's inside of him." He turned and slammed his back into the door, then struck the heels of his hands against it over and over and over again until it actually started to hurt and he vaguely wondered if he hadn't dented the thing.

Turning back to face the door, he looked through the window again. For just a moment he saw the pale blue of Brains' eyes return, but they were just as quickly replaced by the darker brown swirls that had started not an hour before.

"Hold on, Brains," John said, his voice sounding strangled. "Please just hold on."

Jeff looked up as Kyrano entered the room they'd converted to Thunderbird Five's remote communications control room once they'd automated her. There were still a few bugs to work out, but it'd been doing pretty well in light of the fact that Brains and John had cobbled it together more than anything.

It was just one of many, many things that still needed to be put right within the scope of all things Tracy. Jeff sighed. He was about to speak, to formally ask Kyrano, out of sheer respect for the man, if he gave his blessing for Tin-Tin to return to Malaysia with Alan and, not surprisingly to Jeff, with Gordon as well.

For Gordon had made it crystal clear that Tracy Corp and International Rescue be damned, he wasn't letting his little brother go to that country again without him. And he would stay until he knew Alan and Tin-Tin were safe.

Jeff knew the time for changes had come. Sure, they'd started preparations what seemed like eons ago to bring new members into the fold, but then things had gotten sidelined but good. Now it had been thrust upon them to the point where it didn't look like International Rescue would be operating any time soon; at least, not at full capacity. And then there was Tracy Corp. Staff were scattered throughout various North American locations until such time as the Kansas headquarters were finished, and now even that had hit a snag.

Jeff also suspected Kyrano would insist on going with them, and with Brains and John in Singapore, that left only Penelope and Parker, Scott, Virgil and Ruth, who was still with extended family on the mainland…and, he thought with somewhat of a chuckle, Ned Cook, if the man could be put out from NTBS any longer than he already had been.

In other words, Jeff was really out of options. Something had to give, and he'd come to the sickening but very logical conclusion that something had to be International Rescue.

It was with these somber thoughts showing plainly on his face that he opened his mouth to speak. And clamped it shut just as quickly when Virgil came barging into the room like his tail section was on fire. "What is it?" Scott snapped, hopping to his feet. He knew that look on Virgil's face better than he knew the backs of his hands. He knew it meant something was very, very wrong.

"It's…well, look." Virgil turned and the entire room seemed to emit a single audible gasp when Ben entered.

"I thought he was…" Tin-Tin began.

"…in a cell on D-level!" Alan finished for her.

"He was," Virgil said. "Don't worry, don't worry, the Hood doesn't have him anymore," Virgil said, calming Scott who'd drawn a machine pistol from the waistband of his jeans.

"How do you know that, Virgil?"

"John called me," Virgil said, feeling his mouth go completely dry. He turned to look at Kyrano. "He asked for you."

"For Kyrano?" Scott asked. When Virgil nodded, he said, "But why? What does John want with Kyrano?"

"My half-brother," Kyrano stated matter-of-factly.

Alan and Tin-Tin picked up on Kyrano's thoughts and their faces bore matching looks of horror as Virgil replied, "Yes. John thinks he got inside Brains."

"We have to do something!" the strange but somehow familiar voice of Ben said, running a hand through his hair in a manner that so mirrored John, Jeff was momentarily taken aback.

"Dad," Virgil said quietly, "the Hood took Ben over, and he…" Virgil looked at each one of them in the communications room. "He killed all of Ben's family."

"He can't have killed them all!" Penelope exclaimed softly.

"He did," Ben confirmed, coming to stand side-by-side with Virgil. "Every member of my family is gone over there, by my own hand." His voice sounded strangled as he looked at Jeff. "I'm the only Tracy left."

"My God," Scott breathed, visibly shaken.

"And the sultan?" Kyrano asked.

"Dead. Along with Tin-Tin."

Tin-Tin's eyes widened.

Ben swayed against Virgil, who quickly propped him up as Scott ran to support their brother's other side.

"You can't stay here," Virgil said. "You've got to go back to your dimension. You've been here too long!"

"Go back?" Ben said, standing up straight on his own as Scott's and Virgil's hands fell away. "Go back to what?"

They all looked at each other.

"No," Ben continued, running hand through his hair again. "I'm staying here. I'm going to help you end this thing with the Hood once and for all."

"But how?" Scott asked and Jeff nodded as the same question came to the forefront of his mind. "You're no good to anyone dead."

Ben looked this different Scott right in the eyes. "I could be."