His vision kept turning fuzzy and then cleared up, he could barely make out voices around him as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

Drifting back into consciousness he could feel heat and hear electronic sparks around him before drifting back into darkness.

Paul jumped awake and looked around the motel room finding the Television on in the corner, he stretched up and got out of the bed finding Leo fast asleep in the armchair.

Smiling a little he shut the Television off before walking off to the bathroom for a cold cloth, rotating his shoulders a little.

As he entered the bathroom and looked at his reflection, he could see his hazel coloured eyes were tired and dull with small dark patches under them. His brown hair was messy and ruffled from his sleep, as he put the cloth on the back of his neck he ran a hand through his hair trying to flatten it down.

Walking back into the main room, he heard the kettle starting to boil and found Leo working on what smelt like breakfast. "That smells great but isn't it a little early for breakfast?" Paul asked as he leaned against the back of the armchair.

"Well actually it should be brunch when you look at the clock" Leo replied with a grin as he tipped the sausage and bacon onto a plate then retrieved the toast from the toaster.

Paul glanced over at the clock on the oven as he adjusted the cloth on his neck then looked back at his companion making breakfast. "Show off" He muttered before crashing onto the armchair.

"That dream again?" Leo asked glancing over at Paul, who had draped the cloth over his face.

"Different one but it still left me with the same old headache and sore neck" Paul muttered, his voice muffled by the cloth.

Leo sighed and finished making his own breakfast then made the coffee. "Do you think that we did the right thing?" He asked softly as he balanced his breakfast and coffee over to his bed.

Paul sighed pulling the cloth off his face looking up at the discoloured ceiling that once long ago was painted white. "Do you remember that small village we saved? The one with all those kids" He asked softly moving up off the armchair, collecting his breakfast and coffee from the kitchen.

"I remember... zombie dogs" Leo muttered staring down into his coffee, "They didn't stand a chance" He added before sipping his coffee.

"Eat your breakfast" Paul ordered in a friendly tone, "We owe that small village our lives... but then we saved theirs" He added thinking over their first mission.

"If I remember right, I did all of the work while you used a sniper rifle and picked them out from a distance" Leo replied before tucking into his breakfast. "But you’re changing the subject" He muttered softly.

"I know... it's because I haven't got an answer for that question, still looking for one myself" Paul replied and looked up at Leo with a soft sigh, "Haven't got them in again I see" He said with a smile joining Leo, but on his own bed.

"Can't sleep with them in, itches in the morning... it still takes getting use to" Leo replied with a shrug, "I see that you've got your contacts in" He added before finishing his coffee.

"Didn't notice, been too long for me to remember that I change them on a daily basis... just like you make a beeline for the coffee first thing" Paul replied with a grin.

"Just shows how much we've changed bro" Leo retorted pushing the bacon around his plate.

"Oh shit! Hang on Scott" John cursed as alarms sounded around them; Thunderbird One was trying to warn them of the immediate danger.

The nuclear warhead that had flown past them during the escape from Newbay, had hit its target and now the huge fireball rushed through the deserted streets. Ahead of that was an unseen wave known as an Electronic Magnetic Pulse or EMP.

It was this pulse that Thunderbird One had found and was warning her pilots of this danger. John tried to increase the speed of the turboscram engines barely making Thunderbird Two out in the distance, the sun rising into the sky close by.

"Ok! I know its there" John muttered trying to drown out the alarms.

"J-John" Scott muttered drifting in and out of consciousness next to John.

"It's ok Scott, we'll get out of this" John replied glancing at his brother with a small smile.

"Pod..." Scott muttered his voice barely audible above the alarms.

"Escape pod? But they're still in testing stages" John replied glancing at Scott then at the engine outputs, seeing how close the fireball was to them.

"Thunderbird One to Base and Thunderbird Two, come in" John called into the radio before the Thunderbird buckled dangerously, a new alarm sounded and their speed dropped drastically.

"Engines one and three down, and five damaged" John read off the screen before cursing violently, switching the autopilot on. Once he was sure that it would fly by itself, John freed himself from the restraints and helped Scott out of his seat.

"What's the code for the pod Scott?" John asked shaking his brother awake a little.

Scott moaned and opened his eyes focusing on the panel in front of them; he reached over and entered the code, "Emergency kit" He pointed out leaning heavily against his brother, pointing shakily at a large silver chest.

"Ok it's coming with us, climb in carefully" John replied as the door opened and helped Scott inside, pulling the chest in after him.

The pod was cramped with the two of them in along with the survival kit but it was better than dying in the cockpit of the high speed craft.

"Sorry girl, wish I could save you but we'll see you again someday" Scott muttered as John watched and waited for the jettison command.

The back of the black dusty Denali they had rescued from a scrap heap, slammed shut.

"So where next?" Paul asked as he leaned against the back of the SUV, looking at one of the dents in the bumper.

"Well there's a new Biotech factory starting up near a town called Redwood Falls... I did an internet search and well it's quite a big town but nothing special there at all" Leo replied with a flick of his wrist, the map landed on the roof of the Denali.

"Well its worth to check out at least, it might be nothing... just a warehouse like we've found before" Paul said looking at the map, checking the route they had to take.

Leo nodded, "Right I'll drop the keys back in and you can pick up the last of the supplies" He said with a grin.

Paul sighed and tossed the keys over, "Fine but you're getting the gas" He said doing his tough leather jacket up before looking at the dent in the drivers door.

"Haven't got around to fixing that but I cleaned up what hit it, wasn't big but hit the door hard" Leo replied getting the keys, putting them in his jacket pocket.

"You really do love this car" Paul retorted before walking away to the nearest convenience store.

"Thank you for your help, this is very kind of you" John said with a soft smile to the young woman as they lowered Scott down onto the couch in the main room of her house.

"It's ok, I was just worried when I saw you two like that! What happened?" The young woman asked looking between the two young men, both covered in dust and grime with their clothes unrecognizable.

"I need to help my friend first... can I have some hot water and bandages please, um sorry what's your name?" John asked as he took the straps off his shoulders that held the silver container against his back.

"It's Karen and sure, I got a spare bedroom if you need it" Karen introduced herself before going off to get the things for her new house guests had asked for, while wondering to herself what could have happened to them.

"Scott are you with me, bro?" John asked quietly as he opened the container, fetching out the first aid kit before shutting the kit back up.

"J-Johnny... just want to sleep" Scott replied opening his eyes, John could see that they showed none of the normal determination and energy just the exhaustion of surviving a terrifying experience in Newbay.

"Well you can't, not till we get you cleaned up" John retorted helping him out of the top layers of the trashed uniform, seeing where electrical failures in their escape pod caused small fires burning parts of their uniform.

"W-what about you" Scott asked struggling to stay awake and help his brother, but failed leaning back into the couch.

"I'm fine just need a long hot shower" John replied glancing at the burns and tears in his own uniform seeing only angry red welts beneath them on his skin.

Scott nodded and closed his eyes as he drifted into a light sleep.

"Thank you everyone, that is all for today!" Jeff Tracy's spokesperson announced to the press as Jeff was led away into the building behind them, Tracy Industries Headquarters in New York.

Entering the large glamorous foyer, Jeff was reunited with his son Virgil and together they headed towards the back where the private car was waiting for them.

"Well son that added more fuel to the fire" Jeff spoke softly dismissing the body guards with a wave, climbing into the car next to Virgil.

Virgil sighed, "I know Dad but these people have to know... they have a right to know" He said softly as their driver focused on getting them to the airport, he looked out of the window at the passing streets.

"What's on your mind Virgil" Jeff asked resting his hand on his son's shoulder.

"It's that disk Dad, its encryption... just that this is the nearest thing we've had to prove that they're alive" Virgil replied looking out of the window as the driver navigated through the cities traffic.

"I know Virgil but all we can do is keep up this end of the fight... this war, we've got to win it if we want to find them" Jeff said softly, "They're my sons, your brothers no matter what happens to them... I just want them back with us and believe that they're alive" He added, determination shinning brightly in his eyes.

"Let's continue the fight Dad, I can't take their roles of being the oldest brother... not yet" Virgil replied turning to face his father, determination reflected in his own eyes.

Paul jumped out of the SUV and rushed over to the fence, leaning against it heavily taking long deep breaths.

"Paul, are you ok?" Leo asked as he joined him, bottle of water in his hand.

"No Johnny I'm not... I don't think we ever will be" Paul replied taking the bottle of water from his brother, drinking some of it before dumping the rest over his head with a sigh.

"Scott, I know its tough but we've changed... I've changed" John said jumping onto the highest part of the fence, his legs swinging slightly as he stared down at them.

"John bro, I'm sorry... I can't understand what you are going through but I am here for you" Scott replied and sighed leaning against the fence.

"It's why we can't go back, we've changed too much and I'm afraid that the changes haven't stopped... that's why we've got to find a cure" John said softly, his hands tightening on the fence turning his knuckles white.

"John, let's keep going... we're going to keep fighting against those monsters that did that to Newbay, to all of those people" Scott said softly resting one of his hands on his brother's arm. "I know that I got the cure to that virus inside of me but something is wrong, we've seen that over these past few months and it scares me every time something new..." He added, his eyes shinning slightly.

"Something new happens like those crows exploding or that no matter how much I drink I can't get drunk while you can... worse thing is that" Scott stopped and moved away.

John sighed and pulled a dagger out from the sheath tied to his leg, throwing it at Scott without regret.

To Be Continued!