The news feed had been playing as soon as he had stepped into the room, Fuse shrugging off his armor as he sat down to listen. He wondered, briefly, if Amelia got a kick out of hacking into his personal gadgets, but knew he would do nothing to stop it. Whatever made her happy.

The woman on the screen had been mid-story when be finally stopped to listen and found himself smiling as Gordon's image appeared beside her. He'd made it home, alive. It also appeared that International rescue would be shutting down for an unknown length of time. It made sense and, if he were honest, gave him a little more relief. His job would be easier, yes, but it also meant less worrying about his friend.

Fuse reminded himself to thank the hacker later. He hadn't been able to talk to Gordon since cutting the comm back in the desert. There had been no other way to know if all his work had paid off. Now that he knew it had, he could move on to do whatever the bosses wanted.

As the segment ended, Fuse cut it off and moved back to the door. The Hood had ordered a meeting to discuss a new attack strategy that would require much of the demolitions expert's skills. Havoc had been given another assignment as well and she'd seemed fairly excited about it. Probably more hacking and stealing. She was much better suited for the stealth missions.

As Fuse made his way towards the lead control room, he began to wonder if the Hood might view the loss of Gordon as a win. International rescue would be safely out of the way. The only organization to worry about now was the GDF and they could handle them any day of the week.

The door slid open to reveal the bald mastermind staring at the same newsfeed he had just left. Hopefully, it would set the mood for this meeting in his favor. He hated dealing with the boss when he was angry.

The news cut off as he entered, the Hood turning to regard him with an unreadable mask on his face. "Ah, there you are. Come, we have much to discuss."

Fuse didn't hesitate to step forward and stand where his boss had indicated. He couldn't help the nervousness that seemed to build whenever he was around the villain, but he tried to push it back as the explanations began.

"I've got plans for you, my boy. They'll involve a great deal of new technology I've collected from Jeff Tracy." There was an air of giddiness to the statement and it was obvious how thrilled the Hood was to have gained something from his nemesis.

"Sounds like fun." The grin was easy to produce, Fuse more than happy to test out anything that went boom.

"I will warn you, it'll be a long, arduous process, but I suspect the results will be worth the pain." Patience. The Hood had it, but Fuse tended to enjoy the more instantaneous operations. Getting Gordon out had taken a great deal more time than he would have liked.

"Eh, as long as I get to blow stuff up along the way, I don't see a problem." He watched the Hood grin before stepping over to the monitors.

"What I'm after," he switched on the monitor and Fuse's stomach dropped. "Is them."

The Tracy's, images of them from news articles and their father at conferences filled his views. Fuse suddenly couldn't find the words as an alarm blared through his head. What use was he going to be to get at International rescue?

Another screen opened, this one holding lines of text. Each word was screaming at him to run, but where could he go. He was in the center of the base staring at the messages he and Gordon had exchanged over the course of a year.

"How?" The whisper fell from his mouth, suddenly dry.

"My dear boy," the Hood spoke with deadly calm. "Nothing goes on within this facility that I can't uncover."

Self-preservation kicked in, regardless of how fruitless it would be, Fuse taking a step back towards the door. Turning to run, he was met by Dr Sable emerging from the darkness. Her lab coat and suit had been replaced by the same hightech mission suit that he recognised from all her operatives, from himself. Electric blue lines streaked over her arms, pulsing to the armour plates. She had come prepared for him to fight.

Something ached inside of him as he looked at her stoic face. Her eyes radiated disappointment and even sadness. That alone made him stumble. Dr Sable had raised him to the mercenary he was and he had failed. Fuse couldn't understand why he felt so guilty as the cold woman lunged forward. An icy, gloved hand clasped the side of his neck as something was jammed into the other, a sharp sting flaring through the flesh as the contents were injected into him. Stumbling away once the hand left, he looked at the woman standing between him and the exit, an injection gun in hand. The liquid inside the casing was gone and he didn't need to know what it was as the nanobots began to burn into his mind.

"Not to worry, Fuse." The Hood approached as the larger man fell to one knee. "This is part of the plan. You've created the perfect situation for me to take down the Tracy's and acquire their Thunderbirds." A silver disk was in the villain's hand as he stopped in front of the downed man. Fuse could do nothing to stop it as the device was pressed to his temple.

What would have taken hours to implant only lasted a minute as the nanobots took hold, absorbing it through the thin flesh. Fuse tried to brace through the pain that tore through his head, pinpricks of moisture forming on his lids.

And as he felt the scream rip through his chest, the darkness overwhelming his vision… and the Hood's thoughts mixing with his own, he knew the villain's plan would come to light. And it was going to be all his fault.

OooooOOOOooooO

O.O ….. D:

My boy! I have grown to love Fuse so much!

Hope yall have enjoyed this part of the Something to Believe In series! I've already got the next part mapped out, so once I finished another project, I'll be starting it!

Sooooo much thanks goes to my betas and motivators! Madamewinter for always being up for some idea throwing! I dont think I could have made it this far without her help!

Glazier Blue for being the catalyst for turning a single chapter one shot into a 10 chapter emotional rollercoaster of pain and friendship!

And Lady Razorsharp for also being a great source of motivation when I was having trouble getting the ideas flowing!

It's never just one person writing a story! It takes friends who support you through the process and help be that second or third pair of eyes to make the work so much more than it started out as! I could do any of this without my friends and those who have left reviews!

Love you all so much! Can't wait to get to the next part!