Cat and Mouse
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic
by Timeguardian

Chapter Twelve

"Dad, there are eight helicopters on deck. I disabled the lift elevators but that's only going to slow the pilots down. If you don't want a dogfight on your hands, you might want to do something about it."

After hearing Alan's warning Jeff pondered their options. They were over open water and had just spotted the outline of Cassandra's ship in the distance.

The timing was going to be tight.

He acknowledged his son's warning. "I read you, Alan. We're almost there. Stay out of the way of the guards as best you can and keep control of that ship. We'll be there ASAP."

"FAB, dad. Be careful."

He was already at maximum speed, yet Jeff couldn't help feeling that it wasn't enough.

The confirmation came moments later when he spotted small shapes rising from the ship. Oh no.

Jeff spoke quickly. "It looks like it's going to be a dogfight after all. Virgil, Thunderbird Two's reinforced hull should protect you and John from most of their weapons. I'm going to draw as many as I can off and into your line of fire. I'll pick off the rest."

"FAB"

When he was in the planning stages of the craft along with Brains, Jeff figured in weapons systems for both Thunderbird One and Two. They were meant to serve dual purposes – to help with aspects of construction, and for protection. This was one of the few times that they were being used for the latter.

Jeff pulled back on Thunderbird One's controls, sending the craft into a steady climb.

On Thunderbird Two, Virgil was a mask of tension as he looked over at his brother. John had been through the proverbial wringer over the past few hours, and they were going into an extremely dangerous situation.

Before he could say anything, John spoke up. "Don't give me that look, Virgil. You can't get rid of me that easily, and you are going to need all the help you can get anyway."

Mollified, Virgil turned back to his controls. "Never could hide anything from you, John. Keep an eye on the scanners then. With eight of them out there, we can't afford any surprises."

"FAB," John replied as he checked the sensors. "None of them have broken off yet. Dad's climbing to get a better vantage point."

"Good thing we're strapped in then," Virgil stated simply as he kept his current course.

Leveling off, Jeff watched as the group of helicopters widened their flight path before two of them broke off to head towards him. Here we go.

It was seconds before they opened fire with machine guns, forcing him to bank hard to avoid the fire.

Jeff shook his head before coming around, managing to approach them from the side. He pressed a button to activate the onboard guns and fired, easily taking out the tail rotors of the two helicopters in front of him. Each of them wavered, spinning out of control before crashing into the ocean in opposite directions.

Virgil felt the sweat at his brow as he did his best to keep his eyes peeled through the main window. He spotted a bright flash from the side as two helicopters fell into the ocean.

"Virgil, watch it! Scanners show two of them behind us."

At John's warning, Virgil cast a quick look at the scanners before making adjustments to the weapons. "Got it. I'm locking onto them."

He then suddenly cut their speed, noting with satisfaction that the two helicopters overshot them.

"Firing," Virgil declared.

The brothers watched as the missiles from Thunderbird Two collided with the two helicopters, obliterating them in a huge explosion of fire and twisted metal parts.

"There's four left, John. Keep on the scanners."

John checked the scanners. "Actually make that two. Dad managed to nab two more and – the last two are firing on us!"

Seconds later, Virgil and John held on tight as the flight deck shook from the impact of the missiles. Luckily there did not seem to be any lasting damage.

John sighed heavily. "That was too close."

Virgil did his best to maneuver away from them, managing just to get them in viewing range. "Targeting and Firing!"

They both watched as their missiles found the mark and the last two helicopters exploded.

John sat back in relief. "We did it!"

Seconds later their father hailed them. "Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One - what's your status?"

Virgil grinned, looking over at John before answering. "We took some missile fire, but all on Thunderbird Two seems to be operational."

Jeff blew out a nervous breath until he heard Virgil's reply.

He then performed a cursory check of Thunderbird One's sensors before replying himself. "Same here with Thunderbird One. Be ready to do a pickup of Thunderbird Four. In the meanwhile I am going to land on deck and see what everyone else is up to."

Once he landed and secured Thunderbird One on the deck, Jeff got out and found that Lady Penelope was waiting for him by the main building on deck.

She smiled at Jeff as he approached, and beckoned him to follow her.

Lady Penelope led him back to the room where they were holding Lady Cassandra. She noticed that he seemed to calm down considerably after that.

He motioned her to go out into the hallway. Once they were alone, Lady Penelope decided to make her pitch. "Now that we have everything secure, I would like to be the one to deliver Cassandra and this ship to the local authorities."

"Penny, Are you sure that you will be all right handing off Lady Cassandra to the authorities?"

"Jeff, it's not like I haven't done this before and besides, whoever is in command will need to be apprised on what she is capable of. Both Alan and Parker have the rest of the crew secure under lock and key. Parker personally now has Lady Cassandra under guard. Scott is currently in the control room making sure that we can continue our hold on the ship. Alan has requested to stay on board until the handoff is complete, and I can bring him back to the island when we are done."

Jeff frowned, looking her directly in her eyes. "That's fine, but you know full well that's not what I asked, Penny."

Lady Penelope thought for a moment before smiling. "Thank you for allowing me to see this through, Jeff. This has helped more than you will ever know."

Relaxing now, Jeff smiled as well. From what he could see, Penelope seemed to be relaxed, the nervous energy of the past few hours no longer showing on her face. "Then I will see you at Tracy Island in a few hours then."

"Until then, Jeff."

Lady Cassandra was still tied to the chair. She seethed as she watched Lady Penelope met with an older man dressed in an International Rescue flight suit before they walked out together, leaving Penelope's manservant Parker to watch over her. The utter humiliation of it all!

Well, she could fix that easily.

Cassandra started to work on her bonds when she heard Parker clear his throat and declare in an overloud voice. "Move a muscle, and I will forget that it is not nice to hit a lady."

She reluctantly relaxed in the chair, defeated.

The End

It's done- I'd like to thank you if you stayed through the long haul.

And now, an announcement – this will be my last fanfiction story ever. My health and real life events have led to this, sadly. I'm not going to quit writing overall - original fiction is calling to my creative muse, but even my time for that is going to be limited.

This has been an awesome fandom to play in, and I appreciate all of you. It's been real.

Thank you so much,

Timeguardian