Hello world of Thunderbird lovers I'm back again with another part of my growing series, although admittedly it isn't growing nearly as fast as I would like it to but that's down to my job getting in the way! If only I could win the lottery. Add into that the fact that I've been going through a…shall we call it a lazy period? Yes let's call it a lazy period! Anyway thanks to said lazy period I didn't get nearly as much writing done as I had hoped (scratch that I got virtually nothing done!). However I'm back now.

Anyhow it was mentioned in Friends Till the end that poor tortured abused Alan (and that doesn't change here I'm sure you're pleased to know) was afraid of water. How did that happen? How did that start? Well read on dear readers, read on!

This is set before Friends Till the end.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Summary: It was supposed to be a nice quiet visit to see Ruth and Grant. A nice happy summer visiting the grandparents but alas it wasn't to be. Then again is life ever easy for our favourite family? I think not!

Chapter One:

By Rosa241

General POV

Like most parents Jeff loved his kids. He'd do anything for them and would fly to the ends of the earth for them in a heartbeat if he needed to. They were his children, his whole world and at the end of the day they were all that mattered. He had the business of course but when push came to shove those boys came first. Raising five boys single handed wasn't easy but he loved his sons and ultimately they made the long boring hours at the office worth it. Thinking about those five loving boys made him smile no matter what. At least they usually did, right now however his thoughts were less than pleasant.

I swear to God if we don't get out of this car shortly I am going to kill them all! Jeff thought to himself as he sat waiting at the traffic lights. This things been on red for at least a year now! It's broken it has to be!

"Gordon I swear to god if you don't shut up I am going to reach back there and smack the red out of your hair!" Scott huffed for what had to be he thousandth time. At 16 years old the boy was growing up far too rapidly for Jeff to be truly comfortable with.

Every day Scott seemed to prove more and more that he was becoming an amazing young adult. Truth be told his oldest had been forced to grow up pretty rapidly following the death of his mother. Not that he'd forced him to mind, no Jeff had made it clear to his oldest time and time again that he didn't expect him to take care of everyone but there was no telling that boy. Of course all of his boys had inherited that famous stubbornness that had driven his parents crazy so there really was no telling that boy. That thought tore him. One the one hand he was incredibly proud to have a 16 year old who was so mature and so loving but on the other hand it made him sad to think of what he'd missed out on.

"You shouldn't swear Scott that's against the rules." Gordon said and Jeff didn't need to see his second youngest to imagine the smirk that was currently lying on his face. If there was one thing that boy loved more than anything it was driving his older brothers round the twist and he was, unfortunately, extremely good at it. He seemed to get an immense satisfaction with winding them up. Currently he was going through rather an awkward phase and had been far worse than usual. Right now he was testing as many boundaries as he could and one of them seemed to be just how far he could push his brothers before they flipped. It was a lesson he'd quickly learned with Virgil. A painful lesson.

A few months ago Gordon had decided that Virgil was the perfect target and had spent day after day, hour after hour driving the almost 12 year old round the bend. Unfortunately for the red head his brother had been having a particularly difficult time at school curtesy of a few bullies. Finding out about the bullying had made Jeff think twice about sending his boys to a school that catered for 11 to 18 year olds. The school had an amazing reputation however and there was no doubt it would be the best place for his sons education. Virgil had finally completed his first year there. From the start it had been clear that he wasn't happy, for a while Jeff had thought that it was simply because the boy didn't enjoy school. Whereas John, and Scott to an extent, enjoyed learning Virgil was much more at home arm deep in paint or sitting at a piano. He hated being stuck inside and was much more of a practical person. Eventually though it had become clear that this was a bigger problem but the boy wouldn't talk. It wasn't until Gordon decided to pick Virgil for target practice that he finally snapped. The black eye he'd given his younger brother had taken several weeks to go down.

He'd been furious at first until he'd seen the look in his sons eyes. It had taken Gordon picking on his brother for his middle child to finally snap and when that happened the wall that he'd built came tumbling down. Virgil had finally admitted to his dad that he was being bullied. Needless to say that Jeff had been furious and instantly planned to march into school the next morning and sort it out. That's exactly what he did. Looking back he supposed he really had taken it a bit too far in that meeting with the Principal but when it came to the safety of his boys in reality there was no step too far. Leaving the meeting with the Principals tail set firmly between his legs had felt good, he knew full well there would be severe consequences, he'd felt like he'd made a difference. Then he'd walked through the front yard and witnessed his sons in action.

Deep down he knew that telling John and Scott what had been going on before getting it sorted was a bad idea. Seeing his normally placid second born sitting on top of a much larger boy who not only had a bloody nose but looked like he about ready to cry whilst his oldest had a second in a headlock was not how he planned to spend his morning. As angry as he was, and trust me there was plenty of anger, Jeff knew that the beating those boys received had more of an impact than anything the school would have said to them. Since then the bullies seemed to have left his musical genius alone, largely through fear of what Scott and John would do if they didn't and things had rapidly improved.

Looking over at his star boy Jeff held back a laugh. John had insisted, despite his fathers warning, on reading for the majority of the journey. They'd been forced to pull over a few miles back when the inevitable happened and he'd started feeling increasingly sick. Switching places with Scott to sit in the front had helped ease the nausea (thank you God because he really didn't feel like clearing vomit from the seats) but that had brought his oldest into striking distance of the family clown. Naturally he knew that the 16 year old would never do anything to physically harm his brother but that boy could, and very often did, try the patience of a saint. Now Scott didn't have the patience of a saint on a good day let alone after spending most of the day trapped in a car.

It was for that sole reason that the car seating plan had been introduced. Scott and Gordon needed to be as far away from each other as possible, the further the distance the less chance of trouble. It wasn't that the two didn't love and care for each other but putting Scott and Gordon together in a confined space was just asking for trouble. Having Gordon sit with Virgil would have produced the same result, especially given that the read head was both sour about the black eye and wary of getting another one. In the end it was the youngest who settled it. His baby, much like his troublesome companion, struggled to be in a confined space for too long. At four years old he was constantly on the go and hated long journeys with a passion. Putting Gordon in the back with Alan meant that they could entertain each other for hours without driving everyone else crazy. That meant Scott upfront, as far away from Gordon as possible, and left Virgil and John together in the middle. Since Virgil slept most of the way and John had read there really was no trouble, at least up until John had moved to the front.

"One more word out of you Gordon one more word!" As the argument continued Jeff sighed with relief as the red light finally turned green.

At last!

And I believe that's all you need for now. So Jeff and the boys are headed to visit good old Grandma and Grandpa Tracy and, like all kids, they're driving him insane in the car.

Just what have they got in stall for him during their visit? Well I'm sure it's going to be an interesting one any way. Until next time. Bye bye!