Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.

I'm so happy so many of you like this fic despite it being dark and emotional. I've had an itch to do fanart for the death scene, and I have started. It's in its sketching period at the moment, but you have no idea how agonizing the Mole is taking to draw. I'm thinking of going abstract with that.

When I finish the drawing I'll be happy to send it out to those who would like to see it. It might be a month or so still since I've been busy.

Anyways here's John's chapter, then Virgil, and then your awaited chapter, Arashi. I hope to get this moving a bit quicker so the wait won't be too long.

And I posted a one-shot called 'Popcorn' basically Gordon-centered….mischief of course.

"John…"

Rolling over onto his side John squinted and rubbed his eyes upon hearing his name.

"John…"

Cyan eyes widened with alertness. Turning his head around the room he searched for the voice.

"Alan?" John questioned quietly. Hearing no reply John pushed aside the covers and stood up slowly. Looking around the room he noticed that he was in his own room. He froze after that thought.

'Maybe it was…' John didn't bother to finish the thought before he made his way out of his room. Entering the hall John turned right following what seemed like an endless hallway. Upon reaching the neighbouring door John wasted no time in opening the door only to have his hopes crushed. Looking at the empty bed with rustled sheets only brought the reality crashing down on John. Slumping against the doorframe John closed his eyes and leant his head down.

Tears trailed down his cheeks leaving clean streaks. Bringing a hand up to his face he wiped his face of his tears before standing straight and turned his back on the empty room before making his way back to his own room where his father had brought him after finding him in Alan's room earlier.

Standing in front of his door he was about to go back in when he heard the tiniest of sounds passed by him. Turning around he was met with the quietness of the house. Mistaking the sound for his mind, he sighed and entered his room. Walking over to his bed, he ungracefully collapsed onto it pulling the thin blanket close. Staring up at the ceiling, looking at the design that looked down at him, only caused his grief to wash up a memory.

XXFlashbackXX

John walked tiredly through the house coming home from his first shift in Thunderbird 5. He wouldn't say he hated it, rather enjoyed the special position he was given. Just four straight weeks puts a strain on someone. Walking through the halls, he came to his door and noticed a strange smell around his door. Warning bells going on about how Gordon might have had a hand in this, John cautiously opened the door.

Slowly stepping into the room, John was welcomed with the unexpected sight of his youngest brother standing in the middle of the room with a long pole in his hand.

"Alan what are you doing home and what are you doing to my room?" John asked dropping his bag and walking over to thirteen-year old Alan. Looking down at his carbon copy, he saw Alan shift nervously glancing around the room trying to think up an explanation.

"I—well….since the little incident at school, I'm home for a bit till dad, gets uh…new school in order." Alan said hanging his head down staring at the floor. John quickly remembered the little chat he had with his dad a few days ago, about how Alan 'accidentally' blew up a good portion of his school. John didn't know all the details, only knew Alan was expelled. His dad didn't tell him much only minor details.

"Oh…yeah…well what are you doing to my room?" John said, trying to steer away from the previous topic seeing as how Alan wasn't comfortable with it. Looking up, John noticed his navy blue ceiling was sporting white dots randomly all over the place. As a matter of a fact it was starting to look like….

"Hey, isn't that Pyxis?" John asked walking around to get a better view. Upon furt6her inspection John was starting to notice others such as Cepheus and Corvus.

Alan looked up with a slight smile on his face and nodded. John turned back to look down at Alan.

"Why'd you do this? I didn't give any commissions." John said raising an eyebrow. Once again Alan looked to the ground and shifted the pole in his hands.

"Well Gordy got this glow-in-the-dark paint, and we were going to repaint your washroom. Since I don't have a school at the moment I thought I'd get it done before I left so no one would yell at me. I accidentally got paint on the end of the pole and it hit your ceiling, and I kinda got carried away." Alan said smiling hoping that John wouldn't be mad. His smile slowly turned to a frown as John showed no humour or sign that he liked it.

"What makes you think you can just come in here and start painting whenever you feel like it?" John said hiding his emotions. Alan's eyes widened a bit and he shook his head a bit.

"But I thought you would have liked it, John. You always say how much you love the stars." Alan protested trying to understand how John could go on and on about stars yet not like them when Alan brought them to him.

"When I look at stars its different. For one thing you're missing a star here." John said, pointing up at a constellation above Alan's head. Alan looked up too cocking his head to the side. Looking back at John, he saw his older brother breaking out into a grin. Alan's frown turned into a smile only Alan Tracy could present.

"I set you up good for that one, kiddo." John ruffled Alan's blonde locks before moving towards the door.

"Since you've decided to create this lovely piece, there's no way I'm going to sleep in here and slowly poison myself tonight with fumes. I think…you're room is a good trade up, don't you think?" John said, walking out of the door before Alan could reply.

XXEndFlashbackXX

John opened his eyes as the memory faded away. He remembered those days. They were slightly rough with Alan's mishaps, and Gordon's accident. Back when his father and he only had duty-like chats. When he first came back to the island after Alan's tragedy, upon seeing the mural on his ceiling he so desperately wanted it gone. How easy it would be to swipe the memory away so easily…but John realized that he'd only be losing Alan over again.

"John…" He heard as soon as he closed his eyes. Clenching his eyes together he tried to rid the voice away from his mind. Tears pushed their way through as he was unable to stop them.

"Allie, I just wanted to tell you how much you meant to me." John said dejectedly, knowing that the others didn't know what it felt like when the last thing you said to you're brother was a promise that was so long ago, and one you couldn't commit to. Sighing John sat up and grabbed his thin blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders before leaving his room. Walking through the hallways he noticed how the lounge room was beginning to slightly light up from the sun. Turning to look outside he turned his head when he noticed one of the chairs occupied. Slowly making his way across the pool patio he came to stand next to Scott, who had, by the looks of it, cried himself to sleep.

John was slightly taken aback. Scott never cried. He knew how to dealt with things….but then again had so his father, and John's heart dropped at how emotional Jeff was at the moment. Slowly pulling his blanket off his shoulders he draped it across Scott before turning his back on him and made his way around the pool and down the pathway towards the inclusive jungle.

As John made his way through the jungle, not once did he cry out or even notice some of the rocks that dug and cut into his bare feet, as he was too lost for pain. Unknowingly John wandered off the normal trail and up a hill to a little ridge that stood up to where trees loomed over, their branches in perfect reach to climb up.

John stopped when he noticed where he had traveled. Looking around, his blue eyes examined the area slowly, recognizing the significances (or horror) of the place. As he scanned the area, his eyes landed on the ridge. Walking towards the ridge his eyes set on a certain spot. The only other time John had been here, the stone was covered in blood.

'Just like this time.' John thought. Climbing up onto the ridge John shakily sat down not taking his eyes off the certain spot. Memories of that day flashed in his mind. The pain, the blood, and the guilt that flowed through him all came rushing back.

XXFlashbackXX

John looked around Thunderbird 5 admiring what he was proud to call his. Pressing a few buttons, he allowed for the approaching Thunderbird 3 to go through with docking procedures. Leaning back in his chair he lazily stretched happy to be going home. Not that up here was bad or anything, just that this place didn't have the high-energy atmosphere, the island had.

John waited a few minutes before the airlock door blinked and opened welcoming him with the site of his father and Scott, since Virgil was still being trained on ground level and Gordon and Alan were too young to have their wings yet.

John stood up and went over to them, greeting them with jokes and embraces, and asking if they brought pizza.

Within twenty minutes they had everything set up and locked down and were strapping themselves into Thunderbird 3. Jeff departed from the docking and set his course back to Tracy Island.

"How have things been since I left?" John asked after a while. Scott snorted and then answered with a sarcastic glare.

"It's like living with monkeys. They don't stop wanting the banana." Scott said.

"Scott means that Alan has gotten Gordon's energy back up and is almost running around the place now." Jeff said, looking over to John.

"Though I've barely seen Alan today come to think of it." Jeff said, seeming to be thinking something over.

"Yeah. Last time I saw him was when we were playing gauntlet in the pool earlier." Scott said smirking at the memory, of his and Alan's noble victory. John knew Alan's habit of disappearing and reappearing randomly, so he wasn't as worried as he should be, but something about this was bothering him.

After a short while Thunderbird 3 began its final descent upon Tracy Island. Jeff, Scott, and John checked over the panels, before exiting the red rocket. After greeting the rest of the family and friends, John was surprised that Alan wasn't there.

Jeff seemed to notice that his youngest wasn't there as well.

"Gordon, where's Alan?" Jeff asked, as Gordon turned with his crutches shaking his head.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him for a while. He never came to help me at all today." With those words, everybody knew something was wrong. Alan not help Gordon? It was something almost unheard of.

"Okay. Gordon check around the house and get Brains, to check the monitors around the island, Virgil go check the beach; Scott and John, you two come with me and we'll check the jungle." Jeff instructed. Everyone quickly went to their assigned tasks. Jeff, Scott, and John left without changing out of their uniforms. Alan missing meant trouble.

Making their way through the entrance the stayed to the paths and called out for Alan.

After an hour of no luck, John was beginning to really worry. Stopping a bit behind his older brother and father, John surveyed the area knowing that Alan was probably off the path.

To the east, a faint sound echoed through the brush and trees. John turned slowly towards the direction, taking notice that neither Scott nor his father had heard it. Making a quick and final decision, John separated himself from the path, and made his way with a quicker pace. Quickly pushing exotic plants out of his path, John ignored the few braches that managed to flick across his face, leaving a small pink scratch in payment for disturbing their peace.

Coming to a less dense area, John could tell he was coming to a clearing. Pushing the last few out, he stumbled out of the wild growing plants only to come across an uninviting sight. Ahead, sat Alan sitting on a boulder with his arm curled tightly to his chest with his left leg turned awkwardly. Apart from all this, this is not what John was looking at. The boulder, on which Alan was sitting on, was splattered with dark droplets which John's mind quickly took in as blood. He watched as the blood ran across the boulders curved surface, leaving a stream to the forest ground.

"Alan." John finally got out of his voice, before he rushed over to Alan's side.

As someone approached Alan looked up, pain written in his eyes. John climbed up the boulder and kneeled next to his brother. Shock and concern where clearly written over his face. Slowly he reached out to look at Alan's arm, alarmed that Alan slightly whimpered when John's fingers grazed it.

"What happened Alan?" John asked quietly.

Silence.

John sighed mentally in concern. He knew Alan would be too stubborn even in this situation.

"Allie, please? Tell me what happened." John cooed. Alan's blue eyes flickered to the side battling with the shock that he was still under. Lifting his eyes slowly he glanced up at John.

"I fell." He murmured. John could tell that Alan was embarrassed as well as in pain.

"I can see. What were you doing up in the tree?" John asked glancing up at the tree, seeing the multiple broken branches that obviously saved Alan's fall.

"I wanted to see Thunderbird 3. I saw it take off. I was sitting up there for a while, and then I saw it coming back. I-I went to get a better look but missed my footing." Alan said ashamed. John's eyes widened. He knew Alan was taken away by the Thunderbirds and that he often got himself into trouble just wanting to look at them. Guilt ran through him. He knew Alan wouldn't have come out here, if he was allowed to see Thunderbird 3 when it was grounded, though his father never permitted Alan into the silo.

"Oh Alan…" John trailed off. Alan smiled sorrowfully at John quickly, before he turned his gaze away. John pushed the thought away for the moment, knowing that Alan's injuries were more important at the moment.

After a while of tearing Alan's outer shirt and using it to cover the cuts, broken arm and gash on his leg, John carefully picked Alan up (like he had many times ago) and carefully off of the boulder.

Looking around he knew there was no path wide enough that Alan wouldn't get hit from the wild plants. Also he knew that Brains would locate them soon enough, knowing that the sensors would pick them up eventually.

Setting Alan down on the ground by the tree John sat down next to him carefully putting an arm around Alan's shoulder so he could lean on him. Alan did without a fuss and only the sounds of the jungle could be heard.

"John?" Alan asked breaking the silence.

"Hm, yeah?" John asked looking down at the younger blonde.

"I-I'm sorry." This surprised John.

"For what?"

"For being an idiot and getting myself into this mess." Alan said, turning his face away from John's chest.

"Well it is a mess, but you're not an idiot. It was just an accident." John said.

"Dad will be mad."

"After he's finished being worried to death. Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up and then I'll have a talk with dad, ok sport?" John asked ruffling Alan's hair lightly.

"Thanks John."

"No problem."

XXEndFlashbackXX

John sighed and turned his head away. They had eventually come, and gotten Alan safe, but not without the price of a broken arm, and 50 stitches altogether. That time and the others they had been able to help Alan. All the other times, someone had gotten to him and saved him.

But why not this time?

Why couldn't anyone save Alan this time?

John couldn't understand why. Out of all the people they saved, why couldn't the one they not save have to be so dear to them? John closed his eyes and leant his head back against the truck of the trees, slowly letting the tears of the past fall to marked and tainted ground.

Please Review!

Devlinn Reiko