Hello all, here's a new one from me. It takes place a short time after the movie and after the events in "Reflections and Self Doubts". I've tweaked with the ages a bit, seems to me that the guys were a bit too young to have done what they have with their lives so far. So in my little world Scott is 27, John, is 25, Virgil is 22, Gordon is 19 and Alan is 16. Fermat and Tin-Tin are 15. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!
"Do you have the target in sight?"
"Target has been acquired."
"Adjust trajectory by 10 degrees."
"Trajectory adjusted."
"Steady…Wait…Fire!"
"FAB. Launching…Now!"
Gordon and Alan watched as the water balloon soared across the patio, headed straight for Parker. The boys watched in glee as the missile got closer to Parker's unsuspecting head. Just before it hit him, Parker lifted the serving tray in front of him, easily deflecting the balloon, all the while continuing his conversation with John.
Gordon and Alan stared in disbelief. "I don't get it? How'd he know?" Alan asked, bewildered.
Gordon scowled. "Bet John told him."
"Masters Gordon and Alan, a word if you don't mind." Parker called out to them.
Alan shrugged. "Guess we'd better go face the music."
"Yeah, c'mon." They made their way across the terrace. "Hey Parker, Johnny, what's up?" Gordon asked innocently.
The thief-turned-butler frowned sternly at the boys. "Attacking a man from behind young masters? That is entirely dishonorable."
"It was only a water balloon Parker, chill." Alan grinned.
"Nonetheless, it was an unprovoked attack, and certainly beneath you. I suggest you be more careful in the future." Parker smiled wolfishly.
"How'd you know it was coming anyway?" Gordon asked.
Parker nodded towards their older brother. "It was Master John here."
Gordon elbowed Alan. "I told you it was John." He scowled.
John held his hands up in protest. "Hey, I didn't say a thing!"
Parker shook his head. "That is correct Master John. You didn't say anything. I saw their reflections in your sunglasses."
John pulled off his mirrored shades and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry guys."
"Yeah, sure you are." Gordon muttered. "C'mon Alan, let's go." The two retreated into the house.
Parker and John watched them go. "They'll never learn, will they Parker."
"No sir, I'm afraid not." He grinned up at John. "But then neither did the rest of you."
John laughed. "You're right there." He looked up as his father and Penelope came out on the terrace. "Dad, Lady P."
"Hello John." Penelope smiled.
"What were Gordon and Alan up to?" Jeff Tracy asked his son.
"Just the usual trouble Dad. Water balloons." John answered.
Jeff shook his head. "Who were they after this time?"
"Myself sir. But I managed to evade their attack." Parker told him. They all laughed.
"Those two, I swear, they're worse then all five of you put together." Jeff shook his head.
"So, what's up Dad?" John asked as Penelope went with Parker over to the bar to get a drink.
"Brains reports that the repairs to Thunderbird 5 are complete. She's ready when you are son." Jeff said, trying to gauge his son's reaction.
John shifted his gaze upward. "That's good." He said softly.
Jeff looked closely at his second son. John had been seriously injured just over a month ago, when a madman calling himself the Hood, attacked the Tracy's space station. Even now, John was still recovering from broken ribs, a concussion, and various bruises and burns. He had finally started putting on lost weight and his skin had the beginnings of a tan. To outward appearances John seemed fine, but his eyes were still wary, as if he expected an attacker to jump out from behind every bush.
"John—" Jeff was interrupted by the beep of his phone. He quickly pulled it from his pocket and held it to his ear. "International Rescue." He nodded thoughtfully a moment. "Tell them we'll be there as soon as we can." Jeff closed the phone.
"Trouble Dad?" John asked.
Jeff nodded. "Volcano eruption in Iceland. Alert your brothers."
"I'll meet you in Command-Control." John sped off into the house.
Penny and Parker watched him run off. "Jeff? What's wrong?" She asked.
Jeff took her hand and brought it up to his lips. "Sorry Penny, but duty calls. Will you be here when we get back?"
Penelope smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Of course. Just be careful. All of you."
"We always are." He kissed her softly, and nodding to Parker, hurried off after John.
"We have the last of the evacuees safely aboard Thunderbird 2. We'll drop them off at the shelter in Reykjavik. "
"FAB Virgil. We'll see you at home." John turned as Scott stepped into the cock-pit and strapped himself in his seat. "Welcome back." John said as he pulled back Thunderbird 1's throttle and the bigrocket shot into the air. "You all right?"
Scott nodded and wiped the soot off his face with his glove. "Yeah, just a little crispy around the edges."
"I'd noticed. Hold still." Scott froze as John bent over and pulled something out from beneath the dash board. "I'm hungry." He held a marshmallow on a pencil over his brother's ash covered arm. "There, just the way I like 'em."John grinned at his older brother and popped the marshmallow into his mouth.
Scott scowled. "Very funny John. You've been hanging around Gord and Alan too much." He sneezed, sending soot flying.
John laughed as he banked TB1 into an easy arc across northern Canada, on a southerly course towards Tracy Island. "Seriously here, you could probably use this." He handed his brother a chocolate bar.
Scott reached for it eagerly. "Thanks." They flew on in silence for a while. "You're pretty quiet today, and I noticed you volunteered to stay here while we went down below. What's up?"
John shrugged and avoided his brother's gaze. "Nothing. Just wanted to fly for a change that's all."
Scott looked closely at his younger brother. John held himself stiffly, his body tense, and his face was uncharacteristically expressionless. All the Tracy brothers were close, but John and Scott were especially so. Though John was trying to hide it, Scott knew that something was wrong. "Don't lie to me John."
John didn't answer, but switched the controls over to Scott and got up and paced the short length of the cockpit. "Dad told me that Thunderbird 5's repairs are complete and I can head back up anytime." He said quietly, staring out the windows at nothing.
Scott heard the apprehension in his younger brother's voice. "Don't you want to?"
"I…I don't know."
"John…"
"I guess I just hadn't thought about it. It's been a long time since I spent this much time at home. I've kinda gotten used to it that's all."
Liar, Scott thought to himself. "Want me to go with you?"
John looked up in surprise. "What?"
"Just until you get settled back in. Give you a hand testing out all the new equipment Brains installed."
John smiled. "Thanks, but no. I'll be fine." He slipped back into his seat. "Besides, after spending the past month with Alan and Gordon, it'll be good to have some peace and quiet again."
"You sure?" Scott persisted.
John nodded. "What's our ETA?" He asked, changing the subject.
Scott sighed. "A little more than an hour."
"Good. You get some rest. I'll fly her home."
"This is my baby you remember I'm only letting you fly her because I feel sorry for you." Scott teased good naturedly.
"Sorry for me?"
"Yep. I because have a real 'bird, not some space station that just sits there." Scott grinned. "And we both know I'm the better pilot."
John grinned back. "In your dreams flyboy."
"I could fly in my sleep." Scott retorted.
"Yeah, but you've been out playing in the lava all day, so let's not test that theory."
Scott eased his hands off the controls as John took over. "Have it your way blondie. Wake me when we get home."
Two hours later, still in their dust covered uniforms, they all gathered in the Control-Command Center to debrief.
"So, talk to me boys." Jeff smiled at them.
"Textbook Dad. Alan supervised the rescue efforts, while Gordon and Scott rounded up the inhabitants and loaded them onto TB2." Virgil grinned at Alan who looked down, blushing, at his feet.
"John managed to divert the worst of the lava streams and Virgil took care of the others with the Firefly. They're going to have some major rebuilding to do, but no lives were lost." Scott added.
They went on for a while, discussing the mission until Jeff cut them off. "All right boys, great job. I couldn't have done it better myself." He grinned.
"Next time we'll send you." Scott muttered, still sneezing up soot. His brothers laughed.
"OK, now with new business." Jeff punched in some commands on the computer and the large viewscreen came to life showing Thunderbird 5.
Luckily, the Hood's missile had only done superficial damage to the station itself. Once the immediate crisis was over, Brains and Jeff went up to look around. The missile had hit the outer ring, punching a hole in the structure. Most of the computers were damaged from electrical overload and again from the Hood's takeover of Command-Control. It took three weeks, of nearly eighteen hour work days, for the hull to be repaired. Jeff oversaw most of the work himself, with Gordon, Scott, and Virgil helping him. Brains rebuilt the computer systems, almost from scratch, with John and Fermat and even Alan, helping planet-side. The good news was that now all was new and completely state of the art, not that it hadn't been before.
"Brains has everything up and running. First, we've attached an emergency escape pod to the station. It has manual controls, but it's designed to be guided in from the Command-Control Center. The pod itself, seats two comfortably, three in a pinch. Brains assures me that even though it looks like it's made of tin foil, it will survive re-entry." Jeff told them.
"Anything would be better than the last re-entry I had to go through." John muttered good-naturedly. They all laughed.
Jeff went on. "Also, Brains added an early warning alarm to the systems on TB5, complete with a new weapons protocol."
The boys stared at their father in stunned silence. Alan spoke up first. "Weapons? On a Thunderbird?"
Jeff nodded gravely. "The incident with the Hood proved we need some way of defending ourselves. Eventually all the ships will be equipped with defensive weaponry. And you are all going to have defensive maneuvers and weapons training." His tone booked no argument.
"But Dad, don't you think this is a bit…overkill?" Gordon asked.
"Yeah, the guy's in jail. And he won't be getting out anytime soon." Virgil added.
"We can't guarantee that Virgil. He was supposed to have died. A mere jail cell would be child's play to a man like the Hood." Jeff said.
Scott's hands clenched into fists. "If he ever shows his ugly face around here again, I'm not going to need any damn weapons to finish him off." He said, his voice harsh.
"Stand in line. I get him first." Alan responded, just as coldly.
They all began speaking at once. All except John. "All right, that's enough!" Jeff bellowed. They all stopped talking and stared at their father. "That's better. John?"
John shrugged. "I'm with them Dad. He's a dead man if he tries going after any of us again." His voice sounded sure, but Scott could read the doubt in his brother's eyes.
"So, are you all set to head back up?" Jeff asked his second son.
John nodded. "Just give me a few days to pack."
"And go shopping for more chocolate!" Gordon whispered audibly. They all laughed and the tension in the room broke.
"Good. Head to the showers boys. We'll plan on heading up there by the end of the week. Kyrano, Onaha, Tin-Tin, Brains and Fermat will be back tomorrow. We'll have one last night with just us, then party it up when the others come home." Jeff smiled.
"Us and Lady P. of course." Virgil added slyly, elbowing Gordon and winking.
Jeff refused to rise to the bait. His face did turn an interesting shade of red however. "Yes Virgil, Penny and Parker will be joining us. Now all of you get out of here! You smell like burnt toast."
The boys all laughed and headed out the door. Scott waited until the others had left, then shut the door and turned to his father. "Dad? I'm worried about John."
Jeff looked up from his desk in surprise. "Why?"
"I don't think he's ready to go back up there. Alone anyway."
Jeff frowned. "Did he say something to you?"
Scott shook his head. "Not in so many words, no. I think he's still shook up by the whole thing. Then you throw this weapons info at him and he just sorta retreated into himself."
"I think you're overreacting Scott. If John had a problem, he'd tell me."
"No he wouldn't Dad. This is John we're talking about here." Scott persisted. "I want to go with him. Just for a couple of weeks until he's settled in."
Jeff shook his head. "Scott, I need you here."
"No you don't. Alan is more than capable to fly TB1."
"That may be true, but he has no experience or training. And he's going back to school." Jeff shook his head again.
"Virgil then, or Gordon."
"I'm sorry son, I just can't spare you. Not now."
"Dammit Dad! John needs me too!" Scott nearly shouted.
"That's enough Scott." Jeff waited until Scott quieted down. "Your brother will be fine." Jeff got to his feet and placed his hands on Scott's shoulders. "Scotty, stop fretting. John can handle it. He's a Tracy remember."
"But Dad—"
"No buts. I'll have a talk with him. Now go get cleaned up."
Scott sighed in defeat and left the room. Jeff watched his retreating back and shaking his head, sat down and finished his reports.