Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners.

As per usual, a massive thank you to Bee for being such an amazing beta. The amount of things that would have just "brushed past" me without you! Thank you, you star!

Enjoy!

He was floating on the ocean, staring at the sky and just letting the water take his weight. All was peaceful, and he could have quite happily drifted off to sleep, just floating along. Something brushed past his arm and a hand lazily moved, believing it to be a piece of seaweed. But instead of feeling the slippery vegetation, it was something cold and heavy that his hand touched.

Gordon flipped into an upright position until he was treading water, looking about him to see what it was that he had felt. The sight that greeted him almost caused him to slip straight under the water, swallowing some and coughing harshly as he took in the sight with wide, scared eyes. It wasn't seaweed that had hit him, it was a hand. The ocean was full of bodies, all floating along where he had been. Somehow, they were all looking directly at him, wide, sightless eyes staring at him in an accusing manner.

"No..." He tried to push himself backwards, to swim away, but he was surrounded by the dead, blocking him and leaving him with no way to return to the land.

"It's all your fault. You could have saved us." The voice was that of a young child, a girl of no more than six. She was the closest to Gordon, looking at him with the same accusations in her stare as the others. But she was also crying, the same tears that had been running down her face as Gordon had fought to get close to her before death had snatched her away. She had exactly the same expression on her face now as she did then, apart from the hatred in her eyes.

"I tried! I couldn't get to you..."

"You should have tried harder!"

Gordon suddenly felt more hands around him, holding onto his legs and slowly, almost lovingly, drawing him under the water. He struggled to get free, fighting to get to the surface, but the hands were relentless in their grip. The water he had grown up loving was slowly killing him as he tried to breathe, but only sucked in a mouthful of the salty ocean...

"No!"

With a yell, Gordon sat bolt upright, breathing heavily and sweating. For a moment, he just collapsed back against his pillows, letting his arm flop over his eyes as he tried to banish the images of the nightmare. He guessed that he should have seen it coming, should have known that there was no way his night was going to be peaceful. Five rescues in four days. It was enough to exhaust anyone physically, and the catastrophe of the third rescue was still playing heavily on his mind. It had turned into more of a body collection than an actual rescue. The disaster had happened so quickly, by the time the call of distress had been put through and International Rescue were on their way, it was too late.

Just another reason why Gordon hated flash floods with a vengeance.

But not everyone had been dead when they arrived. Gordon had spotted the little girl from a distance and immediately leapt into the churning water despite Scott's furious shout behind him. He had been close enough to reach her hand, to take her to safety, when a branch that had been broken off by the storm came rushing through the water, striking him on the side of the head and tearing him away from her terrified grasp. He had come round in Two's sickbay with Virgil standing over him, dripping wet, with a scowl on his face but relief in his eyes. No one else had spotted the girl, but Gordon had found her body three hours later.

He should have been able to save her!

With a sigh, Gordon swung his legs off his bed and stood up, pulling his sweat-drenched t-shirt off at the same time. Throwing it into the corner of his room, he didn't even bother getting a new one or turning on the light as he left his room. Alan's bedroom light was still on, and without thinking what he was doing, Gordon pushed the door open with one hand and stepped into the chaos that was his little brother's room. Climbing over piles of clutter on the floor, Gordon perched on the edge of Alan's bed, smirking down at his sibling. Alan was sprawled on his stomach, taking up nearly every inch of the bed, but his heavy breathing showed that he was managing to sleep. He hadn't come on that rescue. Whilst all the others had resulted in the normal tiredness that accompanied a mission, the fact that people had walked away with their lives meant that it didn't have the same emotional strain. By sheer luck, the youngest member of the family had been saved from that.

Knowing that Alan had no idea he was there – he could sleep as deeply as Virgil when he was tired – Gordon ran a hand through his brother's hair and tugged the covers up again before heading to the door. Hearing a muffled grumble, he turned just in time to see Alan kick said covers off again, turning in his sleep as he did so and causing a fond smile to cross Gordon's face. It seemed that his little brother really hadn't changed as he had grown up.

Padding quietly down the hallway, Gordon resisted the urge to turn on every light as he passed. He had never understood how John managed to creep around in the dark so easily, and there was a tense moment where he stubbed his toe outside of Scott's door. Gordon was convinced that his brother would have been out of his bedroom like a shot considering the language that slipped from the water-loving Tracy's mouth, but all was quiet. Blowing out a low breath in disbelief at his luck, Gordon continued his unusually quiet journey through the house and down the stairs. He was heading towards the kitchen when he realised there was a still a light on in the room.

Pushing the door open, he couldn't help but grin slightly. He should have known that he wouldn't have been the only one up, given how late it had been when they had arrived home from the rescue. Considering the adrenaline rush that had still been pumping through him, Gordon was surprised that he had managed to fall asleep at all.

Both Scott and Virgil were in the kitchen, but the video-screen was active and showing John looking just as dishevelled as his earth-bound brothers. The blond had a mug cradled in his hands and his feet up on the control panel, a thin blanket resting over his shoulders indicating that the space station was much cooler than the tropical island. Gordon let his eyes drift to the other two after a tight smile at his brother, noting that they too had mugs in their hands. Scott caught his eye, grinned, and pushed an almost full and still hot mug of hot chocolate towards Gordon.

"Thought you might need it," he said softly, his eyes bouncing between his three younger brothers, concern spiralling within.

"H...how did you know I'd be down?" Gordon muttered through a yawn, hitching himself onto the counter and cradling the mug. The temperature on the island might have indicated that such a warm drink was not the best of ideas, but the comfort it offered – and always had done – made any temperature worthwhile.

"Virgil's only been here ten minutes, he heard you mumbling on the way down." Scott stretched out his hand and ruffled Virgil's hair. The artist had his head cushioned on his arms on the table, hands still wrapped around his own mug despite his unusual position. He barely had his eyes open, but Gordon could see the same look in his brother's eyes that he knew was present in his own. It was why nothing had been said as to why he was walking around the house at three in the morning. It was also why he hadn't even blinked at seeing three other brothers also up. It was the look of someone haunted.

"Have you even been to bed?" Gordon questioned Scott, rolling his eyes slightly when the eldest shook his head, in turn glancing at John.

"Someone needed company."

"I told you I'm fine, that you should have got some rest," John protested, but Gordon could read his brother's body language. He believed that John would have put up a fight when he realised that Scott had no intention of going to bed, but he was also relieved when his big brother had refused to cave. John didn't have the luxury of something even as simple as a friendly punch on the arm.

Virgil, however, was watching Gordon.

"Who was it?"

Gordon dropped his gaze and swallowed hard.

"The girl."

"Gords, you nearly died trying to get to her..."

"I know, I know," Gordon broke through Virgil's reasonable tone, part of him wondering how someone so tired could sound so logical at this time in the morning. He knew that he had tried; he knew that he could have gotten himself killed trying to reach her. But that didn't make it any better, didn't stop the nightmares. "How about you?"

"The old man."

"The priest guy?"

Virgil nodded, sitting up slightly and staring into the depths of his cup as if he was contemplating death by chocolate. That might have been John's way out, but it wasn't Virgil's.

"He squeezed my hand, blessed us, and then just gave up. Why the hell did he give up? I could have got him out of there!" Virgil's voice had taken on a hurt and slightly angry tone, causing Scott to reach out his hand and squeeze the back of his neck comfortingly. For a moment, it looked as if Virgil was going to protest, not wanting his brother to try and make him feel any better because, as with Gordon, it didn't banish the demons of the night.

"If you had been trying to get him out, you would have never heard the kid. He knew he was visible and the child wasn't, so got your attention to bring you over to make sure the boy was found."

"I could have saved them both!"

"Virg, stop." Scott's hand tightened again on Virgil's neck, only this time in slight warning. Virgil sighed deeply, sinking back down until he was resting on the table and nodded. It didn't matter that he had just used the same reasoning to try and get Gordon to relax; the Tracys were all too similar when the mood took them.

"How's Brains coming along with the updates for Four, Gords?"

John's question took Gordon completely by surprise; he had been too busy watching the interaction between Virgil and Scott. For a moment, he just blinked in astonishment at John, wondering why on earth he was choosing some god-forsaken time in the morning when none of them were in the mood to ask. But then he looked properly at John's expression. He was finding it just as hard as the rest of them, having to listen to everything over the comms whilst his brothers were faced with death at every turn. But because there was no one up there to force him to snap out of thinking about what they could have done differently, he was doing the only thing he could. He changed the subject.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for the mood in the kitchen to change dramatically as petty arguments sprang up about whose turn it was to receive an update first. Gordon caught Virgil's eye and smiled softly, getting an equally restrained nod back in response. No, neither of them was okay. No, there was nothing the other could do to make the haunted look in their eyes disappear, or to banish the nightmares back to where they had come from. But they understood that and knew it was the same for both of them. They would carry on as normal, have middle of the night hot chocolate sessions as normal, and just like normal, listen to Scott and John argue over whatever it was they were now squabbling about, even if both did have small smiles on their faces. Both of them knew, just as normal, that they would get there, even if it did take a little bit of time.

TBTBTB

The Tracy sons were not the only ones who had been jolted awake by nightmares. Jeff was sitting out on his balcony, staring at the moon and mildly wondering where John was in relation to him right now. Some nights he was convinced there was another star in the sky as Thunderbird Five watched over the Earth, despite knowing that seeing it from down here was impossible. It wasn't the faces of the victims they had been too late to save that had haunted his dreams, but those of his own children. He knew how much this was grating on them, and a silent check of their rooms not five minutes ago had revealed that Alan was the only one who was escaping the nightmares tonight. Jeff shared Gordon's – and the others' – relief that he had not been on the worst rescue. He wouldn't have wished it on any of them, but at least he knew in his own mind that his youngest had been protected from that horror.

Not that it had done the rest of them much good, and he couldn't shake the memory of the look on Gordon's face when they had arrived back at 1am that morning, splattered in mud. The flood was possibly their worst one to date, debriefing had barely even finished before a forest fire in Australia had called them away again, banishing their demons back down below rather than allowing them to let them out and confront them. At least the fire hadn't resulted in any loss of life.

The only thing that he was relieved about was that John had reported that all seemed quiet when the father had turned in for the night. He knew it meant nothing; trouble could spring up without warning. But for the last few weeks, places had been on alert – a volcano due to erupt in Italy, an earthquake due in San Francisco. Hopefully the world would give International Rescue a couple of weeks to prepare themselves for the next rush. Give his sons the chance to recover. Jeff had begun to seriously contemplate alternating who went where, knowing they were all exhausted. The only reason he hadn't yet done it was because he knew the arguments that would create. Scott would not let his brothers out there without him, and Jeff wasn't sure if he wanted them out there without the clear guidance of his Field Commander. But his oldest son had looked positively exhausted earlier on that day, and Jeff was worried he might not have much choice.

All they needed was a few days. Time to work out all their frustrations over the losses, then catch up on the much needed sleep. A few days would be all that was needed to put the sparkle back in Gordon's eye and the paintbrush in Virgil's hand. When he heard Scott whistling as he came back in from his morning run and Alan complaining about something to Tin-Tin, then he knew that the world would be okay again. Until then, he just hoped that the rest of the world would decide to take this time to have a bit of peace and quiet.

Swirling the glass he had clutched in his hand, Jeff sighed before downing the last of his whisky. He didn't even want to know what his mother was going to say when she found out, but he had needed something to drive away his own demons, his own guilt. He had sent them out there, he had been the one to make them witness the horrors they had seen and feel the guilt that was now plaguing them. Jeff shook his head as he placed his glass down, knowing that they would never forgive him for thinking that way. They didn't blame him, so why should he blame himself? Maybe it was just a father thing?

Jeff moved back into his room and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, letting the almost non-existent breeze wash in from the still open door, swirling around him and making him sigh again before standing up. Something told him there wasn't going to be much sleep for the head of International Rescue tonight. It was strange. They often went through a night where none of them got any rest at all and debated whether they were doing the right thing or not. Then, the next morning, they would carry on as if nothing had happened. It was their way of dealing, for Jeff knew as well as his boys that if they started to think too hard on what might happen, they would never be able to function.

Determined to try and escape his own guilt, Jeff moved across his room and once again found himself padding down the corridor. There was no point checking on the older ones, he could see from here that the kitchen light was still on. No doubt when Kyrano went down to make breakfast the next morning, they would still be in there, Gordon most likely sitting on the floor, leaning back against the counter with an old sweater of Scott's over him from where his brother had attempted to keep him warm. Virgil would be at the table, head on his arms and curled up in his chair. Scott would be the only one awake, staring into space but ready to jump at any noise. Ready to do anything that would mean his brothers got the rest they needed. But not every member of the family was down there, and without really thinking about it, Jeff opened Alan's door for the second time that night.

Maybe he would just reassure himself by Alan's steady breathing that it was worth it? They were saving lives, they were stopping families going through the grief they had gone through. He had missed years of Alan's upbringing because of it, and he was not going to let another child go through that if he had a say in it. Pulling his son's chair round until it was next to the bed, Jeff sat back down. He leant forward, brushed a stray lock of hair away from Alan's forehead and sighed.

By morning, he would be fine. But right now, he just needed to reassure himself that things were going to be okay.

TBTBTB

Despite it being nearly four in the morning, the Tracys weren't the only ones who were still awake. But it wasn't nightmares that had awoken Kyrano from the light sleep he had managed to find some rest in. It wasn't the same guilt over whether they could have saved one more person from the flood that had the Malaysian peeling his eyes open and blinking for a moment at the low ceiling he had insisted on for his room.

The strange thing was, he couldn't even say what it was that had brought him back to reality. It was just a feeling, something twisting unpleasantly in his gut. A heavy feeling settling in on him that had immediately caused him to leap out of bed and pad barefoot next door to where his daughter slept. She was so peaceful, so at ease despite the trouble the family had been going through that her father couldn't help but smile. Kyrano moved across to Tin-Tin's window, opening it slightly and letting some air into the room, breathing in deeply and attempting to clear his mind.

Failures at rescues had never affected him as much as the Tracys. He didn't have Jeff's guilt at sending his sons out there, although he did share in the father's worry whenever his own daughter was involved. He didn't have the boys' thoughts that perhaps they should have moved slightly quicker, knowing the young men would have done everything in their power to save one more life, even if it was nearly at the cost of their own.

So why had he awoken with a bad feeling about International Rescue for the first time since it had begun? He knew the others would have just said that it was the stress of the last few weeks, but Kyrano knew that was not it. This was something dark, something even more menacing than anything Mother Nature could attempt to throw at them. This was something that made him shift uncomfortably as he stared out at the ocean and thought about what could be coming. Danger was lurking in the air, he could feel it. It was something unnerving, something that even Tin-Tin's calm and steady breathing couldn't calm him down from.

After a moment or so, he turned and left her room again, knowing that she was a light sleeper. He certainly didn't want anyone else to find out about this until he was ready for them to. He knew what they were like, practical men, all of them. They wouldn't believe that he wasn't just reacting to the rescues. Until he knew precisely what it was he was feeling, why he was feeling it, and more precisely, how it was going to affect the people that he considered to be his family, Kyrano wasn't going to say anything.

Instead, he moved across to his own room and stepped out onto the balcony. The edge of the forest was almost directly under him and he could see the calming movement of the ocean when he lifted his eyes. The relaxed atmosphere and tranquillity of the island was finally beginning to calm the uneasiness in him, and Kyrano sat down on a woven mat, crossing his legs and breathing in deeply, focusing himself. Everyone was safe, and even if they weren't quite at peace, he knew that they would be fine; they were all strong.

He let his thoughts run wild as he closed his eyes, trying to pinpoint where this feeling was coming from. He wasn't even sure if he had experienced it before or not, although there was something familiar about the uneasiness caressing his soul. Time passed as he lost himself to his thoughts, minutes trickling into hours before he finally opened his eyes again.

The sun had just begun to rise, the birds beginning to greet the new day, and Kyrano knew this was his normal awakening time, the time when he normally relished the peace and quiet of the island whilst he got things together to help the rest of the occupants through the day.

Not quite feeling settled yet, he rose fluidly to his feet and glanced once more at the ocean, the sun just beginning to sparkle off the waves, once again making the island appear to be a paradise, a great contrast to the turmoil the night had brought. His hand hesitated on the door handle for a long moment before he turned and headed back inside.

No matter how at peace the island seemed, Kyrano was sure of one thing. It wasn't going to stay that way. And this time, it wouldn't just be a rescue gone wrong that would throw the Tracys into chaos. This would be something much darker, much more of a threat to the family. He might not be able to say what was causing his discomfort, but Kyrano knew something for sure.

Something was coming.