And here it is, the final chapter! I cannot thank you enough for those gorgeous reviews, especially those I can't respond directly too. I've been overwhelmed by the response to this, thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this final instalment. Another huge thank you to Bee for being an amazing beta!

John cradled his mug casually in his hands, letting the warmth seep into him as he stared out into the depths of space. Sighing contently, he had to smile. Just as he was thinking that he ought to actually get on with some work rather than just staring out of the window, his watch suddenly vibrated. Flicking it casually with his finger, John didn't even look down.

"Hey, Scott."

"How...how did you know it was me?" The uncertainty in his older brother's voice made John smirk fondly, finally glancing down at his watch. Predictably Scott had a confused look on his face, not quite realising how John had known without looking.

"Alan's in class, Gordon should – if his timing lately is anything to go by – be pounding out laps and I've only just shut Virgil up."

It had been three weeks since John had returned to Five. The first two were both the best and worst experiences of John's life. It had been hard being back up there; especially as the damage from the Hood's attack was everywhere he looked. Everything from the control panel being all but fried down to the coffee machine having exploded; ruins and chaos haunted him at every turn he took. It was almost as if it was reflecting just how much of a mess he had been. But with Alan up there with him, he had managed to banish the demons, knowing that he had to keep strong in order not to freak out the kid. And, just as the family had managed to slowly piece John back together on the island, the two blond sons of Jeff Tracy had slowly, but surely begun returning Five to her former glory, Brains bringing Fermat up for the day once they had returned to the island themselves.

When Jeff and Scott had arrived to take Alan home and back to school, John had found some of his old feelings resurfacing. He knew that this was the moment that they had all been waiting for, waiting to see how he would react to being left on his own. But when Jeff had given him a deep, searching look, almost as if he was seeing into his son's very soul, John knew the answer. He was ready. Five was as much his home as the island was, and right now, she needed him. And if he was honest, John needed his 'bird. The day to day tasks of getting her back up to scratch kept his mind occupied for the most part, and when the first rescue since the attack had been called in, John knew he was truly home. The excitement in Gordon's voice when he had told his brother all about how he thought that the child must have been killed in the earthquake, only to find the little boy still alive and waiting to be rescued was still replaying around the blond's mind. This was where the world needed him to be, he knew that now. The rescue might not have even been picked up on Five's damaged autopilot systems. John had been forced to scramble the signal more than once to try and get the reading through. But if had been worth it. And hearing the success being reported back, John had felt a rush of pride at the role he had played in bringing it about. He knew full well that should he be on the island, he would be constantly subjected to the concerned glances from the rest of the family, and right now, John didn't need that. He needed time and space to get his thoughts together, and ironically, it was Five that provided him with just that.

It wasn't as if his brothers gave him the chance to feel alone, not with the amount of contact they were making. If anything, John was finding that he had to cut them off in order to get anything else done. He knew Alan's schedule like the back of his hand, knew precisely when the kid would be around to have a chat and when he was most likely to be doing something else. It also hadn't been a guess when he had told Scott that Gordon would be swimming laps given the time of the day; his second youngest brother also had a surprisingly strict routine that he was sticking to. If anything, the whole ordeal had really opened John's eyes to his redheaded sibling. He had always thought Gordon had been the most laid-back of the brothers, and yet the fact that the aquanaut always called him at almost exactly the same time each day showed him otherwise. Virgil and Scott were calling in whenever they got a spare moment.

"You really are okay, aren't you, kid?"Scott said fondly, rolling his eyes at the way John seemed to know everything that was going on. As he predicted, his little brother immediately pulled a face at Scott's choice of name, causing the older man to smirk. It was nice to see the old John returning, although Scott would have done anything to rewind time and stop him from disappearing in the first place.

"So what did Virg want?" the pilot continued, wondering what Virgil could have spent so long talking about. He had been curious as to where his younger brother had disappeared off to over an hour ago, but judging by the look on John's face, the blond had been subjected to a long chat. Not that John minded, he felt like he had missed out a lot over the last few months as he had slowly withdrawn into himself. The small, day-to-day details of his brothers' lives had disappeared, and the astronaut was determined that he was going to get them all back again. Not that Virgil had put up much of a fuss, however, instead going on about anything and everything that came into his mind. Not that John had had a particular interest in how bad the latest replica of a famous painting was, but if Virgil was happy, then that suited his big brother.

"A run-down on the universe," John responded with a laugh, finally turning away and heading back towards the small kitchen. Dumping his cup on the side with the intention of sorting it out later, he hitched himself up onto the counter in order to carry on the conversation with his brother. There had been something he had been putting off asking Scott ever since he had returned, but knew that if they were finally going to put what had happened behind them, he had to get things cleared up.

"Scotty?"

"Yeah?" Catching onto the tone of his brother's voice, Scott couldn't help but feel the familiar flicker of nerves shoot through his stomach. Every time John sounded uncertain, his big brother was immediately transported back onto the beach, a sobbing John pleading to not have to go back to Five. Scott had to admit he was not happy that his brother was back on the space station so soon, but Jeff had reassured his son that John had practically begged to go back. He had used the analogy of falling off a bike, the only way being to get straight back on. Even so, that hadn't stopped Scott from constantly making contact with his brother, just to reassure himself if nothing else that the younger man was coping. And if he was honest, Scott couldn't see any evidence that he wasn't.

"Did I really disconnect that quickly after calling in rescues?"

Silence fell on the other end of the line, but John knew that Scott was just thinking about the best way to respond to his brother. John hadn't really thought about what he had been doing, Gordon's words opening his eyes for the first time. But he needed to know quite how prepared to shut them out he had been. For if he didn't know that, then how could he hope to make up for it?

"Yeah, Johnny, you did," Scott responded heavily, any humour vanishing from his voice. Without looking at his watch, John knew his brother well enough to know that Scott would be running a hand through his hair whilst he figured out what to tell John.

"How quick?" Knowing what his big brother was like in wanting to shield him from things he didn't think the younger man needed to know, John pushed the matter. He had to know exactly what he had done, how much of an idiot he had been during those months of withdrawing into himself, shutting his family off.

"We never even got the chance to say goodbye by the end."

This time, it was John's end of the line where silence fell. The quietness of Scott's voice showed that the same thing was running through his brother's mind as it was John's. The last rescue he had called in, apart from checking in with their father the night Alan had arrived back on the island, had been one such case. Meaning that they had never said goodbye before the missile hit. Working in the rescue business coupled with their own personal losses had given the Tracys an appreciation of just how much it meant to be able to say goodbye to a loved one. And John had denied them that opportunity.

"Shit, Scott. I'm...gees, man, I'm really sorry."

"Don't sweat it, space-face," Scott muttered, but John could tell that the humour in his voice was forced. This had affected his big brother as much as it had affected John. But for Scott, it was more than that. He couldn't rid himself of the hurt look on Gordon's face when John had just cut them off. And now that he was thinking back on it, Scott could easily bring to mind the troubled look that had shot between the prankster and his immediate older brother when John's portrait had gone blank once again.

"But Scott, I..."

One glance at his little brother's face, and Scott knew that John was more than aware what his actions had done to the family. But like John, Scott too simply wanted to move on. If John started dwelling on how much he had hurt them by shutting himself away, it would be just as destructive as him thinking they hadn't noticed. This time, however, Scott felt his big brother instincts kick firmly in. He could have lost John, lost them all, more than once in the last month. He was not going to let it happen again.

"John. Drop it." The firm note in Scott's voice got through to his brother, and sighing, John nodded his understanding. Absentmindedly swinging his legs back and forth against the counter, John ran his hand through his own hair.

"How did we get to this, Scott?"

"We were idiots," Scott responded, somewhat shortly as he locked eyes with John, making sure that his brother got the message that no one was to blame. "But now we know, and - unlike Gordon's normal approach - we learn from it and move on. It's not going to happen again, John."

"You're right, it's not," John said firmly, jumping off the counter and meandering his way through to the control area. Scott was right, all they could do was learn from it and make sure that it never happened again. Flicking a couple of switches, John jumped back with a curse as the button in front of him sparked dramatically before letting out a billow of thick smoke.

"John? John, are you okay?"

Coughing slightly, John found that he had to laugh.

"My girl's fighting back."

As Scott let out a muffled snort, John found his grin widening. Unable to stop himself, he was soon finding himself clutching the back of his – slightly cindered - command chair, breathless with laughter. The whole situation was so absurd and the family had been through so much that John found any other reaction was almost impossible. It wasn't only his 'bird that was fighting back, but him as well. No more was he just the Space Monitor, but once again part of the family.

Watching his brother try to gain control of himself, Scott raised his eyebrows. He hadn't seen John that relaxed for a very long time. He certainly hadn't been like that on the island, that was for sure. Suddenly smiling himself, he waited until John had managed to somewhat shakily draw a breath before speaking.

"It's good to have you back, Johnny."

"It's good to be back," John said quietly, meeting Scott's eyes and smiling. Finally in control of himself, he then proceeded to navigate himself into his chair. Gingerly reaching out a hand, he somehow managed to transfer Scott onto the main screen without the whole thing blowing up on him. Things may have been broken, but they certainly weren't beyond fixing.

"Hey, son."

His eyes flickering past Scott's shoulder, John grinned at seeing his father emerge. Before he could say anything however, John heard an ominous creak. Glancing down in confusion, his mouth opened in alarm.

"Whoa!" That was all he had time to say, however, before he abruptly disappeared from sight with a thud and a somewhat muffled curse.

"John! John, are you okay? Where are you?" The last part of Scott's questioning had him voicing his apparent confusion as to where his little brother had disappeared to. One moment, John had been sitting there, actually looking back in control for once. But now, he was nowhere to be seen. As he watched, a hand appeared at the bottom of the screen, giving him the thumbs up sign.

"I'm good." John's voice came floating back through the comms, and father and son couldn't help but trade relieved smiles at the laughter in John's voice.

"What happened, Johnny?" Jeff asked, navigating his way around his oldest son and perching on the edge of the desk. He could hear quite clearly that John was alright, despite having vanished.

"The damn chair broke."

For a moment, silence fell. But unlike the silence that had existed between the brothers not five minutes ago, this was a companionable one. The tension had all but vanished now everything had been voiced. There was nothing John was holding back on, not anymore. And there was no way his family was going to let him hold back again. Instead, they were making contact at every chance they got, reassuring themselves as much as their space-bound brother that John really had returned to them.

"The chair broke?" Scott asked, sounding more than incredulous. John could hear in his big brother's voice that Scott was desperately trying not to simply burst out laughing again. Finally hauling himself to his feet, John grinned ruefully.

"I may have thrown it across the station when I didn't think you were going to get here in time," he admitted, immediately causing Jeff to lean forward in concern. He had talked to John about the attack, tried to get the young man to voice everything that had gone through his head, making sure that John's mental state was as good as it could be considering everything that had happened.

"Why?"

"I hadn't said goodbye," John muttered quietly, meeting Scott's gaze briefly before dropping his eyes again. That was why he had needed to ask how quickly he had been signing off. It was only with the realisation that the station was losing power and his family had yet to arrive that had made John realise he had hadn't uttered those words for quite a while. It was in that moment he fully realised the extent of the distance that had sprung up between him and the rest of the family. Not knowing what to say – for there was certainly nothing he could do for John that the blond hadn't already done for himself – Scott smirked, trying to get himself back on familiar ground.

"Moron," he muttered fondly, wanting nothing more than to have his little brother in the room with him. To be able to give him a shove that portrayed how frustrated Scott was at the fact he had failed the star-lover, only to then turn it into a hug that showed how determined he was to make everything right again.

"Jerk," John shot back, his smile returning. With a soft nod, he tried to tell his brother without words that the message had been understood. How he would have shoved Scott straight back for being such a smother hen, but then put up with the hug in appreciation that his brother was still there for him.

"Dork." Scott's grin was widening now, a familiar banter springing up between the boys in a way that it hadn't done for a long time.

"That's enough," Jeff cut in, although his eyes were dancing in amusement at the same time. If he was honest, he had gone through more than one moment of thinking he would never hear his boys play-fighting again. He would have given anything in the world to get that side of his sons back, and watching his two eldest now, he knew that it had been achieved. He just couldn't believe that it nearly had cost him his boys before it emerged again.

"I'm getting a call coming through, talk to you in a bit," John hurriedly interrupted, his eyes sliding off the screen and onto the feeble flashing coming from the panel in front of him. He would need his full attention for this, his 'bird was still struggling to pull the calls through on her own.

"Sure thing. Report back when you have more information, son."

"F.A.B."

As Jeff reached out to disconnect the line, Scott reached out a hand, preventing his father's actions.

"Scott?"

"Goodbye, Johnny."

With a heartfelt smile, John once again returned his gaze to his brother. A feeling of contentment, of belonging, washed through him.

"Bye, Scott." With a fond shake of his head, John disconnected, turning his attention back to his malfunctioning Thunderbird.

The world needed the Thunderbirds. And the Thunderbirds needed him.

But so did his family.

The end!