Heroes

By Arashi no Baka

Disclaimer: not mine. Never will be.

Notes: I wrote this whilst on holiday…I thought it up after reading a book on the Island. Hope you like it. No doubt somebody will find something wrong with it...

It had seemed like such an easy thing to do at the time. It was only an essay. Even if the best ones did have to be presented at the end of the year in a ceremony. Simple.

Only his had won.

He still couldn't figure out how. Alan Tracy's essays just weren't that good. He didn't pass classes. He flunked them. And so when the essay stamped with an 'A-see me' had been placed on his desk, he'd automatically assumed there had been a mistake. A teacher miscalculation. After all, it had happened before. Fermat had actually believed he'd flunked a class once.

But it wasn't a mistake.

He'd really won. And that would mean that he'd have to read the essay a the ceremony. A ceremony his father would attend if he knew.

He couldn't have that

So he'd done all he could to make sure his father hadn't received notice of his win. No comments from teachers. No letters. He'd made up excuses instead. Like 'my fathers put of town' or 'my fathers really busy' and they'd believed him. After all, everybody knew Jeff Tracy was a busy guy. Only Alan hadn't counted on his friend, Fermat.

Who had told Gordon Tracy everything.

"Please"

"No"

"Please"

"No"

"Pleassseeee….."

Scott let out a noise of frustration and rounded on his younger brother in annoyance.

"Why?"

"Because it means so much to him to have me there…"

Scott wasn't buying it. Not the sweet tone. Not the hopeful expression. And certainly not the smirk. The typical-as-hell Gordon Tracy smirk.

"Why?"

Gordon sighed exasperatedly and hung his head, before gesturing across the island, in the direction of their brothers' school.

"Because he obviously doesn't want us there. Probably he doesn't expect there to be anybody anyway. After all, Dad won't go."

There was a bitterness there that Scott picked up on. He knew how Gordon and Alan felt. Well, he didn't know but he understood it. Jeff never seemed to have time for Alan and Gordon felt it all, being the one Alan turned to.

Maybe that could change.

"What did you have in mind?"

John raised a blonde eyebrow. It wasn't often he got a call from his red-headed brother. It was normally Jeff or Scott that contacted him. Hardly ever Gordon.

"You want me to what?!"

"Please John. This is really important to me…"

John hesitated. He already knew what Jeff would say. And that his father wouldn't approve. But then, Gordon didn't ask for favours very often either. Well, from anyone but Alan anyway.

"Please. It means so much to Alan for…"

"I thought Alan didn't know!"

Gordon ran a hand through his already tousled hair, and it seemed to John that Gordon had suffered through this before. He decided to appease his brother. After all, he really did care about Alan.

"Okay Gordo. What time do you need me to contact you?"

Jeff Tracy looked up as Scott and Virgil entered his office. They both had that mulish look about them that meant he wouldn't be getting any work done tonight. He looked into their eyes as they stood before his desk.

"Alan comes home tonight."

The sentence surprised Jeff and he mirrored an act his second eldest had performed just that morning. He raised an eyebrow.

"I know…"

He ended a questioning tone, hoping that one of his two sons would elaborate on what they meant. Virgil spoke first, motioning at the small computer on Jeff's desk. Jeff looked at it, and then back at Virgil in confusion.

"I think that you should open a channel to Johnny dada."

Jeff was bewildered as to what this was all about. He turned a questioning glance to his eldest, knowing that Scott would reveal all, but to his surprise, Scott titled his head to one side and repeated Virgil's words.

Silently, deciding to play along, Jeff initiated contact with Thunderbird 5. Instead of John's cheerful face, he got a connection to a Video camera. Frowning, Jeff looked at his two sons.

"What's this all about?"

Scott sighed and motioned at the camera.

"Juts keep watching Dad. Please…"

Something about the tone Scott was using made Jeff look back at the computer. Finally, the camera panned back to face the holder. To his immense surprise, Gordon's face smiled back at his.

"Hey Dad. Johnny. And I know Scott and Virg are there…"

As if on cue, both Virgil and Scott came to stand behind Jeff, all three were glancing at the red-head on the small computer screen. Gordon tilted his head to one side, smiling vaguely.

"I bet your all wondering why I made you do all this. I only told Scott, Johnny and Virgil about this part dad. They don't know anything else…"

Gordon stared off camera for a second, and spoke words too soft to hear. Pretty son, his ace was back on camera, his smile gone, replaced by an impassive look.

"I apologise in advance if there's a rescue while I'm gone dad. But I had to do this. Someone had to come. Though I know it's not your fault…."

All of the rooms' occupants waited in silence. Jeff felt oddly on guard. What's was Gordon talking about? And why was he off the Island? More importantly…

Why hadn't he realised he'd gone?

"He never told anybody. Not even me. Fermat told me. One of the essays Dad. One that Alan wrote. It won an award…"

There was a sharp intake of breath, but Jeff wasn't sure whom it came from. Him. Or one of his sons.

"He's getting it in a ceremony. Only he has to read it out. To the assembled people. And Fermat suggested we hear it. As it…sorta…involves us."

Alan clutched the essay in a grip that he didn't know was possible. Although he was tenses and shaking, he felt oddly calm. Sort of numb to all feeling. If he could rescue a monorail car full of people from the Thames, he could read an essay front of all these people, no problem.

In theory.

As if like a light, sound and sight returned to Alan in a flash. The applause was deafening as he stepped onto the podium, his name still ringing in his ears,

He wasn't surprised to see the absence of his family. They had to be on hand for a rescue. However, he could see Lady Penelope and Parker in the front, the latter already had tears in his eyes. No doubt they would be reporting to his father.

That could be a problem.

And there was an annoying guy with a video camera that kept catching Alan's eyes. Great. He was being filmed.

As he took the ward from an oddly cheery Headmaster, he faced the crowd.

"Thanks. I don't know what to else to say. I've been told I have to read my essay to you so…here goes…"

Alan placed the award on the stand, and straightened out the crumpled essay.

"When I received this assignment from my English Teacher, in the first term, I though it was the easiest essay id ever received. I also knew I was bound to flunk it. Its no secret I'm no genius. But…when I read what we had to do…I figured it couldn't be that difficult. Especially, when I saw everybody else, eagerly discussing ideas."

Alan hesitated, and then continued to speak.

"'Write about your hero, and why they're you're hero'. Everybody has a hero or an idol if you like. And I do to. Back then I would have answered straight away with the Thunderbirds. It was my obsession. Still is, in a way."

Alan shifted slightly. He was glad his family wasn't here for this.

"And then I went home for Spring Break. You don't expect to regard your family differently. But after receiving this essay, I found that happening regardless. And I though who my heroes were again...and then changed my mind."

"Because…in all honesty, the Thunderbirds arrant my heroes. My family are."

The silence on Tracy Island was deafening.

Alan's face stared back at them from them the video camera and he seemed to hesitate before continuing.

"A true hero isn't somebody famous. There are heroes right here in this room. Like Jamie Winter. He aced all his exams, despite a car accident three weeks before. Or Louise, Charlie's sister, who faced her won fears, and saved him from his bullies. Those are true heroes. Because they stood up to people who frightened, and tried to control them, and faced them. Not because they wanted to,But because when the time came, they needed to.

There are other heroes too. Like my brother Virgil. His tutors at college told him he'd flunk every class. That's he didn't have an ounce of talent in his bones. But he ignored them, all. He studied night and day, sometimes both, an he passed his exams with top marks. That's a hero…"

Virgil swallowed slowly, admiration strong in his eyes.

"Like my elder brother John. He battled a phobia and spent eight weeks in space, on a training vessel. He was a mild claustrophobic as a child, but battled it to fulfil his dream. That's a hero…"

Although they couldn't see him, all three knew that John would be looking at Alan, tears in his eyes. On screen. Alan was continuing.

"There's Scott too. He went to the air Force academy, and nobody wanted to know him. He was living in the shadow of a famous father. Bur he rose above all that. He flew his best. He gave it his all…and was rewarded by passing with highest honours. I'm proud to call myself his brother…he's a hero too…"

Virgil and Jeff both looked at Scott, who's mouth was opening and closing like a fish. His eyes never once left his brothers face.

"And Gordy…"

There was a pause in the small room, and they saw the camera wobbled as Gordon realised he was about to be talked about. For the first time since he'd started, Alan had tears in his eyes.

"Most of you know that four years ago my brother was in a Hydrofoil accident."

There was a hitch in Alan's voice as he continued to speak.

"They told him there was no chance of him ever walking again. That he'd be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

The camera wobbled again and the three of them could se the pained expression on Gordon's face.

It was written all over Alan's

"But Gordy...Gordon refused to give in. He didn't listen to them, and within six months he was driving us all crazy with his jumping around. That's a true hero…"

Alan had to pause, tears visible on his cheeks. Scott knew that nobody had suffered more during that time than gordy. But Alan had come a close second. He'd been devastated at the fact that Gordon might not be able to walk again. And Scott had a strong suspicion that Gordon might not have gotten through that period of his life were it not for Alan's unwavering support.

"There's one more hero in my family. I don't really tell people a lot. Tell him at all. Because it was something that was always there. That I hadn't really focused on until this essay. He's been my hero all my life. Not the Thunderbirds. Not some popstar. My brothers are heroes. But there's someone else in my family who is my hero. He's the man I would always want to be given the chance."

Alan paused. For dramatic effect, or for re-composure they didn't know.

"My father. "

Jeff stared, speechless, at the screen.

He'd come too far to stop now.

"My father has done so much to make me feel this way. He's been in the Air Force and NASA. He's built Tracy enterprises, a company that rakes in millions a year. I'm not trying to sound snobbish. I'm just…its what he's one. Alone."

Alan paused again. There was the painful part. He was glad his father couldn't hear this.

"When I was born, my mother died."

There was a painful hitch in Alan's voice as he continued.

"She left my father to raise five sons. Most men would have crumbled under the pressure. But my father didn't. Even through our younger years…"

Alan had no qualms about discussing the early years here, Most people knew about them anyway. The Tracy family was well known in Wharton Academy. Thick Bank accounts were a welcome sight to the Headmaster

"Through expulsions and suspensions…through the smoking, the bullying and the arguments, my father never once gave in. He always made sure that we came first. And for all of those reasons my father is a hero."

Alan choked back the tears and finished off.

"The men of International Rescue are heroes to many because of what they do. But there are heroes all around us. Some much closer to home. You could be a hero too. Live. And If I could, ever, be half the man my fathers and brother's are, I would be the luckiest person alive."

There was silence in the Pink Rolls Royce as it flew above the Pacific Ocean. Parker drove without once acknowledging the passengers in his car. Penelope's eyes were still red-rimmed from crying.

As soon as Alan had stepped off the podium, she had enveloped him in a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. She told him how proud she was of him.

Since then, Fermat and Alan had remained silent, Alan welcoming it. He felt fearful for some reason and couldn't explain it. He only hoped Penny hadn't already told his father.

As his thoughts tumbled through his brain, Alan was only partially aware of Parker guiding the Pink Craft into the small airstrip at the edge of Tracy Island. He was jolted back into reality as Fermat climbed over him to get out of the car. Alan slid out onto the tarmac and then all four froze as they saw the sight that greeted them.

Jeff Scott and Virgil stood in the entranceway to the Villa Gordon perched in front of them, the Video camera dangling from his left hand.

"You were there…"

The accusation in Alan's tone broke as he realised what had happened. There was a strained silence, which Scott broke.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"You heard the essay.,,,"

Alan stared into his eyes, not bothering to hide the pain in them.

"Thank you…"

This from Virgil. Alan turned to him, stunned.

"What?"

"Thank you. For what you said."

Alan looked into his eyes, tears forming once more. He nodded slowly and smiled.

"I meant it."

Virgil accepted this and flicked the watch off his wrist. Alan could see the red lights blinking on it. It was active. He took the outstretched device and stared into his brothers blonde eyes. John's expression was one of deep admiration and love. There was an ache in Alan's heart now more than ever over the fact that he saw John less than his other brothers.

"Alan…. What you said…thank you doesn't say enough…"

"I don't know about that…all I did was tell the truth. Although no one out there knows your name, I do…and John Tracy means more to me then a the 'Operator of Thunderbird 5' ever will…"

John blinked, not knowing what to say, but wishing he could hug his brother all the same. Alan felt he same way, and turned the watch away, so John wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. He handed the watch back to Virgil, and barely registered the fact that Virgil was talking to the elder blonde. He was too focused on his eldest brother.

Scott's eyes were burning with something Alan couldn't define.

"I had no idea you knew what was going on. What I was going through. I never told anybody."

Alan shrugged lightly.

"Just because I was at boarding school., doesn't mean I don't know what's happening to you guys. You're not the only one with the protective Brother syndrome in this family."

Scott chuckled lightly and Gordon took the fore, holding the camera still, his eyes trained on the floor.

"I had to do it Allie…."

Gordon raised his eyes, so that they were looking straight into Alans.

"I had to know why you didn't want us there"

"I know Gordy….I'm not mad. Not really."

And he wasn't. They had little use for words, he and Gordon. They had become so adept at reading each other that words were useless but Gordon felt he needed to put his feelings into words for the benefit of the others.

"I couldn't have gotten through that time without you Alan. You're the reason. So I'm not a hero. Not really."

Alan stepped forward, hugging Gordon, who didn't resist the affectionate gesture.

"Yes you are. Because I was just there. You had the courage to walk again. And you'll always be a hero to me Gordy…"

Their hug lasted a while, each relying on the other for comfort. Alan noticed his father's expression and pulled away from his brother reluctantly.

"Dad?"

Jeff looked into his son's eyes and the raw emotions seeming to swallow Alan for a minute. Then he felt tears on his cheeks and saw them mirrored on his father's face. He didn't say anything. He just pulled Alan into a hug that the blonde returned just as fiercely. In the hug Jeff felt it was safe to speak.

"I have never been prouder of you than I the moment you spoke that essay Alan. And not because of what you said. It was how you said it. and you're a hero too, Alan. Who else could have faced that crowd and said what you said?"

"You could have…"

Jeff shook his head and pulled away from Alan, his eyes searching.

"No Alan. You spoke what was in your heart, and despite what everyone thinks of this family, you proved them wrong. That even we face hardship. But what made me prouder…. was that you made people see the real us. They may never know that we're International Rescue. But because of you, the Tracy family are heroes anyway!"

The words went straight to Alan's heart, even as he heard the cheers from those around him, and the tinny-sounding whoops from John didn't go unnoticed.

Alan hugged his father once more. He had been right. True heroes are closer to home.

Much closer to home.

Done. Well?

R & R?