Disclaimer: Not mine, Mr Anderson's. Here it is, just scrapping it in before Christmas my annual John Christmas fic. Now I must tell you all that this is actually the third Christmas and John themed fic I started but the other two sucked so badly I gave up before I'd even written a page! But finally inspiration struck and here it is. Hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas all. AM December 2006.
The things that Men do
By Angel Mouse
I always wondered what evil men looked like, guess now I know. The thought crossed John's mind as he stood stock still, watching the situation unfold before him. They had been called to a city on Christmas Eve where there had been a huge gas explosion leaving lots of people trapped. All four of them had been working hard and they were soon down to the last building where people were trapped. Virgil had dug through with the mole while Scott had contained the fire with the firefly. Gordon and John in fire suits had gone in and begun shifting people out. Gordon had just left with a group of four, leaving John with six people that he was working his way through to carefully with an extinguisher and shovel.
The last group were trapped in the ground floor of a bank, which had sunk into an unknown sink hole that had suddenly appeared with the impact of the explosion. Just as Gordon had left John broke through and stopped dead at the sight he saw.
Five people were backed against the wall, two of them clearly injured, but the sixth stood in front of them waving a gun. He turned and saw John standing there; waving the gun at him he spoke. All of them were looking at him in shock as he broke through, obviously not expecting him or anyone really.
"Who the hell are you?" John carefully and slowly took off his hood holding his hands out to one side. He needed to show there was a face behind the hood.
"I'm with International Rescue. I've come to bring you all out."
The man holding the gun just laughed an insane sounding cackle that sent shivers up John's spine. He gestured with the gun for John to move over to where the others where standing. John began to move slowly over to them, keeping his hands in view and his eyes on the gunman. Slowly he began to put two and two together. Obviously the explosion had interrupted a robbery and now things had gone pear shaped. John sat his helmet down and glanced at the other five people.
"Is everyone okay?" Three nods and a couple of groans greeted his words. John looked over at the gunman. "Is it okay if I check and make sure these two people are okay?" The gunman, who was looking more and more nervous, nodded. John knelt down and quickly began checking them over. He smiled warmly at them all, trying to put them at ease. As he began examining one of the women he activated his communicator to transmit only while doing so, hoping that Scott was on the ball and would keep Gordon away as he knew that his kid brother would be back soon to help him. John looked down at the woman's injuries and gave her a warm smile.
"Hi, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to just check your injuries now. These were caused in the explosion huh?" She gave a weak nod and John began a careful examination of her injury. It looked like her leg was broken and he needed to set it quickly. He looked up and gave her a tight smile. "Looks like it might be broken, I can temporarily set it and give you something for the pain, is that okay?" She smiled at his reassuring tone and he turned slightly to look at the gunman. "I need my bag of medical supplies. May I go get it?"
The gunman stared at him and then shook his head.
"No, you'll try something funny. Tell him where it is and he'll get it." The gunman had gestured to a man in a dark suit and he looked at John, fear clearly in his eyes. John gave him a reassuring smile as he began to take off his bulky fire suit.
"It's okay. There's a silver bag about two metres in the tunnel back there, grab it and bring it to me. It's full of medical supplies, water and other things." John looked at the gunman as he continued. "Nothing that will hurt anyone, I promise." The gunman frowned, hesitant. "I'm International Rescue, why would I want to hurt anyone? Besides, you're the one with the gun; I just don't want anyone to get hurt anymore." The gunman nodded slowly, reluctantly and the man he gestured to get to his feet and scrambled through the tunnel and was back within what felt like seconds.
John in the meantime had finished taking off his top and was just in the grey t-shirt he always wore under the fire suits, the blue International Recuse symbol over his breast. The man put the bag down next to John and he smiled his thanks. He opened it and began to get out the things he'd need to set her leg in a splint. He looked up at her and smiled reassuringly.
"I'm going to have to splint it and then I'll see what I can do about getting you out of here, okay?" She nodded, closing her eyes against the pain and the other woman was holding her hand, trying to reassure and support her. Taking a deep breath and ignoring the feeling of having a gun pointed at his back, he got to work.
Gordon had just finished handing over the four people that he had brought out with him and had been joined by Scott and Virgil when suddenly they heard John's voice over the internal communicators they used. They listened at first in confusion and then in horror as the situation unfolded. Gordon's immediate reaction was to turn and head back down the tunnel they had made to get to the trapped people and be with his brother but Virgil and John stopped him before he could.
"Let me go! That's John down there, we've got to help him!" Scott saw the desperation in Gordon's eyes, it was mirrored in his own and Virgil's.
"I know Gordon, but we've got to do this the right way or John could get hurt. Not to mention those people down there. Now, we've got to trust that John can handle himself for the moment and first thing we do is call Father and then speak to the local police. They may have more plans to this building that we can use." Scott took him by the shoulders and stared him in the eyes. "Are you with me here Gordon?" Gordon took a shuddering deep breath and then nodded.
"Yeah, I'm here Scott. Let's get him out of there. It's his first Christmas home for a long time, and I personally don't want him to spend it trapped in a bank vault with some idiot with a gun pointed at him." Scott managed to smile at him and saw the same determination in Virgil's eyes. He nodded at his brothers and as one; they turned and headed for the policeman in charge of the rescue site. They had work to do.
John finished stabilising the woman's leg and having given her something for the pain, was satisfied for the moment that was the best he could do. While he worked he had talked to the others, checking their injuries as well. One of the men had taken a glancing blow to the head and John figured that he might have a concussion so he knew he had to get both of these people out of here. Finally he sighed and rocked back on his heels. He took off his gloves and put them absently in the medical bag. Giving them all a reassuring smile he stood up and turned towards the gunman.
"She's got a broken leg; he's got a possible concussion. I'd like for you to let them go please. They need urgent medical attention, more than I can provide." The gunmen looked at her and then back at John. John smiled reassuringly at him, his tone soft and gentle. "Please, they don't need to be here. You've got me now. Think about it a moment, who's more valuable as a hostage, five innocent bystanders or a member of International Rescue?"
Scott cursed under his breath, what the hell was John playing at? They were sending the feed direct through to their Father and the police chief was standing next to him. Suddenly Scott realised and looked up at his brothers. Realisation dawned on them all.
"He's trying to get the innocent people out of the way; he's trying to save them."
The gunman looked at John again and then back at the injured people. Finally he nodded.
"Alright, they can go." John smiled in relief and moved back to the people that were against the wall. He knelt down to talk to the woman with the broken leg.
"I won't lie to you Miss; this is going to hurt like hell. But the painkiller I've given you will help a little. Now, I'm going to get these two gentlemen to carry you out if that's okay, once your outside the paramedics will look after you okay?" She nodded, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. She reached out and clutched his hand.
"Thank you." He smiled at her and nodded.
"I will. Now, would you two gentlemen help me here please?" A few minutes later they were holding the woman between them in a fireman's lift. He got the other man to help the woman with the suspected concussion walk out. He smiled at them all and made sure they were secure before sending them off. The two men began walking slowly and they stopped when the woman spoke.
"Wait." John moved around to stand in front of her, keeping one eye on the gunman.
"Ma'am, what is it?" She reached out and clasped his hand.
"Merry Christmas." He smiled at her and let them go out. He watched them go a moment and then turned back to the gunman. He sighed and walked over to where his things were sitting. He sat down against the wall and began to clean his things up, throwing a smile at him.
"So, here we are." The gunman stopped pacing and sighed, slumping down against the broken bench and sitting on the ground facing John.
"Here we are. Christmas Eve and I've totally screwed up, again." John got out a bottle of water and held it up to him, the gunman looked a bit startled but nodded and John threw it to him. "Thanks."
"Not a problem. My name's John by the way, what's yours?" John got out a bottle of water and opened it, taking a drink. He was honestly feeling exhausted and so tired he actually was slightly grateful for the chance to sit down for five minutes.
"Tom." John smiled, leaning back and closing his eyes with a sigh. He reached up and massaged the back of his neck.
"Bet you didn't think you'd be sitting in a blown up building with a member of International Rescue when you got up this morning did you Tom?" The guy took a drink and then snorted.
"Yeah, well I managed to screw the whole day up haven't I?" John opened his eyes and looked at him with a shrug.
"Day's not over yet."
"For you maybe, but me, all I've got to look forward to is the police throwing me behind bars, my kids knowing that there Dad's a screw up and that I wasn't able to give them a good Christmas like they deserve."
"How many children do you have?"
"Three. Do you have any family?" Tom's voice was quite resigned and sounding like he had lost hope.
"Yes I do. I have four brothers, a very feisty grandmother and an overprotective Father." Tom looked at him in surprise.
"Do they know what you do? If my brother knew I was here he'd wail me from here to Texas and back." John laughed and grinned at him companionable.
"Oh yeah, my eldest brother, he would chase me all around the place and give me such a pounding if I ever did something so stupid." They both gave a soft laugh and outside two pairs of eyes looked at Scott, grins on the faces of the younger Tracey brothers. Scott scowled at them both but even they could see the mirth in his eyes.
"I never meant for it to go like this you know."
"I know." John could hear the despair in his voice.
"I mean, all I wanted to do was just get enough to buy my kids a few little presents. I got laid off a few months ago and what little severance pay I got had to go to pay the rent for and buy enough food to put on the table for them. But I don't know what I'm going to do after that. I haven't been able to find work since then, no matter what I do. And because I had small severance pay social services can't help me." Tom was silent a moment. "All I wanted to do was give my kids a nice Christmas."
John was silent a moment and nodded, understanding that sometimes people felt they had no choice.
"Why didn't you ask for help? There's surely someone that can help you; a charity or some member of your family to help you out?" Tom jerked his head up.
"I ain't accepting any charity. And my brother has got his own family to take care of. You've got brothers, four of them; you know that sometimes you just can't take your problems to them." John nodded.
"Yeah I know. But I always know that no matter what, my brothers will always be there for me."
"Do you have Christmas plans with them?"
"Yes I do. For the first time in years I'm actually going to be home for Christmas with them, instead of at our remote base." Tom looked at him, intrigued, the gun hanging loose in his hands.
"Do they know what you do, that you're a member of International Rescue I mean." John laughed and shook his head.
"No, they don't know. They think that I'm an astronaut and away from home because of that a lot. So, they don't notice the sometimes strange absences."
"Must make it hard on you sometimes, don't you miss your family?"
"Yes I do. My oldest brother, he's really protective of us all, but he's a tremendous person. Most brilliant pilot I know." John let the love he felt for Scott come out in his voice as he spoke of him.
Outside Scott felt his heart clench with pride, love and fear for his brother. The paramedics were swarming over the five people that had just emerged from the tunnel where John had stayed behind. The police chief was speaking with them and then came back over.
"It looks like it's a bank robbery gone wrong. But they did say that before the explosion the man had gone out of his way to make sure no one was hurt. They said he seemed a bit despondent and desperate." Scott nodded.
"That goes with what we just heard. He felt he had no choice. He's a proud man that didn't want to accept charity that got laid off a few months ago. He was just doing it so he could give his kids a decent Christmas, that's all."
"That may be the case, but that's your man down there with a gunman who may do anything. We have to send down the swat team and take him down." Scott shook his head and gestured for the Police chief to listen.
"No, just listen for a minute, please. If anyone can talk this guy down it'll be John, trust us, right now for this thing to end happily, John's the best chance anyone has. He's already got him to let those people go hasn't he? Just give him some time." Reluctantly he nodded.
"Sounds like your older brother is pretty special to you, you love him very much huh?" There was a soft laugh and they could hear the smile in John's voice.
"Oh yeah, I love all my brothers very much. But I guess I look up to him the most, he's always been the strong one. Now, my three younger brothers, now they are a bunch of little hooligans sometimes."
"My youngest sister is like that. Real little terror she can be sometimes." John's laughter rang out over the radio.
"Oh yeah, I hear you there, my two youngest brothers, get them together and honest to god they really turn your life upside down. But there's always one of us older ones to sort 'em out, but I love 'em all equally, wouldn't trade the little terrors for anything." A comfortable silence settled between them for a moment.
"I screwed up didn't I John."
"Looks like Tom. I can understand wanting to provide for your family and protecting them, but this really isn't the best way to go about that."
"I know that now. I knew that almost as soon as I burst into the bank. But I don't know what to do now." John let the silence stretch for a long moment and then spoke again.
"I think you know what you have to do now, don't you?"
"Yes guess I do. Look, will you do me a favour?" John nodded.
"If I can."
"Tell my kids that I do love 'em and that I made a mistake. A mistake I'm going to have to pay for but that I love them."
"I'll do that. Shall we go out then? Get back home in time to spend it with our families?" Tom sighed, dropping the gun on the floor and standing up. John stood up as well, gathering his things and slinging the bag over his shoulder. He walked over to Tom and clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on Tom. I give you my word I'll do everything in my power to make sure Christmas is special for your children this year."
"Thank you. I'm so sorry about all of this. I truly am." John nodded.
"I know you are Tom. Come on, they'll be waiting on us."
The two figures emerged and instead of being swarmed by the police as they were expecting they were met by Scott and the police chief. They had been touched by the man's words and plight, so between them had cooked up something.
"Scott, what's going on?" Scott just grinned and the police chief stepped forward.
"Tom, I've been doing some checking and we're got a position open for an administration clerk down at the evidence garage. Pay's not that great but it's a steady income and there are chances for advancement and stuff." Scott grinned even wider now.
"The bank's chipped in and the manager says he's not going to press charges. No one was hurt, the explosion happened before you could threaten anyone and about the only thing that the police could charge you with is possession of a firearm, but since you don't seem to have it there's nothing they can charge you with." The police chief grinned now as well.
"And we got a call from the head of Tracey Enterprises, your rent's been taken care off and when we get you home in a little bit to those kids of yours you'll find everything you need there to give 'em a great Christmas."
Tom's eyes filled with tears and he looked at the two men standing in front of him, grins on their faces and then turned to John, disbelief on his face. John clapped him on the back and gave him a gentle push.
"Go on Tom. Go home, have Christmas with your family. Be happy." Tom blinked back tears and nodded.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." The police chief led him away and Scott clapped his brother on the back.
"Glad your okay John." John nodded and began walked towards Thunderbird Two with Scott.
"So I guess you heard then."
"Oh boy did we ever. Prepare yourself to be scolded and thanked all in one go when we get home."
"I think I was safer in that building." They laughed as they reached Thunderbird two and John was ensconced by his other two brothers in a huge hug. After a moment they let him go and he grinned at them.
"Okay, okay. Let's not over do the brotherly love thing to much." They all laughed and began to pack the gear away. John paused a moment, raising his hand in farewell as Tom was driven back to his family by the police chief. Scott put his hand on his shoulder and whispered to John.
"That was a good thing you did John. And I love you to. Merry Christmas little brother." John smiled at Scott.
"Merry Christmas Scott."