Discovery

A Discovery can change the course of history

DISCLAIMER! IF I OWNED THE THUNDERBIRDS, no matter how cool they are, WOULD I BE POSTING FANFICTION? NO! I WOULD BE MAKING ANOTHER MOVIE!!!!

And a great big THANK YOU to Athena's Owl For Betaing! And for explaining some things I should've figured out…*nervous laugh*

Author Notes: I would like to thank all of you who chose to review the first Part in the Apologize Saga. Sorry for putting author notes in the middle of the story. I will try to refrain from that. Also, when Angel was killed in the first part, [and I saw this in an episode of CSI] she was completely run over. She was at the back of the car. Sorry if I confused anyone there! Also, sorry for any incorrect references in this story!

And, perhaps I should clarify this. The Apologize Saga is a series of ONESHOTS and not a bunch of parts linked together. Sorry if this is an inconvenience for some of you, but otherwise I wouldn't be able to put different summaries for each one!

Now, on with the story!

Seven years. How can time pass so quickly? They say time moves quickly when you are having fun, but these past seven years have been nothing but hell for the Tracy family. Seven years ago the youngest Tracy, seven-year-old Alan Tracy went missing after a burst of anger from his oldest brother who told him to 'get lost'. He was never seen again.

Three years ago, International Rescue came online. Jeff Tracy created this organization in the memory of his late wife and missing child. Jeff, former astronaut, headed the Thunderbirds, as they were also called; followed by Scott, field commander and pilot of Thunderbird 1; John, astronaut and pilot of Thunderbird 5 up in space; Virgil, field medic and pilot of Thunderbird 2; and Gordon, aquanaut and pilot of Thunderbird 4. Also on the Thunderbirds Team are Brains, chief scientist and designer of the Thunderbirds; Kyrano, caretaker of Tracy Island; Onaha, cook of the Tracy Island clan; Tin-Tin, home schooled on the island and daughter of Kyrano and Onaha; and last, but not least, Fermat, boy genius and Brains' son, who has also been home schooled in order to help out on the island.

Our story begins in Manchester, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Frost...

"The Thunderbirds, or International Rescue, save lives all around the world. Their identities are kept secret from the public for reasons unknown. Nobody knows who they are- " Alex Frost turned off the TV. 'That newscaster is such an idiot. Of course they don't want to reveal who they are! What would be the point of being a secret organization if everyone knew their home address and business number? And they're not called International Rescue for nothing! 'Save lives all around the world.' Well, duh. I…I just wish that I could see what they do up close. But like that'll ever happen. To do that I'd need to escape this...place. And that definitely won't happen. Ever...

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of footsteps. Quickly, he stood and faced the doorway.

"BOY! Have you been watching that damn TV again?!" his father bellowed. Adam Frost was a large man with a larger belly. He was bald but Alex rather liked to think he would have had red hair. He sure as hell had the temper that would have gone with it. A tattoo of a snake was evident on the bicep of his right arm; a petty show of his masculinity. And at this very moment a beer bottle was held in his right hand.

Alex didn't answer.

"Of course he has Adam. He thinks he's too good for us to answer. Isn't that right, Alex?" his mother answered for him. Judy Frost had oily dark brown hair that looked as if it hadn't been washed in a long time. She always wore it in a messy ponytail. Her usual attire was a loose t-shirt and sweatpants. She didn't work and therefore never dressed up. There was always a bottle of one alcohol or another in her hand.

"No, mother. I was just-" he was cut off as a fist connected with his gut.

"Don't you dare talk back to us you little shit! Now take out the trash! Then get out and go to your room," Adam Frost shouted. Alex could smell the alcohol on his breath and it took all of his strength not to grimace. But apparently that wasn't enough. Another fist connected with his jaw and he was sent sprawling to the floor. He stayed there until both of his 'parents' left. Tears would have been falling down his face, but he no longer had any tears to shed. No, they had all been shed a long time ago.

He made his usual circuit of the house and picked up the all the trash. There certainly wasn't any shortage of it. As he entered the bathroom, he stopped and looked at himself in the mirror. 'Another bruise to add to my collection,' he thought. A fourteen-year-old boy stared back at him, skin pale from lack of sunlight. Dark bags hung under his dull blue eyes. His once blond hair was oily, due to the fact that his opportunities to wash were few and far in between, and was streaked with dried blood and grime. His body was covered in a myriad of cuts and bruises, and if he was to lift up his shirt, he knew he would find a vicious scar from a stabbing that had occurred three years ago. His clothes, which were really more like rags, were fetid . He wasn't allowed out in public for obvious reasons and as such had no semblance of friends. The only time he was allowed outside was too take the trash out.

He ignored all of this though, and picked up the trash. He then took the bags out to the trashcan outside. Once that chore was done, he went up to his room. His so-called room was a tree house that had numerous holes in its roof. He stayed out there rain or shine during the night with the trapdoor padlocked beneath him to prevent escape. He had been living out there since he had first arrived in this hellhole.

He gazed at the setting sun. A spirit broken screamed on the inside as he waited for the night to begin so that it would end sooner and the sun would rise again, signaling the start of a new day. A new day to hope that he would soon be rescued from this dump. He was so tired of this. Staying in this place was horrible and he didn't even have school to escape to. Oh how he wished he could leave.

As he settled in for the evening, he allowed himself a few moments of thought. International Rescue was supposed to save people, right? Couldn't they save him, too?

~Thunderbirdsarego~

A few hours later it had begun to rain. Alex shivered underneath his ragged blanket that did nothing to ward off the cold, and huddled further into the corner that was most sheltered from the rain. A sudden roar filled the air. Alex looked out through one of the larger holes in his roof, hoping it wasn't thunder. Instead of the expected flash of lightening he saw Thunderbird 1 illuminated slightly by the dull, mostly cloud covered moon, flying directly over him. Could it really be? Could his desperate wish finally have come true?

He quickly scrambled over to the trapdoor and pulled hard on the handle. Amazingly the door shot open; apparently it had never been closed properly. Adam must've been too drunk. As quickly as he could, he climbed down the makeshift ladder and raced out of the yard, following the craft of his dreams.

Rain continued to pour down as Alex found himself falling farther and farther behind. Soon he couldn't see Thunderbird 1 at all. Not wanting to give up, and terrified of returning to the 'home' he had finally escaped, he followed the fire engines and police cars. Soon enough, he heard the crackling of a fire. Heart beating quickly, he ran faster.

As he reached the burning structure, he could quickly see why the Thunderbirds had been called in. The apartment building was fully engulfed, all ten floors of it. People were running around all over the place, many of them screaming. Police and firemen were trying to calm the crowds but to no avail. Alex just slowly made his way through the crowds to the front as he watched Thunderbird 1 land in the overly large parking lot. A figure emerged from the giant rocket.

He was clad in a silver flight suit that was hemmed in either blue or black, it was hard to see in the darkness, and was also wearing a helmet. The figure made his way over to the fire chief and Alex watched in fascination as he strained to hear what they were saying. He could barely make out some of it but it sounded as if they were talking about how many people were still trapped inside. The rest was drowned out the sounds of yet another giant aircraft.

Alex looked up, ignoring the rain that fell into his eyes, and saw Thunderbird 2 entering the area. He watched with an expressionless face as Thunderbird 2 landed next to Thunderbird 1. Three figures emerged from the giant craft, along with a giant yellow machine that looked like a tank, only slightly smaller, that had two firing tubes. The three figures, also clad in silver, jogged over to the first one and all four began conversing with the fire chief.

Alex watched the scene in front of him in silence, his face devoid of expression. On the inside, his broken spirit began to heal slightly as he watched the rescue take place in front of him. It felt as if he himself was being rescued. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. People's shouts were long and drawn out. The only things that moved in normal speed were the Thunderbirds. Alex glanced around and then focused on Thunderbird 2. Seeing no one near it, he slipped back into the crowd and made his way toward the giant green craft.

He knew he had only had a limited amount of time as he neared the craft's loading platform. For the first time in his life he was glad his room had been located up a tree. Climbing the lowering mechanism took him no time at all.

~Thunderbirdsarego~

Scott Tracy sighed. The rescue was finally over, after about ten hours, and the others were getting the Firefly loaded up into Thunderbird 2. He gladly re-entered his 'bird and started up the thrusters. Gently lifting the craft into the air, he sighed once again. It was that day again. Seven years ago his baby brother had been kidnapped and it had been all his fault.

'I'm a Thunderbird and I couldn't even save my baby brother.'

They were flying over the Pacific Ocean when his thoughts were shattered by the intercom.

"Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 1. Scott, you there?" Virgil Tracy hailed (from the speakers).

Scott quickly turned on the intercom. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"About Alan?" Gordon asked softly.

"No. About pancakes. Of course about Alan!"

"Geez. Don't bite my head off!" Gordon said in a hurt voice.

Scott mentally counted to ten. "I'm sorry, Gordo. I'm…I'm just…"

"We understand, Scott," Jeff said quietly.

"Hey! What was that?!"

"Guys?"

"There's someone or something in the hold! Gordon! Find out what it is! Virgil, get us back to base!"

"FAB!"

"FAB!"

~Thunderbirdsarego~

Alex cursed. He had been knocked off balance by the craft slowing down, no doubt in preparation to land, and had fallen into one of the supply lockers. One of the metal supply lockers. 'Oh great, now they're going to find me and kick me off! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!'

Everything was neatly strapped into place so there weren't too many places to hide, but he did his best, squeezing himself into the small space between a locker with the first aid cross on it, and the wall. He drew his legs up to his chest and buried his face in his arms.

He could feel blood running down his face from the cut on his head from where he had knocked it against the locker, but he didn't care. Sure it hurt like hell, but it wasn't anything worse than what…he…had…

He fell into darkness before finishing the thought.

~Thunderbirdsarego~

Scott quickly exited Thunderbird 1 after landing her in her silo, and hastily finishing the post-flight checks. He rushed over to TB2. No one had come out yet and he was beginning to get worried. Perhaps it was nothing but he couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy. Just as he was about to make his way inside of Virgil's 'bird, his father came running out with something, or rather someone in his arms. Virgil and Gordon were right behind him. At the last second Gordon grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him along.

"Gordon! What's going on?!" Scott asked as he kept pace with his younger brother.

"We just found this kid inside the hold of TB2! He was covered in blood. He must have been injured before or something. We have absolutely no idea who he is or how he got in there."

"He reminded me of someone though. I…I feel as if I know him from somewhere."

"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Scott said as they picked up the pace, soon catching up with Jeff and Virgil.

A total of five minutes later, Gordon, Jeff, and Scott had arrived at the infirmary, informed Brains of what was going on, and had been kicked out of the infirmary leaving only Brains and Virgil inside.

"That was incredibly rude of our brother, don't you think, Scott?" Gordon asked in a joking matter.

"Yeah…" Scott said, not really listening.

"Boys, I don't know about you, but I want to get out of this," Jeff said, gesturing at his grimy flight suit. Both boys quickly agreed.

Thirty minutes later they met back at the infirmary doors, having showered and changed into clean clothes. They had been talking for only a few moments when Virgil walked out.

"Virgil! Is he awake? Who is he? How did he-," Scott began pelting his brother with questions.

"Whoa! Hold your horses! No, we don't know who he is. He only woke up for a couple of seconds, but the strangest thing happened."

"What?" Jeff demanded.

"He kept saying he wanted 'Daddy'."

"Well, considering what he's probably been through," Jeff began, but Virgil cut him off.

"That's not all. You might be a bit surprised at this, but he also kept calling out for someone else. Someone called, 'Scotty'."

All eyes fell on Scott. "What?"

"That's still not all. He kept crying 'don't let them take me! Scotty, help me! Daddy!'" Virgil paused and glanced at their confused faces. "I'm just as confused as you are. And disturbing as this all is it also appears that he is a victim of child abuse. He has numerous cuts and bruises, some old, some new, and several scars."

Before Jeff could reply, Brains had run out.

"Mr. Tracy, the b-bo, m-ma, child has awoken."

Everyone immediately stood up and followed Brains into the infirmary. They walked over to the bed where the child was lying. Brilliant blues eyes stared back up at them. The eyes were filled with fear and he tried to sink deeper into the bed as they approached.

"Hey, kid? What did you think you were doing?" Scott asked, trying his best not to retain his anger.

The blue eyes turned to Scott and widened in surprise. It was the first emotion that had been shown in those eyes for a long time, but the others didn't know this. What they heard next stopped all of their questions.

"Scotty?"

DUN DUN DUN!!! Well, I hoped you liked this installment of the Apologize Saga! Betcha can't wait for the next installment! And once again, lets give Athena's Owl a BIG THANK YOU!

And the next Part [ALSO AN ONESHOT!] may not be out until this weekend as I still have to go to school. But I will try to make it extra long just for you! And depending on how many reviews I get for this part… so, REVIEW!!!!