Jeff and John stood at the edge of the runway, watching the small, high-powered jet come in to land. Both men were nervous; both for the same reason.

Alan Noyce brought the jet in smoothly, flicking off each switch to shut it down with a tight grimace on his face. Every mile they travelled that brought them closer to the island made him madder and madder, and beside him, Jethro Murphy was finding it hard to keep him calm. Before they opened the hatch, he grabbed his arm tightly, stopping him in his tracks. "Alan, you're officially retired now, so I can say this with no repercussions. You take it easy out there, you got me? He isn't some hick newbie that needs to be shouted down. He's your wing-man. He's the father of your godson and he has a good head on his shoulders. He wouldn't be doing what they're doing if he didn't know what he was doing…got it?"

Alan glared at him angrily, shaking off the hand on his arm. "I don't care what he's doing, Murph; I care that he's dragged a fourteen year old kid into it. He could have been killed. And I'll damn well let him know how damned mad I am right now."

Back on the tarmac, Jeff steeled himself as the two men strode towards them, Murph having to trot to keep up with the taller man. "Hey Johnnie." He piped up, trying to get his oar in first before Noyce could start shouting. Noyce quickly overtook him and before Jeff knew it, he was being held against the nearest palm tree by his shoulders as Noyce berated him incoherently.

"Easy, Noyce." Murphy and John pulled him off Jeff and retreated a few steps, giving Jeff room to regain his balance.

"If you're going to act like that, you can leave. Now." Jeff muttered, pulling his shirt back into place.

"He's Fourteen Years Old!" Noyce yelled angrily, and Jeff sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair.

"I know how old he is, Al. He's my son!"

"He could have been killed!"

"And he wasn't." John murmured quietly, not relinquishing his grip on Noyce. "He'll be fine. And eager to get back to it before he's ready."

"He's just a kid." Noyce grated out through gritted teeth.

"I know. Which is why he isn't going on live missions yet. He was up there training, Al. So that he's ready for when he is old enough to go on live missions. If you promise not to hit me, you can come inside. Kyrano has coffee on."

Murphy brightened up at this tit-bit and let go of Noyce's shirt. "Coffee? As in the same stuff he'd send you, John? Well, I'm in."

Noyce pulled his shirt back into place, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "I want to see Alan first."

Jeff nodded. "That's no problem. Virgil and Brains are settling him into his own room. He's still a little groggy, but he's much better than he was when you last saw him."

This nearly set Noyce off again, but he managed to keep his words to himself as he followed the three men up the steps into the villa. Keeping his jaw clenched, he ignored their surroundings, focusing only on getting to his godson; a kid he hadn't seen in nearly three years.

Inside Alan's room, the teenager in question was yawning widely as Virgil carried over another pillow to set behind his back. "Dad's on his way up with Noyce and John's friend Murphy." He murmured, helping Alan to sit back onto the pillows. "I'm pretty sure Uncle Alan will want to come straight here, so I'll hold off giving you your painkillers until they leave…or if you really need it, I can give you some now?"

Alan shook his head minutely. "I'm ok, Virg. Hurts, but I can manage it. You don't look so good, though. You need to get some sleep." He yawned immediately after saying it, and Virg laughed, covering his own yawn.

"Yeah, kid, I know. I'm tired, but I'll get a good night's sleep tomorrow when I don't have to do a Neuro Check on you every hour on the hour."

Alan blushed slightly, staring down at the covers as he plucked at them with two fingers. "I'm sorry, Virgil…"

"For nothing. You didn't do anything wrong, Alan. It's not like you're a meteor magnet. Trouble magnet, yeah, but no meteor magnet."

Alan's blush intensified, and Virgil shook his head, gripping his chin gently to direct his brother's gaze to his face. "Hey, listen to me; you did ok, do you hear me? You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens."

Alan smiled softly in thanks, and they both looked to the door when someone knocked. The door swung open, and Alan's smile brightened when he saw a stranger enter at John's side.

"Hey, Alan. I doubt you remember me; the name's Murph, we met up on the Station but you weren't exactly in the position to say Hi." Murphy advanced on him with his hand outstretched, and Alan shook it carefully, wincing as the movement aggravated his shoulders.

"Easy, Al." Virgil warned, reaching for the tray holding the syringe.

"No, no, I'm ok…honest, just don't stick me!" Alan protested, making Murphy laugh. "Hey, where's Uncle Alan?"

Murphy cleared his throat awkwardly, sharing a glance with John. "Uh, he and your father are just having a quick word outside."

"A quick word?" Virgil asked darkly, setting down the tray. "I'll, uh…I'll just go see what's keeping them." He saw the look John sent him and half-trotted out of the room.

Alan, though groggy, was not stupid. "Ok, what's going on?" He demanded, glaring at John.

"I don't think Uncle Alan isn't too happy that we are letting you join IR so young." John sighed, perching on the side of the bed so that Murphy could take the seat beside him. "It's ok, they'll work their way through it."

"Why? I mean, Thunderbird 5 is probably the safest place to be…normally. Not counting what happened the last time…and anyhow, the last time being here was just as bad as being up there. I mean…you know what I mean…freezers and machine guns and everything."

Murphy frowned, wondering what Alan meant, but John shook his head and smiled at Alan. "How are you feeling, Sprout?"

Alan resisted shrugging; he'd already learned that lesson, and let his smile return. "I'll be fine, John. You can stop worrying now."

John snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'll stop worrying when you can move without wincing. Anyhow, Murphy's the one who gave me my training in the WASA."

Alan nodded, his eyes drifting back to the door as his father and Uncle appeared. "Hi Uncle Al." Noyce lifted his hand in greeting, his eyes travelling up and down Alan's face as if making sure he was really there. "And before you say anything, I'm guessing you have a problem with me being up in Five. Well tough. I fought long and hard to get them to allow me to start training, and even though I've had a little bit of a set-back, this is my life and I'll do what I damn well please with it; which, by the way, in case you haven't realised, is helping my family save people. I helped save over 900 people a few days ago, Uncle Al. Do you know how cool that is?"

John found himself smiling despite the frosty atmosphere that had entered the room with the arrival of Noyce. "Yeah, Allie, that's pretty cool, isn't it." They both started to chuckle and Noyce drew in a long, strained breath.

"How are you feeling, Sport?" He asked after getting a hold on his temper again.

"I feel like I've been trampled by a horse." Alan grimaced. "But, I'll be fine. There's nothing to stop me getting back in the saddle, right?" He looked to his father for confirmation, and Jeff nodded.

"By the time you are ready to get back in the saddle, Alan, you'll be fifteen." Jeff pointed out, frowning as Alan yawned. "Ok, I think it's time for you to get some more sleep." Virgil eased around them and headed for the bedside locker holding the tray of pills, ointments and the dreaded syringe. Noyce waited until Virgil had given Alan the painkillers, and then allowed Jeff to draw him away from the room.

Leaving John to entertain his friend, he brought Noyce to his study, closing the door firmly behind them. Kyrano had already set out a tray of coffee and snacks, and Jeff poured them both a drink in silence. "I know what I am doing."

"He's not safe running around like that-" Noyce began to protest, but Jeff shook his head, handing over the coffee.

"He's not safe here, either, old friend. Two months ago our home was invaded by men with guns. The boys and I had been lured onto Thunderbird 5 after a missile struck it, but Alan was here. I nearly lost everything that day, Al. Alan proved he was ready to start training. For all that he's only fourteen, he managed to defeat a crazed genius that had defeated us every step of the way. Ok, he did have help, but his help was from a thirteen year old and a twelve year old. His grades are up, and so are his spirits. I've never seen him so happy, or fulfilled. And I'm not going to take that away from him or him away from our family just because you have a problem with his age. He will not be going on live missions until he is sixteen years old at a minimum. But he is training, and he is training so he won't do anything stupid or hurt himself or others. And he did help save the lives of over 900 people. He'd been on the Station less than a day."

"I have no choice?"

"None. Now drink your coffee like a good Fly-boy and if you are really good, I'll let you have some of Kyrano's special Chocolate Cream Cake."

Noyce raised an eyebrow but took the slice of cake he was handed and nibbled at it cautiously. "How'd you find such a genius in the kitchen?" He asked, the coffee and cake helping him to slowly begin to relax.

"Our first rescue; his brother had imprisoned him in an illegal mine that was collapsing. We saved him, but thought his brother had perished. Unfortunately, he had not; he was the man that launched the attack on our home two months ago. I offered Kyrano a position here; he and his wife and daughter agreed. We'd be lost without them."

Noyce nodded slowly, Jeff's unsaid words hitting home. His next words, though, made him perk up.

"Do you want to see my command centre?"

XXXxxxXXX

"Where's dad?" Scott asked as Gordon wandered into the kitchen, wiping off the last of the grease from his hands.

"Showing off to Uncle Alan; they're in Thunderbird 1 now. Don't worry, it's in good hands." The red-head started laughing as Scott got up from the table, a look of worry on his face. "Dad won't appreciate you showing up either. This is his time to show off to his friends."

Scott growled, but sat back down moodily and flicked back through the plans for Thunderbird 3. "We just have to finish replacing the Gimbals on Engine 1 and it should be ready for take-off." He murmured as Gordon moved to look over his shoulder.

"Where's Brains?"

Scott smirked and moved the paper closer to Gordon so he could see the extra modifications being made. "Giving Stera-Corp hell. Do you know, when he gets really, really mad his stutter disappears completely? Tin Tin is sitting staring at him in awe."

"What's Fermat doing?"

"Taking notes." Kyrano set a plate of cookies in front of them and tried hard not to smile. "I believe he has never heard such language from his father before. Nor have I, for that matter, and I could hear him all the way out in the corridor. Now eat; dinner will be ready in two hours."

Gordon snagged two cookies and stuffed one in his mouth as he wandered out of the kitchen towards his room. Passing Alan's, he peeked through the half-open door to see Virgil carefully massaging Alan's back, a look of concentration on his face. Alan seemed to be sleeping, and realising he was being watched, Virgil looked up and smiled apologetically. "I thought it might help him sleep a little better." He whispered. "Though he's pretty much knocked out by the meds."

"I know that feeling." Gordon grimaced, moving his shoulder slightly to make sure that the muscles in his shoulder had loosened up. "He's really going to be ok?"

Virgil wiped the last of the ointment from his hands and drew the covers up over Alan's bare back, making sure he was well tucked in. "He'll be fine by the time he goes back to school; more's the pity. He spent Spring Break with a bruised back, and now he's spending his Summer Holidays with double the bruising, double the pain and bruised ribs."

"At least he'll get to have a proper holiday, near enough. No haring around the world on rescues…or being stuck up on Five." Gordon griped as Virgil firmly shut the door behind them.

"Hey, it might take more than two months to get Five back in action. We don't know what the damage is until we get back up there…" Virgil trailed off, an idea coming to him. "I wonder if Uncle Alan would give us a hand?"

"I would if I didn't have to go back tomorrow." Murphy announced from the door to John's suite, a model of Saturn in his hands. "It's a pity you can't drag more people in on this. I know a bunch that would love to have a piece of this action."

Gordon nodded as Virgil shook his head. "Yeah, it'd be nice, but too many people…You only know about this because you were involved pretty spectacularly in your own rescue of us and you recognised John. If he'd had his helmet on, you wouldn't even be here."

Murphy smiled, showing he understood. "I know. John just filled me in on what happened the last time someone found out where you were; you were lucky. And I know how lucky I am. Still, if you ever need an extra pair of hands full time, just let me know; I'll be happy to jack in the WASA if this was what I was coming to." His smile turned to a grin, and he let John pull him back into his suite, chuckling as the astronomer began to babble about a new star he'd spotted.

Ok guys, sorry about this but I'm finishing it a lot sooner than I thought. I might update with new chapters from time to time but I've lost a bit of steam and I'm finding it hard to continue. There is more to come in my head, but I'm marking it as complete for now.

I just want to thank everybody for their kind reviews; they really do help a girl keep going, especially when her Muse has gone AWOL. Best of Luck, Usher.