This is the first story I've written for the new Thunderbirds Are Go series. As one who grew up with the original, I have to say how much I'm enjoying this updated version. It has all the humour and charm of the original, with enough differences to make this new series unique.

The most intriguing difference, of course, is that Jeff is missing. After watching the first few episodes, the effect his absence must be having on the rest of the family, and Scott especially, just wouldn't leave me alone. So this first story is a tag to the end of Ring Of Fire. It's been a long and difficult day, and Scott still has an awful lot to think about.

Update! Special thanks to cathrl for encouraging me to give this story a couple of tweaks. Now there's two separate chapters, both of which I've posted today. I really hope you enjoy it, and thanks for stopping by!

The Ties That Bind

Chapter One - The Weight Of The World

Cradling his latest coffee, Scott studied the villa in front of him through a conflict of emotions. Softly lit against the depth of night, it looked so warm, so welcoming. So... normal. Yet this idyllic place that he'd come to love wasn't quite the happy home that it had been before.

Yes, they all still ate, and slept, and laughed, here. Put their lives on the line for whoever needed them. But all the time their father stayed missing, his fate unknown... no, it couldn't truly be called 'home.' And for the son who'd now assumed the role of father, protector, and head of International Rescue - well, the thought of taking that role on permanently was one he couldn't bring himself to accept.

'Head of this house, and everyone in it. And yeah, I know we're not kids any more, Dad, but... I don't want to be head of this family on a permanent basis. Not yet. Not ever.'

So aware that he might not have a say in the matter, Scott rubbed his hand over suddenly tired eyes as he climbed the steps onto the main verandah. Now he really needed something to cheer him up, and... ah, yes. Here she came. Right on time.

Through the lens of John's telescope, a pinpoint of light in the sky above him instantly lifted his mood. It could have been one of countless other satellites, or debris from those first tentative steps into space. But as head - temporary head - of the organization behind it, Scott knew exactly what it was. He could even offer it an approving grin, as Thunderbird Five made her latest pass over the Pacific.

"Right on time, John. Hope you're enjoying your cocoa as much as I'm enjoying this coffee."

Following her until she finally vanished, Scott then sighed as he stared back at the villa behind him. It had become a bit of a habit now, for him to make this nightly check around it before he went to bed. Yet even on his own, Scott knew he wasn't 'alone.'

Even at this hour, he knew Virgil would still be up too. Enjoying his own, post-mission 'me-time.' Whether at dawn, dusk, or midnight, he was never happier than when he was tinkering with his 'bird. Or maybe he'd just found a new hiding spot from Grandma's latest attempt to cremate the kitchen.

'...wuss...'

Still smiling, Scott's attention then switched to a sudden blur of noise and movement beside the pool. Gordon, no doubt, swimming out his own stresses of the day, and... hello? Ooooh, hel-lo!

Watching Alan try to match Kayo's stride, his smile widened, as only a big brother's smile could. Yep, something was definitely brewing there. Something that brought a wicked glint into his eyes.

His baby brother, trying to impress a girl who could kick his butt into orbit? Oh, the possibilities! And he owed it to himself, and John, and Virgil, and... yeah, definitely Gordon, to make the most of it. For big brothers everywhere, they were going to exploit this goldmine of torment for all its worth.

Make the kid's life hell in the process, of course, but... yeah, since when had that stopped them?

'...just gotta make sure I keep Kayo out of it... I like my butt without bootprints on it...'

A distant splash pulled him out of his thoughts. Turned his amusement into a deepening frown. As Alan and Kayo disappeared from view, so his original guess for this midnight swim came into it - cutting through the water at a speed that held far greater significance than just natural ability.

Any time he saw Gordon slam in those strokes as fiercely as this, Scott knew he was right to worry. He thought he'd said enough. Convinced him he'd been right to trust his famous 'squid sense' and check it out. For those few, precious seconds, his whole family had found new hope that their father had been found.

Just as quickly, that hope had vanished. For Gordon, especially, it had been a devastating moment.

'I - I really thought I'd found him, Scott... even if he'd been... I mean, even if it was too late to... to...'

Just as Gordon hadn't been able to finish that thought, so Scott found it equally hard now to re-live its memory. However proudly he'd said them, those words of reassurance had sounded, still sounded, so hollow.

'I know, Gordy... if I'd been there, I'd have done exactly the same...'

Yet knowing they hadn't been enough this time around made him all the more determined to try again. When his brother was ready, he'd take him aside, and say them again, as many times as he needed to, until Gordon believed him. Until then, it was just him, the stillness and silence of night - and the hardest part of running International Rescue.

Saving lives gave you a buzz like nothing else on Earth, and Scott wouldn't trade any part of it. But when it was over, when the crisis had passed, and that rush of adrenalin ran down - well, you were left with too much time to think, about things you wished to hell you didn't have to face.

The irony of it all brought a tinge of bitterness into Scott's eyes now, as he stared out over the water. Despite all the resources at their disposal, all the lifesaving rescues they helped them to make - no, the life, the one single life that they all yearned to save beyond all others, still cruelly eluded them.

Little wonder, then, that some of that bitterness slipped out into a question that still had no answer.

"Damn it, dad, where are you? Where the hell are you?"