Wow! The trailers for Skyhook alone were nail-nibblers, but the episode itself was a real nibbler-to-the-knuckles!

All five of the boys at home (though I don't think poor John was enjoying it too much, especially when MAX trips him up), the rare chance for them all to relax together - then Virgil has to ruin it by saying how long they've gone without a rescue.

See, Virg, that's what happens when you go tempting Fate. You say how quiet it's been, then a rescue comes along that almost results in the unthinkable - failure.

Maybe it was the dejection on Scott's face, and how frustrated the others were as they were forced out of action, but the more I watched the episode, the more I found myself thinking about Apollo 13.

Of course, Apollo 13 had Jim Lovell's brilliance as mission commander, while CIRRUS had... Fischler. A complete idiot, who didn't just put his own crew's lives at risk, but all of our boys as well.

And that slur he made against them too! Grrrr. After the Hood, he's now joined Professor Harold as the person I'd most like to see flattened by a Scotty Special.

To get back to more serious matters, tensions were definitely running high through that episode. Even Virgil came close to losing his temper! So, with that in mind, here are my thoughts on how John helps Scott to deal with the aftermath of an extremely challenging day.

Oh, and you'll see I've used what was actually said (and never said!) during the real Apollo 13 mission. You'll see what I mean when you read it.

Enjoy!

Failure Is Not An Option

John's hopes for a quiet return to Tracy Island ended as soon as the elevator's doors opened. The blast of cheering applause alone almost knocked him back into it. Then, of course, there was the honour guard of brothers, all lined up to welcome him home again, in true Tracy style.

By the time he'd run another gauntlet of rib-crushing hugs, those ribs were aching with real discomfort. In fact, his whole body still ached from its heroic battle against gravity. And while Gordon and Alan were still too buzzing too much to notice it, both Scott and Virgil had seen the wince of genuine pain that had flashed through their brother's eyes. It was Virgil, though, who just pipped Smother Brother One to the post.

"Okay, kids, let's give John a chance to get his breath back," he said at last, trading the briefest of glances with his own older brothers, before gently hustling Gordon and Alan towards the den.

Left in calmer privacy behind them, Scott could now get back to what Scott Tracy did best. Eyes that saw everything swept from his brother's head right down to his toes, then summed up their findings in an appraising frown.

"You sure you're okay? You pulled more g's up there than all my Air Force missions put together."

Silently grateful for the arm that had already slid around him, John nodded. Even if it felt heavier than usual, it felt... good. It felt... right.

"Yes, it felt like Five herself was rolling round on top of me," he admitted, holding up a hand to stave off the imminent fussing. "But really, Scott, I'm fine. EOS gave me a very thorough checkover before I came down."

Yeah, hadn't she just? You name it, she'd checked it. Twice. Then again, just to be on the safe side. From his brother's expression, though, it was going to take more than that to convince him. Luckily, he had the ever present back up plan all set to go.

"You know, when she puts her circuits to it, she's as much a mother hen as you are."

And... ooooh, a new record. From nought to indignation in 0.8 seconds.

"Hey! I am not a mother hen!"

'Uh huh.'

"...for starters, I'm the wrong gender..."

'Okay, I'll give you that one.'

"...and in case you hadn't noticed, I'm also the wrong species!"

'Yeah, I guess I've got to give you that one as well.'

Answered by a look that made all further protests futile, Scott had to grin too. Okay, so he'd lost that round, but he was still determined to end the argument with a winning point.

"Hey, I'm a big brother, okay? Keeping you crazy kids in line comes with the job."

"And you do it sooo well."

Behind this battle of brotherly wits, though, John was also frowning as he studied Scott's face. Yes, the smile was still there, but its amusement hadn't quite touched his eyes. If those windows to his soul had been a barometer, they'd have set it to 'stormy.'

Then again, he'd had one hell of a day. They all had. But, as usual, it had been Scott who'd had to face its most challenging cause.

Langstrom Fischler, in all his arrogant glory. And having to deal with someone who was as stupid and ignorant as he was reckless with people's lives... well, John thought more seriously, it couldn't have been easy. Within seconds of the scientist coming aboard Five, he'd had a real, thankfully short-lived urge to shove him out the nearest airlock.

Throw in the way he'd insulted the very people who were risking their lives to save him, the fact he'd never even thanked them... yes, John could fully appreciate the tension that he could see lurking in Scott's eyes. And in the absence of the family's traditional peacemaker - well, he'd always made a pretty good substitute.

So, then - time to do some subtle brothering himself. Somewhere nice and quiet, where they wouldn't be disturbed, and... yes, he knew just the place.

"You know, if we make the obs deck in the next six minutes, we'll be able to see EOS flying her first solo over the Pacific."

That won him a promising smile, and a precious memory for them both to enjoy, as they headed upstairs to the villa's upper level.

"Well, I hope she's a better pupil than Alan. Remember what happened when I took him up for his first flight?"

"No, not really. I was too busy jumping out of the way."

By the time they reached what Scott fondly called 'Geek Central' they were both still laughing at their youngest brother's expense. To John's further surprise, that first, hair-raising flight had also led to some inevitable repercussions - and an admission from his brother that solved an equally priceless mystery.

"You're the one who fixed those stabilisers on his first plane? God, for all these years, I've thought it was Gordon!"

"Hey, you want to keep blaming the Squid on my behalf, be my guest," Scott grinned, adding a playful waggle of his eyebrows as he finished setting up the telescope. "Okay, we're all set. And if she crashes into anything, then I'm definitely blaming you."

"Gee, thanks, Scooter. You're all heart."

After watching Five's thankfully uneventful pass above them, Scott and John settled back on their loungers - both happy just to enjoy the simple blessing of peace and silence. Besides, John knew better than to try and rush his brother into opening up before he was ready.

Thankfully, he didn't need to wait long. Staring up at the stars, and one star in particular, was already coaxing Scott's thoughts and emotions into the open.

"I really thought we were gonna lose this one, John... I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I mean, for Virgil to go down like that, then me, then Alan... every resource we had to get those people out of there, and... damn it, John, we just couldn't do it!"

"Hey, don't forget the part that Fischler played in this," John reminded him, clearly relieved that Scott was talking already, but seeing no harm in gently setting him straight either. "If not for all those corners he cut to get CIRRUS off the ground, he wouldn't have needed us in the first place."

"Yeah, I know... that idiot's just one disaster waiting to happen after another," Scott agreed, the smile on his face thankfully returning as he threw his brother an amused glare. "And - seriously? Off the ground? Jeez, you're getting as bad as Gordon."

Oooooh, that was a low blow. but if it helped ease the strain in his brother's eyes - well, just this once, he'd take it.

"Aah, just another of my unsung talents."

"Yeah, right up there with using Thunderbird Five as the world's biggest fishing reel," Scott chuckled, his voice relaxing once more as laughter overtook him. "Yeah, if that wasn't a catch to beat all others. And not to question it or anything, but... damn, John, how the hell did you think of it?"

Never one to make much of his heroics, John just smiled back at him, and shrugged.

"Just what I told you before, Scott... nothing more than good old fashioned physics."

Modesty or not, Scott wasn't prepared to let such humbleness go so easily. One way or another, he was going to see to it that the hero of the day enjoyed his moment of glory.

"Yeah, right... what you did up there, John, was nothing short of brilliant... a stroke of genius, and... hell, not even Brains could believe what he was seeing!"

In truth, of course, their resident genius had watched the whole thing through his fingers, but... well, in the grand scheme of things, that wasn't really important.

Human life, though? Hell, yes, that was important. To Scott Tracy, it was the most important thing in the world. And the actions of just one, stupidly arrogant pain in the ass had put six other lives, including his family's, at unnecessary risk. So yes, it was inevitable now that his next words were tinged by lingering anger.

"I couldn't believe it either. None of us could. All I could think about was how everything we'd tried before that point had failed... the same idiot we were trying to save had left all of us so damn helpless, and... and that our three failures had left everything riding on you."

Aah, there it was. The defining change in Scott's voice that told his brother it was time to get serious. And while John was partly sorry to feel this change in mood between them, the greater part of him was quietly relieved. The sooner he helped Scott to defeat the day's demons, the happier both of them would be.

Scott clearly felt the same way, since he now released more of the frustration that had been simmering inside him for so much of the day.

"Before you pulled off that miracle of physics, John, that's what we were facing. Failure. There were three people, relying on us to save them... and for the first time since dad formed International Rescue, I had to face the possibility that we... wouldn't be able to. That three people would die, because we couldn't save them."

As his brother bit back the rest of that thought, John watched him in silent empathy. Out of all of them, Scott was the only one who'd seen military service. Who'd faced the tragedy of loss. Those other brothers in arms, who'd flown out with him on their missions, and never come home.

It was another mission, though, another near tragedy, that now gave him the inspiration to turn his brother's doubts and fears back into hope and belief.

"Yeah, I'm sure Gene Krantz thought the same when Apollo 13 lost that oxygen tank," he said at last, glancing across at Scott, and knowing from the slightest of smiles that his brother was already following his point.

"Even if he didn't say it aloud, Scott, just from human nature, he must have thought the same thing as everyone else in that control room. The same thing that you, and Virgil, and Alan, all felt today. Just like us, they were faced with a seemingly hopeless situation. But that didn't stop them from finding a way to bring that crew home."

"Yeah, even if he never actually said them, those words still inspired generations afterwards... including mine," Scott agreed, smiling at the comfort of a favourite childhood memory. "God, I watched those tapes so many times, dad had to keep getting more copies."

"Yeah, those connections he had at NASA came in real handy," John grinned, shaking his head at his own, treasured memories. "And I've still got that filter I made for my very first science class. You remember that? I had to explain to the rest of the kids why I'd brought in an old box, some spare pipe from mom's vacuum cleaner, and all those rolls of duct tape."

The reaction was all he'd hoped for, as Scott glanced across at him - his eyes bright with affection, and his dimples deepened by a teasing smirk.

"Yeah, even at six years old, you were such a nerd."

"I was also the only kid that age who knew who Jim Lovell was," John recalled, laughing once more at the scenario that now played through his mind. "Yeah, those were good times, Scott... and can you imagine what he'd have said, seeing Alan and Thunderbird Three coming at them with those grappling arms?"

If he was expecting more laughter, then he was to be disappointed. To his dismay, the bright blue eyes had darkened. And when he spoke, Scott's voice held a telltale flatness.

"Knowing how much dad admired him, I know he'd have had the courtesy to say thank you. Fischler couldn't even do that."

Uh-oh. Out of nowhere, the tension had returned. And this time, it had brought some nicely simmered anger along for the ride.

"I'm just thanking all the gods I can think of that the GDF's revoked his licence, so he can't pull off such a stupid stunt again. Because it wasn't just his crew he nearly got killed today, John, it was all of us, and if... God, John, if Gordon hadn't reached Virgil in time to take control of Thunderbird Two..."

"...but he did, Scott..." John cut in gently, reaching across to give Scott's arm a 'back-to-reality' shake. As much as he understood his brother's anger, he couldn't let it fester any more than it had already. "He did reach him, we're all fine, and... well, after a few of our own '...Houston, we've had a problem...' moments, we're back to doing what we do best."

As envious of his brother's level headedness as he was so very thankful for it, Scott took a deep breath. Smiled back at his brother, and nodded through more of the calming words that put everything back in perspective.

"And you've got to ask yourself this too, Scott... who's more worthy of your thoughts right now? Who's going to keep giving you the inspiration to keep leading these rescue missions? To keep doing what you do best? Some ignorant idiot? Or the man who led his team to save three astronauts from a seemingly hopeless situation?"

Yeah, like he even had to think about that. And in that moment, Scott felt all the tension that had coiled up inside him release itself into a rueful grin. Quiet words of thanks for the brother who, as always, had calmed his temper, and soothed away its cause.

"You're right, John... and thanks, I...uh, guess today's left me... well, a bit tightly wound..."

"Well, if you need to unwind, you're welcome to join me back on Five," John offered, his eyes twinkling with their own unique depth of mischief. "Yeah, you could stay in the space elevator, while EOS and I give you a few twenty g spins round the block."

Intentionally or not, it worked. Staring back at him as if he'd grown an extra head, Scott then roared with laughter. And, to John's satisfaction, once he started, he found it damn hard to stop.

He was still going strong when they left the obs deck, and returned to the den - its cause kept hidden behind humouring grins as Gordon and Alan flew excitedly towards them.

"Hey, we've been waiting for you to get down here for ages!" Alan grinned, tugging John towards the stairs, while Gordon did the same with Scott. "Since we've had such a frazzling day, Virgil suggested we have a barbecue!"

"Yeah, trust Virg to have an idea with food attached to it," Scott chuckled, rolling his eyes while giving Gordon's hair the mother of ruffles. "Well, let's get down there, while there's still some left for us!"

Luckily, there was. In every sense, it was a feast fit for heroes. A celebration of everything that five ordinary brothers with extraordinary responsibilities stood for. Under a truly glorious sky, they ate, and drank, and laughed. Teased out their earlier squabbles, and hugged away the hurt they'd caused. Through the sheer joy of being alive, they cherished every moment of it.

And none of them wanted it to end. None of them even wanted to go to bed, because that would mean splitting up into separate rooms. So when they finally went back into the villa, one shared smile, one shared thought, led them to a circle of couches. But they only needed one on which to huddle together, and settle down to much needed, and peacefully deep sleep.

Scott, as usual, was the first to wake the next morning - rolling his eyes for far more than the usual reason of being used as a fourway pillow. Because wedged between Virgil's elbow, John's hand, Alan's head, and Gordon's arm lay a book that turned a silent smile into the quietest laughter. His childhood hero's equally inspiring autobiography. And while the genius who'd left it there - 'damn, I didn't even feel him get up!' - slept on beside him, Scott opened it to already well worn pages, and settled back to read.

Failure is not an option? Yeah, he thought through a warm well of contentment, those were words that he could happily live by.