I want to thank the people who stuck with this, it meant a lot to me considering how important this story is to me. I thank you lots! Lots and lots and lots! Especially Darkflame's Pyre who continued to inspire me all throughout! My dear friend, you're amazing!

Epilogue

"Thirty minutes out, Scott," John said, his smiling image floating in front of him.

Scott glanced up from examining his flight data. "Thanks, John," he said, sighing a little.

"Are you alright?" the space monitor asked, tilting his head with concern.

A short nod was the only reply at first as Scott continued to focus on his data. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I don't remember the last time you were this quiet on your rounds." He thought for a moment. "Okay, maybe I do. A few years ago and that first year…"

"John?" Scott said suddenly, looking up at him.

"Yeah?"

"How long have I been doing this now?"

"How long?" John asked, surprised. "Uh, I think perhaps, eight years? I think? Might be nine if you include the year Virgil had a turn."

Scott sighed again, lowering his head slightly. "That's what I figured, too."

"Scott?"

"It means Dad's been gone for over nine years."

The breath caught in John's throat having not been expecting him to say that. "Oh."

Scott's gloved fingers brushed at his eyes. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Don't be, it's okay."

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself when the proximity alert went off, indicating how close he was to home.

"Okay," he said, letting the breath out slowly. "Going in for landing."

"Skies are clear," John informed him. "I'm gonna set up my alerts and come down now."

"Alright, John," Scott replied, quietly.

Nine Christmases. That's how many times, bar one so far, Scott had filled their father's role. How many times he'd gone out as Santa when it should have been Jeff. How long he'd been missing with no clues as to where he'd gone.

He completed the landing procedures and Thunderbird One locked onto its cradle, chugging its way back to its hangar.

He took off the red gloves he wore and looked at them, rubbing his finger over the palm of one, before covering his eyes with his other hand. He sat there for a long time before finally he heard a voice outside the cockpit and looked round. He hadn't realised the craft had finished its journey up to his platform. He also hadn't realised how long he'd been sat there because John was stood by his lift.

Scott allowed the chair to swing forward with the opening of the hatch, towards his waiting brother.

John reached out and put his hand on Scott's shoulder, his other hand slipping the hat off his white hair. "Scott, let go of the magic and we can go and talk."

The elder Tracy took the hat from him gently and looked at it, sighing as he closed his eyes. Slowly, the magic wore off, turning him back from Santa to Scott again.

"Come on," John said.

Scott let him guide him back to his room, feelings of loss and guilt overflowing in him.

They went into Scott's room and John closed the door behind them. "What brought this on? I mean, I know you find it tough, Scott, but you've never reacted like this before. Not since you tried to overwork yourself during that aurora generator incident."

Scott nodded. "Yeah," he muttered, kicking his shoes off. "It was that first family."

"Why? What happened?"

He shook his head, staring down at his buttons as he tried to undo his shirt ready for bed. His fingers fumbled and he gave up, pulling it over his head and retrieving his pyjama t-shirt.

"Scott, talk to me," John said, sitting next to him.

Scott looked round at him, his eyes full of sadness. "The boy there. He… There was no gift. Nothing I could leave. His note to Santa asked me to bring his dad home because he was gone."

"Oh, Scott," John whispered, his hand resting on his arm.

"I didn't know what to do, John," he said. "How do I deal with that?"

"I don't know," John replied, lowering his head.

Scott brushed at his eyes again. "I just… I sat on his bed as he slept and I just told him that if his dad could come home, he would."

John looked over at him again and Scott leaned closer, resting his head on his shoulder. John let him, recognising that he needed this contact right now. He could tell his older brother was exhausted but also that this had really upset him.

Scott yawned, wiping at his eyes again and John looked down at him. "Scott, perhaps you should get some sleep," he said quietly. "I can stay with you if you want."

He nodded. "Please," he whispered, sighing deeply.

"Alright."

When John woke from his magic induced sleep, he looked around and was surprised to find himself in Scott's room and not aboard Thunderbird Five, until his memories of the previous night returned. What surprised him more was that, when he sat up and looked around, he was alone.

"Scott?" he called out, wondering if he'd gone to his bathroom, but there was no answer.

He lowered his feet to the floor, rubbing his eyes. Getting up, he went over and knocked on the bathroom door just to double check, but still no answer. He frowned slightly. "Where is he?" he mumbled to himself.

John wandered through to his own room and grabbed his dressing gown which he wrapped round himself, before walking down to the kitchen. No one there, not even the smell of coffee brewing. Scott hadn't come this way.

He tried the living room, even checked outside and still couldn't find him.

"John?"

He spun around to be confronted by Virgil. "Oh, hey there. How's the arm?" he asked.

Virgil shrugged one shoulder, his hand patting the cast on his arm. A rescue gone awry the previous day had resulted in Virgil falling and breaking the limb. "I've had worse to be fair. And I was gonna ask Scott if he wanted me to take another year for him but never mind. Where is he? Was last night okay?"

"I don't know," John admitted. "I can't find him. He's not in his room or bathroom, the kitchen, outside." He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I don't mean this to sound as bad as I know it probably will, but you breaking your arm yesterday couldn't have happened at a worse time."

"Why?" Virgil asked. "John, what's going on?"

"He was in a bit of a state last night, Virgil," John replied. "He was alright until after his first stop. After that he was so quiet and that's not like him. I got back down from Five before he even got out of One."

Virgil's warm brown eyes widened a little. "What happened? Did he tell you?"

John nodded, lowering his head. "Yeah. He did. At the stop was a boy who didn't want anything from Santa but his dad to come home."

"Oh boy," Virgil said, cringing slightly. "Yeah, that'd do it." He rubbed his casted arm as he looked around. "I can understand why you think the incident was poorly timed though. Right now I'm wishing it hadn't happened so I could have gone."

"Yeah," John muttered. He glanced around the lounge and his eyes came to rest on the panel that hid Scott's hangar entrance. "I wonder…"

"John?" Virgil asked, watching as John made his way across the room.

"I haven't checked the hangars yet."

"Ah, good thinking," Virgil said, following him to the maintenance entrance.

Together, they emerged into the hangar.

"John, look," Virgil said, pointing with his good arm. Thunderbird One's access hatch was open and Scott was sat inside it, huddled in his own dressing gown, his bare feet pulled up close to him as he hugged his knees.

"Scott…" John whispered, worried. He exchanged a look with Virgil and they both went over.

"Scott?" Virgil asked softly, approaching along the extended walkway.

As they neared him, they saw his eyes were red and he was clutching something tightly in one hand.

John walked up to the hatch and stepped into the craft. "Scott?" he asked, putting his hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at him, a strange spark of hope in eyes that also looked so full of sadness. "John?"

"Yeah, it's me," he replied. "What are you doing down here?"

"When I woke up I just felt like I had to come here," he said thickly, his voice sounding as though he had been crying for a while. He looked back at the item he was holding and John realised it was a piece of paper, which was odd because of its rarity.

He looked round at Virgil then back at Scott again as their younger brother approached. "Scott, why don't you come with us back upstairs? I'll get you a drink and we'll all sit and have a little talk."

Scott looked up at him, wiping his eyes. "He's alive, John," he whispered, the ghost of a smile forming.

"What?"

"Dad," he clarified. "He's alive."

Virgil reached out and gently placed his hand over his brother's forehead, worried he was feverish as he had been the Christmas before last.

Scott directed his gaze as the dark-haired man. "I'm not sick, Virgil," he said. "I'm not hallucinating or wishing or hoping or anything like that. I know!"

"But, how?" Virgil asked.

The elder man released his legs, lowering them down in front of him as he held out the piece of paper. "Look."

Virgil took it, frowning in frustration as it was crumpled and he couldn't flatten it out in one hand. He passed it to John, who had reached out to help him, then looked at Scott. "Where did you get it? That thing must be ancient!"

Scott shook his head. "It's not. I found it when I came in here. It was on my control chair," he said, looking round as he heard John gasp.

He'd managed to smooth out the creases and was now looking at the writing over the page. "But… But I don't understand," John said, looking up at him. "That's… How is this possible? This is Dad's writing."

"Read it," Scott insisted.

John glanced over at Virgil, showing him.

Virgil took it from him again, looking at it.

"Read it!" Scott's voice sounded almost desperate.

Virgil regarded him then looked back at the sheet, starting to read.

"Dear, Scott.

"Firstly, I just want to say how much I miss you. All of you. I'm sorry I'm not there for you and that I've had to impose this on you too soon. We should have had more time to discuss this before you took over. I wish I could tell you more about where I am and what I'm doing, I wish I could come home, but I can't.

"I maintain a little magic each Christmas which I've been storing up so I could finally send you this note and I wanted to tell you, Scott, that I'm so proud of you. You've handled yourself so well and lived up to our legacy. I know that the others all know now after Virgil caught you and it's okay. I'm proud that you're all working together so well and being so supportive of each other. Tell Virgil thank you for looking after you when you were so unwell. Tell him he was quite right, you shouldn't have gone out but now that you know you can share your magic I hope you'll find it a lot easier than I did. Tell John his assistance has definitely proved invaluable and I know you agree. I wish I'd had someone like him watching out for me when I was out there but I had to use the older methods at my disposal. Perhaps one day we'll get the chance to talk about them. And tell Gordon and Alan I'm proud of how well they're handling it all. They've grown into fine young men and I'm sorry I've missed so much.

"Tell Mom how much I love her and appreciate her looking after you all. Tell Kayo she's been like the daughter I never had and her father would be just as proud of her as I am. And tell Brains he continues to impress me with all the new modifications he is constantly coming out with. You're the best team ever.

"One day I'll come back but for now, just know how proud I am of you all, not just for continuing with the family legacy but also for the good work you've all done with International Rescue. I miss you all so much, more than I believed would be possible, but I will return, I just don't know when.

"Dad."

John looked over at Virgil, not sure he was able to speak.

Scott leaned closer and pointed to the bottom of the page. "Look," he said.

Virgil glanced down at the sheet again and noticed the last line of text. "PS. Please don't worry about the boy on your rounds last night. His wish was still granted as his father returned home from active duty today, surprising his family."

As he finished reading, he smiled softly and looked back up at Scott.

He had his arms wrapped round him, hugging himself as he pulled his gown tighter round himself. "He's alive," he whispered.

Virgil moved closer to him and put his good arm round him. "Yes, he is."

Scott looked over at him with a small smile then looked over at John.

"I can't believe it," he said, taking the letter from Virgil and looking at it.

"I knew it, I just knew it," Scott said, wiping his eyes. "After Grandma said the magic could be shared not just transfer automatically, I just knew he was out there somewhere and now we know! Now we have proof!" He still felt incredibly emotional but they had hope now and that made him smile.

He took the note back from John and looked at it again. "Best Christmas present ever," he whispered.

John smiled at him. "One which we can all share."

"Yeah, we need to tell the others!" Virgil said, taking Scott by the arm and pulling him with a grin.

Kayo and Gordon were busy working together to prepare breakfast for everyone while Grandma was pouring juice into jugs, Alan was laying the table and Brains and Max were preparing coffee, having long ago perfected the programming that enabled Max to perfectly brew any blend they could ask for.

"Where are the others?" Alan asked. "They're usually up before us."

"Well, they're usually up before you at least," Kayo teased playfully.

Alan stuck his tongue out at her with a grin as he laid out the last knife and fork, but looked up hearing approaching footsteps. "Hey! There they are! Merry Christmas!" He went running over to Scott, Virgil and John as they entered the room together, only stopping himself at the last minute when he remembered Virgil's arm and didn't want to hurt him. "Hi!"

"Merry Christmas, Al," Scott said softly. "I'm so glad you're all here."

"Scott? Are you alright?" Grandma asked, walking over to him.

He smiled at her. "I was a bit overwhelmed earlier but I'm fine. I really am." He leaned closer, kissing her cheek gently. "I need to talk to everyone though."

"Breakfast is almost ready, Scott," she said.

"I can do it while everyone is sat down," he replied.

"Is something wrong, Scott?" Gordon asked, walking over with a plate of bacon.

He shook his head. "No, but it's something that you all need to hear," he said.

"What's this about?" Kayo asked as she sat down at the table.

Scott looked around as he stood by his seat, waiting for everyone to sit down.

"Well, Scott?" Gordon asked once everyone was sat.

Digging his hand into the pocket of his dressing gown, Scott removed the letter, taking a deep breath.

"Is that paper?" Alan asked.

He looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly, feeling himself getting emotional over seeing his father's words again.

"Want me to do it again?" Virgil asked, seeing him take another steadying breath.

Scott directed his gaze to him and nodded, handing it over and sitting down.

Brains looked between them, confused by their behaviour as Alan frowned. "Is someone gonna let us know what this is about before our breakfast gets cold?" the youngest Tracy asked, folding his arms.

Virgil smiled softly at him. "Scott had a difficult trip last night after visiting a boy who didn't want a gift from him, just for his dad to return," he explained, looking at Scott briefly. The older Tracy had closed his eyes at the reminder of that sad event, but Virgil knew that the letter had taken the edge off that guilt.

"I had to stay with him last night," John added.

"I bet," Alan said quietly, the frown gone from his face, compassion and concern replacing it as he watched his brother.

"This morning, though, when he went back to Thunderbird One, this was on the control seat."

"It wasn't there last night," Scott added.

"It's a letter," Virgil said. "From Dad."

"Dad?" Gordon asked, sitting forward. "What d'you mean, it's from Dad?"

Virgil turned the paper to show him. "That's his handwriting, I think we'd all recognise it from the digital documents we all had to study about our Thunderbirds."

John smiled. "I never quite understood why he used the stylus to write as opposed to typing."

Grandma looked over at him, a fond look in his eyes. "Your father always preferred the tactile sensations you get with writing."

"What does it say?" Alan asked, his expression clearly showing how much he wanted to hear words their father had written.

Virgil glanced at Scott and, after receiving a nod from their older brother, read out the letter again.

They all sat in silence, listening intently to the words penned by Jeff Tracy, a man they all missed whether he was father, friend or son.

By the time Virgil finished, Grandma had taken hold of Kayo's hand as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, the younger woman squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Brains was smiling softly, a feeling of happiness at making his dear friend proud of him.

Alan and Gordon had exchanged a look before both got up and moved round the table to hug their eldest brother tightly.

"What a Christmas present, huh?" Scott whispered as he wrapped his arms round them. "I knew he was alive!"

Alan nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak for fear of actually crying.

The two middle brothers stood and went over to their siblings, joining the hug, albeit one-armed on Virgil's part.

Scott sighed happily at the centre of the embrace, grateful for the letter that confirmed his hopes but also the closeness of all his brothers.

It was barely a moment or two before Kayo went over and joined them, followed, after encouragement from Grandma, by Brains.

It was a Christmas they wouldn't soon forget. Jeff Tracy may not have been back with them, but at least they had new hope that one day he would be.