Over and Out

Scott leaned against the side of the downed building and wiped his forehead. It was hot and humid and they had been working for hours to release people trapped inside the Tokyo office block that had collapsed during an earthquake.

He looked over to where the Bulldozer Pod was being driven by Virgil, loosening stubborn piles of debris, then over to where Alan was also helping with the back-breaking work of shifting anything they physically could along with the local aid workers.

The people inside the building had been unfortunate in that the building had ultimately collapsed, despite the many safety features to help prevent this, but the quake was a strong one and the building old. Luckily for them, a safety capsule had been constructed in the centre of the building, meaning that when the office workers realised they were unable to escape the doomed block, they'd made it to the safety of the capsule which protected them as the structure collapsed. Now, they were buried beneath tons of rubble and twisted metal.

"Scott, I think I've reached the dig point," Virgil called out over their comm. channel.

"Brilliant, get the Dozer out of the way. Gordon, get the Mole Pod in action," Scott said, glancing back towards Thunderbird Two. She stood raised on her struts and inside, Scott knew, Gordon had been ready and waiting to bring out the second vehicle.

As the Mole trundled forward, the Dozer backed out of the trench it had created, turned and wended its way back to the cargo pod.

"Dozer has withdrawn, Gordon, it's all yours," Virgil said.

Scott looked over at the others nearby. "We'd better back off while they descend, that machine tends to kick up a lot of dirt and we don't need any more injuries," he said, glancing mostly at a particular aid worker who had introduced herself as Sammi, quickly explaining that, as an English firefighter who had moved to Japan, she could translate for those who understood no English, while still being of assistance.

Scott moved to stand next to Alan. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

The younger Tracy was filthy and sweaty but was stepping up to every task given to him. "Absolutely fine!" he said, grinning. "It's great to be off base."

Scott rolled his eyes, shaking his head with amusement. "We're lucky this time. This area is so well prepared for earthquakes they have quake drills more than some places have fire drills. We've got away with minimal injuries."

Alan nodded. "Yeah."

At that point, all conversation was drowned out by the grinding of metal against rock as the mole's drill point bit into the ground.

"And now we wait," Sammi said, approaching them.

Scott nodded.

It wasn't long before the Mole broke the surface and reversed out of the way. Due to the small nature of the pod, they'd had to create an escape tunnel instead of bringing people up onboard.

A look of relief fell across Sammi's face as she counted the people out of the tunnel. "That's all of them according to the records we were given by the building manager."

"Good news, Sammi," Scott said as, together, they all stepped forward to help them out of the crevice Gordon had created.

As each person was checked over by medical professionals, Scott stepped back. Gordon and Virgil had already returned the pods to their rightful place and had both joined their brothers.

"I think that's us done, then," Scott said, looking at each of them. They were all covered in dust and grime and he imagined he looked no better, but there was a look of accomplishment on each face. They'd done well today.

"Think you're right," Virgil said, nodding.

"Back to base?" Gordon asked.

Scott nodded. "Back to base," he said.

The three younger brothers turned to head over to Thunderbird Two, while Scott headed over to Thunderbird One, resting a short distance from its larger sister.

He was just stepping over a large pile of broken bricks jumbled up against a piece of still standing wall, when he heard the voice of Sammi calling out to him from behind. He stopped and waited for her.

"I just wanted to thank you for your help today, Scott," she said, smiling. "We wouldn't have been able to get those people out without your International Rescue."

Scott shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said. "We're just glad we were able to help."

Sammi nodded and shook his hand. "Their families are glad too."

Scott smiled and stepped backwards, turning again to head towards Thunderbird One.

Suddenly, though, a tremor rumbled through the ground and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor with white hot agony shooting up his leg.

He was vaguely aware of Thunderbird Two taking off and leaving, then of a pair of arms helping to sit him up.

"Scott, are you okay?" he heard someone ask, urgently. He thought it was Sammi again but he couldn't be sure. Why did his leg hurt so much? "Scott? There was an aftershock! The wall collapsed on you as the floor subsided and put your foot through a hole." Ah, so it was her, he thought, somewhat dazed.

Taking a deep breath, Scott looked around. He saw what she meant. His brain started to reengage again. His foot was down a hole surrounded by rocks and debris and was twisted around.

He took another deep breath and looked up at Sammi. "Thanks," he said, accepting her help to pull his foot out of the hole. "That wasn't a clever thing to do," he mumbled, looking down at his ankle. With the armour of his boots, he couldn't really tell what he'd done. He tried to wriggle his toes but felt the intense pain increase with a vengeance.

He looked up into the sky to see Thunderbird Two swinging round and started to streak across the sky.

"Are you alright?" Sammi asked again.

Scott nodded. "I'll be fine," he lied through gritted teeth, knowing that, as much as he didn't like going in there, the island had a well equipped infirmary.

He leaned against the rubble he'd previously climbed over and tried to push himself up. Whoa, that made him dizzy.

Sammi stood beside him, her arm out near his in case he needed it.

He tried again to get up and found he was unable to put any weight on his foot at all. His new friend quickly read the situation. "You're not fine, are you?"

"We have a medical facility on our base, I'll get it checked out back there."

"But you've got to get back there first."

Scott offered a grin, but it quickly turned into a grimace with another wave of nauseating pain. "Hand controls," he muttered.

"I can't force you to stay," she said, "but I still think you need to go to hospital."

Scott shook his head. "I need to get back to base."

Sammi sighed. "At least let me help you over to your Thunderbird."

Scott nodded, allowing her to put an arm round his waist and put his own over her shoulder. Between them, they slowly made their way over to Thunderbird One, Scott gritting his teeth. Seriously, all these rescues and he manages to injure himself by standing in a hole during an aftershock?

Using his arm mounted controls, he called his seat down to him, watching the cockpit portals swing open and the chair stop in front of him.

Keeping his weight on his good foot, he hoisted himself into his seat, gratefully accepting Sammi's help.

Once settled, he gave Sammi a wave, then hit the control to retract the seat. Enclosed in the cockpit, he leaned back into his seat, taking a few deep breaths. He could feel pressure inside his boot and the pain that just wouldn't go away but knew if he took it off now, he'd regret it.

Initiating pre-flight checks quickly, he started up his 'Bird and felt a little relief as he gained enough height to spin the craft around and point it towards home. Am I glad Japan isn't far from home, he thought, noting the Tracy Island ETA in the corner of his display.

"Thunderbird One to Tracy Island, on final approach," he said. He couldn't have been happier to have seen his home appear on his radar. The nauseous feeling was getting worse and his ankle was really hurting. He probably shouldn't have flown home, he definitely should have informed Virgil what had happened.

"Clearance granted," Virgil said.

"FAB," Scott said. He'd noted a little suspicion in his brother's voice. Scott sighed, knowing why. Virgil had the slower craft so didn't get home before him unless Scott had informed him of a reason.

Swallowing against another wave of pain and nausea, Scott concentrated on landing Thunderbird One through the access hatch beneath the swimming pool. Once she was on her trolley, he could relax a little. He scraped the back of his hand across his forehead, wiping away a layer of sweat.

He felt the bump of landing followed by the clunk of the securing restraints locking into place and sighed, closing his eyes as he felt the upward motion of Thunderbird One returning to its silo.

At the top, the cockpit swung open and the chair unfolded toward the extended platform. He looked at it with apprehension. Normally the small round platform at about the height of Thunderbird One didn't bother him, but he knew that no matter what he tried, his limb wouldn't hold him upright long enough for the platform to retract back to his lift.

With a sigh of resignation, he raised his wrist, bracing himself for whatever Virgil was about to throw at him.

"Virgil?" he said to the comm. built into his wrist armour.

"Scott? Where are you? What's taking so long?" Scott closed his eyes and swallowed against another nauseous feeling. "Scott, what happened?" Virgil asked, seeing the pale clammy-looking face of his brother over the link.

"Aftershock just after you took off," he managed to say, opening his eyes. "I'm sorry, Virge. I don't think I'm gonna be able to get across the platform."

"You're still in Thunderbird?"

Scott nodded. He leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes again.

The next thing he knew, Virgil was stood on the platform in front of him with his arms crossed over his broad chest. "What have you done to yourself this time?" he asked.

Scott looked over at him. "I was talking to that aid worker, Sammi when an aftershock hit. The wall beside me collapsed onto me and a hole opened up beneath me."

Instantly, Virgil switched to medic-mode. "Can you move your toes?"

Scott shook his head. "No, and it hurts like crazy."

"Scott, why on earth didn't you say something?" Virgil asked, helping him up out of his chair and slinging Scott's arm over his shoulder.

Scott shrugged slightly. "Japan's not that far away."

"Not the point," Virgil said, helping him onto the platform. They waited as it retracted, taking them both back to the lift, but at the last minute, Virgil pulled him sideways towards the general elevator. Before Scott could say anything, Virgil interrupted. "Forget your uniform, we need to get you upstairs."

Slowly, they made their way to the elevator and from there, they were able to enter the den where Alan and Gordon were both sat on the sofa, damp-haired from recent showers to remove the earthquake dirt. Both boys looked up to see their older brothers coming back.

"Virgil?" Alan asked, uncertainly. "What happened?"

"Not sure, but he's injured his ankle pretty badly," Virgil said. "Gonna take him down to the infirmary to check him over."

The two made their way down there and, once inside, Virgil deposited his brother onto the closest bed.

Scott laid back and gratefully closed his eyes, groaning slightly.

"You alright?" Virgil asked, watching as Scott raised an arm to cover his eyes.

"Feel sick," he mumbled.

"Think you're gonna be sick?"

Scott swallowed hard. "Dunno. Not right now."

Virgil sighed and found a bowl anyway, then he went to the cupboard and pulled out some pain medication. "This should help, Scott," he said, unlatching the armour from Scott's wrists so he could roll his sleeve up.

Scott gritted his teeth as Virgil administered the injection.

Virgil looked down at his ankle. He knew without looking which ankle he'd hurt. The plating was scuffed and scraped. He looked back up at Scott's face. "I'm gonna take your boot off. The tightness of your armour has been acting as a compression bandage, so it might hurt when I remove it."

Scott just nodded, his arm still over his eyes.

Virgil carefully unclasped the armour on his brother's leg and cringed. It was really badly swollen already. A soft groan emanated from Scott as Virgil pulled off the lower half of his boot and his sock. "Wow, Scott, are you going for the full spectrum of colour?"

Reaching into the cupboard again, he found a cool pack and twisted it, bursting the capsule inside that would activate the chemical reaction. He wrapped it in a towel and placed it around Scott's ankle, causing the older Tracy to hiss in pain.

"Right," Virgil said to himself, looking around. "We'd better x-ray it."

He reached out to the ceiling mounted camera and lowered it over Scott's ankle, briefly removing the pack so the image could be taken. He looked at the holographic image being displayed in the corner and frowned.

"Uh oh," Virgil muttered. "That's a break." He looked over to see that Scott's breathing had deepened. "Yeah, Scott, get some rest," he said, sighing as he realised the medication must be working as Scott had fallen asleep. He looked back up at the display. "You're gonna need it."

Virgil went back into the den to see Gordon and Alan both still there. They jumped up from their seats when they saw him and ran over.

"Is he alright?" Gordon asked.

"What happened?" Alan added.

Virgil held up his hands, edging his way between them to get to a sofa. He flopped into it tiredly. "He'll be fine. From what I can gather, there was an aftershock which caused a wall to collapse and the ground to open beneath him. He stepped into a hole and twisted." He looked between them both. "Which has broken his ankle."

Gordon smiled slightly. Having heard 'he'll be fine', he'd stopped worrying quite so much, but then on hearing the rest of the statement, his grin slipped. "Can't that guy even walk in a straight line without hurting himself?" he asked, his eyes wide and worried.

Virgil smiled a little at the comment but sighed. "He's gonna be out of action for a while. It'll take at least six weeks to heal."

"Six weeks? So who's gonna pilot Thunderbird One?" Alan asked.

"We'll just have to manage without," Virgil said, shrugging.

"Without?" Gordon said, exchanging a glance with Alan.

"We'll manage," Virgil said again.

When Scott finally awoke, he was confused at first to find himself in the infirmary. Then he tried to stretch out, jostling his ankle in the process. He grabbed his leg as pain blossomed through the joint. "Ooh, ow, I remember now," he said. He looked down at his foot. How could it swell that big? And the bruising. His entire foot was one big bruise that seemed to be spreading up his leg. At least as far as he could see with his uniform being in the way.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Virgil said as he walked back in. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I don't feel sick anymore," he said. "But I feel like I let you and Gordon run me over with the Dozer and the Mole."

Virgil smiled slightly at the analogy as he reached into the cupboard for the bandages and setting agent. "I came to cast it for you."

Scott looked at him. "Cast it?"

Virgil put down the items he was taking out of the cupboard. "Yeah, cast it. You've managed to break it."

Scott stared at him, his mouth slightly open. "What?"

"You broke it," Virgil repeated and I need to cast it so it heals properly."

Scott's shoulders sagged and his head lowered. "This is so typical," he muttered. "I thought so earlier. All these rescues."

Virgil nodded and sat down next to him. "It'll only be for six weeks."

"Six weeks?" Scott yelped, his head snapping back up to glare at his brother. "But what about Thunderbird One? What happens when we get a call?"

"You can coordinate from here. We'll just have to make do. If we even get a call."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "If?"

"Okay, I'll give you that one," Virgil said, turning back to the unit and gathering up the items he'd put down. He set about making up the setting agent then looked down at his ankle again. "You'd be no good to us out there, Scott. You know that."

Scott sighed. "Over and out," he muttered.

"Sorry?"

He laughed humourlessly. "It was something we used to say at the training academy before my force days. Over and out. Fall over and you're out of action for a while."

Virgil sighed and sat down next to him. "Knowing you, Scott, you'll be fighting fit before we know it. Now, come on. Let me sort you out."

Scott nodded. "Alright."

"Can you get your uniform off at all? Or do I need to cut it?"

"What?"

"Well, I can't roll it up and I can't put the cast over the top," Virgil said.

Scott frowned and reached up to tug the zip at his collarbone. "You're not cutting my uniform," he muttered.

Virgil smirked slightly and stepped away to let him get undressed, finding him a t-shirt and shorts from a small store of clothes they kept in the room.

When he returned, Scott was breathing hard and had a sheen of sweat across his forehead. "Scott, if you were struggling, you could have asked for help."

"Your help involves scissors," he said, taking a deep breath. He felt a shaky and sick where he'd had difficulty getting the snugly fitted uniform off over his foot.

Virgil rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You're so stubborn."

Scott looked up at him, swallowing against the nausea. "I believe that particular trait runs in the family, passed down through the generations."

Virgil chuckled. "A very good point," he said. He set to work on the cast, being as gentle as he possibly could.

Once finished, Scott sat up and looked at his foot. He could still see the myriad of colours on his toes but apart from that, it was all covered over. It even started to feel a little better.

"Try and stay off it as much as you can and elevate it."

"Yes, Nurse Tracy," Scott mumbled, smiling slightly.

Virgil rolled his eyes again. "Get dressed. No one needs to see you in your underwear, Scott."

"Nothing wrong with this body," he joked, pulling on the shorts anyway, wincing as he caught the cast against the waistband of the shorts.

Virgil sighed, smiling as he shook his head. "I beg to differ, Scott. You're the one in the infirmary with a leg injury, so I would take that as something wrong with that body."

Scott shrugged. "Do I have to stay in here?"

Virgil tilted his head. "I'll find you the crutches but you're to take it easy," he said, heading over to the equipment store in the corner of the room.

Scott looked surprised. He'd been expecting a straightforward 'yes' from his brother. "I didn't realise we still had those," he said. They were leftover from when Gordon had had his hydrofoil accident. An accident that had almost claimed their younger brother's life. He carefully swung his legs off the bed, screwing his eyes shut at the dizziness he felt as the injured limb was lowered.

Virgil turned back and saw him. "What part of 'take it easy' is difficult to understand?" He pushed him back onto the bed and handed over the crutches.

Scott took them, adjusted them to his height and tried again. "That's better," he said.

"Mmm," Virgil said, watching him limping up and down in front of him. "I'm not sure I feel safe stood in front of you, mind you."

"Funny," Scott said, stopping. "So, can I leave now?"

Virgil nodded. "Den or bathroom," he said. "If you want to go outside and when you want to go to bed one of us will have to help you with the stairs."

Scott smiled. "I can live with that," he said.

Virgil chuckled. "You sound like Alan sometimes."

Scott rolled his eyes. "You sound like Gordon sometimes," he retorted.

Virgil stepped aside and let him head to the doorway. "Take it easy," he reminded him, turning back to tidy up the mess that had been left behind.

Scott limped into the den and made his way to the sofas. He spotted the steps that led down to the centre of the lowered seating area. 'I'm sure I'll be fine,' he thought, carefully edging down them.

By the time he'd tackled just those few steps, he was out of breath and flopped down onto the sofa, propping the crutches in the gap between the sofa and the leather chairs beside him.

Alan and Gordon walked back in carrying glasses of juice each.

"Scott!" Alan called out, spotting him first. He ran over and deposited his drink on the table. "So Virgil said you broke your ankle!"

"Yeah," he said. As the two youngest Tracy's sat down on either side of Scott, one on the sofa, one on a leather chair, the elder brother explained what happened.

"So, we had an earthquake, with falling debris, bits of metal, all of that stuff and you get hurt falling in a hole," Gordon said, summing it up.

Scott shook his lowered head, sighing. "Well, an aftershock caused it but, yeah, I guess so."

"D'you need anything?" Alan asked.

Scott looked over at him and smiled. "I'm alright, thanks, Squirt," he said.

Alan smiled back and nodded.

The three brothers all looked up as a bleeping cut through the quiet. John's hologram appeared above the table in front of them.

"Evening, John," Scott said, leaning forward.

"Hey guys." He noticed the cast on Scott's leg. "Uh oh, what happened?"

Scott sighed and explained once again.

John shook his head, glancing upwards. "Scott, Scott, do you need to come up here for a little while? Can't trip in zero-G," he said, smirking as he looked back at him.

"Was there a reason for your call or was it just an excuse to tease me?"

"No, it's just time for my nightly report," John said.

Scott smiled. "Alright. So, what have you got to report?"

"It's pretty quiet up here. There is a wildfire alert in Victoria, Australia, though. It's been really dry there, the temperatures are high and there's a storm forecast."

"Hmm," Scott said, thoughtfully. "Monitor it, John. If we need to, we'll step in."

"We will," Gordon said. "You can't go anywhere."

Scott frowned. "I know," he muttered. He sighed again and looked back up at John. "Just keep your eye on it for us."

"Copy that," John said. "Thunderbird Five out."

After help from Alan and Gordon to get up the stairs to his bedroom, and a wet cloth wash to get rid of as much of the rescue dirt as he could, Scott laid in bed that evening, staring at the ceiling.

He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but his ankle was really hurting him again.

He sighed and rolled onto his side to look out of the window. The stars were bright in the cloudless sky but it brought him no pleasure. He just wanted to sleep.

Another sudden wave of pain had him screwing his eyes shut and curling up on himself, trying not to cry out.

The soft knock on his door went unnoticed by the injured Tracy until a second knock with more force followed.

"Come in," he called out, taking a deep breath.

Virgil walked in and saw him. "I'm sorry, Scott, I meant to bring this to you earlier, but I was helping Brains with some maintenance." He looked genuinely mortified at the thought that he'd left his brother in pain to fix a minor fault in one of the pods.

Scott shook his head.

"And don't say you're fine, Scott, because you're clearly not," Virgil said, helping his brother to sit up then sitting on the edge of the bed himself. He handed Scott a bottle of water he'd brought for him and some painkillers. "Those ones should help you sleep, as well," he added.

Scott nodded and put the tablets into his mouth, then removed the lid from the bottle and took a quick swig to wash them down. Once satisfied the bitter tasting pills were gone, he took a deeper drink.

Virgil smiled at him, standing up. "Try and get to sleep, Scott. See you in the morning," he said, heading to the door.

Scott nodded again and shuffled back down to lie on his back, his ankle propped up on some spare pillows. He could feel the effects of the painkillers working already and sighed with relief.

Virgil stopped at the doorway, holding onto the frame to look back in at him, but Scott seemed to have already drifted off.

The following morning, Virgil stopped outside Scott's door. He knocked on it quietly, not wanting to disturb him if he wasn't awake yet but also wanting to be able to help him downstairs if he was.

"Come in."

Virgil smiled. Scott always was an early riser. He opened the door and went in. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked.

Scott was sat up in bed, his legs out in front of him under the covers, the injured one still propped up. "Well, the nausea seems to have gone, but boy does my ankle ache!"

"I'm not surprised, to be honest," Virgil said. "Mind if I check it? I'm okay with casts but it's not something I'd call myself expert at. I want to make sure that it's set properly and stuff."

Scott shook his head. "Go for it," he said, throwing his covers to the side.

Virgil sat down next to him. "Still got some awesome colouring going on," he said, smirking up at him.

Scott just rolled his eyes. "You planning on painting it?"

Virgil chuckled. "Just saying," he said. "Can you feel this?" he asked, gently touching the top of his brother's toes in a few places.

Scott screwed his eyes shut and nodded.

"I'll get you some more painkillers then help you downstairs."

Scott smiled at Virgil gratefully, then sighed, the smile slipping. "I hate this," he muttered.

"Hmm?" Virgil asked, stopping on his way to the door and turning back to look at him.

"Feeling so useless, so dependent on other people even for the simplest tasks. I can't even manage stairs by myself! I hate it!"

Virgil nodded, smiling sympathetically. "I know, Scott," he said. "We all do. I'll just get your painkillers, alright?"

Scott nodded and watched his brother leave the room. He sighed again, looking back out of the window until Virgil returned with more medication.

"Get your crutches, then," Virgil said, "and I'll help you down to the den."

Scott took the pills from him and quickly downed them with the last of his water then grabbed the crutches from beside his bed.

"Ready?" Virgil asked.

Scott raised himself up from his bed, bracing himself against the crutches. Virgil had to put his hands out as Scott suddenly leaned forwards. "Whoa, easy, Scooter," he said.

"Sorry," Scott said. Standing up too fast, coupled with the injured limb now being lower had caused a massive wave of dizziness.

"Are you alright?"

Scott nodded. "Got up too fast," he mumbled.

"I can see that," Virgil said. "Can I let go of your shoulders or are you going to topple forward if I do?"

Scott waited for a moment. "No, I think I'm alright now."

Virgil stepped back and gave Scott some space. He watched as Scott was able to step forward slowly. "You good?"

Scott nodded again. "I'm good." Together the two brothers slowly made their way towards the stairs that would lead them down to the den.

At the top of the stairs, Virgil took the crutches from Scott. He held onto his arm while Scott's free hand held onto the banister. They made their way down and at the bottom, Virgil returned the crutches.

Scott took them, trying to hide that his hands were shaking from the effort, and made his way over to the sofas in the lowered centre of the den.

"D'you want a drink?" Virgil asked, making his way towards the stairs that would take him further down to the kitchen.

"Coffee," Scott said, putting the crutches down beside him and settling back into the seat, lifting his foot onto the seat beside him. He took a few deep breaths, letting his head tip back against the headrest.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Shoulda known," he said, walking out.

Scott lifted his head and looked around. He could hear splashing coming from the pool suggesting that Gordon (at the very least) was outside having his morning swim. More than likely, Alan was still asleep.

A few minutes later, Virgil walked back in carrying two mugs. He handed one to Scott and sat down as the bleeping of the comms. sounded through the room.

Both Tracy men looked up to see John appearing above them.

"Morning, John," Scott said.

"Morning," John replied. He looked tired. "Sorry, I'm not just reporting in or calling for a chat this time. I've been up monitoring the situation in Victoria. That wildfire they were worrying about? Yeah, storm struck early hours of this morning, about 1am local time, 3am our time, and lightning hit several trees and dry patches. Normally they'd just let it burn itself out but a wind is whipping it up to dangerous proportions and blowing it towards nearby towns. The local fire crews have requested help in keeping the fire from spreading."

Virgil had put his mug onto the table and was on his feet long before John had finished talking. "Thunderbird Two responding," he said. "Do me a favour and wake Gordon to join me, he can set up the second pod so we've got two on the go."

"FAB," John said, reaching to hit a control on his wrist that would activate the alarm in Gordon's room.

"Wait," Scott said. "I think he's outside, I could hear splashing. Try the pool first."

"No need," Gordon said, coming in. He had his towel round his shoulders and was a little out of breath. "I heard the alert, got up here as quick as I could."

"You're going with Virgil, wildfire in Australia," John reported.

Gordon nodded and ran off, depositing his towel on one of the seats as he went.

Scott watched him go then lowered his head.

"I'm sure they'll manage without you," John said.

"I'm sure they will," Scott said, flatly. "That's what I'm worried about. If they can manage without me, what good am I?"

John shook his head. "Scott, there are situations that call for a scout vessel, and there are situations where we know exactly what we're heading into. In this case, we know all we need is fire fighting equipment and so you'd have just been a coordinator. At the earthquake, we had no idea what we'd find aside from what was reported specifically. We knew that one building had collapsed, but we didn't know if there was other danger. That's why you go out first."

Scott smiled a little. "How is it you always know what to say?"

John shrugged. "I know you, Scott. I'm leaving the feed open so you can help monitor the danger zone."

"FAB," Scott said, his smile widening a little more, while outside the roar of Thunderbird Two taking off filled the air.

Scott watched the holographic images in front of him intently. It showed the area affected by the fire and small floating badges indicating where his brothers were.

They were doing well; for the most part the fire had been dealt with but they were still working on one quadrant.

John had been feeding them information constantly but as Scott watched, listening to John mutter to himself about the sections that had been dealt with, Scott leaned forward, watching their badges.

"They're too close together," he noted quietly.

"What's that?" John asked.

Scott shuffled forward to the very edge of his chair, lowering his feet to the floor and grimacing. He was concentrating so hard on the images that he'd forgotten about his ankle. "They're too close together, John," he repeated, looking up and sitting back again.

John looked over the image again. "You're right," he said, frowning. "If they get another gust now, it'll overwhelm them from either side. Virgil! Gordon! Spread out, you're too close! Fire Chief, you too, your fighters are all too close together!"

Scott watched as the holographic indicators spread out and the fire was soon under control.

"Thunderbird Two to base, the fire chief has informed us they can manage from here on their own. We've loaded the pods back into Two and are about to take off for home."

Scott smiled and looked up at John.

"FAB, Thunderbird Two," John said and looked back down at his older brother. "Nice catch there, Scott."

Scott rubbed the back of his head, smiling again. "Thanks, but…"

"No 'buts', Scott, if you'd been in the thick of it down there, you may not have noticed. Like the time you didn't notice the mountain you were flying towards with Brains?"

Scott chuckled slightly at the memory. "I guess," he said.

John smiled at him. "Now sit back properly and elevate that ankle!"

"FAB," Scott said, twisting in his seat to put his foot up next to him. He moved the cushion at the other end of the sofa to prop his foot up a little higher, then lay back, resting his head on the other cushion, closing his eyes.

"Comfy?" John asked, watching him.

Scott opened an eye and looked up at him. "You told me to elevate it, might as well make myself comfortable, too."

John chuckled. "It's good to see you actually resting, Scott," he said.

Scott smiled and closed his eye again and settling back. He knew that Australia wasn't that far away in the grand scheme of things and so Thunderbird Two wouldn't take long to get home so he was going to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted.