This one came to me as the Tots (they're not really tots. but you know what I mean) were watching Ghost Ship - John out on a rescue in his element. Then I started to wonder what it would be like if he wasn't in his element, and well here we are. I'm once again writing to try and concentrate on other things for five minutes at a time!

And yes, it's John again 'cos it seems that he is my guy!

International Rescue was offline. Not officially and they hadn't made their current status widely known, but they hadn't gone on a rescue for the last five days. There had been calls, but John had skilfully and subtly deflected these to other aid agencies, while offering his own expertise and support. But the island had been grounded.

They weren't sure who to blame and it could have been anyone. One week ago Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Alan had all been sent to South America to help evacuate the hundreds of people stranded by flash floods. Twenty four hours later everyone on the island was infected.

Flu. Not a head cold or a chest infection, they had all come down with a strain of influenza. They had headaches, fever, chills, aches and pains. The four brothers had been confined to bed for two days – and it was an indication of how ill the were that no-one had put up a fight as they were overcome with fatigue and nausea. Kayo, Brains and Grandma counted themselves lucky that they had been visiting Lady Penelope at the time, and had imposed a quarantine on Tracy island for at least another week until the most infectious stage had passed.

Now the four brothers could stay awake for more than thirty minutes at a time, but they were still lethargic and dizzy. They had made a unanimous and silent decision to decamp from their respective bedrooms to the main room: making a mountain of blankets and pillows in which they dozed or watched tv. Luckily MAX was on hand – as he had been for throughout their illness – to bring them food, drinks, medication, cooling flannels or anything else that might get them back on their feet as quickly as possible.

So John - safe from infection up on Thunderbird 5 - diverted calls while the others were incapable of walking never mind flying. Until a call came that he couldn't pass to anyone else.

"Hey guys, how is everyone feeling?" John appeared in holographic form, projected from his portrait.

"I think I'm dying" came a muffled moan from the corner of the couch that housed Gordon.

"I think I'm already dead."

"You always have to go one better don't you Alan."

"Don't argue guys, I don't have the energy to split you two up." Virgil sounded weary – whether from the eternal struggles of trying to manage younger brothers or from the illness it was difficult to tell.

"But my head hurts and my vision is all blurry." Gordon groaned.

"You're making my head hurt, go jump in the pool or something." Alan said with a smirk.

"You go jump in the pool." Gordon returned.

"No one's jumping anywhere. I might throw you both in though." Virgil had clearly had enough, but by interrupting had opened himself up to being dragged into the argument.

"Yeah, like you could lift either of us right now, let alone both of us."

While the others had been indulging in good natured bickering Scott had been paying attention to John. He watched John as he watched their brothers – taking in the feverish flush still on their cheeks, how they were wrapped up in cocoons of bedding and noting the amount of empty pill packets strewn on the floor – all signs that they were far from well. The insults being thrown back and forth were not a symptom of illness: it was an unwritten rule that every Tracy had to give as good as he got and they all liked to have the last word.

"Somehow I sense that wasn't the answer you were looking for." Scott asked, noting the frown and look of resignation on the space-monitor.

"No, not really. It's what I was expecting, but not what I was hoping for." John's tone cut through the other conversation in the room and all four brothers now started to pay attention. "We have a situation and you're not going to like my solution."

John gave the briefing: a mine in central Africa had collapsed following a massive earthquake in the area. There were sixteen miners trapped more than ten miles into the winding maze-like tunnels that had been excavated in the previous eighteen months. The mining company had some of the best equipment in the world, but despite that it would take nearly three days to get to the stranded, and they would be out of air and water before then. That was without the prospect of further earthquakes collapsing the tunnels completely or any serious injuries.

"And why can they not get to them for three days?" Scott asked.

"Do you really want a lesson in geology right now?' There was a muttered 'noooo' from Gordon. "Because I can give you a lecture if you like. Or you could trust me that their equipment is not going to get there in time. We have the best equipment in the world and we can get them out in twelve hours."

"Ok then" Scott sighed and looked at his brother's pale faces and reluctantly said "I suppose we had better get on the way."

"Ermm.. no Scott, you guys are not going anywhere."

"What? I thought you just said..."

"I did, but not you. International Rescue are the only ones that can help, and right now international rescue is me."

"You?" Not one voice but four exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes. Thanks for sounding so shocked by the way, a great vote of confidence right there." John crossed his arms looking slightly offended.

"We're not doubting you John" Scott stood up, trying to get some control of the situation back, but he was finding thinking tricky. "But you aren't the most experienced in this area. We need you up there, doing what you do best, while we go and do what we do best."

It was unfortunate for him that at that moment a wave of dizzyness hit and he sat heavily back down.

'Yeah, right. You can't stand up right now, how are you going to manage a two hour flight, let alone a rescue. Frankly you're all a liability." John's tone was gentle, sympathetic though his words were harsh. He had developed quite a knack for delivering bad news in a way that enabled people to accept it. It wasn't often that he had to use it on his brothers though.

Scott still looked dizzy, Alan was half asleep, Gordon looked like he might be sick at any second and Virgil seemed to be having trouble with his concentration. They shared a look that said 'I hate it when he's right.'

"When was the last time you flew – not a simulation." Scott asked, clearly not convinced despite the obvious ill health of the others.

"Not recently enough to think that this will be easy, but there are no other options." John's voice was steady, despite the fact they were discussing his own short-comings.

"I take it you were thinking of using Two?" Virgil had at last caught up "have you ever even used some of the equipment in there?"

"And a mission alone. That's really not smart John" That was Gordon, chipping in.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her Virgil. And I won't be alone: I'll have you lot just a comm link away."

The tension between the holo-brother and flesh-and-blood-brothers was palpable. It was not unusual for the team to disagree on the finer points of a rescue, but they had never disagreed about whether to actually launch or not.

Alan, Gordon, Scott and Virgil through back and forth objections and questions. They pondered possible scenarios, bought up things that might go wrong, all the possible dangers that might be encountered.

"Enough!" John interrupted, voice strong and unwavering. "There are sixteen lives in danger. I'd really like your help on this but I'm not going to sit back and do nothing. And if it came to it there's nothing you can do to stop me. If any of you could walk to the hanger without needing a rest I'd love to have you along, but we have to work with what we've got."

John was not suggesting this for the glory of completing a solo mission – none of them really had that frame of mind, though there was no doubting the sense of achievement when they were successful. International Rescue was founded on the precepts of helping those that no-one else could, of saving the lives others thought lost. It was this reminder of what was at stake - 16 miners, 16 families on the verge of being split apart as the Tracy's had been – that brought the brother's disparate viewpoints back in line with each other.

As the eldest it was Scott that made the decision – he always seemed to bear the brunt of tough choices like these. "We'll help you John." He said "What do you need from us?"

So what do you think so far? How do you think John will manage? Reviews and comments always welcome as they give me a happy!

I have large chunks of the rest of this already written, but I am having a little trouble with the POV: I think I have it just where I want it, but then I realise it's actually wondered off and is looking over someone else's shoulder. *sigh* Once I have that pined down I will get the next few parts posted. Thanks for reading!