well, here is it. the final chapter in the final part of my saga. i really hope you've enjoyed reading it and i just want to say thanks to everyone who has pm'd me or written a review. thank you so much guys! anyway, here's to the last chapter. maybe i'll be seeing you again soon though...

"Did you boys have a good stag night then?" Blindingly bright sunshine flooded the living room and it took all Gordon's will not to swear profoundly in front of his Grandma. Beside him, he heard Scott muttering before slowly opening his eyes. Blue eyes, dulled by tiredness and surrounded by painfully reddened lines met Gordon's pin-prick pupils that were struggling to focus on the face before him. Scott rubbed his eyes and pushed his hand into his disheveled hair.

"If she wasn't my Grandma…" he groaned. "Oh…" Gordon slowly managed to sit up and glanced around the room. His dazed look slowly faded as he saw only his eldest brother in the living room with him and somewhere among the blurry memories of the previous night, he remembered there being all five brothers, drinking…lots presumably, to celebrate the end of Alan's freedom.

"Hey, where did Alan go?"

"He never even made it past the first bottle. He passed out in his room."

"John?"

"He's not much of a drinker…not like me, you and Virg…we are hard-core Gordon," Scott mumbled from beneath the blanket someone had kindly put over him, though he had no idea who. Gordon nodded and took another look around the room.

"Oh. Where's Virgil then?" Scott sat up, rubbing his forehead and feeling his stomach churning ominously.

"He was here earlier…I vaguely remember chatting to him about….something…" The two brothers got to their feet and made their way slowly towards Virgil's bedroom. They knocked and entered in time to see Virgil stepping back from the window with a smile on his face.

"Morning!" he said brightly, smiling at the sickly faces in front of him.

"Why are you so happy? Why are you in here? Why does it smell of smoke?" Gordon murmured, looking around the room suspiciously. Scott glanced at Virgil, one eyebrow raised as his younger brother smiled,

"Smoke?" Virgil asked. "Nah…and I think I'm still drunk…" Gordon and Scott laughed before looking towards Virgil's bathroom. Virgil frowned and shook his head firmly.

"Go and throw up somewhere else," he said. "I need to get ready. Has anyone got Alan and John up?"

"Oh yeah…I think Alan would love us to give him a nice wake-up call this morning!" Gordon cried, before a faint growl from Scott, who closed his eyes and rubbed his head made him reduce his voice to a whisper.

"I'll be with you in a minute," Virgil said as they left. He waited until the door was closed firmly before looked out the window, craning his neck, trying to find the remains of the cigarette he'd thrown from the window in such a hurry. He saw it floating in the pool and sighed before reaching into the back of his drawer and pulling out another.

XXXX

Alan looked at his reflection in the mirror of his bedroom as he heard the door open and Virgil stepped in, fixing his tie.

"How you feeling?" he asked.

"Scared…is that a bad thing?" Alan asked, looking at Virgil in the mirror. Virgil smiled and placed his hands down on his younger brother's shoulders.

"I think it's normal." Alan adjusted a spike in his hair.

"Hey, you're the closest any of us has come to marriage, how did you know it would work?" Alan asked.

"You don't Al, but I guess you just have to work at it," Virgil said softly, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small ring box.

"I know we've been stuck at home for quite a while so I thought you might need this." Alan opened the box, smiling at the elegant silver band within it. Suddenly he realised exactly where this ring came from and he glanced up at Virgil anxiously.

"Are you sure? I mean…this means a lot to you…"

"I don't need a ring to remember her Al." Alan closed over the box, placing it in his pocket and smiling softly.

"Thanks," he said. Virgil smiled quickly, both brothers glancing up as their father entered the room.

"We're ready to go," he said softly. Virgil gave his youngest brother a short, but endearing hug as he left the room.

"Good luck," he called over his shoulder as he made his way to the patio to join his other brothers.

XXXX

The setting was perfect. A beautiful clear, blue sky above them, a calm, still quality to the air. The flower arrangement their grandmother had lovingly constructed from Kyrano's overflowing flower garden was dazzling. The peaceful sounds of waves in the distance and soft songs from the birds provided a perfect accompaniment to the scene before Jeff's eyes. He watched his five sons standing at the head of the patio, brushing each other off, laughing and joking. To Jeff, it only added to the ideal image he had before him. A sudden hush descended as music began, pre-recorded by Virgil, and Tin Tin began walking down the 'isle' towards Alan. His mother's hand tightened against his arm and she drew in her breath sharply.

"Oh she looks wonderful…" she breathed as her future grand-daughter in law walked past. Jeff nodded his agreement, watching with pride as Alan took Tin Tin's hand as she reached his side.

There was one person missing from Jeff's perfect scene however, and he lowered his head for a moment, allowing a pause in the excitement of the day to remember that person and how, so many years before, he had stood in the same position as his youngest son and vowed to love her 'til death did them part. That moment had come much faster than he could have ever believed, but he had loved her…he still loved her, and returning his gaze to the view before him with a wistful smile, and the knowledge she was watching this view with him…wherever she was.

XXXX

There was nothing like a wedding to make you feel like you were missing something, Scott thought sadly, as he made his way to his bedroom, to the box containing his alternative life…his own wife and child, now missing from his own life. He pulled the box from the cupboard, discarding everything but the picture he had of little Scott. His hands shook as he held the picture of his son. Watching Tin Tin and Alan pledge their vows to each other, with their little daughter looking pretty as a flower girl had brought on emotion Scott thought he'd never feel. He wasn't going to settle down…especially not with a woman who was as much unsettled in life as he had been. He'd found his niche for the moment and it didn't involve a family of his own. But it still felt so hard leaving it behind. Sighing, he placed the photograph down on his pillow, lying his head next to it and gazing into the young boys bright eyes.

XXXX

That's my ring…that should be me putting it on Caitlin's finger…it should be us there...

The sudden pain he felt made him breathless for a moment as he watched Alan slide the ring onto Tin Tin's slender finger. Biting back the almost inevitable emotion, Virgil chose to focus his gaze on the cliff top in the distance. As Alan and Tin Tin were introduced as man and wife, Virgil smiled and clapped along with the rest of his family, but quickly made excuses to leave. The beach seemed a good a place as any to try and disperse some anger and the feeling of helplessness that had suddenly descended upon him. He kicked up some of the golden white sand, watching it disperse in the light breeze as he felt in his pockets for cigarettes, coming up empty handed however. It was like the final push and Virgil shoved his hands on his pockets and stared at the sea.

XXXX

"I guess you want me to explain," Scott mumbled as he heard someone entering his room quietly. He felt the end of his bed sag as someone sat down.

"You don't have to," his father's warm voice said. "I already knew." At this, Scott sat up, looking in horror at his father before anger scarred his face.

"Virgil…"

"No. I've always know," his father interrupted. "You can't keep things like that from me. You didn't need to tell me." Scott rubbed his eye and lifted the photograph, handing it to his father.

"This is Scott junior, your grandson," he said softly. Scott watched his father intently as he swallowed audibly as his eyes took in the picture. A small smile turned up the corner of his mouth and he glanced at Scott.

"My grandson." The pride was obvious and Scott moved closer to his father, so their eyes saw the same little boy in front of them.

"I don't know when I'll see him again…if I'll see him again," Scott said after a while. "It's complicated…"

"You don't need to explain to me Scott. This is your son and it's your choice what you want to do about it."

XXXX

He waited for tears, but none came. His eyes were dry and after a while the anger he'd felt, the helplessness, began to disperse slowly. The lazy movement of the waves spreading across the sand before retreating to join the main sea body began to feel almost soothing and he closed his eyes briefly. The sand cushioned the footsteps of the presence behind him, but he knew that someone had seen his uncomfortable expression during the wedding service. They stood next to him, mimicking his pose and following his gaze towards the horizon. Virgil glanced to the side and saw the shock of blonde hair and smiled softly.

"Sorry," he smiled.

"It's ok," Alan replied. "I just came to say thanks for what you did. It was a really beautiful gesture Virgil and me and Tin Tin will never forget it."

"Thanks," Virgil said, as he moved to return to the house. Alan shook his head and laid a hand on his shoulder gently.

"You're not ready to go back just yet," he said, expressing a knowledge Virgil had no idea he possessed.

"You're right," Virgil resigned softly. "Sorry Al…this is pathetic…"

"Nah, let's just call it the hangover. I mean you, Gordo and Scott saw away a lot of drink last night…" He trailed off as his elder brother laughed softly. There was a return to quiet contemplation between the two and Alan saw he could almost see a kind of peace settle over his brother who had fought to keep alive a memory that he was terrified he'd lose. By giving away the one thing he had for her, the ring that would have tied them together forever, he'd shown he could move on and he could finally let her go, knowing he would always remember her, he didn't need some physical reminder. But it was that finalmomentthat he was not quite certain of that saw him standing here. Virgil made no move to leave the beach and Alan remained standing next to him.

"Why is it people always come to the beach to watch the sea when they need to think?" Virgil asked softly. "I feel kinda like a cliché here…" Alan smiled as Virgil finally turned away from the sea, looking at his younger brother ashamedly.

"Sorry I got a bit melo-dramatic there."

"No…no you really didn't. If I lost Tin Tin, I don't know what I'd do," Alan said, his eyes wide with honest confusion and Virgil smiled regretfully.

"It's only taken me around five years to work out that I have to move on…"

"Yeah, but you had to do it in your own time," he said quietly. "We all understood. I guess today kind of felt like…" Alan trailed off, not knowing exactly how to describe the closure he wanted his brother to have experienced. He didn't need to though, Virgil used the word himself and smiling knowingly at Alan.

"Yeah, closure." Alan smiled and Virgil punched him gently on the shoulder.

"We better get back to the house. The bride will be wondering where the groom got to."

"Oh yeah…kinda forgot there…" Alan blushed and smiled, looking for all like a little teenager talking about his first crush. He began trotting back towards the patio, glancing over his shoulder at his brother.

"Coming?"

"Yeah…" a final lingering look towards the sea before following Alan's footsteps.

XXXX

"What is this?" Grandma yelled out, thrusting a damp, wilted cigarette end in Virgil's face. He looked at it, maintaining an image of complete innocence.

"It's a cigarette butt Grandma," he said. Behind him, he heard his father attempt to hold back a laugh and Scott was desperately fighting against a smile determined to make its presence known.

"How did it get in the pool?"

"Well, I don't know since I don't smoke," he said slowly. His Grandma studied him, hoping for a flinch, a half-smile, something to give the game away, but Virgil remained impassive.

"I know you threw it in there Virgil," his Grandma said warningly, "and I'm going to prove it." Virgil shrugged and took a sip of his drink, glancing sideways at his father who was smiling. Getting to his feet, feigning the need for a refill, Virgil stood beside his father, opening the bottle slowly.

"Say anything and I'm taking you down with me," he whispered.

"Not a word," Jeff promised, clinking his glass against Virgil's.

XXXX

"The Hurricane season has been far worse than anyone could have predicted…says a lot for climate huh? But seriously folks, we need everyone to get safe…and International Rescue, I know you guys have been hiding out…and I understand why…but, I'm saying it. I'm calling International Rescue…"

The screen faded as Jeff killed the television broadcast, the face of the desperate new reporter still fixed in the minds of the five sons before him. There was a noble silence, no one said a word, no one moved, their eyes fixed on the head of International Rescue. He passed a composed gaze across his troops before giving his orders.

"Scott, get Thunderbird 1 and get out there are fast as possible. Virgil, take Gordon and John and follow on. Scott, you can assess the situation on your arrival and report to Thunderbird 2." The silence continued, although it was more of disbelief than anticipation, before Jeff spread his hands.

"We've got a rescue to take care of boys, let's move!" There were cheers and yells from the brothers as they made their way to their respective crafts. Taking a rare glance away from his new wife, Alan smiled at his father.

"Are we back working Dad?" he asked.

"We are. We are finally back in business."

Epilogue…

The café was almost empty when Simon Smith arrived. He saw the two brothers sitting at a table in the corner, sharing a smile as they sipped from chunky mugs of coffee. Guilt and shame flooded Simon as he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the tiny digital video tape that contained the original footage he'd taped almost a year earlier in Somerset. All he had ever wanted was recognition. It had not arrived. Instead, he'd pushed Scott and Virgil Tracy into an unwanted limelight, forcing them and the entire organisation they'd worked so hard to maintain to shut down until media attention had diminished. Of course, the initial excitement and obsession with the brothers had lasted a few months, but now, there seemed to be a much more gentle and understanding adopted by the media, where their privacy was respected and mention of them was normally reserved to a news report about a rescue they had performed. Stepping into the café, Scott and Virgil turned to look at him. Two very different pairs of eyes, but two that held exactly the same expression. Simon walked towards them, hesitating as they stood up. Scott took a step forward, extending his hand.

"Simon Smith?" he asked. "I'm Scott, this is Virgil." Simon shook hands with both before perching on a chair nervously. Virgil glanced expectantly at him.

"I have the tape," Simon said in a soft voice. Scott held out his hand and Simon placed it in his palm, watching as Scott looked down on the tiny tape. Simon adjusted his glasses distractedly as Scott put the tape in his jacket pocket before sitting back. There was a pained silence.

"I never meant to…" Simon began, before stopping. "Well, I meant to film you…my documentary…I needed evidence. I didn't think there would be that madness after I'd shown it…I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Scott scoffed, looking determinedly at Simon. "Do you know what you put me and my brother through? Have you any idea how painful it was to have lies spread about you? To have had every single aspect of your life analysed and shared with the world? And Virgil…he had to re-live the death of his fiancée thanks to you not thinking!" Virgil shot Scott a troubled look, shaking his head slowly.

"I'm sorry about your fiancée…" Simon tried, but Virgil cut him off, speaking softly, but sharply. He stared at the wooden grain of the table top, unable and unwilling to meet the young man's eye.

"Everyone is sorry about that…it doesn't do any good to be sorry about it. Anyway, you've brought what we wanted so thank you Simon. I hope your career in documentary making really takes off now," Virgil extended his hand and Simon placed his limp hand in his. It seemed to take Virgil a lot of effort to look him in the eye and shake his hand firmly, his mouth set in a stern expression as he dropped the handshake and looked towards Scott.

"We're done here." Scott nodded and got to his feet. He looked down at Simon, poised to speak, but decided against it when he saw Virgil making for the door. Silently, Scott left Simon alone gazing at the two empty mugs on the table. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Scott place his hand on Virgil's shoulder, a glance at each other before they melted into the crowds of people that filled the streets.