New month, new story! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed for "Demons". I hope you like this one just as much.
I don't own Thunderbirds or its characters, just the ones I invented. Please do not archive without my permission.
John Tracy stood on the wharf, idly throwing french fries to the gulls. It was a beautiful June day in Boston. The temps were in the low seventies and a cool breeze blew in from across the harbor. He tossed the last of his fries in the air and walked back down the street. He paused for a few minutes to watch the sea lions outside the Aquarium. They jumped up and down, welcoming the attention from the tourists.
John smiled at their antics-both the tourists' and the sea lions'-and headed back home. He decided to avoid Faneuil Hall, since school had gotten out last week and the place was packed. His chest had begun to ache so he decided to hail a cab and was soon back at the Tracy brownstone on Beacon Hill.
Once inside, he poured himself a glass of water and hunted around for some pain killers. Virgil had taken the heavy duty drugs away back on the island, and since then John had had to make do with over the counter medicines. Thought I was trying to kill myself. As if. Did he really think nightmares would make me contemplate suicide? Try spending two months alone in space with no human contact. If that didn't push me over the edge, a few bad dreams certainly wouldn't. He swallowed the pills quickly, and grabbing a book, made his way up to the roof patio. He pulled off his shirt and lay down in a lounge chair to soak up the sun.
It had been a little over three weeks since the Hood had been taken into custody, and eight days since John had left the island the Tracy family called home. He'd first gone to the family's farm in Kansas, but after two days of staring at the cornfields, he could have sworn he heard voices. So he hopped a plane in Wichita and ended up in Boston instead. He hadn't told his family of the change in plans, but had no doubt his father knew. John glanced down at the communicator strapped to his wrist. Anyway, it's a damn good watch.
He stretched his arms over his head, wincing as his ribs protested. They weren't healing as fast as he'd hoped, but that was partially his fault. He was supposed to be lying low and resting, but this was the longest he'd spent down on Earth in a long, long time.
He tossed the book to the table next to him and closed his eyes. Before long, he was sound asleep.
Jeff looked up as Scott shuffled into the kitchen. Scott was normally the first one down, but his eldest was unusually late for breakfast this morning. He watched as Scott poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. There were dark circles under his eyes and he moved stiffly. His right arm was still immobilized by a sling.
"Morning." Jeff called out.
"Morning." Scott grumbled back. He reached for a muffin from the basket in front of him and tried to butter it, no mean feat one handed.
Jeff took the muffin and buttered it then handed it back to his son. Scott nodded his thanks. "You're down late this morning. Bad night?" Jeff asked a few minutes later.
"Yeah."
"You still having alot of pain?"
Scott nodded. "Seems this should be feeling better not worse by now. I'm going to have Virgil take a look at it later. When does Steve get back?"
"Not for a couple more weeks. He wanted to give a decent notice at the hospital, then he has to pack up his apartment." Jeff looked closely at his son. "Want me to take you to a hospital on the mainland?"
Scott smiled thinly and shook his head. "No thanks Dad. It's probably nothing. I'm just used to being more active. This sitting around is starting to drive me crazy."
"I can understand that." Jeff buttered a muffin for himself. "I'm taking Virgil and Alan up to Thunderbird 5 today. Brains has the life-support systems back online. I want to assess the rest of the damage first hand."
Scott looked up, surprised. "You're taking Alan?"
Jeff nodded. "It'll be good for him. Plus, I think he and Gordon need a break from each other."
"I agree." Scott leaned back in his chair, wincing as he did so. Gordon and Alan had stopped screaming at each other and had now taken to ignoring one another instead. This got especially annoying at mealtimes. "They'd better not start something while we're monitoring you." Scott said warningly.
"I'll have a talk with both of them before we leave." Jeff got up and put his mug in the sink. He looked over at Scott, who was lightly massaging his right shoulder. "Go see Virgil." He ordered.
Scott smiled. "FAB Dad."
A few hours later, Scott watched as Thunderbird roared up from her silo under the library. A faint twinge of jealousy coursed through him, as he watched the rocket disappear into the atmosphere. He sighed, feeling useless. The last time he'd been grounded this long was back in the Air Force, when his jet had been shot down. That had been a long month of medical and psychological tests until he had been cleared to fly again.
A figure on the beach caught his attention. At least I'm not Gordon. That's his baby that took off without him. Gordon had said some pretty nasty things to John a week ago. While Scott knew that wasn't the main reason John had decided to leave, it certainly didn't help. And poor Gordon was feeling the brunt of it from his other brothers. He and Alan had always been partners in crime, and now the two weren't even on speaking terms. Virgil wasn't exactly ignoring Gordon, but wasn't being overly friendly either. And as for me, well, I can't be mad at the little twerp. He was the only one with the guts enough to confront John and make him take a good long look at himself. Scott watched his brother until Gordon had vanished along the beach, then sighed again and went inside to find Brains.
Jeff stood with his hands on his hips, and surveyed the bridge of Thunderbird 5. Most of the computer monitors were black, and the whole place smelled of scorched ozone.
Virgil popped his head up from the panel on the floor. "Doesn't look too bad Dad. Better than last time anyway. Alan bring me the new transponder." He disappeared under the floor again.
"FAB Virgil." Jeff turned to his youngest. "Alan?"
Alan stood staring out the view port, not hearing his father or brother. Jeff followed his gaze. The sun was rising on the far side of the Earth, and the planet seemed to glow with Earthshine. Millions of stars twinkled behind it in the black velvet of space. "Beautiful isn't it?" Jeff asked quietly.
"This is what John sees everyday?" Alan shook his head in awe. "Wow." He breathed.
Jeff smiled. "Think you'd like it up here?"
Alan turned to his father. "What? Me!"
Jeff shrugged. "We're going to need to train someone since John is…" His voice trailed off.
"Do you really think John's not coming back Dad?" Alan asked.
"I don't know Alan. I just don't know." Jeff sighed.
"Hello up there! Still waiting for that transponder!"
Jeff and Alan turned together to see Virgil's arm waving at them from the floor panel. Alan quickly brought the part to his brother, and after a few minutes, the whole station came to life. Virgil popped up. "Are we online?"
Jeff walked over to the console. "Checking now. Thunderbird 5 to Tracy Island."
"We hear you Thunderbird 5. How's it going Dad?" Scott peered out at them from the viewscreen.
"Looking good. Virgil got the transponder installed. Damage doesn't look as bad as the last time. Give it another week and we should have her up and running."
Virgil came over to peer down at his brother. "Finally doing something useful down there, huh flyboy." He grinned.
"Yeah, I'm here in my shorts drinking ice cold lemonade, snacking on brownies. What are you having for lunch Mozart?" Scott retorted.
Virgil turned green. "You suck." He scowled and walked away. "C'mon Sprout, let me show you what I did." He led Alan down to the floor.
Jeff shook his head. "Sometimes I just don't know where the lot of you came from."
"We keep you young Dad."
"Yeah, that's it." Jeff looked over to the computer console. "Brains, how's she looking to you?"
"E-E-Everything seems to be working. There is minor s-s-structural damage to the outer ring and the communications array. You're only able to talk to us here on the i-i-island."
Jeff frowned. "We'll have to work on that next. What about—" He was cut off as the station gave a groan and all power went dead. "Virgil! What happened?"
He heard a muffled curse. "I don't know! Hold on."
Alan appeared at Jeff's side. "Dad, I didn't touch anything, I swear." His blue eyes were wide with fear.
Jeff placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "I know. It's OK Alan." He smiled.
More cursing was heard from beneath the floor. Alan raised one eyebrow up at his father in surprise. "I didn't think Virgil knew how to swear."
Jeff laughed. "Neither did I." They made their way over to the floor panel. "Virgil? Everything all right down there?"
"Does everything look all right to you Dad?" Came the reply. A moment later, an arm appeared and Jeff pulled his son up. "I have no idea why that happened. There must be a short somewhere."
"Can you track it down?" Jeff asked.
"In a few years, sure." Virgil sighed. "We could really use John's help."
Jeff shook his head. "Give him time. He only just got to Boston a few days ago."
Alan looked up in surprise. "I thought he went to Kansas?"
"He changed his mind and is in Boston. He's staying at the brownstone."
"You heard from him?" Virgil asked. "How's he feeling?"
"No, he hasn't called." Jeff blushed and looked away uncomfortably. "I tracked his communicator."
Virgil seemed nonplussed by the comment. "Good. Someone should be keeping an eye on him." He motioned Alan to help him replace the floor cover. "There's not much else we can do here Dad. Might was well call it a day."
Alan grinned slyly. "You just don't want to throw up again."
"Brat." Virgil made his way back down the airlock to Thunderbird 3.
Alan cast one more longing look out the window. "Dad? Are you coming? I don't want to clean up after Virgil again."
Jeff smiled. "You're right. Back to Thunderbird 3. Let your brother know we're on our way home."