The Ultimate Prank

By siouxsmn

Scott Tracy is always an easy target for his prank pulling brother Gordon. But when Scott finally has his fill of being the target and threatens Gordon with revenge, can he be tricky enough to out-prank a master prankster? His brothers don't think so. Jeff is worried about the condition of the house if a prank war erupts. Gordon thinks he can outmaneuver Scott on any prank he tries to pull. An unexpected problem puts the prank war on hold and as a result, Gordon is convinced he's won. In the end, someone points out that Scott did manage to pull the Ultimate Prank on Gordon that has even Kyrano impressed.

BTW, if you're expecting this to be a story with nothing more than prank after prank, you'd be sorely disappointed. Also, this story did not have a beta reader, so all the mistakes are mine all mine.

Chapter 1

Scott Tracy sighed as he looked at his reflection in his bathroom mirror. He had just stepped out of what he thought was a very refreshing shower after returning from a rescue fighting a fire. Not only had he and his brothers help put out the underground gas fire, but they had to do so wearing the heaviest fire protection gear they had. Western Texas – in August – in temperatures that were already at 105 degrees at 10:00 in the morning did not help make it easy to fight the fire. Not only did it require frequent trips to a watering station that had been set up for everyone to get drinks of water to keep hydrated; the heat also sapped the strength and everyone, International Rescue included, were feeling that the most.

It took the combined efforts of International Rescue and many local firefighting services to finally get the underground fire under control, after fighting it for over 12 hours. Thankfully, the townsfolk who were most threatened had the fire gotten out of control, realized that they were literally saved by this combined effort and pitched in to provide food to the hungry group. So at least International Rescue didn't have to worry about eating before crashing in their beds once they got home.

Being the first one to get back to the island, Scott went immediately to his bedroom to take a shower. After fifteen long minutes, he finally got out and dried off. He got no further than the bathroom sink when he spotted his reflection in the mirror. Bracing himself against the marble countertop, Scott's chin dropped to his chest and he shook his head. Warily, he once again looked up at his reflection shining back at him.

"GORDON!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth. Hearing the sounds of Two's engines through the open window in his room, Scott quickly got dressed and headed to the hangar bays.

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Virgil Tracy landed the monolith that International Rescue called Thunderbird Two with his usual grace and dexterity. It actually surprised him somewhat when the big ship landed much more gracefully than he would have expected. Like his brothers, Gordon and Alan, who were laying down on the medical beds in the back, he was dead tired and wasn't 100% sure he was going to be able to land his 'bird without doing a couple of hops down the runway.

Getting his big ship nestled into her place of honor in the Thunderbirds hangar, Virgil quickly went through his post-flight procedures and powered the ship down. He sighed heavily as he thought about the long walk from the hangar up to his bedroom. Heaving himself out of the pilot's seat, he shuffled back to the med bay where his two brothers were fast asleep.

Virgil reached over and ruffled Gordon's hair. "Wakey, wakey Gordo. We're home."

Gordon stirred in his slumber and pried his eyes open. They were still red and watery from the heavy smoke and he blinked a couple of times to focus. He yawned and stretched, which were accompanied by a few pops along his joints, and making Virgil wince in sympathy. "I don't know if I want to just jump in the pool to clean up or see if I can stand long enough to take a shower," said Gordon.

Virgil, who by this time had sat on the edge of the bunk Alan was still sleeping on, only shook his head. "Go to your room Gordon, take the shower and then go to bed. If you jump in the pool and forget to clean off the chlorine you'll regret it later." Gordon nodded and moved stiffly towards the pod doors. "Don't forget to turn the showerhead on massage and direct it to your lower back Gordon. I can see you stiffening up!" Gordon only waved and shuffled towards the living area of the island.

Virgil now looked down at Alan and gently shook his brother's shoulder. Alan was lying on his left side, protecting his right wrist against his chest. During the course of fighting the fire, an explosion occurred which threw Alan back a few yards. Virgil saw him land on that arm and had run over to assist him. He was amazed to find it appeared to be only badly sprained; he was certain that his baby brother had to at least fracture something by how hard he landed on it.

"Sprout? Time to wake up?" Alan shifted slightly, but did not wake up. Virgil smiled and tried again. "Come on, Alan. We're home, time to get up."

"Can't I just sleep here," Alan mumbled.

Virgil chuckled. "Nope. Come on, you know the rules. Let's get you cleaned up and then I can wrap that wrist properly."

Alan sighed and rolled over onto his back, still protecting his right wrist. He frowned when the words Virgil just spoke got through the fog his mind had been in. "Wait. What rules? There's no rule about not being able to sleep in the 'birds?"

"No. But there is a rule about not taking care of medical issues immediately upon return to base," argued Virgil. "And as the ranking medical official on the island, I'm not going to let you forget it, so come on."

Alan sat up and glared at Virgil. He was about to respond when he spotted something that just didn't look right. Shutting his eyes tight and shaking his head, he once again opened his eyes, and dropped his jaw at the sight coming towards them.

Virgil, not seeing what Alan was looking at, immediately became concerned. "Alan, what's wrong? Did you get dizzy?"

Alan looked over to his brother, his eyes slightly glazed. "Virgil, I swear! I was positive I didn't hit my head, but now I'm beginning to wonder if I did."

Virgil immediately grabbed a penlight (For those of you who use torch instead of flashlight, and in case you don't know, a penlight is a small, thin torch used by medical folks in the US to check pupil reaction) to check Alan's pupils. "Alan, what it is? I can't help you if you don't tell me!"

"I'm seeing things, Virg. I swear I'm seeing thing!"

Virgil took a deep breath to calm himself. He put his hands on Alan's shoulders. "Okay, Alan. What exactly are you seeing? Are you seeing double?"

Alan only shook his head and pointed towards the pod door. "No. I think I'm seeing Scott, but it doesn't look like Scott!"

Virgil frowned and looked in the direction Alan was pointing. His jaw dropped as the eldest Tracy brother marched into the pod, looking just a bit more than peeved.

"Where's Gordon!" Scott demanded, completely ignoring the shocked looks his brothers were giving him.

Alan could only look on, his eyes wide in amazement. "How did he do it?" his brothers heard him whisper.

Scott finally sighed and looked over at Virgil. "WELL?"

Virgil finally broke down and chuckled. "Uhmmm, Scott? Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment and all, but don't you think dying your hair green to EXACTLY match Thunderbird Two is a bit much?"

Before Scott could answer, Alan, who had finally broken out of his stumped amazement joined Virgil in laughing. Temporarily forgetting about his injured arm, he swung around and pushed off the bed, only to fall back again.

"OUCH!" he cried out, grabbing his right wrist.

Virgil immediately sat down again and helped Alan to slide his wrist inside his uniform shirt to help anchor it. "Come on, Alan. Let's get you to med bay so I x-ray the wrist."

"I want to take a shower first, Virgil!" complained Alan.

"You can take your shower in the infirmary, than we get you fixed up," Virgil assured him. "You don't want to have to go through me wrapping your wrist twice, do you?"

Scott kicked himself for momentarily forgetting about his baby brother's injury. He rushed forward to help Alan stand up. "Come on, Sprout. Virgil is right. Let's get you taken care of and THEN you can rest."

Alan allowed his brothers to lead him out of the pod and towards the infirmary. "Okay, okay. I'll do as the doctor orders, but I gotta tell ya Scott. It's a little hard to take you seriously with Kermit the Frog sitting on your head."

"HEY!" Virgil tried to sound indignant to the comment about his favorite color, but he couldn't help but laugh. Alan was right. Scott's hair did have that green color.

Scott, for his part, only sighed deeply. He waited until after Alan got his shower and his wrist x-rayed and wrapped and the three brothers were headed towards their rooms. "Where is Gordon, anyway? It's not like him to leave if someone is hurt and he definitely stays around to see the result of his pranks."

"He was dead on his feet, Scott, so I sent him to his room and to bed," Virgil told his elder brother. "But leave him alone for now. He needs the rest, and so does his back. He was starting to stiffen up by the time we got back."

A flash of concern was seen on Scott's face and Alan and Virgil knew he would wait. If the brothers had one golden unwritten rule, it was that they would never prank Gordon, or seek revenge against one of his pranks, if his back was bothering him. Not that his brothers wouldn't put it above Gordon to use an injury earned during a rescue to garner sympathy from them. But when it came to his back, the opposite was effect. Gordon would do everything he could to convince his brothers he was fine, even though they were all experts now at spotting when his back was hurting.

"Okay, I'll wait," Scott replied in a resigned tone. "But I swear, one of these times he's going to go too far."

The brothers reached Alan's bedroom door and Virgil steered Alan towards his bed. Scott quickly pulled down the covers and Alan slid into bed, being careful not to bump his wrist. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Scott covered him up, smiling fondly at his baby brother.

"He gonna be okay?" he whispered to Virgil.

Virgil nodded and gestured Scott to follow him out of the room. After quietly closing the door, the two oldest Tracy brothers headed towards their rooms. "He'll be fine, Scott. I saw the accident and he only hurt his wrist. Frankly, I'm quite shocked it wasn't broken considering how hard I saw him fall."

Scott winced in sympathy. "Well, hopefully we won't get any calls for a few days and it'll give him time to heal." Scott sighed and ran his hand through his green hair, frowning when he felt the consistency of his hair – which felt more like dry straw rather than the soft strands it normally was. "I'm still gonna kill him!"

Virgil chuckled. "Scott, Scott, Scott. You know the dye will wash out when you take a shower tomorrow – it always does. And Dad will be back from his conference tomorrow and Gordon will cut down on the pranks. You know he always goes overboard whenever Dad is gone."

"I know, Virg. I'm just fed up with being Gordon's guinea pig all the time. I need to figure out a way to pay him back but good. Maybe he'll leave me alone then."

Virgil put his arm around Scott's shoulders and gave him a hug. "Scott. You're my older brother and I love you dearly, but let's face it. When it comes to planning pranks, you're just not deceitful enough to pull it off."

"Oh you're just a big bundle of support, BABY brother," Scott replied sarcastically.

Virgil only laughed and headed towards his room. He opened the door, but turned to look at Scott. He shrugged. "What can I say, the Sprout is right. It is hard to take you seriously when you look like Kermit is sitting on your head." With another laugh, he shut his door and headed off to bed.

Scott shook his head and headed towards his own room. He stopped just long enough to peek into Gordon's room, his big brother protective instincts overriding his need to get revenge. Seeing that Gordon appeared to be sleeping peacefully, he closed the door and headed off to bed. He'd deal with Gordon in the morning.

TBTBTBTBTB

As usual, Scott was the first of his brothers to awaken the next morning. Looking over at the clock and seeing it flashing 7:45am, he decided to get up and start the day. Walking into his bathroom with the thoughts of taking a shower, Scott stopped upon seeing his reflection and his green hair glaring back at him.

"I've got to figure out how to get back at him one of these days," Scott muttered to himself. Deciding not to take a shower and wash the dye out, so he can confront Gordon over it, Scott headed down to the kitchen for some coffee.

Almost as if on auto-pilot, Scott walked into the kitchen and straight to the coffee pot. He was so engrossed in his thoughts about how to pay Gordon back, that he didn't even realize that someone else is sitting at the kitchen table until he sat down.

"Do I even want to know?" a familiar voice asked.

Scott jumped in surprise and looked to his father. "Dad! When did you get back? We weren't expecting you until later this morning."

Jeff put down the paper he had been reading and looked at his eldest son, shaking his head at the green hair. "The conference finished early yesterday so I grabbed some sleep, woke up around midnight and headed home. I wanted to be here when you and the fellows came down for breakfast."

"You have no idea how glad I am to have you back home, Dad."

Jeff looked pointedly at Scott's head. "Ooohhh, I think I have a pretty good idea."

Scott frowned. "Well, if it wasn't for that gas fire that kept us out yesterday until we were ready to drop, you would probably be short one son this morning."

"I saw the news flash on television. It looked pretty intense for a while there. Everyone okay?"

"It was intense but the local fire crews were great in assisting us. No locals were hurt and we kept the fire under control so the town nearby is safe. No one was hurt . . . well not seriously anyway," Scott reported. Jeff raised an eyebrow at Scott.

"Virgil said Gordon may have overworked his back a bit. He sent him straight to bed and when I checked on him before I turned in, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. We'll find out when he comes down." Scott sighed heavily. "Alan however . . ."

"What about Alan?" Jeff asked anxiously. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine, Dad. He got caught up in an explosion that threw him back a few yards. Virgil saw him land and said Alan hit the ground pretty hard. He's got a badly sprained wrist, but nothing else is wrong. Virgil x-rayed it and all is good."

Jeff sighed in relief. "That's good. Did Virgil wrap his wrist?"

Before Scott could answer, the brother in question stumbled in, cradling his wrist against his chest. Alan stopped short when he saw his father sitting at the table. "Welcome home, Dad."

"Thanks son. You doing okay?"

Alan shot Scott an exasperated look. "Yes Dad. I'm fine. My wrist is just a little stiff this morning."

"Well take it easy, okay? As long as we don't have any rescues, I want you to relax it as much as possible."

"I will Dad. I think the swelling is already going down, the ace wrap is a little loose."

Scott leaned over and carefully checked the bandage on Alan's wrist. He could feel that it was loose. "You want me to rewrap this?"

Alan winced a bit at Scott's probing. "Yeah. I thought about waiting until Virgil got up to ask him, but maybe you better."

Jeff himself winced when he saw Alan's wrist as Scott took the bandage off. It was still swollen and he had to wonder how bad it was before. "Maybe later, Alan, you can have Kyrano make you up an ice pack. That will help with the swelling."

"Sure thing Dad." Alan shot Scott a small smile as his brother finished rewrapping his wrist. "Thanks Scott. That's much better."

"No problem Squirt. You want some coffee?" Scott offered. At Alan's nod, he got up and poured his brother a cup, as well as freshened his own. He just turned to head back to the table when Virgil stumbled into the kitchen and dropped down into a chair. Alan nodded to Scott who set the cup of coffee he had made for Alan in front of Virgil. Scott grabbed another cup for Alan and joined the others.

"You're up unusually early," Scott commented.

Taking a sip of the hot brew, Virgil only threw a half-hearted glare towards Scott.

Jeff chuckled. "Good morning, son."

Virgil turned sleep heavy eyes towards his father and blinked to focus. "Dad?"

"Yes," Jeff waited amusedly while his son continued to wake up.

"I didn't think I slept that late," Virgil frowned. Jeff joined Alan and Scott in laughing.

"You didn't." Jeff said no more knowing it was a mute point until Virgil was fully awake.

Virgil only grunted and went back to focusing on getting coffee into his system. Jeff was just about ready to get up and head to his office when the pounding sounds of his fourth son coming down the stairs could be heard. He decided to wait and see if he was going to have to keep his eldest from doing something harsh.

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