Alan and John Walk Into a Bank

By Criminally Charmed

Chapter One

Disclaimer - Do not own the Thunderbirds, the Tracys, etc. If I did own the Tracys I know some people who would pay handsomly for hourly rates. Happy Birthday to Little Miss Bump, who asked for some John whump mixed in with Alan's. You know, Hornets Nest by Spence does that nicely. It's an oldie but goodie.

John Tracy looked up from his laptop to his brother Alan's balcony. The teenager had come a long way since his accident a few months ago while he was attending a boarding school in Massachusetts.

The second-born Tracy son could still recall that heart-stopping moment when the Wharton's headmaster had called to tell them Alan was missing.

Headmaster Oliver Bean greeted Jeff politely but with a touch of anxiety that immediately worried Jeff. If Alan were in trouble, anxiety would not be an emotion that anyone from his school should be displaying.

"Mr. Tracy, um, Alan, uh-"

"Headmaster Bean, with all due respect, I prefer directness," Jeff interrupted as every parental instinct went on high alert. Glancing briefly at his older sons, he saw the same amount of worry on them as well.

Bean gulped and spoke once more. "Mr. Tracy, last night, Alan left his dorm room to go out for a run."

"I'm aware of that, Headmaster," Jeff began to explain. "I tried calling Alan last night and his roommate, Fermat, told me."

Two more gulps were needed before the headmaster could continue. "Well, Mr. Tracy, Alannevermadeitback"

Jeff blinked at the rapid sentence that had blurred into one word that took a moment for him to decipher. "What do you mean, he never made it back? Where is my son?"

The headmaster was visibly sweating, having never encountered the wrath of a Tracy before. "When young Mr. Hackenbacker awoke, he realized Alan had never returned, so he called security. They in turn did a system check and discovered Alan had not come back to his dorm. A campus wide search turned up nothing and we verified with the gate that they had also had no sign of him as well. We have alerted the authorities."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Jeff responded as he turned off the vid-phone. Rising, he started to leave the room only to realize his other sons were following. "Boys, you can't come as well. International Rescue is needed by the world-"

John cut his father off and spoke bluntly. "Alan is our world, Dad. And he's taken second place to International Rescue once too many times in his life. We're going with you." Turning to his brothers, he gave assignments. "Virg, set up the auto-response. We're off-line until further notice. Scotty, ready Tracy One, it's the fastest one besides the 'Birds. Gordy, get the ready bags and load them into the plane. I'll go tell the Kyranos and grab Brains. Fermat will need him-" John stopped before he could utter the unimaginable.

"Yes," Jeff agreed quietly. "Fermat will need him."

The time between that call and finding Alan had been terrifying. When they had found the youngest Tracy son, he had been badly injured, having been run down by a fellow student and left to die on the side of a service road that ran along the backside of Wharton's campus. In time, the teenager had recovered but some of his injuries were still lingering.

For a few days, the Tracys had not been sure if Alan would walk again. Luckily, after those few days Alan had begun to regain feeling in his legs. Soon thereafter the family had taken their baby back to their island home, starting him on a rehabilitation program in order to regain his full mobility, Alan had convinced himself it would only be a matter of time before he could rejoin rescues and that he would head back to Wharton's – and his place on the track team – by the fall.

Today, however, Alan had found out otherwise. Not that Alan had said anything when he had returned from the mainland with Virgil. But Dr. Emily Haas, an emergency medical specialist recommended by Alan's doctor from Massachusetts, had called John to give him a heads up that Alan had been "disappointed".

It helped to be dating a doctor.

Thinking of Emily, a Dresden doll personified with a will of iron and an IQ that went through the roof always made John smile. He had never been so glad to have called dibs with his brothers.

"I told Emily to call you," Virgil said as he approached John.

Still looking at Alan as he sat morosely on the balcony, John murmured, "Thanks."

"I know you didn't tell Dad," Virgil continued as he pulled up a chair next to the table John was sitting at.

"Did you?"

Virgil nodded, looking up at Alan before returning his focus to his other blonde brother. "Yeah. Dad was disappointed but not surprised."

"Emily said she stressed to Alan that it could change. That they would reevaluate him when he comes home for Thanksgiving and that he may be able to rejoin the team after that."

Grinning, Virgil nudged John. "Does that mean the Thunderbirds or the track team?"

John shrugged. "Either. Both."

"Still can't believe Dad is OK with Alan heading back to Wharton's."

Glancing at his middle brother, John shrugged once more. "Alan wants to. He needs the space, Virg. And he promised to play it cautious, especially now that the media knows where he is. The kid has friends there and he is really enjoying his classes now."

"Sprout sure is bummed that he isn't at a hundred percent yet," Virgil mused as the brothers watched first Tin-Tin, then Jeff join Alan on the balcony. Whatever the Tracy father was saying sure was perking Alan up. The kid was smiling for the first time since they returned to the island.

Looking down at the e-mail from his publisher, John began to smile. "Hey, Virg – Dad has that meeting he has to attend on Thursday next week, right?"

"Yeah," Virgil agreed cautiously.

John grinned as he watched their father leave Alan and Tin-Tin sitting on the balcony. "I have to catch Dad. I think I may know something that will make Al's day."

Jeff Tracy left his youngest son's room, carefully making sure the door was wide open – he trusted Alan and Tin-Tin, honestly he did – and headed back to his office. He had wanted to accompany Alan to his appointment but he hadn't been able to move a teleconference. A part of him truly regretted how much life seemed to interrupt the time he wanted to spend with Alan. Between International Rescue and Tracy Enterprises, not to mention Alan living in the States during the school year, there just didn't seem to be enough time for them to be together.

After the incident with the Hood over Spring Break, Jeff had sworn he would be putting Alan's well-being at a greater priority. His son wasn't going to become one of the forgotten off-spring of the well-to-do. Jeff had planned on picking up Alan from his school at the end of the year and spending a few days with Alan in New York. Thinking of how that had never happened still haunted Jeff in his dreams.

Instead of a few days spent going to the premier of a movie Alan had been anxious to see and playing tourist, Jeff had spent that time by Alan's hospital bed. And while Alan was frustrated by his pace of recovery, Jeff found himself grateful beyond measure that his baby wasn't just alive but not trapped in a wheelchair.

"Dad!"

Jeff turned at the sound of his second son's voice and gave John a small smile. While he enjoyed the unusual chance to have all five of his off-spring nearby, he was even happier to be witnessing John fall in love with the gentle Emily Haas. In some ways, she reminded him of Lucy, with her warmth and compassion. He knew John was very serious about the relationship and had confided to his father that if Emily and he were to make a future of it, she had to know the truth.

"John," Jeff said, patting his son's shoulder. "Are you planning on telling Emily about International Rescue soon? You're due to go back up in just under a month. Brains said everything, including all of the upgrades, should be ready by then."

Sighing, John shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure, Dad. I mean, I really want to but I just don't know how she'll feel about it." Shaking his head, John followed his father to Jeff's office.

"Not to change the subject Dad, but I have an idea. Something that could really help perk Alan up…"

The family was gathered around the dinner table, the Kyranos having left the meal just about prepared before heading off to their own home, leaving the Tracys to have some alone time. It wasn't that the Kyranos were not welcome to eat with them – they often did. But Kyrano had met with an attorney who had been reviewing his brother's ill-gotten gains. The Hood had long ago sold off any land or property belonging to their mutual father. However, some family heirlooms had been found and Kyrano had, with the assistance of a lawyer recommended by Jeff, been pursuing getting some of those items that should have been his all along, especially a set of jade statuettes that had been in his mother's family for over three centuries. Since they had been discovered among the items in the criminal's hidden vault, Kyrano was looking forward to sharing them with his wife and daughter, not to mention finally telling Tin-Tin about his mother, who she so closely resembled.

Jeff looked over at John and received an encouraging nod. Turning to his other blonde son, Jeff softly said, "Alan?"

When Alan glanced up at his father, Jeff smiled. "Alan, I have to go to a meeting in New York next week -"

"And you want me to know that Scott is in charge while you are gone," Alan deadpanned. "So I need to behave and listen to the deputy dic – I mean, my big brother."

John snickered, completely not intimidated by the glare Scott was sending up the table. "Actually, Alan," he picked up for his father. "I will be going with Dad. Seems there is a sci-fi convention in Manhattan next week and my publisher thinks it would be "brilliant" for me to give a lecture before doing a book signing."

"Meaning he guilted you into it?" Alan surmised correctly.

Sighing, John nodded. "Irving is good at that."

"You know who he always reminded me of?" Gordon muttered. "That annoying twerp on that cartoon you and Alan used to watch. What was his name? Glasses, high pitch giggle, the whole stalker attitude?"

Thinking, John pursed his lips before snapping his fingers. "You mean on Phineas and Ferb?" Gordon's nod had John grinning. "That would be Irving."

The Tracys all laughed before Jeff broke in. "OK, now that we have established that John works for a cartoon character -"

"Could be worse," Virgil mused. "He could work for a puppet."

"Or would that be a muppet?" Scott joked.

"Anyhow," John stressed, "Dad and I were talking, Alan, and since Brains will be down on Monday, he can run Command and Control if there are any rescues. Between Dad and I, we thought you might like to come with us to New York. Dad has that meeting he has to attend but you can come with me to the sci-fi convention." At the hesitant look on his youngest brother's face, the astronomer chuckled.

"Don't worry, the lecture and book signing are scheduled from one to three. The convention opens at ten and doesn't close until eight that night. We'll have plenty of time to check stuff out. In fact – James Fletcher is going to be there."

Alan's jaw dropped at the mention of his favorite sci-fi writer. "No way! Seriously?"

Jeff and John both grinned at the youngest Tracy's obvious delight.

""So – a day in New York?" Scott asked. "Sounds good."

"Actually," Jeff corrected. "John is due to go back to Thunderbird Five at around the same time as Alan is due back at Wharton's. So I thought we would head up Wednesday - with the time difference we'll probably do a crash and burn that night – and you two will head to the convention in the morning while I'll have fun at that meeting."

Alan and John snickered at the look on their father's face. Grinning back, Jeff continued. "So then I thought we would spend a few days in New York. You know – do some sight-seeing, play tourist – get Alan's new school clothes."

When Alan groaned, John nudged him under the table. "Don't worry Al, I'll be there to stop Dad from buying the short pants and sweater vests."

Alan and John laughed at the grimace from Jeff, which made the father join in with his sons' amusement. Some time with the two sons he didn't get to really be with. This should be interesting.

A/N - Oh, don't own Phineas and Ferb either. Love to watch it with my daughter. So - here is a new one. Hope it gets even half the support of Left By the Wayside. I realize this chapter repeats some of what you saw at the begining or end of LBTW, but it does occur between the last chapter and the epilogue. Hope you enjoy -

Alan - She's baaaccckk!

CC - Alan, the conversations will be after even numbered chapters. You aren't supposed to be here.

Alan - Know thy enemy. I'm keeping tabs on you.

CC- Alan, I am not the enemy. You got better, didn't you? I had one reviewer asking for a permanent injury. I refused. Um, Alan what are doing?

Alan - Looking at your reviews. I'll have John run a check on that reviewer so we can keep an eye on them.

CC - Sigh. Bye Alan. Come back next chapter and I'll have refreshments.