Eye of the Storm

Disclaimer - For the last time (well, this story), I do not own Thunderbirds or Numb3rs.

Epilogue

Charlie Eppes smiled over at Alan. After all was said and done, it wasn't a bad weekend. Anytime Don started to become annoyed at his son-in-law (worse, his daughter) being International Rescue, someone simply shoved Baby Jason into his arms and the man turned to mush.

"Thanks for bringing me back to school, Dr. Eppes," Alan smiled back at the older man.

"How about we make it Uncle Charlie," the mathematician grinned. "It will make it less confusing for Jason. And maybe I can get your brother to start calling me it as well."

Alan chuckled before turning serious. "You know that Kate will be working a lot more with Tracy Industries than International Rescue, right?"

Charlie nodded. "That's what your father said. That "Op Seven" – that's Kate, right?" At Alan's nod, he continued as he drove closer to Wharton's. "Op Seven will be more of a back-up, more likely to run communications than to be in the field. But that all operatives have to be field qualified."

They drove for a minute longer, before Charlie blurted out, "You're Op Five, aren't you?"

Alan grinned before nodding. "I wondered when you would figure it out."

"But you aren't eighteen."

"I've been a Thunderbird since I was fourteen," Alan said sadly. "Since the Hood. Having a nut job try and murder your entire family makes you grow up fast."

"You're allowed to be a kid sometimes, you know," Charlie teased, still mildly disturbed at the idea of Alan going on dangerous rescues – or being threatened by a madman.

Alan just shrugged. "I acted like a kid. A lot. The Hood changed all that. I grew up; I'm there for my family. I can't be a kid and be there for my family. Life is all about choices and I've made mine. I can't live without them and I'm willing to pay the price. It's not perfect but you do what you have to for family, right?"

Charlie put a comforting hand briefly on Alan's shoulder before returning his attention to the road. "OK, it says Wharton's left and right? Which way do we turn?"

Alan looked at the signs and chuckled. It had been fun driving back to school with Kate's uncle, dropping Tomo off to the attentions of his girlfriend, Gina (who, Alan suspected, did NOT like him – Alan, that is).

"Well, since it says "deliveries" to the left, I would turn right, Pro – Uncle Charlie," Alan teased lightly.

Charlie blushed slightly, turning right and absently wondering if his wife was right and he should wear the glasses the optometrist insisted he needed.

Pulling past the guard shack, the pair drove the SUV Charlie had rented in New York – allowing Don to drive back to DC and pick up Robin. His sister-in-law, who was nursing a broken hand – Robin had indeed packed a powerful punch –, would be accompanying her husband and daughter's family back to Tracy Island. Charlie could still recall the conversation that had followed this decision.

"Operation Cover-up, Dad?" Scott asked Jeff Tracy. When Jeff had nodded, Don turned to him.

"What do you mean, Cover-Up? If you are talking about, um, well -" Don trailed off, aware that while they may be alone in the hospital room, privacy was an unheard of commodity in such a public place.

"The family business," Kate said cheerfully. The pain meds were really helping her disposition.

"It's what Alan calls it," Scott explained.

"Fine," Don snapped. "Charlie and I know about the Family Business, why shouldn't Robin?"

"Because the more people who know, the harder it is to conceal. And for my family's safety, the fewer people who know, the better."

"I'm sorry," Don argued. "But I can't see…"

"A mad man invaded our island," Alan said quietly. The rest of the family jumped not even having heard the teenager arrive. Alan finished softly closing the door behind him, before leaning up against it. With what he was about to say, he didn't want anyone walking in.

"No one was supposed to know where the Base was. Heck, most people don't even know exactly where Tracy Island is. But the Hood figured it out. He sent a missile into Thunderbird Five, almost killing Johnny. When the rest of the family went up to get John, that nut job trapped them there, and they almost died. And the Hood came to the Island, tried to kill me and our friends. We stopped him, the family survived. But it was close – too close. And now Kate and Jason are a part of that. Maybe not really active, but neither are the Kyranos or the Hackenbackers. What's the intelligence community speak for that? Collateral Damage? If you love your daughter and grandson, you'll keep your silence. And don't even try and tell me you never had to keep anything from Mrs. Eppes before. You're a spy. No, you're THE spy. Nick Fury with two good eyes. International Rescue is there for the world but we can't do what we do if we have to be afraid of a target being painted over us."

Don reluctantly nodded. "OK, but if a time comes that Robin needs to know -"

"Then we'll tell her then, Daddy," Kate said comfortingly. "But you know Mom would want the twin terrors to know. And they would insist the cousins know."

"And if you think I am telling Amita ANYTHING about this," Charlie assured the room, "you need to be checked into a different ward of this facility."

The younger people laughed at that but the older generation exchanged glances before solemnly nodding at one and other. A pact was made, a secret would be kept.

For the family.

"So," Charlie said as they climbed out of the SUV in front of Alan's dorm, "can I tempt you into dinner? You never did get your birthday dinner with your father."

Alan grinned. "Sounds great, Uncle Charlie. Just let me drop of my bag."

"Mr. Tracy," a new voice added before Alan could leave the area.

"Professor X – I mean, Professor Exavius," Alan blushed when he saw his teacher.

"Donna!" Charlie said cheerfully, giving the woman a hug.

"Professor Eppes," Professor Exavius said, thrilled to see the man again after twenty years. "You look the same as when I was one of your graduate students."

"Now, Miss Exavius," Charlie chided, "I can't give you grades any more – no flattery." Looking around, he was confused. "You teach here? What happened to MIT?"

Donna smiled. "I married a science teacher here. I actually still teach college – University of Mass, Springfield - but I also teach the Theoretical Math class here at Wharton's. It counts for college credit for our Advance Placement students." Placing a hand on Alan's shoulder, she beamed. "I see you know one of my best students."

"Not the best," Alan said hastily. "That would be Fermat. Dude could have been in college since last year, but his dad was a kid at college and felt it would be less stressful for Fermat to ride it out a bit. And since Wharton's offers college credit courses, in a toned down setting…"

"Wish I could have had that," Charlie sighed. "Being thirteen at Princeton was a nightmare."

Alan giggled. "I think having your mom there might be worse."

Charlie smiled. "Katie tell you that? Yes and no – Mom was my security, but it did make it harder. I never really started making friends until I was around sixteen, when my mother went back to California full-time."

"What made her decide you were old enough?" Alan asked not expecting his uncle-by-marriage to blush brilliantly.

"I'll tell you when you get older," Charlie muttered.

Alan looked at Charlie askance before shaking his head. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know. EVER."

Donna simply laughed. "How long will you be here, Professor Eppes?"

"I was only planning on treating Alan to a belated birthday dinner," Charlie said with a smile. "But Cal-Sci isn't expecting me until Wednesday."

"And when is the wife expecting you?" Alan joked.

"When she sees me," Charlie said cheerfully.

"Any chance of doing a guest lecture for our class tomorrow?" Donna asked.

"That would be great," Alan beamed. "Especially since you wrote our text book."

"Which one?" Charlie asked as he began to follow Alan to his dorm room. Before Alan could say, Charlie turned back and waved at Donna. "Tomorrow will be fine. Um, what time?"

"We have a double period with a lab tomorrow, starting at ten a.m.," Alan said.

The other math professor hurried off, calling a "happy birthday" to Alan as she did. She so had to post this on her Facebook page.

Alan quickly dropped off his bag, taking a moment to change while Charlie looked around his room. As a Resident Assistant, Alan had his own room and he had decorated it with pictures of his family. A large bookcase stood next to a desk, its "organized chaos" reminding Charlie of his own desks over the years.

"You have quite a few books," Charlie commented. There were the obvious school and reference materials, but Charlie was pleased to see all of his own books and a wide selection of science fiction material. "I thought you would simply have an e-reader."

"Oh, I do," Alan said cheerfully as he brushed his hair while exiting the small bathroom he shared with another RA next door. "But as Johnny puts it, there is a certain comfort in actually holding a book in your hand. I've actually got a few of his books here."

"Ones he has written or ones he owns?" Charlie asked.

"Both," Alan grinned.

Charlie was about to suggest they leave when a notebook caught his eye on the desk. As he began to leaf through it, he was drawn in before looking up at Alan.

"Is this your original work?" Charlie asked, half-knowing it to be true. When Alan hesitantly nodded, the math professor beamed. "I hope some of your future plans include becoming a writer. This is great."

Pulling on a light jacket – the remnants of Alysha was coming through Massachusetts and it was unseasonably cooler – Alan smiled shyly. "Thanks, Uncle Charlie."

Charlie ruffled Alan's hair as they exited the room. It was really easy to love this kid.

Alan was animatedly talking to Charlie about his plans for the upcoming year and the college level courses he would be taking. Currently, the teen was in two, an advanced English class accompanying the math theory course. Charlie wondered if the Tracys had any clue just how smart Alan was. It was clear the boy thrived on challenges.

The pair had just reached the SUV when suddenly Alan was slammed into the car from behind.

Kyle Wescott was on top of Alan and trying to hurt the other boy. But before their classmates – which included several of Alan's friends who were approaching the area – could pull the Senior off, Alan used some moves that Charlie was fairly sure Kate had taught him, and suddenly Kyle was forced several feet away, where three other students grabbed him, holding him away from Alan.

"You did this!" Wescott screamed at Alan. "You ruined my life!"

The headmaster, Coach Michaels, and Professors Zhu and Exavius had come running over. Headmaster Oliver Bean glared at the errant student.

"No, Mr. Wescott," Bean said in a frigid voice as he glowered at the older boy. "You ruined your own life. Mr. Tracy did the responsible thing in coming to us with the information he had."

"So it was Kyle that was responsible?" Alan asked in a resigned voice.

"Yeah, Superstar," Carlos Gomez, a long-time friend of Alan's grinned. "The gossip you miss when you decide to take off for the weekend."

"All Alan did," Coach Bob Michaels coldly glared Kyle, "was to act responsibly when he was informed that a scholarship student was placed in the predicament he was in. It was our investigation that confirmed it was you."

"What's going on here?" Charlie asked in confusion.

"And you are?" Bean asked, alarmed to see an unknown person had apparently been trying to take off with Alan Tracy.

"This is my Uncle Charlie," Alan said, before he saw the confusion on ¾ of the staff's faces. "Technically, he is my sister-in-law Kate's paternal uncle, but he insists on us calling him Uncle as well."

"Yes," Donna said meaningfully. "This is Doctor Charles Eppes, of Cal-Sci and my guest speaker for tomorrow."

Professor Zhu sighed and explained to the man he now realized was his wife's mentor.

"For almost a year, we have had whispers of someone running a cheating system here at Wharton's. But we could never get any proof."

Coach Michaels nodded. "A student on an athletic scholarship came to Alan, as Team Captain, when he was caught up in it. But even with the student's word on who had provided him with the answers to a math mid-term – and was now pressing him into helping to traffic drugs – we couldn't prove it."

"The word of a scholarship student just wouldn't weigh as hard," Alan said with a cold edge to his voice.

Charlie nodded in approval, appreciating Alan's sense of fair play being offended by that fact.

"How did you prove it was him?" Charlie asked as he gestured towards Kyle.

"Alan," the headmaster beamed, patting the teen on his shoulder. "He came up with a brilliant program. The young man in question pretended to go along with everything. But Alan placed a computer program that had the State Police quite impressed."

Alan shrugged and looked shyly at Charlie. "It was a version of your backscatter work, sir. I figured if it could catch the Russian Mob, it would work on a jerk who takes advantage of desperate kids." While the first parts of Alan's words were soft he ended in a sharp tone that matched the glare he shot at Kyle.

"My father will get me off," Kyle smirked, his expression rapidly changing when a hand grabbed him by the arm.

"Actually," Lt. Nate Matthews said as he cuffed the eighteen-year-old, "when we contacted your father to see if was sending a lawyer, we were asked to give you a message."

Alan quietly nodded at the police officer, remembering him mainly from the hit and run two years ago. The fact that the man's wife was also Emily's best friend helped as well.

"What?" Kyle sneered.

"Consider yourself disowned," Matthews said as he led the teen away, starting to read the Miranda rights as he did, struggling with Kyle for a moment when he tried to turn back towards Alan again in a threatening manner. No one relaxed until the police drove off with the former Wharton's student in the back.

Alan sighed. "What a waste," Alan said softly. Turning to the Headmaster, he asked, "So?"

"As agreed, Alan," Coach Michaels said. "Mr. Chase will have to re-take his math mid-term, but his teacher has agreed to blend it with the final. As long as he gets a B minimum, he can come back in the fall. Limited academic probation and he will be watched carefully."

When the faculty walked away, Charlie looked at Alan in approval. "You worked out a deal for the other boy, didn't you?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Alan said.

"Hey, amigo," Gomez grinned. "Now that you have righted the wrongs of the world, have you heard what your heroes were up to?"

"Heroes?" Charlie asked.

"Our man Tracy is the schools biggest Thunderbirds fanatic," Bill Duclos said with a grin.

Charlie tried not to laugh, while Alan looked anywhere but at him as he answered. "Flood down in Georgia, right? We lost power; I didn't see a lot of the news."

Bill grinned. "Well, I know your father had to attend that meeting in DC. My dad is on the senate committee with Simpson. Turns out the Thunderbirds rescued Simpson's son Aaron down in Georgia. She feels it was a sign from God and listened to Jeff Tracy's words about family being more important than politics."

"Is she resigning?" Alan asked, he had never liked the senator even before this weekend.

"Snakebite Simpson?" Bill sighed. "Nah – Dad says the only way you will get her out of the Senate is with the White House. Then again, she has more power on the Hill than in the Rose Garden. But she has a new target. Seems the governor down there was behind the company that built the damn that burst, endangering her son. The fact that his stepson, who was a deputy in the flooded area, later pulled a gun on a Thunderbird, after he wanted to leave another of them to drown, is not going to work in his favor."

Charlie watched Alan carefully as this was revealed. On the surface, the teen seemed composed, but the stress of the reveals – more than the family had given them earlier – was clear if you knew what to look for. Nodding and smiling at the other kids, Charlie took Alan by the arm and pushed him into the car.

"Gotta go, guys. Reservations, you know," Charlie smiled.

"Got it," Gomez nodded. "Hey Tracy – pizza tomorrow night? Gotta celebrate your birthday, right?"

"It's no big deal," Alan protested, shaking his head when he realized his friends had moved off, already making plans for a pizza party that promised to include half the school – at least.

As they approached the gates once more, Alan realized Charlie was half watching him. "Um, no one liked Kyle. They just wanted an excuse to celebrate."

Charlie shook his head. "Alan, you're a good person and people respect you. Accept that."

Alan just nodded, but Charlie could tell the teenager was far from accepting of it. He decided to change the subject.

"So…how did this birthday measure up to past ones?"

Alan got a faraway look in his eyes when he gave his answer. "It wasn't my best, it sure wasn't my worse. But it was definitely a memorable one."

Charlie chuckled at that and nodded. "So – where to for dinner?"

Alan looked puzzled. "I thought you had reservations?"

"Nah," Charlie said. "I just wanted to get going. So...not feeling like haute cuisine but want better than McDonald's. What's good?"

As Alan gave directions to a local buffet style restaurant, Charlie nodded and smiled. "Sounds good," the older man said. As he turned onto the main road, Charlie smirked as he said, "Thunderbirds are go!"

Alan just smiled. Professor Eppes was enjoying this way too much. As they drove down the road, the teen didn't notice they were now passing the State Police car, with Kyle in the back.

Kyle Wescott saw the SUV drive past them and spotted a smiling Alan Tracy.

"One day," Kyle murmured. "You will pay Alan Tracy. For everything you have taken from me. You will pay, then you will die. I swear..."

The two vehicles turned in different directions, but the teenage passengers would meet again.

The only question was if both would survive it.

FIN

a/n I know I promised a convo. It came down to choosing to post today with no convos or not posting until next week. See, I had a bit of an accident Wednesday night and I can say first hand now that concussions are not fun. Have new story I am working on but between daughter's birthday, sister's 25th anniversary, Mom's b-day, Thanksgiving, father's health problem (no, not better - if anything, getting worse) and the upcoming holidays - so did not need the complications of a concussion - I am not sure when I will start to post. By the end of the year, I promise. Take care and I will see you all soon.

And hopefully, only one at a time. Double vision stinks.