Unfinished random fiction ideas for Thunderbirds Are Go (I may come back to them for something or other... maybe for comics?

 unfinished idea 1

Virgil found John on the balcony. He had snuck away when Scott was having another ‘Black out’ in the living room. While everyone else was busy trying to make sure the eldest was alright, John tried to escape unnoticed. Virgil knew it wasn’t anything to do with Scott’s regularly passing out either, although everyone else was beginning to think it was.

Virgil knew asking John how he was wasn’t going to fly right about now since Scott was the current priority, but Virgil knew John enough to be able to tell how his brother was doing just by talking to him.

“Pretty, aren't they?” Virgil stood beside him, leaning on the balcony looking up at the night sky.

“Yeah.” John said rather quietly. “How’s Scott?”

“Getting better. They are getting shorter.”

John nodded without glancing over. “Head trauma can do that. He is going to be frustrated he can't go on any rescues for few weeks till we’re sure.”

“He’ll have to sit tight anyway. Thunderbird 1 suffered alot of damage.” Virgil found himself frowning.

“We were lucky there was any of it left.” John said absently.

“You did a pretty good job landing it, even if you crashed it into a mountainside.”  Virgil tried to remain positive. Right now they could do with a brightside to the incident.

“The Mechanic fried the engines and the main power. If the suit wasn’t wired into it there was no way we could have survived that crash. So relieved Brains had done that, it was the only back up power and controls I had.” John seemed to be thinking. “That wasn’t a pleasant experience. I don’t think I will be flying in any of your ‘birds’ like that again.”

“You will have to if you want that thing checked out tomorrow.” Virgil hinted. He watched his brother slowly nod.

“It will be different. This time I’m not controlling it as it nose dives towards the mountain ranges.” John leaned his head against Virgil’s shoulder. “I was scared Virgil. I’m glad you were there to talk me through it.”

“You’d do the same for me.”

There was a breathless laugh.

“Come on sleepy head, time you rested too.”

John didn’t argue and straightened up before heading inside, Virgil at his heels.

The younger Tracy flopped onto his bed in a mess of limbs, Virgil sitting down on the bed, glancing around his sibling’s bedroom. There was photographs, posters and even a collection of art, some of which Virgil had painted when he was six. John’s room was untidy not because it was full of stuff, it was full of memories.

He looked down to see his brother’s restlessness and lay on the double bed beside him. John’s arms wrapped around Virgil’s broad shoulders as best as he could, cuddling bringing him a little bit of comfort.

Scott had been knocked out cold when the Mechanic attacked the Thunderbird directly, his head hitting the shoulder arms that kept him in his seat. The sudden surge of electricity cut power to everything and the Thunderbird nose dived out of control. John managed to get some of his suit’s power into the engines to stop the craft from being destroyed on impact, shutting down the drones brains had made for him to control and reverting all the excess into the Thunderbird's subsystems.

That had been the easy part. Getting a high speed rocket jet out of a nose dive was only the start of his problems.

Unlike his other brothers, John didn’t panic. He was as calm as he was in any emergency and he had to be. Panicking meant he couldn’t concentrate on any sort of attempted landing. Virgil had been impressed, especially since he was the one doing all the panicking on his behalf.

Virgil could vividly remember picking his way through the crash debris and finding Scott first, blood everywhere. He could hear John’s voice amongst the carnage at the back and was reassured that his younger sibling was ok so he could attend to Scott first. John kept talking as much as he possibly could to make Virgil aware he was still back there but when it suddenly stopped Virgil was quick to move as much of the broken Thunderbird to get to him.

Virgil could feel his brothers arm’s suddenly tense before they started to violently shake. He moved fast to yank the pillow off the bed and rolled his brother onto his side.

John was suffering a seizure.

Virgil kneeled down at the side of the bed, held his brother’s left hand and gave it a squeeze while trying to reassure him. He felt really helpless but after all the emergency training he had done, he knew there wasn’t much else he could do other than make sure John didn’t roll onto his back and his airways were clear. Admittedly Virgil knew more about sudden drop epileptic seizures but he was getting better at picking up when John was having them over the past few hours since the crash. He wasn’t sure what the trigger was but he had learned that John was fully conscious through them.

 There were signs of it too, ones that, if Virgil didn’t have any medical training would have terrified him while he waited for it to pass. He was glad that John had managed to keep this between them so far, there was no telling how everyone else would react if they knew, especially since Scott wasn’t doing great either.

Virgil wasn’t going to forget seeing John at the back of Thunderbird 1’s wreckage, his back against the side of the craft, violently shaking. At first he thought their was still power in the suit till he realised any excess power after the crash would have gone right through his brother’s system when it no longer had anywhere to go. But that would have happened upon impact and shouldn’t have been affecting him, especially since he had been calmly talking to him since Virgil boarded what was left of the stricken craft. That’s when it occurred to Virgil something else was wrong.

He had hoped it would have passed and it was a one off occurrence, but now as he was trying to remain calm as this had been the fifth time since.  Thank goodness John was the one to talk sense after the second time that he needed to see a doctor.

The shaking gradually stopped. Virgil swore his brother looked more exhausted than he did beforehand.

“V..irg..l.”

“I’m still here.”

“I’m... scar..ed.”

Virgil wrapped his arms around John and buried his head into his younger brother’s chest.

“I… I tried ...to sc..ream…”

“It’s ok. Hopefully we can find out what’s wrong tomorrow.” Virgil felt his brother arms trying to hug him back.

“I’m sorry.”

Virgil let go and crawled onto the bed and cuddled in again. He couldn’t remember the last time he had to try and assure his sibling that everything was going to be ok. It was usually the other way around. Rescues had a tendency to go horribly wrong on occasion and Virgil sometimes struggled to get feelings out, even if it was onto paper. Those nights he would crawl under John’s covers just so he had someone to grab hold of if he had a nightmare he couldn’t shake, or failing that if John wasn’t there, cuddle one of his pillows and call the space station and convince his brother to sing him songs till he fell asleep. Tonight there won’t be any songs, just the fact he was there for him was enough to make John feel better than he was.

***

“Scott lay back, your heads not quite right yet.”

Scott groaned but fought against Gordon and Alan’s weight on his shoulders and managed to sit up on the couch.

“What happened?”

“You blacked out again. Honestly Scott you need to stay in bed!” Gordon groweld. “Not try and walk around the house!”

“I have things to do Gordon, I can’t just lay around all day!”

“It's not like you’ve been given much of a choice.” Kayo added, flicking him with a finger. “You took a serious knock to the head. You’re not going to be capable of anything for a few days to a few weeks, that is if you are able to stop passing out.”

“Hey I wasn’t the only one in Thunderbird 1 when it crashed.”

“No, but you were the only one with any injuries.” Alan pointed out.  “John got a few scratches, but he is at least able to stay standing.”

Scott groaned. If anything was to go wrong, it was always him that got the worst of it.

“So how does she look? Was she salvageable?”

Kayo gave him a look as if to disapprove of the fact he was using a female pronoun to describe his Thunderbird. “You will have to ask Brains. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to take longer than the repairs to Thunderbird 4”

“Yeah you’re lucky to have survived that.” Gordon added. “The entire front end was mangled and her jets were not existent after the crash landing, from being torn right off the back of the craft.”

Scott frowned. “Are you sure I only hit my head? it sounds like I should have had more injuries.”

“Yeah, we're sure. Your one lucky bastard Scott.” Gordon grinned. “However if you don't start getting better you're going to be shipped off to see a doctor.”

Scott pulled a face. “Over my dead body.”

“I’m sure between John and Virgil that can be arranged. I overheard them mentioning doctors so I assumed it was about you.”

Scott groaned. If John and Virgil were involved he knew he didn't have many options.

***

John sat up and pinched the bridge of his nose before trying to ease the pain sitting behind his temples. He knew he was a little dehydrated and was struggling but couldn't work out why it was so bad.  His muscles were screaming in agony and his head pounded as if he had been forced to run on a treadmill for several hours in forty degree heat.

He looked over at Virgil who was snoring peacefully beside him, though generally fine with the noise it was if right now it was hammers pounding in his ears and bears clawing his forehead.

Clumsily, John got up and made his way down the hall, holding out a hand to the wall to stop him from walking into it, while the other was desperately rubbing his brow in an attempt to clear his head.

He needed pain killers… or anything that he could rub into his body to ease the feeling of being on fire.

The living room was empty, much to his relief. He couldn't face any of them even if he wanted to. Normally he would be fussing about the invalid in the family but by now they must have thought something was wrong since John had kept his distance on this occasion.

He had to. He wasn't going to let them all know something was wrong with him too. Hopefully they just passed it off as him being tired after being under so much stress during the crash.

Until he could see a doctor.. then he can decide if they need to know or not.

He stumbled down the stairs and paused at the table, resting his palms on the surface to steady himself and to make the world stop spinning. Most certainly now he needed water.

“You don't look so hot John.”

John looked up and regretted the sudden head movement.

“Sorry Kayo. I thought everyone was asleep.”

Kayo shook her head. “Someone had to stay up and check on Scott while he slept. I didn't trust Gordon or Alan to fall asleep on the job so I volunteered.”

“How is he?”

“Despite the passing out, he looks better than you do about now.”

“You know Scotty, he recovers fast.” John gave her a weak smile. It didn't throw off her concern, it enhanced it.

“John, are you feeling alright after the crash? Need to talk about it?”

“I’m good, just need a glass of water to help get to sleep.”

“I’ll grab it for you.” Kayo smiled gently. Afterall, she quite liked him for all the hard work he put in for International Rescue behind the scenes that nobody seemed to notice, however if Brain's suddenly couldn't get machine parts or the kitchen wasn't stocked all the time, they'd probably realise that John did more than just man the space station to keep everything functional.

She opened the fridge door to grab a cold jug and looked over the door just as John stumbled, reached out for a chair and took it crashing to the floor with him as another seizure struck.

Kayo was quick to get to him before his head hit the ground. What was she to do? She had never seen this happen on a rescue before let alone to someone in her own family. She didn’t deal with the medical side of things that often and was at a complete loss.

She took off her jumper and rested his head on it while it was violently shaking and activated her wrist com. There was only one person that she could call in the house who had medical knowledge that was equal to the convulsing Tracy on the floor.

“Virgil, wake up!” she hissed into the com, trying not to panic. “Virgil It’s an emergency and I need you in the kitchen right now!”

It wasn’t long before Virgil was entering the kitchen, Kayo noted that he still hadn’t changed out of the clothes he wore yesterday afternoon after the rescue. He was partially out of breath, having run down to the medical bay to grab a few things before coming back upstairs to the kitchen. It was as if he knew what was happening before she had a chance to tell him.

“How long has it been since it started?”

“Huh? I don’t know, maybe two to five minutes.”

“Great, so you have no idea?” Virgil said, trying to remain calm.

“I didn’t know I was supposed to time this? I don’t even know what’s happening!”  Kayo’s voice started to raise.

“Calm down, Kayo. John can still hear you. Last thing he needs to do is panic the second it passes. It’s terrifying for him already.”

Kayo blinked. Usually she was the one telling everyone to remain in control of a situation, never once had she contemplated being on the end of Virgil’s serious calm that he used in any given emergency.

“Wait, you mean to tell me he’s completely conscious?”

“Yes.” Virgil replied, rolling his brother onto his side and removing the jumper from under his head.

“What are you doing? That was to stop him banging his head.”

“It’s in the way. For a start lying on his back means he’ll suffocate with his tongue blocking the airway and having that under his head while on his side can become a similar issue. Best not to have anything at all to avoid any risks.” Before Kayo could open her mouth, Virgil continued. “I've treated a fair few victims on rescues who go into shock and other similar states before and yes John’s been having these since the crash yesterday… No, we we’re not going to tell anyone until we’d seen a doctor, which I havn’t had any opportunity to organise yet.”

Virgil sighed. “John didn’t want anyone to find out, not until he had it properly looked at by a specialist. He knows something's wrong, seizures don’t start suddenly for no reason.” Virgil was busy trying to locate a vein to push the needle for the IV drip he brought into the kitchen. He figured after the last one John was having problems with fluids and maybe this may help improve things. “The way Scott is now and was when I pulled them free, I can understand why John wanted to keep it just between the two of us. We both feel Scott needs to see someone about that head of his too but at least his is a result of the accident.”

Virgil clicked his tongue. “Gee you think for someone so pale you’d find a vein easily! Trying to find one where it won’t come loose with the shaking is impossible!” he finally managed to locate one and gave Kayo the IV bag. “Hold that so the tube doesn’t kink please. Can’t afford to get any air pockets in there.”

Kayo did as she was told. You didn’t mess with someone who spoke with an air of authority the way Virgil had now. In one way this is where both him and John were very similar, they both had an extremely no-nonsense approach to anything medical. You would think that the stuff that Scott and Gordon knew was pretty extensive, but she had also been there when they had to call Thunderbird Two or Five when something cropped up they were not trained to deal with. She watched, impressed with how Virgil was handling the whole situation, even leaning in to talk to John and reassure him that they were there and he wasn’t alone while checking his vitals and everything were still ok.  The seizure had eased, but he was still shaking from how violently his muscles had just behaved and if Kayo hadn’t seen what had just happened in front of her, she’d have mistaken him for having a serious fever.

“That was far too long that time.” Virgil looked worried. “They’re getting worse.”

Kayo could see John’s mouth moving silently, as if he was trying to talk. She ran her fingers through his hair to brush it out of the way so she could lip read.

“He’s just saying your name, Virgil.”

“Yeah, he was probably trying to shout it the whole time.” Virgil was digging around the things he brought from the infirmary and seemed relieved when he produced a small vial. “John said after the first time back at the crash that it was like loosing all control of everything and being awake for the entire nightmare. I guess we were both pretty naive about it, hoping it wouldn’t get worse before we could fly out off the island.”

He looked at Kayo as he stuck another needle into his brother's arm with the stuff from the vial. “Muscle relaxant. Right now anything will help.”

“We can’t leave him here in the kitchen.” Kayo frowned. “We have to get him down stairs to be monitored.”

Virgil nodded, agreeing with her. “He’s in no condition to be moved just yet. I may have to wake Gordon up to help me lift a stretcher for him.” He gave one of John’s hands a squeeze. “I didn’t want to have to get anyone else involved, but it looks like I haven’t got a choice now.”

“I don’t think you could have hidden this much longer. If it wasn’t me, someone else would have noticed how terrible John looks. If it was Grandma or Scott I’m pretty sure you’d both be in serious trouble right now.”

“Thank you for that visual reminder, Kayo.”

Kayo handed Virgil the IV bag. “I’ll go wake Gordon up shall I?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Kayo glanced back from the stairs and watched Virgil set the IV bag up properly on the table and double checking everything before kissing his younger brother’s forehead. It was things like this that reminded her how close they were with each other growing up mostly isolated from the outside world and how important each of them was to one another. In one way the isolation made them a little naive but it also made them very humble, something that doesn’t often occur when families have so much wealth around them… but then, the Tracys had also had their fair share of family tragedies and other things in their lives that shaped how they were as people, willingly putting themselves on the line every time an emergency came up just to save people who were beyond normal means of rescue. She felt very lucky to be made a part of their world with warm open arms.

“Virg….” John eventually managed. “Tell… Ka..o I’m.. sorr..”

“It’s ok John. I think she knows it’s not your fault.”

“Everythi….hur...s”

“I bet. You were violently shaking, far worse than the last one. Try to rest, I’m going to be right here ok? Not going to leave you.”

“Woah what happened here?” Gordon’s voice sounded exhausted as he exclaimed at the sight in the kitchen.

“Kayo didn’t tell you?”

“Not really, other than shouting at my bedroom door and banging on it calling me a lazy arse and that I was needed in the kitchen right now.” Gordon’s expression softened. “She could have just said, I mean I would have come faster. I don’t sleep like the dead like some people.”

Virgil ignored the last comment. He knew Gordon was poking the stick at him and Alan because he was annoyed for not being told why he had to go to the kitchen. Gordon was a light sleeper and was usually the last one to crawl into bed. He wasn’t the only one either, Scott worried alot and kept himself up stressing over nothing and as far as Virgil was concerned there were days when getting up before John required you to not got to bed at all the night before. At least he wasn’t quite as bad as Alan who could fall asleep while running a marathon. At least Kayo had the common sense not to enter Gordon's bombsite of a bedroom and was able to make it sound like Gordon was in trouble to anyone who happened to be woken up by her banging. Since that kind of thing was normal in regards to fish brains, everyone else would have ignored it.

“Where’s Kayo?”

Gordon shrugged. “After seeing this, I’d assume she’s getting a stretcher. I don’t see John walking around looking like that, do you?” He walked over and had a better look. “How’d… How did he get like this Virgil? What happened? How come he didn’t tell us?”

“Long story, will explain later.” Virgil brushed it aside. May as well explain it to Gordon when everyone else was demanding to know at the same time later on when they found out too.

Gordon realised Virgil was an accomplice to his third oldest brother's stupidity and frowned. “You better. I want all the details too, no skipping any.”

“Don’t worry Gordon, I think I have a pretty good idea how much trouble we’re in for not telling anyone.”

Gordon let out a sigh. “It’s ok, it’s not the first time John’s hidden something serious from us. It’s annoying as fucking hell, but I know why he does it too.” Gordon lowered his head. “It’s not like we’re little kids anymore. He doesn’t have to keep thinking we’re going to be scared he’s not invincible.”

“Yeah I guess both he and Scotty share that trait.”

“We all do. It’s part of being a Tracy.”

“You sound as bad as John right there.”

“Heh, yeah well we’ve been told all sorts of things over the years eh?” Gordon's expression softened. “How is he doing?”

“Could be better. I think he's dozed off. His body can't keep this up though, he still had the shakes after it stopped so I can't pinpoint how long the episode was.”

“That's not a good sign.”

“No, it's not. I'm really worried Gordon. John's clearly terrified by it too. I'm praying that Scott doesn't start having problems like this either.”

“Let's hope so. I can't imagine Scotty coping with anything like this.”

***

Unfinished idea 2

“Pfft, see this is what they always do Brains, they NEVER invite me to anything, always saying that ‘you're too young, Alan’ or something along those lines.”

Alan slammed the door to the pantry cupboard and did the same with his box of cereals on the bench. Brains looked up from his coffee and frowned.  Alan had been on automatic rant since he woke up and found out that his brothers had gone to some fancy charity ball at Lady Penelope’s mansion and he wasn’t invited.

“You’re not the only one who wasn’t invited.” Brains prompted.

“You said yourself that you were busy today anyway.” Alan snorted. “And Johnny doesn’t count.”

“Nice to know I’m not important as you seem to be Alan.” John said to no one in particular from his seat at the far table of the kitchen. He had his back to Brains and his brother with a newspaper in front of him doing a crossword.

“You know that’s not what I meant John. They don’t ask you as you’re always doing something up on Thunderbird five that’s too important to spent time with the rest of us.”

“Ah I see, so then if I had something important to do in space… why would I be still here trying to eat my breakfast in peace?”

“Whatever, my point still stands. I’m never invited to any of these fancy shindigs.”

John stood up and walked over, throwing the newspaper in front of his youngest sibling before dropping the pen on it and walking off upstairs. He had enough of Alan’s whining for one morning.

“What’s his problem?” Alan grunted staring at the paper. He was about to brush it aside to slam his bowl on the bench when Brains stopped him.

“How well do you really know your brother Alan?” Brains asked.

“Better than anyone I imagine. Why? I mean right now I know he’s being a typical butt-head… like they all are.”

“Well I don’t really know him much at all except for the fact that he’s far too smart and subtle for his own good.”

“You could say that.” Alan rolled his eyes. “He’s been really hard to talk to this week I know that much.”

“Ever ask him why?”

“Heck no, why would I do that?”

“Because I know he would have asked you if you had a problem.” Brains insisted.

“Fine I’ll go talk to him after I’ve eaten ok?”

 Brains pushed the newspaper in front of Alan and tapped it. “I think you should go now.”

“Huh?” Alan looked at the paper. Parts of it were circled in red pen, predominantly the date and a number in the main front page article over and over with some choice letters.

“What’s so damn special about those….” Alan faltered when he finally understood what was going on.

October 8th… 23... B.I.R.T.H.D.A.Y.

SHIT. Alan swore through clenched teeth. How could he have been so stupid? Easily come to think of it… John spent his last birthday alone in space, the one before that doing space training runs with Alan and the year before that again alone in space….. Truthfully, John’s birthday always without fail got forgotten about due to something else happening on the same day. Alan couldn’t even recall anyone ever celebrating it since he was born.

Alan’s shoulder’s slumped. The fact that even he, the one John felt the closest to had forgotten must have really hurt.

“I-It’s not too late you know Alan.” Brains pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Y-You could still turn this day around. “H-How about taking him to see a film or something? I-I don’t recall John ever leaving the house unless it was to be up in T-Thunderbird five since we started International Rescue. S-Something so simple can mean quite alot to a person you know.”

“You know what, You’re right Brains. Problem is…. I haven’t really got a clue if he is still into the same movies as me anymore.” Alan frowned, thinking hard.

“I’I’m sure you will think of something Alan. J-Just the gesture of being out of the house for his birthday maybe enough.”


***

John stood outside the hatch way of the lift for Thunderbird Five in the hangar bay. It overlooked the launch area of Thunderbird One and you could just see the launch area for Thunderbird Three and the water exit for Thunderbird Four which got used on the odd occasion Thunderbird Two was already in use. He would usually have his gear on but he knew that Scott had words with EOS, the space station's resident AI to prevent John from going up into space for a few days to spend time at home with the family.

Funny how that panned out didn’t it Scott?

John rested his head against the Titanium hatch for a few moments before he turned around and slumped his back against it as he sunk to the steel floor beneath him. Truthfully now That EOS was onboard John was only really up on the station just to make sure things ticked over as they should be. Eos was now pretty much running everything with the exception of communications and give her enough time and a little tiny bit more code she’d be able to do that too.

He knew eventually Alan would forget, just like the rest of his brothers. He just wished it wasn’t this soon. Since their father’s disappearance, Alan had really come into his own, showing that not only was he smart, he also didn’t need anyone to get him out of trouble as much as everyone thought they might have to. John always knew Alan could do it… he just needed that once chance to prove himself.

It meant that he no longer needed John around anymore to make sure he was alright. Sure, John had not been overbearing towards his younger brother for a few years now, but this was the sign that really made it hit home.

He was officially - he felt - not needed around anymore. He had thought about this happening for a long time, just never wanted it to be true. He pulled himself upright and dusted off his pants leaving black grease marks down his white jeans.

Maybe it was time to do something he has wanted to do by himself for a while. After all it wasn’t often he had the chance to do something down on earth that involved engaging his adventurous and risk-taking side. So far it had been curbed by spending alot of his time in space, but right now it didn’t seem enough.

Alan found John down in Thunderbird two's’ hanger around a helipod, dressed in gear he never thought he’d see John wear. All the boys had variations on their main uniforms for International Rescue however little they ever wore them, and seeing John dressed in something looser, thicker and more practical was a little off-putting. Last time he saw his brother wear it was when they were doing some training exercises that Scott thought they should all do together to sharpen their skills, only to find that none of it was transferable to what John and Alan did in space.  It didn’t to Gordon either until recently when he had to rescue Robert and Aiden Williams from a cabin that had fallen below a badly constructed methane gas extractor. Clearly, John was off to do something that was far less normal than his usual routine.

“Whatcha up to?” Alan asked out of curiosity.

John paused, thinking about brushing Alan off before sighing. Alan didn’t deserve him treating him like dirt because he was feeling invisible.

“I was going to go off and do some rock climbing… well at least, rock grappling.” John admitted. “I need to get off the island for a bit. You want to come with?”

Alan’s blue eyes lit up. “Do I ever! I haven't done anything with just you for ages!”

Surprised, John couldn’t hide the slight smile that crept into his features. No matter how awful he felt, just being around Alan always cheered him up.
“Then suit up in something more practical and let’s get going.”

Alan beamed and pretty much ran out of the hanger at high speed to go and find his spare secondary uniform and John found himself wondering why he he said yes to taking his littlest brother along. The point of going climbing was to get away from everyone and his own thoughts wasn’t it?

Alan came back bounding across the hangar bay all excited and full of energy and didn’t seem to mind having John fuss over his gear and equipment, something that was usually left up to Scott and had on more than one occasion things missing due to Scott deciding his little brother didn’t need them because he wasn’t going to dare let him do anything dangerous. Scott was a bigger worry-wart that John could be from time to time, but at least John was more understandable when it came to why he cared about Alan’s safety so much - as far as Alan was concerned - but John also knew Alan was quite capable of doing alot of things on his own, something Scott tended to pause, mull over and hesitate on.

The flight out and over to a national park somewhere in the middle of central Australia uneventful, Alan trying to think of the right way to apologize for not remembering John’s birthday. He didn’t get to attempt a conversation, John had drowned any chance of that out with loud music filling the radio of the Pod’s coms. At least that was better than silence, John did hum and sing along to some of it, clearly trying to forget about the events of this morning. John landed the pod at the base of a wide Western Australian canyon miles away from civilization and was quick to get out and unload all the gear they needed for the climb. It had been a long time since Alan had seen his older brother so focused on something other than the cosmos of deep space.

***

unfinished idea 3

With Graduations all out of the way, Virgil was grateful to have landed a job in New Zealand at an engineering firm that was going to start mid February until then he needed a place to stay. After the wild wind up to the end of his university studies he found himself down in Florida, deciding that if he wasn’t ready to fly out home he at least needed the company of one of his siblings. It was a very long taxi ride, but he wasn’t ready to ring his brother and get back on the back of his motor bike again, besides, he wanted this visit to be a surprise.

Standing out front of the apartment door he was beginning to hesitate. Maybe his older brother didn’t want to be bothered? He doubted it, John may be a recluse from time to time but he’d never completely deny himself the company of his siblings, unlike his younger brother Gordon who was more than happy to loose his siblings in a crowded bar at the first opportunity to go off and have fun on his own.

He knocked a few times and was surprised when the door was answered by the youngest of his four brothers.

“Hey Virgil! What are you doing here?” Alan chirped happily.

“I could ask you the same thing Alan.” Virgil sounded as confused as he looked.

“Dad said since no one’s going to be around for christmas he let me choose who I got to stay with till the start or February.” Alan smiled, all excited. “Since I wasn’t sure what either you or Gordon were doing and Scott is still doing things with the air force till the day before christmas, I figured I’d come and stay with John for a while.” Alan then looked very serious. “Dad’s building something at the house anyway, I got a little sick of being in the way and ignored.”

“Who’s at the door Alan?” Virgil could hear his older brother’s voice from somewhere inside.

Alan turned and shouted back. “It’s Virgil John!”

“Then don’t leave him standing at the door, let him inside Allie!”

Alan then looked back at Virgil and saw the few suit cases that were behind his older brother. “Want some help?”

“I’ll be alright with them thanks Alan.” Virgil smiled. “They’re pretty heavy, I don’t travel light.”

“Who does when they have to clean out their university dorm room?” John appeared in the doorway behind Alan with a tired but rather happy expression. “I thought you said you had gotten into an engineering job?” he said as he walked past Alan and grabbed one of the more lighter looking suitcases, himself struggling to lift it very far off the floor with two hands. “What do you have in here? Bricks?”

Virgil shrugged and smiled. “I’m saving up for a house.”

John laughed dryly and Alan looked confused. “I don’t get it, how is that funny?”

“You’ll get it eventually Alan.” Virgil patted his little brother on the shoulders and turned him around to head back inside. He grabbed the remaining things and brought them in, closing the door behind him.

“So.. that Job Virgil?” John asked again. “When does it start?”

“February, in New Zealand. Till then I have a bit of time to try and rest a bit.” Virgil looked at his brother and before John could ask, he added, “I didn’t feel like going straight home, I wanted some like-minded company.”

“Well I’m not sure this is the right place, but I can try to make it comfortable… can’t say anything for Alan though.” John chuckled getting a punch in the side from Alan who pulled a face at that remark.

“Trust me, anywhere is better than being at home. I would just end up in my room the entire time alone with my thoughts…. And I don’t want that, not after all the stress of university.”

“Then we might have to have dinner out tonight then, I don’t think I have enough food for all three of us here.”

“Johnny you’ve got nothing here at all!” Alan pouted.

“Just because I don’t eat lollies doesn’t mean I don’t have any food in the house Alan.” John rolled his eyes.

“Be glad Johnny is not a vegetarian.” Virgil added. “Staying with Gordon is like taking an extreme diet.”

“You can say that again.” Alan snorted. “I’m surprised he’s not skinnier than Johnny!” He yelped when he got an elbow in the ribs.

Virgil sighed. He really needed this, the sounds of his brother’s being complete and utter goofballs. Sure, he could have gone to Boston for Gordon’s company, but Virgil knew that at least he would get some time to himself around John’s place and not be going constantly between parties and nightclubs every night. How Gordon got into those places was anyone’s guess as he was still technically under age, though he suspected it had something to do with his New Zealand driver’s licence. The thought made Virgil smile. Technically they were all half American, her mother being a lovely English lady, but the only one to have that as a place of birth was John, the rest of them being born as far as the England, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, pretty much wherever their mother was working at the time.

“Well Alan’s taken the closest spare room to mine, so you’ll have to take the one closest to the living room, I hope that’s not going to be a problem Virgil?” John asked. Since his room mates moved out John had stopped renting out his apartment for the extra money, although Virgil was pretty sure it was to do with John’s new youngest astronaut in history status and the fact that the media had realised he was related to ex-astronaut and business mogul Jeff Tracy. Lucky for their father John kept a very low profile, last thing they needed was someone trying to muscle in on the family and their money…. Not like they were ever going to get any if they held John for ransom anyway.

“Unless you play really loud music then no it shouldn’t be.” Virgil smiled.

“HEY! We can watch movies all together now!” Alan jumped up and down excitedly. Sitting down together with his two favorite brothers watching really bad science fiction films was something he sorely missed since they both left home. There was times where being the youngest sibling was a complete and utter drag.

“We sure can, There’s a few old ‘Star trek’ films supposed to be on this month as well as the film ‘Gattaca.’” John grinned. “Sounds like a great idea to me.”

Virgil nodded in agreement. “It’s been a while, it’d be a nice change.”

“YES!” Alan danced around. “POPCORN AND LOLLIES TIME!”

“Has he been like this since he arrived?” Virgil whispered to John, who looked like he wanted to just curl up on the couch and die.

“Pretty much. I did think it was because this would be his first ever christmas in winter, but now I’m not so sure.”

Virgil leaned down so he was eye level with Alan and held his brother by the shoulders. “Hey Al, how’s about you get changed into something more appropriate for going outside? We can go to the park and build a snowman before we go and get tea. Sound like fun?”

“That sounds TOTALLY AWESOME!” Alan shouted, making his brother go deaf before bounding off towards his temporary bedroom.

“You know he’s still going to come out again wearing shorts right?” John laughed. “That’s all he packed.”

“Youre not joking are you?”

John shook his head. “Alan thinks Florida doesn’t get snow. He even brought his surfboard.”

“Boy I bet he was surprised.”

“Yeah… picking him up from the airfield pretty much made him realise that yes, infact it does snow here.” John grinned. “It was quite funny.”

“Got any surprises for him this year?”

“For a present? No…. other than that Scott and Gordon are coming down christmas eve.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, Scott thought we should all be together this year even if it wasn’t at the house. Don’t ask how he’s getting Gordon here, but my guess it will involve kicking and screaming.” John mused. “Honestly I don’t think I can afford presents this year… could barely afford a tree… which by the way is still plastic, but at least it’s a damn tree.”

“I could help with the gift buying you know John.”

Virgil’s older brother sighed. “No that’s quite alright. I’ve already had this discussion with Scott and in the end we agreed that if he gives me money for the food I’m going to slave over for christmas day we’re all sweet. Just having you guys here is enough of a present for me… was getting rather worried I wouldn’t see any of you at all this year.”

“Truth be told so was I.” Virgil found himself admitting. Things this year had been quite a mess and at the very least with them all rocking up to Florida meant they were still together to celebrate the major holiday for spending time with family. If they didn’t John wouldn’t have been allowed home after what he had said to their father after Virgil’s art exhibition at the university and neither would have Scott. Virgil had no idea what had been said, but it was clear the way father spoke afterwards that he disowned both Scott and John for the next few months.

“Dad’s been ringing here with weird jobs for me to do.” John said out of the blue, making Virgil look him straight in the eyes. “Ever since he started remodeling the house he’s decided that I can help him with things.”

“Surely you told him to get stuffed right?”

“No…. should I have?” John said a little surprised. It was no big secret that despite all the crap John got from their old man, he was still more than happy to do things to try and appease him. Virgil wished he’d stop letting him get away with it.

***

unfinished idea 4

Gordon walked around the corner carefully, trying hard not to trip over any wires. He was following a signal that he had picked up on Thunderbird Four’s scanners deep in the Arctic ocean, which had lead him to find a underwater research station that looked long since abandoned. After walking around the ruins for the past hour or more he was well aware that abandoned wasn’t quite the word he was looking for.

Someone had turned on the generators as there was a breeze of fresh air being circulated around the station and the laboratory rooms, however there didn’t seem to be working lighting in the place… or at least anything that wasn’t flickering.

The signal was weak under the water but now it was getting stronger and Gordon felt his heart start to skip around and jump into his throat.

Calm down, you don’t even know if it really is him or just his suit’s signal. He took a deep breath and  tried to calm himself. If he jumped the gun right now there was a high chance he could be in for a nasty shock if he didn’t find anything.

“Thunderbird Four, are you still there?”

“Yeah… Sorry Alan, I’m trying to concentrate.”

“You haven't found anything yet?”

“Negative, but the signal is getting stronger.”

“Do you think he’s still alive?”

“Let’s hope so Alan but don’t get your hopes up…. Anything could have happened by now.”

“Brains still hasn’t started repairs on Thunderbird Five. You would have thought he have started.”

Gordon sighed as he scanned his surroundings with his torch. He knew exactly why Brains had not started the repairs for the space station that was sitting in huge pieces down under his lab. Sure it would have to be assembled in space once it was all ready but that wasn’t the reason for the delay.

It was because Brains needed John to help reset the entire communications relay inside it since he was the one who programed it.

Gordon remembered when the station came crashing down from orbit. The wreckage in Africa didn’t even have a trace of John’s body amongst it. He had only just been picked up from a undersea rescue when the impact with the planet occurred and couldn’t even digest the information that Scott and Virgil filled him in with.

It had not even begun to sink in that their brother was gone when they got a call from the GDF a few weeks later about a mysterious package that had arrived at their base addressed to International Rescue.

They couldn’t see who was in the video as they were well covered and they were demanding that they cease all operations and hand over all their technologies. Before Scott could start scoffing at the list of demands they dragged a chair into shot and removed the bag that was over their prisoners head.

They didn’t have to see the revel to know who it was. The International Rescue space suit was a dead giveaway.

It was drenched in blood, Gordon recalled… though he didn’t see much else as he was ordered to take Alan out of the room for the rest of it. When they allowed them back in the looks on their faces said everything they need to know about their older sibling’s condition. Scott had never been so angry in all his life and Virgil looked like he was going to be in tears at the mention of their brother’s name.

They had spent a large chunk of their time after that searching, with the help of the GDF and Lady Penelope and so far came up with nothing. As the weeks passed more packages arrived at the GDF offices, containing parts of their brother’s uniform…. Till the last one a few days ago.

Gordon felt himself cringe outwardly as he thought about it. Suddenly walking the halls of the underwater research station began to feel creepier than they should have been… like something out of one of Alan’s zombie horror games.

Gordon was the one who opened the box. He shouldn't have, but he was tired of the mind games. He had been held captive alongside his brother before and knew what it had done to him and was the one who knew exactly what was happening to his sibling all over again.

He dropped the box on the steel floor of the GDF office and threw up when a severed hand rolled out. Scott had the gruesome task of verifying that it was indeed John’s right hand by the silver glint of a thin ring around the middle finger, one Gordon had bought for him on his 25th birthday.

“Gordon?”

“Sorry Alan. I really need to think about something else.”

There was a sound Gordon had grown accustom to over the com. It was the sound of Alan trying not to cry. John was his favorite brother after all, so the fact he was missing and possibly hurt beyond recognition was terrifying for the younger Tracy and he had latched onto Gordon in a way that Gordon had never seen Alan do to anyone else other than John. He was learning rather fast how much Alan really needed their second eldest sibling around and in a small way, Gordon really needed him too.

“I’m sorry Gordon. I can’t help it. I miss him so badly.”

“Me too Alan… me too.” Gordon found himself replying. Gordon had not felt like this since their father went missing - but then he got over it pretty fast when he discovered how much emotional torture his sibling had to go through just so he could have a pretty breezy experience growing up without a mother. His respect for John had grown a great deal more since then and had surpassed the level he had for their old man. Sure, Scott still kicks himself for not being able to rescue their father and tries to forever fill in the old man’s shoes… but even Scott knew that their father had very little respect or faith in John, something Scott has in spades. Good thing too as John had turned out to be the greatest asset to the organisation they ever had since their father’s disappearance and at times they needed to be reminded that they shouldn’t take it for granted.

This was one of those…. And Gordon, like his brothers were all wanting it to be over. Dead or alive they wanted to bring John home. This time ‘missing’ was not good enough… they wanted a body and to make the bastards pay.

Flashing his torch around Gordon was slowly feeling his own hopes fade as room after room was coming up empty and unused for years….

Till this last one.

It was an operating theatre presumably, Gordon wasn’t sure as he never really seen the inside of a hospital surgery department before walking into one - usually he was unconscious on the table being the victim in question, something that happens when things on the job go horribly wrong though John from his eye in the sky had prevented it happening for the most part since dad’s disappearance much to everyone’s relief -  and straight away he was hit by the smell of reasonably fresh blood that was splattered all over the operating table, the equipment and the far bench. Reasonably was the word as it looked quite dry but still had the smell of death lingering around. There was an open door at the other side of the room and Gordon carefully picked his way around, trying very hard not to touch anything or breathe in the air…. Till he passed the workbench.

In a dried bloody mess was John’s uniform… or what was left of it. The sash was beeping, sending out the signal that Gordon had been tracking and as he picked it up he felt a little more than just sick in the guts. This was all he needed to confirm his brother was quite possibly butchered and in tiny pieces in storage somewhere waiting for the rest of him to be mailed to the GDF.

Gordon threw the sash across the room. So many things were going through his head but anger was the most prominent. Why would someone do this to one of them? Why do this to the most harmless person in the entire organisation? Ok harmless wasn’t quite the word, Gordon knew fine well John could be quite dangerous when put in the right situation which was why he wasn’t on the physical end of many rescues…. But still…

Gordon wanted to storm out of there, get back in this submarine, go home and bury his head in his pillows inside his closet. His imagination was going wild and making him want to break down into tears. That last room wasn’t going to be worth looking in.. it was probably a freezer anyway….

Gordon took a deep breath into his air tanks to avoid breathing in the stench of blood before giving into his curiosity and entering the room on the other side of the surgery.

It opened out into a wide space full of machinery and a glass ceiling. Because the ocean was deep and dark in this area of the station Gordon decided to radio in.

“Alan, can you swing Thunderbird Four around to my location? I’m in an area that’s too dark even for my torch to see anything with. If you shine her lights in through the roof I might be able to get a better look.”

“FAB Gordon.”

Gordon waited till light flooded the room from the ceiling. Alan was getting quite good at steering his little yellow submarine around, no thanks to having him help out with more and more underwater missions as someone needed to make sure the communications underwater stayed in contact with Tracy Island, something that was hard to do now that Thunderbird Five was no longer in action.

Now he could see he could tell he was in the main engine room of the station. Big machines surrounded the room, wires criss-crossed the floor and the ceiling and all led to some main hub in the center.

“Gordon… what’s that?”

Gordon forgot that filling the room with the floodlights of Thunderbird Four meant that now Alan could see what was in the room too… or at least a rough view, obscured by the distortion of the glass under water.

“It’s an engine room Alan, you need to be more specific.”

“In the middle… it looks like a person… I can’t tell.”

Gordon found himself frowning. He hadn’t even gone anywhere near the middle of the room to look around at the main power source yet and Alan was already jumping in to ask him about it.

He walked around, stepping over wires and cables till he could get a better look himself. Alan was right, there was a person in the center of the room - they looked like were more or less integrated into the machinery. Gordon had to do a double take with what he saw.

It was John.

He looked like he was strapped in there to stop his body falling out of the machine. Wires were dug deep into his skin as if he was the station’s power source, his body covered in blood and bruises.

Gordon’s first reaction was to check for a pulse. Tilting his brother’s head to locate it he realised John was very much still alive when his brother started to mumble.

“Please… stop… Can’t…. Take it….any...more…”

“John, it’s Gordon….” Gordon’s brown eyes tried to search his sibling’s face for a hint of recognition. “It’s only me…. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. We all have. I’m going to get you out.”

“Gordon..?” Gordon could feel his brother breathe, horse and distorted by how weak he was. He looked hurriedly at the wires to see where they lead to and if anything was important. Some of it was recognisable from when they dealt with a foe who was adept with machinery but the mechanic had long been behind bars many years ago. It was a similar setup, the wires clearly a physical neuron link but hard wired direct into his brother in the most crudest fashion.

“Alan, I need you to set me a link with Brains.”

“What is it Gordon? Let me see! Show us the feed!”

“No, I NEED to talk directly to Brains, audio only for the moment please Alan.”

There was a sigh on the com before Alan replied. “FINE. I’ll put you through.”

“H-Hello Gordon?”

“Brains are you alone right now?”

“N-No one here but me and MAX in my laboratory. H-How’s come Gordon?”

Gordon swallowed. “Because what I’m about to show you I don’t want anyone to see and I need you help in trying to shut it off.”

“F-Fair enough. Send it through.”

Gordon switched from audio coms to holographic so Brains could see a visual.

“Oh My! I-IS that J-John?”

“Yeah, and he’s wired into it. There’s even one coming out of his chest.” Gordon inspected the cable and followed it till he realised it was hooked up to a battery storage cache and a little module that seemed to be keeping a count of something. He moved the hologram up so Brains could see.

“This is g-going to be a hard one I’m afraid Gordon.” Brains’s voice wavered. “Do you have any emergency life saving equipment on you?”

“No, it’s back onboard with Alan, why Brains?”

“B-because I suspect that is keeping track of his heartbeat. If you remove that it’s quite possible he’ll go into cardiac arrest.” Brains’s voice was very stern in how he spoke.