Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners.
Just a quick one-shot based on The Imposters.
"Scott?"
Scott turned at the sound of the voice, frowning when he saw Gordon hurrying towards him. He wasn't surprise his brother was looking grave; none of them were exactly happy considering they were having to hide their operation. But Gordon had been the one trying to look at the positive side of things up until now, and yet his face had completely fallen.
"What is it?"
"You need to talk to John," Gordon murmured, already moving past Scott without waiting to explain. Scott stared after him. He didn't know whether to immediately patch himself through to one younger brother, or to follow the other.
John won.
Scott knew Gordon would have only come to him because whatever was troubling John was something only an older sibling would be able to sort out. He wouldn't gain anything by chasing after Gordon, especially not if the redhead didn't want to talk. It would just be a waste of time, so Scott moved into his room, shut the door and connected to Thunderbird Five.
He made sure he kept the channel through his watch so he could disconnect it with ease. There was no telling if anyone else was going to land on the island and insist on searching the place. Scott would rather be able to disconnect with just a flick of his thumb rather than having to make sure everything was turned off properly if he patched through via his computer.
"What's up, Scott?"
Scott jumped, not truly thinking about the fact he had connected. Sitting down, he stared at the watch face for a long moment, trying to work out without asking what was wrong. John was worse than Gordon when it came to opening up if he didn't want to. But the picture was small and he was seeing his brother at a strange angle; he had no idea.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," he said slowly, making sure he didn't sound at all accusing. He knew what John was like. Now there was a problem at hand in regards to making sure their operation wasn't discovered, the astronaut would find a way to keep himself distracted and not admit to anything that was going through his mind.
"Apart from the same as the rest of you, nothing," John said dismissively. Scott instantly felt his instincts kick in, knowing that John was hiding something. He sounded too casual considering they were being forced to just sit back and watch as everything they had worked towards was unravelled in front of their eyes and they couldn't even defend their reputation.
Scott knew trying to press the matter wouldn't result in anything though. He frowned, trying to think of something to say so John didn't realise that Scott wasn't letting the matter go.
"Have you had any luck tracking anything?" he settled on, knowing that John was taking it as a personal challenge to track where the imposters had gone and where their base could be. This was the man who could hack into NASA when he was sixteen; Scott was fully aware how much it was irritating John he hadn't yet got hold of them. Of course, it didn't help that he was working on half a signal, not wanting to broadcast too much in case someone else was trying to track the beams happening in space. After all, they knew there was another station up there that was responsible for trying to locate International Rescue.
"No. I'm narrowing down the range they could have flown considering the type of craft that Penny identified them in. Her contact might be the man behind trying to bring us down but he might also have just given us enough information to trace them. I'll find them."
"How long do you think you'll need? We can't just sit here indefinitely; the world needs us."
"Don't I know it," John snapped, glancing away for a moment. It looked as if he was checking one of his instruments, but understanding hit Scott like lightening. John wasn't looking at anything; he was making sure he wasn't looking at Scott. He didn't want his brother to see his expression because he didn't want Scott to see how lost he was feeling.
"Johnny, look at me," Scott ordered. It wasn't anything to do with being a Field Commander that meant John regretfully turned back to the screen. It was years of being an elder brother and knowing precisely what tone was needed in order to get his brothers to react. It varied between all of them, but Scott was confident he could handle all four of them when the situation arose.
"What is it?"
"How long do you think it will be until we can launch any of the 'birds?" John mumbled. Scott felt as if he knew where this was going and he sighed heavily.
"I don't know."
"So we're just going to have to let the world suffer while we sit here?"
"Stop it, John. I know that isn't what you are really thinking about." Scott waited until his brother had properly looked him in the eye again before continuing. He hated the distance between them at times, knowing he was just relying on the hope John still believed everything he said the way he had done when they were children. For if not, there would be nothing else he could do for the time being.
"I know what this is about."
"No, you don't-,"
"Johnny. I know. And I don't care if it gives away every secret that we have ever kept. I don't care if it destroys IR, or lands me in prison for the rest of my life. I promise that if the situation doesn't improve, I will come and get you."
As soon as he said it, he knew that was truly what was wrong. Relief flickered across John's face before he quickly covered it up. Scott wasn't sure if anyone else would have even seen it for the concerned look was back in place too quickly, but he had. He knew he had eased John's mind a little.
Scott was just kicking himself for not thinking about it before. They were sitting here almost casually talking about never being able to launch the 'birds again until all this had blown over, claiming they didn't know how long it was going to take. All the while John had been listening in from space, knowing he only had so many rations. No wonder Gordon had sensed something was wrong when talking to him; John must have believed that no one would be able to get him if this showed no sign of blowing over.
"I'm not about to let you throw your life away for me, Scott."
"Screw that. I'm not leaving you up there. We'll give it a week then start planning. We could come into land somewhere else, you could hide. They'll only find me, I'm not about to bring it all down if I can help it. I do value what we've done. But I value you more, John. Don't worry; I'll find a way to bring you home."
This time, the relieved look remained on John's face for a little longer and Scott knew he had got through to the man. They passed the time talking for a little longer before John announced that he was going back to work. There might not be any rescues as such that he could report, but he could work on tracking down the men that were causing these problems. Scott knew now the issue had been voiced out loud, John would be even more determined to find the imposters. There was no way he would let the others find out about his moment of weakness if he could help it; and stopping the men would mean the whole conversation could be forgotten.
Scott made him promise to call if things were getting bad again, but let John go. He couldn't talk to him forever, but he was satisfied now that John's stubbornness had kicked in enough for him to want to work rather than worry.
But as soon as he had disconnected, Scott left his room and went to find Gordon. It came as no surprise to find the younger man in the silos, staring down forlornly at his 'bird. Scott sat down next to him, dangling his legs through the railings.
"John okay?" Gordon asked without looking around. Scott nudged him in the arm.
"He's just fine. He's going to close in on these guys and this will be over before you know it." Scott knew that he had to reassure Gordon as much as he had needed to sort out John. But he respected his brother's privacy. There was a reason why John hadn't wanted Gordon to know, and Scott wasn't about to betray that trust by telling Gordon what had truly been on John's mind. Gordon nodded.
"Good. I just wish that we could go after them ourselves rather than relying on agents. After all this time, after all the things we've done, and we just have to sit here and let others handle it."
"There is something you can do," Scott murmured, thinking back to the reason why he had sought out Gordon in the first place. His brother finally glanced at him, quizzically and with just a hint of suspicion in his expression.
"What?"
"You know all those pranks you used to pull when you were a kid and you were notoriously good at covering your tracks?"
"Don't know what you're talking about," Gordon said innocently, but Scott knew by his smile they were on the same wavelength.
"Course not. But start thinking of ways to make the whole world look in the opposite direction. Just long enough for, say, Thunderbird Three to launch." Scott carefully kept his expression neutral, but he saw understanding flash over Gordon's face.
"F.A.B," the younger brother was on his feet before Scott realised he had moved. Gordon lifted his watch.
"Al, meet me in my room. There are some things I want to talk to you about." Gordon made to hurry off, but paused before he had gone more than a few steps.
"Oh and Scott?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't come near my room for the next few hours if you know what is good for you." With those words, Gordon departed, leaving his brother chuckling behind him. He hoped beyond hope that John would track the imposters down and they wouldn't have any need for any of this. But for now, it kept Gordon – and Alan, it seemed – occupied for a few hours. Regardless of what tricks they mastered in those few hours, Scott knew it would be worth it.
He slowly pulled himself to his feet, wondering how he had given his brothers tasks to do and ended up just roaming around aimlessly himself. He glanced at Thunderbird Four, a touch of a smile on his face. There was no way they were going to give up without a fight, regardless of what their father said.
Scott navigated the silos silently. He thought he was heading towards his own 'bird, wanting to take in the sight of her while he still could. But before he knew where his feet had taken him, he found himself outside of Thunderbird Two's hanger. He grinned when he heard someone swearing from deep within and wandered in.
"Hey, Virg? You in here?"
Hearing his brother's voice respond, Scott began working his way through the machinery littering the silos in order to find his best friend.
After all, just because he had made sure the rest of the brothers were occupied didn't mean he wasn't entitled to find something to do that would soothe his own mind. Virgil understood him better than the others – his brother would keep him distracted without ever having to ask what was wrong and Scott knew he could do the same for the younger man.
Imposters might be out there posing as International Rescue. But Scott knew it was going to take far more than that to bring his family down.