THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO:
THE LAND OF SECOND CHANCES
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
(Contains spoilers for "Endgame")
She couldn't be like this all the time.
Display nerve of steel and show no sign of fear, only fortitude. It was wearing her out.
The latest mission she had been sent on had to be the most absurd yet.
There was almost no stake to it at all other than the prize she had to claim from the Chaos Crew before they reached it.
She got to meet a wizard, she got to fight creatures made of stone, and she got three second chances at life. This was a different kind of danger.
There was still a task, it still required hard work and diligent patience, but it brought something distinct to her mind set. It brought fun to it.
She wondered why every mission couldn't be like this, full of danger, but with a safety net attached. If you die, you went back to the beginning, an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and pitch some kind of a comeback.
The circumstances surrounding the Chaos Crew's infiltration of Cavern Quest meant starting from scratch would not an ideal outcome, but for any other mission connected to the game it gave Kayo an interesting insight into the kind of worlds Alan Tracy loved to explore.
These were the kind of rules that appealed to Alan's eternally idealistic worldview, the kind of thing he had boundless enthusiasm for, the sort of thing that brought a longing and lovingly warm smile to her face whenever she got to think of what brought him just as much joy.
A world where a rescue came with multiple takes, a chance to correct a strategy, a gamble could go wrong three times, and you would be sent homewards to think again if you botched all of that.
Kayo knew how the real world was, she knew Alan did too, but prior to now, she had rarely let the escapism intrude on her realism. This was a different case; this was something which meshed together both indulgences.
It had left her with a distinct appreciation of what Alan did in his spare time; it was a world where the reward came much more swiftly with the risk, without chance or misfortune disrupting the opportunity. She envied Alan's enthusiasm for that world, and wanted to share
For worlds like that can barely materialise in reality as it was. The apprehension, the fleeting yet ferocious doubts, they all travelled with her and the team in greater missions, not everything can and will go right, and the risks are even greater, the stakes higher, everything hanged in the balance.
She couldn't be too serious all the time, it'd tire her out; the weight of the world would anchor around her ankles and pull her underwater, it was better to be a part of the joyous moment than spend too much time panicking over the eleventh hour of every rescue.
What better way than to spend it with someone who has that perspective all of the time?
What better opportunity to remind 'Alonious' that he would never be alone so long as she was at his side?
In the land of second chances.