Hi all. At first I didn't know how to start this story but after chatting to Darkflame's Pyre for a while and drinking quite a few cups of coffee after that, I think I've finally reached a starting point.
Hey everyone, it's Pyre here. This was originally posted unbetaed, but as of 14/6/13, it has been edited by me.
Disclaimer: How I wish the boys were mine. But no; they belong to someone else.
Well, even with International Rescue's hard work, there comes a day where the boys get a little bit of leave. Since everyone is not able to be off the island all at once, the commander, Jeff Tracy, had allowed his sons, Gordon and John to go to the mainland together for a few days.
As soon as the two young men had landed their plane, Tracy One, in South Africa's Cape Town International Airport, they were met with an icy wind.
The boys quickly rented a car and had not long after hit the road, Gordon was watching the cars drive past him as John drove. It wasn't something they saw every day, since they didn't live in a populated country.
Rubbing at his arms despite the heating in the car, Gordon spoke. "So Johnny-boy, where are we going?" When his brother didn't answer immediately, he sighed and reached over to turn on the radio.
Turning the dial through the channels, his ears were met with a number of different languages. Turning it back off so his brother could hear him, he asked. "How many languages does this place have? There's a lot there." Turning to see if John was listening to him he saw that his brother was smiling. "What?"
John grinned. "There are eleven official languages spoken in South Africa, namely English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sepedi, Xhosa, Venda, Tswana, Southern Sotho, Zulu, Swazi and Tsonga, and there are also many unofficial ones. South Africans have been referred to as the 'rainbow nation', a title which epitomizes the country's cultural diversity."
Gordon couldn't believe what his brother had just told him. He sounded like he'd swallowed a textbook, but then, John often did. Shaking his head, Gordon then asked. "What about the population?"
Without missing a beat John answered. "The population of South Africa is one of the most complex and diverse in the world. Of the 45 million South Africans, nearly thirty-one million are black, five million white, three million colored and one million Indian. The population density is 32.9 people per km²."
Not waiting for Gordon to ask another question John went on. "The black population is divided into four major ethnic groups, namely Nguni, Sotho, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda. There are numerous subgroups of which the Zulu and Xhosa (two subgroups of the Nguni) are the largest. The majority of the white population is of Afrikaans descent, with many of the remaining forty percent being of British descent."
Now Gordon looked at the world outside the car window with interest. "Wow. Okay. I wonder how they manage all those languages? Geez. I'd be lost among them all. Where we going John? Will you tell me already?"
Seeing the way Gordon was looking out the window John knew that he had made a good choice. His brother needed a break, and going somewhere where he had never been before was going to let his brother relax. Smiling John said, "We're going to find a hotel and then go ice-skating."
When John looked at his brother again after a few minutes Gordon was fast asleep. Smiling, he reached over and pressed a button to let the seat recline. His brother didn't even react. He only relaxed and gave a soft sigh in reply.
After driving around for a while in search of their hotel, John finally found it, nestled in a swathe of trees. It was also close to the casino where the ice rink was, which suited his purposes perfectly. Parking the car John reached over and tapped Gordon on the head. He knew that his redhead of a brother would wake up faster, that way, although a bit grumpy. John also put the seat back in its upright position.
Opening his eyes Gordon looked about and saw that they were at a hotel. "Oh, we're here already." Not waiting for John's reply, Gordon got out of the car and stretched. Turning back to the car Gordon saw that John had gotten out to and had their bags out too.
Walking around the car Gordon took his bag from his brother, and they both walked inside.
After getting checked in they left their bags in their room and left for the casino. As soon as they found the rink they saw three girls waiting off to the side until all the eager people had entered. Curious, Gordon walked over, and he realized that he could see that something looked a bit odd about two of the girls. They were all giddy and didn't act quite their age. Gordon guessed that they were about nineteen years old.
Next to the two girls was another girl who looked about the same age as then. She was watching him, more warily than anything else, like she wasn't sure if he had come to just look at them or make horrible remarks about them.
Holding out his hand to the girl, Gordon smiled. "Hi. I'm Gordon."
Taking the hand which was held out to her, the girl answered shyly. "Hi. I'm Jessie." Turning to the two girls next to her she said. "This is Hope and Sandra. My two sisters."
Jumping to Gordon they both gave him a hug to say hello. When they both moved back Jessie said, in response to Gordon's gentle look, "They've both got disabilities. I told my mum that I'd take them out for the day, but it's busy in there."
Smiling at the girls, Gordon asked. "May I ask what these disabilities are? It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I'll understand."
Smiling Jessie answered. "Hope has a speech disability called Dyspraxia which makes her slur her words a little bit, and she is really naive. She's like a kid." She grinned at her sister, who smiled back.
Nodding his head Gordon said. "You could say that I to had that problem when talking after an accident I had a few years ago. You must have heard about it. It was all over the news."
Nodding her head Jessie said. "Oh, I've seen that. You got flipped over with that boat right?" Not waiting for Gordon to answer she went on. "Sandra is basically just a little chatterbox and is just like a bossy four year old. She's got Downs Syndrome. That's why they are acting the way they are."
They all jumped when John soft voice made it to their ears. "Disabled or not, they are behaving much better than those kids over there." He pointed to a group of kids who looked like they were going to start a fight at any moment.
One of Jessie's sisters saw the kind-looking John and before he could do anything she had run over to him and was squashing the life out of him with a hug. Seeing what her sister was doing Jessie shook her head in amusement. "Hope. Let the poor guy go. You don't even know him, and you're killing him."
Letting John go Hope smiled up at him and turning just a little bit she pointed to her other sister who then ran over to them. Hope moved over a bit to let her sister hug him too.
Giving a sigh Jessie said. "I'm sorry; I think Hope and Sandra really like your friend."
Grinning Gordon said. "Nope, he's my brother. His name is John. He's not one for hugs but I think he'll let them hug him. He has a soft spot for children. We all do, to tell you the truth."
Realizing that they haven't hugged Gordon enough the two sisters were back for round two. This time it was John's turn to grin when his brother got squashed.
By now, most of the people had either gone into the ice rink or had come out again. John and Gordon had each taken one of the girl's hands and were walking up to the counter to pay. Hope was with Gordon and Sandra with John. Jessie was walking between Gordon and John. When Jessie reached into her pocket to get the money her mother had given her to pay with, Gordon stopped her. "Hey. Save that for another time. We're paying for you girls."
Jessie couldn't believe her ears. Here were two strangers paying for her and her two sisters to go ice-skating. She'd hardly known them for ten minutes. Her two sisters were talking a mile a minute about what they could see. Pulling her hand back out of her pocket Jessie just looked at them.
"But it will be expensive!" She protested.
Feeling a hand ruffle her hair, she looked up to see John smiling at her. Looking to her two sisters Jessie saw that they had somehow got a hold of Gordon and were now dragging him over to a huge window. She felt sorry for the poor guy, and a little embarrassed, but she could tell that the young men were only trying to do a nice thing, so she swallowed her pride, and let her new friends help.
When everything was paid, they all went inside a room to get the skates on.
Jessie's sisters got special skates. When everyone had theirs on, John and Gordon helped then all to get into the rink. Hope and Sandra held onto the side for dear life and looked down at their feet which were slipping and sliding around.
Skating around the rink once to get into the rhythm of things, John and Gordon stopped next to the three girls.
Taking Sandra's hands off the side John held her so that she wouldn't fall over. Gordon took Hope and then they looked at Jessie. "Mind if we take them for a bit? We'll take good care of them. If you don't know how to skate one of us will be back for you soon." Gordon said.
Shaking her head Jessie said. "No, that's fine. I'll be okay. Thanks for taking them. It's our first time here and I was worried that they'll get hurt or that someone will be nasty to them. I don't know you, but I can tell you're good people." Jessie watched as Gordon and John moved off with the two girls who were laughing and talking as they went.
The music began to play and people began to skate around and around the ring. The faster the music went, the faster the people went. Jessie could see that her two sisters were having a whale of a time. They were begging John and Gordon to go faster and faster, which the two young men happily did.
Letting go of the side she managed to skate around the rink herself, only at a slower pace. As she came around for the second time someone hit her hard from behind. Losing her balance Jessie went down, scraping her knees on the ice. Before she could put out her hands she heard Gordon yell to her. "Keep your hands in Jessie!" She hit the ice with a thud and felt herself slide strait into the middle of the ring. Her side hurt and she felt so cold.
Before she knew it, Gordon was at her side and had her turned over on her back. "Do you hurt anywhere?"
Shaking her head Jessie said. "Only my side but. It's just because I hit the ice with it. Can I please get up? It's freezing."
Getting up from the ice and taking Jessie's hand, Gordon helped her up. "John gave that guy a piece of his mind. The least he could do was to help you back up and check you over, but I guess he thought that no one saw him." Gordon said while skating back to the side.
Looking around her as the red-haired man guided her back to the side of the skating rink, Jessie asked. "Where are my sisters? Are they okay?"
Helping Jessie onto a seat Gordon answered. "They're fine. John and I took them off the ice and made them sit at one of the tables. Then I came and got you and John went after that guy. He then came back and took your sisters to get their shoes on. Let's go get ours on too, and the five of us can go have something to eat."
Helping Jessie up again, Gordon took her to the changing room and when Jessie had her shoes on he was back at her side. "Mind if I had a look at your side? I want to make sure that you didn't do any damage to it."
Blushing Jessie shook her head. "Look Gordon. You're a stranger, okay, and well even though we've had fun, I still don't really feel comfortable, and anyway; I don't lift my shirt for anyone." When she turned her head to see if someone was still there she saw her two sisters and Gordon's brother silently watching her.
Walking up to Jessie, Sandra said. "Let him look Jessie. We want to know your okay."
Trusting her sister's instincts, because she had a feeling about whether she could trust people, Jessie lifted her shirt just a bit. The teen heard a soft gasp from Hope and before she knew it, her sister was giving her a hug.
"To make you feel better." She was told. "That looks like it hurts." Hope said. Letting Jessie go Hope let Gordon see.
Touching her side gently Gordon looked for any broken bones. Finding none, he let Jessie pull her shirt down again. "That's going to hurt for a while, but least you didn't put your hands out. It would have been worse."
When they were outside of the ice-skating center, they went over to the window and saw that the rink was packed.
Shaking his head John said. "They shouldn't let so many people on the ice at once. Someone is bound to end up in hospital tonight." Taking Hope's hand the five of them went in search of a restaurant.
When they finally found one Gordon, gave Jessie a menu and said. "You girls pick what you want and then you let us know. Okay?"
Shaking her head Jessie pushed the menu away. "You guys paid for the ice-skating and now you want to pay for the food too? I can't let you guys do that." Looking over to her sisters Jessie saw them nod their heads to show that they agreed.
Getting up from the chair where he was sitting, Gordon crouched down in front of Jessie and her two sisters. "You know what? I had so much fun today with you girls. I came from overseas to get a break from work for one day and what a break I got. I also met three really nice people who had shown me that even with a disability; you could have so much fun and not care about anything. Money isn't everything and if you three girls don't eat I would feel really bad."
Sighing Jessie said. "Okay. We'll eat. Next time we'll pay for you guys when you come again."
Sitting back down on his chair, Gordon waited for Jessie and her sisters to decide what they wanted to eat for dinner. While they all waited for the food they chatted some more.
After they all had eaten their dinner John and Gordon took the three girls outside to wait for their mother to come pick them up. Just one floor above the group was a machine which was set up to create a snow wonderland. All over the casino you could find these machines.
What no one had realized was that this one machine had a bit of a problem. What made things worse was that poor old Gordon was in the way of what was about to come down.
No one had noticed that snow was gathering up into a huge mountain on the floor above them. Jessie's mother had just parked her car at the side of the road, and Jess had waved across to her, when there was an almighty thud. Turning around Jessie, John and her two sisters saw a mountain of snow where Gordon had once stood.
Realizing that their friend was somewhere under the pile of slush, Hope and Sandra began to dig frantically to find their new friend. Jessie's mother had run up to them and was now helping to dig. John and Jessie quickly joined in.
Soon Jessie could hear Hope say. "We'll save you, Gordon." It felt like the snow would never get to an end. Finally Jessie's hand hit something that wasn't snow. Carefully digging around it she found that she had hit Gordon's head. "Found him!" She yelled. Everyone moved to where Jessie was and was now digging even faster to free him.
As soon as Gordon was able to move John helped him out from under the snow. When Gordon got to his feet although a bit shakily Jessie's two sisters was around him and was hugging him to get him warm again. They also rubbed his back and when they let go his face was as red as his hair from the fuss.
Grinning Hope clapped her hands and while she was jumping said. "There. Now you're all warm again."
Stretching his arms out and then his back Gordon added. "I'm a bit to hot."
When Gordon looked to Jessie she had tears in her eyes. Walking up to her he gave her a hug and wiping away the tears from her face said. "Hey. No crying over me. I'm okay. I just needed a bit of help getting out from under there." Turning to look at the mountain of snow, Gordon couldn't help himself. "Whoa! Was I under all that?"
Nodding her head Jessie pushed herself away from him. "Yes, for a moment I thought that we won't be able to get you out from under all that snow in time. I thought that you would die under there."
Jessie had forgotten that John was watching them. When he spoke behind her she jumped. "Nah, it would take a lot more than that to take him out."
Turning around Jessie gave him a hug too. "Thanks for the lovely day you guys have given us. It was so much fun. Will you guys come again?"
Ruffling Jessie's hair, John said. "Sure we will."
Jessie's mom was watching as well and from what she could see these two men had been looking after her girls for the day. Looking to Hope and Sandra who were smiling as they said goodbye, she knew that they would be telling her all about their day once they all were at home. When the girls were safely strapped into the car, Jessie waved at the young men standing at the curb and smiled. "We'll remember you guys. Hope to see you again one day."
Waving at the girls as the car drove off, Gordon turned to John. "Thanks John."
Turning to face Gordon John asked, puzzled. "For what?"
Walking off to their own car, Gordon said. "For today and the break I've gotten. You really made my day and those three girls made me realize how lucky I really am to be walking and talking normally again."
Falling into step with his brother John nodded. "No matter what your disability would have been, there is only one of each person in this world. If it did happen that you were unable to recover fully from your accident, we still would have loved you, just like Jessie loves her two sisters. She doesn't feel sorry for them. They don't want her to feel sorry for them. Each person is special in their own way. So are those of us with no disabilities."
Smiling, Gordon opened the car door on his side of the vehicle, and got in. When John closed his own door, Gordon gave him a one armed hug. "Thanks. You are a special brother to. A brother we are unable to decipher, but a special one anyway."
The next day, after a hot meal and a good night's sleep, the two Tracy boys were on their way home again. When John radioed Tracy Island for permission to land their plane, their father asked, "So how was your day off boys?" Smiling, both John and Gordon answered.
"We had a whale of a time Father."