AN: So here is a new little oneshot based around Jeff's thoughts and what was going through his head after the abduction of Alan. I suppose you could think of this as a prequel of sorts to Never Stop Looking and Never Look Back - Belonging. I wrote this song after listening to Taylor Swift's song Ronan. Tell me what you think.

Hope you all enjoy!

Reviews are appreciated.

~Angel~

Alan

Jeff sat on his youngest son's bed, staring at that photo of his youngest. It was the thing he cherished. Ever since that day his little boy was literally snatched from his arms. Tears gathered in his eyes and he sniffed as a tear fell, landing on the glass covering the framed picture of Jeff holding Alan in his lap. It was the boy's fifth birthday party and though Jeff missed his beloved wife that died two years and three months earlier, Jeff couldn't have been sad that day if he'd wanted to. It had been Alan's day. Clutching the picture frame to his chest, Jeff recalled that morning.

… … … … … … …

Little bare feet scampered down the hallway, Jeff was awake he heard those little bare feet, the giggle which was meant to be quiet. Jeff had remained quiet and still, pretending to be asleep. He heard his bedroom door creak as it was opened, but he faked a snore to make Alan think he wasn't yet awake. He'd let Alan have this moment.

Hearing a quiet giggle, the little bare feet ran forward, before Jeff felt the weight hit him hard. Turning over in bed, Jeff wrapped Alan up in a hug. Staring into his little boy's blue eyes, Jeff leaned in and whispered to him.

"Happy birthday baby boy." Pressing a kiss to his little man's forehead, Jeff relished in the warm hug that Alan had given him.

"Monin' daddy." Alan mumbled as he hugged his dad tightly.

"How old are you today?" Jeff asked, a grin on his face as he looked into Alan's bright blue eyes once more.

"I's this many!" Alan held up a hand showing Jeff five fingers.

"You're how old, hmm let's see." Jeff took the hand Alan gave him and began to count. "One, two, three, four five. You are five years old today. My you're growing up to be a big boy, aren't you?"

Alan giggled with a nod before he replied.

"Yeah, daddy. I's a big boy now."

… … … … … … …

It'd only been a few hours later that Jeff stood at the local chucky cheese, surrounded by kids. Kids of all ages, he'd even told his other sons they could invite a few of their friends so there'd be others their age there. Scott stood off a little ways, ignoring his friends in favor of holding Alan beneath the armpits as he continually swung the mallet in an effort to whack-a-mole. Alan became frustrated and threw the mallet away when he failed to win any tickets and he walked off to go pout.

Jeff turned back to continue talking to one of Gordon's friend's mothers named Pattie who'd offered to be a chaperone for the birthday party. He only looked over when he heard a bunch of cheering in the direction that Scott and his friends were to see that Scott was really racking up the points. The neon lights that shone from the reader board said Scott had reached 750 points and he was still going. When time had run out, Scott waited for the tickets to begin coming out of the game.

Enlisting the help of his friends, Scott created a large roll with the tickets before shoving them in his pocket. Gesturing at his friends, they all began playing various games that would give them the chance to win tickets. At some point, John, Virgil and Gordon got involved and they got their friends on board to try to win as many tickets as they could so they could win some unidentified prize for their baby brother. Apparently Scott was the only one that knew what it was Alan had been hoping to win.

Jeff and Pattie continued talking as they walked around, checking on the kids to make sure they were having fun or not. Pattie spotted Alan off by himself, gazing sadly at his shoes before she walked over to the little guy that she babysat during the day so Jeff could work without a little guy underfoot. Crouching down before Alan, Pattie questioned Alan and he gave a quiet reply before bursting into tears. Jeff went over after seeing his little boy's distress and crouched beside Pattie as she brought the boy into a hug in an effort to comfort him.

"What's wrong with him Pattie?" Jeff questioned in concern. He wondered if he got hurt or if someone had been picking on him. But Pattie just answered quietly despite Alan's wails.

"He only has two tickets and when he tried to get a prize the girl at the counter told him he needed more than two tickets." Pattie replied, before picking Alan up in her arms to cradle him in her arms much as she'd done over the years since her friend's death.

"How many tickets does he need?" Jeff asked, curious over what it was and if it'd be something worth it. Surly Alan had gotten enough toys, he didn't need more.

"He needed three thousand." Answered Scott who'd located his father and baby brother. He stepped forward and nudged Alan. The little boy lifted swollen blue eyes to look at who was nudging him. "Hey, I've been looking all over for you."

"Why?" Alan asked before wiping his runny nose across his sleeve.

"Because kiddo, you left your tickets behind. That machine was rigged." Scott said before taking Alan's tiny hand and placing a large roll (larger than the roll he'd shoved in his pocket) of tickets into Alan's upturned hands. Alan's hands were too small and he almost dropped all the tickets. But Scott continued holding onto them so Alan wouldn't drop them. "I gave the machine what for and it gave you the tickets you won. But you'd already left."

Alan looked at Scott, before looking at the sheer volume of tickets before looking at Scott again and opening his arms for a hug. Pattie took the roll of tickets from Alan and allowed Scott to take his baby brother before settling him on his hip.

"What do you say that we go over to the ticket counter machine and see if you've got enough tickets?" Scott asked with a grin before taking Alan and the large roll of tickets to the ticket counter.

… … … … … … …

Jeff remembered fondly the prize that Alan had picked out. It'd been of all things a giant stuffed pug. Jeff had always said they couldn't have a dog and Alan had a fondness for pugs because he liked their smushed faces. The giant stuffed pug was bigger than Alan and he couldn't even carry it. Scott wound up carrying it. It was later that Jeff found out that all the tickets, or a majority of them had all been won by his boys. Scott had enlisted their help and gave them money from his own wallet to cover the cost of tokens. Jeff knew how hard Scott had worked to save that money and when his boys had been asleep, Jeff had snuck into Scott and John's room and replaced the money Scott spent, while also adding a few financial bonus bills to each of his son's wallets (Gordon and Alan's included).

The following morning, Jeff had to hide a smile when Scott had spit his juice out after asking John to check his wallet to see if he'd enough money to get the both of them lunch at school to find he had his four hundred dollars replaced and then some. He'd given each of his brothers' a hundred dollar bill in order to get their tokens and he was strapped for cash. When Jeff had check Scott's wallet he had spent all but five dollars to get Alan the tickets to win the prize and he'd given Scott an extra three hundred for his trouble. Now he had seven hundred dollars total, and that wasn't counting his bi-weekly allowance or the money that Scott earned stocking the neighbor's wood cribs for the cooler winter and early spring nights.

When Scott tried to give the money back, Jeff refused adamantly before praising each of his sons for working together to win the tickets so Alan could get his prize, even if he didn't necessarily need another stuffed animal in his bedroom.

… … … … … … …

Getting up from where he'd been sitting on Alan's bed, Jeff ventured over to Alan's closet and he stepped inside. It wasn't a very big closet, big enough for Alan but not considered a walk in closet due to its small size. Reaching out Jeff grasped one of his little boy's striped long sleeve shirts and held it close before inhaling the scent from the material. It still smelled like Alan despite having been washed and despite Alan being gone almost a year now. Alan liked the cotton candy smelling Mr. Bubbles bubble bath, so he often smelled like cotton candy. That's what Alan's clothes smelled like. They had the distinct odor lingering that smelled like sugary candy.

It hit Jeff like a ton of bricks and it made Jeff angry when it occurred to him that though it hasn't yet been the anniversary of Alan's abduction, it was still his sixth birthday and Jeff couldn't help but wonder if Alan was alive somewhere, out there. If he was, Jeff could bring himself to think of what Alan was going through.

Was he safe, had he been kidnapped and adopted illegally, was he alive, was he being beaten, had he been sold on the black market? Was he even in America, had he been smuggled into another country to work in a sweat shop somewhere?"

… … … … … … …

"Hey boys, I've got the day off. What do you say we go on a picnic?" Jeff suggested when he walked into the living room and seeing his five boys lounging. Scott and John had their feet propped up on the coffee table, slouching on the couch as they watched TV, while Virgil was sketching in his sketch book while gazing outside. Gordon was playing his Gameboy and Alan was off by his little toy basket playing with little army men. Each of his boys looked up at their dad's voice and each nodded. They'd been bored but hadn't wanted to ask their dad if they could go to town to play at the arcade. It would have meant their dad both taking them and dropping them off which he sometimes grumbled about or for the boys to get on the bus, but Jeff asked that they didn't because it was too risky for them to accidently enter a sketchy area. "Do you want to go?"

The boys all stood up, TV going off, sketchbook being placed on the coffee table, Gameboy placed on the video game shelf and Alan's little army men going into their basket with promises to go at ease and they'd continue when he got back. Everyone got ready, Scott and Jeff stood at the counter in the kitchen fixing several sandwiches and filling a small basket with drinks, a variety of snacks, paper plates and a stack of napkins. When everything was ready, Jeff carried the basket on one arm, carrying his little treasure in his other arm when Alan begged to go 'up'.

Walking with his boys the few blocks to the park, Jeff found a nice place beneath a large maple to park his family. Handing Alan to Scott, he told the boys to go play for a bit while he got their picnic blanket set up and he'd call when everything was ready. Jeff smiled as he laid the blanket out on the lush green grass, inhaling deeply the smell of freshly mowed grass. It reminded him of growing up in Kansas during harvest time, the tang of mowed grass and crops filtering through the air.

Looking down, Jeff smiled as he checked his watch. He could let his boys continue playing for five more minutes before calling them for lunch. Leaning back against the tree, Jeff watched his boys with a smile. He could see Virgil holding onto Alan as the little boy hung upside down by his legs from the monkey bars. Jeff could see the little belly button which was the source of torment for the little boy. He was ticklish on his belly button and his brothers constantly used the little belly button to cajole Alan into getting them a cookie before dinner or as a source of blackmail when wheedling secrets from the boy.

"Boys! Lunch is ready!" Jeff called, watching as like clockwork his little zoo came stampeding his way, Alan's little legs running as quick as they'd go and still being slower than his brothers. None of his boys were breathless except for Alan, because he'd given more exertion to stay with his brothers when it came to running at the call of lunch. Alan came over and started to sit on the blanket, but changed his mind swiftly before claiming his dad's lap. Jeff sat with his legs crisscrossed so Alan would have a place to sit. Picking up the little Mickey Mouse plate that Alan always insisted on using, Jeff held the sandwich for Alan when it became apparent that the boy was going to be picky and not eat his sandwich. Choosing instead to play with the apple slices.

Alan ate his peanut butter sandwich with a gusto after taking the first bite and when he'd finished, Jeff gave Alan a couple carrot sticks to eat and when his son had polished off his plate and his juice box he leaned back against Jeff's chest. Jeff at his own lunch, scolding Alan when his youngest tried to bite Scott after his eldest had ruffled his hair. However the admonishment fell on deaf ears as Alan snuggled into his dad's arms and drifted off to sleep. It was obvious that Alan's internal clock had detected Alan's need for a nap and made the boy fall asleep whether he wanted to or not. Settling his little boy comfortably in his lap, so Alan sat astride, his face resting against Jeff's chest. He told his boys they could go play, before settling back against the tree. He started reading a book he'd brought and he relaxed in the gentle breeze of the month of May. He glanced up occasionally at his boys to make sure they were still playing, but he however hadn't seen them lay on the grass – a large looming figure threatening them before he was in a world of pain.

Jeff clutched at the back of his head when he felt something hard strike him. Shaking his head slightly, Jeff took notice that the weight of his son was no longer in his lap and when he looked up he saw a man in a tailored suit holding a handgun up to his boy's temple. He began to crawl forward, begging his son be let go – halting when the man said he'd blow his boy's brains out if he came any closer. It had been a catch 22. If Jeff stopped, what would this man do? Hurt his other sons? Shoot Jeff and take his boys? Let his boys go after killing Jeff? Demanding money as ransom?

It wasn't until the words left Jeff's mouth that he'd realized he'd spoken.

"Please, I'll give you whatever you want. Just please let my son go, he's just a little boy." Jeff looked at his son, tears and fear in his eyes as he looked at his boy who was still sleeping despite being jostled. His boy was a hard sleeper, often needing to be woken more than three times before actually climbing out of bed and dressing and even then he'd be in a daze as his mind cleared of the fog from sleep.

Then man said no more before he turned and ran, taking Alan with him. Jeff heedless of the threat the man gave of killing his precious baby gave chase. He ran after the man, intent on recovering his son. He was barely aware of hearing the cries of help coming from one of his boys. As he reached the curb, the car that Alan and the man were in peeled away, leaving skid marks on the bitumen. Jeff doubled over, breathing hard, his head throbbing from the strike to the back of the head before grabbing his cell phone and dialing the one number he'd drilled into his boy's heads should they ever need help.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"I need to report my son's abduction!"

… … … … … … …

Jeff could never forget the precious minutes immediately following that phone call that was every parent's fear. Police stormed the park when Jeff gave his location, crowds gathering when the park was tied off with crime scene tape. Police scoured the park, taking molds of foot prints found in the mud where Jeff had chased his son's abductor. Questioning the boys about what they knew leading up to their brother's abduction and any witnesses that had seen everything play out. Turns out an old man at the park had seen the man hit Jeff and had gone to the pay phone to call 911 to report the attack.

When the man had been questioned, he described the man to a T. Tan skin, slicked back, almost black hair, brown eyes, slim nose, standard body type for a man of middle age. When questioned about what he himself had been in the park doing, he'd held up a bag of bread crumbs, he'd been feeding the pigeons when the man had taken a seat beside him on the bench. He'd noticed the man staring at the group of boys playing on the playground equipment but originally thought he was just people watching. That was a hobby for some people.

Police took finger print dustings from the bench, checking cameras aimed into the park and after days of checking, they finally found a lead. It'd been a clear image of the man's face, and a clear image of the license plate on the car that the man had driven. Checking the finger prints in the system, they got a hit. The man was Emilio Rizzoli, a known human trafficker that specialized in the abduction of children. He was wanted in many states for the abduction of at least two dozen children, but was always gone with the wind when the feds tried to catch him.

Weeks turned into months before turning to years. Jeff gave up hope gradually, having lost all hope that his little boy would be recovered. That's where it brought him now. Standing in his little boy's closet, trying to find an article of clothing to lie in the casket that was planned to bury Alan. There wasn't a body, just a picture. Digging through the clothes, Jeff selected a set of Gordon's hand me down's instead. The clothes that Alan would have worn at five were much too small. Alan would be seven, he'd have fit into Gordon's hand me downs.

Going to the funeral home, the mortician allowed Jeff to lay the clothes and picture in the casket. The casket was built to size for a child and soon people flooded the funeral home, saying their goodbye's to the picture of the boy everyone assumed to be dead. A few of his sons friends stood by, staying close for their friend's sakes as they watched them say goodbye to their brother's picture. After the funeral, the boys who insisted on being their brother's pallbearer took the casket outside. The casket wasn't light by any means but it wasn't as heavy as it should have been.

Standing by his little boy's grave, Jeff sighed with a heavy heart as the casket was lowered into the ground, the preacher saying his ashes to ashes, dust to dust spiel, before the family dropped handfuls of dirt on top of the casket, on top of the roses and delphiniums, and carnations that had been laid on the casket lid. As the crowds dispersed, and his boys went off with their friends to calm themselves, Jeff couldn't leave the graveside. He stood there, gazing at the firmly packed dirt. A plaque which had been laid at the head of the grave, held a photo of Alan that the police had aged up. It looked like Alan, his hair fluffing over his blond eyebrows, blue eyes sparkling beneath the fringe. What really stole Jeff's breath though was Alan's smile. It was identical to Lucy's and suddenly it felt like the weight of the world was crashing down on Jeff.

He didn't care that he was wearing $1000 business suit, nor did he care that camera crews filmed from the streets. He dropped to his knees on top of the moist Earth, bowed his head and cried. His shoulders heaved as he begged for Alan's and Lucy's forgiveness; for his failure to protect Alan, to save Lucy. He failed as a father when it came to caring for his boys and Jeff hated himself for it.

Why had God taken his beloved Lucy and why had God allowed Alan to be taken? Couldn't God see that Jeff was suffering from the loss of his one true love? Couldn't he see that Jeff couldn't take any more heartbreak? He pounded his fist in anger at God. The God he'd heard about was a fraud, what kind of God issued heartbreak after heartbreak to a man that already lost his whole world during that avalanche? Was he being punished? What had he done in a past life that warranted he be tortured with the death of his beloved wife and the abduction of his son?

"I'm sorry Alan. I'm sorry Lucy! Please forgive me for failing you." Jeff cried, hearing the splash of his tears hitting the plaque below. When he opened his eyes, he looked at his precious baby, smiling back at him. It felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest and it didn't even occur to him how long he'd stayed by his son's grave until Pattie, Gordon's best friend's mother and her husband came over and helped pick Jeff up from the ground. They both held onto Jeff, not caring that the man was listless, dead weight. Pattie had driven Jeff's car home, Jeff in the passenger seat. Pattie's husband had the boys and was going to take them to their house to stay while Jeff got a hold of himself.

After escorting him into the house, Pattie had gotten Jeff comfortable in his bedroom, a shot glass of whisky to warm the man up because he was so cold. She stayed the night, but slept in the guest room, not wanting Jeff to be alone when he was so obviously lost in his grief. His seventeen year old son had called from Pattie's house about midnight, wanting to know how his father was doing. Pattie reassured him and after she hung up, she went to go check on Jeff and had to wrangle a gun from the man's hand. He was so overcome with grief that he'd wanted to punish himself with a bullet to the head.

Pattie had slapped Jeff hard across the face, tears streaming down her face that he'd even go so far as to commit suicide when he had four other boys he needed to be thinking about. Jeff had crumbled and sobbed out his grief, saying he wished he could die so he could see his baby boy again, see his wife again. Pattie stayed with him, not trusting him to not try again. She lay on the bed with him, held him in her arms and let him just cry. He sobbed throughout the night and then a little into the morning before he seemed to stop crying altogether. When his boys came home, it was to a man that was sober, and strict. He didn't wish for any of his boys to be alone when leaving the house. He'd announced a few weeks later his plans to move to an island he'd purchased and not long after revealed his plans to begin International Rescue.

… … … … … … …

Years passed by, Jeff busied himself with work to keep from thinking about Alan. Twice a year he'd allow himself the opportunity to wallow in his grief; he'd lie in bed, in a dark room for a few hours and just cradle that blasted pug puppy that Alan had been upset about being able to win at Chuck E. Cheese. It wasn't until he'd hired Hiram 'Brains' Hackenbacker to help him with building International rescue that he'd seemingly come out of his stupor. Brains had a little boy about Alan's age and Jeff had busied himself with helping Brains raise Fermat. The man needed a hand with raising his son after his own wife had died after an explosion in the cancer research lab she worked at.

Brains had talked about Fermat going away to school, to benefit his learning and supplement the stuff Brains couldn't teach him. Jeff paid for Fermat's tuition as a bonus to his help with building International Rescue. However what he'd least expected to have happen was for Brains to be called away to act as a substitute guest speaker at a science seminar. Brains had asked Jeff to pick up Fermat from school for him and Jeff honestly would have, but he got tied up on a conference call. Calling John to the office, he asked his second eldest to take the family jet and fly to Massachusetts to retrieve Fermat from school. John went gladly, he'd been trying not to kill his brothers that had been annoying him to no end.

However when John and Fermat had returned, Jeff had been expecting a status report on how the flight had gone and never got one. John had locked himself in his bedroom and hadn't come out for what seemed like days. When Jeff went to check on John, he had been shocked to discover that John had been busying himself with research. He was working like a mad man, scanner busily scanning photos. Jeff had stood behind John for several minutes until John had turned around teary eyed and smiling.

"I think I found our Alan."

Those words had not been what Jeff had been expecting and he just about fainted. Sitting on John's bed, Jeff looked at the programs John loaded. Looking at the pictures as they'd been age progressed. The little boy from the rec center 'Alan' as John kept calling him looked like his little boy's identical twin, right down to the little scar which remained on Alan's forehead and shearing off a section of Alan's eyebrow from the avalanche. This little boy in the picture with John and Fermat looked identical to his little boy, right down to the smile he shared with his mother and John.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up son. What if he isn't ours?" Jeff had asked, pleading with his son to let go like he had years ago. Alan was dead, he was never coming back. That man Rizzoli probably sold Alan to a slave trader in the Middle East or sweat shop in Mexico or Asia and his boy was probably dead. Jeff had given up after the funeral.

"Then he isn't ours, but I believe it is him. He gave me a drawing dad, the boys in the drawing are us when we were younger. How would this Alan have known to draw people that looked like us unless he was our Alan?" John had pleaded back. When Jeff had relented, it was with a grimace as John hugged his father. "I know this is our Alan dad. It's just too many pieces are falling into place for him not to be ours."

"I don't want to tell your brothers this might be your brother. Not until we're sure. Okay? I don't want them to get excited only to have this blow up in our faces." Jeff said, hoping his other boys could be kept protected. Scott, Virgil and Gordon would be kept blissfully ignorant to this other Alan's existence until they were certain that Alan was theirs.

"I understand dad. They won't know, I mean I'd love their help, but I don't want to be responsible for their heartbreak if this is nothing." John said, careful of his volume. Scott's bedroom was right next to John's and his brother had the hearing of a wolf.

… … … … … … …

It wasn't until Jeff was told of the plans that he was aware and actually a bit jealous of the time John would be able to spend with this other Alan. Alan and John talked occasionally on the phone, usually only for five minutes to avoid suspicion. Jeff wished he could be included in those phone calls, but knew he couldn't unless they wanted their cover blown. Jeff had secretly helped John pack his bag for the camping trip, excusing himself from the office with the excuse of heading to the restroom, before actually going to John's bedroom when he knew his son was in there and Jeff helped John fit various items in his duffle bag that he was taking. They talked about how excited John was to be going, what Alan was like and the hope that this Alan was their Alan. If he was, Jeff wasn't going to waste time with the system, he wanted his son back immediately if this boy was his.

Seeing his sons off, Jeff couldn't help but wish he was the one taking John to the mainland instead of Scott. He waited anxiously for John to call after reaching land and he would swear that he heard the boy's voice. It sounded excited and he almost wanted to ask John to hand the phone to Alan so he could say hi, but not even Alan was aware of the testing being done on his blood to check his paternity.

When Scott returned, he came in with a smile, talking about how adorable the little boy Alan was. How shy he was and there was a fond smile on his son's face. Jeff decided that when the camping trip was finished, he not Scott was going to go pick up John because he was determined to meet Alan before the test results were revealed. Scott kept talking about the boy to his brothers and how the boy hugged him, how cute he was and it was with sadness that Jeff realized how much Scott missed his baby brother. It was clear to Jeff that Scott was wondering if Alan would have been like this boy. Shy and bashful, fluffy blond hair hanging in his face, sea blue eyes shining back from beneath the fringe as well as the smile.

Jeff checked the weather in the area where John said he was going to be and found it was raining. He frowned; the kids wouldn't be doing much in the way of camping with it pouring down rain for the next few days. However he just focused on the work he had for International Rescue as well as Tracy Enterprises. It was a surprise when a few days into the church camping trip his son was chaperoning for when the International Rescue klaxon went off, drawing each of the boys to Jeff's office which automatically began changing to Command Central. Brains who was working in his lab had the radio system hard wired into his computer and he was the one who activated the alarm.

"What's going on Brains?" Jeff asked as he listened to Brains tapping what sounded like a pen nervously on a table.

"There's b-been a uh landslide. A g-group camping in t-the uh area are reporting injuries a-and dislocation from m-members of their group." Brains replied as he continually tapped his pen. To be honest it was getting on Jeff's nerves. That's when Scott spoke up.

"Where is the group located?"

"They r-reported staying in the uh c-cabins of Mt. Everett; a-according to search & r-rescue the g-group that was displaced w-was a church g-group."

Jeff remained silent until he practically felt the tension in the room increase. Looking at Scott when he stiffened, he knew something was amiss.

"That's the group John's with. Remember, he is chaperoning for Pastor Woods? They told me before I left that they'd be staying at Mt. Everett." Scott's eyes were large and looked troubled, so it was no surprise when Jeff ordered someone to contact John's watch for a status report and got a chilling reply back. Jeff dispatched his sons, telling Gordon to stay with Kyrano before he himself got suited up and piloting Thunderbird Two while Scott had One. They flew as fast as they safely could and when they arrived, night had fallen over the area.

Jeff and Virgil joined Scott on the ground and Jeff couldn't help but to give a shiver. While it was still slightly warm outside, with the recent rain the temperature sat at a decent 50 degrees. It was probably unbelievably cold to the people that were caught in the landslide, after being coated from head to toe in mud. Scott walked over with the approximate location of the landslide victims, which Scott quietly confirmed that John was definitely injured according to the pastor's words.

… … … … … … …

Jeff aimed the spotlight below Thunderbird Two directly over the location of the landslide and couldn't help but wonder how the kids and John were able to survive. It wasn't some small landslide, it was half the hillside. Jeff lowered the rescue basket after seeing Scott rappel down the ruined hillside to the inured. Jeff set the beautiful craft to hover before going to help Virgil with bringing in the injured. They needed to move as quick as they could, because the risk of the landslide slipping again was still there and Jeff didn't want anybody to be further injured or worse, killed.

Jeff stepped into the basket when he brought it back up and helped Virgil with bringing the inured boy in. The boy was caked with mud, Jeff didn't know who he was. Virgil began assessing the boy's injuries while Jeff went back down to help Scott load up one of the other victims and when he returned it was to a sniveling and crying child whom Virgil was trying to calm. Jeff and Scott made the remaining two trips down to retrieve the last two victims before Jeff used the panel in the triage area to navigate the craft back up to the location of rendezvous to drop off Scott with Thunderbird One.

It tore at Jeff's heart at hearing Alan's heartbreak. The boy didn't wish to be alive anymore and Jeff couldn't help but to wonder what kind of life the boy had to be so miserable that he wouldn't want to live. Jeff wanted to address John and make him lie back down when he sat up, but he refrained from doing so. He didn't want any of the three kids to know John's connection with International Rescue, yet if at all. John sharply admonished Alan tearfully for wishing he could die and Jeff commended John. A child so young shouldn't want to die.

After Scott was dropped off with Thunderbird one, the green mammoth took flight to transfer the injured to the hospital. After the rescue, Jeff and Virgil returned to the island to house Thunderbird two and waited patiently for Scott to return. When the eldest returned and showered, Jeff gathered Virgil, Gordon and Scott and ushered them into the family jet. They flew back to the mainland, pushing the jet to its fastest and when they arrived they hurried to the hospital to find out how John was doing. When they were directed to his room, they entered and saw a still muddy face John sitting in a hospital bed, literally chomping at the bit to find out how Alan was. Jeff was later informed by John after John requested a moment alone with their dad that the boy they took first had been Alan. Jeff frowned after hearing from John that it was Alan who had been wishing he'd died in the landslide instead of being rescued. Jeff wanted to find Alan and give him the biggest hug, telling him that though he didn't have a family of his own, he was still loved and that love would never go away. But he didn't want Alan to be freaked out by some strange guy telling him what John should be telling him.

It came as a surprise when there was a subtle knock on the door, just as tensions were beginning to rise a few hours after the rescue. Gordon opened the door to tell whoever it was to go away and when he called Jeff, the Tracy patriarch got to meet firsthand the man that had been raising Alan for the past few months. Jeff exchanged pleasantries with him before inviting him in when he asked for John.

Jeff permitted John to go with the pastor when the older man said Alan was asking for him. After John and Pastor Woods had gone, Jeff excused himself to wander the hospital. He couldn't just idle. He had to do something, even if it was pacing. He stayed gone for about an hour, before being drawn upstairs to the pediatrics floor. Wandering the floors of the hospital, Jeff stopped outside of a room that had the door opened along with an open curtain. Peering into the room, he could see a woman dressed in mud covered clothes sitting on the side of the bed, wiping what appeared to be a wet clothe down the child's face before it occurred to him that this boy he was looking at was Alan. Jeff knocked timidly, making the woman look up. She didn't look alarmed at all, in fact she smiled at Jeff before she spoke.

"You must be John's father."

Jeff paused before the woman chuckled. She stood up and moved to shake Jeff's hand before explaining.

"John has shown my husband and I a picture of you. You are the one that John is testing paternity of my foster son Alan for, am I right?"

Jeff nodded, disbelieving that this woman knew. She explained to Jeff how John had told all of them his intentions to have Alan tested to see if he was his long lost baby brother. Jeff looked back at Alan, before speaking.

"This…this might be my son?" Jeff asked when Ms. Woods gestured with her head to come closer to the unconscious child.

"Wrong." Ms. Woods said, making Jeff pause to look at her. "He IS your son."

Jeff was speechless, flabbergasted. Words couldn't accurately describe his feelings. All he knew was that this boy, this child was his. Like actually his. Six years and two weeks since Alan was kidnapped and here he was. Not okay, but alive. Jeff couldn't believe it and he honestly hadn't been expecting for the wall to break and him to begin crying, weeping for joy that he finally after all these years knew his son was alive. Ms. Woods hugged him, shushing him in a way that nobody but Pattie had done after Alan's funeral so many years ago.

For the next few days, whenever Alan was asleep, Jeff would visit him for a few minutes; never when he was awake mainly because nobody had told him the truth yet about John being Alan's real brother. They were keeping it secret until they thought Alan could handle it. The day before John was discharged; John and Pastor Woods dropped the bomb on Alan. The boy was consoled by Ms. Woods, John and Pastor Woods as Jeff watched from the hallway, hidden from view. He could hear Alan's sobs and it tore at his heartstrings.

… … … … … … …

A month later, Jeff and Pastor Woods talked when the boys were on a rescue. Pastor Woods told Jeff the process was done; Alan was no longer a foster child and had officially become Jeff's son again. It was agreed that Alan would stay a few more nights, even though all Jeff wanted was to go get Alan himself. Hold him close and never let go. He sat in his office after the call from the Pastor ended and cried his joy. Kyrano seemed to sense Jeff's emotional breakdown and he came to see if there was anything Jeff needed before making sure to keep the office guarded from people that wanted entrance.

On the day that Alan was to return, Jeff could barely contain his tears. He bid John a farewell, begging him to bring his boy back home before returning to his office. He'd told himself he was going to do some work, but that plan failed miserably. Jeff wound up staring at the clock every few minutes in hopes that John would call to say he was returning. When he finally got the call, John sounded as though he himself was crying or had been anyway. Jeff waited eagerly for that call from John, saying he was landing back on the island even though he'd only just landed in the mainland. Jeff paced, and was barely able to stay still when Scott entered his office.

Jeff went for a walk through the villa and stopped at Alan's bedroom door. Opening the door, Jeff slid in before closing the door and locking it. He turned on the lights and looked around. The room had been set up little bit by little bit. John and Jeff had decorated the room to look like it was welcoming a child rather than a guest. However it felt cold, lifeless. It didn't have the warmth and happiness of a child in it to make it warm and he found that once more he couldn't quit pacing. He wondered if this was what Lucy felt like when she'd begun nesting while pregnant with each of their boys. He arranged and rearranged everything, took stuff out of cupboards before putting them back and in general just tidying the room up. Checking the time, Jeff felt his heart nearly stop. It was almost time.

He left Alan's room and made his way to the unloading area for the family jet. Just as he entered the room, he was stopped stone cold by the sight of something he hadn't seen in years. A little blonde boy on crutches his leg in a cast and cutoff jean shorts ending below his knees slightly. The boy caught his eye and he caught the boy's eyes. They stopped, almost frozen in time before Jeff spoke.

"Alan?"

It came out a breathless whisper and he felt his heart swell with love at the sight of his little boy.

"Daddy?" Alan asked softly.

Suddenly as if opposite magnets attracted by force to each other, they ran to the other their speed not seemingly fast enough for them with a shout to the other. Alan ran as best as he could on crutches and when he reached Jeff he dropped them with a loud clatter and fell into Jeff's arms. Tears flowed down Jeff's face as he clutched and held tightly to his little boy.

"My boy, my baby boy." Jeff said as he hugged Alan tightly, afraid Alan would disappear if he let go. "I missed you so much. I love you. I'm so sorry son! I love you. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Lifting his head to look at John, he smiled his thanks and mouthed the words to his son before kissing Alan on the forehead and hugging him tightly once more. He was complete once more.