HEAD IN THE STARS
A Thunderbird fic by Ro-RoWeasley
. . .
[Dedicated to Jo (anglojem) who requested a John story. Thanks also to SimplyBel and JoTracy123 for reviewing my first TB fic 'Shattered' - I'm open to any and all requests! I wanted to add some more depth to this scene as for me it was just way too short!]
Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds. Some dialogue has been borrowed from the movie to set the scene, so anything you recognise is not mine.
Twenty-two thousand miles above the Earth in fixed geostationary orbit above the Pacific Ocean, John Glenn Tracy sat studying a computer screen. It was a satellite image of eastern Indonesia, or what would have been eastern Indonesia if it weren't for the white spiralling mass of cloud that covered it: Typhoon Jago. Forming in the small expanse of warm sea between Kalimantan and Malaysia, the calculated path of the tropical storm put it on a direct course with Singapore. John had been monitoring it for the past day and a half, but there was at least another seventeen hours before it hit land; no need for International Rescue just yet.
On the screen to the right were several images of a forest fire, obtained from news channels and CCTV networks. After a heavy thunderstorm, power lines had been ruptured and brought down on the outskirts of Vladivostok, sparking a fire in the woodlands. But monitoring the transmissions, John hadn't picked up any calls for help, and the images showed no populated areas were in danger. The Thunderbirds had actually been in Russia earlier that day, saving workers on a blazing oilrig out to sea.
Leaning back in his chair he spared a look at the time, well Tracy Island time, to find it was late evening. Being up in space it sometimes felt like time was pretty much non-existent, if it weren't for his body clock announcing when it was time to head to bed or his stomach announcing it was time for a snack.
As if on cue his midriff growled and he headed into the kitchen to grab a snack bar. Not half as good as Onaha's cooking, he thought. Coming back into the room and glancing over some notes for his latest textbook, the platinum blonde decided to call home.
"Thunderbird Five to Tracy Island, come in, Dad."
There was a slight pause before his dad's face appeared on the screen on the panel above him and the astronaut immediately took notice of his expression, a mixture of fury and sadness. Nevertheless, the Tracy patriarch grinned as he answered the call.
"Hey John, I'm just about to turn in. What can I do for you?"
Waving the meal bar pointedly at the screen, John chuckled before replying in a softly sarcastic tone. "I could sure use a pizza. Know a place that delivers?"
"Thirty minutes or it's free right?" Jeff joked back. "Anything else on your mind?"
Taking a brief glance at the screen, the space monitor updated his father on what he'd been keeping an eye on. "What's happening on Planet Tracy?"
Seeing as his mood had stayed the same so far, the second eldest Tracy son was determined to find out what had his father so weary. He looked tired and his eyes were sad, meaning he'd more than likely had a fallout with one of his younger sons. One mental check of the date revealed which son that was likely to be.
"Alan's home for Spring Break."
John couldn't help but smirk. "Yea, I thought I could see a storm brewing in your region."
Alan and Jeff had been falling out for years; the youngster wasn't good at handling being left behind, especially over the last two years. He'd been locked up in boarding school for months at a time, knowing his brothers were part of the world-famous rescue organisation but longing to take part - and he still had another few years to go. As much as he felt bad for the sprout, for now it was for his own good he just didn't see it. He was only fourteen; Alan deserved the chance at an education that he and Scott, Virgil and Gordon had all been given before joining IR.
"Teenagers," Jeff sighed.
"Well we've all been there," John reassured him. "And dad you've done a great job since mom died."
"Thanks John." The space monitor smiled as he saw the tension leave his father. "Keep an eye out on that Typhoon for us, I'll call Vladivostok and see if they need any help with that fire."
"FAB dad, sleep tight." He pressed a switch on the panel that brought up a thermal reading of the Typhoon, allowing him to see its dimensions clearer and programming the screen to alert him if anything changed.
Leaning back and letting out a breath he spun from side to side absently.
He'd meant what he'd said to his father about him doing a great job raising him and his brothers, though the first couple of years after the avalanche had been difficult to say the least.
The year mom died, twelve years ago, he'd been just twelve years old. Scott had turned fourteen the day after the avalanche; Virgil had been ten, Gordon eight and Alan just three years old. Thinking back, John had to admit his father hadn't done the best job immediately in the aftermath.
Rather than being there for his sons, making sure they dealt with their grief and managed to hold it together, he'd been unable to handle his own grief and so had shut himself up in his study whenever he was home. He'd throw himself into any work he could, anything to stop him concentrating on the death of his wife. Later he would say it was to make sure he got the business deals that had put Tracy Enterprises on the world business map, giving him the money to be able to give John and his brothers the luxury lifestyle they now led, and turn International Rescue from a dream into a reality.
Unfortunately, back then in Kansas it had meant Scott had had to dutifully step in and take charge of his brothers. Back then it had been Scott who had made sure his younger brothers made it out to three different schools on time, Scott who had tucked them into bed at night and comforted them when they had nightmares, Scott who had prepared tea every night. John as the second eldest and the closest to Scott had done his best to help, taking some of the pressure off his older brother - simple things like the washing and ironing.
But it hadn't been easy; the family had begun to fall apart.
Scott would shout at their father when things got too much, while John had retreated to his bedroom far too often than he should to lose himself in a book or to study the skies through his telescope. Virgil had thrown himself into his art and music, his compositions showing emotions no eleven year old should ever have to feel. Gordon had even gotten into fights at school which more often than not led him to be suspended (both from school and his swimming activities), not that their dad knew, it was Scott who'd given that punishment. Poor Alan had been too young to understand what was going on, but that didn't mean he didn't pick up on his four older brothers' mood changes. He would get upset when no one would play with him, or when Scott wouldn't let the toddler disturb his father.
It had taken Scott's teacher demanding to see their father about Scott's sudden academic decline, over a year after mom had died, that seemed to snap Jeff Tracy out of his own world. Scott had been just a few years away from graduating high school, and having before shown ability which would certainly gain him a place at Yale or Harvard, she'd needed a word to ensure nothing at home came between Scott and his future.
Jeff had been shocked to learn Scott had been skipping classes and failing to do him homework on multiple occasions, heading in a complete dive that was near impossible to pull out of. That had resulted in a massive argument where Scott had poured his heart out to his father about the responsibilitythat had been solely placed on him without any give from his father. He hadn't wanted to skip classes but it had meant he'd been able to pick Gordon and Alan up from primary and kindergarten. Scott had always refused to let John or Virgil help him with that, not wanting any of them to suffer too just because their dad couldn't be there for the two youngest.
It had caused a huge rift in the family for a while before father and son worked out their differences and eventually Scott forgave him. It took a year or two for Scott to adjust to not smothering his brothers all the time but when he finally left for Yale and the Air Force he found some well-deserved freedom.
John himself had always been the wisest and most studious of the Tracy boys. He was more than content with his own company which had proved invaluable when deciding on who would pilot which Thunderbird; of course it was also down to the fact that he was a qualified NASA astronaut too…
Despite the rather rough years following mom's death, all of them had followed some part of their parents' achievements. Like their father, Scott and Gordon had joined the military and John had joined NASA, while like their mother Virgil had found a passion for art and music. And in memory of their mother they had all joined International Rescue, founded by none other than their father.
John greatly admired his father for turning the disaster of the Valais avalanche into something so globally praised as International Rescue. And he knew just how his father felt. He'd seen the pride and satisfaction and hope in his eyes whenever he'd been down on Earth and they'd had a mission. Jeff Tracy was being given peace knowing what they were doing to help the world was being done in memory of his late wife. Despite everything that had gone wrong for them in the past, John couldn't fault his father for that.
Wanting to maintain the strong connection to his family he was currently feeling, the space monitor put out another call.
"Thunderbird Five calling Scott Tracy."
The vidphone was unsurprisingly answered immediately. "Hey starman, what's up?"
"Just thinking," He said coolly, before he caught the same weary look on his brother's face he'd seen earlier on his father. "You okay?"
"Dad tell you about Alan?" The oldest Tracy son rubbed a hand over his face.
"No but it was obvious by the look on his face." John sighed before adding lightly, "That, and I do keep track of the dates up here Scotty. I knew for a fact before I called dad that today was the last day of school and the start of Spring Break." Scott held his hands up in mock surrender, a knowing smirk plastered to his face.
When John had begun his first ever rotation up on Five his brothers had teased him for losing track of the days, and now it was a common joke between the boys. But John had never been offended, having himself seen the funny side of it all. The astronaut had been completely lost in the awe and majesty of being out amongst the constellations and galaxies he'd studied so deeply for years, all minor things in life such as the date had inevitably slipped his mind. Although he had made sure never to subject himself to that humiliation ever again!
Scott was on the same thought trail as him as he said "We called you every day for a while after that just to test you. Gordon was beside himself thinking you'd miss his birthday!"
"Never." John grinned and Scott laughed before growing serious again.
"Seriously though Johnny, I don't know what to do." This was something about his and Scott's bond that John treasured. In front of the younger three he was constantly bottling things up behind his tough big brother act, but with John, Scott would often pour his fears out and willingly admit his weaknesses. It had been like that since their mother died, Scott needing someone to vent his emotions out to without losing the way his younger brothers looked up to and relied on him. John would admit any day and had done multiple times to his brother that freely expressing feelings and emotions didn't make someone weak, it showed they were human.
Scott continued, more subdued. "The sprout skipped dinner after we were discussing the rig rescue. But instead of heading to his room or out for a run he went down to the silos, broke into Thunderbird One and fired her up! Can you believe-?"
Wait, what? Dad hadn't mentioned that!
John cut his brother off. "Thunderbird One? Was this earlier?" he asked calmly, his tone incredulous.
"You didn't know?" Scott asked, startled. "Wow I thought Gords would have beaten me too it, wanting to dish the dirt, or dad."
"I may be the communications guy up here, but I'm sure not a long distance mind reader. I guessed they'd fallen out, but I haven't heard from any of you since the rescue earlier."
"Allie didn't exactly break-in. That's possibly got me even more worried - he knew the access code. Fermat admitted it when dad asked him for the full story after sending Alan to his room after grounding him."
"Well that explains why dad was on edge I guess. I called him earlier and he didn't look good. I am going to have to come down there and sort them out?" It was supposed to be a joke, but there was some meaning in that, John was due down on the island for a break pretty soon.
"Hey that's my job; you keep your ears on the rest of the world Johnny. So what's got your head in the stars today so to speak? You called me first remember."
"Thinking about what happened after mom died," John admitted. "I told dad earlier that he'd done a great job raising us which goes without saying a lot of the time as look at everything we've all achieved. But today it needed saying after his fallout with Alan, he needed the reassurance. Then after I signed off I was cast back to when he didn't do such a good job, right after it happened." He trailed off, unable to look Scott in the eye.
"Don't feel guilty Johnny. You know as well as I do how bad it was for us back then. But we managed, that's the most important thing to take away from that. We managed to keep the family together and look at us all now. Dad really took it to heart and the world has International Rescue at its feet."
John smiled. "That was the other half of what I was thinking. I'm proud of what he's done since, I meant what I said."
"We all are, Alan just needs to understand that I guess."
"Yeah. Thanks Scott."
"Anytime little brother. See you dirtside real soon."
"Sleep tight."
As the link cut off John took a deep breath and smiled slightly. Scott could always make him feel better, no matter how small or silly the problem was.
He was interrupted from thinking further when the vidphone beeped. John grinned widely; it seemed he would be speaking to every family member today.
"Hey Fish," He greeted. His second youngest brother was standing a little way back from the screen, running a towel through his hair having just come up from the pool.
"Johnny, Alan is in so much trouble!" the prankster laughed.
"So I've heard." He smirked, enjoying the crestfallen expression on his brother's face a little too much. He wouldn't be happy Scott had beaten him to it.
"Aww what?! Did dad tell you or something?" he pouted.
"Or something. But hey, seems you had more pressing matters to deal with rather than being the tell-tale."
"Yeah well I missed my morning laps as we got called to Russia. After dinner – which Alan left after we'd barely sat down - I was helping Virg with Two when the security breach alarms went off – she developed a minor fault in the navigation from the storm. Man, Scott was livid it was his 'Bird. I was gonna call but-"
"You just couldn't resist taking a dunk in the pool," John chuckled. "I swear Gords, you have a bigger emotional attachment to it than is considered healthy."
The redhead merely shrugged. "What can I say, I gotta escape the madhouse somehow. You have no idea how much I envy you sometimes."
"Well you're more than welcome to join me up here."
Gordon shook his head vigorously. "Ha no thanks. I only take a rotation when everybody else is sick remember. I love piloting Three but I definitely prefer water and my beautiful Four, hence why I'm the fish and you're the spaceman – I don't belong in outer space!"
"Whatever you say kiddo," the second eldest smiled.
"I think I'm go find Alan and cheer him up a bit. I've missed him, it's never quite as fun pulling pranks by myself."
John laughed at that. "Why am I surprised Gordon Cooper Tracy? Scott's not been up to his mother-henning tonight so why not lighten the mood and go for him?" he said with a sly smile. Gordon caught on instantly.
"It was him who told you about Alan and One wasn't it! Dammit, okay Smother Hen is really getting it today!" There was the mischievous look on the aquanaut's face, which immediately made John think he was going to regret sending Gordon after Scott later.
"But it wasn't my idea Gords," John called after him.
"Who'd believe it was your idea anyway Johnny-boy, when have you ever gotten into trouble?" Gordon answered innocently with a grin.
"That's another story for another time, bro." He replied, teasingly tapping the side of his nose for emphasis.
"You do know I'll get it out of ya, right?"
"Alright whatever, now scat before someone discovers your scheming!"
Gordon mock saluted as he began to walk out of his bedroom. "Later 'gator."
As he terminated the link John kept chuckling to himself. Gordon was the comic relief of the family, always cheery – and annoyingly so at times. His pranks had become very creative over time, meaning every one of the Tracy's had learnt to keep their wits about them when wandering around the house. Barely out of his teens, Gordon still hadn't grown up. Not that that was a bad thing, John knew for a fact that if it wasn't Scott being the comforter after a bad rescue then it would be Gordon. Looking out for his siblings in the only true way he knew how – by making them laugh.
John made a mental note to call Gordon back the following day to check on how it had gone, even though the redhead would most likely contact him later while the whole plan was still in motion. Thinking he'd call Virgil next, his immediate younger brother beat him to it as the vidphone beeped again.
"Hey Johnny," Virgil yawned. There was some classical music playing in the background.
"Hey Virg, how's things?"
The artist groaned in response. "Well my back aches after tearing Two apart for an hour – the lightning in that storm short circuited a few wires, took me ages to locate them. That was after dinner, which in itself was horrible. I guess we were still high on adrenaline from the rescue we didn't really pay much attention to the sprout. All he was trying to do was be helpful, testing his own knowledge. Scott was blathering about the wind speed and we all ended up teasing Alan about school and how he's not capable of handling the 'Birds after blowing up the chemistry lab at his old boarding school. I'm not surprised he hijacked One. Dad threw a fit though, I might slip him a sedative before he heads to bed, clear his head a little."
Trust Virgil to bring up the medical side of things. "Virg, dad'll be fine. By tomorrow it'll all have blown over and things will be normal."
"Hmm I'm not so sure John, we know how much Alan hates being sent away from the action all the time, and having dad bawl him out on the very first day back sure doesn't bode well."
"Well you just make sure you secure Two under lock and key just to be safe." John laughed when Virgil's eyes widened in horror.
"He wouldn't dare. I only let dad fly her today because of the stormy weather," the medic pouted.
"Not because he's the figure of authority to be obeyed without question? Shame on you Virgil Tracy!"
Virgil just smirked back at him. "All that space up there is sending you crazy big brother, I swear. Next time you're down here, you're getting a full medical."
John held his hands up. "Fine, I'll stop. You look exhausted kiddo, why don't you do light's out," He suggested, as Virgil yawned again. Out of all the Tracy brothers, Virgil was always the first to crash after a rescue, his medically trained brain knowing exactly when it was time to rest.
"Yeah, I have a busy day tomorrow too. I have my latest landscape to finish and my newest music composition to begin, I hope we have nice weather tomorrow."
"You be sure to show me when they're done. Oh and watch out for Gordon," John warned, earning a confused look from his brother. "Don't ask."
"I'll be sure to watch my back, maybe lock myself in the studio for the day? Now that's tempting. But for now, my bed is calling. Night John."
"Night Virg, sleep tight."
As Virgil signed off, John considered the evening's conversations. Every one of them - his father, Scott, Gordon and Virgil had all expressed their concerns for Alan. From the times he'd been able to catch the teen during breaks at school, John had learned (or more inferred) how he was feeling: isolated, lonely, and unwanted. But he hadn't mentioned it to any of the others, as he knew exactly what would happen. They'd all go mother-hen-crazy on Alan and try and get him to tell them the problems. Alan might seem the attention-seeker at times, but John knew Alan didn't want everyone converging on him all at once. Things needed to be approached slowly and gradually and John was hopeful something could be done to better their relationship with Alan (all of them, including John himself) over the course of Spring Break.
But John was adamant about what he'd said to Scott. If need be, he'd sort the family out himself when he was back on the island. He hated to see the family like this, they should have been the tight-knit team that were behind International Rescue. But as tight-knit as they might be in the field, things were far from tight-knit at home, where Alan was concerned.
With another deep breath and a final scan of communications, John decided to turn in himself. A few minutes later as he settled down in his bunk, his mind beginning to form dreams of family memories as he eventually drifted off.
He may have had his head up here in the stars, but he knew his heart was down on the island with his family. He couldn't wait for the next time he would see them, as he had a few conversations to have with all of them, particularly concerning the youngest Tracy.
[A/N: The Valais avalanche I've mentioned is an actual event which occurred in Switzerland in March 2011, four people died and nine were pulled out alive - it seemed to fit quite snug within the movieverse so I've used it as the one which killed Lucy Tracy.]