Gordon opened his eyes. Slowly, because they hurt. His vision was fuzzy but with a little concentration he was able to focus on objects that were closer. Wherever he was, it was bright. Like, white light bright. For a second he was scared but as his vision returned, the columns of dark mist in front of him formed into people. Familiar people. Welcome people.
They were all there. Scott. John. Alan. Lady Penelope. Virgil. Wait- one was missing. Kayo. He guessed she was busy kicking the butts of the subhumans that did this to him.
The Chaos Crew and the Hood.
That's what happened.
Once the memories came back there was no stopping them. He groaned as he remembered missiles shooting past him and crashing into hot rocks that tumbled onto Thunderbird 4, knocking her systems dead and rolling him around in the cockpit like a marble. He remembered panicking, grabbing at unresponsive controls. He just about remembered triggering the emergency beacon before blacking out.
He formed his lips around words that seemed reluctant to leave his throat. "Am I dead? Is this Heaven? Why does Scott look so rough?"
Alan giggled awkwardly, peering at the tired lines that marked his eldest brother's face.
"You scared the shit out of us, that's why."
Gordon smiled. Scott was in an uncompromising mood. That was okay. "Believe me," he mumbled. "It wasn't intentional."
Why couldn't he move his face? Why couldn't he move at all? He wasn't still trapped in Thunderbird 4 but he was completely immobile. He looked sideways at medical monitors beeping softly. Damn. He was in the hospital. In a full body cast. Like a mummy.
"Damn," he muttered. "What the hell happened?"
They all tried to tell him at once. As he listened, he couldn't help feeling humbled that they had responded the way they did. As though he weren't just anyone, he was someone of great importance. Someone worth saving. Someone worth the attention of every one of them without exception. He couldn't help gazing at Penny. Her eyes kept flitting away, then back. She was biting the inside of her lip. He'd never have guessed she could be shy. In a way he was glad of the body cast that kept him from leaping off the bed and into her arms. He was full of thoughts and feelings and all of them were concealed. All he could do was smile and blink as he listened to the unfolding story of his own dramatic rescue.
"And the crowd went wild," he whispered to himself, happy that none of them could hear.