Standard Disclaimer: I do not own the thunderbirds, or Easter Bunny. But I will own up to the absurdity of this story. LOL.
AN UNUSUAL VISITOR...
(Sorry could come up with anything more interesting on short noticed late at night. And I've got Easter Eggs to deliver anyway ;-)....)
a/n: This one just came outta nowhere (Literally), and pretty much wrote its self... hope you enjoy.
As always any advice or comments welcome, just be polite :-)... TBZ
John sat in his usual place, watching the world go about its business. Leaning back in his comfortable seat he flicked through the screens going over the hourly checks, weather, seismic, international emergency channels, and central news reports. Nothing, a big fat zero.
John sighed, for once the peace and quiet of space was grating on his nerves, he was bored. Sighing heavily again John thought about the situation, he was never bored; John Glen Tracy always had something to do. It had been a constant source of mirth to his brothers for years that John always had several projects on the go at once. Multitasking was John's nature. It made him eminently suitable for the task of running Thunderbird five. But on this particular day, John had nothing to do. He'd finished his last book as was awaiting the first print run, he had no plans for any future books, his usual plethora of ideas just wasn't coming up with anything that intrigued him enough to get him started. The stars were being unhelpful, in that there was no new phenomenon to draw his eye. No experiments to monitor, as Brains had just completed the final stages of the last lot and was busy writing up his paper. John looked over the screens again in the hope of finding an emergency of some sort, even a small one. Just something, anything to relieve the boredom, he didn't wish harm on anyone, but couldn't someone get themselves in a little bit of a jam and call for IR to help them out. A quick survey of the system revealed that the world was as content as it had been five minutes ago. John sighed a deep soul retching sigh. He couldn't even call Scott as the eldest Tracy son was in New York on business. John considered calling one of his other brothers, but decided against it, he didn't feel up to sparing with Gordon, or listening to Alan whine and John knew that Virgil was in the middle of a refit on Thunderbird two and would definitely not appreciated being disturbed.
He twiddled with a few knobs and flicked through the worlds television channels, one advantage of Thunderbird five, several thousand TV channels, unfortunately showing mostly reruns. John shut the screen off and decided to find something else to fill up the rest of the day. He wandered down the short corridor to the galley and flicked on the switch of the coffee machine, the hiss and pop of the coffee giving him a modicum of entertainment. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of milk, fresh milk as Gordon and Virgil had just restocked him the day before. He looked at the basket of Easter eggs sitting on the top shelf. John reached into the fridge to fondle the chocolate eggs. Gordon had given strict instructions from Grandma that he was not to touch the basket until the following morning, Easter Sunday. 'He could have just one, no one would know,' he thought pulling at the cellophane coat of the basket. A sudden pronounced buzz caused him to jump and pull his hand away from the temptation of the chocolate guiltily. He looked at the vid-screen by the galley entrance; a green light was flashing indicating an incoming call. Closing the fridge John crossed to the panel and touched the centre of the screen opening the link. His grandmother stood smiling at the other end of the link, "Hello dear." John stretched a smile across his face, feeling like a five year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Hi Grams. What can I do for you?"
"Oh nothing dear, I just wanted to make sure Gordon had delivered everything properly, I meant to call yesterday, but you know what it gets like around here. Complete chaos. Did you get your hot cross buns?"
John grinned, "Yes Grams. Thanks they were great, as usual."
Ruth Tracy smiled at her second grandson, "Well I guess I'd better let you get back to work, your father will be upset with me if I keep you. Remember don't touch those eggs till tomorrow. I'm trusting you John."
"Yes Grandma." John said, feeling guilty all over again.
"Happy Easter John."
"Happy Easter Grams." John shut the connection and returned to making his coffee, putting the milk back in the fridge he avoided looking at the Easter eggs. It wasn't fair, everyone knew John's addiction to chocolate, having a full basket of delicious chocolate eggs in the fridge and not being allowed to touch them was cruel.
John returned to the command centre and sat carefully sipping at the hot coffee. He flicked on the screen absently and started surfing through the channels. Finding several showing children's Easter programs John smiled, he remembered when he had decided that the Easter Bunny didn't exist. He'd been eight and had been introduced to a pet rabbit at school. Having studied the animal in some depth he had come to the conclusion that a rabbit could not possibly deliver eggs all over the world. He remembered telling Scott that night and Scott's horror that John didn't believe in Easter Bunny. Scott had still been a firm believer. John had been surprised and a bit worried that his older brother hadn't questioned the concept, but Scott was good at accepting the status quo, especially if it suited his purpose in life, which at ten had included accumulating as many Easter eggs as possible. John has explained his theory that Mom supplied the Easter eggs and had proven the point by finding them hidden the next day. Of course his mother's reaction had been predictable, both he and Scott had missed out on the Easter egg hunt that year, as Easter Bunny didn't come to nonbelievers. John sighed, that had been an eye opener, he'd learnt to keep his opinions to himself after that, and had decided not to broach the subject of Santa.
Smiling at the memories John glanced down at the monitors sipping at his drink, a sudden flash of white and pink out his peripheral vision caused him to sit up suddenly splashing the hot coffee in his lap. "Shit." Standing and splashing more of the hot liquid over the control panels John swore fluently in several languages. Carefully putting the remaining coffee on the flat surface at the top of the control board, he dashed into the galley to get a cloth and clean the liquid up before in fried something important. He pulled at his pants. 'Actually something important had already been fried,' he thought, pulling off the pants and dropping them in the corner, John applied a cool damp cloth to the ill-treated body parts. Having alleviated the burning John took a cloth into the control centre and cleaned up the panels, relieved that they had installed water resistant membranes over the panels in the last refit, having been resigned to Gordon's habit of spilling his sugary drinks on a regular basis.
Having cleaned the mess, John took the damp cloth and empty mug back into the galley dumping them both in the sink, he picked up his pants and retreated to his state room to change into clean cloths, the lights in the corridor were on low power as he entered, his movement triggering the system to bring them up to full power, in the sudden glare a flash of white and pink bound along the edge of the short passageway darting into the spare state room. John did a double take, he was seeing things he was sure. He followed the form turning on the lights and searched the room, checking under the bed and in the closet. Nothing. Shrugging John left the room switching off the lights and wandered into his room, dropping the damp pants into the washing basket and grabbing a clean pair, he slipped them on.
Returning to the control centre John sat down in his now squelchy seat and ran a system diagnostic just to make sure that nothing had been damaged, except his pride. Finding nothing amiss he went through the hourly checks, again nothing happening in the world that required IR's unique skills or technology. John sighed and in boredom clicked on the Solitaire Icon on the computer screen, maybe a few hours of Solitaire would fill in the afternoon, then he could see about warming up some supper. Scott was due back on the island that evening, so John anticipated another few hours spent chatting to his older brother. 'That should fill in the evening til I can go to bed,' John thought. Thirty minutes and five games of Solitaire later John was again looking around desperately for something to relieve his boredom. He flicked on some music and started channel surfing again, the reflection of a white blur behind him caught his attention and with a sharp twist that wrenched his neck painfully, John turned to look for the illusive white shape. Nothing. Standing he looked closely around the control centre, bending to look under the control panel, John felt a movement against his right leg, kicking out instinctively he pulled his head back quickly and smacked it against the underside of the control panel. Rubbing at the sore spot John looked around the room, nothing. But he knew he'd felt something, at least he thought he had. "Damn. I think I know how Gordon feels up here." John mumbled to himself. 'I'm definitely going stir crazy,' shaking his head to clear the thought.
Still rubbing at the bump starting to form on the back of his head, John decided he needed a sugar fix, maybe he was suffering hallucinations due to low blood sugar, he thought. Reaching the galley he poured the last of the coffee in a mug and tipped in two spoons of sugar stirring it vigorously, grabbing the milk from the fridge without looking at the chocolate temptation in a basket, he splashed some in and took a sip. Not enough sugar, looking at the shelves above the bench John pulled down the cookie jar and put his hand in, it hit the bottom without encountering any sugary delights. Frowning John looked in the jar, tipping it in the hopes of finding something hidden in a corner. Nothing. 'Sums up my day.' John thought morosely. Putting the jar back on the shelf he decided to check the boxes of supplies Gordon and Virgil had dropped off yesterday. Looking through the few remaining items that hadn't yet been put away, John found a couple of packets of readymade cheese sauce, a packet of potato chips, and a few tins of preserved fruit. Sitting back on his heels John ran a hand through his hair and looked at the fridge, 'No one will know.' His stomach told him. 'You will know,' His conscience reminded. John stood and picked up his coffee sipping the hot rich beverage, he eyed the refrigerator. 'Just one... one small one....it's not cheating... just bending the rules... everyone bends the rules... even Scott's been known to bend the rules on occasion... very rare occasions... but Scott's got OCD... just one.' Decision made John put his mug down firmly and strode over to the refrigerator, pulling open the door with conviction. The buzz of an incoming call resounded through the galley. John sighed, 'Why?' He looked up at the ceiling, 'What? It's one lousy chocolate egg.' Slamming the door shut he stomped over to the vid-screen and pushed the centre of the screen with more force than was truly needed. "What?" he snapped without preamble.
Scott Tracy sat back, startled by his brothers greeting, John was normally relaxed to the point of being horizontal, to find him snapping while not being under pressure from Gordon was extremely unusual. "Ah... Just called to let you know I was home. But if this is a bad time...." Scott replied.
"Scott." John shook his head, shoulders drooping. "Sorry... it's just been a long day." John slumped against the back of a chair and looked at his older brother. "So how was the trip?"
Scott shrugged, "Fine. You know boring meetings followed by more boring meetings."
John nodded; he could go a boring meeting at the moment. "Yeah."
Scott frowned, John seemed down, not a state usual to him. "You ok Johnny?"
"Yeahhhh." John replied, unconvincingly.
"Right. Wanna tell me what's going on?"
John shrugged; he'd sound like a five year old. "Nothing. I'm fine." In the shadows outside the door a pale form bound across the patchwork of light from the galley. John's eyes followed it absently. His mind on other matters. "I'm just bored." He sighed returning his eyes to Scott's concerned face. "Nothing to do up here."
"But John you've always got something to do." Scott reasoned, this behaviour was not like his hyperactive brother.
"Not at the moment. Finished the last book. Brains hasn't got any experiments going at the moment to monitor and nothing is happening on the rescue front. So..." John heaved as sigh of monumental proportions, "I'm bored."
Scott sniggered; he'd never imagined hearing that statement from John. Gordon or Alan yes regularly. But not John. "Well there's gotta be something you can do."
John's eyes wandered around the galley, briefly they rested on a small white and pink form hiding in a corner before in shot into the shadows of the passageway. John shook his head, no way did he see what he'd just seen.
"John?" Scott voice filled the galley with anxious concern.
"Ahh What?" John replied still looking where the apparition had disappeared.
"John? What's up?" Scott voice had passed anxious and was nearing alarmed.
Frowning John looked at the screen, "I think I'm seeing things."
"Seeing things?" Scott bypassed alarmed and hit panic at full force. "Seeing what? John look at me. What's wrong?" with a deliberate subtle action so as not to arouse John's notice Scott hit the button to contact Virgil on his watch, keeping his eyes firmly on John.
John looked up a Scott a deep frown furrowed his brow, "Sorry. I gotta go. Talk to you latter." He hit the screen to disconnect the link.
"John! John!" Scott shouted at the blank screen, he pushed the keys to open the link again, but John didn't respond. Virgil appeared at the door to the office looking slightly miffed, "What's up? Why'd you call?"
Scott looked up from the computer screen. "Something's wrong with John. He said he was seeing things."
"What? What things?" Virgil asked concern evident in his voice.
"Don't know. He didn't say." Scott replied shortly.
"Well call him and ask." Virgil reasoned.
"I did. He's not answering." Scott frowned, halfway to full blown panic.
Virgil stepped up to the computer and pushed the keys to open a connection, when nothing happened he looked at Scott, "We better call Dad."
Scott nodded, pushing the relevant keys on his watch to contact the head of the household.
Up on Thunderbird five, John stalked out of the galley following his quarry, he thought he was hallucinating but decided to play along with his unconscious mind as it would fill in a few hours of boredom, he reasoned, then wondered if he was still able to reason as he was obviously in the middle of a nervous breakdown.
Creeping into the command centre John surveyed the room looking for a small furry white and pink form. Searching the shadows he tiptoed around the central consol and pounced under it. Nothing. Standing and frowning he looked around the empty room shaking his head, 'Com'on if you're gonna hallucinate at least make it something interesting.' He thought with a smile, imagining a beautiful brunet in a playboy bunny suit rather than the soft fluffy variety currently residing in his hallucination. Slouching in his seat John surveyed his monitor's, the hourly alarm sounded, so John ran his checks. Minor seismic activity in the western pacific around Japan, but nothing of significance for IR, John sighed. A bounce of white and pink flashed to his right swinging around in his seat John watched the apparition bound across the floor and disappear down the corridor towards the loading hatch and supplies lockers. "Ha got ya." John gloated.
He charged after the small phantom hitting the control panel on the wall to illuminate the loading hatch, he searched the long loading arm looking in all the nooks and crannies a small white rabbit might find of interest. When he reached the heavy titanium doors at the end with no sign of the illusive creature he frowned and ran his hands through his already mussed hair. Then remembering he still had the supplies lockers, charged back down the loading arm he skidded to a halt in front of the first supply locker as it opened to admit him. The dark chamber came instantly to life as he stepped in, lights illuminating along the wall. He searched the entire chamber searching under all the shelves and behind every box. Sighing in frustration and tearing at his hair he scanned the room, looking from the closed door to the far wall stacked high with boxes of technical equipment. The sudden hiss of the door opening startled him, looking over his shoulder he was stunned to see a fluffy white tail disappear as the door hissed closed again.
John pounced towards the door, moving too fast for the sensor and mechanism to register and react, he collided with the solid metal door, falling back with a resounding clang. John sat on the floor watching the door open with a hiss, eyes narrowed in annoyance he stood and stalked towards the opening, as the sensor decided no-one was going to use the opening, it chose that moment to close the door once again. John stood with his nose against the cold metal, slowly he counted to ten, then deciding that wasn't nearly enough he counted to fifty. Stepping back he waved his hand in front of the sensor, obligingly the door opened and John stepped though, the door closed behind him with a satisfied hiss.
John glared at the inanimate door resentfully; he looked up at the ceiling, "What is it? What have I done to you? I service you, I look after you, I spend more than half my time up here with you. And this is how you repay me?" He asked the huge machine around him, "Why don't you just open the air lock and throw me out?" he asked, not expecting an answer, unfortunately he got one anyway. The gravity suddenly shut down. John floated slowly towards the ceiling. After the initial shock and startled jump causing him to rocket against the far wall, he relaxed and gave up. "Fine." He grumbled. Looking towards the main compartments he pushed his feet against the wall behind him a propelled himself down the corridor back into the loading arm and from there made his way to the command centre. Pulling himself across the ceiling on the hand rails he reached his seat. Hooking a boot into the head rest he pulled himself down into his customary position and buckled himself in. No use flying off again. Running his hands across the control panels he located the problem. The gravitational controls had been switched off. Flicking them back on with a frown, John jumped at loud crash behind him. Swinging around, he spotted a splash of white and pink as it disappeared into the galley. 'This is getting ridiculous.' He thought. Pulling the belt off he dived after the fleeing spectre, reaching the galley he was again greeted by emptiness.
John rubbed his face tiredly. He slumped in the chair at the small table and laid his head on the cool surface. "There are no rabbits on Thunderbird five. There are no rabbits on Thunderbird five." He repeated in a mantra. "I need chocolate."
Heedless of the directive of his grandmother, John ripped open the door of the fridge and pulled out the basket of chocolate Easter eggs. He pulled the cellophane off and pulled out a brightly foil wrapped treat. Opening the foil with supreme care, he laid it flat on the table in perfect form, not a tear or hole in it. The chocolate egg lay in his hand, a chilled rich brown lure, gently tapping the egg against the table John cracked it apart and placed a small sliver in his mouth. Savouring the chocolaty treat with the intensity of a connoisseur. The next piece of chocolate was savoured with as much passion as the first, by the sixth and last piece of chocolate, John had passed rapture and entered abandoned addiction. The three following eggs had their wrappers stripped and tossed aside, their delicious chocolate devoured like willing sacrifices. Having satisfied his initial craving John studied the remains of the basket, two large eggs remained. He grinned, 'In for a penny in for a pound,' he thought, pulling the largest of the eggs from the basket and stripping the foil covering to reveal the dark chocolate centre. Picking up the egg John tapped it against the table. The chocolate was solid and cold, so it held firm, frowning in concentration he raised the egg again and brought it down more firmly. The egg splintered and scattered across the table in large chucks. John grinned picking one as large as his hand up and biting into it. In the corner of the galley he noticed his nemesis. The small white form sat with its back against the cupboard, large red eyes stared at him in intense scrutiny. John snorted, "I'm not sharing, so go find your own egg." He growled. The rabbit's nose twitched and its big flopping pink bow quivered in annoyance. John deliberately placed a large piece of chocolate in his mouth, savouring it with loud sounds of enjoyment.
Swallowing the last piece of chocolate, John leaned back in his seat feeling slightly nauseous. He looked across the room at his nemesis; the large white rabbit returned his look with little sympathy for the follies of man. Groaning John dropped his head on the table. 'I don't think I should have had that last egg,' he thought vaguely.
The distant buzz of an incoming communication link woke him from his morbid thoughts, looking up at the vid-screen he noted that the green light was flashing along with the perimeter alarm. Standing and clutching his stomach he stumbled towards the screen activating the link. Scott's worried countenance greeted him. "John we're docking now. We'll be with you in a moment."
"What?" John frowned, 'Docking now? Why? Gordon and Virgil had just completed a supply run, and he wasn't due a change over for another two weeks.'
John looked over towards the corner, the Rabbit hadn't moved, grinning recklessly he skulked towards the galley hatch and stepping outside closing the door behind him. "Got you!" He grinned triumphantly.
Dragging himself towards the loading arm, John groaned queasily. Leaning against the inner hatch, John awaited the arrival of Scott and the rest of Thunderbird three's crew, wondering who had accompanied his brother. He still couldn't figure out what Scott was doing here. He couldn't remember Scott saying anything about visiting when he spoke to him earlier.
The hatch ground open with a deep hiss and roar of equalising pressure. Pushing himself upright John stood to greet his brother and was surprised by the presences of his father as the Tracy patriarch strode towards his second son, the team's medic followed hot on his heels, medical bag held ready. "John. Are you alright?" Jeff demanded reaching his pale son and grasping him by the shoulders.
John frowned, "Yeahhh, I think so..." he replied ambiguously.
Virgil turned John's face towards him and shone a penlight torch in his eyes, "How do you feel?"
John grimaced, "Queasy." He responded honestly.
"Headache?" Virgil questioned.
"A bit."
"Humm." Virgil mumbled, studying his older brother, he placed a hand on John's sweaty forehead, "Have you seen anything.... strange today?"
John snorted, "Strange? You mean the rabbit?"
"Rabbit?" Virgil and Jeff queried simultaneously.
"Rabbit?" Scott asked as he approached the group. "What about a rabbit?" he looked at his father for a response. Jeff shrugged and looked at John.
John gave a benign smile, "THE Rabbit, white one with a pink bow. It's been running around giving me a hard time. Locked me in the supplies locker, then turned the gravity off. Trickly little bugger. But I've got him trapped in the galley now."
"Ok John." Scott reassured, giving Virgil and his father a worried look, "How about we get you back to the island and you can have a nice rest?" He placed a gentle arm across John's shoulder trying to lead the younger man towards Thunderbird three.
John smiled, "Yeah that sounds good, I'm not feeling so good." He suddenly turned a sickly green and clutching a fist to his mouth raced out of the loading arm and down the corridor to the staterooms, his father and brothers hurrying after him. They found him crouched over the lavatory heavying his guts out. Scott the first to reach him started to dry heavy and stood back allowing Virgil access. The middle Tracy crouched beside his elder brother and rubbing his back between the shoulder blades in comfort. "It's ok Johnny, we'll get you home and work out what's wrong." He reassured. John nodded wretchedly. Having emptied his stomach John collapsed against his brother, sweating forehead, resting on Virgil's shoulder. Jeff pressed the flush on the lavatory and assisted Virgil in standing John up. "Com'on son, let's get you home. Scott, turn Five over to automatic."
"F-A-B." Scott responded and disappeared down the corridor to the command centre.
"Don't forget the Rabbit." John called weakly.
Jeff and Virgil exchanged looks and led the pale and trembling John from the stateroom toward the loading arm and the waiting Thunderbird three.
In the command centre Scott switched over the system to automatic bypass. Allowing the islands computers to pickup and process any incoming calls. Then deciding he'd better check everything else was locked down and turned off he did a quick tour of the space station, turning off lights and generally shutting down all non essential equipment. He noted that John had left a lot of equipment on that he would ordinarily turn off once finished with. Scott shook his head. John must really be out of it. His last stop was the galley, stepping into the room he found the remains of the Easter basket, grimacing he shook his head in disbelief, "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, you and chocolate. That is gonna make you sooo sick...." comprehension suddenly dawned, "Oh John." He switched off the coffee machine and was just about to leave the galley when a flash of white and pink darted past his feet and out the galley hatch into the command centre. Scott frowned. "I didn't just see a rabbit. Did I?" he asked aloud. Closing the door and locking it he followed the darting animal across the command centre, where it bound up across the control panel hitting the gravitational panel dead centre. Scott dived across the room just as the gravity gave and he began to float, his momentum causing him to over-fly the control panel, and only just anchoring it with his boot. Scott hauled himself back to the centre of the panel and hit the gravitational control reset. Instantly the gravity re-established and the rabbit dropped to the ground beside him, bolting across the room and through the hatch into the loading arm. Scott followed determine to catch the disingenuous animal; the small creature dived for cover from the irate pilot as he charged down the corridor in hot pursuit.
Jeff's request for information regarding the interruption in gravity went unanswered for a moment. As the animal bound past Scott and hopped into the supplies locker, Scott halted at the hatch to answer his father's harried enquiries. "It's OK Dad. I've got it trapped."
Jeff looked at Virgil over John's recumbent form. "Got what trapped Scott?"
"The Rabbit." Scott replied absently.
Eyebrows raised in worry Jeff asked, "The Rabbit?"
"Yeah. It's gone in the supplies locker. Don't worry. I won't let it get away." Scott dived in after his quarry.
Jeff looked at Virgil with real concern in his eyes, "Could it be a contaminate leak or something causing hallucinations?"
Virgil shrugged. "Possible."
"Right you stay here with John and I'll go get Scott. Well get them sorted then work out what's happened later." Jeff ordered, before turning to rescue his eldest son for the clutches of an illusionary rabbit.
He found Scott crouched in the corner of the supplies locker, making small whistling noises, "Com' here you little bugger." Scott called as he reached under a shelving unit.
"Scott?" Jeff asked cautiously not wanting to upset his obviously disturbed eldest son.
Scott looked over his shoulder, "Oh hi Dad. It's under here. Right in the back corner, I just can't quite reach it."
Jeff crouched next to Scott and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Scott we need to get back to base. Why don't you come back to Thunderbird three so we can get going?"
Scott frowned, "Yeah, but I've gotta get the Rabbit first. Can't leave it here." He leaned down and looked under the shelving intently.
Jeff shook his head, how was he going to get Scott back to Thunderbird three without distressing him. As he studying his son a white and pink form darted out and between the two startled men. It darted across the room and into a small metal box. Jeff looked from Scott to where the form had disappeared. Pouncing Scott landed atop the metal box and slammed the attached grated door closed, with a satisfied grin he twisted the locking mechanism, and looked in at his trapped prey. "Got ya." He grinned up at his father. "I think I've solved the problem." He held up the metal pet cage, "John had a visit from Easter bunny, and then overdosed on Easter eggs."
Jeff frowned looking at the large white rabbit with its rumpled pink bow.
He looked at Scott "Gordon?"
Scott nodded, "Gordon."
"That boy." Jeff frowned, caught half between anger at the trouble caused and laughter at the absurdity. "Let's get home."
Scott nodded and the two headed for Thunderbird three and a swift trip back to Tracy Island, for a discussion with Easter Bunny's not so little redheaded helper.
The end.
A/N: If anyone's got any ideas on how John might get Gordon back for this one. Let me know, or follow it up your-self. Thanks
Happy Easter to everyone
TBZ.