Chapter 1:Flashes
I was sitting in my college classroom one warm summer day, when I got a sudden flash of a building on fire, and my brother john pinned under a large beam of wood that was on fire at one end. I gasped as I came back to myself, I'd been seeing through my twin brother Scott's eyes, though it was only a flash, it was enough for me to be scared, john had only been down from thunderbird five for a couple of days, so what was my father thinking sending him out on a rescue, if John got hurt, I'd never forgive dad. "Miss Tracey, is there a problem?" my lecturer, Mrs Summers asked, I stared blankly at her for a moment "I have a migraine, I think I'm gonna have to leave" I said, Mrs Summers nodded as I got up and stumbled from the room, my head spinning in fear for my brothers. I made sure I was out of sight of my classroom before pulling my cell phone from my pocket and dialled the number of my father's closest friend and confidant. It rang for a few seconds before Lady Penelope answered. "Hello Shadow, what can I do for you?" she asked, sounding as prim and proper as always. "Penny, do you know where my brother's latest mission is?" I asked, I could hear the desperation in my voice. "What's wrong shadow?" penny asked, obviously picking up my fear. "I saw one of my flashes, John is pinned under a burning beam, they need help" I said, she was silent for a long moment. "They're not far from where you are, do you know Decadence academy? It's on fire and there are people trapped inside" she told me, making me gasp. Decadence was a middle school; the kids trapped inside were only teenagers. "I'm on my way, let dad know I'm going to help the boys" I said, before hanging up and running for my car.
When I got there it was a simple matter of avoiding the police and dashing into the building. I ran into Virgil almost immediately, but I was really shocked when he didn't recognise me. "I'm sorry miss, you cant come in here, it's too dangerous, we'll get them out but you have to wait outside" he said, gently pulling me towards the exit, but I yanked my arm free and gave him a shove. "Virgil, you ass, it's me, Shadow. John's in trouble" I said, shoving past him and grabbing a spare oxygen tank while he just continued to stare at me. "Sh... Shadow?" he asked, staring at me. "Yeah, Virgie, now focus, which quadrant are John and Scott in?" I asked, slipping on a communication headset. "The math's wing, to the west" Gordon said, coming up beside me. "Are you sure Johns in trouble?" Virgil asked, getting over his initial shock, "Yeah, well he was pinned under a burning Beam a few minutes ago" I said, dashing towards the corridor the boys were in "I had one of those Flashes, why is Johnny out with you guys, he should have been resting for at least a week." I demanded as I ran, making Gordon laugh "Always the protective big sis" he said, both boys were struggling to keep up with me, but in my panic, I feared we would be too late, but as I rounded the corner, I saw that Scott had managed to stop the fire on the beam but was struggling to lift the beam. I stopped dead and took in the situation. Suddenly there was a screeching sound, and looking up, I saw another beam falling towards me as someone slammed into me, knocking me from underneath it.
"You've gotten rusty sis" Virgil said, scrambling to his feet and offering me a hand as Gordon rushed to Scott's side. "Yeah, well it's been, what, two years?" I asked, as he pulled me to my feet, a pained look crossed his face as he hurried to help Scott and Gordon lift the beam off of john. When they lifted it enough, I dragged John free so the boys could drop the heavy piece of wood. "Gordo, take John back to thunderbird two, then meet us where the students are trapped" I said, as Alan's voice came through my headset "Shadow, how bad is John hurt?" he asked, "I have no idea but the beam was heavy, he's gonna be out of action for a while. Where are the students trapped?" I asked, as Gordon helped john walk, and Scott and Virgil stared at me. "They're trapped in the gym, it connects to the next corridor from you, how did you know he was in danger?" he asked as I started off down the corridor at a run, my brother's trailing me, neither of them fast enough to keep pace with me. "Saw him through Scott's eyes" I said, bursting into a corridor that was all ablaze, a burning beam stretched across the corridor half way down and part of the roof was starting to collapse. I could hear the panicked shrieks coming from the gym. I glanced at Virgil and Scott who had somehow managed to grab fire extinguishers on the way. There was a loud crack as more of the ceiling started to give way. "No, they'll be buried alive" I gasped, breaking into a run. "No shadow, wait for us to put it out" Scott yelled as I raced towards the beam. I leaped through the flames and hit the ground in a roll, bruising myself on my oxygen tank. Getting up, I stumbled towards the gym doors, dodging a few pieces of falling debris, and slipping into the gym.
"Just put it out while I calm them down" I told the boys, glancing around at the panicked student and their lone teacher. There was probably about twelve of them, I noted as I looked around. I slipped the oxygen mask from my face as the teacher hurried towards me, and I looked around the gym. Gordon might be able to take out the corner if I got them into the corridor, then we could escape that way. "Gordo, get the firefly and takeout the southern corner of the gym when I say so, I'll get them into the corridor while you get into place" I told him over the headset. "F.A.B Shadow" he replied, I lifted my hand to my mouth and let loose a piercing whistle. "Okay, listen up; I need you all to remain calm. We need to get into the corridor while one of my team takes out the corner of the gym, but you have to stay calm and listen to me." I yelled as they fell silent "Come on, I need you to get into the corridor" they quickly complied with my orders, and I followed as the last girl left the gym. "Ok Gordo, go for it" I said, watching Virgil and Scott put out the beam. It took them a few minutes but as they joined us, Gordon's voice came through the headset. "You're good to go Shadow, let's get them out of there" he said. Nodding, we started to shepherd them back through the gym and out through the hole Gordon had made. Once outside, the paramedics, police and fire fighters took over, and me and the boys made a dash for thunderbird's one and two.
Virgil and Gordon headed for thunderbird Two while I climbed in with Scott, who shot me a questioning look. "I think it's time I came home" I said, simply. He sat staring at me for a long moment before firing up Thunderbird 1's engines. "Look's like I got my co pilot back." He said, a smile spreading across his face. "Hey Shadow, Thanks for calling in the cavalry." John's face appeared on the video screen. "No problem John, I only saw a flash and panicked enough to come. It's a good thing I can see through Scott's eyes sometimes" I said as Gordon appeared behind John. "You're coming home?" Gordon said, making it sound like a question. I nodded, throwing a quick glance at Scott, "You're gonna need someone to take over for John, at least for a little while. I'll only be there until John heals, so don't get too excited" I said, looking away so I wouldn't have to see their disappointed looks. "So, who's gonna be team leader now that your back?" Virgil's voice asked from off screen. I looked at Scott again. When I was still a thunderbird, the boys had always looked to me as a leader, but I'd been away at college for two and a half years, so really, I would be taking Scott's job as team leader. "Shadow will be" Scott said as we approached Tracey island. I flicked open connections to Thunderbird 5, so I could chat to all five of my brothers "Hey Alan, does dad know I'm coming home?" I asked, watching Scott getting ready to land. "Yeah, Lady P is bringing you some things from your dorm, so you don't need to go fetch some clothes and …. Whoa, when did you get tats? Grandma and dad are gonna flip" he said, breaking off as he noticed my ink, Scott glanced at me, then refocused on landing TB1 and Gordon and John stared at me speechless. "What, why do yo think I haven't been home in a while. I didn't want the problems that are gonna be raised when grandma and dad see my tattoos and piercing's" I said with a sigh. I pouted playfully at Alan. "So, how's space squirt?" I asked, laughing as he poked his tongue out at me in response. "Ok, well, if you want to be like that, I'll just block you out of the convo" I said, smirking. "Stand by for landing" Scott said, as dad's face appeared on the screen. "F.A.B Scott. Welcome home Shadow" dad said, I smiled at him "Hey daddy, it's good to be home, is the sick room ready, johns injured" I asked, slipping into the team leaders position as easily as I would a pair of comfortable old pyjamas. Dad looked surprised that I'd taken over, but only for a moment "Yes, Tin Tin is prepping it now. How bad is he?" Dad asked I shrugged "Bad enough that he can barely walk, I think there's muscle damage to his hips and legs, but I didn't get a chance to look him over that closely" I replied, watching as Scott landed. "Ok, I'll see you in a few minutes" dad said, cutting the communication link.
After climbing from TB1, the first thing I did was check john, I was pretty sure he'd broken a hip and had serious muscle damage, even possible fractures. I was homebound for at least six weeks or more. "Can you miss that much college?" Virgil asked, coming up behind me and giving me a hug. "Lucky for you lot, semester ends this Friday and I can study here, penny will have grabbed my books." I said, twisting so I could hug him back. It took only a few seconds for Gordon and Scott to join in the hug. "Hey! What about me?" John demanded, sounding disappointed, I broke away from the other three and gave John a hug, all the time I was thinking 'Damn it's good to be home'