Author's note: Many thanks to Lynn and Dawn for their betas.
Elemental Adrenaline Rush
Air
"Out of the way, Junior, grown-ups go first," said Scott and then jumped out of the plane. Alan watched his eldest brother disappear towards the ground. He turned and grinned at Virgil.
"See you down there," he said and, giving a brief salute, took a backwards step out of the open door.
Virgil, sitting on a bench on the side of the plane, heaved a sigh. He loved parachuting as much as his brothers. It had been a while since the last rescue and his father, irritated by his sons' increasing horseplay and pranks, had suggested that he take them sky-diving in the hope it would work off some energy. Virgil had readily agreed. He enjoyed the thrill of jumping and the beautiful silence of descent. At the same time, he was very fond of the plane they used for such jaunts. It was one of the oldest of the Tracy's fleet and Virgil loved to listen to the change in engine note as it came into land. He was reluctant to leave its confines.
"Are you staying or jumping, Virgil?" Jeff Tracy's voice boomed through the intercom. Virgil waved at the CCTV camera in reply and then, in two long strides, had followed his brothers into the blue sky.
Scott couldn't suppress a smile as he landed smack in the middle of the cross in the middle of Thunderbird 2's runway. The large yellow mark was just supposed to be a general indication of where the parachutists should aim for. Scott, however, considered it a matter of pride that he hit it exactly. He gathered in his chute and looked up. He watched as Alan descended, fine-tuning his direction. Scott nodded with appreciation as Alan also hit the cross dead centre. The kid was turning out just fine.
He helped Alan to recover his canvas. "It's good conditions for it. Do you think we can persuade Dad to take us up again?"
"Four times might be pushing it, Scott." The two brothers chuckled and then looked up for Virgil. He was a little behind them but gradually his form became larger and they stepped back to give him room to land.
"Mind the –" began Alan but didn't finish as Virgil missed the cross and landed in a bush at the side of the runway. Scott and Alan raised their eyebrows at each other and then Scott reached his arm into the bush. He pulled a slightly red-faced Virgil onto the runway.
Virgil pulled a couple of leaves out of his hair. "I was right, we ought to trim these shrubs back. They shouldn't get this near the runway. Yeah, I'm glad I checked that out."
And the three brothers laughed.