Title: Do You See Me Now?
Summary: Gordon had always been outnumbered, four to one. From Scott all the way down the line to Alan – his brothers have always thought that after his hydrofoil accident he lost his edge. However, when a rescue goes askew Gordon has to recover some of the skills he learned during his time is WASP to help them. Showing his brothers that he's not a little immature prankster – he's more than just a joker.
Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds never have never will.
A/N: NO FLAMES! Not accepted.
AGES: Scott – 28; John – 26; Virgil – 24; Gordon – 21; Alan – 19.
Gordon could practically feel the eyes on him. He knew he wasn't whole anymore. After the accident his back played up a bit. But it was never anything more serious than a few twinges here and there. He hated them always seeing him as the joker. He had other skills; he wasn't just a swimmer or an aquanaut. He had other purpose built skills that could be helpful – they just hadn't been needed in IR.
They were 'special skills'. Gordon just hadn't felt the need to make them known. Sure he could pick any lock in under a minute, it wasn't hard when you knew the lock and had that spare paper clip or bobby pin (stolen from Tintin of course). When he was in WASP he had the fastest time in their parkour test. He was the fastest at climbing and vaulting and he beat most of the field with the swinging and running. He was good at things that he could utilize for IR but those skills weren't needed. It was annoying that he had these skills and couldn't use them. He wanted to show his brothers that he wasn't just a prankster. He was useful not just as the pilot of Thunderbird 4. He'd learned all these useful things and Gordon wasn't sure he would ever get to use his skills. But then fate throws you a curve ball, and you just have to learn to swing.
It was on a particular rescue that Gordon found himself in a predicament. It had been routine, or at least it seemed that way. A collapsed building and kids were trapped inside. Gordon could see what Scott wanted them to do. But he could see a much easier way. He was able to help the usual way, he got the kids that were closest out and was about to go back in when Virgil grabbed his arm.
"There's no way to reach the others. Not from here. We'll have to go in from the air." He said, Gordon shook his head.
"I can get to them." He protested pulling against his stronger brother.
"No way," Gordon tugged his arm free of Virgil's vice-like grip and bolted towards the building, "Gordon!" He ignored the shots of his name and shut his comms off. He ignored the sound of static in his ear, but he heard the exclaim of surprise when he vaulted his way over the too-high-to-scale wall that Alan had backed away from and let Virgil give him a leg up – and Gordon just jumped grabbed the top and pulled himself over it.
"Have we left Fish at home and brought Superman instead?" Alan asked as he came to stand beside Virgil.
"I don't know. But I think we need to have a serious talk with Gordon later." Virgil said.
It took Gordon two minutes to make it to the three kids trapped in the back of the building.
"Hi there." He said moving slowly to not startle them, "my name's Gordon. What are your names?" They were three young girls, the oldest couldn't have been 9 years old. Amanda, Stephanie and Georgina. Gordon lifted the smallest – Amanda – into his arms and told Stephanie and Georgina to hold on to his jacket. He led them carefully through the building and crushed all to his chest when it gave a shudder and rubble rained down. The girls screamed but he held them tightly to his chest. The girls were left unharmed and Gordon bore the brunt of the collapse. He let the dust settle before leading them on again. Amanda asked him how old he was, a little startled Gordon said he was 21.
"My brother's 21. He's in the Navy." Georgina said.
"How old are you girls?" Gordon asked.
"I'm 7." Amanda said proudly.
"I'm 8 and a half." Stephanie said softly.
"Georgina?" Gordon asked.
"I'm 9 in three weeks." She said. Gordon knew he had to get them out before the building came down on them.
"Virgil?" He activated his comms.
"Yeah, Gordy?" Virgil replied.
"You ready by that wall I scaled?" He asked, a pause before his brother responded.
"Yeah." Came the static reply.
"I've got three little girls, the youngest is 7 the oldest is 8, I'm going to pass them over to you on the other side, ok?" Gordon said as he approached the wall.
"How are you going to do that?" Virgil asked.
"Trust me." Gordon replied.
"FAB." Was the response.
Gordon stopped by the wall. He evaluated his situation. How was he going to get three girls over the wall safely without tossing them over? He made a stack of boxes all strong enough to hold the two eight year olds. He got them on the top and then telling Amanda to hold on tight, swung himself up onto the top of the wall.
"Hey Virgil." He said spotting his artistic brother. Easily Gordon was able to pass Amanda down to Alan, Georgina was next to Scott and finally Stephanie to Virgil then he jumped down himself. Virgil made sure he was unharmed before leading Stephanie to the ambulance to be looked over.
"How on earth did you do that?" Virgil asked.
"Do what?" Gordon played dumb.
"Jump the wall." Alan added.
"Oh…hurdles and steeple chase during high school helped with that." Gordon defended.
"Sure." Scott sounded unconvinced. Gordon was trying to dodge a bullet and every time he did and his brothers let it go Scott locked it away for future reference and this one was going to be seen again. No doubt.
Dodging stuff was usually Alan's gig in TB3 and it was easy in TB4, but Gordon could do it even without his bird for protection. And when you're faced with an explosion with debris flying everywhere you want to be able to dodge it. Alan, Virgil and Scott had told him not to, but when you can hear a young voice calling for help you just act. A building fire had turned into an explosion and being a high rise it was still spewing debris like the World Trade Center had when it collapsed.
Gordon was dodging falling debris like he knew where it was falling. The voice he had heard was a child, no older than 4. He scooped her up and ran.
Dodging debris again and again, he even was able to dodge without deviating his path. Twisting his body into positions that a gymnast would struggle with. He avoiding everything and was able to get the child safely away from harm. The parents were grateful for his ability to save their little girl. He told them it was all part of the job, no thanks needed. Virgil and Scott shared a look. This wasn't something the hurdles or steeple chase helped with. He hadn't don't anything close to this at High School. So when did he learn this? He had some serious explaining to do.
"Gordon! What the hell was that? Start talking." Scott said.
"Not right now Scott." Gordon replied.
"Now Gordon." Scott said firmly.
"No, Scott. Not right now. Maybe later." Gordon said.
"Gordon!" The red head froze, "now."
"No Scott. Not now. Drop it. It's done and it helped." Gordon said, determined not to be reprimanded.
"He won't talk?" Virgil asked.
"No. But he will. If I have to get Grandma to help he'll talk." Scott said.
It always helps when you can get into places. But when it's a door that you can't break down and that isn't already open, you have to get it unlocked. Lucky for Alan and Tintin – Gordon always carried a paperclip with him. Except this one time.
"Tintin? Do you have a bobby pin?" She frowned but pulled one out of her hair and handed it over. Gordon bent it slightly out of shape then got at the lock. After about five seconds he had the door unlocked and open. Alan was surprised. Lock picking was a skill that criminals had! Not heroes!
"Where did you learn that?" He yelled over the crackling of the fire.
"WASP was good for something, eh?" Gordon grinned. Alan smiled back, so that was where these skills came from. WASP. Also known as the World Aquanaut Security Patrol. Scott and Virgil would be glad to know that at least Gordon learned something.
"You know Scott and Virg are going to want to know about this." Alan said as they got the family they'd rescued to safety.
"No they don't. I know what you all think of me Al. After my accident – yeah my back acts up a bit, but I am just as capable as I have always been. I haven't lost my edge. I hear you all when you talk about me. So no Scott and Virgil don't need to know. That last thing I need is smothering." Gordon said.
"Well…you have to talk to someone about it. WASP was good to you Gordy. All those skills you've got it wasn't hurdles and steeple chase that helped that first rescue. And WASP teaches a lot of different things. You have to talk to someone about using your skills. Or at least teaching me how to pick a lock! That was awesome!" Alan said gifting his big brother was grin. Gordon gave him a smile in return. Lock-picking was a pretty cool skill to have.
"Maybe I will teach you. You, Tintin and maybe Virgil as well. Just so it's not just me." Gordon said. Alan agreed that it was a great idea and he knew that Gordon would have to tell Scott and Virgil sooner rather than later. But at least he knew. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to tell their brothers.
"Scott? Virgil? Can I bend your ears for a minute?" Gordon asked, when he found his brothers in their father's office.
"Sure Gordy, what's up?" Virgil asked. Gordon noticed that Alan had appeared by the door to listen and lend some silent support.
"Well, you want to know how I could vault the wall one month ago and then dodge the debris two weeks ago? Alan and I had that rescue on Thursday and I picked the lock on the door with a bobby pin." Scott's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Alan nodded at his brother's questioning look, confirming that yes Gordon had picked the lock.
"Well, these skills aren't something I taught myself how to do. They are born from years and years of practice. I've just never had the chance to use them til now. I guess you could say that I topped the class in all the tests we had. I learnt these skills from my time in the World Aquanaut Security Patrol. You remember? Before my accident. I could beat all the other guys in the parkour, I was better at acrobatics then them all – being young and more flexible – and then there was lock-picking. I never managed to complete other lessons, but lock-picking was a skill I mastered after one lesson. All I need is a paper clip or a bobby pin and I can get it open." He said. Not quite believing it, Virgil stood up, and rounded the desk.
"Show me." He said. Gordon frowned, all the doors in the villa were automatic locks – they were programmed with their biometrics. Virgil led him around the desk. One of Dad's drawers was locked – and Scott and Virgil had been unable to find the key to it.
"It hold all the original plans for IR and we need to get in, but we can't find the key. We think Dad had the only one and it disappeared when he did." Virgil said. Gordon accepted the paper clip Scott held out. The expression on Scott's face was sceptical as if he wasn't ready to believe that Gordon could actually pick the lock.
Gordon crouched down in front of the drawer and bent the paperclip out of shape before digging in his pocket for Titin's bobby pin. Using the two he wedged them in the lock and wiggled them around for a moment before a click was heard and Gordon pulled the drawer open.
"Is that proof enough?" He asked, over the laughing from the doorway when Alan saw the jaws of his older brother's drop open.
"Well, that's a skill we could all use. What do you say Al?" Virgil said.
"Definitely. I already put my name down to learn that!" The blonde agreed.
"In future maybe it's best to tell us these things before you show off." Scott said, Gordon agreed any other skill he may possess would be talked about first and then used if deemed vital to the rescue. His skills would always prove vital and Gordon knew it. Maybe not lock-picking, but his parkour skills and his acrobatic abilities would always be useful in their rescues. At least they could see him now.
So maybe, just maybe, Gordon hadn't lost his edge.
