THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!
SCENT LIKE A BUTTERFLY
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
(Contains spoilers for "S.O.S Part Two")
Gordon lay there on the hospital bed, still and calm.
It frightened Alan.
Gordon was never one to keep his lips sealed, he was always cracking a joke or making the conversation all about what he got up to that day.
Now he was just quiet.
Alan figured if he was around it would stir him up, since the two were just as lively as the other and could talk about virtually anything that wasn't weighed down in any degree of seriousness, which would come from Vigil, John and Scott.
Alan wondered if it were more appropriate for them to be here now, to sort of encourage him to try and speak, because the indecision on whether or not to try was irritating him.
For all he knew, Gordon's mind could be drifting to thoughts of Thunderbird 4, left in ruins at the bed of the ocean, how he'd been left humbled and crushed by the Chaos Crew, all of this could be weighing heavily on his mind and he didn't want the slightest disruption as he processed it.
Alan had been in dangerous predicaments before, they all had, every one of the family, but never had their battles with The Hood impacted them in this fashion.
Were they perhaps losing their touch out there in the field?
Were they getting too arrogant?
Alan welled up, the solemn stillness of Gordon was something he could bear no longer, and he excused himself and left the room.
As soon as he left the door, Alan cursed himself, why did he have to leave Gordon behind when he could do with some much needed coaxing to snap him out of his funk? He didn't need to drift through his own personal space, he need someone to bring him down to Earth. That had always been Alan's job.
Alan's eye suddenly caught sight of someone arriving, a bundle of flowers clutched in their hand.
"Hey" Alan said as Kayo approached him.
"I was helping Brains decipher the meaning of Brahman's distress call back at base" Kayo explained.
"I heard you let the Crew go to retrieve that hunk of tin" said Alan
"It was on Brains' orders, he said it was urgent"
"And was it?"
"Trust me; it's vital you and the others hear what he has to say about the source of the signal"
"It must have hurt you though, knowing how close you could have been to getting back at them for what they did"
Kayo nodded.
"My head won't stop replaying the moment, it's on a loop, I chose to prioritise the past over the present, and I may have cost us and Gordon a future because of it"
"Hey, this'll become part of your past too, all you need to do to put it behind you is grow and learn from it" Alan said, grabbing Kayo's shoulders firmly with his hands.
Kayo looked longingly in to his eyes and leaned forward to grip him in a comfortable embrace.
A large sneeze could be coming from the room. Alan and Kayo disengaged from their hug and entered the room to find Gordon alert and awake, pressing a signal button on his right hand side to bring the doctors in to check on him.
"You OK Gordon?" said Alan.
"What is that I can smell? I think I tore a muscle trying to keep in a gazuntite"
Kayo's eyes were trained on the flowers she'd brought; a swift realisation dawned on her.
"Oh no, I must have picked up ones with a fragrance he's allergic to" she whispered to Alan.
"Scent like a butterfly, stings like a bee" Alan remarked as Gordon sneezed again.