The Boy Death Left Behind
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord blesses them and keeps them. Amen." Standing at the graveside Alan barely heard the preacher as he recited the rite of the dead.
Gazing down at his feet, Alan blinked in attempt to chase the tears. A warm hand, comforting touch on his shoulder made Alan shiver. He'd never get to feel their warm and comforting hugs again. He was alone; left behind by death when his family…the operatives of International Rescue tried to rescue the people of Greece. Their bodies were recovered and Lady Penelope and Parker identified them as the International Rescue agents.
"Come along Alan darling." Lady Penelope cooed as she held the sixteen year old close before leading him from the graveside of his father and brothers.
It'd been a painful and bleak day. Waking up from a sedated sleep, Alan was led out of his late grandmother's house on the Tracy Farm by Brains and Fermat. They and the Belegants stayed with Alan at his grandmother's while they made the final funeral preparations for Alan's family. It'd been brought to the attention of the media who International Rescue was when it'd been announced that International Rescue was closing down operation with the fatalities of the entire team including their commander. The media had gone crazy when it'd been discovered that Jeff Tracy of Tracy Enterprises and his four oldest sons were the agents of International Rescue.
Parker draped his jacket over Alan's head to hide the tearful boy's face from the paparazzi who insisted on trying to catch a picture of the distraught orphan. An orphan, that's what he was now. He was alone, all alone. He was an orphan.
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Opening his eyes, Alan felt the stinging warmth of tears as they flooded his eyes upon waking. Curling into a tight ball, Alan refused to get out of bed. There was no point. Not anymore. His family was gone, he was alone. He'd been left an orphan and all because they hadn't pulled out during the earthquake which shook Greece. It'd been a suicide mission, but Jeff and the boys had been determined to try to save the people in the small town before the ticking time bomb volcano ruptured from the rapid earthquakes that shook the area.
Alan had been at school when he had been pulled out of class. The headmaster delivered the news standing in the doorway and had embraced the boy when his knees gave out. Fermat had jumped up from class and ran to his best friend and the entire classroom quieted as they heard Alan's tearful declaration that 'they couldn't be dead'. Lady Penelope arrived not even two hours later after having identified the bodies of Jeff, Scott, Virgil and Gordon. John was safe in space, but Alan still felt alone. His family was gone and that just wasn't fair.
"Hey kiddo, I got you some breakfast." John said as he'd entered Alan's bedroom. He held a single apple in hand and declared that breakfast. Alan blinked slowly, but hadn't said anything. John sat on the bed and looked at his baby brother sadly. Alan was taking this harder than he'd expected, but then nobody could understand grief and how that messed with a person's psyche. He hadn't been to the funeral for his family, preferring to stay in space until it was over. He couldn't do it, he couldn't say good bye – not to his dad and brothers. But Alan had been forced to go and say good bye for them both and he'd immediately retreated into his shell and refused to come out. "Come on, Lady Penelope and Onaha are asking that you eat something, you haven't eaten in three days."
Alan blinked slowly again, a tear streaking across his face before he turned over – making John look at his back. He just didn't want to be bothered right now, or ever. John reached out to grip Alan's shoulder gently, but stopped midway and retracted his hand. Closing his fist, John stood up and left Alan's bedroom, the apple left like a beacon in the darkness for Alan to eat when he got hungry.
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Alan and John sat side by side as they looked at their father's lawyer, their identical blue eyes dull and lifeless as their father's last will and testament was read off to them. After their father's will was read then they'd take an hour before sitting down to hear Scott's will and so on and so forth until the four deceased Tracy's wills had been read.
"In the event of my demise, I leave the Tracy Island villa to my five sons. I trust they'll determine what to do with the property to keep it or to sell it, it's their decisions. To each individual son I leave to Scott the position of CEO the Tracy Enterprises business. I know he'll take good care of the business and to John I leave him the position of Chief Financial Officer in Tracy Enterprises, and the title to Tracy Farms. To Virgil I leave the position of Chief Operations Officer, he always was good at math and finances. I trust he'll keep the family business afloat." Jeff's lawyer paused when he heard a shaky inhale and he looked up to see Alan breaking down into tears.
John embraced his brother and led him from the room in order to let him get a hold of himself and they returned when Alan felt he could return without bawling like a baby again. Sitting down once more, the lawyer continued the reading of Jeff's will. "To the water baby of the family Gordon – I leave the position of Chief Information Officer – he's always been good at gathering information and he knows how to use it to its full potential., then last but not least to my baby boy Alan…"
Alan's eyes began to water again, but he reached over and held John's hand hoping to draw strength from his older brother during this devastating time and remain as calm as was possible.
"To Alan, I leave the position of Chief Technology Officer – he's always been very crafty and an impressive problem solver. I also leave the 1959 Ford Thunderbird for Alan. He's always begged me to drive the car despite not having his license yet. I can think of no one better to care for that car like I have since the day it came into my possession." The lawyer looked up again at the sound of a sniffle to see a small smile playing across the teenager's face. He seemed pleased that he'd at least gotten the vehicle that his father treasured. From the look on John's face, this was obviously the first smile from Alan since hearing that his father and brothers died in action.
Resuming the reading, the lawyer continued business. "To all of my sons I leave my fortune, I trust they'll divide it evenly among themselves."
The lawyer stopped reading the will and laid it on the table top, looking at the two surviving Tracy sons.
"That is all your father had written in his will. Do you wish to continue the reading of your brother's wills or do you wish to reschedule for another day and try to relax for the rest of the day?" The lawyer looked at the two Tracy sons and felt immense pity for them both. They both were too young to have lost their entire world, having only each other left from their family to lean on.
"What do you want to do Alan?" John looked at his little brother and saw how red and puffy his eyes were. Alan hadn't been drinking nearly enough water or eating and in the two weeks since their family's demise, he'd lost several pounds and was beginning to look emaciated.
"Let's keep going." Alan replied dully. He no longer felt anything – unless you counted the numb feeling that consumed his soul.
"All right then." The lawyer picked up Scott's will and began to read.
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Alan and John both went through the villa upon returning with a couple bed sheets and draped it over their family's furniture before pulling the shades and locking their bedroom doors. Alan moved out of his room and into a guest room since the room he'd previously had he'd shared with Gordon. It was too painful for Alan to remain in that room where he and Gordon planned all their pranks and prepared stunts to surprise their family.
Together, John and Alan meticulously dismantled command and control making it no longer the heart of all rescues but just a simple office. Soon they'd need to go to sleep though and prepare to return to the mainland once more in order to meet with the courts about finalizing the custody forms on Alan. Their dad made it clear in his will that should anything happen to him – that Alan goes to the next in line and they'd be his guardian; with Scott having died along with Jeff as well as Virgil and Gordon – that left John as the sole sibling to take over guardianship of Alan. Had Alan been left totally alone, meaning if John had died as well then guardianship would go to both Brains and Lady Penelope. They'd have dual guardianship over Alan, making sure that he had a mother and father to continue watching over him. It'd be an informal means of adoption for Alan and he'd no longer be considered an orphan. As it stood right now though, John and Lady Penelope had dual guardianship over Alan.
"Hey John, what am I gonna do about school?" Alan asked, his voice no more than a whisper.
"I'll get you enrolled in a home correspondence course through Wharton and you can stay here with me on the island." John didn't want to let Alan go back out there to attend a private boy's school. It'd been brought out into the open that the Tracy family had been the legendary Thunderbirds and John hadn't wanted Alan in the media's spotlight.
"Okay." Alan replied as he moved over to Virgil's beloved piano. Alan could play, just not as good as Virgil could and it also felt wrong to touch Virgil's piano without his permission. Looking at John, Alan lifted a flat sheet and draped it over the piano. He didn't want to see the piano any longer. It was too hard to imagine Virgil sitting at the piano playing one of his favorite pieces by Beethoven. The next on the list was to drain the pool – for now anyway. It was too much like the pool belonged to Gordon and like with Virgil's piano, it felt wrong to swim without Gordon's permission. Next Alan and John would store the family jets in one of the back hangers – one you couldn't see from the front deck. Then they couldn't see Scott's hobby of plane maintenance. It'd be a while yet before either boy felt like looking upon their family's prized possessions again.
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As the months dragged on from the death of Jeff, Scott, Virgil and Gordon – the two surviving Tracy sons found the pain while still there hadn't been nearly as crippling as it had been initially. Sure it still hurt to think of their family, but the pain had turned more into numbness and neither Alan nor John really noticed it as much anymore. Sure they'd still cry occasionally, but they'd begun to smile more and laugh in earnest.
Alan found he'd been doing well at home studies and with John's tutelage he'd become a straight A student. Alan gradually began to take part in his favorite activities once more as did John. Both brothers still had their rough days where they hadn't wanted to pull themselves out of bed, but they were getting better.
Gradually months turned into years and soon Alan was walking up in his cap and gown to accept his high school diploma with other students of Wharton. He smiled at John who was sat in the front row holding a camera and taking picture after picture of his eighteen year old brother. It'd been a long and painful couple of years, but the brothers had gradually gotten better. They both traveled to the mainland, getting back out into mainstream public and doing something with themselves. True the Thunderbirds were no more, but that didn't mean they couldn't still do what they could to help out. John and Alan both volunteered for community service, made healthy donations where needed and offered their assistance for constructing sound structures so that travesties like what claimed their family's lives couldn't happen anymore. Essentially they still continued to act in the role of International Rescue, but to any outsiders they were just John and Alan Tracy – humanitarians of the century.
End
A/N: So this story was created today on a whim. During my algebra class the idea struck me when I thought of one of my favorite authors novels and how she portrayed the feelings of a teenage girl when her whole world got turned upside down with the demise of her entire family due to a vehicular accident - leaving her in the care of her aunt and uncle.
I do not in any way, shape or form own the Thunderbirds.
Hope you enjoy!
~Angel~