~#~ (Chapter 4)
All too soon the sofa arrived at its destination near to where Jeff was waiting, sitting at the control desk. The Tracy patriarch was surprised to see John accepting comfort from Scott in the form of a hug but one glance at the black look directed at him by Scott made him keep his mouth firmly closed. Jeff Tracy may have been the one who ruled the roost on the island but even he knew to keep well out of Scott's line of fire when his eldest son was in full on protection mode.
Scott had initially balked at the idea of sharing his parents with more children and had instantly resented the small, blonde wailing person who arrived to take up so much of his parents' time. It was only when Virgil had been born that Scott's now-infamous big brother tendencies had kicked in. He had immediately bonded with his younger, dark haired brother and had doted on him from day one. Virgil's birth had also proved the turning point in the constant struggle between the two older brothers but that may have been mostly because Scott had pretty much ignored John from the moment that Virgil arrived. Scott had seemed to mellow more with the arrival of Gordon but only after Alan's hurried, premature birth had he truly bonded with his next-oldest sibling.
John had been delighted when Alan was born blonde because, having seen the bond that linked the two brown-haired Tracy children, he knew the tiny little scrap of a boy would be his lifelong ally. It had devastated John when Alan was taken away at just a few minutes old and placed in a special care baby unit before he had even got to touch him and this was the first time ever that Scott had willingly reached out to comfort his next oldest sibling. Jeff, in the confusion of the hospital, managed to lose track of his three eldest children for a short while and, when they were found it was discovered that they had got almost all the way to the room where Alan had been taken. Whether they had gotten lost or had hidden from a member of staff, no-one could be certain but the three were found cuddled together in the corner of a mostly-empty storage room. John, with tear-tracks still drying on his face, had been securely ensconced between his two brown-haired brothers and all three had been fast asleep. From that day onwards John had been firmly included in Scott's list of 'those who must be protected at all costs'.
~#~
Jeff got up and quietly approached the sofa where his two eldest children still sat. At a nod from his father Scott gave John's shoulder a squeeze and slowly moved away when the blonde acknowledged him.
He then wandered out of the house and through the access tunnels into Thunderbird 1's silo so he could make the call to Alan to let him know that they'd arrived safely. Scott didn't really need to call as Thunderbird 5 was more than capable of letting its occupant know where any/all of the Thunderbird craft were at any point in time. He was going to contact Alan simply because he had promised to and because he was naturally concerned about his youngest sibling.
The eldest Tracy boy had to chuckle to himself when he walked into the silo only to find Tin-Tin talking quietly to the bank of computers at the back of the room. The young girl was obviously engrossed in her conversation and had not heard him enter the room so Scott whistled quietly to avoid startling her. As she heard his whistle Tin-Tin turned to watch him walk forwards and Scott caught a glimpse of Alan's face on the vid-comm screen behind her. Crouching beside her, Scott waved at his little brother with a cheery announcement of "Hi Al, we're back."
Alan grinned. "So I see," he replied and then his grin faded. "How's John?"
Scott shrugged in a non-committal way. "Difficult to tell, he'd pretty much shut down by the time we'd got back here. Father's with him now and with any luck, once he actually knows what's going on, he'll be a darn site better. If someone doesn't talk to you first I'll let you know as soon as I know anything more. In the mean time I'm going to go track down Gordon and Virg and I'll leave you with the lovely Tin-Tin!"
With that, Scott rose to his feet and patted the now furiously-blushing Tin-Tin on the shoulder before walking away.