Countdown to Adventure

Standard disclaimer: I don't own the thunderbirds...

A/N: Just a quick warning. The reason for the T rating is coming up in this and the next chapter... it's not explicit just implied, and funny I hope.

Thank you!!!! (Big Smile) for the reviews. Glad to know you are enjoying the story. (KatZen: Yeah Virgil and Gordon do clash, but that little bun-fight earlier is nothing to what is coming up. (Evil laugh) Zoey makes an appearance (sort of) in this chapter... won't say anymore on that... And John's belief in Gordon growing up isn't gonna last the week. Ha ha ha.

To Loopstagirl, moonhera and Lady Smiles thanks for the encouragement, it really does make me want to post the next chapter quickly when I get such nice reviews. Thanks.

Hope you like this chapter, a bit more light hearted before all 'you know what' breaks out...

TBZ


Chapter 6 – Debrief...

Scott picked up another sandwich shoving it into his mouth whole; he smiled around it at his father's frown, chewed and quickly swallowed. "Sorry." He choked out, taking a swig from the juice carton his had sitting beside his plate.

Jeff shook his head as his eldest's eating habits, 'Lucy would have a fit.' He thought. "So once you had the rubble cleared, you and Gordon entered the mine?" Jeff asked Scott trying to get the debriefing back on track.

"Yeah," Scott nodded shaking the empty carton he stood and crossed to the fridge to get a new one, continuing his debrief all the while, "I was gonna go in by myself, but Gordo reminded me of protocol." He exchanged smiles with Gordon rounding the table to stand behind the younger man "So we equipped up and started in. Gordo did good, didn't panic and did just as I told him." Scott leaned down and pulled Gordon towards himself in a rough hug and rapped the young teen on the head gently with his knuckles. Pulling away Gordon gave his brother a mock scowl. "Leave off. Scotty." Grinning Scott swiped a sandwich off Gordon's plate and returned to his seat, plopping his fresh carton of juice on the table. Scowling Gordon took another sandwich from the platter in the centre of the table.

"Then what?" Jeff asked trying to divert the latent quarrel.

Scott shoved the last of the stolen sandwich in his mouth grinning tauntingly at Gordon, "We made our way through the mine, used the LEPs . I'll have to tell Brains they worked well. Ahh." He stopped for a slurp of his juice, "Dug through three collapses, not too bad." Thoughts of the buried miner caused him to stop for a moment, he looked at the new sandwich in his hand, ham and tomato, the soft redness of the tomato and rich smell of cured ham turned his stomach and he put it down. "Ahh." Glancing up Scott forced a smile on to his face, "...found the miners and got outta there. Pretty straight forward really.

Jeff nodded slowly, not having missed the sudden loss of appetite Scott had displayed, 'I'll speak to him later.' He thought.

Smiling at his sons Jeff nodded, "What did you think Gordon, how did the rescue go from your perspective."

Looking around at his brothers staring at him, Gordon shrugged embarrassed at suddenly being the centre of attention. As one of five boys he wasn't usually in the centre of things, unless he was in trouble for a prank or something. Being praised and asked for his opinion was a new experience. "Well, ya know. It was kinda scary..." He looked at his big brothers trying to read their faces, "Like I wasn't scared! But ya know, it was real dark and the sound was kinda off, not echo's exactly but different. And, well I just did like Scott said and we got to these guys, but they didn't understand us and then they took off. And like Scott said to let them go 'cause he needed to check these others out, but they were dead. And that was like..." Gordon stopped to take a breath, "I didn't like that, they were... And then Scott called you Dad, and then we had to go back to the Excavator and we couldn't take those men, and that made me feel bad, but Scott said it would be too dangerous. So like we went back to the Excavator and we found the other miners and then Scott said I could drive and I drove back to that building where you were Dad." Gordon's grin faded as he thought over the incident, he looked up at his father, "It was good ya know helping those guys get out and all, but the dead ones... Not so good."

Smiling poignantly Jeff nodded, he looked around at his sons sitting at the table, proud of them, then returning his attention to Gordon, "I know Gordon; it's never good when someone dies. But we do the best we can, we save those we can, but you can't save everyone, you just can't. None of us can." With anguished grey eyes Jeff looked around the table at his sons wondering at the path he had set them, 'Is it fair? Am I asking too much?' he wondered, then looking at the youngest at the table he sighed, that Gordon had had to learn the hardest of lesson on his first time out caused Jeff's heart to contract painfully.

John sitting beside Gordon wrapped an arm around his shoulders pulling him in for a hug, "Ya did good Fish, ya did real good." He slurred sleepily.

Putting his juice down Scott stood and circled behind Gordon to lean between them and joined in the hug, wrapping his arms around John and Gordon's shoulders, "Seems the three musketeers are four now, huh?" he asked looking across the table at Virgil.

Virgil snorted, "One rescue? Let's see how he does on the next one."

"Virgil!" Jeff warned. "You're brother did well. He deserves your support."

Virgil still miffed over the piano stool incident shrugged, "Sure... Well done Fish." He stood taking his plate into the kitchen and putting it in the dish washer. The three remaining brothers at the table watch him as he disappeared up the back stairs.

With a smirk fit to rival one of Gordon's, Scott dropped into a seat beside Gordon, grabbing the last sandwich off the plate, "Don't worry about him Gordo, he's just suffering PMT."

Gordon looked at his eldest brother, shocked. Across the table Jeff frowned while John doubled over in a fit of giggles.
"What?" Scott asked around the sandwich in his mouth, swallowing hard and taking a gulp of juice to wash down the offending lump of bread, he cleared his throat.

"PMT?" Jeff asked with a raised eye brow.

Scott smirked, "Yeah!" He looked at his second youngest brother beside him who was red faced in embarrassment. "P...M...T." he repeated with a sombre expression. John snorted, his giggles getting the better of him. Scott's sombre expression broke into a smile for a moment with John's laughter, but as he looked at his father he pulled his face into a serious facade, the sparkle in his eyes the only indication that he was teasing "Post Mission Tension. What did you think I was talking about?"

John roared with laughter falling off his chair at the look on his father's face, while Gordon flushed even more picking up his drink to avoid the question.

Shaking his head and trying to mask the smile on his face, Jeff stood, "I think that's enough for one night. I'll leave you three to clear up. Don't stay up too late, I'll see you in the morning." He moved around John, still collapsed on the floor giggling and ruffled Gordon's hair, "I'm proud of you son, real proud."

Grinning Scott scooped up the plates on the table taking them to the dishwasher, Gordon followed with the glasses. "I don't believe you said that." Gordon said looking at his eldest brother, "In front of Dad." Gordon shook his head in wonder.

Grinning Scott ruffled Gordon's hair, "Yeah well you're not the only one that can ruffle Dad's feathers. Just don't let Virge know I said it, or there will be hell to pay."

"But it's so true." John said from the doorway, having regained his feet, a huge grin still on his face, "He gets so... so... moody after a rescue."

"Yeah, but you know how serious he is John, Virge just... well it takes him a while to process it all, ya know. He just needs time, especially if someone's died." Scott tried to explain, "...and to be honest this one was hard for all of us. The new machines make it a totally different ball game. It's not like when we've helped out with search and rescue in Kansas. Now it's us making the decisions. We don't have back up and Virgil is gonna be our medic, which puts more pressure on him. So give him a break."

John and Gordon nod, understanding where Scott was coming from. Virgil, of all the brother's had the hardest time dealing with death, his interest in medicine being his way of learning to cope.

"Yeah, well you're the one that cracked the joke." John pointed out.

Scott nodded, "Yeah. I probably shouldn't have, but I just wanted to wind Dad up." He grinned, "He needed a laugh. This was tough on him seeing us out there."

John and Gordon nodded.

Quickly the three finish clearing the table then retreated upstairs to their rooms, John and Scott leaving Gordon on the second floor, "You gonna be OK Fish?" Scott asked an arm around the teenager.

"Yeah. I'm good." Gordon looked at his brothers, not wanting to let on that he was nervous of being on his own, the memories of the mission still playing in his mind.

"Well you know where I am." Scott said.

Nodding Gordon closed his door, the dark of his room reminding him chillingly of the mine, he turned on the light and changed for bed. Settling on his bed he closed his eyes, not willing to turn out the light yet.

Scott watched the door close then followed John up the stairs, "How long you give him?" John asked.

"Half hour tops." Scott said reaching his bed room door.

"Half hour huh? Longer than Virge." John looked at Scott questioningly.

"Yeah, Gordon's more stubborn." Scott answered pushing his door open and looking back at John.

"More stubborn, how you figure that? Virge is sure holding a grudge at the moment."

Scott shrugged, "Don't know, I just think Gordo will hold out longer. He just doesn't know when to give up, ya know?"

"Yeah I guess. Well if you need me call." John replied with a smile.

The two eldest Tracy brothers exchange waves as they closed their respective bedroom doors. Down the hall, Virgil pushed his door closed, not sure whether his was annoyed with his older brothers or not, was it a compliment that they consider Gordon more stubborn?

Miffed he turned out the light and climbed into bed. 'I didn't get all this praise and how-de-do-de after my first time out.' He thought, 'And I had to do mouth-to-mouth. Little brat just has to make a big deal of it all." He rolled over and punched the pillows into a firm ball. "Anyway I gotta reason to be holding a grudge, that stool is total stuffed." He muttered as he closed his eyes the tension of the mission slowly seeping from him. 'Still he did pretty good, at least he didn't freak out.'

----

Down the hall Scott changed into a pair of pyjama trousers and sat down at his desk it was well past midnight, and he knew he should get some sleep but wouldn't rest until he was able to do his rounds. Quietly he pulled up his emails and looked through them, finding several from air force buddies stationed at different bases around the globe. Scott sighed, it was hard keeping in touch with his friends, not being able to tell them what he was really doing, and not being able to brag that he was going to be flying the fastest thing on the planet. Especially when they pointed out their career advancements compared to his apparent dropping out. He still had several months till his term was up, but he was no longer pushing for advancement. Everyone knew Scott Tracy was leaving the Air force to stay at home and live off his Dad's money. It really grated on his pride.

Reading through the first email Scott noted that his best friend while in at Sheppard Air Force base had now made First Lieutenant and was engaged. In disgust Scott closed the email, "Yeah well try being in charge of a major rescue." He muttered.

An email alert flashed on the screen, opening the new message Scott saw it was from Zoey. Smiling Scott began to read, running a hand through his hair he sighed, Zoey's news was just the normal daily news they always exchanged, but in some ways it made it harder knowing she carried on without him there. He'd rather hear that she missed him and couldn't survive without him than knowing otherwise. Even with Zoey he couldn't be completely honest, not yet. It worried him more than he wanted to admit.

Glancing at the clock he did a quick calculation a decided to risk calling, it would be morning in Columbus Ohio. The buzz of the phone at the other end of the line left him in a zoned half sleep. The voice answering the call at the other end didn't register at first.

"Hello? Hello? Who's there... Hello?"

"Zo'. Hey Zoey... " Scott yawned and stretched while holding the phone to his ear. "Sorry, I'm half asleep...."

"Scott... Hi... Ahh.. Why are you calling? Isn't it the middle of the night there it? You should be fast asleep. What's wrong?" Zoey's voice held a note of tension as she quickly rattled off the questions.

"Whoa. Nothin's wrong. Everything's fine. I just... well. I couldn't sleep so I was looking at my email... and well...I just wanted to hear your voice..."

A soft chuckle sounded in his ear, causing ripples of pleasure to run down his spine and settle with a pleasant tingle. "Just wanted to hear my voice? OKaay...."

"I did." Scott defended with a laugh... "Ok honestly, I'd like a lot more than that... but as you're several thousand miles away... I'll have to settle for your voice."

"Ahha."

"Any chance you can get away for a few days?" Scott asked hopefully.
Sighing Zoey smiled, "Maybe... but what good will that do? It's not like I can skip halfway around the world and back just for a couple of days."

"A week, I can get you out here and back with five days of fun and sun... promise. Com'on one week."

A deep sigh met Scott statement, "A week. Seven days?"

Feeling the weakening of Zoey's resolve Scott pushed, "Seven days. Five days of sun, sand and surf.... and anything else you might want." Scott added with a leer in his voice.

"And what will this wondrous holiday cost me?" Zoey asked a laugh in her voice.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well...."

"Yeah... I thought they'd be a catch." Zoey chuckled, "Com'on fess up."

"You'd have to play chess with John... he's bored with beating the rest of us. Says you're the only challenge left."

Zoey snorted, "Me? You're kidding right?"

"No. That's what he says... reckons you've got this strange unexplainable logic that he can't follow." Scott sniggered, "Funnily enough, so does Gordon, but... well let's just say Gordon's not been in the good books lately."

"Oh... What's he done this time?" Zoey asked humour lacing her voice.

"It'd take too long to explain... but..." Scott snorted, "You'd be proud."

"Yeah?" Zoey giggled, "His alright though?"

"Yeah." Scott agreed, "But back to more important matters. Are you coming?"

Zoey gave a snigger, "Maybe.... So the catch is I play chess with John. What else?"

"Nothing. Promise"

"What about your Dad?"

"What about him?"

Sighing heavily Zoey shook her head, "Is he ok with me coming out there?"

"Yeah, Yes of course." Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Zo'. He told me to invite you."

"Ohhhh... So it was your Dad's idea?"

"No! No..." Scott began hurriedly then gave a disgruntled huff when he heard Zoey's giggles, "You got me. Didn't you?"

"Ah ha"

"See that's what John was talking about."

"What?"

"You're impossible... totally random."

"So?"

Scott chuckled. "So are you coming?"

"Hummm... Maybe... next week ok?"

"Next week? Next Monday?" Scott asked surprised.

"Yeah."

Scott looked at the clock on his bedside table, noting the time was 1.23am Sunday morning. "Monday? Tomorrow?"

"Ahha." Zoey replied with a smirk in her voice, "Tomorrow."

"You already had time off didn't you?"

"Yep."

Scott shook his head, in the nearly twenty years they'd known each other, he was still regularly caught off guard by her, "Why didn't you just say so?"

"Why?"

"Cause it would have made life easier."

Zoey snorted, "That's what you want... Easy?"

"No, you know what I want." He replied the leer back in his voice, "I'll pick you up Monday. OK?"

"Ok... well if I'm not going to lose my time off I better get to work. Love you."

"Ditto." Scott smiled and hung up the phone; absently he opened the desk draw and pulled out a small box, rolling it around in his hands as he let his thought ramble. His turbulent thoughts were cut short by the sound of his door opening. Gordon put his head around the door looking at Scott, "Is it OK if I come in?"

Smiling in welcome Scott nodded, "Yeah, com'on in." Quickly he shut down the computer and turned to Gordon.

Gordon quietly closed the door behind him and crossed the floor to sit on Scott's bed. "I couldn't sleep. Ya know? It's too quiet... and dark."

"Yeah. I know. Wanna sleep here?" Scott sat next to his brother an arm across his shoulders.

"Do you mind?"

"Nah, com'on get under the covers, I'm just gonna check on Virge and Al then I'll be back. OK?"

Nodding Gordon climbed under the covers in Scott's large bed, quietly Scott left the room to do his rounds, quickly skipping downs stairs to check on Alan and Fermat. Then back up stairs to look in on Virgil and John. Seeing all asleep and well he returned to his room to find Gordon curled up asleep on the far side of his king size bed. Smiling Scott tucked the pillow under Gordon's head and laid down himself.
He looked at the photos on his night stand with a quiet smile, the one of Zoey laughing at him while the ice-cream she'd painted his nose with dripped, causing Scott smile to stretch into a grin, 20 hours and she'd be with him.
The second photo caused the smile to fade alittle, his mother and father stood before the Christmas tree, arms around each other smiling brightly at the camera. "They're all sound asleep Mom." He smiled sadly. "You'd be proud of them Mom, they did good today, really good." He turned out the light and laying down with a tired sigh, rolled over reaching out a hand to rest on his brother's shoulder, comforted by the steady rise and fall of the teenager's chest Scott drifted to sleep.

TBC...


A/N: Ahhh... wasn't that sweet. (Enough brotherly fluff for you? No? You want more? OK!) Next chapter coming up soon.... (Brotherly fluff and a bit of blood, just to keep things interesting.)

TBZ.