AN: Yes folks, this is the last chapter. I have requests for me to do the other guys too so I probably will but I'm not giving a time frame as I have other stories in the works. I'm just curious any requests for who you want to hear from next - John, Jeff, or Gordon?
criminally charmed - I know this isn't what you had in mind when you said 'update soon' but this chapter gave me issues. It's finally done though and with it this story. Decided to skip the end scene altogether this time around. Hope you have enjoyed the story!
Digi -girl101 - Hope you like the ending! Thanks for the reviews!
Boleyn - I'm glad you liked my interactions I had. Hopefully this chapter is just as good. Thanks for the support !
Kate Maxwell - yeah, sorry about the paragraph dividers. Hoepfully I don't copy that mistake in this one :) Its been fun writing this story and reading your reactions. Hope you'll let me know how you liked the story now that its complete!
Trinilee Greenleaf - Thanks for taking the time to review and for being patient for this update. I hope you've enjoyed the journey.
bluesweetie1978 - glad you like the story! thanks for reviewing!
brezo-1816 - may have taken you awhile to review, but hey you beat my update! Glad you liked how I 'filled the gaps'. Thanks for your support!
"How did the trip go, Dad?" I asked as Dad and Brains came off of Thunderbird 3. I had been waiting outside of the silo ever since they had undocked the shuttle from Thunderbird 5.
This was the second day that Brains and Dad had made the trip up there. Three days since the station had been attacked. I was ready to go back up. To face what had almost become my tomb. I knew that the longer I put it off the harder it would be to go back. Convincing Dad of that was proving to be the problem. I think he was trying to protect my brothers and me by not letting us go back up.
"Well," Dad replied. "Brains and I have the environmental systems up and running like they should be. The air should be completely clean by tomorrow. Now the clean up begins. We'll worry about the other systems after that. How's John?"
"Doing well. Uncle Mark's with him right now and John's insisting that he be let out of bed."
"Can't wait to see who wins that battle?" Dad commented. "The glass wall that was shattered?"
"Safely delivered and installed," I told him. While Dad and Brains had been aboard Thunderbird 5, Dad had put me in charge of the repairs to the house. The glass wall that had been shattered had been the last step of getting our home back together. "You wouldn't even know the Hood had been here."
"I'll feel better when the station's back up and running and your brother is well," Dad told me.
I nodded. I knew how he felt.
"Are you going up again tomorrow?" I asked as we made our way up out of the silo. I was tying to just sound curious. What I really wanted was a chance to convince him to let me go with him.
Brains had already headed off to his workshop. He was busy updating the defensive systems of Thunderbird 5. We had been foolish enough to believe that the station was well enough hidden that it wouldn't become a target. It was a mistake Dad had sworn he wasn't going to make again.
"Yes. I have a feeling there will be quite a few trips up to Thunderbird 5 for . . ."
I followed Dad's gaze to see what had made him trail off. We had made it to the main floor of the house. John, leaning on Uncle Mark for support, was slowly making his way down the main stairs.
"John?" Dad said, obviously concerned.
"I needed a change of scenery. I convinced Uncle Mark I can rest just as well on the couch as I can in my bed," John said. He was still pale. His arm was still in the sling and his hands bandaged. I could tell he was in pain by the stiffness in his movements.
"Yeah, and you better stay on the couch," Mark told him as the two reached the bottom of the steps. "Scott, help your brother," he said looking toward me. "I want a word with your father."
I nodded as Uncle Mark slipped his arm from around John's waist and I took his place. Letting John set the pace, the two of us headed toward the living room.
"You just have to be stubborn don't you," I said to him as Dad and Uncle Mark headed toward the den.
"You're one to talk," John replied.
"What do you suppose Uncle Mark wanted to talk to Dad about?" I asked him. When he didn't respond right away, I looked over at him. "You know, don't you?"
"Yeah. I asked him to talk to Dad about me going up to Thunderbird 5 before the clean up begins."
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" I asked him. I was surprised to hear John say he even wanted to go back up to the station.
I wasn't sure how I felt about John going back up to the station when he hadn't recovered fully. He'd been through more than the rest of us. I had thought I was going to lose him so many times already. All I wanted to do was protect him from anything I could.
"I need to see it," John told me as I helped him sit on the couch. "Before it's repaired I need to see what it looks like. Face it. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to completely put what happened behind me if I don't."
I knew how he was feeling. It was the same feeling I had about it myself. I also knew it was going to take quite a bit to get Dad to go for the idea. He was hesitant to let even Gordon, Virgil and myself up there.
"What does Uncle Mark think?"
"He agrees with me that I should go up and see the station before it's cleaned up. Not so sure he's completely sure I'm up for it right now," John told me. I could hear a trace of bitterness in his voice.
"They're only looking out for you," I told him reaching out and letting my hand rest on his good arm.
"I know," he told me softly.
Before either one of us could say anything though both Gordon and Alan came running by. We could hear their feet pounding up the steps even as we saw Virgil run by. A very colorful Virgil I might ad.
"I think you better go see what's going on," John said nodding toward where our brother's had disappeared. I didn't miss the longing in his voice. John had always been the peacemaker of the family. This time though he couldn't.
"Don't worry. I'll handle it," I told him, trying to sound more confident then I felt. I didn't exactly have the best track record with peace making.
I headed up the steps. I found Virgil upstairs outside of Gordon's room. "You two can't stay in there forever," Virgil called to them.
"Yeah, and you can't stand out there forever either," Gordon challenged through the door.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Look at me. Those two filled water guns with dyed water and ambushed me on my way back up to the house."
I was trying hard not to laugh. Virgil was quite a sight. His shirt and exposed skin had streaks of color on them. I saw red, blue, green, and yellow. Both Alan and Gordon must have had two water guns a piece.
"We were practicing tie dye techniques," Alan called out.
"Yeah, well next time practice on a shirt I'm not wearing," Virgil retorted. I could hear laughter coming from inside the room.
"Why don't you go clean up before any of this gets on the rug?" I told Virgil. With any luck the shower would cool him off.
He shot me a look but trudged off toward his own room. I turned to the door. "Okay, you two open up. It's just me out here."
"How mad are you?" Alan asked.
"You don't open this door, I'm going to be even madder," I replied. "Not to mention, I'll go get Dad and let him deal with you two."
The door opened. Gordon was standing just inside the door while Alan had retreated to the bed. I stepped inside, still trying hard to keep a straight face. As funny as I thought it was, I knew Virgil was upset about what had happened. I owed it to him to try and make these two see that not everyone shared their sense of humor. It wasn't the first big brother lecture I had given and it probably wouldn't be the last either.
Two Days Later:
"Approaching Thunderbird 5," I announced, even though it was quite obvious. The station was getting bigger as we got closer to it. The damage from outside doesn't look that bad compared to the damage inside, I thought to myself.
Gordon was beside me in the pilot's seat. He'd been quiet this morning. I got the impression back in Dad's office that he had been hoping Dad would ask him to stay behind. Instead, that had fallen on Virgil, who had not been happy about the decision. He had only stopped protesting when Dad had assured him he could come up in the afternoon when we came back up.
We weren't planning on doing any work on this trip to the station. This trip was solely, for the purpose of letting John see the station before the clean up began. Uncle Mark was with us, wanting to be on hand 'just in case'. They were in the back two seats, with Dad assuming his usual center seat.
"Prepare for docking," Gordon said a few moments later.
Other than keep an eye on things, there wasn't much for me to do, most of the docking procedures falling to Gordon. He easily docked the shuttle with the station. This docking didn't have the urgency the last one I had been on, had but I was still nervous. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face this or not. However, as uneasy about this as I was, I knew John was even more uneasy. After all, he had faced the initial attack on the station. That was something, none of the rest of us had to go through.
I took a deep calming breath, as I lifted the restraint up. Suddenly I wasn't so anxious to see the inside of the station. Still, like John had said a couple of days ago, this was something that I needed to face. The longer its put off, the harder it was going to be.
I stood up. Dad was already at the hatch to the airlock. Uncle Mark had helped John to his feet. Once again, I wondered if my brother was really up for this or if it was just too soon. I knew at this point I could only hope for the best.
The hatch opened and Dad walked onto the station, followed by Uncle Mark and John. I let Gordon go in front of me, partially to keep an eye on him and also so I could be behind everyone else. If I was behind everyone else, I wouldn't have as many eyes on me.
We slowly made our way through the airlock and onto Thunderbird 5. The air was much cleaner now. There wasn't the smoke and gases in the air from the fires from before. The evidence of them was still there though. Soot and debris still covered much of the command deck. Wires were exposed. The only place that looked any different was the main console which Brains and Dad had cleaned and fixed up in order to get the environmental systems back online.
Man, do we have a lot of work ahead of us, I thought as I looked around. I mentally started going through the steps of the clean up process. First the debris would need to be taken off and the soot scrubbed off. After that, the repairing and reconstruction process of those things that had been damaged could be started. It looked as if we were going to be without Thunderbird 5 for quite awhile. We had weeks of work ahead of us even without any calls coming in.
"John," I heard Dad say. I looked toward him and John. John seemed to have a far away look on his face. I took a few steps toward them, moving so I was standing next to Gordon. All of us were looking toward John.
"I'm fine," John said, taking a few steps forward on his own. What was going through his head?
I noticed Dad looking toward Uncle Mark. Uncertainty was clearly written all over Dad's face. From where I stood, I couldn't read Uncle Mark's face but I saw him nod slightly.
My eyes drifted back to John. He had slowly made his way toward the main console and he sank down in the chair, which had survived the whole ordeal relatively unscathed. Was this station worth putting one of us at risk for? Maybe it shouldn't be repaired?
I can't believe how close I came to losing him this time, I thought, as I watched him run a hand over the console. We all came close to not making it through this one. I suddenly understood the worry on my father's face when we were out on a rescue. Realized just how dangerous this all was. Yeah sure I knew what we did was risky. Hell, there had even been a few close calls before. A few injuries. Nothing major though. Nothing that would have prepared us for this.
And this time it wasn't just an accident or mother nature. This wasn't a rescue gone wrong. This had been a direct attack against us. Someone out for revenge because he felt we had left him behind. We hadn't done so intentionally. I knew we all gave one hundred and ten percent every time we went out there. Did our best to save everyone. That wasn't always possible though. I may have felt in danger before, but this was the first time I had ever felt like a target.
Maybe that was what was really bothering me. The fact that the Hood had intentionally attacked the station. Had lured us up here with the intention of killing us.
Well he had failed. We had proved we were stronger than I. Had not only managed to get off the station but put him behind bars where he belonged. The Hood may have been out for revenge but he had done something else instead. He had proven to me just how important International Rescue was and not only in our primary mission of rescuing people from natural disasters. The Hood had shown me that International Rescue put as in the position to protect the innocent from people like him.
I looked over at Gordon. "You okay?" I asked him.
He nodded. "It's a little weird to think this is where I almost died," he commented, looking around. "The station doesn't seem quite so safe anymore," he said as he looked back at me.
"I know what you mean," I told him. "We definitely need to work on the station's defenses."
"We will," Dad said. I looked toward him, not aware he had been able to overhear me. "Brains has some ideas for added computer security. We're also going to equip Thunderbird 5 with missiles . . ."
"I don't want this place turned into some military outpost," John said from where he was sitting.
Dad rested his hand on John's good shoulder and looked down at him. "Purely defensive," Dad told him. "If someone takes a shot at this station again, I don't want whoever is up here to be a sitting duck."
John nodded. From the way he had talked I knew then that John would be back up here when he had healed. Knowing that made my decision easy. If John could come back up here after what he had been through, then I could to.
It might take awhile but Thunderbird 5 would go back online. The Hood may have wounded us but by sticking together we'd come through this stronger and more prepared for whatever was thrown are way.
"Thunderbirds, are go," I whispered softly.
