Just wanted to get one last chapter posted before the end of the year. It's short, but has a couple of big revelations. More to come soon

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate all your kind words and encouragement

Happy New Year...and enjoy

Chapter 8

After his conversation with Avery had ended, Scott left the sick room and went in search of his father. He first went to check in his fathers bedroom expecting him to be there resting, but was surprised to find it was empty. So he headed back into the lounge. Once he got there he was even more surprised to find his father at his desk, alone- with the exception of John who had called in from Thunderbird 5.

"Don't worry son, I'll update you as soon as Scott…" Jeff was saying as Scott entered the room "Scott, how did it go?" He asked his eldest as Scott came to stand next to him at the desk

"Hi Scott"

"Hey John" Scott replied his voice sounding weary "how's it going up there?"

"All quiet at the moment, just a few minor storm fronts I'm monitoring, but at the moment they don't seem to be anything to worry about" he informed his brother, filling him in on what he had just been discussing with there father before Scott had entered the room

"How did it go Scott?" Jeff asked, eager to know what Avery had told him. Reluctantly Scott turned his gaze from John to his father. The almost haunted look in Scott's eye concerned Jeff, and he could tell by the equally concerned expression on John's face that he had noticed it too

"John I'll speak to you later" he told him

"FAB" John replied hesitantly before the communication was ended

"Where is everyone?" Scott asked glancing around the room, although he already knew that his brother was no longer there

"Alan and Gordon have gone for a swim, and I sent Virgil to his room. He was exhausted, so I asked Brain's to give him a mild sedative to help him get some rest. You boys have had a busy couple of days with rescues and taking care of everything while I have been unwell. Plus with everything else that's happened in the last few hours I think it's for the best" Jeff told him

"Is that wise considering the storms John's monitoring... what if we need to deploy…Virgil won't be in any fit state to fly Thunderbird 2…"

"And he'll be in an even worse state if he doesn't get any rest. Don't worry Scott if any calls come in you, Gordon and Alan will be able to deal with it between you"

"You're right father, I'm sorry" Scott agreed "I must confess that Virgil's reaction to Avery's presence here has me concerned" Jeff nodded his head in agreement with his son's words "But considering how he's been so far, i'm even more concerned with how he will react to what I have just found out"

"What was that son?" Jeff asked hesitantly

"Well father, Avery has told me that Virgil…"

Just as he was about to complete his sentence Brains returned to the lounge. His presence causing Scott to stop before he had finished what he was about to say. Jeff was going to ask Scott to continue but the agitated expression on the engineers face had distracted him

"Brains is everything okay?"

"I'm s..sorry for interrupting M..Mr Tracy" the genius said anxiously "b…but I have h..had the results b..back from the blood s…sample I had taken from o..our guest. I…I thought you would w..want the results r..right away"

"It's okay Brains" Scott told him "What have you found out?"

"W…well it turns out th..that Avery is pr..pregnant"

"What!" Both Scott and Jeff gasped in unison

"Are you sure Brains?" Jeff asked him. If it had been anyone other than Brains telling him this he would have thought that maybe they had misread the results, but not Brains, he didn't make simple mistakes like that

"I..I double ch..checked the results my..myself just to be s..sure" he confirmed

"Oh boy" Scott muttered under his breath, drawing the other men's attention

"What's wrong Scott?" Jeff asked getting up from his chair and approaching his son

"It's just something that Avery said to me that's all" Scott walked over to the small couch that was used to gain access to Thunderbird 3's silo, and slowly dropped down onto it. A very big part of him was hoping that all of this was just some crazy dream and that he would wake up to find that everything was back to normal. But he also knew that that wasn't going to happen…he also knew that he needed to update his father on the conversation he had had with Avery in the sick room. That along with this latest revelation from Brains had hit him like a blow to the guts. He also knew that if this piece of news was making him feel like this, he could not begin to imagine how it would affect Virgil

Scott looked up as Jeff walked over to him and joined him on the couch. He hated seeing the concerned look on his fathers face, but he knew that what he had to tell him would far from remove that expression

Scott them informed his father of the conversation he had had with Avery. How she had told him that she didn't believe that they were who they said they were. That they were the imposters and that the information they had was out of date.

"Why did she say that?" Jeff asked, his voice stern yet hoarse

"She said it was because Virgil shouldn't be here"

"Wh..where else would he be?" Brains asked. He had still been there listening quietly to what it was that Scott had told his father, that the other two men had all but forgotten that the engineer was still in the room

"She said he shouldn't be here…because he's dead!"