Jeff Tracy was always the favourite.
No matter what room he entered he managed to be the center of attention, and when he decided to pursue a task he was brilliant on the first try.
Why did that man have to be so gifted?
No one knew.
And then the golden child had been elected top of his class at NASA's training facility and had become engaged to the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth.
The woman that James Jackson had been trying to get with for years.
It wasn't enough that Lucille had forgotten him, but so had everyone else, that is, until that damn Tracy had caught him selling drugs in the washroom and got him sent to prison for a twenty five year sentence.
In the prison common room he'd watched as Jeff arose to fame as having successfully lived on the moon for months and having become a billionaire with five sons to carry on his great lineage.
Lucille, his one true love, had chosen Jeff to spend the rest of her life with, and if he couldn't have her or the fame that had been stolen from him, then James would just have to court something much sweeter.
Revenge.
"It's been twenty five years Tracy, and while you've been living your perfect life I've been planning. You better watch your sons, Tracy, because they're just the first on my list to suffer".
"Hey Gordo! Do you want to jump in the pool with me?" Thirteen year old Alan asked excitedly.
Fifteen year old Gordon Tracy sighed as his energetic younger sibling raced over to him, bouncing up and down happily.
"I can't Alan, I've got to go work on painting Thunderbird 4. You know I can't join the others on rescues until I'm old enough, and the moment I am I want to have my vessel finished," Gordon explained patiently.
Alan groaned in annoyance, turning pleading blue eyes up at his usual partner in crime.
"But no one wants to hang out with me this afternoon! Can't you paint her later?"
"No, Alan. But if you want something to do then I guess you can come paint with me," Gordon offered at seeing the dejected face his brother had pulled.
A happy squeal relayed Alan's answer as the two of them took the stairs to the hanger, rushing to beat each other down to the bottom.
When they had collected the obnoxiously yellow paint and necessary tools Gordon led the way to his almost completed Thunderbird, propped up on its platform.
"She's looking great Gordon," Alan murmured appreciatively as he gazed longingly at the beautiful watercraft.
"She'll perform even greater too! I'll be the best in the water, just you wait and see," Gordon bragged, his pride and affection for the craft filling his tone easily.
Alan walked slowly around the craft, trailing his fingers over her smooth sides and immaculate thrusters.
"She's beautiful Gordon. One day I'll go on missions with you and I'll have a bright red Thunderbird of my own!" Alan chirped excitedly.
Gordon smirked at his younger brother as he handed over a paintbrush dipped in bright yellow paint.
"Well while you're dreaming you can get to work painting the driver's door".
So innocent.
Two little boys as of yet unaccustomed to the darkness of the world.
"What a pity, you're about to get acquainted," Chuckled James softly as he watched from behind a large silver ship.
He'd spent years planning.
He knew the rough whereabouts of Tracy Island but had been unable to pinpoint it exactly, that is, until he had been contacted by someone who did know.
The Hood.
That was what they called him in prison, word was he had a vendetta out on the Tracy's and was willing to help anyone like minded enough to attempt an attack on the family.
With the Hood's help he had steered his rented vessel to the shores of the island and had spent the past few hours working out how to get in to the hanger. Thankfully two little boys had left the door open for him long enough that he could slip inside and take up position with his camera and guns in hand.
Grinning softy to himself he crept forward, eyes riveted on the two laughing boys who were currently splattering themselves with paint.
Gordon and Alan, he remembered.
Creeping silently forward over the sound of their laughter and raised the gun and fixed a devilish smirk on his scarred lips.
"Well hello there little ones".
"Long day?"
"The longest," Jeff grumbled as he slumped down in to his desk chair, and faced his son with half lidded eyes.
Handing over a cup of steaming black coffee Scott smirked at his father's plight and the way his eyes lit up at the sight of the drink.
"You, my son, are a godsend".
They sat in silence as the sunset sent orange and pink glowing light through the glass outer walls and filtered the last of the days warmth.
Finally content after his long day at work with the GDF, Jeff closed his eyes and let the warmth of the coffee seep in to his bones as Scott dozed lightly beside him.
His peace was broken a few minutes later by the loud and obnoxious beeping of his laptop.
Rubbing his tired eyes and casting a glance to his tired son who had been woken rather suddenly, Jeff opened the screen, only to be met by a blaring red signal on his screen.
"Isn't that the intruder alarm?"
"Yes, it is," Jeff confirmed gravely, suddenly wide awake as his mind processed the fact that someone had infiltrated his home and might possibly be hostile.
Clicking on the icon for video surveillance in the area that the motion censor had been tripped, he found himself looking at the hanger and zooming in on the terrified gazes of his youngest sons.
Both were filling the camera's screen and front the way they were positioned were obviously kneeling down. The restrained tears in young Alan's blue eyes and the plain terror in Gordon's had Jeff snarling wordlessly.
"Boys, what's happening," Jeff asked softly, trying to be calm for his obviously scared children.
The camera zoomed out slightly at Scott's command, allowing Jeff full view of the gun poised at the back of Gordon's head and the grinning face of someone he hadn't seen in years.
It was HIM.
But how? It had been so long since the incident… He'd barely begun his training at the time and James Jackson had been set to lead the moon mission. Then Jeff had happened upon the illegal drug trade in the washrooms late at night, and after consulting his mother over what he should do, he had reported the incident. The pride his instructors had shown towards him after he had stopped a potential drug ring in their trainee's midst had caused him to be promoted and given the accused's position on the mission.
Tough the neatly groomed and suave young man he had known had been changed and warped by his time in prison.
No longer was his dark hair neatly slicked back but instead was wild whilst his deep brown eyes had taken on a sharp and feral quality, accentuated by the vivid red scarring across his face.
" I know I've set of your petty defenses Tracy, and I know you can hear me so here's what's gonna happen. I've got your sons, and I want to talk to you face to face. Come down here now or the elder one dies," James stated sickly, clicking off the safety and pressing his gun hard in to the back of Gordon's head.
Jeff locked eyes with Scott who was gripping the table with terrified eyes.
"Scott, get Virgil and get back to the screen, notify John as well. I'll communicate with you once I'm down there. Keep Brains and your grandmother away," Jeff ordered swiftly, blue gaze hardening with fury at the thought of his terrified sons below them.
"Dad please, you can't go down there, he'll kill you!" Scott argued desperately, latching on to his arm swiftly.
Jeff glared hard at his son, roughly shoving his eldest's hands away from him.
"And if I don't they'll kill Gordon and Alan. Do. As. I. Say," Jeff snapped fiercely, uncaring as to the hurt that bled in to Scott's gaze as he was rejected. His sons needed him now, he could deal with harsh words later.
Cowering back slightly Scott nodded jerkily and sprinted off to get Virgil from his painting studio so they could call John together.
A small inkling of regret tugged at Jeff's mind at the thought of the way he had acted towards his son but he pushed it away for the moment, he had an old acquaintance to meet.
Stepping in to the hangar he was immediately met with the sight of his sons cowering under the hand of his old enemy and he seethed inwardly at the sight of the tears that had finally spilled down Alan's tanned cheeks.
The looks of terror that had pasted themselves on his son's faces didn't belong there.
And the sadistically grinning madman didn't belong there either.
"I came, now put the gun away James, the boys aren't a part of this," Jeff growled, hoping that without the weapon there could be a chance for a peaceful resolution.
A part of him knew better.
Of course he'd planned for every contingency under the sun. His defenses were impeccable and his weapons even more so, there were about ten buttons he could push right then and there to severely injure and kill his enemy, the only issue was that whatever harmed him harmed his sons.
That was not a risk he was about to take.
Lasers, mounted guns, flash grenades, all of which could do significant damage and deter unwanted visitors, and yet after the fiasco with John on his birthday, Jeff didn't want to take any measures against intruders without first knowing all the facts.
"As a matter of fact they are. You ruined my life, Jeff Tracy, and with a squeeze of my finger I can ruin yours indefinitely," James taunted, switching the gun to Alan's head to show off the power with which he could decide the fate of his children.
And oh how it made Jeff's blood boil with rage.
"So why don't you? What stays your hand?" Jeff inquired icily.
A sadistic glee perched itself on the intruder's face at his statement.
"I know you have other sons, Tracy, and the only way to make you truly suffer is to rid you of all five. Soon the others will wonder where you are and they'll come here all unsuspecting…the perfect targets," James purred happily, causing Gordon and Alan to freeze up with worry for their brothers as their eye hardened in to twin glares. Wisely though, they kept silent.
Jeff felt a smile want to itch on to his face.
James had no idea that Scott had been with him or that they would be watching them on the monitors and hearing this. Another thought sprung in to his head as his mind played over the villain's words, or specifically word.
Unsuspecting…
Suddenly it was as though Jeff had finally seen the light of day. He did have one defense in the hanger that would definitely leave James unsuspecting and was likely to stop any bloodshed.
Invisible to the eye and quickly effective.
Airborne sedatives in an invisible gas form.
The idea was great but one problem remained. The dosage was for adults, and Gordon and Alan were children barely in their teens, could their bodies withstand that amount?
Which was better?
Neutralize the threat with he danger of killing his sons by bullet?
Or possibly cause them to fall in to a coma or worse because of the high dosage that would be released?
Only one way did not end up with the children dead.
He knew his sons were watching on the monitors anxiously, and better yet he knew that when John was a kid who was too afraid to talk in public places he, Scott and Virgil would tap out morse code on each other's hands.
Maybe it was time for them to remember their previous skills.
Keeping his hands subtly behind his back he tapped out a message as he spoke verbally to James as a distraction.
"If you hurt my sons I'll end you. You ended up in prison because you deserved it for what you did! Illegal drugs in a NASA training facility? You had to know that you'd eventually be caught," Jeff ground out evenly.
Release airborne sedatives, then come down and cuff the intruder until the GDF can get here. Virgil prepare the medbay.
Jeff tapped out quickly whilst James' attention was elsewhere.
He had to keep the distraction going, while it would work to keep the villain unawares it would also be kinder to his hyperventilating sons who would fall asleep peacefully and wake up in safety.
I hope this doesn't kill you boys…
"That wasn't all it was!" James snarled in response, dark eyes narrowing menacingly.
Feeling a slight dopey feeling coming over him Jeff fought the urge to smile.
The message had been received.
He could tell that it was affecting Alan and Gordon as well, their eyes were beginning to glaze over as they unknowingly inhaled the sedatives with each panicked breath.
"Then what was it? Why did you feel the need to destroy me? What is this really about, James?" Jeff demanded as his thoughts began to fade away and his limbs turned to jelly.
James whined softly as he slumped to the floor, the loss of his grip causing an unconscious Alan and Gordon to fall with him.
"It was her. It was about Lucille," James whispered brokenly before his breathing deepened and his eyes closed slowly.
Lucille…Jeff thought sluggishly before darkness enclosed his vision and he felt himself falling in to oblivion.
"Dad? Can you hear me?' A familiar voice asked, breaking through the muggy haze that seemed to have overtaken his brain.
His eyes felt weighed down with boulders but he opened them sluggishly to see the hazy outline of his eldest son who almost sobbed in relief as their gazes met.
"Oh thank the heavens dad. You scared me so much," Scott murmured with a sharp exhale of relief.
"Gordon? Alan?" Jeff attempted to ask but his voice came out sluggish and incomprehensible.
Scott seemed to understand what he meant and he helped Jeff turn to face the two medical beds next to his.
"They're fine dad, Brains checked them out and the dosage was just low enough to avoid long lasting damage. They'll sleep for a day or two and wake up dopey but fine," Scott informed gently, the tense lines in his forehead smoothing out when he glanced at the peacefully sleeping kids.
"You know I turned down playing with Alan because I was tired? I kept thinking to myself when that awful man broke in that if he survived I'd never say no to him again. I almost didn't have two younger brothers to have fun with today," Scott confided, a suppressed sob in his tone as he leaned wearily on the bed.
"I'm sorry…for being cruel to you son, I know how much you worried about us," Jeff whispered hoarsely, clutching his son's hand as his drowsiness threatened to pull him back under.
"I know dad. It's okay now, James got handed off to the GDF two hours ago and in a few hours Virgil will come down to relieve me of watch duty. You just sleep now dad, I know he won't say it but John will want to see you too when you're better rested," Scott advised softly, squeezing his father's warm hand strongly.
Smiling at his son as his eyes slipped closed he couldn't help but think,
I'll protect our boys with my life Lucille…
And that concludes the prompt for intruder on Tracy Island that almost everyone voted for! Geez that took forever to write… Anyway, the next prompts to choose from are:
Two brothers trapped in a cave in (votes for which two)
Fevers make brothers hallucinate strange things… (vote for which brother/s are afflicted)
Wisdom teeth (enough said)