Disclaimer: see chapter one
AN: Sorry, this chapter was supposed to be posted MUCH earlier today, but my brother insisted that I was supposed to help him defeat Bowser. I wouldn't at first, but to stop myself from committing fratricide, I agreed, eventually. It took most of the day to defeat Bowser, but I managed to type up the chapter in the small breaks we took every hour.
Chapter Eleven- I Nominate Scott!
Jeff Tracy stood behind his desk, as his sons finished the mission evaluation.
"So, it was a textbook recuse, boys. Good job." Jeff surveyed John, Virgil and Scott. "Go clean up. Otherwise Ohana will go ballistic if you leave soot all over the house."
Scott, Virgil and John all left and went to their rooms. Scott peeled off his previously silver, now black, uniform, and stood under the running water. He showered quickly, and dressed in jeans and a white T-Shirt.
Virgil knocked on Scott's door and entered the room a few minutes later.
"So, what're you going to do?" Virgil asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about!" At Scott's puzzled look, Virgil elaborated. "It starts with a T, is four letters long and ends in a H."
"For the last time, Virgil, she and I are just friends. Why are you so intent on making it into something more?"
"Because there is so much more to this. You can't tell me that you weren't jealous when you saw her at the rescue site."
"Yes I can!" Scott retorted.
"Go on. Tell me that you didn't feel jealous at the rescue site." Virgil challenged.
Scott looked down at the floor. "I wasn't jealous at the rescue site."
"Now, look me in the eye, and tell me you weren't jealous."
Scott raised his head, and crystal blue eyes met honey brown ones. "I …I wasn't…."
"You can't even tell me that you're not jealous. Scott, who are you trying to kid? If you like her, just ask her out!"
"It's not that." Scott said quietly.
"Then what is it?" Virgil enquired.
"It's IR."
Virgil looked perplexed. "What about International Rescue?"
"Let me give you a possible situation." Scott started. "I've asked her out, and she says yes. We have a great date, and we organize another one. Two dates then turn into three dates, three dates turn into four. Every time we have a date, I would have to take time off. Dad would eventually figure out that I was seeing someone, and he would give me a third degree about security and how trustworthy Tash is. Then there is the whole issue of telling her about IR. I have no idea about how she would react. She might hate me for not telling her and we split up. Or she might accept the fact that I am in IR, but not be able to handle the stress and secrey of IR, and we split up. Either way, the outcome is bad."
Virgil waited patiently for Scott to finish. Scott had told Virgil about the scenarios that played in his mind. Virgil had a different scenario playing in his mind, and he was determined to share it with Scott.
"But what happens if you tell Tash, and she accepts it without any problems. Everything would be fine. Did you think about that?"
Scott shook his head.
"If asking Tash out is something you want to do, then you should do it." Virgil encouraged. Scott opened his mouth to protest, but Virgil held up a hand to stop him. "Scott, just let me finish. If it makes you happy, go ahead and ask her out. Forget IR, forget the secrecy, and just ask her out. You deserve a chance for happiness too, Scott." Virgil left the room, leaving Scott to ponder on what Virgil had said.
Jeff Tracy sat patiently in the lounge, reading a newspaper, as he waited for his sons to appear. The front door opened, and Jeff looked up.
"Ah, Gordon. Have a seat, please."
Gordon sat down slowly. "What have I done this time?" he asked, cautiously.
"You haven't done anything, Gordon." Jeff reassured his second youngest son. "I'll explain everything as soon as your brothers are here."
Speak of the devils, and they will surely come. John and Virgil ambled into the room, having an animated discussion. Scott promptly followed John and Virgil.
"As you know," Jeff began, once the three other brothers were seated. "Christmas is fast approaching, and someone needs to represent the Tracy family at the Christmas party at Tracy Industries." A huge groan escaped the lips of all three brothers. "Any volunteers?"
The silence in the room was deafening. The answer was obvious.
"I thought so. I'll just have to choose someone then." Jeff concluded.
Virgil and John exchanged a sideways glance. John nodded his head slightly.
"Dad, I reckon Scott should go. In fact, I nominate him to go and represent the Tracy family." Virgil declared.
"I second that nomination." John called out.
"Me too!" Gordon agreed.
"I guess it's settled then, Scott." Jeff smiled. "I'll leave the details on your desk." Jeff got up, and left the lounge.
As soon as his father was out of sight, Scott closed the door, and rounded on his brothers.
"OK, what was that all about? Of all people, why me? If anyone should go, it's John. He doesn't get much time on the mainland. This would be a good time to go."
"No way!" John disagreed. "I come down from the space station to spend time with my family, not attend boring functions."
"He's got a point, Scott." Gordon muttered. Scott swivelled his head and eyed Gordon suspiciously. "He has!" Gordon insisted.
Why did you agree with the nomination, Gordon?" Scott asked with lethal menace.
"It was the logical thing to do. John and Virgil had already voted for you. If I added my vote, there would have been a majority, and you would have to go. It was just my way of getting out of not going." Gordon explained.
Scott narrowed his eyes to deadly slits, as he stared at Virgil.
"You know why I nominated you, Scott."
"Yes, I know why you nominated me. But I already told you that it's not going to happen." Scott retorted coldly, before he walked out of the lounge.
Scott collapsed onto his bed, fuming.
'Why did you do this, Virgil? I had everything sorted out, and now this just complicates things.' He thought angrily to himself.
A buzzing noise filled the room, and Scott recognised it as his ring tone. He leaned to his bedside table, grabbed his phone. He looked at it and saw that he had one text message from Tash. He opened the text.
U'll never believe what I saw 2day.
'What did u c?' Scott texted back.
The Thunderbirds!!
"What do I do now? Do I act like I've never seen the Thunderbirds, or act like I've seen them several times before?" he asked himself. His fingers made up his mind for him; they were tapping at the keypad of their own accord.
'No way!! That's like a 1ce in a lifetime thing.'
Yeah, tell me about it. They're like super-humans, running in2 burning buildings.
Scott grinned as he read the last message. However, before he could reply to that message, Tash had sent another one.
G2G now. TTYL. Tash.
Scott stared at his phone. Suddenly, Virgil nominating him for the Christmas party didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.
AN: Wow, my fingers hurt from all that typing. About the text language, I think most of it is right, but am very sorry if some of it is wrong. Anyway, please review.
