Evie's eyes widened as the private jet circled the lush, green island. She couldn't help but breath a slight gasp at the beauty of the place. On the horizon the sun was setting, giving the island a golden glow, glinting off of the glass walls of the house built into the cliffside.
So many paces to explore, she couldn't wait to get out and explore the greens of the forest, or the rocky outcrops along the beach. Put simply, the place was a paradise.
John smiled and rested his chin on Evie's shoulder, watching her eyes widen in awe, "What do you think?"
Evie turned to face him, a grin spreading across her face, "It's beautiful,"
John sighed contently and wrapped his arms around her waist, he couldn't wait to share his favourite parts of the island with her. Sure, Alan appreciated stargazing like John did, but the younger boy didn't have the patience anymore to sit and watch the stars. Alan wanted to be on the go. Evie though, John knew she would sit forever just watching the stars.
Kayo and Virgil landed the plane with a slight bump, giving Scott another thing to grumble about, not that anyone paid any mind to him. They pulled up in the hangar and were quick to finish the post flight checks and join their family at the steps of the jet. John had already introduced Brains to Evie and explained the story.
"M-m-max made dinner," Brains told the group, receiving a his off 'Yes' in response.
Kayo glanced to John, stood on the other side of Evie to his brothers. She was starting to pick up on the familiar signs that he was ready to head back up to 'Five, standing away from his family, quieter than usual, and his eyes were flitting around, trying to watch as many things at once as possible.
"We'll save you guys some," Kayo offered the couple, "If you want the grand tour first,"
She smiled as John glanced down to Evie and asked her if she minded, another sign that he was ready for his tin can. Evie shook her head in response, "I'm not really hungry yet, we can eat later."
Alan frowned at Kayo as the couple left, "What was all that about?"
Kayo smiled and shook her head, would the younger brothers ever recognise the signs that John gave out so obviously to her?
Scott caught Kayo's eye and nodded, quietly stating, "He's ready to go back,"
Kayo shrugged, "I recon Evie will give us a couple of days,"
Gordon and Alan shared confused looks while Virgil just nodded in agreement, "Give the man his tin can any day,"
Grandma smiled fondly, "Well, as long as he's happy I don't mind, now, let's see how Max has done with dinner,"
Unsurprisingly, the four boys were the first to sprint up to the elevators, leaving the others to make their own way up.
John leant on the railing of his seldom used balcony next to Evie, the warm breeze ruffling his hair, carrying the shouts of laughter from the deck above the pool where his brothers were eating. He smiled as Evie rested her head on his shoulder, "It's beautiful,"
John chuckled quietly, "It can be quiet too," He told her, glancing in the general direction of his brothers, "Once they've all gone to bed," He looked to his loosely clasped hands in front of him and sighed, "I prefer it then, all you can hear is the waves and the breeze,"
"That sounds wonderful," Evie whispered, her head tilted up to stare up at the stars, "And all the stars you can see,"
John smiled and followed her gaze, "I know where there's a better view," He commented, making Evie laugh and raise an eyebrow, "There's more?"
John shrugged, "We have a whole Island, there's always going to be something else," He took her hand, eager to share his favourite part of the house with her, "Come on, I'll show you."
Once they stepped out of the elevator, into a corridor, John covered Evie's eyes, "No peaking," He murmured as he led her to the door and opened it. Evie couldn't help but giggle at what they were doing, excitement building in her stomach as she heard the swish of the door pulling back to reveal a room. She took another few steps forward under John's careful guidance before he pulled his hands away from her eyes and she gasped in amazement at the glass room; lit only by a dim light by the sofa so the twinkling stars weren't drowned out.
John had spent so much of his time on the island up there, gazing up at the stars, thinking of his mother.
"It's beautiful," Evie murmured as she went over to the overly wide window seat. His dad had designed it like that, knowing that his second son would, more often than not, end up falling asleep there.
John smiled as the woman stared up to the dark sky. He reached out automatically to where he knew the blanket was draped over the leather of the sofa. Taking it with him, he sat close to Evie and pulled the blanket around them both as they leant against each other and the wall.
Evie gazed at the stars in wonder, the man sat beside her lived up there, looking down to earth. She wondered what it was like, the world must seem so small when he was so far away.
"What's it like up there?"
John smiled and shook his head, you couldn't compare the view up there to the one down on earth. They were both beautiful in their own ways. He knew which view he would pick though- the peace and quiet of his ship in orbit over the ruckus of his brothers in the main lounge.
He looked down to her and smiled softly, "I'll take you up one day, if you like?"
Evie smiled widely, space had always fascinated her, but she had never had the interest in becoming a fully fledged astronaut, not until she had met John that was. That was why she had taken the offer of the medical training at NASA, the six month intensive course would teach her everything she needed to know about living in space and what to expect from a flight up there. She wasn't interested in flying the shuttles though, Evie would stick to her niche and let the professionals do what they were trained for.
"I'd love that," She murmured to him, "You must get lonely?"
John ran his fingers through her long, red hair, admiring how much it looked like his younger brothers. At times he did wish he had some company, other than that of his brothers. He did love them, but when they were the only people he ever talked to, it was easy to get fed up of their antics.
He looked down to the woman leaning against him, his stomach twisting at the thought of how much she cared. John had never expected the dating site to work, sceptical that algorithms could work to find 'a perfect match', but from the look of the woman sat with him now, he knew he had been proved wrong. It was possibly the first time in his life that he was willing to accept that he was wrong, because the outcome felt just, simply, right.
Evie looked up to him, still waiting for a response, her heart fluttered when she realised he was busy watching her. Nobody had ever looked at her like he did before, not one of the men she had dated had given her that look of adoration. Then again, she was sure that none of those men had given her butterflies in her stomach either.
John smiled as he watched her brown eyes flit from place to place, wishing he could work out what was going through her head.
As if the two could read each others mind though, he leant down as she leant up. Their lips caught in a chaste kiss, neither daring to go any further when one of his brothers could come in at any moment.
The pair pulled apart and both grinned naughtily, excited but also nervous at the prospect of things moving along as they were; It had been a year since they had started talking online, but it was only little more than a week since they had first met.
"I love you Evie," John whispered as she settled back into his arms, she looked up to him and smiled sweetly, "I love you too, John."
As the two settled back, John reached up to touch the glass, the warmth of his fingers activating the programme that would zoom in on whichever part of space they were currently looking up to. It only took him a few moments to find his 'Bird in amongst the stars, "That's Five," He told Evie, "My home from home,"
"I bet it's quiet up there," She murmured with a soft smile.
John nodded and was about to reply when a red light flashed in the corner of the room. He sighed and pulled away from Evie as she sat up, "What's-"
"Emergency," He held a hand out to her, "Would you like to watch?"
Evie's stomach flipped, "I'll try to stay out of the way,"
John laughed and leant down to kiss her cheek before pulling her back to the lounge.
Scott smiled as John and Evie ran into the lounge, "Nice of you to join us,"
John ignored his brother and looked to his Grandma, "What have we got?"
"Industrial fire," Grandma told the boys, "Local services can't dowse it enough and it's going to spread to a nearby woods if something doesn't happen soon,"
"Is anybody trapped?" Virgil asked as he headed towards his launch.
Grandma shook her head, "They've not confirmed yet,"
"We'll take Firefly," Alan stated, taking a step towards his brothers, only to be stopped by his oldest brother.
Scott shook his head, it was only a few hours ago that he'd been pulling Alan from his wrecked car, "You're staying here,"
"Should you even be flying?" Alan protested, folding his arms.
Scott shook his head, that wasn't the point of the argument, "I hit my head two days ago, you hit your head a matter of hours ago,"
"But-"
Scott looked up as Kayo interrupted, "I'll go with Scott Alan, don't worry,"
Scott and Alan frowned, both for entirely different reasons. Scott didn't need a babysitter, while Alan didn't like the fact that his girlfriend was seeing more action than him, "Sure, you get to have more fun than me."
Evie looked up to John, "Are you going?"
John nodded and smiled softly to her, "Don't worry, we'll be back before we know it," He glanced to his waiting brothers, "I'll be careful,"
Evie smiled back and looked to where Alan was sulking on the couch, "I'll see if I can bring Alan around,"
John glanced to Alan and smiled, "That would be hugely appreciated,"
The pair laughed and separated as Scott announced, "Thunderbirds are go."
Evie took in a breath as there was a rumbling beneath them, she looked past the desk that Grandma was sat at to see the pool retracting. It was suddenly obvious why the boys had warned her to get out of the pool if she ever heard the klakson.
"International Rescue are on their way," Grandma announced to whoever had been calling for help. Evie watched as the silver rocket sped off into the distance, the second, green, ship not far behind.
Evie took a seat next to Alan, watching the hologram that was tracking the two ships that had just left the island. She glanced across to the younger boy, still sulking, but watching the hologram with an intense interest.
"You love being out there, huh?" She guessed as her eyes drifted to the portraits on the wall, the five Tracy's all in their flight suits, clean and fresh unlike what they were normally seen as on TV in the midsts of a mission.
"They baby me so much," Alan muttered, "I could have at least sat in,"
Evie smiled, the youngest Tracy could be such a child at times. She was sure that, to his brothers, he would always be a baby that needed smothering. She knew better than to make a comment though, instead changing the subject, "So what happens now?"
Alan looked over to her, realising that she'd never seen a mission from this angle before. Suddenly, being left at home wasn't all so bad. His job was possibly the most important, keeping the newbie in the loop. He grinned at the thought that he was no longer the newbie of International Rescue.
"Scott and Kayo will get there first," He explained, "They'll assess what's happening and make a plan for when the others arrive with 'Two,"
He sat up and pressed his communicator on his wrist, "What's your ETA guys?"
"Ten minutes," Kayo replied, "Don't tell me you're bored already?"
Alan rolled his eyes and looked to Evie, "Nope, just keeping the newbie in the loop,"
Both heard Scott's quiet laugh, "You mean he's not sulking?"
"I'm not a kid, Scott!" Alan exclaimed, "Only kids sulk,"
He frowned as Evie laughed and folded her arms, "Come on, Alan, you were sulking,"
Alan opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by his oldest brother cursing quietly, "Guys, things are about to get complicated."