I'M NOT DEAD!
Heya folks, I'm sorry for the unscheduled...lack of anything I guess. At first it was lack of inspiration then I broke my laptop in December and just got a new one...but UPDATE! YAY!
Wasn't really feeling it, but I have ideas...for the two concluding chapters
:)
So enjoy my dears
It had been ten months, two weeks and three days since International Rescue disbanded and the world was bleak as Alan Tracy watched the clouds gather above Tracy Island. He could see rain drops chase each other down the pane of glass in front of him slowly merging into each to drip off the small wooden ledge at the bottom. Sighing he turned back into the kitchen where his father was sat looking through various blue prints on his tablet, a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. That had been one of the first things to change. With no more Thunderbirds Virgil had moved back to the mainland and got a job at one of the many galleries funded by Tracy Industries taking his coffee machine with him.
Virgil hadn't been the only one to leave. Gordon had left a week later to accompany some old college friends on an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef as a replacement to their marine biologist who had cancelled on them at the last minute. John had been the next to go, finally taking the book tour his publisher had been fighting for since his fourth publication. Alan occasionally got a post card from Gordon, or a short phone call from Virgil and the rare yet appreciated text from John. But he hadn't heard anything from Scott.
He wasn't sure when Scott had left them. He knew it was after the meeting with their father but definitely before dinner that evening. His room had been cleared out leaving no trace except the communicator on the desk along with the metal International Rescue identity badge. He had left, and he hadn't said goodbye, and as much as he wanted to Alan couldn't blame him.
Alan had tried to keep himself busy in the past months acting as a consultant designer for a private motor company hoping to break into formula one that year. But no matter how many plans, concepts and problems they sent him he always found his mind wandering back to his family and its tearing seams. It had been a long ten months.
Virgil could hear the clacking of expensive high heels approaching his office door. He threw a quick glance at the open window next to his desk, if it hadn't equated to two broken legs and a lengthy stay in hospital, he would have happily jumped. But as it was he was rather enjoying being severe injury free for the past few months and no matter how irritating his PA was, a trip to the hospital was the last thing he wanted right now.
His office door swung open revealing Tanya in all her foundation caked glory. "Oh! I'm so glad I caught you Mr Tracy!" she chirped when she saw him behind his desk, unobservant to thinly veiled terror in the mans eyes, "I need ya' to sign these for the exhibit next week, and you still need to call Fiona in finance about getting that extra insurance paid." she perched herself on the side of the desk as he went through the forms trying to ignore her as she snapped her chewing gum.
She slowly took the forms from him as he signed the last one, batting her eyelashes at him as he look up from his desk to see what was taking so long. "So, you got any plans tonight sir?" she asked leaning further over the desk giving him a toothy smile which reminded him distinctly of a hungry piranha.
Feeling blood rush into his face he pushed himself away from the desk, a maneuver which would have put a comfortable amount of space between him and the maneater in front of him had he been sat in a wheelie chair. However, he was sat in a regular four-legged-not-really-suitable-for-sudden-movements-chair which promptly toppled over sending him crashing to the floor.
From his position on the floor he could see Tanya quickly descending upon him like a flustered bird, but before she could reach him he shouted the first thing that popped into his head. "ICE!"
It hardly rained on the Great Barrier Reef but when it did rain, it poured. The small boat he was on rocked and bounced as it was battered by the surrounding storm. He could hear his friends snores through the thin walls clearly not disturb by the turbulent weather.
His mind was racing.
When Sarah had called him ten months ago asking him to come on their little expedition his 'yes' had been automatic. It was the perfect excuse to get away from the island and keep him occupied for a while. But the excitement had quickly dwindled and he now found himself bored. It had been nice working with his friends again, it had been nice spending his days scuba diving and exploring the Great Barrier Reef up close, the whole experience had been very nice. As he continued to work with he friends he quickly found himself getting frustrated with having to explain everything twice. Every time he went scuba diving he felt the need to double check his equipment and then was washed with guilt as he realized he didn't trust his friends quite enough with the task.
He missed Tracy Island. He missed his family and the easy connection and understanding they had. He missed everything.
He rolled over listening to the waves crash as he drifted towards sleep.
Kansas was exactly as John remembered it. With small streets, quirky shops and enough memories to smack him in the chest and send him running for the hills.
His agent had told him to leave it off the book tour, to go somewhere bigger, somewhere less homey. As he stepped from the hire car he couldn't help but see her point. They were only on the outskirts of the city and the thunderous rain had probably scared most residents back into their homes, but it seemed a thousand times smaller than he remembered.
He turned to look at the bed and breakfast which had been booked the following nights. It was picture box perfect. With a little porch with five neatly swept steps leading up to the foot of a shiny red door which no doubt would open up to reveal a neat reception area with fresh flowers on the desk and a frail yet slightly fearsome old lady sat behind the desk ready to ask him to wipe his feet as he came in.
He was right. Almost. Rather than an old lady there was a hunchbacked old man with wire framed glasses sweeping imaginary dust from the top of the immaculate check-in desk. "I hope you're not trapesing mud in 'ere sonny," he wheezed as John closed the door behind him. Unsure how to respond John lifted each foot checking that he hadn't managed to accumulate too much mud in the three steps between his car and the front door, "No Sir," he said smiling as he approached the desk, shifting uncomfortably under the older mans gaze.
"You got a bookin' here?" the man asked, taking the seat behind the desk and opening a large leather bound red book.
"Yes," John replied "It should be under the name Tracy, John Tracy." He began looking through his pockets in case the man asked for some identification so didn't notice that the old man was now staring at him with a smile slowly creeping through the wrinkles and lighting his face.
"Not Lucille Tracy's son?" he asked his yellowing teeth visible behind cracked lips.
His heart skipped. It wasn't as though he never thought of his mother. It wasn't like he hadn't spoken to anyone about her before. It wasn't as if he was still the twelve year old he had been when she died. But it was the first time he could remember someone mentioning her with no warning, and it hit him like a freight train. "Yeah," he started looking up at the man who, with the smile and warm eyes, looked twenty years younger "Yes, I am."
The old man gave a hoarse laugh and gestured for John to take the seat the other side of the desk, "S'pose you don't remember an old fella like me aye?" he asked.
"Sorry, it's been a long day and errr, ha, no I don't remember you. Sorry," he said relaxing slightly into the cushy chair as the other man laughed lightly.
"Don't worry my boy, didn't expect you to," the man said whilst he rifled through one of the drawers before pulling out a framed picture "Maybe this'll jog your memory," he finished passing the picture to John.
It was an old picture. It showed the bed and breakfast in better days the sunbeaming behind the roof slates whilst the people in the foreground smiled for the camera. There was an older couple, undoubtedly the man behind the desk, with theirs arms around eachothers waists and laughing, their eyes visibly crinkled in delight. On the other side there was another couple and two small children. As John squinted at the picture he was surprised to recognize Scotts' and his own forms at the feet of the younger couple; Scott stood tall and straight whilst John was clutching to the legs of the man standing above them.
John had never thought of his father as a young man but seeing this photo brought into sharp relief something John had never realized before. The version of his father in the photo was young, but more than that, it was as if his youth had been distilled and intensified tenfold. It practically shone from his entire demeanor. The way his arm was slung over his wife's shoulder and the other gesturing to the house behind him a proud grin illuminating his face.
He hesitated before turning his attention to the final figure in the picture. He could already see her platinum blonde hair, crystaline blue eyes and impish smile without having to see it shining through the picture. She came into focus slowly as he stared at her, she was leaning into Jeff's embrace whilst resting a hand on his own shoulder trying to get him to look at the camera.
"I swear your mother put time into this place than I did," the old man muttered "Real shame what 'appened, she was a good lady. But I'm sure you know that aye?"
John just nodded, placing the photo back on the desk. He sailed through the rest of the check-in process in autopilot barely registering the mans introduction or the small tour he insisted on giving. It wasn't until he was laying in bed, listening to the rain hammer against the window that he allowed himself to drift off to the memories of summer days, old houses and a casual responsibility to living.
End of Chapter...I genuinely have no idea, it has been that long
But where could Scott be? And what's up with Jeff?...well, I guess I'll just have to make sure to update it soon :)