Just a short one...

Chapter Twenty-Five

Beth let Alan fly back to Tracy Island, claiming a headache. What she really wanted was a bit of peace and quiet at the back of the jet just to think over all that had happened. She wasn't convinced Byron would just give up, but she couldn't see any way for him to expose her – or her family – without doing irreparable damage to himself. The next few days were going to be tense as she waited to see if he'd make a move. Maybe he'd concentrate his efforts on getting the Tracy Industries' designs she'd already stolen for him produced and onto the market. Not that that idea brought her much comfort. She was more than a little worried about what would happen when he announced 'his' new products – unless he managed to adapt them so that it looked as if they were really his own company's creations, she could still be in trouble...

She was irritated by Tin-Tin's arrival, expecting to be forced to listen to yet another account of the state of her relationship with Alan. She was relieved when Tin-Tin simply sat down and commented,

"I've come back here to get a bit of peace. How he thinks things can go back to the way they used to be, I don't know."

"Well, he obviously cares about you," Beth said, gritting her teeth as she tried to get back into role as the caring friend.

"I'm not happy about being tricked, either," Tin-Tin told her coldly.

If you only knew... Beth thought, even as she mumbled an apology. Tin-Tin wasn't in the mood for forgiveness though, leaning back and opening a magazine, making it clear she didn't want to talk. That didn't bother Beth and she went back to her musings about Byron and her own future.

Tin-Tin's mood wasn't improved when they returned to the island to find that Penny had called in. The aristocrat had been tracking the man who'd attacked her, supposedly a straightforward task given the resources the woman had at her disposal. But she'd come up with nothing. The man had apparently vanished off the face of the earth.

"There's no trace of him?" Alan asked with an anxious glance at Tin-Tin.

"No," his father told him. "Penny thinks he might have changed his identity, but if he has... It could be impossible to trace him. Certainly the usual lines of enquiry haven't revealed anything. But Penny and Parker won't stop looking, Tin-Tin, I promise you. I'm going to offer a reward for information-"

"Do what you like!" Tin-Tin snapped. "And don't trick me into leaving the island again. I'm staying here where I'm safe. You can find someone else to go to New York with you!"

Jeff was too surprised to say anything as the girl stormed out of the room. Even Alan decided that he'd be better off keeping his distance.

"Beth, could you..?"

"No problem," she smiled, wondering if she should just drug the girl and tell her to pull herself together in order to get a bit of peace. Still, it gave her the chance to make herself even more indispensable, so right now she'd just have to play along. She didn't want to use any more of Byron's drug than she had to anyway – it might come in useful in the future and there was no chance of getting a further supply.

That afternoon, the younger members of the Tracy family were gathered by the pool. Unsurprisingly Gordon was in the water, whilst the others either lounged on sun beds, or, in Scott's case, sat at a table with pen, paper and a somewhat calculating expression. Virgil wandered over to take a look at his brother's work, going back to his lounger with a wide grin on his face.

Beth stretched out on her own lounger wondering if life could get any better than this. Here she was on a tropical island, idolised by a fantastically wealthy uncle who would surely settle some of that wealth on her, and about to become a real member of International Rescue – and who knew what opportunities that might bring. Actually, she thought as she looked around her, there was one low point in all of this: she was surrounded by good-looking men – and they were all related to her. The only available man on the island was Brains – she didn't consider Kyrano for one moment – and he was not only as far removed from her type as it was possible for a man to be, but he was also terrified of her, continuing to shut himself away in his lab. She couldn't help laughing about that – did the man really think she was interested? She frowned suddenly, wondering if she'd played her part a little too well these past few weeks. Her uncle had begun to notice Brains' absence, commenting on it that morning at breakfast and looking at her as he said it. She knew how keen he was to get the pair of them together and she hoped he wasn't hatching some kind of plan to do just that.

"Something wrong?" Scott asked.

Beth jumped. She hadn't noticed him coming to stand beside her.

"I was wondering..." She looked up at him.

"What?"

"Well..." She had wondered actually, more so now that she knew what her cousins really did for a living. As undeniably attractive as they all were, especially when they wore as little as they did at that moment, they did seem to have more than their fair share of scars.

She shared her thoughts with Scott. "All from rescues, I suppose?"

"Most of them," Scott agreed. He looked down at the leg which he'd injured during the mine rescue. It still hadn't completely healed. "Brains has got some great stuff for minor wounds – no scars there otherwise we'd all look like something out of Frankenstein. But serious injuries... yeah, they leave a mark."

Beth hadn't quite considered the drawbacks of a life in International Rescue. "Do you get many serious injuries?"

"Quite a few," Alan said. He began to outline some of the more gruesome wounds they'd suffered, making Beth wonder if she really did want to be out on the front line. Scott took a seat and let his brother talk, hoping he'd manage to put Beth off joining the team.

"Virg has got a great one," Gordon said, finally emerging from the pool. "Show her, Virg."

"She can see from here," his brother mumbled sleepily.

"Only the front. Beth, he's got a matching one at the back – rusty spike, went straight through!"

"Ouch," Beth winced. "That must have hurt."

"Just a bit," Virgil told her, not wanting to relive the horror of that particular disaster.

"I won't lie to you," Scott said, drawing his chair closer. "It's a risk every time we go out. We've been lucky so far but you need to know what you're getting yourself into. That's why, if you want to go out on rescues you need the right training."

"Okay," Beth said. "You'll train me?"

If Scott had hoped she'd be put off he didn't betray his disappointment. "Sure. That's what I've been working on. Now then, we'll start with fitness training. Tomorrow you can join me for a run round the island. I'll see you out here at 6am. Then we'll spend a couple of hours in the gym..."

It was a tough schedule. Beth wondered if Scott really was trying to force her to give in and go home. She wasn't a quitter though and there was no way she'd fail to meet the challenge – even if it killed her. Which it just might, she thought, looking at the schedule he'd set up for her.

It took a few days for the drug to leave Tin-Tin's system completely but gradually the girl began to feel more like herself. Shock, she supposed, but it was still hard to believe she'd fallen apart so completely. She'd awoken early that morning and, lying in bed, had suddenly been hit by the reality of what she'd done. She was horrified: she'd been the one to betray International Rescue! There was no excuse, however shaken up she'd been. The more she thought about it the harder she found it to believe she'd really done it. But as the sound of Scott's shouts drifted up from the beach – apparently Beth was slacking, taking a full three minutes longer than yesterday to complete her run – she knew that it wasn't just some horrible dream.

However much she liked Beth – though as she lay there she started to wonder just why she'd been so quick to seek out the girl at the expense of her other friends – she'd never have betrayed International Rescue if she'd been in her right mind. She was just lucky that things seemed to be working out well. Even so, as Scott started bellowing even more loudly, she knew the Tracy brothers weren't entirely happy with the situation.

She just wished she knew what to do about Alan. Although she didn't feel the same degree of anger towards him, the resentment that he'd left her exposed to danger lingered. She wasn't sure things could ever be the same between them, however desperate for a reconciliation he appeared to be.

Instead of calling for Beth on the way to breakfast she went down to the dining room by herself. To her surprise, as she passed the door to the balcony she saw Virgil sitting there, staring into space. He didn't register her presence and she debated leaving him alone – he was rarely up this early unless he had something on his mind and he usually only looked so absorbed when he was getting inspiration for a new melody or a painting – but she decided matters couldn't rest as they were.

"Virgil?"

Virgil looked up warily at Tin-Tin's call. He tried to judge her mood – she'd been erratic in her behaviour towards him, one moment pathetically grateful to him for saving her, the next completely embarrassed that he should have seen her in such a state. Then of course there was her uncharacteristic defiance and fury the day she'd revealed the secret of IR... To his relief he saw the old Tin-Tin standing in front of him, though he couldn't help but see that she looked worried.

"You okay?"

"Yes." Tin-Tin actually felt that she was. She took the seat next to him. "I'm sorry..."

Tin-Tin spent the rest of the day seeking out various members of the Tracy family and apologising for what she'd done. She only felt partly comforted when they refused to blame her, telling her they understood the strain she'd been under and assuring her that they could cope with having Beth around.

Finally she sought a meeting with Jeff. He quickly put aside his work – he was in the process of setting up a fund for the relatives of everyone who'd died in Malaysia, the only way he could think of to make amends for what had happened – and ushered her into his office. Once again Tin-Tin was reassured that what she'd done would have no lasting consequences. In fact, as she'd suspected he would, Jeff thanked her for ensuring that things had worked out so well.

"You've done us all a favour," he told her. "It might not have been quite the way I wanted her to find out, but it was certainly effective. And my sons didn't have to blame me for it either! I don't want any more apologies, Tin-Tin, it's all forgotten."

He debated whether to ask how things were with Alan, then decided that was a question better off coming from Beth or his mother. There was one other thing he was concerned about, however.

"You said you didn't want to come to New York..."

"No. I know I have to face people again but I don't want to rush things."

He smiled sadly. "You should talk to Virgil; he went through something similar after he was kidnapped. It took months for him to get over what happened. If counselling would help..."

"I'll be fine. And this is nothing compared to what happened to Virgil. I'd just prefer not to have to face New York just yet."

He nodded. "I understand. Everything's going to be fine, I promise you."

She smiled and left the room. Jeff sat back, suddenly chilled as he remembered the traumatised boy who'd returned in place of the one he'd known prior to the kidnapping. Shaking himself he turned his thoughts to the victims of the tunnel disaster. That didn't do much to cheer him up and finally – after doubling the amount he'd decided to put into the fund – he left his office in search of the one person he knew would be able to cheer him up. Tin-Tin really had done them all a favour, he thought, what he'd do without Beth now he didn't know.

The days were passing quickly – for Scott at least. Beth felt as if every minute was an eternity, though she had to admit the results were impressive. If nothing else she'd leave Tracy Island looking even better than she had before. She was grateful when, after a week of torture, her uncle decided she needed a rest – from the physical training at least – and suggested she accompany Scott and Alan on the supply run to Thunderbird Five.

"You're certainly fit enough to cope with the g-forces," Jeff had told her with an approving nod towards his eldest son – who for some reason looked annoyed.

And so she'd had an incredible day, blasting off into space – she thought she might finally have found the one thing that truly terrified her – and visiting John on Thunderbird Five. He'd shown her around then, after programming the watch Scott had brought along, had spend a couple of hours training her up on IR's communications. By the time they left, her watch tightly fastened around her wrist, she felt as if she was finally a real member of International Rescue.

"Back to work tomorrow," Scott told her as they flew back to Earth. "I've got a rescue simulation planned. Al, you're going to fall down a cliff."

"Why me? Why can't Virg do it?"

"He's busy painting Tin-Tin."

"He's been painting her for ages. How long does it take anyway? I never see her these days."

Beth guessed her cousin was probably taking his time, given that her portrait would be next and he still seemed uneasy around her. She felt a momentary regret that she couldn't take advantage of Alan's annoyance – it would have been fun to see his reaction if she suggested that there might be something going on between Virgil and Tin-Tin – but now that she was a reformed character there could be no more mischief. She couldn't help feeling just a little bit sorry, but she'd made her choice and she'd be a responsible member of the team from now on.

A full week had gone by since Beth's conversation with Joel Byron. Her initial anxiety about the man had subsided and she'd come to the conclusion that she must have won, that if he was going to do anything she'd have heard about it by now. Instead she was totally focused on her training. Today she was having another flying lesson from Alan – there hadn't been any lessons for a couple of days following a slight mishap when she'd tried her first landing. But the wing was fixed now and she was keen to have another go, determined to get it right this time.

In the lounge Jeff read a report whilst Virgil worked on a new composition at the piano. When the phone rang it shattered the tranquil mood. It was his private line, but Jeff didn't recognise the number. Curiosity got the better of him though and he took the call.

Joel Byron was the last person he expected to find on the other end of the line.