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Disclaimer: As much as I wish I could lay claim to them, I can't. The Thunderbirds and those gorgeous Tracy brothers belong to others.
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Beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…
John was the first to stir at the sound, though he wasn't sure what it was for. So he got up, and saw that a program had found something. Although careful not to wake Alan, he saw that his search program had found some profile matches. After scanning through them, he anxiously went back to work.
Alan woke to the sound of fingers busily hitting keys. He looked to see John in front of the computer, then frowned when he saw it was only 2:53am.
"John…" Alan groaned, standing up slowly.
"I may be onto something," John answered. "Go back to sleep."
"No way!" Alan answered, that news almost instantaneously waking him.
He went over to his chair and sat down. He looked to see what John was working on, but couldn't figure it out on his own.
"What is it?" Alan had to ask when his curiosity got the best of him.
"May have found the people that started spreading the strains around Massachusetts."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Could be a very good thing. If I can find out where they came from, where they'd been before Mass., we might be able to pinpoint where the strain came from. With that, I can contact the local hospitals myself and see if they've found something helpful that wasn't put into the database for some reason."
"I'll call Dad and Brains!" Alan offered excitedly.
"Negative," John replied. "I don't have anything yet. Let them sleep. I'll call them if I get something. I'm not going to get you back to sleep, am I?"
"Nope. I'm too awake now!"
"This is going to take a while, Alan," John said.
"Then I'll make plenty of coffee."
Before John could reply, Alan was up and heading out the door. He sighed, then went back to work. In the kitchen, Alan was almost startled to find someone else there.
"Alan?" Scott asked from his seat at the table.
"What are you doing up?" Alan counter-asked, going about making coffee.
"Can't sleep. I just came up from the infirmary where Dad and Gordon are out cold. John?"
"Wide awake in front of the computer," Alan answered.
Scott frowned, and Alan noticed that, so he decided to tell his brother, "Don't bother going in there and telling him to get some sleep. He'll refuse, and honestly, I'm right there with him."
"What's going on?" Scott asked, knowing that something had happened.
"John said he may be on to something, and from what it sounds like, it might be something big!"
"Dad? Brains?"
Alan shook his head. "He said he doesn't have anything yet, and to let them sleep. He'll call when he gets something."
"I take it you aren't going back to sleep anytime soon either."
"No way! I'm making coffee."
"I might as well join you two," Scott sighed. "It's not like I'm going back to sleep either."
Once the coffee was made, Scott made John's cup as well as his own while Alan made his. Then they went back into command to find John still hard at work. Scott gave John his mug, then explained that he just couldn't sleep and that Alan had filled him in. Then Scott dragged another chair over to sit on John's other side from Alan while Alan took his chair.
"Anything new?" Alan asked.
"Nothing yet. Of the five people, only two are from the same country…and they're from the same town. The other three are from various places around Massachusetts. I'm looking into the recent travel activities for the other three."
The trio worked in an anxious silence. John was focused on his task while Scott and Alan watched the databases. The three were on their fourth pot of coffee when someone interrupted them.
"What in the world…" Jeff asked when he saw his three caffeinated sons gathered in front of the computer.
"Working!" Alan answered.
"You do realize it's only six am."
"Yes," Scott sighed. "There's coffee in the kitchen too."
"Did any of you sleep at all last night?" Jeff groaned, coming into his room.
"Some," Scott answered. "You and Gordon?"
"Gordon's still sound asleep. I was a little too restless to stay in there without waking him."
"Scott, why don't you fill Dad in on what we're working on?" John suggested, more so he could work and his father would still know what was going on.
Scott nodded, then pulled his father aside. Once Scott finished, Jeff's features showed more positivity then they had in the past few days.
"You really think this might work?" Jeff asked John.
"I hope so, it's looking that it might. I just don't know what else to do," John answered.
"Does Brains know?" Jeff asked.
"Wanted him to sleep too," John answered, shaking his head. "Plus there isn't anything for him right now."
"Gordon will be thrilled," Jeff sighed. "But I'll hold off on telling him until he wakes on his own."
"Did the two of you sleep alright?"
"I was awake on and off, as was Gordon. But he slept well enough for me."
Kyrano soon came by to find four Tracys in the command area. Jeff noticed, and left his sons to work. After hearing that breakfast was already being prepared, Jeff told Kyrano the news on John's work. Kyrano, delighted, offered the spread the news to his wife and daughter, who were in the kitchen. Jeff nodded, then went back down to wait for Gordon to wake.
In the infirmary, Jeff used the quiet time to muse over all of his sons. But he didn't get far when he noticed Gordon stirring.
"Hey Dad," Gordon muttered as he sat up.
"I have some news for you," Jeff said once Gordon was up.
Gordon only narrowed his eyes, but relaxed when he noticed that his father looked more upbeat than down.
"What?" he asked, taking Virgil's hand once again.
"John may be onto something," Jeff answered, then explained what Scott had told him.
"You think he'll find something?" Gordon asked when his father had finished.
"There's no guarantee, but I'm hopeful."
"Sounds like none of them slept much," Gordon noted.
Jeff shook his head. "They're wired on coffee now."
Then it was Gordon's turn to shake his head. "At least they have something to focus it on."
