Part 2

Scott gaped at his brother who stood there in front of them laughing as if this was the funniest thing that had ever happened. Forget that he had just hacked their systems and stranded them in space. Forget that he had just beaten them all up. Forget that he was armed with a taser. It was his laughter that was the real problem in Scott's eyes. Why the hell was he laughing like that!? It was unnerving! It was a laughter without any true mirth, almost manic. Scott looked around at his brothers. They all looked as confused as he was sure he did himself. Virgil looked at Scott as if to ask what was going on. Scott had no answers. Alan and Gordon looked confused, but in comparison to their eldest two brothers their confusion stemmed from fear. Jeff had unfastened his seatbelt and was hovering just behind Scott, Brains hung back with Max. Scott turned his gaze back to John who was still laughing like some anime villain. Yes Scott knew what anime was, he had watched it before. He, Virgil and John had been hooked when they were kids and something anime had taught him was that no matter how insane the laughter was… there was always a reason behind it. So there was a reason behind John acting all crazy. Scott took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak but John beat him to it.

"Oh it's too funny", he laughed while covering his eyes with one hand. "It's too funny."

"What's so funny", Scott asked. "Because I can't see the humor in you hacking the computers, shutting down the systems, attacking your brothers and laughing like an idiot!" Scott felt a chill run up his spine when John removed the hand he had covered his eyes with. John had stopped laughing now and instead smiled in the most evil way Scott had ever seen. His eyes… that was not John's eyes. They were filled with a manic sort of glow. He looked, for a lack of a better word, psychotic. This… this was wrong. John was never supposed to look like that. John always looked calm, collected… compassionate. There was nothing of that in the face before him. Nothing at all.

"Oh?" John questioned. "You don't see the humor in it?"

"No Johnny I really don't", Scott said and tried to sound a little calmer this time. "What the hell…" he trailed off when John's eyebrows furrowed. Change words quick! "What is so funny?"

John chuckled again and looked at his brother one by one. Gordon and Alan stared at him in fear, Virgil in worry, Scott in worry as well. But John could see it. That underlying anger that bubbled underneath the surface. Scott had a short fuse. Had always had one. John chuckled again and his gaze landed on Jeff. He scoffed and shook his head.

"You know it was so much simpler when you were gone", he said with a big smile on his face. His brothers stared at him.

"WHAT!?" they yelled.

"Son you don't mean that", Jeff tried gently.

"Oh but I do", John replied. "You see with you gone I wouldn't have to suffer in silence anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh as if you don't know!" John's grin and happy tone was gone now, now he was furious. Alan and Gordon slid backwards in surprise. They had seen John angry before, but not like this. He looked as if he was about to start shooting at things… if he'd had a gun that is.

"Johnny…"

"DON'T CALL ME JOHNNY!" John shouted and looked as if he was about to start throwing things. "You have no right to call me that!"

"John hey easy!" Virgil said and slid in between Jeff and John, holding up his hands in a peace sign. "What the hell is going on? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" John asked and scoffed in that unhinged way again. "What's wrong he says. What's wrong? HAHAHAHAHAHA!" And there was that psychotic laughter again. John gripped his head and kept laughing hysterically. Scott felt sick, Virgil looked sick, Jeff was worried beyond belief, Brains had no idea of what to do and Gordon and Alan were terrified. John looked at the roof and the laughter stopped, but the unhinged grin stayed on his lips.

"What's wrong", he asked again. "Oh I'll tell you what's wrong Virgil. That is wrong!" he pointed at Jeff with the taser. "That man being here is wrong! He is not supposed to be here! He is supposed to be gone!"

"Don't say that", Alan cut in. "Don't say that John."

"Oh I will say it", John said and turned his manic gaze on Alan. "You can't see it Alan. None of you do!" the last he shouted and looked around at them. "None of you have ever seen it! None of you have ever seen who that man really is. What he is." The last he growled out in pure disgust.

"John", Jeff said calmly and held his hands up, moving slowly towards him.

"Stay back old man", John growled and raised the taser higher.

"What happened?" Jeff asked gently.

"What happened? What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!? You happened!" John kicked the console so hard Virgil worried for his brother's foot as well as the console. "You happened dad! You were gone! Things were fine! Things were okay! I was okay! I. Was. Okay."

"What do you mean John?" Scott asked carefully, not wanting to make his brother even angrier. John turned his burning gaze to Scott.

"I. Was. Okay." He growled.

"And… you weren't before dad disappeared?"

"Oh no no no no I was okay then too I was." John ran a hand through his hair, looking a lot calmer. This was impossible. John was usually so stable and now his mood was like a roller-coaster-ride. Scott blinked. "I was so far away so I couldn't suffer as much."

"What do you mean with suffer?" Gordon asked. "Did dad do something?"

"Did he do something?" John mimicked and had the situation not been so dire Alan would have laughed at how John sounded just like him when John told him to get back to his lessons.

"Oh I don't know Gordon why don't you ask him", John said and pointed at Jeff. "what he did."

All eyes were on Jeff, but Jeff only had eyes for his middle son. John glared at him and Jeff studied him. John had always been tall, taller than his brothers an the odd one out with his red hair and green-blue eyes. He took after his mother both in looks and personality. Lucy had always been calm and collected, compassionate, kind and self-sacrificing. John was just like her. However the young man in front of him now was unhinged. His body hunched over slightly, like a cornered animal ready to pounce… a scorpion ready to strike. Every muscle in John's body was tense, his gaze panickily looking around at them as if wondering which one would attack him first. Jeff moved a little closer and John raised the taser a little higher, as if it was a shield between him and Jeff. John was angry… and he was scared.

"John", Jeff said soothingly. "What did I do to hurt you so badly?"

"What did you do!?" John yelled. "You don't know!?"

"No… I don't or rather I don't understand. Please son, please help me understand what I did to hurt you so badly."

"Son", John spat the word as if it disgusted him. "Son? You have the nerve to call me son?" He growled darkly and gripped his hair with his free hand. He was trembling all over, then he sighed heavily. "Things were so much better after I accepted that you were gone…" he let go of his own hair and let his arm hang limp at his side. "Gone and never coming back. Missing and unfindable for me… I couldn't find you, just gone. Gone way... far far away. I could let go of it now."

"Let go of what?" Virgil asked.

"The pain", John replied and balled his free hand into a tight fist. "The pain he caused. The pain to know that our father loves you guys more than he has ever loved me."

The cockpit got very quiet. Then Scott's face turned red in fury.

"That's not true John and you know it!" he yelled angrily. "Dad loves us all equally!"

"No he doesn't", John replied and scoffed.

"Shut up! This is why you are acting all crazy? Because of daddy issues?"

"Oh I don't have issues", John said and smirked.

"Well it bloody looks like it!"

"I am just giving you the whole picture, telling you of what dad is really like."

"But dad is not like that", Alan tried to reason with John, while siding with Scott. "He never picked favorites!"

"Hah", John laughed mirthlessly. "That's rich! He did pick. He picked you four. And why not? After all… you all take after him."

"Now wait just a moment", Virgil began but John was not about to let anyone stop him from saying his piece.

"You are all sooooo athletic, sooooo into sports and adventure and thrills and adrenaline inducing stunts… sooooo manly. Not at all like nice and quiet little Johnny now is it?"

"John being different is not anything bad", Virgil soothed carefully.

"Oh one would think that but it is", John said matter-of-factly. "Uh huh it is. At least in this family. Tell me Virgil do you remember when you were playing in that football game to see if you made it through to the nationals?"

"You mean when I was 20 and at college?"

"Yes."

"I do. Everyone but you came."

"Did you know where I was?"

"Dad said you were sick."

John laughed again. "Oh yes. I was sick. Anything was better than doing what I really was doing."

"Which was?"

"Winning the Gaming World Cup."

"No you weren't!"

"Oh yes I was", John spat. "But it was not good enough for dad. I told him I was competing in the world cup but he could not come because he had a meeting. Then I found out he went to your game instead. Oh but this was nothing new… he's done this a few more times. Let's see…" he tapped his chin. "Who here remembers my graduation ceremony from NASA?"

"I thought no one was allowed to go because it was a private thing", Gordon said confused and glanced around at his brothers.

"Um yeah that's just what I said to keep dad out of trouble", John spat. "In reality dad couldn't come because Scott had asked him to come visit him at the air force base."

"What?" Scott asked. "That's rubbish!"

"Oh no it isn't", John said. "No no. Remember Scotty? You and dad having a face off in the air? April 10th right?"

"I think so", Scott said. "No... wait it was! That was the day I got promoted."

"And the day I graduated from NASA", John said and shrugged. "Oh well at least dad could meet up with you for a cup of coffee and then agree to fly a little."

"John I had no idea", Scott tried.

"You didn't but dad did", John spat and glared at their father. "And don't get me started on our childhood. I lost count of how many competitions I entered that dad or you guys never attended and yet… I came to anything you did."

"So you're jealous?" Scott scoffed. "Is that what this is about?"

"Jealous?" John asked and looked deep in thought. "No. Disgusted. Angry. Fed up. That is what I am. But jealous? Not in the slightest."

"You're so full of shit", Scott yelled angrily and glided a little closer. Jeff grabbed his arm and pulled him back though when he saw John tighten the grip on the taser. "You're doing this, stranding us in space to get back at dad or to just lash out at us? You're not right in the head John. Dad sacrificed everything for us!"

"For you, you mean."

"No! All of us! Sure he had to work a lot to get the company up an running. Sure he could not be there for everything but he was there when it really mattered!"

"For you. Not for me. Never for me." He started chuckling again. "Never for me!"

"You're wrong! If you think that you are really an idiot! John stop being so stupid!"

John blinked and then he scoffed and lastly he threw his head back and started to laugh that crazy chilling laughter again. It echoed around the room and involuntarily his brother moved a little closer to one another and Brains moved closer to Brains. Jeff lowered his gaze. How could it have come to this? What had he done to hurt his son so badly?

Scott could not believe what he was hearing. How could John just stand there and proclaim that their father didn't care about him? Had he forgotten how Jeff sat by their sides whenever they were sick or hurt? How he would take them to their favorite sport games? How he would teach them to fly? How he would defend them against the media. How could John not see what their father had done for them!?

Virgil could not believe what he was hearing. How could John just stand there and proclaim that their father didn't care about him? Had he forgotten how Jeff sat by their sides whenever they were sick or hurt? How he would take them to their favorite sport games? How he would teach them to fly? How he would defend them against the media. How he had taken them to their favorite concerts and engineering exhibits? How could John not see what their father had done for them!? Wait… John had never really been sick when they were kids, Jeff had never really sat by his bedside. He had done it after the avalanche that killed their mother. Jeff had been out of the country when John fell from the roof and got a concussion though. John was already up and moving around when Jeff came back. But he had taken them to their favorite sports games! Only… John didn't really like football, baseball or soccer. He liked volleyball and gymnastics and chess. Dad had never taken them to any of those events… But he did teach John how to fly… no wait Scott did that. He had protected John and them all against the media though. Not John though he realized. John stayed out of it on his own. John was phenomenal at melting away into the background and be inconspicuous. John was born to be a spy, they'd joked about that when they were younger. Surely Jeff had taken them to their favorite concerts and engineering exhibits! No… not them. Just Virgil. Virgil looked at his brother who was laughing like a madman.

"Oh Johnny", Virgil whispered softly, heart breaking at the realization.

Gordon could not believe what he was hearing. How could John just stand there and proclaim that their father didn't care about him? Had he forgotten how Jeff sat by their sides whenever they were sick or hurt? How he would take them to their favorite sport games? How he would teach them to swim? How he followed them out onto the ocean and spent the day swimming and diving together and sailing? How he would defend them against the media. How could John not see what their father had done for them!? The realization hit Gordon like a freight train. Johnny had never been sick when they were kids and dad had not been there when he got hurt from falling off the roof. Gordon couldn't remember if it was Jeff who taught John to swim or if it was their mother. John had followed Gordon and the others out on the ocean… but Gordon had been the on who got all Jeff's attention. John had never needed to be protected by the media because he could hold his own… like a superspy! He'd answer questions and journalists would have no clue who he is and if they did know who he was he would answer them with such complicated answer that the gossip journalists would be unable to print it because the only one that would get what John talked about was physicists, space engineers, top ranking astronomers, computer programming geniuses or… games enthusiasts. Gordon was not going to call them nerds or geeks. Nope, no, no, no no. Though… Johnny was both a nerd and a geek and Gordon wouldn't have it any other way. Looking at his brother now Gordon was still scared, but not of him… no no no for him. What if John hurt himself? He would make sure that never happened! Not on his watch. John always looked out for them during missions. Making sure they were safe, could get out of messes and just keeping an eye on everything. Gordon remembered the discussion when he borrowed Thunderbird One.

"What are you doing", John asked calmly.

"GAH!" Gordon exclaimed in shock. One would think he would be used to John's hologram popping up whenever or almost wherever he liked. "John, I need to borrow Thunderbird One."

John laughed. "You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking? It's an emergency!"

"Virgil will be back soon, can't you wait for him?"

"No. And since you have your nose stuck in everything around here I'm guessing you were listening in on my call from Parker."

"Communications is my job Gordon", John replied matter-of-factly.

"See that's perfect", Gordon replied excitedly. "So it can be your job to communicate my transportation needs to Scott. Just wait until after I get there to tell him, okay?"

"You better not crash it", John said in that big brother voice all the older Tracys seemed to have.

Gordon was sure that when he nearly did catch… John was actually the one that caught him. He was also sure that John had made sure that he didn't crash the whole way there and the whole way back. If it was for Gordon's sake or Scott's was anybody's guess. No, it was for both. Gordon knew that. John always looked out for them. Gordon would pay him back for it.

"I promise Johnny", he whispered to himself.

Alan could not believe what he was hearing. How could John just stand there and proclaim that their father didn't care about him? Had he forgotten how Jeff sat by their sides whenever they were sick or hurt? How he would take them to their favorite races? How he would teach them to fly? How he would point out the stars and constellations to them? How he would defend them against the media. How could John not see what their father had done for them!? John was smarter than that! John was Alan's idol. John knew well… almost everything there is to know about space and space crafts and computers and games and programming and… and all the cool things! When they were little, like four and six Gordon and Alan had been sure John was a ninja. John had done gymnastics for a while and could do cool stuff even now… when he got his Earth legs under control. They also thought h was a ninja because he was never sick or hurt! Not that Alan could remember anyway. That's why their father never sat with him, he never had to. Jeff had taken Alan to the races to watch all the cars, not John because he knew John really didn't like the loud sound and he was not "addicted" to the speed and cars at all. Jeff didn't want to force him through something he hated. That's why John was never asked along! That was also a misunderstanding! Dad taught Scott and Virgil to fly, Alan knew that. Scott and Virgil taught Gordon and Alan and Alan was a natural at it. But who taught John? Alan had no idea. When Alan was little John had been his role model. Scott had been his hero but it was John he wanted to be like. He remembered them sitting up late at night under the stars with John's old telescope. Alan would be looking while John told him. That's right… it wasn't dad that taught them it was John! But… but dad must have taught John! Yes that was it! It was just a misunderstanding! John thought Jeff telling Alan about the stars was because he hated John… It was because he thought John didn't want to hear what he already knew! Then it was the question about the media. John was a ninja who could disappear and reappear when he wanted to! Jeff never protected him because he knew John could handle it. Yeah that's right. Jeff didn't hate him, he trusted him to handle it way more than he trusted the others. Why couldn't John see it? Alan looked at John.

"Why can't you see you are wrong Johnny?" he asked himself.

TBC

Okay I might upset people now but in my mind John has always been the middle son. It suits his character better, especially in this story. Don't kill me!

Thanks for all reviews!