"Duck…duck…duck...duck….GOOSE!" The young boy slammed his hand down on Selene's head, packing a powerful punch for one so small. The boy shot off like he'd been fired from a cannon to the cheering of his schoolmates.
"Selene, you gotta run!" Gordon bellowed. It took Selene a second to scramble to her feet but then she took off, running the perimeter of the circle.
"No! This isn't Baseball, you don't need a home run!" Alan laughed so hard he actually fell backwards out of the circle.
"Chase him!"
She changed course and raced after her attacker, who was as slippery as a greased eel and dodged around her, easily avoiding her.
"Catch him!" Virgil yelled encouragingly.
"I'm trying!" the young boy slipped out of her grasp and threw himself down into her vacated spot.
"Home!" he smiled triumphantly.
"Heck, I missed," she threw up her hands in mock disappointment, "I guess I'll just have to sit out." She didn't get more than two paces before she was called back.
"Sel, you can't leave, that's not how the game works," Virgil grinned from his spot on the ground, where he was sitting cross legged, just like everyone else.
"I can't?"
"Nope," Alan chimed in.
"THIS GAME MAKES NO SENSE! Why do we even have ducks and geese, what's that all about?"
"Haven't you ever played this before?" Gordon looks horrified.
"No! I never played that at school."
"What did you play then?" A little girl asked her.
"We played lots of other games, I suppose one of the closest to this is British Bulldog."
"What's that?" a smaller boy who had been looking incredibly bored, suddenly sat up and took notice.
"Yeah, I've never heard of that one," Gordon admitted.
"Can we play it now?" a smaller girl asked.
"I… I guess so, I mean, I don't see why not."
"How does it work?"
"Well, the aim of the game is to run from one side to another, without getting caught, kids are only allowed to do touch tagging, adults are fair game. We start off with two or more people in the middle who have to catch and tag as many people as possible, the ones that get tagged join the catchers in the middle. We run back and forth until one person is left that makes it safely to the other side."
"That sounds fun," Alan grinned, "I'm in!"
EARLIER THAT DAY
"Once again I want to thank you all for doing this, and apologise for not being able to attend myself, we had a minor disaster with Hyper2, nothing to worry about, just a small acceleration problem," Tycho Reeves' hologram floated above the instrument panel of Thunderbird Two where John usually appeared.
"Acceleration problem? I'm not going to have to shoot down another tube am I? We didn't bring Four."
"No, no, it's not that type of problem," Tycho assured them. "The issue is that as soon as we reach full acceleration she starts to go backwards. We think the safety cut off Brains designed is working a little too well."
Selene heard Alan's muffled snort of laughter behind her but managed not to join in, unfortunately Gordon wasn't so disciplined.
Tycho cleared his throat before continuing.
"As I explained to Scott, the school is counted as a low income area and so it's helped by the charity I patron. They are doing heros week and International Rescue was the most written about people. The competition was held over three schools in the district and the essay that was chosen belongs to a boy named Will."
They all nodded, having read the brief.
"I've scheduled you in for two hours but the school is more than happy for you to stay as long as you like, the kids especially would like you to have lunch with them if possible."
"I'm always up for lunch," Gordon said, having managed to gain control of his laughter.
"We'll stay as long as we can," Virgil promised, "but if an emergency comes in, we'll have to go."
"Wouldn't expect anything less," Tycho smiled, cutting the feed with a goodbye nod.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Alan cheered.
"This is going to be hell," Selene groaned.
"You didn't have to come," Virgil pointed out gently. "I don't know why you're making such a fuss, you're great with kids."
"I had to, I couldn't leave all the girls to the mercy of all you're testosterone, they had to know that girls can be part of a team too. But I'm still allowed to make a fuss," Selene grumbled.
"We aren't."
"You're boys, it's common knowledge that boys have a hidden inner child that's always bursting to get out."
"I resent that remark," Gordon mock huffed.
"Plus," Selene continued as if he had never spoken, "you aren't the ones with a womb that your Grandma is determined to guilt into popping out great-grandchildren."
"Would that be so bad?" Virgil asked innocently and she could already see the images in his head from the little smile forming on his face.
"Yes! With all that Tracy super sperm, I'd have a herd in a year! You guys don't just stop at one."
Alan choked, Gordon laughed so hard that no sound came out, just a wheeze like asthmatic bagpipes.
"But dramatic, don't you think?" Virgil's eyebrow arched but his lips twitched as he held back a grin.
"Not really. But, we talked about it and neither of us feel even remotely ready to think about anything like that, it's just not the right time. Honestly, I don't know if it will ever be the right time or if we'd even want any, at the moment we don't. Much the same as we aren't getting married to please everyone else, I'm not popping out kids for any reason other than us wanting them either."
"Fair enough," he nodded, seeing her point. "You know, Dad used to go to schools and talk to the kids about being an Astronaut. One time he came to the school that Scott and I were at and it was so weird to see all our classmates going crazy over his stories, stories we'd heard a million times before and thought were rather boring. To them he was Jeff Tracy, Astronaut, but to us he was just Dad, the slightly goofy guy that made us do our homework and gave us chores to do around the house."
"Do you think that Dad will do it again after we bring him home?" Alan asked, not remembering anything that Virgil was talking about. Selene reached over to take his hand, giving it a little squeeze.
"Oh I'm sure he will," Virgil smiled fondly, "that was the only time that people thought he was cool, he'd never give up a chance to tell impressionable kids all about space."
Gordon laughed. "He got John and Alan but never managed with me, I prefer to keep my sights set a little lower and wetter."
"Boy, do not be saying stuff like that in front of the kids," Selene warned as Alan sniggered beside her.
"I just meant-"
"We know what you meant," Virgil laughed.
"Well I'm just going to shut up if I'm going to keep getting picked on!"
They lapsed into silence until the school playing field came into view, the only place big enough to land. There was already a crowd of children and teachers waiting to greet them.
"Wow, that's a lot of kids," Alan's eyes grew wider as he looked out of the window to the field below. "Can we handle that many?"
"Luckily we won't have to, we're doing a talk to everyone in the school hall, and then going to hang out with the winner and his class," Virgil assured him.
"So only say, thirty kids, not 300?"
"Yep."
Alan nodded. "That we can handle."
Virgil brought the big craft down softly on the grass, and even the soundproofing of Two couldn't drown out the cheers and exited screams of the children.
"Here we go," Gordon gulped as they walked down into the belly of the craft to make their appearance.
"And remember the golden rule, be safe, be careful, and be kind. Those in need of help aren't just the ones in danger, they are the ones being bullied, being hurt, or in a sad situation. There are some things in life that people can't help and there are some that they can, and you are the next generation of International Rescue Agents, it's your job to make sure that you help as many people as you can," Virgil smiled, looking around at the rapt faces of the kids.
" You don't have to be big to be a help, " Alan chimed in.
" You don't have to be super strong," Gordon continued.
" You don't even have to be a boy, " Selene added to the cheers of a number of girls in the audience. "You don't have to be an action man to help someone, sometimes the help that people really need is to know they have a friend, someone to have their back and to stand with them when they need it. Emotional support is just as important as physical support."
"Wherever you go, whatever adventures you go on, remember to always think things through and plan for your safety. It can be a big, dangerous world out there and taking risks makes it all the more likely that you'll end up in trouble. Always play safe," Gordon instructed, reiterating the lessons they had just gone over involving safety in the water, out in nature and even in the city and towns. Danger was everywhere, they knew that better than anyone and knew that a situation could turn deadly in a matter of seconds if you weren't fully prepared. They had instructed them on how to make themselves as safe as possible if they did get into trouble, how to call for help and what to do while waiting for help to arrive. Now they were making sure that their lessons had hit home and wrapping up the talk.
"Always carry your phone," Alan continued to drum in their words of caution, "and never be afraid to ask for help, because there is always someone willing to step up. It could be the police, the fire service, paramedics, mountain rescue, the coastguard or even us."
"We aren't the heros, we're just the ones that use the equipment and knowledge we have to the best of our abilities, and you can too. You can be a hero, you don't need a Thunderbird, you just need a good heart and to be a good friend," Virgil concluded. "Thanks for listening to us today, remember what we said, and together we can all make the world a better place."
The teachers started clapping first, then the children joined in. Selene watched her boys visibly relax as they finished, not really used to public speaking.
The principal joined them at the front of the hall and thanked them for their time.
"Are there any questions for International Rescue before we finish and go back to our lessons?"
A sea of hands shot up and Principal Jones waited patiently for them to pick a few children.
Virgil scanned the little faces, the waving arms and the zeroed in, pointing to a smaller boy sitting on the end of a row, who startled and looked around to make sure that it was actually him who had been picked. He was clearly very nervous and not used to being noticed, but he sat up straighter, his voice growing louder as he gained confidence.
"Hi, my name is Jason, I just wanted to ask-"
"Speak up, Jason, we can't hear you," a teacher called encouragingly.
Jason took a deep breath and spoke again, this time a little louder. "How did you guys get so big, big enough to help people? Were you ever smaller, like me?"
"Alan's still small," Gordon quipped, earning himself a glare from his brother.
"Believe it or not, we were all small at your age," Virgil answered, ignoring his brothers.
"Even you?"
"Even me."
"So I won't stay this small forever?"
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being smaller," Alan insisted. "You don't measure a person's worth on how big they are, but on what they do. You don't have to be big to be brave."
"Jason will never be brace or big then," a voice called out from the other end of the row.
Jason hung his head, looking down at his shoes, clearly embarrassed.
"Hey, that's not a very nice thing to say, Jacob," Principal Jones called out. "We don't bully people here, were you not listening to a word these nice people said?"
"Sorry Principal Jones," Jacob called back, sounding a little less cocky and a little more contrite.
Virgil was off before anyone realised he was moving, coming to a stop beside Jason's seat. He hunkered down, getting as close to the boys level as he could.
"Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't be brave, OK?" He was speaking directly to the boy but his deep voice carried across the hall with little effort, making sure that everyone heard him.
"But it's true, I'm not brave."
"Sure you are, you're talking to us now aren't you? That's brave."
Jason didn't answer.
"There's nothing wrong with being quiet, you know. Not everyone has to be loud and the center of attention."
"But how will I ever be a Thunderbird if I can't be brave and talk to people?"
"I know it's hard, but you don't have to talk to people face to face to be brave or to help people."
"I don't?"
"No, our brother is much like you, he doesn't like to be around many people or to talk to them if he can help it, but he still spends all day, every day helping people."
"How does he do that?"
Virgil smiled. "He listens. And sometimes that's all people need, to know that there is someone out there that cares enough to listen for those that need help. We couldn't do our job without him."
Jason appeared to think about this for a few moments before he nodded. "OK, I'll do that, I'll listen to people and make sure they get help if they need it."
"Good plan," Virgil hauled himself to his feet, patting the boy gently on the shoulder before joining the others once again.
"Are there any more questions?" Principal Jones asked and once again what looked like a million hands shot up into the air.
"It's going to be a long day," Gordon whispered to Selene in a side whisper.
"So, everyone clear on the rules?" Selene called over the noise of almost forty excited kids and three grown men who were just as loud.
She, Gordon, Will and a little girl named Mandy were lined up in the center of the games area, while Virgil, Alan and the rest of the children stood in a pack in front of them.
"On your marks, get set, GO!" their teacher yelled, blowing a whistle. The kids surged forwards, Virgil and Alan running with them.
Selene managed to tap two gently on the shoulder, Gordon tagged four and Will and Mandy tagged one each before the rest made it to the other side and safety.
The eight tagged children joined them in the middle, spreading out to form a line of defense.
"We've got them now!" Gordon crowed as the whistle blew again. This time he only caught two and Selene didn't manage one. They were slippery little buggers who could duck and dive better than Kayo.
Third round and Gordon leapt on a screaming Alan, bringing him down to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Selene went after Virgil but missed.
Fifth round and they had all but three children and Virgil in the center, ready to rumble.
"Team, we made it this far, we've done our best, no matter what happens next, no matter who wins or who falls, we're all winners!" Virgil's rousing speech was met with whoops from his team mates. The whistle blew and they ran.
Two were caught instantly and joined the ranks of the catchers, one dodged past three kids and dived between Selene's legs only to be tagged by Gordon who was protecting her rear. That left…
Alan broke away from the pack and chased after Virgil who was running full pelt, trying to reach the end of the line and dodge around the edge, unable to plow through the middle.
With a battle cry that sounded like a strangled baboon, Alan leapt onto his brother's back.
"Bundle!" he screamed and a gaggle of kids rushed to his aid.
They swarmed Virgil, some grabbing onto his legs, others hanging off his arm as he fought valiantly to keep moving. Technically he had lost the second Alan had landed on his back, but they were clearly having too much fun to stop.
Virgil continued his attempt to walk but eventually he had to give in and admit defeat.
Declaring Virgil the winner, the kids teacher pried a few enthusiastic kids off his leg, although he asked her to leave the little girl who had hold of his hand and was refusing to let go.
It was a tired but happy group of children who waved goodbye to their heros an hour later.
Selene sat back in her chair with an exhausted sigh, Alan beside her. It didn't take long for his eyes to droop shut and his head to come to rest on her shoulder.
She pulled out her phone and started to flick through the pictures she'd taken. There was Gordon making faces with a couple of boys, there was Will reading out his prize winning essay, Alan pointing out various planets and constellations on a map to a number of enthralled kids and last Virgil. The little girl who wouldn't let go of his hand now perched on his lap, hugging his arm as he sat on an impossibly small chair that looked like it was about to buckle any second, a ring of starstruck children sitting on the floor in front of him while he told them stories of their rescues.
Selene had always known that he was an amazing big brother, just like Scott was but for different reasons. Scott was the one that would leap to your defense and want to pummel whoever had hurt his sibling, but he had a devilish streak that surfaced now and then. Virgil always had his brothers backs, he was always there, ready to lend a hand and help them out of any situation, he was the solid, comforting presence that soothed your fears and made everything better. Seeing him with the kids had given her a glimpse of what he must have been like with Alan and Gordon when they were younger and it made her love him all the more.
She hadn't said anything while they had been speaking of children, but one of the reasons she and John were so dead set against kids at that moment in time was because John, as well as the others, knew only too well just how hard it was to grow up missing a parent, and for Alan he'd done it twice. They led dangerous lives and the thought of one of them possibly not making it home to their children one day wasn't something they wanted to think about. But now, seeing how they were with the kids at the school, Selene knew that any child she had would have the most wonderful family to look out for them, with four amazing uncles, a kick ass Auntie in Kayo, a tough as nails Grandma and hopefully a Grandfather that would adore them.
