Chapter 19.

Gordon didn't think he'd ever exited Thunderbird Four quicker.

Upon reaching something that semi-resembled dry land, he abruptly docked the little yellow submarine before launching himself out the rear hatch before Kayo could so much as ask where they were.

The aquanaut cringed as his gut audibly groaned, grimly acknowledging that he'd celebrated being officially diagnosed as lactose intolerant by downing eight cheesy tacos and a glass of milk mere hours after ripping the envelope containing his results open. He'd have to watch what he ate over the course of the evening, or else his stomach would surely betray him. He'd been lucky this time around – sheer willpower and a white-knuckle grip on Thunderbird Four's controls had saved him from utter ruin, but he wasn't confident it would be enough for the return journey.

Gordon splashed his way up the beach he'd surfaced at, pausing to slap a palm against the window of Thunderbird Four's cockpit, "Wait for me here!" he instructed to the rather confused Kayo who was still sat inside, "I just need to…erm…check in with some friends who I want you to meet!"

Before Kayo could object, Gordon tore off up the shore, cursing under his breath when he noticed the mini camera hovering a discreet distance away.

Back on Tracy Island, Scott and Virgil were howling with laughter at their brother's predicament.

"Oh man!" Scott chortled, dragging his thumb across his teary eyes, "Poor Kayo, can you imagine what would have happened if Gordon had lost control for even a nanosecond?"

"Probably not much," Virgil replied, slapping a hand against the sofa cushions as he watched the aquanaut beeline to the nearest bathroom, "Any 'accidents' would have been sealed inside Thunderbird Four like a can of tuna, along with Kayo's screams of regret no doubt."

John meanwhile, was feeling slightly sorry for Gordon. As the bearer of countless allergies, the redhead knew first-hand how awkward and unplanned their effects could be. On the one hand, he was happy to finally have a fellow allergy sufferer in the family. On the other, he felt remorse for Gordon's inevitable breakup with all things dairy.

The aquanaut lived for lactose. Milk, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream were staples in his diet and John very much doubted that Gordon would go through the separation dry-eyed.

Alan seemed torn between copying his eldest brothers and siding with his fellow blond. Though he'd never admit it out loud, Gordon was his secret favourite. Sure, the youngest usually went to Scott for comfort, Virgil for life advice and John for homework help, but a special bond always existed between the youngest and oldest members of a sibling chain.

Poor John.

Just as Scott and Virgil were inseparable, fuelled in part by the mere eleven months that separated them, Alan felt a particularly strong connection to his aquanaut brother. Sure, their age gap was a bit larger than Scott and Virgil's, but both Gordon and Alan had grown up under very different circumstances. Consequently, it was these very circumstances that had helped to cement their bond.

In the end, Alan opted for the pity camp. Aside from his loyalty to Gordon, he figured that John would probably appreciate someone siding with him for once.

Gordon meanwhile, was feeling no affinity towards any of his infernal brothers. He knew they were laughing at him, and he knew they were no doubt finding his plight entertaining.

If they wanted a show, he'd give them a damn show.

Barrelling into the first bathroom he could find, the aquanaut braced himself against the doorway of one of the cubicles before turning around to face the small group of people crowded around the sinks.

Gordon waited until he could see the mini camera hovering outside a nearby window before clearing his throat loudly.

"Excuse me everyone, but I think the sauerkraut in the sardine and onion sandwich I ate for lunch went bad. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise for any discomfort I may cause you fine people. If your bathroom enquiry is not urgent, I politely recommend that you evacuate now for your own health and wellbeing."

Four seconds and some frantic feet pattering later, and the room was empty.

Gordon beamed in triumph before turning and sticking his tongue out at the mini camera. Unfortunately, his brief moment of conquest came to a rather undignified halt when his stomach gave an embarrassingly loud gurgle, audible to the mini camera even through the double glazing of the window. With a stumble that lacked any sort of dignity, the aquanaut threw himself into the safety of the cubicle before slamming the door shut behind him.

Back on Tracy Island, Alan's allegiance had fallen victim to the sheer hilarity of the situation and switched camps.

-x-

Kayo scowled as she watched a significantly happier looking Gordon potter back towards Thunderbird Four.

She'd found out the results of the aquanaut's hydrogen test before he'd even seen the letter. Thunderbird Shadow's pilot made a point of checking every piece of mail that entered Tracy Island, for security purposes of course.

Hence why most of the boys opted for paperless communication.

Kayo knew she'd taken a risk getting inside the pressurised cockpit of Thunderbird Four with Gordon and his new dairy allergy. She'd considered blackmailing the aquanaut with the threat of informing Lady Penelope about his new 'condition' if he failed to keep his gut under control, but had decided against it. The risk of getting forcibly ejected in one of Thunderbird Four's dry tubes had been too high.

"Where have you been?" Kayo hissed as Gordon opened the hatch of the submarine and helped her out, "I nearly got swept away by the tide!"

Gordon waved a dismissive hand as he and Kayo splashed their way up the beach, "High tide isn't for another hour at least. Did you really think I'd abandoned you?"

Kayo scowled and bent to adjust her flip flop, "You certainly seemed more concerned with meeting up with your friends. Where are they, anyway? Are we going to be spending the evening with them as well?"

Gordon's stride faltered when he realised that he'd been caught in his own lie. Well, it wasn't all a lie. He had visited this particular beach before to save a dolphin and a diver that had both been caught in a dredge net. The locals relied heavily on the dolphins and the tourists they attracted for business, so had been more than friendly towards the aquanaut after he'd completed the rescue with zero casualties. The ensuing publicity that the area had received had been the icing on the cake.

"Oh, no! Today is all about you, and me," Gordon replied, jabbing a thumb at his chest confidently, "We don't need anyone else tagging along."

Kayo's green eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Still, I'd like to at least meet these friends of yours. Call me weird, but I make a point to investigate anyone who tries to get chummy with any of us."

Gordon frowned and scratched his head, "Uh, why?"

"Because they could be gathering intel on behalf of someone else," Kayo hissed, "Engineering social situations under the guise of becoming 'friends' is one of the most common techniques used in undercover work. Sheesh, you of all people should know that!"

Gordon paused before shrugging, "Eh, I'm not Scott. Or John."

"But you're still a fully-fledged member of International Rescue," Kayo muttered before scanning the beach with a distrustful eye, "So? Where are they? You've only just got back, so they can't have gone far."

Gordon could feel himself start to sweat, the prospect of his score falling spectacularly short of his brothers suddenly looking like a very real threat. He'd had so much time to prepare, plus the extra bonus day when Kayo had been in Argentina…and yet somehow, he'd managed to start digging a rather nice hole after just twenty minutes of being on dry land.

Clearly, he was staying true to form.

"Okay!" Gordon agreed in a voice slightly higher than usual. Trying and somewhat failing to mask his panic, the aquanaut scanned the beach, his russet eyes hunting for the least-likely-to-speak-English person he could see.

His salvation came in the form of a small, dark-skinned child who may or may not have been homeless.

"Hey…erm…Pedro!" Gordon yelled, seizing Kayo's hand and waving manically at the oblivious youngster, "It's me, your old pal Gordon! I know we just spoke, but I'd like you to meet my pretty lady friend here!"

'Pedro', who Gordon realised might actually be female upon closer inspection, stared at the approaching aquanaut with wide, fearful eyes.

"This is Kayo!" Gordon gabbled, his voice three times its usual speed, "Can you pronounce that? Kay – oh? She and I are out on a date. Can you pronounce that? Day – ate? Anyway 'lil dude, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm burning daylight and old Kayo here is practically tearing my arm off. Let's catch up sometime when I'm not entertaining the ladies, okay? See you around!"

Before 'Pedro' could scream or burst into tears, Gordon tightened his grip on Kayo's hand and powerwalked back off up the beach, breaking stride slightly to 'accidentally' let a couple of fifty dollar bills slip out of his pocket and onto the sand near where 'Pedro' had previously been scavenging.

"See? He's practically a Tracy," Gordon exclaimed, panting slightly as he recovered from his previous babbling frenzy, "Me and him go way back."

"Uh huh," Kayo replied, her concern over the confidentiality of International Rescue's operations diminishing when she caught sight of 'Pedro' seizing Gordon's discarded bills and jumping up and down in avid excitement.

Their mad ascent up the beach was interrupted when Gordon paused to empty sand from one of his boat shoes. He glanced inquisitively down at Kayo's flip flops as he smacked his palm against the shoe's sole.

"Are those comfy?" the aquanaut asked, dropping his shoe onto the sand and stuffing his foot back inside it.

Kayo frowned and glanced down at her feet, "I thought you said these would be fine for what we're going to be doing?"

Gordon tilted his head slightly, "They go with your outfit wonderfully, but I just don't know how comfy you'll be in them after a few hours of dancing."

Kayo's eyes widened in shock, "Dancing?" she repeated, "You never mentioned anything about dancing! Where the heck are we, even?"

Gordon smiled as he pointed towards the top of a nearby mountain, where a huge statue with outstretched arms sat watch over the city below like a giant, if slightly eerie sentinel.

"Rio?" Kayo exclaimed, mentally smacking herself for failing to recognise the distinct sound of samba music that was being played from somewhere close by.

Gordon smiled impishly, "Don't worry about the shoes. I can always carry you if things get too much."

-x-

Back in the safety of the Tracy Island den, Scott and Virgil shared a look of dubious intrigue.

"I don't fancy his chances of boogying with a bloated stomach," Virgil commented with a disbelieving head shake.

"Oh, I do!" Scott countered, his expression stony, "He still has to pay for that stupid fart prank he pulled on me."

"Already taken care of," John replied with an airy flick of his wrist, "Your pride was avenged yesterday morning when I explicitly told our dear aquanaut to order extra cheese with the tacos."

Scott didn't seem quite as thrilled as John would have liked (no doubt because his own idea of revenge featured a microphone in the toilet), however was polite enough to offer the redhead a high-five of gratitude.

"Isn't there some sort of medication he can take?" Alan asked as he reached over Virgil to grab a fistful of popcorn.

John shook his head, "Dietary changes are the most reliable and sustainable form of treatment for lactose intolerance. Though in Gordon's case, I imagine this will be met with significant resistance."

Scott snorted, "If things start to go south, I'll take Thunderbird One and evacuate him before he can blow the ass out of his pants."

John frowned in disapproval, "What a waste of fuel."

Scott shrugged, "Not really. I've always wanted to freeclimb Sugarloaf Mountain."

"And I want to see our resident guppy shine in all of his butty-guppy glory," Virgil interrupted, motioning for Scott and John to be quiet, "I don't think he's realised the one fatal flaw in his otherwise watertight plan."

Alan frowned, "And that is?"

The smile on Virgil's face was lethal enough to cast its own shadow.

"He can't dance."