Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds Are Go.
AN: Now that the series has ended (I think...?), I can finally start including reasons why John left the Creighton-Wards. As lilidelafield put it, it is highly implausible to send someone so young into another family. I'm constructing a reason that, while not entirely foolproof - because this is actually a cartoon and plotholes are almost a mandatory component of this - hopefully answers most of the questions. This is a really quick filler - the next chapter should come up soon!
Big thanks to LMC25, islandsandstars, Sara, and Bri for your lovely reviews!
"Jeff Tracy might be alive," John tells Penelope.
"What?"
"Jeff Tracy might be alive," John says. "Remember Braman?"
"Brains' broken robot?"
"Not as broken as we thought," John says. "Turns out he was emitting an SOS message from deep space."
"Are we sure it is Jeff Tracy?"
"We have to hope," John says quietly. "If it is, this will really speed up our slogging through the GDF."
Penelope gives a small sigh. "To think, after all this time, Jeff Tracy could actually be alive." Her expression turns solemn. "Do you think he still has it though? The codes?"
John shakes his head. "I don't know. But it was the whole reason he had been out there in the first place. The Hood clearly doesn't have it, so let's hope that Jeff does."
Penelope nods. Hope is an understatement of a feeling.
John had left to join the Tracy family for the very reason that Jeff Tracy had gone missing, and if it was true that Jeff was alive, and hadthe very thing that could finally help Penelope and John bring down the Hood once and for all – his entire network of twisted spies that had sneakily made their way up into the GDF – then it would be worth everything.
"Speaking of which," Penelope's face fell, "I think we might have a very serious problem."
"What's wrong?"
"Do you remember Project Sentinel?"
Alarm flashed across John's face. "How could I not? It's what finally brought the Mechanic behind bars."
"I have good reason to suspect that some of the Hood's followers are intending to restart it."
"Who is stupid enough to restart this?" John hisses out of clenched teeth. "Are they in the GDF?"
Penelope nods. "High up enough that they could easily obtain the resources without drawing attention to them."
John pulls up a list of projects the GDF was undergoing and exhales heavily. "All these projects could easily cover the purchase of materials for Sentinel."
"Batteries and processing power," Penelope says thoughtfully. "Can you locate where they will get those?"
"Consider it done," John says, eyes narrowed. "Is it true, then?" He asks offhandedly.
"True?" Penelope asks.
"The neo-Hood factions that are forming."
"Oh, true as ever," Penelope scowls. "And becoming a real thorn in our side." She sighs. "Jeff Tracy's information wouldn't end this completely, but it willmake it a loteasier to draw out the connections and finally end the Hood."