It was half past five in the morning and Jeff Tracy was standing at the panoramic window surrounding his kitchen watching one of his youngest sons in the pool. Gordon getting up early to swim was a habit he hadn't broken since his Olympic training days. The inclination towards early rising had made adjusting to some aspects of being in WASP easier for him, Jeff was sure of that. It had also been the thing Gordon was most eager to pick up again as soon as he had recovered enough from his accident to be able to.

"This is something I do for me" he'd said when concerns had been raised about him swimming unsupervised so early before anyone else was awake. "I need this, dad. I need to start being me again." Gordon was right, of course. But that hadn't stopped Jeff from worrying, so each morning he'd set an alarm and wandered down to the kitchen, where he could sit, with the light off, unnoticed by his son and just keep tabs.

This morning though, something looked off. It had been almost two years since the day that had almost claimed Gordon's life. More than a year since Gordon had taken back to swimming first thing in the morning and more than eight months since Jeff admitted to himself the he didn't really need to be there each morning. Jeff had been watching Gordon swim since the boy was able to float in a bath and knew that Gordon's true grace only really came out in the water. But today he seemed less fluid than usual and, as Jeff watched, Gordon stood up in the shallow end and stretched his back before setting off again. Jeff watched for a while longer, then, satisfied that Gordon had found a rhythm, he went to his desk to look at the overnight reports from London. The meeting his sons had attended was a few weeks ago but the fallout was still coming in. Jeff had sent Scott with one goal: talk his domineering London manager out of a hostile take over with Spare Scope and into a much more genteel merger. Virgil had been sent as a grounding rod for Scott, just in case his own temper had got the better of him, but it turned out Virgil hadn't been needed. The fall out of Scott's performance had been good. His eldest son had managed to garner the respect of many on the London board and Jeff smiled at the reports in front of him.

A few hours later said eldest son wandered into the kitchen having clearly returned from his morning run. Jeff heard Scott clattering about and glanced over his shoulder. Scott had walked over to the large window, glass of juice in hand. Jeff moved to join him catching the look of concern on Scott face. Following his gaze, he saw Gordon was now laid out on the concrete next to the pool alternating between gentle stretching exercises and simply relaxing back.

"He's struggling today" the father said.

"He won't appreciate it if you go and try to help him" Scott warned. Without preamble Jeff reached out and threw his arm across his boy's shoulders pulling him down to kiss the side of his head. Scott looked at him askance. Jeff hadn't done that in, well, years. Not since Scott had been a child, and Scott had grown up far sooner than most. There was also the fact he really needed a shower.

"I'm proud of you, son" Jeff said.

"Dad" Scott said warily, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing" Jeff smiled. "I just don't tell you that enough. You're remarkable, son."

Scott was speechless. He knew his father loved him and was proud of him, of course he did. But it wasn't something that was ever really said out loud. In the back of Scott's mind those kinds of things were the things mums said, something he and his brothers had no doubt picked up unconsciously from their father.

"You do need a shower though" and with that Scott relaxed.

"Thunderbird 5 to Tracy Island" John's voice cut through the moment and both father and son turned back to the sunken living room where John's hologram was projected.

"Go ahead, son."

"There's a fire in an abandoned factory district in downtown Johannesburg" John began without preamble. "Local fire crews have lost control of it, so far it's caught the roofs of five buildings and the concern is it jumping the road and spreading further. The local Fire Chief, Van der Merwe, has also lost contact with one of his teams."

"I'll get Thunderbird One in the air" Scott said handing his glass to his father and making his way to his launch shoot.

"Virgil will be right behind you" Jeff promised and Scott flashed him a quick grin. Rousing Virgil at this time in the morning was a job every one of them tried to avoid if possible. Scott's last thought as he pulled down the fixtures and was spun away was that at least Virgil wouldn't talk back to his father.

"Father," John said his tone catching Jeff's attention. "There's something else. There's chatter on their lines about classified or highly sensitive information being stored in a factory on that site. It's not one that is currently on fire but fire crews have been diverted to defend it."

"Van der Merwe has lost some of his people but is sending others to defend a derelict factory rather than help get the blaze under control?"

"No Sir, not Van der Merwe. His orders are being countermanded by a man named Prinsloo. I just can't work out why Van der Merwe is listening to him."

At that moment a slightly dishevelled Virgil arrived and went straight for his own launch shoot.

"I heard the alarm" he said rubbing his eyes before disappearing backwards towards Thunderbird Two.

Jeff thought about Gordon and decided that he would be best sitting this one out. He didn't notice that Gordon had heard John's entire report and had already gone to Thunderbird Two to await Virgil. By the time Jeff realised both birds were in the air.