Scott had to be a bit bored, grounded as he was, because the next video posted was once again with him. He was staring into the mirror, Kayo standing behind him, and looking utterly annoyed. He was dressed nice, in a simple gray polo and nice jeans, but nothing fancy. Kayo was also in a nice green polo and tight jeans, with knee-high boots on over. Neither of them were holding a camera, but from the angle of the shot, it looked a little like it had to be hovering somewhere nearby. They couldn't see it in the mirror, though, which was odd.
"Why are we going to film my high-school reunion?" Scott asked.
"Because the world will undoubtedly be curious," Kayo replied with a grin. "And I can use it as revenge blackmail."
"For what?" Scott asked, glancing back at her.
Her eyes narrowed and she gave a sarcastic snarl. "You know what."
Scott blinked at her and then choked a little, stifling a laugh. Whatever it was that he had done, it was apparently hilarious to him, but annoying at the very least to her. "Right. Okay," he said. "Any other reasons?"
"Security? Testing Brains' new micro camera drone? What do you want me to say?" Kayo shrugged. "Now come on, we're going to be late."
Scott rolled his eyes. "Can you be late to one of these things?" he asked, not intending to get an answer. "And yes, world, I'm aware that it's shocking that this is only my ten-year reunion. Seems so long ago…"
Kayo shrugged lightly, following him out the door and to the car that was parked in the drive. In a fit of pique, it seemed that the car of choice was a 1965 Thunderbird convertible, painted a bright sky blue. "All you boys are dorks," she said, rolling her eyes at the car.
Scott flashed her a grin, opening the door for her and giving an exaggerated bow. "We all own our personal thunderbirds from various years," Scott said, probably for the camera. "Although Alan seems to be amassing a vast collection of cars in general."
"He buys junkers," Kayo explained, watching as Scott slid into the driver's seat. "And fixes them up."
"Yup." The video sped up through the drive to the high-school, zooming through fields of rolling wheat and into a town that was of decent size but nothing humongous. They pulled into the school's parking lot and walked into what had to be the gym.
The video slowed back down, Kayo pecking Scott on the cheek and wandering off with an intent look in her eye. "She takes being chief of security seriously," Scott murmured. The faces of all the other people wandering the gym were slightly blurred. Not enough to be off-putting, but enough so that facial recognition wouldn't work.
There wasn't a huge amount of people, but there was a decent turnout. Probably about a hundred total. The gym was decorated with streamers and balloons and a little over-the-top in a way that had Scott rolling his eyes. But it was all in good fun. There was a large banner hung up, with the usual "Class of—" nonsense. Scott huffed, and then straightened his back.
"Tracy!" a voice called and Scott turned, giving a smile. A man came over and looked like he was about to thump Scott on the back, but the pilot moved out of the way with a bit of a grimace. "How's it going, man?"
"Considering I was shot six weeks ago?" Scott deadpanned. "I would appreciate less physical contact. Aside from that," he shrugged a little. "I've been okay." He shook the man's hand, smiling a bit. "How are you doing, Gray?"
"Good! Man, it's so good," the guy, Gray, responded. "Married the love of my life two years ago, man. She's amazing. Couldn't come out tonight though," he gave a bigger grin. "Our son's due next week."
"Congratulations! That's amazing!" Scott said, genuinely happy for his old schoolmate. "Kids are awesome."
"You have any kids yet?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow.
Scott laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, man. Only been married for a few months. Been raising my brothers, though, so…"
Another two guys joined the group, all of them jostling each other, although Scott was extremely careful not to be touched in general. "You're still raising them? I thought they'd all be grown by now!" one of the guys said, jumping into the conversation.
Scott shrugged a bit. "Alan's not quite there yet," he replied. Which, honestly, he expected these guys to know; it wasn't like they hadn't mentioned all these things online for everyone in the world to see. What followed was a continuing conversation of greetings and 'catching up' and all. It seemed that everyone was doing decently for themselves, even those that had never left town. People wandered in and out of the group.
There was good natured ribbing about high-school days. Scott had been in ballet, instead of football, which seemed to be a good bit of humor. But nothing malicious; he was generally well-liked by everyone here. The fact that he employed pretty much half the town at the original Tracy Industry HQ probably helped in that aspect.
And then someone came into the group that had Scott grimacing, just a little. One of the guys with him, someone Scott had called Ryan, gave a soft whistle and an even softer, "Sorry man."
The lady who joined them looked like she was trying far too hard to hold onto her teenage years. She was dressed a little too provocatively for the setting and her face screamed nose-job and botox. "Scott, darling! It's so good to see you again!" she practically simpered.
"Clarice," Scott nodded, holding an easy smile through lots of practice. "You're looking…well."
The camera, still hovering nearby, picked up the whispered conversation between one of Scott's old friends and his wife. How Clarice was an old girlfriend? Possible girlfriend? Scott had taken her on two dates before realizing he could do better, apparently, and she'd tried everything to hold onto him since. She was also on husband number four or something by this point, all of which having been rich, old men.
"Scott," Clarice purred, moving closer. "How are you? We should really catch up sometime."
Scott took a step back. "I'm fine." He looked around, eyes radiating relief at catching sight of Kayo, who came to his aid. "Clarice! You should meet my wife, Tanusha!"
Clarice's face dropped and her eyes widened when Kayo stepped up next to Scott and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Charmed," she said, although her tone was flat.
Kayo gave an enigmatic smile. "Charmed," she repeated, although her voice was much warmer. "It's so nice to meet Scott's old friends. The island can be lonely at times." She frowned a little, staring at Clarice's hair. "Ah, dear, you seem to have…" she trailed off, making an aborted motion towards the woman's head.
Clarice paled a bit and turned on her hair, heading for a nearby mirror. Once she was out of earshot, everyone in the group started laughing. "Kay, darling, are you taking lessons from Penny?"
"Always," Kayo replied, leaning against his shoulder. Scott took the moment to introduce his wife to his old classmates in the group, and they all joked about not having been invited to the wedding. Kayo rolled her eyes. "Honestly, we eloped on the family island with only our brothers and closest friends present. Parker officiated."
"That's fair," one of the men said, while his wife shook her head with a smile. "Our wedding was chaos, let me tell you."
"Irish folk," his wife said with a wry grin. "And an open bar."
Gray's eyes lit up. "Speaking of open bars, we should all totally go out for drinks after this," he said. "Who ever heard of a dry reunion." To be fair, the reunion was a little lame. Even the music was a little old and slow.
"I don't drink," Scott said with a smile. Kayo's hand slipped into his. What wasn't known to the public was the way that Scott had fallen into the bottle after his stint with the Air Force and the mission that had ended his career there. Four months prisoner of war, and a file that was more blacked out than most. Scott hadn't coped well upon returning.
Gordon's Accident had pulled him out of it, and he hadn't touched alcohol since. And none of his brothers had either. They didn't even have any on the island.
"Come on, man," Ryan practically whined. "You're not on duty now."
Scott rolled his eyes. "I'm always on duty," he replied, ignoring Kayo's huff. As if in response to his words, he twitched a bit, frowning, his eyes narrowing. "Thunderbird One responding. Go ahead Virgil." He held up a hand to forestall the others in the group from asking any questions. Everyone quieted a bit, curious and watchful.
Whatever response Virgil had wasn't audible to the group or the camera, but had Scott frowning even harder. "Okay, hold up. You're at, like, a seventeen and I need you at a five. Calm down," Scott said, glancing at Kayo, who had pulled out her phone. "I'm not watching the coms right now. What's the situation?"
He nodded a bit, tilting his head a bit. "And he won't listen to you?" he asked. "Are you working this one alone?" Scott blinked. "Alan's on a different rescue?" Rolling his eyes, Scott shifted on his feet. "Geez, cool it. I'm focusing on your problem, Virge. Okay, what's the guy's name? Brent Clairfield?" Another glance at Kayo had her suddenly looking into that name with resources that went much deeper than just a simple internet search. "Okay, you and Gordon ignore the man and get into that building. Get those people out. But first connect my com to his."
There was a bit of a pause and then Scott's face shifted into an almost wolflike smile. "Mr. Clairfield," he said, sounding very much like the CEO he was. "You're talking to the Commander of International Rescue. Would you care to explain to me why you were blocking my men from doing their job?" Forget the fact that the men in question were his little brothers; they had a job to do, and this man wasn't allowing them to do it.
Scott gave a hum at whatever the man replied with and then cut him off. "Well, I've heard enough, Mr. Clairfield. What I understand is that your construction site has collapsed, and you have forty-two people unaccounted for still buried in that mess. And," he took the phone that Kayo passed him, glancing over the information. "The only reason you don't want anyone going into that site is because you know that you're to blame for the collapse. I see that your license has been revoked in multiple countries, Mr. Clairfield. Poor building practices. Unsafe designs. Buying inferior materials and pocketing the extra money. Did you think we wouldn't find out?" His voice had gotten lower and softer and far more derisive. "I would suggest, Mr. Clairfield, that you sit back and let my men work. And that you don't fight it when the GDF come in to pick you up." Scott had a way of saying the man's name that made it sound almost like an insult.
He cut the conversation with a tilt of his head and then fiddled with one of the buttons on his watch. "Go for Thunderbird Four."
Instead of a silent conversation, a holographic image of Gordon popped up, hovering over Scott's watch. "This is Thunderbird Four. Aren't you supposed to be partying or something?"
Scott rolled his eyes. "I'm always riding herd on you guys," he replied. "All good on my end, you shouldn't have anymore problems. You guys good?" The holograph couldn't catch everything that Gordon was doing, but he seemed to be incredibly busy.
"Peachy. Gonna have to deploy the Mole, though," the aquanaut replied.
"Keep an eye on Virgil," Scott said, voice lowering a bit. "He seems a bit volatile."
Gordon rolled his eyes expressively enough for it to be picked up over the holograph. "Tell me about it. Guy's working off four hours of sleep. Something's going down at New York R&D that has both him and Brains livid."
Scott frowned. "Do I need to look into that?"
"Nah," Gordon said with a wave. "I think Virge is planning on stopping by in person." He turned, yelling over his shoulder something that wasn't picked up by the com, thankfully. "Gotta go, Flyboy. See ya on the flipside."
"FAB, T4. Be careful."
"Always."
The holograph flickered away, and Scott let out a sigh, running a hand down his face. He glanced up at his friends, still staring at him in silence and gave a rueful grin. "What was that about always being on duty?"
"Are we going to have to fly to New York?" Kayo asked in the ensuing, flabbergasted silence. She didn't sound too enthused by that prospect.
Scott shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and smiling at her. "Probably not. But I kind of want to see it. Virgil blowing up is always amazing to see."
"Except when he's blowing up at you," Kayo pointed out and Scott winced. He gave a sigh and turned back to his friends, saying goodbyes and shaking hands and all. This reunion wasn't going anywhere, and he'd rather just spend time with his wife.
They exited the gym after a while, going back to the car. But instead of speeding through the footage of them driving back to the house, they turned into the town. Scott pointed out different buildings to Kayo and the camera, telling little bits of information about them.
The theater, where John took his first job, to earn a bit of cash for a new telescope. Dad believed in working for your money, after all, despite them being freakishly rich after a while. The art store where Virgil seemed to spend every cent he ever made. The public pool where Gordon could be found anytime he wasn't at home. The park where Alan had jumped off the jungle gym with an umbrella and learned that you couldn't actually fly like Mary Poppins.
The hospital where Alan's arm had been casted after that incident.
He pointed out the complex of buildings that was TI in Richfield Kansas, the original Headquarters for the now multi-trillion-dollar business. The main headquarters was now in New York, he said, with buildings dotting the globe, but this site was the first.
There were the little stores that the kids had all frequented, the cafes that they'd all taken dates to (minus Alan, of course). Mom's favorite restaurant. Dad's favorite hardware shop.
And then they stopped at the cemetery. Scott parked the car, got out and held the door open for his wife. He smiled at the camera, gave a bit of a shrug, and the two of them turned to walk into the large, park like graveyard.
And the camera went dark.
AtticusGlobetrotter 9 hours ago
Wow. Even when they're not on duty, they're on duty. International Rescue just never stops.
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AppletoOranges22 8 hours ago
Yeah, that reunion was a lot like my reunion. Kinda boring. Good to see old friends, though.
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RapunzelLetDownYourHair 7 hours ago
The look at the town was nice. I forget they're from small-town America. Good old American farm boys.
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ChocolateForMySoul 6 hours ago
Kayo is amazing. I love her so much.
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KHIOSJ39722 5 hours ago
I still love the fact that Scott did ballet in high school. That's so cool!
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GatormadeGatorade 4 hours ago
Whoo boy, something's got Virgil in a tizzy. I wanna know what's going down at TI. Also, the news vids on that construction site collapse came back. IR was able to save thirty-nine of the forty-two people, no thanks to dirty business practices.
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INeedABlanketAndANap 3 hours ago
I wonder if Scott and Kayo took any pictures of their little wedding? A beach wedding on a tropical island sounds fabulous. Even if they were technically eloping.
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The next week, Scott uploaded a single picture to his Instagram, which had been inactive since the show down with The Hood. That picture was of him and Kayo, dressed in business casual actually, kissing on the beach with a spectacular sunset behind them. In the background you could see all their brothers, as well as Penny, Parker, Grandma, Brains and an unknown woman cheering.
It was an amazing scene.