Here's the next chapter. I think I'm going to be doing the comments as following chapters from now on, as when I added them to the end of this chapter, it just ruined the tone. Give me ideas of what you'd like to see in some videos and I'll see what I can do. And dude, if I were good with Animatics, I would totally make these videos. Too bad I'm not.

Chapter Four – A Week In The Lounge

The video started with Lady Penelope staring up at the camera, hands on hips and with a smile on her face. "Hello world," she said softly. It was clear that the camera was mounted on a wall in the lounge, above the six portraits near the sunken sitting area. "This video is a little different from the others. You see, a lot of you were asking for a "Day In The Life" video, and frankly that's just not feasible. There is a lot that goes on in a day that is simply classified or not suited for public viewing. I did, however, get them to agree to have a camera mounted in the lounge for the next week. This is the video of what happened here, in the lounge of the Thunderbirds, for the period of seven days.

Lady Penelope walked off and the screen faded to black before coming back up with the same view. There was no sound, aside from some softly playing piano music, and the speed of the video had obviously been increased by a lot. People sped by, walking, sometimes running. Scott was seen at the desk working at all hours it seemed, his sped-up form almost always ending up there. John floated as a hologram above the table at times, talking to the others. Grandma and Brains were often seen talking, walking, laughing with each other and the brothers.

Lady Penelope had taken care to edit out anything to do with the launching of the Birds, although she left hologram discussions on display, since the words couldn't be heard anyway and with the speed the video was at, she wasn't too concerned about people lip reading. At one point, Scott wandered by with Alan on his back, the younger sound asleep. Gordon raced by with Virgil chasing him through the lounge. John appeared in person halfway through the week, having taken some time off Five to be with his family. It was a fascinating, if fast-paced look into the lives of the Thunderbirds.

And then there were the scenes that Lady Penelope deliberately left at normal speed. They still didn't have any sound, aside from the piano music, but the impact they made was rather large with the viewers.

Scott was seated at the desk, working on a tablet. Virgil came into view with a clipboard, quite diligently studying something on it with a frown. He dropped it on the desk with a thump, gaining his brother's attention. Clearly a discussion of some sort was taking place, Virgil showing bemused confusion and Scott utter bafflement. And then they both broke out into laughter, shaking their heads.

In another, John was seated sideways on a couch, his upper body twisted so he could rest his folded arms on the floor behind him, chin planted firmly upon them. He was watching as Alan stood there, ranting about something. The boy's arms were flailing, his face was a mix of angry and terrified, and John just sat and listened. Scott, seated at the desk, seemed to ignore all of this, aside from glancing up from time to time. Alan finished his diatribe, arms falling to his sides as he slumped and John levered himself to his feet. Kayo stepped out from around the corner, her features slightly blurred. The world knew who she was, but they also knew that Kayo wasn't her real name and that her job was secret. The Thunderbirds didn't want her to be the focus of the media, so they did what they had to in order to preserve her privacy.

John and Kayo stood in front of Alan and then, very deliberately, started to dance. They were, clearly, showing the boy how it was done, taking care to demonstrate where hands should be placed, and which steps should be taken. John stepped aside after a moment, and Kayo started dancing, slowly, with a very red Alan. And at the desk, Scott just smiled as he watched.

Another part showed Virgil, sketching on the couch, twisted much as John had been to rest his sketchbook on the floor behind him. Alan was stretched out on the ground, books and paper in front of him as he chewed on his pencil. Virgil looked up at a question from the boy and stretched forward to snag the paper from Alan, tugging it towards himself. He glanced it over and then pointed out a problem, talking it through with Alan before handing him the paper back. Alan attacked it with his eraser and the video moved on.

Gordon on the phone, a soft smile on his face as he spoke to someone. He leaned against the piano, throwing a grin at Virgil, who was playing absently. They looked at peace and content. Alan wandered in and dropped unceremoniously onto the ground at Gordon's feet, giving a yawn and leaning against his older brother. Gordon just let him, still speaking on the phone. The moment was interrupted by what the viewers could assume was an alarm, as they all, at once, looked towards the holo-table and got to their feet.

The next live-speed had Scott slumped in a chair, head tilted back, arm over his face. Gordon was bouncing in excitement behind him, and Scott slowing pointed at him and very clearly said "No". Gordon wasn't deterred though and just kept speaking, still bouncing. Virgil and Alan came into view, the former stopping suddenly only to have the latter run into his back.

Gordon's attention diverted to his two other brothers and the eldest seemed to melt into the couch. Alan peeked out from behind Virgil only to shake his head empathically and slide away. Virgil, left alone with the manically bouncing blonde in front of him looked to his oldest brother and asked a question, only to have Scott repeat the motion of pointing and answering with a "No." Not entirely sure what was going on, Virgil slowly reached out a hand, placed it on top of Gordon's head and gently pressed down. Gordon was forced to stop bouncing with a pout.

The video sped up again, only to slow down to show both Virgil and Scott standing in the middle of the room. They looked angry, yelling and gesturing wildly. Virgil was, oddly, still in uniform. It was the first and only time that any of the brothers had been in uniform in the lounge this week. The blue and green was smeared with mud and dust and blood that wasn't his own. He threw his arm out, yelling something and Scott moved.

The older brother caught Virgil's wrist and reeled him forward, hooking his other hand behind Virgil's neck and gently resting their foreheads together. He spoke softly, just holding Virgil still, and the larger man just seemed to crumble against his big brother, his face scrunching with despair.

Another video had all five of the brothers piled together on one couch, the younger three sound asleep, a tangle of limbs with Virgil on the bottom. John and Scott were softly speaking to each other, leaning against their brothers, absently calming any twitching or frowning. The light was dim, a single lamp lit on the desk. They looked exhausted, but content.

The screen faded to black, but the video wasn't over. The music faded away as well, and voices took their place. On the screen were two single lines of white text.

"What is the best thing about rescues?"
"Saving lives. It's why we do what we do."

The voices were clearly the brothers, with Grandma and Brains sometimes mixed in. They were recordings from rescues, just little snippets of the whole picture.

"Okay, you're going to need to go fifteen feet further and take a right," John said.
"FAB," Virgil replied. "Any aftershocks on the way?"
"Not as of yet," John answered. "But you may want to hurry. The building doesn't look stable."
"Gotta get the kids first, Johnny."

"Brains? If I try to take the reactor out of the building, what would happen?" Scott muttered, his voice strained.
"It will, uh, explode."
"…right. Well, plan C it is then."

"International Rescue. Is everyone ready to go?" Alan asked, knocking against something metal.
"You're just a kid!" An unknown voice.
"And you're the ones that called for help. Come on. We gotta get to Three."

"Come on, come on, come on," Gordon was muttering in between large, deep breaths. "Breathe dammit."
"Charging, and…Clear!" Virgil's voice accompanied by a strange thumping sound. A pause, a gasp and coughing.
"Yes!" Gordon again, clearly happy.
"Okay," Virgil sighed. "Let's get him on board Two and get him to a hospital. Good job, Gords."

Gordon was singing.
"If you don't shut up, Fish-Face, I might just leave you behind," Virgil, sounding stressed and annoyed.
"Someone woke up grumpy," Gordon replied flippantly.
"Someone never got to sleep, Squid," Virgil said. There was a pause. "Ah, shit! The grapple's slipping! Get out of there!"
Silence.
"Okay, okay. We're good, Virge. I got 'em. We're out."
A relieved sigh. "FAB. Bring 'em in."

"Scott, you may want to hurry this up," a voice that just had to be Grandma's. The world wasn't quite as familiar with Sally Tracy as they were the brothers, though.
"Trying, Grandma," Scott replied. "Kinda difficult though."
"I'm aware, Scooter," Grandma said. "But Gordon and Alan are currently retrieving a broken down space ship, and Virgil just got called out to an avalanche."
Scott grunted. "I hate avalanches."
"We all do, dear."

"How you holding up, Mozart?" Scott asked.
"Peachy keen, Scooter," Virgil grunted. "Please hurry."
"Working on it, kiddo. Just hang on a minute longer. Just three more civilians to go."
"FAB."

"Yes! And that's what I'm talking about!" Alan crowed.
"Good job, Sprout," Scott's reply sounded impressed, if a little frazzled. "Virge? You good?"
"Alan's got good aim," Was all Virgil said.
"Well, all those video games have to be good for something," John said, and Alan squawked in the background.

"Hey Space-Case!" That was Gordon.
"Don't call me Space-Case," John sighed. "What?"
"Is that downed sub responding to you? I can't get them on the coms."
"I'll try again."

The two lines of text faded off the screen, to be replaced by two others.

"And the worst?"
"When they die in your arms and you can do nothing but sing them to sleep."

There was a softly singing baritone voice, crooning out a gentle lullaby. It was the same song that had been playing as piano music earlier, and the words were soft and calming, if not a little sad. The coms were silent aside from the singing, until that too died away.
"I'm sorry, Virgil," John whispered.
A deep sigh. "Me too."

And the video ended.

Author's Note: The song mentioned is a choral piece called "Lullaby" by Daniel Elder. Listen to it. It's gorgeous.