Participation II - Eighteen.

1 = first name

4 = town

After the meal I decided to help Tin-Tin and Kyrano clear the table. It was the least I could do after all the kindness and consideration they had shown me over the last few days.

Jeff Tracy got up and stalked out of the dining room without a look in my direction. That suited me, if he wanted to keep out of my way, then I was more than willing to keep out of his.

Gordon and Brains left for another part of the house. I thought they were still working on the modifications to whatever it was that Brains was installing at my home.

Mrs Tracy eased Trixie from out of her chair and guided her towards the lounge. "Come on dear. Let's go and have a rest and a good old chat shall we?" Trixie didn't acknowledge the invitation. I watched as my friend walked zombie like out the door.

Only Virgil, Scott and John were left sitting at the table. They'd watched Trixie leave with obvious concern on their faces.

Virgil turned to his brothers. "Okay. Time for Plan B!"

John nodded his agreement.

"Plan B?" Scott said slowly. "I thought you hadn't finished it yet."

"That's not Plan B" Virgil told him. "That's Plan C."

"Yeah." John agreed. "You've got to set Plan B into operation."

Realisation seemed to dawn on Scott's face. He leant back holding his hands up in protest. "Oh no. Not that."

"C'mon Scott! It's for Trixie." John urged him on.

"She might not appreciate it!"

"She will!" Virgil insisted.

"Why me? John's better..."

"No I'm not. And you know why it has to be you."

"I knew I'd regret telling you that."

Both Tin-Tin and I were listening to the conversation surreptitiously.

"Well it's true. I've seen the evidence." Virgil was pushing Scott metaphorically.

"It's not a good time..." Scott protested.

"When would be a good time, Scott? I think now's a good time. I need a break from what I've been doing and when I take a break I play the piano..."

"You've just had a break. You've just had dinner!"

"I've also been working all day, while you've been swanning off on your hoverbike. I'm not ready to go back. Grandma's got her in the lounge. Now would be a perfect time."

"Just think of it as another rescue." John told Scott.

"Then I should be the one giving the orders, not you two."

It was fascinating watching the two younger men gang up on their big brother. Tin-Tin and I had given up any pretence of work and were openly listening.

"What's the matter Scott? You can't be afraid of her."

"No I'm not afraid of her John. It just... It doesn't seem natural. And if Gordon sees me I'll never live it down!"

"So! There's only one of him." Virgil said

"Yeah and there's two of us, and together we can make your life a darn sight more miserable." John added

Scott sighed. For the second time in as many days he'd been beaten. "Alright. But if anyone laughs, or teases, or it goes wrong... you two have got to stand by me and take the blame. Okay!"

"Okay!"

"Deal!"

Both Virgil and John had big grins on their faces. Scott gave them a weak grin in return and took a deep breath. "Right let's get this over with. Play a couple first to get us in the mood okay Virg.?"

"Right." The three Tracy men left the dining room.

Tin-Tin and I looked at each other and then put down the objects we were holding. We had no idea what was going on, but we were determined we were not going to miss out on finding out!

We followed the three oldest Tracy boys into the lounge. I made my way over to the seat beside the piano. A - because I wanted to be as far away from Jeff Tracy, seated in his usual place at his desk, as possible. And B - because I liked listening to Virgil play and I had a feeling that the action was going to happen here on this side of the room.

Scott was standing behind Virgil at the piano, going over some music together.

John took a seat nearby.

Mrs Tracy had seated Trixie beside her on a couch. She was talking animatedly, but I noticed with concern, that Trixie was only giving half-hearted replies in return. I hoped that what ever the Tracy's had planned would work.

The first two tunes were Virgil's rendition of modern hit songs. As I listened to them I had to think that Virgil's version was a darn sight better than the one's I heard on the radio. "You should think of recording those." I told him.

Then the tempo of his playing slowed and Virgil started playing a waltz. Suddenly, showing no sign of the hesitancy displayed earlier, Scott stood up and bowed to Trixie. "Mrs Trickey. May I have the pleasure of having this dance with you?" he said extending his hand.

She hesitated and I thought that maybe she'd refuse. But then she blushed and placed her hand in his. "I'd love to." She said.

He led her to the centre of the floor and together they started to dance. I had to admire Scott's ability as a dancer. For a big man he moved very gracefully as he steered his partner around the room.

As they waltzed past me I noticed that Trixie's eyes were closed, a look of rapture on her face. I fancied that she was imagining that she was once again in the arms of her Ryan.

I looked over at Virgil. As he played his eyes were on the pair, keeping with their tempo, and he was smiling. He glanced at me briefly and gave me a wink.

Gordon wandered into the room. "What on earth..." and was shushed by his Grandmother.

Tin-Tin looked at Alan's portrait dreamily.

John had a grin that threatened to split his face in two.

Jeff's expression changed from one of surprise to one of pleasure.

We were all enchanted.

The music ended and Scott held Trixie briefly, allowing her to come out of her reverie. "Thank you Scott." She said quietly. "Now if you'll excuse me..." She walked, with dignity, out of the room.

Scott came and sat next to me.

"You've just made an old lady very happy." I told him.

"That was the plan," he said and then looked slightly embarrassed. "Virgil had left the radio on open communication during the factory fire at 4."

Virgil came over from the piano and lent on the back of our chair, so he could join our conversation. "I didn't want you two pushing any buttons, unnecessarily."

"Except large red ones?" I asked.

"Especially large red ones." He laughed.

"I've been wondering." I said. "Just what IS that red button anyway?"

"It's a kind of ejector seat arrangement." Virgil explained. "Except instead of launching only the pilot, it sends Thunderbird Two skyward."

"But wouldn't it be wise to have a reverse switch?" I asked.

"We don't normally have passengers." Virgil reminded me. "It's only for emergencies, when we don't have time to go through the normal lift off procedures. The idea is that who ever sets it off is usually a competent enough pilot to be able to land Two again."

"Oh! I see."

Scott continued explaining about the radio. "Anyway, I heard most of what Trixie was saying about her husband, and I told Virg. and John, and we thought she might appreciate the dance."

"That was a lovely idea." Mrs Tracy told them.

"I always knew those dancing lessons would come in handy one day." Jeff said. "Though it was a struggle getting you boys to attend them at the time."

Scott screwed up his face. "I hated them. I always told the other kids we were going to Karate class. It was in the same building." He explained to me.

"The thing I didn't like about the classes was the pianist!" Virgil exclaimed. "He kept hitting the wrong notes and his technique was all wrong!"

"Being able to dance always impresses the ladies though, didn't it?" Jeff said.

"Well, yeah." Scott agreed. "We can appreciate the lessons now." His brothers were nodding in agreement.

"So you were listening to all our conversation were you?" I tried to sound like I was scolding him, but couldn't help laughing. "I'm trying to remember what we said. Something about having a Toy-Boy..."

"Toy-Boy?" Scott exclaimed. "I missed that bit..."

"What..." John said slowly, "was she saying about Toy-Boys?"

I chuckled guiltily. "It's what started the conversation. We were watching you three and Trixie wondered what it would be like to have a Toy-Boy." Various anguished expressions appeared on the younger Tracy's faces. "She was just teasing. She said that no matter how much she flirts with you guys no one could replace her Ryan. Now what else did we discuss?" I started to tick it off on my fingers. "Me being shocked over the Toy-Boys comment. Ryan Trickey... Losing him... his love for the job... and...Oh dear!" I'd remembered what Trixie had told me about her conversation with Mrs Tracy. "How much DID you hear?"

Scott glanced at his Grandmother who was now concentrating on her knitting. He lowered his voice. "Everything."

Virgil knelt down so that his head was closer to ours and he didn't have to talk so loud. "We've always known that Grandma worries, but we've never realised to what extent."

John came over and sat on the coffee table beside us. "Is this a private conversation or can anyone join in?"

Gordon sat beside him. "What are you three conspiring about?"

"Boys! That's a table not a chair. It's not strong enough to hold the two of you." Mrs Tracy scolded.

"C'mon, lets go down to the theatre." Scott said in his normal voice. "We can discuss this there." He said more quietly.

"Do you want me to come?" I asked in a near whisper.

"Sure." He agreed. "You can pick the movie."

I'd seen the theatre when Mrs Tracy had shown us around, but hadn't actually been inside. It was an intimate cinema with enough seats for the entire family plus a few guests. We all took a seat.

"Alan should be part of this." John said. Before I knew it Alan was beamed down to us from on board Thunderbird Five via the cinema screen.

"Okay. Now that the movie star is with us, would someone explain to me what's going on?" Gordon asked.

Scott explained about his overhearing of our conversation.

"So why the secrecy?" Gordon asked with a frown.

Scott gestured to me and I explained to Gordon what Trixie had told me about their Grandmother. "Of course don't forget you're getting this third hand now."

"Whew!" Gordon sat back. "So what can we do? I don't like the idea of Grandma worrying like that."

"I don't know that there's a lot you can do." I said. "As Mrs Tracy told Trixie, who told me, she knows how much your work means to you guys. All I can suggest is that you keep reinforcing how much she means to you. And make sure that you say goodbye before you go off on a rescue."

Scott was nodding thoughtfully. "That makes sense."

"Probably the same goes for Jeff." I stated.

There was shocked silence.

"Dad?" Alan said in a voice that was more of a squeak.

"He might be the commander of International Rescue, but he's also your Father. You can't tell me that he doesn't worry. In fact, if you think about it, there's probably not a resident on Tracy Island who doesn't have the same feelings. And I'm including each of you guys in this."

They all looked at each other. I had no idea what was going through their minds, but I thought they were probably analyzing what I'd just said. Maybe even comparing it to situations they'd already been in.

"I see what you mean," Alan said, "No matter what a pain you guys can be, I'd sure hate to lose one of you."

"Yeah, we'd miss your ugly mug too." Gordon told him.

"Well 1, you've certainly given us something to think about." Scott said and stretched his legs.

"And I've got a job to carry on with." Virgil stood up and gave his brothers a meaningful, but to me meaningless, glance.

"How's it coming?" John asked.

"Oh, getting there." He tapped Scott on the shoulder. "I could use some help now."

Scott groaned. "Haven't I done enough already?"

"No. Come on I need your talents."

Reluctantly Scott got to his feet. "Okay." He sighed. "See you later 1."

"Don't let those three get you into mischief." Virgil winked at me and left the theatre.

I gave John a quizzical look. He grinned. "So 1, I take it you don't want to look at Alan all night, so what movie do you fancy seeing?"

"Charming." Alan complained. "I know when I'm not wanted. I'll go back to my lonely work and leave you three to enjoy yourselves."

"Awwww." Was the only response he got from his brothers.

He sighed theatrically. "See the sympathy I get. I don't think they'd miss me at all. Night 1."

"Good night Alan."

"So," John repeated, "what would you like to see?"

"What have you got?"

He brought up a list on a computer screen on the back of the chair in front of him. He started scrolling through. "Take your pick."

I stared at the list. There appeared to be millions of names. "I wouldn't know where to start..."

"We'll break it down into more manageable lists." John said. "What type of movie would you like? Who's your favourite actor?"

I eventually made a decision and the three of us settled down, with popcorn and drinks, to enjoy the movie.