Authors Note for the next three chapters:
Don is a total figment of my imagination.
The others - Any similarity to any living person is purely coincidental... maybe...
And of course Scott and Virgil are written the way that I imagine them, which may not be the way that you imagine them, or even the way Gerry Anderson imagines them... and he created them! And I'm just grateful that he did create them, and lets us borrow them for our stories.
Enjoy
Purupuss
One Hundred and Two - BF
Virgil steered the car into a parking spot and turned off the motor. "Well, this is it."
Scott was looking about him. "This is amazing. It's actually quite similar to how I imagined it."
"Does it bring back a few memories?"
"Yeah. Of one of the most frightening times of my life. I'm lucky this rehabilitation centre's one of the best"
They got out of the car and headed over to the reception area.
"Did you get the impression that Father wasn't too keen on us making this trip?" Scott asked.
"No... But then I still can't hear him."
The double doors slid back automatically and they entered the air-conditioned foyer.
Scott stood looking around while Virgil went over to the reception desk. "Hi Trish. How are you?" he smiled.
"Virgil! Lovely to see you again. I'm fine thanks. Dusty's expecting you, I'll give her a call."
He looked at his watch. "We've got a couple of minutes before we're due to see her, so there's no hurry." He poked his head into the room. "Hi Julia." He waved.
"Hello Virgil!" She stood and walked over to the reception desk so she could hear him better. "How are you both?"
"At the moment Scott's in better shape than I am," He admitted and then turned back to his brother. "Hey! Don't be rude, come over and say hi."
"No need to yell. You're the one who's deaf." Scott reminded him.
The two women stared at him. "Scott! You can see?"
"You got it." He smiled. "Nice to meet you again and to finally see you."
"But how?" Trish asked.
"We struck it lucky and found this professor who was able to repair the damage." Scott explained. "The guy's a complete nutcase, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially now that I can see the horse," he finished with a grin. "That's why we're here. We thought we'd tell Dusty in case she hears of anyone else who could be helped by the treatment."
"That's wonderful." Trish enthused. "I'm thrilled for you, Scott."
"Virgil?" Julia asked hesitantly. "Why did Scott say that you were deaf?"
"You're not going to believe this," he said with a small smile. "Scott's just getting his sight back and I'm in an explosion of my own and totally lose my hearing. But it's getting better!" he added quickly. "I can hear things in the higher register such as female voices, but I struggle with those in the lower register, like male voices. Today's the first day that I've been able to hear Scott, and that's only if there's no background noise."
"I've got a sore throat from all the talking he insisted that I do on the flight over." Scott grumbled good-naturedly. "Ever heard of too much of a good thing, Virg.?"
"And I couldn't hear most of it because of the background noise from the plane." Virgil informed him.
"Now you tell me...! Well, we'd better get onto business." Scott stated. "Would you mind letting Dusty know we're here, Trish?"
"It'd be my pleasure."
They both moved down to one end of the reception desk.
"Julia?" Virgil said. "Do you mind if I ask you a couple of things?"
"Of course."
"Do you suffer from tinnitus too?"
She nodded. "For me, at times, it sounds like a lawn mower's going on in the neighbours. Do you suffer from it?"
He nodded. "Sometimes it's like a jet plane taking off."
She made a face. "Sounds terrible! I hope it improves."
"So do I. Another question. When I was staying here, did I ever ignore you or treat you like you were stupid."
"No you didn't. I noticed that. You were one of the few guests here who always tried to include me."
"Good," he said in evident relief. "You've no idea what a struggle its been just dealing with my family. Let me amend that to, you probably have some idea. But I hated the thought that I may have behaved in the same way to someone else."
"Isolating isn't it," she agreed. The she looked over his shoulder. "Here's Dusty now."
"Thanks. Catch you later." He walked over to where Dusty was walking towards them. "Dusty! Good to see you."
"Virgil! You're looking well. And how are you, Scott?"
"All the better for seeing you!" he exclaimed. "And you're much prettier than I ever imagined you to be. For some reason I'd always pictured you as a blonde." He kissed her gallantly on the hand.
She stared at him.
"Ah, Scott." Virgil struggled to stop himself from laughing. "This is Dusty's husband, Don." He indicated a well built man, who was even taller than Scott.
"Uh... H-Hi. Nice to meet you." Scott stuttered out. He grimaced as Don's hand squeezed his own outstretched one tightly.
"Scott." Don said tightly. His voice deep and mildly threatening.
"Translation time." Virgil said easily. "Sorry Don, your voice is too deep for me to hear at the moment. I'm deaf."
"Deaf?" Dusty exclaimed. "What happened to you? And what did you mean by..." she glanced at Don "Can you see, Scott?
"I can see." He grinned. "It's part of what we want to talk to you about."
"You can see?" She was amazed. "But I thought it was permanent!"
"So did we. We'll explain it over lunch. We thought we'd have a picnic on the beach. We've got everything in the car."
"But what about Virgil's hearing?" She asked confused. "That generator didn't explode again did it?"
"No. A fuel tank did." Virgil explained with a wry grin. "I can hear you, but I can't hear Don. Sorry," he said apologetically to the big man.
Don frowned at him.
"I'll just sign out." Dusty said. "Then we can get going."
"Fine." Scott said.
"I'll come with you." Don followed her closely.
Scott pulled Virgil to one side. "You could have warned me," he hissed.
"Why?" Virgil hissed back. "You knew he was coming. I didn't tell you to make a fool of yourself."
"So now he either thinks I'm trying to hit on his wife, or that I'm a prize idiot."
"Well, Dusty and I know that you weren't trying to hit on her..." Virgil grinned.
"Thanks." Scott said sarcastically.
In the other room Don turned to Dusty. "I don't like this!"
"What? He was only being pleasant. Scott's always been a perfect gentleman towards me."
"Didn't he hit his brother?"
"Don!" She said in exasperation. "You know the circumstances behind that."
"Didn't one of them draw that picture of you?"
"That was Virgil. Scott was blind then, remember?"
"I don't like this!" he reiterated again. "I don't trust those two. They're a couple of spoilt, rich, brats who are used to always getting their own way. I'd bet that they've never done an honest days work in their lives and would never think of lifting a finger to help another soul. They've probably got some slave at home who does their slightest bidding as soon as they snap their fingers. What ever this 'mutual arrangement' is that they want to talk to you about I want you to turn it down!"
"Don! At least listen to what they've got to say."
"It's this living away from civilisation on that tropical island that does it. They're probably out of touch with the real world!"
"Don!"
"And what's that place like anyway! Their equipment must be pretty shoddy. If Scott's blinded and now his brother..."
"Virgil," she said patiently.
"Virgil. What a queer name!"
"Their father was an astronaut. He named his sons after the early astronauts."
"How does a fuel tank explode? Their old man doesn't seem to care much for them if he lets two of his sons get seriously injured!"
"Their 'old man' is Jeff Tracy the philanthropist! I wish you'd met him, because I know you'd like him, and then you'd also know that he cares for them all." She folded her arms tightly. "Now, have you finished? Because I am leaving, hopefully to have a pleasant lunch with two very nice men. As you know! It's not as if you've never met them before. Now are you coming?"
"Of course I'm coming! I'm not leaving you alone with those two for one minute."
"I wonder what's taking them so long?" Scott looked at his watch.
"Probably wondering what kind of household we live in." Virgil said. "Don's probably told Dusty not to trust you."
"Me! What about you?"
"I didn't try to hit on her."
"And neither did I! I was being... Dusty, Don! Are you ready?"
She gave him a big smile. "Ready when you are, Scott." Behind her Don glowered at them both.
"Bye Trish. Bye Julia." Virgil waved towards the reception desk.
"Don't be strangers." Trish called back.
"Okay."
"Bye Julia." Scott gave her a wave.
She waved in return, her cheeks reddening slightly.
Once the four people had exited the building Trish and Julia rushed to the window.
"Aren't those two just so toe-curlingly handsome?" Trish said as she watched the Tracy brothers leave. "Wouldn't you love to be having a picnic with them?"
"Uh huh. Handsome, intelligent and caring... what a combination." Julia sighed.
"I wonder why they don't have steady girl friends."
"Maybe they do. How well do you know them?"
"Not that well." Trish admitted. "But I'd like to know them better." They watched Scott and Virgil have a discussion over who would drive the car. "Those two are so close that if you didn't know they were brothers, you'd be worried."
Another woman entered the room.
"Sereena!" Trish called. "Come here. You're just in time to see the Tracy brothers before they leave. Pity you missed talking to them."
"Look at you both, drooling over them." Sereena scolded lightly as she headed over to stand beside them. "You're like a pair of giddy schoolgirls!"
"You can't talk," Trish informed her. "You were always very quick to get Virgil his morning cup of coffee."
"Well. He was always too busy looking after Scott, and had a sore arm. I felt sorry for him." Sereena said lamely.
"Quick!" Julia said. "You're going to miss them."
Trish flung open the window. "Virgil!" she yelled. "Sereena wants to say hi!"
Before getting into the car he turned and waved back towards the reception block. "Hi, Sereena."
"Hi, Virgil." She smiled, blushing furiously, before scolding her friend again. "You're mad, Trish."
"Brought some colour to your cheeks though, didn't it."
Sereena looked back out the window again. "What's Scott doing in the driving seat?" she asked worriedly.
"Isn't it great." Julia exclaimed. "He's got his sight back."
"Really! That's fantastic."
"And now poor Virgil's been injured in another explosion." Trish said sadly. "He's partially deaf."
"Deaf!" Sereena exclaimed.
"Those poor boys." Julia was looking out the window. "Just makes you want to mother them doesn't it."
"Or something..." Trish added with an impish grin.
Giggling, the three of them waved at the departing car.
Don is a total figment of my imagination.
The others - Any similarity to any living person is purely coincidental... maybe...
And of course Scott and Virgil are written the way that I imagine them, which may not be the way that you imagine them, or even the way Gerry Anderson imagines them... and he created them! And I'm just grateful that he did create them, and lets us borrow them for our stories.
Enjoy
Purupuss
One Hundred and Two - BF
Virgil steered the car into a parking spot and turned off the motor. "Well, this is it."
Scott was looking about him. "This is amazing. It's actually quite similar to how I imagined it."
"Does it bring back a few memories?"
"Yeah. Of one of the most frightening times of my life. I'm lucky this rehabilitation centre's one of the best"
They got out of the car and headed over to the reception area.
"Did you get the impression that Father wasn't too keen on us making this trip?" Scott asked.
"No... But then I still can't hear him."
The double doors slid back automatically and they entered the air-conditioned foyer.
Scott stood looking around while Virgil went over to the reception desk. "Hi Trish. How are you?" he smiled.
"Virgil! Lovely to see you again. I'm fine thanks. Dusty's expecting you, I'll give her a call."
He looked at his watch. "We've got a couple of minutes before we're due to see her, so there's no hurry." He poked his head into the room. "Hi Julia." He waved.
"Hello Virgil!" She stood and walked over to the reception desk so she could hear him better. "How are you both?"
"At the moment Scott's in better shape than I am," He admitted and then turned back to his brother. "Hey! Don't be rude, come over and say hi."
"No need to yell. You're the one who's deaf." Scott reminded him.
The two women stared at him. "Scott! You can see?"
"You got it." He smiled. "Nice to meet you again and to finally see you."
"But how?" Trish asked.
"We struck it lucky and found this professor who was able to repair the damage." Scott explained. "The guy's a complete nutcase, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially now that I can see the horse," he finished with a grin. "That's why we're here. We thought we'd tell Dusty in case she hears of anyone else who could be helped by the treatment."
"That's wonderful." Trish enthused. "I'm thrilled for you, Scott."
"Virgil?" Julia asked hesitantly. "Why did Scott say that you were deaf?"
"You're not going to believe this," he said with a small smile. "Scott's just getting his sight back and I'm in an explosion of my own and totally lose my hearing. But it's getting better!" he added quickly. "I can hear things in the higher register such as female voices, but I struggle with those in the lower register, like male voices. Today's the first day that I've been able to hear Scott, and that's only if there's no background noise."
"I've got a sore throat from all the talking he insisted that I do on the flight over." Scott grumbled good-naturedly. "Ever heard of too much of a good thing, Virg.?"
"And I couldn't hear most of it because of the background noise from the plane." Virgil informed him.
"Now you tell me...! Well, we'd better get onto business." Scott stated. "Would you mind letting Dusty know we're here, Trish?"
"It'd be my pleasure."
They both moved down to one end of the reception desk.
"Julia?" Virgil said. "Do you mind if I ask you a couple of things?"
"Of course."
"Do you suffer from tinnitus too?"
She nodded. "For me, at times, it sounds like a lawn mower's going on in the neighbours. Do you suffer from it?"
He nodded. "Sometimes it's like a jet plane taking off."
She made a face. "Sounds terrible! I hope it improves."
"So do I. Another question. When I was staying here, did I ever ignore you or treat you like you were stupid."
"No you didn't. I noticed that. You were one of the few guests here who always tried to include me."
"Good," he said in evident relief. "You've no idea what a struggle its been just dealing with my family. Let me amend that to, you probably have some idea. But I hated the thought that I may have behaved in the same way to someone else."
"Isolating isn't it," she agreed. The she looked over his shoulder. "Here's Dusty now."
"Thanks. Catch you later." He walked over to where Dusty was walking towards them. "Dusty! Good to see you."
"Virgil! You're looking well. And how are you, Scott?"
"All the better for seeing you!" he exclaimed. "And you're much prettier than I ever imagined you to be. For some reason I'd always pictured you as a blonde." He kissed her gallantly on the hand.
She stared at him.
"Ah, Scott." Virgil struggled to stop himself from laughing. "This is Dusty's husband, Don." He indicated a well built man, who was even taller than Scott.
"Uh... H-Hi. Nice to meet you." Scott stuttered out. He grimaced as Don's hand squeezed his own outstretched one tightly.
"Scott." Don said tightly. His voice deep and mildly threatening.
"Translation time." Virgil said easily. "Sorry Don, your voice is too deep for me to hear at the moment. I'm deaf."
"Deaf?" Dusty exclaimed. "What happened to you? And what did you mean by..." she glanced at Don "Can you see, Scott?
"I can see." He grinned. "It's part of what we want to talk to you about."
"You can see?" She was amazed. "But I thought it was permanent!"
"So did we. We'll explain it over lunch. We thought we'd have a picnic on the beach. We've got everything in the car."
"But what about Virgil's hearing?" She asked confused. "That generator didn't explode again did it?"
"No. A fuel tank did." Virgil explained with a wry grin. "I can hear you, but I can't hear Don. Sorry," he said apologetically to the big man.
Don frowned at him.
"I'll just sign out." Dusty said. "Then we can get going."
"Fine." Scott said.
"I'll come with you." Don followed her closely.
Scott pulled Virgil to one side. "You could have warned me," he hissed.
"Why?" Virgil hissed back. "You knew he was coming. I didn't tell you to make a fool of yourself."
"So now he either thinks I'm trying to hit on his wife, or that I'm a prize idiot."
"Well, Dusty and I know that you weren't trying to hit on her..." Virgil grinned.
"Thanks." Scott said sarcastically.
In the other room Don turned to Dusty. "I don't like this!"
"What? He was only being pleasant. Scott's always been a perfect gentleman towards me."
"Didn't he hit his brother?"
"Don!" She said in exasperation. "You know the circumstances behind that."
"Didn't one of them draw that picture of you?"
"That was Virgil. Scott was blind then, remember?"
"I don't like this!" he reiterated again. "I don't trust those two. They're a couple of spoilt, rich, brats who are used to always getting their own way. I'd bet that they've never done an honest days work in their lives and would never think of lifting a finger to help another soul. They've probably got some slave at home who does their slightest bidding as soon as they snap their fingers. What ever this 'mutual arrangement' is that they want to talk to you about I want you to turn it down!"
"Don! At least listen to what they've got to say."
"It's this living away from civilisation on that tropical island that does it. They're probably out of touch with the real world!"
"Don!"
"And what's that place like anyway! Their equipment must be pretty shoddy. If Scott's blinded and now his brother..."
"Virgil," she said patiently.
"Virgil. What a queer name!"
"Their father was an astronaut. He named his sons after the early astronauts."
"How does a fuel tank explode? Their old man doesn't seem to care much for them if he lets two of his sons get seriously injured!"
"Their 'old man' is Jeff Tracy the philanthropist! I wish you'd met him, because I know you'd like him, and then you'd also know that he cares for them all." She folded her arms tightly. "Now, have you finished? Because I am leaving, hopefully to have a pleasant lunch with two very nice men. As you know! It's not as if you've never met them before. Now are you coming?"
"Of course I'm coming! I'm not leaving you alone with those two for one minute."
"I wonder what's taking them so long?" Scott looked at his watch.
"Probably wondering what kind of household we live in." Virgil said. "Don's probably told Dusty not to trust you."
"Me! What about you?"
"I didn't try to hit on her."
"And neither did I! I was being... Dusty, Don! Are you ready?"
She gave him a big smile. "Ready when you are, Scott." Behind her Don glowered at them both.
"Bye Trish. Bye Julia." Virgil waved towards the reception desk.
"Don't be strangers." Trish called back.
"Okay."
"Bye Julia." Scott gave her a wave.
She waved in return, her cheeks reddening slightly.
Once the four people had exited the building Trish and Julia rushed to the window.
"Aren't those two just so toe-curlingly handsome?" Trish said as she watched the Tracy brothers leave. "Wouldn't you love to be having a picnic with them?"
"Uh huh. Handsome, intelligent and caring... what a combination." Julia sighed.
"I wonder why they don't have steady girl friends."
"Maybe they do. How well do you know them?"
"Not that well." Trish admitted. "But I'd like to know them better." They watched Scott and Virgil have a discussion over who would drive the car. "Those two are so close that if you didn't know they were brothers, you'd be worried."
Another woman entered the room.
"Sereena!" Trish called. "Come here. You're just in time to see the Tracy brothers before they leave. Pity you missed talking to them."
"Look at you both, drooling over them." Sereena scolded lightly as she headed over to stand beside them. "You're like a pair of giddy schoolgirls!"
"You can't talk," Trish informed her. "You were always very quick to get Virgil his morning cup of coffee."
"Well. He was always too busy looking after Scott, and had a sore arm. I felt sorry for him." Sereena said lamely.
"Quick!" Julia said. "You're going to miss them."
Trish flung open the window. "Virgil!" she yelled. "Sereena wants to say hi!"
Before getting into the car he turned and waved back towards the reception block. "Hi, Sereena."
"Hi, Virgil." She smiled, blushing furiously, before scolding her friend again. "You're mad, Trish."
"Brought some colour to your cheeks though, didn't it."
Sereena looked back out the window again. "What's Scott doing in the driving seat?" she asked worriedly.
"Isn't it great." Julia exclaimed. "He's got his sight back."
"Really! That's fantastic."
"And now poor Virgil's been injured in another explosion." Trish said sadly. "He's partially deaf."
"Deaf!" Sereena exclaimed.
"Those poor boys." Julia was looking out the window. "Just makes you want to mother them doesn't it."
"Or something..." Trish added with an impish grin.
Giggling, the three of them waved at the departing car.