bograt - well I didn't want to make Alan seem like a complete "bad" kid. You'll find out about Alan's "motivation" in the chapter after this one. Meanwhile, I hope this answers your question about whether or not John has emotions.
ladc - yeah that would definitely explain the hair! Actually your comment gave me another story idea but thats a story that is just going to have to wait until I get some of the ones I'm currently working on finished. Thanks for reviewing.
AngelMouse5 - Well here you go - John's POV on Alan and his pranks. thanks for reading.
Devlinn Reiko-sama - glad to see you liked the chapter title. I always wondered if anyone actually took notice of those.
thunderbridgirl - glad to see you approve of how John is handling the situation.
k - thanks for letting me know you're reading and enjoying the story!
andrewjameswilliams - glad we're both in agreement that Alan needs responsibility. I just figured the fact that his science grade depends on it might give him a little extra motivation. Thanks for the continuous support!
Queen of the Elven City - well after such kind words how can I not forgive you for the lack of reviews - lol! Glad to see I havent' lost ya!
Kitkat Tictac - (cute username by the way!) I'm assuming you meant Alan ruining the experiment was a bit mean and I agree with you but I figured I needed to go a bit further to show Alan's desperation to get off T-bird 5. thanks for reviewing.
moonlightbear- Glad to hear your enjoying the story. As for the first chapter, I noticed the swtich between he and I too after I posted it and I keep meaning to go back and fix it but I never quite got to it (although they did make it easier to fix things that are posted here). When I started the story I was going to do it first person and then changed my mind which confused myself. Sorry about that and I'm glad it didn't keep you from continuing reading the story. Thanks for the review.
Pheonix - okay so as you can guess I don't have a beta and yes my grammar isn't the greatest. Sorry. Thanks for pointing out the mistakes though - (I'll have to try and go back and fix them). As for the commas I spent so many years in school getting yelled at for using too many commas that now I tend to shy away from them. I'm getting better though -lol. Thanks for the compliment on how I write first perspective. I use to shy away from it myself but somebody got me to try it and now I tend to switch between using first and third. It depends on the story. Thanks for the wonderful review!
Sarah - thanks for the review. I love knowing people are actually reading this. Its inspiring.
John's POV:
"No Alan, I'm not. If you won't let me teach you anything else this week I at least plan on teaching you about taking responsibility for your actions," I told my youngest brother as he looked up at me in disbelief. I was slowly running out a patience with him after all the pranks he had pulled on me but I wasn't about to cave and do the one thing he wanted me to do. I wasn't sending him back down to Tracy Island.
With that said I turned and headed back to the control room hoping Alan would take me seriously and getting started on his new assignment. I walked over to the chair and sat down in it. Leaning back I ran my hands through my hair.
No wonder Dad got so frustrated with Alan. I had never thought he would deliberately sabotage one of my experiments. Still, I knew Alan was a good kid and I knew he was smart. Smart enough to easily pass his classes. And more than capable of being a Thunderbird. He just needed some time. Time to finish growing up. Time to get all the training that the rest of us had. He had already managed to defeat the Hood without any formal training and that counted for something.
The sound of an incoming call broke through my thoughts.
I reached out and flipped the switch to let the incoming call come through. I saw my older brother's face come into view. Over his shoulder I could see Gordon.
"Hey Scott, what's up?"
"Just checking to make sure you're still there," Scott answered giving me a quizzical look. I knew what was causing the look but if he wasn't going to ask then I wasn't going to volunteer the information.
"Yeah, still here. How are repairs coming?" I asked him. I had already talked to Dad earlier in the day. He and Brains had found the problem with Thunderbird 1's engine and were hoping to have repairs done by the end of the day. The communications problem had been some faulty wiring in Thunderbird 2 and had been an easy fix.
"All done. Just got back from the test flight. She's purring like a kitten," Scott told me.
"Hey John, I know your fashion sense has never been the greatest but don't tell me you've decided to go punk on us," Gordon spoke up from behind Scott.
"It wasn't exactly planned," I told him. I should've known Gordon wouldn't let a chance at getting a jab in pass.
"Let me guess Alan," Scott said.
I nodded.
"This actually looks pretty good compared to when it first happened. I looked like a jack-o-lantern," I said a smiling coming to my face as my two brothers started to laugh. Even I had to admit the orange tinged hair looked pretty funny. "Orange is definitely not my color."
"At least he didn't put Nair in the shampoo," Gordon told me.
"Don't even go giving him any ideas Gordon. Alan's already learned enough of your pranks. Switching the salt and pepper shakers for one, not to mention the bucket of water over a doorway," I told him.
"So Alan's given you a hard time up there huh," Scott said getting his laughter under control. "If he's too much for you, I'm sure Dad will come up there for him."
"Oh no, that's exactly what he wants and I'm not giving in to him. I don't even care if I do go bald in the process. Something is up with Alan and I intend on finding out what it is."
"He's reckless. He got lucky with the Hood," Scott told me. "He's a liability. We'd be better off without him."
"I remember someone else who was reckless," I countered. "Come to think of it there are still times when he doesn't think before he acts."
"We're not talking about me," Scott said knowing exactly what I was getting at. I could hear a touch of anger in his voice.
"Scott, Alan is just as capable as the rest of us. Part of his problem is all of you teasing him and giving him a hard time. Telling him he's not good enough. A person hears that enough and they're going to start believing it themselves."
"So now you're blaming us for Alan's problems," Scott said defensively.
"Whoa, hold it you two," Gordon said before I had a chance to say anything else to Scott. "Let's not start arguing about this. We've always teased one another. I'm sure Alan knows we're not serious."
"Alan? He's just a kid!"
Those had been Gordon's words when we were stuck aboard Thunderbird 5. I knew he had been serious when he said those words. Had thought Alan wouldn't be able to save us. But he did have a point. I didn't want to get into an argument with Scott over this. I had enough problems trying to deal with Alan right now.
As I nodded I saw Scott do the same thing. Gordon was right. This wasn't something Scott and I should be fighting about.
Before any of us could say anything else though I heard Dad's voice off camera.
"There you two are," I could hear my Dad say. "Virgil's looking for you two. He said something about he's ready now."
"Great, its about time he quit practicing that piano and did something fun," Gordon exclaimed!"Catch ya later John," he said and then disappeared from my view.
Scott shook his head as he watched Gordon run out of the room. When he turned back to the screen I saw the smile fade and his face grew more serious.
"Hey John about last night, thanks for keeping me from completely freaking out and for not telling me about the back of the craft taking on water. I think if I had known that I would have tried making a swim for it," Scott told me.
Which was pretty much what I figured and why I kept my mouth shut.
"Just doing my job," I told him easily.
"Yeah right," he said with a small laugh. "Take it easy John and watch out for Alan. He might have more pranks."
"Oh believe me I'm keeping my eye out and I plan on checking my bed before climbing into it tonight."
On the screen I saw Scott look away from the screen briefly.
"Dad wants to talk to you John," Scott said looking back at the screen. "Talk to you tomorrow," Scott told me.
"Okay Scott, and take it easy on those other two."
"Who? Me?" he said with an innocent look and then disappeared from view. A few moments later my Dad took the seat that Scott had vacated, shaking his head.
"What's up Dad?" I asked him wondering why he wanted to talk to me.
I saw Dad look toward the vid screen and his smile faded. I knew he had seen my newly colored hair.
"I can come get him if you want?" Dad told me.
"It's just dye. It will come out eventually," I told him shaking my head. It was touching how my family seemed to want to come and rescue me from my little brother. "To tell you the truth Dad I think that is just what Alan is after. I think he's trying to get me to send him back down there."
"Why do you say that John? Alan's always tried to annoy you boys. I think its his way of getting back for all the teasing he takes."
"It's not the pranks Dad. He left the control room in the middle of the mission last night Dad, and we both know Alan watches the news broadcasts of our missions whenever he can and he won't talk to me about it. And then earlier when I was trying to show him some things up here he was acting like he had no clue what was going on. "
"Are you sure he was acting?"
I gave my father a disbelieving look. I couldn't believe he had even bothered to ask this question.
"Dad, Alan's been interested in these ships for the last three years. Now granted, he hasn't shown quite as much interest in Thunderbird 5 as the others but he's ask me enough questions in the past years to show me that he knows more than what he was pretending to know earlier today. It's almost as if he doesn't want to do the training anymore but doesn't want to admit to it."
"Maybe I should come get him then," my Dad said a thoughtful look coming to his face. "If he isn't going to take this seriously then I don't want him training. It will only lead to him or someone else getting hurt."
"Dad, I think he's scared. I think the glamour of all this is starting to wear away and he's starting to see just how dangerous this all his. I think he's starting to see how costly a mistake could be and after all the times Scott, Virgil, and Gordon have called him a screw-up, even jokingly, I think he's starting to believe that himself."
"But he's always went through a mission. He's had first hand experience of what we do."
"He got thrown into that encounter with the Hood. He didn't have time to think about what it was he was doing all he knew was that his family was in danger. There's time to think about things now. Now both you and I know that he's capable of being a Thunderbird but I think Alan needs to be convinced again that he can."
"Maybe it is too soon John," my Dad told me. I could hear the doubt in his voice. I knew how hard this was for him. How hard it was to watch my brothers and me go into dangerous situations but it was who we were. Alan was no different and now that the Hood knew who we were none of us were safe anyway. Not even Alan. It didn't matter if he became a member of International Rescue or not. To the Hood he was a target and Alan had a better chance against the Hood with the training all of us had gone through under his belt.
"The longer you put off facing something you fear the harder it is to conquer that fear," I said repeating words that my father had told me when he first started training me and Scott for International rescue. I had never been a fan of flying. I was always much happier having both feet solidly on the ground. Piloting one of the Thunderbirds was the last thing I wanted to do. However, I wanted to be a part of the organization my father was building.
"How did you get to be so wise?" my father asked lightly.
"I listened to a very wise man I know." I told him. "Besides Dad, Alan has to stay up here to complete the science paper he was assigned now."
I saw my Dad's questioning look and filled him in on the ruined experiment and my talk with Alan's science teacher.
Jeff's POV:
"Nice job, John," I told my son as he finished telling me about the new project he had Alan working on. "I couldn't have handled that better myself."
"I'm just glad he picked that particular experiment to sabotage as I just started it the day before you brought him up. A couple of those other ones I've been doing for weeks. I don't think I would've been able to keep from going off on him if it had been one of the others."
Secretly, I had a feeling Alan knew that when he decided to sabotage an experiment. Alan tended to get into trouble, and he could be destructive, but he never actually ever set out to be that way. Even when he had blown up the school, well okay the chemistry lab of the school really, it had been an accident. Alan had just got to daydreaming in chemistry class and had mixed some wrong chemicals. Alan and Fermat had suffered some chemical burns but had been okay in a few weeks, but thankfully no one else had been hurt although the school had been shut down for a month and I had been asked to place Alan in another school.
I had to smile though. I had a feeling that Alan could have sabotaged any of those experiments and still not sent John over the edge.
Scott and I had been sitting in the kitchen talking over a cup of coffee about actually starting to build the space rocket Brains and I had on the drawing board. We had finally gotten all of the kinks out of Thunderbirds 1 and 2 and Brains, Scott and I had even conducted a couple of small rescue operations. John still had another year of highschool before he could join us full time although I was considering letting him finish highschool at home via the internet. I knew he would be happier and he had finally made it through the public speaking class after three tries. I knew class presentations was the only thing that kept his grades down. If I kept him at home, even despite all the distractions here, I had no doubt John would compete the required courses without me having to keep an eye on him.
The kids had been back on the island for spring break and it had been nice to have them back although Scott had been complaining that it was better when they were away. I knew in a few days though he would be complaining about the quiet.
A crash from the den stopped our conversation short. I quickly got up from the stool I was sitting in and rushed to the other room with Scott right behind me. The sight in the den stopped me in my tracks.
Gordon and Virgil were standing together looking at John's model of the solar system that he had been doing for the science fair at his school. He had gone all out on it. Each planet had all of its rings and satellites, and he had even manage to get the orbits of each planet exactly right. Now it laid on the floor in pieces. A football in the middle of the mess told me exactly what had happened.
"How many times have I told you two not to throw that football in the house," I told my two sons.
"Sorry, Dad," both of them said quietly looking at the floor.
"John is going to kill you both," I heard Scott say from behind me. I shot him a warning look over my shoulder.
Before anything else could be said I heard John's voice coming down the steps. He was busy talking to Brains but he stopped in mid sentence as he reached the bottom of the steps and saw his project on the floor. I saw a myriad of emotions cross his face, and I was ready to grab him if he went after his two brothers. I knew he had a temper, even though he rarely ever showed it. John and Scott had given one another enough black eyes and bloody noses for me to know that. I knew how much time had gone into that project. It was enough to make anyone go over the edge.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Virgil and Gordon both get ready to make a run for it. Evidently they shared their older brother's assessment of the situation.
To my surprise and I think everyone else's in the room, John didn't lose it. In fact, he didn't say anything as he walked across the room and knelt down next to the ruined solar system. We all watched as he calmly started picking up the pieces ready to rebuild his solar system. After a few minutes I simply walked over and started helping him, Scott following my lead. Even Virgil and Gordon had chipped in once they were sure John wasn't going to strangle either of them.
None of us got any sleep that night, but by morning when it was time for me to take the kids back to school we had that solar system put back together.
"What are you smiling about?" I heard John ask.
"Just remembering something," I told him. "I think you have things under control up there for right now," I said trying to change the subject. "What's Alan up to now?"
"Well, he's either still in the kitchen where I left him reading a comic book or something or he's in the cargo bay starting his new project," John told me. "I'll check on him in a little bit."
"Okay, let me know what happens. Anything else going on around the world I should know about?"
I saw John make a quick sweep of the computers on Thunderbird 5.
"Everything seems pretty quiet right now. There is a tropical depression off the coast of Africa that warrants keeping an eye on, but that's it."
"Good. Talk to you later John."
"FAB, Dad," he replied and then the screen went blank.
Despite John's insistence I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing the right thing. If Alan was doubting himself then maybe I should go get him. I was his father. I couldn't help but think I should be the one dealing with this.
On the other hand Alan and I had been at odds with each other for the last couple of years. Maybe John would have an easier time getting through to him. Still, I couldn't help but wonder how long even John's patience could last stuck on the space station with Alan.