Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own none of the characters, they belong to Gerry Anderson and Carlton Television.
AN: Sorry for the long delay in updating, but finally here is chapter 3!!
Thank you for all the great reviews people have written, it is appreciated! Special thanks to Maaike for her encouragement. : )
Chapter 3
Gordon looked out at the vast emptiness of space and sighed. He had hated space since his first memorable trip up to look at Thunderbird 5. He had spent the whole journey up there that time being sick. It had been an experience he had vowed never to repeat.
This time his pale complexion was not down to the space sickness, but due to the worry and fear he was feeling about his brother. Gordon cared deeply for all his brothers, but knew that John was the one that he cared for most, just because John understood him in a way like no one else could. John had been there through his darkest days, it had been John who sat patiently with Gordon while he did his physiotherapy exercises after his hydrofoil accident. He sighed again and turned away from the viewport. He hated the waiting, he always had. He wished Scott could push Thunderbird 3 faster, even though he knew that he would be pushing three to what he thought were its limits. He smiled sadly, thinking of how John could probably get it to go beyond its limits; he had a knack with getting the best out of both machines and people. Gordon looked at his watch, took a deep breath and turned back to the stars that provided John with so much joy.
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Back on Tracy Island, everyone but Kyrano was crowded into the living room. There was no sound in the room; everyone's gaze was fixed on the vid-screen and the figure lying still on the floor. Jeff was sitting there, his face taut with worry; he seemed to have aged years in the short space of time since he had found out. There was a rattle and everyone jumped. Kyrano walked in the room, holding a tray with a jug of coffee. "Coffee, Mr Tracy. It is good for shock," Kyrano said quietly. Jeff nodded and quietly accepted a cup. He looked around, taking his gaze away from the vid-screen for the first time. "I never thought it would be John who would get injured. He's up there so much, I never worried about him as much as the rest of the boys. Maybe if I had called him more often, insisted that the boys shared time up there…." Jeff's voice trailed off as he put his head in his hands. Muffled words could be heard from him as he continued talking "Up there at least six months a year…alone….no human contact….Oh God, John I'm sorry! Lucy, for what I have done to our son I'm sorry…. I'm so sorry…."
Alan and Tin-Tin exchanged worried glances at this, Jeff never normally brought up his late wife in conversation. It was a sign of how bad he was feeling that he was mentioning her. Grandma also sat up, she took a swift look at Jeff and appeared to immediately understand what he was feeling. "Jeff" she said sternly. Jeff, along with everyone else, immediately turned towards her. It was dangerous to ignore her, as everyone well knew. "Jeff, sweetheart, you can't blame yourself. It isn't your fault" She soothed him, "Your Lucy would be so proud of both you and your sons if she could see you now. She knows that you don't like sending two of your sons up into that tin can of a machine, but that you do it for the good of the world. That's why your boys do it too. John understands, he has astronaut training and a degree in Laser and Communications, he's the obvious choice. He knows this, and I'm sure that he enjoys some of the time spent up there, it's just him and his stars. He's always loved his stars…" Grandma stopped abruptly as Alan gasped. All his remaining colour drained from his face. His eyes were fixed on the vid-screen. One by one, the occupants of the room also trained their eyes on the screen. At first glance, everything seemed normal. After looking a little closer, they saw the reason for Alan's distress. Tin-Tin gasped and broke into sobs. "Is that…is that what I think it is?" asked Alan, praying that he was wrong. Jeff answered him, his face even more taut and grey than before "Yes. Its blood"
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Up in the control room of Thunderbird 3, Scott and Virgil were sitting in silence, trying to digest the news that their father had just delivered. John was bleeding, and from the sound of it there was a lot of blood. Scott was the first to break the silence. "Well…" he said flatly. Virgil glanced at him, Scott always felt responsible for his brothers, and he took his position as eldest brother very seriously. Virgil knew that inside, Scott was beating himself up, trying to think of ways he could have prevented it, even though it was in no way his fault and there was nothing that he could have done. "Scott" said Virgil softly. Scott didn't even look up. "Scott!" he said more firmly. Scott jumped and turned to look at Virgil. "Scott, there is nothing that you or anyone could have done. Its just a random freak accident, don't beat yourself up about it. You know how much Johnny hates you fussing over him." Virgil paused, and gave a small smile, "You remember when he broke his arm, you were running around panicking, and he was standing there, cool as a cucumber telling you to calm down! He's tough". Scott turned away and took a deep breath. "Yeah, maybe. I guess you're right, but still…" Scott unconsciously echoed some of Jeff's earlier words and voiced what they were all thinking "Its just ya know, he's meant to be safe up there!" Virgil nodded, "Yeah I know. It isn't fair, we just have to try and deal with it the best we can. Me, you and Gordon…. Oh God we haven't told Gordon!" Scott and Virgil exchanged worried glances. In their worry for their brother, they had forgotten that Gordon had not heard the message. They knew that this unexpected and unwelcome development would hit Gordon hard and telling him would not be pleasant. Virgil stood up, "I'll go, you just concentrate on getting us there ASAP" Scott wanted to object, but knew that his brother was right. He took a deep breath and turned back to the control panel.
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Virgil stood in the doorway and looked at Gordon. He knew that what he was about to tell him would make Gordon mad with worry, and whilst one half of his brain was telling him not to worry him on the ship, the more logical half was telling him that if he didn't tell him now, it would be an even bigger shock when they walked onto Thunderbird 5 to find John lying there like that. He coughed softly to alert Gordon to his presence. Gordon jumped and whirled round. "VIRGIL!" he exclaimed, then immediately his face tightened with worry, "What is it? What's wrong? Is there any news from Father?" he asked urgently. Virgil walked into the room "Gordon I need to tell you something" Gordon looked at Virgil dread evident in his face, from the look on Virgil's face the news was not good. "Umm, yeah…" Virgil continued, trying to think of how to break the news to him "Father just called. Um, I'm afraid it's not good. John appears to be lying in a pool of blood" Gordon went ashen and sank heavily into the seat nearest him. Repeating the information that he had been given made the whole situation finally sink in to Virgil. He was very close to John, and missed him when he was up in the space station. He knew that Gordon and John were extremely close and confided in each other more than they would anyone else. This meant that Gordon would be feeling the fear, the pain and the tension so much more than he would. This thought contrived to keep him together as he staggered over to Gordon and held him tight. The check that Gordon had been managing to keep over his emotions was broken and tears cascaded freely down his face. When Gordon felt the arms of one of his stronger, big brothers encircle him, he broke into racking sobs. Virgil held him tight as they both cried. Scott's voice came over the radio "Prepare for docking." He said, appearing to be in complete control. Virgil, knowing Scott better that he did himself, knew that inside Scott would be a wreck but was holding it together for the sake of all his brothers. Virgil pulled himself together and locked his emotions down, there would be time for that later, when they had assessed the situation properly, he prayed that it would turn out to be something that had looked worse than it was. Taking a deep breath he steadied himself, and turned to Gordon. Gordon was trying to calm himself, he stood up and walked over to the viewport and looked at Thunderbird 5 looming closely. He took a shuddering breath and took complete control of himself. He turned to Virgil, and said quietly "Let's go".
After picking up the necessary equipment from the sick bay, they met Scott by the door of Thunderbird 3 that led to the airlock. He paused and looked at Gordon, then he quickly glanced at Virgil who nodded in answer to Scott's silent question as to whether Gordon was up to finding whatever awaited them. Scott opened the door and all three Tracy brothers walked down the passageway towards Thunderbird 5. As they reached the final door, all three took a deep breath. Then Gordon walked forwards and opened the door.