A Hard Place part 13 – Home Finally
by Angel Mouse
Tracy Island
Jeff was pacing back and forth as he waited for his boys to come home. Five minutes before hand Alan had broken every speed record already set by Thunderbird Three getting back to the island so he could be here when John got home. Jeff hadn't minded at all, he perfectly understood Alan's impatience. Just then the lounge suite disappeared and Alan and Brains reappeared. As soon as the lounge had almost finished settling in place, Alan sprang off it and practically ran to his father's side.
"Are they back yet Dad?" Jeff smiled at Alan, pulling him into a hug.
"No, not yet Alan but they are due in about five minutes." Alan returned his father's hug and then they released each other.
"Good. I can't wait to see John again Dad." Jeff smiled as he led Alan out onto the balcony. Brains quietly left the room, heading down to the medical wing to get things ready there.
"I know neither can I son, neither can I. This has been a trying time for the family, hasn't it Alan?" Alan nodded, leaning against the railing.
"Yeah it has Dad." Alan was silent a moment. "I'll only stay down for a few days Dad, just to make sure John's okay and safe. I don't want to put our operations at risk any longer than that." Jeff smiled at Alan, putting an arm around him.
"Thank you Alan. I know that seeing John is important for you." Alan nodded and they stood there, side by side, waiting for Thunderbird Two. Five minutes later they saw a speck in the sky and it grew larger. Alan found that his stomach was in knots with worry.
What would John look like? Would he be badly hurt? He found that he wouldn't be happy until he saw his brother with his own eyes. And then there was Scott, he was hurt as well. But the whole family were going to be home and that's all that mattered for the moment.
Thunderbird Two
Scott sat looking at John, watching him like a hawk really. John was sitting back on the bed in the small medical wing on Thunderbird Two. Scott was sitting next to him as they were almost home. John had his eyes closed, breathing softly. The medication that the doctor had given him for the pain in his arm and the anaesthetic had made him feel sleepy and a bit lethargic. Scott admitted to himself that his own medication and transfusion was making him feel a bit out of it as well. But he wasn't taking his eyes off John, not for a second. Suddenly a small smile appeared on John's face but his eyes remained closed.
"I know you're doing that Scott." Scott couldn't help the small laugh, John knew him too well.
"Doing what?" John laughed with him and finally opened his eyes, they were tired and there was a hint of pain in them, but they were John's blue eyes and there was a hint of mirth in them. And that's all that mattered to Scott.
"Watching me like a hawk. I'm not going anywhere Scott." Scott couldn't help the small smile on his face.
"I know John. But I just can't help it. I have to reassure myself that you're safe and sound and that you're back with us." John smiled at him and reached over with his free hand to squeeze Scott's knee.
"I'm here. I'm safe and I'm okay." Scott took his hand and squeezed it.
"Yeah I know. But I worry."
"I know." John gave a soft laugh as he reclaimed his hand and ran it through his hair. "I have the feeling over the next few days I'm not going to be left alone for very long. All my brothers are going to want to make sure I'm still here and that I'm safe." Scott laughed as they heard Thunderbird Two engines change pitch. That meant they were almost home. Gordon's voice came over the com.
"Okay guys, we're going in to land now. Hold tight." They two elder brothers shared a smile and settled in for landing.
Tracy Island
After ten minutes Thunderbird Two had settled into its hanger and Gordon and Virgil had come down to help Scott and John out and back to the house. The four of them made their way slowly to the lifts and up to the main house.
The lift doors opened and they walked out slowly. Virgil was helping Scott, and Gordon John. They made their way into the main lounge room where Alan and Jeff were waiting for them. As soon as he saw John Jeff made his way straight to his side and gently wrapped his arms around him, mindful of his injuries.
"John. God it's good to see you again." John carefully hugged his Dad back, glad to see him as well. Jeff's arms tightened around his son and he spoke softly, so only John could hear him speak. "John, I was so worried. You don't know how worried I was." John could hear the worry and pride and love in his father's voice and it was just the tonic his heart needed.
"Dad its okay, I'm just glad to be home." John just smiled as he buried his head against his father's shoulder, needing the comfort of his father's embrace for a long moment. "It's okay Dad, I'm okay. I'm home, I'm safe." Jeff didn't say anything else, just held John close until he could feel John trembling slightly.
He released him and helped him over to couch and sat John down next to Scott, Virgil having already helped his oldest brother over to it. John gladly sat down next to Scott and gave a soft sigh. Seconds later his arms were practically full of his blonde haired baby brother who was hugging him gently.
"John, I know you need to go and rest, but I just had to say welcome home and let you know I missed you." John wrapped his good arm around him and gave him a hug back. Truth be told he missed his baby brother as well. He missed all his brothers. He wasn't surprised really to find Alan down from Thunderbird Five and he found that he appreciated his baby brother's presence.
"It's good to see you to Alan, I missed you as well." Alan let him go, mindful of his injuries. He moved away and stood next to Virgil and Gordon. John looked at all of them and managed a tiny smile. "I missed all of you." The three un-injured brothers were standing next to their father as their grandmother came bustling in with a wide smile on her face. She immediately went to her two oldest grandson's side and embraced them both warmly and carefully.
"Oh I'm so glad to see you both back safe and sound." They managed to embrace her, using one arm each and laughed along with her.
"Hey grandma, it's good to see you again." Their grandmother smiled and patted their cheeks and moved away to stand next to Jeff, who wrapped his arm around her. They all sat there for a little while, just enjoying the fact that all of them were together again, when a yawn escaped John. Jeff made a move then.
"Right, let's get these two down to medical to be checked over. They can stay down there tonight and then tomorrow we can begin getting back to normal." John frowned slightly.
"Ah Father, if it's alright with you, I'd actually rather sleep in my room tonight." John looked slightly uncomfortable with the attention he was getting from his family. After all, he'd always been the quiet one of the family, happy to stay in the background. Scott came to his rescue as he could see his father was about to object.
"I'm the same father. How about Brains checks us out and we just have a quiet night in our rooms. It'll be okay." Jeff looked at Scott and then at John, he could see how determined they both were and he nodded.
"Okay but only if Brains says it's okay." John nodded at his father in agreement and they got up to head down to medical.
The next day
After good long solid nights sleep the family began to feel like itself again. John slept the longest, which was to be expected. Scott was having a late breakfast that his grandma had cooked for him. Gordon was doing his morning laps in the pool and Virgil and Alan were talking with their father in the lounge room.
John stumbled out into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes, dressed in just a t-shirt and shorts. He sat down next to Scott and slumped slightly in the chair.
"Morning John." Scott still couldn't help check John over visually, making sure his younger brother was okay. Apart from the visible damages – bruises and the bandage on his arm – John looked okay.
"Morning Scott." Grandma brought over an orange juice for him and he smiled his thanks. She bustled away to get him some food and Scott looked over at John.
"How did you sleep?" John shrugged slightly.
"Okay I guess. The pain medication helped, so I got a good solid sleep." Scott nodded, pleased.
"So did I. So what would you like to do today?" John just sipped his juice.
"Just hang out I guess. I guess I need to feel part of the family again. Feels like I've been away months, not a week." Scott nodded in understanding.
"Well we feel like you've been away a month." Just then grandma came over with two plates full of eggs and bacon. She sat them down in front of her two eldest grandsons.
"Here you go boys." They both smiled at her.
"Thanks Grandma." She smiled at them, patting them both on the cheek and bustled away back into the kitchen. They laughed softly and dug into their breakfast.
A few hours later found them sitting by the pool, enjoying the sunshine. John was pale, well, he always was since he spent so much time on Thunderbird Five, and all his brothers kept an inadvertent watch on him as he snoozed.
Scott was on the lounge chair next to him while Virgil, Gordon, Alan and Tin-Tin mucked around in the pool. Brains had given both boys the all clear; they just need to take it easy for the next week or so. They both still had their arms in a sling, annoying as it was, but it was necessary for them to heal properly.
Scott had questioned John over what had happened on the island and John had just stated he didn't want to talk about it yet. He wanted some time, time that Scott was prepared to give him. But he was determined that his brother would talk about it, eventually. John was a stubborn one, that was given, but Scott was more stubborn.
They had enjoyed a family lunch, a nice rambunctious affair that reminded them of days gone by before they started operations. They then had gone into the lounge room and enjoyed a quiet afternoon, talking; playing chess and listening to Virgil play the piano. John had relaxed on the lounge room, enjoying the company of his brothers.
It was the tonic he needed to soothe his soul after being away for so long from his family. After a light supper Scott and John had retired early, they were both still very tired from the last few days ordeal. The rest of the family had left them alone, knowing that for the first few days home they would need their rest.
Besides, they all knew that John would open up to Scott more than the rest of them. They could all see that John would take a few days to get over his ordeal and when he had been questioned about it by various members of his family; he had been reluctant to give many details. Preferring to change the subject and most of the time, Scott would come to his rescue and they would change the topic before John got more upset.
About the only thing John did talk about with his family was the fact that Lady Penelope had stayed behind on the carrier to help Captain Striker with organising the prosecution of those that they had arrested and captured on the island. The preliminary report they had received from Penelope was heartening.
Now that both Meriza and Mason were dead, their employees were more than happy to talk about his operations and exactly what had been planned and how it had been carried out. So, they had retired early knowing that they didn't have to worry about that side of things anymore and frankly, John was pleased about that.
It was early hours of the morning and Scott had woken up to get a drink. Scott was almost back to sleep when he heard something. He frowned and pushed the blankets back off his body. A yell suddenly came from John's room and it sounded frightened.
That tore it, he pushed himself off his bed and stumbling slightly, made his way out his door and opened John's, looking inside. John was tossing and turning and a fine sheen of sweat was covering his body. Scott moved in slowly, closing the door behind him. He didn't want any of his other brothers to disturb them.
He would look after John, like he always did. He moved to John's side and sat down on the bed, being careful of his own injury. He reached out with his hand and gently shook John's shoulder. John was moaning more and Scott shook him again.
"John. John, wake up." John just moaned again and Scott shook him a little more firmly this time. John suddenly yelled out and sat up, panting hard and sweating. Scott just kept his hand firmly on John's arm, trying to catch his eye.
"Johnny, it's okay. I'm here, its okay." John looked at him, blinking hard for a few moments and his eyes were frightened and scared, like he didn't know Scott but then it was like the light dawned and suddenly he saw Scott sitting there.
"Scott!" With that, John threw his arms around Scott and clung to him. Suddenly sobs began to wrack his body. "Scotty, I was so scared. They were chasing me, taunting me." Sobs shook his whole body and his breathing was hitched, strained and he was having trouble speaking.
Scott wrapped his arms around him, wincing a moment as his wound flared in pain but he ignored it for the sake of his brother. He gently rubbed John's back, resting his head against Johns as John buried his head against Scott's chest. Scott just let him talk, holding him close. After a few minutes John managed to speak again.
"He was going to kill me," John paused, sobbing hard, "… and bury me there. He wasn't going to even let my body be brought back here…" John took his time saying this and Scott was shocked to his core. No wonder John was having a nightmare. That would have been John's worst fear. Family meant everything to John.
"It's okay John, your home and I'm here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." John just kept clinging to Scott and Scott looked up as he heard John's door open softly. His father poked his head inside and Scott just shook his head and Jeff nodded. He knew that John would be more willing to talk to Scott at the moment. He closed the door behind him and Scott went back to resting his head on John's. Scott kept rubbing John's back, trying to calm him down. John kept sobbing and after a moment, Scott heard his soft voice again.
"He was going to kill me." Scott said nothing, just holding him tight as he could. "I'm never been so afraid Scott." Scott gently kissed the top of his head, holding him tight.
"I'm here Johnny, and I'm not going to let anything else happen to you." John sobbed harder.
"Scotty, I missed you so much." John's sobs got softer and his breathing began to slowly even out. Scott smiled gently at him, even though is brother couldn't see it in the dark room.
"And I missed you to John. I didn't know what I was going to do without you." John began to slowly gain control of his breathing and Scott just held him tighter. "You're very special to me Johnny, and I love you so much. Never doubt that." John finally managed to stop sobbing and left his head resting against Scott's chest. John was taking comfort in listening to his brother's steady heartbeat.
"I love you to Scotty." John paused, still not lifting his head up. "You know what kept me going Scotty?" Scott kept rubbing John's back gently; glad his brother was finally able to tell him some of what happened to him.
"What's that Johnny?" John's breath hitched a moment and then settled down again.
"That I knew you would move heaven and earth to find me. It was the only thing that I could count on. That I knew was a constant." John finally lifted his head off Scott's chest and looked at his brother, his blue eyes meeting Scott's.
The moonlight coming in through the window reflected the sheen of tears in John's eyes and the sweat covering his body. Scott privately thought that the nightmare John had been having must have been really bad. Scott smiled gently at his brother, reaching up and stroking his sweat soaked hair away from his forehead.
"I'll always come for you John, never, ever doubt that." John nodded and leaned his head back against Scott's chest.
"I know Scott. I know." Scott just smiled, hugging him again. "Scott." There was uneasiness in his voice and Scott leaned his head against John's.
"Yes Johnny?"
"Stay with me for a little while, please?" Scott smiled and gently pressed a kiss against John's blonde hair.
"Of course I will Johnny; you know you don't even have to ask." John just nodded.
"Thanks Scott." They stayed there for a long time, Scott holding his brother as John softly sobbed away his fears and gradually began to relax. After a little while, he lay back down and Scott lay down with him, wrapping his arm around his brother as John began to breathe softly and went back to sleep.
