A BROTHER'S CRY
By: GrumpyMagrat & Magratconvert
Disclaimer: We don't own the Thunderbirds. Not now, not ever.
Chapter Thirteen – A Brother RunsIt was 8:30 in the evening when the four Tracy brothers met in the kitchen for a late dinner.
"Has anyone heard from Dad?" Virgil asked. "Shouldn't he be back by now?"
"He called a little while ago." Scott said. "Apparently a massive storm front has settled over Santa Rosa, CA. So he and Dr. Shipman will have to wait until tomorrow morning to fly back to the Island."
The alarm sounded and the four boys took off running to the lounge. Scott sat in his father's chair while John looked over his shoulder at the information being relayed from Thunderbird 5. John's practiced mind assimilated the information quickly.
"There has been a major earthquake near Cusco, Peru." John said. "It sounds pretty nasty. Buildings have collapsed. Fires are springing up in the danger zone. The local authorities are trying to get a count of the missing, but they are having major communication problems for obvious reasons. They will update the information as they get it."
"Ok, we are going to need all the hands we can get for this one." Scott said taking command. "Virgil, John, we are going to need the firefly, the mole, and the excavator. I'll have Brains meet you in the silo. Alan, you will need to man the desk. Let me know as soon as you get any updates."
In the sickroom, Gordon woke up when he heard the alarm. He pretended to be asleep when he heard Brains cross from the office to the side of his bed before heading out the door. Gordon sat up and pulled the IV from his arm. If they needed Brains for this rescue, it must be big. This may be his only chance and he wasn't about to lose it. As he left the sickroom he could hear Thunderbird 2 take off. He knew what he had to do as he headed down the hall.
A short time later, Alan was sitting at the desk. He was dreading making this call to Scott, but it had to be done.
"Base to Thunderbird 1. Come in, Scott."
"Thunderbird 1 to Base. Go ahead, Alan."
"Scott, I just finished talking to the authorities in Lima. It appears that the rescue call is a fake."
"What? Are you sure?" Scott demanded.
"Yeah Scott, when I didn't hear back from the local authorities, I called them. They had no idea what I was talking about. I also contacted the International Geological Institute. They have no record of any seismic activity in Peru. I'm sorry, Scott, but everything is pointing to a fake call."
"God dammit. Whoever did it knew what they were doing. They gave us enough information to sound plausible. Try to trace the original call. We need to track this person down and keep them from doing it again. I'll let Virgil know. Thunderbird 1 returning to base." Scott said as he ended the call.
Alan set up the tracking program, but it would take a while to work, if it worked at all. He also knew that it would be at least a half hour before any of his brothers would return. He felt a need to go visit Gordon. When he got to the sickroom, however, he found it empty.
"All right Gordon," Alan thought. "I guess we are back to playing 'find Gordon.'" I promise you that it won't take me as long this time."
Alan left the sickroom and headed down to Thunderbird 2's silo. Sure enough the door to Pod 4 was open. Gordon had to be in there. When Alan entered Pod 4, he closed the door behind him. He wanted to slow Gordon down if he tried to run.
"Gordon, are you in here?" Alan called out.
Gordon winced when he heard Alan's voice. He was caught. Maybe he could talk his way around Alan and still make his escape. He left his goodbye letter on the pilot's seat and headed to the door.
Gordon plastered a smile on his face as he climbed from Thunderbird 4. "What's up, Alan? I thought that you would be up in the lounge helping with the rescue."
"I was." Alan said as he spotted Gordon's packed duffle bag. "But it turned out to be a false alarm. The rest of the guys are on their way back." Pointing to the duffle bag, he continued. "Planning on going somewhere?"
Gordon knew that he'd been caught. Alan knew him too well. "Well, uhm, yeah. You see..."
Alan cut him off. "You were running away. I can't believe you. You weren't even going to say goodbye? Not even to me? I thought I meant more than this to you."
Gordon could hear the pain in his brother's voice. "I'm sorry Alan. I am just so confused right now. I need some time to clear my head."
"But Gordon, that's why Dad is bringing Dr. Shipman out here. You're not even giving it a chance."
Gordon sat down with his back resting against Thunderbird 4. He was still feeling the after-effects of the sedative. "I am so tired Alan. I just wish I knew what to do."
"Talk to me. I want to help." Alan said, as he sat next to Gordon. "If you don't feel like you can talk to me, at least stay and talk to Dr. Shipman. After all, it is his job. Dad says that he is really good."
"There is a part of me that wants to tell you everything. I really do." Gordon tried to explain. "But there is a part of me that is so afraid. I have never been this scared, not even after the hydrofoil accident. How can I explain my feelings when I don't even understand them myself?"
Alan put his arm around Gordon and pulled him into a protective embrace. "I won't pretend to know what you are going through but I've always heard that talking it out can help. Maybe it would help if you expressed your feelings even if you don't understand them. I am willing to listen if you want to try."
Gordon's arms encircled Alan as he returned his brother's embrace. "I feel like I am caught in a vicious circle of fear. When I heard Jennifer say that she couldn't feel her legs, I was afraid that moving her caused it. The fears, that I had after my own accident, resurfaced. I knew what she was going through. Would she hate me? Then I was afraid of how you guys would react. I was afraid that you would not trust me on rescues anymore. The more I tried to work through things; the more scared I became. I am scared of being scared. These fears are taking away everything that means anything to me, my job, my family."
"Wait a minute." Alan interrupted." You haven't lost your job and especially not your family. There is nothing that you could do that would cause you to lose us. Once a Tracy; always a Tracy. Face it, Gordon, you are stuck with us."
"That is where you are wrong Alan." Gordon said in a sad voice. "There is one thing that could, and I did it. I hurt one of my brothers."
"That was an accident. I don't blame you." Alan argued. "You weren't yourself. You had been drinking…"
"That only makes it worse." Gordon broke in. "I should never have started drinking that night, especially not on top of the sleeping pills. Face it, the choices that I have made this last month have left a lot to be desired."
"We have all made errors in judgment." Alan said. "You are our brother. I promise you. Nobody is holding this against you."
Gordon sighed. "Scott does. He refuses to even acknowledge me. I know he hates me."
"Let's make a deal." Alan said. "You stay on the Island and talk to Dr. Shipman and I'll talk to that know-it-all older brother of ours."
"You've got a deal. Besides I'm too tired to leave the Island tonight." Gordon said closing his eyes. "Alan thanks for listening to me and not judging me. Your support means a lot to me."
"Anything for you Gordon. I love you." Alan said. Gordon did not hear him though as he had fallen asleep in his brother's embrace. Alan knew that his other brothers would be returning soon, but he didn't care. He had finally broken through the emotional barrier that Gordon had built up. He was not going to leave now. It was only a matter of minutes before Alan was asleep also.
TBC
Author's note – Will Alan convince Gordon to stay? Will Scott drive him away? How will the rest of the family deal with all this? Next chapter will be up soon.
Darkangel2005 – We are glad that you are enjoying it. As far as needing tissues, you should have seen us as we wrote it. It brought tears to our eyes, and we know how it ends. As far as Jeff and the shrink – you don't always know what goes on behind closed doors.
Audra – Be patient. It will still be awhile before Gordon and Alan are ok.
barb from utah – Glad you like it. Just remember how stubborn Scott is. Do you think the doctor can handle him?
fellowriverrat – We are glad that you find it realistic. You never know what drives a person into therapy. As far as Scott being the idiot child, we prefer to think of him as the over-protective big brother. Granted his protectiveness of Alan comes at Gordon's expense. Oh well, blame the muse.
numbah 14 – Wasn't that a great twist? Actually we thought that people would get upset at that so we are glad that the review so far have been positive.
Vorserkeien – Thank you for your faithful reviews. We are glad that you are anxious for more.