"Lady Penelope could be downright scary when she desired to. Seeing his normally brave family being thoroughly reduced to chastised children, were hilarious though. They seriously deserved it, for scaring him so much!" Alan thought, while making a mental note of avoiding getting on Lady Penelope's bad side.
Alans lingering fear for his family's safety was slowly evaporating. Alans frustration with being, yet again, left in the dark, started to fade away. It was all thanks to the humerus situation playing out in front of him. His loved ones were safe! No matter how annoyed he was at them currently, that was all that mattered!
Watching his father being reprimanded, was a novel experience for Alan. Usually, the situations were reversed. Alan did his very best to keep his smug grin from showing on his face. He was very pleased to have mastered his poker face in the last couple of years. He had to remember to thank Parker for it when the opportunity, of a moment in private, would present itself. Alan wasn't about to divulge his secret teacher to his family, unless he had to.
When Lady Penelope finally allowed Jeff to explain the lack of intruders, the newly arrived group, were all thrown for a loop.
"Evidently, there had been three intruders. But apparently, they were the nice kind of intruders? Were nice kind of intruders even a thing?" Alan thought to himself.
"The intruders were doppelgangers of their family. They were looking for their lost brothers, who just happened to be chilling in our infirmary! What were the odds? Infinitely slim, probably." Alan pondered further.
This stuff only happened to the Tracy's! Were they cursed or something?
Alan was struck by the thought that at the bare minimum, Frank would have a field day with his dad. Alan would do everything in his power, to be there to witness it. That confrontation had the potential of exceeding the entertainment value of prime-time television! Alan had to admit, that witnessing his family's dressing down, delivered by curtesy of Lady Penelope, was the most entertaining thing he had seen this year. Maybe, rushing home in a frantic panic, wouldn't be so bad after all.
Before the showdown between dad and Frank would play out, there was another one Alan was practically dying to see. His entire family, from an alternate universe, were currently in the infirmary! That thought was mind-blowing!
Firstly, Alan needed to use the bathroom. It was a long flight to get home after all. After finishing his business, he saw the opportunity to satiate his curiosity regarding the world hopping version of his family.
Obviously, he offered Fermat to join him in his secret endeavour. He strived to be a good best friend after all. Alan knew, Fermat was just as curious about them as him. Surprisingly, towards the end of the two best friends' conversation, they decided to split up for the time being. Alan had after all been there, to scold his family on their improper behaviour, even if he was mostly standing beside Lady Penelope looking disappointed.
Fermat still needed to take care of his. Instead of following Alan down to the infirmary, he went to confront his dad. Who conveniently, also forgot to inform Fermat of his safety. They would meet up later. Alan would then, hopefully, have some juicy answers. Answers to their questions were necessary to test their hypothesis of how in the world "world-hopping" was even possible!
Alan discreetly snuck away towards the infirmary. It was strangely quiet in the Tracy residence, for this time of morning. Alan presumed it was because of the night's disturbance, the islands other inhabitants were probably still sleeping. "Fair enough." Alan thought.
Anticipation continued to build in Alans gut, with every step he took. Finally, he reached the infirmary and was shocked with what he discovered. Instead of being greeted with a cool alternative version of his family, whom could help him understand previously unexplored scientific subjects, as world hopping and alternative universes, he found a sleeping knot consisting of human limbs entangled together.
Five young men were laying in a pile, on two infirmary beds placed side by side. They were looking serene, cuddled together so closely, that no one was in danger of falling off the beds. The guys were squished together so tightly, that Alan wouldn't be surprised if they looked as flat as a pancake, when they eventually detangled the knot of limbs, they had somehow turned themselves into.
"What in the world was going on! His dad must have been wrong! There was a serious emergency on the Island!" Alan thought, mildly alarmed "Unexpectedly, his entire family and alternative version of it, had turned into mushy cuddle monsters! It had to be something in the air. Was this the start of a pandemic. Possibly!".
"On the other hand, there were worse diseases in the world. If he had to be infected by a contagious disease, this cuddle monster illness, was probably a best-case scenario. It was his duty, to continue documenting the outbreak of this new illness affecting the Tracy's! Photo evidence was always a reliable source of information. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he thought they were cute! Duh! It was for science! The world health organisation would be proud of his contributions to the world's health." Alans mind was working a mile a minute, his thoughts spinning around uncontrollably.
Alan snapped a few pictures of the motif in front of him. Plans of making a collage to put up in his dorm room with his cute family was jumping to the front of his mind. Alan tried to shake away the thought "For science! Blackmail! Nothing else! Duh!".
"Christ! I am already infected! That cuddle puddle also looks nice! Screw science! Maybe I should have just joined my family's cuddle puddle, instead of letting Lady Penelope loose on them. I am kind of tired, now that I am not fearing for my family's safety anymore." Alan was lost in his thoughts when he, out of nowhere, was rudely surprized out of them.
The pile of humans had suddenly started shifting, startling Alan. It was, thankfully, only one of the five who had joined Alan in consciousness. A pair of squinting turquoise eyes peered up at him suspiciously, half hidden under an arm from one of the remaining slumbering members of the cuddle puddle.
Alan took the initiative to make the first move.
"Hi there! I'm Alan! Sorry to disturb you! I didn't mean to wake you up! Nevertheless, nice to meet you!" Alan greeted the person quietly, as to not wake up the other four sleeping people in the room. The initial scrutinising look he received, slowly faded away.
"Hi Alan! I'm John. John Tracy." The red headed man responded quietly, from his position in the bed.
"I just wanted to check in on you guys! Wait a second! You're John?" Alan asked, shocked at the realisation of whom he was speaking to.
"Yes! Like I told you a few seconds ago." John confirmed, not amused.
"But! Your hair!" Alan exclaimed as loud as he dared to, sounding almost personally offended by it.
"What about it?" John inquired, dragging a hand through his hair, checking for signs of ridiculous bed head. To John it seemed to be the most likely culprit, to cause this kids' affronted shock concerning it.
"It's ginger!" Alan somehow shouted in a whisper.
"Astute observation skills!" John pointed out, after failing to hide a snort, because of the sheer ridiculousness of the conversation.
"But my John's hair is blonde! Like, really blond! Kind of platinum." Alan said.
"How does that have anything to do with me? I seriously hope that you are aware of that people who share the same name, usually doesn't look the same." John asked, while rolling his eyes.
"I know that! I am not an idiot, thank you very much for the insinuation! You're a version of my brother John from another universe! It is so cool, but it is weirding me out at the same time." Alan explained, sulking a bit about the jab towards his intelligence.
"Hold up just a second! I'm a what?" John asked, shock clear on his face.
"I just told you! You're a version of my brother John, from an entirely different universe!" Alan explained excitedly.
Alan continued explaining, feeling astounded upon realising that the version of his brother John, was looking entirely dumbstruck "You mean to tell me that you don't know? How can you not know? I just arrived home, and even I know! My family always forget to tell me everything! I am always the last to know!".
"Can you please fill me in?" John interrupted the persons rant, while feeling increasingly confused. Urgently needing some answers.
"Of course, I can! I am Alan Tracy!" Alan declared proudly.
"What! You are who now?" John demanded. It was his turn to be shocked. The tables of their conversation had turned quickly.
"I'm sorry! I thought you already were aware! You are in a different world from your own. You are from an alternative reality. I just got back home this morning, so I don't have more than the cliff notes version of this situation at this time. You are currently on Tracy Island. I mean my family's Tracy Island. You are in our world now. We are this worlds Tracy family and we run international rescue. Welcome to our home, my brother from another mother." Alan explained, snickering at his own bad joke to light up the mood.
"What in the world is going on?" John muttered to himself, feeling shocked.
"Sorry for unintentionally dropping a metaphorical bomb on you! I do not have all the answers yet. On a more positive note, I do know how to get them! How would you and your brothers feel about a meeting with my family for a debriefing?" Alan asked, feeling a bit sheepish to have upset the version of his brother in front of him.
Before John could respond, his stomach grumbled loudly. He did not have time to get embarrassed, before Alan interrupted again.
"Aw man! Where are my manners! I am so sorry! Of course, you must be hungry! I am hungry without any world hopping shenanigans! Maybe, we can do the debrief after breakfast if that is alright with you? We can probably do it later if you want as well. Dad forgot to inform me that it was a false intruder alarm and then didn't answer his phone, so I set Lady Penelope loose on him. He kind of owes me a favour for that. I could totally use it to accommodate you if necessary!" Alan rambled on apologetically.
"Hey! Slow down! A version of Alan Tracy from another universe, was it? I can see that! You remind me of my Alan!" John said fondly, while looking towards his own version sleeping, splayed out like a starfish, on top of Scott.
"I do? Cool! In what way? All of this is so scientifically exciting! I totally get that it sucks that you were forcefully separated! But apart from that awful bit, me and Fermat have been freaking out over how it is even scientifically possible!" Alan continued, sounding like an excited puppy.
"Yes! That sucked, to say the least! We thought they were dead!" John answered in a sad tone, seemingly lost in his head.
Alan turned sombre at that confession. He walked up to the bed, pulling a chair along with him, sitting down beside John. "I'm so sorry! That is awful! I despise that feeling! There is nothing worse than that." Alan said sadly, trying to show his compassion he felt for this John.
John did not know why, but he felt like he could talk with this Alan. Something in his eyes revealed that Alan intimately knew about the pain he talked about. "I don't know why I am telling you this. But I couldn't handle it. I broke down completely. I became a sobbing, useless mess. They are so important to me, that life without them felt hopeless!" John sadly confessed, tears gathering in his eyes.
Alan put a hand on John's shoulder to comfort him, and started to tell his own experience, that still haunted him in his dreams "Hey John! It's okay! I know the feeling! Three years ago, we were invaded by a mad man called the Hood. He shot a missile that struck Thunderbird five, with my John still in it! My family rushed up in Thunderbird Three to save him. Unfortunately, it was a trap. The Hood had come up with an elaborate scheme."
"With all international rescue operatives out of the way, the Hood and his men invaded our home. He forcibly took control of the command centre. Locking my family out of the Thunderbirds control systems. Leaving my entire family trapped on a critically damaged Thunderbird five, slowly falling out of orbit." Alan continued after taking a deep breath.
"I was fourteen years old, home on a spring break. He tried to capture me and my friends, but we managed to avoid him, at least for a while, trying to sabotage his plans. The Hoods goal was steeling our Thunderbirds to rob the bank of London. He tried to kill us several times and he almost succeeded. You don't need to know the full story! Sorry for rambling." Alan said apologetically.
"My point is that I looked on from here as my entire family was unconscious in Thunderbird five, slowly falling towards the earth's atmosphere, waiting on them to burn up on re-entry or die from their oxygen running out. I have never felt such despair and such a feeling of helplessness in my entire life. So, I know how it feels. It is the worst feeling in the world! It is okay to be affected by it! I'm still affected by it to this day. But it gets better! And they are alive! Your family is alive! That is a wonderful thing!" Alan finished his explanation full of emotions.
"Thanks Alan! You're a good guy! Sorry for offloading on you during our first meeting." John said with a wet laugh.
"Thanks! No worries! I would definitely have done the same in your situation!" Alan answered with a small genuine smile.
"But back to my original question. How do you feel about breakfast and then some answers? Yay or nay? I think your stomach answered yay earlier!" Alan tactfully changed the subject.
"Breakfast sounds lovely! We just haven't really slept since Alan and Gordon went missing. Except for a few naps, grandma forced us to take." John confessed, thankful for thinking about something else.
"Jikes! Sorry for interrupting your needed beauty sleep! Now I get why your brothers haven't woken up by our conversation. I suppose that you haven't eaten well either then. I know that I wouldn't have been able to in that situation." Alan continued feeling a strong wave of protectiveness towards this John, well up inside him.
"No, not really! Grandma forced us to shove down a few protein bars here and there." John explained.
"We will have to do something to fix that then! Leave it to me and the Kyrano's. We will make you a brunch you can feast on!" Alan promised "Any allergies or food preferences?".
"No nothing special! Thank you!" John said perking up a bit at the promise of food.
It will take a while to prepare it. Why don't you join your brothers cuddle puddle again. I think you all might need it!" Alan said with a cheeky but knowing wink.
"That is a great word for it! Cuddle puddle! I will steal it and use it myself, if you don't mind?" John exclaimed with a laugh.
"Not at all! I wonder if you mind me asking another question?" Alan asked carefully.
John nodded, while answering "Not at all. Go ahead!".
"I couldn't help but notice that you didn't mention your father. Is he still with you?" Alan questioned, voice uncharacteristically small.
John paled and responded reluctantly "No, he is unfortunately not. We lost him nine years ago, during a mission that was sabotaged by the Hood.".
"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to drag up bad memories! Sorry! It was thoughtless of me!" Alan hurriedly apologised.
"It is fine!" John answered.
"No, it isn't! Wait a second!" Alan walked towards a cabinet in the infirmary and pulled out several chocolate bars "Aha! There you are hiding!".
While walking back towards John, price in hand, Alan continued "My John is weak towards this brand of chocolate. It always makes me feel better, to have some after bad things happens. Try some, if you and your brothers want to. At the very least, it will hold you over until the brunch the Kyrano's and I will start working on. Sorry for dragging up old trauma. It was very nice to meet you, John! I'll be back to get you guys when we have prepared a big meal for everybody!"
"Thank you! It is fine! It is a strange situation. Thank you for everything! See you later!" John thanked this version of Alan.
"You're welcome! Try the chocolate and get some more rest! I will see you later with proper food and with my family to get you guys' some more answers!" Alan said before walking away.