Epilogue
It was mid-afternoon and Jeff was seated at his desk shuffling through some papers when he suddenly looked up to see his two eldest sons standing there. He hadn't heard them come in and their sudden appearance made him jump.
"Jesus Christ, are you two trying out for covert operations or what?"
"Sorry, Dad, we didn't mean to startle you," Scott apologized.
"Yeah, Dad," Virgil chimed in. "We just wanted to talk to you about something we think is vital to the smooth running of our operation."
"Yes, Virgil's right, Dad. It could be very important, especially to our morale."
They both continued looking at him, their expressions hopeful, but said nothing further. Jeff was becoming impatient.
"Okay, out with it. You two obviously want to ask me something, I'm busy and you should be, so what is it that you want?"
Scott and Virgil kept deferring to each other, neither of them wanting to be the one to voice it.
"Boys!"
It was now or never, each of them deciding it was time to get it over with.
"WE THINK THE TEAM NEEDS SOME SHORE LEAVE!" they blurted out in unison.
>>>>>+>>>>>+
It was a few days later when Tin-Tin walked into the lounge to offer a hard at work as usual Jeff Tracy a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, Tin-Tin. That sounds great right now. Your timing is impeccable."
Tin-Tin smiled demurely.
"You're looking well this morning, Mr. Tracy. I don't mean to intrude, but have you been sleeping better? I noticed you were waking up in the middle of the night there for a while. I could see the light on in your study when I'd go out for one of my sunrise walks."
"You are a very observant young woman, Tin-Tin. Yes I was having a bit of trouble there for a while but things seem to have smoothed themselves out."
"I'm glad to hear it, Mr. Tracy. I'll get that coffee for you right away."
"Thank you, dear."
Just then, the vidphone on his desk came to life, signaling an incoming call. When he pushed the button to answer, the face that appeared to him on the vidscreen was that of his eldest son.
Earlier in the week, at the suggestions of Scott and Virgil and after weighing the benefit to International Rescue, Jeff had sent all of the boys out on a week-long holiday to the mainland. Sending them on leave had brought the remnants of Jeff's nightmare back to haunt him, but he concluded that if the boys were all together, they'd be as safe as they could be off the island. And besides, they were in Australia, not New York. Things had been tough lately and to ask them to keep working like that without a break could have led to exhaustion and some life endangering mistakes made while on the job.
The one thing he couldn't figure, however, was why the faces of his two eldest boys had suddenly gone pale at the mention of Sydney as their holiday destination. After all, it was the closest big city location to their base, and the possibility always existed that he might have to call them back for a mission. Things had quieted down though as of late and he hoped they would stay that way, at least until the after the boys had had time to enjoy themselves a little.
He noticed that Scott was already looking more relaxed.
"Hello, son! How's the shore leave going?"
"Just great, Dad. This was a really good idea. We're not on the verge of strangling each other anymore and even Alan didn't mind hanging out with his big brothers for a while."
"Alan? Is he there, I'd like to speak to him for a bit."
"No, Dad. Remember that little side trip he wanted to take? Alan's in New York...Dad? Are you there...?"