Chapter 12:
A/N: Hello people, I'm back… And I've got summer holidays! … with a whole mountain of summer assignments… sigh… Oh well, let's not think about that right now!
OK, first of all, THANK YOU white rose01 for beta-reading! You're the best!
Secondly, Renato, a classmate of mine, was giving me suggestions for my story, even though he had no idea what it was about. He said I should call the hero 'Reno', he should have an injury, etc. ('Etc.' means I can't remember what he said should happen afterwards. /Grin/). Anyway, I said I would mention his name in the Author's Note, so, Renato, I just did. :)
Last but not least: reviews!
White rose01 – Well, I can only update this quickly because you're so quick with beta-ing, for which I'm forever grateful! And about that telling… well, we'll see. /evil grin/
Moonlightbear – Hmm, it's the 22nd today… that's before the 26th… check! I hope the moving went OK! Enjoy this chapter!
Darkhelmetj – Heya! Thanks for the e-mail! Oh, I haven't come around to reading your co-written story yet. Exams etc. Always nice. Ahem. Anyway, I finished those, so now I can spend a bit more time on reading… hopefully. ;) I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you'll enjoy this one too!
Numbuh 14 – No one has ever written a small note to you in one of the stories? Well, I'm honoured to be the first. (And you did spell appreciated correctly.) Thanks for the compliment and the 'good luck'! I've finished my exams now! Yippie! Holidays! I hope this update was soon enough! Enjoy this chapter!
Gismo – Hmm… now I have to answer two reviews at once… OK, here goes. Review chapter 10: Thanks! Yeah, we got to keep our language alive. ;) And, yes, Nicole suspects something alright. Review chapter 11: You? Speechless? That's new:p Thanks for the compliments! Oh, and I think I need to clarify something. The exams I had were end-of-year-exams in an International school, not a Dutch school. They don't know HAVO, VMBO, VWO etc. In an Int. school you have exams at the end of every academic year. Next year I'll have my final exams… scary! ;) Had I still been in the Dutch system, I would have had my VWO exam this year. My friend passed though:) Anyway, I'm glad your sister did fine! Enjoy this chapter!
Rachie Tracy – Hey, hello! Welcome! Thanks for reading and reviewing! And my exams went OK, thanks! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too!
And that was it for the reviews! Have a nice day.
5.40am. John stood outside in his t-shirt and shorts, waiting to see if Nicole would show up or not. The conversation with his father last night replayed in his head, and as a result, John felt frustrated. He didn't often loose his cool, but this time his father went too far.
'Are you aware that the safety of our organisation, and with that the safety of people all over the world, is in danger because of two supposed friends of yours!'
'You want to give these people more ammunition! We can't go around telling strangers who we are! You hardly know these people!'
'Supposed friends.'
'You want to give these people more ammunition!'
'Strangers.'
'You hardly know these people!'
'Supposed friends.'
'Strangers'
'Supposed friends.'
"John?"
John startled. "Oh, good morning Nicole."
"Are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking."
The brown-haired woman gave him an appraising look that seemed to say: 'Yeah, right!'
"So, in what language were you thinking?"
John turned to look at her, trying to gauge her mood. Then he saw the twinkle in her eyes.
"Well, I tried to think in Fries, but found Dutch to be the limit for now."
"Why would you try to think in Fries! I mean, Holland is a small country, there are only a couple of thousands who speak Dutch, -"
"About 16 million."
"- and even less people who speak Fries! Why learn it? Why not learn, oh, I don't know, Arabic or something?"
"Because I already know Arabic?"
"Oh, ehm, well, you know what I mean!"
"Yep." John said with a grin.
"You're hopeless. Let's run."
And within moments they were running at an easy pace.
"So, tell me. What's going on at NASA these days? Is Ted still the best pilot in the organisation?"
"No, Ted retired. He settled down, has a wife and twins, and is working at a local airport. I'm not sure what exactly he's doing, but from what I've heard he seems to like his new lifestyle." Nicole gave a wistful sigh. John felt something tug at his heartstrings, though he was unsure why.
"W-Would you like to settle down? I mean, do you think you would be able to leave NASA and do something else?" He stumbled over his words, though they kept on jogging at the same pace as before. Nicole didn't answer right away. She looked sideward at John, but when she saw he was looking at her, she quickly looked straight ahead again.
"I'm not sure. I think I would first have to find the right man before I'd even think about leaving NASA. Of course with the schedules it isn't often that I have the opportunity to go out, so the chances of finding someone anytime soon are pretty slim."
John thought about this for a moment, and wondered why he felt oddly reassured at her last sentence. Why would he feel content when Nicole obviously wished for something which would probably not happen anytime soon? He was her friend! He should feel compassionate about it, not…happy!
"What about you?" Nicole asked. She had been surreptitiously studying his expression as they jogged.
"What? Sorry?" John asked, confused for a moment as he was brought back to Earth.
"Would you be able to leave your… 'work'? Would you want to?"
'Don't we all sometimes?' John thought slightly bitterly. "Well… I'm not sure whether my ehm work would even let me." He saw her eyebrows rise and quickly explained. "Well, I physically could leave, but, I don't think I would be able to leave emotionally." 'If I could leave International Rescue, I'd probably have to leave my family, 'cause otherwise I'd still end up helping out. Besides, can't have Alan have total control over 'my 'Bird.' A shudder combined with a smile ran through his spine.
"Why not?"
"Well, you see, this work, it's… satisfying. We're doing something eh, useful." Nicole gave him a pointed look as they rounded a corner. "Not that any other job is useless!" John quickly amended. "It's just, I don't think I personally would get the same satisfaction from any other job."
"But wouldn't you want to?"
"Sometimes it would be so much easier to have a normal job." John smirked.
"Don't go about changing the subject now! Would you want to settle down?"
"I wasn't changing the subject! Well, not entirely."
Nicole threw him an exasperated look, so he finally answered her question.
"Yes, I sometimes would like to settle down, have a wife and kids. Should I go on to the clichés?"
"You mean, the dog, a nice place to retire, and all that kind of stuff?"
"Yes."
"No."
"OK."
"What?"
"What?"
"What did we just agree on again?"
"That I wouldn't go on to the clichés."
"Oh. OK! Do you think you'll find someone?"
"Don't know. Not anytime soon anyway." John said as he thought about Thunderbird 5. "Not many women come flying by where I live."
"Do you still live on that island with your father and grandmother?"
"Yes. And my brothers." John answered absently. Immediately he realised what he had just said and looked to see if Nicole realised it. However she had just turned her head to see if they could cross the street, so he didn't see the small, satisfied smile that decorated her face. She quickly pulled it back in an oblivious expression.
"Don't you get bored sometimes, being with your family the entire time?"
John's mind was racing. No matter if he said 'yes' or 'no', she would know he spent indeed the entire time with his family, from which she could quickly deduce that the 'company' he worked for was a 'family business'. She already knew Tracy Industries was a family business, and he doubted she would think the job he had there would be as satisfying as he just told her it was. After all, flying a desk wasn't really everything once you were an experienced astronaut. However, he just couldn't bring himself to lying to her…not again.
"No, I love my family to bits. And I don't spend my entire time with them." It wasn't lying. Just… avoiding certain facts. Which he didn't feel all that great about either.
"You don't? Do you leave the island often then?"
"Oh yes, I'm away for more than half of the year."
"Where do you live the other part of the year?"
"Here and there."
Nicole gave him a pointed look. John shrugged apologetically. "Can't tell."
"OK, OK." Nicole became silent again. She hated this feeling of knowing that she couldn't know.
"I'm sorry. I talked to my boss, but he didn't allow me to tell you."
'Are you aware that the safety of our organisation, and with that the safety of people all over the world, is in danger because of two supposed friends of yours!'
Nicole noticed John's face darkening. 'Something's up there. Though I doubt he'll tell me. Sometimes he's too stubborn for his own good!'
"OK, what's going on? Apart from the obvious." She stopped abruptly. John turned around surprised.
"What makes you think something's going on?"
"I can read your expressions like a book, and I'm clearly on the chapter where the hero is facing his worst enemy."
John's eyebrow disappeared under his hairline. "Well, it's not that serious." He mumbled. Nicole folded her hands in front of her, and waited. "Then what is it?"
"Oh, I just…" John closed his eyes as his father's words kept repeating in his mind. "Can we leave this alone? Please?"
Nicole found herself in a difficult position as her friend pleaded with his eyes for her to leave the subject. On the other hand, if she knew her friend well, and she was quite sure she did, then whatever it was, was going to eat him from the inside, because he was too… stubborn? Too friendly? Too concerned for others. That was it. He was too concerned for others for him to let out his own confusion or pain. He should talk about this, whatever 'this' was. But the look he was giving her was desperately asking to let it slide.
"John!" she sighed, "All right. I'll leave it… for now! I won't allow you to let this eat at you."
"Don't worry, it won't 'eat at me' as you put it. I wasn't planning on letting it." It wasn't clear whether he said the last part to Nicole or to himself, but his determination was clearly visible.
"All right. Let's continue." The continued running along the same trail John took the day before. He wasn't surprised when he saw Phoebe waiting behind the large window. As soon as she saw them, she disappeared. Nicole chuckled.
"I think we'll have company really soon."
"I don't think so. I know it." And indeed, only moments after, the front door swung open and the girl came running out.
"Uncle John! Aunt Nicky!" The eight-year-old girl had difficulty to decide who she should run over, so she ended up running through the gap between the two. Immediately, as lively as a puppy, she turned around and ran back. She danced happily between the two. First she hugged 'Aunt Nicky'.
"Hello, aunt Nicky! Did you come back from the sky again?" Nicole laughed at her wording. "Yes, I did. Did you have nice dreams about the stars?"
The girl nodded vehemently. "Yes. And you and Uncle John were showing me, just as you did when I was staying at your house when Uncle John was there. When we went camping in the grass, and we looked at the stars, and…"
The two adults grinned at each other as they listened to the child happily chatting away in the early morning. "…and then Uncle Joh- Uncle John!" Phoebe let go of Nicole's hand and threw herself against John. The blond man untangled the arms of the girl and picked her up. John looked at her, mock-seriously.
"Now, why did you go and say 'hi' to Aunt Nicky first, and only then come to me? I'm your favourite 'uncle', aren't I?" He now looked sad. Phoebe giggled, then replied seriously.
"Yes. But Aunt Nicky is my favourite aunt… Next time I'll hug you first." She said. Problem solved. She tried to wriggle out of John's arms, but couldn't suppress the yawn.
John chuckled. "Want to bet she's been waiting for us since 5 this morning?"
"I di-hi-dn't… Only from a qu-qu-quarter past 5." She tried to stifle a yawn again while she talked.
"Right, then how about going to bed for just another hour? School doesn't start until 8:30."
Phoebe tried to protest, but her eyelids were so heavy. It didn't matter anyway. Uncle John would take care of it. And she fell back to sleep in John's arms, all energy spent on waiting for John, and then on running towards both her 'aunt' and her 'uncle', and welcoming them.
Nicole pushed the door further open, and together they brought Phoebe back to her room. She still had her pyjamas on, so it was only a matter of getting her shoes off and putting her under the covers. The moment John had put Phoebe in her bed, she wrinkled her nose and sleepily searched for the reassuring heat source, which had now disappeared. But her eyes remained closed, and her hands stilled as her body won the fight. For a minute John and Nicole looked down at the girl who was sleeping peacefully.
"We should leave." John whispered, his eyes still fixed on the figure in the bed.
"Yeah." Nicole answered in the same voice. They both remained in their position for a moment longer, then they moved out to the hallway.
"Do you think we should leave a note?"
"I don't think it's really necessary, but we'll do it, just in case."
They walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where they found a note block and two pens. Nicole ripped off a sheet and took one of the pens. "Shoot."
"Just write something about how we 'met' their little whirlwind, and that we put her back to bed at…" John glanced at his watch, "…at 6:20, and that she has been up from 5:15."
"Done." Nicole left the note on the table. The two astronauts went outside and closed the door behind them. They looked at each other, contentment clearly visible on their expressions.
"Well, that visit was certainly shorter than yesterday's" John said, walking towards the street.
"Assuming you left at the same time, yes, it did take you a lot longer yesterday."
"However, I did bring her to school."
"True. Shall we just walk home instead of run?" Nicole proposed.
"Tired already?" John teased. "Didn't train enough, did you?"
"Hey!" Nicole poked his ribs with her elbow.
"Ouch."
"Don't whine."
"I'm not."
"You were. You said 'ouch'."
"I did say 'ouch'. But I wasn't whining. I was merely stating."
"And what, oh Wise One, were you stating?"
"That I felt that elbow of yours get reacquainted with my ribs."
Nicole smiled happily. "Yes. My elbow missed your ribs."
"No, it was right on target."
"You know what I mean. It's been way too long."
"That it has. Though I can't say my ribs missed your elbow."
"Oh well, doesn't matter. They just have to get used to it again."
They had reached the street where the house stood. Nicole suddenly took off running, shouting: "Race you to the front door!"
John immediately went after her. "That was an unfair start!"
"Yes!" Nicole laughed. She slowed down as she neared the door and before she touched it, she looked around to see how far behind John was. To her surprise he stood right behind her. Immediately she wanted to hit the door, but before she had a chance to even put her hand in the direction of the door, she felt two arms slip around her waist, pick her up, and swing her around, away from the door.
"Ah! Let's go! That's not fair!"
"Nope." John said with a smile as he kept a struggling Nicole away from the door she so desperately tried to reach. Suddenly she stopped struggling and let herself collapse against John as they both laughed. Nicole looked up, and John saw the mischievous glint in her eyes. Nicole lunged forward, while John swung his arm backwards. Their hands hit the door simultaneously. They looked at each other for a moment, then burst out in laughter again. It felt good to be laughing together again, even if it was about something so silly. They calmed down. Their eyes met again. Everything else seemed to fade away; that slight tension, which was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, was back. John felt his heart flutter, a sensation which confused him. Nicole didn't notice his confusion as she was too busy trying to sort out her own.
Then the door opened and a grumpy-looking Ben, still in boxer shorts, looked at the pair in front of him. Their heads had snapped up in his direction the moment they heard the door open.
"Next time bring a key." And with that Ben turned around and walked back upstairs, still in sleep-mode.
Two pairs of eyes followed him, surprise and shock evident in their expressions. Then John leaned slightly towards Nicole, his eyes still looking at the now closed bedroom door.
"You think now would be a good time to tell him that I did bring the key?"
Nicole stifled her laughter as she pushed him inside, towards the kitchen.
"Come on, we'll prepare a nice breakfast. He'll forgive us then."
"Right. But I think we might as well have breakfast ourselves first, because I have the feeling Ben won't wake up again till at least 10 o'clock."
"No doubt about it."
A/N: You made it to the end of this chapter: congratulations /grin/ I hope you liked this chapter, and hopefully till next time! Bye – zeilfanaat