Chapter 13:

A/N: Heya guys. Instead of answering each individual, I'll go for the mass-thanks today, because I'll be leaving for France within an hour or so.

Thanks to white rose01 for beta-ing, especially on such a short notice. THANKS!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You're great. I'll answer your reviews again next chapter. :)

Have a wonderful time! I hope you'll enjoy this part too!

Bye

zeilfanaat

At 10:20a.m. Ben came stumbling into the room where John was engrossed in one of his new books, and Nicole was reading the newspaper. John looked up.

"Well, well, look who has decided to grace us with his presence."

"Coffee." Ben replied in monotone voice. John grinned and stood up.

"You just sit down. I'll get you your breakfast, including coffee."

Ben mumbled something intelligible which John took as 'thanks'. Ben sat down slowly, next to Nicole.

"Morning Benny." Nicole said affectionately while ruffling his hair. Her brother sent her a sleepy glare. "Ah, all right. Too early for you, isn't it?"

Ben grumbled a 'yes'. Nicole smiled and returned to the newspaper. A couple of minutes later John returned with a plate with Ben's breakfast.

"There you go. Sorry for waking you up this morning."

Ben accepted the plate and immediately took a sip of his coffee.

"'s ok."

"He really is quite awake, isn't he?" John said.

"Yeah." Nicole replied absently. John looked at her curiously.

"Everything ok?"

"Yes, yes. Just something that caught my attention…"

"What is it?" John asked. Nicole regarded him for a moment. Then she flipped the paper around so John could see the article in question. As John looked at the article, Nicole watched his face closely.

International Rescue saves Japanese village from earthquake

When Nicole had studied him before showing the article, John had been on his guard, careful to not show any reaction that could indicate his involvement.

"So, they did it again." John said.

"Yes, according to a man from the village who was interviewed, the men of International Rescue were unable to communicate effectively at first because of the language. So then they called someone else, also from the organisation, who did speak Japanese. I quote: 'International Rescue truly is international'."

"Wow. Any news on how they saved those people?" John asked, steering away from the language issue. Nicole frowned.

"Not really. Every villager seems to be very secretive about the whole rescue. They only say that International Rescue came, took everyone into their 'machine' which brought them to safety. That man is the only one who went slightly more into detail about that 'language person'."

"Oh well. International Rescue always was quite secretive. No one knows who they are or where they come from."

Nicole nodded pensively.

"What are you people talking about?" Ben asked, suddenly much more awake now that he had finished his coffee.

"About this article. It seems International Rescue saved a Japanese village yesterday."

Ben shrugged. "So? Every time International Rescue is in the news it's because they saved someone. What's so strange about that?"

"The fact that at least one of them speaks Japanese, but he wasn't present at the rescue site itself!"

"So?" Ben asked again. "There are quite some people who speak Japanese. Even John here speaks it. Nothing strange about that either."

"No, but don't you think if International Rescue has one person who speaks Japanese that they would send him along with the rest to Japan? Instead they had to call him!"

Ben looked at his sister exasperatedly. "Well, maybe he was somewhere else, unable to get there! I don't know! He could be ill, or on the other side of the world. Maybe he went on holiday, or visiting his family! They're people too, you know. So it really isn't that weird."

Nicole opened her mouth, but closed it again when she realised she didn't have any counter-arguments left. John had opted to keep quiet during the discussion. Nicole however had different plans. "And what do you think about it?"

John replied thoughtfully. "I agree with Ben. You can't expect all of those people to be on standby all the time. So it isn't as strange as you make it out to be that that person wasn't in Japan with the rest."

"Ha!" Ben smiled triumphantly. Nicole stuck her tongue out at him, and Ben replied likewise. This caused John to laugh at their 'childishness', and soon they all laughed. Finally John stood up.

"Coffee anyone?"

Both siblings nodded. John disappeared to the kitchen while Ben and Nicole continued to chat-argue. As John filled the cups his cell phone rang. It took John a while at first to realise it was his cell phone as he didn't often get a call on there. Usually when he was called it was his family who always used the wristwatches or the vidscreens. Curious as to who it was, John put down the coffee pot, pulled out his cell phone and looked at the caller ID. 'Home'

There were only a couple of people who used the 'home-phone'. Josie and Kyrano. And at this time too. If he was right, it was still quite early in the morning at the island. Was there something wrong? Quickly he answered the phone.

"John speaking."

"John? It's your father. Am I calling at an inconvenient time?"

"Dad?" To say John was surprised was an understatement. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"No, no! Nothing's wrong. At least, not here. Everything and everyone is fine here. I eh, I wanted to apologise to you about yesterdays' conversation."

John wasn't quite sure of his emotions. Then he realised where he was. "Ehm, hold on Dad, let me just get this coffee to the guys and then I'll call you back in a few minutes, when I'm somewhere private."

"OK. See you in a few. Jeff Tracy out." John smiled in amusement as he heard his father's goodbye. 'He's made too few phone calls lately to realise he's using 'mission talk' now. Let's get this coffee to Nicole and Ben.'

John put back his cell phone in his pocket and took the coffee cups to the other room.

"Here you go. Enjoy. If you'll excuse me, I just got a phone call which I have to return, so I'll just go to my room for a while."

"OK John. Thanks. Don't make it too long! We still have to make plans for today." Nicole answered.

"Got it."

Entering his room, John debated on whether to use the phone or the comlink. He wasn't really looking forward to having this conversation, and using the comlink would definitely look strange if someone were to walk into the room to say something and found him talking to his wrist. The phone it was then. He dug into his memory for the number and before the first ring could even end the phone was picked up.

"Jeff Tracy."

"Hey Dad, it's me."

"Hey. I half expected you to use your wristwatch."

"Well, I figured it wouldn't look too good if someone were to walk in and find me talking to my arm."

"Point taken. How are you doing son?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It's getting mighty difficult to keep Nicole and Ben from finding out though. I think Nicole might already suspect something. Other than that everything is great."

Jeff caught the underlying message, and sighed.

"John… you know the risks of telling, right?"

"Yes, Dad, I do. You've only been telling us since, oh, the beginning of 'it', and you were quite clear yesterday." John replied coldly.

"Oh, John, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to imply that your friends are untrustworthy. I just –"

"Imply!" John spat. "If that was implying I don't want to know what you would classify as 'stating'! You called them right out strangers! If I may quote: '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!' If you call that implying, I think I need to take another look in the dictionary, 'cause I seem to have a different definition for 'implying'."

Jeff felt himself cringe at the cold tone and the harsh words, even though he had expected an outburst of this kind.

"I'm sorry. I really feel bad about saying those things. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to question your judgement."

"But you did! Don't you trust me, Dad?" The coldness had disappeared. Instead the pain was evident in John's voice. Jeff felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. How could he have even thought about doing a thing like that? But then, that was the point, wasn't it? He hadn't thought about it, he had just said it. And as a result he had hurt his son.

"I do trust you, John. I don't know what got into me to say such things. Please, I…" His voice died down as he didn't know what to say anymore. For a moment both were silent. John's voice cracked as it broke the silence.

"It hurt, Dad." Silent tears were starting to make its way down his face, not knowing that the same happened to his father at that moment.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you. I don't know what to say. All I can say is 'I'm sorry' from the bottom of my heart."

John nodded, oblivious to the fact that his father couldn't see him. "It's OK. We all make mistakes sometimes. Just don't do it again, will you." He said as he reached up to his face with the back of his hand to wipe away the tears.

"I wasn't planning on it… Thank you John."

John nodded again, then gathered all of his courage. "But Dad, I… I still want to tell Nicole what exactly I do, preferably before she finds out."

Silence again. John half expected another explosion, which didn't come. Instead his father said: "Well, I had a talk with Scott yesterday, after our ehm discussion. He came up with this idea that would it happen that one of you would really want to share our secret with a person, whom he trusts, that we would then invite this person, and I… the rest of us would be able to see for ourselves whether we trust him or her… Somehow I have the feeling it will usually be 'her' instead of 'him'."

John chuckled. "I wonder why."

"Yeah, well, I suppose it's nothing. … So, what do you think?"

John thought about it. Initially the idea that they would still have to get 'approval' of their father rubbed him the wrong way, but when he thought about it, he could see the sense of it. After all, there was a lot at stake.

"I… I think it's a good idea." Jeff let go of the breath he had unaware he had been holding.

"Good! Good! So ehm, well, I guess if you still want to tell this Nicole and… Ben? then you could invite them over for a couple of days."

"Right now?" John asked surprised.

"Yeah, why not. They're already suspecting, right?"

"Well, yes, but won't it seem odd to suddenly say: 'Hey, let's go to my house.' It's not like we're still 6-year-olds, wanting to show off our toys to the other."

Jeff grinned at the image that description provided him. "I see what you mean. But we can't let them in oblivion if they are suspecting correctly. They might find out before you could tell them, and then it wouldn't have mattered anyway."

John waited. He could think of one solution, but was slightly afraid of his father's reaction.

"Well, I suppose in this case we'll have to make an exception." Jeff said.

"What do you mean?" John asked, unsure of what to think.

"I'm allowing you to tell them, without us having met them." Jeff explained.

"Really!" John said, unable to believe that his father had come to the same conclusion as he had.

"Yes. But only if you're absolutely sure they're not a security breach."

"Oh, I'm positive! Thank you, Dad! Thank you so much!"

Jeff smiled. What a change in mood from earlier.

"Now hush. I should let you go back to them so they won't start interrogating you again." Jeff said. John grinned.

"OK. Bye Dad. Say 'hi' to everyone."

"FAB. Bye."

"Bye."

They both hung up. Jeff smiled in relief. 'That went quite well, if I say so myself.'

A/N: Yes, you guessed right, this is the end of this chapter. See you all after my holiday! I hope I'll get lots of time to write, with lots of inspiration. ;) Bye - zeilfanaat