Hey! Can you believe it? Posting this soon? Something must be wrong. Anywho, thanks for reading and reviewing. Please continue, cuz it's so nice to know that people are enjoying it. The chapter is kind of an interlude between Scott and Lona's troubles. While writing about them, I realized that the feelings of the family had not really been focused on, besides Virgil's of course. ;P I wanted to see how the family was dealing with the kidnapping of Scott and Jeff's news to them. So…here it is. There are a lot of flashback by the family members of times spent with Scott. Personally, I thought it was kind of neat to find out more about Scott. Katya and I will be working on the new chapter soon; hope to have it out soon. Till then, enjoy!

Miss Elizabeth and Katya

Chapter 16: Maybe This Time Would Be Different

John and Gordon both walked towards the Round House carrying their papers. They had come to an unspoken agreement to stick together; neither wanted to be alone as they decided the future of their eldest brother. The astronaut and his younger brother climbed through the portal, then got into the lift that would take them up to the cockpit. When the door opened, Gordon immediately sat down in his chair: the one in the front and on the right. He remembered the number of times Scott had flown up with him to relieve Johnny from his tour of duty.

"It will be great to have Johnny around, but we will sure miss ya, Gordo!" The dark-haired pilot looked over at his older brother and grinned.

"Yeah, who else would put blue hair dye in your shower faucet and forget to tell you?" Scott threw him a mock scowl and then let a grin slip.

"Lucky for you it wasn't permanent. If it had been…"

"You would have matched your ship to perfection." By now both of them were about to split their sides they were laughing so hard. This banter went on for sometime until THUNDERBIRD 3 was about to dock with 5. Gordon suddenly grew serious and stopped Scott before he could go through the docking portal.

"Scott, be careful. We all know how dangerous our jobs can be. Just…be careful." Scott nodded solemnly, then before his mischievous grin could give him away, he grabbed his younger brother in a headlock and ruffled his hair.

"Think the 'old man' can't take care of himself?" Their laughter echoed throughout the two ships.

Gordon pulled his legs up against himself and rested his chin on his knees. He had a lot of thinking to do.

John hesitated in the doorway of the cockpit. He started to move towards his chair, then paused. Making his decision, he strode quickly to Scott's chair and sank down into it, his legs hanging off the arm of the seat. As he rested his head against the seat's back, he pictured his older brother. He remembered the first time he had seen Scott in his Air Force uniform. He had stood so proud, so sure. He then saw the five brothers lined up, clad in their International Rescue jumpsuits. How each of them had stood so proud, so sure. Scott flying for the first time; the first time he flew THUNDERBIRD 1. Scott seated behind Mobil Control, taking charge of a difficult rescue; him horsing around with Alan and Gordon in the pool. The blond man closed his eyes and heard the last of the latest midnight conversation he had had with his brother.

"Johnny, don't put yourself down. You know you are a vital part of IR; you probably are THE vital part. Without you and your ship, we would never get the calls for the rescues. Plus, you add a lot when you are down here and can go out with us on rescues." The young man sighed.

"I do know that Scott. I just…I hate being up here when things go wrong. I'm not there to help, to comfort, to…to even know if everyone is all right. I have to wait till someone calls me." Scott grinned bitterly at him.

"I think all of us got a taste of what you feel with Alan and the Hood." John nodded. That had been one of the bleakest and worst times in the Tracy history-including the death of their mother. There was a short pause, then the younger one yawned.

"Well, I think I'm going to turn in now. You better do the same, Scott. Dad would have your hide if you weren't in peak condition for a rescue." They both laughed. Then before his brother could cut the radio, John said what was foremost on his mind.

"And Scott? Thanks."

John sighed. It was going to be a rough next couple of hours.

Onaha kneaded the dough with slightly more vigor than was necessary. After beating the dough for several minutes, she began cutting up the apples that would go into the pie. Suddenly, she realized fully what she was making and abruptly put down the half pared apple. Scott loved her apple pie. Ever since his capture, it seemed that every meal she made contained at least one of his favorites. Onaha was not as connected to the Tracy family as her husband or daughter; or at least that is what she thought. But she served them faithfully as their housekeeper and kept everything running smoothly so they could focus their energies on rescues. As she picked up the apple to finish cutting it, she thought of another of her services…to worry about them.

Alan climbed out of the small crawl-hole onto the top of the Round House. He always came out here when he needed to think or get away from his older brothers. He drew his knees up under his chin and wrapped his arms tightly around him as if trying to lock his feelings tightly in that circle. Even though Scott's "older brother routine" often annoyed him, he found now that he missed the teasing and pestering. For all of his hero-worship of his brothers, there was still a part of him that clung to them as brothers. He could never remember a time that Scott had not raised him. Now when Scott needed him the most, he became the reason no one was anxious to start the search and rescue mission again. He could feel tears welling up; he would NOT cry! Alan's fist slammed against the roof, cracking two of his knuckles open. As he brought his bloodied hand up to check on it, he could not help himself. The tears began rolling down his young cheeks.

The young scientist, left arm still bound by a sling, sat forlornly on the stool in his laboratory. As he glanced around the technologically advanced room, a flash of anger twisted his normally sweet face. Here he was, one of the most brilliant minds of the time, and he could do nothing to help his friend. He thought back to the first time he had met Scott. It had been the day after the great astronaut, Jeff Tracy, had approached him with his phenomenal idea.

"Mr. Hackenbacker, welcome. Come on in; we don't stand on ceremony here." Jeff Tracy motioned him to a chair and pointed out the bar with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The young man picked out a bottle of water and then sat down. He glanced over at the dark-haired man seated slightly out of the circle. This could only be one of Tracy's sons. He expected to be introduced, but Jeff jumped right in.

"Have you thought about what we talked about yesterday?" He nodded.

"Y-yes M-m-mister Trac-cy." How he hated his stutter! It always became more pronounced when he was nervous. Jeff smiled.

"I promise I won't bite, Mr. Hackenbacker. We don't put on airs. We're just plain people, so you just be yourself." The scientist nodded again.

"I th-th-believe it is a wond-derful idea. The machines won't b-be too difficult to b-b-create, just costly and time cons-suming. You will n-need a g-g-brilliant inventor or someone who can always be thinking up-p new things."

Jeff nodded, then glanced at his son. The young man met his gaze, then his mouth quirked upwards in a grin. He walked over and sat next to the young scientist. Brains realized they were about the same age.

"If you want the job, it's yours." It took only a moment for the young scientist to make the decision that would change his life.

"I want it." The young man's grin broadened.

"Welcome to the family! I'm Scott Tracy, I'll be the field commander. What should we call you? Mr. Hackenbacker or Hiram?" The scientist grinned back at the man; he could sense they would one day become close friends.

"Just call me Brains."

Brains sighed and buried his head in his one good hand. He knew how Mr. Tracy felt. Any man who was a father had felt at some point a little of what he was now going through. Brains thought of his son, Fermot; could he doom him to almost certain death? If he had more children, could he place them in harms way to search for Fermot with no certainty of success. Could he in good conscious tell Mr. Tracy to choose between those two choices?

Kyrano dug deeper in the dirt, trying to eradicate a particularly stubborn weed. He kept finding its roots all over his beautiful garden, but he was sure that today would be its last. He had not originally planned on working in his garden today, but when faced with having to make a difficult choice, he always attacked his garden with ferocity, killing weeds and pruning everything. He sighed. Mr. Scott was in terrible trouble, and it was all the fault of his half-brother. Now known as the Hood, he had wreaked havoc on the Tracy family one too many times. Someone had to stop him. He once again attacked the weed's roots, but his mind was on Scott the entire time.

The two teenagers were swimming back and forth in the pool. Normally their friend would be here, splashing them and pulling them under the water. Alan loved to play in the water, particularly when he could horse around with his friends. However, he was in no mood to fool around or even spend time with his friends. The meeting in the lounge was the first time in a long while that Tin-Tin and Fermot had seen Alan.

Fermot climbed out of the pool and put on his glasses. After several swimming lessons from Alan and the other Tracy boys, he was finally comfortable in the water. He couldn't imagine what Alan was going through right now. He was an only child, and his only family was his father. Although, Mr. Tracy had become almost like a second father…no, more like a grandfather, and the Tracy boys had become uncles to him, abet playful ones. He missed Scott so much. Only Scott had known about the invention he was working on; he had found out by accident. Fermot remembered how Scott had sat and listened to him ramble on about his idea as if he really cared. After that, not a day went by, even after a hard, tiring rescue that Scott didn't ask how it was going. Yes, Fermot wanted to see Scott again not only for his friend Alan, but selfishly for himself as well.

Tin-Tin glided along in the water, her body engrossed in the movements while her mind was working feverishly to decide what to do. Well, she knew what had to be done. The THUNDERBIRDS had to go and rescue Scott Tracy; there was no other choice. Though all the older Tracy boys were like brothers to her, her main thought was for Alan. She had admitted it to no one, but she didn't think of Alan like a brother. He was…different. She was only a young teenager, still a child in some ways. Tin-Tin did not yet realize that she felt…love for the youngest Tracy. She only knew he was a friend who was hurting, and she wanted to help.

Jeff Tracy pulled the pile of papers close to him and picked up the first sheet. For the hundredth time, he read the name "Alan Tracy". For the hundredth and first time, he pushed the pile back to the corner of the desk. He couldn't do it. He could not bring himself to read what was Scott's life or death sentence.

Sighing, he pulled the pile of papers to him for the hundred and first time. Maybe this time would be different.