Hold your breaths everyone! Guess what! It is done. The End. (weeps for joy)I will post the rest of the chapters except the Epilogue and give you a chance to see what happens. Then the epilogue will be posted along with closing comments and answering of some questions. So please! Let me know what you think as soon as possible and ask any questions that have yet to be answered. (Rejoicing continues) Thank you all so much for everything. This would not have been completed without you.

Miss Elizabeth Blakeney

Chapter 35: The Tracy Family

Lona found her ribs being threatened by Jeff's return embrace. Running his hand lightly through her hair, he continued to hold her as she dissolved into tears.

"I don't need a piece of paper to tell me what you are to me and the rest of us. But we wanted you to know, to make it official in your eyes and the eyes of the world."

"Thank you." It was not enough, but words have never been invented to express how Lona felt at that moment.

"This is by no means a hindrance to your plans to leave…"

"Oh, no! Now that you've got me, you won't be able to get rid of me that easily."

"Well, that's good to know. There's more to your present." Lona looked at him, puzzled. "In the box. Check the bottom." Taking the box that Scott had brought over, she pulled out the rest of the tissue paper and gasped. There lying in the box was a brand new International Rescue uniform sporting a badge saying LONA. Looking up at her…father, she straightened her spine and saluted.

"THUNDERBIRS ARE GO!"

After the huge lunch Onaha and Kyrano had made, most of the inhabitants made their way to the pool for a dip in the pool. Jeff, however, made his way to his bedroom and walked out onto the deck outside his window. From there, he could see his family and friends laughing and roughhousing in the pool. Smiling, he let his gaze linger on his daughter. His daughter. Those words held such a new meaning for him. Though he had always loved her as the daughter he never had, he had always been careful to not act too much like that. It had always been a tricky balancing act between Danvers and him with poor Lona in the middle.

Now, perhaps finally, Lona could get the family she always dreamed of. She certainly deserved it after all she had gone through. He had worried if he should ask her to stay with the family or let her go and live her life. In the end, though, he had to give her that choice. Selfishly, he had wanted her to stay, but he wanted it to be her decision; not what he or his sons wanted. His sons…and daughter. A chuckle sounded as he remembered what had occurred in the lawyer's office.

Jeff sat, outwardly calm in the lounge of his lawyer in the States. He was roughly fifteen minutes early and the secretary was glaring at him. He had scheduled the appointment a little late, but it was the only time he could do it. Kevin had seemed to understand.

Jeff was drawn from his thoughts by the inner door opening and divulging his long time friend, Kevin Ruthers, attorney at law.

"Jeff, what brings you from your tropical hideaway to this dreary city? And how are you and your sons doing?"

"We're doing great, Kevin. The boys are getting down right lazy on me, with all that lying out in the sun. I've been threatening to send them out to my companies just so I can get their lazy butts amoving!" The two friends laughed as they headed into the dark mahogany sanctum. Motioning his friend over to a comfortable leather chair situated in a corner of the room, Ruthers poured two shots of liquor and seated himself across from his friend.

"Well, Jeff, what can I do for you? I don't think this is just a social call; last time I checked, you didn't need to set up appointments with my secretary to talk to me. What's going on?" Jeff sighed and set his drink aside. Casting his eyes to the light colored carpet under his feet, he ran a hand through his still dark hair.

"Lona's alive." Raising his eyes, he was in time to see the look of disbelief mixed with joy on Kevin's face.

"You're not serious." The whispered phrase spoke volumes of his friend's emotions; emotions Jeff had dealt with from the beginning.

"I am. She has been a prisoner of a…madman since before her family's deaths. She and a Thunderbirds member escaped together. The organization brought her to us. We were the only people she could think of who would take her in."

"Is she…alright?"

"She's…coping. It's been hard for awhile. She was so…scared, Kevin. You knew her. She was always in control and ready to face any situation. Now, we couldn't even get her to leave the island for forever. She…because of what that madman put her through, she couldn't talk. God!" By this time, Jeff had left the comfortable chair and was frantically pacing the room. "She couldn't talk, Kevin! She had to sign all of her words. It wasn't that she physically couldn't speak, but after everything he had put her through, I don't blame her!" Silence ruled the room for several moments. Finally, Ruthers broke the silence.

"Jeff." The Tracy patriarch turned around to face his friend. "Is Lona ok?" Jeff sank heavily back into his chair.

"Yes. We had a breakthrough a month or two ago. Something shocked her enough into speaking. She had to take it slow at first, she hadn't used her vocal cords in years but she is making up for lost time now." A slight smile graced the worried face, softening the lines marking it.

"I'm glad she's alright and that she's alive at all. I was so shocked when I was told the Danvers were dead." Suddenly the lawyer sat up straight. "If she has been a prisoner since the accident…it wasn't an accident, was it?"

"No." Silence once again descended on the room, until Ruthers shook off the gloom that had fallen over them.

"Well, Jeff, it's late and my wife will want me home before I have to come back to work. What can I do for you?"

"Kevin, I want adoption papers drawn up." At first, the lawyer did not answer, then he understood.

"Lona. You are going to adopt Lona." Jeff nodded, wondering how his friend would react. "It's perfect. Let's get to work."

A few hours later found one almost completed form and an impatient secretary waiting to be a witness. Before Ruthers finished the papers, he turned to his friend.

"What about a marriage clause?"

"MARRIAGE CLAUSE!"

"Jeff, you have five boys out there and one girl who grew up with them. Her and Scott in particular were the best of friends. You can't tell me that you never pictured those two together."

"Well, yes, when they were younger. But, Kevin, she doesn't need a relationship right now; she needs a family."

"I understand that, Jeff. But what if her and one of boys comes to an understanding? You've seen the media storm something like that causes when there was no clause concerning marriage between a biological child and an adopted one. If you put one in now instead of later, it would put all of you in a better light later on rather then hastily putting it in later and looking like you were covering something up. For you all, with the history between your family and Lona and that fact that the Tracy boys are considered extremely newsworthy, I would want to cover all your bases. But that's just my professional opinion." Jeff sat for several minutes, contemplating his options. He would not have to tell anyone about the clause unless it was needed.

"Ok, Kevin. I'll take your advice. Write it in."

Jeff stood, his eyes gazing unseeing at the pool where his children continued to horse around and splash everyone in the near vicinity. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Half turning his head, he found his daughter looking up at him, grinning. Sitting down beside her, he smiled back at her.

"Are the boys kicking your butt?"

"Maybe a little. Don't tell them, but I'm just letting them win. Strengthens their ego."

"Oh, yeah. That's it…letting them win." Jeff was treated to a mock scowl before Lona turned her attention with a quick twist of her head to the horizon. The clear blue sky met the soft blue waves as her eyes took in all the beauty around her. The hushed tranquility around them was broken by a question that echoed the thoughts of both.

"Are you ready for this?" The younger companion sighed.

"I'm going to have to be, aren't I?"

"I won't ask you to do anything your not comfortable with." Light blue eyes, snapping dangerous, met his gaze unwaveringly.

"I think I've had enough of my comfort zone. If Alan hadn't snapped me out of it when Penny was here, I would still be a shell, probably not even able to respond to anything. I haven't left this island once," by this point Lona had forsaken her chair and was pacing the small balcony, "because I allowed that man too much power over me. If I were to see him right now, every bit of me I've fought to gain back would be gone. I know that. For four years he tortured me, body and soul." She paused for a moment, and rested her palms on the railing. Leaning with all the pressure on her palms and lower arms, she let her gaze roam over the swaying palms and bright, sandy beach. "I may not want to do this, but I'm human. Since when has anything been good for us that we actually wanted to do?" A hand rested lightly on her back that still bore the marks of her imprisonment.

"You're ready."

The day after Christmas was not the let down it usually was. A freak blizzard in the north western section of the United States and a massive fire in Bangkok kept the THUNDERBIRD operatives busy far into the night. Finally, the two ships crept back to the small island and deposited the weary rescuers onto land. Jeff did not even pause to tell everyone the meeting would be tomorrow. They all headed to their private rooms and rinsed off the smoke, ash, and sweat that had mixed together.

Lona dragged herself out of the shower and flopped down on her bed. Throwing a light sheet over her satin pajama bottom and tank top, she sank down into the blissfully soft bed. She let out a long sigh of relief and closed her eyes. Soon she was sleeping deeply.

"Where is it, Miss Danvers?" Crack "I grow tired of this game. Four years you have remained silent, but no longer. I will make you speak!" CRACK

Overly bright eyes, both from sleep and fear, flew open and Lona shoot straight up in bed. Her harsh breathing shattered the silence of the darkened room; raking her hand over her brow, she found it soaked with sweat. Slowly, she calmed her breathing and lay limply back against her pillow. Soon, she rolled over and had regained her slumber.

"Thanks to the Tracys, you speak once again. And now, you have a new family. I hope nothing untold happens to them…like the last one." Screams echoed through the room. Lona tried to twist her head to see what was going on, but strong, unseen hands held her focus on the bald, sinister man before her. His eyes grew red and the pupils shrunk to cat-slits. "I could rip the information from your mind; but then you would be of no further use to me. I will kill every single one of them if you don't tell me. TELL ME!"

Lona rolled quickly onto her back, tears rolling down the sides of her face. Why now, she wondered. I haven't had dreams of that place for months. She rested her head wearily on her hands, and let out a sigh straight from her soul. It's because I've finally left the island and moved out of my comfort zone.

Throwing off the sheet, she slid her feet into slippers and padded out the door and down the hall. Turning the kitchen light on low, she set some water to boil and prepared a tea strainer. She refused to use the modern teabags, saying they destroyed the flavor of the tea. Smiling, she remembered that the moment she had realized Penny and her were meant to be friends was when both had turned at once and refused the tea Jeff had made using teabags. She poured the water over the leaves, then cleaned up and left, taking the tea cup with her. She kept wandering around the complex until she came to her father's study. Pausing for only a second, she seated herself behind the desk and began to sip her tea.

On an impulse, she pushed the button which started communications with THUNDERBIRD 5. The screen sprang to life, revealing most of the control center with John at one end of it checking gauges. A signal shrilled through the air, alerting him to his watcher. Sitting back down in his chair, he playfully rolled it over in front of the screen.

"Lonnie! Great to see ya! What are you doing up so late? It must be close to 3:00 your time."

"It is. Couldn't sleep."

"Excitement and restlessness from the rescues?" Lona hesitated for a moment, then decided the question was not by itself intrusive.

"No." The blond waited patiently for her to finish her answer but no more information was volunteered.

"Nightmares?" The sip of tea Lona was taking almost chocked her, but she covered her surprised response rather well. Enough for her reply to not appear as asinine as it truly was.

"When was the last nightmare you had, John? Ten? Twelve at the latest? Nightmares." The younger man, however was not fooled. He had seen Lona and Scott play their games too many times. Time for brutal honesty.

"The last nightmare I had was three weeks ago." The partially cooled cup paused on its assent. Blue eyes snapped their focus on the screen and held those of the man thousands of miles above the earth. "All of us have had it since the experience last Spring Break. Either we are in THUNDERBIRD 5 and it blows up around us with Alan's face on screen the last thing we see…" Lona watched in silence as her friend, now brother, relived for a moment the horror that idea entailed "or I have to watch as that maniac kills my family in front of me." John looked back up at the screen in time to watch Lona's eyes devoid of any emotion and glazed over as she gazed at something not truly there. "Lonnie?"

"He tortures me. Asking me…the same questions and destroying what I've been able to build back up. He hurts all of you, trying to get to me and it works. Oh God, it works!"

"How often have these been coming?" John's soft voice contrasted with the harsh voice that had died, having spoken the last of its pain.

"They started when I first came to the island but haven't come in awhile. For some reason, tonight's been really bad. I'd go back to sleep and it would come right back to me. I finally gave up sleep as a bad idea and got my tea."

"You're doing better now?"

"You know, I think I am. Plus my eyes are about to fall out of my head. Think I'm going to attempt some more time in the sack."

"Good idea. Talk to you later?"

"Sure, bro. G'night."