DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Thunderbirds, or the rights to Star Wars and any of its associated media. This story is not meant to make any profit, and is for entertainment purposes only. Please don't sue – my tuition fees are due in two weeks, and I won't have much money after that.

Home
Mid July 2015
(Approx. one week after A Tracy Family Holiday)

"What do you mean 'stay here'," Virgil Tracy wondered, fixing his dad with a long stare. "Stay here, as in here on the island?"

Jeff looked around at his sons, who stood in a line at the edge of the pool, and nodded slowly. "That's exactly what I mean. I'd like to sell the house back on the mainland, and make this place our permanent residence."

"What about school? We can't just hang around here all the time and do nothing," Virgil continued, seemingly unsatisfied with his father's response.

"I've been looking at schools along the coast, and there's a really fine boarding school over in Oregon that I've registered you three boys at."

For a moment the only sound that could be heard was the soft rippling of the pool water. Finally, Gordon shook his head, his expression incredulous, and rubbed a hand through his hair.

"Geeze. Geeze. I can't believe this." He looked at Virgil, and shook his head again. "When I said that I liked this place, this wasn't really what I was thinking."

Virgil nodded, and he folded his arms across his chest. "Dad, I don't really know what to say."

"It's the best that I can offer," Jeff replied helplessly, spreading his hands in a gesture of good will. "Virgil, I don't want to leave things the way that they are. You boys are out in the cold right now, and that's my fault as a father if something happens to you."

"So you think this will make it better?" Gordon spat, digging his foot into the sandy surface of the deck. "Seriously, dad, do you know what you're doing to us?"

"And I just got into another school, I don't want to be leaving already!" Virgil agreed, tossing his head so that his wet hair hung in ringlets about his eyes. "Dad, we'll make do the way things are now."

Virgil and Jeff held gazes, until Jeff sighed and waved his son away. "Virgil, you can't make do. What happens when one of you needs something, and I can't be around to help you?" He rubbed his face with his hands. "I haven't been much of a father lately. At least this way, with me home all the time, you'll have someone to turn to."

"Not if we're away at boarding school," Virgil replied dryly.

"What are we supposed to do?" added Gordon, his face beginning to turn red as his temper flared. "Dial you up and let you console us over the phone?"

"Boys!" Jeff tried to push down the emotion that was rising in him. "Gordon, Virgil, try to understand. At least that way you wouldn't have to worry about keeping a house. They'll supply the basic necessities that you'll need. And I will only be a phone call away. I won't be in meetings. I won't be at headquarters. I'll always be around."

"I still don't see why we can't just stay at our normal house," muttered Virgil. "I don't want to move, Dad. That's that. We don't need to come here."

Jeff stood a very long moment before answering. The sureness that had been present on his face when he had first spoken to the boys had vanished, and was replaced with a tired, almost sorrowful, expression of grief. "Virgil, I want to give us a fresh start. I think it's important that we move on as a family and tighten those bonds that we have left."

Gordon laughed rudely, irritation plain on his face. "Yeah, and we'll do that by picking us up and throwing us in the middle of no-where. That's a real smart idea."

"Just listen to dad, guys," Scott replied, trying to keep everything under control. "He's got his reasons."

"At least it'd be the island," threw in Alan, "it's nice here. You both said that you wanted to stay."

"I didn't think anyone would take me serious!" Gordon glared at his brother, sending Alan back a step. "Maybe you don't care about moving, but I have friends that don't want me to go. If you don't that's not my fault. Why don't you just go spend your summer alone, like dad wants us all to do?"

The rest of the Tracy's gasped audibly at Gordon's bitter tear at his brother. Alan himself took a step backwards, his eyes big, then turned and ran from the pool.

"Gordon!" Jeff gasped. He hadn't expected Gordon to take it so badly. In fact, he hadn't expected Virgil to either, though in retrospect, he had obviously ignored the warning signs that had been there.

"Gordon," John began softly, his face worried, "don't turn this into a fight."

His eyes becoming angry, Gordon spun around and faced John down with a horrible stare. "Don't you start turning into dad! We don't need another one of him!"

"Gordon."

"Shut up, John. We all know why you don't care. It's not like you care where you go to school."

John's eyes narrowed slightly and his one hand curled tightly at his side. "Yeah? And why is that?"

Scott, Virgil, and Jeff nearly went bug-eyed as the exchange became more heated. They all subconsciously took a step backwards, giving the two much needed space.

"Boys," Jeff began, only to stop when he felt Scott's hand on his shoulder.

"Dad, don't, you'll only make it worse."

Meanwhile, Gordon had taken a step towards John and was now glaring up into his brother's blue eyes. "Know why? Because you don't have any friends, that's why. You couldn't care less if you left - in fact, I bet that you'd be happy to leave. You can always take courses from home anyway. It doesn't matter where you go, John. You're not leaving anything behind."

Jeff couldn't hold it in; he couldn't stand by and watch Gordon methodically destroy all of his siblings. "Gordon! Apologise to your brother immediately."

Giving his father a dangerous look from darkening eyes, Gordon snapped back, "No, so why don't you keep out of this? It's your damn fault anyway."

"Gordon! I won't stand around while you –"

"Yeah, well, what have you ever done?" The redhead roared loudly, his face the darkest shade of crimson. "I see more of this family than you do. Do you think I don't notice the way my own brother acts?"

Jeff opened his mouth to respond, but he was too shocked to find his voice. He turned to John, who seemed to be taking in the entire conversation in a state of denial, and tried in some way to convey to his son how upset he was with Gordon's behaviour.

If John saw, he didn't acknowledge his father's concerned gaze. In fact, there was very little emotion left on his face at all. "Yeah," he muttered finally, his voice strained, "yeah, I guess you're right Gordon. Maybe I don't care about coming here. Maybe I'm just glad that we're coming, because I'm sick and tired of everybody taking a strip out of everybody else because some idiot five years ago decided to skimp out on their safety check of a Swiss monorail line. But I think Dad's right about starting over. I don't want to remember any of that anymore."

Gordon's mouth dropped slightly, but before he could respond John turned from him and walked off the deck, up the walkway, and into the house, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Dammit," Jeff muttered, looking Scott in the eyes, "I should have stopped them."

"What could you have done, dad?"

A howl escaped Gordon's lips, and he sunk to the pool deck and wrapped himself in his arms. "Why the hell does this always happen to me? Now I've pissed off John too. I may as well piss off everybody else, I guess, so that we're all even."

"Gordon . . ." Standing so that his hand could just brush the top of Gordon's head, Jeff reached down and ran his fingers through his son's red locks. He knelt down, and wrapped his other arm about the boy's shaking shoulders. "Gordon. Listen to me." Jeff waited for the rebuttal, waited for Gordon to stand and take a swing at him and break his nose. It didn't happen.

This time, unlike in the bedroom, Gordon didn't even argue with his father. He didn't say anything at all. Instead, he threw himself forward onto Jeff's chest, burying his face in his father's shirt so that his tears stained the cotton material.

"I'm not mad at you," Jeff comforted his son, "so don't ever think that. Maybe you were out of line taking a strip out of your brothers, but I can't blame you for being angry with me. I brought this on myself."

"I'm such a bastard."

"You're my son."

Off to the side, Virgil nodded in agreement. He slowly walked over Jeff, and put his arms around his father so that his hands encompassed Gordon's shoulders as well.

It wasn't long before Scott joined in, embracing his father and his younger brothers with a compassion that words could not explain. The four sat for a long moment, as if feeling each other's pain, until Jeff pushed his children away from him. He stared at each of them, his own eyes reddening.

"Boys," he began, only to be silenced by a hollow laugh that escaped Gordon's mouth.

"Dad, you don't have to say it. We're all a bunch of idiots sometimes, and that's not your fault."

"You're trying," Virgil added softly, forcing a smile onto his face. "Heck, that means more to me than anything else, including staying at my school."

Though he could hear the pain that echoed in his son's voices, there was no doubting their words. They were his sons, and they would, Jeff knew, trust him to do what was right. It would be a long while until things were truly settled down emotionally in the household, but at least they had all survived the initial shock.

When he finally spoke, Jeff could not hide his relief that his sons were still speaking to him. It washed over his face, and helped to ease the creases in his forehead. "I know this will be different, boys, but maybe in the long run it will be better. It's a fresh start for all of us. Besides, if I'm to do my work from home to begin with, I'd rather have it kept in a more secure location. We have to make some sacrifices in order to gain other things."

"I think it will help," Scott agreed, looking at Virgil and Gordon in turn. "Listen, living here for the will be different, but I think we'll gain more than we'll lose. It's not as though we were living in the middle of a really commercial neighbourhood anyway. It'd just be us, this family, and no one else could intervene on it. We're here anyway for a month, so why not get the place ready while we're at it? We can go back to the mainland house for a little while later just to pack up."

"Guess so," Gordon hiccuped, his eyes turning red from the tears.

"Besides," Scott offered softly, "I think the beach is way better than the pool anyway, huh?"

"What about my friends now?" asked the redhead, ignoring Scott's attempts to comfort him.

"Maybe later," he glanced over at his father, "you could ask dad if you could go visit them for a few days. I'm sure one of them would let you stay at their house for a few days. 'Sides, you could always stay at the school over the summer if you wanted."

"I guess."

Nothing lifted Jeff's heart more than hearing the casual talk of his sons again. He sighed, and wiped a line of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "You boys are wonderful. I hope you know that. I am truly blessed as a father to have children like you."

Virgil's feigned smile quickly disappeared. "Guess we should go find John and Alan."

Gordon's face fell even more, his expression dour, and he gave Virgil a sour look. "I really did screw up, didn't I?"

Thinking for a moment, Virgil nodded and clapped Gordon on the shoulder. "Gord, I believe that it's called 'open mouth, insert foot'."

Meanwhile, Scott had already trotted over to the door to the home. He held it open with one hand, waiting for the rest of his family to follow. "I'll find John. I'm sure that Alan will come back on his own, but I'll do a quick look around just to be sure." He looked at his father, and the two locked gazes. "Just keep Virg and Gord here. I won't be long."

It didn't take Scott long to find John. The blond-haired teen was sitting restlessly on the beach, fiddling in an irritated manner with the telescope that lay in front of him. Scott watched for a long moment as John adjusted, then readjusted, the dials on the tube, the blond haired teen's eyes narrowing in annoyance when he couldn't get the setting that he wanted.

"Not much to look at right now," Scott offered finally, his words causing John's head to fly up with a snap. "It's kind of bright out."

"I'm trying to find Mercury," John muttered, turning his attention back to the telescope. "It was easier to find back at home than it is here. Besides," he smacked the scope lightly with his hand. "My other one is better for this. It has better light filters and resolving power."

Staring at his brother and trying to find something to say, Scott discovered that for once he didn't have much to offer in the way of consolation. For even if Gordon had been a jerk when he had said what he had said, what he had said had been for the most part true. Something was going horribly wrong in John's life, and that couldn't be ignored.

"Gord is sorry." It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Gordon should mind his own business," John snapped back, and Scott could distinctly hear the hurt in his voice. "Tell him to leave me out of his problems. I could really care less where we go."

"Yeah you do," Scott replied immediately, walking forward so that he stood between John and the scope. "I know that you care, John. You even said so. Dad knows that too, and so do Virgil and Gordon." He sighed, and gave John a knowing look. "Listen, I stood up for you during elementary school when you didn't have the guts to tell those guys off for beating you up. I can't stand up for you at home."

"This has nothing to do with that!" John argued, his face colouring a deep scarlet. "I don't want to beat Gordon up just to prove a point. I've already done that, and it didn't help. I don't care what happens."

Dropping to the sand, Scott inched over so that he was close enough to John to put his arm around his brother's shoulder. "Actually, John, it did help. You made Gordon and Virgil think about something that they'd never worried about before - you, and the way that you're coping with this whole mess. But you're right, and I'm not saying that I want you to give Gordon another can kicking. You just need to be more assertive, that's all."

John didn't say anything at first. Instead, his eyes were locked on a point in the heavens where there was nothing to see but blue sky. "Scott," John finally mumbled softly, "It would be so much better if people would just leave me alone."

"Why?"

"Because when they don't, it just makes things worse." He sighed, covering his face with his hands. "They don't understand me. Nobody does. I can be assertive, Scott, I really can be if I have to, but I don't want to be. I just mess things up. I couldn't really talk to anyone at school, because I would inevitably say something that would make them laugh. Even now it still happens. I try and try to be what everyone thinks I should be - but what I am and what they expect a sixteen-year old to be is not the same thing. I couldn't even take being 'dad' for a couple of months, Scott. I'm just useless to this family. I'm just useless to everyone."

The words, spoken with such pain, made Scott reel back in shock. "God, John, no, you're not useless! Of course not." He gave his brother a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "And there are people that understand you - don't give me that crap."

The sound of Scott cursing seemed to bring John back from wherever he had gone. He turned, and looked at Scott with a pair of pale blue eyes. "I know." The words were quiet. "I know." John's eyes became distant. "Remember that time, when I was in my sophomore year, and Sandra Hurkley was having that huge party?"

"Yeah."

A sad smile came to John's lips. "And you pulled every string that you could, just so that I could go with you, so that I could be 'in the circle'?"

"Yeah." Scott cringed at the mere thought of the party. "Yeah."

"And I was so gone on beer that I decided to flirt with her?"

"I thought you only had three."

"I was still completely lost."

Sandra had been two years John's senior, and everyone at the school had known that she had had a huge crush on Scott. It was only that crush that had convinced her to allow 'Scott's weird little brother' to come. She had also been the captain of the school cheerleading squad, and was well known as the best looking girl in her graduating class.

What the she hadn't known was that John had had a huge crush on her.

"John, don't remind me."

"And I thought it'd be cool to try and explain the birthing process of a star to her, when I couldn't even string a coherent sentence together."

"I remember." Oh God, did he ever. The thought of his younger brother, trashed beyond belief, sitting next to Sandra Hurkley and waving his arms in the air like a college professor during a lecture, was pretty hard to forget.

"I wasn't trying to be fresh. I was trying to make polite conversation."

While you were drunk like there was no tomorrow, Scott thought mildly.

"She poured her drink on me."

"Sandra did that to a lot of people," Scott replied. "I wouldn't take it personally."

"I don't. Want to know why?"

"Why?"

"That's what my entire life has been like. That's why I don't go to parties anymore. That's also why I don't drink anymore. It's not worth it. I thought I could be part of the group, but I ended up making a worse mess of things."

At that moment, Scott could begin to imagine what school must have been like for his brother. He didn't know what the kids did to John when he wasn't around to help him out, but he did know how much John cared about others - and what others thought of him. John didn't like to disappoint anyone, and it seemed as though failure to John meant not meeting the standards of a society that was too closed-minded for its own good.

"You don't need to worry about what everyone else says," Scott finally replied, keeping his brother's gaze. "Don't listen to them - you'll just end up feeling lonely because of the millions of people that can't see that you're a really special and wonderful person. You've got five people here that don't give a damn what anyone else thinks. Listen to those people, John." he finished, raising an eyebrow. "Even if they are jerks some of the time, they're the only ones that matter. They're jerks that love you."

Scott's words seemed to have a resounding affect on his brother.

John nodded slowly, blinked his eyes hard, and then rubbed his face wearily with his hands. "Look at this. I really have to start acting my age."

A snort escaped Scott's lips. "Good lord John, if you have to act your age, what does that say about the rest of us?"

"That we're doomed," John replied shortly, obviously in an impression of some person from some movie or television show.

Scott blinked once, then laughed when he realised whom it was that John was imitating. "But you notice," he snorted, "how Threepio always managed to survive everything that was happening to him."

"And he always tried to make everyone happy," added John mournfully. "Poor guy. No wonder he was such a depressant."

The two shared a good, hard laugh at that remark, for neither John nor Scott could avoid the obvious comparisons that could be made between the golden droid and another certain individual. "I don't know why there isn't more room in this world for people like you," Scott finally ventured, his expression soft. "You deserve to be recognized for what you're doing."

"Yeah," John replied quietly, "well, Threepio wasn't appreciated much either. And not many people have seen that movie anymore," he muttered as an after-thought. "I know Sandra hadn't."

"Forget about Sandra, John, she wasn't worth your time. And hey, he was appreciated! He was the one that got them through a lot of situations, him and his know-how." Scott grinned, and gave John a playful punch on the shoulder. "He could speak over six million dialects, huh? He was the voice for that team. He always had something to say about something."

"He talked too much and always ticked off Han Solo," the younger Tracy sighed, "and inevitably was turned off. It's kind of like getting a drink poured on you."

"It'd be pretty hard to turn you off," Scott assured him, "you're kind of hard to ignore. You've got way too much going for you - people will take notice of that eventually. Someday, John, people will look up and take guidance from the brightest star in the sky. Even if they don't know what that light is, they'll recognize that it's something important."

The two sat in silence for a moment, staring out at the vast expanse of ocean. John finally sighed and pushed himself to his feet. He quietly picked up the telescope in his arms, then turned to his brother. "Hey, Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Gordon glanced towards Virgil, his brown eyes reflecting a returning yet subtle amusement, as Alan came trudging back towards the pool. "I wonder how long Scott and John will look for him."

"Probably a while," Virgil admitted, watching as Alan wandered over to his father. "Just to be sure. And then they'll realize that he came back here, and Scott will decide that he'd better kick your ass just to make sure that you've learned your lesson."

Sighing, Gordon also trudged over to Jeff. He tapped Alan on the shoulder, then pulled the boy into a tight stranglehold. "You shouldn't wander off on your own," he snickered, "you could get lost."

"No worse than you," Alan replied back, trying to get out of Gordon's iron grip. "Now let me go. I'm still mad at you."

Jeff gave both of the boys an amused look, then turned to walk towards the house. "I think I'll leave you boys alone. Someone has to cook supper, you know." He glanced in Virgil's direction, and gave a tiny wink. "Try not to let them hurt each other too badly." With that, he was gone into the house.

"No dad!" Alan shrieked, though the scream was more comical in tone than it was serious. "Gordon will kill me!"

"Maybe with a noogie," the red-haired teen promised, digging his knuckles into Alan's skull. Before he could get far, though, Alan had his foot firmly down on Gordon's instep. Gordon gasped, let go of Alan then moaned as Alan kicked him in the shin.

"Stupid jerk!" Alan yelled, and he ran towards the house.

Wincing in pain, Gordon looked to his remaining brother, only to see Virgil shaking his head in amusement.

"I could say that I told you so."

"Oh yeah," Gordon snorted, rubbing his shin and foot. "I know. Hey, maybe things are back to normal. It's only Alan that wants to kill me now." He glanced warily over at Virgil. "I'm on your good side, right?"

"Always," Virgil responded, smirking as Gordon continued to massage his leg. "Gordon, you make me laugh too often for me to be mad at you."

Tossing his brother a mild glare, Gordon shrugged and turned towards the house. "Come on, let's go help Dad with supper."

Virgil nodded, and the two brothers made their way to the house, leaving the pool deck deserted. Only the occasional call of a tropical bird and the persistent humming of the southerly wind broke the silence.

A/N: So, after a long hiatus, I'm finally back! I guess it wasn't really that long, but it seemed like forever to me. If anyone's curious, I survived my exams, and I won't have to take any classes over again. ;) Thanks to those people who wished me luck!

Anyway, I have to say (once again!) a huge thank-you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter! I'll have to make sure that I keep the quality of these chapters up, because I keep having more readers every time I post a new one. I definitely don't want to disappoint. Reading the reviews was excellent medicine during exam week, and it kept me motivated to survive those tests so that I could write more. :)

I'd like to point out that this chapter was thoroughly beta-read by my excellent beta reader, Ariel D. You wouldn't believe how much stuff we ironed out of it. I couldn't imagine even being able to post this without her assistance. Thank You! :D

lol And I'm sorry about the Star Wars reference. I couldn't help it. If anyone has read the X-wing comics, they'll understand why I think John is like Hobbie Klivian in this part. ;) He needs to be less dour . . .

Okay, to respond to everyone that reviewed:

Math Girl – Hope you like this one as much. But I have to admit that I'm rather partial to your computer-hacker version of John. He has a little more backbone than my version does. ;)

mcj – Thank you! :) I'm flattered that you think that. If I ever need inspiration (or I think my work has outlived its time) I just go and read your stuff. Seventeen chapters later, and it never fails to thrill me. If mine could ever be half as long and detailed as yours . . . :)

thunderbirdgirl – Hmm, more about Virgil. I'll have to work on that. ;) I've been tossing around the idea of doing a short fic with the boys during school, with one chapter for each of them, so if that happens, you'll see him there. Aside from that, Virgil does show up more often in the later chapters. His story arc comes a little further along. I'm glad you like the 'fighting' – I've grown up in a family with a lot of great uncles, and I've heard quite a few stories recently about how they acted as children. I need go no further for inspiration. ;)

andrewjameswilliams – Oh yeah, he'll fix it all right. ;) You'll soon see how much the boys know. I won't be revealing everything outright, but in a few chapters you'll know how everything lies. Speaking of lies, Jeff definitely got caught in a big one in this chapter. It's a good thing that the boys really love him, or they might not take his words at face value. He's trying to juggle them, and the formation of IR – we'll see which one takes priority.

On a side note, if anyone here actually flies, I'd like to apologise in advance for my later chapters. I'm not actually a pilot myself, so I'm not a hundred percent familiar with the jargon and technicalities of the profession. Feel free to correct me anytime. :)

Kitkat Tictac – Don't worry, there's plenty more where this came from. :) I think the entire document is topping sixty-thousand words, so you'll have a lot more to read. I'm glad that you like the humour. I try to weave it into the angsty parts to help alleviate tension.

Agent Five – Man, would I love to have a sequel! They could go into such lovely detail, and really make the boys seem like people. I'll just have to stick with the DVD, I guess. ;) A lot of my characterisation comes from analysing the show. Little scenes, like the one where Virgil and Gordon are roasting Alan when Tintin's out on a date, say a lot. I did draw a lot of John's personality from the movie, though I think you'll see parallels to 'All-American' John of classic 'Birds. I'll just say this – pay attention to little stuff. Most of what I write is there for a purpose and it will come up again later in the story. ;)

Marblez – okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay. ;) lol It's oddly encouraging to receive a review like that.

zeilfanaat – Pools are great places to try and kill someone and make it look like an accident. ;) John's definitely got that figured out.

miz greenleaf – I always feel so guilty writing John and Gordon's characters – I put them through so much, it's horrible. ;) Oh, don't worry about John. He won't be thin and gangly forever.

Devlinn Reiko-sama – The next two chapters should be following this one pretty close. They're a much lighter read, and there's even have some nice digital media to go with them. Ah, you'll see soon. :)

Anyway, thanks again all! The feedback is tremendously appreciated. :D

FAB! all, and Happy Holidays, for whatever holiday you're celebrating!