Chapter Sixteen: Exposed Emotions

Alan stared at Tin-Tin, hardly able to believe what she'd just told him. Suddenly everything had fallen into place – why Tin-Tin had been so funny with him, why there had been an expectancy about the whole situation – but the answers had opened up a whole new situation that he wasn't sure he knew how to deal with.

He had kissed Tin-Tin. That must be the truth; Tin-Tin had no reason to lie. When had he done? What had he said? Had he just sprung out of nowhere and kissed her, or had there been some kind of lead up to it?

If the situation hadn't been so serious, he would have laughed. His first proper kiss with someone he actually cared about and he couldn't even remember. His brothers would have a field day when they found out.

"You really don't remember, do you?"

Slowly, Alan shook his head.

Tin-Tin looked mortified. "Oh God, I didn't know, I – I'm so sorry, I didn't mean what I said, I was just – I was just upset … I thought you didn't want – that it didn't mean anything and after everything that's happened I just …" Her voice dropped. " … I couldn't take that too."

Alan barely heard her apology. His mind was straining to hard to remember but every time he cast his thoughts back all he could recall was events that had happened some three or four months ago. Of the kiss there was no sign. His memory was truly blank.

"Can you …" He cleared his throat and tried again. "Can you tell me about it?"

"About what happened? You want to me to tell you what happened?"

"Yeah. Um, that is … if you don't mind."

Tin-Tin bowed her head, her dark hair covering her face and hiding her expression. "I can try," she said, almost shyly. "It was about a week before the accident …"

Tin-Tin stood at the window of her room, gazing out across the island. The sun had risen half an hour before and now it was casting a molten glow across the ocean, turning it into a sea of fire. There were many beautiful sights in the world but Tin-Tin happened to think that this was one of the best of them.

A knock sounded at her door and, surprised, Tin-Tin turned around. She drew her robe more tightly around herself, wondering who on Earth who be calling for her so early in the morning.

A blond hair poked around the doorframe before she'd even had a chance to reply.

"Alan!" she gasped, drawing her robe even tighter as he slipped inside her room. "What are you doing – you can't be in here! What would you father say?"

Alan shrugged. "What he won't know won't hurt him, right? Besides, I wanted to ask you something." He flashed her his trademark Tracy grin and Tin-Tin felt her resistance crumble.

"What?"

Alan took a deep breath. "Do you want to come with me to watch the sun rise?" he said in a rush.

Tin-Tin laughed, pointing out of the window. "I think it's a bit late for that."

Alan's face fell. "It's risen already? But John said –" he glanced at Tin-Tin and cut himself off, " – I thought it didn't rise until later."

"Alan, the sun rises around six in the morning here."

"That's what he – that's what I thought!"

"It's six thirty," she told him gently.

"Oh."

Alan looked so disappointed that Tin-Tin took pity on him. "We could still go up to watch it rise further – if you want to, of course."

"Yeah! I mean – we could do that I suppose. As I'm already awake."

Tin-Tin smiled. "Just let me get ready."

She disappeared behind the screen that stood in the corner of her bedroom, casting glances around it every now and then to make sure that Alan was trying to peek. He wasn't; instead her friend was yawning and gave the sun a number of accusatory looks. Stifling a giggle, Tin-Tin pulled her dress over her head, smoothed it down over her hips and then stepped out from behind the screen.

Alan looked at her expectantly.

"I've just got to do my hair." She hurried over to her dressing table.

"It looks alright to me," he grumbled.

Tin-Tin smiled tolerantly. She quickly ran the brush through her long, silky hair. "There, that'll have to do."

Alan muttered something about girls, which Tin-Tin decided she didn't need him to repeat. Instead she headed for the door. "Are you coming?"

"I was waiting for you!" Alan complained as he chased her out of the room.

Outside of the villa the air was still crisp and cool, and the jungle had yet to awaken. A couple of birds called to one another in the treetops but apart from that, the island had never seemed so peaceful. Tin-Tin loved this time of day; she made the effort to rise early and to watch the sunrise at least once a week – which was probably where Alan had got the idea.

She picked her agile way along the rough path. Behind her, Alan was less sure-footed and every now and then he'd stumbled and swear under his breath. Tin-Tin smiled inwardly; Alan would never be as comfortable with nature as she was, but the fact that he tried, for her sake, was endlessly endearing.

After a short walk, Tin-Tin's bare feet hit warm sand and she stepped out onto one of the islands long beaches. Before her, the sun was hovering over the surface of the ocean, an orb of brilliant light.

"Whew." Alan flopped down onto the sand with a sigh of relief. Tin-Tin seated herself more carefully beside him. As she burrowed her feet into the sand, Alan lay back and put his hands behind his head.

They sat in companionable silence, watching as the sun made its slow journey up to the zenith.

"Alan," Tin-Tin said eventually.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for bringing me here."

He stirred beside her, sitting up and drawing his knees up to his chest. "It wasn't anything special."

Yes it was, she thought. "It was a lovely gesture."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, it is quite a cool view."

"You used to laugh at me when I said I came to watch the sunsets."

"I know."

"Now it's 'cool'?" She turned to him, a teasing smile on her lips.

"Maybe I've changed my mind. I am allowed, aren't I?" He looked a bit worried.

Tin-Tin laughed and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Oh, Alan, don't ever change."

He looked even more confused. "Um, okay. I'll try not to."

Tin-Tin closed her eyes. It was times like these that she really treasured. Just her and Alan … it was like the rest of the world no longer existed when she was with him. No one else could make her feel so special, so important. She would have been content to sit for hours with him, like this. There was no need for words.

When Tin-Tin opened her eyes again, the sun was much higher in the sky. Alan's arm was around her shoulders and his head was resting against hers. Behind them, the jungle was alive with activity.

"Everyone else will be waking up," Tin-Tin murmured.

"We should probably go back then."

Neither of them moved.

"They'll wonder where we are," Tin-Tin tried again.

"I don't care. Do you?"

Tin-Tin pondered the question. She was warm, she was with happy, she was with Alan so … "No. Not really."

Alan teased a strand of Tin-Tin's hair, wrapping it around his finger and then letting it go again.

"My dad'll probably be angry."

"He'll get over it," Tin-Tin replied daringly.

Alan laughed, his shoulder shaking beneath Tin-Tin's head. "I've been a bad influence on you. You never used to be this defiant."

"No I didn't, did I?"

"You were always such a good girl."

"And you were the wild child."

"And yet here we are."

"Here we are," Tin-Tin agreed.

"Tin-Tin?"

"Yes?"

"You'll always be here, won't you?"

She pulled away slightly so that she could look up at him. "What kind of a question is that?"

Alan wouldn't meet her eyes.

She reached out and caught his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Alan, what's wrong?"

His blue eyes held hers and as she stared into their depths she thought she saw a question there. But before she could fully understand what he was asking her, Alan leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against hers.

Tin-Tin was so surprised that she sat motionless and just let him kiss her. Her mind was screaming at her – Alan is kissing you! Alan Tracy is kissing you! – but she barely heard it. Instead all she could think about was the pressure of her best friend's lips against hers and oh how good it felt.

As soon as this thought occurred to her, Tin-Tin was filled with doubt. This wasn't real, it wasn't right, she couldn't understand … where was it coming from? What was Alan thinking? Why was he doing this? What did it all mean?

Alan drew back slowly, the question still shining in his eyes. Tin-Tin stared blankly at him and his face darkened with concern.

"Tin-Tin?"

It was as if his words had broken the spell. Suddenly Tin-Tin could move again and the only thing she could think about was getting as far away from Alan Tracy as possible. This was too big, she couldn't cope, she didn't understand what she was feeling –

She pulled away abruptly and rose to her feet.

"I – I have to go."

"Tin-Tin –" He reached out to her but she shied away.

"I have to go. I-I'm sorry."

"Tin-Tin, wait!"

Without looking at him, she ran up the beach and plunged into the jungle. By the time Alan made to follow her, she'd already disappeared.

" … I ran up to the cliffs – you know where I go to think sometimes? I think I must have spent the rest of the day there. And after that … well, we didn't really talk and then there was the accident …" Tin-Tin trailed off feeling wretched. Everything was going so terribly wrong. She'd been so sure that Alan had rejected her. To find out that the memory that what had happened had been wiped from his mind had completed wrong-footed her. Where did things stand now?

She chanced a glance at Alan's face. He was biting his lip and frowning slightly. What did that mean? Was he upset? Was this going to be the end she had been waiting for?

"So I kissed you … and you ran away."

"Yes," Tin-Tin confirmed, wondering where he was going with this.

"I kissed you and your response was to run away."

"Well – yes."

She watched his expression anxiously, bracing herself for the outburst. When it came, it couldn't have been further from what she had been expecting.

Alan burst out laughing.

"I – I kissed you and you … you ran away!"

"Alan?"

"You ran away – from me!"

"Yes …"

"Oh God, my brother's – my brother's are never going to let me live this down. My kiss made you – it made you run away!"

Tin-Tin was completely bewildered. "Why are you laughing?"

"Wouldn't you?" Alan gasped for breath. "Was I really that bad?"

"No! No, it wasn't you – I was just …"

"Made you run away!"

"Yes. No! No, it wasn't like that! I was confused –"

"Well I can safely say – I can say that I've never had such an extreme - extreme reaction before –"

"I didn't mean – oh will you stop laughing? This isn't funny!"

"It's – it's pretty funny from over – from over here."

"Alan, please, just stop it."

"I wasn't the one – who started it."

"I'm serious. Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm not laughing at you – I'm laughing – I'm laughing at this whole damn sit – situation –"

"It's not funny!"

"It's bloody hilar –"

Whatever else Alan had been going to say was interrupted when Tin-Tin leaned across the space between them, rested her hands on his shoulders and kissed him.

Once again the feelings of elation rushed over her, quickly to be followed by fear, uncertainty and the undeniable knowledge that she'd just set in motion something that couldn't be stopped. There really was no going back now … not that Tin-Tin was sure she wanted to. What she was sure, however, was that it was time to find out where she stood.

She drew back slowly and after a few moments of taking deep breaths, dared to look up at Alan again.

"Wow," he said and all the humour had disappeared from his face.

Suddenly Tin-Tin felt horribly embarrassed. What had she just done? Was she losing her mind? "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have done that, I just … you were laughing but I – I don't think it's very funny and – and I just want to know what … what it all means." She took another deep breath. "Why did you kiss me, Alan?"

He seemed to realise that her question needed an honest answer, because for a moment he was silent. Heart in her mouth, Tin-Tin waited.

"I can't say for sure … because I don't remember what I was feeling that day," he began slowly, fingers playing with the edge of the cover on the sunlounger. "But I think – I think I kissed you because I wanted to. That's what I feel now, anyway." He raised his head challengingly. "Why did you kiss me?"

"The same reason."

"Then why did you run away the first time?"

Tin-Tin's mind flashed back to that awful and yet incredibly exciting day. "Because you caught me by surprise. Because I wasn't sure I could deal with it. And because … because I wasn't sure that you meant it."

"But now you think I do?"

Tin-Tin sighed. "I don't know, Alan. So much has happened since then – and most of it you can't even remember. I just – I don't know where things stand anymore."

He was silent again, gathering his thoughts. She watched as his hand unbound the sunlounger cover and then tied it back up again.

"Tin-Tin, that day I kissed you … I can't remember what I was feeling but … but I know what I'm feeling now. I know I like you – and I know it's as more than just a friend. And I know that I hope when I do this, you don't run away again."

And for the second time in as many minutes, Tin-Tin Kyrano was kissing Alan Tracy. What made this different from the others was that for the first time, Tin-Tin allowed herself to become lost in the feeling of Alan's soft lips pressing against hers. Her hands wrapped around his neck, but in her eagerness to get closer to him, she'd forgotten that they were sitting on different sunloungers. With a squeak of surprise she lost her balance and ended up sprawled on the ground by Alan's feet. She looked up at him and the ludicrousness of the situation hit her, making her giggle.

"Oh so now it's funny."

"You could have caught me." Blushing, Tin-Tin got to her feet.

"I didn't want you to think I was stopping you from running away."

Tin-Tin sat down alongside him on his sunlounger. As she had that day on the beach, she turned his head to look at her. "Do I look like I'm running away?"

Alan's answer was to kiss her again – and this time, it was perfect.

Sometime later and Alan and Tin-Tin had retreated into the comfort of the air-conditioned lounge as the heat of the day began to grow. As well as exploring their new found interest in one another, they talked about what it meant for the future and were as open as their natures allowed about their respective feelings. Tin-Tin seemed happier after their talk and Alan still couldn't believe that the beautiful girl he'd been friends with for so long seemed to return his growing attraction.

The situation wasn't perfect of course. Alan's weakened muscles hampered his involvement in certain activities and also made him tire easily. So it was that by the time his brothers returned from another successful rescue, Alan was asleep, his head resting on Tin-Tin's shoulder.

Gordon was the first to stick his head around the doorway. He'd been worrying about Alan ever since he'd heard that neither his brother nor Tin-Tin had come up to the command centre during the rescue. When he saw the tousled blond head of Alan leaning against Tin-Tin's shoulder, a grin stole over his face. The teasing he had subjected Alan to before the accident came to back to him and Gordon wondered how accurate his words had been. The last thing he'd been aware of was some kind of weird tension between Tin-Tin and his little brother … seemed the conclusions that he'd drawn about the reason for this tension might not have been so wrong.

"Hey Tin-Tin," he called loudly, sauntering over to the sofa.

Tin-Tin jumped and looked back over her shoulder. "Keep your voice down," she hissed. "He's sleeping."

Gordon drew back from where he was about to smack his little brother on the back of head. Instead he settled from flopping down onto the sofa opposite and yawning widely. "I am exhausted."

"What happened?" Tin-Tin asked quietly. Watching her, Gordon wondered if she knew she was running her fingers through Alan's hair.

Shaking the thought aside, Gordon focused on her question instead. "Explosion at an office block in downtown LA. First floor, thank God, else the whole building could have collapsed."

"Was it very serious?"

Gordon shrugged. "When it is ever not? At least no one died this time."

"What caused the explosion?"

For the first time, Gordon looked concerned. "That's the worrying thing – we're not completely sure. Virg found something that could have been some kind of incendiary device amongst the wreckage –"

Tin-Tin sat up straight, almost dislodging Alan. "A bomb?"

"Maybe." Gordon ran a hand over his face. "Virg and Brains are analysing the remains down in the lab so …"

"Why would someone want to bomb the ground floor of an office?" Tin-Tin looked horrified.

"Because they're a crazy psycho," a groggy voice replied.

"Alan!" Tin-Tin's attention was drawn back to him instantly. She helped to pull him into a more upright position. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"I was until this joker woke me up," Alan grumbled.

Gordon grinned unabashedly. In fact, it was all he could do to stop from laughing. Seeing Tin-Tin playing Mother Hen to his baby brother was going to be a source of endless amusement, he could tell. And the fact that Alan wasn't exactly pushing her away …

Gordon wavered on the edge of being respectful or just being plain nosy. As usual, nosy won out.

"So what's the deal between you two then?"

"Gordon!" Tin-Tin protested, her dark cheeks going a rosy red.

"What? I'm just curious. You think no one else is going to ask? This way you can let me know gently and then I can pass the news along to everyone else. So come on, 'fess up. What's going on?"

"I don't think it's any of your business!" Tin-Tin shot back, but Gordon noticed she hadn't denied his claim.

"Aw, c'mon, Tin-Tin," Gordon wheedled. "You know I'll find out eventually."

Alan, who up until this point had remained unusually quiet, finally spoke up. "We'll tell you what the deal is between us if you tell us what the deal is between you and Scott."

As if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him, Gordon's good mood faded it away. "It's none of your business."

His younger brother's eyes met his. "Exactly."

Touché, Gordon thought sourly. He pulled a face at his brother and Alan smiled slowly. When the smile turned into a grimace of pain, Gordon stood up. "Okay, that's enough. It's back to your room with you, Sprout."

Alan tried to protest but when Tin-Tin also rose and folded her arms firmly across her chest, Alan took one look at the expression on her face, swallowed and gave in. Humour bubbled inside of Gordon once more. Alan Tracy – the whirlwind, the wild-child, the one member of the Tracy family that drove everyone else to distraction – had been tamed by a petite, slender girl.

God, Gordon was never going to let him live this down.

As Gordon and Tin-Tin helped Alan back to his room, Jeff Tracy entered Brain's work area. Virgil looked up and smiled when he recognised his father. Brains, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice. He was bent so far over the blackened pieces of machinery that his nose was almost touching it. Fermat hovered next to him, looking very much like he wanted to touch the remains of the bomb, but not sure if he was allowed.

"What's the verdict, Brains?" Jeff asked, facing the engineer across the workbench.

Brains jumped slightly, pushing his glasses back up his nose as they threatened to slip down. "W-Well Mr T-T-Tracy – it's actually very s-s-si-sim-simp basic."

"But it is a bomb?"

Virgil nodded. "No doubt. It's not very sophisticated but it was definitely man-made."

"The basic c-compound is H-H-Hex-hexa – HMTD," Brains explained. "It's very ex-explosive."

"And worryingly easy to make," Virgil added, his eyes running over the remains of the bomb. "Bit of hydrogen peroxide, some citric acid, fuel tablets from any camping store …"

Jeff's eyes followed his sons. "So, someone makes a bomb," he said slowly, "and they plant it in on the ground floor of a downtown office building? Why?"

The engineers exchanged glances. "We don't know," Virgil admitted finally. "There's nothing here – no scientific remains that would explain it."

"Maybe someone had a – had a grudge against the c-company," Fermat ventured.

"It would have to be a pretty good grudge."

Brains jumped again, Virgil raised a hand in greeting and Jeff looked up to see Scott striding across the silo towards them. He'd changed out of his IR uniform but Jeff was more gratified to see that any sign of a limp had completely disappeared.

"I've just been talking to John," Scott explained when he reached them. "He said the company that owns that floor of the building deals in supplying carpeting for corporate offices. Not exactly a cutting-edge, pushing-the-boundaries kind of business."

"Maybe it was a disgruntled employee," Virgil mused.

Scott shot him an incredulous look. "At a carpet firm?"

"Just because they sell carpets doesn't mean –" Virgil broke off when Scott started shaking his head. "What?" he demanded.

Scott didn't answer immediately. Instead he moved over to the table and stared at the bomb, a frown creasing his forehead.

"Scott?" Jeff prompted, none too patiently.

Scott braced himself against the workbench. "Dad – there's something else."

His eldest looked so troubled that Jeff's impatience was quickly replaced with concern. "What is it, Son?"

Scott took a deep breath. "I think … no, I'm sure that on several of our last missions … I've seen the same guy in the crowd."

"That's not so unusual surely?" Virgil objected. "We often get the same news crews following us – I bet he was a cameraman or something."

Once again Scott shook his head. "It's more than that. I first noticed him at the rescue today, but then when I thought about it, I realised why he looked so familiar. He was at the fire in France too."

"So? He still could have been part of a news group."

"Virgil, we were in the middle of rural France! First he was in Wales, then in France and finally in LA? At exactly the same time as all of our rescues? I believe in a certain amount of coincidence but that's ridiculous."

"Wales?" Jeff broke in quietly, after a pause.

Scott sagged against the table. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I saw him there too. In the crowd. He's always in the crowd, making all these notes."

"He was making notes?" Now Virgil looked alarmed. He turned to his father. "What if he was recording our movements, or worse?"

"How about setting bombs – is that worse?"

They all stared at Scott. Jeff's mind was reeling from his son's revelations. While part of him wanted to push Scott's concerns aside, he knew his eldest wasn't prone to overreacting – like certain members of the family. If Scott thought there was a problem then there probably was. But this … ?

"Think about it," Scott urged. "How else would this guy know when and where to turn up to make these – these notes on us, unless he knew when an accident was going to happen?"

"Or be c-caused," Fermat whispered.

"The mine collapse, the fire in France – they could have been bombs," Virgil said slowly. "We just assumed they were caused by other means because it was the easiest explanation. A burst lantern and try timber. Exploding chemicals. But what if Scott's right? What if they were bombs?"

"Wouldn't you have found some kind of evidence to support this?" Jeff demanded.

Brains shook his head. "Not necessary Mr T-Tracy. The b-boys only f-f-fo-fou discovered the remains of t-this bomb by c-ch-cha good luck."

There was a long silence as the implications of Scott's discovery dawned on them.

"Alan," Virgil said finally, his voice choked. "What happened to Alan … if it was because of a bomb then whoever planted that bomb – he almost killed our brother! And those poor miners – god, whoever this is – he's a murderer! He's killed people!"

Scott looked up at their father. "We have to stop him." There was a beseeching light in his eyes.

Jeff studied the faces in front of him. Virgil – pale, wavering between despair and anger. Brains – tired, drawn, worried. Fermat – horrified, his eyes wide behind his glasses. And Scott – resolute, outwardly calm but with anger simmering beneath the surface.

All of them looking to him for the answers.

What could he do but agree?

"FAB."