Out Of Place
AN – Hello! Sorry for the delay here, I've been pretty busy unfortunately! I was originally planning to make this chapter longer, but as I haven't been able to get to it recently I'm going to leave it here and put the rest into next week's updates. I'm going to try to update on Fridays/Saturdays from now on, depending on how quickly I get the words sorted. Enjoy!
Disclaimer – I don't own Thunderbirds
Chapter Nine – Comparisons
Brains frowned at the calculations in front of him, taking hold of his glasses and adjusting them against his nose. Nothing on the page in front of him jumped out, there was nothing to suggest that the frankly impossible feat of four people switching with a different four from another dimension had occurred, or was even plausible. Yet, here he was, in a laboratory that was so much more basic than anything he had at home, without his trusting Max but with his alternate dimension counterpart. Of all the things that had happened to Brains in his life, this was by far the weirdest.
"I just don't get it," the other Brains cried, dropping his pencil onto the desk just a little too hard. "I just d-don't get it. It shouldn't be possible. Yet here you are."
Brains refrained from saying he had just had the exact same thought. It was comforting to be around someone who thought almost exactly the same way he did – comforting and more than a bit disconcerting at the same time. Normally Max was the only one who really listened or understood what he was saying, but now he had someone else that could.
"M-Maybe we should go up to t-the lounge," he suggested, adjusting his glasses again. "I-it must be nearly time for y-your Tintin to call us."
"Y-you're right," the other man started to pull his notes into a pile, tucking the pencil behind his ear while Brains opted for putting it in his breast pocket. "I-I hope she has had more, er, progress than we have." He stopped and frowned. "I, er, just need to get something for Mr T-Tracy. You go up, I-I'll be up s-soon."
"R.A.D.," Brains replied, heading out of the laboratory. The main lab was only a few steps away from the lounge, very conveniently. It didn't give Brains much time to think as he headed towards it, when he liked to do his thinking in transit, usually dictating things to Max who would agree in all the right places. He missed Max, but then probably not as much as the other Brains missed Tintin. He still couldn't quite believe that his counterpart was in a relationship, particularly not with a woman who was so clever and so pretty. Brains silently resolved to himself that when he got back he would actually ring up Moffy and ask her out for dinner – after all, if the other Brains could do it then why couldn't he?
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Lady Penelope was sat reading a magazine in the lounge when Brains entered. Well, she was pretending to read a magazine anyway. If anyone was looking closely they would have seen that she was actually sending surreptitious glances towards Virgil who was playing on the piano. He'd chosen the piece specifically because he knew she liked it, and as her gaze kept wandering over to him she caught him sending glances back to her more often than not. Every time their eyes locked a faint blush rose to her cheeks and a small smile graced his lips.
Penelope tore her gaze away from Virgil to look over at the Brains from the other dimension who was setting up some form of communication equipment. It was strange, they were a different race from each other and had different accents and yet…there was no mistaking them. They were opposite sides of the same coin.
The communication device began flashing as soon as Brains had connected it up. With a frown he pressed a button on it and suddenly a hologram flew up in front of them all. Penelope could see people projected in front of them including Tintin, Scott and Alan.
"Hello Brains," Tintin greeted. She was by far the closest to the camera, she loomed large compared to the others. "Is my Brains there?"
"H-hi there, T-Tintin," the other Brains stammered. Just one more similarity to the Brains they knew and loved. "Hello Max, Virgil, Mr Tracy, Grandma."
At that Penelope did lean forwards to get a better look. She really wanted to see what Virgil's counterpart looked like. She knew it was probably a bad idea, after all curiosity did kill the cat, but she was very curious about what choices she may have made in another dimension. Was the alternate her as deeply in love with her Virgil as she was? Was the other Virgil as handsome, kind and compassionate as the man she had fallen in love with despite her best intentions?
"Hi Brains," the other Virgil was saying, his holographic form leaning forwards and resting his arms on his knees whilst greeting Brains with a friendly smile. "How are you getting on?"
"As w-well as can be expected," Brains pushed his glasses back up his face. "E-everyone here has been really helpful, and it's great to f-finally have someone that understands what I'm saying. N-not that you don't!" He added hastily. Penelope suppressed a smile as she saw the other Virgil doing the same thing.
"It's alright Brains, we know we can't keep up. Tintin here has been proving how inadequate my own grasp of engineering actually is this morning too."
"Oh, that's not true!" Tintin protested, the other Virgil shaking his head at her.
"She outstrips all of us too," came a voice from behind Penelope, her Virgil had left the piano and was now stood with one hand resting gently against the back of the sofa she was sat on. "When she and Brains get going in their lab, no one else knows what they're talking about."
"What who's talking about?" Penelope turned to see Jeff entering the room, Alan bouncing through in front of him. It was strange to see an Alan that was so young. Something about this Alan was different to the one she knew, perhaps it was the wider age gaps between him and his siblings or maybe the fact that with his father gone for so long he hadn't been mollycoddled in quite the same way that their Alan was. From what she could see, he definitely had the least in common with his counterpart, although Penelope hadn't met the other Gordon yet to compare them.
"Are you talking about Brains squared?" Alan was asking. "Hey guys! How are you?" He turned his attention to the hologram.
"Brains squared?" The other Virgil asked curiously. Her Virgil was obviously trying not to laugh.
"Brains squared seems very apt," Penelope stated, joining the conversation for the first time. Their Brains chose that moment to enter, not even greeting the occupants of the room before travelling over to the other Brains and talking quickly. Everyone across the two rooms watched the scientists interact, before eventually the holographic Jeff spoke up.
"Brains squared does seem to make a lot of sense." Brains chose that moment to realise that the connection was there.
"T-tintin?" He looked around with panicked eyes at the amount of people watching him. The other Brains seemed just as shy, Penelope was reminded again of how similar they were to each other.
"Hello Brains," the girl replied warmly. "Maybe we can have a quick discussion at the end?"
"O-of course," Brains dropped his eyes back. Jeff took that moment to stride up to the hologram.
"Say, they told me about this yesterday but it's a pretty impressive piece of kit. Hello Scott, Alan. How are you?"
"Hi father," Alan replied from where he was standing behind one of the sofas. "We're fine thanks, just waiting to find out how we're going to get home."
Jeff looked over to where the Brainses were conferring. "I'm sure Brains is working on it, it seems very convoluted."
"That reminds me," the other Virgil spoke up again. "We're going to scan the pieces of metal that Brains, Alan and John retrieved from the stranded transporter a couple of days ago. I know Brains was working on it here, we thought that maybe it might be able to help."
"Thank you Virgil, t-that would be a tremendous help," the other Brains answered on behalf of them both.
"What with Brains looking at the device and Angel looking for the Hood, they must be able to find something between them that will help to bring us home," Tintin declared confidently. Penelope nodded to herself, she knew that Angel wouldn't have sat around. Jeff's lips thinned to a line and Penelope thought he may be about to say something he might later regret.
"Well, Tintin darling," she put on her best socialite voice, walking closer to the hologram. "And you are you my dear? You must tell me all about your last couple of days. I'm simply dying to hear about what it's like there."
Tintin started to describe the different Tracy Island, occasionally with interruptions from the other Alan and Virgil. It suitably distracted everyone from the previous discussion, although the look in Jeff's eye told her that he knew what she did. Virgil approached her and squeezed her hand gently in thanks, an act that didn't go unnoticed by the holographic Virgil although he didn't comment.
After a while, Brains took the communicator away to speak to Tintin privately. Virgil squeezed Penelope's hand one more time before telling her softly that he was going to go and tell Gordon about the call. The other Brains and Alan left together, the former gesturing wildly as he tried to explain something to his young friend. That left Penelope standing with Jeff, who had retreated to his desk.
"Don't think I don't know what you did there, Penny."
"Why of course not, Jeff. But it was hardly the time or place for you to complain to Scott about his choice of paramour again."
Jeff frowned down at his notes on his desk, clenching one of his fists. "I just don't understand why he's so taken with her."
"Oh Jeff," Penelope perched on the edge of Jeff's desk elegantly, regarding him with a sympathetic look. "They have a history that goes beyond even what Scott's divulged to us. She has proven herself to him time and again, she doesn't need to prove herself to you as well. Just put your trust in him that he would have chosen wisely."
Jeff sighed. "You make it sound so easy, Penny. But she's blinding him to what's happening – he's leaving us behind, leaving International Rescue behind. He only spends half his time here now, the rest he spends off gallivanting with her somewhere."
"Has he ever let you down on a rescue?" Penelope asked softly. "Have lives ever been lost that could have been saved if he had been based here rather than with her?"
"Well no, but-"
"Then I don't think he is blinded, Jeff. I think he's just growing up and becoming his own man. You were never going to keep them all on the Island here with you forever."
Another deep sigh. "I know, Penny. I guess I just didn't think it would be this soon, that's all.".
