43

Usual disclaimer: I sadly don't own thunderbirds and this story is based on the fleetwood comics, the complete thunderbirds story. Now back to where I had left you on a cliffhanger, apologies its taken me a while to update!

The sunlight streamed through into the private room, illuminating the white walls in a soft morning glow. The plant on the window and the picture of golden sands on the wall attempted to make the room feel less clinical but failed miserably. The only sounds were the compressed air of the ventilator and the steady beep of the life support machine. The hospital bed seemed to make him look even smaller than he was, swamped under a large sheet up to his waist. His chest was exposed, covered in wires rigged up to monitor his condition. His body was held in place by a bio-degradable polymer exo-frame. His hands were like pin cushions with cannulas on either side, a wristband declared who he was and the date he was admitted. Three days ago.

Three days ago, Jeff's life fell apart again. Just one short phone call. The one where they told him his second youngest child had broken his spine and was in a coma. Jeff sat with a five o'clock shadow gently sweeping the shock of strawberry blonde hair back off Gordon's forehead, he was afraid to touch anywhere else for wires. He remembered he used to do this when sending Gordon off to sleep as a child, a long time ago. He may be an adult now but he was still his boy and always would be. Jeff let his hand rest for a moment praying that Gordon could at least feel his touch, to know he wasn't alone.

When they had first got here the Doctor had prepared them for the worst. Jeff remembered sitting numbly in the waiting room whilst they waited for Gordon to come out of surgery. Time seemed to slow somehow as the doctor explained that Gordon had broken his spine in two places, although thankfully his spinal column was in tact but some of the nerves had been pinched, trapped between the vertebrae and as a result would be badly bruised for some time. This meant they couldn't guarantee the severity of the paralysis or whether it was long term, especially with Gordon not being awake for assessment. The coma was concerning, Gordon had been admitted with hypothermia and shock. His organs had begun to shut down before the doctors had been able to stabilise him but he still couldn't breathe for himself at present. All in all, it was beyond bad, even if Gordon did wake up the outcome looked poor. They also weren't sure if brain damaged had occurred from the lack of oxygen during resuscitation. For all the advancements in medicine it seemed Jeff Tracy couldn't get the answers he angrily demanded. In the end it had taken Virgil to pacify him and make him realise his fear of the situation was dictating his anger. The last time he was in this position his wife had never made it out of surgery, he couldn't let that happen this time. "Save him" was all Jeff could plead in the end as Virgil sat touching his side, providing that steadfast but unobtrusive support he needed in that moment. They'd dozed fitfully in the private waiting room overnight and into the early hours as Gordon was stabilised and operated on for eight painstaking hours.

Jeff looked at his son, it terrified him how fragile and pale he looked. Even his freckles had paled into obscurity along with his tan. His face that was usually so full of expression was devoid of any emotion now. His auburn eyelashes resting against his cheeks, what Jeff wouldn't give to see those dark amber eyes sparkling and alive with mischief. Jeff leaned back and placed his face in his hands. He prayed for Gordon to wake up but the coward in him hoped he stayed asleep. Right now, Gordon was completely unaware of his condition. How on earth was Jeff meant to tell him he was paralysed? Gordon was the most energetic, bubbly child out of the lot! To not be able to walk, run or most of all; swim again would kill him. Jeff imagined Gordon sat in a wheelchair forlornly whilst his brothers were called to their first IR emergency. Jeff couldn't bear it, Gordon would be so bitter and angry. Jeff wiped his eyes furiously just as the door opened.

A woman in full W.A.S.P uniform entered the room; she had her hat under her arm. Gordon was currently in the W.A.S.P recovery and rehabilitation centre based in Sydney. They had six other hospitals like it across the globe including one at headquarters in Marineville. The woman looked to be in her early forties with tied back raven dark hair, steel colour eyes and a stern but kind face. She took in Gordon's condition "Ah Colonel Tracy, it's a pleasure to meet you. I only wish it was under better circumstances. I'm so sorry Gordon's here, its every parents worst nightmare." She looked in sympathy at Gordon. Jeff gestured she should take a seat.

"Commander Mason I presume?" Gordon's commanding officer Jeff thought, the one who called initially.

"Yes sir. Thank you for agreeing to see me, I understand this must be a terrible time for you all. Gordon has regaled us with his brother's antics many a time, I can imagine they must all be worried for him."

"Three of them are unaware at the moment. One's in USAF on deployment, the other two are on survival training at the space academy and I know Gordon wouldn't want to jeopardise their exam. This is the first time I've convinced Virgil my second eldest to go home for twenty-four hours."

"Wow your boys certainly seem to take after you." She looked at Jeff in awe.

"They do; now I'm starting to wonder if that's a bad thing as they seem to end up in harms way more than I ever did. Maybe you can enlighten me as to what happened to Gordon? I know the investigation is still being conducted, I want to know how this was allowed to happen." Jeff didn't sound angry but he was incredibly authoritative. His tone suggested she needed to be honest. Colonel Tracy was not one for bullshit it would seem. She recognised she would need to ensure her report was straight otherwise Jefferson Tracy wouldn't stop until he had uncovered everything and that would be disastrous for her secret unit. They could not afford to let the public know about the existence of the unit, their secrecy was critical to their counter terrorist operations. She didn't want to lie to this man, didn't want to downplay the vitalness of Gordon's sacrifice in the line of duty but she had no choice. Jeff appraised her critically, not taking his hand off of Gordons.

"Gordon was selected with his comrade Warrant Officer Glenn Hudson to trial a new classified Hydrofoil yacht which was to be one of our new research ships. The test was conducted at night due to the classified nature of the project. Gordon was selected as our most experienced and skilled captain. He had to undertake four months training prior to this maiden voyage. Initially for the first thirty minutes of the exercise it went well. Gordon and Glenn reported the yacht was handling well and all the readings and performance were to be as expected. Then Gordon reported a fault, the yacht was travelling at speeds of 400 knots but before we could respond the yacht exploded. Gordon was unfortunately expelled off deck by the force of the explosion and hit the lower deck before rebounding into the ocean. We scrambled to his location and before extracting him. Our medic tried to stabilise him but it was clear he had suffered extensive injuries as well as being unresponsive with a weak pulse. We then had him medi-vaced here as our nearest trauma centre. The investigation is ongoing but preliminary results show there was a mechanical fault with the hydrogen engines that caused the explosion but the investigation is ongoing to identify the exact component and cause. The boat blew to pieces so there is not a lot left to investigate but we're confident it was a mechanical error and not deliberate."

Jeff sat in silence contemplating what he had been told. He had no idea Gordon had been involved in such a high-risk project but then it had been classified and Gordon wouldn't have been able to disclose the details to anyone. He was a grown man and entitled to make his own decisions in life. Everyone knew it was early days in terms of hydrofoil engineering and there had been one other major incident he could think of where a similar thing had occurred. If Jeff had known he would have talked Gordon out of it.

Jeff sighed. "I know my son; he would have made sure he was the lead on this project regardless. I can see it would have appealed to him - he's always been excited about new technology and engineering, especially marine based. There would have been no stopping the daredevil in him jumping for glee at such an opportunity." Jeff though back to how Gordon had lit up at the sight of a certain little yellow sub just recently. "What happened to the warrant officer that was with him?"

The Commander looked grave. "I'm afraid he is missing in action at present. The search concludes close of play today." Jeff looked pained; he knew Gordon had been close to Hudson they had both been in the submarine service before transferring to W.A.S.P together, it was more tragic news he was going to have to break to him.

"I'm sorry Commander; please give my condolences to his family." Jeff knew from experience that he wouldn't be alive, not after all this time at sea.

The Commander nodded. "I can assure you Colonel Tracy that we are deeply sorry about what has happened to Ensign Tracy. He is a much loved and valued member of our unit - a character one might say." She smiled gently. "Rest assured we will see that he receives the best care and rehabilitation that we can provide. Our teams are specialists in this field and have over forty years' experience." Jeff nodded in reply.

"What about in terms of his future career? I know being in W.A.S.P is more than a job to him, its his soul. He lives and breathes it. Its going to tear him apart if he can't return to his role. If he is medically discharged will he be compensated?" Jeff was already ensuring that his son got the best deal. He had suffered life changing injuries it was the least they could do to ensure that Gordon could live comfortably in terms of financial security if nothing else.

"His immediate care is covered whilst he is still enlisted. There will be regular reviews once more is known about his condition to assess if he should be medically discharged. If he is medically discharged, he would have to apply for W.A.S.P medical compensation. Its assessed on a case by case basis as to how much we would support and for how long but I would think in these circumstances Gordon could be entitled to some form of aftercare and support. He would still be entitled to his military pension too."

They both sat quietly for a while watching Gordon. The Commander wasn't meant to have favourites but Gordon Tracy was just one of those people you couldn't not be affected by. He had charm and wit in abundance and never failed to put the team at ease even in the direst of missions. Even in his short time in service he had racked up an impressive sixty missions with a ninety nine percent success rate. He could always be relied upon when things went belly up, she wasn't really sure how the unit would cope without him. They were already mourning Glenn's loss keenly, if they lost Gordon too it would devastate them. Many of the unit (that weren't on assignment) had already popped in to see him. Commander Mason looked across to the esteemed Jeff Tracy, she felt awful for him. It was just coming up to a year anniversary of losing his wife and father and now this tragedy had befallen his family and she was responsible. She felt the least she could do was distract him from the waiting.

She nodded towards Gordon. "Did he ever tell you about the time we first met?" Jeff shook his head; his son was not one to elaborate on his personal life. "I transferred in to Gordon's unit as their new Commander, his previous Commander warned me that Ensign Gordon Tracy could be a… err, wild one. Jeff smirked in spite of the situation; her predecessor was not wrong. She smiled too. "Anyway, I'd had my fair share of rouges, troublemakers, cocky son of a bitches and Jesters – as I'm sure you have too."

"Indeed, I have, five of them are of my own creation." Muttered Jeff. The Commander laughed quietly. "I felt sure I could handle whatever Tracy threw at me." In the first week he had terrorised the new recruits insisting that they would have to pass the new Commander's inspection, then hid their gear so they panicked. He had youngster's tearing the ship apart in all the cabins looking for their gear and literally running away down the corridor at the sight of me. I got them to form up one day and he appeared drenched head to toe - his hair plastered all over his face but stood to attention impeccably. To this day he has still not given me the answer as to how he ended up in that state. I'm pretty convinced he was the one who turned my office sign into one for the female toilets but I still have no concrete proof and no idea how long it was up there before I noticed so he couldn't be reprimanded. Oh, and he managed to make actual bangers and mash with flashbangs much to the delight of his mates. By the end of the the third day I was about ready to throttle him. He would always find a way to deny it was him or plead innocence. Even if I made him do 100 laps of deck as punishment or latrine duty he would bounce back and do something stupid again. By the fifth day I was going spare, he was the only one I couldn't get to conform but then I saw him out on manoeuvres and it was like watching a different man. He was so serious, resourceful and an absolutely outstanding strategist. He is still; to this day one of the best leaders I have seen in action. The unit would follow him to the ends of the earth, they respected him because he was truly one of them. To balance that line between friend and leader is a rare talent but he made it look like second nature. He showed me his worth and in return I overlooked the quirks. In ways he reminds me of my own son, I guess that's partly why I went easy on him too. One thing I do know is that the unit's not the same without him." She smiled sadly at the memories.

"Thank you for not giving up on him, he's always been a handful but W.A.S.P has been the making of him, he's never been so settled or had such a strong sense of duty. He definitely found his true calling and I believe you had a lot to do with that too, he always gives those he respects the most the hardest time in regards to his high jinks." Jeff frowned at his son in the bed. He couldn't believe he had given her all this trouble... well actually he could.

"Does he now?" She looked at the young man in surprise. "and there was me thinking it was because he didn't like my leadership."

"That's just what he wants you to think, he's not good at communicating his true feelings, he tends to hide behind the humour."

"Well I just hope after all he's been through; he keeps that determined spark, he's strong Jeff. There will be dark days ahead but if anyone can pull through it, your son can." Jeff smiled weakly, he was banking on it.

"What's your son's name?"

"Joe" she pulled out her phone and showed Jeff a picture of a handsome dark-haired man in U.S marine uniform of a similar age to Gordon. He was about to smack another guy in the face with a whipped cream pie. "That's his brother Aaron." She supplied.

"I can see what you mean about you reminding him of Gordon, his brothers and I have been on the tail end of that gag since he was in diapers." Commander Mason chuckled loudly.

She stood up and so did Jeff. Commander Mason extended her hand, Jeff shook it. "Thank you for your time today sir, just remember if there is anything, anything at all I can do for Gordon call me."

"I will, can you keep me informed of the conclusion of the investigation?"

"Of course, and do you mind if some of his comrades visit him from time to time.?"

"Not at all, he needs all the company he can get right now."

She smiled. "Good day Sir."

"Goodbye Commander."

Jeff suddenly felt alone. Talking to Commander Mason had made him realise he couldn't remember the last time he had a conversation with someone that wasn't family or business, it was good to talk to someone that understood his son so well and could understand how he was feeling as a parent right now. He sat down heavily as he pulled his chair closer to the bed; ready to take up his watch once again.