"What the hell were you thinking?!"
They made it back to Tracy Island, Virgil before Gordon, simply because their eldest brother was a speed freak and always had to be first. Virgil made it through yet another examination by Grandma, another lecture, and a change of clothes.
While trying to sneak down to the kitchen for a coffee to soothe his aching soul, he discovered that Gordon hadn't managed to even escape Scott yet.
He stood glaring at his eldest brother in front of their father's desk while Scott blew enough steam to crimp the aquanaut's hair.
"C'mon, did you think before you acted?"
"The guy was a prick. You would have done exactly the same thing. In fact, I believe you did, not three years ago. Remember Giselle?"
Giselle the gazelle, legs that went all the way up and ran just as fast when she found out Tracys were not easy targets for gold diggers.
Virgil had been ecstatic to see the end of that one.
Scott stumbled at the challenge. "We're not talking about me, Gordon. We're talking about you. There had to be a way to diffuse the situation other than a fight."
Gordon shifted where he stood and took a step forward. "No, Scott, we are talking about you. You're the one who flew a Thunderbird into the centre of town and parked it in the main street! Way to go to attract the media to our little party. Perhaps you should consider your reactions to your need to protect. Because that is all I was doing! Protecting those women from a bunch of assholes."
"You should have found another way! You represent this family and this organisation whether you like it or not. Have you seen what they are saying?!"
"Of course, I've seen it. The media are dicks, I know this. John's working on it."
"John shouldn't have to! You shouldn't have let it escalate like that!"
"We were in the right!"
"I don't care!"
"HEY!" Virgil's bellow shook the rafters and his poor head. Ow. "What the hell is going on here?!"
Scott raised a hand to point at Virgil.
Virgil didn't let him open his mouth. "Gordon, go get changed."
Scott's eyes flared. "Virgil-"
"Gordon, go." He held his eldest brother's eyes as Gordon's widened darting between the both of them.
A blink and he scampered off.
Virgil glared at Scott. "What the hell was that?"
"Have you seen what they are saying about us?"
"No, but that does not excuse you yelling at Gordon."
A frustrated grunt and Scott turned away, throwing himself in their father's chair, his body screaming annoyance and worry. He pushed away the tablet sitting on the desk in disgust. "They are claiming we used our influence as a 'get out of jail free card'. The idiots you fought with are awake and claiming lawsuits. It is a royal shitfest."
"So? Not the first time. Evidence will clear us. Has happened before. Maybe not in quite the same way, but the problem is not without solution." A sigh. "What is it, Scott?"
His brother was staring at the desktop as if he could melt it with his eyes. "You say you haven't heard what they are saying?"
Virgil shrugged. "I don't care what they are saying. I know what happened. Gordon's motivation was honourable and he is right, the guys were assholes." Particularly the one who hit him. He stretched his jaw and winced.
"You okay?"
It was going to be like this for days. "It's just a bruise, Scott. Stop worrying."
"You look like a reject from a Rocky movie."
"Gee, thanks."
"Just saying it as I see it."
"Then close your eyes and shut up."
His brother dumped his elbows down on the desktop and rubbed his face. "I wish."
A sigh. "C'mon, Scott, it is going to be fine. Jack will clear it up. John and Eos will wipe a good chunk of it, and we'll go back to being the organisation that saves people. Which is what we are and nothing else matters."
Two blue eyes turned to stare at him. "You really think it is that simple?"
"Yes!"
"Well, you are wrong." Scott hit a switch and the holographic display flicked up showing the latest news report.
'Womanizing, alcoholism, and bar brawls - while Daddy's away, the Tracys play.'
A montage of shots, all obviously from amateur phones…Gordon approaching the women at the bar, Gordon throwing a very decisive punch that sent his opponent to the ground. A far-too-close shot of Virgil's bruised face, quickly followed by him staggering backwards into the arms of police and being handcuffed. Scott leading an injured Virgil and stormy faced Gordon from the police station. The expression on his big brother's face was stone above the IR logo on his uniform.
Virgil groaned inside.
The camera settled on Gordon and Virgil sitting at their table with their one beer bottle each. The shot was frozen with Virgil lifting that bottle to drink and Gordon grinning at him.
It had been a fun moment, a brother moment. They had been talking about John and Eos like a couple of uncles. It was a good memory. But frozen at that moment, they looked like they were partying and having a good time.
Which they were, just not in the way the media were portraying it.
'It's been seven years since the loss of the giant who was Jeff Tracy. The first man to walk on Mars and the entrepreneur who built Tracy Industries from scratch into the world's greatest aerospace innovator, the self-made billionaire was a man we have mourned greatly. However, some argue that the biggest contribution made by Mr Tracy was International Rescue.
'Five ships, five pilots and some incredible technology aimed at saving lives. International Rescue has done a great deal of good in the last nine years.
'When Mr Tracy died, the organisation was left in the hands of his five sons, most notably the eldest three, though eventually the two youngest joined as they came of age.
'The world has been trusting lives to these five men, but the cracks are beginning to show. Recent incidents have those in power asking questions.
'Starting with the near catastrophe of the falling Estrella Grand Space Hotel last year, we have since discovered that International Rescue had a hand in the loss of the priceless artifact, the generational ship Eden, followed by the destruction of the even more invaluable artifacts at none other than the Lost City of Atlantis. Of course, recent events with the massive explosion of an alleged comet over North America and the detritus that rained down on thousands of Americans is still a hot topic with many questions going unanswered.
'But to find two of these operatives drinking and brawling in a bar has to be the last straw. Do we really want to trust our lives to these men? Can they be trusted with that much power?
'The moment the two of them were placed in jail, for legitimate reasons, as they had been caught fighting, the eldest of the five, Scott Tracy, alleged and self-titled Commander of International Rescue, saw fit to park Thunderbird One in the middle of a busy street, just so he could bail his brothers out of jail.
'This was an obvious abuse of privilege and it has led to many questions being asked. In fact, this channel has discovered that this is not the first time International Rescue's blatant self-regulation has been questioned.
'Late last year there was a movement within the Global Defence Force itself to put tighter controls on the organisation and it appears rightly so.
Virgil stared at the reporter. A woman with an unfamiliar name, her claims were interspersed with footage from the events she mentioned, coupled with more phone camera shots of IR and his brothers.
None were complimentary.
Well, shit.
-o-o-o-