So. We have another follower. Hello to you! We've also reached over 300 views! Yay for that. Sorry it's taken so long to get this one out. I had a mild case of writers block so for the last few nights have been binge watching the whole original series of Thunderbirds. From that I have realised, John owns a leopard print dressing gown. The downfall of International rescue will be small children, it seems all the Tracy men are suckers for kids and can't keep anything secret. See the Hood was going about it wrong the whole time. Also the Father son relationship between Jeff and the boys is rather amusing at times and lastly. Attack of the Alligators is still one of my favourite episodes. So without any further ado, here we are on Tracy Island at the start of Chapter 5.
"That was more than some recreational flying experience." The comment came from Virgil, as Lucia unbuckled herself and left the co-pilot's seat. There was a short laugh from Lucia, "Well of course, it is one part of my job after all." she replied with a smile, it wasn't everyday one could say their flying skills were praised by someone like International Rescue. At least she was going to take such a comment as a compliment, she was certainly no rookie at flying a variety of different rescue craft. Not that she would openly admit to them she was in the same business as they were, just on a much smaller more localised scale. After all it was only the rescues they didn't have the resources or ability to perform themselves that they passed on to International Rescue. The only difference being was they didn't receive the same accolades as International Rescue did and she couldn't help but think of a few of her work mates who were rather bitter on that subject. Though based off one of her usual days, she wouldn't be surprised if they had days, where like her they were run off their feet. "I should probably get Scott to…" Lucia was unable to finish her sentence before Virgil interrupted, "No. No, I need to see how Gordon is." There was a desperation in his voice she found hard to ignore, "I understand you're worried about your brother but it really would best to wait for assistance. You'll be of no help to anyone let alone your brothers if you injure yourself further" Lucia wasn't willing to risk maneuvering Virgil to his feet on her own, after all in her job they worked in pairs or more for a reason.
The hand on his good shoulder told Virgil she wasn't joking around about making his injuries worse. This was far worse than he had hoped and he let out a hissing sigh, the pain meds were beginning to wear off now, perhaps he should have taken up her offer back at the airport to for a little extra. He could feel the tension in her body ease through her hand when she realised he wasn't going to fight her on it. She cared a lot more than she ought to was all he could think, but then so did he. She didn't need to know how defeated and useless he felt, he wasn't supposed to get injured. He wasn't supposed to need rescuing, none of them were supposed to need rescuing and if they did it would be up to family. But there they were, without a single thought for themselves, Lucia and Ellie had jumped into the chaos head on. It was certainly an admirable quality, it was a necessary quality for being apart of International Rescue. But they weren't part of International Rescue. "I'll get you some more pain relief." her words brought Virgil out of his thoughts as he stared out the window of 2. He knew it wouldn't be long until Scott came to check on them and why they had not come down yet.
Ellie let out a sigh of relief when Lucia gave the word they had made it safe to the island, "See I told you she could do it" she bragged softly to Gordon as she sat beside him. "Yeah you did." came the reply as Thunderbird 2 taxied into the hangar. Ellie could feel when the engines had been shut down and could hear the whir of the motors and hydraulics that lifted Thunderbird 2 off the pod they were safely contained within. She could hear the door open and by the time she had stood and opened the rear hatch of Thunderbird 4. Ellie found herself greeted with the faces of four men and a woman pulling a bed, aside from a brief glance of Virgil. Ellie only know Gordon, though she could recognise the voice of Scott when he spoke. She could only assume he had filled everyone in on the situation when he had arrived back ahead of them. "Ellie right? It's Scott, how is he?" it was Scott who stepped forwards first, it seemed despite Lucia's report he was rather deeply concerned.
"Hey! I might not be able to feel my legs but I'm not mute and deaf too you know."
Behind her Gordon piped up, rolling his eyes at Scott's tendency to be a smother hen, or so they affectionately called him at times. Ever since their mother had passed he had been like that. Was almost suffocating sometimes. He could see Ellie cover her mouth to try and hide her laugh as Scott moved around her to see him. "Lucia said he still needs further testing but she believes he's stable enough for us to move all together." Ellie managed after she had stopped laughing, turning to take the place at Gordon's head as the bed was wheeled in and lowered to the height of the one he was lying on. Together with great care they moved Gordon onto the bed, there was little time for introductions and Ellie could see Gordon was trying not to let everyone know the pain he was in when they moved him. Slowly they lifted the bed up to its normal height and made to move out of Thunderbird 4 and the pod. Briefly Ellie looked around found she didn't see Lucia anywhere. "Has Lucia already come down?" she turned to ask Scott who was next to her with concern. She was hoping that they had already come down and were already at the infirmary. "No. They haven't" Scott's reply was not what Ellie had been hoping for and she could see he was torn between staying with Gordon and checking on them.
"Go, they might be needing help. I won't leave his side until you make it to the infirmary with them." There was a choked laugh below her and Ellie's cheeks turned bright red, "Well you heard her Scott, go get them. This young lady has kindly offered to stay with Gordon, I suggest you listen to her." It was Jeff who had spoken up and Scott wasn't about to disobey his father, Ellie found herself looking down to avoid everyone looking at her only to meet Gordon's gaze as he winked at her. With that Scott departed from them to check on Lucia and Virgil inside the cockpit.
"What's taking him so long."
It was Virgil who growled impatiently, being stuck within his seat was not his idea of fun and with his injuries neither was it comfortable. As if his complaints had been heard the platform had descended and risen to reveal Scott looking rather concerned."Finally! Took you long enough" it was Virgil again who complained and Lucia rested her hand on his good shoulder. " Give me a hand, I can't lift him myself without making it worse." It seemed that Lucia too was ready to finally get on solid ground again. "Where do you want me?" Scott queried as he maneuvered around Virgil to where Lucia directed him and positioned himself. Lucia readied herself in her position and with another count of three together her and Scott lifted Virgil to his feet. He was expecting it to hurt, but he wasn't expecting the sudden drop in pain for him when he was standing still after the lift. It stunned him for moment and Lucia gave Scott a look of concern as they paused to let Virgil regain his bearings. "Let's get you checked out." Lucia spoke softly as she and Scott guided him from the seat to the platform to take them down.
It was slow going as they walked down the halls, Scott mostly supporting Virgil who had his good arm over his brother's shoulder while Scott had his arm wrapped low around Virgil's waist holding the harness at his hip. Lucia monitoring his condition and giving ample moments of rest as they moved down the hall. They were about halfway there when TinTin appeared with wheelchair, Jeff had sent her concerned by how long it was taking to get to the infirmary. Begrudgingly Virgil allowed Scott to ease him down into the wheelchair, despite the rise in pain it caused when he sat back into it. This would be a far quicker option and TinTin excused herself to return to the infirmary ahead of them to let them know they were okay and coming.
"Thank you. For bringing them back."
Lucia was drawn out of her thoughts by Scott's voice beside her as he pushed Virgil in his wheelchair. That was something she certainly wasn't expecting, she was used to her usual patients expressing their gratitude towards her but this was a different ball game, this was someone from International Rescue thanking her. "Just doing my job is all" Lucia found herself automatically replying as she often did towards praise. She wasn't exactly sure what to say otherwise. The rest of the walk to the infirmary from then on was held in awkward silence between them all. Rounding the corner into the infirmary she hear a squeal of excitement and found herself suddenly hugged tightly, "Lucia! You did it, we're safe. You saved us all." Ellie gushed as she hugged her new found friends tightly, Lucia watching over Ellie's shoulder at Virgil being assisted onto a bed. Seeing this she finally breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Ellie back. When she started to feel the girl begin to shake in her arms, Lucia guided her to the closest seats and sat beside her holding her hands. She watched as for a moment they people around her moved as if they weren't there. By now and older woman had appeared in the infirmary with them and after noticing Lucia and Ellie in the corner alone, made a beeline straight for them.
"You must be the girls I owe the lives of my grandsons to"
Those were the first words out of her mouth as she approached them and placed her hand over the top of the one Lucia had been holding Ellie's with. "We just did what we were able to." Lucia replied, it wasn't as if they did anything special. Though perhaps it was because of her line of work she saw it as something normal and part of her job. "Well I sure am glad you did." Grandma Tracy replied as she patted their hands comfortingly before turning to walk over to Jeff who was talking with Brains over the medical results of his two injured sons. "How are they?" knowing how her grandson's were was one of her first priorities, she glanced over her shoulder at Lucia and Ellie. Yes, once she knew how her grandsons were, she would work out how she could not only help the girls but thank them once again for what they did. "Well.. Gordon should be back to light duties in around 8 weeks along with some rehabilitation to regain strength again. It appears Lucia was right, his back wasn't broken again but the impact was enough to shock his spine, he's already started to slowly regain feeling." Jeff explained, pausing for a moment as he tried to come up with the words for what to say next.
Lucia had lifted her head and tuned in to what Jeff was saying when she heard the mention of her name. Well she was certainly glad to hear that, when it came to back and spinal injuries knowing that her suspicion was correct and more so knowing their prognosis either made her relieved or heartbroken. It was the ones who never ended up walking again that broke her heart. "And Virgil?" she heard Grandma Tracy ask and Lucia watched as Jeff glanced over his shoulder at Virgil propped up on the infirmary bed getting a cast on his upper arm and a brace his shoulder applied, as well as some taping for his ribs. "He's lucky enough in that we don't need to fly him out for surgery, but he has fractured both his collarbone and his humerus" Jeff paused to indicate the middle of his upper arm as to where Virgil broke the bone.
"He's cracked three ribs, if he stays quiet they should remain stable and heal without issue. If he's quiet everything should heal up fine but he's off duty for six months, possibly a year if it doesn't heal as expected. He's going to need extensive therapy to regain the strength in his arm. Now we need not worry about the bone strength, as you know we have the technology to heal them stronger than before their break. But it will take time to rebuild the lost muscle. I don't know how we are going to make 8 weeks without at least one of them, let alone six months to a year."
Lucia saw the look on Grandma Tracy's face when she looked towards them, "I saw him get hit, he's bloody lucky it wasn't worse. Far as I'm concerned that harness he wears is what saved him and the fact it was only a glancing blow. A direct hit would have been a whole nother kettle of fish" Lucia found herself speaking before she could stop and she felt all eyes in the room on her. Just looking at her anyone knew what that whole nother kettle of fish would have been, it had been like a bucket of ice water had hit everyone in the face. Grandma Tracy had stepped in before Jeff could move towards Lucia, enraged that anyone could have insinuated one of his son's had been only a breath away from coming home dead. It was not a reality he liked, nor even wanted to think of. Despite the business they were in. "Jeff, how about we get the girl's a room. They're probably just as shaken over everything and it's been a stressful day for everyone." Grandma Tracy put her hands on her son's shoulders to stop him getting any closer. Lucia had reactively pulled Ellie towards her and the younger woman had leaned in against her, burying her head in Lucia's shoulder. "Fine. Kyrano, prepare a room for these women" Jeff said with a resigned sigh the moment Kyrano entered the infirmary, "Yes Mr Tracy." came his ever obedient reply as he disappeared for a few moments before returning to the Infirmary to usher Lucia and Ellie to follow him through the house to the room he had prepared for them both together.
"She's right you know, father. If I hadn't moved when she called out to me, when Scott called out to me. I probably wouldn't be here." Virgil admitted the moment Ellie and Lucia left, while the pain wasn't completely gone, the extra pain medication and the cast and brace made a big difference. So did strapping his ribs, everything was now more a vicious dull ache. "I know Virgil, I know" came his father's reply as he sat down on the chair near his second eldest son. "I just don't know how we are going to conduct rescues with you and Gordon out of action."
"Why don't you ask Ellie and Lucia to help Dad?"
It was Gordon who suggested it, completely out of the blue. It only seemed logical and Lucia already had the rescue qualifications. Ellie was a strong swimmer, Gordon had seen that first hand and in any case 4 wasn't needed that often. Though that was his personal observation he was yet to share. "No, that would be impossible. Absolutely impossible." Jeff was immediately on the back foot, it was perhaps the craziest idea he had heard. "Not that impossible father, Lucia's already proven she can handle Thunderbird 2 and her job involves flying." It was Virgil who spoke next, it was rare he let anyone beside himself fly 2 nor did he always praise their ability to do so. "Of course she can, Ellie said Lucia was a rescue paramedic. Think about it. She already does what we do, just on a more localised scale." Gordon replied throwing his arms up in frustration, and enjoying the shock on the faces of his brothers and father. Especially when all the pieces of Lucia's behaviour had been put together, her medical knowledge and calm under pressure. Organisation of the rescue before they had even arrived. It now all made sense.
"She's got a level head father, she had the passengers calm and organised before we had even arrived. She already knows where we are located, so confidentiality is out the window there. She could be a valuable member of the team and we need someone with her experience." it was Scott who spoke this time, while he had been unsure of her at first, she had talked him round. She appealed to his logical side and he admired her ability to challenge people.
"Fine, you've made your point. We will ask her in the morning if she can help us and who to contact to ask about borrowing her until Virgil can return to duty. However for Ellie being a strong swimmer is not enough." Jeff sighed, he hated it when his son's decided to gang up on him like that. Last time that happened he had been forced on a holiday with Lady Penelope and left Scott in charge. That certainly could have gone better but at least it had ended with a successful rescue. "She's a lifeguard Dad, a beach lifeguard. Water rescues are her specialty. Four doesn't get used that often, so I can train her and we can do with the extra hand. If Lucia needs experienced help in two, you can always send Alan. We don't see a space rescue that often either." It was Gordon once again supplying the reason, well he had been the one to talk to them. Well rather he had spoken to Ellie, they had spent a fair amount of the trip home talking. After all it had only been the two of them in the pod.
"Alright, okay. Make sure to ask the girls in the morning and hope to god they are crazy enough to accept. Now get some rest boys, those injuries won't heal themselves without it." With a last sigh, Jeff stood and exited the Infirmary to go to some work at his desk until it was time to sleep. Scott and Alan soon left after saying goodbye to their brothers. While Brains stayed behind for a moment to monitor their vital read outs before he was satisfied in leaving them to rest while he went to assess the damage to Thunderbird 2. It was going to be a long night for him.
"I am sorry we only have the one room, but you have a bed each. I hope it is adequate." Kyrano opened the door to show them a room that wasn't tiny but wasn't small by any standard either. It was big enough for two single beds, each with a bedside table either side. There were built in wardrobes opposite the bed and a tv sat on a vanity between them and it appeared the room had it's own ensuite, that contained a shower, a sink and a toilet. "There are also spare clothes in the closets." After ushering Ellie inside, Lucia smiled at Kyrano, "It's more than adequate. Thank you." pleased with the reply, Kyrano gave them a bow before he walked out of the room. "Sleep well Miss Ellie, Miss Lucia." he said before closing the door and leaving them to absorb the goings on around them.
Guiding Ellie to one of the beds, Lucia sat her down. "You okay Ellie?" she asked concerned for the younger girl, Ellie looked down at her hands that had begun to shake even more. "Yeah, but that was really scary." were the only words Ellie could mumble out. "Yeah it was, but you were great and we got everyone out." Lucia reassured Ellie best she could, she wasn't to know of the scene the girl had walked in on when entering the flight deck of the plane. "Let's pick out some pajamas, then you can have a shower, I'll have a shower afterwards and we can have a long talk about it. Sound okay?" Lucia often found the best way to deal with a situation was talking about it, or having a debrief as they called it at work. There was a meek nod from Ellie and she followed Lucia to the closets, where they picked out something and with a little push Lucia ushered Ellie into the shower. "Make it nice and hot, it'll help. Just call if you need me." Lucia said softly with a smile before closing the door on Ellie in the bathroom and moving away to sit on one of the beds. Her own hands had begun to shake and Lucia could only hope she could get them under control before Ellie came out of the shower and noticed. She couldn't crumble, not now. Not yet. Someone still needed her.