Author Note: Sorry everyone it has taken so long to get this one up. But here it is. Hopefully the next chapter will follow pretty quickly. Planning to do a non rescue chapter for each Ellie and Lucia before we get back into it further. :) Hope you all enjoy.
Three days, they had been miraculously graced three days before the first rescue that actually needed Thunderbird 2 happened. They had all been practicing hard, thought using Virgil's route to get to 2 had been rather comical at first. While Lucia hadn't managed to miss the landing quite yet she had due to her height been unable to shut the top hatch and on a few occasions had slipped right over upon landing. The first time however she had frozen at the last moment and was left swinging from the bars for a moment before dropping into the cockpit to land on her butt. Oh she was yet to live that one down with the boys. To make it worse that first time they had forgotten to remove and disable Virgil's uniform, so not only did she freeze but she hung there dressed in a uniform that was comically oversized on her and boots that fell off her feet as she dangled. Lucia did have to admit it was probably the first time she had seen Scott actually laugh as he helped her up. For a few times after that he waited to catch her until she managed to find her feet in landing every time. To make it easier instead of manually closing the hatch as she couldn't reach to get leverage, they merely switched back to it automatically closing when she fired up the engines. Ellie had taken to piloting 4 like a natural and even Gordon was recovering well, he could manage to stand and walk for a few steps but was still mostly confined to a wheelchair. It would still be several more weeks before Virgil would begin to see improvement though. He had mostly taken to sleeping in the armchair in his room, it was easier to get out as he found out when he lay down to sleep one night and wasn't able to get up without assistance. They could all see how frustrated he was getting with his invalidity.
Breakfast had been served when John popped up on the coms, "International Rescue we have a situation." Grabbing a mouthful of whatever they could they all made their move towards the lounge to be informed on the pending rescue. A ferry had unexpectedly begun to take on water, both Lucia and Ellie were to be needed, for an extra set of hands they were to bring along Alan. Scott was to fly ahead and see if he could see a way to keep it afloat until Lucia arrived with back up. Virgil had only just made it to them when the decision had been made, if anything that made him feel even worse and more useless. His eyes met with Lucia's across the room as she positioned herself at the painting. She passed him a grin and a quick salute of farewell before the painting tipped her and sent her down towards Thunderbird 2. In a matter of moments, the Thunderbirds were go. Though it was not the team most knew and loved. Everything from the launch to the journey to the ferry was as textbook as they could have hoped. Lucia could now handle Thunderbird 2 with ease and even Alan remarked how much smoother she was at the controls. This caused a tinge of pink to rise in her cheeks as Lucia focused on getting them there while Alan and Ellie continued to chatter in the back.
"Thunderbird 2, what's your ETA?" It was Scott's voice that had come over the radio interrupting the conversation, "3 minutes and we should be right on top of you, Thunderbird 1." Lucia replied calmly after giving the nav a quick glance to get the time. "FAB, Thunderbird 2. No need to hurry though, it's sinking far slower than expected. Send Alan down and we will see if we can't get the bilge pumps back online while, Ellie patches the Hull." From the background sounds, it appeared Scott was aboard the Ferry. "FAB Thunderbird 1." Lucia replied before she looked quickly over her shoulder at Elli and Alan, "Well you heard the man, I'll drop you in 4 first Ellie and then I'll take Alan to Scott." She said, turning her attention back to finding out where she would drop Ellie in 4. "FAB" was all she heard behind her as they left their seats to prepare themselves. It seemed that by the time everyone was ready and in their places, Lucia was ready and in place to launch Ellie. "Ready for the drop Ellie?" Lucia called over the coms, "Ready and waiting Lucia" came the quick reply. "Alrighty, Releasing the pod now." Lucia replied as she reached out and flipped a few switches that dropped pod 4 into the ocean, far enough clear of the ship but close enough to be of assistance quickly. It was a textbook drop. Swinging Thunderbird 2 over the ferry above Thunderbird 1 she dropped a line, "All clear, Allan. Let me know when you've unhooked." Lucia spoke into the coms, "FAB, Lucia" was Allan's cheeky reply. He was enjoying being away from home and on a rescue a little too much. In a flash he had slid down the line and was already unhooked and asking questions about the bilge pump before he shot back another reply to Lucia. "All clear Lucia." Retracting the rope Lucia positioned herself to the side to standby in case she was needed. It might have taken Alan a little time to reply to her but at least he replied and for that she was more thankful than any of the boys would realise.
"Docking clamps released and door is open. Thunderbird 4 is away" Ellie spoke into the coms to let Lucia know she had landed and deployed successfully. Swiftly she manoeuvred 4 through the water towards the bottom of the ferry, swinging the craft around she came to view the hole in question. Well it certainly explained the leak and why it was a rather slow one, it was barely a hole and more of a small perforation in the side. Ellie had to fight back her need to laugh, all the panic over a hole they could have fixed from the inside. Though she guessed with the bilge pump not working it would be some cause for panic, with that she contacted Scott and Lucia above her, "This is Thunderbird 4, it's a pretty small hole. I should have it fixed in a jiffy." At least the repair was straight forward and grabbing the patch she exited out of 4's hatch and swam to the hole in the boat. "FAB Thunderbird 4, let us know when it's all fixed." It was Scott who replied to her as she placed the patch over the hole and began to weld it using the special welder they had for underwater tasks. Ellie was beginning to be thankful for how many times Gordon made her practice these kinds of repairs until she had them to a standard that passed the discerning eyes of the team. "Alright, that should do it. How's Alan going with the bilge pumps?" Ellie radioed as she swam back to Thunderbird 4. "Almost there, they really need to service these things more often." Came the groaning voice of Alan as it sounded like he was wrestling with a wrench or something. "There! I'll tell them to get some new pumps to avoid this happening again." His voice soon followed again as he triumphed in getting the bilge pumps online and the water pumped out of the ferry.
Returning to the pod in 4, Ellie positioned herself and went through the motions of docking 4 back into the pod. This time with none of the issues she had when she first began training. "Docked and ready to go Lucia" she radioed Lucia directly as the door to the pod folded up. With a final check on the pump and the engines for the Ferry from Alan, everything looked to be in order. Lucia was then able to manoeuvre Thunderbird 2 in place to pick him up and then over to Ellie. With a sigh of relief, they all began to head home after seeing the ferry off safely. For a first rescue they really couldn't have asked for better, straightforward with no injuries and just a quick repair needed to see them on their way. It was really the best case scenario and a perfect "training" rescue so to say. "Well done everyone, I don't think that could have gone better." It was some rare praise from Scott that came over the coms in Thunderbird 2. And if Alan had been paying attention he would have seen the rising blush of pride on the cheeks of the girls.
Even the landing was textbook when they arrived back home to Tracy Island. "Well done everyone. That was a very good first rescue ladies." it was Mr Tracy who greeted them as they made their way back into the lounge area. Virgil and Gordon were both waiting there too, compared to the excitement of Gordon who wanted to know everything, Virgil was rather quiet and sullen in retrospect. "If their bilge pumps had been online, they wouldn't have needed us. The hole was really tiny, a slow leak at worst." Ellie held her hands out to show how big the hole was eliciting laughs from everyone. "They managed to make it back to land just fine, but it's more puzzling how they managed to get stranded so far out they required our help," Lucia added as she came up the stairs with the food Kyrano has made in celebration for a successful first mission. There seemed to be a pause in laughter and a seriousness came over the group. "I wondered the same myself Lucia, so I asked John to look in to it." Jeff Tracy said as he reached out to help Lucia with some of the plates.
It came almost naturally to Lucia to bring Virgil's plate to him after she cut up the food into bite sized pieces. She placed it on his lap gently as she came to sit beside him, she had left a fork on the plate. She hoped at least that bit of independence in having one good arm would make him feel a little less babied than if she fed him herself. "She flew really well today." Lucia informed him between mouthfuls of food. She could only imagine how he was feeling being stuck behind when everyone else went out. "Yeah, Brains is pretty amazing." Came his reply, she could tell that eating was perhaps not the most comfortable thing at that moment. She put her plate to the side and returned with a glass of water for him. Eventually the silence between them grew and after being comforted in the fact he was doing okay she went to find Scott. Lucia found him standing by the by the look out over the pool. He smiled at her when he realised she was there, "Hey there, you did well today." He said resting a hand on her shoulder as she came to stand beside him. "That's cause I had a good teacher." She shot back at him with a playful push. It may have only been three days but both the girls were fitting in well.
"So how was your first repair? Exciting?" Gordon asked Ellie as she sat next to him, she met his question with a huge grin. "Really exciting, though if it wasn't for you teaching me that trick I don't think it would have turned out quite as well." She replied and Gordon's cheeks reddened with a blush. "Glad it could help." He replied shyly rubbing the back of his neck. The pair continued their conversation until some hours later when Scott was called out again and this time Lucia followed him in 2. It wasn't anything difficult, just time consuming and needing the equipment provided by 2. It was late at night by the time both of them returned exhausted and after saying their good night to each other, retired to their rooms for sleep.