Author Notes: Wow it's been a while hasn't it. Sorry about that, the story is still not yet over. Some stuff came up in life, so I have been pretty well flat out trying to get it all sorted. I'll do my best to get the rest of it all written up. :) Thanks for all the messages to let me know how much you love the story.
They had all spent the last few hours in the Infirmary going over everything that had happened, ways they could improve and how to possibly avoid such a thing happening again in the future. They had all expressed their distress at Lucia's actions and the fact that for a moment they thought they had lost her. Lucia had apologised again and admitted she too had thought she was a goner for a few moments until she saw Thunderbird 1. But she also added she couldn't have just left Alan behind, especially seeing as without going down she would not have known he had burnt his hands. Pointing out that it could have been him they had lost instead of her. Eventually the yawning started and Jeff decided it was best to tie up the debrief and sent everyone off to bed. He would see if John could divert the calls they got to local units for the next day to give them time to recover from the shock. If John couldn't divert it then they would have to take it, but he was hoping they would be able to have a day of rest. Lucia said she would go to bed soon as she had finished up and she watched as they slowly filed out.
Jeff had left with John and Scott had been asked by John to come along as there was something he wanted to talk with him about before he returned to 5. Brains had decided to return to his lab and Grandma Tracy was going to make Ellie a nice hot cocoa before she went to bed. Best way to settle ones soul before heading to bed. Gordon of course had gone with them, quite clearly worried about Ellie.
Lucia had almost finished tidying up when she realised that Virgil had been the only one to remain behind. There was an expression on his face she had not seen before as he walked towards her. "Hey" he said softly as she turned to face him. Reaching out he pulled her into his arms, gentle encircling her with them both. Tucking her head against his good shoulder he rested his chin against the top of her head. "You really gave me a scare back there, I thought I had lost you." He really didn't want to admit how close he was to screaming when he thought he had lost her. In hearing his brothers crying out and seeing the paled look on his father's face he found himself needing to hold it together. "I'm really thankful you're alive." He squeezed her as tightly as his body would allow it before pulling back. He reached out to brush her hair away from her face which revealed the nasty looking graze she had received on her temple. "Lemme fix that for you." Virgil said as he led her over to a seat and encouraged her to sit down. Going to the cupboard he pulled down what he needed with his good arm and passed some of it to his left hand.
"Sorry if this hurts." He said softly as he held her hair back with his left hand and dabbed at the graze to her right temple with the disinfectant to clean it up. Lucia winced a little when he first touched it, she had almost forgotten how much wound cleaning hurt. The disinfectant as always stung like buggery. She watched as he tried to be as gentle as possible, "That arm is coming along well, how's the pain?" she asked as he reached for a wound dressing and then covered it with a clear adhesive to keep it in place. "Pretty well gone now, working on getting range of motion back again. Hopefully it won't be long and I'll be cleared for rehab." Virgil gave it a little stretch and showed her the range of motion he had regained before he went about tidying up what he had taken out. "Might even be allowed to play the piano again soon too." Lucia could tell that would make him feel somewhat better and give him something else he could do outside of rehab while he regained his strength so that he could return to duty. "Maybe when you have the all clear we could play together." Lucia suggested as she touched the dressing on her head with her fingers. "Yeah, I'd like that." Virgil replied with a smile, it would be really nice to have someone to play with. Standing up Lucia tidied up the remaining mess and turned back towards Virgil. "Should probably try go get some sleep." Lucia said with a yawn and a stretch, now that she actually thought about it she was really tired. "Yeah, I'll walk you to your room." Virgil said as he finished cleaning, walking over to her he offered her good his arm with a soft smile. Taking his elbow gently, Lucia leaned against his arm and let him guide her to her room. Lucia opened the door to her room to see Gordon sitting beside a sleeping Ellie in her bed. "Good, you're back. She's only just gone to sleep." He said with relief when he saw them. Letting go of Virgil's arm, Lucia reached up to press a kiss to his cheek, "Thank you." She said softly before moving towards Gordon, she squeezed his shoulder as she reached down to brush the hair from Ellie's face. "Thanks Gordo, I got her now. Go get some sleep" She said reassuringly as she stood again and after grabbing herself some pjs, ushered the boys out. They both stood in the doorway staring at her for a long moment, as if convincing themselves they weren't dreaming and that she was really still with them. Putting her pjs on her bed Lucia walked back over to them and put a hand on their cheeks, "I'll still be here in the morning, now try get some sleep. If you need us we will be here." She gave them the most reassuring smile she could muster before closing the door and listening to their footsteps as they walked away.
She left her pajama's on her bed and turned on the shower, she was tired but she was also filthy. Neither did she think oil soot was a particularly good look on fresh bedsheets either. She looked down at her uniform she had just taken off. She would have to make sure she got it to Brains first thing in the morning so he could see about repairing it before their next rescue. Slipping into the shower she let the hot water wash away the dirt and grime and soothe her aching muscles. It was again in the shower when everyone was asleep that she let herself cry, her sobbing hidden by the sound of the water hitting the walls and floor. She sat collapsed on her knees tears being washed away by the water over her head. She lost track of how long she sat there under the running water but when the tears finally began to abate she dragged herself upright and finished off washing her hair. Now she really felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally as she almost tripped over the lip of the shower as she moved to step out. Drying herself off she went to her bed and pulled on her pajamas. Lucia didn't really bother setting them straight and instead just collapsed into her bed. It was only a matter of moments before it was lights out for her and she was asleep.
There was smoke everywhere and she could barely see a thing, it was choking her every breath and making it hard for her to even move. It felt like she was pinned down by something and every scream of hers was thwarted by a coughing fit. It didn't matter how hard she tried to keep herself calm, all she could feel was the panic rising in her. The panic that rendered her breathless and further drained what little energy she had. The harder and longer she fought, the more hopeless everything seemed to be. She screamed, louder this time, screamed names as well. But no one came. Sheer dread descended on her now and Lucia found her screams would no longer come. It was with sudden realisation she came to see she was all alone. It was at that moment Lucia sat bolt upright in bed gasping for breath. For a moment she was disorientated, but eventually she came to notice her surroundings and relief flooded her. It was all just a dream, but what an awful and horridly vivid dream it was. Looking across she saw Ellie, still sleeping and oblivious to her surroundings. If anything Lucia was glad she seemed to be sleeping well at least, she had expected to be woken up by Ellie. Looking to her other side she checked the time. 04:00 the number read across the screen in its glaring little red lines. Well, despite the nightmare it seemed as though she had slept somewhat well herself. It was only another hour or so until she would usually get up for her run with Scott. Not much point in trying to get herself back to sleep. Sliding out of bed Lucia slipped into her running gear, before she went to the door she put her shoulder on Ellie's and gently shook it until the girl looked up at her with sleepy eyes. "Ellie, I'm just going out for a run and some fresh air okay. I just didn't want you to freak out if I wasn't there when you woke up." Lucia said softly and received a bleary smile from Ellie, "Yeah.. Thanks Lucia.. have fun." It was enough to let Lucia know she had heard her and she watched as Ellie snuggled back under the blankets and drifted off to sleep.
Straightening up, she slipped out of the door barefoot, socks in her pocket. She would put her runners on when she reached where she left them hanging near the door. Walking down the hall she passed the boys rooms on her way towards the roof that would give her one of her favourite views of the island. She knew which door belonged to who, though the only room she had actually been in was Alan's when she was asked to wake him up one morning. She remembered the event with a snicker as she pass by his door. She continued on her way until she reached the door which would her crawl out onto the part of the roof, she had been shown one night by Scott. Not only did it have the best view of the island it was mostly where he or Alan went to star at the stars. Whenever John was home he would use it too. Right now staring at the stars and taking in some fresh air was sounding like a good idea. Lifting herself up through the hatch she crawled onto the roof and settled down in the spot she had come to claim as her own. Leaning back she looked up at the stars that lit the sky above her. Tracy Island had very little external lights of a night or even early morning, so there was nothing to interrupt the clear view of the sky above.
"You're up early, are you okay?" the voice came from the very blond head that had just popped up through the same hatch she had only recently crawled through. "John! I thought you had gone back to 5!" Lucia had not expected to see anyone else come up here that early, let alone to see John in the flesh. She watched as he climbed the roof to sit beside her. "Dad wanted me to stay the night but I was just about to head back" Lucia smiled at him, though she was wondering who was watching to see if they were needed. "I've got any alerts diverted to the desk we have here, this'll let me know if anything comes up." He added after seeing her puzzled look, indicating to the small headset he was wearing in one ear. "Can't sleep?" he asked as he watched her look back up to the sky. "Bad dream actually." Lucia admitted, almost embarrassed that the dream had scared her so much she was afraid to go back to sleep again.
"Yeah, that'll do it. Want to talk about it?" He asked in his usual laid back tone as he lay down against the roof next to her and stared up at the stars. Lucia stayed sitting and drew her knees into her chest with a deep breath and rested her chin on top of them. "I had a dream about being trapped back there, you know when you couldn't hear me or find me. Only this time I couldn't see or breathe and no one could hear me no matter how hard I screamed. And then I couldn't scream anymore and then when I realised I was alone and no one would come I woke up. I don't want to close my eyes again in case I go back there again." Lucia's usually strong voice began to tremble, if there was one valuable lesson she had begun to learn from her time living there is that everyone spoke to each other and depended on each other. She knew there were somethings they never told but even so they were always there for each other. They were so very much a reminder of the home she once had. They were the home she craved to have again and very much were they all becoming family to her. John pushed himself back up and reached out to place a hand on Lucia's shoulder. He wasn't really sure what he could say to her, even with his brothers he was sometimes at a loss for words in trying to comfort them. It was mostly why those physical touches came to be, when words could not be found. A mere touch to the arm, hand on the shoulder, a tight hug or even a shoulder bump were often enough to convey ones feelings and bring comfort to the other. A simple gesture that said 'Hey I'm here. It's going to be okay.'
They both sat there in silence for the longest time, staring up at the stars above them. Lucia was always amazed at how such a simple gesture could bring such great comfort. There was a buzz from John's wrist and he looked down, "Speaking of bad dreams, do you mind checking in on Virgil for me. I got to go wake Alan and let him know I'm borrowing 3 for a few days until his hands are good." He pulled his hand back away from her shoulder and slowly standing made his way down towards the hatch, pausing only to turn back and offer Lucia his hand. "Yeah, sure." Lucia of course couldn't say no, you always helped if family was in trouble. Reaching out she took John's hand and let him guide her down the roof to the hatch. Now that her feet were on the ground inside again, John pulled her into a tight hug. "Take care okay." He whispered into her ear. He was off and walking towards Alan's room before she could even reply.
Taking a deep breath she made her way towards Virgil's room, leaning against the door she could hear movement and noise. "Virgil, you awake?" Lucia asked after she knocked gently on his door. The noises continued despite the fact she got no answer, they didn't sound like good noises either. So her work side won out over her more apprehensive home side and she slowly opened the door and slid inside his room closing it again behind her. Slowly she walked barefoot across his carpet and towards his bed where he lay sprawled out over the queen size bed, head tossing and turning and legs kicking at the tangled mess of his blankets around them. Reaching out she caught the swing of his good arm by the hand and as she came to sit on the side of the bed she pressed her other hand against his forehead. "Virgil, It's okay. It's just a dream." She said as she gently stroked his forehead with her hand. It seemed to ground him and bring him back to reality in his dream and Lucia watched as his eyes began to flicker open. They appeared to have trouble focusing on her at first but soon he came to be aware of his surroundings and eventually just lay there watching her.
He let go of her hand and reached up to touch her faced and brush the hair back so he could see the dressing he had applied to her head only earlier that night. "You're okay" his voice was croaky with sleep and residual emotion. Though his room was dimly lit she could see what looked to be tears beginning to well in his eyes. His hand pulled her down onto his chest and he held her there. She could hear the racing of his hard and his short shallow breathing as he tried to reign in the tears. "Sorry, I'm just so glad you're alive." His voice had a hitch in it as he squeezed her closer with his good arm. There was almost something strange in the way they had all acted, there complete and utter relief at seeing her alive and their panic at losing sight of her at first. She didn't say anything but just sat there bent over and pressed to his chest. Silence befell them again and neither of them spoke a word. Lucia could still hear Virgil's racing heartbeat beneath her ear from where her head rested on his chest. "Bad dream?" she eventually asked, as she twisted her legs out from how they were uncomfortably under her and stretched herself out along the edge of the bed beside him.
"The worst, I thought you were really gone and that I had only dreamed that you were okay." He admitted as he loosened his arm around her and let her get more comfortable. "How did you know?" he then asked after, realising she had managed to come in at the right time to rescue him from his dreams. "I had a bad one myself, I met John while I was sitting on the roof watching the stars. Said I should check in on you, cause he had to go back to five." Lucia explained as she lay beside him, her head still resting on his chest where he had put it. Well that certainly explained it, John had usually always been the one to check in on them via holo if any of them appeared to be having a bad night. Even as a kid he always had a sixth sense for knowing when any of his brothers, either older or younger were in trouble. Then without fail he would come to their aid. Even now on rescues he was that voice in their ear making sure they all stayed safe. Giving them updates on the situation, their guardian angel. Almost as if on cue they could hear the engines of three fire up and as normal everything shook. Lying there both listened until they could no longer hear three's engines. "Do you want me to stay or are you okay?" Lucia asked as she took a quick glance at his clock after it had fallen silent again. There was still a while yet before she would be meeting Scott for their morning run, though she was fairly sure he would forgive her if she wasn't there to make it. "Stay, please." She heard him quietly reply. In each other's presence they both, much to their later surprise found sleep. Neither of the woke until some hours later, when the sun had already risen in the sky. She had missed her run with Scott, but at the same time no rescues had yet been called. It remained like that for the rest of the day and into the night. In fact there seemed to be a quiet lull in the rescues for the next few days after, most of them only needing Scott attending to sort them out.