Thank you everyone for the fantastic reviews I received! They really, REALLY made my week after a spectacularly bad weekend. A special thanks to Little Miss Bump for pointing out a rather big whoopsie in my last chapter. Hopefully this will suffice as a reason why I did it!

Thanks again to CC for her beta-ing. As always it was fab! And also Little Miss Bump (again) who beta'd it too! They both helped me a lot, and since LMB hasn't been feeling very well – and also because I cant get any chocolate to her (not that she could eat it!) – this chapter is dedicated to her! Thanks you two ;)

Thank you again for sticking with me through this, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

-:O:-

Jeff rubbed a hand over his face, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. He watched his older blonde son, John's spiky hair resting on the pillow. Now occupying a bed in the same hospital as Jeff's youngest son, the Tracy father had feared the worst when he saw his second born motionless in Scott's arms. Not believing that another one of his sons could be hurt in the same day, his fear had only grown when they'd had trouble awakening him. Jeff couldn't remember a time that he had felt more powerless, except perhaps when Lucy had died. The feeling of helplessness that he hadn't experienced in years consumed him at the moment. Squeezing his eyes closed, unable to watch John's peacefully sleeping form any longer, Jeff recalled the moment that he had seen John collapse.

Flashback.

"John! Oh my God!" Dropping to his knees next to his son, Jeff looked up frantically at Scott and Virgil, who had shifted away slightly, giving him room to hold John. The looks on their faces were masks of terror.

"John. Can you hear me son?" Jeff tried to keep his voice free of the horror he was feeling, but he couldn't help the slight tremor that went through him as he stared down at his unresponsive son. "Please, God, I can't handle this again…" Jeff mumbled as he held John close.

Patting his middle son's face gently, Jeff was shocked when John suddenly jerked forwards in his arms. Gripping John's back tightly, arms wrapped around his chest, Jeff waited with baited breath as his son coughed violently.

Virgil had jumped when his brother started coughing and it had pulled him out of his stupor. When he had seen his brother fall limp in Scott's arms, Virgil had felt the same sense of guilt that had occurred with Alan creep into his chest, and everything seemed to fade around him. All of the sounds - the shouts of worry, the crackle of the fire that still burned around them - just faded out. Virgil saw his father run up to John and Scott, but it was as though he was looking on and not participating.

Another of his brothers had been hurt trying to protect people. But instead of Alan trying to protect people he didn't know, Virgil was aware that John had only come along to keep him safe.

But the sight of his brother choking suddenly brought him out of his daze and forced him back into the situation. He dived down towards the floor, lunging out for John, who was still struggling to clear his throat. Virgil could tell from his medical experience that John was suffering from smoke inhalation and that could spell trouble. If he didn't get seen to quick, and get the necessary treatment, a build- up could occur, leading to irreversible lung damage.

"Dad, we have to get him to the hospital. He needs to get checked out." Unable to keep his panic locked in any longer, Virgil saw their father's eyes widen slightly as he nodded. John's coughing had stopped, but his breathing had become laboured and shallow.

"Okay." Taking a deep intake of air to steady himself, Jeff spoke to John, trying to help him breathe. "John, we need to get you to the hospital." Looking up at Scott, he fixed his eldest son with a stare. "Scott, I'm trusting you to get him there safely. I need to speak to the people here. You have to take Thunderbird One and get back to the hospital. Don't be seen in it(,) though. You know the drill. I'll be there as quickly as I can." Suddenly, a thought struck him, and amidst his worry, a spark of anger flared. "Then we're going to have a serious talk about why the hell you weren't wearing your oxygen helmets."

End of flashback.

Scrubbing his face once more, Jeff felt sure that within the last twenty four hours, he had aged at least ten years. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he stood up and bent over John's bed. Placing a gentle kiss to his temple, Jeff swiped a hand over John's hair, making a mental note to suggest that he get it cut.

The Tracy father then sighed at the thought of his other sons. Gordon had taken it particularly hard and had instantly rushed to see his brother when he had heard. Virgil had entered swiftly after that and the three had stood at his bed for a while. Then the two younger Tracys had gone to see Alan, knowing full well that Alan would want to know about what had happened.

As he heard the door open behind him, Jeff turned his head to see Scott appear. Narrowing his eyes, Jeff released his gentle grip on John's cheek and stepped closer to his eldest.

"You and I need to talk, son."

Manoeuvring himself past his first born, who had a look of guilt on his face, the Thunderbird Commander walked out of the room with his shoulders slumped.

Once out in the hall, Jeff swivelled on his heels and gave Scott an 'Im-waiting-for-you-to-give-me-a-decent-answer-or-you'll-regret-it'look on his face.

Squirming under his father's gaze, Scott sighed. He knew he had to tell him what had really happened. I hope you don't hate me, dad, 'cause I sure I hate myself at the minute.

"I'm sorry, dad." Closing his eyes, he continued wearily, "It's all my fault. We thought we had the last people out, so we took ourhelmets off. It was only supposed to be for a second. We were making sure everyone was alright, but then fire fighters were telling us about a few houses with people still in them. We were in such a rush that I completely forgot about the helmets." Seconds passed and neither men spoke. His eyes opening, he glanced hesitantly at his father's expressionless face and took it as a bad sign. Biting his lip, he grew angry at himself. "God, I'm so stupid!"

Regarding his son fiercely, Jeff put a hand on Scott's shoulder, desperately not wanting any of his sons to feel that they were ever not good enough; especially his eldest. "No. You're not stupid. But you're damn reckless, just like Alan. He's in here because he disobeyed orders, and so is John! Did you even stop to think that there would be consequences for your actions?"

Scott's face crumpled. "I'm so sorry, dad. I… I don't know what I was thinking."

And then Scott did something that he had only done once in years before today, and that time was earlier with Alan. A tear rolled out of his eye and his face straightened out. Turning his gaze to the floor, he couldn't hold his father's look any longer.

"Oh, Scott." Drawing his son into a hug, Jeffgripped Scott tightly, giving him much needed comfort. "Son, John will be fine. Sarah said that as we brought him in so quickly, there'll be no lasting damage. Just be more careful in the future. Alright?"

Nodding against his dad's back, Scott sniffed loudly, taking in a deep breath. The stayed holding each other for a few moments longer, both knowing that the hug was more for comfort then anything else. Scot couldn't remember the last time that he and his father had hugged.

Suddenly, a light, feminine cough behind them signalled them that another presence had arrived. Drawing apart swiftly, Scott cleared his throat awkwardly and turned round to see Sarah Daniels standing behind them. She was smiling gently at the two Tracys, a small twinkle in her eye.

"Well," she said, eyebrows raised. "I didn't think I would be treating two of the Tracys today. Let alone ever, in fact. Care to explain?" Upon seeing the same look that had crept onto Alan's face earlier when she had asked him how he had required his injuries, she nodded understandingly. "Perhaps I should check up on the latest Tracy down?"

When she received nods of encouragement from the two speechless men in front of her, Sarah walked into John's room, a smirk gracing her features. Biting her lip, she smiled at the man that was now looking at her with bleary eyes, clearly having only just woken up.

"Hey, sleepy. How are we feeling?"

John coughed, trying to cover his embarrassment at being in the hospital, this time him being the one needing the looking after.

"Good, umm, yeah." Throat feeling unnaturally dry, he winced at the slight tearing sensation he felt when trying to talk. At the medic's questioning look, John quickly nodded thankfully when Sarah asked him if he wanted some water.

Taking the plastic cups that was handed to him, he took tentative sips. Eyes wondering to the brunette next of him, he felt his cheeks flush slightly. She had moved right next to his bed, and her hand rested on the bars on the side, only inches away from his own.

"Umm, what happened? I mean, I know what happened, but the last thing I can remember was being brought in here by Scotty. Then everything went dark." Eyes fixed on the woman before him; he admired her silently for being able to put up with Scott's Mother-Henning.

Sarah smiled. "You were having trouble breathing and you passed out just as you got here. It was lucky I was standing at the entrance and could get you up here in time. We managed to get some fluids in you through the IV. Luckily, even though you had passed out, the smoke inhalation wasn't bad enough for it to need any suction, or an endotracheal tube. It was just that your airways had been dried so much from the choking, that you were unable to…"

Trailing off, Sarah watched the person in front of her. He had sat up, wincing when his chest pulled slightly. His gaze had never left her face and a silence settled over them.

When she had begun speaking, John became lost in her words. Her voice had a soothing quality to it and he had been unable to concentrate properly. Suddenly, he lost control of himself and found himself sitting up.

Opening her mouth to speak, but finding that no words came, Sarah took in the sight before her and felt her head growing light. She felt herself moving forwards towards the man that she had liked from the first second she had seen him.

Suddenly, the door to the room was opening noisily and Gordon and Virgil walked in laughing quietly. All four occupants froze for a few seconds, a laboured silence grinding the weak thoughts in her head to a stop. Flushing brightly, Sarah coughed loudly and turned on her heels, well aware that she had been caught in an embarrassing position with John Tracy. Feeling as though her cheeks were on fire, she rushed passed the two other Tracys and sprinted down the hall, mind cursing herself, feeling mortified.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! You so did not just nearly kiss him!

Back in John's room, the Tracy in the bed groaned and collapsed, fearing what was about to come. He had been so close to kissing the only girl that he had ever liked, before two of his brothers walked in. He knew he was never, ever going to live it down, so he had decided accepted his fate as the look on Gordon's face went from shock, slowly transforming into an evil grin.

-:O:-

A little before that, in Alan's room, the youngest Tracy grew anxious as his family had been gone for over three hours. Sighing, Alan cursed himself for ending up in ahospital. He hated them with a burning vengeance. Looking around the room, afrown marring his usually soft features, he mildly wondered how Tin-Tin was.

"Hey Alan!" Upon hearing a familiar voice, he turned round and grinned at the sight of Virgil and Gordon, who stood over near the door. Mind instantly put to rest about his brothers' welfares, he beckoned them closer with a nod of his head.

"Hey!" hesaid in a relieved whisper, throat still stinging when he spoke too much. "How did it go?"

An uncomfortable silence suddenly settled over them as Gordon glanced at Virgil. Clearing his throat, Gordon stepped forwards.

"Well, you'll be glad to know that everyone in Indonesia got out fine. No more than slight burns were acquired. However… you're not alone in here any more. John's room is just down the hall…"

Mouth dropping open, Alan was stunned. Panic made its way to the surface of his mind and he swallowed. "What happened? Is he alright? Where are Scott and dad?"

Smirking at him, Gordon placed a reassuring hand on Alan's arm. He had known thathis only younger brother would be instantly asking questions. Out of all of the Tracy brothers, John was the one that Alan shared a special bond with. Even though he and Alan were the partners-in-crime, and Scott and Virgil had an uncontrollable sense of protection over them, John always had the ability to get Alan to open up to him. Whenever Alan had been upset when he was little after a bad dream, John had been the one that was sitting up late in the night until they both fell asleep on the youngest son's bed.

"Don't worry, he's alright. He just inhaled too much smoke reaching some people, and was struggling breathing." Seeing the alarm that grew on Alan's face, Gordon knew had phrased his sentence wrong. "No, he's fine, really. The doc said that he's gonna be fine. He's just sleeping it off down the hall. Mother-hen heckled her until Sarah told him that John was gonna be perfectly fine." Grinning at the sense of calm that washed over Alan's features, he turned to Virgil who stood smiling at Gordon's use of words.

"Speaking of which…" Gordon's beam increased as Scott walked through the door, scowling at him.

"Shut up, fish face."

"Alright grandpa, keep your teeth in!" Smirking, Gordon skirted round the other side of Alan's bed quickly, keeping away from his oldest brother.

Taking a deep breath, Scott turned to Virgil. "Scratch what I said earlier. It's a hospital, right? Might as well finish that attack from earlier."

The aquanaut squeaked and fled out of the room, yelping about going to see John. Virgil laughed heartily and followed suit, saying that he was keeping Gordon from tripping over his own over-sized feet in his hasty retreat, leaving Alan alone with Scott.

Turning to look his baby brother in the eyes, Scott walked forwards.

"Now. How about you and I have a chat about what really went down earlier, shall we?"

TBC