Main Title: Between The Rescues
Chapter Title: Living Space
Chapter Number: 3
Summary: A collection of short, hopefully humorous stories that take a look at what the characters get up to during those long off-duty hours on Tracy Island.
Author: Brosle-Cub
Disclaimer: Thunderbirds doesn't belong to me. Note the tears.
Sorry about the delay, but inspiration was a bit slow for this one. I had to do a bit of research and found out that Galaxy chocolate is actually called Dove in the USA, and that Cadbury Dairy Milk is sold, but Hershey is more frequent. Thanks to Tikatu for all her help with the chocolate queries.
Living Space
Virgil looked up from the piano, slightly startled. The eyes of Alan's portrait were flashing on and off, on and off, accompanied by a familiar high beeping noise. Virgil immediately stood from his stool, walked over to the desk and pressed the button which opened communications between Tracy Island and Thunderbird 5.
"Go ahead, Alan." He sat behind the desk, ready to take over authority in his father's absence, however temporarily. His blonde baby brother appeared live on the portrait, and Virgil noticed immediately that he was frowning.
"Hi Virgil. Is John there?"
Virgil shook his head at the question. "No, sorry, Alan. He's gone to the mainland for the day with Tin-Tin and Brains for a shopping trip." He winced slightly as Alan's frown appeared to deepen at the mention of John going off with Tin-Tin, even if Brains did happen to be there as well. Virgil knew from experience that Alan felt very protective of Tin-Tin, and had even teased him about it in the past - but something told him that this was no teasing matter.
"Is everything okay up there?" he hastened to add.
Alan gave a huffy reply, "Just tell John thanks so much for not leaving any Dove chocolate in the fridge up here."
Virgil blinked, having expected something much more serious. "Sorry - beg pardon?"
"Dove chocolate, Virg, what they call 'Galaxy' in the UK and what you and Scott live on half the time, so you should understand my own situation. There's none left up here, it's only Cadbury Dairy-Milk and Hershey!"
Virgil rubbed the back of his neck as his right hand crept under the desk to find the alert button which summoned his father up to the lounge. "Well, uh, that's not so bad," he tried consolingly.
"Not so bad? Virg, I have cravings. I just went on my break up here, thinking that some Dove chocolate would hit the spot, and what did I find? Two tonnes of Cadbury and Hershey, sure - "
"But no Dove, huh?"
"No!" Alan was practically wailing now. Virgil was starting to feel slightly sorry for him. Clearing his throat slightly, he took a deep breath.
"Well - you do know we can't just pack up Thunderbird 3 with all the Dove chocolate possible and bring it up, don't you? I mean, if you were missing some kind of vital necessity, like food or toiletries, then we would, but - "
"Oh, I know."
"Then… why are you calling?"
"Well, I can't exactly complain to people calling us for help, can I?"
"I guess not," Virgil said, grinning slightly at the mental picture. Then he heard the door slide open, and Jeff Tracy looked in, dressed in a relaxed blue shirt and beige shorts. Virgil immediately stood to greet him.
"Hi, father."
Jeff nodded, looking alert, before making his way across to the desk and taking over communications with a, "Hi Alan, what's happened?" Virgil bit his lip, wondering how his brother would explain the situation.
"Oh, father, I was just calling base to let you know that everything's running smoothly up… here…" Virgil, initially impressed at his brother's quick imitation of authority, was caught off-guard at the sudden hesitance in Alan's voice and looked to his father. Then he saw the problem, which in this case served in the form of the clearly visible, half-eaten Dove bar in his father's right hand.
Oooooooooohhhhhh dear.
"I-I know you like to be informed of things, and - well, I-I was on a break, so I thought I'd just… check up on things at home."
Come on, bro, don't let it bother you! Virgil mentally willed. Alan could talk his way in and out of many things and could always be extremely convincing at the drop of a hat - that was until Grandma Tracy, the Walking Lie Detector and Tracy Island's very own one-woman jury, got involved. However, even without the senior Tracy present, Alan was not doing very well in the charm stakes as his eyes kept straying to the chocolate in his father's hands. But what he managed to stammer out seemed to have the desired effect: Jeff was looking slightly surprised, but pleased.
"Oh, well, thanks, Alan. Well, things are okay here too - Scott and Gordon have gone for a run around the island and John, Brains and Tin-Tin have gone to the mainland for a well-deserved shopping-trip." He fidgeted with the chocolate bar slightly, running his fingers up and down it absently, while he was speaking to his youngest son and Virgil remained tense. Alan, however, rather impressively in the circumstances, managed to smile and nod.
"Good, well, I'm mighty glad to hear it. I'd, ah, better go now - there are some reports up here that I, er, I promised Brains I-I'd work on."
Virgil rolled his eyes and shook his head, realising that when Alan said that, he probably actually meant he had to do some much-needed screaming. Glad I'm not up there at the moment - sheesh, I'd hate to be the TB5 equipment right now.
"Okay, Alan, thanks again for calling," Jeff was telling his youngest son, "It's always good to hear your voice, especially on an off-duty basis."
Alan gave a very fixed grin. "That's alright, father. Ah, give my regards to everyone there. Over and out." The live portrait switched to a still one again and Virgil gave a sigh of relief.
That was a close one.
John, Brains and Tin-Tin returned from the mainland in the early evening, in time for dinner. There was a lot of unloading to be done, a lot of details about the trip to be told and a lot of outfits and accessories to show and to give, especially where Tin-Tin was concerned. It wasn't until half past nine, when Virgil had resumed his place at the piano, that he finally remembered his earlier conversation with Alan. Casting a longing glance at the keys, he then got up, went to John's room and knocked on the door, hearing a friendly, 'Come in' from within.
"Hi, Virgil," John, reading one of his favourite books on the bed, gave him a grin. "Come to snag one of my newly-purchased shirts?"
"Now there's an offer I can't refuse," Virgil glanced somewhat enviously at the new clothes in the wardrobe, "But thanks for the comfy new sweater, you got just the right size."
"No problem." John rolled off the bed and stood up straight. "So, what can I do for you?"
Virgil quickly recounted the conversation he had had with Alan earlier in the day. John stared at him, slightly gob smacked at what he was being told, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as Virgil finished.
"That was my fault, I'll admit it. I had the last Dove bar the night before I came home - various radio transmissions were keeping me awake and I guess I was kinda looking forward to coming back to the island. But is he really taking it that seriously?"
"This is Alan we're talking about, John."
"Ah yes. Answers my question."
"Yes. Now, what are you going to - "
"Hold on." John's head suddenly snapped up, and he turned to look at his neatly-arranged CD-case. "Give me a second." He quickly went through the CDs in the wooden case, checking the names on their sleeves, before crossing the room to his bag, stacked on the shelf and rifling through it.
"Darn it! It's not there!" The blonde threw the bag back on the shelf and scanned the room, suddenly seemingly oblivious to Virgil's presence until his brother tapped him firmly on the arm.
"John, what are you looking for?"
"A CD," John said distractedly, going to examine his desk.
"What sort of CD?"
"One of my albums by Universal," John replied.
"You still listen to that group - "
"Or at least I would if I could find the CD - drat! I must've left it on Thunderbird 5... Where there is no Dove chocolate thanks to me…" John blanched as he made the connection.
"And if Alan finds the CD, he'll know it's yours and he'll be sure to take revenge," Virgil finished grimly. John looked to his brother for help.
"What can I do?"
Virgil counted off the options on his fingers. "One - you take off for Thunderbird 5 in Thunderbird 3 this very minute with a peace-offering and risk Dad's wrath on your return. Two - you call the space-station right now and beg and plead. Three - you go on the Internet and order another one."
The homing space-monitor eyed his brother warily. "You don't think my CD's safe, do you?" The piano-player shook his head and John immediately dashed from the room, heading, Virgil presumed, for the lounge and he decided to follow. By the time he arrived, John had already opened up communications with Thunderbird 5 and was trying to talk Alan around.
"Yeah, I found the CD earlier," Alan was saying, sounding rather smug. "I'm sure the waste-disposal could find room for it."
"Alan, leave it alone, and I'll make sure there's Dove chocolate up there every month from now on," John tried to pacify him.
"Hmm - I don't think so," Alan teased. "You do understand a boy's cravings, don't you?"
Boy? He sounds like a pregnant female the way he's going on, Virgil thought, listening to the conversation from the sidelines. John, however, was determined to do or say anything that would ensure the safety and preservation of his CD-album.
"Yes, I understand your cravings Alan, and I respect them, and I will ensure that they are satisfied from now on, I promise."
Alan remained silent. John sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"And I'll lend you my red sweater that you like so much."
"Hmmm…"
"… And I won't tell Grandma the truth about the wedge of swiss-roll that mysteriously went missing in the middle of the night."
"Well…" Alan was starting to weaken. John gritted his teeth.
"I won't tell the others about the glue on the exercise bike."
Virgil immediately pricked his ears up. "What was that?"
John rushed on, flushing, and decided to try and force himself to make the ultimate sacrifice.
"And any time you want it, I'll lend you my star-shaped cushion."
Virgil was distracted from his query about the exercise bike as he watched the big grin which spread over Alan's face, signalling that he was finally won over. "Done! Your CD is safe with me."
John breathed a great sigh of relief, a sentiment that Virgil couldn't help but share. "Good, thanks, Alan. You promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die. And John? Thanks." With that, Alan closed down the communications and Virgil was left shaking his head at his sibling, who had sat back in his father's empty chair at the desk and was now massaging his forehead.
"You sure know how to talk him round, John. But that was some sacrifice you made just then."
John's hands supported the back of his head as he looked up at the ceiling. "Virgil, if my CD comes back un-Alaned, it'll be worth it."
A few weeks later, Alan was packing his bag, ready to return to Earth later that afternoon. Looking around the quarters, he spotted John's CD, 'Universal: Sun, Stars and Moon' on the shelf, where he had stashed it after promising its well-being. Taking it down, he dusted it off, and then placed it on top of the chest of drawers by the door so that John could see it when he came to replace Alan.
Then a sudden thought struck the astronaut - he hadn't checked or tidied the small kitchen department as of yet and glancing at his watch, he decided to kill the some time by freshening it up so that it would be ready for John's arrival. Reaching into the bottom drawer, he took out a dustpan and brush and deciding that the wastepaper bin would be more handy for this kind of job, he picked it up from the floor before sweeping out of the room.
After doing all the clearing necessary, Alan took the bin back to his room and placed it back down next to the chest of drawers. Placing the dustpan on top of the drawers, and unintentionally on John's CD, he looked around the quarters and noted a few last bits of rubbish, which mainly consisted of big purple chocolate bar wrappers and various dusty specks and spots on the shelves. Sighing, he took hold of the dustpan and brush yet again - but as he picked the two implements up, he knocked John's CD which was underneath into the wastepaper bin, where it landed on top of all the rubbish inside with a soft thud which was not heard by Alan as he moved away. Ignorant to the danger his brother's CD was in, he collected the last of the rubbish and not looking at what had been added to the load in the bin, he dropped the last additions into it and then stood back and stretched.
"Right… best get this in the waste-disposal unit…" Picking up the bin, he then walked into the main communications-centre of Thunderbird 5 and located the unit. Pressing a button, he watched as the hatch slid back, and then tipped the contents of the bin inside until it was completely empty. Then he pressed the button again to close up the hatch.
"All done," he beamed to himself, oblivious to what he had just thrown away, and he marched back to the quarters with the empty bin, only realising when he put it back down that the surface on the top of the chest of drawers looked curiously empty.
"Hey, I wonder where John's music has gone…"
Fin.