Ms Hobgoblin: Don'cha just love the idea of the guys all running around and stuff? Hope you like the ending.
Photo Shoot
By Phoenix Sparrow
This story is set not long before the Hood first dragged International Rescue into action.
Chapter six: The Photo and Afterwards
Later on, in the lounge, the photographer was all set and ready to go. He called them all in. He arranged the furniture so that there was a chair in front of the fireplace on the white fur rug, the long three-seater sofa next to it and another chair at the end of the sofa.
Penny went in first and took the seat in front of the fireplace, while Parker took his place at her side. As per her idea, Alan stood beside her while Virgil stood on the other side of the room between the end of the sofa and the other chair. Scott stood next to Alan and rested his hand on the back of the sofa just as his father sat down. Tin-Tin sat next to him, with Brains next to her. Then Gordon came in helping John. He hadn't twisted his ankle badly, but it was enough to grant him the last seat, leaving Gordon stood behind the sofa between Tin-Tin and Brains.
The photographer watched them come in and arrange themselves. "Not bad," he said, "pretty much how I would have arranged you." He smiled and finished playing with the lens on the camera.
'Maybe,' Scott thought, 'but would you have been able to arrange our expressions?'
Looking round, he saw that John looked tired, which was probably true. Virgil was grinning but that was probably because of what happened earlier. Gordon didn't look too happy, but he didn't look overly annoyed either. He seemed pretty neutral, actually. Alan didn't look as annoyed as he was earlier; Scott put it down to the fact that he was standing next to Penny. He grinned then suppressed it, letting the photo be taken.
Half an hour later, the photographer had taken all the photos he needed and had packed up and left.
The boys had instantly gone back upstairs to change, feeling uncomfortable in the smart suits and being much more used to casual clothes.
Brains went up to his room to change then went with Parker to work on FAB1.
Tin-Tin and Jeff, however, stayed with Penny. They went into the drawing room and had a glass or two of wine while talking about the boys' activities that day.
"I'm sorry, Penny. I really am," Jeff said. For the umpteenth time.
"Jeff, don't worry. Like I said before, this is all been storing inside them and they need to let it out, for their sake and yours." She looked out the window and saw them playing football in the pouring rain. Smiling, she turned back to Jeff. "Boys will be boys. You know that, Jeff."
Jeff turned to see what she was looking at. He saw it and couldn't help but smile. Seeing their smiling faces, hearing their laughter through the slightly open windows, it made him think she was right.
Penny noticed the look that had appeared in his eyes and knew that he'd finally realised she was right. "How often do the boys play football on the island?" she asked, repeating the question she'd asked him when they first arrived.
"Not very," he said, all but repeating his original answer. He was still watching them.
"And when they do, how often do they play in the rain?"
He turned back and smiled. "What rain?"
They'd been back on the island for about three days now. They were all well rested and had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Gordon had challenged them all to a race in the pool, meaning all five boys were down there. Brains was in Thunderbird 1 going over some of the systems with Tin-Tin to prepare her for her role as his scientific assistant and Jeff was at his desk reading his paper. The lack of activity inside the villa meant it was very quiet. And Jeff didn't like it.
Grandma walked into the room with a plate of biscuits. "Hello, Jeff. I made some cookies, would you like to try one?"
Jeff looked up from his paper and glanced over at his mother, smiling. "Are they…?"
"Chocolate chip, you're favourite."
Jeff's smile widened. "You talked me into it."
Grandma smiled and put the plate down on his desk then took a seat on the sofa in front of him. "Sure is quiet, Jeff."
He nodded. "Mmm, I know," he replied quietly, taking another bite of his biscuit.
She looked at him thoughtfully. "You don't like it do you?"
He looked up at her, caught off guard by the fact that she'd noticed.
He sighed. "No, I don't. Makes me feel uneasy."
"Why's that?"
"Because when it's quiet, I don't know what they're up to!"
There was a sound outside. The sound of engines, and Jeff got up and crossed to the balcony. He smiled seeing the familiar shape of the mail plane.
The mail plane left and Jeff walked into the lounge carrying the delivery it left for them.
He put the box on his desk and opened it, distributing the letters to their various recipients then found what he was looking for. The letter from Penny, containing his copy of the photo. He was pleased with the outcome and was glad Penny had invited them, even if quite a few of her downstairs windows had been broken.
This is the outcome of their photo. Do you share Jeff's feelings that it turned out all right?
(Send me an e-mail and I'll send a reply with the link, that's the only thing I can think of at this moment in time. Sorry!)
November 2001
A/N: Thanks to Juud18 for allowing me to store my photo on her page!