Still Diclaiming, still don't own beyond my imagination. I get to keep that.

Chapter Eight – Downtime

Alan Tracy sat on the beach, ignoring the cooling air. It was nice to just be home. Luckily, dinner wasn't quite ready when the Tracys had walked into the villa, so Alan had taken the time for a shower. (The quick wash up in the airport restroom just wasn't enough.) He had returned to the kitchen where Onaha was just setting the last of dinner on the table. Alan slipped into his seat between Gordon and Tin-Tin, picked up his glass and took a huge gulp. As he set the glass back down, the youngest Tracy looked at his family – who, in turn, were looking back at him – and snarked, "OK, let the inquisition begin."

As he smiled at the memory of his family; who in turn had looked surprised and then amused, before they had launched a full scale inquiry at the dinner table. Even Onaha and Kyrano, who usually said nothing during meals, were asking questions and expressing concerns. Alan wondered if they would have felt comfortable doing the same thing with a Tracy son who wasn't dating their only daughter.

"You made your dad real proud today, kiddo." Alan turned at the sound of his sister-in-law's voice. Kate had changed into the long cotton skirts and loose tops she favored in the evening breezes. Pulling at the skirt, she moved to sit down beside Alan. "You made all of us proud." Kate ignored the slight blush on the teen's face and looked around the area. "Has Tin-Tin gone in for the night?"

"Yeah, her folks called her in a few minutes ago."

"You didn't have to come all the way down here. Tin-Tin found a way to make sure the gruesome twosome knew that she knew about the security cameras." Kate smiled at Alan's annoyed expression. "Thanks for letting the ladies handle this one."

"Still, I would love to get them back…"

"Well," Kate mused. "I am not sure what we could do about Virgil, but I have some ideas for Gordon… Especially since I am sure he started any wagering on issues with my marriage." Alan looked intrigued. Kate was dangerous when crossed. He was careful not to cross his brother's wife if at all possible. "And you would have thought that one of them would have remembered that when Scott and I got married, your father turned over most of the island's security issues to me as part of my work. That would include inappropriate uses of security systems."

Alan just smiled. At moments like this, Kate and Scott really were two of a kind, plotting out plans to the smallest detail. "So, what do you have on Gordy?"

Kate grinned back at Alan. "Know how Gordon offered to cover for Scott at that meeting in San Francisco during our honeymoon? Or how he volunteered to go to the meeting in Manhattan two weeks after that? More importantly, have you heard about his new e-mail pal?" At Alan's repeated nods, Kate continued. "Well, a certain young lady Gordon met at the wedding had worked at Tracy Aeronautics in Frisco until three weeks ago when she transferred to the corporate headquarters in Manhattan. In other words, Gordon's e-mail pal is blond, with blue eyes and great legs."

Alan's smile was pure mischief. This was gonna be good.

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Kate was still on the beach a half hour later when Scott came looking for her. Her ebony hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders and was repeatedly teased by the breeze coming in off the ocean. He didn't know how long he would have stood their watching her if she hadn't said softly, "You can join me, you know."

Scott sat down next to his wife, pulling her close to his side. "So, is the Sprout OK?" He smiled at her surprised look. "Oh, please, you worry more about him than I do." Kate's look of surprise had quickly turned to disbelief. "OK, so you worry about him as much as I do." Kate laughed softly and rested her head on Scott's chest, cuddling into his body. In turn, Scott's other arm went around her, gathering Kate closer to him.

"He's good; more than good – he's a Tracy. And so am I." Kate lifted her face to Scott. "I know you were worried today. Thank you for letting me do my job. I need to know you can trust me as a member of the team when I am in the field."

Scott couldn't resist temptation and kissed his wife's raised face. "I do trust you. But, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"Yes you do. You'd mourn, and then you would go on as best you could. You would find the strength you needed in your family and in your self." Kate smiled softly at her husband. "It's the Tracy way. Strong when you need to be and yelling into the surf when you have to."

Smiling, Kate stood and took Scott's hand. They held onto each other all the way back to their house.

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Alan tried to enter the main villa as quietly as he could. He had passed Scott heading down to the beach and he knew his other brothers were wisely trying to avoid him, perhaps suspecting that he knew about the security cameras. Alan wasn't sure if his father was still talking to John for the evening report or if…

"Out a bit late, weren't you Alan?"

With a slight grimace, Alan abruptly stopped. Turning around, he looked at his father. "Sorry Dad. Just wanted some quiet time."

Smiling, Jeff surprised Alan by stepping forward and hugging his youngest. "I understand." Stepping back a bit, he looked down at Alan – not that he would be able to do that much longer – and touched Alan's face gently. "You scared the hell out of us today." Jeff ignored the surprised look on Alan's face; he hardly ever swore and disliked it when his sons did. "They are still running stories on the news about your little misadventure today."

Jeff laughed at the annoyed look that crossed his son's face. He was tempted not to continue, but there were some questions he had to ask. "This Wescott kid, what is his problem with you?"

"No clue Dad, except it seems like if we are in anything together, he wants to be better than me. Classes, track, even friends."

"So, who's winning?"

Alan grinned. "It's Team Tracy all the way."

Jeff laughed. With all that had happened to Alan in the last year, his baby boy had grown up a lot. And while in some ways Alan had grown apart from his family, establishing himself in his own right, the emotional growth had also brought him closer to his family, especially Jeff. There was another question Jeff wanted to ask before allowing Alan to go to bed and letting Jeff seek his own rest.

"They were interviewing some of your nicer teammates as well." Alan smiled at the adjective Jeff used. "They commented on the fact that you had shown real courage, but that you had told them you were just doing what you thought your heroes would do." When his son froze and didn't look at him, Jeff was unsure if he should continue. With a deep breathe, he pushed on. "They said your family was your heroes, that you had said so. Are we Alan?"

Alan raised his face to his father, showing his tear-filled eyes. "How can you doubt that Dad? All I ever wanted to be was like you guys. My greatest fear is not being good enough. I just want you to be proud of me."

Jeff pulled his son into a fierce hug. "You can get rid of that fear right now Alan. We have always loved you and we are very proud of you. We always have been."

Together, the oldest and youngest Tracys walked towards their rooms. Jeff's voice could be heard down the hall. "And Alan, next time you want to celebrate something at school, try a pizza party."

A/N - Just some harmless family time. Going to shake stuff up next chapter... And who wants to know how Kate found out about Gordon's girlfriend?