Hot Summers Storm Chapter 5, a thunderbirds fanfic

Chapter 5

The usual clear calm water was a distant memory now replaced with the dark crashing waves of an unforgiving sea. The white horses danced on the edges of the water as they thundered down onto the sodden sand, pulling the innocent grains into the liquid depths. The sky screamed as its tears added to the water landing on the floor below. The rain drops spat up the sand and made perfect circles where they landed. The black clouds shrouded the light of the evening and the chilling wind stole what was left of the warmth of the day.

Scott sat still, breathing in the bitter air, in the now pouring rain. He let it darken his hair and run down his face; he lifted his head before the heavens and begged for someone's forgiveness. At first he contemplated this coming from some sort of god but then realised this would be no use to him. He wanted forgiveness from the young girl, he still thought, he failed to save. He let the bracing wind fill his lungs; his chest jerked in and out as he coughed heavily from the airs strength. He looked down at his feet as the waves reached them. As the water covered his tanned toes, he shivered and pushed back the thought of rising water. He noticed through the howling storm, a repeated beep, he wondered at first were the sound was being produced from but then saw the flashing light coming from his wrist. He held the device near to his ear as he waited for the voice of someone to call, but Scott could hear nothing over the decent of waves and the rise of wind. He pushed his moving hair from his eyes and from around his ear quickly with the palm of his hand as he moved against the storm to the 'shelter' of the trees, he sat on a fallen branch as the repeated call came through but he could still hear nothing. He pushed down hard on the button on the side of his watch, fighting against the slipperiness of his fingers on the material. As he pressed the circle, the watch spat and crackled giving him nothing to work with. His watch was broken.

By the look of the storm, he knew that his family would be worried about him. He stood from his position and paced two steps away and back to his original spot as the rain persisted to drench him. He knew it wouldn't work but he pushed down once more on the button of his watch and shouted over the wind.

"Scott to Base! I'm on the southern side of the island and this storm is difficult to move through, it's getting harder to see! Don't send anyone out after me! I'll make my own way back but it might take me a while! I can't go along the beach the waves are coming in faster now! I'm going to head back through the jungle! Over!"

He understood his words meant nothing, as they would not be received by anyone but it helped him set his plan out clear in his head. His body faced the thick jungle; Scott understood the danger of what he was about to do, the floor of the forest would be impossible to walk safely across but he had no choice. His head snapped back to look over his shoulder as another smack of thunder and flash of lighting disturbed the sky. He looked back in front of him, breathed in deeply and stepped in to the treacherous greenery.

Meanwhile back in the paradise house the boys fought back images of a lost Scott, wondering hopelessly through a jungle of death and jealousy. Jealousy? No this was defiantly the topic of one of Gordon's over exaggerated made up stories.

"He ducks as another branch swings towards his head *jumping off the sofa* he stands back on his steady feet and flashes his winning smile. The jungle is furious and jealous of the eldest Tracy's looks and lets the wind whack him to the ground where the rain begins to create a puddle where he lays."

"Gordon, why are you turning this story in to a gruesome tragedy about our brother dying?"

John on the other hand was not impressed in the slightest at his younger brother's reaction to the situation. On telling Gordon about Scott, he had almost been excited at the thought of him being lost in the jungle and having to possibly go to save him. John knew that Gordon would revile in the fact of saving his eldest brother and would not let him live it down for the rest of his life.

"Sorry Johnny, but I am getting to the good part!"

He breathed in deeply and brought his arms out like a good thespian.

"Then to the jungles surprise our fallen hero raised his head from the deepening water and breathed in another breath of air! The jungle gasped and screamed as all the Tracy boys appeared to their brother's rescue and saved him from the sticky mud of death! Scott was so happy to see his brother's and grateful for their rescue that he promoted them all too elder brother status and would be their slave forever more!"

"Scott would have to be alive for that to happen Gordon."

Gordon's smiley dispersed from view as Tin Tin rose from her seat near him to move herself to the kitchen. She was not impressed by his child like behaviour and was terrified of Scott getting hurt. If anything would happen to him she would feel responsible for not going after him or talking to him about the mission that obviously had affected him so much. Truth be told, no one expected Scott to hold on to such guilt for so long; he had not been his self as a result of it. He was less tolerant of his brother's, was less well represented and didn't hold up a conversation like he used to. He now preferable sat on his own, lounged around in joggers and a t-shirt, more to the style of Alan, and would cut a conversation short with poor excuses. But it was most obvious to Tin Tin that no one was taking want he went through as half as serious as her or John. Alan entered as Tin Tin positioned herself on a stool at the kitchen island. The look on her face spoke to him, like only a man in love would see and he turned to his two brothers and headed for the one that looked most guilty. He stood in front of a silent Gordon whose face was now completely drained of the fun he was having with his story.

"What have you said to Tin Tin?"

"I haven't said anything to her squirt."

"Then why does she look so unhappy and angry!"

"Why are you blaming me straight away for how she looks? Why not John or Grandma!"

"I heard that Gordon Tracy!"

Grandma Tracy was quietly sitting on a seat placed in the corner of the kitchen, staring out the window at the merciless hurricane. But she was disturbed from her observations firstly by Gordon's childish story, then the outburst of Tin Tin's emotions, of which she admired and now at the mentioning of her name.

"Sorry Grandma."

"Well it wasn't going to be John or Grandma, Gordon! What have you said to her!"

"Stop shouting Alan! He didn't say anything to me, okay? He was just making up a stupid story about Scott and I'm just not impressed with it."

"Oh"

Alan was shocked that Tin Tin continued to talk after his reply.

"In fact I'm not impressed with any of you! With the exception of two people in this house, none of you have treated this situation with any seriousness and the fact is Scott could be dead out there and only three of us are thinking about it!"

Jeff entered and was surprised by Tin Tin's outburst. He stepped down the living room steps however didn't share the gob smacked looks of his sons, but rather one of understanding and sympathy. He knew that it was tough for Tin Tin, being the only young lady on the island, surrounded by men whose emotions weren't quite as in tune as her own.

"Tin Tin, my office please."

Tin Tin turned her teary eyes towards Jeff and nodded small with her head and walked with a pace out of the room. Jeff glanced round the room, he noticed that Gordon's face was red with embarrassment or he was about to shed some emotion of his own. Alan's face was white as a sheet and John shared the same expression of an aggravated Tin Tin.

Jeff punched in the code for his office door and walked in before the door had fully slid open. Tin Tin had sat herself down on the long comfortable sofa of the office and wiped the remaining tears from her secret sob away from her eyes. Jeff took the space next to her and handed her his handkerchief. She smiled slightly at his kindness and was careful to not blacken the cloth with her running mascara.

"What was that all about Tin Tin?"

"I'm just so worried about a lot of things and I have so much on my mind. I didn't mean to take it out on all of you I'm so sorry Mr. Tracy. But ever since the last mission Scott has not been himself and I feel guilty for not speaking to him about it but I also feel angry that no one else has bothered to help him through what he is going through! Now he is god knows where and could be hurt or even worse...and Alan is really annoying me with his over protectiveness and Gordon is just being so insensitive that I wouldn't mind slapping some into him!"

Jeff laughed, which relieved Tin Tin's shoulders of their tension and she to laughed slightly at the thought of her winning a fight against Gordon. This would be most likely as Gordon would have no chance against an angry Tin Tin. The laugh Jeff produced was brought on by Tin Tin's wanting to slap Gordon but this covered up the fact that he was dazed by the amount Tin Tin had opened up to him.

"I understand your frustration and worry for Scott but you have to understand Tin Tin, that everyone deals with missions internally. I know the mission was hard on Scott and maybe I should have debriefed him more fully however Scott is a grown man and can take care of himself. Now as for Alan, he just cares greatly for you and as entertaining as it would be to see you slap Gordon I don't think that would be very appropriate for me to encourage."

Tin Tin understood what Jeff was telling her. She knew that the boys found it hard to talk of the emotional side of missions with each other and she knew that she couldn't change that. She stood and turned to face Jeff.

"Thank you for talking to me about this Mr. Tracy. I promise not to create such a scene again and I will return your handkerchief clean and pressed."

"You're welcome Tin Tin and thank you."

Tin Tin left the room with a swish of her long black her and Jeff was aware of the sense of fathership he felt towards Tin Tin, although her father present on the island and was a close and trusted friend of his, Jeff had always felt a responsibility towards her. She was the daughter Jeff had never had. Although all he ever wanted was boys, she had shown him that girls weren't that bad to live with, even if they were more emotionally hard to handle.

Jeff stood and went round to his desk and fell slightly backwards into his chair and was welcomed by its comfortable sturdiness. He pressed a few buttons to check his messages and the systems of the island and house. His mind was busy running through the codes and images being shown to his pupils when his eyes wondered to the picture proudly sat in a large clear frame on his work surface; The hub of international rescue. The picture held the image of five young, playful boys, all with identical shining smiles; in the background stood a happy and proud mother and father, arms wrapped around each other's waists and smiles as bright as the sun. Jeff felt his heart ached slightly at the sight of his beautiful wife and he opened his eyes wide and moved his face around to hold back the growing tears. This feeling was helpfully subdued by a call from Thunderbird 5.

Brains was half way through a month rotation on the bird and was happier than ever, fixing the controls and enjoying the atmosphere of outer space. He had been fixing some communication bugs and was also installing a higher quality camera system that allowed a better signal connection to base. He was ecstatically testing out his new invention by calling Jeff to tell him of his success.

"Thunderbird 5 to Base, this is Brains"

"Base to Thunderbird 5, this is Jeff, hello Brains, how is everything looking up there?"

"It's looking a-a-great Mr. Tracy, all tech-n-nical faults have been f-fixed and the new camera I invented is working top notch , sir."

"That's brilliant Brains, good job. Have you got sight of the storm that we are bracing down here?"

"Yes Mr. Tracy and by g-golly it's a biggen. It is virtually covering the whole island!"

"I have a job for you Brains."

"Of course Mr. Tracy."

"I need you to check the data log on Scott's communicator, he is out in the storm somewhere and I'm fearful that he might get in to deep trouble out there."

"Yes Mr. Tracy, I'll start running tests for his position and last calls i-ime-right away sir!"

"F.A.B Brains"

Jeff was interrupted unexpectedly by an incoming call from TB3.

"Thunderbird 3 to Base, this is Virgil"

"Base to Thunderbird 3, Virgil how is your eta looking?"

"Might be a bit longer then I thought dad, I've picked up on a storm surrounding the island and I'm tracking the safest route round it but the island seems to be the centre of the storm!"

"I know Virgil, just be careful okay, we have had large lighting exposures and thunder producing here so be sure not to fly to high and put on your protective shield."

"F.A.B dad, eta now set for 45 minutes however rising slightly with weather conditions."

"Wonderful Virgil, safe journey"

"Thanks dad, TB3 out."

Jeff got in to the swing of his desk job again as he accepted the incoming call from Brains and was hoping for good news from him about Scott's communicator.

"Thunderbird 5 to Base, Mr. Tracy I have recovered Scott's transmission from his communicator, it's a bit muffled but I've changed the frequencies so his voice is louder than the background noise and I've sent you the coordination's of his last movements and times. I'm afraid it looks like his device might have stopped working."

"Okay Brains, play the last transmission"

Jeff prepared himself with his notepad and pen to take down any important information and fought back the growing emotion inside of him for the well being of his son.

Jeff quickly wrote down the information Scott conveyed in the message and matched it with the map Brains had sent him of Scott's last movements before his watch completely broke. Jeff however felt slightly hopeless and terrified for his sons safety and rose from his seat as Alan walked in to the office. Jeff did not turn to face his son.

"Dad is everything okay?"

"Sit down Alan."

Jeff pressed down on the red button of his keyboard and a loud siren alerted all in the house to make their way to office of international rescue and be ready to be informed of a mission.

Thank you for waiting for this one. I didnt have a clear idea for this chapter but i hope it makes sense and works out the way i have set it out to! I hope you enjoy and thank you once again for the comments and reviews. - LeahMB95