Okay, folks, Gordon's next!

Thanks again for all your kind comments, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter!

He Ain't Heavy - He's My Brother

Chapter Three - Gordon

Apparently - and no, don't ask me why - I'm the family joker. The kid who makes everyone laugh, and... hey, if that's the gig my brothers want to hang on me, that's fine by me. I mean, far better to make someone laugh than make them cry, right? And my family's had its share of tears already. Enough to last all our lifetimes.

So yeah, I guess you could say I'm kinda good at turning a frown upside down. And in our line of work, that's pretty important. When you put your life on the line as much as we do, the most vital piece of equipment you need to take with you is your sense of humour.

Luckily, we all have them, although... well, some days, they do take a bit of a hammering. And the first one who usually feels it the most is Scott.

Not that he's grumpy, or miserable. I mean, he's just ten years older than me - not exactly grumpy grandpa material. But, see, he just has an awful lot on his plate. Running International Rescue, looking after us, keeping us safe, and keeping up our dad's work on Tracy Industries - well, it takes a lot out of him. When you give as much as he does, it's only fair that the people who love him the most, and owe him so much, should pay him back in return.

And we do, of course we do. John helps him organize things from Thunderbird Five, while Virgil, Alan and I do our best to get the job done. But sometimes, you know, I wonder if that's enough. I mean, we're all just kids still. Alan isn't even out of school yet, and Scott... well, Scott's still at that age when you're meant to be out there enjoying yourself. Finding your own place in the world, making your own way through it. Living your own dreams, and... well, yeah, when you're the eldest son of Jeff Tracy, I guess that was never gonna happen.

For us, of course, it was different. At least John got to go to NASA, and Virgil to college, and me to the Olympics and WASP, but... no, for Scott, it's always been duty first, dreams much later. The one dream he did have, making it into the Air Force - yeah, even that had to be put aside when dad's took its place.

Yeah, making our dad's dream a reality hasn't been easy. We've all had to make sacrifices to make it happen. But sometimes, y'know? I think Scott has sacrificed more than all of us put together. And sometimes - yeah, it kinda shows.

Oh, he'll joke around like the rest of us. Chase me and Alan round the pool, grab Alan for a bit of a wrestle, or put itching powder in Virgil's socks. He'll even pretend he doesn't know who put cocoa in the coffee machine, or salt in the sugar bowl, or all those plastic spiders in Virgil's shower. He'll just roll his eyes, shake his head, then look at me like only he can, and remind me I'm not too old now to be sent to my room.

But he doesn't smile, or laugh quite the way we do, 'cos... well, I guess he just can't. Not any more, not like he used to. When you're a stand-in dad, and a big brother, and the head of the best rescue team in the world - yeah, I guess that changes you. You need to put on a brave face, and just keep going - even if it means shutting off the one thing that's going to help you get through it.

So yeah, I guess I need to step in sometimes, and help my big brother remember how it feels to laugh, to just kick back, and be a kid again, and -

"GOOOORR-DDDONNN!"

Uh-oh. Guess he's fallen for the old salt-in-the-sugar-bowl trick. But don't worry, he'll see the funny side, and get me back. Eventually. And maybe, when we finally find our dad and bring him home, I'll see him really laugh - the way he used to.