CHAPTER 5

The first site to greet Scott and John as the couch slid back into place in their father's office was Grandma Tracy, standing with her hands on her hips and tapping her toe on the floor.

"You boys go get changed and get back here right away," she commanded as soon as the couch was locked in place. "I've kept dinner warm for you and I'll bring it in here so you can eat a decent meal. Jefferson, don't you dare start to debrief them until they have eaten."

Jeff stood up and went over to his sons. "Welcome home John," he greeted his son with a hug. "Now go on boys," Jeff grinned. "You heard the boss."

Grinning, they left the room. Scott stopped just as the door and turned to his father. "Do I need to worry about anything Gordon might have left for me?"

Jeff smiled and shook his head. "He's been duly warned and threatened. Besides, those new ballast control computer chips for Four came in and he's got her down at the boathouse replacing them and running tests. He'll be busy for a few hours.

Scott sighed in relief. "Yah! Thanks dad. Back in a few."

TBTBTBTBTBTB

It was close to 10pm before Scott, John and Jeff finally emerged from Jeff's office. They had conferenced in Brains and Alan and were carefully going through the repairs and making sure everything was in good working order.

Jeff finally called it quits after feeling comfortable that the problem was resolved. He signed off with Thunderbird Five and turned to John and Scott.

"Why don't you two call it a night? You look exhausted," Jeff commented.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," John agreed. He stood up and started to leave and Scott followed.

"Dad, what about calling Lady P and having her inform the services that we're back online?" Scott suddenly remembered.

Jeff looked at his watch and calculated that it would be in the afternoon in London. "I'll take care of it fellows. Go on. Go to bed."

They left as Jeff turned to call Penny, bumping into Virgil who was just coming out of the lounge where he had been playing piano.

"That was a monster debrief," he commented as he followed his brothers up to the bedroom area.

"No kidding," John yawned. "Seems like Dad wanted a recap of every single step we did."

"Everything's okay now, right?" Virgil asked.

Scott nodded as he too yawned. "Yep. Dad was calling Penny as we left to let her know we're back on active status.

Reaching their bedrooms, Scott and John were about to open their doors when they both stopped, looked at each other and then looked at Virgil.

"Nothing to worry about," Virgil chuckled. "Dad AND Grandma read Gordon the riot act about trying to pull anything on you two today. I should warn you though Scott. Gordon's preening because he thinks he won the game."

Scott only shook his head. "I'm too tired to think about that now Virg. I'll deal with it tomorrow." He waved to his brothers and shut the door as he went into his room.

"Has it been that bad?" John wondered.

Virgil chuckled. "Not really. No pranks have been pulled but Gordon sure has been jumpy for the past few days. Poor Scott couldn't even go to the bathroom without Gordon thinking he was trying to set up a prank. Gordon hasn't given Scott a moment's piece, thinking that everything Scott did was going to result in a prank."

John smiled. "Wish I'd been here to see it."

"Oh, you'll see it tomorrow morning at breakfast," Virgil assured him. "Gordon is literally preening."

"I can't wait! Well, night Virgil."

"Night John. Oh, and John?"

John turned and looked questioningly at Virgil. "Yeah."

Virgil walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Welcome home."

John returned the hug and both headed off to bed.

TBTBTBTBTB

It was a much refreshed Scott Tracy that walked into the kitchen the next morning, followed closely by John and their father. Good mornings were exchanged as the men sat down at the table.

"Welcome home, Mr. John," Kyrano greeted as he poured coffee for them.

"Thanks Kyrano," John returned. "I am starving and so looking forward to a month of home cooked meals. Where's Grandma and Tin-Tin?"

Kyrano bowed and then started placing the breakfast platters on the table. "They have left for a day of shopping at the mainland." He just placed the last platter as Virgil came in, more awake than anyone in the family had ever seen him first thing in the morning.

"Heads up guys. Gordon is strutting like a peacock this morning," he warned as he sat down. "Morning by the way."

Scott could only mutter a "great" before Gordon once again breezed into the kitchen in his normal exuberant manner.

"Good morning one and all," he sang out. He ran around the table to John and hugged him. "Welcome home Blondie!"

John chuckled. "Thanks Gordon. Care to tell me what has you in such a good mood?"

Gordon sat down and beamed. "Only if Scott is willing to admit to defeat."

"How can I admit defeat when I haven't had a chance to do anything yet!" Scott exclaimed.

"Sure Scott. You just don't want to admit that I was able to catch you before you were able to set up any pranks."

Scott slumped back, totally exasperated at his younger brother. "Gordon!"

"Hold on a second Scott," John jumped in. "Did you set a timeframe on when you'd get back at him?"

Scott shook his head. "No. I just said sometime within the next few days; and that was FOUR days ago!"

"Okay. And Gordon, you're saying that you caught Scott trying to set up numerous pranks on you?" John continued.

"Yep, although he is trying to claim they weren't pranks, just coincidences."

"Okay. Let me ask you another question Gordon. When you set up a prank on one of us, what is the thing you like the most?"

Jeff, Virgil, Scott all leaned forward wondering where John was going with this. Even Kryano stopped working at the stove and looked on with interest.

Gordon frowned. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, Johnny?"

"Do you like it when the prank is actually sprung, or the anticipation you feel leading up to it?"

Gordon smiled. "Oh, that's easy. I like the anticipation leading up to it. It's fun to sit and wait for the prank to happen. Why?"

John smiled and looked over at Scott in appreciation. "So you won after all. Scott, I never thought you had it in you."

Scott shared a look with Virgil and his father. "Thanks . . . I think."

"Wait a minute!" Gordon cried out indignant. "How do you figure he won? He never pulled a prank."

"That's right," John agreed. "From what Virgil told us last night, you've been running around the past four days expecting a prank to be pulled on you at any moment, right?"

"Yeah, so? I kept a close eye on Scott and everything he did. If anything looked like a prank being set up, I was ready for it."

John nodded. "Right. So Scott told you four days ago, he was going to pull a prank on you. He got you thinking constantly over what he was going to do and he had you anticipating something happening at every turn."

"Uh, Johnny, what exactly are you getting at?" Gordon asked, confused.

"It's simple, Gordon. Scott pulled a prank on you by NOT pulling a prank."

There was silence around the table for few seconds before Jeff finally was the first to chuckle. Scott's smile grew bigger as he realized what John was saying. It took Virgil a few seconds longer, but eventually he started to laugh. John sat back and smiled smugly at Gordon, who was sitting with a confused look on his face.

"He got you there son," Jeff laughed. "I'd say it was an ultimate prank. Well done, Scott."

Kyrano brought over the juice and patted Scott on the shoulder. "Very strategically played, Mr. Scott."

"He got you after all Gordon," Virgil teased. "And he didn't do a thing!"

"Wait until I tell Alan," John said as he got up and headed out of the dining room.

Gordon frowned as everyone laughed. "I'm never going to live this one done," he muttered softly.

Jeff, Scott and Virgil all replied "Nope" at the same time.

fin