(Virgil)
Virgil sighed wearily as he continued to watch John toss about in his bed. After the Hood's recent attack, John had obtained several burns, bruises and broken bones, specifically his arm and several ribs. That wasn't the worst of it though…the worst was the nightmares. John was clearly distressed, making Virgil feel useless to help him.
"John?" He whispered as his brother's thrashing got worse, threatening to undo all of Virgil's hard work,
"JOHN!" he yelled, hoping to snap him out of his nightmare. When that didn't work, he attempted to pin John down in order to avoid him hurting himself even further. It was times like this, Virgil was glad about being a good deal stronger than John,
"JOHN PLEASE! WAKE UP!" John's eyes flew open, and they held no recognition in them,
"Mayday! Thunderbird Five is going down, I have to get out of here!"
"John! You're safe! You're safe I swear!" There was no reaction, so in a fit of desperation, Virgil slapped John on the cheek. Hard enough for it to have an effect, but not so hard that it would bruise. As soon as the thrashing started, it stopped, with John gasping for breath and tears streaming down his face.
"Virg?" he murmured, as Virgil softly brushed his brother's hair away from his eyes,
"Yeah, it's just me Johnny. How are you feeling?" John groaned as he became aware of the pain from his broken arm,
"Like I just survived a missile attack….and don't call me Johnny" Virgil grinned,
"As soon as you stop getting into trouble, I'll stop calling you Johnny. Apart from the pain, how are you feeling?" John winced,
"I keep re-living that moment…when the missile first hit. It hurt so much a-and I was scared…I thought that no-one would come for me, that I was truly alone…" Virgil shook his head,
"Never, you are never alone John, you must understand that! None of us even dreamed about leaving you up there, I swear I've never seen Dad move so fast!" Virgil smiled gently at his brother before continuing,
"Talk to me John, like when we were kids and I used to wake you up in the night screaming for Mom…please?" John nodded and the pair talked for hours, stopping only when John drifted off for the night. From that day on, John's nightmares began to decrease in severity and when they did show up, Virgil was there to listen and to help
(Gordon)
"Come on Johnny, the water's perfect!" John smiled at Gordon who was bobbing up and down in the pool, a big beaming grin on his face as he stared at his brother who was currently lounging by the pool, reading a book.
"No thanks Fish…" John chuckled, "…I've had enough of being dunked"
"That's shallow end fun, I'm talking about coming to the deep end with me and just swimming I swear!" Gordon frowned at John's continued refusal. He had noticed John's reluctance at being anywhere that would be difficult to get out off. Rooms with small windows and Thunderbird 5 being the main culprits. If John was now refusing to go into the deep end of the pool, then the problem was more serious than Gordon originally thought. Both he and John loved nature, whether it was water-based or space-based, for John to refuse spending some time in the water, something was wrong.
"John…come on…I'll be there every step of the way" John glanced up at the familiar words, before shaking his head and looking back at his book,
"I have no idea what you mean…"
"O come on Johnny, we've all noticed…Scott, Virgil, Dad, even Alan! You're tense in enclosed spaces, hell, you're spending so much time outside you'll start to tan soon, and if I'm honest, a tanned John just wouldn't look right…" John smirked at the teasing words, but Gordon continued,
"Thunderbird Five is your baby, you love spending time up there…the fact that you're putting off going back is totally out of character to you!"
Silence
"Do you remember how I was…after the Hydrofoil accident?"
"Of course I do…"
"Do you remember how you helped me get past my fear of water…you were there for me every step of the way? Let me do the same for you…" Gordon held out his hands, beckoning John to come into the deep end of the pool. After a few minutes of simply staring at him, John eventually made his way to the edge of the pool, and slowly lowered himself down, his face pale.
"Come on Johnny…you won't get stuck I promise!" Gordon gently took a hold of Johns' hands and guided him out into the middle of the pool, "I'm here…I'm here" Gordon knew that the pool wasn't the worst of John's fears, but it was the first step towards healing fully.
Gordon was true to his word and stayed with John throughout the whole process. Held hands as John shook and tried to leave the room with the smallest window. Now, as the pair stood in a newly re-built Thunderbird Five, Gordon couldn't help but smile at the relaxed look on John's face. Everything was as it should be.
(Scott)
"You don't mind, do you John?" John smiled reassuringly at his older brother as he swirled the coke around in his glass, the loud music thumping in his head as the rest of his brother's stood behind Scott and looked on in concern. It was known within the family that John was asexual, and therefore going to bars to meet girls (or boys) did not appeal to him.
"Scott, I'll be fine here. Now you guys go on and have fun" The guys nodded and dispersed into the crowd. John grinned to himself. It was rare that they got to spend any time on the mainland, but once they were there, the others decided to go to a bar…a noisy bar. John sighed and pulled a book out of his bag and settled down in the corner booth to try and enjoy his book. Almost half an hour later, John glanced up to find Virgil standing in front of him, before Virgil could speak, John interrupted,
"I'm fine Virg…" he emphasised, holding up his book as if to highlight this fact. Virgil held up his hands in mock surrender and smirked,
"Fine, fine…" He made his way back into the crowd and John was alone again. After another half hour of reading, John felt a presence beside him. He rolled his eyes as he turned his head to look at, what he assumed, was another brother coming to see if he was okay,
"Guys I'm-"John stopped…that wasn't any of his brothers. The man was clearly older than him, slicked back hair and a drunken grin on his face. Before John could say anything else, there was another presence at his other side, this time it was a female,
"C-can I help you?!" John stuttered as the pair boxed him in, their hands placed on various parts of his body…unwelcome hands at that,
"Sure ya can honey…" answered the women, sliding her hand up and down his arm until she grabbed a hold of his book, placing it on the table,
"…In fact, y'all can help us a lot…" continued the man, as he began to run his hands through John's hair, "…Ya see, me and my missus were hoping for a little bit of extra fun tonight. She likes the look of ya…care ta join us?" John attempted to shake his head, however, a firm hand grabbed his hair preventing the movement and causing John to gasp in pain,
"I-I'm sorry…" he gasped, "….But I'm not interested in stuff like that." The hand in his hair tightened and a second hand began to make its way down John's chest, slowly unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt. John began to struggle and beg for them to stop, but the music was either too loud for them to hear him or they just didn't care.
"Now, now…" cooed the man, "…That's mighty rude to the young lady. I'd apologise if I were y'all" John struggled harder, cursing his slighter build (and not for the first time either) and despite knowing martial arts, John knew that there was a chance that the two individuals may get seriously hurt,
"LET GO OF ME!" he yelled, struggling harder despite the hands tightening even further, trying to bend away from the hands that were edging closer and closer towards the button of his jeans.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF HIM!" rose a voice from above the loud music as the woman was forcefully dragged away by Virgil, who was clearly furious as Gordon and Alan stood behind him as silent support. John cried out as the hand in his hair was wrenched out, however, the man's ensuing yelp when Scott punched him was even louder. Dazed and confused, the man didn't fight back as Scott held his wrists behind his back,
"Come on…" he gestured to Virgil who began to escort the woman to security along with Gordon and Alan who had grabbed the man. John frantically tried to redo the buttons on his shirt, but his hands were shaking far too much for it to do any good. Before he could get frustrated, a second pair of hands joined his own and within seconds, the shirt was re-fastened,
"Are you okay?" asked Scott as he quickly scanned John for any obvious injuries, gently turning his cheek from side to side as John tried to sort his hair out,
"Y-yeah, I'm okay…"
"He didn't…you know?"
"No, it didn't get that far…Oh Scott!" John buried his head into Scott's chest and began to sob. After a few minutes of comforting him, Scott pulled away and gestured for John to follow, grabbing the glass of coke that John was drinking as they went,
"Come on Johnny, the others should have got to security by now. I want to get this coke tested to….just in case" John nodded as he wiped the tears from his eyes. When they got to security, the guards were questioning everyone. After getting John's perspective and then testing the coke, which tested positive for a date rape drug, the pair were arrested and the Tracy brothers decided to go back to the island. As they walked towards their private plane, John tugged on Scott's arm halting him in his tracks.
"Hey Scott…thank you, thank you for everything…" Scott smiled and pulled his brother into a hug,
"Don't worry about it Spaceman…"
(Alan)
"John? John Tracy?" Alan saw his brother flinch at the rough voice. John had showed up to watch Alan race (he came first place by the way) and the day was going brilliantly until this particular moment,
"John?" whispered Alan, trying to see what the matter was, but John just shook his head and plastered a fake smile on his face and turned around,
"Hey it is little Johnny!" The man was larger, much larger than the Tracy brothers and he was soon joined by three other men of a similar build. They formed a small semi-circle around the pair, arms folded,
"What's going on John?" whispered Alan urgently, but John just shook his head in a silent signal for Alan to keep quiet.
"You remember Johnny guys?" asked the man, laughing as he turned from side to side in order to talk to his friends who were laughing along with him, "Always had his nose stuck in a book, skinny and scrawny….easy target really…not like it ever bothered us."
Alan frowned as he saw John hunching in on himself, as if trying to make himself seem smaller. Alan remembered that this was something John used to do when they were younger…especially during high school. Scott and their Dad were very concerned about this unconscious behaviour…so much that John ended up being escorted to and from school every day…not that it stopped him from coming back severely bruised. It was common knowledge that John was badly bullied in school, having skipped a few grades making others quite jealous of him…so jealous that they would gang up on the blonde boy.
"What's wrong Johnny, are we scaring you nerd?" That was it for Alan, pushing past John, he stood in front of the laughing group of men,
"Look, I don't know who you think you are but you can't speak to him that way!" The men chuckled at the protective stance Alan had taken in front of his brother,
"This ain't none of your business kid, now why don't you go get an ice cream whilst the grown-ups talk" Alan scowled, but before he could lash out, he felt a gentle hand upon his shoulder,
"Don't do it Alan…" he whispered, but Alan just shrugged off the hand and took a step forward, his fists clenched in anger. He'd been professionally trained…these men, not so much…It was over in minutes with the men lying on the ground groaning in pain,
"Come on…" ordered Alan to his clearly shocked brother who was still staring at the fallen group. After a few minutes of not moving, Alan grabbed John's hand and pulled him along,
"You really shouldn't have done that…" mumbled John as Alan pulled them towards the car,
"It's what Scott would have done…or Virgil, hell even Gordon would have done it!"
"You're not Scott Alan…you don't have to act like that!"
"You're my brother John! The way they treated you was wrong and the way you reacted was even worse!"
"I-I could have handled it!" They'd reached the car by now and Alan climbed into the drivers' seat with John beside him.
"You're my brother…it's my job to protect you" John paused for a moment before rolling his eyes,
"It's bad enough with Dad, Scott and Virgil…and don't think I can handle you and Gordon as well" Alan laughed,
"Stop getting into trouble then…maybe the over-protectiveness will stop then"
"Not bloody likely…"
(Jeff)
"Put the gun down Mister Tracy…" Jeff's grip never wavered, his eyes focused on the maniac. The maniac who had his arm wrapped around the throat of his son,
"Mister Tracy, don't make me ask again…" The man pressed the barrel of his gun against John's head, tilting it as John stared straight ahead, trying not to show fear to his Father. The man sighed and clicked the safety off, the sound echoing throughout the room as John squeezed his eyes in preparation for what may happen next.
"Get your hands off my son…" growled Jeff, "…or I swear to god I'll shoot" The man laughed mockingly as he began to stroke the barrel of the gun up and down the side of John's face, almost in a loving way. Jeff scowled as he saw his son tense even further with the effort not to make any noise,
"Do you honestly think that you would be able to hit me without hurting your precious little boy?!"
"I've succeeded at crazier things to save my boys…now PUT THE GUN DOWN!" The man simply ignored him and addressed John,
"What do you think Blondie? How much faith do you have in your Father?" John opened his eyes and stared at Jeff, his blue eyes, identical to his mother's, shimmering with unshed tears…and a hell of a lot of determination,
"I have every faith in my Dad…always have and I always will, no matter what happens" The man pulled the gun away from John's head for just a second, but that was all the time Jeff needed. He acted.
BANG!
John flinched as he felt the blood hit his face. His knees began to shake as he collapsed to the ground, thankfully Jeff was there to catch him,
"It's okay, you're okay John…" Jeff began to wipe the blood off of his son's shocked face, the man groaning beside them
"Y-you shot him!" Jeff called the police and explained the situation to them as he lifted his son to his feet and began to lead him towards their car, which had been parked quite nearby. It was his own fault really, the car obviously highlighted the family's billionaire status…the man came out of nowhere and dragged John into an alley. Jeff knew that the gun he had bought as a last resort would come in useful,
"He had you…I couldn't lose you Johnny" Jeff whispered as the pair drove away, heading towards the local police station. John glanced at his Father,
"We're okay Dad…I promise" John smiled, "Thank you…I don't know what I would have done withou-"
"Johnny…you would have been fine…you didn't fight because you didn't want to hurt him and because you knew I was there. You would have gotten free without my help…you're stronger than you appear" John smiled shyly and rubbed the back of his head,
"Well…thanks anyway"
"…You're welcome Johnny"