Authors Note: Ooooooh! Reviews! I love Reviews! They're SO great to read . . . I get all excited when I see them in my inbox! Anyways, thanks Cap'n for the Happy Birthday and Loren, I'm SO glad to hear that you're enjoying my fic and that you like my character! I don't actually like her all that much; I find her a little whiny, but that's how I designed her! Once I saw the movie I realised the strong similarities between Alan in the movie and Suzan in this, so I had to change some of the plans which I had for later chapters purely because of the movie . . . which kinda sucked, but, oh well!
Somewhere In Between
By Bubblegum Thai
Chapter Five; A General Uneasiness.
Waves crashed upon the rocks below a pair of tiny bare feet. Giggling madly she tried to reach down and scoop up a handful of water, however, she ended up toppling in head first, only to be caught by a pair of hands not that much bigger than her own,
"Suzan!" Gordon scolded, "You know that you're not supposed to play around near the water! You're too little! Where's Mom gone?"
The toddler only babbled at her red-haired sibling before pulling roughly on his ear and giggling,
"Ow! Hey! Don't do that you little punk!"
He turned around to the sound of laughter behind him,
"What's the matter Gordon?" A young Virgil teased, "Can't ya handle a two-year old?"
"Hey! She's strong for her age! Must be taking after me!" Gordon shot with a grin,
"Yeah right . . . you're so puny . . . why would she wanna take after you!" Scott snorted,
"Kids!" Came the distant, angelic voice of an older woman, "C'mon! It's picnic time! Bring your sister!"
"Coming Mom!" All five boys called back, Gordon heaving the struggling toddler against his tiny frame,
"Suzan!" He scolded, trying to lift his sister up further up in his arms, "Ugh! Scott! Will you PLEASE take her! You're the oldest!"
"Now who's the strong one!" He laughed, wading, waist-high in water towards his younger brother and prising the baby of the family off of him, "There ya go! You don't wanna be with Gordo anyway," He reassured the child as her face contorted as if she were about to cry, "You're too heavy for the little pipsqueak! C'mon! Juice? You want some juice?"
She sniffled before suddenly brightening and nodding madly, wrapping her arms around her older brother's neck so that he could carry her easier,
"Ya see," He stated smugly, turning his head to look at Gordon, "You just don't know how to take care of kids . . ." He laughed, grabbing a hold of a rock with his left hand and hoisting himself and his sister up onto the dry rock-pool side, where she'd been originally sitting. He settled, letting his legs dangle over slightly, "You guys coming?"
"I think that I'll go the long way down . . . I always seem to fall face first into those pools . . ." Eleven-year-old John mused,
"Yeah . . . I'll join ya!" Virgil agreed and the two older boys headed off towards the beach where their Mother and Father sat waiting, already tucking into the picnic.
Lucille Tracy's hair was gently swaying in the soft breeze as she bit down into a small cucumber sandwich on white bread whilst her husband sipped at a glass bottle of coca-cola. She watched as her daughter became increasingly difficult for her eldest son to control and by the time they reached the large red blanket, Scott was completely out of breath,
"Hard work?" Jeff laughed, "She's quite the handful, much like someone else we know." He said, eyeing Alan as he approached,
"What I do now?"
"Alan, it's what DID I do now . . . and nothing . . ." Lucille laughed, holding up a little Tupperware box of butterfly cakes to her sons, which were soon devoured within a few short minutes. She let out her trade mark giggle, throwing her head back so that curly light-brown hair tumbled further down her back, "You boys . . ." She tsked.
- - -
Jeff proudly dumped a large stack of glossy magazines a top of his desk, startling Scott who had been scanning the paper, but had his mind someplace else in a nearby armchair,
"Wah!" He exclaimed, "What're all those, Dad?" He asked, eyeing the stack with suspicion,
"Prospectuses."
"Oh . . . for what?"
"Your sister."
Scott blinked before looking his father in the face,
"Uhm . . ." He began uneasily, "Did she say that she wanted to go back to school or something?" He asked,
"No. I said."
"Oh . . . I see . . . but, didn't she only just get home?"
"Yes . . . but the new school term hasn't begun yet . . . there's still plenty of time to get an application in at a nice, American school."
"Oh, so we're keeping her in the same continent this time then . . . impressive . . ." He muttered sarcastically. Jeff stopped, giving his eldest son 'the look', "Well . . . Dad, I just think that it's unfair to keep sending her away!"
"If I want your opinion Scott, I'll ask for it." Jeff grunted,
"Fair enough . . ." Scott breathed, shaking his head, carefully folding the newspaper in half and placing it down on the coffee table, "I'm going for a swim!" He said, stubbornly, heading off towards his room to change.
- - -
Suzan had been perched on a rock at the end of the beach for the better part of an hour, staring off distantly when a gentle hand placed itself upon her shoulder,
"Gordy!" She gasped as she turned around, "You scared me,"
"Heh, sorry Suz' . . ." He laughed, "We're all going for a swim, you wanna join us?"
"Uhm . . ."
"Awh, c'mon! We're gonna play volleyball! You can be on my team!" He said proudly. Everyone knew that Gordon was the best at pool volleyball; in fact, Gordon was the best at anything when it came to water, "Yeah, you can be with Alan and me . . . the younger ones, verses the old fuddy duddys!"
"Oooh, excitement!" She gaped sarcastically, "Ok . . . I'll play . . ."
"Great! Let's kick some ass! Go get your swimsuit on and show some hustle kid!" He yelled teasingly as she retreated towards the villa.
- - -
"We are gonna kick you from here all the way to Alaska!" Alan taunted his older brothers, who had just lowered themselves into the pool,
"I find this incredibly unfair . . ." Virgil muttered, "We've got Brains . . ." He continued, "Not that there's anything wrong with you Brains, or anything!" He laughed nervously,
"N-no offence t-taken, Virgil, I know t-that I'm not the b-best when i-it comes to sports!" Brains replied as he climbed in via the metal stairs on the side,
Alan rolled his eyes,
"So!" He snapped, "You three are older than us, that's why we get Gordon because Suzan and I are puny."
"At least you can admit it, squirt . . ." Scott laughed before splashing his younger brother, "Isn't it about time that you went and paid a visit on the space station?" He asked,
"My text term of duty starts next week."
"Fun for you!" Gordon said before canon balling into the pool,
"Not your most graceful of dives, admittedly," Scott mused once the red-head had resurfaced,
"Are you boys going to play games again?" Tin-tin asked as she spread a towel over a deck-chair,
"Yeup! Wanna join in?" Virgil offered, casually leaning on the edge of the pool,
"You c-can have my spot, T-Tin-tin." Brains offered, "I-I don't mind . . ."
"No, that's ok Brains, I'll survive." She answered flatly, raising a magazine in front of her face,
"So, how was the mainland, guys?" Gordon asked as he and Alan pathetically threw an inflatable rainbow beach ball between one another, bopping Scott on the nose on accident,
"Ow! Hey!" He groaned, holding his nose, donning a scowl, "Be careful with that thing!"
"Oooh, you're gonna be fun in volleyball, huh!" Virgil laughed, raising his voice to a higher pitch to mock his brother; "Oooh! Alan! Watch that thing! I just had a manicure done! Tin-tin honey! Does my nail polish look chipped to you!"
Scott turned a deep shade of crimson whilst his brothers, Brains and Tin-tin all laughed at his expense,
"I don't know what you're talking about . . ." He huffed, folding his arms, "Can we get started already? I have things to do in Thunderbird One before dinner."
"We're waiting for Suzan." Gordon said flatly,
"Did she go in the house?"
"No . . . a trek through Mongolia, of course she went in the house, Alan!"
"If she went in the house, we could be in for a long wait, Dad's been hanging around the living room since lunchtime waiting for her to come back so they can have another 'talk'."
"They've had three since their argument last night, how much talking can two people do!" Gordon fussed, "What's the topic THIS time?"
"I want a pet." Alan suddenly said,
"I bought you one . . . it lives in the tank in your room, remember?" Tin-tin said from behind the camouflage of her magazine,
"Oh yeah! But . . . I want something fluffy!"
"Good luck! Could you imagine having a kitten in the house? It'd probably find it's way into Thunderbird Threes hanger so that when it takes off, it'd become a very well done kitty cat!" Gordon laughed, holding his sides,
"That's not a nice mental image . . . not nice at all . . ." Alan huffed,
"Ok, let's play!" Suzan said as she slipped into the water,
"What did Dad say?" Scott asked as he struggled with the net,
"Very little."
"Oh?"
"Yeah . . . just about how he wants to discuss schools with me after dinner."
"Wow . . . well, that'll be stimulating . . ."
"Yeah . . . well . . ." She refrained from making a comment, rolling her eyes as a spinning white sphere came hurtling towards her face, "WAH!" She exclaimed, nearly ducking it but quickly remembering to pound it with her fist back over the net.
Gordon proudly jumped up and smacked it into the water on the opposite side, grinning slyly,
"Ha!" He said, slapping Alan a high five.
Unfortunately, their celebration was cut short as their father's voice drifted over from a speaker beside the pool,
"Boys, we've got an emergency . . ." He said seriously, "Everyone into the lounge for a brief."
There was a round of groans as the four men hauled themselves out of the pool. Alan paused to look at his sister,
"Aren't you coming too?" He asked.
Suzan shook her head,
"I'm grounded, remember?" She breathed, "No leaving the island or trips to the mainland for a month unless it's with Dad."
"Sooooo, no missions."
"No more missions . . . ever!"
"Ouch!" Alan exclaimed, "Ouch . . ." He added again, "Man, that sucks! I'm sorry kiddo!"
Suzan shrugged,
"I don't care . . ." She lied, watching her brothers leave the pool without her,
"Come on," Tin-tin said, smiling warmly, "Do you want to go and get something to eat? We need to get out of here before Scott takes off."
Suzan pointed at Tin-tin,
"Y'know, you have a very valid point there!" She giggled, jumping up out of the pool and following the Malaysian woman into the house, making a bee-line for the kitchen where Ruth hovered over the kitchen counters, "Hey grandma!" Suzan greeted, hugging her Grandmother,
"Ah!" She exclaimed, "Suzan, honey! You're dripping water on the floor! Were you in the pool?"
"Yeas . . ."
"Well, go and dry off, ok? I need to make dinner, Tin-tin, would you mind mopping that up quickly for me before I slip?"
"I'm sorry . . ."
"It doesn't matter, love, just, dry off and come back, you can have some cake."
Suzan beamed,
"Cake . . . cake is a good incentive!" She declared before darting off towards her room, trying to avoid her father. With most of the occupants of their home out on a mission, he'd probably jump at the chance to have that nice long 'talk' about possible high priced, long termed schools in the New York area.
- - -
As Ruth Tracy leant over to slide her fresh batch of cookies out of the old fashioned oven which she'd insisted Brains installed, she heard the familiar sound of Thunderbird One erupting from beneath the pool and disappearing off on the horizon within seconds.
Placing them on the cooling rack one at a time, burning her calloused fingers a few times, she heard Thunderbird Two following its smaller, faster brother. She sighed heavily, looking out of the window only to see the large green carrier disappear within the clouds,
"There they go . . ." Said Tin-tin as she appeared from the living room with Brains,
"Who went?"
"All of them."
"I don't like it when they all go out like this, it makes the house seem too empty . . . too quiet . . ." She said softly, finally turning away from the window and smiling, "Do you know what it's about?"
"A climbing accident in, some corner of the world . . ." Tin-tin mumbled, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. Ruth frowned; such lack of attention to detail was uncommon for Tin-tin. She smiled warmly and placed a hand on the taller girl's shoulder,
"Something the matter, love?"
"Hmmm? Oh, no . . . I'm just . . ." She took a deep breath, "Thinking, that's all . . ."
"Oh, I see . . ." Ruth stifled a giggle, "Anything to do with Alan?"
Tin-tin spun around, fixing the older woman with a look,
"Alan? Why Alan?" She asked nervously, gently touching her face-a tell tale sign.
Ruth smiled knowingly and tapped the side of his nose,
"Your secret's safe with me, dear." She said with a small smile and a brief nod, "Don't you worry."
Tin-tin returned the warm smile. She trusted the elderly woman incredibly, knowing that she would never let her secret slip to one of the boys. The only other person who knew was Suzan and only because Suzan and Tin-tin had spent a lot of time getting to know one another on the mainland before she arrived on the island. The teenager was smart, catching onto things in the Malaysian beauty's voice and body language when talking about the youngest beauty.
- - -
"Suzan," Jeff began as the brunette tried to walk across the lounge with feather-light footsteps, "Both Scott and Virgil have radioed in, it's going to be another hour or so until they should radio in again. Would you like to talk now?"
Suzan sweat dropped and let out a sigh of defeat,
"Go on then . . ." She mumbled, stalking heavily towards the chair directly opposite her father at his desk, "Soooo . . . school, huh?"
"Yes, school." He said gravely, "Unless, of course, you can give me a reason for you to stay."
". . . I can't." She said sadly, dropping her head low, "I'm sorry Dad, I've let you down. I didn't mean to! I really tried hard to be part of the family, to be a team player and . . . be like the boys."
"But I don't want you to be like the boys!"
"But I thought . . ." She trailed off, "You're so proud of them! Why don't you want me to be a pilot? Or . . . or an astronaut?"
Jeff laughed,
"Because you're all different." He said, shaking his head, "You can be whatever you want to be, Suzan. I'm proud of you, no matter what."
"Soooo, if I said that I wanted to be a pole dancer?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.
Jeff flushed and his eyes widened disapprovingly,
"I would tell you no. No daughter of Jeff Tracy will reduce herself to . . ."
"Dad, I was kidding!" She chuckled, "I . . . I would like to go to an Arts school though . . ." She said slyly, "There's a really good one upstate New York . . ." She said with an impish grin, "There's also an even better one in the North of England . . ." She continued,
"Hmmmm, we shall see . . ." He sighed, "But, you understand why I have to do this, yes?"
"Yeah . . . I understand why you send me away all the time."
"You know that it's for the good of International Rescue,"
"Yeah, well, encase you hadn't noticed . . ." She muttered darkly, "I'm your daughter . . ."
"Suzan . . ."
"Dad, listen, please!" She begged, "I can do that job just as well as any of the others! If you're worried about me being out there and getting hurt, let me go up in the space station!"
"You're not an astronaut, Suzan . . . besides; I don't like the idea of you being up there all alone!"
"Oh, but its ok for John or Alan to sit up there for months on end?"
"They're older . . ."
"That's what you ALWAYS say!" She growled, "Suzan, you're too young to do anything but sit in a classroom!"
"Watch your tone, young lady!"
"Are you scared, Dad?"
"That you'll get hurt? Of course, I'm always scared that your brothers will get hurt."
"Is it more for me because of Mum?"
"Your Mother has nothing to do with this conversation!"
"She does so!" Suzan cried defensively, "I look like her, I have the same talents, same tastes . . . I remind you of her and that's why you won't let me go out and fly a Thunderbird!"
"You're definitely too young to fly one of the crafts! You have no training!"
"Then train me! Please!"
"No. Go to school and when you're eighteen you can see what you want to do then."
"I want to be an artist."
"An . . . artist . . .?" Jeff asked sceptically,
"Yes . . ." Suzan replied carefully,
"Well, Suzan, art is a nice hobby, but it's not really a profession."
Suzan scowled,
"It is." She replied icily, "I bet if Virgil didn't pilot Thunderbird 2 then he'd be a painter!"
"It's not really a stable income, being a painter."
"Oh, well, that's ok; I don't want to be a painter!"
"Then, what?"
"An illustrator . . . or maybe a Graphic Designer . . ."
"That's a little better, I suppose . . ."
"I'm going to travel to Japan and other countries and see the world and it's art and then I'm going to come home and be part of International Rescue and do some good!"
Jeff arched an eyebrow,
"Suzan, as a Graphic designer, how could you be part of International Rescue?"
"Ok then, I could be an agent, live away from the island, it's not like there's much to do here anyway."
Jeff sighed, rubbing at his temples. She was doing this deliberately. It was something Alan did too, just talked and talked to get under his skin to wear him out,
"Fine, Suzan, be what you wanna be . . ." He huffed,
"You see. You lied earlier when you said that you'd be proud, no matter what. It was a lie, because you'd HATE for me to be an artist, so what if it's not well paying and I'll never be a billionaire on my own merit like you, but I'd be happy, and that's what counts, isn't it!"
Jeff frowned,
"Yes, I suppose."
Suzan grinned,
"Just . . . if you won't let me do what I wanna do then at least pick my second choice?" She asked, pleadingly, "I . . . do love you guys, but if you insist on sending me away . . . again . . . then so be it . . ."
Jeff smiled softly,
"Only two years left,"
"Hmmmm, can I go now? Grandma said I could have cake."
"Off you go."
Without giving an answer, Suzan stood and retreated sadly towards the kitchen. She slouched into a stool and dropped her head onto the countertop, chewing onto her sleeve so not to cry out loud.
- - - To be continued . . .
Man . . . that was a slow chappie . . .
I wanna thank everyone, once again for reviewing, you're all great! Love you all::kisses:
Also, the part about Suzan wanting to be a Illustrator or Graphic Designer as taken from myself. I'm an art student in my second year of a Diploma in Fine Art and I want to go on to study Graphic Design and Illustration next year . . . soooo . . . yeah . . . I turn 18 in 2 days! Wheee! Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, I'll update after the big day, I promise!
Thanks again!