Please accept my sincerest most grovelling apologies for the ridiculously stupidly long delay on this, I AM SO SORRY PEOPLE. My life kinda veered off a little bit but all is back on track and majorly stressful but UPDATE = Yay!
I however still do not own Thunderbirds much to my chargin...totes working on it though, just give me time, money and right idea and I probably still won't but there may be a sit-com in it
John slept fitfully, his mind plagued with flashing memories and soft voices. The sleep was deep enough however to obscure the smell of smoke which soon drifted through the crack of his door and enveloped the room.
The fire engine skidded to a halt outside the now steadily burning building. A small crowd had gathered to watch events unfold as the firefighters jumped from the engine and began unravelling hoses, whilst two colleagues kitted up.
The sky glowed with ember as the flames began to creep slowly further up the building. "We gotta go in now Mike!" one of the fire fighters called, his voice muffled behind his mask.
"Okay boy," Mike shouted back, removing the last of the equipment "You come back though you hear?"
"Loud and clear boss," and with that two of the fire fighters headed into the bonfire.
The firefighters crashed into the bed and breakfast, caring little for the architecture as they hacked through the crackling wood. The fire flicked and hissed at them as they marched through the reception. The ceilings groaned above them as they went, threatening to give in with every step into the blaze.
"Hey Josh! I think I see someone up there!" the first fighter called as he got further into the room, picking up into a jog as his suspicions were confirmed, heading for the silhouette at the top of the stairs.
"Be careful man!" Josh called following his friends footsteps.
They ascended the stairs, quickly checking the stability of each step as they did. At the top they found a man. He was leant heavily on the banister, wheezing breaths rattling above the roaring of the flames. "Are you okay? We need to get you out of here okay?" Josh shouted taking one of the man's arms and helping him hold himself up without the aid of the banister.
The man nodded, stumbling into the firefighters arms as he went to follow him. Gently pushing him towards Josh he asked the old man "Is there anyone else here?"
"There's *cough* there's a fella on the top floor, but *cough* no one else," he explained leaning against Josh who was already posed to throw him over his shoulder were he to collapse.
As Josh hurried out with the old man the other fire fighter continued to make his way up the stairs. The flames were growing at an alarming rate as he soldiered on finally reaching the top and finding himself facing three identical doors.
John awoke with a gasp immediately followed by a cough. His lungs burnt. He couldn't see anything through the smoke surrounding him but crashes could be heard on the other side of the door. Rolling out of bed he fell to the floor and quickly grabbed the first piece of clothing he could reach, a t-shirt, he reached blindly for his bedside table and managed to grab the glass of water and doused his t-shirt in the liquid before wrapping the bottom of his face in the fabric.
Staying close to the floor he began to crawl towards where he thought the door had been. The smoke was making his eyes water and his lungs were seriously protesting the lack of usable air. The carpet was coarse beneath his bare arms as he shuffled along the floor.
He kicked the second door in, ignoring the shot of pain which flared up his leg. "Is anyone here!?" he called as he entered the room, the smoke preventing any visual contact to be made.
John could feel his lungs spasm with every forced breath as he got closer to door. But then the door fell forward with a thunderous crash. His reflexes dusty from lack of use gently pushed him out of direct trajectory of the door but he was still grazed as the oaken weight slammed to the floor.
"Is anyone here!?" a voice called above him and John could just make out the silhouette of what he hoped was a firefighter.
Mustering the strength he had John scrambled to his feet and clutched at the silhouettes arm causing the figure to jolt in shock.
The firefighter looked down to see what had grabbed him and to his shock saw a man. The man's face was half covered in what appeared to be a t-shirt and he could see beads of blood blossoming on his face and arm. "You okay? Hurt?"
John shook his head a muffled "No," resounding from behind the cloth in his mouth.
Together they left the room, John leaning against the firefighter his mind getting fuzzier with every step he took through the burning wreckage. His skin was thrumming with the heating pulsing from all angles, his eyes streaming as the smoke billowed around them.
With every step he found himself more reliant on the strong arms guiding him through the smog. But then they stopped moving and a deafening creaking reverberated around them sending tremors through their bones.
The firefighter studied their surroundings overly conscious of the weight of the other man leaning against him. He could see the flames had now enveloped the remainder of the stairs and a large chasm made the hallway practically impassable. The only option was to go back on themselves. But that would only lead to a dead end and a jump from a third story window.
He looked back to stairs, the banister now invisible behind the steadily rising flames. "We're going to have to go out one of the windows okay?" he called over the roar of the fire.
"Better than getting chargrilled," John quipped his voice hoarse with the smoke.
They stared at each other for a moment. The firefighters face hidden behind the face guard and Johns behind the t-shirt "Exactly," the firefighter replied his voice softer but just audible over the cacophony around them.
_3 Years Earlier_
"Approaching now Thunderbird 5, how many civilians we got on the ground?" Scott asked as he guided Thunderbird 1 closer to the forest fire blazing below.
"There's at least thirty campers up on Falcon Ridge about two kilometres North of your position, Thunderbird 2 is approaching them as we speak. We have reports of two wardens and fire services in your location," John's tinny voice came over the speakers.
Scott remained silent as he completed the landing procedure a rush of relief coursing through him as he saw a flash of red above him as Thunderbird 3 returned with another load of water. "My priority's the civilians, any word from Thunderbird 2?" Scott questioned as he began to suit up.
A chuckle came over the speaker "Yeah, they say get your ass down there or you get paper duty."
"Lovely," Scott laughed clasping the final buckle.
"Don't forget your helmet," John continued, the amused lilt still obvious in his voice "I know you don't like it but it's-"
Scott cut him off "Better than getting chargrilled, I know," he laughed as he secured the helmet "Okay, I'm going in. Thunderbird 1 out."
"FAB, Thunderbird 5 out."
The crash of the stairs collapsing in on themselves brought John out of his reverie. The firefighter pulled John by his arm as they went back towards the room they had just vacated. As the fireman ran towards the window and began trying to force it open John kicked the door shut, hoping to buy them a little more time.
The window was stiffer than expected and it took both men's strength to force it open enough for them to crawl through. John almost expected the night air to hit him with the freshness his lungs craved but instead the smoke billowing from the timber frame bonfire he was stood upon swirled around him making his makeshift faceguard almost useless.
Together John and the fireman scurried to the other side of the building trying to find a less vertical route to the ground. The smoke began to thin out as they got to the other side of the building and the wind howled around them.
"You see that tree?" shouted the fireman pointing to a large oak tree a good ten feet from where they were balanced at the top the building.
John looked to the tree then back to the firefighter who he could almost see grinning behind the faceguard.
_15 years Earlier_
"Johnny you shouldn't be up here," Scott admonished as he joined his seven year old brother on the barn roof.
The blond boy looked up at his brother, his blue eyes wide beneath his platinum curls "Scott? Why are you here?" he asked frowning.
Scott carefully scooted along the roof until he was beside his brother "Al's not crying anymore, and Mum made chocolate cake for after dinner."
"Al hates me," John sulked pulling his knees up to his chest.
"He doesn't hate you. It was an accident and he shouldn't have left it on the stairs anyway," Scott said softly putting an arm around the blondes shoulder and pulling him close.
"Really? Cos he said he hated me," John said looking at his brother skeptically.
Laughter bubbled from Scott at this "Alan says he hates everything! He said he hated the sun the other day Johnny, the SUN."
John stared at his brother as his mind processed what had been said. Then slowly but surely his face began to lighten "The sun? How can you hate the sun?" he giggled.
"Exactly!" laughed Scott "Now come on, we don't want the kids to get all the cake do we!" Scott said as clambered to his feet and began to pull John up as well "Now how do we get down from here?"
John smiled across at his brother "You see that tree?" Scott looked across to the large tree at the end of the barn and gave a small nod before looking back to his brother "We jump."
"Ready to jump?" the firefighter asked from where he was balanced in the tree.
"Sure, I love near death experiences," John mumbled as he positioned himself to jump against the roof slats. Taking a breath he steadied his feet, pushed back on his hands and leapt.
He flew through the air grabbing at the branches at he reached the tree. A strong arm wrapped round his shoulders steadying him as he found his balance. "Thanks," he gasped as he caught his breath.
"No problem man," the other man said as he began making his way to the ground "See you at the bottom."
John couldn't help but sigh in relief as his feet hit the ground. The firefighter was waiting at the bottom of the tree, had removed his helmet and was looking back towards the smoldering building. He smiled as he saw his team finally gain control of the blaze.
John pulled the now freezing t-shirt from his face, savoring the lung full of fresh air. Once his lungs had stopped spasming in protest he approached the other man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "So when were you going to tell us you came back to Kansas Scott?"
Virgil glared as the rain hammered down on the windshield. He had been driving for almost six hours since he hand landed in Missouri. He wasn't sure why John had called him at three in the morning but he had told him to come home so here he was, in the middle of the worst storm he had lived to see on his way back to a house he hadn't seen in over ten years. "This better be important John," he grumbled as he pulled up the dirt drive of Tracey Farm.
He could see his brother's silhouette at the front porch as he pulled up to the house. Bracing himself against the rain he got out of the car and trudged over the house. "How you doing Virg?" John called as he approached.
"I'm tired, cold and you still haven't told me what's going on," Virgil retorted pulling the older man into a quick hug.
John simply laughed, broke the hug and led him into the house and through to the kitchen. "Come on John, what's going on? You don't call at 3am on a whim," Virgil complained shirking off his coat.
"We think we should re-start the Thunderbirds," a voice sounded from the kitchen table.
Virgil spun around; ignoring John's ill-concealed laughter, he stared at his eldest brother who was grinning at him behind his cup "Scott?"