Pinkranger888- XD Yep, twin moment. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, things will be okay between them eventually. Well, Evie's favorite was told on the last story and Gordon's, for some reason I can't see his favorite being anything but Finding Nemo. :P Aw, even though it's almost over, there will be another Thunderbirds story coming after it. So you will be seeing me again. XD I will.

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Finals, end of the year performances, last minute scheduled performances that I thought would take ten minutes and ended up taking an hour, graduations, end of the year parties, preparing to house sit for a friend at church, family friend's problem's escalating to breaking point, and then the little fiasco of finding ants in my computer. –shudder- but the parties are over, the friend's issues are in the process of being resolved, and I am currently house sitting, which gives me a good bit of free time. And I hope the first part of this chapter isn't too bad. Fluff and action I can write. This…not so much.

Chapter Thirty Four- Different Ways of Dealing
September 16th, 2024

"Good morning...how is…"

The familiar female voiced echoed around Alan's head as his awareness of his surroundings increased. He knew he was still in the infirmary and remembered falling asleep with Virgil beside him, having just cleaned the snake bite. How long had it been since he had fallen asleep?

"He's doing…would you mind...cup of coffee…"

As his awareness continued to increase, Alan heard tin-Tin reply to his father before he heard the door the door to the infirmary swish shut behind him. The room was silent for a few moments as he continued to grow more aware of his surroundings. Soft footfalls sounded as Tin-Tin's small feet met the tiled floor, growing closer as she moved towards where he lay.

As the footsteps came to a stop beside him, he forced his eyes open, wincing at the bright lights of the infirmary. As his eyes began to focus, Tin-Tin's face came into view. She gave him a small smile as the rest of the infirmary came into focus.

The corners of his mouth turned upwards. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey Alan," she responded. She glanced towards the door of the infirmary. "You just missed your dad. He went to get more coffee."

"Has he even left at all, besides for more coffee?" he asked as he maneuvered himself into a sitting position. Tin-Tin shifted the pillows for him before sitting down by his legs, being careful not to bump the snake bite. Alan leaned back against the pillows as Tin-Tin shook her head.

"No," she replied. "Though he was forced out at some point to change and eat yesterday by Virgil."

"At least he ate something," he stated softly, watching Tin-Tin for a moment before looking down at his hands. He bit his lip for a moment before looking back up at her. "Thanks Tin."

The small smile disappeared from her features as she looked at him in confusion. "For what?

"Virge told me what you did in Amarna to protect us," he replied. The frown disappeared as the smile did before it, understanding shown on her face, along with something Alan couldn't quite identify. She swallowed, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Tin-Tin?" he asked softly. She continued to look down at her hands. "Tin?"

"I killed someone Alan," she mumbled, continuing to stare down at her hands. "I used my powers to kill someone."

He pushed himself off the pillows and leaned forward. "It was either kill or be killed," he said softly. "You were protecting yourself and us."

She looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. "I could have just knocked them out instead of killing them," she paused, the lump in her throat preventing her from speaking. She shook her head and looked back down at her hands. "I'm just as bad as my uncle."

Alan reached forward and grabbed her hands from her lap, holding them tightly within his. Tin-Tin looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "You are nothing like him," he stated firmly. "He enjoys using his powers to cause others pain. You only use them when necessary and feel guilty when you do. That just shows how different you are from him."

She shook her head slightly. "But-"

"No," he stated, moving one of his hands from where he held hers in his lap and grabbing her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You are nothing like him, Tin. Nothing. And you never will be. You understand? You will never be like him."

She nodded slightly, his hand still gripping her chin. It was then that he realized just how close their faces were, how soft and warm her skin was beneath his fingers, and how good she smelled. Without even realizing what he was doing, he had moved his face closer to hers, or had she moved too? He paused for a moment, feeling her breath hot on his face he pressed his lips to hers.

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Jeff sighed as the infirmary doors closed behind him, running a hand over his face. He had yet to get any sleep since they had arrived back at the island, only leaving the infirmary when Virgil had made him eat and to go get more coffee during the night. Sure he had dozed in the chair beside Alan's bed, but that was extremely uncomfortable. Virgil would probably ask him about it when he woke and reprimand him for not resting, but he just couldn't bring himself to leave Alan's side for more than a few minutes at a time.

But he would deal with Virgil's worrying when the young man woke up, but right now he needed coffee. As he walked down the hallway, approaching the movie room, the sounds of a movie reached his ears. He reached the doorway to the room and looked inside. The sight before him caused a fond smile to form on his features.

The movie looked to have been over long before he entered the room, the disc menu of Finding Nemo repeating. The twins sat on the couch side by side. Evelyn's head rested on her brother's shoulder while his cheek rest against the top of her head. Their intertwined hands rested in Gordon's lap while an empty bowl of popcorn sat in Evelyn's. Things between the two of them were beginning to mend. He watched with a smile as Evelyn shifted, the empty bowl falling to the floor.

Jeff then moved into the room, being as quiet as he could. He first walked over to the television and turned it off before walking over to the fallen bowl. He squatted down and picked the bowl up off the floor, finding a few leftover popcorn kernels now on the carpet, but that could be cleaned up later. He stood back up, bowls in hand, and smiled at the twins for a moment. He then quietly left the room with the bowl, heading to the kitchen to drop it off and get his coffee.

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John sighed as he dropped himself onto the piece of driftwood that had washed up onto the beach. He had tried to sleep after eating, but had awoken not long after due to horrible nightmares. He had once more held his sister as she died, but this time there had been no spell to bring her back. He ran a hand over his face and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He knew that was not how things had happened. That he had read the spell and Evelyn was now up in the house watching movies with Gordon. But he still couldn't get the horrible image of her bloody and lifeless body out of his head.

He heard a branch snap behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Scott emerging from the trees. He turned back towards the beach, watching the wave's crash against the white sand as Scott walked over and sat down beside him. The elder of the two was silent for a few moments, following John's lead and watching the waves.

"Nightmares?" he asked, watching the blond out of the corner of his eye. John nodded. Scott looked out at the turquoise blue water before them. "Was it about Evie?"

John tore his eyes away from the waves to look at Scott beside him with a raised eyebrow. Scott saw the eyebrow out of the corner of his eye. "I did too," he admitted softly. "Saw her being stabbed and Alan being bitten. And there was absolutely nothing I could do."

"Yeah," John began. "But you didn't hold her as she died. Had her blood on her hands and saw the life fade from her, again." He broke off, turning his head back towards the beach.

Scott turned his head towards his brother. "But you were also the one to bring her back."

John nodded, looking down at the sand beneath his sandals. "I know," he responded. "But I will never get that image of her out of my head."

Scott scooted closer to John and wrapped an arm around his younger brother's shoulders. Nothing more was said as the two watched the wave's crash onto the shore.

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Jeff smiled as he took another sip of coffee. Ah the wonders of caffeine. He had deposited to popcorn bowl in the kitchen and then gotten a cup of coffee. Thankfully Onaha had not been there. If she had been, he probably wouldn't have the steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

The doors of the infirmary slid open before him only for him to catch site of Alan and Tin-Tin sitting close together on the bed. Jeff's jaw dropped. The two jumped apart when the door had slid open and now stared down at their laps, their cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment. They avoided each other's eyes and Jeff's as he looked between them. He opened his mouth to say something only for nothing to come out. Had he just walked in on them kissing?

He took a sip of his coffee as he turned around and walked out of the infirmary. As the door slid closed behind him, Jeff leaned back against the wall just next to the door. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had just walked in on Alan and Tin-Tin kissing. Sure Penny had told him numerous times that there was something between them, but he had never believed it. And now it seemed that she had been right all along.

And she's not going to let me forget it, he thought as he took a large swallow of coffee.

… …

The infirmary was silent for a few moments after Jeff had left speechless at the position he had found them in. Alan and Tin-Tin had yet to look at each other and were still blushing furiously. Alan leaned back against the pillows, biting his and glancing up at Tin-Tin. She caught him looking blushed once more, giving him a shy smile.

"I can't believe that just happened," she whispered, glancing towards the door.

Alan shook his head and chuckled. "Neither can I. I don't think I've ever seen him speechless before," he added.

Tin-Tin laughed. "I don't think I have either," she glanced towards the door for a moment before looking back towards Alan with a small smile. "I better go. I'll see you later, Alan." She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before pushing herself of the bed.

Alan smiled, watching as she walked over to the door and left the infirmary. Before the door closed behind her, his father stepped back into the room, his coffee cup now empty. He walked over and set the cup down on the bedside table before sitting down where Tin-Tin had been moments before.

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, Alan looking anything but his father. Jeff cleared his throat. "So," he began. "You and Tin-Tin?"