Codename Genesis

Chapter Three

The night time wind rustled the foliage of the jungle, creatures of the night screaming out into the darkness claiming their territory against all comers. The full moon fought to shine through the thick tree canopy.

It was just another peaceful night in the cool and moist tropical night as a tarnished silver blade cut through the thick vines that grew between the trees to either side of the overgrown path.

"How much further?" The man whispered as they kept their movement quiet, their footsteps muffled by the dirt path nearly turned into a sticky sort of mud by the moisture in the air.

"Another fifteen miles at least, just why would they base a laboratory in the middle of the Amazon forest?" His partner asked, checking his PDA.

The first guy sighed and continued to walk along the path, cutting through the vines when necessary and forcing tree branches back and out of their way. He pushed down the waves of nausea that threatened his breakfast's return, the jungle around him reminded them both of the tropical paradise they once called home.

"We're just on a recon this time, then we'll come back tomorrow for the information..." His partner spoke up, breaking him out of his depressing thoughts.

"Right! Should be just behind this... or maybe not" He spoke up and stopped, he was unable to take in what they saw in front of them.

The bright white walls of the hidden bunker shone brightly in the cleared glen, from the air it was hidden by a natural rooftop. It looked like something from a James Bond film but a secret base gone horribly wrong!

Thick tree like vines had burst out from the bright walls and wrapped around the bunker, it had sent out feeders to search for new food for its growth. Big green pods hung from some of the thinner vines while the thick vines had purple pods bulging out, making the vines look thicker.

"Well damn!" The muttered and looked at each other.

"Ivies... but they're different, looking at those purple pods" The first guy muttered softly as they put their bags down and looked through their gear.

"Well at least we know how to handle them John, things will be OK this time" His companion replied with a soft smile.

"You may be right Scott... maybe" John replied as he set up the flame thrower, glancing up at the vines as they continued to work.


The young man sighed softly listening to the peaceful, tranquil sounds of the tropical paradise that was better known as Tracy Island. He ignored the pang of discomfort from his legs and back as he moved to get comfortable in his seated position on the balcony.

He opened his tired eyes in hearing the laughter coming from down below him, looking down he smiled before shaking his head and closed his eyes.

"You should join them son, it will do all some good if you did" A low gruff voice spoke up from behind him.

"I know it is Dad but I just can't... I have tried but I've changed so much and so has Scott" John replied softly, hugging his legs up close to his chest. "We missed you all so much but without Scott then it doesn't feel the same... I need to find him but I don't know where to start looking" He continued softly, turning his head away from his father.

"I've got our best agents out there looking John, we will find him but just for now will you please go and join your brothers at the pool?" Jeff asked as he leaned in the doorway of the balcony.

John shrugged his shoulders, tugging his sleeves down back to his wrists. He was wearing a light brown long-sleeved shirt, he had been wearing those type of shirts since he caught his family staring at his scared skin.

His hair was starting to grow out a little more and was thinking of dying it back to the dark brown that he had dyed it to for hiding away along with Scott.

Jeff sighed, "How about a pizza? Can have whatever you want on it" He offered with a soft smile as John turned to face him, a small glimmer of how his son was before the life changing events of the Newbay disaster.

"Sure, would like that" John replied with a soft smile and slowly got up onto his feet, and stretched with a soft sigh.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" Jeff asked as he watched John stretch out the cramps from his long legs.

"About two hours... but I'm fine" John replied with a smile, "So pizza?" He asked, waving a hand at his father for him to lead on.

Jeff smiled and turned to lead the way from the bedroom to the kitchen, all the while wondering what could be happening to the missing oldest son of the Tracy clan.

"We'll find him Dad, we have to!" John muttered in a soft dark tone that made Jeff shiver coldly.

Virgil pulled himself out of the pool and reached for the towel waiting on the nearby sun lounger. He sighed as he dried off and looked up at the nearby balconies but found them empty.

"I saw them in the kitchen a little while a go" Alan said from where he had settled down on the sun lounger close by for the afternoon.

"Oh, do you think he got through to John?" Virgil asked as he sat down to continue to dry off.

Alan sighed and opened his eyes looking up at the underside of the parasol. "I don't know Virgil... we saw something for a few hours that he had been hunting down for nearly a year!" He replied tucking his hands behind his head. "How can we help him handle the weight of that or understand what they both been through"

"Or are going through... does John seem a bit more distant to you, more than usual?" Gordon asked as he tread water and swam over to the ledge before leaning on it, his head resting on his crossed arms.

Alan and Virgil looked over to the main complex, sounds of cooking taking part inside sounded faint to them on the sun deck. "I guess he has but I've never noticed" Alan muttered softly.

"I have... his work has slipped a little but still he does try hard to keep up with me" Virgil replied, "Should almost finished the painting program by now" He added with a soft sigh.

Gordon sighed and dunked down under the water before climbing out, water dripping off him. "Think I'll go for a shower then talk to him... be good to try and get him to talk to us" He said as he reached for his own towel.

Alan sighed and closed his eyes, he thought about what they experienced and saw in Stillhaven. "Do you think that we've seen the last of BioTech? Of all those... those monsters" He asked and sat up with a groan, looking at the pool as it glistened in the tropical sunlight.

"BioTech are putting up a strong fight even with other companies seeing the light, and their stock is starting to fail... but that might make them more desperate" Jeff spoke up from the doorway, wiping his face with a hand towel, his clothes covered in flour.

The boys managed a small amused smile each but the mood still remained sombre, "Seen it before haven't you Dad?" Virgil asked as he stood up, dropping the towel around the back of his neck and shoulders.

Jeff nodded with a tired sigh, "I have but you'll have to excuse me as I desperately need a shower" He said with a smile and disappeared back inside.

"Well that was something different" Gordon muttered before following his father inside, heading for his own bathroom for a shower.

Virgil smiled and stretched, "Well I better get changed then head back to the hanger" He said and left Alan alone on the sun deck.


"Hey, what happened to Dad earlier?" Gordon asked once he found John in the library with a freshly baked pizza and a cup of coffee on the table.

"He dropped a bag of flour, it exploded... I escaped because of the oven door" John replied with a bored tone as he flicked through the book in front of him.

Gordon peered over his shoulder seeing the familiar calculations and diagrams of Thunderbird Three, he looked at the pizza and saw an unusual mixture of toppings. None of them were John's usual taste, he saw pineapple, mushroom, ground beef and four different cheeses.

"What is it? John asked as he helped himself to a slice, offering the plate to Gordon who declined but took a seat next to his brother.

He sighed softly and studied his brother's face carefully as his mind formed the words. He sat down and looked at the work while trying to word what he needed to say.

"Just that you've changed a lot John, and I don't mean what we see now or what we have seen..." Gordon said softly and slowly, "You've changed ever since that incident with the Hood"

"Had to... when we were sent to that rescue... it changed me anyway, was no longer human after that... S-Scott saw that first hand" John replied, putting the pizza rind down on the plate.

"I can hear longer distances and have a quicker reaction time... especially when it comes to dodging attacks" He continued softly, "I... we had to learn fast how to keep up with these changes, and to fighting against the monsters that we saw..." He continued softly, resting his head in his hands.

"John, I..." Gordon started and moved to rest a hand on his brother's shoulder, but froze as if unsure if it was the right move to do that.

John shook his head, "Just a headache Gord, it'll pass... want a game of tennis? I'm fed up of being cooped up inside" He said looking up with a smile, forcing his dark history behind him for now. "It's no use to waiting around for a email from someone out there with a lead... rather keep busy but as Virgil's kicked me out of the hanger" He added with a shrug.

Gordon smiled and nodded, "I'll promise not to beat you too badly" He said, his heart ached in seeing the torment in John's blue eyes as his brother stood up and stretched.

"Are you sure it won't be the other way around? Come on, been a while since we had a match with just the two of us" John replied and led the way, the pizza and books left forgotten as they left to get changed before heading down to the tennis courts.

John wanted to try and fit back into the family, like he promised Scott but he wanted his brother here with him but he knew that the dark haired Tracy wouldn't want him to ignore their younger brothers while on the island. So he had to humour them, at least for now, until he got a solid lead for the hunt of their missing brother.


A few days had passed since Gordon's encounter with John in the library, and since then their brother had helped everyone out instead of shutting himself off in either the library, his room or somewhere out in the jungle.

He had beaten Gordon against any challenge, and dodged his best jokes to amazement of the residential joker. When he had asked for a explanation, John had just shrugged and said that they were too easy to spot especially the trigger jokes.

This had earned a laugh from the others, including their father. A smile was also placed on John's face, looking so much like the smile that use to grace their brother's face before the attack on the space station.

Virgil had announced that repairs were almost finished on Thunderbird Two, with just preflight checks being carried out before asking permission for a flight test to make sure she was ready for their next rescue mission.

They were to be carried out later that afternoon, Jeff was disheartened to hear that Thunderbird One failed to activate and was concerned to what was causing the problem with the sleek jet.

"She misses him Dad, its that plainly obvious" John said softly stepping out of the shadows in Thunderbird One's hanger making the father jump.

Jeff quickly gained his breath back, resting a hand on his heart until he calmed himself down. "I know son, but that's just something that isn't computing with the errors that Brains is receiving or at least that is his words" He said, leaning against the rail looking up at the rocket.

John shook his head as he joined Jeff at the rail, reaching out to touch the jet that had saved their lives in the escape from Newbay. "I know Dad but she was pretty much nearly destroyed when we crashed... the ship just misses Scott too badly" He said softly. "Which I do too... I can feel her pain, he was there for me and I for him but now that we've been separated I fear to what they're doing to him"

"John" Jeff said softly and moved to put a hand on his son's shoulder.

John bowed his head looking down at the depths of the hanger, his shoulders dropping down and loosing the high defence he had been wearing around his family. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up without him Dad"

"We understood each other more than ever, even growing up at the ranch... and you know how close we were then, but what happened at Newbay then at all those other towns we failed to save... the thousands of people we failed to save... " He continued softly, looking at his father from the corner of his vision. "We failed you, each time we lost a life... we felt that we were failing you"

"Now that I've lost Scott... I feel that I've failed him... we..." He stopped and took a shuddering breath in. "We made a promise to each other when we realised how high we were infected... how deadly our blood is.... but I've failed him"

"John, you haven't failed him or me... you have been brave to do what you have done, and helped me to fight those... those monsters that done that to those people in the first place" Jeff said, putting his hand down on his son's shoulder shocked to feel it tremble.

"I'm proud of you and of Scott, and I'm sure that Scott would feel the same way... he would have want us to continue to do the good work and find a way to continue the fight" He said before bending his head to get a good look at his son, "Come on, I think you need to get to bed... when was the last time you actually slept the night through?"

John shook his head, "More than six hours? Too long... but then I am now use to less sleep, have been for a long time... " He said softly, "But it does take a toll... just haven't been able to sleep comfortably since being back here..."

Jeff sighed, "Come on, let's get you to bed" He said with a smile of his own.

John smiled and nodded, before putting his hand to his forehead.

Jeff frowned, "Something wrong son?" He asked, squeezing John's shoulder.

"J-just a headache... they'll pass like always" John muttered, grasping the bars of the walkway tightly in his hand.

"How long have they been happening John?" Jeff asked, concerned for his son.

"Only the last few days, they were uncomfortable at first but been getting stronger... just put it down to being tired" John replied before sighing tiredly. "Think will head off to bed, even though it is still pretty early..."

"OK John, go and get some sleep... I'll tell the others that you're getting some rest" Jeff said, earning a tired smile from his eldest blonde son before he left the hanger.

Jeff sighed and looked up at the sleek jet, he wondered how much longer John could be staying with them. Every day he saw his son getting more and more distant to the family, even though he was trying his best to get back to being with them but as long as BioTech still existed then John's pains would never go away.

"We'll find Scott soon girl, then we'll be back to being a happy family..." Jeff muttered to the silver Thunderbird craft before leaving the hanger, wondering what to tell Brains about the failed reports.

Thunderbird One just sat silently in its hanger, hoping that the people that had rebuilt her from almost scrap was right, and that her pilot would soon return and fly the skies with her once more.