Disclaimer: please see chapter one.

Chapter Fourteen

Life is not set in stone. Life exists in a state of flux, ebbing and flowing as it needs to. Life is what you make of it, whether you spend your time wallowing in the past, dwelling on those missed opportunities, or you lead a good life and achieve everything you've wanted and more.

Life is what you make of it, but so is Death.

You may think you spend most of your life learning how to live, right from the instant you're born, but that isn't it. In fact, you spend most of your life preparing to die.

They gather around him in a circle, a mix of old faces, new faces, faces I've seen before, but can't quite put a name to. His slice of the family has expanded much further than anyone would have thought possible. Luckily for him, he was able to bear witness to it all.

The ultimate family man until the end.

The group breaks out into song, and I recognise the warbled tune of happy birthday coming from them, diverging when they have to insert his name. His children sing "Dad", his grandkids and great grandkids a variation of the word grandpa, and his surviving nephews use the term "Uncle Scott."

Talk about full circle. I had forgotten that it was the 4th April.

The cake is placed in front of the 98 year old man, and he struggles to blow them out. A hacking cough rises deep from within his throat instead and his chest constricts over his lungs, a python crushing him until he fights to breathe.

"Come help me blow them out, Virgil," he croaks, staring straight through an eleven year old boy, staring straight at me.

I move forward, and so does the boy. Feeling foolish, I retreat. When it comes to collecting my family members, I forget that they can't see who I am until the very end.

He continues to stare at me. 98 years old, and his gaze is just as piercing as it was when we were in the field on a rescue mission.

You too, I read in his eyes. I was including you in that statement.

Unable to disobey a direct order from him, I move forward too. A slight nod from him, and we both know it's time for him to call it quits.

On his other side, his youngest daughter sits down beside him. "How are you feeling, Daddy?"

"Tired," he replies back softly. "Happy, but very tired. I might just rest my eyes for a minute."

It is this minute that will stretch into eternity for them.

It is this minute that makes this trip worthwhile for me. It is this minute that allows him to metamorphose from a 98 year old, frail man, to a 29 year old man, back in the prime of his life. He becomes the brother I remember him to be when we were out in the field.

Had the good life, haven't you? I hold out my hand towards him. It's been a long time, Scott.

It's been a long time coming, he agrees. Wasn't expecting to see you, though.

I snort at that. As if I'd let Alan do something as important as this!

Scott laughs at that too. Be nice to Alan. If he heard that, he'd be pouting.

Slinging my arm around his shoulder, I lead him away, just off to the side of the lounge, near the light fixtures on the wall.

I didn't think you'd come back to Tracy Island after quitting International Rescue, Scott.

I didn't either, but it became the right move for the family. Especially in the decades after the Hood incident.

There's a moment of quiet contemplation. We both stare out of the glass windows at the sunset. It's something we used to do after a rescue. Old habits are so easy to fall back into. The Sun sneaks back behind a cloud, and that is the signal for me.

Scott, it's time for us to go.

Scott nods, takes one last look at his progeny and links one arm through the crook of my elbow. With the other hand, he pulls on the light fixture. We revolve out of the lounge and into Thunderbird One's silo. Automatically, the gantry shrieks and shudders its way to the cockpit of the reconnaissance craft.

Scott quirks one brown eyebrow at me as he climbs inside her. Hey, if I'm going, I'm going in style. Wanna ride shotgun?

It's a rare opportunity. Scott never shares flying privileges with anyone, so I'll grab it with both hands. I slide the door shut behind me, slip into the seat beside him and retract the pool. Together, a team again, we fly off, fly under the radar, until we are nothing more than a distant memory from the past.