Buried Emotions
Disclaimer - see chapter six
Chapter Eight
Gordon Tracy sighed as he leaned back in his seat on Thunderbird Two, gratefully accepting the damp towel handed to him.
"Thanks, Sarah," he sighed once more as he began to wipe the soot from his face.
"It wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't removed your face plate," the redhead admonished her fellow ginger.
"I wouldn't have removed it if the soot from the fire wasn't so bad," Gordon countered.
Having helped Gordon remove his jacket, Sarah began to check his vitals.
"I'm fine, Sarah Jane," Gordon grumbled.
"Let a medic determine that, Nemo," Sarah snapped.
"All the sisters still mad at me?" Gordon asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Mad at…Gordon," Sarah sighed. "What are we supposedly mad at you for now? Well, besides Kate, who is afraid of you playing gigolo with her intern."
"Alan giving up on the Olympics," Gordon answered. "Do you blame me? I mean, I didn't ask the kid to do that."
"Didn't you?" Sarah gently said as she sat down next to Gordon. When her brother-in-law looked to argue, she held up her hand.
"No, you didn't ask him to. But he meant what he said Gordo – it just wasn't that important to him. His writing, his work with Tracy Industries – the Thunderbirds, although he couldn't say that – and his family is much more important to him. Alan ran track because he enjoyed it. You competed in swim meets because it was important to you. Alan did it because it was fun for him and a source of stress relief. If competing in the Olympics was important to him he would have done it. It simply wasn't. However, you are important to him. Alan loves you – you're his big brother. Everyone in a family makes sacrifices, some easier than others. You saw him – he had no regrets on this one. Why can't you accept that?"
"You think I'm being an ass?" Gordon asked.
Sarah shrugged. "A little. You can't help it. You're a man."
Gordon chuckled. "Geez, you haven't changed since we were kids, you know that?"
Sarah grinned. "At least I got taller. What's your excuse?"
Grinning back, Gordon nodded. "I do love the kid. But…sometimes I feel left out. No – a lot of times I feel left out."
"Of what?" Sarah asked in confusion.
"The family," Gordon grumbled. "Alan comes home, we're a family again. I'm there and I am the lone man."
"And how many times have I invited you to dinner with Virgil and I?" Sarah countered. "And I know the others have done the same. Just as we make sure the Thunderbird Five widow – or widower - is welcome in any of the houses, we make sure you and Dad know that as well. Brains too, come to think of it. Although he accepts invitations a lot…he just forgets to come. And Dad is more likely to just have a sandwich at his desk. What's your excuse?"
Gordon smirked for a moment of her description of the spouse left behind when John or any other active Thunderbird manned Five before he became solemn.
"I didn't think you really meant it," he said defensively.
Sarah shook her head. "Damn it, Gordo – if we didn't mean it, we wouldn't say it. We love you as much as we do Alan. Yes, there is a touch of guilt on the parts of your brothers and maybe we girls tend to be a bit over-protective of Alan. But that doesn't mean we love you any less."
"It just seems like Alan is so damn perfect," Gordon sighed.
"Maybe he's afraid not to be."
Gordon looked at Sarah in confusion.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Sarah's expression became rather sad. "It may be years ago, but I think Alan is still afraid of becoming the "left-behind Tracy" again. So he has become as "perfect" as he can be. That way he won't be forgotten again."
"We never meant to," Gordon argued.
"It doesn't matter what you meant to do, Gordo," Sarah smiled sadly. "It's what happened. Even I'm guilty of some of that. After what happened in Kansas, after all my time in the hospital, I could have reached out to the family, to Alan. But I decided it was best not to. Every day I thank God that Tomo was there for Alan. Do you know in addition to the one boy who killed himself immediately after Holly Brook, one killed himself later and two others tried to? Three more developed severe substance abuse problems. If any of us had been there for Alan – but we weren't. Thank God Tomo was."
Shrugging, Sarah stood, grabbing her med kit. "I wish he was here so I could thank him for all he did for our baby."
Sarah walked away as Gordon glanced at the corner and sighed at the shadowy figure he knew was there.
"Hear that?" Gordon muttered. "She said thank you."
Tomo Wattamee merely gave a ghostly smile.
Kate emerged from the bathroom, rubbing a towel over her hair briskly.
"All yours, Flyboy," she laughed, passing her husband, still somewhat grimy from their rescue of a combination of Scouts and emergency personnel from an Australian bush fire. At least this one had been closer to home and between the firefighters on site and the Thunderbirds, they had gotten everyone out safely.
Scott stood, groaning slightly. He hadn't been on Two with the rest of the family but they had been so exhausted that he had insisted on loading Mobile Command up by himself and now had a kink in his back. "I'm getting old, that shower will feel good."
Rolling her neck, Kate nodded. "It did."
Eyeing his wife's slender figure, Scott grinned – well, more like leered. "Wanna come scrub my back?"
"Hmm..." Kate smirked. "That sounds -"
Scott wouldn't know what it sounded like because two other sounds rang out at the same time. The vid phone could be heard, with Kate recognizing the code for the office, even as DJ's cries echoed through the house.
"You get the office," Scott sighed. "I've got the mouth that roared."
"He must get it from you," Kate laughed as she headed for the vid-phone.
"Not according to your mom," Scott muttered, scooting from the room before Kate could be certain of what he had said.
Sitting at the desk, Kate smiled when Julie's face filled the screen.
"'ello, Madame Tracy…I mean, Kate," Julie quickly corrected.
"Hi Julie," Kate nodded. "I was going to call you shortly. Your classes end soon, right?"
"Yes," Julie agreed, curious where this was going.
"I was wondering if you wanted to join me in Kansas. The Bailey plant is going to be the chief manufacturing point for the new cables that were designed for…well, once your security clearance goes through, I can give you the details."
Julie looked at her calendar and nodded. "Yes. I am available to Tracy Industries until the end of June. Helen in personnel said that it was fine I was not available July and August, yes?"
"I was the one who gave her those instructions," Kate laughed, seeing Julie's concern that Kate would be unhappy. "I want you to make the move from intern to full-time employee by co-chairing the Genesis Software project with Alan. You two seem to get along very well."
"Alaine is a very nice person," Julie beamed.
"And Gordon…" Kate trailed off.
"He is very special as well," Julie smiled softly. "I know you are worried about my seeing him, Madame …Kate. But he understands that I have established…boundaries, shall we say. Sister Therese always said that was important with men. And if they do not respect boundaries, a boot to the head works as well as anything."
Kate, who had picked up a bottle of water and was taking a sip, began to choke and sputter before she could get enough air to laugh.
"Boot to the head?"
Julie grinned. "Sister Therese was one of eight children – and the only girl. She said it was safer for the male population of France that she became a nun. I was uncertain if it was due to her brothers or her very fast reflexes. One time a man tried to harass her when we were on a trip. Between a solid roundhouse kick to his derrière and a punch to his famille joyaux, we all learned – do not upset Sister Therese."
"Sounds like my kinda nun," Kate grinned. "I'll be in New York tomorrow, Julie. See you then."
Sitting in front of the darkened screen, Kate was lost in thought until a squirming little boy was placed in her lap.
"Once more," Scott grumbled, "Daddy will not do."
Kate laughed, cuddling her son and glancing at a yawning Jason who quickly accepted the silent invitation to find room on mommy's lap.
"Once Julie is on board full time, I can see doing a lot more work from home," Kate assured him. "You watch – as soon as I am here more, I'll be less popular."
"You'll always be number one with me," Scott murmured, leaning in for a kiss. "I still need my back scrubbed. Think we can score a babysitter around here?"
Kissing Scott gently, Kate sighed. "At this point, I'll even take Gordon."
"Great!" a new voice chimed in. Gordon, red hair still damp from his own shower and dressed in swim trunks and a tee, held his arms out for his nephews. "Come on guys, time to try out the kiddie pool, then Onaha has some homemade granola bars for snacks – well, mushed apples for someone," he laughed, tickling DJ as he left.
Kate eyed her husband. "You planned that."
Pulling Kate up, Scott kissed her once more. "Gordon needs to feel a part of the family too. I made that mistake with one brother once – I'm not going to do it again."
Thinking it over, Kate nodded and allowed herself to be led into the bathroom.
Two showers later, she would get her sons back and try to ignore that now they needed a bath. The smile on all three of the "little boys" faces made the extra effort worth it.
Daria Delgado stepped out of her rental car and looked around. Bailey, Kansas looked so…Normal. Scary normal. Like someone had called Central Casting and said "I need a wholesome, all-American town somewhere in the mid-west". It was what her hometown of Lawndale wanted to be.
Climbing up the stairs of a large brick building label simply "Bailey Town Offices" she entered and quickly found the sheriff's office…only to find it – and most every other office – had a basic sign declaring "Out to Lunch".
"What? Do they roll up the sidewalks at night, too?" the agent muttered as she left the building. Daria recalled seeing a diner across the town square – oh, God, had she just said "town square"? Maybe there would be someone at the diner who could tell her where to find the sheriff.
Passing by several people eating lunch, a pair of old men playing checkers and some toddlers running around in the sunshine, Daria moved quickly through the grassy area until she reached the diner and walked inside.
"No booths," a middle age woman said as she rang up a take-out order. "But if you want a spot at the counter, Bill has to get back to work."
"Aw Margie," whined the man who was apparently Bill.
"Now, Bill," a much older woman called out from the kitchen. "I know you like playing bachelor while Linda is off in Kansas City with the girls, but that young man you have working for needs to get a break as well and you've been here nearly an hour."
Bill sighed and stood up, tossing money down on the counter. "The Boss has spoken," he grumbled.
A few chuckled followed him out the door as well as the comment of "Don't mess with Miss Millie."
"Actually," Daria said, removing her sunglasses, "I was looking for Sheriff Landman."
"Jeannie!" the woman in the kitchen called out. "You have company."
Looking around, Daria spotted the sheriff rising from a back booth.
Jean Landman strode forward, holding out a hand. "Agent Delgado, right? We met at Scotty and Kate's wedding."
Daria grinned. "For a tossed together affair, that was quite the party."
Jean chuckled. "Yep. C'mon, you can join us for lunch and then you can explain what the FBI is doing in Bailey."
Following the sheriff back, Daria smiled at the sight of a giggling little boy – and his equally grinning father. "Dr. Landman, right?" Daria ventured.
Billy stood up. "Just Billy. And you're Kate Tracy's friend, right?"
"I usually go by Daria," she smiled back. "My parents were reformed hippies. By the time my sister Quinn came along they were born-again yuppies."
This got her a chuckle as she sat down across from the couple who now sat together against the back wall. "I don't think I met this handsome fellow," Daria said.
"This is Charlie," Jean said proudly. "He wasn't there back then. Heck, we were practically newlyweds ourselves. He's also Scott's godson."
"Yeah," a new voice popped in. The trio glanced up to see Keiffer Dutton stroll up to their booth. "I notice you weren't made godmother to either of his kids. Not good enough for a Tracy, are you?"
"Since Kate is Jewish and by religious law her sons would be as well," Daria said dryly, "that kind of eliminates any of us from becoming godparents."
"Scott Tracy married a- "
Daria stood up along with Jean, glaring the man down. "Finish that sentence and you'll regret it," the agent snarled, moving towards the deputy in a threatening manner.
"What do you think you are doing," Dutton snapped back.
Flashing her badge, Daria gave a shark-envying grin. "Federal trumps local. Try anything and I will have you busted to cleaning dog poop off the sidewalk – I'm sure I can find something."
"Actually," Millie said calmly as she came out carrying a dish she placed in Daria's spot. "We have a town ordinance to pick up your own. And Keifer Dutton, I believe you are still banned from here. Go on – head to McDonalds. And don't be bothering my customers again."
Billy looked at Daria in confusion. "How did you know he was one of Jean's deputies?"
Jean and Millie were curious as well. Being on third shift, Keifer hadn't been in uniform.
"Please," Daria drawled. "He tried to assault a fellow FBI agent who is also – at least at the time – the daughter of the Director of the Bureau? Every agent knew Deputy Dumbass."
The group snickered at the name Kate Eppes Tracy had given the man at the Landman's wedding.
Daria glanced at the plate in front of her. "Um, ma'am," she politely said to Millie. "I hadn't ordered."
Jean shook her head. "Mama doesn't necessarily get you what you want, she gets you what you need. But there is nothing bad on the menu, so eat up. And keep that wallet in your pocket, you're my guest."
"I can't…"
"You're here to help work on plans to make sure those bas-" Jean hastily eyed her mother who had covered her son's ears. "You are here to make sure the escaped convicts don't get near Alan Tracy, right?" When Daria nodded, Jean grinned.
"Well, that will make my life easier, so I would say it's my duty to buy lunch."
"Huh," Millie muttered. "Like you ever pay for lunch."
"Like you ever let me, Mama!" Jean hollered at her mother, already back in the kitchen.
"Gotta make sure you eat at least one decent meal a day, Bertha Jean."
The sheriff sighed and rolled her eyes. "Eat up and let's head over to the church. It would be the place to start."
Daria nodded. Her chicken salad sandwich was too good to do otherwise.
Alan smiled proudly as he watched his fiancée accept her diploma. Seeing the tears of pride gathering in Onaha's and Kyrano's eyes, Alan leaned over and pressed his own hand over their joined ones.
"Third in her class," Alan whispered. "And she was worried about going to a regular school after doing remote classes."
"She has made us very proud," Kyrano said tearfully. "Then again, she always had."
Smiling at Alan, Onaha kissed his cheek gently. "Both of our children have always made us proud."
Alan blushed and gave Onaha a kiss in return. He mentally reviewed his weekend plans, having made reservations at the Blue Ginger in Wellsley to celebrate both Tin's graduation and her birthday today. His family was already in New York and was making their way to Boston even as they spoke. Alan chuckled remembering his conversation with John, how the family had argued who was staying on the Island to "baby-sit" John and Emily. Sarah and Virgil were ultimately selected since they were the most skilled medics after Emily and if there were complications with the pregnant physician…
Shaking his head, Alan pushed any negative thoughts aside. Tomorrow he would graduate, his family there for such a major event making it even more special. The Kyranos would return to the Island with Jeff and Gordon, Scott was a question mark still but Alan - along with Kate and the boys - were heading to Kansas.
Time for the next major step in his life…For once, Alan smiled to himself, life was going smoothly for him.
Keifer Dutton stood in line at the local McDonald's. The fast food place was actually located on the highway outside of Bailey, at a truck stop across from the main entrance to the Tracy Factory. Truckers sat at the table, along with some teenagers – McDonalds being somehow "cooler" than Millie's Diner or the Dairy Queen on the other side of town - and an assortment of Tracy Enterprises employees.
Keifer sneered at the sight of Brad Billingsley, a former classmate of his, Jeannie and Scott's, now the plant manager, eating lunch with the head of HR and a twenty-something year old kid who was maintenance from his uniform. It wasn't uncommon to see management with hourly employees. It was Jeff Tracy's belief that this was the best way to keep in touch with his staff and his managers usually agreed with that. The few that didn't usually found other employment.
Looking around while waiting for his food, Keifer spotted two men, one in his mid to late thirties and another in his early twenties, sitting towards the back, obviously wanting privacy from the glares they gave a worker who cleaned too close for their comfort. Something about them seemed familiar…
Of course, he smugly realized. The two had gotten off the bus in town a couple of weeks ago. Keifer gave himself a mental pat on the back for his keen observation skills.
In the corner, Kyle Westcott leaned in closer to his brother.
"Money is getting tight," Kyle whispered, looking at his single burger and the fries he was sharing with his brother. "Our "friend" needs to cough up some cash and soon. I hate staying in that damn rooming house."
Jack Mitchell put a restraining hand on his younger brother's arm. "Kyle, the only other place would be the hotel down the road – and with the Tracys coming to town, there is no way we can stay there."
"The old broad who runs it thinks we are a couple," Kyle hissed.
"Let her," Jack said. "That way she won't guess and call the cops. As for our "friend", I called Western Union in Kansas City. There is money waiting for us there. We'll head into to the city on the next bus, stay the night, maybe have a few drinks at a bar. We can even stay overnight at a decent place. How about it little brother?"
Kyle nodded and gave a small smile. Jack always took care of him. Looking up at the TV, his smile faded as they showed a smiling Alan Tracy kissing his fiancée and talking casually to the senior Senator from Massachusetts who had been the speaker at her graduation from MIT. Following his brother's gaze, Jack gave his arm another light squeeze.
"Soon little brother," Jack said. "We'll get all we deserve soon. And so will they."
Kyle nodded again. Yeah, soon Alan Tracy would get his due.
A/N - and so it goes...
Alan - OK, so Gordon is becoming more reasonable, idiots are back and I am doing fine. So what goes wrong next?
CC - There are a lot of options Alan.
Alan - How badly will said options hurt?
CC - Mentally or physically?
Alan - I hate it when you answer it like that.
CC - I'm going to kill off an oc soon.
Alan - WHAT? Who?
CC - That's for me to know and you to lose sleep over.
Alan - Someone got you mad didn't they?
CC - Yup.
Alan - How's the old blood pressure?
CC - Must not be torturing you guys enough. Being put on meds.
Alan - You should have on meds a long time ago.
CC - That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all week. So sit back and relax - it's gonna get bumpy soon.