"How you doing down there, bro?"
Startled, John jolted awake at the sound of Alan's voice coming from their jerry-rigged comm unit, his eyes snapping open. When had he fallen asleep?
"John?" Alan called again and John made a grab for the comm, his action jostling Selene's head where it rested on his shoulder.
"I'm here," he answered, keeping his voice low as his fingers fumbled around the casing, trying to locate a volume control. He found it and turned down the output, not wanting to wake Selene who must have finally given in to the cold at some point and shifted closer to snuggle up to his side.
"Oh, good. I was worried something might have happened to you both."
"What could have happened? We're stuck in a mine tunnel thousands of feet underground, it's not like we could wander off."
"You could have run out of oxygen or something," Alan suggested placidly.
"Contrary to some opinions, I am not stupid," John snapped, still feeling groggy from sleep and not in the mood for Alan's attempt at humour. "If we had been in trouble I would have called."
"If you'd realised in time," Alan countered.
John rolled his eyes and carefully shifted his arm, which had begun to feel numb where she was leaning on it. Selene moved with him, her forehead creasing into a frown, her arm, which was a comforting weight across his stomach, tightening as if to hold him in place. Since she had been the one to make the first move, he gave into temptation, sliding his arm around her waist to pull her tighter to his side. Just to keep her warm, he reasoned, to keep her safe. But he knew he was lying to himself, he just wanted to hold her, to feel like she was his, even just for a short time.
"What's happening with our rescue?" he asked, desperate for something to focus on other than the way Selene curled herself even closer, her thighs resting against his, her nose brushing against his neck. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his skin and he shivered with her, but not from cold.
"Is it safe to talk?" Alan asked, not wanting to give away anything he shouldn't.
"She's asleep."
"Great. So, Dad managed to pull some strings with an old friend, Wilbur Zero, he's-"
"Commander of Space City," John interrupted, recognising the name. "I didn't know Dad knew him."
"Yeah, seem's they go way back. Anyway, he arranged for Virgil and Gordon to load up the Mole and make their way over there so that they can fly it out in one of their Fireball fleet. Gordon is going to stay behind and keep an eye on Thunderbird Two while Virgil travels with the Mole, the security is great at Space City but you can never be too careful, especially with the Hood on the loose."
"On the loose? You mean he's left the Moon?"
"Yeah, seems that way. Scott tried to intercept him but he gave him the slip. Left behind his co-conspirator to face the music."
"Co-conspirator? You mean Cosmo?"
Alan snorted with amusement. "That his name? The one that came up with your girl?"
"She's not my girl," John corrected, even though it twinged a little to do so and he hurried on, not wanting to think about it too closely. "Has Cosmo said anything useful?" Not that he expected him to, the Hood never left evidence behind, even with the people who helped him.
"Nothing, he doesn't remember a thing," Alan said, confirming John's suspicions. "It's the same as all the others, the Hood uses his mind control and they're powerless."
"Not everyone," John muttered, more to himself than Alan, his eyes sliding back to Selene. She had done the impossible, faced the Hood and beaten him at his own game. Her mind had been more focused than anyone he'd ever met. Not even Brains, with his phenomenal but often scattered mind, had been able to resist his powers. But she had, with pure stubbornness and her desire to do the right thing, which just proved to him how very special she was.
"What do you mean?" Alan asked, having heard him even over the radio. "Did something happen?"
John sighed, this wasn't how he had wanted to give up the information, but it seemed like there was no time like the present. "Selene did."
"Selene did what?"
"Resisted his control."
"Woah! Are you serious?" the shock and awe in Alan's voice was audible.
John nodded even though he knew Alan couldn't see him. "I saw it myself. He was right there in front of her, evil eyes blazing and she stood her ground and didn't succumb."
"How… she… that's incredible," Alan stuttered unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Yeah, she is," John agreed, giving in to the urge he'd denied himself earlier as he stroked a gentle hand down her hair, his fingers sifting through the silky strands. Even in her sleep, she leaned into the caress, her nose nuzzling his skin.
"Did you ask her how she did it?" Alan asked, ignoring his brother's obvious slip-up for now.
"I did, and she told me as best she could."
"Was it helpful?"
"Extremely, I think Brains will be very interested to hear it when we get back."
Alan was silent for a moment. He was trying to be good, he really was. He was trying to stay professional, but he was the youngest and the need to needle his brother was too strong to resist.
"Is she pretty?"
John stiffened, knowing he'd been rumbled. Damn Alan and his nose for gossip. He cleared his suddenly dry throat, calling on every reserve of inner calm he had before answering, "That's neither here nor there."
"That's a yes then," Alan crowed, and John didn't need a video screen to see his brother's smirk.
"Even if she is, it's not like I can do anything about it."
"Stranger things have happened, bro," Alan said softly, hearing the hint of longing in his brother's voice. John had always been described as the romantic one of the bunch, the dreamer with his head in the stars and yearning for a connection with someone special. He knew how lonely it could get up in Thunderbird Five, and he had Tin-Tin to talk to every night and knew she would be waiting for him when he got back down. John had no one and it was only now that Alan realised how much that might weigh on his quietest brother.
"Not for us," John argued. "You know the nature of our jobs, we aren't supposed to even tell people our names."
Yes, Alan knew the rules and the life they had all agreed to. When their father had pitched the idea, telling them he wanted to start up a rescue organisation that could save people who were ordinarily beyond help, he had explained the limitations their secrecy would have on their lives. They had known and they had agreed, but he sometimes wondered if they had actually realised just how it could affect them long-term. He was lucky, he realised now with a flash of guilt, he had Tin-Tin, someone who lived with them and knew their secrets, but his brothers didn't have that luxury.
"If it's meant to be, never say never," Alan tried, wanting to make his brother feel better. He'd thought it was something to joke about, his brother being stuck in a hole with a girl who had seemed ridiculously fun when he'd spoken to her, but he hadn't expected his brother to actually like her.
"I'm saying never," John said firmly.
Alan rolled his eyes, growing tired of the conversation. He'd been as supportive as he could and had run out of things to say. "All I'm saying is life's too short to not have a little fun."
"I'm not here for fun, I'm here to work."
Okay, so he got that his brother liked this girl, but did he have to be such a stick in the mud about it? If she liked him too would it hurt to relax a little, maybe pass a few hours in a less boring way? Who knew, a little action might lighten John up a bit and give him something to think about up there in space.
"Whatever," Alan muttered dismissively. "You've still got a few more hours before Virgil gets there, an unregistered debris cloud is passing through their flight path, so you do you." He cut the call before John could darken the mood even more.
"Brothers," John muttered darkly, setting the comm aside, at a loss of what to do now. Honestly, Alan had woken him up, started talking absolute nonsense and then cut and run. Wasn't that just typical? To fill his head with things he hadn't even been thinking about (well, not seriously anyway) and then leave him to it. How was he supposed to go back to sleep with all these thoughts whirling around in his head?
John shifted a little, his backside numb from the cold, hard floor, but found himself reluctant to move. It's the safest thing to do, he told himself. We have no provisions and need to stay warm. And she was warm, so warm that he couldn't resist giving her waist a little squeeze. It should feel awkward, to have someone cuddled so close, but it didn't. She fitted against his side like she'd always been there, comfortable and familiar. And wasn't that the kicker? He'd known her for (he glanced at his watch) just over twenty-five hours, yet for some inexplicable reason he felt closer to her than he could ever imagine. He shouldn't feel this way, he knew that, yet his heart wasn't listening to his more logical brain and, thanks to Alan's interference, his brain was currently packing a suitcase and preparing to join his traitorous heart.
He sighed, letting his head drop down to rest gently on top of hers, her soft hair cushioning his cheek. He inhaled deeply and, even through the tang dust from the mine collapse and the recycled air of the spaceport, he could still smell her shampoo, a fruit fragrance with hints of citrus and some kind of herbal note.
She must be exhausted, he thought, she'd been through a lot in the past 24 hours, both physically and emotionally, and hadn't even stirred during his conversation with Alan. Maybe it would be safe to say the things on his mind if only to get them out of his own head so he could try to go back to sleep?
"If things were different," he whispered, "I'd take you on that perfect date in a heartbeat."
He paused, tensed in case she moved, but she slumbered on, even emitting a tiny snore that he couldn't help but find adorable.
Slowly and oh-so-gently, he laid his arm across hers where it curled around his waist. "I'm going to regret not kissing you for the rest of my life," he continued by way of an apology, even though she would never hear it. He knew she had been disappointed, the painful look of hurt on her face at his rejection still clear in his mind. "Maybe one day I'll get the chance to meet someone like you and she'll actually know who I am and recognise me for me."
He closed his eyes, allowing his fingers to lightly trace the soft skin of her forearm. "But for now, for this one moment in time, would it be so terrible of me to wish it could be you? Can I pretend, while it's just us, that you're mine?"