Title: The Death of Kallen Tracy
Rating: M
Summary: The month after Kallen's arrival on Skybase.
Notes: I did not expect Fawn's voice to be so loud in this… This started as an epilogue to Welcome to Skybase, nine pages later it is its own story… Mentions of attempted suicide and Swearing.

The Death of Kallen Tracy

2089

Dr. Fawn stared at the patent in the bed, in Skybase's cell block in horror.

The dead body of Kallen Tracy had just been brought onto Skybase – and it was healing itself…

When he wakes up will he still be a Mysteron slave or will he be the second to break free, I wonder… Fawn sighed as he looked at the grim face of Colonel Scarlet.

"I'm sorry doc," Scarlet said sadly. "I know you knew him fairly well from when you worked on Tracy Island."

Fawn smiled sadly, Kallen was a good kid and one of the main leaders in the group of Tracy cousin's, he was the one that broke up many of the squabbles between his male cousins and siblings and pulled them all into line when one of the adults or Scout weren't around to do it, his loss was going to be a massive blow to the family, "I seem to recall, you having a connection with the Tracy's as well," Fawn replied. "Did you ever meet any of Jeff Tracy's grandchildren?"

"I met all of them, once at Grand Roca, this was clearly before they had their Mysteron defences online, otherwise I would have been exposed," Scarlet answered. "It was just after Simone and I got married, and she was pregnant with Clara. My sister must have been whispering in Piper's ear about Jeff getting me a job away from Spectrum or Jeff wanted to give me an alternative career since I had a family to consider, because I was offered a job to command one of the, new at the time, Hatching crews," he sighed. "I may have taken Jeff and Scott up on the offer if things were different."

Fawn nodded, "If it wasn't for the Mysterons, a lot of things would have been different," he mused. "Do you have any memories of Kallen, he would have been about four, then, right?"

"Actually, I do," Scarlet muttered. "I'm pretty sure, he was the one following Destiny around like a little lost puppy," he sighed. "It annoyed his sister who just wanted to play with rest of their cousins."

Fawn looked down at Kallen's body, Kesha… Poor girl was going to be absolutely destroyed by this, while all the Tracy cousins and siblings were close, the twin sets were extremely so – to the point that one could feel it if the other one in trouble.

The body on the bed twitched and Scarlet grabbed Fawn's shoulder and pulled him out of the cell before activating the bars, as the body on the bed woke up.

Kallen, or the Mysteron using Kallen's body as a meat puppet, sat up and looked around the cell in confusion before looking down staring at his hands, "Wha?" he said, starting to panic. "How? No. No-no. no, no, no, NO!"

"Kallen?" Fawn asked, looking from Kallen to Scarlet wondering if the former's reaction was an act or real.

Kallen threw a shocked look at Fawn, "Edward?" he asked, before jumping out of the bed and trying to jam himself in the furthest corner of the cell. "Get away from me!" he screamed at Fawn. "I'm dangerous! They w-w-want m-me to k-k-kill…"

Fawn and Scarlet exchanged a look, it was obvious that Scarlet didn't know what to think about Kallen's reaction, this wasn't normal behaviour from a Mysteron agent by any means. It almost made Fawn think that Kallen was the one calling the shots, but he then remembered the report on the only time Spectrum was able to bring in Captain Black – Spectrum still didn't know if Black had ever broken free of Mysteron control in the first place or if it was another one of their tricks, they took back control of their agent the first opportunity…

"Oh god… Oh god, oh god," Kallen was in a full panic now, Fawn wanted to go into the cell and try and calm the young man down, "I'm dead. I'm meant to be dead. There is no way I could have survived a cliff falling on me, or being blasted off one… Oh god…"

Fawn made a move to try and enter the cell but Scarlet stopped him, "I know you want to help him doc," he said, quietly. "But he could still be a Mysteron, until we have any real indication otherwise, I can't let you in there."

"They wanted me to…" Kallen continued, who was now curled up in a ball rocking back and fourth. "I couldn't stop myself… Why couldn't I stop myself? Why do they want everyone in the family dead? We were neutral in all this… We don't take sides… What if they take control again? I'm a danger to the family… I can't let them take control of me again… Why didn't I die? I should have died… The family would have been safe from me if I did…"

Fawn decided to try and talk to Kallen again, "Kallen," he started. "I need you to calm down."

"Why are you still here?" Kallen snarled, as he looked back up at Fawn. "What part of I'm dangerous don't you fucking get? If they take over my body again, I could kill you, and there would be nothing I could do to stop myself from doing so…" He buried his head in knees, and started screaming.

Fawn looked at Scarlet in desperation, "We got to do something, Scarlet," he told the Colonel. "We can't leave him like this."

"I know," an uncomfortable looking Scarlet replied, as he rubbed his head.

There was a sound of a door opening behind them, and Colonel Blue walked into the room, "I have just given our final report to International Rescue," he said, solemnly. "As far as they are aware, the Mysteronized pilot of Thunderbird Shadow is dead, his body vaporised when Thunderbird Shadow's defences kicked in and blew him off the cliff face," he sighed. "I have sent Spectrum's condolences to the Tracy family, I guess you two will have to send your own when the family officially announces Kallen Tracy's death."

Fawn looked disgusted, "Kallen is right here," he growled, as he pointed to the young man in the cell. "We don't even know if he is still under Mysteron control yet-"

"What did you expect me to do Doctor?" Blue snapped back. "They witnessed his death live from his and Thunderbird Shadow's feeds to Thunderbird Five, they already know he is dead. Do you really want me to give them what could be a false hope that they could get him back?"

"But what if he isn't still under Mysteron control?" Fawn asked. "What's going to happen to him then?"

"We will cross that bridge if we get there, Doctor," Blue replied. "Now what is happening here?"

"We don't know," Scarlet replied, sounding irritated. "Kid is having a panic attack – if it's a real one, or a Mysteron putting on one hell of a show, we can't tell."

"That I can see," Blue replied, glaring at Scarlet. "What's with you, Paul? You look like your about join the boy in his panic attack."

Fawn blinked, and looked at Scarlet… He did look a little jumpy, granted seeing someone else that had been Mysteronized had to be affecting him, but if Blue was noticing something different about Scarlet's behaviour…

"I'm fine… Adam," Scarlet snarled. "It's just…"

"Just what Paul…"

"What the fuck are you guy's talking about over there?" Kallen suddenly yelled from inside the cell. "Who the fuck are your friends, Edward?"

Fawn looked at Kallen, who was still curled into a ball in the corner, but he was looking up over the top of his arms, "Kallen?" he asked.

"That's my name Edward don't wear it out," Kallen snapped back. "And since you are not taking my advice to stay the fuck away, you can tell me what the fuck is going on, starting with how the fuck I am still alive."

"Kallen," Fawn started as he moved to deactivate the prison bars in front of the cell. "I –"

"Stay the fuck away, Edward," Kallen snarled. "You and your fairy friends there put me in here for a reason… I'm a fucking Mysteron aren't I?"

"Fairy friends?" Blue hissed, while Scarlet rolled his eye's, and Fawn bit back a laugh – To refer to a Spectrum colour captain as a 'Rainbow Fairy' was a common sledge in the GDF forces, and considering that International Rescue had friends in the GDF, and next to no love for Spectrum, it was no surprise that Kallen knew it.

"I'm sorry, Shadow," Scarlet answered, before Fawn could. "From what we have been able to put together, we have determined that a Mysteron agent posing as trapped climber destroyed the cliff face as you tried to rescue him from it, killing you instantly," he sighed. "The Mysterons then rebuilt your body and tried to return you to your ship, only for the Thunderbird's defences against Mysterons to kick in an sent you flying of what was left of said cliff killing you again."

"That much I was able to figure out myself, Red," Kallen snarled back. "What I'm asking you is how am I still alive, because people don't normally survive a hundred metre drop without a fucking parachute."

"Retro metabolism," Fawn answered. "When the Mysterons rebuilt you, they gave you the ability to heal yourself from almost any injury, including ones that would that would be instantly fatal to a normal human."

Kallen lifted his head up higher, a horrified look crossed his face as the information sunk in, "What are you saying Ed?" he exclaimed. "That I can't die? That can't be right… There got to be away around this. I can't risk them getting control of me again, if they do…" he buried his face in his arms and knees and started rocking again.

Fawn looked at Scarlet and Blue in horror, it was beginning to look like Kallen did manage to break free, from the Mysteron's control, "Kallen, I need you to speak with me," he started. "I know you're overwhelmed-"

"I need you to stay the fuck away from me, Edward!" Kallen screamed back at him. "I don't want to hurt you, or any body else, so unless you or your friends there have some way to kill me, I don't want to know!"

Fawn took a step back from the cell shaking, as he looked at Blue, "We are not about to kill him," Blue murmured. "That will be up to the Mysterons, if he is still an agent of theirs."

Scarlet growled softy, "R&D, still desperate for a lab rat, are they?" he snapped.

"They always have been," Blue snarled in response. "Don't look at me like that Paul, you know I don't like it anymore than you do - I have a hard enough time keeping them away from you and Clara." He sighed. "I hope the boy has broken free because they are the ones that are going to end up with him if he hasn't and the Mysterons don't pull his plug."

Fawn shuddered, R&D would probably dissect Kallen like a frog, "If that boy ends up in R&D's hands, consider it my resignation," he snapped. "And I will be informing the Tracy's at the first opportunity in that scenario, so you are probably going to throw my ass off of Skybase to stop me."

"Mine as well, Adam," Scarlet agreed. "I owe Piper and the rest of the Tracy's that much."

Blue sighed dramatically, "We are all going to end up in court martial," he muttered. "Because I agree with you… You have a month you two, I don't care how you do it but find out if that boy is a Mysteron agent or not."

0o0o0

It was not going well…

While it had only been 36 hours and Fawn was fairly convinced it was Kallen himself and not a Mysteron, in control of his body, proving it was another matter.

The fact that Kallen was acting suicidal, and non-cooperative was not helping things.

From what Fawn had been able to piece together from Kallen's ramblings and his desperation to keep everyone away, the Mysterons wanted to use Kallen as an instrument to kill his family and destroy International Rescue. For someone whose job was to protect his family, Fawn could understand why Kallen was pushed over the edge.

But Fawn was desperate to pull Kallen back onto the ledge, he was a good friend, who had a full life ahead of him still, one that would probably last many years longer than his own, if Scarlet was any indication, and he wasn't about to let the young man waste his…

If only Kallen would at least drink something…

0o0o0

"Clara, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Fawn woke up suddenly from the desk he set up in front of Kallen's cell, to find the Cadet's Coral and Turquoise standing in front of it. Turquoise was standing near the controls to the bars while Coral was looking to enter the cell.

"He needs help, Danny," Coral replied. "Dad and Fawn are not getting through to him, I can't explain it, but I know he's not a Mysteron, he doesn't feel like Black or the other Mysteron agents I have felt over the years."

"Then what does he feel like to you, Coral?" Fawn asked sleepily, making the two cadet's jump.

"Er…" Coral started.

"It's okay, you are not in trouble - Yet," Fawn grumbled. "Answer the question."

"He sort of feels like dad," Coral answered. "When I normally sense a Mysteron agent, I get overwhelmed by this feeling of wrongness it makes me feel sick, but when I sense dad, I don't get that feeling," she sighed. "It's hard to explain, but when I sense dad he feels right," she looked at Kallen, who was sleeping in the cell. "He feels right to me, and he's been crying out for help since he woke up, I don't know if dad feels it too, or if he would admit it if he does."

Fawn thought about what Clara said and made a decision, "Let her in there, Turquoise," he ordered. "I'll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong," he reached out and put a hand on Coral's shoulder. "Do your best to get through to him, but if he starts getting violent get yourself out of there," he passed her some ice chips. "Try and get him to suck on those, he hasn't had any fluids in nearly forty-two hours, and I want to get a drip into him, but I need him to cooperate with me."

Coral nodded and entered the cell, and Turquoise raised the bars behind her.

Fawn watched as Coral moved slowly toward the sleeping man in the cell and gently shook his shoulder.

Kallen woke with a start, and spun around to face Coral, he tried to say something, but his throat was too dry for anything coherent.

Coral held up the container of ice chips, "That's enough," she said softly. "I know you are frightened, but not eating or drinking anything is not going to help you out either."

Kallen stared at her.

Coral shook the cup of ice chips in front of Kallen's face, "Are you going to stop scaring the Doctor and start sucking on these or am I going to have to shove them down your throat?" she asked. "I'm not taking no for an answer here buddy."

Fawn and Turquoise exchanged a look, this was not going to end well if Kallen got violent.

But Kallen didn't get violent, he just reached for the cup and took a couple of ice chips into his mouth, looking like he was a deer caught in the headlights.

"My name is Clara," Coral said, when Kallen had finished the cup. "What's yours?"

"Don't you already know it?" Kallen rasped.

"Humour me," Coral replied. "This is the first time we have met after all."

Kallen narrowed his eyes, "Kallen," he muttered. "Kallen Tracy."

"Now Kallen, are you going to be a good boy and let the Doc look after you?" Coral continued. "You are not going to hurt him or me, are you?"

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Kallen muttered. "But if they take control of me again…"

"They won't, not now since you have broken free," Coral reassured. "You may still hear them from time to time taunting you, but they can't control you – not anymore."

"What makes you so sure?" Kallen replied.

"Because my father is like you," Coral answered. "He was the partner of the Spectrum officer that first fired on the Mysterons – and was the first known case of Mysteronization, as well as the only known agent until now to break free of their control."

Kallen blinked, as he processed the information, "I was two when Mars was declared off limits," he said, after a while. "That was twenty-one years ago… You don't look older than twenty…"

"I have just turned eighteen," Coral replied, as she cautiously sat down next to Kallen. "I am half whatever you and dad have become, I have the same abilities as you now do."

The door to the detention block suddenly opened behind Fawn and Turquoise, and a frightened looking Colonel Scarlet came barrelling through, "Where is she?" Scarlet snapped at Fawn, as he walked toward Kallen's cell.

The noise startled Kallen who pushed himself away from Coral, taking care not to hit her, and curled up into a ball in the furthest corner of the cell. "Dad!" Coral snapped at her father. "You scared him, can't you tell he already at his wit's end, with everything else he's going through?"

"What are you doing in there, Clara?" Scarlet growled, as he reached past Turquoise for the controls, "Come out of there this instant! He could be dangerous!"

"He's frightened, not dangerous, Dad!" Clara snapped back. "He's no more a Mysteron agent than you are!"

"You can't know that for certain-"

"I do!" Clara snarled. "You would be too, if you trusted your Mysteron sense more!"

"Clara!"

"Clara," Kallen suddenly spoke up. "Go to your father, he's only worried about you."

"But-" Clara started.

"I'll let Edward check me over, and do what he has to," Kallen continued. "I will eat and drink something, okay? But go back to your father, I am not worth fighting over."

Clara looked like she wanted to argue with Kallen on that point, but she sighed loudly as she stood up, "Okay fine," she replied. "But Fawn looks you over now, no arguments."

Fawn had already moved to garb the gear he would need, "I coming in now, Kallen," he said. "Can you move back to the bed or do you need help?"

Kallen moved to get up, only to find not having eaten and barely drinking anything for more than 40 hours, after healing from being dead, had taken a serous toll on his strength, try as he might without the adrenaline running through his system, he didn't have the strength to get up, "Shit," Fawn muttered. "Kallen, is it okay if I get Coral's father to help me get you onto the bed?"

Kallen nodded weakly.

Scarlet looked at Coral and Turquoise, "You two are to stay out here," he growled at the pair, as he moved to help Fawn. "No arguments, you are in enough trouble already." The teenagers bowed their heads in acknowledgement.

Working together with Scarlet, Fawn managed to get Kallen back into the bed and set up a couple of drips into his body.

"Why do Tracy's have to be so stubborn?" Fawn muttered as Scarlet rolled his eyes.

0o0o0

Progress with Kallen was steady after Coral's intervention.

It took a few days before Kallen had the strength and the confidence to walk out of the cell and move around the non-restricted parts of Skybase under Fawn and Scarlet's supervision.

Having Coral around helped in that regard, she had Kallen wrapped around her fingers from the moment she met him it seemed, she stopped Kallen from retreating into himself when things were threatening to overwhelm him, and did more to coax him out of his shell than Fawn and Scarlet ever could.

Fawn had a pretty strong theory to why that was – he had seen how the older Tracy's acted around their partners, and was pretty sure the boy had a crush on the half Mysteron girl.

The fact that Kallen only started to get on with Turquoise and Amber after he realized he was not in competition with either of them for Coral's affections, only confirmed Fawn's suspicions further.

Not that Fawn thought that Kallen had even realized he had a crush on the girl – all Fawn could get out of him in regards to his feelings toward her was 'warm' and 'safe.'

Which lead to another problem with Kallen, he only truly trusted Coral and Fawn himself, and while he would talk to Scarlet, Blue, Green, Destiny, Oche, Gray, Turquoise and Amber, if the question got too personal, he would shut down the conversation.

He straight up refused to let Dr. Burgundy anywhere near him, even after Coral told him that she was okay and that she was not going to hurt him. It was the same with any of Skybase's mental health personnel be it therapist's or priest's, Kallen refused to speak with any of them (although to be fair Fawn had some trust issues with Spectrum's mental health department himself).

Knowing that he needed help, and not trusting Spectrum to give him the right advice in this regard, he reached out to his other mentor, Kallen's aunt, Dr. Willow Ling Tracy.

"I know this is a bad time Will," Fawn said, after he called her on his private line, a couple of weeks after Kallen arrived on Skybase. "But I have a situation with a patent of mine, that, while not going into too many details, has had his whole life violently uprooted and is refusing to talk to any of the mental health personnel," he sighed. "He only trusts me and the daughter of a couple of people I work with, and I was looking for some advice on how to proceed."

Willow sighed, "Mental health is more Belle's thing than mine, but you already knew that before calling me," she replied. "Send me, what details you can and I'll talk to her, god, we could use a distraction right now."

Fawn fought back a wince, he wasn't about to tell her the reason why he calling was because of Kallen, "F.A.B." he replied. "How are things going over on Tracy Island, may I ask?"

"International Rescue is off-line until further notice," Willow answered. "You were here when Scott died, so it's been very similar to that," an angry expression crossed her face. "Only it isn't," she snapped, suddenly. "Scott's death was an accident – Kallen was murdered, in cold blood, doing his job!" she threw her hands up in the air. "Kayo's been pacing around the island like a caged animal, wanting to go out and kill the monster's responsible for her son's death, John has had to put Thunderbird Three into lockdown out of fears that she and Alan will go after the Mysterons in revenge…"

Fawn stared at Willow in horror, International Rescue was not a military outfit, Kayo and Alan would be throwing their lives away if they did go after them…

"Keys has been silent," Willow continued. "She hasn't said a word, these past two weeks, neither has Alan come to think about it, and Scout…" she sighed. "Scout blames herself, she thinks she should have been the one on that Rescue – but One was down for maintenance that's why Shadow took the call…"

Fawn heard a strangled sob behind him, and he turned around, to find Kallen hiding in the corner of his office, "How long have you been there?" he asked, startled.

"What's going on there, Ed?" Willow asked concerned.

"One of my patents snuck into my office," Fawn replied. "Willow, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to call you back."

"Understood," Willow replied. "Call me back when you're free." Her hologram blinked out.

Fawn turned his attention onto Kallen, "How much of that did you hear?" he asked gently.

"Everything after, Aunty Will said I was killed in cold blood…" Kallen answered, softy. "I'm sorry for sneaking in but I heard Aunt Will's voice…"

"And you wanted to know what was happening," Fawn replied, understanding. "I called her for some advice in regards to you, obviously I couldn't go into any identifying details, but if I'm the only member of medical you are going to willingly work with, at this point, I am going to need help on the psychiatric side of things."

"That's Aunt Belle's field."

"I don't have Belle's private contact details."

"Ahh..." Kallen trailed off. "Scout shouldn't blame herself, if the Mysterons killed her she would be leaving Carp without a mother, Mike without a wife and the family without one of their leaders."

"Carp?" Fawn asked surprised. "I know Scout's married, but I didn't know she had a child."

Kallen looked up at Fawn, "Damn, I keep forgetting you've been here for a few years already and out of the loop," he said. "Scout has a son, Scott Jefferson Tracy, he was born a couple of weeks before grandpa died," he sighed. "The family's nickname for him is Carp."

"Jeff would have been thrilled," Fawn commented.

"Oh, he was," Kallen agreed. "Grandpa had more life in him for those two weeks than he had in years," he laughed sadly. "He kept running off with him, it drove Scout up the wall, we all thought Grandpa was finally improving after…" Kallen trailed off.

"But then he died," Fawn finished.

It was silent in the office for a while after that when Kallen spoke up again, "I am an uncle," he said softly. "Keys gave birth to twins, Lucille Onaha and Lucas Kyrano Hackenbacker, three months ago," he sobbed. "The day I died, was her first official day back on the job, she was helping Briar and Matt with maintenance on Thunderbird Five…"

Meaning Kesha probably witnessed his death… Fawn thought. Ouch.

Kallen suddenly sat up straight, "Oh my god, Mom," he said, as he stood up. "I need to see Colonel's Blue and Scarlet, as soon as possible."

"Kallen?" Fawn asked, as Kallen walked toward the door. "What's wrong?"

"Mom," Kallen muttered. "Someone needs to cut off Mom, there is nothing she can do against the Mysterons, other than make sure the Island, Thunderbird's and all other International Rescue and Tracy Industries personnel and properties are protected," he sighed. "You heard Aunty Will, she's angry and upset and definitely not thinking clearly and she is going to get herself, and probably Dad too, killed trying to avenge me."

"Kallen, you know you can't go back to the Island," Fawn pointed out. "For your family's safely more than anything."

"I know that," Kallen snapped. "And I would only do that if all other options failed, that's not what I had in mind," he ran his hand through his hair. "But it needs to be hammered into my family, that if International Rescue folds because of my death – the Mysterons win. That if any member of the family goes on a suicide run to Mars – the Mysterons win," he sighed. "The only way the Mysterons lose, is if International Rescue, comes back stronger than ever, that is the best course of action my family can take and I will do my best and make sure the Mysterons leave them alone, even if I'm not sure how at this point."

Fawn stared at Kallen, glad to see that the young man was setting some goals for the future, it wasn't Fawn's place to say it, but he was pretty sure Colonel Blue was going to make him a job offer at some point, as soon as he was sure that Kallen wasn't a danger to himself and others, "Come on," he said. "I'll take you to see Blue."

0o0o0

It had been a month after Kallen Tracy arrived on Skybase.

Dr. Fawn was sitting next to Kallen as he looked over the paperwork Colonel Blue had given him in regards to becoming a commissioned officer for Spectrum.

"…Basically, it says here if I agree to join Spectrum, I will be sent with Clara, Danny and Sean to Koala Base for training," Kallen was saying. "That in recognition for my work with International Rescue, I will be given the rank of Captain upon completion of my training."

Fawn whistled softly, the rank of Captain was very rarely given to anyone under the age of thirty unless they had worked for Spectrum for a couple of years and showed qualities of leadership, to be a Captain before the age of twenty-five, was quite the coo, "Is there any mention of the colour code you were assigned?" he asked.

"Yes," Kallen replied. "Blue wanted to give me a colour that reflected my past, but since Black was already taken, and has a bad reputation associated with it he chose another colour that acknowledged my father and sister as well."

"And that colour was?"

"Mahogany," Kallen answered. "Upon the completion of my training I will be known as…"

"Captain Mahogany."

Note's: Scout's Mike is NOT Paul's nephew, he has an Australian background like Fawn.