Happy 10th Anniversary to Thunderbirds Are Go! To celebrate, I'm putting up the first chapter of the fic I've been working on for quite a while now (I wrote this chapter a few years ago!), and I'm so excited to finally share it!

Please note that there will be depictions of violence and gore later in the fic.

I hope you all enjoy what's to come!

Alan looked out of the window. The trees that lined the sides of the road were a blur of green as they drove past, getting closer to the campsite with every second.

"So, what are you looking forward to doing most when we get to camp?" Alan turned to face his brother who shared the bus seat next to him. "I was thinking I might try archery this year, or maybe space club again."

"Not sure." Gordon shrugged. He drew his attention away from picking foam out of a hole in the seat. "Probably go swimming in the lake."

"You always go swimming," Alan groaned, but he was teasing his brother, a smile forming on his lips as he waited for a retort.

"And you always go to space club," Gordon quipped back, grinning as he ruffled Alan's hair.

Alan whined in protest as he smoothed his hair back. Any response he was going to give his brother died on his lips as he felt the bus start to slow down, and he quickly turned back to the window in excitement.

Outside the window, the campsite came into view, and Alan sat up in his seat as a familiar joy washed over him.

It was already full of people as other buses had already arrived. The crowd outside bustled about as return campers searched for old friends, and first-timers tried to find out where to go. Alan itched to get out there, and all but pushed his brother to get moving off the bus as soon as it pulled to a stop.

Once outside, the two of them made their way to where the driver was unloading their cases from the storage compartment, where they found the rest of their brothers already collecting their bags.

"Hey, guys," Scott called when he saw them.

Virgil was next to him, wearing his neck pillow and yawning like he still hadn't quite woken up yet from his nap. He wasn't prepared for when Scott threw his bag at him, and he stumbled back as he barely caught it. Scott snickered.

Alan noticed his bag amongst the pile, and he was quick to grab it to save himself from the same fate.

"You guys remember where you're going, yeah?" Scott asked as he grabbed his own suitcase. "We need to get to orientation."

"Yes, dad," Alan groaned, which caused Scott to roll his eyes and Gordon to laugh next to him, which made Alan smile.

"Just don't get into any trouble this year, alright?" Scott sighed, already seeming tired and they'd only been there five minutes. Alan didn't know how his big brother was going to survive these next couple of weeks.

"We promise." Gordon sounded innocent enough, but Alan knew his brother. Trouble stuck to Gordon like glue.

Scott knew this too, but also knew there wasn't much he could do about it. So, with another sigh, he, Virgil, and John turned and headed off to their counsellor orientation, soon getting lost in the crowd of campers.

After watching them leave, Alan turned to Gordon with an enthusiastic grin.

"Hey, you wanna go and see what cabins we're in this year? Maybe this time we'll be in the same one!"

"Actually, I'm gonna go and see if I can find Clay." Gordon already had his eyes on the bustling crowd, barely seeming to register Alan's question as he searched for his friend. "Is that cool?"

"Oh, okay, yeah, that's fine." Alan's smile fell and he tried to not let the disappointment show in his voice. "See you at the welcome cookout later?"

"Sure," Gordon called as he already wandered off, not even looking back to wave goodbye.

Alan watched his brother go, and then he was left on his own.

However, that didn't last long as just a moment later, he felt a punch hit his arm.

"Hey!" A voice accompanied the pain.

Alan cried out and clutched his shoulder, before he spun around to find the culprit.

"Ow!" Alan exclaimed as he came face to face with Kayo, who was grinning at him. "Just a simple hello would have been fine."

"Yeah, but not as funny." Kayo cackled as she dropped her bag on the ground next to her, and looked around. "Where are your brothers?"

Alan felt a pang at the thought of them all leaving him, but he threw it to the back of his mind. He wasn't here to just hang out with his brothers. There was so much more to summer camp than that.

"They had other places to be. Clearly my presence is too much for them to handle," he joked, and Kayo laughed.

"Or they couldn't wait to get a break from you."

He knew Kayo was teasing, but that didn't stop the feeling of hurt at the possibility of that being true.

Kayo continued, unaware of Alan's spiralling thoughts. "I haven't checked out the cabin assignments yet, want to go?"

Alan shook off the feelings. He was being ridiculous, of course his brothers weren't going to be at his side the whole of the next two weeks. They spent enough time together at home as it was.

"Sure." Alan grasped his bag, and then took off across the grass before Kayo had a chance to register what he was doing. "Race ya!"

Virgil flicked through all the pamphlets and sheets of paper he was given, all with an abundance of information on them. He had a map of the campsite, a schedule of all the activities and events, a detailed list of all the dos and don'ts of being a camp counsellor, and a list of all the essential contacts they needed to know, which included the site owner and the local emergency services.

And that was only the start of the information he'd been given.

He didn't mean for the loud sigh to emit past his lips as he huffed and flipped open the next pamphlet, but it was enough for John to look over at him and take off his headphones.

Even with headphones on, John would know everything that the woman at the front of the room was saying. He'd probably already read through his stack of information. Plus, he had the added benefit of this not being his first year as a camp counsellor.

"It's a lot to take in at first, but you'll get the hang of it," John whispered as he leant over.

"But what if I mess up?" Virgil said back in a panic. "What if a kid gets hurt and I don't know what to do?"

"Virgil, you've been taking first aid courses since you were twelve. You're probably more qualified than most of the counsellors here," John tried to reassure him, but Virgil didn't feel too assured. He doubted that was true as he was one of the youngest counsellors there, but he also knew that John wouldn't say that unless he meant it. "Besides, you'll be spending most of your time in the art room, I don't think you'll have to worry about many injuries there."

"What if someone eats paint?" Virgil argued. It was definitely something that had kept him up at night, and why 'is paint poisonous?' was now on his search history.

"No one is going to eat paint," John said matter-of-factly, and hearing it come out of John's mouth made Virgil realise that he was being a little ridiculous.

Virgil huffed out a laugh, feeling himself relax a little.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"This is your first time as a junior counsellor," John continued. "No one's going to expect you to know what you're doing right away. If you have any questions, just ask me or Scott, or any of the other counsellors. No one wants you to fail."

Virgil nodded, letting the words settle in, and a few moments later he felt a little lighter. He knew it was just jitters at being a first time counsellor, and besides, before he was a counsellor, he was a camper. He knew this camp. He was just seeing it through a different lens.

"Thanks, John." He appreciated his brother's words of reassurance. He definitely didn't know where he would be without him there.

"You're welcome," John smiled, and then slipped his headphones back on as Virgil turned back to the speech he was missing out on.

"Hello everyone, and welcome back to another summer at Camp Redwood!"

The crowd around him cheered and clapped in excitement, and Alan joined in, already feeling the spirit of camp.

After finding his cabin, meeting his bunkmates, some of whom he thankfully already knew from previous years, and getting himself settled in, it was time for the annual welcome cookout.

This mostly consisted of rows of logs set up in front of a stage, where a woman dressed in a counsellor t-shirt currently stood giving a welcome speech. Usually, there was music and socialising later, along with the actual cookout, but for now it was about getting everybody settled and into the camp spirit.

"For all you returning campers, you may remember me. But for all the newcomers, I'm Penelope and I'm the head counsellor."

There were a few more cheers and whoops, which caused Alan and a few others to chuckle.

"All us counsellors are here to make your next two weeks at camp as enjoyable as possible, but if any problems do arise, then you can come to any one of us, and we'll do our best to help."

She pointed down to the front row where the rest of the counsellors sat, who turned around and waved at the crowd, and Alan spotted his brothers. He waved back, hoping they could see him.

"Now, everyone has a counsellor assigned to their cabin, who you've hopefully met already. This counsellor is responsible for…"

Alan let her words trail off, knowing that she was not going to say anything he didn't already know. It was the same speech he had sat through multiple times already, and his attention was waning.

He glanced around at the crowd of fellow campers. He recognised quite a few of them from previous summers, but there were also a number of new people he didn't think he'd seen before. However, there was one face he was searching for in particular. Gordon had said he'd meet him there, but Alan had yet to see him.

It took him a moment, but then he spotted his brother. He was sitting on a row near the back with his friends. They also weren't paying attention to the speech, as they were mucking around and giggling at something Alan didn't know.

With a frown, Alan turned back around to face the stage, ignoring the ache of seeing his brother having fun without him. Gordon didn't want to hang out with him, and that was fine. Alan was sure there would be plenty of opportunities to spend time with his brother these next couple of weeks, and if not, then Alan was still determined to have a great summer.