Disclaimer: I don’t own Thunderbirds, wish I did. This one’s for Boomercat as much as myself, our two favourite characters!

 

 

Late Night Chat

By Mouse

 

 

The bright silver and orange space station sat happily in its secure orbit. It watched over the small blue green planet below with ever-present computers, sensor’s, radios and just about every type of communication available to the species of man. It was on the look out for the that one distress call that came through occasionally, the one instance when all hope is almost lost and there is no other otpion left to save lives.

 

It was waiting for someone to call upon International Rescue.

 

But it wasn’t waiting alone. If you happened to look inside, past the mighty engines that kept her in orbit and supplied power to all her vital systems; past the oxygen generation plant that supplied fresh air and kept the place warm; even past all the emergency escape pods and gear that was essential to having a secure space station, you would find a very small habitation area. And in that small area you would find two small bedrooms, a living area and a very small workout space.

 

The living area had a small kitchenette, table and chair, pantry. Laundry facilites were off to one side of work out area. Both bedrooms were nice and neat; the only differences between the two were minor. One bedroom had a poster of a racing car on it; the other had a telescope set up by the window. There was also a reasonably large workshop, it walls awash with tools, spare parts and instruments. All in all, it was its own little self-contained world.

 

The main room of the station was the heart of the station. Against one wall were the large embossed words – International Rescue. A fairly large window was set into it as well, providing an every changing star scape plus a view of the planet below. Computers took up the rest of the room, radios, faxes, you name it. And finally, there was a chair in front of the main panel, which is where the current agent would sit.

 

At the moment though, its regular inhabitant wasn’t sitting there. In fact, he was standing by the window, staring out into space, his blue eyes slightly troubled as he looked out. Things had been very quiet lately on the rescue front and the home front as well. He had been on Thunderbird Five now for almost eight weeks straight. The last rescue Alan had gone on; he had broken his arm and three ribs when a large piece of concrete had fallen on him when they were rescuing people from an earthquake site. John had told his father that he was fine to stay on Thunderbird Five until Alan was well enough to relieve him. Scott had offered to come up but John had refused, saying even though he could fly Thunderbird One, Scott was still the best at it.

 

John gave a soft sigh and glanced up at the clock. It was way past midnight, and by rights, he should be asleep, but tonight he couldn’t for some reason. He leaned against the wall, folding his arms, resting his head on them. He was just in pajama bottoms, the starlight reflecting off his lithe, muscled body. His blond hair was messy and he gave off the aura of just being generally depressed. Sighing one last time, he resolved to make himself a hot chocolate and try to sleep again. Just then though, the radio beeped and glancing over, he saw it was a call from home. He went over to the chair and slumped into it, flicking the switch to accept the call. The screen came to life and he John smiled in spite of his mood.

 

Gordon was staring back at him, in his shorts that he preferred to sleep in, grinning madly. A mug of hot coco sat beside him. Gordon often called at odd times during the night, when all the other Tracy’s were asleep, to keep John up to date on the family going ons and sometimes just to chat.

 

Gordon looked at his older brother, and noticed the faint tiredness in his eyes, the slump of his shoulders, and the slight sadness in his manner. Last time he had seen John was about five days ago when John had called down to get a progress report on Alan. Everything was too quiet and Gordon knew that the middle Tracy brother would find that harder to accept than the others. Scott and Virgil were amusing themselves constantly with testing anything and everything Brains was coming up with. Alan was side lined so he had been spending some time on the mainland with Tin-Tin, having a holiday of sorts, so the youngest Tracy wasn’t about. Out of all his brothers, Gordon was closet to John, mainly because John always stuck up for him, spent hours and hours with him doing horrible rehab exercises when he hurt his back. In fact, John was the only one who knew how much pain Gordon was in during that terrible time. Out of all brothers, Gordon knew that John would always be there for him, no matter what. He knew that about all his brothers, but John more than the others. So, he was detirmined to make sure his brother was okay, and cheer him up if necessary.

“Hey Johnny! How’s it going?”

 

John couldn’t help but smile at Gordon’s upbeat tone. His younger brother was special to him, his entire family was, but Gordon held a special place in his heart.

“It’s going okay kiddo. What about you? How come it’s taken you this long to call me? Cat got your tounge?” John couldn’t help tease Gordon a little, it made things feel more real and more normal for him.

“Going okay. Haven’t had chances to ring because Father’s been in here late every night talking with his company board of directors, huge deal in the works apparently. Not sure what’s going on with that. We heard from Alan and Tin-Tin today, the lucky buggers are in Paris at the moment, attending a fashion show Tin-Tin wanted to see.” Gordon noticed the slight slump in John’s shoulders and studied his brother intently.

“That’s nice for them.” Gordon tilted his head slightly and looked at John.

“Okay, what’s bothering you?” John jerked his head up, his blue eyes studying Gordon’s brown eyes.

“What makes you think somethings wrong?” Gordon snorted.

“This is me you’re talking to Johnny. I know you better than anyone else in this family; I can tell when something’s bothering you. Is it the fact you’re stuck up there for at least two more weeks before setting foot on terra firma again? Or that you haven’t had human contact in almost over two months, and the food up there must really be getting to you.”

 

John sighed and looked back at his younger brother. Gordon knew his mood better than any one else in the family, so knew he was feeling down. John sighed and gave in; he knew that Gordon could be a real pest when he wanted something.

“Your right Gordon, I guess I am feeling a bit down at the moment.” Gordon titled his head again, his eyes concerned.

“Why Johnny? I thought you loved it up there?” John sighed and crossed his arms.

“I do Gordon, don’t get me wrong. Its important work up here and it allows me plently of time to study the stars. It’s just that sometimes, sometimes I just miss being able to reach out and give someone a friendly pat on the back, or ruffle Alan’s hair… just to touch someone I guess.” John glanced away, his eyes clouded with doubt. “I’m really starting to wonder if I make a difference up here you know? That sometimes if you guys even know that I’m around.”

 

Unseen by Gordon or John, Jeff was standing outside in the hallway, Scott next to him. They had gone down to Thunderbird One’s hanger hours ago to discuss some modifications and had come back to retire for the evening. They had noticed the faint light and heard the voices, so came to investigate. At John’s words Scott wanted to burst in and object, but Jeff shook his head. He knew that John would never, ever admit these feelings to himself, or to his eldest son. So, the only way to know how John was feeling was to listen in and then see what he could do later.

 

Gordon looked at his brother, surprised at his words. When he spoke his words were intense, strong and full of conviction.

“John, you make all the difference in the world. When someone calls us, yours if the first voice they hear, your’s is the one that calms them down, let’s them know we’re on our way. You keep us on track, by telling us where to go, what’s going on and who’s in trouble. You keep us all on the straight and narrow. When Alan and I were in primary school, who was the one who stayed behind to walk us both home. When I was in rehab, you were the only one I would let help me, because I knew I could be myself, and truly admit what was going on with me. When I told Dad that I wanted to be an Aquanaut, you stood by me. So don’t you ever think that I’m ever going to forget you’re around. You mean the world to me Johnny, to all of us.” John was stunned by his brother’s words. His next words came out as a whisper.

 

“You mean that, don’t you Gordon?” John studied his brother’s face intently, amazed and touched by the loyalty and love he heard in his voice. “You truly do, don’t you?” Gordon smiled gently, his eyes soft.

“Of course I do you idiot. I love you. You’re my big brother; you’re always there for me. It’s about time I was there for you.” John was left speechless by Gordon’s simple statement.

“I love you to Gordon. Thank you.” Gordon blushed crimson, clashing horribly with his brownish/reddish hair.

“Hey, what’s an annoying kid brother for but to help out.” They both laughed softly, so as not to wake the others. They then began discussing the latest Ice Hockey scores and Jeff motioned for Scott to move out into the kitchen.

 

Scott closed the door behind them, his face shocked at what he had over heard. He looked at his father.

“Dad, how could we have missed John feeling like that?” Jeff sighed as he sat down at the bench and tried to smile at his eldest.

“Sometimes I think we tend to forget John’s needs. He’s always been quiet, dependable, reliable and very good at what he does. Your all different in your own way Scott, John more than most I think. I think we’ve gotten so used to depending on that he’s okay up in the space station, that we’ve forgotten he’s a person first, not an International Rescue agent. As soon as Alan gets back on the island, I want him up in that station for at least five weeks. We are giving your brother a nice, long vacation.” Scott smiled, still feeling slightly guilty over how he had missed his younger brother’s mood.

“That sounds like a plan Dad. A good one.”