Sighing deeply as the hot jets of water hit his skin, waking the young man up slowly. The drips of water rolled down his tanned skin, massaging the slowly waking muscles ready for whatever the day was going to throw at him.

After a few minutes under the hot water, he reached up and turned the shower off, and pushed the door open. Steam poured out of the cubicle as he climbed out and reached across to the towel rail for the towel that hanged there.

Once the towel had been secured around his waist, the young man yawned and stretched pushing his damp dark hair back before walking out of the en-suite bathroom into the hotel room he was staying in. He had moved to a different hotel room when the rest of the family had gone back to the island.

Sighing quietly to himself, Scott Tracy went over what had happened in the last four days since John had been admitted into St Helen's Hospital in Seattle after being diagnosed with meningitis.

The staff had been helpful and kept Scott informed about any news, nothing really happened overnight until the first round where the nurse discovered that John had lost his voice.

Scott and the family had rushed over to find their brother very upset though he had tried his best to hide it but there was signs of shed tears all over John's face.

Since then his health had continued to improve, all apart from the disappearance of his voice. Scott had constantly been up at the hospital at his brother's side doing his best to cheer him up.

With the rest of the family back on the island, Lady Penelope had got Scott the room he was currently in now and a few days change of clothes, as they didn't know how long John would be in the hospital.

Scott gave his brothers daily updates but right now he was getting ready for another day at the hospital.

John groaned quietly but it only sounded like air escaping from his lungs through his mouth. He opened his eyes slowly before turning over onto his back from where he must have rolled onto his side during his sleep.

Once that the hospital staff was happy that John could help himself to the water kept on the bedside table and that the tasks came back positive then the drip had been removed yesterday allowing John to be able to sleep better.

Looking around the room, he found the room empty with the chairs neatly stacked in the corner where Scott had put them every time he left. It had only been four days that John had been in here but to him it felt longer.

The door opened and revealed Senior Nurse Joe, "Morning John, I see your brother isn't here yet... well I'm sure he's on his way" Joe said picking up the clipboard off the bottom of the bed.

John pushed himself up to a sitting position and reached over for the notepad and pen as he had soon discovered that not everyone was able to understand sign language, so he had borrowed one of the nurse's pads to be able to communicate with everyone until his voice returned.

Nurse Joe looked up from his notes on the clipboard, "Before you even start, the breakfast trolley is on the way here" He said with a smile before going back to his notes.

John rolled his eyes and placed the pad and pen on his lap before reaching across for one of the magazines stacked on the table seeing the nurse was busy with his notes.

Nurse Joe looked up again seeing movement in the corner of his vision before walking over, pulling a thermometer out from his pocket. "Before you get too comfortable" He spoke quietly earning him a tired look from his young patient who opened his mouth and allowed the thermometer to be gently placed in.

Scott walked along the streets wanting to stop at a few stores on the way to the hospital, as it was only a block away from the hotel. Even though they could afford the taxi fare, Scott felt like he needed the walk to fully wake him up in the morning.

Changing the bag over to his other hand, Scott accepted the polystyrene cup from the young man behind the till. "Thanks" He said with a smile and walked out of the Starbucks Cafe.

Sipping the first proper cup of coffee of the day, as the breakfast he had at the hotel he chose diet lemonade as Scott had soon discovered that he disliked the hotel's coffee. Sighing quietly as he waited for the green light to show to allow him to cross the street, he sipped his coffee as he waited with his other hand resting in his jacket pocket.

Soon the light changed and allowed the city's pedestrians to cross the busy street quickly to carry on with their journeys for the day. Scott amongst them, being careful not to bump into anyone, to save knocking his coffee out of his hand and either hitting the ground or covering someone in hot coffee.

Looking at the growing tall building growing as Scott walked closer, in that stone grey building that was better known as Seattle Hospital was his brother recovering from being infected by meningitis but he felt that there was more to it than just the illness.

John pushed the table away from him, the tray rattled slightly in the movement. He was glad that the doctor allowed him to eat some solid food instead of soups and jellies that John would have found easier to swallow.

Nurse Stevens walked in with a smile to remove the tray, "Well its nice to see you haven't lost your appetite" She said with a smile and walked over to retrieve the empty tray from the table.

John nodded and watched the nurse clean up before hearing a knock at the door, and smiled seeing his eldest brother waiting quietly at the door.

"Hope I'm not disturbing anything" Scott said with a smile leaning against the doorway.

'Hospital food, can' t wait to get away from that' John signed to his brother as the nurse left.

Scott let the nurse leave before entering the room himself closing the door behind him. "Don't be cheeky, at least they got you off the jell-o... or have they?" He asked with his hands full in putting the carrier bag down on the table then pulled a chair out from the tack in the corner of the room.

John helped himself to a cup of water while waiting for Scott to settle down then sipped it quietly. Once Scott had settled down, he placed his cup back on the table. 'Yes they have stopped giving me jell-o! That stuff was vile' He signed and looked at the bag. 'What's in there?' He asked then pointed at the bag.

"I stopped at a store and picked up a magazine guessing that you already probably read that a few times already" Scott said with a grin and settled down with a soft sigh.

'Thanks... did they call last night?' John asked before moving the pad and pen off his lap.

'Yeah they did, but they were all tired from a mudslide in Iceland. Wiped out the foundations of a gymnasium full of people' Scott signed for the first time.

They had all learnt sign language before they started International Rescue, feeling that they should be able to communicate in any possible way, this was one of the languages that Scott actually found easy to learn.

'That must have been challenging, did they get everyone out?' John asked wanting to know how the rescue went.

'Virgil said that they had a close call but they got everyone out ok, they were more concerned about you' Scott signed back before stretching his hands a little.

'They are?' John asked smiling slightly.

'Yeah they all are, Grandma has started baking ready for when you get out of here' Scott replied back smiling but soon faded when John's smile vanished and his eyes looked down at the blankets.

"John?" Scott asked out loud trying to get his brother's attention.

John looked up and shook his head, lying back against his pillows with a sigh.

Scott sighed and got up off his chair, "I'm going to try and find a decent cup of coffee..." He said before leaving John's room, leaving his brother to his thoughts.

Virgil sighed deeply and looked deep into the swirling bitter liquid contained in his cup. He was slowly waking up but only slowly, having just about five hours sleep after getting back from the rescue and talking to Scott.

He was so much lost in thought that he did not hear Alan and Gordon arrive to the dining table, Alan sighed and sat down at the table while Gordon got the coffees.

Jeff entered the dining room to find his sons slowly waking up thanks to the hot caffeine drink that was coffee. "Morning boys, the washing system has almost finished cleaning the mud off the Thunderbirds so all is left to do is checks. The uniforms are down in laundry to be collected," He said placing the newspapers down on the table before going into the kitchen.

Virgil sighed and fished out his part of the newspaper from the small pile. As he did so, the mail fell out including any magazine subscriptions that they had, looking through it his hand froze over a piece of mail.

Alan looked up warily then down at what Virgil's hand rested above, it was a blue wrapper covering a magazine. "Virg?" He called quietly as Gordon came back in and placed the cup of coffee down in front of Alan.

Gordon was taking a sip out of his own cup as he took his seat next to Alan and looked across to Virgil. "Something up bro?" He asked as he sat down and got the magazine that sat in the middle of the table.

Virgil looked up, "Yeah sorry, I'm fine... excuse me," He said rising up off his chair and took his part of the newspaper, and his coffee before walking out of the kitchen.

Alan sighed deeply and picked up his cup of coffee before taking a sip with a grateful sigh.

Gordon saw what the magazine was and put it back on the table with a slight splat. "I'll put that in his room later" He said putting the cup down on the table.

Rose Tracy entered the dining room to find two of her grandsons sat at the table with hot coffees in front of them. "Morning boys, ready to have some breakfast?" She asked her grandsons as Jeff came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee.

"Sounds like a idea mother, what are we having?" Jeff asked sitting down at the table and helped himself to the newspapers in front of him.

Rose looked at the back of her son and shook her head, "Gordon can you go and see what Virgil would like and Alan, can you sort the mail out please" She ordered her grandsons.

"Right Grandma" The boys chorused, Gordon rose up from the table and went off to find Virgil while Alan sorted the mail out as Rose went off into the kitchen.

Alan dumped his father's mail on the table before rising from the table and disappeared off into the main complex heading towards the bedrooms.

Jeff looked up from his newspaper seeing that he was now alone at the table; he could hear his mother making their breakfast in the kitchen behind him. Looking down where he had put the newspaper, he found the mail in front of him where it had been sorted.

'This is a mess...' Jeff thought rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Scott sighed and sipped the machine's coffee; he had wandered around the hospital and found himself at the far side of the large building. Thinking that from the back of the hospital he would be able to see the rest of the city, Scott was surprised to see a large park with trees surrounding the edges.

"Mr Tracy, I didn't expect you to be here," A voice said with a hint of surprise.

Scott turned from looking at the view to find Doctor Hall standing in front of him, "Doctor Hall, I just wanted to let John get some rest," He said switching the cup between his hands.

Doctor Hall nodded, "I see," He said quietly, shifting the folder tucked under his arm slightly.

"Something wrong Doc?" Scott asked before sipping his coffee with a since.

Doctor Hall grimaced, "A few of my colleagues have been talking about your brother's symptoms... and while most of them have gone thanks to the treatment we all think that the meningitis is only a part to why he has lost his voice" He said as he remembered their talks during the change over discussions.

Scott frowned in hearing this from the doctor standing in front of him; he turned back to look at the view. "What you're saying Doc is that there is something more to what is wrong with John then just that illness" He said in a half-quiet half thoughtful tone.

Doctor Hall moved to stand next to Scott, "That is what was believe," He said leaning against the rail that had been put up for safety reasons. "They want your brother to see a psychiatrist," Doctor Hall said with a sigh.

Scott sighed deeply. "All he needs is his family," He said before finishing his coffee. "We have one for the family... I should get back," He said running his free hand through his hair.

Doctor Hall was about to respond when his beeper went off breaking his train of thoughts. Sighing he fished off the device from his belt and read the message displayed on it. "I'm needed somewhere else... I will drop by and visit later" He said putting the beeper back on his belt and rushed off down the corridor.

Scott watched the doctor disappear into the maze of corridors that made up the hospital before putting the cup in the closest bin and made his own way back to John's room.

John pulled himself up and adjusted his pillows to help him sit up before looking around to find the room empty as usual. He sighed softly and helped himself to a cup of water from the table slowly feeling his ribs ache slightly.

'Must be where the coughing affected my lungs' John thought to himself as he heard movement outside of his room.

The door opened to reveal his eldest brother, putting the cup down back on the table and looked at Scott. 'What's wrong?' John asked seeing that there was something bothering Scott.

Scott sighed and sat back down in his chair, "I bumped into Doctor Hall when I went for coffee" He said leaning back against the chair. John looked at Scott leaning back against his pillows waiting for his brother to continue.

"His colleagues have been talking about to why you haven't got your voice... they think you should see a psychiatrist" Scott said rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Once Scott had put his hands down, John sighed quietly. 'They want me to talk to a psychiatrist? They're crazy!' He signed and leaned back deeper into his pillows with a slight yawn.

"I should let you get some sleep, I got to call home anyway" Scott said glancing at his watch. He knew that John would react this way to hearing about the doctor suggesting a psychiatrist.

John yawned and coughed slightly, wincing at the sharp movement caused by it.

Scott frowned seeing his brother wince, "Are you ok?" He asked worried to what caused John to wince.

'Fine... just a little tender that's all' John signed tiredly.

Scott chewed his lip slightly, "I'm going to do and find someone, need to get that checked out," He said rising up off his chair.

'I'm fine Scott, honest' John signed before giving up to another bout of coughing, holding his ribs slightly.

"You're not John, I'm going to find Nurse Joe" Scott said with a sigh and opened the door before walking out of the room to find a nurse.

John gasped for air feeling rough along his throat. 'Thought I lost this cough...' He thought to himself as he gained his breath back.

Alan sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly before looking back at the computer screen in front of him.

'Knock knock' Someone knocked on his bedroom door.

"Come in" Alan called leaning back in his chair going over the readings on the computer in front of him.

"Hey Al, just wondered if you wanted a drink," Gordon said with a slight smile coming into his brother's room.

"Coffee sounds great Gord... need one with all this" Alan said with a stretch rubbing the back of his neck slightly.

"What are you doing?" Gordon asked moving behind Alan and looked at the computer, and recognised the figures on the screen. "This is the readouts of Thunderbird Five," He said confused to why Alan had them up.

"That's right... the only think we can do as Dad won't let me up there with Scott and John away on mainland" Alan said with a sigh reaching forward and entered a few commands into the computer.

Gordon watched the screen change to an image of the planet, "I guess you don't trust the automated systems," He said with a grin.

"It's not our best work... I just feel better in keeping an eye on it even though Brains is probably doing the same down in the lab" Alan said with a slight smile.

"I see... come on, let's go and get those coffees" Gordon said with a sigh and patted Alan's shoulder.

"Yeah sounds good. Let�s go" Alan said rising out of his chair with a stretch.

"Sure" Gordon said and led the way out of Alan's room.

Scott waited in the corner of the room, his arms crossed tightly against his chest as he watched Doctor Hall check John over.

"I don't know where this cough came from but your ribs are sore because of this cough and from the meningitis... I can give you some painkillers to help with that," Doctor Hall said moving his stethoscope back around his neck.

"What do you think John?" Scott asked from the corner.

John nodded tiredly; 'If it will help' He signed leaning back against his pillows.

Doctor Hall glanced over at Scott, "He agrees" Scott translated.

'Has he ever thought of learning sign language?' John signed with a slight smile.

Scott smiled back, 'Don't be cheeky, you know they're only trying to help' He signed back to his brother.

Doctor Hall watched this as he continued to write his notes, "Do you all know this language?" He asked clipping the board back onto the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, we had a grandfather who was deaf so we all had to learn it" Scott explained seeing John helping himself to a cup of water and scratched his nose slightly, their own code for saying that he was lying. Lying however was part of keeping their secret organisation a secret, so something like their know-how of different languages was a part of the one of the many secrets they had to keep.

"Ok, I'll send Nurse Joe with the medication and we'll see what happens" Doctor Hall said with a smile and left the room, closing the door behind him.

'Are you going now?' John asked having left the cup on the table.

'Yeah... you need your rest' Scott signed back seeing John yawn.

John nodded, pushing himself down under the blankets feeling the tiredness overtake him.

"Get some sleep, I'll see you later" Scott said quietly and watched John fall asleep before leaving him to sleep in peace.

Virgil sighed and reached out for his oily cloth from where he was under the Firefly, adjusting one or two of the insulated piping that lay under the large firefighting machine.

If anyone walked into Thunderbird Two's hanger, they would find the Firefly out of her pod with a pair of legs showing out from under her.

"Here" A gruff voice said and handed Virgil the cloth, who slid out and was surprised to find Jeff standing nearby.

"What are you doing down here Dad?" Virgil asked before wiping the oil away from his face and hands.

"I came down to see how the adjustments were going" Jeff said with a slight smile.

Virgil looked up from where he dug around in his toolbox before grabbing the right tool. "If that is what you believe" He said before sliding back under the Firefly.

"We have to talk Virgil... about what you told me a few days ago" Jeff said finding it difficult to talk to his second born son while he worked under the machine.

"Well I'm a little busy at the moment father, I need to finish these adjustments before the next call" Virgil's muffled voice came out from under the Firefly.

Jeff sighed deeply and leaned against the large yellow machine, "The Firefly is safely out of the way here from the launch of Thunderbird Two... come out please," He said wincing in having to beg slightly.

The slight clanking stopped before Virgil rolled back out, who looked down at his feet then threw the tool that was in his hand back in the large toolbox. "It's not me that you should talk to Dad... the real person you need to talk to is in Seattle" He said getting up off the board and stretched.

Jeff sighed and rubbed his temples in a slight circular movement still leaning against the side of the Firefly. "Ok Virgil... I'll go and get ready, will you all be ok here?" He asked moving away from the Firefly.

"If you're talking about International Rescue then yes we'll manage but as a family..." Virgil shook his head with a deep sigh. "I don't really know... now if you excuse me I need to go and find a new pipe for the Firefly" He said with a soft smile and headed towards the pods.

Jeff watched his second born son disappear off to the other side of the hanger before he climbed back up the stairs to the service elevator to go and get ready for his journey to the mainland.

Rose Tracy, mother of Jeff Tracy and grandmother to the five Tracy sons was lost in thought as she worked around the kitchen preparing their evening meal, she felt someone watching her and when she turned around she came face to face with her two youngest grandsons.

"Gordon, Alan. What can I do for you two?" Rose asked her grandsons with a smile.

"Hi Grandma, we wanted to get a coffee if that is ok," Gordon said with a smile seeing Alan leaning against the breakfast bar tiredly.

"Sure, come and help yourself" Rose replied and looked at Alan, "How many hours sleep have you got over the last few days?" She asked seeing that her grandson was about to fall asleep on the breakfast bar, while Gordon joined her in the kitchen to make their coffees.

"Not sure... think about two possibly three hours, just haven't been able to sleep" Alan said tiredly and hid a yawn.

Rose sighed quietly, "I know the last few days have been hard on all of us especially with what I have been told by Scott, I'm sure that everything will become better than what it was before" She said with a smile.

"Now I suggest that you have your coffee and go and get some sun" Rose added with a slight command tone in her voice.

Alan smiled and felt more hopeful than he had in the last few days, ever since Scott and himself had found John up on Thunderbird Five. "Ok Grandma" He said with a slight yawn.

Scott sighed deeply as the elevator pinged as it arrived in the foyer of the Kingdom Hotel, as the doors whooshed open the people inside came out and allowed him inside.

Once inside the elevator car, Scott pressed the button to the floor his hotel room was located on and as the doors closed he moved back to lean against the cool metal of the car before it started its journey up.

As the elevator travelled up, Scott thought over his latest visit to the hospital and how John was with no sign of his voice returning. 'Maybe we do need to talk to a psychiatrist...' He thought playing with the strap of his watch as he watched the numbers change above the doors.

'Grandma is trying her best to get Dad to open up but no one on the island can help him... the only one that can has lost his voice' Scott thought stuffing his hands into his pockets as the elevator stopped and opened its doors at the requested level.

Scott took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he left the elevator car and headed down the corridor towards the hotel room registered to him for a hot shower and change of clothes.

Virgil watched from the balcony as his father's jet fly away from the island setting course for the U.S mainland. 'Good luck' He thought before heading back inside the main complex.

Rose looked up from her sowing that she was setting up in her chair, "Is everything ok?" She asked her grandson as he sat at his piano.

Virgil flexed his fingers before warming up by playing a few scales, "I hope so, now that Dad has gone to talk to John... do you think this would work Grandma?" He asked as he continued to play the scales.

"It has to Virgil, we have tried everything else and now with John recovering from meningitis and the stress of that causing him to loose his voice... we just have to have hope" Rose said with a small smile before starting her sowing.

Virgil smiled, "You're right Grandma" He replied before closing his eyes and lost himself in his music to try and relax.

Scott rested his head on the cool glass of the window, the headache that had built up in the shower throbbing against the coolness of the glass.

His shirt hung over his shoulders, the buttons undone allowing the slight breeze coming from the window blow across his bare torso.

Sighing deeply, Scott left the window and across to the bed flopping down on it and buried his head in the pillows hoping that if he got some sleep then his headache would be gone.

He was just about to doze off when his wristcom called for attention from its place on the bedside table; reaching across blindly he brought the bleeping device and activated it.

"Hey" Scott said tiredly pushing his hair back after digging himself out of the pillow.

Gordon's smiling face appeared, "Hey Scott" Thought I'd call ya... oh did I get the time difference wrong?" He spoke up energetically then noticed how tired Scott was.

"No Gordo, just thought get some rest that's all! What's up?" Scott asked moving about on the bed till he was sitting up with his back to his pillows.

"Oh right, well Dad left the island a while ago... I think that Virgil and Grandma has gotten into his hard shell" Gordon said, his smile not as strong as normal.

Scott frowned, "So he's on his way here, or to the hospital to see John... how long ago did he leave?" He asked his brother looking at the clock on the wall on the far side of the room.

"About half an hour ago... Virgil told me that Dad came down to where he was working on the Firefly down in the hanger" Gordon told Scott with a small sigh. "Why is everyone so cold Scott?" He asked rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"It's because we're all tired and worried about John, we have always been able to talk to him about our troubles and now its his troubles that he needs to be able to talk about" Scott said with a sigh. "But everything will be fine soon, we just have to keep the faith and hope that when his voice comes back then we will be a happier family" He said with a slight smile.

Gordon's smile returned, "You're right Scott" He said and looked off screen. "I better go, sounds like Alan just splashed Tin-Tin" Gordon spoke up with a grin.

"Ok Gordon, I'll call you later" Scott said with a shake of his head and closed the wristcom down before moving down his bed slightly to be able to put his head on his pillows.

'I hope I'm right... I know that we are all worried for our brother but he is always trapping his emotions inside himself...' Scott thought to himself looking at where he had set up his wallet to show a picture of the family before they had split up heading off to have their own lives.

"What am I going to do?" Scott asked and buried his face into his pillows.

"This is Seattle Control, identify yourself" A man called the Swiftwind jet.

"This is Tracy One requesting landing procedure" Jeff called glad that the quietness of the flight from Tracy Island to Seattle was coming to an end.

"Roger that Tracy One, stand by" Seattle Control spoke up again before silence took over the radio.

Jeff held the Swiftwind jet in a circular position over Seattle International Airport and waited for space to become available for him to land.

'This is going to be hard... I wish I had your help Lucille, it had just been so difficult to run all of this and raise the boys up by myself' He thought then shook his head clear of the thoughts of his long deceased wife and mother of his sons.

'But you weren't alone! You had help from your parents, you still have help from your mother' A voice spoke in his mind. 'Then when you buried yourself in your work it was up to Scott to help raise his brothers' The voice carried on.

Jeff shook his head, 'I tried! But I wanted to make sure what happened to her never happened to anyone again' He answered the voice back.

'The boys were there, they needed you to help them with the loss of their mother or a father they could turn to for advice instead of turning to each other for it instead' The voice spoke up again.

"Tracy One, this is Seattle Control" The radio blared into life.

"This is Tracy One, go ahead" Jeff called back, the radio interrupted his inner thoughts talking to him.

"Permission to land at gate eighteen, follow pattern eight to land and dock" Seattle Control spoke up.

"Roger Seattle Control" Jeff spoke up and pulled the jet out the holding position he had been holding.

John jumped awake and coughed hard, he didn't hear the door to his room open until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder helping him stay upright.

"Easy, slow deep breaths, nice and slow" The familiar voice said keeping his grip on John's shoulder.

John forced his lungs to take deep slow breaths as the coughing subsided until they left him exhausted, his vision blurred where his eyes watered.

"I'll go and get Doctor Hall, see if we can do anything for this cough you got" Nurse Joe said once he was sure that John was ok.

John nodded tiredly and started helping himself to a cup of water from the bedside cabinet, his hands shook lightly as his lifted the jug.

Nurse Joe frowned slightly but shrugged it off to John being tired after the small coughing fit that he had just had before leaving the room to page Dr. Hall.

'Hate this cough... why can't this leave me alone' John thought to himself as he leaned back against his pillows before sipping the water slowly feeling the cold liquid slip down his raw throat.

'Where did it come from... its just not fair' He thought as he continued to sip the water.

Scott groaned as he woke up from his light nap hearing someone knocking on the main door of his hotel room. He rolled over from his side onto his front, pushing himself up off the bed.

The knocking got louder as he got up off the bed and out of the bedroom; "I'm coming!" Scott called rubbing his eyes tiredly knocking the dirt out of his eyes.

Unlocking the door and saw his father there in the hallway, "Dad? Come in" Scott said waking up fully and opened the door wider letting his father into his hotel room.

"Hello son, sorry that I woke you up" Jeff said coming into the hotel room.

"No its ok father, was just getting some rest. I can call up for coffee," Scott said closing and locking the door before waving to the couch in the small lounge area.

"That would be nice Scott, have you had any news about John?" Jeff asked as he walked into the lounge and sat down on the couch.

Scott sighed and entered the lounge and sat down on the armchair, "He was just getting some rest when I left... he's picked up a cough" He said rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly.

Jeff frowned. "Everyone on the island is worried about him," He said in a low voice.

Scott opened his eyes and looked at his father waiting for him to finish.

Jeff saw this and sighed, "I am worried too, it is unlike any of you to button anything up for so long" He said, saying what was on his mind.

Scott frowned and got up onto his feet, and crossed over to where the window was, allowing the person looking out of the window. "How can you tell that John is like the rest of us? He is more complex than any of us," He said keeping his voice clear even though his back was to his father.

"Now hold on Scott -" Jeff said but was cut off by Scott, who had turned around to face his father glaring darkly.

"No Dad, I'm sorry but you have put our brother down time after time even after coming back from a rescue! We have turned to him for help with any fights that broke out between us or when we needed a different opinion while out there in a danger zone" Scott said keeping his voice low and sharp.

Jeff sighed and waited for Scott to finish venting his anger to him.

"I know that he loves being up in Thunderbird Five amongst the stars but even John has his limits, I know that when you tell him that he would be up there longer because you can't afford to send someone up there to replace him so he can spend time not only down on the island for some much needed sun but amongst his family he loves and we love having him amongst us" Scott carried on pacing slightly, his breath a little sharp.

Jeff watched his eldest son pace while telling him what his inner conscience had been telling him since he landed at Seattle International Airport.

Scott groaned and crashed down onto the armchair, "But right now instead of being fit and healthy amongst us back at the island, John is in that hospital amongst strangers without a voice" He said resting his head in his hands, his fingers tangled up amongst his fringe of his hair.

Jeff sighed quietly, "So maybe the cough is a sign that his voice is coming back... and Scott, it's more complicated than it seems" He said with a soft moan as he got back up on his feet and walked over to the window.

Scott looked at his watch before looking at the figure of his father. "We have a few hours until the next visiting hours start, so talk" He said getting comfortable in the armchair and watched his father.

John rubbed his eyes tiredly with a small rough sigh as he read over the menu again, checking what he had chosen hoping that the food he had chosen had some taste.

He coughed lightly as he put the menu on the cabinet and leaned back against his pillows before pulling the swing table over that held his magazine that Scott had got him along with the notepad covered in diagrams and calculations he wanted to try himself.

The door opened to reveal Nurse Joe, "Hello there John, how are you feeling now?" He asked seeing John looking up from reading an article in the magazine and flipped his notepad to a clean page before writing a brief note.

Nurse Joe walked over and looked at the notepad; "Well John, at least the antibiotics that we gave you are helping with the cough" He said with a smile seeing John nod and wrote down his response.

"We think that this cough has been brought from someone or that your voice is trying to return" Nurse Joe said after reading the response on the notepad.

John sighed raspily leaning heavily against the pillows behind his back half looking at the article in front of him, playing with the pen in his fingers.

Nurse Joe looked up from where he was writing his notes on the clipboard, "I'll let you get some rest before visiting hours start as I'm sure your brother will be back then" He said with a smile before finishing his notes and clipped the clipboard back on the bed.

John held out the form he had recently filled out for Nurse Joe to take as he flipped the notepad pages back to his diagrams and calculations.

Nurse Joe glanced at them as he took the form and shook his head as he left the room leaving the blonde young man to his magazine.

Jeff waited for Scott as he had disappeared into the large shop on the ground floor of the large hospital. Jeff fidgeted nervously as people around him went on their way, a mixture of visitors, patients and hospital staff.

"Ok Dad, let's go" Scott said emerging from the shop carrying a brown paper bag, the contents unknown to Jeff as they navigated through the traffic of people.

"What's that for?" Jeff asked wondering what his son up to.

Scott pressed the elevator call button, "I found out that this elevator comes out just outside of the ward John is in" He said ignoring Jeff's question.

Jeff nodded and remained silent as they waited for the elevator, which arrived with a slight ping. The elevator ride up was too silent with only the sound of the elevator until they finally arrived on the correct floor.

"Let's go... better wait outside so that I can tell John that you're here" Scott said tightening the grip on the paper bag as he left the elevator with Jeff following close behind.

"Mr Tracy, we have given your brother some antibiotics" Nurse Joe said as they entered the ward from where he had come out from a private room, "So he might be a little sleepy from them" He said joining them as they walked down the corridor.

"Thanks Nurse Joe, we won't keep him long then," Scott said with a smile.

"Ok, I'll see you later" Nurse Joe said before leaving them, entering his office.

Scott smiled and opened the door to find John awake and writing on the notepad in front of him. "Hey bro, having fun?" He asked setting the bag down next to the magazine.

John put the pen down and looked in the bag, 'Grapes?' He signed, 'What are these for?' John signed again wondering what his brother was up to.

"Peace offering� just that he's come here to talk to you" Scott said wondering what John's reaction was going to be.

'What does he want?' John asked before shifting a little.

Scott sighed, "He just wants to talk John, he told me why you stayed up there," He said before helping himself to a grape from the bag.

John coughed lightly not looking at his brother lost in thought before lifting his hands up to sign only to be taken over by a deep chesty cough causing him to wrap his arms around his stomach.

Scott walked forward and placed his hands on John's shoulders to help him stay upright as the cough continued, "Easy John, its ok" Scott said above the coughing as his brother tried to calm him breathing down.

What the two brothers didn't hear was the door to John's room open and Jeff stepping inside slightly, he was shocked to see Scott supporting John as the younger brother continued to cough while Scott held him back.

Eventually the coughing subsided once again leaving John slowly and raspily gasping for breath, Scott got a cup of water and helped his brother to take small sips.

"Are you ok now John?" Scott asked placing the half-full cup down on the table.

John nodded and noticed their father standing just inside the doorway. "Y-you might as well come in Dad," He said croakily and quietly in an almost whisper.

Jeff sighed and entered the room properly, "Son we need to talk" He said inwardly glad that his son had his voice back.

John nodded, "We do Dad..." He replied in the same croaky and quiet voice.

Chapter Four

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