Scott sighed breaking the shocked silence, "Thanks... really thanks,” He said running through what had happened during their fast and emotionally high discussion.

"Should go after him" Virgil muttered looking away from his brothers and father, out of the large glass panels showing the views of the island before seeing the ocean.

"But I... we don't know where he goes" Alan spoke up looking at their father who was lost in thought, his eyes looking down at the desk but showed conflicting emotions.

"Give him time Alan, why don't we leave father to his thoughts" Gordon said with a soft smile resting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Scott sighed and left the office with Virgil following closely behind him, "Any thoughts you would like to share Scott?" Virgil's voice asked, penetrating his thoughts.

Scott sighed, "It's nothing Virg! Just that I knew he was uncomfortable with coming back to the island but to see him act like that back there!" He said remembering how fidgety in his seat during the flight back here to the island John had been to the small tantrum he had before leaving the room.

Virgil nodded and sighed before stopping in the middle of the corridor, "I think that we should shut down the organisation... while you and John were away on your small vacation. I noticed that some long time maintenance on Thunderbird Two's engines was needed" He said putting his hands into his pockets.

"It's like John said, we've got to find out how to be a family not the team that we have become" Scott said turning to face Virgil then nodded down to the way they had just came from. "Let's go and tell the old man, see what he has to say about the idea..." He said with a sigh and hoped that John was ok.

John ran along the path of the jungle running to the beach on the north side of the island, trying to leave everything behind him everything he had thought and said since deciding to return to the island.

'I should have never come back! How could I think, how could I believe that he would have changed!' He thought to himself as his feet pounded on the path. His heart beating in his ears and his breath coming in and out of his lungs at a fast pace as he continued to run through the jungle to the beach he could get away from the people of the island.

The dim light of the tropical sun fighting through the canopy above the blonde young man as he continued to run and smiled with a small sigh with a long raspy breath from his lungs as he saw the sandy white beach that held his most secret night time hangout.

The bright tropical light blinded John at first but soon his eyes adjusted to see the bright sands that made up the beach with one or two stones poking out to offer seats to those who did not wish to sit on the sand. He crossed over to one of the rocks and sat up on it, staring out into the ocean while getting his breath back from the long run from the main house to here.

'I should really leave... I don't know why I even came back' John thought as he continued to stare out into the ocean, pulling up one of his legs and rested his chin on his knee leaving one of his legs to swing along the side of the rock. 'Oh mom... what would you do' He thought to himself closing his eyes feeling them burn behind his shut lids.

Gordon dumped the plastic ice cream container in front of Alan and offered him a spoon, which he took gratefully and silently before taking a spoonful of ice cream.

"Can all problems be solved by triple chocolate ice cream?" Alan asked as Gordon sat down next to him and helped himself to a spoonful.

"I don't know but it’s worth a shot... it’s a nice sugar boost" Gordon said before eating his spoonful of ice cream.

"Do you think that John will stay?" Alan asked stirring the ice cream in the container a little.

Gordon looked down at the table, 'What is more important to you? Your precious organisation or your family?' John's voice echoed in his mind. "I think he won't... think that there will be no International Rescue until we are united as a family" He said helping himself to some more ice cream.

"I know Gordon, do you think Scott and Virgil feel the same way?" Alan asked before taking another mouthful of chocolate ice cream.

"If we know Virgil then yes, he would feel the same way... Scott probably knew that this would happen" Gordon answered playing with the slowly melting ice cream in the container, stirring it up.

Alan sighed and rose up from the table and dug around in the fridge, pulling out two cans of soda. "I know... though Thunderbird Five's automatic systems need some work if it is to stay offline for a few more months" He said putting a can on the table before popping his own can open.

"Guess we just have to wait and see" Gordon said with a deep sigh and opened his own can of soda before taking a long drink from it.

Jeff rested his chin on his hands going over what his two older sons had just told him, who both now stood in front of him waiting for his answer. "Ok boys I will make an announcement to the media telling them that International Rescue will be suspended until further notice due to heavy maintenance" He said opening his eyes and leaned back into the back of his chair.

"Great Dad, I'll start work on Thunderbird One later... but right now I need to go and find my brother!" Scott said with a smile and rushed off out of the main house, into the jungle.

Virgil watched his brother disappear to find where ever John had gone and hoped that Scott would be able to help their brother. "Everything will be ok son" Jeff's voice said from behind him.

"How can you believe that father? First they find him seriously sick up in that damn satellite so we all had to go to Seattle, then he looses his voice and shuts us all out except Scott... and now... well now we're seriously messed up" Virgil said clenching his hands into fists.

Jeff sighed from his place at his desk, "I know we are Virgil... that's why we are suspending the organisation,” He said rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly with the need of coffee showing slightly.

"That won't be enough to reunite this family father, it never will" Virgil said before leaving the office apologising to his grandmother as he headed up to the bedrooms to change into his gym clothes.

"You have a big mess here Jeff Tracy" Rose Tracy said as she came into the room.

Scott walked through the jungle with his hands ready to catch his fall in case he found a loose tree root or to move a rogue branch that blocked the path, though his mind was wandering over the last few months. He thought over from when he found John up in Thunderbird five to discovering that he had meningitis, to the small break they had had together in his old cabin where Scott took his breaks or went fishing with one of his brothers.

Blinking from the sudden brightness after the shady atmosphere of the jungle canopy, Scott could hear the ocean and felt his feet sink slightly in the soft sand before the spots disappeared from his vision to find John sat up on a rock with the shade of some long trees that made part of the jungle resting overhead keeping John cool.

"John?" Scott called softly as he continued to walk towards John, he could see that John had his face hidden in his legs but had fallen asleep from what like exhaustion. 'Oh John...' Scott thought to himself with a sigh.

John moaned in his sleep and moved his face away from Scott and pulled his legs up closer before sighing slightly. This caused Scott to walk around to see John face to face, he was startled to see dried tear marks down his cheeks and his eyes a little red, the obvious signs that John had been crying before falling asleep.

"John" Scott called softly shaking John's shoulder slightly to wake his brother up from his sleep.

John moaned as he woke up and coughed slightly as he woke up more to find Scott looking at him with worry and shock. "S-Scott?" He croaked with a slight cough.

"Better now?" Scott asked with a slight smile as John moved to make room on the rock for his brother, who continued to look out at the ocean and rubbed his eyes to clean the grit of tiredness and dried tears.

John nodded slightly, "A little... but I don't know if I can stay here Scott,” He said as he continued to look out to the ocean, his hands clenching onto the knees of his jeans.

"Relax Johnny, Dad has put the rescue organisation on suspension so that we got time to just be ourselves and not flying off to different parts of the world" Scott said resting a hand on his younger brother's shoulder for comfort and support.

"Oh? I guess he'll blame that on me... like he did when Thunderbird One's engines got clogged up with ash" John said with a deep sigh, not showing any sign of moving away from looking out at the ocean.

"That wasn't your fault John and you know it! It was his for sending you the wrong co-ordinates, he couldn't read 'five's scanners if he programmed them himself!" Scott said as he jumped off the rock and stood in front of John, holding his hands tightly. "Listen to me bro, no matter what I'm still your brother first and nothing else! I know that the others need us too but I'm sure that they will back me up... grandma too all the way,” He said looking straight into John's blue eyes.

"Scott..." John spoke softly, his blue eyes shinning with unshed tears before Scott moved his hand away to dig into his pocked of his trousers, before taking something that John couldn't make out then pressed into his own hand.

"Take her, I can always use one of the other jets for a while" Scott said as he moved his hand away revealing the keys to his own private jet knowing that John didn't have one of his own, as he was hardly planet side for more than a week at the most.

"I can't Scott; I know how precious Lauren is to you!" John said stunned that Scott had just handed his personal jet to him.

"Don't worry Johnny, I know that you will take good care of her, just go and pack what you think you will need... she's all fuelled up and ready to go!" Scott's voice was quivering slightly but his eyes shone determination.

"I will Scott... thank you" John said before hugging his brother and rushed off into the jungle.

Virgil pounded at the punching bag that hung from the ceiling of the gym; his hands wrapped up and covered in chalk to protect them from the rough leather that made up the punching bag that he was currently pounding.

Gordon and Alan walked into the gym to work out themselves only to find Virgil pounding away at the bag with pure emotion written all over his face and pulsing in his flexing muscles as he hit the punching bag with every hard punch.

"Um... think we better go for a swim and leave him here instead of trying to work around him like this" Gordon said pushing Alan back of out of the gym.

"But we've worked out along side Virgil before" Alan protested as the door closed behind Gordon.

"Yeah but not like this Al, trust me when I say that things can get ugly when he gets disturbed while on a temper control mission" Gordon replied speaking from experience.

"Ok Gordo, if you're sure..." Alan said with a sigh and led the way back to their rooms to change into their swimming gear instead of their gym clothes.

Sighing deeply as he did up his shirt, the young man sighed and looked across to his desk, looking at all of his scribbled notes and drawings and diagrams but most of his attention focused on the small photos that were framed and covered the small shelf above his desk.

Crossing over to them as he continued to slowly button up his shirt, a small smile lit his tired face as he looked over carefully at each picture but the smile faded as he continued to look at the different pictures until it had faded all together.

The pictures showed the Tracy family over the years, the first picture just showed them as a happy family with all happy smiles and hugs before the next showed the family with smiles but these smiles seemed forced and didn’t reach the eyes as it did in the previous photo, this was a time after their mother’s death. The young man could tell this because of the signs of tiredness showed in their father’s eyes as well as Scott and John’s teenage faces.

The third picture showed them when they reunited for their father’s revealing of the organisation, looking at the photo the young man could see uncertainty in John’s eyes and slight concern in the others. The last and final picture showed the five Tracy sons finally reunited to start the organisation for the very first time and only now could he see the tough masks written on their faces.

Scott sighed as he moved to sit at the desk and sun his head in his hands with his elbows on the edge of it. ‘It’s been two months… the birds are almost ready to go again but can we do it without John?’ He thought to himself, as he looked down at the plans of Thunderbird One’s main body.

A knock disturbed Scott out of his thoughts, “Come in” He called with a tired sigh.

The door opened to reveal Virgil managing two cups of coffee, “Coffee?” He asked with a slight smile as he entered Scott’s room, closing the door behind him.

“Could go for something stronger but this will do, thanks Virg” Scott said with a grateful smile and took one of the cups off his younger brother.

“Told Dad about the bug we found in five’s main system, he’s going to get Brains to look into it once he’s finished with four’s checks” Virgil said as he sat down on Scott’s bed with a sigh before sipping on some of his coffee. “It’s not the same is it” He said quietly, looking into his coffee.

Scott looked up from looking into his own coffee smelling the hot caffeine drink allowing it to help him wake up from the affects of being up in space working along side Virgil and Alan to adjust Thunderbird Five’s automated systems Jeff wasn’t letting anyone else up on the satellite alone.

“It’s not… but we got to carry on saving lives as John will be back” Scott said before sipping his own coffee, “Where is Gordon and Alan?” He asked clearing his desk up a little to make room for his cup.

“Hitting the kitchen, where they always are” Virgil said shaking his head slightly.

“Yeah that’s true, though I have no idea how you guys can eat those mountains that you call sandwiches” Scott said with a small smile, turning to face Virgil slightly.

“Funny, I caught you eating someone’s cookie dough stash…” Virgil replied with a grin and pulled a battered envelope out of his pocket, “He left this for me… saying that he wants me to look after Gordon and Alan” He said handing the letter to Scott for him to read.

Gordon sighed from his place at the balcony that overlooked the pool; he looked out of the view below to the distant ocean leaving his half eaten sandwich on the table while he got lost in his thoughts.

“Gordon, is everything ok?” Tin-Tin asked softly coming onto the balcony and heard the redheaded young man sigh again before she joined his side.

“Hey Tin-Tin, yeah I’m fine… just thinking that’s all” Gordon said not taking his eyes away from the view of the distant ocean.

“Want to talk about it? Having difficulty in keeping up with Brains and Alan down in the laboratory” Tin-Tin asked with a slight smile resting her hands on the rail of the balcony.

“Where to start Tin… everything but our family is coming back together, Scott and Virgil are there for us and so is Grandma but its still not right” Gordon said as he leaned against the rail a little harder.

“That John is away from the island?” Tin-Tin suggested joining Gordon, looking out at the distant ocean.

“Yeah it is, but he told me not to worry and that it isn’t my fault or any of our faults that this had happened” Gordon said as he turned around and put his back to the view, carefully resting his back on the rail.

Tin-Tin looked at Gordon, remembering the day when John had returned but then a few hours later left again but this time by himself. It had upset everybody while Jeff had ordered Scott to bring him back but the eldest son refused and told his father exactly what had happened on the beach.

That had been two months ago now and they were getting ready to bring the organisation back online, knowing that John wherever he may be would want.

“Did he tell you this? When did you talk to him?” Tin-Tin asked not taking her eyes off him.

“Didn’t talk exactly… I found this in my room, I know he will come back Tin-Tin!” Gordon said as he dug out a battered letter and handed it over to Tin-Tin, who opened it and read its contents.

Hey Al,

To start with… this wasn’t your fault ok? I know that you love Thunderbird Five just as I do… well the way I use to. Don’t correct me but I just need time to find myself again, to find the old cheerful laughable John Tracy that I once was!

I guess that with me gone from the island and the organisation that you have two responsibilities now, Thunderbirds Three and five… just do me a favour Al and take care of her.

As for my leaving the island, it wasn’t anyone’s fault… I just felt that I didn’t belong there, that I can’t do the job that we now have but I know that you will carry on saving peoples lives because that is what you all are good at.

If you need to talk to anyone then just ask your brothers, as they will be feeling the same way… Grandma and Tin-Tin too.

But know this Alan, I will come back soon!

John

Alan looked up from the piece of paper that John had written his letter on before hearing Brains coming back into the laboratory after going off to retrieve some books from the locked up cupboard in the library, these were the books that stored all of the programming for Thunderbird Five.

“O-ok Alan, I-I be-believe I-I-I re-re-got all o-of the books w-we need” Brains said as he placed the books down on the large desk.

“Great Brains, I just checked the current systems and aside from that bug Virgil found… everything seems fine,” Alan said with a slight smile.

“O-ok Alan, w-we sh-should g-g-get to work” Brains said as he looked through one of the books of the main systems of Thunderbird Five.

“Right Brains” Alan said with an inward sigh and logged back onto the computer to go through the code manually while Brains reviewed the original coding in the books.

‘Wish you were here John, we all miss you’ Alan thought to himself before starting to read code that he had grown accustomed to in the last two months.

“So is that what you believe boys? I have to agree with you and if I had any say in what you boys did then I would close down the organisation long enough for you all to have a long and relaxing holiday away from the island” Rose said from her place in the kitchen and held up her free hand to silence her grandsons.

“However you all are too stubborn for your own good and realise how important the rescue organisation is, as for John I know that he will come back once he has had time to think and find the spark that was inside him” She carried on as she continued to cook.

“What do you mean Grandma? What spark?” Virgil asked from where he had been asked to peel potatoes for one of the many things the Tracy patriarch was cooking in the large kitchen.

“Yes Grandma, what do you mean?” Scott asked from where he had been bared from the kitchen, so he leaned in the doorway to listen to the conversation from there.

“The spark of inspiration and passion, it is in everyone including your stubborn father. It helps me cook, Virgil paint, Gordon and Alan plot pranks and you, Scott fly” Rose explained facing her eldest son before turning back to the cooker.

“And use to help John work in space… but all that time up there killed him emotionally and mentally, it wore him out making him prone to illness” She carried on as she checked the pies in the oven.

Scott and Virgil shared looks and sighed, “We know Grandma, we both have faith that he will come back with that spark” Virgil said as he finished peeling the potatoes.

Rose smiled at her two eldest grandsons, “I know he will, so we better get planning for his return party” She said with a glint in her eyes.

Jeff sighed as he signed off another form that was simply invoices for the new parts of the thunderbird machines coming from different companies across the world to their pick up points, though usually he left the paperwork to Tin-Tin when it came to the rescue machines, Jeff just needed something to do.

There was a small pile of paperwork in a tray on the corner of the desk slowly filling up with different progress reports, news updates on ongoing projects and just odd diagrams or ideas that had made it though to be sent to the head of the industry to see if him or his sons could use it or approve of it.

Amongst the paperwork that was scattered across the desk was a bright orange envelope with a familiar handwriting on it labelled to Jeff, ever since that he discovered it Jeff had been thinking about what it could contain or what his missing son had put in the letter what he could not see here.

“I brought you some more coffee Mr. Tracy” Kyrano said quietly, coming into the large area balancing a tray carefully with years of practice.

“Thank you Kyrano, I will finish these then take a break, maybe walk around for a while and stretch my legs” Jeff said with a tired smile as he looked up at the manservant/ close friend of the family.

“Sounds like that might be a good idea Mr. Tracy” Kyrano said as he helped Jeff clean up his desk to make some room to save the paperwork from the coffee.

Jeff gave Kyrano help to clear the desk a little better, while doing so the orange envelope got knocked off and landed on the floor. “Thanks Kyrano” He said before sitting back down on his chair and cleaned his glasses quickly, before going back to work.

Kyrano took the tray leaving the coffee on the desk as he moved back away something caught his eye and bent down to retrieve it, “Mr. Tracy you dropped this, you should read it” He told his friend putting the letter on the desk and left the room.

Jeff watched Kyrano leave before looking down at the letter that was lying on his desk, he knew that it was a letter from John but Jeff had been trying to find the courage to open the envelope and read the letter. ‘It’s been two months, yet what am I afraid of?’ He thought to himself as he picked the letter up and turned it around to open it but hesitated.

“You need to read it son, or should I come over there and read it for you” A stern voice broke his change of thoughts making Jeff look up.

“Mother, thought you were in the kitchen with the boys” Jeff said dropping the letter like it was about to burst into flames, it landed with a slight tap on the desk.

Rose rolled her eyes and crossed the gap over to Jeff’s desk and swiped the letter off it, “You need to read this and see how your son really feels about you! John had written to all of us but Kyrano and I are keeping ours quiet, and trying our best to follow his wishes!” She said brandishing the letter like a sword at Jeff.

Jeff sighed deeply and held his hand out for the letter, “Ok mum hand it over,” He said with a small smile.

Rose opened the envelope and handed the letter to Jeff, resting one hand on her hip while the other held the envelope. She watched her son open the letter before he began to read it.

Scott and Virgil worked in an oddly comforting silence as they navigated around the large kitchen, following their grandma’s instructions carefully so not to upset the old lady, as the last thing for them would be to upset her.

“He has changed hasn’t he?” Scott asked quietly as he turned one of the rings down, breaking the comforting silence for a tense and awkward atmosphere.

Virgil made them both some of one of Kieran’s calming teas and nodded over to the breakfast bar. “He has… remember seeing him on some leave, came to visit me for the day as he was in town on some convention” He said in the same quiet voice as he sat on one of the hardly used stools and sipped on the tea with a grateful sigh.

Scott joined his brother closest to age and sipped at the tea with his eyes closed before putting the cup down with a slight tap. “Just glad it but I’m not the only one to see a difference, I struggle to see the old John that we grew up with but at the cabin… even though he was still recovering from that illness, it was nice seeing him like that” He said with a soft smile and breathed in deeply taking in the aromas of the cooking food near them and the cup of herbal tea in front of him.

“He’s there Scott, I’ve seen him too but what do you think is going to happen when he come back?” Virgil asked with wrong shining in his eyes along with uncertainty.

Scott sighed, “Honestly Virg, I really don’t know…I’m guessing that John wrote those letters to all of you including Dad. So I guess we just have to wait and see to what happens when he returns” He said before sipping on his tea again while hoping that everything will be alright once John does return.

Finished unpacking his suitcase into the chest of drawers organised to the way he liked it, John looked around the hotel room that he would spend the next two weeks in. At least when he wasn’t out either exploring or in meetings with some important people that he had been trading emails with for the last two months.

For the last two months since he had left Tracy Island with the jet parked in the airport close by and stayed at one of his old hideaways up near the Swiss Alps. During his time at NASA John had always booked time off to go to Europe for a week or two away up in his cabin, just to get away from the hustle and bustle of the space centres.

It was at that cabin that John had wrote two of his previous books, with nothing but forests and mountains for miles with a nice little village about half an hour walk away it was perfect for him.

But now John found himself in the United Kingdom in one of the more comfortable hotels while he cleared up some more paperwork before his latest book could be published. Sighing with relief as he sat down on the bed John looked around the hotel room view from where he sat.

He could make out the large lounge area including a small entertainment centre and a large couch with too many cushions for John’s taste. The bathroom was accessible from the bedroom while there was a small kitchen with tea and coffee making facilities.

‘Shower then something to eat’ He thought with a slight groan as he got up onto his tired feet, after a long and quiet flight. Throwing his now empty suitcase down onto the floor away from his bed, John dug out some clean clothes and laid them out on the bed before going off into the bathroom.

Jeff read over the letter that was in his hands from his middle son, he had gone over the hurtful but true words in the letter trying to understand why they were written and not spoken out-loud by the writer.

“Now you can see the true side of your middle born son, I hope that you will regain his trust and the fatherly love that John needs so much” Rose spoke up breaking Jeff’s small shocked trance.

“I…I have been a fool mother, I was so caught up in my own pain that I didn’t realise that the boys were suffering that badly… shouldn’t have locked myself away but it was so hard after father died and had to move away from the ranch” Jeff said with a deep sigh putting the letter down.

“Having to keep the boys in school while my barriers took off and helping you settle down into your new home, thought it was easier when Scott took my place… keeping his older brother in line when I couldn’t” He carried on pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes.

“Scott sacrificed a lot of his life to help raise his brothers, all of them learned from Scott on how to hide their true emotions but only a few of us could see though those tough masks” Rose said with a soft smile, glad that Jeff was breaking out of his shell even though it was a little.

“I should have been one of them but I just thought that they were just being their normal selves, not hiding the fact that something bothered them or that they were bottling up so much emotion… like John” Jeff said looking up at his mother who had not moved from the front of his desk.

“Are you going to go out there and talk to your sons? They all are troubled and lost faith in their father” Rose said nodding her head gently over to the direction of the kitchen.

Jeff rose up from his desk laying his hands out flat on it before looking out at the portrays his eyes stopping on John’s a little longer. “I should, I got to get the family back that I once knew before sorting out the other parts of our life” He said with a soft sigh and moved around the desk before heading off into the kitchen.

‘Thanks John, now please come home safely honey’ Rose thought to her third grandson before heading off to her room in the guest wing.

John sat at one of the small Starbucks coffee shops with a large cup of his favourite coffee sat in front of him, his book open but he was barely paying attention to it.

“It is a shame isn’t it? Two months without one sighting of those Thunderbird machines” A young woman spoke to her friend on a table nearby.

“They did say that they needed to do some maintenance on those beautiful machines of theirs” Another young woman answered her friend back.

“So there’s no telling to how long it will be before they’re back, that is a real shame” The first young woman spoke up again.

John inwardly sighed and cleaned up his things before taking his cup of coffee away with him, heading out to the large park nearby leaving the young woman to gossip.

‘Do I really want to go back? I could have easily settled down at the cabin and worked at the observatory’ John thought to himself while sipping at his coffee as he continued to head towards the park.

“Hey John! Hold up!” A voice called running up to catch up with the young man.

John spun around being careful not to spill his coffee to see his friend and connection to the publishing company, Orion, Fred Jones. “Hey, thought we weren’t meeting till this afternoon” He said with a smile once Fred had caught up.

“Yeah well I was just wandering around the city and saw you crossing the street” Fred explained as he caught his breath from the run. “But it’s been a long time, come on! Let’s go to this small sandwich bar and catch up” He said in his normal energetic way that John quickly remembered.

“Sure Fred, lead the way” John said before finishing his coffee quickly and dumped the cup in the rubbish nearby.

The last five days had been nothing but meeting after meeting for John, leaving him worn out and hungry in the evening which was keeping him too busy to think of his old life except when it was time to have a shower or before he fell asleep.

Now though he was getting ready for the press meeting that would be the official launch of his book, then after it then Frank mentioned a book tour but as always John turned it down.

‘Just the first of many…’ John thought to himself as he did his suit up properly including a tie before studying himself in the mirror.

Aside from the slightest signs of tiredness and nervousness, John looked almost back to the way he looked before falling victim to the illness. Though occasionally his ribs would complain when stiff and tender, but John shrugged it off to how his muscles were slowly healing.

“John you ready? The press is waiting!” Frank called through the closed door to his suite; he had become John’s publicist for the book launch.

“Yeah almost ready! Just give me five more minutes” John called back as he moved over to retrieve his tie from the back of the chair before moving back to in front of the mirror.

“Ok! I’ll wait by the elevator for you” Frank called back.

John shook his head slightly in response before focusing on his tie, his thoughts half wondering what was going on at the island that he thought he could call home.

‘Sorry everyone… but just try and live the life you normally live” John thought to himself realising that the world needed the Thunderbirds just as his brothers need the organisation.

Fred sighed and loosened his tie as the heat grew in the elevator, “Why haven’t they got the power back yet?” He asked John, who had just put the phone back on the hook.

“The phone line is dead; the backup power must have gone down too…” John said as he searched his pockets in his suit. “But it shouldn’t be too hard to get that back online” He carried on as he pulled out his Swiss pocket-knife.

Fred watched his friend with confusion, “Um ok John… what are you going to do with that?” He asked with slight concern in his voice. “After all we have only been in here for twenty minutes” Fred said again as John opened up the knife.

“Relax Fred, I’m just going to get the power back online so we can get out of here” John said as he bent down near the door and undid the panel that covered the main controls of the elevator.

“Oh… ok, best thing to be trapped in here with you then John” Fred said with a smile and sat down with his back against the side of the elevator.

John glanced back at Fred before going back to work on getting the power restored to the elevator so they could get the real show on the road, the first press release of many.

John felt that he was on a rescue even though it was only Frank and himself in there; he felt that he had missed this but a loud part of him was screaming that if he did return then it wouldn’t be to the danger zones but to the satellite.

Rubbing his forehead with a soft sigh, he focused on the task at hand or to the questions that John would be asked at the press conference once they arrived.

Laughing along with the press John took a sip of the water provided to calm himself down before answering the question from the reporter of the astronaut journal. “Actually Neil, I’ve been so caught up in the family business that I haven’t had any time to myself including that” He answered with a slight blush to his cheeks.

Scanning the crowds John froze in seeing an all too familiar face standing near the back of the large conference hall. “John! John!” The voices of the press called for his attention.

Shaking his head slightly John sipped at the water once again before pointing at another reporter to continue the press conference.

Climbing back up the stairs now that the elevators were out of order, John sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair roughly as he went over the press conference.

“Some of those questions were personal son,” The voice said from behind him making John sigh deeply.

“What I said to them was the truth father and that these past few months have been a breath of freedom away from the family business!” John answered his father as he continued to climb up the stairs to the floor where his room was located.

“I’m sorry son, isn’t there somewhere we can talk?” Jeff asked as he kept up with his middle born son.

John stopped climbing up the stairs and sighed, his shoulders dropped before turning to his side, “I know a place... the hotel is going to be busy for a while” He said searching his pockets and found his card to get his rented car from the car park.

“I can gather that much John” Jeff said leading the way back down the stairs unaware of the tone he had used made John flinch before following his father.

John followed his father in silence keeping a small distance back but stopped forward once they reached the entrance to see that one or two of the reporters were hanging around in the main lobby.

“Just ignore them father, they’ve been told to leave me alone if they see me otherwise they won’t get their free meal” John told his dad as they crossed the lobby and headed to the main doors. “Thanks Kyle” He said with a smile as the doors were held open for them by one of the hotel workers.

“Welcome Mr Tracy, would you need your car this afternoon” Kyle asked closing the door once they were all out on the front steps of the hotel.

“Please Kyle” John replied and gave Kyle his card who nodded and ran off to fetch the rented car for John.

“He’ll be back in a few minutes…” John muttered loud enough for Jeff to hear.

Jeff looked at John and inwardly sighed seeing how closed up and how his shoulders were tense. ‘I have to be careful to how to talk to him, thinks I’m here for the wrong reasons’ He thought to himself.

“This is a nice place John, I will have to remember this the next time I’m away from the island” Jeff spoke up with a soft smile breaking the silence since the ordering of the drinks.

“I guess so… so what is it that you want to talk about?” John asked playing with the napkin not looking at his father.

The restaurant was themed to be privately used for small groups or meetings, the areas were separated by the large pots filled with tropical plants with soft lighting and speakers hidden amongst them. The foliage made the large restaurant seem smaller and more posh feeling making Jeff feel uncomfortable and reminded him of the island yet John looked comfortable even if he did look closed up and hunched at the moment.

“Your letter… its contents was surprising to say at the least” Jeff said unsure how to speak of it and the talk he had had with Rose then with the others before hearing of the press conference launching John’s new book.

John shrugged and continued to play with the napkin practising his origami. “I wrote a lot recently” He spoke up as the drinks arrived and he thanked the waitress with a natural smile before the waitress left with a slight bounce in her step.

“I mean that there was some points in there that I have been blind to for too long… what I mean is that I’m sorry” Jeff said looking down into his clear drink.

John looked up from where he cupped his sparkling mineral water, he did not speak but waited for Jeff to continue feeling that there was more to come.

“I have been afraid of loosing you, any of you that I pushed you farther and farther away so that it felt that I’ve abandoned you as a father” Jeff continued and took a sip of his own mineral water.

“When it started I was saw that you weren’t entirely happy about joining the organisation but you did anyway even though you feared upsetting me by being stubborn and chose to stay at NASA. Don’t forget this John but I’ve never been more proud of you, as a son most of all and I know that she is smiling on you from above so please think about coming back to the family” He continued looking into John’s blue eyes.

John looked down into his drink and sighed deeply, “Dad… I will come back to the family when I’m ready but right now I’m not…” He said before sipping at his drink. “As for the organisation… I don’t know if I will be ready to go back to the way things were” John said looking at his father showing signs of tiredness and yet the Tracy stubbornness in his blue eyes.

“We have changed son and the organisation will change along with it” Jeff said with a soft sigh.

“I will go back… when I’m ready” John said with a final tone in his voice, finished his drink and left the table paying for the drinks as he left.

Jeff sighed and looked down into the drink while wondering when he would see his middle born son again.

‘International Rescue is back! Saving people across the world’ the newspaper heading read while showed a picture of the saved villagers from an earthquake in China.

The blond man smiled and folded the newspaper back up before making a start on his breakfast as it arrived in the new hotel he was staying at.

It had been two weeks since Jeff talked to John in London, England but right now John found himself in Los Angeles getting ready for another press conference before travelling across to the state of Nevada and the flashy city of Las Vegas for a convention that had caught John’s personal attention.

He thought of going back to the island and back amongst the people who he now knew that loved him for who he is not for John’s skill in the communication satellite. Though other parts of him keep asking in a loud voice, what other reasons aside homesickness and the feel of abandonment do you need? Are you ready for that life once again?

‘No, I’m not but I will be one day soon’ John thought to himself and tucked into his breakfast.