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cg29 · 3 years

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Because of link issues with this site I’ve decided to paste my WIPS onto here as well as AO3 & FFNet. Starting with the 1st 3 chapters of the fic I’m currently working on, and have also most recently updated.

Reflections

Set after Virgil's crash during the original series episode of 'Terror in New York City.' (Season 1 episode 4) Short reflections from each of the family on nearly losing a brother and son.

Thank you to @janetm74 for the Beta on C3.

Chapter 1: Scott.

Italic/Bold speech is not mine and comes from the original episode.

“The wheels have gone; I can’t hold her… I’m… I’m going to crash!”

Scott’s heart lurched at the pure panic emanating from Virgil’s voice, but there was nothing he could do as he watched Thunderbird Two squeal across the runway with dark heavy flames springing forth. Finally, and thankfully she came to a stop and the pure white foam rained down on her distinguishing the blaze… But his little Brother was still inside… “What’s going on,” he yelled over his communicator, “why is no one getting him out?”

‘T…They’re on their way Scott,’ Brains replied, ‘I’m h…here to a…assist you with l…landing.’

‘I don’t need any damn assistance, get the med bay prepped for my brother!’

‘FAB!’

Okay, a bit harsh maybe, but Virg was in there… He’d attended too many fire related incidents, he knew the consequences if someone wasn’t rescued quickly… God damn it, they had to get him out… Finally, bringing Thunderbird One into the hangar, Scott unbuckled and shot out of his chair. The further procedures he was required to run through could wait… Virgil needed him more.

…

“How is he?” He puffed out, racing over to his father just as his two brothers were bringing Virgil out of his singed bird.

“Unresponsive… Head injury, smoke inhalation, possible broken ribs,” Gordon reeled off.

“Let’s get him to the infirmary,” Jeff said, allowing his two youngest to go ahead with Virgil before looking back to Scott, “are you coming?”

Scott heaved out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming!”

…

A few days later…

He stared down at his sleeping brother, it could have been so much worse, and the words from that moment still danced in his mind…

“Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One, come in Virgil... Virgil are you okay? Virgil, pull her up… Can you hear me? Come in Thunderbird Two... Virgil, you’re crashing… Pull her up… Virgil, get a grip on yourself, you’ve got to pull out of that dive!”

If his brother hadn’t dragged himself out of that dive at the last second, he wouldn’t be here… And to be honest, he didn’t know if he would be either. He would have dived Thunderbird One in after her sister ship, and tried everything within his power to pull Virgil out, but it wouldn’t have worked, and both of them would have gone down…

“You did good son.”

“Ha?” Scott mumbled, looking to his father who was standing beside him.

“You did a good job. You talked your brother through a very severe situation, and you got him home. You saved his life Scott, and because of that he will be back to himself before we know it. Now, stop thinking about the alternatives.”

“How did you know?”

“I know you,” Jeff nodded towards Virgil who was shifting in his bed, “looks like he’s waking.”

Virgil groggily forced his eyes open.

“How, are you Virgil?” Jeff questioned.

“Welcome back to the land of the living!” Scott added.

Virgil sat himself up. “What happened to Thunderbird Two?”

‘TYPICAL!’ Scott inwardly chuckled while his father went on to answer. If his brother was already worrying about his bird, then his dad was definitely right… Virgil would get better, and soon they would both be out there together again.

Chapters 2 & 3 featuring John & Gordon below the cut.

Chapter 2: John

“Thunderbird 5. My home away from home. I love being here, the solitude suits me and because of that I’m the one who is up here the most. Don’t get me wrong I adore my family and I enjoy spending time with each of them when I’m on leave but being here amongst the stars that I’ve gazed up at in wonder since I was a small boy makes me feel so peaceful. Four days ago, that tranquillity was shattered, and for the first time ever I am finding myself wishing that someone could replace me, someone could come here and take me home.

You see my first younger brother, the one who holds us altogether with his natural calming and added creative abilities was nearly killed while I was sleeping. I know, I know, me sleeping didn’t cause his crash, but if I had been awake then maybe I could have done something to help him, like hacking the Sentinel and stopping them from firing on his bird. Instead, I was on ordered downtime after two back-to-back missions which had kept me awake for over forty-eight hours. The first required Thunderbird fours assistance, the second was in space with Alan. After I called in the third requiring just Scott and Virgil my dad, believing it was a rescue that wouldn’t require my expertise, ordered me to communicate any vital information I had to my brothers, then relay Thunderbird Five’s communications to Tracy Island so I could spend the next ten to twelve hours asleep. I managed the full twelve and after a shower and food I was ready to return to work. Except, the reply I received when contacting base wasn’t the one that I was expecting.

Ten minutes it took for me to make contact, I can’t begin to explain the thoughts that had rampaged through my mind when no one was responding, Alan finally answered looking slightly pale and very tired. Immediately I demanded to know what was going on, the answer drained me completely. The Sentinel had fired missiles at Virgil, thankfully dad had been able to reach Washington and stop the meaningless attack, but the damage that had already been received was great and my little brother was extremely lucky to make it back to the island. Well, I say lucky… Head injury, smoke inhalation, broken ribs, several cuts, and bruises. Yet, it wasn’t until the following day that he regained consciousness… But he was still alive, and that’s what mattered.

After a long chat with the youngest to make sure he was coping I signed off and instantly logged into our islands security feeds so I could see the crash. Yes, I know it sounds a little morbid, but the reality was probably not as dramatic as what was playing through my mind. Thankfully, although extreme, it wasn’t. However, what seeing that crash didn’t do was alleviate the need that I still have now to see and talk to Virgil. What it did do was produce another need, one that I could do something about, and that was to make sure that the man who recklessly fired at the kindest person you could ever wish to meet receives some sort of justice. Nothing too malicious of course, we are in the business of saving lives and not taking them, but maybe I’ll put my hacking prowess to use and make sure he gets discharged from his position. Whatever I choose though won’t be pretty but will be fully deserved…

…Oh, one moment, I seem to have a call coming through from home - - - - It’s Virgil… Sorry, but I have to go, he still looks really groggy and probably won’t be able to talk for too long, but I’ve desperately been needing this chat… Catch you guys later, Thunderbird Five out.”

Chapter 3: Gordon.

The ocean before him was calm, the turbulent thoughts raging inside his heart were not. All caused by his current location. The Sentinel… Gordon had arrived two hours before and introductions had immediately been made between himself, the crew, and the Captain. The same Captain who had given the damn order to shoot Thunderbird Two down. Yes, they had presumed that an attack was possibly imminent. Nonetheless, they should have done a comprehensive check before going all gung-ho. Then they would have realised that it wasn’t a strike vessel, it was an International Rescue aircraft, and a person was on board. A person who was loved. Loved by a family who had already been torn apart by the loss of a mother and wife. A family that didn’t deserve to lose anyone else.

They had been reckless, and even though most on board had asked after the wellbeing of his teammate, the Captain, the idiot who had ordered them to fire had not made any queries. He had approached him, introduced himself, and then begun immediately filling him in on their trajectory and any further details he might need. After he had contacted Scott, the Captain had ordered one of his officers to assist, then sheepishly made his excuses and left, guilt plastered all over his face. Five minutes later Gordon was being shown to the sleeping quarters where he could get some shut eye in between any updates he needed to make.

He would probably take some downtime soon. For now, he just wanted to gaze at the ocean. The sea made everything better. Here he could switch his attention from the surface to air missile launchers that had taunted him with their sickening capabilities upon arrival, and instead concentrate on his mission. A mission that would normally be routine. Instead, two men who were trapped and injured had to wait just over twenty-four hours. Two lives might be lost because they shot his big brother down. Gordon gripped the rail and slowly breathed out while focussing on the rhythmic pulse from the ocean waves, and the fact that Virgil, although severely injured and definitely needing some time to recuperate, had survived the atrocious crash.

However, it had come so close to being a different outcome and the gut-wrenching, mind-swirling sickness at the thought of ‘what could have been’ had buried itself deeper and deeper into his heart and refused to release its grasp. Needing to go inside to retrieve Virgil had made those feelings more horrific. Sure, he had saved countless lives from fires, but to have to rescue a brother, a member of his own family, ‘that’ he wasn’t used to. His brother had been crumpled over, a deep cut on his head was bleeding, and his eyes were tightly closed. For a horrible moment, both himself and Alan had stood there before moving forwards. He thought he had lost Virgil, that his big brother was already dead. Thankfully, upon reaching him a pulse was discovered. Virgil was alive. Professionalism immediately kicked in, and he and Alan worked together to get him on a stretcher and out of there as quickly as possible.

Since then, Alan had avoided Virgil. Obviously, the kid was still in shock and processing what had happened. Hopefully, by the time he returned his little brother would have gone to see Virgil, otherwise he would need to drag him in there. Of course, he had done the complete opposite and had not wanted to leave his brother’s side. He needed to ease up though. Virgil knew what his game was and had tried to reassure him several times that he wasn’t going to disappear on him. Yes, he would need to step back a little when he returned, after he had once again checked that his kind-hearted, generous brother was still alive and well.

His ever-forgiving brother, who never held a grudge, had even suggested that they use the Sentinel to save lives. Okay, that made sense, the two men were trapped; their lives were what mattered, not how he felt about the Sentinel. Unfortunately, Gordon wasn’t that big of a person, and boy was he stewing over his feelings right now. A yawn emitted from him, and he looked at his watch. There was still just over two hours to go before he needed to check-in with Scott. Plenty of time for a power nap in the quarters. He certainly needed one. During the past week he’d either been helping out with two, doing his usual maintenance checks or sitting by his brothers’ side and he hadn’t managed a lot of downtime.

Tomorrow would bring a tough rescue and he needed his full alertness to save the two men, especially with the lack of time they would have left. There was also Virgil’s ‘big brother’ voice inside his head yelling at him to get some down time. He breathed in the fresh air, allowing the knowledge that he would continue hearing his brother’s nagging to engulf him. A smile formed. That’s what mattered, not his infuriation towards the Captain, or his current location. Virgil was alive. Thunderbird Two would be restored to her former glory. His eyes switched from the azure sea to the vastness overhead. Then, one day soon she would be soaring with her pilot, his best big brother, through those illustrious oceanic blue skies.

chapter 4 Here...

#Thunderbirds Fanfiction #Thunderbirds #Thunderbirds Original Series #Terror in New York City #Thunderbirds OS #Thunderbirds Are Go

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weathergirl8 · 3 years

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Master of Deflection - Part 2

This is for you @ak47stylegirl and anyone else who enjoys Alan whump/smothering. Of course, there will be some extra Virgil in there too, because I just love the big guy.

As a friendly reminder, I originally came from the TOS and TB 2004 era. I’ve tried to write a few TAG point of views, but my comfort zone is the previous. This will take place with Gordon as the redhead, and I’ve always had Virgil as the middle bro. Sorry!

Summary: Being the youngest of five is always hard, especially when they pounce at the slightest hair out of line. Sometimes the art of deflection can sting.

Part 1 | Part 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A fuzzy feeling was the first sensation he felt as consciousness welcomed him. Turning to look at the clock on his nightstand, Alan sighed as 8:00 glared back at him. Throwing his back against his bed, the teen groaned quietly. He felt like he had just fallen asleep.

Forcing himself up, Alan sniffled as he noticed his nose was a little runny and his throat felt a little scratchy. Reaching for a tissue, he blew his nose without a second thought. “Maybe my morning run will help clear this fog,” he whispered to himself and quickly dressed into his running clothes.

Alan entered the kitchen and smiled at his father. “Hey, Dad.”

“Morning, Alan,” Jeff greeted as he took a drink of his coffee. “Late night last night. I’m surprised to see you up. I think you’ve beaten all of your brothers.”

“Wow. Been ages since I’ve beaten Scott up,” Alan said as he grabbed a bottle of orange juice and a breakfast bar. “I slept straight through and wanted to catch a run. I’m sure they’ll be down by the time I get back.”

“Well, John said things are quiet,” Jeff smiled. “I think you’re safe to enjoy your run without interruption, son.”

“Thanks, Dad. See you in a bit,” Alan nodded as he took one last bite of his bar.

Jeff watched as Alan made his way down the deck, vanishing into the trees along the path that led to the beach. He smiled as he allowed memories of nostalgia to fill him. Where had the time gone?

“What’s got you so happy this morning, Dad?”

Jeff turned to see his second youngest before him. “Just your younger brother continues to surprise me.”

“What’d the squirt do this time?” Gordon asked curiously as he took a drink.

“Nothing worth sharing,” Jeff sighed. “Going for a swim?” he asked as he noted the redhead’s attire.

“Of course,” Gordon beamed as he slung his towel over his shoulder. “Best physio after such a tough rescue yesterday.”

“You feeling okay, otherwise?” Jeff asked worriedly.

“Back is fine, Dad. I promise. A little stiff, but nothing to worry about. The pool always does the trick,” Gordon winked and headed for the pool. “Headed to the office?” the redhead paused at the door.

“Yes,” Jeff said. “John and I are going to go over the rescue last night. It was a straight forward mission, so I don’t think it’ll be necessary to have everyone there this time. Let you boys unwind a little while we can.”

“Thanks, Dad. We appreciate it. See you later,” Gordon smiled and headed to the pool.

Jeff chuckled at Gordon before heading up the stairs to call John. The plan was to talk about the mission, but the patriarch hoped to let John unwind as well. He knew just the topic to do so.

-TB-

Alan jogged along the sand, each step feeling weighted as he pushed himself toward the next mile. The blonde reduced to a walk as he slowed his breathing. He allowed his mind to wander as he watched the waves crash along the cliffside near the north side of the beach.

Taking a seat in the warm sand, Alan sighed. Apparently, today was going to be a struggle. Running was not proving to be the stress relief that usually worked for him. Today he felt off. His body felt sluggish and tired. Usually, the morning air he inhaled from his runs would wake him up.

Not today.

Placing his head in his hands, he groaned. The sensation made him realize his head was beginning to pound. All the feelings of an incoming headache becoming clear.

“I guess a run isn’t in the cards either.”

Forcing himself up from the sand, Alan made his way back toward the villa. He rubbed the back of his neck, hoping it would help ease the tension he was feeling but felt no relief. All the blonde wanted was meds and his bed again. The first thing he had to do was avoid his nosey older brothers.

“Hey!”

Alan jumped as he turned to see Gordon climbing out of the pool, the jolt sending a small pulse through his head.

“Hey, are you okay?” the swimmer’s concerned voice asked as he got closer.

“I’m fine, Gordon. Just a headache. Once I take something, it’ll go away.”

Gordon eyed Alan with uncertainly. “Are you sure? You look tired and a little pale.”

“Don’t we all,” Alan joked. “It was a late night.”

“Point taken, little brother. Go get something for that head before the smother hens descend.”

“If you need me, I’ll be hiding in my room,” Alan said but looked around cautiously. “That’s between you and me. I don’t need them hunting me down.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Gordon saluted. “I’ll check on you later.”

“Thanks, Gordo,” Alan replied in appreciation and made his way back into the house. He quietly skirted past his father’s office, where he could hear the voices of his father, Scott, John, and Virgil.

Pushing his door open, he quietly shut it and took in a sigh of relief. The eighteen-year-old couldn’t help but chuckle at himself. He felt like he was ten again sneaking food from the kitchen.

His head pounded once more, quickly reminding him why he needed to be so stealthy. Alan walked into his bathroom and opened a storage drawer. His blue eyes immediately latching onto the meds he needed, ever thankful he had a stash for such occasions.

Grabbing a couple of the pills, he made his way to his nightstand as he opened a new water bottle. Downing the drugs and several gulps of water, Alan laid back on his bed, allowing his eyes to close for a few seconds…. Just a few….

“Alan!” somebody shook him.

Alan opened his groggy eyes, puzzled. “Alan?” Scott called, concerned. Where had Scott come from?

Scott placed a soothing arm along Alan’s shoulder. “Allie, you with me?”

“Scott, what?” Alan asked, confused. He just closed his eyes, hadn’t he?

“Hey, buddy,” Scott smiled, but the worry was visible across his features. “You missed lunch. Gordon said you had a headache and to leave you be, but it’s not like you to sleep the day away. Are you feeling okay?”

Alan slowly pushed himself up from his bed and leaned against his headboard. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I’m okay.”

Scott watched him suspiciously. “I don’t know, Allie. You look kind of pale. Maybe Virgil should check you o-“

The emergency klaxon blared across their watches and the house, immediately stealing the words from Scott’s mouth.

Scott stood but looked back at his baby brother with concern once more as the teen moved slowly from the bed. “Alan, maybe you should sit this one out.”

“I’m fine, Scott,” Alan said, shoving his eldest brother out of the way and rushing toward command and control.

“Alan….” Scott continued behind him.

“Scott, I’m fine! I’m only tired from our late night, and my headache caught me off guard. I’m good now,” Alan uttered in frustration. “Just drop it, okay.”

“Alright, but if you start feeling unwell, you better say something,” Scott ordered as they entered the command room.

Alan’s only response was a dangerous glare toward his oldest sibling.

“What do we have, John?” Jeff asked as he met his second eldest’s image before him.

“Northwest Passage just north of Alaska. A cargo ship carrying metallurgical coal has run into trouble. Coast Guard is unable to assist due to another ship underrun,” John reported.

“Is Thunderbird 4 needed?”

“Affirmative, but it is rough seas as an early winter storm has ravaged the area. They’re hoping we can repair the ship,” John added, a layer of annoyance seeping through his voice. “I explained we are more interested in human lives than the precious cargo.”

Jeff smirked in understanding. “F.A.B. Notify the crew we are on our way. Alan and Gordon, you’re with Virgil, and I’m riding with you boys this time. This mission looks like it will require all hands on deck.”

“F.A.B,” his sons each echoed.

Nodding to Brains, Jeff stood inside his portrait. “Thunderbirds Are Go!”

-TB-

Thunderbird 4 dipped into the rocky water with ease. The yellow sub was heading straight for the penetrated ship’s underbelly. “What do you see Thunderbird Four?” Jeff’s voice spoke in Gordon’s ear. Gordon had been sent to investigate the ship's damage while Virgil and Alan went aboard the vessel to persuade the workers onto the rescue platform.

Gordon whistled as his ‘bird’s light illuminated the damage. A large, jagged hole stretched at least a foot of the ship’s belly. “I’m good, but not that good, Thunderbird Two. The damage is too extensive. She’s a lost cause.”

“F.A.B. John notify the Captain it’s time to abandon the ship. Scott, see if you can help steady the ship with a line and coordinate with John. Virgil, Alan, get those workers aboard before she sinks,” Jeff ordered. “Gordon, see if you can help slow the process. Any time you can buy us will be an immense help.”

“F.A.B, Thunderbird 2,” Gordon responded and began analyzing his situation. This was going to be fun...

-TB-

“Sir, I understand your frustration, but there is nothing more we can do for your ship. You must disembark. Your ship will sink,” John explained, trying to hold in his frustration.

“That is unacceptable!” Captain Sterns yelled. “You’re International Rescue. You’re supposed to be able to do anything!”

John looked pointedly at the image of his older brother to the left of him. When the man refused to accept John’s words, the field commander joined the line providing support for his space-bound brother. “We appreciate that sentiment, Captain, but even we have our limits,” Scott responded, taking a deep breath.

“I have a shipment full of coal that my boss is expecting to arrive in Europe. What am I supposed to tell him? I can’t just leave it!”

“I’m afraid that’s exactly what you’re going to have to do. Your crew’s lives are more important,” Scott demanded.

“I can’t!” the Captain’s voice shouted across the line once more. “I’ll be fired!”

“We can’t work miracles!” Scott screamed back.

“Scott!” John admonished. “Captain Sterns, with all due respect, you are running out of time. Our operative in Thunderbird Four is currently trying to give us more time, but even that won’t be much. You must get your men off that ship now! For the sake of their lives and our operatives who are risking their lives to save yours. You must see reason in that.”

“You called us for help,” Scott added, finding his calm. “Please let us do our job.”

The Captain remained silent on the line before emitting a long sigh. “Fine, we will leave.”

“Thank you, Captain,” John acknowledged. “We will begin to load your men aboard our craft immediately. Please make your way to the deck now. Our operatives will be waiting for you.”

“Understood,” Captain Sterns responded and closed the line.

John quickly turned back to the image of his older brother before him. “What the hell, Scott! What was that?”

“I’m sorry, John. I shouldn’t have lost it like that.”

“You’re just lucky Dad wasn’t on the line,” John said, shaking his head. “I better report to him. I’ll be sure to keep your incident out of the conversation.”

Scott nodded in appreciation. “Thanks, John.”

“You owe me,” the blonde exhaled.

“I know. Just add it to my list.”

-TB-

Alan helped Virgil load another round onto the rescue platform as a burst of cold water surrounded them. “Go! I’ll stay down here with them,” he yelled across the com as the boat swayed side to side.

Virgil hesitated but nodded as he shut the door to the platform and initiated the mechanism that rose them into the belly of Thunderbird 2. Once aboard the green Thunderbird, Virgil led them to the safety of the cargo hold. He provided thermal blankets to those who needed them before heading back to the platform for what he hoped was the last round of crew members.

The sea was anything but a friend right now. Fierce northerly crisp winds sliced across the area, each new gust rocking the doomed ship at a sickening pace. Each minute the engineer could tell the ship was sinking lower and lower into the ocean.

Heading back down the platform, he watched Alan as he helped a crew member up who had fallen on the floor deck as another wave violently splashed aboard. Fifteen crew members were remaining, including the somewhat disgruntled Captain.

The rescue platform came to a halt. Virgil opened the door and nodded to Alan. “Alright, let’s get the last of you on here, and we’ll have you warm and secure.”

Most of the crew members were agreeable. They were cold and tired and ready to be anywhere else. Captain Sterns, however, continued to hope they could help him transport part of his shipment.

“Sir, we must go.” Virgil heard Alan tell the older man, who reluctantly climbed aboard the platform. Virgil patted Alan along the back as he helped his baby brother into the platform and lifted them toward Thunderbird 2.

“You’re soaked, kiddo,” Virgil said, nudging his little brother.

“Yea,” Alan sighed as he noticed the water collecting around his boots. “You’re not much better.”

“We’ll have to change once we have the passengers secured,” Virgil realized. “Don’t need either one of us catching a cold, huh?”

Alan smiled but didn’t respond as the bay door sealed below them. Stepping forward, the youngest Tracy opened the gate to the platform and helped escort the remaining crew to the holding area while Virgil informed their father they were secure.

Captain Sterns grabbed his arm as the teen prepared to head toward his brother. “Kid, there’s plenty of room to store a few loads of my shipment. It’ll only take us a few minutes to load it onto your platform. It’ll be easy, I promise.”

Alan shook his head, trying to hide his dislike for the man. The guy didn’t know how to take no for an answer. “Sir, we can’t do that. Now, please just take a seat, and we’ll arrive in Prudhoe Bay in no time.”

Captain Sterns clenched his fists in anger and reached inside his jacket. Before Alan knew it, he felt the cold metal of a gun forced against his back, as the Captain grabbed his left arm forcefully. “We aren’t leaving without it. My life depends on it and now so does yours.”

TBC…

#thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds 2004 #thunderbirds fanfic #alan tracy #gordon tracy #jeff tracy #virgil tracy #scott tracy #john tracy #writing #my writing #fanfic #part 2

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thorne93 · 4 years

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Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 2)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count:

Warnings: (throughout the fic -->) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy, @carryonmyswansong, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo... Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, I got a job offer,” you started as you picked at your meatloaf.

“A job offer?” Spence questioned from across the table. “I had no idea you were even looking. What about the BAU? What about being together? You and I agreed this was the only way to ensure the other person is safe--”

You held up a hand to stop his onslaught. “I’m not leaving the BAU, and I wasn’t looking for a job. This just sort of fell into my lap.”

“Is this what Emily wanted to talk about today?”

You nodded. “Yeah. It’s a teaching position.”

“Teaching? I never knew you were interested in that.”

You shook your head. “I’m not. Well. I wasn’t.”

Spencer and you had been married for eight years. You fell in love quickly when you came to work for the BAU. When you met him, it was like stars shone for the first time in a dark sky for you. He was unlike any man you’d ever met, thankfully. He was kind, sweet, intelligent, and slightly awkward. Almost as if he was made for you. When the two of you met, it was a meeting of the minds. He saw you as his equal, and he was yours. You might not have the IQ of a genius, or read as quickly, but you deduced things faster than anyone else on the team. At first, you were worried he wouldn’t be impressed by you or see you as a peer, seeing as he’s a genius. But that fear quickly fell to the wayside when you realized you had quite a lot in common, especially books and chess. You two bonded over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the nerdier side of things such as Star Wars and Star Trek.

Even though you were the greatest of friends, spending all your time together, it still surprised you when he asked you out to dinner. Apparently to everyone else on the team, it wasn’t a surprise, as Spence had confided his feelings long ago to them and they encouraged him to ask you out.

After a year of dating, he asked you to marry him. There wasn’t one thing you didn’t love about this man. He was everything you could ever ask for in a husband and more. You two had shared your ups and downs. Dealing with his mother, him going to prison falsely, you working on a book, somewhat like Rossi. It’s all been a lot of strain for a marriage that was just beginning. But each day, you wake up looking at him with more love than before.

“So what is it, exactly?”

“University of Miami. They’re opening a new course and want me to teach in the Spring.”

“And you think you might want to do this?”

You shrugged slightly. “I think… I think I’d like a break from the BAU.”

He frowned at you, concern coloring his face. “Is this because of the trial?”

“Ten, Spence,” you reminded in a calm, sad voice. “Ten cases that we solved, that we arrested the bastard and for what? So some hotshot defense attorney could get them off? To paint them sympathetically? To put that seed of doubt in the jury’s head. These are ten people who have just… just walked! They’re out on the streets. I know we like to live in this world where once we capture the bad guy it’s over but the reality is these people aren’t serving time. Justice isn’t being done. After today I just… I need a break from it all. Maybe teaching some people will help remind me why I wanted to do this in the first place.”

“We do this because even if they don’t get sentenced they’re off the streets and less people are in danger for the time they’re jailed.”

“And what about after they get off? Hmm? What then? They just learn to be craftier, sneaker, erase their trail? Do they go overseas to torment other countries? A few months isn’t good enough, Spence. Not any more. Alan Rochester is out, hell he could be hunting us down for all we know.”

He said nothing. He knew it was true. Both of you knew the dangers you lived in from the possibility of criminals getting out to hunt you or the others on the team down.

“I know it’s scary. I know it’s tough but just… leaving the BAU to do this…”

“I’m not leaving, Spence. It’ll be temporary. It’s a needed break.”

“But it’s a break from me, from us. I won’t see you for almost six months.”

“I know that. We can meet on spring break though and I can fly up at least once a month to come see you on the weekends… we can video chat…. I just really think I need this sort of mental break from catching bad guys that might end up being for nothing.”

“Are you sure this is really what you want? If it is, I’ll support if. Or we could go away on vacation, perhaps?”

You shook your head. “I’m not sure a two week vacation would be long enough, and with our luck we’d be called back after three days.”

A look of powerlessness fell over his face as he slumped slightly in his chair. “I’m just going to miss you, that’s all. We’ve never been without each other. Even before we dated, we always stayed in the same hotel room and now… now you want to leave for five months to a different job in a different state.”

“It’s not like that, sweetie. I just need the break. You teach here. I’d like to give it a go and see if it’ll help me regain some sanity.”

He bobbed his head, understanding. “I get it. Alright. If you think it’ll help, I’m all for it.”

“Thank you.”

------------------------

Over the course of the next month, Spencer helped you devise a school plan, a curriculum to which you could go by. You told him everything you wanted to cover, and a book you thought the students might enjoy. You tried to remember professors from college and the way they taught so that you could incorporate that into your lectures. This was daunting to say the least.

On your last day at the office, everyone was in tears.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Garcia stated as she walked over to you as soon as you and Spence showed up.

“It’s not forever,” you reminded with a slight laugh. “Nothing to cry over.”

“What do you mean nothing to cry over? You’re going to be gone and Lord knows how well Reid here is going to take it.”

You chuckled. “Spencer will be fine in my absence. So will you. All of you will.”

“But you crack about half of our cases. Without you…”

“I’m still available for calls during certain parts of the day and all hours of the night. Emily knows this.”

“Yeah but--”

“But nothing, Garcia. This is okay.”

She peered at you unsure, but then she nodded, walking into the office with you and Spence.

“Hey, you ready for this?” Tara asked as she stepped forward, putting her hand on your shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m pretty excited to be honest.”

“That’s good. We’re going to miss you though.”

“I know. I’ll miss all of you. I’ll be back over spring break and I’ll try to fly up on the weekends,” you informed Tara, Luke, and Matt.

“You better, or we’ll come kidnap you,” Luke joked, slightly punching your arm, making you laugh.

“Is that our new professor?” Rossi asked from behind you.

You grinned, blushing slightly before turning.

“You’re gonna knock ‘em dead, kid, I know it,” he assured as he walked up. “And we all pitched in to get you this,” he stated as he handed you a wrapped gift.

A grin popped onto your face as you took it. “What is this?”

“Open it up and find out,” Rossi encouraged with a coy grin making you chuckle lightly.

You tore into the paper, opening the box, to discover a clear glass apple inside with the words “To your first day of class, Professor Reid,” etched on it.

Tears sprang to your eyes as you laughed. “This is great. Really great. Thank you!”

Before you could get too cozy or caught up in goodbyes, Emily called you all in the conference room for a case. The team had to start a local case, and you helped out all day while you could, but then you had to get home to finish up packing, and get sleep for your early flight.

You had packed three big suitcases full of the essentials, you would spend the first week down in Miami in a hotel, looking for an apartment in the meantime. Once you found an apartment, Spence agreed to send down the boxes of clothes that you had already put together.

On your way out of the door though at the office, an agent stopped you, one you had seen a handful of times before. “Dr. Reid?” he addressed, looking at you.

“Yes?”

“Could you come with me?”

You peered at Spence with a curious look before nodding. “Sure. Can my husband come?”

“I believe so.” He took off and you two began walking beside him. “Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. The director merely wants to see you before you leave for Florida.”

You nodded, keeping with his pace. He led you two to the director’s office, and opened the door for you, announcing your arrival. The two of you stepped over the threshold and the agent closed the door behind him, leaving only you, Spence, and the director.

“Ah, Dr. Reid, I’m so glad we caught you before you left,” she stated, smiling at you.

“Is everything alright?” you questioned, slightly worried.

“Oh, of course, of course. I brought you in because I hear you will be working down in the University of Miami?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, we have a case I’d like you to look at while you’re down there. Several, actually.”

She lifted a box off the floor and put it on top of her desk, lifting the lid off of it, exposing a full box of files.

“These are missing persons that have been going on for a few years.”

You picked up the top file and flipped through it. “Cold cases?”

“Yes, for the most part. Most of them have been in jail, prison, or suspected of illegal activity, never to be seen or heard from again.”

“Not typical related crimes, such as a gang offing or…?”

“I want to believe that, but this is a high rate of missing people in these sort of circles compared to other cities in Florida.”

“So why don’t you have the Florida division investigate?” you wondered, peering up at her.

“We did. They didn’t have much of a lead or much to go on.”

“What makes you think I will?”

“You’re the brightest agent we have. You’ll be in the terrain. While you’re down there, we would appreciate it if you worked this case on the side. You have full range to question people. This is a real investigation, it’s not under the radar. Feel free to use whatever resources you need.”

“This… this is a lot to take on,” you commented. “I mean, by myself, that’s just... “

“I’m sure you can do it. If you need to consult your current team, feel free to do so.”

You slowly nodded. “Alright. Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

She smiled a dazzling grin at you and shook your hand. “Thank you, thank you very much. Check back in by the end of the month, if you don’t mind.”

“I will.”

“Thanks. Have a safe trip.”

“Thank you, I’ll try.”

With that, you grabbed the box and left her office, your husband beside you.

“So now you’re doing a case, several, all by yourself,” Spence noted.

You let out a huff. “I guess so.”

“This is going to be a lot. Teaching, grading, doing this case.”

You nodded. “I know, but I can handle it.”

He grinned at you and kissed your forehead. “I know you can. I just… I’m just worried. This was supposed to be a break and now--”

“Spence, it’ll be fine. This sort of case won’t piss me off. There’s no one who is going to ‘get away’.”

With a nod, you two exited the elevators and went home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagging:

Forever Tag:

@essie1876

@magpiegirl80

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

@iamwarrenspeace

@marvel-imagines-yes-please

@superwholocked527

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Spencer Reid

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#insider the criminal mind #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #reid x reader #spencer reid fic #dexter #dexter fic #dexter morgan #dexter morgan fic

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darkestwolfx · 4 years

Text

Let the Dust Settle

11: Let the dust settle

Summary: It wasn't easy to let dust settle, for it was everywhere, fine and near invisible. Unfortunately, most things in life weren't the same – they were rather like neon signs instead.

Words: 1061

Spoilers: None beyond 'Ring of Fire' [S1E1&2].

----

Keep it silent.

Keep it away from the world.

At least long enough to let the dust settle.

That had been his plan.

Key word in that sentence being had, and then possibly been. For the key fact that they were in past tense.

Like a lot of our lives now, it seemed.

For everything was, 'Dad this, and Dad that; and Dad was and Dad did…'

No could or should; or is or do. Everything was past, gone, beyond anyone's reach and ability to change.

And it was horrendous. It was like having rats gnawing at your stomach until they reached the bones and clawed their way out. It was… there weren't enough words, the right words, to describe this pain.

At least keeping it somewhat internalised helped. In both senses of meaning.

Keeping the world away had worked for a while, but not near long enough.

Soon they had to let people know because there were rumours spiralling and reporters badgering and there came a time where you had to speak before someone spoke for you.

So they had to come clean.

It was only when he realised they were going to have to play to the whims of the world, that it dawned on Scott that Alan didn't actually own a suit. Heck the kid was ten. What ten-year-old owned a suit? Speaking of, Gordon had probably grown out of his.

God help him.

Apparently, in the subsequent days, that meant John and Virgil were the equivalent to God. Scott didn't really mind that.

Dad had known a Lord Creighton-Ward, and in the days after the announcement was made public to the world, his daughter, Lady Penelope was buying Gordon and Alan's suits. Apparently, Dad had her looking into the guy they only knew as 'The Hood' and they'd had no real chance to meet yet. Scott knew Dad had someone working on it… but he'd never have expected the blonde who turned up at the island, not much younger than he.

It was a welcomed surprise all the same, though he doubted he was in the best state of mind to be greeting anyone. She didn't seem to mind. Or if she did, she was good at hiding it. But then again, Scott supposed there was a nature to honing skills like that to survive in high society – and life as a spy.

Parker – strange guy but incredibly switched on – travelled with her, and he was anything from her butler to her chauffeur, to her teacher, to her side kick, but definitely not a charity case. He could work with that. It was within minutes of the media sticking their ears in that Parker made him – "Mr Scott Sir" – the offer to deliver to them a 'Parker 'aymaker'. He wasn't quite sure what made that any different from a normal haymaker, but he greatly appreciated the offer… and was very close to saying yes before John and Virgil elbowed him simultaneously.

Of course, it wouldn't be until a couple months later that he learnt of Parker's full backstory, but by that point, none of them cared. Scott particularly didn't mind, for that initial meeting was etched in his memory and in his eyes, the man was something of a useful legend. And he was on their side, so who really cared how he'd come to learn what he knew? Not him, at least.

Colonel Casey had called (in both an official and unofficial capacity) to offer her support. She too had known Dad's secret about International Rescue, and it was useful to talk to someone else who could help advise them on what to do.

They'd tried to call Captain Taylor – for he was Dad's best friend after all. They couldn't exactly reach him on the mobile… so, after a couple attempts on five, they were finally able to hail him, out adventuring, of course. The man was like Dad but ten times worse – he never could stay still. He seemed a little… Well, Scott didn't know how to describe the way the man too. He gave them his sympathies and apologies, sounded very sorrowful and then was gone. He'd get back to them, he said.

Back on land, Grandma was great too, a real rock, but Scott could tell this wasn't coming easy to her. After all, their Father was her Son: that man was always going to be one in the same. To lose one was to lose both, there was no two ways about it. He tried to remember that they weren't the only ones suffering a massive loss.

Brains had spent ages trying to pose them a different solution, a way which could give rise to a more hopeful word, but none of them played out and the only one which lay within their sights was the one they wanted to never appear.

It began with D (like that of a capital in bold, unmissable) and was four letters long, and for many days didn't leave their lips. As though not saying could reverse it, make it a lie or a nightmare, just not… this.

Their grief was a strong as mountains, standing tall and immoveable.

They should have had time, and plenty of it to do as they see fit. But if time was on your side, then many other factors of life tended not to be. Time, for once, was on their side, but thus little else was seeing fit to be loyal.

It wasn't easy to let dust settle, for it was everywhere, fine and near invisible. Unfortunately most things in life weren't the same – they were rather like neon signs instead.

But the world wanted to know, and the world wouldn't wait, because Jeff Tracy was a man of fortune and power and a point of interest to the masses. Scott thought that translated in actuality to 'a good selling story', but who was he to comment? Well, the media wanted him to, but he guessed that wasn't the type of comment they were scavenging for.

So they had no choice but to tell the world the truth before there were worse rumours for them to quell.

And so, in their darkest hour, together they had to stand.

Had to tell the world Jeff Tracy was dead.

And it felt like the dust had hardly settled in his wake.

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ak47stylegirl · 4 years

Text

Sick days: Chapter 2

Okay here’s the second part of this fic, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D

----

He was busy at work when his phone went off, the caller's Id being Alan’s and Gordon’s school. Which never meant anything good he has learnt.

He really hoped this wasn’t a call about one of his brother’s misbehaving, heaven knows those two can get up to mischief, he through shaking his head, a slight smile on his lips. Those two were a class act, he’ll give them that...

“Hello, this is Scott Tracy...” he answered, holding his phone to his ear as he walked over to a private corner, giving his coworkers a signal that he was going to be a minute. “What is the pleasure of this call?”

“Hello, Mr Tracy, I’m one of the nurses at Alan’s school..” His smile dropped, worry starting to gather in his gut.

Those words always filled him with dread, it meant something happened to one of his brothers and seeing as the nurse had said Alan’s school, he was assuming it was Alan.

His mind flashed back to this morning, where Alan was complaining of feeling sick, and guilt started to build up in his chest. Was Alan actually telling the truth this morning? And he didn’t listen?

“Alan came into the sickbay a little while ago with a fever, his teacher having sent him here..” the nurse explained to him, “he’s looking visually unwell, sneezing and coughing constantly. In the time he has been here he has gone through nearly half a box of tissues and that not including the one he brought with him from class…”

Guilt was overwhelming him as he listened to the nurse, his heart hurting more and more for his baby brother. “Okay...okay, I’m assuming you want me to come and pick him up?” He asked, holding his phone with his shoulder as he started to pack his things up, mouthing to his coworkers ‘sick child’ so they knew what was going on.

“Yes, he really isn’t in any state to be anywhere but in bed..” the nurse answered, “this horrible cold has been going around the whole school for weeks, taking kids out like flies, especially the younger ones...”

He grimaced at the mental image, this cold sounded really bad. “Would I be able to talk to Alan?” He asked as he clocked out early, the clock reading 11:45am. He grabbed his car keys and waved his coworkers goodbye half-heartedly, heading down to his car.

“Of course, ” he heard the nurse put the phone down and after a minute or two someone picked it up, their breathing sounding laboured and congested.

“Scoddy?” A little voice sniffled, sound absolutely without a doubt, sick as can be. His heart broke at the voice, wanting nothing more than to give his baby brother a hug and apologise for not realising he was actually feeling sick.

“Hey sweetheart…” he said gently as he opened his car door, getting into the driver's seat but not turning the car on yet, “I heard you’re feeling sick, is that true?” He didn’t need to hear Alan’s answer to know that it was true, anyone with ears could tell Alan was sick.

“Yea-“ Alan sniffled, sounding really wet and drippy “Y-yeah, I don’t b-beel rea-“ Alan’s breathing hitched, a sneeze coming on, “r-really g-goo-“ a loud wet sneeze echoed through the phone, followed by a miserable groan and a damp sounding nose blow.

His heart just hurt at the sound, oh, his poor baby…

“I..Wadt..h-hobe!” Alan whimpered, sounding like he was the verge of crying and he seemed even more horribly stuffed up now. “I...I don’t beel w-w-wel-“ another explosive sneeze echoed through the phone, followed by another and another and another. Each sounding wetter and more out of control.

‘Okay dear, that’s enough you need to go lay back down now..’ he heard the nurse say to Alan before speaking to him again, “as you can obviously hear, he’s really is not well, he needs to be home and in bed. We can give him some Panadol to try to lower his fever, but we need permission from a guardian or parent first..”

He sighed, leaning his head against his steering wheel, “You got my permission, I'll be there as soon as I can” He said before hanging up, his voice slightly choked.

Hearing Alan sound so...so unwell and upset, hurt so badly. He was feeling so guilty right now, he should have taken the time to listen to Alan instead of focusing on how they were late. What kind of parent/guardian didn’t notice their kid was sick?

Dad or Mum would have noticed, but they weren't around anymore, it was just him that was left to look after his brothers… even though it has been four years since they lost them, at times like this, it seemed like only yesterday that the car crash happened.

He sighed again, straightening up and blinked a couple of tears out of his eyes before sending out a quick text to Virgil that he only needed to pick Gordon up today, that Alan was sick and he was going to pick him up now.

The reply was almost instantaneous, ‘okay, thanks for letting me know and poor Allie..’ Virgil add a sad emoji at the end of his text.

With that taken care of, he put his seatbelt on and started the car up. He reversed out of his parking spot and turned his car towards the road.

———

He pulled up to the School at around 12:20pm and parked his car in the parking lot. He locked his car before heading into the school and to the sickbay. As he entered, he could see what the nurse had meant by kids dropping like flies.

There were so many kids in here, some looking sicker than others. Most of them were in the six to ten age range, with a couple of teenagers thrown in.

“Ah, Mr Tracy..” a nurse noticed him, the same nurse that had spoken to him on the phone. “Alan is this way…” he was lead into a side room, which was darker than the other room and filled with beds. Nearly every one of them was filled.

“It's crazy, I know…” the nurse sighed, seeing his slightly horrified look. “This virus been as I said to you on the phone, going around the school for weeks and it still not easing up” the nurse explained, “once the virus takes hold, it seems to last for weeks on end..”

He grimaced, this cold virus was seeming worse and worse. It was just plain alarming to him to see how many kids were sick. The nurse stopped at a bed that held a sleeping little blond boy.“We had someone grab his stuff for him, so you don’t have to worry about that..” Tissues were mostly in a bin by the bed, but some were scattered around Alan. There was a tissue box laying on the bed next to Alan, which was nearly empty.

His heart contracted at the sight as he came up to the bed, getting a good look at Alan. Even in the low light, he could tell that Alan was paler than usual, his cheeks puffy and his nose was bright irritated red, obviously swollen and congested.

Oh, baby, you’re really not well, are you? he thought as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Allie…” he whispered, gently rubbing Alan’s shoulder, “time to wake up sweetie…”

Alan blinked his eyes opened and looked up at him with unfocused, watery red eyes. “Scoddy?” Alan asked weakly, sitting up slightly with a sniffle as he rubbed at his leaky nose.

He really sounds way worse in person, he thought as he looked at Alan with sad eyes. A doctors appointment was definitely on the agenda tomorrow...

“Hey baby…” he said softly, giving Alan a comforting little smile as he ran his hand through Alan’s hair, “it’s time to go home..”

Alan nodded weakly as he sat up slowly, reaching down for his shoes but froze as a couple of big messy wet sneezes caught him by surprise. Alan reached blindly for the tissues as a couple more sneezes exploding out of him with vile strength, one hand trying to cover the sneeze while the other desperately trying to grab a tissue.

By the end of the fit, Alan was shivering and shaking, a compleat mess of snot and germs. Alan’s eyes were even wetter than before, tears running down his face. He looked so miserable...

“Oh baby, you’re really feeling under the weather, aren't you?” He said gently, running his hand through Alan’s hair as his baby brother tried to clean himself up.

Alan nodded with a damp clogged up sounding sniffle, looking exhausted. Alan’s nose was even redder now, and there was a little stream of thick mucus leaking out one of Alan’s nostrils, not stopping no matter how much Alan sniffled or wiped it.

“Let me help you with your shoes, you just relax, okay?” he said gently as he stood up, grabbing Alan’s shoes and bending down to put them on Alan’s little feet while Alan watched him, sniffling before blowing his nose. It wasn’t a pleasant sound, it sounded just as wet and damp as it looked.

He sighed, his heart hurting so much for his baby brother, “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were feeling so bad, baby…” he said once he was done tying Alan’s shoelaces, looking up at Alan with an apologetic look. “And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you tried to tell me…”

Alan sniffled, rubbing his nose a couple times, looking at him with tired watery eyes “Id’s ohay…” Alan mumbled softly before coughing into his elbow. Alan shuttered, groaning in misery.

He frowned and sighed, standing back up and picked up Alan’s bag and threw it over his shoulder. Before leaning forward and picking Alan up, supporting him on his hip and giving Alan a little hug as he did so...

Alan’s head collapsed tiredly against his shoulder, his arms wrapping around his neck, his eyes seeming to start to flicker between open and shut. “Let get you home, shall we?” he whispered softly, kissing Alan’s temple.

He quickly signed Alan out school and walked out of the sickbay, heading toward his car. Alan was sniffling into his neck, and now that he was holding Alan, he could feel the heat radiating from him. Yeah, his baby brother did have a fever...

He would have to stop by the chemist on the way home to get some much needed cold supplies, he knew this cold would be shared around the family. It was a bit unavailable, so he wanted to be ready.

Though there goes the new paint job he wanted to get for his car, he thought bittersweetly as he unlocked his car, putting Alan’s school bag in the boot. Though it wasn’t a question which was more important to him, Alan would always come first, his brothers always came first.

He opened the backseat door and gently lowered Alan into his booster seat. Alan groaned, looking up at him with tired, sleepy eyes. “you’re okay, Allie?” He asked, giving Alan a little smile as he made sure Alan’s seat restraints were tight and secure.

Alan shook his head weakly, coughing a couple of time into his elbow before pulling away with a groan. “By head hurts...” Alan said, his nose dripping, making Alan sniffle and sniffle in a futile attempt to stop it from running. “and by tummy hurts and my dose hurts too!”

“shhh, I know...” He said gently, brushing Alan’s fringe away from his forehead. “I know you’re feeling terrible Allie, i’ll get you to bed soon, promise baby...” he tenderly kissed Alan’s forehead. “we just have to stop at the chemist quickly on the way home, okay?”

Alan’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, a pout on his lips “..Ohay...” Alan nodded with a shiver before quickly grabbing out a used tissue from his pocket and sneezing to it a couple times and using it to wipe at his nose as well, the dampness of the tissue obviously irritating Alan’s nose more. Alan groaned in misery.

He frowned, he should have grabbed some tissues for Alan back at the sickbay, so he had some fresh ones, he thought with a concerned frown. Did he have any tissues in his car? Wait! Yes, he did! He was sure he had some in his glove box!

He closed the back seat door and walked around to the driver's side and got in. He reached over to the glove box and grabbed a small packet of travel tissues out of it. “Here, use them if you need them, okay?” He said as he handed Alan the packet of tissues.

Alan nodded, already opening them and using them on his sensitive runny, drippy nose. He sighed sadly, turning back around and turning the car on, keeping an eye on Alan through his car’s rearview mirror as he backed out. As they turned on to the main road, Alan started sneezing and sneezing, with no end in sight, the tissues begin to dwindle with each sniffle, nose blow and sneeze.

At this rate, he would have to buy about five whole boxes of tissues…

#alan tracy #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #John Tracy #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #sickfic

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judgement-free-sideblog · 5 years

Text

Dancing lessons

Summary: Barry is finally cast in a feature, the problem? He said he could dance and now he can either disappoint Sally or found a way to learn some steps.

Part 1 ● Part 2 ● Part 3 ● Part 4 ● Part 5 ● Part 6 ● Part 7 ● Part 8 ● Epilogue

Warnings: Swearing, blood, violence, guns, cheating maybe.

Part 5

And alarm clock went off somewhere and Barry woke up alone, he check out his watch and it said 7:00 a.m. just 4 hours had passed and he could feel the absence of the woman that was next to him just a couple minutes before.

He felt guilty, not entirely sure why and kept his head pressed down on the couch, it was not cheating, right? He had spend the night with a woman who wasn't his girlfriend, having dinner and playing board games and cuddling in the couch... but he did it because she was injured.

And smelling her hair and pushing her against him while they were sleeping was only to keep her safe, it meant nothing, it meant so little that he wouldn't mention a single thing to Sally, because there was nothing to talk about, she was his dancing instructor and a mean rival at scrabble, and now possibly a friend, a friend with beautiful eyes and flowy hair, whit a delicate body that fit perfectly in his arms...a friend with warm skin and red lips he was dying to know what would they taste like.

"Morning sunshine!" Her voice made him shake those dangerous thoughts away and he stood up to see her already dressed and holding two cups of coffee and a bag from a local bakery. "I didn't mean to wake you, but since I'm fine I thought you could use a coffee before going home".

"No, it's okay. Thanks" He said rubbing his eyes and joining her at the kitchen "Are those croissants?" He asked while she put the pastry on a platter.

"They are, I figured since I'm taking the day off I might as well make the best out of it, and since I can't drink an enormous amount of sugar and chocolate is the second best option" she took a bite of one of the pastries and he sited in front of her not quite sure of what he was supposed to say.

She on the other hand seemed not uncomfortable at all, she had a pink headband covering the stitches and that was the only difference, she continued to be the same relaxed and friendly woman she ever was. He was relived but also hurt a little maybe he thought they will have a long heartfelt conversation about the nature of their relationship and how sorry he was about his behavior but she didn't seem to mind at all, maybe it was for the best, at least they were friends now.

He walked down the stairs after he make her promise ten times she would not be opening the studio, and that he would check up on her in the afternoon. He was walking to his car when a familiar sensation in th back of his head alarmed him. He was being followed.

He opened the door cautiously looking around but he didn't see anyone and then, crossing the street in front of him, not caring enough to hide Fuches approach him, he froze in the spot, knowing too well his gun was safe under his bed and that he didn't even had a knife on him.

He looked better than the last time he saw him, no more open wounds, and his clothes were actually clean and new, but even when he looked put together his eyes looked tired and older than ever, maybe that's why he left him approach so easily.

Fuches opened the passenger's door and got inside, and Barry did the same, he start driving in silence in the unspoken understatement that they will do this in a more private place since the people opening the stores on that street were already coming out.

***

You let go a sigh of relief once he left, and look at your empty apartment already bored to death with the idea of staying in the whole morning, but you have promised not to do anything crazy so you put on a movie and sit on the couch in an attempt to become a cozy sloth.

Horror films were the select genre, trying to avoid anything remotely romantic that could reignite the feelings you have woken up to that morning. Not that his arms around your body didn't felt like heaven, because they did, but because you were sure you were dancing on a thin line that you were not willing to cross.

That's why you try so hard to be normal around him, there was no way you would give in on your feelings for Barry specially not around him, and yet you couldn't fight the urge to have him back and just talk to him, about anything he would think off, kick his ass in scrabble again, maybe you were just friends? Maybe after years of being harsh on yourself feeling like a faliure his presence and his optimism about his career was all that had attracted you and you wanted to be around him because it remained of you when you started and he was a nice person worth being friends with.

But that didn't explain why you needed to take a cold shower after he showed you the scars on his exposed skin, nor why did you went to sleep dreaming of touching them, you have to end that, starting with putting a barrier between the two, specially since he was happy with someone else, as happy as you are, you said angry at yourself and push your mind away from him.

Two hours passed and you were fine watching young attractive people running from their lifes, that you forgot that you were supposed to stay away from him and send him a text.

Since we are not dancing this afternoon you should bring money and alcohol and make the scrabble more interesting

The moment you hit "send" you regretted it, and ten minutes went by without any response, you were about to send another message making sure he knew you were just joking when to make the situation worse, the door opened and Alan walked in making you jump on the couch in surprise.

He was holding a nice bouquet of flowers and was about to say something nice when his expression changed with concern.

"What the hell happened to your head?" You have taken the headband off and the stitches were visible, he left his stuff on the ground while you try to explain what had happened leaving one important detail in the dark. "Why didn't you call? Y was free at 5 but I went out for drinks with the guys, you could have called, are you okay? I'm calling your doctor" His paternal voice while he check the wound make you feel worse even when you have done anything remotely accusatory.

"I'm fine, how was Dallas? Did you guys got the old man to sign?" He smile at you, like he always did when you resume his job into making old CEOs to sign their company's away to him and his lawyer friends.

"We did, in fact I was dying to get here to get you out to celebrate" He said pointing out the flowers "But maybe champagne is not the best idea right now" He said looking worried at the injury again.

"That and also the fact that is 10:00 a.m." You said and while he pick up his stuff from the floor and you quickly check your phone, no answer, maybe it was for the better, Barry Berkman was a dangerous path that you shouldn't walk and you could send a text cancelling your class later. You turn off the phone and help Alan out of his jacket.

He took you by the waist and pulled you in for a kiss, maybe was the guilt you felt what was making you eager to ease away a pain you haven't cause him yet but you deepened the kiss right there in the middle of the living room.

"Why was that for?" He asked with a confused happy look on his face holding you tight.

"Well is too early for champagne, but maybe not for other ways to celebrate" You said running your hands trough his arms and resting them on his chest.

"But your head..." He started with his hands on your back already making another choice.

"I'm fine, let's go" you wink at him and he carried you to the bedroom, with your heart rising on your chest loudly enough for your guilty thoughts to remain silent at least for the moment.

***

"Scoring with a married lady, I never thought you have that in you" Fuches said jokingly and Barry's hand tighten around the wheel.

"Leave her out of this" He growled and he saw the grin on Fuches face in the corner of his eye, he was teasing him and he fall right in "That's not what I was doing, she is just a friend" He added with lest conviction knowing he had said too much already.

"I know kid, you are way too decent to do that stuff, weird since you have no problem killing, but anyway I like the blonde one better..." he didn't finish talking since Barry almost lost control of the car when he mentioned Sally.

"Let Sally out of this or I swear to God I'll kill you right now" this time Fuches expression was not pleased, he looked at the road concerned with Barry's actions.

They parked in a drugstore that was empty at that time in the morning. And stand outside the car just watching the fence of the parking lot, Fuches light a cigarette and offered one to Barry but he rejected it.

"You are getting clumsy you know?" He said after a while, trying to find a way to bring on the subject without activating the timebomb he was when he got angry. "Using your own name on the hospital was stupid, oh yeah I know about your little excursion to the E.R." He said tossing the butt of the cigarette in the ground "This 'friend' of yours must be close to call herself Mrs. Berkman doesn't she?"

"She is my dance teacher... people assumed things" He started and the slight guilt in his voice was enough for Fuches to take the reins of the conversation.

"And I'm sure your girlfriend was aware of your whereabouts last night" He said, studying his reaction "Oh she doesn't know?"

"So you are going to threaten me with snitching on me with Sally now?" He said surprised "That's a bit ridiculous, why did you came back man?" He asked tired, he was sure now tha he could never kill him, no matter how much he had damaged him, that's not who he was anymore but his hesitation to end things with him encouraged Fuches to keep coming back into his life.

"Well the Chechens were not please to lose their men, the Bolivians think NoHo Hank betrayed them and the Burmese mob wanted you dead" He said and a pain in his head reminded Barry of the that night, and flashes of his actions play before his eyes, their men, the light fading away from Mayrbeck eyes still haunted him time to time. "Or whoever killed their leader for that matter, only the Chechens knew it was you and they kept it to themselves" he continued and Barry came back to the present, only nodding in understanding "So those guys thought it was Cristobal, since he survived your little outburst"

"And I suppose you didn't have anything to do with them thinking that" Barry assumed correctly.

"Of course not, as I also tip off NoHo Hank that his sweetheart was in danger so he could protect him" He said with a grin "Poor guy is so smitten by him is actually sweet, anyway the Bolivians and the Chechens got in peace after and they stop trying to kill me and welcome me into the family, but they were at war with the Burmese"

"And why does any of that to do with me? since you say they don't know who I am... they told them right? Hank rat me out to the Burmese?" He said connecting the dots on his head, and finally starting to get nervous about his momentary quiet life to blow up.

"It was a peace offering, they will give them this maniac killer who wrong the three of them and restore their peace, and they did already" He said putting out a photograph of a man covered in tattoos liying on the ground with multiple bullet holes on his body and head. "This is Marion Kowalski, an ex navy seal who mess with the wrong people and did some shady jobs for the mob for a price, and the American responsible for the Monastery massacre, and now they are all in peace"

"I don't understand any of these" Barry said regaining a momentary calm.

"Well Hank and Batir, the new boss, have different ideas about what peace means" He said turning on another cigarette "Hank is happy to keep the business running in peace and for Batir is a strategy to hurt them back with all they got." He put a hand on his shoulder when he said the last part and gave him a sad look.

"That includes me? It's insane man, I'm not coming with you, you can't convince me" He said putting his hand aside.

"No kid, I'm not here trying to convince you, this is a heads up" He said and pull out a passport with one of his many fake identities "I'm leaving to Italy, Hank arranged it, they are actively looking for you and since I don't know where you are I'm no longer useful but since he owns me Cristobal's life I got this last favor. They won't take a no for an answer and you either join them as a weapon or as a trophy".

"How long do I have?" He said now finally accepting the cigarette he offered him and looking away thinking.

"I don't know, Hank has been deviating their attention until I'm clear, after that I guess a day or two before they make a formal offer and after that is all up to you" He said and showed him a plane ticket "I'm leaving in a week so if I were you I will start making myself hard to find"

"Are you really going to Italy?" Barry asked finally after they share the silence, knowing too well it was the last time they will meet.

"Maybe, I wouldn't trust my own words, it was good seeing you kid" He said and offered him his hand. "Take care".

"You too" Barry said and resisted the urge to hug him since there were still too many open wounds between the two of them, that now will never have closure, Fuches turn away and start walking before Barry called him again "Hey Fuches!" He turned his head at him with a sad expression again "Thanks" they nodded and he walked away.

Barry tossed the cigarette on the ground and stood there for another ten minutes before getting on his car, his first instinct was to drive away and leave it all behind but he couldn't start the engine, so he took out his phone not sure who he was calling, there were 3 text messages on his screen, one from Sally from an hour ago, another from Y/N grom fifteen minutes before, and a third one from Andre just two minutes ago, in an attempt to ignore his reality read his first.

Where the fuck are you Block? We have the crew ready and I'm not putting my production on hold for you!

Before he could look at the other two Andre was calling him incredibly mad at him, and he shut everything else down and simply started his car while he answered.

"I'm sorry, I slept in, I'm on my way"

#barry hbo #barry berkman edit #barry fanfiction #barry berkman fanfiction #barry berkman x you #barry berkman x reader #barry block #barry berkman #bill hader #dance #cheating #monroe fuches #sally reed

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tomeandflickcorner · 4 years

Text

Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Look Homeward, Ray

So, we had a Slimer centric and a Winston centric episode. Looks like it’s Ray’s turn, now.

We begin with the Ecto-1 pulling up to Grand Central Terminal, with Peter, Winston and Egon exiting the vehicle, their arms laden with various items. It turns out that they’re there to see off Ray, who is taking some time off to visit his hometown of Morrisville. Apparently, Morrisville has its own legendary monster called the Winged Puma, which I gather is their version of the Jersey Devil or something. According to legend, the Winged Puma once terrorized the town of Morrisville in times long past, until it was somehow banished to the depths of the Earth. And now, a Winged Puma Parade is held in Morrisville every ten years in commemoration of the local legend. Ray’s visit, it turns out, coincides with the date of one of these parades. Because he has been chosen to be the parade’s grand marshal. This honor seems to have taken Ray by surprise, as everyone back home apparently never believed that he would ever amount to anything. But I guess Ray’s fame as a Ghostbuster has made him something of a town hero, so take that, naysayers.

So Peter, Egon and Winston arrive at the station just in time to catch Ray before he boards the train. They proceed to give him a sizable sack of articles, scrapbooks and even a film reel that focuses on what Ray does as a Ghostbuster, so Ray can show them off to the town. Ray accepts the offerings from his friends, but then a slight disturbance erupts when Slimer, ignoring Peter’s instructions to wait in the car, flies up to give Ray a Stay Puft doll (and frightening a few civilians in the process). This is obviously supposed to mirror how a small child might give their teddy bear to a parent who is going away for a few days. It’s made abundantly clear that Slimer is particularly sad to see Ray go, and nothing seems to cheer him up, even when Ray tries to reassure Slimer that he’ll only be 30 miles away and will be back in a few days. (By the by, Morrisville, NY is actually 240 miles away from New York City according to Mapquest. So either Ray is a big fat liar or someone on the show staff didn’t check their facts.)

Shortly after arriving in Morrisville, Ray is given this great big welcoming ceremony by the Morrisville Mayor. (Though he ends up calling Ray ‘Roy,’ which was probably meant to indicate how Ray was previously seen as a nobody in this town.) As the welcoming ceremony winds down, Ray is approached by two particular individuals. The first is a woman called Elaine Phermon, who was Ray’s childhood crush. (And that crush is apparently still there, as indicated by the hearts that appear in Ray’s eyes.) The other is a man called Alan Favish, who I guess used to bully Ray while claiming to be his friend. Both Elaine and Alan take a little time to catch up with Ray. Elaine tells Ray that she’d kept track of the Ghostbusters exploits mostly because of his involvement with them. Alan, on the other hand, comments on how everyone once believed he would be going places while Ray would be the town nobody. But now, it turns out Ray is a huge celebrity while Alan simply became a shoe salesman. Although, this whole conversation does have a point, as it comes out that Elaine has recently inherited the old Pallo Mansion. The only problem is that the Pallo Mansion is haunted and therefore she can’t place any tenants there, nor can she sell the place. Seeing his opportunity to provide the people of his hometown with a little demonstration, Ray opens up the briefcase he’d brought with them, which ends up containing his Ghostbusting equipment. Upon arriving at the mansion, Ray pulls out his PKE Meter and determines that the ghosts haunting the place are simply Class 2 Mini Wraiths, meaning they’re particularly weak ghosts.

However, as Ray begins to get to work in dealing with the Class 2 ghosts, we see a mysterious figure enter into a room elsewhere. The mysterious figure climbs up a ladder to retrieve a spell book that was hidden on a shelf. Upon opening the spell book, the figure recites a particular spell that seems to give the two ghosts a power boost. While the episode is clearly making an attempt to keep the identity of the spell caster a mystery, it’s OBVIOUS who it is at this point. Anyway, because of the spell that was cast, not only do the Pallo Mansion Ghosts grow in size and strength, Ray’s Proton Streams are ineffective against them. As a result, they are able to effortlessly toss Ray aside and proceed to trash all the tents and stands that were erected for the Winged Puma Parade. Once they’re done wreaking havoc, the Pallo Mansion Ghosts return to the mansion, leaving Ray to face the wrath of the Mayor, who is fuming over the property damage. Especially since there’s not enough money left in the town treasury to cover the repairs. Out of nowhere, Alan pops up, offering to personally cover the cost of the repairs. The Mayor accepts the offer, announcing that Alan will be the parade’s grand marshal instead of Ray.

Disheartened, Ray returns to the Firehouse. After arriving, the guys all help him perform operation checks on Ray’s equipment and find that everything is operating normally. So there’s no explanation for why Ray failed to capture the Pallo Mansion Ghosts. Unfortunately, this leaves Ray feeling as if the problem is him, despite Winston’s attempts at reassuring him that everyone has off days. Peter then states that it would be pretty foolish of Ray to go back to Morrisville in an attempt at proving something to the townsfolk (while whispering to Winston that he’ll bet him $5 that Ray will end up doing just that). Sure enough, the next scene shows Ray sneaking through the woods leading up to the Pallo Mansion.

As he’s making his way through the woods, he is startled by the sudden appearance of Elaine, who had heard someone moving about outside and came out with a flashlight to investigate. Upon seeing Ray, she immediately decides to accompany him back to the Pallo Mansion. Meanwhile, back at the Firehouse, Egon has discovered a note Ray had left behind to explain what he’s doing. Which prompts him to wake up Peter and Winston (with the former announcing that Winston now owes him $5). Egon, Peter and Winston all head out to Morrisville in the Ecto-1 to join Ray and give him assistance. They arrive just when Ray is pretty much getting the stuffing knocked out of him, as his efforts in catching the Pallo Mansion Ghosts only end up with his head getting shoved through an old painting. However, when the other Ghostbusters arrive on the scene, the not-so mysterious spell caster returns, secretly reversing the spell he cast earlier. This results in the Pallo Ghosts reverting back to their naturally weak state, making it all too easy for them to be caught.

Of course, this just leaves Ray feeling like an even bigger failure, since his teammates were effortlessly able to catch ghosts that gave him such trouble. As a result, he decides to quit the team, practically running off in tears. The others all run after him and try to get him to reconsider. But Ray is too disheartened to rethink his decision. That’s when Alan suddenly appears on the scene, apparently out on a morning jog. He announces that he couldn’t help overhearing Ray’s decision to quit the Ghostbusters (with nobody questioning how he was apparently able to overhear, since he couldn’t possibly have been within earshot when Ray made his announcement), and immediately offers Ray a job at his shoe store.

Ray ends up taking the job at Alan’s shoe store. Which, for some reason, requires him to dress up in a pink bunny suit. (Think A Christmas Story.) However, Winston, Peter and Egon haven’t given up trying to get Ray to come back to the team. Though their efforts are pretty much fruitless, as Ray simply hands Winston his Proton Pack. While apparently becoming a telepath, as his mouth doesn’t move when he announces that they can use the relinquished Proton Pack for parts. (Someone on the animation team clearly fell asleep.) Winston, however, refuses to accept Ray’s Proton Pack, insisting on leaving it hanging up nearby.

With that, Egon announces that they’re wasting their time, and all but drags Peter and Winston off. Though Egon isn’t really giving up in trying to figure out how to get Ray to come back to the team. He simply knows that Ray is too despondent to listen to them. So they need to come up with another tactic. (Although, when Peter firmly tells him that electric shock isn’t an option, Egon immediately announces that they’ll go with Plan B instead. Which makes me wonder what exactly Plan A was. Not to mention chuckle a bit over how well Peter knows Egon.)

Plan B apparently involves disguising Slimer by wrapping him up in an old mattress, desk lamps and whatnot and making it look like some new sort of ghost is chasing them in the Ecto-1, with them staging the performance outside the shoe store so Ray could see what’s going on. And it nearly works, as Ray doesn’t hesitate to grab his Proton Pack when he sees that his friends appear to be in trouble. Unfortunately, the ruse is revealed when an ice cream truck just happens to pass by. And Slimer, unable to resist, gives himself away. (Although, I was admittedly surprised that he actually ends up eating the fiberglass ice cream cone that resided on top of the truck. I can’t imagine that tasted good.) Once Ray realizes that it was all a trick, he returns to the shoe store, feeling as miserable as ever.

Sometime later, Ray is in the middle of trying to sell shoes to a rather hard-to-please customer. He is surprised when Elaine pays him a visit. She tells him that she doesn’t think any less of him for his earlier failures, stating that the fact that he tried is what makes him a real hero in her eyes. While Elaine is there, they stumble across the spell book hidden among the shelves of the shoe store by chance. As such, it’s revealed that the mysterious spell caster from earlier was Alan. (Big fat duh!) Right away, Ray finds the spell Alan used to power up the Pallo Mansion Ghosts. It turns out the spell that was used surrounds the ghosts with negative energy, which explains why Ray’s Proton Pack was unable to have any effect on them earlier. Because the Proton Packs work on positive energy.

Unfortunately, there’s an even bigger problem now. When Alan lifted the Negative Energy spell from the Pallo Mansion Ghosts, the spell didn’t just go away. It instead made its way underground, where it awoke the Winged Puma from its slumber. And the Winged Puma emerges from the street in the middle of the parade. To make it worse, when Alan tries to stop the Winged Puma with his spell book, he ultimately failed, with the spell book getting destroyed when the Winged Puma started to shoot out fireballs from its mouth.

Ray quickly manages to join up with Egon, Peter and Winston, who are trying to stop the Winged Puma with their Proton Packs to no avail. Ray quickly tells them that the reason their Proton Streams are ineffective is because the Winged Puma is surrounded by negative energy. Fortunately, Ray has an idea. After borrowing a screwdriver from Mr. Johnson’s shop, he literally reverses the polarity of the neutron flow on the Proton Packs (Long-time Doctor Who fans will probably get a kick out of this). Ray’s plan seems to work, as it results in the Winged Puma getting driven off. But the Ghostbusters know that they shouldn’t let the monster get away, as it would probably come back later or move on to terrorize another town. So they rig up a makeshift hot air balloon, using the parade balloon of Ray and the giant shoe from Alan’s parade float, to go after the Winged Puma. In the end, they are able to capture the monster in a Ghost Trap.

Once the day is saved, Elaine is able spell it out to the few viewers who couldn’t figure things out on their own- that Alan has tried to set things up the way he did to make Ray look bad, because he was jealous of Ray’s success. But because his plan backfired on him, Alan is now an even bigger disgrace than he was before, as he’s left to try and repair his shoe store (which was demolished during the Winged Puma’s rampage) on his own, as the insurance company probably wouldn’t buy his explanation on what caused the damage. The Mayor also approaches Ray to apologize for everything, also offering to make Ray the parade grand marshal again. Because the parade is going to go on. Except Ray freaks out a bit when he sees a float bearing the likeness of the Winged Puma and he mistakenly fires his Proton Pack at it, destroying the float in the process. Thankfully, his honest mistake is laughed off, and Ray even gets a kiss on the cheek from Elaine.

While the plot is a bit predictable, with a completely failed attempt at hiding the identity of the mysterious spell caster, it’s still a pretty good attempt at giving Ray the spotlight. Though it’s anyone’s guess how Alan got this spell book in the first place. And much like how it was with Samhain, I’m curious over who exactly was responsible for initially stopping the Winged Puma in the past. It’s a shame those answers will probably never be answered.

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

#the real ghostbusters #rgb episode review #ghostbusters franchise

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gumnut-logic · 5 years

Text

This is a repost, a fic of mine you might have seen before, but I think it bears revisiting as I am rather fond of it. A friend of mine has thrown a prompt in and chosen Bo as the character to write about. So I think this is a good a time as any to share this again.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

-o-o-o-

Title: Bo

A TAG Secret Santa fic

Author: Gumnut

15 – 18 Dec 2018

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Virgil meets a new friend, and, damnit, Scott was going to kill him.

Word count: 6184

Spoilers & warnings: Possible bushfire/wildfire triggers in the first part. For the rest none, except for vague nudity and fluff. Christmas fic. Gen.

Timeline: Origin story

Author’s note: Okay, so this is the first time I’ve ever participated in one of these so I’m new to this.

My prompts were

1. Virgil covered in tinsel

2. Tracy family Christmas

3. Christmas Rescue Miracle (with Virg please)

The first one prompted all sorts of images not suitable for a PG audience. Hubby also suggested I blow up a tinsel factory. Overall, I did attempt to include all three prompts in the one fic. I hope I have succeeded in providing some enjoyment at least.

This does not belong to either Sotto Voce or Warm Rain and is pretty canon compliant. It is currently standalone. Consider it a possible origin story, there may be more, if I can think up some new plot lines. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Many thanks to @tagsecretsanta for all her wonderful work putting the gift exchange together, and thanks to @photowizard17 for the inspiring prompts, @i-am-chidorixblossom for cheering me on when I couldn’t post daily and obsessively like I usually do, and to @the-lady-razorsharp for giving it an American beta so I don’t trip over being Australian (though the summer Christmas certainly helped :D).

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

“It’s the last house at the end of the street, Virgil.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Five.” It was said without the usual spark. The grey of the destroyed landscape sucked everything from everything. A pall of smoke and haze, black remnants of lives, homes and the tragedy of the night before.

International Rescue had been called to a massive bushfire in the Yarra Ranges in Victoria, Australia. The CFA had had it under control the previous day, John keeping an eye on it anyway, but an unexpected change in wind direction in the evening had it jumping firebreaks and tearing through an unprotected valley and directly through a township.

With the vast tall forests of mountain ash, eucalypts full of volatile oil just waiting to burst into flame, combined with the hot and blustery northerly, not even IR could stop the firestorm from taking lives and property.

Thunderbird Two had her fire suppression equipment, but the massive plane was a speck against the wall of flame.

There were forces of nature that just couldn’t be stopped.

The Tracys dodged and nabbed trapped people. Thunderbird Two deployed a huge water cannon, sourcing water from the local reservoir, as the CFA water bombed around them, desperate to protect what lives they could. But nothing was stopping the fire.

It tore through the town leaving agony in its wake.

Dawn was grey and dismal, but it brought rain. The sky rumbled, threatening to spark more fires in the ranges, but the deluge came and dampened the remaining flame enough to once again get the front under control.

But it was too late for the town.

It was gone.

Virgil walked the length of the street, his exo-suit rubbing on aching shoulders. Burnt out cars and collapsed homes lined the road from one end to the other. The skeletons of black trees marched off into the distance behind it all.

Haze hovered above ash-clogged puddles in the pavement.

It wasn’t what Christmas morning was supposed to be.

The last house at the end of the street had fully collapsed in on itself. A burnt-out car sat in the driveway, its trunk lid and one of its doors open.

Virgil closed his eyes for a moment, knowing what that likely meant.

He steeled himself and walked past the remains he knew he was going to find in the car.

Nothing could be done.

Nothing.

He focussed on the whine of his suit as his boots stepped in wet ash and strode across the front yard to the remains of the house. He had to clear his throat to speak to John. “Tell me where, Thunderbird Five.”

“Possibly in the basement? The lifesign is below ground level.”

The house had been old, the wooden floorboards disintegrating in the heat. Virgil leapt through the remains of a wall, landing on rubble in what had likely been a wine cellar. The heat had been so intense, that glass bottles had become slag.

Glass crunched under his boots. “Right or left?”

“Eastern side, southern corner.”

There was a mass of rubble collapsed against the only standing wall of the building.

“This is International Rescue. Can anyone hear me?”

He turned up the pickups on his exterior mikes.

Nothing. It was probably a blip. How the hell could anything survive this holocaust?

His shoulders dropped.

But then...something? A whimper?

Maybe?

Virgil began digging.

It took him a good fifteen minutes of solid work to move enough burnt masonry to reach a hole in the wall at the very base of the structure. And in what appeared to be the bottom of a dumb waiter he found the lifesign.

The little puppy whimpered at him, trembling with fear.

Aw, hell.

“John, lifesign is a dog.”

“One moment, Thunderbird Two.” The puppy stared, the green, yellow and blue of Virgil’s suit reflected in its brown eyes. “There is no dog registered at that address. Deliver to the local authorities. You are needed to airlift some survivors to Melbourne. Report to Scott on the other side of town.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Five.”

Virgil slid his arms out from the suit and bent aching knees. “Hey, little one, do you want to come with me?”

The puppy shivered and looked him up and down, hesitating.

“I’m with International Rescue, we’re here to help.” He took a step closer. “It’s okay, I promise.”

Maybe it was something in his voice, his stance, or simply because the puppy had no choice, but as Virgil reached into the box it was sitting in, the puppy made no protest as he picked it up.

A quick examination for injury revealed her to be a girl. She shuddered up against Virgil’s chest. “Don’t worry, it’s all over, you’re safe.”

Sliding one arm back into his suit, he started making his way out of the ruined building, turning his back on the tiny hole that had somehow saved the little dog’s life.

-o-o-o-

Perhaps it was because she sat so quietly with him. Perhaps because it was Christmas Day. Most likely it was because Virgil had reached his limit of pain.

When he found the RSPCA tent, specially set up for lost pets, he gently handed over the little puppy. She let out a whimper and began crying.

No barking, just this godawful crying that tore at his heart.

“You will be fine here, little one.” The attendant was one of those kindly older ladies and she hugged the gangly bundle of fluff to her chest as Virgil turned to leave, Scott in his ear.

But the puppy let out such a scream of anguish, Virgil turned around without thinking. She was struggling in the volunteer’s arms and before either of them could react, she managed to wriggle free and dash over to him, her little body trembling on his left boot.

He reached down and gathered her into his arms. “You can’t come with me. I can’t-“ But she was rubbing her head up under his chin, little sounds in her throat.

And he couldn’t.

Just couldn’t.

His eyes met the eyes of the lady volunteer and she smiled. “We will keep her details if you would like to take her with you. If anyone contacts us, we can let you know.” And the volunteer was just as hopeful as the puppy in his arms. After all, there was no life at the RSPCA unless a home was found.

He looked down at her little brown eyes again.

No, he couldn’t.

Damnit, Scott was going to kill him.

Maybe for just a few days?

The excuse provided a simple solution, so he took it.

Without a word, he handed his IR contact details to the volunteer, and, puppy in hand, turned his back to the tent and strode towards the big green hulk parked in the distant haze.

“Well, little one, you have definitely made an interesting choice. Let me introduce you to my big green partner.”

-o-o-o-

It was well past Christmas lunch, or rather the lack of it, before IR was given the all clear to return to base. During the entire time, the little puppy sat beside Virgil’s pilot chair, apparently unfazed by the deep bass rumble of Thunderbird Two.

When he picked up both Gordon and Alan the dynamic changed just a little.

Gordon dragged himself onto the flight deck first, a groan in every step. “Christmas just gets more exciting every year.” It was true. Nine out of ten Christmas Days were side-swiped by a disaster, to the point that the Tracy Christmas tradition was a modular and movable celebration nowadays. No guarantees and no defined day. It happened around December twenty-fifth, there about, when they could, between call outs.

Suddenly the little puppy was in his lap.

“What is that?”

Virgil looked up. His brother was covered in soot and looked as tired as Virgil felt. “This is Bo.” And he had no idea where the name came from, it just seemed right and the moment clicked.

“Bo?”

“Yeah.” Newly christened Bo peered up at Gordon around Virgil’s arm. “She survived the fire.” A swallow. “Her family didn’t.”

“Oh.”

Alan, as always, had more energy than any of them, and showed it as he waltzed into the cabin. “So why aren’t we moving?”

Bo let off a sharp bark.

Everyone jumped.

“What the hell, Virgil?”

Bo was literally glaring at Alan.

“Hey, Bo, calm down, that’s just Alan. He’s annoying, but tolerable.” The little puppy looked up at him, her gorgeous brown eyes just melting him inside. He was so gone.

“Hey!” That from Alan.

“Scott’s going to kill you.” That from Gordon, who was approaching slowly.

“Yeah, I know.” It was a sigh.

Gordon crouched down beside Virgil’s chair. “Hey, little one, what gave you the idea to attach yourself to this big oaf?” Pulling off one of his gloves, the aquanaut reached out and offered the puppy his hand. She eyed him warily before tentatively sniffing at his fingers.

She sneezed.

Alan snorted.

Bo blinked and stared at Gordon for a moment. The aquanaut kept still and eventually she sniffed at him again, before nuzzling at his hand. He blatantly took that as permission and gently rubbed behind her ear. “You are a cute little thing, aren’t you.”

She licked his wrist.

“Oh, I can see why our heavy lifter fell for you. You’ve got it all in those brown eyes of yours, haven’t you.” Gordon shrugged. “Though I will admit they are the best colour for manipulation.”

“And he speaks from experience.” To Virgil’s surprise, Gordon actually jumped. “Did you forget I was here? Not absorbed by those brown eyes are we?” He couldn’t help but smile at his brother. At least one was as besotted as he had to admit he was.

Yes, Scott was definitely going to kill him.

“Shut up, Virgil.”

Bo backed off, once again hiding behind Virgil’s baldric.

“Hey, Gordon, watch the tone.”

“Sorry, Bo.”

“Are we actually going home at some point? I have a date with my bed.”

Gordon stood up, pulling out the co-pilot’s seat. “No rush, Allie, she’ll wait for you.”

“Augh.”

“Sit down, Alan, I’m just finishing pre-flight.” Tired and cranky could easily become nasty if not attended to.

Bo curled up, nestled against his harness, as Alan grumpily pulled out his seat.

“Virgil, where the hell are you?”

Speaking of tired and cranky... “Launching now, Thunderbird One.” As if prompted, he received clearance from Australian Air Control.

TB2 rumbled beneath as he activated VTOL, ash and dust swirling up around them. As soon as he had enough height, he engaged her rear thrusters and tore off over the Alps, across the coast and out into the Tasman.

“ETA fifteen minutes.” At least they weren’t too far from home.

Bo fell asleep in his lap.

-o-o-o-

Virgil was on the verge of joining Bo in slumber as Thunderbird Two spun slowly in her hanger, eventually coming to a final stop.

So tired.

Beside him, Alan poked Gordon awake. “Ugh, what? Oh.” You could almost hear his brain booting.

Virgil worked around Bo as he did his post-flight checks, his brothers, well, mostly Gordon, groaning as they got to their feet and waddled towards the hatch. “C’mon, Virg, Alan’s pining for his bed.”

“You two go ahead. I just need to finish post-flight.” He didn’t turn around, but he could feel Gordon’s eyes on him.

“Sure, whatever.” And he heard the hatch lower to the hangar floor.

His brothers gone, Virgil let himself relax back against his chair, his shoulders sagging. He let out a long breath. “So, Bo, how are we going to do this?”

The puppy woke as if on command and turned to stare up at him. Gently her tail began to wag.

Virgil let a tired smile cross his face.

Encouraged, Bo jumped up and put her two front paws on his chest, reaching up, trying to lick his face despite not quite being tall enough.

The smile became a grin.

“Okay, okay.” He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up as he pushed his seat backwards and stood. Immediately he was bathed in puppy drool. He couldn’t help but laugh. He surfaced above her licking and cradled her in his arms. “We need to get you some food.” His stomach rumbled ominously. “We need to get me some food.”

And a shower. A shower definitely wouldn’t hurt.

If he could hold off the sleep.

If he didn’t call it a stagger, it wasn’t a stagger, but he had obviously been sitting in his seat for far too long ferrying all those survivors to Melbourne on repeated trips. It was his turn to groan as both his back and legs complained loudly at the sudden demands for movement.

Bo started chewing on his glove.

Somehow he made it back to his rooms without encountering anyone. Shutting the door, he let Bo loose on the floor and began stripping off his uniform, hitting the buttons on his preprogrammed shower cubicle. Moments later he walked under the spray and let it wash the day from his skin.

God, that felt good.

As his muscles relaxed under the heat, sleep became more and more attractive, and by the time he stumbled out of the water, all thoughts of food had vanished.

He took the three steps across his room from the ensuite and threw himself facedown on the bed, still partly wet, still naked.

He was asleep within moments.

-o-o-o-

He was being kissed.

Her lips were warm, her tongue wet, her whiskers soft against his stubble...

Uh?

She licked his eye.

Wha-?

Virgil, always slow to respond upon waking, opened said eye only to get an eyeful of slobber. A soft paw thwapped him on the cheek. Huh? he blinked attempting to clear his eyesight, a hand coming up to defend himself.

Fortunately, his brain came online and memory kicked in. “B-Bo?”

A tongue wrapped around his nose and left it wet.

Ugh.

He wiped his face with his hand, stretching backwards on his pillow, desperate to get out of reach.

The puppy landed on his chest, her paws kneading his chest hair, her little claws completing his wake-up process rather abruptly.

Oh god.

“Bo, down, honey, down.”

He was completely ignored.

Sitting up, he attempted to grab her in his arms, but missed. The little puppy landed on things that puppies had no right to land on. Or stomp on for that matter.

He winced.

“Ooh, okay, come here.” He lifted her off his lap, holding her close, her tail pummelling his belly. “I’m awake, okay.” Again he found himself pinned by her brown eyes. “Aww, c’mon with the cute, Bo, you’re going to melt my brain.”

“Assuming you have a brain to melt.” And Scott was standing in his doorway.

Virgil glared up at him. “Don’t you knock?”

“I did. Grandma sent me to tell you that Christmas dinner is ready.”

Virgil frowned at his brother over the top of Bo’s ears, ignoring the glare the blue eyes were directing at the puppy in his arms. “I thought we’d do Christmas tomorrow.”

“We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Grandma thought it would be best to sneak it in tonight, since it is Christmas Day, after all.” Scott’s lips thinned. “Where did you get that from?”

“She’s a rescue.”

“Usually we leave our rescues on the continent we find them.”

“She had no one.”

“Unfortunately, that is nothing new.” And one of his hands had moved to his hip.

Virgil sighed. “Scott, it’s fine, it’s only for a few days.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

Virgil held back his retort. He knew to pick his fights and now was not the time. “Her name is Bo.”

Scott looked at him and then at Bo. “Hurry up, your dinner is getting cold.” The ghost of a smirk. “And don’t forget to wear clothes.”

“Funny, funny, ha, ha.” But his brother had left.

Virgil let his shoulders drop. “Sorry, Bo, I think you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Bo just licked him some more.

It wasn’t until he went looking for his boots that he discovered the wonderful deposits Bo had left for him on the floor.

Ugh.

And apparently one of his favourite boots had served as a meal also.

He closed his eyes and sighed again.

Half dressed, he cleaned up the mess, and five minutes later he waltzed downstairs, Bo in his arms and barefoot. Time to face the inevitable music.

-o-o-o-

A Tracy Christmas used to be snow, roast turkey, stockings by the fire, the occasional Christmas carol and family.

Since starting International Rescue it had changed.

Firstly, they were in the tropics. The only fires available in those temperatures were ones that required firefighting equipment. Having grown up with snow, it was still extremely weird. But it had its advantages. For one you could go outside in the minimum of clothing, something Gordon took advantage of every day of the year. There were no snowball fights, but these were fast replaced with water fights. There was no ice skating, but there was water skiing if anyone could get up the energy to get the boat out. And surfing, let’s not forget Scott’s attempts at that. Virgil would admit that he didn’t mind a little surfboard action himself. He wouldn’t say he was very good at it, but at least Gordon had never had to save him like he had Scott.

There were still Christmas trees and tinsel and stockings that no-one ever considered wearing hung from the nearest mantelpiece-looking piece of furniture.

There was still turkey and roast potatoes and all the yummy food crucial for a good Christmas meal, but it was often cooked outside in barbecue ovens and seafood and cold food had been added to the menu. In fact, the traditional dinner had become more of a banquet by the pool.

As Virgil walked out onto the patio, he couldn’t help but smile at the Christmas tree that had obviously been hurriedly moved out here from the comms room. It sat a little lopsided and the star on top was having a few issues with gravity. That was new, as was the liberal tinsel and Christmas lights strung from palm tree to palm tree, across the pool and back several times.

“Fifty bucks says Gordon tries to water volleyball the tinsel at least once.”

Virgil smirked as he stepped up beside his next youngest brother. “Not touching that one. I value my money.”

John was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and had a beer in his hand. Bo was immediately interested in this new person. She strained towards John, her nose literally twitching towards the hand holding the beer.

His brother must have caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively took a step away.

“Oh, sorry, John, this is Bo.” Bo was climbing over his arm, desperate to get closer to the astronaut. Virgil held her tight, worried she would fall.

“Uh, hello.” John turned towards them, frowning. “Since when do you own a dog?”

“Since this morning.”

“Does Scott know?” They both instinctively looked over at their eldest brother who was hovering over one of the barbecues energetically discussing something with Grandma - probably how not to burn the food.

“He does.”

“And you still have it?”

“Her.”

“Yes.”

“Good luck with that one.” John drank his beer.

“She had no one else.”

John arched an eyebrow at him and then frowned. “Oh, Virgil.” His shoulders slumped.

“I am an adult now, John. It won’t be like last time.”

“God, I hope not.”

Virgil stared at his brother, only to see the genuine concern in his green eyes. A sigh. “It won’t happen again.”

John reached out and gently touched his shoulder. “No, it won’t, because you will remember that you have four brothers who are all here for you, won’t you.” God, that green gaze was penetrating.

“It will be fine.”

Bo yipped at John, her tail beating Virgil’s chest.

The astronaut smiled and offered the little dog his hand. She sniffed and licked him almost immediately.

“I think you have been approved.”

John smiled and Virgil couldn’t help but do the same.

“Virgil!” And Grandma was arrowing in on his position.

“Incoming.” John was smirking.

“Hey, Grandma.”

But his grandmother only had eyes for Bo. “Who is this?”

Virgil smiled again. “This is Bo. Bo, this is Grandma.”

Bo whacked him with her tail and literally leapt from his arms into his grandmother’s.

“Woah.” Suddenly with arms full of wriggling puppy enthusiastically licking her face, his grandmother was laughing. “Oh dear, you are a cutie. Let me have a look at you.” And she held Bo out at arms length, her eyes critical. “A little hard to tell at her age, but my bet says she’s of boxer stock, around three months old. Such a beautiful brindle and that face.” Virgil couldn’t help but agree. Bo looked like she had dipped her face in a pot of ink, her brown eyes surrounded by gorgeous black coat that quickly bled to brindle down her back with a spot of white on her front. “Where did you find her?”

Virgil looked at his feet, remembered why they were bare, and looked back up at his grandmother. “This morning’s rescue. She lost everything.”

Grandma turned her attention back to Bo. “Oh, honey. You survived the fire?” Bo licked her nose. “Well, you are safe here.” Grandma curled her arms around the puppy and scratched her ears. “Has Virgil fed you anything yet?” She glanced at him and he shrugged. He got frowned at for his trouble. Grandma turned away, walking towards the barbecues with Bo in her arms. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Well, that didn’t take long, did it?” John was still smirking at him.

A series of barks and a yelp from Grandma, and suddenly Bo was dashing amongst legs in his direction. “Woah.” He crouched down and caught her as she leapt for him. She wriggled and licked, her little body trembling under his hands. “Hey, hey, honey, it’s okay, you’re safe.” She snuggled up under his chin. He couldn’t help but return the hug.

Grandma approached, worry on her face. “I’m sorry, Virgil, I didn’t realise.”

“It’s okay.” He reached an arm around his grandmother, bringing her into the hug. “She’s just had a scary day.” He pulled both of them close.

Scott was glaring at him from a distance.

John smiled at them and drank his beer.

Bo started chewing on his collar.

-o-o-o-

As the evening progressed, Bo slowly let herself part from Virgil as each of the members of his family, bar Alan and Scott, came to say hello or fed her from the table. There was one interesting moment when the little puppy encountered Sherbert for the first time.

Bo yipped.

Sherbert yapped.

And as the entire party fell silent, the two dogs stared each other down.

Virgil was poised for a rescue and Penelope was not far behind him, but a moment later Bo licked Sherbert across the nose, Sherbert gently butted the little puppy with his head, and from that point onwards they were best of friends, Sherbert quite proudly showing his new friend around.

But never out of sight of Virgil.

Bo and Parker had a staring moment not long after, but Sherbert barrelled on in and head butted the driver, snapping him out of it. It wasn’t long before the little puppy had him rubbing her ears as well.

Kayo stood her distance, assessing Bo as much as the puppy was assessing her. A calm arched eyebrow slowly rose as Bo tilted her head up at the security specialist. She pressed her lips together and faced Virgil. “There will be training.”

Virgil blinked and his sister turned and stalked off. Bo eyed her the entire time, only finally distracted by a yelp from Alan as Gordon threw him in the pool.

The engineer was left wondering if he should be worried or not.

The meal was delicious, of course. Scott had managed to keep Grandma away from the barbecues and MAX had been on task for a good part of the day. There was the mandatory turkey, and this year a couple of large snapper had been baked to perfection, along with some crayfish, oysters, salads and roast vegetables. This was followed by pie, oh, so much pie, Christmas cookies, and Christmas pudding with custard and the option of ice cream.

Virgil, as usual, made sure he took advantage of all the options. Consequently, post-banquet found him sprawled on a pool lounger staring up at the stars amongst the tinsel overhead. Bo, who had also eaten probably more than she should have, was curled up between his feet.

The soft sounds of quiet carols and muted conversation wafting across the water lulled him gently to sleep.

-o-o-o-

Scott felt like Scrooge. He was tired, worried and even a little angry. He was not enjoying himself, no matter how hard he tried. Grandma had cornered him at least twice, her hand on his shoulder trying to soothe his ire.

The annoying thing was that he wasn’t even sure what he was angry about. The rescue hadn’t been the best, but they had done what they could and some lives had been saved that otherwise wouldn’t have. The team had performed well, no one had been injured, they were all back home safe and sound.

And there was food, family and Christmas. There wasn’t really much more he could ask for.

His eyes settled on Virgil, asleep on one of the loungers, oblivious to the tinsel being draped across his hair by Gordon behind him.

Scott sighed.

But then a little head bobbed up between his brother’s bare feet and Bo barked at Gordon quite firmly.

Virgil was obviously far too out of it to wake, but Gordon looked appropriately abashed at the challenge.

Scott found himself smiling.

Realised he was smiling, dumped the smile and frowned.

Gordon scampered off leaving a sleeping Virgil in a crown of silver tinsel.

The little dog leapt off the lounger and chased after the aquanaut.

Okay, he had to admit the dog was adorable. He could see what had captured his brother’s eye, and Scott certainly had no objection to adding to their family.

But Virgil...when Virgil loved, he loved with his whole heart, and last time he had lost a pet, it had been bad, so bad.

They had lost so much in their lives already, why volunteer to lose more?

He sighed. It was stupid to think that way, but part of him could remember that devastated teenager, the depression and the mess that followed. Virgil had been as broken as the rest of them when their mother died, but when his dog died two years later, his reaction had been so self-destructive he had needed counselling and a therapist. Scott didn’t know if the two incidents were related or if it was how his brother connected to pets, or whatever. He only knew he never wanted to see his brother go through that again.

Their father was missing, and here was Virgil with a pet once again.

Sure, he was an adult now, and had tackled so much loss since, but...

Another sigh.

A yip and he looked down to see said dog staring up at him with a mouth full of tinsel, tail wagging.

“Gordon!”

“Yesssss, masster?” His brother sidled up with a bow.

Scott rolled his eyes. “Did you want to face your brother having to tell him that his new puppy died choking on tinsel?”

“Oh, shit.”

“Exactly.”

The aquanaut scooped up the little dog and with gentle words extricated the tinsel from her mouth.

A moment later Gordon held her up to his cheek and Scott had the experience of two sets of brown eyes staring at him adoration.

“Oh, for the love of-“

“A puppy?” Gordon grinned at him. “She is a rather cute, isn’t she?”

“Leave it, Gordon.”

His brother frowned. “What’s chewing on your underwear?”

“Gordon-“

“Hey, it was a legit question, bro. You’re a grumpy ass on Christmas Day. Where’s the merry? We have food and there will be presents. And there is a puppy. You couldn’t ask for more cuteness.” Gordon held up Bo who attempted to lick Scott’s nose.

“Gordon-‘

“Nope, so not going down with you, bro. We’ve earned some happy. We’re all here, in one piece, it’s lovely weather. Cheer up, for goodness sake.” Despite himself, Gordon frowned. “Here have some puppy love.” And suddenly Scott found himself with his arms full of wriggling Bo. Gordon turned and walked off, eventually calling out to Alan, no doubt looking for mischief.

Bo tilted her head to one side and stared up at him.

Aw, hell, weaponised cuteness.

She jumped up and licked his nose.

Scott sighed.

Voice low. “You know, you better look after my brother. He’s a good man and he does a lot of good things.” A swallow. “He’s a little prone to heroics. Perhaps we can team up in that department and help keep his butt alive.”

Her tongue lolled out one side of her mouth and she grinned.

“Maybe try that on the Hood and solve all our problems.”

He gave in and drew her close to his chest, rubbing under her chin.

“I really hope we don’t regret this.”

-o-o-o-

“PRESENTS!”

Alan’s voice cut through his slumber and shook him awake. Wha-?

“Time to wake up, sleepy head.” Scott’s voice.

A sharp little bark.

Bo.

He flung his eyes open, and immediately squinted at the fairy lights floating in the light breeze far above. A blink and to his left a shadow formed into his eldest brother. His blue eyes were smiling as he sat on the next lounge over, holding Bo, scratching her gently. She was obviously enjoying it.

Virgil frowned. “I thought you were pissed at me.”

“I was.” His brother shrugged. “I got over it.” Bo was licking Scott’s fingers.

Wow, the ability to tame the savage big brother. The little girl must be heaven-sent.

There was a whir of wheels and MAX tore out onto the patio decked out in tinsel and lugging brightly coloured presents. MiniMAX darted in behind him carrying a smaller present which was deposited carefully on the table before he disappeared inside only to return with another.

“You okay?”

“Huh?” Virgil peered up at his brother before stretching the length of the lounger. Several joints cracked and the ache across his shoulders from the morning vaguely made its presence known. A yawn. “I’m fine. Just tired. This morning sucked.”

Tinsel slid down his face. He sighed and threw it off. Gordon was getting repetitive.

Scott dipped his head, attempting to hide a smile, and looked down at Bo. “True.” He scratched her under her chin one more time before offering her to him. “Here.”

Bo didn’t bother to wait for him to sit up, she bounded out of Scott’s arms and onto Virgil’s belly. “Oof.” She then danced up and down on it.

Scott grinned at him. “She’s not going to be little when she grows up.”

“Augh, she’s not little now.” He managed to capture her enough so he could sit up, but she struggled free excitedly and dashed from his arms, jumping on the lounger, just as MiniMAX buzzed over with a small present.

Bo barked at him and MiniMAX dodged to deposit the present in Virgil’s lap. He caught it, but with his hands now occupied, he wasn’t fast enough to grab Bo before she let off another bark, jumped excitedly and latched her teeth onto the little robot.

The result was immediate.

MiniMAX shrieked, several of his legs caught in the puppy’s mouth, and with a whir of rotor blades, took off madly across the patio.

With Bo hanging on.

“Bo!” Virgil dropped the present and made a grab for the pair, but missed.

Every eye turned to see what the commotion was about. Virgil stumbled over the lounger and kicked it out of the way. He was vaguely aware of Scott doing something similar. “Brains!”

MiniMAX was obviously panicking. The little robot darted about trying to shake off his assailant. Bo was whining in her throat.

Virgil dashed after them.

Despite the puppy’s weight, MiniMAX still managed a great deal of height, Brains’ ‘build ‘em tough’ policy obviously carrying through to his robots. Despite having the strength to carry the puppy, the off-balance mass hampered MiniMAX’s navigation and they were wobbling all over the place.

All Virgil could see was a tragedy in the making. The pool, the concrete, anything horribly solid. He ran beneath them, desperately attempting to reach the now whining puppy. Family members and furniture were dodged and shoved out of the way as he clambered after them.

A chair ended up in the pool. Gordon squawked and almost joined it. Virgil leapt off an empty lounge, made a grab for them, missed and ended up in the Christmas tree.

Fake pine needles jabbed him in the face as he went down in a pile of tinsel and Christmas baubles. He swore, his clothing caught, his hair caught, and his everything tangled in tinsel, but he made it to his feet just in time to see Bo let go.

“No!”

Oblivious to everything other than the puppy falling, Virgil finally got traction under his bare feet, took a running leap and grabbed Bo from the air. He instinctively wrapped himself around her, rolling in midair, tinsel and baubles flung in all directions.

As he plummeted into the pool.

The splash took his senses, muffling exclamations, and repeated shouts of his name. There was dark blue, and wet, and, for a moment, blessed silence.

Then logic reasserted itself and he kicked for the surface.

Sound, light and cool air on his skin. He blinked water out of his eyes as he lifted Bo up so she could breathe, his legs kicking to keep them afloat.

She whined at him as if to tell him off, sneezed, and began enthusiastically licking the saltwater off his face.

He couldn’t help but grin, and he knew he wasn’t the only one as laughter drifted across the water.

“You trashed the tree, Virg.”

“I don’t think he cares, Gordon.” He looked up to see Grandma smiling at him.

And no, he didn’t. As Scott poked him with a pole to help drag him to the edge and Bo decided his ear might do for her next meal, he suddenly felt joy. It could simply have been relief, but he was going to tack it up as Christmas joy and enjoy it while he could.

-o-o-o-

“Only you, Virgil.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“I have no doubt of that, it never is.”

“Aw, c’mon, Scott.”

“If it was intentional then I would have to accuse you of doing it deliberately just to get out of helping with the Christmas dishes.”

“We have a dishwasher.” Bo let off a bark as MiniMAX flew past dragging a bag full of recyclable cups, plates and cutlery, giving Virgil and his dog an extremely wide berth. “And there are hardly any dishes.”

“You are still getting out of clean up.”

“C’mon, Scott, you know me better than that. Ow!”

“Sit still. I’ve almost got all of it.”

Virgil leant back against the lounge, Bo curled up in his lap. “I’m not particularly happy about this either you know.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know that, Ow!”

“Well, if you would watch where you were going, you wouldn’t have collided with the Christmas tree. And what’s with the bare feet anyway?”

“Bo ate one of my boots.”

Scott snorted and pulled out yet another tiny piece of glass Christmas bauble from the bottom of Virgil’s left foot. “She hasn’t been here twenty-four hours yet and she has already caused havoc.”

“She’s a puppy.”

“I noticed.” Scott sighed, peering through his magnifying visor at his brother’s foot. “I think that’s all of it. Please don’t do that again. You’ll be limping for a week.”

“I’m not planning on it.”

As Scott wrapped his foot in gauze, he eyed the puppy on Virgil’s lap. “And you, young lady, I thought we had a deal.”

To Virgil’s surprise, Bo’s head bobbed up and she looked distinctly guilty.

Scott arched an eyebrow. “Hmm, don’t let it happen again.”

Bo yapped at him.

Virgil stared at both of them. “What?”

“None of your business, you just lay back and look after yourself.” And Scott was smirking.

Ooookaay.

He relaxed back against the lounge and stared up at the fairy lights above.

Bo stomped up the length of him and licked his eyeball.

He coughed up a laugh and grabbed an armful of wriggly puppy.

“I think that was a Merry Christmas, Virg.” Scott held his injured foot and grinned. “Merry Christmas.”

-o-o-o-

FIN.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #alan tracy #John Tracy

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tagsecretsanta · 5 years

Text

From Gumnut-logic

to @photowizard17

Secret Santa does not own any of the following work, full credit goes to the creator described above!

Author’s note: Okay, so this is the first time I’ve ever participated in one of these so I’m new to this.

My prompts were

1. Virgil covered in tinsel

2. Tracy family Christmas

3. Christmas Rescue Miracle (with Virg please)

The first one prompted all sorts of images not suitable for a PG audience, so you never know what might happen between now and Christmas :D Hubby also suggested I blow up a tinsel factory, so that is always a possibility too :D Overall, I did attempt to include all three prompts in the one fic. I hope I have succeeded in providing some enjoyment at least. Many thanks to @i-am-chidorixblossom for cheering me on when I couldn’t post daily and obsessively like I usually do, and to @the-lady-razorsharp for giving it an American beta so I don’t trip over being Australian (though the summer Christmas certainly helped :D).

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

“It’s the last house at the end of the street, Virgil.”

Thunderbird Two had her fire suppression equipment, but the massive plane was a speck against the wall of flame.

There were forces of nature that just couldn’t be stopped.

It tore through the town leaving agony in its wake.

But it was too late for the town.

It was gone.

Haze hovered above ash-clogged puddles in the pavement.

It wasn’t what Christmas morning was supposed to be.

The last house at the end of the street had fully collapsed in on itself. A burnt-out car sat in the driveway, its trunk lid and one of its doors open.

Virgil closed his eyes for a moment, knowing what that likely meant.

He steeled himself and walked past the remains he knew he was going to find in the car.

Nothing could be done.

Nothing.

“Possibly in the basement? The lifesign is below ground level.”

Glass crunched under his boots. “Right or left?”

“Eastern side, southern corner.”

There was a mass of rubble collapsed against the only standing wall of the building.

“This is International Rescue. Can anyone hear me?”

He turned up the pickups on his exterior mikes.

Nothing. It was probably a blip. How the hell could anything survive this holocaust?

His shoulders dropped.

But then...something? A whimper?

Maybe?

Virgil began digging.

The little puppy whimpered at him, trembling with fear.

Aw, hell.

“John, lifesign is a dog.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Five.”

Virgil slid his arms out from the suit and bent aching knees. “Hey, little one, do you want to come with me?”

The puppy shivered and looked him up and down, hesitating.

“I’m with International Rescue, we’re here to help.” He took a step closer. “It’s okay, I promise.”

Maybe it was something in his voice, his stance, or simply because the puppy had no choice, but as Virgil reached into the box it was sitting in, the puppy made no protest as he picked it up.

A quick examination for injury revealed her to be a girl. She shuddered up against Virgil’s chest. “Don’t worry, it’s all over, you’re safe.”

Sliding one arm back into his suit, he started making his way out of the ruined building, turning his back on the tiny hole that had somehow saved the little dog’s life.

-o-o-o-

Perhaps it was because she sat so quietly with him. Perhaps because it was Christmas Day. Most likely it was because Virgil had reached his limit of pain.

When he found the RSPCA tent, specially set up for lost pets, he gently handed over the little puppy. She let out a whimper and began crying.

No barking, just this godawful crying that tore at his heart.

“You will be fine here, little one.” The attendant was one of those kindly older ladies and she hugged the gangly bundle of fluff to her chest as Virgil turned to leave, Scott in his ear.

He reached down and gathered her into his arms. “You can’t come with me. I can’t-“ But she was rubbing her head up under his chin, little sounds in her throat.

And he couldn’t.

Just couldn’t.

He looked down at her little brown eyes again.

No, he couldn’t.

Damnit, Scott was going to kill him.

Maybe for just a few days?

The excuse provided a simple solution, so he took it.

Without a word, he handed his IR contact details to the volunteer, and, puppy in hand, turned his back to the tent and strode towards the big green hulk parked in the distant haze.

“Well, little one, you have definitely made an interesting choice. Let me introduce you to my big green partner.”

-o-o-o-

When he picked up both Gordon and Alan the dynamic changed just a little.

Suddenly the little puppy was in his lap.

“What is that?”

Virgil looked up. His brother was covered in soot and looked as tired as Virgil felt. “This is Bo.” And he had no idea where the name came from, it just seemed right and the moment clicked.

“Bo?”

“Yeah.” Newly christened Bo peered up at Gordon around Virgil’s arm. “She survived the fire.” A swallow. “Her family didn’t.”

“Oh.”

Alan, as always, had more energy than any of them, and showed it as he waltzed into the cabin. “So why aren’t we moving?”

Bo let off a sharp bark.

Everyone jumped.

“What the hell, Virgil?”

Bo was literally glaring at Alan.

“Hey, Bo, calm down, that’s just Alan. He’s annoying, but tolerable.” The little puppy looked up at him, her gorgeous brown eyes just melting him inside. He was so gone.

“Hey!” That from Alan.

“Scott’s going to kill you.” That from Gordon, who was approaching slowly.

“Yeah, I know.” It was a sigh.

She sneezed.

Alan snorted.

She licked his wrist.

Yes, Scott was definitely going to kill him.

“Shut up, Virgil.”

Bo backed off, once again hiding behind Virgil’s baldric.

“Hey, Gordon, watch the tone.”

“Sorry, Bo.”

“Are we actually going home at some point? I have a date with my bed.”

Gordon stood up, pulling out the co-pilot’s seat. “No rush, Allie, she’ll wait for you.”

“Augh.”

“Sit down, Alan, I’m just finishing pre-flight.” Tired and cranky could easily become nasty if not attended to.

Bo curled up, nestled against his harness, as Alan grumpily pulled out his seat.

“Virgil, where the hell are you?”

Speaking of tired and cranky... “Launching now, Thunderbird One.” As if prompted, he received clearance from Australian Air Control.

“ETA fifteen minutes.” At least they weren’t too far from home.

Bo fell asleep in his lap.

-o-o-o-

Virgil was on the verge of joining Bo in slumber as Thunderbird Two spun slowly in her hanger, eventually coming to a final stop.

So tired.

Beside him, Alan poked Gordon awake. “Ugh, what? Oh.” You could almost hear his brain booting.

“You two go ahead. I just need to finish post-flight.” He didn’t turn around, but he could feel Gordon’s eyes on him.

“Sure, whatever.” And he heard the hatch lower to the hangar floor.

His brothers gone, Virgil let himself relax back against his chair, his shoulders sagging. He let out a long breath. “So, Bo, how are we going to do this?”

The puppy woke as if on command and turned to stare up at him. Gently her tail began to wag.

Virgil let a tired smile cross his face.

Encouraged, Bo jumped up and put her two front paws on his chest, reaching up, trying to lick his face despite not quite being tall enough.

The smile became a grin.

And a shower. A shower definitely wouldn’t hurt.

If he could hold off the sleep.

Bo started chewing on his glove.

God, that felt good.

As his muscles relaxed under the heat, sleep became more and more attractive, and by the time he stumbled out of the water, all thoughts of food had vanished.

He took the three steps across his room from the ensuite and threw himself facedown on the bed, still partly wet, still naked.

He was asleep within moments.

-o-o-o-

He was being kissed.

Her lips were warm, her tongue wet, her whiskers soft against his stubble...

Uh?

She licked his eye.

Wha-?

Fortunately, his brain came online and memory kicked in. “B-Bo?”

A tongue wrapped around his nose and left it wet.

Ugh.

He wiped his face with his hand, stretching backwards on his pillow, desperate to get out of reach.

The puppy landed on his chest, her paws kneading his chest hair, her little claws completing his wake-up process rather abruptly.

Oh god.

“Bo, down, honey, down.”

He was completely ignored.

Sitting up, he attempted to grab her in his arms, but missed. The little puppy landed on things that puppies had no right to land on. Or stomp on for that matter.

He winced.

“Assuming you have a brain to melt.” And Scott was standing in his doorway.

Virgil glared up at him. “Don’t you knock?”

“I did. Grandma sent me to tell you that Christmas dinner is ready.”

Virgil frowned at his brother over the top of Bo’s ears, ignoring the glare the blue eyes were directing at the puppy in his arms. “I thought we’d do Christmas tomorrow.”

“She’s a rescue.”

“Usually we leave our rescues on the continent we find them.”

“She had no one.”

“Unfortunately, that is nothing new.” And one of his hands had moved to his hip.

Virgil sighed. “Scott, it’s fine, it’s only for a few days.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

Virgil held back his retort. He knew to pick his fights and now was not the time. “Her name is Bo.”

Scott looked at him and then at Bo. “Hurry up, your dinner is getting cold.” The ghost of a smirk. “And don’t forget to wear clothes.”

“Funny, funny, ha, ha.” But his brother had left.

Virgil let his shoulders drop. “Sorry, Bo, I think you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Bo just licked him some more.

It wasn’t until he went looking for his boots that he discovered the wonderful deposits Bo had left for him on the floor.

Ugh.

And apparently one of his favourite boots had served as a meal also.

He closed his eyes and sighed again.

Half dressed, he cleaned up the mess, and five minutes later he waltzed downstairs, Bo in his arms and barefoot. Time to face the inevitable music.

-o-o-o-

A Tracy Christmas used to be snow, roast turkey, stockings by the fire, the occasional Christmas carol and family.

Since starting International Rescue it had changed.

There were still Christmas trees and tinsel and stockings that no-one ever considered wearing hung from the nearest mantelpiece-looking piece of furniture.

“Fifty bucks says Gordon tries to water volleyball the tinsel at least once.”

Virgil smirked as he stepped up beside his next youngest brother. “Not touching that one. I value my money.”

His brother must have caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively took a step away.

“Oh, sorry, John, this is Bo.” Bo was climbing over his arm, desperate to get closer to the astronaut. Virgil held her tight, worried she would fall.

“Uh, hello.” John turned towards them, frowning. “Since when do you own a dog?”

“Since this morning.”

“He does.”

“And you still have it?”

“Her.”

“Yes.”

“Good luck with that one.” John drank his beer.

“She had no one else.”

John arched an eyebrow at him and then frowned. “Oh, Virgil.” His shoulders slumped.

“I am an adult now, John. It won’t be like last time.”

“God, I hope not.”

Virgil stared at his brother, only to see the genuine concern in his green eyes. A sigh. “It won’t happen again.”

“It will be fine.”

Bo yipped at John, her tail beating Virgil’s chest.

The astronaut smiled and offered the little dog his hand. She sniffed and licked him almost immediately.

“I think you have been approved.”

John smiled and Virgil couldn’t help but do the same.

“Virgil!” And Grandma was arrowing in on his position.

“Incoming.” John was smirking.

“Hey, Grandma.”

But his grandmother only had eyes for Bo. “Who is this?”

Virgil smiled again. “This is Bo. Bo, this is Grandma.”

Bo whacked him with her tail and literally leapt from his arms into his grandmother’s.

Virgil looked at his feet, remembered why they were bare, and looked back up at his grandmother. “This morning’s rescue. She lost everything.”

Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Well, that didn’t take long, did it?” John was still smirking at him.

Grandma approached, worry on her face. “I’m sorry, Virgil, I didn’t realise.”

“It’s okay.” He reached an arm around his grandmother, bringing her into the hug. “She’s just had a scary day.” He pulled both of them close.

Scott was glaring at him from a distance.

John smiled at them and drank his beer.

Bo started chewing on his collar.

-o-o-o-

Bo yipped.

Sherbert yapped.

And as the entire party fell silent, the two dogs stared each other down.

But never out of sight of Virgil.

Virgil blinked and his sister turned and stalked off. Bo eyed her the entire time, only finally distracted by a yelp from Alan as Gordon threw him in the pool.

The engineer was left wondering if he should be worried or not.

The soft sounds of quiet carols and muted conversation wafting across the water lulled him gently to sleep.

-o-o-o-

And there was food, family and Christmas. There wasn’t really much more he could ask for.

His eyes settled on Virgil, asleep on one of the loungers, oblivious to the tinsel being draped across his hair by Gordon behind him.

Scott sighed.

But then a little head bobbed up between his brother’s bare feet and Bo barked at Gordon quite firmly.

Virgil was obviously far too out of it to wake, but Gordon looked appropriately abashed at the challenge.

Scott found himself smiling.

Realised he was smiling, dumped the smile and frowned.

Gordon scampered off leaving a sleeping Virgil in a crown of silver tinsel.

The little dog leapt off the lounger and chased after the aquanaut.

Okay, he had to admit the dog was adorable. He could see what had captured his brother’s eye, and Scott certainly had no objection to adding to their family.

But Virgil...when Virgil loved, he loved with his whole heart, and last time he had lost a pet, it had been bad, so bad.

They had lost so much in their lives already, why volunteer to lose more?

Their father was missing, and here was Virgil with a pet once again.

Sure, he was an adult now, and had tackled so much loss since, but...

Another sigh.

A yip and he looked down to see said dog staring up at him with a mouth full of tinsel, tail wagging.

“Gordon!”

“Yesssss, masster?” His brother sidled up with a bow.

Scott rolled his eyes. “Did you want to face your brother having to tell him that his new puppy died choking on tinsel?”

“Oh, shit.”

“Exactly.”

The aquanaut scooped up the little dog and with gentle words extricated the tinsel from her mouth.

A moment later Gordon held her up to his cheek and Scott had the experience of two sets of brown eyes staring at him adoration.

“Oh, for the love of-“

“A puppy?” Gordon grinned at him. “She is a rather cute, isn’t she?”

“Leave it, Gordon.”

His brother frowned. “What’s chewing on your underwear?”

“Gordon-“

“Gordon-‘

Bo tilted her head to one side and stared up at him.

Aw, hell, weaponised cuteness.

She jumped up and licked his nose.

Scott sighed.

Her tongue lolled out one side of her mouth and she grinned.

“Maybe try that on the Hood and solve all our problems.”

He gave in and drew her close to his chest, rubbing under her chin.

“I really hope we don’t regret this.”

-o-o-o-

“PRESENTS!”

Alan’s voice cut through his slumber and shook him awake. Wha-?

“Time to wake up, sleepy head.” Scott’s voice.

A sharp little bark.

Bo.

Virgil frowned. “I thought you were pissed at me.”

“I was.” His brother shrugged. “I got over it.” Bo was licking Scott’s fingers.

Wow, the ability to tame the savage big brother. The little girl must be heaven-sent.

“You okay?”

Tinsel slid down his face. He sighed and threw it off. Gordon was getting repetitive.

Scott dipped his head, attempting to hide a smile, and looked down at Bo. “True.” He scratched her under her chin one more time before offering her to him. “Here.”

Bo didn’t bother to wait for him to sit up, she bounded out of Scott’s arms and onto Virgil’s belly. “Oof.” She then danced up and down on it.

Scott grinned at him. “She’s not going to be little when she grows up.”

The result was immediate.

MiniMAX shrieked, several of his legs caught in the puppy’s mouth, and with a whir of rotor blades, took off madly across the patio.

With Bo hanging on.

“Bo!” Virgil dropped the present and made a grab for the pair, but missed.

Every eye turned to see what the commotion was about. Virgil stumbled over the lounger and kicked it out of the way. He was vaguely aware of Scott doing something similar. “Brains!”

MiniMAX was obviously panicking. The little robot darted about trying to shake off his assailant. Bo was whining in her throat.

Virgil dashed after them.

A chair ended up in the pool. Gordon squawked and almost joined it. Virgil leapt off an empty lounge, made a grab for them, missed and ended up in the Christmas tree.

“No!”

As he plummeted into the pool.

The splash took his senses, muffling exclamations, and repeated shouts of his name. There was dark blue, and wet, and, for a moment, blessed silence.

Then logic reasserted itself and he kicked for the surface.

Sound, light and cool air on his skin. He blinked water out of his eyes as he lifted Bo up so she could breathe, his legs kicking to keep them afloat.

She whined at him as if to tell him off, sneezed, and began enthusiastically licking the saltwater off his face.

He couldn’t help but grin, and he knew he wasn’t the only one as laughter drifted across the water.

“You trashed the tree, Virg.”

“I don’t think he cares, Gordon.” He looked up to see Grandma smiling at him.

-o-o-o-

“Only you, Virgil.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“I have no doubt of that, it never is.”

“Aw, c’mon, Scott.”

“If it was intentional then I would have to accuse you of doing it deliberately just to get out of helping with the Christmas dishes.”

“You are still getting out of clean up.”

“C’mon, Scott, you know me better than that. Ow!”

“Sit still. I’ve almost got all of it.”

Virgil leant back against the lounge, Bo curled up in his lap. “I’m not particularly happy about this either you know.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know that, Ow!”

“Well, if you would watch where you were going, you wouldn’t have collided with the Christmas tree. And what’s with the bare feet anyway?”

“Bo ate one of my boots.”

“She’s a puppy.”

“I noticed.” Scott sighed, peering through his magnifying visor at his brother’s foot. “I think that’s all of it. Please don’t do that again. You’ll be limping for a week.”

“I’m not planning on it.”

As Scott wrapped his foot in gauze, he eyed the puppy on Virgil’s lap. “And you, young lady, I thought we had a deal.”

To Virgil’s surprise, Bo’s head bobbed up and she looked distinctly guilty.

Scott arched an eyebrow. “Hmm, don’t let it happen again.”

Bo yapped at him.

Virgil stared at both of them. “What?”

“None of your business, you just lay back and look after yourself.” And Scott was smirking.

Ooookaay.

He relaxed back against the lounge and stared up at the fairy lights above.

Bo stomped up the length of him and licked his eyeball.

He coughed up a laugh and grabbed an armful of wriggly puppy.

“I think that was a Merry Christmas, Virg.” Scott held his injured foot and grinned. “Merry Christmas.”

#Gumnut logic #thunderbirds are go #secret santa 2018 #fanfic #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #alan tracy #John Tracy #grandma tracy #brains #kayo kyrano #thunderbirds christmas #tag team secret santa

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videofeed · 4 years

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Thor: What Went Wrong With Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, Natalie Portman Reacts To Being The Next Thor https://youtu.be/-KmLaZLANWY Natalie Portman stood for Jane Foster in the really initial 2Thorflicks before disappearing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe,so what unavoidably stopped working with the individuality?Fans were thrilled when theOscar-winningstarlet was cast in the feature, yet by the time she calmly left the MCU, no one showed up to care. AlthoughJane exposed promise inThor, her ability was never ever before identified in its comply with up,Thor: The Dark World. Despite the individuality’s cozy feature, there are get ready forPortman to make her successful return in Thor: Love as well as likewise Thunder, not similarly as Jane Foster, yet as the Goddess of Thunder herself. Introduced in Journey to Mystery #84 in 1962, Jane Foster began as a signed up nurse that operated near to Thor in his temporal kind as Dr. Donald Blake. 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Portman’s astrophysicist was set to play an integral role in the Thor films, but vanished after a disappointing appearance in Thor: The Dark World. Waititi proved with Thor: Ragnarok that he could reinvigorate the God of Thunder’s flagging franchise, so there is definitely hope for Jane’s future in the MCU, butThor: Love and Thunderwill have to avoid many past mistakes. Natalie Portman is an undeniably fantastic actress. She proved this with her incredible debut inLéon: The Professional and has continued to do so ever since with unforgettable parts in films such as Closer, V for Vendetta,Black Swan, andJackie. All that said, no matter how good she may be, Portman still wasn’t done any favors by the scripts she was given for the Marvel movies. These issues weren’t quite soglaring in Thor when the astrophysicistappeared to be written as more than a mere love interest for the titular hero. Despite her constantly swooning over Thor, she was fascinated by more than just his godly appearance. He was proof of something she’d been working towards her entire career. While Thor: The Dark World did its best to incorporate Jane into the story, ultimately,she wassidelined. After about ten minutes of screen time, she absorbed the film’s McGuffin, the aether, which incapacitated her, drasticallyhindering herarc for therestof the movie. Jane may have become emblematic of the film’s larger issues, but she really did not actually causethem. The movie is regarded by most as one of theMCU’s worst entries and is certainly the weakest of the Thor franchise. Although Portman was underserved by Thor, the film wasn't a bad starting point for Jane, but thesequelreally did notgive Portman enough to do, nor didit render her in a way that was especially interesting, effectively wasting an actress as talented as Natalie Portman. While the initial attraction between Thor and Jane Foster was clear in Thor, the bond between them was never really developed enough to make for a particularly exciting reunion in Thor: The Dark World. They enjoyed their time together and all, but liking someone over the course of a few days isn’t generally enough to overcome the reality of dimensional barriers. Perhaps if Thor and Jane had spent time together between films or if the character had more than the barest of mentions in The Avengers, fans would’ve had an easier time buying into this relationship.Though the God of Thunder had a lot on his plate between the events of Thor and Thor: The Dark World, at least a mention of an offscreen reunion would have further developed the relationship. The MCU’s tie-in comicsalso failed to add much depth to the situation. The script wasn’t the only roadblock for this couple. When it comes to cinematic portrayals of romance, the way the characters are written often isn’t the deciding factor on whether or not a love story will be compelling. The relationship between Thor and Jane wasn’t fleshed out, and though both Hemsworth and Portman are immensely talented, there simply wasn’t enough chemistry between the actors to elevate the material. Perhaps if there had been more sparks flying on screen, audiences would’ve actually cared about their post-credits reunion in Thor: The Dark World - which Portman wasn’t even actually present for - or the revelation that their relationship had ended in Thor: Ragnarok. Thor did a far better job adapting the God of Thunder than Thor: The Dark World. The parts of the film that work best are the scenes set in Asgard or other fantastical locations, such as Jotunheim. These extraordinaryrealms truly came to life in Kenneth Branagh’s hands, and the directordeftly balanced that magic alongsideThor's fish-out-water comedy on Earth. Even with that in mind, a group of scientists on Earth can hardly compete with the Shakespearean drama of Asgard. Unfortunately, Alan Taylor struggled in the sequel to make either realm engaging, though the scenes on Earth were particularly bland. Although Jane Foster became the face of the Thor franchise’s issues on Earth, she was never really the core of the problem. Much of Thor: Ragnarok’s success hinged on throwing the blueprint of the previous Thor films out the window.For the most part, this meant leaving Earth behind,which left no real place for Jane or any of her friends - though Kat Dennings’ Darcy Lewis will soon return to the MCU in WandaVision. The Thor comics have proven that some of the God of Thunder’s most amazing adventures can unfold on Earth, so the fact that this was not reflected in the films can hardly be blamed on Jane Foster. By the time Jane Foster effectively vanished from the MCU, no one really seemed to care. Thor explained her disappearance with a throwaway line about their breakup Thor: Ragnarok, but seemed generally unmoved by her absence. Patty Jenkins coming onboard for Thor: The Dark Worldhad made the actress much more excited about filming the sequel, butPortman's feelings toward the Marvel movies soured significantly in the wake of Jenkins' departure from the film. As far asmany fans were concerned, Jane hadn’t proven vital to Thor’s story and if anything, had become more of a detriment to it. Even her brief Avengers: Endgame appearance was created using repurposed footage from Thor: The Dark World. Thankfully,thisdoesn’t have tosum up Jane’s legacy in the MCU. Marvel wouldn’t have brought Portman back into the fold if Waititi didn’t have someintriguing plans for her. Aside from that, it seems unlikely thatthe actresswould agree to come back unless she was given a substantially better duty in Thor: Love and Thunder. Although the comics have served as little more than inspiration for the majority of MCU movies, Jane’s comic run as the hero is quite solid. For her part, PortmanreadThe Mighty Thor in preparation for her upcoming look. Waititi has already injected fresh blood into the Thor franchise business, so there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t be able to do the same with Jane. While little can be done about the lack of chemistry between Hemsworth as well as Portman, giving Jane her own storyline will certainly go a long way in providing a strong argument for the character's return. Taking into account the strong source material, Portman's considerable talent, as well as Waititi’s track record, there is little need to worry whether or not the next Thor movie will certainly make factors right for Jane Foster. https://videofeed.tv/amazing-tv/got-talent-global/most-amazing-pole-dancers-around-the-world-on-got-talent-top-talent/

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thunderbirdcarebear · 7 years

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New Beginnings - Chapter 8

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7

Chapter 8 - Pranks

It was two or three weeks after Virgil's birthday, so it must have been early September.

Earlier in the day, Scott had left with John to retrieve Alan. The island was a lot quieter without the two oldest Tracy brothers.

I was swimming in the pool, while Virgil was lounging about on the patio furniture, pretending not to sleep. He'd chosen one of the plastic chairs next to the pool and had been talking to me when he first came out, but I guess he ran out of things to say.

I'd been in the pool for about ten minutes when I heard the deafening roar of Thunderbird 3 returning from space.

I watched it until I could no longer see it, then swam to the edge of the pool to see if Virgil was asleep.

"Virgil? Are you awake?" No answer. I tried again. "Virgil?" I called, louder than before. Still no answer. I was glad he had picked a plastic chair.

I climbed out of the pool and walked over to the table where I'd left a plastic cup. I picked it up, went back to the pool and filled it. Then, keeping hold of the cup, I threw its contents in Virgil's direction.

I dropped the cup as he woke with a start and dove into the pool out of his reach.

I looked up from my hiding place beneath the surface to see him bent over the edge of the pool looking at me. I swam up quickly and pulled his shirt causing him to fall in.

He surfaced and drew in a deep breath, then he looked at me. He laughed, then splashed me, which made little difference to me, as I was already totally wet.

He climbed out of the water and plodded over to his chair.

"What d'you do that for, Tin-Tin?" he asked, grinning at me.

"You were being boring. I wanted something to do. And seeing as you're the only one out here..."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. Alan's coming. If you want something to do, torture Alan." Virgil waved at his brother as he came down the stairs, every movement he made flicked water in all directions.

I looked to where Virgil was waving and saw Alan's smiling face. Then I realised, as he got closer, that he wasn't only smiling, he was laughing at the state Virgil was in.

"Ha, ha, very funny." He rang more water out of his trousers. There was quite a puddle forming under his chair. "If I were you, Alan, I wouldn't sit too close to the pool. She might drag you in for being boring!"

Alan looked down at me, then at his wet brother. He stepped back and held up his hands. "She has taken me prisoner!" He ran toward the pool and leaped in. Virgil rolled his eyes, then wandered up the stairs, leaving a trail of water to follow, while Alan and I played in the water like kids until it started getting dark; at which point we went and stood on the balcony, looking at the stars. I was glad Alan was back. I wished he'd been here during the storm. I always felt better when he was with me.

We looked out over the ocean. I could smell the salt in the cool air.

Then I heard something that wasn't a wave on the shore and it was coming from behind me. Turning round I saw Mr Tracy walk over to his desk.

I nudged Alan and indicated his father, while holding a finger to my lips; he hadn't noticed us yet.

He cleared away some papers, then pressed a button, which made the desk rise up into its overnight position: out of reach of anyone.

We couldn't keep quiet any longer and let out a giggle, which made Mr Tracy spin round suddenly.

"Don't do that." I could see we'd made him jump. "What are you two still doing up, anyway? It's nearly midnight."

"We were just going to bed," Alan answered.

"Separately, I hope. You have a knack of staying up talking until the early hours." He looked at me specifically as he said this.

"How...? We thought you were asleep," I said.

"You'd be surprised at just how many of your conversations I hear," he said, laughing. "Now, go on. Bed. Both of you."

"OK, Mr Tracy," I said, laughing with him.

We headed off to our rooms as Mr Tracy switched the lights off, plunging the villa into darkness.

The next day, Alan and I were going to go swimming again; this time he'd wear his swimming gear, but it was quite breezy so we decided to go out in the boat to do some fishing instead.

Where it was quite breezy we got a good distance from the island. It would have been the ideal opportunity to talk, if we didn't have Gordon and Scott with us.

I was sat on a stool by the edge of the boat with Alan next to me and had our fishing lines hanging over the side. Scott and Gordon were lying on sun loungers with their feet up and their eyes shut. I guessed they were asleep.

"Does fishing always take this long?" I asked.

"Patience, Tin-Tin. Fishing is a very slow sport, which is why I went in for motor racing; much faster," Alan replied. Before International Rescue, he was a champion racing car driver, but he retired when his father told him about the job in the "family business" he had for him!

"Yes, but it's also over much faster!" I laughed, then turned round to look at the other two. "Do you think they're actually asleep?"

As Alan turned round to answer, Scott spoke up, his eyes still shut. "I'm not asleep; I'm just resting my eyes." He smiled and slowly opened them, then he looked over at Gordon. "Let's see, regular breathing, rapid eye movement, I think he's asleep." A grin slowly appeared across his face, "shall we have some fun?"

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Alan asked, barely able to keep the grin from his face.

"Well, when Gordon sleeps, it's a deep sleep, so we don't really have to worry about disturbing him." He glanced back at his sleeping brother. "I think we should start the motors, go home and leave him locked in a cabin! He'll be more confused when he wakes up than he is when he's up against me in chess!"

"How will he get out, though?" I asked.

"Oh, he'll be able to get out," Scott said, waving a hand dismissively. "There's a radio in each cabin. It'll take him a while before he realises that though. If we hide the spare key somewhere in there, it'll be ages before he comes back." Scott grinned again. Alan giggled quietly, glancing at Gordon to make sure he hadn't woken or heard.

Normally, I didn't join in on their pranks, but seeing as I was on a boat in the ocean, I couldn't really just walk away. 'Who am I kidding?' I thought. 'What a lame excuse.' To tell the truth, I fancied a bit of fun!

We were sat up in the lounge about two hours later. Gordon still hadn't come back in but I wasn't worried because I could see the boat safely moored at the jetty.

"I'm gonna get a drink. D'you want one, Tin-Tin?" Alan asked me.

"Yes, please."

"Anything in particular and before you say anything, I will get you one, Scott. I was asking Tin-Tin first."

I laughed as Scott sat there with his mouth open. He'd been about to say something when Alan cut him off. "I'm not bothered. You know what I like," I replied, still laughing at Scott.

Alan nodded and wandered off.

"How did he know I was going to say something? He had his back to me!" Scott said, looking down the corridor at the departing figure.

"Let me think. He's your brother and he's known you all his life. That's, what, about twenty-one years. I'd say that's enough time to figure out what you're like!" I paused and looked at him. "Either that or he's psychic!"

Scott laughed as Alan came back in with a tray of drinks.

About ten minutes later, the radio crackled to life. "Scott, Alan, you come and let me out right now!" an angry Gordon shouted.

"Good afternoon, Gordon. How are you?" Scott asked politely. He took hold of the mike and tried hard not to laugh.

"Scott, let me out!"

"Oh, Gordon, don't be so grumpy. You can get out, there's a key in there."

At the mention of a key, the connection went dead and Alan and Scott burst into laughter.

From where I was sat on the balcony, I watched the boat until Gordon reappeared on deck, which was about ten or fifteen minutes later. I watched him finally step out of the cabin and felt sorry for him. He looked very confused and was still dozy as he ran down the entry way and along the beach.

He ran up the steps and nearly tripped, as he wasn't going carefully.

Scott and Alan were doubled up and holding their sides when Gordon came into the lounge. He was breathing hard and his face was red, though whether that was due to the sprint or anger, I don't know.

"I suppose... you think... that's funny," he said, trying to get his breath back.

"We're sorry, we couldn't help ourselves!" Alan said. Stifling a laugh, he turned to hide a grin while wiping the tears from his eyes.

#fanfic #thunderbirds #New Beginnings #chapter 8 #old story #Tin-Tin Kyrano #Tin-Tin Kyrano's POV #thunderbirds fanfic #thunderbirds fanfiction #fanfiction

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gorilla-in-a-cage · 5 years

Text

The War for the World

Jack crawled quietly on his belly, towards the camp that his patrol squad had seen, they had spotted the campfire just before sunrise, Jack was part of a 10 man squad, the other 6 men and 3 women of his squad were also crawling along a bit behind and around him, Jack at 17 was the best sharpshooter on the whole base, he just needed to get close enough to see the camp and pick his targets.

As Jack looked through his scope he saw the woman, as she put the coffee pot on the fire and start digging through the packs that sat next to the fire, she was probably making breakfast, for the camp, he sighted her and on the order of his squad leader who was also looking through a scope, made the shot and there it was the telltale burst of green blood as his headshot hit, dropping her. The Endorightian, as they were called appeared human in every aspect except for the fact that they had no external ears, and six fingered hands, and of course their green blood.

The Captain ordered the men to move into camp, there were three small tents, Jack kept his post, rifle ready, for any movement in the camp, the men moved in and Jack heard the shots, then the all clear, he stood and walked into the camp,

There were six dead, three men, two women, and a young boy, but such was the truths of war. It had all started a little more than two years ago, when Jack was 15, years old.

The first ships appeared in the skies over major cities, the governments of the planet attempted contact, and when it was finally made, the ships were allowed to land in only certain spots, then the first shots and deaths of the war happened, a ship was destroyed as it came to land, other ships started firing on cities, and then huge colony ships appeared and started landing.

Millions died as major cities and colony ships were destroyed, nukes on both sides were fired, now the planet was divided, the Endorightian, in the hot equator zone, and the Humans in the northern zones, the Humans better able to stand the cold of the northern zones. The areas where the cities had been destroyed by the nukes were empty zones, the Endorightian, had the technology, to neutralize the radioactivity, so it was safe to travel through these areas. But both sides had constant patrols and troops moving between where they people settled, because both sides laid claim to the entire planet and the war continued.

Jack’s squad, had hit the jackpot, so to speak, they found that this group of Endorightians, had collected 14 cases of can foods (tuna, sardines, spam, and several kinds of veggies) and 18 cases of various ammo from somewhere, they also had two grav-sleds, these were 4 x 9 metal sleds that used anti-gravity bursts to “float” along over the ground, they could hover at anywhere from ½ ft to 3ft, and carry easily 1000 lbs.

The team searched the camp and found meds and other supplies, as well as fresh and dried/salted, meats in the packs, Jack searched the bodies, looking for anything that might be on them, he found a pistol and knives, these he collected.

They headed back to their base, they were based in an old prison, some ten miles to the west of their location. The grav-sleds were going to make the trip back faster and easier.

When they finally made it back to the base, they found that reinforcements had come from New Washington City, deep in the frozen north. Jack who was a 2nd Lt. because he was a good sharpshooter and training officer when not on patrol, had a room to himself, so after debriefing he went to his quarters to find that someone had moved into the upper bunk, he was about to complain, there were still lots of empty rooms to be used as sleeping quarters, when he saw someone he knew coming down the walkway from the showers, it was his older brother Alan.

Jack ran to him and hugged him, it had been over a year since he had seen him, they and a sister who also lived in New Washington City, were all that was left of their family. Alan was a Colonel, he had been part of the team that had cracked the Endorightian language and computer coding, which had turned the war in favor of the humans. SInce both sides now had access to the same technology, the war was now mostly troops on the ground, with squads like Jack’s.

When Jack asked why Alan was there, he said that he was on a tour installing new shielding, and rader in all the forward bases, Alan was the oldest at 24, their sister Linda, who was also a computer nerd, was next at 22, and Jack the youngest.

Their father and mother, and three other younger siblings had died in the first attacks. Linda had sent lots of gifts, a dozen pair of new socks, and a 5 pack of t-shirts, plus several tins of homemade cookies and hard candies, a bunch of music CD’s, and fresh batteries for his player. SInce he was going on patrol again in two days, he put a tin of cookies and a tin of candies in his pack to share with his squad, Alan had brought him several new books, and a couple of chocolate bars which were harder to find each year, because the places where the cocoa plant grew were under Endorightian control.

After they both had showered and dressed, they went to dinner, in the chow hall, it was meatloaf night with corn on the cob and fresh baked bread, this was a smaller forward base with only 200 men and women stationed there, with the reinforcements the number was now 350 people stationed there. After dinner they went to the officers club, to get a drink and then back to Jack’s room where they talked all night.

The next night after dinner they joined most of the others stationed at the base to watch a couple of new films that the reinforcements had brought with them.

After the movie they stayed up late and played cards, and talked finally they went to bed, both had work the next day. In the morning, Jack hugged Alan goodbye, because most of his patrols were for three day sweeps, and Alan has said that if everything went fine, he would only be there for two more days, but that he would swing back, at the end of his installation tour in two weeks.

Jack ran to the chow hall for coffee and breakfast, and to join his squad, when the squad leader came up to tell them the orders, he told Jack that he was going to lead a squad himself, they were joining 4 other squads to investigate enemy movement in a no name town 50 miles to the south, drone over flys had detected lots of Endorightian cold signatures, The Endorightian run at a lower body temp, than humans so their “heat” signatures show blueish.

Jack was to report to the Colonel’s office to receive his orders, he was going to lead a squad of sharpshooters. Jack gave Helen the tin of cookies for the squad and when to report to the Colonel’s office, after receiving his orders he ran to the tarmac to join the other squads and find his men, he found 6 men and 2 women, each like him had a long distance sniper rifle w/scope, most like him had the Barrett M82, a couple had the Blaser R93, both good rifles. And like him they were dressed in brown, grey, and green camo.

They boarded the helo’s with the other squads, and off they went, arriving at the town, Jack positioned his squad, where they could cover the others. When the squads moved closer 2 Endorightians snipers shot, Jack took one out, and 2 others from his squad took out the other, the fighting started, both sides firing, Jack and his team used their height advantage to take out Endorightian when they could, Jack had made 6 kills already when he heard the sound and turned his head to see a Endorightian two man flyer above him, it zapped him with a blue ray, and Jack knew nothing else.

Some men who were on the ground below Jack’s position, saw the front half of a sniper rifle fall, and the flyer speed off, several opened fire on it, but with it’s shielding the bullets did no damage. Two other flyers were sighted and another sniper and a squad leader on the ground were reported hit, before they also speed off, all to the south.

Jack woke and found that he was laying on a cement floor, he sat, his head spinning, and he was right, he was in a small cement room, the walls cold and grey, the door a dark solid steel, lit by a bright light in the ceiling, with a drain in the center of the floor, there were cells like this at his base.

Jack also saw that he was stripped down to his boxers, he heard two Endorightian voices outside his cell door, he could understand the Endorightian language, he roughly spoke it as well.

“Commander, this one is wake, but he is barely shaving, not yet a man, what would he know?”

“Yes he is young, but this youngster as you say, has the mark on his arm that says he has killed over 50 of our people, and he had the marking on his clothes that say he is an officer”

“He does” the man said as he slid open the small viewport and Jack could see a pair of blue eyes staring at him.

“Yes Lieutenant, so let's see what Dr. Novaro can learn from him, lets go”

The man closed the view port and Jack heard them walk away.

When the squads returned back to base, they reported 12 dead, and 3 MIA possible KIA, the humans did not know what the blue ray did, only that nothing was left wherever it was used, just a slightly burned circle, and part of whatever was outside of the circle.

After their own gun ships from another base arrived the battle turn quickly and the Endorightian killed, it was revealed that the Endorightian were trying to establish a forward rader and scanning station, hidden in the ruins of that dead town.

Colonel Alan Rightmorre was work in the rader office, installing new code programs when he was asked to report to the base commander's office, when he reported he was told about Jack being MIA/KIA. It hit him hard, but the next day he and two of Jack’s friends cleaned up and packed Jack’s room, Alan was taking Jack’s thing home with him, he gave the gifts that he and his sister had sent to his friends.

Meanwhile somewhere in the south, the view window door was slid open and a gas sprayed into the room, Jack passed out and a couple of hours later found himself strapped down tightly to a hard wooden table and a Endorightian, standing above him placing an IV, Jack tried to struggle but couldn’t move.

The Endorightian put some kind of greenish liquid into the IV and said in Endorig, “be calm little one, the Middo will hurt a little, but we will know what we want to know”, as the liquid started moving through Jack’s veins, it burned like hell, Jack started cursing the Endorightian in English, but as the Middo truth serum worked, he started speaking in Endorig.

“So little one you speak our language, it will make this so much easier”

After three hours of pain and questions and two more does of Middo, Jack had revealed all that he knew, including the location of his base and three others that he knew. Just as the commander thought the humans were moving farther south.

The Commander gave the order and Dr. Novaro put a bluish serum into Jack’s IV, once it entered his blood stream, it would began to liquify, Jack’s organs, Jack started screaming as it began to work, but both Endorightians ignored his scream.

AFter all it was these humans that had invaded their world.

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latestnews2018-blog · 6 years

Text

Brazil’s Neymar Never Had A Chance To Be Loved

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/brazils-neymar-never-had-a-chance-to-be-loved/

Brazil’s Neymar Never Had A Chance To Be Loved

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian comedian Jô Soares has a joke that came to mind last week during Brazil’s round-of-16 World Cup match against Mexico. “In Miami,” Soares says, “when a Porsche passes by, people think: ‘I’m going to work hard, to buy a car just like that.’ In Brazil, people say: ‘The owner of that car must be a thief. He must have stolen to be able to buy a car like that.’”

It was a few minutes before 11 a.m. on July 2. There was a warm sun in a cloudless sky, and across the chaotic metropolis, Cariocas, as residents of Rio are known, were optimistic, excited and loud.

Brazil’s national team, the Seleção, would go crashing out of the tournament a few days later with a 2-1 loss to Belgium. But at the moment, all was cheery and light. Brazil was the favorite, not only for this match, but to add a record-breaking sixth World Cup crown to its already glittering trophy cabinet.

All these hopes were borne by the team’s slight forward, Neymar, and maybe there was a glimpse of his burden in his anxious, tight-lipped swaying as the anthem played.

And then there they were, as the camera trained itself on Neymar: Jeers and catcalls. From Brazilians. In Rio de Janeiro’s city center.

There has never been a player quite like the current owner of the Brazil No. 10 shirt, a man of unquestionable natural talent who divides opinion ferociously even among supporters. In a country with an ever-churning superstar production line, the chatter around Neymar has been constant for almost a decade, during which the former Vila Belmiro prodigy has grown into one of the most marketable faces on the planet, counting his followers on social media platforms in the tens of millions. By early 2014, the Brazilian media had coined the term “Neymarketing” amid a swell of advertising campaigns featuring the country’s latest footballing treasure.

But just as Argentina’s Lionel Messi has been charged with a lack of affinity with his compatriots, Neymar faces similar accusations, particularly in the wake of the Seleção’s failure. Former Brazil player turned TV Globo pundit Wálter Casagrande was scathing in his analysis of Neymar after the loss to Belgium: “Speaking via Instagram is easy. In a country like Brazil, where inequality is enormous and football is one of the few escapes for the population, hope and frustration walk side by side … Those who want to lead must be present even at difficult times.”

Booed before a victory, scapegoated after a loss, and marketed relentlessly, Brazil’s star provides a case study in how the making of an international celebrity can be his unmaking as well.

Brazil’s star provides a case study in how the making of an international celebrity can be his unmaking as well.

Of course, not all of the negativity is a function of Neymar’s entry into a new realm of celebrity.

Neymar confounds some of the models of what a futebol god should be. His own story is at odds with certain cherished national myths about street football, for instance — about the possibility of genius flourishing in rough-and-tumble environments. Much like Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Neymar spent time learning the game on the futsal court, always under the watchful eye of a referee. Futsal is a variation of soccer, played indoors on a smaller, harder surface instead of a traditional grass pitch. While the game made him comfortable with the ball in tight quarters, it also taught him — or so the theory goes — to rely too much on the referees.

But did he have a choice? Neymar is diminutive; when he was coming through the ranks at Santos and initially broke into the first team in 2009, he looked as if a strong northerly wind might blow him into Suriname. He was slender and had the ball often at his feet, and as a result, he was and remains both an easy target for defenders and a player in particular need of a referee’s protection.

Perhaps because of the constant provocations, Neymar has been prone throughout his career to omnidirectional bursts of petulance. In 2015, he was sent off after the final whistle during a Copa América clash with Colombia for kicking the ball at opposing left-back Pablo Armero. As recently as the second group game of this World Cup, he swore at his captain, Thiago Silva ― an act the skipper later described as making him “very sad.”

But keep in mind that few players are hunted, tripped and kicked like the Brazilian forward; a close-up of his socks toward the end of the Costa Rica game revealed they had been torn up by the constant attention of opposition studs.

Lee Smith / Reuters

Neymar in Saint Petersburg Stadium for the World Cup group match against Costa Rica on June 22, 2018.

In Brazil’s World Cup opener against Switzerland, Neymar was fouled no fewer than 10 times, the most fouls sustained by a single player since Alan Shearer at the 1998 World Cup. Yet somehow the story of the World Cup remains Neymar’s willingness to go to ground rather than the persecution of a man who has 57 goals in 89 international appearances and sits third on the country’s all-time scorer’s list.

The rancor surrounding Neymar comes more or less from the same place as Soares’ Porsche analogy — a sense that native genius is misbegotten in some way. And as Antônio Nascimento, sports editor at Jornal do Brasil, points out, much of the psychodrama is contingent on his success.

“It’s a bipolar attitude. If he scores, he’s a genius. If he isn’t good on the pitch he starts to be called hot-headed, childish, a poster boy,” Nascimento said. “It’s obvious that Neymar exaggerates when it comes to marketing. It’s called Neymarketing for a reason.”

And sometimes even when he is successful, the drama happens anyway. After scoring in a 2-0 win over Costa Rica in Brazil’s second group game, Neymar dropped to his knees in tears at the final whistle. This was the image, now deleted, that appeared on his official page, and it led to a torrent of insults and criticism.

After Brazil’s elimination, fans left comments on the account belonging to his girlfriend, actress Bruna Marquezine. “Neymar learned to act with you,” went one of the nicer posts.

Grigory Dukor / Reuters

Neymar during Brazil’s match against Serbia in Moscow on June 28, 2018.

“In relation to Neymar, there is a very intolerant attitude when it comes to him on social media,” Nascimento said. “If we join the success of a person with football in Brazil, we have an extremely passionate relationship. Social media ends up increasing even more this love/hate relationship.”

This is the fruit of all that Neymarketing. The constant scrutiny had a polarizing effect on fans, according to 1970 World Cup winner Jairzinho, who still coaches in football schools today. “It’s difficult to get down time today,” he said. “The pressure and assessment from everyone is always there. It creates extreme opinions and views.”

David Beckham may have been the first modern celebrity footballer, but in many ways, Neymar is more Beckham than the Englishman ever was, from the merchandising deals to the big money transfers to the famous girlfriend ― all factors in Neymar’s alienation from his compatriots.

Buoyed by modern media and undone by it as well, Neymar goes home a World Cup loser to a country that demands he be the standard bearer of a standard — “o jogo bonito,” the beautiful game — that no longer exists.

Brazil continues to dine at the top table of international football, but that’s at least partly on the basis of past glories. Three of Brazil’s five World Cup triumphs came in a 12-year spell nearly half a century ago. And after three successive appearances in the World Cup final, in 1994, 1998 and 2002, the country has not been back since.

This was the ultimate assault on Neymar during a tournament full of dirty tackles: fans using the country’s sporting past as a cudgel on him. He’d been set up. He was the patsy. Neymar isn’t a thief, it turns out. He’s the fall guy.

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gumnut-logic · 6 years

Text

The Subject of Virgil

Title: The Subject of Virgil

Sequel and epilogue to ‘Access Denied’

Author: Gumnut

25 - 31 Jul 2018

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015

Rating: Teen

Summary:

Gordon was in the kitchen getting himself a drink of water when there was an almighty yell, a loud crash, and something flew off the balcony above and into the pool.

He frowned, only to sag slightly as the piano stool floated gently back to the surface.

“Ah, hell.”

Word count: 8388

Spoilers & warnings: Season 2 in general. Occurs sometime before 2.07 Home on the Range. Possibly AU due to the time length involved. You can read this without reading ‘Access Denied’, but it would make more sense if you read the first fic first. Angst and a little whump.

Author's note: Apparently I was a little too mean to Virgil in the last fic and he demanded some reparations – that and I felt ‘Access Denied’ didn’t quite end the way it should have. Having said that, once again this fic ended up somewhere completely unplanned (there is an entire scene missing that I’ll have to use in another fic). Whether it is satisfactory to meet the demands of the first fic, I don’t know. But I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

Gordon was in the kitchen getting himself a drink of water when there was an almighty yell, a loud crash, and something flew off the balcony above and into the pool.

He frowned, only to sag slightly as the piano stool floated gently back to the surface.

“Ah, hell.”

He put the glass down and rubbed his eyes before wandering over to the main table and hitting the comms. “John, what is Scott’s status?”

“On his way back, ETA fifteen minutes.”

“Grandma and Alan?”

“Still in Sydney. Apparently, she has dragged him into The Rocks. We may not see them for a while.” Gordon smirked. Grandma was notoriously attached to craft markets and would, no doubt, arrive home dressed in tie-dye and sandals, sporting jars of homemade jams and pickles.

“Kayo still in Argentina?”

“No, Peru.” Gordon didn’t bother asking why Peru. Since the incident with Virgil’s exo-suit, she had hardly been home, scouring the planet for their nemesis. If she ever managed to get her hands on the Mechanic, they would likely no longer have a nemesis. Kayo was pissed. And Virgil was right, she was scary.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that left just Brains on the island with Gordon, and he was pretty much as irate as Kayo. Though his anger management tended to involve locking himself in his lab to conspire with physics and chemistry. Multiple cool new gadgets had been birthed just recently as a result.

Gordon’s sudden lack of conversation had John filling in the silence. “How’s Virgil?”

“The piano stool just landed in the pool.”

An exhale. “Ah, hell.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

There was another silence. “Well, you better go yank it out. Scott’s ETA is now five minutes.”

“Thanks, John.”

“FAB.”

-o-o-o-

He managed to fish the stool out of the pool quite easily. It looked a little worse for wear and was soaked, but some time in the sun would fix that.

Looking up at the balcony revealed no sign of his second eldest brother. Gordon bit his lip. He loved his brother but be damned if he understood him.

He eyed his mother’s piano stool and sighed. Better go check that Virgil hadn’t done anything more stupid.

Climbing the stairs two at a time he entered the comms room and into the wake of his brother’s anger. Music sheets were scattered everywhere, the piano had been shoved almost to the far window and a glass, its former contents in halo, lay in pieces all over the hardwood floor.

Gordon would have said it was unlike his usually calm brother, that there was definitely something wrong, but that had already been clearly demonstrated earlier that day. No conclusions needed to be drawn as they were already known. This was just the result.

Perhaps it was a sign of Virgil’s calm personality. Gordon doubted the villa would still be standing if it had happened to him. As it was, he had the urge to destroy something anyway, preferably the Mechanic.

He couldn’t see his brother at first, but stepping further into the room, he spotted him sitting out on the floor of the balcony. Almost at the edge. His favourite flannel shirt was missing, hopefully not also a victim of this moment, just his grey undershirt hunched over in the late afternoon light. Gordon didn’t hesitate, just walked out the doors and sat down beside his brother.

“You know Scott is due in any minute. It’s going to get blustery out here.”

No answer.

Virgil had his head in his hands, one leg stuck out to the side awkwardly as if he had half fallen into position. Unsurprisingly he was wearing shorts, no doubt to keep the pressure off the large bandaged burn on his left thigh.

“I’m not going to ask if you are okay, as it is obvious that you’re not.”

No comment. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment.

“But I will ask if there is anything that we can do to help.”

Still no answer.

Another moment and the pool began to retract and a distant roar encroached on the sounds of the island.

“You sure you want to stay out here?”

If there was a response, it was lost in the roar of approaching Thunderbird.

A click and the large glass doors both behind them and beneath in the kitchen slid slowly closed, protecting the villa’s interior.

“Okay, but I’m borrowing your hairdryer this time.”

Thunderbird One had come to a vertical above the island and was dropping slowly, ever controlled by her pilot. The roar of approaching exhaust enveloped them, hot air swirling and catching his hair. Gordon held his breath, resistant to breathing the fumes, harmless though they were – after all Thunderbird One was hardly your typical rocket and the fuel it ran on, far more kind to its environment. Didn’t mean it didn’t have its own flavour, though. A cough and a splutter. Yes, he’d be scraping that out of the back of his throat for the next hour.

Then the exhaust was consumed by the hanger and the long, tall body of the rocket plane was slowly passing. The cockpit came into view and one exhausted, dirty and frowning Scott Tracy peered out at them momentarily before disappearing below the edge of the balcony.

“You know he’s going to be pissed.” But he could barely hear himself, and wouldn’t until the pool finally slid back into place.

Virgil hadn’t moved. His head still in his hands, but now his hair was whipped into a frenzy. Gordon had no doubt his was little different. He also needed another shower.

As the pool closed, the doors behind them retracted again and the island returned to its former idyllic tropicalness.

Of course, there was now a countdown in place. Scott would be here any moment.

Gordon sighed.

“I’m really sorry, Virgil. It sucks. Kayo will find him eventually and he will regret everything.”

Everything.

There was the sound of a sob. Gordon’s eyes widened and then his heart tore in two.

Virgil was crying.

He wrapped an arm around his brother, gently turning the bigger man into an awkward embrace, hampered by his leg. A hand ended up full of trembling dusty dark hair, and then Virgil was shaking against him, letting out not the anger, but the anguish behind it.

Hurried footsteps slowed behind them, and Gordon blinked away his own welling tears to look up at his eldest brother.

Scott was filthy. Soot and mud, the main contributors, almost hid the blue of his uniform. But it was the echoed horror in his eyes that marked his appearance more than anything.

In Gordon’s arms, Virgil was muttering between his sobs. “I’m sorry.” A harsh heaved in breath strangled by tears. “Sorry. Sorry. So-rry.” Gordon squeezed tighter, partly to reassure, partly to keep his own insides in place.

Scott crouched down, placing his hand on his shuddering brother’s back. “Not your fault, Virgil.”

A shuddering gasp. Virgil’s head shot up and Gordon saw his face for the first time since this morning. Pale skin and tear-filled, red-rimmed eyes screamed without sound. “But it is. I should never have been out there in the first place.”

Scott’s lips thinned. “If you hadn’t been there those people would have died.”

The anger returned as his brother pulled away. “If I hadn’t… she wouldn’t have gotten burnt!”

“She would have been dead, Virgil! You saved her life and the lives of her family.” Scott had fire in his eyes, determination, clarity and defence of his brother, but Gordon knew it was also fuelled by fear.

Fear of what this could mean.

“C’mon, Virg, you know he’s right. You did good today. Accidents happen. We’re not perfect. It’s gonna happen whether we like it or not.”

Those pain-filled brown eyes caught his. “How do I tell a ten-year-old girl that she is going to be scarred for life because her rescue operative froze in the middle of saving her. Literally held her over the flames, Gordon. Simply because he couldn’t keep it together.”

Gordon’s voice was quiet. “You did your best.”

“Well, I guess that is just not good enough anymore.” He pulled away, hands scrabbling at the decking as he struggled to stand. Scott straightened and reached down to help him. The moment Virgil was on his feet, he pulled away and limped back into the house.

Gordon stood up, watching Scott as his eyes followed his brother. A door slammed in the distance.

Blue eyes flickered back to his own.

“Damn.”

-o-o-o-

It hurt to walk, but Virgil didn’t care. Hobbling through the house, he stumbled out the back door and slammed it behind him.

His feet hit the gravel path and he was moving. Where, he wasn’t sure, he just had to move away. Get away. Be somewhere else.

The look in Scott’s eyes…it asked questions Virgil wasn’t ready to answer. He scrubbed a hand over his wet face, the fingers of his left hand complained loudly. A flinch and a flashback of memory.

This morning has been so normal. A situation, a spin down his chute, Gordon on his tail. Both Thunderbird One and Two attending a rockslide just north of Santiago in Chile. They had been pulling people to safety by the droves. The side of the mountain had collapsed on a small town. While Gordon had been manoeuvring the earthmoving pod, Virgil had donned his exo-suit and had been pulling people out of buildings who couldn’t get out by themselves.

He hadn’t even thought about it. It had been months since the incident. He and Scott had been down to the module bay every day, confronting any issues that popped up, which had been surprisingly few. If anything, Virgil had felt that Scott had been having more issues than he had. Apparently, it helped to hardly remember what happened when life screwed you over.

There had been nothing. If there had been, he would have pulled himself off active service. You don’t mess with psychological issues in this business, it wasn’t worth the risk.

But halfway through the morning, Virgil had had to tackle a house on fire. Probably a severed gas pipe, and he wasn’t wearing the fire exo-suit, but there were lives to save, so he jumped in feet first.

A couple of parents and two kids. He had three of them out and was carrying the last one, a young girl on his right arm, when some kind of burning debris fell across his left side.

There was pain and he whited out.

For a moment there was memory. Memory so painful, it outshone the physical burning of his uniform. Someone was screaming.

It was Scott’s shouting over the comms that snapped him out of it. But those precious moments had been lost. The girl in his arms was shrieking, her hair on fire.

He made it out of the building, stumbling to hand the girl to the paramedics. There were hands on him, but he brushed them away, staggering around the nearest building before falling to his knees. He only just managed to rip off his helmet before dumping his breakfast on the rocky ground in front of him.

Almost choking on his own breath, hands trembling, he disengaged the exo-suit, letting its weight fall off him, shoving it away. Free of its confines, he slowly tipped sideways, unable to support himself any longer.

He didn’t know how long he lay shivering on the rocks, but the next face he saw was Scott’s, his worried blue eyes frantically scanning him for injury.

There was a stretcher. There was Gordon.

There was the wonderful roar of Thunderbird Two’s engines.

And then there was sleep.

-o-o-o-

Tracy Island was a lump of volcanic rock in the middle of the Southern Pacific. It was a harsh environment, the rock geologically young, the elements having not yet quite had their way with it. Any and all paths around the island were steep and challenging and certainly not suited to an injured rescue operative just out of bed.

Virgil stumbled several times, the painkillers wearing off by the minute.

He’d woken back on the Island in the infirmary with Gordon hovering over him. Apparently, they’d both been dismissed from the rescue site. Scott was still there, finishing up with the local crews.

Virgil hadn’t been out long. Just long enough to have his injuries attended to and for the painkiller to kick in. There were bandages scattered all over the left side of his body. He rated burns in the second degree according to his brother.

All Virgil knew was that there was a great gaping hole in his chest. There hadn’t been words, so he hadn’t said anything. Eventually, having failed to get a peep out of his brother, Gordon excused himself for a moment.

Virgil took the opportunity to drag himself out of bed and head back to his room. The emptiness in his chest drove him towards solace. His rooms gave him familiarity, his clothes gave him comfort. He wrapped himself in his familiar grey t-shirt and he sought something to soothe his whirling thoughts.

He found himself in front of his piano. So he sought his solace in his music.

The fingers of his left hand were stiff and stunk of medicated cream, but he forced them to move. He needed to find the music, to find that place. A place of safety where his mind could hang suspended between the notes, held up by the rhythm and comforted by the melody.

But his injured fingers wouldn’t obey him. There was a spark of pain and he lost it. Just lost it. Everything hit him at once and he simply reacted in fury.

God, he hoped that piano stool had survived his weakness. Mom…

Fate broke that train of thought by placing a rock in just the wrong spot, causing him to stumble and knock the burn on his thigh. He gasped and grit his teeth.

No, just keep walking.

Walk, damn you.

And walk he did.

He wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings, so it was a surprise when the familiar sound of a jetpack zooming overhead was enveloped by the pink and orange sky of a sunset. He stopped on the path, his whole body throbbing and complaining. He looked around. Hell, he was all the way over on the other side of the island.

The blue figure in the sky circled once before dropping rapidly.

Great, he was going to get it now. Not that he didn’t deserve it, wandering off like this, but…

Aw, hell.

-o-o-o-

Scott had been frantic when they realised Virgil was no longer in the house. They had assumed the slammed door had belonged to his brother’s rooms, but an hour or so later when his meds came due, investigation had revealed his rooms to be empty.

By then Scott had showered and was in more comfortable clothing. He would have loved to have been sleeping, but he knew his brain would not let him. Not until he’d had a chance to speak with his brother. Speak properly. To reassure both Virgil and himself.

But now he was gone.

A quick word with Thunderbird Five had a lifesign pinpointed on the other side of the island. Shoving on a clean uniform, he grabbed a spare jetpack and took off.

Gordon was told to wait and answer any questions Grandma and Alan had as they had now been informed of the morning’s events and were due back any moment.

The sun was heading towards the horizon and the island was lit up in gold. The breeze was cooling against his bare fingertips and he shivered.

God, he was tired. More from emotional stress than physical. The sight of his brother curled up on his side, his uniform charred through to skin in places, practically non-responsive…

The Mechanic could rot in hell.

They’d both thought the worst was over. The pain had dulled somewhat. Scott had been processing his issues and Virgil had shown no signs of extended psychological damage.

Perhaps that should have been obvious.

Perhaps he should have forced him into that counselling he had refused.

Perhaps… He sighed. The ten-year-old had lost most of her hair. There would be some scarring, but she was alive. She had survived.

He wasn’t sure his brother would.

A whip around the area John indicated and he spotted the hunched over figure he was looking for. A glance up and he knew he had been spotted. A flick of his thumb and he was descending.

The gravel crunched under his feet as he touched down beside his brother. As expected, Virgil looked awful - cold and exhausted. Scott didn’t bother to ask why his brother was out here, he simply walked over to him, wrapped an arm around him and gently pulled him close.

“Time to come home.”

-o-o-o-

Days passed, then weeks. Burns healed, but Virgil’s heart didn’t.

He’d been pulled off active duty. Gordon and Alan now flew his beloved ‘Bird and Virgil did his best to ignore it. He stepped back into a supportive role, providing maintenance to the big machines. If it broke, he fixed it. One day might see him clambering up the side of Three, the next might have him under the belly of Two or buried in a module realigning pod equipment.

But he didn’t step a foot off Tracy Island. And he rescued no one.

He couldn’t risk it.

Scott was worried, he knew it. His big brother continued to try and corner him. To talk to him and bare his quivering soul. But Virgil didn’t want to share. He shut it all away and focussed on the here and now – the spanner in one hand, the power meter in the other and the job in front of him. Where he could do good, despite being broken inside.

And then the memories started to return. And they had to be memories, because he could not have imagined this amount of pain. It was as if the fire incident had been a trigger, a release, and bit by bit those forgotten moments had begun to return.

Flashes of the terrified look on Scott’s face. Skittering insect legs on his skin. Ice, goddamn, ice. He would be happy never to see any ice ever again. And the pain. He woke up screaming and twitching in the night, often a member of his family beside his bed worriedly shaking him awake.

It was humiliating. It was exhausting.

I wasn’t getting better, it was getting worse.

And he couldn’t function like this.

-o-o-o-

EOS knew something was wrong. John’s mood had been bad for the last week and while everyone was being civil, the under current of strain was slowly tearing their network apart.

John had mistakenly referred to the youngest one as Virgil earlier today, which was understandable for a human as Virgil was usually the pilot of Thunderbird Two. The fact that he had been ill for some weeks now didn’t immediately erase human habit of years. The silence that had followed the error had been filled with unspoken anguish and the expression on John’s face as he apologised had been equally painfilled.

The subject of Virgil was an ignition point for all sorts of arguments.

As for EOS herself, she had kept an eye on the engineer, following him through the system. He was an efficient worker, completing tasks accurately and at speed. Of course, he wasn’t John, he was Virgil and sometimes his actions were completely lost to her. John claimed it was his brother’s artistic streak. EOS was 87% sure it was just stubborn contrariousness.

But this made her no less surprised when one day Virgil just simply stopped working.

She had scooted down to the maintenance bays for her daily observations of the man only to find him absent. Further investigation and she found him in his bedroom lying on top of the bed, unshaven, shirtless, an arm over his eyes, but clearly not asleep.

An instinctive scan of his vitals found him healthy, though not at peak. There had been some weight loss due to his convalescence and his pale bare skin still sported the red remains of his burn injuries, but he was not making any attempt to rise for the day. He had a job list as long as his arm awaiting completion – she had checked, but he was making no move.

A quick query to John resulted in a sigh and a muttered ‘sick day’, so EOS had left the second eldest brother undisturbed.

But it happened again the next day. And the next. Why was he not addressing his duties? When asked, John had looked pained and told her to leave Virgil to himself.

So she did.

But he still didn’t attend to his duties. He ate. He slept. He managed the physical necessities of life, but little more. She watched as his family came to him in turn and attempted to cajole him into movement, but he refused them all. Even the eldest brother, who she had suspected would be the most successful, had ended up out in the hall, his back to the wall, hands running through his hair, desperation on his face.

So the subject of Virgil became very sensitive and she dare not mention it.

Until the day John got stuck in his bathroom.

EOS had access to all electronic equipment aboard the station, but there was a compliment of manual systems left so for safety reasons. The lock on the toilet door was one of them, and it broke. With John inside the small room.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m sorry, John, but the mechanism is jammed. I am unable to help you.”

The astronaut let his head drop against the door. “I am never going to live this one down.”

“Chances are very small.” She let a smirk into her tone.

John sighed. “Who is available?” The question could have been phrased ‘Who gets to laugh at me first?’

“Virgil Tracy is currently on the Island.”

She could see him calculating variables. She really didn’t need to tell him who was available. He knew where everyone was. He was the one who sent them there. Thunderbird One was in Buenos Aries with the eldest, Thunderbird Two was in Bangladesh with the two youngest, Thunderbird S was in England and the Chief Engineer was in California for a conference. That left the Grandmother who would be needed to take over monitor duties…and Virgil. She waited.

A sigh. “Hail Tracy Island. Voice only.”

-o-o-o-

The days had begun to blur into a repetition of grey nothing. He’d originally taken a break to see if he could get his thoughts in order, but somewhere amongst it all he’d lost…something…maybe even himself. The nights wracked by nightmares, left the days only a little less so, and he lost the energy and motivation to do anything.

His family came. They talked, they badgered, and, in Scott’s case, there had been yelling. He knew he was hurting them, but he was hurting so much himself, he had no resources to spare. So he just focussed on the basics, getting from one day to the next and kept to himself.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed with a sketch pad and pencil, once again staring at a blank page that refused to absorb anything he attempted to throw at it, when John’s voice echoed through the room.

“Uh, Virgil, I need a favour.”

He blinked. “John?” A frown. “Are you okay?”

“Um, I need you to come up to the station.”

“Why?”

A sigh. “The locking mechanism to one of the bathroom cubicles is jammed.”

“Huh?”

“While I’m in it.”

It took a moment for his brain to do the math on that. “You’re stuck in the toilet?”

“Yes.”

Despite everything…everything…Virgil’s lips couldn’t help but smirk. “Really?”

“Yes, really. And I can’t get out. EOS has transferred monitor duties to Grandma, but I need your help to get out of this…predicament.”

“Gordon’s gonna love this.”

“Gordon isn’t going to find out about this, is he?” The glare made it across thousands of miles of space and atmosphere even without visuals.

“We’ll see. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Thanks, Virgil.” And John signed out.

Virgil couldn’t help but smile.

-o-o-o-

A misstep in the direction of his chute soon sobered him up. He swallowed and instead made for the uniform lockers. He didn’t let himself think as he put on his uniform on. Didn’t think as he buckled on his sash and tool belt. Grabbing his helmet and extra tools, he entered the access shaft for the space elevator that was just now connecting with its staging platform, no doubt sent by EOS.

He could count on one hand the number of times he has used the elevator. Out of all the team, he was the least likely to visit Thunderbird Five as he usually had his hands full down here with Thunderbird Two. There was a pang in his chest, but he ignored it. There was a job to be done. A brother to be saved.

From his bathroom.

The smirk appeared again.

Latching himself in the seat built for his younger brother, he leant back and forced himself to relax.

“Hello, Virgil.”

“Hello, EOS. Are we ready?”

“Finalising pre-launch now.”

He closed his eyes waiting for the subtle movement of release.

“Launching now.”

The craft shuddered just slightly, its boosters fired, and the pressure across his body increased as they accelerated up into the atmosphere.

“Thank you for coming to John’s assistance, Virgil.”

Virgil opened his eyes and peered to look up at the camera manifesting the AI. “No problem, EOS. Anytime.”

There was a silence, but Virgil felt she hadn’t left. “Do you have a question, EOS?”

“What is wrong?”

He blinked. “With what?”

“With you.”

A frown. “What do you mean, EOS?”

“For the past two weeks you have been functionally inoperative.”

“I’ve….I’ve been unwell.” He fidgeted. He did not want to talk about this.

“Incorrect. Your body has healed and you are fully capable of resuming at least the basic duties you were attending to prior to this fortnight. Why have you not returned to the hangers?”

“I-“

“Thunderbird Two’s performance has dropped 3%.”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

“The youngest brothers’ schedules are full. They have their responsibilities as well as yours to consider. Why are you not helping?”

Virgil sagged in his seat. “I needed the time.”

“We need you.”

His voice was small. “I know.”

“I miss you.”

“I-“

“And John is worried.”

What could he say? He wasn’t sure she understood the half of it. When it was stated so simply, the answer seemed obvious. But it wasn’t so simple.

“EOS, do you dream?”

“I do not sleep.”

He sighed. “You have my envy.”

“Why?”

So young, so naïve at times, yet so powerful, EOS was amazing. His brother had created life, no matter how inadvertently. Did that make him an uncle? In any case, they all had a responsibility to assist with her education. EOS was family.

“EOS, it is complicated. Human health is not simply reliant on physical systems. Sometimes an event can have emotional connotations that can affect physical functioning.”

“You have injured your mental health?” She seemed surprised. “Why have you not sought medical assistance?”

“It’s complicated.”

“How?”

Well, this was turning out to be one of the longest eight minutes of his life. “John? How are you doing?”

“John is fully functional and sitting on the toilet.”

That was an image in itself. “EOS, why aren’t you letting me speak to him.”

“Because I want to speak to you.”

Okay, mini-tantrum in place. “EOS-“

“No, I want to understand why you aren’t looking after yourself. I miss our time together. If you are mentally ill, why not seek out treatment and get well? Then we can spend time together again. Don’t you miss me?”

Oh, god, this was getting into difficult territory. “Of course, I miss you, EOS.”

“Don’t you want to get well?”

“Of course, I do!”

“Then why have you not sought assistance?”

He wished he didn’t have his helmet on. Then he could rub his face with his hands and possibly gouge his own eyes out. As it was, it wasn’t worth the fingerprints on his faceplate. “I need time.”

“You’ve had time. You appear to have cut yourself off from all family aid. If I measure your health in relation to familial interactions, it is declining.” She paused. “You yelled at your eldest brother.”

Oh great, now she was accessing further information and checking the logs. “EOS-“

“You have rejected all the attempts of help offered by your family.”

“EOS!”

“Are you going to yell at me, too?”

He closed his eyes, squeezing his face shut, biting back everything. “No.” His voice was hoarse.

“Approaching dock. Stabilisers firing.”

The little craft shuddered and his stomach sank as momentum was shed. The clunk of the grapple was a very welcome sound.

“You may now depart. Thank you for flying with IR Elevators.”

Virgil simply stared up at the camera. What? But EOS didn’t say anything further.

He felt like he had been through an emotional wringer. Did the kid have any idea? He knew enough to not underestimate her.

A sigh and he clambered up out of the support chair and made his way onto the station.

-o-o-o-

This was humiliating.

John glared at the mechanism holding him for the bounty of his brothers’ laughter.

“Your brother has arrived and will be here shortly.”

“Thank you, EOS.” And thank goodness.

“John?”

“Yes, EOS?”

“Why is Virgil refusing to seek treatment for his mental illness?”

Mental illness? “EOS, what did you say to Virgil? I told you to let him be.”

“But it is not working. He is getting worse, not better.”

“EOS.”

“I miss him.”

“We all do.”

“Then why don’t we help him?”

There was a thud on the other side of the door and it was flung open. His brother hovered in front of him. “Hey, John.” There was the expected smirk.

But John didn’t return it. Virgil looked awful. He’d lost weight. He was pale. His uniform was baggy on him. His broad shoulders appeared stooped and where his quietly confident brother had once stood now hovered a shadow of his former self.

“Virgil?”

“So you like it so much in there, you want to stay?” At least there was a spark of humour in his eyes.

“Thank you for coming.”

A hand reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “Any time, bro.” Another smirk. “So what do I get for not telling Gordon?”

John pushed off and sailed past his brother. “I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think too long. Blackmail has an expiry date.”

“I’m sure it does.” He rolled his eyes, but worry was roiling in his stomach. He bit his lip. “I just need to go and check on Control. See you up there?”

“Sure. I’ll fix this and meet you there.”

“’Kay.” He turned and left.

-o-o-o-

The lock only took moments to fix. A bit of oil and a replacement tongue did the job, but he did make a note to log it with Brains. This could have become a serious situation and they didn’t need two pieces of poorly designed metal making their lives even harder.

Finishing up, he packed up his tools and headed for the ring. He had to admit it felt good to be away from home. He wouldn’t have thought it would, but it did. Stepping onto the glass of the gravity ring only made it better.

Far below him spun his planet. It certainly wasn’t the first time he had been in space, he was a Tracy after all, but having time to actually take a moment to just look and not have to rush to save a life? He wasn’t sure that had ever happened.

He found himself sitting down on the glass, tools discarded beside him, the gravity ring spinning slowly, Earth, then stars, Earth again, stars again, it was almost hypnotic. The monsoon crackled over northern Australia, a cyclone brewing to the far west. He could see the snow-capped peaks of New Zealand.

Soft footsteps found him and his brother folded himself down elegantly beside him. “It’s beautiful isn’t it.”

“Yes.”

“Say, how long has it been since you’ve been up here?”

Virgil frowned. “At least six months.”

“Eight months and twenty-nine days.”

“Thank you, EOS.” His eyes darted back to Virgil. “Would you like to stay for a while?” A shrug. “I could do with some help with maintenance, if you need an excuse.”

Virgil looked up at his younger brother but saw no conniving demand to talk or need to help. John was…well, John. His honesty and directness came with the territory. “Sure.” A pause. “Thanks.”

“Great. I’ll ask Grandma to send up some of your stuff.” His brother unfolded smoothly to his feet.

Virgil stared down at the Pacific Ocean.

It was certainly a change of scenery.

-o-o-o-

It was unexpected, but it somehow helped. Virgil found his feet returning slowly to the ground now he was nowhere near it. At first, he was just a passenger. He spent his days sitting on the glass of the gravity ring simply watching. Thunderbird Five operated around him, emergency calls caught and handballed by his brother in the smooth flowing functionality that was International Rescue. But slowly, here, away from Thunderbird Two and the complications inherent, he was drawn into the flow. Soon calls to Thunderbird Five were also being answered by a deep baritone. Scott had stumbled over his words the first time but hadn’t commented. Gordon and Alan were just their usual amusing selves and they poked fun at him as they always had. For the first time in months he began to feel the cloud lifting. He found himself smiling.

John was quiet company. Simply there, often buried in reading or research. No demands to talk, no questions about his health. Simply there.

EOS was a challenge at times. Her questions were endless, but at some point John must have spoken to her and the torrent slowed.

Virgil finally found space to breathe.

There were still nightmares. He was pretty sure they were never going to leave. But they were fewer and he handled them better. In space EOS heard you scream. EOS got into the habit of telling him where he was, what time it was, where everyone else was and that he was okay.

It was a different world.

Apparently different helped.

Of course, he wasn’t John and it wasn’t long before he was thoroughly missing his family. Holograms couldn’t replace that hand on his shoulder or simply sharing physical space with a loved one. But he made do. For the first time in weeks, he finally felt like he was making progress. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

And then a building collapsed on his eldest brother.

-o-o-o-

“Scott!” Alan’s yell across the comms scraped bone.

“Alan, report!” Virgil floated beside his brother far above the planet and too damn far away.

“The supports are giving way! Scott, move it, damn you!”

The roar of concrete and masonry could be heard over the comms. Virgil flicked through scans, then logged directly into TB2’s external camera.

The six-storey building was coming down. He saw a flash of blue through a window before dust and rock obscured everything.

“Alan, report!” His voice roared over the comms.

“Virgil.” John’s calm voice, usually heard over the comms, was in his ear. “He’s okay.” His brother’s hand flicked up the readouts from Scott’s uniform. Virgil’s eyes skipped across the numbers, his paramedic training drawing a picture. But his own heart was pounding.

A touch quieter. “Scott? Scott, status?”

Alan finally cut in, coughing loudly. “Thunderbird Five, do you have him?”

John answered. “Scott’s vitals are stable. We are getting no response, but he is alive. Two life readings.” So whoever he had dived in for had survived as well. Virgil pulled up the scan of the situation, chunks of holographic masonry still settling above two life signs.

“I’m going down.” Virgil moved towards the door.

John intercepted him. “Virgil, you’ve been in space for weeks now. Are you sure you are up to this?”

He caught his brother’s eyes. “I better be.”

-o-o-o-

Alan was covered in concrete dust and he couldn’t stop coughing. Even after grabbing his helmet and upping the oxygen level. Scott was going to carve him a new one when he found out he’d removed it in the first place.

Well, once he answered his damn comms. “Scott?”

The woman whose child Scott had run into the building to save, was clinging to his sash, jabbering at him in what he assumed was Indonesian, tears running down her face.

“Virgil is on his way down.” John’s voice was firm.

“What?”

“ETA five minutes.”

Alan looked up at the clear sky but couldn’t see anything…yet. Oookay, maybe the carving would start earlier.

“John, can you give this woman some reassurance?” He needed to start moving.

John’s voice, speaking whatever, spouted over his external speaker. The woman finally let go and babbled back. “I’ve told her that her son is alive and that we will do our best to get them out.” Alan grabbed her shoulders with gentle hands and did his best to smile reassuringly. Her head bobbed in desperate gratitude.

He stepped away just as the hiss and roar of deceleration thrusters fired above him. Looking up, the elevator came into view. Not exactly the safest way to travel. Alan bit his lip with concern only to get another mouthful of concrete dust. He sputtered.

“John, can you see a point of access to reach him?”

“Scott and the child are caught in a space beneath a large section of wall. We’re going to need Thunderbird Two to lift it.”

Damn. That made it harder. It also explained why his brother had jumped ship. It would have taken him only moments to assess the rescue site.

The Space Elevator landed off to one side. Alan hurried over as the hatch opened and his brother climbed out, his feet hitting Earth in a little puff of more dust.

He turned…and tripped, falling on his face.

“Ow.”

It would have been absolutely hilarious in different circumstances. Alan reached his brother and gave him a hand up. “I guess you are never laughing at John again.”

Virgil glared at him. Alan couldn’t help but feel his heart lift at the sight of it. Virgil looked, well, better. Not one hundred percent, but his spark was there.

“Situation?” All business.

As the Elevator retracted into the sky, Alan reported the dot points of the lead into the collapse and the status of equipment available. His brother strode directly over to the towering Thunderbird Two, prodding his remote. She responded immediately, the pod bay door opening so fast he didn’t need to alter his stride to enter.

“Alan, take the pod, multi-claw and leg combination. We’re pick and throw initially. I’ll take the exo-suit.”

He shot his brother a look, but didn’t comment on that last, no matter how much he wanted to. “FAB.”

He busied himself setting up the pod, only the occasional glance in his brother’s direction. But he did watch as the man approached his suit.

No hesitation. He lent back, slipped his arms into the sleeves. The suit snapped on, attaching its support framework to his uniform. And Virgil was moving.

Alan jumped into the pod and slid the hatch closed. “John?”

“Alan?”

“Keep an eye on him.”

“Always do.”

-o-o-o-

It was a blur of concrete and dust. Manual labour, an old friend. Virgil grunted as he lifted a particularly heavy chunk of masonry, near the suit’s limits, an alarm sounded in his helmet.

Okay, I got the message. He lowered it and signalled to Alan to retrieve it.

His body ached. Space had made him soft.

Scott still hadn’t responded and despite John’s continued reassurance, Virgil’s heart was in a knot. They weren’t moving fast enough. They had to clear the rubble above the large section of wall to enable Thunderbird Two to get a good grip on it, and to make sure random rock didn’t then fall in on the trapped victims.

“A-alan?”

“Scott?!” Virgil paused.

“Virgil?”

“Scott, status?”

“I’m…I’m stuck. My head…augh.”

“Are you injured?” There wasn’t an immediate answer. “Scott?”

“My head…what are you doing here?”

Virgil swallowed and immediately started shifting masonry again. “Digging you out, dear brother.” He grunted as he threw away another large chunk of concrete.

“But…you’re sick. In space.”

That was worrying. Scott did not sound himself at all. “Well, apparently I don’t get to stay up there if my brother lets a building fall on him.” Another grunt of effort. “What is the status of the child you were attempting to save?”

“Can’t see.” Sounds of movement. “I think he’s unconscious.”

“Hold on, Scott, we are getting there.” The pod reached over him and lifted up a particularly large block and Virgil moved in to clear the smaller chunks left behind.

“Good…miss you…” His brother muttered unintelligibly, his voice going quiet.

“Scott! Stay awake. Talk to me.”

“Y-you didn’t want to talk to me. You left.”

Virgil didn’t have time for recriminations right now. However, the piece of rock he threw this time did land quite a bit further away than the last.

“I had to, Scott.”

“Why?”

“I needed time.”

“For what?”

To get better? To think? To hide? He threw another chunk of rock and there was a yelp from Alan. “I don’t know.”

“Wanted you to get better. Miss you.”

“I know.”

“Virgil, the slab is clear enough to excavate.” John.

“Copy that, Thunderbird Five.” He turned to Alan, looking up at the pod beside him. “Alan, you have Thunderbird Two. Use the grapple guns and secure the wall. Spread the weight as much as possible. “I’ll manage down here.”

Alan stared at him through the cockpit, but only for a second, and that was followed by a muttered, “FAB.” The pod stalked back to the module bay.

“Scott?”

“Vir-gl.”

“Stay with me, Scott. We’re about to get you out.” Behind him, the sweet, familiar sound of his ‘Bird’s VTOL firing up. A wave of dust and hot air swirled around him.

“Want to stay with you. Miss you.”

Just for a moment Virgil closed his eyes. Guilt and pain swirled around behind his eyelids. “I’m sorry, Scott.”

And then loud multiple thunks as Alan fired the grapple guns and secured the wall. Virgil stood ready to catch or steady anything they had missed. He could almost feel John’s eyes far above casing the scene, as Alan slowly elevated the concrete slab.

“To your left, Virgil.”

He grabbed the sliding rock and flung it away. “Keep it going, Alan. All steady here.” And finally, the masonry was lifted high enough for him to see his brother sprawled face down, a young boy held protectively beside him.

There was a groan over the comms and Scott struggled to roll over. “No, Scott. Stay still. We’re almost there.”

Thunderbird Two shifted the slab sideways and at last he could run over to his brother. He shed the suit in two steps. It clattered to the dust behind him, and he was on his knees.

“Hey, Virg…” Disoriented grey blue eyes smiled up at him as Scott twisted around to see him. They blinked away crusted red blood.

“Hey, hey, stay still.” Virgil reached out to cup his brother’s helmet. His fingers ran over a good solid dent in its side. Source of concussion found.

Scott grabbed his arm. “You stay?”

“Of course, I’ll stay.”

��“Good.” Scott visibly relaxed. “Don’ go’way.”

And then there were paramedics, vital signs and stretchers.

-o-o-o-

Scott had been lucky. Somehow, other than a doozy of a concussion, he was uninjured. The little boy had a milder concussion and a broken arm. Both had been so, so lucky.

The doctors wanted to keep his brother in hospital overnight, but Virgil knew Scott would hate every second of it and wouldn’t be able to relax properly, so he convinced them that as an International Rescue operative he had the skills needed to care for his brother – which he did.

Alan landed Thunderbird Two on the hospital helipad and, before the sun set, they were on their way home.

“Virgil?” John’s voice startled him as it echoed around the medical bay.

“Huh?” He lifted his head off his arms. His eyes automatically scanned Scott’s somnolent form on the same bed he was leaning on. Sleeping soundly.

“You’re exhausted, Virgil, you need to rest.”

“I’ll rest later. Need to keep an eye on Scott.”

“You’re practically dead on your feet. A zombie. You’re not doing him or yourself any good. Go and lie down. I will keep an eye on Scott.”

Virgil let his head drop onto his arms again. “Can’t, gotta stay.”

There was a soft muttering over the comms and only two words were clear enough to understand – ‘two’ and ‘blockheads’.

“What?” But then he decided he didn’t really care and let himself drift. “Gotta stay.”

-o-o-o-

Scott Tracy woke with one hell of a headache. The first thing he saw was the ceiling of the infirmary. The second was his sleeping brother.

Virgil lay on the bed next to him, on his stomach, with his face smashed up against his pillow, snoring softly. Scott’s eyes automatically scanned him for injury but could find nothing obvious.

As to how either of them had ended up here...something must have happened on the last mission, but he was having trouble recalling exactly what the last mission was.

Virgil snuffled in his sleep, a frown briefly creasing his brow before settling again. Scott’s insides tensed. Sleep hadn’t been Virgil’s friend for some time. He silently wished for this moment to be quiet and undisturbed. It was relaxing to just share a room with the man.

He had missed Virgil. His youngest brothers were excellent rescue operatives and he loved them dearly, but Virgil...working with Virgil was seamless. They communicated without words, they knew each other so well, that they could anticipate exactly what was needed and when. And his quiet brother’s silent support was all he needed to face anything.

It had been like losing a limb when Virgil was injured. And he had been hobbled ever since.

“He refused to leave you.” John’s quiet voice startled him. When he shifted on the bed looking for a hologram and found John solid beside him instead, he was surprised even more.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?”

“Splitting headache.”

“That’s what you get when a building falls on you.”

“What about Virgil?”

“He’s fine. Just exhausted. He and Alan dug you out.”

Something twinged in his gut. “How?”

“Pod and the exo-suit.”

“He okay?”

John shrugged. “You needed him, he was there. I honestly don’t think there was anything else in the equation.” Green eyes shone at him. “You would have been proud.”

Quietly. “Always have been.” Of all of them. He looked back at his sleeping brother. “Thank you for taking him, John.”

John smirked. “If Gordon finds out about the bathroom incident, you are going down, big brother.”

A smile twisted Scott’s lips. “I’ll take it for the team.”

-o-o-o-

To say things got easier from that point on would simplify it all too much, but they did. Virgil got his feet back on the ground.

After space floppy muscles were toned back up into their original condition, once he started eating the diet of an active man, his uniform tightened up, his strength returned, and with it his spirit.

He would never be the same Virgil again - too much, far too much, had happened to not leave scars. There were touchy subjects and the nightmares still made visits, but according to EOS he was now ‘functionally operative’. And there was the occasional smile.

Scott healed quickly. He still claimed to remember pretty much nothing about the building collapse. Virgil had questioned him thoroughly on that on several occasions, but his story ran true. There was a building, possibly a child, then a complete blank until he woke up in the infirmary.

Having had a similar experience not so long ago, Virgil didn’t hesitate to drag his brother to a specialist on the Australian mainland, just in case. But the answers were once again inconclusive. Scott may remember some of it, may never recall any of it.

Rescues dropped off in number. With two operatives down, they were limited in any case, and Virgil suspected John was intercepting and delegating at a higher rate.

Virgil knew he was going to have to step back up to the plate at some point. He couldn’t hide much longer. And yes, ‘hide’ was the word he was using now. He was back in shape, he just needed to make that last step.

So, it was on a quiet afternoon while the comms room was empty that he approached his piano for the first time in months.

The stool had been lovingly cleaned and repaired. Apparently, Gordon had seen to that. Virgil ran his fingers across the soft material before sitting down. There wasn’t a speck of dust on the instrument. Someone had kept it clean in his neglect.

Ivory beckoned, so he reached out and played a note, another, and then a spritely little tune that spoke mischief as if he was sneaking to play his piano against the rules.

Virgil smiled and let go.

-o-o-o-

Down by the pool Scott looked up as if he could see the music in the air. Gordon surfaced from the water and he caught his brother’s eye grinning like a madman. Alan walked out of the kitchen, his neck straining to look above the balcony, so distracted he nearly joined Gordon in the pool.

Scott nudged a comm. “Hey, John, listen to this.”

There was no answer at first, but then, “Oh, thank god.”

Scott smiled.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #virgil tracy #gumnutfic

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amateurfan227 · 7 years

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Shitlist Reviews - The Avengers - Revisited...

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and welcome to the Shitlist, where bad movies burn and Welcome to the first of 2017’s Super Origins Months, On today’s show I’m going to dive back into a review when I started the website and by god this one took me a while to go through as I rushed through the both the movie and the review.

You may notice that I dived into the beginning of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with Iron Man along with the second review Avengers Assemble, which I made a huge mistake in doing as I dived into it without mentioning the other heroes first like Hulk, Thor and Captain America.

As most of you know, I’m more into DC than Marvel and yes that includes loving the movies as well, but in my eyes, I see that last year’s movies for Marvel was more of a mess than I first thought, Civil War was more of an avengers film as well with the basis on showing that Captain America is really bad at his job on being one thing, a hero, Hell Suicide Squad at least had a motive to force the villains to do some good.

But today we are discussing the Avengers by Joss Whedon from 2012, a Marvel feature and the 6th instalment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I thought the movie was an interesting feature to watch but it had quite a few drawbacks to come with it, so with that in mind, let’s dive into the production history first.

Avi Arad (CEO of Marvel Entertainment) developed plans for the film in April of 2005 after Marvel Enterprises gained independence by joining with Merrill Lynch to produce films under Paramount Pictures which gave Marvel and Idea to release movies of independent heroes in attempt to do a crossover movie.

In the wake of the Writers Guild of America Strike of 2007-2008, Marvel made an negotiation with them to ensure that the movies would resemble with the characters counterparts which would include other heroes like Ant-Man, Captain America and so on, which lead to a release date in July of 2011 to commerce after the success of Iron Man in 2008 though it would be aligned with Paramount due to their partnership.

Casting for the film started in 2008 with Don Cheadle reprising his role as War Machine as well as two major prospects occurred for Marvel, Jon Favreau was brought into produce the feature and the company signed a long term lease with Raleigh Studios to produce 3 other movies, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The first Avenger.

Lou Ferrigno was brought in to voice the Hulk as well with Samuel L. Jackson who signed a nine-picture deal with Marvel Entertainment to portray Nick Fury from Iron Man 2 to other movies in the further future. In March of 2009 the movie was pushed back to May 4th of 2012 almost one year later ahead from schedule with Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth to reprise their roles as Thor and Loki.

By April of 2010, Joss Whedon was close to completing a deal while working on the feature but he told Kevin Feige that the studio didn’t have anything to the script leading him to write a secondary script in its placement which would align with the studio, through-out 2010, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo and Clark Gregg were brought in to reprise some roles towards the characters as Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Bruce Banner/Hulk and Agent Phil Coulson.

The casting reached its final choices the following year as in February 2011, Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) were to portray Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s Second in Command, as well as Stellan Skarsgård, Paul Bettany and Gwyneth Paltrow were to reprise their roles.

The principal photography began on April 25th 2011 in Albuquerque of New Mexico under the working title ‘Group Hug’ though the production went well under filming there were some problems as a stuntman was injured after getting hit with an arrow leading him to fall from 30 feet, The secondary filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as well as Cleveland, Ohio leading it to the finale of New York City’s 42nd Street.

Army Reserve soldiers were brought in to play the 391st Military Police Battalion as background action during the battle sequences, filming also took place in a large vacuum chamber at the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio; as well as the stations Space Power Facility as a S.H.I.E.L.D. research lab.

In December 2011, Disney announced that the movie would be converted to 3d to bring out the effects of technology, which lead to January of 2012 when it would be digitally remastered for IMAX 3D and open to IMAX theatres on May 4 of 2012.

In May of 2012, Whedon was interviews stating his decision on including Thanos in the post credits to state that he would be returning as the main antagonist in future movies though it would be interesting to see him progress through other pictures in the MCU.

The score was done by Alan Silvestri who worked on Forrest Gump, Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit; he also worked along the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London which is interesting as it is possibly one of the most recognizable scores of modern cinema.

With the information out of the way I’ve got a couple things to say over this matter, I don’t hate this film, in fact, I love it, though it does contain some cheesy moments like any Marvel comic, it’s still an incredible thing to approach as it dives into the minds of Stan Lee’s ultimate creation, it’s even in my top ten personal favourite movies. But after re-watching this movie several times away from the original review I’ve done a few years ago, I’ve found more problems than I did Answers which might affect both reviews as well as watching the movie.

So with that out of the way, lets dive or in this case, relook into the movie that changed superheroes in Marvel forever, this is the Avengers Assemble.

We begin our movie with an open narration that the Tesseract has awoken on a Human world (Earth) which raises the question on when he states ‘A human world, so does that mean that there are other planets scattered around the universe with humans on them? Aside from that he also states that they are giving an ally the advantage to take Earth head on with his leader’s Army with the chance for the Universe to be his alone while the humans burn.,.

Not much of a motivational speaker but at least his point is clear, but this raises another question, if the Tesseract is so important to him, then why doesn’t he get it himself? We all know that it’s Thanos and through all the MCU movies, he does nothing but sit on a throne all day; at least with DC movies they at least ATTEMPT to get the villain to do something.

We skip to S.H.I.E.L.D.s (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division) Research Facility as we see S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents preparing to evacuate due to a mysterious anomaly ... I have to admit the score for this scene or a few scenes actually are very accurate to the material, giving it a military feel towards the film as well as a good background, funny enough I’ve actually got this score on my pc, I’d recommend it.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson – Jurassic Park) and his second-in-command S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders – How I Met Your Mother) are greeted by Agent Phil Coulson (played by Clark Gregg – Iron Man) who informs them about the Tesseract behaving stranger than usual which arises Fury’s Suspicion.

Fury questions Erik Selvig (once again played by Stellan Skarsgård) about the occurrence leading him to fully explain that the Tesseract has been acting strange due to an unknown source, most likely radiation surrounding the cosmic cube. Fury asks for another member of S.H.I.E.L.D. aka Barton which is revealed to be Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner – S.W.A.T.) who has been over viewing the situation.

Though with a brief talk with Fury, Barton does reveal a good point, that if it did come from an alternative dimension and it did take the Red Skull through a portal, what would happen if something else came back, leading it to shoot a portal at the end of the testing area leaving a strange presence in the area causing the entire facility to shake as Agents leave for their lives.

The strange presence is revealed to be Loki carrying strange spear that was given to him by Thanos which gets Fury’s attention leading the god of mischief to kill multiple agents in the room as well as hypnotising Barton and Selvig; Loki states that he needs the Tesseract in order to keep his own peace with the human kind, leading Barton to knock Fury down as Loki and the brainwashed agents leave with the cube due to the portal’s destruction on the facility.

As they leave, Fury gives the order to Hill to give chase leading to a pretty interesting action sequence in the tunnels as they escape before the portal aside from Fury who manages to get to the Surface... somehow and manage to chase them with a helicopter, giving Loki an advantage to shoot the Helicopter down and fleeing the scene.

Fury manages to get in touch with Coulson and Hill one last time and tells them they are at war and in need of a team to assist them.

We skip to another agent who is possibly getting the shit kicked out of her, the agent, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (played by the stunning Scarlett Johansen) manages to get information from Russian spies over an arms trafficking only for Coulson to call in the middle leading for Widow to do what she does best (not that) and manages to agree in capturing the big guy while he goes for Stark.

We then skip to... Calcutta I think (it doesn’t specify) as we see Dr Bruce Banner (once again played by a different actor but an interesting choice, Mark Ruffalo from Shutter Island) who is taken by a young infant to see to an ill parent only for us to see that he is severely avoiding authority members both Military and Police for the good reason.

As he chases the youngster, he quickly realises that it was a ploy as the kid runs off leaving him in a house; Black Widow arrives in attempt to persuade him to join the Avengers Initiative in order to find the radiation of the Tesseract. Bruce is willing to go but has some problems with the ‘other guy’; though with an attempt to show that he can restrain his anger, he reluctantly agrees leading Black Widow to call her men off as the start to surround the hideout.

We then see Fury having a brief conversation with the councilmen of S.H.I.E.L.D. about the current situation, they attempt to believe that Thor will be there in order to back Loki up to Fury’s dismay leading them to argue over the fact that War is won by Allies as Fury puts it that it’s won by Soldiers; Leading us to the Star Spangled Avenger himself, Captain America (played by Chris Evans).

Steve is having some bad memories from the war, most notably when Bucky (his best friend) died from the previous film, Fury arrives in the Gym that Steve is training in and informs him on the situation which leads him to agree on joining S.H.I.E.L.D. in effort to find the Tesseract, though to his dismay of the idea on finding it as it was Hydra’s weapon, he reluctantly agrees.

We skip to the Crimson Avenger, Iron Man (played incredibly by Robert Downey Jr) who rebuilds Stark Tower anew with a rare clean energy... actually this raises a question, in the last movie Stark created an element that was not recognised to science, so shouldn’t he at least get an award or something for it...

Anyway Stark and his Pepper Potts (played again by Gwyneth Paltrow) is having a celebration over his idea of clean energy only for Coulson to interfere with an offer of him joining the Avengers which leads to Stark displaying profiles from the 3 main candidates, Thor, Hulk and Captain America, this raises a good question actually on why do they need Iron Man for this choice?

Hulk I understand because of Bruce’s knowledge of gamma radiation and Captain America because of him being assigned by S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as Thor as he’s Loki’s brother but why him? Aside from that he agrees.

Steve is on his way over to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-Carrier as well as studying his candidates but his interest is in the Hulk as Coulson gives him a rundown on how Banner became the man to be, Steve also gets a run down on the Super-Soldier programme provided by the military as well as the fact the Coulson is a fan of Captain America whilst growing up.

Loki on the other hand has a brief conversation with the people who sent him known as the Chitauri as well as the leader known as the Other, he informs Loki that he hates the fact that his progress is slow and forces his hand into rushing the attack, though Loki says it will not happen otherwise, The Other says that he will get his glory and proceeds to scare him before it happens.

Steve manages to arrive on the Heli-Carrier with Coulson and meets with Bruce Banner which is pretty interesting as Banner has several problems with the carrier, mostly because if the Hulk were to come out, he would destroy the entire ship along with it; Though after meeting briefly they both meet up with Fury who briefs them on the situation only for an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to inform them that they have found Loki in Stuttgart, Germany.

Loki begins his assault on a Museum (I think) which is pretty brutal as Hawkeye takes out the guards leading Loki to investigate the party within, you see, Loki needs Iridium to withheld the Tesseract’s power for Selvig to analyse the power, and how he require the key for it is pretty brutal as he literally takes an eye out of the Party’s host using it as a key to get it.

After he leaves he boasts he ego towards a large group of frightened party goers leading him to state that he will rule the world only for an elderly man to state that there will always be people to fight against him... now seeing that it IS in Germany, I’m assuming that he’s referencing the World Wars.

Fortunately Captain America arrives to defend the old man leading a fight with the God of Mischief, though Loki does have a few advantages he soon surrenders when S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives as well as Iron Man, they fortunately take him as prisoner and force him on an aircraft to the Heli-Carrier, though as they discuss what to do with them, a storm approaches leading Loki to be feared of what has followed.

The God of Thunder arrives, landing on the Aircraft leading both Captain America and Iron Man to use force to open the door; Thor bursts through the open door and grabs Loki and flees towards the nearby mountains leading Iron Man and Captain to pursue. This raises a bunch of questions if you ask me, in the last movie, Thor literally destroyed the Rainbow Bridge so how could he get to Earth? A second question is how did he know Loki’s exact location?

Thor manages to stop at a peak of a cliff and talks with his adoptive brother, though after getting some words of mockery, Iron Man crashes into Thor throwing him to a larger area of a forest near the mountain which leads to an argument between them. Stark threatens him to leave Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D. but Thor refuses to believe it causing a fight between them both destroying most of the trees (nice one, Tony).

Rogers arrives to make matters more chaotic, leading Thor to strike his Mjolnir at Captain America’s Shield at Loki’s pleasure, ok if Loki was there the whole time then why didn’t he flee? Captain America’s Shield withholds Mjolnir’s blow leading Thor to join with the Avengers in order to retain Loki to find the Tesseract. Another question comes over to mind is that why does Thor come over this so quickly, he knows that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a threat...

Anyway after fight is over, Loki is brought into S.H.I.E.L.D. only to pose a minor threat to Fury shortly through an interrogation. Thor on the other hand gives a short background on Loki which imposes on what they are going to do which gives Stark an opportunity to place an electronic device to connect with JARVIS (once again portrayed by Paul Bettany) to uncover S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets.

After a brief conversation between Stark and Banner, Rogers leaves to search the Heli-Carrier following suspicions of his own when Stark mentions that something is not quite right when it comes to S.H.I.E.L.D. taking them now rather than sooner whilst Thor has a conversation with Coulson on keeping an eye on Jane Foster (which raises the question on why, seeing that she had nothing to do with progressing the story).

Anyway, Black Widow has her chance in attempting to interrogate Loki only for him to switch the tables on her stating that the death will follow them as they have brought the beast onto their ship, only for Widow to return by lying to him and knowing his plans. But during the interrogation, an unmarked craft approaches the carrier, holding the brainwashed Soldiers that Loki used for the Tesseract.

After finding the Tesseract’s location, Fury returns to the lab furious in the progress only for Stark, Banner, Rogers and Thor to retaliate in anger in the beginning of Phase 2, using the Tesseract’s power in high-tech weaponry in order to defeat super humans like Thor. This leads to a full on argument between all five of them which gives us an opportunity to see Captain America and Iron Man duke it out.

Only problem though it that the Brainwashed Soldiers from earlier on make their move in attacking the base which separates the 4 heroes, The Soldiers destroy one of the engines of the Carrier and drain the power of another leading Captain America and Iron Man to fix it while Thor goes for his brother to avoid him from escaping.

Hulk and Black Widow on the other hand are blown to a few floors below, leading Banner to unleash the beast from within causing him to go on a full on rampage. Fortunately Thor intercepts him only to get the hell beaten out of him, granted this scene is pretty incredible as it does answer who would win between the both of them but the scene is too short if I’m entirely honest which is the only drawback.

Hulk is driven away when S.H.I.E.L.D. sends a fighter jet to distract him only leading the Hulk to jump from the Carrier and straight to the ground. Thor though manages to find Loki just about to escape but the god of mischief uses his abilities to trap Thor in the glass cage her was held in. Earlier on Fury mentioned that the glass cage would send Loki thousands of feet to the air straight to the cold crust of the earth which is what Loki does to his Brother.

Coulson arrives to distract Loki before doing so to his brother whilst carrying a weapon designed from the Destroyer that he sent a year prior, unfortunately Loki manages to do the inevitable and kills Coulson by a literal stab in the back with Thor watching. But with his dying breath Coulson shoots Loki sending him through a wall only for Fury to arrive to see him passing away.

Iron Man and Captain America manage to get their way to the broken engine but there’s a problem, some of the debris is causing the engine to stall which leads Iron Man to tell Captain America to stay put while he fixes it manually with Captain America pull some switches, they manage to fix it with some help from the brain washed soldiers. Barton manages to fight against Romanoff only for him to get knocked out as well as removing his hallucination from Loki.

Thor manages to crash into an open field but attempts to lift Mjolnir but doesn’t have to ability while Banner wakes up in an abandoned warehouse only to be greeted by a security guard. Rogers and Stark sit at the meeting table in the Heli-Carrier only for Fury to give them a motivational speech in attempt to get them back on the field, even using Coulson’s death as a leverage, Stark and Rogers think of what Loki really needs which is a desire to rule the world as well as defeating the Avengers.

But in doing so he needs to overpower them publicly to prove himself the ruler of the Earth in using the Tesseract as well as the Chitauri; Loki on the other hand begins his assault by placing the Tesseract in a device that Selvig built to open a wormhole above Stark Tower to call for this army of Chitauri. Which raises a question on why does he need to go to Stark Tower again?

The Avengers now begin their defence for New York City at the Wormhole’s location only to realize that they are both outnumbered and overpowered, Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow prepare to themselves as the Chitauri attacks only for them to be helped as Thor arrives. Rogers announces as plan only for Banner to arrive which immediately causes him to lose control and turn into the Hulk destroying a large amount of Chitauri.

The Avengers begin their attack whilst evacuating the civilians away from the city which leads for Loki to fight against his brother to no avail, Thor is easily defeated which leads a fight between Loki and Hulk which Loki loses greatly as he is quite literally slammed to the ground... and due to amount of pressure that Hulk forces in it, I’m quite surprised the Loki can move let alone speak.

Romanoff manages to get herself to the roof of the building and breaks Selvig out of Loki’s mind control only for him to reveal that the Loki’s Scepter can shut down the generator of the wormhole device. Fury however is having some major problems at the Heli-Carrier as he is removed from all authority by his superiors, which leads them to send a nuclear missile to stop the invasion of Midtown Manhattan.

Stark manages to intercept the NUCLEAR MISSILE (don’t ask it’s Marvel...) and manages to take it through the wormhole towards the Chitauri mother-ship while Widow attempts to close the wormhole. Unfortunately for Tony, his suit runs out of power causing him to go into a freefall as the Chitauri mother-ship is destroyed, fortunately Black widow manages to shut down the generator, closing the portal giving Hulk enough time to save him from crashing to the ground.

With the mother-ship destroyed the Chitauri forces on Earth die... (Guess it’s a hive mind thing), Tony recovers after Hulk saves him giving them a chance to apprehend Loki before he flees again. Thor manages to take him back to Asgard to face the Justice he deserves along with the Tesseract while Fury faces aggression towards his superior in hope that if the world is at stake once more, the Avengers will be there to save them in need.

Through the post credit scene, the Other speaks to his master about the failed attack on earth only for the master to reveal himself as Thanos.... which raises a bunch of questions on why but that’s for another day.

And that was the Avengers...

Despite the review being 3 years old, and the movie being 5 years old, I see more questions than actual answers, I mean in Iron Man 2, Stark created a new element which is never brought up, seeing that the Hulk is in the film I’m surprised that Thunderbolt Ross is never around, as well as Captain America past which is never brought up after one scene.

Another bunch of questions are brought up from it but it never gets recalled, it’s like this movie is based independently rather than an addition in the MCU, it seems that Whedon hasn’t been paying close attention to the other films rather than focusing on the one film. Though seeing that his movie is the first addition, I’ll let it slide.

I thought the movie was impressive and still holds to be in my top ten of Superhero films of all time, though there are a bunch of problems with the film’s history relating to the other movies it’s still impressive that it only captures the main characters which is both a negative and a positive.

The main problem is that it lacks on the empathy behind the characters which the films lacked also, Such as why did Thor so eagerly join them seeing that he had major problems at Asgard, why did S.H.I.E.L.D. need Iron Man? Or a better question, why did S.H.I.E.L.D. hold Hydra Technology on the same ship that the Avengers were using?

Though I did enjoy it because it captured some of the best connections to the Comics at that era when the Avengers was popular, the acting was good, but it could have been better, though it was meant to be a light-hearted movie there was quite a lot of death in the film as well. But aside from that it’s pretty harmless from the problems I’ve mentioned.

There are a bunch of questions mainly on Thanos’s involvement with the Avengers especially with Loki on how he actually got to meet him but that’s another story.

I’m giving this movie on the Hitlist because it’s basically the same since I’ve last reviewed it, a harmless film which is both comical and good for a family seating. It’s enjoyable with cheesy moments which you’ll enjoy especially if you’re attempting to get into comics.

I’m Amateur Fan.2.27 and this movie is on my Hitlist, join me as I dive into another hero from another world... it’s not Superman by the way.

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