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He stood, shoulder to shoulder with his arch nemesis as they surveyed the carnage before them. His boy … his beautiful, gentle, raven haired boy, was standing there in the middle of it all, in full werewolf form … blood and foam dripping from his mouth. Surrounded by the lifeless bodies of his brothers.
It was everything he had feared, and more. Much, much more. He had fought so bravely to protect his family and to keep them safe. But in doing so, he had created his very own flaw in what was supposed to have been his own protective bubble.
And to make it worse, the Hood knew. He knew everything, that slimy bastard.
“What the hell did you do to him?”
Yellow green eyes fixed on his and his eyebrows quirked slightly, a hand swung out to indicate the scene before them.
“Me?” came the sardonic response, “Why … this is all your doing Jeff Tracy. I can assure you, I had absolutely nothing to do with this.”
From out of his pocket, the Hood drew a revolver, Jeff stepped back, shock quickly being replaced with anger.
How could he have been so stupid? He should have been better prepared and come armed himself.
There was a click as the safety catch was released, Jeff drew in a ragged breath.
So this was it.
But then, the Hood turned the handle towards Jeff and stood there waiting, the smile on his face widened with unfettered glee.
“Your choice, Jeff Tracy,” he said, the gun wavered slightly between them, “ shoot him … and watch as your dreams die … or shoot me.”
Jeff reached for the gun. It would be so easy. But the Hood lifted the firearm just slightly out of reach and wagged his finger, before pressing a button in his other hand. A fleet of small video droids hovered above them.
“One problem. There’s just one bullet and not many options. If you shoot me, that still leaves ... him … and in his current state of mind, I highly doubt that he can be negotiated with. And I don’t think the GDF will look kindly on someone whose job it is to rescue people, to suddenly commit cold blooded murder.”
***************
He shot up, a cold sweat, drenching his body and gasping in precious air. He flipped off the covers and planted his feet firmly on the ground. But paused and waited.
Where the hell was he going?
He needed to check on his boys, to make sure that they were safe and well.
But how could he do that? He was stuck, in the wreckage of the capsule from the Zero X, millions of miles from home. He was going nowhere. He had failed them all. Clutching his head, he forced his breathing to slow down, because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t last much longer.
Eyes still closed, he recapped that vivid nightmare. It was always the same, night after night … with maybe a few tiny variations. But it was generally, always the same.
He’d been stupid and reckless. He’d also broken his promise to his late wife, that he would protect their sons. And now, in one instant, he’d left them vulnerable.
Crap.
Dragging his hands over his face, he leaned back on his makeshift bed, his fingers spreading over the silver thermal astroblanket, that had been his cover for … how long? Only … it felt … different. Softer somehow. He sniffed the air. That was different too. Instead of the carbon and metal tang he’d gotten used to, as well as the remnant of pee that he’d recycled too many times, there was a fresher, more wholesome smell. That of freshly laundered bed linen.
… and was that … the ocean he could hear in the background?
He shook his head. Nah, he was definitely going space crazy. That’s what happens when you’re alone and isolated for too long. You long for something for so much that eventually it seeps into your soul and your reality is twisted.
But this was different.
He paused and let his brain catch up, and recalled past events. It was all a blur that even he couldn’t quite figure out.
But long story short, he was home.
He was finally home.
Sure, he was in the infirmary and gravity was playing havoc with him.
There was one thing he had to do. That he NEEDED to do. To check on his family, just to make sure that they were safe.
The hologram popped up and John’s face appeared. He must have been monitoring him. The only son, that hadn’t been sitting vigil at his bedside. He blinked rapidly at the brightly lit figure. It dimmed slightly with an apology.
“Hi son.”
Gosh … was that … John? His face had lost its roundness and those eyes were far too big in that head of his. The kid needed a couple of good meals in him before he wasted away. But then chuckled at what his grandsons had to put up with, with their grandmother, his mom... the worst cook in the world.
“Hey dad, sleep well?”
He opened his mouth to tell John off for working too hard, but decided not to, since it wasn’t his place any more. He’d missed so much of their lives. They’d moved on without him. They had no choice. International Rescue had been his own selfish dream, his legacy to carry forward and hand over to his sons at a later date.
He sighed and nodded, expecting John’s usual go-to response
“Status report.”
And there it was ...
John barely blinked and brought up several holograms of the rest of the family, most of them fast asleep. Except Scott. His room was empty, the bed neatly made.
“Sensors show that he is in mid air, circling the perimeter.”
John expanded the hologram to show Scott in his eagle form, gracefully banking and twisting around with the air currents.
“He hasn’t done that in a long time,” John admitted with a small sigh, “he’s been too stressed out….”
He let that statement hang there incomplete, as Jeff knew why his oldest son had been stressed out. But he smiled when he saw just how peacefully Scott glided in the moonlight.
His face creased with a frown.
Virgil
As if reading his mind, John brought up Virgil’s bedroom to show his son curled up on the floor in his full wolf form, his paws twitching as he dreamed of running. But wait … what’s that little small furry creature curled up between the paws?
Was that … a puppy?
Wait … it started to alternate between puppy form and his youngest son Alan.
That … was truly an amazing sight. That kid was gifted indeed. He made the transitions look completely effortless!
Another hologram appeared. It was Gordon, his arm was stretched out and his hand planted firmly against the glass of the aquarium he insisted on having in his room. It was his connection, his personal need to be this close to water, without actually diving in.
But on closer inspection, he saw the healing scars on the boy’s body. That kid had been through hell and back.
His shoulders drooped and he sighed again, a pang of guilt rippled through him. These holograms were all fine and dandy, but he really wanted to go see his sons in person.
John correctly sensed that.
“I’m coming down,” he said quietly.
“Do you want me to take over, John?”
The child’s voice startled Jeff and he blinked, tilting his head.
Did Brains add a voice to Thunderbird Five? Was that even possible?
John’s face reddened.
“Um … dad? Whilst you were away … I … er …”
He stumbled over his words, trying to find a good enough explanation but nothing came to mind. So he came straight out with it.
“This is … EOS … my daughter … your granddaughter.”
Jeff chuckled slightly and nodded. Only John could pull a stunt like that.
“Pleased to meet you … EOS.”
His stomach grumbled, how long had it been since he’d last eaten?
“I’ll bring some bagels.”
“You know what I fancy? Pizza.”
John laughed softly.
“Pizza it is.”
“See you in a bit.”
“Okay … but if it takes longer than an hour … it’s free right?”