Chapter Text
Science could not explain what exactly happened. To be honest, John was certain this was impossible. Yet here his brother was, doing the impossible. Not that he knew it of course. Through some strange phenomena, Scott, his older brother, the oldest of five Tracy sons, pilot of Thunderbird One, was now at the young age of twelve. John had been working himself to exhaustion to try and fix this issue, all the while looking after their brother. He had taken a break because it was either sitting with Scott or spending time in the infirmary with an overprotective big brother giving him a breakdown of what the definition of exhaustion was.
So, it was John’s turn with a rather wild Scott who just didn’t want to sit down. Alan and Gordon were in their element, running around with Scott till the cows came home. But even then, they got tired and needed time alone. Funny how the tables had turned for them, realising that even big brothers needed time away from little brothers. Virgil was the closest to getting Scott to calm down their big/little brother. It was hard to tell what he was now to them; they didn’t even know if this was permanent. He held Scott’s hand as he took him to the roof where a telescope was ready and waiting for them, something John had set up beforehand when he found out it was his turn to babysit. Scott had been rather reluctant however to join John, since John wouldn’t tell him about what they were doing.
“I don’t think Dad would like me being on the roof. I’m never allowed on the roof at home,” Scott said, though he didn’t let go of John’s hand.
“Dad knows you’ll be up here, it’s fine,” John said before adding another point quickly. “But don’t go near the edge of the roof. You stay near me okay?”
Scott nodded, “Okay.”
John gave a small smile to Scott as he led him over to the telescope, already calibrated and waiting to be used. John wasn’t really one for going out and exploring the island, or even running around. This was his last resort. He hoped that Scott’s appreciation of the stars was there even at this age.
“Do you know much about space Scott?” John asked.
“My daddy goes to space with Uncle Lee. He tells me all about what he does up there,” Scott said looking up to the sky. “I wanna go to space one day...” he said quietly. That quiet comment made John smile to himself.
Virgil was really the only one who knew much about Scott’s childhood out of all the brothers. By the time John was old enough to understand what Scott did, he was already working with NASA on the experimental aircraft in the process of transferring to the Airforce. He hardly remembered his older brother’s days as a Rescue Scout being a few years younger of course. It was a much different time then. The family was whole. It still is in a way but not everyone is present any more, not that they told young Scott this. The fact that this Scott talked so freely about their mother was welcomed into all the conversations. Scott never spoke about mum much after her death. Everyone else did, but he didn’t. It was something that John never questioned. When mum came up in conversation, Scott would either go dead silent or leave the room altogether. To see this Scott so free, unburdened by the hellish events that were going to inevitably unfold in his life, gave John a sense of calm. He was able to see Scott giggle, smile and run around, acting his age. Their Scott had taken the burdens of the family on his shoulders, taken International Rescue, Tracy Industries, and even surrogate fatherhood to his younger brothers during his early twenties. Before then, it was helping his father keep four younger boys in check after the disaster of losing their mother. Scott never had a childhood. He had sacrificed that so his brothers could have one.
John saw the Rescue Scout move over and look through the telescope. He had pointed it straight to the moon and after a few seconds heard his big, little brother whisper ‘cool’ under his breath. He watched Scott alternate between looking at the moon through the telescope and with the naked eye for a while, the night light glimmering in Scott’s eyes whenever he looked up. There was a child-like wonder in his eyes. It was an expression of pure wonder and amazement. John knew his older brother loved space still. He’d been in the great abyss a lot of times even before International Rescue started. John remembered after getting their father back, Scott requested that the space capabilities of Thunderbird One to remain in effect, using the excuse of ‘You never know if we’ll need One in space Brains’.
“Have you been to all those stars?” Scott asked, making John lose his track of thought and focus on his now younger brother.
“Not all of them. Maybe one day,” John said with a small smile.
“But they’re so far away, and there could be monsters in space.”
John couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, those monsters don’t scare me. I have a big ship up in space already and I also have a friend up there with me that helps protect me,”
“But space is so big! What if there’s a big monster that is bigger than your ship?”
“Scared of meeting those monsters, Scott?” John asked with a slight cocking of his head and Scott almost looked embarrassed.
“I’m not scared of anything! A Rescue Scout is calm, a Rescue Scout is brave. Never scared, always prepared to help, to guide, - “
“To save,” John said, and Scott smiled brightly.
“You know it!”
John couldn’t help but chuckle softly and sat down, pulling the telescope over to himself to align it with the Orion constellation.
“Scott you are very brave. You’ve helped so many people and saved so many more,”
“I have?” Scott looked confused.
“Yes, you have. You’re a great Rescue Scout,” John sad softly. Scott giggled in response. “Come over here and I can show you some really cool constellations,”
“Pictures in the sky?” Scott asked as he moved over and John took the chance to pull his younger brother onto his lap, moving the telescope so Scott could hold onto it lightly and look through the scope.
“Very good.”
That’s how Virgil found them after repeated calls to John’s watch that dinner was ready went unanswered. It was a rare sight to see John down on Earth for so long, but this situation demanded that John stay down. International Rescue was slightly compromised with the fact they didn’t have Scott to pilot Thunderbird One for now. But the issues of the day were blissfully blown away by the light wind on that roof as he took in the memorable sight in front of him. Scott’s giggles filled the air and Johns soft, genuine smile was gleaming in the moonlight. Dinner for them could wait. Virgil would make sure to leave them some and not let the terrible two eat their share since, after all, he was the eldest Tracy now. He had to take responsibility for Gordon and Alan. For now, at least.