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Gordon and Allie were already off the island when Sally heard John, Virgil and Scott making plans in the living room. Looks like it would be just her and Brains for lunch again. Although, more often than not, he didn’t leave his lab for small matters like food, especially if he thought one of the boys might need his advice during a technical rescue.
She sighed as the two Thunderbirds launched from the hanger, shaking the windows and sending vibrations up through her legs from the floor. Sally turned on the audio of her communicator so she could listen in on the mission and set about preparing some food. When the boys were younger she would do the same with the nursery intercom and before them,it was Jeff's intercom she would listen to. Scott was being foolhardy, again, she thought grabbing bread rolls from the cupboard. He was racing to the scene ahead of Virgil and Thunderbird Two. Some might think he was a glory hogg, trying to get the save before Virgil turned up, but she knew better. Virgil’s quip about the kitchen sink had shown her that he too was worried. It had been like this for a while now, ever since their father, her son had died.
Grief crashed over her as it did every time she thought of Jeff. Sally took a moment, gripping the kitchen counter edge and focused on her breathing. Her ragged breaths smoothed and slowed as the wave passed. The room came back into focus and she could feel the cool surface beneath her fingers again. She took a few more calming breaths before a new update over the communicator brought her fully back to the present. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes and went back to searching through the freezer.
Sally absentmindedly checked the oven temperature before throwing in the tray of burgers and then returned to the side to start putting things away. Scott had landed at an old uranium mine and once again was proceeding without waiting for Virgil to catch up. Maybe she should talk to Brains about speeding up Thunderbird Two, or slowing down Thunderbird One. Not that she’d ever be able to forgive herself each time Thunderbird One got to a scene just a little too late. Scott would never forgive her either. But she wasn’t sure she’d survive another loss in the family and the job was dangerous enough without the unnecessary risks.
“Speaking of time, how long did the food have left?” Sally’s lips pursed as she realised she had forgotten to set a timer and hadn’t looked at the clock when she put her food in. This was always happening lately. Huffing she peered through the oven's glass door but the tinted glass obscured the colour of the food inside. She would check on it properly in a bit, she was certain it hadn’t been long enough yet. Even if it did feel like an age since Scott and Virgil left.
“Pop quiz Scott, what’s invisible, always around us but deadly in large quantities?” piped in Brains over the open comm channel.
“Grandma’s cooking” replied Scott. Sally could see the smug grin he would have on that face of his even when he was thousands of miles away. She should be annoyed but it was a relief to hear him joking; to hear him happy and despite herself she found the corners of her mouth puling upwards as she replied. Not that any of the boys needed to know that. It was easy to feel peaceful looking out through the glass walls over the island listening to her boys's updates when things were going well.
“I can hear you,” she spoke into the device on her wrist with a self-satisfied smile before launching herself over to the oven door to check on the food. It was fine and still needed a few minutes, so she leaned back against the counter and listened to her grandsons again.
“I can still hear you” she said through slightly gritted teeth into the communicator although the sudden slight smell of burning brought a rueful smile back to her lips. It was difficult to concentrate on mundane things like cooking when her family were off risking their lives. Still, she moved back to the oven and took out the slightly worse for wear burgers. They weren’t too bad, not that Brains would pay any attention to the food when there was a rescue going on. She put a couple in the pre-prepared bread rolls and onto a plate and started munching on another as she walked to the lab. She was still eating when Virgil quipped about her cooking so she had to let that one slide. Scott’s response though made her chuckle and almost choke on her food.