Chapter Text
Bland, beige carpets led him down the long hallway. In front of him, two soldiers dressed in livery of muted colours marched as his escort. They spoke to each other in quiet whispers, too quiet for Jeff to hear what they were talking about. If he’d been in any other building, being led to any other commanding office, he might have been worried about it. But Jeff, despite being invited in with such urgency, had never felt more at home in a place such as this.
Jeff was still unaware of why he was there. His career in the Air Force was illustrious and full of merits, and his subsequent time in the Space Agency was acclaimed. Being the first person to do anything in space was a quick-fire way to have your name forever typed into the history books. So when his old friend had contacted him, Jeff didn’t think to question why he’d been invited to visit one of their secret bases.
It wasn’t until he was guided through two large cream door, into the office of Spectrum’s Commander in Chief that a leaden weight dropped in Jeff’s stomach.
His old friend, Charles Grey, sat behind an obnoxiously long table. Papers and files cluttered the desk in an organised mess, and though his uniform was similar to the kind his escorts had worn, Charles’s was in stark white. Most unnervingly of all, however, was he had the face of someone with grave news to share.
“Ah, Jeff,” Charles welcomed him without a hint of a smile. “You’re here. Please, take a seat.”
If the sight of his old friend wasn’t enough to alarm Jeff, then the sight of his eldest son sitting in the chair opposite certainly was. Scott’s back was turned to the entrance but Jeff would recognise the style of his eldest’s hair, the shape of his shoulders, the colour of his uniform.
Charles extended a single hand out, gesturing to the vacant chair beside Scott. As Jeff took the seat, he glanced over to his son. His normally electric eyes were dulled, red and sore.
“What the hell is going on here?” Jeff wasn’t sure what scene he’d just walked into, but that semblance of calm he’d felt before stepping into the office had now disappeared.
Behind the desk, Charles straightened himself up. He frowned, suggesting to Jeff he’d thought his question was asked indignantly, but Jeff didn’t care. Scott was clearly distraught and—
He looked back to his son. “Weren’t you supposed to be running that mission with Alan?”
Scott nodded but said nothing. His eyes were fixated on the desk.
“What is this all about?” Jeff tried to ask Charles again. “You ask me here, command that I come urgently, but all I’m seeing is one of my son’s looking traumatised.”
“Jeff, you need to be a lot calmer before I can say what I have to say.” Charles levelled him with a look. “Do not make me regret bringing you in on this.”
He could have scoffed, but the panic building up inside him fuelled his frustration. Jeff’s heart was racing as wildly as his thoughts were, each one concluding with a worse outcome than the last. “You listen here,” he pointed towards his friend. “This may be your office and this may be your organisation, Charles, but International Rescue is mine, and so are the boys. So, you better start explaining now, whether you think I’m calm enough or not.”
“Yes,” Charles snapped. “This is my office, and this is my organisation, which means that every decision is made by me and I’d appreciate you lowering your tone, Jefferson.”
The lights could very well have dimmed, a spotlight shining just on Charles as Jeff’s focus centred solely on him.
Frustration caved and gave way to the panic. Jeff abruptly stood, making his way straight for the exit. “Scott, with me.”
“Please, Jeff. Sit back down.” Charles implored.
But Jeff’s eyes were ringing. It was deafening.
He knew what this was about. He’d realised it the moment he had noticed the absence of Alan, the moment he’d seen the look on Scott’s face, the moment he’d stepped foot inside this Spectrum base. Penelope had handed him the confidential file months ago, but Jeff had chosen to call it folly. He’d refused to believe the facts that had been printed in black-and-white because he couldn’t bear the truth. Jeff had been to Mars. He had walked the dusty surface. He didn’t want to believe that they hadn’t been alone up there. And he certainly didn’t want to hear the truth reiterated from Charles’s lips now, especially if it concerned one of his boys.
Alan.
So Jeff didn’t stop walking. He exited the office and continued back down the hallway, ignoring the looks he was given by Spectrum personnel as he stormed past. Fresh air beckoned to him from beyond the main doors and he picked up his pace to get out that much faster.
Helicopters whirred overhead. Soldiers marched in the training ground to the right. Jeff blocked out all the hubbub and leant against one of the granite walls, away from everything, and crumpled.
His poor baby boy.
Jeff’s mind immediately jumped to how it must have happened, his imagination concocting one horrific scenario after another to torment him. The worst were the images were Alan suffered at the hands of the alien menace.
His heart, usually toughened against the terrible truths of the world, had never felt more broken. Pieces of it shattered the more Jeff indulged in those atrocious nightmares. He couldn’t stop thinking of Alan’s final moments, of his son being taken over by those things, of his baby boy’s body being left, beaten, bruised and broken beyond repair.
Silent tears had been falling down his cheeks and Jeff hadn’t even noticed. His back was against the cold stone wall, but the only chill he felt was from the dire news. He’d been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed that a Spectrum officer had joined him, crouching beside him, until he was offered a tissue. Jeff had never felt so pathetic. Breaking down in such a public space? He should have been glad that the base was top secret and that there were no press hounds waiting to snap a news story.
Jeff took the tissue from the man without hesitation, however. His pride wasn’t so strong that he’d deny help. He quickly dried his eyes, blew his nose and then crumpled the tissue into his palm. Sniffling, he whispered his words of thanks and really took in the man who’d sat next to him.
Even though he was crouched down, Jeff knew the man was reasonably tall, perhaps the same height as Scott. His hair was dark, combed back under the Spectrum issued hat all officers were equipped with, and the colour of his uniform was bright red. He was British too, a fact that was noted when he spoke.
“Colonel White wanted you to be left alone, but I thought you might prefer company.”
Jeff choked out a laugh. “Is everyone from across the Atlantic here?”
The man saw the humour of his words and smiled. “No. Spectrum hire from all over the world. We’re chosen for our abilities and skill sets, not from where we grew up.”
“Ah.”
Blissful quiet passed over them in a companionable silence that Jeff hadn’t felt since landing on the helipad. It was broken only when the man in red spoke again.
“The news isn’t what you think, by the way. You ran out of there so fast, I don’t think the Colonel had the chance to explain the situation to you.”
Jeff’s heart leapt then in pure, terribly undiluted hope. It made him sit a little straighter, made his palms sticky with anticipation, made his head feel a little dizzy.
“The old man will probably have my head for telling you this but,” the man continued, pausing to exhale through his nose. “Thunderbird Three’s pilot—Alan—isn’t dead, Mr. Tracy. As far as we are aware, your son is still out there.”
“Alive?” Jeff sputtered.
The man nodded. “For now, at least, that’s what we think, yes.”
“He’s okay?”
“I wouldn’t say he’s okay,” the man stiffened slightly. “But Cloudbase received a coded message that we’re sure was from your son. It’s why Colonel White wanted you to come in, to try and see if it really was from Alan and not a Mysteron copy.”
“What did the message say?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve already said too much. If I share that then Colonel White really will have my head.”
The situation had grown more precarious but Jeff clung to that tiny kernel of hope the officer had provided. If Alan was still alive there was a chance of him coming home. He pulled himself together, lifting himself back up to a standing position, and offered his hand out the man.
Gratefully he took Jeff’s hand. “The Colonel means well,” he went on. “He’s usually more bark than bite.”
Jeff just grinned. “I’m aware. Charles and I, we… Well, we got back a few years.”
The officer blinked back his shock, no doubt at Jeff’s usage of White’s real name. He wasn’t sure how common that knowledge was around here, with all the personnel giving colour-coded names for security’s sake. Jeff glanced at this officer’s tunic.
“Red?” He asked.
“Scarlet,” the officer corrected. “Captain.”
Jeff nodded. “Right. Well, thank you, Captain Scarlet.”
Scarlet waved a hand as though it was nothing. “When I heard about the little spat I thought I owed it to Alan to come out here and try to get at least one of you to see reason. Being at the Mysteron’s mercy… It isn’t pleasant.”
Curiosity was bursting at the seams, but Jeff refrained from asking too many questions. Scarlet had been right in trying to get their meeting back on track, if only to help Alan, and if Jeff had to put himself in a position to defend his new friend against any backlash, so be it.
“He won’t really have your head if you tell me the message, will he?” Jeff hedged as they both re-entered the main building side-by-side. “More bark than bite, you said.”
Scarlet smiled. “I’m sure the Colonel would understand, if the circumstances were different. As it is I’ve only just been allowed back on duty, against Colonel White’s request, so I’d rather not risk being sent back.”
“You were off-duty?” Jeff’s curiosity got the better of him.
“I took a hit during my last mission. Colonel White personally ordered bed rest for me until I was fully healed, but one of my comrades needed my assistance and I might have sneaked off to Kuala Lumpur to help him. When the old man found out, I was certain he’d keep me off duty for the next month, but Colonel White is a forgiving man. I’d rather not tempt his generosity.”
“Do you often break protocol?”
Scarlet shot him a look that suggested yes, he did, but he didn’t say anything more.
They soon approached the Colonel’s office. Scarlet stopped a few feet away from the doors.
“I’m afraid this is where I’ll be leaving you.”
“You’re not coming in?” Jeff asked. “It’d mean a great deal to me if you were on this case.”
Scarlet flashed him a grateful smile. “Speak to the Colonel. If you can convince him to swap me out, I’d be more than happy to assist.”
He held out a hand towards the officer, who met it with a firm shake. “You’ve been a great help, Captain Scarlet.”
Before he could reply, the doors to the office swung open and Charles Grey exited. He exchanged a look between the two men, still shaking hands. “Scarlet, aren’t you supposed to be investigating that Mendoza affair?”
“Just taking a quick break, Colonel,” Scarlet said before adding cheekily, “You know how Doctor Fawn gets when we overwork ourselves.
To Jeff’s surprise, Charles laughed. “Quite. I’ll take it from here, Scarlet.”
Captain Scarlet gave a curt nod towards his commanding officer and a quick smile towards Jeff before heading back down the hallway again.
“I presume Scarlet told you the news,” Charles stated once the red tunic had disappeared around a corner.
Jeff sighed. “You should have lead with it, Charles.”
“Yes, well, there’s no point in crying over spilled milk.”
“Who’s crying?” Jeff teased.
Charles, who was fighting back an amused grin, simply cleared his throat. “I’m sorry if things got too official in there before. Why don’t we go and talk somewhere more private so I can explain the whole situation to you properly?”
The prospect was grim but Jeff nodded. It was better to know what was going on than to be in the dark. Especially if his youngest son’s life was hanging in the balance. “I want Scott there too.”
“Scott is currently with Fawn, receiving treatment for shock.”
“I want him present,” Jeff repeated. “If that means we have to wait, then so be it. I also want Captain Scarlet on the case.”
“Scarlet?”
“He seems knowledgeable, and he was the only one in here who was actually helping.”
Charles pursed his lips, debating whether it was worth trying to pull rank again. Jeff had half-expected his old friend to do so, but instead he began leading him down the other end of the hallway. “Very well. In that case I have something else I’d like to show you first. Come with me.”