#Thunderbird Four

[babyfouradventures]

Plushies are Go!!!

So ... Baby Four is having some trouble with the new arrivals

"They're behind me, aren't they?"

Yep, sorry about that Fawn, I'll have a word with them. Is that okay?

In the meantime, I want to show you my turnip. Isn't he looking good?

Fawn .... help?

WHO STOLE MY LIGHTSABER?

How the ... where .... where the heck did HE come from?

Cheshire Cat ... not me

White Rabbit ... I don't have time, I'm very late!

Okay, into the box you three go

All ... why?

Because you're all being very disruptive, that's why. And YOU Darth Teddy, you should look after your saber.

Darth Teddy ... but ... someone stole it

Have you tried the Force?

Darth Teddy ... um no

And why not?

Darth Teddy (mutters under breath) battery died, a while back.* Can't fix it.

Then that's YOUR fault

*seriously, the lightsaber battery actually did died, about a week after the plush arrived. We only played with it five times and there's no way to access in there without totally ripping the toy apart

Eppie to the rescue

Eppie .. its okay Fawn, I gotcha now. No need to be afraid all the time

Fawn .... cries ... thank you. They were scary

Giggling from the box .... We're still here ya know

WHO SAID RESCUE?

Baby Four... oh hi guys, what are you doing here? I'm handling everything just fine ... okay?

All, you okay Fawn?

Gordon ... Hey Babes

Baby Four ... hey Gordon, how's things? Whatcha think of my turnip?

Gordon ... looking good there buddy, whatcha plans for it?

Giggling from the box

Baby Four ... its going in a stew

Giggling ... going in a stew

All ... hey Baby Four, you forgot the newest member of the plushie family.

Penguin!

Baby Four .... ohhh so squishy!*

*he's a hot water bottle

Baby Four.... keeps us warm then

And finally ... the saga of Kitty Cat and WereBun

They're all unlikely friends now, an uneasy truce has been drawn, so no fur will be flying

Just yet

And as for the missing lightsaber? Nobody is snitching (but I suspect I know where it is, buried in the toybox)

@cg29 @janetm74 @dragonoffantasyandreality @heckincuddlies @tbirds

And anybody else interested

[skeefee-sky]

it's mah birfday today :D

and to celebrate, i wrote a lil something-something between Gordon and Four that's, not related to that main story i'm writing with them, but, just as a side thing, if that makes sense xD c: here go! enjoy them being cute >w<

(i dunno why but i was listening to Kingdom Dance from Tangled on repeat while writing this. it helped motivate for some reason :D)

💛💙~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ 💙💛

Early mornings before the rest of the island was awake were often the best parts of the day. Especially when you got to soak in the silence before rowdy brothers, or a klaxon alarm, interrupted it. Gordon had missed his morning swims.

His arm finally healed, he could actually enjoy them again, and strode down to the pool with a pep in his step. Hopefully he’d have just enough time to do a couple of laps (and maybe relax a bit) before they were called out on any rescues.

Just as he stepped forward to dive into the water, a louder splash sounded out from the sea, down by the shores of the island. Amber eyes brightened as the aquanaut curiously went to investigate. Had something fallen into the water? Was there a creature splashing about in the sea? Was there an intruder on Tracy Island? Gordon half-ignored the last thought, but decided he’d better go down and check it out anyway.

It was a bit of a walk from the poolside down to a safe spot of the shore where he wouldn't slip and fall, but he found he didn't need to go to the water's edge to find what had been splashing about. His Thunderbird stood tall in the water, ripples around her knees where she kept her ground on the sand as it disappeared into the watery depths. The aquanaut hid a laugh in his hand as the craft suddenly twirled around, and landed on her backside in the water, having tripped on something he couldn't see.

"Gordon!" the sub chirped happily, ignoring that she'd fallen, just being glad her pilot had found her. "Look! I found a spot that's the perfect depth for me!"

"So you did." Amber eyes swept over her frame, Gordon grinning as he moved a little closer to the water's edge. "You okay though?"

"Yep! I-..." The Thunderbird suddenly paused, dropping her hands into the water at her sides. Sea-green optics trailed over her pilot, a little sullen in guilt. "Oh... I didn't, wake you, did I? I thought, I couldn't be heard from the villa.."

Gordon shook his head with a laugh. "No you didn't. I was already poolside when I heard you; thought I'd come investigate the splashing though!"

If the craft couldn't tell where he was headed by his outfit and the towel slung around his shoulders... The ocean was starting to look mighty inviting. And he didn't particularly feel like trudging back up to the pool... For now, the aquanaut sat himself on a rock next to the water, dipping his feet in and just watching his Thunderbird enjoy herself.

"... It's weird being in water not in my craft-form," the sub observed, lifting a servo and watching the water run off her digits.

"You're gonna be more salty than normal," Gordon commented with a snicker. "And don't even get me started on the sand-!"

Thunderbird Four let out a soft huff... and tossed a handful of water at him. Gordon yelped and nearly slipped off the rock, spluttering as the water hit him like a tidal wave. It certainly felt like one-! He sat there, dripping and stunned, for a moment before swiping water out of his eyes. His sub looked a little shocked herself, before bursting into giggles.

"You can be sandy with me!"

"Hey no fair! I can't splash you back!"

The Thunderbird continued her giggles; she might have been the smallest of the crafts, but she had still had advantage over their human pilots. She didn't notice Gordon get to his feet, and back up to take a running leap into the water, chanting 'cannon ball!' as he landed. An attempt was made - the water merely only splattering against the sub's arm. He surfaced a second later, floating on his back to stare up at the yellow Thunderbird, her frame shading him from the sun. He felt warmly comfortable at her side, knowing she was keeping an eye on him, so she didn’t accidentally move and sweep him away in the water. Who said you couldn’t be friends with a giant robot-?

Gordon rolled over and changed position, treading water so he didn’t slip under and blindly tried to find a submerged crook of metal he could find his footing on. He found one in her hand as she lifted it to gently aid him; the aquanaut then tilting his head at her.

“What made you decide to come out here anyway?”

“I was… maybe a little bit bored…” Thunderbird Four sheepishly admitted. Gordon had broken his arm, which meant she’d been grounded unless one of the other brothers piloted her for a rescue. What made her decide to come out to the water today, she was still thinking about. “Needed to get out for a bit. Poke around the island… explore.”

She could have done it any other day, now that she thought about it. But… something about today told her she’d eventually meet up with her pilot… and she had! Craft and pilot could enjoy the water together, where they belonged.

“I stopped here cause, something about it felt special. When I transformed, I wasn’t expecting to be able to stand! I thought there’d be another drop-off, like every other part of the island!”

She laughed, and Gordon lightly joined her with a laugh of his own. That was true, and the ocean was pretty deep to begin with! He suspected his Thunderbird would have likely sunk to the seafloor had she not figured out how to float. The aquanaut turned and swam over to a spot he could grasp onto metal, before hauling himself out of the water to climb his Thunderbird. The sub sat quietly as she let him, waiting until he was sat on her shoulder before she moved freely, sitting more comfortably as the water shifted around her.

“… Why have we never done this before?” Gordon then asked softly.

“I guess, there was never an opportunity to,” Thunderbird Four answered, peeking at him from the corner of her optic before looking back over the horizon. “I’m glad you’re my pilot, Gordon.”

“I’m glad I am too.” 🐟

[squidsinashirt]

Hi Gordon you seemed stressed back then - just wanted you to know you have fans here too 💛 we are maybe just more shy! But we think marine life is cool and Thunderbird Four is the cutest ever (the ship that is, we’re not being weird).

It’s not just she’s cute either!! Four has ALL THE GADGETS! Could you tell us what your favourite one is?

Lots of love

Team Yellow 💛

Oh bless, you’re too sweet, Team Yellow!

Don’t worry, not stressed, all good. Gordo doesn’t do stress - it’s a waste of good oxygen. Just got a list the length of my arm of stuff to get done today and running on three hours sleep… and I need to try and find a jumper in this house so I don’t freeze in London (coldest place on earth in that rain, I refuse to believe anything else, don’t even try).

There’s plenty of very cool, very lovely folks on here (even the Scott simps are alright I suppose 😏) and I’ve had a load of awesome asks! Mainly about aquatic friends 🦦🐬 🦀

Although I am happy to be convenor of the Thunderbird Four Fan Club any day! Anything for my girl! 😍💛

Again, this is one of those excellent questions that could be an entire nerdy novel length answer - mainly because I could wax lyrical about her all day long. Lots of cool kit hidden under those nacelles!

The state of the art decompression chamber means we don’t need to consider slow ascents (which if anyone reading dives, will appreciate the hours and the math that it cuts, and how quickly we can help divers with the bends, for example) and we can mix any diving air or nitrox/trimix needed. The depths she can reach are almost unlimited (if it were inverted on earth, she could go higher than Everest!) and the forces she can withstand are insane. The plasma cutters aren’t beaten by much, in air or in water. She’s got a lot of kick and lift for a little ‘bird (the ratio of impellers to sub size is a bit mad really, but I appreciate it, everyone likes doing nearly 200mph under the water right?), and the polycarb fins are flexible to help her move even easily. Twin core reactors mean she can go and go and go, no returning to base for refuelling needed like certain other big ‘birds. Obviously, the extendable arms are a huge bonus, there’s not much we can’t fix or operate using them, and because they’re linked in with me directly, they’re even more manoeuvrable. I’ve got so used to using them, I might as well have hands on directly.

Not including the off-board kit here, like the exo-suit and the dive kits she has. That’s a different post entirely.

And not forgetting the torpedos, everyone loves a little fire power even if they won’t say it.

Really, I just like how quiet and peaceful it is onboard. No massive boosters, no Mach-19 eyeball peeling controls. The beauty about Thunderbird Four is that she doesn’t need to be big or fast or flashy - she’s the most robust, most dependable craft and there’s not much that’s been asked of her that she can’t cope with (that incident not withstanding, and even then, she saved me so… I owe her my life a few times over).

You want to dangle her above a gravity well? Sure. You want to strap her on to a crazy hypersonic tube car thats out of control? You got it. You want to weld a sinking container ship back together? No biggie. She’s here to do the job, and do it well, no theatrics or special effects needed. Just a friendly little yellow face in the midst of deep, dark peril.

Her and Thunderbird Two together make one heck of a team too 💪🏻 🐠

And she’s my favourite place. Some people might find it a little strange, because there’s not enough room to swing a cat compared to my brothers’ ships, but it’s home from home for me and I wouldn’t have her any other way. Sometimes, it’s cool to just take her on a little dive somewhere nice, watch some fish, enjoy the show. And she looks extra good with a new coat of wax 🥰

… that ended up a little bit of an essay (almost as bad as #fishfactswithgordo) but eh, she’s worth it!

Thanks again for the love! You guys are awesome!🫶🏻💛

[darkestwolfx]

TAG Transcripts | Masterpost

So, I'm making a start on organising all of my previous content and I'm starting with Transcripts!

And the reason I'm starting with these is because when I came back and was able to look at messages etc (as opposed to the late night reading I made fanfics) there were a lot asking about these with quite a few questions - so firstly, Q & A;

Where can the transcripts be found? They can now be found on this masterpost, but also back on my 2016 post!

Are all the episodes available? Series 1 is complete, Series 2 is mostly complete, Series 3 is unstarted

Will I finish them? Yes, if there is this level of interest of course I will, but episodes can take a while to transcribe so it may not be a quick process!

Do I make a profit? No. This is something I started doing as a fan, for fans as someone who's previously found issues with subtitles not appearing or being incorrect.

Can I download a copy? Yes, from my mediafire links in word or PDF format

Why can't the documents be edited, copy & pasted? The documents are password protected, yes, because a lot of work goes into them and if they're going to be re-distributed I would appreciate the credit or an update of where they're being shared, so no they cannot be directly copied and pasted

Feel free to reblog and share though, Thunderfam, as these were made for you to enjoy!

And before there are questions as to where the link can be found on this masterpost, let's put that here!

Above is the link for the TAG transcripts (I have TOS completed but will post this separately).

What can be found here at the moment:

Series 1

in Word & PDF format

25 files per folder

All episodes completed - Ring of Fire is in one combined set

Series 2

in Word & PDF format

Available episodes - 17; Earthbreaker (1) City Under the Sea (4) Colony (5) Up from the Depths I (6) - will be added shortly (amending pieces) Up from the Depths II (7) Volcano (14) Power Play (15) Bolt from the Blue (16) Attack of the Reptiles (17) Grandma Tourismo (18) Clean Sweap (19) The Man from TB5 (20) Home on the Ranch (21) Long Haul (22) Rigged for Disaster (23) Inferno (24) Hyerspeed (25) Brains vs Brawn (26)

I will aim to finish the episodes outstanding here and then start on Series 3, but this will be amongst all my other work but I will do my best to get there!

Okay, I think this is the part of the post where you can cheer for joy :)

[gumnut-logic]

Have to reblog this cos gorgeous 😁💚💛

Inspired by @gumnut-logic 's wonderful Fauvism fic! If you haven't read it yet, do it!

[scramjettracy]

ATTENTION YOUNG PEOPLE

It’s fun to be spontaneous, I get it.

The YOLO approach to life is intoxicating. I know. It’s my vibe too.

BUT

If you are faced with any of the following situations… I beg you - please take some advice from a professional wild child:

- a recent landslide has revealed an intriguing-looking network of caves just waiting for you to explore!

DO NOT EXPLORE THE CAVES

- That half-built skyscraper has no security and your engineering-minded buddy has just managed to reroute power to the newly installed elevator!

DO NOT ASCEND THE HALF-BUILT SKYSCRAPER IN THE UNTESTED ELEVATOR

- Obtaining your Level 1 PADI makes you feel empowered and amply qualified to run Titanic sightseeing tours for your buddies

DO NOT! JUST…. PLEASE NO.

Why not go sky diving (with an trained instructor and approved equipment) or throw a spontaneous pie-baking party instead.

None of this advice is negated by the fact you have twenty bajillion followers of your vlog/insta. They cannot save you with their remote adulation.. some other idiots will have to drag their exhausted asses out of bed to do it instead.

[babyfouradventures]

Poor Turnip

Awwwwh wassup Babes?

Mah poor turnip *sniff*

Well ... you did say that it was going into a stew

Yeah,I know but I wanted to spend more time with him

There's still some of him left, and apparently the soup was delicious

Really? I wondered about that lovely smell *sigh* turnip was such a trooper

@psychoseal @cg29 @gordonthegreatesttracy @janetm74 @dragonoffantasyandreality @heckincuddlies @tbirds (I swear I'm getting there, and WILL remember everyone in the tags)

[skeefee-sky]

'The ole' switcharoo~.'

@thunder-tober Day prompt: 18 / Alt prompt!: Curse Characters: Gordon Tracy, Thunderbird Four Word count: 600

… Now, this one’s a bit random but, you gotta trust me! xD I had a plot, and I wanted to write it out, so here we go. I had fun writing it eitherway-! >w< A sparked malfunction with Gordon’s cybersleeve causes him and Thunderbird Four to swap minds. Neither can decide if it’s an experience, or a curse. *From Four’s point-of-view!*

💙💛TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB 💛💙

Sentience is one thing I can get used to several times over. I’ve had it so long it now feels like it’s been forever. This… This could take a little bit longer…

I wasn’t expecting to pull myself out of recharge today and online my optics to the inside of the villa... I inhaled sharply, and almost choked when I realised what I’d done. Wait no… Is that what it was? Yes… I took an easier breath, finding the rhythm and looked around myself, glancing at the room with curiosity. There was no mistaking I was in my pilot’s room… and that meant-… I kicked off the covers and ran to the closest room where I could see myself, almost tripping over my feet in the process. Ohhh, I was not used to that… It, was the same as I was used to, right? Just… with a shift in… everything… I made it to where I wanted to go without casualty, and only half-expected what I saw.

Gordon was staring back at me, amber eyes wide in concern. I extended a hand to rest it against the reflection, watching as he moved with me, and made a soft noise of disdain. Just… what had happened…?

“Thunderbird Four!”

I spun around to face the first holographic I could find. It was so weird to be looking at yourself when you weren’t in your body…

“Could you, come down to the hangar? Like, now!?”

“I’ll try not to trip on my way down,” I teased, realising he’d probably had just as much struggle as I’d had. Was that his positivity I was projecting on? Maybe… Down in the hangar before he’d had a chance to urge me on again (and had tripped. Luckily I avoided unwanted attention). Gordon was sat beside my tank, arms clutched around his knees. Reading my… his sea-green optics was enough to figure out he was scared. What did he usually do when he was calming me down…?

“Now you know how I feel,” I humoured softly as I approached, treading lightly as best I could. “…Have any of your brothers come down yet?”

“No,” he responded rather quickly. “But I… wouldn’t have minded if they did! …Probably. I called you first cause… you know… but, yeah! I-… ngh Four, what do we do!?”

“Stay calm for one… just like you always tell me,” I commanded gently, stopping at his side to look up at him. Now that felt weird… “First things first, let’s figure out how this might have happened, okay? I’m you; a small, human, Tracy boy, and you’re, me-…”

“A giant, confused, concerned, transforming Thunderbird… I don’t-… Why us, Thunderbird Four?!”

“I don’t know either, but we’ve gotta sort this out okay?!”

I didn’t mean to raise my voice. We both fell quiet when we noticed. My pilot looked down at me, and I back at him. This was something neither of us had the answers to, and it was scary! I glanced down at my arm, gaze trailing over the cybersleeve the aquanaut had grown so conscious of. It had to be something to do with that… right? What other contraption would cause a human to swap minds with a machine?

“Just like figuring out my sentience… we’ll figure this out too,” I started after taking a breath, stepping up to place both hands on Gordon’s plating. His gaze shifted when he felt my touch. “Whether this is a weird dream, or… or some unexplained curse, we will get to the bottom of it. Just, gotta figure out the happenings, right?”

“… Right. Thanks, Four.”

[avengedbiologist]

Happy Gerry Anderson day!

Glad I could finally get this idea done (it's been in my head for 2 years now how awful), thought I should actually do sommat for GA day (mainly cause I've been so focused on other stuff it's nice to go back to it) but also not to be a sop but without GA and the shows created I would not have many friends at all, I've met so many people via these shows (mainly tbirds obvs) and I'm so glad for it! So love y'all and enjoy Ur day!

[darkestwolfx]

Making good on those promises now and coming back at you at full speed!

This is just another of those typical drabble type things that I love writing, and you lovely lot seem to enjoy reading!

And there will definitely be more to come! I've been typing away at some more EOS writing as you all know how much I love including her! But there is lots more on the list two, including everything that comes into my inbox :)

I need to tidy up and do a bit of housekeeping around here I think so there's going to be a lot of bits and pieces appearing. I never finished moving all my ff works over to ao3 either so I will get on that also!

[squidsinashirt]

**Shoving my way through the tabloids and paparazzi**

Mr Tracy, the work you have done for the world's environmental charities is phenomenal, it's amazing that you're so passionate about not only our world's oceans but it's rainforests, it's grasslands and it's human life too.

At times it must be challenging trying to balance your work with humans and your passion for wildlife what with how humans have destroyed the worlds ecosystem.

Tell me, do you see a future with nature and the hustle and bustle of the human world working together in peace? How do you think we could achieve that?

– Nature&Nurture news blog reporter.🌿

Hi there! 👋

Apologies for the delay in replying to this - love your stuff, long time subscriber! Wanted to give you a decent reply so I hope this is okay.

That’s very kind of you to say but I can’t take all the credit. Tracy Industries is committed to all of the green pledges we have made, and our successes with various third party organisations and projects is only thanks to the enthusiastic effort of all of our board, trustees, senior management and of course, our CEO (who is incredibly supportive of all of our projects).

(I just send comms and put up posters and annoy people at the annual galas once they’ve had a drink or two)

Moving to being a zero-waste society has been a huge achievement, but we shouldn’t be stopping there. We’ve spent a lot of time ripping every resources from the planet and doing what we like without much concern for everything else that shares this space with us. We should be actively investing in restoration programmes that prioritise renewal over our own priorities, and vehemently protecting what is already there.

So do I see a future with nature and our very busy society coexisting - it has to! Nothing works if nature doesn’t. We came very close to the brink not so long ago, and we can’t allow that to happen again. We’re the custodians of our little planet, and it’s up to us, and us alone, to do better. Everything around us is relying that, as a population, we pick up that responsibility, including for our own kids and so on.

I had a really great afternoon recently organised with Robby Shelby (co-creator of the Supreme Barrier Reef with his mom, Dr Helen Shelby) with their junior conservation team. They’re all elementary school aged kids, learning to dive and also learning about the work that is ongoing there, why it matters and how to continue it. It’s amazing to see the next generation keen to take the reins - and I had an awesome time getting schooled on turtles and jellyfish.

How to achieve that - that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it. There’s a reason various world bodies have spent so long fighting over it and I guess it’s because it’s complicated, on paper and in practice.

I would say my own philosophy is that we ought to be leaving the world a better place than it was when we stepped into it. Everyone has an equal individual responsibility to do what they can. Food choices you make (hi fellow vegan gang 🌱), where you spend your money if you can, and educating other people. Treating the planet and everything that lives here kindly (including each other so, y’know, be excellent to each other!)

I guess I’m just very lucky that I can access resources that mean we can do a lot more.

For the bigger stuff, there are obviously the three main goals of the World Ecological Summit (not going to have time to go into the other 47 sub points):

1. Move to entirely emission free fuels and technology for all transport, which we’re making really good strides in, which is super exciting. As a bit of a side note, International Rescue has ⅖ of our ‘birds totally clean (see, nobody is perfect except Thunderbird Four). My aim over the next 12 months is to try and get to a point where we have a 95% sustainable fuel option ready to trial for each of them - currently sitting at 75% average, which is good but… we don’t do ‘good’ at iR, we do better. We use three different fuels because of the differing technologies each of our ships carries and the environments they work in so it’s a little more complicated. But that’s one of my pet projects (along with our incredible engineering department) so check in with me in the fall!

2. Our largest industrial leaders taking responsibility in being proactive, investing in green technologies and processes, and using their corporate responsibility for good. I think my previous answer about Tracy Industries kind of covers this one, but it’s important that those with the biggest weight to throw around do it in a way that benefits the most vulnerable in our society. Which leads nicely into point three…

3. Protecting the most vulnerable ecosystems, territories and people. It’s really easy to point the finger at humans for the environmental concerns we all share, but that’s completely unfair toward the most vulnerable populations amongst us, who are usually the ones who have had the most impact from what we’ve caused. We should be improving our environment, whilst also addressing the inequalities in food hunger, poverty, ill health, education that still exist. They aren’t necessarily two separate issues and we are an incredibly advanced society, - there’s no reason people should still be living with such huge levels of difference.

So I guess the summary of all of this is - people need to lift their head and care a bit more, and not be afraid to take on the responsibility of being better to environment and to each other.

Thanks again for the query - always happy to ramble to you guys! If you’d like to come along to the next visit to our rainforest project on the Bolivian border, we’re due to be out there early May and you’d be more than welcome! You can get me on g.tracy@tracyindustries.org 🫶🏻

[darkestwolfx]

100% agree and couldn't have said it better!

Which Thunderbirds Are Go episode is better?

Vote on which episode you think is better. Episode synopses below the cut.

Ring of Fire Part 1: A series of underwater sea quakes along the ocean floor cause a research team to become trapped in their sea lab that perilously sits near the edge of an underwater cliff. It’s up to Scott, Virgil and Gordon to rescue and bring the research team to the surface, but before doing so Gordon discovers a device which turns out to be one of several seismic destabilises which have been left at the bottom of the ocean while following a signal which he hoped belonged to their father who is 'missing in action'.

With the help of Lady Penelope, they discover that the devices causing the quakes have been created by their organisation's biggest enemy, The Hood.

SOS Part 2: Gordon travels in Thunderbird 4 to recover Braman but discovers that the Chaos Crew have gotten to the robot first. An underwater battle ensues, resulting in the destruction of Thunderbird 4 and leaving Gordon severely injured. While the rest of the International Rescue team rescue Gordon and get him to a hospital, Kayo manages to recover Braman and get him back to Tracy Island, where Brains makes a startling discovery regarding the mayday signal that Braman was receiving…

[gumnut-logic]

Scott was bored.

Dad was in a meeting and Scott was charged with taking care of Alan back at the hotel.

The rest of his brothers were home on the farm with all the freedom that entailed, while Scott could only stare out at the hazy blue sky through imprisoning glass.

Glass he could eliminate with a flick of a finger, but the integrity of so many things prevented that.

He sighed as he let himself collapse against the bed’s headboard.

“Hey, Scotty, can you do this?”

A comic was shoved in his face. A blink was enough time to school his startled flinch. Nothing terrified Scott more than accidentally injuring any human, much less those he loved.

“Do what, squirt?”

“Don’t call me squirt.”

“My apologies, Alan, what are you referring to?”

“Aww, don’t do that formal stuff either.”

Scott sighed. “What is it?”

“Astroman can fly out into space and deflect meteors! Can you do that?”

“Umm…”

“I bet Johnny could.”

Scott frowned. “I would prefer he didn’t.”

“Why?”

The list of reasons was extensive and well beyond a seven year old’s need to know. “Only in an emergency.” Hell, Scott would lead his three brothers out there himself if that scenario turned up. He had no doubt they would be willing to try.

Alan didn’t know that Scott had dragged John back into the atmosphere several times already.

The fact their father didn’t know was for several very good reasons as well.

Definitely a case of what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.

Alan threw a pout. “You guys are so boring.”

“What?!” Scott turned, incredulous, to his little brother now beside him on the bed.

“You’ve got all this cool stuff and you never use it.”

“We do stuff all the time.”

“On the farm. You could be superheroes!” Alan shook the comic in his hands. “You could be so cool! You could save people and stuff.” He flopped back on the bed. “Instead, you are serious and boring.” The pout returned with reinforcements.

Scott’s lips thinned. This was not the first time Alan had suggested this. “You know why.”

The pout turned to a grump. “Yeah. Still sucks.”

A sigh. “Do you have any better ideas?”

“A costume.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “We’ve been through this before.”

“But you’ve never even tried one on!”

Obviously it had never even occurred to Alan that Scott and his brothers wore costumes every day just to stay part of the human crowd.

But right now? With a little brother obviously as bored as Scott was…

“What do you think we could wear?”

Alan’s eyes brightened…

And that was how Scott Tracy, alien stranded on Planet Earth, found himself dressed in the most ridiculous, patched together outfit ever.

His pocket money would pay for the torn-up sheet and curtain. Their father wouldn’t be happy, but the grin on Allie’s face was worth it.

“You need to put your underwear on the outside.”

Scott stared at Alan. “Why?”

“’Cause they all do that.” And he was presented with multiple comic examples until he had to ward them off with a dash to his underwear drawer.

Humans were weird sometimes.

Though the extra pair over his jeans did serve to keep his sheet shirt in place – apparently he needed bare arms and, no, a t-shirt wasn’t good enough. C’mon, Scotty, pleeeease.

Little brothers knew exactly how to push his buttons…no matter the planet of origin.

“And a mask. You need a mask.”

“Why?”

“To hide your secret identity, of course.”

Scott rolled his eyes. He had read a few comics since landing here, seen a few movies…imagination was a major part of their adopted culture. Perhaps if his planet of origin had had more imagination, they might have imagined a way out of blowing themselves up.

Scott froze the thought and threw it aside. He refused to let his memory corrupt his present.

His mother’s eyes…

Focus! Both fathers’ voices echoed through his mind and forced him back to the smiling face in front of him. Milliseconds of distraction, unnoticed by his little human brother, but distraction led to mistakes and mistakes could mean so much more for a world Scott had not evolved in.

Their human father had learnt that one the hard way.

Yet he still trusted Scott to look after his most precious possession.

He wrapped a torn piece of sheet around his eyes and bore a pair of holes in it with a little applied heat. A hand caught the strand of smoke, preventing it from reaching the detectors in the room and a wisp of cold breath neutralised its energy enough so he could brush the particles into a trash can.

Alan was staring at him.

“You are sooo cool!”

Scott couldn’t help but snort in laughter and grin goofily at his little brother. “Okay, okay, so do I look the part now?” He stood shoulders back, hands on hips, cape hanging very much like the curtain it used to be.

The fact he had chosen red underwear to match it showed how much influence this planet had on his thoughts.

“You look great!” Alan was grinning fit to bust something and Scott couldn’t help but do the same. “Oooh, you need one more thing.” And Alan was clambering off the bed and searching through his bag. Paper and markers appeared, and moments later, the shield of Tracy Industries’ logo was pinned to Scott’s chest, but instead of the T for Tracy, there was an S scribbled in its place.

Alan stepped back, his expression fond before he looked up at Scott. “An ‘S’ for Scott, the greatest protector of all time.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “Protector?”

Alan’s expression softened into a smile. “Yeah, cos that’s what you do. You are boring, but you do look after us.”

A swallow. Scott shoved the resultant emotion down and reached out to ruffle Allie’s hair. That resulted in a duck and squirm, followed by a tackle on the bed and it all devolving into a tickle fest.

A one-sided tickle fest because Scott had an unfair advantage he was happy to deploy in this circumstance.

Just a little.

“You suck!” But it was said between giggles.

It was second nature to him to compensate for his strength against Alan, but the calculations performed in his head regarding each movement were double checked regardless, and he could never really, fully let go like he could around Gordon.

A sudden wave of homesickness for the rest of his brothers washed over him and perhaps it was that thought that distracted him enough to overcompensate and throw himself backwards.

The window didn’t stand a chance.

High speed thought had enough time to blind him with consequences as he fell out into free air in the middle of the city.

But it was the absolute terror that ripped out his heart as a scream tore past him at the speed of Earth gravity.

Alan!

He caught his little brother before the thought completed, but it was the cries of people below on the street, the eyes in all the glass windows around him, and the blood on Alan’s face that tipped him into flight.

Literally.

He was halfway to Kansas before he had any thought of doing anything different. His phone was still in the room so far behind him. He had no way to contact anyone.

Alan was shaking in his arms.

Scott did what he knew. He fled home.

The familiarity of the skies around Kansas barely had a chance to comfort him before he was touching down as fast as a human could handle.

His brain was functioning that much at least.

He ran, yelling for his grandmother, Alan clutched to his chest, ‘cape’ billowing behind him.

Virgil met him at the door and there followed a panicked medical assessment, his grandmother and…and…

He ended up out under the tree he and Virgil had declared theirs, hiding in its shade.

He’d hurt his little brother. Oh god, something he had sworn he would never do.

The costume was shed angrily and shredded for the lack of anything else inanimate to destroy.

Down to the molecular level, including his extra underwear.

Especially his extra underwear.

He ended up watching the sun go down, bare-chested with only a ratty pair of jeans keeping his dignity intact.

If he had any left.

“Scott?”

His grandmother’s voice took him by surprise and he was on his feet and backing away before thought.

“Honey?”

“Grandma?” Her name said everything, his fear, his shame, his need to know how badly he had hurt…everyone.

“Allie’s fine, honey. A couple of nicks and scratches. A little windburn. He may hound you for a while. He’s a Tracy, he loves to go fast.” She stepped closer, one of his t-shirts in her hand. “Kyrano is on point. No one was injured. A few photos, but Eos has tracked them down, along with the sensor records of your flight. Your father has already spoken to the hotel manager and the window will be paid for. Everything is okay.” She tilted her head to one side. “Though your brothers may never let you forget that costume. It was a doozy.”

Something snapped inside and Scott folded in on himself. But Grandma was there to catch him. Grandma always was.

He found himself sobbing on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Grandma.” It was muffled by her shirt.

She muttered something even his superhearing couldn’t decipher, but she held him, her hands rubbing reassurance into his skin. “It’s okay, love, okay. It was an accident.”

The word had him sobbing even more.

“We knew this would happen. We were ready. No damage done.”

He pulled back, eyes wide. “No damage? I could have gotten Allie killed.”

She looked up at him, blue eyes dark in the evening light as she shook her head. “You? Hurt Alan? Not possible.”

“But-“

“You listen to me, young man. I don’t care what planet you are from, we all make mistakes. All mistakes have consequences.” She loomed up at him. “I know you, Scott Tracy.” She placed her hand on the centre of his chest. “I know your heart. There is no way you would let that boy get himself hurt if you had any say. Alan said he had barely fallen before you caught him. He got a fright, yes, but it was little more than a lesson learnt.”

“A lesson?”

“As to why you don’t wear a cape like those characters in his comics. Why we have to wear our underwear on the inside.”

It was a ludicrous line, but the fire in her eyes etched the point into his skin.

She reached up and brushed a stray hair off his forehead. “You and your brothers are here for a reason. You have hearts of gold and humanity probably doesn’t deserve what you can offer us. But you are not perfect and we can’t expect you to be.”

He stared at her, not knowing what to say.

She smiled just a little. “Now, come inside before Virgil vibrates a hole in the floor. That boy was born to worry.” She cupped his cheek a moment before pushing the t-shirt at him. “And your littlest brother is terrified he has screwed everything up. He needs you to knock some sense into him. There are some things that grandmothers just can’t do.”

Scott blinked as she turned and headed back towards the house, obviously expecting him to follow.

He stared a moment, but, pulling the shirt over his head, followed anyway. He had no clue what else to do.

The tackle hug of little brother the moment he walked in the door and the avalanche of whimpered ‘sorry’s were enough to engage more big brother than godawful alien.

He squeezed Alan as tight as he dared, burying his face in his hair. God, ever so precious. One little mistake…

He scrunched up his eyes even tighter.

But a small human hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

He looked up to see his grandmother smiling.

Swallowing, he straightened up and stepped back a little to look at his brother. As Grandma said, Alan had scratches on his face and arms, and a bloom of windburn on his cheeks, but his expression held no blame.

Scott drew in a breath. “What do you say we keep our underwear on the inside, squirt?”

The laugh that burst out of Alan was more release than humour. He wrapped his arms around Scott and buried his face in his t-shirt again.

It was muffled but Scott had good hearing after all.

“Yeah. You’re hero enough already.”

-o-o-o-

The rest of the series can be found here

[thunderbirdsera]

Gerry Anderson On The BBC

The best time to be watching the BBC, if you ask me.

[lenle-g]

Merry Christmas Y'all <3

[idontknowreallywhy]

It’s… a duck?