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olliepig · 5 years ago

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Together

For @eirabach, who gave me the push I needed to try something completely new! My take on the reunion between Penny and Gordon.

As she stood underneath the massive bulk of Thunderbird 2 waiting for its pod to open, Penny wondered if time had ever gone that slowly before. Granted, the past days had seemed to drag in with the worry for all the boys as they prepared to launch and then from the lack of contact with them while they were gone but the speed with which the hatch swung open appeared excessively slow to her. Reflecting on it, she realised that even the distraction from the Chaos Crew hadn’t fully dragged her mind back from the Oort Cloud and one of the men in particular who was there. She had always prided herself on her ability to be completely focussed when it was necessary and so this constant invasion into her thoughts by a certain member of the Tracy family was rather inconvenient at the very least. She had known that she liked him as more than a friend for some time and she was almost convinced that the feeling was mutual. However, since the day she had kissed him in FAB2 they hadn’t had a chance to be alone together and she was starting to worry that perhaps she had taken things too far. Maybe he was being polite and not wanting to hurt her feelings she wondered, or maybe he was trying to avoid getting himself into an awkward situation which could be embarrassing for both of them. Whatever the situation, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward was not one leave it be without understanding what was going on and so here she was, standing with Grandma and Parker awaiting the arrival of Jeff and the second youngest of his sons.

Gordon stood proudly but nervously supporting his father, knowing that if he let him slip he would have four furious brothers to contend with as well as having to answer to his Grandma. He knew that she was anxiously waiting for them and felt honoured to be the one to witness the reunion of mother and son. When the pod finally opened however, he was surprised to find not one but three people awaiting their arrival and his heart skipped a beat when he realised that one of them was Penny. He was well aware that he may have hurt her by not seeing her properly before they left but the simple fact was that he just hadn’t known what to say to her. He had loved her for as long as he could remember but never thought that those feelings may be reciprocated. Unfortunately, the point at which they seemed to be was the point at which they started preparing for their biggest and most dangerous mission yet and he had been holding back not because of nerves but because of what they both could lose if the mission had gone differently. Now that he was back, there was no such hesitation in him.

Penny found she had tears in her eyes watching the reunion of mother and son. She was delighted to see Jeff of course, but she found she simply couldn’t drag her eyes away from the young man beside him who had been supporting him with such care. Gordon’s eyes were fixed firmly on his father and Penny once again found herself wondering if her presence was unwelcome. Unusually, Parker followed Grandma and Jeff out taking Sherbet, leaving them alone for the first time since they were on FAB2.

Gordon’s eyes seemed to snap from his departing father to her, brown meeting blue with an intensity held within that she hadn’t felt before. She couldn’t put a finger on it, but she instinctively knew that something had changed. Neither spoke but neither looked away, drinking in the understanding passing wordlessly between them, both suddenly accepting how the other felt. Without even realising what was happening, Penny found herself being drawn forward as if by a magnet. Gordon moved too and they met in the middle, bodies crashing into each other almost knocking the air out of her lungs. She revelled in the feel of his arms around her waist holding her tightly and was barely even aware that she had a similarly vice like grip on him.

“Pen…” he started, pulling back slightly to look at her. As their eyes met again, he seemed to reconsider whatever had been at the end of that sentence. Instead, he bent down to place a single, lingering kiss on her lips and all her doubts evaporated.

#thunderbirds are go #Gordon Tracy #penandink #penelope creighton ward

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gvsaxboy · 3 months ago

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Greg Vail Trio - Guitar Sax and Percussion

We're seen here at The Drake in Laguna Beach, CA, with my trio: Greg Vail on saxophone, Rick White on vocals and guitar, and Rafael on percussion. This trio is incredibly versatile, offering a wide range of musical styles that keep our performances fresh and exciting. We can seamlessly transition from jazz and smooth jazz from my repertoire to pop and classic rock hits, thanks to Rick's dynamic guitar and vocals. Rafael, our secret weapon, adds serious energy and a vibrant Latin flavor to our sound, elevating the performance to a whole new level.

I love this trio combination because of the unique blend of styles we can cover together, making every set a memorable experience. The clip you're watching was recorded on my phone, straight from the music stand in front of me. While the video is simple, it captures the essence of our trio, showcasing a classic song and Rick's vocals.

This trio has become a popular act at The Drake, where we perform regularly. The energy we bring and the diverse song selection make each show something special for everyone in the audience.

Greg Vail Trio - Guitar Sax and Percussion https://ocsaxophoneevents.com/oc-saxophone-events/f/greg-vail-jazz-trio---guitar-sax-and-percussion#1a8822f3-fab2-47f7-86a2-08a326b2a3e9

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moleculardepot · 10 months ago

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Donkey fab2 anti-Goat IgG Heavy and Light Chain

Donkey fab2 anti-Goat IgG Heavy and Light Chain Catalog number: B2015273 Lot number: Batch Dependent Expiration Date: Batch dependent Amount: 100 ug Molecular Weight or Concentration: N/A Supplied as: Solution Applications: a molecular tool for various biochemical applications Storage: 2-8 °C Keywords: fab2 Donkey anti-Goat IgG Heavy and Light Chain Cross-Adsorbed Antibody Grade: Biotechnology…

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gumnut-logic · 5 years ago

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The Fate of Thundersub Two

Title: The Fate of Thundersub Two

Author: Gumnut

5 Jan 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: You can push it only so far. Episode tag to 3.19.

Word count: 1920

Spoilers & warnings: Spoilers for 3.19 and future episodes of season 3.

Timeline: Immediately after 3.19

Author’s note: This was quickly written with no brain and reflects the quality of my lack of cerebral functioning at the time. I literally killed off sleep to write this because I’m supposed to be writing my other fic. But we have an episode tag :D And hopefully I can sleep in a little tomorrow since it is nearly 2.30am at the moment. I hope you enjoy this anyway :D

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters, you know who you are. ::extra big hugs::

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Hiram Hackerbacker was a patient man. Science requires patience so it was to his advantage to have as much of it as possible.

However, having co-existed with the Tracy family for many years, that patience had often been tested, and today was another one of those days.

He had been in the midst of fuel calculations for the Zero-X. They had hit a snag in the weight and energy expenditure ratio and he was reduced to having to create a lighter, more energy efficient fuel. This required molecular calculation and design, something which involved a great deal of concentration.

To have John interrupt him to say that Virgil had taken Thunderbird Two for a swim yet again was enough to throw all the calculations out of his head. “W-what?!”

“I’m sorry, Brains, but Virgil needs your help. Two is on approach and her systems are experiencing intermittent failures.”

“Th-that’s because she is n-not a submersible.”

John shook his head. “Rescue called for it and you know Virgil. Whatever is necessary.”

Brains sighed. “V-very well.”

John smiled at him before switching the feed to Thunderbird Two.

“V-Virgil?”

“Hi, Brains.” There was considerable guilt in his fellow engineer’s expression. “I have VTOL failure in two out of four engines and I suspect her port rear thruster isn’t going to last much longer. I may need to crash land.”

Brains bit back on a curse. “Have you t-tried the auxiliary p-power relays?”

“Yeah, no go.”

Switching the feed to his phone, Brains strode out of his lab and ignored the door that slammed behind him. “Where are Gordon and Thunderbird Four?”

“FAB2.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t want to risk him. And, well, he had other concerns.”

Brains frowned as he stormed into the comms room. Scott was glaring at him and the duplicate hologram of Virgil hanging in the middle of the room. Brains ignored him and pulled up Thunderbird Two’s status.

He groaned.

“Virgil, you know as m-much as I that you c-can’t land her. Her secondary c-computer core is flooded, her p-primary core is well on the way to joining it. It is a m-miracle you are still air-borne. In fact, you should d-ditch her into the ocean as s-soon as p-possible before the decision is t-taken from you.”

The hologram of the second eldest Tracy sagged. “Where?”

“T-two hundred m-metres from the island m-minimum. We will r-recover her.” Virgil’s expression was tragic. “I promise.”

Beside Brains, Scott straightened. “Virgil, that’s an order. We can’t risk you. I’ll launch Thunderbird One and assist.”

Virgil glanced down before obviously steeling himself. “FAB.”

Scott’s lips tightened and he nodded at his brother before loping up the steps and disappearing into his chute.

Moments later, One erupted out of the pool deck and disappeared to the south in search of her crippled sister.

Brains shivered.

And waited.

-o-o-o-

Virgil Tracy knew how to swear and at this moment he was exercising every piece of profanity he could bring to mind.

Brains was right. Two was going to fall from the sky, it was only a matter of time. His dash was screaming at him, a new red light and alarm added every few minutes. This would make it the third time he would have to fish his ‘bird out of the ocean.

She dropped suddenly as her port thruster sputtered, her flight path skewing as her forward thrust struck out of balance. Shit. Goddamnit.

“C’mon, Two only a hundred or so kilometres and we’re home.”

She sputtered again.

And her port thruster died completely.

“Shit!” His girl swung around in an unbalanced turn, weight and thrust completely out of sync.

It was a terminal spiral dive. There was not a damn thing he could do.

Didn’t stop him from trying.

She ignored him.

The ocean and sky began to spin.

A solid thunk on her hull, a screaming roar, and her spiral slowed, her altitude and direction corrected...and the blue of auto took over her controls. “Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two, I have your control...what little you have. Compensating for your thruster failure. Virgil, bail out.”

“Scott-“

“Now, Thunderbird Two!” His brother’s voice stood for no argument.

Defeated. “FAB.”

He threw his chair back and yanked out his emergency jet pack from the overhead locker. He secured it to his baldric and harness, and with one last look at his beloved cockpit, stepped onto the platform and sent it up through the overhead hatch.

The roar of One assailed him through his helmet, the wind a buffeting aggravation.

“Virgil, move your ass, she’s about to hit!”

And the ocean was far too close for comfort.

He triggered the jetpack and shot up into the sky.

Just as his ‘bird hit the water.

It was spectacular.

And heart-breaking.

One disengaged before impact, accelerating out of harm’s way. Scott had killed Two’s remaining thruster, but her speed was too fast and as her nose caught the water, the momentum differential between forward and back, flipped her head over tail.

Virgil gasped as her belly was exposed to the sun and she hit the water like a breaching whale.

His heart attempted to beat itself to death against his ribcage.

With little more than a bubbling sigh, his girl began to sink below the waves.

No.

“Deploying inflater bags.” Scott’s voice was protocol. Over comms specifically for Virgil, it was reassurance.

Yellow appeared in the water below and the bags rose, somewhat awkwardly as they were deployed from the now underside of the upside down Thunderbird.

But his girl was floating and not disappearing into the depths.

He let his breath go.

-o-o-o-

“Thunderb-bird T-Two is not a s-submersible!”

Gordon jumped as Brains’ angry voice hit him. He had hurried back the moment John had told him that Virgil had crashed his ‘bird. Of course, the Indian Ocean was a fair way away by sub, so it had taken him quite some time to make it back to the Island without the assistance of his cargo carrying brother.

After docking Four, Gordon had the unpleasant experience of discovering Two in her hanger. The puddle around her and behind her where she had been dragged in by the heavy duty pods punctuated her condition loudly.

Thunderbird Two wasn’t going anywhere for quite some time.

“Lives were at stake.” Virgil’s voice was strained.

“Yes, including yours.” Oh great, Scott was in on this. Though, to be honest, where else would Scott be in this situation? “You could have killed yourself, Virgil. Either in the water with the freighter or when you crashed your own ship.”

“You ordered me to ditch her!”

“She was going down anyway! You would have been killed!”

Great. There it was. Scott had had the shit scared out of him again. How many times had his eldest brother been faced with Virgil crashing his ‘bird?

Too many times.

Gordon sighed and took that last step into the comms room.

Someone had to save his brother from his big brother and the resident genius engineer.

“Hey, guys.” All three turned to stare at him. “Virg, you okay?”

A single nod. Well, as okay as a Tracy brother could be when their ‘bird is in pieces.

Brains’ turned back to Virgil. “R-repairs are going to t-take some time. Time we do not have l-leading up to the Zero-X p-project.”

“I will work on repairs.”

“V-Virgil, you d-do not understand. Th-thunderbird Two’s frame was w-warped in the collision. She is s-tructurally unsound. She n-needs a new hull. The plane in the hangar is only g-good for sp-spare parts.”

Gordon’s heart sank as Virgil stared at Brains.

“I-I’m s-sorry, V-Virgil. Thunderbird T-Two needs to b-be rebuilt entirely.”

Virgil was still staring.

Gordon was doing a little staring of his own. “How can International Rescue operate without Thunderbird Two?”

“I’m a-afraid, it will h-have to m-make do.”

Virgil was still staring at Brains, his expression caught in shock.

Scott looked a little stunned himself, but his eyes kept darting between the two engineers.

Until Virgil sat down hard on the couch behind his heels.

“Virgil?”

But Virgil had buried his face in his hands.

It was a matter of strides before Gordon was sitting beside his brother. “Hey, Virg. We will rebuild her.” His hand landed on a tense shoulder.

Virgil didn’t respond.

-o-o-o-

The next few days were quiet for Brains. Mostly because he was tackling the fuel design problem and not having much luck, so consequently had locked himself in his lab in order to focus on the problem.

It was the fourth day after the demise of their cargo carrier before he saw Virgil again. The pilot had disappeared into the villa and the few times Brains had surfaced for food or been physically dragged out of his lab by Sally Tracy, Virgil hadn’t be anywhere to be seen.

He did know that John arrived down from Five on the second day and late one night as he was stumbling to his rooms, Scott and John could be heard having a very loud ‘discussion’ in the comms room. Brains knew better than to interrupt that. When the Tracy’s argued, there was usually enough passion in the room to set the furniture alight, not to mention random engineers who might accidentally get in the way. So he went to bed and ignored it.

But on the fourth day, Virgil appeared in Brains’ lab, eyes a little bloodshot and demeanour tired. Brains didn’t realise he was there at first. It wasn’t until Virgil reached around him and asked him about the fourth variable in his equation, that he realised he was being watched.

“Oh, V-Virgil. H-how are you?”

“Fine. Just on the hunt for some J-12 threads for Four.” A frown. “What are you doing? Is that praeline oxide? Are you trying to bind it with neutrozine?”

“Yes. W-we need an increase in fuel energy with a r-reduction in mass.”

“Why?”

“The Zero-X fuselage is too large to b-be launched at current r-ratios.” He threw up the design hologram for his fellow engineer.

Those bloodshot eyes frowned. “You’ve based the design on the original Zero-X.”

“M-most certainly. It was the m-most efficient d-design.”

“But it is not working.”

“No. We have d-different mass require-ments to the original d-design and, so far, I have been unable to compensate.”

Virgil spun the hologram around on its axis. A slight frown and he pulled out his phone, stabbing it with his finger.

“Cahelium would lighten the load, perhaps enough to stick with the current fuel.”

“We do not have enough p-processed cahelium in store and n-not enough t-time to refine more.”

Virgil pursed his lips and stabbed his fingers at his phone again.

An undefined expression flickered across his face. Voice quiet. “Yes, you do.” A swallow and he held up his phone. “Cannibalise Two.”

Brains stared at the hurried calculations and his eyes widened. “Yes. That is perfect!” He scribbled down the numbers into his tablet. Within moments he had cross referenced the resources and added up exactly what he needed. Two would tip the scales. He could also possibly use her structure as it was. It would speed up production. Of course, with her damage, he would need to check her integrity thoroughly.

If only he could use Three as well, he could incorporate her strength here. That would require extra thrust there, but then Three had that strength already.

The calculations piled up in his head. By the time he had come up with a feasible design, Virgil was long gone.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

#thunderbirds are go #TAG Spoilers #tagspoilers #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Hiram Hackenbacker #Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #episode tag

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thunderbirds-are-fab · 5 years ago

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Upside Down - TAG live reaction

We are back in business with the last slice of Season 3, and boy oh boy is it a good day for Gordon and Penelope fans...

• First of all, I have to say as I did last time we came back from hiatus, that this show is incredibly beautiful. The graphics are unparalleled.

• Immediately, Penny's reactions are the best. "Tsunami? Oh dear."

• His name is... Stew? Poor boy.

• Oh no those poor plastic palm trees XD I can't say I don't like them. For all the stunningly beautiful CGI on this show, I will never be ungrateful for the real model elements. The physical sets, the plastic trees, the real water. It's really rare that you can blend these two things together so heavily and have it look as good as Thunderbirds are Go makes it look. The Anderson legacy continues.

• Is that Australia on the edge of the map Penelope is looking at? It could use some extra water right now :(

• GORDON'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!! And he's all better and ready to rescue again :D

• He's just so excited to go out again. So pure. So full of joy. Why was he made to suffer so much. A ray of sunshine. Baby boy.

• Glad we get to see at least a partial TB4 launch again. I'll never get over the Stingray sub being in the fish tank. And his hand scanner playing the first four notes of the Thunderbirds March? The designers are geniuses. They know exactly what a nerdy fan would want to see because they ARE nerdy fans.

• THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! YAHOOOOO!

• Scuba Penny is back!

• I'm not sure if I trust this Stew guy yet. How come he's the only sensible one on the ship if he's the lowest ranking? Seems off that he got left to call in a rescue.

• I'm also taking time to wonder why we needed a FAB2 yacht if FAB1 can already convert into a submarine. I guess that no matter how cool your car is, you just gotta have a yacht if you're rich.

• Penny: "I've got a wave to catch"

*Hawaii Five-0 theme starts playing*

• Penny: *making straining noises trying to open the hatch*

Me at 8:40am: -_-

• A literal tsunami wave and the tanker just stays in place and flops over?

• Parker just parkours FAB2 over the whole problem. Just drives over a literal tsunami wave. Just puts his foot down and YEETs it. Ok then.

• But he gives Sherbet a little smooch so nothing else matters :3

• Gordon anxiously wanting to save Penelope is cute, but this is Lady Penelope we're talking about. If it was me I'd say just wait five minutes and she'll probably pop out the other side of the ship having rescued everybody.

• HE'S JUST SO HAPPY TO SEE HER THOUGH

• Gordon and Penny using scuba diver's hand signals to communicate!!!

• OOOOOOH SO HE'S A COOK! That explains why he's called Stew then.

• A lucky ladle...? Maybe we should have brought Grandma on this rescue. She'd understand.

• To quote Jeff Tracy: "The best way out is always through". We've only just got back and they're already dropping Jeff feels on us ;_;

• Stew drops his air and instead of going down to grab it for him Penny steals his lucky ladle instead. If that was me in that moment I'd feel betrayed.

• "I don't think I've ever seen a kitchen utensil used in a rescue before." Grandma has obviously not been physically involved in nearly enough rescues then.

• Gordon to Penelope: "It's good to hear your voice!" HE MISSED HER SO MUCH WHILE HE WAS INJURED WHY DID THEY NOT CALL EACH OTHER AND STUFF THIS POOR BOY OH MY HEART

• Wow, this sassy Captain is so rude. Like I get that you want to not lose your ship, but it's not your job to say to a rescuer who's literally fought their way to get to you "no thanks I've decided that me and therefore also my crew should die trying". (This is the same trait that specifically made me start to dislike Captain Ridley in Impact, but she's still a fan favourite for some reason...)

• Awww Gordon saying he lost a ship too. (Twice, actually. Rebuilt it in less than a week both times, but never mind).

• Vergil saying TB2 going underwater is impossible, and then on the same breath saying "I'm in". I guess we shouldn't be surprised by anything after he took it to space.

• Wondering why Brains isn't commenting on this at all though. I guess after the TB2 space adventure he's just like "Do whatever you want with it because I've factored in every possible capability for these crafts. I know you'll try to make them do literally anything so that's how I built them. No need to ask me again just go for it."

• *Kisses ladle for luck*

Me at 8:50am: -_-

• Gordon's face when TB2 starts sinking is more emotion than I can handle at this time of the morning. This show has my heart on a string.

• Me: Looks like TB2 can't quite pull it. I think they need to call in TB1. There's no other craft strong enough.

Teeny tiny FAB1: *pulls TB2 and the whole tanker over*

Me: Ok then.

• Gordon, Vergil AND Parker all cheering as the tanker goes over!!!

• Gordon: "Hi"

Penelope: "Hi"

This is already more romantically charged dialogue than any Pen&Ink fanfiction out there. You cannot deny the spark that is so clearly conveyed through so few words.

• THEY MISSED EACH OTHER SO MUCH GUYS

• aaaaaaand then Stew ruins the moment with pie.

• and then Parker also ruins it. Because Parker.

• But at least Sherbet is there to sit on Gordon's lap like the best boy that he is :3

• AND THEN THERE WAS A KISS!!! ON THE LIPS!!!!!! I can hear the shippers screaming with joy.

• And Gordon said it was better than pie.

• There are going to be so many Pen&Ink fics involving pie now.

#this took me a while to write #I forgot my phone when I went down to watch TV so I wrote on paper #and then Tumblr mobile formatting is a butt #but yes I did get up at half 8 on a Saturday for a children's TV show #something I never did as a child for any cartoon #so TAG I hope you know I how special you are to me #Season 3c spoilers #spoilers #Upside Down #Thunderbirds are Go

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madilayn · 5 years ago

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TAG S3 Ep 19 SPOILERS

Having now seen TAG Se Episode 19.......

Ok - that was DEFINITELY a Pen and Ink kiss. As was the awkward conversation before it. AND that Penny had obviously asked Gordon to stay on FAB2 to travel wherever they were going. I rather suspect to a nearby port to drop off passengers, and then to Tracy Island.

And Parker was absolutely trying to chaperone!!

Good thing that Sherbert still likes Gordon!

#TAGteam. TAG #Thunderbirds Are Go #Thunderbirds #International Rescue #Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward #Pen and Ink #Gordon Tracy #Penny #Lady Penelope #Tea and Sea #Pink Squid #SPOILERS #Spoilers within

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cocoteaching · 5 years ago

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Nadine, Piscine, FAB2, 5 Mai 2020.

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mrsbrightside2b · 7 years ago

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#Fab2 #LoveYou #5Ever #BestFriend #LowMaintenanceFriends #WeActuallyHungOut #CatLadies #Meow

#loveyou #bestfriend #meow #catladies #5ever #lowmaintenancefriends #weactuallyhungout #fab2

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timgort · 5 years ago

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Got to take a hike with an awesome crew today. Five and a half miles and nearly 1,000 ft. elevation gain, starting at 11,000 ft. #newmexicotrue #williamslake #wheelerpeak #taosskivalley (at Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byjdmq-FaB2/?igshid=1wtbp4a8zkrwv

#newmexicotrue #williamslake #wheelerpeak #taosskivalley

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moleculardepot · 10 months ago

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Donkey fab2 Donkey anti-Human IgG Heavy and Light Chain HRP Conjugated

Donkey fab2 Donkey anti-Human IgG Heavy and Light Chain HRP Conjugated Catalog number: B2015254 Lot number: Batch Dependent Expiration Date: Batch dependent Amount: 100 ug Molecular Weight or Concentration: N/A Supplied as: Solution Applications: a molecular tool for various biochemical applications Storage: 2-8 °C Keywords: fab2 Donkey anti-Human IgG Heavy and Light Chain Cross-Adsorbed Antibody…

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gumnut-logic · 5 years ago

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We’ll Be Home For Christmas 1.2

Title: We’ll be home for Christmas

Day One – A Tale of a Fateful Trip – Part 2 Prologue | 1.1

Author: Gumnut

8 - 14 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can’t fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 2701

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven’t seen it yet.

Author’s note: For @scattergraph This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic and it is a big one ::headdesk:: I hope you enjoy it. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed researching a gorgeous corner of this planet.

Many thanks to @vegetacide and @scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to @onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

And as always, thank you all for creating such a fantastic fandom. Thundernerds rock! I hope you all have a wonderful festive season. Thank you all so much for everything.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

The sunset that night was as good as any they had ever seen on Tracy Island. The ocean swell was minimal as predicted and Gordon threw out a sea anchor to hold them tight while they ate dinner. They could have kept going, but instead chose a moment of quiet and together.

The meal was a lazy affair out on the boat deck consisting of burgers assembled by John and Alan.

For a change the conversation was light. A voyage down memory lane, Dad, the saga of FAB2 and Parker’s, uh, misfortune with it, and an incident in WASP training that Alan literally had to drag out of Gordon with threats of revealing something worse that the three other brothers were still in the dark about.

The glare sent Alan’s way promised some serious dunking at some point. Alan’s grin in return clearly said it was worth it.

While they were sitting still, Gordon threw out a sensory buoy. Apparently, the aquanaut had gone all out and stocked the yacht with all his marine biology equipment. No doubt, Scott had been back and forth between Tracy Island with his brother at least once. It wasn’t often the scientist in Gordon got a chance to play in his environment.

Sure, Tracy Industries had made some major ecological investments in the area, including the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary which protected a whole swath of ocean between Tracy Island and New Zealand. Gordon had worked with his father early on in that project and advised that as much as possible should be protected. Their proximity to the island group and the purpose of International Rescue hadn’t always coincided and it was Gordon, young though he was, who made it work.

And besides, Tracy Island was outside New Zealand’s and their other nearby neighbour, Tonga’s control and their security system didn’t let anyone near them anyway.

But Gordon had always been conscious of the greater good beyond human matters and their family as a whole kept their Island as ecologically isolated as possible to protect its non-human inhabitants. If anything, it was proof that humans could exist within an established ecosystem and impact it minimally as long as due care was taken.

The sensor buoy he threw off the side of their boat sunk into the depths somewhat and sharpened their sensory net to activity underwater including sounds and movement. The holographic interface threw up a three-dimensional display of the water under and around the boat up to a kilometre across.

The aquanaut placed the projector in the middle of the table. “Would you look at that.”

Vigil stared at the somewhat blurry dots and shapes moving across the display. “What?”

Gordon rolled his eyes and, reaching into the hologram, zoomed in on one spot teeming with dots of movement. The middle of the table was suddenly full of a school of large fish.

Virgil shifted back and he wasn’t the only one.

“A little warning next time, bro.” Alan was frowning at Gordon.

“Eh.” And no, their aquanaut did not care, his eyes latched on the fish. “A school of tuna, southern bluefin, in fact. Good to see, though they are at the edge of their range.” He grabbed his tablet and, while four other brothers stared at him, he entered some data, his eyes dancing between the two displays.

Virgil couldn’t help but smile. Scott caught his eye and did the same. Virgil’s smile became a grin.

Gordon didn’t notice. His fingers darted into the hologram again and minimised the tuna only to bring up another school of fish on the other side of the display. More notes were made on the tablet.

The silence around the table was profound. Even John had a small smile on his face as he watched Gordon.

A dark shape moved amongst the fish. It was much larger and it wasn’t until it slid into the centre of the school that it became clear exactly what it was.

“Wow.” Alan voiced the awe for all of them. Well, except Gordon who was still staring at the fish.

Virgil resisted the urge to reach out and touch the hologram of the shark cruising through scattering fish. He wasn’t sure what type it was, but it was big.

A moment later Gordon realised they were all staring. A glance at the shark and he punched at his tablet. “Bonus! She’s tagged!” Another stab or two. “Hilda? Oh my god, it’s Hilda.”

Hilda?

“Who’s Hilda?” Virgil asked the question, but Gordon was absorbed in what he was doing.

“I did not expect to find her this far south.”

“You know this shark?” Alan’s voice was small.

“What? Oh, yeah, Hilda likes to feed in our lagoon.”

“What?” Scott’s deeper voice cut through the stunned silence. “That shark was in our lagoon?”

Gordon blinked up at him. “Well, yeah, how do you think I tagged her? Been following her movements for the last two years. She loves some of the smaller fish that feed in the coral reefs. She can’t quite fit into all of them, but she enjoys herself in any case. Caught herself a couple of seabirds from the colony on Mateo a few months back. It was awesome.” Not once did his eyes leave the display and the shark swimming across their dinner table.

“I am never going swimming again.” Alan’s voice was tiny.

Gordon finally looked up and his eyebrows shot up. “Hey, she’s cool. You lot aren’t tasty enough anyway.”

Scott sighed and dropped his head into his hand. “Why do I bother?”

Something flashed in the corner of the display and Gordon immediately minimised it back to a sea of floating dots. “Hey, we’ve got a big one coming into range. Oooh, no, two....yes!”

Virgil jumped as the display flickered and zoomed in again, this time bringing up another large shape. His fish brother was literally bouncing in his seat. “Ooooh, she’s a mama.” And there beside the humpback whale appeared a young calf.

Virgil stared.

“And they are talking. Listen to this.” Gordon grinned as he punched his tablet with an eager finger. Suddenly the room was full of grunting and clicking sounds and the occasional moan.

God.

Virgil reached behind him, fingers grabbing for the sketchbook he had thrown there earlier while still fighting with his pencil. Within moments both pad and pencil were in hand and he was drawing. Fast. The pencil scraping across the page. Curves, bumps waves of lines. On the table the two whales flew through the phantom water. On the paper, Virgil’s fingers lost themselves in the art. Graphite formed the whales’ flanks, the sharpness of the pencil lead compensated where the display could not provide clarity. But most of all he drew fast. He did not know how long they would be there, or how long he would have the privilege of seeing them.

He disappeared into the page, finding that zone he had been so seeking the last few days, and it wasn’t until the display flickered off and he found all four brothers staring at him that he snapped out of it.

A glance at Gordon. “They’ve left the area, bro. I held them in range as long as I could.” Brown eyes were apologetic.

Virgil blinked and looked down at what he had been drawing.

Two whales leapt off the page in front of him, silver and grey graphite shone, caught by the cartridge paper tooth. Tilted in pose, they were turned just slightly towards each other, so obviously parent and child, it touched his heart.

“That’s awesome, Virgil!” Alan was all jubilation and eagerness.

A glance at Scott and Virgil found something akin to pride in his eyes. John was smiling. Gordon stood up and walked behind Virgil, peering over his shoulder. “Can I have it? Or a print?”

“Uh...”

Gordon’s hand landed on his shoulder. You don’t have to answer now. Just know that that is a damn good drawing, bro, and I like it.”

Virgil grabbed his arm before he could move away. “How often do you see whales?”

A shrug. “It is late in the season, but we might see a few this time of year. The humpbacks migrate through here. I’ve certainly seen enough from home.”

“They come near Tracy Island?”

Gordon frowned at him. “I thought you were in touch with the world around you, Virg. All that artistic standing in the wind stuff. Of course, they do. I’m taking you whale watching as soon as possible. You don’t need to swim to see whales. God, guys, we live on an island in the middle of thousands of miles of ocean. Pay more attention. Yeesh.”

Okay, perhaps he had a point. Gordon had always loved the ocean and the worlds beneath it. Scott always loved the sky, John and Alan adored space. Virgil...was about how those worlds worked. Perhaps he needed to pay more attention to the ones underwater. “It appears I need to.”

Those familiar brown eyes blinked at him before a hand covered the one Virgil had on his arm. “Hey, I’ve got an idea.” He slipped free of his hold and grabbed his tablet again. “Just need to log into my home server...” The tablet took a royal stabbing with his finger. A moment and he set the device down on the table, poked it a couple more times until it projected up another underwater scene.

Five fully grown humpback whales and two calves frolicked in the holographic water. “There you go. Last year, not two hundred metres from our front door.”

Virgil just stared. His fingers itched to capture the scene. He hadn’t felt so inspired in months. “C-can you send me a copy?”

Gordon stared at him a moment, something in his eyes. “Sure. Tell you what. I’ll copy a bunch of these recordings onto the family server and you can do with them what you like.”

He couldn’t look away from the whales. “Thank you, Gordon.” He needed some colours. Phthalo blue. Payne’s grey. Phthalo turquoise. Cadmium yellow and possibly orange to up the contrast. White and maybe some Alizarin Crimson.

“Virgil, you okay?” Scott.

“Huh?” He shot a glance in his brother’s direction. Scott was frowning at him. “Uh, yeah. Did you bring any of my paints?”

Scott looked at John and his younger brother answered. “Your travel kit is in your cabin.”

“Great! Thank you.” He grinned at John and stood up...slowly as his body reminded him he wasn’t running at one hundred percent. A step and he hugged a stunned Gordon. “Thank you, Gordon. Thank you.”

“Uh, you’re welcome?”

Virgil stepped back and grinned at him. Gordon was staring at him as if he’d lost a marble or two. His expression only made Virgil laugh. A pat on his arm and Virgil grabbed his sketchbook and with another grin headed off towards his cabin.

He had it. All he needed was his tablet and a network connection and he had stock to paint to his heart’s content.

“Don’t you stay up painting all night!” It was Scott, yelling the length of the boat, but it only made Virgil’s grin wider.

-o-o-o-

Shit. The idiot was likely to exhaust himself at his easel. He would have to make sure he checked on him later, make sure he was sitting, not standing. Wouldn’t help for his brother to exacerbate his injury just because he zombified when painting.

John was staring at him.

“What?”

A soft smile. “Nothing.”

Scott eyed him, but John was his usual calm self, refusing to reveal any hint to his thoughts.

Lips thinning, he shot his brother a glare, which was ignored, and turned back to Gordon...only to find the table now covered in what appeared to be densely packed sardines of some kind.

Okay, he’d had enough of fish. He pushed himself to his feet. Gordon didn’t notice.

Scott had been hoping to sit down with Virgil and just have a little one on one bro time, but he had to admit that seeing it all come together for his arty brother like that had been pretty amazing and there was no way he was going to deny him the moment.

He would likely emerge from his room sometime tomorrow with a new masterpiece in his hands that Scott would, as usual, be totally stunned and blindsided as to how he managed it. Hell, that whale took all of fifteen minutes and it literally leapt off the page.

Stepping back from the table, he brushed a hand across John’s shoulders as he passed behind him and slipped inside. There was a bar in the corner of the lounge. He grabbed the whisky he had bought that morning and poured himself just a smidgen. He didn’t want to get drunk. He just wanted something to line his mouth, give him the taste.

Tumbler in hand he made his way through the main cabin and up onto the bow where they had stood for a good part of the voyage earlier in the day.

The sun was only a memory of the far side of the horizon, the sky darkening quickly and the ocean that gently rocked the boat, and no doubt Virgil’s easel, was becoming blacker than the sky above it.

The moon hadn’t risen yet, but the stars were breaking through the remnant light, and combined with the faint breeze, night was setting in.

Scott let a breath out.

In its own way it was beautiful. He wasn’t one for waxing poetic, but the sky was his home. He breathed it in with every breath and out here away from the lights of life, he could almost hear it.

“Makes you think, doesn’t it?”

Despite himself, he jumped.

“Woah, big bro, just come up to share a drink with you. Spock and McCoy killed all the rear lights so they can stare at their distant balls of gas and talk the hard sciences.” His brother rolled his eyes. “They’ve obviously never attempted to collect samples from a hydrothermal vent several kilometres down. ‘Hard’ would be the least of the terms used.”

His brother’s verbal diarrhoea came to a sudden halt and Scott took the moment to let his shoulders drop.

“You okay?” Gordon looked up at him and Scott realised he had a tumbler in his hand similar to the one in his own.

A half smile. “I’m good.” And he returned to looking out at the black hole of an ocean. “Thank you for coming up with this idea.” He rolled his shoulders just a little and took another sip of his drink. “I think we all need it.”

“Not a problem.” Gordon moved up to stand beside him and sipped his own whisky. “Not often I get a chance to get out here for a good stretch of time. I’m enjoying myself.”

“I noticed.” He twisted his lips. “Hilda?”

Gordon grinned. “My senior year French teacher. The woman was all bite and no bark.”

Scott frowned. “Miss Schwank? I thought you liked her?” One handed air quotes. “‘I’d like to go all Jacques Cousteau on her.’ I think I actually have that in writing somewhere.”

Another grin. “I did. She was gorgeous. Blonde with all the right measurements and a tongue that could do all the right things, no matter the language.” The smile vanished and he looked down at the tumbler in his hand. “She was one of the Lost in the 2060 Tsunami Disaster. Found her name on the nets.” The stars lit his brother’s eyes as they looked up at him. “On her honeymoon, apparently.”

Scott swallowed. He remembered the vivacious woman, all sharp words and determination. “Sorry to hear that.”

Gordon sighed. “So, now we have a great white shark with the same attitude. Just as beautiful, just as determined, just as likely to bite my head off if I go anywhere near her.” The grin was back. Another sip and his brother’s expression was all fondness.

A smile crept onto Scott’s face. He reached up and dropped his hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed gently. Another taste of whisky and he turned back to stare into the darkness.

-o-o-o-

End Day One

Day Two, Part One

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Alan Tracy

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