PARAÍSO PERDIDO (2018)
dir. Monique Gardenberg
Paradise Lost is a nightclub managed by José and bustling with musical performances by his heirs. Police officer Odair becomes close to the family after being hired to provide security for the young talent Ímã, José's grandchild and a frequent target of bigoted attacks. Gradually, the bond between the officer and the clan of artists grows stronger and stronger.
(link in title)
Thunderfam, I put forward for your contemplation the following proposition:
Lee Taylor is the HTTYD movie verse Gobber to Jeff & Lucy’s Stoick & Valka
i.e. Has always been in love with his best friend but his best friend got married so he is totally cool with just being best friend / wingman and hey she can’t cook for toffee so he does the cooking and keeps an eye on the big guy when she’s not around… and then she disappears forever but big guy never lets her go.
Jeff glanced up from the schematic he was poring over at the gravelly voice of his best friend. The amusement clear in his voice was reflected on Lee Taylor’s face, and Jeff sighed as he straightened up.
‘Have I seen who?’
‘The new girl.’
‘What new girl?’
Taylor clipped Jeff around the head.
‘How have you - Mr Casanova himself - not even heard about the newest computer geek?’
‘I told you - those days are long gone. With our mission to Mars prep and our being off-planet for a little over a year I have no time for what could only be a bit of fun.’
‘Well…ya better make time for this one.’
Lee’s voice had dropped suddenly to a whisper and Jeff just knew that the woman in question was standing right behind him.
A pointed clearing of the throat told him he was correct and he winced, wondering how much she’d heard.
The expression on her face told him that she’d heard everything. Jeff half-grinned and held out his hand.
‘Jeff Tracy. Um…sorry about that.’
She eyed him for a beat too long to be comfortable before taking his hand firmly and shaking it.
‘Lucille Pryde. And don’t be. I have too much work to do to get involved with a flyboy like you.’
That…that stung his pride for a second but then her face transformed into an impish smile, she threw him a sloppy salute and sauntered out of the room.
Jeff’s jaw was hanging and he snapped it shut as Lee laughed on the corner.
Throwing down his stylus and pad, and casting a withering look at the now crying Taylor, Jeff hurried after her.
Sally Tracy swept into the lobby of the exclusive rehabilitation and physical therapy facility Jeff was relegated to as he reacclimatised to Earth. She was at the head of a troop of four of her grandsons, plus Brains and Kayo, and had a mysterious box tucked under her right arm.
“Good morning, Janice,” she greeted the young woman – dear God, was she old enough to be out of high school? – on reception duty.
“Good morning,” Janice chirped back. “He’s in his room with Alan, they’re expecting for you.”
Sally smiled. “And have they been behaving themselves?”
“Well,” Janice looked a little worried. “Alan has been an angel, but his father…” She grimaced. “Mr Tracy has decided that he is less than impressed with his prescribed diet. He’s been saying…” Janice flushed.
Sally grinned. “I’m guessing he’s been casting aspirations on my cooking abilities.”
The flush turned crimson as the mob behind Sally sniggered and nudged each other. “Yes, Dr Tracy. He’s been saying that as he grew up eating your cooking he had a cast iron stomach and could cope with anything.”
Sally snorted as the sniggers turned into full blown laughter. “So I had heard. And have heard before, usually to Jeff’s detriment.” She patted the box. “I think I have something here that will quiet him down good and proper.”
Janice smiled. “Just so long as the doctor’s don’t find out, Dr Tracy.”
Sally grinned and thanked Janice, before leading the group into the facility.
Hurried mutters behind her resulted in Virgil stumbling – obviously pushed – to her side. “Ah, Grandma…?”
Bless the boy, he was as sweet and as kind as the day was long, and all he ever wanted to do was help, so being sent – as the designated Medic – to challenge her – the Doctor was not something he was going to be comfortable – or subtle – about.
She smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay, Virgil. You’ll all find out what’s in the box soon enough. Yes, it is capable of hurting your father, but it has done so in the past – he’s unlikely to repeat that mistake. All I’m going to do now is remind him of that and what his limits are.”
“Ahh…” Virgil was saved from having to find a response to that by their arrival at Jeff’s room.
The door was ajar, obviously waiting for their arrival, so she tapped perfunctorily on the doorframe and swept in, the others piling into the room behind her. Jeff was resting on the bed, laying the pillows of the elevated section, a bolster cushion tucked under his knees. Alan was perched next to him, his torso pressed up against his father, with his knees drawn up higher. They were both focused on the pair of holograms projected into the room: Lee Taylor and Val Casey.
Jeff jolted at the intrusion. “Ma! Boys! Is that the time?” He glanced at the holograms guiltily.
There was the usual chaos as everyone went through the greetings, complicated by the extra two people ‘in’ the room. As the chaos settled down, and everyone settled into their selected seats: Grandma in a chair by Jeff’s other side to Alan, John beside her; Gordon, Kayo and Brains arrayed on the other side of the bed, while Scott and Virgil perched in chairs at the foot of the bed, Scott firmly planted between his father and the door.
“So, Jeff,” Sally began, “how has your week been?” She smiled innocently. “Is the food good?”
Val flushed and began making her excuses, and not-so-subtle hints to Lee that he should be doing the same, but Sally cut her off. “No need for you to leave. You’ve gone to a lot of effort to call, both of you, and you’re practically family.”
Her tone allowed no argument, and both stayed on the line. Sally turned back to Jeff. “How is the food, dear?”
Jeff squirmed. “Who ratted me out?” he asked, petulantly.
“Jeff, dear, you were missing for eight years. You really think we’re not burning out the switchboard, calling to make sure you’re really here and it wasn’t a dream?”
Jeff sighed. “It’s not like it was deliberate, Mom.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It was eight years. Eight years eating nutrient mush processed from the rocks of the Oort Cloud. It kept me alive, but it didn’t really do much for me taste wise. I just really, really want a steak dinner. Is that so bad?”
Sally sighed, and patted his hand. “I know. It’s not bad to want it, Jeff; but as you said, you spent eight years eating nutrient mush. You’re stomach isn’t up for that steak dinner yet. If you try … well, it won’t be pleasant – for you or anyone else.”
Jeff sighed. “I guess I know that, but … I guess I want reassurance that I’m home, too. And the bland food I’m getting,” he slumped, and mumbled to his clasped hands, “it doesn’t help. It feels … it’s more like there than here.”
Whimpers rose from numerous throats around the room, and from all sides hands made aborted moves to touch Jeff. Sally reached out and grasped his hands in hers. “I know, baby. And I know that patience isn’t your greatest strength, but you’re going to have to be patient. It’s like when you were learning to fly, or undergoing astronaut training. One step at a time.”
There was a sigh from the bed. “It’s a matter of time, Dad. You’ll get there,” Virgil offered.
“And when you do, we’ll have the biggest, most elaborate, steak dinner to celebrate – no holds barred, the whole cow, all the trimmings,” Scott offered.
“So start thinking what you want, we’ll need every minute of the time sort out the menu,” John added. Then, casting a grin at Scott, “because you can bet Scott’ll make sure we have test runs to ensure everything is just right for you. And he’ll throw himself under the bus as the quality assurance.”
“And in the meantime,” Sally added, “I brought a little something to cheer you up. It might … spice up your meals.”
Jeff had brightened up as they spoke, and had a full-blown grin on his face as he accepted the box from Sally, his eyes bright with the anticipation of the gift – and the others all leaned closer, as eager as Jeff to see what was in the box.
Jeff pulled the lid off, and stared at the object within. His expression somewhere between amusement, horror, and heartbreak. Alan leaned forward, a frown on his face. “Is that … hot sauce?” he asked, then gagged. “What is wrong with the people that made it? Why would they call it that?!”
Gordon bounced a little in his seat. “Call it what?”
Lee made a sound between a wheeze and a laugh. “It’s not …” he began, “she didn’t really bring…”
Jeff nodded. “Yep.” He lifted a bottle out of the box, and held it up. “Hot sauce. The hot sauce.”
The holograms of Val and Lee began laughing hysterically, and the others looked between the bottle, Jeff, Sally, and each other.
It took a long time for the laughter to settle down enough for Scott – who had taken the bottle from his father’s hand, and showed it to his brothers, they all recoiled on reading the name on the label, but none of them were enlightened to the reason for the laughter – to tentatively ask, “What’s the story with-” he glanced at the label again and baulked at the name “-this?”
Sally took the bottle off Scott, and passed it back to Jeff, who carefully, reverently, put it back in the box, nestled among the packing material. “Your mother gave me this, my first birthday after we were married,” he said, his eyes not quite focused on the room.
There was a collective holding of breath by his sons – Jeff rarely spoke of Lucille, any information they could coax out of him was rare and precious. Nobody wanted to risk disturbing him as he spoke.
“I’d been bragging about how growing up eating Mom’s cooking had given me a cast iron stomach – never got food poisoning, could handle hot chilli, no problem. So she brought me this…” He reached forward, and Scott surrendered the bottle to him. “It’s made from Carolina Reaper Chillies, they’re the hottest ones allowed for human consumption.” He smiled. “She kept mentioning that fact, but I kinda … missed that point.”
There was a wry chuckle. “She put on a birthday dinner, with some of our friends and a few of the other astronauts. Everyone was really interested in the hot sauce, and there was encouragement to try it.”
There were twin snorts from the holograms. “It didn’t take a whole lot of encouragement,as I recall,” Lee drawled.
“You weren’t exactly trying to dissuade him, as I recall,” Casey laughed. “And as I recalled you poured some on your dinner readily enough.”
Jeff grinned at his best friend. “Long story short, there was a limit to how much spice I could handle.”
Sally laughed, short and not entirely amused. “Poor Lucy called me absolutely distraught. None of you went light on the sauce. Apparently you couldn’t speak, your eyeballs were about popping out of your skull, you were sweating at a greater rate than Niagara Falls, your face was bright red, and you were having trouble breathing.” A glance at the hologram of Lee, “the lot of you.”
Alan’s jaw was hanging loose. “What happened? What’s the first aid for first degree chilli burns?”
Sally grinned. “Dairy. Full fat dairy products. Preferably milk, although in this case, it didn’t cut it. Luckily your mother had lots of heavy cream for some cooking she was planning. That was enough to kill the burn.”
Lee grimaced. “Yeah, but we’d been hitting the beers. Mighta killed the burn, but most of us were queasy as all hell for days afterwards.”
Sally snorted. “No sympathy. You all should have known better. The one I feel sorry for was Lucy, poor girl honestly thought she’d poisoned half the astronaut corps in one go.”
“So what happened?” Gordon asked, spellbound.
Jeff laughed. “We were all humbled. It burned going in, and it burned going out. We were all pretty gun-shy of spicy food for a while, I can tell you.” Jeff smiled, a little sadly. “Lucy was miserable, thought she’d near killed me – and at the time, it sure felt that way. She’d honestly never thought that I’d actually try to eat the stuff. Thought she was buying me a decoration for the barbecue area I was setting up in the patio. Truth be told, I should have known better, but … well, we’d been on the booze, and there was more than a bit of testosterone in that room.”
Jeff stared at the bottle nestled in it’s box. He rubbed at his eyes, and nobody commented on the dampness on his eyelashes.
The room was silent for a long moment.
Finally Jeff heaved a sigh. “I have my limits. I’m not ready for that steak dinner. But I will be. Right?”
“Right,” Sally squeezed his arm, gently. “And we’ll be here to help you. All of us.”
Notes:
Soooo my Christmas present to brother-in-law the younger may have near poisoned him…
In my defence, I made it very clear the ‘hot sauce’ was made from Carolina Reaper Chillies, that they are the hottest chilli’s currently available for human consumption, and honestly: would you put something in your mouth that was labelled ‘Rectum Wrecker’? I thought I was getting him a talking point decoration for his new barbecue area; not actual food!
After a couple of days when it was apparent that he was okay, I got to thinking it was a very Tracy thing to do...
The standard disclaimers, I do not own Thunderbirds, either the TOS or CGI Series. (Although I do own copies on DVD.)
I do not do this for money, but for my own (in)sanity and entertainment.
“I’m sorry, Commander, I don’t have any. Too much electrical interference.”
Jeff cursed under his breath. He knew John was doing his best, but there had been so many lives lost today.
Lee wasn’t happy. All the data they had pointed to a structural fault in the mall that caused the collapse. It left Jeff grateful that his engineering son wasn’t here for the incident. Virgil reminded him of Lucy when he went off the deep end – rare but a force of nature.
But today Virgil was with Gordon for a very important moment in his little brother’s swimming career.
Jeff was disappointed that he wasn’t there for Gordon, but responsibilities were responsibilities.
“Commander?” His eldest son was covered in dust. Jeff noted the dark smears on his arms but didn’t have the time to acknowledge what they meant.
The fire in Scott’s eyes was enough.
Jeff let out a sigh. “John can’t get more detail, so we are going in almost blind.” A breath and he stared at the remaining pile of crumpled masonry. “We’ll have Two lift off that piece of roof and go from there.”
“Two is not going to be happy.”
“Yeah, well, none of us are happy. “
“FAB.”
A glance as his son started issuing commands to the team. Jeff allowed himself the briefest flash of pride. Scott had become a mainstay of International Rescue and Jeff was ever so proud.
The roar of a Thunderbird shifting overhead and Two appeared, her VTOL reflecting Lee’s mood, no doubt. His partner-in-crime had been a great help the last couple of years, filling in to help with IR when he was available. Jeff envisioned that one day perhaps all his family could be involved, so it was great to have his brother-in-law on the job.
After all IR was to be his sister’s legacy.
Lucy was never far from Jeff’s thoughts, particularly today.
She would have been so angry.
Jeff had to settle for being her vengeance.
The clunk of all four of Two’s grapples as they clamped onto the broken roof. A roar of energised VTOL and the roof lifted ever so slowly.
Slowly not because Two wasn’t capable of lifting it easily, but slow and carefully in an attempt to protect the lives possibly below it.
And they were rewarded. As the weak and wintery southern Californian sun flickered onto the newly exposed rubble, there were voices, both terrified and relieved.
Jeff signalled to Kyrano and Scott and all three of them moved to evac the rescuees.
Thirteen in total. Five didn’t make it.
They dug deeper with Two pulling off smaller and smaller pieces of rubble. Jeff found himself wishing for some kind of mechanism to lift the rocks himself. A pod wasn’t practical in this space and it hampered their progress.
The weak sun headed towards the horizon.
Virgil checked it with the good news that Gordon had won and had another trophy for his collection.
Jeff gritted his teeth as he hauled out yet another poor soul who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Scott found someone to save and for some critical moments there was activity to keep that life going. Jeff’s heart clenched as he shifted more rubble.
The night crawled over the sky and powerful lamps were set up.
It was far too many hours later when they called it. Jeff was exhausted. They were all exhausted.
He gave the order to pack up and retreat. It was always a dreaded order, but they had scoured the site and there were no signs of life left. John had managed to penetrate the majority of the electrical disturbance, which had been a relief…
“Commander?”
Jeff blinked. John sounded worried. “Thunderbird Five?”
“I’m getting a fragmentary lifesign signal. Unconfirmed.” A pause and the sound of his son pushing buttons. “I can’t clear it up. I’m sending coordinates.”
Jeff’s wristcomm flickered into life, a map of the site with the location flashing. It was in the remains of what used to be an ice cream palour. His heart dropped. “FAB, Thunderbird Five.”
He jogged over, steeling himself for what he might find. The shadows were hard and sharp, sketching out the remains of what had been a cheerful, family place. Innocuous everyday objects discarded in a disaster zone always forced him to face the horror of their existence. A statement made of the tragedy by the tragedy and the sight of the remains of ice cream tubs, tables, chairs and even broken cones in the dark dust stabbed him where it hurt.
But there were no signs of life.
He shifted rubble and moved the tables. A counter and a gaily painted menu revealed nothing of their patrons or owners.
It was all eerily silent.
Until someone whimpered.
“Can you hear me? This is International Rescue. We are here to help. Please respond.”
A pause.
No answer.
So, he repeated himself in Spanish.
The silence was ominous.
But then there was another whimper. Followed by a whine.
Jeff moved, throwing broken fixtures out of his way, narrowing in on the sound.
It wasn’t until he picked up yet another upturned ice cream tub that he realised his rescuee wasn’t human.
Curled up fearfully in the dirt was a tiny little puppy, barely recognisable, drenched in melted ice confection.
A pair of wide dark eyes looked up at Jeff in fear.
Jeff didn’t hesitate. A life was a life and he was the son of farmers as well as adventurers.
“Hey, there, little one.” He held out a gloved hand for the puppy to sniff. “I won’t hurt you.” Tone was everything.
The puppy stared at him a moment as if considering, whimpered, and tentatively sniffed at his finger.
A pitiful whine broke Jeff’s heart.
Ever so carefully, he gently picked up the puppy. When the dog didn’t protest, he stood slowly, bringing the little creature to his chest.
It shivered in the cold.
Its eyes never left Jeff’s.
He crooned nonsense words and he hurried over towards Thunderbird Two.
Lee met him halfway, all the questions on his face. Jeff shushed him with a look.
Up Two’s ramp and he found the supplies and the quiet he needed.
Gently placing the trembling puppy on a hastily gathered emergency blanket. It whined in fear.
Jeff yanked off his helmet and the smell of damp earth, broken rock and burning electronics made it up his nose, but a stronger, sweeter smell fought it all off.
The little puppy smelled of pink sherbet and childhood memories.
It whimpered again, and as Scott strode past with Lee in prep for lift off, Jeff picked up Sherbet and clutched the little dog to his chest again.
If Jeff rode home with Lee instead of with Scott on One, which was his usual choice, it was his right as Commander to not have to explain himself.
There would be questions and inquiries as to the puppy’s owner, but there was something in the little dog’s eyes that just entranced Jeff. As if it was some cosmic meant to be.
“Got yourself another kid there, Tracy?” The smirk on Lee’s face as they approached Tracy Island was fond and irritating.
Jeff glared at him. But if he was honest with himself, maybe Lee was right?
He brushed a finger over its tiny furry forehead.
It was still staring at him.
Quiet. “I’m here to help.”
He ignored Lee’s snort, as the puppy finally curled up and relaxed in his hands, promptly falling asleep.
Here are all of my tricks and treats from the Thunderfam Trick or Treat in their final form, all together as the whole fic!!!
Lucy takes her kids trick or treating! Shenanigans, cute costumes and too much sugar inbound! Much fluff!! Plus a bonus extra snippet!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
----
Lucy pressed a hand over her mouth trying not to laugh. Scott looked so much like Jeff in his dad’s old airforce flight suit, complete with aviator sunnies and troublemaking grin. Apart from how the arms and legs had to be rolled up several times as Scott hadn’t yet hit his growth spurt, and were already coming down as Lucy attempted to pin them in place while the not quite teen bounced with excitement, candy bucket in hand.
John adjusted his cat ears for the forth time in not as many minutes, fidgeting with the headband, a nervous frown crinkled between his eye brows. Lucy knew her second eldest wasn't much of a fan of noisy crowds of people or spooky surprises, when it came down to it neither was she, but John wanted to go, had picked out his costume of a black and ginger cat and even let a very careful Virgil draw whiskers and a nose on his face with Lucy’s eyeliner. A set of noise cancelling headphones in her bag and the promise that he could stick by Scott the whole time and go home with her if he needed to, had a small smile once again on John’s lips, as he rocked on his heels in anticipation.
Virgil’s costume had been the easiest out of all of them, in terms of choice. Lucy thought it would be a phase but ever since the local fire engine and crew had come for a demonstration at the primary school several months ago, wanting to be a fire fighter had been all Virgil could talk about. Bundled up in yellow rain jacket far too large to go to Gordon, covered in reflective tape stripes because ‘That’s what the real one’s look like, mummy,’ Tracy spelt out across the back, the red plastic hat jammed on his curls, falling over eyes, Virgil was positively ecstatic. If only they could keep him from trying to practice with the garden hose turned full water pressure on their thankfully very much not on fire house.
Kyrano’s kid staying with them, Tanusha or as the boys had started called her, Tin Tin, resolutely refused to dress up. Eventually, with much suspicious glancing around, she whispered in Lucy’s ear that she was already dressed up, because she was a spy and didn't need a costume. In the kid way like it was totally obvious and how didn't Lucy already know this, Tin Tin stated, “The only spies that look like spies are dead spies.” Lucy manage to keep a straight face through that rather threatening sentence delivered by a kid with pig tails, missing front teeth, and a expression she likely throught was intimidating with a wrinkled up nose and screwed up eyes, but to Lucy was adorable.
Gordon had been utterly thrilled when Lucy had said, yes, he could go as both a pirate and a clownfish, if that’s what he wanted. The toddler hadn't taken off the patterned aquarium shirt or pirate hat since this morning, despite several narrow misses with the bath, the full kitchen sink and the garden hose. Orange, black and white paint, hastily applied as Lucy chased a laughing Gordon around the house, plus a rubber duck attached to his shoulder at Gordon’s insistence with some creative duct taping, completed the costume.
Little Allie had the dubious honour of the astronaut baby costume Jeff and Lee had found online. Speaking of Jeff and Lee, Lucy followed the sound of cursing to the hallway where both astronauts were trying and failing to unfold the double stroller for Alan and an inevitably exhausted Gordy. Lucy instructed while laughing, ‘There’s a catch under there, somewhere,’ while she jiggled Allie on her hip as he tried to chew her hair.
Finally, they were all ready to go. Mini Maverick held hands with a ginger and black cat and a fire fighter, ready to surge ahead towards the streets and sweets being handed out. The undercover spy dodged from shadow to shadow, and Lucy made note to keep an extra eye out so she didn't disappear. A clownfish pirate or pirate clownfish, there was no consensus come to about that, was perched on Lee’s shoulders, the stroller predictably refused. The pint sized astronaut gnawed on a rocket shaped teether, in the pram pushed by full-sized astronaut two, or Jeff ‘We don't need costumes, we’re already famous,’ Tracy. Every year, he and Lee got a kick out of telling sceptical children that they really were the real deal.
Lucy’s lab coat, her work one because she’d run out of time for a costume for herself, swished around her, covered in definitely artful and not because it had been a day, explosion marks. Well technically, it hadn't been an explosion-explosion, rather a spill and the chemicals were safe, but that was only for her to know and everyone else to worry about. With her mess of unbrushed red curls and ability to spout off physics and astronomy facts at a million miles a Cminute, she made quite the mad scientist, if she did say so herself. Especially as she dashed down the street after her eldest three, because they most definitely still needed supervision, after the sticky toffee, climbing tree, near miss with the emergency room trick of last year!
---Bonus!!!---
Virgil took his brand-shiny-new firefighters uniform from Chief McCready’s hands, grinning face splitting wide. His own uniform, because for the next few weeks he was a proper part of Blue Watch, and a firefighter!
It had even been modified to incorporate his IR tech and most importantly his green baldric over the top because couldn't imagine feeling properly prepared for rescues without it.
He tugged the new jacket on right away over his flannel, feeling like a kid on halloween. He gave it a spin, the coat flaring out around him. Heh, if little Virgie could see him now, a proper firefighter.
“Whatcha laughing at, Tracy?” Cass clapped him on the shoulder.
As soon as Virgil explained what had been his halloween costume for every year of his childhood, he was surrounded by Blue Watch, good naturedly demanding that they had ‘got to see photographic evidence.’
Virgil rolled his eyes, but called up John, the keeper of all the family photos on Five’s massive storage banks.
John obliged, and firefighters crowded around the holos projected from his wrist comm.
“Aww, you were an adorable kid, Tracy!”
“Cuuute!”
“You sure did grow up, but I don’t think the expression has changed at all!”
Then a snickering John decided to chime in with the whole practicing fighting fires with the garden house incident, and the consequences to hanging laundry and open windows.
Cass, serious, no nonsense Chief McCready was giggling, tears streaming down her face, hanging onto his shoulder to stay upright.
Virgil snorted, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing too.He was proud of his achievements to become a firefighter, they were all laughing with him, not at him, they were his team. He threw his arms around them, grinning along.
Oh look... after two years I've fixed that big old cliff hanger that I left lying around!
Thank you to those that have missed me and welcomed me back into the fandom after being absent for so long, the biggest of hugs to all of you... I hope I don't end up leaving you all on another cliff hanger!
For those that I haven't met yet, Hi!
I was here in the TAG fandom right at the very beginning and somewhere around the time the series finished I thought it'd be fun to imagine an AU in which Lucy was alive and well... this monstrosity of a fic is the outcome of that.
Looks like I was pretty rubbish at posting the last few chapters on here so check Ao3 for the fic in its entirety.
For those that don't want to re-read the entirety of what's already there... have a little recap under the cut.
Beware, there be spoilers ahead!
So... where were we?
Part One of this fic was basically about losing Jeff. That's right folks we hit off from the day the Zero-X blows up and Jeff vanishes.
This leaves Lucy, her brother Lee, and Val Casey as the main leads of International Rescue as we know it.
In this universe Lucy demanded that IR could not be run by their family alone and spearheaded what we call the IR academny, from where Scott is about to graduate. Kayo and Penelope are also about to graduate, but in a much quieter private ceremony for our two espoinage specialists. Both of these ladies have their fathers present and playing a big part in both International Rescue and Tracy Industries.
As for the rest of the family, John is working for NASA and about to shoot off into space. Virgil and Gordon are about to join the IR academy (which momma bear Lucy is absolutely having mixed feelings about). And Alan is being the kid that he should rightfully be at such a young age.
Part Two sees us skip forward four years.
We start to see a little more of IR as we know it here, though Virgil and Gordon are very much still learning, and Alan is barely getting away with being allowed to play on the simulators.
Lucy is afraid because of whisperings of Gaat (The Hood) returning and what this might mean for the safety of her family and IR as a world-wide organisation.
What nobody expects is that new camera angle from the Zero-X, leading to the suggestion that Jeff could still be alive.
Gaat tricks Lucy into thinking he has a new ship capable of the same flight, it's aboard this ship where she meets an engineer known as Michael and promises to free him from Gaat's grip. They then discover that Gaat has found his way onto the Island and is threatening the whole family (think Legacy).
Then the ship goes boom.
Part 3 starts out with the aftermath of Lucy being on a ship that exploded. She's in a coma and all of her boys are a little bit lost as to what to do now.
Scott takes over the business and the running of their IR team with John leaving Nasa to take his rightful place aboard TB5. Lee does an excellent vanishing act when it's decided to return Lucy to the island, and we haven't heard from him since.
We also discover that Lucy and Hugh Creighton-Ward might have been more than just friends at some point in the last four years.
Part 4 Lucy wakes up! Then promptly wonders what her place is in the family now that Scott and Hugh have taken so much of her role on for her. Their main concern is seeing her get stronger before they consider letting her take over some of the reins again.
Scott is quite happy to go on regular business meetings as it gives him an excuse to meet up with Tia, his off-island security that may also be turning into something more.
Speaking of which, Virgil and Kayo are also up to something and have a hilariously cute moment in telling Lucy as much.
Alan is also up to something, being the baby of the family and far too young to actually join the academy yet, he's trying hard to find a way to be involved in IR.
More importantly though, thanks to Eos, we find that Jeff is alive!
Part 5 is the most recent part posted... honestly? If you're not going to re-read the whole thing I'd at least read from here as a refresher.
Scott finally talks to people about his hopes and fears, but then his entire world comes crashing down around him is the most summary I can really say without spoiling what happens next. Val starts to question Lucy if they've done the right thing bringing the boys into IR, and Lucy starts to question her own relationships.
But Jeff is alive and there's a whole lot of figuring out how to get him home.
So... that's the fic in summary so far. Honestly, if you have the time and energy please please re-read the whole thing to refresh your memory. I did just that the other week and it opened my eyes as to how much there is that I left myself open to fix so you might find some interesting threads if you look hard enough!
