IN FLAGRANTE by TB's LMC RATED FRM

This story was written in response to the Tracy Island Writers Forum's 2006 Fic Swap Challenge.

Fic Swap Request: What I'd like it to include is Alan and Tin-Tin finally together on the mainland for their "first vacation alone". While they are in the Hotel, something happens requiring International Rescue to be called and then having to endure the embarrassment of being rescued from a double bed by his brothers. Addendum: The bed can be any size (hey a single might be a laugh!!) and they can be anywhere as long as it's a vacation.

Author's Notes: "In flagrante" is translated literally from Latin as "while the crime is blazing."*

Alan surveyed the large ocean view stateroom with a critical eye. It was the best one aboard the Island Princess, he'd made certain of that. Stateroom A614. When he viewed the two twin beds, it was with no small measure of disdain. "Steward," he said, his voice clipped and impatient.

"Yes, sir." The steward was a man no more than twenty-five years of age. His appearance was impeccable, yet Alan could tell he was nervous.

"I wonder if you would mind telling me why the beds were not coupled into a Queen as I had requested prior to boarding." Alan worked hard to stifle his grin as the man squirmed.

"I don't know, sir, but I'd be happy to do that for you now."

"Very well. The young lady will arrive shortly and I expect it to be complete by the time she does."

"Yes, sir," the steward nodded and hastily went about stripping the twin beds and moving them together.

Alan just shook his head as he stepped out onto the balcony. He was so excited he could barely contain himself. This was to be the very first time he and Tin-Tin would be entirely alone together, and it was nothing more than a vacation. No International Rescue work, no business for Tracy Corporation. Nothing but him and the woman he... Alan smiled. The woman he loved.

He turned around to look inside at the steward rushing about his job. Slowly Alan relaxed against the balcony railing. Tin-Tin's flight had been delayed, and she'd insisted via on-board telephone that Alan go on ahead to the ship and make sure everything was ready for her. When he saw a man in white coattails appear at his door, he grinned. Things would most definitely be ready.

"Come in!" he called, waving the man inside. It was another steward, this one older and more refined. I'm afraid the beds weren't to my liking. This young man is fixing them for me now."

"Let me help him, then, sir," the older steward replied, leaving the cart he'd pulled into the suite off to one side.

Alan inspected its contents. There was a chilled bottle of Roederer Cristal Rose, from the limited crops of 1995, in the center of the cart. To one side was a vase filled with two dozen red roses, blooms the size of softballs. To the right were two Swarovski crystal champagne flutes, and in front of those a bone china plate of the finest cheeses and biscuits Alan had been able to find. Thanks, in large part, to Lady Penelope.

She'd been instrumental in helping him figure out what to do. Once Tin-Tin had indicated she wanted some time off-island with him, so they could be alone and discuss their future, Penny had immediately stepped forward and become Alan's co-conspirator for this journey. Because nobody but her knew that Alan Tracy and Tin-Tin Kyrano were going on a love cruise together. So named because at the end of the cruise, all couples aboard got married. Well, they didn't have to, but most did.

It had been Penny's suggestion, actually, and once Alan had gotten over hyperventilating and breaking out in cold sweats, he had agreed. It had been seven years since he had first laid eyes on the half-Malay, half-American beauty. He had tried other relationships over those years, but none of them had ever gone anywhere. Because he knew, as most likely did everyone around them, that his heart belonged to her. He'd never get her out of his system no matter how hard he tried.

And he was tired of having to sneak around with her on the island. Yes, they were both adults, but with his room on the same floor as his father's, and her room on the same floor as hers, it wasn't always easy to slip into and out of each others' rooms unnoticed. Rendezvous elsewhere on the island had proven risky on several occasions when they'd been caught by Scott and Virgil, or John, or one time even Kyrano himself.

That had taken some explaining.

He wanted to make it legitimate. He wanted Tin-Tin to become the first Mrs. Tracy since his own mother Lucille. He and Tin-Tin would be able to be together whenever and wherever they wanted as husband and wife. As he softly touched a rose petal, his smiled broadened into an all-out grin. Yep. Time to tie the knot, Al. No more bachelor life for you. I wouldn't want it any other way, he thought, pulling a rose to his nose and inhaling deeply.

"Sir?"

He turned. It was the older steward. "Yes?"

"The bed is completed. We apologize for the delay. May I lay out these things you ordered?"

"Please do," he answered.

Funny to be so formal. He sure wasn't like that at home. But this was a very ritzy cruise ship with very ritzy waiters, stewards and passengers, and Alan felt every bit the part as his own man outside the shadow of all the elder Tracys before him. Here, he was Mr. Tracy. He was the one representing the family to the small word on board this ship, and he would be the first to marry. And, with any luck, to give his father a grandchild.

He ha to blush as he tipped the two stewards, who closed the door behind them as they left. He wondered as he looked at the bed if the baby would be born precisely nine months and seven days from today, then all-out laughed at the idea. Tin-Tin used state-of-the-art birth control, that much he already knew. They had slept together on many occasions over the years, but today would be special. They would be alone. They would talk of the future.

And, Alan thought as he pulled a small green velvet box out of his pocket, he would propose. Things couldn't be any more perfect if he'd written them down as a fairy tale.

These thoughts filled his mind as he heard his cell phone ring. Fishing it out of his pocket while simultaneously putting the little velvet box back into his pocket, he flipped it open.

"Hello."

"Alan? It's me. I'm boarding the ship now."

"I'll meet you in the Atrium."

He could hear the smile in her voice. "I'm looking forward to it."

Alan walked across to the balcony, where the steward had set up the champagne, roses and cheese, and pulled the small green velvet box from his pocket. He opened it and his chest tightened as he looked at the ring inside. It was gold, inlaid with symbols important to Tin-Tin's traditional Malay culture. Symbols which promised a long and prosperous life full of love, happiness and many children. The diamond in the middle of it was perfect quality and as large as he thought her tiny hand could wear.

Boy, was Tin-Tin ever going to be surprised. Alan and Penelope had thought of absolutely everything. Not a single detail had been left unattended to. He closed the box and nestled it into one of the gigantic rose blooms. Now everything was perfect. And it was time to usher his wife-to-be aboard.

Their first two days and nights were a whirlwind of laughter and things to do and onboard shopping and making love all night long. The exhausted but happy couple were now on their third night out of Honolulu. They would be sailing across the South Pacific to Guam, where the ship would then follow the Marianas Trench and leave them to spend two days in the breathtaking Marianas Islands themselves. And that was where they were getting married. Where the entire shipful of couples were getting married if their relationships held up. They would then head to Singapore where the ship would dock and they would disembark as husband and wife, and make the journey home to Tracy Island in a jet Alan had waiting in a private hangar at Singapore's Changi Airport.

As much fun as they were having, neither of them could wait. They both discussed amidst much laughter how she was supposed to be staying at Creighton-Ward Mansion right now, and how he was supposedly off training for an upcoming Grand Prix. They'd been able to fool everyone, and couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they walked in with rings on their fingers. Penelope would arrive later on, after the initial shock had worn off, to reveal her involvement in the grand conspiracy that would result in Jeff gaining a daughter.

It was at the beginning of the third night that Alan and Tin-Tin found themselves lying bed talking, the television on but the volume low for quiet background noise.

"You really want to have a lot of children?"

Alan shrugged. "Why not? My mother and father had five."

"Oh, we're stopping at five?"

He leaned over and kissed her soundly, breaking only when their chests burned from lack of oxygen. She giggled and pushed him away, then piled on top of him, her legs straddling his hips.

"You know, something, Mr. Tracy, you're incorrigible."

"And you, Miss Kyrano, are equally incorrigible!" he exclaimed, flipping her over so it was he on top.

Their lips met fiercely, breaking off to roam around each others' necks and ears. Alan moved down, slowly opening her silk robe and rubbing a hand across her breast through the silk fabric of her emerald green nightgown. Their lips and hands were everywhere as though this was the first time. Their lives were just beginning, both knew, together, and they felt it in every cell.

Slowly her bathrobe and nightgown fell away from her body. Slowly the silk boxers he was wearing were discarded. And they held one another tightly as he entered her, her voice sighing in complete pleasure, his moans echoing her. But the perfect moment was interrupted as the bed seemed to lurch beneath them. Alan stopped his rhythm as he and Tin-Tin looked around them. It was dark except for the full moon's light bathing them in an eerie bluish glow.

"Alan? I've heard the earth move, but we're not on earth."

"I know," he said softly, placing his hand protectively on her head. Several moments passed and there was no further movement. "Don't know what it was. You want me to stop?"

She smiled. "No."

"Thank God."

They both laughed and then moaned in unison as he began moving again. Slowly at first, but then he picked up pace, and with the balcony door closed and the television providing background noise, combined with their own sounds of heat, they didn't hear the voices outside. They didn't hear the screams. Didn't know anything was wrong until the next time the bed moved. But by then, it was too late.

Jeff yawned for what had to have been the tenth time in as many minutes. Then he sighed in resignation, closing the folder and laying it on his desk. A glance at the computer told him it was nearing 10:40pm. He wondered about being this tired so early. For him, it was early. Normally one to stay up late and rise early, it was how he'd accomplished things over his lifetime. Stay up after the kids went to bed, get up before anyone else. Get a lot more work done that way.

Now, however, he faced the prospect that age, as much as anything else, might be slowing him down enough to where midnight bedtimes needed to be pushed to 11pm. Or earlier, he thought as the clock hit 10:45. Before the thought could gel in his mind, however, the eyes in John's portrait flashed. He opened a channel. "Good evening, son."

"Hello, Father. Father, I intercepted a distress call from the Island Princess, a cruise ship en route to Singapore from Guam."

"What's the nature of the emergency?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. They were cut off before they gave any information as to what was happening, but I've fixed them at 275 miles southwest of Guam."

"That's right on top of the Marianas Trench."

"I know. Suggest Scott do reconnaissance to ensure safety of the vessel."

"Agreed," Jeff nodded, pressing a button that sounded an alarm klaxon throughout the island. No matter where any of them were, they'd hear it and be there fast. "I'll get him in the air and you can take over once he's up."

"Will do, Father. Thunderbird 5 out."

Jeff drummed his fingers impatiently on his desk. Thirty seconds later, Scott and Virgil ran into the Lounge. "What is it, Father?" Scott asked as Gordon raced in, followed closely by Brains and then Kyrano and Ruth.

"John picked up a distress call from a cruise ship over the Marianas Trench, but couldn't get the nature of their emergency before the transmission went dead. I need Thunderbird One on reconnaissance."

"F.A.B., Father," Scott said. With a quick glance at Virgil, he moved to the light fixtures on the wall. Within seconds, he disappeared as it whirled him around to his ‘bird.

"Recommend we have Thunderbirds Two and Four standing by, Father," Virgil said, standing before his father in nothing but boxers. His rumpled hair and state of dress belied his alertness. In fact, Jeff had always marveled at his sons' ability to be alert even when awakened from sleep or having been up for one or two days straight.

"I'd have to agree with that, Virgil. Go ahead. You too, Gordon."

"F.A.B.," the brothers replied in unison. Not even thirty seconds passed before Virgil had slid down into Two's entry chute, and Gordon had boarded the passenger elevator bound for the giant green ship.

"Oh, Alan'll be so disappointed he missed this one," Ruth said as she seated herself on the small couch in front of Jeff's desk.

"Yes, I daresay you're right, Mother."

"Coffee, sir?"

"Why, yes, Kyrano, I think I could do with some. Mother?"

"No, thanks, Jeff. I may worry as much as you, but I haven't got the gift of staying awake as late as you and the boys any longer. I think I'll wait just long enough to hear the situation before I get back to bed."

Jeff smiled, but her statement brought his thoughts back to earlier ruminations on his own age. Ruth had just admitted she couldn't stay up late anymore, but she was twenty-eight years older than he was. Wouldn't do to wind up with your elderly mother being able to hack late nights more than you, was the next thought to pop into his head.

"Father, I have arrived at Danger Zone. Situation critical, launch Thunderbird Two right away."

"F.A.B., Scott," Jeff said, scowling. He opened a second channel. "Base to Thunderbird Two. Launch immediately."

"F.A.B., Base. Launching now."

It wasn't long before the sounds of Thunderbird Two blasting off into the sky could be heard wafting through the open balcony doors.

"Scott, Thunderbird Two has launched. Advise of situation."

"Father, it's...Father, the cruise ship, the one John heard from – Island Princess she's called, part of the Princess Cruise line. She's halfway underwater, Father."

"Halfway?" Jeff breathed, rising to his feet. "My God."

"Father, she's sinking fast. I don't know how long she'll be up, but the closest I can get is either Guam or the Marianas Islands, and neither of them are close enough for me to get down there before Virgil and Gordon arrive."

"Understood. I want you to plot the nearest land mass large enough for both One and Two and remain until Virgil joins you. He'll pilot Two while you and Gordon go in on the rescue."

"F.A.B., Father. Systems indicate an unpopulated island of only 3.75 square miles bearing due east of my current position. It's the closest I can get."

"Fine. I'll contact Virgil and let him know the plan."

"Any sign of life rafts or any hovercraft in the area?"

"I am picking up only four rafts, Father."

"My God. Okay, I want to monitor as soon as the rescue begins."

"F.A.B., Base. Thunderbird One out."

Jeff ran a hand through his hair as Ruth took up position in a chair closer to the row of portraits lining the opposite wall. Kyrano had brought the coffee and was standing to Jeff's right listening as the situation developed. Brains had disappeared back into his laboratory, but was listening to the Lounge for further communications.

"With half the ship underwater and only four rafts launched, how many survivors can there be, Jeff?"

"I'm afraid it doesn't look good, Mother. At this point, they're probably liable to find as many dead as alive."

Hearts hung heavy as those on Tracy Island waited for news.

"Okay, Scott, am ready to drop Pod 4."

"We're all ready down here, Virg," Scott replied via comlink. "Bombs away."

"F.A.B. Releasing pod now."

A mighty splash as Virgil compensated for the sudden loss of weight and the pod came crashing down on the surface of the ocean. The front flap opened and a whine was heard as Gordon started Thunderbird Four's engines. Forty seconds later the small submarine was in the water and headed for the half of Island Princess that still stuck out of the water.

"Any indications as to what caused it to sink?" Virgil asked from his spot high above them.

"Not yet," Gordon replied. "Can't see anything wrong at all from up here except for the fact that a large cruise ship is at a forty-five degree angle."

Scott came to stand next to Gordon and both stared in disbelief at the scene before them. People were bobbing in the water trying desperately to keep afloat. As they passed those people, Gordon ejected multiple large flotation devices and rafts. The water was warm enough that the survivors would not get hypothermia, and right now anyone still on board the ship needed their help more than the folks who were already clear.

"Thunderbird Five, advise status of rescue vehicles."

"Thunderbird Five here. Coast Guard has sent two vessels from U.S. Guam. Japan is refusing assistance. World Navy have three cruisers on the way as well. Estimated time of arrival of helijets, twenty minutes."

"Refused help?" Scott asked incredulously. "My God, don't they care about these people?"

"No," Gordon said sadly. "That's why we exist."

The men shook their heads. "Thanks, John. Thunderbird Four out. Base, come in."

"Right here, Scott."

"Give Nakamura a call, would you? Japan needs to chip in, we're awfully close to their waters."

"F.A.B., son, I'll do my best. Base listening out."

"Stupid bastards," Scott muttered.

"I'm going to dive, Scott. I want to take a look downside."

"Okay."

Four dove smoothly beneath the waves as Gordon turned her headlamp on. "Holy shit," he whispered. "Would you look at that?"

"Explosion," Scott confirmed. "A damned explosion."

"From the Galley area, if I'm not mistaken."

"Shit. Let's get topside and see if we can't—"

"Scott! Scott, come in!"

"What? John, what is it?"

"Tin-Tin! Scott, it's Tin-Tin!"

"What about her?"

"She's...Scott, she's on board that thing!"

"What?" came Scott's, Gordon,'s, Virgil's, Ruth's, Jeff's and Kyrano's voices all at once.

"Scott, that's not all! Alan's with her!"

"Life sign indicators show no one else is trapped in any area above water. The eighty people on deck can probably be lifted out by the Coast Guard and private helijets that are here, and we've distributed flotation devices to most of them."

"All right, Gordon. How about Alan and Tin-Tin?"

"We've located them, Father. Gordon took a look beneath the ship and it seems to be temporarily stabilized on a huge outcropping from the Trench. One he also says isn't on any of the Trench charts."

"W-We'll have to look into that," came Brains' voice.

"Yes. Later. Gordon, get in there and get them out."

"F.A.B., Dad. Four out." Gordon turned to face his older brother. One thing he always loved about water-based rescues, and that was that he was always in charge. If not in name, then at least in the action where it counted. "Okay, we can use ropes to climb the inclination. We'll each have to carry a fold-out and first aid kit. I got news from Princess while you were on with Base that this ship only had four hundred passengers."

"But it can hold five times that many. Why?"

Gordon looked away as he slipped into a wetsuit. "It's a marriage cruise."

"It's a...a what?"

"Marriage cruise. You know, couples have fun for a week and on the last day they're in the Marianas and get married. Pretty high end. Doesn't come cheap. We used to laugh about them in WASP, especially after a group of my buddies had to keep one from getting sunk by the Opposition and saw first-hand what they're really like on-board."

Scott's face drained of all color. "You mean to tell me that Tin-Tin and Alan came on this cruise to get married?"

Gordon shrugged. "It would seem that way."

"Without telling us?" Scott wondered aloud as he pulled his own wetsuit on. "I can't believe it. I can't believe he'd do that to us."

"Don't forget Base is listening, Scott."

"Shit."

Within minutes they were firing grappling hooks upwards. The hooks caught on the far edge of the ship's top level. Secured, Scott and Gordon started half-walking and half-pulling themselves up toward the cabin Tin-Tin had told John she and Alan were in.

"John said they're trapped on the bed?"

"Yes. He said Tin-Tin told him Alan was injured and she was having too much trouble breathing. She's hitting the signal button on her watch every few minutes to let him know they're still in the same condition."

"Trouble breathing? Why, is she hurt, too?"

Scott glanced sidelong at his brother. "I don't know."

"Well, wouldn't she have told John she was hurt? And wouldn't he then have told us to prepare us for finding them?"

Scott's mouth became a straight line. "I don't think she's injured. I think she's...squished."

Gordon very nearly stopped climbing. "Squished?"

"Yes."

"Is that your professional opinion?"

"It's about to be," Scott said as he neared the cabin.

"Scott! Gordon! Increase in seismic activity reported in your area!"

But before either man could react, the ship slid further still, causing screams from those still waiting for the helijets to pick them up off the deck. Scott and Gordon clung to their ropes, Scott's feet slipping on the slick deck. When the ship stopped moving, Scott was dangling only by his hands, unable to get his feet back under him.

"Here!" Gordon called down from above him. "Tack this on your boots!"

Scott reached out with one hand, muscles straining as his other hand held to the rope, and caught the item Gordon had dropped. He quickly used his teeth to open the small pouch and pull out what were the equivalent of ultra-thin rubber-like soles. He managed to get one on one foot, and then with the leverage afforded, to get the other on his other foot. Soon he was climbing up the inclined deck again, and even with Gordon.

"Good thing you had gloves on, or you'd be bleeding," Gordon commented as he took in his brother's sweat-soaked hair and lack of color.

"Yeah. Let's go get them."

Gordon nodded. "I'm closer to their balcony."

"And I'm closer to their front door."

"Meet you in the middle?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Scott muttered as he swung right and Gordon swung out left. Scott landed right on top of the front door, which was locked. He swung out, barreling back and hitting the door with as much force as he could.

While Scott tried breaking in the front door, Gordon had a somewhat easier time of it. He landed on the balcony and only had to swing in once to break through the sheet glass window. When he landed on his feet inside the suite, his jaw dropped in disbelief.

Just then, the front door flew open. As soon as Scott got his bearings, his jaw dropped in disbelief as well. His face flushed even as he and Gordon rushed forward. One took one side of the fallen portion of ceiling, the other took the other side.

"Count of three!" Scott called. "One...two...three!"

The men heaved with all their might as Tin-Tin, by now almost unconscious from her inability to breathe properly, tried to speak. Their muscles rippled beneath their wetsuits as they grunted with the effort, but after about a minute, the ceiling gave way and toppled off to the side, nearly flattening Gordon in the process.

Tin-Tin gasped as Alan's weight was lifted, gulping air into her burning lungs, as Gordon stood on one side of the bed and Scott on the other. Gordon checked Alan's head as he rolled him off Tin-Tin. The sound that came to all their ears made the brothers turn nearly crimson as they realized both by what they saw and what they'd heard, precisely what Tin-Tin and their brother had been doing at the time of the explosion. They looked across the bed at one another, Gordon stifling a snorting laugh.

"Looks like his head wound's minimal, but he might have a concussion. Suggest you stabilize him on your board."

"Will do," Scott said, unfolding his portable patient transporter. "You get Tin-Tin, she seems to be okay."

"Can't you wrap us?" Tin-Tin asked, her chest heaving as she tried to act nonchalant about the entire situation. "I mean, honestly, boys."

"In the sheet, Gordon can help you down. You okay?"

"I believe so, now that I can breathe again." Off Scott's look, she touched a hand to her head. "Not my blood. Alan's."

He nodded. "Tin-Tin, when were you going to..." He looked at her and saw the daggers getting ready to be launched from her eyes. "Never mind. We'll handle it back at Base. Let's just get out of here."

As the men made their way back down carrying both Alan and Tin-Tin, they looked at one another across the expanse of deck and shook their heads. To be caught together when they weren't supposed to be together was one thing. To be caught in bed, completely naked in mid-screw was entirely another."

"He was going to marry me," Tin-Tin said from her position clinging to Gordon's back. "Don't you dare tell anyone how you found us."

"Oh, come on, Tin-Tin, you can't expect me not to tell John."

"I do fully, Gordon Tracy, or it'll be the last tale you tell."

"Okay, okay, I give."

She rested her head on his shoulder and the four were soon back inside Thunderbird Four safe and sound. Gordon piloted it back into Pod 4 and they waited for Virgil to pick them up.

"You should've seen our wedding rings," Tin-Tin said, stroking Alan's hair as Scott tended to his head wound and some cuts and scratches on his back. "They were so beautiful, but now they're gone."

"Don't bet on it," Gordon said from his pilot's seat.

Before he even knew what was happening, Scott put his hand up to catch whatever Gordon had hurtled his way. When he opened his hand, he found a beautiful blue satin box. "What's this?"

"Our rings!" Tin-Tin exclaimed, rising to her feet and running to embrace Gordon. "Thank you! Oh, thank you!"

He wrapped his arms around her. "Well, if I'm going to gain a sister, I may as well make sure she's got the right ring," he said awkwardly.

There was a moaning sound as Alan started coming around. "Wha--? Tin-Tin, what happened?"

"It's all right, Alan. You're all right now," Scott said softly as Gordon helped Tin-Tin clean blood off the side of her head. "We're on our way home."

"Home? But...we didn't...get married."

"No, but you got laid. And..." he leaned closer, making sure his mouth was right next to his youngest brother's ear, "it would seem the earth moved."

Alan's eyes snapped open as what happened came rushing back at him. His face turned bright red. "Oh, shit."

"You can say that again."

"Shit, shit, shit."

"Uh-huh."

"Alan!"

"Tin-Tin!" Air hissed through Alan's teeth as he tried to sit up but found it too painful. "Damn!"

"Oh, Alan, Gordon saved our rings! Look!"

Alan took a long and then looked at each of his brothers in succession just as they felt Thunderbird Two's clamps take hold of the pod. "Thanks, guys. Now, anyone want to help us out with our fathers—hey, where are you going?"

Gordon and Scott both exited Thunderbird Four into the pod as the VTOLs fired. Tin-Tin was left holding Alan in her arms. "They found us in the middle of making love, Alan. With you on top of me, crushing me."

"Buck naked?"

"Completely."

"With me still...?"

"Yes."

"Oh, fuck me."

She leaned in and kissed him, giggling as she removed the sheet Gordon had helped her wrap around herself. "Well, all right," she said coyly into his ear. "If you insist..."

*Reference: http://www.m-w.com.