Eyes met with eyes all around. Disbelief was evident in the faces of those who stood as though attending with all respect the funeral rite of some ancient people. What was left of Belah Gaat rested askance to his half-brother. Born of one mother, joined through life by hatred and fear, they were no more. Tin-Tin bowed over her father's body, shoulders shaking as silent tears brought forth a dreaded ache that had begun to spread throughout her insides, tearing at her like a wolf clawing for her heart.

Her fists balled pieces of her father's simple robe, holding it, pulling him up until he was cradled in her arms, his lifeless head rolling into her chest. She reached out and clasped his hand, drawing it to her body and holding it, willing that which she knew to be true away with every fiber of her being. When she raised her eyes, vision blurred by tears that would not leave, she saw her own sorrow mirrored in the eyes of the family she had come to know and love as her own. Even the one she did not know seemed to be at a loss as he looked away.

Ben turned and locked eyes with Jeff.

"Get the sultan back," Jeff said, his voice so low it barely rumbled forth from his throat. It startled everyone, breaking through the silence like the boom of a cannon, shattering the fragile glass bubble of this aftermath world. "Now."

Ben nodded and picked the sultan's body up, gently cradling him in his arms. Brains quietly programmed the IDT, and Ben stopped as the engineer raised his arm toward the hall. "Scott?" he said. "Father?"

Jeff approached and laid a hand on the arm of the son he'd never known. "We'll see each other again."

Ben smiled and nodded, blinking away unshed tears. The loud, whining, blinding portal appeared before them and with one last look, Ben turned and walked into it. The moment the portal snapped shut, there was a loud gasping for air from the floor.

"Father!" Tin-Tin cried as Kyrano arched from the hardwood floor.

Jeff ran and knelt at Tin-Tin's side while Brains scurried closer to check Kyrano's vital signs. His eyes opened. He smiled at his daughter's tear-stained face, then looked to Jeff, whose own eyes were brimming. He grasped Kyrano's hand. "Do you know who I am?" he whispered, praying with all his might. "Do you remember?"

Please, God. Please let him remember.

Kyrano's smile widened as his eyes fluttered closed and his head slowly dropped back to Tin-Tin's lap. "Jeff Tracy," he responded in a breath of air. "I remember."

One lone tear trickled down Jeff's face.

"I have to return, Alan. You must understand. My father is in no condition to help Malaysia. The region is unstable, my people will die."

Alan leaned against the wall of windows. Looking out over the blue ocean, the bluer sky, sunlight beating down on Paradise; everything seemed so calm and peaceful. Here they were untouched by the troubles of the world. Here, Tin-Tin was safe from harm. If he sent her back out into the world, back into the angry, hate-filled country of her birth, she had to contend not only with the man who'd tried to kill her, but with his followers as well. Not to mention the reports of insurgencies he'd found on the 'net this morning, verifying her words, her reasons for wanting to go back.

"It's only been a day, Tin-Tin," he said, turning to face her as she relaxed on his bed. "You killed your half-uncle yesterday. Your father almost died yesterday. All of us did, yourself included."

"I know," she said, smiling and patting the bed next to her. "But we're all right. Aren't we?"

He knew a deeper question was being asked. Alan walked over and sat down next to her, his hand on her face, thumb rubbing slowly along the high cheekbone. "Yeah," he said with a smile. "We're okay."

"Then come with me." Her green eyes sparkled hopefully. "I won't be in any danger if you're there to look out for me."

Alan looked away, shaking his head. More to clear the cobwebs than in answer to her, but her face puckered nonetheless at his silent refusal. "It's not that I don't want to be with you. God, you must know that by now." He looked back down at her. "My family. International Rescue, the Corporation...there's still so much to do."

"And why do you have to be the one to do it?"

"Tin-Tin, I'm a member of this family!" he replied hotly. "I can't just leave them!"

"But you can leave me."

"You're the one leaving. You know you can stay here." Alan turned, grasping her hands. "We can have a life here together. We can be married."

Tin-Tin shook her head. She sat up and scooted off the other side of the bed, sliding her slender fingers away from his. "Nothing has changed, Alan. You still don't understand." She stopped and looked him in the eyes. "I have an obligation as much as you have." She stood in the middle of his bedroom for a moment. Her back was to him as she continued. "I love you. I always have and I always will."

The hiss of his suite door swishing closed was worse than fingernails on a chalkboard, and Alan ground his teeth in response. If Tin-Tin left him now, would he ever see her again? He couldn't leave his father. His brothers. They were so close to getting Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4 built, the new ones over on Mateo Island. Not to mention having to oversee the work in Manhattan and Kansas. So much to do, and only six Tracy men to do it. If he left, there would only be five.

He bowed, putting his head in his hands. His duty, his loyalty, they belonged to his family. To International Rescue. To those who had loved him and raised him and put their lives on the line for his. But his heart... Only this morning he had told Scott of Tin-Tin's request, of her wish for him to return to Malaysia with her. Scott had not reacted well, but had rightly told him the decision was his to make. Though Alan knew what Scott wanted him to do, his heart kept screaming for the thing Scott didn't want him to do.

But this wasn't Scott's life. It was his.

"Son?"

Alan looked up, turning just enough on the bed to see his father's face. He hadn't even heard him enter. When his hand brushed his cheek, he was surprised to find it wet. Had he been crying? "Father." Hurried movements to brush the remaining wetness away.

"I just saw Tin-Tin, she came down to the sick room to see her father." Alan nodded and looked back out across the balcony. "Scott tells me she wants you to go to Malaysia with her."

"Yeah," he nodded, voice cracking.

"And you said no." Alan nodded again. "Because of us."

"Of course because of you. You're my family, Dad. I can't leave you now. Not now."

Jeff nodded, chewing on his lip for a moment before taking a seat next to his youngest son. "Family doesn't only extend to blood relatives."

Alan knew he was talking about the Kyranos, and Brains. Penelope, Parker. All the people they knew and loved. "I know."

"Maybe you're meant to make your own family now, son." Alan looked up. "Remember what we talked about before we left for Malaysia?"

"Yeah, I remember. But I just can't leave you now. There's so much to do. So much rebuilding left to be done, of our businesses, our family..."

Long moments of silence seemed to stretch into hours, in reality the clock ticking mere minutes away. Jeff kept his eyes focused on the window, though he wasn't seeing the cloudless sky. "Don't let it go, Alan. I know what it's like to lose the love of your life."

Alan looked...really looked...at Jeff Tracy. For the first time not seeing him as his father to emulate and live up to, to please and work hard for. He saw the pain in his gray eyes, the unspoken love, both for him and the mother he'd never known. As equals, on eye level, thoughts passed silently into the ether until the corners of Alan's mouth curved into a smile.

"They won't let me marry her, you know."

"Doesn't matter one way or the other. What matters is you're doing what you want to do. If you want to go, you..." Jeff stopped and cleared his throat. "You have my blessing."

"Thanks, Dad," Alan said as his father rose and headed for the door. This time when he looked out over the rolling azure waves, he saw not just an ocean of water, but an ocean of possibilities. He'd find Tin-Tin. Now. And he'd tell her. He'd tell her he loved her and would never leave her side no matter where she went or what she did. And he'd protect her. With his dying breath, if need be.

A pang in his chest reminded him of all he'd be leaving behind, but his father was right. He'd almost lost the love of his life twice now. He wasn't about to let it happen again. His family would always be there for him. It was Tin-Tin who needed him now. His thoughts traveled back to her gray complexion, her shallow breath, the very look of death surrounding her.

His hands balled into fists. Badan was going to pay. He would see to that.

Jeff wandered through the halls of the second level beneath the main house. He moved slowly, feeling older than he should. He wondered if Lucille had ever seen Ben the way he'd seen him. Wondered at this son of theirs, at his looks and his personality, at what might've been had their own Ben survived. He'd seen the look on John's face, couldn't imagine what John was feeling, but knew what he was feeling. It was taking every fiber of restraint he had left not to open a portal and head over to the other dimension. But in one of his few moments awake, Kyrano had urged caution.

"I know you wish to see him, Jeff," he'd said. "But look at all which has happened because the two dimensions have crossed. Look what has been lost. Some things are not meant to be."

Damn Kyrano and his infuriating, completely correct logic. Of course some things were not meant to be. He wasn't meant to live a full, long life with Lucy. Alan, it seemed, was not meant to stay with them on the island. Tracy Corp's headquarters wasn't meant to be in Manhattan. Tin-Tin wasn't meant to be an engineer for International Rescue. So many things weren't meant to be. And he knew the Ben they'd met wasn't truly his son, but he was the son of a Jeff Tracy, and that made him family as far as Jeff was concerned.

He'd never had to confront anything like this. Other dimensions, traveling between them. Two Kyranos, one sultan and one not. Two Scotts, one dead and one not. No Virgil. No Ben. He stopped outside the lab door and leaned against the wall. He knew John was in there and figured he wouldn't talk about it, but at the very least Jeff had to try. That look on John's face...it had broken his heart. His sons all had a partner in crime. All except John. And now, after all these years, to find out that a Ben did exist somewhere...Jeff rubbed his temple. Made his damn head hurt.

Quietly he entered the lab. Against the wall of the room to the left he saw his son's back. He strolled slowly toward him, careful to make enough noise to let him know he was there. John was toying with a small box about the size of a cellphone but twice as thick. He had a tiny screwdriver and a tiny pair of pliers and from the side, Jeff could see his brow was furrowed in concentration. Things were so quiet save for the clicking and clacking of the instruments that Jeff nearly jumped out of his skin when John slammed the box down on the bench in frustration and cursed a blue streak.

He couldn't help himself. He started to laugh. John turned and looked at him, then joined in. "Sorry, Father," he said between breaths. "I can't get that last circuit to connect like I want."

"It's okay, John," Jeff said, laying a hand on his shoulder as he eased onto the stool next to him. "What are you after with this?"

"Well, it's part of the new component for the auto-relay of Five," John explained, picking up the discarded box and showing its insides to Jeff. "I want to connect the voice interface to the mike setup in Launch Control, see if I can't help Brains get the verbal commands to take. Just trying to tweak this semiconductor set here," he finished, pointing to a small cluster of round, black circles in one corner of the box.

"He really thinks he can get VI to work?" Jeff asked, genuinely intrigued. "I thought it was just an idea."

"We both think we can get it to work if I could just get this damned interface hooked up correctly." John plopped the box back down on the bench. "What brings you down here?"

Jeff shrugged and looked around for an excuse. "Just wanted to see how things were going."

"You want to talk to me about Ben," John said, not looking him in the eye.

Jeff eyed him. "The thought had crossed my mind."

"Well, I don't want to talk about him, Dad. He's not my brother."

"I know that, son, I know that."

John rose to his feet and leaned his butt against the bench. "Why did he have to exist over there, in that other place?" he asked, more of himself than anyone. "Why over there and not over here?"

"I don't know," Jeff sighed. "I know about as much about this interdimensional stuff as you do."

"You know I've taken that IDT about a dozen times in the last two days with the idea that I was going to head over there?"

An alarm bell sounded in Jeff's head, but he suppressed the tingle it caused to run up and down his spine. "Doesn't surprise me. I've contemplated it myself."

"Really?" John cocked his head.

"Yes, really." Jeff looked up at his middle child. "Does that surprise you?"

"A little, I guess," John replied nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He was so tiny," Jeff whispered, a faraway look in his eyes. "So tiny."

The men were silent, each lost in their own thoughts for a time until John spoke. "Dad?"

"Mm?"

"Let's go."

"Go?" Jeff looked at him. "Go where?"

"Over there."

"Over...you mean, to Ben's side?"

"Yes!" John smiled. "Why not? We both want to."

"I...I don't know, son. Kyrano says—"

"Dammit, he's not Kyrano's twin brother!" John hissed, face screwed into a look Jeff couldn't untangle.

"No, and he's not yours, either," Jeff reminded him.

John whirled on him, looking for all the world like he might just haul off and deck his father. But the anger melted along with his body as it sank down onto the stool. "I know he's not my Benjamin," John said, looking at his hands as they fiddled with the hem of his shorts. "But he's more Benjamin than I've ever known. Don't I have a right to get to know him?"

"What happens if something goes wrong? We don't know that these IDTs will work forever."

"So it's okay for you to think about going, but not me?"

"That's not what I said."

"Just forget it," John sighed loudly, swiveling back around and picking up the VI box. "It doesn't matter anyway. Like you said, he's not my twin."

Jeff's face fell. There was no talking to John now. The subject was effectively closed. He wished he could do something, but he knew he couldn't. "I'll need you in the lounge in one hour for a briefing," he said softly as he rose to his feet. "And John, whether or not you think so, I do understand. More than you can ever know."

John turned silently and watched his dad leave the lab. His brother. His very own brother, the one he'd lost before he even knew his place in the world. He glanced across the room at a locked cabinet. He knew both Interdimensional Travel Devices were inside, safe and sound. It would take nothing for him to go over, key in the pass code and take one out. Nothing for him to set it and find Ben.

He looked back toward the now-shut lab door. His father trusted him. He trusted him or he wouldn't have left him alone in here with the IDTs. If he went and picked one up, using it to travel to the other side, he'd break that trust. He stared at the VI box, not seeing any of the wires and circuitry before him. But what of his own heart? The heart he had shared with baby Benjamin. The heart he'd kept. He wanted...no, needed...to know his brother. Even if only to know what he did, how he laughed, what his hobbies were.

He glanced back up at the locked cabinet. Maybe after the debriefing...Father would never have to know. Nobody would. Nobody at all.

Gordon looked on as Scott and Virgil entered the humongous hangar where Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4 were in varying stages of completion. They were on the island of Mateo, twenty minutes from Tracy Island as the crow flies. It had been decided that the 'birds should be rebuilt there, and then once fit for air and sea, they'd be moved into their proper hangars on Tracy Island. The two eldest were just returning with some of the sheet metal and other components for all three Thunderbirds and Gordon had been waiting with bated breath, for his 'bird would be the first finished. And he couldn't wait.

He frowned as his watch buzzed. When he saw it was Alan, he suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was only one reason Al would call him now, right before a debrief, mere hours after the conversation that had left Gordon at a loss. "Yeah, Al," he said flatly into the watch as Virgil laughed over something Scott said in the distance.

"You coming back soon?"

"Virg and Scott just arrived, I have to help them unload the supplies."

Alan looked away and took a deep breath. "I need to talk to you."

"So talk."

"Not over the watch!" Alan pouted. "Come on, Gordo, beg out of it."

Gordon looked up and eyed his brothers then looked back down at Alan. "Why? You going somewhere?"

Alan's face softened. "Yeah, Gordo. Yeah, I am."

The sinking feeling turned into an all-out lead ball. "Okay."

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"Well, what'd you want me to say?"

Alan opened his mouth, then clamped it shut. "Nothing. Nothing at all. See you at the debrief."

The line was severed. Gordon sagged back against the dull, unpainted hull of Thunderbird Four. Alan was going to Malaysia with Tin-Tin. He was leaving. Close in age and closer as friends. Somehow he just couldn't imagine life on Tracy Island without Alan. As much as he'd missed Tin-Tin and Kyrano, they weren't one of his brothers. They weren't Al. Gordon just shook his head and walked across the hangar toward the cavernous opening where Scott was unloading some boxes from the jet. Virgil frowned as he stepped out from behind Four. He'd heard. Virgil knew Alan was leaving. His heart sank.

"Thanks, Gordon, if you could just stack these in the Maint Bay, I'd appreciate it."

"Got it," Gordon said, walking away with the long dolly full of boxes.

Scott frowned as he watched his brother go. Something didn't seem quite right. He didn't have much of a chance to contemplate Gordon's demeanor, for Virgil approached him, and the look on his face made the knot that had taken up permanent residence in Scott's stomach tighten. "What is it?"

"Al's leaving," Virgil replied matter-of-factly.

Scott's face showed nothing of what he might have been feeling. "How do you know?"

"Al just told Gordo over his comm."

"Shit," he said. "I knew it would happen one day, but not now. Not in the middle of all this. What the hell can Alan be thinking?"

"He's thinking about Tin-Tin," Virgil replied. "She was almost killed over there."

"And so what, he wants himself to almost get killed over there?"

Virgil looked his older brother in the eye. "No, he wants to protect her. If you loved someone that much, wouldn't you?"

"I already do, Virg," Scott said quietly as he turned away. "God knows I already do."

Jeff entered the lounge. The feel of the air, the faces of his sons. Only Brains seemed to be oblivious to what was going on outside his own sphere, which was normal enough. Tin-Tin and Kyrano were not present. The group looked up at him as he crossed the room and seated himself behind his desk. When he glanced up after adjusting his chair, all eyes had turned away.

They already know.

"Okay, boys, let's get this debriefing underway so we can get back to work. Scott, report on the new Thunderbirds."

Scott nodded, his face expressionless as he spoke. "Thunderbird One estimated 75 percent complete. Only final circuitry and onboard computer programming are required once tail assembly has been completed. Thunderbird Two at approximately 40 percent completion. Right now she's little more than a hull and a few brain cells."

Virgil had the good grace to wrinkle his nose at the comment.

"Status Thunderbird Four is approximately 85 percent. She'll be sea-worthy within four days at most, Father."

"Thank you, Scott," Jeff acknowledged. "How about the pod we lost?"

"Haven't started on it, Dad. Pod's the least of our worries, we need to get Two up first."

"Agreed. Virgil, how is Manhattan proceeding?"

"Fine, Father. Workmen have completed the first six stories of the monument and I've lined up a landscaper who will do the job as requested. He's asking for pro bono."

"Really?" Jeff raised his eyebrows. "See if you can't negotiate him to at least take money for materials."

"Will do, Father."

"John, I'd like you to update everyone on what we talked about earlier today." He shot his father a look. Jeff stiffened slightly and turned to the rest of his sons. "John and I were discussing a new voice interaction device he's been working on."

John looked carefully away from his father, forcing his eyes to rest on Scott's. "Brains and I think we've figured out the difficulties using a voice interaction device to interface with Thunderbird Five. Since Scott and Father decided it was best to try and automate her as part of our current refit, we've come up with what we believe to be a viable solution. I'm putting the finishing touches on the VI box as we speak. Expect to be able to install it in Launch Control in a couple of days, Father."

"Thank you, John," Jeff replied evenly, his gaze resting a few seconds longer on the fair-haired man than perhaps it needed to. At the last moment before Jeff's eyes moved away, John looked up at him and whispered reminders of their conversation seemed to blare in Jeff's head. With determined effort, he turned to face Gordon.

"I've heard about Thunderbird Four, Gordon. I need an update on Kansas."

"Sure thing, Dad," Gordon nodded, with barely a trace of the earlier sadness that had snuggled around him like a warm, but far too heavy, wool blanket. "The office building skeleton is complete. Plumbing and electrical are working side-by-side, both should be done within a week. After that we're getting infrastructure and security squared away, I'm going over the final contract with the security providers and will hand their designs over to Brains by end-of-day tomorrow."

"Thank you, Gordon." Jeff looked at Alan, who was looking at the floor. He looked at Brains, who still seemed lost inside his own head, but this time on purpose. Then at the rest of his sons, whose eyes danced like cats on a hot tin roof. Anything to keep from looking at Alan, he noted, or at him.

"Well, as you may or may not know, we're going to be down a member for an indeterminate amount of time." As if on cue, Tin-Tin entered the lounge and walked to stand by Jeff's side as so often she had. After acknowledging her with a smile, he continued to speak. "Alan will be accompanying Tin-Tin back to Malaysia to overthrow Badan's hold on the palace and ensure her safety. He has my blessing to do this and I'm sure he has your support as well."

There were no comments forthcoming. Jeff cleared his throat and continued.

"Alan and Tin-Tin will be leaving day after tomorrow. I'll be flying them to Sibu myself, and joining them at the palace long enough to ensure Badan and his cronies are out on their asses but good. In my absence, Scott will be in charge of International Rescue and the island, while John will be in charge of Tracy Corporation."

John's head snapped up, a pained look of disbelief passing fleetingly across his face. It was gone as quickly as it had come, causing Jeff to wonder if he'd seen it at all.

"Gordon, you're still in charge of Kansas, and keep under Scott's guidance for the rebuilding of the Thunderbirds. Virgil, you're still in charge of the monument, and I want you to keep regular contact with Lady Penelope. She's working on some information for me that has to do with possible agent recruitment and also new member recruitment."

"New member recruitment?" Virgil repeated, looking askance at Scott. "What do you mean by that, Dad?"

"Just what it sounds like. We're working up security scenarios against which to run potential candidates." Oh, to hell with businesslike. These are my sons. "Look, boys, we all know we can't keep doing this forever, and I don't know how many of you really want to do it forever. It's hitting us right smack in the head now with Alan leaving. We'll be able to handle it because Five is no longer going to be manned, leaving us the same compliment as when one of you was always up there. But if we drop another, we're going to start having a hard time. I'm not saying we're going to recruit any time soon. Only that we need to start thinking about the future, and I think this is the best way to do that."

The boys actually looked up at one another now, eyes locking for brief moments before moving on.

"Anyone have anything else to say?"

"About what? Alan leaving or the new members?" John asked, his voice tinged with an edge of something Jeff wasn't quite sure he recognized.

"Either."

Gordon glanced at Alan. "Who becomes Three's primary pilot?"

"John does, of course," Jeff responded. He knew Gordon had only said it to break the tension left by John's awkward question. "Well, if none of you have anything else to add, I say we get back to work. I want fully updated status reports on my desk by 8pm."

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir." as Jeff rose to his feet.

"I do wish you'd let me speak with them, Mr. Tracy," Tin-Tin said softly as the boys all stood and went off in pairs or alone. "I feel responsible for their unhappiness."

"You're responsible for half of an entire country, Tin-Tin," he said, smiling softly. "The boys are responsible for how they deal with things."

"But I'm taking their brother away," she insisted. "And your son."

"He's a grown man," Jeff replied, sitting on the edge of his desk and looking across the room at Alan's portrait hanging on the wall. "And he loves you."

Tin-Tin sighed. "I guess I just worry about splitting up those five brothers," she said, wistfully gazing at the portrait wall. "They're all so close."

Jeff turned as something caught his eye. John had come back and was standing in the doorway listening. Jeff saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard, his face unreadable. Jeff looked down at Tin-Tin, then back up at his son. John squared his jaw, turned on heel and stalked away.

"What was that about, Mr. Tracy?" Tin-Tin asked, genuinely concerned.

I guess I just worry about splitting up those five brothers.

Five brothers...

No. He wouldn't. Jeff had all but forbid it. "Nothing, Tin-Tin," he said absently, patting her hand and staring at John's portrait on the wall. "Nothing."

"I hope he knows what he's doing."

"I think he does, Scott. And even if he doesn't, it's his mistake to make. You can't protect all of us from everything forever."

Scott looked sharply across the boat, wondering when it was Virgil had become so damn wise. It was maddening always having to listen to reason. "Nothing's to say I can't try. And Father, how could he just up and let him go without even discussing it with me?"

Virgil looked at him pointedly. "Do I need to answer that?"

"No," Scott ground out as he steered the small speedboat closer to Mateo.

"He'll be fine. We'll catch him tomorrow, spend some time with him before he goes."

"Damn this whole situation," Scott said, more to himself than to Virgil. "Damn it all to hell."

"What, are you following me today?"

Jeff frowned. "Not exactly."

"I'm busy, Dad." Jeff folded his arms across his chest. Concern was overshadowed by fear. He'd just come from Kyrano's side and the more they had talked of the IDTs, the more he believed the Malay man's predictions of doom. For Kyrano had spoken of timelines and dimensions crossing in ways they never should. He himself had nearly died...or rather, had died, in a way...because of the sultan being where he shouldn't.

"It's not safe, John. I just want to make sure you understand that."

"Not safe? For who? You?"

"For any of us."

"You said we'd see him again," John said matter-of-factly, turning and standing to face his father. "You told him that before he took the sultan back."

"Yes. Yes, I did."

"So what, you lied to him?"

"This is getting us nowhere. No good can come of you trying it, John."

"What do you mean, no good? How can good not come of it? He's my brother, Dad, the brother I never had!" John looked away, his face showing disgust, but only to hide the aching emptiness from his childhood as he'd had to forego the usual pleasantries of play and rough-housing for the sake of his heart, of his health. The hours spent with his nose in books, or buried in his computer screen. "You don't understand," he finally said. "You can't possibly understand."

"You don't think I want to get to know the son I lost, John? Is that what you think? That this is having no effect on anyone but you?"

"You didn't have to grow up knowing you'd lost something you could never get back. Now I have the chance to get it back, Father!"

"You think I didn't wish growing up that I had someone? Out on that farm in the middle of nowhere, twenty miles to the nearest damn town? You think it was fun to be lonely like that?"

"What do you know of loneliness, Dad?"

A look flashed across Jeff's face. "I've lost more than Benjamin in my time, son."

For a moment, John felt guilty as he thought of his mother. His dad had a point. He looked up suddenly as that thought took root in his mind. "So I guess if the shoe was on the other foot, if it wasn't Ben Tracy, but Lucille Tracy over there, you wouldn't go."

Jeff's eyes widened, the word NO screaming over and over in his mind. But he found he couldn't say it, no matter how hard he tried.

"That's what I thought," John said. And with that, he walked out of Launch Control.

"Damn you, Hood," Jeff whispered into the still air, wishing for the hundredth time the bastard had never invented the IDTs. "Damn you."

"Hey."

Gordon looked up from the water's edge, where he'd plopped down and was currently studying the sand filtering between his toes. "Hey."

"I thought I might find you here."

He grunted in response.

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I don't know," Alan replied, tossing his sandals to the side and sitting down next to his brother. "You seemed sore."

Gordon looked at Alan out the corner of his eye, then squinted into the sun which hung midway up from the horizon. "I'm glad you're going with her."

"You are?"

"Sure, she needs all the help she can get."

"Yeah."

Gordon rose to his feet after a few more minutes and brushed the sand from his shorts and legs. "It'll be boring around here without you."

Alan grinned and stood as well. Before Gordon could move away, he enveloped him in a hug. "I'll miss you too, pain in the ass."

Gordon allowed the moment, squeezing his arms tight around Alan. "Shit," he breathed into his brother's shirt.

"I'll keep in touch. You know that," Alan said, backing away. "Come on, let's do something together. For old times' sake."

"Like?"

"How about skinny-dipping?"

Gordon's look of disbelief morphed into the 'what will Dad think?' look before he all-out grinned. "You're on!"

The men ran down the beach together, tee shirts and shorts discarded along the way. For the moment, they could forget. For the moment, they could go back to being mischievous kids. For the moment, still, they were together in Paradise and had no cares in the world.

Their whooping cries rose into the air as they took running leaps off the end of the tarmac. Two mighty splashes told of their landings. And their laughter and shouts told of the brotherly bond that would never be broken, no matter how far the distance between them.

On the balcony of Launch Control, John sank back into the shadows. Watching Gordon and Alan together only reaffirmed his chosen path. With purpose to his step, he headed for the laboratory.

He made it there in double-time and quickly keyed in the pass code. The cabinet door slid open. The two IDTs lay on the top shelf. He picked one up and looked over the keyboard and screen, remembering what Brains had taught them all in his short and informal class on its use. A couple of buttons pressed. Pull in the pattern...yes! Ben's pattern was there, from when Kyrano and Alan had gone to get him!

A smile crept across John's face as he raised his arm into the air. A portal opened, blinding him. Its liquid blue waves undulated in time with his heartbeat, it seemed. One step would take him into another world where he would find at last the one thing he'd never had that his brothers always had. His father's nagging voice cascaded away as the portal's whine filled his head.

It wasn't his father's right to stop him, nor Kyrano's. It was his choice to make. It was his brother. No harm would be done. Only good could come of it. Father was wrong. If it was Mom, he would go. His father's silence had told him that much.

John closed his eyes, took a step and vanished.