AN UNEXPECTED SIDE TRIP by MAPU RATED FRT

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

Fic Swap Request: One of Brains' experiments/inventions has an unexpected result.

Thanks to SkyWench and quiller for helping me get this story squished into the 5,000 word limit while still making some kind of sense.

Brains tossed his tool onto the pile of broken parts that littered his workbench with a lot more force than he usually treated his equipment.

"Do you want to talk about it?" A calm voice asked from behind him.

Brains spun and saw Scott Tracy standing just outside his doorway looking in.

"N-no."

"Do you mind if I come in?" Scott asked gesturing to the entry he had yet to cross. Brains had told all of the Tracy men at one point or another that if his door was open they didn't need to ask for entry but invariably each of them did. Having spent his early years in an orphanage Brains developed none of the hang-ups most people had about privacy but still it was nice that the Tracys were as considerate of his space as they were of each other's. It was probably the only way that many young men could stand to live on the same island, Brains realised.

He nodded and shrugged, allowing Scott to enter his work area. The taller man pulled up a stool and sat next to him at the workbench. Scott gestured to the mess. "Can anything be salvaged?"

Brains scanned the ruined equipment, most of the damage he'd caused himself on purpose. "N-no!" he said in horror. "I-I'm n-not even g-going to t-try! T-this, uh, exp-experiment is o-over," he managed to get out. Hating how bad his stutter got when he was upset about something.

"Why not? I thought the idea had a lot of potential."

"P-potential for disaster... Have you already forgotten I a-almost got one of your brothers k–killed?"

Scott reached over and put his hand on Brains' shoulder forcing the younger man to look at him. "The way I see it, Brains, you were the person who brought one of my brothers back to me. For the rest of my life I will more grateful for that than I can tell you."

"He w-wouldn't have been lost if not f-for me. And he wouldn't have been hurt."

"Brains, Alan is fine. He's relaxing in the lounge right now. He and Gordon have joined forces to give Virgil a hard time. He's not hurt."

"You d-didn't see h-him. This was h-hard on him."

"On you too," Scott said with conviction.

Brains wanted to deny it but in truth the results of his mistake had been hard for him too. Not in the way it had been for Alan but difficult all the same. He kept his silence.

"Tell me about it Brains. It might even help Alan if I can understand what happened to both of you."

Brains picked up a mangled part of what had once been the master control system of his latest invention and looked at the damage. "You were there when it all went wrong, but it really started a bit before that..." he began, his thoughts sliding into the memory of the failed experiment.

The whole idea started out as a causal conversation between friends. Sitting by the pool one hot afternoon Brains, Virgil and Alan had begun an initially theoretical discussion about alternate energy sources and before Brains knew it, together they had come up with a possible design for an innovative and potentially powerful antigravity engine. Within weeks Brains had developed the first small scale prototype, working out most of the kinks in the design until he felt ready to take the idea to Mr. Tracy for the go ahead to build a full-sized working engine. He was confident Jeff Tracy would see the merit to the proposal.

Virgil and Alan were with him, as they had been from the beginning, to present the idea but instead of the intense and excited reaction he'd expected, Jeff Tracy said nothing. A deepening frown marred the older man's features while Brains explained the engine and what he would need to see the project through. Through-out the presentation Jeff's gaze returned to rest on Alan. By the time Brains finished the man had been staring at his youngest son for several minutes and the scientist was no longer sure he'd been heard at all.

"All right, Brains, I'll get what you need to proceed and I'll organise a test facility... I already know the right place," he said tiredly. "There is an old testing station in the Nevada desert that I used in my days with NASA that will be ideal."

"T-thank you," Brains stuttered out. He was unable to think of anything more constructive to say and the three of them escaped the older Tracy's presence as fast as they could.

"What was that all about?" Virgil asked as soon as they were outside of the office.

Alan frowned. "I don't know, but I felt like a bug under a microscope in there. I was just about ready to start confessing, and I haven't even done anything... lately."

Virgil's hand landed on his brother's shoulder "Don't worry about it, Alan. If Father knew you'd done something you would never have walked out of there alive. He was probably just psyching you out. Come on guys we got a green light. Let's celebrate!"

It took a little over a month of intensive work before everything was ready for the test and the entire International Rescue team made the journey to the isolated desert complex for the test. Enthusiasm was high and the test day had an almost festive feeling despite the continued nearly sombre attitude of Jeff Tracy. Brains had tried to ignore his mentor and friend's manner but it did bother him. Something was troubling Jeff Tracy, they'd all noticed it but he constantly deflected any attempt Brains made to broach the subject. Brains knew from experience that when Jeff Tracy did not want to discuss something, it was not discussed. He followed the others out to the shaded area just outside the building where Kyrano had set up lunch and took a seat.

Lunch was simple but well prepared and as always plentiful. A semi-silence fell over the group as the younger men applied themselves to the meal. Brains watched Jeff take a sip of his coffee and gestured to their surroundings, less interested in the food than his sons.

"It's hard to believe... not much has changed since I worked here 22 years ago," he commented.

Always on the lookout for hints of family history Alan looked up from his meal and looked around. "You worked here? Why?"

Jeff smiled fondly at his son. "It was many years ago, not long before you were born actually. I was working for NASA research and development at the time."

All of the Tracy boys looked at their surroundings.

"I thought this place was familiar!" Scott exclaimed. "I remember being here. Virgil, John and I used to play in the exhaust tunnels under the building... until Virgil and John got lost and Mom made us stop."

"I don't remember this." Virgil said.

"Me either," John added.

Jeff laughed, a sound Brains hadn't heard in a long time. "That's not surprising. You weren't even six at the time."

"Where was I during all this fun?" Gordon asked.

"You were here, we all were, but you were so young you stayed with your mother. We had an area of the office set up as a nursery. We just about lived here, even slept here most nights."

Jeff was silent for a moment then he continued. "Actually, this place has a lot to do with the formation of International Rescue. Not long after I resigned from NASA's active flight status they had an accident. A mission went badly wrong. I was in mission control, watching it happen, but there was nothing anyone could do to help. We just didn't have the technology to attempt any type of rescue."

Another quiet moment and Brains could see how much the memory still hurt the older man. "Afterward I transferred to the research department and ended up here. This is where I got the idea to set up my own company and funnel whatever profits I made into assisting rescues. International Rescue was the ultimate goal but in those early days I wasn't sure it would be possible. I nearly gave up on it."

"What changed your mind?" Alan asked.

Jeff smiled at him. "I had a discussion with a man I trusted. There are truths that stand the test of time, and when you hear them only a fool doesn't listen."

Brains saw Virgil glance toward Scott who shrugged. Alan, Gordon and John looked equally confused.

Jeff let the comment remain unclarified and finishing his coffee, looked around the table. "Are we ready to proceed?"

Brains cleared his throat. "Y-yes, Mr Tracy, uh, everything is ready." The family quickly finished their meals and thanking Kyrano, headed back to work.

Working smoothly and professionally, it only took the team a few minutes to be ready. Brains stood next to Alan at their control console, close to the huge disk shaped engine. The others stood at the various monitoring stations scattered around the large space.

Scott checked his console and nodded. "All right, all stations report ready Brains. You're cleared to begin the test."

Next to him Alan gave an excited grin and Brains pulled the leaver that would bring the two induction fields of the twin antigravity generators close enough to the core to begin the reaction. Brains watched in amazement as the engine came to life. A deep hum began and the power output needle flickered then began to steadily rise, slowly creeping up to where Brains' calculations showed would be a maximum sustainable power output.

From his position at the control station beside the engine Brains could clearly hear Virgil and Gordon's cheers when they reached the expected output and the needle settled just over the mark, producing a steady output.

"Way to go, Brains!" Scott called out.

The team were all smiles, celebrating the success of the test when things began to go wrong. It happened so fast that later Brains would never be sure of the exact sequence of events. Within seconds the steady hum of the experimental engine rose to a roar. Brains looked to his panel and the information flashing across it to try and determine what was going wrong, but despite the sound his readings looked good. Then there were shouts of warning and he felt the solid impact of Alan's body taking him to the ground. He felt the pain of raw energy washing through his body, an intense bright light, then nothing....

Brains heard Alan's soft groan close to his ear and could feel the solid weight of the other man lying heavily on his chest. He groaned himself, not from pain as much as an overload of sensation.

"Brains, are you okay?"

"Y-yes, I think s-so."

Alan climbed off him and got to his feet looking at their surroundings. Brains noticed that although it looked like they were in the same place, the experimental engine still looming beside them, there was far less light than there had been only a few seconds ago. It was so dark Brains could barely make out the worried expression on his companion's face.

"What's happened to everyone?" Alan asked, and Brains realised they were alone.

"I d-don't think anything h-happened to them. I think it h-happened t-to us," Brains said trying to get to his feet. Alan reached down a strong hand to help him up. Brains noticed Alan wiping a trickle of blood from the side of his head.

"Are y-you all right, A-Alan?"

"Fine, Brains, it's just a bump... so where are we?"

Brains went to the door and opened it. The sky was lit with the soft but rapidly increasing glow of predawn. Brains and Alan stood side by side in silence and watched the sun begin to break the horizon, casting stronger light across their surroundings. They could easily recognise the familiar testing grounds and it was obvious they really were in the same place.

"I think the better question is when we are?" Alan said after a few minutes of stunned silence.

"I-I... this wasn't supposed to happen," Brains said, genuinely upset.

"It's okay Brains, whenever they are Dad and the others will be working to find us and bring us home. We need to do the same."

"Yes, you're right." Brains made an effort to get control and Alan smiled at him.

"The first thing we need to do is find out what the date is, then we need to see what our resources are," Alan said taking charge in a calm, confident manner that strongly reminded Brains of the eldest Tracy brother. Brains realised Alan had unconsciously slipped into a crisis management mind-set, and had begun to mentally prioritise the tasks ahead. Alan wasn't as good as Scott at crisis co-ordination but then Brains knew of no one, not even Jeff Tracy who was. Scott was a phenomenon. That Alan was there, doing what the Tracys did best was a true comfort to him and he felt much of his anxiety fade away.

Finding out the date proved to be simple, there was an atomic clock mounted on the wall. The display read 6:17AM Feb 2nd 2044. They had gone back in time almost 22 years.

"Oh, man... I haven't even been born yet," Alan muttered.

Brains put a consoling hand on his friend's shoulder, feeling uncomfortable in the act but wanting to help. "I'm only two, so the me of this time won't be much help either. I think it would have been easier if we'd gone forward in time. We would have known this was going to happen and we could have helped ourselves get back."

It seemed to take Alan a few minutes to process the convoluted ramifications of Brains' statement, but he finally nodded. It was unfortunate, if they had gone forward there would have been another older Brains and Alan out there somewhere, along with the whole Tracy family, who knew this was going to happen and would hopefully be in a position to help them, but going backward meant they were effectively on their own.

"Wait a minute... my father's here, he can help us!" Alan said happily.

Brains nodded slowly, "Yes, he's probably the only one we can trust who can help us. We will have to find him."

Alan shook his head, a grin on his face, "No, Brains, I mean he's here... at this testing station. Remember what he said at lunch? He used to work and live here 22 years ago... this year!"

Alan had just begun to pull Brains toward the back of the workshop when they saw a figure appear from behind equipment, a weapon in hand and pointed toward them. Even without seeing his face Brains was certain the man facing them was Jefferson Tracy.

"Hold it right there, fellas," the strong and instantly recognisable voice ordered. Brains froze and could tell that Alan beside him had done the same. Armed or not an angry Jeff Tracy was not someone to be taken lightly.

Suddenly bright light flooded the mammoth room and Brains could clearly see a younger Jeff Tracy standing in front of them, one hand holding the gun and the other on the wall light switch. He looked to be only a little older than Scott, but his youth diluted none of his powerful presence. Behind him another slighter figure stood.

"Mother..." Alan breathed his voice barely a whisper.

Brains spared the other man a quick glance, concerned by how pale his face had become and the now visible gash at his temple but there was nothing he could do for him while there was a gun pointed at them.

"Who are you two and what are you doing here?" Jeff demanded.

Alan was totally mesmerised by the appearance of his mother and it was obvious to Brains he wouldn't be able to answer. He cleared his throat. "P-please, w-we d-d-don't mean a-any harm," Brains managed to get out.

Whether Jeff was reassured by his words or he simply mistook Brains' stutter for fear was uncertain but at least he lowered his weapon slightly.

"Then tell me what you want," Jeff said his tone still hard.

"W-we had an a-accident," Brains said motioning to the experimental engine standing a few meters away.

"What the hell is that?" Jeff said in genuine shock, obviously just noticing it.

"What is it, honey?" Lucille Tracy asked coming further forward. When she walked forward it was very clear she was heavily pregnant. Beside him Alan made a strange choking sound then before Brains could do a thing to prevent it the younger man crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.

"Alan!" he shouted rushing to his side. Moments later Jeff was there, the gun vanished. Jeff carefully rolled Alan onto his back and checked him over. "He's alright," Jeff said after a moment, reassuring Brains that the injury was not serious.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on here?" Jeff asked, his tone turning dangerous once more.

Brains swallowed hard and began to speak. He told Jeff the truth but only the parts that were important. He told him in detail about the experiment and how he suspected they'd created and been caught in a temporal anomaly, but he avoided any mention of their identity and relationship. Then he begged the older man for help.

The appeal for help was the right approach to take. Jefferson Tracy sighed, then lifted Alan in a surprisingly gentle grip and carried him into the office and living area, laying him on one of the sofas.

Then he turned to Brains, "All right. I believe you. It's obvious you two didn't carry that thing in here by yourselves," Jeff said pointing to the huge engine still visible through the office window. "So what help do you need?"

Brains took a few seconds to organise his thoughts. He wasn't sure exactly what had caused the accident but it made sense that they would need to use the engine again if they were to have any chance of recreating the time distortion. Perhaps if he reversed the polarity of the engine they may be able to return to their own time. He began to list out the things he would need in order to check his theory and rerun the experiment.

Alan slept the whole day, the knock to the head combined with the shock of seeing his mother alive had put the young man out, but when he did wake he did it suddenly. For a moment Brains could see the confusion on the young man's face. It cleared and he sat up abruptly. "Mother?"

Brains looked toward the door, the direction that the Tracys' had gone and was pleased that they were nowhere in sight.

Brains sat on the sofa beside Alan and looked out the wide window toward the late afternoon sun. "A-Alan, I can understand the s-shock you must be f-feeling but you can't s-s-sa... reveal details of the future. D-doing that could d-d-des... jeopardise everything. I-if you t-try to c-change the f-future you m-may destroy us a-all."

Alan looked like Brains had slapped him and he knew he'd been right, the younger man had intended to use this opportunity to warn his family of his mother's imminent death.

Alan shook his head. "I can't do this, Brains. I have to say something. I can save her."

Brains shifted uncomfortably. "I w-won't s-stop you Alan. But you know what the consequences are. The future we know will no longer exist."

"I really miss her, Brains. I've missed her all my life. It's amazing how much you can miss someone you never met. How can I just let it happen?"

"T-to save the r-rest of y-your family, y-you have t-to."

"I don't know if I can," Alan said.

"It won't be long Alan. I'm working as fast as I can."

"I know, thanks, Brains."

Brains would not to push his point harder. He'd made sure Alan understood the consequences but the decision would have to be Alan's, and Brains knew whatever the choice, Alan would suffer for it and he could do nothing. Guilt assailed him, it was his oversight, his mistake, that had caused this and it was Alan who would pay. Somewhere the rest of the Tracy family suffered too, suffered through the terrible fear of having a missing family member.

A loud commotion drew their attention to the door. Alan was up and heading for the noise before Brains had even begun to react. He followed and saw a very young Scott, tears streaming down his face, explaining in rapid snatches of phrases broken by sobs, how he'd been playing with his younger brothers in the secret tunnels and how they had fallen down a hole and gotten lost.

"Scott, I told you boys not to play in those tunnels!" Lucille Tracy admonished, clearly anxious about her missing children as she nursed an upset toddler with a shock of red hair and tried to calm his crying.

Scott looked heartbroken and Alan was clearly stunned speechless by the sight of his younger, older brother.

Jeff knelt in front of the boy, gently gripping his chin and making him look at him. "Scott, I need you to show me where it happened. Can you do that?"

Scott nodded.

"I'll help," Alan offered.

Together the three of them set off in search of the lost children. Brains went back to work on the engine but he couldn't keep the worry from his mind. He'd just finished his work when Brains heard the rescue party return. When he joined them he was shocked at what he saw. A bloodied and barely conscious Alan was being supported almost entirely by his father. Behind the two men Brains was pleased to see all of the Tracy children muddy and dishevelled but intact.

"A-Alan, what h-happened?" Brains asked in fear, Alan looked to be in considerable pain. That was when Brains noticed the young man's left arm didn't appear quite right and blood dripped slowly from his dangling fingertips. The arm was obviously badly broken and Brains felt a swell of nausea at the thick scent of blood.

"Quickly, Jeff, get him on the sofa," Lucille Tracy instructed. "I'll call the doctor." She let her husband settle the young man while she went to make the call.

While they waited for the paramedics, Jeff asked after his progress. When Brains explained that he was done and all they need now was a safe place to run the experiment again, a place that they could be sure would exist in the future. If they attempted the return trip and reappeared in a place that was already occupied the results would be catastrophic. Brains could only approximate when they would return to some time in the six month period after the original experiment. The place they chose would need to be cleared for a long time.

"That's going to be difficult to predict, do you know of such a place?" Jeff asked Brains.

"N-no, Mr Tracy, I-I'm a-afraid I d-don't"

"Tracy farm..." Alan whispered nearly incoherently, but it was loud enough to catch their attention.

"What did you say?" Jeff asked the injured man.

"Tracy farm. In Kansas. There's a bunker there 320 feet due south of the house... Made me memorise its location... Never understood why before," Alan finished in a mutter.

"O-of c-course, how c-could I h-have forgotten it. It's i-ideal," Brains said excitedly, then realised Jeff Tracy had no idea what they were talking about. "We... Uh... k-know each other, in the f-future."

Jeff nodded, "I'd figured as much."

"You told A-Alan and I a-about the bunker years a-ago. You must h-have... o-or rather will, b-build it for just this p-pur... reason."

Jeff looked down at the now unconscious Alan, who'd passed out from the pain. "And so I will. There is little I wouldn't do for the man who risked his life to save my son." he glanced toward Brains then back to Alan. "And absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for one of my sons. He looks like his mother, don't you think?" Jeff said reflectively, gazing with obvious paternal pride at Alan's face.

"H-how long h-have you, uh, k-known?" Brains asked in shock.

Jeff puffed a small laugh. "Known? Since he knew John and Virgil's names down in that tunnel, I know I didn't tell either of you. But I've suspected since I started to believe your story." Jeff's laugh turned more genuine. "At least I know what we're going to call him. Lucille wants to call him Alan but I've had my heart set on Walter. I guess Lucy wins that fight."

Knowing what he knew of the future and that Lucille Tracy would die giving birth to Alan, never having the chance at that particular argument, Brains could not share in the humour. Then a more disturbing thought crossed his mind.

"Mr. Tracy, it's i-imperitive t-that you allow this to h-happen. In the f-future y-you have t-to let this experiment h-happen."

The humour left Jeff instantly. "You mean I was involved in this? I risked my own son like this?"

"Y-you n-never risk you sons w-without cause."

Jeff stared at Alan for a long time then shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, Brains, but I will be stopping this before it ever starts. No cause is worth risking my children for."

Brains felt the first stirring of panic. "T-they save l-lives. T-thousands of t-them, when t-there is no o-other hope, your s-sons are t-there. They do it willingly... and they d-do it well."

"What are you talking about?"

"The only way to s-stop this h-happening is to s-stop the rescue o-organisation you will build. T-to do that w-will condemn thousands of lives."

"A rescue organisation... International Rescue?" Jeff asked.

"Y-yes."

Jeff sat heavily in the nearest chair. "That was my dream. I... we make it real?"

Brains refused to answer, he'd already said too much.

The sound of the ambulance pulling up outside was followed shortly afterward by Lucille Tracy's call "Jeff? Jeff, they're here."

Jeff looked at the sleeping Alan again. "Knowing I'd have to risk my children was the reason I decided against pursuing it, now you tell me I do it anyway? I don't know, Brains, I'll have to think about it."

Brains nodded his understanding but then there was no time to talk as the paramedics arrived to do their job and the focus switched back to the immediate needs of Alan's injuries.

Alan ended up being transported to the local hospital for treatment and a few days of observation and by the time he was released Jeff had organised to have the experimental engine transported to the farm and set up exactly 320 feet to the south of the house.

Alan looked tired, but healthy even with his broken arm in a sling and he spent the final hours with the Tracy family playing with Scott and Virgil. Brains had noticed that Alan had not spent anymore time in the presence of Lucille Tracy than was absolutely necessary and from the look of loss in his eyes every time one of those unavoidable encounters ended Brains could understand why. It simply hurt Alan too much to be with his mother knowing that she would never know him as her son.

Brains worked as quickly but as carefully as possible to prepare the engine and signalled to Alan the moment he was ready. The look of pure relief on Alan's face at the knowledge that he would be leaving sparked a fresh spike of shame for Brains.

"Good Luck," Jeff said holding his hand out to each of them and shaking their hands. Lucille gave each a warm hug and swift kiss to the cheek before gathering her children and leading them into the house. Jeff stayed to watch the experiment, worry clear in his eyes. Then in a flash Jeff, the farm house and 2044 was gone.

"... and that's what happened." Brains said to Scott finishing his story. "The r-rest you know. W-we called from the farm house and M-Mr. T-Tracy came to get us."

Scott nodded. "We've really missed you these last three months. Both of you, it was hard and we were all pretty worried. When Father told us what had happened, I was pretty angry."

Brains let his gaze drop, unable to look Scott in the eye any longer under the weight of his guilt. Scott's hand reached out to grip Brains' shoulder. "Not at you, Brains, at father for knowing the risk to both of you and still letting it happen... but then I realised he didn't really have a choice. I remember that rescue in the tunnels, if Alan hadn't been there that day, I'm pretty sure John would have died."

Brains looked up sharply at that revelation and Scott smiled. "It's not often I get to think of something before you is it? The way I see it Brains you took my youngest brother for an unexpected side trip, saved John's life then brought Alan home safely. I owe you big time, my friend."

Getting up Scott patted Brains on the shoulder, leaving him to his thoughts.

Perhaps he was being a little hard on himself Brains reasoned, after all, what happened couldn't be changed and he cautioned both Alan and Jeff about exactly that. That didn't mean he was absolved of his responsibility for the near disaster but perhaps he should focus more on what had been gained and learnt from the experience than focusing on self-destructive blame.

Both Jeff and Alan had endured a difficult experience because of his miscalculation but both men had seemed to gain something from the incident as well, and a deeper closeness seemed to exist between them since their arrival home. Alan had even thanked Brains for giving him the unanticipated chance to meet his mother, but at the time all Brains had seen was the naked pain and grief filling his young friend's eyes. Perhaps Scott's attitude was correct and Brains should look a little deeper than just the surface.

He had made a serious error, but fate or fortune had been kind and had let him redeem his mistake. He shouldn't question that.