It's been two years since my dad told me of Jeff's idea for IR. It's been a year since my dad died and it's been three months since I graduated from college. It's been two years since John and I started dating, two weeks until my 18th birthday and my move to Tracy Island is today. I'm a nervous wreck. I'll give it all I've got though, as my last promise to dad. I've got all my boxes packed and ready to move out. I wander the halls like a silent ghost, thinking of all the fond memories I made here with the Tracy's who came over lots after our mothers died. That's when our dads got absorbed into their work and I became the only person outside of the family who Alan trusted.

Scott tried to act like the father figure for us until he accepted to the air force training, but Alan never could ask him for help so he found refuge with John and myself. We became his parental figures. Virgil and Gordon teased Alan and kept putting him down. "It's all in good fun!" They said, but it affected Alan greatly. He spent most of his time with John and myself. I'm shook from my thoughts as a speeding bullet of a boy hits me. It's Alan. "Hey Sprout! How's it going?" I ask.

"Boring, but now you're here! Come on, Da... John's waiting for us!" Alan stumbles on his words. He drags me to my living room where John and Scott are waiting for me. Most of my boxes had already been moved into thunderbird two, which was in the massive garden.

I greeted the two boys with hugs and give John a kiss before immediately getting down to business. "When are we leaving?" I ask.

"In a few moments, once I get these boxes onto TB2. You guys wait here until I'm done." Scott commands.

"How's it going?" I ask John.

"It's ok, dad is secluded, as normal, and Scott's extremely busy with his air force training. Virgil's either in his art room or in the music room and Fish is either in the pool or sea and the kitchen. To make matters worse, I'm going to be assigned to TB5 in less that two months meaning I'll have to leave you and Alan alone." John sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, silly, we've managed so far, with you on Tracy Island and me stuck here. That's also why we have the radios in our watches. And the video phone set up on TB5. And the intercoms between your room on TB5 and my room on the island. We'll be fine, I promise." I grin and notice the absence of a certain blonde 11 year old. "Now, let's find Alan. He's hidden here somewhere." John smiles at me before we start to scan the room. After a few minutes, John nods towards the curtains which were lumpy. I smile and declare in a loud voice "Well, we've looked everywhere. Let's go home, John." We start to walk out of the room only to hear Alan exclaim "Hey! You missed me!!" He comes sprinting down the hallway and skids to a stop beside us, panting. "Come on, it's time to go." Scott orders, suddenly emerging at the bottom of the nearby stairs. We follow him down, into the garden and enter TB2 while Scott enters TB1.

As John and Scott run through the preflight tests, I turn and face Alan. He's buckled in and ready to go. He's bouncing in his seat, a massive grin on his face. "Excited?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I bet you're more excited, after all, this is your first flight in a Thunderbird!!" Alan smiles.

"Countdown initiated. Everyone buckle in." John states, giving me the look that says 'Get-your-belt-done'. I smile and get my belt fastened.

"5

4

3

2

1." Scott counts down.

"Thunderbirds are go!" Alan exclaims, making John and I laugh. TB1 and 2 launch off the garden and start the long trip to Tracy Island.

John plots the course and sets the controls to autopilot. His chair turns and he faces Alan and myself. "Well then, we've got about an hour until we reach the Island. What do you want to do?" John asks.

"Truth or Dare." I smirk.

"Very well, Alan, truth or dare?" John asks.

"Why am I always first! Fine, truth." Alan replies.

"Ok then. Who are you closest to?" I ask.

"You two. After all, Scott and Dad are always busy, they never have the time to help me. Virgil and Gordon are annoying and they both give me a hard time. You two always make time for me, even if you're already in the middle of something. I feel like we're a small family instead of two brothers and a family friend." Alan replies.

"I'm absolutely honoured that I am like a mother to you. Now, John, truth or dare?" I ask.

"Dare." John bravely states.

"Ok, you have to prank call dad, but don't tell him that it's a joke until after his reaction." Alan smiles.

John visibly gulps, obviously nervous, before turning to the control panels. "Thunderbird Two to Base, come in." John starts.

"Hey John, what's up?" Jeff asks.

"Dad, Phoenix and I are eloping and taking Alan with us, in TB2." John stammers.

"What do you mean John? TB2 isn't even your bird, I command you to return to Tracy Island." Jeff exclaims, getting mad.

"Dad! Don't worry about it, it's just a joke, Alan dared me to do it. We're not actually eloping, we'll see you in less than 45 minutes. Bye." John explains quickly before hanging up.

"Truth or dare, Phoenix?" Alan asks, an obvious smirk on his face.

"I'm no chicken, gimme a dare." I reply.

"Very well, Miss Confident, I dare you to stand on top of TB2 mid flight." John smirks.

"Ok then, where are the harness and magnetic boots?" I ask.

"I'll get them!" Alan exclaims, running from the control room.

I smile at his antics and turn to face John. "Ok, something is obviously wrong, John. You're quieter than normal and I don't see that joyful twinkle in your eye. What's up?" I ask.

"You know me so well, Nix. It's just, I don't want to leave you two down here. I know it's silly and I'm probably worried about nothing, but I need to be there, Alan and you need me. I have a need to protect you two, like Alan said, we are like a little family, and I want to protect my family." John explains, determination in his eyes.

"Oh, John, it's fine to feel like that. It's not silly but perfectly normal for a father figure. I've got things sorted out here, plus we can call you if we need help. We'll be fine, ok my star?" I ask.

"You always know what to say Phoenix. Just promise me that you'll try to be safe, alright?" He sighs.

"We will. I promise." I smile as Alan comes running into the room, almost tripping over the harness. "Here you go!" He exclaims, setting the gear on the spare chair.

"Thanks Alan, now the big question. How do I get this on?" I sheepishly ask.

"Here, let me help." John smiles. He lays out the harness and helps me get buckled in. I slip off my pumps and set them on my chair before taking the magnetic boots and putting them on. I buckle them up before tying my hair back with the hair bobble on my wrist. Then John attaches a safety wire to me. "Just incase the boots fail." He explains. I nod and open the hatch above us. John and Alan give me a boost and I stand on top of TB2. I must have stood there for a good while before seeing TB1 fly by and do a few tricks. I suddenly hear over the comm, Scott ask "Hey John, why is Phoenix on the outside of TB2? You know that if she scratches it, dad will kill you."

"Don't worry, Nix is just doing a dare." John replies before he speaks to me, "We're almost there so you better come down, Phoenix." I sigh and start the walk back to the hatch. When I get there, John helps me down and closes the hatch. I take off the harness and boots while John detaches the safety wire. I walk over to Alan and make sure his belt is done up before sitting down and doing my own belt.

When Tracy Island is in sight, John opens the comm. "TB2 to base, permission to land." John asks.

"Base to TB2, permission granted. See you soon." Jeff replies. John closes the comm before starting the landing procedure. He lands TB2 and the platform rolls into the underground hangar. Once TB2 is stationary, I unbuckle my belt and unbuckle Alan's belt too. Alan jumps up, grabs my hand and runs out of TB2, dragging me behind him. As we pass John and Scott, who were already out of the ships, I call out to them. "Save me!"

"You're on your own, Phoenix!" John calls back, laughing. I glare at him as the elevator moves up into the house. An excited Alan drags me around the place, giving me the grand tour of the house. He's bouncing on his feet, excited to show me around. The final destination is a door next to John's room. The wooden door is painted white with gold swirly writing on it saying 'Phoenix', obviously painted by the residential artist, Virgil. I open the door and stare in awe. My room is a light lavender colour, with hints of gold in places. A double bed with purple and gold sheets sits opposite the balcony, which overlooks over the massive jungle and the glowing sunset. There are posters of NASA, Fall Out Boy, and other bands I like around the room. A string of fairy lights illuminate my headboard and a mini walk-in-wardrobe is faintly glowing with the light emitted by the LED lights. There's even a hanging chair in the corner! John, Scott and Virgil start bringing in boxes, setting them in my dressing room as Alan and Gordon help me unpack them. Unfortunately, Grandma Tracy decides to make dinner so Virgil goes and orders my favourite kind of pizza, pepperoni. I can clearly remember Grandma's cooking. I had food poisoning after the last meal she made. Grandma Tracy has her heart set in the right place, but her cooking is not the greatest.

When a majority of the boxes were unpacked, Jeff called me into his office. "Hey Phoenix, I'm guessing that you had an entertaining flight here from what I've heard." He smiles.

"Yeah, now when do I start my training?" I ask.

"Ok, business talk first, casual talk after, you're very similar to your dad. I know that you need to get used to the time zone, so your training starts in two days. Is that ok?" Jeff explains.

"That's perfectly fine. I'm just wondering, but which Thunderbird am I flying?" I inquire.

"I had my engineers build six Thunderbirds. One for each of my sons and one for you. You have Thunderbird Six. It is a mixture of all the other Thunderbirds. It is capable of space travel, underwater travel and can be used in the Earth's atmosphere. It is the second fastest Thunderbird, faster than TB2 but slower than TB1. Are you ok with that?" He asks.

"That's perfect, but may I ask, which Thunderbirds that your sons are getting?" I inquire.

"Scott gets TB1, John gets TB5, Virgil gets TB2, Alan gets TB3 and Gordon gets TB4 but until they are of age, we'll rotate who's driving which birds on certain missions." Jeff explains. Suddenly, there's a slight thud at the door and Jeff starts to smile.

I smirk before tiptoeing over to the door, silent as a mouse. I threw open the door and the three younger boys come crashing into the room. They untangle themselves before they start asking questions to their dad. Scott and John join us just as Grandma Tracy shouts "Dinners ready!" from the kitchen.

We all panic slightly until Jeff calms us down and says "Go down into the TB6 hangar. I'll go get that pizza you ordered." At first glance, Jeff obviously knew his boys well enough that they would try to avoid his mother's cooking, but since I've known him for years, that was unlikely, mostly due to him distancing himself. He must have listened through cameras. Jeff activates command and control, as Virgil's mural of the family and I on the wall changes to photos of the boys in their IR uniform, with an empty space beside Alan's photo. I stare, confused as to where my photo was. "Don't worry, we'll get your photo on that wall soon. For now you can go down with John." Jeff explains, seeing my confused face. The boys enter their entrance and John leads me to his. We stand in the cramped lift as Jeff declares "Thunderbirds are go!" The sliding doors close and the tubes go shooting down into the hangars. We end up in TB2's hangar, above Virgil, on a platform that held the capsule to get to TB5 for a quick trip. John will go up in that capsule and keep the capsule up at TB5. We sprint towards a ladder, once down, we run over to TB6's hangar and sneak behind the consoles. John and Virgil keep an eye out for everyone else while I admire my bird.

The white writing saying 'Thunderbird Six' contrasted with the majestic purple of the craft. I was shaken from my thoughts as Scott, Alan and Gordon run into the hangar. "Quick, Grandma is coming!" Scott hisses. John grabs Alan and myself before hiding us in some storage boxes. Everyone hides just in time, as Grandma enters the hangar. "I know that you're in here, I just need to find you." She mutters. As she passes the boxes, we hold our breaths, in fear of being caught. "Ah ha!" Grandma exclaims. I close my eyes and flinch. We heard Scott and Virgil groan. "Come on you two, come to dinner." Grandma says. I let out a sigh, thankful that we weren't caught. We heard the three of them leave before opening the top of the boxes. John jumps out first so I pass Alan out to him. John sets Alan down before helping me out too. When we locate Gordon, we are in stitches. Gordon's stuck between a pipe and the wall. It takes half an hour, a tub of butter and all of our strength to get Gordon free. By this stage, Jeff had arrived with the pizza in time to help us remove Gordon from his situation. We sit behind my bird, eating it, saving some for Scott and Virgil. Once we are done, we talk for a while, exchanging cheesy jokes and telling silly stories. By this stage, I'm exhausted and fall asleep on John's shoulder. I dream of flying my bird through the skies, John and Alan by my side.

I'm awakened by my body being shifted slightly. I keep my eyes closed, listening into the conversation. "She must have been exhausted." Gordon whispers.

"Remember, she did just move today, Gordon. Take her up to her room, John." Jeff commands.

"Very well father." John replies. He carefully lifts me up and carries me over to the lift. I decided to shift slightly and slowly open my eyes. John noticed my movement and looks down. "Hey, sleeping beauty." He smile.

"Hey John. There's no need to carry me now. I'll just walk back to my room." I yawn.

"No, you're exhausted. I'm carrying you. Now, you can go back to sleep." John commands.

"Can you tell me a story?" I ask.

"Sure, I'll tell you about the time I got stranded on an island where the natives were..."John starts. As I listen to his soft, sweet voice, I gradually fall asleep in his arms.