Unforgotten

Disclaimer – I still don't own Thunderbirds

Chapter Forty Four – What Lies Ahead

Angel was busy peeling potatoes in her kitchen. It was a very domestic task but it allowed her some time and space to think. Not that she had lots particularly to think about, she was enjoying some relative peace and quiet in her life. The opening of the back door made her smile, even though she didn't look up from her task to greet the new arrival.

Strong arms circled around her and lips caressed the back of her neck. "How did it go?" She asked, dropping the potato into the pan and picking up another. The small sigh following the question disturbed the hairs on her neck and she felt a thrill go through her.

"Both better and worse than could be expected," Scott told her, releasing his grip and turning to lean on the kitchen cabinet next to her. "Dad doesn't understand but I'm not sure I expected him to. Gordon and John are fine with it all, Virgil is trying to be and Alan is just being Alan."

A raised eyebrow as another potato went into the pan. "Just being Alan. Descriptive, love."

"Yeah, you know. Immature and naïve and idealistic. According to Virgil, Gordon ripped him a new one about disobeying orders and coming into the temple after us. I don't think any of us have really seen Gordon that angry before. So he's pretty subdued at the moment. Tintin sends her love though, I think you have a friend for life there. Especially after you helped her father."

"I didn't really do a lot, just introduced her to the people that could."

"Still, she's very grateful. She'd like to visit, I think. She's been talking to Jane about staying with her so she could come up here and see you."

"I think I'd like that," Angel smiled as she washed her hands, the ring on her left hand glinting as the water passed over it. She tilted her head as she regarded it. "Did you tell them we're planning to get married?"

She could almost feel Scott's wince. "Not yet, I think dad will take some time to come around to the idea that you aren't a security risk. He's really not very happy about me splitting my time between here and the Island."

Angel smiled at him as she dried her hands on a tea towel. "He has reason to be cautious, it's not like I have an impeccable record. And you did announce to him in the middle of a stress situation that I was both a thief and an assassin."

Scott grimaced. "Maybe not my best move." He moved forwards and placed his hands on her waist, drawing her close. He didn't particularly want to dwell on the memory of the explosive row he had with his father over Angel and her motivations. Apparently the fact that she had been prepared to sacrifice her life for his still didn't mean that she could be trusted around International Rescue.

"You could have pointed out that if I'd wanted to steal your secrets I would never have warned you about the cameras all that time ago when we first met?" Angel suggested, chuckling at the expression on his face as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Just think of all the hassle that could have saved me..." She dodged away before he could tickle her, leaving him flicking a tea towel at her instead. He chuckled and followed her, catching her before she made it into the lounge, breathing down her neck in a way he knew she found very ticklish.

Eventually she conceded defeat and returned to the potatoes while he perched on the edge of her small table.

"At least he let you split your time," Angel finally stated, moving over to the range and setting the potatoes boiling.

"I didn't really give him much choice," Scott confessed guiltily. "He can't physically keep me on the Island and he knows it, I told him that if he didn't let me split my time I would move here permanently."

"You didn't!" Angel gasped, knowing that to do so would mean giving up International Rescue entirely. "You know I would never ask that of you, don't you?"

"I do know, and I didn't expect him to go for it," Scott reassured her. "But he needed to know that I was serious, am serious about you."

"Let's hope it never has to come to that."

"He'll come around in time," Scott told her. "Now, what can I do to help?"

"Oh no you don't, mister!" Angel waved a wooden spoon threateningly at home. "The best thing you can do to help is to stay out of the way!"

Scott raised his hands in surrender and instead just watched her as she moved around the kitchen. Every moment spent in their little cottage together was precious and he wanted to soak up the memory of every move she made. No matter what Angel did, she gave all of her focus to at the risk of ignoring everything else happening around her. It just made it sweeter when that focus was entirely on him.

"Penelope was apparently very pleased to have Virgil back," he said eventually, breaking their companionable silence. "According to Gordon, who is nearly as much a gossip as Virgil himself, Penelope all but dragged Virgil out into the garden for a word." Scott used his fingers as quotation marks as he said word. "Apparently Alan was traumatised when he barged into Virgil's room the next morning to find the Lady of the Manor in all her natural glory. Gordon could barely contain himself when he told me, and I quote directly here, that Lady Penelope simply looked at Alan and asked him to 'be a dear boy and fetch her tea, if he would be so kind', despite being wrapped in only a sheet and with Virgil snoring soundly next to her."

Angel could barely contain her laughter. "Oh the poor boy. He does lead a sheltered life, doesn't he? He needs to get out and have some adventures of his own."

"Maybe he does. He certainly needs to get laid. Hey!" He caught the tea towel Angel had launched with her usual pinpoint accuracy at his face. "I'm just stating a fact!"

"You're being mean," Angel commented in return. "And besides, I really don't think Alan getting laid would solve the problem. He needs more responsibility, not less. And a little bit of worldliness."

Scott nodded, seeing the truth in her words. It saddened him that Angel hadn't been allowed the innocence that Alan embodied, but he couldn't be regretful that their paths had led them to this place. As she walked over to stand between his legs and wind her fingers around his neck he thought that he would do it all again, provided it ended this way - in this perfect moment.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

That night, as Scott flicked through a scientific journal while Angel read a novel, a thought occurred to him. He put down the magazine and tightened his arms around the woman that was reclining against his torso.

"Are you going to hyphenate?" He asked her.

"Hyphenate?" Angel asked confused, putting her book in her lap and tilting her head back slightly.

"Your name. When we get married."

Angel thought about it for a few minutes. "I think so. I'm sorry, but I don't think I could just take your name. My name is the only thing I have left of my mother."

"Mmm," Scott replied. "I quite agree. I like the sound of Scott Dubois-Tracy, personally."

"Do you now?" Angel twisted her head to look up at him, trying to gauge if he was serious. The expression on his face told her he was and she broke into a soft smile. "Scott and Angelique Dubois-Tracy. I think I could live with that."

AN - So here is the end! Thank you so much to all the support I've had so far, particularly JanetM74, LMC25 and islandsandstars who have, I think, left a review on every single chapter. Thanks to all the others who have reviewed, thank you for reading and sticking with this all the way to the end!

I'm planning a break now, but if my muse starts I'll probably end up posting something again so watch this space!