Chapter Three – Scott I

AN – A new chapter! Woooo! This isn't my 'first' story, so I'm afraid updates are a little sporadic. But I will keep it ticking along when I need a break from Past Subjective! That said, enjoy Scott's first chapter.

Just be aware the timelines jump about (dates are in the first line of the chapter) so this chapter comes before the previous one.

Late August

Scott Tracy tugged uncomfortably at the grey and silver tie he was wearing. "Are you sure this is necessary?"

"Absolutely." Lady Penelope strode over to him and swatted his hands away. "You know, you're ruining all of Parker's hard work." With a practiced twist she straightened the tie and stepped back with a hand on her waist. "You'll do." She pronounced eventually, before scooping up Sherbert and kissing his nose. "Now, you'll behave for Parker tonight won't you?"

Sherbert whined and butted his head against Penelope, earning himself extra snuggles. Scott rolled his eyes and then straightened out his expression when he saw Sherbert glare at him. Which was ridiculous because it was a pug dog, and he couldn't know what Scott was thinking. But Sherbert's eyes narrowed and Scott gulped nervously.

A discreet cough drew their attention to the door of the suite they were getting ready in. "The car h'is ready, milady." Parker announced to the room. Dressed impeccably as always in a dark suit with a deep green turtleneck jumper underneath, Parker looked like a cross between a chauffeur and a criminal henchman. Which, Scott mused, probably wasn't too far off the mark.

"Excellent, thank you Parker." Penelope picked up a small clutch bag in the hand that wasn't supporting a dog and turned to Scott. "Well, shall we?"

"If we must," he sighed, resigned to his fate for the evening.

"Relax," Parker drawled in his cockney accent. "H'anyone would think you were going to an h'execution, not a bleeding film premiere!"

"It almost feels like one." Scott murmured, his finger finding its way inside his collar once again.

"Honestly, and I thought John was bad when I took him to the charity auction." Penelope huffed as they stepped out onto the private pier that came with their suite. FAB1, the distinctive baby pink Rolls Royce car that Penelope owned, was bobbing in the water of the bay having been configured into a boat for their cruise to the venue.

"John was bad when you took him to the charity auction." Scott reminded her. "He just managed to get pretty distracted with the way it all worked out."

"Yes, well, the less said about that the better." Scott hid a smile as Lady Penelope slid into the back seat of the car and across to the far side. He could imagine why she possibly didn't want him reminding her of that night, when the Hood had tried to hold everyone to ransom to steal from them whilst they were in a crystal hotel suspended about a ravine.

"How far do we have to go?" He asked instead, diverting the topic. Penelope gave him a quick smile of thanks when she realised what he had done.

"It isn't very far at all," she reassured him, settling into her seat and making sure that Sherbert was comfortable on her lap. Scott sat next to her, the car bobbing slightly on the water as he did so. Parker shut their door and climbed into his seat in the front of the car.

"To the cinema, milady?"

"To the cinema, Parker."

Scott sat back in his seat with a sigh as the car accelerated away from the little wooden pier and into the lagoon. In the distance, close to the long, thin island of Giudecca, small wooden gondalas bobbed on their moorings as they were bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. Other boats travelled steadily around the bay, engines thrumming quietly. The distant sound of church bells carried across the still water in the sultry, warm evening. It was an idyllic picture, one Scott would quite happily kick back with a beer and enjoy at his leisure.

If only they didn't have to ruin it by sitting in a stuffy cinema for several hours.

Okay, so it probably wasn't going to be stuffy. It was probably going to be beautifully air conditioned and comfortable. But the point stood that he would far rather not be going to watch some random film that a friend of Penelope's co-directed.

"What's the film again?"

Penelope sighed the sigh of the long suffering. "I knew you weren't listening earlier." Parker chuckled from the front of the car whilst Scott had the grace to look embarrassed. In his defence, he had been busy trying to work out how to fasten the fancy waistcoat that Penelope had acquired for him. Just the memory caused him to tug again at the collar of the blue shirt he was wearing underneath a tailored black jacket. Catching sight of Penelope's narrowed eyes, he dropped his hand quickly and rested it in his lap instead.

"The movie is called 'Day of Disaster'. From what Stefano was telling me, it's the story of a space launch that goes wrong. It's set back in the last century, before space travel was such a commonplace occurrence."

"Right." Scott tried to muster up enthusiasm for the movie but it was difficult to do. He saw enough real disasters with International Rescue to particularly want to see fictional ones too. He much preferred a good old fashioned whodunnit.

"Well… I am aware it isn't exactly up your alley, as they say." Penelope looked a little uncertain. "But I had already told Stefano I would be attending with a guest and I would hate to let him down."

And wasn't that the crux of it. His father's shock announcement a couple of weeks ago about how they would operate International Rescue had really shaken things up. Before Scott had even been able to make sense of it all, there was a rota for IR duties that ran all the way through to the middle of next year. A rota that worked around their existing plans as much as possible, but despite everyone's best efforts it put Gordon up manning Thunderbird Five when he was meant to be accompanying Lady Penelope to the world premiere of her friend's movie at the Venice Film Festival. Not wanting to leave her high and dry, Scott had gallantly stepped in instead.

He thought that neither he, nor Gordon, nor Penelope herself were particularly pleased with the last-minute substitution.

Still, it was a break from the monotony that he's found himself under at Tracy Island. So far he'd technically had two weeks off, but he'd been lurking around the Island, tinkering with Thunderbird One and generally getting involved in all the call outs anyway. Eventually his father had pointed out that this did not count as being off duty, and that he needed to get off the Island completely for a bit. He had pointed at this outing with Penelope and was firmly told not to hurry back, despite the fact that his turn manning IR should start on the penultimate day.

Scott felt it was all a bit heavy handed. He completely understood his dad's point around his siblings getting some time to themselves, but he thought that he should be exempt as Brains and the Mechanic seemed to be. He'd chosen the IR life and was perfectly happy with it, thanks very much.

Still, he plastered a smile on his face as the FAB1 coasted up to a dock where a red carpet was waiting. Already, flashing cameras were snapping the exterior of the car from where the press were waiting behind rope cordons.

Parker opened the door and handed Penelope out of the car, Sherbert carefully deposited in Parker's arms as she left. As ever, the lady looked fantastic in a pale blue skirt suit and a matching hat. Unconventionally, her skirt was a loose flowing pleated design that drifted elegantly around her calves and was complemented by a pair of silver sandals. Scott climbed out beside her and offered her his hand, knowing that Penelope had coordinated their outfits perfectly. The dusky blue of her outfit was the same colour as his shirt and his tie was striped with silver accents. He was aware that they made a striking pair as they started to walk along the red carpet towards the historic Palazzo del Cinema. Gentle pressure on his arm had him turning to smile and wave at the crowds gathered to see their favourite film stars, cameras clicking away the whole time and reporters shouting questions at them.

"Why do they want to get our pictures, we're not even in the films." He managed to hiss to Penelope through a fixed smile.

"But we are here as guests of one of the producers," Penelope replied easily. "Ah, there he is now. Stefano!"

An Italian man wearing a white suit and a broad smile immediately headed towards them. "Penelope, mio caro," he gushed as he kissed her on each cheek. "It is a delight to see you as ever."

"You as well of course, Stefano." Noticing the Italians curious look towards Scott, she rushed to introduce them. "Stefano this is a good friend of mine, Scott Tracy. Scott, Stefano Bruni is the director of Day of Disaster, as well as a long-time friend. We met at a charity fundraiser many years ago now."

"Signor Tracy," Stefano took Scott's free hand with both of his and brought it in towards his chest, squeezing it tightly. "It is truly an honour. Please, call me Stefano. A good friend of Lady Penelope's is a good friend of mine, no?"

"Of course Stefano," with a slight tug Scott finally freed his hand and surreptitiously tried to rub his wrist. "And I'm Scott. Mr Tracy is my father."

"Bene," Stefano gestured towards the carpet. "Shall we? They are taking photos soon, I do believe." Looking up the red carpet to where a screen had been set up emblazoned with sponsors' names, Scott could see a crowd of people in front of it waiting for their turn. There were a host of elaborate dresses and crisp suits. The woman currently being photographed, a tall lady with a cascade of auburn hair that Scott vaguely recognised from one of the movies Gordon likes, was wearing something that looked like a cross between an ostrich and an octopus. Scott gave Penelope a sidelong glance out of the corner of his eye, admiring the way that her short sleeved blue blazer with a wide belt at the waist matched with the floating, pleated dress. She certainly caught the eye for being much more elegant than most of the ladies here, regardless of their finery.

"Vieni, vieni con me." Stefano ushered them past the waiting crowds and into position in front of the screen. "I have a table for us inside. But first, we must get photographs!"

Scott subjected himself to posing for a few minutes, sometimes with both Stefano and Penelope and some with just Penelope. In the end he stepped aside and let the photographers get a few of Penelope by herself, already deciding to have a word and see if he could get one of them framed for Gordon. He was busy thinking about the style of the frame that he was taken by surprise when Stefano dragged him forwards.

"Now maybe one just for the ladies, hm?"

With the Italian director draped against his side Scott stuck his hands in his pockets and tried not to look too bored at yet another round of photographs. Penelope was stifling her laughter in the sidelines, taking out her own phone from her clutch bag to take her own photos. He sighed and glared at her, dreading the knowledge of just who she might be sending them to.

"Oh stop worrying, you look very handsome," she soothed, once they had finally escaped the media's clutches. Stefano remained behind, he had started to wax lyrical about his new film and they had taken the opportunity to escape whilst everyone was trying to hear what they say.

"Yeah, sure," Scott grumbled into the glass of sparkling wine that had been handed to him as they entered the cinema.

Penelope sighed and flipped up a picture on her holophone. "See, you look fine. A bit brooding, perhaps, but that will only add to the appeal." Scott narrowed his eyes as he looked at the image, contrasting his aloof and disinterested pose with the laughing Stefano clinging on to him.

"I have never wanted to appeal to anyone."

"Oh Scott, you are the eldest son of the elusive Jeff Tracy and heir to his empire. You appeal to lots of people. And that's not even mentioning International Rescue" Penelope laughed at the disgusted expression on his face. "I know you don't exactly care for it, but that doesn't make it any less true."

Penelope was distracted then by another acquaintance coming to greet her, and aside from introductions Scott wasn't required for the ensuing conservation. It was a relief, to be honest – he wasn't great at small talk. On a rescue, when he had a job to do, he was fine. He also didn't have a problem with dealing with Tracy Industries as he mainly conducted business through a select few key contacts. He could even promote International Rescue, on the rare occasion that they took the 'birds out to show them off. But this kind of social interaction that Penelope thrived on was not within his comfort zone at all.

Luckily, at a film festival the natural conclusion was that a film would follow. The lights dimmed and encouraged those still crowded around their table to take to their own seats. Scott breathed a small sigh of relief when he had more space around him again. Penelope gave him a small, apologetic smile before leaning over.

"The afterparty will be more exclusive, so that was the worst of it."

She had meant to be comforting, but Scott suppressed a groan. With everything else going on he had forgotten they were also heading to a party that Stefano was hosting once the screening and subsequent question and answer session was over.

The film was… underwhelming. The audience seemed to love it, but Scott found himself trying not to fall asleep. The time zones differences were wreaking havoc with his internal clock and the dark cinema, warm despite the low humming of the air conditioning units, was almost too comfortable to resist.

The enthusiastic applause at the end startled him awake and he clapped absently whilst blinking to adjust his eyes to the lights, bright and jarring. Stefano along with his fellow director and the principle actors were up at the front, taking a bow. Penelope hid her smile behind a glass as they were served fresh wine, ready for toasting.

Finally, they were sent on their way. Penelope leant over towards him as they strode out to the waiting Parker, arm in arm. "So Scott, tell me - what did you think of the film?"

"Oh… it was really interesting."

"I see. Is that why you were snoring?"

Scott cringed. "Oh no, please tell me no one else heard it?"

"Luckily for you I rather think not. You were on the end of the table and you timed it particularly well, coinciding it with the training montage as you did."

"I'm sorry, Penny. I did enjoy the film but…"

"But it wasn't really your kind of film. It's ok, Gordon did warn me that you might not like it very much. Something about secretly being a middle-aged woman at heart, was how he put it."

Scott frowned. "I'm not sure that's how I'd put it…"

Penelope laughed, causing cameras to point in their direction to capture the moment. "Come on, let's find Parker and get to this party. I am looking forward to discussing some of the film's details with Stefano."

The afterparty turned out to be in a trendy jazz club back on Venice's main island. Luckily, with FAB1 at their disposal it was a simple trip across the lagoon to get there.

The party was already in full swing when they arrived, friends that hadn't received an invite to the premiere having arrived earlier and starting the party. Penelope waved at a couple of acquaintances before leading Scott towards a small table near the stage.

"I think this will do us nicely."

Scott waved over a waiter and ordered them drinks before kicking back and undoing his tie. He had to admit, this was more his type of place. A pianist on the stage was playing upbeat jazz tunes, but was still barely discernible over the noise of the party goers.

Suddenly everyone fell silent before a cheer went up in the assembled guests, as Stefano appeared in the doorway and took a gracious bow. He strode straight to the stage and the pianist handed him a microphone.

"My guests," he started, gesturing at the crowd. "You do me a great honour by coming tonight. My film may be called Day of Disaster, but it was not a disaster today! So thank you all for your support, please order what you wish from the bar. After all, tonight is for celebrating!"

Another raucous cheer from the guests as Stefano passed the microphone back to the pianist and bowed again as he stepped down from the stage. He slowly made his way over to the table where Penelope and Scott sat watching, stopping to talk to the people he passed along the way. They both stood to greet him, as he pressed kisses against their cheeks.

"My friends! It is a delight to have you attend this little gathering of mine. I hope you enjoyed the little film of mine. And as you are here, I have someone that you simply must meet."

Stefano looked around the room before beckoning over a tall woman that Scott recognised as being the one that looked like she'd murdered an ostrich on the red carpet before the film. "Penelope, Scott, please may I introduce to you both my wonder, mia musa, la signorina Lola Marquez?"

Scott took the proffered hand and like the gentleman he'd been raised to be placed a kiss on the back, trying hard not to get a mouthful of feathers as he did so. Now that they'd been introduced he vaguely remembered seeing the woman in the film, playing an unconvincing scientist.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Penelope told her. "Your portrayal of Gail Malone was simply wonderful."

"But of course." Lola spoke with a far huskier voice in real life than Scott recalled from the movie. She tossed her long hair back behind her shoulder, stray strands caught amongst the pale pink feathers. Scott personally thought that the clashing auburn and pink looked like a sick flamingo, but what did he know.

Lola was droning on about filming to Penelope, whilst Stefano had moved away to greet more of his guests. Scott was trying to work out what excuse he could use to escape the monologue, when conveniently his wrist watched beeped with a message from IR.

He excused himself and left them to it as he tried to find somewhere he would be able to take the call. He found himself in a small courtyard, the sultry air heavy with the scent of cigarettes.

"What's up?" Scott asked as a small holographic Gordon materialised above his watch, hovering into view in IR uniform. "Is there a rescue? You need Thunderbird One?"

"Slow down!" Gordon laughed at the barrage of questions. "No, no rescue. And even if there was, I wouldn't be calling you right now. You're literally holding a martini."

Scott blinked and looked down at where he was indeed clutching the stem of a martini glass, containing espresso martini in a last-ditch effort to keep himself awake for a bit longer. Alright, Gordon had a point. He'd drunk far too much to be allowed anywhere near his 'bird right now.

"So if it's not a rescue, why are you calling?"

"Can't I just call my brother sometimes?" Gordon asked, all blue eyed innocence.

"You could," Scott said dryly. "But you never do."

"I just wondered how it was going," Gordon confessed. "Plus, it's really boring up here." He dropped his voice down to a whisper and looked around furtively. "Don't tell John, but Eos is a bit… fussy."

"I heard that!" A sharp, female voice crackled over the line and momentary fear lit up Gordon's eyes.

"Not that there is anything wrong with fussy!" He backpedalled furiously. "It's obviously the sign of a organised and intelligent mind." His eyes tracked something that was out of Scott's line of view, his posture eventually relaxing and he let out a deep sigh. "So, how was the film?"

"I'm not… sure." Scott confessed. "It's possible I fell asleep."

Gordon's jaw dropped. "Seriously? You went to see the film I've only been waiting to see for like, forever, and you fell asleep?"

Scott winced. "It wasn't really my thing. I'm sure Penelope could have a word with Stefano though, to get you a copy."

Gordon dragged his hand down his face. "Sooo not the point, big brother. Are you having fun at all?"

"Of course! It's been… nice."

"This is why you never do anything!" Gordon said accusingly. "I bet you haven't even spoken to anyone that Penny hasn't forced you to. This is what dad means when he says we need to get a life."

"Now, wait a minute-"

"Go back inside and talk to the first person you see!" Gordon commanded. "And actually make an effort – try to have some fun? Then you can tell me all about it in the morning and I might not consider it a complete waste that you went instead of me."

With that, Gordon cut the transmission.

Scott rubbed at his jaw, stubble already beginning to assert itself. "Go and talk to someone, right. All very easy for Gordon to say."

He steeled himself and stepped back into the club. The first group of people just inside the door were laughing raucously and Scott decided to skirt around them. "Doesn't have to actually be the first person…" he muttered as he edged around the room.

"Do you often talk to yourself?"

He startled, almost tipping his martini over the woman that materialised by his left arm but managed to catch it in time.

"I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I didn't realise you were quite that distracted, maybe I should have done."

"No, it's me that should be sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Scott took a moment to properly look at her. "I'm Scott, Scott Tracy."

"Verity Waldron." She greeted, holding out her hand. Shuffling his drink around, Scott reached forward and clasped it in a firm handshake. "So why are you lurking in the sidelines of a club like this."

"I was not lurking!" Scott started hotly, before seeing her mischievous smirk and deflating. "I was… skulking."

Verity tipped her head back and laughed. Scott blinked at the long, slender neck that was revealed and trailed his eyes down towards the deep vee cut into her halter-neck dress. "Skulking, right," she said still chuckling. "Not one for crowds, then?"

"Not particularly," Scott confessed.

Verity bit her lower lip, catching it between a pair of white teeth. Scott suddenly found himself feeling very warm. "Don't take this the wrong way but… want to grab a table out the way somewhere? You're one of the first people I've met tonight that I can actually stand talking to."

"Sure," Scott smiled, and gestured with one hand. "Lead the way."

Over the next couple of hours Scott found out that Verity was from New York, and only in Venice to accompany a friend who was involved with the film. However, said friend had disappeared soon after the party started and abandoned her there. Not wanting to head back to her hotel too early, she had hung around and people watched until Scott's odd behaviour had caught her attention.

To his surprise, he found the time flying once they actually started talking and was surprised when Verity eventually made her apologies and headed off. Not long afterwards Penelope found him and suggested heading back to their hotel as well.

"I hope you didn't find it terribly boring, Scott."

"No," Scott replied, surprised by his honesty. "No, I really didn't."

It was only later, lying in his luxurious bed watching the reflections from the canal outside playing onto his ceiling, that he realised that after all that he hadn't managed to get Verity's phone number.