Chapter Text
Lucy wasn’t sure she could believe what she was being told. The whole flight back to the island her mind had been racing with possibilities of what Janus could have possibly been after, who could have been feeding him the information that was so strictly confidential. Kyrano and Tanusha had been waiting for her in the hangar, she had thought they mustn’t have known, Kyrano definitely not. He never would have let her go to the meeting alone if that were the case.
At least, so she had thought.
“What do you mean you knew?”
Tanusha shrugged as she glanced up to her father and back to Lucy, “Janus has been on our radar for a long time as a potential threat to the organisation.”
Glancing between them she shook her head, not understanding why the information was only just coming to her.
“Why? Why is he a threat? And why is he starting now?”
She was glad they had at least made it to her office before the conversation had been started, that at least she had something to reach out to support her as both her legs turned to jelly. It wasn’t the tiredness of the day catching up to her bad leg, it was fear.
Fear that maybe one man could tear all she had worked to achieve to the ground.
“The man craves power Lucy,” Kyrano continued for his daughter, “Power and control. After the GDF, International Rescue is the largest organisation with what is viewed by some as military equipment.”
“We don’t have guns. We are not a threat.” She snapped, already knowing in her head that it went far beyond that.
“But we have the trust of the people,” Tanusha answered, her eyes wide and sympathetic, “and the agreements in place to enter countries the GDF still have to fight with to find their answers.”
Lucy nodded, Jeff and Val hadn’t liked the ‘no questions asked’ policy she had instilled on the organisation. It was their job to save lives though, politics had no place in that. If it meant turning the occasional blind eye to the running of some countries, she knew where she stood.
“As for why now,” Kyrano sighed, “It would seem that Janus is somewhat misguided in Mister Tracy’s role.
Lucy didn’t miss the way Tanusha rolled her eyes, “Even in twenty-sixty, the man is a misogynistic bast--”
Her father’s glare cut the younger woman off, and if Lucy hadn’t have been so worried she might have laughed.
“He thinks I’m weaker than Jeff.” She murmured, looking across to Kyrano, “He thinks IR is easier to take out without Jeff around.”
Kyrano nodded slowly, “That would be my assumption given today’s developments, yes. However, what we lack is concrete evidence that the man is coming after us.”
“How does he know though?” She frowned, “About Jeff coming home.”
“That’s something we still need to figure out.” Tanusha sighed.
“You cannot let this distract you Lucy,” Kyrano warned softly, his hand reaching out to rest on her shoulder, “Your focus must remain on your family.”
Her focus was always her family, alongside the business and IR at least.
“Scott has a handle on the business,” Kyrano murmured, raising an eyebrow as if he had read her thoughts, “Trust him with it. This family is going to need to be as tight as ever if Janus is out for us, your focus is there.”
Pursing her lips and glanced to the revolving photos on her desk, the most recent added just a few days ago.
“Scott has Tia to worry about.”
Tanusha scoffed with a smile, “You think Tee is going to let him worry about her more than necessary?”
Lucy had to concede, whilst Scott had been spending plenty of time with his new girlfriend, she seemed to have mastered the art of refocusing him when his caring nature got to being too much. When Tia spoke, her eldest listened, clearly knowing when to push and when not to. They might have only been living on the island together for a matter of days, but from the knowledge of experience, Lucy could see what the pair of them were building would be built to last.
“How long until the infrastructure is in place for her to run special ops?” She asked, knowing it was still Tia’s frustration that she could no longer work as she once had.
“A few more weeks.” Tanusha nodded, “The team is coming together nicely.”
Her face must have given something away as Kyrano squeezed her shoulder, “If Janus is planning something, Special Ops is exactly what is needed to counter him.”
It didn’t settle the worry in her stomach, not when it was something the GDF could potentially use against them. Kyrano and his daughter were people she trusted with her life though, their judgement was worth listening to.
“Now,” Tanusha smiled, turning towards the door, “Shall we start on dinner before Sally gets there?”
She didn’t need more encouragement as she straightened, “And before Alan decides it’s pizza on the menu again.”
Kyrano nodded in agreement as he followed them into the hallway, “I feel that would be wise, pizza and junk food is no diet for a budding astronaut.”
Lucy paused at the comment, “I’ll actually catch up with you. I forgot there’s a couple of papers I need to sort before tonight.”
The older man’s eyes narrowed on her, and for a long moment she was sure he was going to question her further. It wouldn’t have surprised her, Kyrano always had known when she was lying.
It seemed he also knew when not to push things though. With a slight tilt of his head he turned away and wrapped an arm around his daughter’s shoulders, shifting the topic to dinner as they continued down the hall.
“Eos,” She murmured to her wrist comm once they were out of earshot, “Where’s John?”
Her hologram did not appear, but her words hardly reassured Lucy,
“I believe he is at the astronomy point on the far side of the island, when I queried him about it he said that it was the closest he could get to the stars since we banned him from returning to Thunderbird Five this week.”
Pressing her lips in a thin line, Lucy sighed. She had feared as much.
“Mrs Tr-- Lucy,” The AI corrected herself, “I do believe we made the right choice for John’s own health and wellbeing.”
A small smile pushed its way through as she nodded, “I know. I just hope I haven’t pushed him further away.”
“He requested for Ridley to not follow him, though he did not specify that anyone else could not.”
Taking a deep breath, Lucy nodded again, “Thank you Eos.”
Maybe she couldn’t get to the bottom of what Janus was up to, but she’d be damned if she couldn’t find out what was wrong with her son.
