She sat quietly in one of the seats in Two, content to watch the boys and not have to think too much about the conversations she'd likely have to deal with when they got back.
She knew in her heart that although they likely weren't going to treat her any differently, at least not in a negative way, they would definitely see her in a different light. But that didn't stop the voice in her head that was nagging at her, reminding her that she'd been here before, had people she cared about, people she loved, who had turned on her when they realised just how different she really was. It was easy to know that someone was different in an abstract way, but when it was shoved in your face feelings could change.
She listened with half an ear to the conversation that carried on around her, though it was understandably more subdued than she was used to. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the seat, somewhat soothed by the deep bass rumble of Virgil's voice and the sweeter softer tones of Gordon and Alan.
She jumped when she felt a hand on her arm and opened her eyes to see Alan staring at her. She took his offered hand and held it tight, grateful for his presence, for all of them really.
"You OK, Selly?"
She squeezed his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine, sweetheart."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure, don't worry about me."
He didn't look like he believed her and neither did Virgil when he glanced over his shoulder at her before returning his attention to the skies.
She didn't really expect John to be sitting waiting on one of the couches when they got back, she'd assumed he'd turn up at some point later in the evening, but she was more than happy to see him.
He was there in an instant, his arms wrapping her up in the world's tightest hug. She clung to him, breathing in the scent that was uniquely his, letting him surround her in his warmth and security. Gods she loved him, he just made everything better.
She enjoyed the closeness for a minute before she pulled back.
"Everyone's tired and hungry, I'm gonna throw something on to cook for when they finish up and then take a quick shower, I feel icky."
"You don't have to do that."
"Yes I do, I touched some things today, things I don't want to think too closely about and I need to feel clean."
"I meant cook."
She waved away his comment.
"It's not a big deal, you've all had a long and emotionally draining day, food helps. Food shows you care, it's one of the things I inherited from my Nan."
John, wise man that he was, knew that arguing with her was beyond pointless, she saw some things in a very black and white way, and this was one of them. People needed food, you care about them, so you fed them. It was the same mentality that his Grandma had, Selene was just less likely to poison them with it.
"OK, then I'll help."
Boy was definitely a keeper. She gave him another grateful squeeze and put him to work chopping and frying some chicken and keeping an eye on a big pot of boiling pasta while she had a quick shower.
Ten minutes later she was dried and dressed, wet hair held up in a clip, wearing comfy yoga pants and a baggy sweater. She hadn't bothered with any makeup, they had all seen her barefaced by now and honestly she just couldn't be bothered.
She took over from John, keeping an eye on the chicken while she made a simple cheese sauce and chopped up a little bacon to fry and set aside to sprinkle on top later.
It took but a few minutes to toss the chicken in with the pasta and sauce, mixing it all together. She grated some cheese into a bowl and put it, along with some big bowls and cutlery, onto the table beside the pot of pasta. Everyone would roll up at some point and help themselves.
As usual she dished him up the biggest portion she could fit in a bowl and glared at him until he took it. She pointed to the couches in the family room and he slunk off, knowing that resistance was futile. She dished herself up a much smaller portion and took that, along with a couple of glasses of water, because as usual he had forgotten to get himself a drink, and joined him.
Alan was the next to appear, sniffing hopefully at the air, darting off to grab some food. Gordon followed soon after, with Virgil then Scott bringing up the rear five minutes later.
"So," Scott began, managing to pick the moment that everyone had their mouths full and couldn't argue with him, "debrief."
There were muffled groans all round but no one tried to stop him, it would be like trying to slow the passage of time, impossible. Best to just get it over with rather than prolong the torture.
Scott, being Scott, ignored their collective moaning and continued.
"I know we had some loses today, but they were out of our hands, we couldn't have done any better. We all worked hard, did our best and saved more lives than would have been spared had we not been there. I know it's hard when you face the things we did today. You know the drill, one by one, I want you all to go over what you did and report any damage you or your equipment sustained."
Selene kept quiet while everyone talked about their part of the day, she didn't really have anything to contribute, for which she was actually grateful. Honestly she was hoping she could just fade into the background and be left alone.
John put his almost empty bowl on the table beside the couch and nudged her gently.
"You're quiet," he whispered. "Everything OK?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."
He didn't look like he believed her.
He took her hand in his, squeezing it gently, then frowned.
"Where's your-"
She looked down at her hand for a second before his meaning became clear. She had a mental flash of taking her ring off and handing it over.
"Oh! Scott has it, or at least he better still have it."
"What? What does Scott have?" Alan was in there like a bloodhound scenting gossip.
Scott's head shot up from the file of something that was probably important but she hadn't paid attention to, that he was quietly discussing with Virgil.
John ignored his youngest brother.
"Why does he have it? Are you attempting to swap again?" He wasn't really being serious, but still couldn't help the tiny spark of worry. Had she not wanted to be seen with it?
She patted his hand, knowing where his thoughts had gone to. "I took it off because it would have ripped through the examination gloves, plus I was putting my hands inside a person."
"Shit! Ring! I'll be right back!" The eldest Tracy tossed the tablet at Virgil and took off like he'd been shot from a cannon.
"Ring?" Virgil's raised eyebrow was a thing of beauty as he put the tablet down on the table, grateful for the distraction. "Is there something you two want to tell us?"
"There's a ring?"
"What kind of ring?"
Selene glanced at John, it was his family and his right to tell them.
John sighed, wishing this wasn't happening at this moment in time. He'd never hear the end of it.
"We weren't hiding anything from you, we were going to tell you tomorrow night when we came down for Christmas, but obviously things didn't go to plan."
"So you two are-" Gordon began but he was interrupted by the arrival of a panting Scott.
"Here...it is...was in...uniform," he held her ring between two fingers and presented it to John before collapsing down into one of the bucket seats that could take them to Thunderbird Three.
"Thanks," John held the ring for a second, suddenly feeling very exposed as every one of his brothers stared at him expectantly. "Erm...I...yeah."
Selene took pity on her poor spaceman and held out her hand, palm up, for the ring, giving him an out. He'd done it properly once, he didn't need to prove anything.
"No," he took her hand in his and turned it over so he could slide the ring gently down her finger. "Now don't take it off again."
She snorted. "Like I had a choice this time."
"OK, don't take it off again unless you really have to," he amended.
"Wasn't planning on it," she turned to look at the others, who were still watching them intently like they were expecting a show. "What?"
"When did this happen?" Gordon wanted to know.
"We need details," Alan added.
"Let me see that ring," Virgil demanded, always wanting to see pretty things, jumping up to inspect it. "Oh that's perfect, where did you even find that?"
John shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. "I didn't find it, I designed it."
Selene glanced at him in surprise, she hadn't known that. Why hadn't he told her?
"What's that in the middle of the moon?" Virgil gently twisted her finger to see the ring from all angles. "It doesn't look like a gemstone, it's quite rough."
"That's because it's not."
"It isn't?" Virgil was completely baffled. "What is it?"
"It's a piece of meteorite."
"Of course it is," Scott laughed, would it have been anything else if John had a hand in it?
"Let me see," Alan was suddenly there, bending down to peer at the stone. "That is so cool, bro."
She had a meteorite, on her finger. That was crazy! She hadn't thought to ask what the stone actually was, or where he had gotten such a unique design. John being John, hadn't volunteered the information, he never did unless you outright asked him a question. It was so like him to downplay the whole thing, from the most perfect proposal to a ring that he hadn't just picked out in a shop, but had taken the time to design and have made. Most other men would have been shouting it from the rooftops, bragging to everyone that they had been so clever and so romantic, yet her man didn't do anything the way you'd expect. He'd obviously been planning this for longer than she had thought, but he'd never given so much as a hint as to his intentions. She'd never have been able to keep it a secret if it had been the other way around.
"Grandma is going to be so excited, she's been wanting to plan a wedding since we were born," Gordon grinned.
"She can keep waiting," Selene stated firmly.
"What she means is that we don't want to make a fuss, neither of us are particularly into the idea of a big wedding, Selene is obviously pagan and so she doesn't want anything traditional, so we're sticking close to home with something small and intimate."
"What he said," she sighed. "It's not that I don't love and adore Grandma, you know I do, so much, but this is supposed to be about us and what we want, not everyone else. That's why we wanted to take a few days to just get our heads around the fact that it would be happening at all. I don't want my future husband to be uncomfortable and anxious all day because he's surrounded by a million people all staring at us like we're there for their entertainment. Our wedding is not a show."
"So no big ceremony or lavishness of any kind?" Gordon confirmed.
They both shook their heads.
"Relaxed is key, if you want to rock up in shorts and a T-shirt, you do it. It's not what you wear, it's the fact that you're there that matters to us."
"Seriously?" Alan couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Seriously," John confirmed. "We talked about it and we want a beach wedding, a handfasting."
"A pagan wedding," Selene explained at the blank look on their faces.
"Is that even legal?" Scott wanted to know.
"Depends on where you do it and the local authority, but honestly, we had another idea. Well, Sel did."
"What's that? Virgil was ever curious.
"We thought that one of you might like to do the honours. You know, get an online thing that makes it legal and perform the ceremony ourselves."
All four brothers looked at each other as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Really?" Alan asked.
"Really," John confirmed.
"That is so cool! Can I do it?"
"I don't think you're old enough, squirt," Scott ruffled his younger brother's hair.
"Damn it," Alan crossed is arms in annoyance. "I'm always too young."
"Can I do it then?" Gordon tossed his hat into the ring.
"It's a long way off at the moment, let's just wait and see what happens shall we?" Selene hedged, not wanting an argument to erupt between them all.
"Nice as this all is, you're forgetting one thing," Virgil pointed out.
"What's that?"
"You have to deal with Grandma tomorrow when she gets here with Penny and Parker and she realises that she's the last to know."
John's eyes grew wide. "Any chance you could all pretend you don't know?"
Scott laughed, shaking his head. "Not a chance in hell."
***
"You continue to surprise me, you know."
Selene jumped, spinning round to see Scott standing behind her. She shifted over to make room for him on the bench, turning back to look out over the sea again.
"I do? Why's that?"
He eased down beside her, leaning back, getting comfortable.
"Not that I thought you were with him for our money-"
"Not after the first month anyway," she joked, though they both knew there was a ring of truth in her comment.
"Not after I met you properly," he corrected her. "And definitely not after your first visit here."
She nodded, not wanting to remember the circumstances that had led to her rather rushed appearance on the island.
"No, you surprised me because, for most women, their wedding day is the one time they are allowed to make everything about them, to live out their princess fantasy. But not you."
"He wouldn't like that," she tugged her shawl closer around her shoulders. "I've always hated the way it's all about the bride and the groom is forgotten about or his wishes ignored completely. Not exactly the best way to start a life together, is it?"
"No," he smiled. "It's not. And I'm glad you realise that about him. I think, out of all my brothers, he's the one I worry about the most."
"Even Gordon? I mean, that boy could find trouble in his sleep. I don't know how he does it."
Scott laughed wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. "Even Gordon."
"Damn."
"So it guess it's a good thing that you're here to help me look after him, that is, if you don't want to take this as your last chance to swap."
She grinned, nudging him with her elbow. "Much as I love you, I think I'll stick with my spaceman."
"Can't blame a guy for trying."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.
"It's later."
"Huh?" she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him.
"You said we'd talk later about what happened earlier."
"Oh, you mean..." she made oogie boogie fingers with her hands.
He nodded. "That you can see ghosts."
"Wait, what? You see ghosts?" Alan's scared yelp made them both jump. The youngest Tracy stood in the doorway, a mug of hot chocolate in each hand, clearly in the process of delivering it to them.
"That stayed secret for the longest time, didn't it?"
Scott winced, squeezing her shoulder apologetically. "Sorry, hazard of having so many siblings."
"So I've begun to realise."
"Ghosts?" Gordon popped up like he'd been summoned.
"Yes! Ghosts!" she threw up a hand in disgust, almost punching Scott, who managed to duck just in time.
"What about Ghosts?" John's head appeared around the door, having followed the sound of their voices.
"The gangs all here!" Selene dropped her head into her hands. She hadn't wanted any of this attention. She'd been there before, as soon as people found out the extent of her gifts they were either scared of her and treated her differently, sometimes cutting her off completely, or they constantly wanted her to communicate with their loved ones, getting very annoyed when she couldn't do everything they wanted. She didn't want anything to change between them, she didn't want them to end up fearing her or hating her.
"Virgil's not," Gordon pointed out helpfully but was ignored.
"Shall I go back inside?"
"No, sorry love." She lifted her head to look at him, reaching out a hand to draw him closer.
"Want to explain the conversation we apparently all walked in on?"
She shook her head. "Not really."
Scott snorted in amusement, earning himself a glare.
"Sorry."
John frowned. "I am exercising my right as your future husband to demand an explanation."
"Unfair," she pouted, dropping his hand.
"Oh, low blow, bro," Alan laughed.
John ignored everyone but her, lowering to squat down in front of her, refusing to let her avoid his gaze.
"What's going on? Talk to me."
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Isn't that up to me to judge?"
"Not really, no. It's just more of my weirdness that I'd rather keep quiet about."
Gordon moved closer, seemingly oblivious to the tension or just good at ignoring it.
"So you really can see them?"
She sighed, closing her eyes as she prayed for strength. "Sometimes."
"They are actually real?" Alan's voice held a tiny note of fear she wasn't used to hearing from him.
"Pretty much everything is real in some form or another."
His eyes widened in horror, his mind conjuring up a million other scary things that he'd been told weren't real. He took a step back, away from her, as if she were suddenly dangerous.
"See?" she gestured to the youngest. "That's exactly why I didn't want to say anything. I don't want this. I don't want to be treated differently!"
"No one's going to treat you any different," John promised. She wanted to believe him, but it was hard.
She got to her feet, needing to move, dodging around him as he unfolded himself from his Crouch and stood up.
She rounded on them all, noticing that Virgil had silently joined them, alerted by the raised voices.
"Are you honestly telling me that you won't think I'm a freak, a bigger one than I already was? Yes, I see ghosts, I talk to spirits, I get flashes of the future, I have intuition out the wahzoo, I see auras, I know when people aren't being honest, and I see that now!"
"No one thinks you're a freak-"
"You are marrying a freak!"
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Gordon and Alan shuffle backwards as if trying to escape. She pointed the pissed off finger of death at them in warning.
"Stay! You do not get to leave right now!"
They froze in place, not daring to move.
Virgil looked around, then slowly raised a hand.
"Yes?" she snapped.
He swallowed but gamely pushed on.
"For those of us who just innocently wandered in on this, can we please have an explanation?"
She swung the pointy finger at Scott. "It's his fault."
Scott, for his part, didn't look fazed at all. He just grinned.
"She's being dramatic again."
"Oh! How very dare you!"
He ignored her. But honestly, they all did that, she was beginning to wonder why she ever bothered talking at all.
"She's freaking out because she had a little run in with a ghost-"
"A spirit," she corrected.
"There's a difference?" John wanted to know.
"- at the avalanche earlier," Scott continued as if he'd never been interrupted. "She outed herself by telling me that we wouldn't find the new mother's husband alive. She knew because he was there."
Once again five pairs of eyes swung around to fix on her.
"That's how you knew when no one had told you?" Gordon asked, recalling their previous conversation.
She nodded.
"He was there for the birth, saw his daughter and wife were safe and then left, likely he crossed over. I doubt he'd stick around."
Warm arms wrapped around her from behind, she expected to see John, so was surprised to find Virgil hugging her.
"Why are we just hearing about this now?" he asked.
"It's not something that just comes up in normal conversation."
He raised an eyebrow at that. "With you we wouldn't have been surprised."
"Mean."
"But true," John commented.
"I expected better from you, you're supposed to love me."
He shrugged. "You get what you get."
"Seriously though, those are some mad skills you got there, and we're all about that shit," Gordon pointed out. "We're not exactly a conventional team, we all have our specialties and skill sets that we put to use."
"And what use would mine be?" She folded her arms over V's, giving him a brief squeeze of thanks before letting him go.
"I for one would have liked to have known if there really were ghosts aboard the EDEN," Alan shuddered at the memory of the creepy, half finished, abandoned vessel.
"EDEN?"
"EDEN was a ship that was originally designed to become almost like a floating city, self sustained in space. But was never finished and ended up being abandoned. We had to go and help with a rescue there," John took over the narrative.
"Do I take it it was creepy?"
"It wasn't that bad," his tone was way too casual to be convincing.
Snorts of disbelief echoed from the other three and she couldn't help but smile, her heart lightning a little, unable to resist teasing them, just a tiny bit.
"Awww are ghosts scary?"
"Of course not."
"You didn't hear them on the way back," Scott laughed. "Wusses."
"Well obviously our fears were unfounded," John sniffed, trying to ignore the sniggering from Gordon.
"Unfounded! She's just told us different!" Alan couldn't get over the fact that everything he'd ever been promised as a child was a lie.
"Ghosts can't hurt you, they're no scarier than I am."
"So you say, " Alan huffed. "You have moments of being downright terrifying."
"You're scared of me?" Her hand flew to her heart like his comment physically hurt her. The baby was scared of her? Gods she wanted to cry.
"He's scared of all women," Gordon grinned evilly, earning himself a punch.
Scott attacked Alan from the other side, chuffing him lightly around the head.
"He's not scared of you, he said you're scary, there's a difference," John assured her.
"Not from where I'm standing!"
"You're a good scary, you're the one that we'd set on someone if they were mean to us, no one would dare argue with you," Gordon added. "Remember that tour guide?"
They drove her nuts, the lot of them. What the hell was she marrying into?
Selene sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can see that I'm going to have to explain some things before Alan starts to hide from me and you all expect Casper to pop out of the wall. Everyone inside, I need to sit down if we're gonna do this right."
***
"Ghosts and spirits are two different things."
She took the now cold chocolate off Alan with a smile of thanks and settled back against the couch. Everyone was watching her, like she was about to impart some great wisdom. Even Brains had appeared, lured out of his lab by the promise of fresh information to ponder over and possibly examine.
"OK, let's start with the basics. Can we all agree that energy never dies, it just changes form?"
They all nodded.
"First hurdle over. Anyone know anything about energy in inanimate objects or locations?"
Like a well behaved class, three put their hands up, Brains, Gordon and John. Not that she'd expected anything less, after all her work with them on grounding she'd had kicked their butts if they hadn't made the logical leap.
"Ghosts are residual energy, a recording if you will, of an event or regular route. For example, if someone lived their entire life in one house, they will have put a lot of energy into it, and that energy can stay after they pass. So you might feel their presence and or possibly catch a glimpse of them if you are sensitive to that sort of thing. But it's just energy, nothing more."
She sipped her drink and continued.
"In an area where a high energy event, such as a murder, a battle or something like that, has occurred, the recording is stronger. That would be a big burst of energy and emotion expelled that then soaks into the surrounding area and stays there, replaying over and over."
They all nodded, but she wasn't sure how much they were actually taking in or understanding.
"A ghost cannot interact with the world in any way, it's just an energetic imprint, same as you couldn't talk to a recording and expect an answer. Spirits are different because they are the ones that we can communicate with, that can interact, move things around and sometimes talk to us. What I saw today as a spirit. That is the soul, the life force, whatever you want to call it, that has left its shell behind and is now on a different plane of existence. Weird, but there you go. That's what I do, I see them, I communicate with them, I can't help it, I can't stop it, it's just me."
No one said a thing.
"Did any of that make sense to you?" She looked around at the assembled group.
Slowly, one by one, they began to nod.
"Any questions?"
Brains raised a hand.
"Does it involve me wearing any kind of observation equipment or you staring at me for prolonged periods of time?"
He paused, then slowly nodded.
"Then no."
His face dropped along with his hand. She sighed, taking pity on him.
"Fine, but I refuse to wear any kind of hat, anything that is sticky and I will not be performing on command. It doesn't work like that."
That got her a happy smile in return.
"I m-must admit that I have always found it a rather f-fascinating subject. This requires much research an-and investigation."
"Wait, you believe in ghosts, Brains?" Virgil asked.
"There is too much evidence, using scientific equipment a-and experimentations to disprove completely. I h-have never taken the time to really study it, but I have followed a number of investigations. EVP and EMF can be faked, of course, but it would be interesting to do our own experiments, I'm sure I could design something that could improve on the technology they use. You will answer any questions, of course." It wasn't so much a question as a statement of fact and she had no choice but to agree.
"Very good," he disappeared behind a tablet, obviously eager to get started.
"What else exist out there?" Gordon asked next.
She made a face. "You probably don't want to know the answer to that, not after the kitchen incident."
A look passed between the two youngest and they shuddered at the memory.
"What kitchen incident?" Scott was right in there, sensing an avoided disaster.
"I sneezed while Alan was making pancakes and he almost lost an eyebrow, there was plucking involved to make things even again," she lied so smoothly that even Gordon was impressed. "None of you want to know what other magical creatures are out there."
"What can you do with these gifts?" Virgil butted in, taking the heat off them.
She shrugged. "I've never tested them to find my limits, it's just something that comes naturally. I've always seen them, I've always been able to talk to them if they are strong enough and I've learnt to use these gifts to help others as much as I can."
"How do you do that?"
"Yeah, we don't really know what you do, Sel," Alan commented.
"Well, you never asked, and honestly I don't volunteer the information that often. People can get a bit funny with me when they know. I didn't want to give any of you a reason to hate me."
"We could never hate you," John's arm hooked around her waist, pulling her close.
"Do you not think I've heard that before?"
He just hugged her tighter. "You hadn't met us then."
"So, what's your job really?" Alan pressed.
"Witch, that's my job, though I suppose most of what I do is more mediumship and psychic based. If I have a client in person or on video call they might just want me to try to contact someone that's passed, or I could be doing a guidance reading. I might even go to their house or place of work and cleanse the joint, getting rid of any residual energy that manifests into ghosts. If it's a commission it could be a card reading, natal charts, numerology or something else. Might be a spell, prayers or long distance healing. Everything I do is for positive reasons, if it won't help someone then I won't do it."
There were a few wide eyes watching her. Scott cleared his throat, drawing their attention.
"The question here is, how can you help us to help people?" Scott wasn't one to beat around the bush.
She shook her head. "I don't know. What use is someone that can see and hear things that others can't and can sense things and see emotions if they put their mind to it?"
Blank faces all around.
"See, not that easy is it?"
Virgil looked at Scott, who gave a half shrug in answer. Once again they seemed to be able to communicate without words, just knowing what the other was thinking. An expressive eyebrow raise from V and then a small nod of acceptance from Scott seemed to conclude their nonverbal conversation.
"OK, so we might not know what you can do to help right this second, but we know that you will be able to," Virgil began.
"So maybe you need to come out with us more often," he paused when John shot him a sharp look of warning but then continued, "when it's safe and when you feel comfortable, and we just see what happens. Much like today, we feel that your skills will make themselves known when they are needed."
"If you want to, that is," Virgil tacked on.
"Well of course I want to, I'll help any way I can, if this is going to be my life too, then I want to actually be a part of it and make myself useful."
'You're more than useful already," John insisted, taking her hand in his.
"Well, a little more can't hurt, something better than just feeding you all that is."
"Never underestimate the importance of food," Alan insisted.
"Do we have an agreement?" Scott asked.
She looked at John, needing to be sure that he was fully on board. He studied her for a long moment, his eyes mapping her face, his thumb toying with the ring on her finger. Finally he nodded. She turned back to the assembled family.
"I'm in."
Virgil grinned. "Welcome to the team."