-31st December 2060-

You would've thought the elite members of International Rescue would have been out saving lives as they usually did but they weren't, not tonight. Luckily, there wasn't anybody to save that night. People tend to have things organised on New Year's Eve or at least, most people did anyway.

Instead, the extended Tracy Family were sitting in complete harmony, huddled around a small campfire that sent sparks up into the starry night. Each one danced around another as they rose further up into the sky until they disappeared like they had never existed.

Kayo Kyrano sat alone on one of the singed logs, she was staring into the fire. While it may have looked unsettling, the young Head of Security for International Rescue was simply reflecting on the year that had passed. It was a year that had changed so much of her life. At one point during it, she didn't expect herself to still be on Tracy Island come Christmas and New Year.

2060 was... an interesting year for International Rescue.

Some things she had fondly highlighted was the discovery of the TV21 and how overjoyed she and her family had felt when it was found. Kayo remembered each of her brother's faces when they laid their eyes on their father's ship for the first time in a damn while, it was a moment she would never forget.

Another she thought of was her receiving her own ride, her sleek and beautiful Thunderbird Shadow. She remembered the first time she flew it after her family had left the hangar, she remembered the first time she landed it and she certainly remembered the first time she'd damaged it. Kayo could have cried the day she saw it for the first time, she secretly did that same night. Luckily, only one brother saw her. And Kayo knew he wouldn't tell. After all, he would have her to answer to if he dared utter a word.

But what Tanusha Kyrano really reflected on was the inevitable reveal that The Hood, an evil and hellbent man, was her uncle. He was a man she was ashamed to call her uncle. No, a man she despised to call her uncle.

"He's not my family, he never was." She had told herself endlessly.

Kayo had tried her hardest to keep those words circling in her head the day he came back, the day of the seaquakes. Yet, she always knew that he was her family, no matter what she did, she would always be related to that sick excuse of a man. She thought nothing could break the blood bond between them. Nothing.

She was wrong.

What had surprised her the most was the fact that she was still on Tracy Island. Kayo had always been terrified of the moment her family would find out her terrible secret, that they would be furious with her and cast her aside the moment they knew ss if she was never a part of their lives.

The nightmare scenario had played out in her head a tireless of times. She always saw Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon, and Alan's faces stare at her in disgust and shame, shame that they once called her their 'sister'. She had this nightmare every week, but those weeks turned to days when he returned and they got worse every single night she spent in secrecy.

When it finally came out, when that ugly word escaped from his twisted lips and he revealed her secret, she had never been more scared in her life. Sure, Kayo had faced near death on many occasions, fought against the most dangerous criminals on the planet, and been on high-intensity rescue missions but nothing scared Kayo Kyrano more than that moment.

To her shock, the Tracy brothers had accepted it. They'd accepted her. Kayo never understood why and didn't dare to question it. Until Virgil told her that he and the rest of her brothers didn't care who she was related to, just that they just loved her for being their little or big sister. Blood didn't matter to them. That's when she realised that it did not matter that she shared blood with The Hood, she wasn't him. He was evil, Kayo was not.

The fire crackled in front of her which snapped Kayo back into reality. She slowly came to notice that she was no longer facing the fire. Instead, she was looking down at the floor. As she raised her head, Kayo noticed that Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon, and Alan were looking at her bearing confused faces. She wondered why, until she realised that she was crying. Streaks of tears stained her face and only looked worse with the fire's reflection on them.

She smiled weakly and let out a short yet weak laugh. Kayo was gazing at her family that were still there with her which ultimately resulted in her crying even more. The Tracy brothers moved instantly. All five of them stood and stumbled over to Kayo, Alan sat next to her, Scott on the other side. Virgil sat next to Scott, Gordon and John next to Alan.

Alan held his hand out to Kayo; deep-down he knew what she had been thinking about. Scott did the same, she grasped both of her brother's hands tightly as if she would never let go. Gordon, Virgil, and John leaned towards the middle of the newly formed bundle of rescuers, heads touching softly together.

Kayo sat there, eyes closed, crying harder than ever. Her family was there, she was there - everything was perfect. With one final look to the starry night, the year of 2060 ended, and the eternally bonded International Rescue team were ready to begin a new one.