The snowstorm howled outside his window. The snow covered the fields, creating white dunes that danced by the powerful blizzard.
Cold, unyielding, uncaring. It banged the strong glass that kept the ice and the freezing winds out from ever touching the warmth of the bedroom.
The presence of such powerful force from Mother Nature reminded Colonel White of the common comments that his well-trained ears picked up over the years of his life and career.
That being compared to the very blizzards themselves - his blue eyes hid a cold, silent fury that people feared to unleash, his old, strong hands made to grip and kill like the frostbite, his face always frowning like the dark stormy clouds.
His whitening hair didn’t help.
White didn’t really mind of those kinds of off-hand murmurs. His dedication to his work made him used to them much like passing storms long ago.
However, his loneliness was an eternal companion.
In some respects, the Colonel understood the feeling of isolation that his number one officer, Captain Scarlet, felt. Part of him wished he could confess that it wasn’t easy to be distant and gruff as he watched over others.
But… If one could coax him out with great patience, one would see a rare smile – almost like the sun coming out of a stormy cloud.
His heart would bloom like the flowers in the Promenade Deck at Cloudbase. His hair and his eyes made it seem like he was the winter wonderland in the clear blue skies.
If the window of the bedroom had stayed open, the blizzard would’ve extinguished his sunny heart.
But he was safe. Safe from the chaos outside, safe to show his all-too-human weakness. To her.
He felt her hand gently reach out to his bare chest, laying her palm to his heart that was shining with humanity.
Amanda kissed his cheek, reminding him how beautiful life could be. How his late wife would encourage his gentle side that was rarely seen by anyone.
In the ranch of Amanda Wainwright that was their sanctuary, the cold and grouchy Colonel White was turned into the kind and lovable Charles Gray.
A snowstorm with a sunny heart.
Author’s notes:
Ahhh, hello! I’m Nadrac, just a passing through Dreamer who is a sporadic writer and artist.
A little intro about myself; I came across this awesome site while searching for Thunderbirds fanfics when I was quite young. However, only for the Thunderbirds fanfics because back then Captain Scarlet used to scare me. I managed to watch only three episodes of the show (“Mysterons”, “Lunarville 7 and “Attack on Cloudbase”) before avoiding it like the plague for the rest of my elementary and high school years.
Until roughly at the start of 2022, I’ve watched the entire Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, thanks to reading Shade’s fanfics on Tumblr (where I’m most active) and later here at Spectrum HQ. And not only did I fell in love with the show and its dark yet hopeful themes and atmosphere, but I also fell in love with its characters.
As you can tell from this fic, my most favorite character is Colonel White. Bless this old Navy man’s heart!
I would like to thank to the amazing beta-reader that is TBQ, I really appreciate the constructive criticism! I thank Shades for the awesome inspiration and encouragement to join the site. And thank you so much, Chris Bishop, for keeping this site alive and well. I don’t think I’d ever developed such love for the show if it weren’t for it! I hope to create more works for Spectrum HQ in the future.
- Nadrac