Title: Not So Alone
Author: Gumnut
21 Jun 2019
Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS
Rating: Teen
Summary: Alone time is sometimes better shared.
Word count: 1767
Spoilers & warnings: None.
Timeline: Standalone
Author's note: This is for ak47stylegirl who wrote me the first part of this little fic, Alone Time, which can be found on her profile on Ao3. She wrote Virgil, so I stepped out of my comfort zone a little and wrote her some Alan to keep her Virgil company :D I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it :D
Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.
-o-o-o-
Alan was bored.
It wasn't often that he found himself with a lack of things to do. Life was generally busy with Thunderbird maintenance, rescues and backup duties.
Of course, he could always kill some zombies, but he was feeling restless. Gordon was off the island with Grandma so that didn't help. Scott was buried in paperwork and John was still hiding on Five. Virgil had disappeared.
Wandering out onto the balcony, Alan eyed the pool a moment before throwing the idea out. Without Gordon it wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun.
Maybe he could go for a walk. Scott had been nagging him to get into a more regular exercise routine and, hey, he hadn't seen the other side of the island for a while.
Darting up to his rooms, he threw on some loose clothes, decent shoes and a hat. A quick note to John to say where he was going and he was out the back door and crunching gravel up the side of the mountain.
While he had no objection to the great outdoors, Alan had no particular preference for sun, surf or bush walking. Not that he didn't love a splash in the ocean with his brother, or even a jog around the island with Scott, it was just that many of his interests lay in the confines of the virtual world.
Or space.
Part of him didn't want to admit he was like Johnny, but he was in many ways, but where John adored seclusion, Alan loved people. Basically, Alan was happy doing pretty much anything as long as it was with someone, preferably someone he loved.
So, he would really be lying if he said he took his route at random. It wasn't a conscious decision, more just what he knew was going to happen regardless.
Virgil had some favourite places on the island to sit and just be. Alan didn't quite get it any more than he got John's love of solitude, but he knew his brother liked it and he stored the information for when it was needed.
Today Alan wanted company, so he used the information he had at hand.
Clambering around on the rocky island was not for the faint-hearted. There was no doubt that he was getting a good workout just by going for a simple walk. His first stop was a small cliff beyond Thunderbird Two's runway. It was Virgil's favourite, just on the other side of the mountain. He could often be found here just staring out into the ocean thinking who knew what. The scene had been painted, scribbled and, in one case, mosaicked onto a table. This was definitely Virgil's favourite place.
He wasn't there.
But Alan still had his list.
Two more Virgil spots proved empty and Alan had managed to work up quite a sweat. He was beginning to wonder why he was even bothering when he caught sight of a figure almost completely hidden in a grove of palm trees.
Virgil sat on a rock, his sketchpad on his lap, completely absorbed in his art. He was up a cliff overlooking a good chunk of the island, the twin peak at an angle even Alan could appreciate.
Alan eyed the climb and with a deep breath began the trek to reach his brother. He kept quiet. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb him. That would be a good way to get his head ripped off. But if he approached from just the right angle, he should be able to see what Virgil was actually drawing.
It took actual rock climbing in a couple of places, but Alan eventually found himself situated behind his brother on top of the cliff, and as expected the view was breathtaking.
It was late afternoon and the entire side of the island was lit up by the sun. Gulls were wheeling in the air above the forested slopes, catching rising air. Far below, raw Pacific collided with the rocky shore in places and wrangled with reefs in others.
Virgil had certainly found a spot.
Quietly Alan made his way closer to his brother. Virgil drew on, showing no sign of knowing Alan was there. The cliff was a slope that had Alan descending towards his brother. Virgil was facing away towards the scenery, slightly hunched as he drew. Because of that slope, Alan was actually able to see his brother's hand, this time his right, sketching pencil lines on the paper.
For a moment Alan was content to simply watch, but if he was honest with himself, he hadn't come all this way just to spy on his brother.
"You do know it is rude to stare."
Virgil's voice was always soft yet possessed a strength that could be startling. Alan stiffened, annoyed at being caught so easily.
"What? Do you honestly think all that rock clambering would go unnoticed?"
"Dunno."
His brother had yet to look up at him, simply continuing to sketch as he spoke. You gonna come and sit down?" Virgil held up a hand. "Just be very quiet, I don't want you to disturb them."
Alan frowned. "Who?"
But that hand didn't answer, just beckoned him over.
Alan did what he was told and found himself sitting on that rock beside his older brother.
Virgil was scratching lines furiously onto the page, but the subject wasn't what he expected. All that beautiful scenery and Virgil was drawing a haphazard pile of sticks?
Whispered. "They're sea eagles. I've never been so close."
Alan's eyes darted from the sketchpad to a slither of rock a stone's throw away from the edge of the cliff. The pinnacle stood alone and defied gravity almost to the point of disbelief. On its very top sat a huge nest. From this angle he could see the two chicks waiting for their parents to return.
Breathed out quiet. "Cool."
Virgil was sketching madly and under his practised hand, one of the chicks slowly came to life. Simple line instinctively placed, shaded and shaped. It was a little mesmerising.
Alan, of course, had watched Virgil draw before. Amongst all the other things. His brother was usually fiddling with something. He had to have something in his hands, whether it was a pencil or paintbrush, piano or Thunderbird, Virgil tended to always have something playing between his fingers.
When Alan was little there had been many a Kansas winter night snuggled up by the fire, curled up beside his brother watching him draw. Sometimes he would dare him to draw outrageous things like Pedro the Peanut-Killing Pickle. There had been odd stories and scribbled down comics. Alan had even tried his hand under a little encouragement from his brother, but he didn't have the enthusiasm that Virgil had for the art.
Besides, Alan was quite happy to just sit and watch. Rare quiet moments shared with his artistic brother.
They had been getting rarer and rarer.
"Can I sit with you, Virg?"
A brown eye with an arched eyebrow peered at him. "You're already sitting." The curve of a smile. "But sure. Just be quiet and don't make any sudden moves."
Respectfully whispered. "Okay."
So, they sat for an unknown length of time. Virgil drew the second chick, and as one of the parent birds landed with the evening meal, its strong wings, talons and beak appeared on the page. Alan watched as the pencil lines grew darker, surer. Virgil switched pencils and they grew darker still, the birds emerging out of the page into three dimensions.
Down below the two chicks guzzled food from their parent.
A loud, awkward screech from above and another eagle was circling overhead, likely the other parent.
In the corner of the page, the bird quickly appeared, wings spread wide, soaring.
The quiet was amazing. Alan wasn't one to sit still for any length of time, so perhaps he was missing the obvious, but the sound of Virgil's pencil, the tease of the breeze and the call of the eagle above had only to compete with the waves far below and the rustle of the scrappy forest.
And a pair of squawking, complaining eagle babies.
Gordon would probably have loved this. His fish brother loved the sea, but he loved all the creatures contained in it even more. Despite this preference for water breathers, if you shoved a puppy or a panda in front of him, the man melted into a gooey puddle. Eagle babies would definitely be on the goo list.
"This is nice, Allie."
"What?"
"Bit like old times, you sitting and watching me draw."
Alan shrugged. "I've always liked to watch you draw. Guess we haven't had as much time lately."
The pencil paused. "Yeah." His brother turned to look at him. "Well, it is good to see you out here. Nice to have your company." A gentle smile.
"Anytime, bro. Kinda nice out here anyway."
That smile grew a little before softening. "Well, unfortunately we have to head back now."
"What?"
"I've got to pick up Gordon and Grandma."
Alan checked his watch. Where the hell had the time gone? He'd been out here…three hours! "Wow, didn't expect it to be so late."
Virgil didn't comment, just smiled a little more as he packed up his sketchbook and pencils.
Alan stood up and stared out across the ocean. A flicker on the surface of the water and he caught sight of a pod of dolphins frolicking in the swell. He stared.
"It's amazing what you can see if you stop and look." His brother's soft voice so close to him made him jump.
"Virg, personal space."
His brother snorted and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I don't think such a thing exists on this island." That smile again. "Probably why John hides on Five."
Alan grinned. "You've got a point." And despite his earlier protest, he dropped his head against Virgil's shoulder and for just a few more moments, they both tracked the dolphins as the cavorted past the Island.
"Can we do this again?"
"Sure." Virgil slung his pack over his shoulder.
"Great."
Silence fell, and they stood there a moment longer until Virgil squeezed a little and let go. "C'mon, sprout, time to clamber down the mountain."
Virgil took the first few steps and Alan followed, throwing one last glance back at the nest now full of the entire family of sea eagles. A sharp beaked head turned in his direction and glared at him.
Alan couldn't help but smile at the bird before he hurried after his brother.
-o-o-o-