Summary: Something as simple as a train ride can reveal so much. John is Mr Spock with emotions, Virgil is poetic, Gordon is unbeatable and Alan remains happy despite going through so much, and Scott can't help but love them all.

This was initially supposed to be pre-IR but since Jeff is already gone it's going to have to be sometime after the launch of IR, probably just a little while after Jeff went missing and the boys' emotional states have settled.

I meant for this to be a simple try at getting the boys' personalities/characterisations right, which I probably failed at. Again.

SAD FACE

There was a loud whistle and a gust of wind as the train came into the station. Scott, who had been checking the time on his watch, looked up at the just arriving train with a look of relief.

Scott waited impatiently for the train to come to a complete stop and for the doors to open. Once he had boarded the train, Scott tried not to look anxious as he looked up and down the carriage for his younger brothers.

He had been attending to their father's work duties now that he had gone missing, and it often meant that he had to take time off hanging out with his brothers for weeks at a time, even on holiday seasons, which was now.

It made him all the more excited and anxious to see his younger brothers again.

It didn't take long for Scott to notice John's obvious ginger hair above everyone else's. Trying hard not to make his grin too obvious, Scott strode up to his immediate younger brother and clapped him on the shoulder.

John raised his eyebrows at his brother's antics and his mouth twitched slightly, but his eyes shone with affection.

"Really, Scott?"

Scott shrugged, about to offer a comeback, when the wind was knocked out of him in an over-enthusiastic hug that was more like a flying tackle by none other than his youngest brother.

"Scoooooot!"

Scott could only gasp out a "hello, Alan," as his two remaining younger brothers came up from behind John, Gordon with a huge smile on his face and Virgil shaking his head slightly at the sight, but with a fond light of amusement in his eyes.

Scott sat down in a chair next to his immediate younger brother.

"Yo Johnny, talk to me. Was your day OK?"

John looked up from the book he was reading – something about astrophysics, not that Scott would ever be likely to understand – and said, "Well, I thought the science conference was interesting. It enlightened me on some things I had not thought about before, or at the very least answered some of my other questions that had been bothering me for a while."

John said all this with a slightly thoughtful expression, and his gaze seemed to look straight through Scott, as if John himself was mentally somewhere else. His expression soon cleared however as he took in how Scott had just addressed him as.

With just the slightest smile tugging at his lips, John said rather wryly, "and don't call me Johnny in public, Scott. It's embarrassing and illogical."

Virgil was humming to himself as he looked through the program of the concert he had just been to. Scott went over to him, curious to know just how much he had enjoyed it.

"Good concert? I can hear you're still humming the music." Scott teased.

Virgil rolled his eyes good-naturedly and passed Scott the program, motioning for him to sit down on the empty seat next to him. Scott complied and looked at the program, which had short but detailed bibliographies of some of the musicians who had been performing in the orchestra together.

Scott glanced briefly at the photos of each of the musicians. They all appeared to be very happy.

"Do you want to be like them?" Scott asked quietly.

Virgil, who had been expecting Scott to ask something about the performance itself, seemed surprised by the question. Running a hand through his hair, the middle brother took a moment to compose an answer. (A/N see what I did there.)

"Maybe. I guess I wouldn't mind playing with other people, but I think… I think I would want to make my own music. To go my own way." Virgil paused, wondering whether what he was saying seemed silly or not. Scott just motioned for him to continue, a fond and reassuring smile on his face as he did so.

"I think I would enjoy that more than having to play someone else's composition all the time," Virgil continued more confidently this time, "To write and play my own music not just for me but for other people as well, and to have them enjoy it and appreciate what I do," Virgil smiled, "the thought makes me happy."

"Hey Gordon, why aren't fish any good at playing tennis?"

Gordon looked up from the IPad game he was playing with Alan and gave Scott a, 'really' look. "Because they don't like getting close to the net," Gordon said as if stating the obvious, "You should know better than to try marine jokes on me, Scott." Gordon wiggled an eyebrow as if in challenge.

Scott nodded, leaning on a pole now that he had given his seat up to an elderly lady. His brothers had done the same for other passengers and were either leaning on a pole like Scott was or were holding onto one of the leather loops that hung from horizontal poles that lined the ceiling.

"OK then, how about this… two fish are in a tank, and one fish says to another-"

"How do we drive this thing?" Gordon cut in, laughing, his eyes sparkling with mirth, "Like I said, Scott, you should know better to try marine jokes on me. You can't out joke the joker." Gordon waggled a finger at him. "And before you ask, the Shark Dive at the Aquarium was awesome. I got to both feed and pet the Grey Nurse shark and swim with the giant stingrays, and I didn't get bitten or stung once!" Gordon grinned, "Though I would prefer to dive in an actual ocean."

Scott laughed, and clapped his younger brother on the shoulder. "Good for you then."

Alan's voice rung out expectantly, startling the two older men.

"Hey Gordon, you lost about two minutes ago."

Gordon spun around. "What?! That isn't fair Alan, I was talking to Scott!"

Alan just snickered at his immediate older brother's misfortune. Gordon turned back to Scott with an accusatory look that promised payback. Scott just grinned and shrugged helplessly.

It was late and dark out when the train reached the final station. The small amount of passengers that were left on board crowded to the doors, clearly anxious to get home now that the long train ride from the city was finally over.

The train came to a sudden halt. Startled out of a standing doze, Alan's eyes widened in surprise as he fell over backwards. A sudden flash of pain went up his left arm as it hit the edge of the seat behind him, and a surprised, pained yelp escaped his mouth.

Hardly a moment later, a hand quickly reached out and caught Alan's other arm in a strong grip, preventing him from falling any further. Alan looked up with wide eyes, his heart beating furiously, to see his eldest brother's deep blue eyes looking at him in concern.

"You okay?" Scott asked urgently as he pulled Alan back onto his feet. He immediately checked Alan's arm for damage.

"I – I'm fine, Scott." Alan said but couldn't help hissing in pain.

Alan glanced around anxiously, nervously checking to see if anyone else had noticed his slip up. No-one had, it seemed, as they were all busy pushing past one another to get off the train.

Unfortunately, his other older brothers must have seen him almost fall, as each of them looked at him with varying degrees of concern.

Well, that was just great.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine, uh, thanks, Scott. Uhh…," Alan stuttered, clearly flustered, "Sorry."

Scott's worried face softened somewhat. Letting go of his baby brother's arm and wrapping a reassuring arm around his shoulders, Scott led Alan off the train with a small smile.

"You're fine, Al. You have nothing to be sorry for."

Alan looked at his older brother for a few seconds. Then, he hugged him, and, almost instinctively, Scott hugged him back.

"How was the hospital?" Scott whispered in Alan's ear so no-one else would hear.

"S'fine. Didn't even feel anything when they took the tumour out. They put me on some pretty heavy anaesthetics, so I was pretty out of it. The guys helped me feel better when I woke up." Alan mumbled into Scott's shirt.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there, Alan," Scott whispered.

"It's OK, Scott. You couldn't help it." Alan was full on crying now.

The two suddenly found themselves enveloped in a group hug by the other three, Gordon enthusiastic and first to do so, John somewhat awkwardly and finally Virgil who wrapped his large arms around all of them to make them feel safe.

Scott found that he was crying too. Crying because responsibility denied him the chance to be there for his younger brothers. Denied him the chance to be with them.

They didn't care if anyone saw them. There weren't any people left on the platform anyway.

They were a family.

And damned if they weren't going to stay that way.

"Alright, now who wants pizza?!"

John argued, "Gordon, we've had pizza the last five nights."

"Who cares?! It's a special occasion! Let's go get pizza!" Gordon near shouted, the grin never leaving his face.

"NO!"

Yup, definitely family.

And Scott wouldn't trade that for the world.