I haven't done a TB fic before so this is new to me, I will be using a lot of info/facts derived from other fics - brother's and family traits, talents, et cetera, et cetera... I think that's how it works? I love how the communtiy of TB writers seems to have worked together so all the fics go together in one way or another, means less confusion for lost souls like myself!
Anyway back to the fic, this is an Alan based fic with a possible interest for one of the brothers later on. R&R and let me know if you want me to continue x
Three Days Later
Alan couldn't remember his mother, he'd been too young, the memories had simply melted away along with the snow from the avalanche that had taken her from their lives. Sometimes he thought he could recall simple glimpses of her face or the way she smelt - honeycomb hair and a sweet sakura perfume that forever smelt of the Spring. Though he knew his mind was being filled with the love his older brothers and father had for her, a love that was still painful all these years on.
Sometimes she was brought up in conversation, but the moments were so quick that they just seemed to go overlooked and passed, no one was ever fully comfortable to talk about her absence, not fully. Alan had her hair and eyes, perhaps the son that bore the largest resemblance to her, for some reason he'd always felt guilty for that.
Now his family consisted of his four older brothers and his father all of whom his world evolved around, each of them a piece of his heart he couldn't live without. Each time they jetted off across the globe on rescues he would sit and pray to whichever God would listen to bring them back safe, to keep his heart beating.
It had made him distinctly paranoid, especially when he was at school and barely saw them - spending a couple of weeks for Christmas and a few more in the summer but never long enough to truly feel like they needed him as much as he did them.
His paranoia didn't focus on the feeling of not being needed however, it focused on what could happen when he wasn't there, what could happen when he was but how he'd be so powerless to prevent whatever it was. What would happen if he lost one of them, how he could lose them, how anything could happen at any time and being in the rescue business, was ever more likely to.
Forest fires, volcanoes, land slides, heaven forbid an avalanche, floods, terrorist attacks, hostage situations, one of the 'birds going down, riots, kidnappings, oil spills, hijackings… his list kept giving him more and more possibilities that mulled over in his mind as soon as he begun thinking about his family.
Sometimes he wondered whether he was actually going mad, it wasn't right to worry over things like that but the possibility of them happening seemed to outweigh the small voice in his head saying to let it be, things will be ok. You couldn't know that they'd be alright, no one could tell you for certain so the possibility remained; Anything could happen at any time.
It hurt; the not knowing and the waiting, counting down to the school holidays and then counting down till he would have to leave again. He'd formed a barrier around himself that would set him off given the slightest confrontation. He'd gotten snappy and irrational, arguing with his father constantly and snapping at his brothers at jokes he knew weren't made to hurt him.
He loved them more than he'd ever admit but at the same time kept finding himself pushing them away, unintentionally yet unable to stop himself from letting the harsh words leave his mouth, making them tread carefully around him worried about what would set him off.
Alan knew what he was doing, he was creating his own self destruct but he could do nothing to stop it. He was so afraid of the hurt he felt sure was on it's way that he was scared, he wanted their love and acceptance more than anything in the world yet was worried that he'd prove a disappointment, a failure.
He didn't have a clue how desperately they loved him back.
There were machines beeping around him, he could hear the steady rhythm of his heart play through them and the sound of his own breathing, slow and steady as he came to. Eyes wearily trying to open and blink back the sting of the light. The disconcerting feeling of not knowing where he was building on his chest.
"Hey sprout, open your eyes for me."
Virgil?
Groggily he tried to blink away the sleep, the light was really making his head pound and the room took a moment to stop swaying.
Virgil was hovering over him, concern in his eyes and he sent a reassuring smile down at Alan. "You've had an accident Al, do you know where you are?"
He shook his head but regretted it immediately, screwing his eyes up against the thumping in his head that made him feel like it was about to split. "Nope." He rasped, his throat felt like sandpaper.
Virgil smiled warmly down, wiping his bangs away from his eyes. "You're in the infirmary on the island. Do you remember what happened?"
"The island?" He looked up shocked, trying to sit up but Virgil place a hand on his shoulder to keep him down. It was an easy victory for his older brother as Alan was in no shape for moving anywhere.
"It's alright Sprout, you're going to be a bit disorientated from the drugs. Try and calm down for me, ok?"
He smiled, his eyes didn't quite meet it but he sure as hell wasn't going to try nodding again.
"We were at the party?"
"Yep. You, me, Scott and Dad. You remember what happened?"
Alan frowned.
"What happened?"
Frowning back at the youngest Tracy Virgil picked up the charts from the end of the bed, jotting down some notes and checking the machines around the bed. He took a moment to answer.
"Let's concentrate on making sure you're ok before we get into details, you've got a concussion which is likely to mean that you'll regain the memories later on. I don't want to confuse you whilst you're coming around from all the meds."
Alan hummed, his eyes losing focus as he looked like he was going to drift off again.
"How long have I been out?" He mumbled.
"Three days."
"What?" His eyes were suddenly wide and even more confused, still trying to blink away the drowsiness. "So why do I feel so tired?"
Virgil chuckled softly, Alan's half alert face reminded him of Sunday morning Alan.
"Meds Alan. They knock you for six, you can go back to sleep if you want."
"Hmm." He took a moment to mull over the idea, it was a nice idea but the nagging at the back of his head wouldn't settle. "Where is everyone?"
"You want to see them? John's come back down from five, been dying to see you since we got you back."
"John's here?" He looked towards the infirmary door as though expecting to see him there. "I thought he still had a few more weeks?"
Virgil nodded, sympathetic smile in place. He leant over the bed and once more pushed Alan's bangs away from his brow. "You're in the infirmary Al, course he's here." He stood back, Alan wasn't as alert as usual which was proving a blessing. Virgil wasn't to keen on answering all the questions he was pretty sure the young blonde would soon have. Questions directed as to why he was in bed feeling like Thunderbird Two had run over him. "You promise to stay awake and I'll go and alert the hoards."
Alan smiled widely. "FAB."
"What do you mean he doesn't remember?" Scott was stood just outside the infirmary, eyes blazing and face white. He was rolling on the balls of his feet, keen to visit his now awakened brother. "Which bit doesn't he remember?"
"Calm down Scott." Jeff Tracy stood between the boys, trying to calm the situation whilst his own heart hammered in his chest, worry for his youngest over the last few days. "He hit his head pretty hard, he could be concussed. Right?" Looking to Virgil, the doctor of the family he was relieved by his short nod.
"You can never tell with head injuries how much the patient will remember, I'm slightly surprised though - he remembers the rest of the party." Virgil was looking exhausted, he'd hardly slept in the last few days and the worry was taking its toll. He'd been working on caffeine drives but the relief of Alan finally waking up had brought all the hours of lost sleep to the surface, he was beginning to feel like a zombie.
"I'd prefer it if he didn't remember." Muttered Gordon, oddly quiet for once. "Sick bastard could have killed him."
They all murmured in agreement, John running a hand through his hair. "Do we have to tell him?"
Virgil looked up shocked, John was so honest and one of the first unsaid Tracy rules - don't lie to family, he'd just flung it out of the window.
"It's a concussion John, he might still remember…"
"He's not going to be to chuffed if he finds out we've been lying to him." Gordon looked at the infirmary door as though he could see through to the blonde. "But then again how happy is he going to be knowing? We're going to have to put him on lock down on the island, he sure as hell won't be happy about that!"
"Language Gordon." Muttered Jeff, chewing his lip as he considered their options. "What do you think, Scott?"
Scott audibly growled, it had been an effort keeping him from leaving the island to track down Smith and tear the man limb from limb, he was not the type of person to sit idle, especially if there was a threat to the family out there. Perhaps even more so considering the threat was directed at his youngest brother who he'd practically raised.
"You know what I think, if we solve the problem then we can tell him what happened and it won't matter. As long as that idiot's about we can't let Allie out of our sight, I don't even want him off the island right now." He glared round at his other brothers, eyes finally resting on his father who shrugged.
"We can't do anything, we have nothing on the guy other than what we've seen. He rigged the security cameras, no one saw or heard anything." It was frustrating to say the least.
"We were there, dad! Surely that means something?" Scott's temper didn't help, he was almost shouting.
"Scottie, he'll hear you." Virgil nodded to the infirmary door. "We have two options, I don't want to add a third with him hearing the whole thing through a door."
"If Alan doesn't remember then he can't exactly give a statement to the police." Jeff took a second, he'd been thinking through their options of getting Smith arrested since the accident yet kept drawing blanks. "Even if he did they might not believe him, he's under sixteen and has a concussion. Doesn't sit well in court Scooter. Plus I got Lady P to try and find out where he was and he's vanished, no one has seen head nor tail of him."
"Or they have and they won't say." Piped John, a note of despair on his voice. "The guy owns so many offices and companies he could be anywhere, none of his guys are going to tell any of us where he is, even if they did what would we do?"
"Beat the guy to a pulp." Gordon sneered, smiling at Scott who seemed quite taken with the idea.
"Calm it boys." Jeff sighed loudly. "Unless you want to get yourselves arrested and away from Alan then you'll do nothing until we know more. We can't rush into things - Smith is playing this like a pro."
"Probably had it planned out for weeks. We're were lucky to catch them out, their plan was almost flawless." Virgil looked down at the chart he'd taken from Alan's bed. "Frankly, Alan is in the state he is because we turned up and took them off guard."
They stood in silent agreement for a minute, each mulling over the situation and their lack of options.
Scott was the first to break it. "Can we decide whether we're going to tell him so I can go see him already?"
"I say we don't." Gordon let out a long breath. "Until we know more that is."
"I agree." John.
"Scott?" Jeff looked to his eldest once more, concerned at the anger flashing in his eyes. "You agree?"
"Yeah, at least until we know more." He huffed and pushed through the infirmary doors before Jeff had the change to ask Virgil.
"Virg? This ok with you?" John looked to him before following Scott, voice low as he could see the youngest blonde frowning at them from his bed in the infirmary.
"I guess it has to be." Virgil shook his head sadly. "I'm not happy with lying to him though, he'll catch us out. Darn kid is too smart."
"He might remember on his own." Gordon said, backing towards the doors. "Let's give this a chance though."
Jeff was left with Virgil in the hallway, he was keen to see his youngest yet also worried as to the damage.
"How's he doing then?" He asked, eyes on the blonde who was getting easily crowded by his other brothers, a confused smile playing across his features.
Virgil sighed, they seemed to be doing that a lot recently. "He's got a broken ankle, a few broken ribs, those that aren't broken are heavily bruised or cracked, and quite a big lump on the back of his head - I had to stitch up the cut so that's going to be sore without any meds."
"And his other injuries won't?" Jeff rolled his eyes and smiled, patting Virgil on the back and pulling him into a quick hug. "You did great son, I have no idea what we'd do without you here."
"He'd be in a hospital being rude to the nurses." Virgil grinned widely. "We all know how pleasant a patient Alan can be!"
Laughing short Jeff heading into the infirmary. "We'd better go and see what story these lot have told him before we get left out of the loop."
"Yep." Virgil followed. "We really shouldn't have given Gordon that head start".
R&R x Next chapter... Three Days Prior.