AN: Hey there! This is my first fanfiction that I may or may not post online (you'll be reading this if I have – well done me). Just to warn you; there will be a lot of heavy themes in this. If you are sensitive to DEATH, DEPRESSION and SUICIDE (perhaps SELF-HARM as well) then DO NOT READ THIS. If you do, then that's your decision. Just be careful.

At the start this story, Virgil will be 16 years old in the year 2057.

This whole fanfiction is inspired by the Thunderbirds headcanon 294 on the blog thunderbirdsheadcanons on tumblr, as well as 'A Tracy by any other name' by grnfield on this website.

Thank you for checking this out.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or any of its characters.

Before

Virgil sniffed amidst his cocoon of blankets in his room at the Cabin. He had woken up earlier that morning with a fever and so he'd stayed in, not participating in the day's activities. It was unfair, he thought, he was stuck in bed while his brothers were out having fun. It was for the best though; it wouldn't be good if he got even more unwell. He didn't want to be a bother for everyone. If he was still ill with the fever by tomorrow morning, he would have to stay in the cabin while everyone else moved further up the ski slopes. His parents had said there was a ski resort barely ten miles up and there was talk of staying there for a night.

"Luxury showers!" Gordon had exclaimed, "I wonder if they have a gift shop!" His face had a dreamy look.

"All shops don't have fish toys especially for you, Gordon," Virgil teased.

"Yeah? Well…" Gordon was silent for a moment, trying to think of a cool response, "there won't be any art supplies for you either!"

Virgil chuckled, "Sure, bro."

Gordon harrumphed, crossing his arms, but looked back at Virgil with a smirk. Before Virgil knew it, Gordon was on top of him trying to wrestle him to the ground. However, the small fourteen-year-old didn't stand a chance against Virgil's larger arms and soon he was on his stomach pounding his fists to the floor.

"I give up, I give up! You win, ok? Just get off!"

"Yeah, yeah," Virgil said affectionately.

The rest of the family were watching with fondness. Scott was standing in the doorway opposite their parents and was trying to stop himself from smiling, but it was clearly not working. Both Jeff and Lucille Tracy were carrying hot drinks and were chuckling, clearly amused at the display.

Remembering that moment brought up a light laugh that quickly descended into a gross, wet hacking sound. Still coughing, he sat up abruptly and rushed to the bathroom, thinking he was about to throw up. When he arrived in the room, he collapsed over the toilet retching. After his coughing stopped, he was left shuddering in the bathroom despite him wearing several layers of clothing, when all of a sudden, he felt something heavy being draped across his shoulders. He brought it into focus and saw it was a couple of thick blankets. Drawing them tighter around himself he looked, in his weird state of semi-awareness, to see it was his mother, her kind face shining down at him with warmth.

"Did you vomit, Virgil?" She asked, concerned. Even though her brows were furrowed she still looked like the prettiest woman he'd ever met, and her voice was still soft, trying to comfort him.

Virgil didn't want to say anything in case he made himself cough again so he just shook his head.

"Hmm," you could see the cogs turning behind her eyes, "I think you may be coming down with a chest infection. We'll need to get you to a doctor soon."

Virgil couldn't protest. He nodded slightly as his mother went to help him up. Collapsing into her, he felt a little ashamed of taking advantage of her warmth, but he was just so cold. It felt silly, when he thought about it, that his mother seemed to light up any room just by being there, kind of like a light in the darkness.

She helped him hobble to his room where he collapsed on his bed, his mother pulling the covers over him. He almost felt ten years younger. She used to tuck him into bed every night and read to him until he was fast asleep.

"Just cough if you need anything," She smiled.

Virgil nodded and smiled back. It was her sense of humour. Virgil watched her go and the light she carried go with her. It was strange that he still yearned for his mother at sixteen, nearly an adult! But she was always there, always kind and always bright. With an image of her in his head, Virgil shut his eyes and managed to drift into a feverish sleep.

A knock on the door. Virgil jerked awake and looked bleary-eyed for the source of the noise. Couldn't he just go back to sleep? When he'd finally opened his eyes enough he saw Scott come in through the door holding something.

"Hey, little bro," Scott's voice was firm, it always was, he was supposed to be the eldest of the five brothers at eighteen years old and was planning to go off to university soon.

"Hey," Virgil slurred his words a little, "I ain't little."

Scott chuckled, "I know, you're the strongest out of all of us."

Virgil looked a little sceptical.

Shaking his head, Scott made his way further towards the bed, "Mom made you some soup; it's chicken."

Trying to sit up and failing, Virgil started coughing uncontrollably, a wet hacking sound. Scott immediately set the tray down and supported his brother, rubbing a hand along his back. Virgil wanted to say it didn't really help at all, but it was a nice comfort and he was disappointed when his brother drew his hand away to give him a tissue. Virgil took it gratefully and spat out what he had coughed up, and sneaking a peek at it revealed a viscous yellow substance. He quickly threw it away in the giant bin bag that was right next to his bed, so he didn't get is snot and mucous all over the floor. His mother had said that.

"It's not green yet," Virgil said smiling at his older brother.

Scott didn't say anything and his brows were furrowed slightly, but soon he turned to Virgil as if he had just remembered that he was indeed in his brother's room, and gave him a small smile. To be honest it didn't seem like much of a smile, it was more like a twitch of the lips; it was only there for a second and then it was gone. After he had made sure Virgil was comfortable where Virgil was sitting up, Scott grabbed the tray and set it gently on Virgil's lap. The warmth of the soup travelled trough the tray and onto his thighs, which was a pleasant feeling. As soon as Virgil took the first slurp of soup he instantly felt better, the warmth soothing his raw throat and settling throughout his body. It made him feel safe, maybe that was because of the knowledge that his mother had made it for him.

"Hey, Virgil?"

He had almost forgotten that Scott was in the room, "Yeah?" His voice was still hoarse from all of the coughing he had done.

"I'm worried about you."

He shook his head and took a breath in to speak, but Scott interrupted him.

"No. Don't speak, I just wanted to tell you something," Scott took a deep breath and continued, "I was talking with everyone and we were thinking that we might want to stay here with you, to take care of you."

Virgil blanched and without realising what he was doing, he began to speak, "No. No. I don't want to be the reason that you all miss out on a day of fun. Please," he grabbed Scott's hand, and looked him in the eye, "don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine," It was a lie and Virgil knew it, "just go and have fun for me. Tell me all about it when you get back," he smiled at Scott reassuringly.

It took a moment, but Scott eventually nodded, "Alright then, I'll go and tell the others. Before exiting he looked back and said, "Get well soon, Virgil."

Virgil nodded and watched as Scott turned the corner. Looking back at his soup he didn't feel hungry, but he knew it would be bad if he didn't eat, and he didn't want to waste his mother's food. So reluctantly, he slowly drank the soup and by the end he felt like falling asleep again. Without bothering to brush his teeth, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

AN: Thanks for reading this first chapter. If you would like, you can leave a review and tell me what you think of it so far, I'd really appreciate the feedback :)