A/N: Once again, JoTracy123 this is for you! Unfortunately I didn't actually reach the last stanza but I will in the next chapter! To be honest I have no idea where this is going!
Virgil was still yelling Gordon's name, ages after he disappeared into the smoke.
"Gordon!" He called again with no avail. Not wanting to wait any longer he darted towards the building after him, but stopped in his tracks as the very house that his little brother had run into gave a deafening groan and then collapsed in on it's self.
Without a word, Virgil carried on running to his brother's aid, collapsing on top of the burning rubble. Once he had got his breath back he began to tear away at the pile of bricks and mortar, desperately searching for any sign of the only copper head left in the family.
In the back of his mind, something was telling him that his watch was vibrating, but he decided to ignore it. About ten minutes later, he heard a familiar rumbling behind him. He decided to ignore that to.
Alan brought the firefly to a stop, jumped out the cabin and ran to his older brother.
"Virgil?" He asked but received no answer.
"Virgil? What are you doing? Are you looking for something? Scott's been trying to get hold of you. When once again receiving no answer Alan stood up and looked around in thought. Something was missing. No, not something, someone.
Worried Alan bent down and grabbed his brother's shoulder.
"Virgil! Where the hell is Gordon?" He shouted. Finally Virgil stood up and looked at him. Alan's big blue eyes grew wide. He hadn't seen Virgil cry before, well not for a very, very long time.
"Virg?" He asked quietly already expecting the worst, "Where is Gordon?"
Vigil opened his mouth to tell him but no words came. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and stop the tears and pointed gingerly to the pile of rubble, a dead hand lying were Virgil had been digging.
"Gordo?" Alan whispered, disbelief filling his voice. Virgil had managed to pull himself together and gently placed a hand on his trembling brother's shoulder. On contact, Alan snapped out of his trance and yelled, "GORDON!" before collapsing in front of the rubble and digging at it to uncover the rest of the body. It wasn't long before he found the International Rescue logo to confirm for sure their worst suspicions. When Virgil saw it his face went black as it always does when he is trying desperately to hide his emotions.
Slowly he raised his watch to his face.
"This is Virgil to mobile control, come in Scott." he said, his voice barely a whisper.
"Virgil! I've been trying to get to you for ages! What the hell has happened?" Scott blurted out. All Virgil had to do was look at him to get the message across. Scott paused as he took in his brother's tear-stained cheeks and blank look.
Without another word said, Scott cut the communication and locked down mobile control. He then sprinted back to Thunderbird One to retrieve his hover bike and then was off to point A.
Alan was choking back the tears with no avail as he removed the bricks that covered Gordon's head. He suddenly gasped as he saw his brother's eyes staring off into the distance through what was left of the blood stained protective mask, the twinkle that once thrived in them, gone. Taking a deep breath, Alan removed the tattered head gear to reveal Gordon's bruised, cut face and his copper hair now redder then usual as it was soaked in his blood. Virgil joined his youngest brother and once again put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Without a word Alan outstretched his hand and gently closed his dead brother's eyes. Turning to Virgil, he broke down in his brother's arms, sobbing his guts out. He couldn't remember the last time a family member died, he had been too young. He did not like it at all.
Gordon Tracy sat cross legged on top of the burning rubble clad simply in his IR uniform and perfectly healed. He watched as just meters away from him, his little blond brother reached out with a trembling hand and gently closed the eyelids of his crushed body. Gordon closed his own eyes and smiled as he felt the physical contact. So this is what it is like to be dead. He looked up as he saw Scott appear on his hover bike. Scott threw it down next to the Firefly and then sprinted over to his brothers. When he saw Gordon's crushed body he staggered backwards, breathing deeply. Gordon had never seen his big brother like this before, it was making him even more upset. Slowly, Scott started to inch forwards finally falling to his knees beside Alan. Gordon felt tear prick at his eyes as he felt Scott place his hand on his head and started stroking his hair. He watched through blurry eyes as Virgil and Alan got up and retrieved a hover stretcher from the Firefly and lay it on the other side of his body.
Alan was now so close to him, only about one meter away. Slowly Gordon got up and reached a hand out to touch his little brother, craving the human contact. When he gently tapped Alan on the back, a warm fuzzy feeling started radiating from his fingertips to the rest of his body. It was one of the weirdest and nicest feeling he had ever felt.
Alan suddenly spun round to face Gordon, his eyes staring straight through him.
"That's odd." He said.
"What's odd?" Virgil asked, his voice completely blank showing he was still tiring to hide his feelings.
"I could have sworn someone tapped me on the backā¦"
The conversation stopped there as Gordon was lifted onto the stretcher. Scott stayed kneeling in exactly the same spot in a trance as the white sheet was pulled over Gordon's head and he was carried back to the Firefly. While Virgil and Alan were out of the way, Gordon wandered over to his oldest brother who was still staring at where his body had been and where now only blood stained bricks lay. With a sigh Gordon sat down next to him.
"Are you there Gordon?"
The question seemed to come from nowhere and at first, Gordon didn't know how to react but then he smiled as he replied even though he knew he probably wouldn't be heard.
"Yeah, I'm here Scott." He said and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Scott slowly turned his head to where he could feel a slight pressure in the shape of a hand and a warm tingly feeling.
"Gordon? Tell mum I'm sorry. I've failed." And with that he got up and joined his brothers at the Firefly.
As Gordon followed the Firefly back to mobile control and the Thunderbirds he thought about his predicament. He knew about ghosts. He had once looked them up while doing research for a major prank that he was going to pull off on John. They are simply spirits that cannot move on because they have something that has to be done on earth before they go. He watched as yet another soul shot up wards into the smoky sky. If all these people where going, why was he still here?
