Gordon was fast asleep and shot up from his slumber when he heard a loud cry. Looking around he realized that his little brother was asleep in his bed…and screaming while he slept. Gordon hurried to calm him, and shook his brother until he woke up. Alan was gasping when he opened his eyes before settling down and going back to sleep. Alan wasn't even aware that he'd been woken up.

"Geez kid, just what did you see down there?" Gordon laid back down, and gathered his slumbering baby brother in his arms once again before drifting back off to the realm of dreams.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

John and Virgil were both sitting on the airstrip playing a short round of 'Go fish' with a stack of playing cards they'd found lying around. The medevac wouldn't arrive for a little while longer and both brothers were trying to find something to keep themselves awake as well as get their mind off the body lying on the beach. It was quite disturbing that a corpse had washed up on their island.

"Do you think Allie will be okay?" Virgil stretched his legs out in front of himself to relieve one of his feet which had fallen asleep.

"I don't know…" John shook his head somberly. "You didn't see the terror Alan expressed…the poor kid peed his pants for God's sake. I don't know anyone that would be okay after tripping over a dead body."

"Wait…he tripped over the body? I thought he just discovered it…not touched it." Virgil's head snapped around to look at his big brother with an owl like gaze.

"Yeah, Al was running to the jungle to go take a leak and tripped over the dead guy. Scott found the spots in the sand where he fell." John heaved a sigh before shaking his head. "I would have screamed and wet myself too if I'd been in Alan's shoes."

"Poor kid." Virgil shifted his feet and resettled on the cool concrete of the airstrip. Turning his gaze up towards the sky, Virgil leaned back against the wall to look at the stars. "So, what about Fermat and Tin-Tin…are they okay?"

"Yeah, as far as I know neither of them saw the body. Where dad and Scott were sitting by the fire was close to where Scott and I found Alan, Fermat and Tin-Tin…they weren't in proximity to the body apparently." John crossed his feet at the ankles before looking up at the sky. "God I hope this doesn't traumatize Alan for life."

"You and me both bro." Virgil gazed up towards the sky and allowed his eyes to slip closed. He didn't notice himself slipping down the side of the wall or John lying his head on his lap.

"Rest…I'll wake you when the medevac arrives to take the faceless man." John was heard murmuring to Virgil as the young artist slipped away from consciousness.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

John never thought he'd be happy to see the sight of the spotlight located on the back of the medevac helijet. But the sight of the aircraft was a sight to behold for the young stargazer. John grabbed the orange cones and began to direct the helijet in for landing. Listening to the low whine of the aircraft, John felt a thankful smile come to his face.

"Virgil wake up! They're here!" John called from the far side of the tarmac where he stood waiting for the professionals to disembark their aircraft.

Virgil lifted his head and rubbed at his eyes as he heard the helijet's engines die. Like John he couldn't hide the smile that formed on his face at the sight of the very welcome aircraft. Standing quickly, Virgil hurried over to join John in greeting the professionals that were removing a stretcher from the belly of the helijet.

"Hello, thank you for coming out here." John strode forward and shook hands with the two men and one woman that climbed from the helijet.

"No problem…are you the one that called it in?" The woman accepted John's hand and shook it gently before shaking Virgil's hand.

"Yes, that'd be me. I think I speak for my family and friends that reside with us here on the island when I say that I greatly appreciate your coming out here as quick as you did." John smiled gratefully, before he led the three professionals up the tarmac.

"This is a nice place you've got here. Doesn't it ever get lonely?" One of the men stated as he looked around at all the sights present on the island.

"No…it's actually pretty lively here." John walked up the stone steps that led up to the family's patio.

"Aren't your feet cold?" The woman asked, but John shook his head as he looked down at his bare feet. The stone walkway was actually kind of comfortable, especially considering that you couldn't walk around outside without shoes on during the day because of the heat.

"No…I like the coolness." John replied as he glanced down at Virgil's equally bare feet. Both boys preferred not to wear slippers or socks unless they absolutely had to…other than that they wore flip-flops or sandals. "Anyway, please keep up. It'd be a pity if you got lost."

"No kidding. I think it'd take days to get out of that forest we saw before we came in to land." One of the other professionals commented.

"That's a jungle, not a forest." Virgil replied with a chuckle. "I can assure you though that if you got lost, we'd organize a search party and look for you."

"Well, how about let's not get separated and say we did."

"Agreed." The small group said together.

"So, care to fill us in on what happened?" One of the males inquired.

"Our youngest brother tripped over the departed gentleman that lay on our beach and became frightened. He screamed and ran away, thereby attracting the attention of me and our oldest brother." John supplied. "He and his friends were having a backyard camping trip which went horribly, horribly wrong."

"I see." The woman said sympathetically. "How old is your youngest brother?"

"He's eleven…his two friends are nine and eleven respectfully. They were camping out on the beach, watching the meteor shower." Virgil replied quietly.

"Virge, could you do me a favor and go check on Gordo and Alan…make sure Allie isn't having nightmares please?" John stopped the group at the staircase leading down to the beach.

"I suppose." Virgil turned and ran back in the direction of the villa, his bare feet slapping against the stone walk path rhythmically.

"Well, now that he's gone, I'd be more than happy to take you down to remove the departed gentleman from our property." John motioned at the three professionals to follow him. One of the professionals glanced over their shoulder at Virgil's retreating back before following closely behind John and the other two professionals.

"Why did you send him away?" The woman inquired, her voice raising slightly.

"I don't think you understand…I've already got one traumatized little brother…I don't need any more. I'd prefer Virgil not glimpse the corpse, he's quite gruesome." John spoke in clipped tones as he led the three professionals down the path. "Please, just do my family a favor and remove that…man from here, preferably before Alan awakens. I do not look forward to having to comfort him when he screams in the night and I'd prefer to be positive in telling him the man is gone before I give him false hope that he won't have to see him again."

"Rest assured son…we'll get the man out of here as soon as we can." One of the older professionals said as he placed a sure and strong hand upon John's shoulder.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Jeff glanced up when he heard a little bit of clattering and the sight he saw made him smile sadly. There were three people wearing dark navy blue jumpsuits walking with John. The pajama clad nineteen year old boy looked a sight for sore eyes. His blonde hair glowed in the moonlight and he led the group through the sand, down to the fire pit that Jeff himself had helped Alan to dig. Standing up, Jeff extended a hand in greeting to the "rescuers".

"Hello, thank you for coming out here as quick as you did."

"It's no trouble." The older rescuer replied as he shook Jeff and Scott's hands.

"Where's the victim?" The female rescuer inquired.

"Further down the beach." Scott stood up and motioned with his head for the rescuers to follow him and his dad to the body.

"So…any ideas as to where the body came from?" Scott inquired of the three rescuers.

"Somewhere between here and the states I reckon. A massive storm hit and started tossing a trolling boat around, thereby sending a couple men overboard." The older rescuer replied. "It's a shame the poor man lost his life, but he wasn't wearing a life jacket according to the crew that survived."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Virgil sat upon the edge of Gordon's bed and watched his two little brothers sleep. Gordon had both his arms wrapped around Alan and was holding him close into his chest. Alan had his head nestled into Gordon's neck. Both boys were snoring lightly.

"I hope you are sleeping well Sprout." Virgil reached over and gently scrubbed his fingers through Alan's hair. The younger boy sighed in contentment at the feeling of his brother's fingers massaging his scalp.

Virgil turned slightly where he sat on Gordon's bed and gazed out the window. He knew that John sent him away from the beach not just to check on Alan and Gordon, but to simply keep him away from the sight of the body. John had told him he didn't want any more traumatized younger brothers, one was enough and as angry as that made Virgil…he could understand. He had no desire to see the body either. Just the description was enough for him.

The artist started slightly as he heard the whine of the helijet's engines start up. It looked as though they got the body loaded up and ready to go. A small bit of illumination lit up the room and Virgil looked over to see their dad peeking into the room.

"Hey Virgil, how's your brother doing?" The patriarch whispered.

"Okay I guess. He's sound asleep." Virgil once more scrubbed his fingers through Alan's blonde mop of hair.

Jeff perched on the bed beside Virgil and trailed a finger gently down the side of Alan's face. The little blonde stirred at the touch, but didn't awaken…simply snuggling deeper into Gordon's neck.

"I was going to take your brother with me so I could keep an eye on him, but it seems that he is comfortable where he is." Jeff gently brushed a bit of Alan's bangs off his forehead, before leaning over and kissing his forehead gently. "They took the body with them and have just taken off."

"What a relief. You have no idea how happy that news makes me." Virgil replied, before standing to return to his own bedroom.

"Daddy?" Jeff and Virgil both started as they heard the innocent voice of the youngest Tracy, glancing down they saw he'd rolled over in Gordon's grasp and was rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"Hey champ…how're you feeling?" Jeff gently brushed Alan's fringe away from his forehead.

"Sleepy…" Alan's eyes sagged with exhaustion.

"Go back to sleep bud, its okay." Jeff cooed as he joined Virgil in gently running his fingers through Alan's thick blonde hair.

"Can I sleep with you daddy?" Alan gave Jeff his best impression of the puppy dog pout and Jeff nodded with a warm smile in place.

"Sure you can champ. Come on." Jeff stood up and lifted his youngest into his arms, taking pleasure when he felt Alan's small arms wrap around his neck in a sure grasp. "Go ahead and go back to sleep champ, it's okay."

Alan wasted no time in following his father's gentle orders and he rested his head upon Jeff's shoulder, turning his head slightly to press his nose into the junction where his father's neck and shoulders met. A light snore gave Jeff the clearance he needed to go ahead and walk back to his room, with Alan in tow.

"Virgil, it's okay. You can go back to bed…you look beat." Jeff gently nudged Virgil with his shoulder before walking out of the room. "Good night son."

"Night dad. Take care of him." Virgil replied quietly, not wanting to awaken either Gordon or Alan.

"Will do." Jeff made his way down the hall before slipping into his bedroom. Striding towards his bed, he gently eased his youngest between the sheets of his massive king-sized bed. Pulling the blankets up over the thin shoulders, Jeff leaned over and placed another kiss upon Alan's brow. The young blonde didn't stir at the affection, but continued to slumber on. Jeff moved over to the other side of his bed and slid down beneath the sheets before grasping Alan's tiny hand in his large hand and squeezing gently. Alan returned the squeeze slightly, before Jeff slipped back to sleep.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The next morning when Jeff awoke, he was woken up to a slight tickle in his nose and when he opened his eyes he found the tickle was due to a couple strands of his son's shaggy blonde hair. Alan had sidled up close to him sometime during the night and that placed Alan's head directly beneath Jeff's nose, thus enabling Alan's hair to tickle his father's nose. Jeff pulled away from Alan so that the constant tickle of Alan's hair in his nose wouldn't cause him to sneeze, thereby awakening Alan after the long night. Glancing down at his baby boy, Jeff had a bit of a sappy smile at the content look on Alan's face.

Gone were the apparent signs of terror that John and Scott described to him that they'd seen as clear as day on their baby brother's face. Gone were the tear tracks that Jeff knew had to have trailed down Alan's face upon realizing the fear the child experienced. Gone was the body that lay on the beach that had terrified his son so. Jeff could never thank that medevac team enough for getting out there as quick as they did, before loading up the body…no questions asked and leaving in the dark of night.

While Jeff knew it was only just a matter of time, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Alan needed to go see a counselor at least for a couple weeks so he wouldn't suffer because of what he saw the previous night. A soft sigh broke through his thoughts and Jeff looked down to see his baby boy in mid-stretch.

"Hey buddy, how'd you sleep?" Jeff gently stroked Alan's cheek and grinned wryly at seeing the wrinkles from the pillowcases pressed into Alan's face.

"I had a bad dream." Alan whispered, afraid to speak aloud for fear that what he'd dreamt had actually been real. Glancing around slightly, Alan noticed he was not out on the beach, but sleeping in his father's bed. "Dad…it wasn't real…right?"

Jeff sagged in defeat. He knew that he had to tell Alan that no…it wasn't just a bad dream, but he didn't want to make his boy feel like the start to the day was bad because of what he'd experienced the previous night on the beach.

"I'm sorry son…it wasn't a dream." Jeff gently palmed his son's forehead before gently brushing his sleep addled bangs from his forehead. "But it's over now. He's gone now and you won't have to see him again."

"I was so scared dad." Alan leaned into his father's grasp and wrapped his arms as best he could around his dad's frame. "Who was he?"

"That doesn't matter son. All you need to know is that it's over and we're all here for you." Jeff hugged Alan close before continuing. "If you ever get scared in the middle of the night and can't sleep, or if you just want to talk about it come find me or one of your brothers and we'll talk with you. You have my promise that we'll help you get through this. Do you understand Champ?"

Alan settled into his father's hold and reflected on the previous evening. Images of the dead man – how he was missing half of his face was downright nauseating. But then Alan thought back to what his father just told him and how safe he'd felt when his dad and brothers comforted him the night before.

"I understand daddy." Alan nodded and a small smile played across Alan's face as his dad gave him another tender squeeze. The eleven year old boy didn't think he'd ever get tired of his father's hugs – aside from the hugs he got from his brothers and grandma, his dad's hugs were some of the best he'd ever had.

"Good, now how about you and I sneak down to the kitchen before your brothers wake up and fix some chocolate chip pancakes?" Jeff rose up on his elbow to look down at his youngest with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Yeah!" Alan loved it when his dad fixed his special chocolate chip pancakes. Despite him not being a very good cook among other things, he fixed amazing chocolate chip pancakes and Alan loved the specialty item.

"Well…you'd better hold on tight kiddo." Jeff growled playfully before sitting up quickly and grabbing Alan and lifting his boy over his shoulder, eliciting a squealing giggle from the eleven year old kid. Carrying Alan over his shoulder, Jeff tickled his son's feet…making his youngest squirm before hurrying down the stairs so that Alan's laughter wouldn't awaken his other sons.

Jeff made his way into the kitchen and despite all that had happened the previous night, felt happy. Sure he was sad for the family that lost their loved one in something as unavoidable as a storm washing the poor guy overboard, but he was happy that now the family would have closure. It saddened Jeff that his little boy, baby boy had experienced such fright, but he hoped that in the long run that would make Alan a stronger person and not let such a traumatic experience as discovering – tripping over and touching a corpse dampen his growth into a sure strong and brave young man.

As Jeff pulled the pancake mix from the kitchen cabinet, he couldn't help but to laugh at his youngest trying to help him fix breakfast for the family. Alan had grabbed the bag of bulk chocolate chips and vanilla flavoring for the pancake mix, before retrieving the milk and eggs from the refrigerator. His arms were loaded with the ingredients and Jeff removed the items from Alan's arms before picking up the boy and setting him upon the counter so he could be of more help.