As Scott's eyes got accustom to the dark of the room he began to make out familiar shapes. The wardrobe, chest of draws, bed and the mound of clothes in the corner. Scott froze; Alan's clothes were in the middle of the floor earlier, why would he move them. Then it dawned on Scott that the mound in the corner, the slumped over shape, was his brother. The shape seemed to be moving, vibrating, shaking and as Scott moving in towards the figure that was his brother, he realised Alan was crying.
Scott immediately sped up and went down onto his knees in front of his youngest sibling. "Allie? It's me. Talk to me Allie." Scott said in the softest voice possible. All of a sudden, the knocking and banging on the door started and Scott could hear all of his brothers shouting and yelling. As he turned his attention back to Alan, he saw his eyes white with fear and brimming with tears. Scott shuffled on his knees and leant against one of the walls that made up Alan's corner. "Alan." He said firmly, "Alan, look at he". Alan's eyes shifted from the door to his oldest brother who was looking down on him with a concerned look on his face. "Alan, listen to me. They are not going to hurt you, okay? I will not let them. It was just a dream okay? Please tell me you understand that." Alan nodded. "Not good enough Alan. This cannot be a one-sided interaction. Please TELL me that you understand that it was only a dream." Scott said the last bit seriously but Alan could see the love in his eyes.
"I understand. I can see now that it was just a dream, that they weren't really chasing me, that they weren't really hurting me and that they don't really blame me for mum's death. It all just seems so real, Scotty. But I'm a Thunderbird for goodness sake! I shouldn't need reassurance when it comes to my dreams." Alan began to shake with tears again, "I am so weak!" He sobbed.
"No Alan. You are not weak, you are so, so strong. Everyone needs reassurance from time to time and you are no different. Mum's death was due to a natural disaster and you were only 3 years old! Dad and our brothers would never lay a harmful hand on you, unless you dyed John's hair pink again or drained Gordon's precious pool like last time!" Scott noticed Alan give a slight smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Or when you turned off the hot water on Virgil's shower and convinced me that there was a mouse under my bed! I could have… I don't know what I could have done to you when I found out you were joking around but you had already run away! You know I'm afraid of mice!" Scott glanced over at Alan's shaking body but was relived to say the least when he noticed that it was shaking due to laughter, not tears.
"You scream like a girl Scott." Chuckled Alan, "you should have seen your face, I should have filmed it!" Scott playfully cuffed Alan round the back of his head and Alan repeated this gesture to Scott.
"Are you okay now Sprout?" Scott asked as he stood up and help Alan to his feet.
"Yeah. I guess. But I don't want to leave just yet. They are all going to kill me and you! I just got so scared when I woke up alone after my dream. It was worse. You were in it. I had dragged you into it and you were running with me, but then you disappeared and they attacked me and that's when I awoke." Alan slumped back down into the corner.
"Alan, I promise not to leave your side again until this is over. I'm so sorry that I didn't say anything before I left but I thought it was for the best." Scott sighed and sat back down next to his brother. Suddenly the voices outside got louder and the door was being strained to the point of snapping. Alan immediately sunk his head into Scott's chest and cried.
"I don't know why I'm so scared Scott. What will they say? Will they understand like you did? What will they do? Where will I go?" Alan muffled into Scott's shirt. Scott rubbed his hand in a circular motion on Alan's back like he used to when Alan was younger and sick.
"It's alright Allie. Shhhhh. Allie? Alan?" Scott snapped his head down to look at Alan's body. He was shaking uncontrollably and his breathing wasn't right.
"Alan! Look at me! Alan, sssssshh, just breathe."
"I—can't—breathe—Scotty. He—lp-m—m—me—PLEASE!"
"Alan, you're fine. Calm down. You can breathe, just relax and listen to my voice. Shhh. It's okay."
All of a sudden, the door burst open and four figures stood in the doorway. One of them found the light switch and it was only when the room was lit that Scott realised that he had been sat with Alan in total darkness. ALAN! He looked away from the approaching figures to try and comfort his youngest brother but the body on his lap had fallen limp and he was no longer crying or shaking.
"ALAN! WAKE UP!" Scott yelled jumping to his feet with Alan in his arms. The four figured were in front of him know, regarding him with a mixture of expressions ranging from anger to worry, Virgil was next to him an a flash and ignoring the whole situation, focussed solely on the unconscious brother.
"WHAT HAPPENED!" he asked very loudly.
Scott ignored his middle brother, shifted Alan into the crooks of his arms and walked straight for the door. A hand caught him on the upper arm and his father's voice sounded out. "Scott, you better tell me what happened. Don't you think there are enough secrets already?" on any other occasion, Scott would've retreated and fallen back at his father's tone of voice but he shrugged off the arm and turned on the spot.
"Or what Dad? What are you going to do? Eh? Expel me from the next mission? Good luck without your field commander by the way, oh and Alan. Because Dad, if you haven't noticed he isn't exactly feeling 100% at the moment. In case it slipped your mind, he is lying unconscious in my arms after a full blown panic attack and I need to get him to the infirmary now. So are you going to stand there and threaten me or are you going to step aside and save your son? Your choice." Scott spat out his words like venom. Hatred filled his eyes and his father was speechless. He dropped his arm and Scott turned again and strode out of the room.
"What the …" Gordon was cut off by a cuff round the head from John. He glared at his older brother and re-phrased his words. "What was that all about?"
No one answered him; they all just filed out of the room and followed the oldest and youngest brother to the infirmary. The journey down the stairs to infirmary doors was painfully silent for the four men. When they got there they could see through the glass doors that Scott had laid Alan down on one of the beds and was trying to coax him back into consciousness. John tried the door and inwardly cursed.
"It's locked. HE LOCKED IT!" He exploded
Scott's head shot up as John spoke and walked over to the door. He made eye contact with his closest sibling and gave him a sarcastic smile before closing the curtains on all of them and heading back to Alan's bedside.
"I am going to kill Scott." John muttered, "Don't care about strength, height or age. He will pay for blocking us out."
"Me too" Said Virgil and Gordon simultaneously.
"Get in line boys, get in line." Jeff said through his teeth.
Back in the infirmary, sat on the side of Alan's bed, Scott smirked at the idea of his brothers attacking him. Let them try, he thought.
Hey, just want to say thanks for all the reviews :) This is my first fic so i really appriciate them xx
