Author's note: Sorry guys, a year wow, I'm bad! Its not very long but I hope to up date some more soon now that the writers block has finally decided to leave me alone wrote this at 2am so please be kind

Chapter

Eight

It's okay

"Virg?" Virgil jumped at the sound of his name and turned to see John standing in the doorway a small smile on his face.

"Hey, I thought you guys were heading home," Virgil said turning away from his window in his new room.

"We are, I just had to see you one more time," John said as he reached out and pulled Virgil into a hug, "You take care of yourself little brother, that's all I ask."

Virgil nodded into his brother's shirt as he hugged him back not wanting to let go, "Is dad still upset?" he asked as he pulled away.

John shook his head, "No, he knew that something like this was going to happen…" he watched his brother quietly for a minute as he saw a lone tear fall down his face, he squeezed his shoulder, "It's okay Virg."

Virgil smiled slightly and nodded, he put his hand in his pocket and looked to John once again, "I want you to hold on to something for me."

John looked surprised but held out his hand as Virgil slowly placed something in it, he pulled his had away and looked inside it, his mouth fell open. On his palm lay his older brother's dog tags.

"Virg, I can't take these," John said he held them out for Virgil to take back but the younger boy just shook his head, "Keep them for me John, keep them for him… and know every time you look at them, there's still a chance Scott's out there somewhere…"

….

Virgil sat up with a jolt, it hadn't been a bad dream, it fact it had been a very good dream, he hadn't had a dream about his brothers in a long time…he just wished that it hadn't been a dream, he was missing his family way more than he thought possible.

"Virgil…you okay?" the voice came from the other side of the tent and Virgil looked to see Milo looking at him with concern.

He swung his legs over to the side of his bed and slowly nodded, "Yeah I'm fine, just a dream."

"Bad?" Milo asked doing the same.

Virgil shook his head, "No, just one of those dreams, you wish wasn't a dream."

Milo nodded in understanding, "I know those too well."

Virgil gave his friend a half smile and stood up, he walked towards the flap of the tent and looked out. The sun was just beginning to rise, from the looks of it Virgil thought that it was about 530am. It had been nearly six months since he had been out in this desert and he had yet find anything pointing to where Scott might be…..

….

"Alright men, today we have an assignment, we are going into another POW camp, but very carefully…we gather at the far end of the camp see what were are up against and then plan our point of action understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" Virgil and Milo's voices along with the other medics echoed throughout the dessert the were in.

The march to the outskirts of the POW camp was a hard road, tall grasses, twigs and even some trees stood in their way though Virgil was glad to be on the move again. One of the medics tripped over one of the roots, spraining his ankle as he went. Virgil had been the one to set the poor man's ankle and Milo, being a head taller than Virgil helped him along afterward.

The march went on for almost ten hours, though Virgil was use to this kind of thing by now he always loved when the march was over. As they stopped and began making up camp Virgil noticed their commander looking over to where he figured the camp they were looking for must be. Virgil handed a pole to Milo who saw the glint in his friend's eyes.

"Virgil don't, wait until we have confirmation," Milo said knowing what the young Tracy had in mind.

"I'm just going to take a look around for any sign of a plane crash, cover for me," Virgil hissed as he quietly left the camp site and Milo rolling his eyes behind him.

…..

Virgil did this at every search party campsite, he knew this was against every rule in the book, he was never supposed to leave his party on a scout, though his party didn't know his real reason for being here. As he was about to head back, his left foot landed on something, making a small crunching sound. Virgil brought back his foot and tilted back his helmet so he could see better. He had stepped on a metal plate, not just any mental plate, it was a metal plate for a plane. Then a glint caught his eye and he looked to his left…there it was! His brother's plane, it had to be Scott's plane, it was not totally together, but the cockpit was intact and Virgil could slightly make out the name on panel below it, "S. Tracy". He moved closer as fast as the roots and branches would allow. Though as Virgil got closer he could see that his brother was long gone, question was, where was he?

Movement behind him made him freeze, he thought for a minute it was Milo coming after him but then to his horror something clicked inside his brain. The movement was coming from the other direction.

Virgil bit his lip, unsure of what to do…bolt back to camp? No…no sense in getting everyone caught because of his stupid detour. Hide in the plane? No…its been here for almost a full year, they would know if it had been messed with. Go into the POW camp and hope it would be enough to keep himself hidden? Yes…it was the only clear path forward, he was reminded of what John always said "When you can't beat them …join them."

Virgil dove for the open pathway just in time as some soldiers passed by him, heading up the hill. Virgil prayed that Milo would be watching his own back as well as the rest of their group. He turned towards the camp in time to see someone get pulled out of a building and pushed forward towards another. Virgil pressed himself against a building and watched in silence. The poor Airman couldn't even stay on his feet, he fell, face first into the dirt, Virgil winced in sympathy. Though he didn't know how much sympathy he felt until the Airman was forced to his feet. Virgil let out a small gasp and then clamped his hand over his mouth to keep himself from yelling out the name he had longed to use…the Airman POW not twenty feet away from him…was Scott.