Sorry this has taken a while, real life just kind of got in the way and I never got around to sorting it out. Thank you so much for all the great reviews once again.

Scott knew that he had been right in coming straight up to Five the second he opened the air lock between the two craft. Despite Virgil having launched him, the pilot knew that no one had been monitoring his progress like they would normally have done. Whilst it was going against every protocol they had ever put in place, it meant that he had been able to push Three to greater speeds than her two regular pilots would have been happy with. Scott wasn't even sure if Alan was aware the rocket had been launched and John certainly wouldn't have been complaining as it meant that his brother arrived quicker.

Giving himself a moment to adjust to the change in pressure as he stepped into John's temporary home, Scott found his eyes widen in disbelief. There was wiring strewn absolutely everywhere to the extent that he knew it would be posing a danger. He frowned, knowing that this certainly wasn't like John. For one thing, his brother had always been safety-conscious, taking the safe road whilst Scott and Virgil took unnecessary risks. But second of all, none of the boys would ever purposefully start pulling wires out of their machines, especially when they knew that there was a strong chance they would be going home that very same day.

"John?" Stepping over a wire and telling himself that it wasn't sparking, Scott moved into the main part of the control room. It was even worse in there, the whole top panel of the console resting against the wall. At least it meant that he had found his brother though. Or rather, he had found John's legs.

The astronaut was lying under the console, knees bent at right angles. Scott didn't need to look to know that John was working on something, and as he called out again, not being sure if the blond had even heard him the first time, a vague gesture was all he got in response. Not knowing what John was doing, he therefore wasn't sure whether it would be safe to interrupt him or not. It would be the first time that Scott had been made to simply stand at the side and wait for John to be ready to talk to him.

After what felt like an age to the oldest brother but could have only been in a few moments in reality, John's legs finally started moving. Scott stepped forward, prepared to help his brother up. John seemed to ignore him though, opting instead to take the screwdriver out from in between his teeth and sitting up himself. Scott just watched him for a long second as John leant back against the panelling, brushing his hair from his eyes.

"You look exhausted. How long have you been working for?" Scott realised that it was better to gauge John's mood before he started demanding to know what he was up to. John might not have the explosive temper that Alan was known for, but Scott knew that it was even more deadly. John just went silent – and considering the whole reason behind coming straight up was to make sure that his brother didn't hide how he was feeling, Scott knew that he couldn't allow that to happen.

John simply blinked at him and Scott realised just how strained his brother was.

"Have you been working since...?"

"Since you said that you were getting him back to Base? Maybe. There has to be something that I can pick up, some sort of signal that would mean that I can keep an eye on the place for when you go back. I can't not find anything, Scott, I just…"

"John. Stop." There was a firm note in Scott's voice as he took a step forward. He took the screwdriver out of John's hand, not happy with how hard the blond seemed to be gripping it. Placing it on the side, he made to rest his hand on his brother's shoulder, but John jerked away. He had always been the one who was temperamental about being touched, and Scott knew better than to push it. He could hear what John wasn't saying. His brother wasn't looking for a way to keep an eye on the place now that Gordon had been found. He was trying to find out if there was a way that he could have found out that Gordon was alive. He was trying to work out whether everyone else would hold him responsible for Gordon not being found or whether it was just him that was going to shoulder that blame.

"You stop. I know you've been thinking the same thing, Scott." John moved away, bending down and making it look like he was about to disappear back under the panel again. Scott frowned, this time grabbing him by the shoulder even as he crouched down next to him.

"You can stop working now, John. I'm here to take you home."

"No, you're here to make sure that I'm okay. I'm fine, Scott. Go home, Gordon needs you."

Scott knew what John was doing. He didn't want to face the rest of the family; he didn't want to have to see the state Gordon was in. Up here, John could pretend to be doing something; he could carry on helping the rest of the world whilst International Rescue was out of action. It might have been a convincing argument if not for one thing: Scott was expecting it.

He had had time to think about it for the whole flight up there. He knew that John had always shut himself away when things came crumbling down around them. He was there when his brothers needed him, but he tried to deal with hisemotions himself. Scott knew that when John became emotional these days, it flared up the pain in his arm. It was as if his body was trying to compensate for the emotional pain by giving him physical pain instead. There was no way that he was leaving his brother up here when it was clear that John was deflecting how he was feeling. But Scott wasn't going to force his brother to open up whilst they were here, not when he knew that it was going to be enough of a challenge to get John into Three as it was.

"I'm not going home without you."

"Stop being so stubborn, Scott. I can help from up here."

"How? IR is off-line."

"I can…"

"Johnny, our little brothers need you."

"So does the rest of the world."

"I need you." Scott hadn't even intended for the words to come slipping out, but as soon as they did, he saw the way John froze. Scott sat back, leaning against the control panel himself and sighing, his head thudding back. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see John mirroring him and sitting back, watching his big brother closely.

"Scott?"

"He had no idea who we were, John. He fought back; he would have done anything to get away from us. He didn't pass out, Virgil had to take him down in order to make sure that we could actually get him out of there. Virg has already lost it, Alan can't stay in the room with him… I need you down there with me, John. Back how it was, helping to sort out the kids. Please? There is nothing that you can do up here, you know that as well as I do. Stop being such a stubborn ass."

"I only take after my big brother." John's words might have come out as a mutter, but Scott knew that he had won. There wasn't the same heat in his voice as there had before, there wasn't the same defiance shining out of his eyes and his posture. If Scott had admitted how he was feeling to anyone else - even Virgil - he would have been ashamed of burdening his younger brothers with his emotions. But John had always been there for him, had been the one to give him a pillar of support when it had been up to Scott to keep their family together years ago. John was the one person that Scott knew he could let his defences down to, and if it meant that his brother was more prepared to come home, then it didn't matter what he had to say to get him there.

"But the rest of the world…"

"Survived without us before. We need us this time, John. We have to save our brother. We might have got him out of there, but I don't think we have got Gordon back, not really. If Al can't face it, then we need you. You know how much he looks up to you, you are potentially the only one that can get him back from this."

Despite believing that he had already won John over, Scott knew that it had happened without a doubt now. John slumped, leaning back on the wall and letting his eyes roam around Five.

"I guess I should clear up here first."

"Leave it." Scott began to climb to his feet as he spoke, resting his hands on his hips as he surveyed the mess. Now that he had John on his side, the next step was to get him into Three. Then it didn't matter what it was that John wanted to do or where he wanted to go; it was Scott's call.

"But what if..?"

"A call comes in? Doesn't matter, we're not operational, John."

"I can't leave her like this."

Scott forced himself to take a deep breath and count to ten. He should have known that just because John had agreed to come home didn't mean that he wasn't going to carry on fighting. He knew why his brother was doing this, but Virgil had been right about Scott's anger and now was not the time. The last thing that Scott wanted was to regret coming straight up. He had been adamant that John needed him, but right now, he needed to get off this space station and back to Gordon's side.

"John. Listen to me. Brains will no doubt be coming up when Gordon is up and about because he won't be able to take the tension on the island any more. You won't want to come back up for a while, not when you realise that we have our little brother back and he is going to need you every step of the way. Need you down there with him, not hiding up here and pretending to be keeping an eye on things whilst freaking out and lying to us about it. You'll be back before you know it, and Brains will have put her right by then. You are needed at home, John. Come back."

Scott wasn't quite sure what he expected his talk to do considering John had almost ignored everything else that he had said up until now. But what he wasn't expecting was for John's whole expression to almost close down. He seemed to sag against the wall again, running a hand over his eyes. This time, Scott made sure that he kept his distance, giving his brother the chance to compose himself. If it went wrong now, he knew that he would have to return to the island alone. How both John and Alan spent months up here, the pilot had no idea. Even a few hours was bad enough for him.

"Scott? Gordon's really back?" There was such uncertainty in John's voice despite everything that they had been through over the years and faced on a day-to-day basis that Scott found himself taking a step forward, resting his hand on his brother's shoulder. This time, John didn't try and pull away.

"Yeah, kiddo. We've found him and we've got him back. We've got him home. Don't you think that it is time to get this family back together properly and get you home as well, Space-face?"

Barely a shadow of a smile crossed John's face at the old nickname, but it was enough for the tension to drain from Scott. Keeping his hand where it was, he gently began steering John towards the air lock again. He could feel the burning glances that John was sending him as he simply nudged some of the wiring out of the way with his foot, but John didn't say anything. Instead, he allowed his big brother to guide him out of Thunderbird Five and into the rocket.

It showed how wrong things were as John didn't even say his normal goodbye to his 'bird.

Scott made sure that he got John sat down before he did anything else. The truth of the matter seemed to be catching up with the younger man, not to mention how exhausted he looked. Scott had had Virgil there to deal with his shock; John had been on his own.

Once he was secure, Scott did a final check to make sure that everything on the space station was set up in order to run on automatic for a while, not being sure quite what John had done to the system whilst he had been pulling things apart. Even as he waited for the last green light to flick on, Scott found his hands were moving automatically, plugging some of the wires back in and generally tidying things away. As soon as he realised what he was doing, his hand immediately stilled and he shook his head. It seemed that whilst they all favoured their own craft, they were just as protective over each other's birds, the same way they were protective of each other in general.

Finally, though, Scott knew that they were good to go. Heading back through to Three, the air lock was sealed behind him and Scott began running through the pre-flight checks, radioing Base as he did so. To start with, he didn't think that he was going to get an answer, so Kyrano's voice came as a welcome surprise. Scott didn't dare ask how Gordon was – he still had to get John home and if there was bad news, Scott wasn't sure he could do that. But knowing that he had done all he could from there, he fired up the boosters and let gravity rotate the ship.

It was time to go home.

After the first half an hour, Scott flicked on the automatic pilot and turned to face his brother. John had been silent ever since they had begun their journey, and Scott wasn't sure whether his brother was mad at him for what he had said about John not coming back up to Five for a while. But as he faced him, he smiled. There was no trace of the field commander as he leant over and quickly draped a blanket over John's sleeping form. Instead, all of his actions were that of a big brother.

For a long moment, Scott could only watch John rest before sighing heavily. He just hoped that he still had four siblings in order to be a big brother to. It was just a matter of time before they knew that, it all depended on how Gordon reacted when he woke up.

TBTBTBT

Jeff hadn't moved since he had retaken his seat after Virgil had fallen asleep. Somehow, having the artist's heavy breathing coming from behind him – the reassurance that at least one of his sons was okay – had calmed him down far more than he thought was possible. Gordon had stirred a couple of times, his face screwing up in pain and fear and practically breaking his father's heart. No father should have to witness that look on their child's face, and Jeff knew that those who were responsible wouldn't know what had hit them when he put his fortune to use once again. He wouldn't use it for personal means often, but when it came to protecting his boys, nothing was too great a price to pay. As soon as he knew what they had truly found at the rescue zone, Jeff had put a call into the agents of the area. The last he had heard, they had approached the building where Gordon had supposedly been found, but it was abandoned, evidence that it had been cleared out in a hurry remaining. The agents were seeing what they could find with orders to make regular contact and to let the family know immediately if anything was discovered.

He wanted to go and destroy the people who had done this to his son. But there was no way he was leaving Gordon to chase after shadows. He trusted each of his agents and knew they wouldn't let him down. If there was something there to be found, they would find it. And then Jeff would go and unleash hell. Until then, he was staying right by his son.

"Mr Tracy?"

Kyrano's voice startled Jeff from his musings and he blinked, looking around at the man blearily. How long had he been standing there? Jeff had been so focused on Gordon that he had no idea what was going on around him. As he signalled that Kyrano had his attention, the Malaysian smiled gently.

"Scott just radioed in, he's on his way home with John."

Jeff felt a weight he didn't even know was there lift from him with the knowledge that his two oldest would soon be home. He knew Kyrano – knew that the man wouldn't have told him just as they had taken off from the space station, but when they were on their final approach to the island. Stretching out his back, the father rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes and stood up even as Kyrano disappeared again. Crossing the room, he reached out a hand and gently shook Virgil's shoulder.

It never failed to amuse Jeff how many attempts it normally took to wake Virgil up. Even as a baby, he had been the deepest sleeper out of all of the boys. But considering how he almost shot straight up this time, it was just another sign to his worried father how wrong things were right now. He knew that Virgil would be stirring at the smallest of noises for as long as it took for them to be satisfied that Gordon was going to pull through this and be fine.

"Dad? What is it, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's okay…" Jeff was quick to reassure his son, keeping his hand on Virgil's shoulder even as the young man navigated himself into a more comfortable position, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he did so. It didn't escape his father's notice how he immediately glanced over at his younger brother as he did so.

"Then..?"

"Scott and John are landing. I need to go and check on them. I need to make sure John is briefed…"

"Warned more like. Yeah, sure, go ahead." Virgil swung himself down from the bed, immediately crossing the room and sinking into Jeff's recently vacated seat. He didn't seem to particularly care that Jeff had woken him up just in order to make sure that his two older brothers were okay. All Virgil seemed to care about was being back by Gordon's side. Jeff, too, gave the sleeping redhead a long look before he left the infirmary, heading towards the lounge just as the sofa rose up through the floor.

Scott immediately stepped back as Jeff moved forwards, allowing his father to greet his brother. But he didn't just stand there and watch their reunion. Instead, he instantly started moving towards the infirmary, clearly not wanting to be away from Gordon any longer than he had to be. Jeff let him go, instead clapping John on the shoulder.

"How you holding up?"

"Fine, I guess."

The father nodded, knowing not to push John. It didn't matter whether he was telling the truth or not. If John thought that he was being pressurised, then he would close down and back away from the family. Jeff knew that couldn't be allowed to happen, not when their attention was going to be occupied by Gordon. Something like that could easily spiral out of control, and Jeff wasn't sure whether it would be the one thing that would push them over the edge.

"How about you, Dad? How are you doing?"

Before Jeff had the chance to answer, however, Scott's voice cut through. It was clear that he was in the infirmary, but his words had his father and brother instantly heading that way. Judging by the sound of footsteps, Alan had also heard the call and was racing towards them as well.

"Dad! I think he is waking up!"

Jeff wasn't sure that he had ever moved as fast as he did in that moment. He had to be there by Gordon's side when his son opened his eyes, he simply had to… He wasn't even paying attention as to whether John was following him or not, but was just moving as fast as he possibly could towards the room he had only just vacated. By the time that he got there, Alan had also arrived, but was hovering at the end of Gordon's bed, obviously not sure if he should get any closer or not. Virgil was no longer sitting down, but buzzing aroundthe bed. Jeff didn't need to ask to know that he was taking whatever readings he could, trying to work out how comfortable his brother was going to be when he woke up. Scott was almost mirroring Alan's position, but was standing at the head of the bed, murmuring gently to Gordon, encouraging him to open his eyes, whilst occasionally calling things to Virgil.

"Gordon?" Jeff's voice barely came out as a whisper as he walked slowly forward, knowing by the curse that followed him that John had arrived and witnessed just how bad Gordon truly was. Jeff slid back into his seat, leaning forward and running a hand through Gordon's hair.

"Gordy? You coming back to us, son?" He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when he was rewarded with a soft moan as Gordon shifted position, his face screwed up in a grimace. Unable to stop himself, he found that he was glancing towards Virgil. The medic was watching his brother closely, and as Gordon showed further signs of pain, he quickly acted and pushed something into his drip. Jeff didn't need to ask to know that his son would be doing everything that he could in order to make Gordon comfortable.

"Dad?"

It had been years since he had last heard Scott sound that uncertain, and Jeff let his free hand reach forward and squeeze his son's arm reassuringly. He had to remember that Scott and Virgil had already faced Gordon conscious, and their brother had lashed out at them, not recognising his own family.

"It's going to be okay, Scotty."

Alan let out a muffled noise at the end of the bed that sounded almost like a sob as Gordon stirred again, but John reacted before Jeff could and draped an arm comfortably around his youngest brother's shoulders. He might not like the contact himself, but when it came to comforting the younger ones, he was just as bad as Scott at making sure they came first. Jeff didn't move, but just found that he was inching forward on his chair, willing Gordon to open his eyes and give them more of a sign that he was truly waking up again.

The frantic father didn't have long to wait. No sooner had he moved forward than Gordon shifted again. This time, he didn't seem to settle and continued to move.

"Gordon?" Jeff's call was met with another moan and more movement. Yet Jeff could also see the way that Gordon's eyes were flickering violently under the closed lids – he wanted to wake up.

"Come on, son, open those eyes for me."

It took a good few moments before Gordon actually managed to muster up the strength to do as he was told, but when he did, Jeff thought that someone had stolen his breath away. He had leant further forward, brushing Gordon's hair back tenderly when he suddenly realised that his son was looking straight back at him.

"Hey…" he murmured softly, smiling gently down at his son. "It's over, Gords, you're safe. You're home…"

"Dad."

Scott's quiet voice was what alerted to Jeff to the fact that something was wrong. Gordon was still continuing to gaze at him, yet there was utterly no recognition in the look at all. Jeff drew back slightly, his heart clenching at the way that Gordon's look of sleepiness seemed to morph into one of fear and resignation and the father knew that his son wasn't registering the fact that he was safe.

"Virgil?"

"I don't want to send him back under, not yet…" The distress was clear in Virgil's voice, and Jeff found that he was glancing towards him. He wasn't sure what he had to do in order to get Gordon to recognise him. Said son, however, made that decision for him as he suddenly began to struggle against the covers tucked around him, clearly fighting to get away.

"Gordon. Gordon, stop that. Stop that right now, you hear me? You have nothing to be afraid of, you are safe now." Whilst keeping his voice soft and reassuring, Jeff made sure there was a hint of firmness in the tone, hoping that it would be enough to get through to his gradually panicking son.

It wasn't.

Instead, Gordon seemed to struggle even harder, a cry of distress falling from his lips, his limbs tangling up in the bedclothes as he fought to get away.

"Gordy! Gordy, it's me! Come on, stop it, you'll just make Virg all wound up if you do that…" Alan was moving forward before John had the time to hold him back. The elder blond shot his father a concerned look, and Jeff suddenly found that he was standing up.

"Al, back…"

"Come on, Gords. You know me, it's Allie. Think of everything that we have done together, everything we were going to do. You know who I am, you can stop this now…" Alan was steadily approaching as he spoke, keeping an easy and relaxed smile on his face as he drew closer to the brother who was more like a best friend compared to anyone else.

Gordon's eyes slowly began to focus on Alan's face, and the rest of the family almost held their breath in order to see what would happen. Maybe Alan was the one who could get through to Gordon?

But as soon as Alan was in reach, Gordon managed to free one of his hands from under the covers. It all happened so fast that no one truly saw him move until the stinging punch had landed. Alan jumped back, eyes watering as his hand clutched at his bloody nose. His expression was one of pure and utter shock as Gordon let loose a snarl of what appeared to be fury, fighting to get free with everything that he had.

Jeff leapt into action.

"Scott!"

"On it!" Scott didn't even need to have to ask what his father meant, but instead lunged forward. As Virgil moved forward, he rounded the bed, his arm catching Alan across the chest and pulling him back from Gordon's reach. As the oldest brother pulled Alan from the room – the youngest fighting all the time to get back to Gordon even though there was blood pouring from his nose, Scott wouldn't let him go again.

"Virgil?"

"F.A.B."

It just showed how used to working with one another the family was, for Virgil too didn't question what it was that his dad wanted him to do. Disappearing from sight completely, he began to busy himself with the medical supplies, looking for something that would calm Gordon down. John moved forward at the same time as Jeff, and glancing at each other, Jeff nodded. They had to stop Gordon from hurting himself, yet it was clear that words were not going to do the trick - he didn't know who they were in order to react to them. Instead, his father and brother leant forward, untangling the blanket completely and folding it back to Gordon's waist. Jeff saw the way John winced out of the corner of his eye and knew that no amount of preparation would have truly made John ready for the sight in front of him.

But they couldn't focus on that right now. Instead, they both took hold of a fighting wrist. Their grip was gentle, but firm enough that Gordon in his weakened state would not be able to get out of it. The effect was almost instant as Gordon tried to buck off the bed, a cry escaping from him as he did so. Jeff felt his heart break, but he knew that he couldn't let go. They had to keep Gordon where they could see him for his own safety.

"It's alright, Gords, it's okay…" It was John who managed to find his voice first. It didn't matter whether Gordon recognised them or not, the calming tone seemed to have an effect. Gordon was still fighting, but not as strongly. As John continued to soothe him, Jeff could see Virgil pushing something else into the line. A few moments later, and Gordon slumped back. As John let go, Jeff allowed his fatherly instincts to take over.

He gently drew the covers back up to Gordon's chest again, but made sure his son's arms were on the outside so he didn't feel restricted. John saw what he was doing and immediately headed towards the door. Jeff knew that he wasn't leaving, however, he was adjusting the temperature in order to make sure that his brother wasn't cold. Whatever Virgil had given him meant that although Gordon was still awake, he was completely unfocused on anything around him and was just staring at the ceiling. Jeff knew that it wouldn't be long before he fell asleep again, that fight having sapped any strength that he had managed to recover.

"Dad…"

"I know." Jeff didn't know what he was supposed to say to reassure Virgil this time. They had thought Gordon waking up would be a good thing, but until he recognised them, it instead meant that he was going to need around the clock monitoring. It would almost be worse than if he had been asleep, for there would be no telling what the family member in question would be forced to do to keep him safe.

"Virgil, will he react again?"

"Not for a while, that should keep him under."

"Good. John, go and fetch your grandmother, I need her to sit with him for a while."

"Why?"

"Briefing in the lounge in five minutes. We need a long term strategy of how we are going to play this." With those words, Jeff cast Gordon one last look before heading out of the infirmary, intent on finding his oldest and youngest sons.